People killed in J&K are our own

Transcription

1 Is marathoner Jaisha daughter of a lesser India? I could have died at Rio, says national record holder after being deprived of water, energy drinks during her 42-km run at Olympics PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/AGENCIES n NEW DELHI/BENGALURU here are two sides to a coin. If Tthe entire country was unified in celebrating the medal clinching performances by Sakshi Malik and PV Sindhu, we should stand united in supporting Indian marathon runner OP Jaisha, who was given a hard deal by Indian officials at the Rio Olympics. Who would have thought that while the whole nation was celebrating the achievements of its daughters Sakshi Malik and PV Sindhu and lauding the hard work MARKETS SENSEX 28, NIFTY 8, WEATHER MAX C (-2) MIN C (-1) Partly cloudy sky. CAPSULE BIHAR BJP LEADER GETS LIFE TERM FOR MURDER Patna: A Bihar court on Monday sentenced BJP leader Jitendra Swamy to life imprisonment in a case of abduction and murder of Bharat Singh, brother of Damodar Singh who was the JD(U) candidate from Maharajganj Assembly constituency in years ago, said a Government lawyer. GST PROMISES TO BOOST GDP BY UP TO 2%: PREZ Kolkata: Describing the passage of the GST Bill by Parliament as the single biggest reform measure in recent times, President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said the move paves the way for creation of a unified market and promises to boost GDP growth rates by up to 2 per cent. SUBMIT RIVER ZONE REPORT: NGT TO MOEF New Delhi: Noting that unhindered construction on river floodplains has resulted in severe floods in various parts of the country, the National Green Tribunal on Monday took strong exception to undue delay in filing of a draft report on the River Regulation Zone and directed the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to submit the report by October 3. IN A FIRST, NOTA OON LIKELY IN DUSU POLLS New Delhi: For the first time, Delhi University has decided to introduce the NOTA option in the student union polls scheduled on September 9. The decision to introduce the None Of The Above (NOTA) option in the EVMs for Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) polls was taken at a meeting of the election advisory committee. AIR ARABIA, TOUR FIRM TO PAY `6.5L TO CUSTOMER New Delhi: Air Arabia and a tour company have been directed by the apex consumer commission to pay `6.5 lakh to a passenger for deficiency in quality of services rendered and not informing him about the cancellation of a flight. TRIBAL BODIES AGAINST ST STATUS TO 6 COMMUNITIES Guwahati: Opposing the Centre's move to grant Scheduled Tribe status to six communities in Assam, 16 tribal organisations on Monday announced to launch a series of agitation programmes, including bandh and blocking of national highways. Follow us on: OPINION 9 BALOCHISTAN: PAKISTAN'S DARK UNDERBELLY and stellar performance of Dipa Karmakar, another of India s daughters would be denied even basics by Indian officials. Jaisha, India s national record holder was running a tough race when she collapsed at the finish line. The km run couldn t have been possible to win without water and energy drinks. But that s exactly what Jaisha missed. Thanks to the apathy of the Indian officials who failed to provide her water and energy drinks at refreshment points, the runner finished her race in 2 hours, seconds. I could have died there, said a People killed in J&K are our own Modi for talks, lasting solution to Kashmir conundrum within framework A Kashmiri protester throws back a tear gas shell on Government forces in Srinagar on Monday AP PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n NEW DELHI ndicating the Government's Ireadiness to initiate a dialogue process to defuse the volatile situation in Kashmir Valley, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed "deep concern and pain" over violence and deaths in Jammu & Kashmir. He also urged all political parties to work together to find a "permanent and lasting" solution to problems in J&K. In a statement after meeting a delegation of Opposition parties, the PM emphasised on the need for talks for a permanent and lasting solution within the framework of the Constitution. An official statement issued after his 75-minute-long meeting with a joint Opposition delegation led by former J&K Pakistan books Baloch leaders for backing Modi's I-Day speech Karachi: Five cases, including that of sedition, have been registered against three top Baloch nationalist leaders in Pakistan for allegedly backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi s supportive words on Balochistan in his Independence Day speech. Brahamdagh Bugti, Harbiyar Marri and Banuk Karima Baloch were booked under Sections related to concealing design to commit offence punishable with imprisonment, waging war or abetting waging of war against Pakistan, concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war, and assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty, said a senior police official on Marathon runner OP Jaisha hits out at the national athletics federation on Monday for not providing her refreshments during the Rio Olympics marathon WORLD 12 SYRIA BORDER REGION MUST BE CLEANSED OF IS: TURKEY of Constitution facebook.com/dailypioneer distraught, Jaisha as she recalled the women s marathon event at Rio Olympics, during which she claimed she was not provided any water and energy drinks by the officials despite designated stations being given for India. It was very hot there. The competition was at 9 am, I ran in scorching heat. There was no water for us, neither recovery drinks nor food. Only once in 8 kms did we get water (from the Rio organisers) which did not help at all. All the countries had their stalls at every 2 kms but our country s stall was empty, said the runner. Jaisha had collapsed at the finish line after completing the marathon and had to be rushed to a hospital where her coach Nikolai Snesarev got into an altercation with one of the doctors and ended up being detained for half a day by the local police. The runner claimed that she got no response from officials when she asked why water was not provided Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the PM appreciated the "constructive suggestions" made by them during the talks and reiterated his Government's commitment to the welfare of the people of the State. "The Prime Minister expressed deep concern and pain at the prevailing situation in the State. He said that those who lost their lives during the recent disturbances were part of us, our nation; whether the lives lost are of our youth, security personnel or police, it distresses us. He conveyed that his Government and the nation stand with the State of Jammu & Kashmir and suggested that all political parties should reach out to the people and convey the same. He expressed his commitment to the development of the State and its people, and appealed for restoration of normalcy," said the statement from the PMO. He underlined the need for all political parties to work together to find a solution to the problems in J&K, said the statement. The 20-member delegation comprising Omar and seven of his National Conference MLAs, Congress Legislators led by PCC chief GA Mir, and CPI(M) MLA MY Tarigami called on the Prime Minister on Monday morning and made an appeal for a political approach for resolving the crisis in the Valley and to ensure that the "mistakes" of the past are not repeated. Immediately after the release of the PM's statement, Omar tweeted, "We welcome the statement of the Hon ji and look forward to working together to find a lasting solution to problems of J&K." Omar told reporters after the meeting that they requested the Prime Minister to find a political solution to the Kashmir issue so that a lasting peace is ensured in the State as well as in the country. "The Prime Minister told us in categorical terms that development alone will not resolve this problem," he said and refused to draw any conclusion from that. Continued on Page 7 Related reports on P5 SPORT 14 AFTER WASH OUT INDIA WIN SERIES 2-0 { } LUCKNOW, TUESDAY AUGUST 23, 2016; PAGES 16 `3 he Sports Ministry on Monday announced that Rio TOlympics medalists, shuttler PV Sindhu and wrestler Sakshi Malik, will receive the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award along with gymnast Dipa Karmakar and shooter Jitu Rai. The award comprises a cash prize of `7.5 lakh along with a medal and a citation. Dipa's coach Bisheshwar Nandi has been selected for the Dronacharya Award along with Team India skipper Virat Kohli's coach Raj Kumar Sharma, athletics coach Nagapuri Ramesh and boxing coach Sagar Mal Dhayal. The Dronacharya Awards for lifetime will be awarded to veteran swimming coach S Pradeep Flood of woes in UP, MP, Bihar NDRF evacuates relief operations. He said Home Minister Rajnath Singh is closely monitoring the situation 26,000 people; 40 and has spoken to the Chief Ministers of UP, Bihar, die in 3 States; PM Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to take stock promises all help of the situation. The Centre assures total support in rescue & relief operations. I hope the situation in the affected areas he flood situation in normalises at the earliest, TMadhya Pradesh, Bihar and tweeted the Prime Minister. Uttar Pradesh continued to remain grim on Monday with the major rivers in the regions flowing above danger mark. As Incessant rain for the past few days have caused the Ganga River and its tributaries to rise above the danger level per official figures, at least 17 Two men carry essentials like a gas cylinder to their temporary shelter by a during the past 48 hours in people have died in Madhya makeshift raft after several areas were flooded in Allahabad on Monday AP about 20 districts of Madhya Pradesh, 14 in Bihar and nine Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar in Uttar Pradesh because of drowning, electrocution or injuries from collapsed houses. Force (NDRF) from the floodravaged areas in Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and tasked two Deputy Inspector General-rank officers in Bihar and UP with monitoring Pradesh. In Bihar, Patna is said to be experiencing the worst floods Normal life is also out of gear Uttar Pradesh and the situation. since The Ganga was in Rajasthan. More than 26,400 people have so far been rescued by the National Disaster Response Uttarakhand. The NDRF has fanned out 56 rescue and relief teams to help people hit by heavy rains in various States Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday promised Centre s total support to five flood-hit States in rescue and flowing above the danger mark at six places in various parts of four districts. Continued on Page 7 JITU, SAKSHI, SINDHU AND DIPA TO BE CONFERRED WITH KHEL RATNA to her at the stalls. I asked officials why there was no water for us but I got no response. I don t know what they were doing. There were lot of people in the Indian athletics contingent, anybody could have done this job, Jaisha told Times Now. When asked about the incident, Sports Minister Vijay Goel said it was the Athletics Federation of India s (AFI) responsibility. Every RNI No.2016/1957, REGD NO. SSP/LW/NP-34/ Established 1864 Published From DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL BHUBANESWAR RANCHI RAIPUR CHANDIGARH DEHRADUN PV Sindhu Sakshi Malik Dipa Karmakar Jitu Rai Kumar and wrestling coach Mahabir Singh. The award comprises a cash prize of `5 lakh each with a medal and a citation. Continued on Page 7 ANUP SHARMA n GUWAHATI n a reminder to the 1990s, the Ianti-talk faction of the Ulfa has abducted the son of a BJP leader in Assam and demanded `1 crore for his release. The incident came to light on Monday when the Ulfa faction ed an ISIS-styled video footage to the media where Kuldip Moran, son of a BJP leader in Assam s Tinsukia district, was seen sitting on the ground on his knees surrounded by five gunmen. Moran, son of Ratneswar, the vice-president of Tinsukia Zila Parishad and a close aide of Late City Vol. 152 Issue 230 *Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable NARGIS WANTS TO TRAVEL LIKE ROBINSON 16 VIVACITY time any small incident happens, we take note. It was the AFI s job, it is the federation which should have taken care of this, he Continued on Page 7 An artiste meets with athletes during the closing ceremony in the Maracana stadium at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday Brajesh Pathak leaves Maya to join saffron party ust a day after attending his Jparty chief s rally in Agra, former BSP MP Brajesh Pathak on Monday left Mayawati s company to the join the BJP ahead of the State polls early next year and become the latest addition to the list of key leaders who have deserted the BSP in recent times. The two-term BSP MP crossed over to BJP expressing faith in its developmental agenda in Uttar Pradesh in the presence of BJP president Amit Shah and Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, the MP from Noida. In the run up to the poll, the BJP thinks Pathak, a Brahmin, is a major catch who could bolster their vote bank in the community and strengthen winning caste combinations. Sharma said Pathak joining BJP Brajesh Pathak (R) with BJP president Amit Shah and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma after joining BJP in New Delhi on Monday. Pathak quit BSP to join BJP will help the party consolidate Brahmin votes. BJP is counting on the former Unnao Lok Sabha MP and now a sitting Rajya Sabha member, to help it win over Brahmin voters, who are also being aggressively wooed by Congress Ulfa abducts Assam BJP leader's son Demands `1 cr ransom in ISIS-style video AP which has decided to give a big chuck of tickets to the members of Brahmin community in the State. BSP is also trying to rope in Brahmin which constitute over 13 per cent of the State population. Pathak was described as a pillar in the Hardoi- Unnao region of the state by the BJP leaders. Even as Pathak was at the BJP headquarters completing his joining formalities, BSP expelled him from the party, apparently after coming to know of his plans. Pathak said he had played a role in swinging Brahmin voters to BSP during the 2007 Assembly polls, but Brahmins were disappointed by the party. Earlier, Swami Prasad Maurya, one the close confidants of Mayawati, had left BSP and joined BJP after initial indecision. Sadiya Legislator Bolin Chetia appealed to his parents, Bolin Chetia and Assam Chief Minister Sonowal to secure his release. I have been abducted by the Ulfa and I request my father, Bolin Chetia and Chief Minister Sonowal to secure my release. They have been holding me hostage and my health has deteriorated. I may die some day in cross firing, said the abducted boy in the video. Continued on Page 7

2 city 02 UP Assembly gets digital platform PNS n LUCKNOW W ith the launch of a digital platform, Uttar Pradesh has joined a select group of state legislatures of the country where the records of debates in the House are available with the click of the mouse. The digital platform was inaugurated by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in the presence of Assembly Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey, several state ministers and lawmakers here on Monday. Persistent Systems with SemanticBits have developed a Multilingual Intelligent Search Solution for gaining insight into the legislative proceedings of the House. All elected members and public will have 24x7 access to accurate information of past proceedings of the House in text, audio and video forms. At present, such a system is available in Kerala and Himachal Pradesh. The Chief Minister, in his address, said that this was a unique system through which PNS n LUCKNOW he UP government has directed Tdivisional commissioners and district magistrates to provide relief to the flood-affected people on priority basis. The district officials have been asked to tour the flood-affected areas and take immediate measures to prevent breaches in embankments and shift people from the flood-affected areas to safer places. Reviewing flood relief in the affected districts of eastern UP and Bundelkhand region on Monday, Chief Secretary Deepak Singhal asked the officials to draw contingency plan to deal with the flood situation following release of water from the reservoirs and barrages of other states after the heavy rains. people could monitor the activities of their representatives. This system will increase transparency in government working and technology will act as a watchdog, he said, adding that the Samajwadi Party government had always promoted technology. We have given funds for digitisation of the files of the Allahabad High Court, he added. The CM further said he would be shifting to his new office which had better and modern technology. We are certain that our government will continue to sit in the new secretariat to be inaugurated soon, he On the occasion, Yadav said the media should change their attitude towards government and give a right perspective of the political and development scenario of the state. State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mohammad Azam Khan said the digital platform would prevent lawmakers from double speak as they say something to their voters and change their views in the House. Principal Secretary (Irrigation) Suresh Chandra said the flood situation in the state had become grim following heavy rains in the catchment areas and subsequent release of water from the reservoirs in Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh. He said heavy rains in Bundelkhand region spread over Madhya Pradesh and UP had flooded many villages in Orai, Banda, Chitrakoot and Hamirpur district. The state government has so far set up 668 flood relief outposts, 182 flood relief camps, 186 relief material distribution camps and over a lakh people have been shifted to safer places. The state government, during the current financial year ( ), has sanctioned Rs 221 crore for flood protection projects and Rs 100 crore Principal Secretary (Assembly) Pradeep Dubey said it was a stupendous task but we are proud to have it in UP Assembly because it is the latest technology available in the market. SP deliberating over alliance issue PNS n LUCKNOW he first family of Samajwadi TParty headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav met here on Monday and deliberated over going all alone in the next Assembly election and contesting the poll on the plank of development or exploring the possibilities of alliance with other political parties, including the Congress. Right now the ruling party is busy hammering out the issue of development versus alliance. According to sources in the SP, Mulayam Singh Yadav also favours alliance with small parties but before taking a decision he wants to consult all stake holders and create a consensus within the party over the issue. The meeting held to hammer out this issue remained inconclusive and all the members will meet again. The meeting was attended by SP general secretary and spokesman Ram Gopal Yadav, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle and PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav. The sources said Shivpal Yadav and Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh were pressing for alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal and Quami Ekta Dal and were also exploring the possibility of electoral understanding with the Congress while Ram Gopal Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav were against alliance with any party and favoured contesting the 2017 Assembly election on the plank of development works done by the SP government during the last over four years. The sources said Shivpal Yadav pushed for alliance with small political parties, arguing that the electoral battle would get very tough if the party decides to go all alone. Time is running out for holding negotiations for alliance which includes working out seat sharing formula. If we delay it further then all other parties will decide their line and position and entering into alliance with any party at that stage will be difficult, said a SP leader privy to the ongoing tussle within the first family of the SP. The sources said Shivpal Yadav s outburst on August 14 of being ignored in the party and the government and of illegal activities of the party leaders was manifestation of his frustration over the deadlock in the party over the issue of alliance. None other than the party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav came to the rescue of his younger brother and publicly rebuked his son, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, only to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mohammad Azam (left), Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey (right) at the inauguration of the Multilingual Intelligent Search Solution digital platform of UP Assembly on Monday Pioneer create some political space for his younger brother in the party and prevent him from taking any hasty decision. Amar Singh, who was expelled from the party in January 2010 and re-admitted after six years and nominated to the Rajya Sabha in June this year, also fired a salvo in favour of Shivpal Yadav on Monday. Balram Yadav, Shivpal Yadav and I were insulted in the Samajwadi Party. Jaya Prada was appointed chairperson of Film Development Board but she was removed at the instance of Jaya Bachchan. I want to meet the Chief Minister but am not getting an appointment. The Chief Minister s office tells me that my name has been sent to the Chief Minister. Now this is my level in the Samajwadi Party, said Amar Singh in Delhi on Monday. It may be mentioned that senior minister Balram Yadav was sacked from the Cabinet in June for his role in the merger of Quami Ekta Dal with the SP. Later, he was re-inducted in the Cabinet. Jaya Prada is known to be a close associate of Amar Singh. The two-term MP from Rampur was expelled from the party along with Amar Singh in January Lucknow (PNS): The All India Majlise-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will contest the Assembly elections in UP in alliance with small political parties. The Hyderabad-based political outfit is in talks with several parties including Mukhtar Ansari s Quami Ekta Dal. The AIMIM is open to an alliance for contesting the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and talks are underway with several parties in the state. We are confident to fare much better then in Bihar in UP elections as the Muslims, the core voters of the Samajwadi Party, are disillusioned with the ruling party and are in search of a viable alternative, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi AIMIM state president Shaukat Ali is in touch with some organisations, some leaders and some parties. It will be too early to really comment on it. Definitely, we are open to alliance but not with parties like Samajwadi Party, Congress or Bharatiya Janata Party, Owaisi I have met leaders of several parties in UP but I am not involved in those matters. Our state president is there. We will have to wait for some He said in the first phase, digitisation had been done for the past 25 years, while in the second phase, it would be done up to Persistent Systems founder and CEO Anand Deshpande said this system would bring transparency in government working as well as in debates. Every word the members or ministers utter will now be available on the website, he BJP-Apna Dal to form govt in UP: Anupriya PNS n LUCKNOW nion Minister of State for Health and Family UWelfare Anupriya Patel claimed that Bharatiya Janata Party in coalition with Apna Dal would form the government in Uttar Pradesh after the 2017 Assembly polls. Addressing the Tiranga Yatra in Faizabad on Monday, Patel said that people were scared and worried about prevailing corruption and law and order in UP. People now want a change from mafia rule of Samajwadi Party and corruption of Bahujan Samaj Party. Therefore, they are looking at the BJP, she Claiming that the BSP and the SP would be wiped out in the Assembly polls, Patel said that the BJP along with Apna Dal would win more than 265 seats in UP. The state will progress under the BJP and Apna Dal government. The days are not very far when people will have their own government, she Patel said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi s initiative to take out Tiranga Yatra aimed at strengthening the feeling of nationalism. She said this was the first government in the country that had honoured the families of the martyred soldiers. PNS n LUCKNOW he monsoon session of the TLegislative Council began amidst uproar with the entire opposition joining hands to protest against the Mathura clashes and Bulandshahr highway road hold-up and gangrape, disrupting the proceedings of the House on Monday. As soon as the House assembled, members of Bahujan Samaj Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Teachers group, Rashtriya Lok Dal and some independents trooped into the Well and raised slogans, displaying banners against the state government. They were agitated over the deteriorating law and order in the state, including the Bulandshahr gang-rape incident and Mathura clashes in which a gazetted-rank officer and an inspector were killed. Amidst the noisy scenes, the House was first adjourned for 15 minutes and later the Chairman adjourned the proceedings till noon. When the House reassembled, Chairman Ramesh Yadav read out condolence messages paying tributes to former members, including Munna Singh Chauhan, Raj Kishore Mishra and Radhey Shyam Nishad. Hardly had he completed Lucknow (PNS): Bharatiya Janata Party state president Keshav Prasad Maurya said that development work during the Akhilesh Yadav regime was visible only on hordings as the government had failed to provide relief to the people when half of the state was reeling under floods. What can be more disgusting for the government is that the first family of the ruling party in UP is embroiled in family feud and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is not concerned about flood-ravaged people, Maurya said in Deoria on Monday. He said the flood situation in Bahairch, Ghazipur, Mirzapur and Allahabad was Directive to provide relief to flood-affected people People shifting their belongings to a safer place from flooded water at Vindhyachal Dham in Mirzapur for maintenance of the existing flood protection assets like embankments and flood protection bunds. Besides, release of Rs 132 crore from the Centre is awaited for the centrally-sponsored projects. Principal Secretary (Revenue) Arvind Kumar said that for flood relief works, NDRF teams had been rushed to Gonda, Balrampur, Ballia, Varanasi and Allahabad. He said that two platoons of Provincial Armed Constabullary (PAC) had also been sent to Ballia district while over 3,000 boats and 38 motorboats had been pressed into service for ferrying people and their belonging to safer places. Kumar said adequate quantity of food grains, plastic sheets and cattle feed had been provided to floodaffected districts. AIMIM open to alliance: Owaisi Council session begins amidst uproar time, the Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad Owaisi, who had visited UP on August 13 and had addressed a convention of party cadre in Lucknow, said his party was getting very good response from the people and this was very heartening and gave his party a lot of confidence. There is definitely a lot of anger against the Samajwadi Party government in UP because they have not fulfilled the promises made in their election manifesto. Governance has taken a beating. They have failed to control law and order and now within their own party they have serious internal differences, he Owaisi said besides the slogan of Dalit- Muslim unity Jai Meem, Jai Bheem his party s campaigning in Uttar Pradesh would be on failures of the SP government. The AIMIM chief alleged that the UP government had not fulfilled the promise of giving 18 per cent reservations to Muslims and opening of schools in minority-dominated districts. There were eight promises related to Muslim minority in the SP election manifesto that they have not fulfilled. Even out of the allocations made to Minority Welfare department, not even 50 per cent is released. Out of Rs 3.5 lakh crore budget of UP, only 0.84 per cent is allocated to the Minority Welfare department... and that is for 20 per cent of the population, he Owaisi said the UP Assembly needed some strong people who could talk about development of education, improving of health indicators and issues of security, and added that huge incidents of communal violence and riots had taken place but Muslim MLAs were not brave enough or assertive enough to ask pointed questions as to why they were happening. He said out of 69 Muslims MLAs in UP Assembly, 40 were from the Samajwadi Party yet there was nobody to raise the voice of the Muslims in the Assembly. The AIMIM state president said Owaisi had himself met Maulana Taukir Raza Khan of Ittehadul Millet Council of Bareilly and Dr Ayub of the Peace Party and talks with the Congress were also underway. He said a prominent Dalit leader, Ram Lakhan Pasi, had also joined the proposed front. Assembly expresses grief at Irfan s death, adjourns Lucknow (PNS): The monsoon session of the state legislature began on Monday but the Vidhan Sabha adjourned after expressing grief at the death of SP member Md Irfan who died in a road accident. Irfan was elected to the Vidhan Sabha from Bilari constituency in Moradabad district. He died on March 10. The deceased MLA s son Mohammad Faeem was elected to the Assembly in the bypolls. Leader of the House and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, leader of opposition Gayacharan Dinkar, BJP Legislature Party leader Suresh Khanna, Congress Legislature Party leader Pradeep Mathur, RLD leader Dalveer Singh and others expressed grief at the death of Md Irfan and spoke about his contribution. While the Chief Minister called Irfan a popular leader of Moradabad, Dinker said the deeds of the SP MLA would be remembered forever. the obituary references, the opposition members once again stormed into the Well and raised anti-government slogans. very bad as over 400 villages were badly affected. Maurya said over 20,000 people had been rendered homeless and did not have a shelter. Children are starving but this government has failed to extend relief to the people, he charged. Hitting out at the Samajwadi Party, Maurya said no such thing like government existed in Uttar Pradesh. He said mafia and criminals were calling the shot. They feel safe here as they know that they are protected by the SP, he added. Addressing a rally in Kushinagar, where he led the Tiranga Yatra, Maurya said the BJP would form the next government with clear majority. The Bahujan Samaj Party has lost its sheen as Dalits know that BSP supremo Mayawati is selling their votes, he said and added, Only the Khanna said that had Irfan been alive, he would have celebrated his 65th birthday on Monday. Mathur and Dalveer Singh also joined others in expressing their condolences. Later, Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey read out the condolence message on behalf of the entire House and the members observed a two-minute silence for the departed soul. The House was then adjourned for the day. However, the House presented a different scenario as all eyes were on the defectors. While Congress members Kazim Ali, Dilnawaz Khan and Dr Muslim, who had recently joined the BSP, sat with the BSP members, BSP member Rajesh Tripathi and NCP member Fateh Bahadur were seen sitting with the BJP members. Former leader of opposition and BSP member Swami Prasad Maurya and now a BJP leader did not attend the first day of the session. The Chairman s repeated request to members to take their seats went unheeded, forcing him to adjourn the House for the day. Development work in UP only visible on hoardings: Maurya Narendra Modi government is working for the welfare of Dalits. On leaders joining the BJP, Maurya said some politicians from other parties had come into the BJP fold as they knew that the BJP had emerged as the first choice of the people. Many legislators and senior leaders of other parties are in touch with me. If they all join the BJP, then the SP and the BSP will be left only with a few faces, he Printed and Published by Vijay Prakash Singh for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., 4th Floor, Sahara Shopping Centre, Faizabad Road, Lucknow and Printed at Tin Tin Printech Pvt Ltd., C-33 Amausi Industrial Area, Nadarganj, Lucknow. Tel: (0522) / Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident Editor: Vijay Prakash Singh. RNI No. 2016/57. Lucknow Telephones: EPABX: Fax: Allahabad Office: (95532) , , Kanpur Office: (95512) , Varanasi Office: (95542) , Delhi Office: Link House, II Floor, 3 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi Tel: (011) ,

3 city 03 S-I hit by stunt bikers, hurt Lucknow (PNS): Two stunt bikers performing in Gomti Nagar hit a sub-inspector when he tried to catch them on Monday evening. The S-I suffered injuries and was admitted to hospital with two fractures in hands and one in leg. As per reports, the Gomti Nagar police were conducting a drive against those performing bike stunts at Sahara flyover. Recently, a class IX student of Chowk had died while performing stunts on the flyover. When the bikers reached the middle of the road, the youth driving the bike did a wheelie. Seeing this, Ambedkar Udyan police outpost incharge Shashank Dev Shukla drove his bike behind them to catch hold of them. Seeing a cop behind them, the bikers first tried to speed off and then hit the S-I. The cop fell down while other policemen stopped the bikers. They lost control of the vehicle. While the pillion-rider fled the scene, the youth who was driving the bike was nabbed. He was identified as Aryan Kumar of Aliganj. He is pursuing graduation. He disclosed the name of his friend as Aditya and the police started searching for him. Station officer, Gomti Nagar, Dheerendra Shukla said police had detained Aryan while search for his friend was on. BSP leader, kin held for Ashiyana murder PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Aleader, his two relatives and one of his henchmen were accused in the murder of a property dealer, Sachin Shukla, who was shot dead in Ashiyana on Sunday night. After a case was registered and public outrage spilled onto the streets, police swung into action and nabbed two persons, identified as Prem Shanker Dwivedi (63) of Ashiyana and his kin Anoop Trivedi (55) of Husainganj. Both owned up their crime and they were challaned for murder. The cops have yet to nab BSP leader Naveen Chandra Dwivedi of Ashiyana, Rajendra Singh aka Pappu of Om Nagar, Sujal Singh, Mannu Dwivedi and other unidentified persons named in the case. Police said two of the miscreants had been arrested from their houses after a raid. Earlier, victim s father Ashok Shukla of Bhadrukh lodged a case in this connection accusing the above-named miscreants to have killed his adopted son over a property dispute. He told police that he was appointed secretary in New Sahyogi Sahkari Samiti by Naveen Chandra some time back. Naveen s wife Nisha is chairman of the Samiti. The Samiti had purchased 11 bigha land in Aurangabad locality soon after its inception. Later, when the land rates skyrocketed in the area, Naveen removed victim s father from his post and sold the land for Rs 11 crore. This led to dissension between Ashok and Naveen. Sachin was more strident in protest over the issue and this made Naveen and his men unhappy with him. Ashok alleged that Naveen and his men had attacked Sachin on July 9. Police caught napping PRABHA SHANKER n LUCKNOW Lucknow police learn Ttheir lessons only after an incident takes place. The Ashiyana shooting incident has exposed made this clear. Heavy police force was deployed after property dealer Sachin was peppered with bullets in full public view near the Bangla Bazaar police outpost. Autopsy report revealed that Sachin was shot five times from a sophisticated pistol. He suffered two firearm injuries on chest, two on right hand and one on stomach. A doctor at the postmortem house disclosed that four bullets were extricated from Sachin s body while the fifth was yet to be removed. We conducted an X-ray on the body to find the bullets. We got an impression of a bullet-like object in stomach but it has yet to be pulled out, he The motive for murder was said to be a long-drawn dissension between the victim and his rivals and it exposed police inertness in handling the case. On July 9, Sachin was attacked when he and with his friend Babbu Dwivedi were standing at a tea stall in the area. He had lodged a case against Mannu Dwivedi, Annu Dwivedi and Sujal Singh with the Ashiyana police. The Ashiyana police sided with the attackers as they are relatives of BSP leader Naveen Chandra. Also, the dispute involved a sum of Rs 11 crore, so the police acted on the complaint as per their Local residents had strongly protested the incident and had even damaged a roadways bus in Bangla Bazaar after the incident. Police had recorded convenience rather than going by the rule book, a relative of the victim Police department sources said Naveen and his men used to call the shots in the area and they were hardly challenged in the past. The Ashiyana SO has had a good rapport with Naveen due to his political stature and he never minded doing him a favour whenever asked. That was why police never did any follow-up in the case which was registered on July 9, the sources They said the miscreants who were arrested by police had a good rapport with the incharge of Bangla Bazaar police outpost Dharmveer Singh and they were seen associating with him hours before the incident took place, they claimed.when asked, ASP, North, Vijay Dhul said two of the miscreants had been arrested while efforts to nab another named person in the case were on. He said laxity on the part of the Ashiyana SO and Bangla Bazaar police outpost incharge had not been established as yet. We are working to find out if there was any laxity on the part of both the cops which might have resulted to the murder, he On Monday, heavy police force was deployed near Chadrika Devi temple, Bangla Bazaar bridge and around victim s house to prevent any untoward incident. People in the area are livid with the assailants and the BSP leader in question. the statement of a fast food stall owner, who was an eyewitness to the case. SO, Ashiyana, Sanjay Pandey said efforts to nab other miscreants were on. 7 more test positive for dengue in city PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW ith seven new patients of Wdengue detected in the district the total number of cases due to this disease here has gone up to 43 since the month of January. Five of the samples were tested at the SGPGI and two at the regional lab as per the information provided by the CMO s office. Meanwhile, a workshop on the fallacies associated with dengue will be held at the CMO s office here on Tuesday. The aim of the workshop is to remove the myths associated with this dreaded disease and spread awareness about it among the people. It will also witness the presence of the Principal Secretary, Health. Reliable sources at the CMO s office said that the situation regarding dengue was not alarming in the district. Most of the figures which are coming out are false because when the people have fever they get themselves tested for dengue through the rapid kit test but these have to be confirmed through Elisa. There are guidelines regarding these tests which should be followed, he He further informed newspersons that there were several patients which were coming from the eastern parts of the state and were getting themselves checked in Lucknow district. He said that dengue cases were expected this year because of the prevailing weather conditions. The weather is just right for dengue to occur with good rains and the great fluctuation in it, i.e. turning alternately cold and hot, he At the King George s Medical University there were nine suspected cases of dengue out of which three were confirmed on Monday. Dr Himanshu from the KGMU said that they had sufficient beds for these patients. A senior doctor at the testing facility at KGMU said that there were cases of dengue but their number was not unusually high. All kinds of dengue cases are happening in the city, which include the severe ones, but the mortalities are the same as last year, said the doctor. However, a senior doctor from the SGPGI said that the number of cases was high this year. We are getting over samples daily for testing which are both from Lucknow district and outside. Nearly 7-8 cases are being tested which is definitely a high number, he He pointed out that at the SGPGI they had 5-6 patients of dengue. Meanwhile, the district administration had issued a directive for cleaning the campus and fogging of school campuses wherever it had not been done till date. The District Magistrate, Raj Shekhar, directed the school authorities in this regard Please also give home work to the children to record in writing the precautionary measures taken by their parents. This will help in two ways-first in spreading awareness among the parents and children and secondly in ensuring timely prophylactic steps for controlling dengue effectively at the level of each household. Zoo animals can be adopted for one week to a year: Director Lucknow (PNS): Visitors to Lucknow zoo can adopt animals for one week to one year. Zoo director Anupam Gupta said on Monday that the adoption scheme was aimed at evoking empathy towards wildlife, closely interacting with zoo animals and developing a feeling of love and affection for wildlife among people. Any individual or organisation can adopt zoo animals and support them through financially for better management and facilities through this scheme. One has to pay a certain amount for feeding, upkeep and management of an adopted animal for a period of one week to one year. People can also associate with this scheme in memory of their beloved ones, or on important occasions like birthdays or marriage anniversaries, Gupta He added that zoos played an important role in conservation and development of forest, environment and wildlife. All types of visitors like rich or poor, children or adults, and foreigners visit zoo. Lucknow zoo is one of the oldest and most reputed zoos of north India. About three lakh people visit Lucknow zoo every year, he Gupta said Lucknow zoo had started Wildlife Adoption Scheme for the inmates in Many individuals/organisations from different fields like politics, judiciary, bureaucracy, Bollywood, banks etc have adopted animals through this scheme in the past. The facilities available for adopters include deduction in income tax, free passes to see adopted animals (2-8 times a year depending upon the duration of adoption) and certificates. Top 10 individuals and organisations will be honoured during the Wildlife Week and the name of adopters will be advertised in front of animal enclosures, he Former BJP corporator found hanging PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW former Bharatiya Janata AParty (BJP) corporator hanged herself to death at her house in Talkatora police area on Monday. Her husband is a BJP corporator from Rajajipuram ward. Lata Upadhyay (37) lived with her husband Jitendra and son Tushar in Rajajipuram (Sector E). Tushar is a student of class IX in City Montessori School, Rajajipuram branch. Jitendra left his house for a public meeting in the morning while Tushar went to school. When Tushar returned home around 1 pm, he found his mother hanging from the ceiling with a stole tied around her neck. Neighbours reached the scene and informed Jitendra. SO, Talkatora, Ashok Yadav said no suicide note was recovered from the room and why the woman committed suicide was not clear. He said Lata s parents had been informed about the incident and they were yet to lodge a complaint in this regard. The family was in a state of shock at Lata s untimely death. She was a strongwilled woman and would encourage others whenever she found them disturbed due to financial constraints or other reasons. We cannot believe that Lata ended her life, especially when she apparently had no problems, a neighbour Meanwhile, in another incident, a 20-year-old girl, Kumkum, burnt herself under a bout of depression at her house in Bakshi-Ka-Talab (BKT) on Sunday night. Police said Kumkum was admitted to SIPS hospital near KGMU with 80 per cent burns. She was suffering from some disease and was said to have been upset due to it. Her family members said she used to brood over her illness and used to say that she would end her life one day. When asked if the police recorded the statement of the girl, a police spokesman said that the statement was recorded by a magistrate-rank officer and that the police had no information about the same. Elsewhere, in Mohanlalganj, a 22-year-old woman, Soni Singh, ended her life at her house on Monday. She was found hanging from the ceiling with a rope tied around her neck. A suicide note recovered from the room stated that Soni was upset over a personal issue. The girl held herself responsible for the extreme step. Two injured in clash during hockey match Lucknow (PNS): Two hockey teams playing a semifinal match at Virendra Swaroop Inter College in Mahanagar clashed on Sunday, leaving a woman manager and one players of her team injured. Those injured were identified as Anjali Singh of Sarai Mali Khan in Chowk and Ashwini, a player from her team. They suffered head injuries in the attack by hockey sticks and were admitted to KGMU s Trauma Centre. As per reports, a match was organised at the school s play ground on Sunday. As Anajli s team was leading 1-0, it riled the opponents. She alleged that players from other team forcibly demanded a penalty from the referee and players of her team were attacked when they objected. The spectators said players from both the teams hit each other with hockey sticks. Anjali tried to intervene and she suffered injuries, police The cops said a cross-fir had been registered in this connection and legal action would be taken against those found on the wrong side of law.

4 city 04 Gene Saviour Award for mango biodiversity conservation society PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW he Society of Conservation Tof Mango Biodiversity will be awarded the Gene Savior Award by the Central government. CISH (Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture) director Shailendra Rajan told The Pioneer on Monday that the award would be given away at the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences in New Delhi on August 24. He said that the on-farm conservation of Malihabadi mango varieties was initiated by CISH with participatory support of a community based organisation Aam Vividhta Sanrakhshan Samiti (Mango Diversity Conservation Society) having 500 members. Community farmers identified 100 varieties which require on-farm conservation on priority. A farmer s catalogue of 42 varieties was developed by four communities in Hindi and English and distributed among the members, policy-makers and stakeholders for popularising the traditional varieties. Varieties suitable for table purpose, sucking and table (12), sucking (6) and pickle (15) purpose were identified. These varieties, well known for few decades for unique traits, are on the verge of extinction. Noncommercial farmers varieties identified at Malihabad are being conserved and multiplied through six community nurseries, he explained. Preference for these less known farmers varieties among masses was realised and six diversity fairs and city markets were used as a tool for attracting urban consumers towards these lesser known mangoes. Thirty-seven farmers mango varieties have also received IC numbers and submitted to PPV&FRA for registration. CISH facilitated community training on establishment of community nursery. Community-based efforts resulted in establishment of multivariety gardens of community mango varieties and also shared scions for complementary conservation in NAGS at CISH. The CISH director said that the conservation was important from the economic point of view. Mango is one of the most important crops supporting livelihoods of millions of people. Today farmers, owing to their economic interest, are shifting to cultivation of commercial varieties of mango leaving traditional varieties to the backstage. This has resulted in plantation of new orchards with grafted mango plants. Not just fruit, the mango plant also enjoys close relation with the religious sentiments of people. Certain Indian rituals necessitate presence of mango wood and its leaves as well, he added. Even as Indian plains, specially Gangetic ones, being rich in mango germplasm, there has been limited research and exploration of mango gene pool which holds immense potential of research and development with respect to the variability, exploration, genetic diversification, characterisation and conversation of germplasm. Gene bank development, conversation of germplasm is necessary for conservation as well as improvement of mango crops, he added. The CISH director said that no farmer would be willing to cultivate a crop for long which was not commercially viable. U.P. Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd., Obra Tharmal Power Station, OBRA- Sonebhadra CORRIGENDUM This office Short term Tender No. T-06/ /AHD-I/BTPS floated for the work of rectification/erection of ladder of Unit no. 09, 10 & 11 in ESP and near C.T. tower area. (04 nos) scheduled to be opened on 10/08/2016 at 13:00 hrs. & 16:00 hrs (Part-I & II) respectively is hereby extended an now shall be open on at 16:00 hrs & 24/08/2016 at 16:00 hrs (Part-I & II) respectively. All other terms and conditions of the tender shall remain unchanged. Executive Engineer Ash Handling division-i 'B' Tharmal Power Station Obra (Sonbhadra) No. 240 Date SAVE ELECTRICITY IN THE INTREST OF NATION U.P. RAJYA VIDYUT UTPADAN NIGAM LTD. OBRA THARMAL POWER STATION OBRA- SONEBHADRA SHORT TERM TENDER- NOTICE Tender No : TO- 1152/CPD-IIATPS/ Office : Central Procurement Division-Il, 'A'TPS, Obra, Sonebhadra Material/Item : Supply of stationery/printing items. Estimated Cost : Rs /- Only Earnest Money : Rs in favour of Dy. CFA&BO, ATPS, Obra Sonebhadra in shape of FDR/DD. Opening date : Part- I at 16.Hrs, Part- Il at 16.00Hrs Date & Time for Submission of tender : upto hrs. The tender received after above schedute date of tender submission shall be summarily rejected. Note:- Tender notice and tender specification is available on Nigam Web Site org. The download tender alongwith tender cost and other necessary documents shall be acceptable on submission before due date of tender opening. EXECUTIVE ENGINEER CENTRAL PRO- CUREMENT DIVISION-II U.P. RAJY A VIDYUT UTPADAN NIGAM LTD. P.O. OBRA. DISTT. SONEBHADRA Mob No. 239 Date SAVE ELEC- TRICITY IN THE INTEREST OF NATION Dharnas put brakes on traffic movement Commuters stuck in traffic jam on Park Road in Lucknow. (Right) Computer teachers staging protest and senior basic teachers courting arrest PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW t was a day of dharnas in the state Icapital on Monday. As many as eight organisations assembled at Laxman Mela ground to press their demands, throwing the traffic out of gear. Members of Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD), All India Community Health workers, All-India Teachers Welfare Association, Anudanit Mahavidhyalay/Vishwavidhyalay Association/ Medical Ambulance/Paramedic/Driver associations, Senior Basic Teachers PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW he diaphragm wall for the Tconstruction of the Hussainganj Metro station will be cast in the first week of September. The Managing Director, Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation, Kumar Keshav, while talking to The Pioneer on Monday said that the guide walls for the Hussainganj Metro Station had already been constructed. We have already constructed the guide walls for the Hussainganj Metro Station and by the first week of September the machinery and casting case will be mobilised and the diaphragm wall will be constructed. In the case of Sachivalaya Station we have laid out the second panel on Sunday and now the panels will be laid every third day, he Officials from the LMRC said that the work from the KD Singh Babu Stadium to Munshipulia was likely to begin from October. On being asked if the traffic problems in the city would increase with the construction in this section, the officials said that it was unlikely. There are no traffic diversions for the elevated section where we only place the barricades and work. In the case of underground construction there is no problem where the tunnel is being constructed but there is problem where the station is being constructed because we have Association and Pradhan Kshetra Panchayat Swabhiman Sangh assembled at Laxman Mela ground to press their demands. The dharna site was filled with workers from different associations and police had a tough time keeping the situation under control. To preempt efforts by the protestors to breach security and move towards Vidhan Bhawan to press their demands, police had come with a strategy. Both the ends of the Laxman Mela road were barricaded and cops were deployed at each picket. However, the arrival of Diaphragm wall for Hussainganj Metro station to be cast in Sept SCHOOLSCAN to make traffic diversions. The underground construction is designed and built while in the elevated section the designs are already prepared, said Keshav. Meanwhile the LMRC officials said that they had a meeting with the Hazratganj traders last week. The diversions for the Hazratganj Station will take place on August 25. We have met the Hazratganj Traders Association and set aside whatever apprehensions they had in this regard. They are happy with the progress of the work, said the officials. He further pointed out that they would be visiting the train manufacturing unit at Chennai on August 30. The YOUNG MATHEMATICIANS GIVEN WARM WELCOME A 45-member delegation of City Montessori School were accorded a warm welcome at Amausi airport upon their return from Thailand after participating in International Mathematics Competition (IMC-2016). CMS founder Jagdish Gandhi and president Geeta Gandhi Kingdon were also present on the occasion. The 45-member delegation comprised students and teachers of CMS Gomti Nagar (Campus I), RDSO Campus, Gomti Nagar (Campus II), Aliganj (Campus I), Mahanagar Campus, Kanpur Road Campus and Rajendra Nagar (Campus I). HINDI RECITATION An inter-house Hindi Recitation Competition for the students of nursery and class first was held in both branches- Jopling Road and Sharda Nagar of Lucknow Public Collegiate. It was heartening to see the contestants bubbling with enthusiasm and excitement and reciting their poems chosen for a plethora of literary works. This initiative was taken to shape well their future so that they can do wonderful job for the country. Manasvi Sharma, Anvesh Singh and Astitva Kumar stood first, second and third in groups A, B and C respectively at the Sharda Nagar branch while Ajay Bajpai,Vedansh Kumar and Tanushree Mukherji stood first, second and third in groups A,B and C at Jopling Road. Traffic diversions from today Lucknow (PNS): The traffic police will implement diversion/restriction for the second phase of Metro construction work in the state capital on Tuesday. Heavy commercial vehicles and buses will be diverted from 6 am to 11 pm as per schedule. The routes between Ravindralaya, in Charbagh to KKC, Hussainganj, Royal Hotel, Hazratganj, Sikanderbagh crossing will remain restricted for traffic. Vehicles going towards Hazratganj will be diverted towards Loco crossing, towards Basmandi crossing via Rana Pratap Marg/La Touche Road, Naka crossing, Charbagh to Nattha trisection, and Rakabganj, Aishbagh and Basmandi, Aishbagh, towards Hewett Road tri-section and Rana Partap Marg, Kaiserbagh crossing and Hussainganj crossing, Kaiserbagh and Noor Manzil trisection, Sadar and Hussainganj, Subhas crossing and Hazratganj,Sikanderbagh and Hazratganj/Royal Hotel, Golf Club and Hazratganj/Royal Hotel and Bandariyabagh crossing and Hazratganj/ Royal Hotel crossing. Besides, handcart/ animal driven vehicle will also remain restricted for movement on above said routes. demonstrators and vehicles which ferried them to the city made the roads chock-a-block. The officials then planned to keep the Hazratganj crossing clean to avoid the wrath of the top officials and to show them they had done a good job. Due to excessive vehicle parked at Darulshafa, Hazratganj, Laxman Mela ground and other places and due to traffic diversions owing to Metro work, the traffic was thrown out of gear at many places. It was practically difficult to pass through Charbagh, Naka work of manufacturing the train cars was progressing well. We carried out a review with the Metroman, E Sreedharan, on Saturday. The shell is complete and the roof as well as the floor will now start coming up, he As regards the feeder services to the Metro, the officials said that a presentation was likely to be held on Monday. The feeder services will determine how the various public vehicles will be utilised to feed the Metro with the passengers for the Lucknow Metro. The LMRC officials have still not decided on the fares of the Metro. Currently our focus is on the trials which will be held on December 1, he 21 food samples collected in random raids Lucknow (PNS): The district administration held an important meeting of the Food and the Drug department on Monday and also carried out random raids and collected 21 samples. District Magistrate Raj Shekhar said there were more than 990 cases of Food and Drug Act violations were pending with the CJM court. The district administration will take up this issue with district judge in the upcoming monitoring cell meeting and will request him to issue necessary instructions to dispose of the pending cases at the earliest. The CFO has been instructed to ensure that 128 pending cases under the new food licence are disposed of by August 31, he He added that in all, the cases where ADM CE had found irregularities and fined them (13 cases), licences would be cancelled and shops might also be sealed, if they did not deposit the pending dues with the government by August 31. Biotech Park to hold workshop Lucknow (PNS): In a bid to boost bio-entrepreneurship and bio startups in the state, the Biotech Park is organising a workshop on Bio- Entrepreneurship and Bio- Enterprise Creation at the Biotech Park with the support of the National Academy of Sciences and Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL), New Delhi. The Workshop on Bio- Entrepreneurship and Bio- Enterprise Creation will be held at the Biotech Park from September 16 to 17, The main objective of this workshop is to inspire and motivate the students, research fellows and young faculty and scientists to pursue entrepreneurship in the life-sciences sector. Its focus will be primarily on creating awareness about the various aspects of bio-enterprise establishment, management and understanding the entrepreneurial pathway to commercialisation of product innovations, said the CEO of the Biotech Park, Pramod Tandon. The workshop will include presentations and case studies by eminent subject-specific experts and successful entrepreneurs and also on the various funding opportunities and incentives available from the government for the bio-enterprises. The number of participants is expected to be about 100 and the candidates from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are eligible to take part in the workshop at Lucknow. CITYBRIEFS ADVANCED ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTATION The CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicological Research is organising a five-day-long training programme on Advance Analytical Instrumentation Techniques: Application in the area of Environment for the scientific staff of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), involved in environmental monitoring and analysis, from Monday till August 26. A total of 10 participants are attending the training programme. These trainees are drawn from Central Lab., Navi Mumbai, and Regional Labs of MPCB at Thane, Pune, Chiplun, Aurangabad, Nashik and Nagpur. To sharpen their testing and analytical skills to ensure quality results, the MPCB entrusted the CSIR- IITR the task of imparting training to their scientific staff. The CSIR-IITR is carrying out various environmental studies on industrial pollution, urban air pollution and health risk assessments which helped the regulatory agencies to take important decisions. Crossing, Rana Pratap Marg, Kaiserbgah crossing, CDRI tri-section and Kaiserbagh bus station. The day-long traffic jam cleared late in the night when the protestors left the city. While the autorickshaws and private buses did a brisk business ferrying them to bus/railway stations, commuters were made to sweat. Some members of Senior Basic Teachers Association sneaked through the barricades and reached Bapu Bhawan crossing. They attempted to cross the barricades at Bapu Bhawan crossing to reach PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW he district administration Thas requested the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) to clear the space meant for the parking slot at its properties across the city where the illegal structures had sprung up in a big way. It wanted to convey the message that the vehicles can only be parked at the allocated place for ensuring the smooth flow of traffic. The District Magistrate has written a letter to its Vice- Chairman urging the latter to take the initiative to clear the space at its properties which was allocated for parking vehicles and caused traffic congestion in and around the areas and other problems relating to public welfare. In the letter the District Magistrate also warned its competent authority that the administration with the help of the traffic police would take away the vehicles which were found to be parked at the wrong place at its properties and they would be released only after the penalty imposed on them was paid. It may be recalled that the Principal Secretary, Housing, Sadakant, had also expressed his concern over the frequent traffic jams at different places at the LDA governing body meeting held here on Friday last. He said that the illegal and unauthorised structures which were coming TRAINING Justice SU Khan said on Monday that the government counsels looking after the criminal cases had an important role in criminal justice administration. He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating a three-day special training programme organised by the Institute of Judicial Training and Research for district government counsels. On the occasion, institute director Mahboob Ali urged the counsels to understand the case to have a clear concept. Deputy director Pankaj Jaiswal compared the proceedings of the session while additional Sudhir Kumar proposed the vote of thanks. CONDOLENCE Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav expressed grief over the death of veteran journalist Bhagwat Saran, who passed away after prolonged illness. The Chief Minister hailed Saran s contribution to journalism. Saran was the founder member of All-India Small Scale News Paper Association. Pioneer Vidhan Sabha Marg but were spotted by cops present there. After a verbal spat, the cops wielding lathis chased them away. ASP, East, Shivram Yadav said the police did not cane-charge the protestors and only shooed them away when they tried to sneak through the barricades. Meanwhile, in support of a lady journalist of Shahjahanpur, identified as Rukhsar, her supporters staged a dharna. Similarly, a march was taken out to highlight the apathy of the government officials from Darulshafa to GPO. Clear space meant for parking lots, dist admn asks LDA up in the city were responsible for these traffic jams. The letter also urged its competent officer to extend his cooperation to this exercise so that the general public could get some relief. This exercise will be jointly funded by the LDA and the district administration. The LDA Vice-Chairman, Satyendra Singh, agreed to the District Magistrate`s request and directed its officers, engineers and subordinate staff to help him in clearing the parking lots and reiterated that it had taken the initiative in this regard in the past too but all its efforts ended in vain. A source said that prompt action in the matter would be the right decision to clear the occupied parking slots otherwise the proposed exercise would not yield any results like the ones undertaken in the past. A joint meeting of the LDA officials, the district administration and the traffic police will be held on Thursday to chalk out a concrete plan for its successful implementation. An LDA source told this reporter that over 183 locations across the city had been identified in the past where the allotted places for parking were being misused. This survey was conducted in September last but the LDA had failed to launch its anti-encroachment drive due to some unavoidable circumstances. DHARNA Secondary schools computer instructors, under the aegis of the UP Secondary Schools Instructors Association, launched an indefinite dharna in front of Education Directorate in support of their demands. Large number of instructors from different districts are taking part in the protest. General secretary Anirudh Pandey said the protest would continue till their demands were met. PROTEST Teachers of unaided secondary schools, under the banner of UP Unaided Secondary Schools Teachers Mahasabha, staged a dharna in front of the council house in support of their demands. Traffic in and around the dharna venue came to a halt for several hours due to the agitation. Later, the protestors went to Education Directorate and locked the main gate in protest. Officiating president Sanjay Kumar Mishra alleged that officials of the Education Directorate were trying to defame the teachers so that they were deprived of basic allowances.

5 nation 05 EC: Political parties can retain status for 10 years he status of a national and Tregional party will now be reviewed by the Election Commission after every 10 years instead of five, giving a much-needed reprieve to major political parties who faced possible de-recognition after being routed in an election. This was made possible after the Election Commission on Monday amended the Order governing the Allotment of Election Symbols whereby any recognised political party that fails to gain the requisite number of seats or percentage of vote share to retain its national or State party status in an election will be given a second chance till the next assembly or general election to continue its status. A political party becomes eligible to be recognised as a INSHORT CENTRE TO TRAIN ARMY PERSONNEL S SPOUSES New Delhi: A skill development centre to train spouses and wards of Army personnel was inaugurated here on Monday by Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag's wife Namita, president of Army Wives Welfare Association, in the presence of Minister for Skill Development Rajiv Pratap Rudy and the Army Chief. In the initial phase, courses in Information Technology, beauty and wellness, apparel and handicraft sectors will be conducted, Army officials SC JUDGE RECUSES HIMSELF FROM HEARING NOIDA PLEA New Delhi: Supreme Court judge Justice Ashok Bhushan on Monday recused himself from hearing the bail plea of former chief secretary Neera Yadav, convicted in the Noida plot scam. A bench of Justices S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan took up the matter and directed that it be listed before another bench. TAJ S NIGHT VIEW: SC SEEKS ASI S RESPONSE New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought response of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on a petition seeking permission for night viewing of Taj Mahal upto the central tank. A bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur issued notice to ASI and other concerned authorities on a petition filed by advocate Ajay Agarwal. The matter has been fixed for hearing after two weeks. TRUCK RADIO: DELHI GOVT S RELUCTANCE IRKS CJI New Delhi: The Delhi Government's reluctance to implement Supreme Court's direction for fixing radio frequency tags on trucks entering the Capital earned them the ire of Chief Justice TS Thakur, who rapped the Arvind Kejriwal Government for not obeying its orders. The tag, known as RFID system, was meant to ensure quicker and convenient collection of toll at the entry gates. The bench headed by CJI said, "We don't understand why you (Delhi government) are not inclined to implement it. The whole world has the RFID system...you should be progressive and forward-looking and not be an obstructionist." GUJ QUOTA: SC CONTINUES WITH STAY ON HC ORDER New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday continued with the interim stay on Gujarat High Court's decision quashing a State Government Ordinance providing 10 per cent quota for economically backward among the unreserved category, which includes the agitating Patel community as well. A bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur fixed the case for hearing on August 29 and refused any admission to take place till further orders. SHORT FILM CONTEST TO SPREAD SWACHCHH WORD New Delhi: In a bid to generate more awareness and increase involvement of common man in the country's flagship programme of "Swachh Bharat", the National Film Development Corporation of India under I&B Ministry has a contest for short films to showcase success stories on sanitation and its linkages with public health. The winners will be announced at a special felicitation programme in the national capital on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2. The Best Film will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and a certificate while three Second Best Films will receive Rs 5 lakh each. Six films selected for third Best category will win Rs 2 lakh each. national party if it wins two per cent seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different States or if it polls six per cent votes in a Lok Sabha or Assembly election in at least four States. They must also win at least four Lok Sabha seats. The order issued by the EC amending Paragraph 6C of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 said, If a recognised political party continues to be treated as recognised National Party or State Party after the next election to the House of the People or, as the case may be, to the Legislative Assembly of the State under the provisions of sub-paragraph (1), the question whether it shall further continue to be so recognised after any subsequent general election to the House of the People or, as the case may be, to the Legislative Assembly of the he IAF will construct an Taerospace museum close to the Indira Gandhi international airport to highlight India s rich aviation history. The Defence Ministry recently cleared the proposal and a final financial sanction is awaited. The museum will be ready in three to five years once the approval comes through. Giving details of the proposed museum, IAF officials said here on Monday the centre is not only meant to preserve the glorious tradition of the force but also to create awareness amongst masses about India s rich aerospace heritage. They also believed the museum will be a popular tourist attraction and a landmark in the national capital. Spread over 43 acres, the new museum will have extensive indoor and outdoor displays including huge aircraft State concerned, shall be subject to the fulfillment by the party of the conditions specified in Paragraph-6A or 6B, as the case may be. The order is set to benefit regional political parties such as the BSP, CPI and NCP who faced prospect of losing their national party status after their dismal performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The EC had served them notices in 2014 to show cause as to why their national party status be not withdrawn. By this order, the EC will review the national/state party status after every two consecutive Lok Sabha or assembly elections instead of one. At present, there are six national parties-bsp, BJP, Indian National Congress, NCP, CPI and CPI-M, and 64 recognised state parties in India. Activists ask Ministry to review new transgender Bill 2016 The definition of the transgender was not at par with a Supreme Court order ctivists and members of the Atransgender community on Monday urged the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to review the new Transgender (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016 thoroughly before passing it. Pointing that there were numerous lacunas and drawbacks in the Bill, Rajesh Umadevi of Sangama, an NGO, said that it offered no clear direction on how the different departments would co-ordinate to implement its provisions and how the community will access those welfare measures. If we do not remove the numerous lacunas, loopholes, drawbacks and disadvantages it could lead to miscarriage of justice rather than setting right the decades and centuries of social injustice and discrimination, he said at an interaction with the media here. Nish Gulur, an activist, noted that the definition of the transgender was not at par with a Supreme Court order and that the Bill in its present form does not recognise the self identification process. While Christy Raj, a trans man, alleged that the new bill is silent on the word abuse, Saampurna Behura from ReachLaw and Venkatesh, an advocate, lamented that violence against the transgender by the family members and police has not been incorporated in it. parked and hanging in flying attitude with mural depicting the golden era. A dedicated children's area will be part of the museum where children can enter cockpits of displayed aircraft and get the feel of flying controls. A video arcade would also be created. As per the plan, the internal displays would have a history section in which all IAF squadrons history would be India is always with you, Modi tells Afghanistan inting at Pakistan as the Hexternal factor destabilising Afghanistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday assured President Ashraf Ghani that despite such challenges before it, Indians will always work to help the country towards peace and prosperity. Modi inaugurated the renovated Stor Palace in Kabul with Ghani through video conferencing. After Afghan Parliament and Salma Dam this is the third project by India that has come to conclusion. Afghanistan is a close friend. Our societies and people have had age old ties and links. It, therefore, saddens us to see that your proud nation continues to be challenged by externally sponsored instruments and entities of violence and terror. Let me assure the people of Afghanistan that in your quest to build a prosperous Afghanistan and to bring peace, security and stability to your displayed along with aviation legends, major campaigns and wars fought by the IAF. Along with this history, major humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations undertaken by the IAF would also be highlighted. At present, the IAF has a museum near the technical area of Air Force Station Palam, which was established in The museum has an average Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, greet each other before inaugurating jointly the renovated Stor Palace in Kabul through video-conferencing, on Monday society, the 1.25 billion people of India will always be on your side, Modi said while speaking from his South Block office. Responding to Modi s statement, Ghani said the logic of peace and benevolence will defeat the logic of terror and violence while adding India and Afghanistan have always been close friends and joint initiatives like these are a fruitful journey of cooperation Gadkari seeks 5% of Central road fund for inland waterways Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari along with industrialists, port heads and policy makers at the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce s Annual Convention in Mumbai on Monday Pioneer photo TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI nion Minister for Shipping, URoad Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari has mooted a proposal seeking allocation of 5 per cent of the Central Road Fund for development of Inland Waterways. Speaking at the Infrastructure Session of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce s Annual Convention in Mumbai on Monday, Gadkari said that his Ministry had sent a proposal seeking allocation of 5 per cent of the Central Road Fund for development of Inland Waterways. My Ministry has prepared the proposal, but the final decision will be taken by the Ministry of Finance. I am pursuing the matter Gadkari Created from a cess imposed on petrol and high-speed diesel, the Central Road Fund is a nonlapsable fund under the Central Road Fund Act, The funds are meant to be used to develop and maintain national highways, state roads and railway over and under bridges. The move to seek a pie in the CRF follows Government s ambitious plan to tap India s vast network of rivers and canals stretching 14,500 kms for moving goods. Coming, an aerospace museum footfall of 500 tourists daily and exhibits details about combat operations undertaken by the IAF depicting IAF s rich history since its formation in 1932 to present date, along with the display of various aircraft and equipment on the IAF s inventory, since its inception. The vintage aircraft on display include Spitfires and some other aircraft used during World War II. PROTESTS, CLASHES CONTINUE IN VALLEY KHURSHEED WANI n SRINAGAR n a day when Prime OMinister Narendra Modi expressed deep concern and pain over the prevailing situation in Kashmir, normal life continued to remain out of gear in the Valley for the 45th consecutive day, albeit a relatively peaceful day passed with no untoward incident. The protests and clashes, however, continued in various parts of valley amid curfew and restrictions. The old parts of Srinagar city continued to remain under curfew after the latest killing of 19-year-old youngster Irfan Fayaz Wani who was hit with pellets in malarta pocket of old Srinagar on Sunday evening. Thousands of people attended Wani s funeral prayers late in the night before he was buried in martyr s graveyard at Eidgah where most of the civilians It is far more cheaper to transport goods by water than by road or rail. Currently, the cargo movement along the five existing national waterways is paltry 3 per cent of all cargo movement in India. We want to raise the share of waterways in overall cargo movements to 15 per cent, the minister Earlier, last week, Gadkari and militants killed during the past 27 years are buried. With Wani s death, the civilian toll in Kashmir during the current unrest has gone to 64 including three women while two policemen have also lost their lives during clashes with protesters. On Monday, policemen appeared in several localities of Jawahirnagar, Rajbagh and Batmaloo and asked the shopkeepers to open their shops. This is in contrast to the police practice in previous days when they would arrive in the morning to scare away the shopkeepers. Sources said that some Government employees were also seen attending to their duties in civil lines area, first time during the past one and a half month. The curfew continued in most parts of Srinagar and Anantnag town while curfew like restrictions remained flagged off a cargo vessel carrying 200 Maruti cars from Varanasi to Kolkata as part of a pilot run. The Government has commissioned the Jal Marg Vikas project with the technical and financial support of the World Bank to augment capacity of River Ganga from Varanasi to Haldia. When completed in swix years, the `4,200 crore project will facilitate movement of up to 2,000 tonne vessels. Under the National Waterways Act 2016, 111 inland waterways have been declared as National Waterways. Of these, Allahabad-Haldia Ganga Waterway (NW1), Brahmaputra (NW2), West Coast Canal in Kerala (NW3), Mandovi river in Goa (NW 68), Sundarbans Waterway in West Bengal (NW97) and Zurari River (NW 111) are currently operational. Six more waterways are likely to be commissioned during this financial year. imposed in other major towns and areas in south, central and north Kashmir. The night curfew remains imposed in Srinagar since last Wednesday (Aug 17). Similar restrictions on the movement of people, public and goods transport during late evening and night hours are in force in north Kashmir s Sopore, Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara areas. Reports said protest rallies were also held in various areas in south and north Kashmir areas. Over two dozen persons sustained injuries when clashes erupted between army and police allegedly vandalized the canopies, other logistical items put up for the proposed referendum rally at Ganapora area in south Kashmir s Shopian. Similar separatist sponsored also joined by local Sikh population was foiled in Seer Saali village of Aishmuqam area in Anantnag district. between the two nations. The pledge of our partnership and strength of our friendship with Afghanistan is unwavering. Today s event is a testimony to the resolve and range of our cooperative endeavours. We want each Afghan to flourish and your society to be benefited from fruits of economic growth, Modi He also thanked the Afghan Government for protecting Indian Embassy and Consulates and ensuring the safety and security of Indian experts working in Afghanistan. "The sacrifices made by our Afghan brothers will not be forgotten," Modi stressed while adding that whatever may be the odds, India will work with Afghanistan for a bright future for all Afghans. Calling Afghanistan a close friend PM said the societies and people of the two nations have had age-old ties and links. "It, therefore, saddens us to see that your proud nation continues to be challenged by externally sponsored instruments and entities of violence and terror," PM He added the Stor palace "brings back to life a valuable landmark of Afghanistan's cultural heritage." Ghani recalled that the Government of India in Exile formed by Raja Mahendra Pratap had declared independence from the British rule in 1915 from this palace. The Stor Palace (also known as the Star Palace or Kasre-estar), located within the premises of the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is one of the important historic palaces in Kabul. The renovated building will provide high-quality space for hosting official domestic and international events by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Government of Afghanistan. It would also give great publicity to India's reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. Akbar seeks Iraqi help to rescue 39 kidnapped Indians inister of State for MExternal Affairs, MJ Akbar, on Monday held talks with Iraqi leadership in Baghdad and sought its help to rescue 39 Indians kidnapped two years back in Mosul. Akbar held extensive talks with President Fuad Masum and other top Iraqi leaders in Baghdad on a range of issues including threat from Islamic State. The Iraqi leadership assured full cooperation and support in the matter, sources The two sides discussed the entire gamut of bilateral engagement, including in spheres of trade, investment, energy security, defence and security and counter terrorism. The two sides acknowledged the grave threat posed by international terrorism and its sponsors to international peace and security as also the very architecture of nation state. They conveyed strong support to each other in their common fight against the menace of terrorism, sources Akbar conveyed India s support for the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq and conveyed New Delhi s abiding commitment to the emergence of a stable, peaceful, united and democratic Iraq, which was in the interest of regional and global peace and security. The Minister conveyed New Delhi s willingness to partner in the reconstruction of Iraq as also for continued assistance through India s well acknowledged capacity-building programmes under Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC). Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday reviewed the progress of key infrastructure sectors. In the course of the presentation made by NITI Aayog, it was noted that there has been phenomenal progress in several key sectors, including renewable energy, and railways. PM also reviewed Aviation and Ports sectors, apart from Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG SC: Kashmir problem can t be solved by issuing orders he trouble in Kashmir has Tto be dealt politically as it cannot be managed judicially by issuing an order, said the Supreme Court while disposing a petition by a senior advocate from Jammu and Kashmir who sought imposition of Governor s Rule following the tension that prevailed in the State after the death of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani. Incidentally, since the petitioner Bhim Singh also heads a political party in the state - J&K National Panthers Party, the bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar to facilitate a meeting of the petitioner with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who met Opposition leaders from the state on Monday. But dismissing the petition to impose Governor's Rule, the bench said, This issue has various dimensions and therefore should be dealt politically and moreover, everything cannot be managed within the judicial parameters. The petitioner, who accepted the Court's offer, expressed apprehension that the RSS-dictated government would not invite him. The bench warned him, Don't make a political statement here. SG agreed to talk to Home Secretary for facilitating a meeting with PM. Centre is not serious about Kashmir, charges Cong A delegation of Opposition parties from Jammu & Kashmir meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in New Delhi on Monday oon after the Opposition Smembers of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Kashmir crisis, the Congress alleged that the Centre is not serious enough in solving the over a month long crisis that has victimised the people of valley. Stating that Government is not clear on the agenda with whom the Prime Minister wants to have a dialogue, Congress dismissed as shooting from the hip the Prime Minister s call for a dialogue to find a lasting solution to the unrest in Kashmir Valley It looks that the Prime Minister s words keep changing. What he said at the all-party meeting, his remarks in the Independence Day address and today he is talking of dialogue, but dialogue with whom? There is a suspicion that these are mere words, mere empty rhetoric for the Prime Minister. He is unfortunately shooting from his hip and merely shooting the breeze, AICC spokesman Manish Tewari When you talk of a dialogue, to talk to people who are estranged from you. You do not talk to such people who are with you and are part of the mainstream, said the former Information and Broadcasting Minister. Tewari said that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley s assertions that those indulging in stone-pelting in Kashmir are not satyagrahis but aggressors showed that he and the Prime Minister are not on the same page. He also claimed that several Union Ministers are also speaking in different voices. The essence of the Finance Minister s statement is that there is no political problem in Jammu and Kashmir, he said, adding that Jaitley s comments implied that he felt there was no need for dialogue.

6 nation 06 Jaya demolishes DMK charges CHALLENGES KARUNANIDHI, STALIN FOR DEBATE KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n CHENNAI n a show of strength, grit and Iarticulation, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday singlehandedly demolished the Opposition DMK s allegations that the party MLAs were not being allowed by the ruling AIADMK to raise public issues inside the Legislative Assembly and they were suspended for one week to prevent them from attending the Session on Monday as the former was to present the Home Department s demand for budgetary grants. Initiating the debate for budgetary grants for the Home Department, a portfolio under her, Jayalalithaa declared that the DMK chief M Karunanidhi and his son MK Stalin who is also the Leader of the Opposition do not have the guts to face the Legislative Assembly as the duo know very well that their misdeeds would be exposed in an open discussion. I have come fully prepared with details of the happenings in Tamil Nadu during the 2006 to 2011 DMK rule, thundered Jayalalithaa. She said the commotion created by the DMK MLAs inside the Assembly has been seen by the outside world. Stalin himself said that he was ashamed and hurt due to the acts of his own party MLAs and he was Suspended DMK legislators along with Opposition leader MK Stalin after their meeting in Chennai on Monday even ready to tender an apology to the Speaker, said Jayalalithaa. Following the ruckus created by the DMK MLAs inside the House on Wednesday, Stalin and 79 DMK Legislators were suspended by the Speaker for one week. Since then the DMK MLAs are on a path of agitation with the Government and they even staged a mockassembly outside the legislature building on Friday. The Speaker has suspended only 80 DMK MLAs. M Karunanidhi, the DMK chief who is also a party MLA and nine others have not been suspended. They could have come to the Assembly and took part in the debate where they were free to point out any discrepancies. But the fact is that neither Karunanidhi nor Stalin does have the courage and boldness to face realities and truth. That s the reason why Karunanidhi always stays away from the House, said Jayalalithaa. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa shows victory sign after attending Tamil Nadu s 15th Assembly session, in Chennai on Monday The Chief Minister said while she was the Leader of the Opposition in 2006 she had actively participated in the debate in spite of the fact that the then ruling DMK had got all other AIADMK legislators suspended from the House. I single handedly faced the DMK at that time. Does the DMK chief have the courage to attend the House and take part in the debate? I am ready to furnish the details of the number of crimes and the quality of law and order seen by Tamil Nadu during his regime, asked Jayalalithaa. She explained with facts and figures that law and order in Tamil Nadu is far better than what it was under the DMK rule. In 2005, at the end of our previous regime, the number of SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA ontinuing its confronta- stance, the Mamata Ctionist Banerjee Government has once again objected to the Union Power Ministry s suggestion that Bengal reduce its cess charged on coal. Reacting rather strongly to the Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal s suggestion that the State should form a committee to explore the possibility of bringing down the cess charged on coal from a high of 25 per cent Bengal Power Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay said the Central Minister s suggestion amounted to interference in the affairs of the State. Goyal after meeting Chattopadhyay said that Bengal Government should form a committee to study with an open mind on how the State is imposing 25 per cent cess in coal extraction which is different from other States where there is 14 per cent royalty system and the benefits and losses from it. He further made suggestions that if 14 per cent royalty which is imposed by the other States is applied to Bengal, I think the State will be benefitted as the production of murders in the State was 1,336. But it touched 1,715 at 2010 during the DMK regime. In 2015, it has come down to 1,641, said Jayalalithaa. She made as many as 71 announcements to strengthen the police department. Jayalalithaa who has been maintaining a studied silence over the verbal assaults launched by the DMK, told the Opposition party that the people could not be cheated by media blitzkrieg all the time. They have understood the difference between good governance and misrule. That s the reason why the people voted the AIADMK back to power in the May 2016 assembly election. This is a lesson to all, said Jayalalithaa. coal will rise and overall revenue will rise and not fall. Power cost too will come down and help the industry. The Union Minister said that the small committee should be chaired by the State Power Secretary and should submit its report in four weeks time. However, Chattopadhyay soon reacted saying it was an interference and encroachment in the affairs of the State. Though it is a suggestion we see this as an encroachment in the State s domain former State Power Minister Manish Gupta said adding, the revenue generated from the coal cess goes for funding developmental projects like primary education. Reduction of cess will hit the revenue earning. Gupta also questioned the logic behind Goyal s statement when the Centre had itself raised the coal cess by 300 per cent recently. NAYAN DAVE n GANDHINAGAR n a bid to leave no stone Iunturned for the upcoming Assembly elections, the ruling BJP assigned two important posts of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the State Assembly to Dalit and tribal candidates respectively. The newly-elected Speaker Ramanlal Vora is a Dalit candidate while the Deputy Speaker Shabhuji Thakor is from a tribal community. The move came after the Vijay Rupani Government's Council of Ministers was formed, in which efforts were made to balance caste and regional equations. Even the party high command appointed Jitu Vaghani as the new Gujarat BJP president, who belongs not only to Saurashtra region but also hails from a powerful Patidar community. While tribal population in the State is around 14 per cent Dalits cover a seven per cent lot here and combined together they share a 20 per cent lion's share in the votebank. Knowing the fact that Chief Minister Rupani is from a Jain Bania community which holds less than one per cent Gujarat's population, maximum berth were given to OBCs and Patidars in the 25- member Council of Ministers. Rupani, with exceptional Goyal for cut in coal cess, Bengal says it s interference in State affairs Exodus in WB Opp as netas join Trinamool PNS n KOLKATA he Trinamool Congress Twent ahead with its job of decimating the elected bodies controlled by the Opposition parties in Bengal even as it "forcibly" took over the Malda district board held for more than three decades by the Congress. More than a dozen district board members some from the Left and some from the Congress joined the Trinamool on Monday in the presence of party all-india vice president Mukul Roy and State Minister Suvendu Adhikary even as the Opposition alleged massive horse trading. Curiously Monday s development came barely two days after Mamata Banerjee blamed Narendra Modi Government for bulldozing the States by interfering in their affairs. Six members from the Congress and 10 from the Left joined the Trinamool which had six members to take the total tally to 22 in a 38-member house. Earlier, about 19 Opposition members had joined the Trinamool in the neighbouring Murshidabad district though the Trinamool fell short by six members and failed Gujarat Assembly gets new Speaker, Deputy Speaker To study with an open mind on how the State is imposing 25 per cent cess in coal extraction which is different from other States where there is 14 per cent royalty system and the benefits and losses from it POWER MINISTER to take over the board there. In the past one month the Trinamool had toppled at least six municipalities in several districts of Bengal run by the Opposition parties mostly Left and the Congress. The Trinamool is investing the money earned from chit fund, syndicates and corrupt practices in the name of development in the State to purchase opposition members Sujan Chakrabarty Left Legislature Party leader said while Malda MP Mausam Benazir Noor said Malda will remain a Congress bastion and the people will never forgive the Trinamool. PCC president Adhir Chowdhury earlier said the Trinamool was applying stick and carrot policy to engineer defection. First they are manipulating the elections. Where they are not able to do so they are luring them with crores of rupees. And even if that strategy fails they are threatening the opposition elected representatives with false police cases, he However Adhikary said the people have refused to take the unethical alliance between the Congress and the Left and so they are leaving them in hordes. The State Power Department s reaction to Goyal s suggestion is a continuation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee s hardening stance against the Centre when she attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bulldozing the State s by proposing to appoint officials in district treasuries and the BDO offices to monitor expenses. The Centre is bulldozing the States in the name of corporate federalism, she said, blaming Modi for giving India an arrogant, dictatorship. Speaking on the naming of the centrally sponsored schemes she wondered, why will a scheme be launched after the Prime Minister and the BJP will take advantage out of that? she asked saying I will write a letter to the President seeking his opinion on the issue not as a private person but as a constitutional figure head of the country. MAHA CONVENES SPECIAL LEGISLATURE SESSION ON AUG 29 TO RATIFY GST BILL MUMBAI: The BJP-led Maharashtra Government on Monday has convened a daylong special session of the State Legislature on August 29 to ratify the GST Bill passed by both the Houses of Parliament. The decision to convene a special session of the Maharashtra Legislature within a single point agenda of ratifying the GST Bill was taken at the weekly State Cabinet held on Monday. The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014 on GST was passed by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha earlier this month. The GST Bill, seen as single biggest tax reform in a long time, needs to be ratified by at least 15 State legislatures before the President can notify the GST Council which will decide the new tax rate and other issues. Expected to be rolled out on April 1, 2017, the GST legislation aims to do away with multiple tax regime on goods and services and bring them under one rate. It will alter the present system of production based taxation to a consumption based one. Once the GST in place, the manufactured consumer goods are likely to become cheaper as the incidence of excise duty and VAT will come down from per cent at present, while the cost of services would go up from the current 15 per cent levels. organisational skills, has also appointed 11 Parliamentary Secretaries keeping caste and regional equations in mind. Vora was the sole candidate for the Speaker's post as the Opposition Congress supported his candidature. He has become the third Speaker of the 13th Gujarat Assembly constituted post the 2012 elections. BJP MLA from Tharad in North Gujarat Parbat Patel acted as the Protem Speaker as the House commenced on Monday. Chief Minister Rupani moved the motion for election of Vora as Speaker and Leader of Opposition Shankersinh Vaghela supported it. However, the Congress wanted its candidate Chandrika Baraiya to be given the Deputy Speaker's post, but on the strength of majority in the House, BJP candidate Shabhuji Thakore was finally elected. With 121 MLAs in the House, the saffron party enjoys a thumping majority in 182- member Gujarat Assembly. House pays tribute to Pramukh Swami ujarat Chief Minister GVijay Rupani presented a resolution in the House to condole the death of Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) head Pramukh Swami Maharaj, who passed away last week. As the Leader of the House, Rupani placed the resolution on the floor. The Chief Minister described Pramukh Swami as a noble seer and said that he spread Indian culture and became a messenger of peace around the world. Leader of Opposition Shankersinh Vaghela, senior Ministers and Speaker Ramanlal Vora also paid tribute to him. EXCUSE ME PLEASE! Crowd of local commuters at a railway platform in Kolkata on Monday Haven't given clean chit to Amnesty, says Karnataka Home Min Bengaluru: Under attack over the Amnesty International row, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday said he had not given a clean chit to the rights advocacy group, which has been booked for sedition for hosting an event where anti-india slogans were allegedly raised. "First of all let me clarify because there is a lot of talk in the media about it... Let me be very clear, I have not given any clean chit to Amnesty International," Parameshwara told reporters here as he went into damage after his remarks drew sharp criticism. "All I have said is that I have not heard Amnesty International being involved in any anti-national activity. Second thing is, there is an investigation going on, and I am not a fool to say that everything is well," he To a query, Parameshwara said his remarks had been misinterpreted. "Of course, I have been misinterpreted. That is why I did not want to react to it unnecessarily," he added. "Now that the investigation is going on, the law will take its own course. That's all I have said and I am also standing by that statement," he He said he is not going to interfere with the probe as Home Minister and it has been left to the police to decide on the next course of action against Amnesty International. "The (police) commissioner has made a statement which will be on record. It is left to the police and the IO (Investigating Officer) to take action accordingly whether to close the case; whether to take it forward... I am not going to interfere in that". Parameshwara rejected the charge by some Union Ministers that the State Government was protecting Amnesty International and had virtually given it a clean chit. He asked the Centre to get the activities of the NGO probed and take action accordingly. "Why they (central government) think that we in Karnataka are trying to protect them, trying to give them (Amnesty international) a clean chit and all those things. "They (BJP) have the Govt of India in their hands and also all investigation agencies in their hands. Let them find out what Amnesty international is doing and take action accordingly," he

7 Jigisha gets justice as 2 killers get death Life term for third convict in 2009 Vasant Vihar murder case ANKITA UPADHYAY n NEW DELHI bserving that IT executive OJigisha Ghosh was murdered in a brutal, cold-blooded and cruel manner in 2009 in South Delhi s Vasant Vihar area, a Delhi court on Monday refused to show any leniency to two convicts and awarded death penalty to Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla. However, the third convict Baljeet Malik escaped the gallows for his good conduct in jail. Interestingly, the trio also are facing trial for the murder of TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan in While awarding capital punishment to Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla, Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav said that the offence committed by the convicts was not only a gruesome crime against women, which is also on the rise, but any leniency to them would send a wrong message to society. To be hanged by neck till death, said the court. The offence was committed in a brutal, cold-blooded and cruel manner. The victim was helpless and remained in captivity for hours and the convicts brutally mauled her to death. It was an uncivilised act done in a barbaric manner. The magnitude and brutality of the crime makes it fall in the category of rarest of rare, the judge said, pronouncing the order on sentence in a packed court room. The trio were sentenced under Section 201(Causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 364 (Kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 302 (Murder), 394 (Voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery), 468 (Forgery), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document), 482 (Punishment for using a false property mark) 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention.) The court also imposed varying fines on the convicts, with Kapoor being slapped with a fine of `1.2 lakh due to his incapacity to pay, while Shukla and Malik directed to pay `2.8 lakh and `5.8 lakh respectively as the pre-sentencing report suggested they were financially strong. The court also directed that out of the total fine of `9.8 lakh, `6 lakh be paid to the parents of the victim, and an adequate compensation amount be decided by the District Legal Service Authority (South). The pain, agony and trauma of victim s parents cannot be compensated, the court observed. 28-year-old Jigisha, working as an operations manager in a management consultancy firm, was abducted and killed on March 18, 2009 after she was dropped by her office cab around 4 am near her home in Vasant Vihar area of South Delhi. Her body was recovered three days later from a place near Surajkund in Haryana, police had While awarding death penalty, the court said according to the pre-sentencing report (PSR), there was "no scope for Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla to reform". As per the report, Baljeet's conduct was normal and there was no complaint against him and he was not a threat to society. The court had on July 14 convicted the three men, saying it was "abundantly clear" that they had committed the crime. The court had said it was proved that the three convicts had abducted Jigisha, robbed her of her gold chain, two mobile phones, two rings, debit and credit cards and killed her. The court had on August 20 reserved the order on sentence after the arguments concluded and a PSR was submitted by probationary officer. While seeking death sentence for the convicts, Special Public Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan had argued that they abducted Jigisha, robbed her, killed her and used her debit card for shopping, and a CCTV footage Cong ready to throw out SP BSP, BJP PNS n LUCKNOW ttar Pradesh Congress UCommittee president Raj Babbar claimed that his party was ready to throw out all the three political opponents who had pushed the state towards under-development, backwardness, poverty and lawlessness during the last 27-years of non-congress rule. This is the land of Malik Mohammed Jais from where former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had pledged to throw out the Britishers to free India. Now from the same land, we are again taking a pledge to free this state from the misrule of SP, BSP and BJP and put it again on the path of development and progress and particularly to end the fight between communities and religions, Babbar said while address a huge gathering that came at Jais in Amethi to listen to him during the second day of the 27 Saal-UP Behal bus yatra on Monday. The yatra was flagged off by AICC general secretary and state incharge Ghulam Nabi Azad here on Sunday. Babbar, accompanied by senior Congress leader and Amethi: Uttar Pradesh Congress President Raj Babbar along with party leaders during the party s 27 Saal UP Behal Yatra in Amethi on Monday MP Pramod Tewari, appealed to people to support Congress so that the dreams of every citizen, particularly youth and women of getting job, security etc., could be fulfilled. UPCC Media Cell chairman Satyadeo Tripathi said the bus yatra received encouraging response as it helped spread the message that people should not be divided on basis of caste or religion. We have successfully put across the message to the people to unite them and not divide them on caste and religion lines, as parties like Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Bharatiya Janata Party have done during their rule in the state in the last 27 years, Tripathi He said during the 1980 s when Congress ruled the state, votes were not sought on communal lines, as was being done now. According to him, the bus yatra under the leadership of UPCC chief Raj Babbar and Congress chief ministerial face Sheila Dikshit successfully highlighted the failures of the successive governments in the state and sought to reach out to the masses during the first two days of the second leg of their poll campaign against non- Congress governments misrule. We are very pleased looking at the enthusiasm of people in the state. The response we got in the first two days is many times more than our expectations, he said, adding that people came out on the roads in large number to extend their support to the Congress. of their shopping showed they had no remorse for their act. Advocate Amit Kumar, appearing for convicts Baljeet and Amit Shukla, had argued that his clients have already spent over seven years in jail and maintained good conduct. The counsel for convict Ravi Kapoor sought leniency for his client, saying he was suffered from a life threatening disease and belonged to a poor family. The police had filed the charge sheet in the case in June 2009 and trial began on April 15, Recovery of the weapon allegedly used in Jigisha's murder had led to the cracking of the murder case of Soumya Vishwanathan, who was a journalist with a news channel. Soumya was shot dead on September 30, 2008 while she was returning home in her car from office in the wee hours. Police had claimed robbery as the motive behind the killing of both Jigisha and Soumya. The accused had used Jigisha's ATM card to buy expensive goggles, wrist watches and shoes from Sarojini Nagar market in South Delhi, police had Man booked for abandoning mother New Delhi (PNS): For the first time, the Delhi Police registered its first case under Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 against a 35-year-old man and arrested him for allegedly abandoning his old mother in South Delhi s Lodhi Colony on Sunday. Police said the case was registered on August 16. According to a senior police official, the accused has been identified as Ranu, who does a private job and stays in Lodhi Colony. On August 16, Ranu s 75- year-old mother Parvati was found abandoned by a police around Lodhi Colony. Police said the old woman was not dressed shabbily and was roaming about close to the Lodhi Colony police station. That is when the PCR officials found it suspicious and took her to the police station. Police started investigating into the matter and found out about the old woman s blood relations and came in contact with her son Ranu, the accused in the case. On interrogation of the accused, he said that his mother mentally not fit and that they did not know when she left home and went missing. nation 07 What else they deserve if not death STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI fter fighting a seven-year- battle, the aged par- Along ents of Jigisha Ghosh whose killers were convicted on Monday said that curtains were drawn on the case but they have received justice. Jigisha s mother who attended the court proceedings every single day since 2009 said that convicts deserved death sentence. Sabita Ghosh, 58, broke down while remembering her daughter and said, Jigisha was always against death sentences and she might not agree with today s judgement too, but what else do these criminals, who have destroyed a complete family, deserve, if not death? I have never believed in God but throughout the trial I prayed to God and cried for justice and we have finally got it, she Curtains were drawn on a seven- year long battle for the aged parents of Jigisha Ghosh, whose killers were brought to book with a city court sending two convicts to the gallows and one to life imprisonment for the brutal and cold-blooded murder in CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 JITU, SAKSHI... Star cricketer Ajinkya Rahane will be conferred the Arjuna Award alongside archer Rajat Chauhan, athlete Lalita Babar, cueist Sourav Kothari, boxer Shiva Thapa, footballer Subrata Paul, hockey stars VR Raghunath and Rani Rampal, shooters Gurpreet Singh, Apurvi Chandela, paddler Somyajit Ghosh, wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Amit Kumar, para-athletes Sandeep Singh and Virender Singh. Athlete Satti Geetha will be conferred the Dhayan Chand Award along with hockey player Sylvanus Dung Dung and rower Rajendra Pralhad Shelke. The award comprises a cash prize of Rs.5 lakh, a medal and a citation. President Pranab Mukherjee will give away the awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 29, which is celebrated as the National Sports Day. National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four years; Arjuna Award is given for consistently outstanding performance for four years; Dronacharya Award for coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious international sports events, Dhyan Chand Award for life time contribution to sports development. PEOPLE KILLED IN... "I am not going to put words into the Prime Minister's mouth nor am I going to draw further meaning from what he said," Omar "We talked about the same thing that we have been talking with other leaders ever since we arrived in Delhi that the issue of Jammu & Kashmir, especially in light of the present crisis, needs to be understood correctly after which a solution is required," said Omar, adding the Prime Minister listened to "us with patience and accepted our memorandum". The leaders flagged the issue of youths falling victims to the continued protests, including a young teenager named Irfan who was killed on Sunday night when a teargas shell hit him on his chest. "We also implore you to announce an immediate ban on pellet guns and advise relevant quarters against the policy of mass harassment, raids and arrests as this has worsened an already volatile situation in the State and also goes against the values and principles of democracy," the memorandum submitted to Modi Asked about the statement made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Jammu on Sunday that stone-pelters were no "satyagrahis but aggressors", Omar said, "I do not wish to say anything on this as the Prime Minister told us nothing like this. "And more importantly, let's not play politics over Jammu and Kashmir. We will get ample time to play political games later." The delegation started the political initiative on Saturday when it met President Pranab Mukherjee and submitted a memorandum, requesting him to use his office to influence the Centre for initiating a political dialogue with all stakeholders in the state. The delegation also met Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. FLOOD OF WOES... Low-lying areas of Patna, riverine areas of Patna, Vaishali and Saran districts are reportedly under water. Further, the flood water is reportedly spreading to new areas in Bhojpur, Buxar, Munger, Bhagalpur and Khagaria. The movement of trains has been stopped between Chapra and Balia because of submerged railway tracks at many places. The surging water of the Rivers Sone and Punpun has also spread to the low-lying areas of Jahanabad and Arwal districts. Flood situation in the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh is also grim. Both the Ganga and Yamuna are rising continuously in the districts, including the cities of Allahabad and Varanasi. Over 100 villages in Varanasi are facing critical situation. In the city of Allahabad, water from the Ganga has entered into many residential areas forcing people to move to safer areas. The waters of the Ganga are also rising in Ballia and Mirzapur districts, and the Yamuna is indicating a rising trend in Banda, Mathura and adjoining areas. After the release of water from the dam, the Betwa River is also on spate in Hamirpur district. Water levels are reportedly rising between two to three centimetres per hour. Incessant rains have also affected normal life in Rajasthan, particularly in the south eastern districts. Several over bridges have been submerged in water, bringing road traffic on these routes to a grinding halt. A maximum of 26 centimetres of rainfall has been recorded at the Jakham Dam in the Pratapgarh district. Places as Nimbaheda, Badi Sadri and Bhadesar have received 22 centimeters of rainfall in the last 24 hours, besides districts of Chittorgarh, Baran, Dungarpur, Banswara and Jhalawar. An alert has also been sounded in nearby areas of Chambal River in Karauli following an increase in water levels. In Madhya Pradesh, too major rivers, including Retam, Chambal, Shivna, Kshipra and Sindh are in spate. Torrential rains have lashed western parts of the state, affecting normal life in Guna, Rajgarh, Shivpuri, Mandsour, Ujjain and other parts of the state. ULFA ABDUCTS... The Ulfa had earlier admitted that the Eastern Command unit of the outfit had abducted the boy on August 1 this year. However, the top leaders of the outfit are not aware about the whereabouts of the boy as their communication with the unit was snapped a few days ago. The Ulfa faction had kidnapped the boy from Changlang district in Arunachal Pradesh on August 1 and demanded Rs. 1 crore for his release. Sadiya MLA Bolin Chetia said he had received a phone call demanding Rs 1 crore as ransom to release Kuldip. Kuldip's father, Ratneswar Moran is a senior BJP leader in the eastern Assam district and he is also the vice-president of Tinsukia Zila Parishad. Ratneswar is also a close aide of Sadiya BJP legislator Bolin Chetia. "According to our information, the boy was kept somewhere in Myanmar. It is not our case as the boy had been abducted from Changlang district. However, as the boy hails from Tinsukia, I have been regularly coordinating with police in Changlang district," said Tinsukia SP MJ Mahanta. Ratneswar Moran and the family, however, have appealed to release the boy without any condition as the family is not in a financial position to pay any ransom. "I am a poor man and cannot pay the amount. I only appeal to the outfit to release him," said Moran. The abduction came as a worst reminder of 1990s when the Ulfa leaders had abducted rights activist Sanjay Ghose from Majuli Island in Assam and subsequently killed him. While the abduction of Sanjay Ghose took place in 1997, the Ulfa had resorted to several high-profile abductions in early 1990s which includes Russian coal mine engineer Sergei Gritchenko, working for Coal India Ltd from Ledo etc and police officer Dulal Borkotoki, who were killed subsequently. Though abductions are not a rare affair for this militant outfit but this is for the first time that the Ulfa had not only abducted one person for ransom but also released a video showing the boy and his captors, much like ISIS terrorists. IS MARATHONER... AFI, on its part, said that Indian officials in Rio were not told by the athletes or their coaches about any specific requirement for any drinks. "It is the responsibility of the organisers to provide water and energy drinks. For that there are water and energy stations throughout the course. We could have provided water and energy drinks to our athletes but neither they nor did their coaches inform us that they would need water and energy drinks separately," AFI Secretary CK Valson, who was also in Rio during the competitions In its defence, the Athletic Federation of India said that as per rules, an athlete can to be disqualified if he or she accepts a drink from any person or official standing along the course except taken on their own -- be it personalised drink submitted to the organisers in advance or the drinks provided by the organisers on the water and refreshment booths respectively."therefore, it is an incorrect statement made by Jaisha that the Indian officials accompanying the team did not provide her water or any other form of tonic drinks. Further, it is also informed that Ms Jaisha had declined to use personalised drink in another event, the 2015 World Championships held in Beijing and the coach informed the Indian team management that she wasn't in the habit of using personalised drinks." Meanwhile, Indian athlete Sudha Singh, who returned from Rio Olympics with fever and body ache last week, has been undergoing treatment at a private hospital here for a suspected Zika virus.

8 opinion 08 paper with passion RBI under Urjit Patel Tough road ahead, demands cautious leadership T he Narendra Modi Government s decision to appoint the Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Urjit Patel, as the new Governor of the central bank on Saturday clearly shows its intention to continue the outgoing Governor Raghuram Rajan's policies to aggressively fight inflation and continue a stable rupee accompanied by more cash injections into the financial system. The continuation of the current RBI policies will obviously help overcoming an expected negative impact on the bond market for sure. Picking someone like him who has been on the RBI's present roster of leaders and also working as an insider since 2013 alongside the departing Governor Rajan believes to reassure both the debt and equity markets that there will be no sudden change in policy making at the apex bank. As Rajan has won respect for building confidence of the investors during his tenure, the Government can initiate more reforms in the vital sectors of the economy which it is already doing, can very well support Patel, without shaking the country's growing spree. As the RBI's Deputy Governor, Patel was the key official responsible for the bank's shift towards a monetary policy based more on consumer inflation. In the past, he was the one who chaired the RBI panel which recommended the bank use a target range of the consumer price inflation rate. Though the RBI tried with other indicators like the employment, growth, inflation and exchange rate, before finally implementing his fine suggestions, all of them had supposedly heightened the concern of the investors and to a significant level, the uncertainty was raised during those days. Thus, it is hoped that his coming will provide a big boost to the country's higher growth path as India is currently witnessing a slew of structural reforms wherein a stable and sensible leadership at the bank is the need of the hour. He needs to be more cautious as the ongoing structural overhauling is rightly leading towards a massive transformation of India's ossified financial system. With this transition on the move, the RBI is also cleaning up the bank's balance sheets and now Patel's approach should be more focused on both reform and perform so that the growth cycle will not suffer at all. Since June as the announcement of Brexit came, the European market as well as the global, have shown uncertainty and a sharp rise in the growth forecasts have been also downgraded. The aftershocks of Brexit have not affected India much, but the new Governor has to see that our emerging markets do not have to face the uncertainty which may drive away many investors in the coming days. He will have to work on the lending rates of the banks as small companies still complain that loans are very expensive. Another tricky issue that demands apt handling is the mounting debt of the public sector banks, which is on the rise. Finally, how he goes along with the new six member monetary policy committee, wherein half the members are Government appointees, will have to be watched carefully as it is a radical departure on the policy making procedure of the RBI in the past. Hope the insider will play his wickets safe. Making bombs of children Turkey must fight all terror groups without bias A suspected child suicide bomber belonging to the Islamic State (IS) killing more than 51 people at a marriage party in the Turkish border town of Gaziantep on Saturday shows its brutality and senseless violence on innocent civilians. Though the jihadi outfit has not claimed its responsibility as yet, its sheer design and targeting of a celebration mostly attended by the Kurds has nearly confirmed its involvement. The terror experts believe that this may be a revenge attack on the Kurds as its militias are playing a significant role in the fight against the IS on the ground in the ongoing Syrian civil war. Precisely, the reported killing, which has been recorded as the bloodiest ever this year in Turkey, was not a random one and the IS had the intention to inflict maximum casualty on the supporters of the pro-kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) who were there on the marriage. Besides, the IS in the past historically, even never claimed its responsibility for any terror assault in Turkey. One crucial reason may be its loss of substantial amount of territory to the Syrian Kurdish fighters in the northern part of Syria and this may have motivated it pound on the innocent civilians. It is a rare strategic attack as it was conducted in a marriage which was mainly attended by ethnically aware and politically sensitive Kurds. Therefore, hurling attack purely at a civilian occasion can have rippling effects over the embattled community of the Kurds who has been waging a prolong war for a homeland across three countries Turkey, Iraq and Syria. The international community and particularly the regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who just had a close shave from a botched coup in the last month, must be aware to what extent such attacks on socioreligious functions can sow disorder in the sharply divided society of Turkey on ethnic lines. Worrisome as many security experts say is that it may seriously affect the social fabric of the nation and the power hungry Erdogan will get one more opportunity to press his offensive state agencies against his suspected enemies. The IS, currently being put under extreme pressure from all quarters-both by the Assad Army with the support of the Russian forces and the combined attack of the US-sponsored groups, mainly spearheaded by the Kurdish rebels. Therefore, the attempt to exploit ethnic and sectarian fault lines in Gaziantep which has seen a huge flow of migration of Syrian war refugees in recent years is not surprising. It can well be a frustrated act, both to retaliate against the advancement of the Kurdish rebels in north Syria and against Erdogan's attack on IS strongholds inside Syria. Whatsoever it may be, the IS must not be allowed anymore to occupy fresh territories and it is time now, the multilateral intuitions should launch a full-fledged war against it. Balochistan: Pakistan's dark underbelly The Prime Minister s signal to Islamabad is that the silence and stalemate over the illegal occupation of has ended. In time, the pro-india surge in Balochistan will unleash its own dynamics With seemingly casual remarks from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has changed the political template in Balochistan and Jammu & Kashmir, both on the Indian side and in the territory occupied by Pakistan in in defiance of international law and the directives and resolutions of the United Nations. The new strategy, first articulated at an all-party meeting on Kashmir on August 12, means that New Delhi has crossed the rubicon, smashing the decadesold paradigm of Indian foreign policy, viz., to ignore the Pakistani annexation of Balochistan (March 27, 1948) and downplay its occupation of roughly one-third of the erstwhile kingdom of Jammu & Kashmir which acceded to India on October 26, Regardless of the pace at which events now unfold in Balochistan, Gilgit Baltistan and so-called Azad Kashmir, Modi has sent multiple signals to the international community. For Beijing, the message is simple: The One Belt One Road (now called Belt & Road) from Xinjiang through Gilgit Baltistan, Balochistan, and on to Gwadar Port, will only be viable with Indian agency, as New Delhi alone is trusted by the native populations. Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai s unequivocal support to Modi s speech underlines the goodwill and trust for India in Pakistan s penumbra. As legal adviser to the Kalat state, Muhammad Ali Jinnah had agreed it would be independent on August 5, 1947, and would return to its original status of He annexed it a few months later, without murmur from the international community. Later, this encouraged President Zia ul-haq to seek strategic depth in Kabul, an ambition not renounced by subsequent rulers, despite Afghanistan s formidable reputation as a graveyard of empires. In time, Beijing may reconsider its dependence on Islamabad. After the abortive coup of July 15, Turkish President Recep Erdogan lost his desire to join the European Union and visibly tilted towards Moscow and Iran; all three nations are negotiating a deal to ensure the survival of President Basher al-assad and the territorial integrity of Syria. There is talk that Russia may be offered Sporting culture Sir India s Rio performance highlights its debilitating status as a sporting nation. Being the seventh largest nation in size, with a population of 1.2 Billion people, India should perform much better. However, we lag behind not just the US and China, but also Cuba and Switzerland. India is the only major country of its size that is struggling to win even a single gold at the Olympics. There is a lot of latent talent but that has to be nurtured. We need a renewed sporting policy and increased monetary and budgetary support. Private sector investment must be roped in for establishing world-class sporting infrastructure. The politico-bureaucratic nexus must be broken. Sporting clubs and federations must be overhauled and manned by experienced managerial minds. To kickstart the sporting culture, medal winners can be promoted as ambassadors of their respective sports. Rather than giving crores of tax-payer money to individual medal winners, we can spend the money for developing existing infrastructure. Gaurav Singhal Rewari the Incirlik base, which currently houses NATO troops and nuclear weapons, for its operations in Syria. This is an amazing about-turn. Beijing is nothing if not diplomatically agile, so surprises cannot be ruled out. Beijing knows Islamabad cannot adequately pacify either Gilgit Baltistan or Balochistan to ensure the security of the enormous investment ($46 billion) involved in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). An added risk in Balochistan is that it is used as a base by the Afghan Taliban which is fighting the regime in Kabul, and by Sunni groups alienated from Tehran. These armed groups, added to a rebellious populace in both places, will make the operation of the Belt & Road and Gwadar port a logistical nightmare. However, disengaging both regions from Pakistani control would leave Islamabad responsible only for the security of that portion of the Belt & Road that passes through its own territory. It is an idea worth thinking about. Perhaps a small signal has already been sent with the staterun Global Times referring, twice, to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as PoK, rather than as Pakistanadministered Kashmir. The article said that Beijing is unlikely to There has to be dialogue, and we need to find a permanent and lasting solution to the Kashmir problem within the framework of the Constitution. Prime Minister Narendra Modi LETTERS TO THE EDITOR THIS IS ACT OF BOLDNESS THAT SURPASSES THE LIBERATION OF BANGLADESH, WHERE INDIA HAD LITTLE CHOICE BUT TO INTERVENE TO STOP AN ONGOING GENOCIDE AND STAUNCH THE FLOOD OF REFUGEES SOUNDBITE There are many eyes looking at you. You have to be careful that they cameras don t capture anything wrong because then it ll always be there. Actor Zareen Khan Government, society both are indifferent to sports E very country participating in the Olympics does so to win medals. Our sportspersons also competed but the final result was rather dissapponting. India's Rio story ended with just one silver and one bronze medal, secured by two young girls who won inspite of an uncaring, inefficient and corrupt system. Their victory is theirs alone. This is a matter of shame that for a country of 1.25 billion people. In comparison, many smaller countries have done much better. Even in a game like hockey, which was once India s forte, even a bronze medal proved to be a distant dream. Sure, the Government is responsible for this mess it has no consistent sports policy and suddenly wakes up a couple of months before the games while our preparations for the next event should start on the very day that the previous one ends but the public is also at fault. Indian parents don't see sports as a career for their children. Also, the education system doesn't promote sports MC Joshi Lucknow take sides with Pakistan or India on the Kashmir issue, though tension between the two countries is keeping PoK undeveloped. Modi s signal to Islamabad is that the silence and stalemate over the illegal occupation of has ended. In time, the pro-india surge in the erstwhile kingdom of Maharaja Hari Singh, as also in Balochistan, will unleash its own dynamics. To the India-held portion of the State of Jammu & Kashmir, the promise is that the Srinagar valley will no longer be the sole voice that will be heard from the erstwhile kingdom and that the entire State of J&K would be the unit for consideration. This, as the Prime Minister emphasised, involves Jammu, Kashmir valley, Ladakh and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and future talks with Islamabad would be held only along these lines. Of course, these issues will take time to ripen as vested interests can be expected to dig in their heels. With one stroke the Prime Minister has decimated Pakistan s attempts to legitimise its occupation of one-third of J&K and claim that the rest is disputed territory over which the international community must take a stand. Pakistan s cross-border terrorism and its atrocious human rights No golds Sir This refers to the editorial, Low hanging fruit ignored (August 20). India s medals drought at Rio ended with Sakshi Malik getting a bronze and PV Sindhu bagging a silver. But there is no gold in our kitty. There was a time when the Olympic gold was reserved for India in hockey. In recent years, apart from Abhinav Bindra s gold for shooting, we haven t secured the top spot in any sport. India has just 28 Olympic medals to its credit wheras America s Michael Phelps alone has 26 medals, including 23 golds. Another nation worth emulating is China, which having participated for the first time in 1984, matches the US in the medals tally in most of the games. The editorial has rightly noted few individual medal-winners are able to repeat their performances, whereas athletes from other countries are able to deliver repeatedly. Look at Jamaica s Usain Bolt as an example, not to mention Phelps. The Government needs to keep politicians away from sports, and invest in sporting infrastructure. Sagar Singh New Delhi record in Balochistan and Occupied Kashmir has also been brought out of the shadows. Since this conforms to our constitutional position, it is surprising that New Delhi has hitherto neglected to doggedly articulate the same at all talks with Islamabad, and before the international community. Nor has New Delhi attempted to fill the five Parliamentary and 24 Assembly seats reserved for Occupied Kashmir. Most of the luckless refugees from POK, who have been languishing without rights under the dispensation of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and his successors, are Hindus and Sikhs. The failure to nominate persons to fill these seats, therefore, has perpetuated a communal agenda to maintain Muslim dominance in the State. This gross injustice needs to be redressed; it will also fulfill the promises made by Modi during the 2014 general election. With hindsight, raising the Balochistan issue was not a bolt from the blue. New Delhi had allowed Baloch activist Naela Quadri Baloch to visit some months ago and speak about Pakistan s atrocities. She spoke eloquently about human rights violations, the abductions, the daily killings, including of young children, which has assumed genocidal proportions. The Balochistan gambit is remarkably bold because Narendra Modi has leap-frogged over India s 1947 boundaries into distinctly foreign Muslim territory, and poked an Indian (predominantly Hindu) finger into a dispute between Muslim antagonists, viz, the annexed Baloch and their Pakistani aggressor. This is an unprecedented act of boldness that surpasses the liberation of Bangladesh, where India had little choice but to intervene to stop an ongoing genocide and staunch the flood of refugees into its territory. India is a long way from acceding to Baloch requests for military assistance. But it will support their cause bilaterally and in international forums. It is heartening that the Congress realises that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh erred at Sharm-el-Sheikh (2009) by equating Pakistan s allegations of Indian interference in Balochistan with India s well-documented case on Pakistani support to terrorism on its territory, and has decided not to oppose Modi s tentative new moves. Naturally, the Russians are keen to show that they are a superpower and an influential country, and that they are active in security issues in the region and the world. Defence Minister of Iran Hossein Dehghan Winning horse SANDHYA JAIN Sir The management of our major sports bodies and federations is in the hands of a select few who treat the organisation and the sport as their fiefdom. This is similar to the problem at the Board of Control for Cricket in India, except that this body has far greater public exposure and monetary muscle. Hence, the BCCI has been under high-level scrutiny. We should consider using the Lodha panel recommendations for the BCCI, as a reference for other sporting bodies. State-level sport federations must follow by a common format of rules of association to merit affiliation to a Central sports board. Players must meet the qualifying norms of this board to be considered for representing the nation. Once there is oversight and accountability, central funding will follow for upgrade of infrastructure. Rewarding medalists liberally is like betting on the winning horse after the race. It does little to improve the stable. R Narayanan Ghaziabad Send your feedback to: letterstopioneer@gmail.com

9 3rdeye 09 POINTCOUNTERPOINT It would have been easy to call Kareena to do the film. But I can t, since she is expecting her first child. I will miss her for sure. Film director ROHIT SHETTY Pregnant or not pregnant, whoever wants to offer me a film can do so. I m taking rest but will go on with my normal life. I love my job. Actor KAREENA KAPOOR FIRST COLUMN GST will bring forth new business model The Goods and Services Tax regime can be a gamechanger that will propel India into the big league of developed nations, writes MAMTA BINANI A lignment of revenue collection through a destination-based tax structure for maximum effect is the major takeaway for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime that is now imminent in the country. The Government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be and will be remembered for this historic reform initiative that aligns tax laws with the contemporary business environment. During the past decade, the issue of reforms in the Indian tax system has held centre-stage at the highest policy forums. In order to reform the tax system in accordance with internal and external factors, the GST framework was proposed in the Budget. A consumption or destination-based tax is levied on the basis of the destination principle'. As a comprehensive tax regime, GST covers both goods and services, and is collected on the value-added at each stage of the supply chain. Moreover, GST paid on procurement of goods and services can be offset against that payable on the supply of goods or services. Not only will the new system integrate the fragmented market in the country into one massive entity, but will also potentially impact financial aspects, the overall operating ones in terms of supply chain, IT system and marketing strategies. All in all, it will overhaul the entire business model, which as the practitioner of the craft of managing companies, the company secretaries, will look up to and welcome. A seamless transaction to the GST entails adopting a business transformation approach. Advance planning and realignment of value chains prior to implementation of GST will give a competitive edge to organisations, though intricacies of law are yet to unfold. As such the Draft Model Law on GST gives a clear peep into the fundamental framework of the proposed law and calls for a proactive approach in embracing GST as a strategic opportunity to gain a competitive edge, streamline the business model and drive efficiencies to boost profitability and value. Today, we have one country comprising of different markets. Under GST, there will be one country and one market. Significant cost reductions in the supply chain will be possible under GST by rationalisation of the warehousing and transport systems. Withdrawal of entry tax/octroi will reduce transit time of goods transported through trucks. Check-posts are likely to be withdrawn, unless required in sensitive places for internal security purposes. Integration of the domestic market via GST will improve economic efficiency and needless fragmentation of supply chains will be minimised. India will be truly transformed into a common market, almost seven decades after political integration. A uniform tax structure across India will eliminate cascading taxes and curb compliance costs. In a nutshell, GST will be a game-changing reform for the Indian economy that would facilitate creation of a common market with minimum exemptions and maximum compliance. Sometimes, both service tax and VAT are charged on a single transaction. GST will eliminate such double taxation, thereby reducing overall costs and boosting the ease of doing business. The proposed law is a step towards a standard tax law across the country which will subsume multiple taxes under three categories of GST. This will go a long way in marginalizing the overall compliance cost and burden Recently, issues have emerged particularly in sectors such as e-commerce, artificial intelligence and other IT/ITeS enabled products/services. GST proposes to introduce concepts of Electronic Commerce' and Electronic Commerce Operator', thereby aligning tax laws with the contemporary business environment. Also, with GST, e-commerce businesses could be streamlined to a greater extent. Under the existing indirect tax regime, particularly for transactions such as sale of software (especially via download or transfer through electronic media), renting of goods, sale or supply of goods through e-commerce portals across the country, ambiguity often prevails vis-à-vis jurisdiction. The model GST has a clause stating that Central and State Governments will clearly notify what constitutes supply of goods and not services, what constitutes supply of services and not goods, and what constitutes neither of the two. This will go a long way in providing impetus to the digital India initiative. Undo India's sporting tragedy Despite the uplifting performances by gymnast Dipa Karmakar, wrestler Sakshi Malik and shuttler PV Sindhu, India's overall performance at the Olympics in Rio has been horrendous. Sports in India is broken, and we need to fix it KUSHAN MITRA Not all Indian sports associations should be tarred with the same brush. The Badminton Association of India in 2006 decided to make P Gopichand the head coach of India and despite a player revolt against his methods in the early days, stuck by the All-England champion and we have seen the emergence of Saina Nehwal, PS Sindhu and Srikanth Kidambi This is neither the first nor will it be the last handwringing piece written on the cringe-inducing performance at these Olympics by India. However, at the very outset, let it be made clear that this is not an attack on the athletes. The tremendous sacrifices our athletes have made throughout their lives, and not just them, the sacrifices their parents, siblings and coaches have made must also be celebrated. And so what if people take a few selfies? Michael Phelps took a selfie with Novak Djokovic, but you would not accuse either of those men of not giving their best. Heck, America s new sweetheart Simone Biles is a selfie star. These are young men and women on possibly one of the biggest moments of their lives, and unfortunately selfies are a modern affliction. Big deal. However, the fact remains that for a nation of 1.25 billion people which sent 155 athletes in 15 disciplines to the Olympics this time, a return of a silver and a bronze medal seems pitiful. Make no mistakes Sakshi Malik and PV Sindhu put up valiant efforts. On the day, Sindhu played her remarkable final against the ultimately victorious Spanish woman Carolina Marin, a majority of this country was tuned in watching badminton. And despite the relative success of the sport (invented in Pune, no less) that Indians have had, that was quite a feat. But everywhere else, it seemed that Indians made valiant efforts and lost. Again, all of the athletes who wore our country s colours have strived and sacrificed immensely to have made it to Rio and most of them had qualified fair and square. After the six medals at London 2012, the fact that India was sending her largest delegation was seen as a matter of pride and progress. However, the progress that India made was nothing compared to the leaps and bounds made by Great Britain and the dominance of the United States. If Donald Trump wants to make America Great Again ; the Olympics were a repudiation of that statement. America s dominance at the top of the medal tables is a tremendous display of soft power. If we truly aspire to be a big country, a superpower even, it cannot be solely due to economic heft and military might, there has to be a sporting and cultural element to it. Our various movie industries have the cultural bit down pat, but sporting success? Other than cricket, the cupboard is fairly bare. In 1984, when China returned to the Olympics after a 32-year selfimposed exile, it stormed back to win 15 gold medals. Sure, the 1984 Olympics were lopsided due to the boycott by the Eastern Bloc, but those 15 golds were a statement of intent by the People s Republic. And in the 32 years since then, China has not only become an Olympic superpower it has become a global economic superpower. There will be tens of editorials with multiple recommendations on how to fix Indian sport. There will be social media campaigns demanding that the Ministry of Sport be shut down. However, fixing sports will have to be done with the International Olympic Committee s blessings, otherwise India and Indian sporting associations run the risk of being disqualified. Despite the IOC demanding sports bodies not be touched, it is unlikely that they will ever question China or Russia. The last time the Government intervened was to fix the mess in Indian hockey and while that was a good thing and Indian hockey has taken long strides back, in a hyper-competitive world countries like Argentina which won the gold medal at Rio have taken even bigger strides. Not all Indian sports associations should be tarred with the same brush. The Badminton Association of India in 2006 decided to make Pullela Gopichand the head coach of India and despite a player revolt against his methods in the early days, stuck by the All-England champion and we have seen the emergence of Saina Nehwal, PS Sindhu and Srikanth Kidambi. Yet, much more money needs to be sunk in Gopichand s academy for the future to remain bright. There have to changes driven from the very top for India s sporting success. Our Prime Minister has spoken about the potential of India s youth, but these young people should be out there winning international honours for the country. One believes that Modi realises this and puts some of the top brains he has at his disposal towards fixing this problem. But the biggest change that has to be made is in the attitude of parents. Your columnist has said this before, many children are extremely talented sportspersons, but thanks to a perverse system which rewards a career as a mediocre engineer over that of a successful sportsperson, parents discourage participation. Sports becomes a means to an end, some athletes want to get into national-level sports to snag a Government job. Not to fly the flag on a foreign field. And the second major change, and this is happening slowly, is to increase private sector participation in sport. Several companies notably JSW Steel and Apollo Tyres have promoted sports, and sports television network Star Sports has made several attempts, not always successful, to set up professional sports leagues. But why can t contributions to recognised sports academies be made taxdeductible? Why can t more private companies sponsor athletes as part of their corporate social responsibility? If India wants to stand up and be counted, it has to garner some success on the sports fields of the world. We cannot lament about the dominance of cricket. Keep in mind that dominance was achieved thanks to a glorious fluke at Lord s in It is thanks to the smart minds that leveraged cricket afterwards that it has become so successful. Success begets success, yet we have to start somewhere and it will take all of us to put in an effort here. Not just the Government and not just administrators. Refugee crisis: A global challenge The refugee crisis poses a catch 22' situation for host countries. The latter can neither stop the people from coming to their borders, neither can they afford take everyone in. A global policy on controlling illegal migration is needed T he recent breakthrough in the refugee crisis after long deliberations between Turkey and European Union shows the seriousness of the issue of immigration and human smuggling around the world and particularly in Europe. The United Nations has already expressed concern. The gravity of the problem can be visualised in the attempts of European powers to hold its next meeting in October to work out a road map for negotiation. Although it is too early to comment on such an agreement, it appears that the refugee crisis can be a bigger challenge for Europe than the two World Wars, if not handled head on. More than one million refugees have moved into Europe during the last one year mainly through sea routes. The civil war in Syria and political unrest in Iraq has worsened the situation. For the sake of survival in the competitive world order, thousands of people from underdeveloped countries have illegally moved to Europe for greener posture mainly through illegal transit. In another such incident, a boat carrying more than 80 illegal migrants drowned in Libya. It is high time that European countries developed sophisticated mechanism to handle the problem as it has already caused tension between countries. The issue of migration has also caused fuelled human trafficking across the globe. In certain pockets, it has led to terrorism. The problem of refugees who have fled due to disturbances in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan has added a new dimension to the existing problem of violence and crime in the Central Asian Republics. The number of atrocities against refugees over the year has shown an upward trend. They are not only subjected to economic exploitation but also social discrimination. Refugees are exploited for political and strategic gains by powerful syndicates. Afghanistan is a clear example wherein refugees were misled and organised into a deadly force. Despite various steps by the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees, there has not been any significant improvement in their conditions. Contrary to claims made by nations about the distribution of resources for refugee welfare, economic vulnerability has worsened their lot. The rise in atrocities against the refugees, particularly in foreign camps, is mainly due to the delay in investigation and the partisan attitude of the local Government machinery. Women have increasingly been subjected to injustice and foul play. There are numerous cases of women being abused and raped by people who are supposed to protect them. According to one survey, over 70 per cent of the 26 million refugees in the world are women and children. The problem of refugees became more pronounced after 1965 due to a rapid increase in persecution, poverty, natural disasters and civil wars. Although most countries have faced the problem, it has assumed alarming proportions in Afghanistan, Rwanda, Vietnam, Bosnia, Cambodia, Burundi, Ethiopia, Sudan, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh and other countries of South and Central America. The serious problems in Kampuchea, Vietnam and Laos compelled people to seek refuge in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Victims in African countries have taken refuge in Somalia, Kenya and Zambia. India witnessed a tremendous influx of refugees after 1971, when a Bengalis fled then East Pakistan. About 50,000 refugees took shelter in Tripura after clashes between Bangladesh authorities and the Shanti Bahani (a militant tribal movement started in 1973). A number of Chakma refugees took shelter in Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura. The recent, peaceful repatriation of 6,000 Chakma refugees to their homes in Bangladesh s Chittagong Hill Tract is a welcome sign. The lack of infrastructure facilities for accommodation in the host countries has created serious problems. In this regard, a burden sharing approach among countries can yield positive results. Often, refugees are detained on the ground of apprehension. For example, SUDHIR HINDWAN many asylum-seekers were charged with illegal immigration in Thailand. There have been instances when refugee camps have been attacked by the armed forces of countries across the border. Adequate protection for such camps is an important issue that should get immediate attention. The UNHCR, non-government organizations and Governments should work together to protect the interest of refugees, particularly women and children. This is a catch 22 situation for most countries. Neither total elimination of the problem is possible nor can one afford to take it laying down as it fuels violence and crime. It is high time we frame a policy by which illegal migration can be controlled, and also prevent atrocities on refugees. (The writer teaches political science at Punjab University, Chandigarh) think now We are meant to discover that we are powerful creators, if not of our entire reality, at least of our experience of reality. We aren't responsible for what each moment holds, but we are responsible for our experience of each moment because we have the power to make any moment heaven or hell. Gina Lake What about Now? Reminders for Being in the Moment

10 money 10 There is no bubble-like situation in the consumer lending segment. I don't think we are in a bubble territory as yet, as long as we continue to maintain our good underwriting standards and also get the help of digital tools, which will enable us to have an even better picture SBI CHAIRMAN ARUNDHATI BHATTACHARYA BUZZ FROM GOVERNMENT New RBI Governor Urjit Patel has to ensure flow of credit to various sectors of economy, in particular agriculture and the MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) sectors ECONOMIC AFFAIRS SECRETARY SHAKTIKANTA DAS Government may not read out new trains; lines after budget merger n NEW DELHI inance Minister Arun FJaitley may do away with the age-old practice of reading out lengthy proposals on new railway lines and trains once the 92-year-old colonial practice of a separate Railway budget is scrapped and merged with the general Budget. Instead, these will be put in the form of an annexure in the Budget. As part of a larger exercise of Budget overhaul, the government is looking at advancing the dates of presentation by a month to January-end to ensure the whole process is completed before the beginning of the next financial year. Advancing the date of Budget presentation to January-end is a suggestion. There are some data-related issues. We are seeing (it), a top Finance Ministry official The official added that advancing the general Budget presentation by a month to January-end will streamline expenditure. Gionee to set up manufacturing unit, to invest `500 crore n NEW DELHI andset maker Gionee will Hset up a manufacturing unit in northern India, pumping in about `500 crore, to tap into the demand in India as well as to serve markets like Africa and South East Asia. The Chinese company, which assembles its smartphones in India through thirdparty players like Foxconn and Dixon, expects the plant to be operational in about 2 years. We are in process of getting land in northern India. The 50- acre unit have an annual capacity of 30 million units. It should be operational in about two years, Gionee India MD and CEO Arvind Vohra told. He declined however to share details about the location of the plant. It will be an end-to-end manufacturing unit. It will help us cater to demand in India as well as nearby markets and African region. We will invest about `500 crore on the plant, Vohra According to research firm IDC, smartphone shipments in India grew 17.1 per cent sequentially to 27.5 million units in April-June quarter, with Chinese vendors like Lenovo, Xioami, Gionee and Vivo driving the growth. Currently, as the full Budget gets passed by May, most of the expenditures currently happen in the third or fourth quarter (of the financial year). If the Budget happens in January, expenditure can be streamlined. Even if it happens, the FM will not read the proposal of laying new lines or new trains, says source Currently, as the full Budget gets passed by May, most of the expenditures currently happen in the third or fourth quarter (of the financial year). If the Budget happens in January, expenditure can be streamlined, he While the Constitution does not mandate any specific date for presentation of the Budget, it is usually presented on the last working day of February and the two-stage process of parliamentary approval takes it to mid-may. On merger of the railway budget with the general one, he said a decision is yet to be taken. Even if it happens, the Finance Minister will not read No bubble in retail loans, says SBI chief on Rajan comments n MUMBAI W ithin days of Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan expressing concerns on banks aggressive retail play at the cost of infra financing, SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya on Monday said there is no bubble-like situation in the consumer lending segment. I don t think we are in a bubble territory as yet, as long as we continue to maintain our good underwriting standards and also get he help of digital (tools), which will enable us to have an even better picture, Bhattacharya She was speaking in response to a question on whether banks are heading towards a possible bubble in the consumer financing segment. Stating that there is a lot more that can be done in the retail sector, she said, Retail loans to GDP (ratio) in our country is amongst the lowest in the emerging markets, at less than 10 per cent. In Malaysia, it is in per cent and in developed nations it is still higher. I think we have still lot of uncovered space to grow. Addressing the annual convention of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce here, she said the median age in the country is 26.5 years and these are the people who need loans to fulfil their aspirations. Therefore, I think what is being done now is to fulfil those unmet demands, she Last week, outgoing Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan had raised concerns over banks, especially state-run lenders, shunning project loans and aggressively targeting retail borrowers. Talking about the upcoming redemptions of FCNR-B deposits, Bhattacharya said it will put pressure on liquidity. Some amount of liquidity will go out with the FCNR redemptions. So, it is important for us to have comfort on liquidity side, she She said the RBI's stance of maintaining liquidity at neutral level is good and needs to be maintained. the proposal of laying new lines or new trains (in his Budget speech in the Lok Sabha), the official said, adding that it would be put in the Budget as annexure. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has favoured scrapping the tradition of having a separate railway budget. He wants it to be merged with the general Budget like it happens in all other ministries, including the all-crucial Defence. The Finance Ministry has also constituted a 5-member committee to work out the modalities for the merger. The committee has been asked to submit its report by August 31. Another official said the Finance Ministry is considering advancing Budget presentation by a month to Januaryend. But that doesn't signal changing financial year soon, he added. Having ruled by the British for around 150 years, India followed the accounting period of April to March, in line with the Gregorian calendar of accounting. The Government has constituted a committee headed by former chief economic advisor Shankar Acharya to study the feasibility of adopting a new financial year. The panel will submit its report by December 31, Previously, the LK Jha Committee appointed in May 1984 to look into the matter had recommended switching overnment on Monday Gexpressed hope that as the next Governor of RBI, Urjit Patel will keep in mind the need to push growth and ensure credit flow to sectors like agriculture as well as small industries while trying to meet the inflation target. The Government on Saturday appointed Deputy Governor Patel as the 24th head of the Reserve Bank. He will replace Raghuram Rajan who demits office on September 4. He (Patel) will keep mind the inflation target and the monetary policy. He will also keep in mind the requirements of growth which is a mandate of the Reserve Bank of India Act, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters here. In particular, he has to ensure flow of credit to various sectors of economy, in particular agriculture and the MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) sectors, he Patel has been holding charge of the monetary policy decisions of the central bank. The job of RBI Governor is over to the calendar year, but the Government did not accept the recommendation, saying it would cause largescale problems as most Indian companies follow the April- March cycle. As the financial year begins on April 1, the government in March takes Parliament approval for Voteon-Account for a sum of money sufficient to meet expenditure on various items for the next 2-3 months till the full Budget is passed. The Demands and Appropriation Bill entailing full-year expenditure as well as tax changes is then passed in April/May. The official said the Finance Ministry is of the view that if the process is initiated earlier, there will be no need for getting a Vote-on- Account and a full Budget can be approved in 1-stage process before March 31. The proposal before the Government is to present the Budget in last week of January, preferably on January 31, and wrap up the entire process by March 31. NEW DELHI: Amidst mounting bad loans, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will hold a meeting with the heads of public sector banks on September 16 to find ways to deal with the situation. The Finance Minister will review the first quarter performance of public sector banks and financial institutions on September 16, sources Besides, he will also discuss credit growth and bad loan situation, they said, adding that the various recovery measures by banks and the legislative steps taken by the Government to expedite recovery are also part of the agenda. The banks have stepped up efforts as far as Stop using mobile service of other operators: RIL to staff n NEW DELHI eliance Industries, India's Rlargest conglomerate, has asked its 40,000-plus employees to stop using phones connections of existing operators, like Airtel and Vodafone, and instead switch to its own high-speed 4G Jio. RIL has asked employees to port their existing phone numbers to Jio, a move that may open another front with the existing operators, who have been up in arms against the Mukesh Ambani-led firm's prolonged beta testing. We are excited to announce yet another milestone towards greater excellence, where we will be switching our existing corporate connections to Jio, RIL s HR department wrote to all its employees. It asked employees to use MNP to port their existing numbers to Jio and explained to them the step-bystep process. Mobile number portability (MNP) enables telephone users to retain their number when changing from one carrier to other. Once you have submitted the required information, we will initiate the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) process with the existing operator. This will FinMin sees Urjit Patel to push growth while checking inflation FM to meet PSU banks heads on Sep 16 recovery of bad loans is concerned, the sources added. Gross NPA of the public sector banks have surged from 5.43 per cent (`2.67 lakh crore) in to 9.32 per cent (`4.76 lakh crore) in As per the latest Financial Stability Report by RBI, the Gross Non- Performing Assets ratio for public sector banks may go up to 10.1 per cent by March 2017 under the baseline scenario. Many banks including Bank of India, Dena Bank, and Central Bank of India, reported losses for the quarter ended June 30, due to a sharp jump in provisions for NPAs on account of an asset quality review mandated by the RBI in December. not only the monetary policy, RBI Governor also looks into the regulations of banks, and non banking financing companies. In that role he has ensure the smooth running of the financial sector, Das added. The Government has notified monetary policy framework agreement under which RBI will target to contain inflation at 4 per cent with an upper and lower tolerance band of 2 per cent. The sixmember monetary policy committee will decide on interest rates based on this inflation target. COAI acting as mouthpiece of dominant players: RJio NEW DELHI: In a no holds barred attack, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio on Monday lashed out at mobile phone operators body COAI, of which it is a member, for acting maliciously as mouthpiece of certain dominant incumbent operators having vested interests against the company. Hours after the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) wrote to the PMO alleging free data and voice being offered by Reliance Jio under beta test AFP n NEW YORK fizer will purchase biotech Pfirm Medivation, which specializes in cancer treatments, for some $14 billion, the US pharma giant said in a statement on Monday. Pfizer s offer for the San Francisco-based Medivation goes far beyond the company's market value of $11.1 billion. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the merger, the statement The proposed acquisition of Medivation is expected to immediately accelerate revenue growth and drive overall earnings growth potential for Pfizer, said Ian Read, Pfizer chairman and chief executive officer. The transaction is a snub to the French pharmaceutical group Sanofi, which earlier offered $58 a share, which Medivation rejected in last month. Medivation turned down an uninvited offer worth about $10 billion from Sanofi as not in the best interests of its shareholders. The company's founder said Pfizer, by contrast, was the ideal marriage partner. was generating hugetraffic using spectrum allocated for commercial use but no revenue came to government, the company shot of a letter to the association with copies marked to all the addresses the COAI letter had gone to. Reliance, which is a member of the COAI, alleged that it received an from COAI at 1505 hours stating it would be sending a letter to the Government on Jio's test service but the letter was actually submitted to the Government officials as early as 1250 hrs. take around seven working days to complete, the company HR said in the . So far, the company subscribed to corporate plans of all major operators including Airtel and Vodafone for the employees. Reliance Jio test launched its services last December, but no dates for commercial launch has yet been announced. Initially, Jio SIM was available only to its employees, and later bundled with Reliance s own Lyf-branded smartphones. Now, all Samsung and LG smartphones users could walkin to a Reliance Digital store and procure a Jio SIM. It now has over 1.5 million users. The company says it has created the world's largest end- to-end all IP network and invested over `1.34 lakh crore. Once launched, the services will cover over 18,000 towns and over 2 lakh villages across all the 22 service areas of the country. Acquiring Medivation for $14 bn, says Pfizer We believe the combination with Pfizer is the right next step in our growth trajectory and is a testament to the passion and dedication by which the Medivation team has delivered on our mission to profoundly transform patients lives through medically innovative therapies, said David Hung, founder, president and CEO of Medivation. This compelling transaction will deliver significant and immediate value to our stockholders and provides new opportunities for our employees as part of a larger company. By purchasing Medivation, Pfizer would add to its portfolio the drug Xtandi, a promising treatment against prostate cancer that analysts estimate will generate some $1.33 billion in annual sales by It also produces the promising new talazoparib breast cancer drug, currently in a phase three study. The purchase of Medivation, if approved by regulators, would be Pfizer's biggest buy since it bought the medical device company Hospira last year for $17 billion. Deputy Director, Shyam Misra, Directorate General of Mines Safety, Chennai Region and SAF Khalid and V Renganathan, Executive Directors of NLC India Limited, presenting the Special Award to Neyveli Mine-I for reduction in injury rate at the Safety Week Celebrations held at Neyveli. Also seen are Senior Officials of NLC India Limited. Rajesh Mokashi is MD & CEO of Care Ratings MUMBAI: Care Ratings on Monday said Rajesh Mokashi has taken charge as its new managing director and chief executive. Mokashi, who was serving as Dy MD of the credit rating agency, has been appointed as MD and CEO for a term of five years, a company statement He has been with the company since inception in 1993 and has over 30 years of work experience. He had earlier worked with Otis Elevator Company India, DSP Financial Consultants and Kotak Mahindra Finance before joining Care. Mokashi has worked in diverse areas in ratings such as rating operations, criteria development, business development, disinvestment advisory services, international ventures, among others, it JK Tyre scripts history, rolls out 10-millionth truck radial RAKESH BIHARI JHA n MYSURU tating to be a historic day for Styre manufacturer JK Tyre & Industries Ltd, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Raghupati Singhania on Monday said that the company is the first Indian tyre major to roll out 10- millionth truck/bus radial tyre from Vikrant plant here. Starting 1977, when we set up our first tyre plant in Rajasthan with an annual capacity of 5-lakh tyres, we have come a long way. Today, JK Tyre has grown multifold by setting up greenfield plants, expansion of the existing capacities and acquisitions, including that of Vikrant Tyre in Karnataka, as also a tyre company in Mexico, apart from the latest one - acquisition of three plants of Cavendish Industries in Uttarakhand, Singhania said on the rollout occasion. The mega event was held here in the august presence of Karnataka Industry Minister RV Deshpande, PWD Minister SC Mahadevappa, JK Tyre Industries CMD Raghupati Singhania and other dignitaries as well. Rolling out of 10-million radial tyres is unique milestone which only JK Tyre has achieved. The company has pioneered bus/truck radial tyres way back in 1999 and today it is the largest producer in this category, Singhania added. The company had rolled out 1-million tyres in way back in July 2005, so it took a span of only 11 years to cross the 10-million mark on August 22, While talking about investment in the Karnataka State, Singhania said, We have invested more than `1,200 crore in modernisation and expansion. With the recent acquisitions, we have entered the high growth segment of 2 and 3- wheeler tyres and thus JK Tyre now manufactures a complete range of tyres - right from a 3kilo scooter tyre to the 3.7 tonne large ultra large OTRR tyres. Singhania also said that technology has played a pivotal role in JK Tyre and the company is investing heavily in research and JK TYRE CMD RAGHUPATI SINGHANIA development to stay ahead in the tyre industry. We are setting up worldclass research centre in Mysuru only, which will house most modern and advanced equipment, manned by highly-experienced engineers and scientists with deep insight into material resource, designs, aesthetics and structures, he JK Tyre is a multinational company with 12 plants globally with a future ready capacity of 350 lakh per annum. We care for our prized customer so we have 4000 dealers to service them across India, Singhania added. JK Tyre is a leading four-wheeler tyre manufacturer in India and amongst the top 25 manufacturers in the world with a wide range of products catering to diverse business segments in the automobile industry. JK Tyre has global presence in 100 countries across six continents, backed by production support from 12 plants - 9 in India and 3 in Mexico. Currently, the capacity across all its plants is about 35 million tyres per annum. In April 2016, JK Tyre acquired Cavendish India Limited from Birla Tyres. While the acquisition added three modern plants to its portfolio taking the total count to 12. It also helped the tyre major foray into the two/three-wheeler segment as well. Being pioneers of radial technology, JK Tyre produced the first radial tyre in 1976 and is currently the market leader in truck-bus radial segment. With over three decades of technological innovation, JK Tyre offers tyre for entire range of passenger and commercial vehicles, starting from a 3-kg two-wheeler tyre to a 3.5-ton OTR tyre. Renault unveils more powerful Kwid priced up to `3.95 lakh n NEW DELHI rench auto major Renault on FMonday launched a new version of small car Kwid in India powered by 1.0 litre petrol engine and priced up to `3.95 lakh (introductory price, exshowroom Delhi), as it aims to take on the market leader Alto K10 from Maruti Suzuki. Renault currently sells Kwid with an 800cc (0.8L) engine priced between Rs 2.64 lakh and `3.73 lakh. The new 1.0 litre variant comes in two variants priced at `3.82 lakh and `3.95 lakh, respectively. Buyers, will now have to shellout `22,000 more for the top model of the 1,000cc variant. Maruti Alto K10 is priced between `3.25 lakh and `3.82 lakh for manual variants (all prices ex-showroom Delhi). It also comes with CNG and auto gear shift options. With this launch, we look forward to welcoming more customers into Renault family as we endeavour to aggressively build our presence in India, Renault India Country CEO & Managing Director Sumit Sawhney told reporters here.

11 money 11 Reforms to aid growth but banking sector risks remain: Moody s n NEW DELHI M oody s Investors Service on Monday said continued reforms to enhance business environment and moderate inflation will help India achieve robust growth but cautioned that rising contingent liability risks in the banking sector could affect its credit quality. Evidence of success in policymakers efforts to introduce growth-enhancing economic and institutional reforms would provide support for a rating upgrade, Moody s said in its Annual Credit Analysis as it forecast GDP growth at around 7.5 per cent for next two years, Sustained fiscal consolidation, stable inflation at moderate levels and progress on reforms aimed at enhancing the business environment would contribute to sustained growth at robust levels. In turn, persistent income and profit growth would raise government revenues and contribute to improved fiscal metrics. However, we expect the benefits to be very gradual, Moody s India s credit profile is supported by strong growth potential and high private savings rate, it Conversely, signs of slippage in progress towards those goals or indications of rising contingent liability risks related to the banking sector could weigh on India s credit quality, Moody s added. India s strengths are balanced against a high government debt burden (67.4 per cent of GDP in 2015), regulatory and infrastructure constraints on its competitiveness, slow pace of policy reform, and the contingent liability risk to the sovereign from public sector banks high and rising nonperforming loans. Looking ahead, evidence of success in policymakers efforts to introduce growthenhancing and growth-stabilising economic and institutional reforms would provide support for a rating upgrade, it Moody s further said that institutional strength is apparent in robust democratic apparatus. Offsetting weaknesses include an uncertain regulatory environment, corruption, a slow-moving judicial system and, in general, inefficiencies in the delivery of government services, it added. At the current juncture, political fragmentation leads to slow and ad-hoc progress on reforms. Progress on land and labour reforms, when it has We expect profitability to remain muted which will continue to dampen their willingness to invest in the next few quarters. We forecast real GDP growth at around 7.5 per cent in the next two years occurred has been limited and gradual, it Moody s said the positive outlook on India s rating reflects our expectation that policies over the next 12 to 18 months will support sustained growth, accompanied by narrower fiscal deficits, low current account deficits, increased savings and investment, and inflation that is within the central bank s target. Over the past year, it said external developments favourable to India such as lower global oil prices have combined with policy measures to move the economy towards a more stable macroeconomic development with smaller fiscal deficits, lower inflation and a narrower current account deficit. Moody s analyses India s credit profile in terms of economic, institutional and fiscal strength and susceptibility to event risk. We expect corporates profitability to remain muted which will continue to dampen their ability and willingness to invest in the next few quarters. We forecast real GDP growth at around 7.5 per cent in the next two years, Moody s Material improvements to India s public finances will likely be limited in the near term, and deficit reduction will come from either cyclical upswings or tactical fiscal management, rather than a broad-based fiscal consolidation strategy. Moody s said India s susceptibility to event risk is driven by banking sector risk. As banks continue to recognise bad assets, non-performing loans will rise further, particularly for PSBs, albeit at a slower pace than at the end of The agency estimates the capital needs of PSBs to be notably larger than the Rs 70,000 crore of equity over the next four years proposed by the government. The authorities focus on bad asset recognition and provisioning in the banking system as well as the recent passage of a new bankruptcy bill would be credit positive from a sovereign perspective, if it led to improved bank capitalisation levels, renewed loan growth and robust risk processes, Moody s The US-based agency said that reforms to improve the business environment will help to realise India s growth potential, but the benefits of these measures would be very gradual. The Make in India programme aims to increase the share of manufacturing to 25 per cent in 2020 from the current 16 per cent. This implies growth in manufacturing value added of per cent per year, compared with only 8.1 per cent in FY2016, Moody s added. But inadequate infrastructure, limited flow of workers from the agriculture sector and, to some extent, only moderate levels of investment in innovation will hamper growth in the manufacturing sector and the economy as a whole. These factors are likely to prevent a sharp improvement in India s competitiveness, it Sensex dips on fading rate cut hopes Mumbai (): Under pressure for the second straight session, the BSE Sensex fell over 91 points to crack below the 28,000-mark with investors adopting cautious stance after the appointment of Urjit Patel as the next RBI chief, who is very unlikely to cut rates in view of high inflation. Besides, a weaker sentiment among Asian and European investors amid rising prospects for a rate hike by US Federal Reserve was also a reason behind the volatile domestic bourses. The rupee depreciating by 19 paise to trade at a fresh three-week low of (intraday) too negatively impacted market s mood. The government on last Saturday announced the appointment of Urjit Patel as the next Reserve Bank Governor with effect from September 4. Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd, said, The Market fell, rupee weakened and bond yield rose amid the announcement of the new RBI Governor. The market believes that the prospect for a rate cut in the near-term is unlikely as the priority will be to contain inflation. Global market was volatile on concern over interest rate hike due to contradictory statement from the FED officials and the minutes, he added. Beginning on a higher note at 28,088.07, the Sensex touched the day s high of 28, following selective buying by participants in bluechip stocks amid sustained foreign fund inflows. NIFTY 50 SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGE HINDUNILVR ZEEL ITC BHEL IDEA HDFC 1, , , , BPCL POWERGRID COALINDIA HDFCBANK 1, , , , YESBANK 1, , , , DRREDDY 3, , , , GAIL EICHERMOT 21, , , , CIPLA ASIANPAINT 1, , , , BAJAJ-AUTO 2, , , , BHARTIARTL LT 1, , , , INDUSINDBK 1, , , , RELIANCE 1, , , , INFY 1, , , , ICICIBANK KOTAKBANK HEROMOTOCO 3, , , , ADANIPORTS BANKBARODA INFRATEL ONGC TATAPOWER WIPRO BOSCHLTD 24, , , , M&M 1, , , , AXISBANK TATAMOTORS TATASTEEL MARUTI 4, , , , TECHM HCLTECH SBIN TATAMTRDVR HINDALCO ULTRACEMCO 3, , , , TCS 2, , , , SUNPHARMA NTPC ACC 1, , , , LUPIN 1, , , , AMBUJACEM AUROPHARMA GRASIM 4, , , , NIFTY NEXT 50 SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGE CASTROLIND SAIL PIDILITIND UPL SHREECEM 17, , , , BRITANNIA 3, , , , BAJAJFINSV 2, , , , RCOM RECLTD PFC NMDC CONCOR 1, , , , HINDZINC ASHOKLEY SRTRANSFIN 1, , , , DIVISLAB 1, , , , UBL TITAN NHPC BAJFINANCE 10, , , , GSKCONS 6, , , , TORNTPHARM 1, , , , BEL 1, , , , LICHSGFIN PNB OIL IBULHSGFIN SIEMENS 1, , , , GODREJCP 1, , , , CADILAHC IOC BHARATFORG ABB 1, , , , OFSS 3, , , , COLPAL GLAXO 3, , , , GLENMARK JSWSTEEL 1, , , , MCDOWELL-N 2, , , , MOTHERSUMI DABUR APOLLOHOSP 1, , , , CUMMINSIND PGHH 6, , , , EMAMILTD 1, , , , VEDL DLF HINDPETRO 1, , , , MARICO CAIRN Bse 500 Script Last Abs Change Traded Price Change % 3MINDIA KMILES AARTIIND ABAN ABB ABBOTINDIA ABFRL ABIRLANUVO ACC ADANIENT ADANIPORTS ADANIPOWER ADANITRANS AEGISLOG AIAENG AIL AJANTPHARM AKZOINDIA ALBK ALKEM ALLCARGO ALOKTEXT ALSTOMT&D AMARAJABAT AMBUJACEM AMTEKAUTO ANDHRABANK APLAPOLLO APLLTD APOLLOHOSP APOLLOTYRE ARVIND ASAHIINDIA ASHOKA ASHOKLEY ASIANPAINT ASTRAL ASTRAMICRO ASTRAZEN ATUL BSE: GAINERS Current (Chng %) OBEROIRLTY (5.24) BIOCON (4.34) IGL (4.29) ESCORTS (3.68) GMDCLTD (3.63) AUROPHARMA AVANTI AXISBANK BAJAJ-AUTO BAJAJCORP BAJAJELEC BAJAJFINSV BAJAJHIND BAJAJHLDNG BAJFINANCE BALKRISIND BALMLAWRIE BALRAMCHIN BANKBARODA BANKINDIA BASF BATAINDIA BAYERCROP BBTC BEL BEML BERGEPAINT BFUTILITIE BHARATFIN BHARATFORG BHARTIARTL BHEL BIOCON BIRLACORPN BLISSGVS BLUEDART BLUESTARCO BOMDYEING BOSCHLTD BPCL BRITANNIA CADILAHC CANBK CANFINHOME CAPF CAPPL CARBORUNIV CARERATING CASTROLIND CCL CEATLTD CENTRALBK CENTURYPLY CENTURYTEX CERA CESC CHAMBLFERT CHENNPETRO CHOLAFIN CIPLA CLNINDIA COALINDIA COFFEEDAY COLPAL CONCOR COROMANDEL CORPBANK COX&KINGS CRISIL CROMPGREAV CUB CUMMINSIND CYIENT DABUR DALMIABHA DBCORP DCBBANK DCMSHRIRAM DEEPAKFERT DELTACORP DEN DENABANK DHANUKA DHFL DISHMAN DISHTV DIVISLAB DLF DRREDDY DYNAMATECH ECLERX EDELWEISS EICHERMOT NSE: GAINERS Current (Chng %) HINDUNILVR (2.12) ZEEL (1.48) ITC (1.32) BHEL (1.09) IDEA (1.01) EIDPARRY EIHOTEL ELGIEQUIP EMAMILTD ENGINERSIN ENIL EROSMEDIA ESCORTS ESSELPRO EVEREADY EXIDEIND FAGBEARING FCEL FDC FEDERALBNK FINCABLES FINOLEXIND FORCEMOT FORTIS FSL GAIL GATI GAYAPROJ GDL GEOMETRIC GESHIP GHCL GICHSGFIN GILLETTE GLAXO GLENMARK GMDCLTD GMRINFRA GNFC GODFRYPHLP GODREJCP GODREJIND GODREJPROP GPPL GRANULES GRASIM GREAVESCOT GREENPLY GRINDWELL GRUH GSFC GSKCONS GSPL GUJFLUORO GUJGAS GULFOILLUB GVKPIL HATHWAY HATSUN HAVELLS HCC HCL-INSYS HCLTECH HDFC HDFCBANK HDIL HEIDELBERG HEROMOTOCO HEXAWARE HFCL HIMATSEIDE HINDALCO HINDCOPPER HINDPETRO HINDUNILVR HINDZINC HITACHIHOM HMT HMVL HONAUT HSIL HTMEDIA IBREALEST IBULHSGFIN ICICIBANK ICIL ICRA IDBI IDEA IDFC IDFCBANK IFCI IGL IIFL IL&FSTRANS INDHOTEL INDIACEM INDIANB INDIGO INDOCO INDUSINDBK INFRATEL INFY INGERRAND INOXLEISUR INOXWIND INTELLECT IOB IOC IPAPPM IPCALAB IRB ISGEC ITC ITDCEM J&KBANK JAGRAN JAICORPLTD JBCHEPHARM JBFIND JETAIRWAYS JINDALPOLY JINDALSAW JINDALSTEL JISLJALEQS JKCEMENT Open High Low Current value Previous close Change (Pts) Change (%) SENSEX BSE: SENSEX JKIL JKLAKSHMI JKTYRE JMFINANCIL JPASSOCIAT JPINFRATEC JPPOWER JSWENERGY JSWSTEEL JUBILANT JUBLFOOD JUSTDIAL JYOTHYLAB KAJARIACER KALPATPOWR KANSAINER KEC KESORAMIND KIRLOSENG KITEX KOTAKBANK KPIT KPRMILL KRBL KSBPUMPS KSCL KSK KTKBANK KWALITY L&TFH LAKSHVILAS LALPATHLAB LAOPALA LAXMIMACH LICHSGFIN LINDEINDIA LT LUPIN LYCOS M&M M&MFIN MAGMA MAHABANK MAHINDCIE MAHLIFE MANAPPURAM MARICO MARKSANS MARUTI MCLEODRUSS MCX MFSL MHRIL MINDAIND MINDTREE MJCO MMTC MOIL MONSANTO MOTHERSUMI MOTILALOFS MPHASIS MRF MRPL MTNL MUTHOOTFIN NATCOPHARM NATIONALUM NAUKRI NAVINFLUOR NAVKARCORP NAVNETEDUL NBCC NCC NESTLEIND VITAL STATS GOLD SILVER Mumbai Delhi Kolkata NIFTY NETWORK NH NHPC NIITLTD NIITTECH NILKAMAL NIRLON NLCINDIA NMDC NOVARTIND NTPC OBEROIRLTY OFSS OIL OMAXE ONGC ONMOBILE ORIENTBANK ORIENTCEM PAGEIND PCJEWELLER PEL PERSISTENT PETRONET PFC PFIZER PFS PGHH PHOENIXLTD PIDILITIND PIIND PNB PNCINFRA POLARIS POWERGRID PRAJIND PRESTIGE PRISMCEM PTC PUNJLLOYD PVR RADICO BSE: LOSERS Current (Chng %) WELCORP (5.67) SUNTV (4.86) BHARATFIN (4.75) INDHOTEL (3.92) VRLLOG (3.71) RAIN RAJESHEXPO RALLIS RAMCOCEM RAMCOSYS RAYMOND RCF RCOM RDEL RECLTD REDINGTON RELAXO RELCAPITAL RELIANCE RELIGARE RELINFRA RENUKA REPCOHOME RKFORGE ROLTA RPOWER RTNPOWER SADBHAV SAIL SANOFI SBBJ SBIN SBT SCHNEIDER SCI SEQUENT SFCL SHARDACROP SHILPAMED SHK SHOPERSTOP SHREECEM SHRIRAMCIT SIEMENS SIMPLEXINF SINTEX SITINET SJVN SKFINDIA SMLISUZU SOBHA SOLARINDS SONATSOFTW SOUTHBANK SPARC SPICEJET SREINFRA SRF SRTRANSFIN STAR STRTECH SUNDRMFAST SUNPHARMA SUNTECK SUNTV SUPREMEIND SUVEN SUZLON SWANENERGY SYMPHONY SYNDIBANK SYNGENE TAKE TATACHEM TATACOFFEE TATACOMM TATAELXSI TATAGLOBAL TATAINVEST TATAMOTORS TATAMTRDVR TATAPOWER TATASPONGE TATASTEEL TCI TCS TECHM TECHNO TEXRAIL THERMAX THOMASCOOK TIMKEN TITAN NSE: LOSERS Current (Chng %) GRASIM 4, (3.07) AUROPHARMA (2.36) AMBUJACEM (2.33) LUPIN 1, (2.29) ACC 1, (2.14) TNPL TORNTPHARM TORNTPOWER TRENT TRIDENT TRITURBINE TTKPRESTIG TUBEINVEST TV18BRDCST TVSMOTOR TVSSRICHAK TVTODAY TWL UBL UCOBANK UFLEX ULTRACEMCO UNICHEMLAB UNIONBANK UNITDSPR UNITECH UPL VAKRANGEE VEDL VGUARD VIDEOIND VIJAYABANK VINATIORGA VIPIND VOLTAS VRLLOG VSTIND VTL WABAG WABCOINDIA WELCORP WELSPUNIND WESTLIFE WHIRLPOOL WIPRO WOCKPHARMA WONDERLA YAMNINV YESBANK ZEEL ZENSARTECH ZYDUSWELL

12 world 12 Syria border region must be cleansed of IS: Turkey People carry a victim's coffin as they attend funeral services for dozens of people killed in last night's bomb attack targeting an outdoor wedding party in Gaziantep, southeastern Turkey on Sunday. AP AFP n ANKARA urkey said on Monday the TSyrian border region must be completely cleansed from the Islamic State group, after a weekend suicide bombing in Gaziantep blamed on the jihadists left at least 54 dead. In a sign of a key battle to come, Syrian rebel fighters have amassed on the Turkish side of the border in preparation for an offensive on the town of Jarablus, IS s last major transit point on the Syrian side of the border. Our border must be completely cleansed from Daesh, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in televised remarks, using an Arabic acronym for IS. It is our most natural right to fight at home and abroad against such a terrorist organisation. A child suicide bomber, aged between 12 and 14, is suspected of having carried out the attack late Saturday in the southeastern city of Gaziantep near the Syrian border on the orders of the IS jihadist group, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Cavusoglu said Turkey has already taken an active role in the fight against IS, allowing coalition forces to use a key air base in the south of the country for strikes on the extremist group. Quoting security sources, some Turkish media reported earlier that the Gaziantep attack could have been retaliation by IS for an operation carried out by Ankara-backed Syrian rebels against the jihadists in Jarablus, northern Syria. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Turkey seeks to identify child suicide bomber Gaziantep (AFP): Turkish authorities were scrambling to ascertain the identity of a child suicide bomber acting on the orders of Islamic State (IS) jihadists who killed 51 people at a crowded Kurdish wedding. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the bomber at the street wedding late Saturday in the city of Gaziantep close to Syria was aged between 12 and 14 and that initial findings showed it had been perpetrated by Daesh (IS). Media said the majority of those dead were children or teenagers, with 29 of the 44 victims identified so far aged under 18. At least 22 victims were under 14, a Turkish official added. There were no further details on the bomber s identity, but Erdogan said IS had been trying to position itself in Gaziantep which lies just 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Syria and is a major hub for refugees from the over five-year civil war. The Hurriyet daily said that DNA tests were under way to ascertain the identity, nationality and gender of the bomber. It is possible that the bomber had come over the border from Syria but IS is also known to have built homegrown cells inside Turkey in Gaziantep and even Istanbul, wrote its well-connected columnist Abdulkadir Selvi. He said Turkish security forces believed that attack had been timed as retaliation by jihadists for offensives both by Kurdish militias and pro-ankara Syrian opposition forces against IS in Syria. There s a fight against IS but we are paying the price, he wrote. The leader of the pro-kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Rights, hundreds of rebel fighters are inside Turkish territory, preparing to launch an offensive on Jarablus against IS. There is already daily artillery fire from Turkey on the edges of the town, said the Britain-based monitoring 26/11 case: Financier sent to judicial remand n LSHORE he alleged financier of the T2008 Mumbai terror attack, who supplied nearly Rs 4 million to the LeT men, has been sent to judicial remand after the Pakistani anti-terrorism court hearing the case did not allow the FIA to have his custody for more days. Sufayan Zafar has joined the other six suspects - Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Mohammad Younis Anjum - in the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where they are lodged since Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT) operations commander Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, the mastermind of the Mumbai attack, is living at an undisclosed location after being released from jail on bail over a year ago. The anti-terrorism court sent Zafar on the judicial remand on Saturday noting that the Federal Investigation Agency had been given enough time to probe the suspect, a source in the FIA told. He is accused of providing Rs 3.98 million to co-accused Riaz through account no of the Muslim Commercial Bank s Drigh Road branch in Karachi and account no of the Allied Bank s Drigh Colony branch in Karachi prior to the Mumbai terror attack. During interrogation by the FIA, he was quizzed over providing millions of rupees to the suspected terrorists of the Mumbai attack case, his relations with them and other absconding suspects, the source The FIA has interrogated Zafar for providing financial assistance to the co-accused in the Mumbai case besides his connection with the terrorists and the LeT. He was also interrogated for the channel/source from which he got the huge sum of money to provide it to the coaccused, he Zafar was absconding after being declared proclaimed offender in the Mumbai case. He was arrested early this month (on August 3 or 4) from his hideout in Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa province. A resident of Gujrawala district of Punjab - some 80 kms from Lahore, Zafar is among 21 other absconding suspects wanted in this highprofile case. According to court documents, the other suspects South Korea-US military drill shadowed by N Korea threats Seoul (AFP) South Korea and the United States kicked off large-scale military exercises on Monday, triggering condemnation and threats of a preemptive nuclear strike from North Korea. The two-week annual Ulchi Freedom drill, which plays out a full-scale invasion scenario by the nuclear-armed North, islargely computer-simulated but still involves around 50,000 Korean and 25,000 US soldiers. The exercise always triggers a spike in tensions on the divided Korean peninsula, and this year it coincides with particularly volatile cross-border relations following a series of high-profile defections. Seoul and Washington insist the joint military drills are purely defensive in nature, but Pyongyang views them as wilfully provocative. The North Korean Foreign Ministry today condemned Ulchi Freedom as an unpardonable criminal act South Korean President Park Geun-hye speaks during a session of the National Security Council at the presidential house in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday. South Korea and the United States began annual military drills Monday despite North Korea's threat of nuclear strikes in response to the exercises that it calls an invasion rehearsal. AP that could bring the peninsula to the brink of war. The Korean People s Army (KPA), meanwhile, threatened a military response to what it described as a rehearsal for a surprise nuclear attack and invasion of the North. North Korea s frontline units were fully ready to mount a preemptive retaliatory strike at all enemy attack groups involved, said a spokesman for the KPA General Staff.The slightest violation of North Korea s territorial sovereignty would result in the source of the provocation being turned into a heap of ashes through Korean-style pre-emptive nuclear strike, the spokesman Pyongyang has made similar threats in the past, and actual retaliation to South Korea-US military drills has largely been restricted to firing ballistic missiles into the sea. As the drill began, South Korean President Park Geun- Hye said a recent spate of headline-grabbing defections from North Korea signalled political turmoil in Pyongyang that could cause the leadership there to lash out against the South. It is increasingly possible that North Korea may undertake various terror attacks and provocations... to block internal unrest, prevent further defections and create confusion in our society, Park told a meeting of her National Security Council. Pokemon s a no-go on Bangkok roads AFP n BANGKOK he hunters have become the hunted. TPolice in Bangkok announced a crackdown on Monday against Thai drivers playing Pokemon Go following complaints that the craze was bringing further gridlock to an already notoriously congested metropolis. The mobile app which encourages users to hit the pavements in search of digital monsters was made available in Thailand earlier this month delighting many in a country where Japanese subcultures have a significant following. But the game has since sparked a flurry of headlines in the local press as well as unease among the kingdom s military leaders. The police chief has asked all policemen to detain any Pokemon players who play while using the roads, deputy national police spokesman Colonel Krissana Pattanacharoen told reporters. People have a right to play the game but it must not affect other people s rights, he added. Colonel Veeravit Vatchanapukka, from the city s traffic police, said teams of officers on motorbikes would stake out key arteries in the capital hoping to catch drivers in the act. We do not aim to arrest many people, instead we hope this programme will raise awareness with people about carelessness, he told AFP. Bangkok is not exactly an ideal playground for Pokemon players. The sweltering Thai capital is notorious for its long traffic queues while the World Health Organisation says Thailand has the second highest road fatality rate in the world. Pavements are patchy and those that exist are often littered with hurdles ranging from street vendors and fire hydrants to potholes and tangled wiring. But that hasn t stopped hordes of players embracing the game in public spaces, including those jumping into cars and onto motorbikes to hunt down digital monsters. Some of the city s motorbike taxi drivers, who career through the gridlock at knuckle-whitening speeds, are even offering hourly rates for Pokemon hunters. Two weeks ago the spokesman for Thailand s junta chief warned Thais against obsessive playing of the game. who allegedly arranged funds for the attacks include undertrial Ahmed and Anjum and proclaimed offenders Mohammad Usman Zia, Mukhtar Ahmed, Abbas Nasir and Javed Iqbal. The FIA wanted more time to investigate him further, the source said, adding that the agency would indict him along with the seven other suspects of the case in the trial court after completing his challan. The trial court will resume the hearing of the case on September 7 after over a month-long court summer vacation. Egypt s Sisi says Putin ready to host Mideast peace talks Cairo (AFP): Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-sisi said his Russian counterpart and close ally Vladimir Putin wants to host an Israeli- Palestinian summit to revive peace talks, in an interview published on Monday. Sisi told state newspaper editors that he believed Israel was increasingly convinced of the need for a peace deal, saying it was a positive sign. But Palestinian infighting between the Islamist Hamas rulers of Gaza and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas s Fatah in the West Bank remained an obstacle, he said in the interview. Talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abbas have been suspended since 2014, despite a push by Washington and France to resume the peace process. Sisi, who is seen as having good ties with both Israel and Abbas s Palestinian Authority, has also been pushing for a resumption of negotiations. Putin has told me that he is ready to receive both (Abbas) and Netanyahu in Moscow to carry out direct talks to find a solution and solve the issue, Sisi I see that the conviction of the importance of peace is rising among the Israeli side, and the conviction about finding an exit to the issue is a positive sign. At the same time, it is important to end the Palestinian-Palestinian rift... and to have national reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas so that the climate be ready to establish a state, he group s head, Rami Abdel Rahman. The Dogan news agency reported that Turkish artillery fired 65 mortar shells at IS targets around Jarablus on Saturday. A rebel source confirmed that opposition fighters GLOBE TROTTING Priyanka Chopra hits 10 mn followers on Instagram New York:Actress Priyanka Chopra has thanked her fans after she reached the milestone of 10 million followers on Instagram. Priyanka, who is currently shooting for the second season of Quantico in New York, shared her excitement on social media along with a mini clip of herself in which she is donning a glares with the digits 1 and 0 on each of its glass. Thankful for our 10 million family on Instagram.. Lots of love and gratitude! #10MforPriyankaonInsta, Priyanka wrote. The 34-year-old Bajirao Mastani star has become the second most followed Indian film actor on the photo-sharing site after Deepika Padukone, who has a 10.7 million followers. Alia Bhatt holds the third spot with 8.5 million followers, whereas Sonam Kapoor and Akshay Kumar are on the fourth and fifth positions with 6.8 million and 6.3 million followers, respectively. Sia overcomes booing, bad weather to pull V Fest concert London: Singer Sia had to brave fan outburst at the V Festival when strong winds delayed her set by 15 minutes. The live show is not possible because of the wind. We are doing everything in our power to provide you with a show despite Mother Nature, said the announcement, cuing boos and In this File photo released on April 25, 2015 by a militant website, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, young boys known as the "lion cubs" hold rifles during a parade after graduating from a religious school in Tal Afar, near Mosul, northern Iraq. The suicide attacker who detonated his explosives amid an outdoor Kurdish wedding party in southeastern Turkey, killing at least 51 peopleon this Saturday, was an IS group child as young as 12 years old. The extremist group has a history of using children as weapons, sending them to their death strapped with explosives and putting them on front lines in Iraq and Syria. AP Demirtas said in a statement that all of those killed were Kurds. The bride and groom a couple from the strongly Kurdish region of Siirt to the southeast were rushed to hospital but not seriously wounded. The attack followed a string of strikes blamed on IS and Kurdish militants in the last months but was the deadliest so far this year and first significant jihadist action in Turkey since the failed July 15 were preparing for a large offensive against Daesh in Jarablus which will be launched from Turkey. On Sunday we liberated Al-Rai, and tomorrow, Jarablus, said Ahmad Othman, a commander in the Sultan coup. Hurriyet said the type of bomb used stuffed with scraps of metal was similar to the explosives used in previous suicide bombings against pro-kurdish gatherings blamed on IS in the border town of Suruc and at Ankara train station last year. All 44 victims identified so far were laid to rest in harrowing ceremonies in Gazinantep on Sunday with relatives throwing themselves on the coffins in desperation, an AFP correspondent general confusion about whether or not Sia would perform. After a short delay the Australian singer and songwriter took to the stage in her iconic black and white wig and oversized white bow, reported Digital Spy. On entering, Sia, 40, stood with a billowing white ruffled skirt that turned out to be her troupe of dancers concealing her Chandelier dancer Maddie Ziegler. Kicking off her set with Alive, Sia s absolutely enormous vocals soon led to the crowd s fo giveness. A montage of dancers and actors including Kristen Wiig flashed across the screens throughout her performance, matching the stage show. Sia was slid across the stage on her podium while her interpretive dancers flitted around her. Fan favourite Chandelier finished the show as Sia s troupe of dancers re-entered the stage in a couple of weathered looking panda and rabbit heads. Thank you so much, Sia said before peeking out of her wig. I can see you a little bit now. Demi receives sweet birthday wishes from Nick, Joe Los Angeles: Singer Demi Lovato has received sweet messages from best friends Joe and Nick Jonas on her 24th birthday. Nick, who also dated Lovato for few months, shared a post on Twitter for the Stone Cold hitmaker and wished her- a very happy birthday. Sending an enormous happy birthdays to my best friend/ business partner/ tour mate/ fellow Murad rebel group. Al-Rai was also used by IS as a smaller transit point along the border, but was it seized by rebels on Friday after changing hands several times. Jarablus has been held by IS for more than three years. Pakistan books Baloch leaders for supporting Modi s I-Day speech Karachi (): Five cases, including that of sedition, have been registered against three top Baloch nationalist leaders in Pakistan for allegedly backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi s supportive words on Balochistan in his Independence Day speech. Brahamdagh Bugti, Harbiyar Marri and Banuk Karima Baloch were booked under sections 120, 121, 123 and 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code at five police stations in Khuzdar area in the restive province following complaints, a senior police official said on Monday. The sections relate to concealing design to commit offence punishable with imprisonment, waging or attempting to wage war or abetting waging of war against Pakistan, concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war, and assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty. The complainants have alleged that Bugti, Marri and Baloch had supported Modi s speech, Acting District Police Officer Khuzdar Muhammad Ashraf Jatak On August 15 from the historic Red Fort, Modi said that people from Balochistan had thanked him for highlighting the atrocities by the Pakistani state on the people of Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Pak has said Modi crossed the red line by talking about Balochistan and asserted it will forcefully raise the Kashmir issue at next month s the UN General Assembly session.india and Pakistan have been engaged in a war of words over Pakistan and its Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif s statements on the situation in Kashmir, which has been witnessing unrest following the killing of Burhan Wani. camp rock alumni. Love #24, he wrote. Joe thanked Lovato for being in his life and gave his blessings to her. Happiest of incredible birthdays to one of my best I m so glad to have you in my life. Have the best one yet, he tweeted.

13 world 13 Will not allow any anti-india activities: Myanmar leaders n NAY PYI DAW yanmar will not allow its Mterritory to be used for any anti-india activities, this was conveyed by Myanmarese leaders to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who assured all help to the new government that came to power in March after decades of military rule. In the first high-level visit from India after the civilian government assumed office here, Swaraj called on President U Htin Kyaw and held talks with State Co nsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi on key bilateral issues, including cross-border activities by certain insurgent groups. Describing India as a friendly country, Myanmarese President U Htin told Swaraj that he looks forward to a very productive partnership. Myanmar leadership assured that they will not allow any insurgent groups to use any territory for action against India, (that) they all recognised is a friendly country which has stood by people of Myanmar and they look forward to a very productive partnership with India as Myanmar continues on its journey of peace, progress and development, MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup told. The issue of cross-border activities by certain insurgent groups was taken up by Swaraj in her maiden meeting with the country s first democraticallyelected President in five decades, according to sources. Swaraj s visit comes just days after the Indian Army had an encounter with NSCN-K militants in Nagaland who were trying to enter the country from Myanmar. While reports suggested that the Indian Army had crossed over to Myanmar, it was denied officially by India. Swaraj also discussed with the Myanmarese leadership File Photo of Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj how India can help in Myanmar s development efforts. They discussed a number of areas of possible collaboration, such as power. India is already supplying 3 MW electricity to Myanmar through the Moreh-Tamu link but this can be further upgraded, Swarup Cooperation in renewable energy, transport, health, education and social development was also discussed during the meeting Swaraj had with the leadership here. They also discussed the possibility of strong cooperation in area of agriculture, particularly pulses where there is a possibility of importing large amount of pulses from Myanmar, Swarup said following Swaraj s 45 minutes-long meeting with Suu Kyi. Congratulating Suu Kyi for the victory in the first genuine election, Swaraj assured her of all help. India is committed to strengthening your democratic institutions and socio-economic development of your people, Swaraj said during her meeting with Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy party won a historic landslide election last year that finally brought an end to five decades of military rule. Swaraj said this was the message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee. Both sides agreed to make efforts to ensure peace and security along the long shared border. The Myanmar side stated that activities of insurgent groups would not be countenanced from Myanmar territory and suggested that this issue should be addressed and taken forward through cooperation in established bilateral forums, sources Swaraj extended invitations to both the Myanmar President and Suu Kyi to visit India at their earliest convenience. Both invitations were accepted, sources Suu Kyi recalled her long association with India. Both Suu Kyi and the President said they were looking forward to a visit to India. Swaraj also conveyed India s very strong support to Myanmar in exploring possibilities of further strengthening democratic institutions. The Myanmarese President remarked that India is a country that Myanmar can learn from, Swarup India is the country we should get best lessons from on what democracy means, U Htin was quoted as saying. This visit by Swaraj will serve as a very strong foundation for development and diversification of bilateral ties which are set for a very bright future, Swarup Discussions were held in a very cordial and friendly atmosphere as befitting the traditionally close ties and strong people to people links between the two countries. Myanmar leaders were deeply appreciative of the fact that EAM represented the first Cabinet-level dignitary who had paid a visit to Myanmar after the new government took office, sources said of Swaraj s meetings with the leaders here. Swaraj expressed fullest support to the new Myanmar government in its efforts to meet its developmental goals. Suu Kyi also briefed Swaraj on the preparations for the upcoming 21st Century Panglong Conference for National Reconciliation. Swaraj, on her part, conveyed India s full support to this process and said India stands ready to extend any necessary help. Both sides agreed that India s Act East Policy fitted neatly into Myanmar s needs and as such areas of mutually beneficial cooperation should be identified in the near future, sources Swaraj was accompanied by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and other senior Ministry of External Affairs officials. Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar and a Nobel laureate besides being a democracy icon, thanked Swaraj for the support. Banned from becoming president by a juntaera Constitution, Suu Kyi has a strong control over the country s first civilian-led government. Singapore PM Lee Hsein faints during National Day rally n SINGAPORE ingapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien SLoong fainted while addressing a National Day Rally, shocking a live television audience, but officials on Monday said all his tests during a precautionary checkup were normal even as he went on a medical leave for a week. The 64-year-old leader, son of the citystate s late founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, suddenly stopped speaking an hour into his speech and had to be assisted off the stage by cabinet ministers. The Prime Minister had taken ill during the National Day Rally due to a temporary drop in blood pressure, due to prolonged standing, exhaustion, and dehydration, the Prime Minister s Office (PMO) said in a statement on Monday. Doctors have confirmed there were no cardiac abnormalities and no stroke. Lee underwent a series of checks at Singapore General Hospital late yesterday as well as this morning. He will be on medical leave on the advice of doctors, resuming duties on August 29, the statement Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan earlier on Monday said Lee had had a vasovagal episode - which occurs when the part of the nervous system that regulates heart rate and blood pressure malfunctions in response to a trigger, that could be standing for long periods of time and heat exposure. Balakrishnan, who is an ophthalmologist by training and was among those who rushed to the stage after Lee took ill, said the tests were all normal. The Prime Minister took ill halfway through yesterday s Rally - a traditional address to the nation on economics, policies and politics - after he had a brief fainting spell, Channel News Asia reported. He returned to conclude his speech - part of celebrations for Singapore s 51st anniversary as a republic on August 9 - an hour later, receiving a standing ovation from the audience. Thank you for waiting for me. I gave everybody a scare, he said with a smile. The last time I did this was on a parade square at SAFTI; I fainted. I think that s what happened. I ve never had so many doctors look at me at once. I think I m alright but I m going to have a full checkup after this. Before that, I d like to finish up my speech, said Lee, who has been in power since He later headed to Singapore General Hospital (SGH) for the check-up. Lee, who survived a bout of lymphoma - a form of Flights grounded as typhoon hits near Tokyo n TOKYO strong typhoon stuck near ATokyo on Monday, with heavy rain and winds grounding more than 400 flights as officials warned of landslides and flooding. Typhoon Mindulle made landfall at about 12:30 pm (0900 IST) in Tateyama city, roughly 80 kilometres southeast of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency As of noon, the storm was packing gusts up to 180 kilometres per hour and heading north at a speed of 20 kilometres per hour, the agency There were no immediate reports of casualties or significant damage. In Tokyo... please exercise caution for landslides, flooding in low lying areas, surging rivers, violent wind and high waves, the weather agency Downpours across the greater Tokyo region caused rivers to swell, with television footage showing gushing waterways close to overflowing but staying within their banks. The storm has caused airlines across the country to cancel a total of 425 flights, mostly to and from Tokyo s Haneda airport, national broadcaster NHK Japan Airlines told AFP it cancelled 185 domestic flights, affecting 33,692 customers, while All Nippon Airways cancelled 112 domestic flights, affecting 26,500 passengers. Most major commuter train services in Tokyo and its surrounding region operated People walk in a strong wind caused by Typhoon Mindulle, in Tokyo on Monday. The typhoon sweeping through Tokyo and surrounding areas has forced the cancellation of more than 400 domestic flights in Japan and disrupted train service. normally, including bullet trains, according to East Japan Railway, the region s biggest railway operator. Some lines, however, suffered from temporary delays and stoppages. Separately, typhoon Kompasu, which hit Japan s northern main island of Hokkaido on Sundaywas downgraded to a temperate depression by early on Monday as it moved away into the Sea of Okhotsk, according to the weather agency. Heavy rains since Saturday caused high waves and rivers to flood on the island, where rescue workers found a male body Monday morning. Police did not immediately link the death to the storm, but local media said the body might be the owner of a vehicle that was stranded due to heavy rains.the local Hokkaido governent has so far said the storm has caused only three minor injuries. People fall in love at fourth sight: Study n NEW YORK overs need to meet at least four times Lbefore cupid strikes their hearts, according to a new study which suggests that love at first sight may be a myth. Researchers from Hamilton College in the US gave pictures of people s faces to a group of young men and women. They wired their brains to monitors as the participants ranked the attractiveness of people in the photos. Participants were then shown the images for a second time. They rated the faces which they found attractive more highly. The attraction was even higher on the third occasion and strongest of all on the fourth, researchers Monitors showed extra activity around the excitement and pleasure centres of the brain, dailystar.co.uk reported. Much to their surprise, people oten find themselves drawn to individuals after multiple encounters. Even when there was no initial attraction, said Ravi Thiruchselvam, psychologist at Hamilton College. Cupid s arrow is often slow to strike. It may be attributable to the gradual change in attractiveness from repetition, said Ravi Thiruchselvam, psychologist at Hamilton College. In this image made from video, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong resumes his speech after leaving the stage earlier because he felt faint during a National Day rally in Singapore on this Sunday Lee, 64, had to be attended to by doctors Sunday after he felt faint while delivering a speech to the nation. About an hour later, Lee was helped back onto the stage and resumed his speech, to loud applause from the audience. AP cancer - ostate cancer last year and has received the all-clear from doctors. In a Facebook post, Lee offered heartfelt thanks to all Singaporeans for their concern and good wishes. I m sorry I didn t have the chance to meet you all after the Rally, as I went straight to the Singapore General Hospital for a thorough checkup. I m glad to report that the doctors think I am OK, but they have advised me to rest, so Iwill be on MC for this week, he wrote. Lee was scheduled to meet Indonesian President Joko Widodo for a leaders retreat in Semarang, Central Java this week. Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will cover the duties of Lee in his absence, the PMO PM was feeling unsteady because of prolonged standing, heat and dehydration. His heart is fine and he did not have a stroke, the PMO said in a statement earlier.in a vasovagal episode, individuals may experience light-headedness, blurred vision and break out in a cold, clammy sweat, before briefly losing consciousness. When we rushed up on stage, we found PM Lee fully conscious but having classic symptoms and signs - sweatiness, low heart rate and low blood pressure, Balakrishnan The initial light headedness resolved within minutes, and I knew he just wanted to get back on stage to complete his speech. Whilst the initial tests were being done, he was busy re-editing his speech! he added. President Tony Tan Keng Yam posted on Facebook after speaking to Lee. Spoke with PM this afternoon, after his brief fainting spell last evening during his National Day Rally speech. PM was his usual jovial self, he wrote. He added that Lee had a busy schedule recently, and that the preparation for the National Day Rally took a toll on him. On behalf of all Singaporeans, I wish PM well. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak also tweeted: Heard that you re not feeling well. I hope you re all right. Get well soon. Lee replied later: Thanks for your good wishes. My doctors tell me I should be OK. After Lee finished his speech, he headed to SGH for more tests before calling it a night at around 1.30 am, Balakrishnan Let us all count our blessings, and continue to do our best. There is still so much more to be done. Hope PM got a good night s rest. He deserves it! During the break in proceedings, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said Lee has had a grueling schedule recently, and was just feeling faint after standing for a prolonged period of time. I wouldn t worry too much. This was a little blip. Protest at airport as China official visits Taiwan Taipei (AFP): Taiwanese shouting anti-communist slogans staged an airport protest on Monday against a visit by a top Shanghai official which they see as intended to promote China s unification with Taiwan. Sha Hailin, a standing committee member of the Communist Party in the city and head of the United Front Work Department there, is the highest-level mainlander to visit since cross-strait ties worsened under Taiwan s new government. He arrived in Taipei for an annual forum on municipal exchanges as protesters shouted Sha, go back to China! at the capital s Songshan airport. Dozens of demonstrators waved placards reading Expel propaganda communist, defend Taiwan s sovereignty and (Taipei mayor) Ko Wenje sells out Taiwan. Some supporters also rallied outside the airport with welcome signs. While most demonstrators were cordoned off, one man holding a poster got into the airport arrivals hall and shouted Sha Hailin, get out! as Sha walked by. The protester scuffled briefly with policemen before Dozens stage rowdy protest at Taiwan airport as China official visits being taken away. Sha, who heads the visiting delegation in place of Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong, made no comment to reporters but waved to supporters. Relations with China have grown increasing frosty since Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party won the presidency in January. Beijing is highly suspicious of Tsai because her party is traditionally pro-independence, and has warned her against any attempt at a breakaway. China s Taiwan Affairs Office announced it had suspended official contact with Taipei after Tsai s government, which took office in May, failed publicly to accept the one China principle which governed relations under her predecessor. Taiwan has been self-ruling since splitting with the mainland in 1949 following a civil war but has never formally declared independence. Beijing still sees it as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. Critics claim Sha, as Shanghai s propoganda chief, intends to push during his visit for reunification and accuse Taipei mayor Ko of selling out to Beijing. Uniformed soldiers of the King of Norway's Guard parade for inspection by their mascot, king penguin Nils Olav, at Edinburgh Zoo,on Monday. It was announced that the penguin who had previously been knighted has been promoted and given the new title of Brigadier Sir Nils Olav"

14 14 LUCKNOW TUESDAY AUGUST 23, 2016 I am very happy for Sindhu and Malik. But some players like Abhinav Bindra, Dipa Karmakar, Sania Mirza were very close to a medal. We provided all athletes with the best possible training. But we need to start preparing for Tokyo 2020 from now and I am expecting over 200 athletes to qualify for next Oly Sports Minister Vijay Goel Coaches and sports scientists from India have teamed up with experts at Britain's University of Birmingham to learn how India's athletes can boost their performance, following Team Britain's outstanding Olympic success at Rio Ryan Lochte lost his first major sponsor when Speedo USA announced it is dropping the swimmer over a drunken incident during the Rio Olympics that he initially described as an armed robbery DIPA, SINDHU RETURN TO ROUSING WELCOME AGARTALA/HYDERABAD D ipa Karmakar, who finished a historic fourth in gymnastics at the just concluded Rio Olympics, was today given a rousing welcome on her return home. Thousands of people gathered at the Swami Vivekananda stadium waving the tricolour and burst crackers to cheer Dipa, the first Indian woman gymnast to compete in Olympics and the first to do so in 52 years. Dipa apologised to the people for her failure to bring home an Olympic medal but promised to do so the next time. "Before going to Rio Olympic I was asked by Sports Authority of India (SAI) if I needed foreign training under a foreign coach. I had said Indian coaches have a lot of energy to train their students. I am very happy with the coaching of Bisweswar Nandi," she "Shakshi and Sindhu, the two who secured medals in Rio also have Indian coaches," she Expressing happiness over the performance of women atheletes from the country in the Olympics, she said, "I appeal to all - save the girl child and encourage the girl child." Citations were given to Dipa by Tripura government and to Nandi by Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and sports minister Shahid Chowdhury. Sarkar announced that Dipa, who is now a sports officer in the department of Sports and Youth affairs would be promoted as assistant director of the department and her coach, who is an assistant director, would be promoted as deputy director. The chief minister also announced that the government has taken the initiative to make a world class gymnasium where Dipa would get all facilities so that she could equip herself for the coming competitions. "We cannot deny that infrastructure for gymnastics in Tripura is poor. Had there been better infrastructure, it is presumed that Dipa could perform better in Olympics," Sarkar said adding the the state government has appealed to the Centre for more funds to create infrastructure for sports. "Even if the Centre does not allocate funds, we would make a world class gymnasium for Dipa and other gymnasts to practice," he Tripura Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty announced that all schools and colleges of the state would remain closed tomorrow in honor of Dipa. Nandi said, "Create better infrastructure, I can talk about creating more Dipas. There is no dearth of talent in gymnastics in Tripura. I promise you that I will work very hard to see Dipa in the podium in the next Olympics." Chowdhury claimed that Dipa's participation in the Olympics had been uncertain due to infighting in Gymnastics federation. "One group was led by the federation president and the other by its secretary. We immediately informed the matter to the Finch, Smith help Aussies overcome tricky chase AFP COLOMBO alf-centuries from Aaron HFinch and skipper Steve Smith helped Australia pull off a tricky chase to defeat a resilient Sri Lanka by three wickets in the first One-day International here on Monday. Australia, who suffered their first series whitewash against the hosts in the three Tests, chased down 228 in 46.5 overs at the R. Premadasa Stadium to lead the five-match ODI series 1-0. Pacers James Faulkner and Mitchell Starc, who became the fastest to reach 100 wickets in From top left: Olympic Silver medalist PV Sindhu along with her coach Pullela Gopichand receives warm welcome at Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad on Monday; P.V.Sindhu with her Coach Gopi Chand receives warm welcome after her arrival in Hyderabad on Monday; Gymnast Dipa Karmakar and her coach BS Nandi being accorded warm welcome upon their arrival at the airport in Agartala, Tripura; Dipa with her coach BS Nandi union sports minister and she could finally participate," he Meanwhile, Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu arrived here this morning to a grand welcome at Hyderabad International Airport. Amid scenes of jubilation and loud cheers from scores of people, Sindhu, accompanied by coach Pullela Gopichand, was greeted by her parents P V Ramana and P Vijaya besides Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mohd Mahmood Ali, and some ministers from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Later, displaying the silver medal, she also waved to the cheering crowds from the open-top-motorcade as the procession began from the airport towards Gachibowli stadium, where the Telangana government has organised a gala felicitation in honour of the star shuttler. The Telangana government had his 52nd match, also played their part with seven wickets between them after Australia elected to bowl. Opener Finch, who scored a quickfire 56, gave Australia a brisk start despite the early wicket of David Warner, who was out for eight after a scratchy 17-ball stay at the crease. Finch took on the Sri Lankan bowlers with ease as he regularly cleared the infield to notch up seven boundaries and two sixes. Earlier half-centuries from Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal helped Sri Lanka post 227 for eight in their 50 overs. NEW DELHI he BCCI will be holding its TAnnual General Meeting on September 21 as per its existing constitution and is expected to wait for the Review petition verdict before getting into the implementation phase of the Lodha Committee Reforms. "The BCCI will have its AGM in Mumbai on September 21. It will be held as per the existing constitution," BCCI president Anurag Thakur told reporters after its working committee meeting here. However, the validity of the AGM will depend on the Lodha Committee as it can term the meeting null and void as per the Supreme Court verdict passed on July 18. Asked about filing of the first compliance report to the committee on the 11-point reform implementation, Thakur said: "We have already filed a review petition. The state associations have been supplied with announced `5 crore cash reward for the 21-year-old, a 1,000 square yard housing site near the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Gachibowli and suitable government job, if she is willing. Telangana government had also announced cash prize of Rs one crore for Sindhu's coach Gopichand. Cheering crowds, particularly school children, some with national flags in their hands waved to a beaming Sindhu, who seemed to be basking in glory, at several road junctions along with route to the stadium where excitement was in the air. School children held banners hailing the badminton star, who caught the imagination of the country with her superb run at Rio, and raised slogans 'PV Sindhu Pride of India', and some of them also showered flower petals on the motorcade. A celebratory mood prevailed at the stadium, where an enthusiastic crowd, OTHERSPORT the document given to us by the three-member committee." However, Thakur, who recently attended the Asian Cricket Council Meeting in Colombo, said the continental HYDERABAD: Overwhelmed by the warm reception that greeted her for the historic silver-winning Olympic campaign, ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu today said it was a combination of her own sacrifices and god's will that propelled her to the podium in the Rio Games. "I never expected this kind of reception (on their arrival here from Rio). People right from children came and congratulated me. I am very thankful and happy. First thing is God's grace which is very important," Sindhu Echoing her sentiments, national coach Pullela Gopichand said, "For all our efforts I would really say God has been very kind and that's very very BCCI AGM on September 21 DECISION TAKEN The audited statement of accounts for the year ending 31st March 2016 was approved. The budget for the financial year was approved. The daily allowance for the India Under-19 boys team and senior India women team was increased and fixed at par with the senior India men team. All of them will get 125$ per day on international tours and equivalent of 100$ in the home series. The proposed expenditure for the ground preparation, ground equipment, indoor academy for Meghalaya and Nagaland were approved. The domestic tournament schedule was approved and will be announced shortly Sindhu credits sacrifices, god's will for Olympic silver body has expressed concerns about outside interference. "In a recent meeting of the ACC, concerns were expressed about outside interference in Boards like Nepal, Sri Lanka and BCCI. The ACC asked about the possible implications of such interference," said the BJP MP from Himachal Pradesh. Speaking to the members of the Working Committee, it was learnt that implementations will be awaited but a Compliance report will be filed. "We will be awaiting the verdict of Review Petition. The implementation part starts after that. Obviously a Compliance Report will be submitted to the Committee with relevant details. As far as the Constitutional amendments of state associations are concerned, it will be only done after the BCCI constitution is amended," a senior official from a state association told post meeting. important. A small cold and cough can actually stop you from going where you are." "All we can do is give in our best efforts and God willing we can win and that's how I would look at the entire story," he Sindhu said she is lucky to have Gopichand as her mentor. "Hard work is the key for success. Parents' support is most important. I am thankful to my parents, they have done many sacrifices. I am lucky to have a coach like Gopi Sir. If this kind of motivation is there I feel definitely many of the kids will come up with hard work," she PORT OF SPAIN ndia on Monday recorded Itheir biggest Test series win on the Caribbean soil with a 2-0 victory over the West Indies following a washout in the fourth match but ended up losing the number one spot in the ICC rankings, here. Only 22 overs of play was possible on the opening day of the final Test match, which turned out to be the third shortest ever Test match in the history of longer format. For the fourth successive day, not a single ball could be bowled, forcing the umpires to call off the match. India required to win the series against the West Indies 3-0 to retain the number one spot but inclement weather along with deplorable drainage facility at the Queens Park Oval prevented play. West Indies were 62 for 2 in those 22 overs of play. The worst part was that WICB and mostly school and college students, gathered, amidst beating of drums by traditional 'Dappu' dance artistes, as Telangana government made it a point to make the event a memorable one. AS AP, TELANGANA DEBATE, GOPI SAYS SINDHU IS INDIAN PV Sindhu is being claimed by both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as their own, but the Olympic silver medallist's mentor Pullela Gopichand on Monday said that "she belongs" to India. When a reporter sought Sindhu's views on the bragging rights, Gopichand jumped in to try and put an end to the regional controversy by simply stating, "Well, I can only say she (Sindhu) belongs to India." Gopichand said it's great that various governments are praising and supporting her. India win series, lose top spot Pakistan at top DUBAI: The Trinidad Test wash out cost India dear as Pakistan replaced them at the top of the ICC Test rankings, reaching the coveted position for the first time ever. Persistent rains prevented play on the last four days and only 22 over could be bowled on the opening day of the match. The wash out denied India the opportunity to defend the top spot which they had reclaimed from Australia last week. PNS local authorities did not pay heed to proper drainage and recovery facilities. The groundsmen also did not cover the entire field after a heavy downpour which led to the bowlers' run-up being very soggy and it could not be dried up. The other inexplicable factor was absence of a Super sopper, which is a mandatory feature in all top international cricket ground across the globe. For India, Virat Kohli with 251 runs including a maiden double hundred was the topscorer.

15 15 LUCKNOW TUESDAY AUGUST 23, 2016 It was a special moment for me. I know this is the end. This is it for me American Basketball player Carmelo Anthony after winning his third gold Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's brief but showstopping gig at the Olympics closing ceremony as the Nintendo game character Super Mario offered a tantalizing glimpse at Tokyo's plans for the 2020 games Despite claiming only two gold medals in Rio, North Korea is as determined as ever to fulfill one of leader Kim Jong Un's primary goals: to become an international sports superpower KHEL RATNA TO FOUR ATHLETES Sindhu, Malik, Rai and Karmakar to be conferred with country s highest sporting award n NEW DELHI I n an unprecedented move, the country's highest sporting award Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna will be conferred upon four athletes with Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik set to be honoured alongside trail-blazing gymnast Dipa Karmakar and ace shooter Jitu Rai. The Sports Ministry announced this on Monday. While shuttler Sindhu created history by becoming the first female athlete from India to win a silver in the just-concluded Rio Olympics, Sakshi bagged a bronze in the 58kg female wrestling. Dipa, India's first female gymnast to qualify for Olympics, went on to miss a bronze by 0.15 points but her clean finish in the high-risk Produnova vault won the hearts of the nation. While Jitu bagged over half a dozen medals in the past two years, including gold at Asiad and Commonwealth Games and a silver in World Championships, which booked his ticket to Rio. Besides, the Ministry also selected 15 athletes for this year's Arjuna Award. The notable names in the list are boxer Shiva Thapa, long distance runner Lalita Babar, cricketer Ajinkya Rahane, hockey players VR Raghunath and Rani Rampal among others. This year's Dronacharya Award has been conferred upon six coaches, the most notable among being Dipa's coach Bishweshwar Nandi and India Test team captain Virat Kohli's mentor Raj Kumar Sharma. Besides Nandi, others who will honoured with the Dhronacharya Award are Nagapuri Ramesh (athletics), Sagar Mal Dhayal (boxing), Pradeep Kumar (swimming, lifetime) and Mahabir Singh (wrestling, lifetime). The Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Satti Geetha (athletics), Sylvanus Dung Dung (hockey) and Rajendra Pralhad Shelke (rowing). Besides, the Punjabi University of Rio bids farewell to players in colourful closing n RIO DE JANEIRO ains failed to dampen the famous Rio Rcarnival spirit as this Brazilian city bid an emotional farewell to the thousands of athletes of the world in a colourful closing ceremony to bring down curtains on the 31st Olympic Games here. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach declared the Games closed to mark the official end of the 16-day sporting spectacle competed among more than 11,000 athletes from 205 countries in 42 disciplines. "I declare the Games of the 31st Olympiad closed. In accordance with tradition, I call upon the youth of the world to assemble in four years time in Tokyo, Japan to celebrate the Games of the 32nd Olympiad," Bach said to the huge applause of the packed gathering at the iconic Maracana Stadium on Sunday night. This was after the Olympic flag was lowered and handed over to the representative of Tokyo 2020, the next host of the Games. Bach handed over the flag to female Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a dramatic entry in a high-tech show, a trademark of the far eastern country, during a short but impressive performance titled 'See You in Tokyo'. The athletes entered the pitch with Greece coming first according to tradition. Led by Sakshi Malik, the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal whose bronze opened the medal count of two including a silver, the country's contingent also braved the rains as she stood tall waving the tri-colour. The honour of bearing the Indian flag came to Sakshi as silver medalist shuttler P V Sindhu had left yesterday as about 50 Indians, including the men's and women's hockey teams, the wrestlers and boxer duo of Shiva Thapa and Manoj Kumar, participated in the athletes' parade. India ended the Games at 67th position with one silver and a bronze. United States of America topped the medals tally with 121 medals (46 Gold, 37 Silver, 38 Bronze), followed by Great Britain ( ) and China ( ). Host country Brazil were at 13th position with 7 Gold, 6 Silver and 6 Bronze. RASHTRIYA KHEL PROTSAHANA PURUSHKAR Category Entity recommended for Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar: l Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent: Hockey Citizen Group, Dadar Parsee Zorostrian cricket club, Usha School of Athletics, STAIRS. l Encouragement to sports through corporate social responsibility: India Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna: PV Sindhu (badminton), Dipa Karmakar (gymnastics), Jitu Rai (shooting) and Sakshi Malik (wrestling). Dronacharya Awards: Nagapuri Ramesh (athletics), Sagar Mal Dhayal (boxing), Raj Kumar Sharma (cricket), Bishweshwar Nandi (gymnastics), S Pradeep Kumar (swimming, lifetime) and Mahabir Singh (wrestling, lifetime). Arjuna Awards: Rajat Chauhan (archery), n NEW DELHI ope-tainted Narsingh Yadav on DMonday admitted that his career would be over if the fouryear ban imposed on him by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) is not reviewed and said that the country should take up his case as India lost out on an Olympic medal in 74kg category. Narsingh was debarred from representing India at the Rio Games in 74kg freestyle wrestling event after he was slapped with a four-year ban by CAS for flunking a dope test following WADA's challenge to the clean chit given to him by NADA. "My career will be over. In case, my ban is not reviewed, it would be all over for me," Narsingh AFP n LONDON wenty years after a stinging TOlympic failure, Britain has risen from the ashes to become a sporting "superpower" typified by the exploits of cycling lovebirds Jason Kenny and Laura Trott. Kenny won three golds in Rio to take his career total to six. His partner Trott won two to double her total from two Olympics. Rival nations have been RIO DE JANEIRO: China put a brave face on their worst Olympics for 20 years but they will work hard to make sure they aren't embarrassed again in 2020 when the Games are hosted by arch-rivals Japan. A third-placed finish on the medals table below the United States and Britain, made for a sobering Games after China triumphantly topped the standings at Beijing 2008 and finished second in "You kidding me? The country which has never finished above China is about to," spluttered the official Xinhua news agency, in a tweet that was later removed. A W A R D S Infrastructure Finance Corporate Limited. l Employment to sportspersons and other welfare measures: Reserve Bank of India. l Sports for Development: Subroto Mukherjee Sports Education Society. l Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy : Punjabi University, Patiala. Lalita Babar (athletics), Sourav Kothari (billiards and snooker), Shiva Thapa (boxing), Ajinkya Rahane (cricket), Subrata Paul (football), Rani (hockey), VR Raghunath (hockey), Gurpreet Singh (shooting), Apurvi Chandela (shooting), Soumyajit Ghosh (table tennis), Vinesh (wrestling), Amit Kumar (wrestling), Sandeep Singh Mann (paraathletics), Virender Singh (wrestling, deaf). Dhyan Chand Award: Satti Geetha (athletics), Sylvanus Dung Dung (hockey), Rajendra Pralhad Shelke (rowing). said after arriving in the capital on Monday morning. left confounded by Team GB's cool performance with 27 golds out of 67 won in Rio which gave them second place Patiala will be awarded the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy The National Sports Awards are given every year to recognise and reward excellence in sports. The Khel Ratna Award is given for spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four years. Apart from a medal and a citation, the Khel Ratna Awardee will receive a cash prize of `7.5 lakh. The Arjuna Award is given for consistent performance over four years, while the Dronacharya Award is given to coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious international sports events and the Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime contribution to sports development. Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand Awardees will receive statuettes, certificates and cash prize of `5 lakh each. The Recipients of Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar will be given trophies and certificates. Overall top performing university in CAS RULES YADAV TOOK SUBSTANCE INTENTIONALLY While handing down a fouryear ban on Narsingh Yadav, the Court of Arbitration for Sports has ruled that the wrestler failed to produce any "real evidence" regarding the sabotage theory he had advanced and the balance of probabilities" was that he orally took the banned substance intentionally in tablet form on more than one occasion. In its full award, the ad hoc panel of the CAS relied on expert evidence that Narsingh's dope offence was not due to one-time ingestion of the prohibited substance and its concentration in the first test result (of June 25) was so high that it had to come from an oral ingestion of one or two tablets of methandienone, rather than from a drink where the powder had been mixed with water. in the medals table behind the United States. But rather than revolutionary coaching or technology, it is the National Lottery Fund and good old taxpayer's cash that has paid off handsomely. The government and lottery fund has spent hundreds of millions of pounds on sporting success in the past two decades. And it has paid off. UK Sport chief executive Liz Nicholl declared Sunday: "We are one of those sporting AFP n RIO DE JANEIRO he Olympics ended with TBrazil having shown twice in two years that it is capable of hosting the world's biggest sporting events. But was the effort worth the trouble? The initial excitement of knowing Brazil would host both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics turned bittersweet, at best. There were mass protests in 2013 against corruption and white elephant stadiums for the football. How did Rio de Janeiro and the country as a whole come out in the end? superpowers now." It was "spectacular" to be ahead of China in the rankings thanks to the likes of distance runner Mo Farah, Andy Murray in tennis, Justin Rose in golf, boxer Nicola Adams, Trott and Kenny, Max Whitlock and Britain's first ever women's hockey champions. Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper called it "Britain's golden age". Several papers called for a knighthood for the Somali-born Mo Farah. As well as their lowest gold medals tally (26) since Atlanta in 1996, when Jiang Zemin was president, China were also left smarting on a couple of occasions. Australia rebuffed China's demand for an apology after Mack Horton called swimming rival Sun Yang a "drugs cheat", an incident which prompted a furious response from Chinese media and web-users. Liu Peng, head of China's Olympic committee, said China would learn lessons from Rio, when rising standards in other teams had taken them by surprise. AFP inter-university tournaments will be given MAKA Trophy, award money of Rs 10 lakh and certificates. The awardees were selected from a large number of nominations by a selection committee consisting of former Olympians, Arjuna Awardees, Dronacharya Awardees, Dhyan Chand Awardees, sports journalists, experts, commentators and sports administrators. The selection committee for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Arjuna Awards was headed by Justice SK Agarwal, Retired Delhi High Court Judge. The selection committee for Dronacharya Awards and Dhyan Chand Awards was headed by Olympian boxer MC Mary Kom, while selection panel for Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar was headed by Rajiv Yadav, Secretary (Sports). The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee at a specially organised function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on August 29, My career will be over if ban not reviewed The Games are over for Brits flexes sporting superpower muscle China won't make same mistake in Tokyo Brazil was it worth it? "The main legacy of the Games was the party for Rio's people, who will never forget these days," said leading Brazilian sports analyst Juca Kfouri. "But the bill to pay will be very high." "Hopefully the Games have also provided a bit of a lesson for Brazilian fans, although I doubt it," Kfouri added, referring to the loud booing at foreign athletes in everything from tennis to pole vaulting, and even during national anthems and medal ceremonies. The glorious days of 2009 when the Olympics were awarded to Rio are a distant memory. Athletics nervously enters post-bolt era AFP n RIO DE JANEIRO s doping-tainted athletics emerges from Aits darkest hour fighting to restore its credibility, the reality for track and field is that it will have to cross that rocky road without Usain Bolt. The Jamaican, who sealed an amazing third haul of three Olympic sprint gold medals in Rio, has consistently been a beacon for clean athletes amid doping and corruption scandals that mired Sebastian Coe's first year in office as IAAF president. Bolt will compete at next year's world championships in London as his swansong. Coe insists, however, that athletics will endure, telling AFP that Bolt had transcended his sport in a way that was comparable to boxing icon Muhammad Ali. "The man is a genius," he "There's been nobody since Ali who's got remotely near to what this guy has done in terms of grabbing public imagination."

16 vivacity 16 Robinson Crusoe fascinates Nargis NARGIS FAKHRI, who is currently in New York preparing for a Hollywood film, says reading Robinson Crusoe was her first tryst with the magical experience of world travel -- so much so that she has become a travel junkie herself. Growing up, I would find myself attracted to the genre of castaway novels and travelogues when I would go to the public library to catch up on my reading. And ironically enough, my first tryst with the magical experience of world travel was with Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, she Reading about a sailor's effort to get back to his world after being shipwrecked and marooned on a tropical island filled with animals, encountering cannibals, captives, and mutineers was so exciting, Nargis added. That's frustrating. It's frustrating when people say that my acting was effortless, because an actor's greatest tool is his preparation and I've always felt like I do as much prep as anybody. MILES TELLER WALL OF FAME Public art has found its biggest patron in the national Capital s administrative bodies and it s a win-win for both. Team Viva reports I f the sheer volume of people descending on just concluded India Art Fair are any indication, the art scene in the national Capital is on a major upswing. How much the jamboree is truly connecting with whatever s on display is another story, for now feel good that it s seeking something out-of-the-box. Even better, the authorities are heeding to it. Weeks before the fair, the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) proposed a public-private-partnership project under which artists can produce and sell live paintings and sculptures in the Capital. The art space with three amphitheatres is likely to come up in the next two months near Rajiv Gandhi Handicrafts Bhawan in Connaught Place. In alignment, the Delhi Metro has tied up with the India Habitat Centre for Metro Art, a threemonth long exhibition of photographs, art prints as well as video and digital works from the colonial era. The Delhi Metro has been experimenting with public art since a while now. Last year, the DMRC, the NDMC and the Embassy of France held a pan- India Fete de la photo exhibition with works of over 22 photographers. In a related development, the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC), for its 40th anniversary, is planning a design competition where citizens will be asked to conceptualise something related to the city. It could be a model, an app or a video on safety, cleanliness or anything related to public works. A public art initiative is also planned on select street. There is a plan to introduce public art and later, a public art network for Delhi, says a DUAC member. PAINT THE TOWN This administrative leaning towards public art has been in the works for over a year now. But it wouldn t have been so strong had it not been for some sustained creative efforts by big ticket events like India Art Fair as well as little known graffiti signatures like Daku, Pyaaj, Bond who repeatedly took to public walls to change the way they looked and read, in an expression of the public mind. Perhaps it was the persistent though illegal work done by these artists on city roads that actually pushed the envelope. Lodhi Gardens was the first project for which we approached the Delhi government in But their initial reluctance, which was understandable given the anti-system reputation of the graffiti subculture, gave way once we convinced them that what we planned was nothing distasteful or controversial but something that will give the park a character. All the 150 garbage bins in Lodhi Gardens became public canvases for amateur and professional artists. Today it s a unique public park with art works conceived, created and displayed within the premises, says Yogesh Saini of the Delhi Street Art which, in a way pioneered the state s involvement with street artists and has been involved with several such endeavours since. Transformation of some of the BUT THEIR INITIAL RELUCTANCE, WHICH WAS UNDERSTANDABL E GIVEN THE ANTI-SYSTEM REPUTATION OF THE GRAFFITI SUBCULTURE, GAVE WAY ONCE WE CONVINCED THEM THAT WHAT WE PLANNED WAS NOTHING DISTASTEFUL OR CONTROVERSIAL BUT SOMETHING THAT WILL GIVE THE PARK A CHARACTER cities prominent landmarks like the National Bal Bhavan, Shankar Market, Nehru Place and the Janak Puri District Centre are among them. St. Art festival, another public art effort, that has worked with the NDMC, PWD and the Lieutenant Governor s office on sprucing up places like the Delhi Police HQ, Shahpur Jat, Hauz Khas Village and Tihar Jail, in its first edition last year, is collaborating on refurbishing Khan Market as well as seven other spots including women and night shelters, flyovers, underpasses in This year we ve partnered with government bodies like the MCD, NDMC, PWD, Department of Women and Child Development, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board and there s a marked receptiveness for art among them now. THE ERA OF REVIVAL However, some monetary help would ve been equally welcome, says organiser Haneef Qureshi. HAPPINESS HIGH Elaborates OP Mishra, director, NDMC, a major partner in all these ventures, One per cent of every public structure in the city is towards public art, only it never gets used because nobody knows about it. As a public body though we do our basic administrative, welfare and culture duties, art some how has been a distortion. Our chairman Jalaj Shrivastav thought of giving some attention to the city s Happiness Quotient as well and so the Lodhi Gardens project was started as an experiment to find out how participative the citizens are in art. Following the success of that, we started trying it out at other places. This year, we ve opened two subways near Connaught Place to tribal artists and in the next step we plan to put up screens in subways where people can vent their creativity in graffittis. We also plan to get some budget allocations made for artists to decorate some open market spaces. Our history shows that great empires were always great patrons of culture. We re only working towards creating a happy cultural atmosphere. Sums up Alka Pande, curator for Metro Art, The authorities have to be supportive of us. Ultimately we re all on the same page we all want to reach out to the people and sensitise them to social, political, cultural concerns through visual imagery. PRACHI DESAI says for an artiste in India, it is difficult to juggle between TV and the silver screen. Unfortunately, in the Indian film industry as well as television industry you really don't have that liberty of sort of dabbling if you are a mainstream actor, unlike the west. Here, there is a drastic difference between films and television shows. Lindsay ready to talk, but at a cost Actress Lindsay Lohan is willing to appear on a popular Russian TV show to discuss her relationship and breakup with Egor Tarabasov -- but it will come at a heavy price. She has demanded a lot of money and fancy stuff, including a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in return for the interview. People behind the popular show Pust Govoryat have invited Lohan to the show via a letter, in which they say: Please send the list of demands. The 30-year-old star has sent them a list of her requests, which include 500,000 British pounds and a private jet with hair, make-up and manicurist on board. She also wants a personal security team, one year Russian visa with extension, a Ritz-Carlton penthouse suite as well as a chance to see Putin and take photographs with him. Lohan is negotiating with the show s executives and some of her demands have already been met. Lohan and Tarabasov, a Russian businessman, split after public fights and a cheating allegation. mong the countless ways to Adecorate our homes, the classic style is certainly one of the most appreciated approaches. Classic furniture is timeless and fills the environment with its compactness, does relive the warmth of a time and at the same time is a sign of prestige and sophistication. A British furniture brand, known for its classic designs launched its first store in India. Occupying two floors of the four-storey Tarun Vadehra Walking into the new gallery feels like stepping into a different world. Queens's guards welcomed us into the gallery; we could see rose petals on every step we took as the party got into full swing Interiors showroom, the store has brought British heritage alive with a modern energy in the furniture and home accessories. Walking into the new gallery feels like stepping into a different world. Queens s guards welcomed us into the gallery; we could see rose petals on every step we took as the party got into full swing. Surrounded by dramatic chandeliers hanging from rope nooses, the store is a medley of classic and modern British culture. New Delhi has this incredible blend of rich heritage with modern vibrancy, it s that contrast of tradition with innovation that s also reflected in our designs. New Delhi s been evolving over recent years, people today live a much more global lifestyle and want to come home to somewhere that inspires them, where they can relax and connect with family and friends. It's those ideas that are really at the heart of our collections, said Timothy Oulton who was in the capital for the launch of his brand.