16
T op brass of the two main- stream regional parties, National Conference and PDP continue to remain under detention in Kashmir Valley even as the Jammu & Kashmir Government late on Tuesday night ended political deten- tions of handful of Jammu- based leaders after 58 days with an aim to kick-start polit- ical activities ahead of Block Development Council polls beginning October 24. The timing of the release of these leaders, representing different political parties, clearly indicated that the Government was keen on shoring up its own image by sending a clear message to the outside world that the democ- racy was flourishing at the grass roots level and “all is well” in the State. However, several released leaders have accused the Government of making the mockery of democracy by scheduling BDC polls at a time when every single top leader of mainstream political parties and their workers were in detention for nearly two months. Ironically, these leaders were let off with a clear cut warning not to trigger any political storm by making irre- sponsible statements aimed at provoking public mood in the region. Official sources said, “Leaders from the National Conference (NC), Congress and Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) in Jammu have been freed from their house deten- tion.” They were placed under preventive detention since August 5 after the abrogation of Article 370. I n a bid to curb air pollution and save environment, Delhi along with 20 other cities will pledge to reduce emissions and air pollution on October 11 at Central European Summer Time (CEST) Tivoli Conference Centre, Copenhagen. Officials of the Delhi Government said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will also attend the C40 World Mayors Summit in Denmark between October 9 and 12 where he is expected to share the challenges and successes of Delhi’s effort to curb pollution and improve quality of life and talk about initiatives taken by the city Government that led to 25 per cent reduction in Delhi’s air pollution. “Invited as the leader of one of the world’s largest metropo- lises, the CM will join leaders of cities like New York, London, Paris, Los Angeles and Berlin on the high table of urban power- houses to deliberate on the cli- mate crisis impacting the world,” said a statement from Chief Minister Office (CMO). C40 is a network of the world’s megacities committed to addressing climate change. C40 supports cities to collabo- rate effectively, share knowl- edge and drive meaningful, measurable and sustainable action on climate change. Around the world, C40 cities connect 94 of the world’s greatest cities to take bold cli- mate action, leading the way towards a healthier and more sustainable future. “Representing 700+ mil- lion citizens and one quarter of the global economy, mayors of the C40 cities are committed to delivering on the most ambi- tious goals of the Paris Agreement at the local level, as well as to cleaning the air we breathe,” said the official. Additionally, the CM will also be speaking during the summit on the future plan of action on air pollution. In a session titled ‘Breathe Deeply’, city leaders, experts, and busi- ness leaders will discuss the innovative new solutions underway in cities that are improving air quality and creating healthier, more equi- table and prosperous com- munities. Besides, the CM will also speak about odd-even scheme, improving the supply of elec- tricity and other power sector reforms at the summit called the ‘Asian Mayors and City Leaders Meeting on Low Carbon Inclusive Growth’. A dding another feather to picturesque Jharkhand, Chief Minister Raghubar Das inaugurated the Patratu lake resort beside Patratu dam in Ramgarh district on Wednesday. The CM wel- comed the tourists on the occasion and said that the project will provide immense opportunities of employment through tourism. “In 2016, I was passing by this road. At that time, the natural beauty here attracted me to a large extent. I just decided that this site full of possibilities will be devel- oped. This became my dream project. The work of devel- oping Patratu Dam started with the aim of providing the economic prosperity of the State, direct and indirect employment to the people, and bringing the beauty of Jharkhand to the world. Today I am happy that within 18 months the Government is handing over this beautiful dam to all you Jharkhandis,” said the CM. Das said that the tourist destination can strengthen the economic system of the State and provide employ- ment. “Efforts are being made to develop all the tourist places, which were hitherto untouched. The work of developing the cultural tourist place has started here. The world's largest Buddhist Stupa is being built at Itkhori. We have got permission to con- nect Parasnath by rail line -- the pilgrimage site of Jain reli- gions. Lakshman Jhula, Four lane Road will be construct- ed in Maa Chinnamastika Rajarappa. There is a plan to develop Masanjor Dam in Dumka, Anjani Dham Hanuman Ji's birthplace in Gumla for tourists,” he said. The CM said, “We are committed to provide facili- ties to tourists coming to Jharkhand. The stay at Patratu Lake Resort is well arranged. Soon the guest house will be constructed here. In the last few years, despite having something near Jharkhand, it was not able to perform well in the field of tourism. But, since 2014 special attention is being given in the tourism sector, due to which there has been an unprece- dented increase in the num- ber of tourists coming here, we will increase it further and accordingly the tourist places are also being developed. Foreign tourists also come here. Patratu will be known as an international tourist des- tination in times to come. Ramgarh will not only be identified with coal but also as a tourist destination,” said he. Hazaribagh MP Jayant Sinha said on the occasion that the last five years of his tenure have been historic and wonderful. A tourist place like Patratu is not in entire Jharkhand. “Not only did we do his- torical work in the field of tourism but also the schemes benefiting the poor were also historical. Jharkhand is the first State in the country under the Ujjwala scheme and Ayushman Bharat to provide gas stoves free under the Ujjwala scheme. Any ration card holder under Ayushman Bharat can avail this scheme. The gov- ernment has constructed three medical colleges during its five-year tenure. 80 chil- dren are studying in Hazaribagh Medical College. The present Government does not just declare things, but also puts it on display,” he said. Tourism Secretary Rahul Sharma said that on the occa- sion of 150th birth anniver- sary of Bapu, the State Government is proud to launch the lake resort at Patratu. “The CM thought that this reservoir of Patratu should be developed for tourists. His thinking has taken shape today. The con- struction work of the first phase of Patratu Lake Resort was completed in 19 months. Now the construction work of the second phase will start. The CM has laid the foundation stone for it. Entertainment has been arranged at Patratu Lake Resort taking full care of the safety of tourists. Everyone got cooperation in developing this area,” he said. On this occasion, the CM felicitated engineers Manish Kumar Prasad and Shiv Kumar for their excellent work by providing them with corsets and souvenirs. Kanke MLA Jeetu Charan Ram, Managing Director, Jharkhand State Building Construction Corporation Limited, Sunil Kumar, Director Tourism cum Managing Director, Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. Sanjeev Kumar Besra, Deputy Commissioner Ramgarh Sanjeev Singh, Superintendent of Police Ramgarh Prabhat Kumar, and others present on the occasion. G overnor Droupadi Murmu and Chief Minister Raghubar Das today paid trib- utes to Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary here at Bapu Vatika, Morhabadi. They paid floral tributes to Bapu and appealed to people to make happy, independent and afflu- ent State and country. The CM said that Mahatma Gandhi had laid the foundation of protest against tyranny through Satyagarh on the basis of complete non-vio- lence. This idea gave freedom to the country and presented a new form of protest in front of the world. Speaking on the occasion, Das said that the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi had a dream that a clean India should be built. 67 years of independence passed, but none of the earlier Governments showed their seriousness in ful- filling the dreams of the Mahatma. For the first time in 2014, when the son of a poor became the Prime Minister of the coun- try, he called upon people from the Red Fort that we should give Swachh Bharat in his foot- steps on the 150th birth anniversary of Bapu. In the last 5 years, the countrymen have worked to fulfill the dream of a clean India by the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. The Central and State governments are con- tinuously working for the cre- ation of Swachh Jharkhand and Swachh Bharat with full commitment. Das said, “Today we are happy that we have succeeded in fulfilling the dream of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. It is the result of the untiring efforts of the govern- ment and general public that today our Jharkhand is 100 per cent open defecation free. By constructing 100 per cent toi- lets, today we are dedicating clean Jharkhand on the feet of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.” The CM said that on August 15, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed to the countrymen to take a pledge not to use single use plastic. “This cannot be accom- plished solely by the govern- ment or the municipal corpo- ration. For this, we have to make people living in villages, cities, small streets aware and responsible. The general pub- lic will have to bear the respon- sibility. Single use plastic is a major threat to all living crea- tures, plants and humans. I appeal to the people not to use single use plastic. All of us together have to play an impor- tant role in making a clean Jharkhand a clean India, single use plastic free Jharkhand, sin- gle use plastic free India,” he said. Das, while saluting the memory of former Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri, said that he gave a new inspiration to the security forces and farmers of the coun- try from Jai Jawan Jai Kisan. Today, with his inspira- tion, the State Government is running Mukhyamantri Krishi Aashirwad Yojana for the pros- perity of the farmers of Jharkhand so that the farmers of Jharkhand can become financially empowered and prosperous. The nation is also bowing down to all the securi- ty personnel of the country. The CM said that Mahatma Gandhi laid empha- sis on women's empowerment. “Mahatma Gandhi worked to empower women and provide them self-employment. Our double engine gov- ernment is also working accordingly. Today, in order to enable women to stand on their feet, they have been trained in sewing and trainees are being given certificates along with sewing machines,” he said. Das gave certificates to 218 trainees under Jharkhand State Khadi and Village Industries Board which included Parvati Devi of Ormanjhi, Lovely Choudhary, Leena Kumari, Sandhya Lakra, Jhama Prabha, Moni Das, Chanda Praveen Ritu Kumari Pathak and others. On this occasion Urban Development Minister CP Singh, MP Ranchi Sanjay Seth, MLA Jeetu Charan Ram, Mayor Asha Lakra, Deputy Mayor Sanjeev Vijayvargiya, Cabinet Secretary Ajay Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Sunil Kumar Barnwal, Drinking Water and Sanitation department Secretary Aradhana Patnaik and other dignitaries and schoolgirls were present in large numbers.

The Pioneer · ˘ˇ ˇ ˆ ˛ˇ ˜ !"# ˚$ %& ’( ˆ ˘ˇ ) & ˘ * ˆˆ + ,- .(/) ˇ ’ ˇ0 0 ˚˘ˇ ) ’& &1 2 ) $ˇ 3 4 ) 5

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Page 1: The Pioneer · ˘ˇ ˇ ˆ ˛ˇ ˜ !"# ˚$ %& ’( ˆ ˘ˇ ) & ˘ * ˆˆ + ,- .(/) ˇ ’ ˇ0 0 ˚˘ˇ ) ’& &1 2 ) $ˇ 3 4 ) 5

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Top brass of the two main-stream regional parties,

National Conference and PDPcontinue to remain underdetention in Kashmir Valleyeven as the Jammu & KashmirGovernment late on Tuesdaynight ended political deten-tions of handful of Jammu-based leaders after 58 dayswith an aim to kick-start polit-ical activities ahead of BlockDevelopment Council pollsbeginning October 24.

The timing of the releaseof these leaders, representingdifferent political parties,clearly indicated that theGovernment was keen onshoring up its own image bysending a clear message to theoutside world that the democ-racy was flourishing at the grass rootslevel and “all is well” in theState.

However, several releasedleaders have accused theGovernment of making themockery of democracy byscheduling BDC polls at atime when every single topleader of mainstream political

parties and their workers werein detention for nearly twomonths.

Ironically, these leaderswere let off with a clear cutwarning not to trigger anypolitical storm by making irre-

sponsible statements aimed atprovoking public mood in theregion.

Official sources said,“Leaders from the NationalConference (NC), Congressand Jammu & Kashmir

National Panthers Party(JKNPP) in Jammu have beenfreed from their house deten-tion.” They were placed underpreventive detention sinceAugust 5 after the abrogationof Article 370.

������������� � 6�2 ;!�

In a bid to curb air pollutionand save environment, Delhi

along with 20 other cities willpledge to reduce emissionsand air pollution on October 11at Central European SummerTime (CEST) TivoliConference Centre,Copenhagen.

Officials of the DelhiGovernment said Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal willalso attend the C40 WorldMayors Summit in Denmarkbetween October 9 and 12where he is expected to sharethe challenges and successes ofDelhi’s effort to curb pollutionand improve quality of lifeand talk about initiatives takenby the city Government that ledto 25 per cent reduction inDelhi’s air pollution.

“Invited as the leader of oneof the world’s largest metropo-

lises, the CM will join leaders ofcities like New York, London,Paris, Los Angeles and Berlin onthe high table of urban power-houses to deliberate on the cli-mate crisis impacting the world,”said a statement from ChiefMinister Office (CMO).

C40 is a network of theworld’s megacities committedto addressing climate change.C40 supports cities to collabo-rate effectively, share knowl-edge and drive meaningful,measurable and sustainableaction on climate change.

Around the world, C40

cities connect 94 of the world’sgreatest cities to take bold cli-mate action, leading the waytowards a healthier and moresustainable future.

“Representing 700+ mil-lion citizens and one quarter ofthe global economy, mayors ofthe C40 cities are committed todelivering on the most ambi-tious goals of the ParisAgreement at the local level, aswell as to cleaning the air webreathe,” said the official.

Additionally, the CM willalso be speaking during thesummit on the future plan ofaction on air pollution. In asession titled ‘Breathe Deeply’,city leaders, experts, and busi-ness leaders will discuss theinnovative new solutionsunderway in cities that areimproving air quality andcreating healthier, more equi-table and prosperous com-munities.

Besides, the CM will alsospeak about odd-even scheme,improving the supply of elec-tricity and other power sectorreforms at the summit calledthe ‘Asian Mayors and CityLeaders Meeting on LowCarbon Inclusive Growth’.

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

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��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������!����������"������� #�

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Adding another feather topicturesque Jharkhand,

Chief Minister Raghubar Dasinaugurated the Patratu lakeresort beside Patratu dam inRamgarh distr ict onWednesday. The CM wel-comed the tourists on theoccasion and said that theproject will provide immenseopportunities of employmentthrough tourism.

“In 2016, I was passing bythis road. At that time, thenatural beauty here attractedme to a large extent. I justdecided that this site full ofpossibilities will be devel-oped. This became my dreamproject. The work of devel-oping Patratu Dam startedwith the aim of providing theeconomic prosperity of theState, direct and indirectemployment to the people,and bringing the beauty ofJharkhand to the world.

Today I am happy thatwithin 18 months theGovernment is handing overthis beautiful dam to all youJharkhandis,” said the CM.

Das said that the touristdestination can strengthenthe economic system of theState and provide employ-ment.

“Efforts are being made todevelop all the tourist places,which were hithertountouched. The work ofdeveloping the cultural touristplace has started here. The

world's largest Buddhist Stupais being built at Itkhori. Wehave got permission to con-nect Parasnath by rail line --the pilgrimage site of Jain reli-gions. Lakshman Jhula, Fourlane Road will be construct-ed in Maa ChinnamastikaRajarappa. There is a plan todevelop Masanjor Dam inDumka, Anjani DhamHanuman Ji's birthplace inGumla for tourists,” he said.

The CM said, “We arecommitted to provide facili-ties to tourists coming toJharkhand. The stay at Patratu

Lake Resort is well arranged.Soon the guest house will beconstructed here. In the lastfew years, despite havingsomething near Jharkhand, itwas not able to perform wellin the field of tourism.

But, since 2014 specialattention is being given in thetourism sector, due to whichthere has been an unprece-dented increase in the num-ber of tourists coming here,we will increase it further andaccordingly the tourist placesare also being developed.Foreign tourists also come

here. Patratu will be known asan international tourist des-tination in times to come.Ramgarh will not only beidentified with coal but also asa tourist destination,” saidhe.

Hazaribagh MP JayantSinha said on the occasionthat the last five years of histenure have been historic andwonderful. A tourist placelike Patratu is not in entireJharkhand.

“Not only did we do his-torical work in the field oftourism but also the schemes

benefiting the poor were alsohistorical.

Jharkhand is the first Statein the country under theUjjwala scheme andAyushman Bharat to providegas stoves free under theUjjwala scheme.

Any ration card holderunder Ayushman Bharat canavail this scheme. The gov-ernment has constructedthree medical colleges duringits five-year tenure. 80 chil-dren are studying inHazaribagh Medical College.

The present Government

does not just declare things,but also puts it on display,” hesaid.

Tourism Secretary RahulSharma said that on the occa-sion of 150th birth anniver-sar y of Bapu, the StateGovernment is proud tolaunch the lake resort atPatratu.

“The CM thought thatthis reservoir of Patratushould be developed fortourists. His thinking hastaken shape today. The con-struction work of the firstphase of Patratu Lake Resort

was completed in 19 months.Now the construction work ofthe second phase will start.

The CM has laid thefoundation stone for it .Entertainment has beenarranged at Patratu LakeResort taking full care of thesafety of tourists. Everyonegot cooperation in developingthis area,” he said.

On this occasion, the CMfelicitated engineers ManishKumar Prasad and ShivKumar for their excellentwork by providing them withcorsets and souvenirs.

Kanke MLA Jeetu CharanRam, Managing Director,Jharkhand State BuildingConstruction CorporationLimited, Suni l Kumar,Director Tourism cumManaging Director,Jharkhand TourismDevelopment CorporationLtd. Sanjeev Kumar Besra,Deputy CommissionerRamgarh Sanjeev Singh,Superintendent of PoliceRamgarh Prabhat Kumar, andothers present on the occasion.

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Governor Droupadi Murmuand Chief Minister

Raghubar Das today paid trib-utes to Father of the NationMahatma Gandhi on his 150thbirth anniversary here at BapuVatika, Morhabadi. They paidfloral tributes to Bapu andappealed to people to makehappy, independent and afflu-ent State and country.

The CM said thatMahatma Gandhi had laid thefoundation of protest againsttyranny through Satyagarh onthe basis of complete non-vio-lence. This idea gave freedomto the country and presented a

new form of protest in front ofthe world.

Speaking on the occasion,Das said that the father of thenation, Mahatma Gandhi hada dream that a clean Indiashould be built. 67 years ofindependence passed, but noneof the earlier Governmentsshowed their seriousness in ful-filling the dreams of theMahatma.

For the first time in 2014,when the son of a poor becamethe Prime Minister of the coun-try, he called upon people fromthe Red Fort that we shouldgive Swachh Bharat in his foot-steps on the 150th birthanniversary of Bapu.

In the last 5 years, thecountrymen have worked tofulfill the dream of a clean Indiaby the Father of the Nation,Mahatma Gandhi. The Centraland State governments are con-tinuously working for the cre-ation of Swachh Jharkhandand Swachh Bharat with full

commitment.Das said, “Today we are

happy that we have succeededin fulfilling the dream of Fatherof the Nation MahatmaGandhi. It is the result of theuntiring efforts of the govern-ment and general public thattoday our Jharkhand is 100 percent open defecation free. Byconstructing 100 per cent toi-lets, today we are dedicatingclean Jharkhand on the feet ofthe Father of the NationMahatma Gandhi.”

The CM said that onAugust 15, 2019, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hasappealed to the countrymen totake a pledge not to use singleuse plastic.

“This cannot be accom-plished solely by the govern-ment or the municipal corpo-ration. For this, we have tomake people living in villages,cities, small streets aware andresponsible. The general pub-lic will have to bear the respon-

sibility. Single use plastic is amajor threat to all living crea-tures, plants and humans. I

appeal to the people not to usesingle use plastic. All of ustogether have to play an impor-

tant role in making a cleanJharkhand a clean India, singleuse plastic free Jharkhand, sin-

gle use plastic free India,” hesaid. Das, while saluting thememory of former PrimeMinister of India Lal BahadurShastri, said that he gave a newinspiration to the securityforces and farmers of the coun-try from Jai Jawan Jai Kisan.

Today, with his inspira-tion, the State Government isrunning Mukhyamantri KrishiAashirwad Yojana for the pros-perity of the farmers ofJharkhand so that the farmersof Jharkhand can becomefinancially empowered andprosperous. The nation is alsobowing down to all the securi-ty personnel of the country.

The CM said thatMahatma Gandhi laid empha-sis on women's empowerment.“Mahatma Gandhi worked toempower women and providethem self-employment.

Our double engine gov-ernment is also workingaccordingly. Today, in order toenable women to stand on

their feet, they have beentrained in sewing and traineesare being given certificatesalong with sewing machines,”he said.

Das gave certificates to 218trainees under Jharkhand StateKhadi and Village IndustriesBoard which included ParvatiDevi of Ormanjhi, LovelyChoudhary, Leena Kumari,Sandhya Lakra, Jhama Prabha,Moni Das, Chanda PraveenRitu Kumari Pathak and others.

On this occasion UrbanDevelopment Minister CPSingh, MP Ranchi Sanjay Seth,MLA Jeetu Charan Ram,Mayor Asha Lakra, DeputyMayor Sanjeev Vijayvargiya,Cabinet Secretary Ajay KumarSingh, Principal Secretary toChief Minister Sunil KumarBarnwal, Drinking Water andSanitation departmentSecretary Aradhana Patnaikand other dignitaries andschoolgirls were present inlarge numbers.

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National Highway Authorityof India (NHAI) has

ordered Ahmedabad-basedprivate firm to fill up potholesalong NH-33 stretch betweenDimna Chowk and Pardih inMango on an urgent basis toavoid inconvenience to com-muters during puja festivity.

The directive asks the pri-vate firm to use all its resourcesto fill up the craters and pot-holes using stone chips for thetime being before puja so thatpeople do not face hardship incommuting during puja.

“We have asked the privatefirm officials who said thattheir work was hampered byheavy vehicles parked illegallyalongside NH-33 and alsoencroachment on drainagealong NH-33 which leads towater logging aggravating theproblem. However, we are try-ing our best to ensure that pot-holes are filled up before puja,”an official. BJP leader VikashSingh said that a road roller waspressed into service this after-noon to patch up the potholes.

“The work has started andthey have promised to workeven in evening to fill up thepotholes. We can only hopethat big potholes are filled upbefore puja rush,” he said.

Another local resident saidthat the rising cases of mishapson the rise at 100-kms-longstretch from Pardih toBaharagora on the NH-33 isreally shocking. With Monsoon

rains, water clogging on theroad has added to the woes. Inthe last one decade the rise ofvehicles particularly, fourwheelers have registered man-ifold increase with each fami-

ly possessing at least, two-wheeler on an average.However, the darker side of thepicture is that annually abovethousand road accidents aretaking place in and around thecity and four to five accidents(including small and moderateaccidents) daily on an averagein which more than 100 oddpeople are losing their lives. Itis high time that steps aretaken to curb the situation.

A lorry driver who makesat least 10 trips on this stretcha month, said even drivers ofheavy vehicles like his find itchallenging to negotiate thestretch.

Broken axles and suspen-sion system have been com-mon complaints from driversand owners of heavy vehicleseven as toppling of lorries wasa regular phenomenon, he said.

The bitumen surface on theghat stretch has almost wornout and craters have surfacedon road. Heavy vehicles andcommercial vans usually devel-op broken axle and damage towheel base due to craters on theroad.

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In a brazen broad daylightrobbery, six armed criminals

looted �20 lakh within a spanof 20 to 30 minutes from anAxis bank branch near Nirsa inthe district on Tuesday. Policesaid that the six criminals loot-ed �20 lakh from the Nirsabranch of Axis bank on the out-skirts of Dhanbad town and �few thousand from customers,under the Nirsa police stationarea of the district. Though,SSP Kaushal Kishor, Dhanbadsaid primary investigationsrevealed that the Axis bank wasrobbed of �20 lakh.

Sources said that a gang ofsix criminals entered the Nirsabranch of Axis bank around1.30 pm and looted �20 lakh incash after holding the manag-er, and other employees of thebank hostage at gunpoint. Therobbers, aged between 20 and25 years, didn’t even spare thecustomers and forced them topart with their cash and cell-phones. The SSP Kaushal

Kishor said the robbers bargedinto the bank just before thelunch hour and threatened thebank employees and the cus-tomers by brandishing guns.

Then the robbers looted�20,00000 from strong roomand cashier and also snatchedthe cash and mobiles fromcustomers and decamped withcash. Following the incidentNirsa police immediatelyreached the branch soon aftergetting information and carriedout an investigation in con-nection to the incident and

raids are on to arrest the crim-inals involved in the crime.While the exact amount loot-ed from the bank is yet to beknown, it is estimated that themiscreants decamped with �20lakh, the SSP said.

Sources also informed thatthe miscreants allegedly hurledtwo crude bombs back to backand customers before ransack-ing the cash counter inside thebranch. The police claimedthat the brazen dacoity wasexecuted in just 20 to 30 min-utes.

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The "150th BirthAnniversary Celebration"

of Mahatma Gandhi wasorganised at CCL headquartershere on Wednesday. ChiefGuest of the programme CMDCCL Gopal Singh along withDirector (Personnel), R SMahapatra, Director Technical(Operations) V K Srivastava,Director Technical(Project/Planning) BholaSingh, GMs/HoDs, Officers,Employees, UnionRepresentatives and others paidfloral tributes to the Father ofthe Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.

Singh, while payinghomage to Bapu said that it isa day to remember the idealsand principles of Mahatma

Gandhi which always guideseveryone. He said, “Let us allresolve today that we willimbibe the values, morals andbeliefs of Gandhi ji.

Bapu is not the name ofany person but an ideology andan institution who fought

throughout his life for truth,freedom and cleanliness.Gandhiji is the embodiment ofstruggle against exploitation,violence and filth.”

Singh said that Bapu trans-formed this belief into a move-ment and called cleanliness

equivalent to service. Singhurged to come ahead and givesincere tribute to the Father ofthe Nation by joining this cam-paign of "Swachhata Hi Seva"with dedication and devotion.He expressed his gratitude tothe Prime Minister and said

that the work of spreading thismessage of Bapu to the peoplehas been under the leadershipof Prime Minister NarendraModi. He congratulated theCSR and Welfare Departmentfor the successful organisationof the program and said thatCCL will continue this cam-paign continuously.

Director (Personnel),Director Technical(Operations) and DirectorTechnical (Project/Planning)also addressed the gathering onthe occasion and asked every-one to follow the teachings andprinciples of Mahatma Gandhiby keeping our surroundingclean.

On this occasion, the win-ners of various competitionssuch as slogan writing, paint-ing etc along with others whocontributed during the cam-paign were felicitated and con-ferred with prizes. Also a videobased on 'Swachhata Hi Seva'was shown during the pro-gram. In the end, a culturalevent was organised by girl stu-dents of CCL Ki Ladli.

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IIT-ISM Dhanbad to becomea single-use Plastic Free

zone. On the eve of the birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi, the students andteachers of the institution tookan oath to make their IITCampus a 'Single-Use PlasticFree' zone.

To mark the 150th birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi, 'Swachhata Hi SevaCampaign' was launched bythe Center of Societal Missionand Consito team at IIT ISMon Wednesday.

Directed by ProfessorRajiv Shekhar the campaignwas launched by CSM Head,Professor Sanjeev Anand Sahu,who administered the oath of'prohibition of single-use plas-

tic' to the professors and stu-dents of the institute. Underthis campaign different teamof students rushed door-to-door and explained the peopleabout the harm and fatalitiesdue to plastic (of single use);they also suggested, otheroptions of single-use plastic tothe people.

Beside others Dean andProfessor Dheeraj Kumar,Dean (Students Welfare)Professor MK. Singh, Registrar(Acting) Dr. Pramod Mathur,Associate Dean, Professor ARDixit, Professor KK Singh,Professor B. Antony, ProfessorRajeev Upadhyay, Prof. SKSinha including other profes-sors, CSM's student wing ofKarma-Jyoti, FFI, Kartavyaand Consito team made com-mendable contributions in

making the campaign a suc-cess.On "Swachh BharatDiwas", which is being cele-brated across the country tomark the birth anniversary ofthe Father of the Nation hasalso started at Bokaro with avery ambitious campaign tocompletely stop the use ofsingle-use plastic in their lives.

The campaign started withthe cleanliness of theCollectorate premises, BokaroDeputy CommissionerMukesh Kumar along withofficials clean the premises.Later DC administered theoath to all the officials andemployees about cleanliness;also motivated them to bringgood hygiene habits in theirdaily routine. An awarenessrally was also organised tomotivate people on the eve.

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ASamudayak Bagh BachaoAbhiyan has kick started in

Garu range of Palamu tigerreserve. The campaign is of anNGO Nature ConservationSociety (NCS) Daltonganj. Itgained further impetus onGandhi Jayanti.

Secretary of the NGO D SSrivastava said, “As our cam-paign’s first title is samudayik,which means community andthus PTR will now be takencare of by the villagers who willtry to do all to save, preserveand conserve this rich heritageof the PTR.”

“Participatory manage-ment of PTR is all that I havebeen crying hoarse for it since1990 as I have a strong con-viction that officers, guards,trackers, rangers etc cannot

deliver what PTR needs if peo-ple living in and out of the PTRare not engaged in its upkeep.”said Srivastava.

Asked that this communi-ty based drive to save tiger herehas started at such a timewhen NTCA has already goneon record describing ‘zero’tiger in this PTR just a fewweeks back Srivastava said,“People will save protect andconserve jungle which is thehouse of the tiger. I have def-initely given the word tiger inthis drive but the real focus ispeople’s participation and itsenergy for wild life and its habi-tat.”

Reminded that he has oftenmade claims that irrespective ofzero figure of tiger in PTR asadvanced by NTCA there aretigers in the PTR so does hemean to say that tigers of this

reserve are holidaying in anyforest rest house or tree houseof PTR and are not preying butfasting to which Srivastavagave a point to point reply tothese queries saying, “Yes I haveclaimed that there are threetigers in PTR. One I spottedjust one tiger last month on theheight of Mirchaiya. Our vil-lagers also say.”

Asked if tigers are in PTRthen there must be its pugmarks, scats, prey, residue ofprey etc to which Srivastavasaid, “I told PTR officials aboutone such pug mark but they didnot believe my version.Villagers do not come com-plaining if their cattle arepreyed by tiger in the core areawhere grazing is a punishableoffence.” Sources said there isa piquant situation prevailing inPTR tiger or no tiger.

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Massive cleanliness drivewas launched across

Bokaro and Bermo, which laidspecial emphasis on the clean-liness and beautification of thecamps and Bermo and its sur-rounding areas including Chas,Rahwan, Swang Nawadih andKonar-dam near Jhumra, con-cluded here on Wednesday.

According to CRPF 26thbattalion CammandantAkihlesh Kumar Singh all themembers of the battalion ofChas sector including 100 offi-cers and jawans from the unit

of the sector participated in thedrive. During the drive, sever-al events were held acrossBokaro and Bermo as part ofthe Central Government’s‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ campaign,which was organised to createan environment of cleanlinessin the district. The CentralReserve Police Force (26thCRPF) held separate eventsacross the Jhumra, addedSingh.

He said the main objectiveof this drive was to contributeto Mahatma Gandhi’s dream ofclean India addedCammandant. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had calledupon the nation to begin acampaign, ‘Swachhata Hi Seva‘,from September 15 to October2, the birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi.

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The South Eastern Railwayon Wednesday announced

cancellation and short-termi-nation of several trains due torenovation and maintenancerelated work in Rourkela-Bilaspur and Jharsuguda-Rourkela section underChakradharpur division.

Trains Cancelled: 68028Sambalpur-Rourkela MEMUPassenger will remain can-celled from Sambalpur uptoOctober 31 (daily), 68031Jharsuguda-Sambalpur MEMUPassenger will remain can-celled from Jharsuguda uptoOctober 31 (daily), 68029Rourkela-Jharsuguda MEMU

Passenger will remain can-celled from Rourkela uptoOctober 31 (daily), 68162Jharsuguda-Hatia MEMUPassenger will remain can-celled from Jharsuguda everyWednesday and Saturday uptoOctober 31, 68161 Hatia-Jharsuguda MEMU Passengerwill remain cancelled fromHatia every Wednesday andSaturday upto October 31,58113 Tatanagar-BilaspurPassenger will remain can-celled from Tatanagar everyTuesday and Friday uptoOctober 31 and 58114Bilaspur-Tatanagar Passengerwill remain cancelled fromBilaspur every Tuesday andFriday upto October 31.

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Rich tributes were paid tothe Father of Nation,

Mahatma Gandhi and LalBahadur Shastri on the occa-sion of their birth anniversaryacross Bokaro district onTuesday.

People paid floral tributesto the Father of the Nation andorganised cleanliness drives topromote ‘Swachh Bharat

Abhiyan’ to make peopleaware of the advantages ofcleanliness on this eve.

The motto of the cleanli-ness drive to make the coun-try Open Defecation Free(ODF), for which the UnionGovernment, along with var-ious State Governments, hasbeen constructing toilets andurinals in the remotest areasacross the country.

Bokaro Steel Plant’s CEO

PK Singh, MLAs, ZillaParishad chairperson, MayorCMC including others gar-landed the statue of Mahatmaand paid floral tributes. Severalbank’s officials and others paidfloral tributes to Gandhi bygarlanding his portrait.

In a bid to mark the birthanniversary of duo veteranleaders three Blood Donationcamps were organised in thecity by several NGOs.

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Chief Minister RaghubarDas today took part in

Swachhta Hi Sewa Campaignand exhorted people to shunuse of plastics in the State. Onthe occasion of the 150th birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi the CM also adminis-tered oath of cleanliness to thepeople.

“Because of all of you, weare able to realise the dream ofFather of the Nation MahatmaGandhi. Gandhi ji is worshipedthroughout the country due tohis actions. On the occasion ofBapu's 150th birth anniversary,let us all take a pledge that wewill not use plastic.

This work is not possibleonly at the government level,participation of all of us is nec-essary. To make Jharkhand aplastic-free State, we have totake it down in our practicallives. So that our efforts can besuccessful and in the comingtime, Jharkhand will be num-ber one in terms of cleanliness,”he said.

The CM said that when theSwachh Bharat Abhiyan waslaunched, only 18 per cent ofhouseholds in Jharkhand hadtoilets. “But, today, Jharkhandis 100 per cent open defecation

free State. Thus, in order to stopthe use of plastic under theSwachhta Hi Seva programme,every ward president will haveto ban the use of plastic in hisward and the Government willhonour him by awarding theward number one.

In order to stop the use ofplastic, the government is usingearthen pot for drinking water

instead of plastic bottle in theprogramme today,” he said.

Das said that plastics donot burn easily and the poiso-nous smoke emitted on burn-ing spreads pollution.

It proves extremely dan-gerous for health. To stop theuse of plastic, our governmentis working on making bags.Women are being involved in

bag making. At the pro-gramme, Das administered theoath of cleanliness to the peo-ple. He said, “Let us all take apledge that once used plastics,we will not bring or bringthem into the house, but willalso suggest to the people near-by.

Today our pledge ‘Quitplastic - no plastic at home.

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Chief MinisterRaghubar Das and

Urban DevelopmentMinister CP Singhinspected Lord BirsaMunda Museum situat-ed on the old jailpremises of Ranchi andKaram-Toli Talab.

Seeing the progressof the Birsa MundaMuseum, the Das gavemany necessary guide-lines. The CM toldD e v e l o p m e n tCommissioner SukhdevSingh and UrbanDevelopment SecretaryAjoy Kumar Singh thatthe progress of BirsaMunda Museum isgoing well.

About 90 per centwork has been com-pleted. Ensure that allremaining work is com-pleted within a certaintime frame. On theoccasion, Das also sawa short film on LordBirsa Munda at the

Birsa Munda Museumcomplex. After surpriseinspection of the BirsaMunda Museum, theCM and the UrbanDevelopment Ministeralso inspected the con-struction of the KaramToli Pond and gavemany necessary guide-lines.

Meanwhile, the CMreleased the quarterlycommunication maga-zine "Jharkhand JalSamachar" published bythe Department ofWater Resources.

On this occasion,he said that the WaterResources Departmentis an important depart-ment of the State gov-ernment. It is the pri-ority of the governmentto provide water tofarmers of the State forirrigation throughouttheir years. The WaterResources Departmentis doing this with fullcommitment. He saidthat farmers are the

backbone of theprogress of the Stateand the country.

The StateGovernment is com-mitted to increase theproduction capacity ofagricultural products offarmers. It is govern-ment's resolve to double

the income of the farm-ers of Jharkhand in thecoming days and makethem prosperous. TheWater ResourcesDepartment will playan important role inmeeting this objective.

Das said that the‘Jharkhand Jal

Samachar’ magazine hasincluded all aspects ofthe State related to wateralong with informationand schemes of thedepartment, which willbenefit the farmers ofJharkhand. He wishedfor the success of themagazine.

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On Mahatma Gandhi 150thbirth anniversary, politi-

cal parties in the State tried tovie for the Mahatma’s legacy.While, the BJP on the occasiongave a call to ban single useplastic, the Congress partytook out a ‘padyatra’ (footmarch) claiming to be therightful heir of Gandhi.

Congress State presidentRameshwar Oraon and StateCongress in-charge RPNSingh on Wednesday led a‘padyatra’ here with a largenumber of supporters follow-ing them to MahatmaGandhi’s statue at historicMorhabadi ground.

The Congress’ ‘GandhiSandesh Yatra’ on MahatmaGandhi’s 150th began at BirsaMunda Samadhi Sthal, Kokarand headed to Gandhi’s statue,about six kilometers awaywith, enthusiastic party work-ers waving flags and chantingslogans ‘Mahatma GandhiAmar Rahein’, ‘Bapu hum

sharminda hain, tere qatilzinda hain’. After covering thedistance of 6 kilometer on footunder the scorching Sun, theCongress leaders paid floraltributes to Bapu at Morhabadiground.

State Congress in-chargeRPN Singh said, “On the occa-sion of Gandhi Jayanti, I canonly say that his message oflove and brotherhood, toler-ance is much relevant today.”

On Congress party pollpreparation for year-endAssembly election, Singh said,“The Congress is very much in

favor of alliance and the realshape of alliance will be knownto media soon.” Singh, theCongress senior leader fromUttar Pradesh said that itdoesn’t matter who (Congressor JMM) plays the role of bigbrother in alliance, but realissue is that we have to throwout Raghubar DasGovernment.

The Congress leaderswere also much enthusiastic.Lal Prem Prakash NathShahdeo, a State Congressleader said, “The Congressworkers attending the rally

were enthusiastic. TheCongress workers from Kokarwalked behind their leaderschanting slogans of Bapu.Apart from Congress leaders,large number of common peo-ple too was part of padyatra.”The Congress padyatra attrac-tion was 1940 Ford car onwhich senior Congress leaderstook a short ride. The vehicleowned by State Congressleader Aditya Vikram Jaiswalwas used by Gandhi, who hadtravelled in the Ford car fromRanchi to Ramgarh for attend-ing Congress convention in1940.

While the Congress cele-brated the Gandhi Jayantithrough padyatra, the BJPobserved the day with call toban the single use plastic. TheState BJP on the occasion hasassigned the task to all its MPsto create awareness againstsingle use plastic.

State BJP secretary,Subodh Singh Guddu said,“The BJP celebrated GandhiJayanti with Bapu’s message oncleanness and hygiene. TheBJP cadres and leaders in all 17mandals of BJP Mahanagarunit collected plastic andrequested people not to usesingle use plastic.”

The BJP leader claimedthat such awareness drive willcontinue in future. The BJP

call against single use plasticassume importance as theJharkhand Government fromtoday (October 2) introduceda ban on single-use plasticitems at Jharkhand govern-ment offices. The rule will beimplemented at all suchoffices, which are either direct-ly or indirectly under controlof the State Government.According to the directionsissued by the state govern-ment, the offices will have tomake arrangements for col-lecting plastic waste separate-ly so that it could be disposedof in a proper way.

The JMM also celebratedGandhi Jayanti with its lead-ers including JMM chief ShibuSoren and JMM executivepresident Hemant Soren pay-ing tributes to Bapu at GandhiSthal at Morhabadi.

Hemant said, “Today isspecial day as it coincideswith the birth of two great per-sonalities (Mahatma Gandhiand Lal Bahadur Shastri).”Replying on corruptioncharges levelled by ChiefMinister Raghubar Das, Sorensaid, “On this auspicious daysitting near Gandhi statue Iwill not tell lies. I have notdone anything wrong. But atthe same time a person sittingat top constitutional postshould avoid telling lies.”

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Central Institute of PlasticsEngineering and

Technology (CIPET), HehalRanchi organised a workshop on‘Plastics Waste Management’on Wednesday. The workshopwas inaugurated by Alka Tiwari,Additional Secretary & FinancialAdvisor, Ministry of Chemicals& Fertilizers in presence of var-ious dignitaries from StateGovernment and Industries.

On the occasion addressingthe gathering Tiwari said thatour society is getting developedat very high rate but simultane-ously we are not paying attentionon the waste generated and itsdisposal.

She informed that thereshould not be any confusionbetween use of single use plas-tics and plastics in general. Shesaid that Central Institute ofPlastics Engineering andTechnology (CIPET) through itsbranches located across India isdoing a good work in the areasof plastics recycling & wastemanagement, research & devel-opment and biodegradable plas-tics and contributing to nation-al progress. She said that Plasticsare being used in different appli-cations starting from Spoon to

Aeroplanes and it is pertinent tounderstand its importance. Therecycling of plastics will increasethe employment opportunitiesin the state and help in generat-ing revenue.

She also said that the recy-cling of Single use Plastics willhelp in reducing the menace ofpollution and keep environ-ment safe. The information toavoid use of single use plasticsin day-to-day applications isbeing promoted by Central gov-ernment and guidelines arebeing issued. She said that dueto less information regarding the

plastics waste, people are notable to utilise it properly. R.Rajendran, principal director(New Project) welcomed theguests on behalf of CIPET andtold the importance of seminar.

On the occasion, Shramdanactivities were also organised atCIPET and nearby premises.School and college studentswere present in large numbersand actively took part in theactivities. Prize distributionwas carried out the winners ofdifferent competition like sloganwriting, drawing competition onplastics.

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Getting bigger and betterwith each passing year,

the Jyoti Sangam Puja Pandalis once again set to enthrallpandal hoppers of Ranchi thisDusshera. From illustratingthe Navadurga seated in spaceto giving a sneak peek of swar-glok and patallok and creatinga replica of the famousLakshman Jhulla of Rishikeshin the past, the varied themesof this pandal has been entic-ing Ranchiites for 60 yearsnow.

This year, the pandal’stheme will captivate the visitorsand take them to the deserts ofRajasthan. The structure isbeing designed to look like afort buried in the desert. “Onreaching the pandal premises,the worshippers will get aglimpse of an imaginary fortburied in the desert. With thecarvings and vibrant presenta-tions, the visitors will surely geta feel of the rich cultural her-

itage of Rajasthan,” said com-mittee member Ravinder Saini.Going with the theme, thefaçade is being made to looklike that of a fort with hugearchways and pillars. Intricateworkmanship is being carvedon plywood showcasing the fig-ures of dancing peacocks,camels, elephants and folkdancers from the region. Thestatues of all the deities includ-

ing Goddess Durga will alsohave a traditional Rajasthanilook. “The idols are also beingdesigned in accordance withthe theme. The figures of all thegods and goddesses will be seenin traditional Rajasthani cos-tumes which will be finelypainted on them giving thelook of cloth,” added Saini. Thepandal is being made of mate-rials like bamboo, plywood,

jute bags, thermocool and clothwhile the idols are being madeof clay and plaster of Paris. Thebudget for the entire celebra-tion has been fixed at aroundRs 12 lakh. Special light andsound effects will also be pre-sented to give a realisticapproach to the concept.

The designing and execu-tion of the pandal structure isbeing done by local artist AjayVerma and his team while thefigures of all the deities arebeing designed by PradiptoPal from West Bengal. Theentire structure will be about 70feet high and 70 feet broad andwill be open to visitors fromOctober 3.

To avoid any untowardincidents CCTV cameras willbe installed in the premises.The committee has alsoensured that five fire- fightingsystems, mud buckets, privatesecurity personnel along withthose appointed by the districtadministration will also bedeployed at the venue.

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State BJP spokespersonPratul Shahdeo has reacted

strongly to the statement ofCongress State presidentRameshwar Oraon, in whichhe has quoted Gandhiji incor-rectly, saying that Gandhiji hadrefused to visit a temple.

Pratul said that this is thethinking of Congressmen andthey are misusing the name of

the Father of the Nation bymaking false statements.Pratul said that the CongressState President RameshwarOraon is exposing theCongress' frustrated thinkingtowards Hinduism. Pratul saidthat by quoting RameshwarOraon that Gandhi ji had saidthat there is only garbage andgarbage in the temple and notGod, is very shameful andcondemnable. Pratul said that

Congress should apologizeimmediately for this shamefulepisode and hurting the sen-timents of Hindus.

Pratul said that by makingsuch a controversial state-ment, the State president ofCongress wants to do politicsof appeasement again.Congressmen should publiclyapologize for misusing thename and hurting the senti-ments of majority society.

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With the entire City beingdecked up for Durga

Puja celebrations, the hugeartificial archways being builtat almost all prominent roadsof the City are proving to be amajor hurdle for the city com-muters.

The recent directive issuedby the district administrationstates that, puja pandal com-mittees could not do any sort

of construction on public prop-erty, but the Durga Puja com-mittees in the Capital city areyet to pay any heed to it.

“In a meeting chaired bythe Ranchi DeputyCommissioner along with theSSP, all the puja pandal com-mittees were instructed not toencroach upon public proper-ty during the celebrations.Upon inspection if any suchconstruction is found, strictaction will be taken against the

violators and the organisers willbe asked to remove the struc-ture with immediate effect,”said Ranchi Sub- DivisionalOfficer Lokesh Mishra

Meanwhile, the RanchiMunicipal Corporation (RMC)has stated that action againstany kind of encroachment onpublic property will only betaken by the district adminis-tration. “RMC will ensurecleanliness and proper garbagecollection during the festivities.

This time a plastic free pujapandal competition is alsobeing organised for whichmembers from RMC will bedoing rounds to inspect,” saidDeputy Mayor SanjeevVijaywargiya.

With the puja pandalsopening to visitors mostly fromOctober 4, city residents havealready started facing majortraffic problem with the bam-boo arches erected on theroads.

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AJSU party chief and for-mer deputy Chief

Minister Sudesh Mahto on theoccasion of 150th birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi started SwarajSwabhiman Janadesh Yatrafrom Arki of Tamar Assemblysegment. The yatra whichkick started from Arki ProjectGirls High School, Sudeshsaid, “The values and ideals ofMahatma Gandhi are still rel-evant.

The main aim of the yatrais to spread the message ofGandhi jee among commonmasses.” Mahto further said,“Through this yatra, my mottois that the government reach-es to people door step.”

Prior to addressing a pub-lic meeting at Arki, the formerdeputy chief minister tookout a padyatra from BaruhatuMore to Arki school. AtBaruhatu More, Sudesh saidthat his politics main princi-ples is Swaraj (self rule) andSwabhiman (self respect).

He said, “The main aim ofSwaraj yatra is that the voiceof vil lage reaches toGovernment’s ears so thatthey get their self rule and selfrespect.”

The AJSU party SwarajSwabhiman yatra was held atother parts of state includingwith Giridih MPChandraprakash Choudharyparticipating at Swaraj

Swambhiman yatra atRamgarh and Mandu.

The Jharkhand VikasMorcha (P) also celebrated theGandhi Jayanti. JVM chiefand former chief ministerBabulal Marandi on the occa-sion visited Khadi Tiri lAshram where he paid trib-utes to Bapu and also attend-ed a prayer meeting. On theoccasion, Marandi said,

“Gandhi’s words are muchrelevant today. But it is sadthat some forces in countryare working against Gandhianvalues. Gandhi ideals and val-ues are immortal and no onecan erase his ideals.”

He also said that if coun-try in true sense follows theideas of Bapu than the coutrycan get rid of poverty andhunger. On this occasion large

number of JVM workers par-ticipated. Later, the JVMchief also paid tributes toMahatma Gandhi at his stat-ue near Morhabadi ground.Gandhi Jayanti was also cele-brated by Jan ShikshanSansthan and Vikas BhartiBishanpur.

The organization on theoccasion organized amarathon from Sainik Market

to Gandhi statue at Morhabadifor girls category, while forboys the marathon was orga-nized from Boreya to Gandhi’sstatue. The winners in themarathon where also award-ed by VIkas Bharti.

The Ranchi Railway divi-sion celebrated the GandhiJayanti by carrying out clean-ness drive. The cleanness drivewas launched at Ranchi

Railway station which wasattended by Ranchi MP SanjaySeth and Ranchi RailwayDRM Niraj Ambastha.

The Jharkhand StateKhadi and Village IndustriesBoard celebrated GandhiJaynati by distributing sewingmachine. 218 beneficiarieswere provided with sewingmachine so that they can earntheir livelihood.

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After directive of State Legalservices authority, the chief

judicial magistrate (CJM) AmitKumar Vaishya, judicial mag-istrate Abhishek Srivasva andsecretary of DLSA Sindhu NathLamaye on Wednesday, held aJaiI Adalat at Garhwa Jail.

As per the information,four cases were brought to thisJail Adalat, of which decisions

on one case was taken afterwhich one accused SantoshKumar has been released fromthe jail.

DLSA secretary Lamayainformed that the four decid-ed case was registered underSection 457 of the Code ofCriminal Procedure (CrPC).

Moreover, the DLSAinformed that next jail adalatwill held on the eve of RepublicDay on January 26.

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In a major setback forPakistan, the UK High Court

on Wednesday ruled in favourof India in a decades-old legaldispute with Islamabad overfunds belonging to the Nizamof Hyderabad at the time ofPartition in 1947 and deposit-ed in a London bank account.

The Nizam’s descendants,Prince Mukarram Jah — thetitular eighth Nizam ofHyderabad — and his youngerbrother Muffakham Jah, hadjoined hands with the IndianGovernment in the legal battleagainst the PakistanGovernment over around 35million pounds lying withNatWest Bank plc here.

In his judgment handeddown at the Royal Courts ofJustice in London, JusticeMarcus Smith ruled that the“Nizam VII was beneficiallyentitled to the Fund and thoseclaiming in right of NizamVII – the Princes and India –are entitled to have the sumpaid out to their order.”

“Pakistan’s contentions of non-justiciability by reason of theforeign act of state doctrine andnon-enforceability on groundsof illegality both fail,” the ver-dict notes. The dispute revolvesaround 1,007,940 pounds andnine shillings transferred in1948 from the then Nizam ofHyderabad to the high com-missioner in Britain of thenewly-formed state of Pakistan.

That amount has since growninto 35 million pounds as theNizam’s descendants, support-ed by India, claimed it belongsto them and Pakistan counter-claimed that it is rightfullytheirs.“We are delighted thattoday’s judgment recognisesHis Exalted Highness the VIIINizam’s rights to funds whichhave been in dispute since1948. Our client was still a child

when the dispute first arose andis now in his 80s. It is a greatrelief to see this dispute final-ly resolved in his lifetime,” saidPaul Hewitt, partner in WithersLLP, who have acted for theVIII Nizam since Pakistanissued proceedings in2013.“Justice Smith’s judgmentcovers a complex historicaland legal set of issues, inter-preting facts and events thatoccurred 70 years ago to estab-lish that the funds, which nowamount to 35 million, werealways held in trust for ourclient’s grandfather, the VIINizam.

The judgment also makesimportant findings on justi-ciability… and whether anation state can be a trustee,” henotes. In 2013, Pakistan hadwaived sovereign immunity byissuing a claim for the fund thatopened the way for the currentcase to proceed. The PakistanGovernment’s legal team hadclaimed the fund on two alter-native bases.

One, referred to as the“Arms for Money Argument”,

claimed that funds were trans-ferred to compensate/reim-burse/indemnify Pakistan forassistance provided in procur-ing/facilitating the supplyand/or transportation ofweapons. The second groundwas that the funds were trans-ferred in order to keep themout of the hands of India,referred to by the judge as the“Safeguarding Argument”.

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On the 150th birth anniver-sary of Mahatma Gandhi

on Wednesday, the BJP andCongress-led Opposition par-ties jostled to stake claim to hislegacy as ruling party chiefAmit Shah launched a nation-wide exercise to propagate hisideals while Congress chiefSonia Gandhi had a dig at it,saying the Mahatma’s soulwould have been pained bywhat has been happening inIndia under the present dis-pensation.

The Modi GovernmentGovernment and the BJP wentall out to lay claim to his lega-cy with Modi declaring thecountry open defecation-freeand Shah leading a ‘Padyatra’ aspart of the party’s four-month-long exercise to reach out to themasses and inspire them to fol-

low ideas and ideals of theFather of the Nation. The entiretop leadership of the BJP tookpart in a a range of pro-grammes, events and‘Padyatras’ highlighting Bapu’slife and times. Modi said thenation expresses its gratitude toGandhi for his everlasting con-tribution to humanity.

“We pledge to continueworking hard to realise hisdreams and create a betterplanet,” Modi wrote on Twitter.

Speaking at a “SwachchhBharat Diwas” programme atSabrmati Ashram in GujaratModi said the world appreci-ated India for providing toiletsto over 60 crore people. WhenModi launched the ambitiousSwachh Bharat (Clean India)

campaign after becoming thePrime Minister in 2014, he hadannounced October 2, 2019 asthe day India will be open defe-cation free (ODF), citing howGandhi had laid immensestress on cleanliness and want-ed the countrymen to pursue it.“Today rural India and its vil-lages have declared themselves‘open defecation-free’,” he said.In a short video on Gandhi,Modi said his message of peaceis still relevant to the worldcommunity. The PM alsoreferred to the seven perver-sions Gandhi had cautionedpeople about. These are: Wealthwithout work, pleasure withoutconscience, knowledge withoutcharacter, visit without ethics,science without humanity, reli-

gion without sacrifice and pol-itics without principles. Modialso wrote 931-word Op-Ed inNew York Times titled “WhyIndia and the World NeedGandhi” wherein he wrote,“As a tribute to Gandhi, I pro-

pose what I call the EinsteinChallenge... How do we ensurethe ideals of Gandhi areremembered by future gener-ations? I invite thinkers, entre-preneurs and tech leaders to beat the forefront of spreading

Gandhi’s ideas through inno-vation.” Earlier in the day ,Modi paid homage to Gandhiat Rajghat and later, he visitedthe Sabarmati Ashram andaddressed a gathering inAhmedabad.

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The Congress top leadershipon Wednesday unleashed

a sharp attack on the BJPclaiming that the ruling partyat the Centre is trying toappropriate the legacy ofMahatma Gandhi while killingBapu’s very ideals and princi-ples on which the foundationof India as a nation was built.

Leading a padyatra on theoccasion of 150 years celebra-tion of Mahatma Gandhi,Congress chief Sonia Gandhisaid only the Congress has fol-lowed the path of Gandhi andhas provided jobs, educationand facilities to farmers, accom-plishments which are unparal-leled, no matter what othersmight claim.

She questioned “those”who consider themselvessupreme and indulge in thepolitics of falsehood cannotunderstand MahatmaGandhi’s ideals of truth, selfrule and selfless service.

“How can those who cando anything for power under-stand that Gandhiji was aworshipper of non-violence?How can those thirsty forpower understand the mean-ing of Gandhiji’s Swaraj?

Those who claim to besupreme at the first opportu-nity, how can they under-stand the value of selfless ser-vice of Gandhiji?” Sonia askedwhile attacking BJP, RSS andthe NDA Government.

Sonia also participated inthe oath that Congress work-ers took to achieve the India of‘Bapu’s’ dreams by keepingfaith in constitutional values.

“Gandhiji’s soul would be sad-dened by seeing the conditionof India in the last four-fiveyears,” the Congress presidentsaid while attacking the cur-rent BJP dispensation.

Several top Congress lead-ers, including former PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh,were among those who paidfloral tributes to the Father ofthe Nation.

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President Ram Nath Kovind,Vice-President Venkaiah

Naidu and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi led the nation inpaying rich tributes to the fatherof the nation Mahatma Gandhion his 150th birth anniversarythat also saw padyatras andcommemorative events.

“Homage to Bapu on#GandhiJayanti. The 150th birthanniversary of Mahatma Gandhiis an occasion for all of us torededicate ourselves to the val-ues of truth, non-violence, har-mony, morality and simplicity.His message remains relevant forall & he continues to be ourguiding light,” Kovind said.

For his part, Vice-PresidentVenkaiah Naidu tweeted, “Aswe pay reverential homage tothe Mahatma on his 150thBirth Anniversary, let us striveto transform our lives by inter-nalising and implementing theGandhian principles in ourdaily life.”

Modi described theMahatma as the “best teacher”and “the guiding light” who

continues to give courage tomillions globally. In an op-ed inThe New York Times to markthe birth anniversary ofGandhi, Modi talked about theideals epitomised by the apos-tle of peace who inspired suchiconic leaders as Martin LutherKing Jr and Nelson Mandela.

Modi stated that Gandhipossessed a “unique ability” tobecome a bridge between someof the greatest contradictions inhuman society and epitomised trust among allsections of society.

The Prime Minister alsotweeted saying the nationexpresses its gratitude toGandhi for his everlasting con-tribution to humanity. “Wepledge to continue workinghard to realise his dreams andcreate a better planet,” Modiwrote on Twitter.

In a short video on Gandhi,Modi said his message of peaceis still relevant to the worldcommunity. The PrimeMinister also referred to theseven perversions Gandhi hadcautioned people about. These

are: wealth without work, plea-sure without conscience,knowledge without character,visit without ethics, sciencewithout humanity, religionwithout sacrifice and politicswithout principles.

Numerous events wereorganised by various govern-ment departments, ministriesand voluntary organisationsto celebrate life and legacy ofGandhi.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi onWednesday declared that rural India is

now open defecation-free (ODF).Speaking at the ‘Swachchh Bharat

Diwas’ event in Ahmedabad, Modi said,“Today rural India and its villages havedeclared themselves ‘open defecation free’.”

“In 60 months, we have provided toi-lets to over 60 crore people by construct-ing over 11 crore toilets. The world isamazed at our success,” Modi said.

“However, this achievement is just amilestone and we should not stop here.The movement has to continue,” the PM added.

“Today, rural India has declared itselfopen defection-free. This is a great achieve-ment of the Swachchh Bharat movementwhich has people’s participation,” Modi said addressing village heads of20,000 villages.

“On the call of Mahatma Gandhi dur-ing the freedom movement, people of thecountry mobilised for ‘satyagarah’ and theydid the same now for swachhagrah,”Modi said.

It was on October 2, 2014, that thePrime Minister had launched the ambi-tious Swachchh Bharat (Clean India)campaign, setting the target of making India open defecation free byOctober 2, 2019.

“A clean India would be the best trib-ute India could pay to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150 birth anniversary in2019,” Modi had said, while launching thecampaign.

The campaign aimed to build 120 mil-lion toilets across the country by October2, 2019. Its other goals included cleaningup streets and other public infrastructure,achieving 100 per cent door-to-door wastecollection, building solid-waste manage-ment plants in each town, and persuadingIndians to adopt better sanitation practices.

The Government claims that it hasalready constructed over 100 million of the 120 million toilets planned acrossthe country.

However, experts say while the con-struction of toilets has increased, lack ofwater, poor maintenance and slow changesin behaviour have stood in the way of end-ing the practice.

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Emphasizing on promotingcleanliness and fitness

together, Union Housing andUrban Affairs Minister

Hardeep Singh Puri onWednesday f lagged off‘Swachchhata Hi Seva’ Indiaplog run at Rajpath to com-memorate the 150th birthanniversary of MahamtaGandhi. Plog run involves pick-ing up litter while running. Theobjective was to spread aware-ness on the harmful effects ofplastic waste and enlist citizenssupport to eliminate.

Addressing a gathering onthe occasion, Puri said reiter-ated the committed to thePrime Minister’s vision of sin-gle-use plastic-free India.Administering pledge on‘Swachchhata Hi Seva’ andagainst using single-use plastic,Puri said the country hasachieved the dream of an open

defection-free India, except 52local bodies in West Bengal.

“This has been made pos-

sible with the participation ofthe biggest stakeholders of themovement — the citizens of

this country.“We are committed to

Prime Minister NarendraModi’s vision of making Indiafree of single-use plastic. Withthe launch of the India PlogRun, I am confident that the dayis not far when India will be freeof single-use plastic,” Puri said.

On his part, Housing andUrban Affairs Secretary DurgaShanker Mishra said the min-istry has already had over55,000 events conducted by cit-izens across urban area withparticipation of around twocrore people.

The Ministry has been tak-ing several initiatives on plas-tic waste management andpromoting its reuse and recy-cle, Mishra said.

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The nation also observedthe 115th birth anniversary

of former Prime Minister LalBahadur Shastri. PresidentRam Nath Kovind paid tributessaying, “A great son of India, heserved our nation with utmostdiligence and dedication. Hiscourage, simplicity and integri-ty remain an inspiration for the

entire country.” Prime Minister Narendra

Modi recalled the grit anddetermination of Shastri.“Tributes to Former PrimeMinister Lal Bahadur Shastriwho gave the call of ‘Jai Jawan,Jai Kisan’,” Modi tweeted. Healso posted a short video on theleader in which he referred toShastri’s grit and determinationand his love for khadi.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi andCongress president Sonia Gandhi

were among political leaders who paidtributes to Mahatma Gandhi in theCentral Hall of Parliament on Wednesdayon his 150th birth anniversary.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla,Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, PiyushGoyal, Prakash Javadekar, BJP veteranLK Advani, Congress leader RahulGandhi, Leader of the Opposition inRajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad wereamong others who offered rose petalsat the portrait of Gandhi in the historicCentral Hall.

Sonia was greeted by Modi and Birla.However, there was no exchange ofgreetings between Modi and Rahul. Theleaders later paid tributes to former PrimeMinister Lal Bahadur Shastri on his 115thbirth anniversary by offering rose petalsat his portrait in the Central Hall.

Earlier, a function to celebrateGandhi’s anniversary was also held in the

Parliament House Complex, near thestatue of the Mahatma. Speaking on theoccasion, Speaker Om Birla said thatMahatma Gandhi had led the freedomstruggle of the country based on the eter-nal principles of truth and non-violence,thereby making it a peoples’ movement

with non-violence as its core. Birla also remembered former

Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri onhis birth anniversary and said Shastri had worked untiringly towards

making the farmers of the country self-sufficient. Consequently, India attained self-sufficiency in food andagriculture.

Earlier, speaking on the occasion,Culture & Tourism MInister PrahaladSingh Patel said the Ministry of Culturewould ensure that the ban on single useplastic is implemented at all importantcultural sites across the country, beforethe birth anniversary of Sardar Patel onOctober 31 this year.

A demonstration of Charkha spin-ning was organised by the Khadi andVillage Industry Commission (KVIC).Birla and other dignitaries also partic-ipated in the spinning of Charkha andpaid rich tributes to Gandhiji.

As part of the celebrations, KVICis organising a three-day exhibition-cum-sales counter from October 2 toOctober 4, 2019, in the foyer near theSBI Bank, Parliament House Annexe,where Khadi dress, fabric and villageindustry products will be sold at dis-counted rates.

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Monsoon forecasts by the IndiaMeteorological Department (IMD)

and the private forecaster Skymet Weatherwere found to be contrary to the outcomethis year as the four-month rainfall seasonended with above normal monsoon.

IMD in April had said the countrywould receive 96 per cent of the LongPeriod Average while Skymet had pre-dicted 93 per cent of the LPA. Both had given an error margin of plus orminus five per cent.

According to the Skymet, 96 per centof Long Period Average (LPA) falls on theborder line of “below normal” and “nor-mal” rainfall. Skymet had cited El Nino asthe reason behind a possible below nor-mal rainfall. However, as the rainfall sea-son ended, IMD recorded a whopping 10per cent more rainfall.

Mrutunjaya Mohapatra, director-gen-eral of IMD, said the department woulddo a detailed analysis. He, however, addedthat IMD was able to gauge the trends likeEl Nino turning neutral and the IndianOcean Dipole turning positive.

Mohapatra said the IMD also did notchange the forecast even when June endedwith 33 per cent deficiency. “We will carryout an analysis on this,” he said, adding thatthere has been a significant improvementin seasonal forecast.

Mohapatra said several global modelshad predicted below normal monsoonbecause of the El Nino but IMD stuck toits prediction and did not revise it.

The El Nino is associated with theheating of Pacific waters, while a Positive

Indian Ocean Dipole is linked to coolingof the Indian Ocean waters. El Nino is aglobal phenomenonm while the IOD isregional and has an impact mostly on theBay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.

“In spite of several global models indi-cating a strong possibility of continuationof a El Nino episode during the monsoonseason and possibly a below normal mon-soon, IMD had predicted a normal rain-fall (96-104 per cent of LPA)

“While issuing the forecasts, based onIMD’s models, it was suggested that the ElNino episode will weaken further and apositive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) eventwill emerge in the Indian Ocean. Moreover,IMD also predicted that the monsoon per-formance would be better in the secondhalf compared to the first half,” a statementby the IMD said.

IMD’s analysis on weakening of ElNino and development of a positive IOD

and the second half monsoon rainfall beingabove normal were thus proved correct, itsaid. “However, quantitatively, realisedrainfall during the second half was morethan what IMD predicted,” it added.

Citing reasons behind the above nor-mal rainfall, Mahesh Palawat Vice-President (Climate Change andMeteorology), Skymet Weather, he said ElNino, most of the time, overwhelms IOD.But this time it was the other way around.Most global models indicated below nor-mal rainfall, Palawat said.

The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)is the major fluctuation in tropical weath-er on weekly to monthly timescales. TheMJO can be characterised as an eastwardmoving ‘pulse’ of cloud and rainfall nearthe equator that typically recurs every 30to 60 days. Palawat said whenever there isMJO, the monsoon activity increases.

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New Delhi: National Security Adviser (NSA)Ajit Doval paid a two-day quiet visit to SaudiArabia during which he apprised Saudi CrownPrince Mohammed Bin Salman about the situ-ation in Jammu & Kashmir after the State’s spe-cial status was withdrawn, official sources saidon Wednesday.

The Saudi side conveyed to Doval that it isaware of New Delhi’s long-held position onKashmir and emphasised on the need for de-escalation of tension between India and Pakistan,they said. The NSA arrived in Saudi Arabia onTuesday.

Doval and Salman also deliberated on arange of bilateral, regional issues including themissile and drone attacks on Saudi oil facilitieslast month and ways to further deepen anti-ter-ror cooperation.

Saudi Arabia is a key pillar of India’s ener-gy security, being a source of 17 per cent or moreof crude oil and 32 per cent of LPG requirementsof India. Notwithstanding the biggest ever attackon its oil facilities on September 14 thatknocked out half of its daily oil production, SaudiArabia assured India that it was committed tomeet the country’s energy security needs. PTI

New Delhi: The Union CultureMinistry has extended the timeperiod of auctioning of over2,500 gifts received by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, fromOctober 3 to October 17, offi-cials said on Wednesday,attributing the decision to a hugedemand for the mementos.

Celebrities, politicians andactivists have shown interest inthe auction, with many likeBollywood stars Arjun Kapoor,Anil Kapoor and singer KailashKher endorsing it. The ministryhad launched the e-auctionon September 14 to sell 2,700mementos received by theprime minister, the proceeds ofwhich will go to the NamamiGange Mission.

The mementos includepaintings, sculptures, shawls,jackets and traditional musicalinstruments. The lowest baseprice is Rs 200 and it goes all theway up to Rs 2.5 lakh. A copyof the Indian Constitution witha base price of Rs 2,000 receivedbids of Rs 33,000. Other itemsinclude a portrait of Modi on asilk saree with a base price of Rs2.5 lakh, a mace with a baseprice of Rs 2,000 and a photo-graph of the prime ministerwith his mother, which receiveda bid of Rs 10 lakh. The collec-tion also includes a jersey of theIndian cricket team. PNS

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Days after he was uncere-moniously axed as head of

the State unit, former HaryanaCongress chief Ashok Tanwaron Wednesday alleged his partyleadership was selling tickets atRs 5 crore and giving tickets toundeserving candidates andto those who joined theCongress recently but werecritical of it not long ago.Haryana will go to Assemblypolls on October 21 and theresults will be declared onOctober 24 along withMaharashtra.

Tanwar was joined by hisclose associates staged a protestand address the party workersfrom Haryana in front ofCongress President SoniaGandhi’s residence in nationalCapital. “I have worked hard

for years, but the people whojoined the party 15 days ago arebeing given tickets by theparty,” Tanwar alleged.

The former HaryanaCongress chief alleged the tick-et for the Sohna Assembly seatin Gurugram was “sold for Rs5 crore.” He said the leadershipin the state has been destroyed.

“We have remained dedi-cated to the party. Why do youhave to give tickets to thosewho recently joined the party,but were critical of the partyearlier?”

Tanwar claimed that hehad been approached by theBJP six times in the last threemonths, but he turned downthe offer as he is “not hungryfor power”. “I had personalissues with Randeep SinghSurjewala (AICC chiefspokesman), but I set aside all

those differences for the party’ssake,” he said.

With Haryana differenceswithin the Haryana Congressleadership growing and soonafter the former HarayanaChief Minister BhupinderSingh Hooda threatened toquit the party, Sonia Gandhiwho had just taken charge as aninterim president of the grandold party effected changes inthe Haryana Congress.

Former Union Ministerand a close aide of the partychief, Kumari Selja wasappointed chief of the HaryanaCongress.

Resnetment againstTanwar was going on for a longtime and went at its peakbefore the Lok Sabha polls butremained at helms of affairssince he was close to the thenCongress chief Rahul Gandhi.

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Stressing that India is mod-ernising its armed forces to

defend itself, Army ChiefGeneral Bipin Rawat onWednesday said the countryhas no extraterritorial ambi-tions and does not want to“transplant” its ideology onothers.

Without naming Pakistan,he also said India is fighting aproxy war in Jammu &Kashmir and reserves the right to acquire militarycapabilities to counter anysecurity threats.

Making this point while

addressing strategic affairsexperts and Defence personnelin Male, capital of Maldives,during his ongoing visit there,he said the country will fulfillits regional and global securi-ty obligations as a responsibleemerging power.

His remarks come againstthe backdrop of India playinga crucial role in the strategicallyimportant Indian Ocean regionand ongoing efforts to furtherenhance ties with littoral stateslocated on its rim.

Rawat also said instabilityin energy-rich West Asia hasthe potential to significantlyincrease global tensions and

trigger unrest and that thetension between the US andIran was “worrisome.”

Without naming Pakistan,the Army Chief said Indianarmed forces are countering aproxy war in Jammu &Kashmir on a daily basis andthat India reserves the right toacquire military capabilities tocounter any security threats emanating from itsneighbourhood.

“Our strategic culture flowsfrom two cardinals — we haveno extraterritorial ambitionsand no desire to transplant ourideology on others,” the ArmyChief said.

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Ahmedabad: India's stature isrising on the world stage and aglimpse of the respect the coun-try has globally was seen duringthe 'HowdyModi' event inHouston, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said here onWednesday.

The world can see that Indiais at the forefront of several pos-itive changes taking place at theworld stage, he said, during anevent organised by BJP's stateunit to felicitate him for hisspeech at the UN GeneralAssembly. "At the Houston pro-gramme, Republicans andDemocrats spoke. Their attend-ing the HowdyModi event wasvery special," he said.

"The fact that India alwaysbelieves in taking everyone alonghas also been noted," Modi said."Respect for India is increasingall over. One can experience thechange," he added.

A large poster of of Modiand US President DonaldTrump was put up on stage.

"The strength and the valueof Indian passport has increased.The world sees those holdingIndian passport with respect,"

Modi said.Modi said 'HowdyModi' has

become a talking point amongall world leaders he met after theevent. "The fact that the USPresident came to the Indianevent and stayed there for sucha long time was great. Afterspeeches, when I requested him,he came for a round of stadiumwithout considering securityprotocol. I thank him and allthose who organised the event,"Modi said.

"In a way, the world is look-ing at India with great eagerness.The world was curious aboutIndia, a huge country with avibrant democracy and it ishopeful that India's participationwill be most significant when-ever there are opportunities tobring about global changes," he

said.India has the capacity to

take the world together due toour ideals, behaviour and cul-ture, he said.

Modi also referred to his2014 proposal in the UN for theInternational Yoga Day, whichhe said was passed in the short-est time.

He said during his US visit,Mahatma Gandhi was given"real tribute" by world leaders atthe United Nations.

"Gandhi was with us, iswith us and will be there forfuture generations," he said.

Modi also spoke of the"immense enthusiasm" at theUN for Mahatma Gandhi's150th birth anniversary cele-brations.

"Take any problem theworld faces, the teachings ofMahatma Gandhi offer solutionsto those challenges," he said.

Singers of over 150 coun-tries rendered Gandhiji's famous'Vaishnav Jan..' bhajan in theirlanguage, Modi said. Thesesingers tried to understand thefeeling, meaning and message ofthe song, he said. PTI

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Kolkata: Processions and com-memorative events onWednesday marked the sesqui-centennial of Mahatma Gandhiin West Bengal, where partiescutting across political linesfought over the legacy of theFather of the Nation.

Since morning various pro-grams like mass prayers andprocessions were organised invarious parts of state and thecity to mark the occasion.

A programme was held atthe Gandhi Ghat in neigh-bouring Barrackpore. In severalparts of the city several nongovernmental organisationsalong with children and foot-path dwellers organised mockkhadi spinning programmesand sang bhajans associatedwith Gandhiji.

Paying her homage toMahatma Gandhi on his 150thbirth anniversary at Mayo Roadhere, West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee inan apparent reference to BJPleadership said the leader of thecountry should follow theGandhian principles and takepeople of every religion and

community along with him."Not only us but the entire

world has learnt fromGandhiji's principles of non-violence, satyagraha and peace.We(TMC) don't want to adviseothers, but we will just say thatthe leader of the countryshould be like Netaji SubhasChandra Bose and MahatmaGandhi, who had led the nationby taking along with thempeople of all communities,castes and religions," Banerjeesaid.

She said the historicGandhi Bhavan located atBeleghata area in the city wherethe nationalist leader had stayedduring Independence 1947 toprotest against communal riotsin the city has been renovatedand developed into a museumby the state government.

It was inaugurated duringthe day.

Rare photographs captur-ing Mahatma Gandhi's 1947stay at Beleghata and articlesused by him during the periodwill be on display at the newlyopened museum.

The Bengal Congress unit

took out a padyatra in the cityand various parts of the statewith posters and placards onGandhiji to mark the day.

West Bengal PCC presidentSomen Mitra, who participat-ed in a march organized by theparty from Subodh MullickSquare to Gandhi statue atMayo Road in the city, used theoccasion to lash out at the BJPgovernment at the Centre overits proposal to update NRCacross the country.

"Both TMC and BJP gov-ernments at the state and at theCentre respectively are unableto understand the principlesand ideology of MahatmaGandhi. So they should stoppretending about respectingGandhiji and his struggle. Onlythose (political parties) whodon't understand Gandhiji talkabout about NRC, driving outMuslims and communal dividein the country," Mitra toldreporters.

Gandhiji had throughouthis life fought for communalharmony. "But those in powerat the state and the Centre aredetermined to destroy that

harmony to serve their politi-cal purpose," he said.

Union Home MinisterAmit Shah had on Tuesday ata seminar here asserted that theNRC is "a must" for nationalsecurity and will be imple-mented but made it clear thatHindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhistrefugees will be granted Indiancitizenship beforehand withthe passage of the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill.

Reacting to Mitra's state-ment, BJP national secretaryRahul Sinha said Congressshould stop behaving as ifGandhiji is the "personal fief-dom" of the Congress party.

"Mahatma Gandhi is thefather of the nation. Gandhiji isnot a personal fiefdom ofCongress party or its first fam-ily - the Nehru-Gandhi family.

"Since Independence they(Congress) had tried to createthis impression as Gandhijiand Congress are synonymous.We don't need to take lessonson Gandhiji from theCongress," Sinha hit back.

The BJP organised SwachhBharat Abhiyan (cleanliness

drive) on the day.TMC secretary general

Partha Chatterjee said the partyhas been at the forefront in thefight against communal politicsand had opposed the imple-mentation of NRC across thecountry.

Last week, West Bengalgovernment had directed theheads of all primary and sec-ondary schools to observe the150th birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi in theirpremises.

The schools organisednational flag hoisting cere-monies, rallies, cultural pro-grammes and seminars onGandhi Jayanti. Some schoolsalso held programmes onGandhiji's thoughts on non-violence, peace, patriotism,communal harmony and uni-versal brotherhood throughevents. The heads of theschools have been asked toencourage the participation ofguardians and locals in the cir-cle-level programmes that willbe continued throughout theyear, a senior state governmentofficial said. PTI

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Jajpur: A newborn baby girl was rescuedfrom a garbage bin in a community healthcentre in Odisha's Jajpur district onWednesday, police said.

The newborn baby was found aban-doned in a garbage bin in the MadhubanCommunity Health Centre (CHC) premis-es under Kuakhia area, said Inspector In-Charge of Kuakhia Police station, ManojKumar Swain.

A sweeper, who had come to collect thewaste from the bin, first noticed the babyinside the bin on Wednesday morning. Heimmediately informed the authorities of thehealth centre.

A doctor on duty of the CHC alongwith other staff of the health centre rushedto the spot and rescued the baby from thegarbage bin

in a critical condition, the IIC said.After primary treatment at the CHC,

the doctor shifted her to the Jajpur DistrictHeadquarters Hospital (DHH).

The CHC authorities also informed theChild Welfare Committee about the new-born baby. On getting information, JajpursDistrict CWC team arrived at the districthospital and inquired about the conditionof the newborn baby.

From the DHH, the baby was againshifted to Sishu Bhawan in Cuttack as hercondition deteriorated this afternoon,police said. PTI

+��&� �&�&("� �$�%����"� &�"�&�� Jammu: Reaching out to the people

of Kashmir with the message "everyKashmiri is ours", BJP national gen-eral secretary Ram Madhav onWednesday assured them that theModi government has taken up theresponsibility to safeguard theirinterests on land and culture.

He termed Article 370 "anti-peo-ple and biggest hurdle" in the devel-opment of Jammu and Kashmir,trashing the allegation the provisionwas revoked to own the land but notthe people. He said only 200-250people are in preventive detentionand that this was temporary.

Madhav said scrapping Article370, which gave special status toJammu and Kashmir, has started anew chapter of development basedon Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of non-violence and unity.

"The interest of the people ofJammu and Kashmir, their land,their culture and their development,whatever is their interest, the fullresponsibility of safeguarding these(interests) is taken up by the gov-ernment led by Modiji," he said at anevent here.

He said there is no reason todoubt it.

"This step has been taken in theinterest of the people of Kashmir. Inthe name of Gandhiji, this govern-

ment is dedicated to people," he said.The BJP leader said the govern-

ment's steps with regard to Kashmirare meant to ensure peace, progressand development for each and everymember of the last village inKashmir.

"This is reason for Modi ji to takesuch steps. For us, every Kashmiri isa member of the family of thiscountry," he added.

Trying to strike a chord with thepeople of Kashmir, Madhav saidevery Kashmiri is theirs and everystep is taken to change their destiny.

"When we say Jammu andKashmir is ours, it does not meanonly land is ours. We say everyKashmir is ours," he said.

Madhav said Jammu andKashmir has entered a new era after

the abrogation of Article 370. "Thestep that should have normally beentaken seven decades ago is beingtaken by Modiji after 72 years," hesaid, adding J&K is now a full-fledged part of India, like any otherstate.

Calling on the people to start anew chapter of development inJammu and Kashmir based onGandhi's ideals of non-violence andunity, he said they should move for-ward to achieve new heights.

On the detentions, he said 200-250 people are in preventive custodyand it is a temporary measure. "Theywill get back their political rightswhen situation will become con-ducive. They will soon come out. Itis the administration (which will)decide it," he said.

He said it is important for themto ensure "free flow" of political rightsfor each and every person, even invillages, not just about rights ofsome selected people.

"It is with this aim to providepolitical rights to all people that wehave to put some people in detention.It is done for a big aim," he added.

He said whatever measures havebeen taken are temporary.

"This (J&K) will be a full-fledgedstate and will move forward on thepath of development," he said. PTI

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Thiruvananthapuram: KeralaChief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanon Wednesday said the peoplewho assassinated the Father ofthe Nation are trying to makeMahatma Gandhi their ownand interpret his statements intheir favour.

The CPI(M) leader'sremarks came as the BJP and itsrival parties battled to claimGandhi's legacy on his 150thbirth anniversary.

Paying homage to the Fatherof the Nation, Vijayan said theIndia that Gandhi fought for wasan inclusive one, where no onewas considered a pariah.

In a Facebook post, he saidthe values that Gandhi upheldremain relevant even after a cen-tury. "But today some are tryingto take the country backwardsfrom Gandhi's ideals."

"Those who assassinatedGandhi are trying to makeGandhi their own. They are try-ing to interpret Gandhi's state-ments in their favour," Vijayanwrote.

In this context, this year'sGandhi Jayanti had assumedgreater significance, he said.

Vijayan, who paid floraltributes to Mahatma Gandhi atKerala House in New Delhi,urged people to pledge them-selves to safeguard his ideals.

"Mahatma's life has given usa moral imperative, to upholdthe

secular founding values ofour republic.

"The India he fought for wasan inclusive one, where no onewas considered a pariah. Let'spledge ourselves to uphold thoseideals," Vijayan said in his post.

Kerala Governor ArifMohammad Khan paid tributesto the Father of the Nation at theGandhi statue inside the leg-

islative complex here."... Today, 2nd October, is

the 150th anniversary of thebirth of the Mahatma, whosemessage of non-violence con-tinues to guide us," Khan tweet-ed.

The Kerala PradeshCongress Committee arrangedstate-wide programmes and all-religion prayers along withpadayatras to commemoratethe occasion.

Congress WorkingCommittee (CWC) member AK Antony flagged-off theThiruvananthapuram leg of thepadayatra.

Leader of the Opposition inthe State Assembly RameshChennithala and state Congresschief MullappallyRamachandran launched footmarches from Ernakulam andKozhikode respectively.

Among various pro-grammes across the state, theNational Institute of Speech andHearing (NISH) organised avisual representation of thefavourite bhajans of MahatmaGandhi in Indian Sign Language(ISL) here. PTI

Kohima: Nagaland ChiefMinister Neiphiu Rio onWednesday picked up plasticwaste from a road here with apair of tongs and launched astatewide mass campaign'Shramdaan' (voluntary work)to do away with single-useplastic from the state.

He was also joined by hiscabinet colleagues and MLAson the occasion of 150th birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi.

The state was also declaredas open defecation free (ODF)on Wednesday.

The advisor for urbandevelopment and municipalaffairs departments, MLA DrNeikiesalie, Nicky Kire,declared the state as ODF, inpresence of the chief ministerhere at a function that wasorganised by the state's urbandevelopment department.

Addressing a gathering,Rio said, the mass collection ofplastic waste across the state isin accordance with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi'sappeal to keep the environmentclean and also do away withsingle-use plastic, particularlyin urban areas and make Indiaa plastic-free country.

"God has created our plan-et so beautifully. Mother Earthcan provide for our needs butcannot satisfy our greed.Because of our greed, we havecome to face many problems,including climate change andman-made disasters, he said.

The chief minister saidthat it is very easy to blame thegovernment for not cleaningthe town but everythingdepends on the people.

He appealed to all the cit-izens of Kohima and Dimapurto lead the way in keeping thecity clean.

Later, Rio along with hiscabinet colleagues and MLAslaunched three central flagshipprogrammes such as KohimaSmart City Mission, SwachhBharat Mission (Urban) andPradhaan Mantri Awas Yojana- Housing for All (Urban) at theNBCC Convention Centrehere.

"Today, there are very seri-ous issues confronting theurban dwellers unlike before,"he said, adding that inNagaland, there are many set-tlements in the process of tran-sition.

On the occasion, the chiefminister also released an anti-plastic theme song and a 100days promotional video.

He also distributed clothbags among people.

He also launched five waterATMs for public use, flaggedoff 11 sanitation vehicles forurban local bodies under the'Swachh Bharat Mission'(Urban).

"As responsible citizens,we have to learn to manage ourwastes," Rio said.

All these efforts will go along way in ensuring betterquality of life and ease of livingto the urban dwellers, the chiefminister added. PTI

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Patna: The high court's stayon demolition of the cen-turies-old Patna Collectoratehas come as a "ray of hope" topeople striving for its preser-vation and on the 150th birthanniversary of the Mahatma,they urged authorities to linkthe landmark with a Gandhitourism circuit.

Some iconic scenes inRichard Attenborough'sOscar-winning 'Gandhi' werefilmed at the collectorate,whose Dutch-era RecordRoom was doubled up asMotihari jail, while British-built DM Office building wasshown as a court in the movie.

Gandhi's sesquicentenaryevoked the memories of theshooting of the fill in early1980s.

"People have been appeal-ing to the Bihar government to

save the collectorate and use itas a cultural space, but the gov-ernment has been adamantabout its demolition plan. Thestay by the Patna High Courthas sent a wave of confidenceamong heritage lovers," saidAnjum Abdin, a city resident.

"Had it not been for a sus-tained people's movementrunning for around three-and-a-half years to save andpreserve it, perhaps the his-toric Patna Collectorate wouldnot have witnessed this land-mark 150th anniversary ofGandhiji today," he said.

Many residents still fond-ly recall the crowd outside theRecord Room or the artificialrain being created in front ofthe DM Office during theshooting of the biopic.

US-based professionalTwisha Chandra, who hails

from Patna, and also a mem-ber of the ExecutiveCommittee of London-basedGandhi Foundation, recentlyvisited her hometown, andfeels the struggle to save thecollectorate is "bearing fruits".

"The collectorate wasneglected during the hugeChamparan Satyagrah cente-nary celebrations in 2017organised by the Bihar gov-ernment. Now that the courthas stayed its demolition, thegovernment should see themerit in its preservation. And,instead of planning to knockit down, it can link it toGandhi circuit to promotetourism," she said.

Entire world is markingGandhi's 150th anniversaryand hopefully the court's finalverdict will remove the wreck-ing ball dangling over it.

"On the 150th anniversary,a memorial plaque outsidethe building could have beenput up as part of an overallplan to bring the landmark onthe tourism map. In fact, theBihar government should haverestored and gifted the build-ing to the city on the occa-sion," Chandra said.

Incidentally, the GandhiFoundation in 2016, in a let-ter to Chief Minister NitishKumar, had appealed to pre-serve the collectorate and alsosuggested linking the heritagebuilding with the Gandhitourism circuit.

The government's deci-sion in early 2016 to demolishthe collectorate to make wayfor a high-rise complex hadtriggered a public outcry.

A civil society-led cam-paign 'Save Historic Patna

Collectorate', started in Aprilthe same year, too urged theBihar government to link thecollectorate on the banks ofGanges to a tourism circuit.

"The place could bereimagined as a cafe, library,museum and a performingarts centre. And, the Oscar-winning biopic connectionshould be promoted," said J KLall, a veteran architect andconvener of INTACH PatnaChapter.

The Indian National Trustfor Art and Culture(INTACH) had filed two PILs,after which the court stayedthe proposed demolition of thegovernment complex whilerestraining the state authoritiesfrom "causing any harm to thecollectorate building until fur-ther orders".

Anil Kumar, professor of

Ancient Indian History atVisva Bharati University inSantiniketan, West Bengal,also backed the idea of linkingthe collectorate with theGandhi circuit.

"Development shouldmean a harmonious balance ofold and modern. Patna beingan over 2,500-year-old cityhas layers of history, fromancient to modern, and her-itage should not be replaced tobring modernity," he said.

Aditya Jalan, a heritageenthusiast and resident of theiconic Quila House in oldPatna, said, "Patna shouldboast its Oscar connection".

"Tourists go on 'HarryPotter' and 'Game of Thrones'trails and countries wherethey were filmed are show-casing it. Why can't Patna dothe same?" he said. PTI

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Lucknow: The actual reasonfor holding a special session ofUttar Pradesh legislature tomark Mahatma Gandhi's 150thbirth anniversary is not todeliberate on his works but tohide the failures of the BJP gov-ernment, BSP presidentMayawati on Wednesdayclaimed.

In a tweet, she said,"Convening a special session ofthe UP Legislative Assemblyon Gandhiji 's 150 birthanniversary is not to deliber-ate on his works but to hide thefailures of its government bythe BJP. This is why BSP hasdeployed its MLAs in the realpublic service to help the flood

victims."Mayawati was apparently

referring to the absence of herparty legislators from the spe-cial 36-hour-long session.

In a dig at the Congressover its silent march byCongress on Gandhi Jayanti,she said, "In spite of being inpower for the longest time invarious states including UttarPradesh and Centre, whenCongress party could notrealise Gandhiji's dreams evena little bit then what can theynow do by holding padyatrawhile being out of power. Thesame situation is being seen ofthe BJP. Public needs to remainvigilant." PTI

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Jammu: Facing arrest for allegedlinks with Hizbul Mujahideenterror outfit, a senior J-KCongress leader's brotherMohammad Shafi Saroori onWednesday refuted the chargesand claimed the case against himwas "politically motivated".

In a statement, Shafi Saroori,brother of the party's state vicepresident and former ministerGhulam Mohammad Saroori,alleged the registration of FIRagainst him was aimed atmaligning him and his familyand said he is ready for a free andfair probe.

He said he is hopeful thattruth will prevail once such aninvestigation is conducted.

Shafi Saroori is among thedozen people booked in twoseparate FIRs for their allegedlinks with Hizbul Mujahideenterror outfit in Kishtwar districtof Jammu and Kashmir.

While six persons who werenamed in one of the FIRs regis-tered last week were arrested, sixothers including the Congressleader's brother are at large andefforts are on to nab them, offi-cials said.

Saroori, a businessman andformer Sarpanch, said he was inthe category of protected per-sons till last year before his secu-rity was withdrawn by the pre-vious government.

"I strongly refute the alle-gations levelled against me in theFIR No: 229/2019,” he said in astatement here, adding he andhis family had undergone trau-ma since last more than six yearsas his wife was suffering fromcancer and had to travel fortreatment outside the state.

“The house which Kishtwarpolice had claimed to have usedby the militants was abandonedby the family way back. It is

occupied by tenants, includingnon-Muslims and police per-sonnel over the last over sixyears,” Saroori said.

He said he is open to a freeand fair probe as “I have no linkwith any militant or militantorganization. I am hopeful thatthe truth will prevail once thefree and fair investigation is con-ducted”.

As per the FIR(No:229/2019) lodged inKishtwar police station on theweekend, the officials said Shafiand five others -- MasoodAhmad Mattoo, MohammadMuzaffar Shah, GhulamMohammad, Tawseef AhmadGandna and Syed Ahmad –were accused of providing shel-ter and transport to active ter-rorists of Hizbul Mujahideen tocarry out their activities.

They were also chargedwith conspiring with terrorists to

harm the integrity of the nationbesides providing informationon security installations to theterrorists including MohammadAmin alias “Jehangir Saroori” tocarry out attacks, the officialssaid adding they were bookedunder various sections ofUnlawful Activities (Prevention)Act. In the second FIR(230/2019), six persons – NissarAhmad Rather, KousarHussain,Liyaqat Ali,Mohammad Muzaffar Sheikh,Asif Hussain and ImtiyazAhmad Bhat – who were facingsimilar charges - were arrested,the officials said.

After being declared ter-rorism-free over a decade ago,Kishtwar district was rocked bykillings of four persons includ-ing a senior BJP leader and anRSS functionary and twoweapons snatching incidentssince November last year. PTI

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Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumar lost his cool in the

face of persistent queries froma journalist about inundation ofmany parts of Patna due toheavy rains and shot back ask-ing whether there was similaroutrage when Mumbai suf-fered a deluge and floods dis-rupted normal life in the US.

The incident took place lateTuesday night when Kumarwhile wading through knee-deep water was approached withquestions from a posse of jour-nalists when he was surveyingthe inundated areas of the city.

As he began explaining atlength how the State's northerndistricts had experienced flashfloods as early as in July, fol-lowed by a dry spell leading toa drought-like situation until itwas ravaged by torrents lastweek, a journalist from thenational Capital who was hereto cover the situation tried tocut him short.

While Kumar was visiblyirritated, the interjection wasresented by the local journal-ists who quarreled with the vis-iting scribe. They were heardshouting Have you come hereto gain prominence for your-self? This is not your Delhi stu-dio. We are based in Bihar andplease let us have the Chief

Ministers soundbite.When the commotion sub-

sided after a few minutes,Kumar resumed speakingabout how the latest disasterwas in a way connected to theproblem of climate change,which his Government wasdoing its bit to tackle.

Kumar was then inter-rupted again by the journalistwho sought to draw his atten-tion to the sufferings of peopleliving in water-logged areas ofthe city for the past few days.

He began explaining thetopography of the city, wherethe worst affected localities likeRajendra Nagar were low-lyingareas and urged for an "honestappraisal of the Government'sefforts and a proper study of thefactors responsible for the cur-rent situation.

When the reporter contin-ued to ask questions on top of

her voice on what his govern-ment did to change thingsafter having ruled the state forclose to 15 years, Kumarsnapped I would like to knowwhether water-logging in Patnahas been the biggest problem.How much concern was shownwhen Mumbai and Americawere water-logged?

You people have failed toeven contribute towards raisingpublic awareness, Kumar saidturning away amid protesta-tions by the scribe who shout-ed raising public awareness iswhat we are trying to do. Pleaseanswer the questions. Look atthis girl shouting here. Thelocal representative of herchannel is nowhere to be seenand she has been sent fromoutside to create mischief, heremarked sardonically as hewas led towards his vehicle bythe security personnel on duty.

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Begusarai (Bihar): The BJP-ledNDA in Bihar, which has beenruling the State for about adecade and a half, owes an apol-ogy to the people of Patna whohave been reeling from inun-dation following heavy rain,Union Minister Giriraj Singhsaid here on Wednesday.

The firebrand BJP leaderalso attacked the Nitish KumarGovernment saying an alerthad been sounded ahead of thedownpour but it failed to ensureattentiveness in the adminis-trative machinery, which couldhave lessened the severity of thecrisis.

"It is not a failure of the peo-ple of Patna. It is our failure.Residents of the city havereposed so much of trust in theNDA, especially the BJP. Weowe an apology to them," saidSingh who is the Lok Sabha MPof Begusarai in Bihar.

Singh, a former member ofthe Nitish Kumar Cabinet, is aknown detractor of the ChiefMinister and his deputy SushilKumar Modi, a senior BJPleader. "The Government issuedan alert asking the people to beon guard. But was it on guarditself? Had it been so, peoplewould not have been com-pelled to suffer so much of mis-ery," he said. On Tuesday also,the BJP leader accused the State

Government of corruption inflood relief and claimed that"floods seem to have become anoccasion for celebration for theState administration".

Patna has been a BJPstronghold since the 1980swhen Lalu Prasad's RJD heldsway over Bihar. In the 2015Assembly polls, which the BJP-led coalition lost badly to theGrand Alliance then comprisingNitish Kumar's JD(U), RJD andCongress, all the four seats thatcover the city were bagged bythe saffron party.

BJP legislators who havewon from the city include StateMinister Nand Kishore Yadav,while Sushil Modi who is nowa Legislative Council member,was a four-term MLA from thenow-abolished Patna Centralconstituency. The State capitalwas pounded by 342.5 mm ofrainfall between September 27and 30, as against the state aver-age of 255 mm, an officialrelease said. At least 42 peoplehave died in rain-related inci-dents in the entire state duringthe period following torrentialshowers. PTI

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While top brass of the twomainstream regional par-

ties, National Conference andPDP, continue to remain underdetention in Kashmir valley,Jammu & Kashmir Governmentlate on Tuesday night endedpolitical detentions of handful ofJammu-based leaders after 58long days with an aim to kickstart political activities ahead ofBlock Development Councilpolls beginning October 24.

The timing of the release ofthese leaders, representing dif-ferent political parties, clearlyindicated that the Governmentwas keen on shoring up its ownimage by sending a clear mes-sage to the outside world that thedemocracy was flourishing atthe grass roots level and 'all iswell' in the State.

Ironically, these leaders werelet off with a clear cut warningnot to trigger any political stormby making irresponsible state-ments aimed at provoking pub-lic mood in the region.

Official sources said,"Leaders from the NationalConference (NC), Congress andJammu & Kashmir NationalPanthers Party (JKNPP) inJammu have been freed fromtheir house detention". Theywere placed under preventivedetention since August 5 afterthe abrogation of Article 370.

NC leaders Devender SinghRana and SS Salathia, Congress'sRaman Bhalla and JKNPPleader Harshdev Singh alongwith others were put underhouse arrest in Jammu andwere barred from attendingpolitical functions and visitingparty offices.

Meanwhile, political leaders,who were detained for last 58days in Jammu, Wednesday vis-ited their party offices in Jammuand held informal discussionson the sidelines of tribute cere-monies on the occasion of 150th Birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi.

Speaking to The Pioneer,former Congress MLC andparty spokesman RavinderSharma said, "it is very unfor-tunate that the Government hasdecided to hold BDC polls with-out consulting leaders of main-stream Opposition parties in theState". Sharma also accused BJPof grabbing power at the grassroots level by holding theseBDC polls on party lines.

He said, for last two monthsBJP leaders were holding polit-ical functions and preparingfor their BDC polls but we wereeven prevented from holdingregular press briefings in partyoffices. Sharma said, "majorityof senior party leaders fromKashmir valley continue toremain under detention andunder these circumstances the

government is proceeding fur-ther to hold these BDC polls".

Senior National Conferenceleader and close aide of OmarAbdullah, Devender Singh Ranaclaimed, "he will first meetsenior party leaders in Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan on Thursdaybefore interacting with themedia". PDP leader DamanBhasin told The Pioneer," theGovernment is making mockeryof the whole election process bygoing ahead without releasingmainstream political leaderscurrently under detention. Atpresent Omar Abdullah andFarooq Abdullah, PDP'sMehbooba Mufti, formerCabinet Ministers, J&K People'sConference's Sajjad Gani Loneand many others continue toremain under house arrest inKashmir valley.

Bhasin claimed, as perguidelines of the ElectionCommission of India, the Statepresident of a regional party isauthorised to give mandate toparty candidates to fight elec-tions. He said, in the absence ofparty chiefs who will give man-date to party leaders to contestBDC polls in Jammu &Kashmir. Jammu & KashmirNational Panthers party leaderHarsh Dev Singh said, "thecredibility of BDC polls isunder scanner". He said, the sit-uation is not conducive to holdpolls in the State.

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Senior BJP leader and formerMinister Eknath Khadse —

who has gone ahead and filed hisnomination for the StateAssembly polls despite his namenot figuring in the first list of 125candidates released by his party— does not seem to be in amood to relent. He has indicat-ed that if denied the party tick-et, he would turn a rebel in thepolls.

A day after he filed hisnomination from his home con-stituency of Muktai Nagar inJalgaon district of Maharashtra,Khadse told local media personson Wednesday: “If I am deniedticket by my party, people arewith me. I also expect co-oper-ation from you (media)”.

F i f t y - s e ve n - ye ar- o l dKhadse, who has gone intosulking mood ever since his

name did not figure in the firstlist of party candidates releasedby the BJP on Tuesday, said: “Ihave been working honestly forthe party for the last 42 years.Never once have I betrayed theparty, despite the fact that Ireceived offers from other polit-ical parties. Because of allega-tions made against me by somepeople, I was kept out of the StateCabinet for three years despitemy having done anythingwrong”

“I will definitely ask myparty leaders as to what wronghave I done that I am beingtreated this way. I would also liketo ask them as to who has poi-soned their minds against me,”Khadse said. Displaying hisshow of strength, Khadse wentin a huge procession and filedhis nomination fromMuktainagar constituency. “Incase, my name figures in the sec-

ond list of candidates, I will fileanother nomination,” he had,after filing the nomination. Itmay be recalled that on June 4,2016, Khadse had resigned fromhis post as the State RevenueMinister over irregularities in thepurchase of a plot of land atBhosari in Pune district. ChiefMnister Devendra Fadnavis hadthen appointed a judicial com-mittee, headed by retiredBombay HC judge DinkarZoting, to probe the allegationsof corruption against Khadse.

The charge against Khadsewas that he, his wife Mandakiniand son-in-law GirishChaudhary had hatched a con-spiracy and purchased a 3-acreplot of land at Bhosri near Puneowned Maharashtra IndustrialDevelopment Corporation(MIDC) in the name of his kinfor �3.75 crore as against themarket price of �40 crore.

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Expressing his satisfactionover Yuva Sena leader

Aditya Thackeray’s decisionto contest the State Assemblypolls, Shiv Sena president andfather Uddhav Thackeray saidhere on Wednesday that hisson worked harder than him,that the Shiv Sainiks hadaccepted him with happinessand love and that it was theSainiks’ responsibility to nur-ture him.

Coming out with his firstreaction after Aditya onMonday announced his deci-sion to take a plunge intoelectoral politics, Uddhav indi-rectly said that his son wouldbe part of the new Governmentin the event of the BJP-ShivSena alliance returning topower in the State. “It is timefor the youth to realise theirdreams by taking to politicsand being part of theGovernment,” he said.

“Late Shiv Sena chief Bal

Thackeray had told me: Sinceyou are my son, I would notthrust you upon the Shiv Sena.In case, people accept you willsucceed in politics. I followedmy father’s footsteps and I amwhere I am. People haveaccepted Aditya. That’s why heis contesting the elections,”Uddhav said.

Dwelling upon Aditya’sdecision to contest theAssembly polls, Uddhav said:“I am satisfied with what ishappening today. Aditya is

very determined and is work-ing for the party with a lot ofinterest. He works harder thanme. The Shiv Sainiks haveaccepted him with happinessand love. That’s why I did notgo to the function where heannounced his decision tocontest the Assembly polls. Ido not want to do things in ahurry. Henceforth, he is theresponsibility of Shiv Sainiks".

“Working for the people isthe tradition in Thackeray’sfamily. I am happy that Adityais carrying forward the tradi-tion. I would like to thank ShivSainiks for this. He is fightingfor the development ofMaharashtra and also to fulfilthe dreams of the youth in thestate,” Uddhav said.

Uddhav, who was speakingat a function organised to wel-come Congress MLC fromNandurbar ChandrakantRaghuvamshi into the ShivSena, said that he would dwellupon in detail about the seat-sharing arrangement with the

BJP and other issues relating tothe State Assembly at theDussehra rally to be held at theShivaji Park in north-centralMumbai on October 8.

Rooting for the youngergeneration entering electoralpolitics, Uddhav said: “Tilltoday, political leaders havesold only dreams to the youth.The youth have been livingwith the same dreams untilnow. However, the youthshould now come forward torealise their dreams by enter-ing electoral politics andbecoming part of theGovernment. The youthshould now bring about trans-formation in Maharashtra andthe country”.

Meanwhile, Aditya — whois the first Thackeray in thefour generations of Thackeraysto have taken a plunge intoelectoral politics — is expect-ed to file his nomination forthe State Assembly polls fromWorli constituency in south-central Mumbai on Thursday.

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Lucknow: Congress leaderPriyanka Gandhi Vadra allegedon Wednesday that rape accusedwere being protected in UttarPradesh and demanded lodgingof a rape case against BJP leaderand former Union ministerChinmayanand.

"Atrocities are being com-mitted against women, especiallyin Uttar Pradesh. Rapists arebeing protected. It is ourdemand that in theShahjahanpur incident, a rapecase should be registered againstthe accused," the Congress gen-eral secretary in-charge of eastUP said on the sidelines of aparty march here to mark the150th birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi.

Priyanka Gandhi hadexpressed displeasure onMonday over Congressmenbeing stopped from taking outa "nyay yatra" (march for justice)in support of the law studentwho has accusedChinmayanand of rape.

"The UP BJP governmentwants to suppress the voiceseeking justice for the daughterof Shahjahanpur. The padyatrais being stopped. Our workersand leaders are being arrested.What is there to be afraid of?,"she had said in a tweet in Hindi.

About 80 Congress workerswere arrested on Monday at apublic meeting ahead of theplanned march in Shahjahanpurin support of the law student.

Former Union minister JitinPrasada was stopped from leav-ing his Shahjahanpur residencefor the march and placed underhouse arrest, while the bordersof the district were blockedfrom all sides. PTI

Chennai: MNM founder KamalHaasan on Wednesday faulted theTamil Nadu Government forseeking the court's approval toerect banners to welcome PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andChinese President Xi Jinping fortheir informal meet here thismonth.

The actor-politician appealedto Modi to "act as a pioneer" andput an end to the "banner culture."

In a tweet, he said the Tamilpeople were "struggling" to copewith the death of 23-year-oldSubasri who was killed when anillegal hoarding put up by anAIADMK functionary fell onher, with the techie riding a two-

wheeler losing balance. A watertanker coming from behind hadrun over her. "Honourable@PMOIndia While Tamil Naduand Thamizhians (Tamils) arestruggling to cope with the loss ofShubasri's death, the Tamil NaduGovernment has approached thecourts to obtain permission toerect your banners," he said.

"If you act as a pioneer in tak-ing the first step to put an end tothis haphazard banner culture, itwill reflect your concern towardsthe sentiments of Tamils, and thatin itself will garner you the great-est publicity possible. Jai Hind!,"the Makkal Needhi Maiam(MNM) founder said. PTI

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In what may prove to be anembarrassment for the ruling

BJP, its ally Republican Party ofIndia (Athavale) on Wednesdayannounced that it would fieldincarcerated underworld donChhota Rajan’sbrother DeepakNikalje as its candidate for theMaharashtra Assembly pollsfrom Phaltan constituency inSatara district of westernMaharashtra.

Announcing Nikalje’s nameas his party’s candidate fromPhaltan constituency, RPI (A)founder-president RamdasAthavale said that his party —which is a constituent of the BJP-led saffron alliance in the stateand of the NDA at the Centre -- would in all contest six seats in

the State Assembly polls.Athvale said that the

RPI(A) would contest the seatsof Phaltan in Satara district,Malshiras in Solapur district,Bhandara, Naigaon in Nandeddistrict, Pathri in Parbhani dis-trict and Mankhurd- Shivaji

Nagar in Mumbai.Apart from that of

Nikalje, Athavle also releasedthe names of the RPI (A)'s fiveother candidates for the polls.

Phaltan, where Nikalje iscontesting is reserved for thecandidates belonging to theScheduled Caste. Phaltan is thenative place of Chhota Rajan.

This is not for the first timethat Nikalje will be contestingthe State Assembly polls. Hehad in the past contested theAssembly from Chembur as anindependent in the past.

Nikalge has been nominated tocontest from Phaltan, sinceChembur has gone to the ShivSena in the seat-sharingarrangement with the BJP.Nikalje has several cases regis-tered against him in variouspolice stations of Mumbai. Inthe 2014 polls, Nikalje haddeclared assets worth �17 crore.As recently as in the thirdweek of March 2018, theMumbai police had registereda case of alleged rape and sex-ual harassment based on thecomplaint of a 22-year-oldwoman. '

Quoting the complaintlodged by the victim woman, thepolice had said that the woman,who used to reside in SiddharthColony in north-east Mumbai,had alleged that Nikalje hadexploited the victim sexually.

Bengaluru: Senior Congressleader Siddaramaiah onWednesday took exception toDonald Trump calling PrimeMinister Narendra Modi asfather of India, saying the USpresident was 'ignorant' andshould try to learn aboutMahatma Gandhi.

Speaking at a party event onthe occasion of Gandhi Jayantihere, the former Karnataka ChiefMinister said if Modi was a'patriot', he should have protest-ed immediately against Trumpdescribing him as "father ofnation" instead of Gandhi.

There is no much differencebetween Narendra Modi andTrump. He (Trump) called him(Modi) father of nation. I think

Trump is ignorant... He shouldtry to know about MahatmaGandhi, Siddaramaiah said. He(Trump) should have at leastasked Obama (former USPresident Barack Obama) aboutGandhi....If Nanrendra Modi is apatriot he should have protestedthere, in front of Trump,"Siddaramaiah said. Trump hadlast week heaped praise on Modiin New York, when both the lead-ers met. "I remember Indiabefore was very torn. There wasa lot of dissension, fighting andhe brought it all together. Like afather would. Maybe he is thefather of India," the US presidenthad said, a comment which hadalready drawn flak from severalopposition leaders in India. PTI

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Kochi: The Kerala govern-ment on Wednesday rejectedresidents' demand for moretime to vacate their flats infour illegal apartment com-plexes here and said theywould stick to the October 3deadline set for leaving theplace.

Authorities said they weregoing ahead as per the 138-dayaction plan for demolishingthe buildings, and warned theresidents of legal consequencesif they refuse to move out bytomorrow.

"The deadline (for vacat-ing the flats) ends tomorrow.That is the direction (from thegovernment)," a senior officialof the Maradu municipalitytold reporters here.

He said the power andwater supply to the apartment

complexes, temporarilyrestored two days ago for facil-itating the smooth relocationof the residents, would be dis-connected automatically onThursday.

As the deadline for vacat-ing their flats nears, residentsalleged that no temporary

dwellings for them have beenarranged by the administra-tion so far.

The flat owners said theywould not leave the buildingstill the authorities completethe arrangements for theirrelocation.

"We are caught in between

the devil and the deep bluesea," a resident said.

They threatened torelaunch their protest seekinga humanitarian approach fromthe authorities.

According to them, at least10 days were required for therelocation from their flats.

The Ernakulam districtadministration said those whowant assistance in finding ahome can approach authoritiesof Maradu municipality.

The authorities com-menced the eviction processon Sunday by visiting theowners to help them relocate.

On Tuesday, the residentshad said they were receivingembarrassing responses whenthey contact people entrustedby the administration toarrange alternative houses for

them in the city.Earlier, the administra-

tion had claimed that theyhave identified over 500 flatsin the city and its premises forthe relocation of the peopleliving in the four apartmentcomplexes for their temporaryrehabilitation.

The administration hadalso provided mobile and tele-phone numbers of those to becontacted for getting theaccommodation.

The 343 waterfront flatsbuilt in violation of CoastalRegulation Zone norms arelocated in Maradu municipal-ity here.

Adding more woes to theauthorities, people living in theneighbourhood have soughtan assurance from the gov-ernment on the issue of ade-

quate compensation if theirhouses are damaged when theunauthorised buildings aredemolished by controlledimplosion.

Locals have said the areawould witness strong protestsif the authorities do not givethem an assurance on com-pensation.

Authorities have report-edly zeroed in on three firmshaving experience in demol-ishing structures using con-trolled implosion method.

Last week, the SupremeCourt had directed demolitionof the apartment complexeswithin 138 days, a time-linegiven by the KeralaGovernment, and asked theState to pay �25 lakh interimcompensation to each flatowner within four weeks. PTI

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On the occasion of GandhiJayanti, the country's

major e-governance platform-Common Service Centres(CSC) — has been approved byMinistry of Telecom to manageand maintain Bharat Net lastmile access point in more than1.2 lakh Panchayat across thecountry to provide internetaccess at �1 per month.

Sources in TelecomMinistry said the Bharat Netaccess points will now be shift-ed phase wise from Panchayatsto the CSC. "The CSC villagelevel entrepreneurs (VLE) willmaintain and manage the nodesfor enabling citizen to accessinternet. Already CSC has morethan one million subscribers

and consum more than 40 TBof data in a month and thismove will empower the villagesof India like Bapujio dreamt ofempowering the rural areas ofour country," said a ministryofficial. CSC in a SpecialPurpose Vehicle and to beginwith, CSC CEO Dr DineshTyagi on 150th anniversarycelebartiosn of MahatmaGandhi launched the �1 -unlimited data usage for amonth to rural citizen at a func-tion in Ulhadi village of AlwarBlock in Rajasthan. The eventwas also attended by TelecomMinistry Joint Secretary AmitYadav. Yadav said GoI hasannounced one lakh villages tobe made Digital Villages andextend wifi / Bharat net to all2.5 lakh Panchayats.

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The Chinese have either deployed“intimidation” or their famedcheque book diplomacy to “win”over other nations towards theirown purposes. Both as an undis-

puted military and an economic powerhouse,the options for Beijing vary from flexing itsmilitary muscle (as done in the South ChinaSeas) or by ensnaring nations into econom-ic bondage by pouring billions of dollars. Takethe example of the China-Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CPEC), where a nation-sustaininginvestment of up to $60 billion has been madeto Pakistan, whose economy is cash-starvedtoday. Often, there is a hybrid model inbetween that entails the overlapping of thecommercial-military footprint through strate-gic investments by China.

The attempt to stitch together Chinesepresence along the crucial sea routes, pursuantto the “String of Pearls” policy, is an ostensi-bly commercial initiative, one that will sub-sequently evolve into the invariable presenceof Chinese military’s boots on civilian portssuch as Djibouti. Wherever physical distancestill challenges the Chinese “supply chain abil-ities” to maintain a viable military presence,it can dominate the narrative by out-fundingother donor nations or organisations andchampion these distant lands, such as in theAfrican hinterland or Latin America.

By punting in these distant lands, notonly does Beijing sustain captive sources forraw materials and a ready market for itsChinese end-products but also guaranteesinvaluable political and diplomatic influence.The importance of having such beholdennations can be gauged from the fact that inthe high tables of international diplomacy,like the United Nations, each country’s votecounts as “one.” This theoretically makes thevote of a country like Nauru, that has a pop-ulation of less than 15,000 people, matteras much as that of China with a populationof 1.5 billion.

One global theatre that was spared theChinese radar of urgency was the islandregion of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesiain the Pacific Ocean. The sheer distance, frag-mentation and “non-threatening” idyll ofthese small island nations ensured an isolat-ed tropical paradise that was bereft of anymajor geo-political or geo-strategic postur-ing till now. In an increasingly interdependentand interconnected global waterway of the21st century, three factors have driven a sud-den interest in this region of less than 2.5 mil-lion inhabitants.

First, the growing domestic aspirationswithin these nations. Second, the strategicrelevance of individual nation “vote” in mul-tilateral fora. And third, with increasingreach of the Chinese military-economicmight, these nations offer a breakoutopportunity from the supposed “encir-clement” of China, pitchforking theseisland nations into the competitive calcu-lus of Chinese hegemonic instincts. Eventhese nations are creatively leveraging their

geographical position to“counter-balance” the predom-inant and historical Australiantilt and influence in this regionto extract the maximum atten-tion and benefit of competitivebidding among regional powers.

However, among the fore-most considerations for Chinesediplomacy is also the need to iso-late and “compress” Taiwan inter-nationally by “winning over”those nations that still recogniseits official status. This ongoingChinese concern and project toget nations to switch sides on theTaiwan issue has accelerated inrecent times. A record sevencountries switched sides since2016.

These Pacific island nationshave historically held a pro-Taiwan position and they hadmade a sizeable part of the 25-odd countries that recognised ittill recently. Today the number todo so is a mere 15 countries. Thelatest ones to fall prey to theChinese “buyout” were theSolomon Islands and Kiribati,who were openly assured of“unprecedented developmentopportunities” in order to greasethe deal. The then Prime Ministerof Solomon Islands was candidenough to admit that Taiwan was“completely useless to us”, bothpolitically and economically.

As part of the “switchover”conditions, Kiribati had to severties with Taiwan and re-establishdiplomatic relations with China.

Meanwhile, credible rumoursabound in Kiribati about theChinese largesse in the pipeline,which includes very soft loansand a Boeing 737 to boot. TheTaiwanese are left high and dry,fuming at the obvious play of theChinese cheque-book diploma-cy that brooks no moral, histor-ical or positional consideration.

Traditional dominance offormer colonial powers, likeAustralia, the US, France, NewZealand and Japan in the region,is increasingly diminished as theChinese go about hunting onenation after the other. Beijing’sflush treasury comes handy asdoes the dispatch of an occasion-al bomber flying overhead thesehapless countries.

The Chinese footprint is vis-ible in the under-developed oil-fields of Sudan and as investmentin freight train infrastructure inBolivia. Now the Pacific Islandcountries are its new domain ofattention. All eyes are now in theneighbouring rim of the remain-ing Taiwanese allies in Palau,Tuvalu, Nauru and MarshallIslands to see if they, too, wouldbe enticed or coerced into aban-doning Taipei and joining theChinese “bloc.”

That the Chinese “generos-ity” never comes without stringsattached is something that thesenation states will invariably dis-cover. The Sri Lankan experiencewith Chinese investments todevelop the Hambantota Port

ultimately led to the surrender ofthe same to Chinese authoritiesfor a lease of 99 years. TheChinese bankrolling was also ableto overturn the Filipino bitternessthat had earlier led Manila tolodge a case against China in theInternational Court of Justice andwin the same. Almost immedi-ately, the PhilippinesGovernment incredulouslyembraced the Chinese hand andreneged on its historical relation-ship with the US.

Expectedly, large sums ofChinese investments wereassured and all portents of tradi-tional animosity buried. In reces-sionary times like now, wherecash is the king, the ability ofChina to impress the benefits ofjoining its “bloc” via gargantuancarrots like the “Belt and RoadInitiative” are immense. Thisallows it the freedom to indulgein profligate chequebook diplo-macy that wins it an ever-increas-ing kitty of vassal nations to doits bidding.

Counter-moves like theQuadrilateral meet (QUAD),enjoining the China-warynations like Japan, Australia,India and the US, have yet to gobeyond the conceptual frame-work and discussions as thetransactional dragon ensnares all,anyhow and anywhere.

(The writer, a military veter-an, is a former Lt Governor ofAndaman & Nicobar Islands andPuducherry)

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Sir — It was shocking to learnabout the two Dalit children, whohad to relieve themselves on aroad in Madhya Pradesh becausethey had no toilet at home andwere beaten to death by twoupper caste men. This happenedat a time when the Centre waspreparing to declare India open-defecation free.

It is a fact that the two chil-dren belonged to a poor family,who could not afford getting a toi-let constructed inside their house.The panchayat had apparentlysanctioned a house with a toiletfor the family but the sarpanch,a relative of the accused, had scut-tled the proposal. Then who isreally at fault here? The authori-ties or the children? Is it not theresponsibility of the authorities toensure that the poor have accessto basic facilities?

This incident has also tar-nished India’s reputation. Further,one of the accused reportedlydeclared that he had killed thechildren as in his dreams, god hadcommanded him to kill“demons,” justifying monstrosityin the garb of faith. Urgent stepsmust be taken to educate people

who are falling prey to blind faith.Open defecation is an old habit,especially among those living inrural areas. I recently discoveredthat in Tamil Nadu, even well-offfamilies in villages consider itunhygienic to have a toilet with-in the premises of the house andprefer open grounds for defeca-tion. Clearly, a lot more needs tobe done to explain to the people

the need to change this practice.TK Nandanan

Chennai

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Tame the flood fury” (September1). The wrath of mother nature issuch that nobody, the rich or the

poor, is spared from the horrorsof climate change. That BiharDeputy Chief Minister SushilKumar Modi and his family werestranded and had to be rescued inlifeboats depict just that.

The extended monsoon thisyear has left behind a trail ofdestruction with 1,685 deathsbeing reported by 14 States tillSeptember 30 and hundreds

still missing. Although there is no available

data on the extent of economicdamages, such episodes pose aheavy economic burden for thecountry. Urban planning is in amess, infrastructure is in sham-bles and above all, there is nodearth of governance. If indeed wehave to minimise our losses, wemust start preparing for suchweather events that bring onlydestruction.

AnandVia email

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Whither Gandhi? (September2). It is indeed ironical that we arecelebrating Gandhi even as weare busy destroying everything hebelieved in and stood for. It istime for us to reflect on why ourcountry has changed so drastically since Independence.Only by ensuring that Gandhi’sideals come true can we truly cel-ebrate him.

Manisha Via email

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Hai maujazan ek kulzum-e-khoon, kaash yahi ho.Aata hai abhi dekhiye, kya kya merey aage.(A turbulent sea of blood is before me. But seewhat is coming ahead.)

—Mirza Ghalib

Iam in my sunset years (I just crossed 73) andmy remaining time will be spent on educat-ing my fellow Indians (including non-resi-

dent Indians in America — where I am livingat present — who though very good in theirtechnical jobs, are gullible in other respects).

The crux of what I teach is this: There arereally two worlds. One is that of the developed,highly industrialised countries like the US,Europe, Japan, Australia and China and secondis that of the under-developed countries, includ-ing India (which is perhaps the most developedof the underdeveloped nations).

Our national aim must be to transform Indiafrom the second world to the first. In otherwords, from being an under-developed country,we must make it a developed, highly industri-alised one. This is necessary if we wish to abol-ish poverty, unemployment, malnourishment,lack of healthcare and good education and so on.Because only a high-level and widespreadindustry can generate the wealth needed to pro-vide for the welfare of our people and create mil-lions of jobs to wipe out unemployment.

But how is this to be done ? We no doubthad a limited degree of industrialisation after1947 but then the process stalled. And of late oureconomy has tanked; the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) has declined to five per cent,there have been massive retrenchments in theauto, Information Technology (IT) and otherindustries while real estate and power sectors arein the dumps. In fact, it is to divert attention fromthis economic crisis that the Government hasresorted to gimmicks like cow protection,building the Ram temple, Yoga Day, SwachhBharat Abhiyan, abolition of Article 370, HowdyModi in Houston and so on. But economic slow-downs cannot be wished away by such gimmicksand stunts.

One can win elections on the plank ofHindutva (as happened in the 2019 Lok Sabhaelections) but one can’t live off it. One has to eatfood and to get food, one must have a job. Butjobs are getting less (as the National SampleSurvey, a Government of India organisation,admitted recently). Twelve million Indian youthare entering the job market every year but oppor-tunities are drying up (due to manufacturingdecline). Consequently many Indian youths willend up as criminals, beggars, hawkers or will endtheir lives. I submit that the Indian people mustnow make a choice: Either keep living in theirmiserable conditions characterised by poverty,unemployment, malnourishment (the highest inthe world, with every second Indian child mal-nourished, as stated by the Global Hunger Index,UNICEF), farmers’ distress and the consequentunabated suicides, poor healthcare and educa-tion for the masses, discrimination againstminorities, Dalits and so on. Or else, sacrificeabout 10 per cent of the 1,350 million popula-tion in a gigantic, historical people’s revolutionwhich alone can destroy backwardness, the feu-

dal casteist and communal mindsetsand practices among our people. Thishydra-headed monster was obstruct-ing any progress and keeping uschained to poverty and other socialevils.

Many would say I am presenting ahorrible choice between the devil andthe deep sea and a cruel prognostica-tion and augury. Do we really want our135 million men, women and childrento rise up and set off a revolution? I amnot a bloodthirsty person and I wishthis great historical transformationcould take place peacefully. But unfortunately that is not how historyoperates.

Consider the experiences so far.The transformation of feudal Europeof the 16th century to a modernEurope of the 19th century was notaccomplished peacefully. It witnessedwars, revolutions, chaos, massacres,social churning, intellectual fermentand so on. It was only after goingthrough that fire that modern societyemerged in Europe.

Similarly, after the ChineseRevolution was completed in 1949, theChinese authorities made an investiga-tion about how many people werekilled in this churning (which lasted fora quarter of a century, from 1924 to1949). It was found that about 10 percent of the then 550 million Chinesepeople, which is about 50 million, werekilled. Similarly, about four of the then40 million Vietnamese people werekilled in the liberation war in Vietnam,which lasted from 1945 to 1975. So it

can be assumed that about 10 per centof the people are killed in a revolution.For, after all, what is a historical rev-olution? It is a period when the oldsociety and its values are being uproot-ed and torn apart but new values havenot yet replaced them. Everything is inferment, in chaos.

Can this be a peaceful affair? Notat all. The reactionary elements in theold order will fiercely oppose anychange, as happened in France in theperiod prior to the 1789 Revolutionand even during the one in Vendee in1793. And many of the ordinary peo-ple in society, being conservative bynature, will oppose any fundamentalchange. In India, most people still havecasteist and communal mindsets, andto replace that by modern minds is 10times more difficult than changing thephysical environment.

In India, all our State institutionshave collapsed and become hollow andempty shells. We adopted the parlia-mentary system of democracy butthis has degenerated into caste andcommunal vote banks, as everyoneknows. Casteism and communalismare feudal forces, which must bedestroyed if India is to progress butparliamentary democracy furtherentrenches them. So we have to replaceparliamentary democracy by anothersystem which enables us to rapidlyprogress.

Today, India has two of the threepre-requisites to becoming a modernindustrial giant, like China, namely ahuge pool of technical talent (our IT

engineers are manning Silicon Valley,and many Indians are professors inScience, Maths and EngineeringDepartments in AmericanUniversities), and immense naturalresources. What it lacks is the third pre-requisite — a modern, patriotic polit-ical leadership. Without this, ourtransformation from the second to thefirst world is impossible.

Unfortunately, the political leadersin India today rely either on caste orreligion for winning elections. Takingadvantage of the fact that our societyis still semi-feudal, with rampantcasteism and communalism, theypolarise society further and spreadcaste and religious hatred to get votes.Being mostly corrupt, they have noidea of how to solve our massive eco-nomic problems but are experts inmanipulating caste and communalvotebanks. Obviously such people areunfit to transform India into a mod-ern, highly industrialised country.

It is only modernist, selfless andpatriotic leaders who can solve India’smassive socio-economic problems.Who these movers will be, when willthe revolution which they will leadoccur, what form it will take is impos-sible to predict. But about one thingthere can be no doubt: The next twodecades in our country will be very tur-bulent and bloody. As the great Urdupoet Mirza Ghalib said, “Aata hai abhidekhiye kya kya mere aage. (I wonderwhat lies ahead of me.)”

(The writer is a former judge of theSupreme Court of India)

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B�������������������������������� ���(����������������������7�������������������������������������������������������������������������������"�����

�������������������������������������������������������� Indo-Bangladesh relations will geta boost with the visit of our neigh-bouring country’s Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina to India, beginningtoday. This will be the first visit byHasina after the National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) formed theGovernment for the second consec-utive time at the Centre. The visitcomes at a time when the relationsbetween the two neighbours are a bitstrained over the National Register ofCitizens (NRC) in Assam andBangladesh nurturing defence tieswith China. There are concerns thatsuch issues will affect the relationshipbetween the two nations who havehistoric linkages.

Hasina’s visit provides both NewDelhi and Dhaka the opportunity to

dispel any prevailing doubts about thefuture of the relationship and highlightthe importance India gives to itsfriendship with Bangladesh. Indo-Bangladesh relations made significantprogress under Hasina’s decade-longrule that began with her second termas Prime Minister in 2009. At present,except for some minor irritants, thealliance between New Delhi andDhaka is said to be at an all-time highand India considers Bangladesh atrusted friend and partner in theneighbourhood.

After the Uri attacks, ourGovernment used all possible avenuesto try and isolate Pakistan diplomat-ically. As part of that strategy, itrefused to attend the 2016 SAARCsummit in Islamabad and was sup-ported by Bangladesh. Dhaka wasalso the first nation to back NewDelhi’s entry as an observer in theOrganisation of Islamic Cooperationin 2018, a club open only to Muslim-majority countries.

Recently, after the promulgationof Article 370 and the anti-India pro-paganda by Pakistan and radicalgroups, Bangladesh echoed our stance

that Kashmir was our internal matter.Again, on the NRC, an initiative pri-marily undertaken to identify infiltra-tors from Bangladesh into Assam, theHasina government refrained fromindulging in any negative commentsin public.

India and Bangladesh share adeep sense of bonhomie, especiallyat the Governmental level.Nevertheless, rising scepticismamong the people, particularly inBangladesh, cannot be overlooked.It is an area that demands in-depthintrospection as the importance ofpublic opinion in influencingGovernment policies is established.

In Bangladesh, reasons for appre-hensions among the masses includethe pendency of the Teesta Riverwater-sharing agreement since 2011.India refrained from signing it duringformer Prime Minister ManmohanSingh’s visit after West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee objected tothe draft agreed upon by the twocountries. The delay in the signing ofthe agreement substantially hurtIndia’s credibility in the eyes of com-mon Bangladeshis.

Again, India’s initial reluctance intaking a firm stance on Rohingyarefugees, a vital issue for Bangladeshinundated by the influx of refugees,further dented public perception.India being a regional power, expec-tations from it are always high and anyfall from them leads to resentmentamong the people. The most promi-nent and recent case is India’s disjoint-ed response on the NRC, where oneof the arms of the Governmentassured that none would be deport-ed to Bangladesh while anotherrepeatedly expressed its resolve todeport Bangladeshis and referred tomigrants as a security threat. Besides,the venom spewed againstBangladeshis by some political lead-ers close to the ruling dispensation,who equated them to “termites”, hasadded to the people’s apprehensions.

Similarly, people in India havebeen watching Bangladesh’s growingties with China closely, especially indefence cooperation. In particular,Bangladesh’s recent contract toChina for construction of a subma-rine dockyard has raised eyebrows inIndia because the feeling on the

ground is that such contracts alwayshave some strategic consideration.This unease is despite the fact thatduring her July visit to China, SheikhHasina categorically mentioned thather nation’s relationship with Beijingis economic and with New Delhi, itis organic and cannot be measuredby any monetary benefits.

In the backdrop of these nigglingissues, Hasina’s visit signifies the spe-cial relationship the two countriesshare. During her stay, she will bediscussing a wide range of issues ofbilateral, regional and internationalimportance with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

A deepening economic cooper-ation is also an important aspect asHasina will be accompanied by alarge delegation of businessmen. Inaddition, she will participate in theIndia Economic Summit, organisedby the World Economic Forum. Soone hopes that the two neighbourswill put a salve on any wounds beforethey fester.

(The writer is a Senior Fellow at theObserver Research Foundation andviews expressed are personal)

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Trade deals are not simplearithmetic but much more

complicated as they involve anumber of variables, ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankarhas said, exuding confidencethat India and US will “find afix” to their trade disputeswith intense engagement goingon between the two countries.

Trade tensions betweenIndia and the US have been ris-ing with American PresidentDonald Trump complainingthat tariffs imposed by NewDelhi on American productswere “no longer acceptable”.

Trump, championing his‘America First’ policy, has beena vocal critic of India for levy-ing “tremendously high” dutieson US products. He hasdescribed India as a “tariffking”.

Ahead of the New Delhivisit of US CommerceSecretary Wilbur Ross for tradetalks with his Indian counter-part Union CommerceMinister Piyush Goyal,Jaishankar on Tuesday said hewas hopeful that somethingwill come out of this ongoingintense engagement betweenofficials of the two countries ontrade issues.

“My understanding of theconversations is that he (Goyal)has had with his counterpartand (that) his officials, have had– team to team - that there’sbeen a very intense engage-

ment. I am hopeful that some-thing would come out of it,”Jaishankar told a meeting of UScorporate bodies during anevent organised by US IndiaStrategic and PartnershipForum.

Trade officials from thetwo countries would naturallywant progress on what areconsidered to be the outstand-ing issues, he said.

“But I think there’s alsosome desire to look beyond. Sowhen people speak aboutwhat’s gonna be the a tradedeal, we’ll have to see about thatgoes,” he said.

Whether one draws asharper kind of framework forthe certain set of issues, thenlook beyond or does one attacka more ambitious agenda,which will obviously then takemore time, he said.

“So it’s going to be sort of

you trade the size of it and thecomplexity of it for the timeand the energy for it. I thinkthat part of it is still a little open,but again, my understanding isthat they would be talkingwith each other continuallyover the coming days,”Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar said he had seenmuch more difficult issueswhich have been creativelyresolved.

“I can’t believe that peopletoday are less ingenious thanwe were in our time. So I’m rea-sonably confident that we willfind a fix,” the top Indiandiplomat said.

One of the challenges isreally how do one define theissue for which they are tryingto find a fix.

“Are you looking at imme-diate trade frictions? Are thelegacy issues you want to

resolve? Are the things on thehorizon? Are you looking atfuture policymaking? Thoseare decisions which both sidesreally need to have conversa-tions about,” Jaishankar told theaudience at the AtlanticCouncil.

Observing that two coun-tries are dealing with multiple,parallel realities when it comesto trade issues, he said the firstreality is that a lot of theseproblems pre-existed.

They become much moresort of central because the cur-rent administration in the USputs certain salience on thesesets of issues, he said.

“We could have had thosearguments in a differentadministration in a differentway,” he said and acknowledgedthat there are real issues.

“I don’t see anything wrongwith that,” he said.

Earlier, responding to aquestion at the Atlantic Councilthink-tank, Jaishankar cau-tioned against “overstating”that economic friction betweenthe two countries, sayingbecause the numbers are notgoing up.

“The numbers are stillgood, pretty much in everysphere. What has happened isthat there is a degree of spot-light on trade and economicissues, which was not there ear-lier. There is a salience to thoseissues in the overall policymaking in Washington, whichwas not there earlier,” he said.

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India and America will launcha new initiative for clean ener-

gy to fuel economic growth inthe strategically-important Indo-Pacific region where China hasbeen trying to expand its sphereof influence, the US StateDepartment has said.

The US has been pushingfor a broader role by India inthe Indo-Pacific region in thebackdrop of China’s rising mil-itary maneuvering in theregion. China has been tryingto expand its military presencein the biogeographic region,comprising the Indian Oceanand the western and centralPacific Ocean, including theSouth China Sea.

Beijing claims almost all ofthe South China Sea. Vietnam,the Philippines, Malaysia,Brunei and Taiwan havecounter claims over the sea.

Assistant Secretary of Statefor Energy Resources Francis RFannon is travelling to Indiafrom September 30 to October6 to launch the FlexibleResources Initiative (FRI,

“free”), under the US-IndiaClean Energy Finance TaskForce, an official statementsaid on Tuesday.

“FRI will execute the UnitedStates and India’s shared visionfor Indo-Pacific economicgrowth fuelled by clean energy,”the State Department said.

The FRI is also a compo-nent of the broader US-ledAsia EDGE (EnhancingDevelopment and Growththrough Energy) Initiative,which is a whole-of-governmenteffort to grow sustainable andsecure energy markets through-out the Indo-Pacific, it said.

Fannon will co-lead efforts,along with the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission, aswell as partners from USDepartment of Energy and theUS Agency.

India’s Ministry of Powerwill host, along with the IndianMinistry of New andRenewable Energy, the IndianCentral Electricity RegulatoryCommission, and the IndianPetroleum and Natural GasRegulatory Board, the state-ment said.

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As India steps up its crack-down on suspected black

money stashed abroad,Switzerland has issued publicnotices to former IPL com-missioner Lalit Modi and hiswife Minal following requestsmade by Indian authoritiesabout Swiss bank details of thecouple.

In its latest federal gazettenotification on assistancesought by foreign jurisdictionsunder bilateral treaties forexchange of information onmatters concerning suspectedfinancial irregularities,Switzerland’s Federal TaxAdministration (FTA) hasnamed Lalit and Minal Modi(alias Minalini Modi) amongsuch individuals.

The former IPL commis-sioner, who is said to have leftIndia for London in 2010, isalready facing a money laun-dering probe also, though hehas been denying any wrong-doing.

The two separate notifica-tions dated October 1 did notdisclose any further details,besides giving Lalit and MinalModi ten days’ time to desig-nate authorised persons torespond to the assistancerequest received by the FTAfrom India.

Interestingly, similarnotices were issued against thetwo in 2016, but it could not beascertained whether the detailswere eventually shared by theSwiss authorities with India inthat case.

That time also, the two

were given time for “exercise ofthe right to be heard”.

In recent months, severalother Indian nationals havebeen named in such notifica-tions after the Swiss FTA wasapproached by Indian author-ities for information aboutthose people with regard to thepending tax-related probesagainst them.

After a due process pre-scribed under the Swiss law, theinformation has been shared bySwitzerland with India in sev-eral cases, pursuant to whichthe Indian authorities —including the tax departmentand Enforcement Directorate— have proceeded with theirprosecution and other actions.

These included severalIndians named in the leaked‘HSBC List’ of people withaccounts in the Geneva branchof the global banking giant.

For long, Switzerland usedto be known for strict secrecyclauses about details of for-eigners having accounts in

Swiss banks. Under growingglobal pressure, Switzerlandhas, however, begun sharinginformation in cases whereother countries have been ableto present some evidence ofsuspected illegalities.

Under the Swiss law, a pre-scribed procedure is followedfor any administration assis-tance or information exchangeby the FTA with India or anyother country with which theAlpine nation has tax treatiesabout their respective nation-als.

Besides, an automaticinformation exchange mecha-nism has also come into forcebetween India and Switzerlandunder which the Indian taxauthorities now have access toall details about Swiss bankaccounts of Indians, includingthose closed during 2018.

The Automatic Exchangeof Information (AEOI) is beingseen as a major boost in India’sfight against suspected blackmoney stashed abroad.

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The suspended managingdirector of Punjab and

Maharashtra Cooperative(PMC) Bank, Joy Thomas, hasblamed the auditors for themess at the bank, accusingthem of only “superficiallyauditing” the books of the nowcrippled lender due to “timeconstraints”.

In a five-page letter to theReserve Bank of India (RBI)dated September 21 after aboard member blew the lid onthe fraud at PMC, which isamong the top ten urban coop-erative banks, Thomas hasconfessed to the role of the topmanagement, including a fewboard members, in hiding theactual NPA numbers and alsothe actual exposure to thebankrupt HDIL, which is stat-ed to be around Rs 6,500 croreor over 73 per cent of its totalloan book of Rs 8,880 crore.

While Thomas has notnamed any auditor in the let-ter to the RBI written twodays before the regulatoryclamp down which PTI hasreviewed, according to itsannual report for FY19, thebank had three auditors --Lakdawal & Co, Ashok Jayesh& Associates and DB Ketkar &Co since FY11.

Emails from PTI sent to allthese auditors did not elicit anyreplies even after 24 hours.

The shallow auditing of thebooks of PMC by its statutoryauditors was done as the ‘bankwas growing’, Thomas claimedin the letter.

The letter of Thomas ispart of the first informationreport (FIR) filed by theEconomic Offence Wing ofthe Mumbai Police on Monday.The FIR names Thomas, PMCchairman Waryam Singh andthe promoters of the HDIL andrelated entities.

“Since the bank was grow-ing the statutory auditors, dueto their time constraints, werechecking only the incrementaladvances and not the entireoperations in all the accounts,”Thomas claimed in the letter.

“The statutory auditorsvalidated the incremental loansand advances and scrutinisedthe accounts which were shownto them by the bank,” he added.

In the past eight years,PMC had three statutory audi-tors -- Lakdawal & Co (FY19and FY18); Ashok Jayesh &Associates (FY17, FY15, andFY11) and DB Ketkar & Co(FY14 and FY12).

Thomas confirmed thatthe exposure to the bankruptHDIL Group continued toremain standard despite therewas delay in repayments forover three years. The bank’sexposure to HDIL Group wasaround Rs 6,500 crore as ofSeptember 19, 2019, he admit-ted in the letter.

He said some of the largeaccounts were not reported tothe RBI from 2008 because offear of reputational risks.

“The concealment of infor-mation from the board, audi-tors and regulators was due tothe fear of reputational loss,”Thomas informed the RBI.

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India has the potential tobecome one of the largest

electric vehicles (EVs) marketsin the world, with the govern-ment pushing for the segmentin order to curb pollution andreduce reliance on import-dependent fossil fuel, says areport.

However, the uptake ofEVs has been slow in the coun-try due to the high upfront aswell as lifecycle costs cost butlong-term investment inresearch and development(R&D) will create sustainedgrowth, according to the report by the WordEconomic Forum and OlaMobility Institute.

Apart from investment,government backing and direc-tion will be crucial for acceler-ating adoption and deploy-ment of electric mobility, itadded.

The report said there are 10states and union territories(UTs) that are leading the wayin building production, infra-

structure and services toincrease the momentum of EVusage in India.

These states and UTs areAndhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi,Karnataka, Kerala,Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,Telangana, Uttarakhand andUttar Pradesh.

“Considering the stronggovernmental push towardsEVs, India has a huge potentialto become one of the largest EVmarkets,” the report noted.

The report, which alsohighlights the opportunitiesfor the sector, analysed threevalue chains — production,infrastructure and services —of these states and found thatmost of them emphasised onthe production of EV valuechain, aspiring to be manufac-turing hubs for such vehicles as well as their com-ponents.

In the infrastructure valuechain, provisions for installa-tion of charging infrastruc-ture in public and private placeswere made by most states toaddress range anxiety.

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Atotal of 34 functional teamshave been formed to

smoothen the process of merg-er of United Bank of India(UBI), Punjab National Bank(PNB) and Oriental Bank ofCommerce (OBC), a seniorofficial said.

The merger is scheduled tocome into force from April 1next year.

“Thirty four functionalteams have been created tocome out with solutions for theprocess of integration,” a UBIofficial told PTI.

A team comprises twomembers each from the threebanks from different function-al areas, he said.

“The functional teams willalso try standardising the loanprocess, credit terms and ben-efits extended to the customersin the interim period till themerger comes into effect toavoid customer-related issuesin the future,” the official said.

The UBI had conductedcustomer meets at Kolkata,Guwahati and Patna to allaytheir apprehensions about thefuture of banking, the officialsaid.

UBI managing directorand CEO A K Pradhan hadearlier said that though the bal-ance sheet merger is likely tohappen by April 1 next year, itwill take another three to sixmonths after that for the HRand IT integration to be com-pleted.

He had said the completeharmonisation among the threeentities would take another 12to 14 months after the merger.

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The World TradeOrganization on

Wednesday gave Washingtonthe greenlight to slap tariffs on$7.5 billion (6.8 billion euros)worth of EU goods in retalia-tion for the bloc’s illegal sup-port of Airbus.

The ruling is the largestarbitration award in WTO his-tory and a landmark momentthe 15-year long Airbus-Boeing

battle, which threatens to inten-sify already strained trade rela-tions between the US and theEuropean Union.

The EU immediatelythreatened to respond to anyUS move.

“If the US decides toimpose WTO authorised coun-termeasures, it will be pushingthe EU into a situation wherewe will have no other optionthan do the same,” Brussels saidin a statement.

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The Prime Minister Office islearnt to have asked a high-

level panel, looking into therevival of MTNL and BSNL, toexplain if the two telecom PSUscan be turned around and how.

The direction has comeafter the finance ministryraised objections to a propos-al moved by the telecomdepartment (DoT) for revivingthe two PSUs. A group of min-isters headed by HomeMinister Amit Shah had earli-er approved the revival planproposed by the DoT.

“Prime Minister Officepanel under Principal SecretaryP K Mishra in its meeting lastweek asked if MTNL and BSNLcan be revived and if they can berevived then how. The panel hasset up a committee of secretariesto work on these questions,” anofficial source told PTI.

The committee includesTelecom Secretary AnshuPrakash, senior officials fromDepartment of Public

Enterprises, Niti Aayog, andthe Department of Investmentand Public Asset Managementand is likely to submit its replythis week, the official said.

The Group of Ministersheaded by Amit Shah hadapproved the revival packagefor the loss-making public sec-tor telecom firms in mid-July.Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman, telecom ministerRavi Shankar Prasad were partof the GoM that approved theplan.

However, finance ministryofficials later raised over 80objections to the proposalfirmed up by the telecom min-istry.

The DoT has proposed�74,000 crore revival plan forBSNL as closing down of BSNLalone would cost the govern-ment �95,000 crore. The revivalplan proposed by the DoTincludes �29,000 crore pay outfor voluntary retirementscheme, �20,000 crore for 4Gspectrum and �13,000 crore tofund capex for 4G services.

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US Secretary of State MikePompeo warned Italy on

Wednesday of China’s “preda-tory approach” to trade andinvestment, but Rome insistedits special powers over 5G sup-ply deals would protect it.

“China has a predatoryapproach in trade and invest-ment” and represents a “mutu-al threat” to the two countries,Pompeo said during a jointpress conference with Italy’sForeign Minister Luigi DiMaio.

“When the ChineseCommunist party shows up tomake an investment to gainpolitical power or threaten anation’s security, that’s whatneeds to be protected against,”he said.

But Di Maio said Rome’sso-called “golden powers” insupply deals for fifth-genera-tion (5G) telecom services,approved by the government inSeptember, “make us amongthe most advanced in Europeon security”.

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Britain’s biggest retailer Tescosaid Wednesday that CEO

Dave Lewis will step downnext year, after declaring hismission “complete” to turnaround the group’s fortunes.

Lewis, who has axed thou-sands of jobs in a radical over-haul of the supermarket chainsince arriving five years ago, isleaving for personal reasonsand will be replaced byWalgreens Boots Alliance exec-utive Ken Murphy, Tesco saidin a statement.

Former Unilever directorLewis was parachuted intoTesco in July 2014 to help turnaround the group, which at thetime was mired in an account-ing scandal and fierce competition in home marketBritain.

“My decision to step downas group CEO is a personalone,” he said in a statementalongside the publication of thegroup’s first-half earnings.

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Baghdad: Two demonstratorswere killed and more than 200people injured Tuesday, healthofficials said, in clashes withsecurity forces during protestsin Baghdad and the provincesthat mounted the first challengeto Iraq's fragile one-year-oldgovernment.

More than 1,000 protestershad descended on the capitalbefore security forces dispersedthe crowds with a volley of gun-fire and tear gas.

Protests in Baghdad leftone dead and 200 wounded,including 160 civilians, thehealth ministry said withoutproviding further details.

According to medical andpolice sources, most of themneeded treatment for tear gasinhalation and some wereinjured by rubber bullets.

A health official in DhiQar later said that one protest-er was killed and two otherswere wounded in the southernprovince.

With Iraqi flags drapedover their shoulders or wrappedaround their foreheads, thedemonstrators had gathered inthe iconic Tahrir Square, with a

wide range of grievances butapparently without a unifiedleadership.

"Those thieves robbed us!"they cried out in condemnationof the political class in Iraq, con-sidered the 12th most corruptcountry in the world byTransparency International.

"The problem is that par-liament is a bunch of gangs thathave divided up everythingamongst themselves," saidAbbas Fadel, a 30-year-olddemonstrator.

Some were on the streets toprotest at the lack of public ser-vices, including rampant powercuts, water shortages and unem-ployment, particularly amongyouth.

"Show us what you can do:show us paved roads, a city thatfunctions, reconstruction, work,public services. We have noneof that," said Mustafa Khaled,34.

And others carried por-traits of Staff Lieutenant GeneralAbdulwahab al-Saadi, who wasthis week removed from his postin Iraq's Counter-TerrorismService in a shock move.

Demonstrators were cleared

from Tahrir Square a first timebut then regrouped, facing asteady volley of live shots, watercannons and tear gas fromsecurity forces.

More shots were fire evenafter the crowds had dispersedinto adjacent neighbourhoods.

Three young men could beseen carrying a woundeddemonstrator wearing a check-ered white-and-black scarf toprotect him from the tear gas.

Some protesters made theirway towards Al-JumhuriyahBridge, which leads into thehigh-security Green Zone thathouses government offices andforeign embassies.

Police had set up metalbarricades and stationed trucksat the mouth of the bridge toprevent protesters from cross-ing, and a security source insidethe zone told AFP that rein-forcements were requested.

The gathering was thebiggest demonstration againstPrime Minister Adel AbdelMahdi since he came to powerin late October 2018, justmonths after demonstrationsthat engulfed the southern cityof Basra last summer. AFP

Taipei: Five bodies have beenrecovered from under a col-lapsed bridge in Taiwan, res-cuers said Wednesday, as thesearch continued for the lastperson missing after the struc-ture smashed onto fishing boatsmoored underneath.

Taiwan's National FireAgency said the deceased werefishing workers from Indonesiaand the Philippines whosebodies were found in watersnear two damaged boats lateTuesday and earlierWednesday.

"The search and rescuemission continues," transportminister Lin Chia-lung toldreporters, adding evidence wasbeing collected for an investi-gation.

The Philippines labourministry confirmed that two ofits nationals were killed whileone remained missing and fiveothers were injured in the inci-dent.

The ministry pledged assis-tance to the affected workersand their families. DramaticCCTV footage captured themoment the 140-metre (460-foot) long single-arch bridge

came crashing down early onTuesday morning inNanfangao, on Taiwan's eastcoast.

In the video, a verticalcable at the centre of thebridge's steel arch suddenlysnaps.

The road then collapsesinto the water, crashing downon three fishing boats as apetrol tanker, which nearlymade it across, also plungedinto the water.

Twelve people wereinjured, including six Filipinoand three Indonesian fishingworkers, the Taiwanese driverof the petrol tanker, and twocoastguard personnel. Thepetrol tanker burst into flamesat some point after it hit thewater, sending a thick plume ofblack smoke into the air.

The local landmark wascompleted in 1998 andspanned a small fishing port. Itwas featured in a number of TVdramas and commercials.

Taiwan was skirted by atyphoon on Monday night,which brought heavy rains andstrong winds to parts of the eastcoast. AFP

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Spontaneous flash-mob ral-lies broke out in Hong Kong

on Wednesday as angermounted over police shootinga teenage protester whoattacked officers in a dramaticescalation of the violent unrestthat has engulfed the territoryfor months.

A few thousand demon-strators, including office work-ers in shirts and suits, musteredin a park and then beganmarching through the city'scommercial district in anunsanctioned rally, chantinganti-police and anti-govern-ment slogans.

Hours earlier, hundreds ofstudents staged a sit-in at theschool of 18-year-old TsangChi-kin, who was shot in thechest by a policeman as he anda group of masked protestersattacked officers with umbrel-las and poles.

The international financehub has been left reeling fromthe shooting, the first time a

demonstrator has been struckwith a live round in nearly fourmonths of increasingly violentpro-democracy protests.

Hong Kong was batteredby the most sustained politicalclashes of the year on Tuesdayas China celebrated 70 years ofCommunist Party rule with amassive military parade inBeijing.

The spiralling violenceunderscored seething publicanger against Beijing's ruleand shifted the spotlight fromChina's carefully choreo-graphed birthday party, whichwas designed to showcase itsstatus as a global superpower.

Running battles raged forhours across multiple loca-tions as hardcore protestershurled rocks and petrol bombs.

Police responded for themost part with tear gas, rubberbullets and water cannon.

Police said the officer firedat Tsang because he feared forhis life on a day that saw hiscolleagues fire five warningshots from their pistols

throughout the city."In this very short span of

time, he made adecision and

shot the assailant," police chiefStephen Lo said.

But protest groups said theofficer charged into the meleewith his firearm drawn andcondemned the increasing use

of live rounds."The people of Hong Kong

are sick and tired of havingmere words of condemnationas their only shields againstlethal bullets and rifles," amasked protester said at apress conference near Tsang'sschool.

The shooting was capturedon video that quickly wentviral.

Opinion towards theshooting has largely cementedalong ideological divides withpro-democracy activists con-demning the police and estab-lishment figures calling it a jus-tified use of force.

Tsang, who was filmed try-ing to strike the officer with apole as he was shot, was takento a nearby hospital in a criti-cal condition but authoritiessaid his condition had sinceimproved.

A friend and classmate ofTsang, who gave his first nameMarco, said the 18-year-old wasa keen basketballer who wasinfuriated by sliding freedoms

in Hong Kong and the policeresponse to the protests.

"If he sees any problems oranything unjust, he would faceit bravely, speak up against it,instead of bearing it silently,"Marco told AFP.

Police said 25 officers wereinjured in the National Dayclashes, including some whosuffered chemical burns froma corrosive liquid that wasthrown at them by protesters.The liquid also wounded somejournalists.

Hospital authorities saidmore than 70 people wereadmitted on Tuesday.

Police made some 160arrests throughout the day.

On Wednesday, 96 pro-testers arrested during clasheswith police on Sundayappeared in court charged withrioting, according to courtdocuments. Their ages rangedfrom 14 to 39.

The majority were stu-dents in their early twenties butother occupations listed includ-ed a waitress, a teacher, a doc-

tor, an advertising executiveand a cook.

Hong Kong's protests wereignited by a now-scrapped planto allow extraditions to themainland.

But after Beijing and localleaders took a hardline theysnowballed into a wider move-ment calling for democraticfreedoms and police account-ability. With Hong Kong leaderCarrie Lam seemingly unwill-ing or unable to find a politi-cal solution, police have beenleft to battle increasingly radi-calised protesters.

Sentiment is hardening onall sides.Protesters and somelocal residents routinely shout"triads" at officers who oftenrespond by calling demonstra-tors "cockroaches".

The protest movement'smain demands are an inde-pendent inquiry into policeactions, an amnesty for thosearrested and universal suffrage.

But Beijing and Lam havesaid they are unwilling to meetthose demands.

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Donald Trump on Tuesdaydenounced the impeach-

ment inquiry threatening hispresidency as a "coup," as hisadministration pushed backhard against the investigation.

Trump's comments cameafter Secretary of State MikePompeo pressed to prevent ordelay five former or currentState Department staffers fromtestifying in the investigationprobing accusations thatTrump abused his office byseeking dirt from Ukraine ona 2020 election rival.

"As I learn more and moreeach day, I am coming to theconclusion that what is takingplace is not an impeachment,it is a COUP," Trump tweeted.

It is "intended to take awaythe Power of the People, theirVOTE, their Freedoms, their

Second Amendment, Religion,Military, Border Wall, and theirGod-given rights as a Citizen ofThe United States of America!"he wrote.

Pompeo meanwhileaccused three DemocraticHouse committee heads con-ducting the impeachmentinquiry of "an attempt to intim-idate, bully and treat improp-erly the distinguished profes-sionals of the Department ofState."

But Democrats accusedthe top US diplomat of"stonewalling" the investigationand, according to mediareports, scheduled interviewswith at least two of the diplo-mats who both had directinvolvement in the Ukrainematter.

It was the first major clashof the days-old impeachmentprobe, pointing to a dramati-

cally mounting political andlegal siege as Trump battles tosave his presidency.

Trump faces the possibili-ty of becoming only the thirdpresident ever impeached byCongress, which could lead tohis going on trial in the Senate.

Democrats decided lastweek to seek impeachmentafter a whistleblower com-plaint, supported by a WhiteHouse call transcript, showedTrump pressuring UkrainePresident Volodymyr Zelenskyto supply him with politicallyuseful information onDemocratic former vice pres-ident Joe Biden.

Biden is the most likelyDemocrat to challenge Trump'sreelection bid next year.

The first move of the threepowerful House Democrats --Adam Schiff of the IntelligenceCommittee, Eliot Engel of the

House Foreign AffairsCommittee and ElijahCummings of the OversightCommittee -- was to subpoe-na Pompeo and Trump's pri-vate lawyer Rudy Giuliani fordocuments and to summon thefive diplomats to testify.

"Secretary Pompeo wasreportedly on the call when thePresident pressed Ukraine tosmear his political opponent,"

they said.Pompeo's letter suggested

that the committees could beforced to subpoena the fivediplomats, and that the StateDepartment and White Housecould seek to limit what theycan talk about.

"I will use all means at mydisposal to prevent and exposeany attempts to intimidate thededicated professionals whomI am proud to lead," Pompeosaid.

But news reports said theState Department's former spe-cial envoy to Ukraine, KurtVolker, would testify Thursdayand that the ex-ambassador toKiev, Marie Yovanovitch, wouldappear behind closed doors onOctober 11. Volker had beensought by Giuliani to helppressure Zelensky, whileYovanovitch was removed ear-lier this year as ambassador

after she reportedly resistedthat effort.

The three committee headswarned Pompeo in a statementTuesday that any effort to pre-vent witnesses from speaking tothem was "illegal and will con-stitute evidence of obstructionof the impeachment inquiry."Trump's personal lawyer RudyGiuliani suggested he mightnot comply with a House sub-poena issued on Monday.

Giuliani spent months ear-lier this year contactingUkraine officials to encouragethem to investigate Biden,whose son had business ties toUkraine.

While Pompeo andGiuliani battled the Housecommittees, Trump alsostepped up his personal attackson Schiff, the leader of theimpeachment investigation, aswell as the anonymous whistle-

blower."Why isn't Congressman

Adam Schiff being brought upon charges for fraudulentlymaking up a statement andreading it to Congress," heasked.

On Monday, Trump saidthe White House was trying toget more information on thewhistleblower, whose identity isprotected by law.

But politicians from bothparties warned the presidentagainst threatening or attempt-ing to unmask the whistle-blower, who was reported to bea CIA analyst.

"This person appears tohave followed the whistle-blower protection laws andought to be heard out and pro-tected," said RepublicanSenator Chuck Grassley.

"Folks just ought to beresponsible with their words."

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Seoul: North Korea fired whatappeared to be a "submarine-launched ballistic missile", Seoulsaid Wednesday, a day afterWashington and Pyongyangannounced they would resumestalled nuclear talks.

Pyongyang frequently cou-ples diplomatic overtures withmilitary moves, as a way ofmaintaining pressure on nego-tiating partners, analysts say, andmay believe this weapons systemgives it added leverage.

A proven submarine-basedmissile capability would take theNorth's arsenal to a new level,allowing deployment far beyondthe Korean peninsula and a"second-strike" capability in theevent of an attack on its militarybases.

The South's Joint Chiefs ofStaff said it detected a ballisticmissile early Wednesday firedaround 450 kilometres (280miles) in an easterly direction ata maximum altitude of 910kilometres.

The missile was "believed tobe one of the Pukkuksong mod-els", the JCS said in a statement,referring to a line of submarine-

launched ballistic missiles(SLBM) under development bythe North.

"Such actions by NorthKorea to raise tensions are nothelpful to efforts to ease tensionson the Korean peninsula and weurge it again to stop immedi-ately," it added.

The North carried out a suc-cessful test of the Pukkuksong-1, also known as KN-11, inAugust 2016 which flew around500 kilometres.

The United States said it wasmonitoring the situation on theKorean peninsula.

One of the projectiles fellinto waters within Japan's exclu-sive economic zone -- a 200-kilometre band around Japaneseterritory -- Tokyo said.

"The launching of ballisticmissiles violates UN SecurityCouncil

resolutions and we strong-ly protest and strongly con-demn it," Prime Minister ShinzoAbe told reporters.

The North is bannedfrom ballistic missile launchesunder UN Security Council res-olutions. AFP

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Prime Minister BorisJohnson will submit "final"

proposals for a new Brexitagreement on Wednesday, offi-cials said, warning that if theEuropean Union did not engagewith them, Britain would leavethe bloc this month with nodivorce deal.

Johnson will provide detailsof what his Downing Streetoffice said was a "fair and rea-sonable compromise" duringhis closing speech to hisConservative party's annualconference in Manchester.

But a statement issued lateTuesday stressed this was a"final offer" and Johnson wouldbe keeping his pledge to leavethe EU on October 31, with orwithout a deal. Johnson himselftold The Sun newspaper that hehad "10 days" to listen to EUcounter-offers and find a com-promise.

"If there's a deal to be done,it could be done in that time,"said Johnson. "If there isn't, thenwe'll know. That's the truth."

Johnson, a leading "leave"campaigner in the 2016 EU ref-erendum, took office in Julyvowing to deliver Brexit at theend of this month in all cir-cumstances. But like his pre-decessor Theresa May, he hasstruggled against a hostile par-liament and the complexities ofuntangling four decades of EUintegration.

Johnson has pledged torenegotiate the exit terms Mayagreed with Brussels, whichwere rejected by the British par-liament three times.

He is now focused onreplacing the controversial"backstop", a longstandingsticking point that aims to keepan open border between BritishNorthern Ireland and EUmember Ireland after Brexit.

May's proposal would have

done this by keeping Britain inan effective customs unionwith the EU, which criticsargued would force London toabide by the bloc's rules indef-initely.

The Daily Telegraph news-paper reported that Johnsoninstead wants to keep NorthernIreland in the EU's single mar-ket until 2025, but in a customsunion with the rest of Britain.

This would potentially cre-ate two new borders -- regulatorychecks between mainland Britainand Northern Ireland along theIrish Sea, and customs checks onthe island of Ireland itself.

After that, a new power-sharing authority in NorthernIreland would decide whetherto keep the region aligned withEU or UK standards, the news-paper said.

Johnson had earlier denieda media report that he waslooking at installing customsposts along the Irish border,

amid outrage from Dublin.The issue is hugely controver-sial, as the removal of borderposts was seen as key to bring-ing peace to Northern Irelandafter three decades of violenceover British rule that left thou-sands dead.

But Johnson said it was a"reality" that there would haveto be checks somewhere afterBrexit.

Ireland's inital response toJohnson's latest reported offerwas strongly negative."Certainly, the reports we'rehearing are concerning, to putit mildly," Irish Deputy PrimeMinister Simon Coveney saidlate Tuesday.

Coveney said Ireland couldnot accept a time limit to anyborder solution because therewas no guarantee that a newand permanent EU-UK tradeagreement dealing with thefrontier could be reached with-in a specific timeframe.

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Washington: NASA has releasedrecordings of eerie sounds onMars picked up by one of its mis-sions to the Red Planet, theInSight lander.

Far below the human rangeof hearing, these recordings hadto be speeded up and slightlyprocessed to be audible throughheadphones, NASA said onTuesday.

The spacecraft's exquisitelysensitive seismometer, called theSeismic Experiment for InteriorStructure (SEIS), can pick upvibrations as subtle as a breeze.

The instrument was pro-vided by the French spaceagency, Centre National d'EtudesSpatiales (CNES), and its part-ners.

The instrument wasdesigned to listen for quakes onMars, known as marsquakes.

Scientists want to study howthe seismic waves of these quakesmove through the planet's inte-rior, revealing the deep innerstructure of Mars for the firsttime.

But after the seismometerwas set down by InSight's robot-ic arm, Mars seemed shy. It didnot produce its first rumblinguntil this past April, and this firstquake turned out to be an oddduck.

It had a surprisingly high-frequency seismic signal com-pared to what the science teamhas heard since then.

Out of more than 100 eventsdetected to date, about 21 arestrongly considered to be quakes,NASA said.

The remainder could bequakes as well, but the scienceteam hasn't ruled out othercauses. IANS

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From the identity of an individual,the spirit of sacrifice to the signif-icance of a family and the sanctity

of a society, Ramayana stays ever-rele-vant in the current times. Which is whyits depiction through theatrical acts hasevolved as a culture over the years to cel-ebrate the victory of Ram against Ravan.

Among the many Ramlilas thatmake the rounds in the city, some ofthem stand out for their contemporane-ity. Like Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra’s63rd edition of its dance drama,Sampoorna Ramlila Shri Ram, this year.Says Shobha Deepak Singh, director andvice chairperson, “I have used newdance styles and choreography and mar-tial techniques. We have opted for moreinnovative designs for the stage, music,lighting. I specially designed the cos-tumes myself this time. Keeping pacewith the technology, we have enrichedour stage with an LED wall displayingstunning scenes and animated visuals inthe background, lending a 3D effect tothe sets.”

However, why is it that epic stays sorelevant to our times? Singh says, “Peopleare losing their sense of values today. Thisepic talks about the wisdom of severalgurus and maharishis. And if thosewords could be made available to peo-ple through acts, music and dance,what could be better? Navratri is aboutrenewing our pledge. Divinity is just acontent for self-awareness.”

She adds, “Working on Ram hasbeen tiring but never exhausting for herefreedom comes to light and dreamsbecame a reality. I am very much into thisRamlila. I think what I have created isvery special and sacred for me,” she says.For her, it became an enriching experi-ence right from the start, when she, asa teenager, first saw her first depiction,where “fluid fabrics transformed intostructured costumes, flowers garlandedaround the stage, raw materials built upa palace.” It all immensely impacted hermind, she adds, “so much so that thememories drive me through the chaptersof the Ramayana every passing year. Thejourney of Sampoorna Ramlila over allthese years is also my journey as an artist,a producer and as a custodian of cultur-al heritage.”

The Aryan Heritage Foundation’sBroadway-style Ramlila, SampurnRamayana, is increasingly becomingpopular among the youth. The reason —its efficient use of modern media andtechnology, more modified and refinedstorytelling techniques, and a fast-pacedrun. The complete epic is acted every dayfor three hours. Creator and president,Rajender Mittal, says, “Over the years, weobserved how the footfalls at other tra-

ditional Ramlilas slowly went down.People stopped coming and enjoying theepic tale being told in episodes spreadover nine days. They found it slow andboring. So, here, they can come andwatch it as one whole experience. It’sextremely spiritual, urging each one toconnect with the almighty first and thenwith their inner self. Also, when you tryto up your game every year, eventually,it is evident with the kind of response youget. We have a footfall of around 10,000people everyday.”

From Udit Narayan to Kailash Kher,the Ramlila also makes space for origi-nal music composers to create their tunesand weave them into the plot. Takingabout what is new in the three-year-oldRamlila this time, Saurabh Mittal, vice-president, says that they have used mas-sive multi-layered stage and LED screensto create an illusory experience for theaudience for them to imbibe the essenceof the show “as if they were living”through it. The foundation this time hasalso added more dynamism by design-ing new vibrant costumes for a muchlarger group of artists and has fortifiedit with new soundtracks keeping the orig-inal as its soul. “The performers will beperforming on all seven stages. We alsohave introduced a 5.1 surround soundsystem, which enables the sound fromthe mic amplify to different places in theauditorium rather than just being at oneplace. This way, even the one who is sit-ting at the back would have the samesound and music experience. A lot of

new music tracks — 17 — have beenlaunched by the music director ChandraKamal ji.”

The epic is known to be relevant dueits story that embodies timeless valuesand inspires us to broaden our con-sciousness the way it was first told.However, many writers and philoso-phers have created their own versionsof it and told it through the perspectivesof its various characters. For instance,The Forest of Enchantments by ChitraBanerjee Divakaruni tells the Ramayanathrough Sita’s eyes. Shouldn’t theseage-old traditional Ramlilas also look atnewer perspectives to showcase the epictoday to give space to the audience tounderstand each character specifically?Saurabh says that the foundation’sRamlila is not just one through Valmiki’sor Shiva-Parvati’s eye, but offers a freshperspective through every character’seyes. “For instance, we also tell itthrough Kaikeyi. She is always lookedat in a negative light. But here, we givea reason and justify her motive behindsending Ram to an exile of 14 years. Wealso make some of the actions byRavan appear justified to give the audi-ence — especially the youth — a freshtake on his identity and intentions,” sayshe.

However, Singh says that she mightbring some new variations and try to tellthe tale through a different perspective,but “now isn’t the right time. Maybe, inthe future, but currently, I am verymuch devoted to the story of Ram andthis Ramlila.”

Looking at the LavKush Ramlila,one of the oldest in the city, AshokAggarwal, president, says that his teamhas launched two cranes this time tomake the experience more engaging forthe audience. “For Ram Vivah, thecrane showered flower petals on themand over the audience. The wholeSabahu-Mareecha episode had theirarmy of rakshasas following them in thecrane and looked as if they’re really trav-elling through air — Akashmarg. Earlier,we had only two to three people doingthat, now 15 of them could go togeth-er,” he says.

He tells us why the Ramlila wasnamed after Luv and Kush, the two sonsof Sita and Ram. “How often do you finda stage act named after them? Here, wedid that to show how they followed theirparents’ paths and how it can inspire theyoung generation of India today,” sayshe.

The team has also made their actavailable on YouTube this time and seenan increase in the footfall by makingnew and necessary changes in their tra-ditional, decades-long format.

Nowadays, consumers shoponline for just about every-

thing. So you’ve likely experiencedthe stinging disappointment whena TV, piece of furniture or some-thing else you ordered finallyarrives on your doorstep — dam-aged.

Here’s what you should do ifyour delivery comes in less-than-optimal shape.

Examine the item thoroughlyAs soon as you receive a

dented box or open a package onlyto discover broken merchandise,get to work. Take pictures todocument the condition of thedelivery when it arrived — retail-ers may want proof. Hang ontoany enclosed packing slips andreturn labels.

If the item is brought intoyour home as opposed to beingleft on your porch, inspect it fordamage before you’re asked to signoff on the delivery. This procedureis common with large productssuch as a couch or dining set.

Contact the retailer quicklyMost businesses have return

policies on their websites, andthere will typically be a sectionwithin that policy that addressesdamaged or defective items. Witha quick Google search, you can

pull up such policies for big-nameretailers.

Look for information abouthow the damaged product shouldbe handled. While some returnpolicies advice contacting cus-tomer care within three days ofreceiving a damaged item, the oth-ers say that customers can returnproducts that were defective ordamaged in shipping either to astore location or through themail during the return andexchange time period. The retail-er says to call for return-by-mailinstructions and it’ll cover “all rea-sonable and customary groundshipping fees.”

Report the broken item rightaway so the retailer doesn’t thinkyou’re responsible for the damage,advices Kevin Brasler, executiveeditor at a non-profit consumerorganisation.

If you don’t notice the dam-age for weeks, instead of shippingthe item back to the retailer for areplacement, you may need to shipit to the manufacturer for repair.

“If it’s a defective item, thestore should just step up and makeit right, get you a replacement itemas fast as possible,” Brasler says. “Ifit’s a warranty issue — if the thinghas broken since you’ve takendelivery — now you have to dealwith the manufacturer and possi-bly their warranty underwriter.”

Unpack the issueOnce you get on the phone

with a retailer — or hop into a chatwith an online representative —clearly articulate how you’d like theproblem resolved, says NicoleLeinbach, founder of a retail sup-porting organisation, and anauthor of Retail 101: The Guide toManaging and Marketing YourRetail Business.

“Understand what you wantfrom that conversation so that youcan best lead that conversation toa resolution,” she says.

Remaining calm can greatlybenefit your interaction with acustomer service rep.Acknowledge that your frustration

is not directed at the agent, butrather at the situation, Leinbachsays.

Once you conclude the call,see the process through to com-pletion. Ship the product back, ifyou’re asked to, and stay on top ofthe retailer to ensure your replace-ment arrives in a timely manner.

If the seller isn’t willing towork with you on a legitimateissue, tell them you could reportthem to the business bureaus, rec-ommends Charles R Taylor, amarketing professor at VillanovaSchool of Business.

If that doesn’t change theirminds, and you paid for the itemwith a credit card, you can disputethe charge. Check with your cred-it card company for full details, butBrasler says nine times out of 10,the credit card issuer will side onyour behalf.

Read return policies proactive-ly

To save yourself time and has-sle in the future, Leinbach recom-mends reading return policiesbefore making a purchase. That’sparticularly important for largeitems such as furniture, whichmay be more of a logistical chal-lenge to send back.

“Understanding the returnpolicy upfront is so important toany online purchase decision,”Leinbach says.

Similarly, keep time frames inmind. Ask yourself questionslike, when is the product expect-ed to be delivered? Will you behome? Will you be able to inspectit before the return window pass-es?

Even if a damaged productarrives on your porch beforeyou’ve done your due diligence,you can still follow the stepsabove to make things right. Thegood news? Taylor says manycompanies have favourable poli-cies.

It’ll just take a little extrawork on your end to followthem. ?#�

From the time she enteredBollywood in 2007 with

Saawariya, Sonam Kapoor Ahujamostly courted the limelight as afashionista and a highly-opinion-ated person rather than with heracting skills — till Neerja in 2016changed that opinion for many.While the actress is happy with hercareer graph, she now wishes to bepart of horror and action films.

“I haven’t done any action andhorror films, so these are the twogenres I would love to explore. Itwould be so different and excitingfor me because I haven’t done any-thing on action. So, one of thesetwo genres would be interesting totry out,” Sonam, who looks for-ward to working with filmmakersVishal Bhardwaj and Shoojit Sircar,said.

Starting her career as an assis-tant director in the film Blackunder the mentorship of film-maker Sanjay Leela Bhansali,Sonam is philosophical recall-ing her initial days whenSaawariya turned out to be acritical and commercial fail-ure. “The fate of any film isnot in the hand of actors, soI do not think we could havedone anything differentlythen. But people liked us —Ranbir and me. Since then,both of us have workedwith some of the mostpowerhouse filmmakersof the country,” she said.

“I think as long aspeople are interested inworking with you, aslong as an actor gets achance to be part ofgood stories, oneshouldn’t think toomuch on the fate of a film.

Ranbir is a superstar now and I amdoing okay,” she smiled.

She added, “Initially I was dis-heartened to face criticism for noreason. There were times peoplecriticised me and did not take meseriously because I love fashion anddressing up. I felt bad but I also loveacting and the process of filmmak-ing so much that my passiontowards my profession remain aconstant drive.”

“I love acting and fashion. Imake every choice from my self-belief, and when you are driven bypassion you are bound to get pos-itive results. I have learnt to bepatient and realised that patienceis the greatest virtue in life,” said the34-year-old who was recently seenin The Zoya Factor opposite

Dulquer Salmaan.Being the daughter of

the iconic Anil Kapoor, howdoes her father look at her

career? “For dad, mycareer is secondary, butthe person I havebecome with time as hisdaughter — he is happyabout that. He is proudof who I am as an indi-vidual. I started mycareer very young andlived under the scruti-ny of people and themedia and emerged astrong person. Mydad likes that. Forhim, becoming agood human beingis important. Ofcourse, he is happywith my choicesof films so far,”Sonam signedoff.

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How are you developing newtourist circuits beyond Srinagarand Pahalgam?

We all know that Kashmir hasbeen known as the Paradise onEarth. Apart from Gulmarg andPahalgam, there are many otherplaces that we are promoting whichwill eventually will turn out to bebetter than the existing ones. Wehave Doodhpatri, Sintham Top, PirPanjal Pass and Sheshnag.

These place also offer opportuni-ties for adventure tourism like whitewater rafting, motor biking, skiing, iceskating, sledging and others here.There is ice hockey as well, which isfound in very few destinations inIndia. The upper reaches of Gulmarghas gondola facility which can be usedto access the slopes. If this is upgrad-ed, it can be used for international ski-ing competitions.

Moreover, we have many ponds,parks, glaciers and lakes like Wular,Dal and others which make Kashmira tourist destination throughout theyear. There isn’t a single place whichcan’t be admired for its beauty. Eventhe almond and saffron fields are soscenic that you can sit and admirethem for hours.

How do you balance sustainabilityand tourism in these times of over-tourism?

We are trying to attract moretourists so that we can diversify tonewer destinations to avoid a lot ofpressure on one place. In our existingand established tourists destinations,we have enforced a 100 per cent banon further concretisation . Along withthis, we are trying to preserve the frag-ile ecosystem and utilise bio-degrad-able products efficiently so that ourtourism remains sustainable. Duringthe last 10 years, the ecosystem main-tenance was not up to the mark butnow, along with upgrading our touristdestinations we are ensuring that theecosystem is not adversely affected.

The Prime Minister has said thatthe cities should be developed ina way so that people travel morewithin India rather than abroad.How will you translate this toreality?

We are contributing 100 percent by providing guides, sledgerunners and hotel facilities in max-imum number of cities. We are try-ing to promote new places by pop-ularising them. Our focus is to pro-mote all the destinations till Kargil.

Earlier a lot of films were shot inKashmir but now that has waned.

Will you try to encourage thatagain?

We will, definitely. We are try-ing to make sure that the filmmak-ers don’t stop coming here.Whenever there is a request for ashoot, we try to facilitate it in oneday, provided that they have givenus a valid ID, synopsis of the filmand the dates for shooting. If they

fulfill all these requirements, we givethem permission to shoot within 24hours without charging any fees.

The synopsis is important sothat there’s no controversy later on.We have an ongoing policy to reg-ulate the film industry in Jammuand Kashmir.

Is there any programme underwhich you train locals in the hos-pitality sector as this wouldencourage tourism and alsoencourage employment?

I’ll tell you an instance. Werecently went to Kalyan villagewhere the association of hotelierstold us that the people were nottrained properly. We organised atraining programme at the Instituteof Hotel Management, Srinagarwithin 10 days. It was meant todevelop the personality of theemployees and regulate their behav-iour. We have crafted a programmefor tourist guides, rafting guides,assistants in house boats at IHM,Srinagar, at the University ofKashmir as well as some smallinstitutes in Pahalgam. We are plan-ning to train taxi drivers because wehave got some complaints againstthem. We are trying to regulateunfair practices by drivers. In orderto smoothen the system further, wehave finalised the rates for every ser-vice in consultation with differentdepartments and concerned agen-cies for the entire year. The fixedrates have already been implement-ed. There is a penalty of �15 lakh onviolators. So if tourists complain, theviolator needs to pay the penalty.Every important destination has aseparate Tourism Police to takecare of these problems.

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�Which areas of Jammu arebeing developing as tourist des-tinations?

Right now Jammu tourism isin its infancy stage because of var-ious reasons. It has not been ableto upgrade itself. The topographyin Jammu is different as in someparts it is similar to Kashmir andin others, Himachal Pradesh.

While Kashmir is called aParadise on Earth but Jammu canbe referred to as the undiscoveredparadise. So, we are trying to pro-mote it. We have presented sever-al proposals to the government.

The Jammu region is knownfor religious tourism and our aimis to divert these pilgrims andencourage them to explore more.Adventure tourism is anotherarea we are looking into becauseof the variety of destinations thatwe have. And then, there is her-itage tourism as well because theDogra kings lived here and theirproperties are scattered acrossJammu. We are trying ourlevel best to upgrade themand make them accessibleto tourists.

�How many pilgrimsvisited the area lastyear and by encourag-ing adventure and cul-ture tourism, what isthe kind of increasethat you are lookingat?

Last year around1.5 crore pilgrimscame to Jammu. Thereare two to three destina-tions near Katra, forinstance, which were devel-oped into tourist destina-tions without much efforts.There is Patni Top,Bhaderwah and Reasi wherethere is white water rafting.When you look at the land-scape there, you will realisewhy it is called miniSwitzerland. �What are the initiativesthat you have planned tomarket these destinationson the tourist circuit?

Yes, we are definitely planningseveral activities. Jammu andKashmir are planning severalroad shows together. In all these,whether it is in the domesticmarket or the international one,we are trying to showcase thegovernment’s plans to developthe area and facilitate tourism.

�A rapid increase in tourism canharm the ecosystem. Do youhave a blueprint too prevent

this? Yes. We have thought

about it at the planning stageitself and will call profession-als in various fields for theirsuggestions and guidance.This will help us upgrade indifferent areas. There arevarious schemes of theGovernment of India whichare being executed. We arebuilding adventure hub onRanjit Sagar dam. Not onlythis, we are also buildinginternational spiritual retreatcentre in Mantalai which

will be ready within one andhalf years. Then we are restor-

ing a huge heritage complexcalled Mubarak Mandi in Jammu.

One thing that I really wantto point out is this, that whileKashmir is often bogged downby security issues which inturn affects the tourism indus-try here as well. Booking inJammu and Ladakh are can-celled. But these places arebeautiful and peaceful. Peopleneed to keep this in mind andalso the fact that it is 300 kilo-metre away from Kashmir.

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Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy in the state ishuge. What is being done to preserve itwhile encouraging tourism around it?

It is the 150th birth anniversary of theMahatma this year. So, we have stepped upour efforts to celebrate it. One circuit that wehave is the Dandi Heritage Corridor whichmarks the 421 km journey which undertookfrom Sabarmati to Dandi during the SaltSatyagraha. It starts from Porbandar, Rajkot,Sabarmati and other ashrams. It ends atDandi. It maps the 21 locations where hemade night halts. We have a yatri niwas in 14of these locations. We have also involved a pri-vate party for maintaining the DandiCorridor.

These places will enable people to expe-rience how Gandhi ji lived there, the librarythat he used and the history around himwhich includes the Dandi March and manyother movements. It is a �70 crore project andgives a lot of information regarding his life.So, all those places where Gandhi ji stayed orstudied are being upgraded. People can go andsee how these places are associated with him.

How is the Statue of Unity being integrat-ed with the existing tourist circuit?

Yes, we are planning to develop it into atourist circuit. There are almost 10 projectscoming up in and around the statue. ByDecember, it will be a place where one canstay for at least two to three nights. Projectswhich are underway to keep up with the antic-ipated demand for accommodation.

Gujarat also has quite a few Indus Valleysites. What is being done to maintain themand encourage tourism around them?

The most important site is Lothal, whichhas an existing museum that we plan toupgrade. The Prime Minister wants to devel-op that site in order to bring out its real beau-ty. So, a National Maritime Heritage Complexis coming up there. The Ministry of Shippingalong with the National Maritime Universityis directly involved in developing it.

As far as Dholavira is concerned, we haveplanned a national highway to Bhachauwhich will cut down the distance from 160to 70 km between the two places. This willgive a boost to tourism in that location. It isa well-preserved site. Once this road comesup, the Mandvi-Bhuj circuit too will get aboost as a tourist destination. Kutch whichis famous for its handicrafts is also nearby andthis will be an added attraction for tourists.

With so many historical sites and anincrease in the number of tourists, how doyou plan to ensure that these are preserved?

As tourists are coming in large numbersto the historical places it becomes difficultfor the local agencies, guides and security tomanage these monuments. We ensure that werestore monuments and give them a partic-ular shape. To protect them we make sure thattourists don’t touch them. But this is notalways possible. There are many locationswhere they have to come in contact with themonument to see it’s natural beauty such asRani ki baoli and others. The human inter-face is kept along with proper supervision.There are CCTV cameras to give the tourists

a sense of supervision and monitoring.

How do you balance sustainability with pro-motion of tourism?

Sustainability has always been the corecomponent of our plan to develop tourism.The Government has already taken varioussteps to save the environment, plastic banbeing the obvious one. We are imposing itmany tourist destinations.

What is being done to ensure that the num-bers of the Gir lion and the Indian Wild Assdo not diminish?

As far as wildlife is concerned, there is nodiminishing trend in Gujarat. I can proudlysay that the forest department is doing a verygood job in terms of preventing poaching andall illegal activities that are associated with thewildlife. In fact, the number of lions and otherspecies is going up.

How do you plan to develop the skills in thehospitality sector?

As far as Gujarat tourism is concerned,skill development is one of our basic priori-ties. We have earmarked a special budget of�15 crore for it. The State Government hasasked us to train 4,500 people in the tourismand hospitality segment. These can be divid-ed into two categories — one who arealready associated with the industry and aresent to upgrade their skills and the other, whoare fresh and want to associate themselveswith this industry. We use the skills of agen-cies like IITs and more, where they are givenannual training refresher courses which isspread over three days to a week. We requestthe hotels of all the important tourist loca-tions to send their staff for the refresher train-ing. Finally, we have started an agency inSitpur. Our first batch will be completing theircourse this year. Every year we will have abatch of 60 children who are trained inBachelor of Hotel Management and Catering.

What were the figures of inbound touristsin Gujarat?

Every year we see an average growth ofalmost 14 per cent. The latest figure is 5.72crore. So, obviously we are expecting the nextyear to be greater than this. I am confidentthat this year the growth rate will increasebecause of the Statue of Unity.

Since the economy is not doing well, is therea fear of declining tourism. Are you doinganything to give it a boost in the state?

As far as Gujaratis are concerned, I amnot worried. Even if we talk about the out-siders there is nothing to worry. This is thefestive season, Navratri, and tourists are com-ing in. People can ignore going abroad butthey will definitely go to the nearby states inorder to celebrate festivals.

How do you plan to promote Gujaratabroad?

Yes, definitely. We are doing a lot of thingsin terms of digital marketing. Not only this,we also organising exhibitions to promote ourstate. We would also like to have an associa-tion with the domestic tour operators ofDelhi. �����A�'��=���(��

Rakesh Kumar, CMD of NLCIndia Limited, paid tribute

to Mahatma Gandhi on theoccasion of his 150th birthanniversary by garlanding thestatue of him. The representa-tives of various cultural associ-ations performed cultural pro-grammes by depicting how theMahatma’s principles are stillrelevant and continues to be adriving force behind activism inmodern-day India.

Speaking on the occasion,Rakesh said Gandhi ji’s birthday is not only a national cele-bration in India alone but it isalso observed by the UnitedNation’s as the ‘InternationalDay of Non-Violence’. He insist-ed that Gandhi ji’s vision onIndia’s development had given

greater emphasis on health,sanitation and environment. Hementioned that cleanliness andsanitation are an integral partsof the Gandhian way of living.He elaborated various activitieslike construction of 1,275 toiletsin 635 government schools inTamil Nadu and Rajasthan. Andhow NLC took part actively infulfilling Government’s call formaking India defecation free.

The cultural programme onthe theme ‘Teaching andPreaching of Gandhi’ was per-formed by Neyveli Ladies Club,Neyveli Telugu Samithi, NeyveliKannada Kala Samithi, NeyveliBharathiya Kala Samithi, KeralaKala Samithi WIPS (Women InPublic Sector), which enthralledthe audience.

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Page 15: The Pioneer · ˘ˇ ˇ ˆ ˛ˇ ˜ !"# ˚$ %& ’( ˆ ˘ˇ ) & ˘ * ˆˆ + ,- .(/) ˇ ’ ˇ0 0 ˚˘ˇ ) ’& &1 2 ) $ˇ 3 4 ) 5

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Israeli forward ManorSolomon scored a dramatic

winning goal deep into stoppagetime as Shakhtar came frombehind to beat Atalanta 2-1.

The sides looked set toshare the spoils as the gamemoved into a fifth minute ofadded time, but then the

Brazilian Dodo found fellowsubstitute Solomon in the boxand neither Atalanta goalkeep-er Pierluigi Gollini nor defend-er Timothy Castagne could stophim from scoring.

It was cruel on Atalanta,who had been denied byShakhtar Donetsk goalkeeperAndriy Pyatov on several occa-sions and remain without a

point in Group C.Hammered 4-0 by Dinamo

Zagreb in their first ever matchin the Champions League groupstage, the side from Bergamonow face a daunting double-header against Manchester Citynext.

Shakhtar had been beaten 3-0 at home by Pep Guardiola’sside in their opening game butthis result gives the Ukrainianchampions a massive lift intheir bid to reach the last 16.

�� ��7� Portuguese teenagerJoao Felix scored his firstChampions League goal onTuesday as Atletico Madridrecorded a precious 2-0 winaway to Lokomotiv Moscow.

The 19-year-old Felix,Atletico’s club-record signing,put the visitors ahead threeminutes after half-time in Russiaand helped set up ThomasPartey for the second goal on thehour. Diego Simeone’s side sitlevel on four points at the top of

Group D with Juventus, whoeased to a 3-0 victory at home.

“I’m delighted to score myfirst Champions League goal. Itwas a great game, and theimportant thing was that wecame away with the threepoints,” said Felix.

Atletico rallied from twogoals down a fortnight ago in a

2-2 draw with Juventus, but theytook the lead here on 48 minuteswhen Felix stabbed in a reboundafter his first effort was parriedby Guilherme.

Felix, who last seasonbecame the youngest player toscore a hat-trick in the EuropaLeague while with Benfica, cre-ated the second goal with a sear-

ing break from deep.Atletico cleared a corner

and Felix surged into theLokomotiv half before floatinga cross-field ball towards Costa,who unselfishly squared for asliding Partey to tap home on 58minutes.

Jan Oblak then producedtwo sublime stops as Atleticoremained unbeaten in seventrips to Russia, winning for thefourth time in five visits toMoscow. AFP

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Manchester City manager PepGuardiola said Phil Foden’s lack

of minutes for the English championsis “unfair” as the 19-year-old came offthe bench to score in a 2-0 win overDinamo Zagreb.

Foden has been limited to justone start, in the League Cup againstPreston, so far this season as thereturn of Kevin De Bruyne and sign-ing of Rodrigo has seen the Englandunder-21 international fall furtherdown the pecking order.

But he made the most of barelya few minutes on the field against theCroatian champions after being intro-duced as a substitute in stoppage timeto fire home after fellow sub RaheemSterling had opened the scoring.

“I know he deserves to play. Iwant to give him minutes, every timehe doesn’t play I am completelyunfair to him, I’m sorry,” saidGuardiola.

“But Kevin De Bruyne is there,David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Rodri,(Ilkay) Gundogan. It’s what it is.

“I know the best way to grow upis play minutes and minutes, but heis so young.

“I don’t know how many playersof that age played as many minutes inthe recent past he played in theselast seasons with us.

“He is going to be anincredible future player for usbecause we count on himand we trust a lot in him.”

Sterling even hopesFoden will get enoughchances to shine to makea late run to be included in theEngland squad for next year’sEuropean Championship.

“I am buzzing for Phil and I wanthim in the national team,” saidSterling. “If he keeps going he will bethere.”

However, City’ local hero Fodenis happy to play a patient game withsuch an array of midfield talent to

compete with.“You have to show the manager

what you can do each day in training,”said Foden. “Every young kid wantsto play but you have to keep patient.”

City enjoyed 71 percent posses-sion and had 19 attempts on goal, buthad to wait until 24 minutes fromtime to make the breakthrough whenSterling rounded off an excellentteam move.

The English champions havemaximum points from their openingtwo games with back-to-back match-es against bottom-of-the-groupAtalanta to come.

“It was good. We didn’t concedeone shot on target, with our huge pos-session we created enough chances toscore earlier, but we were patient,”added Guardiola.

“We need two more victories toqualify for the last 16 and hopefullywe can make against Atalanta almostthe definitive step to be there.”

“Nobody is going to give us any-thing,” said Guardiola. “We did it our-selves and that’s top. That’s why I lovethis team.”

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Serge Gnabry scored foursecond-half goals asBayern Munich embar-

rassed Tottenham 7-2 on Tuesday —the biggest-ever margin of defeat suf-fered by an English team at home inany European competition.

The Bundesliga champions fellbehind to an early Son Heung-mingoal but then clicked into gear,producing a ruthless display of fin-ishing in the north London rain asSpurs fell apart.

Harry Kane briefly gave thehome side hope with a penalty toreduce the deficit to 4-2 but thatwas merely the prelude to anoth-er masterclass in finishing from thefive-time European champions.

“It was a great evening for

Bayern Munich and for German foot-ball,” said Bayern boss Niko Kovac.“Playing this way here in England isreally unique.”

“I have compassion for my col-league (Spurs boss MauricioPochettino),” he added, praising the“amazing” Gnabry and Manuel Neuerfor his display in the Bayern goal.

Spurs, who reached the ChampionsLeague final in June, where they lost toLiverpool, also had a sluggish start tothe competition last year, winning a sin-gle point from their first three games.

But Pochettino faces a huge tasknow to lift the team after this humblingat their new ground following anunconvincing start to the season.

The Spurs boss urged his side tostay together despite the traumaticdefeat, saying the timing of Bayern’s sec-ond goal just before half-time was ahard blow.

“The most important thing is tostay calm, no rushed analysis, norushed judgement, no rushed assess-ment,” he said, praising the clinical fin-ishing of Bayern, who had 11 shots ontarget.

“You need to show your quality likea man first,” he added. “To face it likea professional. This type of situation youhave to show your quality, how you arestrong.”

The early exchanges gave no clueabout the carnage to come.

Tottenham’s deserved early lead waswiped out 194 seconds later by Joshua

Kimmich but the home side went toeto toe with Bayern for most of the firstperiod.

Bayern forged ahead on the strokeof half-time, though, thanks to a superbfinish from Robert Lewandowski, whopicked up the loose ball at the edge of thearea and swivelled to fire into the bottomcorner.

GNABRY STRIKESThe second half belonged to former

Arsenal man Gnabry, who struck fourtimes as the visitors completed a rout.Lewandowski also scored a second.

It was the first time Spurs had con-ceded seven goals in a home match in anymajor competition.

The result leaves Bayern in pole posi-tion in Group B with two wins from twomatches while Spurs have just one pointafter seeing a 2-0 lead wiped out in theiropening game against Olympiakos.

But despite their poor start they arejust two points behind second-placedRed Star Belgrade, who beat Olympiakos3-1.

Bayern extended their advantageeight minutes after the break as Gnabrybroke at pace down the left and burst intothe box before drilling into the bottomcorner.

Spurs’ misery was compounded asGnabry struck again two minutes later,capitalising after Harry Winks lost pos-session.

Pochettino’s men were handed a life-line as the referee pointed to the penal-ty spot for a foul on Danny Rose, withKane reducing the deficit to 4-2 on thehour mark.

But Gnabry sealed his hat-trick forBayern in the 83rd minute after racingbeyond the Spurs defence and slottingpast Lloris from 15 yards.

There was still time for Lewandowskito side-foot home a sixth for the Germangiants and Gnabry was able to add hisfourth, and a seventh for Bayern, in the88th minute.

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Casemiro’s late header res-cued Real Madrid from an

embarrassing defeat at homeagainst Club Brugge on Tuesdayas Zinedine Zidane’s side camefrom two goals down to salvagea 2-2 draw.

Madrid were run ragged inthe first half by a brilliantBrugge and their speedy strik-er Emmanuel Dennis, whoscored twice at the SantiagoBernabeu and should have com-pleted his hat-trick shortly afterthe interval.

Instead, Madrid camestorming back as Sergio Ramosheaded in, before Casemiroclaimed a dramatic equaliser inthe 85th minute, seconds afterBrugge’s Ruud Vormer had beensent off for a second yellow card.

“I would like to keep thesecond half and forget the first,”said Zidane afterwards. “Thegoals we conceded were laugh-

able.”“The match was historic,

the point was historic and theway we played was as well,” saidBrugge coach Philippe Clement.

After losing 3-0 to ParisSaint-Germain two weeks ago inwhat was Zidane’s worst everloss as coach, Madrid will berelieved to have avoided anoth-er defeat that would have leftthem facing their first evergroup-stage exit in this compe-tition.

But there were no celebra-tions at the final whistle fromthose in white shirts after achaotic performance checkedany morale and momentumgained following three consec-utive victories in La Liga.

“I am not worried aboutanything,” Zidane said. “Weknow we are in a worse situationin the Champions League butwe keep going.”

“We have to do more, wehave to do better,” added Ramos.

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Cristiano Ronaldo scoredhis first goal in this season’s

Champions League, sealing a 3-0 win for Juventus over BayerLeverkusen in their Group Dgame in Turin.

Ronaldo blasted in thethird goal in the 89th minute toextend his record to 127 strikesin the competition to add toGonzalo Higuain and FedericoBernardeschi’s earlier efforts.

Juventus move top of theirsection, level on four pointswith Atletico Madrid, whodefeated Lokomotiv Moscow 2-0 in Russia.

The Italian champions hadbeen held 2-2 by the Spaniardsat the Wanda Metropolitano intheir opener.

“We had a good matchagainst a team who love posses-sion and are not easy to dealwith,” said Juventus coachMaurizio Sarri.

“They took a lot of energyout of us in the first half. Afterthe break, they slowed down alittle and we took control.”

Leverkusen face an uphill

battle after their shock 2-1defeat at home againstLokomotiv Moscow and arerooted to the foot of the table.

“It was a clear defeat,” saidLeverkusen coach Peter Bosz.“We played well in the first halfeven if we didn’t have chances,and then we made the mistakewhich led to the first goal.

“It’s the difference betweena team who has experience inthe Champions League andone that is beginning its jour-ney at this level.”

Juventus next hostLokomotiv and Leverkusentravel to Atletico on October 22.

“It was an importantmatch, after the draw inMadrid we had to win to getcloser to the qualification,” saidHiguain.

“Now we head to Sunday,because another battle awaitsus,” added the Argentine ofnext weekend’s Serie A clashwith leaders Inter Milan.

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Mauro Icardi scored hisfirst Paris Saint-

Germain goal as the Frenchchampions beat Galatasaray1-0 to move four points clearat the top of their group A.

Argentina forwardIcardi, who joined PSG onloan from Inter Milan lastmonth, opened his accountfor the club to maintain theirperfect start to theirEuropean campaign afterdowning Real Madrid 3-0two weeks ago.

The Turkish championssit third in the standingswith a single point from thedraw at Club Brugge onSeptember 18 and have notregistered a win in fourgames in all competitions.

PSG were withoutNeymar, serving the lastmatch of his European sus-pension for abusing a refer-ee on social media, Edinson

Cavani due to a hip injury,and Kylian Mbappe whostarted on the bench as hecontinues to recover from athigh injury as Icardi led theattack in Istanbul.

“It wasn’t the hardestgoal to score but it came fromexcellent build-up play. He’sworked a lot,” coach ThomasTuchel said.

Next for PSG is a trip toClub Brugge,whileGalatasaray host the Spanishgiants on October 22.

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Six-time champion M C MaryKom’s seemingly endless reser-

voir of experience makes her astrong medal contender yet againbut the spotlight will also be onsome youngsters when Indiatakes guard at the World Women’sBoxing Championship startinghere today.

Mary Kom was onWednesday seeded third andhanded a bye into the pre-quar-terfinals. She will begin her cam-paign on October 8 against a yetto be decided opponent.

In all, five Indians got first-round byes into different stagesdepending on the size of the draw.No Indian will be in action on theopening day of the mega-event.

The 36-year-old Manipurihas been an ambassador of thesport not just in India but also theworld over. However, there is aminor blemish in her magnificentrecord — the lack of a world titlein the 51kg category.

She would be aiming to set itright in this Russian city. This isnot to say she hasn’t done well inthe hard-fought category— MaryKom has the Olympic Bronzemedal and the Asian GamesGold to her credit in the division.

Former champion and MaryKom’s contemporary L SaritaDevi (60kg) is another one towatch out for after she defeatedlast edition’s Bronze-winner anda much younger Simranjit Kaurin the trials. Sarita, seeded fourth,has also got a bye but into theround of 32.

Outside the ring, the eight-time Asian medallist is in the run-ning to become a member of theInternational BoxingAssociation's (AIBA) first everathletes commission, the voting

for which will take place duringthe mega-event here. She isexpected to make the panel asthere hasn’t been any other nom-ination from the Asian block.

Previous editionks Bronze-medallist Lovlina Borgohain hasmoved up a division to 69kg thistime. She is seeded third andgiven a bye into the pre-quarter-finals.

India Open Gold-medallistsNeeraj (57kg) and Jamuna Boro(54kg) are among the five boxers,who will be making their debutsat the big event and can beexpected to create a flutter. Neeraj,a former national champion, hasgot a bye into the round of 32.

In the 75kg category, formerAsian champion Saweety Boorawill be keenly watched. She wasa Silver-medallist in the 2014 edi-tion of the marquee tourna-ment.

“This squad is a nice mix.Last time we had four medals,let’s see how the debutantsrespond to the challenge thistime. Fingers crossed,” nationalcoach Mohammed Ali Qamarsaid.

“Before coming here, we hada fruitful training stint in Italywhere we got to spar with theChinese, which is not some-thing that happens quite often.They hardly travel elsewhereand they are the biggest force inwomen’s boxing,” he added.

In the 48kg category, whichMary Kom made her own,Strandja Cup Silver-medallistManju Rani will be fighting it outthis time. A debutant at theworld championship, Rani got abye into the pre-quarterfinals.

“She has shown a lot ofpromise and hopefully, it wouldtranslate into a medal here,”Qamar said.

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Rohit Sharma’s Test careergot a new lease of life as hestruck an unbeaten 115 in

his first innings as an opener totake India to a commanding 202for no loss against South Africabefore rain washed out the finalsession of the series-opener,

here on Wednesday.There was an 80 percent

chance of rain on the open-ing day but it only arrivedduring the tea break withIndia comfortably placedafter 59.1 overs of play.

Mayank Agarwal was oncourse for a maiden Testhundred, having playedextremely well for his 183-ball 84.

Thunderstorm, followedby a heavy spell of rain,ensured no play was possibleafter the tea break.

Before weather playedspoilsport, Rohit stole theshow in what could be acareer changing knock for

him.While South African

bowlers did trouble theIndian batsmen on a fewoccasions in the first session,they seemed toothless in thesecond session where Rohitand Agarwal scored at abrisk rate.

Rohit, who got to his fiftybefore lunch, shifted gearsand was particularly harsh onthe spinners.

He hammered off-spin-ner Danie Piedt for succes-sive sixes over deep midwick-et to get into the ninetiesbefore completing his fourthTest ton with a single offdebutant spinner Senuran

Muthusamy.The entire dressing room,

including skipper Virat Kohli,stood up to laud Rohit's feat.His 174-ball unconqueredinnings contained 12 foursand five sixes.

At the other end, Agarwalwas cruising towards his maid-en Test ton. He too lookedassured at the crease andplayed his shots.

Early into the afternoonsession, he brought up his halfcentury with a spectacular sixover extra cover off KeshavMaharaj.

Clouds gathered over thestadium towards the end of thesession and thunderstormsforced the umpires to take thetea break eight minutes beforescheduled time.

Earlier, Rohit and Agarwalplayed out 30 overs in themorning session after safelynegotiating the South Africanpacers Kagiso Rabada andVernon Philander, taking India

to 91 for no loss.India, who had named

their playing on the eve of thefirst Test, opted to bat on a drysurface with skipper Kohlicalling his decision a "no brain-er."

Expecting the pitch toturn, South Africa picked threespinners in Maharaj, Piedtand Muthusamy, who is moreof a batting all-rounder.

OPENING SUITS ROHITEmphasising that opening

the batting suits him, RohitSharma said he was mentallyprepared to make the switch ashe scored an unbeaten 115 inhis first Test innings as open-er and with his assuringknock, India seized the initia-tive on day one of the seriesopener against South Africa.

Asked about his mindsetin the lead up to the series,India’s limited overs vice-cap-tain said he kept things sim-ple in his head.

“The talk (of him openingin Tests) was going on for along time. In the West Indies(in August), they told meclearly it is going to happennow. I was prepared for thepast two years. At some stage,I was aware that I might haveto open so I was ready,” saidRohit after scoring his fourthTest ton.

He was part of the squadfor West Indies series butcould not final place in themiddle order.

“Of course, opening thebatting is a different ball gamein red ball cricket. Mentallyyou have to train your mindmore than anything else. Atthe same time, you do need tolook into some technicalaspects of batting but morethan that you have to challengeyourself mentally to play thenew ball and take the gameforward.

“Those are the things Ikept in mind when I went out

to bat. There was no confusionabout how I wanted toapproach the innings.”

In ODIs too, Rohit used tobat in the middle order but hebecame a white-ball great onlywith his stupendous success atthe top of the order.

“I think it (opening) justsuits my game, just wear thepads and bat. It was a waitinggame, when I used to bat atfive or six. I won’t say it did-n’t suit my batting. Your mindis fresh, we know we have toplay the new ball. You knowthe bowlers who will bowl thenew ball, these will be thefielders, so the game plan iseasier for you.

“At number six, the ball isreversing, field placement isdifferent and you need tokeep all those things in mind.That game of wearing thepads and going in to bat suitsme more,” said the maker ofmore than 10,000 runs in lim-ited overs cricket.

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