16
T he security establishment in India is mulling over options to avenge the killing of 44 CRPF personnel in a suicide attack in Pulwama on Thursday. The Services Chiefs briefed the political leadership on Friday about their pre- paredness to carry out any punitive strikes. The options include cross-border raids or surgical strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), air strikes to destroy camps of well-known terror outfits, or something more “deterring”. However, none of these options are easy for want of ele- ment of surprise, and inclement weather conditions. Determined to punish the perpetrators, officials said the Government has also not ruled out opting for an unconven- tional response which may not entail using military option. These options could include intelligence-based action which may be covert in nature. Also, the retaliation by India may not come soon as the decision makers will weigh all consequences before launching any punitive action, officials said. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday took stock of the situation in the wake of the attack and options to be exer- cised, sources said. Modi later said in a public rally here that the security forces were given a free hand for the job at a place and timing of their choosing. Elaborating upon various alternatives, sources in the security establishment said while surgical strikes by the elite Special Forces are on the table, it may be difficult at this point of time due to inclement weather along the Line of Control (LoC). Most of the mountain passes are snow-bound, mak- ing movement of commandoes to carry out any operation across the LoC difficult. If helicopters are used to drop the commandos close to the LoC, the Pakistan Army will be immediately alerted, they said. Officials also admitted that surprise element as regards surgical strikes this time unlike two years back is not there, and the Pakistan Army will be fully geared to thwart any such move. The Pakistan Army is now deployed in full strength along the LoC and swift raids by the Indians may not be productive, they added. On using air power, be it helicopters or fighter jets, to take out terrorist camps of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Muridke in POK, officials said — India has the weapons and capability such an action across the border — may be con- strued as an act of war and also lead to escalation of hostilities between India and Pakistan. Taking these factors into consideration, the Government decided to move step by step and immediately try to isolate Pakistan diplomatically and withdrawing the Most Favoured Nation status on Friday. More diplomatic actions in the coming days were not ruled out, sources said. P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said those responsible for the Pulwama terror attack will pay “a very heavy price” and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists. In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the “blood of the people is boiling” and forces behind the act of ter- rorism will definitely be punished. “I want to tell the terror outfits and those aiding and abetting them that they have made a big mistake. They will have to pay a very heavy price for their actions. Let me assure the nation that those behind this attack, the perpetrators of this attack will be punished,” Modi said at a function to flag off the Vande Bharat Express, India’s fastest train from Delhi to Varanasi. He was speaking just after the Cabinet meeting. “Security forces have been given complete freedom, the blood of the people is boil- ing...Our neighbouring coun- try, which has been isolated internationally, thinks such terror attacks can destabilise us, but their plans will not mate- rialise,” Modi said. “My condolences to fami- lies of those martyred in Pulwama attack; those behind the terror strike will pay a very heavy price,” Modi said. “I am thankful to all nations which condemned the Pulwama attack and I urge them to come together to crush terrorism,” he said. Appealing to his critics to not politicise the tragedy, Modi said the attacks have left the country emotional. “I under- stand the sentiments of those criticising us but I urge them that it is an emotional time, so stay away from political one- upmanship,” he said. Addressing a public meet- ing in Jhansi later in the day, the PM again did not name Pakistan but said the attack was an outcome of the neighbour’s desperation as it is in a bad shape and has been forced to go to different countries with a “begging bowl” to meet even its daily expenses. I n view of the elections in Odisha, the voters in the State would soon be able to file complaints through a Citizen Vigilance app, said Election Commissioner (EC) Ashok Lavasa after meeting police and administrative offi- cials on the third day of the Election Commission of India (ECI) team’s visit here on Friday. Lavasa said all arrange- ments would be made for free and fair conduct of elections. A Citizen Vigilance app would be launched in the State which would allow people to file complaints and upload pho- tographs of any questionable activities during polls. Similarly, the individuals who have not been included in the voters’ list would be given an opportunity to include their names at enrolment camps. These camps would be organ- ised from February 17 to 23 at various places across the State, the Election Commissioner said. For the gen- eral elections, the ECI would set up 37,606 polling centres. “A compre- hensive review of the prepara- tions was done with District Electoral Officers (DEOs) and SPs to check the misuse of money and power and curb illegal liquor distribution,” Lavasa added. Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi said “The ECI team discussed about the sta- tus of compliance regarding transfer of officers posted at a certain place for more than three years. Discussions were also held on the arrangement of electricity and water at the polling centres.” Police DG RP Sharma said security would be tight- ened in the Maoist-infested areas and police officials would keep vigil at sensitive booths. “Discussions were held on the steps taken for conducting free, fair and peaceful elections. The instructions on transfer of officers have been complied with. We are taking steps towards area domination in Leftwing Extremist-affected areas,” Dr Sharma said. O disha lost two sons on Thursday in the worst- ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed at least 43 CRPF Jawans and left many others critically injured. The State’s deceased Jawans were Havildar Prasanna Kumar Sahoo and Constable Manoj Kumar Behera. While Sahoo was a resident of Shikhar village under the Naugaon police station of Jagatsinghpur district, Behera was a native of Niali in Cuttack district. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who termed the Pulwama terror attack as a ‘cowardly act’, on Friday spoke to the bereaved family mem- bers of both the martyred Odia Jawans over telephone and expressed his deep grief over the demise of the two brave- hearts. Patnaik called up the fam- ily members of martyred Prasanna Sahoo of Ratanpur village in Jagatsinghpur district and Manoj Behera of Ratanpur village in Cuttack district and conveyed his deep sympathy towards them. “Ma, I am deeply grieved; I am with you,” the CM told the mothers and wives of the martyrs. The CM also observed a one-minute silent prayer in the State Secretariat paying tributes to the martyrs. Besides, the Chief Minister appealed to all educational institutions in the State to observe two min- utes’ silence at 11 am on Saturday in tribute the 40 CRPF Jawans of the country martyred in in Phulwama. Besides, Patnaik directed Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera and Health Minister Pratap Jena to visit the two families. The Chief Minister also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the two Jawans. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan expressed deep grief over the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir and expressed his sympathy to the bereaved fam- ilies of the CRPF personnel. He said the supreme sacri- fice of the Jawans won’t go in vain. He further said he was deeply shocked after hearing the news of martyrdom of two Odia Jawans Prasanna Sahu and Manoj Behera in the ter- ror attack. He also spoke to the families of the two jawans and consoled them. He said the entire country is with the families of both Jawans. PCC president Niranjan Patnaik also deeply mourned the demsise of two Odia victims of the terror attack. Realated story on page 2 C hief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched distribu- tion of KALIA assistance among the landless farmers at a programme held at Kendrapada on Friday. “The KALIA yojana has shown path of progress for farmers to the entire country. Small and landless farmers and sharecroppers are benefit- ing out of the scheme,” said the Chief Minister. In the first phase, 3.5 lakh landless farmers were given KALIA aid of Rs 5,000 each on the day. A total of 10 lakh such farmers would be provided assistance of Rs 12,500 each under the scheme, said the CM. Patnaik said he has a spe- cial bond with people of Kendrapada as it was the work- place of former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik. He said that though the Union Government has intro- duced a scheme for farmers’ welfare, it doesn’t cover landless farmers. He has written a let- ter to the Prime Minister to include landless farmers in the scheme, he said. It may be noted that as many as 12.45 lakh small and marginal farmers had earlier been given Rs 5,000 each under the KALIA scheme. The money was deposited in their bank accounts. T he Vigilance police on Friday raided the houses and office room of a Block Grant lecturer, Ramchandra Upadhyay, of the Talanagar College in Soro in Baleswar dis- trict on the charge of amassing properties disproportionate to his known sources of income and detected assets worth 2,82,87,273 in his and his fam- ily members’ names. Acting on a complaint, a five-member team of the State’s anti-corruption unit conduct- ed the raid at five places on the strength of a search warrant issued by the court. His residential house- cum-girls’ mess at College Chhak, Soro, a three-storied building used as girls’ mess at Soro, his house at his native Asimela village under Soro police station, office room at Talanagar College and a house of his relative at Madhusudanpur in Bhadrak district were simultaneously searched. The detected assets include a four-storied building of 1,16,19,660, a triple-storied building of 73,77,358, two homestead plots of 2,60,900, bank deposits of 19,72,129, insurance of 21,28,899, Inova Crysta car of 21, 15, 037, a motorcycle of 62,000, gold ornaments of 14,29,735, hard cash of 3,29,600 and house- hold articles of Rs 9,91,995. The enquiry was still in progress, informed an official release. A nnouncing a massive crackdown on those accepting funds from the Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to carry out nefarious activities in the Kashmir, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said strict action will be taken against them. Making another signifi- cant announcement in Srinagar, Rajnath said the civil- ian traffic would be stopped during the movement of con- voys of Army and paramilitary. “In the wake of the suicide attack on a CRPF convoy on Thursday, it has been decided that the civilian movement will be stopped for some time when a large convoy of securi- ty forces passes through an area,” Rajnath told at Press conference. He said that the civilians will face a little difficulty because of the restriction. “We apologise for it,” he added. Earlier, on his arrival in Srinagar, the Home Minister attended a high-level security review meeting and also visit- ed Command hospital where he interacted with the injured CRPF jawans. Rajnath also shouldered mortal remains of CRPF jawans along with senior police/Army and CRPF officers after attending a solemn wreath-laying ceremony. Sharing his anger, the Union Home Minister later tweeted, “The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave jawans. Paid my last respects to the martyrs of Pulwama in Srinagar today. Their sacrifice will not go in vain,” he added. Meanwhile, toll in the deadly strike on Friday reached 44. A Jaish-e-Mohammad ter- rorist had rammed his explo- sives-laden car into a force con- voy on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Lethpora area of Pulwama on Thursday. After the meeting with the senior security officials and State Governor Satya Pal Malik, Singh said he has asked the offi- cers to review the security pro- vided to people.

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Page 1:  · Sahoo and Constable Manoj Kumar Behera. While Sahoo was a resident ... Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera and Health Minister Pratap Jena to visit the two families. The Chief

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The security establishmentin India is mulling over

options to avenge the killing of44 CRPF personnel in a suicideattack in Pulwama onThursday. The Services Chiefsbriefed the political leadershipon Friday about their pre-paredness to carry out anypunitive strikes. The optionsinclude cross-border raids orsurgical strikes on terroristinfrastructure in PakistanOccupied Kashmir (POK), airstrikes to destroy camps ofwell-known terror outfits, orsomething more “deterring”.

However, none of theseoptions are easy for want of ele-ment of surprise, andinclement weather conditions.

Determined to punish theperpetrators, officials said theGovernment has also not ruledout opting for an unconven-tional response which maynot entail using militaryoption. These options couldinclude intelligence-basedaction which may be covert innature. Also, the retaliation byIndia may not come soon asthe decision makers will weighall consequences beforelaunching any punitive action,

officials said. The Cabinet Committee

on Security (CCS) chaired byPrime Minister NarendraModi on Friday took stock ofthe situation in the wake of theattack and options to be exer-cised, sources said. Modi latersaid in a public rally here thatthe security forces were givena free hand for the job at aplace and timing of theirchoosing.

Elaborating upon variousalternatives, sources in thesecurity establishment saidwhile surgical strikes by theelite Special Forces are on thetable, it may be difficult at thispoint of time due to inclementweather along the Line ofControl (LoC).

Most of the mountainpasses are snow-bound, mak-ing movement of commandoesto carry out any operation

across the LoC difficult. Ifhelicopters are used to drop thecommandos close to the LoC,the Pakistan Army will beimmediately alerted, they said.

Officials also admitted thatsurprise element as regardssurgical strikes this time unliketwo years back is not there, andthe Pakistan Army will befully geared to thwart any suchmove.

The Pakistan Army is now

deployed in full strength alongthe LoC and swift raids by theIndians may not be productive,they added.

On using air power, be ithelicopters or fighter jets, totake out terrorist camps ofJaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) inMuridke in POK, officials said— India has the weapons andcapability such an action acrossthe border — may be con-strued as an act of war and also

lead to escalation of hostilitiesbetween India and Pakistan.

Taking these factors intoconsideration, the Governmentdecided to move step by stepand immediately try to isolatePakistan diplomatically andwithdrawing the MostFavoured Nation status onFriday.

More diplomatic actions inthe coming days were notruled out, sources said.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday said those

responsible for the Pulwamaterror attack will pay “a veryheavy price” and security forceswill be given a free hand to dealwith terrorists. In a hard-hittingspeech, Modi said the “blood ofthe people is boiling” andforces behind the act of ter-rorism will definitely be punished.

“I want to tell the terroroutfits and those aiding andabetting them that they havemade a big mistake. They willhave to pay a very heavy pricefor their actions. Let me assurethe nation that those behindthis attack, the perpetrators ofthis attack will be punished,”Modi said at a function to flagoff the Vande Bharat Express,India’s fastest train from Delhito Varanasi. He was speakingjust after the Cabinet meeting.

“Security forces have beengiven complete freedom, theblood of the people is boil-ing...Our neighbouring coun-try, which has been isolated

internationally, thinks suchterror attacks can destabilise us,but their plans will not mate-rialise,” Modi said.

“My condolences to fami-lies of those martyred inPulwama attack; those behindthe terror strike will pay a veryheavy price,” Modi said.

“I am thankful to allnations which condemned thePulwama attack and I urgethem to come together to crushterrorism,” he said.

Appealing to his critics tonot politicise the tragedy, Modisaid the attacks have left thecountry emotional. “I under-stand the sentiments of thosecriticising us but I urge themthat it is an emotional time, sostay away from political one-upmanship,” he said.

Addressing a public meet-ing in Jhansi later in the day, thePM again did not namePakistan but said the attack wasan outcome of the neighbour’sdesperation as it is in a badshape and has been forced to goto different countries with a“begging bowl” to meet even itsdaily expenses.

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In view of the elections inOdisha, the voters in the

State would soon be able tofile complaints through aCitizen Vigilance app, saidElection Commissioner (EC)Ashok Lavasa after meetingpolice and administrative offi-cials on the third day of theElection Commission of India(ECI) team’s visit here onFriday.

Lavasa said all arrange-ments would be made for freeand fair conduct of elections. ACitizen Vigilance app would belaunched in the State whichwould allow people to filecomplaints and upload pho-

tographs of any questionableactivities during polls.

Similarly, the individualswho have not been included inthe voters’ list would be givenan opportunity to include theirnames at enrolment camps.These camps would be organ-ised from February 17 to 23 atvarious places across the State,

the ElectionCommissionersaid.

For the gen-eral elections,the ECI wouldset up 37,606polling centres.

“A compre-hensive reviewof the prepara-

tions was done with DistrictElectoral Officers (DEOs) andSPs to check the misuse ofmoney and power and curbillegal liquor distribution,”Lavasa added.

Chief Secretary AdityaPrasad Padhi said “The ECIteam discussed about the sta-tus of compliance regarding

transfer of officers posted at acertain place for more thanthree years. Discussions werealso held on the arrangementof electricity and water at thepolling centres.”

Police DG RP Sharmasaid security would be tight-ened in the Maoist-infestedareas and police officialswould keep vigil at sensitivebooths. “Discussions wereheld on the steps taken forconducting free, fair andpeaceful elections. Theinstructions on transfer ofofficers have been compliedwith. We are taking stepstowards area domination inLeftwing Extremist-affectedareas,” Dr Sharma said.

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Odisha lost two sons onThursday in the worst-

ever terror attack in Jammuand Kashmir that killed atleast 43 CRPF Jawans and leftmany others critically injured.

The State’s deceased Jawanswere Havildar Prasanna KumarSahoo and Constable ManojKumar Behera.

While Sahoo was a residentof Shikhar village under theNaugaon police station ofJagatsinghpur district, Beherawas a native of Niali in Cuttackdistrict.

Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik, who termed thePulwama terror attack as a

‘cowardly act’, on Friday spoketo the bereaved family mem-bers of both the martyred OdiaJawans over telephone andexpressed his deep grief overthe demise of the two brave-hearts.

Patnaik called up the fam-ily members of martyredPrasanna Sahoo of Ratanpurvillage in Jagatsinghpur districtand Manoj Behera of Ratanpurvillage in Cuttack district andconveyed his deep sympathytowards them. “Ma, I amdeeply grieved; I am with you,”the CM told the mothers andwives of the martyrs.

The CM also observed aone-minute silent prayer inthe State Secretariat payingtributes to the martyrs. Besides,the Chief Minister appealed toall educational institutions inthe State to observe two min-utes’ silence at 11 am onSaturday in tribute the 40CRPF Jawans of the countrymartyred in in Phulwama.

Besides, Patnaik directedFinance Minister Sashi BhusanBehera and Health MinisterPratap Jena to visit the twofamilies.

The Chief Minister alsoannounced an ex-gratia of Rs

10 lakh each to the families ofthe two Jawans.

Union MinisterDharmendra Pradhanexpressed deep grief over theterror attack in Jammu andKashmir and expressed hissympathy to the bereaved fam-ilies of the CRPF personnel.

He said the supreme sacri-fice of the Jawans won’t go invain. He further said he wasdeeply shocked after hearingthe news of martyrdom of twoOdia Jawans Prasanna Sahuand Manoj Behera in the ter-ror attack. He also spoke to thefamilies of the two jawans andconsoled them.

He said the entire countryis with the families of bothJawans. PCC presidentNiranjan Patnaik also deeplymourned the demsise of twoOdia victims of the terrorattack.

Realated story on page 2

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Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik launched distribu-

tion of KALIA assistanceamong the landless farmers ata programme held atKendrapada on Friday.

“The KALIA yojana hasshown path of progress forfarmers to the entire country.Small and landless farmersand sharecroppers are benefit-ing out of the scheme,” said theChief Minister.

In the first phase, 3.5 lakhlandless farmers were given

KALIA aid of Rs 5,000 each onthe day. A total of 10 lakh suchfarmers would be providedassistance of Rs 12,500 each

under the scheme, said the CM.Patnaik said he has a spe-

cial bond with people ofKendrapada as it was the work-

place of former Chief MinisterBiju Patnaik.

He said that though theUnion Government has intro-duced a scheme for farmers’welfare, it doesn’t cover landlessfarmers. He has written a let-ter to the Prime Minister toinclude landless farmers in thescheme, he said.

It may be noted that asmany as 12.45 lakh small andmarginal farmers had earlierbeen given Rs 5,000 each underthe KALIA scheme. The moneywas deposited in their bankaccounts.

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The Vigilance police onFriday raided the houses

and office room of a BlockGrant lecturer, RamchandraUpadhyay, of the TalanagarCollege in Soro in Baleswar dis-trict on the charge of amassingproperties disproportionate tohis known sources of incomeand detected assets worth �2,82,87,273 in his and his fam-ily members’ names.

Acting on a complaint, afive-member team of the State’santi-corruption unit conduct-ed the raid at five places on thestrength of a search warrantissued by the court.

His residential house-cum-girls’ mess at CollegeChhak, Soro, a three-storiedbuilding used as girls’ mess atSoro, his house at his nativeAsimela village under Soropolice station, office room atTalanagar College and a houseof his relative at

Madhusudanpur in Bhadrakdistrict were simultaneouslysearched.

The detected assets includea four-storied building of �1,16,19,660, a triple-storiedbuilding of � 73,77,358, twohomestead plots of � 2,60,900,bank deposits of � 19,72,129,insurance of � 21,28,899, InovaCrysta car of � 21, 15, 037, amotorcycle of � 62,000, goldornaments of � 14,29,735, hardcash of � 3,29,600 and house-hold articles of Rs 9,91,995.

The enquiry was still inprogress, informed an officialrelease.

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Announcing a massivecrackdown on those

accepting funds from thePakistan’s Inter-ServicesIntelligence (ISI) to carry outnefarious activities in theKashmir, Union HomeMinister Rajnath Singh onFriday said strict action will betaken against them.

Making another signifi-cant announcement inSrinagar, Rajnath said the civil-ian traffic would be stoppedduring the movement of con-voys of Army and paramilitary.

“In the wake of the suicideattack on a CRPF convoy onThursday, it has been decidedthat the civilian movementwill be stopped for some timewhen a large convoy of securi-ty forces passes through anarea,” Rajnath told at Pressconference.

He said that the civilianswill face a little difficultybecause of the restriction. “Weapologise for it,” he added.

Earlier, on his arrival inSrinagar, the Home Ministerattended a high-level security

review meeting and also visit-ed Command hospital wherehe interacted with the injuredCRPF jawans.

Rajnath also shoulderedmortal remains of CRPFjawans along with seniorpolice/Army and CRPF officersafter attending a solemnwreath-laying ceremony.

Sharing his anger, theUnion Home Minister latertweeted, “The nation will notforget the supreme sacrifice ofour brave jawans. Paid my lastrespects to the martyrs ofPulwama in Srinagar today.Their sacrifice will not go invain,” he added.

Meanwhile, toll in thedeadly strike on Friday reached44.

A Jaish-e-Mohammad ter-rorist had rammed his explo-sives-laden car into a force con-voy on the Srinagar-Jammuhighway in Lethpora area ofPulwama on Thursday.

After the meeting with thesenior security officials andState Governor Satya Pal Malik,Singh said he has asked the offi-cers to review the security pro-vided to people.

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Page 2:  · Sahoo and Constable Manoj Kumar Behera. While Sahoo was a resident ... Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera and Health Minister Pratap Jena to visit the two families. The Chief

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In the interim Budget present-ed by Finance Minister Sashi

Bhusan Behera on Thursday,the revelation to the fore is theState is saddled with a whop-ping over 1.16 lakh vacancies atvarious positions in the StateGovernment departments, itsaided institutions and PSUs.

The job vacancies, overall,have risen by at least around 5per cent in many vital depart-ments over the period of 2015-17.

According to the budgetdocument of Medium-termFiscal Management Plan, theState in the year 2016-17 is sad-dled with a high of around 1,16, 987 vacancies at various lev-els in State departments, PSUs

and other aided institutions.The State Government in theperiod 2015-17 has recruitedonly around 20,000 posts, bud-get data shows. Almost around35 per cent of over 3.4 lakhsanctioned posts in the Stateinstitutions are lying vacant inOdisha.

The comparative data with2015-16 reveals a rise in vacan-cies in some vital departmentslike Home, Agriculture andFarmer Welfare, RuralDevelopment, Works,Cooperation, Food and CivilSupplies, Skill Development,Panchayati Raj and DrinkingWater etc. The intriguing factis when these vital depart-ments could help the StateGovernment in familiarisingand delivering its pro-poorschemes to the masses andsimultaneously would alsocater to the aspiration of thearound 10 lakh job aspirantscurrently in the State, the StateGovernment’s hands-offapproach towards such large-scale vacancies is primarilyattributed to tight fiscal situa-tion at hand.

Sample this. When State’sown revenue receipts in 2019-20 is projected at around Rs 44,995.5 crore, the State’s admin-istrative expenditure estimatedat a whopping Rs 58,170 croreis more than the estimated

own revenue receipts. Andsalary, pension together in2019-20 is being estimated atover Rs 33,700 crore or around6.2 per cent of State’s GSDP. Incontrast, State’s own revenuereceipts account for mere 8.32per cent of GSDP in 2019-20.

Another disconcerting factfor the State finances is the debtstock of the State in 2019-20 isprojected at 93.8 per cent of itstotal revenue receipts, includ-ing Central taxes and grantsdevolved. As the State is not inthe pink of health, the recruit-ment for such large vacancieslooks remotely possible in nearfuture too.

Among the sectors thatare saddled with the mostvacancies are School and MassEducation followed by Healthand Family Welfare. While ahigh of around 25,000 vacan-cies at various levels werereported in School and MassEducation Department, Healthand Family Welfare with avacancy list of nearly 14,000emerges the second mostdepartment with high order ofvacancies. Agriculture andFarmers Development depart-ment follows with over 5,000vacancies. For this, theAgriculture Department wasfound wanting in outreachwhen Chakada enormity hitOdisha in 2017.

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Around 50 activists of theCongress Mahila Morcha

were detained when they triedto barge into the residence ofChief Minister Naveen Patnaikhere on Friday.

Demanding resignation ofthe CM over the alleged rise inincidents of crimes againstwomen in the State, membersof the Congress Mahila Morchastaged the protest holding blackballoons.

Later, a scuffle ensuedbetween them and police asthey tried to enter inside theCM’s residence. The activistsreportedly hurled tomatoes

at the cops during the inci-dent, following which theywere taken into preventivecustody.

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Little did she know that thiswas her husband’s last

phone call to her and shewould never hear his voicethereafter. Married two yearsago to Constable Manoj KumarBehera, who was martyred inthe Pulwama terror attack onThursday, Itilata of Ratanpurvillage in the Niali area inCuttack district is yet to acceptthe harsh reality that her hus-band is no more.

Manoj, who had joinedthe CRPF in 2006, had spokento Itilata over phone in themorning. Hours after, Itilatacould not believe her ears whenshe heard that her husband wasamong the 45 CRPF Jawanskilled in the worst terror attackat Pulwama, 30 km fromSrinagar. Ililata, who marriedManoj on January 20, 2017 andhas a one-year-old daughter,was in tears while recalling hislast conversation with herbeloved husband.

“I will be leaving forSrinagar today for which Iwoke up at 3 am. But I will starta bit late since the road is notclear. I will call you again onceI reach there,” recalls Itilatasharing the last few lines of thetelephonic conversation.

Manoj’s mother SabitriBehera, whom he had called lastat around 1 pm on the fatefulday, said he had come on a vaca-

tion on December 24 last year.“He was very happy. We cele-brated his daughter’s birthdayon January 16. Then, he wentback on February 6,” she said.

Similarly, a pall of gloomdescended on the family ofanother martyred Jawan of theState. Prasanna Sahoo ofShikhar village under theNaugaon police limits ofJagatsinghpur district had beenposted as a Constable at 61Battalions of CRPF. He had last

come to his house in Novemberlast year, said his inconsolablewife, who is yet to come out ofthe shock.

His daughter Sony, who isdeeply broken after the tragedy,said, “My father laid down hislife for the nation. I and myfamily are proud of him. Hehad always had this dream todo something for the country.But as a daughter, I lost myfather which is irreparable.”

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The SecurEyes TechnoServices Private Limited,

which has been providingtraining to students on cybersecurity under a programmenamed “Hackers Boot Camp”,will open a ‘Global DeliveryCentre’ to provide opportuni-ties to passed out students towork in various global cybersecurity projects.

The institute is impartingthe certificate programme incollaboration with the OdishaComputer Application Centre(OCAC). While the coursestarted in April 2018, 75 percent of passed out studentshave already been employedand others would be providedemployment opportunitiessoon, said authorities.

“In today's internet world,cybercrime is becomingincreasingly common and adangerous threat. Any servicethat uses IT either on the inter-net or internally within theorganisation, become vulnera-ble to various attacks. Networkissues, virus attacks, malwarebreakouts, identity thefts, hack-ing into important and sensi-tive sites and networks are on

the rise. Hence professionalsneed to be there to check suchcrimes,” said the authorities.

They informed that theNASSCOM has estimated thatIndia alone will need one mil-lion cyber security profession-als by 2020. The SecurEyes hasbeen a trusted cyber securityconsulting firm with 600 plusprestigious clients across theglobe.

The “Hackers Boot Camp”being imparted in the OCACpremises is a three-monthcourse. The institute has fixedfee-course of Rs 40,000. Thestudents are provided comput-ers, study materials and otherrequired study equipments.

Students are put to testevery 15 days and they are pro-vided certificates on comple-tion of the course.

Interested candidates canv i s i t:https://secureyes.net/nw/?page_id=585 “Hackers Boot Camp”or contact in mobiles numbers8270064440 and 7978664028.

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In commemoration of theNational Science Day, the

Institute of Life Sciences (ILS),Bhubaneswar would conduct aState-level science outreachprogramme for school and col-lege students on February 28.

The event will be held atthe ILS and seven other loca-tions-- Jajpur, Dhenkanal,Rayagada, Baripada, Adaspur,Bargarh and Dhama--with anaim of exposing young studentsto advances in the field of sci-ence and technology and itsimplications to the society. Theprogramme would have lec-tures by scientists, interactionswith experts, science exhibi-tions and exposure to theadvanced equipments and facil-ities. Essay and debate compe-titions on the theme of this

year’s Science Day “Sciencefor the People and the Peoplefor Science” would be organ-ised in each of the locations.

The ILS is partnering withthe MPC Autonomous College,Baripada, NC AutonomousCollege, Jajpur, DhenkanalAutonomous College,Udayanath AutonomousCollege of Science &Technology, Adaspur, Cuttack,MaaJhadeswari College,Dhama, Sambalpur, KamgaonJunior College, Kamgaon,Bargarh and RayagadaAutonomous College.Interested students may visitILS website (www.ils.res.in) orcontact respective colleges forparticipation. The inauguralfunction of the programmewould be held at the ILS maincampus on February 28 at 10am.

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BJP national president AmitShah’s visit to Sambalpur on

Friday was cancelled in thewake of terror attack inPulwama of Jammu andKashmir on Thursday.

All political programmes ofthe BJP president scheduled forthe day were cancelled.

Shah was scheduled to

attend the party’s ‘KaryakartaSamabesh’ in Sambalpur dur-ing which he would havechaired a meeting with booth-level organisers of theDhenkanal, Sambalpur,Bargarh and Sundargarh LokSabha constituencies, said partyState spokesperson GolakMohapatra.

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Sir,It is that period of the year when there is joy around the engi-

neering colleges as it is time for campus interviews and IT com-panies conducting online tests for selecting the best candidates.No doubt, every student aspires to get the best company and paypackage and dream to achieve big in life. The issue is these inter-views happened just before the 7th semester examinations andthe results are also announced before the examinations begin.What I have observed is that due to these announcements, thestudents who get selected become so excited that they becomecomplacent as if they have already graduated and start relaxingand stop concentrating on the upcoming exams. The studentswho do not succeed during this period come under peer pres-sure which they have difficulty in coping up with due to non-selection weighing on them during examinations. I suggest theorganisers of the campus interviews to announce the selectionresults only after the 7th semester examinations are over to easepressure on the students. By the time the next round of campusinterviews happen, the students who would not have got select-ed in the first time would have overcome the pressure and beready to face the interviews better. I feel this way the studentsdo not lose focus on the 7th semester exams which are equallycrucial for improving their average overall score.

K Ravi, E-237, GGP Colony, Bhubaneswar-751025, Mob:9437616497

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The Sri Joga Vedanta SebaSamiti, Dhauli, celebrated

the Mother-Father DevotionDay at the premises of theAdarsh Sisu Vidyamandir inBhimpur.

Over 300 students tookpart in the celebration that wasmarked by offering prayersand doing puja of their respec-tive parents.

The celebration organizedin the presence of director ofAdarsha Sisu VidyamandirBhagaban Das saw dignitarieslike scribe GurukalyanMohapatra and Dr PradipKumar Mishra.

The guests were of theopinion that such celebrationwill definitely leave a positiveimpact on building character of children. Samiti director Suryamani Samal proposed vote of thanks.

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Autonomy, considered anessential prerequisite for

universities to flourish, wouldbe the focus of deliberations ata three-day annual meet of theAssociation of IndianUniversities (AIU) beginning atthe SOA University here onSaturday.

“Without any doubt,autonomy is an essential pre-requisite for universities toinnovate, thrive and excel, butthe ground reality is neither theIndian universities areendowed with parameterswhich are globally acknowl-edged and recognized for excel-

lence, nor do they have therequired autonomy to takesteps towards that goal,” AIUpresident Prof SandeepSancheti told reporters onFriday.

“This paradoxical situa-tion,” he said, “called for a thor-ough debate on the subject sothat we can identify and definethe kind and degree of auton-omy the universities or otherhigher education institutionsneed to achieve the goals ofquality and excellence.”

The conference, to beattended by around 200 Vice-Chancellors of different univer-sities across the country andleaders in the field of higher

education, would have a ple-nary session on the topic‘Autonomy for Excellence inHigher Education’, ProfSancheti said.

He said the Ministry ofHRD has been mandated withthe goal of building world-classhigher education institutions inIndia. “In this context, the gov-ernment reaffirms its role as afacilitator notwithstanding thefact that so far we could notgather consensus on the kindof facilitation which universi-ties require to excel. If we startanalysing from simple to com-plex requirements, the need forautonomy prevails every-where,” he said.

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The Department ofChemistry of the National

Institute of Technology,Rourkela (NITR) organised aprogramme named ‘GlobalInitiative of AcademicNetworks’ (Gian) on the‘Photochromic Molecules andMaterials for a SustainableFuture’ on Friday.

Professor Burkhard Koeingof the University of Regensburginaugurated the event.

“'Light can penetrate mat-ter and provide the energy forchemical transformations. Thereversible isomerisation of mol-ecules by the light of different

wavelength is a well-studiedphenomenon, which recentlyfound wide applications. So Imust say this is a very impor-tant subject to study,’’ opined

Koeing.Speaking about NIT

Rourkela, he said, “There arelots of scopes here. The studentcommunity must grab thisopportunity.”'

NITR Director AnimeshBiswas appreciated the effort ofthe Chemistry Department toorganise the programme.Course Coordinator Prof SishirSahoo spoke.

Koeing has received sever-al awards for his contributionto Chemistry.

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Entrepreneurs have urged theIndigo Airlines to operate

more flights from Bhubaneswarto international destinations forpromotion of trade, commerceand tourism. A two-memberdelegation comprising IndusEntrepreneurs, Bhubaneswarpresident Debashish Patnaikaand FMCG Company generalmanager and UAE NRO com-munity member PriyadarsheePanigrahi met Indigo Airlineschief commercial officer WillyBoulter and Chief PlanningOfficer Michael Anthoy Swiatekin Delhi last week and request-ed them to start internationaloperations from Bhubaneswar.

In response, the ChiefPlanning Officer said they werehappy with the way their domes-tic operations have panned outfrom the Bhubaneswar airportand they were indeed looking atBhubaneswar as an engine ofgrowth for the airline. Briefingabout current internationaloperations from Bhubaneswar,which is to Kuala Lumpur andBangkok, Patnaik said,‘Currently there is a huge needto link Dubai with Bhubaneswar.Dubai is an international gate-

way for transit passengers andhas excellent connectivity toEuropean and American desti-nations. In addition to this,many flights operate to theAfrican continent also with adirect flight to Dubai,Bhubaneswar’s connectivity withthe western world and Africagets a huge boost. This will con-tribute substantially to tradeand tourism of the State.”

He also highlighted theproactive support and interest ofthe State Government in pro-moting international air connec-tivity for the State. Explainingthat the Odia community in theUAE is a sizeable one and prob-ably the biggest non-residentOdia community in the region,Panigrahi said “NROs will ben-efit greatly from direct air con-nectivity, ensuring viability of theroute.”The delegation alsoimpressed upon the need forIndigo to start services from theVeer Surendra Sai Airport inJharsuguda.

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Page 3:  · Sahoo and Constable Manoj Kumar Behera. While Sahoo was a resident ... Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera and Health Minister Pratap Jena to visit the two families. The Chief

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The users of the Mundalibridge over the Mahanadi

have strongly opposed contin-uation of collection of toll taxfor the last 23 years since thebridge was inaugurated in1996.

The 1,348-metre bridgeconstructed at Rs 15.17 crore bythe Irrigation Department wasinaugurated by the then ChiefMinister Janaki Ballav Patnaikon January 30, 1996. Sincethen, tax is being collectedfrom all three and four wheel-ers at the rates fixed by theOdisha Bridge andConstruction CorporationLimited. The rate chart under-signed by Engineer-in-chief isstill affixed on the tollgate wall.

Locals and other users of

the bridge have opposedtoll collection saying thatthe cost of the bridge hasalready been recoveredby the Government longago. As per the rules, thecollection of toll chargemust be stopped when thecost of the bridge is mit-igated.

While no toll charge isbeing collected from thenewly constructedMadhusudan bridge overthe Mahanadi atNuapatna, it is not under-stood why theGovernment is still col-lecting toll charges forMundali bridge, lamentedDr Narayan Panda, a local.

OPCC general secre-tary Uma Ballav Rath toldthis paper that he hasgiven March 1 as ultima-tum to the Government toclose the tollgate, failing which

the Congress would begin adharna till the demand is met.

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Former Anandpur MLABhagirathy Sethy has

alleged here that Keonjharpolice are not receiving anycomplaint against any BJDleader rather they are harassingcomplainants.

Sethy made this statementin the ‘Jan Adalat’ held by theBJP here on Thursday evening.He said the police station hasnow turned to be a BJD partyoffice.

Similarly, BJP MahilaMorcha State vice-presidentSukeshi Oram said only SHGgroups, who are supporters ofthe BJD, are being givenGovernment funds. She further

alleged that women are not safeand cases of atrocities onwomen are increasing in the

State.Besides, saffron leaders

alleged that lodged variouscomplaints against MPShakuntala Laguri. Theyalleged a very low quality workhas been done on the NH-215and toll tax is being collectedillegally.

Social worker HimanshuKuanr acted as the judge. Cineartist Mihir Das was present.

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Atwo-storey modern airconditioned fish market

would be constructed at theMardaraj vending zone atKamapalli here, informedBerhampur MunicipalCorporation (BeMC)Commissioner ChakrabortySingh Rathore on Thursday.

Rathore said all fish andmeat traders will be allottedcabins in the market, to be con-structed at an estimated cost ofRs 2.8 crore. He said main-taining of sanitation if the fishmarket would be the priority ofthe BeMC.

During his visit to themarket, he talked to tradersand enquired about the prob-lems of the area. He assured thetraders that electricity andwater supply would also beprovided to them regularly.Responding to some people’s

complaint that some tradersare killing goats in the open,

the BeMC Commissioner saidCCTV cameras would be

installed and stern actionwould be taken against viola-tors.

On the occasion, Rathoredistributed cotton bags, pro-vided by the Bandhan Bank,among consumers and advisedthem not to use plastic con-tainers and keep environmentclean.

The Bandhan Bank hassupplied as many as 50,000cotton bags for distributionamong common people. Bynow, the BeMC has collectedover Rs 4 lakh as fines frompolythene bag sellers at differ-ent places in the city.

Members of women self-help groups would be provid-ed training and incentive tomake cotton bags, saidRathore.

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The ManavA d h i k a r

Surakshya Manchreceived the “YuvaPrerana Samman-2019” at a pro-gramme held inBhubaneswar onThursday. ManchConvenor AbaniKumar Gayareceived the award.The Manch washonoured on the occasion of150th year birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi for con-ducting continuous fights forpeople’s interest. Social scien-tist Prof SwadhinanandaPatnaik inaugurated the pro-gramme.

Convenor Manas Patnaik,noted environmentalistPrafulla Samantara, journalistSameer Patnaik, LohiaAcademy secretary DebaPrasad Ray, columnist Dr

Bishwajit graced as guests.They held discussions on top-ics based on Gandhian philos-ophy titled “Soul of India-How much in villages, howmuch in cities” and “India ofDream- My responsibility”.

Among others, BijyaChandra Bisoyi, KishoreChandra Patro, Majoj Tarai,Maguni Nahak, RameshBehera, Satyanarayan Rao,Sambasiva Rao, Sri Nivas andNilachala Nanda were present.

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Awoman who was allegedlyset on fire by her in-laws at

VSS Colony in Hirakud ofSambalpur district succumbedto her injuries on Friday whileundergoing treatment.

According to reports,Jyotirmayee Nayak (27) wasallegedly repeatedly being tor-tured by her in-laws as she hadgiven birth to two daughterswhile they were expecting ababy boy.

In the afternoon ofFebruary 13, Jyotirmayee’s hus-band Smruti Ranjan, father-in-law Raghunath Nayak andmother-in-law Basanti Nayakallegedly forcibly took her tothe roof of their house and tiedher to a rod.

They also allegedly poured

kerosene over her body andtorched her. She sustainedmore than 90 per cent burninjuries in the incident and wasadmitted to the VIMSAR inBurla by neighbours. However,she died at the hospital onFriday.

On the basis of a complaintlodged by Jyotirmayee’s fatherKrushna Chandra Satpathy,the Hirakud police have regis-tered a case and arrested thewoman’s husband and in-laws.Investigation into the matter isunderway.

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Dreaded criminalMohammad Imran alias

Imu, the prime accused in aseries of bomb explosions at theBhanjanagar market onFebruary 7, was nabbed bypolice after an encounter nearGandisula Chhak on Friday.

During the encounter,three police personnel alsosustained injuries and werehospitalised.

Acting on a tipoff about themovement of Imu and hisassociate near Bhanjanagar, aspecial team of police led byBhanjanagar PS IIC intensifiedpatrolling near SoradeviGandisula Chhak.

Police intercepted Imuand his associate, who weregoing on a bike through thearea but the duo tried to givethe cops a slip. Police chased

them for some distance beforeopening blank fire but theaccused hurled bombs at thepolice.

During the exchange offire that followed, Imu sus-tained injuries on both legsand was subsequently nabbedby police. However, his aidemanaged to escape the policedragnet.

Imu was initially admittedto Bhanjanagar Sub-DivisionalHospital and later shifted to theMKCG Medical CollegeHospital here.

Bhanjanagar SDPO UtkalKeshari Das said, “During theencounter, SIs SabyasachiMalla, Nairanjan Das andHavildar Kali Gouda also sus-tained injuries and were admit-

ted to Bhanjanagar Sub-Divisional Hospital. A 220Pulsar bike, 9 mm pistol, livecartridges, five bombs and amobile phone were seized fromhis possession.”

Notably, three bike-bornemiscreants had hurled bombsat Iswar Shopping Mall,Jagannath Jewellers and RebatiMotors in Bhanjanagar onFebruary 7.

Police said Imu is also theprime accused in bombingincident in Bhanjanagar in2016 which he had carried outwith the help of his associatesKeshab Sahani and MD Jamirof Dharakote area. All threehad been absconding after theincident. Besides, Imu is lsoinvolved in several crimes.

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Ateam of Balangir policecomprising DSP KK

Hariprasad, OIC PuintalaAnnanta Pradhan and othersarrested four persons on thecharge of stealing iron rodsfrom a truck at Bairasar chowkunder the Puintala police lim-its three weeks back.

The arrestees have beenidentified as Rajnit Karnna,Dibyajyoti Nayak, KrushnaMallick and BaikunthanathMallick. SDPO Srimant Barikinformed this at a Press meetheld here on Friday.

According to reports, a truck

carrying 31 tonnes of iron rod,worth of Rs 12.96 lakh, was onits way to Kesinga and Koraputfrom Rourkela when 10 peoplestopped it at Bairsar chowk,blindfolded its driver and helperand locked them in a secludedplace. Thereafter, the took awayall iron rods from the truck.

During investigation, policefound that Ranjit Karna of Digivillage under the Manumundapolice station was selling theiron rods without valid papers.During interrogation, Karnarevealed all the details.Accordingly three others havebeen arrested, said the DSP.

He informed all stolen ironrods, a mobile phone, a bike anda car have been seized from thearrested persons. Other personsinvolved in the stealing wouldbe nabbed soon, said Barik.

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Abank dacoity bid was foiledin the branch of Allahabad

Bank in Barbil of the district onFriday by an alert and bravesecurity guard. Sources said fiveunidentified men entered in tothe Allahabad Bank branch onthe main road of the Barbil town,neighbouring Jharkhand ataround 10 am, when only thebank’s Cashier and another staffand two to three customerswere present.

Then the miscreants wentdirectly to the cashier andasked him at gun point to handover the locker key but whenthe cashier protested theyattacked him. However, secu-rity guard Bijaya Vishowkarma, who was standing at theentrance immediately rushedto the rescue of the Cashierand scuffled with the dacoits .

But the miscreants hit him

with the gunstock and injuredhim. Later, they snatched cashand mobile phones from thecustomers and fled from thespot. In the melee, they left

behind a country made gun andsome other articles. Gettinginformation, the Barbil policerushed to the spot and areinvestigating into the incident.

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The 23rd Vyasa SarowarMahotshav and Vyasa

Marathan kicked off here onFriday amid religious fervour.The festival would be a low keyaffairs this year, informedKalinganagar ADMVyasanagar MunicipalityAdministrator Santosh KumarMishra at a Press conferencehere on Thursday.

While Rs 32 lakh had beenspenc last year, it has been tar-geted to spend Rs 16 lakh thisyear. The administration hastaken the charge of holding thefestival as the Municipalitycouncil has been dissolved.

The ‘Mela’ would continuetill February 25. Drinking water,sanitation and other basic facil-ities have been provided. WhileCCTV cameras have beeninstalled to keep vigil on mis-chief mongers, an InformationCetntre is operating to providerequire help to people.

While there is no officialrecord regarding starting yearof the Mahotsav, a local said a‘Sadhu’ from Kerala had start-ed the ‘Mela’ long ego.

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Union MinisterDharmendra Pradhan on

Friday dedicated various pas-senger amenities at theSambalpur railway station onFriday.

Pradhan dedicated theimproved front façade and cir-culating area of Sambalpurstation. He also dedicated esca-lators with ramp facility and afood plaza and a mechanizedlaundry facility at the station.

On the occasion, Pradhanalso announced stoppage of12871/12872 Howrah-Titilagarh-Howrah IspatExpress at Badmal,18425/18426 Puri-Durg-PuriExpress at Muribahal and18107/18107 Rourkela-Koraput-Rourkela Express atBarpali from February 14 on anexperimental basis for a peri-od of six months.

Among others MLAs DrRaseswari Panigrahi, RabiNarayan Nayak, and KV SinghDeo graced the occasion. DRM

Dr Jaideep Gupta welcomedthe guests.

In a another release, the theEast Coast Railway (ECoR)informed that three foot over-bridges (FOBs), one each atRayagada, Ladda andJimidipeta railway stations inRayagada district, would bededicated to public onFebruary 19.

Both Jimidipeta and Laddastations are having two pas-senger platforms, each beingseparated with four lines. EachFOB if of 36-metre lenth and 3-metre width and has come upat a cost of Rs 1.12 crore.

While Rayagada railwaystation has been developed asa modern and Adarsh station,an additional FOB with rampfacility connecting all the threeplatforms has come at a cost ofRs 2.44 crore. With this, theRayagada station has becomeDivyangjan friendly. The FOBis of 3-meter width and 27.2-meter length.

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The seizure of a truckloaded with stolen man-

ganese from Bhaludungri inBalangir district on February8 night has surprised all asthere is no manganese mine inthe district.

After publication of reportin the media, a joint team offorest officials, including ACFBC Roul, Senior Inspector ofMines Biswanth Sahu andothers, visited theBhaludungri and GadshankarDunguripali area, which hadmanganese mines a fewdecades ago. During searches,the team did not find signs of

any fresh manganese miningthere.

According to sources, twomanganese mines had beenleased out in 1954 and the twoareas were left empty aftermining was over.

The February 8 seizure hassuggested that the left-out man-ganese was collected and wasbeing smuggled.

The exact quality of seizedmanganese would be knownonce it is tested at theGovernment laboratory, said anofficial.

At present, only two minesare operating in Balangir dis-trict. While a graphite mine isoperating at Ainlapali underPatnagarh, another is decora-tive stone-mine located atDarlipali.

A total of Rs 84 lakh islying idle in the DistrictMineral Development (DMF)fund due to official apathy. Thefunds are meant to be spent fordevelopment of the villagesaround mining areas.

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Page 4:  · Sahoo and Constable Manoj Kumar Behera. While Sahoo was a resident ... Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera and Health Minister Pratap Jena to visit the two families. The Chief

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The grapevine ofBhubaneswar North con-

stituency is agog with a rosyfuture awaiting BJD activistSubash Patra.

Patra who hails fromRaghunathpur village is now aresident of the BhubaneswarNorth Assembly segment. In 32villages under five GPs, besidesin a cluster of 22 villages underBMC, he enjoys the trust andconfidence of the local resi-dents and is endeared to themfor his activities.

“Since 1947 till date, nonebut one MLA namelyRamakrushna Pati happened tobe our representative, being ason of the soil. All other MLAssince then are superimposed by

the ruling parties ignoring thesentiments of locals. This timewe strongly demand a localman from BJD to be our MLA,” said one Bapi Panda from thelocality.

Currently Patra is the BJDKhurda district unit vice pres-ident. Prior to his transitioninto politics, Patra as a socialworker and a Good Samaritan.

“Social service is my pas-sion, though politics is mypresent option,” opined Patra .

Even today, he spends mostof his time in helping the peo-ple in distress and dismay.Whether it is plantation oftrees, blood donation camp,health awareness programmesor sports events among theyouths, Patra is seen at the frontleading the youths and volun-

teers. In 2015, he had organiseda blood donation camp atTangibanta in Barimunda GPand another mega blood dona-

tion camp at Mancheswar inSeptember last, winning theadmiration all. He has under-taken massive health awarenessprogrammes at villages likeChakesiani, Bharatpur and atSaliasahi.

Taking a lead while pur-chasing and collecting blankets,he has distributed them amongthe poor and the have-nots inthe bitter and biting cold of thelast chilling winter of 2019.Patra stole the limelight in theconstituency during the dump-ing yard stir in the area. He isnot opposed to the dumpingyard but strongly demands thetreatment mechanism for wastemanagement. In this connec-tion a case has been filedbefore the National GreenTribunal (NGT).

Patra was elected as thepresident of Barang Collegestudent union in the year 1991-92. Their after he came incontact with Soumya RanjanPatnaik and in the year 2007he was MP’s representatives forthe Bhubaneswar block. Heleft Congress to join the BJD atthe call of the-then BJD leaderMitu Badajena. Patra’s influ-ence was tested at the grass rootlevel in the Zilla Parishad elec-tion in the year 2012, when hiswife Basanthi Patra was elect-ed with an overwhelmingmajority and continued till theyear 2014 as a member of theZilla Parishad. The rising pop-ularity and influence of Patraultimately saw him as vice-president of BJD Khordha dis-trict even for the second time.

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The Congress on Wednesdayin a memorandum to the

Puri Collector demanded aVigilance probe into the sub-standard renovation works ofthe Annapurna Theatre. Theparty charged of misappropria-tion of around Rs 50 lakh whichwas raised from Governmentand private sources.

Seeking proper inquiryinto the expenditure, the partydemanded strong actionsagainst the erring personsinvolved in embezzlement offunds. The memorandum alsoreads that the heritage theatrenear the Grand Road which isnearly 100–year-old had suf-fered damages in cyclone‘Phailin’.

To give the ramshacklebuildings a modern look,around Rs 50 lakh was spent inthe repair and renovationworks of the ceiling, stage,audience gallery, green room,light and sound system and theurinals. The CultureDepartment sanctioned Rs 20lakh with Rs 15 lakh fromMLA and MPLAD funds.

Besides, an eminent person ofthe city donated Rs 2.5 lakh andRs 5 lakh was collected frommany persons. Apart from thefund, many people donatedconstruction materials, read

the letter.“However, if one visits the

theatre, the poor quality ofworks and embezzlement ofmoney can be clearly felt,”alleged Congress leader

Swadhina Panda.Notably, Minister

Maheswar Mohanty had inau-gurated the renovatedAnnapurna Theatre in eveningon the day.

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Awoman staged protest infront of her husband's

house on Valentine's Day inSundargarh to allow her to staywith him in the house.

According to sources,Khusbu Gupta, daughter ofParameswar Gupta, a residentof Kohanjharia village ofJashpur district of Chhatisgarh,had married one Umesh Gupta,a resident of Panchamukhipara under town police stationin Sundargarh in 2018.

Khusbu's parents had givenRs 2 lakh cash as dowry toUmesh's parents and also hadgiven other items worth Rs

50,000 to them at the time ofmarriage. After some monthsof marriage, the in-laws ofKhusbu allegedly tortured herand Khusbu's sister-in-law(husband's sister) allegedly hadbeaten her up. Khusbu couldnot bear the torture of in-lawsfollowing which she went toher parent's house on July 29,2018.

During Khusbu's stay ather parents’ house, nobodyfrom her in-laws’ house,including her husband, came totake her to her husband'shouse. Even Khusbu had cometo her in-laws’ house four dif-ferent times to stay there butshe was not allowed to enterinto the house.

Finding no other alterna-tive, Khusbu lodged com-plaint in the Town police sta-tion on December 14 and thepolice after registering case oftorture and dowry, arrestedher husband Umesh and for-

warded him to court. LaterUmesh was released on bail.

Meanwhile, some mem-bers of Sundargarh ZillaWomen Parisad including itspresident Kamini Mohapatraand former Councillor BinaSahu extended their support toKhusbu. They also demandedthat her in-laws and her hus-band accept Khusbu, otherwisethey must return the dowryitems and cash. After gettinginformation, the police officialsreached the spot and tookKhusbu, Umesh and her in-laws to the police station.

“We have told Khusbu togive a list of articles which herparents had given as dowry.After getting the list, we willseize the articles from her in-laws and will return th m to herpatents,” said Town police sta-tion IIC B K Pradhan. Headded that Umesh has givenconsent to return the cash anddowry articles.

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Additional District andSessions Judge (ADJ)

Prasant Nayak sentenced fourmembers of a family to lifeimprisonment in a dowrydeath case on Friday.

They were found guilty ofmurdering Kusamalata Sahoofor dowry on November 14,2014. They are the victim’s hus-band Akshaya Pal (34) , father-in-law Laxmidhar Pal (65),mother-in-law Subhadra Pal(59) and sister-in-lawPriyatama Pal (24) of villageSolapate under the Panikoilipolice station.

Kusamalata Sahoo hadmarried Akshay on June 20,2014. However, she was con-stantly tortured and subse-quently killed by all the con-victs on November 14, 2014 forher failure to meet her in-laws’demand for Rs 50,000 as

dowry. After killing, the in-lawsdumped the body in a pond inthe village.

After an investigation,police arrested four convicts,said Additional PublicProsecutor Rajendra KumarNayak.

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Police have claimedto have cracked the

case of loot of gold andsilver ornaments from ajeweller at Kakudinalaon January 1 and arrest-ed three persons in thisconnection.

The arrestees wereidentified as AjayGouda, Jitu Pandi andAlok Pradhan , all intheir early twenties,informed ChhatrapurSDPO Ramesh ChandraSethi.

Police have 126gram gold, 9 kilogramsilver, six mobilephones, Rs 19,000 cashand two motorbikesused in the crime andforwarded the accusedto court.

Sources said whilejeweller Rabindra KumarNayak was on his way toLangeswar on his bike,the miscreants inter-cepted him atKakudinala nearKandigaon and after ter-rorising him by brandishingfirearms and decamped with300 gram gold and nine kg sil-ver. Later, Das lodged a com-plaint with the Khallikote police.

Based on the instruction ofGanjam SP Brijesh Ray a teamconsisting of SI Silu Dhal, ASIsDMR Dora, Tukuna Sethi andBiranchi Behera was formed.

The team conducted raids at anumber of suspected hideoutsand managed to nab theaccused trio fromBhubaneswar.

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Enough is enough!” Thishow the visibly enraged

Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on Fridaywarned the Pakistan PrimeMinister Imran Khan, its ArmyChief General Qamar JavedBajwa and his “chamche” ISI adays after bloodiest terrorattack on Indian armed forcesin Jammu and Kashmir’sPulwama.

Condemning the Pak’s actin the strongest possible words,Capt Amarinder asserted thatthe time for talking peace isover with the neighbouringPakistan as the “things are get-ting beyond control now”.

At the same time, he urgedthe Prime Minister to give Paka “befitting reply” so the sacri-fices of our jawans don’t gowaste.

“Their Prime Minister istalking peace and the Generalis talking war...what is this? Istrongly condemn this bar-baric attack...the time for talk-ing peace is over...this isbecoming too much...their sac-rifices should not go waste...I

urge the Prime Minister to givePakistan a befitting reply,” saidCapt Amarinder in the VidhanSabha.

Disturbed, CaptAmarinder lashed out at thepowers-to-be in Pakistan.“Enough is enough. They havetaken 41 young lives have gone.For what...just to please some-body...I am not able to under-stand why they killed ourjawans...Four out of them arefrom Punjab. What pleasuredoes it give them?” he ques-tioned.

Making a strongly-wordedstatement, Capt Amarinderaccused Pak Prime MinisterImran Khan of playing a dou-ble game in his policy vis-a-vis

India. “PM is talking aboutastarting a Guru Nanak DevUniversity, and doing sewa(serving the gurdwaras). But,on the other hand, Bajwa’sArmy is killing our men,” hesaid.

“He had been made PrimeMinister by the ISI and wascompletely at their service,”said Capt Amarinder whiledubbing Imran Khan as“Army’s puppet”.

Capt Amarinder alsominced no words to warn PakArmy general. “Je tu Punjabi ae,assi v Punjabi ae...Ethe vad kdekh (If you are Punjabi, we arealso Punjabi. Dare to enterPunjab!),” challenged CaptAmarinder, amidst the thump-

ing of benches, with CabinetMinister Navjot Singh Sidhusitting silent.

“Everyday Indian soldiersare being killed by the enemyfrom across the border...a majorand two Jawans from secondSikh regiment had lost theirlives to such attacks recently,”he said.

“Punjab has also sufferedterror in the 80s and the 90sand fought it with a strongpolice force, which had grownmanifold since then and isnow fully geared to effectivelycounter any threat,” said CaptAmarinder while issuingGeneral Bajwa and Pak PM astern warning against contin-uing with their policy of link-ing Kashmir and Punjab sepa-rators.

“We have a force of 81,000fully with motivated men andfully equipped, who havepassed the test of fire,” said theChief Minister, declaring thatif Bajwa and ISI tried anythingnow in Punjab, they would geta resounding response.

This is not the 80s, he saidwhile talking with the mediaoutside the House, noting thatthe Punjab Police was much

bigger and better equippedtoday.

At the same time, CaptAmarinder expressed hopedthe Pulwama attack will notimpact Kartarpur Corridorand reiterated his plea for visa-free ‘khule darshan didar’ toone and all.

“I am confident that thecorridor would be well-pro-tected, but there is a need fora change in attitude on the partof Pakistan if peace between thetwo countries is to be promot-ed,” he said while replying tothe media queries.

Repeating that Islamabadwas trying to link the terror-ists of Punjab and J&K, theChief Minister said that thereare reports of the neighbour-ing country trying to fomenttrouble in Punjab, where asmany as 28 terror moduleshad been busted in recentmonths.

The Referendum 2020 ofSikhs for Justice (SJF), whichwas clearly working at ISI’sbehest, was also a sign oftheir continued attempts todisturb peace in Punjab, hesaid, but asserted they will notsucceed.

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Congress in-charge ofJharkhand R P N Singh

urged the people here in the‘Desh Bachao’ rally held todayin Daltonganj to ensure defeatof the BJP Government whichis a Government of “jhooth andjumla” (lies & mere pro-nouncements).

Singh said the Chowkidar(security guard) of the countryis a thief and asked people toshout it and when Singh foundthe sound not much strongerhad to repeat his request tochant it more strongly. Thecrowd did but not feverishlyany more.

R P N Singh talked aboutjoblessness in the country andhe got applause from the gath-ering.

Palamu Congress had helda ‘Desh Bachao’ rally heretoday and the district presidentJeyesh Ranjan Pathak aliasBittu Pathak, for whom it washis first mega political showcame out too successfully as

even the veteran Congressleader Dadai Dubey not seen inpublic life for over two yearstoday not only shared the daisbut he in his speech in Bhojpuriasked the impressive gatheringto vote for the Congress.

It was Dubey’s Bhojpurispeech that in fact spurred R PN Singh to speak in the samedialect who raised Bharat Mataki jai and the crowd just cho-

rused with him full throated.Former Congress MLA K

N Tripathi in his speechpumped patriotic oxygen in thecrowd when he in his speechasked PM Modi to takerevenge of the loss of 42 troop-ers martyred in Pulwama inSrinagar. He lashed at the BJPthe hardest way.

R P N Singh did the best ofthing when on reaching the

dais here he asked everyonethere not to beat drums orexchange any flower but standin silence for a minute and theentire gathering stood in mem-ory of the troopers so slain inthe terror attack. Singh in hisspeech said BJP remembersLord Ram only when the elec-tion is around as only last yearit had asked people to light onecandle in the name of Ram.“What is this? Is this not apolitical gimmick?” quippedSingh.

‘Chor’ has become a stockin trade with Congress party asState Congress president DrAjoy Kumar in his speechtermed Raghubar Das as ‘AndaChore’ and wished the crowd to

lap it up but the crowd just didnot cherish this term for CM.

State Congress president’sremark of egg thief was in theback drop of the decision ofthis BJP Government in whichit has reduced the number ofeggs in mid day meal from 3 aweek to 2 a week now.

The State Congress chiefagain plunged quite insincere-ly when he naming a BJP MPsaid “His party is againstValentine day but for song oncash the man went out in onesuch party.” In the Desh Bachaorally Rahul Gandi was hyster-ically chanted but none chant-ed Priyanka Gandhi. Therewas no slogan for here in this‘Desh Bachao’ rally.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal on Friday

announced that a Chair on Gitawould be established inMahatma Gandhi Institute atMauritius to carry out studyand research work on Gita.

“The assistance ofKurukshetra University,Kurukshetra would be takenfor this purpose,” Manohar Lalsaid while interacting with theprominent personalities inMauritius. A Press statementissued here said that thisChair would play a vital rolein the social and moral upliftof people of India andMauritius.

He suggested that compe-titions on recitation of all 700shalokas and their discourseshould be organized so thatmaximum people could assim-ilate the message of Gita.

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Page 5:  · Sahoo and Constable Manoj Kumar Behera. While Sahoo was a resident ... Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera and Health Minister Pratap Jena to visit the two families. The Chief

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After vowing to avenge thekilling of 44 CRPF jawans

at Pulawama in Jammu &Kashmir, India on Fridaylaunched a major diplomaticoffensive against Pakistan tomobilise international opinionin favour of a possible punitiveaction. India briefed envoys of25 countries, including from P5nations — US, China, Russia,the UK and France — onIslamabad’s hand behind theattack. .

Ahead of the full-scalebriefing to international com-munity, Foreign Secretary VijayGokhale summoned PakistanHigh Commissioner to IndiaSohail Mahmood to his SouthBlock office and issued a verystrong demarche over the attackin which at least 40 CRPF per-sonnel were killed in Kashmir’sPulwama district.

Pakistan must take “imme-diate and verifiable action”against the JeM and that it mustimmediately stop any groups orindividuals associated with ter-rorism operating from its ter-ritories, Gokhale told the envoy.

According to sources,Indian High Commissioner toPakistan Ajay Bisaria has alsobeen called to Delhi for con-sultations in the wake of thehorrific attack.

Hours after vowing to iso-late Pakistan diplomatically inthe wake of the attack, theGovernment undertook theexercise of reaching out to theinternational community, mostof which has univocally con-demned the attack by the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based JeMterror outfit.

China expressed deep“shock” over the Pulwama ter-ror attack carried out by a Jaishsuicide bomber, but did not give

an assurance to India that it willback New Delhi’s appeal to listthe UN-proscribed Pakistan-based terror group’s chiefMasood Azhar as a global ter-rorist.

Apart from the envoys ofthe P5, Gokhale met the envoysof key countries in Europe andAsia such as Germany, SouthKorea, Japan, as well asAustralia, they said.

“All the Heads of Missionswere left in no doubt about therole played by Pakistan basedand supported JeM in the ter-rorist attack and our demandthat Pakistan ceases forthwithall support and financing to ter-ror groups operating from areasunder their control. The foreignsecretary also highlighted therole played by Pakistan in usingterrorism as an instrument of itsstate policy,” a source said.

The MEA will continue totake all steps to expose the com-

plicity of Pakistan in thePulwama terrorist attack anddemand immediate and verifi-able action against JeM and itsleader Masood Azhar, thesource added.

Countries from across theglobe condemned the terrorattack with nations such as theUS, UK, Russia and France

asserting that they stand withIndia in this hour of grief.

Condemning the attack,Russian President VladimirPutin said perpetrators andsponsors of the attack should bebrought to book and reiteratedhis country’s support for furtherstrengthening counterterroristcooperation with India.

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An all-party meeting hasbeen called by the

Government on Saturday todiscuss Thursday’s terror attackagainst a convoy of CentralReserve Police Force (CRPF)in Kashmir in which 40 sol-diers were killed and manymore are still battling for theirlives.

This meeting will be thefirst of its kind called by the rul-ing National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) under PrimeMinister Narendra Modi inthe wake of a terror attack.

The agenda of the meeting,it is understood, is to seek aunanimous view of India’sfuture course of action.

Invitations have been extend-ed to all the parties.

Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh who visitedKashmir on Friday to overseethe situation there would con-vene the meeting to briefpolitical parties on the incidentso that the nation speaks in one

voice on the issue, said UnionFinance Minister Aurn Jaitleysaid after the meeting ofCabinet Committee onSecurity.

With Lok Sabha electionsclose by, the Governmentwould like to take a bipartisanview on the issue and to havethe backing of all the parties towhatever action it proposes totake following the terror attackin Kashmir.

All the parties are expect-ed to attend the importantmeet called by theGovernment.

Shiv Sena, an ally in the NDA has sought calling ofa Joint-session of theParliament to discuss thePulwama attack.

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Aday after the Pulwamaattack, Congress president

Rahul Gandhi on Friday saidhis party and the entireOpposition is fully supportiveof the Government and thesecurity forces.

No amount of hatred andanger can harm the love Indiais built on, Gandhi said at aPress conference along withformer Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and otherCongress leaders, includingGhulam Nabi Azad and AKAntony.

“This is a terrible attack,this type of violence is dis-gusting. Terrorism tries todivide the nation, we can’t bedivided by any power. Theentire opposition is with secu-

rity forces and theGovernment,” Gandhi said.

“Those who have donethis should not feel that theycan harm the country. It is atime of mourning and sadness,”he added.

Singh said the nation cannever compromise with ter-rorism.

“Terrorism is a scourgewhich we can never compro-mise...,” the former PrimeMinister said.

On Thursday, an explosivesladen truck rammed into aCRPF convoy in Pulwama out-side Srinagar, killing 37 soldiersin one of the biggest terrorattacks in recent years.

Meanwhile, NationalistCongress Party chief SharadPawar on Friday said thePulwama terror attack was anattack on the nation and thereshould be no attempts to politi-cise the issue. The formerUnion minister also took aswipe at Prime Minister

Narendra Modi over some ofthe latter’s statements aftersuch attacks during theCongress-led UPA regime.

Speaking to reporters onhome turf Baramati in Punedistrict, Pawar calledThursday’s attack on the CRPFconvoy in Jammu and Kashmiras an attack on the nation.

“I can remember, PrimeMinister Modi, before comingto power, used to say in hiselection rallies that (then PM)Manmohan Singh’s govern-ment had failed to teachPakistan a lesson (after suchattacks).

“He (Modi) used to say theManmohan Singh governmentdid not have ability to teach alesson (to Pakistan). He also

used to remark that only thosewith a 56-inch chest couldadminister a tough lesson toPakistan,” Pawar said.

Modi, in his rallies, used toexhort people to replace theUPA government with that ofthe BJP so that Pakistan couldbe given a befitting reply forsuch terror attacks, Pawar toldreporters.

“But everyone has seenwhat has happened now. Buttoday I will not repeat thatsame demand which he (Modi)had made (at that time),” Pawarsaid. The kind of imagethat Modi created of himself inthe run-up to the 2014 LokSabha polls had now become a“100 per cent failure”, he said.

The hand of state players inPakistan cannot be ruled out inthe Pulwama attack looking atits magnitude and explosivesused, Pawar said. Having such capabilities was not pos-sible for common persons oroutfits, he added.

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If you are a bird lover or/andavian expert, you have an

opportunity to be the part ofthis first ever all-IndiaFlamingo census to be carriedout in two phases—first one onFebruary 23-24, and then inApril at several sites across 12States including the nationalCapital and neighbouringHaryana.

The all India count isexpected to help in assessing thecurrent population trend ofGreater FlamingoPhoenicopterus rosues andLesser Flamingo Phoeniconaiasminor and their habitats inIndia to help prepare the speciesaction plan for their long termconservation, said an officialfrom the Bombay NaturalHistory Society (BNHS) whichis conducting the mega census.

Greater Flamingos, whichare taller and whiter, have amixed feeding pattern. It feedson insects, small fishes andalgae. The Lesser Flamingos arecomparatively smaller andmore pink and only feed onalgae.

These two birds are alsoincluded in the India’s NationalAction Plan (NAP) forConservation of MigratoryBirds and their habitats alongCentral Asian Flyway (CAF)prepared by the UnionEnvironment Ministry.

“This is the first initiative

for a coordinated PAN-Indiaflamingo count. We have in thepast undertaken several stud-ies including colour tagging,satellite tracking of GreaterFlamingo and conservationactions in the past decades.

“Currently, we are moni-toring both migratory birdspopulation in some locationsincluding the Mumbaiseascape,” said the officialadding that as this work is ini-tiated through the citizens sci-ence, this also fulfil anotheractivity of the NAP to promotemigratory bird conservationinitiatives through raising pub-lic awareness and local peoples’participation, including citi-zen science groups.

The Central Asian Flyway(CAF), one among the nine fly-ways in the world, encom-passes overlapping migrationroutes over 30 countries for dif-ferent waterbirds linking theirnorthern most breedinggrounds in Russia (Siberia) to

the southernmost non-breed-ing (wintering) grounds in theMaldives and the British IndianOcean Territory.

The BNHS has short-listedmajor Flamingo congregationsites by referring available lit-erature, past and present BNHSstudies, Asian WaterbirdCounts (AWC) and e-birdIndia database. Majority ofthese wetland sites are inGujarat, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthanand Telangana. In Delhi, thesebirds are sighted at Najafgarhjheel area while in Haryana thehotspots are Sultanpur NationalPark and Dighal wetlands.

“The government institu-tions, Indian Bird ConservationNetwork (IBCN) members,birdwatchers, NGOs, ornithol-ogists, researchers, academi-cians and nature lovers acrossIndia are being encouraged tovisit any of the short-listed sitesor any site of their choosingwhere Flamingos are seen,”said the official.

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In a move to make it easy forpeople to switch to electric

vehicles (EV) and to reducedependence on fossil fuels, theMinistry of Housing and UrbanAffairs (MoHUA) has madeamendments to the ModelBuilding Byelaws (MBBL) 2016and Urban RegionalDevelopment PlansFormulation andImplementation (URDPFI)guidelines 2014 making provi-sions for setting up EVs charg-ing stations in residential andcommercial buildings, bus ter-minals and service stationsand multi-level parking lots.

The amendments includeoffering round the-clock charg-ing infrastructure facility to allelectric vehicles in residentialbuildings, increasing electrici-ty load for all buildings, settingup charging bays at 20% capac-ity of all vehicles and on-spotmetering and payment ser-vices in both commercial andresidential buildings.

If successful, this will makeEVs more attractive and cost-effective to people - changingthe way they have been drivingtill now. This will make easy forpeople to switch to EVs. Theamendments in the guidelineshave been circulated to all theState Governments and Union

Territories with the requestto amend their Building

Byelaws and Master PlanRegulations. Additionally, thebuilding premise will have tohave an additional power load,equivalent to the powerrequired for all charging points(in a Public Charging System(PCS) ) to be operated. Thereshould be sufficient space forcharging and entry/exit forvehicles. Any PCS installed atPublic/Private areas or buildingpremises of any category thatcaters to commercial mode ofcharging of EVs shall bedeemed as a Public ChargingStation and shall have to installthe minimum requirements ofchargers as specified in theguidelines.

The amendment allowsone public charging system tobe set up at every 25 kms onboth sides of highways andinter-city corridors. Similarly,one fast charging station is tobe set up at every 100 kms onboth sides of highways androads. In industrial parks or

estates, land for at least onepoint charging station is to bereserved within a grid of 10kmx 10 km. The amendment alsoallows setting up a batteryswapping station along thehighways and intercity corri-dors.

As per amendment, thetariff for supply of EVs will bedetermined by the competentauthority and CentralElectricity Authority will becreate a data base to this effect.

According to the amend-ment, the government will cre-ate ‘favourable ecosystems’ innine polluted cities having over4 million populations. It willgradually be extended to citiesthat have population of onemillion-plus. It will also coverMumbai-Pune corridor, Delhi-Jaipur expressway,A h m e d a b a d - Va d o d a r aexpressway, Delhi-AgraYamuna expressway,Bengaluru-Mysore expressway,Bengaluru-Chennai, Surat-

Mumbai highway, Agra-Lucknow highway, Eastern andWestern PeripheralExpressway, Delhi-Agra NH 2and Hyderabad Outer RingRoad expressway.

According to data, India’sper capita emissions are stillconsidered low at 1.9 tonnes(2013), but its total emissionsare next only to China and theUS and is likely to overtakethose of the European Unionby 2019. Delhi is on top as thebiggest emitter at over 38 38million tonnes of carbon diox-ide equivalent overall emis-sions, followed by GreaterMumbai at 22.7 million tonnesand Chennai at 22.1 milliontonnes, Kolkata at 14.8milliontonnes, Bangalore at 19.8mil-lion tonnes, Hyderabad at 13.7million tonnes andAhmedabad at 9million tonneswere the other cities whoseemissions for the year were cal-culated sector wise.

As per the statistics ofDelhi government, total num-ber of vehicles in Delhi is morethan the combined total vehi-cles in Mumbai, Chennai andKolkata. Delhi has 85 privatecars per 1000 populationagainst the national average of8 cars per 1000 population. Interms of CO2 emissions due tomotor vehicles, Delhi emitsabout 12.4 million tonnes whilethe city of Bengaluru emitsabout 8.6 million tonnes.

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Eight weeks of intensive yogapractice significantly

decreases the severity of phys-ical and psychological symp-toms in patients with activerheumatoid arthritis (RA), adebilitating chronic auto-immune inflammatory disease,according to doctors fromDelhi-based All India Instituteof Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

In their study published inRestorative Neurology andNeuroscience, the doctors saidthat marked improvementswere noticed in the levels ofcertain inflammatory bio-markers and assessments offunctional status and diseaseactivity in patients studied,demonstrating yoga’s promo-tive, preventive, curative, andrehabilitative potential forachieving optimal health.

“Our findings show mea-surable improvements for the

patients in the test group, sug-gesting an immune-regulatoryrole of yoga practice in thetreatment of RA.

“An intensive yoga regimenconcurrent with routine drugtherapy induced molecularremission and re-establishedimmunological tolerance. Inaddition, it reduced the sever-ity of depression by promotingneuroplasticity,” explained leadinvestigator, Rima Dada, MD,Professor, Department ofAnatomy, All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS) here.She noted that high diseaseactivity and underlying depres-sion are associated withincreased disability, reducedquality of life, and minimizedrates of clinical remission andtreatment response. Otherresearchers included DrSurabhi Gautam, Dr MadhuriTolahunase and Dr UmaKumar.

The study was a mind-

body intervention (MBI) ran-domized trial (with parallelactive and control groups) toanalyze the effects of practicing120 minutes of yoga, five daysa week for eight weeks on 72patients with RA. Both the testand control groups were simul-taneously undergoing routinedrug therapies (DMARDs).

The findings showed sig-nificant improvement in sys-temic biomarkers of neuro-plasticity, inflammation,immune-modulation, cellularhealth integrity, and aging inassociation with the positiveclinical outcome of reductionin depression severity, diseaseactivity, and disability quo-tient in RA patients followingthe intensive yoga based MBI.The study was supported byfunding provided by theDepartment of Science&Technology, Union Ministryof Science & Technology.

Existing research has eval-

uated the role of yoga as aneffective intervention to assist the management of RAwith respect to clinical symptoms, quality of life, psy-chosocial outcomes, and func-tional ability.

This study is one of the firstto look at how yoga practiceaffects the systemic biomarkersof inflammation, cellular aging,and oxidative stress, especial-ly in RA. “Our results provideevidence that yoga positivelymodifies the pathobiology ofautoimmunity at cellular andmolecular levels by targetingmind-body communications.Further research is needed forthe exploration of possiblemechanisms underlying thecumulative effect of yoga onmultiple pathways at a cellularlevel,” added Dr. Dada. “Yogafacilitates the mind’s capacity toaffect bodily function andsymptoms mediated though avariety of downstream path-

ways and bring about naturalimmunological tolerance.”

RA is a heterogeneousautoimmune disease thatresults from the interplay ofgenetic and environmental fac-tors and causes extensive sys-temic inflammation, cartilagedamage, and synovial hyper-plasia that cause physical dis-ability and psychiatric comor-bidity. The co-existence ofdepression and RA in individ-uals poses a significant health-care burden on the patients,their caregivers, healthcare sys-tems, and society as a whole.

Existing medical therapieshave a limited scope and fail tocure the psychological compo-nent of the disease and havenumerous side effects.Depression seems to decreasepatients’ compliance andadherence to medical treatmentand results in worse health out-comes and increases diseaseseverity.

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The Supreme Court Fridaydecided to hear a fresh

plea challenging the constitutional validity of a 1993Central law by which the gov-ernment acquired 67.703 acresof land, including the disputedpremises of RamJanambhoomi-Babri Masjid,in Ayodhya.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoitagged the matter with themain petition on title disputepending before a constitutionbench.

“List the matter before thebench already seized with theissue,” the bench of ChiefJustice Gogoi and Justice SanjivKhanna said.

The plea, challenging leg-

islative competence ofParliament to acquire religiousland, was filed a week after theCentre had moved the apexcourt seeking modification inits 2003 order and allow it toreturn to original owners the 67acres “non-disputed” landaround the disputed structurein Ayodhya.

The petition, filed by sevenindividuals, including twoLucknow-based lawyers claim-ing to be devotees of Ram Lalla,has contended that Parliamenthad no legislative competenceto acquire land belonging to thestate.

Moreover, it said, the statelegislature has the exclusivepower to make provisions relat-ing to the management ofaffairs of religious institutionsinside its territory.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on Friday

said it has attached assets worth�4.62 crore of SkylightHospitality, a firm owned byRobert Vadra, Congress pres-ident Rahul Gandhi’s brother-in-law, in connection with theBikaner land scam case.

“The attached assetsinclude movable assetsamounting to �18,59,500 per-taining to four individuals andone immovable property situ-ated at 268, Sukhdev Vihar inNew Delhi to the extent of�4,43,36,550 owned by RobertVadra’s company Ms Sky LightHospitality (P) Ltd (now LLP),”the agency said.

The ED had registered acriminal case in connectionwith the deal in 2015, takingcognisance of a clutch of FIRsand charge sheets filed byRajasthan Police after thetehsildar of Bikaner com-plained about alleged forgery inthe allotment of land in thearea. The area is consideredsensitive due to its proximity tothe Indo-Pak border.

“In furtherance of sale/purchase, these impugnedfraudulent lands were furthersold by subsequent purchasersto individuals and companiesand all these subsequent sellersof the impugned land generat-ed a considerable amount ofprofit. The fraudulently gener-ated profit by these entities isnothing but proceeds of crimeas defined under PMLA,” theED said in a statement.

Sky Light Hospitality (P) Ltdhad purchased 275 Bigha (69.55Hectare) land fraudulently for�72 lakh and sold the same for�5.15 crores to Allegeny Finlease(P) Ltd and illegally generatedprofit of �4.43 Crores. Fourother individuals had also gen-erated profit of �18.59 lakhs insale of fraudulent acquired land,the agency said.

On Tuesday, Vadra andhis mother Maureen hadappeared before the ED inJaipur. Congress general secre-tary and Vadra’s wife PriyankaGandhi had accompanied themto the probe agency’s office.

Last week, the ED hadquizzed Vadra in Delhi forthree days in connection witha money laundering probeagainst him for allegedlyprocuring assets abroad in anillegal manner.

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Page 6:  · Sahoo and Constable Manoj Kumar Behera. While Sahoo was a resident ... Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera and Health Minister Pratap Jena to visit the two families. The Chief

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Pune: As protests erupted in the city over the attack on CRPFconvoy at Pulwama, a flag-seller here did a brisk business —in Pakistani flags. Murudkar Zendewale, a famous flag-seller,sold over 100 national flags of Pakistan on Friday and gave alighter free with every flag.

Pakistani flags were burnt at many places in the city in thewake of the terror attack at Pulwama in Jammu & KashmirThursday in which at least 44 CRPF personnel were killed.People expressed anger about the neighbouring country,which is accused of harbouring Jaish-E-Mohammad, the ter-ror outfit which has claimed the responsibility for the ghastlyattack, by burning Pakistani flags.

PTI

Aligarh: The AMU on Fridaysuspended an undergraduateStudent from Kashmir forallegedly lauding a terroristoutfit in a social media postafter the terror strike inPulwama in which 40 CRPFpersonnel were killed.

Aligarh Muslim University(AMU) spokesperson OmarPeerzada told PTI that the mat-ter is being further probed and“strong deterrent action” will betaken once the investigation iscomplete. “AMU has zero tol-erance for any such perniciousactivity and anyone indulgingin such an act will not bespared,” Peerzada said. PTI

Nagpur: Rajesh Rajput spoketo his younger brother Sanjay,a CRPF jawan, on phone onThursday morning. Little didhe know that it would be theirlast conversation.

Sanjay Rajput (45) wasamong the 44 jawans of theCentral Reserve Police Forcekilled when a terrorist rammeda bomb-laden vehicle into theirbus in Pulwama on Thursday.

A pall of gloom descendedover the CRPF Group CentreColony here, where Sanjay’sfamily lives, as the news came.

Rajesh told PTI that hisbrother was attached to theCRPF’s 213th battalion, basedin Nagpur, for the last fouryears. He lived in the CRPFcolony with his two sons Jai(13) and Shubham (11) andwife Sushma Rajput.

“He left Nagpur onFebruary 11 for his new post-ing with the 115th battalion inSrinagar. I called him yesterdaymorning, around 9.30 am,when he told me he had leftJammu at 3.30 am to join hisnew posting,” said Rajesh. PTI

Agartala: Tripura ChiefMinister Biplab Kumar Debon Friday announced Rs 2-lakh compensation for eachfamily. “People of Tripura andthe State Government wouldremain behind the families of45 martyred CRPF personnel,”the Chief Minister told themedia after announcing thecompensation. IANS

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Condemning the terrorattack on a CRPF convoy

in Jammu & Kashmir’sPulwama, Ajmer SharifDargah dewan Syed ZainulAbedin Ali Khan on Fridayurged the government to notallow devotees from Pakistanto visit the shrine.

Ali Khan, the descendantof Sufi saint Hazrat KhwajaMoinuddin Hassan Chishti,paid tribute to the personnelkilled in the attack.

He urged the Governmentto not allow ‘jatha’ or group ofdevotees from Pakistan tovisit the famous shrine in Rajasthan’s Ajmer during festivals, including Urs,

which commemorates thedeath anniversary of the Sufisaint.

Describing the attack as“non-Islamic”, he said harminglives of innocent people byattacking them cowardly isagainst the fundamental prin-ciples of the religion.

Several devotees fromPakistan visit the Ajmer SharifDargah every year. OnThursday, an explosives ladentruck rammed into a CRPFconvoy in Pulwama outsideSrinagar, killing 44 soldiers inone of the biggest terrorattacks in recent years.

Pakistan-based terrorgroup Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM) has claimed responsi-bility for the attack.

Guwahati: Assam ChiefMinister Sarbananda Sonowalannounced Rs 20 lakh to thefamily of MoneswarBasumatary, a CRPF soldierfrom the state, who was mar-tyred in the terrorist attack inJammu & Kashmir onThursday. Condoling the deathof Basumatary, Sonowal Fridaysaid his sacrifice would beremembered by the wholenation.

PTI

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Fridaysaid the terror attack in J&K on a CRPF was due to “intelligencefailure” and demanded that there be three-day nationwide mourn-ing to show respect to the martyrs.

She questioned why the Centre was not declaring nationalmourning for the CRPF jawans and said “Will mourning takeplace only when political leaders die?” “I demand 72 hoursmourning for the ultimate sacrifice of the soldiers. At least fornational respect. Only one flag is not enough for it,” she toldreporters after returning from New Delhi.

Banerjee said that the Government as well as all the politi-cal parties should put a stop to all scheduled programme in viewof the terror attack. PTI

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When Rohitash Lamba,Bhagirath Singh and

Hemraj Meena left their homesin Rajasthan earlier this weekwith the promise that they would return to theirfamilies soon, few imaginedthat it would turn out to betheir last visit.

Lamba, Singh and Meenawere among the 44 CRPF per-sonnel killed in a terroristattack in Pulwama in Jammu& Kashmir on Thursday.

Their families on Fridayrecalled their passion and lovefor the country as they griev-ed the demise of their loved

ones. Barely two months ago,Lamba had expressed his joyon becoming a father on thesocial media. He rejoined dutyon February 12 after spendingseveral days with his family,including his two-month-oldson. A pall of gloom descend-ed at Govindpura Basadi vil-lage near Shahpura, around 65km from Jaipur, as the news ofLamba’s death reached.Former Deputy Speaker ofRajasthan Assembly and for-mer Shahpura legislator RaoRajendra Singh met Lamba’sfamily members on Fridayand expressed his condolences.

He said that Lamba’s wifefell unconscious on hearing the

tragic news and had to be hos-pitalised.

The family of 27-year-oldBhagirath Singh, a resident ofJaitpur village in Dholpur dis-trict, was struggling to come toterms with the loss. On Friday,the entire village of Jaitpurmourned the death of theyoung man.

“We never knew that hewould leave us so early. He hadpromised his father and fam-ily to return soon two days agobut they had never imaginedthat it would be his last visithome,” Jaitpur sarpanch KapurChand Gurjar said.

He said Singh’s motherhad passed away when he was

a kid. His father Parshuram, afarmer, brought up his twosons alone. Singh joined CRPFfour years ago, whereas hisyounger brother Balveer joinedUttar Pradesh Police.

Singh got married Ranjnafour years ago and has three-year-old son Vinay and a-year-and-a-half-old daughterShivangi. Hemraj Meena’s wifeMadhu received a call from theCRPF camp in Jammu around10 pm Thursday, informingher about his demise.

Soon after the newsreached the area, villagerscame out their homes andgathered outside Meena’s hometo pay their tributes.

Kalabari/Guwahati: “The perpe-trators must be punished for killingmy father, our jawans, even if itmeans carrying out surgical strikesacross the border,” demanded thedaughter of CRPF Head Constable Maneswar Basumatari, who wasmartyred in Thursday’s terror attackin Jammu & Kashmir.

Basumatari, the head constableCRPF 98 Battalion was among the 40soldiers who were killed in thePulwama attack. He is survived byhis daughter, Didmaswari, wife,Sunmati, and son. “We want justice.Give a befitting reply to the cowardsresponsible for the Pulwama attack,”said an inconsolable Didmaswari onFriday. Talking to reporters at thefamily’s residence in Kalabari villagein Assam’s Baksa district, she also

demanded that the Governmentshould look after the family now.

Basumatari had recently visitedhome, said the slain head constable’swife with tears running down herface. She was unable to talk further.

After the attack, there wererumours circulating on social mediathat three more soldiers from Assamhad been killed in the attack. TheCRPF jawans rumoured to havebeen killed in the blast took toFacebook on Friday to refute therumours. One of the soldiers, MizingBasumatary of Udalguri district saidin a Facebook post, “This is fakenews. I am doing fine and nothinghas happened to me. Please don’tshare the fake post.”

CRPF jawan, Pabitra Barman, anative of Bongaigaon, said, “Hi

friends...I am fully safe & sound. I’mdeployed in other district of Kashmir,which is far away from Pulwama wherethe mischief happened. Jai Hind.”

Family of the third CRPF jawan,Ananta Saiki of Nagaon district’sGorubandha, also stated that hewas safe. His sister, Purnima, toldreporters, “By God’s grace, Ananta issafe. He called us today. He was ona bus which was ahead of the con-voy of 78 vehicles, carrying 2,547CRPF jawans, that was attacked.”

Meanwhile, various organisa-tions held protests across Assam.Protesters burnt effigies of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, which claimed respon-sibility for the attack, and flags of theneighbouring country.

PTI

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With the bugler playingthe ‘last post’, Home

Minister Rajnath Singh turneda pallbearer on Friday as thebodies of 44 paramilitary per-sonnel killed in an audaciousterror strike in South Kashmir’sPulwama district were sent ontheir last journey home.

Singh, accompanied by ahigh-level team comprisingofficials from the CRPF, NIAand Home Ministry, arrivedhere on Friday afternoon anddrove straight to the adjacentCRPF campus where a wreathlaying ceremony was held forthe slain jawans.

As the bugler played the‘last post’ and guard called for‘shok salami shastra’ (reversingof arms in honour of fallen sol-diers), a two-minute silence wasobserved after which the UnionHome Minister gave a shoulderto the coffin of a jawan whichwas being taken to his nativeplace in a special aircraft. TheHome Minister, Governor SatyaPal Malik, Home SecretaryRajiv Gauba, CRPF DirectorGeneral RR Bhatnagar, Jammu& Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singhbesides others attended thewreath laying ceremony.

New Delhi: Aadhaar cards,ID cards, leave applicationsand certain other articleswere the only things left ofmost of the 44 CRPF person-nel killed in the Pulwama ter-ror attack that helped theircolleagues identify them, offi-cials said on Friday.

Officials said as the bod-ies of the troops were badlymutilated and charred due onthe impact of the RDX-trig-gered blast, it became verydifficult to ascertain theiridentities. Most of the slainjawans were either identifiedby their Aadhaar cards, forceIDs, PAN cards or leave appli-cations kept in their pocketsand bags. PTI

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Shops, vehicles and otherproperty belonging to a

particular community cameunder attack in Poonch andJammu, forcing authorities toclamp curfew in Jammu, during a shutdown todenounce a suicide bombingthat killed 44 CRPF troopersin the Kashmir Valley.

Authorities first imposedcurfew and sought the Army’shelp to restore order in the win-ter capital of Jammu & Kashmirwhere scores of youths protest-ing against the suicide attacktorched some vehicles andsmashed many more believedto be from the Valley.

Jammu District MagistrateRamesh Kumar said curfewhad been imposed in the entireJammu city to maintain peace.

Police used tear smokeand batons to disperse themobs. The curfew wasimposed initially in Jammu’sGujjar Nagar, Talab Khatikan,Janipur, Bakshi Nagar, ChenniHeemat, Bus Stand and someother places in old city areaand later extended to theentire city.

Violence also erupted inPoonch district, where too

shops and vehicles belongingto a particular communitywere attacked in Aala Peerarea, forcing police to use tearsmoke and batons.

“People are advised tomaintain calm and not play intothe hands of anti-social ele-ments who want to exploit thesituation for their nefariousobjectives,” a police officer said.

The Jammu Chamber ofCommerce and Industry(JCCI), an influential body oftraders and industrialists, hadearlier called a shutdown inJammu city against the terrorstrike in the Valley’s Pulwamadistrict on Thursday on aCRPF convoy.

Rakesh Gupta, President ofJCCI, an influential body oflocal traders and industrialists,told IANS, “I appeal to the peo-ple belonging to different sec-tions of the society to maintainthe traditional harmony andbrotherhood for which Jammuhas been known ever since thefires of violence spread in the(Kashmir) Valley.”

Meanwhile, Union HomeMinister Rajnath Singh attend-ed the wreath laying ceremo-ny of the troopers at theHumhama RegimentalTraining Centre of the CRPF

in Badgam district.Rajnath Singh co-chaired

a meeting of the UnifiedHeadquarters with GovernorSatya Pal Malik here.

The Unified Headquartersis the apex anti-militancy gridin the State comprising topofficials of the Army, CentralArmed forces, local policeand State and CentralIntelligence Agencies.

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Patna/Bhagalpur: One wasplanning wedding of his daugh-ter, the other eagerly awaitingarrival of his second child.

The dreams of SanjayKumar Sinha and Ratan KumarThakur went up in smoke in atrice. They were among the 44CRPF jawans who lost theirlives. Family and friends ofSinha received the earth-shat-tering news of his death withsorrow, anger and disbelief.

His father Mahendra Prasadis proud of his son but equallyconcerned about what wouldhappen to his family. “He has twogrown-up, unmarried daughters.While leaving for duty, he hadsaid that on his next visit to thevillage he will finalise marriageof elder one. We are distraught,”grief-stricken father said.

The atmosphere is sombreat Thakur’s home in Bhagalpur.He has left behind a four-year-old son and a wife who isexpecting their second child.“We were expecting a call fromRatan by the evening as he hadtold us he would speak to usafter joining duty in Srinagar.Instead, we received a call fromone of his superiors who broketo us the terrible news,” NiranjanThakur, the slain CRPF consta-ble’s father, said. PTI

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Thousands of Muslims fromsouth Mumbai joined the

wide-spread protests staged byseveral groups and politicalparties across the metropolisagainst Thursday’s Pulwamaterror attacks which left 44CRPF personnel dead, even asthe Maharashtra Governmentannounced an ex-gratia of Rs50 lakh each to the next of kinof two jawans from the statekilled in the attack.

Muslims, carrying theIndian Tricolour, banners, plac-ards and raising anti-Pakistanslogans, took out a massive pro-cession along the busyMohammed Ali Road in down-town south Mumbai.

The slogans like “PakistanMurdabad, LeT Murdabad,“Down with Masood Azharand Hafiz Saeed” and “JeMMurdabad” rented the air, as

the Muslims staged protestmarches in localities of SaifeeJubilee Street, HandiwalaMosque, Sunni Bilal Mosque.Most of these areas observed aspontaneous bandh.

In a related development,the BJP-led by Ram Kadam, RajPurohit and others –stagedprotests against the Pakistani-sponsored terror strike in dif-ferent parts of the metropolis.

The Maharashtra andMumbai Congress unitsorgainsed special condolencemeetings at the state, city anddistrict party headqua

“We are all one whomourned the death of liveunder and all are sons ofBharatMata! We should notthink of caste,a ligion or faith.We are the followers ofVasudhaiv Kutumbakam,”Fadnavis said, while describingthe Pulgama terror strikes as an“absolute cowardly and con-

demnable act”.Ruling Shiv Sena, MNS and

the NCP organised similarprotests and demonstrations atvarious parts of the city otherparts of the state, while the MNSactivists burnt the Pakistan flagsin Mumbai and Thane.

The Bharat DiamondBourse, Gem & JewelleryExport Promotion Council andMumbai Diamond MerchantsAssociation also held a jointcondolence meeting for themartyred troopers at the BDBComplex in Bandra Kurla innorth-central Mumba.

The city also witnessedprotests outside major subur-ban railway stations wherelakh home-bound commutersraised slogans against Pakistanand the perpetrators behindthe Pulgama attacks

Meanwhile, Maharashtramourned the death of twoArmy jawans — identified as

Sanjay Rajput (45) and NitinRathod from Buldhana districtin eastern Maharashtra — inthe attacks.

While Sanjay Rajput isoriginally from Malkapur, NitinRathod belonged toChorpangra village inBuldhana district.

Sanjay’s brother Rajesh saidthat his brother is survived bywife Sushma Rajput and twosons Jai (13) and Shubham(11). Sanjay said his brotherhad left Nagpur on 11 Februaryfor his new posting with the115th battalion in Srinagar. “ Icalled him morning of the dayof the incident, around 9.30 am,when he told me he had leftJammu at 3.30 am to join hisnew posting,” Rajesh said..

Nitin (36) is survived bywife Vandana, who said has anew couple have two minorchildren — Jeevan (8) andJivika (5).

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Shiv Sena president UddhavThackeray on Friday attrib-

uted the Pulwama attacks to the “intelligence failure” andsaid it was time to “strikeinside Pakistan”.

Talking to media persons,Uddhav said that those incharge of the intelligencemachinery in the valley stateshould be removed.

“The issues of alliances,elections will be there. ButPakistan must not be allowedto go scot- free. It should betaught a befitting lesson,” theSena president said, whilereplying to a question about hismeeting with Maharashtrachief minister DevendraFadnavis on Thursday.

Maintaining thatThursday’s terror attack shouldbe condemned in the strongestpossible terms, Uddhav said:“This is not just a terror attack.It has exposed the chinks in thecountry’s intelligence system”.

“You (the BJP-led Uniongovernment) conducted surgi-cal strike in Pak-occupied-Kashmir. Now the time hascome to strike inside Pakistan.The entire country supports thegovernment on this issue,” theSena president said.

“Instead of making tallclaims, Pakistan needs to betaught a lesson once and for all.If intelligence inputs were notavailable, one wonders what dothe people who are holding thereins were doing. They shouldbe removed,” Uddhav said.

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The process of forming anelectoral alliance between

the AIADMK and the BJP forthe upcoming Lok Sabha pollbegan in right earnest lateThursday evening. UnionMinister for Railways PiyushGoyal who is in charge of theLok Sabha election for TamilNadu reached Chennai lateThursday evening and drovedown to the residence of lateindustrialist from south-westTamil Nadu and had a discus-sion with the AIADMK repre-sentatives — P Thangamani(Power Minister) and SPVelumani (local administra-tion minister).

This is the first officialmeeting between the AIADMKand the BJP though backroomdiscussions were on for quitesome time about the pollalliance, according to sources inboth the parties. “We do not seeany reason why there shouldnot be any alliance between theAIADMK and the BJP. A for-mal announcement about thealliance would be made soon,”said Narayanan Thiruppathi,spokesman of the BJP.

Another BJP leader toldThe Pioneer that discussionswere on with leaders of thePattali Makkal Katchi (PMK),the DMDK (led by film actorVijayakanth) and Dr

Krishnasamy’s PuthiyaTamilakam. “There is a possi-bility that Tamil Manila Congress led by GKVasan too would join theAIADMK-BJP alliance thoughit may take some more time foran announcement,” said theBJP leader.

Since Stalin is not enthusi-astic in including the TMC inhis front, Vasan is left with onlytwo options, either to pitch histent in the AIADMK-BJP frontor to sail with TTVDhinakaran’s AMMK. ButAnbazhagan, political com-mentator who is close confi-dante of Dhinakaran saidVasan would not join the BJPalliance and would join handswith the AMMK.

Goyal returned to NewDelhi early Friday morningand is expected back inChennai for further talks some-time next week. Meanwhile,the DMK –led front has start-ed its campaign for the electionbuoyed by the opinion pollresults by some of the leadingprivate agencies which forecasta total sweep in Tamil Nadu bythe DMK.

Though Stalin has notannounced the constituents ofthe rainbow alliance, it is cer-tain that the Congress, theIslamist parties, the Lefts, theVCK and the MDMK led byVaiko would figure in theDMK-led front.

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Subramanian Swamy, MP andsenior BJP leader has sought

the immediate intervention ofSushma Swaraj, Union Ministerfor External Affairs, to help theSri Lankan refugees who arestranded in Tamil Nadu for thelast four months because ofnon-availability of a ship to takethem home.

In a letter addressed toSushma Swaraj on Friday,Swamy said that during his lastvisit to Chennai, he was‘apprised by the Sri Lankanrefugees that they have been

waiting for four months for aship to be provided aspromised to return to theirhome country, Sri Lanka.’

“There appears to be somebureaucratic turf war on whocan decide when to provide theship required. Hope it will bepossible for you to interveneannsure that a ship is providedto take a batch of Sri LankanTamil refugees who have beenwaiting patiently for the last fourmonths back to their homes,”said Dr Swamy in the letter.

Though the Tamil chauvin-ist parties are in the forefront agi-tating for the rights of the Tamilsin the island nation, Dr Swamyis

the first politician from TamilNadu to take up cudgels onbehalf of the Tamils in SriLanka, pointed out Sri Lankanobservers based in the State.

The Sri Lankan HighCommissioner to India AustinFernando, has been quoted assaying that there are 97,000 SriLankan refugees in India. TheHigh Commissioner who was inChennai recently along with ateam of officials from Colomboto find out the first- hand detailspertaining to Tamil refugeeshad made it clear that Sri Lankaneeded the refugees and wouldtake all steps to ensure theirreturn to the home country .

���!�������������$+���� ��(�� ���������������-�!���������� Bengaluru: Two out of the four

disgruntled Congress MLAs,against whom a disqualificationpetition is pending with theassembly Speaker, Friday metparty leader and former ChiefMinister Siddaramaiah hereand reportedly pledged loyal-ty to the party. “MLA ShriNagendra and Shri RameshJarkiholi met CLPleader Shri@siddaramaiah along withminister Shri Zameer AhmedKhan,” Karnataka Congresssaid in a tweet.

Though what transpired atthe meeting was not known,party sources calling it a one-to-one meeting said, the legis-lators pledged their loyalty tothe party and requested theCLP leader to withdraw thedisqualification petition whilenarrating their grievances.

Siddaramaiah is said tohave advised both Jarkiholiand Nagendra not to take anydecision in haste until the LokSabha elections are over,according to the sources.

The CLP leader Thursdayhad said his petition seekingdisqualification of four dis-gruntled party MLAs waspending with the Speaker, whois the competent authority totake action under the anti-defection law.

The former CM said hispetition to Speaker has nothingto do with four MLAs attend-ing Session since Wednesday, ashe noted that the legislatorshave violated the whip in ear-lier instances. PTI

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Page 8:  · Sahoo and Constable Manoj Kumar Behera. While Sahoo was a resident ... Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera and Health Minister Pratap Jena to visit the two families. The Chief

Arecent PTI report citesresearchers as saying that risingsea levels, caused by climatechange, could destroy theworld’s biggest mangrove forest

— Sunderbans — spanning more than10,000 square kilometres in India andBangladesh, in the next 50 years. It quotesSharif Mukul, an assistant professor at theIndependent University, Bangladesh, assaying that analyses by researchers indicatethat the Sunderban’s tiger habitats wouldvanish by 2070. The area being perhaps themost important habitat of the majestic ani-mal, the development has serious implica-tions for the Royal Bengal Tiger’s survival.The report further quotes Bill Lawrence, aprofessor at Australia’s James CookUniversity, as stating that the animal, now“mainly confined to small areas of India andBangladesh”, is “facing a double whammy”—the increasing unavailability of theSunderbans area for themselves and theirprey as well as encroachment by industry,construction of roads and poaching.

All of this warrants concern on twocounts — the future of the Royal BengalTiger as a species, the consequences of theextinction of tigers and the developmentsleading to both. As to the first, around 97per cent of the world’s tiger population per-ished in the last 100 years and, accordingto the latest statistics, only 3,890 tigers areleft in the world. The developments lead-ing to the extinction of tigers include thedestruction of their forest habitats forhuman settlements, industry and infrastruc-ture, the consequent increase in human-tigerconflict and the extensive use of tiger partsin Chinese medicines.

Encroachments on tiger habitats areliable to grow given the continuing increasein human population, the rising demandsfor housing settlements and industrial andagricultural products arising therefrom. Theincidence of conflict between people andtigers is also set to rise as the decline in theavailability of prey, who share tigers’ shrink-ing habitats, compels the latter to targetdomesticated animals like cattle. Finally,there is no sign of any fall in the demandfor tiger parts in Chinese medicines despiteit being medically established that they haveno medicinal value at all.

China has postponed the implementa-tion of its decision to lift the ban on the useof tiger bones and rhino horns — from bothanimals bred in captivity — by hospitals, anddomestic trade in antique tiger and rhinoproducts, which would have given a coverof legitimacy to the sale of parts frompoached animals. The decision, though mostwelcome, needs to be made permanent andBeijing has to further step up its efforts tostanch illegal trade in animal parts.

The fate of the Royal Bengal Tiger willbe determined by the interplay of these fac-tors and the measures taken to conserve andincrease their number. Significant measures

have been taken towards the lat-ter. The international ban on thetrade in tigers, instituted in1993, has vastly reduced the massslaughter of the species by poach-ing and trade. Nevertheless,poaching and illegal trade con-tinue not only to provide themanufacturers of traditionalChinese medicines but fuel ademand for tiger heads andskins as status symbols and dec-orative items.

At the national level, Chinahas done much to increase itstiger population in the country’sNorth-eastern region by recent-ly establishing the Tiger andLeopard National Park — 1.6times larger than YellowstoneNational Park in the UnitedStates. India, home to 70 percent of tigers in the world,launched Project Tiger in April1973 when Indira Gandhi wasPrime Minister. It aims at ensur-ing viable population of RoyalBengal Tigers in their naturalhabitats, protecting them fromextinction and setting upreserves for the purpose. Thereare now 50 of the latter. InSeptember, 2006, it set up theNational Tiger ConservationAuthority to extend statutoryauthority to Project Tiger toprovide legal sanction to itsdirectives, foster accountabilityon the part of the Centre andthe States in the management oftiger reserves by providing abasis for MoUs among them,providing parliamentary over-

sight and address the interest oflocal people in areas aroundtiger reserves.

In June, 2007, it constitut-ed a multi-disciplinary Tigerand Other Endangered SpeciesCrime Control Bureau (WildlifeCrime Control Bureau), to com-bat organised illegal trading inwildlife and their derivatives. InMay, 2012, the Centre advisedthe States to each create, armand deploy a Special TigerProtection Force around thehabitats of the big cats. A num-ber of States, includingKarnataka, Uttar Pradesh,Uttarakhand and Maharashtra,have already done so.

The results have been grat-ifying. The number of tigers hasrisen from 1,411 in 2006 to 1,706in 2010 and 2,226 in 2014. Thecurrent census, which began in2018, is expected to produce ahigher figure. Yet complacencewould be disastrous. Poaching,particularly in the form of poi-soning, which causes prolongedand painful death, continues.Encroachments into tiger habi-tats continue. It would be illus-trative to cite a few examplesfrom Maharashtra which has avery poor record in this respect.Last year, it sanctioned thediversion of 467.5 hectares offorest land in Yavatmal districtfor a cement plant. Also, its rec-ommendation has led to theclearance, in principle, of 87.98hectares of land in Kondhali andKalmeshwar ranges — barely

160 km from Yavatmal — to anexplosives company in Chakdohfor manufacturing defence prod-ucts. Worse, the land earmarkedbeing reportedly in the tiger cor-ridor between Bor and Melghattiger reserves, the factory wouldprevent the movement of tigersbetween the two. Also, the pro-posal to widen, from meter tobroad gauge, the 176-km Akola-Khandawa railway, a 39 kilome-tre stretch of which passesthrough the Melghat reserve,threatens to cause more acci-dents, wildlife mortality andfragmentation of habitat.

Much of what has beenachieved in protecting the tigerwould be lost if the trend con-tinues. The results would be dis-astrous. The Royal Bengal Tigeris not only at the top of the foodchain in the wild but constitutesa vital link in maintainingnature’s rich diversity andecosystems that sustain bothnature and people. And it is notjust the tiger. Over 3,000 speciesare becoming extinct everyyear. Indeed, the world is nowin the midst of its sixth massextinction of plants and animalsin the last half-a-billion years,and the worst since the extinc-tion of dinosaurs 65 millionyears ago. At this rate, as manyas 30 to 50 per cent of all specieswould be moving towardextinction by the middle ofthis century.

(The writer is ConsultantEditor, The Pioneer, and an

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Comptroller revived”(February 15). Indeed, theComptroller and Auditor Generalof India’s (CAG) job is very toughconsidering the low strength of itsemployees and the amount ofscrutiny it always faces. Since theauditing body has made somegross miscalculations in the pastso as to deliver its report fast, itbecame all the more pressing forit to be impartial and accurate inits findings.

As far as Congress chiefRahul Gandhi’s obsession withthe Rafale deal is concerned, it isbut yet another ploy to find faultswith the Prime Minister and hisGovernment. Now that the CAGhas given clean chit to Modi andthe BJP, Rahul Gandhi’s criticismsounds hollow. Having said that,the Government should havereacted to all these false allega-tions smartly and not allowed itto snowball into a controversy.What a shame that a genuineneed and demand of the IndianAir force has turned into a bizarre drama.

Bal Govind Noida

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Comptroller revived”(February 15). When it comes topublic spending, theComptroller and AuditorGeneral of India (CAG), like any

other internal auditor, earnedthe high reputation of being‘nosy’. This time, it seems, in thenation’s interest, they closedtheir nose while preparing thereport of the Rafale deal.Selective reading makes it clearthat the Government wants tosay that they have got another

clean chit. Earlier, the SupremeCourt, too, had found no irreg-ularities in the deal. If both theConstitutional bodies have giventhe Modi Government a cleanchit over the Rafale deal, whynot close the issue and place therecords before a JointParliamentary Committee unless

the Government wants use theCAG’s report — which claimedthat NDA’s Rafale deal was 2.86per cent cheaper than the UPA’s— to safeguard their politicalinterests?

N Nagarajan Via email

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Sir — It is heartening that theSupreme Court thinks thatBahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chiefMayawati should return the‘hundreds of crores’ of publicmoney she spent on statues ofherself and the BSP’s party sym-bol to the exchequer.

The apex court should lookinto similar misuse of funds —there are numerous suchinstances — by both the Centralas well as State Governmentsand hold them accountable.This will not only boost India’sfailing economy but also cometo the aid of the thousands whostill live below the poverty linein our country.

Jameel AhmadVia email

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Page 9:  · Sahoo and Constable Manoj Kumar Behera. While Sahoo was a resident ... Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera and Health Minister Pratap Jena to visit the two families. The Chief

It’s been a busy week in Spain. OnTuesday, Twelve Catalan leaders ofthe attempted secession from

Spain in 2017 went on trial inMadrid, charged with rebellion, sedi-tion and misuse of public funds. Andon Wednesday the SpanishGovernment fell when two smallCatalan nationalist parties votedagainst its budget, essentially to pun-ish it for not stopping the trial.

But Prime Minister PedroSanchez’s Government couldn’t havestopped the trial at this point: Spanishcourts are independent. And the‘Catalan Twelve’ are certainly guilty ofsomething, although it isn’t ‘rebellion’,which in Spanish law involves a violentuprising. They are guilty of cheating butthere isn’t any law against that.

Sanchez’s now defunct

Government would almost certainlynot have brought such extreme chargesagainst the Catalan would-be martyrs.(Oriol Junqueras, former Vice Presidentof the separatist regional Governmentof Catalonia, faces a possible 25 yearsin prison.) But the charges werebrought under the previous Right-wingGovernment of Mariano Rajoy andSanchez couldn’t just cancel them.

Sanchez’s Socialist Party, whichtook power last June, depended on twosmall Catalan separatist parties for itsmajority. It has fallen because theCatalans felt he had done too little toprevent the trial of the ‘Catalan twelve’.The trial will continue and the snapelection that must now follow will beheld in an atmosphere of super-heat-ed nationalism. The separatists prob-ably don’t mind.

We are already being treated to afeast of nationalist rhetoric cloaked inthe idiom of democratic rights over thistrial. Former Catalan President CarlesPuigdemont, who declared Catalonia’sindependence but chose to go into exilerather than face trial when the gambitfailed, declared that the trial is “a stresstest for the Spanish democracy.”

As the trial began, Jordi Sanchez,one of the twelve, tweeted: “I am goingin with my head held high, convincedthat self-determination is not a crime.”The trial is really about “the right to self-determination and the democraticprinciple,” said defence lawyer Andreuvan den Eyde. But all this talk of highprinciple is quite beside the point.

What actually happened inCatalonia in 2017 was that Catalannationalists, unable to win a convinc-ing majority for their project of inde-pendence, decided to skip the bitabout a convincing majority. They didcontrol the regional Government, sothey declared a referendum on inde-

pendence in which only those infavour of separation would vote.

Such a referendum was illegalunder the Spanish Constitution, whichforbids secession, so the pro-Spanishparties would boycott the referen-dum. They would have to boycott it inorder to stay within the law. Whereasall those who wanted independence —almost half the population — woulddefy the law and cast their votes.

That’s exactly how it worked.Every opinion poll for years hadshown that Catalonia was split rightdown the middle, with around 45 percent for independence, 45 per centa-gainst it and 10per cent undecided. Just

45 per cent of the population voted inthe referendum and 90 per cent of themvoted for independence. Those whodidn’t vote could now be dragged outof Spain without further ado. Hurrahfor democracy!

For the secessionist leaders, it wasa two-way bet. Just possibly, the rest ofthe world would fail to notice how thevote was rigged, accept it as a democ-ratic exercise and recognise their claim.Just possibly, too, the Spanish statewould be so weak that it would fail todefend the rights of the half ofCatalonia’s population who wanted tostay in Spain. Or, more likely, theSpanish Government would interveneto stop this attempted kidnapping andarrest those who had led it. They couldthen be portrayed as pro-democracymartyrs. That would be almost as help-ful to the nationalist cause and it’s whatis happening right now.

To be fair to Catalan nationalists,most of their fellow-citizens in theregion who oppose independence areSpanish-speakers, descended frompeople who immigrated from otherregions to share in Catalonia’s indus-trial prosperity. A majority of Catalan-

speakers do back independence. Howcan you choose to disregard the viewsof the Spanish-speaking half of theregion’s current population in order tosneak your independence projectthrough? By believing that they are notentitled to a view because they are notreal Catalans. Of course, you never sayit quite like this in public.

These views persist and the‘Catalan problem’ will not go away.Neither will the ‘Basque problem’,which involves almost identical dilem-mas on the other side of Spain. It’s theclassic problem facing long-establishedethnic and linguistic groups that havebecome minorities, or just barelymajorities, in their own lands. There isno ‘fair’ solution, just endless unsatis-factory compromises.

The new Spanish Government thatemerges from the forthcoming snapelection, whatever it is (nobody knows),won’t be able to solve the problemeither. The most it can do, if it’s sensi-ble, is to commute any prison sentencesimposed on the ‘Catalan Twelve’ anddeny them martyrdom.

(The writer is an independentjournalist)

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The deadly suicide car bomb attack on aconvoy of the Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) at Awantipora in Jammu

& Kashmir’s Pulwama district, which claimedthe lives of more than 40 troopers and leftmany injured, is a rude call to the nation tosmell the coffee and accept the fact that mil-itancy in Kashmir has been overtaken by rad-ical jihadists, who want the Talibanisation ofKashmir. The latest attack was the mostsevere of all and led to the highest number of‘deaths’. Kashmir witnessed the last suchattack in 2001, when three terrorists belong-ing to the Jaish-e-Mohammed carried out anattack on the Jammu & Kashmir StateAssembly complex in Srinagar using a TataSumo loaded with explosives that rammed intothe main gate. Around 38 civilians and threesuicide bombers were killed. The next spate ofsuch car bomb attacks was witnessed in 2005when between June and November, threeattacks on different targets killed 23 civilianand security forces personnel. Car bombattacks bear the signature of Taliban and AlQaeda style of fighting, both of whom are rad-ical jihadist terror groups.

The preferred mode of suicide attacks byterrorists in Kashmir was the attack on thesecurity forces camps termed as “fidayeen hits”and ambushes close to the Line of Control(LoC) referred to as “BAT attack” till the killingof dreaded terrorist Burhan Wani. The reasonwas obvious. Terrorists and their akas inPakistan were reluctant to cross the “threshold”fearing loss of popular public support. Till thisperiod, Kashmir was being radicalised. Theaftermath of Burhan Wani’s killing indicatedthat the enemy had succeeded in radicalisingthe Kashmiri society. Large-scale public sup-port to the terrorists, rise in stone-throwingattacks on security forces and senseless killingsof Army men, policemen and civilians notreceiving the type of condemnation theydeserved were indicators enough to assess thatjihadists had overtaken the reins of the ongo-ing movement in Kashmir. Subsequent state-ments made by Zakir Musa, one-time accom-plish of Burhan Wani, and the present self-styled commander of Al Qaeda-affiliate terror-ist organisation, Ansar Ghazwatul Hind, ridi-culing the Hurriyat leadership and the so-calledazadi movement were clear and loud enoughto be ignored but did lead to the present state.

Despite the reverses suffered by varioustanzeems due to the successful intelligencebased operations launched by the securityforces, the resolve of the jihadists did not dither.Their attacks became more deadly, barbaric anddaring. There was a clear divide in theKashmiri society between the peace-seekersand pro-jihad radicals. While the peace-seek-ers provided intelligence to the security forcesfor launching surgical operations against theterrorists, the radicalised supporters of jihadistsprovided them shelter, food and cover from thesecurity forces by resorting to stone-pelting onthose involved in anti-terror operations. Themodus operandi of the jihadists bore more andmore semblance to the Islamic State (IS), AlQaeda and Taliban style of operations.

The Kashmiri youth has been lured intojihad on the understanding that azaadi-relat-ed activism would lead them to “heaven.” As vet-eran Kashmiri politician Muzzafar Hussain Beigsaid, “It is an IS-sponsored religious war inKashmir. It is not a fight for political freedomor choice between India and Pakistan butbetween heaven and hell.” It is the race to heav-en that has brain-washed the Kashmiri youthand the likes of alleged car bomber, AadilAhmad alias Waqas Commando of Gundi Bagh,Pulwama. This also explains the fact as to howthe Jaish has been able to carry out this dastard-ly attack despite the claim by security forces ofvirtually eliminating the JeM leadership in theValley, including two close relatives of Jaishsupremo Masood Azhar. A spurt of sniperattacks on the security forces camps also indi-cated the aggressive posture adopted by thejihadists but was soon neutralised by the Armythrough its counter-strategy.

Ironically, the mainstream political lead-ership of Kashmir, which has of late becomepro-jihadist, is refusing to accept the obviousand continues to harp the same old story of a‘political problem’ and ‘misled innocent boys’who need to be dealt with sympathy ratherthan an iron hand. This attitude of theirs hasonly emboldened the jihadists. The latestattempt of to set up a communal and religiousdivide is evident from the politicking over thegrant of divisional status to Ladakh by raisingsimilar demands for Kargil and Muslim-majority districts south of Pir Panjal, mischie-vously referring to them as Chenab Valley andPanjal regions.

The Governor’s administration will haveto act firm and quick to douse the fire lit bythese forces. It may well become the alibi forspreading the wings of jihadists to these hith-erto peaceful areas. The timing of the attack

is also worth noting. It not only coincides withthe renewed efforts of peace talks with theTaliban but also with the heat building up with-in India in view of the 2019 elections.

The security forces will have to remainalive to the growing jihadist challenge and actswiftly and firmly to counter their new strat-egy. It is important to note the claim made byJeM that Adil Ahmad was inspired to becomea suicide bomber after the Taliban claimed“victory” due to the announcement by USPresident Trump to reduce the American bootstrength in Afghanistan. Any decline in res-olute and integrated response by the securityforces in Kashmir may lead them to harboursuch ideas of presumed “victory” and embold-en the jihadists further.

Though it is too early to get involved withfact-finding, many inputs lead to believe thatthere has been “negligence.” In an active con-flict zone where jihadists are purportedly fight-ing for the fulfilment of divine will — Ghazwa-e-Hind — there is no scope for negligence.Despite the warning issued by the Jammu &Kashmir Police through their signal datedFebruary 8, and circulation of a video capturedfrom terrorists showing car bomb attack inAfghanistan, there are many questions to beanswered about the sanitisation of the area andthe efficacy of Road Opening Parties. Thereonce again arises the need to review the high-er command system of the Central ArmedPolice Forces (CAPFs). The present system ofdeputing Indian Police Service (IPS) officersto occupy higher ranks has been found want-ing on numerous occasions in the past as well.There is a strong case for higher commandposts to be occupied by cadre officers who havegone through the rigours of ground-level func-tioning of their respective forces instead of gen-eral cadre IPS officers who lack combat expe-

rience.Since JeM has claimed the attack, involve-

ment of Pakistan is obvious. Another fact thatis obvious and unambiguous is that in Pakistan,the reins of the Government are firmly in thehands of the notorious triad of Mullah-Military-Militants with the Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI) and terrorists ruling the roost and callingthe shots. The so-called peace gestures of theirPrime Minister and the Army Chief are only asmoke-screen to their real intents. India shouldnot fall prey to the trap laid by the triad in theform of opening the Kartarpur Corridor by usingtheir puppet Imran Khan.

There is no doubt that Pakistan continueswith its policy of state sponsorship of terrorismand abetting and aiding cross-border adventur-ism fully embedded with jihadi terror. Thereduction of American boots will provide ISI theadditional strength of the Taliban and otherAfghan-specific jihadist terrorists to be employedagainst India. Pakistan has been temporarily ableto tide over the economic crisis due to the hid-den Chinese support and magnanimity of itsMuslim friends. This has further emboldenedthe country to support jihadists and use themto implement their anti-India policy. Howmuch effect the Government’s decision towithdraw ‘most favoured nation’ status toPakistan will have, only time will tell.Nevertheless, its immediate response will be ofplaying the ‘victim hood’ card and further gen-erating anti-India hysteria. The Government ofIndia will have to use its diplomatic strength andinternational good will to designate Pakistan asa “terror state.” The nation needs to unite tocounter the jihadist challenge.

(The writer is a Jammu-based political com-mentator, columnist and security and strategic analyst. The views expressed are entirely personal)

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The CBDT has stressed thatAadhaar-PAN linking is

“mandatory” for those filingan Income Tax Return (ITR)and this procedure has to be“completed” by March 31 thisyear.

“Constitutional validity ofAadhaar has been upheld bythe Supreme Court of India inSeptember, 2018.Consequently, in terms ofSection 139AA of Income TaxAct, 1961 and order dated June30, 2018 of the Central Boardof Direct Taxes, Aadhaar-PANlinking is mandatory nowwhich has to be completed tillMarch 31, 2019 by PAN hold-ers requiring filing of ITR,” theCBDT said in an advisoryThursday.

The Supreme Court onFebruary 6 had confirmed thatlinkage of PAN with Aadhaaris mandatory for filing of ITRs.

This reiteration of theSeptember order of the apexcourt came on an appeal filedby the Centre against a DelhiHigh Court order allowingtwo persons, to file their ITRsfor 2018-19 without linkingtheir Aadhaar and PAN num-bers.

A bench comprisingJustices A K Sikri and S AbdulNazeer said the top court hasalready decided the matter andupheld the section 139AA of

the Income Tax Act.The apex court on

September 26 last year haddeclared the Centre’s flagshipAadhaar scheme as constitu-tionally valid but struck downsome of its provisions includ-ing its linking with bankaccounts, mobile phones andschool admissions.

Former CBDT ChairmanSushil Chandra, early thismonth at an event, had saidthat just 23 crore PAN cardholders — over half of the totalPAN card holders — have sofar linked their cards with bio-metric ID Aadhaar.

He had said the I-TDepartment has so far issued42 crore permanent accountnumbers (PAN), of which 23crore have been linked withAadhaar.

Chandra said that once

Aadhaar is linked with PANand PAN is linked with bankaccount, the I-T departmentcan find out spending patternand other details of theassessee. Also since many agen-cies are linked with Aadhaar, itwould be easier to gaugewhether the benefits of welfareschemes are availed by eligiblepersons, he said.

Section 139 AA (2) of theIncome Tax Act says that everyperson having PAN as on July1, 2017, and eligible to obtainAadhaar, must intimate hisAadhaar number to tax author-ities.

While Aadhaar is issued bythe Unique IdentificationAuthority of India (UIDAI) toa resident of India, PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric numberallotted by the IT Departmentto a person, firm or entity.

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Arun Jaitley on Fridayresumed charge as the

Finance Minister after a gapof over a month, which wasthe second break within ayear that he had to take toundergo medical treatment.

The President of India,as advised by the PrimeMinister, has directed toassign the portfolios of theMinister of Finance andMinis ter of C or p orateAffairs to Arun Jaitley, anofficial statement said onFriday.

Ja i t l e y tweeted onFriday: “Resumed work atthe Ministry of Financetoday (Friday). Thankful toShri Piyush Goyal who dis-charged the responsibilityat the MoF diligently & com-petently.”

Jaitley, 66, who last weekreturned from the US afterundergoing medical treat-ment, f irst attended theCabinet Committee onSecurity (CCS) meeting thatPrime Minister NarendraModi had called to discussthe terror attack in southKashmir’s Pulwama districtthat killed around 40 CRPFpersonnel, and then came toNorth Block — the seat of theFinance Ministry.

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The Commerce Ministrywould soon notify to the

World Trade Organization(WTO) its decision to revokethe most-favoured nation(MFN) status to Pakistan onsecurity grounds, an officialsaid Friday.

The decision would enableIndia to increase custom dutieson goods imported fromPakistan. India imported goodsworth $488.5 million in 2017-18.

“Now, the CommerceMinistry will notify to theWTO to revoke the MFN sta-tus to Pakistan by invokingArticle 21 of the WTO whichis the security exception,” theofficial said.

The Ministry would workon a list of goods importedfrom Pakistan over which Indiawould increase the customsduties.

After the Pulwama terrorattack on Thursday, India onFriday withdrew the MFN sta-tus to Pakistan. Following this,India can raise customs dutieson goods being imported fromPakistan up to the bound levelduty rates. Currently, India’s

custom duties on goods tomembers of the WTO arebelow the bound level rates.The current customs dutiesimposed are called appliedrates and the level at which onecan increase is known as boundrates.

The main items whichIndia imports include freshfruits, cement, petroleum prod-ucts, bulk minerals and oresand finished leather.

India granted the MFNstatus to Pakistan way back inin 1996, but the neighbouringcountry had not yet recipro-cated.

Total India-Pakistan tradehas increased marginally to$2.41 billion in 2017-18 asagainst $2.27 billion in 2016-17.India imported goods worth$488.5 million in 2017-18 andexported goods worth $1.92billion in that fiscal.

India mainly exports rawcotton, cotton yarn, chemi-cals, plastics, manmade yarnand dyes to Pakistan.

Trade experts said thisdecision would not have amajor implication on bilateraltrade between the countries asthe value of trade is below $3billion annually.

They said that althoughPakistan can drag India into theWTO’s dispute settlementmechanism on the matter, theircase would be weak as theyhave not yet granted the tag toIndia.

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Orient Bell Limited, a tileindustry company, has

launched a new marketingcampaign, that breaks indus-try norms by addressing con-sumer needs.

The new campaign,‘Chote bathrooms ke badesolutions’ i.e. big solutions forsmall bathrooms promisesOrientbell’ s expertise inmaking even small spaceslook bigger by choosing theright colors of tiles & layingthem in a recommended way.

Building on this univer-sal truth, Orientbell and theirtile experts will make eventhe smallest room, the bath-room, look bigger by helpingchoose the right color com-bination of tiles & recom-mending the best patterns tolay them. To avail the ser-vices, Consumers can visit anOrientbell showroom or givea missed call on 8750733333.

With this brand cam-paign, Orientbell has taken arelatable yet humorousapproach to a problem mosthomeowners live with.

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New Delhi: The Central Government has recently amend-ed the High Security Registration Plates (HSRPs) law andintroduced the Motor Vehicles (New High SecurityRegistration Plates) Order, 2018. As a result, HSRPs whichare supplied under the strict watch and scrutiny of the StateGovernments through manufacturers selected by the StateGovernment, would from the 1st of April be supplied throughMotor Vehicle manufacturers and affixed by their dealers.Addressing the media, international road safety expert, chair-man Raahat, Dr. Kamaljit Singh Soi said, “the move will leadto a massive increase in crimes as the forged number plateswill be easier to aquire. So, such move must be scrapped forth-with because it a national security issue too. We must let theState Govenments countinue to deal with this.” PNS

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New Delhi: Microsoft India hosted the second edi-tion of its Accessibility Summit — Empowering forInclusion on Friday in collaboration with TheNational Association of the Deaf and NationalCentre for Promotion of Employment of DisabledPeople (NCPEPD). The summit is a platform thatbrings together multiple stakeholders to spark a dia-logue on inclusive technology, evangelize accessi-bility standards & highlight inclusive technologysolutions, as well as assess policy’s role in creatingan accessible India. This includes people with dis-abilities, their support-system, developers of assis-tive technologies, policy makers, CSR profession-als and service-providers. PNS

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)Friday withdrew the 20 per cent

limit on investments by FPIs in cor-porate bonds of an entity with a viewto encourage more foreign invest-ments.

As part of the review of the FPIinvestment in corporate debt under-taken in April 2018, it was stipulated

that no FPI should have an exposureof more than 20 per cent of its cor-porate bond portfolio to a single cor-porate (including exposure to entitiesrelated to the corporate).

While the provision was aimed atincentivising FPIs to maintain a port-folio of assets, market feedback indi-cates that foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) have been constrained by thisstipulation, the RBI said.

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The country’s exports grew3.74 per cent to $26.36 billion

in January on account of growthin sectors such as gems & jew-ellery, pharmaceuticals andchemicals, according to datafrom the Commerce Ministry.

Imports almost remainedflat at $41 billion during the lastmonth, narrowing the trade

deficit to $14.73 billion.The trade deficit stood at

$15.67 billion in January 2018.Gold imports also grew

38.16 per cent to $2.31 billionin January this year as against$1.67 billion in the corre-sponding month of 2018.

During the April-Januaryperiod of the current financialyear, exports grew 9.52 per centto $271.8 billion.

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Page 11:  · Sahoo and Constable Manoj Kumar Behera. While Sahoo was a resident ... Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera and Health Minister Pratap Jena to visit the two families. The Chief

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US-based direct sellingmajor Amway Inc expects

India to be a huge growth dri-ver for the company and playa role in its global supply chainthrough innovative herbalproducts, a top company offi-cial said on Friday.

The company also aims asustained double-digit growthin the next five years in India,a market which it is expectingto break into its top-five glob-al markets in the mid to long

term.“Of course we do. The size

and the scope and the breadthof the Indian market, we see itas a huge growth driver for usglobally,” Amway Inc co-chair-man Douglas L DeVos told PTIhere in an interview.

He was responding to aquery on whether Amwaybelieves that India can beamong its top-five global mar-kets. Currently, the country isranked seventh after China,US, South Korea, Japan,Thailand and Taiwan.

Amway has already set atarget of USD 1 billion sales inIndia by 2025. In 2017-18, thedirect selling firm had sales of�1,800 crore and expects totouch �2,000 crore in 2018-19.

Commenting on the com-pany’s ambitions in India,DeVos said: “We have grown ata rate of 7% now, so we aregoing to have double digits inthe near future. We believe thatis the pace we can maintain cer-tainly for the next five years andhopefully even accelerate.”

The growth will be driven

by the company’s existing prod-ucts besides new introductionssuch as the locally developedherbal range.

He said some of the marketslike Thailand and Malaysia havealready expressed interest in theherbal products from India.

“Indonesia and markets inSouth East Asian region wouldbe very interested in productslike these. We see India havinga role in global supply chain,not just India for India but forother markets as well,” DeVossaid.

Last year, Amway Indiamade a foray into herbal skin-care products, positioning adominant number of itemsunder its Attitude range.

Elaborating on growingexpectations from India, hesaid: “We made investment inmanufacturing here and at thattime, it may have been moreIndia for India but I think as wetalk about the innovation side,like the (herbal) products, weare trying to use the resourcesthat we have as a global company.”

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Dalmia Bharat Sugar andIndustries Ltd has report-

ed a 20% decline in net profitat �43.36 crore for the thirdquarter ended December 2018.

The net profit stood at�54.24 crore in December quar-ter of 2017-18, the company saidin a regulatory filing.

Total revenue fell to �467.47crore during October-December quarter of 2018-19from �612.20 crore in the cor-responding period of the pre-vious year.

During April-Decemberperiod of this fiscal, net profitfell to �141.23 crore from

�146.65 crore in the same peri-od of previous fiscal.

Total income fell to�1,516.35 crore during April-December this year from�1,819.75 crore in the year-agoperiod.

“Lower sugar segment prof-itability on account of lowersugar sales realisation for thenine months has been offset toa significant extent by higherprofitability of distillery andcogeneration segments,” thecompany said in a statement.

Jawaharpur distillery hasbeen successfully expanded to120 kilo litre per day from 80kilo litre per day during thequarter and a 60 kilo litre per

day distillery has been com-missioned in Nigohi in themonth of January 2019. Thebenefits of the same wouldaccrue in the subsequent peri-ods, it added.

Dalmia Bharat Sugar &Industries has business interestsin integrated sugar (includingcogen and distillery), wind-farms, magnesite and miscella-neous businesses.

The company has threesugar factories located in UttarPradesh (Jawaharpur, Nigohiand Ramgarh) and two inMaharashtra (Kolhapur andSangli). It has aggregate sugar-cane crushing capacity of 29,500tonne per day.

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Benchmark equity indicesreeled under selling pres-sure for the seventh

straight session on Friday aspharma, metal, auto and bank-ing stocks led losses amid sus-tained foreign fund outflows,muted earnings season andweak global cues.

However, emergence ofbuying in power, energy andPSU stocks in the last one hourof the session and covering-upof short positions by speculatorswiped off most losses.

The 30-share Sensex, afterslumping 365 points to hit a lowof 35,510.97 intra-day, recoupedmost of the lost ground on fag-end buying, and finally settledwith a modest fall of 67.27points, or 0.19% down at35,808.95. The index has nowlost over 1,165 points in sevensessions. The broader NSE Nifty,after shuttling between 10,620.40and 10,785.75, settled at10,724.40 points, down by 21.65points, or 0.20%.

On a weekly basis, the BSEindex dropped 737.53 points, orover 2%, while NSE Nifty fell219.20 points, or 2%.

Market staged a sharprecovery from the bottom, con-firming support for the marketat lower levels, said SunilSharma, chief investment officer,

Sanctum Wealth Management.Investor sentiment was roiled byweakness in retail sales in theUS, and persisting worriesaround domestic debt and liq-uidity, he said. “The mid-capand large-cap divergence con-tinued, and year-to-date theNifty 50 is outperforming theMidcap 50 by 4.3%,” he added.

In stock-specific action, SunPharma was the biggest loseramong Sensex components,plunging 3.94%, followed byTata Steel falling 3.12%.

Other big losers includedVedanta, Hero MotoCorp, BajajFinance, SBI, Axis Bank, HDFC,Maruti Suzuki, Yes Bank, M&M,IndusInd Bank, TCS, HUL,Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, HCLTechand ICICI Bank, losing upto 2.87%. Dr Reddy’s stockcrashed over 4% ,on massiveselling by participants.

On the other hand, NTPC,PowerGrid, Reliance Industries,L&T, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors,Coal India, Infosys, ITC, BajajAuto and Asian Paint endedhigher by up to 4.13%.

ONGC, too, gained 2.27%,after the state-owned companyon Thursday reported a 65%jump in its third quarter netprofit as higher prices made upfor a fall in oil output.

Sector-wise, the BSE metalindex emerged worst performer,tumbling 2.32%, followed by

healthcare down 2.27%, auto(1.21%), bankex (0.69%), FMCG(0.44%), consumer durables(0.29%), IT (0.22%), realty(0.18%) and teck (0.12%).

However, power indexgained the most, rising 2.17%,oil and gas (1.44%), infrastruc-ture (1.09%), PSU 0.57% andcapital goods (0.42%). A similartrend was also extended to thebroader markets with the mid-cap index falling 1.18%, andsmall-cap index shedding 0.83%.

On the macro front, risingglobal crude prices dented therupee, which depreciated byanother 28 paise to 71.44 againstthe dollar intra-day.

The Brent crude futures, theinternational benchmark,advanced to USD 65.10 perbarrel, their highest level innearly three months.

Elsewhere in Asia, HongKong’s Hang Seng dropped2.06%, Shanghai CompositeIndex fell 1.37%, Kospi wasdown 12.34%, Japan’s Nikkeished 1.13% and Singapore’sStraits Times declined 0.54%.

Among European marketswere in somewhat mixed formin their early deals with the ParisCAC 40 rising 0.24% whileFrankfurt DAX slipped 0.46%and the London’s FTSE wasalmost flat. The US Dow JonesIndustrial Average also ended0.41% lower on Thursday.

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Indian companies raised�4.57 lakh crore through

private placement of corporatebonds during the first 10months of the current fiscal tomeet business needs.

Going ahead, the debt mar-ket is expected to see furtherimpetus on Sebi’s move askinglarge firms to manage a fourthof their long-term funds fromthe bond market, MukundRanganathan, executive direc-tor at Motilal Oswal InvestmentBanking, said.

Firms raked in �4,56,962crore during the April-January

period of 2018-19 via privateplacement of corporate bonds,compared with �4,87,764 croregarnered in the correspondingperiod last fiscal, according tothe latest data available with theSecurities and Exchange Boardof India (Sebi).

In the full financial year2017-18, companies had raised�6 lakh crore through the route.

These funds have beenraised mainly for expansion ofbusiness plans and to supportworking capital requirements.

In debt private placements,firms issue securities or bondsto institutional investors toraise capital.

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Script Open High Low LTPYESBANK 226.5 226.5 211.5 218.7DRREDDY 2,650.10 2,650.10 2,065.30 2,556.90RELIANCE 1,225.00 1,248.50 1,215.00 1,243.50JETAIRWAYS 224.15 242.85 215 232.55GRUH 246.35 246.45 236.7 239.3ICICIBANK 344.35 347.7 340.55 342M&M 636 639 619 627.8ASHOKLEY 82.3 82.3 77.95 80.1SUNPHARMA 440.8 441 416.85 423.3MARUTI 7,046.00 7,090.60 6,900.00 6,925.30AXISBANK 699.6 706.95 681.8 686.55IBULHSGFIN 666.5 666.5 634 638.95DHFL 128 129.25 121.1 123.15TATAMOTORS 160 161.65 153.35 161.1IGL 283.4 283.65 276 282.4TATASTEEL 481.15 482.5 463.4 467.45ONGC 139 140.8 133.75 135.1LT 1,245.00 1,252.00 1,231.00 1,243.25INFY 741.25 746.55 733 741.75SBIN 268.5 269 261.3 262.95ZEEL 439.2 440.1 420.8 429.85BASF 1,255.00 1,264.40 1,201.10 1,208.80BAJFINANCE 2,631.00 2,631.00 2,508.00 2,557.50HINDUNILVR 1,792.00 1,792.00 1,748.50 1,773.05BAJAJHLDNG 3,150.00 3,176.90 3,142.80 3,153.10RELINFRA 117.3 120.6 113.65 114.9HDFC 1,901.15 1,901.15 1,858.30 1,875.20RELCAPITAL 147.4 150.65 141.7 148.55VEDL 151 151.2 145.9 147.45INFIBEAM 38.95 41.4 36.7 39.5GLENMARK 612 612 555.3 569.65HDFCBANK 2,110.00 2,110.00 2,078.60 2,101.10DMART 1,465.00 1,480.00 1,408.80 1,467.20TCS 2,045.00 2,052.00 2,013.00 2,030.90PAGEIND 24,450.00 24,599.00 21,750.00 21,982.20IOC 126.9 126.9 121.05 125.5NESTLEIND 10,450.00 10,730.10 10,255.00 10,582.10VGUARD 185.5 187.75 183.55 186.05DIVISLAB 1,618.80 1,625.00 1,530.10 1,618.50JISLJALEQS 56.5 57.7 54.85 55.35JINDALSTEL 142.45 142.85 136.75 138.6PCJEWELLER 67.9 69.9 66.2 67.55CGPOWER 28.65 30 26.65 29.3PNB 72 73.1 69.5 70.05LTI 1,768.35 1,791.50 1,726.00 1,769.50AUROPHARMA 747 747 719 722.85TITAN 1,038.00 1,051.40 1,017.35 1,039.35SUNTV 577.8 577.8 540 547.45DBL 414 464.45 408.85 448.4NATIONALUM 48.5 50.9 47.5 48.7LUPIN 807 808.75 769.85 775.8TRENT 339.45 341.8 330.6 333.75JSWSTEEL 281 281 265.6 267.2UBL 1,408.00 1,408.95 1,312.25 1,339.05ACC 1,352.25 1,377.55 1,346.10 1,353.25KOTAKBANK 1,289.95 1,289.95 1,270.45 1,283.75GRASIM 721.5 723.9 688.65 706.55VOLTAS 513.9 534 510 522.75IDFCFIRSTB 44.7 44.7 43.6 44.2ADANIPORTS 348.9 352.95 346.9 349.3HEG 2,235.00 2,289.85 2,200.00 2,216.55HINDALCO 192 192.65 182.55 186.5BANKINDIA 83 83.05 79.4 80.15WESTLIFE 347.9 348 342 346.25GRAPHITE 445 446.95 427.15 429.25L&TFH 125.5 127.75 123.1 125.75ITC 279 280.6 275.5 279.6JUBLFOOD 1,320.00 1,320.00 1,275.30 1,300.50BATAINDIA 1,260.00 1,270.70 1,239.25 1,254.45BAJAJFINSV 6,001.60 6,073.00 5,857.65 6,022.55ADANIPOWER 37 40.2 36.4 39.4BIOCON 641.5 641.5 611.8 615.4BANKBARODA 103.6 104.5 100.6 101NCC 86.8 86.8 83.2 84.3ASIANPAINT 1,399.45 1,402.80 1,373.00 1,395.25WOCKPHARMA 406.1 406.1 389.85 392.5CANBK 222.75 223.4 213.55 215.25HEROMOTOCO 2,790.00 2,807.00 2,682.30 2,702.30COALINDIA 218.8 220.75 215.25 218.9PEL 2,200.00 2,200.00 2,125.00 2,160.65GAIL 310 318.95 309.45 317.9IDEA 31.2 31.2 29.6 30.05TECHM 796.1 804 777.2 800.7STAR 408.6 409 392.2 402.4TEAMLEASE 2,912.15 2,973.30 2,821.00 2,866.95M&MFIN 396.85 396.85 372.75 378.6BHARTIARTL 301.85 305.6 297.85 304.35BPCL 315.1 328.95 315.1 327.15DISHTV 32.2 33.4 31.5 32.9RECLTD 120.65 123.45 117.8 122.55CIPLA 540.45 551 528.2 540.4TATAPOWER 68.8 70.2 66.55 69.25PFC 101.85 104 99.5 103.3HINDPETRO 220.5 220.9 215.4 216.8BALKRISIND 832.45 832.5 812.2 821.15NTPC 132.75 137.1 132.35 136.2MINDTREE 890.25 902 889.5 894.4NBCC 49.3 51.1 48.75 50JSLHISAR 78 82.95 76.8 81.05BAJAJ-AUTO 2,828.05 2,846.80 2,808.00 2,818.90GODREJCP 680 680 655.4 662.9DLF 163 163 154.6 158.05UJJIVAN 276.45 280.8 266 271.2BRITANNIA 2,942.00 2,942.00 2,849.10 2,860.85SAIL 46.3 46.4 44.35 44.85ULTRACEMCO 3,490.00 3,490.00 3,372.05 3,441.50EICHERMOT 20,026.00 20,347.00 19,956.00 20,204.25UNIONBANK 70.5 71.05 68.15 68.6

ESCORTS 640 643.2 626.25 637.85TATAELXSI 886 891.05 849.95 860.4INDIGO 1,173.00 1,173.00 1,123.90 1,147.20MOTHERSUMI 135.2 136.45 128.65 130.6LICHSGFIN 445.3 451.6 436.35 440.45IBREALEST 71.65 72.8 70 71.25RCOM 5.55 5.69 5.4 5.5KSCL 489 495.8 472.55 481RBLBANK 549.75 556.65 544 548PIDILITIND 1,110.10 1,115.85 1,080.40 1,094.00CENTURYTEX 735.5 736.7 707 712.75HAVELLS 695.95 696 675.7 688.3APOLLOHOSP 1,144.00 1,150.10 1,133.00 1,140.65INDUSINDBK 1,519.25 1,520.00 1,499.45 1,509.85INDIACEM 82.8 84.85 81.15 84.05STRTECH 221 223.55 213.25 214.65RPOWER 10.6 10.7 10 10.2SPICEJET 77.65 78.15 76 76.25MGL 866.15 876.85 857.05 862INDIANB 228.5 231 209.05 212.35INFRATEL 296.05 309.9 291.8 307BHARATFORG 478 478.85 459.6 467.65JUSTDIAL 487.1 490.3 468.55 476.55CADILAHC 318 319 306.35 314.35SRTRANSFIN 1,043.80 1,043.85 999.15 1,003.70DABUR 440 443.15 430.1 434.8FEDERALBNK 80.4 81.25 79.8 80.25IDBI 45.2 45.8 44.2 44.85MUTHOOTFIN 526.4 531 506.6 517.9VIPIND 423 443.3 420.5 424.75CEATLTD 1,081.80 1,081.80 1,042.50 1,066.15TVSMOTOR 491.55 491.55 475.95 479.3BEL 75 76.2 74.4 75.35WIPRO 374 377.9 370.2 375.55BEML 783.6 783.95 766.45 771.1HCLTECH 1,060.00 1,066.10 1,041.60 1,057.85OMAXE 210.75 210.75 209.25 209.35UPL 819.95 821.6 806.3 816.65OFSS 3,639.30 3,650.00 3,556.90 3,628.15OIL 172 175 171 172.1GNFC 255.9 263.45 249.55 250.5BANDHANBNK 477.1 484 464.95 474.35EDELWEISS 132 141.65 129.55 140CANFINHOME 265.65 265.65 244.85 248.7APOLLOTYRE 202.3 202.5 196.85 200.55PFIZER 2,975.75 2,975.75 2,851.00 2,906.40BLISSGVS 146.5 149.2 145.85 146.7

ABFRL 209.9 220.7 209.9 217.45BHEL 61.2 61.95 60.7 60.95TTKPRESTIG 7,676.25 7,825.00 7,645.00 7,758.25SREINFRA 26.35 27.25 23.05 24.2POWERGRID 176 182.1 176 181.5SIEMENS 984 984.1 954.3 961.45COLPAL 1,248.00 1,248.00 1,205.90 1,233.35AMBUJACEM 203.5 205.9 200.65 204.95RAJESHEXPO 579 579 558.5 570.9AJANTPHARM 983.9 992.35 967.45 973.35CASTROLIND 147.95 150 146.75 147.15SPARC 167.5 168 160 163.45ENGINERSIN 110.9 112.35 108 108.55WABCOINDIA 6,090.00 6,090.00 5,870.00 5,977.75BERGEPAINT 296 296.25 286.7 292.65GMRINFRA 14.4 15.2 14.15 14.85PHILIPCARB 143.95 148.05 142.05 145.1SRF 2,246.20 2,255.95 2,166.95 2,199.05ICICIPRULI 303.75 313 299.7 302.75TNPL 204.3 205.85 193.7 195JUBILANT 726.4 739 719.7 729.8MRF 56,285.00 56,500.00 55,000.00 55,190.25IBVENTURES 302 304.05 285.6 288.75TATAMTRDVR 84.6 84.7 80.8 83.8TATACHEM 566 566 550 554.45ORIENTBANK 84.5 84.5 79.65 80.6TV18BRDCST 32.1 32.15 30.7 31.1RAYMOND 698.25 699.2 682.4 686.65AARTIIND 1,420.00 1,487.30 1,420.00 1,435.80NIITTECH 1,300.00 1,306.00 1,258.45 1,265.30MANAPPURAM 107 107 103.3 103.8JKTYRE 91 93 86.15 88DCBBANK 177.2 177.8 171 172.35CARBORUNIV 347.2 347.2 345 345.6WHIRLPOOL 1,365.65 1,365.65 1,311.35 1,315.65LTTS 1,515.75 1,534.70 1,470.55 1,504.30SUNTECK 340 341 329.15 332.4PVR 1,470.00 1,502.05 1,450.00 1,490.55TATAGLOBAL 192 192 184.05 185.6MARICO 345.5 345.5 332.7 339.05

CHENNPETRO 211.35 217.6 200.45 204.2SOUTHBANK 13.21 13.23 12.86 12.95EXIDEIND 209.5 209.5 203.5 206.25NMDC 93 93.15 91.15 91.8TORNTPOWER 235 239.9 232.6 237.75PETRONET 216.75 219.7 214.1 214.7RADICO 405.25 408 395.1 396.8TORNTPHARM 1,771.05 1,789.70 1,744.55 1,776.55EQUITAS 115.7 116.5 112.5 113.75IRB 122 123.75 119.05 120.9GODREJAGRO 480 480.75 461.65 463.3MPHASIS 1,050.00 1,059.70 1,038.45 1,053.75FORCEMOT 1,351.00 1,366.80 1,340.00 1,343.80BOSCHLTD 18,100.00 18,200.00 17,829.00 18,115.15ABCAPITAL 78.35 81.55 77.8 80.1JPASSOCIAT 5.15 5.23 4.93 5.01VENKYS 2,120.95 2,120.95 2,061.00 2,066.95KTKBANK 115 115 111.05 111.85BAJAJELEC 440.5 444.95 424.15 441.4FSL 42.6 43.6 42.2 42.75KAJARIACER 511.45 512.45 502.8 509.7BOMDYEING 106 106.75 101.75 102.6NATCOPHARM* 611.05 611.05 585 594.4DELTACORP 224.15 225.3 220.7 222.2ALBK 42.9 43.25 41.3 42.3BDL 251 263 237.5 241.35EVEREADY 192.7 205.85 184.05 203.6CONCOR 498 503.05 484.55 490.15HEXAWARE 364.9 368 358 359.25TVSSRICHAK 2,243.55 2,265.00 2,175.00 2,207.05IDFC 36 36.15 34.6 35.3GODFRYPHLP 870.35 889.15 847 855.15SUZLON 3.54 3.54 3.35 3.44REDINGTON 76.7 83.85 73 82.15JAICORPLTD 88.3 90.45 86.95 87.55SYNDIBANK 32.3 32.35 31 31.2SHREECEM 15,632.40 15,716.00 15,106.00 15,627.30DEEPAKFERT 110 117.4 109.8 115.9HDFCLIFE 358 361.05 354.15 357.95TATACOMM 496.35 503.55 490.45 496.2ABB 1,269.00 1,270.00 1,238.05 1,245.65DEEPAKNI 217 219.4 211.5 216.9CUMMINSIND 701 701 679.15 685RAIN 93 93.95 88.2 91.15CHOLAFIN 1,194.80 1,205.20 1,169.40 1,188.15SWANENERGY 96.9 97.55 95.1 96.1REPCOHOME 347 354 335.85 339MCX 690 690 661.25 667.8MAXINDIA 77.15 78.55 75.75 77.45MEGH 52 52 50.2 50.45INTELLECT 164 166 156.7 157.55ITI 92.25 92.25 89.5 89.95AVANTI 324.25 329.35 320 321.3HINDZINC 247.5 248.95 244.75 247.85NOCIL 119.35 123.65 119 121.5MFSL 383 390.45 383 386.85GSFC 90.1 90.9 87.55 88.25RCF 53.3 53.3 52.1 52.7GODREJIND 489.3 492.4 478.4 480.45MMTC 27.8 27.9 26.1 26.3ICICIGI 896.4 915 892 910.35HSCL 107.3 108 102.8 103.45APLAPOLLO 1,057.00 1,144.40 1,009.05 1,131.70NAUKRI 1,681.50 1,718.25 1,666.05 1,690.35OBEROIRLTY 456 472.9 455.15 466.8NHPC 23.6 24 23.45 23.8WELCORP 94.9 95.15 91.3 91.85SOMANYCERA 320.05 327 313.8 314.55CYIENT* 602.95 612.7 583.55 597.7KEI 340.7 344.65 324.1 328.3COFFEEDAY 270 284 270 280.8HFCL 21.5 21.75 21.3 21.5SUVEN 225.9 228.45 218.85 222.45EMAMILTD 356.5 363 348.2 360.85GODREJPROP 719.65 729.6 708.3 712.45LUXIND 1,189.10 1,199.90 1,152.00 1,182.65TATAINVEST 833.05 860 828 834.15RAMCOCEM 607.1 612.85 595.35 609AMARAJABAT 740.45 742.5 736.4 739.55SHANKARA 423.95 425.4 411 425.4DCAL 183.5 195 182.1 191.25HINDCOPPER 45.5 45.5 43.15 43.55GSKCONS 7,511.00 7,544.35 7,392.00 7,428.15VINATIORGA 1,617.10 1,655.00 1,617.10 1,626.00FRETAIL 440 441.85 435 437.95BBTC 1,190.15 1,210.00 1,190.15 1,197.50BHARATFIN 946.4 949.5 938.5 944.85FCONSUMER 43.3 43.9 42.45 42.6TATAMETALI 599.4 600 581.25 586.85PERSISTENT* 658.85 665 644.1 650.05VBL 769 769 744.95 764.5ZENSARTECH 211.7 214.25 209.95 212.15MANPASAND 77.85 79.1 76.15 76.65MINDAIND 280 284.2 268.9 278.7CAPPL 327.05 340 320 333.05MAHINDCIE 217.1 226.95 213.4 224.35ASAHIINDIA 255.1 255.1 252.5 253.8RNAM 161.75 161.75 150 151.25UFLEX 213.15 213.15 200 201.2QUESS 647.55 657.25 637.65 643.9EIDPARRY 189.55 192.75 185.7 187FORTIS 134.3 137.4 134.2 134.85PNBHOUSING 909.75 912.4 890 895.6PGHH 10,025.00 10,108.95 9,985.25 10,018.35LINDEINDIA 425.7 432.7 418.5 423.95SCHAEFFLER 5,383.15 5,383.15 5,200.00 5,248.00IBULISL 226.15 244.5 226.15 238.35GUJALKALI 450.75 451.15 440.4 446ISEC 195.4 204.2 193.75 196

SJVN 25.9 25.9 25.15 25.4WABAG 291.2 294.75 283 287.6MRPL 64.2 64.6 63.05 63.55PTC 73 75 72.75 74.2PIIND 900 900 885 892.45ADANITRANS 214.65 215.9 211.8 213.85NAVINFLUOR 622.7 627 610 611.55GRANULES 85.5 86.75 84.65 86.5HSIL 228 228.6 220 220.7AUBANK 574.9 582.1 572.75 574.85JMFINANCIL 75.05 76.95 74.65 76.15KEC 236.5 245.7 229.95 244.6DCMSHRIRAM 350 358.4 344 345.5IPCALAB 757 779 750.05 775ADVENZYMES 156.85 160 155 158.1SCI 35.05 35.8 34.5 35.1WELSPUNIND 49 49 48.2 48.35FINCABLES 376 382 357.75 378.65GREAVESCOT 116.95 118.8 116.75 118.15KRBL 324.8 324.8 300 304.85GSPL 160 161.4 155.5 159.65HUDCO 39.15 39.15 37.8 38.15GILLETTE 6,443.35 6,642.80 6,355.50 6,469.60SKFINDIA 1,970.00 1,980.00 1,946.40 1,950.50MERCK 3,177.00 3,195.00 3,070.00 3,123.30JSWENERGY 65.55 65.95 64 64.9INOXLEISUR 263 267.8 257.25 260.3ASTRAZEN 1,845.00 1,849.00 1,751.00 1,761.55MOTILALOFS 596.9 601 588 591JINDALSAW 77 77.5 75.65 76.25TIMETECHNO 85.1 89.05 85.1 87.55JSL 28.45 30.9 28.1 29.8GICHSGFIN 230 234.55 225.1 226.15TRIDENT 62.5 62.5 60.75 61ADANIGREEN 31.7 32.6 30.9 31SONATSOFTW 329 337.2 325 329.8CENTRUM 31.9 33 31.65 32.6IFCI 12.46 12.55 12.05 12.153MINDIA 21,114.05 21,305.00 20,850.00 20,883.15AIAENG 1,656.90 1,694.50 1,656.10 1,688.55ABBOTINDIA 7,583.65 7,600.00 7,447.00 7,463.90SOBHA 445 445 434.05 435.55ISGEC 4,950.00 4,951.00 4,812.10 4,943.85PARAGMILK 201.75 205.15 201 202.2TAKE 113.65 113.65 108 108.95NLCINDIA 64.05 64.5 61 61.65GLAXO 1,384.25 1,390.00 1,360.00 1,372.30AEGISLOG 191.05 191.05 172 176.5JKCEMENT 699.1 768.8 694.65 717.6CHAMBLFERT 163.75 163.75 160 161.75JAMNAAUTO 52 52 50 50.2NILKAMAL 1,282.25 1,282.25 1,250.00 1,260.20SBILIFE 567.05 575 562 569.5SUNDRMFAST 505 519 502.5 514.95PRSMJOHNSN 70.9 71.25 68.3 69.85GUJFLUORO 872 887.95 866.55 873INDHOTEL 136.85 138.65 135.7 136.4SCHNEIDER 85.85 87 82.4 83ALLCARGO 103.45 103.9 102 102.75KANSAINER 452.65 455 446.15 450.35ALKEM 1,819.95 1,819.95 1,785.00 1,803.15GESHIP 272 272.1 258 262.6BAYERCROP 4,287.60 4,297.20 4,190.05 4,281.45SUDARSCHEM 307 308.7 305 306.85CROMPTON 205.65 205.65 200.1 202DENABANK 11.09 11.09 10.79 10.87CERA 2,263.70 2,282.05 2,240.00 2,247.35SYNGENE 586.35 591.75 582 586.45TATACOFFEE 82 83.4 81.6 82.4VIJAYABANK 40.25 40.5 39.15 39.45CUB 180.05 182.45 180.05 180.4HAL 616.3 659.25 616.3 620.3LAXMIMACH 5,496.00 5,500.00 5,433.10 5,459.05NESCO 450 450 426 430.95CARERATING 961.5 967.25 943 950.2GHCL 222.7 224 217.4 218.75GALAXYSURF 890 907 886.15 896.55JBCHEPHARM 312.15 313.5 302.8 310.7HIMATSEIDE 168 168 162.7 164.1TIINDIA 345.8 346.4 332.6 337.8ITDC 253.3 262 243.15 257.45COROMANDEL 447 454 435.25 444.7SUPREMEIND 1,025.20 1,045.00 1,010.25 1,030.75EIHOTEL 191.05 193.2 186.6 187.85MOIL 150.1 151.65 150 150.05MONSANTO 2,553.20 2,555.90 2,513.05 2,542.35J&KBANK 39.55 39.75 39.15 39.25BLUESTARCO 580 582 564.15 581.4SADBHAV 170 171.8 161.65 163.2COCHINSHIP 343.9 343.9 340 341.05PNCINFRA 137.7 139.4 135.7 137.05LAURUSLABS 333.9 334 325.15 327.05RALLIS 150.65 154.05 150.3 152.7LALPATHLAB 1,015.90 1,027.95 1,007.75 1,012.15BALMLAWRIE 164.1 166.85 160 162.9THOMASCOOK 213.8 215.3 209.45 211.15CENTRALBK 28.8 28.9 28.2 28.65GUJGAS 121.7 122.15 118.05 119.4HEIDELBERG 148.65 148.65 146.35 147.05AKZOINDIA 1,691.00 1,709.00 1,675.95 1,701.15KNRCON 204 208.65 201.2 206.9CENTURYPLY 163.7 163.8 161 162.55ATUL 3,399.90 3,445.00 3,380.00 3,433.85MINDACORP 127.55 129.2 125 126.3IEX 158.7 162.95 156.2 162.2STARCEMENT 98 100.5 88.55 93.9NETWORK18 33.75 34 32.6 32.65MHRIL 190.5 192.2 187 189.85LEMONTREE 71.6 73 70.55 72

GPPL 78 80 77.9 79.6TEJASNET 138.1 142 134.7 136.1VMART 2,404.60 2,412.30 2,344.10 2,360.20SYMPHONY 1,200.10 1,201.35 1,172.35 1,185.55ECLERX 1,008.80 1,065.00 1,008.75 1,017.85MAHABANK 12.5 12.94 12.5 12.77ANDHRABANK 23.6 23.95 23 23.2GICRE 224.95 225.45 216.05 218.7FDC 155.05 155.05 148.2 152.05SHK 157.5 158.3 152.05 154.85ENDURANCE 1,252.85 1,262.75 1,230.65 1,245.50SANOFI 6,290.00 6,290.00 6,175.85 6,217.25JKLAKSHMI 309.4 311.65 305.05 308.2HERITGFOOD 453.25 455.15 449.1 453.6FINOLEXIND 498.95 498.95 489 493.75UCOBANK 17.35 17.4 17.05 17.2JYOTHYLAB 178.4 178.45 175 177.1TRITURBINE 104.1 104.55 104 104.05ASTERDM 150.15 154.55 150 152.9HONAUT 21,368.10 21,500.00 21,300.00 21,432.45NBVENTURES 96.4 97.9 96.25 96.7IOB 12.23 12.3 12 12.12ITDCEM 104.7 104.7 102.9 103.2SUPRAJIT 188 191.75 185.05 188.85LAKSHVILAS 57 57.25 55.9 56.4FORBESCO 1,925.10 1,951.00 1,925.00 1,947.45ASHOKA 112.15 114.35 111 112.25THERMAX 1,009.65 1,009.65 990 998.7GMDCLTD 76 77.25 73.05 75.3KALPATPOWR 335.55 349.95 335.55 346.25GDL 103 103 97.5 98.9ASTRAL 1,134.25 1,146.95 1,122.00 1,136.20ORIENTCEM 66.05 68 65.65 67.5NIACL 171.05 173.9 165.1 170.85INDOSTAR 326.5 330.75 320.05 324.15NAVKARCORP 40.1 40.2 39.25 39.95MAHLIFE 371 377.9 371 376.35BAJAJCON 350 355 348.05 352.15APLLTD 536.65 541.5 533.65 539.15IFBIND 708.15 773.95 704.2 755.55DHANUKA 394 403.85 391.95 398RATNAMANI 866.95 889.75 830 849.3MAGMA 86.15 86.2 81 82.5GREENPLY 129.65 131 128.4 128.65FLFL 431.15 431.15 424.6 427.85ELGIEQUIP 256.55 256.55 246.1 250NH 192.2 203.6 190 200.25RELAXO 745 751.55 728.05 736.85LAOPALA 200.55 202.8 195.15 197.5SUNCLAYLTD 2,460.00 2,460.00 2,390.00 2,392.00PRESTIGE 196 196 193.15 194.4PHOENIXLTD 582 609 580.9 598.35ZYDUSWELL 1,250.10 1,281.65 1,250.00 1,257.95CCL 269.5 269.5 265.4 266.3GET&D 281.85 286.1 276.1 284.15GEPIL 752.25 753.35 740 744.95JAGRAN 95 95.85 92.3 93.3VTL 996.85 1,005.75 994.3 999.85TIFHL 425 457.95 414.85 437.4INOXWIND 63.85 63.95 62.85 63.85ERIS 658 660 613.85 620.6APARINDS 610 615.5 610 613.25TIMKEN 537.8 550 535 539.55CRISIL 1,631.00 1,635.40 1,615.25 1,633.75SHARDACROP 321.75 322 320 320NAVNETEDUL 103.7 105.8 103.5 104.1GULFOILLUB 890 890 886 889.95KIOCL 123.8 128.5 121.3 124.75SHILPAMED 354.1 354.1 347.85 348.75SHOPERSTOP 496 507.45 495.9 505.3SOLARINDS 960.1 961.7 952 957.8ESSELPRO 106.3 108.25 105 106CORPBANK 24.3 24.6 24.3 24.35BIRLACORPN 452 453.15 449.95 450.85DBCORP 179.75 180.3 177 179.5KPRMILL 536.5 540.25 530 530.7BLUEDART 3,023.00 3,051.75 3,015.65 3,041.70THYROCARE 494.5 506 490.75 503.45TVTODAY 319.05 326.05 319 324.95GAYAPROJ 157.05 157.9 154.2 157.05SHRIRAMCIT 1,520.00 1,530.35 1,505.90 1,529.75JCHAC 1,699.75 1,724.35 1,650.00 1,713.70SUPPETRO 202 207.8 197.75 204.2GRINDWELL 511.8 516.25 509.85 510.8MAHLOG 440.05 440.05 431 438.75HATSUN 662.9 663.1 654.4 660.05SFL 1,280.00 1,300.00 1,270.05 1,270.05SIS 758 758.7 745 751.65

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10,780.25 10,785.75 10,620.40 10,724.40 -21.65BPCL 318 329 318 327.75 12.1NTPC 132 137.4 132 135.25 4GAIL 309.75 319.15 309.1 317 9.05POWERGRID 178.4 182.2 177.6 179.8 4.85INFRATEL 299.2 310.45 291.95 304.45 7.25ONGC 138 140.9 133.4 135.1 2.95RELIANCE 1,229.75 1,249.90 1,214.00 1,248.10 23.9LT 1,244.00 1,253.90 1,230.90 1,250.00 22.4TATAMOTORS 159.8 162.3 153.15 162.2 2.35EICHERMOT 20,147.30 20,377.20 19,932.05 20,280.00 263.6BHARTIARTL 301 306.05 297.35 304.45 3.65IOC 126.95 127 120.95 125.6 0.95ITC 279 280.95 275.4 279.65 1.75BAJAJFINSV 6,050.00 6,080.00 5,855.00 6,070.00 34.4INFY 742.3 746.5 732.6 742.05 2WIPRO 375.25 377.35 370.15 376.1 1ASIANPAINT 1,400.80 1,404.95 1,372.10 1,401.00 1.8ADANIPORTS 347.55 352.9 347.3 349.2 0.1BAJAJ-AUTO 2,825.15 2,850.00 2,805.05 2,821.00 -2.1CIPLA 540 551.4 528.5 541.9 -1HCLTECH 1,066.20 1,067.35 1,041.50 1,059.40 -1.9KOTAKBANK 1,287.80 1,290.00 1,270.00 1,283.00 -3.8UPL 819 821 806.2 818.35 -2.7TITAN 1,035.00 1,052.00 1,016.80 1,038.50 -3.75ICICIBANK 344.05 347.75 340.6 342.6 -1.35HDFCBANK 2,107.35 2,108.10 2,078.20 2,100.70 -9.5COALINDIA 219.9 221.5 214.7 216.2 -1TECHM 804.8 804.8 777.25 802.1 -3.8TCS 2,049.00 2,052.00 2,010.95 2,034.60 -10HINDUNILVR 1,790.00 1,790.00 1,747.50 1,773.00 -12.05INDUSINDBK 1,515.55 1,521.95 1,498.70 1,505.00 -12.5M&M 635 636.9 618.8 627.55 -6.85ZEEL 440.2 441 421.1 428.4 -5.05HDFC 1,900.60 1,900.60 1,856.50 1,877.25 -23.45ULTRACEMCO 3,489.90 3,489.90 3,367.05 3,448.80 -46.1AXISBANK 700 704 681.7 685.3 -9.7MARUTI 7,027.40 7,058.70 6,900.00 6,915.00 -102.5SBIN 268.85 268.85 261.3 262.8 -4.3YESBANK 226.9 226.9 211.3 217.45 -3.8GRASIM 721.5 722.35 689.1 706 -12.9BAJFINANCE 2,610.00 2,610.00 2,506.00 2,559.95 -49.25HINDPETRO 219.6 221.1 215 216.15 -4.55VEDL 151.05 151.2 145.8 147.55 -4.2HINDALCO 192.3 192.5 182.2 186.2 -5.55IBULHSGFIN 665 667.65 633.25 636.2 -20.4TATASTEEL 483 483.4 462.65 467.25 -15.3HEROMOTOCO 2,785.40 2,785.40 2,678.00 2,687.00 -89.2SUNPHARMA 440.75 440.75 416.45 423 -17.9DRREDDY 2,660.00 2,660.00 1,872.95 2,555.95 -111.3JSWSTEEL 279.95 279.95 265.45 266.65 -14

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 25,911.55 25,932.20 25,308.95 25,500.60 -445.1ABCAPITAL 78.5 81.65 77.75 80.25 1.75OIL 171.3 174.9 170.7 173.25 3.15BEL 75 76.25 74.15 75.2 0.7NHPC 23.65 24 23.5 23.75 0.2SBILIFE 568.55 575.8 562 571.1 2.55HDFCLIFE 356 361.95 354 361 1.5HINDZINC 248.8 249.6 244.3 247.95 0.8ICICIGI 908 915 892.15 911 0.75BOSCHLTD 18,151.00 18,227.00 17,801.00 18,076.65 -7.7OFSS 3,630.00 3,660.00 3,560.00 3,625.00 -2.15SHREECEM 15,467.05 15,660.00 15,077.65 15,588.00 -19.65PGHH 10,000.00 10,150.00 9,971.15 10,000.00 -15.95AMBUJACEM 203.7 205.95 200.5 203.8 -0.6GICRE 225.95 225.95 215.75 222.9 -1ICICIPRULI 303.95 313.5 299.65 302.4 -2.3ABB 1,258.40 1,271.70 1,238.00 1,248.00 -10.2ACC 1,358.70 1,377.55 1,345.10 1,349.00 -11.9BANDHANBNK 479 484 468.15 474.55 -4.8HAVELLS 695.8 697.95 675.25 687 -7.15INDIGO 1,156.00 1,159.70 1,119.25 1,157.00 -14.95COLPAL 1,255.00 1,255.00 1,215.75 1,231.50 -16.55CONCOR 502 502.9 484.5 491.3 -6.7NMDC 93 93.1 91.1 91.8 -1.3L&TFH 126 127.8 123.05 125.5 -1.8CADILAHC 317.8 319 305.95 314 -4.5NIACL 172.95 172.95 169.05 170.5 -2.45MARICO 347 347 332.6 339.75 -5.25DABUR 440 443.45 430.1 433.4 -6.8PETRONET 217.6 219.7 213.5 213.6 -3.6PIDILITIND 1,113.90 1,117.85 1,080.15 1,094.75 -18.65DMART 1,461.90 1,478.50 1,403.15 1,440.00 -25.4MRF 56,302.00 56,408.30 55,000.00 55,175.00 -1,124.20LICHSGFIN 447.05 452.4 435.8 438 -9.25BHEL 61.95 62 60.7 61 -1.3BRITANNIA 2,945.00 2,945.00 2,846.00 2,859.00 -65.6PEL 2,190.10 2,214.95 2,121.00 2,154.05 -55.7DLF 162 162.05 154.4 158.1 -4.2SIEMENS 983.5 986.05 953.75 960.1 -25.95BANKBARODA 104.25 104.45 100.3 100.85 -2.8MCDOWELL-N 518.75 523.35 504 507.45 -14.3GODREJCP 680.5 681.15 654.4 661.95 -19SAIL 46 46.4 44.3 44.9 -1.35AUROPHARMA 749.95 749.95 718 722 -25.5MOTHERSUMI 135.55 135.8 128.6 130.5 -5.05BIOCON 639.9 642 610.85 616.8 -25.05SRTRANSFIN 1,041.00 1,045.25 997 1,001.50 -45.4LUPIN 809 809.95 767.1 774 -36.2SUNTV 576.1 578.05 538.55 548.85 -27.75IDEA 31.35 31.35 29.75 30 -1.65ASHOKLEY 81.8 82.35 78 79.7 -4.75

Page 12:  · Sahoo and Constable Manoj Kumar Behera. While Sahoo was a resident ... Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera and Health Minister Pratap Jena to visit the two families. The Chief

(!#()%��')*�,��)-#*�). ,���(*#)*. /01�23/4 �������

Washington: In a stern mes-sage to Pakistan, the WhiteHouse has asked Islamabad to"immediately end" its "sup-port" to all terror groups andnot to provide "safe haven" tothem, as the US condemnedthe brutal Pulwama terrorattack claimed the lives of at

least 40 CRPF soldiers.Pakistan-based Jaish-e-

Mohammad (JeM) has claimedresponsibility for the terrorattack in Jammu & Kashmir'sPulwama district on Thursdaythat left at least 40 CRPF sol-diers dead and five others crit-ically wounded.

"The United States callson Pakistan to end immediatelythe support and safe havenprovided to all terrorist groupsoperating on its soil, whoseonly goal is to sow chaos, vio-lence, and terror in the region,"White House Press SecretarySarah Sanders said in a late

night statement on Thursday."This attack only strength-

ens our resolve to bolster coun-terterrorism cooperation andcoordination between theUnited States and India," shesaid in a strongly-worded state-ment issued by the WhiteHouse.

Sanders said the UnitedStates condemns in thestrongest terms the heinousterrorist attack in Pulwama bya Pakistan-based terrorist

group."We express our deep con-

dolences to the victims' fami-lies, the Indian Government,and the Indian people for theloss of life in this brutal attack,"said the Press Secretary ofPresident Donald Trump.

Earlier, the US StateDepartment said in a statementthat it was "resolutely commit-ted" to working with the IndianGovernment to combat terror-ism in all its forms.

"The US condemns in thestrongest terms the terroristattack today on an IndianCentral Reserve Police Forceconvoy in the Indian state ofJammu & Kashmir," StateDepartment DeputySpokesperson Robert Palladinosaid.

"The UN designated,Pakistan-based terrorist groupJaish-e-Muhammad hasclaimed responsibility for thisheinous act. We call on allcountries to uphold theirresponsibilities pursuant toUN Security Council resolu-tions to deny safe haven andsupport for terrorists,"Palladino said.

Several US lawmakers alsoexpressed solidarity with Indiain the wake of a dastardly terrorattack and said the two countriesstand united in condemning anddefeating terror. PTI

5������������������������ ����� �8)�����/����Wa s h i n g t o n / M o s c o w :Countries from across the globe,including the US, Russia,Australia, France, Saudi Arabia,Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, havecondemned the brutal Pulwamaterror attack carried out byPakistan-based terror groupJaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) andextended support to India in thefight against terrorism.

At least 40 CRPF personnelwere killed and many injured onThursday in one of the deadliestterror attacks in Jammu &Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicidebomber rammed a vehicle car-rying over 100 kg of explosivesinto their bus in Pulwama dis-trict.

Condemning the attack,Russian President VladimirPutin on Friday said perpetra-tors and sponsors of the attackshould be brought to book andreiterated his country's supportfor further strengthening coun-terterrorist cooperation withIndia.

In a message to PresidentRam Nath Kovind and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, Putinsaid, "Please accept the most sin-cere condolences in connectionwith the loss of Indian lawenforcement officers in the ter-rorist act in the state of Jammu& Kashmir. We strongly con-demn this brutal crime. Theperpetrators and sponsors ofthis attack, undoubtedly, shouldbe duly punished.

"I would like to reiterate thereadiness for further strength-ening counterterrorist cooper-ation with Indian partners. InRussia, we share the grief offriendly people of India andhope for speedy recovery of theinjured," he said.

The US specifically singled

out Pakistan in its statementcondemning the attack.

In a stern message toPakistan, the White House hasasked Islamabad to "immedi-ately end" its "support" to all ter-ror groups and not to provide"safe haven" to them.

"The US calls on Pakistan toend immediately the supportand safe haven provided to allterrorist groups operating on itssoil, whose only goal is to sowchaos, violence, and terror in theregion," White House PressSecretary Sarah Sanders said ina statement. "This attack onlystrengthens our resolve to bol-ster counterterrorism coopera-tion and coordination betweenthe US and India," she said inthe statement issued by theWhite House.

Oz political leaders alsocondemned the "heinous" terrorattack. "We convey our deepestcondolences to the families ofthe victims, and all thoseinjured. Our thoughts are withmy friend Prime Minister@narendramodi and the Indianpeople," Prime Minister ScottMorrison tweeted on Friday.

Opposition leader BillShorten said it was an atrociousattack. "To the family andfriends of the soldiers killed andinjured — we send our deepestcondolences, support, and hopefor a timely recovery for theinjured," he said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia said it stoodwith India's fight against ter-rorism and extremism anddenounced as "cowardly" thesuicide attack. The strong con-demnation came days ahead ofSaudi Crown PrinceMohammed bin Salman binAbdulaziz Al Saud's state visit toIndia next week for talks withthe top Indian leadership. PTI

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Beijing: China on Friday expressed deep"shock" over the Pulwama terror attack car-ried out by a Jaish suicide bomber but did notgive an assurance to India that it will backNew Delhi's appeal to list the UN-proscribedPakistan-based terror group's chief MasoodAzhar as a global terrorist.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killedand many injured on Thursday in one of thedeadliest terror attacks in Jammu andKashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carryingover 100 kg of explosives into their bus inPulwama district.

"China has noted the reports of suicideterrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by thisattack. We express deep condolences andsympathy to the injured and bereaved fam-ilies," spokesman of the Chinese ForeignMinistry Geng Shuang told a media briefinghere when asked about the incident.

In a carefully worded response to a num-ber of questions on the Pulwama incident,Geng said China condemned the incident aspart of its overall stand on terrorism.

"We firmly oppose and strongly condemn

all forms of terrorism. We hope relevantregional countries will cooperate to cope withthe threat of terrorism and jointly upholdregional peace and stability," Geng said.

Without directly referring to India'spersistent demand to declare Azhar as a glob-al terrorist, Geng said JeM has already beenincluded in the sanctions list of the UN com-mittee but he was not forthcoming on whyChina is opposed to extend the ban on theleader of the group.

When asked about China's stand on thelisting of Azhar as a global terrorist by theUN Security Council, he said: "As for theissue of listing, I could tell you that the 1267Committee of Security Council has a clearstipulation on the listing and procedure of theterrorist organisations".

"JeM has been included in the SecurityCouncil terrorism sanctions list. China willcontinue to handle the relevant sanctionsissue in a constructive and responsible man-ner," Geng said in an apparent reference toExternal Affairs Ministry's appeal to all mem-bers of the UN Security Council to list Azharas a global terrorist.

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Washington: US PresidentDonald Trump will sign anexecutive order declaring anational emergency, whichwill empower him to fundthe construction of a massivewall along the US-Mexicoborder to prevent illegalimmigrants from enteringthe country and curb drugsmuggling.

The move would helpTrump get $5.6 billion for theconstruction of the wall that,he has asserted, is essentialfor national security.

“President Trump willsign the Government fund-ing bill, and as he has statedbefore, he will also takeother executive action -including a national emer-gency - to ensure we stop thenational security andhumanitarian crisis at theborder,” White House PressSecretary Sarah Sanders saidin a statement.

“The President is onceagain delivering on hispromise to build the wall,protect the border, andsecure our great country,” shesaid.

The White House state-ment came soon after SenateMajority leader MitchMcConnell made the movepublic.

“I had an opportunity tospeak with President Trump

and he, I would say to all mycolleagues, has indicated he'sprepared to sign the bill. Healso (will) be issuing anational emergency declara-tion at the same time. I indi-cated I'm going to supportthe national emergency dec-laration," McConnell said.

On the Democrats say-ing they will challenge themove in the Supreme Court,Sanders said, "We're veryprepared, but there should-n't be (legal challenges). Thepresident's doing his job.The Congress should dotheirs."

Senate Minority LeaderChuck Schumer and HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi saidthat declaring a nationalemergency would be “a law-less act, a gross abuse of thepower of the presidency anda desperate attempt to dis-tract from the fact thatTrump broke his corepromise to have Mexico payfor his wall". PTI

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Brussels: Both Britain'sMinister for Brexit StephenBarclay and Opposition leaderJeremy Corbyn will visitBrussels next week for talkswith EU negotiator MichelBarnier.

"Mr Barnier's door isalways open," an EUspokesman said, confirmingthat Barclay was expected tovisit EU headquarters onMonday and Corbyn onThursday.

Prime Minister TheresaMay is also expected in Brusselsnext week, but he visit has notbeen confirmed.

Britain is due to leave theEU on March 29, but PrimeMinister Theresa May is strug-gling to persuade parliament toback a divorce deal. EU leadersfear severe economic disruptionif London leaves the bloc with-out a follow on agreement pro-viding for a transition period tonegotiate a trade deal.

Corbyn has suggestedLabour MPs would rescue thewithdrawal plan if EU leaderspromise to allow Britain toremain in the EU customsunion. May and many of herConservative MPs reject thatidea, but Barnier and EUCouncil President DonaldTusk have described it as"interesting". AFP

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��Creating the character of LadyBird was a time consuming one.How did you prepare for the same?

Lady bird had intricate character-istics, creating that or becoming herneeded time so as to ace the perfec-tion. I was in New York for anotherproject and our director GretaGerwiglives gave us both the oppor-tunity to work on the character andits emotions. We used to plan andmeet for a few weeks where we werejust hanging out with each other andwe would go down the sweet mem-ory lane of our teenage days and howthat time flew so fast. Teenage is allabout the moments we wished wehad, decisions we regret, not havingthe experience to navigate and somuch more, all of this discussion withGreta really helped me to know LadyBird and be that character. It is noteasy to bring in the complexity of thischaracter on screen but Greta was ofgreat help to make me achieve it. Thiswhole process was quite interestingand inspiring. It took about a year forme to get in the role before shootschedule started.

��How much do you relate to thecharacter of Lady Bird?

The character and I share a lot ofsimilarities. I am very assertive andoutspoken like the lady bird. Infact, Iadmire her. It’s not very often that wefind a teenager with stern principles.A person can have flaws and not beperfect, and still be really special andhave something to offer. Everyone isdealing with their own stuff, they havetheir own issues, and their sadness.Even if you don't see that directly, itdoesn't mean it's not there or it does-n't exist for someone. My character iscontent with herself and things aroundher doesn't really matter. So, it is anempowering thing in a way.

���The movie has a lot of themesand things to explore. What do youthink is the heart of this film?

In this movie, the heart of it is therelationship of lady bird with hermother where it is quite evident thatthe two of them are close and reallylove each other but there is justsomething off or not working rightbetween them. Some incidents in lifetake you to the rough road and that'swhat they have been going through inthis film. That infact is so relatable forany teenager, as there has always beensome turbulence between theguardian and the teenager because ofthat generation gap and understand-ing it which gets difficult. But thisdoesn't really mean that you abandoneach other and move on. That's evenshown in the movie that no matter thefights or arguments, the bond betweenthe mother and the daughter isbeyond breakable.

��You have been nominated for thesecond time for Oscars?

I feel obliged to be nominatedonce again and also have a betterunderstanding about it now, as dur-ing my first one, I was a kid. It real-ly makes huge impact with the sec-ond nomination but both of themwere equally fantastic. With every filmthere is a different equation and everyfilm gives you a different experiencewhich makes each and every work wedo as important and as appreciativeas it could be. With this one, I reallythink it is completely a group effort.With Timothee Chalamet, LaurieMetcalf too being nominated, it's a fullhouse.

So, it is a great job done by thewhole cast and crew. Also, it is a real-ly great feeling to see Greta nominat-ed as she is the fifth women directorto be nominated in Oscars.

��We heard that you used to visitopen houses? Is that true?

Yes, I have had some great mem-ories about the same. I used to visitopen houses with my parents just forfun as that time we really couldn'tafford those houses. We used to livein a 1970s designed bungalow andwhenever we would get a wind of newhouse on the market in the vicinity,we would go visit them. We wouldhave the attitude that we might justbuy it, thinking what if we can, oneday? This is actually one such part ofmy real life that really connected withmy character in the Lady Bird as shesees her home and on the other hand,a beautiful house marking it as suc-cess ratio which most of us do. Butlike the saying goes... Home is wherethe family is.

(Watch Lady Bird only on SonyPIX.)

There is an insatiable desire inevery jewellery designer tobetter his/her last piece. A

similar kind of zeal runs throughSmriti Sangal’s veins while work-ing to create the most intricatedesign. Each time she picks up heriron stand, heating it up in a fur-nace, she fashions yet anotherbeautiful piece of Meenakari ear-ring.

As the workshop commencedat the Jaypore store, Sangal,founder of Culture Chauraha wasready with her array of tools andequipment to help art connois-seurs learn about the Persiancraft. It began with choosing theright kind of shape one wants togive to their earrings. It’s then cuton a copper sheet, flattened by ahammer and nail, pierced througha drill machine, moving on tocleansing the black coat and turn-ing it into a shiny pink. The basecoat is prepared through whitecrystal powder before starting itspainting with powdered glasscolours.

When Sangal started learningit from her mother, Ritu Sangal,who is a master of this art since thelast 33 years, she felt the need tomake it accessible for more peo-ple. “I saw that people were fasci-nated and were eager to learnabout the entire process of jew-ellery making. Even if they don’tjoin the extensive course, theycould come to these workshopsand learn the basics. This wouldalso in turn make them connectmore to the art,” she says. She callsthe melting of glass crystal coloursas “surreal.”

Her three-hour workshopsthat also recently took place inBengaluru teach two basic tech-niques of enameling — sgraffito(decoration done by scratchingthrough a surface before firing)and paint-on. They are aimed atcreating an enameled jewellerwho is able to “notice and appre-ciate the effort and time it takes toproduce one piece of jewellery.”

Sangal lists a number ofprocesses that go through in themaking of one piece of Meenakarijewellery. She says, “Peoplethrough these workshops couldnotice the technicalities as well.For instance, how much temper-ature is it fired at, what kind ofcolours are being used, how theshape is given, what are the do’sand don’t’s, etc.”

Well, the motive of CultureChauraha was in itself to create aspace for people and teachingthem mural painting, enameling,paper crafts, fine-art sketching,drawing, porcelain painting,woodcut printing, and helpingkids to prepare for art colleges. Shesays that this was also founded “tomake people go back to their artspace that ends after school whena busy hectic schedule hits life and

you find yourself away from sucha therapeutic practice.”

Why Chauraha? Well, shesays that it was inspired from thecentral place of the city where peo-ple from all corners of the towncame together in olden days and

had a cultural extravaganza, doinga number of activities.

Among an array of her hand-made earrings and designer jew-ellery are an infusion of colours —green, yellow and shades of red —amalgamated with contemporary

architecture and traditionalPersian flower motifs. There areshapes like diamonds, hearts, but-terflies, circles, and even pyramids.

She ends with telling us thateven though the teaching hasbeen a slow journey but “it has

had been picking up very well. Atthe end of the workshop, whatmatters is that people are veryhappy with what they have creat-ed. As a mentor, you feel blissfulthat you made them learn some-thing new.”

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The kids from forthcoming filmMere Pyare Prime Minister have

challenged actor Ranveer Singh withtheir Gully Boy rap.

As seen in the trailer of Mere PyarePrime Minister, the children who wentto Prime Minister’s office to requesthim to make more toilets in the slumsare not just fierce in reel life but alsoin real life.

Kanhu from the film namedKrishna took to his social media post-ing a video wherein along with hiscompanions, he challenged actorRanveer Singh by rapping in a uniqueway. He posted the video and wrote,“Hui Hai Gandi Baat Meri Gully Mein.Kya Tu Dega Mera Sath Meri GullyMein? #RanveerKoChallenge.”

The kids could completely relate tothe Gully Boy Ranveer so they made arap challenge for him, asking if he willhelp them.

The film shows the real-life prob-lems faced by people who reside in theslums. The makers of the film decid-ed to launch the trailer on VasantPachmi as it marks the beginning of theHoli season and is cited to be the har-binger of spring.

Presented by Jayantilal Gada,Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra andP.S.Bharathi, the film also stars AnjaliPatil, Om Kanojiya, MakarandDeshpande, Rasika Agashe, SoniaAlbizuri, Nachiket Purnapatre andAtul Kulkarni.

(The film releases on March 15.)

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Page 14:  · Sahoo and Constable Manoj Kumar Behera. While Sahoo was a resident ... Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera and Health Minister Pratap Jena to visit the two families. The Chief

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It was a range of experimen-tation and analysis of variousmedia like glass,

wood and other met-als that went beforefinalising copper tocreate the artworkthat gave the interiorsof ITC Maurya a newluxurious touch.

Designer-artistand founder of EastCraft Designs, K Rajesh finally

chose copper as he believes thatit brings “a sense of richness”

without looking gaudyor loud.

The project, thatbegan in March 2018,finally got into shaperecently. Rajesh sharesthat the idea behindPrive was to have anentrance that lookselegant and graceful

with a touch of luxury and also

portrays Delhi’s rich architec-ture. “The hotel uses a signature‘East meets West’ style ofMauryan diplomacy that com-bines a historic aura with con-temporary interiors,” he said.

He revealed that the teamdecided to recreate the iconicRashtrapati Bhawan’s architec-ture designed by Lutyen. Thedesign was inspired byEdwardian Baroque of the colo-nial British era.

The team accounted forfour sculptors. The entire muralis made in ceramic. It was givena shape through sand-castingtechnique. Well, the entire art-work that weighs 350 kgs, wasindeed a challenge, includinginstalling the artwork on thewall.

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� Roma is a beautiful film.How did you not go crazyplanning every detail?

I did go crazy (laughs).Even the crew had gone crazy.Nobody knew what was therein the screenplay. I wrote avery precise script but no onehad it. We shot the film in achronological order so thatthe crew could learn it day-by-day about the film’s story.� So the actress who playedCleo had no idea what wasgoing to happen? Not to givespoilers for anyone but thatscene is so heartbreaking.

No, she didn’t know.Without ruining it for anyone,she doesn’t know how toswim.� The movie is stunningand moving at the same timebut at the crux of it, it’s sucha traditional story. Whatmade you want to do this?

Everything comes out ofmy memory of Libo. She isone of the women who raisedme. I decided to shoot at theplaces where it happened. Imade people dress in thesame way how they used todress. The same cars were keptwhich used to be in ourstreets. Every extra looks like

the neighbours. If the placesdidn’t exist anymore, we recre-ated them.� The lead character, YalitzaAparicio apparently didn’teven think she was going toaudition for this role. Is thattrue? Is she an actor?

No, she had just finishedher school to become ateacher. She was not reallyinterested. Her sister made her

give the audition for the film.She came to Mexico to meetme but she didn’t know whoI was so she had browse theweb to know about me. Shedidn’t believe it was mebecause apparently I washealthier in the photographs.She was amazing in the filmand when I offered her therole. She said, ‘I don’t haveanything better to do so let’s

do it’ (laughs).� How personal is this pro-ject to you?

I had the story in mymind for a very long time butin 2006, I seriously considereddoing it and I am happy thatI did. I don’t think I had thetools at that point. I am notjust talking about the techni-cal aspect but also the emo-tional sensibility to do it. Butit is very personal. In a way, 90per cent of the scenes comeout of my memory.� Considering Mexico citydoesn’t look the same any-more, how difficult was it torecreate that period?

It was very difficult. That’sour testament to EugenioCaballero, our productiondesigner. It was a real chal-lenge. The important thingwas to make the memorywork. We had references andphotographs but more thananything it is the memory that

brings all the details like thelittle cracks in the walls, theobjects that were used. Thechallenge for Eugenio was tobring real occasions back toperiod. We shot in most of theoriginal places and trans-forming some of them.Mexico is a big city but it alsohas a third world which hasno urban setup. For onescene, we had to producearound five blocks of the city,where Eugenio Caballero hadreproduced the same kind ofavenue, wedding dress shop,cinema, and even pharmacy.Everything was identical.�Why did you choose to doit in black and white?

It was a part of the DNAof the film. When I decided tomake the film, I didn’t want anostalgic black and white. Ididn’t want a period film.

We shot 65 mm in digitalso it was in black and whitethat could not have been doneat that time. It’s a very pristinegrainless black and white. It’sa very contemporary photog-raphy to look into the past.

(Oscars will air onFebruary 25 at 6.30 am on StarMovies and Star Movies SelectHD.)

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Chelsea claimed a 2-1 victory atMalmo in the Europa Leaguelast-32 first leg on Thursday to

ease some of the pressure on belea-guered coach Maurizio Sarri, whileArsenal suffered a shock loss to BATEBorisov.

Visitors Chelsea desperately need-ed a response after back-to-back humil-iating away losses, with last Sunday's 6-0 thrashing by Manchester City follow-ing a 4-0 reverse at Bournemouth.

Ross Barkley took advantage of adefensive lapse by the home team to putChelsea ahead on the half-hour mark,with Olivier Giroud adding a 58th-minute second before Malmo's late goalgave them a glimmer of hope ahead ofnext week's return match at StamfordBridge.

Chelsea face Manchester United inthe FA Cup on Monday, before facingCity again in the League Cup final on

February 24."I am happy because we played with

confidence and it wasn't really very easyafter the last match (the defeat by City),"Sarri told BT Sport.

"I think I am always confident butsometimes we had the wrong approachwith matches so we need to be carefulin every match."

Sarri named a strong team,although he did leave Gonzalo Higuainand Eden Hazard on the bench.

Chelsea found themselves upagainst a spirited Malmo outfit in thefirst half, roared on by a vociferoushome crowd, but kept the Swedes atarm's length before Barkley grabbedtheir first away goal of 2019.

Pedro swung over a cross whichLasse Nielsen should have headedaway, but the defender failed with hisattemped volleyed clearance andBarkley was on hand to control and stabinto the net.

Uwe Rosler's Malmo piled on thepressure at the end of the half, but

Barkley twice pro-duced crucial headersat the other end tokeep Chelsea in front.

But the PremierLeague giants tooktotal control of the tiein the 58th minute

with a wonderful counter-attack.Barkley led the charge before pick-

ing out Willian, and the Brazilianpowered to the byline before cutting theball back for Giroud to flick in a coolback-heeled finish.

The French striker has now scoredfive goals in six Europa League gamesthis season, despite only netting oncein 23 matches in domestic competitions.

But Malmo did grab the goal theirefforts deserved in the 80th minute, asAnders Christiansen slotted pastChelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

��������#��������#������Arsenal face an uphill battle to

progress after a 1-0 defeat by BATE in

a game which saw Alexandre Lacazettesent off for elbowing AleksandarFilipovic with five minutes remaining.

Stanislav Dragun put BATE aheadjust before the break in Barysaw andArsenal never threatened an equaliser,with Lacazette's late dismissal also rul-ing him out of next week's second legin London.

Unai Emery's side have now wonjust two of their last nine away match-es — last weekend's victory over thePremier League's bottom clubHuddersfield and an FA Cup winagainst third-tier Blackpool.

Elsewhere, Napoli began life with-out record goalscorer Marek Hamsikwith a 3-1 win in a fiery atmosphere atFC Zurich.

Lorenzo Insigne, who has replacedHamsik as captain after the Slovakian'smove to China, scored the opening goal,with Jose Callejon and Piotr Zielinskialso on target.

Celtic's European adventuresappear to be over for another seasonafter being outclassed 2-0 by Valenciaat Parkhead.

Denis Cheryshev and RubenSobrino got the goals as the Spaniardsextended their recent unbeaten run tosix matches.

Inter Milan claimed a 1-0 win atRapid Vienna despite Mauro Icardisnubbing the trip after being strippedof the captaincy over a contract row,with Lautaro Martinez scoring thewinner from the penalty spot.

Wissam Ben Yedder's 22nd-minutestrike helped record five-time winnersSevilla take a large step towards the last16 with a 1-0 victory over Lazio inRome, while Benfica backed up their10-0 weekend thumping of Nacional bywinning 2-1 at Galatasaray.

Salzburg, semi-finalists last season,lost 2-1 at Club Brugge, while 10-manSporting Lisbon were beaten 1-0 byVillarreal in the Portuguese capital.

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Spanish championsBarcelona on

Friday announcedthat they have extend-ed the contract ofcoach ErnestoValverde for anotherseason with the optionof one more.

Valverde, whotook over at the CampNou in 2017 after joining from Athletic Bilbao, won the leagueand cup double last season.

"FC Barcelona and Ernesto Valverde, the first team coach,have reached an agreement to extend the contract between thetwo parties for another season (2019/20) with the option for onemore (2020/21)," the club said in a statement.

Valverde's previous contract would have expired at the endof this season.

He came within a whisker of leading Barca to an undefeat-ed 2017/2018 season when only a defeat late in the season atLevante prevented the team from making history.

Barca's run of scoring in 37 consecutive matches in the leaguecame to an end last Sunday with a goalless draw away to AthleticBilbao.

Earlier on Thursday Diego Simeone extended his contractas coach of Atletico Madrid until 2022.

Simeone has been in charge of Atletico since 2011 and hasturned them into one of the most feared teams in Europe.

Under him, they won the Europa League last season and LaLiga in 2014, as well as twice reaching the final of theChampions League.

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Argentina, Chile, Paraguayand Uruguay are to submit

a joint bid to host the 2030World Cup, Chile'sPresident SebastianPinera announced onThursday.

Argentina, Paraguayand Uruguay had alreadysubmitted a joint bid tohost the centenary editionof football's most presti-gious tournament, butPinera said on Twitter thatthose countries' presidentshad agreed to Chile's par-ticipation in the "jointcandidacy".

Argentina andUruguay originally announcedtheir intention to submit ajoint bid in 2017 beforeParaguay joined the coalition

later that year.Pinera said he had been

touting his idea to the presi-dents of Argentina, Paraguay

and Uruguay for severalmonths.

Uruguay hostedand won the inauguralWorld Cup in 1930,Chile was the venue in1962 and Argentina

emulated its neighbor'sachievement by lifting thetrophy on home soil in1978.

The South Americanbid faces competition

from Morocco andpotentially several otherjoint bids, including

one from Britain andIreland and another by an east-ern European confederationof Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria andRomania.

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World number three Simona Halepand three-time Grand Slam cham-

pion Angelique Kerber came throughtough tests on Thursday to reach theQatar Open semi-finals.

Also through are Elina Svitolina andElise Mertens, providing some comfortfor tournament organisers who havesomehow ended up with three of theworld's top 10 in the last four, despite ahigh number of prominent withdrawals.

Halep won in straight sets but need-ed two tie-breaks — 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (8/6)— to edge past Germany's Julia Goerges,despite racing to a 4-0lead in the first set.

However, the matchturned out to be any-thing but routine for theRomanian who wasforced to save two setpoints and break Goerges' serve in the10th game to stay in the second set.

"I am very happy, honestly," saidHalep.

"It's been a really tough match andit is always tough to play against her."

The Romanian will play Svitolina,ranked seventh in the world, in the lastfour on Friday.

Halep has lost her three last match-es against the Ukrainian, failing to wina single set in those matches, stretchingback to 2017.

Svitolina was the first player throughto the semi-finals, beating Czech qual-ifier Karolina Muchova by contrast ineasy fashion 6-4, 6-2.

"I found a way to have to beat her,"

said Svitolina. "I was very happy I coulddo it in two sets."

She was followed on court byKerber, the world number six, who won1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) in a tough and feistyencounter against another Czech,

Barbora Strycova, who was given a timeviolation in the final set.

The German not only battled backfrom being a set down, she was also abreak down in the second and third setsbefore winning through.

It will be Kerber's first semi-finalsince she won at Wimbledon last year.

She will play Belgium's Mertens, theworld number 21, in the last four, whobeat Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-3.

�������'�1���1������Rafael Nadal's Spain will host

defending champions Croatia in theDavis Cup finals with the 17-timemajor winner set to be the only mem-ber of the sport's big four taking part inthe controversially rebooted tourna-ment.

Nadal, a Davis Cup champion in2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011, will likelyface Marin Cilic, Croatia's top playerwho won both his singles in the 2018Davis Cup final victory over France.

Russia, the two-time champions,make up Group B.

Ten-time champions France, 2010winners Serbia and Japan contest GroupA while 2016 victors Argentina,Germany and Chile are in Group C.

Group D sees Belgium andColombia pooled with 28-time cham-pions Australia while Britain, who havebeen champions on 10 occasions,Kazakhstan and Netherlands make upGroup E.

Group F sees record 32-time win-ners United States clash with Italy andCanada.

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Japan's Kei Nishikori carved out a comfortable6-1, 6-4 win over Latvian Ernests Gulbis on

Thursday to power into the Rotterdam Openquarter-finals.

Asia's top player, the world number seven,needed an hour and a quarter to advance as hebooked a third victory against former FrenchOpen semi-finalist Gulbis, who was a lucky loserat the Ahoy Arena.

Nishikori will on Friday meet HungarianMarton Fucsovics, who defeated NikolozBasilashvili of Georgia 7-6 (7/1), 6-1, for a placein the semi-finals.

Nishikori, who won his 12th ATP title inBrisbane earlier this year, earned his 10th vic-tory of the season against a single loss — whenhe retired in the Australian Open last eightagainst Novak Djokovic.

"This was so much better than my firstmatch," Nishikori said. "I was returning well andputting him under pressure.

"The second set was tight for a while but Iwas not worried even after he got the break back.

"I was able to play good tennis today, I'mvery happy with my level."

Earlier, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won a lengthyopening set and then accelerated past DutchmanTallon Griekspoor for a quarter-final place.

The Frenchman's 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 victory wasa match of two parts, with the labourious firstset taking 53 minutes while the second lastedjust 23.

Tsonga, the 2017 champion in Rotterdam,will keep up his bid for a second straight tro-phy after winning Montpellier at the weekendas he continues his comeback from a seven-month absence last season due to knee surgery

and recovery.The 33-year-old also looks set for another

ranking rise from world number 140 as hiscomeback progress intensifies.

Tsonga next faces fifth-seeded RussianDaniil Medvedev who defeated Spanish veter-an Fernando Verdasco for the second time inthree meetings, posting a 6-2, 7-5 win.

Medvedev, a Rotterdam quarter-finalist onhis 2018 debut, has carried the momentum hegained from his fourth career title last weekendin Sofia.

The 23-year-old improved to 13-2 on theseason.

Bosnian Damir Dzumhur followed up onhis second-round upset of third seed StefanosTsitsipas, advancing past Kazakh MikhailKukushkin 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

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PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwalwon their respective semifinals in

contrasting fashion to set up amouth-watering women's singlessummit showdown at the 83rdYonex-Sunrise Senior NationalChampionship on Saturday.

In a repeat of last edition's titleclash at Nagpur, the two stalwarts willlook to outdo each other and writeanother chapter in their on-fieldrivalry.

While Sindhu overcame a chal-lenge from Assam's promising 19-year-old Ashmita Chaliha 21-10, 22-20 in the first semifinal, Saina got thebetter of Nagpur qualifier VaishnaviBhale, who was part of India's UberCup squad last year, 21-15, 21-14 tostorm into the finals.

Saina had the last laugh againstSindhu in the last two encounters atthe Nagpur Nationals in 2017 andthe Gold Coast CommonwealthGames Gold-medal match last year.

While Saina has won the title in2006, 2007 and 2018, Sindhuclinched the trophy twice, in 2011and 2013.

"It will be just another match andI don't think it will help me for AllEngland, I will just look to focus andgive my best," Sindhu said about thefinal.

In men's singles, Lakshya Sen,

who is Asian junior champion anda Bronze medallist at the WorldJunior Championship, secured hissecond final with a 21-15, 21-16 winover former winner and 2014Commonwealth Games champion

Parupalli Kashyap in the secondsemifinal.

The 17-year-old Sen, fromUttarakhand, had lost the finals ofthe 81st edition against SourabhVerma and he would look to settle

the scores when he faces the 26-year-old from Dhar in the finals onSaturday.

Two-time former championSourabh sealed his final spot afterbeating Mumbai's KaushalDharmamer 21-14, 21-17 in 44minutes.

Earlier in the day, former cham-pions Saina, Kashyap and Sourabhadvanced to the semifinals withcontrasting wins.

The three-time former champi-on Saina hardly broke a sweat to getthe better of former India No 1 NehaPandit of Mumbai 21-10, 21-10 in alop-sided quarter-final contest.

Kashyap, a 2012 winner, pre-vailed 21-18, 21-16 over BodhitJoshi, who had reached the finals ofIceland International last year.

Former world No 30 Verma,who had clinched Super 100 titles atRussia Open and Dutch Open lastyear, eked out a hard-fought 21-11,

21-23, 21-18 triumph over B SaiPraneeth.

In the other semi-final matchesof the day, Rohan Kapoor andKuhoo Garg lived up to their repu-tation as the top seeds in mixed dou-bles. The world No 46 pair neededonly 32 minutes to dispatchVighnesh Devlekar and Harika V 21-15, 21-16 to enter the final.

They will take on the unseededcombine of Manu Attri andManeesha K, who continued theirrampage with a fine 21-18, 21-17 winover Shlok Ramchandran andMithula UK.

In women's doubles, top seedsMeghana Jakkampudi and PoorvishaS Ram continued their quest for thetitle with a strong 21-13, 21-16 vic-tory over Kuhoo Garg and AnoushkaParikh. They will take on the unseed-ed Shikha Gautam and Ashwini BhatK in the summit clash after the lat-ter edged Aparna Balan and SruthiKP 21-19, 24-22.

Men's doubles second seedsPranaav Jerry Chopra and ChiragShetty beat Arun George andSanyam Shukla 21-17, 21-18 tosecure a place in the final.

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Former world Silver-medallist SoniaLather (57kg) was among the

three Indian women boxers whoadvanced to the quarterfinals but themen were off to a disappointing startat the 70th Strandja MemorialTournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.

World championships Bronze-medallist Lovlina Borgohain (69kg)and Pwilao Basumatari (64kg) alsomade the quarters of the prestigiousEuropean event on Thursday night.

Lather, who is also a two-timeAsian Silver-medallist, defeatedSerbia's Jelena Zekic 5-0. She willsquare off against American YariselRamirez in thequarters.

Borgohain,a Gold-medal-list from theIndian Open last year, got the betterof Australian Jessica Messina.

Basumatari endured a stiffer chal-lenge in Bulgarian Melis Yonuzovabefore prevailing 3-2. She hasCroatia's Marija Malencia coming upin the quarterfinals.

However, there was disappoint-ment for the country's men with for-mer Commonwealth Games Silver-medallist Mandeep Jangra (69kg)and rookie Harsh Lakra (81kg) bow-ing out following opening roundlosses.

Jangra lost 0-5 to Ukraine's ViktorPetrov, while Lakra was beaten byAzerbaijan's Rauf Rahimov.

India's best ever medal haul at thecompetition stands at 11, which wasfetched last year. More than 300 box-ers from over 40 nations are compet-ing in the ongoing edition.

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Young Rishabh Pant took agiant stride towards realisinghis World Cup dream, pipping

veteran Dinesh Karthik in the 15-member ODI squad for the Australiaseries while KL Rahul all but clinchedthe reserve opener's slot for themega event by earning a recall.

While the selectors announcedtwo different teams for the first twoand last three ODIs, the side that isexpected to travel to England will bethe one for the last three games of theseries. The engagement with Australiastarts February 24 with the first T20International in Visakhapatnam,while the World Cup is scheduledfrom May 30.

Rahul returned to the side afterhe was controversially called backmidway through the tour of Australiafollowing his and all-rounder HardikPandya's loose talk on women in aTV show.

Regular captain Virat Kohli andpace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah arealso back in the squad for the entireAustralia series after a break and even

vice-captain Rohit Sharma will not beresting.

The committee headed by MSKPrasad also announced the T20

squad for the two-match series, inwhich rookie Punjab leg-spinnerMayank Markande made the cut andKuldeep Yadav was rested.

However, all eyes were on theODI squad which is supposed to bea mirror image of the team that willbe travelling to England.

One of the biggest calls wasregarding the second wicketkeeper-cum-reserve batsman's slot. Karthikseems to have missed the bus to amuch younger Pant, who is consid-ered to be the future of Indian crick-et and heir apparent to MahendraSingh Dhoni behind the stumps.

Karthik was criticised for his on-field decision-making during the

lost final T20 International againstNew Zealand in Hamilton. TheTamil Nadu veteran refused a singlewhen Krunal Pandya was on a ram-page at the other end.

Karthik later justified the call bysaying that he was confident ofpulling off a six which didn't happenas India lost by four runs.

Pant, on the other hand, is yet toget a significant knock in ODIs buthis big-hitting prowess has made hima potential match-winner in big-tick-et events like the World Cup.

"That we have included him(Pant) considering many factors. Heis a left-hander and we needed to dis-cuss with the team management,which we have already done," Prasadsaid after the meeting.

"Virat was also a part of the meet-ing. We will try and figure out the bestpossible batting position, becausebeing a left-hander, there is an advan-tage of playing left-right combination,we are discussing all that," Prasadadded.

Prasad also dropped elaboratehints that Pant, who is expected to batin the top-order, was always in thereckoning for the Australia series.

"Definitely. Prior to this series, wehad two series in New Zealand andAustralia and that's where Karthikwas chosen because Rishabh playedfour Test matches.

"So we wanted him to get a goodbreak. He had a 20-day break, thenhe played couple of ODIs againstEngland lions where he did well, thenwe send him to T20 matches. Wewant to give him a few games beforetaking a final call," said the formerIndia stumper, informing that 30-member probables list will be releasedby March 25.

Karthik's chances of making it tothe World Cup are even more slimafter Rahul made the cut on the backof his 89 and 81 for India A againstEngland Lions.

Punjab seamer Siddarth Kaulseems to have joined the race for thefourth pacer's slot at the business endof the preparation cycle.

"Siddarth Kaul is doing well andis now a part of the mix," Prasad said.

Kaul made it to the first two ODIsfrom which Bhuvneshwar Kumar hasbeen rested but more importantly,there are no left-arm seamers in theline-up. Khaleel Ahmed, who was adisappointment in New Zealand,has been dropped and with JaydevUnadkat not considered for selection,it is unlikely that the scenario willchange prior to the World Cupunless there are some ground-break-ing performances in the IPL.

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National selection committeechairman MSK Prasad on

Friday said that 18 cricketershave been shortlisted for theupcoming ODI World Cup andthe BCCI is in talks with theirrespective IPL franchises to man-age their workload ahead of themega-event in England.

There have been discussionsthat India's World Cup hopefuls'workload management should bemonitored during the IPL, start-ing March 23, so that they remainfresh during the May 30-July 14extravaganza.

"We have shortlisted 18 play-ers and we will rotate them dur-ing the World Cup. As far as work-load management is concerned, itis yet to be worked out. There arediscussions happening on thatfront and we will let you know,"Prasad said after selecting varioussquads for the home series againstAustralia.

Whether the franchises willagree to rest top India players ontheir roster after paying millionsto have them has been a subject

of debate.When acting secretary

Amitabh Choudhary was askedthis question, he admitted that thefranchises have diverse views onthe matter.

"If your question suggeststhat the franchises will be wary ofresting players, it is an issue we willdeal with considering it's a WorldCup year. There have been viewsfrom franchises and I am notgoing into specifics," he said.

He also urged the franchisesto keep the national interest inmind.

"And also considering thefact that all the franchises areIndian franchises, the interest ofthe country, of doing well at thehighest international level, is para-mount," Choudhary said.

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