7 DIE WHILE CLEANINGHOTEL SEWER IN GUJVadodara: Seven persons,including four sanitationworkers, died on Saturday afterinhaling toxic fumes whilecleaning sewer of a hotel inVadodara district of Gujarat.

RLY DROPS MASSAGESERVICES ON TRAINSNew Delhi/Mumbai: Mumbai-headquartered Western Railwayon Saturday said it haswithdrawn a proposal to providefoot and head massages topassengers on board 39 trainsoriginating from Indore inMadhya Pradesh.

EC ANNOUNCES BYPOLLSTO 6 RS SEATS ON JULY 5New Delhi: The ElectionCommission on Saturdayannounced bypolls to six RajyaSabha seats on July 5, includingthe one vacated by BJP chiefAmit Shah following his electionto the Lok Sabha. Notificationswill be issued on June 18 andelections and counting of voteswill be held on July 5.

WOMAN HIRES KILLERSTO MURDER HER HUBBYNew Delhi: A woman and herparamour have been arrested for allegedly hiring killers for`7,000 to murder her husbandat the couple’s accommodationin South Avenue here.

CAPSULE

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

Even as the striking juniordoctors defied Mamata

Banerjee for the second time onSaturday turning down heroffer for talks, the Bengal ChiefMinister swore by her“patience” saying like the otherState Governments she had allthe legal means to invoke thecoercive Essential ServicesMaintenance Act (ESMA) buthad thus far desisted from tak-ing the extreme step onhumanitarian grounds.

“The Government is show-ing patience, sympathy for thedoctors but now it is time forthem to act and resume duty.We have conceded to all thedemands that the doctors hadmade,” she said, wonderingwhy the doctors refused tomeet her at the StateSecretariat.

In Kolkata, a representativeof the striking doctors said,“This is an issue relating tothousands of doctors who arebeing attacked every day. TheGovernment is calling a few ofthem to hold closed-doormeeting. We are not ready toaccept that. We want the CM tocome here at the NRS Hospitaland see for herself the condi-tion we work in and give assur-ances in public to rectify them.”

“We are eagerly waiting tostart our duty, but from theChief Minister’s side there is nosuch honest initiative to find asolution (of the ongoing prob-lem),” a spokesperson of thejoint forum of junior doctorstold reporters.

Meanwhile, after giving a48-hour ultimatum to WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee, doctors of Delhi’sAIIMS said they have resumedwork for now but they will goon an indefinite strike if noaction is taken against theattack on the doctor in Kolkata.“We condemn the hostile andunapologetic attitude of theGovernment of West Bengal.Our protest at AIIMS, NewDelhi continues until justice ismeted out,” they said.

In what the striking doc-tors of NRS Medical Collegeand Hospital saw a “veiledthreat”, the Chief Minister said,“Though we have SupremeCourt verdict in our favour andthough we have previousinstances of other StateGovernments invoking theESMA, we have desisted fromtaking such strong actions aswe do not want to take anycoercive actions on the youngboys and girls who are like our

own children.” Mamata’s renewed appeal

to doctors to resume dutycame close on the heels of a let-ter from West Bengal GovernorKN Tripathi, who directed theGovernment to take adequatesecurity measures for the doc-tors and restore normalcy inthe health sector.

Referring to the earlierinstances of ESMA beinginvoked, Mamata said, “In2008/2009 the Narendra ModiGovernment of Gujarat hadenforced ESMA and evenarrested 150 doctors while in2015 the AAP Government ofDelhi too invoked the same

Act. Again the BJPGovernments of Rajasthan andHaryana implemented ESMAand the Government of Jammu& Kashmir too did the samething. But here ourGovernment is taking a softapproach towards the youngdoctors who have bright futureahead of them.”

She said, “We believe inhumanism and expect the doc-tors to do the same. They areinto a noble profession,” andreminded, “despite they heck-led and abused me at the SSKMHospital where I had gone tosee whether the Emergencywas functioning or not I did

not take any action. Any otherperson in my place would havetaken strong action as they didin the other States earlier.”

The doctors’ campaign ear-lier spread like wildfire afteron-duty junior doctors of NRSMedical College were onMonday night brutally beatenup by hooligans following thedeath of a patient.

Even as the NRSCH doc-tors struck work demandingadequate security measuresand arrest of all the 200 peoplewho had attacked the hospital,the protest spread and their col-leagues from other hospitalsand medical colleges struckwork.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Against the backdrop of theongoing debate over India’s

Gross Domestic Product(GDP) growth rate and unem-ployment besides hisGovernment’s aim to makeIndia a five-trillion economy,Prime Minister Narendra Modion Saturday asked the States topitch in with their contributionby recognising their respectivecore competence and workingtowards raising the GDP targetsand per capita incomes.

In his opening remarks atthe fifth meeting of theGoverning Council of NITIAayog, the Prime Ministersaid, “The goal to make Indiaa five-trillion-dollar economyby 2024 is challenging but cansurely be achieved. The Statesshould recognise their corecompetence and work towardsraising GDP targets right fromthe district level.” The ModiGovernment has faced criti-cism over rising joblessness andslow GDP growth rate.

According to the Ministryof Statistics and ProgrammeImplementation (MoSPI),unemployment in the countryis at a four-decade-high while

the Government’s former ChiefEconomic Adviser, ArvindSubramanian, recently broughtthe focus back on the GDPgrowth rate saying between2011-12 and 2016-17 it wasover-estimated by 2.5 per cent(should have been about 4.5per cent instead of the officialestimate of close to 7 per cent).The Centre has denied it andsaid it will come up with apoint-by-point rebuttal.

While Modi spoke of a col-lective fight against poverty,unemployment, drought, flood,pollution, corruption and vio-lence, he stressed that NITIAayog has a key role to play infulfilling the mantra of “SabkaSaath, Sabka Vikas,SabkaVishwas”. After winningthe 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Modihas given a new slogan “SabkaVishwas” to win the trust of theminorities.

With several parts of thecountry facing drought-likesituation, Modi called for effec-tive steps to tackle it by adopt-ing “per-drop, more-crop”strategy. He said attention hasto be given to water conserva-tion and raising the ground-water table.

Turn to Page 4

Docs reject parley offer at CM office

Mamata says ready to fulfil demands, asks them to resume duty, but says no ESMA yet

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre on Saturdaysought a report “urgently”

from the West BengalGovernment on the ongoingstrike by the doctors even as itwrote to all State Governmentsto consider enacting a specificlegislation for protecting themedical professionals from anyform of violence. The Centre

also asked all the States to takestrict action against any personwho assaults doctors.

In its advisory to the WestBengal Government, the MHAsaid it has received a numberof representations from doc-tors, healthcare professionalsand medical associations fromdifferent parts of the countryfor their security in view of theongoing strike by doctors. “It isrequested that a detailed reportbe sent urgently on the repre-sentations and ongoing strikeby the doctors,” it said.

For his part Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan wroteto all the Chief Ministersregarding the law to protect themedicos and the need to takestrict action against any personwho assaults doctors.

Along with his letter, HarshVardhan attached a copy of theDraft Act provided by IMA —the Protection of MedicalService Persons and MedicalService Institutions (Preventionof Violence and Damage orLoss of Property) Act, 2017.

Turn to Page 4

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre on Saturdaysought a report from the

Mamata Banerjee dispensa-tion on the measures it took inlight of the “unabated” and“increasing” incidents of polit-ical violence and resultantdeaths since 2016 in the State.

The Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) said accordingto reports it received, the num-ber of incidents of political vio-lence in West Bengal increasedfrom 509 in 2016 to 1,035 in2018. While as many as 773incidents have alreadyoccurred in 2019 till date, cor-respondingly, the death toll hasrisen from 36 in 2016 to 96 in2018. In 2019, 26 deaths havebeen reported, it stated.

The MHA said the con-tinued trend of political vio-lence from 2016 through 2019is indicative of the “failure” onthe part of the law-enforce-ment machinery of the State inmaintaining the rule of law andinspiring a sense of securityamong the people.

The “unabated violenceover the years is evidently a

matter of deep concern”, theCentre said, pointing out thegrowing number of election-related and political violence.

“It is requested that areport may be sent to thisMinistry on the steps taken bythe State Government and itslaw enforcement machinery toinvestigate the incidents ofviolence to bring the culprits tobook as also the measurestaken to contain and curb vio-lence,” the MHA’s advisory tothe Trinamool CongressGovernment said.

While violence marred therecently-concluded Lok Sabhaelections in the State, in thepost-poll scenario too theTMC and the BJP, which hasemerged as the principal chal-lenger to the ruling party, havebeen at serious loggerheadswith both sides accusing eachother of unleashing violenceagainst each other’s workers.

West Bengal GovernorKesharinath Tripathy recentlymet Union Home MinisterAmit Shah and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, apparently tobrief them about the currentsituation in the State.

Help make India $5tn economy: PM to States

‘Concerned’ Centreseeks Bengal’s ATRon political violence

Govt asks States to enact lawto prevent assault on doctors

Defiant Didi, busy KCR skip NITI meet

PNS n NEW DELHI

After skipping PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s

swearing in ceremony, WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee and her Telanganacounterpart K ChandrashekharRao on Saturday gave a miss tothe fifth meeting of theGoverning Council of NitiAayog chaired by the PM.

Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh could notattend the meeting due tohealth reasons, sources said,adding the State was repre-sented by its Finance Minister.Mamata, KCR, and Amarinderhad skipped Modi’s swearing-in ceremony on May 23.

In a letter to Modi, theMamata had expressed herinability to attend the Niti

Aayog meeting on June 15, say-ing it is “fruitless” as the bodyhas no financial powers tosupport State plans.

Sources said the TelanganaCM is busy with preparationsfor the launch of his ambitious `80,000-croreKaleshwaram lift irrigationproject that would end waterwoes in the State.

Turn to Page 4

Modi asks States to raise GDP by

recognising their core competence

USUALSUSPECTSSWAPAN DASGUPTA

A

n election campaign in India is a very long and exacting

affair. Although the formal campaign began much later,

the past six months of 2019 has been preoccupied with the

people’s ultimate verdict. Now that the voters have spoken

and given Narendra Modi’s Government an unambiguous

verdict to govern India for the next five years, it may be time

to take a step back, stop the slugfest and devote our

attention to the more pressing task of governance.

This week, following the oath-taking by the elected

members of the Lok Sabha and the President of India’s

address to the joint session of Parliament, normal business is

expected to resume. The previous session of Parliament was

exceptionally acrimonious, with the Opposition doing its

utmost to stall both Houses. Its success in the Lok Sabha

was limited because the Government had a clear majority.

However, it succeeded in completely disrupting proceedings

in the Rajya Sabha so much so that neither the debate on

the President’s address nor any discussion on the Interim

Budget could be held. As for legislation, apart from a stray

Bill on Leprosy, the Opposition did not allow any other Bill to

be moved. For all practical purposes, except for Money Bills,

Parliament has been dysfunctional since the end of 2018.

The list of Bills passed in the Lok Sabha but failed to be

either discussed or voted upon in 2019 in the Rajya Sabha is

very long: they total up to 33. They include controversial

legislation such as the Triple Talaq Bill and the Citizenship

(Amendment) Bill. But they also include relatively non-

contentious legislation such as Indian Medical Council Bill,

the Extension of Municipalities Bill, the Seeds Bill, the

Pesticides Management Bill, the Archaeological Monuments

Bill and the Motor Vehicles Bill. At least three of the Bills had

even been referred to Select Committees that had submitted

their reports. To reintroduce these Bills will call for the entire

process to be repeated in the Lok Sabha and then brought

to the Rajya Sabha.

At one level, the environment for transacting normal

parliamentary business

looks encouraging. The

BJP is of course quite

buoyant after its electoral

success. Simultaneously,

the Congress, the largest

Opposition party — which,

however, narrowly missed

securing the requisite

number of Lok Sabha seats

to get its leader formally

recognised as Leader of

Opposition — is dispirited

and demoralised after an

election it hoped to do

much better in. As of now,

the party hasn’t chosen its

floor leader and there is

strategic uncertainty in its

ranks. Likewise, the

regional parties in north

India suffer from the same

demoralisation. The three

southern parties — DMK,

TRS and YSRCP — are

however, quite, enthused

by the results, although

their intervention in national

politics has been modest.

This leaves the two

regional parties from the

east — the BJD and the

TMC. The electoral

showing of both these

groups has been mixed. The BJD regained control over the

State Government quite comfortably but lost some ground in

the Lok Sabha. The TMC, however, suffered electoral

reverses, although it is still the largest party in West Bengal.

But the TMC is in an extremely combative mood because of

the twists and turns in local politics. It doesn’t have the

numbers to make a mark in the Lok Sabha. However, in the

smaller Rajya Sabha, it has the requisite lung power to

disrupt proceedings. It may be recalled that on different

occasions in the previous session, a small clutch of AIADMK

and TDP members had successfully disrupted proceedings

for over a week.

Although I would like to be proved wrong, it is my belief

that the TMC is unlikely to play the role of a constructive and

responsible Opposition in the Upper House. Its leader

Mamata Banerjee is in a belligerent mood and this is likely to

impact the behaviour of its MPs in the Rajya Sabha.

Symbolic protests and fiery speeches are a normal feature

of parliamentary performance and it would be legitimate for

the Opposition to proceed along that route. The more

problematic issue is disruption. How should the Chairman or

Deputy Chairman respond to the provocations?

In the Westminster tradition, the Speaker’s command is

sacrosanct and unruly behaviour is viewed as a horrifying

and unacceptable aberration. Unfortunately, over the years,

wilfully disobeying the chair has become the norm and led

to the breakdown of the consensus that should, ideally,

surround the workings of Parliament. The temporary

suspension of disruptive MPs, far from injecting good sense,

has been seen as additional provocation and has worsened

matters.

This situation cannot continue indefinitely. The paralysis

of Parliament will erode popular faith in democracy and

encourage governments to try and bypass Parliament as

much as possible. Political sparring is fine but a

dysfunctional democracy is completely unacceptable.

It is to be hoped that the presiding officers of both

Houses and the Government take the initiative to address

the larger questions of dysfunctionality that gripped

Parliament in the first half of 2019. The voters did their job

and reposed faith in democracy as the most effective

instrument of decision-making. Now it is for the MPs to live

up to the popular faith. The alternatives are truly horrifying.

India needs more parliamentary time and more work for

its MPs. But for that to happen, faith in parliamentary rules

and conventions have to be immediately restored. The

quality of Indian democracy is at stake, as is effective

governance.

It is to be hoped that the

presiding officers of both

Houses and the

Government take the

initiative to address the

larger questions of

dysfunctionality that

gripped Parliament in the

first half of 2019. The

voters did their job and

reposed faith in democracy

as the most effective

instrument of decision-

making. Now it is for the

MPs to live up to the

popular faith. The

alternatives are truly

horrifying

MPs must respect popularmandate to let House run

Junior doctors protest against an attack on an intern doctor, at Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata onSaturday PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairs the fifth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog in New Delhi on Saturday PTI

Bengal Govt asked

to report on strike

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee interacts with the media over theongoing doctors’ strike, in Howrah on Saturday PTI

* The Government is showing patience, sympathy for the doctors,now it is time for them to act and resume duty, Mamata saidwondering why the doctors refused to meet her at the Secretariat

* A representative of the striking doctors in Kolkata said, “We arenot ready to accept closed-door meeting offer. We want the CM tocome here at the NRS Hospital and see for herself the conditionwe work in and give assurances in public to rectify them”

* AIIMS in Delhi said the doctors have resumed work but they willgo on an indefinite strike if no action is taken against the attack onthe doctor in Kolkata

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QUICK TAKES

PNS n LUCKNOW

Several persons were injured,three of them critically,

when supporters of BharatiyaJanata Party MLA fromBilgram-Mallawan Assemblyconstituency in Hardoi,Asheesh Singh ‘Ashu’, andMallawan Nagar Palika chair-man Ankit Jaiswal exchangedfire and engaged in a violentclash late Friday night.

Senior officers rushed to the

spot and were camping there toavert recurrence of violence.Cross-cases have been registeredagainst the MLA and the nagarpalika chairman along withtheir supporters but no arrestswere made.

As per reports, MallawanNagar Palika chairman AnkitJaiswal’s brother SiddharthJaiswal aka Siddhu had a disputewith Kallu of Devmanpur areaof Hardoi, a close aide of BJPMLA

Asheesh Singh ‘Ashu’, aboutthree days back.

The matter took an uglyturn when the MLA’s support-ers reached the chairman’s housenear Mallawan crossing andopened indiscriminate fire lateFriday night. In retaliation, thechairman’s henchmen alsoreturned the fire in which threesupporters of the MLA were crit-ically injured.

The injured were identifiedas Ankit (24) of Devmanpur,

Aman (23) and Vineet Dwivedi(30) of Shahpur Ganga. Ankitwas later shifted to the KGMUTrauma Centre in Lucknowafter his condition deteriorated.

On learning about the inci-dent, senior officers reachedthe spot along with local policepersonnel.

Late Friday night, Ashu’ssupporter Himanshu Patellodged a report against AnkitJaiswal and his brothersSiddharth Jaiswal and Vishal

Jaiswal, Rohit Rana, RahulSharma, Jalaluddin, Indrapaland unknown miscreants.

Similarly, Ankit Jaiswal alsolodged a report and named theMLA, along with his represen-tative Neeraj Vidyarthi, SunilKumar Kannaujia, Rajeev, Rishi,Aman, Ankit, Himanshu, Rahuland 200 unknown persons.

While no arrests were made,a heavy police force waspatrolling the area to avert anyfurther clash.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Aiming to make a freshpitch for the construction

of Ram temple at the disputedsite, Shiv Sena chief UddhavThackeray along with 18newly-elected party MPs willvisit Ayodhya on Sunday.

Thackeray will also offerprayers at the makeshift RamLalla temple at the site.

This will be Thackeray’sfirst visit to Ayodhya after the2019 Lok Sabha poll resultscame out last month. He hadvisited Ayodhya in Novemberlast year.

On the eve of the visit ofthe party’s MPs, Shiv Senaleader and Rajya Sabha mem-ber Sanjay Raut said inAyodhya on Saturday, “Weare confident that the Ramtemple would be constructedduring Narendra Modi regimeand for us Prime MinisterModi and Union HomeMinister Amit Shah are the‘supreme court’.”

Talking to media persons atAyodhya on the eve of the Senaleaders’ visit, Raut said thatRam temple was a matter ofbelief and not politics. “Wehave never sought vote or donepolitics on Ram temple issue,”he said.

Maharashtra will be goingto polls later this year. The visitis being seen as an attempt bythe Shive Sena to put pressure

on ally Bharatiya Janata Party.But Sena has maintained thatThackeray’s visit should not beseen through the electorallens.

On construction of Ramtemple in Ayodhya, Raut said,“It will be constructed in Modiand Yogi’s leadership. The BJPwill decide on it. The majorityin 2019 is for construction ofRam temple. In Rajya Sabhatoo we will get majority by2020.”

“It is up to the BharatiyaJanata Party to decide on Ramtemple construction and asShiv Sena is an ally, hence ithas less say on the issue. But Ibelieve that Prime MinisterModi and Amit Shah can dowhat the people of the coun-try want, hence Ram templewould come up at any cost,” hesaid.

The Shiv Sena MP furthersaid that the BJP would get amajority in Rajya Sabha by2020, and by that time allobstacles in the way of the tem-ple would be removed.

“Shiv Sena chief UddhavThackeray would be reachingAyodhya from Mumbai by achartered flight at 9 am onSunday and will visit RamLalla temple for darshan at 10am along with 18 newly-elect-ed MPs and other leaders of theparty. The MPs would bereaching Ayodhya by tonight,”Raut said.

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has accorded stateguest status to all Shiv SenaMPs and Thackeray duringtheir Ayodhya visit and hasmade all preparations for theirstay and security in the templetown.

Thackeray, his familymembers and other leadershad prayed at Ram Lalla tem-ple in Ayodhya on November25 last to build pressure on theBJP for early construction ofRam temple.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Alleging that “jungle raj”was prevailing in Uttar

Pradesh, Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav met GovernorRam Naik on Saturday to dis-cuss the poor law and order sit-uation in the state and sub-mitted a memorandum.

Akhilesh Yadav along withsenior SP leader AhmadHassan submitted a memo-randum to the Governor andurged him to intervene and“wake up” the state governmentas he did during the SP regime.

Yadav said, “During SPregime, it was said that therewere only Yadav officers. Nowthere is hardly any districtpolice chief or district magis-trate from the Yadav commu-nity. We have requested theGovernor to wake up the stategovernment and direct it tocontrol the prevailing jungle-raj.”

The SO chief further said,“Criminals are having a freehand and they are doing what-ever they want in this regime.UP Bar Council presidentDarvesh Singh Yadav was shotdead inside the chamber of alawyer in Agra court whilecriminals were shot dead insidejail. How can people takefirearms inside the lawyer’schamber or inside the jail?”

Holding the present Yogi

Adityanath governmentresponsible for the deteriorat-ing law and order in the state,the SP president said that thestate government had failed toinstil confidence among peopleof the state.

Akhilesh also tweeted:“Incidents of rape, killings andpolitical attacks have beenincreasing in the state. The CMis busy in meetings but the law

and order is getting worse.The firing at chairperson of BarCouncil in Agra has provedthat the situation is now out ofcontrol.”

Akhilesh Yadav also raisedthe issue of alleged harass-ment of senior SP leaderMohammad Azam Khan byRampur district administrationand said, “The Governorshould look into the matter

immediately as fake criminalcases are being registeredagainst the SP leader by officialsto harass him.”

Recently, a couple of seniorRampur district officials hadsought protection from AzamKhan while cases were lodgedagainst the leader for illegallygrabbing government land forAli Jauhar University owned byKhan.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Two warnings in the lastthree days to top police

officials by Chief Minister YogiAdityanath seem to have failedto cut ice with the former as avisit by Union minister SadhviNiranjan Jyoti to a police sta-tion in her Fatehpur con-stituency exposed the workingof UP Police and their deviousways of dealing with femalemembers.

Interestingly, after theexpose, top police officers triedto hush up the issue by sus-pending station house officer ofChandpur, Kailash Nath, andordering a probe.

The Superintendent ofPolice of Fatehpur said that fur-ther action would be taken afterthe circle officer submitted hisfindings.

As per reports, UnionMinister of State and local MPSadhvi Niranjan Jyoti reachedChandpur police station inFatehpur on Friday evening

after learning from her sup-porters that the police were notlistening to the grievances ofeven female members and wereusing third degree on them.

The Sadhvi also learnt thatpersonnel at Chandpur policestation were not registeringreport of a rape victim despiterepeated complaints.

When the irked Union min-ister visited the police station,she found a girl sitting there.When she enquired, the MP wastold that a building materialsupplier in Pahadpur Badigawahamlet was murdered on June10 and since the girl, Pranshi akaShivani, happened to be thedaughter of prime accusedJaichandra, who was abscond-ing, the cops had brought her tothe police station to build uppressure on the accused.

Even as Sadhvi NiranjanJyoti questioned the cops, someof them sensed trouble andshifted the girl to anotherroom. At this, some BharatiyaJanata Party supporters called

the girl out and on being askedabout her presence in the policestation, she told the Unionminister that the SHO hadbrought her four days back andbrutally assaulted her with belt,asking her to reveal the where-abouts of her father.

On learning about the ille-gal police conduct, the Sadhviimmediately called local IGMohit Agarwal and FatehpurSP Ramesh. After the IG andthe SP reached there alongwith an entourage of seniorofficials, the detained girl’suncle wrote out a complaintagainst the SHO and othercops for illegal detention. TheIG took the application, got acase registered and suspendedthe SHO.

Circle Officer of Bindkiwas asked to probe the incidentand submit a report after whichfurther action would be taken.

On the assurance of prop-er action, the MP left the policestation and visited her con-stituency.

PNS n LUCKNOW

After the success of UPInvestors’ Summit inFebruary 2018 that

fetched investment proposalsworth `4.68 lakh crore, theYogi Adityanath government isnow contemplating organis-ing its maiden ‘GlobalInvestors’ Summit’ early nextyear.

The 2018 summit resultedin big investment as a fairshare of MoUs matured intoactual investment in the state.

The proposed ‘GlobalInvestors’ Summit’ would beheld on a grand scale andposition Uttar Pradesh as anideal investment destinationnot only in India but globally.

While reviewing theprogress of IndustrialDevelopment department thisweek, Chief Minister YogiAdityanath asked officials tostart preparing for the ‘GlobalInvestors’ Summit’, proposed tobe held in February 2020.

He also directed the offi-cials to hold the secondgroundbreaking ceremony forthe pending industrial andinfrastructure projects nextmonth.

During the two-day UPInvestors’ Summit in Lucknowon 21-22 February, 2018, theUP government had signed1,047 memoranda of under-standing (MoUs) worth `4.68lakh crore with private andpublic sector companies.

The summit was inaugu-rated by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in the presenceof honchos of corporate world,including Mukesh Ambani,Gautam Adani, KumarMangalam Birla, NChandrasekaran, SubhashChandra, GM Rao, Shiv Nadarand many others.

The state also hosted del-egates from Mauritius, Japan,the Netherlands, Finland,Czech Republic, Thailand andSlovakia to explore investmentopportunities in UP.

Later, on July 29, 2018, thePrime Minister presided overthe first groundbreaking cere-mony and laid the foundationstones of projects worth`60,000 crore in Lucknow.

So far 29 such projectstotalling `30,000 crore invest-ment have already attainedcommercial production.

However, the secondgroundbreaking ceremony for

projects worth almost `80,000crore got delayed several timesdue to incomplete ground-work, land acquisition woes,pending clearances and lastlythe Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, the ChiefMinister exhorted officials tofurther simply the processesfor spurring investment andresolving issues within sevendays and warned againstharassment of industrialists inthe name of inspections.

Yogi ordered action againstdistrict magistrates who failedto settle no objection certificate(NOC) issues within the stip-

ulated time frame.The Chief Minister

advised officials to encourageinvestment in food processingsector, especially potato-based,for maximising farmers’income. Besides, he under-lined pharmaceutical, solidwaste management and dairydevelopment sectors for lever-aging investment potentialavailable in the state.

Yogi has asked the UPExpressway IndustrialDevelopment Authority(UPEIDA) to develop indus-trial corridor on both sides ofthe proposed Gorakhpur linkexpressway and speed up workon Bundelkhand and Gangaexpressways.

Principal Secretary,Infrastructure and Industrialdevelopment, RK Singh, saidthat the single window systemportal had received 45,000applications out of whichNOCs had been issued tonearly 77 percent or 34,000applicants and over 6,000 suchcases were under considera-tion. “At the same time, UPDefence Industrial Corridor isprojected to attract investmentworth `500 crore soon,” hesaid.

Yogi govt plans to organise global

investors’ summit early next year

‘Jungle raj’ prevailing in UP: Akhilesh

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav (right) and party leader Ahmad Hassan submitting a memorandum to Governor Ram Naik at RajBhawan in Lucknow on Saturday Pioneer

Minister’s visit exposes

high-handedness of cops

Group clash leaves several injured in Hardoi

Uddhav to visit

Ayodhya with

party MPs today

SEVEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL RAPED, KILLEDBY FATHER’S ACQUAINTANCE

Gorakhpur: A seven-year-old girl wasallegedly raped and killed by her father’sacquaintance following which he was arrestedon Saturday. Senior Superintendent of PoliceSunil Gupta said on Friday, Vinod Rai, 55, sawthe girl and her 12-year-old sister playing in theirhouse and told them that their father was call-ing them and the older girl sent her sister withhim. On Friday night, the Sikriganj police wereinformed via Dial-100 helpline that the girl hadbeen abducted by Rai on a motorcycle. Thepolice arrested him and during interrogation hetold the cops that he had dumped the girl’s bodyin a mango orchard in his village. The body wasrecovered by the police. Rai was booked oncharges of kidnapping, rape, murder and underthe POCSO (Protection of Children from SexualOffences) Act, the SSP said. He has three chil-dren, including two daughters who are marriedand was alone at home on the day of the inci-dent as his wife and 19-year-old son were on avisit to Mumbai.

MEMBERS OF BABLI KOL GANG HELDBanda: Four members of dacoit Babli Kol

gang have been arrested from Chitrakoot after

an encounter,. Umesh Kol, Deepak Sahu, Vijay,Phulchadra were arrested after an encounter onFriday in forest area near Sati Mata temple, ASPChitrakoot Balwant Chowdhury said. Policerecovered crude bombs and weapons from thearrested gang members.

TEENAGE BOY FOUND DEAD Azamgarh: The body of a 14-year-old boy,

who had come home on summer vacation, wasrecovered from an orchard near his home at avillage here, police said on Saturday. SudeepSingh Patel was studying in Prayagraj. He hadcome home for vacations and was missing sinceFriday evening. When he did not return home,his family started looking for him and found hisbody in an orchard near their home in Pahadpurvillage in Raunapur area, police said. The bodyhas been sent for post-mortem and investiga-tion is on. No arrests have so far been made inthis connection.

TWO KILLED IN ROAD MISHAPMuzaffarnagar: Two people were killed and

six injured when the tractor-trolley they weretravelling in collided with a speeding truck onDehradun-Delhi highway near Nawla village inthe district here on Saturday, officials said.

2 killed in group clashin Shahjahanpur

Shahjahanpur (PTI): Two persons were killed and anoth-er was injured when two groups clashed over some dispute inShahjahanpur district.

Gyandev (35) and Rizvan (32) were killed in the clash nearBismil park here on Friday night, Superintendent of Police(City) Dinesh Tripathi said. The clash was between followersof Gyandev and Sonu Gupta. Gupta opened fire killing the twoon the spot, the police said.

The injured, identified as Shanu, has been admitted to ahospital, where his condition was stated to be stable. Guptahas been arrested, the police added.

city 03LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | JUNE 16, 2019

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

It felt like a furnace in the statecapital with the maximum

temperature (44.9 degreeCelsius) soaring to sevennotches above normal onSaturday. In the last ten years,the maximum temperaturerecorded in the month of Junehas been 45.3 degree Celsius in2017, 41.8 degree Celsius in2016, 45.7 degree Celsius in2015, 46.3 degree Celsius in2014, 38.7 degree Celsius in2013, 45.4 degree Celsius in2012, 42 degree Celsius in2011, 43.8 degree Celsius in2010, 44.8 degree Celsius in2009, and 40 degree Celsius in2008. However, the all-timehigh was 47.7 degree Celsius onJune 9, 1966.

In the state, Allahabadwas the hottest at 47.4 degreeCelsius. The forecast forLucknow is partly cloudy skywhile rain and thunderstormare likely in some areas. Themaximum and minimumtemperatures are expected tobe around 43 degree Celsiusand 26 degree Celsius, respec-tively. As for state, rain andthunderstorm are likely atisolated places while there is

warning for heatwave tosevere heatwave conditionsat isolated places over the

state. Dust storm and thun-derstorm accompanied bygusty winds (30-40 kmph)

and lightning are likely atisolated places over the state.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Anewly-married jeweller shothimself dead at around 3.19

am on Saturday at his house inKakori. Before committing sui-cide, he rang up his wife andexpressed his love for her. Policesaid a suicide note was recov-ered from the scene. As perreports, Shubham Rastogi (27)of Sitapur was currently stayingalong with his wife Sonam,also of Sitapur, and his parentsKanchan and Sanjay Rastogi ata house on rent in Saitha Khedalocality of Kakori. He had a talkwith his mother-in-law the pre-vious night and thereafter hetalked to his wife Sonam.

“Sonam told police overphone that Shubham had talkedto her around 3.19 am and saidhe would end his life.Thereafter, the call was snappedand she called up her motherwho informed the incident tothe deceased’s father,” the SHOsaid. He said Sanjay sent land-lord Kamlesh Yadav to seeShubham and he found him ina pool of blood. Kamlesh Yadavcalled police control room and,subsequently, a police teamreached the scene for investi-gation. It surfaced thatShubham was married toSonam only a month back. Hisparents Kanchan Rastogi andSanjay Rastogi had gone to

Sitapur two days back to bringback Sonam who was stayingwith her parents in Sitapurand Shubham was all alone.Police said the deceased’s par-ents and Sonam had to returnto the city on Friday but theygot late and so they took a haltin Sitapur planning their jour-ney for Saturday morning.

The Kakori SHO said:“Shubham shot himself usinghis father’s single barrel hand-gun. An arm licence is issued tothe deceased’s father.” He saidShubham put the nozzle of thegun on his forehead and shothimself. “We detected twowounds, one in the middle ofhis eyebrows and other on hishead. These wounds are entryand exit points of the bullet. Noother injury was detected. Werecovered a suicide note fromthe scene,” the SHO said.

Describing the content ofthe suicide note the SHO said:“Shubham stated that he wastaking the step on his own willand no one should be heldresponsible for my act.” TheSHO added that the police hadsought help of the forensicexperts to ascertain the hand-writing of the deceased.

The police spokesman saidthe body had been sent forautopsy and further investiga-tions were underway. “The sui-cide note did not speak about

the reason behind the suicide,”he said. The kin of the deceasedsaid Shubham had gone tobring back Sonam from herhouse in Sitapur but returnedalone probably because Sonamrefused to accompany him.“Thereafter Shubham’s parentswent to Sitapur to bring Sonamback and in the meantime heshot himself,” they said.

LOOTUnidentified miscreants

snatched a gold chain from aprofessor’s wife in Jankipuramon Saturday morning whenthe victim was on a morningwalk. Victim’s husband ManojDixit is a professor in FaizabadUniversity. Reports said thewoman, identified as Arti Dixit(50) of sector F of Jankipuram,was struck soon after shereached the main road near herhouse around 6 am. “The mis-creants were on a bike and pil-lion rider snatched my goldchain. I suffered rashes aroundmy neck in the attack and felldown. Some morning walkerscame for my rescue when Icried for help and comfortedme. The miscreants had disap-peared from the scene by then,”she said. Police are scanning theCCTV’s footages. Police saidimage of the suspects had beencaptured in the footage and ateam was on the hunt job.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Two labourers employedto scoop out silt/mudfrom a 40 feet deep

sewer alongside the Faizabadroad died while their minorcompanion escaped inChinhat on Saturday after-noon. A huge mob of com-muters thronged the site caus-ing traffic to come a standstillfor hours. The bodies of boththe labourers were retrievedfrom the sewer and sent forautopsy. The police recordedthe statement of the minorsurvivor and were investigat-ing the case.

The deceased were identi-fied as Shahabuddin (24) andRaisul (20), both of Assam andwere living in Chinhat. Thesurvivor was identified asMaidul (17) is also of Assamand stays in Chinhat.

As per reports, five labour-ers climbed down the sewernear Bora petrol filling stationaround noon and fainted asthey inhaled some poisonous

gas which emanated from thesewer. Maidul, whose job wasto take out the bucket filledwith silt and throw it outside,was standing at the brink ofthe manhole and so was saved.He found that his colleagueswere not responding and so heraised an alarm hearing whichMonu Kashyap of Daliganjreached the scene to help outthe victims but in vain.Meanwhile, people assembledthe scene and they called thepolice.

A team reached the placeand later firemen also weresent to the site to the rescuethe victims. By the time, therescue operation started,Shahabuddin and Raisul hadfallen unconscious. The vic-tims were taken out from thesewer and were taken to RamManohar Lohia Hospitalwhere they were declared“brought dead”.

Maidul told newsmen thathe, along with five labourers,were hired for the job. “I was

standing near the rim of themanhole while other fourentered the sewer. Two of thelabourers hurriedly came outsaying some poisonous gaswas emanating and they werefeeling uneasy. They later fledthe scene. I do not know theirnames. I also do not know thename of the contractor.Shahabuddin had engaged mefor the work,” he told police.

Giving details, the policespokesman said three labour-ers, including Maidul, wereengaged in the job. “Raisul andShahabuddin died in themishap while Maidul wassaved,” he said. He added thatthe police were trying to findout the contractor.

A huge mob of com-muters, shop owners and localresidents flocked the scene.Some of them also filmed therescue operation being carriedout at the scene. In a video,one of the labourers was seenin a naked state when thepolice pulled the body tying arope around the victim’s chest.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Several persons were injuredin a group clash which

erupted on a petty issue in a vil-lage under Jankipuram policestation. Both the warring grouplobbed crude bombs and evenfired in the air on Friday night.

As pr reports, Abdul Salamof Sheikhan Tola locality waspassing near the house of hisrival Kalim on Friday night.Seeing him all alone, Kalimstarted abusing him and inreply Salam abused him too.While the exchange of exple-tives was going on, Kalim andhis family members attackedSalam and his family members.A little later Salam’s supportersalso assembled there and boththe group came face to face.Soon it was free for all withboth the parties indulging intobrick batting. They also ran-sacked the furniture and otheritems at each other houses.

The police said a crossFIR was registered and furtherinvestigation are under way.“We are identifying thoseinvolved in the group clash,” thepolice said.

Contrary to police claim,Salam said his rivals keptthrowing stones at his house.“My parents suffered injuries instone-pelting by Kalim andhis supporters. We are inno-cent,” he said. He furtheralleged that Kalim’s supportersopened fire on him and hisfamily. “I suffered pellet injuryin my leg while my parents suf-fered injuries inflicted by somesharp-edged weapon,” healleged. The police spokesmansaid a case of murderous assaulthad been registered againstKalim and others on the com-plaint of Salam. “The othergroup also alleged Salam andhis supporters on the samecount and so a case againstSalam was also registered,” thespokesman said.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Children mostly find theirfathers adorable because a

majority of them are indulgentand pamper their daughtersand sons. Talking to ThePioneer on the eve of Father’sDay, most of the youngsters aswell as adults said they hadmade plans of celebrationswith their fathers.

Kajal, who is preparing forcivil services exam, said shehad brought a card and gift forher father. “I understand thatFather’s Day is symbolic butinterestingly, my father’s birth-day also falls on the same day.I would say that we share asugar and salt relationshipand we fight a lot but then Ireach out to him in difficulttimes,” she said.

Eight-year-old Swati isplanning with her mother toshare photographs on socialmedia. Her mother Devyanisaid that Swati was very excit-ed and insisted that they eatout in her father’s favouriterestaurant. Girls have a specialbond with their father andfathers also like to pamper

them,” she added.Forty-year-old Mamta,

who is school teacher, said shemissed her late father everydaybut more on Father’s Day.“Celebration of these days hasjust started but I remember myfather who was my role model.A university teacher, he wasalways my guide and mentor.Today when I get caught insome problem, I miss himimmensely,” she said.

For Milind, who is study-ing medicine, his father wasvery particular about disci-pline. “We do not share thebuddies kind of relationshipbut there are so many qualitiesof him which I appreciate.Though I detested so muchdiscipline when I was inschool, I now realise that it isessential for life and career,” hesaid. Vikas Bansal, an engineerworking with a private com-pany, said he was friends withhis father. “He discusses every-thing with me, included mygirlfriends. There is a specialtreat which I have planned forhim on Father’s Day. We willgo for a long drive and then Iwill cook for him,” he added.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Two Nigerians were arrest-ed for defrauding a

Lucknow woman doctor anda social worker of rupees tothe tune of crore. They werearrested from Charbagh rail-way station on Friday. Thewoman had lodged a casewith the Cyber police stationin Lucknow. The operationwas carried out by a jointteam of Cyber police station,Special Task Force (STF) anda field unit of STF, GautamBudh Nagar.

Those arrested were iden-ti f ied as Amra ChukbuRoland and Hormi KC, bothstaying in New Delhi at pre-sent. The team recovered alaptop, 7 mobile sets, Rs 1.41lakh and a passbook and acheque book. Both owned uptheir crime.

The duo defrauded sev-eral innocent including the

complainant of over Rs 70crore.

The police said thewoman got acquainted withDr Steve George of Englandand a Cardiologist, a fakeprofile that the fraudsters hadmade on their Facebookaccount.

The fraudsters trappedthe woman offering help insocial work field. After havingbefriended, they demandedfrom the woman Rs 2.5 lakhsaying their goods had beenseized by custom officials atthe airport and they had topay the fine. “The woman wasunmindful of their trick andshe kept helping them finan-cially and this way she paidrupees to the tune of crore indifferent bank accounts ofthe miscreants during the lastfour months,” the police said.

The police said they got atip-off about the miscreants’arrival in the city by train and

Two labourers suffocate to

death while cleaning sewer

Maximum temp soars to 44.90 C

Many hurt

in group

clash

Jeweller shoots self dead

A day dedicated to fathers!

so they laid a trap at the rail-way station and nabbed themlater. The miscreants saidthey had duped several per-sons. Explaining their modusoperandi, the miscreants saidthey used to befriend thegullible and later used to tell

them that they had sent somegifts to them. They said theyused to pretend that theirgoods had been caught bycustom officials at airport inNew Delhi and used to per-suade them to help them out.

To Nigerians booked for fraud

Prasad being distributed at a bhandara organised in city on Saturday Pioneer

A boy having a bike ride with his father on the eve of Father’s Day Pioneer

There seems to be no let-up in the heatwave conditions prevailing in the state capital Pioneer

city 04LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | JUNE 16, 2019

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

That the elderly become aburden in most households is

not new, but a recent surveyrevealed that 35 per cent of thecaregivers — be it sons or daugh-ters-in-law — “never” felt happylooking after the elderly.According to the report, “Elder

MEETINGDivisional Commissioner

Anil Kumar Garg presidedover a meeting of Road SafetyDivisional Committee onSaturday. The meeting wasattended by senior officialsfrom various governmentdepartments. He said the spotswhere maximum accidentsoccur need to be identified andremedial measures taken. Hesaid help should also be extend-ed to families in case of hit-and-run cases. The DivisionalCommissioner said LucknowMunicipal Corporation, police,Transport department andautorickshaw associations iden-tifying the points should sub-mit the report in 15 days. Healso directed the officials tofind out the spots where traf-fic snarls are maximum andcome up with a strategy toresolve the problem. Garg saidthat Road Safety Week wouldbe organised from June 17 to 22and would be supported by allthe departments associatedwith road safety. A workshopwill also be organised whichwill witness the participation ofall stakeholders. He said health

camps would also be organisedfor drivers of heavy vehicleswith the help of PHCs andCHCs.

SEMINARShia PG College, along

with Guide Kalyan Samiti,organised a seminar onInternational Elderly AbuseAwareness Day on Saturday.The agony and troubles faced

by senior citizens in their ownfamilies was the core topic ofdiscussion. Governor RamNaik was the chief guest whoshared his life experience andmotivated the youth to keepgoing ahead, irrespective of theodds faced by them. He spokeon the present condition ofelderly people in their ownfamilies and encouraged theyoungsters to fulfill their duties

towards their parents and pre-serve the culture of India.“This can be achieved only bythe cumulative and concen-trated efforts of all,” he said.

BLOOD DONATIONCII-Yi Lucknow organised

a blood donation camp onSaturday to celebrate WorldBlood Donor Day. The objec-tive was to propagate the sig-nificance of blood donation insaving lives. Certificates wereissued to the donors. More than100 units of blood were col-lected. Chairman of CII UPState Council Vinod Sharmahighlighted the importance ofdonating blood. He said thatthe industry had always playedits part in supporting suchsocial causes.

PHOTOGRAPHY CONTESTIndia Post is inviting

entries for a photography com-petition as a part ofIndependence Day celebra-tions on ‘Gandhian Heritage inModern India’. Director ofPostal Services Krishna KumarYadav said deadline for theentries was June 30. Yadav saidthat Rs 50,000, Rs 25,000 and10,000 would be given away tothe winner, first runner-upand second runner-up respec-tively. Five consolation prizes ofRs 5,000 will also be up forgrabs. The results will bedeclared on August 15.

CISV YOUTH MEETINGCity Montessori School is

hosting 8-day internationalCISV youth meeting called‘Lets Work it Out’ from June 24to July 1. Student delegationsfrom Brazil, Czech Republic,Indonesia, Spain and India,along with their leaders, arearriving at Lucknow to partic-ipate in the meeting. A total of30 students from India andabroad will be participating inthe meeting.

Abuse in India: Role of Familyin Caregiving: Challenges &Responses" by charitableorganisation HelpAge India,released on the eve of ‘WorldElder Abuse Awareness Day’on Friday, 29 per cent respon-dents admitted they wouldprefer that senior citizens inthe family be put in old agehomes. A quarter of therespondents also blamedfatigue and frustration fortheir aggression towards elders.

“While 35 per cent of thecaregivers never felt happylooking after the elderly, 25 percent caregivers felt fatigue andfrustration that resulted inaggressive behaviour towardsthe older members of the fam-ily,” the report noted.

With a sample size of 2090caregivers, mainly involvingson, daughter-in-law, daughter,and son-in-law, the 20 cityreport identifies the top formsof abuse as disrespect, neglectand verbal abuse.

The report focuses on thegeneration aged 30 50 years,covering Tier 1 and 2 cities.

“What is amazing is thatdespite the abuse elders mightface at home, at the hands oftheir adult children, theychoose to remain within thefamily ambit. Their solution isalways sensitize their children,their primary caregivers, andnot move away from the fam-ily,” AK Singh, director andhead of HelpAge India (UP)said.

A total of 29 per cent care-givers in the family felt the"burden of caregiving of anelder was Moderate to Severe”,while 15 per cent felt a “Severeburden of caregiving”.

Despite the burden felt, upto 32 per cent adult caregiversfulfilled their duties of extend-ing physical care to elderly forActivities of Daily Living(ADL) such as help, assistancein changing clothes, walking,eating, bathing, and toileting.

The report also found that42.5 per cent caregivers paidfor the medical bills, and 57 percent of the times monetaryhelp for an elder’s personalhabits came from the sonagainst 23 per cent from thedaughter-in-law. On an aver-age, a family spends Rs 4125

looking after the elderly as 78.1per cent caregivers felt that nopolicy or measures were adopt-ed by their employers to helpthem ease the burden of care-giving regarding elderly athome, it noted.

“It is therefore importantto look into space of the care-giver. To understand the bur-den of elder care and the chal-lenges faced by them. For onlyif we are able to understand,can we also empower andencourage them to look aftertheir elderly parents,” Singhsaid.

‘35% caregivers never feel happy looking after elderly’

CITYBRIEFS

Lucknow (PNS): Overthree-fourths of the caregiversreported that children assisttheir grandparents in per-forming daily activities such asoverseeing correct dosage andtimeliness of medication andit does not vary across gen-ders. They also reported thatthe grandchildren keep theelderly abreast about worldpolitics by reading out news-paper, books — grandsons(24%) and granddaughters(19%).

The study covered 114elderly dependents who aretaken care of by one or morethan one family member.More than half of the elderlydependents are females.Majority of the elderly depen-dents (63 per cent ) wereaged 61-70 years while 27 percent 71-80 years and 10 percent above 80 years. The elder-ly experience physical or func-tional limitations and conse-

quently become dependenton others for performing tasksof daily living.

“We have examined dif-ferent types of care extendedby the caregivers in terms ofactivities of daily living, instru-mental activities of daily living,other day-to-day activities andhospital visits,” AK Singh said.

“In these families, thechildren of caregivers as wellas the grandchildren cater totheir varied needs, therebyassisting the primary care-givers in sharing the respon-sibility. The study collectedinformation on the list of day-to-day activities performedby the children for theirgrandparents, elderly depen-dents. Grandchildren do shareresponsibilities with the pri-mary caregivers and irrespec-tive of the gender, they per-form these activities for thebenefit of the elderly,” headded.

Grandkids of great help

Governor Ram Naik at a programme at Shia PG College

Lakhimpur Kheri: An under-ground fire in Mohammadi rangeforests of Uttar Pradesh left scores ofneighbouring villagers panicked andpuzzled. Smoke was seen gushing outthrough the cracks in the ground andat some places land had turned intoembers, said residents of Bela Paharaand Muda Galib villages in South Kheriforest division. 72-year-old HukumSingh of Muda Galib said he has neverbeen witness to such a scene. He fearedthat the fire may damage his crops.

Another villager, Bhai Lal (75),termed the scene as a natural miracle,which he had never heard of or seenearlier. Some villagers also mistook itas a volcanic incident. Soon after theincident was reported, officials rushedto the spot. “The incident is a naturalphenomenon in which fire broke out inunderground humus layer,” VikasDubey, Tehsildar of Mohammadi, toldPTI. “The land where the undergroundfire incident took place has been lyingbarren for several decades and dryleaves, twigs and branches from near-by jungles accumulated there andformed the underground humus layer,”he said. He also spoke to local villagerswho said that a few days back, they hadburnt fire on the land. He said “the

overground fire was put out but itunknowingly caught the humus layerswhich resulted in smoke emissionfrom the cracks”.

Divisional Forest Officer of SouthKheri, Sameer Kumar, said, “Forest offi-cials were rushed to dig up trenchesaround the affected land to prevent itsspread of the fire to the nearby forest.”Terming it ‘swamp pit fire’, field direc-tor Dudhwa Ramesh Kumar Pandeysaid, “Swampy lands often developunderground holes in which organicmatters accumulated and scorchingheat sometimes result in such under-ground fire.”

Underground fire in UP

forest triggers panic

Lakhimpur Kheri: TheDudhwa National Park (DNP),which is famous for tigers andswamp deers, closed for touristson Saturday evening. Tourists areallowed inside the Dudhwa TigerReserve (DTR) from November15 to June 15 every year.

The entire DTR, whichincludes Dudhwa National Park,Kishanpur wildlife sanctuary and

Katarniaghat sanctuary, is closedin view of the monsoon seasonand tourism activities are sus-pended, Field Director RameshKumar Pandey said. During mon-soon, most parts of the reserve areinundated. According to officialfigures, 29,661 Indian and 287foreign tourists had visited parkby March end.

Pandey said this year in

January, the first-ever winter birdcount was held in Dudhwa, dur-ing which five new species werereported in the park. It was fol-lowed by a summer bird countduring which the black-crestedbulbul was spotted after decades.

He said that in this seasonphase two of a rhino rehabilitationprogramme at Bhadi Tal was

introduced, but tourists were notallowed to visit the area. Ten moreelephants were also introduced inthe park’s domestic fleet oftuskers, the official added. “Afterthe close of tourist season on June15, Operation Monsoon would belaunched in DTR during whichspecial arrangements would bemade for patrolling even in sen-sitive areas,” Pandey said.

Dudhwa National Park closes for tourists

Woman killsdaughter, self inMuzaffarnagar

Muzaffarnagar: A 35-year-old woman allegedly poisonedher daughter to death beforecommitting suicide at Nara vil-lage under Mansurpur PoliceStation in the district onSaturday, police said. Minu, wifeof Sushil Kumar, poisoned herseven-year-old daughter andlater consumed poison herselfover a family dispute, officialssaid. The police said that thebodies were sent for the post-mortem.

Divisional Commissioner Anil Kumar Garg presiding over a meeting on Saturday Pioneer

HELP MAKE INDIA $5TNECONOMY...

He said that the newly creat-ed Jal Shakti Ministry will helpprovide an integrated approach towater and States can also integratevarious efforts towards waterconservation and management.

Modi has written a personalletter to ‘Gram Pradhans’ (villagechiefs) requesting them to con-serve rainwater during the forth-coming monsoon to handle watercrisis in rural areas. The letters,signed by the PM, have beendelivered to the pradhans throughrespective District Magistratesand Collectors in the districts.

At present, 42 per cent areasin the country are facing droughtsituation. The PM has also sug-gested construction of checkdams and ponds where properharvesting of rainwater can bedone. Water crisis is one of themain agendas of the meeting as itcomes on the back of NITIAayog’s warning that 21 cities ofIndia, including Bangalore andnational capital Delhi, will runout of ground water by 2020.

Against the backdrop ofintensifying international tradewar, Modi said India’s fallingexports needed attention. Heasked the States, especially theNorth-Eastern one, to tap theiruntapped potential. He notedthat the export sector was animportant element in the progressof developing countries and thatthe Centre and the States shouldwork towards growth in exports,in order to raise per capitaincomes.

Reiterating his Government’scommitment to double incomesof farmers by 2022, PM Modi saidthis requires focus on fisheries,animal husbandry, horticulture,fruits and vegetables. He saidthat the benefits of PM-KISAN -Kisan Samman Nidhi - and otherfarmer centric schemes shouldreach the intended beneficiarieswell within time.

Turning to aspirational dis-tricts, the Prime Minister said thatthe focus should be on good gov-ernance. He said that many aspi-rational districts are affected byNaxal violence, which is now ina decisive phase.

On the health sector, thePrime Minister said that severaltargets have to be kept in mind,

to be achieved by 2022. He alsomentioned the target of elimi-nating TB by 2025. The PrimeMinister urged those States whohave not implemented PMJAYunder Ayushman Bharat, so far, tocome onboard this scheme at theearliest.

Recalling the recent generalelections as the world’s largestdemocratic exercise, the PrimeMinister said that it is now timefor everyone to work for thedevelopment of India.

Describing Swachchh BharatAbhiyan and Pradhan MantriAwaas Yojana as illustrations ofwhat the Centre and the Statescan accomplish together, thePrime Minister urged the States tofocus on collective responsibilityfor achieving short-term andlong-term goals.

GOVT ASKS STATES...Vardhan also cited a letter

dated July 7, 2017 sent by theUnion Health Ministry to allChief Secretaries of States whichcontains the decision taken by anInter-Ministerial Committee con-stituted by the Ministry to reviewthe issues raised by IMA.

The move comes after theIndian Medical Association(IMA) launched a four-daynationwide protest from Fridayand wrote to Union HomeMinister Amit Shah demandingenactment of a Central law tocheck violence against health-care workers in hospitals. Theapex doctors’ body has called fora nationwide strike on June 17with withdrawal of non-essentialhealth services. Representativesfrom the IMA and the DelhiMedical Association (DMA)cal led on Vardhan on Saturday.

“Resident doctors in manyparts of the country are agitatingand not providing healthcare ser-vices. Agitations by doctors inWest Bengal seem to be gettingaggravated and taking shape ofstrike by both Government andprivate sector doctors, all over thecountry,” he said in his letter.

Stressing further on the needfor avoiding such incidents infuture, Vardhan said that lawenforcement should prevail sothat doctors and clinical estab-lishments discharge their dutiesand professional pursuit without

fear of any violence. “Strict actionagainst any person who assaultsthem, must be ensured by the lawenforcement agencies,” he empha-sised.

The inter-Ministerial com-mittee, in its report, had recom-mended that the Health Ministryshal l suggest to a l l StateGovernments which do not havespecific legislation to protect doc-tors and health professionals, toconsider one to strictly enforcethe provisions of special legisla-tion wherever they exist orenforce the IPC/CrPC provisionswith vigour.

“The IMA has raised thisconcern many a times. Since‘police’ and ‘public order’ areState subjects, the Government ofIndia, on many occasions hasdrawn attent ion of StateGovernments for an urgent needfor a robust criminal justice sys-tem with emphasis on preventionand control of crime,” Vardhansaid.

The draft of the Protection ofMedical Service Persons andMedical Service Institutions(Prevention of Violence andDamage or Loss of Property)Act, 2017, circulated to the States,includes clauses on penalty andrecovery in case of loss/damage toproperty.

“Our doctors rank among thebest in the world and work forlong hours under stressful con-ditions, grappling with a hugeload of patients. It is the duty ofState to ensure safety and securi-ty of doctors who assure that thehealthcare needs of the society aremet,” he highlighted.

Vardhan had on Friday writ-ten to West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee too on thismatter.

DEFIANT DIDI...The project is scheduled to be

inaugurated on June 21. TheTelangana Chief Minister plannedto meet Modi and extend aninvitation to the inaugurationbut is yet to get an appointmentfrom the Prime Minister. TheTelangana Government has notsent any representative to themeeting. The meeting is beingattended all other Chief Ministers,administrators of UnionTerritories and the Governor ofJammu & Kashmir.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

nation 05LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | JUNE 16, 2019

PNS n NEW DELHI

Former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh on

Saturday held a meeting withthe Chief Ministers of Statesruled by the Congress andallied parties ahead of the cru-cial Niti Aayog meeting. Theydiscussed the proposed agen-da of the Niti Aayog and issuesof the Congress and its alliesgoverned States.

Congress leaders —Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Kamal Nath,Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot, Karnataka ChiefMinister HD Kumaraswamyand Puducherry Chief MinisterV Narayansamy andChhattisgarh CM BhupeshBaghel — attended the meetingat the All India CongressCommittee (AICC) headquar-ters. Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh skipped themeeting due to his health rea-sons.

Among the issues dis-cussed were injecting life backin water bodies, fresh effortsneeded from the Centre in theagricultural sector and amend-ment in the Forest Act to bringabout change and prosperity inthe lives of the tribals.

Kamal Nath said at theAICC that all the ChiefMinisters were briefed byManmohan Singh. He said thatthe Gross Domestic Product(GDP) figures are out and theGovernment should suggest

measures in view of the graveeconomic situation. KamalNath also said that the severedrought conditions are pre-vailing in large parts of thecountry, rivers have dried upand so contingency measuresare needed. The CM said agri-cultural distress also needs tobe addressed urgently, addingthat all these issues will betaken up during the GoverningCouncil meeting.

The fifth meeting of theNiti Aayog's GoverningCouncil focused on issues likethe drought situation, farmdistress, rain water harvestingand preparedness for kharifcrops. It was the first meetingof the governing council of NitiAayog since the formation ofthe Modi 2.0 Government.

Earlier in the day, Baghel,Kumaraswamy andNarayansamy also separatelycalled on the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. On Friday,Madhya Pradesh Chief MinisterNath had hosted a dinner at hisresidence where Gehlot, Bagheland Narayansamy were present.Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh could notmake it for the dinner andskipped the Niti Aayog meet-ing.

The five-point agenda forthe meeting also includes aspi-rational districts programme,transforming agriculture,drought and security relatedissues with special focus on leftwing extremism (LWE) dis-tricts, an official statementsaid.

Manmohan briefs Cong CMs ahead of Niti Aayog meeting

Former PM Manmohan Singh with Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, RajasthanCM Ashok Gehlot, Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy and Puducherry CM VNarayansamy during a meeting at AICC on Saturday PTI

PNS n NEW DELHI

Gujarat Chief Minister VijayRupani on Saturday called

on Union Agriculture MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar to dis-cuss issues relating to farmers'welfare such as the KisanKalyan Nidhi Yojana andPradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojana.

A delegation led byRupani, Gujarat AgricultureMinister R C Faldu, ChiefSecretary JN Singh, ChiefPrincipal Secretary to CM KKailashnathan, AdditionalChief Secretary (Agri) SanjayPrasad and officers of the agri-culture department met Tomar.

Union Minister of State forAgriculture ParshottambhaiRupala was also present at themeeting. According to a state-ment, the issues on pendingclaims of interest subvention ofcrop loan advance by banks ofthe state and extension of dateto purchase of mustard in thePrice Support Scheme werealso discussed in the meeting.

It was decided in the meet-ing that the last date for pur-

chase of mustard under thePrice Support Scheme shall beextended up to June 30. TheGovernment also decided toexpedite payment of interestsubvention to the cooperativebanks and nationalised banksso that farmers do not face anyinconvenience, according tothe statement.

The discussion alsofocused on measures beingjointly undertaken by theUnion and State Governmentsto increase agriculture pro-ductivity to improve farmerincome as well as on strength-ening measures for farmerwelfare.

CM Rupani meets UnionAgriculture Minister,discusses farmers' issues

PNS n NEW DELHI

Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan on

Saturday called on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andcited the State’s reservation onthe privatisation ofThiruvananthapuram interna-tional airport. Vijayan wasmeeting Modi for the first timeafter the latter assumed thePrime Minister’s office for thesecond time following the BJP-led NDA’s victory in the LokSabha polls. Vijayan is here toattend the Niti Aayog meeting.

During the brief meet,attended by State PWDMinister G Sudhakaran andChief Secretary Tom Jose,Vijayan submitted a memo-randum citing variousdemands including further aidfor rebuilding the flood-hitState.

Official sources said theChief Minister requested theCentre to retain the airport inthe public sector and not tohand over its management toany private company.

Kerala's concern over itsreported exclusion from the pri-ority list of the national high-way development and the needto get more central assistance

for various projects also figuredin the discussion, which lastedfor around 15 minutes, theyadded.

The Adani group had, inFebruary, won the bid to oper-ate five out of six airports,including the one atThiruvananthapuram, pro-posed for privatisation by theCentral Government.

The State Government hadearlier appealed to the Centreto reconsider its decision tolease out Thiruvananthapuramaerodrome for operation, man-agement and developmentunder the public-private part-nership (PPP).

"Without the co-operationof the State Government, noprivate company can develop

the airport properly," Vijayantold the state Assembly earlierthis week.

In a letter to the prime min-ister in March, Vijayan haddemanded that the airport'soperation be handed over to theT h i r u v a n a n t h a p u r a mInternational Airport Ltd(TIAL) floated by the govern-ment-run Kerala

State IndustrialDevelopment Corporation(KSIDC).

The airport was establishedin 1932 on 258.06 acres ofland owned by the princely stateof Travancore, of which thestate is the successor. The258.06 acres of land had beenentered into the revenuerecords as Government land.

Thiruvananthapuram airport'sprivatisation: Pinarayi meets PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayanduring a meeting in New Delhi on Saturday PTI

PNS n NEW DELHI

The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) on

Saturday said that cyclonicstorm “Vayu”, which has weak-ened, is likely to reach coastalSaurashtra and Kutch in Gujaratas a depression by Mondayevening. In its latest update, theIMD said that “Vayu” was spot-ted at 355 kms west-southwestof Porbandar coast, 380 kmswest Veraval and 470 kms westof Diu.

The Met said that thecyclone is likely to be accom-panied by strong winds speed ofthe order of 40-50 kmph gust-ing to 60 kmph off Gujaratcoast. “The system is very like-ly to move westwards duringnext 24 to 36 hours with grad-ual weakening and recurvenortheastwards thereafter andreach coastal Saurashtra andKutch as a depression by the

evening of June 17,” it furthersaid. The sea conditions are like-ly to remain rough till June 17.

In a fresh warning, theIMD said that a fresh warningto fishermen not to venture intothe Arabian sea and along thecoast of Gujarat as CycloneVayu storms over the northeastand adjoining east-centralArabian Sea. The IMD said thatthe impact of Vayu had led toheavy to very heavy rainfall inisolated places in Saurashtra,

while the entire state receivedscattered rainfall Saturday.

In a tweet, GujaratAdditional Chief SecretaryPankaj Kumar said,"#CycloneVayu is still main-taining its intensity. Rainfallactivity is set to decrease alongthe coast and the interior partsof #Gujarat, while the westernparts of the state will continueto receive light to moderaterains."

Cyclone Vayu, which was to

make landfall on Thursday nearthe Gujarat coast, changedcourse on the intervening nightof Wednesday and Thursday. Itskirted the Gujarat coast affect-ing Gir, Somnath, Diu, Junagarhand Porbandar. On Friday, theMinistry of Earth Sciences hasstated that Vayu is likely torecurve and come close toGujarat coast.

Earlier, the cyclone, whilenot making landfall in Gujarat,brought moderate-to-heavyrains to 114 tehsils, the highestrainfall of 6.5 inches (160mm)being recorded in Talala tehsilof Gir-Somnath district sinceThursday, a Met departmentrelease said.

The development comes aday after Gujarat Chief MinisterVijay Rupani declared that the"danger over the state hasended." However, the cyclonerecurved coming close to theIndian coast.

Vayu likely to hit Gujarat coast on Monday: IMD

PNS n NEW DELHI

The deadlock over the resig-nation of Rahul Gandhi as

the Congress president follow-ing the Lok Sabha debacle isaffecting the day-to-day func-tioning of the grand old party.

In the last few days, all theimportant notifications, whichwere earlier issued by theapproval of the Congress pres-ident, are being released stating"by the approval of AICC".

On Friday, the notificationregarding the appointment ofMLAs and MLCs to theMaharashtra Biennial Assemblywas approved by the AICCand marked to party GeneralSecretary in-charge of StateMallikarjun Kharge and StateUnit chief Ashok Chavan.

"All the orders which wereissued within the jurisdiction ofthe party chief are now being

done at AICC office bearerlevel. This is for the first timethe organisation is functioningon such a mode," said an AICCsource.

On the other hand, crisis isdeepening within the organi-sation with AK Antony turningdown an offer to be the party'sinterim president. Antony, atrusted man for the Gandhifamily, has cited health issues asa reason for not taking up thejob.

Senior party leadersAhmed Patel and Ghulam NabiAzad, who have been tasked tolook for a face outside theGandhi family to lead the party,had asked Antony to take upthe job. Antony informed Pateland Azad that he has fullrespect for the Gandhi familybut could not accept the post.

AICC sources said that inthe given circumstances, AICCGeneral Secretary K CVenugopal too has declined to

accept the post of WorkingPresident offered to him citinghis other role of strengtheningthe party.

Senior leaders are in tizzyas UPA Chairperson SoniaGandhi and daughter andGeneral Secretary AICCPriyanka Gandhi have spokentheir minds at a rally in RaeBareilly recently against theparty's system which led to thedrubbing in the last twoGeneral Elections.

The search for the newleader was initiated after RahulGandhi decided to resign fromthe party's top post, followingthe dismal performance in therecently-held general elections.Although the CongressWorking Committee, theparty's highest decision-makingbody, had rejected Rahul's res-ignation, he has remainedsteadfast on giving up the post.

Antony, a trusted

man for the

Gandhi family,

has cited health

issues as a

reason for not

taking up the job

Impasse over RaGa resignation holding Cong backPNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress on Saturdaysought the Government to

draft a new Naxal policy todeal with left-wing-extrem-ism (LWE) in the backdrop ofthe recent attack on a policeteam in Jharkhand.

Dr Manmohan Singh asPrime Minister of theCongress-led-government atthe Centre had time andagain described the LWE asone of the biggest threats to theNational Security even thoughincidents linked to Maoist vio-lence did not see a let-up in 10years of UPA regime.

Condemning the attack inthe Seraikela-Kharsawan areanear the Jharkhand-Bengalborder on Friday in which fivepolice personnel were killed inan ambush by Maoists,Congress spokesperson

Randeep Surjewala Surjewalasaid the act was highly con-demnable.

"The cowardly face ofNaxalism has been spreadingin Jharkhand. The govern-ment of this country needs todraft afresh its policy to dealwith naxalism," he tweeted.

Two assistant sub-inspec-tors and three constables cameunder attack while patrollingthe Tiruldih police station areaof the district.

The LWE in several statesincluding Chhattisgarh,Telangana, Andhra Pradesh,Odisha and Maharashtra hadkept the police and para-mil-itary forces on their toes andeven though many top Naxalleaders have been eliminated inthe past and several others sur-rendered themselves beforethe authorities, the strikesfrom the underground groups

have continued to take many alives of police and para-mili-tary personnel.

From 2005 to 2011,Congress had experimentedwith 'Salwa Judum' (peacemarch or purification hunt)which involved counteringMaoists by providing armedtraining to tribals. The so-called experiment carried outby Congress leader MahendraKarma later turned highlycontroversial with allegedforcible evacuation of tribalsfrom the land and their shift toarmed camps.

Human rights' group crit-icized the move saying the‘Salwa Judum’ has turned poortribals more vulnerable toMaoist attacks rather securingthem. Subsequently, the 'SalwaJudum' was declared illegal bythe Supreme Court. Karmahimself got killed in a Maoist

attack in 2013. There has not been a

marked change in Modi-gov-ernment's policy towards LWEwith the former also seeingLWE as one of the biggest chal-lenges to the National Securityand insisting on 'zero tolerance'against it.

Development work acrossthe LWE infested lands has notmade speedy progress asMaoist repeatedly thwart it byperpetuating violence and tryfoiling the governmentattempts to bring tribals intothe 'mainstream' . The cor-ruption in developmental pro-jects initiated by the centraland state governments andalleged 'extortion racket' byLWE groups have further com-plicated the scenario whichgets time and again alive withthe burst of gun from bothsides.

Govt needs to draft new Naxal policy: Cong

PNS n NEW DELHI

The by-elections to six vacant RajyaSabha seats from Bihar, Odisha

and Gujarat will be held on July 5, theElection Commission said onSaturday.

Six senior leaders from the RajyaSabha, including Amit Shah, RaviShankar Prasad and Smriti Iranihave moved to the Lok Sabha withtheir recent election to the lowerhouse, thus necessitating election forthe said seats for the Upper house.

Irani's seat is the second fromGujarat apart from Amit Shah'swhich needs to be filled. Irani haddefeated Congress president RahulGandhi from Amethi.

Of the six seats, two are fromGujarat, one from Bihar (Prasad) andthree from Odisha- AchyutanandaSamanta, Pratap Keshari Deb andSoumya Ranjan Patnaik (all from BijuJanta Dal). Congress had demanded

that election to the two seats of RSfrom Gujarat be conducted on thesame time as resignations of the twoBJP leaders from the Upper House ondifferent dates sought to create con-ditions that election to the two seatsare conducted on different datesthereby giving an advantage to the rul-ing BJP there.

Congress spokesperson AbhishekManu Singhvi, at a press conferenceon June 13, said they came to knowthat there could be a bid to hold elec-tions for the two seats separately. Theparty will approach the ElectionCommission EC with its demand ofholding elections for the two RajyaSabha seats in Gujarat together, hesaid. Singhvi pointed out that simul-taneous voting can bring one of thetwo Rajya Sabha seats to Congress. Healluded without naming the partythat election to the two seats on dif-ferent dates could help BJP pocketboth the seats.

By-elections to six vacant

Rajya Sabha seats on July 5

Srinagar: The Jammu &Kashmir Bank will now comeunder the purview of Right toInformation Act and CentralVigilance Commission (CVC)guidelines, an officialspokesman said on Saturday.

He said the decision wastaken by the Board ofDirectors of the Jammu & Kashmir Bank.

The move will ensure greater transparency andaccountability, the spokesman said here.

"J&K Bank Board of Directors today (Saturday)decided to bring the bank under the purview of CVCguidelines & J&K RTI Act-2009 to ensure greater trans-parency & accountability," he said.

On June 11, Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyamhad said the bank has no choice but to be under RTIas it is a government-owned bank.

"It is registered under the companies act as a gov-ernment company. By the end of June, the bank willbe brought under the RTI and CVC guidelines," he said.

The decision comes days after Parvez Ahmed wasremoved as the Chairman of the J&K Bank for allegedcorruption, nepotism and favouritism. PTI

J&K Bank nowunder RTI, CVC

Indian Air Force cadets march during their graduation parade at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Saturday AP

New Delhi/Mumbai: Mumbai-headquartered WesternRailway on Saturday said it hadwithdrawn a proposal to pro-vide foot and head massages topassengers on board 39 trainsoriginating from Indore inMadhya Pradesh.

Indore is part of Ratlamdivision of Western Railway.

In a press release issuedhere, WR Chief SpokespersonRavinder Bhakar said, "Theproposal for introduction ofhead and/or foot massage ser-vices to be provided in thetrains originating from Indorestation was initiated by RatlamDivision of Western Railway."

"As soon as this proposal

came to the notice of higherauthorities of Western Railway,it had been decided to with-draw this proposal of startingmassage services in trains,"the statement said.

The proposal had beenopposed by newly-electedIndore Lok Sabha MP ShankarLalwani and outgoing LokSabha Speaker SumitraMahajan, both of whom ques-tioned the appropriateness of

the proposal."What arrangements will

be made to provide this facili-ty given that the service wouldthrow up some questionsregarding the safety and com-fort of passengers, especiallythat of women passengers,"Mahajan had asked.

On June 10, Lalwani hadwritten a letter to the RailwayMinistry on the issue, saying itwould not be appropriate toprovide massage to passen-gers on board, especially in thepresence of women.

"Is providing these kind ofservices in front of women inaccordance with the principlesof Indian culture? Providing

passengers medical aid, doctorsare important for the railwaysnot these standardless servicesin my opinion," Lalwani hadwritten.

After Lalwani's letter,Ratlam Railway DivisionalManager R N Sunkar had clar-ified that the service would notinclude a "full body massage"but only head and foot mas-sages.

The railways will ensurethat the facility will not makepassengers feel uncomfortable,he had claimed.

According to railway offi-cials, the proposal was part ofan initiative to garner revenuefrom non-fare segments. PTI

Western Railway withdraws proposalfor head, foot massages on trains

nation 06LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | JUNE 16, 2019

PNS n JAMMU

Cracking its whip Anti-CorruptionBureau (ACB) on Saturday reg-

istered a case against deputy MayorSrinagar Municipal Corporation,senior officers of J&K Bank and fewGovernment officials for illegalappropriation of subsidy with inflat-ed project cost for establishment ofCA storage at Lassipora, Pulwama.

According to the statementissued by the spokesman of AntiCorruption Bureau, “a case FIR No.3/2019 under section 5(1) (d) PC ActSamvat 2006, punishable u/S 5(2) ofthe Act r/w 420 & 120-B RPC hasbeen registered in Police StationAnti Corruption Bureau, SouthKashmir (Anantnag) against ShiekhImran Director M/S Kehwa SquarePvt. Ltd. BohriKadal Srinagar, offi-cers of J&K Bank and other govt offi-cials, for illegal appropriation ofsubsidy with inflated project cost for establishment of CA storage atLassipora, Pulwama”.

Earlier, IT raids were conducted on the premises ofSheikh Imran on June 11 and sever-al files pertaining to investments were seized.

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

Ahead of the MonsoonSession of the Maharashtra

Legislature beginning onMonday, Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis will expandhis Ministry on Sunday byinducting “eight to ten” newMinisters, including mostprobably the erstwhile seniorCongress leader and leader ofthe Opposition RadhkrishnaVikhe-Patil and erstwhile NCPleader and now a Shiv Senaleader Jaydutta Kshirsagar, intohis Cabinet.

Among other things,Fadnavis may drop from hisCabinet State Housing MinisterPrakash Mehta of the BJP, whois facing allegations of irregu-larities in the permissions givenby a slum rehabilitation author-ity (SRA) project at MP Millscompound at Tardeo in southMumbai. Lokayukta M L

Tahaliyani, who looked into theallegations against the minister,has reportedly passed stricturesagainst Mehta.

Sunday’s expansion, whichhas been scheduled at 11 am atRaj Bhavan on Sunday, will bethe last Cabinet restructuringthat Fadnavis will undertakeahead of the State Assembly pollsto be held in October this year.

Following the exit of StateFood, Civil Supplies andLegislative affairs minister whoresigned last week from the StateCabinet in the wake of his elec-tion to the Lok Sabha, the num-ber of vacancies in the StateCabinet has gone up to seven.

The current strength ofthe Maharashtra Cabinet is 36,seven short of the stipulated 43Ministers — a number thataccounts for 15 per cent of 288members in the State Assembly.Fadnavis may drop from hisCabinet at least three ministers,

including Mehta, taking thenumber of vacancies to befilled to 10.

Fadnavis, who is expand-ing the State Cabinet after a gapof three years, may accommo-date in his Cabinet “two orthree” MLAs from the ShivSena, which is a constituent ofthe BJP-led saffron allianceGovernment.

Informed sources in theBJP said that RadhakrishnaVikhe-Patil, whose son Sujayquit the Congress in March thisyear and won the Lok Sabhapolls by a margin of 2.81 lakhvotes from Ahmednagar con-stituency on a BJP ticket, wouldjoin the Devendra FadnavisCabinet in Sunday’s Cabinetexpansion.

Similarly, influential leaderfrom Marathwada regionJaydutta Kshirsagar who quitthe NCP and joined the rulingShiv Sena on May 22, will be

inducted into the State Cabinet.Three other names that

are making round as con-tenders for ministerial berthsare BJP’s Mumbai unit presi-dent Ashish Shelar, Atul Saveand Anil Bonde, both from theBJP, and Avinash Mahatekar ofthe RPI (Athavale).

Fadnavis had met BJP’snational president and UnionHome Minister Amit Shah onThursday to seek clearance forhis Cabinet expansion sched-uled for Sunday.

Fadnavis had earlierexpanded his Cabinet on July8, 2016, by inducting 10 moreministers and promoting oneexisting Minister to Cabinetrank.

The current strength ofthe Maharashtra Cabinet is 39,six short of the stipulated 43ministers — a number thataccounts for 15 per cent of 288members in the State Assembly.

Fadnavis Cabinet expansion today

*To induct 8-10 new Ministers *Erstwhile Cong leader, LoP Vikhe-Patil, Ex-NCP leaderKshirsagar set to join Cabinet *CM may drop tainted HSG Min Prakash Mehta from Cabinet

FIR registered againstSrinagar Dy Mayor

PTI n PUNE

Narayan Lawand, a 45-year-old farmer in Pune district,

died of electrocution whileusing a submersible waterpump to irrigate his fields lastmonth. His death has broughtinto focus the plight of peopleliving in the area around Ujanidam in western Maharashtrawhich was overflowing last monsoon.

Rui, Lawand’s village inPune’s Indapur tehsil, falls in thebackwater region of Ujani damacross the Bhima river. As thebackwater spreads through hun-dreds of small inlets and streamsin the area, it is common forfarmers to draw water fromthem using submersible pumps.

But the water level in thereservoir has depleted to such aprecariously low level this yearthat small rivers and streamswhich flow off the main water-body have gone dry.

Submersible pumps andpipes which draw water fromthem, thus, lie exposed.

In many places, farmers,who mainly grow sugarcane,have pooled money to dig

trenches or shallow wells along-side the parched streams. Thewater that percolates into thesetrenches is then pumped out.

“Rivers and streams havedried up. Our crops are wither-ing,” said Lawand’s brotherTukaram. It forced his brother tolift water from a trench dug neara river. “He suffered electricshock while using a submersiblepump and died,” he said.

“The water level in thedam has gone down to anunprecedented level. But lastmonsoon the dam was full,”said Sharad Kale, a farmerfrom nearby Palasdeo village.

“Mismanagement” of thereservoir is responsible for thesituation, he claimed. Water fordrinking purposes was releasedto Solapur and parts of

Marathwada through riversinstead of pipelines, and a lotof water was wasted in theprocess, he said.

The wall of Ujani dam is inSolapur district. The backwa-ter is spread across Daund andIndapur tehsils of Pune district,Karmala and Madha of Solapurand Karjat in Ahmednagardistrict.

“Water level is going downday by day. Electric pumps offarmers are out of action for lastthree months,” Kale said. Anirrigation department officialdenied that flawed distributionof water of mismanagementwas the reason.

The total capacity of thedam is 123.28 TMCft (thou-sand million cubic feet) and lastyear the dam received 119

TMCft water, he said.“There are many reasons

why the water level went downso much. Water was releasedfor drinking purpose toSolapur and parts ofMarathwada. Water was alsoreleased for crops. Evaporationis another factor. But an impor-tant reason is uncontrolledwater lifting in the backwaterregion,” he said.

The dam was built to pro-vide irrigation only for eightmonths, but unauthorised lift-ing, mainly for sugarcane fields,goes on all-year-round, he said.

With the water level falling,the thousand-year-oldPalasnath Shiva temple nearPalasdeo village is now clearlyvisible. Built in the‘Hemadpanthi’ architecturalstyle, most of it was submergedwhen the dam was built. “Nowthe entire temple is visible.Tourists are flocking here to seeit,” said a local farmer.

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

Facing the prospect of payinga sum of Rs 287 crore to a

private contractor and gettingquashed its crucial resolution ofterminating the Balganga con-struction contract, theMaharashtra Government willbelatedly file an appeal beforeRaigad district court onMonday, challenging the rulinggiven by a Bombay High court-appointed Arbitration Tribunalin favour of a private firm.

The BJP-led Maharashtragovernment, which has comeunder severe flak for its failureto appear before the high court-appointed Arbitration Tribunalhearing a payment-related dis-pute, has delayed inordinatelyin moving the Tribal in appealagainst the tribunal’s orderpassed in April awarding Rs287 crore for the State WaterResources department’s “delib-erate” failure to appear at thehearing before the tribunal.

The tribunal had set a 90-day deadline for the state gov-ernment to file an appealagainst its order. “It is shock-ing that the Maharashtra gov-ernment has not bothered tomove the Arbitration tribunaleven 70 days after the tribunalpassed an order against it. It isonly after I obtained the tri-bunal’s order through an RTIquery and shot off a letter toState Chief Secretary AjoyMehta that the State WaterResources department haswoken up and is moving thetribunal in appeal on Monday,”RTI activist PravinWategaonkar said.

“My information is that theState Principal Secretary, WaterResources Department, delib-erately absented himself from

the tribunal’s hearing in thepayment related mater. Thisprompted the tribunal to passan order against the State gov-ernment,” Wategaonkar said.

While awarding Rs 287crore to private firm M/s F AConstruction for the state waterdepartment’s failure before itduring the hearing, theArbitration Tribunal – headedby retired high court judge VG Palshikar -- had on April 6quashed the State governmentresolution dated September23, 2016 terminating the con-tract awarded to M/S FAConstruction for the con-struction of Balganga dam inRaigad district.

“Despite service of notice,the State government has cho-sen not to appear in the presentproceedings. In the circum-stances, we have no hesitationin holding that both, the GR dt.23.06.2016, and the Notice dt.28.10.2016 (by KIDC), sufferfrom the vice of non-applica-

tion of mind, failure to considerrelevant facts, considerationof irrelevant facts and failure tocomply with the elementaryprinciples of natural justice,which amounts to malafides inlaw,” the tribunal order stated

“Hence, we hold that both,the GR dt. 23.09.2016 and(KIDC) notice dt. 28.10.2016,are not only invalid but aretotally null and void in law,” thetribunal noted.

Following a payment dis-pute between the state-runKonkan IrrigationDevelopment Corporation(KIDC) and M/s FAConstruction, the contractorhad moved the Bombay HighCourt in 2015. In turn, the highcourt had ordered the settingup of a five-member panel tolook into the dispute.

Incidentally, the Balgangaproject was one of the 12 irri-gation projects that the StateGovernment had scrapped onAugust 30, 2016, after the

large-scale irregularities sur-faced in them.

On August 24, 2016, theState Anti Corruption Bureauhad registered the first FIR inthe irrigation scam, booking 11people in connection withalleged irregularities in award-ing the contract for Balgangadam to FA Enterprises.

The names of formerdeputy chief minister and NCPleader Ajit Pawar and formerWater Resources Minister SunilTatkare — also of the NCP arebeing investigated for allegedirregularities in 12 major irri-gation projects undertakenduring the previous Congress-NCP regime.

The multi-thousand irri-gation scam, it may be recalled,had come to light in September2012. Ajitdada had resignedfrom the deputy chief minister’spost on September 25, 2012,attributing his decision to themedia reports on the allegedirregularities in the awarding of38irrigation contracts worth Rs20,000 crore in Vidarbha regionduring 2009, without seekingthe mandatory clearance from the governing council ofthe Vidarbha IrrigationDevelopment Corporation(VIDC).

Ajitdada was the StateIrrigation Minister between1999 and 2010, before he waselevated as the deputy chiefminister and handed the port-folios of Finance and Energy.The irrigation scam hadallegedly taken place during histenure as the State irrigationscam. After Ajitdada took overas the deputy chief minister,Tatkare assumed charge as theIrrigation (Water Resources)Minister.

Maha to move tribunal to stop

`287-crore loss to exchequer

BALGANGA IRRIGATION PROJECT

‘In dock’ water

resources dept to

contest quashing of

GR terminating

construction contract

PTI n ITANAGAR

Inclement weather on Saturdayhampered rescue efforts to

retrieve the mortal remains of13 air-warriors who were onboard the Indian Air Force air-craft that crashed in the moun-tains of Arunachal Pradesh, anIAF spokesman said.

Shillong-based IAFspokesman Ratnakar Singh saidthe rescue operation, whichcommenced early Saturdaymorning, could not progressfurther due to inclement weath-er at the crash site.

Cheetah and ALH heli-copters are on standby and arewaiting to commence opera-tions once the weatherimproves. At present there arelow clouds accompanied withrain in the area, the spokesmansaid in a statement.

The IAF is making allefforts to retrieve the mortalremains of the deceased air-warriors. IAF personnel are inconstant contact with the fam-ilies of these air-warriors andthey are being updated regu-larly about the ongoing rescueoperations. They are alsobeing explained the challengesbeing faced by the rescue team,he added.

The rescue team on Fridayrecovered the cockpit voicerecorder (CVR) and flight datarecorder (FDR) of the Russian-origin AN-32 aircraft.

The aircraft was goingfrom Jorhat in Assam toMechuka advanced landingground in Shi-Yomi district inArunachal Pradesh, near theborder with China, on June 3when it lost contact aroundhalf-an-hour after taking off.

The wreckage of the planewas spotted by an IAF chopperon Tuesday at a height of12,000 ft near Gatte village onthe border of Siang and Shi-Yomi districts, after eight daysof a massive search operationinvolving a fleet of aircraft andchoppers as well as ground

forces. A 15-member team ofrescuers were sent to look forsurvivors in the accident site onWednesday and eight of them

reached the place on Thursdaymorning.

Inclement weather hampers op to retrievebodies of IAF aircraft crash victims

Hyderabad: The Indian AirForce would ascertain the causeof the recent crash of an AN-32 aircraft in ArunachalPradesh and take steps toensure that such incidents donot recur, IAF chief BS Dhanoasaid on Saturday.

His comments came daysafter the wreckage of the aircraftwas found in a remote area inArunachal Pradesh, more thana week after it went missing with13 people on board.

“We have recovered theflight data recorder and thecockpit voice recorder...We willgo into the detail (to ascertain)as to what happened and howdo we make sure that it doesnot happen again,” he toldreporters on the sidelines of theCombined Graduation Paradeat the Air Force Academy inDundigal near here.

“In Arunachal Pradesh,the way we fly, the terrain isvery treacherous and most of

the time, it is cloudy...Whenyou are flying in that terrain, inthat cloudy weather, there havebeen many, many, not only AirForce, even otherwise, PawanHans and all, lot of accidents,because of controlled flightinto terrain,” he claimed.

Noting that there were pro-cedures to make sure suchaccidents do not recur, he said,“.. Need to review what hap-pened and we don’t have suchan accident again.” PTI

A car set ablaze reportedly by Kashi Hindu University students on the premises in Varanasi on Saturday PTI

Srinagar: Four youths, whowanted to cross the Line ofControl (LoC) to join militantranks, were taken into custodyin Uri sector of Jammu &Kashmir and later handed overto their families, the Armysaid on Saturday.

Addressing a Press confer-ence in north Kashmir’sBaramulla district,Commander 79 Mount Brigade

Girish Kalia said the youthswere taken into custody by theArmy near the LoC on Fridayand were handed over to theirrespective families on Saturday.

He said the Army hadreceived information that theywere going to join the path ofviolence after being “misguid-ed” by local militants and theiraccomplices.

“We acted swiftly to pre-

vent them from choosing thewrong path and apprehendedthem along the LoC in Limber area of Boniyar onFriday,” he said.

The Army officer said theyouths were handed over totheir respective families afterproper counselling. Heappealed to the youths to notget misguided by the propa-ganda of militants. PTI

4 youths who wanted to cross LoC to join militancy arrested

In this photo released by IAF, is seenthe crash site of IAF AN-32 carrieraircraft PTI

Will go into AN-32 crash, ensure suchincidents don’t reoccur: IAF chief

No water to fall back on forfarmers in Ujani’s backwater area

Rui, Lawand’s village inPune’s Indapur tehsil,falls in the backwaterregion of Ujani damacross the Bhima river.As the backwaterspreads through hundredsof small inlets andstreams in the area, it iscommon for farmers todraw water from themusing submersible pumps

PTI n BENGALURU

The Karnataka BJP onFriday demanded a CBI

probe into the alleged finan-cial fraud perpetrated by aninvestment firm here, leavingthousands of investors in thelurch. The owner of city-based IMA Jewels ,Mohammed Mansoor Khan,had disappeared few days agoafter allegedly threatening tocommit suicide while policehave formed teams to tracehim.

State BJP chief BSYedyurappa put forth thedemand for a probe by thecentral agency after a groupof people belonging to theminority community, mostof them investors in IMAJewels, met him and submit-ted a petition. Yeddyurappaassured them that BJP MPsfrom Karnataka would ensurethe central governmentsintervention and steps toensure the EnforcementDirectorate probe into thecase.

“We (BJP) feel that it isour responsibility to ensurethat innocents who have losttheir money get it back,”Yeddyurappa was quoted assaying by BJP in a release.Only a CBI inquiry canensure justice to the affectedinvestors, he said, as he heldthe state government respon-sible for the “injustice” tothe IMA investors. The BJPleader also promised thosewho met him that the Centrewould take all steps to findout the wherebaouts of IMAjewels owner MohammedMansoor Khan. Earl ier,speaking to reporters,Yeddyurappa raised questionsabout Minority welfare min-ister BZ Zameer AhmedKhan’s alleged links withMohammed Mansoor Khan.“While asking him (Mansoor)to come back, Zameer, who isa Minister, has said that gov-ernment is with you(Mansoor), dont fear- whatdoes this mean? ChiefMinister has to answer this,”he said.

BJP demands

CBI probe into

financial fraud

PTI n NEW DELHI

Representatives of tradeunions on Saturday

pressed the government toraise the minimum wage to`20,000, provide 200 days ofassured work under therural employment guaran-tee scheme and ensure min-imum monthly pension of`6,000. The unions duringa pre-budget meeting alsodemanded hiking slabs forexemption of income tax forsalaried persons and pen-sioners to `10 lakh per year.They asked for `8 lakhincome tax slab for seniorcitizens and exemption ofall perks and fringe benefitslike housing, medical andeducation facilities and running allowances fromincome tax.

Besides, the represen-tatives of around a dozencentral trade unionsexpressed their reservation

against the privatisation anddivestment in profit-makingpublic sector undertakingsand stressed on increasinginvestment for job creationin the pre-budget meetingwith Minister of State forFinance & CorporateAffairs Anurag Thakur.

After the meeting, someof trade union leaders alsoexpressed their unhappi-ness over the absence ofFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman in the meeting.Thakur chaired the meetingas Sitharaman had to attendthe NITI Aayog’s GoverningCouncil meeting heldaround the same time. Shestressed that the govern-ment needs to make invest-ments for creating jobs andstop divesting and privatis-ing public sector undertak-ings as well as the imple-mentation of fixed-termemployment announced inthe last budget.

Trade unions seek `6K

minimum pension,

`20K minimum wages

world 07LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | JUNE 16, 2019

Washington: President DonaldTrump has blamed Iran forattacks on oil tankers near thestrategic Strait of Hormuz, buthe also held out hope thatimplicit US threats to use forcewill yield talks with the IslamicRepublic as the Pentagon con-siders beefing up defenses inthe Persian Gulf area.

A day after explosions blewholes in two oil tankers justoutside Iran's territorial waters,rattling international oil mar-kets, the administrationseemed caught between pres-sure to punish Iran and reas-sure Washington's Gulf Araballies without drawing the UScloser to war.

"Iran did it," Trump saidFriday on Fox News Channel's"Fox & Friends."

He didn't offer evidence,but the US military releasedvideo it said showed Iran'sRevolutionary Guard removingan unexploded mine from oneof the oil tankers targeted nearthe Strait of Hormuz, suggest-ing Tehran wanted to cover itstracks.

By pointing the finger atIran, Trump was keeping apublic spotlight on an adver-sary he accuses of terrorism butalso has invited to negotiate.

The approach is similar tohis diplomacy with NorthKorea, which has quieted talk

of war but not yet achieved hisgoal of nuclear disarmament.Iran has shown little sign ofbacking down, creating uncer-tainty about how far theTrump administration can gowith its campaign of increas-ing pressure through sanc-tions.

Iran denied any involve-ment in the attacks and accusedWashington of waging an"Iranophobic campaign" of eco-nomic warfare.

A US Navy team on Fridaywas aboard one of the tankers,the Japanese-owned KokukaCourageous, collecting foren-sic evidence, according to a USofficial who spoke on conditionof anonymity to discuss a sen-sitive operation.

Apparently alluding to theUS video, Trump said Iran's

culpability had been "exposed."He did not say what he intend-ed to do about it but suggest-ed "very tough" US sanctions,including efforts to strangleIranian oil revenues, wouldhave the desired effect.

"They've been told in verystrong terms we want to getthem back to the table," Trumpsaid.

Just a day earlier, the pres-ident took the opposite view,tweeting that it was "too soonto even think about making adeal" with Iran's leaders. "Theyare not ready, and neither arewe!" Trump last year withdrewthe United States from an inter-national agreement to limitIran's nuclear program thatwas signed in 2015 under hispredecessor, President BarackObama. AP

Trump blames Iran for tanker

attacks but calls for talks

President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House on Friday AP

Hong Kong: Hong Kong'sembattled leader on Saturdaysaid a divisive bill that wouldallow extraditions to Chinawould be "suspended" in a majorclimbdown from her govern-ment after a week of unprece-dented protests.

The city's pro-Beijing leaderCarrie Lam has come underhuge pressure to abandon thecontroversial legislation, includ-ing from her own political alliesand advisers.

"The Government hasdecided to suspend the legisla-tive amendment exercise, restartour communication with allsectors of society, do more...Work and listen to differentviews of society," Lam told

reporters on Saturday."We have no intention to set

a deadline for this work andpromise to report to and consultmembers of the legislative coun-cil on security before we decideon the next step forward." Theinternational finance hub wasrocked by the worst political vio-lence since its 1997 handover toChina on Wednesday as tens ofthousands of protesters were dis-persed by riot police firing teargas and rubber bullets.

As criticism mounted, signsalso emerged of a growing dis-comfort among CommunistParty leaders in Beijing, and Lamheld her press conference onSaturday at the sameGovernment complex that was

besieged by protesters earlier inthe week. The South ChinaMorning Post said Lam held anemergency meeting on Fridaynight with her advisers whileChinese officials were also meet-ing in the nearby city ofShenzhen to map a way out ofthe impasse. "I feel deep sorrowand regret that the deficienciesin our work and various otherfactors have stirred up substan-tial controversies and disputes in

society following the relativelycalm periods of the past twoyears," Lam said.

On Friday she found herselffacing growing calls from with-in her own political camp toreverse course and tamp downspiralling public anger — includ-ing from hardline pro-Beijinglawmakers. "Shouldn't (we) coolthe citizens down? I think topostpone it for a little bit is nota bad thing. At this moment, the

Government should self-exam-ine," Ann Chiang, a hardcorepro-Beijing lawmaker, told i-Cable News.

But others have warnedagainst Lam bending to theprotesters. "If the Governmentcaves in to violence and exter-nal influences, in the long runthat would also make HongKong ungovernable," pro-Beijing lawmaker Regina Ip toldreporters. AFP

Hong Kong Govt suspends divisive extradition bill

Beijing: China on Saturdaysaid it supports the Hong Kongleader's decision to suspend acontroversial bill that wouldallow extraditions to China, fol-lowing massive protests.

About an hour after HongKong Chief Executive of CarrieLam announced the suspensionof the Fugitive Offenders andMutual Legal Assistance inCriminal Matters Legislation(Amendment) Bill 2019, fol-lowing sustained protests fromlakhs of people an official state-ment here expressed China'sbacking for Lam and her deci-sion to back down.

"We note that ChiefExecutive Carrie Lamannounced that the Hong Kong

Special Administrative Region(SAR) government decided tosuspend work on the FugitiveOffenders and Mutual LegalAssistance in Criminal MattersLegislation (Amendment) Bill2019," Chinese ForeignMinistry spokesman GengShuang said in statement.

China also expressedBeijing's backing for the belea-guered Lam who faced heavycriticism from local people,specially students, for attempt-ing to push the bill disregard-ing massive protests.

"The Chinese CentralGovernment expresses its sup-port, respect and understand-ing for the SAR government'sdecision and will continue its

staunch support for ChiefExecutive Carrie Lam and theSAR government in governingHong Kong in accordance withlaw and upholding the SAR'sprosperity and stability withpeople from all sectors," Gengsaid.

He said China continued torespect and faithfully imple-menting the "one country, twosystems" policy under whichHong Kong was return fromBritish rule to China in 1997.

The former British colonyis being governed a highdegree of autonomy and therights and freedoms of HongKong residents have been fullyguaranteed according to law,he said. PTI

China supports suspension ofHong Kong's controversial bill

Hong Kong: Hong Kong isbracing for another mass rallySunday as public anger seethesfollowing unprecedentedclashes between protesters andpolice over a controversialextradition law, despite aclimbdown by the city's embat-tled leader.

Organisers are hoping foranother mammoth turnout asthey vowed to keep pressure onchief executive Carrie Lam,who suspended work on thehugely divisive bill on Saturdayafter days of mounting pres-

sure, saying she had misjudgedthe public mood.

Critics fear the Beijing-backed law will tangle peopleup in China's notoriouslyopaque and politicised courts aswell as hammer the city's rep-utation as a safe business hub.

The international financehub was rocked by the worstpolitical violence since its 1997handover to China onWednesday as tens of thou-sands of protesters were dis-persed by riot police firing teargas and rubber bullets. AFP

Hong Kong braces for huge

rally after leader climbdown

Beirut: At least 35 combattantsincluding 26 pro-regime forceswere killed on Saturday inclashes and air strikes thaterupted at dawn in northwest-ern Syria, a war monitor said.

The flare-up came asRussian-backed regime forcestried to retake two villagesseized by jihadists and alliedrebels earlier this month, theBritain-based SyrianObservatory for Human Rightssaid.

"Since this morning, theSyrian regime and allied fight-ers have launched five failedattempts to regain control ofJibine and Tal Maleh in north-western Hama province," saidObservatory head Rami AbdelRahman.

Syrian regime and Russianair strikes killed nine jihadistsand rebel fighters, the warmonitor said.

Ensuing clashes in the

north of Hama province left 26pro-regime forces dead, includ-ing eight who were killed in amine explosion, theObservatory said.

The Idlib region of somethree million people is sup-posed to be protected from amassive regime offensive by abuffer zone deal that Russiaand Turkey signed inSeptember.

But it was never fullyimplemented, as jihadistsrefused to withdraw from aplanned demilitarised zone.

In January, the HayatTahrir al-Sham alliance led bySyria's former Al-Qaeda affil-iate extended its administrativecontrol over the region, whichincludes most of Idlib provinceas well as adjacent slivers ofLatakia, Hama and Aleppoprovinces.

The Syrian Governmentand Russia have upped their

bombardment of the regionsince late April, killing morethan 360 civilians, according tothe Observatory.

Turkey said Friday that itdid not accept Russia's "excuse"that it had no ability to stop theSyrian regime's continuedbombardments in the last rebelbastion of Idlib.

"In Syria, who are theregime's guarantors? Russiaand Iran," Foreign MinisterMevlut Cavusoglu told statenews agency Anadolu in atelevised interview.

"Thus we do not accept theexcuse that 'We cannot makethe regime listen to us'," he said.

His comments came asTurkey disagreed with Russiaearlier this week after Moscowclaimed a new ceasefire hadbeen secured in the provincefollowing weeks of regimebombardments — a claim thatwas denied by Ankara. AFP

Syria flare-up kills 35 fighters

Baghdad: Two Iraqi officials say theUnited States has given Iraq a new 90-day extension for an Iran sanctionswaiver allowing Baghdad to importelectricity and natural gas from Tehran.

An Iraqi official told TheAssociated Press on Saturday thatBaghdad was informed about thewaiver during a call the previous daybetween U.S. Secretary of State MikePompeo and Iraqi Prime Minister AdelAbdul-Mahdi.

Another official confirmed thewaiver, saying it will start June 19.

Both officials spoke on conditionof anonymity as they were not autho-rized to speak to the media.

Iraq's power sector is in disrepairand doesn't generate enough electric-ity to meet domestic demand, espe-cially during the scorching summermonths. AP

Iraq gets new

extension for

Iran energy

sanctions waiver Nairobi: Kenyan officials say at least10 police officers are dead after theirvehicle struck an improvised explosivedevice near the Somali border in asuspected extremist attack.

The officials, who spoke on con-dition of anonymity because they werenot authorised to share the informa-tion, said those killed on Saturday inWajir County were among 13 officerswho were pursuing extremists whohad kidnapped police reservists.

Police on Friday said an unknownnumber of gunmen stormed Kontoncenter in Wajir East and kidnappedthree reservists.

There was no claim of responsi-bility for the latest attack.

The Somalia-based al-Shababextremist group often targets Kenyansecurity forces, vowing retributionafter Kenya deployed troops toSomalia in 2011 to combat theextremists. AP

10 Kenyan police

officers killed in

blast near Somalia

Kathmandu: Thousands of peoplebelonging to the Newar communitystaged anti-government protests onSaturday, demanding withdrawal of acontroversial bill, which they say has pro-visions in favour of land mafias and couldjeopardise Sanatan Hindu culture andtradition.

Around 10,000 people from Newarcommunity rallied in the major parts ofthe city Saturday morning raising slogansagainst the Oli Government demandingthat the Government withdraw theGuthi bill from the Parliament.

The K P Sharma Oli-led CommunistParty Government has tabled the bill inParliament to amend the Guthi Act andnationalise both public and privateguthis and regulate all religious sitesunder a powerful commission.

Guthis are socio-economic institu-tions (trusts), both public and private,that fund their obligations from incomesfrom cultivated or leased land assets.Depending on their obligations, guthis

fulfil religious, public service or socialroles and could either involve membersfrom a common lineage, or several.

"Don't destroy heritage," "scrap GuthiBill", "Our culture our identity", "downwith KP Oli government," "stop invasionof Sanatana Dharma", read the placardsthe protestors carried during the rally.

"Our Sanatan Dharma and culturecould be jeopardised if the Bill, tabled bythe Communist Party led government inParliament, gets endorsed," said PavitraBajracharya a Newar activist and centralmember of Federal Socialist Party Nepal,which is also part of the ruling coalition.

The aim of the bill is to snatch the pub-lic and private land allocated for culturaltrusts and distribute to others encroach-ing our age cultural heritages, he said.

Thousands of people also organisedtorch lit rallies in neighbouring Lalitpurand Bhaktaur districts on Friday night tooppose the Government's move toendorse the Bill that would destroycenturies old Sanatan culture. PTI

Nepal's ethnic Newarisprotest against Guthi bill

Women in traditional dress perform in a parade of the Bali Arts Festival in Bali, Indonesia on Saturday AP

Kiev: A Ukrainian MP withties to Russia has bought anational Ukrainian news chan-nel, prompting a round of res-ignations from journalists whofear his ownership will meancoverage influenced byMoscow.

Taras Kozak of the pro-Moscow party "OppositionPlatform" already owned twonational TV stations before hetook over the channel ZIK thisweek. Kozak is a close ally ofpolitician Viktor Medvedchuk,a controversial figure inUkraine because of his closeties to Russian PresidentVladimir Putin while Kiev isfighting a Moscow-backed sep-aratist war.

Journalist RomanNedzelskiy, one of five jour-nalists to resign from the chan-nel along with its CEO, saidMedvedchuk now essentiallycontrols ZIK. "Tomorrow I willbe on the air with the lastbroadcast of the weekly show'Details' and then I will startlooking for a job," he said onFacebook late Friday.

"Medvedchuk is an enemyof my country, a murderer ofboth the past and the future,"his colleague Vakhtang Kipianiwrote as he announced his res-ignation. Mustafa Nayyem, aUkrainian MP, wrote on socialmedia that the takeover wouldbe a challenge for new PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky. AFP

Journalists resign afterpro-Russia MP buysUkraine TV channel

London: A British-Iranianwoman jailed in Tehran formore than three years has beguna hunger strike to protest herdetention, her husband said onSaturday.

Richard Ratcliffe saidNazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe hastold judicial officials she willrefuse food but will drink wateruntil she is granted "uncondi-tional release." Ratcliffe said hewould hold a vigil outside Iran'sLondon embassy, and would fastin support of his wife.

Ratcliffe said his wife "hadvowed that if we passed (daugh-ter) Gabriella's fifth birthdaywith her still inside, then shewould do something — to markto both Governments thatenough is enough. This really

has gone on too long." Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who worked for thecharity arm of news agencyThomson Reuters, was detainedat Tehran airport in April 2016on charges of plotting against theIranian Govt. Her family deniesthe allegations.High-level diplo-matic attempts to secure herrelease have so far failed. ForeignSecretary Jeremy Hunt granted40-year-old Zaghari-Ratcliffediplomatic protection in March,but Iranian officials refuse to rec-ognize her dual nationality. Thehunger strike comes amidheightened tensions betweenthe West and Iran, which theU.S. And U.K. Blame for attackson two oil tankers in the Gulf ofOman this week. Iran deniesinvolvement. AP

Husband says Britishwoman held in Iranbegins hunger strike

Harare: With Zimbabwe's econ-omy in shambles and politicaltensions rising, leaving the coun-try seems the best option formany who are desperate for jobs.But those dreams often end atthe passport office, which does-n't have enough foreign cur-rency to import proper paperand ink.

A passport now takes no lessthan a year to be issued. Anemergency passport can takemonths amid a backlog of280,000 applications, nevermind recent ones.

Zimbabweans at the mainoffice in the capital, Harare, havetaken to sleeping in line for anychance at being served the fol-lowing day — and that's just tosubmit an application.

Several millionZimbabweans already left forneighboring South Africa andother countries during years ofeconomic turmoil under formerleader Robert Mugabe. The

hardships have only deepenedunder current PresidentEmmerson Mnangagwa, whotook over after Mugabe's forcedresignation in late 2017.

The new Government's slo-gan "austerity for prosperity"now has a bitter ring.Unemployment is rampant andinflation is at 75%, the highestsince 2009, when Zimbabwe'scurrency collapsed under theweight of hyperinflation.

Rapid devaluation of thelocal currency against the USdollar — also used as officialcurrency — has seen basic itemssuch as cooking oil changingprices several times a day. Thehealth sector is collapsing, forc-ing those who can afford it toseek treatment abroad.

At the passport office, thedesperation to escape is all tooclear. "Guys, it's either we jumpthe queue or we will have tojump the border," one teenagertold a group of friends plotting

to sneak to the front of the line.Another teen, 19-year-old

Brian Ndlovu, said coming tothe office makes him "feel likethere is really no way out of thiscountry. We are trapped." The

teens' plot to jump the queuefailed, in large part becausethose at the front had campedthere for days and knew eachother by name. Emma Chirwasaid she only reached the front

of the line because she hadbeen sleeping outside the officesince June 5. "I was No. 34 onFriday. They served no one. OnThursday, they served 12 peo-ple," she said, huddled in a

blanket on Sunday night.In the biting cold of the

Southern Hemisphere's winter,dozens of people, includingwomen with toddlers, slept oncardboard boxes or in the dust,holding their places. Aroundmidnight, one man parked hismotorbike and joined his wife inblankets on the line. Peoplelaughed.

Some huddled around afire of scrap wood taken fromthe grounds of an adjacentschool. A small enterprise hasemerged, with some young menholding places in the line for afee. Others sell pens, food itemsand foreign currency while agenerator powered a photocopymachine. By daylight, the linesnaked for more than a kilome-ter and included school childrenin uniform. A preacher holdinga Bible took advantage of thecrowd to deliver sermons aboutresilience and hope. But formany, the spirit is slipping.

For those seeking an emer-gency passport, the task requiresmultiple lines and a week ofsleeping outside the office. Oneapplies for an ordinary passport,then waits for a chance toupgrade the application to anemergency passport. Those whoare booked for a date in 2020have to join another line to pleadfor an earlier date.

The delays are due to a lackof foreign currency to importspecial paper, ink and othermaterials, as well as machinebreakdowns, according to thenational passport agency's reg-istrar-general, ClemenceMasango. The ZimbabweHuman Rights Commission, agovernment body, has describedthe passport crisis as "a majorhuman rights challenge" andlaunched an investigation. Inresponse, officials are promisingchange. "We have sourced theforeign currency, and themachine is now working, so the

backlog will be cleared soon. Wehave to bring dignity to our peo-ple," Home Affairs MinisterCain Mathema told TheAssociated Press on Wednesday,vowing "a return to normalcy"in a month.

But for those badly in needof a legal way out of Zimbabwe,such official statements count forlittle without action.

In a busy, cramped corridor,people clutching envelopes wait-ed in yet another line outsidewhat they mockingly called the"mercy office." It is where theyplead with senior officials thattheir situations are dire enoughfor their emergency passportapplications to be processed indays, not months.

One woman said the dateshe can upgrade her passportapplication to an emergencyone is May 2020. "My motherneeds an urgent medical oper-ation in India," she said. "She willbe dead by then." AP

‘We are trapped': Zimbabwe's economic crunch hits passports

People wait in a queue to submit an application for a passport at the main office in Harare on Friday AP

special 08LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | JUNE 16, 2019

Out of the box is thenew norms today.From pearl farm-ing to mushroomfarming, the agri-

culture industry is now attract-ing the youth like never before.There are many reasons whyGen Z is getting hands dirty.The most important — it givesroom to different cost-effectivefarming ideas.

Pranav Bahl, a 28-year-old Delhi-based, HotelManagement graduate, wholeft his job to take forward hisfather’s legacy of mushroomfarming says that he was alwaysinterested in exploring differ-ent varieties of mushroom.

“In 2014, I decided to leavemy hotel industry job andexplore variety of mushroomsand how to grow them. Myfather, Arun Bahl, came upwith this idea in 1987 and hisfirst project was to grow buttonmushrooms. He named itSwadeshi Mushroom Spawn.Swadeshi because he had readan autobiography of MahatmaGandhi — My ExperimentsWith Truth. He was influencedby the Swadeshi Movementthat happened in the early 90s.Spawn means mushroomseeds. We also harvest spawnsand sell them. Hence thename,” he explains.

Though Bahl didn’t facemany challenges to set up hisbusiness, back in 1987, it didnot come easy to his father.“Back then, not many knewabout mushrooms. Coming upwith the idea of mushroomfarming was challenging forhim. With every business ven-ture there are some risks,” hetells you.

But young Bahl who hastasted different mushroomsfrom around the world felt

there was something missing inthem. That is when he came upwith the idea of organic farm-ing and decided to take hisfather’s business ahead bygrowing King Oyster (a varietywhich is high in protein andother nutrients).

The process consists ofseveral steps. A piece of woodis taken and wrapped into apolythene bag. A fungi —mycellium (Pleurotus eryngii)is then put into the wood andleft for 20 to 25 days under coldtemperature, certain amount ofpressure and humidity. Thefungi then starts spreadingand later develops into a bulblike structure. After five to 10days these bulb like structuresdevelop into a fully grownmushroom.

He tells you that King

Oyster is an exotic variety andcost ranges between `1,200 to`1,500 per kg. The texture andshape of this variety differsfrom the common buttonmushroom. The upper half ofit is slightly brown in colourwhile its stem or the lower halfis usual white.

When Bahl started his ven-ture, he was only supplying tobig hotels but his aim is to enterthe niche market now. “Ouraim is to sweep into this mar-ket and reach the consumersdirectly. Though, these mush-rooms are a bit expensive, butonce people will try it there isno reason they will not like it.This mushroom is an alterna-tive for non-vegetarians whoare now vegetarians,” he tellsyou.

Bahl wants to challenge theageold perception that farmingcan only be done in largefields. “I want to let peopleknow that if you want to dosomething unique, there can bemany reasons which willrestrain you from doing it butthere is an adage: Where thereis a will, there is a way. I havestarted this project in a smallroom. The best part of this typeof farming is that it can be donein vertical space. This waymore space can be utilised. I doit on vertical shelves. Each col-umn is divided into five shelvesand each shelf can occupy upto 20 to 22 pieces of wood (inwhich the mushroom grow),”he tells you.

Everyone who want to trytheir hands at mushroom farm-ing must be willing to go a stepahead. “It requires a lot ofpatience and hardwork. It is notrocket science but it requiresknowledge and expertise. Onceyou have this, you are good togo,” he says.

nWhat is Medically Yours about?It is a web-series based on a

group of students studying med-icine. There is a perception thatthey are fine but they have prob-lems. The show also highlightsthe relationship between stu-dents and teachers. We havetried to keep it as real as possi-

ble.nWhat is your character.

I play Abir Basu whois fun loving and cheer-ful. He loves music aswell. But he is from amedical family andbelieves in solvingproblems.nWhat made you stepinto the digital space?

I used to do youth-centric shows. But

nobody makes theseshows any more. Therefore,I decided to step into the

digital space. I am happy tobe a part of the digital spacebecause it is giving me thespace to play characters thatI love. I can relate to youthcontent. There is more toexplore in this space. nYou are a dancer. What

does it mean to you?I am very passionate about

it. Though, I started my career asan actor with Dil Dosti Dance, the

reason I signed the show wasbecause my character — SwayamShekhawat —was an avid dancer.Dancing is my first love.

nWhat inspires you?Many things — people I have

met and those I see on the streets. Itry to learn from them. nHow was your experience beinga part of Khatron Ke Khiladi 8?

It was wonderful. It was differ-ent from any show that I have donein the past. I realised that mentalstrength and stability is the key. Ifyour will power is strong then youcan do anything. You have to stoprestraining yourself from doingthings because you are scared.nWhat made you say yes?

I was a fan of Fear Factor sincechildhood. I have always acted anddanced. This transition was muchneeded. I always wanted to be a partof the show. Fortunately, I got to doit. There was no reason I would say‘no’ to it. I was excited to go on anadventurous journey and exploremore. Moreover, I got a chance to goalone abroad which otherwise Iwouldn’t have. (laughs)nWas there a moment when youfelt out of place?

No. The environment was goodand all the contestants were sup-portive. I bonded well with them.They always motivated me. I loveddoing all the tasks and stunts. I hada great time. nHow has your journey been thusfar?

I have learnt a lot. I have grownup — both mentally and physically.I have got to do a lot of varied char-acters. This is the best part of myjourney. I have evolved as an actor.

From Crime Patrol to SavdhaanIndia, there is no stopping when itcomes to crime shows on TV.

While these two are the longest running,there were others too which came andwent. The success of these shows sug-gests that the audience is in love withthe concept. The sense of realism, sto-ryline and the connectivity of the hostswith the audience is whats makes theseshows a success.

However making crime shows isn’teasy. “Brought up with the morality ofthree wise monkeys, embodying theproverbial principle ‘See no evil, hear noevil, speak no evil’, the audience needa social justification to see a crime show.Tales of crimes need to have a moral les-son attached to them. In a paradoxicalway the crime show has to make theviewer secure, while he watches the vio-lent stories,” Umesh Bist, show runnerand creative director, Big Synergy says.

According to a study conducted, themajority of viewers watching crimeshows are women, who feel secure intheir home space, watching a crimeshow, as they feel it forewarns them ofthe bad things happening to others andprepares them with the knowledge toprotect themselves in case of anyunforeseen eventuality.

“Here in lies the challenge and thesecret of designing a crime show. Thestories selected have to be from theirrelatable world. The characters in thestory have to be familiar. The social,economical issues the characters dealwith in the story have to be their veryown. But there is a catch. With fewexceptions, in the real world the storiesof crime are dry and boring. We haveto face the challenge of narrating themin an entertaining way. It requirescraft, experience and talent to come outwith a package of entertaining crimestories with a moral lesson which seemto be real,” Bist tells you.

The USP of Savdhaan India is that

it not only highlights the crime but alsoput light on how the survivor/victimfightsback the crime.

Rabindra Choubey, Director andProducer, Crime Patrol, GaonwalaCreation says that creating a show fromthe scratch is a challenging task.

“Creating a show from the scratchis challenging and with crime shows, thedifficulties of the makers doubles,” hesays.

First, the niche and loyal audiencefor crime shows on TV and those whobinge on similar crime series on web are

mostly the same. Our priority is to makeconcepts at par with those n number ofseries available on web. But on the hind-side, we also have to abide by the rulesand regulations of TV as all TV shows,even crime, are served for family view-ing. Second big challenge for any crimeshow concept is relevance. Crime does-n’t touch all normal peoples’ lives,while romance and drama toucheseveryone. As crime show makers live inan extra pressure to make our conceptrelevant to the audience.

There has been a visible and obvi-

ous change that is still ongoing in thehistory of crime shows. From the kindof shows that were available five yearsback — if you look at the plethora ofoptions available today, the change isnothing but drastic.

Choubey has a say on the contro-versy around whether the crime showsinspires the criminals to commit crime.

“Whatever shows we make — wealways show the story of how thecriminal is brought to justice. Crimenever pays — in reel or real life. Doeswatching a ‘rags to riches’ movie makeevery viewer a millionaire? The answeris no. The seed of crime is in the indi-vidual’s mentality. The intent of anycrime is a personal motive — developedby an individual himself. No maker everintends to inspire criminals. We try andbring reality to our viewer’s screen andshow them the ugly side of humanity,in hope that these crimes are notrepeated,” Choubey says and tells youthat though a PRO of Gurugram policesaid that the culprits they apprehend-ed accepted that they took inspirationfrom crime shows.

But blaming the shows for inspiringcriminals to commit a crime is never agood idea. The one who wants to com-mit a crime, he will, regardless of themedium of his inspiration. If not TVshows, he will take inspiration from newschannels, newspapers or just from his surroundings.

‘Mental strength is key’

It’s mushrooming

MUSBA HASHMI catches up with 28-year-old Hotel Management graduate, PRANAV BAHL who left his job and tookover his father’s business to grow an exotic variety of mushroom in an indoor vertical farm

E N T E R T A I N M E N T

SHANTANU MAHESHWARI speaks with MUSKAN BAKSHI about his journey thus far

Pranav Bahl in his indoor vertical farm; (below) Meter for room temperature and humidity for mushroom growth Photos: Ranjan Dimri

Another improvisation in thefarming industry is FarmMojo,a tool that uses Artificial

Intelligence (AI) to detect diseasesin shrimps and fish. Theorganisation Aquaconnect, run by a38-year-old IIT alumnusRajamanohar Somasundaram,aims to help farmers in increasingproductivity and employment bypromoting sustainable shrimp andfish farming.

The idea came whenRajamanohar met a shrimp farmer.“I met Sanjai (cofounder of Aquaconnect), the shrimp farmerduring a train journey. He told me everything about the shrimpfarming industry and the challenges like high production cost anddiseases. This got me interested and I came with an idea thatcould help the farmers,” he tells you.

This was not the only idea that has struck Rajamanohar dueto his IIT background. “I started three technology ventures in thepast. When I met Sanjai, I sensed an opportunity to use AI to helpthese farmers. My research pointed to the fact that lack of datadriven farming is one of the biggest challenges that was yet to beaddressed by this industry to achieve sustainability. That is whenwe started Aquaconnect — to encourage data-driven farming inIndian shrimp farming ecosystem,” he explains.

But coming up with FarmMojo came with its share ofchallenges. “To begin with, we did on-ground research tounderstand the challenges. Our team found implementing data-driven approach in culture operations will help farmers to achievesustainability and solve the problems. However, launching a tech-based product is not easy. Lack of awareness on technology anddata-driven farming among farmers was an issue. It requirescontinuous workshops and awareness programmes. There is asteep learning curve that exists in farmers and other ecosystemplayers to adopt new technology. Initial adoption requires handholding. To overcome this, we deployed field assistants to help thefarmers,” he tells you.

Rajamanohar has a piece of advice for the tech-aspirers. “Ilearnt many things while building tech businesses. The mostimportant — it isn’t difficult to come up with something unique.What is difficult is to stick to the idea you choose and provide thetime and effort it needs to make it work. Some days you’resmiling. Then the next day a pipe breaks and you think of quitting.Success is a matter of holding on tightly on your ideas, not losingconfidence and keeping your focus right,” he says.

Be alert, alwaysCrime shows have now become an option for the makers toexperiment with due to wide acceptance from the viewers.MUSBA HASHMI tells you more

Whatever showswe make — we

always show thestory of how the

criminal isbrought to

justice. Crimenever pays — inreel or real life

— Rabindra Choubey

Fishing for diseases

SH

OW

TIM

E

MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL

*ing: Chris Hemsworth,

Tessa Thompson, Rebecca

Ferguson, Kumail Nanjiani,

Rafe Spall, Laurent

Bourgeois, Larry Bourgeois,

Emma Thompson, Liam

Neeson

Rated: 6.5/10

While the latest Men inBlack (MIB) may notbe a patch on the

earlier movies in the seriesand definitely not on Tommylee Jones and Will Smith, itdoesn’t mean that everythingis lost here.

The film has severalmoments which will make you

laugh as also melt your heartwith cute aliens and shudderat the ugly aliens.

Then there is ChrisHemsworth as Agent H(repalcing Will Smith). To seehim step out of his Thor char-acter is strange. One keepshoping to see him beat thebaddies to pulp rather beingbeaten up.

A scene where he is tryingto reach out for a small ham-mer to beat the alien who hashim by the scruff, he funny. As

is the reference to him wear-ing pink pants.

Second, the gadgets arecool. The car and the bike thattakes off at the press of a but-ton will take you on a rollercoaster ride. The CGI used tocreate the cute and ugly aliensis great too.

Finally, the NYC head ofops who is a woman (EmmaThompson) not only looksnatty in black but has witmakes this one watchable.

— Shalini Saksena

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2

*ing: Patton Oswalt, Eric

Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny

Slate, Tiffany Haddish, Lake Bell,

Nick Kroll, Dana Carvey, Ellie

Kemper, Chris Renaud, , Bobby

Moynihan, Harrison Ford

Rated: 7/10

Usually movies that involvesanimals are cute and sweeteven though Hollywood is

known to make gruesome filmswith them. Anaconda, Lake Placidand Croc are only some of the hor-ror films that have been made over

the years.But when it comes to anima-

tion — the ‘awaw’ factor can’t beignored and The Secret Life of Pets2 is no different, a sequel. Not thatone has to see or remember theprequel but it helps if you are

familiar with the characters andthe relationship they share.

There are three independenttracks running at the same time —this can be a tad confusing for theyoung minds, but the good is thatthey all converge and tie up in theend. All’s well that ends well.

There are enough moments offurry cuteness, laughs and energythat will keep even the adultshappy. More so if you love cats anddogs.

Over all, the film is perfect forkids’ day out!

— Shalini Saksena

The kiddies will love this oneFun element in parts

LUCKNOWSUNDAY | JUNE 16, 2019● West Indies managed to beat England just once in the 7 matches they have played against each other in the World Cup tournament09

IT WOULD BE FOOLISH NOT TO

BE CONFIDENT ABOUT

REACHING SEMIS. WE HAVE

ONLY PLAYED FOUR GAMES.

THERE IS A HELL OF A LOT OF

CRICKET LEFT TO BE PLAYED

— JASON HOLDER

PTI n SOUTHAMPTON

England skipper Eoin Morgan hasheaped praise on Joe Root, describ-ing the star batsman as the ‘glue’ that

holds the team together.Root hit his second century of the

World Cup on Friday to steer the injury-depleted England to a convincing eight-wicket win over the West Indies and cap-tain Morgan could not have been moreimpressed.

“I am exceptionally pleased,” Morgansaid after the match.

“He’s such an important player for us,he is the glue that holds everythingtogether and probably a side of his battingthat’s got better over the last two or threeyears that people haven’t seen a lot of is hisexpansive game.

“He never seems to be scoring at less

than a run a ball. You look up and he’sgoing at more than a run a ball. It’s excep-tional to see him come out and be in thisform,” he said.

Morgan further added that Root wasthe man with a ‘golden arm’ as his part-time off-spin helped England pick up twokey West Indian wickets — ShimronHetmyer and captain Jason Holder —before his 94-ball unbeaten 100 made thehosts’ run chase look like a stroll in the parkdespite the absence of two key players inMorgan himself and Jason Roy due to

injuries.“Adil (Rashid) had got it to turn so

much, Jos said ‘it’s turning more than youthink here’ so we discussed it and thenwent with it for one, possibly two overs butJoe started brilliantly; he’s got a goldenarm,” said Morgan.

Having also scored a century againstPakistan, Root has now amassed 279 runsin four matches, becoming the firstEngland player to score two hundreds ina single edition of the World Cup sinceKevin Pietersen 12 years ago.

He has also become the first in histo-ry to compile three in total, as the hostsmoved to second position in the pointstable. Yet Root insisted that there was stillroom for improvement.

“It’s not about the number of runs youscore, and being the one that stands outin terms of individual accolades,” said Root.

“It’s about building those substantialpartnerships that win you games and col-lectively getting the job done. I feel like I’mplaying all right. I don’t feel like I’m play-ing exceptionally well at the moment but

I feel like I’m playing some good stuff andthere’s still loads of things that I want tokeep working on and keep improving,” saida modest Root.

“It was important we didn’t panic andkept it together. We managed to getacross the line and did it really convinc-ingly in the end so it’s a really good signand will fill the dressing room with a lotof confidence in knowing that we don’thave to go about things in just one way tobe successful,” he added.

Root, who ended up taking 2/27 offfive overs, was surprise with his all-rounder status. “I didn’t really expect (toget so many overs). I got the opportunityand it was nice to pick up a few wickets.I probably burgled them rather than out-skilled them. I’m not the most skilful off-spinner, so I was just trying to be as unpre-dictable as possible,” Root said.

AFP n SAO PAULO

Abrace from Philippe Coutinhohanded hosts Brazil a winning

start to the Copa America in a 3-0victory over Bolivia as the absenceof superstar Neymar was quicklyforgotten.

Barcelona's Coutinho scoredfrom the penalty spot early in thesecond half and added a close-rangeheader three minutes later.

Substitute Everton netted asensational third five minutes fromtime to clinch a Group A victory forcoach Tite’s tournament favorites inSao Paulo.

The build-up to the competi-tion had been dominated byNeymar’s woes, firstly when hewas accused of rape by a Brazilianmodel, and then when he damagedankle ligaments in a friendly lastweek, forcing him out of the Copa.

If Brazil’s first half performancewas anything to go by, the ParisSaint-Germain star was sorelymissed, but Coutinho’s brace at leastsilenced the jeers that met the teamat half-time.

“Whistles are part of the game,the fans want us to win and playwell, so that’s why they jeer,” said thematch-winner.

“We always want their supportbut we’re focused on the objective,which is the match,” Coutinho toldBrazil’s SportTV.

“Whistles or cheers, the impor-tant thing is to stay focused and getthe win.”

Brazil made a bright start andpredictably dominated the earlypossession and chances.

But surprisingly theirgreatest threat came fromset-pieces with Coutinho’scorner delivery causing panicin the Bolivian backline.

Bolivia's goalkeeperCarlos Lampe made an instinctiveblock from a Roberto Firmino flickthat came straight at him.

And a few minutes later, tow-ering center-half Thiago Silva wasleft unmarked eight yards out tomeet another Coutinho delivery, but

he inexplicably headed wellwide.

Brazil, wearing whiteshirts and blue shorts,weaved almost geometricpatterns around their unam-

bitious visitors but struggled to testLampe.

Their best chances came fromBolivian mistakes and Richarlisonshould have scored into an opengoal when a woeful Lampe clear-ance went straight to him, but the

Everton forward failed to lift the ballover defender Adrian Jusino, whoheaded clear from the edge of the18-yard box.

BARRAGE OF JEERSTite’s team were treated to a bar-

rage of jeers from the 67,000 crowdwhen the half-time whistle went.

Bolivia’s best moment had per-haps been a cheeky nutmeg ofCasemiro by Raul Castro on theedge of his own 18-yard box. It hadbeen slim pickings. Fans’ spirits werequickly lifted after the restart,though, as Coutinho fired homefrom the spot on 50 minutes aftera contentious penalty award.

Bolivia were stunned and justthree minutes later their defencewent missing as Firmino reachedthe bye line and chipped the ballto the back post for Coutinho tohead home from barely two yardsout.

Reluctant to push men forward,Bolivia never looked like gettingback into the match.

“If you want to qualify (for theknock-out stages) you have toattack a little more,” admittedVillegas.

And Coutinho’s corners contin-ued to present Brazil with their bestchances, as Marquinhos headedstraight at Lampe from seven yardswith 15 minutes left.

The game had slowed to almostwalking pace when substituteEverton scored a sensational third,cutting in from the left wing beforefiring an unstoppable shot into thefar corner with Lampe rooted to thespot.

Eoin Morgan, second right, hobbles off the field of play withan injury, next to Joe Root AP

O T H E R S P O R T S

Be Rooted

Take a

chill pill

Left to right: Joe Root plays a shot during his unbeaten 100 run innings; Root attempts to take a catch off his own bowling; Joe celebrates after dismissing Windies skipper Jason Holder Cricket World Cup/Twitter

Joe Root is one of the best one-day players in the world and heproved it again in England’s

eight-wicket win over the WestIndies with another brilliant centu-ry.

His recent record is outstandingand having him as that rock in thebatting line-up helps the moreattack-minded guys because theyknow Joe is there to steady the ship.

It just seems a formality at themoment he’s going to score 50-plusand quite often turn that into a cen-tury.

He had to open the batting atshort notice due to Jason Roy’sinjury but he took it all in his stride.

Joe went about his innings bril-liantly and scored as quickly as

Jonny Bairstow at other end — helooked great and it was a very low-maintenance knock. He kept it sim-ple and played proper cricket shots.

Eoin Morgan might’ve thoughtabout potentially opening with JosButtler and it wouldn’t have been theworst shout because he’s a playerwho can score at a strike-rate ofabove 200 even when there are fivefielders on the boundary.

But Morgs probably wanted tomake the most of having Jos at back-end of the chase if needed, that’s akey spot.

And you want to keep your bat-ters in the position where they willbe playing for most of the tourna-ment.

It was an awesome England

performance — very professional,clinical and ruthless. It was a reallygood display with the ball to restrictWest Indies to 212 and that set thetone.

Pre-game, it was being billed asa battle of the pacemen, so to see theEnglish bowlers hitting consistent-ly good lengths was great.

Jofra (Archer) and Chris (MarkWood) got going together, while BenStokes can hit 145 kph as wellwhich is so exciting to watch.

You always feel like somethingwill happen with that trio’s pace anda wicket is just round corner.

There will be a bit of a nervouswait for news on Eoin Morgan andJason Roy’s injuries ahead of theAfghanistan game on Tuesday.

In an ideal world, England willwant to play their best team and getas close to qualifying for the semi-finals as they can.

But it’s a long tournament andif there’s any risk involved with play-ing them, they won’t take it.

It doesn’t matter that Englandwill be considered heavy favouritesfor the Afghanistan contest — youprepare in the same way as anygame, make sure you’re ready fortheir bowlers and keep yourselves onyour toes.

Morgs and the coaches willmake sure there are no signs of com-placency and it’s about trying not tothink of opposition as a lessernation because then you get introuble – just play it like any other

match.We’ve already seen some great

catches in this ICC Men’s CricketWorld Cup from the likes of BenStokes and Sheldon Cottrell but inour match against West IndiesWomen on Thursday, Fran Wilsontook the best live catch I’ve everseen.

I couldn’t stop watching it themorning after — I saw someone hadsuperimposed a cape on Fran onTwitter, which was fitting.

It was absolutely outstandingand everyone has been asking meabout it, which is an amazing sign– moments like that go viral and it’sa great advert for women’s cricket.

Courtesy: © ICC Business CorporationFZ LLC 2019

KNIGHTWRITER

By HEATHER KNIGHT

England women’s captain

Professional, clinical & ruthless win

In an ideal world,England will wantto play their bestteam and get as

close to qualifyingfor the semis as

they can. But it’s along tournamentand if there’s anyrisk involved withplaying them, they

won’t take it

PTI n SOUTHAMPTON

By his own admission, England captain EoinMorgan is doubtful for the next World Cup

game having suffered a back spasm while JasonRoy undergoes a scan for hamstring strain but theskipper insisted it is not a ‘panic station’ yet.

During their World Cup match against theWest Indies here on Friday, Morgan left the fieldin the 41st over of West Indian innings, joiningRoy on the treatment table, who had earlier hob-bled off with a hamstring strain.

“It is sore. I have had back spasms before andit normally takes a few days to settle down. It isunclear, we will know more in the next 24 hours.You normally get a good indication the followingday. If it settles down then the improvement is therestraight away.

“Jason had a tight hamstring and will go fora scan, it will be 48 hours until we know more. Ithink when any two players go down it is a bit ofa worry but it is not panic stations yet,” Morgansaid while addressing the post-match mediainteraction standing because of discomfort due toback spasm.

Chasing 213 for victory against the WestIndies, England did not require the services ofeither Morgan or Roy as Joe Root stepped intoRoy's shoes at the top of the order, scoring anunbeaten 100 of 94 balls to help the hosts post acomfortable eight-wicket win.

"Like everybody, we have to see how it pullsup. We will see how risky it is and do a risk assess-ment going into that game, baring in mind we willhave two games in a few days," said Morgan.

PTI n BHUBANESWAR

India lived up to their billing andthrashed South Africa 5-1 in the

summit clash to win the FIH SeriesFinals hockey tournament here onSaturday.

Coming into the tournament asoverwhelming favourites, world No 5India played like champions andremained unbeaten throughout thetournament.

Dragflickers Varun Kumar (2ndand 49th minutes) and HarmanpreetSingh (11th and 25th) scored a braceeach, while Vivek Sagar Prasad (35th)was the other goal scorer for India.

South Africa's lone goal was scoredby Richard Pautz in the 53rd minute.

India and South Africa havealready qualified for the final round ofthe Olympic qualifiers beforeSaturday's summit clash.

Earlier in the day, Asian Gameschampion Japan defeated USA 4-2 tofinish third in the competition.

The top two finishers of this tour-nament make it to the final round ofthe Olympic qualifiers to be heldlater this year.

Going by world rankings, theIndians were expected to control theproceedings and they exactly did thatfrom the word go.

India secured their first penaltycorner as early as in the secondminute and Varun made no mistakein converting the opportunity into goal.

In the 11th minute, India gotanother penalty corner and this timeHarmanpreet slammed home to make

the scoreline 2-0 in favour of the hosts.Seconds before the end of the first

quarter, South Africa got a rare oppor-tunity but Nqobile Ntuli's reverse hitwas kept away by Krishan BahadurPathak in front of the Indian goal.

Five minutes from half time, Indiawere awarded a penalty stroke whenBirendra Lakra was stick-checkedinside South Africa's ‘D’ by JethroEustice and Harmanpreet made nomistake to make the scoreline 3-0.

The flow of the match continuedin the same vein after the change ofends with India dominating the pro-ceedings.

Five minutes into the third quar-ter, India extended their lead whenVivek Sagar Prasad scored from closerange after being set up by SimranjeetSingh.

India secured their third penalty

corner in the 41st minute but this timeAmit Rohidas' try was saved by theSouth African goalkeeper.

India kept up the pressure andearned their fourth penalty corner inthe 49th minute and Varun scoredfrom a variation to make the scoreline5-0 in the home team's favour.

South Africa finally had somethingto cheer about when they securedback-to-back penalty corners in the53rd minute and from the secondchance, Pautz deflected in Eustice's flickto reduce the margin to 5-1.

Four minutes from the final hoot-er, India secured two more penalty cor-ners but failed to utilise the opportu-nities.

South Africa too got a last chanceto pull another goal back in the formof their third penalty corner but to noeffect.

Flying startCoutinho’s 2nd half brace powers Brazilto 3-0 win against Bolivia in Copa opener

Philippe Coutinho celebrates after scoring from spot CBF/Twitter

Indian players pose with the winners trophy after beating South Africa in the FIH Series Finals PTI

India win FIH Series Finals

LUCKNOWSUNDAY | JUNE 16, 2019● Virat Kohli needs 57 runs to become the third Indian and ninth batsman overall to score 11000 runs in one day internationls10

If the West Indies want to win thisWorld Cup then now is the time forthem to come out fighting and

show what they are made of.Defeats and bad days are always

going to happen in a tournament likethis, and now we just have to hope thatthe West Indies have got all of theirs outof the way.

I still think they have got the fire-power in both their batting and bowl-ing to go all the way but the pressureis building.

They need to win nearly everygroup game from here on in if they areto have a chance of making the semi-finals.

Eleven points will probably beenough to get a Team into the top four,and considering they still have the likesof New Zealand and India to play, it isnow or never.

The defeat to England will have dis-appointed them because that was a hugegame.

They picked a bad time to havetheir worst batting display of the tour-nament so far.

Once you have got past the best ofthe England bowling attack, you real-ly shouldn't be giving your wickets away

to a part-timer like Joe Root. He issomeone you should be looking to milkall day long.

The two youngsters ShimronHetmyer and Nicholas Pooran had totry and rebuild the innings and gave ita pretty good effort.

Pooran in particular has reallyimpressed me so far this tournament,but we shouldn't be asking two youngguys to do it all.

The rest of the batsmen left themhigh and dry, and there was ampleopportunity there on a Southamptonpitch that didn't have too much devilin it.

There is a lot of power in that bat-ting line-up but maybe we are missingsomeone who can stick around. In myday we had Larry Gomes who couldplay that role.

Maybe they missed a trick by notchoosing someone in the squad with theall-round skills who can play the rolelike Moeen Ali plays for England andfilling that extra batting place whichWest Indies sorely needs.

Royston Chase would fill that rolefor West Indies because he can also offera bit of spin as well and can anchor aninnings with the bat.

The bowlers need to have a bit ofa re-think as well.

They can't go into every gamethinking they are just going to blastteams out like they did Pakistan.

They need to be able to read theconditions, adapt to their opponentsand the pitches put in front of them.

It's all very well bowling short all thetime, but the key to short bowling is theline as well as the length - you need tobe asking questions of the batsmen andyesterday they weren't able to do that.

But all is not lost just yet. JasonHolder has got to try and rally thetroops and get them back on track.They started well in this tournamentand are still in there fighting.

Bangladesh are up next on Mondayand they are no pushovers - they beatthe West Indies twice in a Tri-Seriesvery recently, have beaten South Africain this tournament already and madea very good fist of chasing down a hugetotal against England.

It's a must-win clash for both sides- Bangladesh will be feeling very goodabout their game and it's up to the WestIndies to stand up and be counted.

Courtesy- © ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC2019

CARIBSE

By CLIVE LLOYD

Former West Indies captain

n TAUNTON

Bangladesh fast bowling coachCourtney Walsh expects his

team to come back strongly as theytake on West Indies in their fifthgame of the ICC Men's World Cupin Taunton on Monday.

Bangladesh had a promisingstart in the tournament, beatingSouth Africa first and then nearlypulling off a close finish againstNew Zealand at The Oval.However, the Mashrafe Mortaza ledside went down by 106 runs againstEngland, before their next gameagainst Sri Lanka got washed out.Walsh seemed confident of histeam putting up a collective effortagainst West Indies - a side theydefeated thrice in the recently con-cluded tri-series in Ireland.

"We were very consistent inevery department right throughoutthat tri-nation [series]," Walsh toldreporters in Taunton. "We havebeen hampered a little bit by theweather here. It is out of our con-trol. If we can get the consistencyin the next couple of games, whoknows what can happen?"

Walsh viewed Chris Gayle andAndre Russell as potential threatsfor the Monday's clash. "We arecoming up with some ideas andplans looking at their current game.

"They are two dangerous play-ers we have to try to restrict, andget them out at the same time to

have more control of the game. Wewill be focused on their team itself,because they have very good play-ers in their team as well. I am surewe can perform as a team againstWest Indies."

Bangladesh have had the bet-ter of West Indies in recent times,winning seven of the last ten gamesincluding a bilateral series tri-umph last July.

"We have to do it all over again.We will be looking in the contextof the game itself. We will be see-ing players who didn't come toBangladesh or play against us in theWest Indies. They are probably fullstrength. We have been playingconsistently well against WestIndies."

The former West Indian fast

bowling great who took 746 inter-national wickets in a career span-ning nearly two decades, said thatconsistency and discipline are thekeys to success, after Bangladeshconceded 386 runs against England.

"You have to have pace some-times but for me, consistency, con-trol and execution is more impor-tant. If you don't have the 140-150kph [pace], then you have tocompensate [for] that. We have cer-tainly been consistent, hitting theright areas and getting good vari-ation. The guys have been workinghard but you will have bad gameshere and there. Consistency is thekey for us, and try to get good vari-ation," he concluded.

Courtesy- © ICC BusinessCorporation FZ LLC 2019

n SOUTHAMPTON

Shimron Hetmyer insists his fledgling part-nership with Nicholas Pooran could bear

fruit for years to come after the West Indiesduo dug deep against an England onslaught.

The pair put on 89 for the fourth wicketin the West Indies' eight-wicket defeat, battingmaturely and patiently while under the cosh.

Hetmyer, 22, has four ODI centuriesalready and guided the West Indies througha difficult 16 overs alongside Pooran — withthe pair coming together at 55-3.

He undid all his hard work by playing aloose shot to Joe Root on 39, while Pooranwent on to make 63 in the Windies’ overall 212.

But the signs were still encouraging andHetmyer believes the pair can score plentytogether again.

“Batting with Nicholas is very comfortablefor me because we played in the under-19stogether and then in the CPL [CaribbeanPremier League] we played together too, so Ihave got to know him a little better at thecrease,” he said.

“I think I was trying to hit the ball at onestage and he just came up to me and said let’sjust try to time it, not muscle it and from thereit came out a bit better.

“For me, my role does not change. I haveto go out and whatever role I need to play, itis there for me. I will try to execute as muchas possible.

“Today did not come off like I would haveliked or the team would have liked but we hadsome positives, we had a partnership andwent from strength to strength in the mid-dle overs,

“We did come out on the wrong end oftoday’s game but I just tried to play my role

and pick up the slack if we had a good startand build a partnership.”

The West Indies have now lost two oftheir four matches, while Monday’s game withSouth Africa was washed-out, leaving theirwin against Pakistan as their sole success sofar.

The semi-finals are not yet out of reachbut Monday's clash with Bangladesh inTaunton is pivotal to their chances andHetmyer insists they will deliver.

“I am very confident. It happens in thesetypes of competitions, you go down and it isall about how you pick yourself up for thenext game,” he said.

“All the guys are in good spirits and weare looking ahead and looking forward to thenext game.”

Courtesy- © ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2019

One for the future

CRICKETCRADLE

REGALING TALES

India skipper Virat Kohli might call it justanother game to calm the nerves of his play-ers ahead of Sunday's blockbuster meetingbetween India and Pakistan at the World Cup,but everyone knows that a clash between thearch-rivals on the cricket field is nothing shortof a carnival. Emotions run high, players lookto seize the moment and make a statementand even the fans want boasting rights till thetwo teams face-off next time. And who betterto speak on what it means to take on Pakistanin a World Cup game than Sachin Tendulkar.The legend has been a part of five India-Pakistan games in the showpiece event andhis scores read 54 in 1992, 31 in 1996, 45 in1999, 98 in 2003 and 85 in 2011. In fact, apartfrom winning the coveted trophy in 2011, thelittle master rates the 2003 game againstPakistan in Centurion as one of his favouritememories from playing in six World Cups forIndia. This in itself speaks volumes of what anIndia-Pakistan encounter means, not just tothe fans, but also for the 22 bravehearts fight-ing it out in the middle. “The best memoryapart from lifting the World Cup has to be the2003 match against Pakistan in Centurion.The kind of build-up that was there for thatmatch and the way we played and the way wewon. Also, the way we celebrated after thegame and the way we progressed in the tour-nament after that was spectacular. Withoutany doubt, that has to be a special memory,”he told IANS.

RAP FOR CARLOS

West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite hasreceived an official reprimand and receivedone demerit point for breaching the Level 1 ofthe ICC Code of Conduct during the England-West Indies game in the ongoing World Cup atthe Hampshire Bowl on Friday. He was foundto have breached Article 2.8 of the code ofconduct for players and player support person-nel, which relates to showing dissent to anumpire's decision. The incident occurred in the43rd over of the West Indies innings whenBrathwaite made his displeasure at beinggiven out clear to the umpires. Brathwaiteadmitted to the offence and accepted the sanc-tion proposed by match referee David Boon.There was no need for a formal hearing.

NUMBERS SPEAK

A Kerala-based numerologist who predictedIndia's victory at the 2011 World Cup, onSaturday said India would do it again this time.MK Damodaran, a retired government officialbased in the Kannur district, has correctly pre-dicted several events in the sporting and politi-cal arena through numerology. Damodaran hadtold IANS in 2011, numbers 2, 6 and 7 playeda prominent role in the scheme of things of MSDhoni, whose “fate number is 33.” “Indian cap-tain Virat Kohli's birth number is 5 and occultnumber also 5. Interestingly, Dhoni and Kohliare numerological birds of the same feather.The fate number of Kohli also is 33. Dhoni andKohli have an amazing chemistry," saidDamodaran. He said Kohli's date of birth is5/11/1988 and Sun sign Scorpio, which is relat-ed to number 9. Hence, numbers 3, 6 & 9 arelucky for him. Kohli's fate number is 33 and theage the luckiest 30 (3+0=3). "These factorsindicate Kohli and Dhoni will lift the 3rd WorldCup for India," said Damodaran. Drawing aparallel to Kapil Dev, he said, numbers 3, 6 & 9were lucky for him, whose birth number is 6and occult number 30 (3+0=3). IANS

PRELIMINARY STAGE

Pos Team P W L N/R Net RR Pts

1 AUS 5 4 1 0 +0.812 8

2 NZ 4 3 0 1 +2.163 7

3 ENG 4 3 1 0 +1.557 6

4 IND 3 2 0 1 +0.539 5

5 SL 4 1 1 2 -1.517 4

6 WI 4 1 2 1 +0.666 3

7 RSA 6 1 3 1 -0.208 3

8 B’DESH 4 1 2 1 -0.714 3

9 PAK 3 1 1 1 -1.796 3

10 AFG 4 0 4 0 -1.638 0

Rishabh Pant joins team India on Saturday during practice session aheadof India-Pakistan game at Old Trafford in Manchester BCCI/Twitter

Shimron Hetmyer, left, and Nicholas Pooran runsbetween the wickets during West Indies innings AP

Bangladesh players train during team’s practice session ICC/Twitter

PTI n MANCHESTER

Pakistan bowlers should goafter a vulnerable Indian

middle order when the twoteams clash in the marqueeWorld Cup game on Sunday,says former Pakistan captainWasim Akram.

Akram, hero of many Indo-Pak cricketing battles, is hope-ful that Mohammed Amir ledattack would do well to find thechinks in the Indian middle-order.

"India have a solid toporder. Not only there is Virat(Kohli) but there's also Rohit(Sharma). But I have a feelingthat middle order isn't that set-tled. Pakistan bowlers shouldtry to cash in on that aspect,"Akram said.

Amir's presence in the sideis a big positive feels Akram.The left arm pacer took 5 for 30

against Australia albeit in alost cause.

"I don't know why did theydrop Amir in the first place. Hispresence even when he is not at

his best is important. He is asenior bowler now and I believehe has a duty to guide theyoungsters," Akram said.

He has confidence in Babar

Azam but wouldn't like com-parisons with Virat Kohli.

"Babar Azam is a very tal-ented batsman and it's good tosee his consistency. He should-n't be compared to Virat and lethim play freely."

The 'Sultan of Swing' ishowever disappointed thatyoung fast bowlers these daysdon't know the use of wrists.

"Aajkal ke ladke wristskahaan maarte hain. (Bowlersnowadays don't use theirwrists). How do you evenexpect bowlers to get swing?" hequestioned.

Two new balls from bothends have been quite a deterrentfor bowlers but the legendaryWasim Akram is of the opinionthat the white Dukes used dur-ing the 1999 edition was betterfor seamers.

Akram, Shoaib Akhtar,Abdul Razzaq and Azhar

Mahmood made life difficultfor the opposition during thatWorld Cup in England wherePakistan reached the finals.

"The seam of the kookabur-ra ball is not pronounced and Ihave always found Dukes to bethe best ball. I don't know whythe ICC had done away with theDuke Whites. Those ballswould have certainly swungmore," Akram said.

India must not entertainthoughts that they would startfavourites in the marquee WorldCup clash against Pakistan,warned stalwarts SouravGanguly and Sachin Tendulkar.

Ganguly said the Indianteam perhaps made the mistakeof taking Pakistan lightly in the2017 Champions Trophy finaland had to bite the dust.

"India needs to be verycareful, don't go into this gamethinking they are the favourites.

I think they did that the last timein 2017 in the ICC ChampionsTrophy finals, and Pakistan beatthem hands down. It's going tobe a great game of cricket," com-mented Ganguly as an expert forStar Sports ahead of the game.

Tendulkar also said thatIndia cannot afford to take thetraditional rivals lightly.

"Pakistan has always beenunpredictable, and they are adangerous side - so there is noway the Indian team is going totake them lightly. Every step thatthe Indian team takes forward,we would want to be 100% sureof what we are doing, and it iswell thought and well planned,"he said.

The hype and interest anIndia-Pakistan cricket matchgenerates is surreal and bothTendukar and Ganguly agreedthat "it is more than just acricket match".

IT WOULD BE FOOLISH NOT TO

BE CONFIDENT ABOUT

REACHING SEMIS. WE HAVE

ONLY PLAYED FOUR GAMES.

THERE IS A HELL OF A LOT OF

CRICKET LEFT TO BE PLAYED

— JASON HOLDER

Unless someone creates a match-winning magical performance all

by himself. Familiar oppositions,unfamiliar oppositions don't matterbecause you understand that if youdon't play well, you don't win, and ifyou play well, you win against any-one. If we do our strengths well it willbe good enough for anyone in theworld. We need to have that belief.

pWhen it is a game against Pakistanwhat do you tell your young camp?

We have discussed nothing differ-ent from the time we came toEngland. The mood in the dressingroom hasn't changed. We understandthat any game you play for your coun-

try can be emotional, adrenalinefilled, so no one game is more impor-tant or more special for us than theother.We are a top side in the worldbecause of the cricket we play and wealways need to remember that.

pYou have had outstanding successunder pressure. But how difficult isit as a captain to keep the youngstersaway from the hustle-bustle of anIndo-Pak meet?

The best way to approach some-thing like this is to understand thatthe game starts tomorrow at a certaintime and it finishes at a certain time,it's not going to last a lifetime,whether you do well or don't. The

tournament goes on.As a unit, 11guys share responsibility. That's beenour message from day one.

pIf it rains, then what?It's in no one's hands. We've

been in these situations many times.We'll just have to wait and see howthe weather pans out. Whateveramount of game we get - a full gamewould be outstanding - we have to bementally ready to go in there and dowhat we need to do.

pFast bowlers haven't had an idealpreparation for this big game….

They are in a good head spaceand have bowled well in the first two

games. If physically they can stayfresh and their bodies are feelinggood, mentally they're just fine. Theyshould take care of their bodies,recovery and energy levels.Bumrahand Bhuvi are bowling well. It isimportant for them to stay in primecondition and the mental side ofthings will take care of itself, more sowhere conditions are like this, they'llget a lot more help than the first twogames.

pCan you take us through sometense and funny moments againstPakistan on field?

Tense was Champions Trophy2009 where Yuvi fractured a finger

and I was literally flown in and in twodays' time I was playing againstPakistan at Centurion. I hadn't expe-rienced anything like that beforeand I played a very bad shot. Icouldn't sleep until 6 am. I waslooking at the ceiling and thinking,that's it, I've flown in and now I'm fin-ished. There have been many funnymoments over the years The incidenthappened during the World Cup inMohali I can't really elaborate here.That was quite funny.It was involv-ing Shahid Afridi and Wahab. I wasstanding with the strikers, and I hearda conversation, which as I say, I can'telaborate here, but in a high-pressuregame, that made me laugh.

For us, no one is a threat: Kohli

Stand up and be counted

‘Cash in on India’s middle-order vulnerability’

Change of fate

I STILL THINK WINDIES

HAVE GOT THE

FIREPOWER IN BOTH

THEIR BATTING AND

BOWLING TO GO ALL THE

WAY BUT THE PRESSURE

IS BUILDING. THEY NEED

TO WIN NEARLY EVERY

GROUP GAME FROM HERE

ON IN IF THEY ARE TO

HAVE A CHANCE OF

MAKING THE SEMI-FINALS

❝

❝

Imad Wasim, Shaheen Afridi and Wahab Riaz attend an indoor training session AP

LUCKNOWSUNDAY | JUNE 16, 2019● Sri Lanka last triumph against Australia in World Cup match was 24 years back in the 1996 final at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore11

IF MARCUS STOINIS DOESN'T

RECOVER WELL ENOUGH

OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF

DAYS MITCH WILL COME IN

AND DO WELL IF SELECTED

— AARON FINCH

PTI n LONDON

Skipper Aaron Finch strokedhis way to a majestic centuryas defending champions

Australia inched closer to thesemifinal berth with a crushing 87-run win over Sri Lanka in theirWorld Cup fixture here Saturday.

Finch forged two crucial part-nerships -- 80 with his openingpartner David Warner (26) and 173with Steve Smith (73 off 59) for thethird wicket — in his 132-ball 153knock. It was his 14th ODI hun-dred which was laced with 15 foursand five sixes, two of them gigan-tic.

Glenn Maxwell then providedthe late charge with an unbeaten25-ball 46 as Australia posted achallenging 334 for 7.

Chasing the total, Sri Lankawere 115 for no loss at one stagebut they squandered the superbstart to be eventually dismissed for247 in 45.5 overs.

Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne(97) was the top-scorer for SriLanka, while his opening partnerKusal Perera (52) also scored a fifty.

Mitchell Starc took four wick-ets, while Kane Richardsonclaimed three and Pat Cumminsscalped two.

This is Australia's fourth winin five matches, having beatenAfghanistan, the West Indies andPakistan while losing to India inthe 10-team tournament.

Sri Lanka, who came into thematch with one win from fourgames after their previous twomatches were washed out, arehowever running out of time aftersuffering their second defeat.

Sri Lanka were off to a flyingstart to their runchase withKarunaratne and Kusal Pererahelping the team post 87 for zeroin 10 overs, the highest total in thepowerplay in the tournament sofar.

The Island nation scored 100in 12.4 overs before Mitchell Starcproduced a breakthrough, cleaningup Perera in the 16th over.

Lahiru Thirimanne (16), whosurvived a couple of run-outchances, brought up the team 150with a square drive but he wascaught behind in the next ball byJason Behrendorff as Sri Lankaslipped to 153 for 2.

Runs dried up after that asAustralia tightened the screws.With pressure mounting,Karunaratne ended up giving astraight catch to Maxwell at gully,just three runs short of his hun-dred.

Two quick wickets next saw SriLanka further slump to 209 for fiveand they never recovered after that.

Earlier, Finch played someexquisite shots to keep the runsflowing even as his opening part-ner Warner found the going tough.

Nuwan Pradeep was first in thefiring line as he was hit for twofours by Finch.

The Australia skipper thenblasted Lasith Malinga for a cou-ple of fours in the seventh overbefore welcoming Thisara Pererawith successive boundaries asAustralia scored 53 in the firstpowerplay.

In the 17th over, Dhananjayade Silva cleaned up Warner whenhe tried to make room for himselfto play a cut shot.

Finch and Usman Khawaja(10) took Australia to hundred in23rd over but the left-handedbatsman perished soon after his

sweep shot was caught by IsuruUdana at deep midwicket.

Smith then joined hands withFinch, who exploded in the 29thover, smashing de Silva out of thepark twice besides a boundary toamass 20 runs off the over.

Smith too dealt in boundariesas the duo brought up the 200 in35.3 overs.

The former skipper complet-ed his fifty in 46 balls, while Finchsmashed Perera over deep squarefor his fifth six of the innings.

Finch and Smith carted Pererafor 18 runs in the 41st over witheach smashing a couple of fours.Smith then deposited Malingaover deep mid-wicket in the nextover.

Udana finally broke the part-nership when he had Finch caughtat cover by Karunaratne off aslower delivery as Australia slippedto 273 for 3 in 42.4 overs.

Malinga then dismissed Smithwith a cracking yorker in the nextover, while Udana showed greatathleticism to run out Alex Careyand Pat Cummins to stem the runflow.

PTI n CARDIFF

South Africa finally arrived to the party as they pickedup their first victory of the 2019 World Cup, beating

Afghanistan by nine wickets (DLS) in a rain-affected matchat the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Saturday.

Leg-spinner Imran Tahir snared four wickets to trig-ger Afghanistan's dramatic batting collapse as South Africabundled them out for 125 in yet another rain-affectedWorld Cup match here Saturday.

Sent into bat, Afghanistan were slow and steady toreach 69 for 2 at the end of the 20th over when rain camefor the second time and when play resumed after a breakof one hour, they lost four quick wickets for the addi-tion of just eight runs.

They were reduced to 77 for 7 in the 26th over, los-ing five wickets in the space of 4.4 overs.

Earlier, the Afghanistan innings was also halted for25 minutes in the sixth over due to rains. After the sec-ond rain interruption, the match was reduced to a 48-over side.

The Afghans did not even last the full 48 overs asthey were shot out in 34.1 overs.

South Africa will now chase 127 from 48 overs toget their first win in the tournament after the target wasrevised under Duckworth/Lewis method.

Chris Morris chipped in with three wickets while hispace colleagues Andile Phehlukwayo and Kagiso Rabadatook two and one wicket respectively as the Afghans gavelittle fight against the Proteas.

Phehlukwayo removed a struggling HashmatullahShahidi (8 off 22 balls) in the fourth ball after the longrain interruption before Tahir took two wickets in thenext over, dismissing well-set Noor Ali Zadran (32 off58 balls) and Asghar Afghan (0) in the space of five deliv-eries.

Phehlukwayo then had Mohammad Nabi (1) in thenext over -- 23rd -- before Tahir got his third wicket ofthe day in the 26th over in the form of captainGulbadin Naib (5) to leave Afghanistan innings in dis-array.

After a competition among Afghan batsmen to returnto the dressing room, it was number 9 and top-scorerRashid Khan, who delayed the end of Afghan inningsand take them past 100-mark with a 25-ball 35 but hislate fight was too little too late.

He stitched a 34-run stand with wicketkeeperIkram Alikhil (9 off 33 balls) for the eighth wicket beforehe was out in the 34th over.

PTI n LONDON

David Warner on Saturday presented a signed team shirtto the Indian origin net bowler Jaykishan Plaha who

was struck on the head by a powerful drive from theAustralian opener.

Warner met Plaha ahead of Australia's game against SriLanka and presented him with an autographed team shirt.

"Last week, Jaykishan Plaha was hit on the head by aDavid Warner drive during an Australia training session,"said a post on the official World Cup Twitter handle.

"Today, Warner met both Jaykishan and his mum beforeplay, presented Jaykishan with an Australia shirt and wishedhim a speedy recovery."

"Hope you recover well. I appreciate your understand-ing," Warner said in the video.

The incident took place ahead of Australia's clash withIndia on Sunday. Australia had immediately stopped theirtraining session as the team's medical staff and paramedicsrushed to attend an injured Plaha. The 22-year-old spentfour nights in a London hospital.

Plaha, who was seen happily chatting with Warner inthe video, thanked the explosive opener for his gesture.

"Warner gave me his match shirt from the World Cup.Really appreciate it. What happened was that I got hit onthe head by David Warner on the front drive," Plaha saidin a video posted on Twitter.

"Glad to be standing here actually. Hope to be back onthe field soon. My dream is to be a professional cricketeras well," he added.

Afghanistan

Hazratullah Zazai c Dussen b Rabada 22

Noor Ali Zadran b Tahir 32

Rahmat Shah lbw b Chris Morris 6

H Shahidi c du Plessis b Phehlukwayo 8

Asghar Afghan c & b Tahir 0

Mohammad Nabi b Phehlukwayo 1

Ikram Ali khil c Amla b Chris Morris 9

Gulbadin Naib c Markram b Tahir 5

Rashid Khan c van der Dussen b Tahir 35

Hamid Hassan c du Plessis b Morris 0

Aftab Alam not out 0

Extras (b 0, lb 4, w 3, nb 0, p 0) 7

Total (10 wkts; 34.1 overs) 125

Fall of wickets: 39-1 (Hazratullah Zazai, 8.2),

56-2 (Rahmat Shah, 15.1), 69-3 (Hashmatullah

Shahidi, 20.4), 69-4 (Noor Ali Zadran, 21.1),

70-5 (Asghar Afghan, 21.5), 70-6 (Mohammad

Nabi, 22.1), 77-7 (Gulbadin Naib, 25.2), 111-8

(Ikram Ali khil, 32.4), 125-9 (Rashid Khan,

33.5), 125-10 (Hamid Hassan, 34.1)

Bowling

Kagiso Rabada 8-1-36-1

Beuran Hendricks 5-1-25-0

Andile Phehlukwayo 8-1-18-2

Chris Morris 6.1-2-13-3

Imran Tahir 7-0-29-4

South Africa (Target: 127)

Hashim amla not out 41

Quinton de Kock c Nabi b Naib 68

Andile Phehlukwayo not out 17

Did not Bat: Markram, Faf du Plessis, Dussen,

Miller, Morris, Rabada, Tahir, Beuran Hendricks

Extras (b 0, lb 1, w 4, nb 0, p 0) 5

Total (1 wkts; 28.4 overs) 131

Fall of wickets: 104-1 (Quinton de Kock, 22.5)

Bowling

Aftab Alam 5-1-16-0

Hamid Hassan 4-1-11-0

Rashid Khan 7-0-45-0

Gulbadin Naib 6-0-29-1

Mohammad Nabi 6.4-0-29-0

outh Africa win by 9 wickets

F I G U R A T I V E L Y

Hashmatullah Shahidi leaves the field due to a rain delay during the match against South Africa AP

Australia's captain Aaron Finch celebrates scoring a century AP

One for you mate!

David Warner presents autographed Australian jersey to net bowler Jaykishan Plahawho was hit by Warner’s shot during practice session Cricket World Cup/Twitter

Afghans collapse

Australia

David Warner b Dhananjaya de Silva 26

Aaron Finch c Karunaratne b Udana 153

Usman Khawaja c Udana 10

b Dhananjaya

Steven Smith b Malinga 73

Glenn Maxwell not out 46

Shaun Marsh c Siriwardana b Udana 3

Alex Carey run out (Udana) 4

Pat Cummins run out (Udana) 0

Mitchell Starc not out 5

Extras (b 0, lb 4, w 9, nb 1, p 0) 14

Total (7 wkts; 50 overs) 334

Fall of wickets: 80-1 (David Warner, 16.4),

100-2 (Usman Khawaja, 22.6), 273-3 (Aaron

Finch, 42.4), 278-4 (Steven Smith, 43.3),

310-5 (Shaun Marsh, 46.6), 317-6 (Alex

Carey, 48.1), 320-7 (Pat Cummins, 48.3)

Bowling

Lasith Malinga 10-1-61-1

Nuwan Pradeep 10-0-88-0

Isuru Udana 10-0-57-2

Thisara Perera 10-0-67-0

Dhananjaya de Silva 8-0-40-2

Milinda Siriwardana 2-0-17-0

Sri Lanka (Target: 335)

D Karunaratne c Maxwell b 97

Richardson

Kusal Perera b Starc 52

Lahiru Thirimanne c 16

Carey b Behrendorff

Kusal Mendis c Alex Carey b Starc 30

Angelo Mathews c Carey 9

b Pat Cummins

Milinda Siriwardana b Starc 3

Thisara Perera c Warner b Starc 7

Dhananjaya de Silva not out 16

Isuru Udana c Finch b Kane Richardson 8

Lasith Malinga c Khawaja b Richardson 1

Nuwan Pradeep c Carey 0

b Pat Cummins

Extras (b 0, lb 2, w 6, nb 0, p 0) 8

Total (10 wkts; 45.5 overs) 247

Fall of wickets: 115-1 (Kusal Perera, 15.3),

153-2 (Lahiru Thirimanne, 23.5), 186-3

(Dimuth Karunaratne, 32.1), 205-4 (Angelo

Mathews, 35.4), 209-5 (Milinda Siriwardana,

36.2), 217-6 (Thisara Perera, 36.6), 222-7

(Kusal Mendis, 38.1), 236-8 (Isuru Udana,

39.6), 237-9 (Lasith Malinga, 41.4), 247-10

(Nuwan Pradeep, 45.5)

Bowling

Mitchell Starc 10-0-55-4

Pat Cummins 7.5-0-38-2

Jason Behrendorff 9-0-59-1

Kane Richardson 9-1-47-3

Glenn Maxwell 10-0-46-0

Australia win by 87 runs

F I G U R A T I V E L Y

Starc Oz & Big Finch clinch

Skipper Finch’s 153, Starc’s 4/55 lead Aussies fightback to beat SL by 87 runs

Jason Behrendorff, second left, celebrates after taking the wicket of Sri Lanka's Lahiru Thirimanne AP

CHASING THETOTAL, SRI LANKAWERE 115 FOR NO

LOSS AT ONESTAGE BUT THEY

SQUANDERED THESUPERB START TO

BE EVENTUALLYDISMISSED FOR

247 IN 45.5 OVERS

HIGHEST 3RD WICKET STAND FOR AUS

Runs Partners Opp Venue Date

234* Damien Martyn/Ricky Ponting IND Jo’burg 23-03-2003

207 Mark Waugh/Steve Waugh KEN Vizag 23-02-1996

173 Aaron Finch/Steven Smith SL The Oval 15-06-2019

161 Michael Clarke/Ricky Ponting SA Basseterre 24-03-2007

134 Michael Clarke/Steven Smith SL Sydney 08-03-2015

FAISEL FEATURES

LUCKNOWSUNDAY | JUNE 16, 2019● Shoaib Malik who made 1782 runs in 41 innings, is the third highest run-getter for Pakistan against India in ODIs12

PNS n OLD TRAFFORD(MANCHESTER)

pHow tough is it for India to pre-pare and plan for an unpre-dictable side like Pakistan?

We know they have talent, butwe play well as a team. In the firsttwo games we gave clinical perfor-mances and focused on what weneed to do. We're not focusing toomuch on what the opposition hasto do or what it will bring to thetable. We need to believe in ourstrengths.If we play well as a teamwe can beat any side in the world.That's the type of confidence wehave carried in the first two gamesand we want to continue in thesame manner in the next whatev-er coming games we have.

pConsidering Pakistan's profi-ciency against spinners and thewicket, any strategic changesneeded?

The conditions and the lengthof the game will make us thinkabout a few combinations. Thekind of spinners and the kind ofbowlers we have, it's difficult forany team to just come out andattack these guys. There's a certainlevel of risk involved when youhave world class bowlers bowlingat you.

We need to focus on the com-bination we're comfortable withbecause we bat all the players inour team and expect them to putin performances and execute whatthey are best known for. Thelength of the game and looking atthe conditions, we will definitelythink of a few combinations.

pDo you have to plan some-thing different for Pakistan?

We have to be flexible. We can'tbe rigid in our approach becauseif the conditions are different fromwhat we played in the last gamethen we'll have to think of differ-ent combinations, areas tostrengthen in the bowling attack.If pace becomes a more importantoption, we'll look to explore that.Ifnot, if the length of the game isgoing to be full and we expect thegame to be 50 overs both sides,then we'll probably think of anoth-er combination. We'll have to seehow today pans out, how tomor-row the conditions are. All playersare in a zone to be ready to play,so that helps in selecting the com-bination you need, depending onthe conditions.

pWho's the real threat in thePakistan team for you consider-ing the weather?

We're not focusing on theopposition, so for us no one's athreat. No one player matters morethan the other. It's about going intothe park as the Indian cricketteam and taking on whicheverteam is in front of you. If we playwell, we can beat any side in theworld. If you don't, teams aregoing beat you. That's how simplethe game of cricket is, and shouldbe.

In our minds, nothing changesaccording to the opposition. We'reonly focused on playing the type ofcricket we're known for, not sin-gling out any player from theopposition.

pAny message for the fans?For us, a professional approach

is most important. We can't get tooemotional or excited. But for thefans, looking at the atmosphere and

frenzy around the game, I would-n't say it's easy to think like a play-er. The fans' should enjoy theatmosphere, the occasion the waythey want to and the way it's beenenjoyed for years, but the playersobviously have to maintain themindset which we have for yearsapproaching any game, whether it'sagainst Pakistan, Australia, Englandor South Africa. We need to go out,be professional and execute what

we're expected to.

pWe have not played this teamvery often. How much of a chal-lenge that is?

I don't see it as a massive chal-lenge because even the teams thatyou know well, you have to playgood cricket against. If you playgood cricket, if you do the basicsbetter than the opponent, theninvariably you win, unless someone

creates a match-winning magicalperformance all by himself.Familiar oppositions, unfamiliaroppositions don't matter becauseyou understand that if you don'tplay well, you don't win, and if youplay well, you win against anyone.If we do our strengths well it willbe good enough for anyone in theworld. We need to have that belief.

pWhen it is a game againstPakistan what do you tell youryoung camp?

We have discussed nothingdifferent from the time we came toEngland. The mood in the dress-ing room hasn't changed. Weunderstand that any game youplay for your country can be emo-tional, adrenaline filled, so no onegame is more important or morespecial for us than the other.We area top side in the world because ofthe cricket we play and we alwaysneed to remember that.

pYou have had outstanding suc-cess under pressure. But how dif-ficult is it as a captain to keep theyoungsters away from the hustle-bustle of an Indo-Pak meet?

The best way to approachsomething like this is to understandthat the game starts tomorrow at acertain time and it finishes at a cer-tain time, it's not going to last a life-time, whether you do well or don't.The tournament goes on.As a unit,11 guys share responsibility. That'sbeen our message from day one.

pIf it rains, then what?It's in no one's hands. We've

been in these situations manytimes. We'll just have to wait andsee how the weather pans out.Whatever amount of game we get

- a full game would be outstanding- we have to be mentally ready togo in there and do what we need todo.

pFast bowlers haven't had anideal preparation for this biggame….

They are in a good head spaceand have bowled well in the firsttwo games. If physically they canstay fresh and their bodies are feel-ing good, mentally they're justfine. They should take care oftheir bodies, recovery and energylevels.Bumrah and Bhuvi are bowl-ing well. It is important for them tostay in prime condition and themental side of things will take careof itself, more so where conditionsare like this, they'll get a lot morehelp than the first two games.

pCan you take us through sometense and funny moments againstPakistan on field?

Tense was Champions Trophy2009 where Yuvi fractured a fingerand I was literally flown in and intwo days' time I was playing againstPakistan at Centurion. I hadn'texperienced anything like thatbefore and I played a very bad shot.I couldn't sleep until 6 am. I waslooking at the ceiling and thinking,that's it, I've flown in and now I'mfinished.

There have been many funnymoments over the years The inci-dent happened during the WorldCup in Mohali I can't really elab-orate here. That was quite funny.Itwas involving Shahid Afridi andWahab. I was standing with thestrikers, and I heard a conversation,which as I say, I can't elaborate here,but in a high-pressure game, thatmade me laugh.

For us, no one is a threat: Kohli

PNS n OLD TRAFFORD (MANCHESTER)

Yeah… no pressure at all, only 1.5billion people waiting for you towin," said Hardik Pandya the other

day in his usual laconic manner. But thatquite well summarises the traditionalfrenzy around any high voltage India-Pakistan clash, more so in the World Cup,even if emerging statesman Virat Kohlirefuses to rise to the bait and add someof his own banter to the occasion.

With the match rated as big asFootball World Cup Final with a 1.5billion viewership count, it is quiteunusual - and unfortunate - that all themid-field contest, combination,chirping, strategizing and what notkind of exciting talk has taken abackseat to the more mundane andentirely unrequired chance of raincutting short the proceedings todaywhen a well sorted India high on self-belief, performance and wins, meet arelatively new, cornered and edgyPakistan facing near ouster from thetournament.

Kohli says that a 50-over both sidesmatch would be outstanding forcombination and strategy, butflexibility would be required if the raincuts it short, of which chances are high.As per the latest on the weather chart -which has been changing stance sincemorning - there is now a 20 per centrain chance at 10 am and 80 per cent inthe afternoon around 2, for at least anhour-and-a-half. The match is slated tobegin at 10.30 am local time.

How much of a truncated contest itwill become remains to be discussed inemergent morning huddles in both thedressing rooms, but with the kind ofconditions in the air, a three-man pacebattery with the inclusion ofMohammed Sami is a distinctpossibility. "Bumrah and Bhuvi arebowling well. It is important for themto stay in prime condition and the

mental side of things will take care ofitself, more so where conditions are likethis, they'll get a lot more help than thefirst two games," skipper Virat Kohlisaid at his pre-match Press conference.

Statistics tell you, and the entireworld quotes them with joy andconcern depending on which side ofthe border the chirp is coming from,Pakistan is yet to record a victoryagainst India in a World Cup. Theybroke this traditional ICC event barrierin the Champions Trophy Final whichthey won, but as their coach MickeyArthur says, "that was a long time ago."

More than anything in a game ofthis proportion, where emotions getoverly stoked, especially in youngdressing rooms on either side, the needis to draw from focus more thanprecedent, calm more than passion andself-belief over all else.

Kohli knows that Aamir is in topgear having torn through theAustralians with his fifer and Wahabcomes with his own brand of pace andrisk. But he, like Arthur, has also seenthat the three disciplines of batting,bowling and fielding are yet to cometogether for the green brigade. WhileArthur is looking at creating havocupfront to unsettle the famed Indianbatting order, Kohli is confident thatthe shock of a seasoned ShikharDhawan being unavailable would beduly dealt with by KL Rahul who is inkeen nick.

The regimen is the same as always:See through the first 10 overs, build upa score that the bowlers can defend andthen wait for the excellence of the armdepartment to play through theopponents. On a brown top, there arebrownie points for the likes of RohitSharma and Kohli himself who scored ascintillating ton the last time the twomet in the World Cup at Adelaide.Neither has picked up niggle or rust inthe contravening four years. Add to thatthe fast and furious Hardik Pandya,who fired away in the nets on matcheve, and master finisher in M S Dhoni,

and all one needs is a plan that works, abelief that propels it and conditions thatgive India the wings to fly to anothertwo points.

Hype or not, in the end, it is justabout two points, like from any othergame, isn't it? The tournament will goon and tomorrow will be yet anotherday for Kohli. For Pakistan skipperSarfaraz Ahmed though, a defeat wouldmean, well, Gone With The Wind,without the Scarlet O Hara kind ofoptimism in defeat and misery.

SQUADSIndia: Virat Kohli (captain), KL Rahul,Rohit Sharma, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni(wk), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav,Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal,Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah,Mohmmed Shami, Dinesh Karthik,Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan.Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain),Fakhar Zaman, Imam ul Haq, BabarAzam, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, ShahdabKhan, Mohammed Hafeez, MohammedHasnain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, WahabRiaz, Mohammed Aamir, Shoaib Malik,Imad Wasim, Asif Ali.

Combustion PointOnly rain can douse the flying fireworks at India-Pak clash

Indian players attend a training session ahead of their World Cup match against Pakistan at Old Trafford in Manchester AP

Groundsmen cover the field with plastic sheets as it rains ahead of the India-Pakistan at Old Trafford

Virat Kohli bats in the nets during a training session at Old Trafford on Saturday AP

HEAD TO HEAD

Played IND PAK N/R

Matches 131 54 73 4

Day matches 89 34 51 4

In World Cup 6 6 — —

Last 5 matches 5 4 1 —

HIGHEST TOTALS

India 356-9 in 50 overs

at Visakhapatnam 05-04-2005

Pakistan 344-8 in 50

overs at Karachi 13-03-2004

PERFORMANCE IN WC

Team P W L T N/R Success%

India 77 48 27 1 1 63.63

Pakistan 74 41 31 - 2 56.75

FAISEL FEATURES

India vs Pakistan3:00 pm IST

VENUE: Old Trafford, Manchester

TODAY LIVE

MY MOST TENSE MOMENTAGAINST PAKISTAN WAS

CHAMPIONS TROPHY 2009.YUVI FRACTURED A FINGER

AND I WAS LITERALLYFLOWN IN.

IN TWO DAYS' TIME I WASPLAYING AGAINST

PAKISTAN AT CENTURION. IPLAYED A VERY BAD SHOT

AND COULDN'T SLEEPUNTIL 6 AM.

I WAS LOOKING AT THECEILING AND THINKING,THAT'S IT, I'VE FLOWN INAND NOW I'M FINISHED.THERE HAS BEEN FUNNY

INCIDENT HAPPENEDDURING THE WORLD CUP IN

MOHALI. I CAN'TELABORATE BUT IT WAS

QUITE FUNNY. IT WASINVOLVING SHAHID AFRIDI

AND WAHAB. I WASSTANDING WITH THE

STRIKERS, AND I HEARD ACONVERSATION WHICH, INA HIGH-PRESSURE GAME,

MADE ME LAUGH

Despite more than a dozen questions thrown at him about the high tension around an India,Pakistan clash, skipper Virat Kohli refused to rise to the bait andsaid he would not say anything at all to push the TRPs. He insisted that the team would be treating it as any other game in World Cup cricket, giving their100 per cent because that's the only thing that wins matches. Excerpts from the Press conference:

INDIA HAVE A SOLID TOP ORDER.

NOT ONLY THERE IS VIRAT BUT

THERE'S ALSO ROHIT. BUT I HAVE

A FEELING THAT MIDDLE ORDER

ISN'T THAT SETTLED. PAKISTAN

BOWLERS SHOULD TRY TO CASH

IN ON THAT ASPECT

— WASIM AKRAM

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This is it. We’ve come full circle. We’reback to where our journey as a cricketcrazy nation began: England. Lord’s.Here we go again. From completeunderdogs then to absolute world dom-

inators and financial powerhouses now. We’vecome a long way since that fine day in 1983 whenKapil Dev — an all-rounder from Punjab with an

erstwhile ordinary individualrecord — lifted that trophyand ushered in an era of fran-tic following to the point ofraising the status of the sportto that of a religion and itsmost revered son, SachinTendulkar, to that of a God.

A lot has happenedbetween that iconic momentin the balcony of Lord’s tothe iconic six hit byMahendra Singh Dhoni towin India’s second World

Cup in 2011. But all of thatlater. First, let’s celebrate the fact that ourSharma ji ka ladka, Rohit Sharma, is living up toexpectations, and that Koffee With Karan cameway before the World Cup and IPL and is athing of the past. If only it will serve to ignitethe fuel to perform better for Hardik Pandyaand KL Rahul. And we still have our maverickex-captain, Dhoni, albeit for most likely the lasttournament of his stellar trophy-laden career.

So let’s get down to business and examinewith utmost scrutiny our beloved Team India’schances in the 12th edition of the ICC CricketWorld Cup 2019. Starting with our very own cap-tain furious, Virat Kohli. He has come a long waysince leading India to the U19 Cricket World Cupin 2008, and being a part, but not a key man, ofthe 2011 World Cup winning squad. He washanded over the ODI captaincy in 2017 and hasonly taken India to newer heights since. His per-sonal accolades are a statistician’s dream. In ODIs,he holds the world record for the fastest batsmanto 10,000 runs in 205 innings. He has the highestnumber of centuries in run chases in the worldand is only nine centuries away from breakingTendulkar’s record (49) in style, which I’m sure allus thought would never be broken.

But as the adage and some commentator’sfavourite line goes: “Records are made to bebroken.” We should, in fact, consider ourselvesfortunate that we are seeing the cricket versionof Messi and Ronaldo — albeit not in the sameera — and both of them are Indians. And theyare broken and keep getting broken in everydepartment, which makes you wonder what thereason for that could be. The reasons are aplen-ty, namely smaller cricket boundaries, newimproved thicker bats, different balls (Dukes v

Kookaburra), changed power play rules, andpitches generally favouring batsmen etc.

So it’s only natural that India would featureheavily amongst those records being a battingheavy team predominantly. But recently, trendshave changed and for the better. India has becomea force to reckon with when it comes to the ball.The destroyer-in-chief being Jasprit Bumrah, whois atop the ICC world rankings for bowlers. He issupported by Kuldeep Yadav (7), YuzvendraChahal (8), Bhuvnesh Kumar (17) — who are allamongst the top 20. While amongst the top 20batsmen, only three Indians feature, namely Kohli(1), Rohit Sharma (2), and Shikhar Dhawan (14).The next best batsman is Dhoni at number 24.

Talking of the all-rounders, they are whatmany believe to be the X factor in India’s chancesfor progressing to the last four. Pandya is fresh offa Koffee controversy and fresher off an IPL show-ing he should be proud of — he ended the tour-nament with 402 runs at a strike rate of over 190,smashing 38 boundaries and 29 sixes in 15matches. He also claimed 14 wickets in 16 games.He has so far played 45 ODIs and has taken 44wickets with an economy of 5.53 and battinglower down the order, he has scored 731 runs in29 innings. He can field well too and can bowl sixto seven crucial overs, picking up wickets. Hisrole is akin to that of Yuvraj Singh in the 2011World Cup. And if he can channelise that embar-rassing, unnecessary media scrutiny and a won-derful IPL showing, he can very much be themost important player of the team and a potentialMan of the Tournament just like Yuvraj Singh.

The other player who could be as effective isKedar Jadhav. He might not be as exuberant andcontroversial but he has proved himself many atime not just with the bat but also with the ball. Asolid middle order batsman and good finisher, heis also the man with the “golden arm”. His sidearm action and the angle at which he deliversmakes it difficult for batsmen to pick the ball.

KL Rahul has also shown his mettle and notlet controversies affect him. It’s good to see thatboth Pandya and Rahul took the negative mediaattention in a positive way and came out of itstronger and more determined. Rahul looks con-fident and reliable to call upon in any situation.He has made the crucial number 4 position hisown. And being an opener originally, it’s anadvantage when the ball is moving around andcausing problems. Talking of how the controver-sy affected him, he said: “In life, in cricket, youmake mistakes. You have bad days, you learnfrom them and try to be a better person. I neverdoubted myself, my personality, never doubtedwho I am. I was strong in my head, I gotthrough it and am happy to be back and enjoy-ing my cricket.” I think we all have something tolearn from him in the sense that it’s not the blow

that gets you down, it’s the mettle to get back upand fight for what you believe in.

This is the fifth time that cricket’s most pres-tigious tournament is being held in England andWales. The previous winners of those editionshave been West Indies (1975, 1979), India (1983),and Australia (1999). The format for the tourna-ment is quite different from the previous editionswe are used to seeing. It’s played in a round-robinmanner in a single group of 10 teams, with eachteam playing the other nine once, and the topfour at the end of the group phase progressing tothe semi-finals. The 1992 World Cup in Australiaand New Zealand was also played in a round-robin format, with nine teams participating. The10-team tournament this time has gained criti-cism due to the lack of Associate teams in thetournament. Given the increase of the Test-play-ing nations from 10 to 12, with the admission ofIreland and Afghanistan in June 2017, it is thefirst World Cup to be contested without all of theTest playing nations being present. After theelimination of all Associate teams at the qualify-ing tournament, this is also the first World Cupto feature no Associate members.

There’s no tournament without a bit of con-troversy. A few days ago, Dhoni was asked bythe ICC to remove the dagger insignia from hiswicket-keeping gloves despite the Indian cricketboard’s assertion that it was not a military sym-bol. The BCCI had sought permission for thestar wicketkeeper batsman from the world gov-erning body (ICC), but it was denied citing reg-ulations that no individual message or logo canbe displayed on any item of clothing or equip-ment. In addition, the logo also breaches therule that allows only one sponsor’s logo on thewicket-keeping gloves. In Dhoni’s case, healready sports an SG logo on his gloves.

Another talking point is the big match for allIndians — cricket fans or not — at Old Trafford,Manchester, on June 16. It’s the one game thatbrings every Indian together (if cricket didn’t doa good enough job of it already). It’s India vPakistan. With the same old rivalry and passion,but with renewed verve and political context.Following the 2019 Pulwama attack, several for-mer Indian players and the BCCI called for theboycott of this group match fixture, wanting toban the Pakistan team from playing in the tour-nament. However, after conducting a boardmeeting in Dubai, the ICC rejected the BCCI’sproposal and confirmed that the scheduledmatch would go ahead as planned, despite theongoing stand-off between the two nations. Thematch being held today will most likely beviewed the world over by a record audience as isusually expected for an India-Pakistanencounter, but made extra tense by the recentpolitical relationship of the two nations.

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Talking of India, Pakistan and the many reasons thiscannot be viewed as just a sport. It’s an extension of every-thing we stand for and believe in — personally, politically,morally. Ever wondered why Team India’s jersey colour isblue and not the usual suspected patriotic colours, saffronor green? It had to be taken from the Indian Flag as a sym-bolic gesture for patriotism. While saffron stands forcourage and selflessness, green signifies faith, fertility, andprosperity. The blue in the Ashoka Chakra stands for thecolour of the sky and ocean. The selection of saffron orgreen colours for the jerseys would have created controver-sies of religious or political favoritism as saffron is heavilyassociated with Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism as wellas the political parties we all know by now, while green isaffiliated with Islam. Thus, it wouldn’t have been a wisedecision to choose those to represent a nation which pridesitself to be secular. The blue colour then automaticallybecame the first choice to represent the nation and its war-riors on the field with its symbolic meaning of the “mosttruth of the universe”. And “Bleed Blue” has recentlybecome an anthem of the youth, again symbolically signify-ing the passion and dedication of battling till you bleed andstaying true to your talents and virtues. And nobodyembodies that never-say-die attitude and fighter mentalitythan our current and former captains, Kohli and Dhoni.

In the 2011 World Cup hosted by India, we were oneof the favourites and definitely one with the most pressureto perform on our home ground with the final being inMumbai. This time, that mantle is taken by England withthe final being at the Mecca of cricket — Lord’s. Andunlike India, they’re not that adept at handling the unduepressure of expectations, with the 2013 Champions Trophyfinal being a case in point. India sure has good memoriesof playing finals at the Mecca of cricket (cue SouravGanguly’s shirt waving at Lord’s balcony), the NatWestSeries Final in 2002, and, of course, the 1983 World Cupwin. But for that to happen again, India will have to beatthe best of the best to first come in the top four and thenit’s all down to the semi-finals and the finale at Lord’s.

England, meanwhile, will be looking to win their firstever World Cup, which is ironic since they’re the inventorsof the game. They have been losing finalists in 1979, 1987,and 1992. In the 2015 World Cup, Bangladesh knockedout England from the group stage, which raised questionson the latter’s relevance as an ODI team. Since then, theyhave completely turned over a new leaf and have becomethe number 1 ranked team in the world in ODIs. Theyhave defeated several top teams, including India andAustralia, this year and their batsmen also broke therecord for the highest total in an ODI innings. With aplethora of match winners in their squad, they are certain-ly not the team they were in the previous World Cups andare viewed by most as ‘the’ team to watch out for. Butwhether or not they have shed their choker status andweak mentality remains to be seen. Lord’s save the Queen!

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The James Bond movies of the1960s genre were our first expo-sure to science fiction. At a time

when television or satellite televisionchannels were unheard of and even tele-phones and cars were rare items (at leastin Kanjirakkadu in Ernakulam districtwhere I grew up), the scenes which por-trayed Sean Connery — who immor-talised Bond — speaking to his sourcesat far away places through the contrap-tion attached to his wrist watch and dri-ving around in that Aston Martin stilllinger in the mind. Sridhar, a theatre atErnakulam, was the window to thisworld of sci-fi for my generation.Sridhar theatre has given way to a shop-ping mall and the interest in James Bondmovies, too, came to an end withConnery leaving the field and makingway for the new generation actors.

But interest in science fiction con-tinued because of television series likeCosmos: A Personal Voyage anchored byCarl Sagan and the works penned byArthur C Clarke whose 2001: A SpaceOdyssey remains fresh in the mind.Through his science writings, Clarketold us that the world would use spacescience and satellites from the geosta-tionary orbit for communication ser-vices. He had written in one of his sci-ence papers in 1945 about the “extra-ter-restrial relays” that would revolutionisethe world of communication.Conventional science teachers hadscoffed at such ideas and told us not tobe carried away by such prophecies! Seewhat has happened to the telecommu-nication sector, which has transformedthe world into a global village.

In Ramayana, the great Indian epicwhich is portrayed by progressive ele-ments as a work of fiction, the warbetween Lord Rama and the demon kingRavana is described by author SageValmiki as a spot report from the theatreof war. Valmiki gave an account of themyriad arrows deployed by the Lord andhis enemy. Aagneyam, Varuna, Kaubera,Indrastram, Nairyathaastram,Yaamyaastram, Gandharvaastram,Gauhyakamastram, Aasuramastram,Vaishnavastram are some of the arrowsused by the Lord and his rival in the war,which lasted many days. It wasBrahmastra, provided by Lord Indrathrough Matali, the charioteer, whichcame to the rescue of Lord Rama in fin-ishing off Ravana once and forever.

Rationalists may laugh at the namesof arrows deployed in the greatRamayana war. But the truth is that mod-ern missiles developed by Indian scien-tists and which could be categorisedbased on their properties (surface to airor SAM, Agni, Prithvi, Aakash etc)were all inspired by the arrows men-tioned in the great epic. This underlinesthe role played by science-fiction in

developing the technological know how.Science fiction is what strengthens

the foundation for strong and robust sci-ence and technology sector. Scientifictemper should not be used to demeanand ridicule the facts mentioned in Indiaspecific epics and great literary works.The dreams espoused by the great sci-ence fiction authors are slowly butsteadily becoming a reality. Recent newscoming out of China is that scientists inthat country have succeeded in develop-ing the Invisible Coat, a subject that hasinspired many books and films.

Numbercaste, authored by SriLanka-born Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, is anexciting piece of work. We are mute wit-nesses to the role played by ArtificialIntell igence and InformationTechnology in moulding the new world.These technological marvels are likedouble-edged swords, similar to the

internet as well as mobile phones. Howthe internet and cellphones cause dis-asters and development in human livesis a part of modern folklore.

We live in an era where humanbeings have lost their relevance and iden-tity and have been compressed into 10or 12 digit numbers. The Aadhaar num-ber controversy is raging all over India,with people debating heatedly about per-sonal privacy being violated with the helpof Aadhaar numbers, making thehumans “niraadhaar”.

What Wijeratne portrays in thiswork of fiction is how a technologydeveloped by Numbercaste, a digitalstartup launched in Silicon Valley byJulius Common, an entrepreneur withstrange habits, takes on IT giants likeFacebook, Google, and other socialmedia outlets and emerges as the glob-al monopoly. The events unfold in our

immediate future, say in 2030 or so.The Twitter is dead and gone.

Numbercaste starts from where Twitterends. “People used hashtags, 140 char-acters, and you send a message out andthe people who follow you could readit. We are building something like that.The plan is you are in the area and peo-ple are talking about it, then you knowit. It could be anything from a revolu-tion to armed robbery to a party hap-pening two lanes away. It doesn’t mat-ter. If it’s something you can benefitfrom, we’ l l point you that way.Numbercaste’s got you covered,”Common, owner of Numbercaste, tellsPatrick Udo, the main protagonist whohas been hired by Common for the job.

Common explains to Patrick hisidea of the perfect world. “A world whereyou can name a man and I can tell youexactly how much he means to us… Not

just the money in his bank, but his actu-al worth, as a member of this species. Youcan drive your expensive cars and roll outyour stupid make-up, but in 10 years’ time,none of that will matter. I am going to takethis world and I am going to goddamngrind it into something more real,”declares Common. He lives up to hisword. It is a thrilling mission. If thereviewer reveals more, the suspense asso-ciated with the book would vanish. Sincethis book is a must-read for all who areinterested in the future of the world, it isnot advisable to disclose more than this.

The Numbercaste brought backmemories of 1984, the dystopian novelauthored by George Orwell in 1949.Though 1984 has come and gone, pos-sibilities of the chances of the scenarioportrayed by Orwell continue to hauntus. If there are some similarities between1984 and Numbercaste, it could be coin-cidental. Time to go for a re-read of1984 too. Sir Arthur Clarke spent a bigpart of his life in Sri Lanka and craftedsome of the best sci-fi works while stay-ing in the island. Who knows, Wijeratnemay have a lot to offer the readers in thecoming days. The climate and ambienceof the island nation could be ideal forsuch literary pursuits.

For India to truly change,there needs to be a changein our society and culture.The internet is playing abig part in it. The rise of

internet penetration also means thatthings are now more equal, sincepeople who didn’t have a voicebefore now do. ‘The Great OpinionWars’ talks about how social mediahas allowed aspirational Indians tovoice their opinions on topics thathave always been the domain of theprivileged class.

However, social media has alsobirthed a strange new phenomenonin India — the bhakts, and there isadvice for both the bhakts andthose at the receiving end of theirabuse in ‘Anatomy of an InternetTroll’. Another phenomenon thatsocial media has caused is ‘virtuesignallers’ — those people whohave to show that they are so vir-tuous, so noble and so good thatthey sense communal intolerancein a statement even when othersdon’t. ‘Look, I’m so Secular!’: TheRise of Virtue Signallers on SocialMedia’ talks about this and how itdistorts national public debate ona range of important issues.

But do these phenomena indi-cate that India is getting moreintolerant? There are endless debatesabout this, but I think that we are amixed society, tolerant and intoler-ant at the same time, as explainedin ‘Fifty Shades of Intolerance’. Idon’t believe that intolerance hasanything to do with the requestfrom Hindus that a temple be builtin Ayodhya, and ‘Why We Need aRam Temple in Ayodhya’ talksabout why restoring the temple onits original site and building an evengrander mosque nearby will be agreat act of religious cooperation.

A crucial aspect of what makesIndia the country it is, is the factthat we are a democracy, and anyattempt to undermine that is dan-gerous. The essay on blind bhaktstalks about how unquestioningsupport of a leader, rather than thecountry, can actually harm thatleader. The essay on the SupremeCourt’s order regarding the playing

of the National Anthem before amovie screening (‘Anthem Order:The Intention’s Good butImposition Isn’t’) argues thatauthoritarianism can never createpatriotism. The Government banon pornography is a similar curtail-ment of basic freedoms, asexplained in ‘Hypocritical andImpractical: With the Porn Ban, theGovernment Has Flaunted ItsControl Freak Instincts’. I think thatthe key to becoming an awesomenation is to defend individual lib-

erties. Related to this is the need tostop mixing religion and law, and‘Too Many Holy Cows’ talks abouthow it is time to discuss what itmeans to be a secular republic, andrevise the Constitution to reflect it.

Social change means that weneed to look at the infrastructuresin our cities, and the essay onMumbai rains talks about this andwhat needs to be done so that thecountry’s financial capital doesnot come to a grinding halt everymonsoon. This overriding indiffer-

ence that seems to inflict Indiansis also reflected in our views oncorruption, and our don’t-careattitude to corruption is addressedin the essay on the 2G ‘non-scam’.

It’s important for one to beproud of the country we live in, and‘Will You Spend �80 to See IndiaWin a Dozen Olympic Golds?’ sug-gests ways that we can improve ourgold medal tally at the Olympics atthe micro and macro level. Finally,‘Creaming the People’ suggests amove from caste-based reserva-

tions to economic-based ones inorder to create a truly fair society.

� ��!"�#$�� ����%&#�&%'(&""���&)*�#$�&�+�$,* %)&%�If you are a true nationalist, put thenation before individuals, even ifthat individual happens to be yourfavourite leader.

I recently conducted a Twitterpoll to test the hypothesis thatNarendra Modi enjoys an insaneamount of support among hisfans. The poll asked this question:If Modi wanted to declare anational emergency to eliminatecorruption, would you support it?Out of nearly 10,000 participants,57 per cent said they would sup-port such a decision.

The usual Twitter poll dis-claimers apply: It’s a highly skewedsample, polls aren’t scientific, etc.Also, the poll does not indicate myown views in any way, nor does itclaim that such a proposal is on theGovernment’s anvil. However, theresults do give us a sense of whatsome of Modi’s hardcore fans (thebhakts) feel. It is worth noting thatthe participants were almost allyoung, educated, digitally savvy

people who understand English.Yes, a significant number of pro-gressive young Indians are appar-ently happy to give up democracy,and vote themselves voteless.

Stunned? Well, I admit that thequestion was a tad unfair. After all,there is nothing in the air that sug-gests an emergency is in the offing.Nor does one need to make suchharsh choices in order to proclaimtheir support, or lack of it, for aleader. Still, the numbers do show(a)the enormous popularity ofModi in his core fan base and/or(b)a possible ignorance of what anational emergency and giving updemocracy could mean. They alsoindicate a huge lack of confidencein the current political system andthe kind of leaders it generates.

The reason for Modi’s appeal isobvious. After all, he is a leaderwho has created some hope. Hespeaks a language that connects us.Modi takes steps — big, bold ones— to fix India. Whether or not theysolve problems is a separate story.Making the effort and having goodintentions counts for a lot.Demonetisation is a case in point.Many experts have questioned thebenefits of the move. They diligent-ly quote numbers and facts toshow that the actual advantages ofdemonetisation could be margin-al. Of course, these are wastedefforts. All this economic mumbo-jumbo is irrelevant to the Modi fan.If fans are ready to support anemergency in their leader’s name,do you really think they give adamn about falling GDP or actualdata about black money beingback in circulation?

No, we are talking about lovehere. Love doesn’t, and is not meantto, see reason. And speaking ofdemonetisation, the experts, thoughnot wrong, miss a key point. A hugeintangible benefit of the note banhas been its unifying effect on anotherwise divided country. Imaginea bickering joint family.

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Higher education in gener-al and Delhi University in

particular have witnessed a lotof changes in undergraduatestudy pattern during the lasteight years. Starting with a shiftfrom annual mode to semestermode in 2010, semester modeto four-year undergraduateprogramme (better known asFYUP) in 2013, FYUP to againsemester mode in 2014, andsemester mode to “choicebased credit system” (CBCS) in2015. Latest in the loop isongoing revision of all under-graduate courses in DelhiUniversity based on UGC’slearning outcome-based cur-riculum framework (LOCF)for the 2019-20 academic ses-sion. All the departments con-cerned have been given threemonths to complete thisprocess. Interestingly, all these“reforms” have beenannounced all of a suddenand implemented in the verynext year of the announcement.

However, the purpose ofthis article is to draw the atten-tion of Delhi University’sundergraduate curriculumrevision committee (2019)towards some issues related toongoing CBCS pattern thatrequires immediate attention.

As per the UniversityGrants Commission (UGC),CBCS provides “a ‘cafeteria’type approach in which thestudents can take courses oftheir choice, learn at their own

pace, undertake additionalcourses and acquire more thanthe required credits and adoptan interdisciplinary approachto learning”.

As CBCS enters its fourthyear, a critical evaluation of theprogramme is in order, espe-cially when the first batch of theCBCS passed out last year.Delhi University can be the bestinstitution for the purpose ofevaluation since it has beentreated as guinea pig for allexperiments related to“reforms” in higher education.

CBCS and implications ofinterdisciplinary approach

Unlike all previous patternof the undergraduate pro-gramme, CBCS is differentdue to its infusion of compul-sory interdisciplinary approachin papers apart from compul-sory language courses. Thegeneric elective (GE, hereafter)is a course that needs to becompulsorily chosen from anunrelated discipline/subject.Every discipline is entitled tooffer some papers as genericelective for honours studentsfor the first four semestersand for non-honours studentsin the last two semesters.

CBCS necessitates all hon-ours students to choose onegeneric paper from disciplineother than their own in each offirst four (1 to 4) semesters.Similarly students of non-hon-ours courses are supposed to

choose one generic paper fromdiscipline other than their ownin each of last two semesters i.e.5th semester and 6th semester.For instance every student ofB.Com (Hons.) is required toopt a generic paper each forfirst four semesters out of apool of disciplines other thancommerce i.e. maths, eco-nomics, business economics,history, political science, psy-chology, Hindi, English, etc.

In order to understand theproblem, let us take an exam-ple of generic paper offered bydepartment of commerce atundergraduate level in DelhiUniversity. According to CBCSsyllabus, department of com-merce of Delhi Universityoffered following papers forgeneric elective: microeco-nomics in the first semester,macroeconomics in the secondsemester, business statistics inthe third semester and Indianeconomy in the fourth semes-ter. These papers can be takenby students enrolled in anyhonours course other thanB.Com (honours).

The experience of last threeyears of CBCS indicates thatcommerce generic was mostlyopted by the students ofBachelor in Business Economics(BBE. There is an astonishingco-incidence that all those BBEstudents who opted for com-merce discipline as genericpaper were studying samepapers as their core papers in

same semester for first threesemesters, and one in the fifthsemester. Similarly, the stu-dents of BA(Hons.) Economics,BBA(FIA) and BMS were study-ing almost similar compulsorycore paper(s) as they werestudying (or studied) in theircommerce generic.

In this way opting com-merce as generic paper by thestudents of BBE and manyother courses will not add any-thing to their knowledge butthe repetition of same papers inthe same semesters.Interestingly, students of BBEopt commerce generic mainlyto lessen their burden. Whilepreparing for one paper, otherautomatically gets prepared.However the question stillremains: Will lessening burdenat the cost of the other paper behelpful in long run?

Teaching a group of heterogeneous students

Other significant problemlies in the fact that when stu-dents of different disciplinesopt generic elective of a par-ticular discipline, it bringstogether students of highlyheterogeneous nature in termsof attitude, knowledge, aptitudeand exposure. This makesteaching and learning evenmore challenging. For instanceteaching generic of commercediscipline to the students ofeconomics and BBE requiresdifferent skills than teaching

the same to the students ofHindi journalism, English,History, Sanskrit, etc.Unfortunately, these students ofdifferent disciplines are taughtcommerce generic together inthe same class, where it is eas-ier for some to grasp and verydifficult for others.

It is not the case that con-cerns raised here are beingfaced only by commerce disci-pline, while offering its gener-ic paper to the students of dif-ferent disciplines or when stu-dents of commerce disciplineare opting generic electiveoffered by other disciplines. Butmore or less similar problemsare being faced by many disci-plines since inception of CBCSpattern in 2015-16.

CBCS and synchronisationof papers

The provision of introduc-tion of a generic paper mayhave been with a noble causebut the lack of synchronizationbetween various disciplinesduring syllabus formulation isgoing to have a far-reachingimpact on teaching learningprocess. For instance, prior tothe introduction of CBCS, fourcompulsory papers of eco-nomics were being taught tothe students pursuingBCom(Hons), but post CBCS,there is no compulsory paperof economics to be studied bythem. However, students canopt economics as their gener-

ic paper if they wish so, andthey can also drop it anytimein the upcoming semester ifthey wish so.

Problem might arise whena student doesn’t opt for eco-nomics as his generic elective,as in that particular case he willbe graduating without gainingany knowledge in the field ofeconomics. In the absence ofbasic knowledge of economics,how fruitful that degree incommerce would be for thestudent is all together anothermatter of concern.

However, problems do notget over by avoiding econom-ics by commerce students asthey are required to study acompulsory core paper,Business Mathematics in theirfourth semester. Interestinglythis paper covers various math-ematical tools related to max-imisation and minimisationi.e. differentiation, integration,linear programming, simplex,input-output, etc. The applica-tion of differential calculus isused to find out maxima of rev-enue, output and profit func-tions, utility maximisation,minimisation of costs, marginalpropensity to consume (MPC),marginal propensity to save(MPS), etc. Similarly integralcalculus is used to obtain con-sumer’s surplus, producer’s sur-plus, etc. All these concepts arerelated to either microeco-nomics or macroeconomics,which were earlier compulso-

rily being taught to students ofcommerce before they wereintroduced the paper ofBusiness Mathematics andStatistics. Since studying eco-nomics has been left on thechoice of student in CBCS, theyare being exposed to mathe-matical applications on variousconcepts related to economicswithout being acquainted withrelated basic concepts of eco-nomics. This has resulted inmechanical way studying busi-ness mathematics withoutknowing the reason for usinga particular application.

However, irrespective ofthe people responsible for poorformulation of syllabus whileignoring harmonisation of thesyllabus offered by variousdepartments, the ultimate loserare the students who lost theopportunity to study one addi-tional paper by studying twosame papers for four semestersor study some papers mechan-ically or the teachers who arerequired to teach a paper whichis simultaneously being taughtin other classroom to the samestudents.

This is the high time anynew change in the CBCS for-mat carried out homeworkwith due consultation with allstakeholders rather than doinganother exercise in haste.

(The writer is AssistantProfessor of economics in DelhiUniversity)

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Just before the 30th anniver-sary of the Tiananmen

Square protests on June 4 thisyear, the Chinese State — con-sidered by many as world’sbiggest censorship authority— removed all references ofthe historic event from the webpages in the country.

The moot point is whetherthe Communist leadership iswary of the revival of suchdemocratic uprisings in themainland. Many politicalexperts opine that deep insideCommunist China, the fear ofthe explosion of the myth of theSocialist State remains high.

What led to the bloodyTiananmen Square crack-down? How the Communistbosses in Beijing responded?And how the internationalcommunity wanted them todeal with this democraticawakening? The immediatecause of this uprising was noother than the demise of iso-lated Communist Party leaderHu Yaobang in April 1989. Themain reason for his isolationwas his strong views about eco-nomic and political liberalisa-tion in China.

In fact, Yaobang was theone who helped navigate Chinaaway from orthodox Marxismand led the world’s largestCommunist Party for six years.His death triggered a sponta-neous outpouring of publicgrief, with millions of youthcoming out in protests seekingto restore his reputation andlegacy for wide ranging reformsin areas such as free press, free-dom of assembly and an end toofficial corruption acrossChina.

However in a remarkabletwist, this simple demand ofthe youngsters and ordinarypeople gradually transformedinto a massive protest move-ment not only in the heart ofcapital city Beijing but acrossChina. As many as one millionpeople occupied theTiananmen Square on June 4,1989, making it one of the

largest protests in the history ofmodern China. The demon-strators refused to leave theSquare for nearly seven weeks,until their demands for demo-cratic reform were met by theauthority. Throughout the dayi.e. on June 3, the Governmentwarned the protesters that itwould do whatever is requiredto quell, what it described, the“social chaos”.

The Communist bossesreacted by rolling Army tanksover these unarmed youngprotesters in the TiananmenSquare. According to a secretdiplomatic cable, as many as10,000 were killed on that fate-ful day. Many of the leadingyoung leaders of the movementare now living in the US,according to information com-piled by human rights inChina, an NGO, based in HongKong and New York that pro-motes fundamental rights andfreedoms in China.

No event like theTiananmen Square protestshas stirred such emotional out-pouring from all walks of lifearound China and no event likeit has brought so vehementcondemnation upon Chinafrom the international com-munity then and even now.

The Tiananmen Squareprotests remain a permanenttaint on China. Then USPresident George Bush hadsaid he deplored the use offorce. And then UK PrimeMinister Margaret Thatchersaid she was shocked andappalled by the shootings.

While the entire worldcommemorated the 30thanniversary of this horribleclampdown on non-violenthuman rights activists inBeijing, China keeps onlinemention of the historic incidentwithin the country virtuallynon-existent.

The US President, DonaldTrump, has described the vio-lence in Beijing 30 years ago asa “strong powerful movement”,quelling a “riot”, albeit with

“horrible force”. KevinMcCarthy, the current HouseMinority leader in the USHouse of Representatives,expressed his deep concernwhich truly symbolises whattook place in China on June 4,1989: “Thirty years later, thehorrors of the TiananmenSquare Massacre continue tosymbolise the ChineseCommunist Party’s inhumanegrip on power. Today, the cit-izens of China have less free-dom and their leadershipremains opposed to the mostbasic of human rights. Chinasuppresses the truth byattempting to sanitise its darkhistory. It runs concentrationcamps for religious minorities

and political dissidents. And itboasts of its imperial designsfor global trade and disputedterritory. That is what the gen-erations of Chinese leadershipis continuously doing to makethe party precisely the onlyaffair in every citizen’s life.

However, unfortunately, itis not happening and many arenot responding to its machi-nations today.

The secrecy and grandcensorship machine of theCommunist State makes it dif-ficult to know even how manyactually died in the TiananmenSquare movement. The partyhas used both algorithm andhuman editors to erase everysign of the massacre from

China’s history. Commemorating the

anniversary, even by repostinga photo can land a person indetention across China. One ofthose memorable photos isthat of “Tank Man” who playeda game of chicken with anArmy tank on June 5, just oneday after the dreaded massacrein Tiananmen Square. But hisfate is unknown as of today.The most recent imprison-ment related to the Tiananmenmovement occurred on April 4this year. A court in the SouthWestern city of Chengdu sen-tenced activist Chen Bing tothree and half years in prisonfor picking quarrels and pro-voking trouble. His main

offence was that he labeled bot-tles of “baijiu” alcohol with theiconic image of the lone pro-tester who stared down tanksnear the Tiananmen Square.

Much more than this, whatthe Chinese State does to therelatives and families ofactivists of this movement isreally surprising and terrible.Each year, when theTiananmen anniversaryapproaches, these families andtheir dear ones are placedunder strict surveillance ortaken on enforced tours outsidethe town.

Besides killing thousandsin the Tiananmen Squareprotests, many thousands wereput behind bars across China.

However, the authorities neveracknowledged that the arrestswere part of the “counter rev-olutionary” drive.

Ironically, this month also,China defended the crack-down on the 1989 Tiananmenprotesters in a rare publicacknowledgement of events.Defence Minister Wei Fenghetold in a regional forum inSingapore that the “incidentwas a political turbulence andthe Central Government tookmeasures to stop the turbu-lence, which is a correct poli-cy”. He further said, “The pastthirty years have proved thatChina has undergone majorchanges because of theGovernment’s action at that

time. China has enjoyed sta-bility and development.”

The statement from theGovernment functionary epit-omises the brutal face of Chinathat can do any anything in thename of maintaining “stability”and “development”. How farthis madness of urbanisationand inhuman developmentwould take China to is nobodyguess. Development bereft ofbasic freedoms may not boostthe Communist regime. Eveniron curtains fall when its timecomes.

The historic TiananmenSquare protests tarnished theimage of the Communist Partylike never before. Equally itundermined the legitimacy ofits rule both within and outsideChina. Beijing needs to under-take democratic reform at theearliest. And it should embracea new system based purely on“rule of law”.

After decades of econom-ic reform, Chinese peoplecould realise their dream ofnational rejuvenation onlywhen basic political freedomsare guaranteed to them.

The problem with Chinatoday is that they do not wantto change as the liberal Westwanted it to be. The successiveChinese leaders want the Westto believe that they rule Chinawith willful acceptance by themajority of people.

The nationalist Chineseautocracy, currently consoli-dated under Xi Jinping, wouldbe a real terror both for itspopulace and for the rest of theworld. When their reveredleaders boast about Chinapreaching and practicing“peaceful rise”, why they are notallowing its own people tospeak up against the party innon-violent manner? Crushinginnocent and unarmed civil-ians do not qualify China to adignified seat in the comity ofglobal leadership.

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

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Life in its usual run is subject totwists and turns — sometimespleasant and at other times full of

pains. It is ever on its run, continuouslyundergoing change, as the conditionswithin and beyond keep varying. Thereis no scope for having a perfect situationin life. There comes a time when thegross body loses its dynamism andturns into a dead matter. It is true aboutevery finite existence. The duration ofstay may, though, vary from person toperson. There is no standard of measureworth the name to account for one’s lifespan in finite terms. We all are aware ofthis existential truth. Yet, it is difficult tobear with when a near and dear onedeparts from the world. It is still moreshocking if it comes about at a youngage. Life, therefore, is paradoxical. Theother day, a grieving father sent a hearttouching message: “Big brother, my dearson left us today. Feeling totally lifeless.Prayer and everything failed to keephim alive.” The message left me shiver-ing for a few moments. If this newscould knock me down so badly, one canonly imagine the plight of the grievingfather who lost his only son at theyoung age of 23. I knew that no pep talk

could assuage the feelings of someonefaced with such a devastating happen-ing. So, I thought of trying to refreshhim with existential truth. Even thatmay not so easily calm down his emo-tional volatility. It may, however, offerhim grounds that may help him comeout of this sooner than later.

Remember my friend, going byancient India’s philosophic perception,the run of life doesn’t end with grossbody becoming a dead matter. In fact,death is an opportunity to shed theincapacitated body and reincarnate witha fresh encasement in all strength. Yourson had to bear with excruciating painduring the last one year of his chronicailment. You need to appreciate thatwith his death, having discharged hisKarmic debt of being faced with such aharrowing ordeal, he has movedbeyond, and so stands relieved.

Bear in mind: A jeevatma (a livebeing) with form and name is struc-tured in three layers — gross, subtle,and causal bodies, the three driven bysoul (the element of consciousness).On death, it is just the gross body,which is nothing but agglomeration ofmatter, disintegrates. Its five con-

stituents — space, air, fire, water, andearthly matter — merge with their pri-mal source. The subtle and causal bod-ies that are pure energy platforms donot wither away, as would the laws ofconservation of energy mean. The soulcarries along the causal and subtle bod-ies, having in store all the memoryimprints picked up during live exis-tence, to reincarnate with a fresh grossbody encasement. So, life needs to beseen in succession. Should you grieve,the jeevatma’s attention is drawn,which may disturb its onward journey.Better pray for his smooth transition.

“I appreciate your point and shalltry to follow your advisory. But don’tyou think that this unforeseen happen-ing puts a question mark on the veryrelevance of Astrology? For, with what-ever knowledge of Astrology I have,Jupiter being the 6th lord was justindicative of health issues but notdeath as it doesn’t happen to be amaraka. I am just curious to know, notquestioning you, could you see in hischart the possibility of departure fromthe world so early?” the man asked.

Well, going by the traditional normsof Astrology, his death didn’t seem like-ly. But the death-inflicting 8th cusp’ssub-lord Saturn (as per Krishnamurty

system) did indicate the possibility ofdeath during Jupiter’s period. For,Jupiter occupying the nakshatra ownedby Saturn, would act as latter’s agent,potent enough to make it happen. Eventhe progressed Sun having becomesquare (adverse 90 degrees placement)to natal Moon, carries the probability oflosing life. Even transit Saturn conjunctunpredictable Neptune, and also squareto its dire enemy Mars did not augurwell for his survival either.

Here again, Jupiter simultaneouslysignified recovery from ailment instrong terms. For, Jupiter’s nakshatralord Saturn happens to be the 5th lord,which being 12th from the 6th, willserve as latter’s antidote. With suchcontrasting indicators in place, whatwould one be tempted to lay impor-tance to — raise the hope of survivalso that one tries to combat the situa-tion in all strength, or indicate deathand make the person lose the battlemuch before it even happens?

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