PG7 PG15 PG16 Petrol, diesel prices to Disqualify ......the occasion of May Day. So, there will be no edition on Tuesday. Earlier, the poll panel had asked the government to give it

THE AIRPORT HANDLED OVER 1.5 MILLION PASSENGERS IN 2016-17

millenniumpost.in

PUBLISHED FROM DELHI & KOLKATA VOL. 3, ISSUE 117 | Monday, 1 May 2017 | Kolkata | Pages 16 | Rs 3.00

RNI NO.: WBENG/2015/65962

NO HALF TRUTHS

POLL BODY TO SEEK 5 YEAR DISQUALIFICATION FOR SUCH INDIVIDUALS

Niti Aayog for simultaneous LS, assembly polls from 2024

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: The Niti Aayog has sug-gested a synchronised two-phase Lok Sabha and assembly polls from 2024 so as to ensure minimum ‘campaign-mode’ disruption to governance.

Outlining the details, the policy think-tank has said implementing the proposal may necessitate “a maximum one-time curtailment or extension of some state assemblies”.

It has made the Election Commis-sion the nodal agency to look into the suggestion and recommended setting up of a working group of stakeholders for deciding a road-map for synchro-nised elections.

A report in this regard need to be finalised within six months and final blue-print will be ready by next March, as per draft three-year action agenda for 2017-18 to 2019-20. The draft report was circulated among the Gov-erning Council members (consisting of chief ministers of all states and others) of the Niti Aayog on April 23.

The recommendation assumes sig-nificance as President Pranab Mukher-jee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have pitched for simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

“All elections in India should hap-

pen in a free, fair and synchronised manner so as to cause minimum ‘cam-paign-mode’ disruption to governance. We may begin work towards switch-ing to a synchronised two-phase elec-tion from the 2024 election to the Lok Sabha,” the Niti Aayog draft report says.

This would require a maximum one-time curtailment or extension of some state assemblies, it said.

“To implement this in the national interest, a focused group of stake-holders comprising constitution and subject matter experts, think-tanks, government officials and representa-tives of various political parties should be formed to work out appropriate implementation-related details.

“This may include drafting appro-priate Constitution and statutory amendments, agreeing on a workable framework to facilitate the transition to simultaneous elections, developing a stakeholder communication plan and various operational details,” the draft report says.

Mukherjee in his speech on the eve of this year’s Republic Day had favoured holding Lok Sabha and assembly elections together.

Modi had in February made a strong pitch for simultaneous elections.

Mamata BandyopadhyayHon’ble Chief Minister, West Bengal

Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, Government of West Bengal

ICA

-884

(21)/2

017

We are proud of our Workers

Best wishes and congratulations on the

International Workers’ Day

Disqualify candidates named in charge sheets

for bribing voters: ECMPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: The Election Com-mission will soon ask the govern-ment to disqualify for up to 5 years candidates listed in charge sheets for bribing voters, a move which comes after it found that “inno-vative ways” were used for luring electors in a Tamil Nadu bypoll.

The poll watchdog has decided to write to the Law Ministry seek-ing changes in the Representation of the People Act to ensure that candidates contesting Lok Sabha and assembly polls are disqualified for up to five years once they are chargesheeted by a court, sources in the poll panel said.

Earlier this month, the com-mission had indefinitely cancelled the R K Nagar assembly bypoll after it found that money power was used to influence voters.

The bypoll was to be held on April 12. It was necessitated fol-lowing the demise of J Jayalalithaa.

In its lengthy order, the Com-mission had pointed out that polit-ical parties and their top leaders used “innovative ways” in bribing voters in the RK Nagar Assembly seat to outwit law enforcement authorities mandated with keep-ing an eye on poll expenditure.

Many complaints were received by the commission on possibilities of inducement of elec-

tors by distributing cash and gifts in innovative forms like tokens, prepaid phone recharge coupons, newspaper subscription, milk

tokens, money transfer in no-frill accounts in banks and even mobile wallet payment to mobile numbers. Earlier, the poll panel had asked the government to give it power under the election law to countermand an election where money power is used. At pres-ent, the EC can countermand an election following use of muscle power.

It can use its constitutional powers under Article 324 to coun-termand a poll over use of money power, but it wants the power to be vested to it under law. The logic is that it does not want to use its con-stitutional powers too frequently.

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI/HYDER-ABAD: The much-awaited Real Estate Act comes into force from Monday but only 13 states and UTs have so far notified rules under the Act which Union Minister Ven-kaiah Naidu said will enable only regulation of the sector and not “strangulation”.

The Real Estate (Regula-tion and Development) Act promises to bring in the much-desired transparency, account-ability and efficiency in the real estate sector and the govern-ment has described the imple-mentation of the Act as the beginning of an era where the consumer in king.

The government has brought in the legislation to protect home buyers and encourage genuine private players.

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2016 was passed by Parliament in March last year and all the 92 sections of the Act come into effect from May 1.

However, only 13 states and UTs have so far notified the rules. The states that have notified the rules are Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharash-tra, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.

The Housing Ministry had last year notified the rules for five Union Territories--An-daman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep, while the Urban Development Ministry came out with such rules for the

National Capital Region of Delhi.

The other states and UTs will have to come out with their own rules.

Speaking to reporters in Hyderabad on Sunday, Naidu said, “I am happy that the hard labour put in by the Narendra Modi-led Government to make this Act a reality (fructifies) on May Day.

This is a landmark legisla-tion becoming a reality nine years after regulation of real estate sector was first mooted in 2008”.

According to Naidu all efforts were made to delay this legislation from becoming a reality.

“Given the importance of this legislation and press-ing need to protect the inter-ests of large number of buyers across the country, we took it seriously and began to push it. I have held several rounds of consultations with all stake-holders including consumer federations and real estate bod-ies and impressed upon them that the real estate sector...will significantly benefit from the regulation, he added.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: With more than 1.5 million passengers pass-ing through Bagdogra Airport in 2016-17, it is all set to be declared a “Major Airport”.

With chief minister Mamata Banerjee as the driv-ing force, the Bengal govern-ment has managed to attract tourists to Darjeeling and the Dooars in droves. The traffic at Bagdogra airport has witnessed an exponential growth. Most importantly, the state govern-ment’s decision to waive tax on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) at Bagdogra airport played a key role in increasing air traffic.

Because of the lower fuel price, many airlines want to come here to take the benefit of lower fuel cost.

Apart from a 40 per cent increase in passengers in 2016-17, the cargo load has also gone up by two per cent.

Usually, an airport gets

declared as a major airport only when the passenger count crosses the 1.5 million mark, and the Bagdogra Airport has recorded passenger movement of 15,24,516 in the last fiscal.

Alapan Bandyopadhyay, Principal Secretary of the state transport department, said: “There are two main reasons for the increase in traffic at Bagdogra Airport. The state government’s decision to waive the sales tax on ATF played a

key role. The Chief Minister personally effected this pol-icy change. The other reason is more tourists visiting Darjeel-ing and Dooars.”

Once it becomes a major airport, the tariff will be fixed by Airports Economic Reg-ulatory Authority of India (AERA). The tariff for airports with below 1.5 million passen-gers is fixed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in consultation with the Ministry

of Civil Aviation. But once traf-fic crosses the 1.5 million mark, the tariff gets fixed by AERA. Besides, more manpower will be deployed at the aiport, which will help passengers.

Rakesh Sahay, Director of Bagdogra Airport, said: “With the waiving of sales tax, now more people have started vis-iting Darjeeling, Sikkim and Dooars.

These destinations too have become more popular with tourists. Earlier people used to come only for Sikkim.

Besides, people from north Bihar too use Bagdogra Air-port instead of Patna. It takes around 10 hours from Patna Airport to Purnia in Bihar while it takes only 3 hours from Bagdogra.”

At present, 22 flights oper-ate every day from Bagdogra to Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Guwahati. The number would go up with the introduction of night landing system.

Real Estate Act comes into force from today

Now, Bagdogra all set for 'major airport' tag

NEW DELHI: Petrol and diesel prices will be revised on a daily basis from Monday in select towns in sync with international rates, much like it happens in most advanced markets.

State-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), which own more than 95 per cent of the nearly 58,000 petrol pumps in the country, will launch a pilot for daily price revision in five select cities from tomorrow and gradually extend it to other parts of the country.

A pilot for daily revision of petrol and diesel prices will be first implemented in Puducherry, Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, Udaipur in Rajast-han, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and Chandigarh, IOC said in a statement. State fuel retailers cur-rently revise rates on the 1st and 16th of every month based on the average international price of fuel in the preceding fortnight and currency exchange rate. MPOST

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: Hindi-speaking cinema lov-ers can now enjoy regional movies without any language barrier, thanks to presidential nod to a parliamentary panel recommendation that the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) either dub them or carry Hindi sub-titles. The Committee of Parliament on Official Language has also recommended that filmmak-ers submit their script in Hindi to the NFDC and make it available to all concerned.

The NFDC facilitates line production ser-vices of shooting in India and animation services of overseas clients. It deals in film financing, production and distribution, and works under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

As of now, the corporation’s sub-rules on submission of applications for feature films state that the applicants should submit six copies of their script in English and one in the language the movie is to be made.

Petrol, diesel prices to change daily in these select five cities

Now, regional movies to carry Hindi subtitles or be dubbed

Millennium Post will remain closed on 1 May, 2017, on

the occasion of May Day. So, there will be no edition on

Tuesday.

Earlier, the poll panel had asked the government to give it power under the election law to countermand an election where money power is used

117 kg nilgai meat, 40 guns seized

during raid on retd Colonel's house

MPOST BUREAU

MEERUT: At least 117 kg nilgai meat, animal skin, ivory and 40 guns have been seized from the house of a retired army officer here during a 17-hour-long joint raid conducted by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and the for-est department.

A team of DRI officials reached the Civil Lines residence of Colonel (retd) Devindra Kumar on Saturday in the afternoon and the raid con-tinued till 3:30 am.

Kumar’s son Prashant Bishnoi is a national-level shooter.

A DRI official said the raid was conducted in connection with a disproportionate assets case. 117 kg meat of nilgai, Rs 1 crore in cash, 40 guns, five skulls of deer, horns of sambar deer, antlers of antelope and black buck, animal skin and ivory were seized from a makeshift ware-house in Kumar’s residence.

Chief Conservator of Forests Mukesh Kumar said: “The meat of blue bull was seized from a refriger-ator. A sample was taken and it will be sent to laboratory for testing.”

Action will be taken against the retired army officer and Bish-noi under relevant provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 though no case has been registered against them yet, he said.

In today’s paper

...CITY

FELUDA EXHIBITION SOON 4

NATION

FACTIONAL FEUD IN K’TAKA BJP 6

EDIT

ERDOGAN IN INDIA 8

INTERNATIONAL

43 MILITANTS KILLED IN AFGHAN OPS 10

BUSINESS

IRDAI ASKS LIC TO TRIM STAKES TO 15% 13

SPORT

AIZAWL FC I-LEAGUE CHAMPIONS 14

16L MORE BENEFICIARIES COME UNDER KHADYA SATHI SCHEME PG3

CRPF MEN IN CHHATTISGARH FACING INHERENT ISSUES PG7

HARMANPREET’S BRACE GUIDES INDIA TO 3-0 WIN OVER NZ PG15

I’M A WAY BETTER NAPPER THAN I’M A COMEDIAN PG16

mp town2MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Monday, 1 May, 2017

DAYINDAYOUT What’s on Around Town

A REFRESHING START TO MAYFilled with the goodness of fresh fruits, pamper yourself with the most tempting hand-crafted sorbets, for a refreshing treat this summer at 1911 restaurant. Exciting combinations like Lemoncello, Watermelon, Basil and Mango, Rasp-berry and Mint sorbets await to please your taste buds. The indulgence extends with the most satiating ice-cream fla-vours to choose from like wild berry, fig and honey amongst other home-made ice-creams to give a divine end to your dining experience.WHEN: May 1 – 14WHERE: 1911 restaurant, The Imperial

DIMSUM LUNCHEnjoy a meticulously crafted signature Dim Sum Lunch menu, comprising of an assortment of dim sum, signature clay pots and homemade ice cream for its patrons at Shangri-La’s Eros Hotel. The menu, curated by Chef Ye Haijun celebrates seasonal premium ingredi-ents and features more than fourteen varieties of evergreen favourites to satiate both the vegetarian and non-vegetarian palates.WHEN: Ongoing WHERE: Shang Palace, Shangri-La’s Eros HotelTIMING: 12:30 pm – 2:45 pm (Mon – Sat)

(IM)POSSIBILITIESA group show of paintings and sculp-tures of some of the most celebrated artists of the nation, the exhibition, (im)possibilities showcase how one can one can decipher the word impossibilities to read as i m possibilities. The names showcased has already proved that im-possible is nothing and it is a privilege to celebrate their (im) possibilities. WHEN: April 13 – May 13WHERE: Creativity Art Gallery, Hauz Khas VillageTIMING: 11 am – 7 pm

With summer come a host of skin care problems. From acne to rashes, oily skin to breakouts, it is nothing short

of a nightmare so it is very important to beat the heat by altering not only your wardrobe, but also your skin care routine, says experts.

Here are some celebrity skincare secrets to help you look like your favourite Bol-lywood diva and survive this summer in a breeze:

Exfoliate your body after a shower: A common mistake which people tend to make is to exfoliate before a shower. Cleaning up the dead cells before a shower is likely to cause more irritation and itching on the skin as in that point of time your skin is dry.

It is advisable to moisturise your skin with an oil before a shower and exfoliate it after the shower. Exfoliating your skin after a shower will help remove the dead skin

effortlessly. However, make sure that you use a good scrub which is appropriate for your skin. You can also use a soft towel to remove the dead skin.

Use sunscreen before stepping out in the sun: The sunscreen is your best friend this season. While having a healthy tan looks good, too much sun can harm the skin. Con-stant exposure to sun for a very long time can damage your skin. Pick a sunscreen which has a minimum SPF of 30 and apply it a good 20 minutes before you leave your house.

In the long run, the sunscreen also helps in reducing spots and delays the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. Similarly, make sure that after sun care is taken care of, you need to wash your face with cold water and moisturise it with a calm moisturiser.

Hydrate your body with moisturiser: In cities that face dry, scorching heat, the moisture present in the skin tends to get

sucked out. Hence, it is necessary to con-stantly keep hydrating the body with a mois-turiser, preferably moisturising milk than a cream as it spreads easily on your body and is non-sticky.

Also, make sure that you use a mois-turiser on slightly damp skin, as it glides easily and covers a larger portion of your body. Use a scented moisturiser only if it suits your skin or else it may cause skin irritation. Even in cities with high level of humidity, the constant sweating can cause irritation and body odour. A good moisturiser works there well too.

Moisturise your skin before shaving: Summers mean shorts, skirts and sleeveless dresses for days together. It’s best to stay away from harmful creams and painful waxing as they can damage your skin and cause rashes if you have a sensitive skin. Also, why cover yourself in this heat for 15 days until your

next waxing session? Switch to shaving as it is the safest method of hair removal and is also recommended by dermatologists.

Use a razor that has skin conditioning ingredients which comes with in-built body butters and glycerin that will help keep your skin moisturised before and after the shave.

Wait at least 24 hours before hitting the beach or pool: The newly shaved area will be sensitive to the sun, salt and chlo-rine. It is better to wait before taking a dive to avoid itchiness, burning and irritation. Also, apply sunscreen before and as soon as it gets washed off, after a swim to avoid unneces-sary tanning.

Gorge on berries and fresh fruits: The skin reflects what you eat so feast yourself on the summer produce. They are rich and high on vitamins and increase the release of antioxidants giving you the perfect glowing skin. IANS

Get celebrity skincare secrets tobeat the heat

You might think that it takes a lot to look like your favourite celebrity, especially during scorching summers but it doesn’t. Read on

to know the simple and effective methods to maintain those looks during summers

Worrying may help uplift mood

WORRY A LOT? It may be a good thing, say scientists who found that the act may help recover from traumatic events and depression and prompt to take up activities that promote health. “Despite its negative reputation, not all worry is destructive or even futile. It has motivational benefits, and it acts as an emo-tional buffer,” said Kate Sweeny, psychology professor at the University of California, Riv-erside (UCR) in the US.

Researchers from UCR broke down the role of worrying in moti-vating preventive and protective behaviour, and how it leads peo-ple to avoid unpleasant events. They found that worrying is associated with recovery from traumatic events, adaptive preparation and planning, recovery from depression and partaking in activities that promote health as well as prevent illness.

Researchers also found that people who report greater worry may perform better in schools or at workplaces, seek more information in response to stressful events and engage in more successful problem solv-

ing. Researchers noted three explanations for worry’s motivating effects. First, worry serves as a cue that the situation is serious and requires action. People use their emo-tions as a source of information when making judgements and decisions. Second, worry-ing about a stressor keeps the stressor at the front of one’s mind and prompts people toward action. Third the unpleasant feel-ing of worry motivates people to find ways to reduce their worry.

“Even in circumstances when efforts to prevent undesirable outcomes are futile, worry can motivate proactive efforts to assemble a ready-made set of responses in the case of bad news. In this instance, wor-rying pays off because one is actively think-ing of a ‘plan B’,” Sweeney said. Worry can also benefit one’s emotional state by serving as an emotional bench-mark. Compared to the state of worry, any other feeling is plea-surable by contrast. In other words, the plea-sure that comes from a good experience is heightened if preceded by a bad experience, researchers said.

“If people’s feelings of worry over a future outcome are sufficiently intense and unpleasant, their emotional

response to the outcome they ultimately experience will seem

more pleasurable in com-parison to their previous,

worried state,” Sweeny said. PTI

Using some silhou-ette tricks, you can easily play around with different types

of sleeves and hide the fuller arms, say experts. This summer is all about large bell sleeves, puffy ones or full lengths.4 Cold shoulder sleeves

feature a flash of skin just on the tops of the arms. Apart from being practical, the style is gorgeous and is a hot favou-rite among women looking for trendy ways to appear slim and stylish.4 Puffy sleeves are named

for the way the sleeves extend out in round puffs around the upper arms or at the shoul-ders. They draw attention to the shoulders and away from the bottom region and are per-fect for pear-shaped women.4 Bishop sleeve is a large

sleeve which is fuller at the bot-

tom than the top and gathered at the cuff. It gives a bohemian look to an outfit and is used for dramatic effect. It looks best on a flowy relaxed outfit like a shift dress.4 Large bell sleeves: This

1990’s trend is quite a hit these days, and are roomy too. While styling such kind of sleeves go full volume. Pair them with culottes or a ruffled skirt, or balance the proportions out by pairing it with skinny jeans or slim trousers. Go for sol-ids while picking such kind of sleeves.4 Full length sleeves:

Contrary to our thoughts, these are the most useful sleeves when it comes to sum-mers. They are the saviour of your hands from harmful rays of sun, especially for women who ride a 2-wheeler every-day, or for women with field

jobs. Long sleeves dresses or tops are best paired with min-imal accessories, so it’s a great idea to go for prints when opting for them. You can acces-sorise them with bold cocktail ring, finish-ing your sleeve with a flourish.4 Kaftan sleeves

are a summer staple. Own loads of solid as well as printed kaftan tops and work them up with your classic denim shorts.4 Roll-up sleeves

have always been in trend. They are in fact a summer time classic. Go for urbane checked, striped or solid shirts with rolled up sleeves and combine them with your straight fit trousers and a pair of chic flat sandals. IANS

Flaunt your sleeves this summer

“MILLENNIUM POST”, Published & printed by Durbar Ganguly on behalf of Front Row Media Pvt. Ltd. from 36/4, Prince Gulam Mohd. Shah Road, Kolkata - 700 033 & printed at Aajkaal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., BP-7, Sector-V, Bidhannagar, Kolkata - 700 091, Editor: Durbar Ganguly, Executive Editor: Arya Rudra, Resident Editor (Kolkata): Tarun Goswami. Email: [email protected], [email protected], Editorial and Marketing Office: Tivoli Court 1A, Ballygunge Circular Road, Block-A, Flat-94, 1st Floor, Kolkata-700 019. For marketing, contact: 9836292306, 9830532306. For editorial, call: 9836072100

Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for any damage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only.

mp city 3MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Monday, 1 May, 2017

ACTOR’S TAKEActor-director Aparna Sen shows a photograph of her taken during

a shooting of award winning director Satyajit Ray’s film and was presented to her during the ‘Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture’

ahead of his 96th birth anniversary, at ICCR in Kolkata. She said the

legendary filmmaker had achieved excellence in bringing death scenes to life in his films. The

director extolled the auteur at the ‘Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture’ and enumerated memorable instances from several of his films. “Ray can be called a master in portrayal of death scenes in Indian cinema and

mostly in his usual understated style. Deaths of Indira Thakran

in ‘Pather Panchali’, Harihar and Sarbajaya in ‘Aparajito’, Aparna

in ‘Apur Sansar’, Biswambhar Roy in ‘Jalsaghar’ will always be remembered,” Sen said PIC/PTI

16L more beneficiaries come under Khadya Sathi schemeOUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: The state govern-ment has decided to bring 16 lakh more beneficiaries under the ‘Khadya Sathi’ scheme in Bengal who can now avail rice at Rs 2 per kg every month.

The Food Supply Depart-ment has a plan to distribute 5 kg rice to each member of a family in a month. If a family has five members, it would get 25 kg rice per month. The food supply department had sent a file to the Finance department seeking funds for the smooth running of the scheme.

It has been learnt that the finance department has accepted the proposal and agreed to provide the sum so that more number of people can be brought under the ambit of this scheme. According to the food supply department, people belonging to the BPL category would get this privi-lege. It was learnt that the state government will have to bear Rs 4,500 crore for the entire

scheme. Before starting the new project, the food supply department had asked all the District Magistrates to prepare a list of beneficiaries. The Food Supply Department has given clearance to the list submitted by the District Magistrates.

It may be mentioned here that after coming to power,

Chief Minister Mamata Baner-jee had instructed the state Food and Supply Department to provide rice and wheat at Rs 2 per kg to around seven crore people in the state as part of its food security scheme named ‘Khadya Sathi’.

It had initially aimed to ensure that 70 lakh people in

the state get subsidised food and cereals at half the market price while over seven crore people would receive 5 kg of food grain every month at Rs 2 per kg. Now, the Food Supply Department is trying to pro-vide the benefit of this scheme to more number of people in the state.

The ‘Khadya Sathi’ scheme has seen as a huge success as the Food Department has done exceptionally well to deliver foodgrains in the remotest dis-tricts of Bengal.

The Public Distribution System (PDS) has under-gone major revamp under the Mamata Banerjee-government. As per this scheme, around seven crore, comprising almost 90 percent of the state’s popula-tion, get rice and wheat at Rs 2 per kg. Currently, the depart-ment is trying to ensure food safety to more number of peo-ple who cannot avail rice at Rs 2 per kg.

A senior official of the Food Supply Department said that the new scheme is expected to start from May this year after the Finance department has given its nod and agreed to allot additional funds. Around 16 lakh rational card holders would be covered under it. The department has adequate amount of rice for this new ini-tiative, an official added.

Two state depts opt for organic farming with an eye on policy

CM’s books a hot favourite this Akshay Tritiya

Eco Park joins list of ‘World Urban Parks’, goes global

KMC health dept to launch new mobile appDEBAMOY GHOSH

KOLKATA: With an eye to frame an organic farming pol-icy soon, two departments of the state government have begun organic farming. Fol-lowing the current trends of agricultural economy and market management, the state Agriculture department and the Food Processing Industries and Horticulture have already started organic farming in rural farm houses across the state.

Food Processing Industries and Horticulture department has asked the rural agricultural farms to begin organic farming and assured them of technical assistance in promotion and marketing as well.

“The urban residents like to buy organic vegetables as this has become a new trend. The department is also capable of producing organic vegetables as per the market demands. Recently, I have instructed the rural firms to produce organic vegetables and assured them of all technical help,” said Abdur Rezzak Mollah, Food Process-ing Industries and Horticulture minister, while talking to Mil-lennium Post.

“I have 18 to 19 farms under the Food Processing Industries and Horticulture where organic farming would soon take place. We have tried to convince the farmers about this new trend and fortunately they have taken our ideas,” the minister said.

“But I would like to say that it is not mandatory for the farmers to carry out organic farming and they will only do it if they wish to do so,” the min-ister added.

The Agriculture depart-ment also took a target to pre-pare 32 organic villages across Bengal — especially in North and South 24 Parganas, How-rah and Hooghly. The depart-ment may coordinate with private agencies and co-opera-tives to foster organic farming in the state.

The Agriculture depart-ment set up 120 new clusters, each of which possesses 50 acres, where organic farming is taking place. Around 194 farm-houses of the state Agriculture department is farming organic vegetables separately in differ-ent locations. But this is sim-ply not the end of it as organic farming is taking place under ‘Swanirbhar Krishi Prakalpa’ in collaboration with private agencies. “We have started our own farming as well as collab-orating with private agencies.

The draft of the organic pol-icy would be framed only after reviewing these works,” state Agriculture minister Purnendu Basu added.

Food processing Industries and Horticulture department will supply “green houses” and “pack houses” along with dif-ferent other organic fertilizers. “We will also provide cars to ferry those farm products to the markets,” Mollah said.

Mechanisms of these agri-cultural firms are simple. “The farmers hold shares in the busi-ness as per the measurement of his land. The shares will be dis-tributed on the basis of his land size. Every firm has a manager who looks after all the activi-ties,” Molla added.

Organic farming is a method of crop production that involves much more than choosing not to use pesticides and fertilizers.

Consumers across the nation are consciously opting for healthy eating habits which are driving entrepreneurship in organic foods.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Chief Minis-ter Mamata Banerjee’s pen-chant for poetry and writing is quite well-known. Be it in the Assembly or in rallies or even at public meetings, she evokes Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam’s compositions quite effortlessly.

Coupled with this, she has herself written several books on politics and values of life. Her books are a hot favourite this Akshay Tritiya, a day when Bengalis flock to the bookstores in huge numbers.

Publishing houses situ-ated on the lanes and bylanes surrounding College Square are abuzz with activity during Poila Baishak, the first day of

Bengali New Year and Akshay Tritiya which fell on Saturday when hundreds of book lovers gather to scan through and buy

new collections.Upalabdhi, the first book

by the Chief Minister, written over a decade ago, is among the bestsellers. Banerjee had dedicated it to the martyrs who were gunned down in Kolkata on July 21, 1993.

In the book, she reflects upon her understanding of var-ious aspects of life and political values which will give proper direction to the upcoming generation.

According to Sudhangshu Dey, head of Dey’s Publishers, over 50,000 copies of Upalab-dhi have been sold so far. Many people, including TMC work-ers, come to collect the book which has completed several editions.

Banerjee has authored

around 70 books including some in English as well. A Delhi-based publishing house has brought out several books titled Struggle for Existence, Dark Horizon, Smile, Earth Song, Kathanjali (simple quo-tations) etc.

After Upalabdhi, 22 books written by Banerjee till 2010 have been published. Around 12,000 copies of Janatar Darbar followed by 8,000 copies of Ma have been sold.

Her books on children’s rhymes, Ajab Chara and Sishusathi have hit more than 10,000 and 14,000 figures.

After coming to power in 2011, her bestselling books are Netai, Paribartan, Sojasapta, Jibonsangram and Biswa Bangla.

Besides writing books, Banerjee takes special interest in painting as well.

The logos used on the cars given under Gatidhara scheme and the bicycles given to stu-dents of Classes IX, X, XI and XII of the state-run, sponsored and aided schools under Sabuj Sathi are sketched by her. While observing fast during the Sin-gur movement to get back plots of unwilling farmers during the Left Front regime, she used to paint and sketch in the dharna mancha itself.

Even in her chamber at Nabanna, one often finds her engrossed in her creative work. Banerjee is also skilled on the electric organ and was found playing the piano accordion during her trip to London.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Kolkata Municipal Cor-poration (KMC) has decided to intro-duce a new mobile application which will provide information relating to the KMC-run health centers and various health services that they provide.

It was learnt that KMC’s health department will soon introduce the mobile application for the benefits of the people living under the KMC areas. If everything goes as plan, the new mobile app will be introduced from May 5. People can get to know the services available with various KMC-run health centers by downloading the app on their mobile phones.

A senior official of the health depart-

ment of the KMC said that people need to go to the playstore on their Android phones to download the app. Once the app is downloaded, they will get to know where and how they would get the treatment of various diseases like malaria, dengue and tuberculosis. The app will provide a detailed informa-tion including where blood tests can be done free of cost. In case a person falls ill, he or she will get to know where to get the required services by using the mobile app.

It was also learnt that a foreign com-pany has been assigned to develop the mobile application. Most importantly, the proposed application will also fix the accountability of the employees of vari-ous health workers as the senior officials

will get to know if the employees were providing the services or if there was any negligence on their part. According to a senior official, the health depart-ment will monitor the functioning of various health centres and the activities of the employees.

The initiative was taken many days ago. The app has been developed and will be introduced soon. Trails runs are in process. Once the app is introduced, it would be easier for the civic bodies to provide better health care services to the people.

HIDCO to project New Town as exhibition, convention centre OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: The Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) is likely to project New Town as a pre-ferred destination for exhibi-tions and also as a Convention Centre in South East Asia.

In view of the large number of exhibitions and conventions that take place here, HIDCO has taken this decision.

It may be mentioned that the work of Biswa Bangla Convention Centre is almost complete and is all set to be inaugurated end of this year. The convention centre is com-ing up on a 10-acre plot. There will be an auditorium with seat-ing arrangement of around

3,000 spectators. HIDCO authority observed

that many important meetings take place in this township as several important organisa-tions choose New Town as the ideal spot to host important conventions.

“In the recent review meet-ing with officers of HIDCO, NKDA and other agencies, I mentioned that a large num-ber of exhibitions and conven-tions have been taking place in New Town. There are few segments where this zone has already been considered a pre-ferred destination. So we can project this town as a preferred destination for exhibitions and conventions,” said Debashis Sen, additional Chief Secre-

tary of the state government and Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of HIDCO.

“Mining equipment, heavy equipment exhibition can-not take place in the interior and central part of Kolk-ata due to height and weight restrictions. The organisers need to carry heavy vehicles, machines to display in exhibi-tions, so they always prefer to have places near to the airport,” Sen added.

“Entertainment pro-grammes including musical shows attract huge number of youth from all across the nation especially from North-East India. It is easy for them to reach here from the air-port,” the HIDCO CMD fur-

ther stated. “Recently Bacardi NH7

Weekender was organised in an area on the borders of New Town. Zee Saregama finals and Sunburn Music Event with Snake DJ was held on grounds near Eco Park. We can provide all the facilities such as large grounds, electricity, drink-ing water and sanitation,” he added.

There is a tremendous demand for national and inter-national conventions in New Town.

Najrul Tirtha, which can accommodate 400 people, ear-lier hosted National Cancer Symposium, Taekwondo Sum-mit and Body Building shows, HIDCO CMD further added.

“New Town can provide you large tracts of open-to-sky grounds for hanger-based mas-sive exhibitions. The roads are free of traffic congestion and close to the airport as well. Sev-eral hotels including the largest 5-star hotel of Kolkata as well as other hotels would give the del-egates additional options here. A business club, Nazrul Tirtha, a dedicated movie theatre for special screenings and a 250-yard golf driving range add to the attractions,” Sen said.

He further elaborated: “We must carve out a strategy to project New Town as an exhi-bition and convention desti-nation. And the crucial issue is to complete the Biswa Banga Convention Centre on time.”

Dibyendu Adhikary’s car hit by truck, MP escapes unhurtOUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Trinamool Con-gress MP Dibyendu Adhikary had a narrow escape when a truck hit his car near Chandi-pur police station on National Highway 116B in East Mid-napore on Saturday night. The incident took place when he was returning from Tamluk.

Police said Adhikary, MP from Tamluk Parliamen-tary constituency, had gone to attend a few programmes and the accident took place at around 11 pm on Saturday when he was on his way back.

It may be recalled that MP Abhishek Banerjee also had a major accident on National Highway 2 near Singur while returning to Kolkata from a programme in Murshidabad on October 18. He had received severe injuries.

Adhikary, however, was not severely injured and left for home after a few minutes of the accident. A police officer said that the MP’s car in a con-voy was heading towards Con-tai from Nandakumar when a truck from behind suddenly hit

the pilot car in the convoy near Chanditala police station.

Driver of the pilot car some-how managed to control of his vehicle and stopped it before it collided against a tree beside the road. The loaded truck had somehow stopped after brush-ing past the MP’s car after hit-ting the pilot vehicle. As a result there was not much damage. It would have led to a major acci-dent if it had directly hit the MP’s car, said a police officer.

Policemen from Chanditala rushed to the spot and arrested the accused driver.

Police suspect that the driver was in an inebriated state and failed to control the vehicle as it was at the top of its speed. The truck had stopped after the accident due to some techni-cal snag.

A probe has been initiated in this connection. The inves-tigating officers are not ruling out possibility of any con-spiracy behind the incident and are also interrogating the driver. The police are also going through the call details of the driver, sources added.

Though the incident hap-pened pretty late in the night at around 11 pm, locals gathered after they came to know that the MP had a narrow escape.

It may be mentioned that the 91 km long National High-way 116B runs via Digha and Contai from Nandakumar and terminates at Chandaneswar near Balasore in Odisha. Apart from a small stretch with to and fro facility, the entire remaining stretch is quite narrow. More-over, there are several sharp bends and at the same time there are human habitations on both sides of the road. Despite this, buses and other vehicles ply at break-neck speed. The police are also taking several steps to avert such accidents on the road connecting the state’s most popular sea side tourist spot of the state — Digha.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Eco Park has crossed another milestone by getting high-lighted in an international event. The area was turned into an ecological garden and has now caught the atten-tion of ‘World Urban Parks’ — a New Zealand-based international organisa-tion for urban parks and open space and recreation sector.

Eco Park is the only urban park in the country that has been accom-modated in the World Parks Week event. The organisation has men-tioned that “Eco Park is a large urban park in India” in its official Facebook page. It has invited Housing Infra-structure Development Corporation (HIDCO) to join World Urban Parks

standing committee.The World Parks Week, being held

from April 29 to May 7, was inaugu-rated with an angling completion on Saturday that received overwhelm-ing success.

Various events apart from angling were also incorporated like kayaking race, paddle boat competition, speed skating and slow cycling. According to officials, they expect around 400 participants.

Taking cue from the angling com-petition that was held on April 14, HIDCO and State Fisheries Devel-opment Corporation (SFDC) offi-cials decided to hold the event again. Eco Park, renamed as Prakriti Tirtha by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, stands on 400-odd acre of land and

has a surrounding waterbody measur-ing around 112 acre. It was Mamata Banerjee who urged HIDCO to utilise it and start angling for recreation pur-

poses. There will be a series of events to celebrate the week in an interesting manner. On Sunday, there is kayaking race followed by a photography con-

test, paddle boat competition, slow and fast cycle competitions, speed skating and Segway tour. Except for the Segway tour, in all other events, the best competitors will be awarded.

The events have created a great enthusiasm among the residents of New Town. The participants include people representing various age groups and background.

After coming to power in 2011, Mamata Banerjee had asked the HIDCO authorities to develop Eco Park and convert it into a tourist attraction. The Eco Park has recorded a footfall of over 75 lakh since its opening in January 2013. The minia-ture of Seven Wonders of the World and the sculpture garden will be open-ing shortly.

Six tigers to be relocated in Buxa Tiger ReserveKOLKATA: Six tigers would be relocated to Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal from Assam as part of a plan for augmentation of tiger population in the reserve which was approved by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). “The techni-cal committee of the NTCA has given its approval for the augmentation of the tiger population in Buxa”, state Chief Wildlife Warden Pradeep Vyas said. “Six tigers, two male and four female, would be relocated to BTR from neighbouring Assam”, he said. Asked about the timeframe for their relo-cation, he said, “It may be done within this year”. The big cats, to be airlifted, would be put in an enclosure for seven days for acclimatisation and after that would be released in the reserve. AGENCIES

A senior official of the health department of the KMC said that people need to go to the playstore on their Android phones to download the app. Once the app is downloaded, they will get to know where and how they would get the treatment of various diseases like malaria, dengue and tuberculosis

It may be mentioned that after coming to power, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had instructed the state Food and Supply Department to provide rice and wheat at Rs 2/kg to around seven crore people in the state as part of this food security scheme

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mp city4MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Monday, 1 May, 2017

SONIKA CHAUHAN DEATH CASEMidnight mishaps: 2 dead, 12 injured in 3 separate accidents

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: As accidents after mid-night continue unabated in the city and even in other parts of the state, two persons were killed and 12, including a Class XII student, were injured in three separate accidents on Sunday.

Two of them took place in the city in which four were injured while the accident in Purulia claimed two lives and left eight injured.

This comes a day after cele-brated model Sonika Chauhan was killed and actor Bikram Chatterjee severely injured in a road accident.

In Purulia, a Tata Winger col-lided against a truck that was parked at the side of a road near Mekatola More at Nituria in the wee hours on Sunday.

The victims were returning after attending a marriage party.

Police suspect that the driver had fallen asleep and he lost con-trol over the vehicle that hit behind a stranded truck. Police rushed to the spot and took all of them to Har-maddi Block Primary Health Cen-tre. Two were declared brought dead while eight were shifted to hospitals in Purulia and Asansol with severe injuries.

In Kolkata, a Class XII student,

identified as Arghadip Dutta, was injured when his motorbike collided against a truck at Tala in north Kol-kata. The accident took place early on Sunday morning.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Arghadip, who is a resident of Girish Park, was riding a bike and two of his friends were on another two-wheeler and were planning a trip to Digha.

But their plan failed as the acci-dent happened before they had managed to leave the city’s bound-ary to take National Highway 6 after crossing Bally Bridge to reach their

destination.Police are suspecting that the

victim was in an inebriated state and couldn’t control the speeding bike and hit the truck. He was admit-ted to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital with severe injuries.

The truck driver, however, man-aged to flee soon after the accident. The police are going through foot-ages of surveillance cameras to iden-tify the offender.

Three more persons were injured in another road accident in south Kolkata when an app-based cab hit a taxi near Ruby Cross-

ing at around 1.30 am on Sunday. Cops said that the app-based cab was heading towards Gariahat from Ruby Crossing and it hit a taxi that suddenly came out of a lane.

There were two persons on the rear seat of the vehicle. Both, includ-ing the driver of the app-based cab, were injured. They were admitted to a nearby hospital.

Final year student found dead inside

hostel room

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Mystery shrouds the death of a final year stu-dent of R Ahmed Dental Col-lege and Hospital, whose body was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her room in the women’s hostel at Munchipara on Sunday morning.

Police said the deceased, Ankita Sarkar (23) was a resi-dent of Chakdah in Nadia and used to stay in the hostel in a room with three other students of the same college.

Preliminary investigation revealed that all her roommates had left for their homes on Sat-urday morning as there was a holiday for three consecutive days. Only Ankita stayed back and she told her roommates that she would not go home this time as she had to complete some pending work in the city.

It was around 11 am on Sunday when another girl of the hostel came to her room for some work. She found the door of the room locked from inside. She knocked on the door several times but there was no response and then she informed the matter to the hos-tel authorities.

Police came to the spot and broke open the door to find her hanging from the ceiling of the room. They sent the body

for an autopsy and her parents were informed.

Investigation revealed that the victim had spoken to her mother on Saturday evening over phone and had asked her mother to come to her hostel on Sunday morning.

The hostel authorities and other girls told the police that they did not find anything sus-picious in her movement and she spoke normally to others even on Saturday afternoon.

Police initiated a probe in this connection and searched her room to find if she had left anything in writing.

The investigating officers would also speak to her room-mates to know whether they had seen anything suspicious in her behaviour over the past few days.

UNFORTUNATE END

Forensic team conducts tests on car, accident spot

Inebriated youth manhandle

vice-principal of Odlabari ITI College

Bizman carried away by tidal

wave in Digha, missing

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: In a bid to ascer-tain the exact reason behind the accident that claimed the life of celebrated model Son-ika Chauhan and where actor Bikram Chatterjee was injured, a team comprising scientists from the State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL) and police officers from Fatal Squad of Traffic Police (FSTP) on Sun-day carried out the investiga-tion of the car and the spot where the accident took place in the wee hours on Saturday.

Both the experts from SFSL and officers of FSTP collected samples from the spot. They have also collected samples from the Toyota Altis in which they were travelling in. The car lost control and mounted a pavement on Rashbehari Avenue near Lake Mall and crashed against a wall in the wee hours on Saturday.

The investigating officers were found measuring the length of skid marks on the stretch of the road where the accident had taken place. They videographed the car and had a close look inside the interior of the vehicle. Though neither the police officers nor the foren-sic experts have disclosed what they are primarily looking into, sources said that the investigat-ing officers are trying to ascer-

tain that why the air-bags did not open. Another aspect that the investigating officers are also looking into the fact that whether they had their seat belts on or not. A police officer said that they have also urged the forensic experts to ascertain whether any light was blinking on the dash board. The offi-cer said that usually blinking of such a light on the dash board in such cars suggests that the seat belts were not on and the air-bags would not operate.

The police officers are also trying to ascertain the speed at which the car was moving. Officers have also gone through the footages of the surveillance cameras. The eyewitnesses have claimed that the car was running at high speed while Bikram’s father had claimed that he had failed to control the vehicle when another car suddenly came out of a lane.

Meanwhile, according to a medical bulletin of the private hospital, Bikram’s condition “continues to remain stable”.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Tension ran high at Odlabari ITI College in Mal-bazar after some drunk youth went on a rampage and ran-sacked a portion of the college on late Saturday evening.

The vice-principal of the ITI College was allegedly heckled by the students while a secu-rity guard who came to his res-cue was also beaten up by the agitating youth. It was alleged that a gang of 20-25 persons standing at the main gate of the college were hurling abusive language at the vice-principal of the college. When he pro-tested, the youth entered the college premises by scaling the boundary wall. They manhan-dled the official and his security guard. The college authorities have lodged a complaint in the local police station in this regard. Police have started a probe on the basis of the com-plaint. The senior officials of the ITI College urged the dis-trict police officers take stern action against the accused. They also requested the police to take actions against the shop where the accused indulge in various anti-social activities. Police interrogated the local people and are conducting raids to nab the culprits.

The mob ransacked a por-tion of the college and pelted stones at the windowpanes. The vice-principal of the ITI College resides at the quar-ter situated inside the college campus along with his family. The inebriated youth allegedly demanded an explanation on what the vice-principal was doing inside the college late in the evening. The motive is still not clear. The students of the ITI College are terrified after the incident. They alleged that some local youth gossip and booze at a grocery shop situ-ated adjacent to the college.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: A businessman from New Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas drowned in the sea at Digha on Saturday night after he was swept away by a tidal wave.

Police are yet to recover the body of the victim. It was learnt that Sonu Das (35), was sitting on an elevated portion on the beach when he was hit by a wave at around 10.30 pm. He

lost his balance and fell from the elevated portion and he was immediately swept away by the current.

The incident occurred on Saturday night when his fam-ily members were sitting by his side. After being informed, the police reached the spot and stared an investigation into the incident.

The local people and the victim’s family members told the police that Das lost his bal-ance after getting hit by a tidal wave. Police also came to know that the victim was pulled into the sea within a few seconds after his fall.

A search is being con-ducted by the district police administration but they failed to trace the victim till late Sun-day evening. Police were inves-tigating if it was an accident or if there was any foul play behind the incident.

The police are also probing to know if the victim was in an inebriated state at the time of the accident.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: At least 97 pending cases were solved within six days in Midnapore Court during the media-tion week organised by Calcutta High Court Mediation and Conciliation Committee with district legal service authority.

The mediation week was observed from April 24 to 29 at Midnapore Court to bring in solutions to the long pending cases and the authority man-aged to solve a record number in mini-mum time.

It may be mentioned that the Cal-cutta High Court Mediation and Conciliation Committee have been organising such programmes in differ-ent districts across the state to solve old cases on priority basis.

“At least 97 cases were solved within

six days of mediation week. Those cases were pending for the past 8-10 years. A lot of money and time was saved by this effort,” said Ajoyendra Bhat-tacharya, secretary, district legal ser-vice authority.

On Saturday, Justice Biswanath Somadder, the chairman of Calcutta High Court Mediation and Concili-ation Committee, visited Midnapore Court along with assistant secretary Sourav Bhattacharya and a few other judges from the district court.

“The property related disputes between brothers, marital conflicts and some other important cases were resolved within few hours. People con-gratulated us to take such a step,” Bhat-tacharya added.

“It is only due to lack of knowledge that people have not used this facility before. Awareness campaigns should

be arranged before the start of media-tion weeks in the districts,” lawyers said.

Midnapore district court has huge number of pending cases. “At least 1 lakh cases are pending in this court. Around 1,000 cases register in a month in which only 50 percent remain unsolved at the end of the month. Most of the cases are related to marital and property related disputes,” lawyers mentioned.

“The mediators discussed the issue with two parties who filed cases in the court. They tried to settle the matter looking at the present situation. They also suggested the contesting parties to withdraw the cases or the written opinions of the two parties regarding cases that were sent to the judges for their final judgment. Money and time can be saved by this process too,” Bhat-tacharya added.

KOLKATA: An exhibi-tion on Satyajit Ray’s iconic sleuth Feluda was inaugu-rated on Sunday, ahead of the maestro’s 91st birth anniversary on May 2.

Ninety-five exhibits, which included photos from Ray’s famous Kheror Khata (doodles and random rough illustrations of films and stories), are on dis-play at the exhibition.

Besides, shooting schedules of the film Sonar Kella, manu-scripts and illustration of other Feluda books like Bosepukure Khunkharapi, Darjeeling Jam-jamat, Apsara Theatrer Mamla and Gangtoke Gandogol are being exhibited.

“We have managed to put up less than 30 percent of Baba’s voluminous works,” Ray’s

director son Sandip said.He said the 95 exhibits were

chosen to portray the multifac-eted personality of his father, who was a writer, illustrator and novelist besides being a film maker.

“We would definitely like to put them for permanent dis-

play if given a proper venue. We are looking for one such place,” Sandip said to a question.

The inauguration was attended by several actors who worked in Ray’s and Sandip’s movies.

Sonar Kella actor Kushal Chakraborty, who immor-

talised the child character of ‘Mukul’ said: “I am seeing this shooting schedule doodle for the first time as I was only a six-year-old boy when the film was made in 1974.”

Recalling his first shoot-ing experience, Kushal said: “I remember he did not scold me and I did not realise how he got the job done. I know I was pampered on set.”

Sandip Ray’s Feluda actor Sabyasachi Chakraborty said, “This could be the most fitting tribute to the film director, whose birthday falls on May 2. The sleuth Feluda also turned 50 this year.”

‘The Society for the Preser-vation of Satyajit Ray Archives’ organised the exhibition which will continue till May 4. AGENCIES

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: There may be a uni-fied smart card to get the service of Kolkata’s conventional Metro and East-West Metro, a railway source said.

Kolkata’s very own conven-tional Metro rail runs from New Garia to Noapara carrying thou-sands of passengers on a daily basis.

On the other hand, a part of the East West Metro, from Salt Lake Sector V to Phool Bagan will likely be operational in 2018.

“The conventional Metro rail has become lifeline of the city. The new East West corridor will also serve the people soon. The pas-sengers would be benefitted if a unified smart card exists,” said

the source.“There is a possibility that

both of these Metro lines would intersect somewhere, where peo-ple would change from one Metro to another. The use of smart card may be useful then,” the source added.

Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Pub-lic Enterprises Babul Supriyo recently said that the first phase of the East-West Metro, from Salt Lake’s Sector V to Phool Bagan, will likely be operational by 2018.

Kolkata Metro Railway Cor-poration Limited (KMRCL) is a central government enterprise implementing East-West Metro Corridor and has recently ordered 84 air-conditioned coaches from BEML Limited, a Bengal-

uru-based Public Sector Utility and the first rake is expected in December this year.

Many top rail officials recently inspected the tunnel of East-West Metro in Howrah. The General Manager of the Metro Railway,

Kolkata, MC Chauhan inspected the tunnel on Sunday.

“It is expected that the tunnel under the river will be completed by June this year,” Chauhan said.

It may be mentioned, the Tun-nel Boring Machine (TBM) that have dug 200 metre under the river from the Howrah side are scheduled to reach Kolkata by end of June. The operators of the machine, who came from Johan-nesburg, will have to stop rolling it on Strand Road about 100 metre from the river till the Archaeolog-ical Survey of India (ASI) gives its permission to dig the tunnel fur-ther. This would probably delay the project further.

“The railway is in talk with ASI over this issue,” the General Manager added.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Monday may be a rainy day for Kolkata, the forecasters of Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) indicated. There was no sign of the much-awaited spell of pre-Monsoon showers over the city for the past few days as people suffered with unbearable heat.

The weather conditions are discomfort-ing due to increased humidity witnessed across the state and even in Kolkata. In this increased moisture, excessive sweating has been witnessed raising the discomfort of the citizens.

“It is really a lull phase of weather for the last couple of weeks in Kolkata. The city is receiving moisture but it is not good enough to bring rainfall and a little cool weather could provide relief,” said a mete-orologist. The doctors, however, suggested a series of precautionary measures. They indicate that as the heat intensifies, peo-ple run the risk of seasonal diseases like sore throat, fever, conjunctivitis and even chicken pox.

Kolkata recorded extreme heat in the last few days with temperature approach-ing towards 40 degrees Celsius. On Sun-day, Kolkata recorded 38 degrees Celsius. Normally, such high temperature is felt in May. But in the past couple of years, tem-perature almost peak even by early April.

The meteorologists, who regularly deal with weather data, explained that the average temperature of Kolkata in May is 36 degrees Celsius (maximum) and 26.4 degrees Celsius (minimum).

“Kolkata recorded highest tempera-

ture in May 28, 1958, when the MeT office recorded 43.7 degrees Celsius as maximum temperature of the day. The lowest was recorded in May 3, 1887 when the tem-perature was 18.3 degrees Celsius,” said a meteorologist. History suggests that Kol-kata was never so rainy with the number of rainy days amounting to less than six. “Kol-kata witnessed heaviest rainfall in May 26, 1893. The rainfall was measured in 156.2 mm,” he added.

“Dehydration is common at this time when temperature crosses 35 degrees Cel-sius on a daily basis. Chances of diarrhoea are high now. Heat-related diseases like dehydration, vomiting and diarrhoea can be prevented only by drinking lots of water. Typhoid fever and jaundice may increase due to unhygienic water also,” said Dr Sur-jya Jyoti Choudhuri, a state government-run hospital. “I will suggest that people avoid direct sun and carry drinking water while travelling. Eating succulent fruits and coconut water may help at the end of the day. Spicy food too should be avoided,” said a private practitioner.

Mediation week: 97 pending cases resolved in 6 days

Exclusive Feluda exhibition before Satyajit Ray’s 91st birth anniversary

Unified smart cards for conventional and East-West Metro to be introduced

Kolkata to experience showers today, says MeT office

A Class XII student was also injured when his bike collided against a truck at Tala

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Miscreants stormed into the house of a businessman posing themselves as police officers and shot him from the close quarter on Sunday morning.

The incident happened in Serampur in Hooghly. The victim has been under-going treatment at a hospital with a bullet injury on his abdomen. Posing themselves as policemen, a gang of 4-5 miscreants entered the house of Ajoy Roy Bhowmik, a local businessman, and started beating him up. When Ajoy’s wife and daughter came to his rescue, they were also roughed up. An altercation broke out between the mis-creants and the businessman. The victim’s 10-year-old daughter also received inju-ries when she was beaten up by the goons.

The victim’s wife told the police that fol-lowing the altercation one of the accused took out a gun and shot him from point blank range. The miscreants fled the house immediately after that. They even hurled bombs on their way out which caused panic among the neighbours. It is quite clear that they had come to take revenge due to some business rivalry, preliminary investigation reveals. The victim was rushed to Seramp-ore Walsh Hospital and later shifted to a private hospital in the city as his condition deteriorated. Presently, his condition is stated to be critical. Police said that Bhow-mik has been running a stationery shop in Serampore for the last few years. Before setting it up, he was allegedly involved in a number of anti-social activities. Police said the incident might have resulted due to that. A probe has begun and raids are being conducted to nab the culprits.

Miscreants posing as cops shoot businessman

Three more persons were injured in another road accident in south Kolkata when an app-based cab hit a taxi near Ruby Crossing at around 1.30 am on Sunday. Cops said that the app-based cab was heading towards Gariahat from Ruby Crossing and it hit a taxi that suddenly came out of a lane

Police said the deceased, Ankita Sarkar (23) was a resident of Chakdah in Nadia and used to stay in the hostel in a room with three other students of the same college

Bikram Chatterjee

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The police are also probing to know if the victim was in an inebriated state at the time of the accident

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NEW DELHI: Prospective parents going for adoption will now not be allowed to "pick and choose" and can only accept or reject the child offered by the national adoption body.

The new rule will come into force from Monday.

Till now, parents registered with the government's adop-tion portal, CARINGS, were referred up to three children and could accept one.

This practice will now end and parents will be referred only one child.

"The rate of adoption was

very slow and the children would remain in the refer-ral cycle for a very long time. Under the new method, we will be able to refer all children in our adoption pool to an equal number of prospective par-ents," CEO, Child Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), Lt Col Deepak Kumar said. Parents can participate in a maximum of three rounds of referral before they move to the bottom of the waiting list.

In each of these rounds, they will be sent a profile of a different child.

However, parents will not be able to choose from the three children referred to them in these rounds which will be held after a gap of at least 90 days. "We are also try-ing to discourage commodi-fication of adoptable children where parents can pick and choose, " Kumar said. Parents will have 48 hours to accept a child from the time the child's profile is sent to them. It takes another 20 days to complete formalities before an applica-tion is filed in a court to seek an adoption order. MPOST

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: The South Asia Satellite will be launched on May 5, Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi announced on Sun-day, describing it as India's "priceless gift" to its neigh-bours as part of the 'sabka sath, sabka vikas' concept.

Seven out of eight SAARC countries are a part of the proj-ect which Pakistan refused to join as it did not want the "gift" from India. "We have always attempted to move ahead with the concept of 'sabka sath, sabka vikas (cooperation of all, development for all)," Modi said in his monthly radio pro-gramme 'Mann Ki Baat'.

The concept of 'sabka sath, sabka vikas' is not confined to India but is relevant globally too, especially in the context of the neighbourhood, he said.

"There should be cooper-ation of our neighbours and there should be development of our neighbours too," he

said. "On May 5, India will launch the South Asia Satellite. The benefits of this satellite will go a long way in meeting the developmental needs of the countries participating in this project," the Prime Min-ister said.

Describing it as a "price-less gift" from India, he said the project is a significant step towards promoting cooper-ation with the entire South Asia.

"This is an appropriate example of our commitment

towards South Asia...The sat-ellite of South Asia will help in the overall development of the entire region," Modi said.

The benefits will be in the areas of mapping of natu-ral resources, tele-medicine, education, IT connectivity and people-to-people links, he said.

He thanked the coun-tries which became part of this project. These countries, besides India, are Nepal, Ban-gladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Afghanistan.

Soon after taking over as the Prime Minister in 2014, Modi had made a unilateral proposal of India launch-ing the satellite whose data would be shared with the eight SAARC countries for their development.

Initially, it was to be named as 'SAARC Satellite' but its name was changed to South Asia Satellite after Pakistan refused to join the project.

Basically, the satellite is meant for providing commu-nication and disaster support, connectivity among the coun-tries of South Asia region.

It will provide a significant capability to each of the par-ticipating countries in terms of DTH, certain VSAT capacity plus linking among the states for both disaster information transfer and also in terms of library type of things.

The satellite was initially proposed to be launched in December last year but it got delayed.

South Asia Satellite launch on May 5: PM

PM describes it as India’s ‘priceless gift’ to its neighbours

5MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Monday, 1 May, 2017

mp nation

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOCHI: Chairman of the Pub-lic Accounts Committee K V Thomas on Sunday maintained that the key parliamentary panel could summon anyone from the council of ministers, including the prime minister.

The leader, who is cur-rently in Gangtok to chair a PAC meeting, said that if the Lok Sabha Speaker gives per-mission and all members of the panel agree, the prime minis-ter can be summoned in con-nection with matters involving him. "If a Union cabinet min-ister can be summoned, why not the prime minister ... In our system, the prime minister

is first among equals," he said.Thomas' tenure as PAC

chairman ends on Sunday. His party colleague Mallikarjun Kharge will take over the post on Monday.

The senior Congress leader, who served as the PAC chair-

man for three consecutive terms, also argued that the rules permit the panel to sum-mon the prime minister.

Asked about a panel mem-ber demanding privilege notice against him for stating the same in January while examining the Centre's decision to demone-tise high-value currency notes, he said, "I have not changed my stand on the issue."

PAC member Nishikant Dubey of the BJP had demanded privilege motion against Thomas, alleging that he used the committee to "lower the dignity" of the prime minister on January 9 at a press conference here.

Thomas said the PAC

chaired by him was a 21-mem-ber committee, out of which 12 were from the BJP.

"I held the post for three consecutive terms ... It was for the first time that a PAC chair-man got an extension for a third term," he said.

The Ernakulam MP said the panel had taken decisions unanimously on all major issues like the Commonwealth Games, 2G, the AgustaWest-land case and KG basin.

"Our panel submitted 80 reports during the three-year term ... It is a record... It was our panel which bought to light that banks had accumulated non-performing assets of Rs 7 lakh crore.

No ‘pick and choose’ for couples opting for adoption

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: The new Con-gress president should be appointed through consensus and not election as it helps to bind the party and Rahul Gan-dhi is certainly up to it, Pun-jab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Sunday.

He also said that it was up to Sonia Gandhi whether she will continue as party chief for another term and the party will be happy if she decides so.

Amarinder, however, favoured projection of regional leaders in Congress and mak-ing them the party's face in each state ahead of assembly elections. "Elections are always bitter and consensus keeps the party together. There should be a consensus on the party president. You don't have any bad blood. It is all happening in a happy way," he said in an interview. The organisational election process within the Congress party is underway and the new party chief has to be elected by October 15.

On Sonia Gandhi, he said it will be entirely her call on whether to continue for another term till 2019.

"She has worked very hard.

If she wants to stay, I think the party will be too happy. If she wants to go, I think Rahul is in a position to take over... . As party Vice President, I have been dealing with him for 2-3 years, I find that he is certainly up to it," he said. He, however, said his impression is that she feels she has done enough.

She has not had time off for the last 20 years, which is a long time, ever since she took over as party chief in 2017, Ama-rinder said. Asked whether he prefers someone other that a member of the Gandhi family to lead the party, he said tradi-tionally the Congress has been headed by a member of the Nehru Gandhi family.

From Motilal Nehru to Jawaharlal Nehru and then Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi

and Sonia Gandhi, except for some leaders in between, he said. "I am going to vote for Rahul. Who else do we have," he said. Asked what is hold-ing Rahul back from taking over, the Punjab leader said he is already going through the process.

"I think one must not write off Rahul. People are trying to write him off. They are trying to fob him off, calling him child-ish names. That is unnecessary. I think he is very perceptive and very decisive," he said.

On promoting regional talent within the party, Ama-rinder said every state has regional leaders unlike in the past and the Congress has to project them ahead of elec-tions, as people these days vote for a face.

PALAKKAD/KASARGOD: Two Keralites, who allegedly joined terror groups last year, have reportedly been killed in Syria and Afghanistan in air strikes by the US.

The deceased were identi-fied as Yahya and Abu Thahir, both hailing from Palakkad, and had reportedly joined Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, respectively, police said.

They were among the 21 people, including women and children from Kerala, who had travelled to the Middle East and went missing in 2016.

17 of them were from Kasargod and the rest from Pal-akkad. Police said they received an information on Saturday night about the death of Tha-hir in Syria. A message received by a social worker in Kasargod said: "Yahya has been martyred while fighting in Afghanistan".The sender of the message, Asfak, said Yahya was "mar-tyred" in the US attack. AGENCIES

Rahul ready to take over as Congress president: Amarinder

SRINAGAR: A man was killed while four others, including three cops, were injured when suspected militants on Sunday hurled a grenade on a police party in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. Unidentified militants hurled a grenade on a police party near the office of Super-intendent of Police, North City, at Khanyar here, a police offi-cial said.

He said the grenade exploded on the roadside, resulting in injuries to five people - three policemen and two civilians. All the injured were rushed to a hospital where Ghulam Mohammad Khan (65) died, the official said.

He said the rest of the injured were being treated at the hospital. AGENCIES

Panel has power to summon PM: Outgoing PAC chief

K V Thomas

One killed in Kashmir

grenade blast

Two Indians who joined IS and

Al-Qaeda killed in Syria, Afghanistan

MAHA CM FADNAVIS INAUGURATES STATE’S FIRST AWS IN NAGPUR NAGPUR: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday inau-gurated the state’s first au-tomatic weather station at Dongargaon here. “Around 2,065 such weather stations will come across Maha-rashtra on public private partnership (PPP) model in this year and 1,000 of these will be set up by June 2017,” said Fadnavis while addressing a farmers’ gathering after the inaugura-tion. Agriculture minister Pandurang Fundkar, guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, top bureaucrats and officials of weather forecast firm Skymet Weather Private Ltd, which will be setting up such stations, were present on the occasion. “This is one of the unique project in the country, which will measure wind direc-tion, wind speed, air temperature, relative humidity and record amount of rainfall. This information will be shared with farmers who can then manage sowing in a much better and planned way as per the weather conditions,” said Fadnavis.

CENTRAL TEAM TO STUDY FOREST LAND ENCROACHMENT IN KERALA: BJP KOTTAYAM (KERALA): The Centre has agreed to depute a team of experts to study ‘encroachment’ of forest land in ecologically sensitive regions of West-ern Ghats in Kerala, state BJP President Kumanam Rajasekharan said. Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave had agreed to send a team of experts to study the encroachments happening in forest and other ecologically significant places in Kerala, he said. “They will visit the state soon. We expect that action would be taken based on their report,” he said on the sidelines of a function here on Saturday. Noting that the party played ‘a vital role’ in highlighting the issue of encroachments in Munnar, he said it has decided to take up the “serious issue” of encroachments happen-ing in Vagamon, another tourist destination in Peer-made in the high-range Idukki district.

BRIBERY CASE: ALLEGED MIDDLEMAN MOVES COURT FOR BAIL NEW DELHI: An alleged middleman has moved a Delhi court seeking bail in a bribery case involving suspended top official in the Chhattisgarh government BL Agrawal. In his plea before special judge Viren-der Kumar Goyal, the accused, Bhagwan Singh, who is currently in judicial custody, claimed that the probe was already complete and there was no possibility that he would hamper it if the relief was granted. The court has put up the matter for arguments on May 3 when it will also hear the bail plea of another accused, Syed Burhanuddin, who had claimed to be an official working in the Prime Minister’s Office. The court had on March 31 denied bail to Agrawal and took cognisance of the charge sheet filed by CBI against all the four accused – Agrawal, his relative Anand Agrawal, Singh and Burhanuddin, who are currently in judicial custody.

RAIL SCAM: HC UPHOLDS TRIAL COURT ORDER ALLOWING CBI PLEA NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has upheld a trial court order allowing the CBI to place on record two CDs containing purported telephonic conversations intercepted during its probe in the cash-for-post bribery case in the railways. The case allegedly involves former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla and others. Besides Singla, the other accused facing trial in the Rs 10 crore cash-for-post railway bribery case are Mahesh Kumar, then Member (Staff) of Railway Board, Managing Director of Bangalore-based GG Tronics India N R Manjunath, alleged middlemen Ajay Garg and Sandeep Goyal, besides co-accused Rahul Yadav, Sameer Sandhir, Sushil Daga, CV Venugopal and MV Murali Krishan. Justice S P Garg dismissed the petition moved by one of the 10 accused, Sameer Sandhir, who had challenged the trial court’s special judge February 2016 order, by which it had allowed the CBI’s plea to place on record the CDs.

BRIEFSNATION

FESTIVE FERVOUR

mp nation6MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Monday, 1 May, 2017

OUR CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI: Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sun-day assured there would be no imposition of Hindi and lashed out at the DMK for accusing the Centre of “wanton thrust-ing” of the language.

“There is no thrusting of Hindi” as alleged by DMK working president MK Sta-lin, she said here. Sitharaman, the Union minister of state for commerce and industry, sought to turn the tables on him, ask-ing what his party was doing when it was part of the previ-ous Congress-led UPA regime, indicating there was imposition of Hindi then.

She referred to the ‘Ek Bharat Shresht Bharat’ scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which involved exchange of people of different states. This would include non-native Tamil speakers to get to know about the language and Tamil Nadu, she told reporters at the airport. “When we have a Prime Minister who makes such efforts, where does the

(question of) Hindi imposi-tion come from? It is not fair on part of Stalin to allege Hindi imposition as DMK, which was part of the UPA, could not stop imposition of Hindi (during UPA regime),” she said.

On the three-language formula in Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliated schools, she said the system had been in vogue for a long time and the NDA gov-ernment had “not brought any new scheme.”

“Learn your mother tongue, learn English and learn another language (as per the three lan-

guage formula). Allow learning of Hindi as the other language. If you don’t want Hindi, it is ok. It is the decision of the par-ents and the child,” she said, underlining the Centre was not against Tamil. The DMK had recently announced state-wide seminars against what it called “wanton thrusting” of Hindi by the Centre and decided to rope in youngsters and students to mobilise public opinion.

In a resolution adopted at the DMK district secretaries meet on April 28, the party had resolved to take the issue to Tamil Nadu’s youngsters, students and the people.

To a question on allegations by supporters of AIADMK (Amma) leader TTV Dhina-karan that Centre was behind his arrest in an alleged brib-ery case, Sitharaman wondered how could such claims be made. The case related to alleged attempts to bribe an Election Commission official and where did the BJP come into the mat-ter, she said, adding it was “not fair” to blame PM Modi for everything.

HYDERABAD: Amid vocif-erous protest by the opposi-tion Congress, the Telangana legislature on Sunday passed an amendment bill to the Land Acquisition Act, cleared by it in December last year, in a spe-cially convened one-day sit-ting here.

The passage of the bill added to ongoing war of words between the ruling TRS and the opposition parties, including the Congress, BJP and TDP, over helping chilli farmers in the state who are protesting against lack of remunerative price for their crop.

The special sitting, called to amend the Land Acquisition Act, concluded in just about 10 minutes without much debate.

The amendments to the Act were taken up following a suggestion from the Cen-tre. In the Assembly, the Con-gress members sought to raise the issue of farmers’ problems while holding placards. They refused to speak on the bill though Speaker S Madhusu-danchary asked them to do so, saying the amendment bill was

taken up as per a directive from the President.

As Congress members refused to comply, the speaker asked AIMIM (All India Maj-lis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen) member Ahmed Pasha Quadri to speak on the bill. When the MIM member began to speak, the Congress members raised slogans and some of them entered the well of the House. They were stopped from mov-ing ahead by marshalls.

Saying that the Congress members appeared not keen on

speaking on the Bill, Legislative Affairs Minister T Harish Rao said the Bill be passed.

The bill was passed after the speaker completed the due pro-cedure. He then adjourned the House sine die. Opposition BJP and TDP were not part of the proceedings as they were sus-pended from the House earlier.

Talking to reporters after the House was adjourned, the Leader of Opposition (Con-gress) K Jana Reddy alleged that the government adopted an undemocratic and dictato-

rial attitude in not allowing his party members to raise farmers’ problems. Favouring conduct-ing a social impact assessment in the process of land acqui-sition, Congress MLA and state unit president N Uttam Kumar Reddy said his party would meet President Pranab Mukherjee to urge him not to accept the bill.

Countering the Congress’ allegations, Deputy Chief Min-ister (Education) K Srihari found fault with the Congress members for not participat-ing in the debate on the bill. The government is ready to address concerns in the inter-ests of farmers if the Congress pointed out any shortcomings in the bill, he said.

The war of words with the TRS was preceded by the pro-tests held by Congress and other opposition parties seek-ing remunerative price for chilli farmers. With some per-sons vandalising a market yard office at Khammam a few days ago, Congress and TDP blamed the TRS government for failing to help chilli farmers. MPOST

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has granted anticipa-tory bail to a woman journalist booked for abetting the sui-cide of an army jawan and also under the Official Secrets Act after observing that prima facie no offence is made out against the accused.

Justice Revati Mohite Dere on April 26 granted anticipa-tory bail to Poonam Agarwal, a senior journalist with The Quint and retired soldier and war veteran Deepchand Singh.

Last month, the Deolali Camp police in Nashik regis-tered a case against Poonam and Deepchand under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including abetment of suicide of the jawan from Ker-ala Roy Mathew. The scribe was also booked under sec-tions 3 (spying) and 7 (inter-fering with officers of the police or members of the armed forces of Union) of the Offi-cial Secrets Act. The court also directed Poonam to surrender to the police raw footage of the sting operation. AGENCIES

MATHURA: Apprehend-ing trouble, three prominent accused in the Jawahar Bagh incident have been shifted by authorities from Mathura jail, where a shoot-out involving prisoners had left one person dead in January.

Police said that about 50 accused in Jawahar Bagh case are lodged in the jail and the three have been shifted as a precautionary measure. Vivek Yadav, the son of cult leader Ram Vriksha who was the kingpin in the violent stand-off with authorities in June last year, along with his key aide Prem Chand has been shifted to Aligarh Jail. Chan-dan Bose, the “chief lieuten-ant” of Ram Vraksha, has been shifted to Agra Jail, P D Salo-nia, the Jail Superintendent of Mathura, said, “In order to foil any groupism, the three were shifted from Mathura Jail yes-terday,” he said.

Mathura Jail had also witnessed a gang war in January this year. AGENCIES

OUR CORRESPONDENT

BENGALURU: Cracking down on the feuding factions of the party’s Karnataka unit, the BJP central leadership has relieved two office bearers each from the state president BS Yeddyurappa and senior leader K S Eshwarappa camps, of their charges.

It also barred party mem-bers from participating in the activities of Rayanna Brigade, an apolitical forum of Dalits and backward classes floated by Eshwarappa in an appar-ent show of strength, and also asked them not to talk about party’s internal affairs in pub-lic and in media.

The crackdown comes fol-lowing a series of meetings held by BJP national general secre-tary and Karnataka in-charge Muralidhar Rao with party leaders here on Saturday and Sunday. The party’s factional feud had intensified on April

27 with Eshwarappa holding a convention to “save” the organ-isation in defiance of the warn-ings by Yeddyurappa’s camp against it.

In a late night move, state BJP general secretary N Ravi Kumar announced that the state unit vice presidents, Bha-nuprakash and Nirmal Kumar Surana, Raitha Morcha vice president M P Renukacharya and spokesperson G Madhu-sudhan have been relieved of

their responsibilities to the party with immediate effect.

While Bhanuprakash and Surana had shared the stage with Eshwarappa at the con-vention, Renukacharya and G Madhusudhan considered close to Yeddyurappa had made public statements tar-geting national joint general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh.

Yeddyurappa has earlier too blamed Santhosh, perceived

to hold significant sway over the party affairs in the state, for scripting dissidence activities.

After meetings with Muralidhar Rao, another BJP state general secretary Ara-vinda Limbavali today said the party’s central leadership was closely observing the recent happenings in Karnataka unit.

Clarifying that there was no link or relationship between the BJP and the Rayanna Bri-gade, he said in a statement that the BJP office bearers, leaders and workers are strictly barred from participating in the Ray-anna Brigade’s activities.

The party s central leader-ship has instructed the func-tionaries not to organise any activity connected with any bri-gade or other kind of organisa-tions, he added.

Also stating that air-ing views on party’s internal affairs in public and in media has been prohibited, Limba-vali warned that strict disci-

plinary” action will be taken in the event of anyone violating these instructions.

Meanwhile, the party sources said Eshwarappa, who was scheduled to meet Muralidhar Rao today, has decided to skip the meeting.

Speaking to the reporters in Tumkuru, Eshwarappa, the leader of the opposition in the legislative council, ruled out the possibility of the party taking any action against him.

The senior leader said he was deeply pained by the action against Bhanuprakash and Surana, noting that they have served the organisation for years.

“What is there to seek report about me from Muralid-har Rao? There is nothing, some one is creating such things... Every one at the cen-tre knows about my contribu-tion to the BJP organisation since the beginning...,” he said in reply to a question.

BHUBANESWAR: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President and Odi-sha Chief Minister Naveen Pat-naik on Sunday asked senior party leaders to tell him directly their concerns instead of going to media.

“If senior leaders have anything negative to say, they should come to me with their concerns and not go to media”, Patnaik told reporters in response to queries about articles by a senior BJD MP that had triggered a row in party.

BJD MP Bhatruhari Mahtab had come under sharp attack from senior party leaders for his article five days ago where he indicated infighting in the party. Mahtab was slammed again on Sunday for a fresh write-up in which he sought to clarify about what he had written earlier.

While criticising some party leaders for the manner in which they had reacted to his first article, the Lok Sabha member said his fresh write-up aims to clarify things which were blown out of proportions by news channels. Soon after the CM asked party leaders to

approach him with their views, BJD vice-president Surya Nara-yan Patro said the party pres-ident has made it clear that anything negative should be conveyed to him directly.

The very statement of the CM shows that he has found Mahtab’s article “negative”, said Patro, who has asked Mahtab to explain as to how he won Lok Sabha election from Cut-tack four-five times if there are cracks in the party.

Hitting out at Mahtab, BJD MLA from Barabati-Cuttack, Debasis Samantray sought to know the contribution made by the Cuttack MP during the panchayat elections held in February. “I do not feel any infighting in the party. Where is infighting?” Patnaik had said while replying to questions from reporters. MPOST

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: A united Oppo-sition candidate for the pres-idential elections will be the beginning of unity among the non-BJP parties to take on the BJP, senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, seen as one of the prob-able Opposition choices, said on Sunday.

Having met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi last week as part of efforts to put up a joint Opposition candidate for the high-stake polls, the former JD(U) president said the suc-cess of this exercise could go a long way in arresting the BJP’s surge across the country.

He said unity in the Oppo-sition ranks is the need of the hour as a division in the non-BJP votes has been a key reason

behind the saffron party’s win in the recent assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and the Delhi civic elections.

Asked about the likelihood of major Opposition parties agreeing to back a common candidate against the BJP-led NDA’s choice, he said that he was “hopeful” that it will hap-pen. “We are making efforts to

get as many Opposition parties as possible on a common plat-form for the presidential elec-tion. A joint candidate will be the beginning of the coming together of Opposition parties against the BJP,” he said.

The Rajya Sabha mem-ber and former Union min-ister noted that even in Uttar Pradesh where the BJP won an

unprecedented 312 seats out of the total 403, the combined votes of the Samajwadi Party, the BSP and the Congress were much more than it.

Asked who could be the Opposition candidate for the presidential polls, he said names would be discussed at a later stage. JD(U) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had also met Gandhi and the Left parties have also spoken in favour of having an Opposition candidate.

The choice of NDA candi-date could play a crucial role in these efforts as somebody with a pronounced Hindutva leaning can give the Opposi-tion parties, many of whom are locked in bitter political bat-tle in different states, a solid reason to close ranks.

KATIHAR (BIHAR): The process to form a grand alliance of opposition parties is underway at the national level to challenge the surging BJP-led NDA, senior NCP leader Tariq Anwar said on Sunday. “Congress President Sonial Gandhi has already started the process of forming a grand alliance of opposition parties at the national level... She has already held meetings with JD(U) national president Nitish Kumar and NCP chief Sharad Pawar among others on the issue,” he told reporters here.“It is high time that all opposition parties come together on one platform to save democracy by stopping the NDA’s juggernaut,” Anwar, a Lok Sabha MP, said. AGENCIES

Factional feud in K’taka unit: BJP eases out 4 office-bearers

Nirmala Sitharaman rejects DMK’s Hindi imposition charge

‘Oppn candidate for Prez polls will unite against BJP’‘Grand Alliance formation underway at national level’

‘Tell me your concerns instead of going to media’

Key accused in Jawahar Bagh

case shifted from prison

Amid Congress protests, Telangana Assembly passes Land Bill

Journo accused of abetting

suicide of jawan gets bail

Naveen Patnaik

BJP MLAs hold placards during a protest against the Telangana government

Nirmala Sitharaman

People take part in the 'Shahi Darbar Miravnuk' (procession) on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, in Karad Maharashtra on Saturday

“We are making efforts to get as many Opposition parties as possible on a common platform for the presidential election”Senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav

Karnataka’s BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa

7MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Monday, 1 May, 2017

mp nation

D.G.I.P.R.2017/2018/361

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: Soon, train passengers travelling between Mumbai and Goa may be spoilt for choice: cuisine curated by celebrity chefs, tea and coffee vending machines and indi-vidual LCD screens.

Railways will unveil a new premier train service between Mumbai and Goa in June with state-of-the-art facilities.

The 20-coach Tejas Express will also have automatic doors and secured gangways for all coaches, a first for the Indian Railways. Currently automatic doors are operational in Metro trains only, while gangways, corridors between coaches, are

not closed from the sides.After the Mumbai-Goa

run, the Tejas service, which was promised in the budget, is likely to be pressed on the Delhi- Chandigarh route.

Since Tejas will be a new premier class train, there will be many facilities including tea and coffee vending machines, magazines and snack tables, said a senior Railway Minis-try official. There will also be water level indicators in bio-vacuum toilets, sensorised taps, and hand driers.

Besides choicest cuisine curated by celebrity chefs, there will be wi-fi facilities and toilet engagement boards.

The train's interior colour

scheme will match the exterior to give the passengers a feel of world class travel.

The LCD screens meant

for entertainment purpose will also be used for disseminating passenger-related information and safety instructions, the offi-cial said. Tejas coaches will also have integrated braille displays, digital destination boards, and electronic passenger reserva-tion charts. Catering service will be part of Tejas fares like Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains.

Comprising executive class and chair cars, Tejas coaches will be equipped with 22 new features, including fire and smoke detection and suppres-sion systems and the improved aesthetics. The aim is to pro-vide comfort to passengers in the inter-city journeys, the offi-cial said.

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: CRPF person-nel fighting Naxalites in Chhat-tisgarh are up against not only the ultras but inherent imped-iments –lack of potable water, high temperatures, fatigue and poor mobile networks.

Officials, who visited some of the interior camps of the CRPF in Bastar region, where the force lost 25 personnel in an ambush last Monday, have found that the quality of water is substandard resulting in many of them falling sick.

“We take various steps to purify the drinking water. But that is not enough as when the boys go on patrolling they some time have to drink water from open sources which leads to illness,” an officer said.

The temperatures in Bastar region during summers go up to 45 degrees Celsius and such hot and humid conditions make the security personnel

tired soon, leading to frus-tration, he said. To boost the morale of the paramilitary per-sonnel, nutritious food, includ-ing non-vegetarian items, are being supplied to all camps.

Home Ministry officials feel that there is an urgent need to improve the condition of CRPF camps as well as facili-ties offered to the personnel.

“Camps of the CRPF need to be upgraded,” Senior Secu-rity Adviser in the Home Min-istry K Vijay Kumar said.

Poor mobile network also is a major hindrance for the CRPF men as they find it dif-ficult to get in touch with their family members back home and this lowers their morale.

CRPF jawans deployed for long stints in the Naxal hotbed of Sukma in Chhattisgarh are showing signs of fatigue too.

The ministry officials, who visited Chhattisgarh after the massacre of 25 CRPF men, have found that majority of the

45,000 paramilitary personnel undertaking the high-risk anti-Naxalite operations in Bastar region have been posted there for over three years.

“Fatigue has been noticed in jawans as many of them have been posted in Sukma

for last five years even though normally they should be there for three years,” an official said, adding that there is decline in motivation due to their long deployment in the area.

A long duration of posting in Bastar is very stressful and

the jawans prefer to join coun-ter-insurgency operations else-where including in Kashmir, even though they face militant attacks and stone-pelting mobs regularly there.

“Anti-Naxalite operations take a toll on security personnel as they face guerrilla warfare in hot and humid conditions and treacherous terrain,” an official said. The CRPF is expected to effect an annual change over of its personnel soon so that they get relief after serving in hard areas like Bastar by get-ting transferred to a less stren-uous area.

According to latest statis-tics of the Home Ministry, the seven forces - the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB, CISF, NSG and Assam Rifles - have lost 1,067 men in combat or counter-insurgency operations over a period of three years.

But more than thrice –as many as 3,611 personnel –have died due to illnesses.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has annulled a Pondi-cherry University rule doing away with the award of grace marks to the MBBS students and asked the university to give the relief to nine final year stu-dents who had failed in a sole practical examination.

A division bench of jus-tices Huluvadi G Ramesh and S Vimala struck down the new rule, which discontinued the practise of awarding the grace marks from May 2016, terming the same as "arbitrary and dis-criminatory." The bench gave its ruling on an appeal by the students against the February 15 verdict of a single-judge bench, which had turned down their pleas for the grace marks.

The division bench said the decision to "deviate from its earlier practice of granting grace marks up to five is in our view without any basis or rea-sonableness and therefore dis-criminatory and arbitrary in nature."

Accordingly, the bench asked the university's control-ler of examinations to revise examination results of the stu-dents after awarding the grace marks. While rejecting the stu-dents' plea for the grace marks, the single-judge bench had upheld the university's rule, doing away with the practice of awarding grace marks from

May 2016.In their appeals to the divi-

sion bench against the sin-gle-judge bench ruling, the students had submitted that they had joined the MBBS course in 2012 and had appeared for the examinations of four subjects in December 2016. They cleared all subjects, but failed in a practical exam

due to shortage of two to eight marks. They said when they had joined the course, the uni-versity regulations provided for the grace marks.

The MCI regulations too, amended up to October 8, 2016, provided for the award of grace marks up to five to a student who failed only in one subject but passed in all others, they said.

The university, however, on June 29, 2016 decided to amend the regulations to the effect that there would be no revaluation and award of the grace marks to theory and practical examina-tions from May 2016.

Adjudicating the students' plea, the division bench held that the grant of grace marks was part of the course and var-ious facets leading to the con-ferment of the degree that were in force at the time of affected students' admission in 2012.

It must remain the same till the student completed the course in accordance with those very rules, the bench said.

Not just ultras, CRPF men facing other issues too

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: To review major operational, training and administrative undertaken in the last six months and deliber-ate on important activities and initiatives in the near future in the defence sector, a four day Naval Commanders’ Confer-ence is scheduled here from May 2 to May 5, 2017.

The main focus of this con-ference would be on plans for sustained operational effec-tiveness, combat readiness and improved maintenance philos-ophy of the sector and it is also the platform for institutional-ized interaction between the naval top-brass and senior gov-ernment officials as also with the Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Air Staff.

Defence Minister Arun Jait-ley would give the inaugural address with the Naval Com-

manders and Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, Chief of the Naval Staff would chair the conference.

In the wake of recent ter-rorist threats and the prevailing security scenario, the confer-ence would review the secu-rity measures for naval assets, bases and air stations. It will also focus on the overall oper-ational readiness of units with particular emphasizes on indi-genization towards achiev-ing greater self-reliance and support the “Make in India” initiative. The IN’s approach to the increasing Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) to strengthen maritime security would also be discussed.

Deliberations will also be conducted on some critical key enabler’s viz. infrastructure or force devel-opment and improved logistics management.

Naval Commanders' meet to begin on May 2

Pondy varsity ordered to award grace marks to 9 MBBS students

OUR CORRESPONDENT

HYDERABAD: Union Minis-ter M Venkaiah Naidu on Sun-day asserted that triple talaq is not a religious issue as it has no sanction in Shariat amid a rag-ing debate on the issue.

He also hit out at the Con-gress for keeping "silence" on the matter for past several years. "Triple Talaq is not a reli-gious issue as it has no sanc-tion in Shariat. It is a matter of right of equality and right to live with dignity of Mus-lim women along with other women.

"Why this discrimination...this must be put to an end and it should not be politicised," Naidu, who holds the portfolio of Information and Broadcast-ing, told reporters here.

On senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mal-likarjun Kharge charging

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with politicising the triple talaq issue to gain political mileage, Naidu said, "What the PM said yesterday is that the Muslim society should think on this."

"You (Congress) say you are champions of minorities. You don't have concern for women among the minorities. It is a question of inequality and dis-crimination against the women on the basis of religion. Why you kept silent for all these

years. They should answer this," he said. To another query, he said the prime minister has already spoken against self-styled cow vigilantes.

"Some political leaders have selective amnesia and keep on speaking anything," he said.

Accusing the Opposition of pursuing an "obstructionist" agenda, the minister claimed that they are pursuing a disin-formation campaign on each and every issue.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

COIMBATORE: Two persons were on Sunday taken into cus-tody for questioning over the killing of a security guard at a bungalow in Kodanadu Estate, which was frequeted by for-mer Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

A Tamil Nadu police team, which has gone to Kerala, along with the local police is interro-gating the duo near Nilambur for their suspected involvement in the case, officials said.

Om Bahadur, a security guard posted at the bungalow at Kodanad Estate in Nilgiris district, was found dead and one of his colleagues seriously injured on April 24 following

an apparent break in there.Some documents were also

suspected to have been stolen from the bungalow.

Police have so far identified six out of the 11 people who are allegedly involved in the killing of the guard.

A former driver of Jaya-lalithaa and one of the main suspects in the case, Kana-karaj, was killed after his two- wheeler hit a car at Athur in Salem district on Saturday.

Another suspect and close friend of Kanakaraj, Sayan suffered serious injuries, while his wife and child died in a road accident involving their two-wheeler and a car in Kerala's Thrissur district the same day, they said. The con-dition of Sayan, undergoing treatment at a private hospital here, is stable, doctors attend-ing to him said.

MALAPPURAM: The Ker-ala government on Sunday said it would take a decision on the Supreme Court order to reinstate senior IPS officer T P Senkumar as DGP (Law and Order) after examining the judgement. Chief Minis-ter Pinarayi Vijayan made the statement a day after Senkumar moved the apex court, seeking a direction to the state to imple-ment its order.

"We had already explained the government's position. The Supreme Court judgement is final order as per the law of the country. There is no issue con-nected with that judgement. But a decision will be taken only after examining all the matters," said Vijayan. AGENCIES

GUWAHATI: In a first case of cow vigilantes going to the extremes in Assam, a mob on Sunday lynched two men in Nagaon district suspecting them to be cattle thieves.

Senior police officials said the men, aged between 20-25 years, were severely beaten up by the mob, who alleged that they were involved in cow theft.

"When the police reached the spot, they were being thrashed by a mob of villagers near Kasamari grazing reserve under Nagaon police station," Nagaon superintendent of police Debaraj Upadhay said.

"The team immediately

took the men to hospital, where they succumbed to their inju-ries," he added.

The mob continuously thrashed them with sticks while chasing them for about 1.5 km, from Kasamari in Nag-aon police station area to Jajori police station area, he said.

Upadhay said the men were identified and their par-ents have registered a com-plaint with the police. An FIR has been lodged and investiga-tion is on, the SP said, adding no arrest has been so far.

Asked if it is a case of "cow vigilantism", the senior official said a lot of cattle theft inci-

dents have happened in Nag-aon. "In this case, I got reports that some people saw the two men trying to take away cows from the field and called more people from the village. When a large crowd gathered, they started thrashing them badly," he said.

The SP has assured of an "impartial enquiry" into the episode. Although some inci-dents of cattle thieves being thrashed by mob have been reported from Assam earlier, this is the first casualty after cases of cow vigilantism have been reported in recent times across the nation. MPOST

OUR CORRESPONDENT

GORAKHPUR: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditya-nath on Sunday drew flak for sharing the stage with mur-der- accused MLA Amanmani Tripathi at a party event here, with the opposition alleging that it had exposed the real face of the BJP leader who had promised to clamp down on criminals.

Tripathi, an Independent legislator who is facing charge of murdering his wife, sat a few seats away from Adityanath at the programme organised by BJP yesterday and sought the CM's blessings by touching his feet. He also handed over some papers to the Chief Minister during his brief interaction.

The 35-year-old MLA from Nautanwa assembly in neigh-bouring Maharajganj district again met the chief minister on Sunday at his 'Janata Dar-bar' where he listens to people's grievances, triggering specula-tion that the controversial leg-islator could be joining the BJP.

Later, Tripathi told report-ers that he was not averse to it.

"Maharaj ji is my guardian. His order will be the last word for me," he told reporters out-side Gorakhnath Mutt, where the CM was staying. Asked whether he will join the BJP, he said, "Why not? Whatever

Maharaj ji tells me, I will do."Amanmani's father Ama-

rmani Tripathi, who was a minister in the SP govern-ment headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav, has been serving life sentence in the sensational Madhumita Shukla murder case.

Opposition parties lashed out at Adityanath, saying his deeds do not match his words. The BJP had made law and order a major election issue and immediately after taking charge, the Chief Minister had said that criminals should leave the state or face consequences.

"There is a clear cut differ-ence in the words and actions of Yogi Adityanath. Law and order situation in UP is yet to improve. Ironically the law makers are turning into law breakers. There is no rule of law in the state," Rajendra Chaud-

hary, chief spokesperson of UP unit of Samajwadi Party, said.

UP Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh said the "USP" of the BJP is that it possesses a dual face, so that it could eas-ily switch sides. "A murder-accused sharing a stage with UP Chief Minister is simply shameful," he said.

Tripathi was denied a ticket by the Samajwadi Party after his name cropped up in his wife's murder case. He was granted bail in March this year.

After the row over the issue, BJP workers said they were sur-prised to see the MLA sharing the stage with Adityanath.

BJP's Gorakhpur unit spokesperson Satyendra Sinha, however, said that, "Any pub-lic representative can greet the chief minister and touch his feet. There is nothing wrong in it."

Adityanath draws flak for sharing stage with murder-accused MLA

A division bench of justices Huluvadi G Ramesh and S Vimala struck down the new rule, which discontinued the practise of awarding the grace marks from May 2016, terming the same as ‘arbitrary and discriminatory’

Comfort on wheels for Mum-Goa train travellers from June

Seats of Tejas Express coaches is equipped with LCD screens

Two Kerala natives being questioned in Jaya estate guard murder case

MLA Amanmani Tripathi seeking blessing of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at a function in Gorakhpur on Saturday

Two suspected ‘cattle thieves’ lynched in Assam’s Nagaon

Triple talaq has no sanction in Shariat, says Venkaiah

The temperatures in Bastar region during summers go up to 45 degrees Celsius and such hot and humid conditions make the security personnel tired soon, leading to frustration

An accused in the murder of ex-CM Jayalalithaa’s watchman in Ooty on Sunday

Reinstatement of IPS officer: ‘Decision

after examining SC order’

Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Urban Development & Housing Venkaiah Naidu addressing media, in Hyderabad on Sunday

mp editorial

Come May 1, and the much-awaited Real Estate (Regula-tion and Development) Act (RERA) is expected to usher

in an urban renaissance in India. There is certainly a palpable sense of excite-ment among all the stakeholders as 2016 ended on a dismal note for the real estate sector, thanks to demonetisation.

We couldn’t have expected 2017 to start with more refreshing outlook.

The real implications of RERA can only be gauged over a period of 2-3 years, but it will bring in a whiff of fresh air for the real estate sector so far reel-ing under a lack of funds and missed deadlines. Flat property prices over the past two years have made the real estate sector a no-go zone for investors. But RERA, along with demonetisation, and goods and service tax (GST), will make sure that end users largely drive the market.

Our data suggest that prices have softened only marginally in the post-demonetisation period. Any further softening of prices is more likely to attract end users, who will see homes becoming more affordable. And RERA is certainly the step in the right direc-tion and the much-needed shot in the arm to improve the overall health of the real estate industry.

To understand the real impact of RERA, we must first analyse its impact on its two key stakeholders -- builders and buyers. While RERA benefits the builders by bringing in more trans-parency and accountability, which will stand them in good stead by ensuring the flow of institutional funds, the real winner will be the end-user -- the home buyers -- who will be protected from unscrupulous activities thanks to the setting up of a regulator.

The immediate impact would be likely on consolidation, how capital is raised and deployed, and increasing compliance costs for developers. But if we look at the larger perspective, the net gainers will be the organised devel-

opers, who will pass on the benefits gained from RERA to the consumers, whose interest will be protected by the regulator.

Over a period of time, we expect RERA to result in:

Transparency: The onus will be on state regulators to bring in transparency and discipline. It will lead to a revival of the trust between the builder and the customer and improve the over-all sector.

Demand uplift: RERA will boost consumer confidence resulting in demand. Lot of fence-sitters, inves-tors who had been lying low, will come back to market

Consolidation: RERA will act as a catalyst for the much-needed consoli-dation in the industry. A lot of small and medium developers will have to improve their delivery capabilities to

survive. The consolidation will bring better funding into the industry thus tackling supply-side issues includ-ing timely delivery. With the overall health improving, it will also result in increased flow of funds from foreign institutional investors.

The inevitable implementation of RERA has already led to many devel-opers hastening the delivery of their projects. This trend was clearly evident in the quarterly average prices data of Under Construction (UC) vs. Ready-to-Move-in (RM) stock, where the RM properties continue to command a pre-mium over UC properties. But the price of RM properties has seen a decline.

The price of UC properties has seen a marginal increment due to an increase in delivery of projects over the quarter, the net result being the closing of the gap between prices of RM and UC properties.

It is encouraging to see that some states like Maharashtra have not only notified RERA but have also set up a regulator, but some states are still drag-ging their feet, needlessly delaying com-pliance. I have no doubt in saying that RERA as a law works best under the umbrella of federalism but what is wor-risome is the fact that states have been given the freedom to make changes to the Central law to tailor it to their own needs.

The whole idea of RERA is to ensure that the consumer is spared the horror of taking on big developers who indulge in shady practices. The spirit of the law will be lost if we don’t adhere to the idea of a successful business for all stake-holders, including the buyer. After all, the customer is the king. IANS

(Sudhir Pai is CEO of Magicbricks.com, a property exchange portal. The views expressed are strictly personal.)

8MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Monday, 1 May, 2017

Trust is the single most significant casualty in Kashmir. Trust-deficit amongst the

various stakeholders is mani-festing in the ongoing battle of the ‘online’ domain. Social media is equally, an instrument of empowerment, as it is, of abuse. The concept of ‘sousveil-lance’ which entails the record-ing and the subsequent public mainstreaming of an activity, by a participant (or witness) to an activity, is the latest weapon in Kashmir to ensnare the oppo-nent, amongst the conflict-ing parties. The recent Arab Spring saw an invaluable role of social media in shaping the contentious street debates that facilitated the “mobilisation, empowerment, shaping opin-ions, and influencing change.” The demonstrated ability of the social media to instigate, inflame or activate public opin-ion is beyond doubt.

Moral outrage is the stan-dard currency of exchange, when a video surfaces show-ing armed CRPF jawans main-taining utmost restraint in the face of constant heckling and extreme provocation by Kash-miri youths, similarly, videos of a Kashmiri stone-pelter tied to an army jeep as a ‘human shield’, against further mob frenzy, is an exact opposite optic of the ground situation. Both incidents are realities of the ground situation that get contextualised differently depending on whose side of the argument, one is. However, in a conflict zone that has already borne an internet sensation in Burhan Wani, the expanded use and abuse of social media are inevitable.

The accompanying ‘moral-ity play’ is the reflexive and reductive consequence of these situational virals that find themselves on the public plat-forms like WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, and other means of ‘forwards’ that are then, given a more expanded context. Imme-diately, the binary of ‘us versus

them’ plays out from Kanya-kumari to even Peshawar, with justifications of individual per-spectives that readily invoke rationales of uber-patriotism, secessionism to hopelessness.

But, terrorism in a ‘moral state’ like India is a com-plex business that necessi-tates almost utopian demands on the security forces in the face of deathly danger, whilst, suggesting a certain ‘accom-modation’ and ‘understand-ing’ of the provocative and deadly acts by the ‘misguided youth.’ That these ‘misguided youth’ have no Geneva Con-vention or moral grandstand-ing to honour, invariably leads to a societal angst and ire that divides opinions on the secu-rity forces in the country. This ‘online battle’ in the Valley is an unequal one with the scales tilted strongly in favour of the militants versus the security forces, as the soldiers have an operational code-of-conduct, national/international policies and considerations, and even certain institutional instincts that invariably ties-back one hand of the soldier in the Valley. Adding to the pent up pressure on the sword-arm of the exec-utive i.e. Armed Forces, is the mandated ‘silence’ following any act, operation or situation that leaves the institution vir-tually voiceless in the face of a

public barrage of questions and perceptions. The political exec-utive, especially in the Kashmir Valley is the last to stand-up for any operational consider-ation of the security forces – this, unfortunately, leaves the field to the equally regressive hyper-nationalists to defend the forces on the social media platforms, with often misplaced and political logics, that wrong-fully posture as the perspective of the security forces.

Reality is that the Chief of the Indian Army Staff has actively engaged in discus-sions with the Governor, Chief Minister of J&K, NSA, besides his own top brass to take stock of the situation – a pru-dent assurance to take timely action against the personnel is delicately nuanced with an unmistakable steel in his words when he echoes the denomina-tor principle, “The local youth should understand the security forces are showing restraint, which should not be miscon-strued as weakness. Instead, the security forces are showing patience and are giving them an opportunity to shun vio-lence”. To say any less or to the contrary would have equated the Armed Forces to the ‘mis-guided youth,’ on human rights violations – this is consistent and unequivocal stand the Indian soldier pays to uphold

the tenets of a ‘moral state.’ While the Indian Army

‘saves’ the lives of the trapped paramilitary personnel in the ‘human shield’ incident, they face the parallel ignominy of a FIR registered against the involved unit. The Army has rightfully clarified that it does not approve of the tactic deployed in the incident. It is aware of the selective umbrage expressed by the valley politi-cians, every time a soldier errs. If anything, the Army is pay-ing the price for political mis-management that goes back many decades and accounts for political parties of all denom-inations, without exception. Political engagement and rap-prochement is clearly missing from the Valley – Kashmir is not a ‘military’ creation, and neither does it have a ‘military’ solution, solely.

It is important to the state that the Indian Armed Forces (unlike Pakistan) do not have an independent ‘will’ of their own other than that of the Gov-ernment. The institution has a formal system of redressal and penalty whenever an act of omission or commission occurs. Contrary to the voices of jingoism, the Armed Forces do not take a political or per-sonal stand on any issue. It is a professional body that is designed for kinetic operations,

subject to the laid down condi-tions. In Kashmir, the Armed Forces have an extremely disad-vantageous position of partak-ing operations for which they are not fundamentally designed (where the administration, pol-iticians and the police forces have already thrown in the towel), where the local poli-ticians make ingenious com-mentary on the forces and the locals make the Indian soldier the leitmotif of their frustra-tions. Yet, the model conduct that warrants certain behav-ioural action like officers lead-ing from the front explains why, unlike any other Armed Forces (including US, Russia, Israel, or UK) the officer-to-soldier fatality ratio is the highest for the Indian Army.

But, errors happen, and they are not condoned by the institution, even if contex-tually there could be a justi-fication (like in the ‘human shield’ case). It is this unwav-ering and almost inhuman existence by the Indian sol-dier that needs recognition. ‘Online battles’ are a new real-ity that will only increase, but it is not just the stone-pelter who has only failed his Indian soldier – it is the local politi-cian, the administrator, and the state police officials that have allowed the situation to dete-riorate to such an extent, that the last man standing in the ‘Olive Green’ is only expected to hold-up to the exacting stan-dards, when everything else around him has failed. While this is how it should be, neither the ‘state’ nor the ‘misguided youth’ (or their benefactors on both sides of LOC) can claim a record, remotely close to that of the Indian soldier, despite wrongs like ‘human shield’, that get more than their share of screen and mind space.

Lt Gen Bhopinder Singh (Retired) is Former

Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands &

Puducherry. The views expressed are strictly personal.

The (un)social media EDITORIAL

The ongoing ‘online battle’ in Kashmir Valley is subject to abuse

The Army has rightfully clarified that it does not approve of the tactic deployed in the ‘human shield’ incident. If anything, the Army is paying the price for political mismanagement that goes back many decades and accounts for political parties of all denominations, without exception

RERA as a law works best under the umbrella of federalism but what is worrisome is the fact that states have been given the freedom to make changes to the Central law to tailor it to their own needs

Speaking at a convention in the national capital on Satur-day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of triple talaq for the second time in a month. In a speech delivered to celebrate the birth anniversary of Basava, a

12th-century philosopher and social reformer, Modi urged the Muslim community to not politicise triple talaq and to have an open mind about the practice. “I request the Muslim commu-nity, don’t look at this issue through a political lens, and don’t let it go that route,” he said. The Prime Minister also called upon the reformers of the community to fight for the rights of Muslim women. “Muslim reformers will come forward some day and fight against the suffering of Muslim daughters to find a way forward,” he added. There is a definite push from the NDA government against the controversial divorce practice adopted by sections of the Indian Muslim community. At the BJP’s national executive earlier this month, the Prime Minister stressed that “injustice should not be done to Muslim women”. For the uninitiated, as per the practice of triple talaq, a Muslim husband can unilaterally divorce his wife by merely saying the word “talaq” (divorce) three times in one go. In the opinion of the Allahabad High Court, the practice by which Muslim men can orally end their marriages is “cruel” and the “most demeaning form of divorce.” In fact, the Supreme Court had in 2002 rendered illegal the practice that many Muslim men employ to divorce their wives instantaneously and without their consent. Unfortunately, the court’s orders did not stop the practice, and many Muslim women have suffered in silence owing to ignorance of past judgments and societal pressure. “While traumatic for all, often unsuspecting, women this is particularly devastating for poorer women, who find them-selves on the streets with their children and no income. Parents are often too poor to sustain them, and the stories recorded by women organisations speak of the suffering they undergo. The man is left free to marry again, without bothering about maintenance,” writes Seema Mustafa, Founder Editor of The Citizen, a digital newspaper. Despite the tireless efforts of many Muslim women and organisations, it took the case of Shayara Bano, who was one such victim of triple talaq and filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court seeking a ban on the same, for the issue to gather steam in the public consciousness. Her petition, which was filed in February 2016, also demands a ban on polygamy and nikah halala, a practice that forces a divorced Muslim woman to consummate and break the second marriage if she wants to get back with her first husband. The issue went into overdrive in October 2016, when the National Law Commission released a questionnaire, seeking public opinion on a Uniform Civil Code, which would replace all personal laws based on the scriptures and customs of each major religious community in India with a legislation that is binding on all citizens.

The debate on the uniform civil code, however, has been stereotyped as one that concerns Muslims alone. Political reactionaries from the Hindu Right, who hold sway in the NDA government, and the Muslim community represented by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, are responsible for conflating the issue of triple talaq with the Uniform Civil Code. Despite Prime Minister Modi’s plea to the Muslim com-munity to not “politicise” triple talaq, it is legislators from his party that have used the issue as a stick to beat the minority religious community. Despite their best efforts, the Supreme Court refused to club hearings on the Uniform Civil Code with those on Muslim personal laws, saying they were two separate subjects. As far as the narrative on the Unform Civil Code is concerned, the court has set the record straight. The Centre’s official position on the subject is clear. It had urged the Supreme Court to declare the Islamic practices of triple talaq, nikah halala, and polygamy inconsistent with Muslim women’s fundamental right to life and dignity. In response, the court said that a five-judge Constitution Bench would hear a batch of petitions challenging the Islamic practice of triple talaq. Bano’s case has now been clubbed with several other similar petitions by Muslim women and organisations across India. In the triple talaq case, the court may venture along similar contours. Both cases require the court to take difficult decisions on competing constitutional rights. Standing in the way of repealing triple talaq is the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which argues that the rights bestowed by religion cannot be questioned in a court of law. Read the Quran, and one would not find any mention of triple talaq, argue many scholars of Islam. They claim that the Quran has laid down elaborate injunctions on divorce, and calls for reconciliation and mediation over a period of 90 days involving both sides. It is in stark contrast to the immediate and binding nature of the triple talaq. In fact, many Muslim-majority countries have rejected the practice including, Indonesia, Iran, and Tunisia. The court must dismiss the AIMPLB’s contention that “per-sonal laws cannot be challenged.” Many among the Muslim community have also called for a repeal of a practice, which is inordinately cruel on women. “Triple talaq is a tribal practice inherited and adopted by certain sections of the Islamic world which was packaged in a religious garb, just like a number of similar other cultural/tribal practices, such as female genital mutilation, etc. Thankfully the practice has been abolished in much of the Islamic world. Now that the Muslim women of India have finally spoken and spoken so vocally, it is high time the nation comes forward with its full support to reject this outdated practice, writes Sadaf Munshi, a US-based aca-demic, writer, and artist. Which way will the court rule? Only time will tell.

All is apparently not well between the Pakistani mil-itary and the civilian administration once again. Reports indicate that tensions rose on Saturday following a public rejection of the civilian gov-

ernment’s findings of Dawn newspaper report probe by the military. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday sacked his Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi and sought action against Principal information offi-cer Rao Tehsin of the Ministry of Information following the Inquiry Committee’s recommendations. In a story published last year, Dawn claimed that the government had told the mili-tary to act against militants or face international isolation. The report caused a friction between the civilian administration and the military prompting the government to set up a probe committee. Islamabad had also decided to bar senior journal-ist Cyril Almeida from leaving his country after writing that exclusive report. Speculation suggests that Islamabad had wanted the story to go public. The aim was to tell the world that Islamabad is doing its part to defang home-grown mili-tancy and embarrass the military establishment. But the use of “non-state” by the Pakistani military establishment has been institutionalised. Some commentators in India have even sug-gested that the report was part of Islamabad’s strategy to regain some control over national security. But the civilian leadership was seemingly unable to follow through on its gambit. There is speculation that Sharif administration has thrown senior officials and the newspaper under the bus to save itself from the military’s wrath. One can only conclude that the civilian leadership exercises little power, especially in matters of for-eign policy and national security. The Panama Papers leak has already rendered Sharif vulnerable. In the past, he has offered little resistance to the military as it has steadily encroached on his authority. How will Sharif react to the military’s latest rebuff? We don’t have the answers yet.

PM speaks again

Tensions rise in Pak

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millenniumpost.inFOR BETTER HEALTHdear

EDITOR

Healthcare of women and children is dismal and has a long way to go. The grave matter about malnourished children and stunted growth that bears a permanent effect on their lives is one that needs immediate attention. No amount of government policies will reverse the condition of thousands of children affected by malnutrition. Beginning in prenatal stage, care for children begins with welfare for their mothers. Women and child welfare is an area that lies trapped in the cobwebs of oppressive socio-economic conditions. Improvement in the social sector is the beginning of addressing these issues.

BHOPINDER SINGH

Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life

Quote martial

SOPHOCLES

RERA is meant to ensure that consumers are spared the horror of taking on big developers who indulge in unscrupulous practices, writes Sudhir Pai

Poised for urban renaissanceJASDEEP SINGH Via email

Representational Image

Representational Image

It was the time of change. It was the moment of innocence. It was the age of hope. It was 1992; the year Down To Earth started its journey.

The Earth Charter had been signed, sig-nalling the importance of environmen-tal issues on the global stage. The World Trade Organization had been set up, signalling that the now inter-connected world would bring prosperity to all. The issues of poverty, injustice, African debt were all on the world’s agenda. It seemed after a few bumps and blips, it would be all right. Twenty-five years later, it seems the agenda has unravelled. The world has come unstuck. So, as this magazine completes its 25th year, let’s discuss what the next 25 years would bring us. In my view, three significant trends will make or break our lives on the earth as we know it.

The most dominant determinant will be our ability to mitigate the effects of climate change and cope with it. Already the weather has become more variable, extreme, and horrendously devastating for the poorest, who live on the margins of subsistence. It is they who today face the intense heat waves, floods, and droughts. It is they who lose their crops and livelihoods to freak weather. This is now. There are no full stops. Humankind continues to pump vast quantities of greenhouse gas emis-sions into the atmosphere. What will happen tomorrow and the day after? Scientific models are most unprepared for the time temperatures will cross the 2°C increase over the preindustrial era.

Quite simply, we are moving towards an age of extreme uncertainty. The plan-etary limits are being breached. In this scenario, nobody knows what the future will bring. This is why coping with and combating climate change will be an overwhelming task. How we do this is literally in our hands. The second trend that will drive future’s develop-ments is insecurity and fear. Today, we see a virtual breakdown in the world. There is also no doubt that our world in the past 25 years has only increased inequity—the very wealthy have got richer, and everybody else is waiting for deliverance. This economic insecurity is increasingly getting mixed up with cultural and religious identity politics. All in all, anger is growing, and getting

dangerously out of hand. Again, we do not know how this

insecurity will play out. Today, it is lead-ing to calls for protectionism on the one hand and war on the other. Who will bring us back from the brink we are standing on, and how? Will protec-tionism mean that countries will invest in local economies; build down to grow upwards? Will localisation bring inclu-sive growth or just more of the same? All this again is what the future will tell.

The third trend is about us, not just democracy as we know it. But democ-racy as it should have matured in this age of market-only growth. Today, it seems people—you and me—are all waiting in the wings, ever ready for activism on social media. This is the circle of our influence. But this is where we are going wrong.

Our question today, to secure future’s future, has to be about the use of technological advances so that they meet the needs of all. Right now, we are

not getting this right. Like bystanders, we are just witnessing technology take over our lives and livelihoods. Automa-tion and artificial intelligence are driv-ing changes in the ways we do things, but not with any grand purpose. There is no discussion on what this technol-ogy change will mean for employment or how these advances can benefit all and not just some. We are the ultimate gadget generation—playing with our toys while the world burns. The Neros of our age.

Then, we are letting corporate agen-das drive democracies without any push back to reclaim the space. As a result, while this powerful undercurrent is pulling the world in one direction, peo-ple are trying to halt it through anger, frustration and desperate cries of the ballot. The ultra-left and the ultra-right are winning in an increasingly polar-ised, insecure, and thoughtless world.

So, in the next 25 years, it is impor-tant to rethink the question of states,

market, and society. We have dismem-bered the state; grown the market and believed that we have empowered soci-ety. We thought that people would be modulating voices over the market. They were the check.

But we forgot to ask: which society is being empowered for what purpose? And so, slowly, the circle closed—state-market and aspiring, consuming society merged. They became one. Anyone out-side this circle stopped getting counted. They are being slowly erased. This can-not work. This is our future’s most important agenda.

All in all, the next 25 years are in our hands—to make or break. What is certain is that if we learn from our past mistakes and move with thoughtfulness and genuine conversations, then we can turn the tide. Together. This has to be our common agenda. DOWN TO EARTH

(Sunita Narain is the Editor of Down To Earth magazine. The

views expressed are strictly personal.)

9mp in focusMILLENNIUM POST | Kolkatas | Monday, 1 May, 2017

India does not plan on expanding its coal-fired capacity during 2017-22. It bases this projection on the presumption that non-fossil fuel capacity addition will continue as targeted–4.3 GW of gas-fired plants, 15 GW of hydroelectric plants, 2.8 GW of nuclear installations and 115 GW of various renewable sources, which would come online during 2017-22

The most dominant determinant will be our ability to mitigate the effects of climate change and cope with it. Already the weather has become more variable, extreme, and horrendously devastating for the poorest, who live on the margins of subsistence

Push towards cleaner energyIf India meets renewables target, no more coal power needed till 2027, writes Mukta Patil

Future is in our handsSUNITA NARAIN

As the prospects for coal-gener-ated electricity recede globally, India is one of the last bastions of the world’s oldest, dirtiest energy

source–coal–although construction of new coal-fired power plants is faltering.

From January 2016 to January 2017, development of coal-fired power capacity fell around the world–pre-construction activity dropped 48 per cent, start of construction fell 62 per cent, ongoing construction fell 19 per cent, and the number of completed projects fell 29 per cent, according to a March 2017 report, Boom and Bust, released jointly by the Sierra Club (a US-based environmental non-profit), Greenpeace, and Coalswarm (an online repository on coal).

Using data from the Global Coal Plant Tracker, an online database developed by Coalswarm that identifies maps and catego-rises every known 30-MW and larger coal-fired power generating unit and every new unit proposed since January 1, 2010, the report maps a global move away from coal and towards renewable energy.

In China and India alone, construction activities that would add 68 GW–over a fifth of India’s total installed capacity–of addi-tional coal capacity are frozen across 100 project sites, 13 of them in India. The pri-mary reason for the slowdown in India is “reluctance of banks and other financiers to provide further funds”, the report said. Over half (56.5 per cent) of India’s installed power capacity will be non-fossil fuel-based–renew-ables, nuclear & large hydroelectric–within 10 years. In India, as of February 2017, at least 15 coal-based thermal power projects with an aggregate capacity of 18,420 MW (18.42 GW) were stalled due to financial reasons, the power ministry told the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) on February 9, 2017.

However, in March 2017, the Cabinet revived some struggling power projects with a cumulative capacity of some 30 GW under a new Mega Power Policy by providing sup-port of about Rs 10,000 crore to the sector, in addition to incentives such as custom duty waiver for import of capital equipment and tax breaks. This was done to relieve the bur-den of stressed assets on banks, estimated at Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

“The slowdown in the coal power pipeline brings the possibility of holding global warm-ing to below 2°C from pre-industrial levels within feasible reach,” the Boom and Bust report stated. However, this hinges on coun-tries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey, and Japan limiting their future coal power development, China and India reinforcing and increasing the slowdown, and developed countries (historically largest emitters) retir-ing coal-based power plants faster than they have been doing. To restrict global tempera-ture rise to 1.5°C, the report said, an immedi-ate doubling of the current pace of retirement would be needed, meaning plants as young as 20 or 30 years would have to be retired

even though the average lifespan of a coal plant is 40 years.

India does not plan on expanding its coal-fired capacity during 2017-22, according to the Draft National Electricity Plan proposed in December 2016 by the Central Electric-ity Authority. It bases this projection on the presumption that non-fossil fuel capacity addition will continue as targeted–4.3 GW of gas-fired plants, 15 GW of hydroelectric plants, 2.8 GW of nuclear installations and 115 GW of various renewable sources, which would come online during 2017-22.

The plan, however, does take into account 50 GW of coal-based installations that are currently under different stages of construc-tion and are likely to yield benefits during the 2017-22 period, concluding that no coal-based capacity addition is required until at least 2027.

In 2015, India accounted for 7 per cent of total global emissions, lower only than China (29 per cent), the United States (14 per cent) and the European Union (10 per cent), according to this 2016 joint report by PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. In the same year, the share of coal-fired power plants in India’s total CO2 emissions was just short of half

at 47 per cent, the report said. In 2016-17, India’s estimated peak demand of 165.2 GW was significantly lower than total installed capacity of over 300 GW. Coal-fired capac-ity of over 180 GW alone was higher than the peak demand. Despite this, the country continues to face acute power shortages due to coal supply problems, transmission and distribution losses and poor health of power utilities. According to government figures, estimated electricity consumption between 2005-06 and 2014-15 increased by a com-pounded annual growth rate of 8.72 per cent, growing to 948,328 gigawatt-hour, even as an estimated 240 million Indians are still with-out access to electricity.

Already, use of imported coal is costing the country. In 2014-15, India’s coal imports were 212 million tonnes (MT) and cost over Rs 1 lakh crore–up more than five times from 38.5 MT in 2005-06, due largely to poor quality of domestic coal, lack of com-petition among producers, and insufficient investments. On the other hand, investing in renewables brings environmental benefits like reduced pollution while creating employ-ment opportunities. Therefore, renewable energy has the potential to solve the energy trilemma of ensuring energy security, energy access and sustainability, according to this

2015 report by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog).

To capture the benefits of renewable energy (RE), the NITI Aayog report said, “India would need to make available the necessary capital, and get comfortable with managing the variability and uncertainty of RE generation in conjunction with the exist-ing and planned fossil fuel-based and large power plants”.

Tariffs for renewables in India, especially solar, have fallen heavily–by 73 per cent since 2010. In February 2017, at the Rewa solar park auction, a levelised tariff of Rs 3.3/kilo-watt-hour was achieved, competitive with the cost of new coal-fired power genera-tion. Wind tariffs, too, fell to a record low of Rs 3.46/unit in the same month. The jury is out on whether these low tariffs are sustain-able, but the trend is undoubtedly positive for renewables.

India would also need to invest in smart grid systems, storage options and demand-side flexibility to manage the variability of renewables. The building of a green energy corridor, along with renewable energy man-agement centres, will prove vital for evacu-ation of power between states, since solar and wind power potential is concentrated in a few states–nine states are expected to

account for more than 77 per cent of renew-able energy capacity addition by 2022. Yet, progress on this has been slow, with pace of construction not keeping up with the speed at which projects are being commissioned, according to this analysis by Mercom Capi-tal Group, a private consulting firm. “Grid integration is possible provided efforts are made by the government towards integrated resource planning for power sector keep-ing renewables as the focus,” Deepak Gupta, Senior Program Manager for Power at the Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, a New Delhi-based not-for-profit.

Gupta said policy-makers would need to strengthen the Electricity Act, 2003, which governs the generation, distribution, trans-mission, and trading of power in India, to specifically integrate renewables. Else, India should have a separate Renewable Energy Act, he said, adding, this will help the govern-ment expand its focus from renewable energy generation to a well-rounded integration of renewables with the country’s energy system. IANS

(In an arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public

interest journalism platform, with whom Mukta Patil is an analyst. The views expressed are strictly those of IndiaSpend.)

We can make or break it, depending on whether we stand up and get counted or let markets drive democracies

Want to learn a new skill? Or want to teach one? Use #SkillIndia & share details of the same. This will benefit so many others. #MannKiBaat

NARENDRA MODI@narendramodi

Back channels are still open for exchange the DeMon Notes..That is one of main reasons RBI refuse to divulge how much DeMon notes received

JAMES WILSON@jamewils

tweetRETWEET

Speaking in my person-al capacity, as a cricket fan, I believe the Indian cricket team absolutely must take part in the Champions Trophy.

RAMACHANDRA GUHA@Ram_Guha

Bahubali is a game changer, it's the kind of movie that redefines everything you thought u knew & understood about Indian movies.

MAHESH BHATT@MaheshNBhatt

Representational Image

Representational Image

mp world10MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata |Monday, 1 May, 2017

SRI LANKA NABS INDIAN FISHING VESSEL WITH MYANMAR REFUGEESCOLOMBO: Sri Lankan coast guards have caught an Indian fishing boat and arrested 32 foreign nation-als including refugees from Myanmar, authorities said on Sunday. The foreigners include 30 Myanma-rese nationals including 14 children and two Indians. They were arrested off the coast of Kankesanturai in the country’s northern Jaffna peninsula, Navy said. “Sri Lankan coast guards were observing the International Maritime Boundary Line. They found this Indian fishing boat with unusually large group of people,” Navy spokesman Chaminda Walakuluge said. The boat was carrying Myanmar refugees who had fled to India four years ago due to clashes in Myanmar.

BUS ACCIDENT KILLS 11 IN INDONESIAJAKARTA: At least 11 people were killed on Sunday when a bus rammed into several other vehicles in Indonesia’s West Java province after a suspected brake failure, police said. The bus hit four cars and motorbikes before tumbling down a slope. The bus driver and some of the motorists were among the dead. The accident in Cianjur district, 90 kilometres (56 miles) south of Jakarta, also injured nearly 50 people. Transport accidents are common in Indonesia, where buses and trains are often old and badly maintained.

14 KILLED IN ROAD ACCIDENT IN NORTHWEST PAKISTANPESHAWAR: At least 14 people were killed and several others injured when the vehicle they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell in a deep ravine in northwest Pakistan. The accident occurred near Lawari Top in upper Dir district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday, officials said. The vehicle met the accident when the driver lost control while negotiating a sharp turn in the mountainous terrain near Lawari top connecting Dir district with Chitral district, they said. The condition of the injured is stated to be critical, officials added.

BRIEFSWORLD

Hafiz Saeed to remain under house arrest for 90 days more LAHORE: Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed will remain under house arrest for 90 days more after the expiry of his three-month detention period on Sunday. Pakistan’s Punjab government on Sunday decided to extend the duration of the house arrest of Saeed and his four aides under the country’s anti-terrorism act and the notification for it will be issued soon, an official of the Punjab government’s home department said.

“The government has decided in principle to extend the house arrest of Hafiz Saeed, Prof Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdur Rehman Abid, Qazi Kashif Hussain and Abdullah Ubaid for another 90 days” under preventive detention, he said.

The official said a consultative meeting on Saeed’s detention has already been held under interior minister Chaudhry Nisar in which a decision to extend the house arrest has been taken.

The government on January 30 had put Saeed and the four leaders under house arrest in Lahore for their alleged involvement in activities prejudicial to peace and security. The house arrest was

made for a period of 90 days ending tonight.

According to media reports, the Nawaz Sharif government had detained Saeed after the Trump administration, which had just taken over,

had told Pakistan that it may face sanctions if it did not act against the JuD and its chief.

The Jamaat-ud Dawah (JuD), the front group of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, and its sister organisation Falah-

e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), had also been put under terror watch on the basis of a report sent by the ministry of foreign affairs. Saeed, along with his four aides, have filed a petition in the Lahore High Court challenging his detention through senior advocate A K Dogar.

During the previous hearing on the petition earlier this month, the Punjab government had told the Lahore high court that no violation of law had been made in their detention as it had reasons to believe that JuD and FIF are engaged in activities which can be prejudicial to peace and security. Saeed and his aides allege in their petition that the government detained them without any legal justification.

Saeed was also put under house arrest after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, but he was freed by a court in 2009.

He has a bounty of $10 million on his head for his role in terror activities. AGENCIES

LONDON: A passenger jet approaching Heathrow Airport was involved in a near-miss incident with two drones, the first such recorded instance in the UK.

Scotland Yard was informed after the incident in November last year, but the drones’ operators have not been found, a report by the UK Airprox Board (UKAB) said this week.

The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it was the first time a near-miss incident involving more than one drone.

The incident occurred over east London as an Airbus A320 was approaching Heathrow Airport on November 20 last year. The UKAB report concluded that the incident had “compromised the safety of the aircraft”. “The board considers that the drone operator had endangered the A320 and its occupants,” the report said. One pilot also said there would have been a “significant risk of collision” if the jet had been on a different approach path.

The plane was flying at 5,500 feet when its crew spotted two white, orb-shaped drones nearby. The pilots “remained in constant visual contact” with the gadgets, which are estimated to have got as close as 500 metre to the aircraft, according to the report.

Less than 30 minutes later, a Boeing 777 approaching Heathrow flew within 50 metre of what is believed to have been one of the drones, described as white, about 2 metre wide and with four prongs. It was believed to be one of the drones spotted earlier.

According to the UKAB’s monthly reports, there have been five near-misses between aircraft and drones in March, bringing the total to 62 over the past 12 months. Under CAA rules, drones must not be flown above 400 feet or near airports or airfields. Last year, more than 3,456 incidents involving drones were recorded, compared to only 1,237 in 2015. AGENCIES

KABUL: At least 43 militants were killed in military operations in Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

“In the past 24 hours, Afghan National Defence and Security Forces launched eight counter-terrorism operations in Kunar, Wardak, Nangarhar, Zabul, Logar and Kunduz provinces,” Xinhua news agency cited a ministry statement as saying. Among the killed, 17 were Islamic State (IS) fighters, it said. Eight persons were wounded in the raids. The statement did not say if there were any casualties on the security forces side.

The Afghan security forces have beefed up operations against militants recently as spring and summer known as fighting seasons are drawing near in the mountainous Asian country.

Up to 36 suspected Islamic State militants were killed in Afghanistan when the US dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat in April. AGENCIES

43 militants killed in Afghan

operation

Passenger plane comes close to hitting drones

near Heathrow Indian man kills

8-yr-old daughter, attempts suicide

in Nepal KATHMANDU: An Indian man has allegedly murdered his eight-year-old daughter by strangulating her before attempting suicide following a minor dispute with his wife in eastern Nepal.

Following a quarrel with his wife on Friday, Raju Chaudhary, 32, from Ilam municipality, walked out of his house with his eight-year-old and three-year-old daughters, police said.

He murdered the elder daughter and left the younger one unconscious, they said.

Chaudhary, who runs a food stall, had then booked a room in the Friend Hotel just 300 metres away from his house. Preliminary investigation said that he tried to kill himself by hanging from a ceiling fan after strangling his daughters, police said.

The hotel owner informed the police about the incident.

Later, a police team deployed from Ilam reached the hotel and found the elder daughter dead while younger one was found unconscious.

Chaudhary attempted suicide but he failed as the shawl used to hang himself on ceiling broke and he sustained injury, police said.

The younger one, who survived the incident, is undergoing treatment at the Birtamod-based Birta City Hospital. While Chaudhary has been taken into police cus-tody and sent to Ilam District Hospital for treatment. AGENCIES

Airstrike in Hama kills 8 White Helmets rescuers

BEIRUT: Airstrikes struck a center of Syria’s rescuers known as the White Helmets in a rebel-held area in the country’s center, killing eight volunteers, opposition activists said on Saturday. The airstrike was one of the deadliest against the rescuers who operate in opposition-held areas and who have garnered world attention for operating in extreme conditions, pulling survivors out of recently struck areas. The volunteers have often been targeted by government airstrikes, in what are known as ‘double tap’ attacks, as they work to rescue others.

The local White Helmets in the central Hama province said an air raid on one of their centers in Kfar Zeita killed eight members of the team. The group said five bodies were lifted from the rubble and the rescuers continued to look for the others. The Britain-based opposition monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the number of those killed is likely

to rise as the search mission continues. It was not clear who carried out the airstrikes, as Syrian government and Russia aircraft have targeted opposition-held areas. The central Hama province have been scene to intense violence in recent weeks, as the government attempts to push back a rebel offensive.

Separately Saturday, Syria’s military said its troops and allied fighters repelled an attack by the Islamic State group on a strategic area held by the government in southern Aleppo province. The attack took place in Khanaser,

southeast Aleppo — a strategic region that links Aleppo with central and western Syria. The area has changed hands many times during the conflict. But last year, government troops and allied fighters wrested control of Khanaser from IS.

The military media arm said IS attacked Um Mayyal village near a mountain range in Khanaser and other areas.

The Observatory said IS fighters launched the attack on military posts in the area, triggering intense clashes and leaving many casualties. IS-affiliated Aamaq news agency claimed IS fighters killed 30 government soldiers in the attack. Near the capital, hundreds of Syrians from the rebel-held suburbs of eastern Ghouta near Damascus protested against infighting between the insurgent groups that began Friday and left dozens killed in the area. The infighting came amid an intensified government offensive in the area near Damascus. AGENCIES

LONDON: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe branded North Korea a “grave threat” during his visit to London, after a failed missile test resulted in the shut down of a Tokyo sub-way, the media reported.

Abe on Saturday called the failed test “absolutely unac-ceptable” and a “grave threat to our country”, as he spoke at the end of his three-day visit to Russia and Britain, the Daily Mail reported.

One of Tokyo’s major subways systems shut down all lines for 10 minutes after receiving warning of a North Korean missile launch.

Tokyo Metro official Hiro-shi Takizawa said the tem-porary suspension affected 13,000 passengers on Satur-day morning.

Takizawa said it was the first time service had been stopped in response to a mis-sile launch. Train services are generally suspended in Japan immediately after large earth-quakes. Earlier on Saturday, North Korea launched a bal-listic missile that blew up over

land. The main part of the mis-

sile landed approximately 35 km from Pukchang airfield, north of Pyongyang, accord-ing to CNN.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile flew for several minutes and reached a maximum height of 44 miles.

US President Donald Trump cast the launch as a direct snub against China, one of North Korea’s only allies and a nation seen by the Trump administration as a potential US ally in efforts to stamp out Pyongyang’s nuclear program. AGENCIES

Tokyo subway shut after failed N Korean missile test

KATHMANDU: An impeachment motion against Nepal’s first woman Chief Justice Sushila Karki was registered in the Parliament on Sunday by two major ruling parties, accusing her of “interfering” in the jurisdiction of the executive and issuing “prejudiced” verdicts. Justice Karki (64), who has done her Masters in Political Science from Banaras Hindu University, was automatically suspended from the post after the registration of the motion.

Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Min Bishwokarma and CPN (Maoist Centre) chief whip Tek Bahadur Basnet, among other lawmakers, registered the motion in the Parliament secretariat this afternoon.

A total of 249 lawmakers from the ruling NC and CPN (Maoist Centre) have signed the motion which has accused Justice Karki of “interfering in the jurisdiction of executive and failing to

issue verdicts without being prejudiced”.According to the constitutional

provision, an amendment motion can

be filed in the parliament secretariat by securing the support of at least one-fourth of the total number of lawmakers.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Development Kamal Thapa expressed his displeasure over the impeachment motion.

In a twitter post, chairman of Rastriya Prajatantra Party Thapa said the impeachment motion registered by NC and Maoist lawmakers was objectionable and unfortunate.

Attorney General Raman Shrestha said it was necessary to impeach the CJ for her tampering with the work performance evaluation of the Inspector General of Police candidates during a recent controversy over the promotion of Nepal Police Chief.

Justice Karki had assumed office as Nepal’s first woman Chief Justice on August 1 last year. AGENCIES

Famous Swiss climber dies near Mt EverestKATHMANDU: A renowned Swiss climber has died in a mountaineering accident near Mount Everest in Nepal.

Ueli Steck, 40, nicknamed the Swiss Machine, died after falling to the foot of Mount Nuptse, a smaller peak in the area, said Mingma Sherpa of the Seven Summits Treks company that organised Steck’s expedition. His body has been recovered from the site and taken to Lukla, where the only airport in the Mount Everest area is located.

Steck had been planning to climb 8,848-metre (29,029-ft) Mount Everest and nearby Mount Lhotse next month.

He was the first casualty in the spring mountaineering season in Nepal that began in March and will end in May. Hundreds of foreign climbers are on the mountains to attempt to scale Himalayan

peaks in May, when there are a few windows of favourable weather. Steck was one of the most renowned mountaineers of his generation. He was best known for his speed climbing, including setting several records for ascending the north face of the Eiger, a classic mountaineering peak in the Bernese Alps that he climbed in two hours and 47 minutes without using a rope.

In 2013 he achieved the first solo climb of the Annapurna south face in Nepal, having almost died in a fall there in 2007. He received the Piolet d’Or, considered the Oscar of mountaineering, in 2014.

In 2015 Steck climbed all 82 Alpine peaks higher than 4,000 metres, travelling between mountains by foot, bike and paraglider only. He completed the feat in 62 days. Last year, Steck and a German

climber discovered the bodies of two famed American climbers, Alex Lowe and David Bridges, who were swept away in 1999 by an avalanche during their attempt to scale the world’s 14th highest peak,

Shishapangma. In an interview last month with the Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger, Steck said he considered himself an outsider in the mountaineering scene because athletic achievement was more important to him

than adventure. Asked about his upcoming Everest-Lhotse expedition, involving a quick climb from one peak to the other, including an overnight in the “death zone”, Steck said: “When I’m on Everest I can stop at any point. The risk is therefore quite small. For me it’s primarily a physical project. Either I get through or I don’t have the strength.”

Asked what he would consider to be success on his expedition, Steck said: “Of course I want to climb Everest and Lhotse. But that’s a very high goal. Failure for me would be to die and not come home.” On hearing the news of his death, renowned climber Alan Arnette commented from Colorado: “I can’t express what a loss this is to the mountaineering community, Ueli loved Nepal, Everest and the Himalaya.” AGENCIES

Impeachment motion against Nepal’s 1st woman Chief Justice

Tokyo Metro official Hiroshi Takizawa said the temporary suspension affected 13,000 passengers on Saturday morning

Ueli Steck, 40, nicknamed the Swiss Machine, died after falling to the foot of Mount Nuptse, a smaller peak in the area

A Pakistani police officer escorts Hafiz Saeed (left), chief of Pakistan’s religious group Jamaat-ud-Dawa outside party’s headquarters in Lahore

Nepal’s first woman Chief Justice Sushila Karki

Military plane crashes, 8 dead: Cuba

CARAMBOLA: A Cuban military plane crashed into a hillside on Saturday in the western province of Artemisa, killing eight troops on board, the government said.

Cuba’s military said in a statement that the Soviet-made AN-26 took off from the Playa Baracoa airport outside Havana at 6:38 am and crashed outside the town of Candelaria about 40 miles away.

The weather was clear and sunny. The military said a special commission would investigate the cause of the crash. Officials did not immediately release any further information. “At about 7 am, I was sitting in front of the cafe and I saw an airplane, which I watched because it looked slow, almost touching the palm trees,” said Regla Maria Gallardo in Carambola, a community in Artemisa surrounded by mountains. “After a bit I heard what had happened.”

Carambola residents watched as ambulances arrived and police and soldiers blocked the road leading to the accident site.

In November 2010, an AeroCaribbean flight from Santiago to Havana went down in bad weather as it flew over central Cuba, killing all 68 people aboard. AGENCIES

Indian’s death penalty upheld for killing baby, grandmother

NEW YORK: The death sentence of an Indian techie has been affirmed by Pennsylvania’s high court in the 2012 murders of a 10-month old baby and her grandmother following a botched kidnapping plot to pay for his gambling. Raghunandan Yandamuri was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder after two days of jury deliberation following a month-and-a-half-long trial in October 2012.

He was sentenced to death in 2015 for the killings of Saanvi Venna and her 61-year-old grandmother Satayrathi Venna. Yandamuri was a technology professional from India and knew the baby’s parents.

A report in WRAL.com said Pennsylvania’s high court affirmed the death sentence

on Saturday for Yandamuri, who had carried out a botched kidnapping plot to pay for his gambling habits. Though Yan-damuri has been sentenced to death, there is a statewide mor-atorium on executions in Penn-sylvania. The investigation into the murders began when police were called to an apartment complex in Pennsylvania for a

report that a woman had been killed and child was missing.

Police soon learned from the dead woman’s son that his daughter was missing and he had found a ransom note at the scene of the crime demanding $50,000 for his daughter’s life. The ransom note had used nicknames for the baby’s parents that only very few people knew. Investigators soon found Yandamuri, who admitted after several hours of questioning to the killings. He then told police he had put the body of Saanvi Venna in the sauna of the apartments after she died.Yandamuri said he panicked and the deaths were accidental. He had served as his own lawyer and at trial said he was pressured into confessing. AGENCIES

Raghunandan Yandamuri was found guilty

mp world 11MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata |Monday, 1 May, 2017

BRIEFSFUTURE TECH COULD JEOPARDISE ‘FREEDOM OF MIND’: EXPERTSGENEVA: Future ‘mind reading’ technology could allow hackers to steal or even delete data from our brains, unless new human rights laws are prepared to protect against exploitation and loss of privacy, researchers have warned. New advances in neurotechnology could put the ‘freedom of the mind’ at risk, and to prevent this, researchers suggest four new laws — right to cognitive liberty, right to mental privacy, right to mental integrity and the right to psychological continuity.

TURKEY SACKS 4,000 MORE OFFICIALS IN COUP-BID CRACKDOWNANKARA: The Turkish government has sacked almost 4,000 more public officials in what appears to be the latest purge related to a failed coup last July. They include more than 1,000 justice ministry workers, a similar number of army staff and more than 100 air force pilots, officials said. In a separate decree, Turkey banned TV dating shows - a move previously mooted by the government. Earlier on Saturday, Turkey blocked the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia.The latest sackings follow the suspension of more than 9,000 police officers and the arrest of 1,000 more last Wednesday on suspicion of having links to the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

US SOLDIER KILLED IN EXPLOSION NEAR MOSUL BAGHDAD: An American soldier has been killed in an explosion near Mosul as the battle continues to drive Isis militants out of their former stronghold. A spokesperson for US Central Command said: “A US service member died from wounds sustained in an explosive device blast outside of Mosul, Iraq, on Saturday.” No further information was immediately released, but the blast came after a number of deaths and injuries caused by mines and improvised explosive devices littering Isis’ former territories. The terrorist group is known to rig buildings, cars and even toys and items of food and drink with explosives as it retreats.

TRUMP INVITES PHILIPPINES’ DUTERTE TO THE WHITE HOUSEWASHINGTON: Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has been invited the visit the White House following a “very friendly” telephone call with Donald Trump. The two leaders discussed Duterte’s controversial war on drugs, which has left more than 7,000 people dead in under 12 months. The North Korea crisis was also raised. According to the White House, Trump “enjoyed the conversation”, and has extended an invite - although a date has not yet been set.

WORLD

Prez launches attack on failing media: Trump’s 100-day rally

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump returned to familiar territory on Saturday in a bullish campaign-style speech in Pennsylvania to mark his 100 days in office.

In a performance that suggested the US president was still in election mode, he repeated his scathing attacks on the media and his well-worn pledges to build a wall, destroy Islamic State, drain the swamp and revive the military.

To loud cheers of “USA, USA” from the crowd, he vowed to save American healthcare and repeal “disastrous” Obamacare. Trump opened the rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with a dig at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, which was also taking place on Saturday night, saying it would be “very very boring”.

“There’s a large group of Hollywood actors and Washington media consoling each other in a hotel ballroom in our nation’s capital right now,” he said. “I could not possibly be more thrilled to be more than 100 miles away from the Washington swamp, spending my evening with all of you and a much, much larger crowd and much better people.”

Trump decided to skip the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, becoming the first US leader to miss the annual event since Ronald Reagan in 1981.

“They are gathering together for the White House Correspondent’s dinner – without the president,” he said.

The crowd booed every time the president mentioned the media and when Trump said organisations such as CNN and MSNBC broadcast “fake news”.

In a speech that was more backward-looking than agenda-setting, Trump said the media would get a “big, fat failing grade” for its reporting of his first 100 days in office. In contrast, the president said his administration had been “very exciting and very productive” and that he was “delivering every single day”. AGENCIES

Trump to make ‘big decision’ on one-sided Paris deal

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has promised to make a “big decision” on the “one-sided” Paris climate deal soon as he alleged that the US is being unfairly targeted by asking to pay money while major polluting nations like Russia, China and India are contributing “nothing.”

In a campaign-style rally in Pennsylvania, a state that helped tip the election in his favor, Trump said the Paris Agreement on Climate Change is “one sided.”

“I will be making a big decision on the Paris accord over the next two weeks and we will see what happens,” he said in his speech to mark the first 100 days of his presidency.

“...like the one-sided Paris climate accord. Where the US pays billions of dollars (for the Paris Climate Accord) while China, Russia, and India have contributed (to pollution) and will contribute nothing,” Trump alleged as the audience booed to the Paris Agreement.The Paris climate deal within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was signed

in 2015 by 194 countries and ratified by 143. It aims to hold the increase in average global temperature to below 2 degrees above pre-industrial level by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Trump claimed that it is estimated that for compliance with the agreement could ultimately shrink

America’s GDP by $2.5 trillion over a 10-year period. “That means factories and plants closing all over our country,” he said and alleged that the Washington s dishonest media would not report because it is is part of the problem.

“Their priorities are not my priorities, and they are not your

priorities, believe me,” he said.“They are all part of a

broken system that has profited from this global theft and plunder of American wealth at the expense of the American worker. We are not going to let other countries take advantage of us anymore because, from now on, it is going to be

America first,” Trump said. Trump said his administration has made historic progress in the first 100 days.

“We are keeping one promise after another and frankly the people are really happy about it, they see what’s happening.

To understand the historic progress we ve made, we must speak honestly about the situation that we, and I, inherited. The previous administration gave us a mess,” he added.

The US President promised to build a wall along the Mexican border.“If the Democrats knew what the hell they were doing, they would approve it. Obviously they don t mind the illegals pouring in, the drugs pouring in. They don t mind,” he said.

Referring to the significance of China in resolving the North Korean issue, Trump said it is not the right time to declare China a currency manipulator.

“I don t think right now is the best time to call China a currency manipulator,” he said. AGENCIES

Indian eatery in UK fined as neighbours complain

of ‘curry smell’ LONDON: Owners of an Indian restaurant in the UK have been fined by a court after neighbours complained of strong ‘curry smells’ emanating from the eatery.

Middlesbrough Council fined ‘Khushi Indian Buffet Restaurant’ owners Shabana and Mohammed Khushi after the establishment sent aromas of ‘biryanis’ and ‘bhajis’ filtering through the area. According to the local authority, the Linthorpe restaurant was lacking a ‘sufficient filtration system’. A handful of locals had been complaining about the smells, which led to the council’s decision, the Gazette Live reported.

Khushi, which serves Punjabi dishes and was based in the Red Rose pub, was set in a built-up residential area alongside other businesses.

At Teesside Magistrates’ Court last week, District Judge Kristina Harrison heard from a council prosecutor that some residents had complained that the smell of spicy food from the restaurant’s kitchen got in through their windows and was overpowering.

It was alleged the smells were so strong, it left them needing to wash their clothes.

The pair were fined 258 pounds each, ordered to pay 500 pounds costs each, and a 30 pounds victim surcharge.

Defence solicitor Neil Douglas, however, said that because the business had moved into a former pub building, no variation of planning permission was needed and therefore the Khushis were never made aware of the type of filters they needed.

In letters written to a judge, some local businesses and councillors supported the restaurant, saying they have never had a problem with curry smells on the road.

A company which specialises in fitting out Asian restaurants installed the kitchen in 2015, leading the couple to believe they had the right equipment.

The pair, joint directors in the business, have already upgraded their filtration system, but face another 3,500 pounds to 4,500 pounds bill to complete the work. AGENCIES

Le Pen always wanted France to abandon EU: HollandeBRUSSELS: The French President accused the French National Front leader and presidential candidate on Saturday of “camouflaging” her intention of pulling France out of the European Union (EU) because she is aware that is not the true wish of the people and that the idea “is fright-ening”. François Hollande said “she has always wanted France to abandon the Euro area and the European Union (EU)” in reference to Marine le Pen, the FN presidential candidate, EFE news reported. Marine Le Pen announced on Satur-day that she would appoint defeated first-round candidate Nicolas Dupont-Aignan as her Prime Minister if she is elected President. AGENCIES

Le Pen proposes two-currency system as ‘euro is dead’PARIS: French far-right National Front leader and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen on Sunday proposed a dual currency system for France, a national currency for its home economy and another for international trade as, in her opinion, the “euro is dead”.

“We will have a national currency like all other countries, and a common currency together,” Le Pen said in an interview with French daily Le Parisien, meaning that a new French franc would be a currency for everyday domestic use and the euro would be for “large companies trading internationally”. According to Le Pen who faces centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the

Presidential election on May 7, the euro is “largely responsible for mass unemployment” in France because it has not “adapted” itself to the French economy, Efe news reported.

She added that, if she wins the presidency, she will negotiate with the European Union (EU) the recovery of four “essential” sovereignties: territorial, legislative, economic and monetary. If those EU negotiations failed, she would submit the euro question to the French people via referendum.

“If they vote no, then I will resign,” the presidential hopeful said. Le Pen’s proposal to abandon the euro has generated unease, as polls show 70 per cent of the French wish to remain inside the European

single currency.Exactly how she would

pull-out from the euro also has created some degree of confusion, even within the ranks of Le Pen’s Front National party. Regarding her “patriotic” alliance with Eurosceptic right-wing party Debout La France, led by Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, a former rival, Le Pen said she had to modify some of her proposals.

Among others, free schooling for immigrant children that she wished to temporarily ban. Speaking of her duel with Macron, who is ahead in the polls, Le Pen considers she might win and, in her opinion, Macron is already getting nervous by his “feverish and aggressive” stance. AGENCIES

N Korea threatens to sink US nuclear submarine

PYONGYANG: North Korea has threatened to sink a US nuclear submarine deployed in South Korean waters.

“The moment the USS Michigan tries to budge even a little, it will be doomed to face the miserable fate of becoming an underwater ghost without being able to come to the surface,” the North’s propaganda website Urminzokkiri said.

“The urgent fielding of the nuclear submarine in the waters off the Korean Peninsula, timed to coincide with the deployment of the super aircraft carrier strike group, is intended to further intensify military threats toward our republic.” The guided missile submarine USS Michigan has been joined by the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group in waters near the Korean peninsula. The website added that “whether it’s a nuclear aircraft carrier or a nuclear submarine, they will be turned into a mass of scrap metal in front of our invincible military power centred on the self-defence nuclear deterrence.”

The aircraft carrier group began exercises with the South Korean navy on Sunday after it completed drills with the Japanese navy. The dispatch of the Carl Vinson was a “reckless action of the war maniacs aimed at an extremely

dangerous nuclear war,” the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, said in a commentary. It comes after the hermit kingdom test-fired another ballistic missile in a clear message of defiance aimed at Washington and its allies. However, US officials said the medium-range ballistic missile disintegrated mid-flight, minutes after launch, and fell into the Sea of Japan.

President Donald Trump, asked about his message to North Korea after the latest missile test, said: “You’ll soon find out”, but did not elaborate on what the US response would be. The North has been conducting missile and nuclear weapons related activities at an unprecedented rate and is believed to have made progress in developing intermediate-range and submarine-launched missiles.

Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high for weeks over fears the North may conduct a long-range missile test, or its sixth nuclear test, around the time of the 15 April anniversary of its state founder’s birth. N Korea poses a great threat to the US and its allies, US National Security Advisor Lt HR McMaster said on Sunday and asked the international community to ratchet up sanctions. AGENCIES

S Korea, US end annual

military drillsSEOUL: South Korea and the US on Sunday ended their annual joint military exercise, the biggest ever drill of its kind, amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.

South Korean military authorities said the Foal Eagle exercises, in which both countries’ infantry, navy and air force took part, concluded as per schedule, Efe news reported.

In this year’s drill, which began in early March, more than 10,000 US soldiers took part along with hundreds of thousands South Korean troops in what was the largest exercise ever conducted on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea, which considers all joint exercises as an attempt to invade its territory, heavily criticised the military deployment, which coincided with a period of heightened tension between Washington and Pyongyang over Kim Jong-un’s repeated tests of missiles. The final stage of the exercise comes a day after the North Korean regime carried out its latest such trial. Saturday’s test, however, ended in failure, with the missile exploding immediately after launching, as reported by Washington and Seoul.

The US chose to send its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the region in response to Pyongyang’s repeated tests.

In March, the large-scale Foal Eagle exercises overlapped with the annual simulated joint US-South Korean combat drills “Key Resolve”. The two-week long Key Resolve exercise aims to prepare the allies for a possible attack from Pyongyang.

US National Security Advisor Lt H R McMaster on Sunday asked the international community to ratchet up sanctions against the reclusive nation. He said N Korea’s most recent missile test represents “open defiance of the international community.” He says North Korea poses “a grave threat” not just to the United States and its Asian allies, but also to China. AGENCIES

Scotland Yard guard to protect Queen’s Household Cavalry

LONDON: An armed Scotland Yard guard has been deployed near the Buckingham Palace to protect Queen Elizabeth II’s Household Cavalry during ceremonial duties to counter the heightened terror threat in London.

The operation to defend the mounted regiment the oldest and most senior in the British Army comes as thickets of metal and concrete barriers spring up across central London to protect the public from the Westminster Bridge-like attack which claimed four lives last month.

Police were escorting the Household Cavalry last week during the daily changing of the Queen’s Life Guard, The Sunday Times reported.

Armed response vehicles drove in front of and behind the main procession of mounted soldiers as they rode from Hyde Park Barracks to Horse Guards Parade and then after the change of guard up the Mall towards the Buckingham Palace.

The hourly change of the Household Cavalry sentries on Whitehall, a major tourist attraction, is also supervised by

armed police with assault rifles.The increased protection is

believed to be a precautionary measure rather than a response to specific intelligence.

The Household Cavalry, consisting of the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals regiments, have stood at Horse Guards Parade near the Palace since the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, and their ceremonial duties draw thousands of tourists each day. The mounted soldiers are battle-hardened troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. AGENCIES

Labour gains in British polls

but May’s party leads

LONDON: Three polls on Saturday showed a rise in support for the opposition Labour party, although the governing Conservative party maintained a commanding lead. The polls showed the party of British Prime Minister Theresa May remained between 11 and 17 points ahead of Labour, still enough to deliver a clear victory as she seeks a mandate ahead of negotiations over Brexit, due to begin in the summer. However, the polls showed the gap had closed from leads of up to 25 points reported last weekend.

One poll by YouGov showed the Conservative lead over the Labour had fallen to 13 points, compared to the 23 points that the same polling firm found last week. The YouGov poll for the Sunday Times found that 44 percent were set to back the Conservatives, down from 48 percent last weekend. Support for Labour climbed to 31 percent from 25 percent.

May said on April 11 that she would look to hold an election on June 8, to secure a mandate for her plan for leaving the European Union. Her secure lead in the polls meant sterling rose on the prospect of an election. AGENCIES

May braces for difficult Brexit negotiations

LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May expects divorce talks with the European Union to be difficult, she said on Sunday in response to the tough stance taken by EU leaders over the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.

EU leaders endorsed stiff divorce terms for Britain at a Brussels summit on Saturday, warning Britons to have “no illusions” about swiftly securing a new relationship to retain access to EU markets and to be prepared for the complexity of issues such as residency rights for EU citizens. “What this shows, and what some of the other comments we’ve seen coming from European leaders shows, is that there are going to be times when these negotiations are going to be tough,” May told the BBC.

Brussels is concerned about the British government’s state of preparation for enormously complicated negotiations and over the degree of understanding in London of what kind of compromises it will have to make to clinch any kind of deal. EU officials said that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier’s talks with May in London on Wednesday did nothing to ease that concern.

German Chancellor Angela

Merkel, repeating a comment she made after Juncker’s meeting with May, said she was still worried by “illusions” in Britain about the Brexit talks.

May reaffirmed her position that she would be prepared to walk away from talks without a deal if she did not like what was on offer from Brussels.

“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t believe that,” May said in a separate interview with ITV television. “What I also believe is that, with the right strong hand in negotiations, we can get a good deal for the UK.”

Britain’s most senior EU official has warned that a post-Brexit Britain would have to recognise the rulings of the European court of justice if it wished to maintain the current level of cooperation in countering terrorism and organised crime. Sir Julian King, the European commissioner responsible for security, said the UK’s security services had become increasingly reliant on shared crime-fighting tools to carry out their work.

In an interview with the Guardian, King suggested the UK would seek to maintain the status quo on security cooperation, which could form part of tense negotiations with the remaining 27 members of the EU. AGENCIES

Donald Trump says he will keep his promises he made to the American people while addressing the Congress in his first speech as President

US-backed Syria force advances against IS in Tabqa

BEIRUT: A US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance is advancing against the Islamic State group in the key town of Tabqa near the jihadist bastion of Raqa in northern Syria, a monitor said on Sunday. The Syrian Democratic Forces now control at least 40 percent of the town of Tabqa, and more than half of its heart, the Old City, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said fighting was continuing in the town on Sunday morning. The SDF entered Tabqa on Monday as part of their offensive against Raqa, IS’s de facto Syrian capital. Supported by US-led coalition air strikes and special forces advisers, the SDF surrounded Tabqa in early April.

The town sits on a strategic supply route about 55 kilometres (34 miles) west of Raqa, and served as an important IS command base, housing the group’s main prison.

It is also adjacent to the Tabqa dam, another important strategic prize which remains under IS control. The assault on Tabqa began in late March when SDF forces and their US-led coalition allies were airlifted behind IS lines. The city was home to around 240,000 residents before 2011, and more than 80,000 people have fled to it from other parts of the country.

IS has put up fierce resistance, including using weaponised drones, a tactic the group perfected in neighbouring Iraq. AGENCIES

mp business12MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Monday, 1 May, 2017

Govt keen to push ahead with more PSB consolidation NEW DELHI: Fresh from the successful merger of five asso-ciates with SBI, the government is looking to consolidate more public banks going forward, with an aim to create only a few lenders of global size and scale.

The finance ministry, according to an official, “will soon undertake a broad study on further consolidation and look at various options for merger among the remaining 21 public sector banks”.

There are factors like regional balance, geographi-cal reach, financial burden and smooth human resource transi-tion that have to be looked into while taking a merger decision, the official said, adding that there should not be merger of a very weak bank with a strong bank “as it could pull the lat-ter down”.

“There are some low-hang-ing fruits. For example, Punjab and Sind Bank can be merged into Punjab National Bank. Big lenders like Bank of Baroda can take over some turnaround banks in the southern region such as Indian Overseas Bank.

Dena Bank could be merged with some large South Indian bank, the official explained.

The merger process will get a boost with the likely improve-

ment in the NPA (non-Per-forming Asset) situation over the next two quarters, the offi-cial said, adding that “some movement on this front would begin soon”.

Toxic loans of public sector banks rose by over Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 6.06 lakh crore dur-ing April-December of 2016-17, the bulk of which came from power, steel, road infra-structure and textile sectors.

Last week, RBI Governor Urjit Patel said Indian bank-ing system could be better off if some public sector banks are consolidated to have a fewer but healthier entities as it would help in dealing with the problem of stressed assets.

“As many have pointed out, it is not clear that we need so many public sector banks. The system could be better off if they are consolidated into

fewer but healthier banks,” Patel said. The merger pro-posals in the banking sector would require clearance from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the ministry official added.

In the last consolidation drive that saw the light of day earlier this month, CCI nod was needed only in the case of merger of the Bharatiya Mah-ila Bank (BMB) with the State

Bank of India (SBI). There was no such requirement for merger of associate banks with SBI as they were part of the parent.

Five associates and BMB became part of SBI on April 1, 2017, catapulting the country’s largest lender to among the top 50 banks in the world.

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Patiala (SBP) and State Bank of Travancore (SBT), besides BMB, were merged with SBI.

With the merger, the total customer base of the SBI reached around 37 crore with a branch network of around 24,000 and nearly 59,000 ATMs across the country.

The merged entity began operation with deposit base of more than Rs 26 lakh crore and advances level of Rs 18.50 lakh crore. The government in Feb-ruary had approved the merger of these five associate banks with SBI. Later in March, the Cabinet approved merger of BMB as well.

SBI first merged State Bank of Saurashtra with itself in 2008. Two years later, State Bank of Indore was merged with it. PTI

Plans afoot to cut coal imports for power PSUs to zero in FY18

NEW DELHI: Government on Sunday said it is aiming to bring down to “zero” thermal coal imports of power PSUs like NTPC in the current fiscal, a move that would reduce the country’s import bill by around Rs 17,000 crore.

The government would also slowly convince the private companies operating in the power space to totally stop the import of thermal fossil fuel.

“This year we want that coal import by these plants (of pub-lic sector companies) should be brought down to zero and slowly we would convince the private sector that there is no need for you to import coal,” Coal Secretary Susheel Kumar said. The government, he said, will also convince upon the pri-vate companies in the power sector to source coal through domestic sources as it is more reliable and prone to less price variations.

“The move is likely to sub-stantially bring down the coun-try’s import bill. India will save around Rs 17,000 crore on import bill,” the Secretary said.

The Coal Ministry, he said, will make available to the power public sector units (PSUs) the supply of thermal coal through domestic sources in sufficient amount which would prompt the companies to not resort to import of fossil fuel.

“We will supply so much of coal to them that there would be no need for them to import coal,” the Secretary said.

“We would bring down to zero the requirement of coal through imports of central public sector companies like NTPC and state PSUs. This is the target we have,” Kumar said.

The major policy thrust of the government, he said, is that import substitution should take place. On account of increased production of coal imports declined from 217.78 MT in FY’15 to 199.88 MT in 2015-16.

The trend of fall in import of coal also continued in the 2016-17 fiscal. During the first 10 months (April-January), coal imports reduced by 2.59 per cent as against the year-ago period, the government had earlier said.

However, import of coal is not solely dependent on the domestic production. It also depends on other factors like power plant designed on imported coal and insufficient availability of coking coal of required grade, the govern-ment had said. PTI

Mahindras plan IPO or strategic sale in logistics arm in FY19

MUMBAI: The diversified Mahindra Group may either list or part sell its logistics arm next fiscal to a foreign partner, a top official has said.

“There are certain mile-stones which will be achieved in 2017-18 and in the next fis-cal, we will either come out with an IPO or do a strategic alliance which may involve partnership with an over-seas player,” Mahindra Logis-tics’ chief executive Pirojshaw Sarkari told PTI.

A transaction will also help private equity player Kedaara Capital with its exit plans, he added.

While not disclosing the amount, which can be raised through a stake sale or the share of ownership it is willing to sell to a foreign partner, he said the company is not willing to give up on its brand identity.

He said the company, which got incorporated as a separate entity in 2008 after eight years of working as an in-house department, will close FY 2016-17 with revenues of Rs 2,600 crore and a pre-tax profit of Rs 100 crore.

While the milestones on revenues and profits have been achieved, the one on composi-tion of the revenue is yet to be met, Sarkari said, adding the non-Mahindra group revenues need to constitute half of the pie before any transaction.

Last fiscal, 55 per cent of

the revenues came from the group and Sarkari exuded that its work across the logistics space as a third party player in the market will ensure the 50 per cent level is achieved in FY 2017-18 despite a growth it expects in the work done for Mahindras.

Sarkari said the Mahin-dra group operates in a federal way where company boards are given all the independence to chart their own course, and added that keeping the aim of listing or the strategic sale in mind, it decided to sell 23 per cent to private equity fund Kedaara Capital in 2014.

He said the deal was driven by the need to get the processes right and vision for the future, and not so much by the money which Kedaara invested.

Sarkari said the company follows an asset light model where it works with long term contracts with warehouse own-ers and truckers, which will

draw investor interest.He said bankers have

been approaching the com-pany repeatedly for a stake sale, and also after many epi-sodes of a rise in markets as being witnessed now. When told that many of the interna-tional majors, including DHL and UBS, are already present in the country, he said many others from Europe and China are waiting to enter the market.

Implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, the biggest indirect tax reform, later this fiscal will up their interest manifold, he said.

The company has been making significant investments in the technology space and has committed USD 2 million in the last four years alone, he said. It is adding another 1 mil-lion square feet of warehouse space to take the total to 8 mil-lion square feet, he said, adding that it works with 300 trucking partners. PTI

Jet Airways to review pilots’ pay hike freeze after Q1 resultsMUMBAI: Jet Airways has told pilots that the freeze on pay hikes would be reviewed after declaring the first quarter results and urged them to make “personal sacrifices” amid busi-ness headwinds.

Faced with financial chal-lenges and intense competition, the full service carrier recently decided to freeze the incre-ments for the staff in the cur-rent fiscal year -- which it had done in 2016-17 too.

Pilots have been having dif-ferences with the airline man-agement on certain issues, including those related to expat pilots. The carrier has around 1,500 pilots.

In a communication to the

pilots, Jet Airways said con-tinued efforts are being taken to improve the over-all per-formance, processes and trim costs. As a result, the opera-tions management team has been restructured and work force has been rationalised.

“This has begun to yield results and we need to sustain fully this momentum. To this, we need to make some personal sacrifices.

“We therefore, appeal to you, to share a part of the bur-den. As a result, we will take an

increment freeze for the pres-ent, which will be reviewed post declaration of the first quarter results of FY 2017-18,” the communication said.

In the interim, the airline said the international per diem layover and the international trainers allowances would continue.

The casual leave encash-ment for the 2016-17 financial year would be paid in June and July this year, respectively, in two equal instalments, it added.

Jet Airways, listed on the BSE and the NSE, is yet to inform the exchanges about the date of announcing the March quarter results.

In the three months ended

December 2016, the airline had reported a 70 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 142.38 crore as higher fuel expenses and other costs took a toll on the bottom line.

The full service carrier had a net profit of Rs 467.11 crore in the year-ago period.

In the 2016 December quarter, the group reduced its net debt by Rs 1,001 crore. “We are once again at a cross road where challenges require vari-ous decisions (including some unpleasant) to be made. This is to remain relevant in the pres-ent competitive environment,” the communication said. Next month, the airline would be completing 24 years. PTI

NTPC to become completely digital, paperless company

NEW DELHI: State-run power giant NTPC is going digital to become a paperless company in a few years with a view to improving its efficiency and saving on expensive office space. “In line with the ‘Digi-tal India’ initiative NTPC has started taking steps towards digitisation by implementa-tion of company-wide paper-less office to save on expensive office space and paper use,” a senior official said.

The initiative will cover all NTPC projects and offices and will be rolled out in phased manner, helping in opti-

mum utilisation of the avail-able space, easy retrieval of old records and promote clean office environment. The official said that digitising records and printed literature makes it easy to share documents electroni-cally and lowers the temptation to make photocopies.

The company has already introduced e-tender, invoice monitoring system, grievance management and digitised notice boards at all locations.

The digitisation process in legal, company secretar-iat and corporate communi-cation departments has been

started in the first phase com-prising more than 4 million documents. The NTPC house journal has been digitised and an App is being developed for internal communication.

The official said that NTPC is encouraging work envi-ronment in which the use of paper is eliminated or reduced by converting documents into digital form. “Going paperless can save money, boost produc-tivity, save space, make doc-umentation and information sharing easier more secure, and help save the environment,” the official added. PTI

Indian telcos’ revenue to reach $63 bn by 2026: Ericsson

NEW DELHI: The revenue of telecom operators in India is likely to reach $63 billion or over Rs 4 lakh crore from traditional services by 2026, a report from Swedish tele-com gear maker Ericsson said. Telecom operators also have potential to add another 20 per cent incremental revenue if they diversify their offerings for business segments by using 5G technology, it said. As per official data, the adjusted gross revenue (income from telecom services) of telecom operators was Rs 1,63,604.7 crore for the year ended December 31, 2016.

5G enabled digitisation

revenues in India will be $25.9 billion by 2026 and telecom operators can gain half of the total potential by expanding their offerings beyond tradi-tional business.

“The Indian operators can generate additional revenues of $13 billion or half off the stated potential if they take up roles beyond being connectiv-ity and infrastructure provid-ers to become service enablers and service creators. The largest opportunity will be seen in sec-tors like manufacturing, energy and utilities followed by public safety and health sectors,” the report said. PTI

RERA to boost demand, say realty firmsNEW DELHI: Developers expect housing demand to recover with the implementa-tion of the real estate law from May 1 as it will protect buy-ers from unscrupulous players, while prices will remain stable due to huge unsold inventory.

The two apex bodies of real estate developers -- CREDAI and NAREDCO -- feel that the implementation of this law will bring paradigm change in the way Indian real estate sector functions, but see some “teeth-ing” problems initially.

The two bodies wanted the government to exclude ongo-ing projects from the ambit of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, passed last year by Parliament, but their suggestions were not included in the law.

“Its a paradigm change in the real estate sector. It will pro-tect buyers who have purchased flats in the past. The regulator under the RERA should find ways to help complete ongo-ing projects and provide relief to home buyers,” NAREDCO Chairman Rajeev Talwar said told PTI.

CREDAI President Jaxay Shah said the RERA will increase transparency in the sector and boost confidence of both domestic and foreign investors.

He, however, said there will

be some “teething problems”, initially in implementation of this law.

Asked about the impact on prices, Shah said: “Supply will dip during this year but demand will improve as buyers will have increased confidence to invest in property market.”

Prices will remain stable now but rates could rise by 10 per cent in next six months, he added.

JLL Residential (JLLR) Chairman Anuj Puri said this law literally holds the key to the future growth of the Indian real estate as it has the potential bring transparency to clean up the sector.

He said the time has finally come for homebuyers in India to breathe free and invest con-fidently. “No more will unscru-pulous smaller builders or even larger organised developers be able to take buyers for a ride,”

he added.Asked about the impact

of this new law on supply-demand, Puri said the supply is expected to decline in the interim period, but demand will rise as home buyers and investors confidence will improve with implementation of this law.

“Prices will remain stable till unsold inventories are sold. This will take at least 9 months and thereafter we can see some upward movement,” he added.

JLL India CEO and Coun-try Head Ramesh Nair said the RERA definitely needs to be implemented in letter and spirit by all the states as this law aims to clear opacity in the Indian real estate sector and make it more buyer-friendly.

Anshuman Magazine, Chairman, India and South East Asia, CBRE, said, “In the long run, we feel that the estab-

lishment of a regulator will prove beneficial for the sec-tor. With investor confidence returning to the sector, result-

ing in greater institutional capi-tal inflows in the long term, we can expect to see the segment in revival mode.” PTI

KOLKATA: The lenders to housing promoters and builders are feeling unprotected under the new RERA (Real Estate Reg-ulation and Development Act, 2016), regime and seek clarity on safety of their loans.

Lenders who fund developers for real estate projects feel their role is not covered or lacks clarity in the new regulatory framework. They said only home buyers concerns had been addressed if buildets failed to deliver promises, sources said.

Bankers currently use the Securitisation and Reconstruc-tion of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act as their last resort to recover dues from the borrowers.

Bank sources indicated that they were in the process of representing before the regulator to flag their concerns and apprehensions.

Though, RERA is to be implemented from May 1, only eight states have enacted the new regulation. Sources said lenders of Maharashtra are taking a lead in this regard as the state has adopted RERA.

Realty companies felt unless lenders’ interests were not protected they would stall credit to the sector.

“Unless lenders’ interest is protected, it would be difficult for developers to obtain loans for projects,” Emami Infrastruc-ture s Director and CFO Girja Choudhary said.

Another problem is repayment terms of loan in new regime, said a real estate industry body official.

So far repayment is linked to money collected by build-ers. Financiers ask for a certain percentage of money collected from property buyers as project progresses.

“If we have to keep 70 per cent of collection in escrow account under RERA and bankers ask for 30 per cent for repayments, then what amount will be left with us, “CREDAI Bengal s President Nandu Belani asked. PTI

Lenders seeks clarity in RERA

Ola lost Rs 6 crore a day during 2015-16

NEW DELHI: SoftBank-backed cab aggregator Ola posted a consolidated loss of over Rs 2,311 crore, about Rs 6 crore a day, during 2015-16, on account of heavy advertis-ing and promotional expenses and high employee cost. The Bengaluru-based firm, which is locked in an intense battle for leadership with US-based Uber, has seen its losses widen about three times from Rs 796.11 crore in 2014-15, Ola said in a filing with the Minis-try of Corporate Affairs.

ANI Technologies -- which runs Ola -- did see its revenues registering a stellar growth at Rs 758.23 crore during 2015-16 compared to Rs 103.77 crore in the previous fiscal.

Emails sent to Ola remained unanswered.

Anchal Agarwal, co-founder of research and ana-lytics firm Tofler said while the absolute amount of losses have indeed widened, the loss mar-gin has “reduced considerably”.

“They spent almost Rs 8.5 for every rupee earned in 2014 -15. That number is down to almost Rs 4 for every rupee earned for 2015-16. With the pull-back in incentives etc in

recent months, it’s possible this has now dropped to levels at par with e-commerce compa-nies that spend roughly Rs 2-3 for every rupee earned,” she added.

The consolidated num-bers include financials of ANI Technologies, Ola Fleet Tech-nologies (leasing business), Serendipity Infolabs (Taxi For Sure) and Zipcash Card Service (46 per cent ownership).

In August 2016, Ola shut down the TaxiForSure (TFS) business, about 18 months after acquiring the rival for $200 million. As per the filing, Ola’s losses were widened on account of employee related expenses rising over five-fold to Rs 461.60 crore in the said fis-cal from Rs 85.16 crore in 2014- 15. Similarly, Ola expanded its advertising and promotional expenditure to over Rs 437.89 crore in 2015-16 from Rs 99.84 crore in the previous year.

Both Ola and Uber have loosened their purse strings to bring more riders and driver partners on board, offering them discounted rides and incentives, in a bid to wrest control of the lucrative Indian market. PTI

India among world’s fastest

growing chocolate markets: research LONDON: India is a nation of chocoholics and the coun-try has one of the world’s fast-est growing chocolate markets which posted a huge 13 per cent sales growth last year, according to a research.

The research conducted by London-based global market firm Mintel states that while the chocolate sales in other nations have stagnated, India con-sumed 228,000 tonnes worth of chocolate in 2016. Austra-lia and Indonesia consumed 95,000 and 94,000 tonnes worth of chocolate respectively in 2016.

India (13 per cent) and Poland (2 per cent) were the only two markets to see sales of chocolate grow last year.

The sales in the US, the UK, Germany and France were flat over this period, while sales fell in Russia (-2 per cent), Brazil (-6 per cent) and China (-6 per cent), it said.

“Volume sales in developed markets remained flat, while the picture was a bit brighter in emerging markets, like India, where sales generally fared better,” said Marcia Mogelon-sky, Director of Insight, Mintel Food and Drink. PTI

mp business 13MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Monday, 1 May, 2017

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: GAIL (India) Limited on Sun-day awarded contracts for pipeline laying works of the Kochi –Koottanad–Man-galuru pipeline for another 131 km section from Area-code (Malappuram) to Kurumathoor (Kannur) at a cost of approximately Rs 200 crore. The balance 111-km stretch in Malappuram, Kannur and Kasargod dis-tricts will be awarded by July 2017.

Construction works from both the ends of the Kochi– Koottanad–Man-galuru pipeline in the 91 km Kochi -Koottanad sec-tion as well as in the 105-km Perole (Kasargod)–Mang-aluru section are already in full swing. With today’s award of contracts, over 75 per cent of the Kochi–Koot-tanad– Mangaluru pipeline will be in the construction phase. GAIL has been able to make substantial prog-ress in acquisition of Right of User due to the contin-ued support of the state government, administra-tion, police and the public at large. The Kochi–Koot-tanad– Mangaluru pipe-line is likely to give a major economic boost to the state by way of environmentally benign industrial develop-ment. GAIL is targeting to complete the entire Kochi–Koottanad–Mangaluru Pipeline by December 2018.

Irdai asks LIC to trim stake in firms to 15% or below

MUMBAI: Regulator Irdai has asked the life insurance behe-moth LIC to prepare a road-map to pare its stake to 15 per cent in firms where it breaches this ceiling, but has stopped short of setting a time-frame for the same. As of end March, LIC owned more than 15 per cent in index majors like ITC (16.32 per cent) and L&T (16 per cent), both part of the Suuti (specified undertaking of the Unit Trust of India) stakes that government owns through LIC, and state- owned Corpo-ration Bank in which it owns 18.91 per cent.

"We have advised LIC to reduce its stake in those com-panies where it owns more than 15 per cent and submit a road-map for the same as the regu-latory norms restrict insurers to own over 15 per cent in any firm," a senior Irdai official told PTI requesting not to be named.

The official was quick to add that the regulator has not given any time-frame as yet for the same. Also, the official said this "advisory will not be appli-cable in case of Corporation Bank as LIC has taken a spe-cial permission from the gov-ernment for the same".

However, this advisory does not apply to LIC's hold-

ing in Corporation Bank as it had already taken a special per-mission from the government to increase its stake last year.

LIC also owns around 15 per cent in Axis Bank (14.49 per cent, again part of the Suuti holdings), Uco Bank (14.5 per cent), and IDBI Bank (13.87 per cent) as of end March.

Earlier this year, when the government divested 2 per cent in ITC which was held through Suuti, LIC picked up this 2 per cent through a block deal for Rs 6,690 crore, thus increasing

its holdings to 16.32 per cent.The advisory comes amidst

the ongoing PIL in the Bom-bay High Court against LIC's stake in the tobacco major by a clutch of individuals includ-ing the managing trustee of the Tata Trusts in his individual capacity.

The High Court had on Thursday last sent notices to ministries of finance, agricul-ture and industry, as also the markets regulator Sebi and LIC making them party to the pub-lic interest litigation (PIL), that

seeks some direction against the government and LIC and other insurance holding shares in the cigarette maker.

The court directed insur-ance companies, regula-tor Irdai, and other parties to file their responses within six weeks. The government, through five state-run insur-ance firms and through Suuti, owns a 32 per cent stake in ITC. Its holding in the firm is worth Rs 1.07 lakh crore, of which Rs 76,505 crore is held by the state-run insurers.

The petition was filed by Tata Trusts' R Venkataram-anan, Sumitra Pednekar whose husband Satish Pednekar who a former minister in Maharash-tra, died of throat cancer; Pan-kaj Chaturvedi, head and neck cancer specialist at Tata Memo-rial Hospital; Abhay Bang; Ash-ish Deshmukh, an MLA in Maharashtra; Prakash Gupta and Lakshman Sethuraman, who heads cancer infrastruc-ture projects at Tata Trusts.

The petition argues that it doesn't make sense for govern-ment to directly or indirectly hold stake in ITC or for that matter other tobacco firms. PTI

As of end March, LIC owned more than 15% in index majors like ITC (16.32%) and L&T (16%), both part of the Suuti stakes that government owns through LIC, and state- owned Corporation Bank in which it owns 18.91%

Govt not to give priority to local suppliers for difficult oil fields

NEW DELHI: The govern-ment policy of state-owned oil firms giving preference to local firms for procuring goods and services will not apply to ten-ders for difficult oil and gas fields like those in deep sea.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had earlier this month approved a five-year policy to give pref-erence to goods and service providers who meet the local content targets and whose quoted price is within 10 per cent of the lowest valid price bid.

"The policy is not applicable for deep water/ high- pressure, high-temperature (HP-HT) operations for the time being," the policy notified by the oil ministry on April 25 said.

It provides for PSUs and their wholly-owned subsidiar-ies, joint ventures that have 51 per cent or more equity by one or more public sector enter-prises, giving preference in award of a tender for supply of goods or service to a local company provided it matches the lowest price bid.

Also, the local company's bid should not be in more than 10 per cent variance of the low-est price bid.

The new policy is expected to encourage suppliers and ser-vice providers to progressively adopt 'Make in India' prac-tices and add value to their

goods and services within the country. The policy provides for PSUs taking penal action like blacklisting or imposing financial fines on companies that violate the local content provision.

"The manufacturers/ ser-vice providers having the capa-bility of meeting/ exceeding the local content targets shall be eligible for 10 per cent purchase preference under the policy," the notification said adding preference can be given to such companies provided the quoted price is within 10 per cent of the lowest price.

A tender for procuring goods would specify that the contract for 50 per cent of the procured quantity would be awarded to the lowest techno-commercially qualified local content manufacturer/supplier. The remaining will be awarded to the lowest bidder.

The policy provides for a

different levels of local content sourcing for different activities.

For upstream oil and gas production this ranges from 5 per cent (for fuel oil and lubri-cant sourcing) to 75 per cent for onshore logistics. The policy provides for level of local con-tent to progressively increase till 2020-2022.

For midstream sector like pipelines and downstream activities like refining and retailing, the policy provides for giving preference to com-panies that can source 20 per cent of any service or supply contract locally. For EPC con-tracts this limit is 30 per cent.

"This policy shall not include goods/ services fall-ing under micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) or domestically manufactured electronic products (DMEP) as those products/ services are already covered under specific policy," the notification said. PTI

'India to see $35-40 bn worth impact investments by 2025'

NEW DELHI: India is pro-jected to see impact invest-ments worth up to $40 billion by 2025 as the country is in a "sweet spot" with high potential to deliver solutions for various problems, according to global grouping GIIN.

Based in New York, the Global Impact Investing Net-work (GIIN) is a not-for-profit group that works to promote impact investments and has around 230 members.

Generally, impact invest-ments refer to those made with the aim of having a social and environmental impact along with the investors getting financial returns.

GIIN's Advisor for South Asia, Anil Sinha said, there has been tremendous develop-ment in India around impact investing activities in the last five years and the country is in a sweet spot.

"In India, about $4 bil-lion has been invested as part of impact investments in about five years. On an aver-age annual basis, it is around $1 billion," Sinha told in an interview.

India is a place where pov-erty is high but the potential to deliver solutions is also very high, Sinha said, adding the country can be a global inno-vation hub for models that can address issues at the base of the pyramid. "We hope there will be 25 per cent annual growth rate as it (impact investments) grow and it might grow from $4 billion to $35-40 billion in India by 2025," he said.

At current exchange rates, it translates to a range between Rs 2,24,000 and Rs 2,56,000 crore.

Globally, total assets under management by impact inves-tors is estimated to be about $70 billion, according to Sinha.

The financial returns on impact investments is esti-mated to be around 10 per cent annually. Sinha, a private sector finance specialist who has served in various roles at the International Finance Cor-poration (IFC), said impact investments are evolving and their global growth rate is around 25 per cent.

He noted that financial inclusion and energy have been dominant areas in the $4 bil-lion impact investment port-folio in India.

GIIN, as a promoter of impact investing activities, is looking to attract more Indian companies to be impact investors.

"We are certainly playing a role in defining the role of impact investing and social enterprises. We need to have our own definition of social enterprises," Sinha said. PTI

Sahara extends bid deadline to May 20 NEW DELHI: The embattled Sahara group has extended the bidding dead-line for sale of its 30 properties till May 20 as prospective buyers, which include Tatas, Godrej and Adani, have sought more time to complete due diligence.

Top consultant Knight Frank is auc-tioning the properties, estimated to be worth about Rs 7,400 crore for Sahara, which was asked by the Supreme Court to sell the assets.

Sources said the land parcels and other assets have generated huge inter-est among the prospective buyers, which also include Patanjali group, several real estate developers including Omaxe and Eldeco, as also HNIs and even a PSU.

Besides, Chennai-based Apollo Hospital has shown interest in acquir-ing Sahara Hospital in Lucknow.

While more than 250 expressions of interest (EOIs) were received by Knight Frank India, sources said the interested parties have sought more time to com-plete due diligence and other formalities before submission of final bids which necessitated the extension of deadline.

When contacted, a Sahara spokes-person confirmed that the deadline has been extended.

"In view of the demand from

prospective buyers for extra time to complete the due diligence, we have extended the timelines to May 20, 2017," the spokesperson said in reply to a PTI query.

There has been apprehensions that the valuation could get impacted due to a hurry in getting the deals closed within a short time because of an urgency on part of Saharas to get the money and deposit the same with regulator Sebi as per the Supreme Court's directions.

"The advertisement got an over-whelming response. Over 250 EOIs have been received. EOIs have been received for all sites with majority of sites having multiple EOIs," Knight

Frank India had earlier said."The process is an intense one that

constitutes due diligence, site inspec-tions, financial bids and shall culminate on finalisation of successful bidder," it added.

On February 28, the Supreme Court had allowed Sahara to sell certain prop-erties after market regulator Sebi found it difficult to auction them even with the help of specialised agencies.

Sahara sought six months' time for the sale, but the court had asked them to complete the process in six weeks for properties worth about Rs 5,092 crore.

Sahara subsequently appointed Knight Frank for carrying out the sale process and advertisements were issued in newspapers twice to invite prospec-tive buyers.

Knight Frank was asked to complete the sale by April 13 to meet the Supreme Court deadline, but it was found to be difficult because of the time demanded by the prospective buyers for going through various stages of such high value transactions to ensure optimal value realisation.

The 30 advertised properties are located across India including Delhi, Pune, Indore, Lucknow, Coimbatore,

Chandigarh, Bhopal, Guna, Kolkata, Haridwar, Aligarh, Bareilly, Dewas, Faridabad, Guwahati, Gwalior, Jhansi, Kanpur, Kurukshetra, Noida/Greater Noida, Patna and Porbandar.

Sahara lawyer Gautam Awasthy had earlier said the group has depos-ited around Rs 12,000 crore in last four years, which comes to an average of Rs 250 crore per month deposited to the Sebi-Sahara account. The interest component takes the deposited amount close to Rs 15,000 crore.

This account was created for the money Sahara group was asked to deposit with the regulator for further refund to the bondholders from which the group had raised money, though the conglomerate claims to have already refunded more than 93 per cent money directly to the investors.

Last week, Sahara Chief Subrata Roy appeared before the Supreme Court which extended his parole till June 19 with a warning that failure to pay Rs 1,500 crore, as promised, may again land him in jail.

A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra also asked Roy, "Do you intend to pay the money?" The Sahara Chief had replied, "I am trying my best". PTI

Bharatmala to hit ground; 20K km roads in 1st phase: Gadkari

NEW DELHI: An umbrella programme for roads - Bharat-mala - will hit the ground soon ending all existing highway projects, including the flagship NHDP, in six months, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said today. The ambitious highways development project subsum-ing all road projects in the first phase will see the construction of 20,000 km of highways.

"National Highways Devel-opment Project (NHDP) and all existing schemes will be finished in the coming six months. We will launch Bharat-mala very soon," Gadkari, the Road Transport and Highways Minister, said in an interview.

Detailed project reports (DPRs) are in the process of preparation and the first phase of the Bharatmala project will see construction of 20,000 km of highways, he said.

Bharatmala is a mega plan of the government and the sec-ond-largest highways project after the NHDP that saw devel-opment of about 50,000 km.

NHDP, being implemented in various phases was initiated by former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and includes Golden Quadrilateral connect-ing four metropolises besides North-South Corridor con-necting Srinagar to Kanyaku-mari and East-West Corridor joining Porbandar to Silchar.

About 10,000 km of proj-ects under NHDP are yet to be completed. "We will under-take massive road construction under the Bharatmala and lay a network of roads in border areas. We will connect all dis-trict headquarters with roads,"

Gadkari said.Special emphasis will be

given on providing connec-tivity to far-flung rural areas including the tribal and back-ward areas, he added.

The Prime Minister's Office, earlier this month, after going through a presentation of the Bharatmala project has asked for Public Investment Board's (PIB) clearance to the first phase of the project, a govern-ment official said.

The total investment envis-aged under Bharatmala was pegged at Rs 10 lakh crore, he added. The first phase will see construction of about 20,000 km of highways network that includes economic corridor schemes, coastal and other roads. After viewing the pre-sentation by the Road Trans-port and Highways Ministry, the PMO was of the view that a note should be floated for PIB approval, the official said.

PIB, chaired by the expen-diture secretary, comprises secretaries of economic affairs, the Niti Aayog, statistics and programme implementation, environment and forests as members, besides the secre-tary of the administrative min-istry concerned. PTI

GAIL awards pipeline laying work contracts for another 131

km in Kerala

Soon, Aadhaar to be compulsory for filings under Cos Act

NEW DELHI: The govern-ment will soon make quoting of Aadhaar number compulsory for key managerial personnel and directors in regulatory fil-ings under the Companies Act.

The move, primarily aimed at tackling the issue of bogus identities, comes at a time when authorities are bolster-ing measures to deal with the menace of shell companies, suspected to be used for laun-dering illicit funds.

Moving towards implemen-tation of the Aadhaar require-ment under the companies law, the Corporate Affairs Ministry has already asked individual stakeholders to obtain Aadhaar at the earliest for "integrating

their details with MCA21".MCA21 is the portal

through which filings required under the Companies Act are submitted to the Ministry.

A source said the Minis-try has started work for imple-menting a framework to make quoting of Aadhaar compul-sory in the filings made under the companies law.

"We will roll it out pretty fast. It will be done in a phased manner," the source said.

The idea is to have a sys-tem in place which would help in identifying the stakeholders whose name come up in the filings made through MCA21.

The move also assumes sig-nificance against the backdrop

of instances where authori-ties have found discrepancies in personal details provided by individuals in the regula-tory filings. According to the source, having Aadhaar num-ber along with the filings would help ascertain the authenticity of the individuals.

With respect to foreign entities, a separate system would be worked out by the Ministry. There are more than 16 lakh registered companies.

While asking individual stakeholders to obtain Aadhaar at the earliest, the Ministry had emphasised that information in Aadhaar should be in harmony with PAN (Permanent Account Number). PTI

Shobana Kamineni assumes charge as CII President

NEW DELHI: Shobana Kamineni, Executive Vice-Chairperson of Apollo Hos-pitals Enterprise, has assumed office as the president of indus-try body CII.

She has taken over from Naushad Forbes, Co-Chair-man, Forbes Marshall Lim-ited, the industry body said in a statement.

Kamineni is also vice-chair-person of the KEI Group, a diversified logistics, leisure & infrastructure company.

She holds a Bachelor s degree in Economics from Stella Maris College, Chennai and an accelerated Diploma in Hospital Administration from Columbia University, New York.

The statement further said

Kotak Mahindra Bank Lim-ited Executive Vice-Chairman Uday Kotak is the new Vice-President of CII.

Kotak holds a Bachelor s degree in Commerce and an MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Insti-tute of Management Studies, Mumbai.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on today announced new office-bearers for the year 2017-18. PTI

Telecom subscriber base grows to 1.18 bn in Feb: Trai

NEW DELHI: India's telecom subscriber base, mobile and landline combined, touched the 1.18 billion mark at the end of February 2017, growing 1.17 per cent over the previous month, according to regula-tor Trai.

The market growth was propelled by the addi-tion of 13.75 million mobile users during the month. The demand for once- popu-lar landline phone has been dwindling as the cheap mobile handsets, coupled with falling tariffs and freebies, have led to an explosion in cellphone connectivity.

Over the past few months, operators including newcomer Reliance Jio and incumbents like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone have been doling out attrac-

tive offers and unleashing high- decibel marketing campaign to woo customers.

"The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,174.80 million at the end of January 2017 to 1,188.5 million at the end of Febru-ary 2017, showing a monthly growth rate of 1.17 per cent," as per the data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

The urban connectivity went up to 692.15 million in February-end, from 681.15 million in January-end, a growth of over 1.6 per cent.

The pace of growth of rural connectivity was slower at 0.56 per cent. Rural telecom users increased to 496.39 million from 493.65 million during the same period. PTI

Nestle looks to bring some global brands to India

MUMBAI: Nestle India is exploring ways to bring some products from its 2,000 global brands to the country and also reduce dependency on a single brand, a top company official has said.

"We have 2,000 brands globally and we will be explor-ing ways to bring some of them to this market," Nestle India Chairman and Manag-ing Director Suresh Narayanan said in the company's annual report.

"We are also looking at reducing the dependency on a single brand by ensuring all categories contribute to the overall growth," Narayanan said.

With emphasis on inno-vation and renovation backed

by research and development, last year, the focus was on re- energising the existing brands, launching new brands and get-ting into new categories.

The strong and unrelenting efforts across all parts of the organisation led to an unprec-edented over 30 new products and variant launches across almost all categories in a short span of time, Narayanan said.

In the coming years, Nestle hopes to be part of the con-sumer journey through life, by enhancing the nutrition cre-

dentials of its many brands, fortifying those that are rele-vant and addressing in a small yet significant way the health issues facing the society, he added.

Narayanan said 2016 was challenging, at the same time exciting one, but was also sat-isfactory. Nestle is a large and respected food and beverages company globally and is very proud of the over 100 years of heritage in this country.

"The year 2016 will always remain a very important in our history as we bounced back to business after the Maggi noo-dles incident. But the trust in our brand Maggi noodles enabled us to quickly regain leadership position with 60 per cent market share," he said. PTI

mp sport14MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Monday, 1 May, 2017

SAURAV GHOSAL LOSES ASIAN SQUASH FINALCHENNAI: Saurav Ghosal went down fighting in the finals against top-seed Max Lee of Hong Kong, ranked 17 in the world, to finish runners-up at the Asian Squash championship. Ghosal faded after a bright start, which saw him win the open-ing game, dropping just five points, to go down 11-5, 4- 11, 8-11, 7-11 in 61 minutes. The Indian, was quickly off the blocks and hit some delectable shots to take the opening game.

SRI LANKA HIRE ALLAN DONALD AS BOWLING COACHCOLOMBO: Sri Lanka Cricket on Sunday announced they had hired former South African paceman Allan Donald as temporary bowling coach ahead of the Champions Trophy in England. The 50-year-old will join as “consultant fast bowling coach” for two months in the run-up to the tournament starting on June 1, the Sri Lankan board said.

I ALWAYS HAVE DEATH BOWLING SESSION AT NETS, SAYS JASPRIT BUMRAHRAJKOT: Arguably one of the best death overs bowlers in the world, Mumbai Indians seamer Jasprit Bumrah says his success is a result of consistently practicing this aspect of bowling in the nets. Bumrah produced one of the finest death overs in the his-tory of IPL as MI nearly committed harakiri before edging out Gujarat Lions in a thrilling Super Over finish on Saturday.

Warner’s ton powers Sunrisers to 209/3 against Knight Riders

HYDERABAD: Swashbuck-ling opener David Warner butchered the Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers with a whirl-wind century to power Sunris-ers Hyderabad to an imposing 209-3 in their IPL encounter here on Sunday.

Skipper Warner led from the front as he blasted 10 fours and 8 sixes in his 59-ball 126-run innings to single-hand-edly destroy the famed bowling attack of KKR after captain Gautam Gambhir had decided to bowl after winning the toss.

Warner and Shikhar Dha-wan (29), who had forged a 107-run opening partner-ship in their last match against KXIP, produced yet another scintillating 139-run opening partnership in 76 balls to set up the foundation.

Once they were back into the hut, Kane Williamson (40) used the long handle to good use, blasting five fours in his 25-ball innings and alongwith Yuvraj Singh (6 not out) took Sunrisers across the 200-mark.

This is the highest total in this season and also the third time that Sunrisers have scored a 200-plus total. They had scored 207-3 against Kings XI Punjab in their last match,

besides scoring 207-4 against RCB early in the season.

For KKR, who are sitting

pretty at the top of the table, none of the bowlers could make any impression as they were taken to the cleaners by Warner.

Opening the innings along-with Dhawan, Warner put KKR

bowlers to the sword as the duo amassed 79-0 in the Power-play overs. Warner made his

intention clear from the start by dealing in boundaries. He picked up Chris Woakes for special treatment in the 3rd over when he blasted him for a four and a couple of sixes to amass 17 runs.

Yusuf Pathan then came in his firing line as he smashed two fours and a six to once

again pile on 17 runs and bring up the team fifty in just 23 balls.

The Australian then switch-hit Sunil Narine over short third man to score his 50 in 20 balls. He then punching him through cover for a four.

He continued his rampage and brought up the team 100 in the ninth over by hammer-ing Nathan Coulter-Nile for a maximum over midwicket in the fourth ball.

Kuldeep Yadav then bled 18 runs as Warner clobbered one boundary and two sixes in the 10th over. In the 11th over, Warner picked up a cou-ple of runs by sending Umesh Yadav to the deep midwicket area to score the third century of this season. The Australian savoured the moment by tak-ing off his helmet and soaking in the environment. He took just 43 balls for his hundred.

In the 13th over, Dhawan (29), who was playing the sec-ond fiddle, was run out as KKR finally broke the opening partnership.

Warner’s sensational innings came to an end in the 17th over when once again looking for a six off Woakes he was holed out by Gambhir.Brief scores:Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kol-kata Knight RidersSRH: 209/3 (David Warner 126, Kane Williamson 40).KKR: Woakes (1/46). AGENCIES

Delhi decimated: Kings chase down paltry target of 67

MOHALI: A lacklustre Delhi Daredevils suffered an embar-rassing 10-wicket defeat fol-lowing a pathetic batting show during which they were shot out for just 67 runs by Kings XI Punjab, here on Sunday.

After bowling out Daredev-ils in 17.1 overs for the second lowest score in this edition of IPL, the hosts knocked off the runs in 7.5 overs with Martin Guptill smashing 50 off 27 balls.

Guptill’s seven fours and two sixes meant that Kings XI Pun-jab just manage to keep their Play-offs hopes alive with eight points from nine games.

Daredevils slumped to their sixth defeat in eight games and are languishing at the bottom of the eight-team table. After RCB, Daredevils are another team that is looking distinctly out-of-depth which was evident in their performance where the players simply looked disinter-ested. The match as a contest was over in the first 10 overs during which Daredevils were reduced to 33 for six. Most dis-appointing aspect was complete lack of gumption to fight it out.

Kings XI Punjab’s chase was a walk in the park with Gup-till making a mincemeat of the bowling. With no pressure of a target, he used the Powerplay overs well. Mohammed Shami looked rusty after finally getting to play another match.

It’s not only the players but even team management includ-ing chief coach Rahul Dravid would have to answer a few tough questions pertaining to planning.

Every year, some team or the other loses out on key players but Daredevils from the start looked like a team that was only adding up the numbers. The two victories achieved were partly

due to some good late-order hitting.

Lacking quality in batting department with confidence hitting the lowest ebb, Dare-devils looked like a rudderless ship with none of the batsmen getting past 20-run mark.

The highest individual score was 18 from Corey Anderson.

This was the second lowest score in this year’s IPL after 49 by Royal Challengers Bangalore. Daredevils batting show is even more disappointing considering their coach is Rahul Dravid -- one of the finest batsman to have graced the cricket field. Injured Zaheer Khan did not play today and in an inexplicable decision, the team management named Karun Nair the skipper. Nair has been out of form since his triple hundred in Test cricket and did nothing to inspire the confidence of his colleagues.

Sam Billings nicked one behind off Sandeep Sharma (4/20), who had his first good day in office after having a ter-rible tournament so far.

The distinct lack of posi-tive intent was evident among the batsmen. The two-paced track also made matters worse as Sanju Samson closed his bat face to a delivery from Sandeep that stopped on him. Shreyas Iyer (6) also committed early to a delivery and Sandeep took a good return catch diving to his left. Out of sorts Karun was played on going for a cover drive. Rishabh Pant (3) got a straighter from Glenn Maxwell that caught him partially com-mitted on frontfoot.Brief scores:Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils:DD: 67 (Corey Anderson 18).KXIP: 68/0 (Martin Guptill 50, Sandeep Sharma 4/20). AGENCIES

‘Karun’s form can’t be

reflection of his captaincy’

MOHALI: Delhi Daredev-ils chief coach Rahul Dravid defended the team manage-ment’s decision to appoint Karun Nair as stand-in cap-tain when the Karnataka bats-man himself is going through a wretched form in this edition of Indian Premier League.

Daredevils lost their sixth game of the tournament and the batting was a disaster get-ting all-out for 67. Nair himself is having a nightmare of an IPL scoring 89 in 8 matches so far.

Asked how Nair was appointed in place of injured aheer Khan, the former India captain said that his form had nothing to do with his captaincy.

“We decided pretty early on in the tournament that if Zaheer Khan gets injured, Karun would be the person, who will take over the cap-taincy. Obviously, last year’s vice-captain JP (Duminy) and Quinton de Kock wasn’t here as well,” Dravid reasoned.

He defended appointment of an out-of-form player.

“Look, it happens when you are out-of-form, whether you are a captain or you are a vice captain, that’s not a reflection on his captaincy. He has led junior teams and led quite well. There is nothing much he can do if there are not good enough runs on the board. Obviously, he and we would like him to score a few more runs,” he said.

He had no option but to admit that Daredevils have gone off-track.

“It is very disappoint-ing, just to think there is not much to say when you get out for 67 and they chase it without loss. Nothing much to say except the fact that we were pretty disappointing today (Sunday) in our execu-tion and our batting just was not up to mark.” He tried to put up a brave face that Daredev-ils will make a comeback but it seemed far from convincing.

“We can only go up from here. Look, we are better than what we showed today (Sun-day),” he said.

Dravid said there have been times when they played some pretty good cricket.“We lost some close games which were relatively close. But the last couple of times, I think, we did not play well,” he said. AGENCIES

IPL Preview: Listless RCB face strong MIMUMBAI: All but out of con-tention for the playoffs, Royal Challengers Bangalore would look to salvage a difficult sea-son by sorting out their bat-ting woes when they take on Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League match here on Monday.

Mumbai are on the second spot in the IPL standings with 14 points, while Bangalore are second from bottom after hav-ing won just two of their 10 games.

Mumbai Indians have won seven of their nine games so far and are in contention to make it to the play-offs.

When the two sides meet at the Wankhede stadium, the hosts will have a distinct upper-hand as they have just lost one game at the venue.

The form of opener Parthiv Patel, who scored a 70 against Gujarat Lions, will please the

Mumbai Indians management.Parthiv will like to continue

from where he left in the last game and he, along with Eng-lishman Jos Buttler, would like to give the team a flying start.

Mumbai won their match against Gujarat Lions in a super over after both the teams were

tied at 153, and they would like to dominate Royal Challeng-ers Bangalore right from the word go.

They would except their batters Patel, Buttler, skipper Rohit Sharma, Nitesh Rana and the Pandya brothers -- Krunal and Hardik -- to fire in unison.

Mumbai will also like to get back to winning ways at the Wankhede as they lost their last match against Rising Pune Supergiant.

As far as their bowl-ing is concerned, the come-back of Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga, who picked up two wickets last night, will please coach Shane Bond. The big-gest positive for Mumbai has been their death overs bowl-ing, courtesy Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya. Krunal and seasoned off spinner Harbhajan Singh have been effective and the team man-agement would like all these bowlers to restrict the RCB batting line-up. Skipper Virat Kohli’s half-cen-tury in the previous match against Rising Pune Super-giant was the only bright spot of their performance on Saturday night. AGENCIES

India must take part in Champions

Trophy: GuhaNEW DELHI: Ramachandra Guha, part of the four-mem-ber Committee of Adminis-trators (COA), appointed by the Supreme Court to super-vise the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Sunday tweeted in his per-sonal capacity that India must take part in the ICC Champi-ons Trophy.

“Speaking in my personal capacity, as a cricket fan, I believe the Indian cricket team absolutely must take part in the Champions Trophy,” read Guha’s tweet. “Boycot-ting or threatening to boycott a prestigious international tournament does not become a great cricketing nation,” he further said. The BCCI is yet to name the Champions Tro-phy squad and the deadline of April 25 has passed. The BCCI has called for an SGM on May 7 to decide its response after the loss of face in the Dubai meetings where every other full member Board backed the revamped revenue plan. BCCI has not accepted ICC’s $400 million offer with their acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary saying it is not “anywhere even close” to the Indian board’s contribution to global cricket revenues.

Choudhary said the Indian market contributed 70 per-cent of the global cricket revenue and that it was nat-ural for India to get the lion’s share. AGENCIES

YOUR NEW I-LEAGUE CHAMPIONS, AIZAWL FCSHILLONG: In one of the big-gest achievements in Indian football history, unheralded Aizawl FC on Sunday lifted the I-League crown after they held Shillong Lajong 1-1 in a tense match here.

Lajong went ahead in the ninth minute through A Dipanda but Aizawl equalised in the 67th minute through W Lalnunfela as the two sides split points in a highly-anticipated match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Despite Mohun Bagan defeating Chennai City FC 2-1 in a simultaneous match in Kolkata, Aizawl ran away with the title to script a fairytale story.

Aizawl ended the league on 37 points while Mohun Bagan finished second on 36. They have won the I-League title in their second season, becoming the first club from the North-

east to bag the title.It was, in fact, the Leicester

moment for the Aizawl side as their fortunes turned around in just a matter of a year after they were on the verge of relegation from the I-League last season.

Aizawl would not have at all played in the I-League this sea-son as they finished eighth last year but after a few Goan sides pulled out of the country’s top-flight league, they got a lifeline to stay afloat.

Their feat is comparable to the unheralded English Pre-mier League side Leicester which won the title in 2015-16 season after they were on the verge of relegation the previ-ous year.

A club whose budget is just around Rs 2 crore (Mohun Bagan spend the same amount in buying Sony Norde), it’s an achievement of enormous proportion.

The match, the North-east derby, was though not without controversy as Aizawl played under protest after finding out that the title-deciding game would be conducted by offi-cials from Bengal.

Aizawl protested because Kolkata side Mohun Bagan were also in title conten-

tion and playing a simultane-ous match. The Northeastern club said that they have earlier requested the AIFF to appoint neutral match officials from other states.

In the other match, ten-man Mohun Bagan brilliantly bounced back through a Dar-ryl Duffy goal to down Chen-

nai City FC 2-1 but the result was not enough as they had to settle for a runners-up finish for the second successive time in I-League football here today.

Aizawl drew in Shillong in a dramatic second-half goal to pip Mohun Bagan to second spot with a slender one point difference in the lip-smacking

twin Sunday showdowns.The clash lived up to the

expectation as there was high drama starting with the news that Aizawl conceded a ninth minute goal to leave the Rabi-ndra Sarobar home crowd in a frenzy mode.

But in the 32nd minute, Mohun Bagan’s U-22 recruit Nanda Kumar silenced the crowd when he darted the ball and scored with a gentle push, showing immaculate presence of mind. What followed was some missed opportunities with Balwant at the receiving end, but Mohun Bagan finally scored the equaliser in the 45+2 minute through captain Kat-sumi Yusa. The unlucky Bal-want got this time right to set Katsumi up. The ball was in the air as Balwant, with his back to the goal, chested it down to Katsumi who put it past Karan-jit Singh. AGENCIES

RPS look to maintain momentum against

Gujarat Lions

PUNE: Steadily gaining momentum after struggling initially, Rising Pune Supergi-ant would look to maintain the rhythm when they clash with a low-on-confidence Gujarat Lions in an Indian Premier League match here on Monday.

After languishing in the bottom-half of the table, Super-giant notched up four wins in their last five matches to grab the fourth place.

Currently on 10 points from nine games with five wins in their kitty, a win on Mon-day would ensure that the RPS stay in top-four and strengthen their chances of making the play-offs in the 10th edition of the IPL.

In contrast, the Lions are at fifth with eight points from nine games and need to win rest of their matches to keep the chances of booking a play-

off berth alive.The Supergiant would draw

confidence from their compre-hensive 61-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore here last night. Pune bowlers rose to the occasion, defending a sub-par total of 157 with a con-trolled bowling performance as they rode on brilliant perfor-mances by Imran Tahir (3/18) and man- of-the-match Lockie Ferguson (2/7). Even Jaydev Unadkat, Daniel Christian and Washington Sundar chipped in with a wicket apiece.

However, the batsmen struggled to up the ante although the pitch was reason-ably good and put on a total of just over 155 runs despite los-ing only three wickets.

Skipper Steve Smith would be keen to address the issue of inconsistent batting when they face the Lions. AGENCIES

Andrew Tye ruled out of IPL with dislocated shoulderRAJKOT: Gujarat Lions all-rounder Andrew tye has been ruled out for the remainder of the Indian Premier League with a dislocated shoulder. Tye sustained the injury on Saturday night when he dived to stop a boundary at deep square leg during their IPL match against Mumbai Indians. “Tye, who claimed a hattrick and a five-wicket haul on his IPL debut, for Gujarat Lions this year, dislocated his left shoulder while fielding at the boundary during the match against Mumbai Indians on Saturday. He was rushed to the hospital,” an official release said. Tye, who had taken 12 wickets in six IPL matches, said: “The shoulder popped out of the socket and remained out for a while. They put it back in at the hospital. The extent of the damage is still unknown. I will be flying home in the next couple of days to figure that out.” “And as for the recovery time, I am not too sure at the moment, but hopefully it’s not too long.” While gutted that his dream run in the IPL has been cut short by the unfortunate injury, Tye expressed his gratitude to the team for giving him the opportunity to showcase his skills. “Unfortunately this is the end of the tournament for me. As heartbreaking as it is, I have enjoyed my time here. The people at Gujarat Lions have looked after me well. The fans have been unbelievable,” he said. “The message of support and good wishes I have got from everyone have been overwhelming. All I can say is, thanks to the fans and the franchise for giving me this opportunity and hopefully I will be back in the IPL next year.” Expressing dismay at the loss, a Gujarat Lions spokesperson said: “Losing a match-winner like Andrew Tye is a huge blow to the team, expecially at such a crucial juncture in the tournament. “We, at Gujarat Lions, wish him a speedy recovery”, the release added. After waiting on the fringes for 34 matches, the Australian all rounder returned with best bowling figures of 5-17, including a hattrick, in his first IPl game, against RPS. AGENCIES

IPL TURNS 10: MATCH PREVIEW

All but out of contention for the playoffs, RCB would look to salvage a difficult season by sorting out their batting woes

Pune will be looking at Imran Tahir who took 3 against RCB on Saturday, virtually knocking the Virat Kohli-led Bangalore out PIC/PTI

Kings XI Punjab player Sandeep Sharma celebrating with his teammates after taking the wicket of Delhi’s Sanju Samson PIC/PTI

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner celebrates his century during their IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Hyderabad on Sunday PIC/PTI

mp sport 15MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata |Monday, 1 May, 2017

Bayern Munich seal record fifth straight Bundesliga titleBayern Munich sealed the

Bundesliga title for the fifth consecutive season after thrashing Wolfsburg 6-0 at the Volkswagen Arena here.

Bayern’s win on Saturday opened up an unassailable 10-point lead over Leipzig at the top of the table with only three matches left, reports Efe.

After last week’s disappoint-ment of elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid and los-ing to Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup semifinal, Bayern had only the Bundesliga title left to play for this season.

Two goals from Robert Lewandowski and one each from Arjen Robben, David Alaba, Thomas Mueller and Joshua Kimmich led the Bavar-ian club to a comprehensive victory over Wolfsburg.

Kimmich, who has endured a frustrating season due to a relative lack of opportuni-ties, showed his qualities at the base of Munich’s midfield ahead of the retiring Xabi Alonso, scoring the last goal of the evening.

Mueller, who this term has disappointed by his own usual high standards, also got on the

score sheet, as well as provid-ing two assists, and winning

the foul from which Alaba con-verted a free-kick to open the

scoring.Captain Philipp Lahm,

who will retire at the end of the season along with Xabi Alonso, received a stand-ing ovation from the home crowd as he left the field, dem-onstrating the World Cup winning captain’s enduring popularity across German foot-ball’s club divides.

The game marked a poten-

tial turning point for the Bavarian giants as two of their stalwarts of recent seasons in Lahm and Alonso hang their boots up at the end of the campaign.

Earlier on Saturday, sec-ond-placed RB Leipzig played out a goalless draw against Ingolstadt. AGENCIES

‘Harmanpreet can be the

best PC flicker in the world’

IPOH: Coach Roelant Oltmans says India’s penalty corner shooter Harmanpreet Singh has the ability to become the best drag-flicker in the world.

Praising Harmanpreet, who scored two goals in Sunday s 3-0 victory over New Zealand in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, Oltmans said the young pen-alty corner justified the faith reposed in him.

Harmanpreet was allowed to take most of the penalty cor-ners despite the presence of the dependable Rupinderpal Singh in the team.

“Harmanpreet is a fantastic drag-flicker he proved it with two fantastic goals. If he con-tinues to play this way, he can become the number one drag flicker in the world in a couple of years,” said Oltmans

“I see his tremendous potential in the team s training sessions. He needs to be given the opportunity and exposure to improve,” the coach said.

Harmanpreet came into goal-scoring action today after striker Mandeep Singh had deflected a bouncing shot from Chinglensana Singh into the New Zealand goal in the 23rd minute.

Harmanpreet’s two pen-alty corner conversions came in the 27th and 47th minutes with varied shots. The first one was a grounder that went into the boards and the second a rasping flick that soared into the net.

Oltmans agreed that Har-manpreet did not score too many goals in the Junior World Cup that India won in December.

“Harmanpreet is young and he needs to perform under pressure. He needs to be at his best and the only way to test him is let him take more pen-alty corner shots,” he said.

Harmanpreet today took six out of India s seven pen-alty corners against New Zealand. The push was not stopped on two of these penalty corners.

Rupinderpal took the shot only on the last of India s seven penalty corners.

Oltmans said holding Rupinderpal back was not part of a plan, just an attempt to boost Harmanpreet’s confidence. AGENCIES

SULTAN AZLAN SHAH CUP

Harmanpreet’s brace guides India to 3-0 win over NZ

IPOH: Defender Harmanpreet Singh converted two penalty corners as India stamped their authority over New Zealand with an assertive 3-0 victory in the 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here on Sunday.

Following a 2-2 draw against Great Britain in the opening game on Saturday, India now have four points from two outings.

Mandeep Singh opened the Indian account with a fine deflection in the 23rd minute before Harmanpreet produced two fine drag-flicks to pene-trate the Black Sticks defence.

After allowing the experi-mental New Zealand team to have three shots at the goal in the first quarter, the Indian team settled down to dominate the match thereafter.

The Indian game on Sunday was not disturbed by the after-noon showers and lightening, which have been a feature of the tropical weather this sea-son. India’s tournament-opener on Saturday started two hours late due to lightening, pushing the day’s entire schedule back.

On Sunday, the first signs of match-disrupting lightening occurred soon after the Indian players went off the pitch on completion of their game.

It was New Zealand, who earned the first penalty cor-ner in the sixth minute, but it

could not pose any danger as the low shot went straight to goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh, who kicked it out of the circle. As the Indian defence took time to settle down, New Zealand had two early shots at the cit-adel before Akashdeep Singh took an ambitions try from the top of the circle in the 10th minute, only to see his reverse drive soar high over the cross-bar. Two minutes later, Man-

preet Singh sent a diagonal ball into the circle to S V Sunil, who shot wide with only goalkeeper Devon Manchester to beat.

India broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute when Chin-glensana Singh sent a reverse shot from top of the box into the goalmouth, where Man-deep did exceptionally well to deflect the shoulder high ball past the goalkeeper.Harman-preet then came into the pic-

ture with a drag-flick off the first penalty corner. The sting-ing shot went into the left cor-ner of the board to make it 2-0 in the 27th minute. India forced two p enalty corners in as many minutes just before half-time, but were stopped on both occa-sions. In the 30th minute, on India’s fourth penalty corner, New Zealand defended stoutly as Sardar Singh picked up the ball behind Harmanpreet and

tried to keep up the pressure by flicking the ball into the scor-ing zone. Playing in his 200th international today, Sunil had a chance to make an entry on the scoresheet five minutes after half-time when he was again in a one-on-one position with the goalkeeper, but ended up flick-ing wide of the mark.

Akashdeep took a try from a very narrow angle in the 39th minute, but the shot went over the bar. Harmanpreet came back to round off the Indian scoring with another penalty corner conversion, this time sending a soaring drag-flick into the top corner of the net in the 47th minute. With Har-manpreet in fine nick, he was allowed to take the shot on six of India’s seven penalty corners, although the push could not be stopped on two occasions. Rupinderpal Singh only took the last of India’s penalty cor-ners and his shot was blocked by the Black Sticks goalkeeper.

Meanwhile, India hockey team forward SV Sunil on Sunday achieved the distinc-tion of playing 200th interna-tional match for the country. The Coorg-born Sunil made his international debut during India’s successful outing at the 2007 Asia Cup in Chennai. The following year, he was a part of the Indian team that won the silver medal at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2008. AGENCIES

Barcelona thrash Espanyol 3-0 in Catalan derby

Barcelona leapfrogged Real Madrid in the title race

as second-half goals from Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic secured a convincing 3-0 vic-tory over Espanyol in the Cata-lonian derby.

Luis Enrique’s side - who would have been behind early on at Estadi Cornella-El Prat had Jurado made the most of a golden opportunity - were found lacking in the first half of Saturday’s clash, but Suarez came up with the goods early in the second period.

Jurado was the architect of Espanyol’s downfall, as his sloppy back pass teed up the Uruguayan, who made no mistake in netting his 25th LaLiga goal of the season - and his first in four games.

It was a cruel blow for Quique Sanchez Flores’ side, who had more than held their own in a scrappy opening half.

And the result was wrapped up for Barca late on, Rakitic sliding a composed finish across Diego Lopez following a fantastic run from Lionel Messi before Suarez capitalised on another defensive mis-take to add a third. The victory represents a 16th con-secutive victory for Barca against their local rivals, and moves Luis Enrique’s side top of the pile in LaLiga with three games remaining. After a fran-tic start, it was Espanyol who should have opened the scor-ing six minutes in.

Felipe Caicedo threaded a neat pass into Jurado who somehow failed to hit the tar-get from 10 yards out.

Barca did not take long to respond as Neymar - returning to Luis Enrique’s starting XI following a three-match suspension - found space, only to see his goalbound strike blocked by David Lopez. AGENCIES

Chelsea took a massive stride towards the title thanks to

a moment of pure magic from Pedro and late goals from Gary Cahill and Willian.

With the clock ticking down and the Premier League leaders starting to look decid-edly nervous about their lead bring stripped to the bare bone, the Spaniard stepped up with a breath-taking, curling finish from the edge of the box.

Cahill scrambled home a second and substitute Willian netted a third, surely confirm-ing the London club as Cham-pions’ elect now, because they have a big enough buffer at the top of the table to withstand anything Spurs can throw at them. Yet they were made to sweat by a young Ever-ton side who showed a qual-ity of their own, and created several chances of their own, that on another day would have blown the title race wide open. The home side also had a good shout for a penalty when Enner Valencia appeared to be pulled back in the box by Cesar Azpilicueta, and Diego Costa may also have been shown a red card when he lifted his foot after sliding into Blues keeper Maarten Stekelenburg. But in the end, that quality of of Pedro - backed by the once

again excellent Eden Hazard - was enough to all but put Chelsea’s name on the Premier League trophy, with victory in their hardest game remaining of the season. The secret to Chelsea’s success this season is simple: they are devastating breaking forward. Even with-out reaching their real attack-ing heights at Goodison, there was a break-taking pace and intent to their counter-play which had Everton struggling for oxygen at times. Pedro and Hazard are virtually unstoppa-ble at pace, and it is a weapon few sides have an answer to. They do have weaknesses though, which Everton were aware enough to exploit. The three man back line is amongst the more mobile in the Premier League, but when Lukaku and Calvert-Lewin had space to spin, there was constant dan-ger, which lead to an exciting and surprisingly open contest.

For all Chelsea’s class, it was refreshing to see Everton take them on, which such a young, vibrant promising team of their own. They are of course not at the same level as their aristo-cratic visitors, but they really do have a cracking young team, with Holgate, Davies, Barkley, Calvert-Lewin and the still 23-year-old Lukaku. AGENCIES

Ex-East Bengal captain Shanto Mitra passes awayKOLKATA: Former Indian national team assistant coach and East Bengal captain Shanto Mitra died at a city hospital here on Sunday following pro-longed illness, club sources said.

Mitra, 75, leaves behind his wife and a daughter. He was battling cancer and breathed his last at 7.20 am. A strong power of anticipation and receiving skills being his forte, Mitra defied his lean frame to acquire fame as a left-back in Indian club football in the 1960s and early 1970s. Mitra turned out for East Bengal from 1965 to 1973 and was the

club captain when the red and gold brigade beat Iran’s PAS Tehran club in the IFA Shield final in 1970. Mitra belonged to the golden generation of East

Bengal players whose exploits enabled the club win a record six back-to-back Calcutta Foot-ball League (CFL) titles from 1970 to 1975. Besides East Ben-

gal, Mitra plied his trade for Wari FC and Bengal Nagpur Railway (BNR). Mitra was also part of the Indian squad once, for the 1968 Merdeka Cup. In 1969-70, Mitra captained the Bengal team that won the Santosh Trophy. After his

retirement, Mitra was part of coaching squad for the Indian team when Yugoslav coach Ciric Milovan was in charge. Along with Karnataka’s Amjad Khan, Mitra served as India’s assistant coach during the 1984 Nehru Cup. AGENCIES

Shiv Kapur ends 12-year-wait for Asian Tour title

in TaiwanMIAOLI: Indian golfer Shiv Kapur ended a 12-year wait for his second Asian Tour title when he turned in a blemish-free eight-under 64 in the final round to clinch the inaugural Yeangder Heritage.

Kapur was three-under for the front-nine and five-under for last seven holes to card 64 to finish as the clubhouse leader at 16-under 272. “It feels great to finally win once again. After losing my European Tour card in 2015 and then being laid low by a liver abscess in 2016, it is a big relief,” Kapur said after the triumph. Gavin Green (67) and Yikeun Chang (68) were tied for second at 14-under.

“It’s been a long, long time and this will give me a lot of confidence. I knew it was going to be a low-scoring final round and my putter stayed hot,” said Kapur, whose 12-year wait for a second Asian Tour title exceeded the 11-year-wait by his friend and senior colleague Gaurav Ghei. Ghei first won in 1995 and then a second time in 2006 -- also in Taiwan, at the Mercuries Masters. Ghei went on to win a third title in 2007. Of the Indians, Suj-jan Singh (67) played a third straight round in 60s, includ-ing four birdies in the last five holes, to finish T-22 at five-under 283, as did Himmat Rai (71). S Chikkarangappa, who was second after first round, shot 68, and ended Tied-27th because of two disappoint-ing rounds on the second and third days. Khalin Joshi (70) was Tied-37th, Rahil Gangjee (70) was Tied-52nd and Chi-ragh Kumar (77) slipped to Tied-60th. Kapur, 35, won his maiden title in his Rookie year in 2005 at the Volvo Masters of Asia. Since then he has come second four times and third three times and been between fourth and tenth another 21 times. AGENCIES

Girl forced to quit chess tournament over ‘seductive’ dressSINGAPORE: A 12-year-old girl was forced to withdraw from a chess tourna-ment in Malaysia after her dress was considered “seductive”, her coach has claimed. Malaysian chess player Kaushal Khandar alleged that his student had been “extremely embarrassed” and “disturbed” by the actions of the National Scholastic Chess Championship 2017 director and chief arbiter. He claimed that the tournament director had made a remark on the girl’s knee-length dress to the chief arbiter, who had stopped her competition in the middle of Round 2 and informed the student that her dress was improper and violated the dress code of the tournament. It was later informed (by chief arbiter) to my student and her mother, that the tournament director deemed my student’s dress to be “seductive” and a “temptation”, Kaushal said. “This situation led to the inevitable decision of withdrawing from the tournament,” he said. The director told the girl and her mother that they needed to go to the mall and by her a pair of trousers but by that time it was already 10pm, and the matches the next day restarted at 9 am. AGENCIES

More tough matches Maria Sharapova’s prioritySTUTTGART: Maria Sharapova said more tough matches are her priority after losing in the semi-finals in Stuttgart on her controversial comeback from a 15-month doping ban.

Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam winner and for-mer world number one, lost 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Kristina Mlade-novic in a gruelling two-hours, 38-minute showdown.

“I’m not angry, I’d have loved to have used the oppor-tunity when I was ahead in the

second set, so I had a bit of a let down which allowed her

to get back in the match, gain confidence and play well,” said Sharapova, who was playing her first tournament after test-ing positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.

“I didn’t keep putting that pressure on her and if you allow that to happen to a player like her, it becomes dangerous.”

Sharapova also has wild cards for the Madrid and Rome tournaments and

leaves Stuttgart with a world ranking of 260 having arrived here on zero following her ban.

She will learn on May 16 whether she will be given a wild card for the main draw at the French Open where she has twice been champion.

Sharapova jets to Madrid to prepare for the WTA tournament in the Spanish capital and will play in an exhibition match on Thursday. AGENCIES

China, Taiwan and Japan strike gold at Asia Championships

WUHAN: Rio Olympic gold medallist Chen Long beat his Chi-nese team-mate Lin Dan in the men’s singles final on Sunday to win his first Badminton Asia Championship and boost his claims for a berth at the world championships.

The 28-year-old Chen had not won a tournament since last year’s Olympics but ended his barren run in timely fashion when he came from behind to beat Lin 21-23, 21-11, 21-10 in Sunday’s final at the Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium.

It was his first win at the Asian Championships, one of the few major tournaments to have eluded him, after he finished on the podium six times previously. Tai Tzu-ying provided Taiwan with its first Badminton Asian champion when she won Sunday’s women’s singles final.

The current world number one took the gold when she beat Japanese teenager Akane Yamaguchi 18-21, 21-11, 21-18. Japan’s Olympic champions Misaki Matsu-tomo and Ayaka Takahashi successfully defended their Asian women’s doubles title as expected, while China won the men’s and mixed doubles finals. AGENCIES

Chelsea sweep past Everton with relative

ease in 0-3 victory

Bayern’s Arturo Vidal wears a mock trophy as he and his teammates celebrate winning the German Bundesliga title after a match against VfL Wolfsburg in Wolfsburg PIC/AP/PTI

Bayern’s win on Saturday opened up an unassailable 10-point lead over Leipzig at the top of the table with only three matches left

Mitra belonged to the golden generation of East Bengal players whose exploits enabled the club win a record six back-to-back Calcutta Football League (CFL) titles from 1970 to 1975

Luis Suarez wheels away after scoring against Espanyol PIC/AP/PTI

The Indian team celebrates their win over New Zealand in their second match at the 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh PIC/PTI

mp Entertainment16 MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Monday, 1 May, 2017

NEW DELHI: Indian stand-up comedy has really come of age and Vir Das believes now is the time to take it to international audiences. His show ‘Abroad Understand-ing’ is now available on Netflix, the streaming website, that is home to celebrated international comedi-ans like Amy Schummer and Aziz Ansari. Das’ Netflix Originals show talks about his personal journey and Indian sense of humour.

“What I’m looking forward to is sending Indian comedy to the world. People in China have never seen an Indian comedian. People in Africa have never seen an Indian comedian. Netflix is this big plat-form that is known to work with the best comedians in the world. All the comedians that I’ve idolised are there. So, I’m just a struggler and that’s very exciting. I feel very young and fresh for the first time,” Das said.

Das says he is happy with the way stand-up comedy is flourish-ing in India and people are taking it up as a profession. Das started his career as a comedian when there were hardly any stand-up comics in the country but he says artistes like Johnny Lever and Anupam Kher always inspired him. “There are so many people I admire. In India, there is Johnny Lever and Anupam

Kher, while in the West, it is Chris Rock. These people write very well. They’re all humble and very like-able on stage.” His comic timing is something which has made him favourite among fans but Das’ acting and music talent is equally popular in the country. When asked what comes naturally to him, Das jokes, “Sleep comes naturally to me. I’m a way better napper than I’m a come-dian or an actor. But out of all the things that I do, I enjoy music a lot.”

“Because when you’re doing a film there are many crores that are dependent on you. Also, when you’re doing a stand-up comedy show, there are thousands of peo-ple, who are dependent on you. But when you’re playing music with a band, you’re just dependent on five people and you can have a good time.” Das has a comedy-rock band Alien Chutney, which consists of Sidd Coutto, Johan Pais, Kaizad Gherda and Apurv Issac. The group is known for composing witty and edgy songs.

“We’re writing right now. We’re going to make a new album. We decided to throw out all of our old songs and write 12 brand new songs. So, we’re working on that,” Das says about the current status of his band. PTI

I’m a comedianI’m a way better napper than

Vir Das talks about how

sleep comes naturally

to him and about his

new show on Netflix that talks about his personal journey and Indian sense of humour

MUMBAI: Often with stardom comes a

feeling of loneliness, but not for Priyanka Chopra,

as the actor says her loved ones are always by her side.

After starting out with a Tamil film in 2002, Priyanka worked in Bollywood before making her way to the West with her song and then the American crime-thriller ‘Quantico’.

“I am not at all lonely. I have incredible support,

from friends, family and colleagues. That’s why I can do so many (things). “Most of my

career choices are a gamble. Doing Aitraaz (a neg-ative role) as one of my first few films, doing Fashion when no one was doing women-ori-ented films. I did Barfi where everyone said you won’t look glamorous.

Music, ‘Quantico’, no one’s done that. I can only do that because I have so much sup-port,” Priyanka said. The 34-year-old actor says she

knows there will be a time when things might go down-hill, but she will continue to work as long as people want to see her.

“I’ve known that (about downfall) since I did my first film. There are somethings that are very constant in the world. Birth, death, up, down. It’ll happen to everyone, to me, to you, to the biggest of actors. It’s meant to happen at some point. As long as people watch me, I’ll work,” she says. Priyanka says be it her show or her upcoming Hollywood debut Baywatch, she did not want to prove a point, but sim-ply explore other possibilities.

“When I was new, I worked hard and have finally reached a stage where people know me because of my work. In Amer-ica, people know me now because of the show. It was never that I wanted to go there and ‘jhande gaad doon.’ I only wanted to work.” Priyanka says like any other artiste, she has to go and audition for her roles

as there is no one handing out work to her in Hollywood. “I have no patience. I don’t know if it is a guy or a girl thing but

I don’t wait. Your agents send you scripts and you audition. Patience and perseverance is needed in every industry.” PTI

I am not lonely: Priyanka

KARACHI: Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s much awaited film Tube-light might not hit the screens on Eid in Pakistan as some local filmmakers have started a movement to stall the release of the film. The filmmakers along with the Film Distributors Asso-ciation and the Film Pro-ducers Association want to ensure better business for Pakistani films during the Eid holidays. The distribu-tors, producers and film-makers say they want to protect the interest of Pak-istani movies as two big films, Yalghaar and Shor Sharaba, along with others in the pipeline, are slated for an Eid release.

“If Tubelight also releases on Eid, it will cer-tainly hit the business of these Pakistani films and that will not help our indus-try,” actor Mustafa Qureshi said. Those trying to stall the release of the Salman Khan starrer are citing a law passed by the Federal Ministry of Information in 2010 which forbids the release of any Indian film on a Muslim holiday. “If required we can even go to the court,” producer Altaf Hussain said, adding that the associations are plan-ning to send an official let-ter to PM Nawaz Sharif. He confirmed a meeting was held at which it was decided that the entire Pakistani film industry will join the protest to stop the release of Tubelight on Eid. PTI

‘Tubelight’ might not

release on Eid in Pakistan

MUMBAI: Actor Irrfan Khan reveals filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia had offered him to play the titular role in Revolver Rani, which later went to Kangana Ranaut. The 50-year-old actor says he had almost joined the project but did not take up the offer due to “intimate scenes” in the film.

“I was offered the role of a woman in Tigmanshu Dhu-lia’s ‘Revolver Rani’. He had offered me Kangana Ranaut’s role when he was producing

the film. I had made up my mind to do it. But there were some intimate scenes that I thought people will not enjoy,” Irrfan said.

“I would love to play a woman on-screen. But I am not ok with intimate scenes as that might put them (audi-ence) off,” he adds. The crime-drama which released in 2014 was directed by Sai Kabir and featured Kangana and Vir Das in the lead roles. In his upcoming film, Hindi Medium Irrfan’s plays a businessman who owns a saree shop in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk.

A scene in the film required Irrfan’s character to drape a saree and he learnt the intrica-cies of draping to make his per-formance look perfect. “It was a great experience. It was fun,” he adds. Also starring Paki-stani actor Saba Qamar, Hindi Medium is slated to release on May 12. PTI

I was offered Kangana’s role in

‘Revolver Rani’: Irrfan

LOS ANGELES: Rapper Snoop Dogg has officially made his debut in his autobio-graphical film COOLAID.

The movie shows the jour-ney of the hip-hop icon’s life and the important moments that led to the rise of his music

empire, reported Billboard.The film is a reflection

of Snoop’s latest record, also called ‘COOLAID’ and talks about his early dreams of becoming a football player and later the downfall in his life due to drugs and gang vio-

lence. Highlighting the start of his music career along with his infamous murder trial, the film sheds light on the highs and lows that come with star-dom and how the artist became a musical force in pop culture today.

“This is a piece that is near and dear to me – It’s a per-sonal journey of my life. The videos, dialogue and music were hand-selected to depict pivotal moments in my career and look forward to sharing it with my fans. Can’t wait to hear what ya’ll think!” a statement by Snoop read.

COOLAID features special visuals with the rapper’s new tracks such as ‘Don’t Stop’ (fea-turing Too $hort), ‘Affiliated’, ‘Supercrip’, ‘Sidepiece’, ‘What If ’ and ‘Legend’. PTI

LOS ANGELES: Fox Studios has decided to release a black and white version of Logan in theaters on May 16 for a limited run. Director James Mangold made the revelation on Twitter.

“Suggestion. Hard core B&W lov-ing LOGAN fans should not make any plans on the evening of May 16th (sic)” Mangold tweeted. “Won’t be on a TV. And the answer is no. To make a great B&W version of a film,

the whole thing’s gotta be regraded and timed shot by shot (sic)” he added.

Mangold also revealed that the black and white version of Hugh Jackman’s last outing as the clawed mutant will be available on the home entertainment release, but confirmed it will also be in theaters: “Yes, but it will be on big screens on the 16th.”

The black and white version will only be available in US theaters. PTI

LONDON: Actor Frieda Pinto says she is happy for her ex-boyfriend Dev Patel’s success in Hollywood. The 32-year-old actor and her Slumdog Millionaire co-star ended their seven-year rela-tionship in 2014 but have remained friends, reported Contactmusic.

“At the end of the day he’s a fellow actor and my friend. I’ve seen the hard work he’s put in, and seeing it pay off (by winning the BAFTA) is the most beau-tiful thing.

“How could I not feel proud? He was fantastic in that film (‘Lion’),” Freida

says. The actor says she has learnt a lot from their rela-tionship. “People come and go and everyone teaches you something.

You need to embrace the good and bad, the ugly and beautiful. I’m not a love guru. I don’t have any tips on how to keep a break-up friendly. Just be open and honest.

“When you’re in a relationship, you’re in a relationship. You’re in it because you love the per-son. Things like age and wealth, none of it matters. You make it work, that’s it,” she says. PTI

Freida Pinto

is proud of Dev Patel

LONDON: Actor Pierce Brosnan says he was frustrated with the James Bond films at one point and wanted his character to be more real. The 63-year-old actor says he had a tough time trying to make sense of the Ian Fleming film franchise, reported Femalefirst.

“There was a certain frustration within me as the films went on, as I could see the world hap-pening around me and the movies...

“I wanted Bond to get a little more gritty and real and down and dirty, but however you try to nurse it along, the scripts would come along with the same outlandish scenarios,” Brosnan says.

The actor adds he was inspired by previous Bonds, Sean Connery and Roger Moore but he did not want to copy them.

Brosnan played the suave spy in four films –Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day. PTI

‘Logan’ black and white version to release in May

I wanted Bond to get a little more real: Pierce

Snoop Dogg debuts in autobiographical film ‘COOLAID’