RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/

Transcription

1 he Supreme Court on TWednesday settled the long-standing dispute over governance of Delhi, giving supremacy to the Arvind Kejriwal Government in legislative and administrative matters while keeping land, police and law & order out of its domain. The SC ruled that the Lieutenant-Governor will abide by the aid and advice of the council of Ministers, and cannot act as an obstructionist. The State Government will also not be required to seek the L-G s approval in exercise of its executive powers. While summarily rejecting the demand to grant Statehood to Delhi, the SC advised the L- G that he should not emerge as an adversary having a hostile attitude towards the Council of Ministers of Delhi, rather he should act as a facilitator. Finding it hard to conceive how an elected Government in Delhi can function when the decision-making power rests with the L-G, the SC demarcated the executive power of the Centre and the Delhi Government. The SC delineated a limited role to the L-G, who had assumed significant powers by overruling or referring the decisions taken by the State Government to the President citing difference of opinion. A five-judge Constitution Bench interpreted Constitution Article 239AA that provides for a Delhi Legislative Assembly but added in the proviso that where there is difference of opinion between the L-G and the Council of Ministers on any matter, a reference shall be made to the President whose decision will be final. It was this proviso that had become the bone of contention between the BJP-led Government at Centre and the AAP Government in Delhi. The Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud, and Ashok Bhushan through three separate opinions arrived at the same finding that any matter cannot mean every matter. It said, Insertion of Articles 239AA and 239AB would turn futile if the Government of Delhi that enjoys the confidence of the people of Delhi is not able to usher in policies and laws over which the Delhi Legislative Assembly has power to legislate for the NCT of Delhi. The verdict has come as a huge boost for the Kejriwal Government in Delhi which suffered a reversal in the Delhi High Court that had held the L-G to be the administrative head of Delhi. The AAP Government employed top notch lawyers Rajeev Dhavan, Gopal Subramanium, P Chidambaram, Shekhar Naphade, and Indira Jaising to firm up the case before the SC. The Centre and the L-G were represented by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Maninder Singh. The Bench in one voice declared that by no stretch of imagination, Delhi can be accorded the status of a State in view of the 1997 decision in NDMC v State of Punjab. But the special status of Delhi as a Union Territory with a mandatory Assembly led the court to hold that except subjects of land, police and law and order which fall in the domain of the L-G, the Delhi Government will enjoy full executive power, along with legislative power over any other issue related to Delhi. If a file pertaining to any such decision is sent to the L-G, he will be bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers of Delhi Government, the apex court said. While it will still be open for the L-G to differ with the elected Government, the CJI in his separate opinion (with Justices Sikri and Khanwilkar) said, The L-G need not in a mechanical manner, refer every decision of his Ministers to the President...The difference of opinion between the L-G and the Council of Ministers should have a sound rationale and there should not be exposition of the phenomenon of an obstructionist but reflection of the philosophy of affirmative constructionism and profound sagacity and judiciousness. Continued on Page 4 nnouncing sops for the Afarmers, the poor, government employees, pensioners, and others in the first Supplementary Budget with provisions of Rs 4,878 crore, Chief Minister Raman Singh termed it a historical Budget having many provisions. Replying to the discussion, the Chief Minister, also holding finance portfolio, said Budget was Rs 87,463 crore and with Supplementary Budget it has now risen to Rs 92,341 crore. He said that in rural and urban areas, at the cost of Rs 17,706 crore, around 11 lakh poor families would get house under Prime Minister Housing Scheme. They are being given uoyed by the SC verdict, Bthe Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government in Delhi on Wednesday issued directions to the Chief Secretary and other babus to speed up implementation of CCTV and doorstep delivery of ration schemes that the party claimed were stuck for months due to getting no green signal from Lieutenant- Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal. Hours after the ruling, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held a meeting with his Cabinet colleagues, issuing instruction to all Delhi Government functionaries working under it to act according to the verdict. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia alleged so far the L-G has acted as an obstructionist creating hurdles in way of people centric schemes of the AAP Government at the behest of the Central Government. He alleged the L-G acted with political vendetta at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Further, indicating a major bureaucratic reshuffle that power corridors of Delhi may witness in coming days, Sisodia said now authority of transfer and postings of babus LPG connection under Ujwala scheme while Ujala scheme is providing electricity in their houses, even as toilets are being provided under Clean India Mission. This is a revolutionary change in life of a poor, which has been brought by schemes of Prime Minister, he said He added that State has set target of 4.39 lakh houses out of which 3.81 lakh have been constructed, thus covering 87% beneficiaries. Centre based on implementation has given additional target of 1.84 lakh houses for year Thus within three years, at the cost of Rs 10,142 crore, around 7.88 lakh houses would be constructed. For establishing mobile towers and smart phone distribution Rs crores, contribution to Ayushman Continued on page 4 and subordinate employees would rest with Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and Ministers of departments concerned. He said relevant instructions have been issued to the services department, headed by him, for its compliance. Officers of Indian Administrative Services (IAS), Delhi Andaman & Nicobar Island Civil Services (DANICS), other all India Services and officers equivalent to officers of Central services will now be transferred with approval of the CM, said Sisodia. While transfers of Grade 1 DASS, Grade II DASS and private secretaries will be done with the approval of Deputy CM. Grade 3 & Grade 4 DAS, stenos, etc, would be transferred with the approval of Minister of Services department and other employees would be transferred by the minister incharge of the department, said Sisodia. He alleged that after the AAP came to power in Delhi, the Modi Government has made services the fourth reserved subject allegedly in order to render the Delhi Government powerless. He said now after the apex court verdict the Central Government will not dare to bring any subjects into the list of reserved subjects. ollywood actress Sonali BBendre on Wednesday revealed that she had been diagnosed with high-grade cancer and was currently undergoing treatment in a New York hospital. Releasing a statement on twitter, 43-year-old actress said, Sometimes when you least o fulfil its promise to fix the TMinimum Support Price (MSP) of crops at least oneand-half times more than the cost of production, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a record increase in the MSP of 14 kharif crops for The decision will cost the exchequer over 15,000 crore. The MSP hike varies from crop to crop. The highest yearon-year increase is in case of ragi, followed by jawar. The MSP of ragi has gone up by per cent while niger seed saw a per cent increase. The Cabinet approved per cent increase in the MSP of jawar hybrid. According to the Union Cabinet decision, the MSP of paddy (common grade) has been increased by 200 to 1,750 per quintal, while that of Grade A variety by 160 per quintal to 1,750. The MSP of paddy (common) was 1,550 per quintal and 1,590 per quintal for Grade A paddy. The previous best paddy MSP hike stood at 155 a quintal (including the bonus of 50) a decade ago in the election year during the UPA-I regime. In pulses, tur MSP stands raised to 5,675 per quintal from 5,450, and that of moong at 6,975 from 5,575. Urad MSP has been hiked to 5,600 from 5,400 per quintal. The MSP of jawar has been increased from 1,700 to 2,430 per quintal that of bajra from 1,425 to 1,950 per quintal. The MSP of cotton (medium staple) has been raised to 5,150 from 4,020 and that of cotton (long staple) to 5,450 from 4,320 per quintal. Applauding the Cabinet expect it, life throws you a curveball. I have recently been diagnosed with high-grade cancer that has metastasized, which we frankly did not see coming. A niggling pain led to some tests, which led to this unexpected diagnosis. My family and close friends have rallied around me, providing the best support system that anyone can ask for. I am very blessed and thankful for each of them. Known for her memorable roles in films like Diljale, Bhai, Sarfarosh, Zakhm, Duplicate, Hum Saath-Saath Hain, the actress said, There is no better way to tackle this than to take swift and immediate action. RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/ Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on MSP, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, It is a historical decision. Though farmers are the biggest producers, they never received their due. This Government is changing it now. As per the decision, the MSP for ragi has also been increased from 1,900 to 2,897 a quintal; maize from 1,425 to 1,700 a quintal; groundnut from 4,450 to 4,890 a quintal; sunflower from 4,100 to 5,388; soyabean from 3,050 to 3,399; sesamum from 5,300 to 6,249 and nigar seed from 4,050 to 5,877 a quintal. The announcement of higher MSP coupled with the forecast of normal monsoon this year could further boost foodgrains output. However, a higher support price could also fuel food inflation. The MSP is the rate at which the Government buys grain from farmers. Paddy is the main crop grown in the kharif (summer) season. Normally, MSP is announced just before the start of the sowing season to help farmers choose the crop they want to sow. Sowing of kharif crops has already started with the onset of the monsoon in June. The move to hike the MSP for kharif crops is in line with the Government s Budget announcement of increasing the support price by one-anda-half times of the production cost for kharif crops. The move by the Modi Government comes ahead of crucial polls this year in States like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and the Lok Sabha elections due in With a 50 per cent more profit for farmers, the Modi Government hopes to position itself as a pro-farmer party as this is the highest hike ever in a single year for paddy. The plan for a higher MSP gained momentum after the 2017 Gujarat elections where farm protests were seen to reflect a problem of plenty as agriculturists expressed discontent over falling prices. day after the Centre asked AWhatsApp to take steps to prevent use of its platform for spreading rumours and triggering lynching in parts of the country, the US-based social media platform outlined several steps to address the concerns raised by the Government. However, the Centre remained far from satisfied with the response of the USbased social media platform. IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad demanded greater accountability from the company saying that finding technological fixes to identify mass-circulation of messages on a particular issue in a particular area cannot be rocket science. Prasad said while he had taken note of the assurances offered by WhatsApp that these commitments should become a reality at the earliest. WhatsApp needs to recognise that our country offers a huge market for them and they are making good money out of India operations, so they must focus on security aspects in India in particular. If it requires the creation of more avenues of technology for safety, they must do it soon, Prasad asserted. Without specifying whether it will stop services of any person found to be spreading fake news, WhatsApp said it has made changes on group chats to prevent the spread of unwanted information. It has also introduced features that prevent users from re-adding former members and enabling group administrators to decide who can send messages. It is also testing labeling of forwarded messages. While users can block anyone with just one tap, they are also prompted to report or block when any user who is not in their address book sends a message. Detailing proactive steps to tackle abuse, WhatsApp said it retains limited information and is end-to-end encrypted but this privacy protection has trade-offs in form of the inability to see problematic content spreading through private conversations on our app. That said, we do have the ability to prevent spam, which includes some of the misinformation that can create mistrust and potentially violence.

2 he Union Cabinet on TWednesday approved the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018 that aims to regulate and accredit the laboratories providing DNA (Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid) facilities in public and private sector. The role of such labs is increasingly becoming important in solving crimes and identifying missing persons. The proposed Bill drafted by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) under the Union Science and Technology Ministry seeks to expand use of DNA-based forensic technology to support and strengthen the justice delivery system of the country as it will help establish the identity of certain categories of persons including criminals, victims, missing persons and unknown deceased. The utility of DNA-based technologies in solving crimes and identify in various parts of the country and for establishing the identity of victims in mass disasters. Forensic DNA profiling is of proven value in solving offences related to human body such as murder, rape, human trafficking, or grievous hurt, besides theft, burglary and dacoity. According to the National As per the draft Bill DNA profiling would be undertaken exclusively for identification of a person and would not be used to extract any other information. Further, no bodily substances will be taken from a person unless consent is given for the same. The draft proposes setting up a DNA Profiling Board as a statutory missing persons is gaining Crime Records Bureau body which will be responsible recognition across the world. By providing for the mandatory accreditation and regulation of DNA laboratories, the Bill seeks to ensure that there is assurance that the DNA test results are reliable and the data is protected from misuse or abuse in terms of the privacy rights, said an official from the DBT. He said the bill has provisions to enable cross-matching between persons who have been reported missing and unidentified dead bodies found (NCRB) Report 2016, aggregate incidence of such crimes in the country is in excess of three lakh per year. The official said that currently, only a very small proportion of these crimes are subjected to DNA testing. It is expected that the expanded use of this technology in these categories of cases would result not only in speedier justice delivery but also in increased conviction rates, which at present is only around 30 per cent, he added. for supervising, monitoring, inspecting and assessing DNA laboratories. The Bill also proposes a National DNA Data Bank and Regional DNA Data Banks (for the states) which will be responsible for storing DNA profiles received from the accredited laboratories. To ensure that it is not misused, bill proposes that violators of the provisions would be liable for imprisonment which may extend up to three years and includes a fine. ongress on Wednesday Caccused the Modi Government of cheating farmers on Minimum Support Price hike for Kharif crops for the marketing season to gain votes. Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that MSP is a jumla by BJP. Farmers are being cheated by the Central Government, he said. Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Surjewala said that in May 2014 Modi gained support of the farmers through false promises but in last four years farmers did not receive right MSP. Congress reacted after government hiked the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy by 200 per quintal to fulfill its poll promise to provide farmers 50 per cent more than their cost of production. The party in a statement said that the previous highest Government, hike in paddy MSP was 170 a quintal in the the election year of UPA-II. In the last four years, the NDA Government has raised the paddy MSP between per quintal. While the BJP had promised in 2014 to give farmers a price of 1.5 times of cost, an announcement to give effect to the promise was made in the Government s fifth and final annual Budget presented on February 1 this year. Farmers in India are bearing a heavy weight of debt. It is the duty of central and state government to resolve this issue. Loan waiver by UPA Congress Government in Karnataka had provided relief to the farmer, said Surjewala. alaysian Police authorities Mon Wednesday clarified that media reports on controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik s deportation to India on Wednesday night were wrong. On Wednesday morning many TV channels and online portals reported that Malaysia is going to deport Naik to India. It is not true. He will not be extradited to India tonight, said Inspector General Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun The spokespersons of External Affairs Ministry and Home Ministry in Delhi also clarified that they have not received any communication from the Malaysian Government regarding the deportation of Naik. In January, the MEA had made a formal request to Malaysia to deport Naik, wanted by India for inciting youngsters for terror activities through his hate speeches. Naik is being probed under terror and money-laundering charges by the NIA. He had left India in July, By afternoon, Naik through social media platforms said he would not return home till he felt safe from unfair prosecution. Naik's Islamic Research Foundation's (IRF) public relation officer he Central Information TCommission has directed the Medical Council of India to place in the public domain inspection reports of all medical institutions in the country within six weeks, in a major decision for the cause of transparency. The Council is a statutory regulator of medical education infrastructure in the country. It monitors and regulates number of seats, course structure and quality of education. The CBI is probing a number of cases related to alleged corruption in finalising inspection reports of MCI on the basis of which clearance are given to a medical college to run a course and take admissions. Keeping assessment reports hidden in files away from public gaze is counter-productive for efficiency of medical education system as prevailing in the nation, Information Commissioner Yashovardhan Azad said in his order. Azad said, leaving no room for administrative ambiguity and countering likelihood of corruption is as important as fighting actual corruption in all forms of governance also issued a statement on this regard. The news of my coming to India is totally baseless and false. I have no plans to come to India till I feel safe from unfair prosecution, said the statement issued on behalf of Naik by IRF. It added that Naik would surely return to my homeland when he feels that the government will be just and fair. Naik is facing various cases, including for hate speech and money laundering, in India and has been staying abroad to rime Minister Narendra PModi on Wednesday discussed some of the elements of good governance, including people s trust, with over 170 newly-recruited IAS officers. He also discussed the Central Government s key flagship programmes with them. The Prime Minister encouraged them to share their experiences of field training. He discussed with them some of the elements of good governance, including Jan Bhagidari, information flows, optimal utilisation of resources, and people s trust in governance, a statement issued by the Prime Minister s Office (PMO) said. Recent governance initiatives such as Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, Aspirational districts and Ayushman Bharat, were es. also discussed, it said. Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh, who was also present in the programme, said that the experiment of posting assistant secretaries in Central Ministries, which was started three years ago under the leadership of the Prime Minister, received overwhelming positive response from the young IAS officers of the previous batch- evade arrest. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had first registered a case against the 51-year-old Naik under anti- terror laws in 2016 for allegedly promoting enmity between different religious groups. His name was cropped in the confessions of the accused persons caught in Dhaka blast Following the massive blast in Dhaka, Naik is also wanted by Bangladesh authorities for inciting jehad. The NIA and Mumbai Police, subsequently, had also carried out searches at 10 places in Mumbai including residential premises of some of the office bearers of the foundation run by Naik. The foundation was earlier put on restricted list by the Home Ministry for receiving funds from abroad. Naik-promoted Peace TV was illegally transmitting his inciting speeches. In 2016, the Centre has issued stern warnings to Cable TV operators to stop airing the controversial Peace TV, which never had clearance from Information and Broadcasting Ministry. he Cabinet on Wednesday Tapproved a proposal for expanding the scope of Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) by expanding its capital base to 10,000 crore. The Centre also tasked the HEFA to mobilise 1,00,000 crore for Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Higher Education (RISE) by Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the proposal to expand this facility to all institutions, especially set up after 2014, Central Universities which have very little internal resources and the school education or health education infrastructure like AIIMS and Kendriya Vidyalayas. The CCEA approved five windows for financing under HEFA and the modalities of repaying the principal portion of the fund (interest continues to be serviced through Government grants in all these cases). HEFA was set up on May 31, 2017 by the Central Government as a non-profit, non Banking Financing Company (NBFC) for mobilising extra-budgetary resources for building crucial infrastructure in the higher educational institutions under the Central Government. Technical institutions which are more than 10-yearsold will have to repay the whole principal portion from the internally-generated budgetary resources; institutions which started between 2008 and 2014 will repay 25 per cent of the principal portion from internal resources, and receive grant for the balance of the principal portion, an official statement said. Central universities, which started prior to 2014, will have to repay 10 per cent of the principal portion from internal resources, and receive grant for the balance of the principal portion. Newly-established institutions will be provided grants for construction of permanent campuses, it added. Other educational institutions and grant-in-aid institutions of the Ministry of Health, including the newly-set up All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, and other health institutions, the Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas would be funded and the Department or Ministry concerned will give a commitment for complete servicing of the principal and interest by ensuring adequate grants to the institution. The CCEA has also approved that the modalities for raising money from the market through Government guaranteed bonds and commercial borrowing would be decided in consultation with the Department of Economic Affairs so that the funds are mobilised at the least cost. aking a break from the Mtradition, a total of 1,308 Muslim women are going to Haj this year without Mehram (male companion) as an estimated 1,75,025 pilgrims hailing from across several States would be heading for the pilgrimage from July 14 onwards until July 30. A record number of over 78,761 women, constituting more than 47 per cent of the total Hajis, would be leaving for the Haj, starting from July 14. According to Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, for the first time Muslim women from India are going to Haj without Mehram (male companion). There are 1,308 Muslim women going without a male companion (as per tradition has to be a blood relation). These women are besides those who are traveling with male companions. In an attempt to facilitate Haj travel of Muslim women in Saudi Arabia Naqvi said for the first time, a large number of women Haj Coordinators, Haj Assistants and Khadim Ul Hujjaj, doctors and para-medics have been deployed in that country. A total of 98 Assistant Haj Officers, Haj Assistants Haj Coordinators, doctors and para-medics have been stationed to assist Haj pilgrims. A total of 1,75,025 Haj pilgrims, the largest since Independence, hailing from across several States would He urged the young officers to be part of Team India in contributing to the making of New India. A short film on the programme of attaching of assistant secretaries in the Central Government was also screened during the event. Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha, Secretary (Personnel) P Chandramouli and other senior officers were also attended the function. As many as 176 IAS officers of 2016 batch have been posted as assistant secretaries in different Central Government Departments as their first posting. The posting is part of a unique initiative started by the Central Government to groom bureaucrats at the Centre before they move out to their respective state cadres. All IAS officers are allotted head for Haj pilgrimage from July 14 onwards, the largest contingent of 19,000 being from Delhi, 8950 from Srinagar, 3,250 from Varanasi and the smallest 254 from Bhopal. Similarly, 6,700 pilgrims will go from Ahmedabad, 350 from Aurangabad, 5,550 from Bengaluru, 11,700 from Cochin, 4,000 from Chennai, 5140 from Gaya, 450 from Goa, 2,950 from Guwahati, 7,600 from Hyderabad, 5,500 from Jaipur, 11,610 from Kolkata, 14,500 from Lucknow, 430 from Mangalore, 14,200 from Mumbai, 2,800 from Nagpur and 2,100 from Ranchi. Naqvi said that despite of removal of Haj subsidy and various new taxes (road, electricity etc) imposed in Saudi Arabia, a record number of Muslims from India are going to Haj this year that too without any additional financial burden. he Chief Election TCommissioner OP Rawat on Wednesday announced that the Commission has decided to establish auxiliary polling stations for the people with disabilities (PwDs) during elections. The CEC said that disability coordinators would be appointed at the levels of assembly constituencies, districts and States. CEC Rawat also announced that a new unit called Accessible Division would be established in the ECI-run International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Management (IIDEM) in the national capital. Speaking at the concluding session of the two days National Level Consultations on Accessible Elections, Rawat said that accessibility Master Trainers would also be employed to provide cascaded trainings for the welfare of the PwDs. The CEC further informed The People with Disabilities (PwDs) would be permitted to avail public transport along with their attendants on the day of polling. The ECI would make available all its election cadres which could either be a state or group of states. The officers are supposed to start their career in their respective cadre states. As per the rules, IAS officers are eligible to come on central deputation only after completing nine years service at their respective cadres. These IAS officers are on central deputation for 13 weeks, with effect from July 2 this year. related awareness materials in accessible formats for the PwDs. The photo voter slips would also be made in accessible formats for them. For the use of the hearing impaired voters, sign language windows will be established in all audiovisual training and awareness contents of the Commission. The CEC said that that a mobile app would be developed in-house for the PwDs to facilitate them participate fully in election processes.

3 issatisfied with the Danswer of Commercial Tax and Excise Minister Amar Agrawal over complete ban on liquor sale in the State, Opposition Congress members staged walkout over the issue from the Chhattisgarh Assembly on A detailed probe into the matter by a Committee which had been set up is underway and soon the government will decide in the matter, the Minister said. During the question hour, Congress member Bhupesh Baghel raised the issue of sale of beer in the state. He demanded answer from the Minister that why the sale of liquor is decreasing in the state. Whether it was because of he Opposition Congress Tmembers on Wednesday tried to corner the State government on the case of alleged beating up of Independent MLA Dr Vimal Chopra by policemen in Mahasamund district. Congress member Satyanarayan Sharma said that a privilege notice has already been served on the issue. Speaker Gaurishankar Agrawal said that he will allow discussion on the issue but MLA Dr Vimal Chopra had not yet issued any statement in this regard to the Assembly Secretariat. omen workers of WBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be playing a key role during the upcoming Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, BJP's National Women's Wing President Vijaya Rahatkar said here on She is currently on a three-day tour of the State. Addressing media persons, Rahatkar said that the party will deploy 10 workers in every booth. The women workers will take the policies of Central and State government to the people of the State. On the Vikas Yatra, she said that the State government had been seeking help of women workers in its development journey. The BJP had been in power in Chhattisagrh for the last 15 years on account of good work done by Chief Minister Raman Singh, Rahatkar said. Just for the record, the He said that as soon as the Member notifies the case, a thought will be given for a discussion in the House. It may be recalled that MLA was beaten blue and black by Mahasamund police a fortnight ago. He along with his supporter had staged demo at State BJP Mahila Morcha in Raipur had carried out appointment of 10 members each on August 4, 2013 at the the Kotwali Police Station in Mahasamund over a matter of eve teasing of girl handball players in local stadium. He later staged a sit-in even though section 144 was imposed. Police under the then City Superintendent of Police Uday Kiran had unleashed cane charge on the agitating group led by MLA. The police also did not spare the MLA. He too was charged with cane. The controversial police official, Kiran was later transferred to Durg, after cabinet ministers conducting on spot probe. Ministers also came out heavily against the action of police official. booth level to prepare for the last Assembly polls in the State. The appointments were he highest number of Maoists Tnumbering 145 have been arrested from Sukma district between January 1, 2018 and March 31, 2018, the Chhattisgarh Assembly was informed. A total of 76 insurgents were held in Bijapur during made during the meeting of 16 Circle presidents and general secretaries of the Mahila Morcha in Chhattisgarh. the period.the details of arrests made in various other districts is as follows- - Bastar (4), Narayanpur (33), Dantewada (10), Bijapur (76), Kanker (9) and Kondagaon (25). A total of 2262 Maoists were arrested during the period and 80 guns recovered from the reason that government was forcefully selling a particular brand which is not in demand, he queried. Baghel also queried why a particular brand of beer was on sale in state. Regarding decrease in sale of beer, Agrawal informed that bars along highways were not given permission to operate this financial year and thus the number of bars has decreased. It has been reduced to half from 250 to 125. Now, liquor is not easily available to people therefore the sale had decreased, the Minister added. Charging that the State government was only interested in collecting revenue while ignoring health of the people of the State, Baghel further queried why when the landing price of beer is Rs 40, why it is being sold at higher price range of Rs ? In his reply, the Minister informed that license cost and duty is added to the landing price. The appointments were part of the party's Mission programme for the last Assembly polls. them, Home Minister Ramsewak Paikra informed Congress member Kawasi Lakhma in a written reply. That is why the selling price is higher. There is no addition to our new liquor policy; it had already existed previously, he added. Later, the Congress member questioned whether the Government was imposing liquor ban or not. The Minister said, I have repeatedly said that a Committee has been constituted which is studying pros and cons of the ban. A decision would be taken after its recommendation. hief Minister Dr Raman CSingh welcomed the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led central government decision to hike the support price of kharif and rabi crops, including the support price of paddy. Singh extended thanks to Prime Minister from side of state farmers and residents. He said Chhattisgarh key crop is paddy while in tribal and mountainous region, the maize cultivation is being promoted. The decision would benefit lakhs of farmers of state. Chief Minister also echoed the same sentiments during the reply to discussion for the first supplementary budget in state assembly on He said that it is a historical day for the farmers. He said that with hike is minimum support price of Rs 200, it has been hiked from Rs 1550 to Rs 1750 per quintal. The state government is already giving Rs 300 per quintal as bonus. Thus it has reached total Rs 2050 per quintal. he Janjgir-Champa district Thas the largest number of country liquor shops at 47 in the State, the Chhattisgarh Assembly was informed on In a written reply to Congress member Deepak Baij, Commercial tax and excise Minister Amar Agrawal presented the district-wise data of Dissatisfied with the answer of the Minister, the Congress members staged a Similarly, the support price of maize per quintal has been hiked by Rs 275. The existing is Rs 1425 which will be now Rs country liquor shops which is as follows-raipur 27, Baloda Bazar 21, Gariaband 8, Durg, 36, Bemetara, 11, Balod 1, Rajnandgaon 16, Kabeerdham 17, Dhamtari 18, Mahasamund 24, Kanker 5, Bastar 2, Kondagaon 2, Dantewada 1, Sukma 2, Bijapur 2, Narayanpur 1, Bilaspur 44, Mungeli 10, Korba 20, Raigarh 28, Jashpur 4, Surguja 1, Balrampur 0, Surajpur 3 and Koriya 15. walkout from the assembly under leadership of Leader of Opposition T.S. Singhdeo per quintal. For pulses, apart from Moong, MSP of arhar (tur) has been raised by Rs 225 per quintal yielding a return over cost by per cent and urad by Rs 200 per quintal with a return over cost by per cent in order to maintain intercrop-price parity. Similarly, the MSP of Bajra has been raised by Rs.525 per quintal yielding a return of per cent over cost. Before the address of Chief Minister, Agriculture and Water Resources minister Brijmohan Agrawal intimated the House regarding the hike of support prices for kharif and rabi crops. The Opposition members mainly Dhanendra Sahu, Kawasi Lakhma, Amarjeet Singh Bhagat and others stated that bonus was not been given for last three years. Government should also pay the arrears as per the promise made to farmers. But countering it, Brijmohan said the hike has total reached around Rs 2050, that is within Rs 2100 as per promise. F orest Minister Mahesh Gagda informed Chhattisgarh Assembly on Wednesday that a total of 123 trees were felled in Narayaranpur Assembly segment during till May hief Minister Raman Singh on Wednesday planted saplings on the premises of Assembly as Ca part of 'Hariyar Chhattisgarh Mission'. He planted 'Rudhdraksh' sappling. he activists of Janata Assembly Speaker Gaurishankar Agrawal, Home Minister Ramsevak Paikra, Forest Minister TCongress Chhattisgarh Mahesh Gaagda, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ajay chandrakar, Food minister Punnulal Mohale, Tribal Development Minister Kedar Kashyap, Cultural Affairs Minister Dayaldas Baghel, Sports Minister Bhayyalal Rajwade, Women and Child Development Minister Ramsheela Sahu, senior officials of the forest department were also present. MLAs and Parliamentary Secretaries also planted Rudraksh, Moulsri, Amaltaas, Kachnaar, Neem, Jamun, Mango, Guava and Mundi saplings. Jogi (JCC) (J) on Wednesday attempted gherao of the Chhattisgarh Assembly. However, the attempt of party workers to gherao the State Assembly was foiled by the police near Avanti Bai Lodhi Chowk in the city. The police had to resort to light cane charge to disperse the workers. The JCC (J) workers under leadership of Amit Jogi earlier had staged a sit-in for istrict Education Officer pressing their demand for D(DEO), Raipur A.N. imposition of complete prohibition, Banjara issued notices to 11 of loan waiver of farm- the schools of the city which ers, hike in Minimum had remained closed during Support Price (MSP) of paddy gherao programmes of the at Rs 2100 per quintal, reservation political parties. He also called of 90% jobs for local a meeting of the school representatives youth in government jobs to express his reser- among others. vation for their action. After addressing the gathering, All these schools situated Amit Jogi left for New on way to the Chhattisgarh Brighton International School Notably, the Traffic department Delhi. The gherao attempt State Assembly had remained Vidhan Sabha Road, Gyan had issued an advisory was later made by the activists closed on Tuesday and Ganga Educational Academy for July 3 and 4 and had asked under leadership of R.K. Rai, These schools Vidhan Sabha Road, Sandipani the schools for taking an alternative Siyaram Kaushik and Richa include N.H. Goyal World Vidyalaya, Campion School, route for the school Jogi. School, Nardaha, Aarambh Vicon School, Bharatiya Vidya buses plying on the Vidhan Police detained the agitating Vidyalaya, Nardaha, Delhi Bhavan and Colombia Global Sabha routes to reach their destinations. JCC (J) workers near Public School Semaria, School. Avanti Bai Lodhi Chowk and minor scuffle between the workers and police was 2018 for road construction. In a written reply to Congress member Santram Netam, the Minister informed that Rs 94,157 were deposited with the State government after tree felling. No trees were planted in place of felled trees, he informed. H ome Minister Ramsewak Paikra informed Chhattisgarh Assembly on Wednesday that a total of 14 districts have been identified as insurgency infested in the State. In a written reply to Congress member Dewti Karma, the Minister informed that the districts of Bijapur, Sukma, Dantewada, Bastar, Kondagaon, Kanker, Narayanpur, Rajnandgaon, Balod, Dhamtari, Mahasamund, Gariaband, Balrampur and Kabeerdham had been identified as insurgency infested. The parameters followed to describe a district as insurgency infested are- Maoist incidents during the last five years, the efforts by Maoists organisations to strengthen their presence in various districts, the fire power, activities and presence of Dalams, organisations supporting Maoists through logistics and efforts made by police and administration to curb Maoist activities. reported. A light cane charge was also done by policemen to control the situation and prevent the agitated activists from crossing the barricades.

4 unjab Chief Minister Capt PAmarinder Singh on Wednesday made a strong recommendation to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for amending the existing laws to provide for death penalty for first-time drug smugglers and peddlers. Taking forward his Cabinet s decision on the issue, the Chief Minister has written a DO letter to the Union Home Minister seeking urgent steps to initiate the process of amending the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act to provide for more deterrent punishment to drug offenders. Given the magnitude of the problem, which had been denied during the last many years, these enforcement measures though yielding results, need to be further strengthened. In this direction, it is felt that the existing drug prevention and control laws should be revisited to provide for more deterrent punishment to the offenders, wrote the Chief Minister, citing various measures already taken by his government to enforce the existing laws to prevent drug abuse as also to ensure rehabilitation and de-addiction of those who indulge in it. Needless to say, the intensive action plan unfolded and executed by us during the last over a year has resulted in arrest of 18,977 drug peddlers and treatment of more than two lakh drug victims, he has pointed out. Giving further details, the Chief Minister has revealed that more than 3,977 NDPS convicts and 5,610 NDPS undertrials are in different prisons of the state. The state government has already initiated a mass awareness programme, namely the Drug Abuse Prevention Officers Prevention (DAPOs) programme, which is aimed at effective participation of civil society in prevention of drug abuse in the State, the letter further reads. In his letter, the Chief Minister has further pointed out that the existing NDPS Act, 1985, provides for death penalty for certain offences if these are committed for a second time. This means that a person can indulge in these nefarious activities and get away at least once, causing substantial damage to the youth and the society, he lamented. Capt Amarinder said that From page 1 Bharat Rs 305 core, Chief Minister Pension scheme starting from April 2018, Rs 4.89 lakh provision has been made. It would be provided to all 4.89 lakh beneficiaries not falling under existing pension scheme. A provision of Rs 200 crore has been made. Paddy bonus has been already given now for chick pea (chana) farmers at rate of Rs 1500 per acre as appreciation amount would be given for which provision of Rs 120 crore has been made. Six new tehsils would be established in state, Gandai in Rajnandgaon, Lawan and Bhatgaon in Baloda Bazar, Chirmiri in Koriya, Rengakhar in Kabeerdham and Shivrinarayan in Janjgir- Champa district. Provision of Rs 1025 crore has been made for merger and regularization of Shikshakarmi where those completing 8 years would get all benefits along with promotion eligibility. This would benefit 1 lakh shikshakarmi. On other announcements, Chief Minister said that from January 1, 2016 government is providing 7th Pay Commission benefits due to which 2.5 lakh government servants are receiving 15% wage benefit. The pensioners retired before January 1, 2016 would also get benefit of pay commission which would be around 2.57 percent and the family pension benefit would be from April 1, Around 80,000 pensioners would benefit from it. The gratuity amount for retired employees has been hiked to maximum Rs 20 lakhs from Rs 10 lakh. Provision of Rs crore has been made for hiked honorarium for Mitanins which would benefit around 70,000 while the hike is around Rs 400 to Rs More than 500 subengineers having served water resources department for 30 to 40 years would be promoted and pay-scale would be given. Anganbadi workers and assistants of around would benefit from April 1, 2018 for which provision has been made of Rs lakh. Similarly, Kotwards would get 2.5 percent hiked honorarium, Panchayat secretaries to get higher wages and special allowances which will benefit around panchayat secretaries. The higher scale of grade pay 2400 has been fixed. Those completing 15 years and less would get Rs 1500 as special allowance. The employment assistants having completed 5 years would get Rs 5450 and less than it would get Rs 5000 from April 1, his government felt that this should not be allowed to happen and even first-time offenders should be awarded death penalty for offences which are clearly elaborated in Section 31 A of the NDPS Act, We have come to this conclusion after a comprehensive discussion and feel that resultant deterrence of provisions of death penalty in the Act ibid, will help us in effectively containing if not eliminating the drug peddlers and mafia operating not only in Punjab, but also in other parts of the country, he has written in his letter. The Chief Minister apprised Rajnath about the magnitude of drug problem in Punjab, noting that drug dealing and peddling has caused serious strains on the state s human and economic resources. n the wake of Chief Minister IYogi Adityanath s recent statement asking for quota for SC/ST students in Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia, the UP SC/ST Commission issued notice to Aligarh Muslim University on Asserting that AMU was not a minority institution, UP SC/ST Commission chairman Brij Lal asked the varsity to explain why it does not give reservation to SC/ST students. We have asked AMU as to why SC/ST students have not been given reservation. Under what circumstances it has been done, Brij Lal said at a Press conference in Lucknow on The former DGP added, It seems that AMU is not following constitutional responsibility and anything further can be said only after a reply from the AMU. Brij Lal stated that the tarting with setting its own house in Sorder and further tightening the noose around drug abuse in the state, Punjab Government has decided to make dope test mandatory for all the government employees, including the police personnel. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday issued the orders to this effect making dope test mandatory from the time of government employees recruitment through every stage of their service. For the purpose, the Chief Minister has directed the state Chief Secretary Supreme Court and various High Court directives have established that AMU was not a minority institution. The Supreme Court has not yet passed any order in which AMU was prevented from providing reservation to SC/STs. In the light of the SC and HC directives, it has been established that AMU is not a minority institution, he said. The Commission will use its power and issue summons to them, said Brij Lal, on being asked the future discourse of AMU if in case it did not reply within the time. National SC Commission chairman and BJP MP Ramshankar Katheria on Tuesday had summoned AMU Vice-Chancellor in Aligarh. He said that he has given a month s time to AMU to furnish proof of its minority status and if the varsity failed to provide the documents and still did not introduce quota for SC/ST and OBCs then the Commission would urge the Karan Avtar Singh to work out modalities and have necessary notification issued. Capt Amarinder has ordered drug screening to be mandatorily done in all cases of recruitment and promotions, as well as the annual medical examination that certain employees are required to undergo in accordance with the nature of their duties, an official spokesperson said. Dope test would be made mandatory for all recruitments as well as promotions to be made by various Punjab government departments, said the spokesperson. Further, dope test would also be made a mandatory part of the annual medical examination of all civilian or police Centre to stop grants to the varsity. In the absence of the AMU V-C, pro-vc Professor Tabassum Shahab explained the varsity s stand to the commission. Shahab said under the AMU Act of 1981 passed by Parliament, the university was accorded minority status. Minority institutions were barred from other constitutional reservations under Section 15(5), she underlined. The Pro-VC also stated that the matter of minority status of AMU was pending in the apex court. He said that AMU has not followed reservation policy for Muslims though internal students of institute get 50 per cent reservation without any discrimination of caste, creed or faith. The Professor said that AMU will reply on questions of the commission on reservation. employees of the Punjab government, wherever prescribed. The move is part of the series of initiatives taken by the Chief Minister over the last three days to eliminate the drug menace from Punjab. The orders came on the day when the Chief Minister formally communicated his Cabinet s recommendation to the Centre, seeking amendment to the NDPS Act to provide for death penalty for firsttime offenders too. The Chief Minister has already issued a strict warning to drug smugglers and peddlers to give up their nefarious activities or face stringent action.

5 S President Donald Trump Uhas praised immigration enforcement officials, saying their actions against illegal immigrants, in particular those with criminal background, are like liberating a town in combat. We respect ICE.... These are tough people. You have to be tough. But when these people come in to our country and come in illegally, and then they re dispersed throughout the country and all of a sudden you see nests of MS-13. You know, it s like you re liberating towns, Trump said at a salute to service dinner in White Sulphur Springs of West Virginia yesterday. We send ICE in, and for ICE it s just another day like Phil, and John, and Keegan -- all of the guys, and Bubba. Like the way they play golf -- they go, they play. They don t know he US has been unfairly Tforced to bear the financial burden of NATO, the White House has said, ahead of President Donald Trump s Europe visit next week which includes attending a summit of the 29-member bloc in Brussels. The remarks by the White House yesterday came amid reports that during the NATO Summit, Trump would be asking its member countries and leaders to increase their spendings on defence. As you guys know, he (Trump) has shown some frustration there on the financial burden that the United States unfairly is forced to bear, and he wants changes, White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley told reporters travelling with the President aboard Air Force One. it s hard. They don t know what that is. These guys they walk in to those areas, they take them out of there so fast -- they re not afraid of anything, the president added. Trump was referring to eminent golfers Phil Mickelson, John Daly, Keegan Bradley and Bubba Watson, all of whom were in the audience. It is like you re liberating a town. Like in a war, you re liberating a town or an area. And ICE goes in there, and sometimes they have to go in swinging. They don t mind. They re tough, Trump said as he slammed the opposition Democratic party leaders who he said wanted to abandon the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). We are not abandoning ICE. We are not abandoning our law enforcement, it s just the opposite, the US President said. That is something he s been very clear about, he added. Before returning home, Trump would also hold his maiden summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland on July 16. The White House yesterday insisted that it is important to have better relationship with Russia. We think it s important to have a good relationship with Russia because the President feels as though there are times when you need to work with Russia in very shared areas of interest like preventing terrorism, Gidley said. But, as you know, he s also been the toughest on Russia of any other President. And when it s time to work with Russia, it s time to work with Russia. And when it s not, it s not. And he s been pretty clear about that, he said. ormer Malaysian Prime FMinister Najib Razak was charged in court on Wednesday with criminal breach of trust and corruption, two months after a multibillion-dollar graft scandal at a state investment fund led to his shock election defeat. He pleaded not guilty to all charges. I claim trial, he said in a barely audible voice as he stood in the dock at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur. Prosecutors demanded 4 million ringgit (nearly USD 1 million) bail, but the judge set the amount at 1 million ringgit in cash (USD 250,000) and ordered Najib to surrender his two diplomatic passports. The patrician and luxuryloving Najib, wearing a suit and a red tie, appeared calm and smiled as he was escorted into the court complex. He had been arrested yesterday by anti-graft officials over a suspicious transfer of 42 million ringgit (USD 10.4 million) into his bank accounts from SRC International, a former unit of the 1MDB state United Nations: UN Secretary- General Antonio Guterres has appointed a veteran Uruguay Army general as the chief military observer of the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), which New Delhi says has outlived its utility and relevance after the Shimla Agreement. Major General Jose Eladio Alcain will succeed the incumbent UNMOGIP chief Major General Per Gustaf Lodin of Sweden, who will complete his two-year assignment this month, an official statement said. Alcain had a distinguished career with the Uruguayan Army since Most recently, he held the position of Director of the National Health Service of the Armed Forces. The Secretary-General expressed his gratitude to Lodin for his contribution to UN s peacekeeping efforts. The UNMOGIP was established in January 1949 with first team arriving in Jammu and Kashmir to supervise the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, and to assist the Military Adviser to the UN Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP), established in 1948 by the UN Security Council. PTI investment fund that US investigators say was looted of billions by associates of Najib. He was charged with abuse of power leading to gratification under Malaysia s anti-corruption law and three counts of criminal breach of trust. Each charge has a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Whipping is also a penalty but Najib would be exempt because of his age. Najib, 64, has accused Malaysia s new government of seeking political vengeance. In a recorded video posted on social media hours after his arrest, Najib apologised to Malaysians but remained defiant. As a normal human being, I am not perfect but believe me, that the accusations against me and my family are not all true, he said. New Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad reopened investigations into 1MDB that were stifled under Najib s rule. Najib set up 1MDB when he took power in 2009 but the fund amassed billions in debts and is being investigated in the US and several other countries. akistan does not see India- PUS ties through any specific lens, the country s new envoy to the US said on Wednesday, asserting that every country can maintain multiple relationships with key partners. Pakistan s Ambassador to the US Ali Jahangir Siddiqui cited Pakistan s relationships with China and the US as an example. I think every country can maintain multiple relationships with key partners. Pakistan, China, and the US are both key partners, Siddiqui told Bloomberg News in an interview. Just as for India, I m sure the Indian government has the US as a partner and several others. So we don t see the US relationship with India through any specific lens. And we hope our relationship with the US is also not viewed with some other lens, Siddiqui said. Responding to questions, Siddique underscored the economic potential of US-Pakistan relationship. ranian President Hassan IRouhani on Wednesday began the second leg of his European tour seeking assurances over the 2015 nuclear deal, a trip clouded by the arrest of a Tehran diplomat over an alleged bomb plot against opposition exiles in Paris. Hoping to boost economic cooperation to help offset the return of US sanctions following Washington s pullout from the historic deal, Rouhani arrived late yesterday in Vienna the city where it was signed. Insofar as it is possible for Iran, we shall remain party to the accord, we shall not quit the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) on condition that we can also benefit from it, Rouhani said. If the other signatories, apart from the United States, can guarantee Iran s interests then Iran will stay in the JCPOA, he insisted. US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the agreement nearly two months ago, to the ire of the other signatories China, France, Germany, Britain and Russia which along with the European Union have continued to back the accord. We need a balance between our duties and the hypothesis of restrictions... We hope for decisive actions regarding trade and the economy, added Rouhani in comments sending a message to the other deal signatories, whose foreign ministers are due to meet in Vienna on Friday for the first time since Trump s umbai attack mastermind Mand banned Jamaat-ud- Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed has launched an intense election campaign in different parts of Pakistan urging people to vote for his candidates in the July 25 general elections to safeguard the two-nation ideology and avert a water crisis. Saeed inaugurated the election offices of the Milli Muslim League (MML), the political wing of the JuD, in Lahore, Islamabad, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Faisalabad and Jhang and addressed rallies there during the last one week. The appeal he is making in his speeches is vote for those who can stop India from building dams on Pakistani rivers so that Pakistan do not face water crisis in days to come, safeguard the two-nation ideology and help Kashmiris to get freedom and make the country a strong citadel of Islam. Saeed also promises to provide a new political leadership that will change the destiny of Pakistan. We have decided to enter the political arena to make Pakistan stronger. We are not running our election campaign in a conventional way, he said while addressing the MML activists at the JuD headquarters in Lahore today. He said politicians have made politics a profitable business, but the MML will not. We will not do business after getting elected. We have to fight Pakistan s case. We have to stop foreign interference in our matters and liberate its influence, he said, asking the people not to vote for those (PML-N) that did not stop India from building dams on Pakistani rivers. As the MML has failed to get registered as a political party with the Election Commission of Pakistan, its candidates are contesting on the platform of a little known outfit Allah-u-Akbar Tahreek (AAT). Hafiz Saeed s son, son-in-law and 13 women are among 265 JuD candidates contesting on AAT platform in July 25 general elections on national and provincial assemblies seats across Pakistan. Saeed, who also carries a USD 10 million American bounty on his head for his role in terror activities, is not contesting the election. The JuD had formed MML when Saeed was under detention by the Punjab government in Lahore. Saeed and his four aides - Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain - were placed under house arrest in Lahore on January 30 under anti- terrorism act. decision to dump the deal. Austria just took up the European Union s six-month rotating presidency, while Vienna is the home of the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, which monitors Iran s compliance with the accord. New US sanctions against Tehran will encompass businesses from third countries that continue to operate in Iran. A number of foreign firms have already announced they would cease their Iranian activities in light of the looming imposition of sanctions. housands of people have Tsigned a petition to prevent the closure of one of the UK s largest independent Hindu faith schools, the Swaminarayan School here. The Akshar Educational Trust, which runs the school set up in 1992, had announced its closure last month as part of plans to exit the education sector completely by July Parents of students associated with the school have now organised a campaign to save the school of excellence from closure. In a letter to parents, a spokesperson for the school blamed increasing regulatory requirements, difficulties in recruitment and retention of teachers, ready availability of free state-funded Hindu schools, and declining pupil numbers for the move. This is simply not true, notes the Change.Org petition, which has attracted nearly 3,500 signatures since last week. Sensitivity analysis of accounts by experts suggests that with restructuring it is possible for school to run for the foreseeable future, it notes. Beirut: The hardline Wahhabi ISIS group says the son of its leader has been killed fighting Syrian Government forces. The announcement of the death of the young son of Abu Bakr al-baghdadi appeared on the group s social media accounts late Tuesday. It included a picture of a young boy carrying a rifle and identified him as Huthaifa al-badri. The statement, dated this month, said he was an elite fighter, known as an inghimasi, who was killed while fighting Syrian and Russia troops at a power station in the central Homs province. It did not specify when he was killed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group, said the most recent IS operations in the area were in the first two weeks of June. Al-Baghdadi has been reported killed or wounded on a number of occasions but is widely believed to still be alive. Little is known about al-baghdadi s family, but a woman and a child who were said to be his wife and daughter were detained in Lebanon in ISIS has been driven from nearly all the territory it once controlled in Syria and Iraq, though it still maintains a presence in the Syrian desert and remote areas. AP

6 The aftermath So, a survey of millennials in the UK has shown respondents would willingly sacrifice booze, shampoo, sex and, wait for this, even cut off a finger rather than give up their smartphone. The survey findings would have been funny had they not been so tragic. Mobiles are integral to our life but we must draw a line. Keep it real, people. Reading s COMMENT & ANALYSIS An Empire and its nervous periphery S ince the new Emperor sat on the throne in Beijing in 2012, the Middle Kingdom has steadily extended its influence in the periphery of the Empire. The CPC proclaims today: The great rejuvenation of Chinese nation is an unstoppable historical trend that won t be diverted by the will of any individual country or person. The CPC has a dream: For its 100 years in 2049, it wants China to be the most powerful nation in the world. But if one looks at the Empire s neighbourhood, all is not rosy and resentment has been created everywhere, even amongst China s best friends. Take Pakistan, whose friendship is deeper than oceans and sweeter than honey; according to The Tribune, the border trade with China through Khunjerab Pass resumed last week after a three month gap. The reason? A traders strike against a Web-Based One Customs system newly introduced at the Pakistan-Xinjiang border. The newspaper explained: The decision to Hatred for Modi is the sole Opposition glue. Alliances are formed not for national good but for personal survival. Prime Minister NARENDRA MODI Sir This refers to the article, Toll taken by identity politics (July 5) by Prafull Goradia. On the face of it, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi s statement seems to be flowing from his chagrin over a spate of incidents of mob violence in several States wherein a number of members from the miniority communities and the Dalits have lost their lives following the lynching, vigilantism and moral policing. His tall claims of a better law and order situation have fallen flat as he end the strike took place during a meeting held in Gilgit under the supervision of the Army. Traders had blocked the strategic Karakoram Highway which is a part of the multibillion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor project. It is obvious that not everyone is delighted by the largesse of the all-weather sponsor, particularly inhabitants of Gilgit-Baltistan and Baluchistan. A similar phenomenon is happening elsewhere. Last month, The Washington Post published a long investigative piece on Sihanoukville, a new city of 90,000 inhabitants, which has been developed by China in Cambodia. The number of Chinese tourists doubled in a year to 120,000 in 2017, according to The Post: Restaurants, banks, landlords, pawnshops, duty-free stores, supermarkets and hotels all display signs in Chinese. The Cambodian government has allowed extraordinary levels of Chinese investment...thirty casinos have already been built, and 70 more are under construction. The Blue Bay casino promotes itself as one of the iconic projects of China s One Belt, One Road initiative. The smallest studios start at $143,000, while the most prized apartments cost more than $500,000. The Post continued: With the exception of those working in the hotels and casinos, most Cambodians, whose average income is $1,100 a year, are seeing little benefit from this investment. And resentment is mounting. It is the pet project of Hun Sen, the Cambodian Prime Minister, who has been ruling for the past 34 years, his It is necessary to oust the Government in the national interest. There is nothing wrong with like-minded parties coming together. Congress leader ANAND SHARMA Pollution plagues Gurugram A recently released report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) revealed that the use of diesel gensets (DG sets) in residential societies across Gurugram was responsible for increasing the air pollution in the city by as much as 30 per cent. The CSE report further stated that PM2.5 and PM10 levels significantly rose due to the use of diesel gensets and lasted up to one hour after they were switched off. It also found that when gensets were used for several hours, the rise in PM10 was 50 per cent to 100 per cent higher than what was registered before these were switched on. Pollutants also reportedly remained in the air far longer. Sustained use of gensets for eight hours or more in a day led to a situation wherein PM2.5 levels breached the 300-mark while PM10 levels were at 1,900. Thanks to erratic power supply by the State Government and the unfortunate choice of DG sets by residents desperate to bridge the demand supply gap, everybody is doomed as pollution levels have spiked up by nearly 15 times of the safe levels during peak demand period. Ironically, the users of these DG sets, especially in housing societies and multi-storeyed complexes, are also the first one to suffer due to pollution emitted by these DG sets making the children and elderly vulnerable. Those with respiratory problems become risk-prone as well. Dubbed as the millennium city, Gurugram has always been the example cited for extreme commercial progress in the backdrop of severe infrastructure failure. The residents of the satellite city to Delhi are always on tenterhooks for power and water as the absence of one is usually followed by the disappearance of the other. A surprising aspect is the attitude of successive State Governments which, in spite of earning good tax revenues, have been unable to channelise anything towards its infrastructure planning and development. All ambitious policies remain confined to paper. As a result the citizens are left to their devices, leading to shortterm and quick-fix solutions such as DG sets which are nothing short of an environmental disaster. For instance, Haryana s Renewable Energy Department (HAREDA), in 2016, asked large industrial and commercial establishments to install solar panels on their roofs so that they can use the power generated from solar energy instead of diesel sets. However, this order was not applicable to residential buildings. This omission is now costing dearly to the fragile ecology of the region. Additionally, to make matters worse, the CSE report found that big commercial buildings are not fully compliant with the HAREDA order as only five per cent of commercial establishments followed the directive while the rest 95 per cent are yet to do so. This means that, in addition to the scores of residential highrises teeming with people that are dotting Gurugram, the balance 95 per cent of commercial buildings are now relying on DG sets to satisfy their power needs. It is worrisome that there is no foolproof audit mechanism in place for solar power buildings as well. This means that quality and efficiency parameters for solar power set-ups may not be up to the mark, making them just a formality to satisfy the Government regulation and possibly to derive solar power sops and benefits pertaining to property tax filing and so on. The authorities in Haryana have long taken the benefits of the city that is so well placed geographically with the airport within half an hour reach, making the city a favorite for business houses and multinational corporations to quickly set up their offices. But this long-term inability of the Government to provide basic power and water to its residents and even motorable roads in some areas is embarrassing for India compared to the international business community. Attracting foreign investment through jazzy Press events, swish e-portals and apps is not the only thing to do for the authorities. The Government must focus on the experience of the investor as he steps on the ground level. How well the people live and prosper and how well the environment is taken care of shows the Government s sensitivity towards the environment and its own people. Even after decades of development, nearly 70 per cent of the people in Gurugram depend on ground water in absence of piped water supply. Add to this the sewage situation is also in dire straits. These facts prove one thing about India: That it is a country interested in profits and not in the welfare of its people or its environment. This image has to change fast and no one else can do it better than the present Government which has both the resolve and the mandate to undo the damage of decades and turn Gurugram around. (The writer is an environmental journalist) earned the displeasure of the Supreme Court in this regard. However, the parliamentarian s alleged call to the Muslims to vote along religious lines is not going to cut much ice with the community. Owaisi is otherwise a practical Muslim leader who has many a time endorsed the Government s policy on holistic develoment of the people. Recently, he took to task all those trolling his Parliamentary colleague and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on social media. Instead, he is expected to advise the community to lend their support to only those political parties that having sincere solicitude for the minorities betterment i the elections to come. Azhar A Khan Rampur Sir Mumbai often finds itself at crossroads whenever heavy rainfall strikes the city. This time, heavy rainfall led to the collapse of a footover bridge and crippled rail services across the city. It is unfortunate that the Brihanmumbai Municipal I ndia s 5,000-km range Agni- V surface-to-surface ballistic missile is expected to be inducted into the Strategic Force Command soon. This is the latest version of the Agni series of ballistic missiles which was launched 34 years ago as Agni technology demonstrator in The then envisaged technology, with a few add-ons, has matured. However, since global technologies have moved strides ahead, the Agni-V contrary to claims made by the scientists no longer serves the original purpose of deterrence. Especially for China against whom it would be fielded. It has, thus, been reduced to an expensive showpiece. Deterrence means that the adversary, in this case China, should be cautious if not scared of Agni-V. It should desist from military activism on the disputed border for fear of escalation which might go out of control culminating into a nuclear exchange. Given this, it becomes evident that deterrence comes by creating strategic imbalance: By owning a weapon system which the adversary does not have and one which is capable of damaging the adversary s core military strength, or which takes the war to a higher or new level for which the adversary is not prepared. Two examples, one each from Pakistan and China, will help clarify the essence of deterrence. Subsequent to India s 1998 nuclear tests, the United States, in order to prevent a subcontinental nuclear arms race, was keen that Pakistan should not follow suit; various inducements ranging from financial doles to F-16 aircraft to whatever else was up for discussion with Pakistan. The Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was so stunned that he refused a meeting with the US interlocutors Strobe Talbott and Central Command chief, General Anthony Zinni. He simply did not know how to respond. At that point, the Pakistan Army Chief, General Jehangir Karamat met the US team; after listening to them patiently, he told them that Pakistan would do its own nuclear tests to restore the strategic balance. Since India had demonstrated nuclear weapons capability, Pakistan would need to do the same, he added. General Karamat was proved right as within hours of India s nuclear tests, the then deputy Prime Minister LK Advani boasted that Pakistan would now have to re-think on Kashmir. Take China s case. It cannot match the US in either conventional war-fighting platforms or in the range and variety of nuclear weapons. There is a huge gap in the finances that the two spend on developing technologies and annual defence allocations. So, instead of attempting to match US capabilities aircraft carrier for aircraft carrier, China has focussed on developing asymmetric warfare capabilities (a) to hit and destroy US existing stateof-art weapon platforms, like the aircraft carrier and so on, and (b) by attempting to catch up, if not outdo the US in newer domains like cyber, space, electromagnetic spectrum and psychological warfare. By doing so, China has created deterrence through strategic imbalance vis-à-vis the US, a much more powerful adversary. China has developed rockets as anti-satellite weapons; laser pulses to disrupt satellite communication; accurate land and seabased anti-ship cruise missiles to hit carriers and ocean-going ships; a large number of conventional and nuclear attack submarines (accounting for 45 per cent of its naval combatants); excellent cyber warfare capabilities, largest numbers of armed unmanned aerial vehicles and so on. More than anything else, the race for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in warfare has broken out between China and the US. On nuclear weapons, since China cannot match the US, it has declared a no-first-use policy. Making virtue out of necessity, China has said that it will not enter the nuclear arms race; it would only maintain limited stocks of nukes which are being upgraded and modernised. China, like other major powers, is aware that sooner rather than later AI weapons (which are useable) would take over the role of strategic deterrence from nuclear weapons once fully autonomous weapons are introduced into inventories. An interesting book titled, Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War, by Paul Scharre provides insight into where the global AI is headed. Chinese new deterrence has rattled the US. The US President Donald Trump has recently ordered the creation of a new Space Force; the sixth joint willingness to be embraced by China is most evident, said the US newspaper. As a result, serious tensions have appeared between the new landlords and the locals. As The Financial Times put it: Cambodia is not alone in weighing the mixed blessings of Chinese investment, which elsewhere has been welcomed for its scale and relative lack of conditions attached. What is unusual about Sihanoukville s transformation is that tension in the town has coalesced into a public backlash unusual in a country where personal freedoms are fading. Vietnam, too, is caught between the generous Chinese investments and the nationalists demands to not bow to Beijing. The South China Morning Post reported: Earlier this month...more than 1,000 workers went on strike at a Taiwanese shoe factory in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam, blocking a highway. The workers were singing: We don t want to give any of our land away to China, not even for one day. They protested against their own Government s plan to set up three new special economic zones where foreign companies (read China) would be granted decades-long leases. Later the protests swept across Vietnam. The Hong Kong paper said: Police shut down protests in urban centres, and at times clashed with demonstrators, including in Binh Thuan province near Ho Chi Minh City, where protesters burned police vehicles and defaced Government buildings. Production stopped at The relentless pursuit of missiles The Agni series of ballistic missiles has matured with a few add-ons. However, since global technologies have moved strides ahead, the Agni-V no longer serves the original purpose of deterrence command for the US Armed Forces. This move would militarise the space but it might ensure that Chinese capabilities to disrupt and destroy US communications, which are the lifeline for their stand-off operations, remain mitigated. Given all this, where does Agni-V fit into the warfare with China? Nowhere. For one, nothing more than a limited border war between India and China is envisaged. For another, given Chinese existing conventional capabilities, it has little need to Corporation has been unable effectively deal with incidents like these that demand adequate attention and preparedness. In this context, the corporation as well as the Maharashtra Government must come up with a definite and concrete plan to deal with such emergencies. Devendra Khurana Bhopal Sir July 4 is Swami Vivekananda s death anniversary who was an inspiration to the youth. India has the world s largest youth population of 356 million in the age group of years. No doubt, today s youth are more mature and well-informed and take responsible decisions. But they need to be healthy as only a healthy nation can make a nation wealthy. I am sure, our creative, vibrant and dynamic youth will leave no stone unturned and keep the tricolour flying high, not forgetting that Life is a marathon, not 100 metre race. TS Karthik Chennai even threaten a nuclear exchange. India, which like China, has a nofirst-use policy, would ensure that Agni-V in not brought into the war discourse. Pakistan s case is different. It matches the Indian military at the decisive operational (war-fighting) level of war and it has an ambiguous nuclear weapons policy. While no military planner on either side envisages a nuclear exchange, India needs to retain land-based, in addition to the ultimate seabased, deterrence against Pakistan. The Agni-I, with a range of 700 km, which covers Pakistan s entire elongated geography, should suffice. Thus, as far as the Agni series is concerned, except for the Agni- I, all other missiles, namely, Agni- II, Agni-III, Agni-IV, Agni-V, and even the obsolete liquid-fuelled Prithvi should be gradually eased out keeping pace with the induction of newer technologies. These comprise cruise missiles, seabased deterrence, armed unmanned aerial vehicles, standoff and precision weapons. Concurrently, research in space, cyber and AI weapons for the future should be redoubled. This will not be easy for two reasons. One, there is an inherent tendency in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to claim technologies they have not produced as indigenous. Two points will help make this point: The carbon-to-carbon composite heat shield in all ballistic missiles (used in Agni-V which re-enters the atmosphere from space at temperature of 4,000 degree centigrade to ensure systems in payload remain safe), which is a critical technology, as well as the propulsion used in the Nirbhaya subsonic cruise missile are procured from a friendly country. The other problem is the setting of unrealistic targets by the Defence Ministry. For example, the 2018 draft Defence Production Policy envisages India to become a leading world player in AI and autonomous weapon systems by 2025; seven years hence. This target seems to have been borrowed from China s Vision Surely, the Government does not believe that we are in the same league. (The writer is editor, FORCE newsmagazine) multiple Chinese and Taiwanese owned factories across the south of the country. Hundreds of demonstrators had gathered, holding up banners shouting: I love my fatherland don t let China lease our land. Already last year, Forbes titled a report as Violent Protests Against Chinese Colony In Sri Lanka Rage On. In January 2017, as the first brick of a Southern Industrial Zone was laid in Hambantota, violent protests erupted in the new port. It left more than 10 people hospitalised and many others were sent to jail. According to an economic newspaper: A group of demonstrators led by Buddhist monks from nearby Amabalantota took to the streets as the opening ceremony of the industrial zone took place. However, these protesters were met by mobs of Government supporters, who reputedly attacked them with clubs and fists. The monk-led demonstrators fought back by throwing rocks. The police, meanwhile, found themselves in the middle of the fray, using water cannons and tear gas. The reason for the protests was the handing over of the port to the Chinese; the perceived loss of autonomy to a foreign power as well as the potential land grab that could be necessary to build the 15,000-acre industrial zone. One can wonder if Nepal has thought of this aspect of the Chinese generosity. Last month, Prime Minister KP Oli visited Beijing and told Xinhua that Nepal attached great value to its relationship with China which has always respected its sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. During the visit, it was announced that China would build a railway connecting Tibet with Nepal. It was one of several bilateral deals signed during the Nepali Prime Minister s visit. The rail link will connect the Tibetan city of Shigatse to Kathmandu, Nepal s capital, via the border port of Kyirong. According to a Chinese official website, the two sides further signed 10 other agreements involving technology, transportation, infrastructure and political cooperation. Nepal has also inked a $2.5 billion deal with China s state-owned Gezhouba Group to build a hydropower facility in the west of the country. The China Daily quoted Li Keqiang, the Chinese Premier, saying: China would also like to work with Nepal to build a cross-himalayan connectivity network through aviation, trading ports, highways and telecommunications. It sounds good, especially in Kathmandu, but as I was finishing writing this piece, a Twitter message came in saying, A Chinese rubber factory in Talgar, Kazakhstan, burned by locals today. Talgar is located some 20 km from Almaty, the Kazakh capital. Here too resentment is growing. The moral of the story: There is no free meal and a nation like Nepal will sooner or later realise this, even if the Chinese dishes are appetising to start with; in fact the Indian food may be less tasty, but it definitively leaves less hangovers. (The writer is an expert on India-China relations and an aauthor)

7 ome more troubles in the Sfirst political family of Bihar seemed to be in store with the emergence of a new face. In the Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi family a new face which was spotted on the banners and posters of the 22nd foundation day of the RJD was that of Aishwarya Rai. The hoardings coming up at public places and believed to be sponsored by the supporters of couple s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav have the face of former Health Minister s wife. Tongues wagged amid the power tussle in the family with Tej feeling slighted and younger day after his induction in ABJP Government as senior Minister, disgruntled Congress leader Kuvarji Bavalia was on Wednesday allocated Water Supply, Animal Husbandry and Rural Housing portfolios by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani after weekly cabinet meeting. 63-year-old Bavalia who is also president of All India Koli Samaj had resigned from Congress party as well as Jasdan MLA on Tuesday andsported saffron scarf at BJP s Gujarat headquarter Shri Kamalam on Tuesday. Within couple of hours of joining BJP, he took oath as senior Minister in Rupani s Council of Minister. In the 20 member 2-tier Council of Ministers, Bavalia became 10th cabinet rank minister that also include CM Rupani, Deputy CM Nitin Patel, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, RC Faladu, Ganapatsinh Vasava, Kaushik Patel, Saurabh Patel, Jayesh Radadia, Dilip Thakor and Ishwar Parmar. As the strong Koli leader resigned as Congress MLA to become BJP minister, he will have to get re-elected within six months time inorder to continue on his post. It is worth mentioning that in order to accommodate the new inductee, CM Rupani tweaked senior Minister Faladu from whom Animal Husbandry portfolio taken away and has been given to Bavalia. From Wednesday onwards Faladu would hold Agriculture, Rural Development, Fisheries and Transport. Similarly Minister of State Parbat Patel who was having Water Resources and Water Supply (both independent charges), would lose independent charge of Water Supply. Entry of Bavalia in saffron fold would held the ruling party to make major dent in Congress s Koli dominated bastions, especially in Saurashtra region in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Four time MLA and former Member of Parliament is connected with few educational institutes. He is having relatively clean image within Koli community as well as other castes also. Sources close to Bavalia said that despite the Koli leader s historic win in 2009 Lok Sabha polls from Rajkot constituency which is considered as BJP bastion, he was ignored by top Congress leadership and was neither made Union Minister in UPA-2 Government nor given any important position within the party. Despite the fact, he remainedwithin the party fold for almost one decade, but the Congress leadership continuously ignored him and finally he took the decision to join BJP, said a close aide of Bavalia. brother Tejashwi Prasad Yadav going more powerful in the family as well as in the party. The foundation day would be observed on Thursday in the absence of party supremo Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi is likely to play the role of heir apparent and next in command. Once again Tej was ignored as his name missed from the party s invitation card. The event has come only two days after Tej posted a highly critical post on social media accusing his mother of not listening to his grievances and alleged that some party workers were spreading canard against him in his assembly constituency Mahua that Tej was mad and hen-pecked. After a few hours when the family went into a turmoil and family meeting was held Tej claimed his Facebook account was hacked by Nitish Kumar, BJP and RSS, all scared of my growing popularity. But the former Minister did not file a police complaint regarding hacking of his social media account, not till date, which gave credence to the reports that it had been posted by himself and retreated after being pursued by the family members. Reports filtered through the family sources alleged that Aishwarya, married to Tej only two months ago, was also playing a role in instigating her husband after watching that he was side lined in the party affairs and had little say in the family matters. The photo of Aishwarya on the posters and banners could be another source of tension in the family. But those knowing Tej said that this could be a pressure tactics by him to bring his wife in political limelight. There is no clash in the family, said Tej and brushed aside the fact that his name was missing from the invitation card saying his photo was there on the posters and banners. It is ours party. It hardly makes a differences whether my name is there or not. RSS and BJP are doing conspiracy against me. I and Tejashwi (Krishna and Arjun) will frustrate their designs, said Mahua MLA who declared he would blow the conch shell at the foundation day in support of Tejashwi. But the event gave yet another opportunity to the opposition to sharpen attack. JD(U) spokesman Neeraj Kumar said, Now the weakest person in the RJD is Lalu Prasad and he is being ignored by his family members. RJD is a family party and only the members of that family can get a post there. BJP leader and Agriculture Minister Prem Kumar added, RJD is on the verge of split and the family on disintegration. he annual Amarnath pil- was temporarily Tgrimage halted on Wednesday due to inclement weather as normal life remained affected in Kashmir Valley due to heavy rainfall on Tuesday evening that resulted into loss of human life and property in several areas. At least three Amarnath pilgrims were killed in a landslide in Baltal area while two local yougsters died in Nigeen lake when their boat capsized he Uttar Pradesh TGovernment has ordered the Director, Pension, Director Treasury and all the District Magistrates to immediately ensure payment of revised pension arrear as per the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission to the pensioners of the State. The Government has issued the order in view of nonpayment of arrear by some treasuries of the state. Funds sanctioned to construct dispensary in Shamli and Balrampur The Uttar Pradesh Government has sanctioned lakh as second installment in the current financial year under the Multi Sectoral Development Plan (MSDP) hirteen new medical colleges Tand hospitals will come up in Bihar and with their completion within next 3-4 years the State will have altogether 26 such medical institutions. Of the 13 present medical colleges, eight are owned by the State Government, three by private parties and two: Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences and AIIMS are autonomous. Of the 13 medical colleges coming up MoU has been signed with the Centre for five at Jamui, Buxar, Madhubani, Sitamarhi and Siwan while the Centre has already given its approval for three more at Purnia, Chhapra and Samastipur. Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey said at Madhepura the medical college and hospital was under construction after the name of Karpoori Thakur. This hospital at the cost of 781 crore will be operational by March next. Another in East Champaran was also under construction while a dental college will come up at Rahui in Nalanda district with 100 bed hospital. One private medical college has got approval due to a windstorm. The weatherman has predicted improvement in overall weather pattern in the Valley from Thursday. At least three Amarnath pilgrims were killed after landslide hit the Railpathri- Brarimarg track stretch near Baltal, the alternate route to Amarnath Cave in Ganderbal district on Tuesday evening. Three persons including two porters were injured in the mishap. The heavy downpour wreaked havoc across the valley causing heavy damage to crops and uprooting trees. Power supply was snapped in several parts of the Valley. The authorities closed Mughal Road for vehicular traffic due to landslides. Officials said two more pilgrims died of cardiac arrest at the Baltal Base camp area. at Madhubani. The courses of MBBS will be carried out in all these medical colleges once they are complete. All these medical colleges will have hospitals attached with them, said Pandey and added that a 106 bed super specialty eye hospital was also being setup in Patna. The construction of the new medical colleges will push up the medical education in Bihar and the new hospitals will be helpful to the patients in the State who usually go to Patna or out of Bihar or treatment, the Minister hoped. The health scenario in Bihar had not been very healthy with sub-standard education and very little medicare facilities. The situation has changed gradually and healthcare is now available everywhere with free medicines at the Government primary health centres and the district hospitals. For the past few years the number of patients approaching these centres has increased manifold, Pandey added. The poor health situation in Bihar was mirrored in the report of National Health Accounts and uploaded on Union Health A senior police official said that restoration work on damaged track stretch between Domail and Sangam at two to three places along Baltal route was underway. He said only after reviewing the weather and track condition, the yatra will be resumed. Helicopter services remained in operation from Baltal Base Camp to transport approved number of pilgrims upto Panjtarni for onward journey towards the holy cave. Meanwhile, a fresh batch of over 3700 pilgrims including over 600 women devotees today left Jammu for the yatra. In another incident, at least seven Amarnath pilgrims were injured in an accident on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in the Ramban district. The injured have been shifted to the hospital. for constructing a Homoeopathic Dispensary in Shamli district. It is worth mentioning that the first installment for constructing a Homoeopathic Dispensary in Nagal village of Thana Bhavan development block of Shamli district was sanctioned earlier. Similarly, Government has sanctioned 1.68 crore under the Multi Sectoral Development Plan (MSDP) for constructing Primary Health Centre and Residential Building, and Government Ayurvedic Hospital and Residential Building in three development blocks of Balrampur district. A Government order has been issued in this regard by the Minorities Welfare and Waqf Department. Ministry s website which said that per capita Government spending on health in Bihar was lowest in the country. The Government spending was merely 338 per capita per year in Bihar whereas it was 2016 in Himachal Pradesh and even in neighbouring Jharkhand it was 480. The household burden on medical spending in Bihar was reported to be 1685 per year. Pandey admitted that Government spending was lowest in Bihar but claimed that during the past two years situation has improved a little and now the spending has increased to nearly 500 per capita per year. The Minister announced that Bihar will launch Centre s ambitious Ayushman Bharti Yojna to 1.08 crore families from August 15. Under the scheme, announced in the Union Budget, 5 lakh health insurance on assurance mode will be extended to the beneficiaries and State Health Society has been identified as nodal agency to carry out the scheme. The beneficiaries will enjoy freedom of treatment anywhere in the country in the empaneled hospitals. irst time after the imposi- of Governor s rule in Ftion Jammu & Kashmir, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh arrived here on a 2-day visit to review the security situation amid continuation of annual Amarnath pilgrimage. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and home secretary Rajiv Gauba are accompanying the Minister along-with a battery of top security officials. The Home Minister held a detailed meeting with Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan followed by toplevel security meeting to assess the ground situation after the fall of Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP-BJP coalition on June 19. The Home Minister is expected to pay obeisance at the holy Amarnath Cave on Thursday. Singh had visited Kashmir on June 7 during the holy month of Ramzan when the central government had announced unilateral cessation of anti-militant operations. The ceasefire was not extended beyond Ramzan. Sources said that Governor Vohra, his team of advisors and top security and intelligence officers briefed espite the stiff opposi- by the Dravidian Dtion political parties against Hindi, the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachara Sabha, launched by Mahatma Gandhi in June 1918 has done an impressive job in Tamil Nadu by attracting maximum number of students to learn Hindi. This feat comes at a time when the DBHPS is celebrating its centenary. What makes the feat unique is the fact that Tamil Nadu had seen anti-hindi riots of by the DMK claiming nearly 100 lives. Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, popularly known as Sabha, has emerged as the largest Hindi teaching organisation in the country, teaching Hindi to around one million non-hindi speaking South Indians every year, Panduranga Rao, secretary, DBHPS, told The Pioneer. He also disclosed that the Sabha is the most cost efficient organisation for propagation of Hindi. More than seven lakh students appear in various examinations held by the Sabha each year. The courses held by the DBHPS award diplomas Singh and Doval on the emerging situation along the Line of Control (LoC) and Valley s hinterland. An official spokesman said that Vohra and Singh held discussions on various important issues relating to security management, implementation of development programmes and positive engagement of the youth in the State. Governor briefed Home Minister about the on-going Amarnath pilgrimage. Rajnath s visit has assumed significance in the wake of reports that the Central Government was keen to launch a major offensive against militancy in Kashmir valley especially in the southern region. The ruling BJP cited the growing incidents of militancy as one of the major reasons to pull out from the coalition led by PDP. Even as the visit is far from being laced with any political agenda, the arrival has coincided with speculations of new political combinations and permutations in Kashmir. Two days back, three legislators of the PDP voiced dissent against Mehbooba Mufti and senior BJP leader Kavinder Gupta hinted at formation of a third front in the state. mid a formal confirmation Aby the Malaysian authorities that there was no immediate move to deport him to India, controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik on Wednesday categorically denied that he has no plans to return to his country till I don't feel safe from unfair prosecution. In an audio statement issued to the media, Naik said: The news of my coming to India is totally baseless and false. I have no plans to come to India till I don't feel safe from unfair prosecution. Insha Allah when I feel that the Government will be just and fair, I will surely return to my homeland. Less than a couple of hours after the controversial Islamic preacher dismissed speculation that he was flying back to Mumbai, Malaysia s Inspector- General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said Naik would not be extradited to India on Wednesday night as was being speculated in a section of media. It is not true. He will not be extradited to India tonight, Harun was quoted as saying by an online portal The Star in a report filed from Petaling Jaya, a Malaysian city. Simultaneously, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) -- which filed a chargesheet against Naik before a special court in Mumbai in October last year for allegedly promoting enmity and hatred among different religious groups in India -- said it had absolutely no information about the Islamic preacher s impending return to the country from Malaysia. In a statement issued to the media, Naik s lawyer Shaharudinali said: "As of today, there is no truth in the news report that says Dr Zakir Naik is about to be sent back to India. Dr. Zakir Naik has not been served with any extradition papers and we too as lawyers have not been officially served with the papers The Attorney General had informed us the relevant agency would be the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs. These ministries have not been in touch with Dr. Zakir Naik or us. The AG was perfectly aware that any extradition request would be met with a legal challenge in the courts. We have due process to follow. That has not been initiated yet by the government, Naik s lawyer stated. Naik has been staying in Putrajaya in Malaysia since April 2016, weeks after he left India for a tour. New Delhi has been requesting Malaysia to deport Naik to India on the ground that he is wanted by the NIA. Kuala Lumpur has refused to do so in the absence of any red corner issued against Naik. After the exit of the Najib Razak government, there has been a speculation in the media that the new government in Malaysia is reconsidering its policy on Naik s continued stay in Putrajaya. However, Malaysia s Home Minister of Malaysia was recently quoted as saying that Naik was subject to local laws if he had committed a crime. On October 26 last year, the NIA had filed a chargesheet before a special court against controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik and two of his outfits, including Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), under Unlawful Assembly (Prevention) Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly promoting enmity and hatred among different religious groups in India through public speeches and lectures. Naik, who is the founding trustee an Unlawful outfit IRF Trust, has been booked under sections 120B ( Conspiracy), 153A ( provocation with an intention to cause riot, 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious beliefs), 298 (uttering words intended to wound religious feelings) and (statements promoting enmity, hatred or illwill among classes) of the IPC and Section 10 of the UA(P) Act Naik had come under the scanner of the Mumbai police and central investigating agencies after a terrorist attack that took place in Dhaka Bangladesh on July 1 last year, in which 22 persons were killed. Naik s name had figured in the investigations into the Dhaka café attack after two of the seven terrorists who hacked to death 22 people in the attack, had claimed that they were inspired by him. The NIA took over the investigations from the Mumbai police in mid-october The NIA court here had on April issued a nonbailable warrant (NBW) against Naik for offences registered against him under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Indian Penal Code. and degrees which are equivalent to degrees awarded by any of the Indian universities. Courses range from Prathamic (meant for beginners) to Rashtrabhasha Praveen, an advanced course which make the students eligible to be appointed as Hindi teachers in schools. Rao said the decade 2006 to 2016 saw the number of students enrolled for courses held by the DBHPS increasing by two fold. There were 4.4 lakh Hindi learners in 2006 while the number shot up to 9.87 lakh by 2016, said Rao. Tamil Nadu is the only State in India where Hindi is not taught in Government schools. The national language remains untouchable in the State because of the opposition by both the DMK and the AIADMK which have been ruling Tamil Nadu alternately since The DMK sees Hindi as an extension of Sanskrit and Hindutwa and hence they oppose these two languages tooth and nail, said Prof M Seshan, the octogenarian professor in Hindi. He said the Dravidian parties opposition to Hindi has done more damage to the student community in the State.

8 our priests of the influential FMalankara Orthodox Syrian Church, who have been booked for sexually abusing a young woman by blackmailing her using her confession secret, have gone into hiding following reports that the Crime Branch of the Kerala Police is preparing to arrest them even as yet another sex scandal erupted in the same Church came out on The four priests Fr Abraham Varghese (Sony), Fr Job Mathew, Fr Johnson V Mathew and Fr Jaise K George reportedly went into hiding after the victim of their sexual abuse repeated the charge she had leveled against them in the statement recorded before a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC. Also, the Kerala High Court had the other day declined to grant the prayer made by Fr Abraham Varghese and Fr Job Mathew in their anticipatory bail plea for orders to prevent their arrest after the Government submitted that prevention of arrest would hamper the investigation. The High Court will take up the priests application only on Monday. According to sources, the Crime Branch is planning to arrest the two priests who t least 11 workers were Akilled and a few others were injured when a warehouse of a firecracker factory caught fire in Warangal district of Telangana Wednesday morning. Police said that ten workers died on the spot when a fire broke out in the warehouse at Kotilingala village while another person died in the hospital. Fire and emergency services rushed to the scene to bring the fire under control and shift the injured to the police station. have not moved the court for anticipatory bail first and act against the other two in accordance with the court s decision on their application. Also, the Crime Branch s plan is to collect as much evidences as possible before moving further. The four priests of the Orthodox Church two belonging to its Niranam diocese and one each to the Thumpamon and Delhi dioceses have been charged with rape, sexual abuse using threats and outraging modesty of woman. Though there were reports that five priests were involved, the woman had mentioned only four of them in her complaint, said the police. The woman had told the Crime Branch that Fr Abraham Varghese had abused her sexually in 2009 when she was only 16 and had continued to do so even after marriage. She had mentioned this in her post-marriage confession heard by Fr Job Mathew but he abused her sexually by threatening to reveal the confession secret to her husband, she told the investigators. She had shared her bad experiences with Fr Johnson V Mathew, whom she had known from her college days, but he also abused her by blackmailing her with this information. The woman had told Fr Jaise K George about all these things during a counseling session and he also acted in the same way, she said in her statements to the police and before the magistrate. The scandal had erupted a few days ago after an audio clip containing a purported conversation between the young woman s husband and an official of the Orthodox Church in which he had alleged sexual abuse of his wife by the priests came out through social media. The man alleged that the priests had sexually abused his wife by blackmailing her using her confession secret. The woman s husband had lodged a complaint with the Church leadership against the priests on May 7 but, according to him, what followed was a campaign through the social media to humiliate his family by portraying his wife in bad light. A section in the Church leadership had also tried to cover up the scandal, he alleged. The Crime Branch initiated an investigation into the scandal last week on the basis of instructions from the State police chief who had received a letter from former chief minister VS Achuthanandan demanding a police probe. The probe team recorded the woman s statement before the Police officials said that the toll could increase as there were 20 people working in the warehouse when the accident took place. Warangal police commissioner Vishwanathar Ravinder and others rushed to the scene of the mishap to over see the rescue operation. The blast was so powerful that the entire buildings of the warehouse came crashing down. Those killed were burnt beyond recognition. Officials said that some bodies could be in the debris of the building. The warehouse belonged to Bhadrakali fire works company. As the fire broke out and crackers started exploding some of the workers managed to flee from the place while others remained stuck inside. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao expressed his deep shock over the incident and announced all possible help to the victims and their families. He said that while the family of every deceased will get an ex gratia of 5 lakhs, the Government will bear the entire cost of the treatment of the injured. He ordered the officials to probe and establish the cause of the blast. Judicial First Class Magistrate in Thiruvalla, Pathanamthitta on Tuesday. Meanwhile, another sex scandal has erupted in the Orthodox Church, this time in its Nilackal Diocese. As per reports, Nilackal Metropolitan Joshua Mor Nicodemos had forced the husband of a young woman to withdraw a complaint he had lodged with him against a priest in Pathanamthitta district that he had abused his wife sexually. The diocesan secretary said the woman s husband had said that the Metropolitan had used threats six times to compel him to withdraw the complaint. If what that man has said is not true, it should be found out why he had made such a move to defame the Church and its priests, Fr Mathew Vazhakkunnam, a member of the managing committee of the diocese, told the media. Fr Vazhakkunnam said that the Metropolitan had kept silent when the issue had come up in the diocesan council. Metropolitan Joshua Mor Nicodemos admitted to the media that he had received such a complaint from the husband of a woman but it was withdrawn later. However, he did not explain why the complaint was withdrawn. M inister for Minority Affairs Chaudhary Lakshmi Naryan denied that there was any proposal before the State Government to enforce a new dress code for students of madrasas. Chaudhary issued the contradiction after Minister of State for Minority Affairs, Mohsin Raza said that the State Government might 'soon propose a new dress code' for madrassa students. Chaudhary tweeted, Madarson mein dress code ko lekar sarkar ne koi nayi niti nirdharit nahi ki hai. Iss vishay ko lekar vibhaag ka koi mat nahi hai (The Government has not formed any new policy pertaining to the dress code of the madrassas. On this issue, there is no view of the department). Earlier on Tuesday, Minister of State for Muslim Waqf and Haj, Mohsin Raza said, The aim of the UP government is to bring madarsas at par with other educational institutions in every sense. Till now, students in madarsas have been wearing 'kurta-payjamas' but now the dress code will be mad more formal. We might also try to meet the expenses, said Raza. he Central Government on TWednesday decided to rename the airport in Agartala as Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore Airport. The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on Wednesday gave its approval to rename the Agartala Airport in Tripura as Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore Airport, Agartala. The decision comes in the wake of the long pending demand of people of Tripura as well as the Tripura Government for paying tribute to Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore. It may be mentioned here that renaming of the airport in Tripura after the King was one of the poll promises of the BJP, who came to power in the State this year. Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore, who ascended the throne of the erstwhile Tripura Princely State in 1923, was an enlightened and benevolent ruler. The Agartala Airport was constructed in 1942 on the land donated by Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore. As a visionary ruler, who had travelled extensively across the globe, he took several steps for the all-round development of Tripura. Due to his initiative, an aerodrome at Agartala was constructed that has evolved as the second busiest airport in the North East and provides crucial air connectivity to Tripura. Expressing his happiness over the Central Government s decision, veteran BJP leader Sunil Deodhar said that it is apt to rename the Agartala airport after the Maharaja, who was a visionary leader. It is only justified and deserving to rename the airport after the Maharaja as he was a visionary leader. The Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore is known for the developments works in the State. he Kerala Police on TWednesday carried out raids at offices of Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) and its political wing Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in connection with the brutal killing of Abhimanyu (20), an activist of pro-cpi(m) student outfit SFI, Sunday midnight at the famous Maharaja s College in Kochi even as the investigators suspected the role of professional killers in the incident. Four SDPI workers were taken into custody on Wednesday from Vandiperiyar in Idukki district in a police raid in connection with Abhimanyu s murder. The police had arrested three of the accused on Monday within hours of the incident. There are a total of 15 accused in the case and intense efforts were on to nab the remaining culprits. The police carried out raids on the offices of PFI and SDPI, especially in south-central Kerala, on Tuesday and Wednesday in connection with the SFI activist. Unconfirmed reports said that the police had detained about 300 PFI-SDPI workers and that they were taken into preventive custody considering the possibility of conflicts. At least 80 PFI-SDPI workers were taken into custody in Alappuzha district leading to some tension at the police station in Mannanchery after the outfit s activists staged protests demanding their release. Sources said several workers of these outfits have been detained in Kochi also and that they were being questioned at various police stations in the city. Abhimanyu, a second-year BSC (Chemistry) student at Maharaja s College hailing from Vattavada in Idukki district, was stabbed to death by a 15- member gang of suspected activists of PFI, its students wing Campus Front of India and SDPI following a dispute over sticking posters on the campus. Stabbed in the chest, Abhimanyu died on the spot. Of the fifteen members of the gang, only two or three were students of the college and the others were allegedly activists of PFI and SDPI who arrived there amidst the dispute, according to police sources. Another SFI worker, Arjun from Kollam, suffered extremely serious injuries in the gang s attack and he is presently undergoing treatment at a Kochi hospital. According to State police chief Loknath Behera, the killers of Abhimanyu could have been specially trained people. However, it was not possible at this stage to confirm whether any extremism-oriented group was behind the incident. The (Campus Front) students had got external help. All necessary steps will be taken to end violence on campuses, he said. The preliminary report of the police surgeon who performed the postmortem procedure also suggests the possibility that the killers of Abhimanyu were specially trained people, that they had used specially made weapons to commit the crime and that they had attacked him not just as an act during a conflict but with the clear intention of taking his life. According to the preliminary post-mortem report, Abhimanyu was stabbed in the chest with a weapon that had reached his heart cutting through the ribs leading to death within seconds. Immediately after the incident, he was taken to the Ernakulam General Hospital 100 meters away but he was dead by then. The investigators have learned that Abhimanyu was murdered as per a conspiracy. They have also learned that the killer gang had held a meeting at a building in Ernakulam North before leaving for the Maharaja s College campus. The police had reportedly held a raid at the building the other day.

9 n a bid to fortify lending Icapacity in almost all Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in the country, the Government on Wednesday gave an extension nod of their recapitalisation for next three years up to in consultation with NABARD. The recapitalisation scheme started in and was extended twice in and The last extension was up to March, The move of the Government is aimed at strengthening the lending capacity of all RRBs in India as they faces huge shortage of funds in their banks. A total of Rs 1, crore, as the Government s share, out of Rs 1,450 crore, has been released to RRBs till March last year, while the remaining Rs crore will be utilised to provide recapitalisation support to RRBs whose Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) is below 9 per cent, during , and , an official statement said after the Cabinet meeting. This (the approval) will enable the RRBs to maintain the minimum prescribed CRAR of 9 per cent, it said, olvo Auto India today Vunveiled their latest product for the Indian market, the XC40 compact Sports Utility Vehicle. The XC40 is the first vehicle from the Chinese-owned he IBBI has notified revised Tnorms for insolvency resolution process paving the way Corporate for home buyers to seek relief as financial creditors, putting in place clear timelines to be followed by resolution professionals and permitting withdrawal of insolvency applications subject to certain conditions. In a significant move, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has mandated that a resolution professional should determine whether a corporate debtor had indulged in fraudulent transactions within a specified time period during the resolution process. The IBBI (Insolvency Resolution Process for Swedish carmaker that is based on the new Compact Modular Architecture, which will be the basis of many upcoming smaller cars from Volvo and Chinese parent, Geely as well. Volvo India which remains a small player in the luxury segment in India has been aggressively revamping their vehicle fleet and is aiming for overall sales of 3000 units in 2018 across India. The XC40 which is available only in one specification R-Design with a 190-horsepower two-litre and added that the identification of RRBs requiring recapitalisation and the amount of capital will be decided in consultation with NABARD. There were 56 functioning RRBs as of March, They had extended credit of Rs 2,28,599 crore. A strong capital structure and minimum required level of CRAR will ensure financial stability of RRBs which will enable them to play a greater role in financial inclusion and meeting the credit requirements of rural areas, the statement said. The RRBs were set up with the objective to provide credit and other facilities, especially to the small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers, artisans and small ntrepreneurs in rural areas. They are jointly owned by the Centre, the concerned state government and sponsor banks with the issued capital shared in the proportion of 50 per cent, 15 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively. Persons) Regulations have been amended following the Government coming out with an ordinance amending the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in June. With the amended norms, there is more clarity on procedural requirements for various classes of creditors, including home buyers. Wherever the corporate debtor has classes of creditors having at least ten creditors in the class, the interim resolution professional shall offer a choice of three insolvency professionals... To act as the authorised representative of creditors in each class.... The insolvency professional, who is the choice of the highest number of creditors in the class, shall be appointed as the authorised representative of the creditors of the respective class, an official release said on In instances where the interest rate has not been agreed upon between the parties, the voting share of such a creditor would be in proportion to the financial debt that includes an annual eight per cent interest rate. This assumes significance, especially for home buyers, as it provides clarity on calculation of total financial debt. diesel for now, has been priced at an extremely aggressive 39.9 early 70 large accounts Nwith exposure worth Rs 3.8 trillion will require resolution under the Reserve Bank s revised framework by September, warns a report. These accounts are mainly from the power, engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) and telecom sectors. The report also said staterun banks are estimated to report pre-tax loss of 41,900-1,01,600 crore in the current fiscal depending on the haircuts they may have to undertake on stressed assets undergoing resolution. In FY18, PSBs reported a loss before tax of 1.30 trillion. We estimate an additional 3.8 trillion of exposure across 70 large accounts to require resolution by lakh ex-showroom. Volvo Auto India claims that their XC40 has September 1, rating agency Icra s head for financial sector ratings Anil Gupta said on Of these, 34 accounts total 41,000 mw of power generation capacity with total debt of 2 trillion. This accounts will require a resolution under the revised resolution framework. Of the 3.8-trillion exposure, the agency estimates that nearly 92 per cent is already classified as NPAs by the lenders. Gupta said with limited recovery witnessed in some of the earlier cases undergoing resolution except for accounts belonging to steel sector and high share of power sector exposure in 70 large accounts; asignificant uncertainty prevails on the haircuts banks may need to take upon resolution. he Plaza Hotel, one of New TYork s most iconic buildings in which Subrata Roy-led Sahara India group has majority stakes, has been fully acquired by a Qatar Government-owned fund for about $600 million, according to a media report on Qatar s State-owned Katara Holding has acquired full ownership of the hotel, including a 75 per cent stake from Subrata Roy-led Sahara India Pariwar for about $600 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. The surprise buyer is a hospitality fund that buys and manages hotels around the world for the Qatar Government. Katara bought the 75 per cent stake held by the Sahara Group and the 25 per cent stake from New York realestate investor Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. And its partner Saudi Prince al-waleed bin Talal, it said. In a scenario of per cent provisioning requirements on accounts to be resolved and normal slippages of 3 per cent, the credit provisions for PSBs are estimated at trillion, which in addition to losses on bond portfolios will translate in overall losses for PSBs during FY19, he said. The report said with the ongoing resolution of stressed assets, gross NPAs and net NPAs for banking sector are likely to come down to 10 per cent and 4.3 per cent, respectively by March 2019, which otherwise could have been higher at 12.2 per cent and 5.6 per cent, respectively. As of March 2018, gross NPAs and net NPAs were at 11.6 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively. The report expects credit provisions for private sector banks to come down to far more features and technology than any of their rivals, including Volvo s standard 9- inch touchscreen control-panel. Volvo India executives say that in terms of power and features the XC40 as launched compares to the top-end BMW X1 which far more expensive. Volvo also outlined some of their other initiatives at the conference and highlighted how the Swedish carmaker once struggling under the ownership of Ford has seen a resurgence in the past few years with global sales exceeding 650,000 units. Volvo has also announced that all their vehicles will be enabled with electrification technology by 2019, either as hybrids or full-electric vehicles and that by 2025 Volvo is aiming for 50 per cent of annual sales to be full-electric cars. However, the carmaker did admit that it was China where there has been a planned adoption of infrastructure to enable electric cars that would power majority of Indian and for- investors consider that Aeign high oil prices have emerged as a significant risk to the country s economy, Moody s Investors Service said on The US rating agency s report is based on a survey of 175 respondents, including from over 100 financial institutions at the annual India Credit Conference in Mumbai and Singapore held in June. Investors were asked questions on issues like top risks facing the Indian economy, fiscal deficit, the recapitalissation package for public sector banks and credit conditions for Indian corporates among others. Most of the respondents highlighted high oil prices as the top risk while 30.3 per cent of those in Singapore picked rising interest rates as the next top risk and 23.1 per cent of those in Mumbai picked domestic political risks as the second top risk, Moody s Vice President Joy Rankothge said in the report. 22,500-33,300 crore in FY19 as against 50,300 crore in FY18. The report said state-run banks are estimated to report pre-tax loss of 41,900-1,01,600 crore in the current fiscal depending on the haircuts they may have to undertake on stressed assets undergoing resolution. In FY18, PSBs reported a loss before tax of 1.30 trillion. Cumulatively, the losses will surpass the budgeted capital infusion of 1.55 trillion for PSBs by government of during FY18 and FY19, the agency said. Gupta said Government will have to front-load the capital infusion during the current year, but may also have to upsize the budgeted capital, if the PSBs are not able to raise capital from alternate sources. New Delhi: In a relief to cash-strapped Air India, the Government on Wednesday also approved a proposal to enhance the expenditure for operation and maintenance of the carrier s VVIP aircraft by nearly 200 crore from crore. Air India engages the Special Extra Section Flights or SESF or VVIP aircraft such as the Boeing B for the President, the Vice President and the Prime Minister. The proposal was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help ease some of the financial burden of the airline facing serious financial and liquidity position, an official statement said. The CCEA has given its approval to enhance the expenditure for SESF operations from crore plus applicable taxes to crore plus applicable taxes for with built-in annual escalation of 10 per cent to compensate the cost of living index and exchange fluctuation for the maintenance of B aircraft, the statement added. these new car sales. Most respondents said they believed India would not meet the central government s fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent of GDP for the current fiscal. While only 23.3 per cent of the investors in Singapore and 13.6 per cent in Mumbai felt that the fiscal targets would be achieved, 84.7 per cent in Mumbai and 76.7 per cent in Singapore expected some fiscal slippage. On the Government s bank recapitalisation plan, 85.7 per cent in Singapore and 93.6 per cent in Mumbai thought that it was insufficient to resolve the non-performing assets (NPA), or banks bad loans, challenges. In this connection, while 59.6 per cent of the attendees in Mumbai thought that banks will be unable to raise capital from the markets, 32.1 per cent in Singapore felt the same way. Respondents in both locations said funding conditions will be one of the top factors driving the outlook for nonfinancial corporates - 38 per cent in Mumbai and 34.6 per cent in Singapore. he BSE Sensex on TWednesday rose by nearly 267 points to hit a near twoweek high of 35, on bouts of buying towards the fag-end of the session, mainly in bank and auto shares, after the Centre hiked MSP for most kharif crops. The benchmark index moved in a narrow range for most part of the day due to weak global cues amid concerns related to trade tariff spat and macro-economic conditions but the late buying in some key sector stocks helped the Sensex come out of range-bound trading. Consistent buying by domestic institutional investors and encouraging services PMI data for June also helped in lifting trading sentiment.

10 W hile some of their biggest rivals have already fallen by the wayside in Russia, Brazil have been making serene progress towards the latter stages of the World Cup. After watching holders Germany, Spain and Argentina all exit the competition in the last week in various states of disarray, the Selecao eased into the quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory against Mexico on Monday. As they aim to lift the World Cup for a record sixth time in Moscow on July 15, their next opponents are Belgium in Kazan on Friday, in what will be something of a clash of styles the best defence up against the best attack. This Brazil team is not just about Neymar, even if his theatrics and intermittent magic, like his opener against Mexico, are what immediately catch the eye and dominate the headlines. Look a little more closely and it becomes clear what is really making them tick coach Tite has instilled an admirable collective discipline and his team are built on solid foundations. They have conceded just one goal so far at this World Cup, and Steven Zuber's effort for Switzerland in a 1-1 draw in Rostov-on-Don could have been disallowed for a foul on Joao Miranda. Since then, goalkeeper Alisson Becker has kept three straight clean sheets, with Brazil winning 2-0 against Costa Rica, Serbia and Mexico. They have conceded just four shots on target in four matches. It is the kind of record that the Italians, the old defensive masters who are conspicuous by their absence in Russia, would have been proud of. Brazil are looking to Italy for inspiration. "Juventus have been champions for the last seven years, and only once without having the best defence," said Tite's assistant Sylvinho, the former Arsenal and Barcelona left-back, after the Mexico game. "In such a short tournament, we want balance to be what characterises us, and that does not make us a defensive team." History shows that the team with the best defence tends to win the trophy. And while Brazil have always possessed brilliant individuals, they have also long since been pragmatists above all else. There will be moments of magic from Neymar, who is gradually coming to the boil following foot surgery in nce a critic of Neymar's antics, Brazil coach Tite now Odefends the demeanor of his team's star. "Winning or losing is part of the game," Tite said in 2012 after coaching Corinthians in a match against Santos and Neymar. "But to pretend and try to take advantage, that's not part of the game. That's a bad example for a kid, for my son, for those who are going to watch this and think that it's good to take advantage of others." Neymar had been accused of faking an injury in the game, and video of Tite's criticism was widely viewed. Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio criticized Neymar without mentioning his name after the striker writhed in apparent agony after Miguel Layun stepped on an ankle, then quickly recovered as if no incident had occurred during the 2-0, round-of-16 win over El Tri. "We wasted a lot of time because of one single player," Osorio said. "I think this is a real shame for football, especially for kids who are watching because this has to be a sport of virility, of determination, a man's sport, like other games, and not a charade." Neymar was asked to respond to Osorio, but Tite intervened before Neymar could start talking during the news conference. "I don't care much for criticism," Neymar said after the Mexico match. "Not even for praise sometimes, because that can affect a player's mind. I only need to play football. I need to help my teammates, help my team. That's why I'm here. I came here to win." Tite said hierarchy must be respected in soccer. He said only coaches would answer to coaches, and players would respond only to players. Tite hadn't been the first manager to criticize Neymar in Brazil. Neymar was being defended by many in Brazil, especially because he has been playing well and is helping the team succeed at the World Cup, but he continued to be loudly criticized internationally for his antics. The 26-year-old Paris Saint-Germain forward said some people were trying to gain attention by going after him. Others were attempting to undermine him, he said. Rene Simoes, who coached many of Brazil's clubs and led Brazil's women's national team to a silver medal in the 2004 Olympics, didn't save words after a very young Neymar went crazy on the field for not being allowed to take a penalty kick for Santos in 2010, disrespecting teammates and his coach. "Something has to be done to educate this kid," he said then. "We are creating a monster." March as long as they go with defensive discipline. On Monday in Samara, Tite switched to a formation after Mexico caused Brazil early problems, and they had a foundation to go on and win the game in the second half. Fagner might be a weak link at rightback, but there is strength in depth throughout the squad Casemiro, Paulinho and Philippe Coutinho provide different qualities in midfield, while fter a decade of duopoly, the FIFA-run vote Ato crown soccer's best player finally seems open to third parties after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo left the World Cup early. Neymar must help Brazil lift the trophy next week if he wants to join the greats, according to the World Cup winner who first took home FIFA's top individual award. Cutting out the play-acting would also help Neymar win votes, 1990 World Cup winner Lothar Matthaeus said "We need players like Neymar," said the former West Germany captain, who won the inaugural FIFA world player award in "But not with this acting what he was doing now in each game." A debate about Neymar faking injury and overreacting to tackles is polarizing opinion between European outrage and Brazilian defence. Former England forward Alan Shearer called Neymar's behavior "absolutely pathetic" in a British broadcast Monday. Neymar's theatrics distracted from Brazil's 2-0 win over Mexico that took the five-time champion into the quarterfinals. "The criticism is nonsense," Brazil great Ronaldo told reporters "I am against all these opinions you mentioned. I don't think referees have been protecting him enough." Ronaldo, a three-time winner of FIFA's best player award, and Matthaeus spoke at a briefing about the individual accolade that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have won five times each in the past decade. With Portugal and Argentina both leaving Russia in the round of 16, the award seems open for a new winner to emerge. Willian came up with his best performance of the tournament against Mexico. Gabriel Jesus has yet to find the net, but Roberto Firmino came off the bench to score on Monday and is pushing for a start. Brazil defend from the front, with captain Thiago Silva admitting the aim is to concede no more goals. "That is our objective," he said. "But always emphasising that the defensive part begins with the attackers. When the ball "Sure, Neymar when he will win the World Cup," said Matthaeus. "You have to win titles with your team." Ronaldo and Messi arrived in Russia after Real Madrid won a third straight Champions League title and Barcelona won La Liga. Neymar's absence since February with a foot injury was barely a blip for Paris Saint- Germain's procession to win the French league. "It's easy to win the title in France," Matthaeus said. "For me, Neymar this season, he did not show until now he can be the best." The German great picked out another PSG star, Kylian Mbappe of France, England captain Harry Kane and Croatia captain Luka does come into our area, it is much easier to cut it out. Our attackers play a big part in that." And so to Friday when Brazil, who have the joint-best defence at the tournament along with Uruguay, face a Belgium outfit who have been the most prolific with 12 goals scored. For now they are living up to their billing, although it remains to be seen how they will cope in the absence of Casemiro, the Real Madrid powerhouse who screens the defence from deep in midfield. He is suspended, meaning Fernandinho is likely to come in. The 33-year-old does not offer the same degree of protection, although his inside knowledge of Manchester City club colleague Kevin De Bruyne could be invaluable as Brazil look to keep their challenge for a sixth title going. Modric as potential candidates for the FIFA award when voting opens July 23. Ronaldo singled out Neymar as a potential winner noting that he himself won the FIFA award after an injury-hit season that peaked with Brazil's World Cup title. Ronaldo's eight goals in Japan and South Korea included both in the final, a 2-0 win over Germany. "The results for Neymar with the national team are incredible and he's still not at his best," Ronaldo said. Matthaeus suggested an 11th year of Messi-Ronaldo dominance is likely. "I give them maybe one or two years more," he said, "then there will come a change for this award."

11 R oger Federer extended his flawless winning streak at Wimbledon to 26 consecutive sets as the defending champion crushed Lukas Lacko, while Venus Williams battled back to beat Alexandra Dulgheru in Wednesday's second round action. Federer delivered a Centre Court masterclass lasting 89 minutes as the Swiss star hit 48 winners and 16 aces in his 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 victory. The 36-year-old is now on his joint second longest streak of sets won at Wimbledon his best was 34 between the third round in 2005 to the 2006 final. Next up for Federer is a third round tie against 39-year-old Croatian Ivo Karlovic or German world number 64 Jan-Lennard Struff. In his 20th Wimbledon appearance, top seed Federer, a 20-time major winner, is bidding to become only the second player to claim nine singles titles at the All England Club after Martina Navratilova. On the evidence of his ruthless demolition of Slovakian world number 73 Lacko, it will take something special to stop Federer making more Wimbledon history. "I played very well. I felt good out there, less nerves than in the first round," Federer said. "I'm happy how I am hitting the ball, good concentration on my service games and able to mix it up with some slices. "Of course, you sometimes play the percentages, but if you do that too much it becomes boring, so I like to mix it up. "I clearly enjoy the path more where it comes easier, not wasting too much energy is always nice." Five-time champion Venus Williams battled into the third round with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 win over Romanian qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru. Making her 21st Wimbledon appearance, 38-year-old Venus is the oldest woman in this year's tournament. But she didn't look her age in making it 89 career match wins at ter." Venus next faces Dutch 20th seed Kiki Bertens, who beat Russian world number 107 Anna Blinkova 6-4, 6-0. Milos Raonic slammed 34 aces as the 2016 Wimbledon finalist won 7-6 (7/4, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4) against 6-3, 6-3 win against Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky. Querrey's fellow American Madison Keys, seeded 10th, celebrated US Independence Day with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum. A year ago, Buzarnescu was ranked 213 and lost in Wimbledon qualifying -- yet now she will face Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova for a place in the last 16. Former world number one Pliskova has finally made it to the third Venus reached her ninth Wimbledon by demolishing Dulgheru Australia's John Millman. Croatian world number 55 Donna round on her seventh visit to Wimbledon final last year, but the American star was denied a sixth title by Garbine Muguruza. She returned to the All England Club stuck in a rut after losing in the first round of both the Australian and French Opens this year. in the final two sets. Asked if her wealth of Wimbledon experience was a key factor, Venus said: "I'd love to have that extra advantage. If that's working for me I'm all for it. "It's just about winning the match. If that's your best or not doesn't mat- The Canadian 13th seed will play Austrian qualifier Dennis Novak, who beat French 17th seed Lucas Pouille 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (8/10), 3-6, 6-2. Sam Querrey, the 11th seed, stepped up his bid to emulate last year's run to the semi-finals with a 7-6 (7/4), Vekic followed up her shock success against fourth seed Sloane Stephens with a 7-5, 6-4 victory against Sweden's Rebecca Peterson. Romanian 29th seed Mihaela Buzarnescu thrashed British teenager Katie Swan, 6-0, 6-3 to extend her remarkable renaissance. Wimbledon after seeing off two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-3. Former Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska lost 7-5, 6-4 to Czech world number 66 Lucie Safarova. D efending champion Kidambi Srikanth's campaign ended with a narrow opening-round loss but Olympic Silver medallist P V Sindhu eked out a thrilling win to progress to the women's singles pre-quarterfinals of the $ 1,250,000 Indonesia Open BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournament here on Former World No 1 Srikanth suffered his second successive loss to in-form Japanese Kento Momota, ranked 11th, in two weeks. The Indian lost 21-12, 14-21, in the opening match that lasted exactly an hour at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno. Momota had ended Srikanth's campaign at Malaysia Open last week and even though the Indian failed to avenge the loss, it was a far superior performance by the 25-year-old fourth seed. Overall, it was Srikanth's seventh loss to the former world no 2 Momota, who has been in impressive form since coming back from a one-year ban due to illegal gambling. However, Sindhu brought some smiles back in the Indian camp after seeing off Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-15, 19-21, 21-13, setting up a clash with Japan's Aya Ohori on the eve of her 23rd birthday on Thursday. Earlier, young Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka went down 12-21, to Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt. The men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy stretched the world no 2 Chinese pair of Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan to three games before surrendering 21-15, 15-21, to the third seeded combo. In mixed doubles, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy lost 12-21, to fourth seeded pair of Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China. In the men's singles match, Srikanth, who was beaten in straight games by Momota in Kuala Lumpur last week, came out with all guns blazing and moved to a lead and then grabbed 10 game points with a smash. Momota saved two game points before hitting the net as Srikanth earned the bragging rights. In the second game, Momota moved to a 3-0 lead early on before a patient Srikanth clawed back at 5-5 with a superb stroke at the net. Despite some stiff resistance from the Indian, the lefthanded Japanese managed to enter the break with a slender 11-9 lead after producing a powerful smash on his opponent's backhand. A few mistimed strokes from Srikanth and the game slipped away as he lagged before Momota held seven game points and roared back into the contest when Srikanth again found the net. In the decider, Momota produced some razor-sharp returns to move to a 8-5 lead. A brilliant adjustment at the net gave Momota another point as he moved to a 11-6 lead. After the breather, Srikanth cut down the deficit to and then But Momota was unstoppable as he soon grabbed five match points and converted it without further ado.