PROBE IN BOFORS PAYOFFTO CONTINUE, SAYS CBINew Delhi: The CBI probe intothe Bofors case pertaining to thealleged `64 crore kickbacks inthe purchase of the Swedishartillery guns will continue,officials said on Thursday.

SC TO HEAR MUSLIMWOMAN TALAQ NOTICESNew Delhi: The Supreme Courton Thursday agreed to hear aMuslim woman’s pleachallenging the two talaq noticesgiven by her husband andseeking direction for registrationof FIR against the man.

HAASAN’S ANTICIPATORYBAIL ORDER RESERVEDMadurai: The Madras High Courton Thursday reserved its orderon the anticipatory bail petitionfiled by MNM chief KamalHaasan over his “free India’s firstextremist was a Hindu” remarkmade during an election meetingin the Aravkurichi Assemblyconstituency.

NSG COMMANDOS SUMMITEVEREST IN 1ST ATTEMPTNew Delhi: Commandos of thepremier counter-terror force NSGon Thursday created history asthey scaled the Mount Everest,the world’s highest peak, in theirmaiden attempt, a senior officialsaid. A seven-member team ofthe NSG, led by Lt Col JP Kumar,accomplished the task.

CAPSULE

PNS n NEW DELHI

Aunited Opposition onThursday came out in sup-

port of West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeeafter the Election Commission’sdecision to cut short cam-paigning by 20 hours in theState in the aftermath of clash-es between TrinamoolCongress (TMC) and BJPworkers during Amit Shah’sroadshow on Tuesday evening.

A delegation of theOpposition leaders, led byCongress leader AbhishekManu Singhvi, took up theissue with the EC.

Opposition leaders in thedelegation — Singhvi, BSPchief Mayawati, AndhraPradesh Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu, AamAadmi Party (AAP) chiefArvind Kejriwal, CPI (M) gen-eral secretary Sitaram Yechury,DMK chief MK Stalin, andAIMIM chief AsaduddinOwaisi — questioned the logicbehind EC’s decision to cutshort campaigning. They askedwhat prevented the poll bodyfrom stopping the electioncampaigning immediately.

In first such action inIndia’s electoral history, theEC had on Wednesday orderedcampaigning in nine WestBengal constituencies to end at10 pm on Thursday, a daybefore its scheduled deadline,following violence betweenBJP and TMC workers inKolkata during a roadshow byBJP chief Amit Shah.

Earlier, Mayawati came out

in support of Mamata Banerjee.“Election Commission hasbanned campaigning in WestBengal, but from 10 pm todayjust because the PM has tworallies during the day. Whenthey had to put a ban why notfrom morning? This is unfair.the EC is acting under pres-sure,” the BSP chief said.

Mayawati added, “It is clearthat PM Modi, Amit Shah, andtheir leaders are targetingMamata Banerjee. This isplanned targeting. This is avery dangerous and unjusttrend and one which doesn’t

suit the PM of the country.” The Congress too accused

the EC of losing its credibilityand independence and saidtime has come to review theprocess of the poll panel’sappointment. Asking whetherthe model code of conduct hadbecome the “Modi code ofmisconduct”, Congress’ chiefspokesperson RandeepSurjewala said the EC ordercurtailing campaigning inBengal by 20 hours is a “darkspot” on India’s democracyand institutions like theElection Commission.

“It appears the ElectionCommission’s action is a part-ing gift” to Modi and the BJPto ensure Modi’s two pre-announced election rallies inMathurapur and Dum Dum onThursday are not hit, Surjewalaalleged.

Kejriwal said the people ofthe State will give a befittingreply to the “perpetrators ofviolence and hooliganism”.

Chandrababu Naidu toothrew his weight behindMamata. “It is disturbing to seeprompt action by the ECI on acomplaint by the BJP and Amit

Shah in Bengal, while conve-niently ignoring the complaintsof TMC,” Naidu tweeted.

Saying that it is high timethat the poll panel acts on com-plaints by the Opposition,Naidu said, “Giving clean chitto Narendra Modi, takingunjustified prompt action afterfalse complaints by BJP, wilfulinaction on genuine complaintsby Opposition parties clearlyraise doubts about the neu-trality, impartiality, and fairnessof the ECI.”

Accusing the EC of goingagainst all norms of democra-tic fair play, SP chief AkhileshYadav said, “The EC’s decisionto curtail campaigning inBengal is against all norms ofdemocratic fair play. I fully sup-port @MamataOfficial ji inher fight to stop the undemo-cratic march of the two and ahalf men who have used andabused every institution of ourcountry for their own gain.”

CPI(M) general secretarySitaram Yechury asked if thepoll body had set the time toallow Modi to address two ral-lies in Bengal in the afternoon.

“If a ban is intended for 72hours, why is it starting at 10pm tomorrow? Is it to allow thetwo rallies of the PrimeMinister before that?” Yechurytweeted.

DMK president MK Stalintweeted, “Ban on campaign innine constituencies in#WestBengal. The EC has oneset of rules for the Oppositionand another for the rulingparty. Highly condemnable.”

Continued on Page 4

PNS n NEW DELHI

The assassin of MahatmaGandhi, Nathuram Godse,

is in the centre of a fresh con-troversy as BJP’s Bhopal LokSabha candidate Sadhvi PragyaThakur on Thursday describedGodse a “deshbhakt”.

However, she retracted herstatement soon and apologisedwith her party condemningthe comment, but not beforethe Opposition Congress wentto town alleging that insultingmartyrs is in the DNA of thesaffron party. The Congressalso sought an apology fromPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Election Commissionhas (EC) sought a report fromMadhya Pradesh chief electoralofficer by Friday on Pragya’sstatement.

Talking to a news channelon Thursday, Pragya had said,“Nathuram Godse was a deshb-hakt (patriot), he is and willremain a deshbhakt. Thosecalling him a terrorist shouldinstead look at themselves.They will be given a befittingreply in this election.”

Pragya made the statementin response to a question overactor-turned-politician Kamal

Haasan’s remarks that Godsewas Independent India’s firstterrorist. The BJP condemnedPragya’s praise for Godse andasked her to tender an apolo-gy in public.

“We completely disagreewith her statement with regardto Mahatma Gandhi. Westrongly condemn this state-ment. The party will seek clar-ification from her. It would beproper for her to tender apublic apology for her objec-tionable statement,” BJPspokesperson GVL NarasimhaRao said in a statement.

Congress’ chief spokesper-

son Randeep Surjewala said, “Itis clear, the BJP people are thedescendants of Godse. BJPpeople say Godse was a patri-ot and martyr Hemant Karkarewas a traitor. Culture of vio-lence and insulting martyrs isthe DNA of the BJP.”

He said, “Modi-Amit Shahji’s favourite BJP leader PragyaThakur once again insultedthe whole nation by callingGandhi’s killer NathuramGodse ‘a true patriot’.”

The BJP, through its lead-ers, is repeatedly launching“malicious attacks” on theFather of the Nation’s thinking,path and ideology, Surjewalaalleged.

“This is a conspiracy toinsult Gandhian principles.This is an unforgivable crimewhich the country will notforgive,” he said. “If Modi ji hassome wisdom then he shouldpunish Pragya Thakur andapologise to the country,”Surjewala said.

Pragya had started herelection campaign by claimingthat late Mumbai Police Anti-Terrorist Squad chief HemantKarkare was killed in 26/11Mumbai terror attack becauseshe had cursed him.

PNS n MAU (UP)/MANDIRBAZAR(WB)

West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee and

Prime Minister Narendra Modiattacked each other onThursday over the smashing ofthe bust of Ishwar ChandraVidyasagar in the violence dur-ing BJP chief Amit Shah’s road-show in Kolkata on Tuesdayand traded barbs over buildinga new statue of the 19th centuryBengali icon.

Hours before the bittercampaign came to an end onThursday night, curtailed by aday by the ElectionCommission, Modi said hisGovernment was committedtowards Vidyasagar’s visionand promised to install hisgrand statue at the same spotin Kolkata.

Rejecting Modi’s offer,Mamata said Bengal does notneed BJP’s money and that theState has enough to rebuild thestatue. “We do not seek almsfrom the BJP,” said Mamata.

The Prime Minister andthe Trinamool Congress(TMC) supremo also tradedcharges as to who was respon-sible for the vandalisation of thebust. While Modi said the bustwas vandalised by “TMC goon-das”. Mamata claimed it wasBJP “hooligans” who haddestroyed the heritage of WestBengal.

“We have been witnessingthe attitude of Didi for long andnow the country is also seeingit. Dedicated to the vision ofIshwar Chand Vidyasagar, our

Government will install apanchdhatu (made up of fivemetals) statue at the very spotand give a reply to TMC goon-das,” Modi told a rally in Mauin Uttar Pradesh.

“The statue of IshwarChandra Vidyasagar was bro-ken by TMC goondas duringthe roadshow of BJP presidentAmit Shah. Those involved inthis act should be given exem-plary punishment,” the PrimeMinister said.

Addressing another rally at

Mathurapur in West Bengal,Modi alleged that the WestBengal Police, in connivancewith the State Government, wastrying to wipe out evidence ofthe vandalisation.

“Those involved in the actof vandalising the statue shouldbe given exemplary punish-ment,” Modi said, adding,“Police officers are trying towipe out the evidence of theincident in order to save theTMC goons.”

Continued on Page 4

PNS n NEW DELHI/PATNA

The Leader of Opposition inthe Rajya Sabha and senior

Congress leader Ghulam NabiAzad on Wednesday hintedthat his party was ready to giveup claims on the PrimeMinister’s post to prevent theBJP-led NDA return to power.

Azad’s statement is beingseen as a subtle hint to allies aswell as prospective partners ofthe Congress that the grand oldparty was flexible on the choiceof Prime Minister and wouldnot force them to accept theleadership of Rahul Gandhi.

Interacting with media inPatna, Azad said, “We havealready made our stand clear.If a consensus is made in thefavour of Congress, then theparty will take the leadershipbut our aim has always beenthat NDA Government shouldnot come. We will go with theunanimous decision.”

“We are not going to makean issue that we (Congress) willnot let anyone else become thePrime Minister if it is notoffered to us (Congress). Weare in the last phase of electionsand I can say on the basis of my

experience during campaign-ing across the country that nei-ther BJP nor NDA is going toreturn to power at the Centre.

“Narendra Modi is alsonot going to become the PrimeMinister for the second time...Non-NDA non-BJPGovernment will be installed atthe Centre after the Lok Sabhaelections,” Azad said.

Leaders such as MK Stalin,Tejashwi Yadav and evenArvind Kejriwal have said theyare ready to support Rahul.

Criticising the saffron

party, Azad said the BJP hasbeen “thoroughly exposed”after coming to power at theCentre as it has followed its ide-ology of “creating hatred anddivide” in society.

Azad also condemned thesmashing of the bust of IshwarChandra Vidyasagar, a notedphilosopher and a Bengal icon,during the clash between BJPand TMC supporters duringAmit Shah’s roadshow inKolkata on Tuesday and saidstern action should be takenagainst the guilty.

Opp backs Mamata, slams EC

Opp delegation, led by Cong’s Singhvi, calls on Election Commission

We don’t seek alms, Didisnubs PM’s statue pledge

Pragya says sorry on Godse after Opp flak, BJP reproof

Cong will forgo PM’s post

if it stops Modi, hints Azad

MOHIT KANDHARI n JAMMU

Six terrorists, including a topcommander of Jaish-e-

Mohammad (JeM), a Pakistaninational, were gunned down bythe joint teams of securityforces, while an Army jawanattained martyrdom, three oth-ers sustained injuries and acivilian lost his life in two sep-arate gunfights in SouthKashmir’s Pulwama andShopian districts on Thursday.

According to police spoke-sman, “Three terrorists werekilled in Dalipora of Pulwamaand three others in Handew ofShopian on Thursday.”

Violent protests werereported from Pulwama soonafter the gunbattle. Curfewlike restrictions have beenclamped in Pulwama town andsurrounding villages. Mobileinternet have been snapped asa precautionary step.

Separatists have calledshutdown on Friday against therecent killings.

Till the time of filing thereport, another fierce gun bat-tle was going on in Kandi areaof North Kashmir Kupwara.

Detailed report on P5

JeM commander

among six ultras

shot, Army jawan

martyred in J&K

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during an election rally for the last phase ofLok Sabha polls in Kolkata on Thursday PTI

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee greets supporters during an election rally on thelast day of campaigning ahead of the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha polls in Kolkata on Thursday PTI

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OPINION 8

MUSINGS ONSCIENCE

PTI n VARANASI

Amid election fever inVaranasi, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi’s popularityin this holy city can be seenfrom streets to stands, withbooksellers saying titles writ-ten on him are flying off theshelf ahead of the polls in hisconstituency.

Among the books doingwell are “The Real Modi” and“Narendra Modi: EkSakaratmak Soch”, according tobooksellers in the temple town.While the first one is an oldpaperback edition in Hindi, itis the second title that is catch-ing the eyes of readers in thetemple town.

Printed by publisherApurva Shah of Ahmedabad,“Narendra Modi: EkSakaratmak Soch” is an unusu-al book as it is shaped like acut-out put up during electionrallies. Amit Singh, propri-

etor of the nearly 50-year-oldUniversal Book Company,located near the famousGodowlia Chowk in the city,pointed to a row of standingminiature Modi cut-outsstacked on a bookshelf next toa Shiv Khera title.

“Those cut-outs are notpoll merchandises, but actual-ly a book published byNavrang Printers and peopleare lapping it up for its quirkydesign. This book and ‘TheReal Modi’ are selling like hotcakes, or should I say hotchai,” Singh told PTI.

The book cover shows aimage of Modi wearing a khadikurta over a churidar pyjamaand the content is printedbilingually, one side completelyin English and the other sidein Hindi. “During Modi’s road-show here ahead of filing nom-ination for the 2019 polls, alife-size version of the samebook was put up as part of the

rally,” Singh said.The book, which is about

11 inches long, saw a third edi-tion coming out in March, andthe number of pages corre-spond to Modi’s age, he said. Itis divided into several seg-ments and in the preface writ-ten by Shah, reference hasbeen made to the surgicalstrike and the airstrike, besidesModi government’s flagshipschemes like ‘Swachh Bharat’and ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’.

From Modi’s birthplace

Vadnagar in Gujarat, theunique-looking book takesreaders to his work regimen at7, Race Course Road, the offi-cial residence of the PrimeMinister. Singh claimed “TheReal Modi” is a bestsellerthroughout the year, but late-ly its sales have gone up, giventhe election fever gripping thepeople here. At Indica Books,publisher of a popular graph-ic novel-styled book “APilgrimage to Kashi”, a dummybook cover of “From Mahatma

Gandhi to Modi” dangles out-side the shop. A staff said, “Weare awaiting copies of his book,people want to read aboutModi and his life.”

Universal Book’s Singhsaid other titles are also sellingwell. “One such book is ‘RSS360 degrees’ and during elec-tion there is a renewed inter-est among readers about thisbook,” he said.

But, it’s not just book-shelves that are filled withpublications on Modi this elec-tion season, in streets and incorner shops, Modi bannersand posters can be seen.

Several autorickshaws ply-ing in Varanasi can been car-rying a poster of Modi’s pollcampaign, bearing slogans like— ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai’ or‘Aatank ko muhtod jawab’. “AtDLW Maidan, some BJP work-ers pasted these Modi postersbehind my auto,” said anautorickshaw driver. BSP chief Mayawati and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav wave at supporters at an election rally in Varanasi on Thursday Pioneer

Books on PM Modi in demand in Varanasi

city 02LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019

PNS n LUCKNOW

Congress general secretaryand east UP in-charge

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra saidthat except for self-publicity,the Bharatiya Janata Party didnothing during its five-yeartenure at the Centre.

Addressing a poll meetingin support of journalist-turnedCongress candidate SupriyaShrinate in Maharajganj onThursday, Priyanka said, “They(BJP) were interested only inself-publicity while farmers,youths and poor were facing alltypes of problems. I ask the BJPcandidate and five-time MPwhat he has done for the con-stituency and its people duringhis long stint in Parliament.”

The Congress star cam-paigner further charged that thecrop insurance premium ofover ̀ 10,000 crore only fattenedthe purse of industrialist friendsof Modi.

“Demonetisation and GST(Goods and Services Tax) havewreaked the economy whileMGNREGA, which had helpedfarmers during the UnitedProgressive Alliance regime,was weakened,” she said.

“We are confident that aftercoming to power, the MGNRE-GA would be strengthened byincreasing the labour days from100 to 150. Labourers would getwages regularly,” she added.

Priyanka accused the primeminister of solely concentratingon marketing strategies anddubbed him “arrogant”.

“In the past five years,Modi was seen going to everyplace across the world, but henever bothered to meet farm-ers of his own country,” she saidterming the PM anti-farmer.

She lambasted the govern-ment over an initiative it tookfor farmers. “They haveannounced `6,000 per year forfarmers under the KisanSamman Yojana scheme. Butthe scheme is an insult to farm-ers as a family of five would getjust `2 per day,” she said.

In comparison, theCongress had announced theNyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY)under which ̀ 72,000 would begiven every year to each poorfamily,” the Congress leadersaid.

Commenting on the job sit-uation, she said, “Five crore jobswere destroyed in the past fiveyears. As many as 24 lakh postsare lying vacant in govern-ment departments while 50lakh people lost their jobs dueto demonetisation.” Shepromised that the Congresswould fill vacant posts in gov-ernment departments.

Priyanka claimed that theBJP’s sole motive was to grabpower at any cost but the futureof the country was safe only inthe hands of Congress andhence people should vote forthe party candidate.

“Congress has never lied tothe people and has alwaysworked on ground. If our partyforms a government at theCentre, it will bring a farmerand development-oriented bud-get. We want to fight for every-one and hence vote Congress topower at the Centre andstrengthen your future,” sheexhorted the people, remindingthem of the elusive achhey dinpromised by the BJP during thelast parliamentary poll.

In her address, Congresscandidate Supriya Shrinate saidthat the entry of PriyankaGandhi Vadra in politics wasthe start of a new political erain the country. She urged peo-ple of her constituency to becautious of parties like the BJPwhich only had jumlebazi tooffer.

Maharajganj will witness atriangular contest between sit-ting BJP candidate PankajChaudhary, Samajwadi Partycandidate Akhilesh Singh andCongress’ Supriya Shrinate.

Polling will be held in thisconstituency on May 19 and thecampaigning will end on Fridayevening.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Congress president RahulGandhi stressed that if his

government came to power atthe Centre, government officeswould become totally corrup-tion-free.

Rahul Gandhi alsopromised the voters that ifvoted to power, the Congresswould refuel the engine ofcountry’s economy through itsproposed ‘NYAY’ scheme.

Addressing an electionmeeting in support of Congresscandidate RPN Singh inKushinagar on Thursday, Rahulexpressed concern over corrup-tion rampant in governmentdepartments and said,“Congress is committed towiping out corruption. In India,youths want to set up industrieslike in China and Japan buttheir efforts go haywire due tocorruption.”

He promised tax sops to allindustries for the first threeyears of their coming into exis-tence.

Attacking Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Rahul saidthat he (PM) was only lyingbefore the people. “We haveworked in Chhattisgarh,Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan

and waived farm loans withoutbias. Even, former MP ChiefMinister Shivraj SinghChouhan’s brother has beenbenefitted from it,” he said.

The Congress presidentcharged that the PrimeMinister and Uttar PradeshChief Minister had falselypromised to reopen Padraunasugar mills in 100 days.

“The chowkidar with 56-inch chest waived Rs 5.55 lakhcrore loans of industrialistsand several of them ran awaywith the money. I want to givethis money to the poor,” hesaid.

Accusing the PrimeMinister of taking ‘fuel out ofthe engine of the country’seconomy’, Rahul said that ifvoted to power, his party wouldrefuel it through the ‘NYAY’scheme. “We want to returnwhat Modi has snatched from

you all,” he told the gathering.Rahul said that economists

had approved the NYAYscheme in Congress poll man-ifesto which promises Rs72,000 per year to the poor.

“Modi went for demoneti-sation and GST (Goods andServices Tax) without advisefrom economists, leading toclosure of several shops andindustrial units due to whichlakhs of people lost their jobs.But our NYAY scheme willgenerate jobs,” he claimed.

Rahul also promised togive 22 lakh government jobswithin a year of Congress com-ing to power while 10 lakh jobswould be generated in thePanchayats.

On the promises made inCongress manifesto, he saidfarmers had suggested thatthey be told in advance howmuch funds would be allocat-ed for them at the beginning ofevery financial year and theparty had accepted it.

“Two budgets will bemade. The one for farmers willbe presented in the Lok Sabhabefore the general budget,”Gandhi said, adding theCongress has decided that nofarmer will be put in jail for notclearing debt after 2019.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Rallying behind ChiefMinister, Mamata Banerjee,

Bahujan Samaj Party chiefMayawati hit out at PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andthe Bharatiya Janata Party forthe violence in Kolkata duringits party chief Amit Shah’sroadshow on Tuesday andquestioned the ElectionCommission’s order cuttingshort campaigning in WestBengal by 19 hours.

“The BJP and RSS wereresponsible for the violence inKolkata to divert public atten-tion from the failure of theCentral government. The PMhas been targeting the Mamata(Banerjee) government for along time,” Mayawati said.

In a statement released inLucknow on Thursday, theBSP chief said the countryknows the reality of violentincidents in West Bengal andhow the BJP is trying to createdisturbances there.

“The manner in which theguru and chela are after theMamata government is alsoindicative of a ‘dangerousdesign’ which is not only wrongbut unjustified. Such a conspir-acy to defame Mamata and hergovernment is unbecoming ofa PM,” she charged.

“The BJP tried to createsimilar situation in UttarPradesh as well but we werecautious and prevented it,” shesaid.

Mayawati also slammedthe Election Commission forending the campaigning inWest Bengal on Thursday nightand asked whether it was wait-ing for the Prime Minister tocomplete his public meetings

and create hurdle before others. “This time the Election

Commission has failed to holdfree and fair polls in the coun-try and it seems that a politi-cal party is dictating its terms,”she alleged.

After the clash betweenBharatiya Janata Party andTrinamool Congress (TMC)supporters in Kolkata, theElection Commission onWednesday ordered that cam-paigning in nine West Bengalconstituencies would end at 10pm on Thursday, a day beforeits scheduled deadline.

Deputy ElectionCommissioner ChandraBhushan Kumar had said thatit was for the first time thatsuch an action had been takenusing constitutional powers ofthe panel. The ElectionCommission invoked Article324 of the Constitution to cur-tail campaigning for the lastphase of the election.

Meanwhile, in yet another

personal attack on the PrimeMinister, BSP chief Mayawation Thursday said how couldone expect Narendra Modi torespect women when he couldnot respect his wife.

Addressing an electionrally in Varanasi along withSamajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav and RLD’s Ajit Singh,Mayawati targeted Modi andBJP president Amit Shah, say-ing the “government of guruand chela” would be oustedfrom power on May 23, the dayresults of Lok Sabha pollswould be announced.

The BSP chief again allegedthat women in the BJP werescared of their husbands meet-ing the Prime Minister fearingthey might also “abandon theirwives”. “As the election is com-ing to an end Modi nowremembers women and talksabout giving them respect....How can one expect Modi,who cannot respect his wife, todo so for mothers and sisters,”

Mayawati said.The BSP chief also ques-

tioned the Prime Minister onhis caste. She claimed Modi had“lost his sleep” after it becameclear that the SP-BSP-RLDgrand-alliance was winning.

Varanasi, where Modi ispitted against alliance candidateShalini Yadav, goes to poll inthe seventh and last phase onMay 19.

Addressing the rally,Samajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav said that afterMay 23, the country would geta new prime minister.

He accused Modi of selling“false dreams” to the peopleand then “betraying” them.He said the BJP and Modi hadpromised to transformVaranasi into Kyoto (city ofJapan), but failed.

RLD chief Ajit Singhalleged that Modi failed toprovide jobs to youths andbulldozed institutions such asthe CBI and the RBI.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Questioning Congresspresident RahulGandhi’s silence over

the utterances of Mani ShankarAiyar against the PrimeMinister, Bharatiya Janata Partypresident Amit Shah said thatpeople would not tolerate theinsult of Narendra Modi andgive a befitting reply to theseparties in election.

“It is no secret that SamPitroda is the guru of RahulBaba and Mani Shankar is hisconfidant. They are utteringderogatory words against thePrime Minister but Rahul issilent. He should speak outwhether he approves Aiyar’sstatements or not,” Shah said ina series of rallies held inMaharajganj and Fefana andSikandarpur in Ballia onThursday.

Shah was reacting to Aiyar’sstatement in which he justifiedhis “neech” remark against thePrime Minister.

The BJP president said thatthe Centre had worked tireless-ly for full five years for the wel-fare of the people on the prin-ciple of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’.

“Around 26 lakh poor in UPhave been given free health careservice under Ayushman Bharatscheme and work have beendone on roads, hospitals,schools, drinking water and forproviding jobs to the youths,” hesaid.

Attacking the Congress,Shah said: “Rahul Baba is notgiving any account of the 55years of Congress rule, whichpulled the country backward.Instead, they are asking us aboutour five-year rule. The people ofthe country will never forgivethe Congress for its anti-peoplepolicies. A BJP government is amust at the Centre so that cor-ruption does not return to thecountry.”

The BJP chief also attackedBSP chief Mayawati and SPpresident Akhilesh Yadav, hold-ing them responsible for thebackwardness of UP. “Leaders ofthese parties only filled theirpockets in the name of schemesfor the poor but did nothing forsociety or the country,” he said.

Addressing a rally inMaharajganj to support BJPcandidate Pankaj Chaudhary,Shah said that achhe din hadreturned in UP after the BJPgovernment came to power andpeople were getting benefits ofgovernment schemes withoutany bias.

Mentioning local BJP MPPankaj Chaudhary, Shah saidthat he had done several worksin his constituency and wastherefore very popular amongthe masses.

Union Minister of State for

Finance, Shiv Pratap Shukla,who was also present, said thatonly Narendra Modi could givea strong government at theCentre and all should supporthim to make the country adeveloped nation.

In his address, BJP candi-date Pankaj Chaudhary saidthat the BJP government hadgiven benefits of welfare schemesto the last person in the societyand written a new chapter indevelopment.

Later in the evening, Shahheld a roadshow in Gorakhpurin support of party candidateand Bhojpuri cine-star RaviKishan. Chief Minister YogiAdityanath accompanied him inthe roadshow.

Muzaffarnagar: Police onThursday seized drugs worth ̀ 1crore from a truck here andarrested five people, a seniorofficer said. Acting on a tip-off,a police team raided a truck sta-tioned outside a restaurant hereand recovered 2004 kg todapost, SP Ajay Kumar said. Thecontraband was being smug-gled from Haryana and fivemen have been arrested. PTI

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NOTICE

"Let it be known to the peo-ple in general and in particularthat Rishab Agarwal, S/oSandeep Agarwal, R/o 143/66-A, Ram Kishan Park, PoliceStation-Aminabad, Lucknow-226018, U.P., From now onand in future shall be known as'Rishabh Agarwal' and in all thedocument pertaining to him."

NOTICE

I hereto known as NiazBano D/o Nawab HusainFaruki R/o Tarin Jalal NagarShahjhanpur Uttar Pradesh-242001 have changed myname and shall hereafter beknown as Nazneen Bano.

Rahul Gandhi kept mum when

Aiyar abused PM: Shah

BJP president Amit Shah along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and party candidate Ravi Kishan during aroadshow in Gorakhpur on Thursday PTI

BJP govt restored law of land in UP: YogiPNS n LUCKNOW

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said that law of

the land was restored after theBharatiya Janata Party came topower in Uttar Pradesh andforced criminals to flee, andthis resulted in the flow ofinvestments into the state.

“The Samajwadi Party andBahujan Samaj Party regimeswere corrupt and they patron-ised criminals. Goons of theseparties had occupied govern-ment land during their regimesbut when we came to power,we freed the land and openedhospitals, gaushalas and leasedout the remaining land to thepoor,” Yogi said while address-ing rallies in Ghazipur andPipraich on Thursday.

“Because of the BJP gov-ernment, there is fear in themind of goondas and this hasbeen possible because of thesupport of locals,” he said.

Hitting out at oppositionleaders who claim that nodevelopment has taken placein UP in the last two years,Yogi said, “Jin logon ko bhag-wan ne drishti hi nahin di,unhe vikas kabhi nahin dikhe-

ga.” (Those who are blind,cannot see development).

“The government hasworked in all sectors. Farmersare getting good remunerativeprice of their produce, thepoor have got free power con-nections, subsidised housesand free gas connections. TheCongress during its ruleignored farmers, soldiers andyouth but since NarendraModi has come to power allproblems are being solved,” hesaid.

Yogi specifically spokeabout One Rank One Pensionand said that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi implementedthe scheme which was noteven considered during previ-ous regimes.

Talking about the achieve-ments of the Modi govern-ment, Yogi said that due to thePrime Minister’s far-reachingforeign policies, India hadstarted being known for itspower globally. “Now terroristsare also aware of the fact thatbecause of the stringent rules,they cannot even plan to harmour country,” he said.

“The Prime Ministerextended benefits of govern-

ment schemes like concretehouses, free cooking gas andelectricity connections, toiletsand many more to poor fam-ilies without any bias. If devel-opment work has been donewithout bias, then you mustcast your vote for Modiji,” hesaid.

Yogi even questioned therationale of opposition partiesasking the caste of the PrimeMinister.

“This was done with thesole aim of weakening thecountry,” he said.

Giving assurance to thepeople, the Chief Ministersaid that after the BJP returnedto power, no one would haveto worry about development.

“The BJP government iscommitted towards it.Gorakhpur fertiliser factory,which is going to start soon,will not only create huge jobopportunities but farmers willget benefited too. Soon pro-duction of bio petrol anddiesel will start in sugar millswe have installed. Many millswere shut down during previ-ous regimes but when we tookover, we brought them back tolife,” Yogi said.

BJP govt did nothing

during its 5-year

term: Priyanka

Congress to stamp out

corruption, says Rahul

Mayawati comes out in support of Didi,flays PM, BJP for Kolkata violence

SP President Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati, RLD leader Ajit Singh and other leaders of the alliance wave at supportersduring an election campaign rally in Varanasi on Thursday PTI

Five held with drugs

city 03LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

District Magistrate KaushalRaj Sharma presided over

a meeting for training of count-ing personnel at ScientificConvention Centre onThursday. The votes will becounted at Ramabai AmbedkarRally Sthal in Lucknow onMay 23.

The meeting was attendedby the senior officials from thedistrict administration andbasic shiksha adhikari. TheDM, who is also the districtelection officer, said it wasnecessary for the counting par-ties to reach the venue at 6 am.

“No one will be allowed totake any mobile or electronicgadget inside the countingarea,” he said. He added thattables would be allotted to thepolling personnel on the basisof appointment letters.

“There will be one micro-observer present at each tableand their duty is to ensure thatthe process is fair,” he said.

Sharma said the address onthe case of EVMs should bematched with the booths andpolling agents be informedabout which booth the EVMbelongs to. “The control unit ofthe machine should be takenout of the carrying case and itshould be taken into accountthat the pink paper seal, stripseal and green paper seal andall-green paper seal are as perthe number series. The stripseal should be cut carefully sothat the series number of thegreen paper seal remainsintact,” the DM said.

“The result button shouldbe pressed without taking outthe special tag. When the resultbutton is pressed, the displayunit will show the total num-ber of votes cast and the serieswill be displayed as per theseries of candidates. Oneshould be careful that once thedisplay is carried out, it isshown to the micro-observersand polling agents,” he added.

The DM said that the vote

count needed to be announcedby the observers in such amanner that polling agentsand counting assistants couldlisten to it properly.

The DM also carried outthe training for counting ofpostal ballot at Collectorate. Hesaid for the counting of postalballot, ten tables would bekept for the Lucknow LokSabha constituency and six forMohanlalganj.

“The counting personnelshould ensure whether or notthe series number is there onboth the envelopes. If it is notthere on both the envelopes,the ballot must be rejected.They should take out the 13Adeclaration forms of votersand see whether their names,address and signatures as wellas the address of gazetted offi-cer and voter is given or not. Itwill also be seen whether or notthe designation of gazettedofficer is given, and if any ofthese details is missing, the bal-lot must be rejected,” he added.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Ayouth, identified asMohammed Kamran,allegedly attempted to

molest a 20-year-old college girlin Mashakganj area underWazirganj police stationaround 9 am on Thursday.However, the girl slappedKamran after which he and hisand his two unidentifiedaccomplices thrashed her.

Later, locals and passersbycaught hold of Kamran andgave him a sound thrashing.There were reports that the agi-tated crowd threw boiling oilon Kamran and he sustainedburns while his aides managedto escape.

The girl was rushed toBalrampur Hospital fromwhere she was discharged afterbeing administered first aid.

However, refuting reportsthat boiling oil was thrown onKamran, Wazirganj inspectorAK Singh claimed he lost con-trol while fleeing and fell on the

‘kadhai’ at a roadside eatery.The police said Kamran

and his four unidentifiedaccomplices had a clash withAman, Prince Aqeel andManish on Wednesday over asimilar incident with the samegirl who is also a resident ofMashakganj. However, thegroups had struck a compro-mise later.

Sources said Kamranwould stealthily stalk the girland he was doing the same onWednesday when he was con-

fronted. Kamran, along withhis aides, used to stalk to girlwhen she would go to her col-lege in Qaiserbagh.

The girl, who is pursuinggraduation, confronted himwhen she noticed that she wasbeing followed by him and hisfriends. She asked them tokeep distance and then startedignoring him. On Thursday,when Kamran acted fresh withher, she slapped him. Angeredover this, he and his friendsstarted beating her up.

She raised an alarm whenone of Kamran’s aides pickedup a brick to attack her and itdrew the attention of locals andpassersby. The crowd chasedKamran and his accompliceswhen they continued to abusethe girl and pass indecentremarks. “Kamran was beatenup while his aides managed toescape. In a bid to flee, heentered a halwai’s shop andtripped on a ‘kadhai’ filledwith scalding oil which fell nhim and he sustained severeburns,” the police said.

He was rushed toBalrampur Hospital where hiscondition was said to be criti-cal. His father Hussain Alilodged an FIR alleging that arival group made a murderousattack on him to settle scores.He also alleged the role of copsin the incident.

The inspector said investi-gations had been launched toexamine various aspects and noone found guilty would bespared.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Five persons, including a his-tory-sheeter, were arrested

from different areas of the statecapital in the past 24 hours.Those arrested were identifiedas Israeli (a history-sheeter atBakshi-ka-Talab police station),Atul Rawat, Surendra Rawat,Ranjeet Dhiman and DevNarayan alias Mukesh. Six carbatteries, a pair of screw drivers,two iron-cutting machines, twopairs of gold chains, a stolenmotor-cycle, Rs 400 in cash, acountrymade pistol and five livecartridges were recovered fromtheir possession.

As per reports, Israeli hadnot been visiting the BKTpolice station to put his signa-ture on a register for a week.Senior sub-inspector GirishShanker Yadav was asked to nabhim and bring him to thepolice station as he might beplanning to commit somecrime. A manhunt waslaunched for his arrest and aninformer tipped off the policethat Israeli had been spotted inBhasamau (BKT) on Thursday

afternoon. The senior S-I, alongwith others, rushed to theplace to nab him. He tried toescape but was held. A stolenmotorcycle, a countrymade pis-tol, five live cartridges, twopairs of gold chains and Rs 400were recovered from his posses-sion. He has been detained fortwo days.

Meanwhile, others, said tobe the active members of agang involved in stealing car

batteries from Gaura area inAliganj also landed in policenet. The gang was being run byAtul Rawat while Dhiman andMukesh used to conduct recceat nights. The miscreants dis-guised as mechanics wouldvisit the sites recced by theiraccomplices to fob off thepassersby. They had been run-ning the gang for over eightyears and raking in moolah byselling off stolen batteries.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The Forest Department is carryingout the biggest plantation this

year in terms of planting 22 croresaplings in the state and has termed itas Vriksh Mahakumbh. In Lucknowdistrict over 26 lakh saplings will beplanted which will include the 10 lakhby the Forest Department and 16 lakhby the other departments.

The Mission Coordinator,Plantation, Forest Department,Vibhash Ranjan, while talking to ThePioneer, said that the main highlightof this year’s plantation was that it wascalled Vriksh Mahakumbh since theywere planting over 22 crore saplingswhich had never ever been planted inthe state. He said that the other high-light was that that they had raised 26crore saplings in the nurseries of thestate which was a very large number

for the plantation exercise. “We havetill date not raised such a large num-ber of saplings in the nurseries of thestate,” he stated. The official said thatthis was for the first time when theyhad carried out a micro plan whereeach gram panchayat was visited andfeedback was taken from the farmersas to what kind of plantation did theywant. “Over 59,000 gram panchayatswere visited and details were taken interms of the trees which they desiredto be planted and the species were raised in the nurseries according-ly,” he said.

Giving the current work whichwas being carried out by the ForestDepartment, he said that they weretrying to ensure that quality saplingswere raised in the nurseries. “Currentlywe are carrying out the digging for theplantation and the other departmentswould also soon carry out the digging

in their areas as the money for it hasalready been released,” he said.

The DFO, Avadh, Manoj Sonkar,said that they would be planting 26lakh saplings in Lucknow districtwhich included 10 lakh by the ForestDepartment and 16 lakh by otherdepartments which include GramVikas, Education, Avas Vikas andindustries etc. He said that most of thefarmers had stated that they wantedcommercial species to be planted.

“They have demanded specieslike the saigon, eucalyptus and othertrees which are commercially viable.They are also demanding mango andguava fruit tree species,” he said. Hesaid that currently they were focusingon raising these saplings in the nurs-eries. “We are raising over 30 lakhsaplings. We will also be giving themto the other government depart-ments,” he said.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Over 60 heritage monu-ments of Lucknow which

come under the ArchaeologicalSurvey of India will get theirown byelaws which will helpthem in regulating the con-struction activities aroundthem. Sibtainabad Imambarawas one of the first monumentswhich got its own set of byelawsin the city recently. A seniorofficial from the ASI, whiletalking to The Pioneer, said thatthey had completed the geomapping of all the monumentsand submitted it to theRegional Office.

“They will make thebyelaws for these monuments,”he said. Elaborating on the factas to why the need for thesebyelaws arose, he said, thatevery monument had a charac-

ter which was specific to it andhence there was a need forthese byelaws which were spe-cific to that particular monu-ment.” He said that once thesebyelaws were drafted theywould be submitted to theagents such as LucknowDevelopment Authority whichpassed the maps and blue-prints of the residential hous-es. “Once they have this infor-mation in hand they can passthe maps accordingly.”

He further said that theGovernment of India hadamended the AncientMonuments andArchaeological Sites andRemains Act, 1958, in the year2010 to include certain newersub-sections. The official saidthat the heritage byelaws wouldgive the protected area, the pro-hibited area and the regulated

area around the monument.“One of the major amend-

ments is the provision ofHeritage byelaws for prohibit-ed and regulated areas for eachcentrally-protected monu-ments and sites. In the year2011 through a gazette notifi-cation dated August 23, 2011,the Government of India hadnotified the AncientMonuments andArchaeological Sites andRemains (framing of Heritagebyelaws and other functions ofthe Competent Authority)Rules 2011. The rules providecertain parameters which willbe considered for the prepara-tion of the heritage byelaws,” hesaid.

It was further said that thecompetent authority, in consul-tation with the Indian NationalTrust for Arts and Cultural

Heritage, being a trust regis-tered under the Indian TrustsAct, 1882, or such other expertheritage bodies as may be noti-fied by the CentralGovernment have been direct-ed to prepare heritage byelawsin respect of each protectedmonument and protected area.

Officials said that the her-itage byelaws should, in addi-tion to such matters as may beprescribed, include mattersrelating to heritage controlssuch a elevation, facades,drainage systems, roads andservice infrastructure, includ-ing electric poles, water andsewer pipelines. The CentralGovernment should, by rules,specify the manner of prepara-tion of detailed site plans inrespect of each protected areaor protected monument orprohibited area or regulated

area, the time within whichsuch heritage bye-laws shouldbe prepared and particulars tobe included in each such her-itage byelaw.

The competent authorityhas been given the power forpreparing detailed site plansand heritage byelaws and mayappoint a number of experts orconsultants as it may think fit.

“Each heritage byelawshould, be made available to thepublic by the competentauthority by exhibiting it on itswebsite and also in any othermanner it may think fit, imme-diately after laying it beforeeach House of Parliament,”said the officials. It may bepointed out here that 19 draft-ed heritage byelaws are underthe consideration of NMA forbeing finalised before they arelaid before the Parliament.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Two unidentified miscreantson Friday deprived a woman

of her hand bag containing jew-ellery and Rs 700 in cash nearPGI police outpost on Rae Bareliroad. The victim was identifiedas Sunita Kaul, who is a teacherat a college located near SGPGI.

Police said she got downfrom the autorickshaw near thepolice outpost around 6:30 amto go to her college. In the mean-time, two bike-borne unidenti-fied persons screeched to a haltnear the woman and intro-duced themselves as policeinspectors. They told her to puther ornaments in her hand bagin view of the chain/purse-snatchers and tricksters on theprowl in the area. One of themtold the woman that she couldbe fined as the government hadordered no woman could moveon the roads while wearingjewellery. The gullible womanput her earrings, anklets, rings

and nose pin in the bag whichthe miscreants snatched andsped off. She raised an alarmafter which passersby rushed toher rescue, but the miscreantshad escaped by then. Policeregistered a case of loot follow-ing the complaint lodged by thewoman in the evening. She is thewife of Kishore Kaul, an employ-ee of SGPGI. The woman toldthe police that the one riding thebike was wearing a helmet whilethe pillion-rider was sportingshades. She added that ‘UPPolice’ was written on the bike’svisor in block letters.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia helda meeting with Lucknow

Municipal Corporation offi-cials ahead of the monsoon inconnection with the cleaning ofdrains. She told the officialsconcerned that meetings hadbeen held on the issue for thelast several years and budgetsincreased, but the situationremained the same. She saidshe felt disappointed because itwas public that was at thereceiving end.

She said it was important toensure there was no waterlog-ging in the city this year. “Sinceyou are familiar with all thepoints in the city facing water-logging issues, use your expe-rience and address the issue,”she told the officials. “Monsoonis expected to arrive nextmonth but no work regardingcleaning of drains has started asyet. Concerted efforts shouldbe made to ensure all possibleresources are used to addressthe problem of waterlogging,”she added. Bhatia said the offi-cials should team up with the

staff to carry out inspectionsand issue clear instructions tocomplete the cleaning work byJune 12. “A separate teamshould be made for the gener-al public when they request forredressal of any issue. Everyteam should put up pho-tographs of drains before andafter the cleaning,” she said.

Additional municipal com-missioner Archana Dwivedi

directed the staff to create a ros-ter and maintain a record ofdrains cleaned and pass theinformation to the mayor andMunicipal Commissioner.

The mayor directed therubbish removal departmentstaff to clean the drains with thehelp of machines. She appealedto the residents to monitor thecleaning work and contact her,if required.

Youth stalking girl lands up

in hospital after thrashing

There were

reports that

boiling oil was

thrown at the

accused, but

police said he fell

on a ‘kadhai’ at a

halwai’s shop and

sustained burns

School students taking part in an awareness rally taken out from 1090 crossing on the occasion of National Dengue Day on Thursday Pioneer

DM conducts training

of counting personnel

Over 60 city monuments to come under ASI

Clean all drains before monsoon arrives: Mayor

Conmen posingas cops targetanother woman

THERE HAS BEEN A

SPATE IN SUCH

INCIDENTS OF LATE AND

THE POLICE HAVE BEEN

HELPLESS AS SEVERAL

WOMEN HAVE BEEN

DUPED IN THE

SAME MANNER

History-sheeter among five

land in police dragnet

Gang members stealing car batteries in police custody Pioneer

Vriksh Mahakumbh: Forest dept

to plant 22 cr saplings this year

Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia carrying out inspection in a city area of Thursday

city/nation 04LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Thousands of aspirantsappeared in Uttar Pradesh

Combined Agriculture andTechnology Entrance Test(UPCATET) at IntegralUniversity which was the cen-tre for the exam. This year,UPCATET has been conduct-ed by Narendra DevaUniversity of Agriculture andTechnology (Ayodhya) for UG,PG and PhD programmes.

“In the field of agriculture,students can pursue UG, PGand doctoral programmes.There are various specialisa-tions that are famous amongthe students such asMicrobiology, Plant Protection,Horticulture, Floriculture,Agro Forestry and Forestry,”media spokesperson of IntegralUniversity said.

Agriculture plays a pivotalrole in the growth of any stateand UP has a large scope foragriculture and technology-related courses.

“At the Integral Institute ofAgricultural Science andTechnology (IIAST), the mainemphasis is placed in aug-

menting teaching besidesresearch and extension activi-ties in agriculture. Agriculturaleducation involves more thanjust teaching students the basicsof seed production or how tojudge livestock. It provides theopportunity for people tounderstand that agriculture isnot just farming but a sustain-able way of life. The field ofagriculture is an ideal educa-tional spot for both foodies andnature lovers” said media coor-dinator Mizab Zamzam.

“With a degree inAgricultural Science, one canhave a career in the agriculturesector. Major domains withinthe agriculture sector includeagribusiness, R&D organisa-tions, public & private agencies,government sectors and privateconsulting companies. BSc inAgriculture offers an off-beatand unmatchable pathway witha grand scope. With the adventof technology and recent gov-ernment endeavors supportingagricultural studies, the scopehas widened. There are decentsalary packages offered toAgriculture graduates,” headded.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

President of KalakaarAssociation Sangam

Bahuguna said on Thursdaythat with the Central govern-ment withdrawing grants forindividual plays, the theatrescene would see a dip in thecoming days.

“The Union Ministry ofCulture had been providinggrants for the conduct of indi-vidual plays, which resulted ina boom in the city. Now thatthe provision of this grant hasbeen withdrawn, the number ofplays staged will go down,” hesaid.

Bahuguna said though the

audience had not increasedfor the plays, every group hadbeen able to catch their own setof audience. “There were playsbeing performed almost everyday because of the grant,” hepointed out. He added thatwith the theatres charging highrental, it would be difficult forthe artistes to stage plays.

“While Sangeet NatakAkademi charges high rental,halls like Rai Umanath Bali arenot well maintained thoughthey are less expansive,” he stat-ed. The theatre director andactor said young people whohad emerged on the theatrehorizon would now face prob-lems due to lack of associations.

He admitted that most ofthe people in theatre werethere because they wanted toenter films. “It is sad thatthough most of the time wehave film shootings in the statecapital, the artistes are givenpeanuts,” he said, adding thatthe local talent was not tappedproperly.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Cocking a snook at ChiefMedical Officer Narendra

Agarwal’s order, officials in theleprosy department are yet toshift the office of district leprosyofficer (DLO) from a residentialquarter to a government build-ing. The CMO, through a letteron April 24, had ordered theshifting of DLO’s office from aresidential quarter in ChandanNagar to a government buildingin Paltan Chhawani with imme-diate effect.

However, Health depart-ment sources said the officialsconcerned were looking theother way due to vested inter-ests. “Over 90 per cent employ-

ees of the leprosy departmenthad given their approval toshifting of the office after whichCMO issued the order. Thenew office was renovated inApril but the CMO’s order isyet to be acted upon,” thesources said.

The sources claimed thatsince present DLO PK Agarwalwas set to retire in June, he wasdelaying the process whilesome other officials living nearold office had initiated steps toget the order rescinded.

Incidentally, the YogiAdityanath government hasissued an order to shift govern-ment offices from residentialquarters to government build-ings to save revenue.

CISH nursery

attracting

farmers,

entrepreneurs

Lucknow (PNS): The high-tech nursery of the CentralInstitute for SubtropicalHorticulture (CISH) is attractingfarmers and entrepreneurs fromdifferent parts of the country.CISH director Shailendra Rajansaid the well established modernscientific nursery unit of theinstitute was producing qualityplanting material which is sup-plied to the farming communi-ties and also supporting KrishiVigyan Kendras for establishingmother blocks. He pointed outthat in the last five years, sever-al grafts of superior varieties ofmango, guava, bael, aonla andjamun had been produced at thenursery. “Entrepreneurs fromdifferent parts of the countryvisit the nursery for learningnew multiplication techniquesand understanding how toresolve problems faced by them.In many parts of the country,farmers have become entrepre-neurs by producing lakhs ofgrafted plants in a year andearning handsome profits,” hepointed out.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Aspecial lecture was organ-ised at the Khwaja

Moinuddin Chishti Urdu-Arabi-Farsi University to makethe students aware about thetechniques of preparing forvarious competitive examina-tions and enhancing theiremployability in variousstreams.

The lecture was deliveredby Dr M Ashraf Rizvi, formerDirector, IIM, Indore, and theChairman of the Institutewhich prepares the students forvarious competitive examina-tions like IPM, CLAT, NEET,CAT, IAS, PCS, SSC, GRE,TOEFL, IELTS etc and whichis a joint initiative of variousIIM and IIT faculty and alum-ni who mentor the aspirantsand provide them training.

The university looks for-ward to collaborating with theinstitute for preparing the stu-dents for various competitiveexams. While addressing thestudents and faculty membersof the university Dr Rizvi saidthat a large number of studentswere obtaining degrees fromdifferent universities and yetnot getting employment. Hefurther added that the jobswere limited but the number ofapplicants was increasing every

year. Thus the only way toattain a job is through compe-tition. He further added thateffective mentoring andimpactful training couldenable the students to crackvarious competitive examina-tions and excel in their careers.He also told the students thatthe key to success was the abil-ity to chase their dreams witha firm determination.

Aftab Ahmad Khan, for-mer Additional DGP, CRPF,presently working asMotivational Speaker at theInstitute, also addressed thestudents to make them awareabout the ongoing call forrecruitment in CRPF. He urgedthe students to fill the formsand prepare themselves forvarious competitions. He alsostressed the need for physicalfitness for recruitment in thearmy, navy and air force jobs.He told the students to self -analyse their capabilities for

selecting a suitable career.Prof Mahrukh Mirza, Vice

-Chancellor of the University,also encouraged the students toparticipate in various com-petitive examinations. Heurged them to contributetowards the progress of thenation by participating active-ly on various fronts. He toldthe students not to evaluatetheir strengths and capabilitiesaccording to the perspective ofothers. He told them that tolead a successful life it wasimportant that they regularlyenhanced their strengths andovercame their weaknesses.He further added that theUniversity had undertakenseveral measures to increasethe employability of the stu-dents. The programme wasconvened by Dr SaubanSayeed, Department of Urdu,and the vote of thanks wasproposed by Prof SSA Asharfi,head, Department of Urdu.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Governor Ram Naik’s book‘Charaiveti! Charaiveti!!’

will be published in Braillescript by National Associationfor the Blind in three lan-guages — English, Hindi andMarathi. NAB secretary gener-al Satya Kumar Singh met theGovernor on Thursday andsought his approval to publishthe book in Braille script. “Thiswill help visually impaired per-sons to read the book whichwill inspire them to overcomeodds in their life,” he said.

On the occasion,Governor’s daughter VishakhaKulkarni, NAB state headShailendra Jain and Additional

Chief Secretary Hemant Raowere also present.

Naik presented English,Hindi and Marathi editions of‘Charaiveti! Charaiveti!!’ toSatya Kumar Singh.

The book contains mem-oirs of Ram Naik’s life andstruggles and it has been trans-lated into ten languages so far.It is basically a compilation ofarticles in Marathi, which werepublished in a Marathi Daily‘Sakal’. The book was initiallyreleased by Chief Minister ofMaharashtra DevendraFadnavis on April 25.

The German edition of thebook will soon be released inPune University, where Naikwas a student.

CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHYOmansh Sharma, a Class IV student of

CMS, Anand Nagar, Campus grabbed thechampionship trophy of National AbacusCompetition held in New Delhi. The compe-tition was organised under the aegis of educa-tional institute Brainobrain. Omansh showcasedhis talent in various subjects, especially in Mathematics,among the state-level toppers and emerged the champion.

Concern over lack of jobs

CITYBRIEFS

Withdrawal of Central grants

a dampener for theatre

Despite CMO order,DLO office yet to be shifted

Scores of aspirants appear in UPCATET

NAB to produce Braille

version of Guv’s book

A team of LMC removing encroachments from BN Road on Thursday Pioneer

OPP BACKS...AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also hit out

at the Election Commission and asked campaign-ing was cut short only in West Bengal. “Why onlyWest Bengal, natural justice & fair play demands it should have been for entire 7th Phasewhy only West Bengal, why not for Eastern UP,”Owaisi said.

The West Bengal Chief Minister on Thursdaythanked Opposition leaders, who came out in hersupport as she protested against the ElectionCommission’s decision. “Thanks and gratitude to@Mayawati, @yadavakhilesh, @INCIndia, @ncbnand others for expressing solidarity and supportto us and the people of #Bengal. EC’s biasedactions under the directions of the #BJP are adirect attack on democracy. People will give abefitting reply,” Mamata tweeted.

WE DON’T SEEK...Mamata told a rally in Mandirbazar that it is

a matter of shame for Bengalis that the bust ofVidyasagar was vandalised. “Bengal does not seekalms from BJP. We have the money for a new bustof Vidyasagar, who was part of BengalRenaissance. Don’t you (BJP) feel ashamed say-ing that Bengal has been reduced to a State ofbeing a pauper”.

Hitting back at Modi’s charge that TMCgoondas were responsible, the feisty TMC supre-mo called the Prime Minister a liar, the “like ofwhich was never seen in the country”. “He (Modi)should squat holding his ears for destroying a her-itage of the State,” she said. “The media has shownhow Vidyasagar’s bust was broken. Bengalis’ prideis hurt that they will not spare BJP. They will notgive it (BJP) a single vote .... It will be very sur-prising if Modi gets a single vote from Bengalis,”Mamata claimed.

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

In a bizarre incident reportedfrom Outer district, a 30-

year-old man allegedly throt-tled his three and a half-year-old daughter as he suspectedhis wife’s fidelity. The killerfather reportedly confessedthat he was averse to his childgrowing up under his wife’sinfluence. Police have arrestedthe accused father.

The accused identified as,Malkit Singh, had a stressfulrelationship with his wife andafter killing his daughter, theman tried to hang himself butcould not succeed. Singh livedwith his wife and daughter at arented house in Uday Vihar,which comes under the NihalVihar Police Station.

The couple was suspectedto be under the influence ofalcohol although a medical

report is awaited. Police saidthe couple fought even beforethe incident.

According to Seju PKuruvilla, the DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP), Outer district, the landlord of the accused wholives in Uday Vihar houseinformed the police onWednesday morning that Singhhad killed the child.

“When police reached thehouse, they learnt that thecouple had gone off to TilakNagar. They took the body ofthe child to Singh’s house inTilak Nagar where his parentsused to stay. The duo toldthem that the child had been illand that led to her death,” saidthe DCP.

“The accused father wasarrested from Tilak Nagarwhile the child was rushed toa nearby hospital where she was

declared brought dead,” saidthe DCP.

“During initial investiga-tion it was revealed that Singhand his wife often fought as hesuspected that she was havingan-extramarital affair.

Fed up with constantfights, the couple had initially planned to end their life and send their daugh-ter to her grandparents,” saidthe DCP.

“During interrogation, theaccused told the police that he suspected his wife of havingan illicit relationship and didnot want his daughter to beunder her influence, so hedecided to first kill his daugh-ter and then kill himself,” saidthe DCP.

“On the night of the inci-dent, when his wife fell asleep,Singh allegedly tried strangu-late his three-and-a-half-year-old daughter with bare hands.However, when he failed, he

strangulated her using a“dupatta” and later tried to hang himself,” said theDCP.

“When his wife woke up,she raised an alarm and foundthe body of her child. The cou-ple fought again during whichSingh threatened his wife thathe would kill her if she report-ed the incident to anyone,”said the DCP.

Singh worked as a deliveryboy with a food joint and lefthis job two months ago afterfailing to get incentives. He wasaddicted to alcohol. His wife, ahousemaker sometimesworked at private firms. Thecouple got married in 2014,police said, adding investiga-tion is underway to ascertainthe sequence of event. Thebody has been sent for post-mortem and the reports areawaited, the DCP added.

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

Suspecting that his step-fatherhad bad intentions towards his

younger sister, a 20-year-old youthallegedly killed his stepfather fol-lowing a quarrel with him inDwarka’s Najafgarh area onWednesday.

Police have arrested, theaccused identified as Yogender,who had killed his step fatherDevender. They used to live at BabaHaridas Nagar in Najafgarh.Devender was 27-year-old andhad married Yogender’s mother in2012. According to a senior policeofficial, the incident took place onWednesday afternoon and afterkilling his step-father, Yogendercalled the police and informedthem that he had killed his step-father. “The police thereafter tookthe accused into custody. The vic-tim was rushed to a nearby hospi-tal where he was declared broughtdead,” said the senior police offi-cial. “Initial probe suggests that the45-year-old mother of the accusedstarted living with Devender, a yearafter her husband passed away in2011. The woman also has a seven-year-old son from Devender,” saidthe senior police official.

During interrogation, the

accused told the police that he sus-pected that Devender had badintentions towards his 15-year-old sister.

“On Wednesday, a quarrelbroke out between Yogender andhis step-father Devender over someissue. When the argument turnedugly, he took out a knife andattacked his step-father,” said thesenior police official.

“The deceased is a permanentresident of Aligarh and was stay-ing here at Najafgarh. Police haverecovered the knife used in crime.Further investigation is under-way,” the senior police officialadded.

Meanwhile, the Gurugrampolice on Thursday arrested aphysics teacher and an MBA degreeholder in connection with KherkiDaula toll plaza incident that took

place on Wednesday night. Inwhich a man in a car pulled out agun which reportedly said to be alighter gun and threatened the tollcollector, pushed the boom barri-er and drove off without paying.The police have recovered a car anda lighter gun which they had pur-chased from a toy shop located inDelhi from their possession.

Those arrested have been iden-tified as Kashish Lamba (23) ofPathankot at present residing in arented accommodation at Sector-17 and Mohit (27) of Karnal cur-rently residing at Sector-87.Kashish is an MBA professionaland was under training at a privatefirm while Mohit is a physicsteacher associated with a privateschool located at Farrukhnagar.According to the police a complaintwas submitted to the district policeby the toll plaza collector AmitSingh, the incident took placeclose to 9.30 pm in lane number 19.

“A white car, travelling fromManesar towards Gurugram wasstopped at the toll plaza. The dri-ver refused to pay the toll. Therewere two people in the car. Theygot out One man had a weapon. Hethreatened me and told to open theboom barrier,” Singh stated in thecomplainant.

Suspecting wife’s fidelity, man kills toddler

‘On the night of the incident,when his wife fell asleep,Singh allegedly tried to

strangulate his three-and-a-half-year-old daughter withbare hands. However, when

he failed, he strangulated herusing a “dupatta” and later

tried to hang himself’

Youth kills ‘lecherous’ stepfather

to save his teenaged sister

Ghazipur/Pipraich: UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said on Thursdaythat by asking the caste ofPrime Minister NarendraModi, the opposition is plot-ting to weaken the country.Training guns at the Congress,he said the party ignoredfarmers, soldiers and the youthduring the UPA regime.

Adityanath said due toforeign policy of the Modi-leddispensation at the Centre,India is globally known for itspower. “Now the terroristsare also aware of the fact thatbecause of the stringent rules,they cannot even think ofharming our country,” he said.

The Chief Minister saidthe BJP is committed towardsthe development of the coun-try and in the last five years,the party has worked for themarginalised sections of soci-ety. “By asking the caste of

Modi, the opposition is plot-ting to weaken the country.The PM has extended thebenefits of governmentschemes like concrete houses,gas, electricity and toilets, etc.to crore of poor families with-out any discrimination,” hesaid. Before the last phase ofpolling in the state, Adityanathaddressed two rallies inGehmar of Ghazipur andGulhariya of Pipraich onThursday. “SP-BSP goons wereoccupying the land duringtheir government’s tenure butwhen we came in power, wefreed the land and openedhospitals, cow shelters andleased out the remaining landto the poor,” he claimed.“Gorakhpur fertilizer factory,which is going to start soon,will not only create job oppor-tunities for the youth butfarmers will get benefited too,”Adityanath said.

Adityanath hits outat Opp for askingPM Modi’s caste

Ballia: The Congress hasannounced its support to theSP-BSP-RLD alliance candi-date Sanatan Pandey on thisseat. “We will support SPcandidate Pandey as we didnot have our candidate here.Our objective is to ensure

defeat of the BJP candidate,”Congress District presidentSachidanand Tiwari toldreporters here. This LokSabha constituency goes topolls in the seventh and lastphase of elections on Sunday. PTI

Mahagathbandhan candidate

in Ballia gets Cong’s support

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019 nation 05

PNS n NEW DELHI

The CBI probe into theBofors case relating to the

alleged `64 crore kickbacks inthe purchase of the Swedishartillery guns will continue, theCBI said here on Thursday.

“In view of certain revela-tions made by one MichaelHershman, CBI sought thepermission of the trial court toconduct further investigation inthe Bofors case,” CBIspokesperson Nitin Wakankarsaid in a statement.

The CBI spokesperson saidon May 8 this year, the courthad observed that when inde-pendent right and power isavailable with the CBI to fur-ther investigate the matter ontheir own, if in their wisdom itis necessary to do so then, whystill such application is beingfiled in the court?

“After obtaining legal opin-ion, CBI filed an application onMay 16, 2019 in the court ofCMM, Rouse Avenue Courts,New Delhi, stating that forconducting further investiga-tion under section 173 (8) ofCr.PC (Criminal ProcedureCode), permission of the courtis not mandatorily required byCBI and an intimation to thecourt in this regard will suffice,”Wakankar said.

He further said the probe inthe Bofors case will continue.

The agency’s response cameafter it withdrew from a Delhicourt its application to seek per-mission to further probe thepolitically sensitive `64 croreBofors payoff case for which theCBI has already spent crores of rupees in investigationwithout any convictions in thecase.

Meanwhile, the agency onThursday withdrew from thespecial court a 2018 applicationthat had sought permission tofurther probe the Bofors case.

The agency told ChiefMetropolitan Magistrate NavinKumar Kashyap that it wants towithdraw the application filedon February 1, 2018.

The CBI had moved thetrial court seeking permissionfor further probe in the mattersaying it had come across freshmaterial and evidence.

Taking note of CBI’s stand,the judge said: “For the reasonbest known to the CBI, in casethey want to withdraw theapplication, they have the rightas they are the applicants.”

The court had onDecember 4, 2018 questionedas to why the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) required itspermission to further probe thematter.

The CBI had also filed anappeal in the Supreme Courton February 2, 2018 against theMay 31, 2005 verdict of theDelhi high Court dischargingall the accused in the case.

The apex court had onNovember 2, 2018 dismissedCBI’s appeal in which it hadsought an order to condone the13-year delay in filing theappeal against the high courtjudgment.

ARCHANA JYOTI n NEW DELHI

Adding 896 square kilome-tre of landscape to the

existing Maenam, FambongLho and Barsey wildlife sanc-tuaries and creating three newprotected areas in Yumsedong,Lachen and Chungthangregions, the pristine ecosystemsharbouring some of the rarespecies, are some of the imme-diate measures that need to betaken to ensure meaningfulconservation goals in Sikkim inthe face of climate changethreats, researchers have point-ed out.

In a study published in thelatest issue of BiologicalConservation, the researchers,after using a combination ofspecies distribution modelling(SDM) and systematic con-servation planning techniques,delineated and prioritised areasfor endemic plant species con-servation under current andfuture climate conditions span-ning between 2050s and 2070s.

They found that plant

species in Sikkim will shiftnorthward and towards high-er elevation from their currenthabitats under future greenhouse gas emission scenarios.To tackle the threat, theresearchers said, “Our analysesshow that to mitigate the effectsof ensuing climate change, asingle large PA with wide geo-graphic and elevational extentsinstead of several smaller PAswould be a more prudent strat-egy for conserving the plant

diversity in the Himalaya.” “The consequences of

warming and altered distribu-tion of plant species entailsredefining the existing bound-aries of protected areas,” saidlead author Maharaj K Pandit,Director, Centre for Inter-dis-ciplinary Studies of Mountainand Hill Environment(CISMHE), University of Delhiand Ngee Anne Kongsi, dis-tinguished professor, NationalUniversity of Singapore.

They asserted that theapplication of this research,would be helpful to the deci-sion-makers in redrawing PAboundaries in the light of cli-mate change.

Pandit explained that,“there are limited genuineempirical studies on theHimalayas that can shed lighton the quantum of impact onbiodiversity patterns due toglobal change, of which climatechange is a part.

“We have to redesign ourbiodiversity conservation plansto keep pace with the changingdistribution patterns of species.

Moreover, biodiversity andlivelihoods in India are close-ly linked. This demands that wesit up and take note and notconsider these warnings a mereacademic exercise.”

According to theresearchers, the severe effect ofclimate change on Sikkimfauna might even lead to seri-ous consequences like theextinction of some species.Hence, “we recommend long-term monitoring and detailedstudies to understand sucheffects and consequences sothat mitigation measures can beundertaken,” they said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Aday before the SupremeCourt is to decide whether

his arrest was needed or not,the controversial formerKolkata Police chief RajeevKumar on Thursday reportedat the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA).

Kumar, who was shuntedfrom Kolkata on Wednesdaynight by the ElectionCommission, joined the MHAin the afternoon without get-ting any assignment. TheCentre is waiting for the apexcourt’s order on the CBI’s appli-cation to interrogate Kumar,who was involved in a face-offwith the agency in connectionwith Saradha and Rose Valleychit fund scams.

Following his face-off withthe CBI, Kumar was posted asADG, CID in Kolkata.

Currently, Kumar is onattachment with the HomeMinistry as per the ElectionCommission’s order, said a

senior MHA official. In anunprecedented move, the pollpanel had on Wednesdayinvoked Article 324 andordered campaigning in nineWest Bengal constituencies to

end at 10 pm on Thursday, aday before its scheduled dead-line, in the wake of violencebetween BJP and TMC work-ers in Kolkata.

Kumar was questioned by

the CBI in February this yearin connection with its probe inmulti-crore Saradha chit fundcase. A team of CBI officers wasstopped from entering the res-idence of Kumar, when he wasKolkata Police chief onFebruary 3 when they hadgone to question him in con-nection with the Saradha andRose Valley scam cases.

The move had led to ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeestaging a dharna in the heart ofthe city, protesting against “theattack on constitutional norms”.The CBI had, however, ques-tioned Kumar for several daysin Shillong from February 9 fol-lowing a Supreme Court order.

The CBI had told the apexcourt that it wanted custodialinterrogation of Kumar, whowas earlier heading WestBengal Police SIT probing chitfund scam, as there was primafacie evidence of his allegedlytrying to destroy or tamperwith evidence and “shield highand mighty” in the case.

However, Kumar’s counselhad countered CBI’s submis-sions and told a bench headedby Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoithat the agency wanted hiscustodial interrogation “just tohumiliate” him and CBI shouldnot be allowed to abuse theprocess of law. Kumar’s coun-sel had told the bench that CBI’sapplication seeking custodialinterrogation of the IPS officerwas a “mala fide exercise”.

Kumar was earlier headingthe West Bengal Police’s specialinvestigation team (SIT) prob-ing the chit fund scam. Theapex court had in May 2014directed the CBI to investigatethe case.

Ex-Kolkata top cop reports to MHA

Rajeev Kumar, who wasshunted from Kolkata onWednesday night by theElection Commission,joined the MHA in the

afternoon withoutgetting any assignment

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onThursday agreed to hear a

Muslim woman’s plea chal-lenging the two Talaq noticesgiven by her husband andsought direction for registra-tion of FIR against him.

A Bench of Justices IndiraBanerjee and Sanjiv Khannasaid it will hear the plea onFriday. Advocate MM Kashyap,appearing for the woman, saidthat her husband after nineyears of marriage has given hertwo notices for Talaq in Marchand May. He said the womangot married on February 22,2009 as per Muslim rites andcustoms and has two childrenof nine years (boy) and six

years (girl).The Bench asked the coun-

sel as to why he did not movethe high court for the relief.

To this, the counsel saidthat apex court had on August17, 2017, held the practice oftriple talaq among Muslims asunconstitutional and thenotices given by the husbandwere violative of that order.

The woman, a Delhi resi-dent in her plea has said thather husband and in-laws start-ed harassing and assaultingher after the marriage for wantof additional dowry and a car.

She said that first notice fortalaq was sent to her on March25 and the second notice wassent to her on May 7, by herhusband.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onThursday sought respons-

es from the Centre and CBSEon a plea seeking 10 per centreservation for economicallyweaker sections in the CentralTeacher Eligibility Test (CTET),2019.

Besides the Centre and theCentral Board of SecondaryEducation (CBSE), a vacationbench comprising JusticesIndira Banerjee and SanjivKhanna also issued notice tothe National Council forTeacher Education (NCTE)and asked them to respond tothe petition by July 1, the nextdate of hearing.

The Bench was hearing aplea filed by six petitioners,

who are aspiring to participatein CTET 2019 and are seekinga direction that benefits of‘The Constitution (103rdamendment) Act 2019’ beextended to those belonging tothe economically weaker sec-tions (EWS) of the society.The amendment Act tookeffect on January 16.

Under the amended Act,the Centre has provided for a10 per cent reservation to cit-izens from general category

belonging to EWS, in additionto already existing reservationpolicy for benefit of otherreserved categories such asScheduled Caste, ScheduledTribe, Other Backward Classand physically handicapped.

During the hearing onThursday, the lawyers appear-ing for the petitioners told thebench that since the amendedAct has been passed byParliament, its benefit must begiven to persons from EWS.

“If we will get this relax-ation, we will qualify in theexamination. The amendmentis aimed for upliftment of theeconomically weaker section ofthe society,” the counsel said.

The Bench issued notice onthe petition and said that itwould be heard on July 1.

SC to hear plea

of Muslim woman

against talaq notices

10% EWS quota in CTET: SC seeksreplies from Centre, CBSE & NCTE

Sikkim biodiversity needs redesign: Study

* Areas were prioritised for endemic plant species conservation inSikkim Himalaya.

* geographical area of 896 sq. km should be included in ProtectedArea

* 3 new Protected Areas should be designed in Sikkim (Yumsedong,Lachen Chungthang)

* 3 existing Protected Areas should be expanded (Maenam,Fambong Lho, Barsey)

HIGHLIGHTS OF STUDY

MOHIT KANDHARI n JAMMU

Atotal number of six terror-ists including a top com-

mander of Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM), a Pakistani national,were gunned down by the jointteams of security forces whileone Army jawan attained mar-tyrdom, three others sustainedinjuries and a civilian also losthis life in two separate gun-fights in South Kashmir dis-tricts of Pulwama and Shopianon Thursday.

Meanwhile, another fiercegunbattle between terroristsand security forces was goingon till the time of filing thereport in Kandi area of NorthKashmir’ Kupwara district.

To register their presence,separatists have also issued acall for shutdown on Fridayagainst the recent killings in themonth of Ramzan.

According to policespokesman, “three terroristswere killed in Dalipora area ofPulwama and three others inHandew area of Shopian onThursday”.

On the other hand, violentprotests were reported fromseveral parts of Pulwama soonafter the gunfight got over.

To contain the law and

order situation, the districtauthorities imposed curfewlike restrictions in Pulwamatown and surrounding villages.Mobile internet services werealso snapped as a precaution-ary measure.

The police have identifiedthe slain JeM commander asKhalid Bhai, a Pakistaninational. The local terroristswere identified as NaseerAhmad Pandith and UmarAhmad Mir.

Sepoy Sandeep Kumar ofthe Army’s 55 Rashtriya Rifleslaid down his life during thegun fight, police spokesmansaid.

According to policespokesman, “a cordon & searchoperation was launched by thejoint teams of security forces onthe basis of credible intelligenceinput on Thursday morning atDalipora area in Pulwama dis-trict”

“As the police and securi-ty forces were evacuating civil-ians from the neighbourhoodarea around the target house,the hiding terrorists fired indis-criminately. “One Army JawanSepoy Sandeep attained mar-tyrdom and one civilian RayeesDar also lost his life”, saidpolice spokesman.

After the security forcesretaliated, three terrorists werekilled in the ensuing encounterand their bodies were retrievedfrom the site of encounter.

As per police recordsKhalid who was operating ascommander of proscribed ter-ror outfit JeM was involved inseveral terror attacks on secu-rity establishments and civilianatrocities in the area. Many ter-ror crime cases were registeredagainst him.

Police spokesman said,Naseer Pandith had a longhistory of terror crime records

before joining terrorist organ-isation and several terror crimecases were registered againsthim for planning & executingterror attacks in the area afterjoining proscribed terror out-fit JeM. He was also involved inthe killing of a policemanMohammad Yaqoob Shah ofPulwama in 2018 on the eve ofEid. He was also involved insome weapon snatching inci-dents reported from the areabesides several cases were reg-istered against him for hiscriminal activities includingcase FIR No 30/15 & 277/14

under NDPS Act and case FIR No 25/16 pertaining toforgery.

Similarly,Umar Mir wasalso involved in several terrorattacks and was part of terrorgroups responsible for attackson security forces.

According to policespokesman, “a separate opera-tion was launched in Handewarea of Shopian after receivingthe reports of presence of ter-rorists in the area.

During the search opera-tion, the hiding terrorists firedon the search party. In the ini-tial exchange of fire one armyjawan identified as Sepoy Rohitalso sustained injuries. He hasbeen hospitalised and is under-going treatment. The fire wasretaliated leading to anencounter.

In the ensuing encounter,3 terrorists were killed and thebodies were retrieved from thesite of encounter.

“Incriminating materialsincluding arms & ammunitionwas recovered from the site ofencounter. All these materialshave been taken in the caserecords for further investiga-tion and to probe their com-plicity in other terror crimecases”, police spokesman said.

6 JeM terrorists killed, jawan martyred

Policemen fire tear gas at protesters near the encounter site in which three topJaish-e-Mohammad terrorist commanders, one Army soldier and a civilian werekilled in Pulwama district on Thursday PTI

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n CHENNAI

Nowhera Shaikh, the con-troversial businesswoman,

who was picked up by theEnforcement Directorate onTuesday from theChenchalguda prison oncharges of money launderingmay reveal many startling dis-closures about hawala opera-tions, terrorist links and aglobal move to destroy thetranquillity of the sacred city ofTirupati in Andhra Pradesh,according to persons whoknow her closely.

The Pioneer had reported in2013 about the diabolic planhatched by Nowhera Shaik andher associates to set up anInternational Islamic Universityat Tirupati though she failed toreveal the details like whether itwas a recognised university orwhat was the reason for settingup such an entity in the holy cityof Tirupati. Shaik had intro-duced herself as the chairpersonand managing director of HeraGroup, which she had claimedas a Fortune 500 company.

Interestingly, it was aMuslim businessman whoalerted this writer about Shaik’smove to set up an IslamicUniversity in Tirupati. ShamirBasha, a leading businessmanin Tirupati said the move wasshrouded in mystery.“Nowhera Shaikh claims that

she is from Tirupati. Butnobody had heard her namebefore she started theUniversity. This is going to bea major controversy, perhapsmore in intensity than theRam Janmabhoomi-BabriMasjid issue ,” Basha had toldThe Pioneer.

Though he welcomed theidea for an exclusive college forMuslim women consideringthe backwardness of the group,he said the IslamicInternational College was amatter of concern. “The collegewill draw a number of peoplefrom West Asia to Tirupati. Weare not sure about the kind ofpeople who will be visiting thecity. Tirupati is already facingthreat from various terroristgroups,” Basha had said.

Though the IslamicUniversity did not take off,Nowhera went from strength tostrength. She switched over tomoney dealings which per-sons like Adi Kesavulu Reddyof the YSR Congress describeas hawala dealings and Ponzischemes. “Last heard, she hadmobilised huge funds frommore than 1,72,000 peoplespread all over India. She hadfinancial dealings with dubiouscompanies in Saudi Arabia,”said Reddy.

Bhanu Prakash, BJP leaderof Tirupati, is of the view thatShaik was entrapped with the

demonetisation of November2016. “There was no way forher to escape from that rattrap,” said Prakash, who hasbeen staging a relentless battleagainst the move by Shaik tolaunch the Islamic University.“It has given was to a Madrasaand a school. But her designsto convert Tirupati into a com-munal cauldron has been pre-vented ,” said Prakash.

Two more persons, bothfrom Kerala, have been arrest-ed along with Shaik. BijuThomas is said to be the brainbehind the software of thecompanies owned and operat-ed by Shaik while he washelped in the business by MolyThomas. When her plans toopen the Islamic Universitycame cropper, Shaik tried herluck in politics. She hadlaunched an outfit under theguise of empowering womenand had fielded candidates inthe Karnataka Assembly elec-tion.

“Though we were in thedark about her personal detailswhile she paraded all overTirupati, covering herself inburqa, we came to know thatshe was the same woman whohad been selling tamarind inTirupati market some twodecades ago,” said Reddy.

A fit case to be described asa rag-to-rich story by an illit-erate burqa clad woman!

ED arrests Heera Group MDNowhera in ponzi scam case

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

ACentral Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) constable

was injured when a vehiclefrom RSS chief MohanBhagwat’s convoy overturnedafter it suffered a tyre burst atNandori village Warora tehsilof Chandrapur district in east-ern Maharashtra on Thursdayevening. However, Bhagwat is“safe”, reports reaching heresaid.

Bhagwat was returning toNagpur after his visit toChandrapur, when the vehiclein his convoy turned turtle.“The car involved in themishap was a car that wasescorting Bhagwat’s car.Nothing happened to Bhagwat.He returned safely to Nagpur,”a senior police official fromChandrapur said.

The injured CRPF consta-ble, who was one of the occu-pants in the escort car, wasrushed to the nearby Warorarural hospital. Bhagwat waitedat the mishap site till theinjured CRPF constable wasadmitted to the local hospital.

While the official sourcesattributed the accident to a tyreburst, reports quoting eyewit-ness accounts however saidthat the mishap took placeafter the vehicle carrying secu-rity personnel hit a vehicleahead.

MOHIT KANDHARI n JAMMU

Violent protests rocked pic-turesque Bhaderwah town

of hilly Doda district in the weehours of Thursday followingrecovery of a bullet riddendead body of a local resident ofQilla Mohalla.

As tension mounted in thearea, curfew was imposed bythe district authorities inBhaderwah and its adjoiningareas early on Thursday morn-ing.

At day break, large numberof angry residents came out onthe streets and attacked policestation, Bhaderwah seekingaction against the culpritsbehind the killing.

The deceased has beenidentified as 50 year old NaeemAhmad Shah by the local policein the area.

Shouting slogans againstthe district authorities, angryresidents also took out a marchthrough main markets andvandalised large number ofparked cars in the area.

Window panes of severalhouses and shops were alsobroken in the sporadic inci-dents of stone pelting in SeriBazaar, Takiya Chowk, JamaMasjid Bazar and old bus standarea of Bhaderwah.

Senior Superintendent of

Police, Doda district, ShabirAhmad Malik said, “a deadbody was recovered fromNalthi area, 3 kms fromBhaderwah around 2.00 a.mlate last night”.

He said, “police teams wereimmediately rushed to the spotand at least seven suspectedpeople have been detained sofar from the nearby areas”.

He said, “local residentsalso took out a procession andindulged in stone pelting inwhich several parked vehicleswere damaged”. He said,” i can-not give the exact number ofvehicles damaged during theprotests in the area”.

When asked whether thedeceased,returning home alongwith his livestock, was attackedby active ‘cow vigilantes’ in thearea, SSP Doda Shabir AhmadMalik said, “it is a matter ofinvestigation. Since we have notrecorded any statements i can-not comment further”. He said,“we cannot rely on rumourmongering going on in thearea.”

Deputy Commissioner,Doda, Dr Doifode SagarDattatray, when contacted said,“a suspicious murder took placelate Wednesday night and adead body was recoveredaround 2.00 a.m from Nalthiarea in Bhaderwah town”.

Curfew imposedin Bhaderwah

Vehicle in Bhagwat’s

convoy turns turtle,

CRPF jawan injured

Probe in `64-cr Boforsto continue, says CBI

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019 06COUNTDOWNTOFINALPHASE

PNS n NEW DELHI

Ahead of the campaigningcoming to an end for nine

Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal,a delegation of BJP onWednesday met the ElectionCommission (EC) seekingaction against criminals andhistory-sheeters to ensure freeand fair polls in the State.

The Opposition leaders alsomet the poll body to registertheir strong protest to its deci-sion to end the campaigning by24 hours early in the state afterviolence erupted during BJPpresident Amit Shah’s road-show in Kolkata on Tuesday.

However, the delegationdidn’t receive any satisfactoryanswer from the electoral body,said Congress leader AbhishekManu Singhvi, who led the del-egation.

A BJP delegation, compris-ing Union ministers PrakashJavadekar, Mukhtar AbbasNaqvi and Vijay Goel, met thepoll panel, a day after it invokedArticle 324 of the Constitutionto curtail campaigning by a dayin West Bengal for the seventhand last phase of the generalelections, following violencebetween BJP and TMC workersin Kolkata and alleged thatthere is a “complete constitu-tional breakdown of gover-nance” in the State.

“From the reading of the(EC) order, it can be safely sur-mised that there is completeconstitutional breakdown ofgovernance, and law and order

in the State... The denigrationof the country’s highest consti-tutional bodies like the EC andthe Prime Minister’s Office byTMC chief Mamata Banerjee isitself the biggest danger to theIndia’s democratic traditionsand its constitution,” the BJPsaid in a memorandum.

Besides action againstcriminals, the party alsodemanded that the EC-appointed observers takecharge of non-statutory elec-toral functions like permis-sions, deployment of forcesand maintaining law andorder.”Senior officers of theCAPF (Central Armed PoliceForces) like CRPF or CISF ofany other force may be askedto personally supervise thedeployment of their forces andensure that act strictly in accor-dance with the guidelinesissued by the MHA,” it said inits memorandum.

For his part, Singhvi saidwithout any quasi-judicial pro-cedure, the EC had cut shortcampaigning in West Bengal.“They didn’t decide who wasbehind the violence (at BJPpresident Amit Shah’s road-show in Kolkata). We and mostof the non-NDA parties havealleged that BJP is behind thevandalisation of Ishwar ChandraVidyasagar’s statue and violenceat the roadshow,” Singhvi saidafter meeting with EC.

“If the ElectionCommission does this, then theresult that comes out of it is thatthe person, who is the culprit,

gets the benefit for his wrong-doing and the one, who is inno-cent, have to pay for this as theyhave to cut short their cam-paigning process by 24 hours.If evidence shows that BJPwas behind all this then whynon-NDA parties pay shouldfor it? We have not received asatisfactory response from theElection Commission on this,”he said. Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) leader Sanjay Singh,who was also a part of the del-egation, said, “TMC and otherpeople should decide nowwhether they will go to courtagainst this or not.”

Campaigning was origi-nally scheduled to end at 5 pmon Friday for the nine con-stituencies that will go to pollson May 19.

Meanwhile, the delegationalso complained aboutRaebareli Superintendent ofPolice Vineet Singh to the EC.“Elections were held on May 12in Raebareli, but what hap-pened on May 12 and May 14there was a trailer, according tous, and shows what wrongthings will happen on May 23,”Singhvi said.

“We have informed that SPVineet Singh should immedi-ately be transferred from thereas he is openly getting biasedtowards BJP candidate DineshSingh. Vineet Singh had helpedDinesh Singh’s brother AvdeshSingh in the District Panchayatpolls,” he added. Nine of thestate’s 42 Lok Sabha seats aregoing to the polls on May 19.

PTI n BIKRAM (BIHAR)

Prime Minister NarendraModi has carefully avoided

speaking on the issue of cor-ruption during campaign, butwe have not allowed him toescape, Congress presidentRahul Gandhi said onThursday, claiming it will be“bye-bye” for him on May 23.

Addressing a rally in thePataliputra Lok Sabha seg-ment, from where Misa Bhartidaughter of RJD supremo LaluPrasad is in the fray, Gandhiattacked Modi for skirtingquestions on promises he hadmade like Rs 15 lakh in bankaccounts of all poor and cre-ation of two crore jobs.

Asserting that the ruling BJPwas headed for a defeat in theLok Sabha polls, the Congresschief claimed Modi would get abefitting reply from the peopleangry over his failure to fulfilpromises made five years agowhen votes in the current elec-tions are counted on May 23.

In a veiled attack on theinterviews given by the PrimeMinister, including the one tothe Bollywood star AkshayKumar, Gandhi said questionsand answers are choreographedto skirt the issue of his promis-es. All that we hear from Modiji these days are inanities like

how he eats a mango and whyhe wears half-sleeved kurtas.Repeating the slogan ofChowkidar chor hai which hasrankled the BJP, Gandhi saidModi must answer the questionswe have been raising withregard to the Rafale deal. Whyhe got the contract awarded toAnil Ambani, why he agreed topay much more for the fighteraircraft than had been earlieragreed to and why Rafale wouldnot be manufactured in India.He owes an answer to thenation on these counts.

Modi has travelled theentire country for his cam-paign, addressing rallies withthe help of tele-prompters. Hehas carefully avoided speakingon the issue of corruption. Butwe have not allowed him toescape. My challenge to him foran open debate on corruptionstill stands. He has been badlyexposed and, on May 23, it willbe a bye-bye for him, Rahul said.

Speaking about his pro-posed NYAY scheme, Gandhisaid financial assistance of Rs72,000 per year to poor fami-lies would boost demand, lead-ing to setting up of more indus-tries and in turn fueling pro-duction and creation of jobs. Itwill propel the economy likediesel propels a tractor.

Rahul also accused Modi of

making Bihar a berozgaari(unemployment) ka centre andcharged the Nitish KumarGovernment in the State withfailure to provide relief to farm-ers through measures like waiv-er of loans unlike in Congress-ruled States where it has beengiven top priority.

The Congress president,who toured the state in the firstfour phases of elections butskipped the next two, urged thepeople to vote for Misa Bharti,showering praises on her fatherserving sentences in fodderscam cases for his fight for

social justice. Earlier, Bhartisyounger brother TejashwiYadav, who has emerged as thepartys de facto leader in theirfathers absence, called the BJPcandidate Ram Kripal Yadavpaltu chacha no. 2 (turncoatnumber two).

Yadav has been using theepithet paltu for Chief Ministerand JD(U) president NitishKumar whose exit from theMahagathbandhan two yearsago made the RJD lose powerin the state and stripped him ofthe Deputy CMs post.

Ram Kripal Yadav, now a

Union Minister, was a closeaide of Lalu Prasad, who quitthe RJD to join BJP ahead ofthe 2014 parliamentary elec-tions and won from Pataliputraseat defeating Misa.

In a show of unity withinthe jailed RJD chiefs family, hiswife Rabri Devi and elder sonTej Pratap Yadav too attendedthe rally where other leaders ofthe Opposition alliance like for-mer Union Minister and RLSPchief Upendra Kushwahabesides ex-CM and HAMfounding president Jitan RamManjhi were also present.

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n DUM DUM

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday ended

his unprecedented war ofwords with Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee by calling heran arrogant person who wouldsoon be punished by the peo-ple for considering Bengal herpersonal property.

Attacking the ChiefMinister for “her ballooningarrogance” Modi said “Mamatadidi has tormented democracyas nobody has just because ofher arrogance.

“This is because she thinksthat Bengal is her personal prop-erty. But the freedom-lovingpeople of Bengal have readthrough your party’s mischiefand have decided to teach you alesson,” Modi told a rally at DumDum, in South 24 Parganas.

Comparing the situation inBengal with that of terror-hitJammu & Kashmir, Modi said“even in terror-hit Jammu &Kashmir the panchayat andthen general elections did notsee a single incident of violencewhereas in Bengal each andevery phase of elections havewitnessed violence.”

From the first phase to thesixth phase “there was not adistrict or not a seat that didnot witness violence and blood-shed,” he said alleging “this isall the result of your balloon-ing ego. You think that Bengalis your personal property andyou are getting angry out of thefrustration of defeat staring inyour face.”

Modi said, “Didi’s angerstems from the fact that thepeople have rejected him andshe cannot accept this truth,”adding “I advise you Didi toaccept the truth that the peo-ple have rejected you. You con-sidered yourself the supremeleader of Bengal but you forgotthat the people are the supreme

in democracy.”In an apparent bid to allure

the youth he said “Didi you arefacing not the old Left but theyoung of 21st century genera-tion of Bengal who would giveyou a befitting reply.”

In what experts called a bidto divide the State along lin-guistic lines Modi said

“Banerjee had problems withthe people of UP, Bihar andother States living in Bengal butshe does not have problemswith the infiltrators.”

Apparently aware that thedamage of Ishwar ChandraVidya Sagar’s statue by allegedBJP youth had hurt the Bengalisentiments Modi said he wouldget a new 5-metal statue con-structed.

Criticising Banerjee for“insulting the ElectionCommission, CAPF and otherconstitutional institutions” forallegedly “playing partisan rolein the elections,” Modi said“these are the same bodieswhich saved you from the Leftviolence. Had they not beenthere in 2009 and 2011 youwould never have been theChief Minister of this State.”

He said, “you are free todream to become a PrimeMinister but you have no rightto abuse the constitutionalauthorities of the country.”

SAUGAR SENGUPTA nDIAMOND HARBOUR

The last day of a truncatedseventh phase campaigning

saw Bengal Chief MamataBanerjee hitting out both at theBJP and its “buddy” ElectionCommission for teaming up todefeat the “sane democraticforces” and vouched not toyield an inch of land to theLotus symbol.

Calling Prime MinisterNarendra Modi a “liar” and BJPpresident Amit Shah a “goon-da” who ignited communalfire wherever he went, theChief Minister held the latterresponsible for breaking ofrenaissance icon IshwarChandra Vidya Sagar’s statue.

Referring to the Tuesday’sincident Banerjee told a hugerally at Diamond Harbour, “itis the habit and culture of theBJP to break statues. Theyhave done it with the statues ofother stalwarts like BRAmbedkar too.”

It were the “goondas led bythe BJP president — a habitu-al riot-monger — who brokethe statue of our national icon,”Banerjee said rejecting Modi’soffer to erect a grand statue ofthe social early 19th centurysocial reformer.

Rejecting the PrimeMinister’s offer to rebuild a“panch dhatu” (five-metals) stat-ue of Vidya Sagar she said“Bengal does not need your help.We are solvent enough to hon-our our own icons. We don’twant to take help from you.”

Calling Modi a “liar whopromised to build the RamTemple in Ayodhya but wentback on his promise,” she saidthe BJP leaders “should holdtheir ears and do sit-ups fortelling lies and spreading aviolent culture in India.” Shesaid “first build the RamTemple and then build thestatue of Vidya Sagar.”

The BJP leaders had insult-ed the Bengalis by hurtingtheir sentiment and that thepeople of the State would takethe proper revenge for the act,she said. Asking the people notto vote for those who callBengal a bankrupt state shesaid Shah was a “goonda netawho called Bengal kangal (des-titute),” adding the people ofthe State were waiting for May19 when they would “not giveBJP a single vote.”

Attacking the ECI forworking in the interests ofPrime Minister Narendra Modiand his saffron outfit she thun-dered: “Modi is afraid of me(Banerjee) and the Bengali

electorate which is why he hasnow decided to invoke the ECto subjugate the State. But I canassure you that till I am alive Iwill never let that happen andfight the battle till the last.”

She said the EC had beensold out to the BJP. “ECI seemsto have been sold out to the BJP,which is why it is acting in apartisan manner.” While hernephew and MP AbhishekBanerjee said, “Lotus cannotbloom inBengal as it only blos-soms in mud and the water inBengal is as clear as crystal”Banerjee said despite mediahype and violent attempts tocapture power “like they did inTripura,” the “BJP will get zeroseats in Bengal.”

The junior Banerjee is con-testing from Bengal’s port townsouth of Kolkata from where hewon last time by more than two

lakh votes.This time round Diamond

Harbour is witnessing a multi-cornered fight with TMC’sAbhishek Banerjee contestingagainst the BJP’s Nilanjan Royand CPI(M)’s Fuad Halim.

Attacking the EC for givingthe Opposition parties a trun-cated last phase slashing thecampaign time by more than aday Banerjee said this wasdone to suit Prime Ministerbecause “the BJP has no organ-isational or grassroots baseand it depends solely uponModi,” alleging the poll timewas shortened keeping in viewthe Prime Minister’s publicrallies on Thursday.

“The campaigning endswith PM’s rallies. This is abiased way of handling thepolls. I am sorry to say that butI have to say it” Banerjee said.

Law & order worse than J&K: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi atan election rally in Mathurapur,south of Kolkata, on Thursday AP

Congress president Rahul Gandhi with party’s Patna Sahib candidate Shatrughan Sinha and others during a roadshow in Patnaon Thursday PTI

Kolkata: Abhishek Banerjee the nephew of Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday threatened PrimeMinister Narendra Modi with a legal notice for accusing him ofillegally occupying building from where he was running his partyoffice. Modi had earlier alleged that “Bhatija” (Abhishek) was ille-gally occupying the building from where the TMC ran its partyoffice in his constituency. “Apologise within 48 hours or I shallsend you a legal notice for telling the lie,” he said. Elsewhere atDurgapur Railway Station a man was arrested by the GRP forcarrying unexplained cash amounting to Rs 70 crore. He was car-rying the cash in a trolley bag. Earlier two men, including analleged former PA of State BJP president Dilip Ghosh was arrest-ed from Assansol Station with Rs 1 crore. PNS

Didi’s nephew threatens PM with libel

IN BENGAL

EC is BJP’s buddy, says MamataMamataBanerjeeaddresses anelection rally inMathurapur,Kolkata, onThursday AP

BJP delegation leave after meeting with the ElectionCommission of India, in New Delhi, on Thursday PTI

Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and Abhishek Manu Singhvi talk as they leave along with other party’s leadersafter meeting the Election Commissioner, in New Delhi, on Thursday PTI

On May 23 it will be ‘bye-bye’ for Modi, claims Rahul BJP seeks action against criminalsfor free & fair polls in Bengal

PTI n HYDERABAD

Senior Congress leader MVeerappa Moily onThursday said he does not

rule out the possibility ofregional parties forming gov-ernment with the support of aRahul Gandhi-led alliance, butsaid such a dispensation wouldnot be stable and not last long.

He said the third frontexperiments in the past withsmaller parties heading thegovernment — whether it wasled by VP Singh or CharanSingh or Chandrashekhar —have been failures.

“Any future governmentwill be stable with one nation-al party leading regional partiesand the government,” Moilytold PTI in a telephonic inter-view, ahead of the declarationof Lok Sabha election resultsnext week.

Asked if he does not fore-see the possibility of regionalparties forming governmentwith the Congress supporting it,the former Union Minister said:“I am not ruling out the possi-bility but it will not be a stronggovernment. Stability will not bethere for the government”.

He argued that a govern-ment would be stable onlywhen it is led by a nationalparty, amid some reports that

speculated that the electioncould throw up a fractured verdict.

“Otherwise, (a third front)government cannot be stable, ithas never remained stable;even with strongest leaderslike VP Singh orChandrashekhar. It is a matterof couple of months or one ortwo years (before collapse ofgovernment)”, the formerKarnataka Chief Minister said.

Amid talks in some quar-ters that regional parties notaligned with the UPA andNDA may get more seats thanthe Congress, Moily said thequestion is who would unite allthe regional parties.

“There should be a com-mon factor to join them togeth-er; otherwise it will be a disin-tegrated group”, he said.

According to him, region-al outfits need a national partyto bind them together. “Onenational party will have to bethere to cement the bonding(among regional parties)”.

“It will become a compul-sion for regional parties tounite together against the BJP”,claimed Moily, who had earli-er served as the AICC in-charge of Tamil Nadu anderstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

“So, possibility of a good(UPA) government with

regional parties is a certainty”.“If the Congress-led UPA

does not get majority, he saidthe party would have to formgovernment (along with otherwilling parties not part of UPA)for the sake of the nation, toprovide a stable government”.

“It will be a compulsion (toform government), ultimately...Rahul Gandhi... our ideologysometimes may not agree withsuch a combination or forma-tion (of government withregional parties) but even thenfor the sake of the unity of thecountry, I think Rahul Gandhiwill have to agree on this,” hesaid.

“Having known his(Gandhi’s) position and ideol-ogy, he is a person... sometimes

he may not be willing to com-promise on this. But in ultimateanalysis, he (Gandhi) has to beprojected as a leader to unite allthese regional parties”, Moilysaid.

Moily also talked aboutthe possibility of YSRCP join-ing hands with the UPA led bythe Congress, which has repeat-edly expressed commitmentto give special category statusto Andhra Pradesh in the eventof being voted to power, a keydemand of the YS Jagan MohanReddy-led party.

“They (YSRCP) will jointhe UPA, or they will supportthe UPA from outside or theywill join the government. It isa possibility. Sometimes, neces-sity ultimately will be the dri-ving force to unite together”, hesaid. On efforts of TRS presi-dent and Telangana ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raoto forge a non-Congress, non-BJP federal front of regionalparties, Moily said he has gothis own ambition.

“One thing is certain is thathe (Rao) has already fallen outfrom NDA. When he has fallenout from NDA, what is theoption left to him? Of course, heis a person who will make verystrong bargain for some impor-tant positions, that is what he hasbeen telling,” he said.

New Delhi (PTI): A PIL hasbeen moved in the DelhiHigh Court seeking direc-t ions to the Elect ionCommission (EC) to reviewpolitical parties having nameswith religious connotationsor using symbols similar tothat of the national flag andto de-register them if they donot change them within threemonths. The petition by BJPleader Ashwini KumarUpadhyay has contended thatuse of names with religiousconnotations or symbols sim-ilar to the national flag oremblem might prejudiciallyaffect the poll prospects of acandidate and would amountto a corrupt practice underthe Representation of thePeople Act (RPA) of 1951.

“Review the political par-ties, registered with religious,caste, ethnic or linguisticconnotations and ensure thatthey are not using a flag, sim-ilar to the national flag andde-register them if they fail tochange it within threemonths,” the plea has urgedthe high court which is like-ly to hear the matter onFriday. Upadhyay, also alawyer, has claimed in hisplea that such a step wouldhelp to ensure free and fairelections.

Regional parties’ govt will be

unstable, won’t last long: Moily

PIL for reviewof parties havingnames withreligiousconnotations

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019 07

PNS n NEW DELHI

Half a dozen candidatesfrom among the top 10

richest candidates in the fray inthe ongoing Lok Sabha elec-tions are from the Congress,according to the NationalElection Watch (NEW) and theAssociation for DemocraticReforms (ADR).

While Ramesh KumarSharma, an Independent fromPatliputra, is in pole positionwith declared assets worth over`1,107 crore, the second, third,fourth and fifth slots are cap-tured by Congress nominees.

The second in the list isKonda Vishweshwar Reddy,the Congress candidate fromChevella in Telangana, withtotal asset of `895 crore.

Nakul Nath, the Congressnominee from Chhindwara, is

the third richest in the fray withassets worth `660 crore, fol-lowed by another CongressmanH Vasanthakumar in the fourthspot, who is contesting fromKanyakumari in Tamil Naduwith assets of over ` 417 crore.

With assets worth over`374 crore, Congress leaderJyotiraditya Scindia, who isseeking re-election from Guna,is fifth. He was richest in recent-ly concluded sixth phase.

YSR Congress Party’sVijayawada candidate is in thesixth position with assets worthover ̀ 347 crore. Congress lead-ers Uday Singh, contesting fromPurnia in Bihar, and DK Suresh,contesting from BangaloreRural in Karnataka, are seventhand eighth in the list with assetsworth `341 crore and `338crore, respectively.

K Raghu Rama Krishna

Raju, the YSRCP candidatefrom Narsapuram, is ninth withassets worth over `325 crore,while TDP’s Jayadev Galla, whois contesting from Guntur, is inthe 10th spot with assets worthover `305 crore.

According to ADR, asmany as 48 per cent contest-ing the 2019 Lok Sabha pollshave declared graduation andabove educational qualifica-tions. Of the 7,928 candidates,3,808 (48 per cent) havedeclared graduation and aboveeducational qualifications.

“While 3,477 (44 per cent)have declared their education-al qualifications between ClassV and Class XII pass, 3,808 (48per cent), graduation andabove,” the ADR said. While253 candidates have declaredthemselves to be just literate,163 candidates are illiterate.

snippets

poll

RAGA MOCKS PM WITH ‘MODILIES’ Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday fired yet anothersalvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of speakinglies, and claimed even a website now “catalogues the best‘Modilies’”. Rahul tweeted that “Modilies” is a new word that hasbecome popular worldwide. “Now there’s even a website thatcatalogues the best Modilies!” the Congress president said ontwitter, along with a link to the website “Modi Lies: The MostAccurate List of PM Modi’s Many Lies,” he said.

BJP OBJECTS PAINTING RESEMBLING CONG SYMBOLBihar BJP on Thursday objected to a painting resembling symbolof a national party at three polling stations under Patna Sahibconstituency and demanded reinspection of all booths in thedistrict in view of this. A party delegation led by Bihar BJP vice-president Devesh Kumar met Chief Electoral Officer(CEO) H R Srinivasa and submitted a memorandum objectingpainting resembling the symbol of a political party (Congress’ hand).

CM HDK, SIDDA LOCKED IN TWITTER DEBATE OVER KHARGEKarnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s remark that veteranCongress leader Mallikarjun Kharge should have been offered thetop post long ago has triggered a twitter debate between him andthe ruling coalition coordination committee chief Siddaramaiah. Kumaraswamy’s statement about Kharge had comeat atime when there was growing clamour within the Congress for Siddaramaiah to become the Chief Minister once again, resulting ina public spat between the grand old party andthe JDS.

BJP CREATING ‘EMERGENCY-LIKE’ SITUATION: NCP The BJP is deliberately creating an “Emergency-like situation” as itis staring at a defeat in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, the NCPalleged on Thursday, as it attacked the ruling party over theviolence in West Bengal. The BJP hit back promptly, accusing theruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal of creating the“Emergency-like situation” there by resorting to “repressive”measures.

BJP TO SUFFER NET LOSS OF SEATS THIS POLLS: REPORTA new report has claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) isset to suffer a net loss of seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections,but will still emerge as the single largest party. The EconomistIntelligence Unit (EIU) report expects the BJP to form a coalitiongovernment after the election results are out on May 23 with thesupport of the regional parties and incumbent Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will secure a second term in office. The EIU expectsat least three regional parties — the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), theTelangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the YSR Congress Party(YSRCP) — to back the next BJP-led Government at the Centre.

COUNTDOWNTOFINALPHASE

DEEPAK KUMAR JHA nNEW DELHI/PATNA

With the stage set for thefinal phase of polling for

the Lok Sabha elections, one ofthe key battles will be for thePatna Sahib seat in Bihar wheresenior BJP leader and UnionElectronics and InformationTechnology Minister RaviShankar Prasad is taking onrebel-turned Congress candi-date Bihari babu ShatrughanSinha.

But in the mid of the fren-sied elections what has goneunnoticed is how voters in theState’s Digital Villages, part ofthe Modi Government’s e-governance mega initiative,have chosen to vote.

After all, it is Prasad, theUnion Minister from Bihar,who spearheads the digitalmovement at the behest ofPrime Minister NarendraModi. In Patna region alone, asmany as 30 Common ServiceCentre (CSC), a special pur-pose vehicle (SPV), to providebasic electronic services suchas banking to villagers havebeen set up.

Overall, in Bihar, there area total of 80 such Digi Villages.Even the remotest one likeFathua, Bakhtiyarpur, has nowbeen rechristened like DigiGaon Fathua.

Then there are villageslike Kahra (Saharsa), one ofthe most backward villages ofthe country, Andalee inSupaul, Kolhar, Gauripandaand Daniawan in and aroundPatna while those in theremotes areas are Jamuniya,Misrauliya and Machragawa

in Saran to name a few. Theyare all part of the 2.5 lakh vil-lages across the country wherePrasad’s Ministry has beenmandated to set up basicfacilities.

“For the last couple ofyears, villagers have been avail-ing of all services of govern-ment like banks, pensions andother financial services, pass-port submission, educationenquiries and many more rightat their village door steps,thereby saving the villagersfrom travelling to main districtheadquarters or townships,”locals pointed out.

They said smaller villageshave more of hutments butthey have been taking pride innaming their village with theprefix Digi. But will suchdevelopment initiatives trumpthe caste factors at play inBihar? Residents from a cross-section of villages came upwith mixed reactions but thecommon underlining out-come was that caste arithmeticgoes hand-in-hand with devel-opmental agenda.

The Digital Villages havebeen equipped with solarlighting facility in their com-munity centre, energy efficientLED assembly unit, sanitarynapkin unit with active par-ticipation on Asha andAnganwadi workers and Wi-fi Choupal, officials pointedout adding these villageswould also have the regularCSC services like Aadhaar,banking, telemedicine, edu-cation, financial services etc.

“This is a very significantstep in transformation of corearea of governance and givethe rural India a comfortablelife by the use of technologyfor overall communityempowerment,” said DrDinesh Kumar Tyagi, CEO ofCSC. While an investment ofabout Rs 10 lakh is requiredfor turning one village into adigital one, the Centre is like-ly to spend Rs 10,000 crore insetting up one lakh digital vil-lages across the country in thenext five years. CSC will set up20,000 digital villages everyyear in the next five years.

Independent candidate

from Bihar richest

DIGITAL VILLAGES MAY

TURN TABLES IN BIHAR!p In Patna region,

around 30 CommonService Centre, aspecial purposevehicle, to providebasic electronicservices such asbanking to villagershave been set up

p Overall, in Bihar, thereare total of 80 DigiVillages. Even remotestone like Fathua,Bakhtiyarpur, has nowbeen rechristened likeDigi Gaon Fathua

Yogi urges Patna voters to

support Ravi Shankar

PTI n PATNA

Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath

has urged people of the Biharcapital to vote for BJP candi-date from Patna Sahib, RaviShankar Prasad, calling himthe ‘pairokar’ (advocate) forRam temple.

His achievements asUnion minister also includeda clampdown on triple talaqand improved connectivitythrough Digital India, theBJP leader said at an electionmeeting in the city late onWednesday night.

He is not only thepairokar of Ram temple butalso the man responsible forensuring justice to ‘aadhiaabadi’ (half the population aHindi colloquial used todescribe women) by attackingthe custom of triple talaq, theUP chief minister said evokingfrenzied applause from thecrowd.

I am thankful that youwaited till so late to hear me. Itwas important for me to comehere since you are going to electa person who is needed by mil-lions of Ram Bhakts across thecountry, he said.

Prasad, who is pittedagainst sitting MP andCongress candidateShatrughan Sinha, was thecounsel for one of the peti-tioners in the Ayodhya title suitwhich was decided by theLucknow bench of theAllahabad High Court in 2010,the appeal against which ispending before the Supreme

Court.As Law minister, he had

played a crucial role in intro-ducing the controversial ordi-nance making triple talaq pun-ishable with imprisonmentwhich was opposed by NDApartners like the JD(U) whichwas followed by a bill inParliament, where it met withstiff resistance.

The UP chief minister,who heads the GorakhnathDham shrine of Gorakhpur,also praised Prasad who holdsthe IT and telecommunica-tion portfolio before traininghis guns at Trinamool Congresssupremo and West BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee. In Bihar, which isruled by JD(U), BJP and LJPtogether, the environment isvery good. But today I am com-ing from a state (West Bengal)

where law and order has col-lapsed, chaos prevails andthere is dictatorship in theguise of democracy,Adityanath said on a daywhen the EC cut short thecampaign period in WestBengal in the wake of violencebetween BJP and TMC work-ers in Kolkata.

The BJP leader claimedthat he had three ralliesscheduled in West Bengalearlier this week, permissionsfor which were denied.

I said permission hadbeen withdrawn in animmoral way. I will come toBengal and urge its people todislodge from power a gov-ernment which believes insuch high-handedness.

Finally, I got permissions tohold rallies on Wednesdaywhich, they ensured, reachedme late so that it became diffi-cult for me to visit the venues,he said.

Nevertheless, I addressedthe rallies before coming here.

“You all have seen howAmit Shahs roadshow wasattacked... The TrinamoolCongress, Lalu Prasad’s RJD inBihar these are all birds of afeather (ek hi thaili ke chattebatte). The entire country isreverberating with the cry ‘Phirek baar Modi Sarkaar’. And thisis why all these opponents ofthe BJP are in panic, the BJPleader said.

Patna Sahib goes to polls,along with seven other LokSabha seats of Bihar, in the finalphase of general elections onSunday.

BJP, Cong sweat it for Parrikar’s PanajiPTI n PANAJI

After the elections for Goa’stwo Lok Sabha seats, the

BJP and the Congress arepreparing for a face-off in thebypoll for Panaji Assemblyconstituency, which was heldby former chief ministerManohar Parrikar. The bypollwas necessitated after Parrikar’sdeath in March. Refusing tick-et to the late chief minister’sson, Utpal, the BJP has field-ed former MLA SiddharthKunkolienkar.

Kunkolienkar has repre-sented the seat in the absenceof Parrikar in 2015 and 2017assembly elections, when thelatter was the Union defenceminister. He is pitted againstCongress’s AntanasioMonserratte, a former minis-ter in state governments led by

Parrikar and Digambar Kamat.In the 2017 Goa Assembly

elections, Kunkolienkar haddefeated Monserratte, who hadcontested as an Independentand was supported by theCongress. Parrikar wrestedPanaji seat from the Congress25 years ago and had held onit strongly ever since.

In the absence of strong-man Parrikar, the BJP is leav-ing no stone unturned to reachout to the electorate. ChiefMinister Pramod Sawant iscamping in the state capitaland has been seen minglingwith the morning crowd atMirmar beach on several occa-sions.

Both the parties are confi-dent of winning.

While the Congress hopesto benefit from the BJP’s deci-sion to not f ield Utpal,

Kunkolienkar is counting onParrikar’s legacy and the devel-opment work done by the BJPgovernment.

“With Utpal in the contest,the fight would have been dif-ficult for us. Not that we wouldhave lost the election, but thedifficulty level would havebeen certainly high. Now, it’san easy run for us,” GoaPradesh Congress Committee(GPCC) president GirishChodankar toldPTI.Kunkolienkar is alsoupbeat about his chances. “Wehave our target fixed. We wantto poll 10,000 votes and thatwill give us a winning margin.We are confident of getting it,”he said.

Panaji has 22,000-plus vot-ers, of which 15,000 turned upfor voting in the last assemblyelections.

Ahead of the election, thetwo parties have also beentrading barbs, with the BJPplaying up the criminal casesagainst Monserratte and theCongress accusingKunkolienkar of corruption.

Monserratte was booked inMay 2016 for allegedly rapinga minor girl. He is also facinga case for allegedly leading amob which pelted stones at thePanaji police station in 2010.

On the other hand, theCongress has been targetingKunkolienkar for alleged cor-ruption in the ‘Smart City’ pro-ject.“It’s a fight between a per-son with character and (a)characterless (person),” Sawantsaid, referring to the casesagainst Monserratte.

“People will vote to respectParrikar and his vision fordevelopment, which we are

taking ahead,” he said, addingthat the BJP has a strong pres-ence in the constituency andwill win the seat comfortably.Defending himself, Monserratteclaimed he had been framed inthe two cases.

“I was framed in both thecases. I know who framed meand I will expose them in duecourse of time. Both the casesare before the court and I havefull faith in the judiciary,” theformer minister told PTI.

The BJP faces another chal-lenge — former state RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS)chief Subhash Velingkar, who iscontesting on Goa SurakshaManch (GSM) ticket.

The GSM is the politicaloutfit he launched after he wassacked from the RSS — con-sidered the BJP’s ideologicalparent.

Rahul meets Alwar gang-rape victim, says she will get justice

Politics should not be likeIndia vs Pak: Sukhbir

PTI n JAIPUR

Congress president RahulGandhi Thursday met a

Dalit woman who wasallegedly gang-raped in frontof her husband in Rajasthan’sAlwar district, party sourcessaid. Gandhi was accompa-nied by Chief Minister AshokGehlot, deputy CM SachinPilot and Congress nationalgeneral secretary AvinashPandey, they said.

“Such things will not betolerated. The victim will getjustice. The moment I got toknow about the incident, Icalled Gehlot ji and told himthat I want to come. This isnot a political issue for mebut an emotional issue,”Gandhi told reporters here.

He said, a message should

go across the country, not justin Rajasthan that “this willnot be tolerated.”

Responding to a questionabout his conversation withthe victim’s family, Gandhisaid, “They spoke about jus-tice. They will get justice andaction will be taken againstthe people involved in thecrime.”

On charges levelled byPrime Minister NarendraModi that state governmentwas negligent in the case, hesaid, “I am not here to do pol-itics over the issue but tomeet the family. The familywill get ‘Nyay’ (justice).”

He was earlier scheduledto arrive here Wednesday.

On Apri l 26, s ix miscreants accosted thewoman and her husband

on the Thanagazi-Alwarbypass and took them to anisolated place, where theyallegedly raped her in front ofhim.

An FIR was lodged onMay 2 and the accused cir-culated a video clip of thecr ime on May 4.Subsequently, five accused,who allegedly raped thewoman, and the one whoshot and circulated the videoclip, have been arrested.

The incident triggeredwidespread protests in Alwar,Jaipur, Dausa and nearbyareas and a protest march ledby BJP’s Rajya Sabha MPKirori Lal Meena had turnedviolent in Dausa on Tuesday,leaving over half-a-dozenpeople injured.

Prime Minister Modi,

BSP supremo Mayawati andother leaders have con-demned the incident.

Hitting out at PM Modi,Chief Minister Gehlot said,“Entire country knows he(Modi) is doing politics. Hespeaks lie, which is unfortu-nate. The entire BJP is hold-ing protest, it shows who isindulging in politics.”

Clarifying on governmentaction in the gang-rape case,the CM said, “The FIR in thecase was lodged on May 2.Charge sheet in the case willbe filed in next seven days.For the victim a job will bemanaged.”

Gehlot announced todivide Alwar into two dis-tricts for policing.

“Alwar is a critical dis-trict. We have done a study.

Crime in the district is morethan any other district .Looking into which we havedecided to divide the districtin two parts for policing,” hesaid.

The accused will get pun-ishment and effective moni-toring of the case will bedone, he added.

Gehlot said after the inci-dent the state government hasdecided that a victim womancan lodge a complaint at theSP office if she faces problemat police station.

In addition, the govern-ment is going to appoint awoman nodal off icer ofdeputy SP rank at the districtlevel on the lines of nodalofficer to deal with the casesrelated to atrocit ies onSC/STs.

PTI n PANNIWALA FATTA

Expressing concern about politicaldiscourse hitting a new low in

Election 2019, Shiromani Akali Dalpresident Sukhbir Badal says politicsshould not become an “India versusPakistan” situation. The chief of oneof BJP’s oldest allies hailed PrimeMinister Narendra Modi as a decisiveand strong prime minister and said heis the only choice to steer the NDAafter the Lok Sabha election results.

“We need a strong prime minis-ter...after so many years we got a primeminister who is decisive. You can’t letthe country run on auto mode...weneed a leader who can take the coun-try on the path of faster growth,” Badaltold PTI in an interview.

He also articulated his concerns

about personal attacks against leadersand the quality of leaders in the ongo-ing Lok Sabha election, now in its lastlap. “We politicians are not enemies...we are not like India-Pakistan... poli-tics should not be like India versusPakistan, which it is unfortunatelybecoming.” Everyone has their ownviews but still we are all Indians andthe interest of the country is impor-tant for us, Badal said. “There may bea platform where we may have to betogether against a common enemy,”Badal added. Asked if the NDA mightneed new partners after the results anddemand a change of leadership, hesaid, “People are voting for him(Modi) and he is the right person tolead the country. I think we shouldstick with him post results. He is theonly choice.”

Amid a highly charged atmos-phere of election campaign-ing, this past week gave ussome humour. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi may not have

delivered on his promises in the past fiveyears but he was kind enough to lend alittle levity to the election trail. In a tele-vision interview recently, on the topic ofBalakot, he said that on the day theairstrikes were to happen, some expertsraised concerns about the cloudy weath-er but he was of the view that India couldbenefit from the bad weather as it wouldaffect Pakistan’s radar technology and aidour Air Force. While the entire episodebecame a subject of joke with manymemes doing the rounds on the internet— some commentators even claimed thatPrime Minister Modi was joking —much like Modi’s tenure as the PrimeMinister, his joke, too, was cruel.

The cruelty of the joke was that whilediscussing and considering such an impor-tant strategic decision, the Prime Ministerchose to disregard the concern expressedby our experts in favour of what he calls “raw wisdom.” It is this “raw wisdom”which has been on display for the past fiveyears. This week’s episode was the latest ofthe many. In my article this week, I will talkabout how it is time we shelved this “rawwisdom” in favour of “scientific temper.”

In his book, The Discovery of India,Former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehruhad said that “scientific temper” is “...therefusal to accept anything without test-ing and trial, the capacity to change pre-vious conclusions in the face of new evi-dence, the reliance on observed fact andnot on pre-conceived theory.” Therefore,the ingredients of scientific temperinclude: (i) the ability to read and learnin order to gain knowledge about a par-ticular subject; (ii) humility; and (iii)being able to change one’s view in the faceof newly-gained knowledge and informa-tion. Let us examine if the Prime Ministerhas been able to display any of theseingredients during his tenure.

Ability to learn: This aspect is limit-ed not merely to reading up relevant mate-rial; it also requires a person to learn fromexperts in a particular domain. The“radar” fiasco by Modi was hardly the lat-est example where he chose to reject expertopinion. Take the example of demoneti-sation. It was one of the worst economicdecisions taken by any democraticGovernment. It was sprung on all of usone fine evening in November 2016.Planning for note bandi was faulty, whichwas evident by the huge lines at ATMs andbanks and the deaths of many elderly peo-ple, who succumbed to the long waitinghours while trying to withdraw money toensure that they could continue their dayto day lives. That wasn’t all.Demonetisation was not just a shock to us,

the citizens, but also to ourexperts. As per reports, thecountry’s central bank, theReserve Bank of India, was noteven consulted before PrimeMinister Modi sprung his greateconomic idea on us, as if thecitizens of India are guinea pigsfor every idea that springsfrom his brain. What was theconsequence of not adopting ascientific approach and not lis-tening to the view of experts ina particular domain? We weretold that this was done toreduce black money and tran-sition to a cashless economy.

However, when the dustsettled, several reports, includ-ing one by the RBI, and vari-ous analysis by domain expertsshowed that none of the mis-sion was accomplished.Reports suggest that blackmoney, in fact, entered the sys-tem as white money. Even thegoal of a cashless economyremains a pipe dream as theeconomy is now at the samecash level as prior to theannouncement of demonetisa-tion. So what was exactlyachieved?

The informal economysuffered a crushing blow,which left the economy stutter-ing. Further, the decision cre-ated havoc in people’s lives.That Prime Minister Modi

undertook this ill-advised diveinto monetary policy was notso tragic than the fact that hetook this decision withouthaving the humility to consultthe experts in this domain.This brings us to anotheringredient of scientific temper.

Humility: This is not aconcept that the PrimeMinister is familiar with. Oftenreferring to himself in thirdperson, he rarely displays thisgrace when talking down to usas everyday citizens. Anotherway of expressing humility isby accepting that you werewrong. However, Modi hasnever believed he was wrongand, certainly, has never apol-ogised. Whether it be demon-etisation or insulting the mem-ory of a late Prime Minister,who was assassinated by ter-rorists, the words, “I waswrong and I apologise” do notexist in the Prime Minister’svocabulary. One only hopesthat instead of showering uswith his in-depth knowledge of“radar” systems, Modi willhave the humility to apologisebefore the election season isover. That perhaps could behoping for too much.

Open mind: The thirdingredient of scientific temperis not being rigid in one’sview. On this aspect, too, the

Prime Minister is found lack-ing. Modi has time and againsought to muzzle the opinionsof the Opposition. This has notonly been done in Parliament,where objections and amend-ments to crucial Bills havebeen discarded, but in thepublic discourse as well. In thecase of the Goods and ServicesTax (GST), concerns sur-rounding the infrastructureto implement the GST, asdesired by the BJP, were repeat-edly rejected because of a lackof humility by the rulingGovernment. Contrast thiswith the approach of PanditNehru, who included thoseleaders in his Cabinet eventhough they often spokeagainst him.

As this election season iscoming to a close, I sincerelyhope that Prime Minister Moditells us in his television inter-views a little less about how helikes khichdi and mangoes. Hemust tell us a little more abouthow he plans to imbibe someof the values briefly discussedabove. Unfortunately, this fore-cast looks cloudy and it isunlikely that the PrimeMinister’s “radar” will pickthis up.

(The writer is JharkhandPCC president, former MP andIPS officer. Views are personal)

This, too, is happening. The US space

agency NASA is literally hitching a ride

on Chandrayaan-2, India’s second

Moon mission satellite. Planned for a July

launch, it will have 13 payloads and one pas-

sive experiment from NASA. No doubt that

our second mission has more special mem-

ories to make, like landing on the moon’s

South Pole, so far an unexplored region. The

rover will roll out for carrying out more sci-

entific experiments than attempted ever

before. And with its landing, India will become

the fifth country in the world to achieve the feat after the Soviet Union in 1959,

the US in 1969, China in December 2013 and Israel in 2019. But the approval

and trust of NASA, which is facing huge budget cuts and is desperately trying

to procure funds for a new lunar mission in 2024, shows that India has arrived

in the space age with its ingenious and cost-effective modules. And at least in

space technology, we do not have to deal with a Western bias.

Space, therefore, is quickly turning into not just our final frontier, but a prof-

itable, multi-dimensional one. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

has in a quick spurt of a decade or so emerged as one of the key players in the

global space market, particularly as a low-cost carrier of surveillance and com-

munication satellites. Ever since we launched 104 satellites in a single rocket

(PSLV-C37), 96 of which were from the US, even the big space-probing nations

have acknowledged our credibility. The New York Times commended ISRO for

the high-risk launch “because the satellites, released in rapid-fire fashion every

few seconds from a single rocket as it travelled at 17,000 miles an hour, could

collide with one another in space if ejected into the wrong path.” Even the BBC

took note of how ISRO was “shocking the rest of the world with brilliant accom-

plishments on a Spartan budget.” With many of our landmark missions, too,

now costing much lesser than equivalents in Russia, Europe and the US, India

can now proudly proclaim to have shifted the axis of the space race to Asia. So

ISRO deserves a pat for pretty much being a self-starter, acting independently

and setting achievable goals over the last four years. As this bit of news sinks

in, there’s the next lunar mission and preparations for Gaganyaan or the manned

mission, intended for 2022, to look forward to. Of course, it is easy enough to

rest on laurels. But ISRO still has bigger challenges to overcome like develop-

ing capabilities to launch heavy communications to high altitudes, go for orbital

docking facilities and orbital re-fuelling. There is also need for vertical integra-

tion with the private sector for cutting-edge research and technology. Only then

will ISRO be considered a competitive player in the longer run.

As election results draw closer, with some

predicting the possibility of a reduced tally

for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and

a strong showing by federal players, the

Congress has decided to croak with right-

sounding noises. And though it played a spoil-

er rather than being an enabler in stitching a

pre-poll alliance, appearing selfish about its own

organisational gains than being a responsible

Opposition entity, it fears a backlash and wants

to make palliative amends. That’s why senior

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad sought to

calm doubters that the party was downplaying this Lok Sabha election only because

it did not have a shot at prime ministership with placatory statements that should

have been made a long time ago and could have made a difference. He has said

the party would not make it an issue if the Prime Minister’s chair was not offered

to it. This is being read as a message to allies and prospective federal partners

— some of whom are more qualified in terms of depth of political experience

and leadership than Congress chief Rahul Gandhi — that they do not have to

pay obeisance to the grand old party simply because it had a bigger national

footprint. Everybody knows a Congress-led government rather than a federal front-

led one has been the deal-breaker of the mahagathbandhan. So this change of

tack regarding territorial might means the Congress has realised that it needs

props or could well find itself on crutches. While leaders such as MK Stalin, Tejashwi

Yadav and even Arvind Kejriwal have said they were ready to support Gandhi,

stalwarts such as Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati consider themselves better

claimants. This is the reason why UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, too, has stepped

out of the shadows to begin confabulations with allies and neutral players like

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik and Telangana Chief Minister K

Chandrashekar Rao. The last has been particularly in the news for pushing a

non-BJP, non-Congress third front and making his entry to the grand alliance con-

ditional on not surrendering control to the Congress. Sonia is reported to be mak-

ing the best efforts for a rapprochement for she realises that the Congress would

be considered a villain in the event of a decisive win of the BJP-led coalition and

the party could be further reduced in significance and perhaps would have to

abandon hopes of winning any other Lok Sabha in the future. So she and her

trusted aides have already begun working the phone lines to kingmakers like Andhra

Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and also YSR Congress’ Jaganmohan

Reddy. By widening the umbrella and assuring that she was still the power cen-

tre, Sonia wants to keep a UPA III ready in case of a fractured mandate.

Rahul Gandhi and sister Priyanka may have breathed fresh life into the Congress

and built a youth-driven machinery but are still not ripe enough to deal with chal-

lenges of realpolitik and the oversized egos of veterans. Sonia is still the bridge

for both the Opposition and the generational divide within her own party. She

has the better experience of being an adhesive of multi-party interests, having

negotiated the troublesome journeys of UPA I and II. Many alliance partners and

potential ones prefer to deal with her directly, given past associations, than Congress

president Rahul Gandhi. This was evident during the Karnataka alliance with HD

Kumaraswamy last year. Even Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has

said she was more comfortable with Sonia. She is the only reassurance and

voice of reason for the old guard, who see their continuity through hers. This is

why she gave the chief ministerial posts in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to

seniors like Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath, who in turn have favourable inter-

personal relationships across the political spectrum. Question is if she can diag-

nose the ills now, why didn’t she seize the alliance initiative earlier? For no doubt,

if the Opposition does come within hand-shaking distance of power and fails

because of the split in the anti-BJP vote, the Congress would be wholly to blame.

It could have supported a federal front from the outside and still prepare itself

for 2024. It can forget a comeback with an emboldened BJP return.

Sonia’s olive branch

The Congress has woken up to the grand alliancealternative but it may be too little too late

NASA to send payload on Chandrayaan-2, signals extra-terrestrial cooperation

Guided by self-interest

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Slipping on oil”(May 16).Now that US President DonaldTrump has triggered a trade warwith China, the industrial lobbyin America must be feelingenthused to pursue interests ofmembers who deal with India.Trump, who will be facing re-election next year, would ratherpander to his vote-bank thanconsider the long democraticties with India.

Even as the US uses oilsanctions to subdue Iran, Trumpgives no concessions to India,which has been importing oiland gas from America as analternate source in recent times.Our Achilles heel lies in spend-ing $330 million per day onimporting oil besides the exor-bitant privilege of the US dollarin which oil is traded. Globalefforts towards an alternativecurrency has remained apipedream for decades now.

The US has always used usas a fulcrum for leveraging itsinterests. There is little leewayfor significant strategies.

R Narayanan Navi Mumbai

No-nonsense leader

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Modi, Patnaik warm up”(May 15). Biju Janata Dal chiefNaveen Patnaik, who has beenthe Chief Minister of Odisha for19 years, knows it very well whatsuits him. Yes, he may suffer lossof some seats due to anti-incum-

bency but Patnaik still remainsthe tallest leader in the State. Hehas maintained equal distancefrom both the Congress and theBJP. As long as he keeps his turfOdisha with him and does notsee a strong threat, he does notnot mind supporting anyone atthe Centre.

Bal GovindNoida

Blot on democracy

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Ocean of darkness” (May16). In the first place, vandalisa-tion of statues of icons, whichhas seen a rise in recent times,not only goes against the demo-cratic principle but also expos-es the narrow mindset of the

perpetrators. The vandalism of a statue of

educationist Ishwar ChandraVidyasagar at VidyasagarCollege is deplorable. The sub-sequent clashes between theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP)and Trinamool Congress (TMC)workers left none in doubt thatboth parties do not believe indissent. It is a fact that learningis the nucleus of growth anddevelopment. Vidyasagar heldthis in high esteem, which eveninspired Swami Vivekanandaand many other intellectuals.

It is painful and distressingto note that disrespect wasshown to a luminary, who wasrevered by people across thenation. Instead of playing theblame-game, the BJP as well asthe TMC must pay heed to hisethics and ethos of Vidyasagar.The ugly events in Kolkata area blot on democracy; electioncampaigns are not the preroga-tive of any single party. Only animpartial inquiry will pinresponsibility, which must beconducted sooner than later.

KR SrinivasanSecundèrabad

P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N

www.dailypioneer.com

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op nionLUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019

08

Musings on science

AJOY KUMAR

As the election season comes to a close, it’s time for the Prime Minister to shun ‘raw

wisdom’ in favour of ‘scientific temper.’ It’s unlikely that his radar will pick this up

Ban on campaign in nine con-stituencies in Bengal. EC hasone set of rules for Oppositionand another for the rulingparty. Highly condemnable.

DMK president—MK Stalin

Digital is my medium.You can do anything onit. And I don't mean onlybold content but you cantalk many languages.

Producer—Ekta Kapoor

If we continue living in thisway, engaging with eachother and the planet in theway we do, then our verysurvival is in doubt.

UNDRR head—Mami Mizutori

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R

Bengal’s intellectual pride

This refers to the editorial, “Ocean of darkness”(May 16). The act of vandalisation of IshwarChandra Vidyasagar’s statue was an attempt by

goons to destroy our evolutionary progress. After RajaRam Mohan Roy, it is Vidyasagar’s name that comesto our minds as a strong pillar of Bengal Renaissancein the 19th Century. College Street, where the incidenthappened, was the heart of the Renaissance thatshowed the light to India. There is nothing to worryabout as the evolutionary progress will keep giving usgreat reformers like Vidyasagar, who fought existingprejudices in the society like polygamy, child-marriageand favored widow remarriage and women’s educa-tion in India. I learnt Bengali language throughVidyasagar’s book, Bornoporichoy and Sanskritthrough his books Upakramonika and ByakaranKoumudi.

Vidyasagar opened the gates of a Sanskrit collegefor non-Brahmin students and did everything forwomen's education — from establishing schools forgirls to conducting door-to-door campaigns, request-

ing parents to send their daughters to school. It washis efforts that got the Hindu Widow's Remarriage Act,1856 decreed. He even got his son Narayan Chandramarried to an adolescent widow to set an example. Noone can ever destroy Vidyasagar, who was a man ofan exceptional character. He never bowed his headeither to high-ranking British officials or to inhumanrituals in our society.

Sujit DeKolkata

THE INGREDIENTSOF SCIENTIFIC

TEMPER INCLUDE:(I) THE ABILITY TOREAD AND LEARN

IN ORDER TOGAIN KNOWLEDGE

ABOUT APARTICULARSUBJECT; (II)

HUMILITY; AND(III) BEING ABLE

TO CHANGE ONE’SVIEW IN

THE FACE OFNEWLY-GAINED

KNOWLEDGE ANDINFORMATION

Send your feedback to:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Space age diplomacy

Considering the steep demand forpower, role of nuclear energy willbe significant. We need to devel-op efficient technologies to utiliseour resources to the maximum.

Vice President —M Venkaiah Naidu

Let’s not redefine Sufism

NATHURAM GODSE WAS A PATRIOT, IS A PATRIOT

AND WILL REMAIN A PATRIOT. PEOPLE CALLING HIM

A TERRORIST SHOULD LOOK WITHIN.

—BJP CANDIDATE

PRAGYA THAKUR

INDIA’S SOUL IS AGAIN UNDER ATTACK BY THE RULING

DISPENSATION. THAKUR HAS CROSSED ALL LIMITS BY

DESCRIBING GODSE AS A TRUE NATIONALIST.

—CONGRESS SPOKESPERSON

RANDEEP SURJEWALA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

On May 5 this year, Prime Minister ImranKhan broke ground for Al-Qadir Universityof Sufism, Science and Technology in

Sohawa. Speaking at the event, Khan said that theuniversity will “link science and spirituality.” Headded that spirituality was a “super science”requiring research. He said that the university willimpart knowledge about Sufism and also moderntechnology. Khan then explained that this linkingof spirituality (ruhaaniyat) and science will help theyouth understand the whole concept of “the stateof Madina” — an idea of a perfect “Islamic welfarestate” that is being touted by the current PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regime. To Khan, this ideais directly linked to the original “ideology ofPakistan.”

This will not be the first such university inPakistan. The PPP Government (2008-2013)established the University of Sufism and ModernSciences in Bhit Shah town, home to the shrine ofthe 18th century Sufi saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.Now a full-fledged campus, its stated vision is to“impart modern scientific knowledge and the edu-cation of Sufi saints which focuses on tolerance, har-mony and brotherhood.”

The idea of this university was born from theconcern that over the decades, some rigid and evenviolent strands of the Muslim faith had permeat-ed society and its education system. These need-ed to be neutralised by the study and proliferationof the faith’s more esoteric strands such as Sufism,coupled with modern sciences.

Even though such endeavours can be appre-ciated, I believe Khan wasn’t very lucid in his ownmind about the core purpose of the Al-QadirUniversity. He said he had been planning to buildsuch a university for over 23 years, yet he sound-ed rather woolly about what it was that he want-ed to achieve. In contrast to this, the university inBhit Shah is clear about what it wants to achieve,ie, to encourage empirical thinking through theteaching of modern sciences and ethics and val-ues derived from the works and examples of famousSufi saints.

However, being a populist, Khan ended upmuddling his own vision by unnecessarily politi-cising the whole idea of imparting modern knowl-edge from the platform of Sufism. First of all, onejust can’t see how Sufism is in any way linked tohis spiel about the “state of Madina” or the so-called“ideology of Pakistan”. The “state of Madina” slo-gan — and it is nothing more than that — is derivedfrom the musings of some particular segments ofIndia’s Muslim community, who supported thePakistan Movement. But these segments were notpresent in the leadership circles of Jinnah’s All IndiaMuslim League (AIML), nor were they part of theregion’s Muslim working and peasant classes.

Instead, these segments were largely made upof middle class activists, madrasa students andteachers, imams of mosques and certain Muslimjournalists and newspapers of northern India.Understanding the idea of Pakistan as a 20th cen-tury reinvention of Islam’s first socio-political set-up in Madina was not on the minds of the coun-try’s founders. As demonstrated by MarkusDaechsel in his brilliant study of India’s urban mid-dle class milieu in the first half of the 20th centu-ry, rhetorical proclamations about creating anIslamic utopia mostly originated from activist seg-

ments among urban middle class Muslims. But thefact is, these were largely ignored by the AIML’s topleadership and intellectuals.

For example, in the 1930s, two young Islamicscholars, Abdus Sattar and Ibrahim Chishti, pub-lished a pamphlet called ‘Scheme.’ The pamphletput forward the idea of a ‘Khuda Mard’ (or aMuslim Übermensch), who would defeat the forcesof all other faiths and create an Islamic utopia. Thenthere were Urdu newspapers, such as Inqilaab,which kept harping about the importance of cre-ating a Muslim country, which would re-enact theseventh century ‘Riyasat-i-Madina.’ These are butjust two examples. Daechsel has furnished manymore. But none were taken very seriously by theAIML. Instead, its top cadres were steeped in theideas and works of thinkers such as Sir Syed AhmadKhan, Syed Ameer Ali, Chiragh Ali and AllamaIqbal, who had worked to construct a ‘modernist’strand of Islam, which would navigate the faith’sfuture through science, reason and social and eco-nomic modernity.

Khan and his party seem to have adopted theRiyasat-i-Madina idea from the works and slogansof the milieu, which Daechsel investigated in hisbook. More so, the conceptual (as opposed toempirical) notion of the “state of Madina” was revi-talised by an Indian intellectual and author VenkatDhulipala in his 2015 tome Creating a New Medina:State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in LateColonial North India.

Interestingly, the book became popular inPakistan among various conservative outfitsopposed to the ‘modernist’ version of Pakistan’s cre-ation. American historian Gail Minault points outthat Dhulipala’s book — which tries to justify thetheological narrative behind Pakistan’s creation —“is not history from above or below but rather themiddle”. It largely ignores the ideas of the AIML’stop tier leadership and those associated with theMuslim masses. Instead, Dhulipala uses the rav-

ings of the mentioned middle class segments as hismain source material. These segments were large-ly blocked out by AIML.

Riyasat-i-Madina has nothing to do with the“ideology of Pakistan” either. First, as historians suchas Ayesha Jalal and Dr Mubarak Ali have demon-strated, the expression “ideology of Pakistan” or theterm “Pakistan ideology” did not come into beingtill the early 1960s — more than a decade afterPakistan’s creation. The founders used no such term.And even from when it was first coined by the AyubKhan regime (1958-69) till the mid-1970s, this ‘ide-ology’ was driven by the whole idea of “Muslimmodernism” initiated by Sir Syed and evolved byIqbal. It became rigid and myopic after 1979 andeventually stagnant — even destructive.

Khan should avoid projecting his own confu-sion in this context on to his many impressionableyoung followers, who are already confused by thevarious experiments conducted by the state in thename of ideology. It should also be known that thereis not one but at least three strands of Sufism oper-ating in Pakistan. As Katherine Ewing (in ArguingSainthood) and Alix Philippon (in State andNation Building in Pakistan) have shown, there isone version of Sufism, which was created by thestate and exhibits Sufi saints as tolerant and pas-sionate but law-abiding men. Then there is a ver-sion created by the country’s pop culture, which isbasically an artistic variation of the state’s version.And then there is one held by radical Barelvi lead-ers, who reject the State version of Sufism and bringit in line with their own not very tolerant and law-abiding version.

Let science and faith be independent from eachother. They do not need to interact nor clash. Afusion of both in a country like Pakistan will even-tually see faith overwhelm science and becomeincreasingly political and dogmatic. This is neitherbeneficial for faith nor to science.

(The Dawn)

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan must avoid projecting his own confusion onto his many impressionable and already confused young followers

analysis 09F I R S T C O L U M N

Find a market

for R&D

RAJESH AGGARWAL

The right kind of regulation and empathetic laws are needed to help the academia and industrycollaborate to better the fate of our farmers

NADEEM PARACHA

Every time we try to break through a critical situation, the lack

of inter-departmental coordination dawns on us — the acad-

emia’s hard work of R&D struggles to find a market, the indus-

try reaches a stalemate when it comes to product advancement

and the Government is too overworked to act as a bridge between

the two. Agriculture, the biggest contributor to India’s Gross Domestic

Product, also suffers from this. The result is evident today as farm-

ers have left their fields and have taken to the roads. What they lack

is continuous education and updation of technology — not only in

the traditional sense of the term defining literacy but also educa-

tion related to farming activities, based on science that explains their

existing practices and dispels various myths.

Academic pursuits and the loop of scalability: There are sev-

eral institutions, both private and Government, that are working con-

tinuously to develop new seed varieties, technology for crop pro-

tection, equipment and improve efficiency of existing ones with the

sole objective to benefit the farmers. Their main challenge is to retain

talent, which we are constantly losing to foreign institutions due to

problems of funds and infrastructure. Despite the many challenges,

innovative ideas are flourishing in the laboratories of these institu-

tions. But then they struggle to find a market and, hence, get com-

mercialised. No matter how promising the prototypes are, institu-

tions find it difficult to scale innovation to a level that may sound

lucrative to the industry and farmers as well. Agricultural scholars

are also instrumental in identifying the best way for both farmers

and industry as well as bringing out existing loopholes and sug-

gesting remedial moves. As a result, scholars with a sound under-

standing of the market and ground realities often find a place in the

various expert committees constituted by the Government from time

to time. But most of their recommendations remains in the books.

Did the industry dump the farmers’ interests? Detractors are

quick to blame the industry and dump academic success in the

name of poor profitability or scalability. But what they fail to realise

is that while a lab prototype marks intellectual success, it is devel-

oped in ‘ideal conditions’. It does provide a dependable model to

the industry to modify and make it suitable to the needs of the farm-

ers. When put to test, the prototype may not perform because con-

ditions there are often far from ideal. It is for the industry to bridge

this gap between the ‘ideal’ and the ‘real’. This should be a con-

stant pursuit and requires interventions from other quarters as well.

The farmer does not care about increased numbers in the power

of the tractor; the price of the new variant and a substantial improve-

ment in performance are a bigger concern for him. While it is both

easy to point fingers at the industry, accusing them of making prof-

its at the cost of farmers, one cannot forget that the industry has

to be self-sustaining for which the business should be modelled

more to seek return on investment than philanthropy. The industry

has never shied from taking forward steps and is always ready to

collaborate with the Government to make the farmers’ lives easy.

Crucial role played by planners: Here comes the role of those

who make the laws. In recent times, we have seen that the

Government has been proactive in issuing relief packages for farm-

ers in view of the elections. However, this came after farmers across

the country protested falling prices and lack of mechanism to ensure

MSP for designated crops, among others. While the farmers reeled

under poor prices, consumers endured rising inflation rates. Clearly,

there is a gap, which was precipitated by poor policy-making, dri-

ven by lack of ground-level knowledge and political will to include

agriculture into the core political discourse of the country. That is

indeed surprising for an agrarian country. However, in recent years,

Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) have emerged as a powerful tool to

transform agriculture in India. Incepted by the Government of India

through the Indian Council for Agricultural Research, a large net-

work of over 600 KVKs across the country is fostering a multi-dis-

ciplinary approach in the farmers. The centres conduct technolo-

gy assessment and refinement, disseminate knowledge and pro-

vide critical input support for the farmers. A NITI Aayog study on

the impact of KVKs on farmers found that 40 per cent farmers report-

ed that they implemented the technology immediately after its dis-

semination by KVK and that 25 per cent did so from the next agri-

cultural season. It found that technologies adopted resulted in high-

er productivity, enhanced incomes and reduction of drudgery.

Right amount of regulation and empathetic laws are the pri-

mary needs that will help the academia and industry collaborate

better and bring the best to the farmers to help them survive this

existential crisis: The only way to erase the evil of status quo of

today is to work hard in our respective domains but at the same

time, foster a better sense of collective responsibility so that the

benefits percolate from one domain to the other and reach the end

users in a form that would benefit them.

(The writer is MD of an insecticides company)

The Indian electorate is busyexercising its franchise to electits representative to the 17th

Lok Sabha. The battle is now in itslast lap with the seventh phase of vot-ing taking place on May 19. Politicalparties, all of whom contested thepolls with different targets, are wait-ing with bated breath for May 23, theday when the counting of ballots willtake place and the winner will bedeclared. Compared to past decades,this year the nature of electioneeringreached its lowest ebb with bitter slo-ganeering ruling the roost and tem-pers running high. In the melee, thereal issues, which should have attract-ed attention, were buried deep intothe ground.

The general perception among

the people is that political partiesmissed the bigger picture as theychampioned the cause of hurling alle-gations and counter-allegations oneach other and tried to project a bat-tle of personality cults. However,what really captures people’s imagi-nation are the various policies andprogrammes of parties and the lead-ers’ performance report. Leadershipis about the capability to deliver andhas least to do with externalities.

Post the release of election man-ifestoes, most parties and their lead-ers forget about the promises madeand harp on issues that are irrelevantin a manner that is best considered“undemocratic.” Party manifestoesare unlikely to be referred to in thefuture too. Nobody is worried aboutthe agenda for governance.

One of the reasons for vitriolicelectioneering is the fact that thiselection has been reduced as a ref-erendum on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. The singular focushas been on one man. The electionprocess itself witnessed a presiden-tial style of campaign rather thanbeing based on the Westminster

style of parliamentary democracy,which believes in a multi-party sys-tem. In almost all Opposition rallies,the anti-Modi narrative and aggres-sive public theatrics against theGovernment were high on agenda.Throughout, the Congress made theRafale deal its single-point agenda.It even declared the Prime Ministera chor (thief). That actually ended uplionising Modi and helped him claimvictimhood. So though he failed toperform in governance, he couldmake it look like he was up againstobstacles set up by the anti-establish-ment brigade and was preventedfrom doing so.

The BJP, too, did not lag behind.The Prime Minister lost not a singleopportunity to dig into the Congress’past follies, raising serious allegationsof corruption against it. Besides, ithas also been mocking the maha-gathbandhan with names like ‘MahaThug Bandhan’ and ‘Maha Milawat.’

This writer has been closelymonitoring the pulse of the peopleand it can be said that the numerouscampaigns by various political par-ties have not been in good taste as

none moved back from practisingdivisive political agenda.

The Prime Minister has succeed-ed in convincing the people about hisstrong Government and takingaction against Pakistan-sponsoredterrorism. However, it remains a mil-lion dollar question if he has beenable to breach the regional and castefactors, especially in West Bengal,Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, andalign them to a more nationalisticline of thinking.

The second reason why the rul-ing party has an edge is the fact thatonly the NDA is contesting in allseats. None of the constituents of themahagathbandhan or the Congressis doing so. However, the prevailingmood of the people is for a respon-sive, responsible, empathetic andproactive government which thinksabout its youth, farmers, the down-trodden, environment, clean andsafer industrialisation and a peace-ful law and order situation. Whateverbe the poll results, the country mustbrace up for effective governance forthe next five years.

This author would like to flag a

few subjects for the new government.The first subject is to factor the envi-ronmental concerns as a core seg-ment of our developmental policies.The changing dimensions of climatechange impacts being faced call fora thorough restructuring of ourplanning process. India has pledgedto ensure Millennium DevelopmentGoals and the foremost effort, there-fore, is to reduce poverty and ensureecological security.

This emphasis on environment,however, does not mean that thedevelopment process should be sac-rificed. It means striking a balance,going for innovative ideas and bring-ing superior technology. In thisregard, though the country is pro-gressing well in meeting the Pariscommitment on climate change, westill need a lot of synergy and coher-ence in our developmental activities.

We need to ensure developmentof tribal areas on priority alongwith 170,000 villages situated inand around 32 million hectares offorests. The management of forestsshould focus on water conservationto recharge our aquifers, ensure

water flow in our rain fed rivers andpromote biodiversity both in forestsand agriculture fields.

The second issue relates toenhancing the agriculture productiv-ity and diversifying the income offarmers from animal husbandry andother primary sectors resources.The disaster management pro-grammes must have a portfolio fornatural resources management.

The new government must alsodecentralise decision-making, cutred tapism in governance, bring far-reaching changes in the educationsector and make health affordable toall. The social sector may not seema priority worth staking all resourcesbut it is this segment which translatesinto a happy electorate. As far asnational security is concerned, ourdefence processes need to be trans-parent and the Kashmir issue dealtwith firmly but sensitively. Till weconfront issues that we do not pre-fer talking about and consign themto vision papers, India will always bea languishing than a winningprospect.

(The writer is a retired civil servant)

Make the manifesto the only priorityPolitical parties and their leaders may have engaged in ugly personality wars but what really captures people’s imagination

are their policies and programmes and the leaders’ performance report. Leadership is about the capability to deliver

VK BAHUGUNA

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

F O R E I G N E Y E

How does Britain stand upfor the rule of law when itbends it the moment itsown interests and soldiersare at stake? The problemis not a lack of legalprotections, it is theircorrosion by doublestandards and non-enforcement. Ms Mordauntwill not serve her countrywell by fostering a moralambivalence about Britain’shuman rights obligations.She’d do better by fortifyingthem.(The Guardian Editorial)

NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW

LET SCIENCE ANDFAITH BE

INDEPENDENTFROM EACH

OTHER. THEY DONOT NEED TO

INTERACT NORCLASH. A FUSION

OF BOTH IN ACOUNTRY LIKEPAKISTAN WILL

EVENTUALLY SEEFAITH

OVERWHELMSCIENCE AND

BECOMEINCREASINGLYPOLITICAL AND

DOGMATIC. THISIS NEITHER

BENEFICIAL FORFAITH NOR TO

SCIENCE

money 10LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019

Script Open High Low LTPRPOWER 5.78 5.92 5.51 5.87SUZLON 5.29 5.37 5.06 5.27YESBANK 143.90 146.00 135.00 137.80SPICEJET 133.00 135.50 129.55 132.25TATAGLOBAL 206.40 222.00 197.35 220.60SUNPHARMA 412.50 418.00 379.50 411.05ZEEL 325.00 350.00 318.20 345.55TATACHEM 557.50 607.00 554.00 603.60INDIGO 1580.00 1580.00 1450.50 1466.60IBREALEST 96.05 109.05 96.00 107.95LUPIN 771.90 789.00 736.10 781.35DHFL 109.10 109.10 102.50 107.05BAJFINANCE 3006.50 3131.50 3006.50 3111.80JPASSOCIAT 4.50 4.50 4.30 4.36PCJEWELLER 112.90 112.90 104.25 106.30TATAMOTORS 175.05 177.40 172.80 175.50JETAIRWAYS 129.00 133.55 125.00 127.05RELIANCE 1261.00 1270.35 1257.75 1264.05DELTACORP 189.00 191.95 186.05 187.90RELCAPITAL 108.45 113.80 105.55 112.50TATASTEEL 464.85 471.50 455.50 469.25INFY* 716.75 736.75 716.75 734.20IBULHSGFIN 702.00 713.00 688.00 707.00CADILAHC 260.50 263.60 241.55 258.15IDEA 12.95 13.00 12.10 12.20INDUSINDBK 1381.00 1382.00 1348.45 1359.20SBIN 312.50 316.85 309.50 315.20BANKINDIA 80.90 83.30 79.40 81.65JINDALSTEL 155.85 159.00 153.65 157.95MARUTI 6530.00 6530.00 6445.00 6478.45ICICIBANK 379.00 385.00 377.50 381.80DLF 161.15 164.00 158.25 163.05MANAPPURAM 118.40 123.00 114.55 121.30RELINFRA 106.90 107.50 101.60 106.20GRAPHITE 321.30 329.65 308.70 312.35HINDALCO 191.25 195.90 190.05 194.65ESCORTS 542.50 565.00 542.50 562.60AXISBANK 721.90 735.80 719.70 732.25IOC 144.85 151.80 143.10 150.85LT 1325.20 1346.00 1308.80 1336.90PETRONET 225.00 233.15 219.60 224.55HDFC 1950.90 1953.15 1924.00 1939.65DISHTV 27.95 29.45 26.80 28.75M&M 611.00 612.65 598.00 606.80TCS 2096.00 2123.40 2078.05 2116.00ABFRL 187.95 200.00 180.10 195.00FEDERALBNK 97.50 98.25 96.80 97.85MOTHERSUMI 119.30 122.35 115.85 118.55HDFCLIFE 389.95 389.95 377.75 379.55ASHOKLEY 82.05 83.40 81.40 82.80MERCK 4180.00 4344.00 4150.00 4209.20PEL 2113.70 2115.35 2030.00 2045.75PNB 82.60 82.75 79.55 81.15WIPRO 284.40 287.05 284.00 285.80IDFCFIRSTB 40.70 41.50 39.95 41.15UNIONBANK 71.35 71.95 69.30 70.40STRTECH 167.75 170.50 163.65 167.45TITAN 1160.00 1192.00 1160.00 1192.00DMART 1243.00 1254.20 1235.90 1253.00RAIN 101.60 101.60 95.65 96.65AUROPHARMA 711.90 729.05 691.05 722.50BANKBARODA 108.20 110.20 105.80 109.60POWERGRID 179.15 182.65 178.85 181.85VEDL 160.30 163.60 159.00 163.15BHEL 61.00 62.35 60.55 62.05ITC 299.00 299.00 293.25 294.70JUSTDIAL 579.70 600.00 572.85 593.25SRF 2768.00 2789.15 2711.90 2770.00BPCL 357.00 377.50 351.90 374.50

JUBLFOOD 1251.00 1256.50 1223.05 1244.90HINDPETRO 264.10 283.95 262.50 280.30WESTLIFE 343.40 350.00 324.10 330.10SAIL 46.55 48.20 46.15 47.85L&TFH 117.40 118.50 114.45 116.85BOMDYEING 111.10 111.80 107.50 110.10WOCKPHARMA 378.45 378.45 358.40 364.40TATACOFFEE 85.55 91.40 84.50 87.90GODREJPROP 830.00 841.30 807.55 820.25ADANIPOWER 38.70 40.70 37.75 40.30J&KBANK 56.80 57.30 55.10 55.95BIOCON 531.95 533.35 520.10 527.45LTI 1761.00 1816.00 1733.90 1805.15RBLBANK 646.00 647.95 626.10 633.60NCC 90.65 94.80 90.25 94.20STAR 422.00 423.85 409.00 416.60KOTAKBANK 1382.00 1422.60 1378.95 1413.85BAJAJFINSV 7479.80 7667.10 7427.15 7650.00LTTS 1698.00 1758.95 1698.00 1718.90

HDFCBANK 2288.00 2322.75 2280.00 2313.80HINDUNILVR 1673.40 1698.30 1672.00 1686.15HEG 1571.00 1588.15 1542.00 1560.70IRB 112.00 117.00 107.65 116.25JSWSTEEL 270.00 277.50 268.65 277.20ULTRACEMCO 4360.00 4516.75 4325.65 4502.80DCMSHRIRAM 528.00 552.00 510.70 544.00UJJIVAN 321.50 326.45 311.80 320.90RNAM 194.95 202.10 192.20 200.95TORNTPOWER 242.10 246.25 235.40 238.65ABCAPITAL 93.20 94.00 90.75 91.65VENKYS 1618.00 1618.00 1500.00 1504.90CEATLTD 967.00 967.00 935.25 944.60EICHERMOT 20144.30 20374.95 19528.20 20312.00SPARC 145.00 148.50 138.25 147.55NTPC 123.95 127.00 123.50 125.85RADICO 337.25 343.85 322.90 341.90TATAPOWER 61.85 61.90 60.90 61.20CHAMBLFERT 139.95 147.00 138.80 142.95TATAMTRDVR 83.00 84.35 81.75 83.05COALINDIA 235.50 236.85 229.85 232.55AMARAJABAT 620.30 638.55 620.30 623.35ACC 1555.00 1598.25 1540.85 1585.65IBVENTURES 246.50 253.00 243.70 251.30PNBHOUSING 770.00 770.00 755.10 758.75NATIONALUM 48.10 48.95 47.70 48.80BHARTIARTL 331.00 333.15 321.55 324.80PERSISTENT* 608.00 612.35 600.70 608.45HFCL 21.30 21.30 19.70 20.25BEML 832.60 847.10 812.75 839.70SUNTECK 451.45 468.30 445.35 460.30SRTRANSFIN 1027.90 1027.90 996.45 1003.10ADANIPORTS 360.55 374.00 360.55 371.00PIDILITIND 1155.75 1169.40 1145.20 1154.90BATAINDIA 1326.00 1348.90 1316.95 1339.00JSL 34.00 36.05 33.25 35.15INDIACEM 93.00 95.70 91.65 95.05APOLLOHOSP 1155.00 1158.85 1113.70 1140.00CANBK 245.40 245.40 239.20 244.00ASIANPAINT 1311.70 1314.00 1294.50 1307.00NBCC 52.60 52.95 51.10 52.60CENTRALBK 26.80 26.80 25.35 25.90GNFC 283.50 284.45 275.70 280.40SIEMENS 1073.90 1144.25 1072.20 1129.50IDFC 36.00 36.65 35.50 36.00TECHM 790.00 794.95 781.80 789.30INFIBEAM 42.20 43.40 41.80 42.10VBL 910.00 962.00 910.00 934.15CENTURYTEX 898.65 918.00 888.20 910.35LICHSGFIN 477.15 492.90 477.15 491.90DABUR 363.05 364.55 357.10 361.30UPL 971.50 982.90 957.60 971.00BANDHANBNK 559.00 563.60 553.10 558.35ICICIGI 1091.20 1096.30 1085.15 1088.00DCBBANK 217.50 222.25 213.55 219.30EDELWEISS 156.90 157.50 151.45 154.80MINDAIND 337.25 337.55 312.00 312.05CIPLA 554.80 555.45 541.80 549.15CYIENT 554.05 557.00 530.00 547.20KEC 280.90 280.90 272.45 279.15UBL 1383.00 1383.00 1318.40 1345.10GLENMARK 596.00 596.00 567.80 578.70FORCEMOT 1459.45 1470.05 1430.05 1441.75ONGC 163.60 167.00 162.10 165.90TATAELXSI 852.00 861.45 840.20 851.45RCOM 1.94 2.00 1.94 1.94MPHASIS 956.00 957.50 935.50 941.00BHARATFIN 846.25 856.55 837.15 842.15JKTYRE 81.35 81.40 78.80 79.15TORNTPHARM 1618.80 1675.10 1612.10 1659.00PHILIPCARB 127.25 127.25 122.25 123.50INDIANB 231.25 234.15 226.70 231.65MANPASAND 103.40 104.50 97.60 99.15BEL 89.55 89.55 86.70 89.20AVANTI 333.00 340.00 332.10 335.60JSWENERGY 66.45 68.40 66.20 67.55KTKBANK 111.90 112.80 110.60 111.20ADANIGREEN 37.50 37.60 35.60 36.80BLISSGVS 161.70 164.00 159.00 159.85AMBUJACEM 209.00 216.50 207.90 214.60GAIL 331.50 334.25 326.65 333.00CARBORUNIV 356.00 360.00 347.35 358.30DBL 478.50 480.00 457.90 473.00APOLLOTYRE 177.15 179.40 174.20 176.20CGPOWER 34.90 36.15 34.80 35.65JUBILANT 607.85 627.00 600.20 621.45SOUTHBANK 13.35 13.45 13.10 13.40MAGMA 127.50 130.00 124.10 125.30GRASIM 819.10 827.25 805.05 821.70RAYMOND 783.85 790.85 772.00 786.65GRANULES 110.50 111.05 107.00 108.15BRITANNIA 2700.00 2735.00 2680.20 2715.35SBILIFE 635.00 647.90 630.00 634.00BAJAJ-AUTO 2912.90 2959.95 2911.35 2944.65DIVISLAB 1608.00 1647.00 1600.00 1642.50SUVEN 252.60 258.50 250.10 254.10AARTIIND 1572.80 1577.00 1556.00 1560.20ORIENTBANK 90.65 90.75 87.75 89.40PIIND 1070.00 1111.70 1066.00 1085.00PFC 106.90 110.15 105.95 109.15SYNDIBANK 33.25 33.35 32.15 32.55NOCIL 118.00 119.10 116.00 116.95EXIDEIND 204.85 206.80 203.60 205.45NMDC 90.65 91.90 89.80 90.15DBCORP 186.00 189.50 180.80 181.10TIMETECHNO 80.85 83.55 78.95 80.35SUNTV 530.00 546.00 524.45 535.70OMAXE 205.85 206.00 202.95 203.80DCAL 215.25 218.00 207.85 210.65

IDBI 34.50 34.95 34.00 34.40RECLTD 135.50 136.35 134.25 135.20TV18BRDCST 27.30 27.45 26.20 26.70PTC 68.05 68.30 66.95 67.10JAICORPLTD 99.80 100.30 98.05 99.35GSFC 91.50 94.75 90.65 94.50TRIDENT 62.35 62.35 60.70 61.60INTELLECT 224.55 224.60 218.00 221.00SFL 1259.00 1259.00 1200.00 1230.50VOLTAS 560.00 561.00 550.60 557.40KRBL 348.90 348.90 325.50 329.95HAVELLS 725.00 727.35 714.35 725.10HCLTECH 1068.20 1080.00 1056.75 1073.00HSCL 105.00 106.50 101.00 101.65ICICIPRULI 339.00 342.75 332.00 334.45GODREJIND 449.00 449.00 437.50 439.25DRREDDY 2817.55 2823.60 2760.00 2810.10JISLJALEQS 49.00 49.70 48.05 48.90MUTHOOTFIN 572.55 580.80 567.00 577.50BALKRISIND 805.00 805.00 778.00 786.50WELCORP 134.45 134.45 127.55 128.25MINDTREE 975.55 981.00 974.95 980.00CASTROLIND 142.00 143.00 139.70 143.00VIPIND 423.15 429.80 416.00 427.00BHARATFORG 455.00 455.00 445.10 447.00HEXAWARE 349.55 354.00 346.40 352.10HEROMOTOCO 2490.05 2535.00 2490.05 2516.30TAKE 141.95 142.35 135.50 139.35ATUL 3722.00 3825.00 3713.85 3805.00ITI 80.70 80.70 78.35 78.80FSL 51.90 52.00 50.80 51.40IGL 301.15 303.25 295.80 298.05SONATSOFTW 333.50 345.45 329.65 331.10GRUH 300.15 305.25 299.65 303.30GODREJAGRO 470.00 470.45 461.50 462.05M&MFIN 376.00 376.00 366.65 371.30GMRINFRA 15.40 15.45 15.15 15.25MEGH 61.00 61.00 59.30 59.55TVSMOTOR 469.00 469.00 459.00 463.20HINDCOPPER 41.40 41.40 40.15 40.60SWANENERGY 99.60 101.50 98.95 100.00CANFINHOME 306.10 313.50 304.40 312.90BERGEPAINT 297.20 298.65 292.20 295.00CENTURYPLY 164.55 168.70 163.60 164.30MCX 811.55 829.00 807.00 827.10AUBANK 647.35 659.45 636.90 639.00COLPAL 1120.00 1124.50 1106.65 1122.90INDHOTEL 143.00 143.20 141.00 141.70MAHINDCIE 220.00 224.00 213.50 220.30TEJASNET 189.00 196.60 188.80 195.85MARICO 355.05 357.35 349.75 352.35PVR 1717.05 1755.00 1715.00 1749.80KEI 385.85 390.40 383.95 390.00RAJESHEXPO 692.00 692.00 671.50 673.00NHPC 22.25 22.30 21.75 21.95GUJFLUORO 925.40 959.95 906.00 959.10LUXIND 1130.00 1170.00 1080.00 1170.00GSPL 175.05 180.50 170.70 178.35FINCABLES 434.00 444.00 428.05 429.00PAGEIND 21356.65 21831.65 21298.90 21750.00GODFRYPHLP 1031.00 1031.00 998.40 1016.65NESTLEIND 10333.00 10391.25 10257.00 10340.00RCF 55.25 55.25 53.65 54.10IPCALAB 924.70 925.50 907.00 911.15SCI 31.90 32.00 30.75 31.10ABB 1378.20 1400.00 1363.90 1385.00INOXLEISUR 306.85 311.95 304.00 309.90SHANKARA 488.80 506.60 476.00 497.90GHCL 239.05 240.25 235.30 236.50CHENNPETRO 209.50 212.35 204.80 209.00BLUESTARCO 755.80 755.80 715.00 723.40FRETAIL 427.25 437.00 420.50 431.55MGL 846.45 851.35 836.50 845.45UFLEX 215.15 229.75 215.10 226.00HUDCO 38.05 38.75 37.50 38.45SUDARSCHEM 309.85 329.00 309.85 312.60INFRATEL 263.00 270.00 263.00 270.00MFSL 399.80 402.50 395.00 399.35IFCI 9.16 9.30 8.90 9.23ALBK 42.75 42.75 41.40 41.40GESHIP 241.95 248.00 241.70 243.95EMAMILTD 377.05 382.30 370.20 373.30BBTC 1160.75 1160.75 1129.05 1132.00ENGINERSIN 106.00 107.50 104.90 106.95AJANTPHARM 1050.00 1050.00 1023.20 1032.00NATCOPHARM* 528.50 531.90 522.90 524.25GODREJCP 641.45 643.50 634.00 639.95ASTRAZEN 2290.00 2310.10 2220.00 2243.55JINDALSAW 74.45 75.00 73.20 74.30PARAGMILK 243.50 243.50 234.95 239.00WELSPUNIND 53.05 53.35 51.70 51.90MHRIL 202.20 211.20 195.70 211.00HIMATSEIDE 189.15 190.80 179.80 182.40JYOTHYLAB 146.80 149.35 143.10 146.35PRSMJOHNSN 84.30 88.00 82.40 88.00CHOLAFIN 1287.95 1308.00 1268.35 1307.95ASHOKA 114.45 114.95 110.00 111.65WABAG 260.00 271.00 260.00 271.00EQUITAS 128.90 128.90 125.70 128.00OIL 175.60 176.50 174.80 176.20DEEPAKNI 287.05 288.10 280.50 281.40PHOENIXLTD 600.00 624.75 600.00 622.70CONCOR 472.10 477.90 465.00 468.65GUJGAS 158.25 161.05 155.15 156.75TATACOMM 550.35 550.35 537.25 541.40DEEPAKFERT 125.00 125.00 120.80 122.20REPCOHOME 403.75 411.00 392.60 408.25JSLHISAR 76.95 77.10 74.50 74.90CUMMINSIND 701.00 706.05 693.60 695.00

GREENPLY 148.00 150.55 145.85 146.75LINDEINDIA 537.55 548.60 532.00 539.00VINATIORGA 1829.45 1835.00 1797.15 1803.10SUNDRMFAST 501.65 524.95 501.05 524.90APLAPOLLO 1427.35 1460.45 1393.10 1432.00SCHNEIDER 91.55 94.60 90.10 92.80SUPREMEIND 973.80 973.80 950.20 950.20IOB 12.04 12.49 11.80 12.05GDL 135.65 136.75 129.00 132.60ITDCEM 111.15 111.15 107.00 108.90KANSAINER 400.60 402.80 396.00 402.25BAJAJELEC 543.95 543.95 530.05 533.70MAHLOG 453.05 459.75 446.00 455.00NILKAMAL 1145.35 1145.35 1093.80 1114.00INDOSTAR 357.95 357.95 334.15 334.55OFSS 3415.05 3462.55 3408.25 3439.90KSCL 441.50 446.40 436.75 440.90ISEC 206.00 206.60 199.60 200.00APLLTD 527.80 530.00 520.05 530.00MAHABANK 14.60 14.70 14.30 14.45HINDZINC 253.50 255.95 253.30 254.90SYMPHONY 1178.15 1217.00 1175.90 1213.90TATAMETALI 590.15 599.00 573.05 598.00OBEROIRLTY 530.00 538.00 517.95 522.45KAJARIACER 585.10 595.50 585.10 590.30UCOBANK 17.20 17.20 16.60 16.75TEAMLEASE 2837.65 2899.00 2755.25 2899.00ADANITRANS 211.30 211.75 207.00 208.45RALLIS 143.05 143.05 139.70 140.35GUJALKALI 513.20 526.00 513.15 521.00CRISIL 1389.40 1390.00 1361.95 1365.90BAJAJHLDNG 3158.20 3197.10 3155.00 3160.00MOIL 143.00 144.40 142.10 144.00QUESS 648.20 663.00 645.10 650.00MRPL 62.80 63.65 62.10 62.20SYNGENE 588.00 597.20 588.00 596.05CROMPTON 214.15 214.15 210.40 211.50RAMCOCEM 730.85 741.40 719.00 740.95JAMNAAUTO 50.40 52.40 50.15 50.90SOBHA 447.40 453.00 436.85 443.65BIRLACORPN 573.00 573.00 557.30 559.00LALPATHLAB 1020.00 1045.00 1012.10 1040.00RELAXO 769.80 792.05 767.00 780.00ADVENZYMES 169.75 169.75 167.15 169.00GREAVESCOT 135.70 136.00 134.00 134.25BDL 260.00 261.00 255.00 256.55EVEREADY 72.75 73.20 71.25 71.25GICRE 228.10 228.10 224.20 225.80BALMLAWRIE 163.15 166.50 161.65 165.30LAKSHVILAS 71.50 71.80 68.35 70.55NBVENTURES 91.90 93.60 89.40 91.60MMTC 24.05 24.20 23.75 23.90WHIRLPOOL 1359.70 1379.90 1352.65 1375.00JMFINANCIL 82.00 82.00 80.75 81.60VGUARD 205.95 206.35 201.95 203.45TRENT 361.05 370.60 360.45 365.95ISGEC 487.20 511.95 487.20 503.00FCONSUMER 39.10 39.15 38.75 39.00MRF 53511.10 54135.20 53145.15 53772.55CENTRUM 28.60 29.40 27.80 28.75FORBESCO 2010.05 2059.00 1980.05 1999.55ANDHRABANK 24.25 24.60 23.95 24.00SHREECEM 19094.30 19555.30 18735.75 19430.00GRINDWELL 590.00 590.00 581.70 581.70EIHOTEL 176.55 185.65 172.20 182.70NAUKRI 1898.00 1919.00 1885.05 1898.15TATAINVEST 854.00 871.00 850.15 862.40EIDPARRY 179.60 182.00 175.30 179.70NAVKARCORP 28.35 28.65 27.40 27.60SJVN 24.00 24.45 23.90 24.05HAL 633.80 639.95 627.20 632.00BAJAJCON 331.00 336.00 326.00 335.00MOTILALOFS 683.45 689.90 676.00 689.90ALKEM 1703.50 1704.50 1680.00 1682.90JCHAC 1698.55 1779.95 1698.10 1748.00HSIL 258.00 261.95 255.40 261.95VMART 2349.75 2406.65 2260.00 2279.50COROMANDEL 400.00 403.60 395.10 399.10KALPATPOWR 457.20 463.00 446.00 446.00KPRMILL 590.05 593.30 576.70 585.00NAVINFLUOR 665.25 672.60 660.00 662.00SREINFRA 22.30 22.75 22.00 22.70PNCINFRA 152.00 153.50 149.05 150.95MAHSCOOTER 3871.85 3871.85 3762.95 3845.05GALAXYSURF 993.05 1005.00 989.90 1001.00

SOLARINDS 1079.05 1122.00 1072.00 1110.00SOMANYCERA 365.00 378.15 363.10 366.95IBULISL 246.00 254.45 242.00 254.10GPPL 87.00 88.00 85.90 88.00NIITTECH 1261.55 1273.90 1251.50 1265.00SHK 144.10 144.10 141.55 142.40SHILPAMED 372.50 382.25 370.00 373.20THERMAX 947.00 968.25 945.00 960.00LAXMIMACH 5380.05 5480.00 5352.10 5455.00GMDCLTD 73.15 73.20 71.15 72.50AEGISLOG 198.75 202.60 196.25 200.00JBCHEPHARM 327.40 333.00 324.30 330.00PFIZER 3000.00 3012.75 2973.75 2975.00ASTERDM 126.00 134.40 126.00 133.25TVSSRICHAK 2031.30 2036.30 2017.25 2033.85FLFL 441.00 449.70 433.55 447.95COFFEEDAY 241.65 244.05 240.80 242.50PGHH 10617.45 10818.70 10470.70 10554.00TIINDIA 372.75 377.00 365.10 377.00FORTIS 128.50 128.50 127.20 127.50ZYDUSWELL 1309.95 1317.25 1284.60 1295.203MINDIA 22953.55 23050.00 22701.00 22701.00GLAXO 1280.00 1292.00 1268.30 1282.00NLCINDIA 64.00 64.10 63.50 63.90THYROCARE 444.30 444.30 428.70 431.00ORIENTCEM 102.00 102.55 99.00 101.20MINDACORP 121.90 123.40 117.05 117.25SADBHAV 218.95 229.00 217.95 225.00GICHSGFIN 239.90 241.55 237.10 239.50REDINGTON 93.90 93.90 89.55 89.60AIAENG 1666.00 1666.60 1621.75 1626.70BOSCHLTD 17127.50 17127.50 16870.00 16930.05ENDURANCE 1165.00 1179.80 1151.30 1179.80NETWORK18 27.95 29.00 27.25 29.00GILLETTE 6915.65 6928.60 6836.50 6928.50THOMASCOOK 233.75 239.40 232.00 237.50NIACL 168.00 168.45 164.05 166.00LAURUSLABS 373.50 376.00 369.60 375.40TIMKEN 531.20 546.55 531.20 546.55UNITEDBNK 10.65 10.81 10.55 10.55BLUEDART 2950.00 2999.20 2899.95 2964.25HERITGFOOD 448.00 451.55 434.35 449.25CUB 197.00 198.20 195.50 197.75PRESTIGE 246.00 247.45 242.95 243.10MONSANTO 2379.00 2400.00 2359.05 2365.00SHARDACROP 350.00 350.00 335.85 341.50HEIDELBERG 175.45 180.00 175.30 179.15LEMONTREE 71.10 71.30 69.55 69.60IFBIND 809.00 816.95 791.00 794.80BASF 1199.65 1229.90 1197.05 1224.15ALLCARGO 105.00 105.00 101.45 101.90TTKPRESTIG 7232.70 7233.00 7111.30 7198.00CORPBANK 25.40 25.80 25.30 25.65COCHINSHIP 355.05 357.25 352.35 357.25TRITURBINE 101.50 104.80 100.75 101.20INOXWIND 56.35 58.30 55.00 57.50SKFINDIA 1800.50 1815.50 1795.60 1803.10CARERATING 938.15 945.90 937.45 945.90JKLAKSHMI 340.00 341.85 335.60 340.60ABBOTINDIA 7281.60 7290.00 7150.00 7188.80GEPIL 891.35 915.95 891.35 894.25GSKCONS 7051.80 7123.00 7039.00 7065.10KNRCON 232.95 235.00 229.95 235.00CCL 255.00 259.45 253.10 256.20MAHLIFE 362.75 365.60 359.60 365.40GULFOILLUB 830.00 848.25 815.00 825.00MAXINDIA 69.35 69.75 64.75 65.20ASAHIINDIA 210.00 212.35 207.50 211.15GAYAPROJ 148.90 158.45 147.00 157.00STARCEMENT 107.05 110.55 107.05 108.50NESCO 473.55 473.55 463.40 467.45FINOLEXIND 459.00 459.00 440.10 443.10BAYERCROP 4090.00 4098.65 4045.70 4093.00GET&D 238.90 238.90 233.00 233.00ECLERX 946.00 946.00 931.30 932.00ASTRAL 1154.00 1175.05 1150.70 1175.05ITDC 234.70 236.80 233.20 234.00NAVNETEDUL 106.00 108.00 106.00 106.60SUPRAJIT 202.35 206.00 199.80 200.00SCHAEFFLER 4839.15 4839.15 4747.00 4810.00FDC 165.70 166.05 163.70 164.55CAPPL 332.90 338.00 327.00 338.00JAGRAN 106.50 106.90 104.35 104.35IEX 156.75 156.75 154.50 155.35DHANUKA 377.00 377.00 355.05 359.35WABCOINDIA 6204.35 6220.75 6173.40 6173.40SHRIRAMCIT 1442.65 1442.65 1402.10 1430.00ZENSARTECH 245.70 247.10 245.05 245.05AKZOINDIA 1606.80 1612.90 1600.00 1606.45VTL 1098.00 1114.75 1096.00 1114.75LAOPALA 191.25 200.00 191.25 195.75TNPL 183.90 184.75 180.00 183.35NH 185.00 190.00 185.00 189.00SUPPETRO 200.50 201.00 200.00 200.60SHOPERSTOP 455.70 455.70 446.90 449.75APARINDS 645.70 645.70 635.25 636.00ERIS 615.35 615.35 607.00 609.20JKCEMENT 847.00 850.95 842.05 842.05TVTODAY 280.00 281.75 278.95 281.75SUNCLAYLTD 2437.05 2499.95 2437.05 2460.50SANOFI 5431.65 5431.65 5401.00 5401.00CHOLAHLDNG 508.00 509.95 506.00 506.00SIS 894.25 894.25 860.00 860.00ELGIEQUIP 268.00 268.00 260.00 260.00ESSELPRO 132.60 133.15 131.90 132.10KIOCL 114.60 121.15 114.55 121.00RATNAMANI 837.00 841.40 837.00 840.00CERA 2828.15 2862.90 2828.15 2862.90HONAUT 23750.00 23850.00 23654.35 23710.15

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11180.35 11281.55 11143.35 11257.10 100.10ZEEL 326.00 351.70 318.10 351.70 29.35BPCL 356.00 378.85 351.50 377.00 17.45BAJFINANCE 3014.00 3129.00 3010.25 3124.00 121.25IOC 144.30 152.30 143.00 151.40 5.65ULTRACEMCO 4345.00 4525.00 4322.00 4510.00 167.65TATAMOTORS 176.00 177.55 172.80 175.25 5.80ADANIPORTS 361.00 374.00 361.00 372.25 12.10JSWSTEEL 270.00 277.45 268.50 275.50 7.00BAJAJFINSV 7483.75 7663.15 7422.00 7639.00 184.30INFY 720.00 737.00 719.10 733.15 17.05INFRATEL 267.90 270.05 262.35 270.00 6.15ONGC 163.40 166.90 162.00 166.50 3.75HEROMOTOCO 2495.00 2561.00 2488.00 2550.00 56.60TITAN 1162.70 1195.00 1159.95 1188.20 25.20POWERGRID 179.35 182.70 178.85 182.00 3.50VEDL 161.30 164.10 158.85 163.15 3.10AXISBANK 720.95 735.00 718.70 733.55 11.60EICHERMOT 20050.00 20380.10 19525.00 20318.00 320.25ICICIBANK 379.00 385.00 377.55 382.95 5.90HINDALCO 191.25 195.90 190.00 193.60 2.95KOTAKBANK 1396.90 1423.45 1378.65 1415.10 19.30LT 1326.00 1348.00 1308.30 1344.10 18.30SBIN 312.50 317.10 309.55 316.30 4.20TATASTEEL 463.95 471.30 455.15 468.50 5.55NTPC 124.85 126.35 123.25 125.40 1.45BRITANNIA 2699.80 2737.00 2677.80 2719.00 31.25WIPRO 283.85 287.00 283.85 286.25 3.25HDFCBANK 2280.55 2319.00 2280.00 2312.35 25.65BAJAJ-AUTO 2928.00 2958.45 2908.00 2945.05 30.60HINDUNILVR 1674.70 1700.00 1672.20 1687.65 16.60RELIANCE 1259.95 1271.90 1258.10 1269.20 12.30HCLTECH 1079.90 1080.45 1056.05 1075.00 9.55TCS 2096.00 2124.00 2077.05 2111.50 16.10IBULHSGFIN 698.90 715.00 687.35 711.95 5.10SUNPHARMA 411.50 419.60 379.05 412.15 2.40GRASIM 815.00 826.70 804.85 819.60 4.80ASIANPAINT 1312.00 1314.00 1295.85 1311.95 6.00UPL 969.50 982.95 957.15 971.00 1.50HDFC 1954.00 1954.00 1923.30 1945.10 0.15TECHM 788.65 794.75 781.35 790.05 -0.25DRREDDY 2813.15 2826.35 2760.20 2810.00 -3.55MARUTI 6506.00 6527.30 6441.40 6480.00 -13.75M&M 610.00 612.65 597.20 607.30 -2.35GAIL 333.85 334.40 326.70 330.20 -1.55ITC 297.00 297.00 293.25 295.50 -1.55COALINDIA 235.15 236.70 229.55 232.90 -2.20CIPLA 554.00 556.70 541.05 549.15 -6.55INDUSINDBK 1382.00 1382.00 1348.10 1356.60 -22.40BHARTIARTL 332.00 333.30 321.05 323.75 -7.50YESBANK 144.00 145.90 134.65 138.20 -4.75

SE 500B

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 26013.10 26056.90 25729.05 26004.70 -10.75HINDPETRO 263.45 285.00 262.00 283.00 15.60SIEMENS 1079.00 1135.00 1075.00 1133.05 59.15SAIL 46.45 48.40 46.10 48.00 1.80AMBUJACEM 208.60 216.95 208.20 215.25 5.50BHEL 60.60 62.70 60.50 62.00 1.40AUROPHARMA 712.95 728.70 691.30 724.85 15.30SHREECEM 19000.00 19657.90 18705.15 19425.00 411.40ACC 1552.05 1589.45 1541.00 1587.00 32.50PAGEIND 21450.00 21876.00 21280.00 21800.00 446.90BANKBARODA 108.15 110.40 105.80 109.75 1.95DIVISLAB 1612.20 1648.35 1597.90 1636.20 27.35DMART 1241.10 1260.00 1236.00 1258.00 20.40ASHOKLEY 81.95 83.95 81.40 83.20 1.25BANDHANBNK 557.90 563.70 550.05 558.00 4.25DLF 162.85 164.50 158.15 162.65 1.20MRF 53849.00 53970.00 53100.00 53950.00 390.70MCDOWELL-N 526.20 529.00 513.00 527.00 3.45UBL 1355.00 1359.00 1319.00 1359.00 7.10SBILIFE 632.75 648.70 626.00 631.50 2.65HAVELLS 722.25 727.65 713.50 723.90 2.75OFSS 3418.00 3463.40 3400.05 3430.00 12.75HINDZINC 253.80 255.85 253.25 254.60 0.80MOTHERSUMI 119.70 122.40 115.75 118.20 0.25ABB 1379.00 1403.90 1361.05 1380.25 1.95ICICIGI 1096.15 1097.85 1085.85 1090.00 0.65L&TFH 117.00 117.50 114.25 116.35 0.05BOSCHLTD 17019.85 17150.80 16857.05 17010.00 5.15NMDC 90.50 92.00 90.00 90.20 -0.10BAJAJHLDNG 3187.00 3200.00 3152.90 3161.00 -4.40COLPAL 1129.35 1129.35 1104.50 1117.80 -2.65PIDILITIND 1155.30 1169.70 1145.05 1160.00 -4.55GODREJCP 641.00 644.40 635.80 638.25 -2.70DABUR 365.10 365.10 357.55 361.95 -1.60MARICO 355.05 356.80 349.10 353.00 -2.05HDFCAMC 1600.00 1609.30 1580.00 1583.00 -13.80NIACL 168.00 169.05 164.25 165.50 -1.60CONCOR 475.00 479.10 465.00 472.00 -4.60LUPIN 766.05 788.75 736.40 774.00 -8.15BIOCON 531.00 533.00 519.20 525.00 -5.60GICRE 227.35 228.60 224.10 227.00 -2.45PGHH 10668.30 10850.00 10405.05 10500.00 -115.20ICICIPRULI 340.70 342.95 332.05 334.65 -4.40SRTRANSFIN 1025.00 1027.00 997.10 1005.50 -14.50CADILAHC 260.20 261.00 241.75 256.05 -4.40NHPC 22.40 22.40 21.70 21.85 -0.45HDFCLIFE 387.95 389.50 377.40 379.20 -9.10PETRONET 227.10 233.95 219.20 224.40 -8.95PEL 2139.30 2140.00 2022.10 2048.05 -91.25IDEA 13.00 13.00 12.05 12.30 -0.60INDIGO 1580.00 1580.00 1453.20 1475.00 -135.35

Our growth strategy remains

unchanged: IndiGo CEO

PTI n NEW DELHI

The growth strategy ofIndiGo remains unchanged

and the airline’s managementhas full backing of the compa-ny’s board of directors to imple-ment it, said Ronojoy Dutta,CEO, InterGlobe Aviation, inan email to his employees onThursday.

The email was sent toemployees by the CEO as therewere various media reports onThursday morning regardingalleged disagreements between

the airline’s two promoters -Rahul Bhatia and RakeshGangwal.

InterGlobe Aviation ownsand manages IndiGo airline,which has around 44 per centshare in the domestic passen-ger market.

“I want to assure you thatthe growth strategy of the air-line remains unchanged andfirmly in place, and the man-agement is fully charged by theBoard to implement it,” Duttasaid in the email.

“I am sure you are all

aware of the press reportsregarding alleged disagree-ments between our two pro-moters Rahul Bhatia andRakesh Gangwal,” he added.

The CEO said the compa-ny would continue its focus oncreating value for all share-holders, customers, employeesand the communities it serves.

As per the media reports,serious differences havecropped up among the twochief promoters over strategiesand ambitions for the airline.

In order to resolve the dif-

ferences amicably so that itdoes not affect airline’s func-tioning, Gangwal and Bhatiaare taking help from law firmsJ Sagar Associates and Khatian& Co, respectively, as per themedia reports.

IndiGo did not respond tothe specific queries sent by thePTI regarding this matter.

While Gangwal ownsaround 37 per cent share inInterGlobe Aviation, Bhatiahas around 38 per cent share inthe company that is listed onthe Bombay Stock Exchange.

Sensex surges 279 pts; IT stocks shinePTI n MUMBAI

The BSE Sensex rebound-ed 279 points while the

NSE Nifty reclaimed the11,250 level Thursday, pro-pelled by gains in IT andfinancial stocks amid mixedglobal cues.

Both the key indices ral-lied in the last hour of tradeafter trading on a tepid notethrough most part of the day.

The 30-share BSE bench-mark closed 278.60 points, or0.75 per cent, higher at37,393.48. It hit an intra-dayhigh of 37,518.94 and a low of

37,052.30.Similarly, the broader

Nifty rose 100.10 points, or0.90 per cent, to settle at11,257.10. During the day, ithit a high of 11,281.55 and alow of 11,143.35.

Bajaj Finance was thebiggest gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 3.64per cent, after the companyreported a jump of 50 percent in standalone net profitat `1,114 crore for the Marchquarter.

Tata Motors, Infosys,Vedanta, ONGC, PowerGrid,NPTC, Axis Bank, ICICI

Bank, Kotak Bank, SBI,HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, TCSand RIL too rose up to 3.48per cent.

On the other hand, YesBank was the top loser, crack-ing 4.07 per cent, followed byBharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank,Coal India, ITC, M&M,HDFC, Maruti and AsianPaints, shedding up to 1.87per cent.

Foreign inst itut ionalinvestors (FIIs) net soldshares worth `1,142.44 croreon Wednesday, while domes-tic institutional investors(DIIs) purchased equities to

the tune of `671.77 crore,provisional data availablewith s tock exchangesshowed.

Bourses in China, Japanand Korea ended on a mixednote after US slapped sanc-tions on Chinese telecommajor Huawei. Europeanstocks opened in the red.

Meanwhile, the Indianrupee appreciated by 27 paiseto 70.07 against the US dol-lar intra-day.

Global oil benchmarkBrent crude was trading 0.56per cent higher at USD 72.17per barrel.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Hyundai Motor India Ltd(HMIL) on Thursday

announced the launch of itsvehicle leasing service in part-nership with ALD AutomotiveIndia.

‘Hyundai Leasing’ will offerall of the company’s entire modelline-up for leasing with noupfront and maintenance costs,HMIL said in a statement. “TheIndian automotive industry is atthe cusp of transformation...The vehicle leasing business israpidly picking pace in India andoffers great prospects,” HMILExecutive Director (Sales andMarketing) SJ Ha said.

As a smart mobility solu-tions provider, he said Hyundaiunderstands the needs of evolv-ing customers and are commit-ted to making ‘Shared Mobility’accessible. Through the collab-oration with ALD Automotive,the company will leveragerespective strengths to createunique ownership experiencefor customers, Ha added.

HMIL is targeting salariedindividuals, working profes-sionals, small and mediumenterprises, corporates and pub-lic sector companies.

Hyundai Leasing will beavailable across Delhi-NCR,Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabadand Bengaluru in the first phase,the company said.

BUSINESS CORNER

HINDALCO Q4 PROFIT DROPS 37% TO `236 CRORE

New Delhi: Aditya Birla Group flagship firmHindalco Industries on Thursday reported a37.4% decline in standalone profit to `235.82crore for the quarter ended March 31. The com-pany had posted a standalone profit of `376.97crore in the year-ago period, Hindalco Industriessaid in a filing to BSE. However, the company’sstandalone income during January-March quar-ter increased to ̀ 12,733.23 crore, over ̀ 11,892.06crore a year ago. Hindalco Industries Ltd is a glob-al major in aluminium and copper. In the state-ment, the company said, “PAT (profit after tax)for Q4 FY19 stood at `506 crore (`616 crore inQ4 FY18), primarily due to weaker macros andhigher input costs in the last quarter.” The con-solidated profit 2018-19 fell to `5,495.01 crore,over ̀ 6,082.87 crore in the year ended March 31,2018. The company’s board of directors “rec-ommended dividend @ of 120% i.e. `1.20 perequity share of face value of ̀ 1 each for the finan-cial year ended 31st March, 2019, subject toapproval of the shareholders at the ensuing annu-al general meeting,” the filing said.

BANK OF INDIA’S Q4 PROFIT `252 CR New Delhi: State-run Bank of India on

Thursday reported a profit of `251.79 crore forthe fourth quarter ended March 2019 owing toreduction of bad loans. The bank had report-ed a net loss of `3,969 crore in the same quar-ter of the previous year, Bank of India said ina regulatory filing. Total income in threemonths to March grew to `12,417.08 crore, asagainst `9,596.86 crore in the same period of2017-18. This is the first quarterly earningsannouncement by the bank after it came outof the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) frame-work in January this year. The asset quality ofthe bank improved slightly with the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) coming down to15.84% of gross advances at March-end 2019against 16.58% as of March 31, 2018. At thesame time, net NPAs came down to 5.61% from8.26%. The reduction in bad asset ratio brought

down provisioning against them to `1,502.90crore for March quarter, compared to `6,699.23crore in the year-ago period. For entire 2018-19, the bank reported a net loss of `5,546.90crore as against `6,043.71 crore loss in 2017-18. Income during the year stood at ̀ 45,899.82crore, up from `43,805.17 crore a year earlier.

BAJAJ FINANCE Q4 NET PROFIT SURGES50% TO `1,114 CRORE

New Delhi: Bajaj Finance on Thursdayreported a 50% jump in its standalone net prof-it at `1,114 crore for the last quarter of the fis-cal ended March 2019. The company had regis-tered a net profit of `743 crore in the corre-sponding quarter a year ago. Total income dur-ing January-March quarter of 2018-19 rose to`4,887.76 crore from ̀ 3,424.99 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in a regulatory fil-ing. For the fiscal year ended March 2019, thenet profit rose to ̀ 3,890 crore as compared with`2,485 crore in 2017-18. The company’s boardhas recommended a dividend of `6 per equityshare or 300 per cent of face value of `2. Grossnon-performing assets (NPAs) and net NPAsstood at 1.54% and 0.63%, respectively, at the endof March 2019.

JSW ENERGY LOGS `6 CR PROFIT IN Q4New Delhi: JSW Energy on Thursday

reported a consolidated net profit of ̀ 5.79 crorefor March quarter 2019 mainly on account ofhigher revenues. In the year-ago period, thecompany registered a loss of `480.05 crore, aJSW Energy statement said. Total income in thelatest quarter was `2,018.16 crore, up from`1,879.01 crore a year ago. Profit during 2018-19 fiscal was ̀ 684.49 crore compared to ̀ 84.91crore in the previous year. Total income was`9,505.56 crore in the last fiscal as against`8,513.98 crore in 2017-18. The company’sboard in its meeting on Thursday recommendeda dividend of `1 per equity share of `10 eachfor the year ended March 31, 2019. The boardalso decided to convene 25th annual generalmeeting of the members of the company onAugust 13, 2019. PTI

Hyundai launchesleasing service inpartnership with ALDAutomotive India

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019world 11

PTI n WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump hasbarred American compa-

nies from using foreign-madetelecom equipment posing anational security threat, a moveaimed at banning Chinese giantHuawei from US networksamid an escalating trade warbetween the world’s two largesteconomies.

President Trump signedan executive order onWednesday which did notdirectly name any country orcompany, but officials havepreviously named Huawei a“threat” and asked allies not tobuy equipment for the next-generation 5G networks fromthe world’s largest provider oftelecommunications.

Under the order that willtake effect in the coming days,Huawei will need a US gov-ernment license to buyAmerican technology.

Soon after the executiveorder — “Securing theInformation andCommunications Technologyand Services Supply Chain” —was signed, the Bureau ofIndustry and Security (BIS) ofthe Department of Commerce

announced that it will beadding Huawei TechnologiesCo. Ltd and its affiliates to itsEntity List.

The Department ofCommerce alleged that Huaweiwas engaged in activities thatare contrary to US nationalsecurity or foreign policy inter-est. As a result, sale or transferof American technology to acompany or person on theEntity List requires a licenseissued by the BIS, and a licensemay be denied if the sale ortransfer would harm USnational security or foreignpolicy interests.

The listing will be effectivewhen published in the FederalRegister.

“This action by theCommerce Department’sBureau of Industry andSecurity, with the support ofthe President of the UnitedStates, places Huawei, aChinese-owned company thatis the largest telecommunica-tions equipment producer inthe world, on the Entity List,”Commerce Secretary WilburRoss said.

This will prevent Americantechnology from being used byforeign-owned entities in ways

that potentially undermine USnational security or foreignpolicy interests, Ross said,adding that it has been done atthe direction of the president.

In the order, Trump deter-mined that the unrestrictedacquisition or use in the US ofinformation and communica-

tions technology or servicesthat are subject to the jurisdic-tion or direction of foreignadversaries augments the abil-ity of those foreign adversariesto create and exploit vulnera-bilities in information andcommunications technologyor services and that can havepotentially catastrophic effects,and thereby, constitutes anunusual and extraordinary riskto US national security, foreignpolicy and economy.

Trump “is incredibly” com-mitted to preventing adver-saries from turning Americaninformation and communica-tions infrastructure into a lia-bility as opposed to an asset, asenior administration officialsaid.

The executive orderaddresses this imperative byempowering the Secretary ofCommerce to prohibit trans-actions involving informationand communications technol-ogy or services that aredesigned, developed, manu-factured or supplied by personsowned by or controlled by orsubject to the jurisdiction ordirection of a foreign adver-sary, the official said.

Responding to questions,

the official said the order wasdirected at any transactioninvolving information andcommunications technologyor services and controlled by orsubject to the jurisdiction of aforeign adversary that meetsthe criteria enumerated in theexecutive order.

Regulations issued by theDepartment of Commerce inthe coming days will detailhow determinations will bemade on whether a transactionmeets the criteria listed in theexecutive order, the officialsaid.

Cutting across party lines,US lawmakers praised theadministration’s announce-ment.

“This is a needed step andreflects the reality that Huaweiand ZTE represent a threat tothe security of US and alliedcommunications networks.Under current Chinese secu-rity laws, these and other com-panies based in China arerequired to provide assistanceto the Chinese state,” SenatorMark Warner said.

“Huawei is a state-direct-ed instrument of nationalpower used by the Chinesegovernment and Communist

Shoppers browse smartphones at a Huawei retail store in Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province on Thursday as theTrump administration issued an executive order Wednesday apparently aimed at banning its equipment from US networks andsaid it was subjecting the Chinese company to strict export controls AP

Party to destroy their interna-tional competitors, undermineUS companies, spy on foreigncountries and steal intellectu-al property and trade secrets,”Senator Marco Rubio said.

Rubio said the adminis-tration deserved enormouscredit for its efforts to com-prehensively tackle the threatthat Huawei and other foreignstate-directed telecommuni-

cations companies posethrough their efforts to under-mine and endanger criticalUS systems and infrastruc-ture.

“Earlier this year Congressacted well within our consti-tutional authority to blockHuawei from our telecommu-nications equipment marketdue to concerns with the com-pany’s links to China’s intelli-

gence services,” he said.“As the administration

continues to seek a fair andenforceable trade deal withChina, I urge them to standstrong on Huawei and hold theChinese government and itsstate-owned and state-direct-ed enterprises accountable fortheir hostile actions threaten-ing US economic and nation-al security,” Rubio added.

Uunreasonable,says HuaweiBeijing (AFP): Huawei onThursday said “unreasonablerestrictions” by the UnitedStates infringe on its rights afterPresident Donald Trumpbarred US companies fromusing foreign telecoms equip-ment - a move that appearedaimed at the Chinese firm.

“Restricting Huawei fromdoing business in the US willnot make the US more secureor stronger; instead, this willonly serve to limit the US toinferior yet more expensivealternatives,” the telecom giantsaid in a statement.

“In addition, unreasonablerestrictions will infringe uponHuawei’s rights and raise otherserious legal issues,” the state-ment said.

US BLACKLISTS HUAWEI

Global cyber crime gang busted

AFP n THE HAQUE

US and European policesaid Thursday they have

smashed a huge internationalcybercrime network that usedRussian malware to steal USD100 million (89 million euros)from tens of thousands of vic-tims worldwide.

Prosecutions have beenlaunched in Georgia, Moldova,Ukraine and the United Statesover the scam, while fiveRussians charged in the USremain on the run, the EUpolice agency Europol said.

The “organised crime net-work behind USD 100 millionin malware attacks” targeted“more than 41,000 victims,primarily businesses and theirfinancial institutions,” Europolsaid.

Police in Germany andBulgaria were also involved.

The cyber gang usedGozNym malware to infectvictims’ computers, steal theironline banking login details

and then siphon money fromtheir accounts.

The stolen money wasthen laundered in US andother accounts.

Scott Brady, the USAttorney General for thewestern distr ic t ofPennsylvania where the USindictment was unsealed, saidthe operat ion was an“unprecedented” interna-tional effort.

“Unsuspecting Europeanand American vict imsthought they were clicking ona simple invoice, but wereinstead giving hackers accessto their most sensitive infor-mation,” Brady added.

The alleged leader of theGozNym criminal network,Alexander Konovolov, 35, ofTbilisi, who goes by theonline name “NoNe”, wasarrested in the former Sovietstate of Georgia, the USDepartment of Justice said.

His alleged technicalassistant Marat Kazandjian,

31, aka “phant0m,” was alsoarrested in Georgia.

Konovolov recruitedhackers who advertised theirservices on “Russian-speak-ing online criminal forums”,and eventually controlled themalware-infected computersof more than 41,000 victims,Europol said.

The five Russians chargedin the US included the allegeddeveloper of the malware,identified as Vladimir Gorin,but they cannot be extradit-ed because Russia does notsend suspects abroad.

Gorin “oversaw its cre-ation, development, manage-ment and leasing to othercyber criminals” includingthe Georgian alleged leader ofthe group, Europol said.

One of the Russians,Viktor Eremenko, was arrest-ed in Sri Lanka at the requestof US authorities in 2017 but“through the intervention ofthe Russian government” wasfreed on bail, after which he

fled to Russia.Bulgar ian Krasimir

Nikolov was arrested andextradited to the UnitedStates in 2016 and has alreadypleaded guilty to the chargesin the indictment, the DOJsaid.

Ukrainian police mean-while arrested GennadyKapkanov, 36, also known as“firestarter”, on suspicion ofhost ing a so-cal led“Avalanche” network thatprovided services to morethan 200 cybercriminalsincluding the Georgians.

He allegedly fired anassault rifle through the doorof his apartment at police, theDOJ said.

Europol announced thesmashing of the Avalanchenetwork in a major operationin 2016, saying that it hadinfected half a million com-puters in 188 countries.

The latest operation wasa fol low-up f rom that ,Europol said.

China arrests Canadian

ex-diplomat, bizman

AFP n BEIJING

China has formally arrestedtwo Canadians who have

been detained for months onnational security grounds, aCanadian newspaper reportedon Thursday, in a case that hasinflamed tensions betweenOttawa and Beijing.

A Canadian governmentsource told The Globe andMail that neither MichaelKovrig, a former diplomat, norMichael Spavor, a China-basedbusinessman who organisedtrips to North Korea, havebeen formally charged.

“Canada strongly con-demns their arbitrary arrest aswe condemned their arbitrarydetention on December 10,” theCanadian foreign ministry saidin a statement to the newspa-per.

Though no link has beenofficially made, the detention ofSpavor and Kovrig is thought

to be in retaliation for Canada’sDecember 1 detention on a USextradition request for MengWanzhou, a top executive ofChinese telecom giant Huaweiwho is accused of violating Iransanctions.

The men were first accusedof activities that “endanger

China’s security” - a phraseoften used by Beijing whenalleging espionage.

China later announced itsuspected Kovrig of spyingand stealing state secrets andalleged that Spavor had pro-vided him with intelligence.

Two other Canadians con-victed of drug trafficking,meanwhile, have been sen-tenced to death. And Beijingrecently blocked Canadianshipments of canola and porkworth billions of dollars.

Meng — who is currentlyfighting extradition to the US— is allowed to live in herVancouver mansion, althoughher mobility is limited.

Meanwhile, a group ofCanadian parliamentarians hadearlier complained to Chineseofficials that Kovrig and Spavorhave been denied access tolawyers, and remain in “com-pletely unacceptable” deten-tion conditions.

Though no link hasbeen officially made,the detention ofSpavor and Kovrig isthought to be inretaliation forCanada’s December1 detention on a USextradition requestfor Meng Wanzhou, atop executive ofChinese telecomgiant Huawei who isaccused of violatingIran sanctions.

2 Indian climbers die on Mount KanchenjungaKathmandu (PTI): Two Indianclimbers have died in Nepal dueto altitude ailments after one ofthem successfully scaled MountKanchenjunga, the world’s thirdtallest peak, an official saidThursday.

Biplab Baidya (48) andKuntal Karar (46) diedWednesday night above CampIV after they were unable tocontinue their descent fromnear the 8,586-meter summitdue to hypothermia and snow-blindness.

“Biplab made it successful-ly to the summit point whileKuntal fell sick on his way. TheIndian duo died while climbingdown from the peak,” MiraAcharaya, a staffer at Nepal’sMinistry of Tourism teamdeployed at the base camp,told PTI.

According to fellowclimbers, the incident occurredwhen the duo were beingbrought to Camp IV from analtitude of 8,400 metres througha herculean rescue operationcarried out by Project Possibleteam leader Nirmal ‘Nims’Purja along with the fellowmembers.

“Later, they succumbed tohigh altitude sicknesses,” PasangSherpa, Manager at PeakPromotion Pvt Ltd told TheHimalayan Times.

They were part of a five-member team of climbers fromWest Bengal, Sherpa said.

“Two Indian climbers anda German mountaineer whoalso suffered from serious frost-bite will be evacuated from thehigh altitude camp as early aspossible,” he said.

Another climber fromChile is missing from aboveCamp IV of MountKanchenjunga since lastevening.

Rodrigo Vivanco fromChile went missing on thedescent after he reportedlymade it to the summit late onWednesday, Sherpa said, addingthat a team has already left forCamp IV to conduct a searchoperation.

Nepal Oppn warns of protest over Media Council BillPTI n KATHMANDU

The main opposition partyin Nepal warned of a strong

protest if the federal govern-ment went ahead with the dis-cussion in Parliament on thecontroversial Media CouncilBill that aims to curtail pressfreedom by imposing strictpenalty on media outlets.

Nepal on Friday proposedthe new media bill aimed atimposing a hefty fine of up toRs 1 million on media outletsfound guilty of damaging any-one’s reputation, raising alarmamong journalists who say thegovernment seeks to punish thepress in the name of regulation.

The new Media Councilbill aims to replace the existingPress Council Act and willhave more authority to issuehefty fines and give the gov-ernment more say in the hiring

and firing of the council mem-bers.

A meeting of the NepaliCongress parliamentary partychaired by the party chief andformer prime minister SherBahadur Deuba on Wednesdaydecided that they would proteston streets if the governmentforwarded the discussion in theParliament.

Similarly, the party alsodemanded that the govern-ment put on hold discussionson National Human RightsCommission Bill and NationalDefence Council Bill as they arealso objectionable.

“All three bills are againstthe spirit of the NepaleseConstitution. The governmentshould withdraw them,” partychief Bal Krishna Khand toldmedia after the meeting.

“If the bills are forwardedforcefully, the party will go to

the street against them,” he said.Meanwhile, the National

Human Rights Commissionhas said that the proposedmedia bill is against democra-tic norms and the freedom ofexpression enshrined in theConstitution.

Press freedom, humanrights and the rule of law areintegral part of democracy andan attack on them adverselyaffects the democratic systemthe country has establishedafter a long struggle, the humanrights watchdog said in a state-ment.

Earlier, the council couldask for clarification, apology,blacklist certain press organi-sations, direct to the court forcompensation, but now thebill aims to give the councilauthority to issue monetarypunishment ranging from Rs25,000 and up to one million.

Chinese rover sheds light on lunar mantle

PTI n BEIJING

China’s Chang’e-4 mission,the first to perform a soft

landing on the far side of theMoon, has shed light on thechemical and mineralogicalcomposition of the lunar man-tle, an advance that could unrav-el the mystery of the evolutionof Earth and its natural satellite.

The Chinese spacecraftbecame the first misson to landon the lunar far side also knownas the dark side of the moon inJanuary. The rover Yutu-2 thenrolled off the lander to exploreits surroundings.

Using data obtained by thevisible and near infrared spec-trometer installed on Yutu-2, aresearch team led by Li Chunlai,with the National AstronomicalObservatories of China underthe Chinese Academy ofSciences, found that the lunarsoil in the landing area of theChang’e-4 probe contains olivineand pyroxene which came from

the lunar mantle deep inside theMoon.

The first important scientificdiscovery of the Chang’e-4 probewas published online in the lat-est issue of the academic jour-nal Nature.

The Moon comprises a core,mantle and crust, like the Earth.With the evolution of lunarmagma, the light plagioclaserose to the upper layer to formthe lunar crust, while the heav-ier olivine and pyroxene sank toform the lunar mantle, Li said.

“But since the lunar crust isvery thick, and there has been novolcanic activity and plate move-ment on the Moon for billionsof years, it’s hard to find mate-rials from the lunar mantle onthe surface,” Li told state-runXinhua news agency.

As a result of the tidal lock-ing effect, the Moon’s revolutioncycle is the same as its rotationcycle, and the same side of theMoon always faces the Earth.

The lunar far side, which is

turned away from Earth, ismore rugged than the familiarnear side and has fewer “maria”- dark plains formed by ancientvolcanic eruptions.

The rover landed inside a180 kilometer wide impact bowlcalled Von Karman crater.

But that smaller crater lieswithin the 2,300 kilometer wideSouth Pole Aitken (SPA) Basin,which covers nearly a quarter ofthe Moon’s circumference.

It is not known exactly howold the SPA Basin is, but isthought to be at least 3.9 billionyears old. The asteroid thatcarved it out is thought to havebeen about 170-kilometre wide,BBC reported.

The rover has now identi-fied rocks with a very differentchemical make-up to thosefound elsewhere on the moon,the report said.

Early results from the rover’sVisible and Near InfraredSpectrometer (VNIS) suggestthe rocks contain minerals

known as low-calcium(ortho)pyroxene and olivine.

They fit the profile of rocksfrom the lunar mantle and sug-gest that the ancient impact thatcreated the SPA drove rightthrough the 50-kilometre deepcrust into the mantle.

Observational data takenby the Moon-orbiting spacecrafthave been inconclusive as to thepresence of mantle rocks on thesurface. The authors of thepaper want to continue theirexamination of these rocks andfind others.

They have also raised thepossibility of sending anothermission to deliver some of themto Earth for study in laboratories.

The results could now helpscientists understand the chem-ical and mineralogical compo-sition of the mantle, whichcould shed light on the originsand evolution of the moon itself,it said.

The team members alsowant to find out more about

what happened after the aster-oid collided with the Moon andformed the SPA Basin.

Scientists predict that thehole in the surface may havebeen filled by molten rock -forming a “melt sheet” withinthe impact bowl, which com-plicates the picture of thisregion’s geology.

Patrick Pinet, from theResearch Institute inAstrophysics and Planetology(IRAP) in Toulouse, France,called the results “thrilling” andsaid they “could have consider-able implications for character-ising the composition of theMoon’s upper mantle”.

“It is of the utmost impor-tance to make progress towardsunpacking the geology of thelunar far side, expanding ourfundamental knowledge of theMoon’s formation and the originof the crustal asymmetry thatexists between its near and farsides, and preparing future sam-ple-return missions,” he said.

PTI n WASHINGTON

In a major policy speechThursday, US President

Donald Trump is all set toannounce a new proposal tooverhaul the country’s immi-gration policy that would givepreference to foreigners basedon merit rather than the exist-ing system that gives preferenceto family ties, a move that couldend the agonising Green Cardwait for hundreds and thou-sands of Indian professionals.

Brainchild of Trump’s son-in-law, Jarred Kushner, thenew plan primarily focusses onstrengthening border securityand revamping the system ofGreen Card or legal permanentresidency so that people withmerit, higher degrees and pro-fessional qualifications couldget an easy access to the immi-gration system.

As of now, about 66per cent of the greencards are given to thosewith family ties and only12 per cent are based onskills. The TrumpAdministration intendsto change this. Trump isscheduled to roll out hisplan at the Rose Gardenof the White HouseThursday afternoon.

However, the plan faces anuphill task mainly because ofthe bitterly divided Congress onpartisan lines, especially onthe issue of immigrationreform. Even if Trump succeedsin convincing his Republicanlawmakers on this, the opposi-tion Democrats, led byCongresswoman Nancy Pelosi,House Speaker, and SenateMinority Leader ChuckSchumer, are dead against anysuch legislative success to the

president. The TrumpAdministration is well aware ofthe issue. It is planning tomake it an election issue in 2020if the opposition Democrats areunwilling to be engaged on this,a senior administration officialtold reporters during an inter-action on the eve of the rolloutof the merit-based immigrationpolicy.

“It is going to be a verydetailed piece of legislation andit can be what they want it to be.

If they do not want toengage, then it will bepart of the election. Ifthey want to engage, thenit could be part of a nego-tiation. That is going to beup to them,” said the offi-cial who requestedanonymity. Both Trumpand Kushner are believedto have briefedRepublican lawmakers on

the issue. In his speech, Trumpis unlikely to propose changesin the existing number — 1.1million — of green cards issuedeach year. Instead, the newpolicy calls for issuing morethan half of the green cards tothose based on employment orskills. Such a move is likely tobenefit hundreds and thou-sands of Indian professionals onH-1B visa whose current GreenCard wait, on an average, ismore than a decade.

Trump plans merit-based immigrationAustrian bans headscarf

in primary schools

AFP | n VIENNA

Austrian MPs on Wednesdayapproved a law aimed at

banning the headscarf in pri-mary schools, a measure pro-posed by the ruling right-winggovernment.

So as to avoid charges thatthe law discriminates againstMuslims, the text refers to any“ideologically or religiouslyinfluenced clothing which isassociated with the covering ofthe head”.

The government says thepatka head covering worn bySikh boys or the Jewish kippawould not be affected.

However, representatives ofboth parts of the governing

coalition, the centre-rightPeople’s Party (OeVP) and thefar-right Freedom Party (FPOe),have made it clear that the lawis targeted at the Islamic head-scarf. FPOe educationspokesman Wendelin Moelzersaid the law was “a signal againstpolitical Islam” while OeVP MPRudolf Taschner said the mea-sure was necessary to free girlsfrom “subjugation”.

Austria’s official Muslimcommunity organisationIGGOe has previously con-demned the proposals as“shameless” and a “diversionarytactic”.

The IGGOe says that in anycase only a “miniscule number”of girls would be affected.

Opposition MPs almost allvoted against the measure, withsome accusing the governmentof focusing on garnering posi-tive headlines rather than childwelfare.

The government admitsthat the law is likely to be chal-lenged at Austria’s constitution-al court, either on grounds ofreligious discrimination orbecause similar legislation affect-ing schools is normally passedwith a two-thirds majority ofMPs. The OeVP and FPOeformed a coalition in late 2017after elections in which bothparties took a tough anti-immi-gration stance and warned of thedangers of so-called “parallelsocieties”.

Russian malware used to steal over $ 100 m worldwide

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019world 12

Trump to visit S Korea for talkson North’s nukes: White HouseAFP n WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump willvisit South Korea in June to

meet with his counterpartMoon Jae-in over their effortsto persuade North Korea toscrap its nuclear weapons arse-nal, the White House has said.

It will be the second meet-ing between the pair since thecollapse of a summit betweenTrump and North Koreanleader Kim Jong Un in Hanoiin February after they failed toreach a deal on denuclearisa-tion.

“President Trump andPresident Moon will continuetheir close coordination onefforts to achieve the final,fully verified denuclearisationof the Democratic People’sRepublic of Korea,” the WhiteHouse said in a statement onWednesday, using NorthKorea’s official name.

The dovish South Koreanpresident, who has long backedengagement with the nuclear-

armed North, brokered thetalks process between Trumpand Kim, which led to theirfirst landmark summit inSingapore last June.

But security allies Seouland Washington have at timesappeared to diverge on theirapproach to Pyongyang, andSeoul’s simultaneousannouncement of the visit wasnoticeably different in its phras-ing.

A statement issued by theSouth’s presidential office saidthe two leaders will discuss“establishing a lasting peaceregime through the completedenuclearisation of the Koreanpeninsula” — rather than theNorth specifically.

The “denuclearisation ofthe Korean peninsula” was theterm used in the joint statementsigned by Kim and Trumpafter their first summit inSingapore.

But it is a phrase open towide interpretation, and theprocess has become bogged

down as the two sides disagreeover what it means.

In the past, Pyongyang hasargued it must include theremoval of Washington’snuclear umbrella over theSouth and the 28,500 US troopsstationed in the country.

When US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo visited theNorth’s traditional ally Russiathis week, Moscow’s veteranforeign minister Sergei Lavrovtold him: “The leadership ofDPRK expects certain guaran-tees of security of their coun-try reciprocated by denu-clearization, and that denu-clearization should be expand-ed over the whole of the KoreanPeninsula.”

The White House saidTrump’s trip to South Koreawould combine with his visit tonearby Japan, where he willattend a G20 summit in Osakaon June 28-29.

The Hanoi summitbetween Trump and Kim brokeup after the pair failed to agree

on what Pyongyang would bewilling to give up in exchangefor relief from sanctionsimposed over its nuclear andmissile programmes.

Since then, Moon has triedto salvage diplomacy betweenthe two mercurial leaders andflew to Washington last monthfor a brief meeting with Trump.

His attempts have so farproved futile, with Pyongyangraising the pressure earlier thismonth week by launchingshort-range missiles in its firstsuch test since November 2017.

North Korea has repeated-ly warned that it could take adifferent approach ifWashington did not change itsstance on sanctions by the endof this year.

In a move that could fur-ther stoke tensions, the USannounced the seizure of aNorth Korean cargo ship forviolating international sanc-tions, which was slammed byPyongyang as an “unlawfuland outrageous act”.

PTI n LONDON

Cambridge scientists havedeveloped wearable elec-

tronic components that can beincorporated directly into fab-rics.

The devices could be usedfor flexible circuits, healthcaremonitoring, energy conver-sion, and other applications,according to the study pub-lished in the journal Nanoscale.

Researchers have shownhow graphene — a two-dimen-sional form of carbon — andother related materials can bedirectly incorporated into fab-rics to produce charge storageelements such as capacitors.

This paves the way for tex-tile-based power supplies

which are washable, flexibleand comfortable to wear.

The research demonstratesthat graphene inks can be usedin textiles able to store electri-cal charge and release it whenrequired. The new textile elec-tronic devices are based onlow-cost, sustainable and scal-able dyeing of polyester fabric.

The inks are produced bystandard solution processingtechniques.

Building on previous workby the same team, theresearchers at the University ofCambridge in the UK designedinks which can be directlycoated onto a polyester fabricin a simple dyeing process.

The versatility of theprocess allows various types of

electronic components to beincorporated into the fabric.

Most other wearable elec-tronics rely on rigid electron-ic components mounted onplastic or textiles.

These offer limited com-patibility with the skin in manycircumstances, are damagedwhen washed and are uncom-fortable to wear because theyare not breathable.

“Other techniques to incor-porate electronic componentsdirectly into textiles are expen-sive to produce and usuallyrequire toxic solvents, whichmakes them unsuitable to beworn,” said Felice Torrisi fromCambridge. “Our inks arecheap, safe and environmen-tally-friendly, and can be com-

bined to create electronic cir-cuits by simply overlaying dif-ferent fabrics made of two-dimensional materials on thefabric,” Torrisi said.

The researchers suspendedindividual graphene sheets in alow boiling point solvent,which is easily removed afterdeposition on the fabric, result-ing in a thin and uniform con-ducting network made up ofmultiple graphene sheets.

The subsequent overlay ofseveral graphene and hexago-nal boron nitride (h-BN) fab-rics creates an active region,which enables charge storage.

This sort of ‘battery’ onfabric is bendable and canwithstand washing cycles in anormal washing machine.

“Textile dyeing has beenaround for centuries usingsimple pigments, but our resultdemonstrates for the first timethat inks based on grapheneand related materials can beused to produce textiles thatcould store and release energy,”said Professor Chaoxia Wangfrom Jiangnan University inChina.

“Our process is scalableand there are no fundamentalobstacles to the technologicaldevelopment of wearable elec-tronic devices both in terms oftheir complexity and perfor-mance,” Wang said.

The work opens a numberof commercial opportunitiesfor ink based on two-dimen-sional materials, ranging from

personal health and well-beingtechnology, to wearable ener-gy and data storage, militarygarments, wearable computingand fashion. “Turning textilesinto functional energy storageelements can open up anentirely new set of applications,

from body-energy harvestingand storage to the Internet ofThings,” said Torrisi.

“In the future our clothescould incorporate these textile-based charge storage elementsand power wearable textiledevices,” Torrisi said.

‘Washable, wearable devices could be woven into clothes’

Jeff Koons work

sells for $91.1m,

record for

living artist

AFP n NEW YORK

Asculpture by Americanartist Jeff Koons has sold

for USD 91.1 million at an auc-tion organised by Christie’s inNew York — a record price fora living artist.

“Rabbit”, a stainless steelcasting of an inflatable rabbit,overtook the previous recordset by British painter DavidHockney’s “Portrait of anArtist (Pool with TwoFigures)”, which sold lastNovember at Christie’s forUSD 90.3 million.

It was a return to the topfor Koons, whose “BalloonDog (Orange)” for five yearsheld the record for highestprice reached at auction for aliving artist after its 2013 salefor USD 58.4 million.

The selling price of“Rabbit” was only USD 80 mil-lion, but once commissionsand fees were added, the finaltotal rose to USD 91.075 mil-lion. In an unusual turn for anart auction at this price range,the buyer of “Rabbit” was

actually in the room during thesale. Produced by Koons in1986, “Rabbit” is among thebest-known works by theartist, who built a reputationfor challenging art world con-ventions.

At 41 inches (1.04 metres)

in height, the figure was auc-tioned from the collection ofdeceased publishing mogul SI Newhouse. Before his death in2017, his empire included CondeNast, which published maga-zines like Vogue, The NewYorker and Vanity Fair.

Alabama governor signs near-total

abortion ban into law

AP n MONTGOMERY (US)

Alabama’s Republican gover-nor has signed the most

stringent abortion legislation inthe nation, making performingan abortion a felony in nearly allcases.

“To the bill’s many support-ers, this legislation stands as apowerful testament toAlabamians’ deeply held beliefthat every life is precious and thatevery life is a sacred gift fromGod,” Governor Kay Ivey said ina statement on Wednesday.

The bill’s sponsors want togive conservatives on the USSupreme Court a chance to gutabortion rights nationwide, butDemocrats and abortion rightsadvocates criticised the bill as aslap in the face to women voters.

“It just completely disre-

gards women and the value ofwomen and their voice. We haveonce again silenced women on avery personal issue,” said Sen.Linda Coleman-Madison, aBirmingham Democrat.

The abortion ban is set to gointo effect in six months, but isexpected to face a lawsuit to blockit from halting abortion access.

Coleman-Madison said shehopes the measure awakens a“sleeping giant” of women votersin the state.

But Republican pollsterChris Kratzer noted that there isno congressional district andlikely no legislative district withenough swing voters to putRepublicans at serious risk in thestate.

“The people who are out-raged about this are not the peo-ple who are electing these guys,

generally speaking, especiallywhen we’re talking about the pri-mary,” he said.

Further, Kratzer argued,there aren’t enough potentialswing voters and disenchantedRepublicans to make the issueany kind of advantage for the loneDemocrat elected to statewideoffice, US Sen Doug Jones, whoscored a surprise win in a 2017special election.

Jones upset Republican RoyMoore in part on the strength ofGOP-leaning college graduatesabandoning the controversialMoore. But Kratzer said that wasmore about Moore’s long histo-ry of flouting federal courts aschief justice of the AlabamaSupreme Court and accusationsthat Moore sexually harassedteens when he was in his 30s —not Moore’s hardline stance on

abortion.The legislation Alabama sen-

ators passed Tuesday wouldmake performing an abortion atany stage of pregnancy a felonypunishable by 10 to 99 years orlife in prison for the provider. Theonly exception would be whenthe woman’s health is at seriousrisk.

Women seeking or under-going abortions wouldn’t be pun-ished.

Rep Terri Collins, the bill’ssponsor, said she believes themeasure reflects the beliefs of themajority of the state electorate.

The vote came after 59 percent of state voters in Novemberagreed to write anti-abortionlanguage in the AlabamaConstitution, saying the staterecognizes the rights of the“unborn.”

Eiffel Towerturns 130Paris (AFP): The Eiffel Tower hascelebrated its 130th birthday inParis, with the city marking theanniversary with a light show atthe famed monument.

Built for the 1889 World’sFair, the tower — which soars to324 metres in height and weighs7,300 tonnes — still attractsnearly seven million visitorsevery year. Despite calls for itsdemolition in the years after theexhibition, it soon became themost iconic feature on the Parisskyline and is France’s most vis-ited monument. “The EiffelTower is a must,” said Laurie, atourist from Canada. The towerwas the tallest structure in theworld for 41 years until the con-struction of the Chrysler Buildingin New York in 1930.

Lankan Muslim leaders call for calm

PTI n COLOMBO

Attacks against minorityMuslims only fulfils the

agenda of extremist militantsamong the community whowant to divide people, Muslimpolitical leaders said hereThursday as they appealed tothe radical elements to shunviolence, amid widespreadcommunal riots following theEaster blasts.

Anti-Muslim riots havekilled one person and causedextensive damage to homes,businesses and mosques in SriLanka this week.

The communal violence isa fresh backlash from the EasterSunday attacks where nine sui-cide bombers, including awoman, carried out a series ofdevastating blasts that torethrough three churches andthree luxury hotels, killing 258people and injuring over 500others.

“Those who attackMuslims only fulfil the agendaof extremist militants. Terroristwant other communities totarget Muslims. They wanted todivide us,” Imtiaz BakeerMarkar, a senior Muslim politi-

cian told reporters.“We are not with them and

a majority of Muslims do notapprove it (the Easter Sundayattacks),” Ferial Ashraff, a for-mer minister said.

She said the Muslim com-munity had volunteered to giveinformation to security forcesin their operations to nab theextremists.

“Please do not push themtowards divisive groups byattacking them,” Ashraff said.

Responding to criticismthat Muslims have becomereligiously more aggressive liv-ing among the majorityBuddhist community, KabirHashim, a minister said, “Weare not ashamed to do soulsearching, we may have mademistakes in the past, but we areready to correct them. We areready to move forward as onenation”.

Earlier, a group of opposi-tion legislators moved a motionin Parliament for a vote of notrust against Industry andTrade Minister RishathBathiyutheen who leads a smallMuslim party, a coalition part-ner in the government, foralleged complicity with the

jihadists.The motion accuses

Bathiyutheen of applying pres-sure to release the supporters ofthe jihadi group, supplyingempty ammunition to a copperfactory owned by one of thesuicide bombers and beingfriends with the rich father ofthe two suicide bombers, aMuslim preacher who is underarrest.

Sri Lanka has faced con-demnation for the recent anti-Muslimn violence.

“The United Nations wel-comes the unequivocal con-demnation expressed on manyoccasions by political, religiousand other community leaderstowards the hate-mongering

and violence carried out by afew,” the UN statement in asaid.

“As a country, Sri Lankaremains at a critical juncturewhere a unified rejection ofhate is of paramount impor-tance for sustaining peace,” itsaid.

The Organization ofIslamic Cooperation (OIC)said it was closely monitoringthe anti-Muslim attacks thathave taken place at variouslocations.

“The OIC calls on theauthorities in Sri Lanka toensure the safety and securityof the Muslim community inthe country and combat the ris-ing tide of violence, extremismand hate speech, which isspreading fear and mistrustamong the communities,” itsaid.

The European Union whilewelcoming the arrests stressedthe need to ensure the rule oflaw.

The Sri Lankan police saidover 70 people have beenarrested for attacking theMuslims.

The attacks are a fallout ofthe April 21 attack.

Says attacks on community helps militants’ cause

Sudanese protesters flayarmy for suspending talksAP n KHARTOUM

Sudanese opposition lead-ers behind the protests

that drove President Omar al-Bashir f rom power lastmonth on Thursday criti-cized the ruling militarycouncil for suspending nego-tiations with their represen-tatives over a peaceful trans-fer of power to civilian rule.

The suspension dashedhopes of a speedy final dealbetween the military and theprotesters that could resolvea standoff underway since themilitary ousted and arrestedal-Bashir amid months-longprotests against his 30-yearrule.

The negotiations weresuspended just hours afterboth the military council andthe protesters announced onWednesday they had madesignificant progress in theirtalks.

“The suspension of nego-tiations is an unfortunatedecision and does not respectthe progress reached duringnegotiations,” said a state-ment issued by the Sudanese

Professionals Association,which has spearheaded theprotests against al-Bashirsince December.

After the military oustedal-Bashir and took over thecountr y, the protestersremained on the streets,demanding that the rulinggenerals hand over power tocivilians right away. Therehave been several deadly inci-dents of violence at the sit-ins, including at the mainprotest site outside the mili-tary headquarters in the cap-ital, Khartoum.

The two sides have beenholding negotiations andafter weeks of disagreement,announced on Wednesdaythey had agreed on the make-up of an interim parliamentand a Cabinet for the transi-tional period, which is tolast three years.

The sticking point in thetalks remained the makeup ofthe sovereign council that isto guide the nation throughthe transition, and the extentthe military would have inthat council.

In a televised speech on

Thursday, Gen. Abdel-FattahBurhan, the head of the mil-itary council announced thattalks were suspended fromthree days.

He also accused the pro-testers of “provoking andinsulting” the armed forces,disrupting life inside the cap-ital, Khartoum, by blockingroads and bridges and allow-ing “armed elements” intotheir sit-ins.

Burhan warned that allbarricades outside the mainsit-in would be removed androads would be reopened.

Violence erupted againnear the sit-in outside themilitary headquarters inKhartoum on Wednesdayevening, leaving fourteenwounded, according toSudan’s Doctors’ Committee.

On Monday, s imilarclashes left five dead, includ-ing an army officer, and morethan 200 wounded.Opposition leaders blamedthe attacks on forces loyal toal-Bashir and held the tran-sitional military councilresponsible for protectingprotesters.

US stealth fighter suffers majordamage in Japan

AFP n WASHINGTON

AUS F-35 stealth bombersuffered millions of dollars

in damage after colliding witha bird during take-off from anair base in Japan, the USMarine Corps has said in astatement.

“On May 7, 2019 an F-35Bwith Marine Aircraft Group 12,1st Marine Aircraft Wingaborted take-off due to a birdstrike at Marine Corps AirStation Iwakuni and safely tax-ied off the runway,” the state-ment said.

The pilot was not hurt inthe incident, it said.Photographs circulating onsocial media showed whatappeared to a kind of falconstuck beneath the plane.

A damage assessmentreport has not yet been com-pleted but the Marine Corpsclassified the incident as cate-gory “A,” meaning the damageis expected to exceed USD 2million. The F-35 programwas launched in the 1990s andhas cost almost USD 400 bil-lion, making it the most expen-sive weapons system everdeveloped by the Pentagon.

US sanctions unacceptable: Iran

AP n DUBAI

Iran’s foreign minister onThursday said sanctionsimposed by the Trump

administration are “unaccept-able” but that his country iscommitted to an internationalnuclear deal that has steadilyunraveled amid rising ten-sions.

On a visit to Tokyo,Mohammad Zarif defendedIran’s right to respond to theU.S. pullout from the nucleardeal last year and the imposi-tion of sanctions.

“We believe that escalationby the United States is unac-ceptable and uncalled for. Wehave exercised maximumrestraints,” he said. In othercomments carried on the semi-official Mehr news agency,Zarif was quoted as saying “amultilateral deal cannot betreated unilaterally.”

Recent days have broughtallegations of sabotage attackstargeting oil tankers off thecoast of the United ArabEmirates, a drone attack on aSaudi oil pipeline claimed byYemen’s Iran-allied Houthirebels, and the dispatch of US

warships and bombers to theregion.

Saudi Arabia’s DeputyDefense Minister Khalid binSalman tweeted Thursday thatTehran had ordered “the ter-rorist acts” on the pipeline.

“The attack by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias againstthe two Aramco pumping sta-tions proves that these militiasare merely a tool that Iran'sregime uses to implement itsexpansionist agenda in theregion,” he wrote.

Iran has been accused bythe US and the UN of supply-ing ballistic missile technologyand arms to the Houthis, whichTehran denies.

Saudi Arabia responded toTuesday’s drone attack with awave of airstrikes on Houthitargets in Yemen’s rebel-heldcapital, Sanaa. On Thursday,residents scrambled to pull 14wounded people from the rub-ble of a building.

Fawza Ahmed told TheAssociated Press he saw threebodies being retrieved from therubble — a father, mother andchild, all buried together.Yemen’s Health Ministry saidthe strikes killed six people,

including fousr children, andwounded more than 40.

The ministry says 41 peo-ple were also wounded, includ-ing two women of Russiannationality.

A Saudi-led coalition hasbeen at war with the Houthissince 2015, and carries outnear-daily airstrikes. The droneattacks on the pipeline markedone of the rebels’ deepest andmost significant strikes insideSaudi territory since the con-flict began.

The Saudi-led coalitionacknowledged in a statement ithad struck a number of Houthitargets on Thursday, includingwhat it said were weaponsdepots and military sites.

At the root of the recentspike in Persian Gulf tensionsappears to be President DonaldTrump’s decision a year ago topull the US from Iran’s nucleardeal with world powers,embarking on a maximalistsanctions campaign againstTehran to cripple the country’seconomy.

In response, Iran’s supremeleader issued a veiled threatTuesday, saying it wouldn't bedifficult for the Islamic

Republic to enrich uranium toweapons-grade levels. He alsosaid that while his countrywould not negotiate with theUnited States, Iran is not seek-ing war.

On Wednesday, the USState Department ordered allnonessential government staffto leave Iraq, and Germany andthe Netherlands both sus-pended their military assis-tance programs in the countryin the latest sign of tensions.

The movement of diplo-matic personnel is often donein times of conflict, but what isdriving the decisions from theWhite House remains unclear.Iraq is home to powerful pro-Iranian militias, while alsohosting more than 5,000American troops. The US mil-itary’s Central Command saidits troops were on high alert,without elaborating.

Last week, US officials saidthey had detected signs ofIranian preparations for poten-tial attacks on U.S. forces andinterests in the Middle East, butWashington has not publiclyprovided any evidence to backup claims of an increasedIranian threat.

La La Landpresents their

four-courseexecutive lunchmenu, offeringdishes like Jalapenocheese balls, Crispyspinach chaat, Thaiveg coconut soup,Paneer tikkalababdar, Brownedchilly fish, Dumgalouti kebab, Bacon wrapped grilled chicken,Blue berry cheesecake, among a few. Time: 12pm to 3.30 pm Price: `599 onwards Venue:La La Land brew pub, first floor, global foyer,Golf Course Road, Gurugram.

vivacity {food} 13

CORNITOS TEA TIME CRUNCHY

WHAT YOU NEED

● Cornitos barbeque flavour Nachos crisps: 1 bag

● Sliced green olives: 1/4 cup

● Sliced jalapeno peppers: 1/4 cup

● Chopped green onion: 1

● Seeded green and red chilli: 1

● Diced yellow bell pepper: 1

● Jalapeno cheese dip: 1 jar

METHOD

● Arrange Nachos crisps on a platter.

● Top it with all chopped ingredients.

● Serve it with jalapeno cheese dip.

Courtesy: Cornitos.

CARAMEL WALNUT TARTS

WHAT YOU NEEDFor crust:● Graham crackers: 6 gm● California walnuts: 1/2 cup ● Melted butter: 1/4 cup ● Brown sugar: 1/4 cup For filling:● Caramel squares unwrapped: 20 ● Heavy cream: 1/4 cup● Chopped California walnuts: 1/2 cup ● Semi-sweet chocolate chips: 1/2 cup ● Sea salt flakes: 1/2 tsp

METHODCrust:● Spray four individual tart pans with cooking spray.Set aside.● Place Graham crackers and walnuts into foodprocessor until they resemble fine crumbs.● Pour crumbs into a large bowl and stir together withmelted butter and brown sugar.● Place three tablespoons of that mixture into eachprepared tart pan and use the back of a spoon to gentlypress down.● Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.Filling:● Melt caramels and cream together in a smallsaucepan over medium heat until melted and smooth.Stir constantly. ● Pour over cooled crust. Top it with chopped walnuts.Then chill it for 30 minutes.● Melt chocolate and cream together in a smallsaucepan over low heat. Stir constantly. Drizzle overchilled tarts. Then top with sea salt flakes. ● Chill in the refrigerator for additional 30 minutes andthen serve.

Courtesy: Chef, Sabyasachi Gorai.

MANGO LASSI POPSICLE

WHAT YOU NEED

● Mango purée: 250 ml

● Sugar: 75 gm

● Plain Greek yogurt: 125 ml

● Crushed unsalted pistachios:20 gm

METHOD

● In a bowl, whisk togetherthe purée and sugar until thesugar has dissolved. Stir theyogurt.

● Sprinkle half of thepistachios into ice-popmoulds and pour the mangomixture overtop leaving 1/2inch (one cm) of space at thetop of each mould.

● Top with the remainingpistachios and insert the ice-pop sticks.

● Freeze for six hours or untilfirm.

● For easy unmoulding, placeunder hot running water.

Courtesy: Chef Tarun Sibal, DirectorOne Fine Meal.

WATER MELON, FETA AND

AMARANTH SALAD

WHAT YOU NEED

● Scooped water melon: 1 cup

● Cantaloupe melon: 1 cup

● Washed and dried aragulaleaves: 2 cups

● Fresh lemon juice: 4 tbsp

● Organic honey: 2 tbsp

● Olive oil: 2 tbsp

● Balsamic vinegar: 1 cup

● Roasted pumpkin seeds: 4tbsp

● Feta: ½ cup

● Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

● Take a bowl and blend oliveoil, honey, lemon juice, salt andpepper thoroughly.

● Add Balsamic vinegar to itand put it on a low flame. Then

reduce the mixture till it comesto a glaze consistency.

● Scoop watermelon and keepin the fridge to chill.

● Meanwhile, in a mixing bowladd the dressing and thearagula. Toss it well.

● Place the dressed aragula ina plate along with thewatermelon.

● Crumble the feta on top ofthe salad and garnish with thepumpkin seeds.

Courtesy: Chef Tarun Sibal, Director OneFine Meal.

Saints N Sinners presentstheir signature cocktail,

which brings out the bestfrom the crowd favourite JimBeam with its citric body andfruity overtones. Price: `375plus taxes Venue: Saints NSinners, Global Foyer, GolfCourse Road.

R E C I P E S

Nueva presents a lavish spree of crafty cocktails likegreen apple, cinnamon and lime and Asian

watermelon, berries and basil. There are tacos likelitchi with cucumber and ginger, Crero-style porkbelly, Quinoa vegetable saltado, Scrambled tofu withtruffle and Sea scallops. Time: 11.30 am to 12 amPrice: (for two) `3,000 plus Date: Till June 30Venue: Ground floor, Sangam Courtyard, RK Puram.

Celebrating the fourth anniversary of itsCyber Hub outlet, Smaash presents a

wide range of tropical cocktails, dishes andalso some exciting discounts for studentswith its Tiki Fest. Date: Till May 31 Price:Student offer: 1 bowling game: `149; Buy 3get 1 free: 4-course lunch/ dinner buffetand many more Venue: SMAAASH, DLFCyber Hub, Gurugram.

Pullman New Delhi Aerocity inassociation with All Things Nice has

curated an unforgettable experiencewith Jim Murray, the whiskyconnoisseur and author of The WhiskyBible, offering dishes like Edam andHollands Smoke, Chorizo BaconSalsa, Garlic Crostini, and manymore. Date: May 17 and 18 Time: 7.30pm Price: `5,000 (all inclusive) Venue:Pullman New Delhi Aerocity.

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019

The Cafe by Foodhall celebratesthe goodness of avocados by

launching special avocado giftboxes along with the guacamolebar. It’s also introducing aspecial avocado-based menu forMay, offering dishes like Avocurry with jasmine rice, drinkslike Avo-colada and Avo-ade todesserts like Avo-ousse andAvo-pudding. Date: Till May 31Time: 9 am to 9.30 pm Venue:The Cafe by Foodhall, DLF 5,Gurugram.

gorge us

As the weather warms up, manyof us start thinking about

enjoying our meals outdoors. Buta seamless, successful picnic takessome planning. Having a checklistand some ideas for what foodswork best can keep the easy-breezynotion of a summer picnic just that.

Whether you are looking tocreate a simple alfresco lunch or amore stylish meal, a potluck menufor a group or a romantic repast fortwo, be prepared. I have learned thehard way that garbage bags andbottle openers don’t just appear infields.

THE CARRIERSAnything from a classic picnic

basket to a sturdy, flat-bottomedbag to a metal or plastic bin or box.Include some sort of cooler.

THE FOODChoose simple dishes that

require no fussing over at the pic-nic. Steer clear of fragile foods andtake items that won’t get soggy, aredelicious at room temperature,can stand up to some time in thesun and can be eaten with yourhands or just a fork — it’s hard tocut things on a paper plate bal-anced on your lap.

Usually, picnics don’t have theprescribed flow of a regular indoormeal. It’s quite acceptable andlovely that someone might bemunching on a piece of frittatawhile others are eating cookies.

But if you plan on a moreleisurely afternoon, you may wantto put out some nibbley things tostart. Cheese plus bread or crack-ers are always welcome, supple-mented by olives, cornichons, nuts,dried fruit, and condiments like figjam or chutney. If you make a cros-tini topping or two, put that outalong with some toasted baguetteslices brushed with olive oil and letpeople assemble their own. Thinkabout a dip and some cut-up veg-etables. There are lots of interest-ing salsas to make or buy to pairwith chips.

If you are bringing a lettucesalad or anything that can wiltquickly, pack the dressing separate-ly and toss it there. Sturdier grainand vegetables salads can be madeand dressed just before leaving(some grain, pasta or potato saladscan happily be made up to a cou-ple days ahead of time).

Sandwiches are always good,but pack them tightly so theydon’t fall apart. Fried chicken,grilled or roasted chicken (so goodcold), salads featuring proteinslike chicken or tuna, quiches, frit-tatas — truly, anything you arehappy eating at room temperatureis fair game. Include at least onevegetarian and one gluten-free

option if you think those might beneeded.

Avoid desserts that need to becut and plated, like pies and cakes.Go with pre-cut durable sweets likebrownies, bar cookies, drop cook-ies.

Grapes, cherries, cut melonand strawberries are good, pack-able fruit offerings.

As for drinks, bring an assort-ment in cans or bottles. If you aregoing to a park, make sure glassbottles and/or alcohol are allowed;boxed or canned wine may be yourfriend and there are some goodones out there. Maybe pack a ther-mos or two of iced tea or lemon-ade. Keep drinks chilled with lotsof ice.

DISPOSABLE OR REUSABLE?We are all trying to be green-

er. And for a smaller group, at least,re-usable are often more attractive

and eco-friendly. Bring an extrabag for recycling.

MAKE THAT LISTHere is a sample checklist, to

prevent those “did anyone pack thenapkins?” moments:

Picnic basket or other portablecontainer, cooler with ice or coldpacks, picnic blanket (preferablywaterproof in case the ground isdamp), picnic chairs, portable pic-nic table, plates, cups, utensils (eat-ing and serving), napkins, papertowels (and maybe wet wipes),dish towels (these can be used toanchor dishes in transport, and alsofor cleanup), drinks (includingplenty of water), bottle openerand/or corkscrew, cutting board(also useful as a level serving sur-face, perfect for drinks), sharpknife, salt, pepper, condiments(leftover ketchup, mustard or mayopackets from take-out can be put touse), sunscreen and insect repellent,hats, garbage/recycling bags, gamesand activities: Frisbees, balls, bub-bles, water guns, etc.

PACKING YOUR PICNICPut the heaviest, sturdiest items

on the bottom of your container,and the lighter, more delicate itemson top. Have your picnic blanketaccessible — it’s the first thingyou’ll want to unpack.

Chill drinks and perishablefoods before you pack them.

And finally, of course, leave thepicnic site the way you found it.Shake those last few crumbs off theblanket, but otherwise nobodyneed know you were there.

—AP

Which fruit can be had in itsraw form as well aswhen is it ripe?

What lends itself to pick-les, chutneys, soufflés,drinks, ice creams andcakes? What can beadded to dals for anice texture or eaten onits own as a dessert? Ofcourse, the answer is noneother than mango. And inIndia, the varieties are innumerable.While the Hapus or alphonso holdssway in the western parts, theDussehri, Langda and Chausa arethe favourites in the Hindi belt. Ofcourse, Andhra loves it Baganpalliand Bengal its Malda.

History yields some very inter-esting facts and figures about thiscelebrated fruit. Fossils indicate thatthe mango made its first appear-ance between 25 to 30 million yearsago in Northeast India, Myanmarand Bangladesh, from where it trav-elled down to southern India. Theearliest name given to the mangowas Amra-Phal. It is also referredto in early Vedic literature as Rasalaand Sahakara, and is written aboutin the Brihadaranyaka Upanishadand the Puranas, which condemnthe felling of mango trees. Over theages, the mango became a house-hold fruit and odes were sung in itspraise. Legendary Urdu poet MirzaAsadullah Khan Ghalib was amango aficionado, too. He despisedpeople who didn’t share his addic-tion for the fruit. Mughal emper-

or Akbaris said to have planted over

100,000 mango trees in Darbhanga(modern Bihar).

So how do you judge whethera mango is ripe enough to be eaten?Squeeze gently. If it is ripe, it willgive in to a slight fingertip pressureand will smell sweet at the stemend. An unripe mango has a sourtaste and an astringent effect onyour tongue and lips. So choosecarefully if you’re planning to eat itthe same day. Also, be careful tochoose the fruit which has a fullyintact skin that’s free of any bruis-es or cuts.

Mangoes are one of the mostversatile fruits. You can serve ripemango slices in compotes, cakesand tarts or alongside grilled orroasted meats and poultry. You canpurée mango and use it as a basefor sherbets, whips, ice cream,beverages and dessert sauces. Youcan eat it out of hand, peeled likea banana or on the half shell. Oryou can gently roll and knead the

mango until all of the pulp insideis mashed and liquefied,

then simply tap a hole atone end and suck the

fruit dry. Mango hasa flavour affinity forapricot, avocado,chicken, chillies,

cilantro, cucumbers,fish, lime juice, orange,

passion fruit, pineapple,rum, seafood, star fruit, sweet bell

pepper and tangerine.While this has clearly become

the most versatile ingredient in thekitchen these days, today mangoescan be used in each of the 12 cours-es of a meal. A large number ofmango-festivals that are held thesedays tells us of the paramountimportance that the fruit has.When we speak of nutrition, man-goes are rich in vitamins A, B, andC and a good source of potassium.One medium-size mango has about150 calories. Mangoes are a richsource of anti-oxidants likequercetin, astragalin and gallicacid that have been proven to fightagainst certain types of cancers.

Hence, it can be said that it isrightly the brightest yellow in thekitchen. It is such a celebrated fruitthat in season, it can be used inmyriad ways and when off season,it is used to make condiments.Mango and its variants are indeedthe best that India has to offer toglobal cuisine.

(Rai is executive chef at TheAshok, ITDC.)

Your long-awaited picnic could work best if you keep these points

in focus while planning

Easy-breezy

THE

BRIGHTEST

YELLOW

THE

BRIGHTEST

YELLOW

Chef ARVIND RAI goes into the historicity of mango and its

contemporary usage. By TEAM VIVA

‘MANGO AND ITSVARIANTS AREINDEED THE BEST THAT INDIAHAS TO OFFER TO GLOBALCUISINE’

A few items like a

picnic basket or a

portable container,

cooler with ice or

cold packs, picnic

blanket (preferably

waterproof),

portable chairs

and table could

be a part of

the check list

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019

Veteran actor ANUPAM KHERpraised his Judwaa 2 co-starVarun Dhawan, saying he hasgrown into a “big hardworkingstar.”

Anupam took toInstagram and wrote a postfor him along with a video.

“I have seen Varunsince he was a smallchild. So to see himgrow into this bighardworkingstar/actor is such awonderful feeling.He has shown agreat graph from hisfirst film to now,”Anupam wrote.

Varun said, “I havenot seen him for some-time but he came andhad breakfast with mewhen I needed the inspi-ration... more than any-thing, I needed a familyand he was there. Thankyou so much.”

Singer SHREYA GHOSHALexpressed her disappointment aboutnot being allowed to carry a musicalinstrument on aflight.

Shreyawrote on socialmedia, “I guessSingaporeAirlines doesnot want musi-cians or any-body who has a precious instrumentto fly with on this airline. Well. Thankyou. Lesson learnt.”

After her post, the airline apolo-gised to the Agar tum mil jao hit-maker via their official Twitter han-dle. “We are sorry to hear this. Maywe seek more details of your con-cerns and what was last advised byour colleagues? Thank you.”

BRITNEY SPEARS, who cancelledher Las Vegas residency earlier this

year, may never return toperform there, says herlong-time managerLarry Rudolph.

Rudolph said,“I've been with herfor two-thirds of herlife. I look at heralmost like I look atmy own daughter.It's very emotional forme... and reallyrough. Personally, Iwant for her to justfind a peaceful,happy place — what-

ever that means forher. It's not about a

career anymore, it'sabout life.”

Rudolph has man-aged Spears for most of

her career, going back toher first album Baby OneMore Time, in 1999.

‘Working with Shriya(Pilgaonkar) again wasa naturalcomfortthat justcamewithouttrying. Also,ShashankaGhosh is agenius along withSamit Basu who is thebrains behind thisventure. They bothhave such clarity onwhat they want andhow they want it. Whilethey are the leaders ofthe free world, theyalso allowed us actorsto have a free hand towork with our creativeliberties too.’—Ali Fazal

vivacity 14

Kher: Varun is ahard-working star

Britney may neverperform in Vegas

Amyth goes that an old hermithad once cursed a Mughalemperor by saying, Ya rahegujar ya rahe usar. The curseimplied that his dream fort

and stepwells, on completion, would beeither deserted or be peopled by thenomadic Gujjar tribe. History is evidencethat the bit about the numerous baolis inthe city holds true as they have been aban-doned presumably due to lack of water.The capital, that once was home to morethan 100 baolis or stepwells, now has only11. But a small beginning has been madeto restore at least some of them to theirformer pristine glory. And these arecontributing to making summer eveningsin the city cool and a pleasant outdoorpursuit.

One such is the 800-year-old HazratNizamuddin baoli, the only one that hasan active underground spring ensuring acontinuous water supply. Its renewal isbeing done mainly by the Aga Khan Trustfor Culture (AGTC) under theNizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiativeand the Archaeological Survey of India(ASI). The baoli still holds water and isconsidered sacred by the devotees of thenative community. In 2008, the baoli suf-fered major damage when portions of itseastern wall collapsed, threatening theshelters and security of 18 families whichoccupied the southern terrace. This alsoposed a threat to the over 5,000 pilgrimswho are regular visitors of the corridor atthe Dargah.

Ratish Nanda, conservation architectand project director of AGTC, listed howthe revamping and water revival projectunder the initiative has been worked out.He informed, “After the collapse, the teamworked on removing 40-feet of accumu-lated ashlar stones which had fallen in the

baoli and were buried in the sludge. Apath was paved to re-open the water inletpoints. The baoli was desilted to its orig-inal depth of over 80 feet below theground level.” He added that the baoli con-tinues to hold over three million litres ofwater today.

Talking about the neighbouringHumayun’s Tomb, he highlighted howaround 20 wells were discovered duringthe process of its restoration, which werefilled with filth and dust. That scum wasabout 40 feet! He said, “So, around 200rainwater harvesting recharge pits werecreated at the tomb to ensure that everydrop of rainwater is used to recharge theground water aquifers and wells.”

The objective of the garden restora-tion project, he said, was to revitalise andrevive the gardens and its pathways, waterchannels, pools and fountains as per theoriginal design. He added, “This hasnecessitated the conservation, repair andrebuilding of the water channel systemand the repair, extension and reactivationof the irrigation system to ensure thatwater flows naturally through the water-courses and fountains. It has also entailedthe establishment of renewable watersources using rainwater harvesting torecharge groundwater and historic wells.”

The entrance zone of the neighbour-ing Sunder Nursery consists of a seriesof sunken gardens and enclosed spacesfor flowerbeds for seasonals which bloom

annually. These also function as rainwa-ter harvesting pits, water from which runsoff into a swimming pool-sized under-ground tank. This water is put to usethroughout the year after the Delhimonsoon fills the tank up. “The shallowlakes created at the spot also serve aswater reservoirs,” said he. The nursery ishome to more than 20,000 saplingswhich were planted to impact the over-all vegetation and cool down the sur-rounding temperature. Nanda addedthat it makes “the place six to sevendegrees cooler than the peripheral areasof Delhi.”

Talking about the aftermath of therestoration, Asif Ali, the art and heritageexpert who was closely associated withthe project, pointed out that this hasimpacted the monuments economicallyas well. “Footfalls at the site have risenfrom 300 to 400 per day (when the entryfee was `5 for Indians and `100 for for-eigners) to 3,000 to 4,000 per day today(the fee is `40 for Indians and `600 forforeigners). There is more of the local,ancient heritage that is available for thetourists to look at. Economically thatmeans huge gains.”

Photo: Pankaj Kumar

Tilda Swinton feels most athome at the Berlin FilmFestival, but she’s steadily

become a regular at the CannesFilm Festival.

“I’m racking them up,” she sayscheerfully the day after the pre-miere of Jim Jarmusch’s zombiemovie The Dead Don’t Die.

“I like this summer-holidayfeel. These are wonderful familyreunions,” Swinton said. “If I’m withJim Jarmusch, I’m with the Jimteam. If I’m with Bong Joon-ho, I’mwith the Bong team. If I’m with WesAnderson, I’m with the Wes team.You’re having a summer holidaywith your friends on the beach. It’ssort of silly. I like the silliness of it.”

But Swinton is nostalgic for oneaspect of the festival that haswaned in recent years, “the Troma-ness of Cannes,” she says, alludingto the once ubiquitous TromaEntertainment, the aggressivelypromotional indie factory of low-budget exploitation movies. TheDead Don’t Die, which is compet-ing in Cannes for the Palme d’Or,isn’t a Troma film by any stretch.But it shares some genre DNA.Jarmusch’s film is about a smalltown named Centerville where“polar fracking” alters the Earth’srotation and the undead begin towalk the streets. Swinton, whomemorably starred as a thorough-ly well-read vampire in Jarmusch’sOnly Lovers Left Alive, plays thetown’s mortician.

“At some point at the end ofour adventure with Only Lovers LeftAlive, Jim said, ‘Let’s do a zombiemovie next,’” she recalls. “He said,‘What do you want to be?’ I said,pretty much off the cuff, ‘I want tobe the funeral director who’s put outbecause the dead don’t die.’ That

was it. He laughed and went away.And then all the rest, he did.”

For even Swinton, the charac-ter is an eccentric one. She speakswith a pronounced version of herown Scottish accent and is a mas-ter swordsman. Swinton, finally, iszombie-killing Scottish samuraiwarrior. “I’ve very proud of thatbody count,” she says, smiling. “Ilove it.”

There are winking referencesthroughout the often meta TheDead Don’t Die to the actors them-selves — among them Bill Murray,Adam Driver and Chloe Sevigny.Swinton’s character is named ZeldaWinston, a riff on Jarmusch’s nick-

name for Swinton: “Swilda Hinson.”“Everybody’s in their own

clothes,” she says. As purposefullyoutlandish as much of the movie is,its premise — where the planet ishorribly damaged and a strangenew-normal takes hold — doesn’tsound far-fetched to Swinton.

“It could easily be a documen-tary, if we’re not careful. We’re get-ting used to really bad things hap-pening that we couldn’t imagine,”she says. “We’ve just all got to retainperspective. It’s so easy to becomebefuddled. And it’s so easy tonotice that some forces are active-ly befuddling us.”

Swinton recently narrated

Mark Cousin’s Women Make Film:A New Road Movie ThroughCinema, a four-hour documentary(for which 12 more hours areplanned) that sheds light on manyof the under-appreciated femalefilmmakers from throughout cin-ema history. Swinton referencedthat past as an important perspec-tive in today’s gender equalitystruggles.

“Women have been makingfilms for 11 decades now,” shesaid. “There are countless filmsout there. Why don’t we necessar-ily know about them? We havewomen filmmakers. Some areworking in bars, some are still inschool, some can’t get into school.But that’s where we need to start.We need to look at the canon,appreciate it, stream it. Then it willexist amongst us.”

One new addition to thatcanon may be Joanna Hogg’s“The Souvenir.” The film, whichopens in U.S. theaters Friday,stars Honor Swinton Byrne,Swinton’s daughter, in her filmdebut. Swinton plays her mother.Hogg’s widely acclaimed film —a second part of which is planned— is drawn from her own expe-rience as a film student, her owndeferred coming-of-age of a film-maker. “What she’s doing hassuch a purity,” says Swinton. “Shestarted making her own films 20years after making films as anassist director in TV. Because ofexperiences of these films, shedidn’t have the confidence to bean author and yet she’s hit theground running.”

Swinton, ever loyal to herdirectors, will be back in Cannes.

—AP

C A N N E S D I A R I E S

STEP OUT

FOR A COOL SUMMER

SPLASH

CONSERVATIONISTSHAVE BEEN

REVIVING LOCALBAOLIS AND WELLS

IN NIZAMUDDINFOR QUITE SOMETIME BUT IT IS

ONLY NOW, WITHFREE-FLOWING

WATER THAT HASENRICHED

GARDENS ANDVEGETATION, THAT

THE CITY HAS AREASON TO LOOK

FORWARD TO COOLSUMMER

EVENINGS. BYCHAHAK MITTAL

‘It is like a family reunion’

Popular television actressHina Khan made a stunning

debut at the red carpet of the72nd Cannes Film Festival asshe chose a sparkling gown byLebanese designer, Ziad Nakad.

Hina, known for her rolesin shows like Yeh Rishta KyaKehlata Hai and KasautiiZindagii Kay, wore the glitterygrey gown with a moderate trailand a plunging neckline. Shecompleted the look with herhair tied back, minimal make-up and a nude pink lip shade.The 31-year-old actress took toher Instagram account toexpress her excitement.

She posted a black andwhite photograph of herselfposing for the shutterbugs.Calling it God's sign, Hina cap-tioned the image, “Cannes 2019.The picture is just not ‘a’ picture.

God's sign. Shining star.”The actress will also be a

speaker at India Pavilion of the72nd edition of the festival,which will run until May 25.

The talk will be followed by thefirst look launch event of herfilm Lines, which is set in thebackdrop of the Kargil War.

—IANS

Hina makes a sparkling debut

‘Women havebeen makingfilms for 11decades now.Why don’t wenecessarilyknow aboutthem? We needto look at thecanon,appreciate itand stream it’

sport 15LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019

PSG & UTD EYEING LEWANDOWSKI TRANSFERParis: Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowskihas received offers from both Paris Saint-Germainand Manchester United, according to a report inGerman football magazine Kicker on Thursday.Kicker reported that Lewandowski, whose currentdeal at Bayern runs until 2021, was unhappy withthe club's plan to extend his contract by a singleyear, suggesting the player wanted a longer deal. "Atthe moment, he has requests from ManchesterUnited and Paris Saint-Germain," the magazinewrote. The 30-year-old Polish striker has scored189 goals in 240 games for Bayern since joining in2014, and has consistently been linked to Europe'sbiggest clubs. He openly flirted with a move to RealMadrid last summer, before ultimately staying inMunich.

STIMAC NAMES PROBABLES FOR KINGS CAMPNew Delhi: Injured striker Jeje Lalpekhlua alongwith four others have been left out of the nationalteam's probables' list for the Kings Cup footballtournament in Thailand next month. India's newly-appointed head coach Igor Stimac on Thursdayannounced the list of 37 probables for thepreparatory camp ahead of the Kings Cup to be heldin Buriram, Thailand from June 5-8. The camp willbe held in New Delhi from May 20. Besides Jeje, ahost of other players who will miss the Thailandcampaign are Halicharan Narzary (knee injury),Mandar Rao Desai (hamstring injury), AshiqueKuruniyan (knee injury), Narender Gehlot (kneeinjury) and Jerry Lalrinzuala. The King's Cup is aFIFA-sanctioned international 'A' tournament beingorganised by the Thailand FA since 1968. India'sprevious participation in the King's Cup was in1977. Hosts Thailand and Vietnam are the two otherteams participating in the tournament.

SHARAPOVA RULES OUT OF ROLAND GARROSParis: Maria Sharapova has pulled out of thisyear's French Open with a shoulder injury, the two-time former Roland Garros winner announced onWednesday. Sharapova, 32, a five-time Grand Slamchampion, has not played since pulling out of atournament in her native Russia at the end ofJanuary. "Sometimes the right decisions aren'talways the easiest ones," she said in a post on herInstagram account. "In better news, I have returnedto the practice court, and slowly building thestrength back in my shoulder," she added with apicture of her lifting the Roland Garros trophy in2014. Sharapova has been struggling back to topfitness since watching from the sidelines during her15-month doping ban that ended in 2017. Thisyear's French Open will run from May 26 until June9, with Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep asdefending champions.

SUPERSONICS BEAT TRIUMPH KNIGHTSMumbai: SoBo SuperSonics defeated defendingchampions Triumph Knights Mumbai North East byfour wickets to register their second successive winin T20 Mumbai League at Wankhede Stadium hereon Thursday. Opting to bowl first, the SuperSonicsrestricted the Knights to a sub-par 143 for eight andlater opener Hersh Tank's 47 (39b, 5x4, 1x6) laidthe foundation stone of the win. Despite a mini-collapse in the middle, the lower middle-order,assisted by sloppy catching, helped theSuperSonics cross the line off the penultimate ball.Tank's dismissal off the last ball of the 13th overtriggered a mini-collapse, with Knights pickingthree wickets for 25 runs in 24 balls to leaveSuperSonics at 118 for five. But they eventuallyoverhauled the target.

CHINA TO HOST 2023 FOOTBALL ASIAN CUPBeijing: South Korea have abandoned their bid tostage football's Asian Cup in 2023, authorities said,leaving the sole other bidders China with a free runto become hosts. The Korea Football Association(KFA) said in a statement it had pulled out to"strategically focus" on a joint bid with North Koreato host the Women's World Cup in the same year.The KFA announced the joint bid in March, butdiplomatic contacts between Pyongyang and Seoulhave since dwindled with North Korea-US nucleartalks deadlocked. "For the Women's World Cup,FIFA and the South Korean government will provideactive support so that the joint hosting by Southand North Koreas can be materialised," the KFA'shead Chun Han-jin said in the statement late onWednesday. Seoul's Asian Cup withdrawal meansthat China should on June 4 be confirmed by theAFC (Asian Football Confederation) as hosts of thenations championship finals for the second time.

PORTO WANT TO KEEP ‘KEEPER CASILLAS Lisbon: FC Porto want to keep goalkeeper IkerCasillas on staff despite the Spanish veteransuffering a heart attack in training. "Casillas still hasa year left on his contract and we want him toremain part of FC Porto's structure, and not only forone year," club president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costatold Thursday's sports daily O Jogo. "Casillas is oneof us and he will always have a place at FC Porto."The former Real Madrid and Spain star, who willcelebrate his 38th birthday on Monday, was takento hospital and had surgery on May 1 aftercollapsing during training. He left hospital after fivedays and said he was "lucky" to be alive but had noimmediate plans for the future. Agencies

SINGLES

AFP ■ AMSTERDAM

Ajax were crownedDutch champions for

the 34th time onWednesday after theycruised to 4-1 win at DeGraafschap that completeda domestic double a weekafter their crushingChampions League exit atthe hands of TottenhamHotspur.

Goals from LasseSchoene, Nicolas Tagliaficoand Dusan Tadic, whobagged a second half-brace, saw Erik ten Hag'sside win their eighth leaguematch on the bounce andformerly win the title aftereffectively sealing the deal atthe weekend.

Ajax came into the finalmatch of the season threepoints clear of closest rivalsPSV Eindhoven with a 14-goalhigher goal difference after

they beat Utrecht 4-1 and thedefending champions lost 1-0at AZ Alkmaar on Sunday.

Those results made a firstdouble in 17 years — Ajax wonthe Dutch Cup on May 5 — anear-certainty, and in the endmade PSV's 3-1 win overHeracles irrelevant.

However the flamboy-ant Amsterdam outfit, whocaptured hearts as theirscintillating football tookthem to the brink of a firstChampions League final inmore than two decades,nonetheless turned on thestyle in their final gamebefore their stars are soldoff in the summer.

Midfielder Frenkie DeJong will leave forBarcelona in the summerfor an initial 75 millioneuros ($89 million), whilecentre-back Matthijs deLigt, who sent Juventus

packing with a bullet head-er in the quarter finals, couldfollow his teammate toCatalonia.

Also coach Franck DeBoer admits that forwardsHakim Ziyech and DavidNeres would also all be target-ed by Europe's biggest clubscome the end of the season.

AFP ■ MUNICH

Bayern Munich coach NikoKovac has hinted that

departing veterans ArjenRobben and Franck Riberywill not be in the startingeleven for their f inalBundesliga appearance againstEintracht Frankfurt onSaturday.

Bayern need to avoiddefeat against Frankfurt if theyare to secure a seventh succes-sive Bundesliga title, and Kovacsuggested on Thursday thatpragmatism may come beforesentimentality when it comesto Robben and Ribery.

"As a coach you alwayshave to be a coach on the onehand and a human being onthe other, and they are notalways compatible," said Kovac.

At a press conference onTuesday, Robben had voicedhis hope of making one finalstart for Bayern at the AllianzArena, and joked that he wouldscore two goals if he played 90minutes.

"Of course Arjen wants toplay," said Kovac.

The Bayern coach said hehad already spoken to bothRobben and Ribery about theirroles on Saturday, but refusedto confirm whether they wouldbe in the starting line-up.

"I am going to leave you inthe dark on that one," he toldreporters.

Kovac confirmed thatJames Rodriguez would beunavailable against Frankfurt,and said Thiago and JoshuaKimmich hoped to return tofull fitness in time to play.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer,who has been out with a calfinjury since April, is alsoexpected to miss out.

Bayern hope to wrap up aleague and cup double in thenext two weeks, but their suc-cess has not stopped questionsabout Kovac's future.

Amid speculation he maybe fighting for his job, theBayern coach made an emo-tional plea for more empathyin football on Thursday.

"I have learned how diffi-cult it is to stay a normal per-son," he said of his first seasonat Bayern. "We have to learn tohave more empathy."

"If I slap you, then the painwill fade after a while, but itwill be worse for the soul," hetold reporters.

"We have to see the personin front of us and not just pilein all the time."

LONDON: Jack Marriott scoredtwice as he started and finisheda dramatic revival that sawDerby County beat LeedsUnited 4-2 on Wednesday tocomplete a 4-3 aggregate come-back win and reach the EnglishChampionship play-off final.

Former Chelsea andEngland midfielder FrankLampard is now one game awayfrom taking the Rams backinto the lucrative PremierLeague in his first season as amanager, with Aston Villa theiropponents at Wembley on May27.

Leeds took a 24th-minutelead on the night through StuartDallas after Kalvin Phillips' free-kick came back off the post.Derby though equalised on thenight just before half-time whensubstitute Marriott capitalisedon a mix-up between Leedsdefender Liam Cooper andgoalkeeper Kiko Casilla

moments after coming on.They draw level on aggre-

gate straight after the breakwhen Harry Wilson played inMason Mount, who cut insidefrom the left and beat Casilla.

Derby then went ahead inthe tie for the first time in the58th minute when Cooperneedlessly conceded a penaltyfollowing a pull on MasonBennett in the area, with Wilson

scoring from the spot.Derby's 3-2 aggregate lead

did not last long, however, withDallas scoring his second goal ofthe game when he struck a pre-cise shot into the far corner.

Derby's winner arrived inthe 85th minute when Marriottcharged through on goal anddinked the ball over Casilla justbefore the keeper could get tothe ball. AFP

AFP ■ ROME

Lazio lifted the Coppa Italiafor the seventh time on

Wednesday after late goalsfrom Sergej Milinkovic-Savicand Joaquin Correa guidedthem to a 2-0 final win overAtalanta on a night in Romedogged by fan violence.

Milinkovic-Savic's fineheader set Lazio on their waywith eight minutes left at theStadio Olimpico, seconds aftercoming on as a substitute,before Correa sealed victory inthe closing moments of thematch.

The victory books Lazio aticket to next season's EuropaLeague, much-needed forSimone Inzaghi's side as theyare eighth in Serie A, fourpoints off the European berthswith two games left to play.

"We really wanted thisCup," said Inzaghi.

His side's win was marredby clashes outside the stadiumbetween Lazio's hardcore"Ultras" supporters and policebefore the game.

Atalanta had eliminatedholders Juventus in the quarter-finals and been bidding to wintheir second Coppa Italia andtheir first major honour sincethey won the competition in1963.

For the side from Bergamo— who are still in the runningto qualify for the ChampionsLeague for the first time — itis their third defeat in thefinal after missing out in 1987and 1996.

NERVY AFFAIRGian Piero Gasperini's side

head to Serie A champions Juve

on Sunday looking to keephold of fourth place, with ACMilan and Roma both threepoints back.

"It's a pity, but finals are likethat," said Gasperini. "Thedecisive moment of the matcharrived in the second half andwe lost on a corner kick.

"We now head to Sunday,because there is a place in thenext Champions League todefend. We'll overcome thisdisappointment, even if ourrun in the tournament was agreat experience."

Atalanta had arrived inRome on a 12-match unbeat-en run since the end ofFebruary. They had beatenLazio in both Serie A meetingsthis season.

But they could not find away past their solid opponentsand failed to take their chancesin a nervy game, with PapuGomez denied by ThomasStrakosha in the Lazio goalwithin the first minute.

Atalanta's top scorerDuvan Zapata and midfielderMarten De Roon also squan-dered two quickfire efforts on26 minutes, before Gomez hitthe post with 14 minutes left.

Seconds afterwardsMilinkovic-Savic made analmost immediate impact aftercoming on after a month outinjured to replace Luis Alberto,who had just missed a chancefor Lazio.

The Serb broke throughleaving Pierluigi Gollini pow-erless, and Correa finished offa counter-attack minutes laterto award Inzaghi his first majorhonour since winning the com-petition as a Lazio player in2009.

PTI ■ KARACHI

Experienced left-arm pacerMohammad Aamir was on

Thursday included in Pakistan'sWorld Cup squad after theirbowlers were taken to the clean-ers by England recently.

The thrashing by Englishbatsmen in a T20 Internationaland two ODIs has alarmed theselectors, who were initially notkeen on picking Aamir for theshowpiece owing to lack of form.

Though Aamir is suspectedto be suffering from chicken poxand is to have a medical exami-nation done in London, a reliablesource said that the team man-agement, including captainSarfaraz Ahmed and head coach

Mickey Arthur, expressed confi-dence in the bowler and allowedhim time to recover.

"The chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq is also in agreement withthe team management but hewants to first be sure Aamir canbe fit by the time the World Cupstarts from May 30," the sourcesaid.

He said the team manage-ment and chief selector are nowawaiting the medical report ofAamir.

"If the cricket board confirmsthat Aamir can make a recoveryin two weeks time, the manage-

ment and chief selector will wanthim in the World Cup squad," thesource said.

The lacklustre performanceof the bowlers in the matchesagainst England forced the teammanagement to go back to Aamir,who was not part of the 15-mansquad named initially.

"They are also keeping aclose look at Asif Ali who hasscored two successive half-cen-turies in the ODIs and if he con-tinues his form he might well beincluded in the World Cup squadbut at whose cost this has to bedecided," he added.

PTI ■ NEW DELHI

Former captain DilipVengsarkar feels trying out KL Rahul at No 4 is an option

India can explore in the WorldCup since he has the techniqueand temperament to succeed inEnglish conditions.

One of Indian cricket's bestchairmen of selectors, the 'Colonel'is confident that Virat Kohli'smen will have a smooth ride to thesemi-finals and can take it fromthere on.

The number four positionhas been a bone of contention afterAmbati Rayudu failed to make thecut despite being given an extend-ed run in the run up to the tour-nament.

"We have a settled openingpair in Shikhar (Dhawan) andRohit (Sharma). Virat Kohli is phe-nomenal at No 3. I feel that K LRahul could be an option at No 4.He has the technique and cancomplement the top three well. Ibelieve No 4 should be a special-ist batsman," Vengsarkar said.

Even though the pitches areexpected to be flat during theshowpiece, Vengsarkar, who him-self played three World Cups

(1979, 1983, 1987) with two inEngland, felt that Rahul's tech-nique provides him an advantage.

"Since he is a specialist open-er, in case of early wickets, hecould provide stability. Also in along tournament, if required hecan open the innings. I feel that heshould be a part of playing XI,"Vengsarkar said about Rahul, whofinished second in the IPL run-getter's list with 593.

The 63-year-old opined thatthe biggest advantage for India willbe their experience of playing a fullseries in the United Kingdom lastyear.

"In England, the weather canbe fickle and that can have aneffect on the performance.Adaptability will always be the key.But to Indian team's advantage,they played in England during thesame time last year. We have hadan exposure to those conditionsand that's good thing. We shouldtry and use it to our advantage,"said the member of the victorious1983 World Cup team.

The veteran of 116 Tests and129 ODIs is also not worriedabout Yuzvendra Chahal andKuldeep Yadav's dip in form dur-ing the Australia series.

"I am sure both Chahal andKuldeep must have worked ontheir game as to what went wrongagainst Australia. Once they getthere, they must carefully assessthe conditions and accordinglydevise the strategy," he said.

As far as the semi-final line-up is concerned, Vengsarkarnamed India, hosts England anddefending champions Australiaas the favourites to reach the lastfour stage.

"At this moment I can't predictabout the fourth team. Yes India,England and Australia have theteam to go all the way," he added.

ROME: Australian firebrand NickKyrgios was disqualified from theItalian Open after an expletive-ladenrant on Thursday as defending cham-pion Rafael Nadal swept into the thirdround along with top seed NovakDjokovic and Roger Federer.

Kyrgios grabbed the headlineswhen he suffered a spectacular melt-down on Court Three againstNorwegian qualifier Casper Ruud.

The controversial 24-year-old,who had marked his presence inRome by criticising Djokovic andNadal in an interview on Wednesday,starting arguing with the umpire in thethird set.

World number 36 Kyrgios hadlevelled the match at one set all but wasgiven a game penalty early on in thethird set for swearing.

His response was to kick out at awater bottle before throwing a chaironto the court, packing his bag andthen storming off court, shouting I amfucking done''

Kyrgios was automatically dis-qualified with Ruud winning 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 2-1 to advance to the thirdround against former US Open cham-pion Juan Martin del Potro.

Kyrgios had already been at thecentre of controversy duringWednesday's washout when he toldthe NCR Tennis Podcast that Djokovichad "a sick obsession with wanting to

be liked" and that the Serb's post-match celebration was "cringeworthy".

Nadal was described by theAustralian as "super-salty".

Meanwhile, Nadal crushedFrance's Jeremy Chardy 6-0, 6-1,with Federer, a four-time runner-up,easing past Portugal's Joao Sousa 6-4,6-3, and Djokovic beating CanadianDenis Shapovalov 6-1, 6-3.

All three are in action again laterin the day to make up time after play

was washed out on Wednesday.Nadal meets Georgian Nikoloz

Basilashvili, with Federer up againstCroatian Borna Coric, and Djokovicfacing Germany's PhilippKohlschreiber.

World number four DominicThiem slammed tournament organ-isers after he was dumped out 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 by Spain's Fernando Verdasco.

Japan's Kei Nishikori, the sixthseed, got past American Taylor Fritz6-2, 6-4 and next meets Jan-LennardStruff.

In the women's competition,world number one Naomi Osakafought back after losing her serve earlyto ease past Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 6-3 against the 33rd-ranked Slovakwho she also beat last week in Madrid.

She was at risk of losing her worldnumber one ranking to Simona Halepbut the Romanian was knocked outby Czech teenager MarketaVondrousova losing 2-6, 7-5, 6-3having needed to win the tournamentto regain top spot she last held in mid-January.

Halep's defeat also guaranteesOsaka's top seed at the French Open.

Next up for the Japanese player onthe clay of the Foro Italico is Romania'sMihaela Buzarnescu.

Czech second seed Petra Kvitovaeased past Yulia Putintseva ofKazakhstan 6-0, 6-1. AFP

RAHUL COULD BE AN OPTION

AT NUMBER 4: VENGSARKAR

KL Rahul celebrates after completing fifty against Australia during 1st T20 BCCI/Twitter

Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery are setto make their last appearance forBayern Munich in Bundesliga onSaturday against Frankfurt Twitter

THE NUMBER FOURPOSITION HAS BEEN ABONE OF CONTENTION

AFTER AMBATIRAYUDU FAILED TO

MAKE THE CUTDESPITE BEING GIVENAN EXTENDED RUN INTHE RUN UP TO THE

TOURNAMENT

Former great bats for KL’s inclusion in starting line-up & says he has technique to succeed in Eng

Aamir included in World Cup squad

Biggies start with win in Rome

Ajax players celebrate with the trophy Twitter

Robben, Riberyset for bench inBayern farewell

The Bayern coachsaid he had already

spoken to bothRobben and Riberyabout their roles on

Saturday, butrefused to confirm

whether they wouldbe in the starting

line-up

Lazio beat Atalantain Coppa Italia final

Ajax seal title to complete double Derby down Leeds in playoffs

sport 16LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019

ROHIT SHARMA

(15 Innings, 405 runs)

Virat Kohli's limitedover deputy RohitSharma's MumbaiIndians topped thepoints table with 18points in 14 gamesand then went on towin the recordfourth trophy afterbeating arch-rivalsChennai in the final.

But Sharma also failed to perform as per his staturein this year's edition. The three-time IPL winningcaptain decided to open the innings but could onlymanage two fifties in 16 innings, that too came inthe last four games of the league round. However,his leadership skills were just out of the box onceagain and he made superb use of the resources avail-able, affecting the match result time and again.Going into the World Cup, his presence and advicewill surely help Virat.

SHIKHAR DHAWAN

(16 Innings, 521 runs)

After being tradedfrom SunrisersHyderabad to hishometown team,Shikhar Dhawanleads the battingchart for the newlook Delhi Capitalswith 521 runs. Heplayed a vital role inleading Shreyas

Iyer-led Delhi to reach its first playoffs since 2012.The 33-year-old Delhi lad started from where helast left in 2018 (497 runs in 16 innings) andsmashed 51 runs against Chennai Super Kings inhis second innings in Delhi colors. And then afterscoring the match-winning 97* against Kolkata inaway time, he scored a hat-trick of half-centuriesagainst KXIP, Rajasthan Royals and RCB, all ofwhich came in the winning cause. His presence atthe top not only helped Delhi to get off to a goodstart but also his experience came handy in help-ing youngsters like Prithvi Shaw, Iyer and RishabhPant at the top.

KL RAHUL

(14 Innings, 593 runs)

Moving on frompoor disastrous Testform, supremely tal-ented KL Rahulonce again foundhis mojo back afterdonning KXIP jer-sey. The third high-est run scorer of2018 edition (659runs in 14 innings),

India's reserve opener for the World Cup, Rahulcompleted his 2019 campaign with 593 runs in 14matches, scoring six fifties and a 100 againstMumbai Indians which came in a losing tie. Withyet another tremendous show, the right-hander bats-man not only justified his selection in the WorldCup squad but also put forward a strong case fornumber 4 position in the Indian batting line up. Hiswide range of shorts and ability to clear boundarieswith ease makes him one of the highlighting fac-tor and going be the experience he has of interna-tional cricket, he is surely going to challenge VijayShankar for the starting XI spot, consideringShankar failed to make much of an impact.

MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI

(12 Innings, 416 runs)

The biggest posi-tive for India fromthis edition ofIndian PremierLeague is the rav-ishing form of for-mer Indian skipperMahendra SinghDhoni. The three-time World Cupveteran is in great

touch this year and after winning Man of the Seriesaward against Australia in the three-match ODIseries in January. The 2.0 version of vintage Mahiis in full swing in this IPL too. Even after suffer-ing from back spam and fever because of whichhe missed out two games (both of which Chennailost), Dhoni single-handedly took Chennai SuperKings to the playoffs, this time not just by his pres-ence but also through his explosive batting in slogovers which made a big difference in the end.Often being criticized for not having fancy figuresin IPL, Dhoni twice improved his best individualfigures first by scoring 75* off 46 balls, 4 fours and4 sixes against Rajasthan Royals and then 84* off48 balls, 5 fours and 7 sixes against RoyalChallengers Bangalore. And during this process,he smashed Jaydev Unadkat for 28 againstRajasthan and Umesh Yadav for 24 against RCBin the final over of the innings, refreshing the tagof being the Best Finisher of the game. Also, hisaverage of 83.20 says a lot about his consistency.

KEDAR JADHAV

(12 Innings, 162 runs)

Kedar Jadhav missed last year's edition due to aninjury in the very first game of the tournament and

this year even afterfeaturing in all the14 games, the bat-ting all-rounderfailed to leave anyimpact on the fieldscoring just 162runs before pullingout of the tourna-ment because ofanother injury

scare. Going by his performances in theInternational arena he is surely going to be the partof starting XI in the World Cup but theMaharashtrian batsman struggled to find runs inthe last competitive tournament before the Cricket'sbiggest showpiece.

VIJAY SHANKAR

(14 Innings, 244 runs, 1 Wicket)

Vijay Shankar wasguilty of puttingIndia on the vergeof losing Nidahastrophy final in hisfirst India call-upagainst Bangladeshback in March 2018before DineshKarthik's last overheroics helped

India to win the game and trophy. But a year afterin his second chance against New Zealand hebrushed aside blues of past to not just erase badmemories of his first senior team spell but alsosecure World Cup berth in the expense of AmbatiRayudu. And coming into this IPL a lot was expect-ed out of Vijay Shankar to showcase his caliber butthe Tamil Nadu all-rounder performed even aftergetting opportunities to bat up higher the order.

DINESH KARTHIK

(13 Innings, 253 runs)

Senior wicket-keeper batsmanDinesh Karthik'sselection in place ofyoung flamboyantRishabh Pant raiseda lot of questionswhen the squadwas announced onApril 14 withexperts agreeing

with the fact that Karthik's glove work proved deci-sive in his selection. But by the business end of thetournament, disappointing end of Knight Riderscampaign and Pant's match-winning inningsagainst Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabadhas left DK to prove his worth and silence criticswith an impactful performance in the World Cup.

HARDIK PANDYA

(15 Innings, 402 runs 14 Wickets)

Returning back tothe field after a dis-appointing periodwhere he sufferedtemporarily sus-pension fromIndian setup forloose comments onwomen in a televi-sion reality showthat caused havoc

and injury that ruled him out of domestic seriesagainst Australia. Hardik Pandya made most of thisyear's Indian Premier League tournament byshowing what he brings to the Indian set up withhis presence in the line-up. The 25-year old

Baroda all-rounder hard hitting in the slog oversin almost every game and his crucial breakthroughsplayed a pivotal role in Mumbai's successful cam-paign this time. Also with the inclusion of Dhoni'strademark Helicopter shot and the charismatic useof batting crease to tackle Yorkers, the fast bowl-ing all-rounder updated his batting style and it looksmore compact than ever. What made him more spe-cial is his spectacular fielding efforts.

RAVINDRA JADEJA

(9 Innings, 106 runs, 15 Wickets)

Considering theweather in Englandduring summer thatcould offer somehelp for the spin-ners, RavindraJadeja booked hisplace as a thirdspinner in theIndian set up. Theleft-arm bowler had

a satisfactory campaign in 2019 where apart frombeing regular among wickets, the left-handedlower order batsman played some vital knocks atthe end of the innings. However there wasn't anyremarkable performance from him but given thatKedar Jadhav is suffering from an injury, the 2013Champions Trophy leading wicket-taker can makea place in the starting XI as a potential numberseven batsman.

KULDEEP YADAV

(9 Matches, 4 Wickets)

India's leading wicket-taker in the ODI format sincemaking his debut, Kuldeep Yadav had a forgetful IPLcampaign in 2019. The joint leading wicket-taker forKolkata Knight Riders in 2018 edition (17 wickets),

Yadav failed to getwickets this seasonand after getting just4 wickets in ninegames he eventuallylost his place evenfrom the startingeleven. India's firstchoice finger spin-ner, Kuldeep wasconsidered as India's

biggest weapon in the bowling front especially afterhis outstanding performance against England in 2018tour, where he took 9 wickets in three games. Eventhough his IPL outing affected his confidence, he isstill going to pose a serious threat to the overseas bats-man considering the fact that they still struggle tounderstand his deliveries and also the presence ofMahendra Singh Dhoni behind the wickets makeshis look a completely different bowler.

YUZVENDRA CHAHAL

(14 Matches, 18 Wickets)

Unlike Kuldeep, hispartner in Indiansetup Chahal had animpressive IPL sea-son but because ofyet another disap-pointing show by hisside RoyalC h a l l e n g e r sBangalore, his per-formance didn't gain

enough spotlight. Playing under Virat Kohli, heproved his worth by being the regular wicket takerand time again helped RCB to get breakthroughswhenever the team demands one such. Being a smartbowler who understands the batsman brain, Chahal'svariation in length and quick comeback after beingsmashed for boundaries makes him an asset. Also,his partnership with Kuldeep in the XI, where bothof them compliments each other well will prove tobe a decisive factor going into the World Cup.

BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR

(15 Matches, 13 Wickets)

Two times PurpleCap winner in IPL,B h u v n e s h w a rKumar also got thechance to leadS u n r i s e r sHyderabad this timein absence of regularskipper KaneWilliamson in quitea few matches. But

he didn't look that effective as he was some of the pre-vious campaigns. Considered as one of the most eco-nomical players and also someone who provide earlybreakthroughs, Bhuvi didn't look that impressive inthe slog overs and was taken into cleaners, thus leak-ing too many runs in the end. His economy rate of7.81 runs per overlooks impressive when it comes toany other T20 bowler's statistics but going by his stan-dard it was his second most expensive one. Also forthe second time only in the last six years, he failedto cross the 15 wickets barrier.

JASPRIT BUMRAH

(16 Matches, 19 Wickets)

Probably the bestbowler in interna-tional cricket at themoment, JaspritBumrah time andagain showed whyhe is the worst night-mare for any bats-man in the world incurrent time. Hisperfect yorkers,

slower and bouncers are not just easy to understandbut also hard to tackle. The 25-year old Bumrah forthe fourth consecutive season crossed the 15 wick-et mark and what's more impressive this time was hisbest ever economy of 6.63 runs per over. But the high-lighting spell was his super over against SunrisersHyderabad in the league match at Wankhede. Hehelped Mumbai Indians to easily chase down the tar-get of 9 runs with three balls remaining. Also his smartbowling in the final game against Chennai earned himpraise from Mumbai Indians mentor and cricket leg-end Sachin Tendulkar, who referred him as the bestbowler in the world at this stage (death overs).

MOHAMMED SHAMI

(14 Matches, 19 Wickets)

Playing for new franchise Kings XI Punjab, Shami forthe first time featured in all the 14 games of IPL inhis seven years association with the cash-rich league.And the right arm medium pacer made the most ofit by picking 19 wickets, which is just two less than

his combined sixseason dismissals.He finished the cam-paign as the leadingwicket-taker ofKXIP and sixthoverall in the bowl-ing chart and van-ished the tag of notbeing able to deliverin the shortest for-

mat. After his strong comeback in India's Test andODI setup, his IPL performance has not just put for-ward a strong case for starting XI spot but also revamphis career.

E N G L A N D C A M P A I G N

SWAT ANALYSIS

WC prospects in fine fettle

The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League came to an end on Sunday when Mumbai Indians won their record fourth title after beating defendingchampions Chennai Super Kings by 1 run in the last ball of the match. After 51 days of non-stop cricketing action with 60 games played, India's World Cupcampaigners have a mixed blend of seasons. While the likes of KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni blossomed with spectacular individualperformances seasoned campaigners like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav failed to create an impact this time.

Also the much-debated all-rounder Vijay Shankar failed to live up to the expectations of being called as a three-dimensional player, which played asignificant role to get him the ICC Cricket World Cup berth starting from May 30 in the United Kingdom.

HARSHIT BISHT takes a look at the performance of India's World Cup-bound players in the backdrop of the IPL.

VIRAT KOHLI (14 Innings, 464 runs)Indian captain Virat Kohli had another disappointing season with Royal Challengers Bangalore, where his side finished at thebottom of the league table with just 5 wins in 14 games. He was in stupendous touch before coming into this year's tournamentbut the World's No 1 batsman failed to continue his international form into the domestic league and despite leading the battingchart for his side once again, he could only manage 464 runs with just 2 half-centuries (84 vs KKR and 67 vs KXIP) and 1hundred (100*) against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens. His leadership skills were also time and again put under scanneras some key decisions went against his side.