˙ ˝ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ......2019/04/22 · run Daily News reported....

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Astring of eight devastatingblasts, including suicide

attacks, struck churches andluxury hotels frequented byforeigners in Sri Lanka onEaster Sunday, killing 215 peo-ple, including three Indians anAmerican, and shattering adecade of peace in the islandnation since the end of the bru-tal civil war with the LTTE.

The blasts — one of thedeadliest attacks in the coun-try’s history — targeted StAnthony’s Church inColombo, St Sebastian’sChurch in the western coastaltown of Negombo and ZionChurch in the eastern town ofBatticaloa around 8.45 am(local time) as the EasterSunday mass were in progress,police spokesman RuwanGunasekera said.

Explosions were reportedfrom three five-star hotels —the Shangri-La, the CinnamonGrand and the Kingsbury inColombo.

Gunasekera confirmed 207deaths. However, the News1st channel said that 215 peo-ple have died in the blasts.

Chairman of Sri LankaTourism Kishu Gomes said 33foreign nationals have beenkilled in the coordinatedattacks believed to be carriedout by a single group. Directorof the National Hospital DrAnil Jasinghe identified 12 ofthe 33 foreign nationals, whichinclude three Indians, twoChinese and one each fromPoland, Denmark, Japan,Pakistan, America, Moroccoand Bangladesh.

Around 500 people,including Indians, were injuredin the attacks.

No group has claimedresponsibility for Sunday’sattacks. However, most of thedeadly attacks in the past in SriLanka were carried out by theLiberation Tigers of TamilEelam (LTTE) which ran amilitary campaign for a sepa-rate Tamil homeland in thenorthern and eastern provincesof the island nation for nearly30 years before its collapse in2009 after the Sri LankanArmy killed its supreme leaderVelupillai Prabhakaran.

Briefing reporters,Gunasekera said the policewas not able to confirm at themoment if they were all suicideattacks. He, however, said thatone of the blasts at the

Katuwapitiya (Negombo)church has signs of being whatlooked like a suicide attack.

An unnamed official saida suicide bomber blew himselfup at the restaurant of theCinnamon Grand hotel.

Gunasekara said that 66bodies were kept at theNational Hospital while 260injured were receiving treat-ment there and 104 bodieswere placed at the NegomboHospital and 100 injured werereceiving treatment at theHospital.

Later in the day, a power-ful blast in the capital’s south-ern suburb near the ColomboZoo killed two persons,Gunasekera said.

When a police teamentered a house in theColombo north suburb ofOrugodawatta to conduct asearch, a suicide bomber blew

himself up causing a concretefloor of a two-storey buildingto crash on them, killing threepolicemen in the eighth blast,police said.

Soon after the eighth blast,the Government imposed cur-few with immediate effect.The curfew will be in forceindefinitely until furthernotice, officials said.

State Minister of DefenceRuwan Wijewardene saidseven persons had been arrest-ed in connection with theblasts. “We believe these werecoordinated attacks, and onegroup was behind them,” hesaid.

President MaithripalaSirisena has appealed for calm.“I have been shocked by thistotally unexpected incidents.The security forces haven beenasked to take all action neces-sary,” Sirisena said.

Prime Minister RanilWickremesinghe termed theblasts as “cowardly attacks”and said his Government isworking to “contain the situa-tion.”

“I call upon all Sri Lankansduring this tragic time toremain united and strong...The government is takingimmediate steps to containthis situation,” he tweeted.

Security has been intensi-fied around the religious placesacross the capital. The gov-ernment has temporarilyblocked all social media plat-forms.

“Horrible scenes. I sawmany body parts strewn allover,” said Harsha de Silva, SriLanka’s Minister of EconomicReforms and PublicDistribution.

The Indian HighCommission in Colombo said

that it was closely monitoringthe situation in Sri Lanka.

“We are closely monitoringthe situation. Indian citizens inneed of assistance or help andfor seeking clarification maycall the following numbers :+94777903082 +94112422788+94112422789,” the HighCommission tweeted.

“In addition to the num-bers given, Indian citizens inneed of assistance or help andfor seeking clarification mayalso call the following numbers+94777902082 +94772234176,”it said.

The first blasts werereported at St Anthony’schurch in Colombo and StSebastian’s Church inNegombo just outside the cap-ital.

“A bomb attack to ourchurch, please come and helpif your family members are

there,” read a post in Englishon the Facebook page of the StSebastian’s Church.

Images circulated on socialmedia showed severely dam-aged St Sebastian’s church,with a shattered ceiling andblood on the pews.

The riot police and theSpecial Task Force, extra policesecurity has been deployedaround the BandaranaikeInternational Airport, state-run Daily News reported.

All state Universities havebeen closed until furthernotice.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjithsaid all Easter masses in theColombo District have beencancelled. Former presidentMahinda Rajapaksa, underwhose leadership the Lankan Army crushed theLTTE, termed the attack as“barbaric”.

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Condemning the “cold-blooded and pre-planned

barbaric acts” in Sri Lanka,Prime Minister NarendraModi spoke to Sri LankanPresident Maithripala Sirisenaand Prime Minister RanilWickremesingh and offeredthe southern neighbour allpossible help and assistance todeal with the situation.

“Strongly condemn thehorrific blasts in Sri Lanka.There is no place for such bar-barism in our region,” Moditweeted.

External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj said, “IndianHigh Commission inColombo has conveyed thatNational Hospital hasinformed them about thedeath of three Indians.”

Their names are Lakshmi,Narayan Chandrashekhar andRamesh, Sushma said addingdetails are being ascertained.

Sushma tweeted, “I con-veyed to the Foreign Ministerof Sri Lanka that India isready to provide all humani-tarian assistance. We are readyto despatch medical teams.”

Sushma said, “In all eightbomb blasts have taken place— one more in a guest housein Dehiwela near Colomboand another in a housingcolony in Dematagoda inColombo."

In a statement, theMinistry of External Affairssaid there can be no justifica-tion for any act of terror andcalled for concerted globalaction to effectively deal withthe menace, including cross-border terrorism.

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Colombo: The Sri LankanGovernment on Sundayblocked social media platformslike the Facebook andInstagram to prevent the spreadof false news reports after aseries of blasts killed 215 peo-ple. The Presidential Secretariatsaid the decision to block socialmedia was taken in reaction tofalse news reports spreading onsocial media. Meanwhile,Facebook has activated itsCrisis Response tool for theblasts, CNN reported. PTI

Washington: US PresidentDonald Trump yet again com-mitted a faux pas on Sunday ashe erroneously tweeted “138million people” were killed ina string of blasts in Sri Lanka.“Heartfelt condolences fromthe people of the US to thepeople of Sri Lanka on the hor-rible terrorist attacks onchurches and hotels that havekilled at least 138 million peo-ple. We stand ready to help!”Trump said in a tweet whichwas taken down after morethan 20 minutes. PTI

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The high voltage electioncampaign for Chhattisgarh’s

remaining seven seats ended onSunday and State’s rulingCongress and the mainOpposition BJP are all set toprove its dominance in themineral-rich State.

The resurgent Congress isexpected to perform wellthough the party had won justone out of the total 11 seats in2014 and 2009 general elec-tions. But political analystshave given Congress the edgeover the BJP in 2019 as party’spopularity is on the rise andthe BJP has not yet recoveredfrom shock defeat in

November 2018 Assemblyelections.

Analysts say that parlia-mentary polls in the Statecould also be viewed as a ref-erendum on Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel’s popularityand his Government’s welfareworks since the party came topower in December last year.

Congress victory inChhattisgarh will help Baghelconsolidate his position inparty at national level.

A total of 123 candidatesare in the fray in seven LokSabha seats— Raipur, Durg,Bilaspur, Korba, Janjgir-Champa (SC), Surguja (ST)and Raigarh (ST) — that will goto polls in the third phase, State

chief electoral officer (CEO)Subrat Sahoo said.

Raipur and Bilaspur seatshave the maximum 25 candi-dates each, followed by Durg-21, Jangir-Champa - 15,Raigarh -14, Korba-13 andSurguja-10.

Total 1,27,13,816 voters,including 64,16,252 men,62,96,992 women and 572members of third gender, areeligible to exercise their fran-chise in the third phase forwhich 15,408 polling boothshave been set up.

Voting for total 11 LokSabha seats in the State wasscheduled in three phases. TheNaxal-hit Bastar (ST) con-stituency went to polls in the

first phase on April 11, whilevoting in three other seats —Rajanandgaon, Kanker (ST)and Mahasamund — was heldin the second phase on April 18.

In the 2004, 2009 and 2014Lok Sabha polls held after theformation of Chhattisgarh, theBJP won 10 out of the 11 seatsall the three times.

Prime Minister NarendraModi, BJP president Amit Shahand Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh campaigned forthe saffron party in the third phase.

Congress president RahulGandhi, party leader NavjotSingh Sidhu and ChhattisgarhChief Minister Bhupesh Baghelalso held rallies in support oftheir party candidates.

Gandhi did not campaignfor the first two phases, inwhich Baghel mainly led thecanvassing for his party.

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%��&��'��Colombo: The suicide bomberwaited patiently in a queue forthe Easter Sunday breakfastbuffet at Sri Lanka's CinnamonGrand hotel before setting offexplosives strapped to his back.

Carrying a plate, the man,who had registered at the hotelthe night before as Mohamed

Azzam Mohamed, was justabout to be served when he setoff his devastating strike in thepacked restaurant, a manager at the Sri Lankanhotel said. "There was utterchaos," said the manager, whospoke to AFP on condition ofanonymity. AFP

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The pivotal position of theChief Justice of India

The incident of a junior ex-lady employee of the SupremeCourt making harassmentcharges against the ChiefJustice of India has acquired adisproportionate magnitude.Such complaints, when they aremade in the ordinary course ofany administrative functioning,are referred to the appropriateCommittee. However, whenthe complainant distributescopies of her representation toother Judges of the SupremeCourt and the media in orderto sensationalise her allega-tions, it ceases to be routine.When four digital mediaorganisations with an unparal-leled track record of ‘institu-tional disruption’ send similarquestionnaires to the ChiefJustice of India, there is obvi-ously something more thanwhat meets the eye.

India has always takenpride in its independent judi-ciary. Judges decide cases whichdeal with life of the commonman as also the most powerfulcommercial and political inter-ests. A judge is not in a popu-larity race. He owes his com-mitment only to law, Justiceand fairness. A Judge is neitherto follow the ballot box nor ishe to be swayed by the times.His judgement pleases us attimes and leaves us unhappy onmany occasions. But that is thereality of the system which wehave learned to live with. TheChief Justice of India is the firstamongst the equals in theSupreme Court. He is the headof the judicial institutions. Heis both the ‘Master of theRoster’ and the ‘Head of theCollegium’ which makes bind-ing recommendations for theappointment of judges. Hisintegrity, ethics, scholarshipand fairness reflect the imageof India’s judiciary. He lives byexample. For both the ChiefJustice and the judicial institu-tions, credibility and respect areessential. Once the ‘Iqbal’ ofjudiciary is destroyed, the insti-tution itself will crumble.

The assault on the insti-tution

It was in the decade of1970s that we witnessed super-session of judges, intimida-tion of courts and transfer ofHigh Court Judges. This wascoupled with appointment ofpolitically and ideologicallyinclined judges in courts. Postthe 1982 judgement in the firstjudges case, the appointment ofpolitically affiliated judges con-tinued in several High Courts.This process substantiallystopped after the 1993 judge-ment in the second judgescase.

The last few years have wit-nessed the consolidation of‘institution destabilizers’ in amajor way. Many of thesedestabilizers represent Left orultra-Left views. They have noelectoral base or popular sup-port. However, they still have adisproportionate presence inthe media and the academia.When ousted for mainstreammedia, they have taken refugein the digital and social media.They continue to believe in theold Marxian philosophy of‘wrecking the system fromwithin.’ They use free speech todestroy the judicial institution.

This section has found aconvenient ally in a small butvocal section of the Bar. Thissection exploits the judicialrefrain of excessively using thepower of contempt. However,they themselves have no hesi-tation in contemptuous behav-iour themselves. They go pub-lic against individual judges,including the Chief Justice,when they fail to get afavourable order. They carry onsocial media campaigns againstjudges who write judgementsadverse to them. They have lit-tle regard for truth but mas-querade as protectors of pub-lic interest. Their behaviour incourts is offensive both to theBench and their opponents.They threaten walkouts ifjudges are in disagreement.

Even though most of themsubscribe to fringe ideologiesand ideas, it is regrettable that

a section of the Members of theBar affiliated to the CongressParty tend to join them.Frequent attempts are made toget some Parliamentarians tosign Motion of Impeachmentagainst judges and even theChief Justice on unsustainablegrounds. What has always puz-zled me is the Congress lend-ing support to such fringecampaigns.

The power of contemptThe power of contempt is

intended to protect the digni-ty of the Court. However, thepower of contempt is rarely andsparingly used. Ordinarily,courts tend to ignore con-temptuous criticism. Courtsare willing to accept a criticismof judgements because thataids the process of legal evolu-tion. The liberal attitude of theCourts has emboldened the‘institution disruptors.’ At theend of the day, they get awaybecause of the magnanimityand the compassion of judges.

Independent judiciary andfree media are both essential fora vibrant democracy. Both haveto live with each other. Inorder to co-exist, both mustrespect the respective rights ofeach of these institutions. Onecannot take upon itself the taskof destroying the other. Eversince 1950, every judgement ofthe Supreme Court relating toArticle 19(1)(a) has favouredthe strengthening of freespeech. The reverse is not true.Mainstream print media con-ventionally had greater edito-rial control. The ability to dis-sect facts and take a balancedview was much higher. But oflate, the rat race for grabbingeyeballs or viewership hasbegun. For the ‘institutionaldisruptors’ there are no redlines.

The history of the last sev-eral year shows that cases aftercases have witnessed factsbeing manufactured and twist-ed. This falsehood found sup-port in a section in the media.Upon deeper analysis most ofthem were found to be factu-ally incorrect. Facts were man-ufactured. The same ‘gang’ wasbehind this campaign.

The present caseA Judge is continuously

judged every day by the Barand the stakeholders in thecourse of his personal andjudicial conduct. Every time hemakes a comment or writes ajudgement, every word is scru-tinised. In terms of personaldecency, values, ethics andintegrity, the present ChiefJustice of India is extremelywell regarded. Even when crit-ics disagree with his judicialview, his value system hasnever been questioned.Lending shoulder to completelyunverified allegations comingfrom a disgruntled person witha not-so-glorious track recordis aiding the process of desta-bilisation of the institution ofthe Chief Justice of India.

India has witnessed a seriesof attacks by the ‘institution dis-ruptors’ against judges whoare unwilling to agree withthem. It may not be an exag-geration to say that today bothin Court and by creating anenvironment outside, a mass-intimidation of Judges is on.Some lawyers have used inti-madatory behaviour as a tacticto expand their practise.Intimidation and discreditingare important weapons in thehands of these people.Reputation is an integral partof a person’s fundamental rightto live with dignity. An intim-idated judge can fear conse-quences of a possible view thathe is taking. It is, therefore,essential that all well-meaningpersons stand with the judicialinstitution when destabilizersget ready for an assault.

Since the case relating tothis is pending in judicial sidebefore the Bench of a Court, weshould leave it to the wisdomof the Court as to how theyintend to deal with it. But let itbe remembered that this is notthe first case of the ‘institutionaldestabilizers’ nor will it be thelast. If those who peddle false-hood to destroy the institutionare not dealt with in an exem-plary manner, this trend willonly accelerate.

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Worried over the boomingonline illegal trade of

two species of otters — theAsian small-clawed otter andthe smooth-coated otter —India along with Bangladesh,Nepal and Philippines are seek-ing complete ban on all inter-national commercial trade inthe water loving mammals fortheir protection.

The four Asian nationshave moved a proposal in thisregard at the forthcoming 18thConference of the Parties(COP18) to the Convention onInternational Trade inEndangered Species of WildFauna and Flora (CITES) to beheld in Sri Lanka in May, 2019.

Currently, both the speciesare listed on Appendix II ofCITES, which allows regulatedinternational trade. If theCITES members approve theproposal, these carnivores,whose number is dwindlingowing to habitat loss andincreasing online trade for petsin various countries, would betransferred to Appendix I, ban-ning all global commercialtrade.

More than two-thirds of allthe CITES Parties in attendancemust vote to adopt the pro-

posals for the ban to takeeffect. CITES is an interna-tional agreement between gov-ernments that sets regulationson the trade in wild animalsand plants.

Both species of the ottersare currently listed as‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN RedList but wildlife activists warnthat growing online demandwill put further pressure on thespecies in the wild.

In fact, recent investiga-tions by TRAFFIC, the wildlifetrade monitoring network, hasrevealed that their populationshave declined by more than 30percent largely due to destruc-tion of their habitat andexploitation for the global tradein otter skins and pet trade.

Nobody knows exactlyhow many Asian small-clawedotters or smooth-coated ottersare left in India and SoutheastAsia, but the general consensusis that numbers are declining.

Overall, there are 13species of otter, all listed in theIUCN Red List which live inEurope, Asia, Africa, North,Central and South America:Eurasian otters, smooth-coat-ed otters, Asian small-clawedotters, hairy-nosed otters, seaotters, North American riverotters, neotropical otters, giant

otters, Southern river otters,marine otters, African clawlessotters, Congo clawless ottersand spotted-necked otters.

In the past 35 years, seizurerecords reveal that otters aretraded in around 15 Asiancountries, the majority being inChina, India, and Nepal.However, in recent years, therehave been a growing number ofseizures of “live otters” inSoutheast Asia which suggest-

ed an emerging trend of ottersbeing caught for the commer-cial pet trade in this region.

A TRAFFIC reportreleased last year revealed all.Researchers found 560 adver-tisements for up to 1,189 ottersover a four-month period in2018. In addition, the reportfound that 59 live otters, mostof which were juveniles, wereseized by officials from 2015-2017. From 2015 to 2017, four

Southeast Asian countries con-fiscated 59 otters in 13 seizures,most of them in Thailand andIndonesia where commercialbreeding may be taking place,the group said, with at least 32seized en route from Thailandto Japan.

According to theInternational Otter SurvivalFund, the mother otter is oftenkilled by poachers so they cancapture the cubs.

“Chances of survival fornewborn otters in the tradeappear to be low; this is reflect-ed from the juvenile otterswhich that offered at a higherprice as a result of increasedsurvival chance.

However, the much high-er volume of newborn pupssupplied in the trade indicatesthat otters are indiscriminate-ly extracted from the wild,even as a newborn, despite therisk of death.

“While each trader indi-vidually sells a small number ofotters each time, the overall vol-ume of the trade itself is sig-nificant, raising concerns forthe wild populations ofsmooth-coated otter and Asiansmall-clawed otter” noted areport titled “Illegal pet tradeon social media as an emerg-ing impediment to the conser-vation of Asian otters species,”published in the December2018 edition of Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity.

“Weak national laws hinderenforcement action and wide-spread trade in otters onlinethrows the survival of remain-ing wild populations inSoutheast Asia into question,”said a regional TRAFFIC offi-cial, Kanitha Krishnasamy inthe report.

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Lieutenant General DSHooda (retired), who over-

saw the cross-border surgicalstrikes in September 2016 asthe former NorthernCommand chief of the Army,has condemned the Malegaonblast case accused PragyaThakur’s comments that 26/11hero Hemant Karkare had diedat the hands of terrorists aftershe “cursed” him.

“Yes, it hurts. Any martyr,police or Army, he must get allrespect. These utterances arenot good,” Lt General Hoodasaid at an event where hereleased a report that he hadprepared on the country’snational security.

Pragya has filed her nom-inations as a BJP candidate tocontest Bhopal Lok Sabha seatagainst the Congress heavy-weight Digvijay Singh. For thepast few days she has raised apolitical storm with a string ofcontroversial comments.

“I had told him (HemantKarkare) you will be finished,and he was killed by terroristsin less than two months,”Pragya Thakur said. TheElection Commission hasissued a second notice to herover another controversial

comment on the demolition ofBabri Masjid in Ayodhya.

Hooda has been tasked byCongress to prepare a report ofcountry’s security aspect whichhe released on Sunday in thepresence of senior Congressleaders P Chidambaram andJairam Ramesh. On the occa-sion Hooda said the issue ofnational security was importantbut it would be “completelywrong” to say that it was dom-

inating the poll narrative. “As far as politics or raising

questions over cross-borderstrikes are concerned, I thinkwhen senior military officerscome and say you know thisoperation has been done, Ithink that should be the end ofit. Unfortunately, the wholedebate keeps dragging on andit comes up in various forums,and that’s why the militarytends to get drawn into politi-

cal debates. I think that’s notcorrect,” said Hooda.

Explaining the significanceof the report prepared by him,Hooda said, “India is doing welldiplomatically but there shouldbe a permanent seat in theUNSC (United NationsSecurity Council).”

“As an Army chap I alwaysremain apolitical. I don’t wantto get dragged into a politicaldebate,” he said, adding he will

only answer on the nationalsecurity document.

Congress said the top threeissues affecting the people wereunemployment, farm distressand the security of people.“The number one issueremains unemployment. Thenumber two issue is farm dis-tress and the number threeissue is security of various sec-tions of the people, women,Dalits, scheduled castes, sched-uled tribes, forest dwellers,journalists, academicians,NGOs,” Chidambaram saidbriefing the media.

Asked whether this report,which has been made publicduring the Lok Sabha elections,is meant to change the narra-tive on national security, hesaid, “National security is animportant aspect of the narra-tive. But to say that it is dom-inating the narrative is com-pletely wrong.”

He said the Congress andits president Rahul Gandhi hasbeen speaking about jobs, farm,distress and security of differ-ent sections of people every dayduring campaigning.Chidambaram said the reportis a broad outline of how toapproach the issue of nationalsecurity.

“We have taken several

features of Lt Gen D S Hooda’splan (in the manifesto). Theseideas will be implementedwhen we form our govern-ment. Our approach is not adhoc, our approach is not impul-sive. It is after a careful studyand deliberation and necessarymeasures will be taken. Ourinterest is to protect India’snational security,”Chidambaram who was HomeMinister in UPA-II said.

Hooda, while presentingthe report, said there are fivepillars of national security inthe report. Assuring India its“rightful place” in global affairs,securing India’s neighbourhood, peaceful res-olution of internal conflictslike Jammu & Kashmir issueand ensuring “Jan Suraksha”,the main goal of national secu-rity of protecting the people, hesaid.

“The fifth and final pillar ofnational security is strength-ening our capabilities. We havedrafted the report based on aroadmap for enhancing ourhard power. Keeping in viewthe nature of future war fight-ing, there is a need to build upcapabilities and ensure ade-quate budgetary support isavailable to the three services,”said Hooda.

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In the backdrop of heightenedtension between India and

Pakistan post Pulwama inci-dent in February this year, theNavy commanders will takestock of the operational pre-paredness of the force duringthe three-day conference herestarting on Tuesday next. Thetop echelon will also reviewprogress made on variousissues discussed during thelast such meeting held sixmonths back. The commandersmeet every six months forbrainstorming and discussingmatters pertaining to the ser-vice.

Giving details of the issueslikely to come up during theforthcoming meeting, officialssaid here on Sunday the con-ference assumes greater signif-icance in the backdrop ofPulwama associated events thathave brought country’s defenceunder sharper focus and willprovide the higher naval lead-ership a forum to discuss theemerging challenges in themaritime domain and fine tunethe strategies for responding tothe evolving geo-strategic envi-ronment.

The conference is the apexforum within the Service forinteraction between the NavalCommanders. The Navy Chiefwith the Commanders-in-Chief, will review major oper-ational, materiel, logistics,human resources, training andadministrative activities under-taken during the previous sixmonths and deliberate upon

the course to be steered in theensuing six months.

The Navy is operationallydeployed as per is doctrine ofmission based deployment andhas further increased vigil inthe strategically importantIndian Ocean region besidesArabian Sea after the Pulwama incident. FortyCentral Reserve PoliceForce(CRPF) were killed in asuicide attack on February 16.India retaliated by launching airstrikes on February 26 destroy-ing Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM)training centre in Balakot,Pakistan.

The Pakistan Air Force hitback the next day and tried totarget military installations inRajouri sector. In the ensuingaerial battle, Wing CommanderAbhinandan Varthaman flyinga MIG-21 downed a PakistanF-16.

However, the Indian pilot’splane was hit by Pakistan airdefence and he was captured byPakistan Army after his para-chute landed in PakistanOccupied Kashmir(POK).

He returned to India twodays later. Since then the IAFhas increased vigil all along thewestern sector facing Pakistanwhile the Army is alert alongthe Line of Control(LOC) inJammu and Kashmir and theinternational borders.

Meanwhile, navy officialsalso said Defence MinisterNirmala Sitharaman is sched-uled to address the NavalCommanders on the openingday and interact with them.The conference also serves as

a platform for institutionalisedinteraction of NavalCommanders with senior gov-ernment officials.

Interaction with Chiefs ofIndian Army and Indian AirForce during the conferencewould be utilised to analyse theoperational environment,deliberate on Tri-Service syn-ergy and readiness to deter andneutralise threats aimed at thecountry’s sovereignty and ter-ritorial integrity.

The themes of ‘FunctionalReorganisation of Indian Navytowards improving OperationalEfficiency’ and ‘OptimalManning’ will form the core ofdiscussions towards finalisinglong term road map for the ser-viced.

Discussions are plannedon acquisition of new capabil-ities, harnessing niche tech-nologies like ‘Big DataAnalytics’ and ‘ArtificialIntelligence’ for solutions in thedomains of naval combat, con-vergence of networks andinformation, logistics, admin-istration and equipment healthmonitoring for sustained oper-ations.

In keeping with the expec-tation of the Indian Navy beingthe net security provider in theIndian Ocean Region(IOR)and first responder to any cri-sis, the forum will also delib-erate upon the lessons learntfrom the recently concludedhumanitarian and disasterresponse operations by theNavy and various other mar-itime security initiatives, theysaid.

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Shrivenkateshwar MahaSwamiji who is contesting

from Bijapur in Karnataka ona Hindustan Janata Party tick-et has assets worth �9 and hisimmovable assets are nil. He isfollowed by Sreejith PR, anindependent from Wayanad,has assets worth �12. JohnsonVasant Kolhapure contesting asan independent from the Puneseat is third on the list. He hasdeclared assets worth �207.There are 11 candidates whohave declared zero assets intheir poll affidavits.

Vasanthakumar H, aCongress candidate fromKanyakumari in Tamil Nadu isthe richest among all the can-didates contesting in the sec-ond phase of Lok Sabha elec-tions. His total assets are morethan �417 crore. He is followedby Uday Singh of the Congressfrom Purnia in Bihar at �341crore and DK Suresh from thesame party from BengaluruSouth in Karnataka at �338crore.

According to a report bythe Association for DemocraticReforms ( ADR), JP Ladakbhaiof Bahujan Mukti Party, BVansabhai Khulat of BhartiyaTribal Party, HR Bhanabhai ofNavsarjan Bharat Party,Shankar Jadhav of BharatiyaPeoples Party, DS Khatarabhai,MS Khanagoudar, SureshKumar, Tawar Vijay Jagan, NS

Ramjan, AR Shaikh and RBMahapure (all Independent)have declared zero assets intheir affidavits. All of themhave neither movable norimmovable assets in their nameor in their spouse name.

ADR report also says SuhasPopat Gajarmal, who is con-testing from Pune on theRashtriya Janasakti Party, hasassets worth �771. RK Mishrawho is contesting from Puri, ona ticket of CPI(ML) Red Star,has assets �1,000. SharadBhamre, a candidate fromJalgaon has assets worth�1,500. An independent can-didate Aswathi Rajappan ofErnakulam, has declared assetsworth �2,026.

ADR also says the richestcandidate is Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Kunwar DevendraSingh Yadav with assets worth�204 crore in the second phaseof the Lok Sabha polls. Yadavis contesting the elections fromEtah in Uttar Pradesh. He is fol-lowed Bhonsle ShrimantChhatrapati UdayanrajePratapasinh Maharaj contestingon an Nationalist CongressParty (NCP) ticket from Satara

is second on the list. He hasassets worth �199crore.Praveen Singh Aron, withassets worth �147 crore is thirdon the list. He is contesting ona Congress ticket from Bareillyin Uttar Pradesh.

The ADR report says thatthere are 392 candidates in thefray with assets worth morethan Rs one crore. There are392 (25 per cent) candidateswho have assets worth �1 croreand more. Among the majorparties 81 (84 per cent) out of97 candidates from BJP, 74 (82per cent) out of 90 candidatesfrom INC, 9 (90 per cent) outof 10 candidates from SP, 10(53per cent) candidates fromCPI(M), 12(13 per cent) can-didates from BSP, 9 (41 percent) candidates from SHS and7 (70 per cent) out of 10 can-didates from NCP havedeclared assets worth morethan �1 crore.

There are 392(25 per cent)candidates who have assetsworth �1 crore and more.Among the major parties 81(84per cent) out of 97 candidatesfrom BJP, 74 (82 per cent) outof 90 candidates from INC, 9(90 per cent) out of 10 candi-dates from SP, 10 (53 per cent)candidates from CPI(M), 12(13 per cent) candidates fromBSP, 9 (41 per cent) candidatesfrom SHS and 7 (70 per cent)out of 10 candidates from NCPhave declared assets worthmore than �1 crore.

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chhattisgarh 03RAIPUR | MONDAY | APRIL 22, 2019

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

As part of security arrangement forholding free and fair polls in third

phase on April 23, Election Commissionof India has issued directive banning theentry into the polling centre with anyarms and mobile phones.

The presiding officers have beenalso directed not to allow entry of anyunauthorized person inside the pollingbooth.

The guidelines state that cell phone,cordless phone or wireless sets are notallowed inside the polling booths. Thepolling agent of political parties or can-didates is not allowed to send the slip inany condition outside the polling centre

citing the status of polling.The presiding officers through secu-

rity personnel deputed should ensurethat no elector enters the polling boothwith any arm.

The Presiding officer has to ensurethat EVM, control unit and VVPATmachines should not be kept on ground.

Only presiding officer, candidate,agent appointed by candidate or party,authorized officer of ElectionCommission, authorized media person-nel, observers and micro-observers,person accompanying blind electors,mother/father with minor child areallowed to enter the polling centres.

Even security personnel will not beallowed to enter the polling centre. Z-plus category person’s security person-nel have to enter in normal dress andthey should not display the arms in anycondition.

No arms, mobile phonesallowed at polling centres

Even security personnel willnot be allowed to enter the

polling centre. Z-plus categoryperson’s security personnel

have to enter in normal dressand they should not displaythe arms in any condition.


Webcasting will be done at 425 pollingcentres of Raipur district which

includes 175 sensitive polling centres.The total sensitive polling centres in

district are 344. To monitor the polling inRaipur district, as many as 291 micro-observers have been appointed, who arecentral government officers and employees.They will provide report based on 39 points.

According to Raipur District ElectoralOfficer and Returning Officer DrBasavaraju S, in all the sensitive polling cen-tres, the deployment of paramilitary forces,district police, home guards and specialpolice officers which include kotwar andforest guards, will be made.

Raipur DEO states that Raipur Lok

Sabha constituency has 9 assembly con-stituencies with 21,11,104 lakh electors.

They are Baloda Bazar, Bhatapara,Dharsiwa, Raipur Rural, Raipur City West,Raipur City North, Raipur City South,Arang and Abhanpur.

The men electors are 10,71,921, womenelectors are 10,38,889, transgender electorsis 297, differently able are 11,936 and serv-ice voters are 634.

A total of 2583 postal ballot have beenissued. All the officials and employeesdeputed in election duty have been issued7030 ‘Election Duty Certificate’ (EDC).

Raipur has 2329 polling centre and 14auxiliary polling centres. The number of allwomen polling centres is 44, model pollingcentre is 46 and differently able polling cen-tres are 10.

Webcasting at 425 pollingcentres in Raipur district


Citing reports that BJP candi-date for Bhopal seat Sadhvi

Pragya Singh Thakur was accusedof stabbing a youth here inChhattisgarh 19 years ago,Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel on Sundaytermed her as ‘habitual criminal’.

Talking to media personshere, he said that he had enquired

about her and was apprised thatshe used to live here inChhattisgarh with her brother inlaw around 19 years ago and wasinvolved in fights over petty issue.

He further said “the victim ofstabbing himself narrated me andlater on I also confirmed it withthe villagers and found it true thatSadhvi Pragya was involved instabbing incidents here”

RAIGARH: Jashpur districtelectoral officer and collectorNilesh Kshirsagar has suspend-ed Kunkuri Revenue InspectorArvind Kumar Sahu and issuednotices to several others for fail-ing to videograph a controver-sial speech of Congress candi-date at a rally. Reports said thatCongress candidate LaljeetSingh Rathia made a personalremark against Prime MinisterNarendra Modi at a public rallyand the officials who weretasked to videograph the rallyfailed to adhere to their job.

The action was taken afterthe speech of the Congress can-didate went viral on socialmedia. Kshirsagar also issuedshow cause notice to Sub-divi-sional Magistrate (SDM), JanpadChief Executive Officer andNaib Tehsildhar for not con-ducting the videography of therally.

EC suspends govt official

STAFF REPORTER nBIJAPUR

Two Maoist insurgentswere gunned down in an

encounter with securityforces in the insurgency-hitBijapur district police saidhere on Sunday.

The skirmish took placeat around 8 am in forest ofPamed police station areawhen a joint a joint team ofthe special anti-NaxalGreyhounds unit ofTelangana and Chhattisgarhpolice was out on ananti-naxal operation alongthe inter–state border, state’sDeputy Inspector General(anti-naxal operations)Sundarraj said.

Acting on specificintelligence, a team of theGreyhounds andChhattisgarh Police's Special

Task Force (STF) and districtforce had launched opera-tions along the inter-stateborder, around 500 km fromRaipur, he said.

When the security forceswere cordoning off theforests of Pamed, the gun-battle broke out.

“After gun fell silent,bodies of two ultras wererecovered from the spot,”Sundarraj informed.

A few weapons were alsorecovered from the spot butmore details are awaited asthe search operation was stillunderway in the area.

Two Maoists killedin Bijapur gun battle

When the securityforces were cordoning

off the forests ofPamed, the gun-battle

broke out.


BJP has raised the allegations onSunday against Congress that

it is linked to the recovery of Rs1.50 crore and a currency countingmachine in a house raided by theIncome Tax department atShailendra Nagar.

BJP spokesperson SanjayShrivastava while interacting withmedia persons said, the amount isconnected to liquor lobby and thehouse is linked to it. The diaryrecovered from it mentions aboutRs 358 crore and it is linked to‘Hawala’.

He alleged that liquor without

excise duty is being kept in theliquor shops and the sale is takingplace sans billing. The excisedepartment has become conduitfor election funds.

BJP spokesperson said, “Wehad urged the ElectionCommission to monitor the CMresidence, residences of ministers,CM’s residence at Bhilai and otherCongress leaders’ residences. It is acritical situation. Congress in itselection manifesto had promisedtotal prohibition. But, Congress istrying to purchase democracythrough money received fromliquor.”

BJP alleges ‘hawala’deal against Congress

Baghel terms Sadhvi Pragya‘habitual criminal’

BIJAPUR: Fifteen Maoists including awoman Naxal carrying a reward of Rs onelakh on her, shun violence and surren-dered before police with arms in Bijapur,police said here on Sunday. They surren-dered ultras have been identified as RajuWacham (25), Sukku Pallo (25), Ova RamWacham (45), Raju Ram Wacham (24),Rainu Wacham (33), Sukku Wacham (40)s/o Kirwa Wacham, Banjaram Gota (35),Sukku Vacham (40) s/o Jogi Wacham,Budhri Telam (25), Mandi Telam (29),Vadde Shankar (27), Irpe Wacham (24),Jurri Pallo (25), Sunita Wacham (25) andJimmo Wacham (25), BijapurSuperintendent of Police GowardhanThakur told reporters. Those surren-dered included nine men and six womenMaoists. Three men have been surren-dered with arms. The woman naxal iden-tified as Irpe Vacham is commander ofNaxal Chetna Natya Mandali (CNM) andcarried reward of Rs one lakh on herhead. All the surrendered Maoists will beprovided facilities under the surrenderand rehabilitation policy of state govern-ment, Thakur said while adding immedi-ate assistance of Rs 10,000 was also pro-vided to each of the surrendered Maoists.

15 Maoists shunviolence in Bastar

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Thakur had earlier facedflak for claiming that formerchief of Mumbai’s Anti-Terrorist Squad HemantKarkare, who had died inaction during the 26/11 terrorattacks, lost his life because shehad “cursed him”.

Addressing party workersin Bhopal, Thakur broke downwhile narrating the allegedcustodial torture inflicted onher after she was arrested inconnection with 2008 blastcase, in which six persons haddied and over 100 were injured.

She came down heavily onthe late ATS chief, who wasawarded the Ashok Chakrafor his bravery in facing theMumbai terror attack, andalleged that she was torturedand abused by him in ways thatwere “unbearable”.

Thakur claimed he used toendlessly haunt her with hisdaunting questions, to whichshe had no answers as she was“innocent all along”. She saidshe cursed Karkare for thealleged threats, torture andmiserable treatment in custody.“Maine kaha that tera sar-

vanash hoga (I cursed him thathe would be finished),” she said.

Referring to sutak, an aus-picious period of one monthand a half according to Hindutradition which starts afterdeath or birth of anyone infamily, she said that the holyperiod started on the day shelanded in jail and ended the dayKarkare was slain by terrorists.“Inauspicious period startedfor Hemant Karkare when Iwas arrested. Exactly 45 dayslater he was killed and that wasthe end of the inauspiciousperiod,” she said.

From Page 1“I call upon all Sri Lankans

during this tragic time toremain united and strong...The government is takingimmediate steps to containthis situation,” he tweeted.

Security has been intensi-fied around the religious placesacross the capital. The govern-ment has temporarily blockedall social media platforms.

“Horrible scenes. I sawmany body parts strewn allover,” said Harsha de Silva, SriLanka’s Minister of EconomicReforms and PublicDistribution.

The Indian HighCommission in Colombo saidthat it was closely monitoringthe situation in Sri Lanka. “Weare closely monitoring the sit-uation. Indian citizens in needof assistance or help and forseeking clarification may callthe following numbers :+94777903082 +94112422788+94112422789,” the HighCommission tweeted.

“In addition to the num-bers given, Indian citizens inneed of assistance or help andfor seeking clarification mayalso call the following numbers+94777902082 +94772234176,”it said.

The first blasts were report-ed at St Anthony’s church inColombo and St Sebastian’sChurch in Negombo just out-side the capital. “A bomb attackto our church, please come andhelp if your family membersare there,” read a post inEnglish on the Facebook pageof the St Sebastian’s Church.

Images circulated on socialmedia showed severely dam-aged St Sebastian’s church, witha shattered ceiling and blood onthe pews.

The riot police and theSpecial Task Force, extra policesecurity has been deployedaround the BandaranaikeInternational Airport, state-run Daily News reported.

All state Universities havebeen closed until furthernotice.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjithsaid all Easter masses in theColombo District have beencancelled.

Former president MahindaRajapaksa, under whose lead-ership the Lankan Armycrushed the LTTE, termed theattack as “barbaric”

4��*�� 1��!��* �� !��%��

From Page 1Terming the ongoing Lok

Sabha elections as no ordinarypolls, Priyanka asked people tovote for saving the countryfrom “narrow minded ideolo-gy” as she accused the NDAGovernment of underminingdemocracy and suppressingdissent.

Earlier Priyanaka visitedthe family of CRPF jawan VVVasanthkumar who was mar-tyred in the Pulwama terrorattack.

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The two-day Jim Corbett-Pandit GB Pant symposium

concluded in the Birla VidyaMandir school in Nainital onthe weekend.

The principal of LawrenceSchool, Sanawar (HimachalPradesh), Vinay Pande was thechief guest of the seminar.Addressing the students on theoccasion, Pande stressed onthe importance of hard work forachieving the target set. Studentsfrom a total of 13 schools alsoparticipated in various com-petitive events held during the

two-day event. The winners of these com-

petitions were also presentedawards at the conclusion of theevent.

In the quiz competition, theVK Birla Centre for Education,Pune secured the first positionfollowed by Birla Vidya Mandir,Nainital and Sainik SchoolGhodakhal at second and thirdpositions respectively.

In the creative writing com-petition, Scindia KanyaVidyalaya, Gwalior came firstfollowed by Birla Vidya Mandirand Mayo College Girl’s School,Ajmer came second and thirdrespectively.

In the date competition, thebest entry and best speakeraward was won by SpringdalePublic School, Pusa Road whilebest block and tackle award waspresented to Birla Vidya Mandir.Speaking at the conclusion, theschool principal Anil Sharmacommended all the students forparticipating in the competi-tions.

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In order to encourage lastmile connectivity and use of

environment friendly mode oftransport such as bicyclesamong the metro users, theDelhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC) has created perma-nent space for bicycle parkingat its Metro stations. Currently,the facility is at about 18 park-ing lots at different stationsacross Delhi Metro network.

These stations are locatedin Line number 1, 2,3,5,6 and8. The stations are Seelampur,Shahdara, Welcome, Rithala,Saket, Arjangarh, Chattarpur,Dwarka Mor, Dwarka, DwarkaSec21 Mundka, Nangloi,Peeragarhi, Tughlakabad,Badarpur, Sarita Vihar andOkhla Bird Sanctuary.

“The main aim behind thisinitiative is to encourage use ofbicycles and propagate envi-ronment friendly transporta-tions among the metro com-muters for covering smallerdistances. Besides, these park-ing will help the safety of thecycles and will help as last mileconnectivity. Permanent park-ing lots at Nawada, UttamNagar and VishwavidayalaMetro stations have also beenidentified for permanent bicy-cle stands which will beinstalled within few days.” saidan official of DMRC.

Officials of DMRC alsoadded that the this facility willbe further extended to morestations in a phased manner.These permanent bicycle standshave the capacity for parking ofmultiple bicycles and will beprovided with a locking mech-anism for the safety of bicycles.

The Delhi metro has start-

ed this initiative in associationwith some private operators.

The DMRC is furtheroperating 20 bicycle sharingservice stands (through opera-tors) covering 19 stations acrossits network.

With the recent expansionof Metro network, 13 more sta-tions have been identified for

this bicycle sharing servicewhich will be functional infew weeks, they said.

Delhi metro is currentlyspread on a network of about373 Km with 271 stations acrossthe National Capital and thenearby regional areas such asNoida, Ghziabad, Faridabad,Bahadurgarh and Haryana.

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In an effort to decongest thetraffic flow in Gurugram,

new flyovers and underpasseswill be constructed inGurugram. The district hasbeen given more flyover andunderpass projects.

“The sites where con-struction work is likely to soonstart are at Hero Hoda Chowkto Northern Peripheral Road(NPR), Near HUDA CityCenter Metro Station. Aaprtfrom these, Foot Over Bridges(FOBs) will be constructed atMahavir Chowk, flyover atGurudwara Road and KadipurChowk to help pedestrianscross roads safely.

Once operational, theFOBs will reduce the numberof jay walkers who crowd thealready slow moving traffic”, anofficial said.

Recently some projectswere formally commissionedfor commuters which includedthe newly built eight-lane HeroHonda Chowk Flyover, two-lane Underpass fromChaudhary Bhakhtawar Singhroad towards Delhi near RajivChowk, four-lane MaharanaPratap Flyover on Mehrauli-Gurugram road, Underpasses

at Hero Honda Chowk,Signature Tower, Iffco Chowkand Rajiv Chowk.

“The state government hasdecided that road from HeroHonda Chowk to NPR on NH-48 will be expanded to sixlanes.

The National HighwayAuthority of India (NHAI)will construct the portion fromHero Honda Chowk toShaheed Captain UmangBhardwaj Chowk on Pataudiroad, the official added.

The stretch after this willbe constructed by theGurugram MetropolitanDevelopment Authority(GMDA) and MunicipalCorporation Gurugram(MCG). This road would alsohave the facility of an under-pass, two flyovers or one rail-way over bridge, he said

Meanwhile,HUDA CityCentre whichhas been besetwith perennialtraffic woes ash a p h a z a r d l yparked autosoutside theMetro station isset for a facelift.

The StateGovernment has

decided to modify the HUDACity Center Metro Station junc-tion. The Haryana UrbanDevelopment Authority(HUDA) and GMDA willjointly construct an FOB andan underpass at this junction soas to facilitate the people.

Apart from this, theauthorities are also planning toconstruct a flyover or under-pass near Atul Kataria Chowkto tackle traffic load on OldDelhi Road. The road will havesix lanes from Mahavir Chowkto Palam Vihar curve, afterwhich it will be widened as peravailable space.

“The construction of theseprojects is expected tosmoothen traffic flow to agreat extent in Gurugram.These projects were alsodemanded by the several resi-dents in the city,” he said.

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The poll panel will set theball rolling for the crucial

May 19 Lok Sabha election inPunjab on Monday by theissuing the notification andstarting with the process of fil-ing nominations for 13 parlia-mentary constituencies.

Election in Punjab will beheld in the seventh and the lastphase on May 19 for which thecandidates can file their nom-inations from April 22 tillApril 29, while the last day forscrutiny of nominations will beApril 30, and last date forwithdrawal of candidature isMay 2.

Along with Punjab, otherstates that go to polls on May19 will be Bihar for eight par-liamentary constituencies,Jharkhand for three, MadhyaPradesh for eight, West Bengalfor nine, one for Chandigarh,13 for Uttar Pradesh, and fourfor Himachal Pradesh.

Unlike before, Punjab, thistime, would witness a multi-cornered contest with AamAadmi Party (AAP), SAD(Taksali), Punjab DemocraticAlliance (PDA) comprisingsix parties, also entering theelectoral field besides the tra-ditional Congress and SAD-BJP.

As of now, the Congress,AAP, and PDA haveannounced its candidates forall 13 seats, while SAD is yet todeclare its candidates for twoof the 10 seats its contests inalliance with the BJP — whichis yet to disclose the names ofits two of the total three can-didates.

SAD is yet to announce itscandidates for the two crucialseats of Bathinda andFerozepur, while BJP is keep-ing its cards close to chest forHoshiarpur and Gurdaspurseats.

For Bathinda, SAD is like-ly to retain its sitting MP and

Union Minister HarsimratKaur Badal, while fromFerozepur, the party may fieldits president Sukhbir Badal togive the much needed boost tothe party’s poll campaign.

Two out of the four SADMPs have parted ways, withFerozepur MP Sher SinghGhubaya seeking re-election

on the Congress ticket,Khadoor Sahib MP RanjitSingh Brahmpura floating hisown outfit — SAD (Taksali).

While Brahmpura hasdecided against contestingelections, his party has fieldedtwo candidates — PunjabVidhan Sabha’s former deputyspeaker Bir Devinder Singh

from Sri Anandpur Sahib, andadvocate Rajdev Singh Khalsafrom Sangrur.

It had fielded formerIndian Army chief General JJSingh but withdrew his candi-dature in the favour of PDA’sjoint candidate Bibi ParamjitKaur Khalra.

The state Chief Electoral

Officer (CEO) Dr S KarunaRaju on Sunday said that as perschedule, the filing of nomi-nation papers for the upcom-ing Lok Sabha 2019 electionswould start with issuance ofnotification on April 22(Monday), and would contin-ue till April 29 (Monday).

“The nominations for the

upcoming elections would befiled in the office of respectivereturning officers situated inDistrict AdministrativeComplex from 11 am to 3 pmfrom April 22-29, 2019,excluding April 27 (Saturday)and April 28 (Sunday),” hesaid.

He said that nominationpapers are to be filed with therespective DeputyCommissioners, who are theReturning Officers for theseconstituencies — GurdaspurDC for Gurdaspur, AmritsarDC for Amritsar, Tarn TaranDC for Khadoor Sahib,Jalandhar DC for Jalandhar(SC), Hoshiarpur DC forHoshiarpur (SC), RupnagarDC for Sri Anandpur Sahib,Ludhiana DC for Ludhiana,Fatehgarh Sahib DC forFatehgarh Sahib (SC), FaridkotDC for Faridkot (SC),Firozepur DC for Firozepur,Bathinda DC for Bathinda,Sangrur DC for Sangrur,

Patiala DC for Patiala parlia-mentary constituencies.

Dr Raju said that in orderto qualify for a parliamentary(Lok Sabha) seat, a candidateshould be registered as anelector for any parliamentaryconstituency. To satisfy theconcerned Returning Officeron this point, candidatesshould produce a certifiedcopy of the relevant entry ofthe electoral roll in force.

He said that there are total2,03,74,375 registered voters inthe State for these elections, outof which 1,07,54,157 male,96,19,711 female, 507 thirdgenders, 68,551 PWD votersand 1,00,285 service voters.

There are 23,213 pollingstations on 14,460 polling loca-tions from which 249 boothsarev identified as critical, 719as sensitive, and 509 as hypersensitive. A total of 12,002polling booths will be coveredunder web casting on thepolling day.

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Tiruchirappalli: A stampededuring a local temple festivalkilled seven devotees and injuredten others near Thuraiyur,about 45 km from here, onSunday, police said.

The tragedy occurred whenhundreds of people gathered forthe 'padikasu' (temple coin) dis-tribution ceremony, held as partof annual 'Chithira Pournami'festival, at the 'Karuppasamy' (arural deity) temple inMuthiampalayam village.

Prime Minister NarendraModi and Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister K Palaniswamiexpressed anguish over the lossof lives in the incident.

While Modi announced anex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for thefamilies of the victims,Palaniswami ordered a solatiumof Rs one lakh each and Rs50,000 to the injured.

The stampede occurredwhen the priest started distrib-uting the coins and a section ofdevotees surged forward to col-

lect them, police said.Seven people, including four

women, died on the spot whileten others were seriously injuredand have been hospitalised, theysaid. Distribution of the coins isthe main event of the festival,which draws a large number ofdevotees from in and around the

village. Devotees believe keepingthe temple coins at home in theircash box will bring prosperity.

A temple official, on condi-tion of anonymity, said there wasno effort to control the crowdnor was there enough securitypersonnel to bring the situationunder control. IANS

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New Delhi: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi Sundayexpressed anguish over theloss of lives in a stampede ata temple in Trichy andannounced an ex-gratia of Rs2 lakh for the families of thevictims.

Seven devotees werekilled and 10 others injured inthe stampede at KaruppasamyTemple in Muthiampalayamvillage in Trichy.

The tragedy hit the village

when hundreds of devoteeshad gathered at the temple tooffer puja on 'ChitraPoornima'.

"Saddened by the loss oflives due to the stampede at atemple in Thuraiyur, Trichy.My condolences to the fami-lies of those who passed awayand prayers with the injured,"he tweeted.

He said all possible helpis being extended by theauthorities. PTI

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Kharar : Punjab ChiefMinister Amarinder SinghSunday lambasted the BJP forallegedly trying to destroyIndia's unique strength ofdiversity with their "divisivepolitics".

"The BJP is trying todestroy India 's uniquestrength of diversity with theirdivisive politics," he said

Amarinder denied beingsoft on the Badals and assert-ed that he would not spareanyone found guilty, as perlaw, of any crime against thepeople of his state. "Even ifPrakash Singh Badal is foundguilty, he will be punished,"said the Chief Minister, butreiterated that he would followthe due process of law inaccordance with constitu-tional norms.

"They (Badals) will haveto face the consequences oftheir actions, if found respon-sible," he added. "I believe inthe Constitution and the rule

of law, and am totally againstpolitics of vendetta..," he said.

He was referring to for-mer Punjab chief ministerParkash Singh Badal's earliercomment this year that hissuccessor's (Amarinder Singh)only aim was to put himbehind bars.

The Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) patriarch was thenreacting to the chief minister'saddress in the PunjabAssembly in February where-in he vowed to punish thoseguilty of the "horrendous"2015 sacrilege incidents inthe state.

Badal had earlier termedthe Special Investigation Teamformed to probe sacrilege andpolice firing incidents in 2015and Justice Ranjit SinghCommission set up by theCongress government as a"drama" and asserted:"Amarinder's only goal is toput me in jail."

PTI

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Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the SunniMuslim world’s foremost reli-

gious institution, on Sunday con-demned “terrorist” attacks in SriLanka against hotels and church-es celebrating Easter that killedmore than 200 people. “I cannotimagine a human being couldtarget the peaceful on their cel-ebration day,” said Sheikh Ahmedal-Tayeb, the institution’s grandimam. “Those terrorists’ per-verted disposition goes againstthe teachings of all religions,” hesaid in comments published onAl-Azhar’s Twitter account.

At least 207 people werekilled Sunday in a series ofeight devastating bomb blasts,which ripped through hotels andchurches where Christians werecelebrating Easter. “I pray thatGod grants patience to the fam-ilies of the casualties and recov-ery to the injured,” added SheikhTayeb. Al-Azhar frequentlydenounces jihadist movementsand regularly reaches out to theChristian faith.

In February, Pope Francisand Sheikh Tayeb signed a doc-ument on “human fraternity forworld peace”, hailed by theVatican as an “important stepforward in the dialogue betweenChristians and Muslims”.

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Sudanese protest leaders werepreparing Sunday to unveil

a civilian council that theywant to take power from mil-itary rulers, who have resistedcalls to step down despite massdemonstrations.

Thousands of protestersgathered outside the armyheadquarters in centralKhartoum ahead of theannouncement, an AFP corre-spondent reported, a day afterthe two sides pledged to holdmore talks.

On Friday the SudaneseProfessionals Association(SPA), which was at the fore-front of the protest campaignthat toppled longtime presidentOmar al-Bashir this month,said it would announce the civilian council at 1700GMT.

It has invited foreign diplo-mats and journalists to attendthe event at the rally site.

“We are waiting for theannouncement today,”Romaysaa Omar, one of theprotesters at the sit-in area, told

AFP.“All Sudanese people are in

favour of the council to beannounced by the SPA.”

Whistling and wavingSudanese flags, dozens ofdemonstrators were sitting ona bridge at the site, rhythmicallybanging stones against metal.

“We will stay at the siteuntil all our demands are met,”said Al-Baraa Yousef, anotherdemonstrator.

On Saturday, protest lead-ers and the military rulers heldtalks about a power handoverand agreed to continue dis-cussions.

“We clarified our maindemand, which is the transferof power to civilian authorities,”Siddiq Yousef, a senior mem-ber of the Alliance for Freedomand Change, the umbrellagroup leading the protestmovement, told state televisionafter Saturday’s talks.

“We agreed to continuenegotiations to reach a solutionthat satisfies both the sides, sothat the transfer of power willhappen in a peaceful way.”

On Saturday Ahmed al-

Rabia, a senior member ofSPA, said it was possible thatthe unveiling of the councilcould be delayed.

“If (the military council)are willing to negotiate, thenthere is a chance that tomor-row’s announcement could bepostponed,” he said.

But on Sunday he con-firmed that it would go aheadas planned.

“There will be a press con-ference today at the said timeat the protest site,” he told AFP,without offering details.

Since Bashir was ousted onApril 11 by the army inresponse to months of massstreet protests, the militaryrulers have resisted calls totransfer power to a civilianbody.

“What we want from themis a timetable to hand overpower, so things don’t drag on,”said Rabia.

He said mounting pressurefrom the street and from theinternational community wasexpected to make the militarycouncil cede power in “two tothree weeks”.

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Pope Francis denounced the“cruel violence” of the

Easter Sunday slaughter ofChristians and foreigners in SriLanka as he celebrated themost joyful moment on theChristian liturgical calendarby lamenting the bloodshedand political violence afflictingmany parts of the world.

Francis skipped his homi-ly during Easter Mass but deliv-ered his traditional “Urbi etOrbi” (To the city and theworld) speech highlightingconflicts in the Mideast, Africaand the Americas and demand-ing that political leaders putaside their differences andwork instead for peace.

“May the one who gives ushis peace end the roar of arms,both in areas of conflict and inour cities, and inspire the lead-ers of nations to work for anend to the arms race and thetroubling spread of weaponry,especially in the economicallymore advanced countries,”Francis said from the loggia ofSt. Peter’s Basilica overlookingthe flower-decked squarebelow.

In a special appeal at the

end, Francis lamented the“grave attacks” on Sri Lankanhotels and churches, whichoccurred just as the Christianfaithful were celebrating EasterMass that marks the resurrec-tion of Christ following his cru-cifixion.

“I want to express my lov-ing closeness to the Christiancommunity, targeted while theywere gathered in prayer, and allthe victims of such cruel vio-lence,” Francis said. “I entrustto the Lord all those who weretragically killed and pray for theinjured and all those who aresuffering as a result of this dra-

matic event.” More than 130 people were

killed and hundreds woundedfollowing near-simultaneousblasts at three Sri Lankanchurches and three hotels fre-quented by foreigners.

In his roundup of globalconflicts, Francis warned thatthe world was increasinglybecoming resigned to theongoing conflict in Syria. Hecalled for a “renewed commit-ment for a political solution”that would respond to Syrians’need for freedom, peace andjustice and allow for millions ofrefugees to return home.

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British Prime MinisterTheresa May Sunday con-

demned the “truly appalling”multiple blasts at churches andhotels in Sri Lanka on Easter,killing over 160 people, includ-ing at least nine foreigners.

Six near-simultaneous andcoordinated explosions rockedthree churches and three five-star hotels frequented bytourists as the Easter Sundaymass were in progress.

“The acts of violenceagainst churches and hotels inSri Lanka are truly appalling,and my deepest sympathies goout to all of those affected at this

tragic time,” prime ministerMay said in a statement onTwitter.

“We must stand together tomake sure that no one shouldever have to practise their faithin fear,” she said.

The statement came soonafter she called for the UK tostand up for religious freedomin her annual message to markEaster.

No group has claimedresponsibility for Sunday’sattacks.

However, most of the dead-ly attacks in the past in SriLanka were carried out by theLiberation Tigers of TamilEelam (LTTE) which ran amilitary campaign for a separateTamil homeland in the north-ern and eastern provinces of theisland nation for nearly 30years before its collapse in 2009after the Sri Lankan Armykilled its supreme leaderVelupillai Prabhakaran. Nogroup has claimed responsibil-ity for Sunday’s attacks.

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Russian President VladimirPutin has denounced a

series of attacks on churchesand hotels in Sri Lanka as“cruel and cynical.”

In a telegram of condo-lences sent to his Sri Lankancounterpart, the Russian leadersaid Moscow remains a “reli-able partner of Sri Lanka in thefight against international ter-rorism.”

He added that the Russians“share the grief of the relativesof those killed and wish aquick recovery to all thosewho were wounded” after theEaster Sunday blasts that killedat least 138 people.

Putin voiced confidencethat “the perpetrators and themasterminds of such a crueland cynical crime committedamid the Easter festivities willtake the punishment theydeserve.”

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Pakistan condemned terrorattacks on churches and

hotels in Sri Lanka on EasterSunday that killed160 peopleand injured over 450.

The blasts targeted StAnthony’s Church in Colombo,St Sebastian’s Church in thewestern coastal town ofNegombo and another churchin the eastern town ofBatticaloa around 8.45 am.(local time) as the EasterSunday mass were in progress.

Three explosions werereported from the five-starhotels — the Shangri-La, theCinnamon Grand and theKingsbury.

Foreigners and locals whowere injured in hotel blastswere admitted to the ColomboGeneral Hospital.

Foreign Office spokesmanDr Mohammad Faisal said on

social media that Pakistanstands with the people of SriLanka.

“Pakistan condemns explo-sions and terrorist attacks in SriLanka at Churches & Hotels,that have led to numerouscasualties and immense loss.People and Government ofPakistan stand by people andGovernment of Sri Lanka atthis moment of tragedy andagainst terror,” he said in atweet.

Prime Minister ImranKhan also strongly condemnedthe barbaric attacks.

“Strongly condemn thehorrific terrorist attack in SriLanka on Easter Sunday result-ing in precious lives lost & hun-dreds injured. My profoundcondolences go to our SriLankan brethren. Pakistanstands in complete solidaritywith Sri Lanka in their hour ofgrief,” he tweeted.

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Ukrainians went to pollsSunday in the second

round of an extraordinary elec-tion with a comedian whoplays a president on TV expect-ed to win in a stunning rebuketo the political establishment.

F o r t y - o n e - y e a r - o l dVolodymyr Zelensky’s bid tolead the country of 45 millionpeople was initially dismissedas a joke when he announcedhis candidacy on New Year’sEve.

But now all opinion pollssuggest incumbent PresidentPetro Poroshenko is headingfor defeat amid widespreadanger over poverty, corruptionand war.

Zelensky’s victory isexpected to open a new chapter in the history of acountry that has gone throughtwo popular uprisings in two decades and is mired in afive-year conflict with sepa-

ratists in the east.Polling stations opened at

0500 GMT as voters fromUkrainian-speaking regions inthe west to Russian-speakingregions in the war-torn eastwent to cast their ballots.

Speaking outside a pollingbooth in the capital Kiev,Galyna, 81, said she voted forZelensky.

“Because I am againstPoroshenko,” said the pen-sioner who refused to give herlast name.

Zelensky has tapped into widespread frustrationover graft, poverty and a conflict with separatists that has claimed some 13,000lives.

But others doubtedwhether the consummateshowman would be able to takeon the country’s vested inter-ests, negotiate with the likes ofGerman Chancellor AngelaMerkel and stand up to Russia’sVladimir Putin.

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US special envoy for peaceand reconciliation in

Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzadvisited the Afghan capital andexchanged views with the coun-try’s leadership, the mediareported on Tuesday. As part ofhis multi-nation trip to facilitateintra-Afghan peace talks,Khalilzad arrived in Kabul onMonday and immediately start-ed meeting Afghan officials,Daily Outlook Afghanistanreported.

Khalilzad, the Afghanistan-born US veteran diplomat, metPresident Mohammad AshrafGhani, Chief ExecutiveAbdullah Abdullah and severalother politicians. AfghanPresidential Palace in a shortstatement released here onTuesday said that PresidentGhani and Khalilzad exchangedviews on the situation inAfghanistan and the ongoing

peace process and added that theoutcome of the peace talkswould be shared with the peo-ple. The Taliban has so farrejected to sit on negotiatingtable with the Afghan govern-ment, saying the militant groupwon’t talk to Kabul administra-tion in the presence of foreignmilitary forces in the country.

Khalilzad, who ended hisfifth round of marathon talkswith the Taliban representativesin Doha a couple of weeks agoand resumed his peace missionon March 25 with visit toLondon and Brussels, is expect-ed to visit Pakistan, Uzbekistan,Jordan and Qatar after ending hismeetings with Afghan leaders.

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The Islamic State groupSunday claimed responsi-

bility for an attack that killed 10people and trapped around2,000 for hours inside the com-munications ministry in theAfghan capital the previousday.

Four IS jihadists detonatedexplosives near the ministry,then entered and “battledAfghan security forces withmachine guns and handgrenades for numerous hours”,the group said in a statementon its social media channels.

The attack in central Kabulkilled seven civilians and threemembers of the security forces,the interior ministry said onSunday, in a new toll after threepeople died of their wounds.

AFP journalists heard onebig blast around 11:40 am(0710 GMT), followed by spo-radic gunfire for hours after-wards.

By about 5:00 pm (1230GMT), the interior ministrydeclared the assault over.

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Iraq’s judiciary condemned todeath four Islamic State group

members on Sunday, the firstknown sentence for hundreds ofIraqi jihadists repatriated inrecent months from neighbour-ing Syria.

In early April, Iraq’s spe-cialised terrorism courts beganpreparing cases against nearly 900Iraqis accused of joining IS.

They had been caught inSyria by the US-backed SyrianDemocratic Forces (SDF), analliance of Kurdish and Arabfighters, and transferred to Iraqiauthorities. On Sunday, the judiciary said it had tried fourIraqis “accused of belonging to Daesh (IS) and carrying out crimes against innocent civil-ians in order to destabilise Iraqand Syria.”

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Afghanistan’s supreme courthas extended the term of

President Ashraf Ghani untildelayed elections take place, anofficial said Sunday, resolvingfor now the question of whatwould happen after his termexpires on May 22.

Presidential electionswere initially slated for April 20,but Afghan poll officials wereunprepared for a new nation-wide vote so soon after Octoberparliamentary elections.

With some final resultsfrom that election still pending,the presidential poll wasdelayed until July 20, thenpushed back again untilSeptember 28.

Ariana News published astatement from the court say-ing it “has extended the serviceterm of President Ghani untilthe re-election of a new presi-dent”.

“The supreme courtunderstands the financial, secu-

rity and logistical challenges faced by the election commis-sion.”

While the court did notmake the statement public,Faraidoon Khwazoon, thedeputy spokesman to Afghanchief executive AbdullahAbdullah, confirmed the doc-ument to AFP, noting thatAbdullah’s term had also beenextended.

“Yes, the supreme court hasmade its decision, based on theconstitution, on the extension

of the service term of the pres-ident,” Khwazoon said, addingthe extension would last “untilthe re-election of the new pres-ident”. Ghani’s office could notimmediately be reached forcomment.

The delayed elections comeas the United States tries tonegotiate a peace deal with theTaliban, and some had specu-lated the polls were being delib-erately stalled to create morespace for those talks.

Opposition politicians andpresidential contenders hadcalled for an interimGovernment to fill the gapbetween Ghani’s mandateexpiring and the presidentialelections.

The supreme court said itwas asking “presidential can-didates to respect the delay inthe presidential elections”.

Ghani was elected in 2014in a closely contested poll thatwas mired by allegations offraud and that saw him lead apower-sharing Government.

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California Sen KamalaHarris has described her

experience as a student at a his-torically black college as “one ofthe most important aspects” ofher life. Now, her Democraticpresidential campaign is usingthat experience to connectwith voters.

Not only is she one of onlytwo black candidates in a fieldthat’s expected to grow to morethan 20 candidates, she’s alsothe only candidate who attend-ed a historically black college oruniversity, commonly calledan HBCU.

And she’s the first major-party candidate to have grad-uated from an HBCU —Washington’s HowardUniversity — since JesseJackson ran for president in the1980s.

To be sure, she is not theonly candidate focusing onsuch institutions.

Massachusetts Sen

Elizabeth Warren, New YorkSen Kirsten Gillibrand andformer Texas Rep BetoO’Rourke have campaigned athistorically black colleges. Sohas the other black candidate inthe 2020 race, New Jersey Sen.Cory Booker.

At a CNN town hall lastmonth in Orangeburg, home totwo of South Carolina’sHBCUs, Booker noted that hisparents and grandparents wereeducated at historically blackinstitutions and that “themajority of black doctors, blacklawyers, black generals are pro-duced by HBCUs.”

But Harris’s campaign has visited more historicallyblack colleges than any candi-date, and she is burnishing herpersonal ties to this commu-nity, and not just to current stu-dents.

“Presidential candidatesare recognising HBCUs as apolitical and cultural center forthe broader black community,”said Aimee Allison, the founder

of the political network SheThe People, which plans a can-didate forum Wednesday atTexas Southern University, ahistorically black college.

Allison said that holdingevents at these schools is an“essential part of a long-termstrategy to build trust and rela-tionships” with black voters.

Harris’s focus on histori-cally black colleges could beparticularly important in SouthCarolina, home to eightHBCUs. Black voters are vitalto success for Democratic pri-mary candidates anxious to winthe South’s first primary.

In Orangeburg, Harris’stown hall Saturday night wasmoderated by Bakari Sellers, aformer South Carolina staterepresentative who recentlyendorsed her campaign.

Turning to a group ofSouth Carolina State studentsseated on bleachers, Harristalked briefly about the value ofattending a historically blackinstitution.

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Upcoming talks betweenthe Taliban and the United

States will focus on thetimetable for pulling all foreignforces from Afghanistan,according to a senior Talibanmember.

In an interview with AFP,the Taliban’s politicalspokesman Suhail Shaheen saidprevious negotiations withWashington saw the two sidesagree to a total withdrawal,with only the details needing tobe fleshed out.

“In our last round of talkswith the US side, we agreedwith them on withdrawal of allforeign forces fromAfghanistan,” Shaheen said lateSaturday in Doha.

In return for a withdraw-al, he said the Taliban havecommitted to preventing terror

groups using Afghanistan as a safe haven or for launching attacks on othercountries.

“But still there are somedetails to be discussed, and thisdiscussion will take place in ournext round of talks and that isabout (the) timetable of thewithdrawal of forces from thecountry and other details,”Shaheen said.

The next round of talks isexpected to take place in Dohain the coming weeks, but nodates have been formallyannounced.

US special envoy ZalmayKhalilzad, who is leading thetalks for Washington, said afterthe latest round ended that“real strides” had been made,but he insisted no agreementwas reached on when the USand other countries might leaveAfghanistan.

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Many of us have been watch-ing the Jet Airways bank-ruptcy saga with a lot ofsorrow. Do not get mewrong — Jet Airways was

bled dry by its promoters and managementwith all sorts of sweetheart deals and, thus,at a level deserved its fate because as theskeletons tumble out of the closet, it hasbecome apparent that some aspects of theairline were a ponzi scheme. But when22,000 people lose their jobs, you can’t helpbut feel a tinge of helplessness. Many ofJet’s more experienced pilots, cabin crewand engineers will find jobs in India’sgrowing aviation industry. But the collapseof two airlines in the space of five yearswith boatloads of debt, as well as the life-support that Air India is on, makes onewonder just how sustainable the Indianaviation sector is.

This is an issue that the nextGovernment will have to debate upon.While the collapse of Jet and the subse-quent reduction of capacity will ironical-ly make things better for many airlines,allowing them some amount of pricingpower, it will make things pricier for theconsumer. Successive Governments havelong milked the Indian aviation sectorwith high fuel taxes, landing charges andairport fees while not allowing Indian car-ries to operate on more lucrative foreignroutes. At the same time, it opened upIndia to foreign start-up airlines to feedoff the riches of the Indian market,something particularly apparent withArabian and South-East Asian carriersbeing given a free run in India. TheIndian Government should realise that ahealthy aviation sector generates and pro-motes domestic and inbound tourism.This leads to an overall boost of the entireeconomy.

Jet Airways’ promoters and manage-ment, even with their sweetheart deals,were, however, keen on keeping the goodtimes going, quite unlike the erstwhileKing of Good Times, whom they had seenoff. At the start of Jet Airways’ silver jubileeyear, the fact that the airline would noteven survive 12 months was the last thingon everyone’s mind. But the signs of trou-ble were apparent for anyone willing toopen their blinkers and see: The airline wasin deep financial turmoil, unable to clearsalaries of pilots and cabin crew. Now, itis almost certain that the story is over, leav-ing several banks, led by the State-ownedState Bank of India holding the can, whichmeans ultimately, the Indian taxpayer willpick up a large part of the bill.

The fact is that until Jet Airways’lenders can quickly find a resolution, itsrevival is almost certainly off the cards.Other airlines are already buzzing aroundthe airline’s body as it lies comatose withsome aircraft and assets like slots still inits possession. But the slots will not stay

forever as airports have a “useit or lose it” system and aircrafthave to be regularly main-tained. Most of Jet Airways’aircraft belong to leasing com-panies and they also won’thang around forever with theirassets gathering dust. Manyaircraft are, in fact, beingtaken away or being offered toother airlines. Until a rescuehappens soon, and soon pret-ty much means before theend of this month, the plugwould effectively have beenpulled. As one airline executivemuttered, “It would be easierto put a billion dollars instarting a new airline ratherthan buying Jet Airways.”

But I will always havesome fond memories of theairline. I distinctly remembermy first flight on Jet Airways,I was in Class XI and was trav-elling to Mumbai with a the-atre production back in 1996.It was a then brand-newBoeing 737-300 aircraft. Manyother airlines that had startedin the aftermath of theGovernment opening up theaviation sector to private car-riers, were using older, oftenmuch older aircraft, such asfirst-generation jet aircraft likethe Boeing 707. Many usedsecond and third-hand Boeing737-200 aircraft. Jet used rel-

atively new and modern planeslike the 300 and 400 series ofthe Boeing 737. Their air-hostesses spoke well and theentire experience was like abreath of fresh air after decadesof Indian Airlines’ dominationof the domestic aviation space.

Over the years, I musthave flown with Jet Airwayshundreds of times on theDelhi-Mumbai sector itself. Iwas a loyal frequent-flyer andoften went out of my way to flywith Jet, and yes, like withevery other airline, servicestandards did drop over theyears. There have been sever-al times that service standardson the ground and in the airhave been wanting. I havealso had cabin crew who havehad a “I am better than you”attitude and I have had cabincrew that have gone out oftheir way to help. When youfly hundreds of times with anairline over the years, there willbe some bad experiences alongwith some superb ones butmost of the time, Jet was good.May be that is why, as a fre-quent flyer, you start gettingthe first hints that things arenot all great, as service stan-dards, including in-flight ser-vice, started to drop. Jet clear-ly could not compete with thelikes of low-cost carriers like

IndiGo which run a very tightship and cost controls. Andwith huge amounts of debtthanks to an ill-advised acqui-sition of Air Sahara, Jet hadswallowed the poison pill tokeep Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisherfrom operating lucrative inter-national routes. This in turnforced Mallya to spend anincredible amount of money tobuy Air Deccan, which wasquick-acting poison forKingfisher. But the debt andthe complex nature of the AirSahara acquisition without anunified operating certificatehas cost Jet to this day.

I did not believe that aflight I took on February 25between Lucknow and Delhionboard a ATR-72 aircraftwould be my last with the air-line. One can still hold outsome hope for the airline’srevival but having seen simi-lar ‘temporary suspensions’becoming permanent, I wouldlike to thank the airline for allthe memories. While I amupset about losing my miles, Ido wish all the employees of JetAirways well and believe thatmost of them will find jobseven in this difficult econom-ic environment. It was a goodquarter-century long ride!

(The writer is ManagingEditor, The Pioneer)��

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Sir — The suspension of opera-tions of the cash-starved JetAirways is disheartening and abig setback for the Indian aviationindustry at a time when it hasemerged as one of the fastestgrowing globally. Further, theaviation sector largely remainsuntapped with huge growthopportunities, considering that airtransport is still expensive for amajority of the country’s popula-tion. It is against this backdrop ofcapacity-reduction that Jet’s deci-sion to stop all operations, at leasttemporarily, may see airfares spi-ral further in the short term.

If indeed Jet is able to surviveand gets a credible investor, it willbe in the interest of thousands ofemployees and travellers, who willotherwise see a massive capacityshortage, leading to a tremendousincrease in airfares. Jet’s story hasalso raised serious questions as towhy the domestic airline indus-try is proving to be so perilous forenterprises. The Governmentneeds to do some re-thinking asto why over half-a-dozen of air-lines have fallen by the wayside inthe last decade or so. The airlines,too, must take a comprehensive

look at their plight. Ramesh G Jethwani

Bengaluru

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Sir — Literally cocking a snookat the law and the judicial process,the BJP has set an unhealthyprecedent in not only inductingSadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur into

the party but also making her itscandidate in Bhopal againstCongress leader Digvijaya Singh.Out on bail for the past two years,Pragya Singh Thakur was dis-charged by a court of chargesunder the Maharashtra Control ofOrganised Crime (MCOCA) inthe 2008 Malegaon blast case.

Still, even if she is innocent,given the magnitude of thecharges, the BJP could have

avoided making her its candidatein Bhopal. Interestingly, BJPleader Subramanian Swamy hasgone to the extent of saying thatthe charges against the candidateare in the “final stages of beingdismissed,” as if her acquittal is aforegone conclusion.

Having picked a controver-sial nominee, the BJP can nolonger take the moral highground. So sharp is the polari-

sation in Indian society todaythat communities will vote foralleged terrorists — as long asthey believe that terrorism isbeing committed on behalf oftheir own.

JS AcharyaHyderabad

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Sir — As the national election is inprogress, it is disappointing thatpolitical leaders have been playingreligious and caste cards to attractvoters. A common misconceptionamong them is that they haveabsolute freedom over the contentof their speeches. Despite laws thatprohibit speeches of certain kindsand the procedure thereof, theyhave been unmindful and havebeen gleefully violating the ModelCode of Conduct.

Spreading hate speeches andintruding privacy of others will inno way strengthen society. It is atravesty that with such a mindset,the issues faced by the citizens getoverlooked.

Ramachandran NairMalappuram

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By the end of May, a newly-electedGovernment, constituting the 17th LokSabha, will firmly be in place. While it’s a chal-

lenge to predict the electoral outcomes of India’sheterogeneous democracy, taking an average of therecently-declared, pre-electoral opinion pollsmakes it clear that the BJP still retains somemomentum. The most significant takeaway fromPhase-I of the elections was the absence of anti-incumbency undercurrents, which is what differ-entiates 2019 from 2004.

According to survey projections, PrimeMinister Modi appears to be the front-runner fora next term with an average of 272 seats for theNDA versus 141 for the Congress +. The onlyspeculation is about the margin of victory. Thepro-incumbency calculus is broadly based onexpectations of a less than anticipated loss for theBJP in Uttar Pradesh, despite the SamajwadiParty-Bahujan Samaj Party’s (SP-BSP) over-whelming arithmetic; a pro-Modi popularity rat-ings bias in the recently lost Hindi heartlandStates of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh andRajasthan as also in Bihar, Delhi and the strong-hold of Gujarat. The BJP is also expected toincrease its footprint a bit in the eastern bastionsof Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal and NaveenPatnaik’s Odisha.

As momentum for the elections picks pace,what is increasingly evident is that of the 31 percent of the middle class, who were disillusioneddue to demonetisation and who voted for theBJP in 2014, a sizeable section of the aspirationaland burgeoning lot seems to be coming back tothe incumbent yet again — a pattern discernibleacross caste barriers. Perhaps because of a lackof a leadership alternative. Further, the BJP hasstrategised on energising three key demo-graphics it hopes to gain from: First-time vot-ers, the start-up universe and women. Althoughwomen do not vote en bloc, on-ground deliv-ery of the Government’s welfare schemes hasfound resounding resonance among them.

Regardless of which dispensation comes topower, for the first 100 days, the nextGovernment will not have the luxury of the fable“honeymoon period” and will have to hit theground running. This because of the WorldEconomic Outlook’s forecast of a slowdown ineconomic activity in 2019 for 70 per cent of theworld economy, which includes India.Consequently, the global slowdown as also therevival of growth within the country needs recal-ibration in order to expand the economy and usethe resources sustainably for poverty alleviation.

So what would a new government prioritise?Some of the big themes include continuing theimpetus for infrastructure and housing, both ofwhich are the biggest job aggregators; facilitat-ing an entrepreneurial workforce that fosters self-employment and is a proxy for formal job cre-ation; and ensuring targeted delivery of socialsector schemes like Ayushman Bharat and thefarm income support scheme, PM-KISAN, byfunding in a fiscally responsible manner, with-out burdening the middle classes with high taxes.

A quasi-universal income support schemenecessitates setting aside one per cent of theGross Domestic Product (GDP) for a fewyears. This will also speed up rural consumer

demand as 60 per cent of the households accountfor over 25 per cent of the consumption. As 12crore farmer families are expected to benefitfrom the expanded coverage of the PM-KISANscheme — which in the next phase will includetenant farmers — it requires the creation of adatabase to identify the beneficiaries as also bet-ter digital mapping and titling of land records.

Essentially, India needs economic growthwhich is “organic”, one that can only happen byenlarging the economic pie, as compared tointerim measures that artificially boost incomesat the bottom of the social pyramid throughexpansive welfarism. Organic growth can hap-pen broadly through:

� Maintaining fiscal prudence.��Continuing efforts at increasing the tax-

payer base, which will yield revenue for nation-building, yet lowering corporate tax to facilitateCapex spend and job creation.

��Boosting the share of the manufactur-ing sector in the economy to 25 per cent by 2022from the current 17 per cent .

�� Improving access to reasonably pricedcapital in order to service the credit requirementsof MSMEs.

��Continuing with the ambitious invest-ment target of �100 lakh crore to expand thehighways, railways and airports. This is expect-ed to create 25-30 lakh crore jobs.

��Accentuating the pace of structural andmarket-based reforms, including trade liberal-isation, digitisation of land records, lowering thecost of land acquisition to hasten infrastructur-al development.

��Hastening the process of privatisation,especially of Air India and MTNL.

�� Reducing the debt load of 34 powerplants amounting to �1,80,000 crore as 40 percent of their output is not paid for. This hasincreased State utility losses and has become partof the banks’ bad loan portfolio.

��Streamlining bureaucracy, reinforcing the

Reserve Bank of India’s autonomy. ��Restoring the credibility of Central insti-

tutions like the Economic Offences Wing, theCentral Bureau of Investigation and theEnforcement Directorate should be another pri-ority. Investigative efficiency of economicoffences by Central agencies is vital for higherconviction rate to punish wilful offenders.

Further, in the next leg of the “Housing forall by 2022” scheme, there is a need to easefunding for low-cost housing for both buildersand buyers. This will allow for greater accessto institutional finance and relax the eligibil-ity criteria for loans to consumers on lines ofthe proposed “rental-cum-ownership basis.”This because as the Government targets tobuild 29 million housing units in rural areasand 12 million units in urban areas, most buy-ers lack collateral. The construction sectorneeds acceleration as it holds the potential ofthe highest job-creating coefficient after theunremunerative agricultural sector.

There’s little room for complacency despitethe International Monetary Fund and theWorld Bank certifying that India is the fastestgrowing economy, averaging at 7.5 per cent. Weneed a “job-full” growth of 10 per cent year-on-year successively in order to avert a demograph-ic disaster. In order to achieve the UN’sSustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ofbridging inequality and mainstreaming thedisadvantaged communities by 2030, theGovernment as well as the private sector willhave to work closely to infuse resources on pro-jects that pose the biggest investment opportu-nities to modernise India and accelerate thegrowth of human development.

“Jobs are human capital” and the creationof better paying jobs is the only way to averta demographic disaster. The self-employed area fall-back segment of job seekers, those whomostly opt to begin their career by runningsmall street stalls as a second-option to earn

a livelihood. Entrepreneurs and self-employedare now a sizeable base who have grown sincethe last three years to 48 million. Promotingmass entrepreneurship needs policy improve-ment to ease seed capital funding, providingcollateral-free loans and erasing regulatoryrequirements.

Further, as improved human capital stemsfrom higher literacy, there is an urgent need todouble outlays in education and improve thehuman capital quotient if India has to grow indouble digits. India’s mobile data is the cheap-est in the world and had an estimated 566 mil-lion internet users as of December 2018, out ofwhich rural users comprised 250 million. Herein lies the biggest opportunity for transforma-tion in education through distant-learning ande-commerce job-creation. Another avenue forjob-creation that has lagged behind is theexport sector. India has an opportunity to plugthe vacuum created by relocation of produc-tion sites outside China by eliminating super-fluous regulations that lower competitivenessand make India a more attractive investmentdestination for producing goods for exports.

India is currently a $2.5 trillion economy andby 2030, it is anticipated that its nationalincome will touch $7 trillion. As a key driver ofgrowth and jobs, urbanisation holds another vitalkey for expanding the economy. “Given India’scommitment to the 2030 development agenda,we will need to build 700 to 900 million squaremetres of urban space annually. This will mean70 per cent new jobs will be created in andaround cities.”

While Modi has firmly laid the groundworkon strong foundations for an anticipated re-runof office, huge challenges lies ahead. If handledwith surgical precision, a prosperous India @75could be well within striking range.

(The writer is an author, columnist andChairperson for the National Committee ofFinancial Inclusion at Niti Aayog)

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Bureaucracy is a tool for gover-nance and implementation ofdecisions as per the law and con-

ventions set by the rulers. It functionsin a systematic manner and if it per-forms its duty honestly and efficient-ly, it can become an agent of changefor the welfare of the people. However,the bureaucracy is severely criticisedall over the world for creating logjam,being insensitive to public feelings,breeding red-tapism, setting up aroadblock for innovation and runningafter those who dare innovate. In acountry as diverse as India, where chal-lenges faced by its people are immense,the success of any Government pro-gramme depends on the commitmentand efficiency of its administration.

But as always, there are somechange-mongers, whose enterprise,zeal and innovation bring resilience,long-term credibility and, hence, faithin the system. In the midst of failedGovernment schemes, there are peo-ple who, with their sheer perseveranceand hard work, have rewritten laws ofgovernance. In this column, this writerwill discuss one such example of for-est conservation and tribal developmentreviewed by him recently when he vis-ited some tribal areas in the hinterlandof Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa district.

This area is home to dry teakforests and many tribal communitieslive in and around the forests. The Kol,Korku, Sahariya and Baiga tribals haveregistered the highest population. Alarge number of forest villages were cre-ated during the British period for theexecution of forestry works and peo-ple over here were deprived of evenbasic civic amenities. However, the sit-uation changed after the Forest RightsAct, 2006. This writer visited theChattu-Pattu and Bangda villages,inhabited by the Korku and Gondtribes, around 70 km away fromKhandwa last month and got a chance

to speak to the tribals, who are bene-ficiaries of the various income-gener-ation activities launched by the forestdepartment here so that they can leada decent livelihood. It was reassuringto see that irrigation facilities had pro-moted wheat and vegetable cultivationbut sadly, millets were fast vanishing.

The most noteworthy aspect wasthe creation of a skill development cen-tre at Anwlia in 2010, for which fundswere generated from the tribal-sub planof the State and the Union Governmentpitched in as well. It was the innova-tive thinking of former DivisionalForest Officer SS Rawat, currentlyoverseeing this centre as the ChiefConservator of Khandwa circle, and thestaff that led to the establishment of thiscentre. The skill development centrewas created through a public-privatepartnership with help from an NGO,Self Employment Education Society(SEES) and with bare minimum invest-ment. The centre focussed on theadvantage of the location of theKhandwa town on the main railwaytrack from where all trains going tomajor South Indian cities likeBengaluru passed. The centre had

trained over a thousand youths belong-ing to Korku and other tribes till June2016. Around 600 boys were trained forsecurity guards, data entry jobs and dri-ving vehicles.

Further, 450 girls were skilled incloth stitching, tribal art and beauty par-lour jobs. Training happens for a dura-tion of three months for each trade ina batch of 35 and covers personalitydevelopment, too. After the completionof the training, placement services areactivated by the centre. SEES was paid�8,000 per candidate for training.

It was heartening to learn that outof the 450 trained girls, 176 are work-ing at a textile company in Bengaluruand others have taken up independentwork in nearby places. One of the girls,who had come home from Bengalurufor Holi, was present with her baby dur-ing my visit and she informed me thatthey are provided safe accommodation,dining, crèche facilities and a goodsalary of more than �8,500 during theirinitial appointment. Another textileproducer in Mandideep near Bhopalrecruited 450 boys as security guards.Those, who were trained in driving, areon their own and self-employed.

This innovative example of the useof forest department to train the trib-al youth for livelihood was executedthrough the NGO. However, the infra-structure for training, including thebuilding, was arranged separately by theforest department. A cost-benefit analy-sis will make for a nice model that canbe replicated for not only employmentgeneration for the tribals but also forreducing their dependence on the for-est and land-based resources. Successhas come very silently, without blow-ing the trumpet, but the district admin-istration of Khandwa must take cuefrom this and help this centre grow asa model for employment-generation byadding up more trade and providingfinancial support. It should focus moreon animal resources and horticulturedevelopment and the creation of infra-structure for primary sector. The cen-tre needs fresh infusion of funds.

Equally, the forest departmentmust submit a comprehensive projectbefore the Ministry of SkillDevelopment and Entrepreneurship,Ministry of Rural Development andMinistry of Tribal Affairs, that coversthe entire State with site-specific mod-

ules. CAMPA funds can also be tied up. In a nutshell, the implementation

of such modules sends out a largermessage to our planners to reshapedevelopmental programmes by inter-linking conservation of forests withincome-generation and growth of pri-mary sector activities through infu-sion of technology. Emphasis of for-est management should be on con-serving the forests, soil moisture andbio-diversity and making people lessdependent on forests through suchactivities that ultimately not only leadto better livelihood but can help in cli-mate change mitigation and adapta-tion on broader scale by covering theentire landscape.

It will also assimilate the tribalyouth in the mainstream society wherethey will enrich it with their culture, lan-guage, art and music. It is in this lightthat the recommendations of theNational Commission on ScheduledTribes that the Indian Forest Serviceshould be entrusted with tribal devel-opment must be seen. It’s time that theGovernment takes a call consideringthe future of the country.

(The writer is a retired civil servant)

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Lucknow: As the Lok Sabhaelection enters its third phasein Uttar Pradesh, the battle isnow taking place in Yadavland with the prestige andstature of the Mulayam SinghYadav clan on test.

The phase will also decidethe course that the battle in theYadav family will take in future.

The Samajwadi Party hadcontested only three out of the16 seats that went to polls in thefirst two phases in the state, butin the third phase, is contestingnine out of the 10 seats that willsee voting on April 23.

The Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party-RashtriyaLok Dal alliance looks rather for-midable in this phase, given thecaste equations and the BharatiyaJanata Party may face an uphill

task on many of these seats. The seats in this phase

include Samajwadi Partystrongholds like Badaun,Sambhal, Mainpuri, Ferozabad,and Rampur as well as Aonla,Bareilly, Pilibhit, Etah andMoradabad. One of the safestseats for the SP is Mainpuriwhere party patriarch MulayamSingh Yadav is the candidate. Itwas in Mainpuri two days agothat Mulayam Singh shared thestage with BSP PresidentMayawati, burying the hostil-ities of the past two and a halfdecades.

There are no guesses for theresult in Mainpuri whereMulayam Singh remains thetallest and most popular leader.He was elected from Mainpuriin 2014 as well as Azamgarh but

had chose to retain the latter. In Badaun, Samajwadi

Party’s Dharmendra Yadav islocked in a straightfight with SalimIqbal Shervani ofthe Congress. Thefour lakh Muslim andnine lakh OBC votesin this constituencycould tilt the scales infavour of the SP.

BJP’s Sanghmitra Maurya is,meanwhile, embroiled in a con-troversy after her video askingher supporters to cast fake voteswent viral.

In Ferozabad, the war isbetween uncle Shivpal Yadav andnephew Akshay Yadav and thereis certainly no camaraderie in theair. This is a real battle betweenYadav leaders and Shivpal Yadav

enjoys an advantage because heis familiar with the organizationat the ground level.

The SP is also hopeful ofwinning the Sambhal seat

where the party has againfielded Shafiqur RehmanBarq who had lost theseat by just 5,000-odd

votes in 2014.Rampur, mean-

while, is witnessingits worst-ever elec-tion campaignwith BJP’s JayaPrada and SP’sM o h a m m a dAzam Khan call-ing each otheru n p r i n t a b l enames. JayaPrada, with tearsflowing down

her cheeks, is trying to earn thesympathy votes from the peo-ple while Azam Khan is play-ing the victim card to make itto the winning post.

In Pilibhit, BJP MP VarunGandhi is pitted against SP’sHemraj Varma and inMoradabad, BJP’s SarveshSingh is being challenged byyoung poet Imran Pratagarhi.The BJP appears strong inboth the constituencies.

In Bareilly, veteran BJP MPSantosh Gangwar is seeking hiseighth term and his challengeris Praveen Aron of Congress. InEtah, Rajvir Singh, son ofRajasthan Governor and formerUttar Pradesh CM Kalyan Singh,is seeking a second term. He ispitted against SP’s DevendraYadav. IANS

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Campaigning for the thirdphase of polling in 116 par-

liamentary constituencies onApril 23 ended on Sunday withtop leaders making a last-gaspeffort to sway voters in favourof their respective parties.

Polling will be held in the116 seats, spread across 15States and Union Territories.All seats in Gujarat (26), Kerala(20), Goa (2), Dadra and NagarHaveli (1) and Daman and Diu(1) go to polls in the third of theseven-phase election.

Besides, polling will be held

in four seats in Assam, five inBihar, seven in Chhattisgarh,one in Jammu & Kashmir, 14 inKarnataka, 14 in Maharashtra,six in Odisha, 10 in UttarPradesh, five in West Bengal andone Tripura. Election to TripuraEast Lok Sabha constituency —which was deferred due to secu-rity reasons — will be held inthis phase.

Prime Minister NarendraModi, BJP chief Amit Shah,Congress president RahulGandhi and a host of Unionministers among others can-vassed for their party candi-dates in the past few days,

undertaking whirlwind tours ofconstituencies.

Among the key contes-tants in the fray are BJP chiefAmit Shah (Gandhinagar,Gujarat), Congress presidentRahul Gandhi (Wayanad,Kerala), and Samajwadi Partypatron Mulayam Singh Yadav(Mainpuri, UP).

In Pathanamthitta, the Keycandidates are BJP’s KSurendran, CPM’s VeenaGeorge and Congress’ AntoAnthony.

During campaigning inGujarat, the two principal par-ties — the BJP and the

Congress exchanged acrimo-nious barbs, with leaders fromboth groups exuding confi-dence of a good showing.

The BJP had swept all 26seats in the State in the 2014Lok Sabha polls. InMaharashtra, the prominentseats in the third phase includeJalna, where State BJP presidentRaosaheb Danveis in the frayagainst Vilas Autade of theCongress, and Baramati, whereSupriya Sule, the daughter ofNCP chief Sharad Pawar, iscontesting against BJP’sKanchan Kul.

Another keenly watched

seat will be Ahmednagar whereSujay Vikhe Patil is the BJP’snominee. He is the son ofCongress veteran and Leader ofOpposition in the AssemblyRadhakrishna Vikhe Patil.Sujay Vikhe Patil joined the BJPin the run-up to the polls, afterthe NCP refused to vacate theAhmednagar seat for theCongress. He is now pittedagainst NCP’s Sangram Jagtap.

Key constituencies inKarnataka to be watched outfor during the polls includeGulbarga, where MallikarjunKharge is pitted against UmeshJadhav, who ahead of polls

joined the BJP quittingCongress and as MLA; andShimogga, where former chiefMinister Yeddyurappa’s sonBY Raghavendra is pittedagainst another former ChiefMinister S Bangarappa’s sonMadhu Bangarappa.

In 14 constituencies thatwill go to the polls in the secondphase on April 23, the BJP iscontesting all the seats.

The Congress and JD(S)that are facing the polls inalliance have fielded their can-didates in 12 and two con-stituencies respectively. The BJPhas a huge stake in this phase in

Uttar Pradesh with the partyhaving won seven out of the tenseats in the region in 2014, leav-ing three for the SamajwadiParty, but facing a tough chal-lenge from SP-BSP-RLD com-bine here.

The campaigning for thephase witnessed a new low withSP leader Azam Khan makingan “indecent” remark, targetinghis opponent Jaya Prada inRampur by allegedly speculat-ing on the colour of her under-wear and attracting the saffronparty’s wrath, besides that ofthe National Commission forWomen. Khan, who also faced

a 72-hour ban by the ElectionCommission of India on hiscampaigning after making theunderwear jibe, was among thethree other leaders, includingUttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath and BSPsupremo Mayawati, who facedthe poll panel’s wrath for mak-ing “provocative” speeches.

The political heavyweights,whose fate will be decided inthe third phase of electionshere, include Mulayam SinghYadav, Union Minister SantoshKumar Gangwar, who is fight-ing from Bareilly and BJP’sVarun Gandhi from Pilibhit.

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Jhumka”, “surma”, “maanjha”and “baans” — the four spe-

cialty trades of Bareilly in UttarPradesh were hit by demon-etisation and the Goods andService Tax (GST), leading toclosure of some businesses butare far from being a Lok Sabhapoll issues.

Two of the most significanteconomic policy decisions ofthe Narendra Modi govern-ment, the overnight scrappingof Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in2016 and the launch of GST in2017 that subsumed all othertaxes, did not bring the expect-ed respite to traders, locals said.

There are around 450 reg-istered jewellers here with anestimated daily business of Rs15 crore to Rs 20 crore, SudeshAgarwal, president of theBareilly Sarafa Committee,claimed. “There were obviousproblems after the note ban butthe traders here accepted that.The GST is a good decision but

has been very confusing. It wasbilled on the theme of ‘onenation, on tax’ but now thereare different slab rates,” he toldPTI outside his shop inSahukara market.

“In the run-up to GST’simplementation, workshopswere conducted here for tradersin which jewellers were assuredthat corruption would end andit would benefit the communi-ty. The benefits that the ordinarytraders should have got are yetto be seen, GST has onlyincreased our return filings andpaper work,” Agarwal, also theMahamantri of the regionaltraders association, Bareilly, said.

However,Agarwal assert-ed that “we are traditionalbackers of the BJP”.

Bareilly is home to one ofthe finest “surma” manufac-turers in the country but somemarginal operators shut shop inthe after-effect of the note ban,as did some cane traders in thecity also referred to as “BaansBareilly”.

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In the second phase ofKarnataka elections on April

23 Shivamogga lok sabha con-stituency is in the news as twosons of former Chief Ministersare fighting their crucial battle.

BY Raghavendra — son ofBJP’s lingayat strong man BSYeddyurappa — and MadhuBangarappa — son of formerChief Minister S Bangarappafrom the JDS — are in the fray.

Madhu Bangarappa whowas defeated in the bypoll heldfew months back by a smallmargin is the united candidateof the Congress and the JDS inthis constituency. It was in2014 BS Yeddyurappa wonagainst Manjunath Bhandari ofthe Congress by a very big mar-gin of over 3,50,000 votes. In2018 Assembly polls BJP wonseven of the eight segments.

Shivamogga Lok Sabhaconstituency, one of the high-profile constituencies in theState, is likely to witness ahigh-voltage electoral battleBY Raghavendra and MadhuBangarappa — in a gap of justsix months. It is also the fightbetween AHINDA( Minoritiesand Backward classes) ofSiddaramaiah and the domi-nant community of Lingayat of

Yeddyurappa. This Malnad constituency

has been the stronghold ofBJP and also the home town ofYeddyurappa since 2004. JDScandidate Madhu Bangarappahad lost to Raghavendra in theNovember 2018 by-election bya margin of 52,148 votes in aconstituency comprising over14.3 lakh electorates.

It’s a neck-to-neck fightand the JDs-Congress com-bines leaving no stoneuntouched to trounce the BJP.But Yeddyurappa and BJP is alsobetting big on to take on MadhuBangarappa. RSS and BJP areworking hard to keep the seat todefeat Madhu Bangarappa. Thecaste and polarisation is the keyfactor in deciding the fate ofthese heavy weights.

With the help of the politi-cally dominant Lingayat com-munity, to which Yeddyurappaand Raghavendra belong, theBJP hopes to outsmart Madhu,who belongs to the backwardIdiga ( toddy tapper ) commu-nity. Experts say the comingtogether of the Congress and theJDS will lead to the consolidationof secular, backward and minor-ity votes against the BJP. It’s notabout any ideology but in a waydirect fight between NarendraModi and Rahul Gandhi.

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New Delhi: With an aim tostrike a chord with young vot-ers, political parties, candi-dates and the public relationsfirms have gone into a frenzy,sharing memes and dubs-mashes, including in regionallanguages, across social mediaplatforms. From PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s“achcche din” and “Mai BhiChawkidar” campaign and hisreverse archery skills to RahulGandhi’s “Aaloo Daalo Sonaniklega” — everything newand old is being refreshed,recycled and reused as memesand dubsmashes on socialmedia in the election season.

For example, a dubsmash“Jai Hind” explains how PrimeMinister Narendra Modi has tokeep going the right pathdespite people mocking hisdecisions.

Another hilarious pro-Congress video sells ‘Bhakt kaChashma,” which shows devel-opment while there is none,covering issues such as unem-ployment, farmer distress,housing and health.

A pro-BJP video comesup with an answer to this, say-ing forget “Bhakth kaChashma” video and give voteto the BJP and it has fulfilled allthe promises made.

Since Game Of Thrones(GoT) Season 8 has beentrending, the Congress partyshared and circulated a creativereplacing the villain “NightKing” of the epic fantasy byModi. The ElectionCommission also used the mil-lennial-favourite “Winter iscoming” phrase from Game ofThrones to raise voter aware-

ness on Twitter.“Election Commission

using various memes from pop-ular series and movies is reallycreative and young voters mustget up and vote,” tweeted a user.While political memes are com-ical or satirical representation ofsocial issues, the app Dubsmashthat was very popular in 2014-16 lets users choose audiorecordings and record a video ofthemselves dubbing over thatpiece of audio.

Earlier this week, RashtriyaJanata Dal (RJD) Presidentand former Bihar ChiefMinister Lalu Prasad Yadavshared an old 17-secondDubsmash video of himselfmouthing Modi’s catch phrasefrom his 2014 election cam-paign promising “achcche din”.

The dubsmash video iscaptioned: “Muft mein lelo 15lakh, acche din aur jumla”. Thevideo gathered over 1,800 com-ments, 2,700 re-tweets as wellas 14,000 likes on Twitter.

Yadav’s clip surfaced oldtweets with #Dubsmash on the

micro-blogging site whichtrended for a while. “What soyou call when Rahul Gandhimake dubsmash video? Dumb-smash,” read a tweet from a user.

After the trailer release ofthe “PM Narendra Modi”biopic, memes and clips sur-rounding Modi narrating “Mamai sanyasi bab na chahta hu(mother, I want to become amonk)” became one of themost enacted monologue onsocial media.

Dubbed clippings of chu-navi parodies and rap battleshave also been doing the roundson social media. Catch phrasesand dialogues from popularTV series are also beingreworked as fun and catchy elec-tion content for party cam-paigns and promotions.

The controversial Chineseapp TikTok which has nowbeen blocked in the country isfull of memes and dubsmashes.“TikTok is banned, not RahulGandhi; the show must go on,so also the entertainment.#TikTok,” a tweet read. IANS

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Going by the poll mani-festos published by major

political parties, the use ofdigital technology is likely toget a boost under the newGovernment that will come topower after the Lok Sabhaelection results on May 23.

While most political par-ties have promised greaterimplementation of emergingtechnologies such as ArtificialIntelligence (AI), Big Data andBlockchain technologies todrive the growth of the econ-omy, some have also assuredpunishment for those whomisuse digital and social media.

The BJP, which pushed dig-ital transactions in a major wayduring its five-year rule endingthis year, said it would furtherincrease the ongoing incentivesto expand digital transactions ifvoted to power again.

The BJP said it would cre-ate a new data-sharing frame-work that builds on the successof ‘Jan Dhan’ and Aadhaarplatforms while ensuring dataprivacy and security. “Withthis scheme, we will ensure thatevery Indian has access tobanking facilities within aradius of 5 km,” the BJP man-ifesto said.

The National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) Governmentled by the BJP faced severe crit-icism from the Opposition forthe use of Aadhaar biometricidentification system in distri-bution of benefits to the people.They followed up the criticismin their manifestos as well.

While the Congresspromised an amendment to theAadhaar Act in order to restrictits use, the Communist Party of

India (Marxist) said it wouldpush for scrapping of the use ofAadhaar and biometrics for allsocial welfare measures if votedto power.

The Congress manifestoeven devoted a section on‘Digital Rights of Every Citizen’to affirm “its belief that everyIndian shall enjoy digital rightsand freely access the digitalworld.” From promising accessto all persons to high-qualityInternet at affordable rates, topassing a law to protect the per-sonal data of all persons anduphold the right to privacy, theCongress is promising thecommon man quite a lot of dig-ital benefits.

“We will establish aNational Mission focused onsunrise technologies such asBig Data, Machine Learning,Internet of Things, 3-DPrinting and Manufacturing,and Knowledge Networks,”read the Congress manifesto.

The BJP manifesto promis-es a “Science Mission” with twosubmissions, focused onArtificial Intelligence androbotic research. The BJP’s‘Sankalp Patra’ also puts a lot ofemphasis on using technologyfor helping farmers andimproving agricultural output.

“We will enable develop-ment of young agri-scientists totake advantage of ArtificialIntelligence, Machine Learning,Blockchain technology, BigData analytics etc. for more pre-dictive and profitable preci-sion agriculture,” the BJP said.

While adoption of digitaltechnologies has increased dra-matically over the years, thepoll manifestos of the politicalparties also suggest that stricterregulations for social mediacould be in the offing.

The Congress, which wasearlier linked to hundreds offake Facebook pages andaccounts, said it would passregulations to stop the spreadof fake news and hate speechand punish those who misusedigital and social media.

The Dravida MunnetraKazhagam (DMK) went a stepahead and stated that if votedto power, it will urge the Uniongovernment to bring in a law toprevent all types of social mediafrom publishing any kind ofobscene content.

The poll manifestos suggestthat irrespective of the partiesthat could come to power for thenext five year, there will be nohalt in the digital journey thatthe country has embarked on.

Kalpetta (Wayanad): Termingthe ongoing Lok Sabha electionsas no ordinary polls, Congressleader Priyanka Gandhi onSunday asked people to vote forsaving the country from “nar-row minded ideology” as sheaccused the NDA Governmentof undermining democracy andsuppressing dissent.

In an interaction withmedia here after visiting thefamily of CRPF jawan VVVasanthkumar martyred in thePulwama terror attack, shesaid Congress was not con-testing the polls for power butfor the larger idea of the coun-try and to strengthen the forcesof democracy.

“This election is to save thecountry that we all love, thecountry that we all believe in.The country in which all of usare equal, in which all of us arefree to express ourselves, ourreligion, our ways of eating, ourways of living,” she said.

Priyanka Gandhi, who hasbeen campaigning for herbrother and Congress presidentRahul Gandhi contesting thepolls from Wayanad con-stituency in Kerala besides inhis traditional Amethi seat,appealed to the electorate in thestate to vote for Congress forthe bigger cause.

“I appeal to you to vote forour alliance as we are fightingfor a much greater thing. Weare not fighting just to gainpower. We are fighting for amuch bigger thing in this elec-tion,” the AICC general secre-tary in-charge of Eastern Uttar

Pradesh said.She claimed that suddenly

people were not free to expressthemselves. “Suddenly peopleare afraid. The institutions thatare to protect the rights of thepeople are undermined.Democracy is being under-mined and we must all realisethat this is no ordinary elec-tion,” Priyanka said.

The Congress leader, whodid not name either the BJP orthe NDA or Prime MinisterNarendra Modi throughouther interaction, asked the peo-ple to save the country from agovernment which she saidfeared criticism.

“Save the country in whichrules are being imposed on usby a narrow minded ideology,where only one kind of think-ing prevails. Save the countryin which there is a governmentthat is afraid of criticism, whichwants to suppress you whenyou raise your voice. So whenyou cast your vote you mustthink of this. A larger idea ofour country,” she added.

Priyanka spent about half-an-hour at Vasanthkumar’shouse and consoled the griev-ing family. PTI

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday said he

had warned Pakistan of conse-quences if it did not returnIndian Air Force pilotAbhinandan Varthaman.

Addressing a poll rally atPatan in Gujarat, he assertedhis government’s commitmenttowards national security andsaid whether the PrimeMinister’s chair remains ornot, he has decided that eitherhe will be alive or the terrorists.

He also took a jibe at NCPleader Sharad Pawar, saying ifhe is unaware of his next move,then how can Pakistani PrimeMinister Imran Khan gaugewhat he will do.

Modi urged the people ofGujarat to help the BJP win all26 Lok Sabha seats in his homestate, where polling will be heldon Tuesday, and said if it doesnot happen, then there will bediscussions on TV over it onthe day of vote counting.

Following the air strike atBalakot terror camp inPakistan, there was a dogfightbetween Indian and Pakistanifighter planes on February 27 inwhich the IAF wing comman-der was captured by the neigh-bouring country and releasedon the night of March 1.

He said after Abhinandanwas caught, opposition startedseeking a reply from him. “Weheld a press conference andwarned Pakistan that if any-thing happened to our pilot,you will keep telling the worldwhat Modi did to you.”

“A senior American officialsaid on the second day thatModi has kept 12 missilesready and might attack and thesituation will deteriorate.Pakistan announced return ofthe pilot, or else it was going tobe a qatal ki raat,” he said.

“This was said by America,I have nothing to say about thisnow, I will speak about it whenthe time will come,” he said.

“The (PM’s) chair remainsor goes, I have decided thateither I be alive or terrorists willremain alive,” he said.

He said the air strike at ter-ror camps in Pakistan was some-thing people expected fromhim. “When Pulwama hap-pened, what did the countryexpect Modi to do? Would you,would the country have par-doned me had I done what theManmohan Singh Governmentdid after 26/11,” he asked.

The country wanted some-thing to be done, he said, addingthat he had announced giving a

free hand to the military. “They(Pakistan) made tight arrange-ments, but being the disciple ofLord Hanuman, our peopleconducted air strike and theirstory was over,” he said.

Hitting out at theOpposition parties, he said theBalakot strike made themuncomfortable. “Pakistan was

repeatedly saying Indiabombed us, but people herewere questioning if this wasIndia’s Balakot. They wereproved false,” he said.

Accusing the Congress ofquestioning the bravery ofIndia’s military force anddoubting its action, he said,“Does any Congress leader ask

for air strike proof? They havegot the message to stop askingbecause people are gettingangry. After the first and sec-ond phases of polls, they haveforgotten to ask.”

He also took a swipe atPawar, who on Saturday said hewas “terribly afraid” as to whatModi, who once called theNCP chief his mentor in poli-tics, would do next. “SharadPawar says I don’t know whatwill Modi do. If he is unawareof what Modi will do tomor-row, how will Imran Khanknow?” he said.

He also attacked theCongress for not providing newhowitzers to the Army since1985 and said his governmenthas arranged for artillery man-ufacturing at three factories inthe country, one being at Hazirain Gujarat which manufacturesK-9 Vajra Howitzer.

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Barmer: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Sundaysaid India is no longer afraid ofPakistan’s nuclear threats astoday it is among world pow-ers with capability to carry outnuclear attacks across land,water, and air. He said, “TheNDA Government has instilledfear in the minds and hearts ofterrorists. We hit terrorists get-ting right into their homes.Now India is no more afraid ofPakistan threats.”

“There was a time whenPakistan used to threaten Indiaevery second day saying ‘Wehave the nuclear button, wehave the nuclear button’, whichwas also reported by our media.“Then what do we have? Is it(India’s nuclear arsenal) forDiwali?” he asked as the crowdapplauded and started chanti-ng his name.

Attacking the Congressand other Opposition parties,he said, “We forced Pakistan tobeg around the world. You

think that I did what was right,but Congress and its alliesthink it was not right. “Theythink terrorism and nationalsecurity is just not issue to dis-cuss. They think that Modishould not talk of Indian hon-our and valour. Why? Am Ihere to attend a BhajanMandali (hymn singing ses-sion)?”

Citing his Government’srecord on terrorism, particu-larly the Balakot air strike fol-lowing the Pulwama attack onFebruary 14 that left 40 CRPFmen dead, he mocked theOpposition’s response.

“We went into their (ter-rorists’) homes to attack themand they (Congress) are askingfor proof. As we the hit terror-ists, pains were felt in theirhearts.” Modi also accused theCongress of losing the upperhand after the 1971 war withPakistan by surrendering theopportunity at the ShimlaRound Table Conference and

giving back the land it had wonas well returning 90,000 cap-tured Pakistanis soldiers.

“At that time, the Kashmirproblem could have been dis-cussed and resolved. However,the Congress governmentbowed to the world pressureand did not discuss anythingsignificant. Had Modi beenthere, he would never have lostthis opportunity,” he said.

“There is one more reasonwhy Congress doesn’t want totalk on national security,” headded. He also accused ofCongress of indulging in theAgustaWestland VVIP heli-copter scam.

“With Michael mama(alleged middleman ChristianMichael), they looted honestpeople”s income. However, asyou had elected a ‘mazboot’Government, we contactedFrance for Rafale (fighter jets),leaving aside Congress agents.These aircraft will soon be seenin Indian skies,” he said. IANS

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Firozabad earned the sobri-quet ‘Suhagnagari’ as its

bangles bound families in mat-rimonial alliances, but thiselection season the UttarPradesh town is witnessing aprestige battle between twomembers of a family —Samajwadi Party’s AkshayYadav and his estranged uncleShivpal Singh Yadav.

As the protracted familyfeud plays out in the open, thevoters in this industrial town,however, seem glued to thenational political narrativerather than local issues.

Sensing division of corevoters of the Samajwadi Party,the BJP has smelled victory andtrusted an ayurvedic doctor,Chandra Sen Jadon, with aticket from here.

There are over 17.85 lakhvoters who will be decide thefate of six candidates —sitting MP Akshay Yadavfrom SP, his uncleShivpal Singh Yadavfrom PragatishilSamajwadi Party(Lohia), Jadonfrom BJP,Upendra SinghRajput fromBhartiya KisanP a r i v a r t a nParty andIndependentsC h a u d h a r yBasheer and

Rajveer.The constituency votes on

April 23. In the last Assemblyelections in 2017, the BJP hadrecorded victory in four of thefive constituencies under theFirozabad parliamentary seatdominated by voters of otherbackward classes. The SP-BSP-RLD alliance gives an edge toAkshay Yadav, the son of SPRajya Sabha MP Ram GopalYadav, with core voters ofSamajwadi Party and BSP join-ing hands making him a potentforce. Other backward classes,scheduled castes and Muslimreportedly constitute over 70per cent of total voters.

But the road is not likely tobe easy as his estranged uncleShivpal Singh Yadav, known forhis organisation skills, whohad quit Samajwadi Party andlaunched his own outfit, islikely to make a substantialdent in the SP base because of

his appeala m o n gg r o u n d -level work-

ers.

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Air India Express, the international budget armof Air India, is examining the possibility of

leasing some Boeing 737 aircraft of grounded car-rier Jet Airways, which are parked at different air-ports due to non-payment, through a firm deci-sion is yet to be taken, a top company official saidSunday.

Before halting operations temporarily mid-lastweek due to severe cash-drought, the private car-rier was forced to ground 69 planes owing to non-payment of rentals to lessors.

Later, on April 16, it grounded the rest of theplanes in its fleet, when it decided to temporarilysuspend all its domestic and international services.

Air India Express parent, Air India, is alreadydiscussing a proposal to lease five of Jet Airwayswide-body planes, Boeing 777s.

“We are looking at leasing (B737 of Jet Airways)aircraft but there is no firm decision on this issueso far. As a matter-of-fact, there are a lot of otherthings that have to be looked at, like slots, sectorsand timings, among others,” Air India Express chiefexecutive officer Shyam K Sunder told PTI overphone from Kochi, the airline’s headquarter.

When asked about the number of planes thathis airline could induct from Jet Airways, he said,“We don’t have a target number.”

Air India Express, has its operations largely outof Kerala to the Gulf and South-east Asia. Besides,it also operates some flights to these regions fromNorth and Western India as well as on somedomestic routes.

It has a fleet of 25 Boeing 737 planes, of which17 are owned and rest 18 are on lease. The nowout-of operations, Jet Airways also has B737s inthe fleet.

Shyam Sunder also said the airline plans torecruit 50 commanders from Jet Airways, of which20 have already been hired.

“We have already recruited a lot of pilots. We haveabout 20 of them already, all from Jet Airways as atpresent only Jet pilots are available in the market. Ourintention is hire up to 50 pilots. So we will be induct-ing another 25-30 pilots going forward,” he said.

The AIE official, however, ruled out hiring offirst officers at this stage, adding that the airlinemay look at it if there was any requirement for themin the future.

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Privatisation is not a remedy, which can makean airline profitable or efficient and shut-

tering of Jet Airways and Kingfisher is a casein point, a senior Air India employees unionofficial said Sunday even as he urged the gov-ernment to reconsider its plans to de-nation-alise the flag carrier, which are currently on hold.

Supporting the 20,000 employees of thegrounded Jet Airways, the union official saidthat the present policies of the government needto be relooked as they have only lead to a cri-sis in the industry and jobs of thousands of peo-ple are at stake.

Weighted down by huge debt, majorly fromthe public sector banks, Kingfisher went belly-up in 2012. Jet Airways, which has a debt ofRs 8,500 crore, mostly from the government-run banks, ceased operations last Wednesdaydue to paucity of cash.

The abrupt closure of Jet Airways opera-

tions for the time being has put jobs of its over20,000 employees.

Moreover, as many as six airlines haveclosed down in the last five years.

“First it was Kingfisher which folded up,and now its Jet Airways, which has stoppedoperations, albeit for the time being. Thevotaries of the privatisation, both in the gov-ernment and outside, need to understand thatdenationalisation alone can’t bring profitabil-ity and efficiency. Had it been so, the two pri-vate airlines would not have gone bust,” saidan Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU)senior official.

Stating that the foremost reason for the cur-rent crisis in the aviation industry is the gov-ernment’s “reliance” on the private sector inachieving its ambitious Vision 2040, which hasprojected the countrys air passenger traffic togrow to 1.1 billion per year by 2040, the unionofficial said, “the industry is not doing well fromthe vision document point of view as the

growth is not sustainable, healthy and even”.Calling the government to reconsider its

plans of privatising Air India, which are put onthe backburner for the time-being, the ACEUofficial said even in the present crisis when JetAirways passengers are stranded across airportsglobally, it is the national carrier which hascome to the rescue of the passengers byannouncing special fares for such passengers.

“The government can’t expect such a ges-ture from private airlines,” he said.

“If the present crisis is allowed to contin-ue, it will lead to unprecedented crisis in theindustry leading to more and more employeesbeing thrown out of employment. A mereglance of problems indicate that there issomething seriously wrong with the policydirection,” he added.

There is also a need to put brakes on ‘opensky policy’ besides strict enforcement of bilat-eral to make the business of domestic com-panies, including of Air India, viable, he said.

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Thousands of employees at now-shuttered JetAirways might be staring at an uncertain

future but other airlines will see “value” in hir-ing such experienced people even though theymight end up getting relatively lower pay pack-ets, according to HR experts.

Demand continues to outstrip talent sup-ply in the Indian aviation sector, which is oneof the fastest growing in the world.

Cash-starved Jet Airways, which has been fly-ing for nearly 26 years, has around 23,000 employ-ees, including contractual staff. It announced atemporary suspension of operations on April 17.

Experts observed that employees would

have been under stress at the airline for a while,though quite a few would have been hopeful ofa turnaround of the carrier. Under the currentcircumstances, they might have to either shiftbase to Tier-II or Tier-III cities or accept joboffers having lower compensation, they opined.

Staffing firm TeamLease Services Co-Founder and Executive Vice PresidentRituparna Chakraborty said that the aviationsector in India has immense potential and ifone goes by the current equation, the supplyof ground staff, crew and pilots are still low incomparison to the demand that exists.

“In my mind, other airlines will definite-ly see value in hiring the experienced and high-ly well-trained staff that Jet has currently,”

Chakraborty told PTI.She also noted that there is a significant

demand for core staff while non-specialisedstaff should look at an alternative industry forsuitable functional roles.

The country’s oldest private carrier, JetAirways has a substantial number of employ-ees who have put in more than two decades atthe airline.

Executive search company GlobalHunt’sManaging Director Sunil Goel said there hasbeen a huge expansion in terms of new airportsand connectivity in Tier-II and Tier-III citiesthrough air transportation. So, there is a con-sistent demand for talent in the aviation sec-tor, he added.

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As they explore ways torecover debt, lenders of Jet

Airways are in favour of a res-olution outside the insolvencylaw framework in case theongoing bidding process fails totake off, sources said.

Running into debt of morethan Rs 8,500 crore, Jet Airwayshas shut down operations tem-porarily after lenders decidedagainst extending emergencyfunds for its survival.

SBI, the lead lender of theseven-member consortium ofdomestic banks that haveextended loans to the airline,has started the bidding processfor stake sale in the carrier andclarity about potential bidderswould emerge next month.

While lenders are “reason-ably hopeful” of a successfulbidding process, sources saidbanks are working on a plan Bin case things don’t progress asexpected.

If the bidding process fails,lenders would favour a resolutionfor the debt-ridden Jet Airwaysoutside the Insolvency andBankruptcy Code (IBC) frame-work, sources said. Recovery onthe basis of existing security andtangible assets would be a pre-ferred option, they added.

Under the Code, theNational Company Law

Tribunal’s (NCLT) approval isrequired for initiating theprocess, wherein the resolutionwould be market-linked andtime-bound.

Outside the NCLT wouldbe a better option as far as planB is concerned, sources said,adding that then banks wouldrealise better value from theaircraft and other tangibleassets owned by Jet Airways.

Four entities — EtihadAirways, TPG Capital, IndigoPartners and NationalInvestment and InfrastructureFund (NIIF) — are learnt to haveshown interest in picking upstake in Jet Airways. The detailsof initial bidders are expected tobe known on May 10.

As they wait for comple-tion of the bidding process, thelenders are also looking atoptions to raise funds from thecarrier’s available assets, includ-ing utilising Jet Airways’ 16own planes.

On Friday, sources saidthat lenders have been proac-tive and cannot be blamed forthe current situation at the air-line. “They (lenders) have beenactively engaging with the com-pany for almost nine monthsever since the airline startedincurring cash losses and havebeen urging the managementto come forward with a definiteplan for resolution.”

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India is not a ‘tariff king’ andit has all the right to take

appropriate measures to pro-tect the interest of specific sec-tors like agriculture, interna-tional trade experts have said.

Rejecting the US allega-tion that India’s import dutiesare one of the highest in theworld, experts said that severaldeveloped countries andregions including Japan, SouthKorea, European Union, andAmerica maintain “extremelyhigh” tariffs primarily on agri-culture products.

The US President DonaldTrump has repeatedly claimedthat India is a “tariff king” andimposes “tremendously high”import duties on Americangoods.

Biswajit Dhar, a professorof economics at JawaharlalNehru University, said that theUS allegations are complete-ly unfounded.

“In fact, the US importduties on several of theirproducts are quite high suchas on tobacco it is about 350per cent and 164 per cent onpeanuts. They too maintainreasonably high duties,” Dhar

said.Sharing similar views,

Professor at Indian Institute ofForeign Trade (IIFT) RakeshMohan Joshi said that the USallegations are not correctand in fact, they should ratio-nalise their duty structurebeing a developed nation.

Trade Promotion Councilof India Chairman MohitSingla said that the assertionof the US is not factually cor-rect.

He said that the allegationof Trump that India is a tariffking does not hold true and isunjustified.

“Like other nations, Indiahas the right to take appro-priate measures to protect itsdomestic interests in specificsectors as and when it isdeemed fit. Moreover, thereare many countries whichhave much higher tariff ascompared to India. Being asignatory and member ofWTO, India remains com-mitted to free, fair, and pre-dictable trade,” Singla added.

Geneva-based 164-mem-ber World Trade Organisation(WTO) is a multilateral bodywhich frames global tradenorms.

Singla claimed that coun-tries like Japan levy 736 percent duty on certain products;while Korea imposes 807 percent on some goods.

Federation of IndianExports Organisation (FIEO)said that product-specific hightariffs, like 150 per cent on

alcoholic beverages, 100 percent on coffee, and 60-75 percent on automobiles havemade India a villain in theeyes of the US President.

However, many countriesin the world including Japan,South Korea, the EU, the USmaintain an extremely hightariff primarily on agricultureproducts, FIEO DirectorGeneral Ajay Sahai said.

“India’s average WTObound tariff is 48.5 per centwhile average applied tariff is13.4 per cent. The wide gapbetween the two clearly showsthat India is not a tariff kingelse it would have pushed theapplied tariff very close to thebound rates,” Sahai said.

While bound tariffs orduties refer to the ceiling, theapplied tariff is the duty whichis currently in place.

Another expert, who didnot wish to be named, saidthat the US should not levelany allegation of discrimina-tion at tariff front vis-a-visdeveloping countries likeIndia as America has emergedas one of the richest nations inthe world with per capitaincome of about $60,000 perannum.

“Repeated mention ofIndia as a tariff king withcherry-picked examples likemotorbikes and whiskey isdisingenuous, as it conve-niently ignores the overalltariff structure of the country,apart from India’s developingstatus,” the expert said.

He added that India hascomplied with all tariff com-mitments under the WTOand has made sincere effortsto reduce applied duties suo-moto to 13.7 per cent todayover a period of time.

Recently, the US decidedto withdraw incentives beingprovided to Indian exportersunder the Generalized Systemof Preference (GSP) pro-gramme. However, India hasstated that it would not impactdomestic exporters as thebenefits were only about $190million annually.

Despite the fact that Indiaand the US were working ona trade package, the US decid-ed to go ahead with its deci-sion.

The package was coveringall concerns related to bilateraltrade with the US on sectorsincluding medical devices,dairy products and agricul-tural goods. America alsowants a cut on duties on cer-tain ICT products.

According to sources,India was ready to address theUS concerns regarding thesesectors.

The bi lateral tradebetween India and the US hasincreased to $74.5 billion in2017-18 from $64.5 billion in2016-17.

Although India has atrade surplus with the US,India is a thriving market forUS defence firms, e-com-merce and technology com-panies.

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India must focus on growth oflabour-intensive sectors to

create decent jobs for the mass-es as well as give “seriousthought” to privatising the pub-lic sector banks (PSBs), eminenteconomist Arvind Panagariyahas said, emphasising that thereform process must be com-pleted in the coming five years.

Panagariya, who had servedas the first Vice Chairman of theNITI Aayog from January 2015to August 2017, was respondingto a question on what the pri-orities should be of theGovernment that comes intopower when India’s mammothand crucial general elections endnext month.

“My personal view is thatIndia must complete its reformprocess in the coming fiveyears,” Panagariya, Director atthe Raj Center on IndianEconomic Policies at ColumbiaUniversity, told PTI here.

The Deepak and Neera RajCentre in The School ofInternational and Public Affairs(SIPA) at Columbia Universityprovides research and expertisenecessary to inform policy deci-sions, deliver increased pros-perity, and define India’s futurerole in the global economy.

Highlighting the priorityareas, Panagariya said that Indianeeds a clear focus on thegrowth of labour-intensive sec-

tors such as apparel, footwear,furniture, kitchenware and otherlight manufactures to createdecent jobs for the masses.

“We need firms in thesesectors that are globally com-petitive and capture the spacein export markets that Chinahas been quitting due to itshigh wages. This requires flex-ible labour and land laws andan ecosystem that is yet friend-lier to large firms,” he said.

Panagariya elaborated thatone way to achieve this is tocreate Shenzhen-style CoastalEmployment Zones (in China)that create zones of 500 squarekilometers or more along thecoast that are characterized byhighly entrepreneur-friendlyregime with respect to land,labour and international trade.

“Eventually, we mustextend this regime to otherparts of the country as well,” hesaid.

He stressed that it is alsotime that “we gave a seriousthought to privatising publicsector banks (PSBs).

“Experience has shown thatpublic sector ownership createsperverse incentives that haverepeatedly manifested them-selves in episodes of accumula-tion of non-performing assets(NPAs) in PSBs while the samehas not been a problem in pri-vate and foreign banks,” he said.

Further, public ownershiphas also resulted in dual regu-

lation of PSBs (by the ReserveBank of India and the govern-ment) and two different RBIregulatory regimes for PSBsand private banks.

“The simultaneous role ofthe government as a provider ofbanking services through PSBs,policy maker and regulator cre-ate obvious conflicts. There needsto a separation of policy making,regulatory and service provisionfunctions,” he said, adding that itis possible to promote socialgoals without ownership of thebanks as the experience with pri-ority sector lending illustrates.

“As a last resort, if the gov-ernment feels that it must havecontrol, keeping the State Bankof India in the public sector(with due governance reforms)may be a reasonable compro-mise,” Panagariya said.

The noted academician alsostressed that serious thoughtmust be given to the consoli-dation of numerous transfersinto a single cash transfer.

“We must also introduce asunset clause to all CentrallySponsored Schemes and CentralSector Schemes. Ministries run-ning these schemes should besubject to the burden of justify-ing continuation of theirschemes beyond a certain date,”he said, underscoring that“indefinite perpetuation” canoften mean that the scheme inquestion is making no progressin achieving its goals.

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The total deposits in bankaccounts opened under the

Jan Dhan scheme, which waslaunched about five years agoby the Modi-Government, areset to cross �1 lakh crore soon.

The total balance in the JanDhan accounts, which has beensteadily rising, was at�97,665.66 crore as on April 3,as per the latest governmentdata.

The total number of JanDhan accounts have crossed35.39 crore.

The deposits stood at�96,107.35 crore on March 27and �95,382.14 crore in theweek before.

More than 27.89 croreaccount holders have beenissued the Rupay debit cards.

The Pradhan Mantri JanDhan Yojana (PMJDY) waslaunched on August 28, 2014with an aim to provide uni-versal access to banking facil-ities to all households.

Enthused by the success ofthe scheme, the Governmentenhanced the accident insur-ance cover to �2 lakh from �1lakh for new accounts openedafter August 28, 2018.

The overdraft limit wasalso doubled to �10,000.

The Government alsoshifted the focus on accountsfrom ‘every household’ to ‘everyunbanked adult’.

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US Cranberries recentlypartnered with SheShines,

to celebrate womenhood anddiscuss latest wellness trendsfor women. Over 200 partici-pants of the event were edu-cated about the benefits ofCranberries, ranging fromtaste, health and wellbeing.The event hosted discussionsaround women’s careers, lifechoices and wellness.

Fibre-rich, and free ofboth fat and cholesterol,Cranberries are fast emergingas one of India’s favouritesuperfruits.

In Delhi alone, USCranberries has registered agood growth in sales in 2018,majority of buyers beingwomen.

“We are happy to witnessgreat growth in consumptionin Delhi and are grateful to behelping many residents instaying healthy” said, Michelle,Cranberry marketing committee.

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Overseas investors havepumped in a net sum of

�11,012 crore into the Indiancapital markets in April so faramid easing liquidity condi-tions globally.

Foreign portfolio investors(FPI) were net buyers for theprevious two months as well,infusing a net amount of�11,182 crore in Februaryand �45,981 crore in March2019.

Prior to that, FPIs hadpulled out a net �5,360 crorefrom the capital markets (bothequity and debt) in January.

FPIs invested a netamount of �14,300.22 crore inequities during April 1-16,while pull ing out a net�3,288.12 crore from the debtmarket, taking the total netinvestment to �11,012.10

crore for this month so far,depositories data showed.

Foreign investors havebeen on a buying spree in theIndian markets since Februarydue to improvement in glob-al liquidity which was trig-gered by a shift in stance onmonetary policy outlook byvarious central banks global-ly, experts said.

On the domestic front,“the investors are lookingbullish on the Indian markets,given the positive prospects ofa stable Government” postelections, said Harsh Jain,COO at Groww.

“So, this year has wit-nessed foreign money flowinginto the emerging marketsand India is getting its shareof the same. These factorscontinue to drive the flowsinto the Indian equity mar-kets,” he added.

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South Korean auto majorHyundai is looking at var-

ious options for sourcing elec-tric vehicle (EV) componentsin India, including local man-ufacturing of battery parts, atop company official said.

The automaker, which ispresent in India through itswholly-owned subsidiaryHyundai Motor India Ltd(HMIL), said it is also lookingfor further clarity inGovernment policy to drive inhybrid models in the country.

“We are studying variousoptions, not only us (HMIL)in India, but even HyundaiMotor Company (HMC) pro-curement division is lookingat it,” HMIL MD and CEO SSKim told PTI when asked ifthe company plans to locallymanufacture batteries for EVs.

The company’s parentHMC is even contacting sup-pliers in India for batterycomponents, he added.

Hyundai plans to drive in

its first EV in a completeknock-down (CKD) form inthe country this year. Thevehicle would be assembled atHyundai’s Chennai-basedmanufacturing plant. Withthe Government pushing forlocal sourcing of EV compo-nents, Suzuki Motor Corpalong with its partners isalready in the process of con-structing an automotive lithi-um-ion battery manufactur-ing plant at Hansalpur inGujarat.

Tata Motors andMahindra are also activelypursuing EV segment in thecountry.

Kim said Governmentsupport is critical to supportgrowth of EVs in the person-al mobility space.

“In many countries wherethe EVs are sold to privatecustomers, they are support-ed by the Government interms of subsidies ... If OEMsneed to push EV mobility,Government push is critical,so we are expecting some

more support,” he added. Under the FAME-II

scheme with an outlay of Rs10,000 crore, the governmentis primarily focusing on elec-trification of public trans-port.

When asked aboutlaunching hybrid vehicles inthe country, Kim said thecompany will take a decisionafter further policy clarity onthe segment from theGovernment.

“Once the hybrid policyand its framework is readiedby the Government we willalso plan our activity accord-ingly,” he said.

On establishing a newfactory, Kim said the installedcapacity at the company’sChennai plant is currentlyenough to take care of thedemand.

The company has addedan additional capacity of50,000 units, taking the totalinstalled capacity at the plantto 7.5 lakh units per annum,he added.

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National transporter IndianRailways account for near-

ly three-fifths of 344 centralsector projects that are facinghuge cost overrun due to delayin implementation for variousreasons.

Total cost overrun of 205delayed railway projects is whop-ping �2.21 lakh crore, the latestflash report of the Statistics andProgramme ImplementationMinistry (MOSPI) for December2018 showed.

The MOSPI monitors cen-tral sector projects involving anexpenditure of �150 crore andabove.

According to the report,the total original cost of these205 projects was �1,68,116.34crore up to December 2018.The total anticipated cost ofthese projects is estimated at�3,89,745.97 crore, which indi-cates overall cost escalation by131.83 per cent.

The Ministry monitored367 projects of Indian Railwaysin December 2018. The reportstated that 94 of these projectsreported time overrun or delayof one month to 324 months.

After the railways, thepower sector reported the sec-ond highest incidence of over-all cost overrun. Of the 95 pro-jects monitored by the Ministryin the power sector, 40 report-ed cost overrun of �63,334.88crore.

The total original cost ofthese 40 projects was�1,72,830.59 crore, which esca-lated to an anticipated cost of�2,36,165.47 crore.

The report stated that ofthe 95 power sector projects, 56reported time overrun (delay)of two months to 147 months.

The third largest cost esca-lation was recorded in the roadtransport and highways sectorwhere out of the 605 monitoredprojects, as many as 49 report-ed cost overrun.

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Australia powered into its first FedCup final since 1993 on Sunday

with Ashleigh Barty and SamanthaStosur clinching the deciding fifth rub-ber in Brisbane against Belarusian pairVictoria Azarenka and Aryna Sabalenka.

Their battling 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win setup a title match against either France orRomania in November.

The tie was sent into the crucialdoubles match after Azarenka crushedStosur 6-1, 6-1 in the reverse singles, fol-lowing Barty sweeping past Sabalenka6-2, 6-2.

Belarus, a losing finalist in 2017, wasscheduled to pit Lidziya Marozava andVera Lapko against the Australian duo,who were playing together for the firsttime. But with so much on the line teamcaptain Tatiana Poutchek opted instead

for the more accomplished pairing.But they fell short to give seven-

time champions Australia a crack attheir first title since last winning in1974.

Elsewhere, World number twoSimona Halep battled back from a setdown to defeat France's Caroline Garcia6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-4 and put Romaniawithin touching distance of a firstfinal appearance since 1973.

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Italy's Fabio Fognini thrilled a crowdcomposed mainly of his countrymen

as he defeated Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-4 towin the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday.

The 13th seed based just 20 kilome-tres over the border in San Remo,became the first from Italy to lift a tro-phy here in 51 years, following on fromNicola Pietrangeli, who watched hisrecord fall from the royal box at theMonte Carlo Country Club.

Pietrangeli won the trophy in theprincipality in 1961, 1967 and 1968.

He came to the court after the tro-phy ceremony to pose for pictures withhis new tennis heir, who was followingup his shock semi-final win over 11-timeMonte Carlo champion Rafael Nadal.

"I started the season rather badly, so

this is unbelievable. I'm very content withthis victory, especially with all of theItalians here today,"Fognini, 31, said.

The 48th-ranked Serb Lajovic wasplaying in the first ATP final of his careerand got to the title match without the lossof a set.

Fognini looked to be temporarilyhampered as he limped momentarilyafter breaking Lajovic for 3-2 in the sec-ond after claiming the opening set in 44minutes.

During a medical timeout, he wastaped on his right thigh and a heel, butcarried on without apparent problems ashe finished the final on his second matchpoint as Lajovic returned long.

The winner of his first Masters1000 trophy came to the first major weekof the pre-Roland Garros run-up with a0-4 record on the clay, the surface he grewup on.

Among his victims this week wasnumber three Alexander Zverev, and hisstunning stunning 6-4, 6-2 victory overNadal on Saturday to end the Spanishstar's 25-set win streak in the principal-ity.

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's prob-lems since taking over as per-manent Manchester United

manager intensified with a humili-ating 4-0 loss away to Everton onSunday.

Defeat at Goodison Park —United's sixth in eight games — alsodealt a huge blow to the Red Devils'hopes of playing in the ChampionsLeague next season.

Goals from Richarlison, GylfiSigurdsson, Lucas Digne and TheoWalcott inflicted the largest defeat onUnited since they lost by the samescoreline at Chelsea three years ago.

But, after starting his reign witheight consecutive victories, the beststart ever made by a manager at theclub, former United striker Solskjaeris now collecting some other, veryunwanted, statistics.

This latest loss means Unitedhave now leaked 48 league goals, themost they've conceded in a season,since letting in 63 back in the 42-game 1978/79 campaign.

Sunday's loss also means Unitedhave conceded in 12 consecutivegames for the first time sinceDecember 1998 while, underSolskjaer, the Reds have lost five con-secutive away games for the first timein 38 years.

��6��United looked second best even

before the hosts scored twice insidethe opening half-hour, conceding asuccession of corners from whichEverton threatened.

It was another type of set-piece,a long throw-in by Digne, fromwhich Everton took the lead after 12minutes when the full-back launchedthe ball deep into the United area.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin helpedthe ball on with the flick of his headand Richarlison sent a spectacularscissor-kick finish flying past Davidde Gea.

After a humbling 3-0Champions League exit at Barcelonain midweek, it was not the start

Solskjaer had been looking for.Everton soon made the situationworse for the visitors.

After 27 minutes, Evertoncleared a United corner and imme-diately broke on the counter-attack,with winger Bernard playing adelightful ball inside to IdrissaGueye.

He, in turn, released Sigurdssonwho, with Nemanja Matic backingoff, unleashed a magnificent 25-yardshot which bounced just in front ofthe diving de Gea on its way into thebottom corner.

Richarlison might have givenEverton the lead even earlier. His10th minute shot drew an amazing

reaction save from de Gea.From the rebound theBrazilian hurried his follow-up effort wide.

6��$�� With the recalled Romelu

Lukaku booed every time hetouched the ball by his formerfans at Everton, United had littleresponse to an impressive effortfrom the home side.

In between the goals, Unitedstar Paul Pogba's long diagonalpass freed Marcus Rashford whocould only poke his effort over froma tight angle.

Everton effectively killed the

game in the 56th minute. DeGea punched clear aSigurdsson corner to theunmarked Digne who sent asuperb, first-time volley fly-ing back past the Unitedkeeper from 20 yards.

Three minutes later, andfrom the same left wing,

another Sigurdsson corner almostcrept in at de Gea's near post beforethe Spaniard stuck out a boot toclear off his line.

Even though Richarlison hadlimped off through injury, the agonywas not over for United with theBrazilian's replacement Walcottcontinuing the rout in the 64th

minute.Sigurdsson again carved out

the opening with a brilliantly-timedthrough ball which allowed theformer England international thespace to sprint into the area and beatthe advancing de Gea.

Not until the 86th minute, anda comfortably saved AnthonyMartial strike, did United have ashot on target.

Meanwhile Everton, who hadnot beaten a 'big six' rival in 25attempts before last month, havenow won consecutive home match-es against Chelsea, Arsenal andUnited while keeping three cleansheets in the process.

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Cristiano Ronaldo said he is"1,000 percent committed to

staying" with Juventus next seasonas he claimed his first Serie A titleand Juventus their eighth in a rowon Saturday.

Massimiliano Allegri's sidehad needed just one more point fora 35th Scudetto and their latest titletriumph helped ease some of thepain of their shock ChampionsLeague exit at the JuventusStadium to Ajax on Tuesday.

A come-from-behind 2-1 winover Fiorentina was enough to givethem a 20-point lead on nearestrivals Napoli with five games toplay.

Serbian defender NikolaMilenkovic put Fiorentina aheadafter less than six minutes.

But Alex Sandro's diving head-er on 37 minutes and an own goalfrom Fiorentina defender GermanPezzella after a Ronaldo cross inthe 53rd minute sealed anothertitle to ease their European disap-pointment.

"It was a great season and Iadapted well. We won the Scudettoand the Italian Super Cup, whichis not easy to achieve," saidRonaldo.

"It didn't go well in the

Champions League but next yearis a new page, the fans all want itand so do we.

"I'm staying at Juve, 1,000 per-cent."

It was the 34-year-old's sixthdomestic league title, having wonthree with Manchester United andtwo with Real Madrid, as hebecomes the first player to win thePremier League, La Liga and SerieA.

Their eight straight title seesthem overtake French club Lyonfor the record of consecutive vic-tories in the top five Europeanleagues.

The day was a double celebra-tion as Juventus' women's teamwon their second straight leaguetitle since being founded in 2017.

"I'm very happy because we'veachieved an important goal," saidAllegri, who becomes the firstcoach to win five consecutiveSerie A titles.

He has six in total, having alsowon with AC Milan, one behindGiovanni Trapattoni, who hasseven.

Juventus also equalled therecord for the earliest the Italiantitle has been won, with five gamesto spare, achieved by Torino in1948, Fiorentina in 1956 and InterMilan in 2007.

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Captain Marco Reus played throughthe pain barrier to inspire Borussia

Dortmund to a 4-0 win over Freiburgon Sunday and keep them hot on theheels of Bundesliga leaders BayernMunich.

Reus picked up a knock to hisknee under a heavy challenge fromFreiburg's Janik Haberer in the secondhalf, but fired Dortmund to victorywith a goal and two assists to keepthem a point behind Bayern.

Dortmund was under pressure topick up three points after title rivalsBayern beat Werder Bremen 1-0 onSaturday.

Far from buckling under the pres-sure, however, Dortmund deliveredone of their most confident perfor-mances in recent weeks to fight theirway past Freiburg in a nail-biting title

race.A silky move in the box saw

Dortmund take the lead 12 minutes in,with Raphael Guerreiro and MarcoReus linking up to provide JadonSancho with a tap-in.

Guerreiro, returning to actionafter two weeks out injured, then setup Reus for Dortmund's second eightminutes after half-time.

Lucien Favre's side then surviveda handful of chances for Freiburgbefore a brutal counter-attack sawReus set up Mario Goetze to make it3-0.

Paco Alcacer completed a perfectafternoon for Dortmund, convertinga late penalty after a Pascal Stenzelhandball.

Dortmund face local rivals Schalkein the Ruhr derby next Saturday,before Bayern travel to take onNuremberg the following day.

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Paris Saint-Germain wonthe French Ligue 1 title

for a sixth time in seven sea-sons on Sunday after second-placed Lille could only draw0-0 at Toulouse.

Qatar-backed PSG arenow 16 points ahead of Lillewho have five games to playafter a campaign which sawthem only lose on threeoccasions in another domi-nant league campaign.

PSG now have eightFrench championships sincetheir maiden victory in 1986although they squandered

three earlier chances tosecure this season's trophyby failing to beat Strasbourg,rivals Lille and Nantes in the

space of 10 days.Tuchel, in his first year as

boss, has complained aboutnot having enough players as

the world's most expensivefootballer Neymar, Angel diMaria and Marquinhos havemissed large parts of the sea-son through injuries.

The German has had tocall on youngsters ColinDagba, Moussa Diaby andChristopher Nkunku to fillgaps but Kylian Mbappe hasproved his 180 million-europricetag with 27 goals in 26league appearances.

The Parisians hostMonaco, later on Sundaywith Neymar set to returnfrom a foot problem whichhas kept him sidelined sinceJanuary.

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Karim Benzema made it 30 goals for theseason on Sunday as he led the way

again for struggling Real Madrid with a hat-trick that shot his side to a 3-0 win overAthletic Bilbao.

Benzema has been one of the fewbright sparks in an otherwise dreary cam-paign for the European champions and itwas his second-half treble that proved thedifference at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Victory moves Madrid four pointsbehind Atletico in second, while Bilbao stayseventh, with their chances of sealing a spotin the Europa League dented. HoweverZinedine Zidane's side stay 13 pointsbehind La Liga leaders Barcelona, who beatReal Sociedad 2-1 on Saturday.

Benzema's advance in the absence ofCristiano Ronaldo and surge since the reap-pointment of Zidane comes in stark con-trast to Gareth Bale, who was whistledwhen introduced as a substitute here andfrequently during his 20 minutes on thepitch.

For all the impatience of the homecrowd, it was Bale who won the corner forBenzema's second and then teed up histeam-mate's third in injury-time.

The 31-year-old has now claimed allof Madrid's last eight goals in La Liga, a runthat includes five matches, while in his lastseven games, he has scored 10.

It was from the counter-attack thatMadrid scored as Toni Kroos was allowedto stroll forward unattended and feedMarco Asensio out wide. Asensio crossedfor Benzema to head home.

The game was reduced to almost awalking pace around the hour, with theMadrid fans roused only to jeer the intro-duction of Bale, who came on with Isco,with 20 minutes left.

But it was his run in behind that wonthe corner for Benzema's second, anotherheader, this time at the back post, before acomical mix-up in the Bilbao defence gift-ed him his hat-trick.

Iago Herrerin rushed out to intercepta speculative ball over the top but made amess of his headed clearance, the ball fallingto Bale to tee up Benzema, 30 yards out butwith the goal open.

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Jonny Bairstow and DavidWarner continued their stel-lar run at the top as they

powered Sunrisers Hyderbadto a nine-wicket win over strug-gling Kolkata Knight Riders inan IPL encounter here onSunday.

Chasing a target of 160,Warner struck 67 off 38 balls hit-ting three fours and five sixeswhile Englishman Bairstowpunished the hapless KKR attackwith seven boundaries and fourmaximums in his unbeatenknock of 80 off 43 balls.

The openers looked in com-mand as the target was achievedin 15 overs largely due to their131-run stand. This was KKR'sfifth successive loss in the tour-nament.

This is the fourth time thatthe opening partnership ofWarner and Bairstow paved the

way for a Sunrisers victory thisseason. The duo had guidedSRH to victories againstRajasthan Royals, RoyalChallengers Bangalore andDelhi Capitals in similar fashion.

KKR were sloppy in the fieldand ended up paying heavily fortheir mistakes. Bairstow wasdropped twice, once on 5 byCariappa off debutantPrithviraj's delivery in the sec-ond over and then again on 58

by Piyush Chawla off SunilNarine.

The troika of spinners werethe reason for KKR's downfall asSunil Narine (0/34 in 4 overs),KC Cariappa (0/34 in 2 overs)and Piyush Chawla (0/38 in 3overs) gave away 106 runs innine overs.

Prithvi (1/29) got the onlybreakthrough for KKR dismiss-ing the threatening Australianbut it was a little too late as thehosts needed just 29 runs off 40balls.

With Warner gone, KaneWilliamson (8 off 9 balls) walkedin but the captain had little to dowith Bairstow hitting a four andtwo sixes to seal the victory.

With the win, SunrisersHyderabad jumped to the fourthspot with 10 points from ninematches while KKR remain onthe sixth spot with eight pointsfrom 10 games.

Earlier, young left-arm

pacer Khaleel Ahmed grabbedthree wickets in an impressivespell. The 21-year-old speedsterremoved Sunil Narine (25 off 7balls), who was looking danger-ous in his first spell and thencame back to dismiss ShubmanGill (3) and Chris Lynn (51) inhis corresponding spells to keepKKR in check.

Senior pacer BhuvneshwarKumar returned with the figuresof 2/35 while leg-spinner RashidKhan (1/23) and seamerSandeep Sharma (1/37) took awicket apiece with the Sunrisers'bowlers making life difficultfor the KKR batsmen.

For KKR, Lynn was the top-scored with a dogged 47-ball 51.Rinku Singh was the othernotable contributer with a 25-ball 30.

Also Narine's blisteringinnings of 24 runs off eight ballswas laced with three boundariesand two maximums.

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Awin at home f inallyachieved after multiple

losses, a confident DelhiCapitals will hope to keep thejuggernaut rolling when theytake on Rajasthan Royals in anaway IPL encounter here onMonday.

Delhi have been doingbetter at away games ratherthan at their home ground buton Saturday night they man-aged to reverse that at theFeroz Shah Kotla ground witha five-wicket win over KingsXI Punjab, helping themremain on third spot in thepoints table.

Rajasthan Royals also wontheir match here on Saturdayby the same margin against aformidable Mumbai Indiansas Steve Smith celebrated hisreturn at the helm with a cap-tain's innings.

With both teams rejuve-nated after their respectivevictories, it will be an interest-ing battle for one-upmanshipcome on Monday.

However, Rajasthanwould be a bit more desper-ate than Delhi as they are lan-guishing at the second lastposition in the points tablewith just three wins fromnine outings.

Rajasthan would look tocontinue to capitalise on theirhome advantage under newcaptain Smith. But they wouldcertainly miss their prolificopener Jos Buttler.

Anjikya Rahane, who hasbeen struggling with his formand also seemed to be out ofideas, was eventually strippedof captaincy and next hemight also lose his openingslot to Rahul Tripathi.

Tripathi was impressive

during his 45-ball fifty againstKings XI Punjab, whileRahane was too slow in his21-ball 26 as Rajasthan failedto chase down 182, finishingat 170/7.

With Smith back in form,and the youngsters like SanjuSamson and Riyan Paragcoming good with the bat,

Rajasthan would fancy theirchances. Though their bowl-ing still remains a worry indeath overs. Except JofraArcher and leg spinnerShreyas Gopal, none of thebowlers have been consistent.

Delhi Capitals have a solidbatting line up with a blend ofexperience and youth.

Senior opener ShikharDhawan laid the foundationwith a fluent 56 of 41 balls andskipper Shreyas Iyer con-tributed with an unbeaten 58off 49 balls to win their lastgame.

With Dhawan and PrithviShaw at the top and the likesof Rishabh Pant, Iyer andColin Ingram to follow, Delhiwould start as a confident bat-ting unit.

Down the order, evenAxar Patel is capable of accel-erating the run-rate.

As far as bowling is con-cerned, Delhi Capitals heavi-ly depend on Kagiso Rabadaalthough they have variety inmedium pacers IshantSharma, Sandeep Lamichhaneand spinners Amit Mishraand Axar Patel.

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Former world championMirabai Chanu produced

her personal best but missedout on podium by a whisker,while Youth Olympics Goldmedallist Jeremy Lalrinnungawent on a record-smashingspree at the Asian WeightliftingChampionship here on Sunday.

The 24-year-old Mirabailifted 86kg in snatch and a per-sonal best of 113kg in clean andjerk for a total of 199kg in thewomen's 49kg event to finishon fourth position. Her earli-er personal best total in 49kgwas 192kg in the EGAT Cup inThailand in February.

In a remarkable perfor-mance, 16-year-old Jeremysecured second place in groupB of the 67Kg men's event.During his record-smashingspree, he claimed three worldmarks.

Earlier in the day, JhiliDalabehera opened India'smedal account, claiming aSilver medal in the women's45kg category. However, 45kgis not a Olympic weight cate-gory.

The points gathered fromthis event will come in handywhen the final rankings for

2020 Tokyo Olympics are madenext year.

Unfortunately Mirabaimissed the Bronze as China'sZhang Rong with the sametotal of 199kg (88kg+111kg)finished third under new rules,which came into effect in 2017.

Under these rules, thecompetitor who has a lowerclean and jerk result (thatmeans higher snatch result)will be ranked higher in theclassification of athletes fortotal lift.

The Gold medal went toHou Zhihui of China who pro-duced an effort of 208kg(92kg+116kg) while NorthKorea's Ri Song-gum clinchedthe Silver, l ifting 200kg(86kg+114kg) in the Goldlevel Olympic qualifier.

Mirabai, however, pickedup a Bronze in clean and jerk

while she was fourth in snatch.In World Championships andcontinental championships,medals are awarded separate-ly for snatch, clean and jerk,and total lift. But in theOlympics, medals are award-ed only for total lift.

This was Mirabai's secondinternational competition inthis category after theInternational WeightliftingFederation re-jigged theweight categories last year.She was earlier competing in48kg.

Jeremy gave a power-packed performance, smash-ing the Youth World and Asianrecords in snatch, clean andjerk and total lift with aneffort of 297kg (134kg+163kg)to be placed second in hisgroup behind Pakistan's TalhaTalib, who lifted 304kg

(140kg+164kg).The final standings for

the men's 67kg event will beknown after group A compe-tition on Monday.

Jeremy, in fact, broke 15records in total, combiningnational and internationalmarks. He smashed six inter-national records — threeyouth world and three youthAsian — and nine nationalrecords — three youth nation-al, three junior national andthree senior national.

The Mizoram weightlifterpulled off clean lifts in two ofhis three attempts in snatch(130kg, 134kg) to set a newyouth world record. The ear-lier youth world record wasalso in Jeremy's name when hehad lifted 131kg in the EGATCup in Thailand in February.

Jeremy then lifted morethan double his body weight(157kg, 163kg) in two success-ful attempts in the clean andjerk, and in the process oblit-erated Kazakhstan weightlifterSaikhan Taisuyev's youthworld record of 161kg.

It was Jeremy's personalbest and 9kg more than his288kg youth world recordeffort in the EGAT cup, wherehe won the Silver medal.

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Parthiv Patel's attackinghalf-century and Moeen

Ali's final flourish wasn'tenough as Royal ChallengersBangalore put up a sub-par161 for 7 against ChennaiSuper Kings in an IPLencounter on Sunday.

Parthiv smashed 53 off 37balls but didn't get a lot of sup-port from the other end untilMoeen Ali used the long han-dle to hit 26 off 16 balls evenas AB de Villiers (25 off 19balls) and Akshdeep Nath (24off 20 balls) delivered littleafter promising a lot.

Deepak Chahar (2/25 in 4overs) was impressive as usualwhile Ravindra Jadeja's (2/29

in 4 overs) twin breakthroughduring partnership was alsoimportant in the context of theinnings.

Dwayne Bravo (2/34 in 4overs) also chipped in with acouple of wickets in the end.

Virat Kohli (9) hit a cou-ple of boundaries before athickish edge off a Chaharoutswinger brought about hisdownfall. Mahendra SinghDhoni took a nice catchbehind the stumps.

However Parthiv and ABde Villiers (25 off 19 balls)added 47 runs in only 4.2overs with the former SouthAfrican skipper looking in

fine touch.De Villiers smashed

Chahar over square leg whileParthiv also flicked ShardulThakur (0/40 in 4 overs) for acouple of sixes.

Having picked 16 runs offthe final Powerplay over, RCBlooked in control before Jadejainduced De Villiers to go fora big shot only to be holed byFaf du Plessis at Long-off.

Parthiv was joined by theburly Akshdeep Nath (24, 20balls), who hit a six off Jadeja,added 41 runs with his seniorpartner before being caught byDu Plessis at long-off Jadeja'sbowling at the stroke of team's

100-run mark.The baby-faced Parthiv,

whose form has been inconsis-tent during the tournament sofar, was ready to punish theloose balls on the day as hesent a Jadeja half-tracker soar-ing into the stands for his thirdsix and hit Imran Tahir for afourth one.

He reached his half-centu-ry by pulling Bravo in-front ofsquare but was out off the verynext ball. Parthiv's inningshad two fours and four sixes.

Just when 150 was lookinga bit dicey, Moeen hit fiveboundaries to take RCB past160-run mark.

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With the wicket of Narine,the momentum shifted in SRH'sfavour. In Khaleel's next over, hedismissed Gill (3). Nitish Rana(11) and captain Dinesh Karthik(6) also returned to the dressingroom in quick succession.

Rinku and Lynn shared a51-run stand for the fifth wick-et to stabilise the innings beforeSandeep Sharma dismissed the21-year-old Indian. Big-hitterAndre Russel scored 15 off 9balls.

He hit two sixes off Kumarbefore the right-arm seamer dis-missed the Jamaican in thepenultimate over.

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˙ ˝ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ......2019/04/22 · run Daily News reported....

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Transcript of ˙ ˝ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ......2019/04/22 · run Daily News reported....