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1 mid charges of attempted A poaching, abduction of MLA, and a massive row over appointment of Pro-tem Speaker, Karnataka on Friday braced up for the crucial floor test to decide the fate of the BS Yeddyurappa-led BJP Government on Saturday. After rejecting the BJP s plea to give at least one-week time to Yeddyurappa, the Supreme Court fixed 4 pm for the show of strength. The Congress again knocked on the Supreme Court door late in the evening, questioning the appointment of BJP MLA KG Bopiah as Pro-tem Speaker. The SC on Friday night decided to hear the plea on Saturday at pm. While Yeddyurappa expressed confidence that he would win the floor test, so far there was no indication how he would ensure abstention of at least 16 MLAs to retain his chair. The BJP has 104 MLAs and it could win the floor test in the Karnataka Assembly with an effective strength of 221 only if that number is reduced to 204. The Congress has 78 MLAs, JD(S) 37, BSP 1, KPJP 1 and Independent 1. The Congress- JD(S) alliance also counts on support of 1 Independent, 1 BSP and 1 KPJP MLAs, taking their effective strength to 118. With poaching fears running high, the Congress on Friday released an audio clip of Gali Janardhana Reddy of elhi Police on Friday ques- Delhi Chief Dtioned Minister Arvind Kejriwal for close to three-and-half hours. Police sources said they also questioned Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. A total of 70 questions were asked. Kejriwal and Sisodia will be questioned again if the investigation demands, a senior Delhi Police officer said. Led by Additional DCP Harender Singh, a team of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Civil Lines Sub- Division, Station House Officer (SHO) of Civil Lines police station and four Inspector rank officers went to the camp office at Kejriwal s residence. Bellari in which he is allegedly trying to lure Raichuru Rural MLA Basanagouda Daddala by offering him money and a Ministry to vote in favour of Yeddyurappa. Addressing a Press conference in Bangalore, Congress leaders Rajiv Gowda and Ugrappa alleged Reddy tried to lure their MLA by offering them bribe. In the audio clip, Reddy is heard trying to woo the MLA to the BJP camp. You don t worry, now don t take a step back. I will support you. I will arrange a meeting with the national president (Amit Shah) and you can speak to him one-to-one and we can take the next step. We will get you whatever post you want... whatever designation you want, Reddy allegedly told the MLA. Reddy also allegedly told the MLA that those who have The six-member team of the Delhi Police on Friday arrived at Kejriwal s camp office at Metcalf Road for questioning him in connection with the alleged assault on Chief listened to him earlier have become rich and got a great post. You should think of ourselves. However, the Congress MLA reportedly refused to accept the offer saying, The party has done so much for me and helped me contest the election. I cannot betray them. Although I have utmost respect for you. Meanwhile, the MLAs of both the JD(S) and the Congress, who were confined to resorts in Hyderabad, are coming back to Bengaluru. Facing a Herculean task to meet the numbers, Yeddyurappa said he was confident that he would be able to prove a majority. Commenting on the Supreme Court s order for a floor test, he said, We are 100 per cent confident that we will prove full majority. Continued on Page 4 Secretary Anshu Prakash in February. The questioning started at 5.10 pm. Delhi Police team recorded the proceedings, as demanded by Kejriwal. Police said they have gone with their own recording equipment. A police team arrived at the Chief Minister s he Supreme Court on TFriday directed the oneday-old Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa to prove his majority on the floor of the Karnataka Assembly on Saturday, modifying the Governor s earlier order of May 16 that gave him the luxury of 15 days for his show of strength. esperate to end its isolation Din Chhattisgarh where the party is out of power for 15 years, Congress president Rahul Gandhi staged a 50-km long roadshow on Friday evening to inspire party workers to take on the BJP in the Assembly polls expected to be held later this year. Gandhi, accompanied by PCC chief Bhupesh Baghel, began his much publicised roadshow from Gandhi Chowk in Durg which passed through Bhilai-3, Charauda and Kumhari before making its way into the State Capital where hundreds of Congress workers were seen jostling to shake hands with the party president. The roadshow threw traffic out of gear at evening rush hours in Raipur where Gandhi waved at men and women who waited for him for hours at roadsides to have a glance of the Congress chief. At some of the places, Rahul briefly descended from his vehicle to interact with party workers as well as with the common people. The roadshow culminated at Swami Vivekanand airport, Raipur, from where the AICC Chief boarded a flight for New Delhi. office around 4.40 pm to set up the recording equipment. Meanwhile, a battery of seven to eight advocates were present at Kejriwal s residence during the questioning. Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash was allegedly assaulted during a meeting at Kejriwal s official residence on February 19. Police said the Chief Minister was present when the alleged assault took place. His deputy Sisodia was also present, hence he was questioned along with Kejriwal, a police official said. Earlier Kejriwal had agreed to join the probe on Thursday following a notice by the Delhi Police on May 16. He had demanded he be allowed to video record the proceedings. However, the police had said the proceedings will be video recorded, but the Chief Minister won t be allowed to do so. Also, the Court directed immediate appointment of Pro-tem Speaker and directed Director General of Police to ensure security to all MLAs. The floor test will take place at 4 pm after the newly appointed Pro-tem Speaker for loodbath continued on the Bsecond day of the holy month of Ramzan, this time along the International Border across Jammu frontier. Four civilians, including a couple, were killed while one BSF jawan attained martyrdom on Friday in unprovoked crossborder firing from Pakistan side ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi s day-long Jammu & Kashmir visit on Saturday. The entire security grid is kept on high alert to prevent any infiltrator from sneaking inside the Indian territory to launch any strike coinciding with the VVIP visit in the region. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed deep shock and grief over the deaths in the RS Pura sector.in a tweet she said, Continued firing on the the House administers oath of office to all elected MLAs. A determined Congress- Janata Dal (Secular) combine who burnt the midnight oil by rushing to the apex court in the odd hours of May 15 night Continued on Page 4 border in Jammu is cause of pain & worry. Sad that while our country took the lead in starting peace initiatives with cessation of operations during Ramzan, Pakistan has shown no respect whatsoever for this holy month. Pakistan will have to reciprocate & contribute to efforts for lasting peace. Everyone must realise that violence is a zero sum game. My deepest condolences to families of victims. Meanwhile, an estimated population of over 20,000 scattered across villages in the border belt was affected in the heavy mortar shelling which started past midnight. Local police authorities utilised bulletproof bunkers in the area to shift village elders and children to safer locations. All educational institutions were closed down in the radius of 3-5 km from the International Border to ensure safety of children. Continued on Page 4 he Congress-Janata Dal T(Secular) combine moved an application before the Supreme Court Registry on Friday evening seeking urgent orders to quash Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala s order appointing KG Bopaiah as Prot-tem Speaker of the Assembly ahead of the crucial floor test on Saturday. Late on Friday, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra decided to list the matter before the three-judge bench, headed by Justice AK Sikri. The matter will be heard by the bench, which also comprises Justices SA Bobde and Ashok Bhusha, at AM, much ahead of the trust vote slated at 4 PM. The application demanded videography of proceedings, separation of MLAs who are supporting and those opposing the trust vote, and a direction to the Pro-tem Speaker to deal with no other business other than floor test. The application states Bopaiah, a four-time MLA, is relatively junior and the Governor ought not to have passed an order overlooking the tradition of appointing the senior most MLA as Protem Speaker. The House has an eight-time Congress MLA in the presently elected House. Moreover, the apprehensions of the petitioners take root from an earlier instance where Bopaiah as Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly between 2009 and 2013 allowed disqualification petitions moved by the present CM BS Yeddyurappa, who was also the then CM, in a brazen act to save the Government. The SC indicted him in two decisions passed in 2011 and 2012 and set aside the defection orders he had passed. The application said, The manner in which preparations for the floor test is being carried out seems to suggest that it is being designed to replicate defections orchestrated by respondent number 3 (Yeddyurappa) in 2008 when he was again short of majority. Continued on Page 4 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/

2 n his last working day, Oseniormost judge of the Supreme Court Justice J Chelameswar sat with the Chief Justice of India (CJI), with whom he had many run-ins, but not all things played out as per convention. With 11 matters listed on the board, the CJI-led Bench finished all business in less than 30 minutes and set a record of sorts by clocking the shortest time taken to dispose matters on a usually busy Friday. Justice Chelameswar, who had refused to accept the farewell invitation in his honour arranged by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), failed to receive the customary farewell address from the SCBA members as he rose from the court, perhaps the last time in his over sixyear tenure at the apex court. Instead, words of praise for the judge came from advocate Prashant Bhushan, who addressed him as the fearless upholder of democracy. Bhushan s remarks echoed the sentiments of his father, former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan who heaped praise he Government has noti- the Compensation Tfied Scheme for Women Victims/Survivors of Sexual Assault/Other Crimes-2018 under which a victim of gangrape in any part of the country would now get a minimum compensation of 5 lakh and a maximum of 10 lakh. In case of rape and unnatural sexual assault, the victim would get a minimum of 4 lakh and maximum of 7 lakh as compensation. The Ministry he India Meteorological TDepartment (IMD) on Friday predicted the southwest monsoon could advance into some parts of south Arabian Sea, cover the Maldives- Comorin area and expected to hit Kerala on May 29, three days ahead of its normal onset date. The normal date for monsoon s onset over the Indian mainland, usually the Kerala coast, is June 1. The Met Department said conditions were favourable for the onset of monsoon over the Andaman Sea normally around May 20 and southeast Bay of Bengal from May 23. The southwest monsoon is expected to set over Kerala on May 29 with a modelled error of plus or minus four days, the IMD said. According to the prediction, monsoon s advancement over Kerala seemed imminent with the strengthening of westerlies and northward shift of shear zone - typical of monsoon onset. Similar favourable conditions also prevail in Northeast India, and could cover Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. IMD official said one of the criteria to declare the monsoon onset over Kerala is based on the data from 14 weather stations Minicoy, Amini, Thiruvananthapuram, Punalur, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Thalassery, Kannur, Kudulu and Mangalore. If these weather stations report rainfall of 2.5mm or more for two continuous days from May 10 onwards and if on Justice Chelameswar on his retirement. Others who made up for the absence of SCBA office-bearers were senior advocate Rajeev Dutta who thanked Justice Chelameswar for upholding the ideals of the institution and finally, young lawyer Gopal Sankaranaraynan who recalled the magnanimity shown by the judge when junior lawyers argued cases. Justice Chelameswar had etched his name in history as the judge who openly spoke against the lack of transparency in the working of collegium. Not only did he script a dissenting view in favour of National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) in the famous verdict by the apex court striking it down as of Women and Child Development has issued a notification to this effect. The compensation scheme has included gangrape victim first time. The Government gives compensation to victims of sexual assault and gangrape unconstitutional, he stood by his point by refusing to participate in collegiums meetings. On January 12 this year, the nation saw an unprecedented scene on the television screens when four senior most judges of apex court met at the residence of Justice Chelameswar by making a hurried exit from the court and addressed a press conference questioning the discretionary allocation of politically sensitive cases to select Bench by the CJI in exercise of his authority as master of roster. Later, this became one of the grounds that the Opposition utilised to seek impeachment of the CJI. As he exited the court, Justice Chelameswar, with folded hands, sought pardon for being sometimes harsh to lawyers while deciding cases. from Nirbhaya Fund in the country. As per the scheme, in case of minor girls the amount will be 50 per cent higher than the amount mentioned in the schedule. The scheme says victims of burning cases would get onths after framing new Mguidelines and protocols for management of TB, particularly in diagnosis, the Union Health Ministry has now launched a first-of-its kind online course, Manage TB, with an aim to sensitise doctors to the standards of care to combat the deadly disease. The need for e-course was felt as presently due to stigma more than half of the total TB patients prefer treatment from private doctors. However, unfortunately, most of the private practitioners treating TB patients are often unaware of the latest measures taken in the sector, said a senior officer from the Ministry. Consisting of video lectures, case discussion scenarios and video demonstrations of laboratory procedures, the course has been developed by the ICMR-National Institute for Research in TB (NIRT) keeping in mind the busy work schedule of the practicing doctors. India contributes onefourth of the global burden of he BJP on Friday lashed out Tat the Congress for its newfound respect for the Supreme Court saying the party s double standards towards the judiciary has been exposed as it was now praising the apex court after insulting it and also attempting to impeach the Chief Justice of India (CJI). The party that had tried to impeach the CJI is now all praises for him and its leader Rahul Gandhi, who is praising the Supreme Court today, used Pakistan as an analogy yesterday, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told newspersons here. Patra was responding to Rahul s remarks in which he welcomed Friday s Supreme Court order to conduct a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm on Saturday, drastically slashing other criteria are also met, then the monsoon onset is declared. The other criteria include specific features in the wind pattern and Outgoing Longwave Radiation to indicate favourable condition for the arrival of monsoon. The Met Department has predicted normal monsoon this year. IMD s prediction stands at a moderate error estimated of plus-minus 5 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA). A figure between 96 to 104 per cent is considered normal monsoon. Earlier, on April 4, private weather forecasting agency Skymet also predicted normal monsoon keeping it at 100 per cent, with an error estimate of plus-minus 5 per cent. This will come as a welcome relief, even as the Modi Government looks to achieve an 8 per cent GDP growth in 2019 as its policies and plan depend on the good monsoon. The Southwest monsoon is critical not only for agriculture growth as less than half of the cultivable land is under irrigation, but also boosts the general economy. A good monsoon not only helps in boosting the chances of bumper kharif harvest but also helps in rejuvenating reservoirs and groundwater sources, which are critical for rabi crops. Almost 70 per cent of India s annual precipitation comes in the months of June to September, said officials of Agriculture Ministry. IMD s operational forecasts of the date of monsoon onset during the past 13 years ( ) were proved to be correct except in a minimum compensation of 7 lakh and maximum of 8 lakh in case of disfigurement. The scheme says that victim of acid attacks, in case of disfigurement of face, would get a minimum compensation of 7 lakh, while the upper limit would be 8 lakh. It said in case of pregnancy on account of rape, the victim would get a compensation ranging from 3 lakh to 4 lakh, while for miscarriage or loss of fertility due to such assaults, the victim would get 2 lakh to 3 lakh. TB and an estimated 4.8 lakh lives are lost every year due to this illness. Today we have powerful tools to diagnose and treat TB. However, the diagnosis is often delayed, treatment durations are much too long and drug resistance is an emerging threat mainly because more than half of all TB patients seek care preferentially from the private sector often at exorbitant costs, the official noted. Incidentally, the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) of the Government, offering quality assured diagnosis and free treatment, has few takers. We hope that the course at the doorstep of the doctors will benefit them in treating TB patients. We also hope it will be of special interest to doctors pursuing postgraduate courses in medicine, paediatrics and chest medicine, said the official. Prime Minister of The TNetherlands, Mark Rutte, will be on a two-day visit to India from May 24. Rutte s visit comes within a year of PM Narendra Modi s visit to The Netherlands last June. This will also be Rutte s second visit to India since June 2015, but the first after being re-elected as PM in The visit is expected to boost the economic and political cooperation between the two countries. Netherlands is an important member of the European Union and a strong supporter of India-EU annual summit. The Netherlands is the fifth largest investor in India with a cumulative investment of $ 23 billion for the period 2000 to December India and The Netherlands have a bilateral trade of $ 5.39 billion. The Netherlands is also home to a 2,35,000-strong Indian Diaspora, the largest in mainland Europe. The engagement with the Dutch assumes greater importance for India in the wake of the 15-day window given by Governor Vajubhai Vala to BJP Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa to prove majority. The real face of the Congress is exposed today. It insulted the apex court over the Justice Loya case, and is now praising them. This shows the hypocrisy and double standards of the Congress towards the judiciary and its selective approach, Patra said. Talking about Karnataka, he said the Congress is murdering the people s mandate in the State. They cannot alter the Constitution according to their whims, the BJP spokesperson said. There is nothing bigger than the mandate. We are all watching the Congress conspiracy to undermine the mandate This is why they went to the court in the middle of the night, he said. Brexit and present political landscape in Europe where it is working towards renewing its partnership with the EU.\ The EU had firmly backed s his supporters launched Athe Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD), former JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav on Friday said constitutional values faced a danger under the Modi Government like never before and asked the Opposition parties to work together to defeat it in the next Lok Sabha polls. Addressing party members on its Foundation Day, he n a major bureaucratic Ireshuffle, senior IAS officers Amit Khare, Anup Wadhawan and MM Kutty have been appointed as secretaries in the Ministries of Information & Broadcasting, Commerce and Petroleum respectively as part of a major bureaucratic reshuffle by the Centre on Friday. Rina Ray is the new Secretary in the Department of School Education and Literacy. As per the order issued by Ministry of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Atanu Chakraborty, a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, will be Secretary, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management. He is at present Director General of Hydrocarbons. Khare, a 1985-batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer, is at present serving in his cadre state Jharkhand. He will take over the charge from incumbent N K Sinha, who superannuates on May 31. Wadhawan, the Special Secretary in Departnment of Commerce, has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty in the same department. The officer will take over as Secretary, the Commerce Ministry, on superannuation of Rita Teotia, on July 31, the order said. Kutty, a 1985 batch, IAS, the Special Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, will take charge of the Petroleum Ministry from K D Tripathi after his retirement on June 30, Kutty has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, it said. Ray will succeed Anil Swarup as Secretary, the Department of School Education & Literacy. She is at present Special Secretary in the same department. Swarup superannuates on June 30. he Government has decid- not to hike the prices of Ted foodgrains sold via public distribution system (PDS) for one more year. Foodgrains are supplied at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 3/kg for rice, Rs 2/kg for wheat and Rs 1/kg for coarse grains via ration shops under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said the Prime Minister has approved to keep central issue price of rice, wheat and coarse grains unchanged at the rate of Rs 3/2/1 per kg, respectively for further one year. By keeping the central issue price of food grains unchanged under the NFSA, the Government has shown its commitment towards the wellbeing of depressed class, he said. Under the NFSA, which was passed in Parliament in 2013 during the previous UPA India s membership to join the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). During Rutte s visit to India last year Modi had termed Netherlands as a natural partner of India in its economic development. Rutte will be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising of his Deputy PM and Minister for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality; Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation; Minister for Infrastructure and Water Management; and claimed that Opposition parties will not get another chance if the BJP came back to power as it would further curb constitutional rights of the people. Hitting out at the NDA Government at the Centre and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whom he accused of bringing disgrace to people of his State by sitting in the lap of the BJP, Yadav said the Modi dispensation has failed to fulfil key promises it had made etween 2005 and 2014, India Bsuffered economic losses of approximately Rs 60,000 crore per annum even as 2,200 persons lost their lives due to different kinds of natural disasters of which the maximum damage was caused by floods. Dishing out these statistics, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Friday asked Central and State Government officials involved in disaster management to be better prepared for natural disasters to reduce their impact. Inaugurating the annual conference of state Relief Commissioners and Secretaries, Gauba said on an average, during , India suffered economic losses of approximately Rs 60,000 crore per annum due to different kinds of natural disasters of which the maximum damage was caused by floods. We have to build our capacities through better weather forecast, conducting regime, there is a provision for revision of the issue prices of foodgrains every three years. At present, the Government supplies 5 kg of subsidised foodgrains to each person per month to over 81 crore people via 5,00,000 ration shops in the country, costing the exchequer about Rs 1.4 lakh crore annually. NFSA was rolled out across the country in November NFSA provides for coverage of 75% of the rural and 50% Minister for Medical Care. In addition, about 231 business delegates representing 130 companies have registered to join the Trade Mission accompanying Rutte to India. The India-Dutch CEOs forum will take place in New Delhi. The companies joining the Trade Mission represent the agrifood, horticulture, logistics, education, smart cities, water, health and life sciences, IT, and maritime sectors. Apart from the official program in Delhi, Rutte is likely to visit the ISRO campus in Bengaluru. and the ruling party now solely relied on Hindu-Muslim issues to come to power. Yadav himself is not a member of the new party as he is fighting a court battle to claim the election symbol of Kumarled JD(U) but is believed to be the key man behind its formation. Rajya Sabha member MP Veerendra Kumar proposed a social resolution on the occasion, Javed Raza, a close aide of Yadav said. mock drills and improved resource management, he said. Gauba said India is floodprone as bulk of precipitation takes place in a short time but losses can be reduced through better preparation. Though continued efforts over the last several years we have managed to reduce the impact of natural disasters, still there is room for improvement, he said. He also emphasised the importance of building capacities at the city and district levels and involving communities. In his address, RK Jain, Member, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), said deaths due to heat waves, which were about 2,200 in 2015, have scaled down to about 220 in 2017 primarily due to the ground work done on dissemination of information, better awareness, among others. Director General, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Sanjay Kumar said last year more than 35 NDRF teams were airlifted for rescue operations in the flood-hit areas and they rescued more than 3,000 people and evacuated over one lakh people. He said 12 battalions of the NDRF are stationed all over the country for quick deployment in times of emergency. of the urban population for receiving foodgrains at highly subsidized prices of Rs.1/2/3 per kg for coarse grains/wheat/rice respectively. Coverage under the Act is under two categories - households covered under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and remaining households as priority households. AAY is therefore a part of NFSA. In Delhi, over lakh people are taking subsidised foodgrains under the NFSA.

3 n a bid to provide enough Ipreparation time to party candidates to reach out to voters in their respective seats, State s main Opposition party Congress announced on Friday that it would declares candidates for 90-member assembly seats in Chhattisgarh latest by August 15. During booth level interaction with the Congress workers of Bilaspur division at Bilaspur town on Friday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who was on a two-day visit to the state, declared that the list of candidates from Congress for the upcoming Assembly polls would be declared latest by August 15. hief Minister Raman Singh Csaid on Friday that that actual development counts in any State when the poor get sufficient food, healthcare facility with self-respect and their children get education. Chhattisgarh Government has successfully made proper arrangements of all these basic needs to poor people, Singh remarked at Kartala block in Korba district while addressing people during his ongoing Vikas Yatra. State Government's schemes have brought positive In Chhattisgarh where the BJP is in power for the past 15 years, election is scheduled to be held later this year. The Congress chief also instructed the Chhattisgarh In charge of AICC, P.L. Punia and Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee President Bhupesh Baghel to ensure they meet party deadline of August 15 for ticket allocations. Later talking to reporters, AICC Chief expressed his satisfaction about party s preparedness for the assembly changes in lives of people, Singh stated at the public meeting. He further stated, I am carrying out Vikas Yatra to distribute paddy bonus worth 1700 crore to farmers and also to distribute amount from drought-relief funds,. Singh distributed paddy bonus worth Rs 28 crore to farmers of Korba polls and stated, ``we have a strong team in Chhattisgarh and this team will lead the organisation to form the government in upcoming assembly polls. Replying to a query about Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) led by former Congress stalwart Ajit Jogi, Rahul commented `Jogi himself left the party well before the battle is to be fought and Congress does not like such opportunistic leaders,. Regarding Congress membership of Kota legislator Renu Jogi who is spouse of Jogi, AICC Chief said, ` she has been retained in the party only on humanitarian ground as the party believes in human values. district on Friday including the farmers of Kartala area. Chief Minister inaugurated key infrastructure projects, performed bhumi-pujan and laid foundation of various development works worth Rs 184 crore which includes inauguration of 17 development works worth crore. Chief Minister said, ``each MDC Limited has bagged Nthe prestigious S&P Global PLATTS Global Metals Award 2018 in Corporate Social Responsibility category held on May 17 at London Grosvenor Square Marriott Hotel, UK. N. Baijendra Kumar, IAS, Chairman-cum-Managing Director and Sandeep Tula, Director (Personnel), NMDC Limited received the coveted award. The shortlisted 12 nominations were of renowned companies across the world. This is the first time since inception of this awards, an Indian company bagged an award in this category. S&P Global Platts is the leading independent provider of information, benchmark prices and analytics for the energy and commodities markets. It has been in existence for over 100 years. The S&P Global Platts Global Metals Award recognizes top performers industry leaders and innovators. The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award recognizes the organization that best demonstrates leadership, commitment to action and real-world social impact on social responsibility of corporate business entity. NMDC is the largest iron ore mining company in India. With iron ore production of and every village of Kartala areas have been connected through big network of roads, while each and every households of majra-tola are being provided electricity supply,. He announced that under Government of India's Bharat Mala Yojana, a 70-km six-lane super expressway worth nearly 1700 crore from Bilaspur- Dharamjaigarh-Ranchi is being constructed, which will pass through Kartala area. He further added that under Bharat Net Project, 3400-km long optical fibres are being laid for providing Internet connectivity in rural areas of the state. In upcoming around 35 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), it has a domestic market share of about 25 percent (non-captive category). three months, free smart phones will be distributed to 55 lakh people including all the students of colleges. He informed that under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, 40,000 women of poor families have been provided domestic LPG connections. He said that State Government has made arrangements for paddy procurement at support price, zero-interest agriculture loans to farmers, and has also hiked the wage rates for tendu patta collection to 2500 per standard sack. NMDC also extracts diamonds through its mine in Panna, hhattisgarh Chief Minister CRaman Singh on Friday took a jibe at Congress president Rahul Gandhi and said, Rahul is not a good coach and when a team is not performing well its coach needs to be replaced. Singh who heads BJP government in Chhattisgarh for 15 years, was basically commenting on successive polls losses of Congress party in various states under Rahul s regime. He made the comment while addressing a public gathering at Kartala in Korba district during Vikas Yatra. Singh further remarked that Congress performance has dipped to all time low and even in Rahul s home turf which is the only mechanized diamond mine in Asia. Amethi, people have voted for the BJP in local elections,. Raman Singh basically made the comments in backdrop of a two-day trip of Rahul Gandhi to Chhattisgarh which concluded on Friday with a mega road show. He remarked that Rahul has not arrived in Chhattisgarh to train Congress workers but was here to study how development is executed well during the BJP regime,. aya Raipur Development NAuthority (NRDA) was chosen on Friday as the winner of BW BusinessWorld Digital India Summit Awards 2018 under Best ICT (Information Communication Technology) implementation in a Smart City for its Integrated Smart City Project. The 4th edition of this event was organized at the Shangri La Hotel in New Delhi. The awards are given with the aim of recognizing and encouraging technological initiatives in the country, and Naya Raipur left behind several other Smart City based ICT projects to win this award. The event witnessed participation of several city leaders, industry experts, policy makers and service providers. Engineer-in-Chief Salil Srivastava received the award on behalf of NRDA, and gave a presentation on "Government services delivery through egovernance & mgovernance in urban & rural landscape and the importance of capacity building". The planning and growth of Naya Raipur stands a significant benchmark in rapidly urbanizing the city. The solution components include highly efficient land and urban planning, green buildings & walkways, water body conservation, inclusive city development, transit oriented development, GIS mapping of all utilities, implementation of SCADA system, Smart Governance, City Surveillance, Integrated Transport Management System and Integrated Command and Control Centre (CCC).

4 he Delhi Government has Tset target to increase green cover of Capital by adopting effective plantation and establishing six new forests across the city. Also, the Government is to replace water guzzling Vilayti Kikar, which scientists claim has gobbled up hundreds of acres of land and over years killed other plant species, with local tree species on the stretch of Central Ridge starting from Sardar Patel Marg to Vande Matram Marg. Open space will be created for planting of local species. Once they get a foothold then Kikar trees will be gradually eliminated. The first phase of execution will start in July, 2018 and will be completed by he pass percentage in class T12th in Haryana stood at percent with girls outshining boys by scoring pass percentage per cent boys have passed the senior secondary examination, results for which were declared by the Board of School Education, Haryana (BSEH) on Friday. Naveen, a student of Holy Child Senior Secondary School, Surya Nagar in Hisar and Heena of Government Senior Secondary School, Patel Nagar in Hisar has topped in the HSBE class 12th exam by scoring pass percentage of Both are the students of science stream. The second position was bagged by Sweety, a science student of Galaxy Senior Secondary School in Mahendragarh, Gurmeet of Arts stream from MD Girls School, Narwana in Jind by scoring 97.8 percent while the third position was bagged by Nishu, an arts stream student of Government Senior Secondary School for Girls, Nagura in Jind. In all, candidates had appeared for the examination out of which have passed this year. As many as boys took the examination out of which passed while out of the girls have passed. In the previous year, the overall pass percentage in class 12th was in the state. March, 2019, said an official of Delhi Park & Garden Society after the Environment Minister Imran Hussian held a review meeting. The area of Central Ridge will be developed in consultation with Professor Emeritus CR Babu, Chairman, Centre for Environment Management and Degraded Ecosystems (CEMDE), who is an authority in reclamation of ecosystems and is known for his work in Yamuna Biodiversity Park. Since the department intended to utilise the technical expertise of Professor Babu for eradication of Kikar (P Juliflora), the board agreed to the proposal and tentative expenditure of crore to be borne from RMB fund for removing Kikar over a period of 5 years and restoration of From Page 1 stood vindicated on Friday as the apex court, after going through the letters of support sent by Yeddyurappa to the Governor, proved that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had claimed of having only 104 MLAs and failed to indicate how they intended to reach the 112-mark needed to establish majority in the House. The Bench of Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde and Ashok Bhushan felt that though the Governor s decision to call the single largest party instead of Congress-JD(S) combine required to be examined. However, for practical reasons, it preferred an expeditious floor test pending the determination of the legal question on Governor s discretionary power. Congress legal brains - From Page 1 Yeddyurappa s aide Shobha Karandlaje said the party welcomes the SC order and the Chief Minister will prove majority on the floor of the House tomorrow. She also tweeted that her party was in contact with Congress legislators who were upset with the party leadership for aligning with the JD(S). We will abide by the Supreme Court verdict... we have got 100 per cent support and cooperation to prove the majority, Yeddyurappa told reporters here soon after the apex court s order. Yeddyurappa has already appealed to the Congress and the JD(S) MLAs to vote according to their conscience, an expression used by Indira Gandhi in 1969 when she indirectly called upon Congress lawmakers to ensure the defeat of Neelam Sanjiva Reddy in the presidential election. VV Giri, the unofficial nominee backed by Gandhi had then become the President of India. There is also rumours of Lingayat MLAs of the JD(S)- Congress alliance being in touch with the BJP, and Vokkaliga MLAs in the saffron party cozying up to the Central Ridge area. Besides this, the Government will also develop six new city forests at Junapur, Aya Nagar, Deramandi, Bela Farm, Gadi Mandu, Pocket A, Alipur, read a statement issued by the Delhi hief Minister Shivraj Singh CChouhan has said that the biggest contribution towards building a new India will be of Madhya Pradesh. There is a clear vision of development in Madhya Pradesh and work on the roadmap is in progress in a proper manner. Villages and cities will be made smart. Farmers income will be doubled. State government is undertaking works including increasing the income of the poor, optimization of cottage industries and trade and making employment available in tourism. He said that the results of positive efforts of the government can now be seen at the ground level also. Chouhan was addressing the Naya Aasman, Nai Udan programme here on Friday. Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Radhamohan Singh also took part in the programme. Chouhan released Coffee Table Books on Namami Devi Narmade and Agriculture on the occasion. Chouhan said that the state government has taken an innovative initiative of social, economic, academic and spiritual development by adopting Prime Minister Narendra Modi s basic mantra of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. Efforts are being made to develop a spiritual atmosphere along with the development of basic amenities. Referring to a ramshackle Madhya Pradesh inherited by the state government he said that our government has completed work on the state s infrastructure development at a fast pace. Villages now have 24x7 power supply. Irrigation facility was available only in 7.5 lakh hectare are in the state but in one and a half decades the irrigation area has grown to 40 lakh hectare. Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, P Chidambaram, agreed with the Court s proposal but with conditions. They sought directions restraining the Yeddyurappa Government from taking any policy decision till the floor test and demanded that the nomination of an Anglo-Indian member to the House should not carry through. The Bench had almost passed orders to this effect but senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Yeddyurappa gave undertaking that he won t take any policy decision. As for the nominated Anglo-Indian members, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) made a statement that no such move is underway, following which Court refused to pass any orders. Support for the Congress- JD(S) combine came from an Congress-JD(S) combine owing to caste sentiments. Kumaraswamy, son of the JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, is a Vokkaliga. Meanwhile, the Congress accused the BJP of abducting and keeping in wrongful confinement party MLA Anand Singh by using the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax (I-T) department against him. Addressing a Press conference in Bengaluru, Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and Ghulam Nabi Azad accused the BJP of abducting their MLA Anand Singh. They spoke to the media after participating in a demonstration by the Congress against Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala and said all the 78 legislators of the party and two other MLAs were with them. However, they alleged that Singh had been abducted. Siddaramaiah said, (Congress MLA) Anand Singh is abducted and kept in wrongful confinement by the BJP people using the ED and the I-T. This is what the BJP people are doing... Shamelessly doing. BJP president Amit Shah did the same kind of Government. We have already identified six plantation wood lots which will be converted into city forests for the benefit of the people living in the adjoining areas, the Environment unexpected quarter in the form of senior advocate Ram Jethmalani who appeared in Court, not on behalf of any political party, but as a concerned citizen, to state how ashamed he felt by the action of Karnataka Governor in calling BJP first. The Bench said, The Governor is an authority under Constitution. We have to address him with respect. But under judicial review, we will be the final arbiter and will decide on the correctness of his action. The direction of the Court asking Yeddyurappa to prove his majority within a day left BJP camp unprepared. Rohatgi urged the Court to consider granting him a week or postpone the floor test till Tuesday. But the Bench relied on precedents where the Court manipulation in all the States. They don t know the Constitution and the law. They don t know anything other than false propaganda. Azad said Singh was in Delhi and would be with the party once he is freed. Singh is being held hostage, but he is in touch, Azad said. On another MLA Pratap Gowda Patil, who is also reported to be missing, Siddaramaiah said he was with them. Pratap Gowda Patil came and signed on the paper (list of MLAs) that was submitted to the Governor, he said. The Congress leaders rejected reports of break in the ranks of the Congress and the JD(S) MLAs. They maintained that all of them were together. Welcoming the Supreme Court ordering the floor test on Saturday, Siddaramaiah said the BJP did not enjoy majority with only 104 seats. All of us are together. We have an understanding. Despite this being reality, despite they (BJP) not asking for 15 days, the Governor has given them 15 days to prove majority. What inference could one draw? he added. Department officials informed the Minister. The work of landscaping, planting ornamental plants, grassing, water bodies, katchha trails will be developed by the Forest Department. directed floor test within 24 hours. Rohatgi said, I have to get my flock together. Their (Cong-JDS) MLAs are locked up at Kochi (Kerala). Showing the letters of May 15 and May 16 written to Governor, Rohatgi said many MLAs of Congress had not signed the letter of support submitted to the Governor. Supporting him, ASG Mehta who appeared for the State claimed he had specific information that no document containing signature of MLAs was submitted to Governor. The Bench refused to be drawn into the controversy while preparing the ground for floor test. As regards the correctness of Governor s action to call BJP first over the Congress- JD(S) combine, the Bench fixed hearing on this issue after 10 weeks. From Page 1 On the other hand, tension prevailed in the entire border belt as several civilian houses in the area borne the maximum brunt of mortar shelling which lasted till late afternoon on Friday. Main streets of forward villages wore a deserted look after local residents were shifted to safer places to escape fury of mortar shelling from Pakistani side. According to a BSF spokesman, a BSF constable identified as Sitaram Upadhyay, from Jharkhand, attained martyrdom in Arnia sub-sector of RS Pura in heavy cross-border firing around 1.35 am. Additional Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, Arun Manhas said, Four civilians were killed and 12 others were injured in cross-border firing in the region till last reports came in. Inspector General of Police, Jammu range, SDS Jamwal said, Following continuous border shelling in RS Pura area on Friday, a large number of villagers were safely evacuated. The works of civil nature like boundary wall construction, cemented foot tracks, fencing etc. will be done through I&FC Department. The necessary funds and approval will be placed to them. On Friday, Hussain reviewed greening target for current year under green Budget and has set a target for 20 lakh saplings during monsoon season. Considering important aspect of monsoon for tree plantation, the Government has decided to plant young seedlings get rain water for their growth. Officers of Delhi Parks, Garden and Society informed the Environment Minister that total target of lakh saplings (8.67 lakh tree saplings lakh shrubs lakh sapling for free distribution to public) is fixed for the current financial year for all 20 greening agencies and departments of GNCT of Delhi. However, under the 20- point programme, Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change, Government of India (GOI) has fixed a target of lakh saplings covering an area of 1560 hectare land for all greening agencies of Delhi. A couple from Chandu Chak village of RS Pura were killed on the spot when a mortar shell fired by Pakistani Rangers landed in the courtyard of their house. Shards of mirror lay scattered near dead bodies in a pool of blood amid punctured walls and household utensils kept in a basket near a bench. The couple were identified as Tarsem Lal (52), an employee of the State Agriculture Department, and Manjeet Kour(45). The couple are survived by three sons, the youngest one is currently serving in the Indian Army while two others are farmers. According to their close relatives living in the neighborhood, Tarsem had returned home after asking about the well being of his neighbours when another shell landed in his own house killing him and his wife on the spot around 8 am. Villagers later staged protests as they alleged the administration failed to provide timely assistance by rushing bulletproof vehicle or an ambulance to shift the injured to the nearby hospital. Locals later shifted the dead bodies in tractor trolleys and blocked RS Pura road for several hours. Two other civilians, identified as 60-year-old Satpal and 45-year-old Jagmohan, received splinter injuries and died on the spot when a mortar shell was landed on a busy street in Tareva village of Arnia around 9 am. At least 12 others received injuries and were undergoing treatment in the Government Medical college hospital. Inspector General BSF, Jammu frontier, Ram Awtar attended wreath-laying ceremony of the BSF martyr along with senior Cabinet Minister Satpal Sharma and several other State Government and police officers. To contain people s anger in the border belt, Public Health Engineering Minister Sham Lal Choudhary chaired a meeting with local authorities in the area and took stock of the situation. The Minister was informed that six camps have been set up as temporary shelters of people shifted from border villages. These camps have been established at Bana Singh Stadium, Government Girls Higher Secondary School, RS Pura, Government Boys Higher Secondary School, RS Pura, Social Welfare office RS Pura, Government Higher Secondary School, Pindi Sarochan and Government Higher Secondary School, Dablehar. Official said the timeline for plantation in a scientific and systematic manner thus ensuring time bound achievement of collective target for will be fixed soon. A campaign will be launched in June, 2018 in newspapers, FM etc. requesting the RWAs, Market Associations and NGOs to take up large scale plantation in their respective areas over the vacant land and also maintain them, the Environment Department said. There are 14 forest nurseries in Delhi and the above agencies will be given seedlings of local indigenous tree species from these nurseries free of cost. The works will be completed by March, 2019 and city Forests will be opened to public. City Forest Management Committees will also be formed for supervision of works and monitoring the maintenance by Dec, 2018, Environment Department official said. pointing out that the Supreme Court also rejected the BJP s unjab Congress, led by Chief argument that the anti-defection PMinister Capt Amarinder law did not apply before the Singh and party president Sunil Jakhar, on Friday submitted a memorandum to the President through Governor V P Singh Badnore, protesting against subversion of the Constitution by the governor of Karnataka, and sought his intervention to save the democratic polity of the country. The chief minister lambasted the BJP-led government at the Centre for allegedly leaving no stone unturned to subvert the Constitution. A grave violation of the Constitution has taken place in Karnataka and the Supreme Court has already intervened to uphold the Constitutional principles of the country, but we have appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind, through the memorandum, to protect the democratic values on which India is founded, the chief minister said after meeting the governor at the Punjab Raj Bhawan here. PPCC president Sunil Jakhar expressed concerns over the consequences he said the Karnataka developments would have for the nation. Terming the act of the Karnataka governor as blatant murder of democracy, Jakhar said the principle of one nation, one law could not be ignored and the Constitution could not be interpreted and applied differently in different states. The rule of law had been set aside by the Karnataka governor on partisan lines, the Punjab Congress chief said, adding that there was no ambiguity about which party should be invited to form the government in such cases, given the various recent precedents and judicial verdicts. The governor was encouraging horse trading and could be tried for breach of the Constitution, Jakhar alleged, MLAs were sworn in. In its memorandum, the Congress described the events of Karnataka as a blatantly murderous assault on India s democratic polity and Constitutional principles, which could escalate into the total destruction of the very foundations on which the Indian Republic is founded. Through the memorandum, the party expressed itself as outraged and appalled at the scandalous collusion between the governor and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was clearly manifested in his decision to invite the BJP to form the government in Karnataka in violation of all ethical norms. It said the extremely dangerous precedent set by the Karnataka governor struck at the very heart of India s democracy and portends grave consequences for all forthcoming elections and the electoral propriety which made India the biggest democracy in the world. ith no respite in rage Wamong Punjab s youth for greener pastures and high incidences of cases involving fraudulent travel agents, Punjab Government has finally wake up from deep slumber to tightening the noose around illegal travel agents in the State. Punjab Government on Friday directed all Deputy Commissioner, Senior Superintendents of Police or Commissioners of Police to go all out to identify any unregistered or unscrupulous travel agents operating in their districts and take stern penal or legal action against them. The state Home Secretary NS Kalsi has issued a directive to all the top civil and police officials in the state to crack down on illegal travel agents through a series of measures to ensure strict compliance with the laws and legislations governing the licensing and operations of travel agents. The measures include regular updation and public display of the list all licensed or registered travel agents, as well as their regular physical verification, at least once a year. As per the figures available, Punjab police has registered cases against 752 travel agents in the state in the 11-month period from April 1, 2017, to February 28, 2018 two FIRs daily on an average. The government, as a part of its drive against such unscrupulous agents, has come out with a set of new guidelines and instructions to ensure strict compliance with various laws and legislations governing the registration and functioning of travel agents in Punjab, which has witnessed several instances of innocent citizens being defrauded by illegal agents. The advisory on Effective Implementation of Law and Rules for Regulation of Travel Agents in Punjab expresses the state government s deep concern about unscrupulous persons or travel agents carrying out illegal activities by giving false promises to the citizens, especially the youth, for getting them settled abroad by charging huge amounts. From Page 1 The petitioners fear that the Pro-tem Speaker may disqualify some MLAs as per a Karnataka High Court order of May 7, 2018 and to avoid this, the application sought orders to restrict the Pro-tem Speaker to deal only with the issue of trust vote. Congress called Bopaiah an agent of the BJP, and noted that Deshpande of the Congress, the senior-most member of the House, should have been appointed in Bopaiah s place to which Union Minister Prakash Javadekar responded that Congress protest over it as a hoax objection. K G Bopaiah was appointed as Pro-tem Speaker even in 2008 by the then Governor. That time Bopaiah was 10 years younger than what he is today. The Congress is thus raising hoax objection. The appointment of Bopaiah Ji is as per rules and regulations, Javadekar tweeted.

5 he Government of TPakistan's Punjab province has restored the security of Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed citing threats to his life, almost a month after it was withdrawn on the order of the Supreme Court."The policemen have been deployed again resident Donald Trump on PFriday said the US will go on to the next step if his planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un does not materialise, as he sought to blame China for a change in Pyongyang's stance on the historic meeting between the two leaders. A cloud of uncertainty continues to hover over Trump's meeting with Kim in Singapore as North Korea on Tuesday abruptly threatened to pull out of the planned June 12 summit, blaming US demands for "unilateral nuclear abandonment". Pyongyang has also taken strong exceptions to military drills between the US and South Korea. "We'll see what happens. If the meeting happens, it happens. And if it doesn't, we go on to the next step," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Seeking to placate Kim, Trump offered him guarantees of staying in power if he abandons nuclear weapons, but threatened that a diplomacy failure could lead to a situation where the North Korean leader could suffer the same fate as Libya's Moamer Kadhafi, who was overthrown and killed by rebels. Trump, responding to reporters' questions on the sudden change in the North Korean leaders' stance towards the summit said "things changed" when they met with China. "It could very well be that he's (Chinese President Xi Jinping) influencing Kim Jong Un. We'll see what happens. Meaning the president of China, President Xi could be influencing Kim Jong for the security of Hafiz Saeed on the order of (chief minister) Shahbaz Sharif 's Punjab Government," a senior official of the provincial government told PTI on Friday. He said the decision was taken in the light of threats to the life of Saeed. As the Government restored Saeed's security, he has withdrawn a petition he had Un. But we'll see," he said, questioning the second meeting between Xi and Kim in less than two months. "I really don't know, no. I want to give everybody the benefit of the doubt. I can only say are people are literally dealing with them right now in terms of making arrangements for the meeting. So that's a lot different from what you read, but oftentimes what you read if it's not fake news, it's true. So we'll see what happens," Trump filed in the Lahore High Court to challenge the Punjab Government's earlier decision to withdraw his security. The Punjab Government last month had withdrawn policemen deployed for the security of Saeed after the Supreme Court directed inspector-generals of Islamabad and all four provinces to take back security escorts from people who are not entitled to it. said when asked if his meeting with Chairman Kim is happening. Over the last few days, North Korea has threatened to cancel the Trump-Kim meeting over the ongoing annual military exercise between South Korea and the US. "We are dealing with them now. We may have the meeting; we may not have the meeting. If we don't have it, that will be very interesting. We'll see what happens. The border is still quite strong," he said, as he tended to blame the Chinese for the sudden change in the North Korean stance. The US President said "things changed a little bit" after they (North Korean leaders) had the second meeting with President Xi, which, Trump said was a little bit of a "surprise meeting". outh Korea said on Friday it Sbelieves North Korea remains committed to improving relations despite strongly criticizing Seoul over ongoing US-South Korean military drills and insisting it will not return to inter-korean talks unless its grievances are resolved. South Korea's Unification Ministry spokesman Baek Taehyun said Seoul expects Pyongyang to faithfully abide by the agreements between he UN Human Rights TCouncil will meet on Friday to decide whether to send international war crimes investigators to probe the deadly shootings of Gaza protesters by Israeli forces. The special session of the UN's top rights body will consider a draft resolution calling for the council to "urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry", the UN's highest level investigation. The special session comes after a month and a half of mass protests and clashes along the Gaza border, calling for Palestinian refugees to be able to return to their homes now inside Israel. The largest demonstrations coincided with the move of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Monday, which saw Israeli forces kill some 60 Palestinians, pushing the overall toll well over 100. urkey has called on TMuslim nations to stand united for Palestine and to work to stop countries joining the United States in relocating their Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday that the "illegal" US decision encouraged Israel to "massacre innocent Palestinians in cold blood." Turkey called an extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, or OIC, after Israeli forces killed dozens of people in Gaza earlier this week. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in in their summit last month. The Korean leaders had issued a vague vow on the "complete denuclearization" of the peninsula and pledged permanent peace. "We are just at the starting point and we will not stop or waver as we move forward for peace in the Korean Peninsula," said Baek. North Korea has taken repeated proverbial shots at Washington and Seoul since rance's Digital Minister FMounir Mahjoubi has come out as gay, saying it was important to speak up on the International Day Against Homophobia as a public figure who has himself suffered prejudice in the past. Mahjoubi, at 34 one of the youngest members of President Emmanuel Macron's centrist government, tweeted yesterday that homophobia "sometimes forces us to adapt ourselves and lie just to avoid hate and to survive". "Homophobia is an ill that eats away at society, invades high schools, and poisons families and lost friends," the former tech entrepreneur posted. Thursday marked the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, and Mahjoubi said today that while he did not want to "make a big deal" of coming out publicly, "if that might help to fight homophobia, I'll do it". "I think it's important to offer visibility to gay people, but I think everyone should take this step only when they're ready for it," he told the Franceinfo news website. French gay rights group SOS Homophobie hailed his "strong and courageous decision". "He is contributing to the visibility of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people in society and is a positive example for all young gay, bi and trans people in his country," the group tweeted. canceling a high-level meeting with South Korea on Wednesday and threatening to scrap next month's historic summit between its leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, saying it won't be unilaterally pressured into relinquishing its nuclear weapons. The North's threat cooled what had been an unusual flurry of diplomatic moves from a country that last year conducted a provocative series of weapons tests that had many fearing the region was on the edge of war. ina Haspel is all set to Gbecome the first female director of the CIA, despite her role in the spy agency's controversial interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, post the 9/11 terror attacks. The United States Senate yesterday voted to confirm the 61-year-old veteran as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Haspel, facing allegations from opposition Democratic Senators and human rights bodies for her alleged role in CIA's interrogation programme post 9/11, was confirmed by the Senate after six Democratic senators supported President Donald Trump's nominee. Prominent among those was Senator Mark Warner, Ranking Member of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee. Haspel once oversaw a socalled black site in Thailand after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the US. "Congratulations to our new CIA Director, Gina Haspel!" Trump tweeted soon thereafter. Haspel will be the first woman to lead the spy agency in its 70-year history. A career CIA official for more than three decades now, Haspel, is expected to be sworn in shortly as the top American spymaster. She worked in Africa, Europe and classified locations around the globe and was tapped as deputy director of the CIA last year. She worked under former CIA director Mike Pompeo until President Trump moved him to be his Secretary of State. During her career in the CIA, Haspel has worked in various capacities and has been stationed clandestinely overseas including her stint in Africa, wherein in the 80s she assisted Mother Teresa in humanitarian assistance. "Gina has clearly demonstrated that she is a person of high integrity with valuable frontline and executive experience as a career intelligence officer.

6 J ust before the elections in Karnataka, when there was gathering skepticism about Prime Minister Narendra Modi s chaste Hindi breaking through the language barrier in the South, observers were not sure if he could spin his wand of magic. Although he had been mentioning Kannadiga icons in his speeches over the last few months, regional chauvinism was frankly somewhat of a wall. All depended on his local translator Ganesh Yahyaji. But on D-Day, the interlocutor realised that though he had the papers in his hand, the Prime Minister never used the script during his spontaneous speech. And he somehow couldn t get a grip on Modi s emotions and impassioned gestures. So though he translated with long gaps, it was more than just words that swelled and washed on the audience, comprising a divergent rural populace, and brought the BJP within calling distance of the southern gates. Some of us wondering if the Modi magic had waned and in bipartisan spirit speculating on a Congress revival, were surprised when the results defied projections and showed that if anything, the BJP juggernaut needed the wingspan of Modi to course it through. It may not have been full sail but the lastminute dose worked more than the avid number-crunching on the ground by the BJP s strategists and lobbyists for over a year. Octogenarian women on TV screens chanting Modi and the sub-nationalist Kannadiga reposing faith in a mainstream discourse could be interpreted as staged optics but the truth is the Modi magic should never be seen through the prism of urban intellectualism or cynicism. That s why the magic, when it casts a potent spell, appears to be beyond comprehension. But let s give it to him, he has managed to connect with a large mass of people by making them believe he is just not one of them but born of them and, sharing their destinies, he would reclaim what is the people s at all costs, scouring the filth and challenging the odds. Critics perceive him to be a demagogue of sorts; which, literally, means a leader of people which these days is used to describe a leader who vaunts his sense of purpose, capitalizes on popular perceptions and prejudices and posits his arguments based on emotion rather than reason. Modi straddles both extremities of interpretation. Much like the Greek politician Cleon, who was known to have owned the stage and blustered at his opponents while drawing on the anger of his audience, Modi has made the connect that leads people to believe that a long legacy of denial by a political oligarchy has been overturned and he needs the people s push to decimate it forever. Unlike Cleon, who was an aristocrat, Modi has championed such causes and scripted such pitches that he is seen as an unassailable messiah of the masses, a simple man with straight-forward solutions. He embodies Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega who wrote in The Revolt of the Masses, If from the viewpoint of what concerns public life, the psychological structure of this new type of mass-man be studied, what we find is as follows: (1) An inborn, root-impression that life is easy, plentiful, without any grave limitations; consequently, each average man finds within himself a sensation of power and triumph which, (2) invites him to stand up for himself as he is, to look upon his moral and intellectual endowment as excellent, complete. This contentment with himself leads him to shut himself off from any external court of appeal; not to listen, not to submit his opinion to judgment, not to consider others existence. His intimate feeling of power urges him always to exercise predominance. What else would explain his acceptance in the North-East and the deep South, places where he didn t have a relatable context to begin with? But in the season of a nationalized bank s favours to Nirav Modi and his easy run abroad, Modi chose to highlight another aspect altogether. Campaigning in Udupi, he said that though banks had been nationalised, the poor had been left out of the system by past regimes while the privileged were allowed to loot it and that he had decided to empower the masses with the Jan Dhan scheme and provisioning for loans to farmers and rural youth. While some recipients are still awaiting their deposits, Modi has been able to prioritise the creation of a participative module over the mediocrity of execution. Be it demonetisation or the GST and their attendant ills, subsequent verdicts in heartland States showed that his positing these big reforms in a simplistic, even Sir The collapse of an underconstruction bridge in Varanasi brought into focus the dangers inherent in a scenario when adequate safety measures are not in place on construction sites. Besides this, traffic management during the course of the construction of the bridge was shoddy. This is not the first occasion that an incident of this kind has taken place. It is also apparent that the material used for construction purpose was substandard. There might as well be some fault in the design of the bridge which led to the collapse of the bridge. The Government and concerned authorities must look into the safety aspect before giving the green signal for such constructions. Devendra Khurana Bhopal Sir This refers to the article, A hardline approach in J&K (May 18) by JK Verma. A unilateral ceasefire declared by the Union Home Ministry, unwarranted at this juncture, is neither salutary for the security forces nor for the general masses as the latter has already started alienating from the terrorists. The writer has rightly said that a unilateral cessation of military action against stone-pelters in general and terrorists in Pakistan in particular, will only embolden them. They may use this month-long time to re-group themselves and attack our forces, while the latter will be in hibernation mode, thanks to the Union Government s declaration of Robin Hood format of squeezing the rich and corrupt and punishing them, had more carriage than the Opposition campaign that more than 90 per cent of the mop-up black money campaign had returned to banks. The Mudra loan scheme for small traders scored higher than the financial overhaul that is still a work in progress. Much of Modi s mass programmes are not complicated at all, be it the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the Ujjwala scheme, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, Awas Yojana or Saubhagya, and basically an upgrade of the roti, kapda aur makaan theme with ease of convenience and collective stakes. In this respect, he seems to have understood the formula of cracking the lowest common denominator better than any master strategist. Though his performance in real terms could be said to be moderate or just above given the challenges of India, he has been able to create dependencies through dissemination channels like the common man s radio via his Mann ki Baat, or the Namo app through smartphones in prosperous rural belts. He has the farmer s ear, through constant emphasis on their distress, suicides, pesticide woes and increasing yields, hackneyed to our kind of thinking but relevant for those turning up at the voting booth. His bardish style of posing rhetorical questions to his audience may appear dramatic but is deeply symptomatic of his latent magnetism. Time and again, Modi, by virtue of being a grassroots RSS worker, has lived up to the deliverer tag because he has first-hand experience of crises and can articulate mass concerns first hand rather than the para-trooped skills of the Congress leadership. By cultivating an immediacy and empathy, Modi has been able to make the Congress appear even more elitist. So, though observers in Delhi wonder why he harps on his tea boy origins to this day, it s only to keep his associative matrix with the common man intact as opposed to the prince of the Congress clan who deigns to dine at a Dalit house or go muth-hopping. In between, he cleverly weaves in his litany of achievements as one that is responsive and real as opposed to one that is opportunist and power-driven. Appearing as an avenger of the dispossessed, he keeps up his barrage of broadsides against the Congress first family and gains immense traction. Modi also engages in dissociative imagery. By speaking in the third person and casting himself in the role of a pradhan sevak, he still continues to be the friendly insider who is serving the people rather than the halo of a brand that he has created, which is what his critics would like you to believe; he also genuinely believes he is an ordinary mortal soldiering on the side of the voter despite the plush robes or the crown that he has been invested with and that comes through in his personality projection. This is why Modi is considered an enigma: A politician who can appear ego-less to supporters but come across as egoistic to skeptics. Many wonder why then does his deepseated image need to be bolstered from time to time by polarisation and conspiracy theories. Well, sometimes you need to do straight talking on the weaknesses of the nation and be blunt about its challenges rather than just focus on the positives. And the cadre needs ideological issues to be enthused. Modi is working from the same template as other pugilistic leaders like Donald Trump, whose every decision is selfavowedly made to make America great or even Putin, who astride a bear or driving a bus, is unapologetic about putting Russia first. Of course, this also casts these leaders as heroes to those who agree with them and why not? While none of them have gone into too much detail about how they would accomplish their goals, Modi has projected himself as being capable of devising a solution simply because he has been able to communicate the analytics of abject Congress failures, reeling off figures of non-performance of the UPA regimes and making his own moderate strides look gigantic by comparison over the past four years. He is, therefore, seeking more time to ensure continuity, incubation and successful completion of his nation-altering schemes. As a stellar performer, Modi has been able to build an aura of conviction and earnestness about aligning his own dreams with that of India, making them look bigger and brighter. And though the crowds in Karnataka may not have been a tidal surge, they were convinced enough by his knowledge of local issues to trust him with their future by giving the BJP the largest number of seats. The verdict is not just about giving him his lastmile connectivity, it is about a reconciliation with his sense of leadership that the people desire at this point in time. (The writer is Associate Editor, The Pioneer) conditional ceasefire. Earlier in 2000, during the Vajpayee regime, a similar ceasefire was announced during Ramzan, which resulted in escalation of terrorist activities, including an attack on Srinagar airport. Therefore, a ceasefire at this moment will be highly counter productive. The sooner it is withdrawn the better it will be for the nation as well as for the security forces. Sagar Singh Delhi Sir This refers to the article, A hardline approach in J&K (May 19) by JK Verma. When terrorism does not have any religion, why is it being connected with the festival of Ramzan? If the Government is of the view that during this month-long period of Ramzan there will be no terrorist activity and that the terrorists would turn into good human beings, then it is living in a fool s paradise. Terrorists are hard-core criminals and do not deserve any leniency. They should be dealt with strictness and tit-for-tat approach. Nexus between separatists and proxy sponsors too is strong and anti-human so much so that they do not deserve to be treated softly. By announcing a unilateral ceasefire, the Government has not only undermined the supreme sacrifice of our Armed Forces and security personnel, but all innocent people who die day-in and day-out at the hands of terrorists. Bal Govind Noida

7 he US Press Secretary recently Tdeclared in a true cowboyish manner that all pressures and stress on North Korea would continue. This demarche might be construed by some as a negative and discouraging move which might derail the artifice of the Donald Trump-Kim Jong-Un negotiations. It s akin to CAATSA (Countering America s Adversaries through Sanctions Act) which is being incorrectly billed as being the bête noire for India s Defence trade with the United States of America. Still, it is like a clarion call to deter adversaries such as Russia. The declaration of the American Press Secretary comes as no surprise as certain pre-conditions come attached with the Bombast Diplomacy with North Korean and the Communist dictatorship. The American pre-conditions might act as a dampener on the talks with North Korea scheduled for June 12, The observers of cultural studies can refer to the Korean peninsular quagmire as a zombie conflict man at large which needs to be either exterminated or exorcised of all evil and satanic impact on North Korea. The need of the hour for the internationalist segment is that cooperative veneer must prevail so that more than a meaty ice-breaking can be attained in the way forward to a Korean denuclearisation. President Trump and his negotiating folk expect and have aired their conditionality that North Korea must open its nuclear sites to IAEA verification and monitoring mechanisms, the same on Iran s Natanz and Arak. This is the first instance since the Korean war in the fifties that a sitting American President will be having a rendezvous with his North Korean counterpart, who till recently was basking in the prospects of nuking and gutting the American homeland. It was no other than Kim Jong Un, who raced in his zebra colored special train and the Chinese Ilyushin aircraft, which is dubbed as Air force-un, in order to seek an iota of guarantee about American intent in the Korean Peninsula. The quintessential West Asian experts have always wondered why the United States under the President Bush administration militarily intervened into Iraq during the Saddam Hussein rule, but the same military solution was not applied in the staid North Korean regime. Why the discrepancy? The Foggy Bottom goes ahead with bias in the American role as a regulator, still the North Korean dictator has agreed to a standstill cooling off phase. Both the leaders have chosen to give peace a chance in the Korean Peninsula, but it is an uphill task. Who can forget the military blitz across the Yalu river and the decision of General Douglas to go the whole hog during the Korean war in the fiendish fifties. Korea has sustained partition in 1995 with great consequences. The Korean war ended in a ceasefire, but the intermittent stress on the besieged peninsula has persisted since the flotsam of the fifties in the international politics as an aftermath of World War II. What is being attempted now is the development of a disarmament regime in the piqued peninsula, which the North Korean Communist satrap paraded out with style in 2003 as Pyongyang repudiated the Nuclear non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). Fredrick L Kirgis wrote in the American Society of International Law journal, In 1992, North Korea entered into its Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA under Article III of the NPT. The Safeguards Agreement provides for measurements and observations of North Korean nuclear materials and facilities by IAEA inspectors. Article 26 of the Safeguards Agreement provides, This Agreement shall remain in force as long as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is party to the Treaty (the NPT). Consequently, if North Korea has validly withdrawn from the NPT pursuant to its January 2003 announcement, the Safeguards Agreement would no longer be in force. However, there is much difference between repudiating IAEA, which the North Korean Communist state did in 1994, and the final withdrawing from the NPT. But, as, the stipulations in the NPT portend, the parties to the treaty can move out of the international agreement dependent upon international circumstances and conditionality of a changed international system. The NPT does not operate with a mechanism that if circumstances alter Korea s supreme interests than the aggrieved nation can move out of the treaty. The same stipulation runs in accordance with Customary International Law. KCNA reported in 2003, (Your) country's purpose for entering the NPT lay in removing the US nuclear threat and importantly, in smoothly resolving the country's energy issue with nuclear power. We have actively encouraged hydroelectric and thermoelectric generation capabilities to meet the increasing energy demand in the people's economy. However, this was limited in its potential power. Accordingly, we decided to develop the nuclear power industry. Thus, the North Koreans were ingenious and creative enough in spawning a kind of ruse to manoeuver out of the international law. The utility of nuclear energy in the pursuit of power generation was primarily engineered and tom-tommed as a cause célèbre for eschewing the treaty. Thus, a nascent nuclear disarmament regime was nipped in the bud by Kim Jong Il with the traditionally oriental excuses of being singular sided and discriminating in its inception and nature. What needs to be astutely understood is that the Peacenik Regime ought to be given an apt opportunity in the peninsula. Bombast, rhetoric, loud talk and vitriolic verbiage ought not to be relegated to the backburner as a mere poser-bluster. The heated exchange of words are part of the tradition of Powder Keg Diplomacy which forewords a crisis only to be mellowed down by sane and traditionally supine agreement. This is the ideal manner in which the script might play out despite expected posturing. In the face of a nonsolution and a failure of summitry between Washington and Pyongyang, the region and the world might be readying to traverse smoothly from one disaster to another. These issues are part of a larger forecast-narrative which nearly all observers of international relations see. Instead of looking at the nuclear deadlock as a stereotypically and stylistically tom-tommed blackmail by the United States, the North Korean standpoint needs to be understood. The North Korean stance is all slated to be marketed by the Kim s regime as the standard stance of Pyongyang has been to negotiate the intake of atomic power plants, food and other goods from their own bête noire, the US. Thus, it might be cannily executed by a loud but efficient American President but the Korean right to bargain shamefacedly for the American goodies and give-aways places its own takeaways in a shoddy and shaky terrain. (The writer teaches International Relations at Indian Institute of Public Administration, Delhi) n the recent past, the news of Ithe tussle between Odisha and West Bengal over the origin of Rasgulla hit the headlines. Finally, this sugary battle was resolved after two-and-ahalf years with West Bengal claiming the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. The news undeniably gave way to curiosity about the GI and its significance. Citing the definition from World Intellectual Property Organization, the GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. In order to function as a GI, a sign must identify a product as originating in a given place. In addition, the qualities, characteristics or reputation of the product should be essentially due to the place of origin. GI tags are important in the sense that they preserve the ingenuity and the formula of the dish and thus prevent them from distortion of ingredients and flavours. There are places that use the same traditional methods for their foodstuffs in this age when there is a variety of equipment available to simplify and automate the effort required. GI tags do justice to them. Chronologically speaking, from the geographically indicated foods from India, Rasgullas need absolutely no introduction. The GI tag is claimed by West Bengal and the exact name of the foodstuff is Banglar Rasogolla. The sweet syrupy dessert made up of cottage cheese is best served cold. After West Bengal, moving to Andhra Pradesh for their Geographically Indicated foodstuff called Bandar Laddu. This dish earned its GI tag in A dessert again, Bandar Laddus are made up mainly of ghee (clarified butter), Bengal gram and jaggery. They belong to the Machilipatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. The next dish is again a dessert and the GI tag belongs to West Bengal. Sita Bhog, as its name suggests, is considered to be the favorite food of Sita of the Ramayana. The dish is associated with the Bardhaman district of West Bengal and thus the dish that is Geographically Indicated is called Bardhaman Sitabhog. This delectable rice and cheese dessert is lesser known in rest of India. Subsequent one too is from West Bengal. Bardhaman Mihidana. It s a small grain-like dessert made up of special Gobindobhog rice of West Bengal, gram flour, cardamom and saffron. Mihidana, literally means fine grains. The recipe of the dish dates back to more than a century but has received its GI tag in the year The next from West Bengal is from Joynagar region. It is a sweetmeat prepared with ghee obtained from cow s milk, popped rice prepared with special aromatic variety of rice, date palm jaggery, cardamom, and poppy seeds. It is a seasonal preparation available only from November to January. Another sweet delicacy from Andhra Pradesh, which is also made as an offering to Lord Sri Venkateswara is Tirupati Laddu. It was registered as a Geographical Indication in 1999 by Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam Trust. The laddu has fixed ratio of ingredients and each laddu weighs the same (175 grams). It has a lovely smell of cardamom and ghee and is essentially made up of gram flour. The laddu distributed among pilgrims is called Proktham laddu. The laddus are made with such precision that while receiving the laddu at the counter, a scale is placed for anybody who wishes to weigh the laddu. After Andhra, it s Karnataka. The Dharwad Pedha is a sweet delight from the Dharwad region. The main ingredients are milk and sugar. After the desserts come snacks and savouries. To the state of Rajasthan, belongs the Bikaneri Bhujia geographically tagged with a town called Bikaner. It is a spicy, crisp snack made up of beans, gram flour, vegetable oil, salt and spices. Making of Bikaneri Bhujia is actually a cottage industry set up in the town of Bikaner. It is widely available in all parts of India. Similar to the Bikaneri Bhujiya is Ratlami Sev from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh. It is a fried snack made up of gram flour and has a strong flavour of cloves. Last but not the least in the list is Hyderabadi Haleem from Telangana. It is served as a starter in Hyderabadi cuisine. The ingredients essentially include lentils, wheat, goat meat, ghee, dry fruits, saffron, cardamom, cloves and a lot more. It is the only non-vegetarian food to have attained a GI tag from India. The dish is high on calories and imparts instant energy. That is the reason there is a tradition to consume it at iftar during Ramzan. These dishes are not only distinct meals or desserts; they have surfaced as an art form from their respective regions. They are celebrated not merely because of their taste or popularity among the folks, instead they have become a culture and a heritage to be followed and a legacy to be passed on to the generations. GI tags invariably protect these delectable preparations from their inferior imitation. Their existence promises that ethnicities of these dishes are not compromised at any stage and thus make them immortal for all times to come. (The author is currently working as a software engineer in Jindal Initiative on Research in IP and Competition (JIRICO) at OP Jindal Global University, Sonepat, Haryana) he recent International Monetary Fund T(IMF) forecast showing a promising growth of India varying between 7.4 per cent and 7.8 per cent for and respectively augurs well for the country. Earlier, the World Bank s Global Economic Prospective Report indicating India s expected growth of 7.3 per cent came as good omen. The predictions are very important against the background of persistent economic global depression. Even as major economies of the world witnessed slowdown, economic growth has remained resilient in India. However, the major challenge before the Indian Government remains to be the need to generate a satisfactory number of employments since the number of the unemployed and the underemployed has increased over the years. Owing to competition, we witness a syndrome of perform or perish. Surely the syndrome is affecting public sector enterprises and businesses the world around. Although the abundance of cheap labour and initiative towards FDI ( foreign direct investment ) have made China the world s most promising emerging economy, it is not fair to treat India and China on one category of economic reforms because changes in these countries have followed strikingly diverse and varied courses. China has been extremely aggressive in its economic reforms and started creating export-oriented special economic zones way back in China had captured about 4 per cent of world trade share till a few years ago. India could hardly manage to get about 0.7 per cent. However, India strengthened its medium-term export strategy for Moreover, India launched its economic reforms in 1991, China had started such reforms way back in Although foreign direct investment is considerably higher in China than in India, investment returns are better in India due to its superior corporate pattern of clean governance and the high quality of commercially driven companies. Numerous Indian business experts and investors have carved a niche for themselves overseas particularly in the field of information technology, biotech, pharmaceuticals and health-care where China needs to still catch on. Besides, India s indigenous entrepreneurs and industries will certainly give it a huge advantage over Chinese FDI. Chinese export-led manufacturing progress is mainly based on FDI, which is hardly a substitute for home-grown entrepreneurship. India s strength lies in creating its internal markets as it already has a fast growing middle class. Financial dealings are not as simple as they appear to be and require constant monitoring by competent authorities. The malfunctioning of the financial system in Japan during the last couple of years or so turned out to be pernicious. This problem can be compounded by the lack of matured markets which are at times depressed and sometimes buoyant for no apparent reasons. Recently at Davos in the World Economic Forum, India brought forward all necessary requisites required for good business friendly environment for investors across the globe. Undoubtedly, China s high saving rate, good infrastructure and manufacturing are way ahead of India but this cannot be compared with India s services-driven aggrandisement and institutional stability deeply interwoven in pluralism and democracy. On the other hand, India has an extensive web of operational and support network, ranging from rural to urban areas that ensures a much higher rate of return on assets. During the post-1991 era, economic reforms in India made significant strides in a number of areas, including knowledge and skill-based intensive services such as telecommunication, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, professional services of doctors, teachers and management professionals, etc. According to a report prepared by Goldman Sachs published in April, 2004, in the next couple of decades or so, India and China would certainly emerge as major economies of the world. The report also concedes that in the long run India will emerge even bigger and will gradually overshadow China. The transformation of India into one of the world s leading economies is a phenomenal achievement. Foreign investors have already pumped in a huge amount, more than $23 billion in the Indian stock markets and about 245 new foreign investors have registered with the stock market regulating body (SEBI) during the last few years. In addition to this, as many as 600 new investors were granted permission to trade on the Indian stock exchanges consequently leading to a 125 per cent growth in the Sensex and a 148 per cent rise in Bombay Stock Exchange. According to the recent Nasscom report, quoted by Stephen David, a few years ago India controled 44 per cent of global offshore outsourcing market for software with revenue of $17.2 billion. The stupendous progress of India in the IT industry has opened a new era of Indian companies aggressively capturing overseas markets. Notwithstanding its limitation, in all fairness it should be acknowledged that overall the Indian economic reforms represent a move in the right direction, but to leave an indelible mark across the globe we must attempt to expand the network of economic liberalisation and emerge from the shadow of criticism but of course with caution. Economic reforms with a humane and receptive approach involving educational facilities, jobs and development of new channels of communication and FDI will certainly give birth to a new system of status evolution as an economic giant of the world. IMF Director Christine Lagarde said India can soon outsmart China as the fastest growing economy. India has all the reasons to celebrate as it has already surpassed China and the US as top destination for FDI (foreign direct investment). Purav Jhaveri, the Managing Director of Investment Strategy at Franklin Templeton Investments, said Indian economy is poised to have better and promising trends then even the strong economies of the world. The robust strategy of economic development of the current Indian Government has created a new vision full of promises for an extremely bright future for India. Time is not measured by years but by what the nation is doing, how people feel and at the end what are the achievements of the country with regard to economic growth coupled with socio-economic and political justice. Measuring by this yardstick, India has achieved great opportunities and has been able to reach several milestones both in the field of economic aggrandizement and improving scientific and technological prowess even during small span of time despite many infrastructure related issues. Needless to say India has carved a niche for itself with regard to social reforms and consumer rights. India has made all efforts towards strengthening transparency in all spheres of life. Although some critiques are of the view that privacy and personal security may be compromised. Besides, there are challenges with regard to rigid labour market and more importantly the need for job creation and long awaited market reforms. There has been a paradigm shift from traditionalism to modernity to postmodernity and surprisingly now post-postmodernity. The purpose of comparison is to familiarise with key issues and debates in economic domain of developing societies with special reference to India. There are myriad ways through which consumer rights can be protected and policy makers need to address these parameters head on. (The author is Chandigarh based professor of political science)

8 legislator and one Independent legislator to form the he Supreme Court verdict Government in the State. While Tregarding the ongoing political turmoil in Karnataka has led 60 member House in Nagaland, NPF managed to win 27 seats in to serious repercussions in at the NDPP led by Neiohu Rio least three States of the Northeast could manage only 18 seats. The We also have support of HAM and Manipur, Meghalaya and BJP, however, managed to win in CPI(ML). Our strength can be tested Nagaland. 11 seats. he Karnataka Governor s decision on the floor of the Assembly in the light A delegation of the Congress In Meghalaya, Opposition Tinviting BJP legislature party leader of the S R Bommai vs Union of India Legislative Party (CLP) leaders in party Congress on the other B S Yeddyurappa to form Government 1994 judgement of the Supreme Court. Manipur led by former Chief hand is waiting for the forthcoming bypolls to the Ampati party though a little behind from the Congress CPI(ML) paraded to the Raj on the basis of BJP being single largest Majority of the MLAs of RJD, Minister Okram Ibobi Sing met Manipur s acting Governor Prof legislative Assembly constituency to get over. At present the prompted the Supreme Court to inter- Tejashwi said the Governor went required number of MLAs, not only Bhavan. Jagdish Mukhi and staked claim to form the Government in the party leaders are busy with vene but also encouraged single through their memorandum and State. The Naga Peoples Front (NPF) and Congress the two Opposition parties in Nagaland and Meghalaya has also said that they would stake claim to form the Government in the respective States under the apex court s verdict in case of Karnataka on Saturday. Our party claimed that it was the single largest party with 28 MLAs in the Assembly election held last year. However Governor had invited BJP to form Government which had only 21 MLAs, said Manipur Congress spokesperson, Kh. Jaikishan Singh. The NPF will stake claim before the Governor to form the Government on the merit of our case as being the single largest party. Why should different laws be applied in different States on a same matter, Zeliang tweeted today after the SC verdict on Karnataka imbroglio. I will be heading to Tuensang today to hold public meetings in support of C Apoch Jamir for the bypolls to the Lok sabha. Right after my return to Kohima, the NPF legislators along with the organizational wing of NPF will hold a consultative meeting, Zeliang said in another tweet. It may be mentioned here that in the polls held in February this year where NPF emerged as the single largest party with 27 legislators. However, Nagaland Governor PB Acharya invited the newly floated NDPP-BJP alliance along with a Janta Dal Ampati bypolls, which is due to may 28. However, we are going to take a call after the polls are over, said senoor Congress leader and former State Minister Deborah C Marak. In Meghalaya, Congress emerged as single largest party securing 21 seats in recently held Assembly polls in February. National People s Party (NPP) could manage to get only 19 seats but formed the Government with the support of BJP and other regional parties. largest parties in States from Bihar to Goa to stake claim for Government formation which they were denied. The RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav accompanied by Bihar acting president and representatives of HAM and CPI(ML) on Friday met Governor Satyapal Malik and submitted a memorandum seeking his intervention for ordering the floor test in Bihar Assembly. He said, RJD was and is the single largest party in current Vidhan Sabha with 80 MLAs and we are also the single largest pre-poll block together with Congress with 107 members. promised to take the notice. The former Deputy CM was hopeful that very soon the Governor s decision would be made public. The youngest son of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad said when the JD(U) led by Nitish Kumar decided to break alliance with the RJD and Congress and submitted his resignation in July 2017, the then acting Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi should have invited single largest party RJD for Government formation but instead he invited second largest party JD(U) which had entered into a quick alliance with the BJP. erala s politicians, jour- and the sections of Knalists the general public with a thirst for hot news spent several hours on the needle-point of suspense since Thursday afternoon after news spread that the Congress and Janata Dal (S) in Karnataka might smuggle their MLAs out to Kochi to insulate them against the so-called horse-trading by the BJP which needed to find extra manpower to win the numbers game in the Assembly. Sighs of relief were heaved only after 9.15 AM Friday when it was proved that the talks about the Karnataka MLAs Kerala sojourn were mere rumours or unconfirmed considerations after reports came in that the MLAs of both the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) had safely reached Hyderabad and would be staying at hotels there most probably till the air cleared. The first rumours in Kerala were that leaders in Karnataka had been inquiring at five-star hotels and resorts in Kochi and Alappuzha about availability of accommodation and security arrangements. However, word soon came from NCP MLA and former Kerala Minister Thomas Chandy that his Lake Palace Resort in Alappuzha had not received any such inquiry. By evening, a 24X7 national news channel identified the hotel at Fort Kochi where the Karnataka MLAs would stay after landing by a special chartered aircraft at the Kochi International Airport at Nedumbassery, 36 KMs away, by Thursday midnight. However, sources at the particular hotel refused to confirm whether they had any bulk booking from Karnataka. n a day when the Supreme OCourt ordered the conduct of a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm on Saturday, the ruling Shiv Sena, Opposition Congress and NCP on Friday came down heavily on the ruling BJP for allegedly using illegal means, including horse-trading, to lure Congress- JD(S) MLAs to win the muchdiscussed vote of confidence. In a no-holds-barred attack on its senior alliance partner in the Centre and at the Centre, the Shiv Sena charged that the BJP, aided and abetted by the infamous Reddy brothers, were indulging in a massive horsetrading ahead of Saturday s trust vote. Using Reddy brothers black money, the BJP is going all out to purchase Congress-JD (S) MLAs. The BJP promised to bring black money from aboard. But, the fact remains black money is very much in the country. If its Mann Ki Baat has turned into Dhan Ki Baat, then what difference that the BJP coming to power after defeating the Congress. The BJP s Prime Minister, chief minister and Governor are toeing the Congress culture. During the Assembly poll campaign, the BJP s national president Amit Shah had inadvertently said that B S Yeddyurappa as the most corrupt Chief Minister. ven as the ruling ETrinamool Congress on Friday scored a ridiculously abnormal 94 per cent after the counting for May 14 panchayat elections came to a close bagging 589 of 621 Zilla Parishad seats, the Opposition parties demand for President s Rule gained in decibel level. While State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said it was for the Governor to weigh up the situation and decide what report he would send to the Centre, Pradesh Congress President Adhir Chowdhury said there was no hope for democracy in Bengal and only President s Rule could save the State. Even during the Left rule situation was far better than what it is today, Chowdhury who earlier led a team of his party men to meet Governor KN Tripathi said. There is no democracy in Bengal. There is no space for opposition politics. No scope to reach out to people in interior areas. Let alone during elections you cannot put your party flags even in normal times, the leader said. There is no opposition in 10 out of 20 ZPs (district boards) that went to the tree tier polls, SEC sources said. The districts that went oppositionless were Bankura, Hooghly, two Burdwans, North and South 24 Parganas, South Dinajpur, two Midnapores and Jalpaiguri. At Panchayat Samiti level also the ruling party has bagged more than 80 percent seats. The panchayat elections were not only farce but a slap on the face of the electorate, he said adding his party would soon move the High Court against the State Election Commission for violating its order to hold free and fair elections. The Court had fixed liability on the Commission and top Government officials saying every poll-related casualty would have to be compensated from the salary and estate of the officials who had expressed satisfaction at the security measures before the elections. The Executive Engineer, Jirania Division,PWD(R&B), Jirania, West Tripura, invites sealed tender(s) against press NIT N0.04/EE-JRN/ , Dated, & Last date and Time for receipt of Application for issue of Tender up to Hrs on 31/05/2018. for " Replacement of Bailey Bridge by construction of RCC box cell( 3x8.00m) on the road starting from NH- 44 to Bikram Malsompara via Balaram Thakur, Kashidas at Ch. 1.20km." Job No. TP/COM/06/ " DNIT NO.03/R/DNIT/SE-IV/ with Estimated cost: Rs. 1,35,64, Earnest money: Rs. 1,35, Time of completion:-6(six months). Last date of dropping of tenders: up to 3.00 PM on For details please visit: For and on behalf of the Governor of Tripura Sd/- Executive Engineer Jirania Division (PWD). ICA/C-397/18 Jirania, Tripura(W)

9 haos, crisis and confusion Chaunt the ruling AIADMK as well as the Opposition DMK and its allies, if the goings on in the various camps are any indication. While the AIADMK is disintegrating faster than what was expected, a three-way war has erupted in the DMK-Congress combine with Khusboo, the former glamour girl of Tamil films as the focus. The interesting news is that the DMK family is working overtime to bring M Alagiri, the Madurai based son of M Karunanidhi back to the party. Allies of the DMK like VCK and the Lefts are suspicious of the intentions of the Dravidian major following the recent confabulations between t took the Calcutta High ICourt to issue a stern order to the State police administration incidentally headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to release by Friday evening the half-charred corpse of a CPI(M) couple Debu and Usha Das who were burnt alive inside their hut by alleged Trinamool Congress on the night preceding May 14 panchayat elections for refusing to join their party ahead of rural polls. A single Bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakrabarty directed the police to hand over the bodies to the victims, son and help him perform the last rites, Sabyasachi the petitioner s lawyer said. The dead bodies brought to Kolkata for autopsy had mysteriously gone missing from the police mortuary. The MK Stalin and K Chandrasekhar Rao, Chief Minister of Telangana who is also the boss of TRS, the ruling party of that State. The Lefts and the VCK are yet to swallow the version of Stalin about the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Gopalapuram to call on the DMK patriarch Karunanidhi as a courtesy call. The situations in the AIADMK and DMK camps could be summed up as chaos and confusion, said Tiruppati Narayanan, spokesperson of the BJP. A lack of trust between the alliance partners is visible all over, said Narayanan. N Kalyanasundaram, veteran scribe and chronicler of Tamil Nadu politics is of the view that the AIADMK s getting fragmented because of ego clashes, turf war and victims only child a 19-yearold boy (name withheld as the he was also facing threats to his life) was made to vainly wait at the morgue for more than 100 hours to receive the bodies. My repeated requests to return my parents bodies failed and so I had to move the High Court, said the hapless boy who wanted to be a police officer but now has changed his ideas said. The boy who was currently in hiding for the fear of the Trinamool goons on the prowl said his father was under constant pressure from the Trinamool workers to join that party but he would not. My parents had to pay with their lives. I am not in politics. But where will I go? I have no one to look after me. The murder had taken place at Kakdwip some 80 km from the State capital. absence of a charismatic leader like MGR or Jayalalithaa. As on date we have three factions of the AIADMK. The one led by Edappadi Palaniswamy and O Panneerselvam, the AMMK led by V K Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran and another faction led by TV Dhivakaran, the Mannargudi based brother of Sasikala. There is no guarantee that the party would not split further before the 2019 Lok Sabha election, said Kalyanasundaram. Two recent incidents have almost sealed the fate of AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. Thursday s clash between the volunteers of AIADMK and the followers of Dhinakaran at Coimbatore which left many injured and the legal notice served by Sasikala to her brother Dhivakaran warning him of sing her name. Dhivakaran retaliated by disowning his sister publicly at Mannargudi. The DMK cadre is thoroughly disappointed with Stalin becase of his failure in bringing down the AIADMK government which is surviving on a wafer-thin majority. There is an effort by the members of the Karunandhi clan to bring back Alagiri, who has been expelled from the DMK at the instance of Stalin. The DMK leadership has understood that Stalin was interested in promoting his son Udayanidhi in the party. It is interesting to note that the DMK has noot won any election since the sidelining of Alagiri, said MSR Nithyanand, political commentator. The war of words between TNCC president Thirunavakarassar and party s national spokesperson hree freshly infiltrated ter- have been killed in Trorists Vilgam forests of north Kashmir s Kupwara district on Friday, officials said. The terrorists were intercepted on a day when Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged heavy artillery and gunfire in RS Pura sector in Jammu resulting into heavy casualties on both sides. Defence sources said that gunfight occurred in Brinjal forest area of Vilgam, Handwara when soldiers of 15 Rashtriya Rifles intercepted a group of terrorists adjacent to Shahnagar Jat Gali, around 7 kilometres away from tehsil headquarters. The group of five terrorists opened fire upon the security forces. The fire was retaliated by the troops triggering a gunfight. The terrorists fired indiscriminately and in the gunfight three terrorists were killed, they said. The identity of slain terrorists and their affiliation was not ascertained immediately. The encounter occurred on the second day of unilateral ceasefire announced by the central Government on eve of the holy month of Ramzan. The Government announced to stop Khushboo has instigated the DMK to come to the help of the former actress who was party chief Karunanidhi s favourite. The TNCC president in a statement the other day reminded Khushboo that she was chased out of the DMK by the party cadre. TKS Elangovan, the DMK spokesman said on Thursday that Thrunavakarassar s allegation was not correct. But Khushboo s house in Chennai was vandalised by supporters of Stalin in February 2013 for her comments about their leader in a Tamil periodical and subsequently she left the DMK in Hence it is a AIADMK vs AMMK vs Dhivakaran in the ruling camp while it is DMK vs Congress vs Khushboo and VCK vs DMK in the Opposition. t was on this day exactly 11 Iyears ago that a bomb exploded in the historic Mecca Masjid during the Friday congregation killing 9 people and injuring scores of others. Soon after the Friday prayers in the mosque thousands of Muslims held a protest demonstration near Charminar against the failure of the Government agencies in bringing culprits to the book. The angry protestors were also demanding that the Government should challenge the recent verdict of the NIA court acquitting five accused of anti-militancy operations in the State during the month of fasting. terror groups have not reciprocated the gesture. Pakistan based outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyeba has already rejected the ceasefire offer. On Friday, United Jihad Council, a conglomerate of several terror outfits described the ceasefire offer as big joke based on the idea of ceasefire versus ceasefire. Once the month of Ramadan will be over, India will again unleash terror and resort to killings, Syed Salahuddin, chairman of UJC was quoted as saying by his spokesman in a meeting at Muzaffarabad (PoK). the accused as the prosecution could not produce sufficient ith mercury crossed 44 Wdegree Celsius in Gujarat s biggest city Ahmedabad the authorities issued orange alert for the district on Friday. In other parts of the State, mercury hovered in the range of 42 to as high as 45 degree Celsius! Temperature in port town Kandla in Kutch district crossed 45 degree Celsius. As per the forecast of India Meteorological Department (IMD) maximum temperature likely to remain 41 C TO 45 C over North Gujarat region, parts of South Gujarat and Saurashtra-Kutch region during the upcoming week-end. IMD evidence. the NIA special court had acquitted former RSS pracharak Aseemanand and four others of right wing Abhinav Bharat. The protestors later dispersed peace fullly. Police had made elaborate security arrangements around the Mecca Masjid in view of the anniversary of the blast. Police commissioner Anjani Kumar monitored the situation. As today was the first friday of Ramazan, the mosque witnessed a much bigger crowd of the worshippers. further stated that heat wave conditions very likely to prevail in these regions during the period. Forth last three days Kandla port remained hottest in the state with mercury continuously touching 45 C there. Sources in the state health department said that as many as 124 cases of abdominal pain, around 100 cases of unconsciousness, 41 of fainting and 50 cases of vomiting registered in the state on Thursday. Over 500 heat related registered on the day with Ahmedabad alone registered over 120 on the day. In wake of unprecedented heat, Ahmedabad District Bar Association has decided to remain away from work from 18th to 23rd May. Rajesh Kumar president of the Bar Association said that three advocates became victims of heat wave. Even clients, litigants and others coming to courts are facing lots of heat related problems and hence it was decided to keep one week s holiday. An eight year old girl reportedly died due to excessive heat in Surendranagar district where mercury touched 43 degree Celsius.

10 he Government on Friday Tsaid the surge in oil prices would push up the oil import bill by upto $50 billion under different scenarios. It however said that rise in oil prices would not impact the country's economic growth. The spurt in oil prices will push up the oil import bill by $25 billion to $50 billion under different scenarios, said Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg here, adding that India spent $72 billion on oil imports last year. However, economic growth will not be impacted by the rise in oil prices, which have touched $80 per barrel -- highest since November 2014, he said. The Government is watching the situation and adequate steps will be taken, he said without elaborating in details. As crude oil prices went past the $80 mark on Thursday, no doubt, there is some worries among people on rising oil prices day by day. Fuel bills have been inching up literally every day across the country. On Friday, petrol prices in the national capital of Delhi hit 75.61, up 29 paise from on Thursday. The Finance Ministry in the meantime once again ruled out an excise duty cut, which means that retail fuel prices are unlikely to cool down any time soon. However, the Government remained non-committal on cutting excise duty to ease the burden from rising oil prices, the Government said that the recent spurt in global rates is a matter of concern as it could inflate import bill by as much as $50 billion and impact current account deficit (CAD). Asked if the Government would cut excise duty on petrol and diesel, he said he has nothing to say on excise duty front. Just watch. This would push up current account gap, but inflation is under control and the fiscal deficit scenario is not worrisome either, Garg said. Garg further said currency in circulation has come down in the last four days but situation is completely normal now. Some outflows in the bond and equity markets have been seen but it is not alarming. We are nowhere near a 2013-like situation, he added. Outflow of $4-5 billion in one and half month is not excessive, he said, adding that the Government will continue with its borrowing programme and does not see any reason to react. New Delhi: Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan raised concern over the ongoing surge in crude oil prices and the resultant hike in transport fuel prices in the country during a telephonic interaction with Saudi Arabia s Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih. Minister Pradhan expressed his concern about rising (oil) prices and its negative impact on consumers and the Indian economy, an official statement said here on Friday. The concern comes as the petrol price in the national capital hit per litre on Friday, inching closer to the previous high of 76.06, reached in September Pradhan emphasised his desire for stable and moderate prices. Minister Al-Falih also assured Pradhan supporting global economic growth is one of Saudi Arabia's key goals. He said he is commitment towards stable supplies and that the Kingdom together with other producers will ensure availability and reasonable prices. he Government has Textended the due date for filing GST summary sales returns for April by two days till May 22. An official statement said that certain technical issues are being faced by the taxpayers during the filing of GSTR-3B for April. In order to resolve the same, emergency maintenance is being carried out on the system. Therefore, in the interest of taxpayers it has been decided to extend the last date for filing of returns in GSTR-3B for the month of April by 2 days till May 22, the statement said. The goods and services tax (GST) mop-up in April -- the first month of current fiscal -- came in at 1.03 lakh crore. From fiscal year that began last month, the government has shifted to a cash basis of accounting where revenues accrued at the completion of a month would be taken on record immediately at the end of the month. Accordingly the 1.03 lakh crore GST collected in April reflects the central GST and state GST which accrued in March.The GST collections which accrue in April and collected in May will be released on June 1. enaissance Steel has Rapproached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) requesting to declare ineligible the Tata Steel's bid for the debt-ridden Electrosteel Steels under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. An NCLAT bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhyaya has issued notice to Tata Steel, which was the second highest bidder, and the resolution professional of Electrosteel over it. It has also directed them to file reply within a week and directed to list the matter for hearing on May 28. In its petition, Renaissance Steel has requested the NCLAT to pass an appropriate order declaring Tata Steel Ltd as ineligible under section 29 (D) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. extile firm Himatsingka TSeide on Friday said its step-down subsidiary has acquired the home portfolio of Global Brands Group Holding, which has exclusive licence rights for brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Copper Fit, among others. The company expects this portfolio to contribute annual revenues of approximately $60-65 million (over 400 crore) to the group. Himatsingka America Inc, the wholly owned step-down subsidiary of Himatsingka Seide Ltd, has acquired the home portfolio of Global Brands Group Holding Ltd, the company said in a BSE filing. It further said: The acquired home portfolio includes the exclusive licence rights to the famous and iconic Tommy Hilfiger brand, the Copper Fit brand and other brands. This brand portfolio is estimated to contribute annual revenues of approximately $60-65 million to the group. quities wilted under selling Epressure for the fourth straight session on Friday, capping off the worst week for investors this fiscal amid political uncertainties and spiking crude oil prices. The benchmark Sensex slumped 300 points to end at 34,848.30, while the broader NSE Nifty cracked below the 10,600-mark. On a weekly basis, the Sensex lost points, or 1.93%, while the Nifty tumbled points, or 1.94% -- their biggest fall since the week ended March 9. No let-up in selling by foreign funds and rising global crude oil prices, which hovered near $80 per barrel, affected investor sentiment, brokers said. The political cauldron in Karnataka remained on the boil, with the Supreme Court asking BJP's B S Yeddyurappa Government to prove its majority in the assembly on Saturday. The 30-share Sensex opened lower and stayed in the negative terrain for the major part of the session, hitting a low of 34, before ending at 34, down by points, or 0.86%. The 50-share NSE Nifty settled points, or 0.81%, lower at 10, During the session, it moved between 10, and 10, "Market edged lower as global trade tensions and concern on domestic macros due to weak INR and rising oil price dampened the sentiment

11 meter eakened by the departure of Jos Buttler and Ben WStokes, who have left for England to join the Test squad for the series against Pakistan, Rajasthan Royals will have a big challenge when they will face in-form Royal Challengers Bangalore in Jaipur on Saturday. The game at Sawai Man Singh stadium will be a crucial match for both the sides as both of them will try to win it in every way possible to keep their hopes alive of making into the play-offs. With two places yet to be decided in the top-4, five teams are in contention and in such tight situation, none of these two sides will want to loosen their grip and miss the chance of making a play-off finish. Also, they will try to win by a big margin to improve the net run rate. As for Bangalore, skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers are going good with the bat and are the side's leading run scorers with 526 and 427 runs respectively. On the bowling front, Umesh Yadav is the side's leading wickettaker with 17 scalps from 13 games. While, leggie Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj have got 12 and 10 wickets respectively. On the other side, Rajasthan Royals' batting in absence of Jos Buttler looks vulnerable. Skipper Ajinkya Rahane has failed to perform well, while the performances of Rahul Tripathi, D'Arcy short and Jofra Archer have also been low in terms of adding runs to the team's tally. However, Sanju Samson - who scored a 45-ball 92 and won the match single-handedly when these two sides faced each other last time - will be hoping to deliver another brilliant innings to help his side advance in the tournament. In the bowling department, English all-rounder Jofra Archer has been impressive but the other bowlers have not been able to live up to the expectations. xed from the England Asquad for the Tests against Pakistan, all-rounder Moeen Ali says his IPL stint will make him a better one-day player and improve his game. "I have really worked on my game and I feel going further in the future for RCB and for England, hopefully it will help me become a better one-day player. Hopefully, it is going to improve my game," he said. Ali has been instrumental Live on Star Sports 1 vs HEAD TO HEAD hen on Saturday Kolkata WKnight Riders will be up against Sunrisers Hyderabad, they will have no margin for any sort of error. Placed at the third spot in the points table with 14 points, KKR are yet to fix a play-off spot for themselves. Before finding themselves in the situations of ifs and buts, they will try to secure a top-4 finish on Saturday by managing to win over Sunrisers who are leading the league table with 18 points from 13 games. Although Sunrisers have lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 14 runs in a tight game on Thursday, they will try to return back to winning ways and strengthen their top position. In the match against RCB, I mpressive slog-hitting by Harshal Patel and Vijay Shankar helped Delhi Daredevils post a respectable 162/5 against Chennai Super Kings here on Friday. Patel (36 off 16; one 4 and four 6s) and Shankar (36 off 28 balls; two 4s and two 6s) scored 60 runs from the last five overs to give their bowlers something to defend for against the high-flying visitors here at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium. After Chennai asked Delhi to bat, the hosts took a while to start their proceedings. In the fourth over, Prithvi Shaw survived a scare. His miss-hit shot went straight to mid-on, but the ball bounced off Shardul Thakur's outstretched hand. But the youngster did not last long in the middle. In the very first ball of the fifth over, Shaw hit one straight to Thakur at long-on from Deepak Chahar's bowling. This time Thakur held on to the catch as Shaw went for 17 off 17 balls and Delhi were 24/1. Iyer did his best to increase the run-rate, with two boundaries in that over. New batsman Rishabh Pant was initially playing the supporting role as his skipper Iyer had the role of enforcer. With time, Pant joined the party, with his fair share of boundaries. Notably, in the first ball of the tenth over, the left-hander picked the length beautifully to hit a massive six off Harbhajan Singh over the long-off. Pant then cut one past the point and then saw his mishit shot narrowly go over Dwayne Bravo in long-off for a maximum. The tenth over alone went for 17 runs. Just when Delhi seemed to be getting their act together, Lungi Ngidi broke the partnership. He clean bowled Iyer (19 off 22 Live on Star Sports 1 vs HEAD TO HEAD Sunrisers' biggest strength - their bowling unit - was thrashed brutally by de Villiers and Moeen Ali who led RCB to score 218/6. But learning from past mistakes, the hosts will be eager to correct their glitches and come up with brilliant performances on the ground. However, young Indian pacer Basil Thampi - who leaked 70 runs in his four overs to becoming the most expensive bowler in terms of runs spent in IPL history - is likely to face an axe. in keeping Royal Challengers Bangalore's chances of qualifying for playoffs intact. He picked up two wickets and in the company of AB de Villiers then, smashed a match-winning half century against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The English player hammered a 34-ball 65, which was studded with two boundaries and six sixes, to guide RCB to 218 for 6. He credited RCB support staff, including Gary Kirsten and Trent Woodhill, for his improved batting. "Yeah Gary and Trent Woodhill. I have worked the most with them on my batting. I am trying to hit the ball and be consistent in hitting boundaries. They have really opened my game and I feel going further for England, it will help me become a better ODI player and improve my game," he said. Pleased after being able to express himself with the bat, Ali hoped that his team's confidence gets a boost going ahead. "It was almost nice to have a break. I wasn't in great form coming here. It is just nice to go out and express myself. And for balls). Their partnership lasted for 54 from 38 balls. In the same over the South African pacer struck again.pant tried to clear the ropes and mistimed the shot badly, which was caught by Bravo in third-man. The young left-hander went for 38 from 26 balls (three 4s and two 6s) as Delhi were in a spot of bother at 81/3 in 11 overs. New batsmen Glenn Maxwell and As for SRH, skipper Kane Williamson has been leading from the front and has scored over 600 runs in 13 games with eight fifty-plus innings. Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Alex Hales and Yusuf Pathan have also made their presence felt in the squad with individual display. In the bowling department, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who did not feature in the last game, is expected to be back in the playing XI alongside Rashid Khan, Siddarth Kaul and Shakib Al Hasan. On the other side, KKR will be hoping Kuldeep Yadav to continue with his magic run. He was the star performer in KKR's win over Royals. Moreover, their batting will rely upon the likes of Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine and skipper Dinesh Karthik. my own confidence and the team's confidence in me. Hopefully, we can keep going and I can keep this form going," he added. After managing a mere 179 runs and five wickets in the Ashes, Ali found himself out of the team for the second New Zealand Test, and then dropped for the Pakistan series. RCB captain Virat Kohli lauded Ali for bringing in balance to the side. "Moeen's come in and done a great job for us. Three games he has bowled really well and tonight his knock was outstanding, so hats off to him for grabbing his opportunities," he said. Sunrisers' Manish Pandey praised Mohammed Siraj for bowling the last over, in which 20 runs were required for his side to get past the target of 219, but the visitors managed only five runs. "Twenty runs. Kane (Williamson) was on strike, first ball when a wicket goes sometimes it is difficult to come up from there. Mohammed Siraj bowled really well to get those yorkers right on the spot. Vijay Shankar took their time to build a new partnership. But it didn't go anywhere. Maxwell's (five off seven balls) miserable campaign continued after he was bowled by Ravindra Jadeja while attempting an audacious reverse sweep. Abhishek Sharma (two off four balls) was the next to go after his misttimed pull-shot was easily taken by ane Williamson has shown Kthat classically elegant batsmen, too, could prosper big time in the slam-bang world of IPL cricket and former Australia batsman Dean Jones wants struggling Indians, Ajinkya Rahane and Gautam Gambhir, to take cues from the New Zealand captain. "I did expect Williamson to do well. (David) Warner (Australia) not playing here has helped him enormously," Jones said during an interaction. "Given the opportunity you take it and he has picked it with both hands and reminded everyone in the world, because it is the best T20 League in the world, how good he is," he said. Jones, whose most famous Test innings was a double century he struck in stifling heat and humidity in the tied Test against India at Chennai in 1986, noted that Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Williamson has played with far more freedom and gets into a classical position before he hits the ball. "Because of that he has built confidence. And now Sunrisers have put a lot of pressure on him, because if he hadn't made any runs, Sunrisers B de Villiers said it looked tougher Athan it actually was but his gravitydefying boundary catch during an IPL match was declared "spiderman stuff " by an awestruck India and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli. RCB defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 14 runs on Thursday to keep their play-off hopes alive. The outstanding moment of the match was the one-handed catch that de Villiers took while being airborne at the boundaryline to dismiss Alex hales. "AB's catch was spiderman stuff, you don't do that as normal human beings. His shots still leave me in awe, the fielding unbelievable," Kohli said in the postmatch presentation on Thursday. De Villiers, however, sought to play down his clearly remarkable effort of leaping up high before sticking out his right hand at just the right time to grab the ball. "With the catch, I made it look tougher than it was. It curved away late, luckily it stuck. I got into a bad position," said the maverick batman, who was adjudged Man of the Match for his 39-ball 69. would have been in lot of trouble. But he has been the glue. "You have other guys like (Gautam) Gambhir, (Ajinkya) Rahane, for example, also classical players who might be wise to give him a call, watch him and see how he has gone about getting his strike rates into 130s-140s. "You tell me that Kane Williamson (who has scored 625 runs from 13 games so far) is stronger than Rahane and Gambhir, of course not, but the fact is that he has played with a bit more freedom and he gets into classic positions before he Harbhajan at mid-on from Shardul's bowling. Delhi were in all kinds of trouble, struggling at 97/5 in 14.4 overs. They reached 100 in 15 overs and were in desperate need of a miracle in the last five overs to put a decent total on board. The pair of Shankar-Harshal Patel were doing their best to make it happen. Shankar ended the 17th over with hits a ball. He has done very well and shown there is a spot in T20 for classical player, Jones explained. The 57-year-old Jones, who played 52 Tests and 164 ODIs, hailed the display of some young Indian players in the IPL and singled out Shubhman Gill of Kolkata Knight Riders for special praise. "The one I have been impressed (with) the most is Shumbman Gill. (He is) more of a classical player. I think Prithvi (Shaw of Delhi Daredevils) has got a couple of holes in his technique here and there and will Kohli has endured a tough season as captain of RCB but a recent spate of good results has put the team back in the hunt for a knockout berth. "Now we head to Rajasthan with momentum on our side, the team's feeling great. We're happy with the XI now, it's settled. Teams don't want us to win, looking at the strength, they want us to not win. a six, before Patel flicked one over deep square leg in the next over from Dwayne Bravo. Notably, in the last over off Bravo's bowling, Patel smashed three massive sixes. In the midst of it, Shankar cleared the ropes as well in the same over. The last over accounted for 26 runs and the sixth-wicket partnership was a crucial 65 runs from 32 balls. get better. He is a very good player. They are just kids, these boys are just 18 (years-old) and these guys are smashing sixes and fours and winning games in T20 cricket," he gushed. Jones also spoke highly about rookie Mumbai Indians' leg-spinner Mayank Markande, who has been the find of the cash-rich tournament. "Markande has been great and I have loved him. Also, I have been impressed about how Shivam Mavi has gone with his work. I also like Karun Nair (Kings XI). "He has not quite done a lot yet, but he is around for a long time and has got a triple hundred (in Tests). I always like the way he goes about his game. And K L Rahul (Kings XI) - an absolute super-star," the former player remarked. Mumbai Indians have made a remarkable comeback after a string of losses at the start, as they had done in the past, to be in the contention for the playoffs and Jones termed MI the "comeback kids". "They are the comeback kids, no doubt about that. They have still not qualified yet. If Rishabh Pant goes off in the last game, anything can happen. Now they have started getting it right," Jones signed off. We sense fear and we pounce," he said. De Villiers said he continues to be amazed by his popularity in the country. "It's an amazing feeling when they chant my name. I look to put pressure on the bowlers. I'm human after all. If I get one or two away, I have momentum going my way. It'd be great to make the knockouts," he said.

12 D esperate to end a dismal season on a high note, troubled Chelsea manager Antonio Conte needs Eden Hazard to ride to his rescue in Saturday's FA Cup final against Manchester United. Conte's side have been rocked by their failure to qualify for next season's Champions League after they stumbled to a disappointing fifth place finish in the Premier League. With Conte reportedly on the verge of leaving following his feud with the club's hierarchy over transfers, there is a sense Chelsea are lurching through one of their regular periods of self-inflicted turmoil. While victory at Wembley this weekend wouldn't erase the problems gripping Chelsea, it does offer a chance to dispel the notion that disharmony between Conte and his players has accelerated their decline. Just 12 months ago, Chelsea swaggered into the FA Cup final as the newly crowned Premier League champions following Conte's dazzling debut season. Yet they left Wembley emptyhanded after a lacklustre 2-1 defeat against Arsenal that left a painful sting. "You don't want to be on the back of losing two FA Cup finals in a row," Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas said. "Last year we didn't play well. We have this regret in our head and we want to make it right this time for sure." Things haven't been the same since and, despite his insistence that he would happily remain in charge next season, Conte has carried the air of a man who knows he is on borrowed time. Against that troubled backdrop, it would be a fitting coda to Conte's woes if United manager Jose Mourinho was the man to shove his rival towards the exit door. Showing signs of cracking under the strain of Chelsea's turbulent season, Conte has been drawn into a series of petty and increasingly bitter exchanges with former Chelsea boss Mourinho. To avoid the unpleasant prospect of watching Mourinho celebrating at his expense, Conte needs to find a way to unify his team following last weekend's shambolic 3-0 loss at Newcastle. That result ended their top four hopes and was emblematic of Chelsea's diffident approach for much of the season. Now their hopes of winning the Cup for the first time since 2012 lie largely with Belgium playmaker Hazard. With Hazard unable to reach the heights he scaled during last season's Premier League title-winning run, the Blues have spluttered badly up front, triggering numerous complaints about their lack of cutting edge from boss Antonio Conte. The 27-year-old isn't the only one to blame as Alvaro Morata, Willian and Pedro have also been inconsistent, but Hazard is Chelsea's creative lynchpin. Worryingly for Chelsea, Hazard showed signs of unrest this week when he admitted he would wait to see who the club sign in the summer before deciding whether to sign a new contract. Fabregas has no doubt that a motivated Hazard can see off United, saying: "He's a fantastic player. When he's on his day he can be unstoppable. "We have to make sure we give him the right service so he can work his magic and give us a good performance, because we will need that." United, bidding to join Arsenal with a record-equalling 13th FA Cup final victory, have fared better than Chelsea after securing a second place finish in the Premier League. But Mourinho's side trailed 19 points behind champions Manchester City and their manager's cautious tactics in several big games, combined with a tame Champions League exit against Sevilla, led to pointed questions about their lack of progress. United defender Phil Jones insists winning the third major trophy of Mourinho's reign would make this season a step in the right direction. "I really don't think we're far away. We'll always have our critics because we're Man United, but it shows that we're moving in the right direction under him," Jones said. with France are not at the same level as those he delivered ortugal are going to the with PSG this season." PWorld Cup in Russia next In the heart of the defence, month with Cristiano Ronaldo enegal named their final Marseille's Adil Rami took even-time champion Rafael and 12 other players who led S S 23-man squad for the advantage of Laurent Nadal overcame a poor first set the nation to the European World Cup on Thursday, Koscielny's Achilles injury as he and a partisan crowd to beat Championship title two years with Liverpool forward Sadio was included alongside regular Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 and ago. Mane leading a group that ermany goalkeeper starters Samuel Umtiti and reach the Italian Open semifinals Coach Fernando Santos includes key defender GManuel Neuer has Raphael Varane. on Friday. announced a 23-man squad on Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli been included in Bayern Manchester United forward The crowd at the Foro Italico Thursday, including nine players and midfielder Cheikhou winger Ismaila Sarr also Munich's squad for the Anthony Martial and was decidedly behind Fognini, who started the final against Kouyate of West Ham. made the squad. German Cup final on Arsenal striker Alexandre Italy's top player, and Nadal was France at Euro Coach Aliou Cisse, captain The midfield has an Saturday, boosting hopes he Lacazette were not included in of the 2002 team that English league look with will be fit enough for the the squad but are among the under pressure when Fognini The only two starters from won five straight games to cancel out a 4-1 deficit and win the are Nani and Renato Sanches. the country's only previous Everton, Cheikh Ndoye of Real Madrid striker Karim the final who will not make it reached the quarterfinals in Kouyate, Idrissa Gueye of World Cup. reserves. opening set. Among the other matches against Tunisia on World Cup appearance, gambled Birmingham and Pape Benzema, who has a strained "He played aggressive, a great European champions not going May 28, Belgium on June 2 and on the fitness of Monaco Alioune Ndiaye of Stoke relationship with Deschamps level of tennis, creating a lot of to the World Cup are Ricardo Algeria on June 7. winger Keita Balde and selected. and also missed Euro 2016, did winners and taking balls earlier," Carvalho, Andre Gomes and Santos' men will start their Anderlecht defender Kara Cisse, appointed in 2015, not make the cut despite being Nadal said. "I felt the pressure a Eder, who scored the titlewinning goal against the hosts Spain on June 15 in Sochi. Balde last played on brought Senegal through the French forward of his genera- World Cup campaign against Mbodji. is relying on the players who regarded by many as the best little bit and played a couple of bad games." in extra time. The other Group B teams April 7 while Mbodji missed qualifying campaign. tion. But Fognini couldn't keep up Nishikori. "It hurts not to be able to are Iran and Morocco. most of this season with a "This team, this selection with Nadal's consistency and Nadal can replace idle Roger include all the players who were Goalkeepers: Anthony knee problem but has recently above all reflects continuity Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris heavy topspin on the red clay Federer at No 1 if he lifts the with us in the European Lopes (Lyon), Beto (Goztepe), returned to training. and coherence," Cisse said at (Tottenham), Steve Mandanda court and eventually was physically Rome trophy for the first time Championship," Santos said. Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon); The 20-year-old Rennes a news conference in Dakar. (Marseille), Alphonse Areola worn down. since Federer is sitting out "All of them helped us write a Defenders: Bruno Alves (Paris Saint-Germain); "I tried to play more with my the clay season to prepare for brilliant page in the history of (Rangers), Cedric Soares Defenders: Djibril Sidibe forehand and when I play aggressive Wimbledon. Portuguese football." (Southampton), Jose Fonte out of France's 23-man World the French league's top play- Neuer, who hasn't (Monaco), Benjamin Pavard with my forehand the back- In the other half of the draw, Andre Gomes' Barcelona (Dalian Yifang), Mario Rui Cup squad on Thursday, a day maker this season with 13 played since September (Stuttgart), Samuel Umtiti hand becomes better," Nadal Australian Open finalist Marin teammate Nelson Semedo was (Napoli), Pepe (Besiktas), after being injured during assists, and claimed three goals because of a left-foot hairline (Barcelona), Raphael Varane said. "It's important to be able to Cilic beat 10th-seeded Pablo also left out. Real Madrid's Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Marseille's Europa League final and seven assists in the Europa fracture after being (Real Madrid), Presnel change the tactics of the match." Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-3. The Fabio Coentrao, who has been Dortmund), Ricardo Pereira defeat by Atletico Madrid. League, starring in the quarterfinals injured in training, says it's Kimpembe (Paris Saint- Fognini had tape applied Croatian's next opponent will be on loan with Sporting Lisbon, (Porto), Ruben Dias (Benfica); He has a thigh problem and semifinals. "perhaps the best news of Germain), Adil Rami under his left knee while trailing defending champion Alexander was omitted after saying he Midfielders: Adrien Silva that will need at least three France, runners-up at the the day." (Marseille), Benjamin Mendy 3-2 in the third set due to a physical Zverev or ninth-seeded David wasn't in the best condition to (Leicester), Bruno Fernandes weeks to heal, a delay that European Championship two Bayern face Eintracht (Manchester City), Lucas problem that has bothered Goffin. play for the national team. (Sporting Lisbon), Joao Mario prompted coach Didier years ago, open their World Frankfurt in the German Hernandez (Atletico Madrid); him for weeks. Cilic didn't face a single "I have to make my decisions (West Ham), Joao Moutinho Deschamps to omit the former Cup campaign against season-ending finale at the Midfielders: Paul Pogba "The first set lasted more than break point. taking into consideration (Monaco), Manuel Fernandes West Ham player. Australia on June 16. Olympiasstadion. Backup (Manchester United), Corentin an hour," Fognini said. "It's him "That was extremely important the players I believe will best fit (Lokomotiv), William Unveiling his squad on They meet Peru five days goalie Sven Ulreich is like- Tolisso (Bayern Munich), Blaise that causes the problem." as Pablo is an amazing play- the puzzle," Santos said. "I Carvalho (Sporting Lisbon); French TV, Deschamps said he later and close the group stage ly to keep his starting spot Matuidi (Juventus), N'Golo For a spot in the final, Nadal er from the back of the court," trust these players the same way Forwards: Andre Silva (AC had no choice but to leave out against Denmark on June 26. as the side hopes to complete Kante (Chelsea), Steven will play four-time Rome champion Cilic said. "It allowed me to take I trusted the players who played Milan), Bernardo Silva Payet. Most of the squad were a domestic double. N'Zonzi (Sevilla); Forwards: Novak Djokovic or Kei some extra chances." at Euro 2016." (Manchester City), Cristiano "Without his injury he expected to be selected. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Portugal will begin World Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Gelson would have been a serious The biggest surprise came Madrid), Olivier Giroud Cup preparations without Martins (Sporting Lisbon), candidate for the 23-man list," with the inclusion of Sevilla's has just two caps. (Chelsea), Kylian Mbappe Ronaldo, who will play the Goncalo Guedes (Valencia), Deschamps said. "This is a holding midfielder Steven "Steven has technical skills (Paris Saint-Germain), Champions League final for Ricardo Quaresma (Besiktas). muscular injury, with a risk of Nzonzi, who was preferred to and an imposing height, he Ousmane Dembele has been in impressive Madrid against Liverpool on May 26. a relapse." Payet Paris Saint-Germain's Adrien Rabiot. plays in the same fashion as N'golo Kante," Deschamps said. (Barcelona), Florian Thauvin (Marseille), Nabil Fekir (Lyon), Portugal will play warm-up Dimitri Payet was left form with Marseille. He is The 29-year-old Nzonzi "And Adrien's performances Thomas Lemar (Monaco). rsene Wenger admits he is still in Ashock after the curtain finally came down on his 22-year-reign as Arsenal manager and told The Guardian he will decide by the start of the World Cup as to do next. The 68-year-old Frenchman whose trophy-laden reign at the Gunners came to an end without any silverware in his final season and failed to secure Champions League football for next term said he hadn't discounted taking on a different role. Wenger who is to attend the World Cup in Russia as a pundit for Qatariowned TV channel Bein Sports stood down a year before his contract was due to end amid increasing discontent both among the fans and the board. "It's just too soon to know what I will do next," he told The Guardian in an interview conducted in Paris this week shortly after he had taken charge of his 1,235th and final match in the Arsenal dugout a 1-0 win at Huddersfield Town. "I haven't even emptied my desk yet and in a way I am still in a state of shock. "I am going to give myself until June 14, the day the World Cup begins, to decide. "The question is do I still want to coach, to be on the bench, or is it time to take up different functions? The one thing I can say for sure is that I will continue to work." Wenger, who guided Arsenal to three Premier League titles, including the famous Invincibles unbeaten season, and seven FA Cups, said he wasn't certain whether, at his age, he wanted to go through the emotional turmoil of being a manager. "But do I want to continue to suffer as much?" said Wenger. "I want to continue to defend my ideas of football, that's for sure. Spontaneously, I would say I still want to coach but I can't really say that yet for sure." Wenger, who says he has not held discussions about a potential role with the Qatari owners of French champions Paris Saint Germain, with whom he has close links and who he advised them to buy the club, concedes he is too restless to just loll around kicking his heels. "I have friends who can go and lay on a beach all day long for the whole of their holidays and I envy them," he said. "I just can't do that. I get bored. I need to be doing something. I need a challenge. "I have lived and breathed football all these years and it's a passion I can't imagine doing anything else." Wenger said his lack of a firm plan for the future also filled him with anticipation. "That's why, in a way, this is an exciting moment for me, too," said Wenger. "I have a new page, a blank page in front of me. "As all good writers know, that can be a time of anguish but I hope I won't have too much of that. It's also a chance to write new chapters." Wenger, who will also spend time in Russia travelling with close friend David Dein, the man who took the inspired decision to bring him from Japan to manage Arsenal in 1996, said he believed he had helped improve English people's perceptions of the French. "When I arrived, you know, I was a complete unknown and I have always had the impression I am representing my country in a way," said Wenger. Former England first choice goalkeeper Joe Hart admitted he is finding it hard to accept being omitted from the England World Cup squad by Gareth Southgate. The 31-year-old England's number one goalkeeper at both the 2010 and 2014 World Cup finals has suffered a dramatic fall from grace since Pep Guardiola sent him out on loan once he became Manchester City manager in Hart's case for selection amongst the three goalkeepers to go to Russia had not been enhanced by inconsistent form at Premier League strugglers West Ham, whom he joined after a season in Serie A with Torino. The 75-times capped stopper only Peter Shilton with 125 has won more caps in goal for England lost out to uncapped Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope, Everton's Jordan Pickford and relegated Stoke City's Jack Butland. "Not going to lie, I'm gutted," Hart wrote on Instagram alongside an image of the England crest. "After 2 years of trying to make the most of a really tough situation, this is hard to take." Hart said he was proud of the significant role he had played in England securing their passage to Russia. He played in nine of England's 10 qualifiers, captaining the side at home to Lithuania and producing a man-of-the-match display in Slovenia to sneak a 0-0 draw in Southgate's first match on the road. "I'm proud to have put in the graft and play every minute to qualify with the team and have a really important input in that outcome," said Hart. "I know what I bring to the team, but it is what it is. "Good luck to the team out there, the players know that even though I won't be there, I will have my England shirt on as a fan this time and supporting all the way." Hart's disappointment at missing out was echoed by Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, who Southgate said was not selected as others had shown stronger form in the latter part of the season. "Think it's about time I had my say," Wilshere wrote in a tweet.