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cles at his home though they
had not expected him to take
such drastic action. The police
have identified those involved
in the incident and have
assured stringent action
against the culprits.
Meanwhile, the GBPUAT
vice chancellor Dr Mathew
Prasad also reached the temple premise on Friday and
strongly criticised breaking of
the idols while appealing the
people to maintain calm. He
overnment authorities and
G
voluntary organizations
have appealed to the people to
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aharashtra and Haryana
will go to polls on
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October 15, but no decision has
yet been taken on holding
elections in flood-affected
Jammu & Kashmir.
Announcing the election
schedule of the two States, the
Election Commission on Friday
said that this time the commission will conduct elections
to Maharashtra and Haryana
Assemblies on a single day and
declare the results on October
19, three days before Diwali.
When asked about polls in
Jammu & Kashmir, Chief
Election Commissioner VS
Sampath said: "We are closely
watching the situation. A decision will be taken after things
come to some shape." The EC
had cancelled its scheduled
visit to the State this week in
view of the floods.
Along with the elections to
the two States, the EC will also
hold by-elections to Beed
Parliamentary constituency in
Maharashtra. The seat fell
vacant following the demise of
BJP MP Gopinath Munde. The
EC will also hold bypolls in
Kandhamal in Odisha where
BJP MP Hemendra Chandra
Singh passed away recently.
The EC will also hold simultaneous elections to five
Assembly seats in five States,
namely Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur, Nagaland, Uttar
Pradesh and Gujarat.
The Model Code of
Conduct has now come into
effect in the above constituencies and in the two States of
Maharashtra and Haryana.
Haryana Assembly has 90
members and its term expires
on October 27, while the tenure
of Maharashtra with 288 seats
is till November 8.
The election in Haryana is
bound to witness a tough political fight between the BJP and
the Congress, with regional
parties holding sway in certain
pockets of the State.
maintain communal harmony
and ignore rumours a day
after a reportedly mentally
affected youth from the
minority community broke
idols of various gods and goddesses at a temple in
Pantnagar. After Geeta chanting and prayers on Friday,
devotees immersed the broken
idols in the Chakferi river. The
temple committee has decided to get new idols of various
gods and goddess in the temple during Navratri after the
end of the Shraddh Paksh
with the district administration and GB Pant University of
Agriculture and Technology
assuring financial assistance
for this. Meanwhile, on the call
of the temple committee,
Vishwa Hindu Parishad and
other organisations, all shops,
kiosks and schools in the university campus remained
closed on Friday. The Udham
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Singh Nagar district magistrate
Dr Pankaj Kumar Pandey,
senior superintendent of
police Ridhim Agrawal and
other officials of the district
administration and police visited the temple, mosque and
other places while appealing to
the public to maintain communal harmony and peace.
Police had been deployed
around the mosque to prevent
any disruption of the Friday
namaz. The DM appealed to
the locals to desist from
unnecessary gatherings and
ignore rumours. The main
accused in desecration of the
temple and breaking of idols,
Inamul Haq and two of his
family members, have been
booked under IPC sections
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153 A, B, 120 B and under the
Criminal Act. They have been
arrested and sent to jail.
According to Haq's family
members, he is mentally
affected and often breaks arti-
said that the university administration will financially assist
the temple committee in
installing new idols of deities
in the temple. Discussing the
incident with university officials, he directed them to step
up security in the campus
and act against anti-social elements. Various organisations
and public groups have strongly condemned the incident
while also appealing the
public to maintain peace.
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J
ha Colony resident Inamul Haq is the eldest son in his family. His father Nurool Haq expired some years ago following
which Inamul's younger brother Faridul was given a job by the
university on compassionate grounds as his elder
brother was not mentally sound.
However, following pressure from protesters, Faridul was
also named in the police case and due to this, he has been
suspended from the post of junior assistant.
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op political leaders of the
T
two most populated countries in the world, India and
China, are set to walk the talk
on important bilateral issues on
the picturesque Sabarmati
Riverfront Development
Project (SRDP).
Ahead of the grand dinner
that will be hosted by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in
honour of Chinese President Xi
Jinping, both the leaders will
take a long walk together on
Wednesday evening and discuss various issues at length.
Sources said that Foreign
Secretary Sujatha Singh was in
Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar
to oversee preparations for
Modi and Jinping's various
programmes. Apart from
Gujarat Chief Minister
Anandiben Patel, top bureaucrats and leading industrialists
are expected to attend Modi's
dinner for Jinping.
The Chinese President will
start his India visit from
Gujarat on September 17 and
spend six hours in
Ahmedabad. As per his schedule, Jinping will reach
Ahmedabad airport at 2.30
pm and straightaway head for
Hyatt Hotel in Vastrapur area.
There he will meet top industrialists of India in the presence
of Modi and sign MoUs for the
industrial park. Subsequently,
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Jinping will pay a visit to
Gandhi Ashram and reached
the SRDP to take a walk with
Modi and attend the dinner
party. At around 8.30 pm both
the leaders will leave for Delhi.
The Prime Minister will
arrive at Ahmedabad a day
before the Chinese President.
He is likely to address a meeting of BJP workers, most
probably near the State BJP
headquarters Shri Kamalam
on the outskirts of Gujarat's
Capital Gandhinagar. As per
protocol, he will have a night
halt at Raj Bhavan.
On Wednesday Modi will
celebrate his 64th birthday by
taking the blessings of his
mother Hira Ba, who stays with
his younger brother Pankaj in
Gandhinagar and attend a
function at Mahatma Mandir.
Meanwhile, Gujarat Police
and the Prime Minister's security personnel are taking all
possible safety precautions for
the two leaders. CCTV cameras
have been installed outside
Hira Ba's house. Besides, bushes and trees are being trimmed
right from Ahmedabad Airport
to Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar.
Five companies of
paramilitary forces, 1,500
policemen, 250 senior police
officers, 25 DSPs and nine
SP-level officials will be
deployed at different locations
to ensure maximum security
for the two leaders.
Moreover, 100 policewomen, 150 traffic police officers, 75 commandos, three
teams of quick response cell,
three and two companies of
CRPF and SRP respectively
will also be deployed at critical
points and at the places the two
leaders are supposed to visit,
Mahatma Mandir, Secretariat,
Raj Bhavan, Hyatt Hotel etc.
CCTV cameras have also
been installed at strategic
points. Besides, from Sunday
onwards there would be 24X7
police patrolling and surprise
checks till the departure of
Modi and Jinping. Many roads
in Ahmedabad that were
washed away or damaged, due
to the heavy rain are now
being repaired.
he Shri Nanda Devi Raj Jat
yatra is associated to people's
emotions and faith, said Chief
Minister Harish Rawat while
addressing officials at a felicitation ceremony organised to honour officers and workers who
performed commendably well
during the Raj Jat Yatra, held at
the Chief Minister’s residence
on Friday.
“The biggest pilgrimage on
foot could be made possible
because of the participation of
the locals,” Rawat said. The Raaj
Jaat Committee, Government
administration, Police, SDRF,
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ITBP, SSB and other related
organisations worked with complete dedication. The CM said
that “we must maintain the feeling of beyond duty”.
After the Kedarnath disaster last year, it was very important to send across the message
that Uttarakhand is safe. The
Char Dham yatra resumed for
the same reason. He expressed
hope to cross the mark of over
five lakh tourists this year. The
Raj Jat yatra holds a lot of
importance and it was also
important to send across the
message that Uttrakhand is
safe, thus the Government
Continued on Page 4
0A270=09H>C8Q =4F34;78
P
rime Minister Narendra
Modi's ambitious project
to build 100 smart cities is fast
catching the fancy of States and
they are rushing to get a bigger
slice of the smart city pie.
The Union Ministry of
Urban Development held the
first round of talks on Friday to
take the States on board regarding the contours and concept of
smart cities as envisaged under
its draft note prepared for
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's pet project. The
response from the States was
overwhelming.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led
Uttar Pradesh Government
proposed the name of as many
as 20 cities to be developed as
smart, urban settlements offering best of services to the residents. The list includes
Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra,
Ghaziabad, Greater Noida,
Yamuna Expressway area and
of course the Prime Minister's
much-talked about parliamentary constituency Varanasi.
While terming the concept
of smart cities as a 'lovely
announcement', Abhishek
Mishra, a Minister in the
Akhilesh Yadav Cabinet, said
the States and Centre have to
work together to make this
happen.
"Integration of services and
resource management will
remain a major challenge. To
begin with, we will start with
cities that have a smaller population. The concept will generate revenue as well as
employment opportunities," he
added. Jharkhand UD
Secretary Ajay Kumar Singh
said that they were keen to
develop Ranchi, Dhanbad,
Bokaro, Jamshedpur and
Deoghar as advanced cities.
"We want Deoghar to be developed under the category of religious cities as envisaged under
the draft concept note."
However, he was quick to add
that it was just a tentative list
and the final list would be prepared after detailed discussion
with Central Government officials. While Himachal Pradesh
wants Shimla to be developed
as a smart city, Uttarakhand has
proposed Haridwar, Rishikesh,
Kedarnath,
Dehradun,
Nainital, Gairsain and
Mussoorie as potential
advanced urban settlements.
"We are looking to develop
Haridwar and Rishikesh as a
religious corridor. Gairsain can
be developed as the new
Capital city of Uttarakhand. We
have also moved forward a proposal seeking special status for
Kedarnath, which is still struggling to cope with the impact
of the flood that washed away
the region last year," said
Navneet Pandey, Additional
Secretary, Urban Development,
of the State.
Mona Khandhar, Secretary
(Housing) from Gujarat said
they have already started working on two cities, Gujarat
International Finance Tec-City
Ltd (GIFT) and Dholera.
While the Centre recently
took up the GIFT City project
as a benchmark to develop 100
smart cities in the country, the
official said that a part of the
Delhi-Mumbai Industrial
Corridor (DMIC), the industrial city of Dholera, will also
become a 'smart city' by converging next generation technologies across infrastructure
sectors. Khandhar said that
her department has submitted
a list of ten other cities to be
developed as smart urban settlements to the State
Government. However, it is a
piquant situation for northeastern States as none of their
major cities have a population
of one million, the benchmark
proposed in the concept paper.
They want their Capitals to be
developed as smart cities.
For instance, Arunachal
Pradesh and Manipur have
proposed to develop their
Capital Itanagar and Imphal
respectively as smart cities.
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T
he national monsoon deficit has narrowed to 11 per cent dispelling
apprehensions of drought. Rainfall was
64 per cent above average this week,
recording the highest figures of the season.
According to weather experts, monsoon usually enters its retreating phase
during this period of the year. The phase
normally starts from early September
and the monsoon withdraws completely from western Rajasthan by middle of
the month. They said that withdrawal
of monsoon is not likely to commence
this year, during the next one week.
According to the forecast by Met scientists, monsoon activity would be
above normal over central and eastern
parts of the country during the next ten
days and over south Peninsula and
Northeastern States during the last
week of September. The rains are also
expected to be active in the western
region next week.
Further, rain/thundershowers will
occur at many places accompanied
with isolated heavy rainfall over
Northeastern States during certain days
of the week.
According to the figures from India
Meteorological Department (IMD), the
country as a whole has received 699 mm
rainfall as against the normal of 781.5
mm. Jammu & Kashmir has received
792% above average rains this week, the
highest in the country, resulting in the
worst floods in six decades. West
Rajasthan and Punjab have also received
235% and 209% above average rainfall
during this week.
According to the figures of IMD, central India and South Peninsula have the
lowest deficit of 5 per cent and 4 per cent
respectively. The deficit in north-west
India has also narrowed to 20 per cent.
According to the figures of IMD, out
of 36 meteorological sub-divisions, the
rainfall has been excess over 19, normal
over 08. As per area-wise distribution,
75 per cent area of the country has
received excess/normal rainfall. This is
the second successive week after
rainfall turned 24 percent
surplus following the three week
lull that ended during the last
week of August.
The reason for this sudden deluge
is due to two low pressure areas over Bay
of Bengal and Arabian Sea, a rare
meteorological phenomenon. An interaction of air masses coming from the
two is largely responsible for the wet
surge across the country.
The IMD experts have ruled out
chances of withdrawal based on the
prevalent symptoms. According to
them, the presence of dry weather for
five continuous days, a drop in moisture
content and the setting in of anticyclonic circulation over western
Rajasthan in the low strata of
atmosphere are the conditions considered before announcing the withdrawal of the monsoon.
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I
n the wake of a series of
arrests of influential people in
the Saradha scam and media
reports suggesting that top
leaders of the ruling Trinamool
Congress not only had a hand
in the multi-crore scandal but
some of them also helped route
Saradha money to Bangladeshi
terror group Jamaat e Islam,
both the BJP and the Left
Front on Friday staged
Statewide agitations demanding the resignation of Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee.
On the other hand, jailed
Trinamool MP Kunal Ghosh
dropped yet another bomb
shell
by
implicating
State Education Minister Partho
Chatterjee for his "deep links"
with the chit fund owners.
Most police stations in
Bengal witnessed tumultuous
situation with the BJP staging a
series of thana gherao programmes from Kolkata to
Siliguri and Behrampore.
The agitation evoked more
response in Siliguri where hundreds of saffron supporters
gheraoed local police stations for
more than two hours. The BJP
men also gheraoed Bhawanipore
police station in south Kolkata
barely one km from Mamata
Banerjee's house. Their colleagues staged similar protests at
Salt Lake, Murshidabad,
Howrah and elsewhere.
Continued on Page 4
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A
ll preparations for the
polling of students' union
election in DAV (PG) College,
slated on Saturday, have been
completed. "A total of 21 candidates are in the fray for various posts, including president, vice president, general
secretary, joint secretary, university representative, treasurer and executive members and
as many as 17, 700 students
have been listed in the voters'
list," said college election officer RK Pathak on Friday.
Keen contest is expected on
two posts- president and general secretary- in the students'
union election.
The election officer Pathak
said that the election areas
have been divided into four
zones and 23 polling booths
have been arranged. College
staff members have been
assigned duties as presiding
and polling officers and all possible steps have been taken for
completing free, fair and transparent election in the college.
Voters have been asked to
carry admit cards and only
those with admit cards will be
allowed to cast votes.
All the possible measures
have been taken to complete
students' union election
peacefully in the college, he
reiterated.
College was buzzing with
the students on Friday and a
day before the polling of students' union elections, students were seen procuring
college identity cards while
the candidates and their supporters were witnessed meeting the voters, appealing to
them to vote in their favour
and promising them all
possible help throughout the
academic year.
The college principal
Devendra Bhasin said the
polling will begin from 9 am
and will continue till 3 pm on
Saturday. The counting of votes
will held on Monday. Two candidates filed nominations for
the post of president while
five for the post of vice president, four for the post of general secretary, two for the post
of joint secretary, two for the
post of treasurer, five for the
post of university representative
and one candidate for each post
of the executive members.
The election officer Pathak
said that ABVP candidate Paras
Goyal, NSUI member Navdeep
Negi and Jagveer Singh are in
the fray for the post of president while Shumbam, Sandeep
and Vikas Bhatt are contesting
for the post of general secretary.
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Anita Negi and Prashant Raturi
are fighting election for the post
of treasurer. Rakesh Rawat, S
Uniyal, Arun Bisht, Monika,
Harindar and Singh Bedi are in
the reckoning for the post of
university representative.
However, the candidate to be
elected as the university representative will not be able to cast
votes in HNB Garhwal
University students' union election due to delay in the election
in the college. Harish Kumar,
Komal Chauhan, Sushma
Chauhan, Pankaj Mehta, B
Singh are contesting election
for the post of vice president.
The district administrative officers and police officers have
been informed of the students'
union election to be held in the
college on Saturday and adequate police will be deployed to
ensure peaceful election in the
college, he added.
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DAV (PG) College staff members have disagreed with
the Uttarakhand Chief Minister's statement over College
Sstaffome
members acting partial during the students' union
election which resulted in Akhil Bharatiya Vidharthy Parishad
candidates winning elections for the past many years. The CM
is purported to have said that the college administration should
appoint the students' union election president rather than
conduct election in the college.
A college staff member said that it is unfortunate that the
Chief Minister had cast aspersions on them. College staff members are deeply involved in the students' union election and
election is free, fair and transparent manner, thanks to them.
Kaushal Kumar who is chief proctor and Congress party member also echoed the same view, saying that the elections in
the colleges are being conducted in a free, fair and
transparent manner. College principal Devendra Bhasin,
however, refused to comment on the issue.
union election by three days in
DAV (PG) College, according
to the observers.
College election officer
RK Pathak said that there
was no issue of law and order
coming in the way of the
election.
The college administration had almost completed the
preparations on September 9
for conducting the students'
union election slated on
September 10.
"We have not intimated
the DM regarding any kind of
disorder. We were bamboozled having found a letter
from DM postponing students' union election by three
days on September 9 evening
(8pm)."
F^^ST]aPX[X]VbQTX]V_dcd_Pc30E?62^[[TVTPSPhPWTPS^U_^[[X]VU^acWTbcdST]cb´d]X^]T[TRcX^]X]3TWaPSd]
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The 6.9 and 6.6.1 of
Lyngdoh
Committee
Recommendation on maintaining Law and Order on the
Campus during the Election
Process stated that any
instance of acute lawlessness
or the commission of a criminal offence shall be reported
to the police by the university/college authorities as soon
as possible, but not later than
12 hours after the alleged
commission of the offence.
Pathak further said as per
Lyngdoh
Committee
Recommendations, unless college writes a letter to DM
regarding disorders in the
college during election, the
district administration cannot
postpone the election arbitrarily even for a few days.
To redress complaints
made by leaders of various
students' groups about irregularities in distribution of
college identity cards, college
had formed a five- member
grievance committee headed
by Dean Social Welfare in
tune with the Lyngdoh
Committee Recommendation.
As per the recommendations,
DM ought not to order a
magistrate inquiry into matters like alleged irregularities
in the distribution of college
identity cards. All the complaints received during election should be addressed by
the grievance committee as
affirmed by the Lyngdoh
Committee.
However, DM Yadav on
said, defending his contentious order, "If I have violated the Lyngdoh Committee
Recommendations the college should have ignored the
order."
"A seasoned DM would
not say that. How can the college authority trash an order
issued by the administrative
head of the district? This
implies either he was not
aware of the nuances of the
Lyngdoh
C ommittee
Recommendations or he
acted impulsively, perhaps to
assert his ego in the face of
challenge thrown to it," said
an observer.
The DM further said he
had taken all the decisions
related to elections while
abiding
by
the
Lyngdoh
Committee
Recommendations. "Taking
cognisance of a complaint
about irregularities in distribution of college identity cards
by the leaders of various students' groups which caused
disorders in the college campus, we have postponed the
students' union election in
DAV (PG) College for three
days on Tuesday," he added
Yadav further said that he
had held a meeting with the
College staff members on
Thursday evening. The college
principal had told him that the
students' complaints were
redressed. There would not be
any disorder in the college if
elections are held on Saturday
as per the principal. The
magistrate inquiry on alleged
complaints would, however,
continue and the officials have
been directed to submit the
report within 15 days,
he added.
3_`cRQb12F@f_dUbcVb_]U^dUbY^WSYdi/
?=BQ 347A03D=
A
day before the polling for the students' union election in DAV (PG)
College, Akhil Bharatiya Vidharthy
Parishad (ABVP) supporters and voters, belonging to remote areas, are being
allegedly prevented by police from
entering the city. Moreover, cases
against the ABVP members are being
registered by the police on the pretext
of disorders, alleged ABVP senior
leader Anshul Chawla while interacting
with media persons. The officers of
district administration, including the
DM, are working as agents of Congress
to defame the ABVP to ensure the
union loses the students' union election
of DAV (PG) College, they alleged. He
said that based on false complaint registered by two students, a case under
Section 507 of IPC was registered
against an ABVP member in Dalanwala
Police station on Thursday.
6_Sec_^
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?=BQ 70;3F0=8
T
he Udham Singh Nagar
district administration
has appealed to the people to
maintain peace following
Thursday’s incident in which
damage was caused to a
temple located in the GB
Pant University of Agriculture
and Technology (GBPUAT)
campus, Pantnagar.
Pankaj Kumar Pandey,
District Magistrate, Udham
Singh Nagar, after taking
stock of the situation in the
GBUAT
campus
in
Pantnagar on Friday, claimed
that the situation is under
control now.
The local administration
and police are maintaining
close vigil on the situation,
added Pandey. Apart from
deployment of police force,
two SDMs have also been
deployed in the affected area
in Pantnagar, informed the
District Magistrate, Udham,
Singh Nagar.
The officials concerned of
the Udham Singh Nagar district administration said the
suspect involved in the
incident is under the police
custody, while the brother of
the suspect who was an
employee of the GBPUAT,
Pantnagar, has been sacked
from his services.
Strict action will be taken
against those who are found
indulging
in
such
incidents, asserted the Udham
Singh
Nagar
district
administration.
ot just leaders of various
students' groups violated
the Lyngdoh Committee
Recommendation during the
election campaign with
impunity with the authorities
semingly fawning on them,
but the Dehradun District
magistrate Chandresh Kumar
Yadav himself also trashed
the same as he had postponed the students' union
election by three days and
gone for a magisterial inquiry
into alleged irregularities
involving distribution of college identity cards by the college staff members.
DM Yadav's hurt ego
might have resulted in the
postponement of the students'
6<E=T\_[^hTTbP]S\T\QTab^UcWTBPX]hdZc:Pa\RWPaXBP]VW_a^cTbcX]bd__^ac^UcWTXaST\P]Sb^dcbXSTcWTBTRaTcPaXPc
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?=BQ 347A03D=
T
he committee headed by
parliamentary secretary and
Rajpur Road MLA Rajkumar to
look into the condition of slums
and prepare a road map for
development of slum settlements will soon hold a meeting
with officials concerned. The
committee chairman has
already held a meeting with the
principal secretary, Urban
Development.
Rajkumar informed The
Pioneer, “I have already discussed relevant issues with the
principal secretary. There are 123
identified slum settlements in the
State capital. The committee
will first focus on these slums
where the authorities have
already provided facilities like
roads, drinking water supply
and power supply among others.
After this we will focus on the
slum settlements that have not
yet been marked by the authorities. The committee will hold a
meeting with officials concerned
in the near future and tour the
identified slum settlements in the
State capital before focusing on
slum settlements in towns of
other districts,” he added.
It is pertinent to mention
here that the Chief Minister
had made Rajkumar the head of
the committee with Municipal
Corporation of Dehradun
Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (MNA)
Harak Singh Rawat as member
secretary, MCD leader of opposition Neenu Sehgal, former
leader of opposition in Haridwar
municipality Sanjay Sharma,
Khajan Pande and Sehila Kakkar
as its member to look into issues
like regularisation of slums and
rehabilitation of slum residents.
The committee is supposed to
make recommendations and
prepare a road map for development of slum settlements in
the State.
It is worth mentioning here
that slums encroaching on
Government land and riverbeds
in the State capital cause various problems to the residents
themselves and the city in general. Recently, the MCD had
attempted to free its land from
encroachment
in
the
Brahmawala area but political
interference had resulted in
the residents demanding ownership right to the place they
have encroached in stead of
accepting rehabilitation in flats
constructed by the authorities
for relocating them.
Dehradun: Bamboo farming
can play an important role in
improving the livelihood of people in rural areas. The Forest
Research Institute group coordinator (Research) Dr NSK
Harsh said this at the conclusion
of a five day training programme
on raising, managing and marketing of bamboo at the institute
on Friday. Addressing the gathering on the occasion Harsh
expressed his views on bamboo
farming and people in rural
areas, especially those associated with farming and crafting
work of bamboo can derive
much financial benefit from it.
He expressed the hope that the
training at FRI will prove useful
for all the participants who will
benefit from the bamboo farming and processing technologies
taught at the programme.
Earlier, welcoming the gathering, the FRI Extension division
head Sandeep Kujur gave details
of the activities undertaken during the five-day training. The
farmers who participated in the
training also expressed their
views about the programmes.
Apart from certificates, the participants were also presented
bamboo seedlings. The training
programme was conducted
under the sponsorship of
Bamboo Technical Support
Group (BTSG)-Indian Council
of Forestry Research and
Education (ICFRE), Dehradun
and financially support of
National Bamboo Mission, New
Delhi. A total of 25 farmers from
Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh
attended this training.
PNS
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?=BQ 347A03D=
he showdown between the
transport departments of
T
Uttar Pradesh (UP) and
Uttarakhand on the issue of
seizure of roadways buses
ended on Friday with the
department releasing the
seized buses. The transport
departments of both UP and
Uttarakhand had seized the
roadways buses of each other
on Wednesday and Thursday.
The general public was the suffering from this showdown
between the transport departments of two States. The standoff was resolved after top officials held talks with each other.
The enforcement wing of
Uttarakhand transport department had seized 17 buses of
UP roadways and one bus
each of Rajasthan and Madhya
Pradesh roadways. On Friday
the officials of UP and
Rajasthan roadways held a
meeting with the Regional
Transport Officer (RTO)
Dinesh Chandra Pathoi at his
office and pleaded for release
of the buses. The RTO Pathoi
told The Pioneer that the buses
were seized as they had no
documents of road tax pay-
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ments, pollution certificate
and driving licenses.
He said that these buses
are being released on an
undertaking submitted by the
concerned depots that they
would submit the required
documents within 15 days.
The manager traffic of
Rajasthan roadways Ram
Kishore who had to come
from Jaipur said that RTO
released the bus after seeing
the documents which they
had brought.
The State has an inter-State
agreement for movements of
passenger buses with different
States which decides the number of buses, routes and
mileages of the buses of each
other. The problem with the
transport departments of
Uttarakhand and Uttar
Pradesh is that they have failed
to reach a comprehensive
inter-State agreement even
after 14 years of creation of
Uttarakhand from UP. In
absence of a proper agreement the operation of buses
between UP and Uttarakhand
is plagued by regular spats
between the officials of transport departments of two States.
One of the official of
Uttarakhand roadways disclosed that buses of State plying to Delhi, Haryana or
Rajasthan or even districts like
Haldwani had to pass through
UP and in absence of an agreement the State roadways and
passengers face problems. He
disclosed that the UP being a
much larger State plies much
more buses in Uttarakhand
than the State plies in UP.
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?=BQ 347A03D=
he Uttarakhand High
Court (HC) has asked the
T
transport department to maintain status quo on the matter of
stage carriage permit to
Vikrams, Tata Magic and
Maximo vehicles. The Regional
Transport Officer (RTO)
Dinesh Chandra Pathoi was
ordered by HC to appear before
it personally on Thursday while
hearing the petition of a city
bus owner Prashant Dobhal.
The court asked him to clarify the stand of department on
the issue of granting stage carriage permit to Vikrams, Tata
magic and Maximo vehicles
and restrained the department
from taking any decision on the
issue till it passes final orders
in the case.
Pathoi told The Pioneer
that he clarified the stand of
department in HC and disposed off that there was no
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plan to give the status of stage
carriage to Vikrams but the
department is planning to fix
some routes for these vehicles.
The issue of granting stage
carriage permit to vehicles
like Vikrams, Tata magic and
Maximo is a contentious issue
with the city bus operators
opposing the move tooth and
nail. They argue that since
these vehicles are granted the
contract carriage permits they
should not be allowed to ply on
city routes and pick individual
commuters.
Dehradun: In connection with
the murder of a 23- year- old person and injury of four persons of
the same family in Balawala area
by around five unidentified
criminals in armed burglary on
Wednesday morning, police are
still gropping in the dark about
the identity of the offenders.
However, battered by criticism
from various quarters for their
inefficiency to curb crimes,
police seem to have made it a
prestige issue for themselves.
However, vexed by public
anger and blockage of national
highway at Harrawala on
Thursday over rising crime
graphs and police’s failure to
solve such cases in the state capital for the last few months,
Uttarakhand Chief Minster
Harish Rawat has fixed a deadline to the State DGP to solve the
case. the deadline would be over
on Saturday.
DGP BS Sidhu was found
busy in closeting with senior
police officers on Friday. He gave
the police officers necessary
instructions to crack the case
promptly. State Additional
Director General of Police (law
and order) Ram Singh Meena
presided over a meet with DIG
Garhwal Range Amit Sinha, SSP
Ajay Rautela and other police
offices at SSP office on Thursday
night and directed officers to
intensify patrolling in the area
and launch verification drives.
Police station in-charge will be
made responsible if armed burglary, loot and other crime cases
are reported in their jurisdictions, he warned.
SSP Rautela said that police
are working on several angles to
solve the armed burglary case
that had occurred in Balawala on
Wednesday morning. Several
teams have been formed and
they have been deployed at various places, including districts of
western Uttar Pradesh. Police are
reviewing the armed burglary
cases that had occurred in the
past and those having criminal
records are being grilled. Police
are directed to get into touch
with the Special Operation
Group personnel from western
UP districts who deal with burglary cases there to solve the case.
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?=BQ 70;3F0=8
he district administration,
Almora has demanded
T
C14.95 crore for 2,990 benefi-
ciaries under the Gaura Devi
Kanya Dhan Yojana.
Out of the 2,990 applicants,
as many as 2,279 belong to general category while 711 applicants are from the Scheduled
Caste category, informed the
officials concerned of the
Almora district administration.
Notably, the district administration, Almora has already
received C2.13 crore under the
same Gaura Devi Kanya Dhan
scheme for the year 2014-2015.
As many as 427 students
belonging to the general category will be benefitted with the
amount received after scrutiny,
further said the officials.
It is learnt that an amount
of C61 lakh has also been
received under the same Gaura
Devi Kanya Dhan scheme in
the current financial year for SC
category students and 122 such
students will be benefitted with
this amount, they added.
Thus, the rest of the students who have applied under
the said scheme will be benefitted after they receive C14.95
crore as demanded under the
same Gaura Devi Kanya Dhan
scheme, the officials said.
The Almora district
administration has also stressed
on the need to expedite Gaura
Devi Kanya Dhan scheme
process so that the amount due
under this scheme could be disbursed among the applicants in
a timely manner.
At the same time, in order
to help genuine candidates
under this Gaura Devi Kanya
Dhan scheme, the Almora district administration has also set
up a committee.
The committee will scrutinise the applicants. Only after
the approval of the said committee, the application forms
will be accepted under the
scheme, added the officials.
There are three members
in the aforesaid committee CDO, District Programme
Officer and District Social
Welfare Officer, they added.
E8=>3270<>;8Q =4FC47A8
he 42 sq km lake-reservoir
which came into existence
T
with the construction of Tehri
dam here had raised hopes
among the locals that apart
from electricity, it would provide them with a string of
livelihood opportunities like
pisciculture, tourism and water
sports related activities that in
their turns would attract people from India and abroad.
However, such hopes have
not materialised in the absence
of a well-defined policy to
promote them.
The locals are now feeling
cheated due to the continuing
apathy of the authorities. This
is why the migrations, particularly of the youths, down to
the towns in the plains in
search of jobs continue
unabated.
The successive State
Governments had announced
that the Tehri dam region
would be brought on the
tourism map of the hill State to
woo a large number of domestic and foreign tourists during
the summer season after developing the place on the lines of
Mussoorie and Nainital.
It was expected that a number of water sports would be
organised to boost the region’s
tourism prospects. With things
looking up, many entrepreneurs had even purchased
lands in the region. But the
authorities having failed to
firm up policies come in the
way of the fulfillment of
the hopes.
The Governments, in succession, keep on dishing out
flamboyant projects to curb the
tendencies of the people to
migrate. But these remaining
confined on papers only accentuate things for the people.
The State Government had
entrusted a private agency with
the responsibility of identifying
the tourism development
possibilities.
The agency had made
some suggestions on the matter too. But things ended there.
For the past few years, the
people were told that a ring
road around the reservoir was
in the offing. Assurances were
given on boosting pisciculture
too. But all these promises
have remained spurious ones,
given the lack of will to fulfill
them on the ground.
According to sources, the
fish rearing project would have
earned C7 crore by way of
profit per annum for the State
apart from benefitting the
local people.
The Governments may
have succeeded in ‘’befooling’’
the local people, but those
which have witnessed old Tehri
town submerged and their
homes going under water, are
no longer in moods to be
taken for a ride. They are now
seasoned enough and are reluctant to gulp whatever is dished
out for their consumption.
They can now sift the corn
from the chaff, so to say.
The hill State, envisioned
as a tourism State, keeps lagging far behind the States like
Kerala and Goa. This is despite
the fact that crores are being
spent to resuscitate the
tourism sector. The result is
barely visible, however.
A094=3A0B<0A:D=0Q
70;3F0=8
C
ancellation of transfer orders
of about 159 teachers of the
basic education sector by Chief
Minister Harish Rawat, overruling his Education Minister's
order on the matter had many
eyebrows raised towards the fag
end of last month. However, it is
a matter of opinion whether this
(cancellation of teachers' transfer order) was a show-off on
Chief Minister Harish Rawat's
part or otherwise. However, the
fact is that no official communiqué has yet been received by
the office of the Additional
Director (basic education)
Kumaon division, Nainital in
regard to the matter.
The officials concerned of
education department here
informed that they had yet not
received any official information
about the revocation of the
transfer orders.
Interestingly, it is to be
noted that in the absence of a
proper transfer policy, particularly in basic education sector,
transfer of these teachers from
hills to plains or elsewhere
hogs media limelight off and
on. More so, the reports of
alleged manipulation as regards
the transfer of teachers to places
of their choices deepen doubt
over the procedure invloving
the transfer orders.
Therefore, there are reasons
to believe that the Chief Minister
had to step in to have the aforesaid transfer orders issued by the
State Education Minister on
August 27 abrogated.
But, the officials concerned
of the basic education department (Kumaon division) said,
things are still murky with the
government having not issued an
official note to confirm the revocation of the earlier order.
It is pertinent to mention
here that one of the most popular announcements that Chief
Minister Rawat has made after
assuming office early this year
was related to opening door of
employment for the trained but
unemployed teachers in the
basic education sector. But matters remain stuck in bogs of
uncertainty as the government
has not yet acted on it so far.
5h`UbdcaeUcdY_^SXQ^WUY^dY]Y^W_V7_fdcSX__\c +HDOWKGHSWZDJHV
?=BQ 347A03D=
T
he experts and the teacher
organisations are questioning
the propriety of changing the timing
of Government schools by the State
Government. In a meeting chaired by
education minister Mantri Prasad
Naithani on Thursday it was
decided to do away with the separate
summer and winter timings and a
decision to keep the school timing
from 9am-3pm for the whole year
was taken.
The matter came up for discussion at a meeting of Rajkeeya
Shikshak Sangh (RSS) on Friday. In
the meeting the teachers protested
against the new proposed timing
and were unanimous in their opposition for the move. The Divisional
Patron of Rajkeeya Shikshak Sangh,
Sohan Majira told The Pioneer that
the proposed exercise is useless. He
also questioned the objective of
changing the timings. Majira said that
the students would face problems in
summers as they will have to remain
in school at hours when the heat is at
its peak. The present timings in the
government schools are 7.30am to
12.50pm in summers and 9.30am to
3.45pm in winters.
The President of RSS district
unit of Chamoli K K Dimri said that
the aforesaid move of the State
Government is a futile exercise and
would not solve any purpose. “What
is the aim of the Government and
what qualitative improvement this
decision of keeping a uniform timing
for the schools would have on the
teaching and learning process?” he
asked. Dimri was of the opinion that
the Government’s move is an attempt
to divert attention from the real
issues which the education system of
the State is facing.
0VXcPcX]VcTPRWTabcWaTPcT]c^X]cT]bXUhbcXa
Dehradun: The agitating teachers belonging to RSS have threatened to engage
in forced closure of the offices of Chief Education Officer (CEO) from
September 19 if their demands are continued to be ignored further by the
education department. The teachers are sitting on a dharna outside the office
of education directorate and are employing rotation system of agitation since
September 5. On Friday it was turn of teachers from Chamoli district to lodge
their protest. Addressing the dharna the President of district unit of Chamoli
KK Dimri said that the department should immediately cancel the transfers of 99 teachers which it did in name of attachments and teachers should
be given benefit of paid leave for the period of Panchayat election duties.
The dharna was also addressed by Pradeep Bhandari, Anil Kumar, Prakash
Chauhan and KS Kandari.
PNS
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S
tate capital received moderate rainfall on Friday.
Uttarakhand Meteorological
Centre has forecast light to
moderate rain/thunder showers at isolated places in the
State
on
Saturday.
Meteorological Centre director Anand Sharma attributed
this to induced cyclonic circulation over Haryana and
neighbouring districts of
Uttar Pradesh. He said that
light to moderate rain is forecast at isolated places in various districts in the coming
days, but weather is expected
to improve by September 15.
Following 22.7 mm rainfall in the city, Dehradun residents in several localities
faced problems like water-logging and muddy conditions of
the roads. Traffic congestions
were witnessed on various
roads leading inconvenience
to the commuters.
Meanwhile, Dehradun
received 22. 7 mm rainfall by
5.30 pm on Friday while 44
mm rainfall at 8.30 am was
recorded in Nainital, 19 mm in
?=BQ 70;3F0=8
rain continued to hit
normal life in different parts
Incessant
of the region for the past few
0Q^hT]Y^hbcWTaPX]X]3TWaPSd]^]5aXSPh
Mukteshwar, 28.4 mm in
Rishikesh, 4.2 mm in Haridwar,
4.2 mm in Dehradun, 15 mm
in Haldwani, 20 mm in
Kotdwar and Landsdown, 5.0
mm in Chamoli, 8.4 mm in
Karnprayag and 38 mm in
Ranikhet.
Many roads were waterlogged in the state capital,
leading inconvenience to the
commuters.
Sharma said the maxi-
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mum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 28.4
degree C and 21.0 degree C
respectively in Dehradun on
Friday. The weather forecast
for Dehradun on Saturday is
generally cloudy sky and
thunder cloud development/
thunder showers in some
areas. The maximum and
minimum temperatures are
likely to be around 30 degree
C and 22 degree C respec-
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days. Whereas the impact of the
rainfall was relatively lesser in
areas like Haldwani till
Thursday, the citizens had a
tough time after there were
showers during the evening
on Friday.
However, people living in
upper reaches like Nainital
whose economy is mainly
dependent on tourism, seem to
be the worst affected due to the
incessant rainfall.
Mobility remained restricted due to the evening rains on
Friday. Water-logging resulting
from the same disrupted vehicular traffic movement on city
roads, including the HaldwaniKaladhungi Road.
Notably, about two dozen
families living in Raeesh Hotel
area in the lake city, Nainital,
have already been shifted to a
Government Inter College in
Nainital due to the huge damage the road passing through
the Raeesh Hotel area had sustained during the heavy spells
of rains. The situation triggered
apprehension of fresh landslips in the area. The district
administration, Nainital, has
asked the officials concerned to
provide necessary facilities to
those thus evacuated.
Moreover, the district
administration Nainital has
also asked the officials concerned not to allow vehicular
movements on the road passing
through the Raeesh Hotel area
in Nainital for the time being.
tively on Saturday in
Dehradun. The weather forecast for Uttarakhand is light
to moderate rain/thunder
showers would occur at a few
places especially in Nainital
and Almora districts of
Uttarakhand.
Moreover, in Dehradun
district, a total of 1372 complaints related to damaged
roads, sewerage system, water
logging and other issues were
lodged on the Complaint
Redressal Cell established by
Dehradun DM Chandresh
Yadav on June 27. But only
642 complaints were
redressed and 730 are pending before various departments. This has revealed that
the boast of the district officers as working hard to
redress public complaints
during the rainy season is
hollow, according to the
complainants.
ORQHEDWWOHDJDLQVW
NLOOHUGHQJXH
?=BQ 347A03D=
T
he lack of action on part of
municipal corporation in
the anti-dengue drive could
prove costly to the city. It appears
that the Health Department is
waging a lone battle against the
dreaded dengue virus and is
hampered by lack of manpower and resources.
Dengue is threatening to
take epidemic proportion as
the medical health department
detected many cases of the disease from different parts of the
city. A worried health department has concentrated all its
energies to prevent the outbreak of disease. The department has constituted many
teams which are visiting every
household in the affected areas.
These teams are ordered to
destroy all the breeding
grounds of the mosquito and
are telling people about the prevention they should take. The
Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
Dr BS Jangpangi said that
teams of Rashtriya Bal
Swasthaya Karyakram (RBSK)
have also been pressed into service in the affected areas.
On Friday, the health
department teams visited
Bhagat Singh Colony, Sahastra
Dhara road, Nemi Road and
Raipur road areas. Jangpangi
accepted that the health department is facing the manpower
and resources crunch to deal
with the gravity of the situation.
He said that the social
organizations and other departments should also engage in the
anti dengue drive.
The CMO appealed the
common public to undertake
simple precautions like decant-
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ing the collected water in the
cans, pots and coolers and not
allow the mosquito to lay its egg.
The health department
officials are privately accepting
that they are not getting the
desired support from the
municipal corporation in anti
dengue drive. They point out
that the corporation is fully
equipped with manpower and
machines to deal the situation.
When contacted the Senior
City Health Officer of
Municipal Corporation, Dr RK
Singh denied the charges of
inaction and said that teams of
corporation and working in the
areas infected by the dengue.
He clarified that the corporation takes action like intensive
fogging of the areas on the
information provided by the
medical health department.
]PcX^]#
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6?B4<F0;Q BA8=060A60A7F0;
?=BQ 347A03D=
he agitation of Sangarsh Samiti Maletha of Tehri district
against the establishment of stone crushers in Maletha entered
T
he Dehradun based students
its 31st day on Friday and the Maha Panchayat comprising 84 Tactivist group, Making a
gram sabhas will be held on 16 September to decide the next phas- Difference by Being the
es of the stir. Former State Minister Matbarr Singh Negi and former Minister Diwakar Bhatt visited the dharna venue in Maletha
and supported the agitation and also stressed that the establishment of stone crushers spells danger for the environment.
Diwakar Bhatt said that he had met the Uttarakhand Chief
Minister regarding the locals’ resentment on the matter and the
Chief Minister had assured him that the order to stop the establishment of stone crusher would be sent shortly.
Sangarsh Samiti convenor and Maletha Gram Pradhan
Surveer Singh Bisht said public anger against the order of the State
Government to establish stone crushers in Maletha is mounting
and their sit-in has entered its 31st day on Friday. The environments Jagat Singh Junglee, Anil Swami and Anil Joshi have thrown
their full weight behind the stir to save environment, he added.
Difference (MAD) has submitted a second dossier to the State
Irrigation secretary Ajay Pradyot
comprising two judicial rulings
which mandate the State
Government to not only preserve
and conserve water bodies but
also rejuvenate them.
According to MAD, “Citing
a Supreme Court Case of Hinch
Lal Tiwari versus Kamla Devi,
we have also drawn the attention
of the State Government to an
Allahabad High Court Case of
Iqbal Ahmed versus Director
Consolidation, wherein the
Uttar Pradesh Government has
taken steps for reviving its water
bodies, when the High Court
directed not just the State
Government but also all of the
72 District Magistrates of Uttar
Pradesh to clear illegal construction on dried ponds and to
revive them. Our dossier points
out that unfortunately
Uttarakhand had just been
formed then (in 2001) and
hence the ruling had no impact
on the State’s water bodies. The
Uttarakhand High Court is yet
to see a litigation of this kind and
hence MAD has urged the
Government to be pro-active
and begin concerted action on
saving streams like Bindal
and Rispana.”
Chief Minister Harish Rawat
as the then Union Minister for
Water Resources acting on
MAD’s petition in January 2014
had first sanctioned a study by
National Institute of Hydrology,
Roorkee on Doon’s streams. An
application under the Right To
Information Act seeking a release
of the institute’s report is also
pending at NIH Roorkee,
according to MAD.
3XbcPS\X]SXbcaXQdcTbUd]Sbc^
ZX]^UeXRcX\b^U]PcdaP[RP[P\Xch
?=BQ ?0DA8
he district administration has distributed C1.10
crore to the families of those deceased from
the natural calamity cloud burst and intermittent
rains had triggered in Pauri district of 14 and 15
August. The estimation of the damage houses is
now being done by the Revenue Inspector and
after it is completed the relief money will be distributed among the victims. However, the relief
money has been given to the families of the
deceased in accordance with the rules. The
Yamkeshwar, Lansdowne, Pauri tehsils have suffered maximum damage in terms of lives lost and
properties damaged in the August disaster.
District Magistrate Chandra Sekhar Bhatt
said C1.10 crore has been distributed to eight
tehsils of the district up till now which include
T
C7.45 lakh to Pauri, C59,000 to Srinagar, C6.68
lakh to Kotdwar, C58,000 to Thallisain, C76000
to Dhumakot, C20.53 lakh to Lansdowne, C73.88
lakh to Yamkkeshwar, C25,000 to Chaubattakhal
and C10,000 to Satpuli Tehsil as relief fund. Bhatt
said the maximum destruction has occurred in
Yamkeshwar tehsil, where 11 cow shelters were
totally damaged and 35 partially damaged. Out
of the 496 persons evacuated from different parts
of the Yamkeshwar Tehsil, 75 are still in the relief
camp in Swargaasharam and food and medical
facility are being provided in the relief camp.
Total 313 roads were blocked in August, out of
which 294 have been cleared for transportation
on 3 September and those left are set to be
reopened for traffic transportation, as informed
by Executive Engineer PWD Provincial division,
added Bhatt.
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From Page 1
played a supportive role.
He himself was monitoring the yatra closely and was
updated about every development. The officers and workers involved in the yatra
worked with self motivation
and that made the yatra a success. Even the senior most
officers didn't think whether
the work they were doing was
?=BQ 347A03D=
T
he Uttarakhand Disaster
Management and Review
Committee chairman Prayag
Datt Bhatt said that he would
tour the disaster affected areas
of the State and work towards
facilitating of the required reconstruction and rehabilitation
work. He said this at a function
organised by the district
Congress Sewa Dal to felicitate
him on being made the committee chairman here on Friday.
Talking to the media persons at the programme, Bhatt
said that Harish Rawat had
been made the Chief Minister of
Uttarakhand specially to speed
up the relief and rehabilitation
works after the June 2013 disaster. “Though much work was
done following the disaster, parliamentary and other elections
among other factors prevented
effective monitoring of the
works even though meetings
were held regularly. Now the disaster management and review
committee has been formed by
the CM in order to ensure that
the works being undertaken in
disaster affected areas are exe-
2^]VaTbb\T\QTabUT[XRXcPcT?31WPcc^]WXbQTR^\X]VcWTRWPXa\P]^UcWT
SXbPbcTa\P]PVT\T]cP]SaTeXTfR^\\XccTTX]3TWaPSd]^]5aXSPh ?X^]TTa_W^c^
cuted properly. I have already
held a meeting with officials
concerned and told them clearly that the committee will be
keeping an eye on the spending
of funds allocated for rehabilitation and reconstruction works
in the affected areas. We will
now tour the disaster affected
districts to check the execution
of funded works undertaken
there. The committee will try its
best to submit its report to the
State Government within six
months,” he added.
Addressing party workers,
Bhatt thanked the CM and
µ'D\RI*HUPDQ
/DQJXDJH¶FHOHEUDWHG
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?=BQ 347A03D=
T
he Department of German,
School of Languages, Doon
University celebrated “The day
of German Language” (Tag der
deutschen Sprache) on Friday.
The programme began
with Rosenstolz’z song “Lass es
Liebe sein” by the students.
This was followed by a postermaking competition. The
poster- making activity gave
students an opportunity to
express their views and ideas
about Germany and German
language through colours. All
the students participated actively in the festival. They sang
beautiful and melodious
German songs, recited German
poetry written by famous
German poets like Goethe, H.
Heine, G. Eich and W. Busch
and gave informative speeches
on Germany, German culture
and Indo- German relations.
Students were introduced to
a part of their work profile and
worked with utmost dedication. Everyone got united to
make the yatra a success.
Expressing concern over
repeated news of natural disaster in the hills, the CM said
that one has to be more alert
considering Uttarakhand is a
tourism based State. He added
that no one can control the
nature's fury but "we can work
of limiting its impact. We will
have to develop an arrangement where people themselves
feel secure. People's partici-
contemporary German music
and singers, such as Christina
Stuermer (Engel fliegen Einsam),
an Austrian pop and rock singer,
Xavier Naidoo’s and Cassandra’s
“Wann” from the album
“Wetsingen in Schwetzingen”and
a Rammstein’s song. Johann
Strauss Jr.‘s waltz “An der schoenen blauen Donau”, conducted
by a famous Dutch violinist and
conductor Andre Rieu was
played to give students a glimpse
of classical German compositions. Students were given a
glimpse into the German culture
and history through slide- shows
prepared by the students. In the
process, memories of previous
celebrations in the department
were also refreshed. .
The day was celebrated as an
amalgamation of contemporary
and classic art. The day became
a platform for showcasing
German culture for the students who are learning foreign
languages in Doon University.
pation is also important. We
have learnt a lot after the
Kedarnath disaster and are
more prepared now."
In a programme held by
the tourism department, over
200 workers and officers from
Raj Jat committee, district
administration, Police, NDRF
and ITBP among others
departments were felicitated.
On the occasion, the
postal department also
released the postal envelope of
Nanda Devi Raj Jat yatra.
Present on the occasion were
Deputy speaker Dr Anusuya
Prasad Maikhuri, Tourism
Minister Dinesh Dhanai,
Bhuwan Nautiyal from the
committee, MLA Ranjendra
Bhandari and Dr Rajesh
Kunwar (members of the
royal family) of Kansuva,
Chief Post Master General
Shri Uday Krishna and others.
Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress
Committee president Kishore
Upadhyaya for appointing him
the head of the disaster management and review committee.
Responding to a request by former party city chief Lal Chand
Sharma, Bhatt said that he would
always remain accessible for
party workers. The PCC chief
coordinator Jot Singh Bisht also
addressed the gathering on the
occasion. Uttarakhand women’s
Congress chairperson Sarojini
Kaintura and other party
leaders also expressed their
views on the occasion.
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A
s many as 16 Congress
secretaries from the socalled Gen-Next will meet here
on Saturday to air their demand
for a greater role for the “young
brigade” in the organisation
under the leadership of party
vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
The move comes amid growing
protest by the party leaders that
they were being marginalised in
the decision-making process.
This will be the fourth
such meeting within a fortnight
of the the young AICC secre-
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taries, who want to boost the
sagging morale of party workers ahead of the crucial
Assembly polls, and send a
clear message to the `seniors’ to
keep away “since they have
failed to counter and target the
Narendra Modi Government.”
“We are going to claim
greater role in the party. We may
also be joined by young officebearers of the AICC to discuss
the failure of the “seniors” to
take the party ahead. They are
wasting their time and energy
in settling scores by raking up
issues which have no political
meaning,” said a secretary who
will be part of the meeting on
Saturday.
In the run-up to the
Assembly elections in
Congress-ruled Haryana and
Maharashtra next month, the
“young brigade” wants to focus
on a strategy to retain power
and discuss how to sharpen the
attack on rival parties..
AICC secretaries Harish
Chowdhary, Naseeb Singh,
Prakash Joshi and Shakeel
Ahmed Khan are likely to raise
current issues which are denting
the image of the party, sources
said. These young secretaries
had earlier shot off a letter to
AICC general secretary incharge of organisation Janardan
Dwivedi expressing strong disapproval of its elders “going public with negative comments.”
Striking a conciliatory note
on the “age row” within the
party, Congress leader Digvijay
Singh said that only a combination of the “enthusiasm of the
new and understanding of the
old (naya josh and purana
hosh)” can strengthen any
organisation.
“For any organisation, be it
a political or a corporate one,
there is some sort of succession
management and the new generation should get a chance to
come forward. But it is always
a mix of the enthusiasm of the
young and the experience of
the old which strengthens any
organisation,” Singh told PTI.
The remarks came a day
after senior Congress leader
and Rajya Sabha member
Satyavrat Chaturvedi told The
Pioneer that he would not like
to take up any active post
within the party after he turns
65 next year.
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T
he Union Urban Development Ministry has decided to merge several important
schemes like Rajiv Rinn Yojna,
JNNURM, Rajiv Awas Yojna
(RAY) under one umbrella to
be named as National Housing
Mission. This will remove the
tag of Nehru-Gandhi family
from the existing schemes
launched during the Congressled Governments at the Centre
in the past several years.
Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah
Naidu on Friday said the
Government has decided to
merge all existing housing
schemes and launch a national housing scheme.
“The Ministry has conducted an intensive study on
the achievements and failures of the existing schemes
like JNURM, Indira Awas
Yojana and others and has
decided to merge all,” he said
after inaugurating 12th
National Convention on
Housing for All-2022 in the
national Capital on Friday.
He said the mission would
be launched soon and will
work on PPP (Public Private
Partnership) mode. The
Minister also said the Government is committed to bring
the housing interest rate down.
According to various surveys, over ten thousand crore
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families are living without proper housing and “that is why
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
has envisaged housing for all by
2022,” he said while adding that
new subsidy programme for
affordable housing would be
announced soon.
According to a report,
from 2005 to June 2014, only
8.15 lakh out of the total 14.42
lakh sanctioned houses could
be constructed in the housing
schemes under JnNURM,
which was meant for urban
slum dwellers. Moreover, construction is under progress in
3.83 lakh houses and no work
has been initiated in nearly
two lakh units across States.
Similarly, RRY is one of the
UPA’s major schemes that the
Modi Government has decided to do away or tweak them
with better features to attract
maximum beneficiaries.
ollowing former CAG Vinod
Rai’s revelations, the BJP on
Friday attacked Manmohan
Singh and Congress president
Sonia Gandhi, saying the former
Prime Minister acted under
pressure with “real power” vesting in 10, Janpath (Congress
president’s residence). For its
part, the Congress trained its
guns on the ex-CAG accusing it
of trying to gain publicity.
Highlighting the allegations
of Rai that Manmohan Singh
knew of the spectrum scam, the
BJP held the former PM and the
Congress responsible for 2G,
Coal, Air India, CWG and jijaji scams but maintained that
“law would take its course” in
these cases and the Government
would not interfere with CBI
investigations.
Addressing a press conference, Information and
Broadcasting Minister Prakash
Javadekar said in some cases the
Prime Minister has given “his
consent “by signing documents
and in others offered his green
signal verbally. While the exPM must answer, the Congress
cannot escape its responsibility,” he said.
On 2G scam, Javadekar
said the tainted former Telecom
Minister A Raja wrote letters to
Singh but the latter “gave template responses and always said
‘yes’ and never a ‘no’.”
The Minster said even
though three senior Ministers
in the UPA Government
(including the incumbent
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President Pranab Mukherjee )
suggested a Group of Ministers
(GOM) to examine the issues,
the then Prime Minister did
not accept it.
Javadekar said Singh’s file
notings on 2G were different
from the statement he delivered
before the Parliament.
He said like in 2G, Singh
and the Congress allowed irregularities to take place in Coal,
Air India , CWG and what is
called ‘Jijaji” scams referring to
the corruption charges against
Robert Vadara (brother-in-law
of Congress Vice-President
Rahul Gandhi) for allegedly
making huge profit by pur-
chasing and selling land from
and to real estate major DLF.
The Minister rubbished
the Congress’ demand for conducting a Narco test on the former CAG saying the opposition
party has to answer whether
Rai’s phone was tapped and he
was pressurized not to
“involve” Singh in his findings.
“Congress can take legal action
if it wants,” he said.
The Congress, for its part,
chose to attack Rai asking him
why he did not file an FIR if
some pressure was brought
upon him not to name the then
Prime Minister in the 2G and
coal block allocation reports.
Alleging political motive
behind his remarks, party
spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi
said that these are nothing but
“rejected allegations primarily
made by Subramanian Swamy”,
which did not stand the scrutiny of the Supreme Court and
the special CBI court.
Suggesting that the former
chief auditor was in league
with the BJP, he also wondered as to why he has not
uttered a word on serious strictures passed by the CAG in
Gujarat against the then Chief
Minister Narendra Modi.
While he accused Rai of
showing “unsatiated hunger
for publicity” before the launch
of his new book, former party
MPs Sanjay Nirupam and
Sandeep Dikshit, who were
accused by Rai of putting pressure on him, demanded an
apology from him and threatened to drag him to the court.
?<_dbWTbU^af^a[SR[PbbX]UaPbcadRcdaTPb_aX^aXch
?=BQ =4F34;78
P
rime Minister Narendra
Modi reviewed the progress
of eight major infrastructure
sectors — Civil Aviation, Ports
and Inland Water ways,
Railways, Roads, Telecom,
Power, Coal, and New and
Renewable Energy on Friday.
As part of the regular series
of reviews on infrastructure
which the Prime Minister takes
every month, Modi said that
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development was his top priThe Prime Minister said
ority. Modi also stressed the meeting. “Ministries should monitoring the progress of
that Railways has been grantneed for creating world class monitor them on electronic infrastructure sectors.
Modi said that the ed clearance for 100 per cent
reporting formats,” he said.
infrastructure in India.
The Prime Minister said Sagarmala Project should lead FDI, and therefore the
“It is important to monitor
the progress of infrastructure initiatives undertaken by State to port-led development, and Railways should come up with
development through efficien- Governments as well as PSUs become a major link element a comprehensive plan for facilcy parameters which have been with other countries, including for his “Made in India” vision, itating FDI in the sector.
The Prime Minister reiteridentified for each of the sec- SAARC countries, should also which envisaged a quantum
tors,” said Modi at the review be taken into account while jump in India`s global trade. ated his emphasis on renewable
energy, including solar energy.
He called for a solar-powered
corridor along the IndiaPakistan border, in the desert
regions of Rajasthan and
Gujarat. Two pilot projects of
5 MW each are being initiated
in this regard.
Referring to his vision of
solid waste management and
waste water management in
500 towns through the PPP
model, the Prime Minister said
bio-energy would be a vital element of this vision. The Prime
Minister called for provision of
world-class utility facilities
along new road projects to
bring about a paradigm shift in
India`s global perception.
All the sectors broadly
reported significant improvement in performance over the
last four months, as compared
to the previous year.
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W
ith fond memories of his
visit as a Finance Minister
in 2011, President Pranab
Mukherjee will revisit Vietnam
from September 14 to17. The
President had some time back
expressed preference to travel
only within the country than
abroad, but, given the relationship that he shares with the
Vietnamese leadership, the
President does not mind this bit
of foreign travel.
“There is a strong emotional link with Vietnam, which
the President feels is like a close
friend. He feels there is hardly
anyone in India who would not
sympathise with Vietnam’s
struggle for liberation,” said
Veny Rajamony, President’s
Press secretary.
Officials of both India and
Vietnam are working on a list
of agreements to make the
President’s trip more fruitful.
The two countries are likely to sign important agreements
in the field of defence, trade, culture and education. MoUs are
likely to be signed specifically on
animal husbandry, custom cooperation, fish farming youth
exchanges, monument restoration and a joint venture for oil
and gas exploration between
OVL and PetroVietnam.
India has been a major ally
for Vietnam in the South
Eastern region and has helped
in
modernization
of
Vietnamese police force.
Vietnam is also looking at buying BrahMos missiles from
India, besides seeking training
for its navymen and pilots.
The President will be taking
a sapling of the banyan tree of
Bodhigaya as a gift for Vietnam.
The tree will be placed in the
Presidential Palace in Hanoi.
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D
istancing himself from
certain sections of the BJP
and the Sangh Parivar’s campaign against Love Jehad,
Home Minister Rajnath Singh
on Friday claimed he has no
idea about the issue. “Yeh kya
hai? (What is it),” was his
prompt response with a smile,
when asked about his views on
the matter.
When the media persisted
with the questions on BJP and
Parivar’s Love Jehad campaign,
the Home Minister continued
refusing to be drawn into the
controversy. “Arey yeh hai kya?
Humein nahi maloom (what is
this. I don’t know),” Singh replied
when reporters drew his attention towards the official statement of some BJP leaders from
Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh
and Gujarat asking Hindu girls
to stay away from Muslims.
Singh avoided a volley of
questions in this regard and
particularly, on the party’s chief
campaigner Yogi Adityanath’s
observations regarding Love
Jihad. Singh’s reply led to peals
of laughter from the scribes,
who had gathered for his Press
conference on completion of
first 100 days of the Union
Home Ministry.
Adityanath had recently
stated that “jehad, in the name
of love is unacceptable,” and
that only a BJP-led State
Government can “stop forceful
conversion of Hindu girls”.
To another question on “justice to innocent Muslims languishing in jails,” the Home
Minister categorically said that
his Government would ensure
justice to all and there would be
no discrimination based on caste
or religion. “Minorities should
have faith in our Government.
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New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said
the Government was willing to talk to the Naxals only if they
give up violence. “We are ready to talk to anyone who leaves the
path of violence. We have even asked their ideologues to come
to the negotiating table,” he said. Singh added that during the
course of the first 100 days in power, there had been 132 surrenders among the Naxal ranks, which was a 300 per cent jump
compared to the corresponding period last year. The Government
had cleared a vital plan for erecting 2,199 mobile towers in Naxalhit areas to ensure better communication facility in those places,
he added. “The work has already begun on this by the department of telecom,” he added. He reiterated that the talks would
happen only when the Maoists shun violence.
PNS
We will not discriminate against
anyone in the name of religion
or caste. We will ensure justice to
everyone. Injustice will not happen to anyone,” he said
Rajnath also faced questions on his status in the
Cabinet and his relations with
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
And also on Modi’s style of
functioning and control over
Cabinet colleagues.”He is our
Prime Minister and an effective
Prime Minister and I am the
Home Minister in his Government. What else,” Singh said.
After a pause, he said,
“Hamare sambandh madhur
they, madhur hain aur madhur
rahenge (Our relations were cordial, are cordial and will remain
that way).” “We have got a good
opening stand, I think. We aspire
to play a long innings and even
a second innings,” he said alluding to a cricket test matches.
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he CBI Director on Friday submitted his
defence to the Supreme Court in a sealed
T
cover over the allegation that he frequently
entertained 2G scam accused as guests at his
official residence.
The response came on an application by
NGO Centre for PIL seeking CBI Director
Ranjit Sinha to be removed from the investigations following this development.
The NGO’s counsel Prashant Bhushan
even submitted the original record of
the entry or guest register maintained
at CBI chief ’s residence to lend credence to its claim.
Sinha is understood to have
doubted the veracity of the logbook as
in a separate affidavit filed in court the
CBI chief has challenged the maintainability of the application. The Court will take up
both the affidavits on Monday.
On September 8, the bench headed by
Justice HL Dattu had issued notice to CBI chief
terming the allegations as “serious”. Bhushan
also moved a separate application before the
Supreme Court Bench hearing the coal scam
which had on Friday taken exception to Sinha
entertaining coal scam accused at his residence.
In that regard too, CBI chief has to file an
affidavit by September 19.
New Delhi: A Ministry of Home Affairs official
— who deposed as a witness in the Ishrat Jehan
encounter probe — told the Supreme Court on
Friday that his life was under threat, claiming that
he received an anonymous threat letter. The court
decided to take up the matter on September 19.
The officer RVS Mani who is party in a petition filed by an accused Gujarat Police officer NK
Amin had filed an affidavit on August 6 alleging that the CBI officers probing the case
had tortured and harassed him in order
to pressurize him into naming senior IB
officer Rajinder Kumar as an accused
in the case.
Mani who was posted as Under
Secretary with the Internal Security Wing of
Ministry of Home Affairs had told the Gujarat
HC in August 2009 that Ishrat killing was part
of an operation conducted on inputs received
from Intelligence Bureau (IB) that Ishrat along
with three others were Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists who entered Gujarat with the aim to target
BJP leaders LK Advani and Narendra Modi.
Over a month later on September 29, 2009,
he filed yet another affidavit in HC suggesting that
Ishrat was not a terrorist. Both affidavits, according to him, were “duly approved” by then Home
Minister P Chidambaram.
PNS
/DZ&RPPLVVLRQUHFRPPHQGV
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?=BQ =4F34;78
T
he Law Commission has
recommended repeal of
72 obsolete laws in its latest
report submitted to Centre on
Friday. Several laws recommended for revoking date
back to 1838 to 1898 period.
Law
Commission
Chairman Justice AP Shah met
Law Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad on Friday and submitted an interim report while
stressing the “urgent need” to
ensure that legal structures are
made responsive to the challenges of changing times.
The Commission will
undertake a comprehensive
study of 261 more archaic laws
in order to provide a final
report on the obsolete laws to
be repealed for being “inconsonant” with present times.
For instance, one of the
laws which the Commission
has recommended for repeal is
an 1836 law titled Bengal
District Act. The law has
remained on statute book without being applied once.
“Keeping such laws on statute
books is causing unwarranted
burden on the system,” the note
by Justice Shah said.
In addition to it, the
Commission has recommended a large number of Approp-
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9DBC824B707B083
riation Acts as obsolete. “It is
common knowledge that
Appropriation Acts are intended to operate for a limited period of time... Those
Appropriation Acts that are
over a decade old can be
repealed similar to a ‘sunset
clause’ attached to appropriation laws in Australia,” the
report said.
The Commission is in the
process of identifying such
Appropriation Acts, which itself
may account for over 600 laws.
The panel also identified state
laws for repeal that required to
be revoked by Parliament.
Accepting the report, Law
Minister said, “Already a bill
seeking to repeal 32 such Acts
is pending in Parliament. This
bill includes amendments to
the Representation of the
People Act, marriage and
divorce laws, Anand Marriage
Act and Evidence Act. Two
full-fledged legislations Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1947
and Sugar Undertaking (Taking
Over of Management) Act,
also find place in the Bill.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi-led Government is keen
to repeal obsolete laws.” A
committee has been constituted by the Centre to identify laws
that hamper governance by
creating avoidable confusion.
Based on the findings of the
Committee, the matter will be
taken up in the next session of
Parliament, he added. This is
the first time since 2001 that an
exercise has been undertaken
by the Law Ministry to review
and weed out archaic laws.
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T
he ‘marooned’ city of
Srinagar, dotted with crumbling structures and wearing a
ghost look for last one week, is
gradually preparing itself to
come face to face with the real
scale of devastation as water
levels are constantly receding
from several residential areas.
Reports of recovery of dead
bodies from some of the worst
affected areas of Rajbagh and
Jawarhar Nagar kept every one,
engaged in relief and rescue
operations, on their tenterhooks. In the absence of any
official confirmation no one on
ground zero is really prepared
to make any assessment and still
waiting for the water levels to
come down to normal level.
With significant improvement in the weather conditions
the total number of people
evacuated by different agencies
crossed 1.27 lakh on Friday.
The State Government
found ‘missing in action’ by the
angry residents stranded on
their roof tops is yet to make its
presence felt in main city centres.
The police station buildings
stand submerged in water while
the men and machinery of the
fire and emergency services
are still to join rescue operations
in the absence of command
structure on ground zero.
Lal Chowk area,the nerve
centre of Srinagar continue to
remain submerged in water
while water levels are still hovering around 7-8 ft in residential areas. On Friday several
Jammu-based students stranded in Lal Chowk area in connection with their counselling
were evacuated by the local volunteers. Seevral state govt
employees taking shelter in
Lal Chowk area are also waiting evacuation and running out
of essential supplies.
Large parts of Srinagar city
still remain cut off and rescue
operations not picking pace
due to non-cooperation of the
local residents who are still preferring to stay back in their
houses fearing the same would
be looted if left unattended.
Reports of looting and
theft have surfaced from some
of the areas as occupants fled
to safety leaving behind their
houses unlocked. Local volunteers have also caught hold
of miscreants taking advantage
of the crisis situation and walking away with house hold
items from some of the
unlocked houses.
The spectre of encountering large number of
victims/survivors and ill prepared State Government
machinery is giving night
mares to those who were currently supervising the relief
and rescue operations with
active support from the Indian
Army, IAF, NDRF and local
volunteers.
Meanwhile, large number
of people in Srinagar who
were able to step out of their
houses for the first time in last
seven days were heart broken
to see the scale of devastation
in their vicinity.
Several old structures in
worst affected areas of Srinagar
were gradually crumbling and
at many places the roads have
been swept away by the fury of
flood. Majority of cars and
other heavy vehicles parked on
the road side in Jawahar Nagar,
Rajbahgh area were lying disoriented in fully damaged or
partially damaged condition.
As the rescue operations
were gathering momentum the
displaced persons are getting
restive as they are yet to unite
with their loved ones. Local
volunteers and self help groups
are working round the clock to
extend some kind of relief to
the affected population. Several
relief camps set up by the local
mosques and other communities are pooling their resources
and taking help from local
residents to feed two square
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meals to the flood victims.
In Jammu the army jawans
and NDRF personnel are
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New Delhi: Ignoring attempts
by some separatists to disrupt
relief operations in Kashmir
Valley, the Government on
Friday asserted that its main
focus was on providing succour to people affected by the
worst-ever floods in 109 years.
“We have closed our eyes. We
are not looking towards them
(separatists). We are determined to provide relief to
people, no matter how difficult the situation is. The relief
and rescue mission will continue,” Home Minister Rajnath
Singh said here.
His remarks came at the
backdrop of reports that some
separatists were trying to instigate people in the State to pelt
stones at rescue teams. PNS
5[^^SPUUTRcTS_T^_[TaTRTXeTU^^SPcP]0a\haT[XTURP\_PcBdaT2WPZeX[[PVTX]9P\\d^]5aXSPh
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working hard to dig out the
dead bodies of villagers who
were buried alive when a massive landslide swept away the
whole village consisting of
over 50 houses in village Sadal
of Pancheri block of
Udhampur district. At least 40
people were feared dead but
only 7 dead bodies were recovered so far.
Bd__[hcadRZb
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he Indian Army and Air
Force officers may have
T
been working round the clock
to stock essential supplies for
the flood-affected people in
Srinagar but hundreds of supply trucks stocked with essential supplies and other material are still stranded in Jammu
waiting for the opening of the
Jammu-Srinagar highway.
Traffic was halted on the
300 km long highway after torrential rains triggered massive
landslides near Ramsoo in
Ramban district last week.
Since then men deployed
by BRO are working round the
clock to clear the debris but
the inclement weather conditions spoiled their hard work
on two occasions. According
to MOD Spokesman Col SD
Goswami at least 5-6 days are
required to throw open the
crucial road link.
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J
ammu & Kashmir Chief
Minister Omar Abdullah
Friday announced a package of
relief for those affected by the
worst floods in a century
including a C200 crore assistance for Jammu region and
the valley and C3.5 lakh for the
kin of those who lost their lives
in the disaster.
Speaking with the media
persons at Srinagar airport
Omar also announced a financial assistance of C75,000 as
initial installment for those
who lost their homes and for
rebuilding them.
The ex-gratia for the kin of
the deceased will include C2
lakh announced by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi earlier, he added.
Free ration will be supplied
to the affected for six months
which includes 50 kgs of rice
and authorities have been
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asked not to insist on documents, the Chief Minister said.
Announcing a slew of
decisions taken by the State
Government, Omar said a
team of six senior ministers
led by Finance Minister
Abdul Rahim Rather has
been sent to apprise the
Prime Minister of the situation in the State in the aftermath of the natural calamity.
C^_R^daccPZTbbc^RZ^UaT[XTU
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he Supreme Court on
Friday took stock of the
T
relief and rehabilitation measures undertaken in Jammu &
Kashmir and asked Centre to
consider terming it a national disaster in order to immediately reach out basic amenities to lakhs of people still
stranded in several parts in
the Valley.
Dealing with a set of
three petitions filed by NGOs
and lawyers, the bench headed by Chief Justice RM Lodha
said, “A calamity and disaster
as huge as this deserves
national response so that
immediate relief is made
available to the victims of
floods.” The Court asked
Centre to consider suggestions given by the petitioner
to have a Unified Agency to
coordinate relief and rehabilitation and involve States in
the rescue and relief operations to supplement the “commendable” efforts of the
Armed Forces.
The bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph
and Rohington Nariman,
sought assistance of the
Attorney General to ensure
that the constitutional offices
of judiciary and state executive should be made functional at the earliest.
As the HC building and
the State Assembly at Srinagar
is submerged in water, the
Court asked AG Mukul
Rohatgi to make provisional
arrangements for them to
hold sittings and deal with the
unprecedented situation facing the State.
Lauding the Army and
Air Force’s efforts, the bench
reiterated the concern of the
petitioners that over five lakh
persons were still stranded
without food, water, medicines, fuel and communication services.
?a^cTRcX^]U^aRTc^RWTRZ ´#ae_dQ ?a^Q[T\bf^abT]X]:TaP[P´b
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Centrally-funded Rhino
protection force will be
A
raised in four to six months to
secure the great rhinoceroses.
Local youths would be
involved in the force to effectively prevent poaching in the
Kaziranga National Park in
Assam which is home
to famous one horned
Rhinoceroses and
other diverse range
of wild-life.
U n i o n
Environment and
Forest Minister Prakash
Javadekar said, “electronic surveillance would be installed in six
corridors” which would pick up
“activities” from a long distance
and help foil attempts of poching.
Kaziranga National Park
has been granted “maximum
protection” under the Indian
law for wildlife conservation
but wanton killing of Rhinos
have hardly stopped.
Poaching activities, particularly of the rhinoceroses for its
horn, has been a major concern
for the authorities. Between
1980 and 2005, 567 rhinoceroses were hunted by poachers.
Talking to newspersons in
BJP office, the
Minster claimed that
towers erected for
the electronic surveillance would spot
within 3 km radius
activities of poachers
and relay information to the
authorities. Contrary to the
claims of authorities, Tigers,
Elephants and Rhinos have
been regularly either killed by
poachers or mowed down by
trains, electrocuted by live wires
left unattended or done to
death in man-animal conflict.
7_fdZ_Rcµ
New Delhi: The Supreme
Court on Friday held that
three per cent reservation for
differently-abled persons be
given in all categor y of
Government jobs including in
appointments and promotions to IAS while pulling
up the Centre for “frustrating”
the very purpose of empowering
legislation
by
opposing it.
A bench headed by Chief
Justice RM Lodha said the
disabled persons have not got
their due in the last 19 years
after framing of the Persons
with Disabilities (Equal
Opportunities, Protection
of
Rights
and
Full
Participation) Act, which
was passed in 1995.
Additional S olicitor
General Pinky Anand, appearing for the Centre, contended
that reservation cannot be
given in case of promotion to
Group A and Group B officers
category as it is not a case of
appointment.
The bench, however,
observed that appointment
is a broader concept and the
Centre is giving a narrow
interpretation of it.
“You are frustating the
very reservation policy and
cause of class for which
Parliament passed the law,”
the bench said.
“For the last 19 years it is
not being implemented and
the class, for which the legislation was made, had not got
benefited as it should have,”
the bench said.
The court dismissed the
petition of Centre challenging
order of Bombay High Court
which had directed the
Centre and the Union Public
S er vice C ommission to
implement a 3 per cent quota
in direct recruitments and
promotions for the disabled in
the IAS.
PTI
EA90H0A09Q :>278
W
hen senior leader VM
Sudheeran was appointed as president of Kerala’s
Congress party last February,
his mission was to forge unity
in the organisation by ending
its rampant group wars. Seven
months later, he has not only
failed in that mission but has
become the common enemy of
the warring factions.
How the level of respect
most party leaders used to
give him in the past has come
down in the changed context
was obvious from the scathing
criticisms he had to face in the
meetings of the PCC
office-bearers and executive
committee on Wednesday and
Thursday and the State committee meeting of the Youth
Congress on Friday.
The KPCC office-bearers’
meet on Wednesday saw
comparatively young leaders
unleashing criticisms against
Sudheeran. One young MLA
even went to the extent of
describing him as a person who
thought he alone was right and
saying that the coordination
between the party and the
UDF Government it was
leading had collapsed under
his leadership.
The warring ‘A’ and ‘I’
groups led respectively by Chief
Minister Oommen Chandy
and Home Minister Ramesh
Chennithala are now blaming
Sudheeran for all the problems
associated with the new liquor
policy of the UDF Government
which envisaged total booze
ban in ten years.
According to observers,
Chandy would not have gone
for total liquor ban if Sudheeran
had not insisted on not reopening the 418 bars closed for lack
of required facilities.
A`]]SfX]Vd`f_UVU>RYR
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C=A067D=0C70Q <D<108
ncertainty over firming up of electoral tie-ups among two
major political formations — the ruling Congress-NCP
U
alliance and the Shiv Sena-BJP combine-led six-party “MahaYuti” (grand alliance) – continued on Friday, even as the Election
Commission announced the election schedule for the
Maharashtra Assembly polls.
Though it is pretty certain that both the major political formations will contest the October 15, 2014 State Assembly polls
against each other as combined fronts, one should not be surprised that the seat-sharing negotiations among the constituents of the ruling and Opposition coalitions will drag till or
may go a few days beyond the scheduled start of nominations
for the polls on September 20.
For all practical purposes, the nominations for the polls will
begin after the end of “Pitru Paksha” (16-day lunar period when
Hindus pay homage to their ancestors) on September 23. Given
that nominations will end on September 27, the contestants will
barely have a fortnight on hand for electioneering before the campaign deadline ends on October 13.
Informed sources in both the ruling and Opposition coalitions said that the leaders of the Congress-NCP alliance and SenaBJP combine-led “Maha-Yuti” had begun to speed up the process
of seat-sharing negotiations.
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mid flood situation in certain parts of the State,
Gujarat will again vote in the
bypolls in nine Assembly segments and one parliamentary
constituency on Saturday.
With national-level political leaders remained aloof during the campaign coupled with
flood situation in Vadodara, the
by-election did not generate
any interest among the voters
too. Unlike the last Lok Sabha
elections, there may be low
turnout in the election bound
constituencies. Moreover, the
names
of
candidates
announced by both sides carry
hardly any personality to stir
the poll pot. The bulk of the
seats fell vacant as the BJP had
fielded 9 sitting legislators
including Chief Minister
Narendra Modi for the Lok
Sabha elections.
The saffron brigade won all
nine seats as the party swept all
26 parliamentary seats in the
State. Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, who was then Chief
Minister of Gujarat, contested
from two constituencies Vadodara and Varanasi. With
Modi retained Varanasi and
vacated Vadodara seat. Now,
Vadodara’s deputy mayor
Ranjanben Bhatt is contesting
on high-profile Vadodara seat
against Congress’s Narendra
Rawat, the president of the city
Congress. Ravat had initially
been selected through the primaries as the party nominee
but was replaced by
Madhusudan Mistry, Congress
general secretary after Modi
decided to contest from
Vadodara earlier this year and
won with mammoth margin of
5.70 lakh votes.
The seats due for by-elections are Tankara, Khambhaliya,
Mangrol and Talaja in
Saurashtra region, Anand,
Matar and Limkheda in central
Gujarat, Deesa in north Gujarat
and Modi’s Vidhan Sabha constituency of Maninagar in
Ahmedabad. The BJP holds
117 seats in the 182 member
Gujarat Vidhan Sabha with the
Congress accounting for 54.
! "2T]caP[U^aRT E^cX]VX]<TSPZ=P]SXVP\P
d]XcbST_[^hTSc^ ><4A50A>>@Q 7H34A0103
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ll the arrangements are in place for the polling scheduled
for Saturday in Medak Lok Sabha constituency of Telangana
A
and Nandigama Assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh.
_^[[X]VX]D?
Elaborate security arrangements have been made in both
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nprecedented security
arrangements have been
U
made for the crucial by-elections in one Lok Sabha and 11
Assembly seats in the State on
Saturday.
A record number of 213
companies of central forces
have been deployed for manning the booths and security
during the voting.
Campaigning for the byelections, which reached its
crescendo, ended on Thursday
evening. Polling for the by-polls
will be held between 7am to
6pm. Counting of votes will be
held on Monday from 8 am
and all results are likely to be
declared by the afternoon.
A total of 118 candidates
are in the f ray for 11
Assembly seats while 12,
including Tej Pratap Singh
Yadav, grandson of Samajwadi
Party chief Mulayam Singh
Yadav’s elder brother, are contesting for Mainpuri Lok
Sabha seat.
,WDOLDQPDULQHDOORZHG
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?=BQ =4F34;78
T
he Supreme Court on
Friday allowed a free passage to Italian marine
Massimilano Latorre to travel
home for four months in order
to help him recovery early
from a recent brain stroke.
Latorre, who is one of the
two marines facing trial for
killing two Indian fishermen on
high seas gave a personal
undertaking to Court to return
after four months. His undertaking was also supported by
the Republic of Italy which submitted a sovereign undertaking
through its Ambassador
Daniele Mancini to vouch for
the marine's return.
The bench headed by
Chief Justice RM Lodha faced
no difficulty to pass an order
after the Centre agreed to
allow the Italian to travel to
his home despite the trial all
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set to start. Another application filed by a witness in the
case that demanded medical
examination of Latorre stood
withdrawn by his counsel in
the Court.
The bench, however, had
its doubts over the legal efficacy of enforcing the undertaking given by the accused. It also
raised objections on the
"ambiguous" undertaking by
Latorre where he talked about
his reservation to the Indian
agencies initiating a case
against him.
"An undertaking should
be plain, unequivocal and
unambiguous," said the bench,
also comprising Justices Kurian
Joseph and Rohington
Nariman. It refused to accept
the undertaking and directed
Latore to file a fresh undertaking on the lines of the other
undertaking given by the
Ambassador mentioning about
his travel period and an undertaking to return by such time
and abide by conditions previously imposed by the Court.
Senior advocate Soli
Sorabjee who appeared for
Latorre requested Court to consider the Ambassador's undertaking. "He requires good home
environment, continued medication and rest," Sorabjee said.
The bench granted the
request and said that the condition for Latorre's release
would be same as set by the apex
court on February 22 2013.
the places where votes will be cast from 7 in the morning till
6 pm. State election commissioner Bhanwar Lal told the media
that the staff, with electronic voting machines and other material, has reached their respective stations. “All the necessary steps
have been taken to ensure free and fair polling”, he said.
The Medak Lok Sabha constituency is witnessing three-cornered contest between the TRS, BJP-TDP alliance and the Congress
while in the Nandigama Assembly constituency their are two major
players — the TDP and the YSR Congress party — though the
Congress is making valiant effort to make its presence felt.
/HIWZLOOWU\WRJDLQORVWJURXQG
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W
ith the ruling Trinamool
Congress desperate to
retain its place in Bengal politics against the backdrop of
the Saradha scam probe, the
Left trying to gain the lost
ground beneath its feat and the
BJP trying to get a toehold in
the State Assembly buoyed by
its encouraging the performance in the Lok Sabha elections, the two Assembly seats
of Bengal go to the crucial byelections on Saturday.
Chowrunghee seat was
emptied after rebel Trinamool
MLA resigned from her post
and the Basirhat seat fell vacant
after sitting CPI(M) MLA
Narayan Mukherjee died.
BJP’s Ritesh Tewari is contesting from Chowrunghee
while his party colleague Samik
Bhattacharya is fighting from
Basirhat South seat. The TMC
has fielded Naina Banerjee the
wife of Sudip Bandopadhyay
from Chworunghee while it has
fielded a former footballer
from Basirhat.
6^P?^[XRTQP]b
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aking cognisance of traffic
cops spending long hours
T
on the mobile phone during the
State’s rush hour traffic, Goa’s
new Inspector General of
Police, Sunil Garg, has banned
all constables across the board
from using mobile phones for
personal uses while on duty.
Garg also paid a visit to the
Panaji town police station to
enquire about the living conditions of policemen.
Garg said that the ban was
a result of complaints he
received, about the perception of police from people
across sections. It wasn’t
uncommon to see local traffic
police constables directing trafF^\T]UPa\TabW^[SX]VP_a^cTbcPVPX]bccWTDccPa?aPSTbW6^eTa]\T]cU^acWTR^\_T]bPcX^]^UcWTXa[P]SPR`dXaTSU^a=C?2
_^fTa_a^YTRcPc<TYPX]0[[PWPQPS^]5aXSPh
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T
he delayed re-trial of
Bollywood actor Salman
Khan in the 2002 hit-and-run
case is all set to resume on
September 24, with the
Prosecution producing before
the trial court most of the
hither-to missing original
statements of witnesses and
case diaries.
The re-trial in the hit-andcase case, which had hit a major
road block in July this year after
the Prosecution following the
disappearance of the original
statements of witnesses,
appeared headed back on track
on Friday, as the Prosecution
produced all but one of the 63
original statements of witnesses and case diaries. The
Prosecution assured the court
that the lone original statement
of a witness would be traced and
produced before the court soon.
A special search team of
police, appointed by Mumbai
Police Commissioner Rakesh
Maria, had found all the missing papers, including the case
diaries and original statements
of 56 witnesses, in the Bandra
police station, in the last week
of August. The missing documents were located in the office
of an inspector not connected
with the Salman Khan hitand-run case.
After the newly-appointed
Public prosecutor in the case
Pradeep Gharat produced the
hither-to missing documents,
Sessions Judge DW Deshpande
took them on record and
directed the Prosecution to
proceed with the examination
of witnesses from September
24. So far 11 witnesses have
deposed in the case.
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ing on the mobile phone with
the other.
“They will serve the public better (without mobile
phones),” Garg said, clarifying
that mobile phones could be
carried on their person, only to
be used in case of emergencies.
The issue was even raised in the
State legislative Assembly by
legislators across political lines.
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L
ike cricket and politics, the
news media involves us all.
It is an all-India phenomenon that everybody and
his mother has a view on.
There is nothing wrong with this of
course, but it does sometimes lead
to suggestions and ideas that are so
uninformed they leave one bewildered. A recent example is the chairman of the Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India deciding to
wage a crusade against cross-media
ownership and corporate investment in news media.
Before getting to that issue, a
bit of context is required. In recent
years, the media as an industry has
expanded enormously but its regulation is still defined by an earlier age. An institution like the Press
Council of India serves little purpose. Self-regulation by new television channels is episodic and far
from adequate. News outlets have
also confused self-regulation with
voluntary regulation.
True,
nobody
wants
Government regulation. Even so,
either structured and mandatory
self-regulation or oversight by a
genuine public institution — rather
than by politicians and bureaucrats,
serving or retired — is necessary.
It exists elsewhere, but nobody has
pushed for it in India.
All this has created a vacuum
TRAI has attempted to fill. It is
unlikely this attempt is caused by
political or governmental nudging.
More likely it is the result of an individual Chairman at TRAI deciding
to resort to a bit of grandstanding
and announcing to the world that
he too is a ‘media expert’.
TRAI has a long history of
completely misunderstanding the
media and actually doing damage
to developing serious news outlets
in the country. To understand this,
one needs to turn to another
TRAI initiative, dating back to
2006. That year, while drawing up
a blueprint for the Conditional
Access System, TRAI placed a five
rupee per month ceiling on pay
channels, including news channels.
Why was this problematic?
Indian newspapers and magazines, not to speak of television
channels, tend to follow the lowest common denominator principle when it comes to content. This
is because editors and publishers
complain they are completely
dependent on advertising revenues. Advertising revenues in
turn are a function of circulation
(for print products) or TRP ratings
(for television).
Media practitioners often
bemoan the fact that India doesn’t
have a subscription-driven model,
where readers and news consumers
will pay a premium for good content. Should that happen, a newsmagazine, to pluck an example out
of the air, will not try and sell
3,00,000 copies for C30 but maybe
75,000 copies for C100. This will
reduce the cost of newsprint, production and distribution. It is a
model niche magazines follow, and
can result in the creation of niche
news channels and newspapers
that focus on quality, not numbers.
Admittedly developing such
niche products is not easy. Unless
forced to (as part of a bundled subscription maybe) it remains open
to question whether a reader will
pay more for content that promotes
itself as high-quality when alternative content is available free or
cheap. That apart, publishers who
have introduced so-called premium products have not always
made the editorial investments that
such products require. Several
experiments have fallen apart.
How did TRAI’s price-control
order on pay channels affect this?
Other than distorting market principles, it made no attempt to distinguish between pay channels
that showed re-runs of soap operas
or telecast live cricket matches
(which would have millions of
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viewers), and an enlightened news
and current affairs channel that
wanted to spend money on serious
coverage and would reach only a
smaller but higher-paying viewership. In one shot, the subscriptionbased model was debunked by
TRAI as not required in India.
Now the current TRAI Chair
has waded into another debate
without fully appreciating the
media landscape. In interviews he
has spoken about protecting “plurality… in the marketplace for
ideas”, arguing “you must let viewers, readers and listeners see and
hear diverse opinions”. This is a
motherhood and apple pie line
nobody can disagree with.
Further, he has spoken of the
risks of established business conglomerates buying media companies; of dubious builders and politicians/political parties setting up
news channels; of the News of the
World scandal in Britain and the
Radia tapes in India, which led to
questions of proximity of senior
journalists to politicians, business
executives and wheeler-dealers; of
paid news; of cross-media ownership, wherein one media company
is present in say print and television.
It is here that the TRAI
Chairman’s obiter dicta get a little
confusing. All the issues he has
referred to are important but some
of them have nothing to do with
each other. That apart, many of
these issues are, professionally
speaking, none of his business.
The TRAI Chairman also
shows a remarkable short-sightedness when it comes to technology.
First, he waxes eloquent on the
need for “plurality” in the media
but dismisses social media, which
whether you like it or not has
expanded that plurality, as insignificant. As he told Mint: “I don’t
think what is written on Twitter
and Internet is enough of diversity and plurality. Good luck to the
young people who spend a lot of
time on Facebook and Twitter. It
does not shape or change public
opinion in India.”
Second, he fails to realise the
debate about cross-media ownership is approaching obsolesce.
Today media is being consumed
using tablets and smartphones.
This process will only gather steam
with the introduction of 4G services. An iPad or similar tablet
allows access to content from
print products such as newspapers,
live streaming of television programmes, social media, websites,
and radio broadcasts. Even All
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India Radio is promising to release
its content with user-friendly apps.
In turn, this emerging environment throws up other conundrums. The concern is not so
much about who owns which
newspaper and television channel
in the same sub-market. It is not
about whether Apple is a print, television or radio company; logic can
be stretched to see it as any or all.
It is about whether the person/entity who owns the pipe that
delivers content to the smartphone or tablet — in other words,
the telecom company — can be
obliged to provide enough guarantees of non-interference with legitimate content that flows through
the pipe. This is particularly important if the entity that owns or runs
the pipe also runs a content/media
company that is one of the users
of the pipe.
This is a critical issue.
However, it is very different from
cross-media ownership. It is a
wonder why TRAI is not even
thinking about it.
In fact, far from the robust,
powerful industry TRAI makes it
out to be, the newspaper publishing business in India is going
through an existential crisis.
Especially when it comes to
English-language papers, readership may be expanding, including
readership overseas, but circulation
is not rising or even falling.
Key demographic groups —
the sort of consumers marketing
people crave, and target as buyers
of apartments and sedans — are no
longer picking up newspapers,
even if these are delivered to the
house. They are consuming the
same news and reaching the same
newspapers on a tablet. At some
point, this will lead to a quick, precipitous fall in circulation.
Newspaper companies don’t quite
know how to adjust to this new
world. Their circulation departments are designed to compete
with rivals. Online they probably
need to collaborate with rivals and
bundle products.
Neither are newspapers as
easily able to deliver consumers
to advertisers. The old model of
the person who buys and reads a
newspaper also being the person
who peruses the advertisements
no longer holds. The person who
reads the paper’s news stories (on
a tablet) may no longer pick up
the physical copy to see
the advertisements.
It is concerns like these that
exercise the contemporary media
industry. Unfortunately, TRAI
raises none of them.
malikashok@gmail.com
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Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Paradise submerged”
(September 9). The abysmal situation in Jammu & Kashmir due
to the massive floods is a trying
time for the State Government
and the Centre.
But it augurs well that instead
of putting the blame on each
other, the two administrations are
working in tandem to contain the
damage. The Armed Forces and
the National Disaster Response
Force merit praise for their relief
and rescue efforts.
With areas of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir too bearing the
brunt of the floodwaters simultaneously, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif have shown
goodwill by offering help to each
other. It is sad that Kashmir,
called a paradise on earth, is facing troubled waters.
Azhar A Khan
Lucknow
4YcWbQSUVe\S_^TeSd
Sir — This refers to the report
that certain elements in Kashmir
pelted stones at the Army people
who are engaged in the rescue
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mission. This is a shocking display of ingratitude.
Ever since the unprecedented
disaster struck, all news channels
have been giving comprehensive
coverage to the efforts of the
Indian Army, the Air Force and the
Navy commandoes who have been
working in the flood-ravaged areas
— helping men, women and children with relief material such as
food packets, water bottles etc, and
using helicopters in a relentless
operation to get them to safe
places. In return, the military gets
hit by stones and faces taunts.
M Ratan
New Delhi
I_e^WUbRb_dXUb/
Sir — Samajwadi Party chief
Mulayam Singh Yadav is again in
the news for the wrong reason.
He has likened Pakistan to a
younger brother of India. But Mr
Yadav should know that a
younger brother-nation does not
kill jawans and civilians of his
elder brother. It does not mount
terror attacks. The younger brother does not hobnob with separatists who are plotting against the
elder brother.
The younger brother will
recognise the love of an elder
brother if only the elder brother
gifts to it the remaining part of
Kashmir! A property wrested
from the elder brother is shared
by the younger brother with
China. Is China, which is claiming Arunachal Pradesh as its
own, the eldest brother of India
and Pakistan?
KV Seetharamaiah
Hassan
9bbUc`_^cYR\UdQ\[
Sir — Telangana Chief Minister
K Chandrashekar Rao has said
that he wants to wring the necks
of journalists and bury them.
Even Napoleon Bonaparte feared
the fourth estate more than he did
the cannons.
It is the media that pinpoints
wrongdoing of Governments.
There is no point in the Telangana
Chief Minister threatening the
Press because it will not be cowed
down. Even during the
Emergency, a section of the media
had stood up against Indira
Gandhi and her regime.
Mr Rao must keep a check on
his utterances and concentrate on
the governance of his new State.
NR Ramachandran
Ooty
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I
n a surprising move, Arab
States agreed to cooperate
with all international,
regional and national efforts
to fight against militant
groups active in Iraq and
Syria. On September 7,
Foreign Ministers of League
<07C010;0<A8IE8 of Arab States passed a resolution to take all necessary measures to counter
the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Arab
States also supported an UN Security Council resolution in Cairo last month requesting member
states to act to stop the supply of logistical, military and financial help to the groups and
imposed sanctions on a number of the group’s
fighters fighting in Syria and Iraq. The Security
Council resolution was adopted under Chapter
7 of the UN Charter, meaning it can be militarily enforced. Head of Arab League Nabil al-Arabi
said, “What is needed is a clear decision for a comprehensive confrontation, militarily and politically.” Nabil also said that ISIS is a danger to the
existence of Iraq and other states in the region,
their activities shaking up West Asia. However,
it is still not clear to what extent Arab nations will
support western forces and coordinate with them.
However, the enigma is why Arab League
ganged up against ISIS?
There are certain reasons: First, the resolution was passed a day after the Arab League and
US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed taking action against the militant groups over phone.
Immediately after the Arab League resolution
against ISIS, Kerry visited Saudi Arabia on
September 11 in an attempt to assure the support of Arab states for an anti-ISIS campaign,
while Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel was due
to arrive in Turkey next week to convince Ankara
for its support to fight against ISIS. Key Arab
allies of the US, including Egypt, Jordan and
Lebanon, agreed to “do their share” to fight ISIS
through a joint military effort. The announcement came after Kerry met regional counterparts
in Jeddah. Arab States also agreed to enhance
support for the new Iraqi government as it tries
to unite its citizens without any discrimination
on the basis of religions and sects in the fight
against ISIS. Turkey also participated in the
meeting, however it did not sign the final
communiqué.
Second, after the fall of Saddam Hussein,
Sunni-dominated states, including Saudi Arabia,
have cut their political and diplomatic relations
with Shia-dominated government in Iraq.
Therefore, after a decade, Arab countries may
feel this is a good opportunity to influence
newly-formed government in Iraq through
induction of Sunni groups in the political system of the country. Even newly-chosen Prime
Minister Haider al-Abadi also started to induct
Sunnis and Kurds into the new cabinet.
Third, League of
>QP\PbcPcTScWPc Arab States also
fWX[TcWT8B8;^a believes that ISIS is a
8B8BbcPZTbR[PX\ great threat to the
regional security,
c^QTX]VP]
³8b[P\XRBcPcT´Xc including Saudi Arabia,
Xb]^c8b[P\XRPb and they can challenge
the authorities of
±]^aT[XVX^]
monarchy in the region
_Ta\XcbcWTZX[[X]V in the near future. The
^UX]]^RT]cbP]S main claim of ISIS is to
cWT\^bc^U8B8B´ establish a caliphate.
eXRcX\bWPeTQTT] According to classical
<db[X\b²
Muslim political theorists, there can only be
one caliphate for the whole Muslim world or
ummah. Fourth, it is also considered that the head
of ISIS, Al-Baghdadi, is beyond the control of
Arab countries.
It is also believed that Arab League nations
is under US pressure, especially after US
President Barack Obama’s request to the regional countries for an international coalition to confront ISIS. On 13 anniversary of 9/11, Obama
stated that while ISIS stakes claim to being an
“Islamic State,’ it is not Islamic as “no religion
permits the killing of innocents, and the most
of ISIS’ victims have been Muslims.”
Obama has also said that to decimate terrorist groups active in the region would take time
and announced four steps plan to destroy ISIS.
In the first step, a “systematic campaign of
airstrikes” in cooperation with Arab allies and
Iraqi government. In the second step, the US will
send an additional 475 forces to Iraq to help Iraqi
and Kurdish security forces. In the third step, he
said “working with our partners, we will intensify our efforts to slash off its funding, contradict its biased ideology, enhance our Intelligence,
boost defences, and stop the movement of foreign fighters into and out of the Middle East.”
In the fourth step, the US will continue to give
humanitarian support to the civilians displaced
due to the threat of ISIS.
It must be noted here that contribution of
Arab League will be important and crucial to preventing the strategic threat posed by ISIS. A new
government in Iraq and recent successes against
ISIS are welcome developments, though vital
questions yet to resolve about maintaining
momentum and success against the extremist
groups. Although it is believed that ISIS is likely to lose its ground, due to certain factors: First,
an effort to establish caliphate and combined difficulties of governance will compel many radical Islamists to adopt a pragmatic strategy and
become relatively moderate. Second, opposition
from Arab countries would give ISIS less room
to operate from their soil. However, it is worth
a mention that after a decade’s greater regional
unity and support is realised, especially among
the Arab States to fight against extremist groups
in the West Asian region.
(The writer is Associate Fellow, IDSA, New Delhi)
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W
ho says history does not
repeat itself? The third Iraq
war of the United States has, of
course, begun. Unlike President
George Bush’s usage of the term
“Global War Terrorism”, President
Barack Obama did not prefer to
use the word “war” in his decision
to take effective military measures
against the now-dreaded Islamic
State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). He
has announced set of “counter-terrorism” measures to “degrade
and destroy” the ISIS.
But who can deny that the
deployment of massive military
power to counter a terrorist network, which has announced creation of a new State and the
Caliphate, would not be confined to the ISIS and is anything
but war. However, President
Obama has plainly spelt out how
this war would be different from
the previous US military actions
in Afghanistan and Iraq. Training,
equipping, providing intelligence,
and guiding the foreign forces to
fight the ground war with the help
US air support define this new
war strategy.
The reasons as to why
President Obama has launched
this war, contrary to his earlier
aspiration to go down in US history as the President who ended
foreign military operations, are
many. First of all, the enemy —
ISIS — has declared a war against
the United States and its allies.
Second, the enemy thumbed its
nose at the US by cruelly beheading two American journalists and
allegedly circulating the video
on the internet. Americans are by
tradition averse to casualties; and
mindless violence by the ISIS has
enraged the common people in
CdaZXbW?aTbXST]cATRT_CPhhX_4aS^VP]P]SDBBTRaTcPah^UBcPcT9^W]:Taahb_TPZSdaX]VP\TTcX]VX]0]ZPaPCdaZTh^]5aXSPh:Taah
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0?
the US who now demand stern
action against Islamic radicals.
Third, the ISIS has repeatedly
attacked and inflicted brutal force
on US allies, such as the Kurdish
and Yezhidi minorities. The alMaliki regime in Baghdad, which
fell from Washington’s favour
partly due to his sectarian politics
and partly because of his closeness
with Tehran, was less affected by
the ISIS military advances than
the Kurds and Christians. Fourth,
the speedy territorial expansion of
the ISIS, their extreme version of
Sunni ideology and consolidation
of their power in multiple cities
have posed an impending threat
to stability in countries friendly to
the US, particularly the Gulf
monarchies.
To top it all, President Barack
Obama himself has faced considerable criticism at home from the
public, the strategic community
and the Republican leaders for his
lack of leadership in world affairs.
His decision to withdraw troops
from Iraq in 2011 was judged
hasty and bereft of foresight or
even insight. He received brickbats
for not resolutely taking action
against the use of chemical
weapons in Syria despite proclamation of a “Red Line.” And there
were critics who could not accept
the idea publicising a deadline for
troop
withdrawal
from
Afghanistan that has emboldened
the opponents and disheartened
some friendly countries.
The sudden rise of the ISIS in
a way appears to have created an
opportunity for President Obama
to display his global leadership
ability during the next two years
of his administration. The elephant in the room, however, is
whether his latest strategy to
“degrade and destroy” ISIS will
ever succeed. The history of US
experiences in Vietnam during
the Cold War and in Iraq and
Afghanistan under a unipolar
world order makes the goal of
“degrading and destroying” the
ISIS look like little other than
grandstanding. When the US left
Vietnam, the country was unified
under a communist leadership.
When President Obama withdrew
US troops from Iraq in 2011, the
country receded into chaos and
C74?D85BE>824
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I
SIS like its predecessor, al-Qaeda,
understands the value of media as
a force-multiplier and its astute use
of the web and electronic media has
ensured its visibility within a short
period of time. In fact, by making the
records of its campaigns and exploits
visible, it has established itself as the
foremost radical Islamic outfit in the
world today and emerged as a sponge
for disgruntled Sunni Muslims.
Its usage of videos and photos of
mass executions, beheadings are
used as a recruitment tool and also
to engage in psychological warfare
against its opponents. ISIS today represents what al-Qaeda used to be in
its heydays — an avenue for people
bound by their fundamentalist
Islamic ideology. The propaganda
machinery of ISIS is also no less
incendiary. ISIS paper on “Smashing
the Borders of Tawaghit” which was
circulated in June 2014 was for
example full of rhetorical references
to the way the colonial masters
reconfigured the Islamic space
through the Sykes-Picot agreement
of May 1916 and the need for
Muslims to remove all artificial
boundaries among nations and
establish a caliphate.
Most of the Islamic countries are
wracked by sectarian fissures, notably
in the West Asia; and this has proven
to be a fertile recruiting ground for
ISIS. Another factor especially across
the West Asia & North African
region, and Pakistan has been the collapse of state institutions, endemic
corruption and lack of social justice
combined with Wahhabi ideologies
propagated across these states. This
has provided a mass social base for
recruits to radical terrorist organisations.
Al-Qaeda threatened,
reinventing itself
The momentum that ISIS has
generated through its run of victories will make it a difficult organisation to displace. The rapid
advances it achieved in Syria took
place when world attention was fixated on events in Israel and Ukraine.
It is clear that with ISIS gaining
momentum, al-Qaeda is clearly concerned about losing its cadres and
sympathisers to ISIS and the recent
announcement of setting up a franchisee for the Indian subcontinent
primarily targeting India — Qaedat
al Jehad — could be a desperate bid
to salvage its position at least in the
Indian subcontinent, after losing
out to ISIS in Iraq and Syria. It tries
to project that it is still relevant and
worth supporting. Although its affiliates remain strong in Africa and the
West Asia, its influence and capacities have been diminished in recent
years. Creation of a new affiliate in
South Asia is an effort to rebuild its
presence and operations across the
region.
Al-Qaeda’s focus on establishing
itself in India is nothing new. The
idea was espoused by Bin Laden
himself in 1996. An aspect to note is
that Ayman al Zawahari in the pre
9/11 days had enunciated the need
to destroy the Pakistani state to
expand the Taliban ruled emirate in
Afghanistan. After the Taliban were
routed from Afghanistan, the alQaeda leadership found sanctuary in
the tribal areas of Pakistan and sporadically attacked the state but it also
co-opted with various terrorist
organisations patronised by the ISI
in Pakistan. Al Qaeda now has a deep
presence in Pakistan as it has close
ties to the Afghan and Pakistani
Taliban.
Reemploy followers through ISI?
The timing of the decision by alQaeda to start a new franchisee is
important. With the impending
troop withdrawal, many of the terrorist fighters and affiliate groups of
the al-Qaeda are very likely to redirect their attention from Afghanistan
to India. One of the unintended consequences of the withdrawal of the
US from Afghanistan has been ceding space to the al-Qaeda affiliates,
which will help further al-Qaeda’s
interests. Also the anti-Indian sentiment prevalent among the indoctrinated jehadists affiliated to various
terrorist organisations in Pakistan
will enable it to widen its recruit base.
Purportedly in the bad books of
the Pakistani intelligence today,
because of its alliance with the
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),
al-Qaeda may now make peace with
the Pakistan Army and turn its
attention towards rest of South Asia,
and especially India.
The biggest tactical prize that the
al-Qaeda is likely to achieve which
is likely to be chaperoned by the ISI
will be a jehadist alliance amongst
other terrorist organisation such as
the Lashkar e Tayyeba and Jaish-e
Mohammad. An indicator of its
strategy of building alliances is in the
selection of its chief — Asim Umar,
a Pakistani who served with the
Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, which primarily operated in Kashmir and
Myanmar.
It is clear that the immediate
strategy is to expand its terror network across these areas. It is also
inevitable that the ragtag elements of
the Indian Mujahideen could collaborate in the new terror network
as the leadership of the IM based in
Pakistan has already, according to
reports, contemplated joint operations with al-Qaeda.
Groups such as the LeT, IM and
JeM have conducted terrorist attacks
in India in the past and have their
linkages with al-Qaeda. Any major
terrorist attack could involve joint
planning and execution between
these organisations with ISI acting as
the puppeteer. Any dramatic attack
against India by an al-Qaeda affili-
ated group could ratchet up its
image again and help it retain its
cadre base.
Repercussions in India
ISIS has clearly created big waves
around the Muslim world in its
rather short existence. Reports indicate that some Indian citizens are
fighting for ISIS and one has been
killed fighting for the group. This is
a deeply troubling phenomenon as
troubling and many of the youth that
manage to slip under the security
radar and return home could ferment
trouble given their exposure to the
radical, extremist and apocalyptic
ideologies.
One of the reasons why radicalised youth in India are attracted
to the jihadist narrative propagated
by ISIS and al-Qaeda is that jehadists
in these terrorist organisations use
the powerful theological narrative of
jehadist ideology being true to the
religion, which is mixed with apocalyptic narratives. India remains a
target for both the terrorist organisations, both as a target and as a
source for jehadists.
ISIS and al-Qaeda
coming together?
What could be more troubling is
the possibility that that ISIS and alQaeda could indeed come together
in the region, in case, both these outfits feel it is in their best interests. For
al-Qaeda, its presence and it alliances
with other terrorist organisations
makes it an attractive partner for
ISIS. With an increase in radicalisation of many disgruntled youth,
both could run as terror schools
together and recruit unsuspecting
Muslim youth from a region suffering from instability, polarised politics and religious radicalisation. It is
inevitable that India will soon be
compelled to deal with the blowback
from these radicalised jehadists.
However, both these organisations may not be able to have as
much a spectacular run as ISIS has
managed in Western Asia. While the
security machinery in India will have
to buck up and deal with the situation proactively, in the long run, it is
unlikely for terror ideologies propagated by these extremist outfits to
take roots in India.
As a functioning democracy
committed to inclusive politics,
despite its operational lags, India
does not provide an ideal ground for
development of rabid sentiments
that characterise ISIS. Moreover,
India is neither a collapsing state like
Iraq or a war ravaged polity like we
witness in Afghanistan or Syria.
Nevertheless, there is no room
for complacency here. While it is
clear that currently ISIS occupies the
‘terror spotlight’, al Qaeda continues
to remain resilient.
(Rohit Pattnaik is a freelance
commentator on strategic issues)
disorder. As the US prepares to
leave Afghanistan, the Taliban
does not look besmirched and
rather appears more hardy.
Significantly, President
Obama’s speech to the nation on
the eve of the 9/11 anniversary
daringly declared the goal of
degrading and destroying the
ISIS. But it was silent on the desirable goal of restitution of national harmony and integrity of Iraq!
President George Bush had committed US troops in 2003 with a
stated goal to “liberate” the Iraqi
people from the Saddam regime.
But even after Prime Minister
Nour al-Maliki stepped down
under US pressure, the Obama
Administration has not spoken
about re-establishment of Iraqi
territorial integrity.
Very ingeniously President
Obama refused to recognise the
ISIS as a State and described it as
a mere terrorist outfit, but by
refraining from referring to Iraqi
territorial integrity, he perhaps has
kept open-ended the possibility of
creation of a Kurdish State.
Moreover, Obama is aware
that by extending war into Syria
to “degrade” the ISIS, he would be
circuitously bolstering the status
of the Assad regime. But by
promising training and equipping
the anti-Assad resistant groups, he
made it clear that part of his strategy would as well aimed at the
ejection of Assad from power. In
other words, President Obama’s
resolve to “hunt down” America’s
enemies would lead to skirmishing on two fronts — one against
ISIS and the other against the
Assad regime.
The actual quandary lies here.
While some NATO allies and the
8aP]P]ST]T\XTb
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T
he wider
implication of USled
2003
Operation
Iraqi Freedom
that turned
upside down
H0B8A0;8<8AI0 the political
and social
structure of the Shia majority
country has proved a homicidal
event for the whole region. The
unceremonious fall of ruthless
dictator Saddam Hussein from
the corridors of power in Iraq
and the subsequent installation of Shia-led dispensation has
given an opportunity to the
hardline extremists to exploit
the anger and frustration of
Sunni community in fanning
sectarian divisions. The unsuccessful strategies implemented
by the US occupation forces and
then Prime Minister Nouri alMaliki’s failure in unifying the
Iraqi people added reasons to
the unabated spiralling of violence. Further, the Westernbacked meddling in Syria after
the Arab Spring that opened the
floodgates of upheaval in 2011
widened the cleavage of sectarianism in Muslim societies in
the region. Syria is the only
strategic Arab ally of Iran in
West Asia.
The reckless hovering over
the large swaths of Syrian and
Iraqi lands by the new outfit
called Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria/Levant (ISIS/ISIL) has
captured world imagination.
The ominous turn of events has
raised doubts about the unexpected success of this ruthless
group of fanatics and their sinister design to erase the borders
that had carved out in SykesPicot Agreement. According
to unconfirmed sources,
Edward Snowden had alleged
that Iran’s arch enemy Israel’s
Intelligence agency Mossad had
brought ISIS into existence to
destabilise its strategic allies. It
is an open secret that US
Senator John McCain had visited Syria in 2013 where he met
the Free Syrian Army rebels
where self-styled ISIS caliph
Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi was
also present during the deliberations. It makes sense that it
will serve its twin purpose. It
will destabilise Tehran’s allies of
the so-called “axis of resistance” in the region and create
paranoia or give impetus to the
notion of Islamophobia among
potential supporters to the
Palestinian cause.
The cold-blooded massacre
of unarmed men, rape of
minority Yazidi women and
disseminating the grisly video of
beheadings of American journalists suggest that there is
something fishy behind the
purpose and motives of ISIS. It
278=C0<0=8<070?0CA0
Arab League members have
extended their cooperation to
the Obama Administration’s war
against ISIS, it is not apparent
whether they would join hands in
backing anti-Assad forces in Syria.
Furthermore, Russia for long
has backed the Assad regime.
Since a new Cold War of short has
erupted in Ukraine and the resurgent Russia is unflinchingly taking steps to ward off the Western
pressure, taking Russia on board
in Syria may be arduous. Indeed,
opening another front of Cold
War type confrontation with
Russia may bring unforeseen hurdles.
China and India, both victims
of terrorism to varying degrees, are
yet to be co-opted by the Obama
Administration. Washington cannot expect the kind of near universal support it received in the
wake of the 9/11 incident to its
current endeavour to “degrade and
destroy” ISIS.
However, India, more than
China, is apprehensive about Al
Qaeda pivoting to the Indian
subcontinent, resurgence of the
Taliban in Afghanistan on the eve
of the US departure, spread of radical Islam in Pakistan and the
uncertainties surrounding consequences of “foreign fighters” joining ISIS or combating it. When
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
holds his summit meeting with
President Obama in September,
these issues in the proposed discussion should get the priority it
deserves.
(The writer is Chairperson,
Centre for Canadian, US and
Latin American Studies,
Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi)
is an irony of sorts that the socalled exponents of ‘Caliphate,’
even al-Qaeda never ever utter
a word against the Zionist
regime in Israel even as scores
of Palestinian civilians have
borne the brunt of Israel’s military might in the recent Gaza
offensive against Hamas.
At this point of time when
ISIS has embarked on a vicious
bloody path by undermining
the stability and security of Iraq
and Syria, both close allies of
Iran, Tehran is trying to make
the most of new equations to
play its pragmatic role in
regional conflict while protecting its own national interests.
The spilling over of ISIS terrorists into northern Iraq from
porous borders of Syria, after
failing to destabilise the Bashar
al-Assad’s regime, further challenged the security concerns
and geopolitical interests of
Iran. The prime reason behind
Iran’s robust involvement in
Iraq is to prevent it from
becoming its bête noire again. It
still bears the scars of the
bloody eight-year war on its
collective imagination. Iranian
leadership also believes that theuncalled-for US intervention in
West Asia is aimed at breaking
the “axis of resistance”, which
has been standing up against
the “arrogant powers.”
All the regional heavyweights — Saudi Arabia, Turkey,
Qatar and other Western-backed
Gulf littoral Sheikhdoms — are
striving hard to tame the
Iranians in the “Great Game”
being played on the turf of Iraq
and Syria. They are trying to give
sectarian overtones to this issue
by creating a hullabaloo of “Shia
Crescent.” Perhaps it would be
the most challenging crisis that
Iran has been facing since the
Islamic Revolution of 1979 as all
its regional adversaries are vying
to discredit its pan-Islamic credentials. Despite the uproar,
Iran will not be a mute spectator and will cut their teeth to
kick them out from its ally’s territory. Its elite Islamic Revolution
Guards Corps’ external wing
Qods Force, led by the legendary
Major General Qasem
Soleimani, is actively coordinating the counter offensive
carried out by Iraqi security
forces in the conflagrated areas.
However, Iran has played a
major role in the recent change
of guard in Iraq after the ISIS
onslaught. The new premier
Haider al-Abadi’s appointment
made possible by Iran after initiating a series of negotiations
with all the major Iraqi factions
i.e., Shia, Sunni or Kurds. By
virtue of its old ties, the Iranians
— headed by its former Defence
Minister and Secretary General
of Supreme National Security
Council
Admiral
Ali
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Shamakhani, an Arab from the
Khuzestan province — had able
to succeed in forming a consensual national unity government in Baghdad. The new
government would also able to
seek the religious sanctions
from the most revered cleric,
Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini
al-Sistani, who is often misunderstood and called a “quietist.”
The inherent characteristics of
Shia Islam and the role of the
institution of marja-i taqlid
(source of emulation), the religious establishment would compel itself to play an active role in
society. To some extent he is also
an implicit exponent of wilayat
al-faqih (rule of the jurisprudent) theory but as not much as
the Iranians do.
On the other hand, the
dramatic rise of ISIS has inadvertently sent similar shockwaves through the frontiers of
India. The relatively surging
popularity of ISIS compelled
Ayman al-Zawahiri, the champion of global terrorism alQaeda, to open a new venture
of al-Qaedat al-Jihad by stretching its tentacles in the subcontinent. However, both outfits
boast fundamentalist Wahhabi
ideology that overran the terror
industry at the global level but
this kind of popularity among
dogmatic people, to some
extent, has created virtual rivalry between them. For this reason al-Qaeda has announced
their new ‘jihad’ to remain in the
forefront otherwise it could be
eclipsed by ISIS popularity.
Being a dreaded outfit, it also
prescribed ISIS to be resilient in
dealing with the enemies.
At this juncture the Iranian
assertion as regional power will
increase tension as it has been
already applying the whole-ofgovernment approach towards
Iraq since the fall of the Ba’thist
regime. The arming and funding of these mercenaries by
Arab monarchies and Western
powers have compelled Iran to
take pragmatic actions to side
with its new ally in the region.
Before reaching saturation point,
the Iranian influence will solidify the hoax of ‘Shia Crescent’
created for sectarian fissures. It
would be interesting to see how
the Obama Administration
makes overtures to deal with its
Frankenstein — ISIS — in this
‘Great Game’.
(The writer is a Research
Scholar at Centre for West Asian
Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia,
New Delhi)
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aruti Suzuki India plans to
roll out its light commercial vehicles (LCV) project on a
limited scale.
“We will begin the LCV
project on a very limited scale
and take the initiative forward
by understanding the marketing
and sales experience. We will
slowly roll out it as we do not
want to rush into it. The commercial vehicle sector is a new
sector for us,” Maruti Suzuki
India (MSI) Chairman R C
Bhargava said on the sidelines
of SIAM Annual Convention.
Last month, in an interview
to a news agency he had said
Maruti planed to launch one ton
LCV, which is in the same segment as Tata Ace and Mahindra
Gio and Ashok Leyland’s Dost,
by next year.
MSI will have a separate
sales and service network for the
LCV.
“We are in the process of
setting up sales and distribution
network for LCV because you
cannot sell LCVs and cars from
the same outlets. The customers
are different, facilities required
are different,” he had said.
When asked what kind of
growth he expects this year,
Bhargava said: “I expect that our
company will continue to grow
in double digits this year.”
Bhargava also remained
bullish about festive season
sales. He said: “Normally we
see an improvement 20-25
per cent in sales during the
festive season so we expect
that the trend will continue
this year also.”
He also expressed satisfaction on the functioning of
the Modi Government.
“I think the Government
has made a very good beginning, but this is totally unrealistic (to expect a quick
revival), as the economy had
really gone into such a decline
over a period of time and so
many ills had crept into the
entire system...Lack of governance, lack of implementation...So it will take much
longer than 2-3 months to
bring about a change,” he
said.
When asked about the
discounting trend followed by
the industry to push sales, he
said: “While we are growing at
double digits, rest of industry
is not growing so well. And
there are many companies
which are not growing at all.
If there is discounting being
done by some companies then
other have to follow suit.”
On its upcoming model
Ciaz in mid-sized sedan segment, Bhargava said: “We
hope this car will do better
than what we have achieved in
the past.”
When asked if the company has set a voting date to
get nod from its minority
shareholders’ to let parent
Suzuki Motor Corp own and
invest in its Gujarat facility, he
said: “We have not yet determined the date of voting.”
+HUR0RWR&RUSWRODXQFK
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?=BQ=4F34;78
ountry’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp
plans to launch three new models including two new scootC
ers early next year.
Besides, it plans to begin the construction of its Gujarat
plant soon and operationalise the facility by third quarter of
next financial year.
“During the early part of next year we will start rolling out
new scooters. Two new scooters and one motorcycle model
are on the anvil right now,” Hero MotoCorp Vice Chairman
and Managing Director Pawan Munjal told reporters here on
the sidelines of SIAM annual convention.
During the upcoming festive season the company plans
to introduce 12 refreshed versions of the existing models, he
added. “These 12 variants have improved features including
engines. All of them would be introduced during the festive
season.”
When asked about the sales projections during the festive
season, Munjal said: “I am bullish about the festival season.
Sentiments have improved and the market will improve further. We expect to do better than the last year.”
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=4F34;78
Government is all set
onda Motorcycles and
out C2 lakh crore
Scooters India, which
Theto roll
H
worth of infrastructure prohas taken head on market
jects this year.
“We have cleared bottlenecks. It is easy to construct express highways but
difficult to get environment
clearance. However, we are
removing hurdles. We have
cleared projects worth C1.5
lakh crore. Now this year we
will launch projects worth C2
lakh crore,” said Road
Transport and Highways
Minister Nitin Gadari
addressing the annual convention of Society of Indian
Automobile Manufacturers
here.
Gadkari said his
Ministry was also looking to
build two lakh Km of roads
under public-private-partnership (PPP) mode which
includes widening of existing
one lakh km of highways.
“We are fast-tracking
the decision making and
weeding out corruption and
red-tapism from government functioning besides
introducing innovation,” he
said.
There is no dearth of
money to fund the projects
and the Ministry if need be
can garner more funds
through securitisation of toll
revenue which amounted to
about C1.8 lakh crore in 15
years besides raising funds
through infrastructure bonds
worth C10,000 crore.
A number of steps, he
said, has been initiated to
bring in wide reforms in the
highways sector including
launch of 350 electronic toll
plazas by December and
building amenities for drivers
and commuters on every 50
km stretch for which bids
have already been floated for
consultancy and design of
270 such facilities.
He said the draft for
the new Motor Vehicles
legislation expected to be
passed in the upcoming
Winter Session will be
launched on Website by
tomorrow seeking suggestions from stakeholders. “The present Motor
Vehicles Act has turned
obsolete and the new draft
has been prepared incorporating the best practises
in six advanced nations US, Japan, Germany, UK,
Singapore and Australia,”
he said.
leader Hero Motocorp by
pushing aggressively into
rural India through affordable
bikes and more dealerships
there, said operationalisation
of its fourth plant in Gujarat
will be delayed by about a
quarter.
“Due to the elections earlier this year, there has been
a delay in the start of work at
the Gujarat plant. We expect
to start production at the
plant in first quarter of 2016
instead of last quarter of 2015
as planned earlier,” HMSI
President and CEO Keita
Muramatsu told The Pioneer
on the sidelines of SIAM
annual convention.
“We have started ground
levelling work at the plant
now and investing C1,000
crore to set up the plant that
would have an annual capacity of 1.2 million units,”
Muramatsu added.
The company currently
has three plants at Manesar
(Har yana),
Tapukara
(Rajasthan) and Narsapura
(Karnataka) and the upcoming new plant will increase its
total annual production
capacity to 5.8 million.
Explaining more Honda
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VP for marketing and sales in
India YS Guleria said:
“Though we raised our production with three new scooters, demand still outstrips
our estimates.We still have a
backlog of 60,000 scooters
that should multiply
B80<0==D0;
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in the festive months ahead.”
HMSI has 26 per cent of
total market share and the
company has over 54 of market share in the scooter segment where Honda’s Activa is
still going strong, which was
launched way back in 2001.
“This will be mainly for
scooter and once the plant
comes into operations, it will
give us the flexibility at the
three other plants to adjust
motorcycle production to
meet demand,” Guleria
added.
Talking about service network and dealerships Guleria
said that they will be adding
1000 dealerships this year
majority of which will be in
the rural area so as so connect
with the common masses.
“By March 2015 HMSI
will have over 3,800 dealerships and service stations
across the country,” said
Guleria
The company is currently producing over 15,000
units a day, which is up to 20
per cent more than what it
had produced in the past,
with the starting of third line
at its Karnataka plant.
While he declined to
share a detailed product
launch plan, Muramatsu said
the company will launch the
CBR650 motorcycle next year
that will be positioned as one
of the its flagship bike brands
in India.
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T
op global auto companies including General
Mot or s an d Hon d a , on
Friday said the Government
should remove ‘obstacles’
and make policies more
business friendly if India has
to successfully achieve
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s ‘Make In India’ goal.
They highlighted issues,
ranging from difficulty in
getting business permits to
taxation, infrastructure and
logistics, which they said are
acting as ‘obstacles’ in the
growth of the auto industry
here.
“There are considerable
numb er of obst acles to
doing business in this country. It is hoped that such
obstacles will be cleared
away under the new leadership of Pr ime Minister
Modi,” Japan Automobile
Manufacturers Association
( JA M A )
Chairman
Fumihiko Ike said while
addressing the annual convention of SIAM.
Ike, who is also the
Chairman of Honda Motor
Co, further said: “Many
Japanese auto parts suppliers are anxious to establish
operations in this country.
However, those suppliers as
well as auto manufacturers
often encounter problems in
obtaining business permits
and completing paperwork
required for acquisition of
the business property. The
c omp l i c at e d pro c e s s of
obtaining a plant construction permit, in some cases,
has seriously hindered business plans.
“ These problems are
further compounded by
India’s complex domestic
taxation system which varies
from one state to other.
These taxes, which are far
m ore bu rd e n s om e t h a n
i nt e r n at i o n a l t a x at i o n s
standards, are also impending investments in India,” he
added.
Asking for speedy measures to address such issues,
Ike said: “JAMA therefore
would like to see the earliest possible introduction of
single, uniform national
GST and our industry continues to call for improvements in the permanent
establishment tax and other
surcharge taxes. The investment environment in India
>>dVee`]Rf_TY^`cVaVec`]gVYZT]VdT`^aRTeDFG_ViejVRc
=4F 34;78) Mahindra &
Mahindra will increase its
range of petrol engine-powered
vehicles, starting with a compact sports utility vehicle
(SUV) to be launched next year.
“We are developing a 1.2litre petrol engine, which will
power the compact SUV that
we will launch next year. Also,
we have a 1.6-litre petrol engine
available from our Korean arm
Ssangyong,” Mahindra &
Mahindra (M&M) Executive
Director Pawan Goenka told
the news agemc.
He further said: “We can
also develop a 1-litre petrol
engine in quick time based on
the existing platform.”
The plan to have more
petrol vehicles is to offset any
possible decline in demand
for diesel vehicles due to the
reducing price difference
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between petrol and diesel fuels.
Goenka said the company
will manufacture two out of the
three new platforms, which it
has announced, at the Chakan
plant.
Last month M&M had
announced plans to invest
C4,000 crore at the Chakan
plant to take the overall capacity to 7.5 lakh units annually
when fully operational. The
fresh infusion would take its
total investment in Chakan to
C8,000 crore.
In 2013, the company had
announced plans to invest
C10,000 crore in three years.
When asked if the Chakan
plant could be used to assemble models of the company’s
South Korean arm Ssangyong,
he said at the moment there
were no such plans.
“We don’t have immediate
plans to assemble any
Ssangyong models in India.
However, considering the
capacity that the Chakan plant
would have when fully operational, we can produce a wide
array of vehicles there.”
On whether the company
would bring the X100 compact
SUV that Ssangyong planned
to lunch next year, Goenka
said: “We don’t have any such
plans now. Unless we assemble
that in India it will not be cost
competitive.”
Goenka said the company
has initiated a feasibility study
for a possible entr y of
Ssangyong in the US but it
would take years before being
finalised.
“We don’t have any timeline for that study. Even after
that, it would take 2-3 years
after the Board approves any
plan, if at all, for such a move.
So, it is just far away,” he
added.
M&M’s earlier plan to
launch Scorpio pick-up truck
in the US hasn’t fructified due
to legal issues with its distributor and dealers following
delays in launch.
Commenting on the market conditions, Goenka said the
industry has seen a turnaround
with sales picking up in the last
four months.
?C8
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?=BQ =4F34;78
I
n a veiled warning to the
domestic auto sector, the
Commerce Ministry on Friday
said it cannot continue providing protection to the industry
while duty barriers are coming
down all over the world.
“...We have to look at to
what extent the present tariff
protection to the auto sector is
sustainable...We will have to
question ourselves on the sustainability of a long-term tariff
protection plan particularly in
an environment where every
country is bringing down tariffs,” Commerce Secretary
Rajeev Kher said here.
He was speaking at the
Society of Indian Automobile
Manufacturers (SIAM) annual
convention.
India is protecting the
domestic auto industry from
overseas competition while
signing free trade agreements
with different nations and
groups.
Kher said while negotiating
trade agreements one has to
keep in mind the overall interest of different sectors.
“We have consciously over
the last several years by creating a tariff protection have
nurtured the industry and I
think the point has come when
the automotive plan needs to
look at to what extent we want
to continue with that and how
do we want to bring it down to
some kind of global at par,” he
said.
The negotiations for a free
trade agreement between India
and the 27-nation European
Union got stuck mainly
because of duty reduction in
the auto sector. EU demanded
significant duty cut in the sector.
“When we look for a preferential trade relation, we clearly can’t have a win-win all in
our account...Do not look for
a relationship in a trade agreement where it will be one way
flow,” Kher said.
However, he assured the
industry that the ministry
would announce incentives to
boost exports.
“In the foreign trade policy (FTP), the auto sector will
receive export incentives. The
assurance I want to give you is
that the sector will remain a
beneficiary of the incentive
programme under the FTP,” he
said.
for Japanes e comp anies
should greatly improve once
these complicated taxation
problems are resolved.”
Sharing similar sentiments, Nissan Motor Co
Senior Vice President and
Chairman for Africa,
M i d d l e E a s t a n d In d i a
Takashi Hata said: “Simplify
the vendor duty drawback
scheme. This (India) is not
the easiest country to get
this.”
Expressing
similar
v i e w s , G e n e r a l Mo t o r s
Executive Vice- President
Stefan Jacoby said: “ To
realise the full potential of
the industry, we encourage
the government to reform
overall central and state taxation policies in a timely
manner.”
Jacoby, who along with
GM CEO Mary Barra met
Modi yesterday, said the PM
and his team “are creating
an environment t hat is
friendly to business and
i nve s t m e nt” but a d d e d,
“policies that are both rational and transparent – such
as a GST – will go a long
way towards encouraging
companies to invest locally
for the long term.” “We
would like to see taxation
standards that are commonacross federal states.
We need to make vehicles
more affordable,” Jacoby
said.
Calling for a long-term
perspective from the government, Jacoby said: “The
current product life cycle is
approximately 10 years. The
auto industry requires stable
industry policy and regulations to optimise our investment. We need a clear road
map from the government
for regulations with respect
to safety, emissions and
CO2.”
Drawing attention to
labour reforms, Jacoby said:
“We would also like the government to address the need
for flexible labour reforms,
especially in manufacturing.
This is one of the areas in
which India lags behind
ot h e r
i n du s t r i a l i s e d
economies.”
Jacoby further said: “We
strongly encourage the Indian
government to explore additional trade opportunities by
bringing down tariffs and
eliminating non-tariff barriers and support exports of
vehicles and components.”
$0:LVKRSHIXO
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H
eavy commercial vehicle
manufacturer AMW
Motors is hopeful of a fast
turnaround even for the
commercial segment after
Nare n d r a
Mo d i’s
Government came to power.
“We have seen a change
and situation is getting better. For the last two three
months there is a slow turnaround and even heavy commercial vehicle segment will
also grow now,” said AMW
Managing Director & CEO
Anirudh Bhuwalka while
talking to The Pioneer.
AMW’s product range
covers the full range of
heavy-duty applications in
mining, construction, power,
petroleum, roads and highways, other infrastructure
projects and general cargo
transportation.
“We are selling around
5,000 trucks per year despite
difficult times, which would
definitely increase now and
we have no capacity constraint. AMW’ s Bhuj plant
has a capacity to produce
50,000 vehicles,” Bhuwalka
added.
The state-of-art manufacturing includes assembly,
axles and drivelines, frame
shop and automated cab
painting facilities. AMW’s
vehicles are exported to the
SAARC nations including
Nepal, Bhutan
AMW, which manufactures mining trucks and construction equipment, has
been hit hard in the economic slowdown. Its business got impacted as construction activities have been
hardly taking place of late,
especially in the large infra
sectors like roads.
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ue to manufacturing output and lower offtake of
D
consumer durables slowed
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industrial production growth
to 4-month low of 0.5 per cent
in July, dashing hopes of recovery.
The factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial
Production (IIP), had grown by
2.6 per cent in July, 2013.
IIP for June has been
revised upwards to 3.9 per
cent from the provisional estimates of 3.4 per cent released
last month, according to data
released by the Central
Statistics Office.
During the April-July period of the 2014-15 fiscal, IIP has
recorded 3.3 per cent growth,
as against contraction of 0.1 per
cent in the same period of
2013-14.
According to the IIP data,
manufacturing - which constitutes over 75 per cent of the
index, contracted 1 per cent in
July, compared to 3 per cent
growth in output a year ago.
For April-July, the sector has
grown at 2.3 per cent, compared to 0.1 per cent contraction in the year-ago period.
The consumer goods output contracted by 7.4 per cent
in July compared, to 0.7 per
cent contraction logged a year
ago. For April-July, the segment
shows a contraction of 4.5 per
cent, compared to a decline of
1.8 per cent in the same period of 2013-14.
The consumer durables
segment declined by 20.9 per
cent in July, as against a dip of
9.6 per cent a year ago.
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?=BQ =4F34;78
asing prices of vegetables, cereals and petroleE
um products brought down
retail inflation marginally to
7.8 per cent in August.
Consumer Price Index
(CPI) based or retail inflation
stood at 7.96 per cent in July.
In August 2013, retail inflation was at 9.52 per cent.
However, food inflation
during the month under
review rose to 9.42 per cent
over 9.36 per cent in July, an
official release said today.
The rate of price rise in
vegetables stood at 15.15 per
cent in August as against
16.88 per cent in the previous month.
Rate of price increase in
cereals and its products
turned lower at 7.39 per cent
and that for fuel and light it
came down at 4.15 per cent.
However, prices of fruits
during the month went up
with 24.27 per cent rate of
inflation.
Inflation in milk and
milk products increased to
11.70 per cent during the
month under review. Also,
pulses and its products were
costlier at 6.88 per cent.
Amongst others, food
and beverages witnessed no
change in price rise at 9.16
per cent, while non-alcoholic beverages prices went
down at 6.24 per cent in
August.
Eggs, fish and meat were
costlier at 7.71 per cent during the month.
Inflation in rural and
urban areas in August was
8.35 per cent and 7.04 per
cent, respectively. In July, it
was 8.37 per cent and 7.42
per cent.
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=4F 34;78 )
The Finance
Ministry is finalising the draft
Cabinet note on reducing
Government stake in PSU banks
to up to 52 per cent as part of
recapitalisation drive.
In 2010, the then Cabinet
had approved a proposal to
keep the minimum shareholding
of government to 58 per cent in
the public sector banks in order
to provide buffer for the future.
A draft note is now being
finalised for taking blanket
approval from the Cabinet to
bring down government the
minimum stake in state-owned
banks from 58 per cent to up
to 52 per cent as and when
required. It would soon be circulated to different ministries
for their feedback, sources
said.
As per law, Government
holding at any moment must
not come below 51 per cent to
maintain the public sector
character of PSU banks. At present, Government shareholding
in various banks varies between
56.26 per cent (Bank of
Baroda) and 88.63 per cent
(Central Bank of India). ?C8
ndirect tax mop up inched up by 4.6 per cent in the April-August
period of this fiscal, while customs duty and excise duty collections rose marginally.
Indirect tax collections comprising excise, customs and service
tax stood at C1,94,492 crore in the first five months of 2014-15 fiscal as against C 1,85,881 crore in the corresponding period a year
ago, the finance ministry said in a statement.
The growth at 4.6 per cent is far less than 25 per cent annual
increase envisaged in the Budget for the full 2014-15 fiscal.
Excise collection rose marginally 0.5 per cent during the quarter to over C 61,415 crore.
Customs mop up also rose marginally by 0.3 per cent to over
C71,207 crore during April-August period against C70,999 crore in
the same period a year ago.
Service tax collection, which has become a new focus area for
revenue officials, grew by 15.1 per cent to Rs 61,870 crore during
the period, the statement said.
With an aim to widen the service tax net, the government had
introduced the concept of negative list of taxation. As per it, all services except those in the negative list are taxable.
The indirect tax collection target for 2014-15 fiscal stands at C6.24
lakh crore.
Indirect tax collection in the month of August grew by 9 per
cent to C40,644 crore.Excise duty mop up in month of August grew
by 8 per cent to C13,782 crore, whereas custom duty collection
grew by 9.9 per cent to C 15,902 crore.
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T
he worst-ever outbreak of
Ebola fever has now killed
more than 2,400 people, the
UN said on Friday, as Cuba
pledged the largest foreign
medical team deployed so far
in the west African health crisis. Head of the World Health
Organisation Margaret Chan
warned the spiralling tropical
epidemic demanded a stronger,
faster response from the international community.
“In the three hardest-hit
countries, the number is moving faster than the capacity to
manage them,” she told a news
conference in Geneva.
The alarm call came as the
UN vowed its peacekeeping
force in Liberia — one of the
worst-affected countries along
with Guinea and Sierra Leone
— would “stay the course”
against Ebola.
“As of September 12, we are
at 4,784 cases and more than
2,400 deaths,” a jump of around
100 since the WHO’s previous
toll on Tuesday, the UN health
chief said.
She did not specify if the
figures also included Nigeria,
which has reported 18 cases,
seven fatal, since the deadliest
Ebola outbreak on record
began in Guinea at the start of
the year.
Transmitted through bodily fluids, the tropical virus
leads to haemorrhagic fever
and — in over half of cases death. There is no specific
treatment regime and no
licensed vaccine.
Another 500 foreign health
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professionals and around 1,000
local doctors and nurses are
needed to stop its deadly surge
through west Africa, the UN
health agency said.
“The thing we need most
of all is people,” Chan told a
joint news conference with
Cuban Health Minister
Roberto Morales Ojeda. Cuba
pledged to send 165 doctors
and nurses to Sierra Leone,
where more than 500 people
have so far died — a commitment Chan hailed as the
“largest” so far.
Starting the first week of
October, the 62 doctors and
103 nurses will remain for six
months in Sierra Leone, Ojeda
said. All have “previously participated in post-catastrophe
situations,” and all volunteered
for the mission, he said, adding
that some were already in the
country. In neighbouring
Liberia, Chan said there is not
a single bed left to treat
Ebola patients.
ndia-born nurse Jacintha
Saldanha, found hanged at a
London hospital days after
receiving a hoax call from an
Australian radio station about
Kate Middleton's first pregnancy, committed suicide, an
inquest into her death concluded on Friday.
Coroner Fiona Wilcox said
the hoax call was "clearly pressing on her mind" but she had
had "appropriate" support.
The inquest at the Royal
Courts of Justice in London
was earlier told that the 46year-old mother of two had
sent distressed emails
addressed to her colleagues
insisting "it's all my fault".
Saldanha, originally from
Mangalore in Karnataka, was
found dead in the nursing
accommodation of King
Edward VII hospital days after
staff were tricked into revealing
details of Kate's pregnancy to
two Australian radio DJs posing
as Queen Elizabeth II and Prince
Charles back in December 2012.
She had answered the call
and transferred it on to the duty
nurse on the Duchess of
Cambridge's ward. She later
wrote to the nurse, who had
been looking after the Duchess
on the night of the prank, to
apologise for putting the call
through to her.
"I am terribly sorry for
transferring the call to you. At
that moment, in the time, with
that voice, I couldn't even
think of anything else," she
wrote.
PTI
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A
day after President Barack
Obama vowed to degrade
and destroy ISIS, the CIA has
come out with a new assessment
that puts the strength of the militant outfit at anything from
20,000 to 31,000 fighters as
against the earlier estimate
about 10,000.
An even more disturbing
element of the assessment is the
projection that roughly half of
the ISIS fighters are foreigners,
with an estimated 2,000 of
them being Westerners. US
media accounts in recent days
have put the number of
Americans joining the ISIS
ranks at roughly 100.
The upsurge in numbers
attracted by the ISIS in recent
times is seen to make the
American task of defeating the
militant outfit that much harder. Republican lawmakers are
highly sceptical of the success
of Obama’s mission since it
confines itself to airstrikes
without any deployment of
ground troops.
“CIA assesses the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL) can muster between
20,000 and 31,500 fighters
across Iraq and Syria, based on
a new review of all-source
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intelligence reports from May
to August, an increase from our
previous assessment of at least
10,000 fighters,” a CIA
spokesman said.
“This new total reflects an
increase in members because of
stronger recruitment since June
following battlefield successes
and the declaration of a
caliphate, greater battlefield
activity, and additional intelligence,” the spokesman added.
There is no word yet from
the Obama administration on
how soon it would be launching airstrikes in Syria, but spy
planes are believed to have
been on the job of gathering
intelligence on ISIS strongholds in that country for some
weeks now.
Citing US military officials, The Washington Post
reported on Thursday that
President Obama has for the
first time authorised the
Pentagon to target and kill top
ISIS leaders, including the
movement’s self-styled ‘Caliph’
– Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Pentagon spokesman Rear
Adm. John Kirby, however,
declined to confirm or deny the
reported authorisation, but
commented: “One of the ways
you get at, and you destroy the
capabilities of an enemy like
(ISIS) is to be pretty aggressive
against them. And that does
include disrupting their ability to command and control and
to lead their own forces.”
Baghdadi has rarely been
seen in public for a long time,
save for a video released by ISIS
two months ago, showing him
preaching in a mosque in the
northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
For now, the US focus
appears to continue on Iraq,
where it has carried out more
than 150 airstrikes against ISIS
since last month. According to
reports, these operations have
damaged or destroyed 162
armed vehicles and personnel
carriers, 29 anti-aircraft and
IED (improvised explosive
devices) locations, and 21
weapon systems.
Articulating
the
Republican skepticism, Speaker
John Boehner said while his
party was ready to support
President Obama’s campaign,
many lawmakers believed it
was unlikely to succeed.
“I’m not sure that we’re
doing all that we can do to
defeat this terrorist threat. And
if our goal is to eliminate ISIL,
there’s a lot of doubt whether
the plan that was outlined by
the president last night is
enough to accomplish that
mission,” Boehner told
reporters after a meeting with
Republican lawmakers.
Questioning the wisdom of
Obama ruling out deployment
of troops, Boehner commented: “An F-16 is not a strategy.
And airstrikes alone will not
accomplish what we’re trying to
accomplish.” Boehner, however, was ready to support Syrian
rebel groups fighting both ISIS
and the Assad regime, remarking “Somebody’s boots have to
be on the ground.”
=Q\Q\QcQddQS[Ubc
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?C8Q 8B;0<0103
T
he 10 Taliban militants
who tried to kill Pakistani
teenage activist Malala
Yousufzai for her outspoken
views on girls’ education in the
country’s troubled northwest in
2012 have been arrested, the
army announced on Friday.
Malala, then 15,
was shot in her head
by
Tehreek-eTaliban Pakistan
(TTP) gunmen in
October 2012 in
northwestern Swat
valley.
She has since
recovered from the assault,
which shocked the world and
catapulted her to international fame for her courageous and
determined fight for education
rights to all children.
Two of her colleagues were
also injured in the attack.
Director General of Inter
Services Public Relations (DG
ISPR) Asim Saleem Bajwa said
the 10 arrested militants have
revealed that the mastermind
of the attack on the schoolgirls
?PZPaaTbcb"=Peh
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Karachi: Three Pakistani navy
personnel allegedly involved in
the Taliban attack on Karachi’s
naval dockyard over the weekend have been arrested while
they were attempting to flee to
Afghanistan, officials said
on Friday.
The arrests were made from the
Lak Pass area of Quetta earlier this week when the three
were tr ying to flee to
Afghanistan, intensifying the
probe to identify the insiders
involved in the attack.
They were shifted to Karachi
for investigation, an official said.
Security forces had killed two
militants and arrested another
four when they attacked the key
warship and submarine repair
facility on Saturday.
PTI
was TTP commander
Mullah Fazlullah.
“This was an intelligenceled operation, and police were
also involved in the case,”
Bajwa was quoted as saying by
the Express Tribune.
Bajwa said the group of the
arrested militants hail from
Malakand, close to Mingora,
the main town of
Swat where Malala
was attacked.
The arrests
came as part of the
Pakistani military’s
ongoing all-out
assault on the TTP
and other militant
outfits in North Waziristan.
Malala, after narrowly surviving the assassination bid, was
taken to Britain with her family for treatment.
She now lives in
Birmingham, where she was
flown for specialist treatment
after the shooting. She came to
public attention in 2009 when
she wrote a diary for BBC Urdu
about life under Taliban militants who had taken control of
the valley.
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?C8Q 14898=6
hree Muslim Uygurs from
the restive Xinjiang
T
province were sentenced to
death and a woman to life on
Friday for their involvement in
the deadly mass stabbings of
passengers at a railway station
in southern China early this
year, in which 31 people
were killed.
Iskandar Ehet, Turgun
Tohtunyaz and Hasayn
Muhammad were sentenced to
death by the Kunming
Municipal Intermediate
People’s Court for leading a terrorist organisation and intentional homicide, state-run
Xinhua news agency reported.
A fourth suspect Patigul
Tohti, an Uygur woman who
allegedly took part in the attack
was sentenced to life for the
“intentional homicide”, the
report said.
She was reportedly caught
during the attack which sent
shock waves across China.
Public trial of the four began
this morning.
China said the attack was
planned and executed by alQaeda-backed East Turkestan
Islamic Movement (ETIM)
fighting for the independence
of resource-rich Xinjiang.
On March 1, a group of
assailants armed with knives
attacked civilians at Kunming
city’s railway station hacking
everyone who came their way.
Thirty-one people were killed
and 141 others injured. Police
shot dead four of the attackers.
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?C8Q 14898=6
A
head of President Xi
Jinping’s visit to India, a
team of Indian and Chinese
doctors have jointly launched
a medical mission to retrace the
spirit of “Barefoot Doctors” first
undertaken by legendary
Dwarakanath Kotnis during
China’s revolution headed by
Mao Zedong.
‘China India Joint Medical
Mission’ was launched at a
ceremony jointly held by The
Chinese People’s Association
for Friendship with Foreign
Countries (CPAFFC) and
China-India Friendship
Association (CIFA) on
Thursday at Kunming city, to
mark the 76th anniversary of
Arrival of Aid-China India
Medical Mission.
A nine-member delegation of Indian doctors, specialists in ENT and cancer
treatment, have joined their
Chinese counterparts to treat
patients at city, district and village levels for a week in China’s
Yunnan province.
The joint medical mission,
which is the fourth of this kind
between the two countries,
represents the spirit of the
“Barefoot Doctors” undertaken by Dr Kotnis in 1938, K
Nagaraj Naidu, Consul General
of India in Guangzhou
told PTI.
Kotnis, who died treating
the injured during the revolution under Mao in China 71
years ago, became an iconic
figure for the Chinese. He
treated the injured Chinese
soldiers during the ‘War of
Resistance against Japanese
Aggression’ (1937-45) and
stayed in China until death.
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Grimm Reaper so that he can spare
our souls. But if we lose, our spirits
will have to serve him as a slave for
another 1,000 years. It sounds funny,
but we love the ring that the story has.
How did you get into music? What
were the early influences and inspirations?
I have been into Indian rock circuit
for the past few years and am still an
active member of Pune-based Vedic
rock band Bhramm. When I moved
to Delhi in 2013, I wanted to explore
a different genre than the one I was
already playing in the past. Since I’ve
grown up listening to artistes like
Aerosmith, Doors, Iron Maiden, Guns
N Roses and others which have been
my initial influences and have inspired
me to venture into music. So I teamed
up with my guitarist friend Sarthak
(whom he met at a Tech Support company they used to work in), after
months of struggle and searching we
got Varun Verma, a young and talented drummer and Suraj Biswas, an
innovative bass guitarist. We jammed
for two months and gave a debut gig
in April at Kaulfest, organised by a
Delhi based veteran rocker, Arjun
Kaul.
How do you look at the burgeoning
Indie scene in the country with so
many platforms available today,
from reality shows to dedicated
channels?
Platforms have always been there in
some way or the other. Yes, we can say
that in today’s world it’s quite easier
to approach those platforms. But
again, if it’s convenient, then it’s not
just for one artist but for all. So in any
way or the other, every artiste needs
to stick to the basics, that is, making
good music first. Still I’d agree to the
point that distributing your music is
quite easy today as compared to past
decades, owing to the growing trend
of the internet. The Indian artists can
always do better than just going for
TV auditions, because reality shows
are just a source of entertainment.
How did you come up with such a
quirky name for the band?
I wanted a fusion of psychedelic with
rock-n-roll. I wanted a name to
reflect the kind of music we were play-
Any reason for such a unique name
for a debut album?
Usually, every band tries to set an individual identity with their first album.
We, too, wanted the album to be selftitled. It’s just what we felt right.
ing. We wrecked our brains for a
month before finalising on Psy ‘O’
Circle.
Which genre of music would you
classify your music to?
As the name specifies, all our compositions have a psychic feel to it; not
necessarily in a dark way. For example, Psychopomp is more like having
fun, playing your own music, competing with a fictional character like
Grimm Reaper. While on the other
hand, Post War Rock describes the
pain and disaster caused by a war and
likewise. So we tend to experiment a
lot with rock-’n’-roll and blues, apart
from adding the pyschic feel to it. But
still if we have to name a genre then
it’s rock-’n’-roll, because the rest flows
within this.
Did you draw influence from masters like Rolling Stones and the
Beatles?
Oh yes, definitely. An artist should
never forget the basics. Playing in the
genre, its quite obvious to draw inspi-
ration from the likes of Beatles,
Rolling Stones and Doors. Infact, what
we play today is placed on the foundation that they laid.
What is it about old school metal
and classic rock that attracted you?
Old school is something that gives a
raw feel and that’s what rock-’n’-roll
is all about. Moreover we members,
share a common love for classical
rock.
Share with us the experiencing of
putting together something like
Psychopomp.
Psychopomp’s story is not a very dramatic one. When we were at the initial stage of forming this line-up, our
guitarist Sarthak Bhattacharya suggested this as a name for the band. But
later when drummer Varun Verma
and bassist Suraj Biswas also joined,
we realised that naming our band
Psychopomp is going to restrict our
musical ideas. Instead, we decided to
make this our first composition.
When I started writing on it, I did a
little research on psychopomp.
According to a Greek myth, psychopomp is a fairy guide that escorts
the soul to their rightful place after
they leave Earth and in return he gets
paid in gold. Grimm Reaper is said to
be the last of the psychopomps, who
illegally (as per their laws), started bargaining with human spirits. And in
our case all we have to bargain over
is our rock-n-roll. So basically, all four
of us are in a game of rock-n-roll with
Is there any specific target for your
kind of music?
Honestly, had this been year 2000 then
I’d have really struggled to look for a
good answer for this question. But
today, the scenario has entirely
changed. I believe India is the only
country where we have listeners for
every genre — be it rock, metal, blues,
pop, Bollywood, hip-hop, country,
jazz, classical, new age, world — and
the list goes on. I think we are living
in the most healthy phase of Indian
music. Although more than 60 per
cent people are still influenced by
Bollywood music, but the scenario is
changing slowly and acceptance of
artists like Parikrama, Indian Ocean,
Pentagram, Demonic Resurrection
and Kryptos are examples to justify
this. Now thankfully, people know and
can very well differentiate between,
‘popular music’ and ‘good music’.
Tell us something about your forthcoming projects.
For now we are just trying to focus on
the pending recordings which we are
doing with Delhi’s famous sound
engineer, Sahil Dhingra. Once we are
done with that we’ll be launching our
EP followed by a five city tour. We just
started in February and have already
done over 10 gigs within just three.
Now we are close to launcing an EP
and already have over 500 organic
likes on Facebook. This might be
nothing for a big band but I believe
that when they started, even this much
would have been more than they
could have expected.
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a one-of-a-kind-opportunisquash enthusiasts in the
Icityttywastoforlearn
and train in the ropes
of the game from the best. In a
Masterclass, organised by sports
giant ADIDAS, Dipika Pallikal
demonstrated the traits of her game
and also encouraged them into taking the game seriously. “The problem is that people rarely think of
turning sports into a profession,” she
says. Pallikal recalls falling in love
with squash when she picked up the
racket, stepped into the court and
decided to stick to the sport.
Currently holding the world
number 10 rank, Pallikal coached
young aspirants on improving their
game. From guiding them on the
most effective warm-up routine to
her tricks on the perfect serve — she
also gave tips on how to ramp up on
stamina, create balance and proper
stance.
Dipika feels fortunate to have
been coached under the likes of Amir
Wagih in Egypt, Ritwik Bhattacharya
to Sarah Fitz-Gerald. “You learn
A4F8=3C8<4>=47>DA
aya Scodelario made a big
impact on British TV audiK
ences with her first role in E4’s
SKINS, which started in 2007.
Then 14, Scodelario had never
acted before but she overcame
nerves at the audition and
became one of the show’s most
enduring characters, starring
alongside Nicholas Hoult and
Jack O’Connell in the show’s
four seasons.
She made her feature film
debut in 2009, in Duncan
Jones’s sci-fi indie Moon, and
followed it up in 2010 with roles
in Shank and Clash of the
Titans. She earned critical plaudits for her turn as Cathy in
Andrea Arnold’s stripped-back
retelling of Wuthering Heights in
2011 and starred in the romantic drama Now is Good in 2012.
In Wes Ball’s The Maze
Runner she plays Teresa, whose
arrival into the mysterious
Glade takes her fellow teenage
captives by surprise. Some
excerpts from her interview:
How did you hear about the
project?
I’d heard about the script going
around before I’d read it. A couple of my friends had seen it and
said it was really interesting —
very different and fun. And
then I read it and liked it. It was
a social experiment: How are
these kids going to react
enclosed in this space? The
thought of it made me feel
claustrophobic and angry. It
affected me straight away and I
wanted to find out how they got
out. And it was Wes’s energy
and passion for it. He wanted to
do something great, and I want-
something new everyday and I try to
implement it into my game. All of
them have been working towards one
goal and that is to get me achieve the
world number 1 title. Hopefully in a
few years, I can reach that goal,” she
says enthusiastically.
She continues, “Teaching others
is always humbling. I can relate with
each individual present here, since
I have been in their shoes at some
point in time. This is a fantastic initiative from the brand that inspires
the youth to come together for the
love of squash and I am eagerly looking forward to the next session.”
She hails from a family who,
though orthodox, have accepted
exposure to sports. She says, “Support
from friends and family is important.
My parents have not forced me and
my sister to take up any sport, but
encouraged us to take our decisions.”
After all the encouragement
and motivation, Dipika however
sits down to reveal that she might
consider pulling out of the forthcoming Asian Games. She and her
long time teammate Joshana
Chinappa are drawn to meet in the
quarterfinals, which the competition
does not allow. According to the
rules, two players belonging to the
same country cannot be in the
same half of the draw. “It is disheartening to see the draw like this.
Clearly the drawmakers have not
gone by the rules and put us in the
same quarter, let alone the half. I
have already written to our federation to appeal against the manipulated draw but I haven’t got any reply
yet. I am surely going to think about
pulling out if the draw is not set
right,” she says.
This is the third time in a row
that the Games, that something
like this has happened, and she feels
that it isn’t coincidence. She rounds
off, “It is a bit disheartening. We just
won India’s first gold at the recently concluded Commonwealth
Games. I’m keeping my fingers
crossed that my message goes
through to the people who know this
and am hoping the draw is changed.”
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ed to be a part of that. So I auditioned for Wes on tape and sent
it over and I got really lucky. I
got to go to Louisiana and
helped audition to find Thomas
— to find Dylan O’Brien.
What were your thoughts
about the characters?
The characters were welldefined. Not all of them feel the
same: There are people that are
willing to settle for life in the
Glade and want to make that
work. And then you have the
ones that want to question it,
but don’t feel like they can just
yet. Thomas comes along and is
the catalyst for all these other
characters to evolve and open
up and find themselves. It
would be a weird, self-organised
world, and where would you fit
into that?
What went into finding
Teresa?
It was scary but also enjoyable
to not have to do any research.
She has no memory: She’s just
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t a time I barely understood
the nuances of music, I was
A
introduced into its world. It was
largely due to my family’s love
for both Western and Indian
classics. Growing up in a unique
amalgamation of Beethoven and
Bismillah Khan has now trained
my ear for good music. And it
was this love that drove me to
Karl Lutchmayer’s show at one
of Delhi’s oldest hotel, The
Imperial.
Playing the pieces in one of
the rarest and magnificent
Steinway grand piano at the
occasion for the third anniversary of the classic European
restaurant — Nostalgia at 1911
Brasserie, Karl kept audience
amused with anecdotes which
he accompanied with each of his
pieces. “The beauty of Bartók is
that a few of his compositions
give a sense of the countryside.
When I play in London, New
York or in other places in
Europe, people seem to really
enjoy it, primarily because they
are very little accustomed to a
country life,” he says, before he
plays a few minutes of With Pipes
and Drums, a composition by
the Hungarian composer.
While addressing the audience, his enthusiasm kept everyone glued. Dressed in a classic
fish-tail coat, he jokes, “Since the
audience used to wear them, the
artiste happily adorned it, as if
to give out the message that ‘we
are nothing extraordinary. We
are all the same’.” He then gives
the audience a slice of famous
Chopin’s Allegro de Concert
Op46.
It was no less than a treat for
the ears when he played out
Liszt/Wagner’s Liebestod and
Ravel’s Scarbo. “It is based on the
poem Scarbo which depicts the
night time mischief of a small
fiend or goblin, making pirouettes, flitting in and out of the
darkness, disappearing and suddenly reappearing. Its uneven
flight, hitting and scratching
against the walls, casting a growing shadow in the moonlight,
creates a nightmarish scene for
the observer lying in his bed,” he
says.
Lutchmayer has not only
been playing in India since he
was 14, but so in love with music
that he occasionally plays the
cornet “just for fun.”
Influenced by the likes of
Billy Joel and Freddie Mercury,
he says, “The piano has been
there for over 200 years and have
turned up there. I wanted to go
into it very instinctually. How
would she react? It’s a fight or
flight kind of thing. The first
scene I shot was me coming up
in the box and I remember
walking over… I’d met the cast
but there were 30 other boys
there and I didn’t know any of
them. Ten minutes later, I’d got
on along well with everyone,
but it’s like that first day of
school feeling. I had to get rid
of that because that’s not how
Teresa reacts. She’s fighting,
throwing things and shouting
at them.
Teresa is strong-willed. Did
that made you choose this
role?
Definitely. I’d like most girls
would react like Teresa in that
situation. She knows a lot more
encompassed all the genres that
music can provide. Primarily
because it has a very wide range,
it can absorb different styles. But
I delved in western classical
music instead.” He finished off
his performance by a mesmerising rendition of Liszt’s
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13 in
A minor.
One thing that touched me
the most was the pin-drop
silence at the venue when he
played piano. The bated anticipation of all as to what he
would be playing next and the
amazing ovation he received
after every piece. It was the first
time that I was experiencing a
live piano rendition and the
experience is certainly very different from the one that comes
from listening to long playing
records.
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His fascination with the
piano he says, “is nothing new.”
His mother learnt to play the
instrument when she was in
Mumbai. “So, when we moved
to England, my parents were
eager to pass it on to me,” he
says. Although what many don’t
know is that the real reason why
he took to the piano was because
of his love for cars. He adds, “As
a kid, I possessed tiny toy cars
and parked them in spaces
between the black keys of the
piano. The keys made a sound
and I liked it.” And then, for Karl,
there was no looking back.
However, he has retained his
passion for cars. “Cars fascinate
me, and I can’t seem to keep
away from the classic ones. My
current collection includes a
1968 Triumph Spitfire and my
new pride and joy, a 1965 EType Jaguar,” he points out while
adding that he keeps coming to
India which is like a home for
him.
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than she lets out and she keeps
internalising. She’s just thinking
quietly, watching and observing. That is a lot truer, and it
sets her up for the second and
third installments if that’s where
you learn the truth about her.
I liked that she was a bit of a
mystery.
Mystery is the key word. Did
reading the script make you
want to pick up the other
books?
I’ve read the second one now
recently because I’d watched
this and I thought the time was
right. I love it. I think it’s really exciting. Again, it’s another
journey. It’s not that everything’s explained straight away.
So much is happening and
there are lots of new characters.
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C
lassical ballet — as promulgated by
Petipa and Balanchine — in the West
has all but disappeared since its heydays
in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, barring prevalence in Russia and occasionally resurrected in the rest of Europe. Contemporary
dance — as a popular form — developed during the mid-20th century and grew to become
a dominating performance genre for formally-trained dancers throughout the globe.
Although originally informed by and borrowing from classical, modern, and jazz styles, it
came to incorporate elements from many
forms of dance. About focus of its technique,
contemporary dance utilises both strong and
controlled leg-work of ballet and modern
dance’s stress on the torso, and employs contact-release, floor-work, fall-recovery and
other improvisation characteristics.
Unpredictable changes in rhythm, speed and
direction are often used as well. It sometimes
incorporates elements of non-Western dance
cultures, such as, elements from African
dance, including bent knees or movements
from the Japanese contemporary dance, Butoh,
especially its playful and grotesque imagery,
taboo topics, extreme or absurd environment
and white body make-up.
In this background, Merce Cunningham
was the first choreographer to develop an independent attitude towards modern dance and
defy the ideas that were established by it. In
1944 Cunningham accompanied his dance
with music by John Cage, who observed that
Cunningham’s dance “no longer relies on linear elements, nor does it rely on a movement
towards and away from climax. As in abstract
paintings, it is assumed that an element (a
movement, a sound, a change of light) is in and
of itself expressive; what it communicates is in
large part determined by the observer themselves.”
When one observed Cunningham in
Mumbai in the 1980s, one was struck by its
genre of serially-numbered ‘Happenings’ and
arbitrarily performing any sequence of any of
these ‘Happenings’: also regardless of Cage’s
compositions of ‘concrete music’.
Double Tree was presented by Robert
Moses’ Kin — hailing from San Francisco, USA
— under the aegis of Interface 2014, organised by Sapphire Creations Dance Company
from Kolkata. Directed by Robert Moses, the
piece bore a verisimilitude to Cunningham’s
path-breaking work in its total style. One, the
vignettes — created by the multiple solos (by
Katherine Disenhof or Norma Fong), the few
pas de deux (by either of them with Victor
Y
our clothes
express a
great deal
about the
confident,
super-achieving professional that you
are. Dressing
to impress is
never more
important
than when
you’re stepping
out for a professional rendezvous.
Clothes that exude professionalism, control and comfort can go a long way in
cementing your image as the perfect
power woman who delivers as she
promises. Here are a few tips to dress
right and crack that business meeting that
will proper
Suits: A crisp and tidy formal suit can
never go wrong for any kind of business
meeting. Neutral colours like black,
brown, blue and off-white are perfect as
business outfits. Stay away from flashy
colours as they tend to snatch the attention from your presentation to your outfit. Pair the suits well with long
pants, or a formal
skirt teamed with a
collared shirt or a
shell top. A professional suit denotes
the importance you
give to that particular meeting.
Pants:
Your
choice of pants indicates a lot about you.
In fact pants can make
or break your look, so
be careful while sporting them. Khaki, corduroy and twill are excellent choices for fabric.
The pants should be
properly ironed. Make
sure that the hem of the
pant covers your ankle but
doesn't fall on the floor.
Avoid pants in denims, synthetics (polyester and rayon) and pure cotton materials.
Skirt suits:
Skirt suits are
suitable for
those who
want to look
graceful and
stylish, while
keeping the
corporate
look intact.
The colour,
material and
length of the
5^UbWi]Q[Uc
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Tailedos) and the relatively rare pas de
trios (by all of them) — were
much in the nature of disjointed ‘Happenings’: trademarked
by
Cunningham. Two,
music, too, appeared
without any integration with the performance, changing
over, say, from
Minimalist to
Electronic, or
to other genres. Three,
there were
no climaxes
in the sequences:
either as convergences or as
divergences in the choreographic
vision.
Where Double Tree triumphed was
in its highly sophisticated dance, with
a total command on the technique and
the astounding ease with which the performers could move from one genre to
another. Their effortless essays into classical ballet from time to time were particularly revealing. Some Western critic, who
Wear minimal accessories: Prep
up your look with a pair of
elegant earrings and perhaps an understated
neckpiece. A classic bag
and a tasteful watch
will further enhance
the look. A little more
than this will reverse
the impact. Try to
avoid glittering and
showy accessories.
C olour and
patterns: Choose
your colours wisely and thoughtfully. Stick to
sophisticated
QYour choreography occasionally appears
disordered, but nevertheless relies on strong
technique…
It entirely depends. For me, energy is the
main factor.
classical ballet’s leg technique in favour of
modern dance’s stress on the torso?
I refuse nothing. Their incidence does not
matter in terms of technique.
.
QThere’re often unpredictable changes in
rhythm, speed and direction…
Absolutely, we put in place whatever is useful.
QWhat about multiple and simultaneous
actions?
They occur as the need arises. They’re not
intentional.
called it “A visually delicious beast
that never comes short
of dazzling the senses,” did not seem to be far
off the mark. Excerpts from interview with the
director:
QThere are at times suspension of perspec-
QHow do you categorise your piece?
QDo you exercise creative freedom?
Double Tree is an abstract item. It draws
from both company standards and completely new work.
QBut do you do stories as well?
Yes, I do both. This one is completely nonstory, just energy!
6W\OHILOH
Shoes: When it comes to
shoes, keep it simple and modest.
Stick to closed-toed pump shoes
for a professional look. The
colour of your shoe must compliment your outfit. Try to avoid
high heels, flat sandals and stilettos. Your walk and handshake are
two things that show how confident you are in a business meeting.
Don’t let the walk go wrong by
choosing the wrong pair of shoes.
a narrative form of art …
I entirely agree that’s the trend.
QIn your contemporary dance, do you reject
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skirt are highly important. All attributes of
your skirt should complement your personality. An
inch here and there can make
you look less than immaculate.
Make sure that your skirt suit is
properly fitted, neither too long
nor too small.
QOne seldom finds contemporary dance as
shades like dark grey,
beige and navy blue
which will keep you on the
safer side. Conservative and
sober patterns can further add
to your professional and business-like demeanour.
Other details: Fashion
simply means being comfortable and presentable.
Don’t go for something
that doesn’t match your
personna. Learn to carry
off good outfits with a
greater panache. It is
imperative that clothes
be clean, ironed and
crisp and shoes be polished properly. A judicious combination of
the right clothes and
right attitude will do
wonders for you in a
business meeting.
Cost / Quality: Put your
money on quality, not on
popular brands that are
uber expensive. Business
meetings are not for showing off labels but to present
a pleasing yet sophisticated
image in front of your
potential clients.
- Fashionandyou.co
tive and symmetry as found in ballet scenic
frame, such as, front, centre and hierarchies…
Not really, they should occur and we do
use them.
Absolutely, it’s the most important object
in my choreography.
QBut do the performers contribute?
About 70 per cent are my ideas, 30 per cent
theirs. Very often, we toss to and fro my
thoughts and hone them together.
ahesh Bhatt is one of the
few directors who has
always encouraged young talent. But when it comes to
working with his own daughter, the young and vibrant
Alia, he has his reservations.
Bhatt calls his youngest
daughter a “star”. Asked if he
will ever work with his daughter, the 64-year-old, known for
making serious and meaningful films including Arth,
Saraansh, Naam and Daddy,
said an emphatic no.
“She is a star in her own
world, and I don’t work with
stars,” he said.
With over four decades of
experience in showbiz, he has
given a chance to some of the
then ‘not-so-known faces’
who later went on to make a
remarkable position in the
film world. One such example
is Anupam Kher, who witnessed a sudden boost in his
career with his role in
Saaransh and turned to be one
of the greatest character actor
of Bollywood.
Mahesh Bhatt’s banner,
Vishesh Films, has also
launched R ahul Roy in
Aashiqui, Sunny Leone in Jism
2 and Pakistani actress Sara
Loren in Murder 3.
Alia, on the other hand,
case was filed against Bollywood superstar Salman
Khan in Maharashtra for
A
allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Muslim community.
He was booked on a complaint by Vidarbha unit chief of
All Indian Qaumi Tanzeem
Mohammed A Ali for deliberate
and malicious acts, intended to
outrage religious feelings of any
class by insulting its religion or
religious beliefs.
In his complaint, Ali said
Salman Khan’s NGO ‘Being
Human’ had organised a fashion
show in Mumbai sometime ago
in which a model walked the
ramp with the word “Allah”
written on her dress in Arabic.
“We have received a complaint
against the actor and booked
him... Further investigations are
underway,” a police official said.
Ali also submitted video clips of the fashion show to
substantiate his claim.
IANS
50<8;H05508A $<8=DC4B
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²8P\R[TP]³
rrfan Khan, who is in a news for Vashu
Bhagnani’s Welcome To Karachi, clears
the air saying that he amicably parted
ways with the producer, owing to creative
differences. According to a source close
to Irrfan, the producers were informed
well in advance about the actor not being
part of the film.
“Why would I do something of this
sort to a producer. I had been involved
with Welcome to Karachi right from the
scripting stage, which is about a year-anda-half, when there were no producers.
When Vashuji came on board as the producer, he wanted to start immediately.
But I felt we were under prepared. I suggested a delay in the shoot, which would
buy us some time to plan things,” said the
actor woh was last seen in Gunday and
recent release Haider.
“Welcome to Karachiis a characterbased film and it needs good actors who
can get the Karachi accent right. I didn’t think we were ready with the climax
either. But they were impatient to go
ahead with the shoot.” To which the producer had reportedly said, “Whether you
work in the film or not, we are okay
with it.”
This attitude led Irrfan to walk
out from the project. Later, he had even
agreed to do a cameo in the film. “I even
returned the money I had received for the
shoot,” he added. Moreover, Irrfan was
informed at the last moment to attend
mahurat shot.
Recently, Vashu Bhagnani made
no qualms in expressing his disappointment, when Irrfan
left the team of
Welcome To Karachi,
stranded in London
after he refused to fly
to UK to complete
the shoot schedule
citing date issues.
Vashu had even
mentioned that it
would be difficult
for him to find a
new actor who
could fill in for
Irrfan at such
notice.
I
F470E4
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has became a youth icon,
thanks to her successful roles
in Student of The Year,
Highway, 2 States or a wouldbe-bride in Humpty Sharma
Ki Dulhania.
Sharing his reaction on
her career graph as a father
and as a filmmaker, Bhatt
said, “She is lucky to get what
she wants.” But for him, success comes with a clause.
“She got what we call ‘the
misfortune of success’ because
I was fortunate enough to be
unsuccessful when I started
and then I was groomed in the
pain. She had the privilege to
take a fantastic take-off in the
industry and that too with
diverse films. But it’s still a
beginning,” he said.
Bhatt feels, “She has to do
a lot to keep on fulfilling the
unreasonable demands that
audiences make” because no
one spares anyone in their
failure.
“Remember this nation
didn’t even forgive Sachin
Tendulkar, who had a spectacular take-off and when he
leaned down, he had to face
lot of criticism. This is public
place, they worship success,
but they hate failures too,” he
added.
IANS
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0? Q ?A4C>A80
offspinner Saeed Ajmal had an
average elbow extension of
more than twice the allowable
limit during testing of his
bowling action in Australia
last month.
Ajmal recorded an astonishing 40 degrees with a relatively small standard deviation
of 2.5 degrees at the National
Cricket Centre in Brisbane,
according to the 23-page
International Cricket Council
report on the world’s topranked bowler in one-day internationals.
The rules allow for an
elbow extension of 15 degrees.
Ajmal was suspended on
Tuesday by the ICC for a suspect action, putting in doubt his
appearance at the World Cup in
five months.
None of the deliveries by
Ajmal during the eight overs of
biomechanical testing - some
overs were not of the usual six
balls - came close to meeting
regulations, the report said.
During testing, Ajmal
bowled offspin from over and
around the wicket, the doosra,
and quicker balls.
0?
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not guilty of premeditated murder but
were surprised that the runner was not
convicted of murder. The prosecution
also was troubled by the not guilty verdict for murder. “We believe there is
sufficient and credible evidence to
secure a conviction” on a murder
charge, said Nathi Mncube,
spokesman for the National
Prosecuting Authority. He said, however, that any decision to appeal the
judge’s ruling would come after the
case is “concluded” with sentencing.
Unlike many other times during
the trial that began on Mar. 3, Pistorius
showed no emotion as he stood in his
dark suit with his hands crossed in
front of him for the judgment. The athlete was hugged by relatives when the
judge ordered a recess soon after
announcing her verdicts.
Arnold Pistorius, the uncle, said
the family was “grateful” to Judge
Masipa for acquitting Pistorius of
murder. “A tragic event like this,
there’s no victors in this,” Arnold
Pistorius said in the courtroom, reading from a prepared statement.
Under South African law, culpable homicide is the killing of someone
through reckless or negligent behavior. She described Pistorius’ conduct as
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negligent, and said he could have telephoned security or screamed for help
on the balcony instead of grabbing his
gun and heading to confront a perceived danger in the bathroom.
Judge Masipa said Pistorius’ sentencing hearing would begin on Oct.
13, when both sides will be able to call
witnesses to argue ahead of the judge’s
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ruling on if, or for how long, Pistorius
is sent to prison for negligently killing
Steenkamp.
The sentence for a culpable homicide conviction is at the judge’s discretion, and it can range from a suspended sentence and a fine to up to a maximum of 15 years in prison.
After the verdict, Pistorius sat with
his sister Aimee on the wooden bench
where he has spent most of his sixmonth murder trial. She put an arm
around his shoulders and spoke to him.
For the first time in the trial,
Pistorius had left the courtroom for an
adjournment before his bail was
extended by going down the stairs that
led to the cells in the courthouse. That’s
because Pistorius’ bail had expired after
his conviction and the judge was considering whether to re-grant him bail.
Defense lawyer Barry Roux told
the judge that Pistorius should stay free
on bail until sentencing because he had
complied with bail conditions imposed
on him after he killed Steenkamp.
Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel, however, said Pistorius now had more reason
to flee because he had probably hoped
for an acquittal during the trial.
“Now he knows for a fact that, ‘I’ve
been convicted of a serious offense and
imprisonment is probable,’” Nel said.
Masipa ruled that it was not in the
interests of justice to deny Pistorius bail.
Members of Steenkamp’s family,
including her mother June and father
Barry, were in court to hear the verdict
in the 29-year-old model’s killing. A
close friend of Steenkamp’s cried in
court during the verdict.
8?;cTP\bW^[STSVTPb2;C!`dP[XUXTabbcPacc^SPh
?C8Q A08?DA
A
fter a sumptuous feast of traditional cricket, it’s time again to
return to the shortest format as leading players, including India skipper
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, get ready to
represent their respective franchises in
the sixth edition of the Champions
League T20, with the qualifying
rounds starting here on Friday.
While the tournament proper starts
on September 17 with perennial
favourites Chennai Super Kings pitted
against reigning IPL champions Kolkata
Knight Riders, the start of qualifying
rounds will feature defending CLT20
champions Mumbai Indians taking on
a very talented Lahore Lions team led by
former national T20 captain
Mohammed Hafeez.
While three IPL franchises KKR,
CSK and Kings XI Punjab have directly qualified for the main rounds along
with five other sides, Mumbai Indians,
by virtue of finishing fourth in IPL will
have to slog it out from tomorrow with
the Lions (Pakistan), Northern
Districts (New Zealand), Southern
Express (Sri Lanka) at the Shaheed
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Veer Narayan Stadium.
Out of the four qualifiers, the top
two will earn berth in the main round,
which will comprise of 10 teams divided into two groups. With the tournament
being played in India (other venues are
Mohali, Hyderabad and Bangalore), it is
a foregone conclusion that the four home
franchises have the best chance of winning the coveted title.
While CSK, under the able leadership of Dhoni, will be aiming to shrug
off the disappointment of not reaching
the IPL final with a solid show, Gautam
Gambhir would like to quickly forget the
England tour nightmare by aiming for
a ‘double’ in the same calender -- winning both IPL and CLT20.
Among the Indian players, Dhoni
(2010) and Rohit Sharma (2013) have the
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distinction of winning the IPL and
CLT20 in the same year and Gambhir
would like to join the elite club.
Some of the sheen have be taken off
the tournament with exciting players like
Rohit missing out due to multiple
injuries (finger fracture and shoulder
niggle) while South African speedster
Morne Morkel is also out with a shoulder injury. Both MI and KKR will feel
the absence of these two players.
But certainly not more than
*
8
F4;;8=6C>=) Former New
Zealand all-rounder Chris
Cairns says he will fight to
clear his name after being
informed
by
London’s
Metropolitan Police he is to be
charged with perjury.
The charges relate to the
2012 libel trial in London’s
High Court in which Cairns
successfully sued Indian
Premier League boss Lalit Modi
over allegations he had been
involved in match fixing.
Cairns told New Zealand’s
Fairfax Media on Friday “I
have now been notified by the
Crown Prosecution Service in
the U.K. that it is their intention
to lay charges against me on 25
SdaX]VcTbcX]V
;07>A4) Suspended Pakistan
A
South African judge on Friday
found OscarPistorius guilty of
culpable homicide in the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva
Steenkamp but declared him not guilty
of murder. Prosecutors said they were
disappointed by the ruling but would
decide on whether to appeal only after
sentencing.
Judge Thokozile Masipa said there
was not enough evidence to support
the contention that Pistorius knew
Steenkamp was behind a locked toilet
door in his home when he shot
through the door in the predawn hours
of Valentine’s Day last year. Masipa said
prosecutors had not proven beyond a
reasonable doubt thatPistorius intended to kill Steenkamp. “It’s a big burden
off us, off our shoulders,” Pistorius’
uncle, Arnold Pistorius, said. “We
always knew the facts of the matter and
we never had any doubt in Oscar’s version of this tragic incident.”
Pistorius said he mistook
Steenkamp for an intruder when he
shot her, while the prosecution said
he killed her intentionally after an
argument.
The killing by a national sports
hero stunned South Africans, and reactions on the verdict were mixed. “Well
I think the verdict is shocking to say
the least,” said Leonard Gray in Port
Elizabeth, Steenkamp’s home town. “I
think there is clear evidence and indications that he committed murder in
this case. ... I feel sorry for Reeva
Steenkamp’s family because they’re not
going to get any closure because this
guy is basically getting away with murder in my opinion.”
However, Shrina Padayachy, also
in Port Elizabeth, called the judge’s verdict “fair and just because it’s the prosecution that must prove beyond a reasonable doubt and from what I gather and seen they haven’t.”
Free again after the judge extended his bail, the double-amputee
Olympian left the courtroom surrounded by police officers. Pistorius
must return on Oct. 13 when his sentencing hearing will start, Judge Masipa
said. Pistorius didn’t comment.
The red-robed judge earlier
ordered Pistorius, 27, to stand before
she delivered the formal verdicts on
the multiple counts against him, and
said they were unanimous verdicts,
meaning she and her two legal assessors agreed on the findings. The conviction of culpable homicide, or negligent killing, can bring a maximum
prison sentence of 15 years, although
legal experts pointed to five years as
a guideline.
Some legal analysts said they
understood why Pistorius was found
September for perjury.”
He but told Fairfax media
“at least there will now be an
opportunity to face my accusers
in an open forum...so that I can
clear my name once and for all.”
Cairns had previously
described allegations of his
involvement in match fixing as
“despicable lies.” He was named
by former New Zealand test
batsman Lou Vincent as Mister
X - the former star player that
lured Vincent into match fixing
with promises of substantial
cash rewards.
Vincent has since admitted
manipulating the outcome of
matches in 12 countries and has
received 11 life bans from crick-
et for those activities.
Cairns responded to
Vincent’s allegations by saying
“I have never match-fixed or
sought to have others match fix.”
He said Vincent was a cheat
“who now seeks to portray
himself as a whistleblower. He
is nothing of the sort.”
He was also reportedly
implicated by current New
Zealand captain Brendon
McCullum in testimony given to
anti-corruption officials and
leaked to England media. Cairns
questioned the credibility of
those allegations, saying
McCullum had waited three
years before raising the alleged
approach with investigators. 0?
Southern Express of Sri Lanka, whose
regular skipper Lasith Malinga expectedly decided to don Mumbai Indians
colours while dashing opener
Tillekaratne Dilshan pulled out due to
family commitments.
The Northern Districts will also miss
the services of Daniel Vettori although
they have bowlers like Tim Southee and
Trent Boult, who have experience of
playing in the sub-continent. One of
their most consistent batsmen in longer
formats, Kane Williamson will get a
chance to showcase his skills in the slambang version.
However, with players such as
Pollard, Malinga, Lendl Simons and
Corey Anderson at their disposal, and
not to forget the seasoned Indian
players like Harbhajan Singh and
Ambati Raydu, MI are favourites to top
the qualifiers.
Lahore Lions also have a strong
chance to make it to the main round with
some prominent internationals in their
ranks, including talented but controversial opener Ahmed Shehzad and the
immensely gifted Umar Akmal. Not to
forget skipper Hafeez, who is a master
in the shorter format.
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Pakistan Cricket Board
chief medical officer Dr. Sohail
Salim attended the testing, during which Ajmal was monitored
by 27 cameras, including two
high-speed cinematic cameras
and three high-speed mobile
video cameras.
The experts were satisfied
with Ajmal’s replication of his
suspected deliveries from when
he was reported during the lost
first test against Sri Lanka in
Galle last month.
The assessment said Ajmal
appeared to have hypermobility of the right wrist due to an
earlier injury. He was previously reported in 2009 for his
doosra — a delivery that spins
away from right-handed batsman — before he was cleared.
Pakistan, which will not
appeal the suspension, will
attempt to rehabilitate Ajmal at
its National Cricket Academy
in Lahore from Monday, and
has gathered former leading
bowlers, including offspinner
Saqlain Mushtaq, to help.
Pakistan will decide after three
weeks whether to ask the ICC
to reconsider the suspension.
AP
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E
ven a second-string Serbia proved a
mighty opponent as Yuki Bhambri
and Somdev Devvarman suffered
crushing singles defeats to leave India
trailing 0-2 on the opening day of the
Davis Cup World Group play-off tie
here on Friday.
Serbia, who are here without their top
stars, dominated the proceedings to comfortably place themselves at the drivers’
seat as they exposed the weakness of
Indian players at this level.
India decided to host the tie at highaltitude conditions to take advantage but
it was the Serbian players who came out
as masters. Yuki Bhambri was thrashed 63, 6-2, 7-5 by Serbian number one Dusan
Lajovic in the opening singles, which lasted two hours and four minutes at the
KSLTA stadium.
The onus to bring India back into the
tie was on Somdev and he was his usual
fighting self but could not prevent the
Serbians consolidating the lead as he lost
the second singles 1-6, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6 after
battling for two hours and 23 minutes
against Filip Krajinovic, ranked 37 places
above him at 107.
Somdev could never execute his
baseline defence as Krajinovic paced the
match well with quick points. Serving well
was key in his success as he opened the
court with ease for winners.
Somdev, who likes to pin the opponent on baseline, could not play to his
strength as he kept firing short and the
Serbian dismissed those without any
fuss.
Krajinovic stood out with his forehand, set up by his serve, and well-calculated drop shots. He closed the match in
tremendous fashion, firing an ace.
Now, if India are to stay in the hunt,
Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna must
win Saturday’s doubles against Nenad
Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac.
In the first match, Yuki, who missed
a good part of the season due to a heel
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injury, could play well only in patches as
world number 61 Lajovic cruised to win.
Not having enough matches under his
belt, it was an arduous task for Yuki to
down a player, who has been in tremendous form this season in which he
reached the French Open pre-quarterfinals too.
Yuki struggled to rein in his free-flowing unforced errors. He was not being able
to finish the points after setting them up,
which also cost him. A staggering 59
unforced errors and failure to convert
seven of the nine break chances, told the
story of the match.
Even as the two players struggled with
their first serves, it was Yuki who shocked
the Serbian side by getting the first break
in the third game. Yuki’s strategy was clear
-- keep the points short. He approached
net for that to happen and set up two
points in that game with that.
Yuki converted the chance when
Lajovic failed to tackle a brilliant backhand return from him, sending a forehand
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I
n a significant development, Sania
Mirza has agreed to play in the
upcoming Asian Games, two days after
AITA announced that they would allow
top players to miss the Incheon event,
keeping in mind their requirements on
the professional circuit.
Sania will miss the Wuhan WTA
event which has 900 points on offer. She
though will play in Tokyo, where she is
defending champion but now points in
that tournament have been reduced to
475 from 900.
“I was feeling weird, I was not feeling happy with my decision, so I
thought I will play. I know I am sacrificing 900 points, but sometimes you
+,/IODXQWVQHZ3XQHIUDQFKLVH
?=BQ =4F34;78
t a time when the Hero Hockey India
League (HIL) is in troubled waters with
A
the reported withdrawal of two teams,
Hockey India (HI) today roped in Deccan
Water Treatment Pvt Ltd as the owners of
the Pune franchise, the new addition to the
city-based tournament.
The first two editions of the tournament
was played among six sides, but now Pune
will be the new host city. Although it is still
unclear whether Pune will be the seventh
team of the event as Mumbai Magicians and
champions of inaugural HIL Ranchi Rhinos
have reportedly withdrawn from the league
owing to differences with the orgainsers.
The Pune franchise has been bought by
Anirban Sarkar, owner of the Deccan
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Water Treatment Pvt. Ltd, a company
founded in 1998 which deals in the field of
waste water treatment and developed packaged type sewage treatment plant working
in India and overseas with a value of nearly Rs 2000 crore turnover.
“We welcome Deccan Water Treatment
and Mr Sarkar as the new franchise for next
season’s Hockey India League. These are
exciting times for us as a new city will be able
to witness the tournament and the amount
of people we will be reaching out too will
also be more in number,” HIL secretary general and HIL chairman Narinder Batra said.
Talking about the growth of the sport
in the country he said, “With a new franchise coming in and a company like
Deccan Water Treatment contributing to the
sport, we are moving in the right direction.”
The owner of the Pune franchise,
Sarkar said: “Having closely and sincerely following the developments of hockey
in our country under the leadership of
Narinder Batra, I was very impressed and
felt a need to be a part and contribute to
the sport.”
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have to take a decision,” Sania said before
leaving for Tokyo.
ball long.
The smiles from the faces of the
Indian team and that of 2500-strong
crowd evaporated soon as Yuki lost his
serve at love in the next game, failing to
contain his errors.
The ball was coming at a good height
due to the high-altitude conditions and
going for the big ground-strokes, a key
component of Yuki’s game, was difficult.
As Yuki struggled to keep the ball in
on crucial points, the match gradually
started to slip away from him. A forehand
went crashing to the net and now Lajovic
had a chance to go up. Yuki only helped
the cause of his rival by sending a backhand long.
What followed was the most entertaining game of the match as Yuki fought
off seven set points but could not convert
any of the three chances he got.
Yuki played tremendous tennis from
being down 0-40 even as Lajovic’s desperation to close the set and subsequent
errors aided him along. After saving first
three set points, Yuki earned himself the
first chance to get a break with a stunning
forehand service winner, but could not
capitalise on it.
Another backhand winner gave him
his third opportunity but a long and wide
forehand on that breakpoint spoilt the
chance. In between, Yuki came up with a
stunning lob following an enticing rally
and had Lajovic gasping.
However, the Serbian eventually close
the set in his eighth set point on the back
of a good serve, which Yuki failed to
return.
The second set was a disaster for India
as Yuki’s game crumbled. Lajovic had settled and two back-to-back breaks put him
in driver’s seat as the Serbian swiftly
grabbed the second set.
Yuki raised hopes of reversal of fortune when he led 4-1 in the third set but
unforced errors were back to haunt him.
He dropped serve in the seventh game and
that little opening was enough for Lajovic
to claw his way back.
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I
ndian shuttler H S Prannoy reached
the semifinals but it was curtains
for compatriot B Sai Praneeth
in the men’s singles competition of the USD 12,500
Indonesian Masters Grand
Prix Gold here on Friday.
Fifth seed Prannoy, who
finished runners-up at the
USD 50,000 Vietnam Grand
Prix in Hochiminh City last
week, set up a semifinal
clash with Malaysia’s Daren
Liew following a 21-13 2119 win over local shuttler
Riyanto Subagja in a 377B
minute quarterfinal clash.
?aP]]^h
However, it was all
over for his training partner, B
Sai Praneeth as the Indian suffered a 15-21 16-21 loss to
ninth seed Liew in the other
semifinal clash at the GOR
Jakabaring.
Praneeth had beaten compatriot Ajay Jayaram 21-16 1421 23-21 in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday but he was
no match against Liew, a former
top 10 player.
The 22-year-old Prannoy, who
had beaten 16th seed Sukamta Evert
21-18 13-21 21-15 in the earlier
round, put up a dominating performance in the opening round but his
rival Riyanto came back strongly in
the second as he caught up with the
Indian at 15-15.
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I
ndia’s doubles star Rohan
Bopanna says the bitterness that
had developed between him and
Leander Paes in the build-up to the
2012 London Games is “long gone
and over” and he was not averse to
the idea of pairing with his senior
compatriot for the Rio Olympics if
there are no fitness issues.
Paes was furious when Bopanna
decided to team up with another veteran star from the country, Mahesh
Bhupathi after initially agreeing to
play with him, leaving the Olympic
medallist to combine with rookie
Vishnu Vardhan.
Interestingly, it was now on
Bopanna’s insistence that Paes was
asked to play along with him in
Davis Cup tie against Serbia.
When asked it was surprising
that he took initiative to bring Paes
in the line up, despite having bitter
memories from the past, Bopanna
said, “I have matured as a player.”
“You can’t sit back and look in the
past. You take decisions at the
moment and no one can tell whether
it’s wrong or right. No one can predict future. As players you mature
and you move on, you leave the past
behind. You keep going,” he said in
an exclusive chat ahead of their clash
against Nenad Zimonjic and Illija
Bozolzac.
Quizzed if this decision was
taken, keeping in mind a possible
pairing with Paes for the 2015 season, so that they can create an on and
off court bond to have a shot at glory
at 2016 Games, Bopanna said it had
nothing to do with future.
“Saturday’s match we are playing truly because, we are representing India. Passion for the Davis Cup
will always be there. We are not taking this match whether we gel or
not. I have known Leander for
many years. He brings his heart out
when he plays, It will be great for
me. First time I am playing in
Bangalore, it’s my 20th tie. It’s just
for this Saturday and this tie. He’s the
best doubles player out there in
India. We had to play.”
But is there a possibility that
tennis fans would see them as a
team at Rio Games and he says, “it’s
tough to tell” but one thing is sure
that there was no bitterness in his
heart now.
“Of course there’s a great opportunity. As tennis players we have to
keep ourselves healthy. You don’t
know whether you are going to be
fit or not. We take it as it comes. If
Leander and me are fit and healthy
and playing at highest level, it will be
a great opportunity to represent the
country at Rio with him. That time
will tell and obviously is our goal,”
Bopanna said.
“As you said if there was a
chance to play at Rio, If I had bitterness, I would not say that. We players forget the past. Like in tennis, you
lose tournaments but you keep playing, you keep practising. You keep
fighting. That’s the way in life too.”
Bopanna was also categorical in
his view that he had done no wrong
by deciding to play with Bhupathi in
the 2012 season. “At that point of
time, I thought it was right to play
with Mahesh. And if you look at
2012, it was the best performance for
me, up to date in any year. We won
in Dubai, Paris. Cincinnati we made
finals, Shanghai, I made finals of the
London Masters, I don’t regret that
decision at all to play with Mahesh.
“To play with him was a huge
moment. Playing with him the
whole year was exceptional. There’s
no regret for me whether what I did,
who I picked, what I felt was right,
I went with that. That’s how I have
been going. Sometimes it may go
wrong, it may go right,” he said.
Bopanna hoped that Paes has
also forgotten the episode. “Leander
has matured as a player. He understands the situation. At that time
probably it was tough. When you
look through it at the back, everybody understands it. You can’t keep
holding and saying that bitterness is
there or not. It’s long gone and over.
We as players forget the past,” he said.
Bopanna and Aisam ul Haq
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Qureshi have struggled as they have
managed to win only one title - the
ATP 500 event in Dubai. They
ended runners-up in ATP 250 events
in France and Sydney but Bopanna
started the year as number 13 and
is now placed almost on the edge of
the top-30 at number 27.
They struggled at the Grand
Slam level also as they crashed out
in the first round of US Open and
suffered second-round exits at
Rolland Garros and Wimbledon.
Making the third round at Australian
Open was their best show at Majors.
“As a sportsman you have your
up and downs. That’s part of the
game, you got to fight back and keep
playing to your best abilities and find
a way back to get back to the top,”
Bopanna said.
Bopanna was non-committal if
he and Aisam ul Haq Qureshi will
continue as a pair in the 2015 season. “You are asking me something
two years down the line. I have not
spoken to anyone about the next
year. There’s still 3-4 months to go.
Then I will decide whether to continue with Aisam or not, next few
weeks would be crucial.
“We have not planned anything
for the next year. Our first priority
is to make the London Masters
(year-end finals) this year. Even
though we are ranked 13 but still
there are two Masters series and two
ATP 500s left in the calendar.”
So what’s the deciding factor in
creating a partnership? Bopanna
said: “Lot of things go into it. It’s like
a marriage. You can’t really say that
is the one thing I like about the person. You are spending 24X7 with that
person. You are travelling 35 weeks
together. So the camaraderie has to
be good.
“Before we started playing we
were friends. There are low times
when we lose matches but as the
friendship goes, it’s a healthy relationship. Even if we decide not to
play, partnership may not be there
but friendship remains,” he said.
Asked if they could still play the
same in 2014 season as they did
before parting ways in 2012, he said
his chemistry has been “fantastic”
with Aisam. “The main thing is we
are great friends that transpires off
the court and on the court we had
two ups to start with but we have
been struggling with confidence
after that. Aisam got hurt at
Wimbledon, he could not serve and
volley, despite him having that back
spasm he did extremely well fighting
and we lost to eventual champions.
“We were low on confidence, not
many matches under the belt. US
Open we definitely were favourites
to win that match, we had lot of
chances but lack of practice did not
get us through that match.”
Bopanna said they got so much
success at the start of their partnership since they were a new pair on
the circuit.
“The fact is in 2010 no body
knew how to play us. When you are
new on the Tour, like Jack Sock and
Vasek Pospisil are new as a team, hot
as a team, everybody tries to figure
out.
Bopanna and Qureshi lost many
close matches but the Indian said they
could not do anything “different”. It’s
matter of fact of playing percentage
tennis. Making sure you get your first
serve in, making the guy play. That’s
the ideal situation. In Super tie Break
you need luck as well. Couple of net
calls, always help, you lose some close
ones and win some close ones. That’s
part of the game.