16
I n what can be termed as very worrisome for wildlife lovers and protection planners, as many as three elephants were killed after being mowed down by a large vehicle on National Highway-20 at Balijodi under Keonjahr district’s Ghatagaon Forest Range late on Wednesday night. Even as police seized a truck on the charge of hitting the jum- bos, the Keonjhar Divisional Forest Officer on Thursday stat- ed that a speeding private bus named “Airabata” hit the pachy- derms, killing three and injuring one. He said the bus bas been seized on the basis of CCTV footage from Barbil. According to reports, a herd of ten elephants were crossing the NH sometime between 9 pm on Wednesday and 6 am on Thursday when the speeding vehicle hit three of them, all females. While two elephants were dead, another was injured. Though veterinary doctors treat- ed the injured elephant, it final- ly succumbed to its injuries. NH-20 passes through the Brahmani-Baitarani elephant corridor. Thus, elephants are often seen crossing roads and nearby areas. While the corri- dor project is yet to be imple- mented, the NH has been made four-lane. As most of the vehi- cles move at high speed, the ele- phant paths have created a threat for the animals. While deaths of jumbo due to train accidents, electro- cution and pit-falling in mines were reported earlier, the Wednesday night incident has worried wildlife lovers, who have demanded more protec- tion measures for elephants. Continued on Page 4 A s many as 2.66 lakh ineli- gible beneficiaries have so far been identified under the State’s flagship KALIA scheme, said Agriculture Minister Arun Sahoo here on Thursday. He told reporters that while 72 per cent of the scrutiny about the KALIA beneficiaries has been completed, 2.66 lakh enlisted beneficiaries have so far been found ineligible. “Nodal officers are engaged at the panchayat, block and dis- trict levels for verification of the KALIA beneficiary list. Till date, 72 per cent of the verifi- cation has been completed; and out of the 36.88 lakh ver- ified farmers, 2.66 lakh were found ineligible. We will let you know the exact figure once the verification is completed by August 31,” the Minister said. Besides, the panchayat- level nodal officers have been strictly instructed to ensure inclusion of the left-out gen- uine beneficiaries and strictly check the fake ones. Notably, taking cognizance of the allegations about inclusion of ineligible beneficiaries under the scheme, the Government had on August 6 announced to exclude the fake ones. A s many as 7,258 children of farmers in the State would receive scholarship under the KALIA Chhatra Brutti scheme this year. This was informed by Agriculture and Higher Education Minister Arun Sahoo after a review meeting on the matter held here on Thursday. Sahoo told reporters that out of the 19,247 applications received for the scheme, 7,258 have been shortlisted for the scheme. They would get scholarship for pursuing different profes- sional courses in Government- run colleges across the State, he said. Notably, earlier this year, State Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during a farm- ers’ congregation had announced that his Government would bear education expenses of chil- dren of the KALIA scheme beneficiaries. Under the scheme, chil- dren of farmers who have taken admission in Government-run professional colleges are eligible to receive the scholarship. D irector General of Police- in-Charge Bijay Kumar Sharma means business. The top cop on Thursday reprimanded a traffic constable in the middle of the busy AG Square here as the latter, though in his white uniform, was discharging his duty with- out the mandatory cap. While returning from a meeting on the Maoist issue in the State at the Lok Seva Bhawan (State Secretariat), Sharma spotted the traffic cop sans the cap. Upset over the constable’s conduct, he got down from his car and repri- manded the constable for lack of discipline. S everal students of the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) at Burla were allegedly subjected to ragging by their seniors, videos of which have surfaced. A senior university staff said, “This year, students adopt- ed an innovating idea of ragging the second year students which was beyond our imagination. We always keep alert for the first year students and we did also. We took every precaution in the hostel of the first year students. But with change in the game plan, such unfortunate inci- dent took place.” In the videos, the senior students are seen slapping their juniors and making them do pole dance with the latter pos- ing as poles. The ragging hor- ror didn’t stop there as the vic- tims were also made to dance in their undergarments. The incidents took place at a hostel welcome ceremony and inside the hostel. While the videos have gone viral on social media platforms, Skill Development & Technical Education Minister Premananda Nayak took cognizance of the matter on Thursday and ordered a probe into it. The Minister told reporters that requisite action would be taken based on the findings of the investigation. VSSUT Vice-Chancellor Dr Atal Choudhury said, “Not a single student involved in the nasty game will be spared. No indiscipline will be tolerated.” The university authorities made a series of meetings with the staffs to chalk out action plans for the future. However, no formal complaint was lodged by the victim students till the last reports received. S tudents’ Union elections in degree colleges and univer- sities will not be held in the State this year. A decision in this regard has been taken by the Higher Education Department. Department Secretary Saswat Mishra has apprised Vice-Chancellors of universities and Principals of degree colleges about the decision in a letter. “In the larger interest of the students’ community, it has been decided by the State Government that Student Union elections shall not be conducted in State universities and degree colleges coming under the administrative con- trol of the Higher Education Department in 2019,” Mishra mentioned in the letter. Instead of elections, a deci- sion has been taken for nomi- nation of students’ representa- tives to various bodies of uni- versities and colleges. “An alternative procedure for nominating students’ rep- resentatives to various bodies of universities/colleges, where stu- dents’ representation is required, shall be prescribed subsequently,” Mishra wrote in the letter. F ormer Finance and Home Minister P Chidambaram will spend at least four days in the CBI custody. A Delhi court on Thursday allowed the CBI plea for custodial interrogation of Chidambaram in the INX Media corruption case till August 26. The agency had sought a five-day remand to unearth the larger conspiracy in the case. Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar asked the CBI to con- duct medical examination on Chidambaram as per the rules. The court also allowed the family members and lawyers of Chidambaram to meet him for half an hour every day dur- ing his CBI custody. “Considering the facts and circumstances, I am of the view that police custody is jus- tified,” said the judge and remanded him in CBI’s custody till August 26. Even if Chidambaram’s CBI custody ends on August 26, it will not be the end of his woes. The court could either deny him regular bail and send him to judicial custody, or the Enforcement Directorate could seek his custodial interrogation. In both the cases, it will be a while before Chidambaram could earn his freedom. The CBI sources said cus- todial interrogation was required as the agency gathered inputs indicating prima facie involvement of Chidambaram in other approvals by Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in which the former Finance Minister had alleged- ly received bribes through his son Karti’s firms. A number of Letters Rogatory (judicial requests) is pending in certain countries, CBI sources said. Chidambaram’s advocates opposed the CBI plea on the ground that all the other accused, including his son Karti, have already been grant- ed bail in the case. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chidambaram, argued that the first arrest in the case was of Bhaskar Raman, chartered accountant of Karti, who is presently out on bail. Besides that, Peter and Indrani Mukherjea, also accused in the case, are out on default bail as they are in jail in connection with another matter, Sibal said. Contending that grant of bail was a rule, he asserted that the issue before the court was of personal liberty. He also con- tested the demand for five-day custodial interrogation of Chidambaram. Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, told the court that the agency was not extorting con- fession but it has the right to reach the root of the case. Besides Sibal, senior advo- cate Abhishek M Singhvi appeared for Chidambaram and opposed CBI’s plea saying that the former Union Minister was not a flight risk. Singhvi said that the entire CBI case was based on the statement of Indrani Mukherjea, who has turned approver in the case. Chidambaram cannot answer what the CBI wants to hear and added that the agency cannot seek remand on the ground of evasive replies. There was no allegation of tampering of evidence by the CBI, Singhvi asserted. Singhvi contended that police remand can only be granted in special circum- stances and this was a case where there was no new devel- opment. I n a desperate move to stoke violence in Jammu & Kashmir after the abrogation of its special status under Article 370 and to internationalise the issue, Pakistan has started recruiting battle-hardened Afghan and Pashtun fighters to create trouble in the State. Nearly 100 of these fight- ers are now perched at launch pads to infiltrate into the State. At the same time, there is fear that terrorists might plan “spec- tacular strikes” within Kashmir and other major Indian cities. Besides this hard intelli- gence input, reports also indi- cate that Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has deployed a team of at least 12 terrorists to under- take cross-border raids and target security forces on the Line of Control (LoC). Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT), Afghan militants and highly trained Special Services Group (SSG) of the Pakistan Army may specially target Lipa Valley in North Kashmir. Giving details of these lat- est developments across the border after the revocation of Article 370 nearly three weeks back, officials in the security establishment said on Thursday the JeM also held a meeting presided over by Rauf Asghar, brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar, in Bahawalpur on August 19 to draw the strate- gy to engineer terrorist attacks. The meeting was also attended by launch comman- ders of JeM. They oversee infiltration of terrorists after the Pakistan Army gives them cover fire. As regards to using Afghan fighters hailing from North- West Frontier Province (NWFP), officials said the ISI and the Pakistan Army resort- ed to it due to depleting strength of local Kashmiri ter- rorists. E quity markets saw a blood- bath on Thursday sinking by 587 points as the Government dashed any hope of a stimulus — something being talked about for a fort- night — to revive the sagging economy. The bears latched on to the news to go for aggressive selling, pushing the index to six-month low. The rupee also continued with its freefall, and ended at 71.81 to a dollar, hit- ting eight-month low. The market has been con- solidating in the range of 11900-11100 (Nifty) for the past fortnight in the hope that stimulus package was on the way. It is bizarre that all these days no Government official cared to deny media reports about possible stimulus such as withdrawal of surcharge on FIP investment and removal of minimum alternate tax (MAT) as well as a package for revival of the auto sector. Soon after Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian on Thursday said using taxpayers’ money to bail out companies going through a “sunset” phase will create moral hazards and such a step is an anathema to the market economy, the marked tanked, triggering another round of selling in banking, auto and metal stocks. C ountries like India, Iran, Russia and Turkey would have to fight against terrorists in Afghanistan at some point of time, President Donald Trump has said, ruing that the job against the extremists is being done only by the United States some 7,000 miles away. “Look, India is right there. They are not fighting it. We are fighting it. Pakistan is right next door. They are fighting it very little. Very, very little. It’s not fair. The United States is 7,000 miles away,” Trump said. The US President said on Wednesday that other nations currently are making very less efforts against the terrorists in Afghanistan. “At a certain point Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey they are going to have to fight their battles too. We wiped out the caliphate 100 per cent. I did it in record time but at a certain point all of these other countries where ISIS is around they have been decimated by the way, badly dec- imated,” Trump told reporters at the White House while responding to a question on the reemergence of ISIS in Afghanistan. “All of these countries are going to have to fight them because do we want to stay there for another 19 years? I don’t think so. So, at a certain point other countries and that includes Russia and it includes Iran and Turkey and Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan and India,” he said.

ˇ ˙˘ ˝ &’ $ () · Several students of the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) at Burla ... ragging by their seniors, videos of which have surfaced. A senior university

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Page 1: ˇ ˙˘ ˝ &’ $ () · Several students of the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) at Burla ... ragging by their seniors, videos of which have surfaced. A senior university

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In what can be termed as veryworrisome for wildlife lovers

and protection planners, asmany as three elephants werekilled after being mowed downby a large vehicle on NationalHighway-20 at Balijodi underKeonjahr district’s GhatagaonForest Range late onWednesday night.

Even as police seized a truckon the charge of hitting the jum-bos, the Keonjhar DivisionalForest Officer on Thursday stat-ed that a speeding private busnamed “Airabata” hit the pachy-derms, killing three and injuringone. He said the bus bas beenseized on the basis of CCTVfootage from Barbil.

According to reports, a herdof ten elephants were crossingthe NH sometime between 9 pmon Wednesday and 6 am on

Thursday when the speedingvehicle hit three of them, allfemales. While two elephantswere dead, another was injured.Though veterinary doctors treat-ed the injured elephant, it final-ly succumbed to its injuries.

NH-20 passes through theBrahmani-Baitarani elephantcorridor. Thus, elephants areoften seen crossing roads andnearby areas. While the corri-dor project is yet to be imple-mented, the NH has been madefour-lane. As most of the vehi-cles move at high speed, the ele-phant paths have created athreat for the animals.

While deaths of jumbodue to train accidents, electro-cution and pit-falling in mineswere reported earlier, theWednesday night incident hasworried wildlife lovers, whohave demanded more protec-tion measures for elephants.

Continued on Page 4

����������� �� ��������� ��� ��������� ������������ ����������������������������������� ����������� �������������������������� ��������������������� ����������� ��������������������������� ���

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As many as 2.66 lakh ineli-gible beneficiaries have so

far been identified under theState’s flagship KALIA scheme,said Agriculture Minister ArunSahoo here on Thursday.

He told reporters that while72 per cent of the scrutinyabout the KALIA beneficiarieshas been completed, 2.66 lakhenlisted beneficiaries have sofar been found ineligible.

“Nodal officers are engagedat the panchayat, block and dis-trict levels for verification of the

KALIA beneficiary list. Tilldate, 72 per cent of the verifi-cation has been completed;and out of the 36.88 lakh ver-ified farmers, 2.66 lakh werefound ineligible. We will let youknow the exact figure once theverification is completed byAugust 31,” the Minister said.

Besides, the panchayat-level nodal officers have beenstrictly instructed to ensureinclusion of the left-out gen-uine beneficiaries and strictlycheck the fake ones.

Notably, taking cognizanceof the allegations about inclusionof ineligible beneficiaries underthe scheme, the Governmenthad on August 6 announced toexclude the fake ones.

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As many as 7,258 children offarmers in the State would

receive scholarship under theKALIA Chhatra Brutti schemethis year.

This was informed byAgriculture and HigherEducation Minister ArunSahoo after a review meetingon the matter held here onThursday.

Sahoo told reporters thatout of the 19,247 applicationsreceived for the scheme, 7,258 have been shortlisted for the scheme.

They would get scholarshipfor pursuing different profes-sional courses in Government-run colleges across the State, he said.

Notably, earlier this year,State Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during a farm-ers’ congregation hadannounced that hisGovernment would bear education expenses of chil-dren of the KALIA schemebeneficiaries.

Under the scheme, chil-dren of farmers who havetaken admission inGovernment-run professionalcolleges are eligible to receive the scholarship.

����� ������� ��

Director General of Police-in-Charge Bijay Kumar

Sharma means business.The top cop on Thursday

reprimanded a traffic constablein the middle of the busy AGSquare here as the latter,though in his white uniform,was discharging his duty with-out the mandatory cap.

While returning from ameeting on the Maoist issue in

the State at the Lok SevaBhawan (State Secretariat),Sharma spotted the traffic copsans the cap. Upset over theconstable’s conduct, he gotdown from his car and repri-manded the constable for lackof discipline.

���������� ������������������ ���������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������

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Several students of the VeerSurendra Sai University of

Technology (VSSUT) at Burlawere allegedly subjected toragging by their seniors, videosof which have surfaced.

A senior university staffsaid, “This year, students adopt-ed an innovating idea of raggingthe second year students whichwas beyond our imagination.We always keep alert for the firstyear students and we did also.We took every precaution in thehostel of the first year students.But with change in the gameplan, such unfortunate inci-dent took place.”

In the videos, the seniorstudents are seen slapping theirjuniors and making them dopole dance with the latter pos-ing as poles. The ragging hor-ror didn’t stop there as the vic-

tims were also made to dancein their undergarments.

The incidents took place ata hostel welcome ceremony andinside the hostel. While thevideos have gone viral on socialmedia platforms, SkillDevelopment & TechnicalEducation Minister PremanandaNayak took cognizance of thematter on Thursday and ordereda probe into it.

The Minister told reportersthat requisite action would be

taken based on the findings ofthe investigation.

VSSUT Vice-ChancellorDr Atal Choudhury said, “Nota single student involved in thenasty game will be spared. Noindiscipline will be tolerated.”

The university authoritiesmade a series of meetings withthe staffs to chalk out actionplans for the future. However,no formal complaint waslodged by the victim studentstill the last reports received.

���� ��������!���������"��������"����� ��������������������������������������������������������� ����

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Students’ Union elections indegree colleges and univer-

sities will not be held in theState this year. A decision inthis regard has been taken bythe Higher EducationDepartment.

Department SecretarySaswat Mishra has apprisedVice-Chancellors of universitiesand Principals of degree collegesabout the decision in a letter.

“In the larger interest of thestudents’ community, it hasbeen decided by the StateGovernment that StudentUnion elections shall not beconducted in State universitiesand degree colleges comingunder the administrative con-trol of the Higher EducationDepartment in 2019,” Mishra

mentioned in the letter.Instead of elections, a deci-

sion has been taken for nomi-nation of students’ representa-tives to various bodies of uni-versities and colleges.

“An alternative procedurefor nominating students’ rep-resentatives to various bodies ofuniversities/colleges, where stu-dents’ representation isrequired, shall be prescribedsubsequently,” Mishra wrotein the letter.

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!��������������"����������������������� �#��$%���������� ������������ ������������� ��������&� ���� ���������������

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Former Finance and HomeMinister P Chidambaram

will spend at least four days inthe CBI custody. A Delhi courton Thursday allowed the CBIplea for custodial interrogationof Chidambaram in the INXMedia corruption case tillAugust 26. The agency hadsought a five-day remand tounearth the larger conspiracyin the case.

Special Judge Ajay KumarKuhar asked the CBI to con-duct medical examination onChidambaram as per the rules.The court also allowed thefamily members and lawyers ofChidambaram to meet himfor half an hour every day dur-ing his CBI custody.

“Considering the facts andcircumstances, I am of theview that police custody is jus-tified,” said the judge andremanded him in CBI’s custodytill August 26.

Even if Chidambaram’sCBI custody ends on August26, it will not be the end of hiswoes. The court could eitherdeny him regular bail and sendhim to judicial custody, or theEnforcement Directorate could

seek his custodial interrogation.In both the cases, it will be awhile before Chidambaramcould earn his freedom.

The CBI sources said cus-todial interrogation wasrequired as the agency gatheredinputs indicating prima facieinvolvement of Chidambaramin other approvals by ForeignInvestment Promotion Board(FIPB) in which the former

Finance Minister had alleged-ly received bribes through hisson Karti’s firms. A number ofLetters Rogatory (judicialrequests) is pending in certaincountries, CBI sources said.

Chidambaram’s advocatesopposed the CBI plea on theground that all the otheraccused, including his sonKarti, have already been grant-ed bail in the case.

Senior advocate KapilSibal, appearing forChidambaram, argued that thefirst arrest in the case was ofBhaskar Raman, charteredaccountant of Karti, who ispresently out on bail. Besidesthat, Peter and IndraniMukherjea, also accused inthe case, are out on default bailas they are in jail in connectionwith another matter, Sibal said.

Contending that grant ofbail was a rule, he asserted thatthe issue before the court wasof personal liberty. He also con-tested the demand for five-daycustodial interrogation ofChidambaram.

Solicitor General (SG)Tushar Mehta, representingthe CBI, told the court that theagency was not extorting con-fession but it has the right toreach the root of the case.

Besides Sibal, senior advo-cate Abhishek M Singhviappeared for Chidambaramand opposed CBI’s plea sayingthat the former Union Ministerwas not a flight risk. Singhvisaid that the entire CBI casewas based on the statement ofIndrani Mukherjea, who hasturned approver in the case.

Chidambaram cannotanswer what the CBI wants tohear and added that the agencycannot seek remand on theground of evasive replies. Therewas no allegation of tamperingof evidence by the CBI, Singhviasserted.

Singhvi contended thatpolice remand can only begranted in special circum-stances and this was a casewhere there was no new devel-opment.

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In a desperate move to stokeviolence in Jammu &

Kashmir after the abrogation ofits special status under Article370 and to internationalise theissue, Pakistan has startedrecruiting battle-hardenedAfghan and Pashtun fighters tocreate trouble in the State.

Nearly 100 of these fight-ers are now perched at launchpads to infiltrate into the State.At the same time, there is fearthat terrorists might plan “spec-tacular strikes” within Kashmirand other major Indian cities.

Besides this hard intelli-gence input, reports also indi-cate that Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM) has deployed a team ofat least 12 terrorists to under-take cross-border raids andtarget security forces on theLine of Control (LoC).

Pakistan’s Border Action

Team (BAT), Afghan militantsand highly trained SpecialServices Group (SSG) of thePakistan Army may speciallytarget Lipa Valley in NorthKashmir.

Giving details of these lat-est developments across theborder after the revocation ofArticle 370 nearly three weeksback, officials in the securityestablishment said on Thursdaythe JeM also held a meetingpresided over by Rauf Asghar,brother of JeM chief MasoodAzhar, in Bahawalpur on

August 19 to draw the strate-gy to engineer terrorist attacks.

The meeting was alsoattended by launch comman-ders of JeM.

They oversee infiltration ofterrorists after the PakistanArmy gives them cover fire.

As regards to using Afghanfighters hailing from North-West Frontier Province(NWFP), officials said the ISIand the Pakistan Army resort-ed to it due to depletingstrength of local Kashmiri ter-rorists.

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Equity markets saw a blood-bath on Thursday sinking

by 587 points as theGovernment dashed any hopeof a stimulus — somethingbeing talked about for a fort-night — to revive the saggingeconomy. The bears latched onto the news to go for aggressiveselling, pushing the index tosix-month low. The rupee alsocontinued with its freefall, andended at 71.81 to a dollar, hit-ting eight-month low.

The market has been con-solidating in the range of11900-11100 (Nifty) for thepast fortnight in the hope thatstimulus package was on theway. It is bizarre that all thesedays no Government officialcared to deny media reportsabout possible stimulus such aswithdrawal of surcharge on

FIP investment and removal ofminimum alternate tax (MAT)as well as a package for revivalof the auto sector.

Soon after Chief EconomicAdviser KrishnamurthySubramanian on Thursday saidusing taxpayers’ money to bailout companies going througha “sunset” phase will createmoral hazards and such a stepis an anathema to the marketeconomy, the marked tanked,triggering another round ofselling in banking, auto andmetal stocks.

"����,������-./� �������������� ��������������������.*�������+� �+,�� �� �������

Countries like India, Iran,Russia and Turkey would

have to fight against terroristsin Afghanistan at some point oftime, President Donald Trumphas said, ruing thatthe job against theextremists is beingdone only by theUnited States some7,000 miles away.“Look, India is rightthere. They are notfighting it. We arefighting it. Pakistanis right next door.They are fighting itvery little. Very, verylittle. It’s not fair. The UnitedStates is 7,000 miles away,”Trump said.

The US President said onWednesday that other nationscurrently are making very lessefforts against the terrorists inAfghanistan. “At a certain point

Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq,Turkey they are going to haveto fight their battles too. Wewiped out the caliphate 100 percent. I did it in record time butat a certain point all of theseother countries where ISIS is

around they havebeen decimated bythe way, badly dec-imated,” Trump toldreporters at theWhite House whileresponding to aquestion on thereemergence of ISISin Afghanistan.

“All of thesecountries are goingto have to fight

them because do we want tostay there for another 19 years?I don’t think so. So, at a certainpoint other countries and thatincludes Russia and it includesIran and Turkey and Iraq andAfghanistan and Pakistan andIndia,” he said.

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Page 2: ˇ ˙˘ ˝ &’ $ () · Several students of the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) at Burla ... ragging by their seniors, videos of which have surfaced. A senior university

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The State Government hasdecided to include Angul,

Dhenkanal, Jharsuguda andDeogarh districts in the OdishaMineral Bearing AreasDevelopment Corporation(OMBADC) for undertakingdevelopmental and livelihoodprogrammes.

With this, the number ofdistricts included in OMBADC

will rise to eight. Now,Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Jajpurand Mayurbhanj are coveredunder it.

Under the OMBADC,livelihood-based developmen-tal programmes will be under-taken in these districts out ofits compensation money.Programmes like housing,drinking water supply, skilldevelopment and farm forestrywill be taken up in the areas

affected by mining operations.Out of targeted 29,800

houses, more than 27,000 hous-es have been completed withutilization of Rs 350 croreagainst total allocation of Rs 400crore. So far drinking water pro-jects are concerned, 212 smallpipe water projects have beenplanned to cover 286 villages. Bynow, 154 villages have been cov-ered and the rest are in pipeline.

Under the OMBADC, skill

development training is alsobeing imparted to theScheduled Caste and ScheduledTribe youths.

As skill development inhotel management is in highdemand, the Odisha SkillDevelopment Authority(OSDA) has given a proposalfor imparting such training inState Institute of HotelManagement (SIHM), Balangir.

Around Rs 18 crore would

be spent in providing skilltraining, said sources. Latestinformation has revealed that195 trainees are now getting ITItraining. Youths from onlymining areas are being pro-vided this facility.

It has been decided torequest the Central Institute ofPlastic Engineering andTechnology (CIPET) and theCentral Tool Room andTraining Centre (CTTC) to

open centres in Sundargarhand Keonjhar districts so thatyouths of mineral bearing dis-trict have access to skill train-ings provided by them.

Farm forestry projects havealso been undertaken in thesedistricts for which Rs 56 crorehas been allocated. Green coveractivities have been given focusas mining operations are affect-ing environment and livingcondition of the people.

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After separation of juniorand degree colleges, the

State Government is now plan-ning to take more time todelink the colleges for theirsmooth bifurcation.

The teaching and non-teaching staffs would remain inthe +3 colleges in phases andfresh recruitment would emade in the +2 colleges. Thedelinking process would takethree to four years, said HigherEducation Minister Arun

Sahoo here on Thursday.After attending a joint

meeting of the School & MassEducation and HigherEducation Department on theissue of separation of the +2and +3 colleges, Sahoo said thatthere would be separate infra-structures for both +2 and +3colleges.

However, the existing sys-tem operating in many com-posite colleges having both +2and +3 teaching in one campuswould continue till completeseparation.

Even as there are compos-ite colleges, the classes arebeing held separately, theMinister said.

Notably, the StateGovernment has separated +2courses from the HigherEducation Department.

The bifurcation processwas implemented in the 2016-17 academic session. While+2 came under the School andMass Education Department,+3 continued to remain withthe Higher EducationDepartment.

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Justice BP Das, a former judgeof the Orissa High Court, has

been appointed as Chairman ofthe Odisha Human RightsCommission (OHRC), officialsources said on Thursday.

Besides, advocate AsimAmitabh Dash has beenappointed as a new Member ofthe OHRC. The appointmentsof both have received theapproval of Governor ProfGaneshi Lal.

The post of Chairman ofthe OHRC was vacant since

November 23, 2012. JusticeRaghubir Dash had been offi-ciating as the commission’sActing Chairman with effectfrom May 16, 2019.

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Members of the OdishaSecretariat Service

Association (OSSA) onThursday opposed the StateGovernment’s decision of inte-grating its different directorateswith their respective adminis-

trative departments to functionas composite departments.

They staged a dharna at theSecretariat premises demand-ing rollback of the decision. Anemergency meeting of the asso-ciation was underway to takeits further course of action tillfiling of the report. Association

sources said that nearly 500employees of the Governmentattended the meeting.

The decision of theGovernment met with stiffopposition a day after itsannouncement made by theGeneral AdministrationDepartment on Wednesday.

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Distressed over months-longostracism from village, a

poor family of Khordha districthas sought euthanasia.

This is reported fromMasania village under Beguniablock where Jay Krushna Sahoo and his family haveappealed to the districtCollector seeking euthanasia,also called ‘mercy killing’.

Reports said Jay Krushnaalong with his family roamedon village streets after forciblepossession of his homesteadland by neighbourers. Hemoved the tehsil office and dis-trict Collectorate to claim own-ership of the land. However, hisefforts went in vain.

Later, he staged a hungerstrike in front of the tehsil officeseeking justice. Even as thetehsildar assured him to solve

the matter, Jay Krushna waitedfor long days to take into his pos-session of the homestead land.

Finally, the villagersostracised him and his familyfrom the village.

“We are banned to availbasic facilities at the village.Even restriction has beenimposed on us to enter into thevillage temple. Our daughter is

denied education after we foughtfor justice,” Jay Krushna said.

“The tehsildar promised usto look into our grievance butfailed to take steps against theencroachers. As we areharassed and disappointed afterapproaching the authorities forjustice, we seek permissionfrom the Collector to end ourlives,” he said.

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In order to minimise damageduring calamities like

cyclone, the State Governmentis harping on resilient housingand infrastructure projects.

As per the latest availabledata, combined economic lossof the State during cyclones likeFani, Titli and Phailin is cal-culated as Rs 40,447 crore

which is equivalent to 5.7 bil-lion US Dollar.

The financial loss ofOdisha during last cycloneFani amounts to Rs 29,315crore alone.

Against the backdrop, theState Government is stressingupon establishing strongframework of disaster risk gov-ernance and integration of theprinciple of resilience in every

sector in order to achieve sub-stantial reduction in econom-ic loss.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that the OdishaGovernment has received inter-national acclaim for signifi-cantly reducing the loss oflives from nearly 10,000 in theyear 1999 Super Cyclone to lessthan 100 in the recent cyclonesPhailin and Fani.

In the meantime, technicalteams of UN, ADB and WorldBank visited the cyclone affect-ed pockets of the State and dis-cussed with State officialsregarding strategy for buildingresilient projects.

As per the latest officialreport nearly 3.62 lakh units ofhouses across the 14 affecteddistricts of Odisha were dam-aged during Fani. All the

kutcha houses were fullydestroyed and the semi puccahouses along the coastline sus-tained significant damage.

The total recovery in thehousing sector leads to anamount of Rs 8,996 crore whichincludes resilient houses. Theassessment team consisting ofexperts has proposed estab-lishment of 99 housing facili-tation centers at the block level

with technical engineers andassistants.

This technical team willhave to work over a period of18 months alongside houseowners, masons and carpentersto oversee training and con-struction. It is proposed tomake available the quality con-struction materials at thedoorsteps.

The team assessed that

infrastructure sector needs atleast Rs 21,000 crore for recov-ery due to damage in Fani. Inthe affected districts, at least6,441 public buildings, com-prising 590 under the urbanlocal bodies, 914 under ruralworks department, 2,016 underthe Public Works departmentand 2,721 under the PanchayatiRaj and Drinking WaterDepartment, suffered dam-

aged worth about Rs 544 crore.As severe calamities like

cyclone and flood are visitingthe State frequently, it is pro-posed to develop resilient infra-structure in order to minimisedamage in future.

Apart from buildingresilient housing and infra-structure, it is also planned todevelop resilient livelihoods inthe State.

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Odisha State DisasterManagement Authority

(OSDMA) MD BishnupadaSethi has informed that help smooth evacuation of persons having physical dif-ficulties during calamities, ithas been decided to set up aspecial cell for persons with dis-abilities (PwDs) in theOSDMA.

The decision was taken ata meeting attended by civilsociety organisations and offi-cials of the Department ofSocial Security andEmpowerment of Persons withDisability on August 20.

“The cell will operate at theOSDMA taking into consider-ation the special needs and vul-nerability of the persons with

disabilities and mainstreamingtheir needs into disaster man-agement,” Sethi said.

He said the cell would lookinto special needs of personswith disability during evacua-tion, search, rescue operations,rehabilitation and resettlementduring natural calamities likeflood and cyclone.

The cell will make net-working with both theGovernment and privateorganisations and prepare adatabase of persons with dis-abilities and organisations inthe State working with suchpersons and prepare plansaccordingly, Sethi said.

It was also decided that allthe multipurpose cyclone andflood shelters would be madedisable friendly by the cell

The meeting also resolvedthat the evacuation and searchand rescue response forces likeODRAF, NDRF, Red Cross,civil defence and communitylevel task force volunteerswould be given training on special care to handle suchpersons.

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The CenturionUniversity of

Technology andManagement (CUTM)has acquired twoPARAM-Shavak supercomputers from theCenter of DevelopmentAdvanced Computing(C-DAC) to enhance itsquality researches.

The supercomput-ers provide computa-tional resource withadvanced technologiesto perform high-endcomputations for sci-entific, engineering and academic pro-grammes that address and catalyze the research usingmodelling, simulation and data analysis.

The CUTM and C-DAChave also signed a memoran-dum of understanding (MoU)to conduct joint actionresearch, create learningresources for high performancecomputing and undertakeproduct development in

emerging domains such asAugmented/Virtual Reality(AR/VR), digital learning plat-forms, digital design/manu-facturing, mobility solutions,computational biology, smart &climate resilient agricultureand smart infrastructureamong others.

“PARAM will ensure thatour students not only acquirehands-on experience in latest

digital technologies but havealso experienced a full productdevelopment lifecycle beforethey graduate,” said vice-chancellor Dr SupriyaPattanayak.

The supercomputer wouldbe accessible to all students andfaculty of CUTM at its campuses in Odisha andAndhra Pradesh, informed a release.

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AClass-X student of theDadhibaman High School

in the Kabisuryanagar area ofGanjam district allegedly slithis classmate’s neck with a

blade on Thursday.The two boys had a heat-

ed argument over some matterwhile a class was underway. Ittook an ugly turn as theaccused became furious and slithis classmate’s neck.

Teachers rushed the victim to theKabisuryanagar hospital.

He was later shifted to theMKCG Medical CollegeHospital here as his conditiondeteriorated.

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MALKANAGIRI: Honesty and hard work payoff. And the outgoing SP of Maoist-infestedMalkangiri district Jagmohan Meena has provedit. The IPS officer, who has been transferred toAngul during the recent IPS reshuffle, receiveda grand farewell from Jawans as well as localson his last day in office as the Malkangiri SP onWednesday. A video of the farewell eventwhich shows love and admiration of peopletowards the cop has gone viral on social media.

A meeting was held to bid adieu to the IPSofficer. Over a hundred Jawans garlanded the out-going SP and brought him in a grand procession.

With the song Jay Jaykara from blockbustermovie Bahubali playing on the background, hun-dreds of Jawans and locals were seen dancing,bursting crackers and playing drums during theprocession. Moreover, the Jawans were also seencarrying the outgoing SP on their shoulders beforereaching the farewell meeting venue. The crowd

also greeted the cop’s wife and son to the venue.Police personnel present at the meeting

opined that they would never forget the pro-peo-ple attitude and strong administrative skills ofMeena, who served as Malkangiri SP for two anda half years. They also admired the cop for hisefforts in maintaining law and order and curb-ing Naxal activities in the district. Notably,Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo has been appoint-ed as the new SP of Malkangiri. PNS

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An awkward situation wasobserved in Keonjhar Zilla

Parishad meeting when all theZila Parishad members left theDubar Hall- the meeting placein protest against inaction ofdistrict Collector AshishThakre against errant BanspalBDO Jogesh Naik who alleged-ly misbehaved with a localelected public representative.

Sources close to Ajit KumarDehury, Zilla Parishad member,Zone-24 under whose limit

Banspal block is comes, said thatsome days back Kamalini Patra,President, Zilla Parishad whohad gone to Banspal block toreview rural housing expressedher dissatisfaction for slow paceof work. Moreover, Dehurywho had also accompaniedKamalini to discuss the matterhad asked the BDO saying whyhe was trying to misguide thePresident instead of revealingthe truth of slow work.

At this, the BDO got infu-riated and started shouting atDehury and asked who was heto ask such questions.

At this, Kamalini imme-

diately brought to the notice ofthe district administrationabout the unruly behaviour ofthe BDO and sought immedi-ate action.

Dehury also made a writ-ten complaint to the Collectorbut of no result.

As per rule ,after receivingthe complaint, it was the dutyof Collector to order for aninquiry into the issue and askthe complainant to wait tillinquiry is complete.

But the Collector remainedsilent and rather supported theBDO saying that an OAS offi-cer can’t make such mistake

which infuriated all the 28Zilla Parishad members irre-spective of party affiliation.

Then they boycotted themeeting and stood in front ofthe Collectorate gate shoutingslogan against the Collectorand BDO.

Later, Thakre came out ofhis chamber to beg excuse onbehalf of the BDO whichcouldn’t not calm down theangry members.

At last, the Collector calledthem to his chamber where theBDO beg excuse for his wrong behaviour to the publicrepresentative.

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The district would undertakea leprosy identification pro-

gramme from September 10 to23 for door-to-door surveymaily through Angawnwadiand health workers and ASHAs.

During the period while anawareness campaign would beundertaken, a ‘Samba Rath’would be rolled around the dis-trict. This was informed in a

district level coordination com-mittee meeting chaired by dis-trict Collector K SudarshanChakraverthy.

In the meeting, the officialsinformed that the PrevalenceRate (PR) of the district in2018-19 is 7.05 as against 23.2in the State. Among all theblocks and patches, the PR ishighest in Nilgiri block and itsNAC. Hence, more thrustwould laid on these pockets.

More and more IEC pro-grammes would not only gen-erate awareness but also help ineradicating the diseases which

was considered incurable onceupon a time.

As a part of awarenessprogramme while leafletswould be distributed amongthe students in schools andAnganwadi centres , afterprayers in the schools the stu-dents would be educated .Further, for more propaga-tions, the messages would bepublicised through massmedia.

While the training pro-gramme for the field workers tobe deployed in survey workswould be held on September

5 in different blocks , the con-solidated report would besubmitted to the State bySeptember 30 , informedChakraverthy. The CDPOswould be given special trainingon the issue.

CDMO KamalakantaNayak, PD DRDA RamchandraJena, ADMO(Public health)Dr Girish Chandra Pati, Dr SSChaudhary, Dr AnataryamiMishra, DIPRO SubashChandra Nihal, the DistrictEducation Officer and theDistrict Social Welfare Officerwere present.

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The Badmal police onWednesday night busted a

fake job racket and arrestedfour persons from outside theVedanta Limited in the district.

The arrestees were identi-fied as Jayant Rajak (30) of EastSinghbhum district ofJharkhand, Ranjan Mahanand(24) of Brajrajnagar inJharsuguda, Pralaya Nanda(52) of Kesinga area inKalahandi district andMaheswar Pattnaik of Rampurin Kalahandi district.

Police seized Rs 54,000 incash, a car and CVs of around 50 job aspirants fromtheir possession.

During investigation, itwas revealed that the accusedhave duped over a hundred jobaspirants of lakhs of rupees onthe guise of providing thememployment at the Vedantacompany here. They had takenRs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 fromeach candidate. A companyofficial said, “We appeal to jobaspirants not to fall in the trapof fraudsters. A counter FIRwill be filed by us soon.”

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Patients at the JagatsinghpurDistrict Headquarters

Hospital (DHH) here had anarrow escape after a fire brokeout in the hospital late onWednesday night. Fortunately,no casualty or injury wasreported in the mishap.

According to reports, thefire erupted in the gynaecolo-gy department at around 2 am. Soon after, patients andtheir attendants vacated thehospital and waited outsidefor hours till Fire Services offi-cials reached the spot anddoused the flames.

Receiving information, theAdditional District MedicalOfficer (ADMO) came to the hospital on Thursdaymorning to take stock of thesituation. Though the exact

cause behind the fire was yet tobe ascertained, an electric short

circuit was believed to have ledto the mishap.

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Water Resources andPublic Relations Minister

Raghunandan Das distributedPradhan Mantri Awas Yojana[PMAY] work orders to bene-ficiaries in Balikuda block onWednesday.

Speaking on the occasion,Das said development can beachieved through direct par-ticipation of people withGovernment. The PMAY ben-eficiaries are being encour-aged to complete their houseswithin four months, theMinister said.

The successful executantswould be rewarded with Rs20,000 pecuniary benefits, headded.

Balikuda BlockDevelopment Officer (BDO)Kalyani Patnaik informed that10 PMAY beneficiaries in eachPanchayat were given work

order. As many as 1,748 PMAYhouses would be built inBalikuda block in current fis-cal, the BDO informed.

Among others, the blockChairman and Vice-Chairman,Additional BDO, junior engi-neers and Panchayat ExecutiveOfficers were present.

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Adistrict-level dairy entre-preneurship development

scheme workshop was organ-ised by the Nabard in associa-tion with the administrationand bankers here on Tuesday.

Collector SK Mohapatrainaugurating the workshophighlighted the dairy farm pro-ject supported by CentralGovernment for starting self-employment among people.He also asked the bankers totake priority for giving dairyfarm loans to beneficiaries.

For launching the projectcommercial banks are suppliedloans for any individual or

through milk cooperative soci-ety or SHGs women, subsidy isbeing provided by CentralGovernment at the tune of 25%to general category people and33% to downtrodden Dalit folks,informed Nabard District

Manager Biswabhusan Mohanty.CDVO Dr Ramesh

Chandra Behera said as manyas 146 dairy farmers have beengiven loans for dairy projects inthe district in the financialyear 2018-19.

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According to theG o v e r n m e n t

guidelines, thePallahara PanchayatSamiti by-election forthe post of Chairmanwas held at thePanchyat Samiti Househere on Wednesday.

The post was vacant sinceApril 2019 after the resignationof former Chairman MukeshPal and Vice-Chairman LiliPradhan was in-charge of thepost since two months.

As many as 24 Samiti mem-bers voted for Naba Naik, Samiti

member of Saida GP, asChairman of Pallahara block.After the results, Naik with themembers met Pallahara MLAMukesh Pal. Pal welcomed himand advised him to work accord-ing to Government rules andregulations and suggested him tostay far away from corruption.

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Superintendent ofBhanjanagar Sub-Divisional

Hospital (SDH) in Ganjam dis-trict Dr Pitambar Dash wascaught red-handed by Vigilanceofficials while he was acceptingbribe from relatives of a patienton Thursday morning.

Dr Dash had reportedlydemanded Rs 5000 from oneBhanumati Barik for conduct-ing a hernia operation of herhusband at the hospital. Withno option left, the womanbrought the matter to the noticeof the Vigilance authorities.

Acting on the complaint,the Vigilance police laid a trapand nabbed Dash while hewas accepting the bribe and

seized the money from hispossession.

In a separate incident,Panchayat Extension Officer(PEO) of Khariput underBelaguntha block in Ganjamdistrict Panchanan Pradhanwas also held for taking bribeon Thursday.

Pradhan had reportedlydemanded Rs 5,000 from onePrabhat Bhuyan for submittinga verification report to release instalment money infavour of his mother, who hasbeen allotted a house under thePradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(PMAY).

The Vigilance police laid atrap and caught the PEO red-handed while he was acceptingthe bribe.

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Lawyers on Thursdayexpressed strong resent-

ment as police have not arrest-ed the miscreants who attackedand injured senior lawyerPrafulla Jagannath Padhy twodays back.

Two motorbike riders hadbeaten Padhy severely as heopposed their rash driving atPrem Nagar on Tuesdayevening. After being attackedby them, Padhy was hospi-talised. The Big Bazaar policereached the spot and startedinvestigation.

In protest, members of the

Ganjam Bar Association andthe Ganjam-Gajapati NotaryAssociation resorted to a cease-work agitation on Wednesdayand met SP Pinak Mishra,demanding immediate arrest ofthe culprits.

Bar Association PresidentRabi Panigrahi, secretary KailashPanigrahi, members DeepakPatnaik, Pradeep Behera, KiranMandal, Ashok Sukla andChiranjit Rajaguru and NotaryAssociation president PrasadRao and secretary PrakashChandra Dash met the SP.

On Thursday, lawyersexpressed strong resentmentsover police inaction.

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Students of the Government-run Industrial Training

Institute (ITI) here have achieveda big success for their magnifi-cent creation out of wastes.

The ITIans have scriptedhistory after a 70-feet-highscrap guitar registered a place

in the Asia Book of Records.With guidance by Principal

Rajat Kumar Panigrahi andother teachers, about 150 stu-dents of five trades such as fit-ter, electrician, welder, turnerand painter built the huge gui-tar from scraps, including var-ious recyclable materials injust three months and 22 days.

Their unique sculpture wasapproved for the registrationunder the Grand MasterCategory of the Asia Book of

Records.Chief Minister Naveen

Patnaik has congratulated thestudents for their achievement.

“Congratulations to stu-dents of ITI Berhampur fortheir artistic creation, 70ft gui-tar from waste materials, enter-ing into Asia Book Records.Happy to see our youthembrace such worthy causes toshow their skills and shine onglobal platforms,” Patnaikwrote on Twitter.

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BHADRAK: A jilted lover onWednesday set a girl on fire atBasudevpur in the district aftershe turned down his proposalfor marriage.

The victim is now battling with life at the District Headquarters Hospital(DHH) here.

Sources said SiddharthMallick was in love with the girlof his locality. But he sherepeatedly spurned hisadvances.

On Wednesday afternoonwhen the girl was going tofarmland taking lunch for herfamily members, the youthcame and approached her tomarry him. But she refused theoffer yet again.

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Gourav Sethi, son of former BrahmapurMunicipal Corporation (BeMC)

Corporator Krushna Chandra Sethi, wascritically injured in a lethal attack by agroup at Sita Dhemiri Street under the BigBazaar police station here on Wednesday.

Later, he was rescued and admitted tothe MKCG Medical College Hospitalhere. It is alleged that the assailantsattempted to kill Gourav by bludgeon hishead with stones.

In a complaint lodged with police it isalleged that Gourav was called for com-promising a dispute related to having

drinks at a liquor shop. But he was bru-tally attacked and has suffered severe

injuries on his head.Brahmapur Town SDPO Bishnu

Prasad Sethi said some minors are involvedin the incident.

Notably, Krushna has a licenced liquorshop in Sana Bazaar area. Some youthsconsumed liquor in the shop but did notpay for it and resorted to hooliganism.Getting information, Gourav rushed to thespot and inquired about the incident.

Later, a youth called him to SitaDhemiri Street to amicably settle the dis-pute. But when he went there along witha friend, nearly eight to 10 persons bru-tally attacked him with stones and sharpweapons and fled from the spot.

Later, Gourav was rescued and rushedto hospital.

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Page 4: ˇ ˙˘ ˝ &’ $ () · Several students of the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) at Burla ... ragging by their seniors, videos of which have surfaced. A senior university

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From Page 1Wildlife Society of Orissa

Secretary Biswajit Mohantyurged the Principal ChiefConservator of Forests(Wildlife) and Chief WildlifeWarden to conduct an inquiryinto the ghastly incident.

“The Balijodi part of theNH is a frequently used ele-phant passing zone. While des-ignated elephant trackers havebeen assigned duties to trackthe elephants and prevent anyharm to them, we are surprisedthat they didn’t detect the ele-phants and stop the vehicles forsafely passing of the elephants,”mentioned Mohanty.

He also sought that nightmovement of minerals-ladentrucks be banned from 9 pm to6 am so that elephants can eas-ily cross roads.

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Under a programme ofAgriculture and Farmers’

Empowerment, DeputySecretary of AgricultureDepartment Gobarddhan Debtacum the nodal officer visitedSambalpur and neighbouringdistricts to have direct interac-tion with farmers and also theofficials of the department.

The main aim of his visitwas to discuss with the farm-ers as to the way they have uti-lized the KALIA fund receivedfrom State Government andhow far it had been helpful fortheir financial upliftment.

He met farmers atSersuantal on Sindurpank-Parmanpur road and had along discussion with them tocollect direct information fromthem from KALIA. He made avideo recording of the state-ments of the farmers as docu-mentation.

Since there was scantyrainfall at the beginning of therainy season, he asked thefamers as to the preliminarycrop loss and the problems theyfaced thereafter due to thedrought like situation.

He also made a reviewmeeting in the office of theDeputy Director of Agriculturewhere all the senior officials of

departments like Horticulture,Watershed management, Soilconservation, MARKFED,Cooperative and Fisheries etcwere present.

The Deputy Secretary want-ed to know about the stock posi-tion of fertilisers and pesticidesfor the current season andasked officials to ensure that thefarmers do not face any scarci-ty during the peak period. Healso discussed with the officersof the Cooperative Departmentas to the agricultural loan dis-bursed to the farmers and anyproblem they faced for thisparticular purpose.

The Deputy Secretary askedthe progress of all departmentson the works assigned to themfor increasing the income of thefarmers to a satisfactory extentso that they could depend moreon agriculture. He asked thewatershed management offi-cials to meet the target.

The concerned officialsinformed the nodal officer as tothe activities done after the visitof the Agriculture Minister tothe district. Notably, Debtahas been appointed as thenodal officer for Sambalpur,Bargarh and Baudh districts tolook after the progress in agri-cultural development activi-ties and increasing farmers’income.

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One might believe it or not,but one Sanjay Prusty of

Bania Sahi, Cuttack, who had lefthis mobile on charging point atthe Brahmapur railway stationplatform near the parcel officeon August 20, got it back afterefforts of the Railway ProtectionForce (RPF), Brahmapur.

After getting informationfrom SCNL/KUR regardingleft behind of a mobile phone

of a passenger of train number12842 (Coromandel Express)near parcel office inBrahmapur railway station, onduty platform ROF staff BRMishra searched the said loca-tion and could able to retrievethe mobile with charger.

Later Prusty was informedand observing all necessary for-malities the said mobile phonewith charger was handed overto Prusty with proper acknowl-edgement.

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The Freethought Party of India(FPI) in collaboration with

the “AMOFOI” observed herethe 6th Death Anniversary ofeminent rationalist and socialreformer Dr NarendraDabholkar with social workersBenudhar Maharana in the chair.

Dr Dabholkar, president ofMANS (MaharastraAndhashradha NirmulanSamiti) was gunned down onAugust 20 because he was work-ing against all sorts of blindbeliefs in different parts ofMaharastra and Goa. His Death

Anniversary was observed as“Scientific Temper Day”.

A seminar too was held onthe occasion.

Party general secretary B

Ramchandra CST Voltaire whilepaying rich tribute to the mem-ory of Dr Dabholkar said thatthere should be attempts to lib-erate people from the clutches

of Tantriks (Miracle Healers)and the self-claimed godmenlike Asaram Bapu and BabaRamrahim now imprisonedbecause of their misdeeds.

Speaking on the occasionMadam Swapna Bijayini,cofounder of AMOFOI, saidwe cannot have “Swachha andSustha Bharat” unless and untilwe get committed to the pro-motion of scientific temperand humanism as providedunder Art. 51(A)h of theConstitution.

Two casteless, dowry-lessand priest-less love marriageswere held on the occasion.

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Health and Family WelfareMinister Naba Kishore

Das on Thursday asked officialsof his department to talk topatients over telephone andenquire about the health ser-vices they are availing in vari-ous Government hospitals.

Inaugurating a ChiefDistrict Medical Officers’(CDMOs) conference here, theMinister directed the CDMOsto start working in this regard.

“As per announcementmade by Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik, Mo Sarakarprogramme will be imple-mented from the comingGandhi Jayanti. Accordingly,patients’ opinions on healthservices will be collected fromdifferent Government hospi-tals. This will be done underthe direct guidance of the

department Secretary DrPramod Kumar Meherda,” saidthe Minister.

He told the CDMOs that ateam of officers has beenformed to oversee the MoSarkar programme in thedepartment. He said neces-sary steps would be taken bas-ing on the opinion and com-plaints of patients. TheCDMOs should take responsi-bility for conducting the pro-gramme, he said.

The CDMOs discussed dif-ferent programmes likeNiramaya for free distributionof medicines, Nirmala forundertaking sanitation in hos-pitals, Sunetra for free eyetreatment and DigitalDispensary in detail.

The Minister asked CDMOs

to ensure that patients get freemedicines under the Niramayscheme. In case unavailability ofmedicines in the Governmentstore, medical authorities willpurchase those medicines fromopen market and provide themto patients. Budgetary provi-sion has been made and allGovernment medical collegesand hospitals have providedfunds for the purpose, he said.

The CDMOs were alsoasked to take steps for distrib-ution of monetary supports topatients under the JananiSurakshya Yojana.

Among others, NationalHealth Mission Director ShaliniPandit, State MedicalCorporation MD Yamini Sarangiand Joint Secretary Guha PunamKumar were present.

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Gajapati Additional Districtand Sessions Judge Arun

Kumar Sahu on Thursdayacquitted Maoist leaderSabyasachi Panda in a case dueto absence of evidence.

Panda’s lawyer DeepakPatnaik and Swarup Pal saidPanda had been accused ofbeing provided guns, ammosand explosives by two persons atPetaram Square in Luhagarhvillage in district on December5, 2012. Hearing the case, thecourt pronounced its judgement

and acquitted the top Maoistleader. As many as 42 cases werepending against Panda at various

courts in the district. Out of thesecases, he has been acquitted in 22cases so far.

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Afour-day Mayurbhanj Art Exhibition organ-ised by the Mayurbhanj Foundation, in

patronage of the Mayurbhanj royal dynasty, incollaboration with the Mayurbhanj districtadministration began here on Thursday.

Cultural extravaganzas, being held in thepremises of the Belgadia Palace, is meant for pro-motion of art and culture with a special empha-sis on the history, heritage, art, culture, tradi-tions, sports and handicrafts of Mayurbhanj.

The festival aims at according national fameto the artists and artisans, sportspersons andother talents of Mayurbhanj, said MayurbhanjFoundation president Maharani RashmiRajyalaxmi Bhanja Deo.

A variety of programmes like Chhow,Jhumar and other art forms of the soil are to be

performed during the fest, said programmepatron and former Minister Maharaja PraveenChandra Bhanja Deo and exhibition convenorBibhudutta Das. The extravaganza will concludeon August 25.

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Odisha has made significantachievements in curbing

Leftwing extremism (LWE)activities, said Chief SecretaryAsit Tripathy after a meeting onthe Maist issue at the Lok SevaBhawan here on Thursday.

“The Maoist-affected dis-tricts have been reduced from15 to five. This has been pos-sible due to continuous anti-Maoist drives and strengthen-ing of the intelligence machin-ery,” he said.

Now the focus is on expe-ditious implementation ofdevelopmental programmes inthe areas made free of Maoisteffect, he added.

“A strategy of weeding outMaoists from Odisha would beframed in a national-levelmeeting to be held on August26 at New Delhi under thechairmanship of Union HomeMinister Amit Shah,” he added.

Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik and his counterpartsfrom other Maoist-hit States arescheduled to attend the meeting.

The Chief Secretaryemphasised on development ofroad connectivity, telecommu-nication and banking services

to curb the Maoist menace. Hesaid after construction of theGurupriya Bridge develop-mental activities have beenexpedited in the Swabhimanarea. The Government is con-stantly making efforts to ensurethat such development alsotakes place in the southern dis-tricts, he said.

Among others, HomeSecretary Sanjeev Chopra,DGP-in-Charge Bijay KumarSharma were present in themeeting.

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Opposition parties, includ-ing the Congress, the

TMC, the DMK, the RJD, theSamajwadi Party and theNational Conference staged aprotest in the national Capitalon Thursday seeking immedi-ate release of political leadersput under detention in Jammu& Kashmir after the abrogationof Article 370.

Congress leader GhulamNabi Azad, CPI(M) generalsecretary Sitaram Yechury, CPIgeneral secretary D Raja, SPleader Ramgopal Yadav,Loktantrik Janata Dal’s SharadYadav, RJD’s Manoj Jha and

TMC’s Dinesh Trivedi wereamong those who took part inthe protest.

Congress leader PChidambaram’s son Karti tookthe opportunity to join theprotest after his father wasarrested by CBI on Wednesdaynight in connection with amoney-laundering case.

Addressing the protest,Azad said, “There is somethinggrave happening in the Stateand the Government is hidingit from us. He also slammed therole of the country’s media, say-ing, “It is being reported by for-eign media but not our media.”

Blaming the ModiGovernment for perpetratingexcesses on the people of theState, Azad evoked the mem-ory of former Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee, saying hewas a thorough gentleman, agreat parliamentarian and a

democrat. “If Vajpayee was at the

helm of affairs, this would not have happened,”he added.

Yechury alleged that theCentre had manipulated theConstitution and the processhad started months ago whenthe ruling BJP withdrew fromthe coalition Government,headed by Mehbooba Mufti, inJammu & Kashmir. “All this isa part of a larger conspiracy.They want to make India a‘Hindu Rashtra’ (Hindu nation)by abrogating the Constitutionitself,” he said.

In a resolution passed dur-ing the protest, the Oppositionparties said as a consequence ofabrogation of Article 370 with-out holding consultations withthe people of Jammu &Kashmir or their representa-tives, an undeclared state of

Emergency had come to forcein the Valley.

“We stand by the people ofJammu & Kashmir in their dif-ficult hour. The decisions takenby the Union Government toimpose a complete communi-cation blackout and the con-tinued detention of formerChief Ministers and politicalleaders...Members of civil soci-ety and even innocent citizensrunning into thousands arematters of serious concern.There has been a chilling crack-down on free speech and theright of Assembly. Such actionsgo against the fundamentalrights guaranteed by theConstitution of India and needto be immediately reversed. Wedemand immediate release ofall public representatives ofmainstream political partiesand innocent citizens,” the res-olution said.

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Aday after Dalits organiseda rally to protest the demo-

lition of Sant Ravidas temple inTughlakabad by the DelhiDevelopment Authority on theSupreme Court order, the DelhiAssembly on Thursday passeda resolution to reconstruct thetemple at the “same spot” anddemanded that the CentralGovernment to bring an ordi-nance to transfer the land rightfor Sant Ravidas temple.

The Assembly demandedthat the Centre should file areview petition before theSupreme Court.

The resolution moved byChief Minister Arvind Kejriwalstated, “The site was donated bythe Afgan monarch SikanderLodhi to Sant Ravidas, who iswidely worshipped by the Dalitand other communities. This isa historically significant sitewhich Sant Ravidas visited andlived for some time and formsa part of Dalit struggle for iden-tity and rights. Demolishingthis temple not only crushes thereligious sentiments but alsothe history of Dalit struggle.”

“Thus, the House resolvesthat the Central Governmenthas badly mishandled this issue by not supportingtheir cause in the court of lawwhich finally led to its unjus-tified and unfortunate demoli-tion,” it said.

Addressing the House afterthe resolution was moved,Kejriwal said Aam Aadmi Party( AAP) Government will con-struct the temple irrespective ofthe cost.

“I am ready to give 100 acrein exchange of the four acrewhere the temple was located, respecting the senti-ments of people, we want thetemple should be constructedon the same location,” saidKejriwal.

“Guru Ravidas lived thereand his vibrations are still alive.There is a significance of theland where the temple wasexist,” Kejriwal added.

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In yet another case of criminalapathy, five sanitation workers

who had entered into a sewerdied after inhaling toxic gas inNandgram locality on Thursday.The police have registered a caseof negligence causing death andlaunched an investigation to fixresponsibility. Authorities havebeen asked to submit a reportwithin 15 days.

Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath, whileexpressing condolence over thedeath of the workers,announced a compensation of�5 lakh to the kin of thedeceased who were identified asDamodar (40), Horil (35),Sandip (30), Shiv Kumar (32)and Vijay Kumar (40), all resi-dents of Samastipur in Bihar.

They were working at aproject, sanctioned by theGhaziabad MunicipalCorporation, to connect domes-tic sewer lines with maindrainage system of city, DistrictMagistrate Ajay Shankar Pandeysaid. They were employed by pri-vate contractor, which was car-rying out project under AmritYojna of civic body’s waterdepartment in Krishna Colonyunder Sihani Gate police stationlimits, he said.

Page 5: ˇ ˙˘ ˝ &’ $ () · Several students of the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) at Burla ... ragging by their seniors, videos of which have surfaced. A senior university

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At a time when the Congressis speaking with a forked

tongue on the Government’smove to abrogate the specialstatus to Jammu & Kashmirunder Article 370, there camea new one on Thursday assenior leader and former UnionMinister Jairam Ramesh soughthis party to introspect and seereason why Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s governancemodel was not a “complete neg-ative story”.

Not recognising his workand demonising him all thetime is not going to help, saidRamesh adding it is time werecognise Modi’s work andwhat he did between 2014 and2019 due to which he wasvoted back to power by over“30 per cent of the electorate”.

Crisis-hit Congress, whichremained headless for two anda half months following itspresident Rahul Gandhi’s res-ignation owning up for theparty’s Lok Sabha debacle, hasbeen speaking in different voic-es on the issue of Article 370with its young turks backingthe Modi Government’s move.In the Lok Sabha elections, theCongress had run a very per-sonalized campaign againstModi and sought to demolishhis model of administrationand governance.

“We talked about farmers’distress throughout our entirecampaign, people realise therewas farmers’ distress but theydid not hold Modi responsiblefor it. You saw what happenedin the elections result

thereafter. We have tounderstand what made himrespectable,” he said.

The BJP got 37.4 per centof votes in the 2019 Lok Sabhaelections and the NDA, as awhole, secured nearly 45 percent of votes.

“Let me tell you it is not a

completely negative story whenit comes to economics of thegovernance, the politics of thegovernance is completely dif-ferent,” he said, adding “thesocial relations that have beencreated out of his governancemodel is also completely dif-ferent”.

To prove his point, Rameshgave the example of the PradhanMantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUJ)and how successful it turned outfor Modi. “In 2019, all of us inthe political discourse madefun of one or two of his pro-

grammes, but it has turned outin all electoral studies that thePMUJ is one single programwhich has been able to connecthim with crores and crores ofwomen and given him the polit-ical traction which he didn’thave in 2014,” he pointed out.

“Now if we are going to runthis down and say this is allhocus pocus and say these arewrong numbers, we are notgoing to confront this guy,” hecautioned.

Ramesh made the remarkswhile launching a book,

“Malevolent Republic: A ShortHistory of the New India” writ-ten by Kapil Satish Komireddi,a political analyst.

“He (Modi) talks in a lan-guage that connects him withthe people. Unless we recognizethat he is doing things whichpeople recognise and whichhave not been done in the past,we are not going to be able toconfront this guy,” said theCongress leader.

“Also, if you are going todemonize him all the time, youare not going to be able to con-front him,” warned the formerUnion minister, who held theportfolios of RuralDevelopment, and DrinkingWater and Sanitation in theManmohan Singh government.

Ramesh, however, soughtto clarify that he is not askinganyone to praise or applaud theprime minister, but only wantsthe political class to at leastrecognise the traits he hasbrought to the governance --particularly the “economics ofgovernance”.

Stating that something hap-pened in the last decade, whichcatapulted Modi from a “non-entity in national politics” in the2009 general elections to some-one who won elections back toback, Ramesh said people of thecountry -- right or wrong -- arenot relating “current distress tohis presence”.

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The Union EnvironmentMinistry has decided to

do away with the mandatorycharging of lease rent of�30,000 per MW from windpower projects, a move aimedto boost the sector as well asbring it at par with the solarand hydroelectric power pro-jects to attract investments.

In a review meeting heldhere on Thursday, UnionEnvironment Minister PrakashJavadekar said the move willboost the investment in windpower projects and will help in

providing wind power atcheaper rate.

Currently, to establish windpower project over forest land,the existing procedure requirespayment of mandatory chargesfor compensatory afforesta-tion and Net Present value(NPV). In addition to manda-tory charges, the wind powercompanies had to pay addi-tional lease rent of 30,000 perMW.

“The Government envis-ages to meet maximum ener-gy requirement by tappingrenewal energy resources and,to achieve the target of clean

energy in a time bound man-ner, various policies and regu-lations are being constantlyupdated,” the Minister added.

This additional cost is notmandatory for other renewalenergy projects such as solarpower and hydel-electric pro-jects. Additional cost for gen-eration of clean energythrough wind power, in turnescalate the per unit cost ofpower at consumer level,added a senior official fromthe Ministry.

The government has set anambitious target of having 175GW of clean energy capacity by

2022, including 100 GW solarand 60 GW of wind energy.

Also, “promotions of suchprojects also strengthen gov-ernment’s commitmentstowards international agree-ments, and one of the nation-al commitments pledged inParis in 2015 was to have 40 percent of the power from renew-able resources by 2030.

“It is noteworthy that cur-rently India has over achievedthe target and is well on trackto ensure that more than 50 percent of our installed capacitywill come from renewable by2030,” said the official.

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The Babri Masjid was builtafter demolishing a Ram

temple at the disputed site inAyodhya and Hindus kept wor-shipping there without givingup its possession, a Hindu lit-igant Thursday told theSupreme Court, while seekingenforcement of right to worshipthere.

Devotee Gopal SinghVisharad, who filed the lawsuitin the lower court in 1950 seek-ing right to pray, died in 1986and is now represented by hisson Rajendra Singh.

The five judge Constitutionbench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi heard the argu-ments on the 10th day in the

decades-old politically sensitiveland dispute.

“The mosque was builtafter demolishing the Ramtemple, and despite that Hinduscontinued worshipping thereand did not give up posses-sion...Moreover, Muslims werenever in possession of the site,”senior advocate Ranjit Kumartold the bench which also com-prised Justices SA Bobde, DYChandrachud, Ashok Bhushanand SA Nazeer.

“I am making my submis-sions with reference toParasaran’s and Vaidyanathan’ssubmissions (both lawyers rep-resented the deity) that theplace is itself a divine site andthat I being the worshipper, myright to worship, which is a civilright, should not be curtailed,”he said.

Referring to records, thesenior lawyer said magistrateMarkandey Singh onDecember 29, 1949 had initi-ated proceedings to attach thedisputed structure under theCode of Criminal Procedure(CrPC) following communaldisturbances.

The magistrate had soughtresponses from Hindu andMuslim parties in support oftheir claim and counter claimover the property.

Twenty affidavits were filedin 1950 by persons from bothsides before the magistrate andthey are also part of the judi-cial records of the AllahabadHigh Court.

“Filing affidavits, per se, isnot enough to prove them. Thedeponents will have to appearto prove them... No court cansay that the facts of these affi-davits are proved,” the benchsaid.

These affidavits were filedin 1950 and the trial on lawsuitstook place “much much later”,the lawyer said.

The high court did notaccept the affidavits sayingthat the deponents were notavailable for cross examination,he said, adding that they arepart of the judicial recordsand be accepted by the apexcourt as the magistrate had ver-ified the statements and iden-tity of the deponents (makersof the affidavits).

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Aplea was filed in theSupreme Court on

Thursday challenging the con-stitutional validity of theamendments to the UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act(UAPA) on the ground thatthese infringed upon the fun-damental rights of citizens.

The bill for amendments tothe UAPA was passed byParliament on August 2 and itreceived the President’s ascent

on August 9. The amended Actallows the Centre to designateindividuals as terrorists andseize their properties.

The Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Amendment Act,2019 also provides for puttinga travel ban on such individu-als once they are declared asterrorists. The petition hasbeen filed by the Associationfor Protection of Civil Rights(APCR), an NGO, which saidthe amendments infringedupon the fundamental right toreputation and dignity underArticle 21 of the Constitution,without substantive and pro-cedural due process.

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The Regional EmpoweredCommittee (REC), formed

by the Environment Ministry,has granted approval to a roadwidening project from Pathankotto Kullu on the condition that itwill involve minimum felling oftrees. As per the project propo-nent, the road widening workinvolves felling of 1,537 trees.

The REC granted theStage-1 approval to the project,asking the State Public WorksDepartment (PWD), the pro-poser, to deposit with it the NetPresent Value of the forestland being diverted for non-forestry purpose. The projectrequires diversion of 7.67hectare of protected forest land,the panel noted.

“Legal status of the forestland will remain unchanged.Efforts should be made to fellminimum number of trees.The trees should be felledunder strict supervision of thestate forest department,” theREC said, adding that no dam-age should be done to the

adjoining forest land.Clearance under the Forest

Conservation (FC) Act, isgranted in two stages.

While in Stage-I, the pro-posal is agreed to in-principle inwhich usually compensatoryafforestation, funds for raisingcompensatory afforestationthereof, realisation of Net PresentValue (NPV) of forest are stipu-lated and after receipt of com-pliance report from the state gov-ernment in respect of the stipu-lated conditions, formal approvalunder the FC Act is issued.

The in-principle agree-ment and formal approvalunder the FC Act are com-

monly referred to as stage-I andstage-II approval under theFC Act respectively.

“The User Agency (PWD)shall raise strip plantation onboth sides and central verge ofthe road at the project cost withmaintenance of seven to tenyears,” the panel directed whileapproving the project.

The PWD, in its proposal,had submitted that the pro-posed alignment does not passthrough any national park orwildlife sanctuary and involvesfelling of 1,537 trees. It said thatcompensatory afforestation hasbeen proposed at 15.34 ha inPathankot.

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The National HighwaysAuthority of India (NHAI)

told the Supreme CourtThursday that the Rs 10,000crore Salem-Chennai 8-lanegreen corridor road project isof “national importance” andthe Madras High Court haderred in quashing the landacquisition process.

The ambitious 277.3-kmgreenfield project connectingSalem and Chennai under thecentral government’s‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’ schemeaims to cut travel time betweenthe two cities by half, to abouttwo hours and 15 minutes.

The NHAI told a benchheaded by Justice N V Ramanathat the high court had held thatenvironmental clearance (EC)was mandatory for the project.

“The reasons given by thehigh court (in the judgement)are factually incorrect,” SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehta, appear-ing for the NHAI, told thebench which also comprised

Justices M M Shantanagoudarand Ajay Rastogi.

Mehta said the high courterred in saying that grant ofprior environmental clearancewas necessary for the project.

“If we have to take envi-ronmental clearance first andthen go for land acquisitionthen it will be like putting thecart before the horse,” Mehtatold the bench.

He said there was no dis-pute on the fact that EC isrequired before commence-ment of construction work forthe project.

One of the advocates,appearing for the farmers whohad moved the high courtchallenging land acquisitionproceedings, told the benchthat initially the project was forconnecting Chennai andMadurai but later it waschanged to Salem-Chennai.

The bench told Mehta thathe should give a flow chart refer-ring to legal questions as well asthe factual matrix of the case.

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The EnforcementDirectorate has attached

properties worth over �19 lakhof a man booked under theanti-money laundering law forallegedly duping people bypromising them secure admis-sion in an Uttarakhand medicalcollege.

Rohit Singh Chauhan isbeing probed for cheating peo-ple to the tune of �1.29 crore bydishonestly inducing them ingetting admission in post-grad-uation courses under the man-agement quota in HIHTMedical College, Dehradun,an official said.

The properties attachedunder the Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) are a0.138-hectare plot valued at�4.83 lakh and a flat in NewDelhi worth �14.69 lakh.

The plot is in the name ofChauhan and his father and theplot, in addition to the two, isin the name of his mother, theofficial said.

The ED had initiated theprobe on the basis of an FIRand chargesheet filed byUttarakhand police againstChauhan and other accused inthe case.

Chauhan played an activerole in duping the com-plainants and collected fundsfrom them. He transferred themoney to his and his familymembers’ account and utilisedit for personal use, the officialsaid.

Chauhan and his associatesfraudulently collected �1.29crore from the complainants incash and through bankingchannels and credited theminto the account of a companyhe was a director of, he said.

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The BJP on Thursdayattacked the Congress for

supporting P Chidambaram,arrested in the INX Mediacase, saying it has “united toprotect corruption” and that acourt’s decision to send him tofour-day CBI custody shows a“prima facie case of corruption”.

Senior BJP leader andUnion Minister PrakashJavadekar also rejected theCongress accusation that theaction against the formerfinance minister is “political

vendetta”. “In fact, justice ishappening,” he said.

“The CBI court’s decisionto send him in remand makesit clear that it is a corruptioncase. There is a prime facie caseand that is why the court hasremanded him to the probeagency’s custody. Therefore,the Congress accusation that itis political vendetta is wrong. Infact, justice is happening,”Javadekar told PTI.

With top Congress leaders,including Rahul and PriyankaGandhi, strongly defendingChidambaram and accusing

the Union government of polit-ical vendetta, Javadekar hitback at the opposition party.

The Congress has united toprotect corruption. It is synony-mous with corruption. When inpower, it looted the country leftright and centre,” he said, anddescribed the INX Media case asa “scam of massive corruption”.

He referred to several allegedscams, including those involvingcoal block allocations, 2G spec-trum and the CommonwealthGames, to say the Congress’ ruleduring 2004-14 was “synony-mous” with corruption. He also

spoke of “Jeeja ji scam”, anapparent reference to contro-versial land deals involvingCongress leader Rahul Gandhi’sbrother-in-law Robert Vadra.

Rejecting the Congress’allegation that the governmentwas behind the action of inves-tigation agencies, he said thematter should be left to inves-tigation agencies and courts.

Another BJP leader andUnion Minister MukhtarAbbas Naqvi said on Thursdaythat the opposition party wastrying to convert corruptioninto revolution.

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The Medical Council ofIndia (MCI) has taken

exception to the alleged massragging at Saifai MedicalUniversity in Etawah asking itwhy it should not be fined anddeclared ineligible for newadmissions for a minimumperiod of one year.

“Why exemplary fine of Rs1 Lakh for each incident of rag-ging, that of 150X1 Lakh, thatis equal to Rs 150 Lakhs be notimposed upon the institute,”asked the Board of Governorsin Supersession of MedicalCouncil of India (MCI BoG).

Stating that the incidentbrings out the “complete failureof the College authorities inaddressing the menace of rag-ging,” the MCI has given theuniversity 24 hours to reply inthe matter .

It also asked why the senior

batches admitted to MBBScourse be not suspended fromattending classes for a mini-mum period of one month.

According to reports, sev-eral first-year students of theuniversity were made to paradeon the campus with their headstonsured. A purported videoclip on social media showed thestudents in white coats walkingin a single file, bowing theirtonsured heads and also mak-ing ‘salaam’ gestures. Anotherclip showed them in rows.

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Congress president SoniaGandhi on Thursday said

that former Prime Ministerlate Rajiv Gandhi also got amassive poll mandate in 1984but he did not use it to createan atmosphere of fear or tothreaten people, in an indirectattack on the ModiGovernment.

Addressing an event mark-ing Rajiv Gandhi’s 75th birthanniversary, Sonia said that herhusband gave the message thatunity can be maintained by cel-ebrating India’s diversity.

Sonia said the formerPrime Minister’s 75th birthanniversary is not a ritual beingmarked by the Congress, but anoccasion to reaffirm its resolveto uphold the values thatinspired him. Rajiv Gandhi’sbirth anniversary is an occasionto resolve to stand up and con-front forces determined todestroy the values that inspiredhim, she said in the presence offormer PM Manmohan Singh,senior party leaders includingRahul Gandhi.

“Rajiv Gandhi never poseda threat to democracy, he neversuppressed public opinion. Hisethics and honesty alwaysinspired him. The work done

by the late PM is somethingthat cannot be merely with slo-gans and pride rather it needshard work and strong will,”Sonia said.

Without naming any par-ticular party or name, she saidtoday there are those who arebusy inventing a new past forus, Rajiv was engaged in invent-ing in preparing for a newfuture. “To him, the past has tobe understood in all its com-plexities to build pride, not tostoke prejudice, to strengthensocial harmony, not fuel antag-onism and polarize our society,a society whose heritage hasbeen enriched by multiplestreams of faiths, beliefs andculture. He was proud of ourpast, but, at the same time he

held a firm conviction thatIndia has to be a modernNation,” said Sonia.

She recalled how a sectionaccused him of being elitist butit was he who crafted the neweducation policy in 1986through which he looked uponrural India especially childrenand got a chain of JawaharNavodaya Vidyalayas in everysingle district.

“His political adversariesaccused him of being out oftouch with reality with his fix-ation for computers. Yet it isthis magnificent obsession withtechnology and modernity thathas made millions of youth inour country ready to tackle thechallenges of the digital era. Ibelieve that his strategic reasonslaid the foundations for pros-perity of our country in thecoming century,” Sonia said.

On the occasion she alsoasserted that electoral ups anddowns are inevitable and chal-lenges facing the Congress areformidable, but it must con-tinue with its ideological strug-gle against divisive forces. Soniarecently took over as the party’sinterim President followingher son Rahul Gandhi steppingdown as party chief owningthe dismal performance in LokSabha this year.

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New Delhi: A book onPrime Minister NarendraModi, ‘The Modi Dynamic’,written by Sanju Verma, hasbeen released by Blue RosePublishers. The first part of thebook contains many interestingtopic like how demonetizationunearthed black money andhow it was a game changer. Thesecond part of the book expos-es the weaknesses of“Gathbandhan politics and fail-ure of “Raebareli-Amethi’model. PNS

New Delhi : ConservationistVivek Menon, head of Delhi-based Wildlife Trust of India(WTI) has been awarded theprestigious Clark R BavinWildlife Law EnforcementAward-2019 recently by IvonneHiguero, secretary general of theConvention on InternationalTrade in Endangered Species(CITES) at Geneva where theeighteenth meeting ofConference of Parties to CITESis currently being held. PNS

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New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Thursday referred toits larger bench the questionwhether it would be in publicinterest to restrict manufactureof life—saving drug, Oxytocin,for domestic use to a singlepublic sector undertaking.PTI

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Association (IMA) haswritten to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi seeking revo-cation of an order suspendingUttar Pradesh-based pediatri-cian Kafeel Khan, an allegedaccused in the death of infantsat the BRD Medical College inGorakhpur in 2017.

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Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee broke her

silence on Thursday linking thearrest of senior Congress leaderP Chidambaram to the “sag-ging democratic culture” andthe “suffocating the politicalclimate” in the country.

Speaking to reporters, theChief Minister said, “I will notsay much about the legality ofthe matter as I am not the rightperson to do that but I am cer-tainly concerned about theprocess of arresting such a seniorpolitician … the way he wasarrested,” reminding, “he was theformer Finance Minister andHome Minister of India and asenior parliamentarian” whodeserved a dignified treatment.

The high drama aroundChidambaram’s arrest was notworth it, the Chief Ministersaid, adding, “the way his mat-ter was handled was sad andbad. It was really very bad andmade me extremely sad.”

All the pillars of Indiandemocracy were under attackunder the present Government,Banerjee said reminding howthe “Indian democracy is in abad shape. It is literally cryingin the wilderness.”

Incidentally, a number ofTrinamool Congress leaders,including Ministers and MPs,were facing corruption chargesand were being investigated bythe central investigating agen-cies like the CBI and ED.

Condemning the way theformer Union Minister wasarrested, another Trinamoolleader and Minister FirhadHakim said “this Governmentwill not allow the Oppositionto thrive in India. They havedecided to put all the dissent-ing voices behind the bars.

Attacking the NarendraModi Government for takingthe entire Opposition hostage,Congress leader in Lok SabhaAdhir Ranjan Chowdhury said“there is a deep-rooted con-spiracy behind Chidambaram’s

arrest. He is the person who hasbeen challenging theGovernment’s policies at vari-ous forums including parlia-ment. He was exposing theGovernment through hiscolumns in various Indian andforeign journals which theyare finding difficult to counter,and so they have silenced himby putting him behind the bar.”

Chowdhury also said that“the country is heading towardspolitical insolvency and bigeconomic slowdown againstwhich thisGovernment has noanswer. In order to turn thepeople’s attention from theseburning issues they are creat-ing new political drama … butthe Congress will take the issueto the people of India and fightit tooth and nail.”

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Chennai: DMK president MKStalin on Thursday lashed out atCBI officials for scaling thewalls of Congress leader PChidambaram’s bungalow atDelhi on Wedesday to gainentry, saying he considered it asan “insult to India”.

Stalin, whose DMK is anally of the Congress, backedChidambaram, reiterating hischarge of "political vendetta"behind the former UnionMinister's arrest.

"I saw on TV, the CBI offi-cers scaling the walls (atChidambaram's Delhi resi-dence). I consider it as an insultto India. It is condemnable," hetold reporters here.

On Wednesday, a CBI teamhad first knocked at the gates ofChidambaram's Jor Bagh resi-dence to gain entry, but findingno response, had scaled thenearly five-ft high walls to getinside. Once three officersreached inside, they opened thegates to allow entry to otherteam members waiting outside.

Responding to a query onCBI's handling of the entireChidambaram episode, Stalinrecalled that he had already

dubbed it as "political vendetta"on Wednesday.

He said Chidambaram hadappeared before the agenciesconcerned earlier when sum-moned by them in connectionwith the case.

Stalin also pointed out thatthe Supreme Court has decidedto hear on Friday the Congressleader's petition, seeking a stayof the Delhi High Court orderthat had dismissed his anticipa-tory bail plea. "His arrest whichhas happened in the meantimehas an intention of politicalvendetta," Stalin added.

Referring to the protest inDelhi over the Kashmir issue onThursday, he said the struggle"led by the DMK" and attendedby various political parties,including Congress, TMC,CPI(M) and NC, was a "success."

Restoration of normalcy inJammu & Kashmir post abro-gation of Art 370 of theConstitution, resumption oftelecommunication services inthe Valley and immediate releaseof all political leaders detainedwere the key demands made atthe protest in the national cap-ital, Stalin said. PTI

Bengaluru: Having a tightropeto walk by pacifying disgruntledMLAs who missed out onCabinet berth, coupled withallocation of portfolios to newMinisters, Karnataka ChiefMinister BS Yediyurappa onThursday decided to consultBJP central leadership to dealwith the situation.

Some disqualified formerlegislators of the Congress andJD(S) who helped bring downthe coalition Government head-ed by HD Kumaraswamyreportedly are piling pressure onYediyurappa, seeking theirpound of flesh and plum port-folios.

"Today evening I will go toDelhi and meet our nationalPresident Amit Shah and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andwill come back tomorrowevening or the day after morn-ing," Yediyurappa said.

Asked whether the alloca-tion of portfolios would takeplace after his return from Delhi,Yediyurappa said: "Today we willdiscuss and take a decision."

More than three weeks afterhe was sworn in as the ChiefMinister, Yediyurappa expand-ed his cabinet last Tuesday,inducting 17 Ministers.

Though the expansionbrought an end to the nearlymonth long wait for the cabinet

to take shape, it led to someheartburn in a section of theparty as several MLAs contin-ued to make no secret of theirdispleasure after missing thebus.

With several MLAs openlyexpressing displeasure overbeing left out, Yediyurappa hasbeen making attempts to dousethe embers, by reaching out tothem.

The Chief Minister onThursday too tried to pacifymiffed legislators includingSullia MLA Angara S, even asthe Bunt community threatenedprotest citing lack of represen-tation in the ministry, and Bovicommunity members stagedprotest in front of his residenceseeking induction of a ministerfrom their community.

Even as attempts are on topacify sulking MLAs, a phoneconversation between eight timeHukkeri MLA Umesh Katti,around whom several disgrun-tled MLAs are reportedly rally-ing, with Congress legislatorparty leader Siddaramaiah led tospeculation about the former'snext political move.

Speaking to a news channelKatti confirmed his talk withSiddarmaiah last night, but ruledout joining the Congress andclarified that he was with BJP.

"He (Siddaramaiah) called

me last night and addressed meas minister, I told him I'm notminister to which he said he wasaware of it and hence called.

He is my good friend...Imay meet whenever we areboth are in Bengaluru. But, I'mnot joining Congress leavingBJP, I'm 100 per cent in BJP," headded.

Yediyurappa has kept 16ministerial posts vacant toaccommodate some more BJPmembers and from amongthose 17 disqualified former leg-islators who helped him cometo power.

However, the disqualifiedMLAs seeking plum portfoliosis said to be causing delay in theallocation of portfolios for thenew ministers, despite roomsbeing allotted to them atVidhana Soudha, the state sec-retariat.

Reflecting the situation bystating that this government toowas a coalition government ina way, Minister V Somanan inresponse to a question about SA Ramdas not being mademinister, in Mysuru said, "Now17 of us have become ministers,still 16 berths are remaining.

When filling those 16 posi-tions who all have to be con-sidered that our state andnational leaders will decide," headded. PTI

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Sivaganga (TN): A sense of dis-belief and outrage was palpableamong supporters of Congressleader P Chidambaram in andaround his native village ofKaraikudi in Sivaganga districtover his arrest, even as a sectionof people expressed indifferenceand some outrightly opposedhim.

The former FinanceMinister was arrested by theCBI on Wednesday night fromhis residence in Delhi in con-nection with INX media cor-ruption case.

In the sleepy hamlet ofKandanur, about 10 km fromKaraikudi, though life appearedto go on as usual, the arrest ofChidambaram set tongues wag-ging.

Expressing disbelief, VNelliyan told PTI "this is noth-ing but an act of politicalvendetta." Condemning thearrest, the young man, beforeproceeding to a protest demon-stration held by Congressagainst the Centre, said theonly hope was the judiciary."The vindictive action hasincensed the common man," heclaimed, adding that the courtswould render justice and theBJP-led government would be

exposed for targeting "an hon-est gentleman."

Similar was the responsefrom a couple of others, includ-ing Rajaratinam andAvudayappan, who also laudedthe senior leader for maintain-ing "poise and cool" despite thegovernment "perusing vindic-tive politics."

Congress functionary E MS Abhimanyu of nearbyTirupattur said this is a "brutalmurder of democracy," addingthe arrest was shocking.

'Ilakiya' Natarajan, a long-time associate of Chidambaramhere expressed disbelief andshock over the former minister'sarrest. "He is a respectedParliamentarian and a formerMinister. What is the tearingurgency to arrest him by scal-ing the walls of his house? I justcannot believe that this can hap-pen to him. I am shocked andoutraged," he said.

G Vimal, who runs a con-struction material retail outlet indowntown Karaikudi said"Chidambaram is not a residentof our place. He is usually eitherin Chennai or Delhi..Only someparty workers are agitated hereand not the general public."

The trader alleged that theformer Minister visitedKaraikudi or Sivaganga onlyduring elections.

A couple of men in theperiphery of the very quietManagiri, where the statelybungalow of Chidambaram islocated though eager to knowabout the INX case declinedto offer comments.

Sivaganga is the nativeconstituency whichChidambaram represented fordecades. His son Kartiemerged victorious in thesame segment in the recentLok Sabha elections. PTI

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Allahabad: Senior SamajwadiParty leader Azam Khan onThursday moved the AllahabadHigh Court for quashing of aspate of FIRs registered againsthim in a single week in aRampur police station forallegedly grabbing farmers'lands to build a universitythere.

As the matter came up forhearing, a bench of justicesPritinkar Diwakar and JusticeRaj Beer Singh adjourned thehearing on the petition forAugust 29 on the request ofKhan's counsel RK Jain.

As soon as the court began the hearing, advocateVijay Gautam, appearing for farmers on whose com-plaints a total of the 27 FIRshave been registered againstKhan in Rampur's Azeem

Nagar police station, objectedto the "maintainability" of thepetition.

Gautam argued that thepetition is not worth hearingand need to be dismissed at theoutset as it is not maintainablefor the petitioner has soughtquashing of all 27 FIRs in a sin-gle petition.

He should have filed onepetition each for quashing ofeach of the FIRs, he contend-ed, prompting Khan's counselJain to seek adjournment of thehearing for another day.

The farmers on whosecomplaints the FIRs were reg-istered had already filed acaveat in the court requestingit to give them an opportuni-ty to have their say if Khanmoved court for quashing ofthe FIRs. PTI

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Mumbai: The Anti TerrorismSqaud (ATS) of MaharashtraPolice has arrested a man fromAssam for allegedly threaten-ing to kill Indian cricket play-ers, an official said onThursday.

Braja Mohan Das (19),resident of Shantipur inMorigaon district, was arrest-ed by a team of ATS with thehelp of Assam police onTuesday, the official said.

Das allegedly sent an e-mail to the Board of Controlfor Cricket in India (BCCI) onAugust 16, threatening to killIndian cricket players, he said.

The Mumbai ATS startedprobe as the cricket body hasits headquarters in the city. TheATS registered a case underIPC section 506 (criminalintimidation).

The investigating agencytraced the IP address fromwhich the email had been sentto Das, and arrested him.

The ATS obtained his tran-sit remand after producinghim before a local court inAssam and brought him here.

Probe revealed that he hadsent the same threatening mailto cricket boards of some othercountries too.

The Mazgaon court heresent him in ATS custody tillMonday, the official said,adding that further probe wason. PTI

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Kolkata: Buoyed by its stupen-dous performance in the last LokSabha polls, the West Bengal BJPhas clocked a record member-ship of 77 lakhs in the State,party leaders claimed onThursday.

The Bengal BJP has sur-passed the target set by the cen-tral leadership to enroll 60 lakhsmembers when the countrywidemembership drive began onJuly 6, according to the partysources. "As per the latest data,the membership drive has beenimmensely successful in Bengal.The central leadership initiallyhad set a target of 50 lakhs forBengal, later it was increased to60 lakhs.

"But we have surpassed thattarget too and with the mem-bership drive closing on August20, we have now 77 lakhs mem-bers across the State. It is indeedan achievement," BJP nationalsecretary Rahul Sinha toldreporters.

It is a massive jump from themembership campaign that wasdone a few years back when theparty had managed to enroll 42lakh members in its fold, he said.

Sinha said although themembership drive has closed inother parts of the country, but ina few states such as West Bengal,which are priority states forBJP, the exercise will continue tillDecember this year. PTI

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MNS chief Raj Thackeraywas grilled for more than

eight hours by the EnforcementDirectorate (ED) officials abouthis financial involvement inM/s Kohinoor CTNL which isbeing investigated for allegedirregularities in the IL&FS’sloans-cum- investments case.

Raj, whose questioning bythe ED officials began around 12noon and continued till well past8 pm, emerged out of the EDoffice at around 8.15 pm.

Raj, who looked a bit tired,waved once at the crowd gath-ered there and stepped inside hiscar without interacting withanybody and drove to his“Krishna Kunj” residence locat-ed near Shivaji Park at Dadar innorth-central Mumbai.When

Raj returned to his residence ataround 9 pm, a huge crowd hadgathered there to greet him.

Given that he had also onlyco-operated but also spent quitesome time with the investigat-ing officials, official sources saidthat he would not be returningto ED office for further ques-tioning on Friday.

The MNS chief, who hadleft from his Shivaji Park resi-dence at 10.30 am along with hiswife Sharmila, daughter Urvashiand son Amit, appeared beforethe ED officials an hour later.

Raj was responding to sum-mons issued to him last week inconnection with the invest-ments that he had made in M/sKohinoor CTNL, a companyfunded by former MaharashtraCM Manohar Joshi’s sonUnmesh Joshi. The ED is inves-

tigating the alleged irregularitiesin the IL&FS’s loans and invest-ments worth over �860 crore inM/s Kohinoor CTNL.

M/s Kohinoor CTNL hasbeen under ED scanner forbeing a prominent defaulter ofIL&FS, amounting to an esti-mated �135 crore.

Unmesh along with sonalong with IL&FS and RajThackeray-owned MatoshreeConstruction had in 2005 joint-ly had made a bid and boughtfor the NTPC’s Kohinoor Mill’s4.8-acre property for �421 crore.

In 2008, the IL&FS renegedfrom the deal and surrenderedits shares for only �90 crore, asagainst an investment of �225crore made in M/s KohinoorCTNL. Following the IL &FS’sexit, Raj also exited from theventure after selling his shares.

Lucknow: The Bahujan SamajParty (BSP) on Thursday dis-tanced itself from the violentDalit protest in New Delhi'sTughlakabad area over thedemolition of a Ravidas temple,stressing that all its struggles arecarried out well within the ambitof law.

Taking to Twitter, BSP pres-

ident Mayawati said, "The inci-dents of vandalism that havetaken place in Delhi, especiallyin Tughlakabad, are unfair andthe BSP has nothing to do withit. The BSP always respects theConstitution and the law. Thestruggles of the party are carriedout well within the ambit of law."

In another related tweet,

Mayawati said,"The tradition ofBSP and its people not to takethe law in their hands is com-pletely intact even today, where-as it is common for other par-ties and organisations. Weshould not harm innocent peo-ple in the honour of our saints,gurus and great men."

She advised party workednot to violate Section 144 of theCrPC after any "unfortunateincident". "Do not not try toforcibly go to the incident site soas not to give the government anopportunity to take an autocraticand vindictive action," she tweet-ed. Tension prevailed in theTughlakabad area of South Delhion Wednesday following aprotest by Dalits against thedemolition of the Ravidas tem-ple by the authorities on an apexcourt order recently. PTI

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Mumbai: The Bombay HighCourt directed police to registerFIR against NCP leader AjitPawar and over 70 others in theMaharashtra State CooperativeBank scam on Thursday, observ-ing that they seemed to have"complete knowledge" that theiractions would cause a huge lossto the bank.

The court asked Mumbaipolice's Economic OffencesWing to register an FIR againstthe accused within five days.Prima facie there was "credibleevidence" against the accused, itadded. Pawar, PWP leaderJayant Patil and several formerdirectors of the bank areaccused of violating bankingand RBI regulations while dis-bursing loans to sugar mills atvery low rates and selling off

assets of defaulter businesses atthrow-away prices. Such sale ofassets, disbursement of cheaploans and a failure to ensurerepayment resulted in losses ofover Rs 1,000 crore to the bankbetween 2007 and 2011, it isalleged.

The accused also forgedrecords and fudged figures toshow the bank was makingprofits, it is alleged.

Pawar was a director of thebank during the relevant period.

Inquiries by the NationalBank for Agriculture and RuralDevelopment and a chargesheet filed by a quasi-judicialinquiry commission under theMaharashtra CooperativeSocieties Act had blamedPawar and other accused forthe bank's losses. PTI

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Bengaluru: The first picture ofMoon captured by India'sChandrayaan-2 satellite, cur-rently in the lunar orbit, wasreleased by space agency ISROon Thursday.

The picture of Moon wastaken by Chandrayaan-2's LI4Camera from an altitude ofabout 2,650 km from the lunarsurface on August 21, the city-headquarters Indian SpaceResearch Organisation said.

"Take a look at the firstMoon image captured by#Chandrayaan2 #VikramLandertaken at a height of about 2,650km from Lunar surface onAugust 21, 2019. Mare Orientalebasin and Apollo craters are

identified in the picture," ISROtweeted along with the picture.

The space agency had onAugust 4 released a first set ofimages of the earth captured byChandrayaan-2 satellite.

ISRO had on Wednesdayperformed second lunar boundorbit maneuver forChandrayaan-2 and said allspacecraft parameters are nor-mal. There will be three moreorbit manoeuvres before thelander's separation from theOrbiter on September 2 andeventual soft landing in thesouth polar region of the Moon,planned on September 7.

India's GeosynchronousSatellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV

MkIII-M1, had successfullylaunched the 3,840-kg

Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft intothe earth's orbit on July 22. PTI

Jammu: Convener of PanunKashmir, an organisationadvocating the cause of dis-placed Kashmiri Pandits,Agnishekhar released a mem-orandum on Thursday in sup-port of the abrogation of pro-visions of Article 370 and saidthat over 700 eminentKashmiri Pandits haveendorsed it.

He claimed that allKashmiri Pandits are on onepage in support of the Centrescrapping provisions of Article370 "to pave the way for a newdawn of free environment inJammu & Kashmir".

"Over 700 top KashmiriPandits, including Padma Shriawardees, vice-chancellors,academicians and doctors,across the world have signed amemorandum in support ofthe abrogation of provisions of

Article 370 and reorganisationof Jammu & Kashmir,"Agnishekhar told reportershere.

He said that PanunKashmir was batting stronglyfor a Union Territory for theKashmiri Pandits... And thedemand has been finally met.

"It was an outcome of thestruggle of Panun Kashmirfor last 30 years. We welcomethe decision of the Central gov-ernment," Agnishekhar said.

Panun Kashmir ChairmanAjay Chrungoo said that some Kashmiri Pandits, givingstatements opposing the deci-sion of the government ofIndia do not representKashmiri Pandits at all.

"We condemn them...They do not represent any ofKashmiri Pandit organisation,"he said. PTI

Srinagar: Restrictions wereeased in most areas of Kashmirwith barricades being liftedand the movement of peopleand traffic increasing gradual-ly, but markets remained shutand mobile and internet ser-vices suspended for the 18thday on Thursday.

Officials said the situationwas peaceful and no untowardincident was reported fromanywhere in the Kashmir Valleyon Wednesday.

In view of the improvingsituation, the movement ofpeople and traffic was slowlyincreasing in the city and otherdistrict headquarters of theValley, they said.

Public transport stayed offthe roads, but a few inter-dis-

trict cabs and auto-rickshawswere seen plying in some areas.

The attendance of teachersin schools up to middle class-level and employees in govern-ment offices was also improv-ing. However, most students

stayed away due to the prevail-ing situation, they added. TheGovernment ordered thereopening of primary schoolsacross the Valley from Mondayand middle schools fromWednesday.

The officials said restric-tions have been eased in sever-al areas of Kashmir, includingin most parts of Srinagar.

Barricades have beenremoved from uptown andcivil lines areas of the city as

well as from most areas inother districts. However, thedeployment of security forcescontinues to avoid any law andorder problems, they said.

The officials said marketswere shut in most places in theValley, as they have been sinceAugust 5 when the Centrerevoked Jammu & Kashmir'sspecial status under Article 370and bifurcated the state into twoUnion territories — Jammu &Kashmir, and Ladakh. Shopsand other business establish-ments remain shut though thereis no strike call by any separatistgroup or other organisation.

Mobile services and inter-net remain suspended, the offi-cials said, adding that landlinetelephone services have beenrestored at most places.However, they continue to besuspended in several areas,including in Srinagar's com-mercial hub of Lal Chowk andPress Enclave. PTI

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Aligarh (UP): An AligarhMuslim University student wasarrested after his Facebook pageshowed an objectionable posteron Prime Minister NarendraModi carried recently by anti-India protesters in London,police said.

Mohammad Zaid Rashid(20), admitted at the universi-ty's off-campus centre in Bihar'sKishanganj this year, was herewhen he downloaded a picturefrom the protests over the scrap-ping of the special status forJammu & Kashmir.

Some former AMU stu-dents complained online to thepolice after Rashid's post sur-faced on social media.

In their complaint onTuesday they alleged that theposter had been put up on theAMU campus here, but the localpolice and the AMU authoritiesfound that this was not correct.

They traced the localaddress of the youth, a residentof the city's Hamdard Nagar.

AMU spokesman ShafeyKidwai said the incident waswrongly linked to the campus inAligarh.

“We found that the youthhad just been admitted to theoff-campus centre in Bihar. Wepromptly traced him to his res-idence and filed an FIR,” he toldreporters.

"We will take further appro-priate action in this matter afterthe investigation is complete," hesaid. Senior Superintendent ofPolice Akash Kulhari said a caseunder the IT Act and for pro-moting social discord has beenfiled against Rashid. PTI

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Patna: Opposition parties inBihar on Thursday took a digat the Nitish KumarGovernment over the embar-rassing incident during formerChief Minister JagannathMishras funeral when gunscarried by police personnel forsalute failed to fire a single shot.

The spectacle took place onWednesday at Mishras ances-tral village Balua Bazar inSupaul district, where the ChiefMinister was himself present.

Video clips beamed bynews channels showed a seniorofficial frantically testing gunsof a couple of personnel beforegiving up helplessly.

The police headquartershere has, meanwhile, taken astrong note of the incident

and sought an explanationfrom the Supaul police.

However, the occasion pro-vided the opposition with freshammunition to train its guns atthe ruling dispensation, whichtakes pride in its claim of hav-ing brought rule of law to astate after over a decade ofalleged lawlessness.

When the guns of thepolice fail at a ceremonial func-tion where the Chief Ministeris in attendance, can these beexpected to be of any use whilechasing criminals. It is a testi-mony to the fact that NitishKumar has no control of lawand order, Rashtriya LokSamata Party chief UpendraKushwaha said in a statement.

Congress MLC- Prem

Chandra Mishra- echoed sim-ilar sentiments on twitter, say-ing when the Bihar police lacksthe capability to fire gunshotsduring a guard of honour,would it not boost the moraleof criminals. Not a single gun-shot was fired when thereshould have been 21. Whattype of honour did you accordto the late Jagannath Mishra@Nitish Kumar.

RJD Rajya Sabha memberand Lalu Prasads daughterMisa Bharti also sought tohave some fun as she shared anews clipping of the fiascothat has left the governmentheaded by her fathers archrival red-faced on her twitterhandle without adding anycomment. PTI

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Pune: An activist from Punehas blamed the MaharashtraGovernment for the recentdeluge in Kolhapur, allegingthat f lood lines of thePanchganga river there were"redefined" to provide benefitsto the construction sector.

Hundreds of villages inKolhapur and neighbouringSangli were flooded after heavyrains earlier this month. While55 people died in flood andrain-related incidents, lakhswere evacuated in these west-ern Maharashtra districts.

Environmentalist SarangYadwadkar, who claimed tohave accessed some documentsof the irrigation departmentthrough RTI, said around 500hectors land along thePanchganga river, whichshould have been in the flood-affected area (prohibited zone),was marked as residential zonein Kolhapur's developmentplan (DP) by "redefining" theflood lines.

There are two types offlood lines - blue for the floodlevel that occurs once in 25years and the red for that hap-pens once in 100 years, he said.

"The irrigation departmentissued a circular in 1989 tomark the flood lines for allrivers in Maharashtra, but itwas ignored. Instead of theflood lines, flood levels (generallevel of a particular flood)

were marked and these levelswere later superimposed on theDP maps of Kolhapur," heclaimed.

In one of the cases in 2015,the National Green Tribunal(NGT) issued directives to theirrigation department to markboth the flood lines over riversacross the state, the activistclaimed.

"The irrigation departmentstarted the survey work in2017 and by 2018 it identifiedthe flood lines (consideringwater flow at 2.14 lakh cusec forblue line and 3.22 lakh cusecfor red line) for the Panchgangariver and submitted it to theIndian Institute of TechnologyBombay," he said.

He said the IIT Bombayalso verified the report andstated that the flood lineswere correct.

But, when the Kolhapurchapter of the Confederationof Real Estate DevelopersAssociation of India(CREDAI) came to knowabout it, it found around 500hectors land going below theblue line and by defaultbecoming a 'no development'zone, Yadwadkar said.

The CREDAI, Kolhapur,in October 2018 wrote a let-ter to the chief minister, stat-ing that the work of demar-cation of flood lines is done bya private agency, Yadwadkar

said."It also stated that the 1989

flood-level is marked on theDP and as the flood that yearwas the largest, it was pointlessto mark new flood lines. It stat-ed that new flood lines will cre-ate confusion and unrestamong people," he said.

He said the CREDAI alsostated in its letter that coloniesand apartments were devel-oped on most of the portionfalling under the new floodlines.

"The chief minister, in hisremarks on the same letter,addressing the irrigationdepartment's secretary, wrote -'the flood line marked with DPshould be maintained',"Yadwadkar said. PTI

Jammu: Pakistani troops vio-lated ceasefire for the thirdconsecutive day on Thursdayand resorted to firing mortarsand small arms on forwardposts and villages along theLine of Control in Jammuand Kashmir's Rajouri dis-trict, inviting a befitting replyfrom the Indian Army.

"Pakistan initiated unpro-voked ceasefire violation byfiring of small arms andshelling with mortars in theSunderbani sector of Rajouridistrict at about 2045 hoursThursday," a defencespokesman said.

He said the Indian Armyis retaliating befittingly andthe exchange of fire betweenthe two sides was continuingwhen last reports werereceived.

On Wednesday, Pakistantroops fired mortars and smallarms on villages and forward

posts along LoC in theSunderbani sector.

Mohammad Addul Karimwas critically injured when amortar shell, fired by PakistanArmy, hit his house at villageDabraj in Mendhar sector lateTuesday night, officials said,adding he was immediatelyshifted to a nearby hospitalwhere he was declared dead.

Mendhar and KrishnaGhati sectors witnessed heavymortar shelling and firingfrom across the LoC onTuesday, resulting in the deathof Army soldier Naik RaviRanjam Kumar and injuries tofour other personnel.

Nearly half a dozen hous-es were also damaged in thePakistani firing, which hadforced closure of schools with-in the firing range in the twosectors. PTI

Surat: A case under the new lawwhich bans instant triple talaqwas registered in Surat onThursday against a Muslim manfor allegedly divorcing his wifeon phone.

This was first case underThe Muslim Women(Protection of Rights onMarriage) Act, 2019 filed inGujarat after the law was passedby Parliament, said DeputyCommissioner of Police PannaMomaya.

As per the complainantwoman, her husbandMohammad alias Vasim Pathanand his mother were ill-treatingher for the last one and halfyears.

In June, following a quarrel,Pathan took her to her parents'house and left her there, she said.

On the same night he calledher on phone and uttered talaqthrice, she alleged. She filed thecomplaint on Thursday. PTI

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Lucknow: As many as 19people lost their lives inrain-related incidents inUttar Pradesh where ragingwaters of major rivers havedisrupted normal life, offi-cials said on Thursday.

"As many as 15 personshave died due to rain relat-ed incidents in different dis-tricts of the state.

"The figure includedthree deaths in Amethi, twoeach in Raebareli, Sonbhadraand Mirzapur and one deatheach in Saharanpur,Hamirpur, Pratapgarh,Fathepur, Basti and,Ayodhya," the ReliefCommissioner's office said.

Besides the 15, fourmore persons have died inBallia and Bhadohi, accord-ing to reports. PTI

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Page 8: ˇ ˙˘ ˝ &’ $ () · Several students of the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) at Burla ... ragging by their seniors, videos of which have surfaced. A senior university

India’s reputation as one of the world’smost corrupt bureaucracies is well-documented. On the CorruptionPerceptions Index, India ranks 78thand this outlook is with merit and

cause. What is surprising, however, is thatthe civil services examination and the postof a civil servant are still one that attractsgreat attention and fanfare. Any aspirant,who “cracks” the examination, is treated withgreat respect. This is, perhaps, why lakhs ofyoung aspirants spend days together, work-ing towards the goal of being part of theIndian bureaucracy.

A large number of these students arefrom prestigious institutes like the IndianInstitute of Technology and various NationalLaw Schools, among others. As a former civilservant, I find that this desire to join the civilservices, surprisingly, has not dwindled. Afew pessimists would say that these youngaspirants join the bureaucracy to extracttheir pound of flesh. As Theodore Rooseveltsaid, “A man who has never gone to schoolmay steal a freight car; but if he has a uni-versity education, he may steal the wholerailroad.” But levity aside, I think this isunduly harsh and frankly not true. In fact,as is true in most avenues of life, corruptionin the Indian bureaucracy, too, follows thePareto principle (also known as the 80/20rule) that is 80 per cent of all corruption inthe bureaucracy is carried out by 20 per centof the people. The problem is to identify andpunish this 20 per cent, which is bringingthe entire country and the service immenseshame and disrepute.

Corruption has no rigid definition, butthe most common academic connotation,which defines it as “the misuse of public officefor private gain”, seems to be the most appro-priate. While most times the media appearsto cover the “headline” scandals and/orinstances of corruption — ie, the kind ofscams that attract most eyeballs — rarely dowe realise just what the magnitude of every-day corruption is in our country.Transparency International estimates thatIndians end up paying bribes of over �21, 000crore (approx $3.5 billion) every year to accessGovernment services. Therefore, there are dif-ferent types of corruption, which differ fromservice to service. MR Venkatesh, a CharteredAccountant-turned lawyer, said it best in theselines, “IAS officers are after the rich people,IRS officers are after the middle class and IPSofficers are after the poor. This is the new var-nashrama created by the bureaucracy.” Whilethis looks like oversimplifying a complex issue,the crux of the problem does ring true.

So what are the causes of corruption?There are a number of people who have end-lessly theorised on the reasons why the Indianbureaucracy suffers from corruption. Onesuch reason is the country’s complex legal andregulatory framework. India remains anextremely difficult place to do business. To setup or operate any business here, an entrepre-neur or businessman has to jump through var-

ious hoops and then hope to gainfavour from the relevant bureau-crat even before starting his/herbusiness. It is, therefore, no coin-cidence that India’s low rankingon the Corruption PerceptionsIndex corresponds with its lowposition in the World Bank’s indi-cators for doing business.

Just to give an idea aboutthe ease of doing business inIndia, according to a WorldBank survey, the act of obtain-ing a single construction permitin India involves 27 discreteprocedures, takes 162 days andcosts 46 per cent of the totaloutlay to a construction firmbuilding a warehouse. The key-word here is “discretion.” Theminute it is brought in, the cor-rupt official gets an opportuni-ty to make a quick buck.

Another reason as to whycorruption persists in our coun-try is the lack of respect towardsentrepreneurs and businessmen.While we often get to hear prais-es about a Narayana Murthy oran Azim Premji, these examplesare an exception rather than thenorm. This because we, asIndians, have been encouraged totreat a business as an entity thatmakes money by stealing some-one else’s buck. This is why anynew business is looked at withsuspicion first and then withadmiration. While the conduct ofsome Indian promoters does

indicate that there is some truthto this perception, our lack ofopenness and admirationtowards entrepreneurs does thecountry more harm than good.

So what can be done? Weneed to change our attitudestowards businesses. There is nodenying the fact that there shouldbe a strict framework withinwhich all businesses flourish.However, a strict frameworkdoes not necessarily mean thatany new business ought to betreated with contempt. For exam-ple, it is important that everybusiness operates within therealm of the law and obtains allrelevant approvals. However,bureaucrats must not be givenany reason to place more hurdlesin helping them establish a busi-ness than those that are alreadypresent. It is evident that thisGovernment needs cash and,therefore, is on a tax collectionspree. However, in the long-run,it is impossible for anyGovernment to collect taxes if itcontinues to act in a targetted andadversarial manner. It is, there-fore, crucial for the Governmentto intimate and drive home thepoint to bureaucrats that theirrole is to facilitate the lives of hon-est citizens rather than acting asimpediments.

Another way to mitigate theeffects of corruption is toimprove information dissemina-

tion and use technology. Whilethe former is crucial and mustbe encouraged with zeal, the lat-ter must be approached withgreater care in a country likeIndia where technology is real-ly only to the benefit of a fewrather than most. The bestexample of how this can providebenefit is the recent change inthe law which allows drivers tocarry scanned copies of their dri-ving licences and RCs. Mostpeople, however, have not heardabout this change in the rules.

I have personally heard ofmany stories of traffic cops tak-ing bribes from unassuming dri-vers merely because they tellthem that they are required tocarry physical copies of their doc-uments. In such a case if peopleare informed about the change inrules and technology is usedmeaningfully, instances of bribeswill automatically be reduced.

While the problem of cor-ruption is huge, we can at leaststart adopting a differentapproach to tackle it. Bringingabout a change in mindset will beof great help. This should be cou-pled with other innovative solu-tions. With these changes, Ithink, we will find that the problem of corruption is not asinsurmountable as we think.

(The writer is former presi-dent of Jharkhand PradeshCongress Committee)

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Sir — It is a matter of concern thatthere has been a 83 per centincrease in forest fires in theAmazon rainforest area in Brazil.Conservationists have blamedBrazilian President Jair Bolsonarofor its plight, saying that heencouraged loggers and farmersto clear the land. Bolsonaro on theother hand has blamed non-gov-ernmental organisations, sayingthat they may have set the fires toembarrass his Government afterit’s decision to cut funding forthem. Ironically, Bolsonaro has noevidence to support his claim.

Spread across millions ofhectares in multiple countries, theAmazon basin not only hostsmassive sinks of carbon that helpsbring down the pace of globalwarming but is also home to threemillion species. The situationtoday is depressing. First and fore-most, the Brazilian Governmentmust realise the need to protect theforests. The international commu-nity must put diplomatic pressureon Brazil to convince it on the needto protect the forests and also helpit seek higher funds.

Tanisha ShrivastavaUjjain

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Chidambaram in a spot”(August 22). After a day-longdrama, P Chidambaram did

show up for a surprise Press con-ference at the Congress head-quarters, but by then, the dam-age had been done. During thePress conference, he claimedthat no formal chargesheet wasfiled against him in the INX

Media case and that there wasno question of him evading thelaw.

Had Chidambaram said thesame thing after the Delhi HighCourt rejected his bail plea, hewould have done much good not

only to himself but also to hisparty. The Congress leadership,too, had been crying hoarse,terming the action taken againstChidambaram a “political witchhunt” but the High Court hassound evidence against him.The case against him appears tobe water-tight. All eyes are nowon the courts. Only time willuncover the truth but certainly,the Congress has further lostcredibility among the masses.

Jai Prakash GuptaAmbala Cantt

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Upping deterrence ante?”(August 22) by Vivek Mishra. TheGovernment must come clear ifit is contemplating a change in its‘No First Use’ policy to checkmatePakistan or is this just anotherexercise to make the peoplebelieve that it can go to any extentto protect the nation’s interests?This issue demands wider debateand discussion.

KarthikVia email

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The small boat at Gujarat’s bustling PipavavPort bobs up and down as it waits to ferrypassengers to Shiyal Bet Island barely 600

metres away. It’s a rainy morning and the watersof the Arabian Sea are beginning to turn choppy.Fifty-year-old Dakuben jumps onto the boat withease, having undertaken the 12-minute journeyinnumerable times to visit her daughter in ShiyalBet. However, this time, her visit is mired in sor-row as she is going to mourn the death of her new-born granddaughter.

Gujarat’s Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is 30deaths per 1,000 live births and the state rankedtenth in the country according to the NITI Aayog’s2016 IMR report. According to statistics 69 percent of infant deaths in Gujarat were neonatal,higher than the national average of 67.60 per cent.

Anaemia is one of the major factors respon-sible for the rising neonatal, infant and maternalmortality in Gujarat, especially among ruralwomen. According to the fourth National FamilyHealth Survey (NFHS-4) conducted in 2014-15,54.9 per cent women in the age group of 14-49years are anaemic and 51.3 per cent of pregnantwomen have anaemia.

The NFHS-4 placed Gujarat among the top15 states with the highest incidence of anaemiaas the percentage of anaemic women there washigher than the national average of 53 per cent.

The survey revealed that lack of educationplayed a major role and anaemia was particular-ly high among illiterate women due to lack ofawareness about health-related issues.

At 31.2 per cent, Shiyal Bet’s literacy rates aremuch lower than the state’s 78.3 per cent (2011census). With the island’s female literacy rate beingjust 15.48 per cent, it’s no surprise that awarenessabout anaemia and other health issues is low.

In order to change this scenario, Vatsalya, aninitiative to improve the health and nutritional sta-tus of women, children, and adolescents wasundertaken in Shiyal Bet and 21 villages with sim-ilar poor health and development indicators inRajula Block in Amreli district. Launched in 2016by the Centre for Health Education, Training,Nutrition Awareness (CHETNA), a not for prof-it organisation, the three-year programme hasbeen able to bring down undernutrition, improveantenatal and postnatal care and ensure safe moth-erhood.

It has also been able to break myths relatedto early breastfeeding, promote healthy feedingpractices, timely immunization and increaseaccess to basic health services.

The intervention, supported by GujaratPipavav Port Limited (GPPL) APM Terminalsunder their corporate social responsibility initia-tive, used a multi-pronged strategy includinggames, Q&A sessions and street theatre to engagethe community. Sustained efforts, coupled withcommunity participation helped to bring downthe number of children suffering from undernu-trition from 30 per cent in 2016 to 14 per cent in2019. The number of children who attained nor-mal body mass index also rose.

The intervention marked up registration ofpregnancies by almost 42 per cent and increasedthe number of women receiving antenatal care,tetanus injections and folic acid tablets. A rise ininstitutional deliveries by 9.42 per cent was alsoseen at the end of the three years.

“We are committed to bringingchange in the lives of marginalised com-munities. Therefore, empowering themwith factual information and linkingthem to government schemes and pro-grammes was imperative. This interven-tion was more challenging because wehad to work in difficult-to-reach villageslike Shiyal Bet and with migrating pop-ulations and communities that were iso-lated and neglected. But we were able tomake a difference in their lives thanksto our dedicated field team, and our part-nership with the community, frontlinehealth workers and panchayat leaders,”said Pallavi Patel, Director, CHETNA.

A key to this success was the strat-egy to train women from the commu-nity as Vatsalya mitras (friends).This gavethe community a sense of ownership andled to increased participation. So whenShantuben Chauhan became a trainedVatsalya mitra, she used her influence asan anganwadi worker (AWW) to reachout to pregnant and lactating women.Chauhan, an AWW for the last 15 years,is a popular face in Shiyal Bet. With bothher marital and natal home being inShiyal Bet, Chauhan was able to mobilisethe community very effectively.

However, when the CHETNA teamfirst visited Shiyal Bet, they found thatalthough Chauhan was articulate andgood at her work as an AWW, she, likemost of the others, believed in manymyths related to reproductive and sex-ual health. One of the biggest miscon-ceptions she had was related to menstru-ation. Not only was it a taboo subject, butneither she nor her three daughters prac-ticed menstrual hygiene. Consideringthat only 54 per cent of rural women usea hygienic method of menstrual protec-tion (NFHS-4), this was not surprising.

The fact that women with at least 12 yearsof schooling were more than twice aslikely to be using a hygienic method (79per cent) as against women with noschooling (34 per cent) meant thatChauhan who is uneducated, didn’t getaccess to information which could helpher practice menstrual hygiene.

So the first step was to demystifymenstruation. The team knew thatonce they were able to get Chauhan onboard then she would get the others. “Iwas ashamed to discuss this issue. Thetraining helped me understand why Ishould not be ashamed and why men-strual hygiene is important. I used thescientific information to convince otherwomen and adolescents during Vatsalyasamwads (dialogue),” recalled Chauhan.

For Vatsalya mitra VandanabenGoswami, the training cured her of thebelief that she was ‘impure’ during herperiods and going to the temple orkitchen was wrong. “After I became bet-ter informed, I no longer forced mydaughters to follow these customs. I usedmy own example to convince otherwomen and girls,” contended Goswami.

The monthly Vatsalya samwadsproved to be a good move as they helpedbreak the ice on many ‘uncomfortable’issues like the tradition of early marriageand family planning in all 22 villages.Besides explaining the consequences ofearly marriage on the health of adoles-cents, the importance of antenatal careand postnatal care visits for pregnant andlactating women were discussed. Alsoaddressed were myths related to earlyand exclusive breastfeeding. Accordingto NFHS-4, just 50 per cent women inGujarat start breastfeeding in the firsthour of life as recommended by theWorld Health Organisation, thus depriv-

ing newborns of the highly nutritiousfirst milk, colostrums, and the antibod-ies it contains. In fact, about one in fivechildren who were ever breastfed weregiven something other than breast milkduring the first three days.

Raziben’s three children were amongthem. She had followed the custom offeeding her children goat’s milk or hotwater mixed with jaggery immediatelyafter birth. It was only after attending theVatsalya samwads that she understoodwhy this was not healthy for the newborn.This helped her initiate early breastfeed-ing for her fourth child born last year.Inspired by this, her friend and neighbourManjuben also breastfed her daughterwithin 24 hours of her birth in June thisyear. In fact, there was an 22 per centincrease in early breastfeeding by the endof the project.

A big factor in the improving healthand nutrition indicators was the partner-ship with local leaders and panchayats.Leaders like Gangabhai, the sarpanch ofKundaliya Village, played an active rolein mobilizing the community and pro-moting awareness.

“There has been a big change in myvillage after CHETNA began their work.The AWWs have become more informedand active. More women are attendingthe monthly Mamta Divas. Earlier only7-8 women had health cards, now 60 ofthem have cards. I also pay visits to sup-port and motivate them,” he said.

While the success has been encour-aging, challenges remain. Consideringthe entrenched patriarchy and caste bar-riers in Gujarat, sustaining behaviour-al change requires greater investment oftime and resources. Only then, will noone be left behind.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

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Maybe we can get through theclimate crisis without a glob-al catastrophe, although that

door is closing fast. And maybe we cancope with the huge loss of jobs causedby the revolution in robotics andArtificial Intelligence (AI) without asocial and political calamity. But canwe do both at the same time?

We should know how to deal withthe AI revolution because we havebeen down this road before. It’s a bitdifferent this time, of course, in thesense that the original industrial rev-olution in 1780-1850 created as manynew jobs (in manufacturing) as itdestroyed (in cottage industries andskilled trades).

The AI revolution, by contrast, is

not producing nearly enough replace-ment jobs but it is making us muchwealthier. The value of manufacturedgoods doubled in the United States(US) in the past 30 years even as thenumber of good industrial jobs fell bya third (eight million jobs gone).Maybe we could use that extra wealthto ease the transition to a job-scarcefuture. The climate emergency isunlike any challenge we have facedbefore. Surmounting it would requirean unprecedented level of globalcooperation and very big changes inhow people consume and behave, nei-ther of which human beings have his-torically been good at.

These two crises are already inter-acting. The erosion of middle-classjobs and the stagnation (or worse) ofreal wage levels generates resentmentand anger among the victims and isalready creating populist, authoritar-ian regimes throughout the world.These regimes despise internationalcooperation and often deny climatechange as well (Trump in the US,Bolsonaro in Brazil).

And there is a recession coming.Maybe not this year, although almost

all the storm signals are flying: Stockmarkets spooked, a rush into gold,nine major economies already inrecession or on the verge of one, an“inverted yield curve” on bonds andtrade wars spreading. Even USPresident Donald Trump is worried,which is why he postponed the harsh-er American trade tariffs againstChina, which were due next month.

Economists have predicted nineof the past five recessions as they sayin the trade, so I’m not calling the turnon this one. But a recession is overdueand a lot of the damage done by the

Great Recession of 2008 has still notbeen repaired. Interest rates are stillvery low, so the banks have little roomto cut rates and soften the next one.When it arrives, it could be a doozy.

So what can we do about all this?The first thing is to recognise that wecannot plot a course that takes usfrom here and now, through all thechanges and past all the unpleasantsurprises to ultimate safety, maybe 50years from now.

We can plan how to get throughthe next five years and we should bethinking hard about what will be need-

ed later on. But we can’t steer a safe andsteady course to the year 2070 anymore than intelligent decision-mak-ers in 1790 could have planned howto get through to 1840 without toomuch upheaval. They might have seensteam engines but they would havehad no idea what a railroad was.

We are in the same position asthose people with regard to both AIand the global environmental emer-gency (which extends far beyond“climate change”, although that is at itsheart). We know a good deal aboutboth issues but not enough to be con-fident about our choices — andbesides, they may well mutate andhead off in unforeseen directions asthe crises deepen.

But there are two big things wecan do right now. We need to stop theslide into populist and increasinglyauthoritarian Governments (becausewe are not going to stop the spread ofAI). And we have to win ourselvesmore time to get our greenhouse gasemissions under control (because weare certainly going to go through 450parts per million of carbon dioxideequivalent, which would give us +20C

higher average global temperature). The best bet for getting our pol-

itics back on track is a guaranteedminimum income, high enough tokeep everybody comfortable —whether they are working or not. Thatis well within the reach of any devel-oped country’s economy and has theadded benefit of putting enoughmoney into people’s pockets to saveeverybody’s business model.

And the best way to win moretime on the climate front is to startgeo-engineering (direct interventionin the atmosphere to hold the globaltemperature down) as soon as we getanywhere near +20C. To be ready then,we need to be doing open-air testingon a small scale now. There will behowls of protest from the right abouta guaranteed minimum income andfrom the greener parts of the left aboutgeo-engineering. However, both willprobably be indispensable if we wantto get through these huge changeswithout mass casualties or even civil-isational collapse.

(The writer’s new book is GrowingPains, the Future of Democracy and Work)

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Aday after considering cut-ting taxes to promote eco-

nomic growth, PresidentDonald Trump changed courseand said he would abandon theidea because the nation alreadyhad “a strong economy.”

Trump’s f lip-flop onWednesday came after recentmarket volatility and econom-ic uncertainty, and amid adebate about whether theUnited States was heading fora slowdown that would imper-il his reelection chances.

Trump earlier this weekacknowledged, for the firsttime, that his China trade poli-cies may mean economic painfor Americans, though heinsisted the tariffs are neededfor more important long-termbenefits. But his considerationof cutting payroll taxesappeared short-lived.

“I’m not looking at a tax cutnow,” he told reporters at theWhite House.

“We don’t need it. We havea strong economy.”

Trump also knocked downthe idea of indexing to the cap-

ital gains tax, which applieswhen investors sell assets, toinflation. He said he feared “itwill be perceived, if I do it, assomewhat elitist.”

Analysts have warned thata slowdown, if not full-blownrecession, could hit before nextyear’s election. Trump, howev-er, has largely praised the econ-omy’s performance and hishandling of it.

He has often blamed theFederal Reserve (andChairman Jerome Powell) andthe global slowdown for creat-ing dark clouds at home.

“Jay Powell and the FederalReserve have totally missed thecall. I was right and just abouteverybody admits that,” Trumpsaid Wednesday.

“He raised interest rates toofast, too furious, and we havea normalised rate. And now wehave to go the other direction.”

Some White House advis-ers fear Trump has undercutPowell’s credibility.

They worry that the pres-ident’s calls for rate cuts and hisdiscussion of indexing or a pay-roll tax cut could spook, ratherthan reassure markets.

Trump indicated he had nochoice but to impose the tradepenalties that have been a dragon US manufacturers, financialmarkets and, by some mea-

sures, American consumers.“Somebody had to do it. I

am the chosen one,” Trumpsaid on the White House lawn,looking skyward.

“Somebody had to do it.So, I’m taking on China. I’mtaking on China on trade.”

China, though, said tradewith the US has been “mutuallybeneficial” and appealed toWashington to “get along withus.”

A foreign ministryspokesman, Geng Shuang,expressed hope Washingtoncan “meet China halfway” insettling disagreements.

The US economy appears tobe showing vulnerabilities aftermore than 10 years of growth.Factory output has fallen andconsumer confidence haswaned as he has ramped up histrade fight with China. Trumprattled the stock and bond mar-kets this month when heannounced plans to put a 10 percent tax on $300 billion worthof Chinese imports.

The market reaction sug-gested a recession might be onthe horizon and led Trump todelay some of the tariffs thatwere scheduled to begin inSeptember, though 25 per centtariffs are already in place for$250 million in other Chinesegoods.

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The UAE will be the firstMiddle East country to

launch the RuPay Card duringPrime Minister NarendraModi’s visit to the Gulf nationon Friday, according to a mediareport.

The RuPay card is a first-of-its-kind Indian domesticDebit and Credit Card paymentnetwork, with acceptance atATMs, POS devices and e-commerce websites. It waslaunched in 2012.

“A Memorandum ofUnderstanding to establish atechnology interface betweenthe payment platforms in Indiaand UAE, would be exchangedbetween the National PaymentsCorporation of India andUAE’s Mercury PaymentsServices,” Navdeep Singh Suri,the Indian Ambassador to theUAE, told the UAE’s state-runWAM news agency.

“This will enable the RuPaycard to be used at point-of-saleterminals across the UAE,” hesaid.

“The UAE is the largest andmost vibrant business hub inthe region. It hosts the largestIndian community, receivesthe largest number of Indiantourists and has the largesttrade with India. By becomingthe first country in the regionto introduce the RuPay card, weexpect that each of these ele-

ments of tourism, trade and theIndian diaspora will benefit,”Suri said.

India has already launchedthe RuPay card in Singaporeand Bhutan.

Prime Minister Modi’sthird official visit to the UAEon August 23-24 is anotherimportant milestone in thebilateral comprehensive strate-gic partnership, the Indianenvoy said.

During the visit, Modi willreceive the ‘Order of Zayed’, thehighest civil decoration of thecountry for “giving a big boostto bilateral relations betweenthe two countries.”

Modi would also meet theCrown Prince of Abu Dhabi,Sheikh Mohammed bin ZayedAl Nahyan to discuss bilateral,regional and international mat-ters of mutual interest.

The India-UAE bilateraltrade touched almost $60billion last year with a fairlybalanced profile of about $30billion of exports and $30 bil-lion of imports, the envoysaid.

“On the investment side,we have already seen sizableinflows from India to the UAEin free zones like Jebel Ali,Hamriyah Free Zone Sharjahand Ras Al Khaimah EconomicZone and also in sectors rang-ing from manufacturing andreal estate to trade and ser-vices,” he said.

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Commerce and IndustryMinister Piyush Goyal on

Thursday made a case for wholis-tic and comprehensive reforms ofthe World Trade Organisation(WTO) without ignoring theground realities, especially thestark inequality among devel-oped and developing nations.

He said instead of going fora piecemeal reform, the mem-bers should take on boardissues of all countries of theWTO. “It is the time when allmembers of the WTO startlooking at some of thosereforms that have been pend-ing for long. When we look atreforming the WTO, (it shouldbe done) holistically and com-prehensively. It cannot be pickand choose,” Goyal said.

He was speaking at a pro-gramme of South-South andTriangular Cooperation here.

“I do hope that as we lookat reforming the WTO, a littlebit more relevance to today and21st century realities will comeinto play,” he added.

The statement comes at atime when the US has called forreforming the world tradebody. The US wants formula-tion of some guidelines regard-ing special and differentialtreatment (S&DT), which ismeant for developing nations.

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Mines tri-bunal, hear-

ing the a petitionfiled by NMDCchallenging theGovernment ofKarnataka orderwithdrawing theextension of min-ing lease ofDonimalai Iron Ore granted tothe former in 2018, has stayedthe Karnataka Government’sorder till next hearing. The tri-bunal on Wednesday in itsorder said that “accordingly theimpugned order dated August17, 2019 and any consequentaction thereon are stayed untilthe next date of hearing”

The said stay order wouldprohibit the Government ofKarnataka to take any furtheraction regarding mining leaseor initiate auction process ofDonimalai mine.

NMDC on August 19,2019 filed a Revision Petition

before the Mines Tribunal,challenging the Government ofKarnataka’s arbitrary order ofwithdrawing the extension ofmining lease of DonimalaiIron Ore Mine granted to it onNovember 2, 2018, accordingto a press note issued by theGovernment of India enter-prise.

The petition challengesthe Karnataka Government’sAugust 17 order that with-draws the extension of lease ofDonimalai Iron Ore Mine,granted earlier for a period of20 years till November 3,2038.

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Power and New &Renewable Energy Minister

R K Singh on Thursdayapproved a proposal to declareocean energy as renewableenergy.

The Ministry of New andRenewable Energy (MNRE)has clarified to all stakeholdersthat energy produced usingvarious forms of ocean energy,such as tidal, wave, ocean ther-mal energy conversion, shall beconsidered as renewable ener-

gy and shall be eligible formeeting non-solar renewablepurchase obligations (RPO), astatement by the MNRE said.

This step has been taken bythe MNRE after some renew-able energy developers soughtclarification in this regard,according to the statement.

Under the RPO, distribu-tion companies (discoms) arerequired to have certain pro-portion of clean energy sup-plies. The proportion is fixed bystate power regulators. Thediscoms can also buy renew-

able energy certificates in lieuof mandated clean energy sup-plies, from the developers orrenewable power generators.

Oceans cover 70 per cent ofthe earth’s surface and representan enormous amount of ener-gy in the form of wave, tidal,marine current and thermalgradient.

A variety of different tech-nologies are currently underdevelopment throughout theworld to harness this energy inall its forms.

Deployment is currently

limited but the sector has thepotential to grow, fuelling eco-nomic growth, reducing carbonfootprint and creating jobs notonly along the coasts but alsoinland along its supply chains.

As India steps up its effortto contemplate its renewableenergy and climate changeobjectives after 2022, it isopportune to explore all pos-sible avenues to stimulate inno-vation, create economic growthand new jobs as well as toreduce our carbon footprint,the statement said.

New Delhi: VakilSearch, alegal-tech company whichoffers online legal, tax andcompliance technology ser-vices has launched SwadeshiStartup Movement to encour-age citizens of India to becomeentrepreneurs. Inspired by theSwadeshi Movement thatensued during the freedomstruggle era, this campaign isbeing launched to commemo-rate the Make in India initia-tive, in-line with Startup Indiaspearheaded by theGovernment of India. PNS

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Goodyear India onThursday launched two

new products AssuranceDuraPlus 2 and Wrangler ATSilentTrac for the Indian mar-ket. While Assurance Duraplus2 is designed for small-to-mid-sized passenger cars,Wrangler AT SilentTrac is tai-lored for confident SUV driverswith a strong desire for adven-ture and the freedom to explorewith full control over thewheels.

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State-run power giant NTPCon Thursday it has got

shareholders’ approval to raiseup to �15,000 crore throughissuance of bonds and to raiseits borrowing limit to �2 lakhcrore.

The company got share-holders’ nod through a specialresolution to raise funds up to�15,000 crore through issue ofbonds/debentures on private

placement basis in the domes-tic market at its annual gener-al meeting (AGM) held onWednesday, it said in a BSE filing.

According to the AGMnotice, the funds raised will beused for capital expenditure,working capital and generalcorporate purposes.

NTPC has also got share-holders’ approval to increase itsborrowing limit from �1.5 lakhcrore to �2 lakh crore.

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New Delhi: Weddingz.in, a wedding company posted that it hasgrown 480% since the acquisition of OYO. A year after its acqui-sition by OYO Hotels & Homes, India's largest, world's 3rd largestand fastest-growing chain of leased and franchised hotels, homes,living and workspaces, Weddingz.in has witnessed 480% growthin revenue. Backed by OYO's operational capabilities, a uniqueoffering of providing hassle-free wedding experience and 1500+talented employees, Weddingz.in has become a household namefor a great wedding experience. Weddingz.in has witnessed 636%growth in bookings since August 2018 and enjoys high customerdelight. PNS

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Page 11: ˇ ˙˘ ˝ &’ $ () · Several students of the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) at Burla ... ragging by their seniors, videos of which have surfaced. A senior university

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The Commerce Ministry willsoon come out with a new

foreign trade policy, whichprovides guideline and incen-tives for increasing exports, forthe next five financial years2020-25, an official said.

The ministry is givingfinal touches to the new pol-icy as the validity for the oldone will end on March 31,2020.

“We have taken views ofall stakeholders. The new pol-icy is likely to be announcedby September-end or early-October,” the official said.

The new policy wouldfocus on simplifying proce-dures for exporters andimporters besides providingincentives to boost outboundshipments.

The ministr y’s arm,Directorate General ofForeign Trade (DGFT), is for-mulating the policy.

At present, tax benefits areprovided under merchandiseexport from India scheme(MEIS) for goods and servicesexport from India scheme(SEIS).

In the new policy, changesare expected in the incentivesgiven to goods as the currentexport promotion schemesare challenged by the US inthe dispute resolution mech-anism of the World Trade

Organisation (WTO).In this backdrop, the gov-

ernment is recasting theincentives to make them com-pliant with global trade rules,being formulated by Geneva-based WTO, a 164 memberGeneva-based multilateralbody.

The Commerce Ministryhas also floated a cabinet notefor a new export incentivesscheme — Rebate of Stateand Central Taxes and Levies(RoSCTL) — that would becompliant with the WTOnorms.

The RoSCTL scheme isavailable for exports of gar-ments and made-ups. It wouldnow be proposed to extend itto all exports in a phasedmanner.

The new scheme wouldreplace the existing MEIS,which was challenged by theUS last year in the WTO. Itwould ensure refund of all un-rebated central and state leviesand taxes imposed on inputsthat are consumed in exportsof all sectors.

Major un-rebated leviesare state VAT/central exciseduty on fuel used in trans-portation, captive power, farmsector; mandi tax; duty ofelectricity; stamp duty onexport documents, purchasesfrom unregistered dealers;embedded CGST and com-pensation cess coal used in the

production of electricity.Exporters are demanding

incentives based on researchand development, and prod-uct-specific clusters under thenew policy.

Ludhiana-based HandTools Association PresidentSC Ralhan said the new poli-cy should have provisions forrefund of indirect taxes like onoil and power, and state leviessuch as mandi tax.

“Sectors like engineeringshould be promoted as theycreate huge number of jobs.There should be relaxation forobtaining l icence underExport Promotion CapitalGoods for modernisation ofindustry,” Ralhan said.

Assistant professor andexpert on agriculture eco-nomics Chirala Shankar Raohas said the policy should lookat ways to promote agriexports as it holds hugeopportunities.

During April-July 2019-20, the country’s exportsdipped 0.37 per cent to USD107.41 billion.

Since 2011-12, India’sexports have been hovering ataround USD 300 billion.During 2018-19, overseasshipments grew 9 per cent toUSD 331 billion.

The government is tar-geting to increase the exportsto USD one trillion in thecoming years.

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Equity markets closed deepin the red on Thursdayafter top government offi-

cials virtually ruled out a stim-ulus package for slowdown-hitsectors, triggering anotherround of selling in banking,auto and metal stocks.

A weakening rupee, whichhit its lowest level in eightmonths, and lackluster globalcues further weighed oninvestor sentiment, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensexsank 587.44 points, or 1.59%,to finish at 36,472.93. Thebroader NSE Nifty slumped177.35 points, or 1.62%, to10,741.35. Both the key indicesclosed lower for the thirdstraight session.

Chief Economic AdviserKrishnamurthy Subramanianon Thursday said using taxpay-ers’ money to bail out companiesgoing through a ‘sunset’ phasewould create moral hazards andsuch a step was an anathema tothe market economy.

Power Secretary SubhashChandra Garg also said lowinterest rates and availability ofcredit to private sector were bet-ter tools than a fiscal stimulus.

The comments have dashedhopes of some sort of a stimu-lus package from the govern-ment to boost growth and revive

flagging consumer sentiment,analysts said.

Yes Bank was the biggestlaggard in the Sensex pack,plummeting 13.91%, followedby Vedanta, Bajaj Finance andTata Motors, which declined upto 7.76%.

ONGC, SBI, HeroMotoCorp, ICICI Bank, TataSteel, HDFC twins and RILalso closed with losses.

Tech Mahindra, TCS, HULand HCL Tech were the onlygainers, spurting up to 1.57%.

“Benchmark indices con-tinue to remain weak with rupeehitting fresh lows and lack ofnews on the economic stimulusby the government... Investorsentiment was further damp-ened by statement made byChief Economic Advisor thatIndian economy doesn’t needfiscal stimulus to tackle slow-down.

“Besides policy uncertaintyon the domestic front, weak

global cues, foreign fund flow,currency and oil price move-ment would further determinethe trend of the market,” saidHemang Jani, head (advisory),Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

Speaking at an event inDelhi, Subramanian stressed onthe cyclical nature of a marketeconomy.

“Since 1991 we are a marketeconomy, and in a market econ-omy there are sectors which goon sunrise and then go throughsunset phase.

“If we basically expect thegovernment to use taxpayers’money to intervene every timewhen there are some ‘sunsets,’then I think you introduce pos-sible moral hazards from ‘too bigto fail’ and as well as the possi-bility of a situation where prof-its are private and losses aresocialized which is basically ananathema to way the marketeconomy functions,” he said.

Speaking at the same event,

Power Secretary SubhashChandra Garg said reduction ininterest rates and availability ofcredit to private sector are bet-ter tools than a fiscal stimulus.Garg, who was FinanceSecretary till last month, alsosaid the first quarter GDP num-ber are likely to be lower than thesame period last fiscal.

Meanwhile, BSE realtyindex was the biggest sectoralloser, cracking 6.01%, followedby metal, finance, oil and gas,bankex and energy.

IT index was the sole gain-er, rising 0.30%, buoyed by aweak rupee.

The broader BSE midcapand smallcap indices followedthe benchmarks, closing up to2.19% lower.

Globally, markets were jit-tery ahead of comments fromFederal Reserve Chair JeromePowell at Jackson Hole,Wyoming, US.

Elsewhere in Asia, ShanghaiComposite Index and Nikkeiended on a positive note, whileHang Seng and Kospi settled inthe red. Equities in Europe weretrading lower in their respectiveearly sessions.

The Indian rupee depreci-ated 33 paise to 71.88 against theUS dollar intra-day.

Brent crude futures, theglobal oil benchmark, rose0.65% to USD 60.69 per barrel.

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<7!/�#7@*"@B-.�3B!!�9B@New Delhi (PTI): Continuing the record-setting trend, gold

price on Thursday hit a new high of �38,970 per 10 gram bygaining �150 in the national capital, according to the All-IndiaSarafa Association, mainly on account of a weaker rupee andsafe-haven buying from investors due to weak equity market.Gold prices have been hitting a fresh high everyday sinceTuesday. Silver advanced by �60 to �45,100 per kg onincreased offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

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Government think tank NITIAayog on Thursday made a

case for extraordinary steps todeal with the unprecedentedstress in the financial sectorwhich has resulted in an eco-nomic slowdown in the country.

The government needs totake steps which eliminateapprehension from the minds ofprivate sector players andencourage them to step upinvestments, NITI Aayog ViceChairman Rajiv Kumar said. Healso said private investments willdrive India out of the middleincome trap.

Terming the stress in thefinancial sector as unprecedent-ed, he said nobody had faced thissort of situation in the last 70years where entire financial sys-tem was under threat.

“Nobody is trusting any-body else... within the privatesector nobody is ready to lend,everyone is sitting on cash... youmay have to take steps which areextraordinary,” he said at anevent here.

Elaborating further, Kumarsaid some of the steps hadalready been announced in theUnion Budget to address stressin the financial sector and givea push to economic growthwhich hit a 5-year low of 6.8 percent in 2018-19.

Script Open High Low LTPLICHSGFIN 437.15 437.15 405.70 412.85YESBANK 65.60 67.70 53.15 56.30DLF 168.60 168.60 137.75 144.30IBULHSGFIN 472.00 472.00 439.05 449.90SUZLON 4.29 4.29 4.12 4.16IDEA 5.50 5.71 5.20 5.26TATAMOTORS 112.20 114.00 106.20 107.65RELCAPITAL 40.60 40.75 30.40 32.00TATASTEEL 340.00 346.70 330.20 333.35RELIANCE 1271.00 1271.05 1239.05 1246.50ICICIBANK 411.20 412.40 397.90 399.15RPOWER 3.19 3.19 2.72 2.81INFY* 800.80 800.80 792.50 795.90RELINFRA 42.50 42.55 34.45 36.25DHFL 45.80 45.80 38.90 39.70SBIN 277.00 278.00 267.30 268.40BAJFINANCE 3260.00 3260.00 3100.00 3117.80MARUTI 6210.00 6297.95 6167.65 6206.95INDUSINDBK 1370.00 1370.00 1330.00 1335.70LT 1312.30 1327.70 1283.30 1294.10RBLBANK 372.00 377.80 343.90 348.15ASHOKLEY 62.30 62.40 57.50 57.95ONGC 121.90 121.90 116.25 116.85STRTECH 130.00 130.00 104.15 104.15VEDL 138.80 138.85 125.70 129.05HDFCBANK 2226.00 2226.00 2168.00 2173.75ITC 242.00 246.00 238.95 240.10HDFCLIFE 533.00 538.05 525.20 528.25SPICEJET 136.45 136.50 130.80 131.45AXISBANK 669.00 669.80 657.95 660.90BANKBARODA 94.20 94.95 89.75 90.55NMDC 89.15 90.05 78.00 78.65JINDALSTEL 97.60 100.70 95.55 96.85COALINDIA 189.95 189.95 177.80 180.70BRITANNIA 2383.95 2477.00 2383.95 2443.55MOTHERSUMI 97.90 97.90 95.00 96.85UPL 535.00 552.75 508.25 518.45IBVENTURES 195.15 196.00 172.20 190.10HATHWAY 33.60 38.60 33.30 34.35ICICIPRULI 387.00 387.00 376.95 382.90CANBK 221.90 221.90 208.40 209.70GAIL 122.45 124.70 120.10 120.65TCS 2186.05 2235.00 2171.00 2214.90TECHM 679.00 684.15 668.65 682.80HINDUNILVR 1856.00 1879.65 1842.25 1872.25BAJAJFINSV 7175.00 7185.00 6742.20 6764.60JUSTDIAL 682.00 682.00 654.05 676.05SUNPHARMA 416.00 420.65 408.85 414.50NTPC 118.00 118.25 113.80 114.65THOMASCOOK 160.85 160.85 129.40 129.40ZEEL 344.90 344.90 323.50 328.40ULTRACEMCO 3924.00 3942.85 3815.00 3835.10HDFC 2070.00 2072.65 2008.00 2014.85TATAPOWER 51.10 55.70 50.70 53.45L&TFH 97.50 97.50 92.05 93.10PNB 64.00 64.25 61.15 61.45INDIGO 1630.05 1650.30 1615.20 1619.90NBCC 30.70 30.70 29.05 29.30BIOCON 225.00 225.85 218.20 221.60IBREALEST 71.00 71.05 66.25 67.00BEL 93.40 94.15 92.05 93.30KOTAKBANK 1506.00 1509.15 1472.00 1477.30SAIL 31.20 31.80 29.70 30.05HEROMOTOCO 2718.10 2718.10 2612.00 2625.85IOC 122.00 122.00 116.55 117.70WIPRO 252.40 253.50 248.60 252.00HEG 960.00 960.00 886.10 894.75SOUTHBANK 11.00 11.00 10.40 10.52PETRONET 239.00 245.15 236.30 238.85SRF 2885.00 2885.00 2772.90 2787.85PCJEWELLER 31.00 31.00 26.65 27.00M&M 525.00 525.00 509.65 512.15GRAPHITE 283.30 286.00 274.90 276.20HINDPETRO 238.50 238.55 225.00 226.35NCC 54.70 54.90 51.25 51.85HAVELLS 650.00 664.80 642.40 656.15FORCEMOT 1257.95 1259.85 1181.80 1190.45PEL 1761.05 1785.00 1713.35 1725.60WOCKPHARMA 256.40 260.00 250.40 254.40UJJIVAN 256.80 267.60 256.80 260.25TITAN 1067.40 1070.00 1048.60 1062.35OMAXE 196.60 200.35 194.40 197.30DCBBANK 210.00 210.40 188.35 193.60ACC 1488.00 1488.85 1454.05 1465.10HDFCAMC 2201.00 2201.00 2125.00 2138.05GRASIM 695.00 708.70 682.00 687.80DMART 1481.00 1503.00 1478.00 1485.65TATAELXSI 634.90 638.75 603.55 606.75EQUITAS 103.90 105.05 101.45 101.95DBL 406.90 406.90 329.55 336.85ADANIENT 131.05 131.55 126.35 126.95GODREJIND 438.60 439.00 426.40 428.35BPCL 328.90 329.65 309.90 312.65BHARTIARTL 352.85 357.05 351.20 352.65BHEL 48.05 48.75 47.80 48.00M&MFIN 315.10 319.70 303.50 305.50EXIDEIND 174.00 178.50 168.70 170.75MGL 852.00 855.60 831.35 833.60HCLTECH 1070.70 1086.10 1056.85 1078.45ADANITRANS 223.65 225.95 214.50 216.30ESCORTS 449.00 449.00 429.50 432.00CGPOWER 10.65 11.65 10.65 10.65SPARC 151.05 151.10 143.10 144.95EDELWEISS 115.00 115.75 105.20 106.75JSWSTEEL 215.70 220.50 213.00 217.05HINDALCO 174.60 179.20 172.75 176.60BANDHANBNK 474.00 475.75 453.00 457.35UFLEX 198.70 202.00 198.00 199.65

SUNTV 415.00 426.15 407.10 415.35INDIACEM 75.75 76.10 70.55 70.90SBILIFE 828.00 837.40 808.10 815.35DELTACORP 146.80 147.70 142.25 146.05BANKINDIA 65.25 65.25 61.70 62.35UNIONBANK 60.00 60.70 57.90 58.45MANAPPURAM 122.00 122.00 117.60 118.20ASIANPAINT 1590.00 1593.90 1567.00 1570.35ENGINERSIN 98.70 102.00 94.10 95.35AMBUJACEM 200.45 200.85 196.50 197.70CADILAHC 211.20 217.00 206.45 214.00DISHTV 22.35 23.10 21.30 21.65GNFC 189.00 189.00 172.15 176.85ADANIPOWER 58.50 59.35 56.50 56.95TATAMTRDVR 52.85 53.05 50.25 50.85MARICO 394.00 394.15 389.65 391.45BATAINDIA 1470.20 1474.45 1447.35 1457.60DRREDDY 2527.00 2558.80 2503.40 2545.10PFC 101.20 102.70 100.05 101.80BOMDYEING 68.75 68.75 62.95 63.45OBEROIRLTY 504.00 504.00 476.10 483.85JUBLFOOD 1131.80 1149.90 1093.60 1104.95FEDERALBNK 82.85 82.85 79.90 80.40NOCIL 77.40 77.40 73.90 75.40CEATLTD 872.30 877.65 852.35 870.05GRUH 246.75 250.05 229.10 232.45IDFCFIRSTB 43.75 43.75 42.35 43.00APOLLOTYRE 160.30 165.25 160.30 163.15RAYMOND 565.85 566.90 543.70 547.65NESTLEIND 12649.90 12795.70 12410.85 12458.55AUROPHARMA 590.15 600.00 584.00 590.85MFSL 445.45 454.35 435.50 439.70STAR 377.90 384.70 370.20 377.05EICHERMOT 16190.00 16190.00 15500.00 15525.70BEML 756.00 757.60 721.00 734.75JAICORPLTD 72.00 72.00 66.50 67.60TVSMOTOR 368.00 368.35 352.85 356.30PERSISTENT 539.00 584.95 533.00 569.45KNRCON 246.15 249.30 237.80 241.00ABCAPITAL 90.00 90.35 86.65 88.05GODFRYPHLP 973.00 973.90 898.00 916.60DCMSHRIRAM 397.50 397.50 373.05 379.85NATIONALUM 38.90 39.30 37.70 38.00

REPCOHOME 312.70 317.20 309.00 312.80JAMNAAUTO 33.75 33.95 31.40 31.85CHOLAFIN 256.00 258.95 247.05 249.55LUPIN 735.85 745.95 731.75 737.25TATACHEM 556.25 556.25 545.40 550.75VENKYS 1420.00 1431.40 1360.30 1369.60DABUR 427.05 431.85 424.60 427.95WESTLIFE 289.70 289.75 271.45 275.75PARAGMILK 138.50 146.60 134.60 136.40NHPC 23.35 23.35 23.20 23.25ITI 67.80 67.80 59.70 60.15MAHLOG 352.00 353.00 325.60 344.85TATAGLOBAL 265.00 265.00 256.35 258.60RAJESHEXPO 717.00 734.25 702.00 728.80SUVEN 255.90 258.00 251.85 253.40GODREJCP 610.00 622.35 603.50 607.95PVR 1468.00 1483.30 1445.05 1453.95IGL 326.40 326.40 314.65 321.80NAVINFLUOR 705.60 706.50 663.00 690.05CIPLA 470.00 470.00 460.65 463.10KEC 273.90 273.90 250.00 251.50JPASSOCIAT 2.28 2.28 2.09 2.11SRTRANSFIN 1005.00 1006.30 981.30 986.95PRESTIGE 289.15 299.90 280.00 291.20IRB 85.45 85.45 80.65 81.50AJANTPHARM 947.00 969.90 931.65 965.25FSL 48.70 49.00 46.00 46.55NAUKRI 2134.65 2140.05 2040.55 2049.85PHILIPCARB 117.60 117.90 112.45 113.25HFCL 19.90 19.90 18.65 18.70MINDAIND 307.65 309.85 301.05 305.45MCX 841.00 852.00 825.75 837.55DIVISLAB 1536.60 1575.65 1532.05 1568.40ADANIPORTS 351.10 351.10 341.00 345.00JUBILANT 440.90 440.90 405.25 408.65RNAM 232.15 244.80 232.00 239.50BERGEPAINT 364.10 365.30 357.50 362.00RADICO 305.00 305.60 287.40 291.45AVANTI 295.10 295.10 281.55 282.40

BAJAJ-AUTO 2773.70 2774.65 2732.40 2741.55BHARATFORG 390.00 390.60 380.00 383.80RAMCOCEM 713.25 716.15 683.55 705.30APOLLOHOSP 1469.85 1474.00 1445.00 1450.45RECLTD 140.15 141.45 137.35 138.55ICICIGI 1131.25 1148.00 1121.80 1140.85PIIND 1108.00 1189.00 1095.00 1145.40ALKEM 1721.40 1792.50 1721.00 1750.05NIITTECH 1366.00 1374.50 1352.50 1360.45SONATSOFTW 313.65 316.10 309.55 315.35INFRATEL 246.50 248.60 244.35 246.55CENTURYTEX 830.00 836.85 809.70 811.95IDBI 25.40 25.40 24.10 24.45GLENMARK 364.05 365.60 356.35 359.55MEGH 43.70 43.80 42.00 42.20VOLTAS 588.00 605.50 586.00 597.95CANFINHOME 380.25 381.05 362.20 369.50SIEMENS 1153.00 1160.00 1131.00 1141.20PIDILITIND 1366.00 1369.50 1347.00 1360.70RCF 40.35 40.65 38.00 38.20DEEPAKNI 273.50 273.50 260.00 260.30SOBHA 471.35 471.35 448.55 450.45REDINGTON 100.70 105.45 98.50 104.70MINDTREE 700.85 703.70 681.50 693.10POWERGRID 204.00 205.55 200.85 202.80ADANIGAS 153.10 153.10 145.45 146.15TORNTPOWER 282.85 287.55 279.70 281.85TIMKEN 704.90 709.90 701.70 704.45COFFEEDAY 76.40 76.40 75.00 76.40GODREJAGRO 448.00 452.60 433.80 437.50HEXAWARE 382.00 384.00 376.45 377.85KAJARIACER 488.60 488.60 467.35 472.15SWANENERGY 100.85 101.50 99.75 100.80WELSPUNIND 47.20 49.35 45.40 47.85CUMMINSIND 570.00 574.25 554.45 568.80IPCALAB 943.70 964.50 943.25 958.70SUNTECK 447.00 448.40 421.30 428.75GODREJPROP 898.00 900.55 880.00 890.85HEIDELBERG 202.00 202.40 186.05 187.35ABFRL 186.00 191.30 185.50 189.65LAKSHVILAS 39.80 40.25 39.80 39.85BAJAJELEC 369.00 370.55 357.20 359.70UBL 1280.00 1308.60 1275.05 1291.60LALPATHLAB 1188.30 1215.00 1162.80 1178.25WABAG 273.15 273.15 261.60 263.40GICRE 172.00 172.00 158.00 160.20MUTHOOTFIN 609.00 619.25 594.50 598.45SYNGENE 303.20 305.50 294.00 304.35CASTROLIND 116.05 116.25 112.75 114.00J&KBANK 35.80 35.80 33.20 33.40BALKRISIND 732.85 738.45 724.70 735.55INOXLEISUR 272.15 274.15 255.00 258.80INDIANB 173.00 173.00 166.20 167.25SHANKARA 293.40 299.90 272.00 285.30AMARAJABAT 611.00 611.00 590.30 602.50RAIN 81.25 82.00 79.05 79.95JINDALSAW 66.65 66.65 64.55 65.10VBL 645.85 649.35 625.00 640.50KEI 458.15 458.15 391.75 413.85PTC 58.50 58.75 57.65 57.95GRANULES 91.10 92.30 88.05 88.60AUBANK 691.05 691.05 664.30 671.10CHAMBLFERT 138.45 139.15 133.70 135.85GMRINFRA 14.70 15.05 14.44 14.69LTTS 1563.80 1586.90 1556.00 1572.65HINDCOPPER 30.20 30.20 28.25 28.80TAKE 102.70 103.35 100.10 102.00CHENNPETRO 193.70 193.70 183.20 189.25ADANIGREEN 44.10 44.50 43.10 43.55PGHL 4315.00 4350.00 4080.00 4175.70MAHINDCIE 149.10 149.85 138.45 144.20JKTYRE 57.00 57.05 55.40 56.35TRENT 474.95 477.95 467.50 470.25OIL 143.70 144.60 141.80 142.30BBTC 758.00 767.70 740.25 757.35HSCL 78.55 78.75 75.00 75.90COLPAL 1204.95 1204.95 1180.30 1190.05MOIL 122.00 125.00 118.55 120.60INDHOTEL 128.60 130.25 121.15 124.70HUDCO 32.50 32.65 30.25 30.35VIPIND 382.00 382.10 369.00 370.70FRETAIL 419.80 423.80 409.40 413.45LTI 1608.15 1615.00 1587.75 1593.30ALBK 32.25 32.25 30.15 30.80TATACOFFEE 71.00 71.00 68.55 68.75BAJAJCON 252.85 265.00 243.10 244.30GSFC 72.10 72.30 68.65 70.85INTELLECT 221.20 221.90 210.25 212.95TATACOMM 426.00 430.10 420.40 423.10GICHSGFIN 172.20 172.20 160.00 161.45CENTRUM 27.80 28.50 27.50 28.10BALMLAWRIE 171.20 171.20 162.50 164.20TRIDENT 57.00 57.00 54.00 54.45CONCOR 482.00 487.70 480.05 482.60JMFINANCIL 71.50 71.55 70.05 70.65HINDZINC 202.35 202.50 198.35 199.55JISLJALEQS 20.40 20.40 19.10 19.50QUESS 446.00 453.55 441.00 449.60CROMPTON 223.35 226.00 221.15 224.00KALPATPOWR 480.50 488.95 464.60 468.80CARERATING 576.10 576.10 521.15 533.05SUNDRMFAST 405.50 412.00 400.00 406.05ISEC 205.00 206.90 200.00 202.25DCAL 176.20 176.50 159.50 165.80MPHASIS 959.85 972.40 954.40 967.90ORIENTBANK 63.05 63.15 60.10 60.40RITES 232.90 234.90 224.65 227.70TORNTPHARM 1668.00 1681.00 1652.50 1673.30KRBL 221.00 221.25 212.30 216.45

GSPL 216.45 219.70 213.60 215.95ENDURANCE 871.20 881.90 852.95 862.15JSWENERGY 67.60 67.80 66.70 67.10RCOM 1.03 1.04 1.03 1.03DEEPAKFERT 81.75 82.10 77.65 77.95CENTRALBK 18.70 18.70 17.90 18.10INOXWIND 35.05 36.80 33.20 33.65ESSELPRO 84.25 84.25 78.85 80.45INFIBEAM 40.15 40.55 39.55 39.85FCONSUMER 30.80 31.00 29.00 29.95KANSAINER 471.00 475.80 462.65 473.30APLAPOLLO 1304.35 1304.35 1259.20 1278.95GET&D 148.95 155.00 144.25 152.30FORTIS 121.70 123.10 120.50 121.65PNBHOUSING 692.00 692.00 671.35 674.45ATUL 3507.45 3574.95 3480.00 3541.70BDL 284.55 285.00 265.90 269.60EMAMILTD 297.00 297.00 280.25 283.50CUB 198.80 199.35 193.75 196.45KTKBANK 74.00 74.60 73.10 73.60OFSS 2883.00 2928.50 2844.00 2909.55GREAVESCOT 118.05 120.05 115.40 115.85GHCL 191.70 194.00 184.75 185.10AIAENG 1609.00 1620.00 1580.00 1593.55IDFC 34.15 34.15 32.75 33.20SCI 25.85 25.90 25.10 25.25IRCON 348.20 354.65 347.00 351.10COCHINSHIP 342.95 342.95 333.80 334.80LEMONTREE 52.60 53.15 52.05 53.00TV18BRDCST 19.05 19.05 18.10 18.30VINATIORGA 2006.05 2070.00 2000.00 2049.35VGUARD 229.60 229.60 225.70 226.95PHOENIXLTD 635.00 638.00 620.35 632.55COROMANDEL 360.00 361.00 348.95 357.10BLISSGVS 90.00 92.00 82.10 82.10MMTC 18.80 18.80 17.55 17.85GLAXO 1210.00 1219.50 1178.55 1204.65GESHIP* 246.30 246.40 232.65 237.45DBCORP 147.10 147.10 137.65 139.05MAHSEAMLES 398.00 398.00 365.45 368.90MOTILALOFS 552.05 575.90 539.00 562.00ITDC 167.50 167.50 154.45 156.25PFIZER 2900.00 2900.00 2860.00 2880.20TATAINVEST 776.50 777.20 745.05 750.65NATCOPHARM 534.00 545.70 531.00 542.80CYIENT 437.70 443.50 436.30 440.00ALLCARGO 91.95 94.60 89.75 91.85IOB 9.70 9.70 9.00 9.25LAXMIMACH 3682.45 3690.00 3600.00 3600.45RALLIS 155.50 157.70 150.25 156.10PAGEIND 17902.35 17984.00 17600.00 17680.50GUJALKALI 389.05 392.90 380.00 380.75ASHOKA 116.50 116.50 109.10 111.95CENTURYPLY 131.30 132.00 125.60 126.70GUJGAS 182.50 182.50 177.75 178.40BOSCHLTD 13701.00 13701.00 13206.00 13408.35ASTRAZEN 1698.00 1718.00 1660.00 1677.30TNPL 177.40 178.40 172.25 173.25GILLETTE 7069.55 7150.00 7057.50 7131.95MAHABANK 11.65 11.71 10.80 11.32ABB 1356.50 1356.50 1341.00 1349.00WELCORP 113.30 113.30 109.50 110.55ANDHRABANK 18.10 18.30 17.55 17.60ZYDUSWELL 1520.40 1550.00 1501.00 1513.55SADBHAV 121.10 122.80 115.15 116.15GSKCONS 8000.00 8122.35 8000.00 8095.95MRPL 46.65 46.75 45.75 45.90VTL 900.00 900.00 880.05 894.10NETWORK18 20.30 20.30 18.00 18.45FLFL 449.80 449.80 425.00 427.65NLCINDIA 54.50 55.20 53.85 54.10JKCEMENT 996.30 1005.30 973.30 987.90AAVAS 1450.55 1499.55 1446.90 1474.40AEGISLOG 200.70 203.45 197.05 199.35ABBOTINDIA 8946.50 9065.00 8577.00 8733.80FINCABLES 370.70 372.55 354.55 368.75THYROCARE 439.10 442.95 436.90 437.90INDOSTAR 274.15 275.85 272.95 273.35IEX 131.00 136.70 129.25 134.30THERMAX 1038.60 1045.00 1000.90 1014.85EIHOTEL 150.70 154.95 145.95 149.40UCOBANK 14.80 15.00 14.30 14.65GPPL 79.20 80.40 77.00 79.35JETAIRWAYS 34.00 34.00 32.85 32.85JSLHISAR 63.55 63.60 61.40 62.20VARROC 405.65 405.65 380.05 392.90SUPREMEIND 1121.65 1125.90 1090.00 1102.85BIRLACORPN 549.60 553.00 530.00 532.80SHRIRAMCIT 1295.00 1398.80 1295.00 1387.40IFCI 7.01 7.11 7.00 7.03FINOLEXIND 504.30 504.30 499.10 499.35SOMANYCERA 275.00 278.80 262.25 265.70GDL 93.40 94.15 89.45 90.30SYNDIBANK 30.00 30.15 29.55 29.75ECLERX 484.00 484.00 453.30 471.95TIMETECHNO 59.00 59.60 56.30 56.65PNCINFRA 197.40 198.10 191.10 192.05SHK 118.00 119.00 117.00 117.70JBCHEPHARM 381.15 381.40 379.70 380.30BAYERCROP 3120.10 3127.80 3055.35 3101.95LAOPALA 154.00 154.00 148.35 149.30NESCO 522.05 529.30 520.00 522.60ORIENTCEM 83.30 83.30 80.00 81.50WHIRLPOOL 1540.10 1550.40 1536.30 1539.55APLLTD 503.00 504.90 498.00 500.35BAJAJHLDNG 3331.75 3382.50 3323.70 3346.65MINDACORP 74.70 74.70 68.30 69.05ADVENZYMES 150.45 150.45 146.65 146.85TATAMETALI 524.00 525.00 498.85 500.55

ASTERDM 117.60 118.00 113.00 115.40TEJASNET 85.40 85.45 81.50 83.05MRF 57300.00 57699.00 57146.00 57585.90SHREECEM 18700.00 18715.50 18310.00 18462.05EIDPARRY 147.25 149.70 144.90 145.50GALAXYSURF 1297.00 1310.00 1290.70 1302.20NIACL 106.00 106.05 103.90 104.10VMART 1760.00 1781.50 1713.25 1745.65CAPPL 405.30 410.10 400.00 403.10PRSMJOHNSN 84.20 84.65 83.10 83.25SCHNEIDER 72.75 73.10 71.50 72.50GMDCLTD 62.00 62.05 60.10 60.35MAHSCOOTER 3978.55 3978.55 3873.10 3891.25PGHH 10399.00 10414.90 10160.65 10288.00CORPBANK 18.10 18.50 17.60 17.75HERITGFOOD 323.15 330.00 318.80 328.70SJVN 24.30 24.35 24.05 24.20SHILPAMED 260.00 260.10 250.10 251.50JKLAKSHMI 322.15 322.20 318.80 319.50TIINDIA 346.50 346.50 335.65 338.05JSL 29.00 29.00 26.80 28.25SREINFRA 10.60 10.73 9.88 10.10SCHAEFFLER 4060.95 4068.55 3952.00 4026.45RELAXO 422.15 425.00 410.15 421.80EVEREADY 81.25 81.40 77.35 77.35ASTRAL 1244.40 1250.65 1233.45 1239.85NILKAMAL 990.00 999.10 980.80 993.15HAL 660.00 666.70 646.60 647.90HIMATSEIDE 124.55 127.95 124.15 124.45NH 227.15 229.80 223.75 227.80BASF 990.00 993.00 976.00 987.70BLUEDART 2201.00 2240.00 2195.10 2230.25ZENSARTECH 215.75 217.00 214.10 215.60ASAHIINDIA 180.00 183.00 175.00 175.25IFBIND 629.70 629.70 602.05 606.30UNITEDBNK 9.61 9.61 9.11 9.24FDC 158.65 160.00 156.00 156.35MASFIN 608.45 616.90 592.50 593.40LUXIND 999.60 1010.00 983.50 995.10LAURUSLABS 335.00 336.15 326.55 331.65CARBORUNIV 273.20 273.65 266.40 269.60FINEORG 1430.25 1438.00 1425.00 1428.50TCNSBRANDS 713.85 713.85 662.45 670.80ELGIEQUIP 240.60 242.95 240.00 241.35ITDCEM 69.00 69.90 67.65 67.95MHRIL 208.85 212.75 208.15 209.65CCL 242.55 246.15 240.45 244.05GRINDWELL 563.30 574.55 563.30 564.70AKZOINDIA 1702.45 1711.00 1691.00 1691.75CRISIL 1242.05 1267.95 1242.05 1250.95SANOFI 6144.55 6145.00 5921.00 5945.70TTKPRESTIG 5681.10 5906.95 5681.10 5793.40GEPIL 721.85 744.35 707.00 739.25MONSANTO 2050.00 2064.20 2022.00 2055.65CREDITACC 510.50 513.00 500.00 506.50DHANUKA 318.85 327.55 307.75 326.90KPRMILL 574.05 574.05 545.05 548.85TRITURBINE 101.75 103.00 98.45 102.15CHOLAHLDNG 460.80 465.00 460.75 464.25APARINDS 529.00 532.80 517.65 528.35ORIENTELEC 152.25 154.40 149.00 153.10STARCEMENT 91.30 94.20 91.20 94.00NBVENTURES 86.00 86.00 83.10 83.65SUDARSCHEM 316.30 318.10 313.15 314.25SHOPERSTOP 361.25 365.00 360.00 360.15TEAMLEASE 2389.70 2425.00 2360.85 2411.80BLUESTARCO 718.40 718.40 708.25 709.05TVSSRICHAK 1655.00 1658.90 1632.35 1643.85JSWHL 2669.15 2785.00 2602.70 2675.00JYOTHYLAB 151.10 151.40 149.05 150.10LINDEINDIA 481.10 482.70 477.00 479.50GAYAPROJ 114.65 114.65 110.95 112.30ERIS 394.30 395.00 388.00 394.55HONAUT 23100.00 23150.00 22875.00 22953.80SUPRAJIT 181.00 181.00 176.25 177.20SYMPHONY 1219.25 1235.25 1219.25 1231.60SIS 702.40 815.35 702.40 796.90SFL 1140.00 1150.00 1124.10 1135.55GULFOILLUB 848.00 870.00 848.00 864.00MAHLIFE 362.40 373.50 362.40 368.70WABCOINDIA 6090.00 6144.00 6068.00 6085.10SKFINDIA 1834.85 1854.75 1834.70 1844.90MAGMA 67.00 68.00 66.15 66.70CERA 2403.55 2425.00 2375.60 2382.25HATSUN 601.90 603.00 581.00 584.30TVTODAY 299.90 301.00 298.00 298.50JAGRAN 69.70 70.10 69.00 69.50RATNAMANI 890.00 918.60 890.00 903.303MINDIA 20250.00 20329.50 20187.15 20213.45IBULISL 91.65 95.20 91.65 91.65SOLARINDS 1089.85 1091.40 1063.25 1071.20MAXINDIA 55.80 55.80 54.10 54.80JCHAC 1571.00 1581.55 1571.00 1576.00

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10905.30 10908.25 10718.30 10741.35 -177.35BRITANNIA 2393.50 2477.00 2393.00 2425.40 40.90TECHM 672.65 684.00 668.10 683.00 10.20DRREDDY 2503.00 2560.00 2503.00 2533.05 30.05TCS 2187.00 2235.65 2170.00 2210.00 23.80HINDUNILVR 1850.45 1880.00 1841.90 1869.10 19.10HCLTECH 1070.50 1086.35 1056.05 1079.00 8.85INFRATEL 246.10 248.75 244.25 245.90 1.30WIPRO 252.00 253.50 248.50 251.95 -0.45TITAN 1065.80 1070.00 1048.05 1061.55 -3.75MARUTI 6200.00 6298.50 6168.00 6198.00 -30.90INFY 799.90 801.30 792.35 795.40 -4.05AXISBANK 665.00 669.85 657.75 661.15 -3.55ITC 242.20 246.00 239.00 240.00 -1.45BAJAJ-AUTO 2762.00 2775.00 2731.30 2748.00 -16.80BHARTIARTL 355.00 357.20 351.00 351.95 -2.95HINDALCO 174.00 179.30 172.65 175.50 -1.55SUNPHARMA 416.70 420.75 408.50 413.00 -4.00POWERGRID 204.50 205.55 200.80 202.85 -2.05ASIANPAINT 1585.20 1593.90 1566.30 1570.00 -19.15CIPLA 464.90 469.95 460.60 462.00 -6.05JSWSTEEL 215.00 220.40 212.80 216.10 -2.90GRASIM 691.90 708.80 681.25 688.55 -10.25GAIL 122.00 124.70 119.75 120.70 -1.80LT 1302.00 1327.45 1283.15 1290.05 -20.60ADANIPORTS 348.80 348.80 340.80 345.20 -5.50KOTAKBANK 1503.95 1510.00 1472.40 1480.00 -25.75M&M 521.55 523.75 509.85 511.85 -9.05INDUSINDBK 1365.95 1365.95 1330.05 1339.75 -27.45RELIANCE 1270.95 1271.00 1238.90 1244.20 -26.75ULTRACEMCO 3903.75 3943.30 3817.10 3838.20 -83.20HDFCBANK 2220.85 2220.85 2167.05 2177.00 -48.85ONGC 121.20 121.50 116.20 117.70 -2.75NTPC 118.00 118.40 113.85 114.90 -3.00IOC 121.05 121.50 116.40 117.95 -3.10HDFC 2066.00 2073.50 2007.95 2012.30 -54.60TATASTEEL 339.90 346.95 330.40 333.00 -10.00EICHERMOT 16005.00 16052.00 15480.05 15530.00 -470.50ICICIBANK 411.00 412.50 398.00 398.85 -13.20HEROMOTOCO2713.00 2714.25 2606.00 2626.00 -88.25UPL 535.00 552.65 507.85 518.00 -17.90SBIN 278.30 278.30 267.30 268.00 -9.40TATAMOTORS 112.00 114.00 106.20 108.05 -4.35COALINDIA 188.00 188.45 177.70 181.10 -7.70ZEEL 342.15 343.90 323.20 330.00 -14.20BPCL 328.00 329.85 309.55 313.70 -14.10BAJFINANCE 3259.00 3259.00 3098.45 3113.90 -147.55IBULHSGFIN 470.00 470.00 438.30 458.50 -25.05BAJAJFINSV 7164.00 7186.25 6740.00 6774.00 -371.85VEDL 138.60 138.90 125.30 129.30 -10.65YESBANK 66.40 67.70 53.20 57.45 -7.95

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 25460.85 25476.85 25078.75 25136.90 -345.15DIVISLAB 1537.60 1576.30 1531.50 1569.00 35.90OFSS 2851.05 2927.35 2851.05 2902.60 52.40HAVELLS 647.50 665.00 643.35 658.90 8.25PETRONET 238.00 245.25 236.15 239.95 1.05NHPC 23.30 23.35 23.15 23.30 0.10CONCOR 482.95 488.00 480.00 483.85 0.85PGHH 10325.95 10398.00 10151.10 10299.85 12.80LUPIN 735.30 746.00 730.55 736.00 0.80UBL 1287.90 1309.00 1273.65 1286.00 0.00AUROPHARMA 589.50 600.70 583.85 589.20 -0.30BANDHANBNK 469.00 476.00 452.25 465.00 -0.40DMART 1481.75 1504.00 1477.35 1479.95 -1.80BAJAJHLDNG 3370.00 3389.70 3330.00 3343.30 -8.20DABUR 425.00 431.85 424.80 426.00 -1.05HDFCLIFE 533.95 538.35 525.40 529.00 -1.70ICICIGI 1125.25 1148.70 1120.25 1130.35 -4.00MRF 57502.00 57700.00 56979.00 57449.90 -287.10INDIGO 1625.00 1650.00 1614.80 1616.00 -8.80BHEL 48.15 48.80 47.70 48.00 -0.30PIDILITIND 1369.30 1369.35 1345.55 1357.40 -8.90BIOCON 224.70 226.25 218.05 221.90 -1.55ABB 1361.55 1364.00 1340.00 1350.00 -9.35CADILAHC 210.00 217.30 206.50 212.65 -1.50MARICO 393.00 394.30 389.50 390.35 -3.25MOTHERSUMI 96.90 97.45 94.90 96.00 -0.90GODREJCP 611.90 621.70 603.30 607.00 -6.40ICICIPRULI 386.00 386.00 376.80 381.60 -4.10COLPAL 1200.05 1203.30 1180.00 1185.00 -14.15ACC 1483.15 1489.00 1454.20 1462.70 -22.95HINDZINC 201.00 202.90 198.05 199.25 -3.25SIEMENS 1156.95 1161.20 1128.35 1132.05 -19.85SHREECEM 18672.40 18789.95 18311.05 18341.00 -360.95AMBUJACEM 200.80 200.90 196.50 197.00 -4.10BOSCHLTD 13645.70 13773.45 13213.25 13400.00 -287.95SBILIFE 826.20 837.65 805.55 810.00 -19.45MCDOWELL-N 577.10 587.40 561.00 565.00 -13.85PAGEIND 17950.10 17999.85 17590.05 17607.00 -433.95NIACL 106.15 106.15 103.15 103.80 -2.65HDFCAMC 2199.00 2199.60 2125.90 2138.00 -62.75SRTRANSFIN 1009.20 1009.20 981.35 982.50 -29.35PEL 1777.00 1784.95 1710.85 1724.00 -58.80BANKBARODA 94.30 95.00 89.65 91.40 -3.45L&TFH 96.90 97.50 92.05 93.10 -3.55SAIL 31.30 31.75 29.70 30.10 -1.25HINDPETRO 238.05 238.90 225.00 227.00 -11.75IDEA 5.55 5.75 5.20 5.30 -0.30ASHOKLEY 62.30 62.50 57.40 57.70 -4.20GICRE 173.00 174.00 158.00 158.50 -13.95NMDC 89.40 90.25 77.80 78.10 -8.25DLF 168.80 168.90 137.65 143.05 -28.55

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British Prime Minister BorisJohnson heads to Paris on

Thursday for talks with FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macronwho is expected to rebuff hislast-ditch efforts to renegotiatethe UK’s withdrawal from theEuropean Union.

Macron, who has said pre-viously he is happy to be the“bad guy” on Brexit, roundlyrejected Johnson’s calls to scrapa key plank of a deal negotiat-ed between the EU and formerBritish premier Theresa May.

“Renegotiation on theterms currently proposed bythe British is not an option thatexists, and that has alwaysbeen made clear by (EU)President Tusk,” Macron toldreporters on Wednesdayevening.

At stake is the so-called“backstop”, an arrangementguaranteeing that borderchecks will not return betweenEU member Ireland andNorthern Ireland which is partof Britain.

Johnson considers thebackstop to be “anti-democra-tic” and an affront to Britishsovereignty because it willrequire London to keep itsregulations aligned with the EU

during a transition exit period.The EU argues this is nec-

essary to avoid the re-emer-gence of border checkpointswhich could lead to a return offighting on the divided islandwhere anti-British violence has claimed thou-sands of lives.

More evidence of deadlockon Thursday would raise thechances of a “no deal” Brexit,which France now sees as themost likely scenario despite theexpectation that it will wreakeconomic damage on Britainand the EU.

“The EU and member

states need to take the possi-bility of a ‘no deal’ outcomemuch more seriously thanbefore,” a senior EU official toldreporters in Brussels onThursday on condition ofanonymity.

The Paris visit is the secondleg of Johnson’s first foreign tripsince he became prime minis-ter a month ago.

On Wednesday, he toldGerman Chancellor AngelaMerkel in Berlin that the back-stop has “grave defects for asovereign, democratic countrylike the UK” and insisted theprovision “has to go”.

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President Donald Trump hasthreatened to end what he

called the “ridiculous” US pol-icy of birthright citizenship,which gives citizenship auto-matically to those born inAmerica, as he sought ways tocheck illegal immigration.

“We’re looking at that veryseriously, birthright citizen-ship. It’s frankly ridiculous,”Trump said Wednesday outsidethe White House whileresponding to a question on thebirthright citizenship, whichgrants automatic citizenshipto those born in the US.

His comments echoes hisadministration’s previous vowto unilaterally end the processby which babies born in thecountry automatically becomeUS citizens.

“Birthright citizenshipwhere you have a baby on ourland, you walk over the border,have a baby, congratulations,the baby is now a US citizen.We’re looking at it very, veryseriously,” Trump said.

During his 2016 presiden-tial campaign, Trump had saidthat he will end the birthrightcitizenship.

The 14th Amendment of

the US Constitution guaranteesbirthright citizenship andstates: “All persons born or nat-uralised in the United Statesand subject to the jurisdictionthereof, are citizens of theUnited States and of the Statewherein they reside.”

Indian-origin Presidentialcandidate Kamala Harris, aDemocratic senator fromCalifornia, mocked Trump’scomments on TwitterWednesday, stating thePresident “should ‘seriously’consider reading theConstitution.”

Trump’s statement cameas the administrationannounced a proposal to detainundocumented families togeth-er indefinitely, replacing theagreement that set a 20-daylimit for holding children, TheHill reported.

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German Chancellor AngelaMerkel said Thursday that

Britain could have until the dayof its scheduled EU departureto avoid a chaotic no-dealBrexit, clarifying that she hadnot set London a 30-day dead-line. Merkel had appeared tolay down the 30-day rule tosolve the vexed issue of theIrish border “backstop” whenshe met British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson in Berlin onWednesday.

“I said that what you wantto do in three or two years, you

can do in 30 days -- or rather,you would have to say: you cando it by October 31,” Merkelsaid at a press conference inThe Hague with Dutch pre-mier Mark Rutte.

“So it’s not about 30 days,but they were symbolic for thefact that you can do it in a shortperiod of time.”

Merkel said she was givingthe new date “because GreatBritain said they would like toleave the European Union on31 October.”

“And until then we have towork on it -- work on it if thewill exists on both sides.”

The German leader saidthe aim was to find a regimethat both respects the two-decade old peace agreement inthe British province ofNorthern Ireland “and at thesame time we can ensure theintegrity of the (EU’s) internalmarket.”

In Berlin on Wednesdaynight, Merkel had appeared togive London its biggest glim-mer of hope in weeks when shesaid that “we have said wewould probably find it in thenext two years, but maybe wecan do it in the next 30 days,why not?”

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Asenior Chinese officer saysthe country “will not sit

idly by” if the US proceeds witha sale of advanced F-16V fight-er jets to Taiwan, and warnedof other potential counter-measures in addition to pun-ishing foreign firms involved inthe deal.

Col. Chen Rongdi, chief ofthe Institute of War Studies atthe Academy of MilitarySciences, said at a defense

forum Thursday that Beijingconsidered the sale a violationof previous US commitments toChina regarding the island itconsiders its own territory to beannexed by force if necessary.

He did not elaborate onwhat additional measuresChina might take.

Beijing has repeatedly saidit will levy sanctions against UScompanies linked to a plannedUSD 8 billion sale anddemanded Washington cancelit immediately.

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Hong Kong university stu-dent leaders said on

Thursday they’ll call for a boy-cott of the start of classes topressure the government torespond to the protest move-ment gripping the city sinceJune.

Student union leaders from10 universities said they wantstudents to skip the first twoweeks of classes in September.

They vowed to escalatetheir action if the city’s Beijing-backed leader, Carrie Lam,fails to respond by Sept. 13.

Young people have been atthe forefront of the Chinesecity’s protest movement, whichwas sparked by calls for thewithdrawal of an unpopularextradition bill.

The bill, which would haveallowed suspects to be extra-dited to mainland China wherethe judiciary is not indepen-

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Iran’s President struck a mus-cular tone on dealings with

the US, saying Thursday that“talks are useless” as Tehran’snuclear deal with world pow-ers crumbles further. PresidentHassan Rouhani made thecomment in a speech in Tehranduring the unveiling of theBavar-373, a long-range sur-face-to-air missile system thathe described as an improve-ment to the Russian S-300.

“Now that our enemies donot accept logic, we cannotrespond with logic,” Rouhanisaid in the televised speech.

He added: “When theenemy launches a missileagainst us, we cannot give aspeech and say: ‘Mr. Rocket,please do not hit our countryand our innocent people.Rocket-launching sir, if you canplease hit a button and self-destroy the missile in the air.’”

On Wednesday, Iran’s stateTV reported that the Bavar-373is able to recognize up to 100 tar-gets at a same time and confrontthem with six different weapons.

Since 1992, Iran has devel-oped a homegrown defenseindustry that has producedlight and heavy weapons rang-ing from mortars and torpe-does to tanks and submarines.

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North Korea said Thursday ithas “no interest” in dialogue

unless Washington stops “esca-lating hostile military moves”, asa senior US envoy visited Seoulwith an eye on reviving nucleartalks with Pyongyang.

Talks between Pyongyangand Washington have stalledsince a second summit betweenUS President Donald Trumpand North Korean leader KimJong Un in Hanoi collapsedwithout an agreement.

The pair met again in June

in the Demilitarised Zone andagreed to restart working-leveldialogue. Meanwhile, NorthKorea has carried out severalshort-range missile tests inrecent weeks in protest againstannual US-South Korea jointmilitary drills that it sees as arehearsal for invasion.

Stephen Biegun, the USspecial envoy for North Koreawho leads the working-leveltalks, arrived in Seoul lateTuesday for a three-day trip,and said Washington was “pre-pared to engage” as soon as ithears from Pyongyang.

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Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan will host

his Russian and Iranian coun-terparts for a summit on Syriain Ankara on September 16, thepresidential spokesman said.

Despite being on opposingsides in the Syrian conflict,Syria regime backers Iran andRussia have worked closelywith rebel supporter Turkey to find a political solu-tion.

“The president will host athree-way summit with theparticipation of Russia andIran in Ankara,” spokesmanIbrahim Kalin said lateWednesday.

The announcement of themeeting between PresidentVladimir Putin, IranianPresident Hassan Rouhani andErdogan comes at a time whenSyrian forces have madeadvances into the last rebelstronghold of Idlib in Syria’snorthwest.

Rome: Italy’s President begana second day of talks Thursdayaimed at solving the politicalcrisis shaking the country afterthe disintegration of the pop-ulist Government.

President Sergio Mattarellawas set to meet all the mainparties, including the anti-establishment Five StarMovement (M5S) and far-rightLeague. Prime MinisterGiuseppe Conte resignedTuesday after months ofalliance sniping and a bid byLeague leader and InteriorMinister Matteo Salvini to forcea snap election, just 14 monthsafter coming to power. AFP

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Did you know dabu or daboo is anancient mud resist hand blockprinting technique from

Rajasthan? The practice almost died inthe last century but was revived and isa flourishing business today. Day two ofthe Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive2019, saw designer Alka Sharma withher sustainable label of Udaipur,Aavaran. She presented her collectionMiniature Moon, which has been doneby the same old-age dabu technique. Ithas been embraced for printing intricatemotifs on the finest natural fabrics likemushru, mulberry silk and chanderi.Delicate and ethnic embroidery like pit-tan have been used for embellishing theclothes. Regalia inspired silhouetteshave been blended with modern designsto create this timeless and aesthetic col-lection.

The contemporary clothing labelspecialises in dabu mud resist, handdyed and block printed apparel. Thefabrics were eco-friendly, organic andnatural, which were in perfect syncwith the brand’s ethics of sustainabil-ity.

The process of dabu printing isquite complicated, involving manyworkers and multiple stages of print-ing, washing and dyeing. First, theplain fabric received from the millsis carefully washed to remove anyimpurities which may interferewith the dyeing process. Then,designs are meticulously andpainstakingly hand printed onto the fabric using blockswhich are dipped into fastdyes. The next and crucial stepinvolves the use of the mudresist which makes thisprint so unique.Ingredients like mud,gum, lime and wastewheat chaff are com-bined to make the‘dhabu’ or mud resistpaste which is thenpatted over certainparts of the design.The paste is driedwith sprinkledsawdust. This cov-ering essentiallyprotects theseparts of the fab-ric from the dyeused later on,creating aunique andcolorful effect.

After thisprocess ofprinting, thefabric is spreadout in the sunwhere it completelydries out. It is thendipped into a vat of dye,dried again and finally given a thor-ough washing to remove the paste andany excess dye. The dyes used are typ-

ically natural vegetable dyes and pastes.Thus the unprotected parts of the fab-ric catch the colour while the dhabu cov-ered bits remain plain. The fabric maybe dyed more than once in different col-ors to give each part of the design a dif-ferent hue.

Speaking about her debut at thefashion week, Alka said, “The label waslaunched to sustain and revive theancient, traditional craft of dabu printand provide economic empowerment tothe indigenous craftsmen of the region.The designs are very similar to themotifs used in all traditional Rajasthanitextiles, since the ‘blocks’ used forprinting are common to most of thesetechniques. They tend to be natureinspired designs of plants, birds, flow-ers, fruits as well as artistic ethnicmotifs.”

Actresses Mrunal Thakur walkedthe ramp for Aavaran. She said, “I am

excited to be walking the ramp forAavaran. This is truly thrilling as it willbe a debut for us both at the week.”

Designer Amit Aggarwal onWednesday launched his luxury pret col-lection, Flux, with cricketer HardikPandya and actress Lisa Haydon walk-ing on the ramp as showstoppers.Aggarwal, who is known for engineer-ing recycled products in the garmentshe designs, has this time tied up with R-Elan — Reliance Industries’ textile arm— to create the grandeur pieces in fluid,free flowing fabrics.

The designer used recycled polymerstrips to add structure to the gowns,dresses and skirts that comprised thecollection. Sheer wraps, exaggeratedsleeves, power shoulders and billowingskirts were the highlight of the show.There was the use of techniques like asplisse, fine draping and three-dimen-sional embroidery that added texture of

the pieces.Use of electric colours, shiny metal-

lic shades of silver, blue, purple andgreen, hues of emerald, petrol, neutralslike gold, blush and ivory made the col-lection pop up.

Speaking about his collection,Aggarwal said, “The entire collection isabout free flow. The fabric had a such alarge plethora of different coloura-tions... It never really stopped inspiringme. Going ahead and creating 100more looks.”

Haydon, who wore a purple drapegown said, “I really admire what Amitdoes. And especially this collection. It’sa great play of contrasts, structures. Eachtime a model walked the ramp wearingone of his pieces, I felt like ‘Oh my gosh,I want to wear that. And that’s always agreat sign, it means this is an excellentcollection.”

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Imagine yourself in a situation whereyour mother forces you to become

a murderer and you can only surviveby hunting food like animals and eat-ing it from dustbins.

When Sasural Genda Phool fameRagini Khanna heard the script of hershort film, Posham Pa, it fired a mil-lion questions in her head and caughther attention like nothing else hadbefore. She knew that it was going tobe one of her most challenging rolesbut was sure of doing it as she want-ed the audience to see her in charac-ters with different shades and break herestablished image of a happy bubblygirl next door.

When asked as to what appealedher the most? She said, “The script. AsI read it, it generated a lot of emotionsin me which I can’t even express inwords. I was grossed, I was intrigued,I was curious that how can somethingso dark be true?”

Posham Pa is a psychologicalthriller inspired by true events. It talksabout a disturbed mother who forcesher daughter to be a part of heinouscrimes and murders which in turnleads them to be charged with deathpenalty. The film, naturally, forces oneto think.

Ragini feels that the film plungesyou into such depths that you startquestioning everything. She wasimpressed by simplistic storytellingwhich sends a deep message. Raginisaid, “I always wanted to work withSumon Mukhopadhyay Sir (director).He has done films that have redefinedvarious conventions. In this film, it ispure and honest story telling. The truthis kept intact and very little is left toimagination. The way he has retainedthe authenticity of characters was onpoint.” The actress is happy with thecreative liberty the film offered. Sheshared that during the shoots everyonewas on the same page in terms of cre-ativity and there was a smoothexchange of ideas. You subconscious-ly unite when your cause is bigger andyou have a similar motive, the universejust conspires to bring you together.“That’s what happened with this film,

we shared an unsaid bonding whichwas magical. This translated on cam-era beautifully as it sensitive andcatches your aura and energy,” sheadded. This helps the film to connectclosely to the audience and impactdeeply,” she explained.

Talking about her character in thefilm, Shikha Deshpande, Raginishared, “My journey is from aninfant to a 30-32 year old. I haveplayed a street child who is raisedwith no sense of societal boundaries.She is raised like an animal at the costof her relationships and is willingto go to any extent for her sur-vival.” She questioned, “Howcan someone have an animal-istic motivation towardstheir choices? It is extreme-ly scary.” But, the other sideof Shikha is that she is anextremely intelligent girl witha brilliant mind. If she hadbeen raised as a child andnot animal, things wouldhave been different. It’s allabout how you nurture.Ragini shared that thewriters wanted to pointout the concept of natureversus nurture. Givingbirth to a child is verydifferent from raisinghim/her. The former is anatural process but thelatter is a life long com-mitment. Upbringingand education empow-ers you as it gives youa sense of right andwrong.

The dark role

that the film offered made it challeng-ing for the actor to get into the skin ofthe character. Ragini said, “Whileplaying this role I developed an unsaidbonding with Shikha. In the process oftrying to understand what she has gonethrough I experienced immense painas it was difficult for me to analyse my

own behaviour. Half the time Iwas shocked by my own acts. Ihad mood swings, I used tolaugh and cry on the set with-out reason.” She talked abouta scene of the film where she

says, ‘Maine kachre ki petimei se khaana nikaal kekhaaya,’ which involveda lot of self-pity. She alsotried to justify herselfthat ‘I am so because ofwhat I am goingthrough and not by

choice.’ Ragini furthershared that the role made herinhabit a scary headspaceand she wanted to let go ofthis character very soon asit was troubling her. “WhenI was traveling for the shooton the second day, I feltShikha in my skin. I was sogrossed by that because Iam raised on a moral con-ditioning which doesn’tbelong to the value struc-ture Shikha comes from,”she added.

In recent times wehave seen that more andmore films are inspiredby true events. Ragini’slast one, Gurgaon, wasalso one such. She said,

“We live in a fast moving world wheresomething is always happening some-where. This is enhancing real storytelling. However, there are also storieswhich the human mind has not expe-rienced and are a fragment of the direc-tors’ imagination.”

Short films have a very limitedtime frame to leave the audience withthought-provoking ideas but they arestill gaining attention in today’s sce-nario. “They require a low attentionspan as it is only asking for 20 minutesfrom you. A three-hour film or seriesis a long commitment while short filmsare quick,” said she. This digital era haspaved the way for newer platforms andopportunities. Ragini feels that it is giv-ing her the opportunity to play nega-tive roles which she is not sure wouldhave been possible in television. It asa blessing for her as she feels it providesher the chance to explore herself as anartist. She also emphasised on theresponsibility attached to digital con-tent in the past three to four years.Ragini said, “There is a lot of goodwork happening. We are directly com-peting with the international content.”With this increasing competition thecontent is getting better and everythingwith higher accessibility.

Talking about her journey sheshared that her mind has expandedwith it she has led and the people shehas been with. “The more I getenriched with life’s experiences, thebetter my art will be. It will have farmore depth and intensity. But at thesame time I don’t want to lose myunabashed rawness and candidness,”she added.

(The film is streaming on Zee5.)

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Actor Ayushmann Khurrana is riding high onsuccess of all his films. The actor who won

a National Award, (Best Actor) for Andhadhun,was celebrating the success of the film at a partywhen, in a surprising event, he came across a fanwho had gatecrashed the party.

The fun fact about this whole event was that,the fan was dressed in a cotton yellow saree, imi-tating Ayushmann from the poster of his forth-coming film Dream Girl, and he stormedthrough the venue holding his pallu, eager tomeet his favourite superstar. Ayushmann, whois known to be very cordial and loving towardshis fan, thanked him and took pictures with thefan.

Right after the trailer was released, it becamethe top trending video on YouTube and garneredover 15 million views in less than 24 hours.Audience all across the country and the worldare appreciating the actor and lauding him forhis unique choices and him being at the helm ofchanging the course of Indian cinema by puttingcontent based films on the top.

Fans have been going berserk over the trail-er so much so that they have been trying to callPooja aka the dream girl on the number givenat the end of the trailer.

The poster of Dreamgirl has the star look-ing quirky in a cotton saree and sitting on a rick-shaw. Nushrat Bharucha is the lead actress pairedalongside the actor with Vijay Raaz, ManjotSingh, Annu Kapoor and Rajesh Sharma amongothers in the cast. Directed by Raaj Shandilya,produced by Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor andAashish Singh, the film is set to release onSeptember 13.

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The essence of Tappa liesin the name itself, whichimplies to bounce back.

It also makes one reminis-cence of a game from child-hood days. And in the array ofdishes that gracefully crowd themenu, the knowledge of a well-travelled chef is present but sois the taste of the food we hadas children.

While there was a separate‘bloggers menu’ which cata-logued the dishes that the chefswere most proud of, we oscil-lated between that and the a’lacarte menu to diversify the din-ner as well as to have panoram-ic view of the delicacies that areprepared at the restaurant. Sixmonths went in curating themenu which reflected in themost enticing array of dishes.I had never felt as blown away,figuratively speaking.

One of the best things,apart from the food, which willshortly be on the receiving endof my evaluation, were thechefs who were more eagerthan ever to describe the menuto us, and acquainted us withthe fusion dishes, an amiablemix of the Indian and interna-tional flavours.

I have seldom had theexperience of what peoplequote as bad service and myluck seemed to be on my sidethis time around too the flaw-less service meant that therecord remained unscathed. Apleasant smile and an incredi-bly hospitable attitude madeour evening more special, a lit-tle corny but the truth nonethe-less.

Before our ordered disheswere brought, chef Parul servedus amuse bouche, which I haveonly ever heard Monica Gellerrave about, in a little woodenbox. It had the flavour of the

Indian chat put on a tart and itwas in that moment that Iknew that this dinner wouldsoar past any expectations thatI harboured. And close behindwere our dim sums. The chefwho makes the dim sums hasabout 17 years of experienceand it showed in the varietythat he showcased.

The cream cheese, waterchestnut and chilli oil dimsums were suggestive of acheesy encounter but it’s not it.Instead of the chewy cheese thesoft skin of the dough was filledwith warm cream cheese whichcompletely melts in the mouth,and I say it without an ounceof exaggeration. They wereserved with chilli oil, so thespiciness is not too far behindthe warmth of the cheese.

There was five spice chick-en dimsums but if you are look-ing for an ‘authentic’ Chineseflavour from this dish, it is notthe one for you. But then,that’s exactly the aim of thechefs. The five spices usedwere not just Chinese but alsoIndian where the kick of thelatter flavour was quite promi-nent. It was interesting to knowthat the blend was made by thechef himself rather than beinga store-bought concoctionwhich many rely on. You willtaste the Indian-ness as well asthe Chinese-ness in the dimsums.

One of my most favouritedishes of the night, undoubted-ly, were the dim sums, had I satthere longer, I would havewaxed poetry of how soft andappetising they were, delicate-ly wrapped, and the chopsticksdug in the skin of the dim sumsso deliciously. I could feel thesoftness even before they hadthe opportunity to sit on mytongue.

Chillas were up next, and aschef Parul shared with us, theywere a product of endless tri-als and errors. Initially, chillaswere planned like soft crepesbut the chef did not want todesign and make somethingborne out of imitation.

We chose goat cheesechilla, it was crispy and youmight get a feel of a dosa, butthis was not quite that. It wasmade from sprouted wheatflour and though differentfrom the besan ones that aremade at home, it still hits anerve there. It was made invinegar and enveloped cap-sicum, spinach goat cheeseand beet root, which gave it aslight pungent taste. Andthough the chef had warnedthat it would be spicy, it had abalanced flavour. It was a dif-ferent experience altogether.While I did not find any flavouramiss, the chilla gave me flash-backs of the beet root and kalesalad I had at La Roca.

I have said it before, mostof my excursions at restaurantsare incomplete without pizza.And what is different aboutTappa’s menu is that instead ofthe classic round style, theyoffer pide which is a richbread from Turkey. And fromthe plethora of options, wepicked Chauka which was a

four cheese pizza and farm-house. The chefs must fancygoat cheese, because a lot ofthe dishes have it. Chauka wasa cheesy affair, obviously andI loved it and I could singpaean's to it but I prefer toquote Lady Gaga “brilliant,incredible, amazing, showstopping, spectacular.”

The farmhouse pide, onthe other hand, reminded meof the sour dough pizza I hadin Earls Court in London.The chefs don’t hold back onthe toppings, and we were pre-sented with a generous top-ping of broccoli, corns, toma-to, zucchini, jalapenos.Absolutely abundant inflavour.

Another favourite wasDosa a la Tappa. It had thetaste of the regular dosa butthe flavours were different. Itwas served with goat cheesesauce and green tomato chut-ney. The dosas were not full-fledged, rather they were rollsand miniature ones. It wasn’ta messy affair. One thing thatis noticeable and commend-able about Tappa was the pre-sentation of the dishes, whichoffer a vibe of it’s own. Theywere not simply served onplates, but have a creativetwist even in the presentation.The brownie points which

remained after the incredibleservice were given for thestyle of serving.

The green chutney, tangyin taste and spicy in flavour,complemented the dosaexceedingly well. The spicinesssits on the tongue, but that’swhat makes it good. Theflavour isn’t passable, rather itwas impressionable and estab-lishes its taste well enough.Definitely a must try.

I ordered three things formains of which Dosa a laTappa was also one along withKladi Kulcha and Manglorefried chicken. Each stuffedkulcha on the menu had a dif-ferent preparation, differentstyle and the taste of a differ-ent city all together.

The chicken was mari-nated in Manglorean flavours,deep friend and was toppedwith lemon yogurt on topwith some jalapenos and chill-is. The chicken was tender,super soft. If I would callsomething that is absolutelyflavour, it would be this dish.

I was a little perplexedwhen it came to dessert butsided with dark chocolate andlitchi fudge. A great judgementon my part. The fudge wasburied under a thick spread ofmeringue, and pieces of litchicoated in dark chocolateserved with a scoop of ice-cream. If I think hard enough,I might still be able to taste thefudge.

Tappa also offers in-houseice cream and the special ofthe evening was bourbon andfig. The bitter taste of thebourbon found a truce withthe sweetness of the ice cream,I couldn’t hold myself it wassuch a delight. This restauranthas engraved itself on my rec-ommendation list.

When you decide toindulge in authenticItalian cuisine, you

have to pair wine with it. Andit cannot be just ‘any’ wine.The idea is that theflavour of your drinkshould match theintensity of themeal’s sauce.However, everheard of authenticItalian meal beingpaired withwhisky?

Angad SinghGandhi, Glenfiddichbrand ambassador, cele-brated the disruptive fusionof a fine single-malt whiskywith modern Italian cuisine,prepared by Artusi Ristorantechef Oscar Balcon. The ideawas to create an “unusual pair-ing for today’s consumers,”who are looking for experi-ences that are extraordinary,and such practices also pave away for experimentation forboth consumers and chefs.

Here’s a take of chef Balconwho has carefully handcraftedthe four-course dinner, whichmarried the flavours of the ver-satile Glenfiddich’s 12-year-old, 15-year-old and 18-year-old variants.

�Tell us about the specialfour-course menu.

The menu includes a jour-ney that takes us through dif-ferent time and places. Just likefine whisky, it has firm roots intraditional methods, a founda-tion that is built on the quali-ty of natural ingredients. But atthe same time, it has a bright-eyed glance of contemporarypossibilities. It is a menu thatshowcases how wide-rangingthe pairing options in Italiancuisine truly are.

�How did you curate it? Whatinspired this special menu?

At the Artusi Ristorante,our culinary inspiration isalways the traditional cuisine ofthe Emilia Romagna region inNorthern Italy as it has a richand incredible quality of natur-al products. But this time wechose to look beyond the bor-ders and the quality of some ofthe finest whiskies fromScotland, such as Glenfiddich,fascinated me and inspiredthis spirit-paired dinner.

Just like fine wine, the tast-ing notes of fine whisky also

guide us in understanding itsaroma, taste and finish. Hence,we will deduct that smokey ele-ments that pair well with grilledmeats, while more mellow,round and sweetish notesmight make a match with thedessert. And thus, layer bylayer, we have curated a menuthat marries cheese, vegetables,home-made pasta and flamingdesserts with the correspond-ing notes of peat, smoke orround honey. We were indeedvery pleased with the resultingsymphony.

�What has shaped your foodlogic while growing up? Anyanecdotes to share...

Family, traditions and goodfortune. My food logic hasbeen shaped with the fortuneto be living in the vortex of the“age of great food” (nowadays,you can get great food any-where in the world) and thegood fortune to have had thepossibility to experience thebest dishes both in my homecountry as well as with exten-sive travels and living all overthe world.

�Which cuisine in the worldwould you say comes closestto the perfect sensory andnutritional balance?

Apart from our own, per-haps the traditional Japanese

cuisine is the one that perfect-ly balances the nutrition andsensuous elements.

�How do you source youringredients?

Mostly from Italy but alsoother great sources of top-notch ingredients globally.Also, from the small farmers inIndia who are growing and cre-ating a market for high-endspecialist produce, when inseason.

�European and Italiancuisines are known to beblended or tasted with wine.But here, you have blendedyour menu with whisky. Why?What was the idea behind it.Did it turn out to be as amaz-ing as the regular menu tast-ed with wine?

Wine is the traditionalpairing beverage for a fineItalian meal and I believe thatwill never change. However,every now and then, I think weshould be open-mindedenough for culinary adven-tures. And, more often thannot, we end up with a positivesurprise and great memories,much like the innovative part-nership with Glenfiddich.

�How do you think suchexperiments can help bring achange in the way peoplelook at the Italian cuisine?

Like often in life, an indi-vidual act rarely propels along-lasting change, yet weknow that repeated adventuresare the spice of life and ashumans, we become richerwith each new one. So, I wouldsay, it’s a toast to breaking bar-riers and to new and excitingdiscoveries.

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If Lionel Messi listens to RealBetis and sits out anothermatch, Barcelona will likely

have to rely on Antoine Griezmannto finally get some points on theboard.

Betis, which visits the CampNou on Sunday, responded to atweet by Barcelona that Messi wasback to practicing with the team forthe first time since being injured inthe preseason by saying: “Don’trush, Leo. No need for you to forceit!” Barcelona couldn’t make up for

Messi’s absence last weekend whenits attack was held scoreless in a 1-0 loss at Athletic Bilbao.

That was the first time the two-time defending champions had losta Spanish league opener in adecade. And after both RealMadrid and Atlético Madrid won,the pressure is on.

Barcelona acquired Griezmannafter triggering the 120 million euro($133 million) buyout clause in hiscontract with rival Atlético. TheFrance forward was supposed to bethe fourth piece to an alreadyworld class attack featuring Messi,

Luis Suárez and OusmaneDembele. But Griezmann may beleft with all the scoring responsibil-ity in his competitive home debut.

Messi strained his right calf inthe team’s first practice of the sea-son on August 5 and hasn’t playedsince. Although it is possible he willbe back to face Betis, Suárez won’tbe after he injured a right leg mus-cle in the first half at Bilbao.Dembele has also been ruled outfor several weeks with a left thighinjury.

Philippe Coutinho, who couldhave helped out as an attacking

player, is no longer with the teamafter being loaned out to BayernMunich this week. Malcom, aBrazilian forward who played spar-ingly for Barcelona last season, wassold to Zenit St Petersburg.

Griezmann had a lacklustermatch at Bilbao. His only goodscoring chance at San MamesStadium came in the final minuteswith a header.

The Frenchman, however, isused to carrying a team on his back.

Griezmann was a consistentscorer for Atlético, tallying morethan 20 goals a season for five con-

secutive years despite the teamoften not having another attackingthreat to draw away some of theattention of opposing defenses.

The problem at Bilbao, hesaid, was simply “the ball didn’t goin.” The other player who couldmake the most of the opportunitycreated by the injuries is 21-year-old Carles Pérez, a member ofBarcelona's reserve team. Heimpressed in the preseason, evenscoring two goals in a 2-0 win overJapanese club Vissel Kobe, whereformer Barcelona great AndrésIniesta now plays.

Barcelona coach ErnestoValverde included Pérez inWednesday’s team practice. Betis

was the only team to beatBarcelona at its home stadi-um last season, outgunningthe hosts 4-3.

Since then it has changedcoaches, replacing the attack-minded Quique Setién withthe more conservative Joan“Rubi” Ferrer, who led Espanyolto a Europa League berth.

Barcelona also poached one ofits top players, left back JuniorFirpo. Betis lost its Spanish leagueopener, falling 2-1 to Valladolid athome. The last time Betis playedBarcelona was in Seville in March.Messi scored three goals andreceived a standing ovation fromthe Betis fans.

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Brazilian star midfielderPhilippe Coutinho will not

make his first Bundesliga startwhen Bayern Munich travel toSchalke on Saturday, said coachNiko Kovac on Thursday.

Coutinho, 27, has been thetalk of Germany since joiningBayern on a one-year loan dealfrom Barcelona earlier this week.

Yet at a press conference onThursday, Kovac confirmed theBrazilian would begin his firstgame as a Bayern player on thebench.

“He is not quite at the levelof fitness he needs to play for 90minutes,” said Kovac.

“He has said that himself,and we don’t want to take anyrisks. He has only been trainingfor the last two weeks, so heneeds to catch up,” he added, butconfirmed Coutinho would bein the matchday squad.

“I know a lot of people wantus to play him straight away, buteverything has to be right.”

Kovac said Bayern’s othernew attacking signing, Croatiawinger Ivan Perisic, could makethe starting eleven againstSchalke.

“Ivan is much further along,he started training at the sametime as we did, and played sev-eral games for Inter Milan inpre-season,” he said.

Bayern are under pressureto pick up three points againstDavid Wagner’s Schalke side,having been held to a draw intheir opening Bundesliga gameagainst Hertha Berlin last week.

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Neymar remains no closer to getting hisdesired move away from Paris Saint-

Germain amid reports on Thursday the Frenchclub have rejected an offer from Real Madrid of100 million euros ($111 million) plus players.

French sports daily L’Equipe said Real hadoffered cash plus Gareth Bale, James Rodriguezand goalkeeper Keylor Navas, but PSG turnedit down because “the overall value of the offerdid not match their expectations”.

Paris paid 222 million euros to sign Neymarfrom Barcelona two years ago and their sport-ing director Leonardo is understood to be deter-mined to only sell the forward for a deal con-sidered to be of the same value.

Real have spent the summer trying tooffload Bale, while James is unwanted afterreturning from a loan at Bayern Munich andNavas is no longer the club’s first-choice goal-keeper.

Meanwhile, Barcelona remain hopeful ofbringing Neymar back to the Camp Nou, butCatalan daily Sport claims an attempt to sign theplayer on loan with an obligation to buy for 160million euros at the end of the season has beenfirmly rejected in Paris.

Sport claims Barcelona feel “it is very clearthat PSG are trying to prevent the Brazilian from

returning to the Camp Nou inany scenario”.

PSG had previouslyreportedly turned down anoffer from Barcelona of 40million euros plus Philippe

Coutinho and Ivan Rakitic.Coutinho has since joined

Bayern on loan.Juventus are

also believed tohave stated aninterest in sign-

ing the 27-y e a r - o l d ,who has notfeatured inany ofP S G ’ sm a t c h e s

so far thisseason having

been frozen outamid the uncertain-ty over his future.

The transferwindow closes inFrance, Spain andItaly on September2, meaning time isfast running outfor a deal to bedone.

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France football legendThierry Henry is keen for

another chance to prove he canbe a successful manager despitehis unhappy brief tenure atLigue 1 side Monaco.

The 42-year-old —Arsenal’s record goalscorer —told the Daily Telegraph thatalthough his phone did not ringfor four months following hissacking, things have picked upsince then and he has receivedfive offers.

Henry’s dream return lastOctober to manage Monaco,the club where he establishedhis reputation as a top classstriker, turned into a nightmare.

Having been part ofBelgium manager RobertoMartinez’s backroom team atthe World Cup — where theyreached the semi-finals — helasted just over 100 days afteronly four league wins.

“Call me crazy if you want,but I love football and I believeI can be a successful coach,” hesaid.

“I’m not thinking about thepain, I’m not thinking aboutfailure. I don’t like easy.

“I like to lead and it’s on meto make it happen. The samewhen I joined Arsenal as a play-er, the same when I went toBelgium with Roberto. It’s an

evolution.”Henry, who was a member

of the France squads that wonboth the 1998 World Cup andthe Euro 2000 title, saidalthough he has been contact-ed over jobs, he has yet to findthe right fit. “My phone didn’tring for four months after I leftMonaco and then all of a sud-den I got five calls,” he said.

“Some were not what Iwas looking for and some wereas a number two.”

“I won’t do a number twojob because I want to be a num-ber one.”

Henry says it is frustratinghaving to wait around foranother opportunity but he isconvinced football coaching iswhere his future lies.

“I came out of it fully reas-sured that’s what I want to do,zero doubt about it,” he said.

All Henry asks is for trans-parency from his employers.

“Communication and hon-esty from the start is key,” hesaid.

“What’s the job? Is the jobto stay up, is the job to win theLeague or be in the ChampionsLeague?

“But how and what is suc-cess? Is success improving play-ers? Ultimately, results are themost important thing, but Iwant to improve players aswell.”

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Cristiano Ronaldo admitted on Wednesdayhis long-time rivalry with Lionel Messi has

made him “a better player” and that he enjoysa “healthy” rivalry with the Argentine great.

However, Portuguese star Ronaldo, whoseinfluence at Real Madrid mirrored that ofMessi at Barcelona before he left for Juventus,admitted that the pair have never socialisedtogether.

“I really admire the career he has had andfrom his side, he has already talked of the dis-appointment when I left Spain because it wasa rivalry that he appreciated,” Ronaldo told TVIin Portugal.

“It’s a good rivalry but it’s not unique —Michael Jordan had rivalries in basketball,there was Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost inFormula 1. The thing they all had in commonis that they were healthy rivalries.”

Ronaldo and Messi have won the covetedBallon d’Or five times each, a factor that helpseach player flourish.

“I have no doubt that Messi has made mea better player and vice-versa. When I am win-

ning trophies it must sting him and it’s thesame for me when he wins,” he said.

“I have an excellent professional relation-ship because we have been sharing the samemoments for 15 years.

He added: “We’ve never had dinner togeth-er but I don’t see why we can’t in the future. Idon’t see a problem with that.”

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World number ones and defend-ing champions Novak Djokovic

and Naomi Osaka were named as topseeds for the US Open onWednesday.

Djokovic, who will be chasing a17th Grand Slam singles title inNew York next week, heads themen’s field with Spain’s Rafael Nadalseeded second.

Former world number one RogerFederer, seeking a 21st Grand Slamcrown, is seeded third for the tour-

nament.The draw for the men’s and

women’s singles takes place onThursday.

In the women’s draw, Osaka isranked number one while 2018 run-ner-up Serena Williams is seededeight.

Japanese ace Osaka won her firstGrand Slam title in a controversialfinal victory over Williams last yearand then followed it up with her sec-ond Slam at the Australian Open inJanuary.

The two other reigning Grand

Slam champions are seeded in the topfour, with Australia’s French Openchampion Ashleigh Barty seededsecond and Romania’s Wimbledonchampion Simona Halep seeded four.

Former world number oneKarolina Pliskova of the CzechRepublic is seeded third in thewomen’s draw.

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India’s B Sai Praneeth dished out asuperlative performance to stun

world No 8 Anthony SinisukaGinting and progress to the quarter-finals but H S Prannoy’s fight endedwith a narrow loss at the BWF WorldChampionships here on Thursday.

World No 19 Praneeth, who hadreached the finals at Swiss Open thisyear, took just 42 minutes to dispatchsixth seeded Anthony of Indonesia21-19, 21-13 to set up a likely clashwith another Indonesian JonatanChristie, seeded fourth and the reign-ing Asian Games champion.

Earlier, Prannoy showedglimpsed of brilliance, especially inthe opening game, but couldn’t stopWorld No 1 Kento Momota from reg-istering a 21-19, 21-12 win, his fifthvictory over the Indian in as manyencounters.

In the opening game, Praneethquickly erased a 0-3 deficit to moveto a 8-5 deficit. The Indian, who hashad success against Anthony at the2018 Asia Team championship and2017 World Championship, kept hisstrangehold to enter the break witha 11-8 advantage.

In the second game, Praneethzoomed to 6-2 but Anthony made his

way to manage a 11-8 lead at thebreather. After the break, the Indianreeled off six straight points to makeit 14-12. He kept marching ahead asAnthony crumbled.

Earlier, Momota dominated theproceedings initially against Prannoyas he moved from a 8-4 lead to graba 11-7 advantage at the break.

Prannoy started putting pres-sure on his rival after the breatherwith an attacking game to claw backat 12-12 and kept snapping atMomota’s heels.

At one stage, after the end of the57-shot rally, an exhausted Prannoywas left prostrated on the floor fol-lowing a perfect net return from theWorld No 1. The point gave Momotaa two-point cushio at 19-17.

But the Indian stuck to his gunsand a precise straight smash helpedhim to level at 19-19.

Momota, however, upped thepace to grab the game point with areturn on the backline and thensealed it with a powerful smash.

After the change of sides,Momota once again found his wayout of tricky situations to run up alead of 11-5 at the break. Prannoytried his best but Momota ensured hehad the last laugh as he convertedsoon after gaining nine match points.

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Lionel Messi gave Barcelona atimely boost on Wednesday by

returning to training with the restof the squad after a calf injury.

Messi trained alone in themorning before joining his team-mates in the afternoon, increas-ing hopes that Barca’s captaincould play a role against Real Betisin La Liga on Sunday.

He strained his calf on August5 in his first training session backfollowing the Copa America andsubsequently missed the club’spre-season.

It would be a surprise ifMessi started at Camp Nou, butBarcelona coach Ernesto Valverdewill be eager to have his star avail-able again, particularly after histeam suffered a surprise 1-0defeat by Athletic Bilbao in theiropening league game last week-end.

Messi’s absence has beencompounded by injuries to otherstrikers.

Luis Suarez is expected to beout for around a month after hob-bling off with a calf problemagainst Bilbao. OusmaneDembele injured his hamstringand will need five weeks to recov-er.

Antoine Griezmann, the 120

million summer signing fromAtletico Madrid, is the only fully-fit forward, with Rafinha and 21-year-old Carles Perez possibleoptions to play behind him.

The shortage up front hasintensified speculation that ParisSaint-Germain’s Neymar couldreturn to Barcelona before thetransfer window closes in Spainon September 2.

PSG sporting directorLeonardo admitted earlier thismonth that the club were in“advanced negotiations” to sellNeymar but a deal is yet to beagreed with Barca, who havealready spent around 250 mil-lion euros this summer.

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India’s top women’s singles playerAnkita Raina crashed out of the

women’s singles US Open qualifyingevent after a hard fought three-setloss to Czech Republic’s DenisaAllertova.

The world No 194 went down 7-6(5), 4-6, 2-6 to her Czech rival in amatch that lasted two hours and 17minutes, on Wednesday night.

Ankita won the first set in a tie-breaker but failed to keep hermomentum as Allertova broke theIndian to take the second set com-fortably.

In the decider, Ankita was bro-ken again as she conceded the match.

Sumit Nagal is the only Indianleft in the qualifiers. He is scheduledto play Peter Polansky of Canada inthe second round of the qualifiers.

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Page 16: ˇ ˙˘ ˝ &’ $ () · Several students of the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) at Burla ... ragging by their seniors, videos of which have surfaced. A senior university

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Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne helped SriLanka to 85 for two at stumps on a rain-

hit day one of the second Test against NewZealand in Colombo on Thursday.

Only 36.3 overs were possible after rainwashed out the first session and bad lightended play for the day with Karunaratneunbeaten on 49.

Karunaratne, fresh from a match-winningcentury in the first Test in Galle last week lastweek, hit six boundaries during his 100-ballstay in overcast conditions.

Former captain Angelo Mathews was giv-ing Karunaratne company in the middle toremain unbeaten on nought after facing 14

deliveries.New Zealand all-rounder Colin de

Grandhomme, who made the XI in place ofMitchell Santner, said the match was “even-ly poised”.

“There’s a bit of more bounce on this trackthan what we encountered in Galle and that’snice,” he said after play ended.

“If we can get a couple of early wicketson Friday morning that will be nice.”

Karunaratne batted with positive intentdespite losing opening partner LahiruThirimanne and Kusal Mendis either side oftea.

Thirimanne never looked comfortableand his 59-minute stay at the wicket producedjust two runs.

His misery ended when he pushed aWilliam Somerville delivery and was caughtat extra cover by skipper Kane Williamson.He had been earlier dropped by wicketkeep-er BJ Watling off Somerville.

Mendis looked good as he reached 32with four fours and put on 50 runs withKarunaratne to steady the batting.

De Grandhomme got Mendis caughtbehind on a seaming delivery outside the offstump and Watling gloved the catch.

The hosts only need a draw to clinch thetwo-match series.

The entire opening session and anotherhour was lost due to persistent rain and thetoss took place at 1:10 pm (0740 GMT). Theafternoon session went uninterrupted but playwas again delayed by 28 minutes after tea dueto rain.

After 7.3 overs in the evening session, playwas called off due to bad light.

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Former opener Vikram Rathour willbe replacing Sanjay Bangar as India’s

new batting coach while Bharath Arunand R Sridhar were expectedly retainedas bowling and fielding coaches respec-tively.

The senior national selection com-mittee headed by MSK Prasad has rec-ommended three names each for all thesupport staff positions and the topnames in each category will be appoint-ed after the formalities with regards toConflict of Interest declaration is com-plete.

The 50-year-old Rathour, has played6 Tests and 7 ODIs in 1996 withoutmuch success but was a domestic heavy-weight for Punjab. He till few years back(2016) was a senior national selectorunder Sandeep Patil’s chairmanship.

He had earlier applied for NCA bat-ting consultant and U-19 batting coach’sposition but his application was put onhold as his brother-in-law AshishKapoor is the chairman of U-19 selec-tion committee.

“Vikram Rathour has got enoughexperience and we are convinced withhis skill sets (as a coach). We will ask himto declare if he has any conflict,” BCCICEO Rahul Johri told reporters.

As per the recommendations of theselection committee, current incumbentSanjay Bangar came second while for-mer England batsman MarkRamprakash was third.

“The team management had theirown views but looking ahead, we feltthere should be some freshness in thesupport staff,” Johri said.

Former Mumbai Indians physioNitin Patel, who was part of the supportstaff during the 2011 campaign, is backwhile Englishman Luke Woodhouse wasappointed as the strength and condition-ing (trainer) coach.

The other notable candidate to losehis job was incumbent administrativemanager Sunil Subramaniam, who wasremoved for his alleged misbehaviourwith top diplomats of the Indian govern-ment during the ongoing tour of WestIndies. Subramaniam was replaced byGirish Dongre.

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Moments after Ravi Shastriwas re-appointed as the

head coach of the Indian teamtill 2021, Cricket AdvisoryCommittee (CAC) chief KapilDev had said ‘as all of you wereexpecting’ Shastri is the numberone candidate for the job. But ithas now come to the fore thatKiwi Mike Hesson had almosttoppled Shastri.

Speaking about it, a seniorBCCI functionary said that itwas a close call between Shastriand Hesson and New Zealand’strack record under the Kiwifrom 2012 till 2018 had almostsealed the deal for the formerKings XI Punjab coach.

“It was not a walk in thepark for Shastri as some of youseem to believe. Hesson wasreally close to getting the go-ahead. It is there for all to seehow the New Zealand team

improved by leaps and boundsunder him across all formats.

“From being the perennialsurprise package in big-ticketevents, they had become achampion side under him and

that is something that reallyimpressed the CAC.

“Under his coaching, theKiwis reached their first-everWorld Cup final in 2015. Whilehe did resign in 2018, the Kiwis

playing their second final on thetrot in 2019 also had a lot to dowith what Hesson brought tothe table.

His strategizing with thesenior members in the team

can’t be discounted,” the func-tionary explained.

Asked what then turnedthe table back in Shastri’s favour,considering that the CAC madeit clear that skipper Virat Kohliwasn’t consulted before takingthe call, the functionary said itwas Shastri’s experience as aplayer on the internationalstage.

“The CAC felt that Shastri’sproven record as a player wasone area that needed to be givedue recognition as one’s ownstature might become an area ofconcern when handling a teamwhich has big names.

“Hesson hadn’t playedenough cricket himself and aswe know started coaching in hisearly twenties. Shastri on theother hand played 80 Testmatches and 150 ODIs. That issomething that went againstthe for Kiwi coach,” the func-tionary said.

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Virat Kohli had a fan boy moment ahead ofthe first Test as he got an opportunity to

interview legendary cricketer Vivian Richards,whom the Indian skipper has always idol-wor-shipped.

Kohli quizzed Viv Richards on how he dealtwith the fastest of bowlers of his time withouteven wearing a helmet or a guard. He intro-duced the Caribbean master as “the greatestinspiration to all of us batsmen”.

“Whenever I have seen videos of you walk-ing out, you’re in a hat, no helmets back then.Even when there were, after a point you chosenot to. Because it was something that made youfeel like you had the belief and ‘you are chew-ing gum’.

“I know the pitches were not as preparedor as covered back then. What was it like? Whatwent through your head walking out knowingthat you don’t have a lot of protection. Thereis no restriction on bouncers and then you goout and dominate like that.

“What did you feel from the time you leftthe changing room till you got to the pitch.What was the mindset?” Kohli asked.

“I believed I am the man,” said Richards.“It may sound arrogant but I always felt that Iwas involved in a game that I knew. I wouldback myself every time.

“You have to back yourself to get hurt, totake the knocks. But the helmet — I tried, I amnot going to lie and tell you. But, it felt a littleuncomfortable. So I felt my cap, my marooncap which was given to me. I felt so proud withthat.

“My mindset was that if I am goodenough to be here, if I get hurt it’s God’s will.I will survive,” the 67-year-old replied.

Kohli also shared his experience of facingfast bowlers: “I feel like it’s better to get hit earlyon and get to know the feeling than always feel-ing like you might get hit.

“So, I prefer actually getting hit early on andreally hard so it motivates me even further notallow that to happen again, just that pain to gothrough your body and be like — okayenough, it’s not happening again.”

Richards further said that getting hit wasa part of cricket.

“Because to be fair while batting you aregoing to get hurt. It depends on how you comeback from this knocks. In the old days, beforethese little guards (chest guards) around yourribs, you take it there and that’s when you feelit. You take a count but then that’s part and par-cel of the sport,” Richards opined.

Kohli also quizzed him about the chal-lenges Richards faced that made him believein himself. The former Windies skipper said:“I always felt I was good enough to be com-peting and I wanted to express myself in thebest way that I can.”

“I see that little similarity in you and thatsame passion in you,” said Richards as Kohlihad his moment, “There are times when folkswould look at us and say, ‘Wow why are theyso angry?”

Richards, who retired from the sport in1991 had earlier hailed Kohli’s batting skills andhad said that the Indian skipper’s batting stylereminded him of his own days.

(3��� ����

Marcus Harris and Usman Khawajaboth fell cheaply before Australia

reached 54-2 at tea on Thursday’s rain-marred opening day of the third AshesTest against England at Headingley.

Only 18 overs in an original day’s allo-cation of 90 had been bowled when badlight forced an early tea, with DavidWarner 26 not out — his first double-fig-ure score in five innings this series — andMarnus Labuschagne seven not out.

Rain had previously stopped play at2.45 pm (1345 GMT) after delaying thescheduled start by more than an hour.

And there was further frustration forboth England and a crowd who had wait-ed patiently to watch cricket when, afterplay resumed, only 3.1 more overs werepossible before the umpires suspendedplay for bad light even though the flood-lights were on full blast.

After a grinning Warner andLabuschagne sprinted off the field,umpires Chris Gaffaney and Joel Wilsonwere booed as they returned to the pavil-ion.

Wilson was later seen having an ani-mated conversation on the dressing roombalcony with several England playersand backroom staff.

England, looking to level the five-match series at 1-1, had seen captain JoeRoot win the toss in the hope of makingthe most of overcast, bowler-friendlyconditions.

Australia had dropped openerCameron Bancroft, who had made just 44runs in four innings, and brought inHarris to partner Warner at the top of theorder after England had enjoyed the bet-

ter of a rain-affected draw in the secondTest at Lord's.

Both left-handed batsmen struggledagainst England’s new-ball attack of StuartBroad and Jofra Archer.

The experienced Warner was repeat-edly beaten by Broad jagging the ball offa length, while the express Archer, in hissecond Test, went past Harris's outsideedge.

Archer, bowling from around thewicket, squared him up with an 87.3 mphdelivery that saw Harris get a thin edgethrough to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow— like Root appearing on his homeground.

Moments after Harris had fallen foreight, with Australia 12-1 off four overs,the umpires took the players off the fieldbecause of rain.

It took Warner 14 balls to get off the

mark as he continued to struggle, althoughBroad may have bowled a fraction tooshort with several deliveries beating theoutside edge without really challenging thebatsmen.

But he did take a wicket when UsmanKhawaja, the third left-hander inAustralia’s top three, made thin contactwith an intended leg glance and wascaught behind as he too fell for eight.

England, however, had to reviewNew Zealand official Gaffaney’s originalnot out decision before reducing Australiato 25-2.

For Australia, fast bowler JamesPattinson came in for paceman PeterSiddle.

England were unchanged after open-er Jason Roy was passed fit having beenhit on the head batting in the nets onTuesday.

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Opener KL Rahul put up a grit-ty fight with a circumspect

Ajinkya Rahane as India partiallyrecovered from a top-order col-lapse to reach 68 for 3 at lunch onthe opening day of the first WorldChampionship Test match againstthe West Indies.

Rahul, who had a wretched 18months in the red-ball format,before this Test match, was com-posed during his unbeaten 37after India were reduced to 25 for3 inside the first eight overs on atrack that offered bounce and lat-eral movement for new ballbowlers Kemar Roach (2/12 in 6overs) and Shannon Gabriel (1/26in 7 overs).

Mayank Agarwal (5), the ever-dependable Cheteshwar Pujara(2) and skipper Virat Kohli (9)were back in the pavilion in thefirst hour after Jason Holder putthe visitors in on a bouncy track.

Rahul (37 batting, 73 balls)and vice-captain Rahane (10 bat-ting, 43 balls) added 42 runs forthe unbroken fourth wicket andstemmed the rot going into thelunch break after 24 overs werebowled during the opening ses-sion.

Agarwal got one from Roach,which held its line and the open-er didn't fully commit forwardwith resultant nick being gobbledby Shai Hope behind the stumps.

The dogged Pujara didn't lastlong as he got a delivery fromRoach that moved a shade awayafter pitching with India's No. 3lunging forward. The edge wastaken low down by Hope.

Skipper Kohli relishes suchadverse situations and tough con-ditions but it wasn't his day despitea promising start that included adrive past point and another pastmid-on.

However, Gabriel's ball, one

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that climbed on him from short oflength, saw Kohli fend awkwardly,only to be caught at gully by debutantShamarh Brooks.

At 25 for 3, it could have beenworse but a determined Rahul put hishead down and left a lot of deliveriesoutside off-stump as Rahane also

defended dourly at the other end,waiting for Roach and Gabriel's firstspell to end.

It was only when back-up pacerMiguel Cummins came into operationthat Rahul collected three of his fourboundaries -- a cut and a couple of off-drives.

Not for once did Rahane lookcomfortable during the first sessionand both his boundaries were freakones. The first was a thickish outsideedge that bounced short of second slipbefore going for four runs. The sec-ond was a pull-shot and he wasn'tentirely in control. However, the bestpart was that he hung in there.

KEEMO PAUL RULED OUTAll-rounder Kemmo Paul has

been ruled out of the first Test againstIndia due to an ankle injury and pacerMiguel Cummins was named as hisreplacement by Cricket West Indies.

Paul was ruled out due to aninjury in his left ankle and willremain in Antigua to continue hisrehabilitation.

"With Keemo ruled out for thismatch, it's good to have someone withMiguel's quality back in the squad, ashe brings experience to the team,"Windies interim head coach FloydReifer said in a statement.

Cummins had made his Testdebut against India three years agoand took a career best 6 for 48 in thesecond innings of the second matchof the four-Test series.

"Watching him in the last A Teamseries against India A and the train-ing sessions his lengths haveimproved. He's a very hard worker anda wicket-taker. I'm sure, if given theopportunity to play, he will make avaluable contribution in our bid to winthis series," he added.

The first Test beginning onThursday marks the start of the ICCWorld Test Championship for bothteams. In this series, each team canearn 60 points for a win or 20 pointsfor a draw.

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