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A s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu vacations in Europe with his family, his party on Thursday landed in a deep cri- sis. On a day of fast-paced developments, four of the TDP’s six Rajya Sabha mem- bers passed a resolution to merge their legislature party in the Rajya Sabha with the BJP, “inspired and encouraged” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “impeccable” leader- ship. Later, they submitted their petition seeking the merg- er to Upper House Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, who will take a call on the matter. BJP working president JP Nadda announced the merger of the “Group of Four” — YS Chowdary, CM Ramesh, G Mohan Rao and TG Venkatesh — with the BJP here at the party headquarters. The merg- er of the RS group comes even as one of the three TDP Lok Sabha members, Kesineni Nani, is also likely to follow suit and cross over to the BJP. Their decision to back the BJP will give a boost to the saf- fron party in the Upper House as the BJP-led NDA does not have a majority there yet, though it is the largest block. The Rajya Sabha has a strength of 245 members and the BJP is the single largest party with 71 MPs while its allies have strength of 35 members. The latest developments triggered speculation about the BJP aiming for a majority in the Rajya Sabha by engi- neering defections as the num- bers to pass several key Bills in the Upper House elude the saf- fron party. With four of six TDP MPs breaking away from their party, it will meet the legal requirement of anti-defection law, which mandates the sup- port of at least two-thirds members for a split to be recognised in Parliament. Interestingly, till recently, Chowdary — the TDP legisla- ture party leader in the Rajya Sabha — was being raided by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged money laundering and bank fraud case against a firm pro- moted by him. The ED had seized the firm’s assets worth 315 crore. Reacting to the develop- ment, Chandrababu Naidu sought to put up a brave front saying, “We fought with the BJP only for Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh and the State’s interests. We sacri- ficed Central Ministers for spe- cial status and condemn attempts of the BJP to weaken the TDP. Crisis is not new to the party. Leaders and cadre have nothing to be nervous about.” He is scheduled to return home on June 24. Welcoming the TDP MPs, Nadda said merger would make BJP stronger in Andhra Pradesh where “we would expand BJP’s base.” He said for long these MPs were impressed with the “dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and organisational skills of party president Amit Shah” and wanted to join the BJP. He said the MPs held a meeting and gave Shah the pro- posal for a merger which the party accepted. “I assure them that the BJP believes in politics of positivity and inclusiveness,” Nadda said and hastened to add BJP’s now famous tagline “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas”. Barring Mohan Rao, who had hurt himself, three other MPs were present at the con- ference of Nadda. Speaking on the occasion, Chowdary said he and his RS colleagues joined the BJP to contribute to the “nation building” under Modi’s leadership. He said all of them thought that the best course is cooper- ation and not confrontation as far as the implementation of the issues in relation to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act are concerned and the BJP was the best forum to sort it out. “You are aware of the mood of the nation,” he said and pointed out that he had already worked under Modi as an MoS. The trio later attend- ed the PM’s dinner along with other leaders cutting across party lines. The four apart, several of TDP senior leaders and form- ers MLAs held a closed-door meeting at a hotel of Kakinada discussing their future. The meeting has fanned the speculation of them too quit- ting the party. T he Congress has no way out but to choose a new presi- dent as incumbent Rahul Gandhi on Thursday made it clear he will not back down from his decision to resign from the top post owning responsibility for the party’s Lok Sabha debacle. At the same time, he maintained that it will be his party, and not him, which will decide on his suc- cessor. Rahul said he is not the person to take a decision on his successor, even as he denied reports that he had given his nod to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to lead the party in his place. “I am not the one who will appoint the party president,” Rahul told reporters when asked on who would be his successor. On reports claiming that Gehlot will be his successor and he has given his approval for the same, he said, “No such thing.” Rahul has been adamant on stepping down as party president following the debacle in the elections, but the CWC, the highest decision-making body of the Congress, has rejected his resignation offer and asked him to restructure the party at all levels. Rahul has maintained that the new party president should be a non- Gandhi, apparently to shed the image of the party being controlled by one dynasty. By resigning he has also sought to showcase that there has to be accountability at all levels. But then, while Rahul has been consistent on not backtracking on his decision, the party has taken a hit, be it in Karnataka or Rajasthan, where factionalism is rife. The Congress had even toyed with the idea of an inter- im president hoping that Rahul would be back in action soon- er or later. But none of its senior leaders expressed their will- ingness to handle the respon- sibility — neither AK Antony nor KC Venugopal. However, Rahul on Thursday yet again raked up the Rafale deal, an issue on which he had gone hammer and tongs during the cam- paigning to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I n the one of the first big deci- sions after assuming charge for the second term, the NDA Government has issued a ten- der worth over 45,000 crore for manufacturing six sub- marines in India. These sub- marine will be made under the Strategic Partnership (SP) model as part of an initiative of “Make in India” to propel Indian industry into the front league of nations capable of manufacturing front line fight- er jets, submarines, warships, tanks and helicopters. The tender or expression of interest was issued by the Defence Ministry on Thursday for shortlisting potential Indian Strategic Partners for con- struction of six conventional submarines as part of Project- 75I. At present, the Navy has nearly 15 submarines with more than half of them on their last legs of the operational life. The first Scorpene class sub- marine built with French col- laboration joined the forces last year while the remaining five will be inducted over the course of next one and half years. The Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL), Mumbai, is building these submarines. Giving details of the latest tender, officials said here as a major initiative towards Make in India, the Government immediately has issued the Expression of Interest(s) for shortlisting of potential Indian Strategic Partners (SPs) for “Construction of six Conventional Submarines” for P-75(I) Project of the Navy. This is the second project being undertaken under the latest SP Model, with the first being the procurement of 111 Naval Utility Helicopters (NUH). This would provide a major boost to the indigenous design and construction capa- bility of submarines in India, in addition to bringing in the lat- est submarine design and tech- nologies as part of the project. The case was approved by the Defence Acquisition Council on January 31. The tender for shortlisting of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) will be issued in two weeks. Most of the submarine builders are foreigners. The SPs in collaboration with OEMs have been man- dated to set up dedicated man- ufacturing lines for these sub- marines in India and make India the global hub for sub- marine design and produc- tion. All six submarines under this project will be built in India by the selected Indian Strategic Partner in collaboration with the selected OEM. In addition, the Indian Navy would have the option to manufacture six more sub- marines under the project. The project would not only aid in boosting the core subma- rine/ship building industry but would also greatly enhance manufacturing/industrial sec- tor, especially the medium scale industries by development of an industrial eco-system for manufacture of associated spares/systems/equipment related to submarines. P rime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the nation in performing yoga along with nearly 20,000 other partici- pants at Jharkhand’s Ranchi, which will host the main event of International Yoga Day 2019 on June 21. A fifth in the series, this year’s event will be the first environment-friendly yoga day, with authorities across the States replacing the synthetic mats with those made of khadi. On the eve of the International Yoga Day, the latest yoga videos featuring Modi’s animated version were shared with the public which is all geared up to celebrate the day. Modi tweeted, “On 21st June, we will mark #YogaDay2019. I urge you all to make Yoga an integral part of your life and also inspire oth- ers to do the same. The bene- fits of Yoga are tremendous.” The International Day of Yoga aims to raise awareness about many benefits of prac- tising yoga. This year’s slogan is yoga for Heart. On December 11, 2014, the United Nations had proclaimed 21 June as the International Day of Yoga after recognising its uni- versal appeal. Like every year this time too, preparations are on in schools and offices in India and at Indian embassies around the world. For instance, the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Indian Consulate in Dubai, which are leading the Yoga Day activities for the fifth year, said they have received the support of the UAE authorities in all the emirates to host the event. Industry bodies like CII, FICCI, Institute of Company Secretaries of India, as well as educa- tional bodies like CBSE, NCERT and UGC will also organise programmes on the occasion. In the national Capital, the main event will be at Rajpath in New Delhi. This will be organised by New Delhi Municipal Council, NDMC in association with Ministry of AYUSH. Apart from the main event, the pro- grammes will be held at Red Fort, Nehru Park, Lodhi Garden, Talkatora Garden, Yamuna Sports Complex and in Dwarka. A yoga shivir will also be organised for the Members of Parliament on the premises of Parliament House. A mass yoga congregation of about 50,000 yoga lovers from Delhi-NCR will be held on Red Fort Grounds. Scheduled to be the biggest gathering for Yoga Day Celebrations in Delhi, the event is jointly being organised by the Brahma Kumaris and Union Ministry of AYUSH. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will preside over the event as Chief Guest. Armed forces personnel too are playing active role to be part of the event. Border Security Force (BSF) jawans were seen per- forming yoga in Kupwara sector in Jammu & Kashmir, ahead of International Yoga Day while ITBP posted several other images and videos as well showing the jawans performing yogasanas across various places in India. O utlining the “very clear mandate” for the Narendra Modi dispensation in the Lok Sabha polls for continuing the uninterrupted “development journey” that it started in 2014, President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday said the Modi-2 Government is “moving ahead to create strong, secure and inclusive India”. Kovind underlined the Government’s resolve to remove “social evils” of triple talaq and “nikah halala”, inten- sify crackdown on corruption and to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to check infiltration. The NRC is currently being updated in Assam on priority basis in areas affected by infiltration. In an hour-long address to the joint sitting of Parliament with the PM, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and MPs of both Houses in attendance, the President said national security was paramount to the Government, he also revealed that the Centre will soon announce a new industrial pol- icy — replacing that of 1991— to promote growth of indus- tries and creation of jobs. The BJP had played the national security card during the elec- tions to the hilt by showcasing the Balakot airstrikes even as it had been at the receiving end over rising unemployment. The customary address of the President is prepared by the Government of the day. India “jumped” to 77 posi- tion in ease of doing business ranking from 142 in 2014 and would now “work to reach the top 50 in the world”, he said, adding, towards this end process of simplification of rules will be further expedited in collaboration with States. The President said work is underway in full earnest to transform India into a global manufacturing hub. “Keeping in view Industry 4.0, a new industrial policy will be announced shortly,” he said. The new policy will replace the industrial policy of 1991 which was prepared in the backdrop of balance of pay- ment crisis. This will be the third industrial policy after the ones released in 1956 and 1991. A t least 25 people were killed and another 35 others injured when a bus skidded off the road and fell into a 300-m- deep gorge in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday. The accident occurred near Banjar, some 50 km from Kullu town. Superintendent of Police, Shalini Agnihotri said the pri- vate bus was on its way to Gada Gushaini from Kullu when the accident occurred. The injured have been admitted to hospitals in Kullu, she added. Meanwhile, Governor Acharya Devvrat and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur have expressed deep grief over the accident. The Chief Minister has asked the administration to provide best possible medicare to the injured passengers. He said that magisterial enquiry has been ordered to find the reasons for this accident. Continued on Page 4

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As Telugu Desam Party(TDP) chief Chandrababu

Naidu vacations in Europewith his family, his party onThursday landed in a deep cri-sis. On a day of fast-paceddevelopments, four of theTDP’s six Rajya Sabha mem-bers passed a resolution tomerge their legislature party inthe Rajya Sabha with the BJP,“inspired and encouraged” byPrime Minister NarendraModi’s “impeccable” leader-ship. Later, they submittedtheir petition seeking the merg-er to Upper House ChairmanM Venkaiah Naidu, who willtake a call on the matter.

BJP working president JPNadda announced the mergerof the “Group of Four” — YSChowdary, CM Ramesh, GMohan Rao and TG Venkatesh— with the BJP here at theparty headquarters. The merg-er of the RS group comes evenas one of the three TDP LokSabha members, KesineniNani, is also likely to follow suitand cross over to the BJP.

Their decision to back theBJP will give a boost to the saf-fron party in the Upper Houseas the BJP-led NDA does nothave a majority there yet,though it is the largest block.The Rajya Sabha has a strengthof 245 members and the BJP isthe single largest party with 71MPs while its allies havestrength of 35 members.

The latest developmentstriggered speculation about

the BJP aiming for a majorityin the Rajya Sabha by engi-neering defections as the num-bers to pass several key Bills inthe Upper House elude the saf-fron party. With four of sixTDP MPs breaking away fromtheir party, it will meet the legalrequirement of anti-defectionlaw, which mandates the sup-port of at least two-thirdsmembers for a split to berecognised in Parliament.

Interestingly, till recently,Chowdary — the TDP legisla-ture party leader in the Rajya

Sabha — was being raided bythe Enforcement Directorate inconnection with an allegedmoney laundering and bankfraud case against a firm pro-moted by him. The ED hadseized the firm’s assets worth�315 crore.

Reacting to the develop-ment, Chandrababu Naidusought to put up a brave frontsaying, “We fought with theBJP only for Special CategoryStatus for Andhra Pradesh andthe State’s interests. We sacri-ficed Central Ministers for spe-

cial status and condemnattempts of the BJP to weakenthe TDP. Crisis is not new tothe party. Leaders and cadrehave nothing to be nervousabout.” He is scheduled toreturn home on June 24.

Welcoming the TDP MPs,Nadda said merger wouldmake BJP stronger in AndhraPradesh where “we wouldexpand BJP’s base.” He said forlong these MPs were impressedwith the “dynamic leadership ofPrime Minister Narendra Modiand organisational skills of

party president Amit Shah”and wanted to join the BJP.

He said the MPs held ameeting and gave Shah the pro-posal for a merger which theparty accepted. “I assure themthat the BJP believes in politicsof positivity and inclusiveness,”Nadda said and hastened toadd BJP’s now famous tagline“Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,Sabka Vishwas”.

Barring Mohan Rao, whohad hurt himself, three otherMPs were present at the con-ference of Nadda. Speakingon the occasion, Chowdarysaid he and his RS colleaguesjoined the BJP to contribute tothe “nation building” underModi’s leadership.

He said all of them thoughtthat the best course is cooper-ation and not confrontation asfar as the implementation of theissues in relation to the AndhraPradesh Reorganisation Actare concerned and the BJPwas the best forum to sort itout.

“You are aware of themood of the nation,” he saidand pointed out that he hadalready worked under Modi asan MoS. The trio later attend-ed the PM’s dinner along withother leaders cutting acrossparty lines.

The four apart, several ofTDP senior leaders and form-ers MLAs held a closed-doormeeting at a hotel of Kakinadadiscussing their future. Themeeting has fanned the speculation of them too quit-ting the party.

����� (���-�./0

The Congress has no way outbut to choose a new presi-

dent as incumbent RahulGandhi on Thursday made itclear he will not back downfrom his decision to resignfrom the top post owningresponsibility for the party’sLok Sabha debacle. At thesame time, he maintained thatit will be his party, and not him,which will decide on his suc-cessor.

Rahul said he is not theperson to take a decision on hissuccessor, even as he deniedreports that he had given hisnod to Rajasthan ChiefMinister Ashok Gehlot to leadthe party in his place. “I am notthe one who will appoint theparty president,” Rahul toldreporters when asked on whowould be his successor.

On reports claiming thatGehlot will be his successor andhe has given his approval forthe same, he said, “No suchthing.”

Rahul has been adamanton stepping down as partypresident following the debaclein the elections, but the CWC,the highest decision-makingbody of the Congress, has

rejected his resignation offerand asked him to restructurethe party at all levels. Rahul hasmaintained that the new partypresident should be a non-Gandhi, apparently to shedthe image of the party beingcontrolled by one dynasty.

By resigning he has alsosought to showcase that therehas to be accountability at alllevels. But then, while Rahulhas been consistent on notbacktracking on his decision,the party has taken a hit, be itin Karnataka or Rajasthan,where factionalism is rife.

The Congress had eventoyed with the idea of an inter-im president hoping that Rahulwould be back in action soon-er or later. But none of its seniorleaders expressed their will-ingness to handle the respon-sibility — neither AK Antonynor KC Venugopal.

However, Rahul onThursday yet again raked upthe Rafale deal, an issue onwhich he had gone hammerand tongs during the cam-paigning to target PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

����� (���-�./0

In the one of the first big deci-sions after assuming charge

for the second term, the NDAGovernment has issued a ten-der worth over �45,000 crorefor manufacturing six sub-marines in India. These sub-marine will be made under theStrategic Partnership (SP)model as part of an initiative of“Make in India” to propelIndian industry into the frontleague of nations capable ofmanufacturing front line fight-er jets, submarines, warships,tanks and helicopters.

The tender or expression ofinterest was issued by theDefence Ministry on Thursdayfor shortlisting potential IndianStrategic Partners for con-struction of six conventionalsubmarines as part of Project-75I. At present, the Navy hasnearly 15 submarines withmore than half of them on theirlast legs of the operational life.The first Scorpene class sub-marine built with French col-laboration joined the forces lastyear while the remaining five

will be inducted over the courseof next one and half years. TheMazagon Docks Limited(MDL), Mumbai, is buildingthese submarines.

Giving details of the latesttender, officials said here as amajor initiative towards Makein India, the Governmentimmediately has issued theExpression of Interest(s) forshortlisting of potential IndianStrategic Partners (SPs) for“Construction of sixConventional Submarines” for

P-75(I) Project of the Navy. This is the second project

being undertaken under thelatest SP Model, with the firstbeing the procurement of 111Naval Utility Helicopters(NUH). This would provide amajor boost to the indigenousdesign and construction capa-bility of submarines in India, inaddition to bringing in the lat-est submarine design and tech-nologies as part of the project.The case was approved by theDefence Acquisition Council

on January 31. The tender forshortlisting of OriginalEquipment Manufacturer(OEM) will be issued in twoweeks. Most of the submarinebuilders are foreigners.

The SPs in collaborationwith OEMs have been man-dated to set up dedicated man-ufacturing lines for these sub-marines in India and makeIndia the global hub for sub-marine design and produc-tion. All six submarines underthis project will be built in Indiaby the selected Indian StrategicPartner in collaboration withthe selected OEM.

In addition, the IndianNavy would have the option tomanufacture six more sub-marines under the project. Theproject would not only aid inboosting the core subma-rine/ship building industry butwould also greatly enhancemanufacturing/industrial sec-tor, especially the mediumscale industries by developmentof an industrial eco-system formanufacture of associatedspares/systems/equipmentrelated to submarines.

����� (���-�./0

Prime Minister NarendraModi will lead the nation in

performing yoga along withnearly 20,000 other partici-pants at Jharkhand’s Ranchi,which will host the main eventof International Yoga Day 2019on June 21. A fifth in theseries, this year’s event will bethe first environment-friendlyyoga day, with authoritiesacross the States replacing thesynthetic mats with those madeof khadi.

On the eve of theInternational Yoga Day, thelatest yoga videos featuringModi’s animated version wereshared with the public which isall geared up to celebrate theday. Modi tweeted, “On 21stJune, we will mark#YogaDay2019. I urge you allto make Yoga an integral partof your life and also inspire oth-ers to do the same. The bene-fits of Yoga are tremendous.”

The International Day ofYoga aims to raise awarenessabout many benefits of prac-tising yoga. This year’s slogan

is yoga for Heart. OnDecember 11, 2014, the UnitedNations had proclaimed 21June as the International Day ofYoga after recognising its uni-versal appeal.

Like every year this timetoo, preparations are on inschools and offices in India andat Indian embassies aroundthe world. For instance, theIndian Embassy in Abu Dhabiand the Indian Consulate inDubai, which are leading theYoga Day activities for the

fifth year, said they havereceived the support of theUAE authorities in all theemirates to host the event.

Industry bodies like CII,FICCI, Institute ofCompany Secretaries ofIndia, as well as educa-tional bodies like CBSE,NCERT and UGC willalso organise programmeson the occasion.

In the national Capital,the main event will be atRajpath in New Delhi.This will be organised byNew Delhi MunicipalCouncil, NDMC inassociation withMinistry of AYUSH.Apart from themain event, the pro-grammes will be heldat Red Fort, NehruPark, Lodhi Garden,Talkatora Garden, YamunaSports Complex and inDwarka. A yoga shivir will alsobe organised for the Membersof Parliament on the premisesof Parliament House.

A mass yoga congregationof about 50,000 yoga lovers

from Delhi-NCR will beheld on Red FortGrounds. Scheduled tobe the biggest gatheringfor Yoga DayCelebrations in Delhi,the event is jointlybeing organised bythe Brahma Kumarisand Union Ministryof AYUSH. VicePresident VenkaiahNaidu will presideover the event asChief Guest.

Armed forcespersonnel too areplaying activerole to be part of

the event. BorderSecurity Force (BSF)jawans were seen per-forming yoga inKupwara sector in

Jammu & Kashmir,ahead of InternationalYoga Day while ITBPposted several otherimages and videos aswell showing the jawans

performing yogasanasacross various places inIndia.

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Outlining the “very clearmandate” for the Narendra

Modi dispensation in the LokSabha polls for continuing theuninterrupted “developmentjourney” that it started in 2014,President Ram Nath Kovind onThursday said the Modi-2Government is “moving aheadto create strong, secure andinclusive India”.

Kovind underlined theGovernment’s resolve toremove “social evils” of tripletalaq and “nikah halala”, inten-sify crackdown on corruptionand to implement the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC) tocheck infiltration. The NRC iscurrently being updated inAssam on priority basis inareas affected by infiltration.

In an hour-long address tothe joint sitting of Parliamentwith the PM, Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu and MPs ofboth Houses in attendance,the President said nationalsecurity was paramount to theGovernment, he also revealedthat the Centre will soonannounce a new industrial pol-icy — replacing that of 1991—

to promote growth of indus-tries and creation of jobs. TheBJP had played the nationalsecurity card during the elec-tions to the hilt by showcasingthe Balakot airstrikes even as ithad been at the receiving end over risingunemployment.

The customary address ofthe President is prepared by theGovernment of the day.

India “jumped” to 77 posi-tion in ease of doing businessranking from 142 in 2014 andwould now “work to reach thetop 50 in the world”, he said,adding, towards this end

process of simplification ofrules will be further expeditedin collaboration with States.

The President said work isunderway in full earnest totransform India into a globalmanufacturing hub. “Keepingin view Industry 4.0, a newindustrial policy will beannounced shortly,” he said.

The new policy will replacethe industrial policy of 1991which was prepared in thebackdrop of balance of pay-ment crisis. This will be thethird industrial policy afterthe ones released in 1956 and1991.

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At least 25 people were killedand another 35 others

injured when a bus skidded offthe road and fell into a 300-m-deep gorge in Kullu district ofHimachal Pradesh onThursday.

The accident occurred nearBanjar, some 50 km from Kullutown. Superintendent of Police,Shalini Agnihotri said the pri-vate bus was on its way to GadaGushaini from Kullu when theaccident occurred. The injuredhave been admitted to hospitalsin Kullu, she added.

Meanwhile, GovernorAcharya Devvrat and ChiefMinister Jai Ram Thakur haveexpressed deep grief over theaccident. The Chief Ministerhas asked the administration toprovide best possible medicareto the injured passengers. Hesaid that magisterial enquiryhas been ordered to find thereasons for this accident.

Continued on Page 4

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The Chief Minister Helplinewill be started soon in

Himachal to register prob-lems, complaints and sugges-tions of the general public,Chief Secretary B.K. Agarwalsaid on Thursday.

The CS presided over aworkshop on CM Helpline1100, organised here in whicha detailed presentation on thisservice was given by the statesof Madhya Pradesh and UttarPradesh, where this helplinehas already been launched.

Agarwal said this helplinewould be a centralized griev-ance system which will help inredressing the problems and

complaints of the general pub-lic. The people would get thefacility to register their prob-lems, complaints and sugges-tions, besides seeking infor-mation by contacting on tollfree number 1100.

Director InformationTechnology, Rohan ChandThakur said this helplinewould be bottom-topapproach which would ensurequicker response and trans-parent and responsive gover-nance. The call centre of thisservice centre has been set upin the parking complex atTutikandi in Shimla, whereemployment has been given to60 call centre operators.

This centre will be func-

tional on all days from 7 amto 10 pm. Moreover, threeOperators would sit in theoffice of Chief Minister to reg-ister paper applicationsreceived in formal hearing.

Director of CM Helpline,Madhya Pradesh BhupendraParaste detailed the features ofthis service through powerpoint presentation.

Additional ChiefSecretary Shrikant Baldi,Nisha Singh, Anil Khachi andR.D. Dhiman, DGP S.R.Mardi, Joint Director,Information & PublicRelations Sanjay Sharma andother senior officers of variousdepartments attended themeeting.

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In a bid to prevent roadaccidents, Haryana Police

have come up with an innov-ative idea to paint the backside of slow moving, strand-ed or illegally parked vehicleson highways with fluorescentcolors to prevent road acci-dents.

To begin with, this drivehas already been started indistrict Panipat of KarnalRange, said Har yanaAdditional Director Generalof Police (Law and Order),Navdeep Singh Virk onThursday.

He said that a number ofaccidents occur between vehi-cles on highways especially inthe night due to lack of reflec-tors on such vehicles whichresulted in loss of precioushuman lives. The fluorescentpainting on rear side of vehi-cles would be helpful in min-imizing the risks of accidentsat night as it alert and cautiouscommuters about the presenceof vehicle ahead, he said.

“We are getting rear ofsuch vehicles painted withfluorescent colors in Panipatunder the supervision of IGKarnal Range. Districts Karnaland Kaithal would be coveredshortly and later on, it wouldbe replicated in other Rangesin collaboration with Trafficand Highways Police”, Virkadded.

He further said that Policewill also launch a special driveto drill safety triangle reflec-tors on rear of vehicles inPanipat and Karnal districts tocut down the incidents relat-ed to fatal road accidents onhighways. Road mishaps onhighways could be avoidedand precious lives saved ifcommuters follow traffic rulesand keep reflectors in a goodshape, he added.

He also said that as aresult of our sustained efforts,the road fatalit ies havedeclined by 6.7 percent in firstfour months of current year inthe state. We aim to furtherbring down this figure in thedays to come, he added.

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On the second day of theirvisit to the north-eastern

state, the visiting Punjab dele-gation on Thursday metMeghalyan Home MinisterJames K Sangma and urgedhim to ensure early and ami-cable one-time resolution of theSikh Settlers' issue.

The Punjab team alsorequested that the HighPowered Committee (HPC)formed by the MeghalayanGovernment on the issueshould take into account allgenuine concerns of the Sikhfamilies before reaching anyconclusion.

The delegation was sent tothe state by Punjab ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh to assess the ground sit-uation in the wake of threatsbeing reportedly issued to Sikhsettlers in Shillong.

The delegation alsorequested the Home Minister

to ensure security of the hun-dreds of Sikh families whohad been residing in thePunjabi lane area of Shillongfor decades now. The stategovernment should initiatemore confidence building mea-sures to instil confidence in thecommunity, they felt.

On the issue of noticesissued by Shillong MunicipalBoard to the Sikh settlers, thedelegation urged the HomeMinister to remove any appre-hension from the minds of theminority community.

Any arbitrary action takenby local authorities to evacuatethe settlers would be in grossviolation of the right to move-ment and freedom of the Sikhcommunity, said the delega-tion.

Expressing satisfactionwith the handling of the situ-ation by the state government,the delegation, on behalf ofCapt Amarinder Singh,thanked Meghalya HomeMinister for his proactive

efforts in defusing the situation.The delegation, however,underlined the need to guard

against attempts by vestedgroups to create further prob-lems.

During the meeting, dele-gation head Punjab MinisterSukhjinder Singh Randhawa

handed Capt Amarinder's let-ter addressed to Chief MinisterConrad Sangma to theMeghalyan Home Minister.

The Home Ministerassured the delegation that allefforts would be made to pro-tect the Sikhs in Meghalya.

The High Level Committeeunder the chairmanship ofDeputy Chief Minister wasexamining the issue from allangles and any final decisionwould be based on this out-come only, he assured the delegation.

On the issue of threatsissued by the banned HNLC,the Home Minister assuredthe delegation that though theorganisation was defunct thestate Government was not tak-ing any chances and hadalready made elaborate securi-ty arrangements. During themeeting, Sangma also spoke toCapt. Amarinder Singh onphone and assured all possiblehelp by his government to thesettlers.

He also apprised the visit-ing delegation that ChiefMinister Conrad Sangma wasin constant touch with thePunjab Chief Minister, andwould keep Capt Amarinderupdated on the situation whichhe was personally monitoringand reviewing.

Besides Sukhjinder SinghRandhawa, the group includedMP Jasbir Singh Gill, alongwith MLA Kuldeep Singh Vaidand Kulbir Singh Zira. SpecialSecretary Planning D S Mangatalso accompanied the delega-tion.

A day before, the four-member delegation fromPunjab met members of theSikh community in Meghalayaafter reports emerged that theyhave been told to leave the stateby the authorities there.

The delegation assured fullsupport of the Punjab govern-ment to them. "Punjab gov-ernment will take all possiblesteps to bring the current dis-pute to an amicable settle-

ment," said Randhawa, addingthat the "infringement" of thecivil rights of the Sikhs wholived in Shillong for over 200years would not be allowed atany cost.

The members of the Sikhcommunity in Meghalaya toldthe delegation that the admin-istration there had dubbed thearea where they lived as "slum"and wanted their eviction.

An incident of assault inPunjabi Lane of Shillong inMay last year had resulted inclashes following which thearea was put under curfew forover a month.

Punjabi Lane is inhabitedby people from Punjab, whowere brought to Shillongaround 200 years ago by theBritish to work as cleaners orsweepers. According to reports,the Meghalaya authorities haveserved notices on residents ofPunjabi Lane, directing them tofurnish documents by July 3 toprove that they had settled inthe area legally.

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Ahead of upcomingHaryana Assembly elec-

tions, the main political par-ties—Bharatiya Janata Party,Congress and Jannayak JantaParty –have set ambitious tar-gets to win the polls and formthe next government in thestate.

While the ruling BJP hasannounced “Mission 75” toensure huge majority in theHaryana Assembly, theCongress has coined a slogan“Abki Baar 80 ke paar, BJPBahar”. The JJP, a splinter groupof Indian National Lok Dal hasannounced its “Mission 46” toform the government inHaryana.

The INLD, which was oncethe main opposition party inHaryana Assembly, has onlyrecently appointed its newHaryana state party chief BDDhalia and began its pollpreparations on Thursday.

The ruling BJP has alreadymade it clear that it will contestthe Assembly elections on theissues of giving corruption freeand transparent governance,employment to youth and ini-tiating various welfare schemeswhile the opposition hasannounced to raise the issuesof unemployment, corruptionand deteriorating law and ordersituation in the state.

In the 90-member HaryanaAssembly, the BJP currently has48 MLAs, Congress has 17while the INLD’s strengthenhas come down to 9 MLAswith continuous exodus of itsparty MLAs to the rival camps.

After BJP’s big victory inLok Sabha polls where it hadwon all 10 parliamentary seatsin Haryana, the saffron partyhas set a target of winningatleast 75 seats in the StateAssembly polls, due to be heldin October this year.

The parliamentary elec-tions, the saffron party not onlywon all 10 Lok Sabha seats in

Haryana but had also main-tained its lead in as many as 79assembly constituencies out oftotal 90 assembly seats.

Haryana BJP chief SubhashBarala said that the party hasset a target of winning atleast75 seats to form the next gov-ernment in the state. Theparty’s working committee willmeet on June 28, 29 in Rohtakto discuss strategy for theupcoming polls, he said.

The BJP is also likely tosoon announce its manifestocommittee for the VidhanSabha elections. The rulingparty is also working to furtherstrengthen its base on all 90assembly constituencies aheadof the elections.

On the other hand, theBJP’s main rival-Congress inHaryana is still plagued withthe factionalism and infighting.After its humiliating defeatwhere it could not even openits account despite its heavy-weights contesting the polls, thefaction-ridden HaryanaCongress is yet to work unit-edly to begin the poll prepara-tions.

Amid the speculations ofchange of guard in state lead-ership, Haryana Congress chiefAshok Tanwar has howeverbegun holding meetings withhis supporters.

A day before, Tanwar hadalso announced party’s slogan“Abki Baar 80 ke paar, BJPBahar” for assembly polls.Though the target of winning80 seats seems implausible atpresent, given the raging

infighting and absence of orga-nizational structure in HaryanaCongress, Tanwar claimed thatthe party is ready to strength-en its organizational structureahead of the polls.

JJP, a breakaway faction ofINLD has also geared up forthe polls and its party leaderDushyant Chautala is current-ly busy holding meetings in allassembly constituencies andstrengthening the organiza-tional structure at grassrootlevel in the state.

Jannayak Janta Party’s statechief Nishan Singh said that weare working hard to achieve our“Mission 46” in HaryanaAssembly polls.

The party is chalking out astrategy to win atleast 46 seatsin the assembly polls to formthe next government, he added.

Commenting on targetsset by opposition parties forAssembly elections, HealthMinister and senior BJP leaderAnil Vij on Thursday said thatdreams are tax-free but oppo-sition’s dreams are not going tocome true.

While the BJP will contestthe polls in an alliance withSAD, the JJP has forged analliance with Aam Aadmi Partyfor Haryana Assembly elec-tions.

In 2014 Vidhan Sabha elec-tions, the BJP had won 47 seatsin the 90-member Assemblyand had managed to make itsmaiden State Government inHaryana on its own. The INLDhad won 19 seats while theCongress had won 15 seats.

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Punjab Government has dis-tributed more than 2 crore

saplings free of cost till dateunder Mission TandarustPunjab beginning June 5 lastyear, Forest Minister, SadhuSingh Dharamsot said onThursday.

He said the StateGovernment was committed toensure a clean and pollutionfree environment to the peopleof the State and it is as part ofthis holistic commitment thatmore than 2 crore saplings ofvaried types have been distrib-uted free of people the to costtill date under various cam-paigns.

The minister said 10000hectares of area has beenbrought under forest coverwith the planting of 1.3 croresaplings whereas in accordancewith the 'Ghar Ghar Hariyali'campaign around 68 lakhsaplings have been distributedpeople free of cost to the whohave planted these at the placesof their choice.

Dharamsot said out ofthese 68 lakh saplings nearly 18

lakh have been distributedthrough online mobile appli-cation 'i haryali'. Under thescheme the people of the Statedownloaded the mobile appand thereafter procure thesaplings of their choice fromthe nearest nursery.

The minister said that asper the anti encroachmentcampaign undertaken by thedepartment, till date 5000 acresof land has been freed from theillegal encroachments and thedrive to plant saplings at thesame is continuing. The min-ister further added that undera special scheme, 4 lakhsaplings of vegetables havebeen distributed absolutelyfree.

Similarly, around 10 lakhsaplings have been distributedfree of cost to the farmersfrom the Clonal Hi TechNursery, Qadian and Ludhiana.

Dharamsot said that a tar-get has been set to plant 550saplings in every village ofPunjab as part of the of 550thParkash Purb celebrations SriGuru Nanak Dev. The schemewould see 75 lakh saplingsbeing planted.

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Amid the demand raisedby its party leaders to

contest on atleast 30 seats inHaryana Assembly polls, theShiromani Akali Dal onThursday said that the deci-sion on seat sharing with itsalliance partner BharatiyaJanata Party for the upcomingassembly elections in the statewill be taken at an appropri-ate time.

Reacting on the reportsthat the SAD is seeking atleast 30 seats out of total 90 tocontest the Haryana assemblypolls, which are due inOctober, SAD’s senior leaderand in-charge for state affairs,Balwinder Singh Bhunder onThursday said, “The decisionon number of seats, we willcontest will be taken at anappropriate time when wewill sit together with ouralliance partner-BJP.”

Bhunder, while talking toa section of mediapersonshere clarified that the SADhas not put any demandbefore the BJP on number of

seats it wants to contest inHaryana Assembly elections.“The number is not an issueand these things can be sort-ed out when we sit together and discuss. But theSAD holds sway on a numberof seats in Haryana,” headded.

His statement came a dayafter senior SAD leader PremSingh Chandumajra had inDelhi said that his party is ina position to win 30 seats inthe 90-member HaryanaAssembly or make those con-testing these seats win.

Recently, Haryana SADleaders, including its stateunit president Sharanjit SinghSotha had also said the SADhas a strong sphere of influ-ence in more than 30 assem-bly segments and should beaccommodated honourably.The leaders had affirmed thatthe SAD had come of age inHaryana and is ready to reapthe benefits of the good workdone by it in the state.

The SAD led by theBadals— father-son duo ofParkash Singh Badal and

Sukhbir— is a key ally of theBJP-led NDA at the Centre.The SAD in an alliance withthe BJP had ruled Punjab fora decade till 2017 and is nowlooking for political expan-sion in Haryana.

In the 90-memberHaryana Assembly, the rulingBJP currently has 48 MLAswhile the SAD has only oneMLA.

On the seat-sharing issuewith the SAD, Haryana ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattarhad recently said these thingswill be decided by the BJP’sparliamentary board at anappropriate time.

Interestingly, the SAD,for a long time, had been sup-porting the Indian NationalLok Dal in Haryana despite itsalliance with BJP in Punjaband at the national level.

While Badals andChautalas have shared closefamily ties for over severaldecades, their political par-ties—INLD and SAD-- hadparted ways in 2016 over thecontentious issue of SultejYamuna Link (SYL) canal.

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Union Home MinisterAmit Shah will partici-

pate in the state level functionto be organized in Haryana’sRohtak on the occasion of 5thInternational Yoga Day onJune 21, Friday.

The Chief MinisterManohar Lal, Rohtak MPArvind Sharma and othersenior party leaders will alsobe present on the occasion.The state level function isscheduled to begin at 6:30 amat Mela Ground Vita MilkChowk, Gohana road,Rohtak.

The State Governmentwil l be celebratingInternational Yoga Day in allthe districts and assemblyconstituencies on Friday.

“Yoga events at as many as79 places will be organized inHaryana where Ministers,MLAs, MPs and other officebearers will be the chief guestsof these functions,” said anofficial spokesman.

The Chief MinisterManohar Lal on Thursdayevening reached Rohtak andreviewed the preparations forthe mega event.

Around 25000 people arelikely to participate in the

Rohtak event. According tocommon Yoga Protocol issuedby Union Ministr y ofAYUSH, related yoga traininghas been given at districtlevel.

The spokesman said thatHar yana Vidhan Sabha,Speaker Kanwar Pal wouldattend the district level func-tion as chief guest in Jagadhriof district Yamunanagar andDeputy Speaker SantoshYadav in Atel i ofMahendragarh district.

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Chandigarh: Haryana

Government has constitutedHaryana Yog Parishad underthe administrative control ofHealth and Family Welfareand AYUSH Departments.

In this regard, theDepartment of Health andFamily Welfare and AYUSHhas issued a notification onThursday.

Giving details, an officialspokesman of the Departmentsaid that the main objective ofYog Parishad is to introducepeople of the state to a healthylifestyle and to encouragethem to make yoga an integralpart of their life for the over-all development of their per-

sonality. He said that in addition,

the Parishad will ensure par-ticipation of youth of thestate in competitive programslike Yog Olympiad so thatthey can exhibit their skills atnational and internationallevel and bring laurels to thestate.

In order to achieve thisobjective, the Yoga Parishadwill take all necessary mea-sures to promote Yoga at thevillage, block and districtlevel by disseminating andpublicizing information relat-ed to yoga, the spokesmanadded.

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Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on

Thursday asked the Group ofMinisters (GoM) to approachthe Shiromani GurdwaraPrabandhak Committee(SGPC) for support to stategovernment’s celebration of550th Prakash Purb of SriGuru Nanak Dev on a com-mon platform.

Chairing the meeting of theExecutive Committee for thecommemoration of celebra-tions, the Chief Ministerexpressed his keenness to orga-nize this mega event in unisonwith the participation of SGPCand other religious organiza-tions in a befitting manner.

The Chief Minister alsomandated the GoM to extenda formal invite to the Jathedarof Sri Akal Takhat Sahib andPresident SGPC to seek theirwhole hearted support, coop-eration and guidance for orga-nizing this historic occasion ina meaningful manner.

Notably, a GoM comprisingTourism & Cultural AffairsMinister Charanjit Singh

Channi, Medical Education &Research Minister OP Soni andCooperation MinisterSukhjinder Singh Randhawa hasalready been constituted toreview the day to day progress ofthe preparations and develop-ment projects and schemes asso-ciated with the 550th birthanniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

The Chief Minister alsoasked the GoM to finalise 10-day itinerary (from 5thNovember to 15th November,2019) in consultation with rep-resentatives of the SGPC.

Taking part in the delib-erations, Capt Amarinderdirected the Chief Secretary tofinalize the modalities andfunding pattern for the pro-posed ‘Guru Nanak Dev jiMarg’ from Sultanpur Lodhi-Kapurthala-Kartarpur-Beas-Mehta-Batala (includingbypass)-Dera Baba Nanak, cov-ering 136 KM inclusive of thecost of upgradation to 10meters width, involving a totalexpenditure of Rs.96.15 crore.He asked the PrincipalSecretary PWD to execute thisprestigious project as a separateone after clearance from the

Chief Secretary. The Chief Minister also

asked the Special ChiefSecretary Local Government tovigorously pursue the propos-al for inclusion of SultanpurLodhi heritage city under

Smart City Project worthRs.271 crore, for which the stategovernment had already sub-mitted the concept plan to theMinistry of Housing & UrbanDevelopment, Government ofIndia.

Conceding the proposalput forth by PWD Minister,regarding development of thevillages associated with the lifeof Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji(Charan Choe Villages) onpriority, Capt Amarinder

directed to form committeescomprising the concernedMLA, Deputy Commissionerand SDM to finalize the devel-opment works to be executedon the priority. He also askedthe Special Chief Secretary

Local Government to ensureoverall infrastructural devel-opment in the towns and citiesassociated with Sri Guru NanakDev ji, a list of which would beprovided by the Tourism &Cultural Department.

It was also informed in themeeting that the Information &Public Relations Departmenthas got prepared a 88 minutesfilm from Epic channel in fourparts on the life and worksbesides various journeysundertook by Sri Guru NanakDev ji in the different parts ofworld.

The Chief Minister wasalso apprised about theprogress of tented city, to beerected at a cost of Rs.52.84crore to provide accommoda-tion facility at three differentlocations in Sultanpur Lodhifor nearly 40,000 people. MLASultanpur Lodhi also told theChief Minister that severalpeople residing in nearbytowns and villages have alreadyagreed to offer their accom-modation for the devotees.

Expressing deep satisfac-tion over the pace of the exe-cution of various development

works by Local Governmentand PWD, the Chief Ministerasked the Chief Secretary toregularly monitor the progressof the works with the con-cerned agencies to ensure theirtimely completion well inadvance before this mega eventto be held at Sultanpur Lodhion November 12, 2019.

On the issue of providingtransport facilities to the peo-ple to pay obeisance atSultanpur Lodhi on this his-toric occasion, it was decidedin the meeting that the ChiefMinister would write to all hiscounterparts of the states hav-ing sizeable population of Sikhsto ferry them to SultanpurLodhi to elicit their maximumparticipation by pressing intoservice special trains and buses.

Prominent amongst otherswho were present in the meet-ing included; Tourism &Cultural Affairs MinisterCharanjit Singh Channi, Health& Family Welfare MinisterBalbir Singh Sidhu, PWDMinister Vijay Inder Singla,Transport Minister RaziaSultana, Chief Secretary KaranAvtar Singh, besides others.

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The AAP on Thursdayaccused the Capt

Amarinder government inPunjab of ignoring the issue ofwater management despite alooming water crisis in the

state.Ruing that despite being an

agrarian state, Punjab is yet tohave a state water policy, seniorAAP leader and MLA AmanArora said the present Congressgovernment is sleeping over theissue like the previous SAD-BJP

government did.“The Amarinder Singh

government is directionless onthe issue of ground water man-agement in the state," said theAAP's Sunam MLA. "Despitebeing an agrarian state, Punjabis yet to have a state water pol-

icy to end the looming watercrisis here," he added.

He said the state was facingacute water scarcity “due to thethe laidback stance of the pre-vious SAD-BJP regime andnow the present Congress gov-ernment”.

He emphasised that a 'statewater policy' is the need of thehour to check the fast depletingground water table in thestate.The excessive use ofground water would renderthe state's prime land barren, hewarned.

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Haryana Project Director,Chief Minister's Good

Governance AssociatesProgramme, Rakesh Gupta onThursday directed the officersconcerned to work with fullresponsibility for schemes andapplications received for ser-vices on Antyodaya Saral Portalso as to provide the people of thestate with the maximum bene-fit of schemes and services.

Gupta was presiding hereover a review meeting of thenodal officers of AntyodayaSaral Kendras from across thestate. He said that ChiefMinister Manohar Lal regular-ly monitors the Saral portal. Ifanyone would show negligence

towards Saral portal then strictaction would be taken againstthem.

After reviewing the ser-vices of Gurugram PowerCorporation, he issued showcause notice to SuperintendingEngineer of Power Corporation,KC Aggarwal for not providinga refund to citizens after thegeneration of the ticket.

Similarly, he issued showcause notice to District Foodand Supply Controller ofPanipat, Anita Kharb, andDistrict Food and SupplyController of Gurugram,Monika Malik for not issuingration card but instead showingdelivery complete an onlinestatus. Gupta also issued showcause notice to Manoj Ahlawat,Tehsildar, Jind, for not clarify-ing the status of issuance ofincome and property certificateto economically weaker sectionsof the society. The ProjectDirector said that the fees takenfor online services and schemesshould also be paid online andthe applicant should also getonline intimation on comple-tion of his or her work.

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From Page 1Transport Minister

Govind Singh Thakur left for the spot from Shimlaafter learning about the accident.

The teams of the districtadministration and districtdisaster management author-ity along-with the doctorsand ambulances rushed tothe spot immediately onreceiving the informationabout the bus accident andstarted the rescue and reliefoperations.

The Kullu district admin-istration has provided Rs.50,000 as immediate relief tothe kin of deceased andinjured persons.

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Chandigarh: The Punjab State Schedule Caste Commission hadordered Additional Chief Secretary, Higher EducationDepartment to act against erring officials of Punjab Group ofCollege Chunni Kalan who are illegally collecting admission feefrom SC Students. In a statement, Tejinder Kaur, Chairpersonof Punjab State Schedule castes commission said that JatinderSingh and other students of Punjab Group of College, Chunnikalan had filed a written complaint before the commission thatthe institution is illegally collecting admission fee from SC stu-dents who are doing B.ed and M.ed from this college. PNS

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Concerned about the watercrisis and drought condi-

tions, Prime Minister NarendraModi wrote to Chief Ministersof all States advising them toconserve rainwater during theforthcoming monsoon.

The PM had earlier writtena personal letter to 'GramPradhans'(village chiefs) urgingthem to conserve rainwater.The issue of drought conditionsand water scarcity was dis-cussed at the highest level at theNITI Aayog's governing coun-cil meeting last week.

According to a NITIAayog report, Delhi is among21 major cities that will runout of groundwater by 2020.Situation in Maharashtra,Karnataka and Tamil Nadu isalso grim. It is not much bet-ter in Gujarat, Rajasthan andAndhra Pradesh. About halfof Maharashtra - includingthe districts of Latur, Beedand Osmanabad inMarathwada region - com-prising nearly three-fourthof 36 districts of the state are

facing severe drought situa-tion. In Karnataka, two dozenof its 30 districts - nearly 80per cent - are reeling underdrought.

In his letter, the PMadvised the CMs to focus onthe construction of farm pondstructures, desilting and reha-bilitation of irrigation tanks,micro-watersheds, construc-tion of groundwater rechargestructures, building of rainwa-ter harvesting structures - bothroof-top and ground-leveltanks. "Most-of these mea-sures need to be taken at thelocal level by mobilizing gram

panchayats and communities,and dovetailing resources fromvarious ongoing governmentprogrammes. Recent studieshave also shown a markedreduction in fecal contamina-tion ofgroundwater resourcesin many states owing toimprovements in sanitationand use of toilets," Modi stat-ed in the letter.

The Prime Minister alsoasked them to take this materon high priority and issue nec-essary instructions to the con-cerned departments and dis-tricts to draw up action planswith concrete.

According to the DroughtEarly Warning System(DEWS), about 42 per cent ofIndia is 'abnormally dry' whicharound 6 per cent is morethan last year. The pre-mon-soon season this year is the sec-ond driest in 65 years, withgross rainfall deficiency record-ed at 25 per cent, said privateforecaster Skymet. Chennaiand its suburbs are experienc-ing severe water scarcity thissummer, with borewells andlakes going dry, forcing peopleand commercial establishmentsto depend on water suppliedthrough tankers from villages

in neighbouring districts. A study by the National

Geophysical Research Institute(NGRI) from earlier this yearfound that groundwater levels inDelhi are depleting at an aston-ishing rate of 10 cm per year.

"Measurable outcomes andimplement them under yourpersonal supervision. I amrequesting the CabinetSecretary to follow up withyour Chief Secretaries. TheCentral Government will con-tinue to provide full support toStates in the matter. We need tocollectively take timely mea-sures to enable optimum uti-lization of the coming mon-soon rainfall by way of storingand conserving it for futureuse," Modi said.

According to IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD), monsoon rain defi-ciency has touched 43 percenttill June 20 in the country. Themonsoon has covered justabout 10-15 percent of thecountry so far, whereas nor-mally, two-thirds of Indiashould have received monsoonrains by this time of the year.

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The IAF, after 17 days ofmassive search and rescue

operation, has finally man-aged to recover the bodies andmortal remains of all 13 onboard the ill-fated AN-32. Ithad crashed on June 3.

A team of more than 20mountaineers and commandosof the army were involved inthe recovery effort of the bod-ies of the deceased. The bod-ies and mortal remains wererecovered on Thursday as therescue teams were unable toconduct the necessary actionsdue to inclement weather in thelast four days. Moreover, thehelicopters were also not ableto reach the wreckage sitelocated at a height of more than12,000 feet in Lipo area nearMechuka advanced landingground in Arunchal Pradeshdue to low clouds and rains forthe last few days, sources said

here on Thursday.The mortal remains were

now in the process getting air-lifted from the crash site toJorhat air base where the IAF willhand over the bodies to the nextof kin after necessary official for-malities, they said. Six bodiesand seven mortal remains wererecovered, it was learnt.

The rescue team had man-aged to salvage the flight datarecorder or the black box somedays back and was airlifted toJorhat. However, the probe toascertain the likely cause of themishap after analysis the dataof the black box may take timeas the equipment is damaged.Experts are trying to retrievethe data.

It is feared that the AN-32which took off from Jorhat inAssam on June 3 for Mechukain Arunachal Pradesh crashedinto a hill top. However, theanalysis of the data and thecourt of inquiry will find outthe exact reason of the accident.

Incidentally, in 2009, an AN-32had gone down in the sameregion killing all 13 passengers.

The rescue effort to locatethe AN-32 which went missingon June 3 saw the IAF carryingout more than 220 sorties of allkinds of planes including SU-3o fighter jets, C-130J specialoperations planes, P-8 I longrange reconnaissance aircraftand Mi-17 and advanced lighthelicopters. The wreckage wassighted on June 9 by a Mi-17 ona steep ridge amidst densejungles.

Mechuka advanced land-ing ground is located a heightof 6,000 feet and is the lifelinefor troops deployed on theline of actual control(LAC)facing China. The distance ofthis airfield from the LAC isabout 30 kms as the crow fliesthereby making it strategicallyimportant.

Defence Minister RajnathSingh will pay homage to the 13personnel on Friday.

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BJP MPs from KarnatakaPratap Simha and Tejasvi

Surya met Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman onThursday and submitted amemorandum to her request-ing a high-level probe into theIMA jewels case.

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has issuedsummon to IMA jewels scammain accused MohammedMansoor Khan to appearbefore it on June 24. But he hasreportedly fled the countryafter threatening to commitsuicide.

The police have formedteams to trace him. Names of

senior Congress ministersincluding RV Deshpande, cur-rent revenue minister and defect-ed MLA Roshan Baig have sur-faced in connection with thescam, though both of them havedenied any involvement.

The scam came to light onJune 10 when an audio clip ofKhan blaming MLA Baig andother government officials ofcorruption went viral. In thevideo, Khan allegedly said thathe defaulted on loans andcouldn't pay back on accountof giving bribes.

Since then, investors havebeen protesting outside IMA'soffice. As the number of griev-ing investors increased, policeset up counters for them to file

complaints. The number ofcomplaints increased from afew thousand in the first twodays to 10,000 and now standsat 40,000. In addition, there wasa separate counter at a differ-ent location for 200 employeesof IMA, who have invested inthe company taking loans frombanks and have now lost theirjobs.

The BJP MPs also apprisedSitharaman over Institute ofBanking Personnel Selection(IBPS)issue. "They requested toreinstate 2014 notificationwhich made knowledge ofnative language study till 10thgrade mandatory to apply forRegional Rural Banks exams,"BJP MPs said.

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CBI has sought sanction forprosecution against four

former officers, including threeIAS officers, working in theFinance Ministry in the INXMedia case involving charges ofbribery against former FinanceMinister P Chidambaram andson Karti.

The officers found to beinvolved in conspiracy withChidambaram in illegallyapproving the FIPB clearancein 2008 were former NITIAayog CEO SindhushreeKhullar, former secretary of theMinistry of Micro, Small &Medium Enterprises Anup KPujari and current principalsecretary in the HimachalPradesh government, PrabodhSaxena and retired under sec-retary Rabindra Prasad.

These officers were thenworking at Economic AffairsDepartment and had illegallyapproved the FIPB clearance toINX Media. Karti is accused ofaccepting bribe of Rs.five crorefrom the TV channel promot-

ers Indrani Mukerjea and PeterMukerjea. Indrani has alreadybecome approver in the case,blaming Chidambaram forpressurising her to pay bribe tosave her from the Income Taxprosecution.

Khullar was then addition-al secretary in Economic AffairsDepartment and was earlierOSD to Chidambaram. Pujariwas Joint Secretary and Saxenawas Director in FinanceMinistry. The Central VigilanceCommission (CVC) alreadyapproved CBI's sanction forprosecution and the files are cur-rently in Finance Ministry now.

CBI is expected to filechargesheet soon in the fasttrack court meant for MPsand MLAs as the two accusedChidamabram and Karti areParliamentarians. CBI hasalready arrested Karti inFebruary 2017 and attached hisRs. 55 crore worth properties inDelhi, Ooty, Cambridge andSpain.

The Delhi High Court hasalready reserved its orders onthe anticipatory bail granted toChidambaram and CBI'srequest to cancel it seeking cus-todial interrogation of the for-mer Finance Minister.

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In the first high-level visitfrom any country following

the Lok Sabha polls, USSecretary of State MichaelPompeo will be in India fromJune 25-27 and hold talks withthe leadership here to strength-en the strategic partnership.

His visit comes ahead of ameeting between US PresidentDonald Trump and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on thesidelines of the G20 Summit inOsaka, Japan on June 28-29.

During his visit, Pompeowould hold talks with ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankarand call upon other digni-taries, Ministry of ExternalAffairs Spokesperson RaveeshKumar said at a media briefing.

"We look upon the visit asan important opportunity forboth sides to further strength-en the India-US strategic part-nership and continue high-level engagement on matters ofmutual interest, including bilat-eral, regional and global issues,"Kumar said.

"This is the first high-levelengagement between India andthe US following the elections.This is also the first incoming

high-level visit from any coun-try. We look upon this visit asan opportunity to discuss allthe issues which will be on thetable," Kumar said.

He said most of the issuesunder the bilateral frameworkwill be discussed and there willbe some talks on regional aswell as global issues of mutualinterest.

Asked about media reportson the US considering caps onH-1B work visa, Kumar said,"We have not heard anythingofficially from the US govern-ment. We continue to reiterateand engage with the US gov-ernment on this matter."

On whether the issue willbe taken up with Pompeo dur-ing his visit here, Kumar saidit would not be right to spec-ulate on the agenda of hismeetings here.

"There is no (official)report as such. There is no USofficial who has come up witha statement. It is a source-basedreport. We have not yet heardanything from the US govern-ment on this. We remainengaged with the US adminis-tration, we remain engagedwith the Congress on thisissue," Kumar said.

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To ensure timely treatmentto the patients affected with

Acute Encephalitis Syndrome(AES)/Japanese Encephalitis(JE), the Centre on Thursdaydeployed 8 additional advancedlife support ambulances (ALS)in Muzaffarpur in Bihar toferry them from remote areasto the hospitals. Meanwhile,the State Government haslaunched a social audit alongwith active door-to-door casefinding campaign and movingthe prospective patients to thenearest PHC for early inter-vention.

The death toll has reachedto 118 while the total numberof AES cases registered sinceJune 1 was 398 at the SKMCH

and 154 at Kejriwal hospital,according to figures providedby the district administration.

"In view of the situationarising due to the AES/JE casesin Muzaffarpur and otheradjoining districts in Bihar,the Union Health Ministry hasinstructed for deployment ofeight advanced life supportambulances (ALS) in the affect-ed districts.

"Accordingly, eight addi-tional advanced life supportambulances (ALS) have beenpressed into service for trans-portation of critical patientsunder National Health Mission(NHM)," said a statement here.

A central teams of 10 pedi-atricians and five para-medicshas already started working incoordination with the stategovernment while sixteen

senior district officials andmedical personnel have beensent to the vulnerable blocks formonitoring and early identifi-cation of cases and ensuringdaily reporting. Their head-quarters have also been shift-ed to these blocks also, thestatement added.

Union Health Minister, DrHarsh Vardhan said that theDistrict Collector (DC) hasnow got involved and is per-sonally taking responsibility. Hehas deputed the Senior DeputyCollectors (SDC)/District levelofficers to lead various blockteams. These teams will beassisted by a district levelMedical Officer and MedicalOfficer in charge (MOIC) to dothe overall work at block level.

"The State government hasstarted a social audit along with

active case finding campaignthrough house to house surveyand moving the prospectivepatients to the nearest PHC forearly intervention. Surprisechecks are also being conduct-ed at the PHCs by the SeniorDeputy Collectors (SDC).Additionally, the early morninginspection of AnganwadiCentres is also being under-taken by SDCs and Childdevelopment Project Officers(CDPOs). They are also dis-tributing of ORS to each housein the affected villages," hestated.

Also, an ICMR team ofexperts has been deployed atthe Sri Krishna Medical Collegeand Hospital (SKMCH) hos-pital for making the virologylab operational at the earliest,said Dr Harsh Vardhan.

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The US continues to makedistinction between good

and bad terrorists and hosts theservers of a number of websitesand app-based communica-tion channels of terror groupscirculating radical contentonline.

The US Government isnot encouraging the Americancompanies to remove radical orterror-related content com-pletely from the servers basedthere. Instead, the Americancompanies are only bothered tofilter only anti-US content,said sources tracking onlineradical content.

The contents of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad, banned by theUnited Nations, are availablethrough American serversincluding through a number ofwebsites like rangonoor.com,alqalamonline.com andtelegram channels.

In addition, the JeM isalso contributing terror contentthrough joint venture channelalribat, the official mouthpieceof Al Qaeda in theAfghanistan-Pakistan region.Terror groups sponsored byPakistan's notorious spy agencyInter-Services Intelligence (ISI)as also Jaish contribute contentthrough joint venture channel.The Brigade 313 which wasearlier headed by listed terror-ist Ilyas Kashmiri (now dead)also contribute radical contentonline through the joint ven-ture channel whose server isalso located in the US.

"During the last twodecades, a noticeable trend of theUS to hand over terroristsnabbed by the American forcesfrom terror-infested areas likeAfghanistan, Iraq and Syria tothe country of belonging ofultras is also leading to terrorthreat. Such terrorists handedover by the US forces are ulti-mately freed after serving a fewyears of sentence and again startradicalisation which culminatesinto armed struggle against thegovernment in the name ofjehad," counter-terrorism expertDr Rituraj Mate said.

During the Afghan opera-tions, the US has handed over

a number of nabbed terroriststo a range of countries andasked them to punish accord-ing to their laws and portrayssuch actions as counter-terrorcooperation.

Recently, the US hadnabbed a Kashmiri ISIS oper-ative Adil Ahmad Wada fromSyria and US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo may proposehanding him over to Indiaduring his visit to New Delhinext week and seek to paint itas a major counter-terrorismcooperation despiteWashington treating Kashmiras a disputed territory.

In the backdrop of the UShiding advance inputs onDavid Coleman Headley whowas co-opted by the Americangovernment despite his link-ages to the Pakistan-based ter-ror group Lashkar-e-Tayyabathat carried out the 26/11Mumbai terror attack inNovember 2008, the govern-ment here should be extreme-ly cautious while acceptingWada's custody fromAmericans, sources said,adding Washington would toutit as a major counter-terrorismcooperation to seek variousconcessions or clear pendingarms deals.

Mate said Wada's return tothe Kashmir Valley could leadto strengthening of the fledg-ling Islamic State Jammu andKashmir (ISJK) and couldlead to a spurt in violent inci-dents by the global terrorgroup. Wada hails fromJammu and Kashmir and hadbeen studying in Australiabefore he left to Syria afterjoining the ISIS.

The US, however, does notreturn terrorists nabbed by itsforces to countries like Chinaand instead sends them tothird countries from whereanti-China radicalisation andterror activities are undertak-en, sources said.

Google's Indian AmericanCEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesdayclaimed YouTube has recentlymade "significant revisions" toits hate speech policy andremoved over nine millionvideos in the last quarter as partof a process to reduce thespread of harmful content.

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The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on Thursday

carried out searched at 12 loca-tions in Bihar and UttarPradesh in connection withinvestigation of Munger ArmsCase. During the raids, theinvestigators seized rifles, laptops and cash worth Rs. 29lakhs.

The case pertains to recov-ery of three AK-47 along withother weapons on the disclo-sure of accused Shamsher Alamfrom the house of his sisterRizwana Begum." In this casea large number of prohibitedweapons including AK seriesweapons were stolen andsmuggled out of the COD,Jabalpur to various Naxalorganisations and criminalgangs," said NIA in statement.

"On the basis of credibleevidence collected duringinvestigation, searches wereconducted in the houses ofsuspect Hulas Pandey and hisclose associates at differentplaces at Buxar, Bhojpur,Rohtas, Varanasi and Patna,"added the agency.

NIA has arrested andre-manded 15 accused in the caseand so far 9 accused personshave been chargesheetedincluding kingpin of the rack-et Purushottam Lal Rajak,Suresh Thakur, Imran Alamand Niyajul Rahman. Total 22AK rifles, smuggled from COD,Jabalpur have already beenrecovered. Investigation in thecase is continuing, said NIA.

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Egypt’s first and last democrati-cally elected President,Mohamed Morsi, died on July17, lying on the floor of thecourtroom where they were

trying him on yet more charges. (He wasalready serving several life sentences). Itwas probably a heart attack, but accord-ing to witnesses, they left him lying therefor 20 minutes before medical helparrived.

His death drew criticism from inter-national and local human rights groups,which accused the Egyptian governmentof deliberately denying Morsi access tomedical care in jail. He was only 67, buthe was not in good health: He had bothdiabetes and liver disease. But he was notgetting proper treatment for those illness-es. A British parliamentary group thatinvestigated his situation at his family’srequest last year concluded that withouturgent medical assistance, the damage tohis health could be “permanent andpossibly terminal.” Well, it was.

Morsi was held in solitary confine-ment for six years and saw his family justthree times. His living conditions weresuch that the United Nations Humanrights office has called for a “prompt,impartial, thorough and transparentinvestigation” into his death. Fair enough,but he is only one of the thousands ofEgyptians who have been murdered ortortured by the military regime thatoverthrew him in 2013.

Morsi, Egypt’s first democraticallyelected President, who hailed from thenow outlawed Brotherhood, was oustedby the military in 2013 after massiveprotests against his divisive rule. Theauthorities subsequently launched amajor crackdown on the Brotherhood,arresting Morsi and many others of thegroup’s leaders.

Morsi was not a very good President:He was a narrow, stubborn man, who gov-erned solely in the interests of his ownMuslim Brotherhood party and its Islamicpriorities. He behaved like this eventhough he had barely scraped into thepresidency with the votes of many, who,though secular in their views and values,feared that otherwise the candidate of theold regime would win.

They fully shared his desire to uprootthe secular “deep state” that had ruledEgypt through three military dictatorsand six decades but they had not signedup for an Islamist constitution instead. Sothey started demonstrating against Morsiand only a year after he was elected, theycheered when the military stepped in andoverthrew him, like so many turkeys vot-ing for Christmas.

Morsi and his party behaved badly,the secular pro-democracy activists wereno wiser and they have both paid a highprice in blood and misery for their mis-

takes. So is there any partic-ular reason to highlight thefact and manner of Morsi’spassing?

Yes, because it creates anopportunity to consider whatmight have happened if hehad not been overthrown.

He would probably still bealive, because he would havebeen getting good medicalcare, but he would no longerbe in power. His four-yearpresidential term would haveexpired in 2016 and he wouldnot have won a second term.

Whoever won the firstelection after the long-rulingdictator Hosni Mubarak wasoverthrown in 2011, was win-ning a poisoned chalice, forthe Egyptian economy wasalready on the rocks when theprotests began. In fact, that’swhy they started and the longperiod of protesting and pol-iticking that followed meantthat nobody even startedthinking about the economyagain until early 2013.

The whole of Morsi’s firstpresidential term, had heserved it out, would havebeen spent struggling to pullthe economy out of the ditch.In the course of that, he would

have had to impose all sorts ofausterity measures that wouldhave hurt exactly the peoplewho were his core voters: Thepious poor. And half of themwouldn’t have voted for himnext time.

The whole tragedy of2013, which ended up withGeneral al-Sisi’s snipers killingmore than a thousandunarmed protesters in Rabaaand Nahda Squares in Cairoand wounding at least 4,000others — a massacre perhapsas bad as Tiananmen Square— was completely unneces-sary. People more experiencedwith democracy would haveknown that Morsi and MuslimBrotherhood rule would bothbe rejected in the 2016 elec-tions.

All they had to do waswait it out and let the voterssort it out next time. That’swhat Americans, who deplorePresident Donald Trump, aredoing right now but they havemore than two centuries ofdemocratic Governmentunder their belt.

The voters may choose tomake the same “mistake”again, of course, being onlyhuman but mostly they don’t.

And even if they do, there willbe another chance to fixthings the next time around.As long as the decisions arenot completely irrevocable,they can eventually bereversed — and you get tokeep your democracy.

If Morsi had not beenoverthrown, the biggest Arabcountry, with one-third ofthe world’s Arabic-speakingpeople, would still be ademocracy. Other Arab coun-tries like Algeria and Sudan,where they are trying to makedemocracy happen today,would have a powerful sup-porter in Egypt, not a swornenemy. Syria would probablystill have suffered a civil warand so might Yemen but theultra-conservative monarchiesof the Gulf would no longerdominate the Arab world withtheir money.

Nobody can question thecourage of the young men andwomen who overthrew theEgyptian dictatorship in 2011but they were too ready to dis-pense with democracy at thefirst sign of trouble.

(The writer’s new book isGrowing Pains: The Future ofDemocracy and Work))���������������*+$������������

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Sir — As the world celebratesYoga Day today, people should beaware of the many benefits of ourtraditional and comprehensivewell-being ritual so that every-body can take advantage andpractise it as a healthy way of life.Yoga is the only discipline whichaligns the body and mind andhelps us gain inner peace. Just fiveminutes of a yoga routine a daycan change one’s life. It can helpimprove concentration, too.

Varsha TiwariVia email

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Sir — It is sad that militancy hasonce again reared its ugly head inJammu & Kashmir. In yet anoth-er encounter, another ArmyMajor died while another officerof the same rank and two soldierswere injured in an encounter insouth Kashmir earlier. Our Armyhas shown indomitable spirit inprotecting the borders of thecountry so that the people, espe-cially in Jammu & Kashmir,remain safe. It is for theGovernment to make sure that

security forces are fully equippedto fight terrorists. The preparede-ness of our forces has long beenquestioned. It’s high time theGovernment reviews counter-insurgency operations and investsin capacity-building.

Kirti Agarwal Via email

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Sir — Now that JP Nadda has beenappointed the Bharatiya JanataParty’s (BJP) working president, hehas a task at hand that can only bedescribed as onerous. Nadda, whoheaded the Health Ministry in

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’sfirst tenure, is a symbol ofdynamism, perseverance, sobrietyand maturity. His ascent from astudents’ leader to the workingpresident of the BJP — at a timewhen the party has flourished ina majority of States and has deci-mated the Opposition in the

recent parliamentary polls —makes it special and significant asit will likely take him to the top slotby December.

J Akshay Bengaluru

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Sir — Yoga is panacea for all typesof physical, mental, emotional,psychic and psychological imbal-ances. In the famous documentaryon meditation, Spiritual Reality:Journey Within, many benefits ofyoga have been enumerated upon.The documentary reveals howyoga replenishes and rejuvenatesa yogi physically, mentally andspiritually. In the state of perfectyoga, one receives abundant cos-mic energy, which heals, energis-es and rejuvenates each and everycell, nerve and organ of the phys-ical, mental and spiritual body ofa man. It cleanses the body of allits ills and toxins that mightdevelop into some fatal ailments.We must practise yoga for ahealthy, happy and fulfilling life.

Jubel D’CruzMumbai

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Digital technologies have now become themost powerful lever for financial inclusionand are considered the smartest way to

rapidly unlock economic opportunity and accel-erate social development with economic empow-erment. Digital tools have fostered speedier andmore inclusive growth by dramatically reducingfinancial service providers’ costs and making ser-vices more convenient and accessible for users,especially low-income subscribers in remote loca-tions. Money sits in a virtual account on a serverwhere it can be transferred with the click of a but-ton.

Digital finance payments and financial servicesdelivered via mobile phones and the internet aregreasing the wheels of the economic system andtransforming the lives and economic prospects ofindividuals, businesses and Governments acrossthe developing world, thus boosting GDP and mak-ing the goal of financial inclusion a reality.

In contrast to digital financial systems, phys-ical channels are prohibitive for even low incomepopulations. First, physical banking is relativelycostlier and riskier for consumers to perform evenwhile engaging in basic financial activities — pay-ments, savings, investments and remittances.Second, it is very costly for utility firms, banks,insurance companies and other institutions totransact with them as it makes their operationsinfeasible and unsustainable. Digital channels offera robust fix for the problems encountered by bothconsumers and financial institutions in tradition-al systems of finance.

Digital finance can be defined as financial ser-vices delivered over digital infrastructure, includ-ing internet and mobile, with low use of cash andtraditional bank branches. Computers, mobilephones or biometric payment cards used overPoint-of-Sale (PoS) devices connect individuals andbusinesses to a digitised payments infrastructure,enabling seamless transaction across all parties.

The popular term for the digital financial rev-olution is “fintech,” which has fundamentallychanged people’s lives and transformed the busi-ness landscape. In many markets, cash is fastbecoming obsolete and transactions are mostly viadigital tools. Banking is also moving into a pres-ence-less, paperless and real-time era: While therewill always be bank branches, banks will becomemore “invisible” in how they deliver their services— many of which will primarily be accessed online.

The fintech revolution is led by a host of play-ers, including commercial banks, telecommuni-cation firms, payment banks, small finance banksand financial technology companies. It is harness-ing technology to reinvent traditional businessmodels, creating opportunities to connect India’shitherto unbanked communities to affordableand reliable financial tools at an unprecedentedspeed and scale. It offers a preview of what theglobal banking model may look like a genera-tion from now.

Fintech has freed bank staff from countersand relieved customers of the inconvenience oftransacting solely during banking hours. Mostof the financial work can now be done via thesmartphone, improving payment systems, elim-inating paper receipts and reducing a number offrictions thus not only saving customers’ time andmoney, but improving their quality of life.

Meanwhile, the phenomenal data foot-print provided by smartphones anddata-connected mobile phones is pro-viding an unprecedented opportunityto bring people with limited credit-his-tory into the formal mainstreamthrough alternate credit profiles. In con-junction with this digital data, ArtificialIntelligence and machine learning algo-rithms can assess the credit worthinessof the user, making it possible to pro-vide loans to them even in the absenceof a traditional credit history.

Digital finance also offers majortechnological and infrastructure chal-lenges. Sparse populations, inconsistentnetwork coverage, insufficient capital forbuilding new business models and cus-tomers’ lack of trust and comfort withtechnology can stand in the way of suc-cess, particularly in remote or unde-served communities. And the risks ofimplementing digital financial servicesare not just operational and technical:There are also concerns about the secu-rity, affordability and safety of these newfinancial channels. To take just one exam-ple, loss of customer privacy is all butinevitable, despite efforts to create safe-guards. For India’s financial inclusionindustry to capitalise fully on the bene-fits of digital finance, the accompanyingrisks must be understood and ade-quately addressed.

However, digital finance can havenegative effects for financial inclusion.Providers of digital finance services canbe profit-seeking corporations thatuse digital finance to maximise theirprofitability or to maximise the prof-itable opportunities of businesses affil-iated with digital finance providers,namely banks, financial and non-financial institutions. Corporateproviders of digital finance services can

discriminately use a more aggressivemarketing tactic to persuade high andmiddle income customers to use a newor existing digital finance platform orinfrastructure. They must use a less-aggressive marketing tactic to per-suade low-income and poor customersto use new or existing digital platformsor infrastructure if they believe the lat-ter cannot afford the associated fees.

The most important need is tostrengthen the entire ecosystem withinwhich last-mile agents, clients and finan-cial service providers interact with tech-nology. To facilitate a seamless transitionin digital financial services, India willhave to consider the following:

�The need to balance the regulato-ry framework to support innovation andcompetition, while ensuring the safetyand soundness of the financial system.

� Maintain openness to new play-ers and models such as non-bank play-ers like fintechs, telecom-supportedfinancial services providers, crowd fund-ing and big data analytics.

� The role of regulatory sandboxesto test new digital ideas and initiatives.

�The importance of sufficient dig-ital infrastructure.

�The role of national identificationsystems, biometrics and tiered know-your-customer digital solutions thatreach beyond the banking system.

While ground-breaking technolo-gy and innovative business operationsprovide fresh business opportunities,there are also new risks, which relate toimplementing digital financial ser-vices, not just operational and techni-cal. Loss of privacy is the most obviousone. Despite efforts to create safeguards,it is all but inevitable. Though theserisks cannot be eliminated, they can bemitigated. We must keep in mind the

concerns of security, affordability andsafety.

India’s central bank has been espous-ing a cautious approach in addressingconcerns around consumer protectionand law enforcement. The key objectivesof the regulator have been to create anenvironment for responsible fintechinnovations, to expand the reach offinancial services for the unbanked pop-ulation, to regulate an efficient electron-ic payment system and to provide suit-able options to consumers.

While India is right in espousing acautious approach, it would be morepractical if it strikes a balance betweenprotecting investors and consumers andgiving banks, retailers and financialtechnology and telecommunicationscompanies room to compete and inno-vate. Because regulations often shut outnon-bank competitors, Governmentsshould consider a tiered approach,whereby businesses, without a full bank-ing licence, can provide basic financialproducts to customers.

Success cannot occur in a vacuum.To capture the opportunity, Government,leaders and businesses have to make aconcerted and coordinated effort. Threebuilding blocks are required: A dynam-ic business environment for financial ser-vices, widespread mobile and digitalinfrastructure and digital finance prod-ucts that meet the needs of individualsand small businesses in ways that aresuperior to the informal financial toolsused today. As the Government and thefintech industry work to navigate themany challenges ahead, efforts to main-tain a balance between safety and inno-vation must continue.

(The writer is Member, NITI Aayog’sNational Committee on Financial Literacyand Inclusion for Women)

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That sustainability and econom-ic growth are co-dependent iswell-known. Green funding ie,

financing environment-friendly activ-ities and projects, can act as a catalystto fulfil both. Hence, it is important tolink the financial sector to make itresponsive to climate-related con-cerns. Green funding can have twoaspects — first, financial institutionsensuring (before granting any credit)that no project financed breaches cur-rent environmental standards. The sec-ond relates to preferring activities orprojects that are climate-friendly ie,ones that reduce emissions or helpcope with vagaries of climate change.

The “business-as-usual” sce-nario without achieving environ-

mental goals may lead to loss of civil-isation. Such a world will support asmall fraction of the current globalpopulation, with many places (likethe Gulf Cooperation Council)becoming unfit for living. However,there’s hope. A recent report by theGlobal Sustainable InvestmentAlliance shows at least $30.7 trillionis held in green investments, up 30per cent from 2016. How did thishappen? And how can we acceler-ate the same?

Greening investments requireefforts in terms of capacity-building,improving governance and new invest-ment policies. The current flow of cap-ital to the green sector is mostly fromthe private sector, with many involvedplayers largely directing capital to thesecauses, as per the inclination of theasset holders ie, people, whose money,various institutions like mutual fundsand insurance companies invest.These asset holders are aware of theconsequences of climate change andwant the money to be invested so asto address the issue. The world needsa lot of capital to fight climate change.As per a report by the World

Economic Forum, it would need anadded investment of around $0.7trillion per year to sustain the chal-lenges posed by climate change.

The notion of green funding inIndia is very recent. However, withinthis short period, notable institutionslike SBI, Axis Bank, Power FinanceCorporation and a few independentpower producers like Renew Powerand Greenko have tapped dedicatedgreen funds existing in the West byissuing green bonds. To scale up theefforts locally, a collective effort on thepart of all stakeholders, including theGovernment, banks, institutions andregulators is needed to build a climateresilient nation via green funding.“Green banks” are considered to be apromising solution to develop greeninfrastructure markets. An obviousquestion that emerges here is: How canIndia unleash its potential?

Nearly 1,500 investors globally,with $45 trillion of assets under theirmanagement, have made public com-mitments to responsible investment.The benefits that directly emerge forinvestors allocating capital to greencauses are — access to green

assets/projects without higher projectrisk, achieving environmental andfinancial return on investment, com-pliance to green mandates, awarenessand commitment to green growth, anddeeper engagement with firms man-aging green issues. Undoubtedly, thishints towards investors with substan-tial corpus, who are active supportersof climate change. It is but natural thatthese investors have an appetite forgreen bond funding. It is to mop upfunds from these sources that theIndian institutions mentioned earlierissued green bonds.

There is evidence that severaldeveloping nations like Bangladesh,Nigeria, Fiji and Indonesia amongothers have committed themselves togreen financing. Nigeria, Fiji andIndonesia have issued sovereign greenbonds. Given India’s existing emissiontrajectory, it is essential for us to tapgreen financing to ensure minimumemissions with greater resilience. TheInternational Finance Corporation(IFC), a member of the World BankGroup, and Amundi, Europe’s largestasset manager, announced the suc-cessful launch of the world’s largest

targetted green bond fund focused onemerging markets, the Amundi PlanetEmerging Green One (EGO), inMarch 2018. With a $256 million cor-nerstone commitment from IFC, thefund aims to increase the capacity ofemerging market banks to fund cli-mate-smart investments.Subsequently, an announcement wasmade about IFC tying up with HSBCGlobal Asset Management to set upa similar fund targetted at non-bank-ing segment.

How does India fare on attractinggreen investments?As per a report byBloomberg New Energy Finance,India reserved the second position inglobal ranking in attractiveness forrenewable sector investments, primar-ily coerced by its policy push towardsincreasing renewable energy. Further,it had the second biggest (2017)renewable energy investment marketamong all such climate-consciouseconomies, drawing $ 9.4 billion freshfunding.

Despite evidence of increasing pri-vate sector interest in clean energy andassociated green investments, thescale of green investments has a lot

more to cover. Closing this gap is ourcollective task. Development financeinstitutions like IFC and ADB amongothers may support by credit enhance-ments instruments like guarantee,besides investing in some key projectsand help in slashing the overall cost ofcapital. The unified action of publicand private funding leverages fargreater capital flow, compared tostandalone private sector finance.

India is trying to be a big playerhere. Nevertheless, more needs to bedone. The launch of the AmundiPlanet EGO can be an incentive todeveloping nations, including India.The long time scale and large size ofthe fund, which will actively invest inemerging market green bonds issuedby financial institutions through to2025, is expected to significantlyincrease the scale and pace of climatefinance in emerging markets.

Further, consistent positions onfinancial policy and market interven-tion by Governments can help giveconfidence to both domestic andinternational investors. Similarly, con-sistent policy positions and support forgreen growth and environmental

objectives will boost investors’ confi-dence in green funding.

A missing piece of the puzzle,however, is a substantial amount ofdedicated green capital that existslocally in the Indian markets. This hasstarted with dedicated green fundsslowly finding their ground here.Currently, there are a few funds likeGEF Capital Partners, EversourceCapital, which are dedicated to greencauses. Recently, Avendus, a leadingfinancial service provider, announcedthat it has launched India’s first ESGfund. Is India ready to launch a large“green fund” in which retail or evenhigh net worth individuals are substan-tial contributors? Industry veterans arenot positive about it. Then how do weget there? Clearly, greater awareness isthe answer. The good thing is that thejourney has already started. Still,more momentum is required to pro-vide the desired impetus.

(Megha Jain is assistant professor,Faculty of Management Studies,University of Delhi and SandeepBhattacharya is projects manager,Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI),Mumbai)

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The National Company LawTribunal (NCLT) on

Thursday admitted the insol-vency petition filed by thelenders’ consortium led byState Bank against Jet Airways.

The tribunal has alsoappointed AshishChhauchharia of GrantThornton as the resolutionprofessional for the crippledairline that stopped operationson April 17.

The tribunal comprisingVP Singh and RavikumarDuraisamy directed the RP totry and finish the resolutionprocess in three months eventhough the law allows sixmonths, saying “the matter is ofnational importance.”

In its plea, SBI has made aclaim of �967 crore and said ithad given �505 crore in work-ing capital loans, and an over-draft facility of �462 crore to

the company.However, the tribunal

rejected the plea by theNetherlands based vendors forfiling an intervention applica-tion, saying the Dutch districtcourt had no jurisdiction toorder bankruptcy of Jet Airways.

The representatives of twoDutch two logistics vendorswanted the tribunal’s nod tomake an intervention petition.

It can be noted that twologistics vendors of Jet in theNetherlands had confiscated apassenger jet at the Amsterdamairport late March seeking duesand a local had in May orderedbankruptcy process against thegrounded airline and hadappointed Rocco Mulder as theadministrator for the bank-ruptcy proceedings.

The tribunal also rejectedthe bankruptcy pleas filed bytwo operational creditors of Jet--Shaman Wheels and GaggarEnterprises. These companiesclaim �8.74 crore, and �53lakh respectively from the air-line, and were the first to takethe airline for bankruptcy onJune 10.

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Shares of Jet Airways wit-nessed an unprecedented

rally on the bourses Thursday,bouncing back sharply afterdays of massive fall to close theday over 122 per cent higher.

After a highly volatile trad-ing day, the scrip skyrocketed93.35 per cent to close at �64on the BSE, helped by robustfag end buying. During the day,it zoomed 133.68 per cent to�77.35.

Earlier in the day, shares ofthe company had touched itsall-time low of �27, down 18.42per cent.

At the NSE, shares rose by122.20 per cent to close at�73.55. In intra-day trade, ittouched a high of �82.75 andan all-time low of �26.55.

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The Indian economy hasbeen clearly losing traction

and needs a decisive monetarypolicy to promote growth, saidReserve Bank of IndiaGovernor Shaktikanta Daswhile voting for a 25 basispoints (bps) rate cut alongwith other five members at theMPC meet earlier this month.

Das, as per the minutes ofthe June 3-6 Monetary PolicyCommittee, said that since thelast meeting of the rate-settingpanel in April 2019, greater clar-ity has emerged about the evolv-ing macroeconomic situation.

The RBI released the min-utes of the meeting Thursday.

Overall, there is clear evi-dence of economic activity“losing traction” with the GDPgrowth in the fourth quarter ofthe last financial year slowingto 5.8 per cent, he said.

“In sum, growth impulseshave clearly weakened, whilethe headline inflation trajecto-ry is projected to remain below4.0 per cent throughout 2019-20 even after considering theexpected transmission of the

past two policy rate cuts.“Keeping in view the evolv-

ing growth inflation dynamics,there is a need for decisive mon-etary policy action. Hence, myvote is to reduce the policy reporate by 25 basis points,” he said.

He also favoured shiftingthe stance of monetary policyfrom neutral to accommoda-tive to send a clear signal,indicating that more measurescould be taken in the nearfuture to boost growth.

It was for the third time ina row that the RBI cut the keylending rate (repo) by 25 bps.

MPC member and RBIDeputy Governor Viral Acharyasaid the mixed picture on eco-nomic growth has morphedinto one where at least someaspects have weakened consid-erably over the past two quarters.He also flagged some upsiderisks, including deficiency inmonsoon and volatality in crudeoil prices, to inflation.

“In spite of my dilemma, Ivote — albeit with some hesi-tation — to frontload the pol-icy rate cut from 6 per cent to5.75 per cent...” the minutesquoted him as saying.

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Debt-ridden realty firmJaypee Infratech’s credi-

tors, which include banks andhomebuyers, Thursday met toassess the progress of the ongo-ing insolvency proceedingsand decide the future course ofaction.

According to sources, theCommittee of Creditors (CoC)did not take any decision onthe way forward. The decisionon whether to consider bids ofAdani Group or Jaypee Groupwould be taken after a hearingin this matter in the NationalCompany Law AppellateTribunal (NCLAT) on July 2.

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Two former IL&FS execu-tives Arrested by the

Enforcement Directorate fortheir alleged roles money laun-dering for the crisis-hit lendingfirm, were Thursday remand-ed to six-day custody of thecentral agency.

IL&FS former joint man-aging director Arun K Saha and

its transportation network MDK Ramchand were remanded inED’s custody by a special PMLAcourt till June 25.

The two were arrested lateWednesday and producedbefore Judge P P Rajvaidya ofthe special court set up underPrevention of MoneyLaundering Act. The duo’s werethe first arrests in the case offinancial irregularity by IL&FS.

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The GST Council will onFriday consider slashing

GST rate on electric vehicles to5 per cent, from 12 per centcurrently, along with exten-sion of the tenure of the anti-profiteering authority by a yeartill November 2020, anofficial said.

The 35th meeting of theGST Council and the firstunder Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman will alsoconsider a couple of anti-eva-sion steps such as integrationof e-way bill with NHAI’sFASTag from April 1, 2010,and asking businesses with aturnover of over Rs 50 crore toissue e-invoice for B2B (busi-

ness-to-business) sales, as wellas asking states to make e-tick-eting mandatory for all movie halls.

The Council will also con-sider tweaking GST rate on lot-tery. An 8-member group ofstate finance ministers couldnot reach a consensus onwhether a uniform tax rateshould be imposed on lotter-ies or the current differentialtax rate system be continued.

Currently, a state-organ-ised lottery attracts 12 percent GST, while a state-autho-rised lottery attracts 28 percent tax.

Also, the Council is likelyto discuss a mechanism forsingle-point sanctioning andprocessing GST refunds.

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Airbus on Thursday said it hassigned an MoU with Pawan

Hans Limited (PHL) in Paris forcollaboration in introducing twonew categories of its helicopters- H145 and H225 - in the latter’sfleet sometime in the future.

The Airbus also saidaccording to the MoU, signedon Wednesday evening, it wouldprovide “predictive and sched-uled maintenance” for therepair, maintenance and over-haul of PHL’s existing fleet ofAS365N Dauphin helicopters.

Government-owned PHL isthe largest customer in the worldfor Airbus Dauphin helicopters.It currently has 37 Dauphinunits deployed for offshore oiland gas operations, VIP trans-

portation and other utility duties.“The MoU stipulates that

Airbus Helicopters will supportPHL in growing its onshore,offshore and inland travel mar-kets by introducing the best-in-class H145 and H225 rotor-crafts (helicopters) into theirfleet,” Airbus said Thursday.

The H145 and H225 aremulti-role helicopters, idealfor supporting PHL’s widerange of missions across thecountry, Airbus said.

The MoU, signed by AirCommodore Dayasagar,Executive Director at PHL andAshish Saraf, Head of AirbusHelicopters for India and SouthAsia, also includes customisedtraining and an on-site SafetyManagement System (SMS)for PHL pilots.

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New Delhi: Credit GuaranteeFund Trust for Micro andSmall Enterprises (CGTMSE),a trust set up by Governmentof India and Small IndustriesDevelopment Bank of India(SIDBI), crossed a significantmilestone in FY19 by approv-ing 4.35 lakh guarantees for anaggregate loan amount of�30,168 crore recording agrowth of 58% compared withthe previous fiscal. PNS

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Two days after ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee

warned her party men againsttaking cut money from thepeople for getting their worksdone under various schemesthe stated cut-money contro-versy caught wind on Thursdaywith more villages of Birbhumdistrict getting hit by intermit-tent clashes between support-ers of the local TMC leaderswho allegedly received bribefrom the locals for gettingtheir works done and thosewho paid bribe.

At least five people got bul-let injuries at Birbhum’sDubrajpur and Sainthia region

when clashes erupted betweenthe supporters of the localTMC leaders and the peoplewho gheraoed their housesasking for the cut money to bepaid back.

Banerjee had earlier in ameeting of party councilorssaid that she would not toler-ate accepting cut money. “I hearthat some of you even take�200 for a work of �2,000 to bedone. I will not tolerate this. Noone will take cut money andthose who have taken them willhave to return that money.”

As people started gatheringoutside the houses of localTMC leaders to get theirmoney back clashes started,sources said.

At higher level the “cutmoney” crisis took an uncom-fortable turn for the TrinamoolCongress leadership withparty’s Birbhum MP ShatabdiRoy telling reporters in Delhithat “such a step should havebeen taken earlier,” wondering“what will happen to the shareof the bribe that had goneupwards from the lower level.”

She also feared “while inlower level the people maystop taking cut money butwhere is the guarantee that thehigher leadership will notcharge their share of cut moneyat higher rates?” The TMCleadership refused in Kolkatahowever to comment on Roy’sstatement.

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At least two persons died andfive were seriously injured

in an alleged police firing onThursday even as fresh violenceerupted along Bhatpara-Jagaddal area in Barrackporeparliamentary constituencywhere political clashes havebecome a regular affair since theconclusion of the general elec-tions on May 19.

The incident started whenclashes broke out between twogroups leading the police tointervene. While victims’ fam-

ilies accused the police of open-ing fire at the fleeing crowdkilling two persons on thespot, local police officers said,they had only resorted to tear-gassing and blank fire in a bidto disperse the violent mob.

“There were violent clash-es between two groups and thepolice had to rush in. When wereached the spot our vehicleswere attacked. The car of theAssistant Commissioner-II wasbadly damaged and it was atthis juncture that the police hadto fire in the air and burst teargas shells,” a senior officer saidadding, “things are being inves-tigated.”

From Kolkata HomeSecretary AlapanBandopadhyay said the twodead persons had been identi-fied as Rambabu Sahu and

Santosh Sahu adding the peo-ple of Bhatpara had been flee-ing area in the wake of contin-uous violence adding someoutsiders were disrupting peacein the area.

“Police have been rushed tothe area and the situation hasbeen brought under control,”he said adding the area hadbeen brought under Section144 (IPC).

All shops along the 3-kmarea in this area remainedclosed with hardly any peopleventuring outside. Bhatpara isbarely 45 km from Kolkata andis one of mega city’s satellitetownships. The region hadbeen witnessing intermittenttrouble for the past severalweeks with goons of both theTrinamool Congress and BJPengaging each other in bomb-

and-gun battles forcing theGovernment to open a newpolice station in the area.

The inauguration of thepolice station on Thursday washowever was indefinitely post-poned against the backdrop ofthe violence. “The situation wasso grim that State DGPVirendra who was supposed toinaugurate the police stationhad to return from mid-way.He was however sent to thearea late on Thursday follow-ing Chief Minister MamataBanerjee’s order, sources said.

The condition of five otherinjured persons was stated to be“very very critical” by doctorsof a private hospital wherethere were being treated inKolkata. “They are being oper-ated upon and nothing can besaid about them before 72

hours,” a doctor treating themsaid. Local BJP MP ArjunSingh accused MamataBanerjee of provoking the vio-lence in the area. “It is thegoons of the TMC who havebeenrampaging the area. Andthe police are siding with them.They killedtwo poor and ordi-nary citizens from a point-blank today.”

Pointing fingers at theChief Minister, BJP’s observerfor Bengal Kailash Vijaybargiyasaid “Mamata Banerjee cannotdigest the defeat she has facedat the hands of the BJP and soshe is creating trouble in vari-ous places encouraging thegoons to attack the BJP sup-porters.” He said a central teamof MPs would soon visitBhatpara on a fact findingmission.

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Taking serious exception toseveral of the central board

and English medium schoolsnot teaching Marathi as a lan-guage, the BJP-led MaharashtraGovernment announced onThursday that it would makeMarathi a compulsory subjectin all schools run under vari-ous school boards in the State.

Coming out with a majorpolicy initiative, Maharashtrachief minister DevendraFadnavis said: “It has come toour notice that several schools– particularly CBSE and ICSEschools –do not follow thelegislation relating to theMarathi language. In order tomake Marathi as a compulso-ry subject in schools run underall the school boards, we will

amend the relevant legislationto make it more stringent andenforce it strictly in schoolsacross the state”.

Fadnavis was respondingto starred question raised byShiv Sena MLC Neelam Gorhein the State Legislative Councilas an issue of propriety. Gorhewas trying to draw the attentionof the Maharashtra govern-ment about the plans by severalMarathi litterateurs, led by AllIndia Marathi literary confer-

ence president LakshmikantDeshmukh and president of aforum set up foster the growthof Marathi language MadhuMangesh Karnik, to stage aprotest at the Azad Maidanhere on June 24 to demand thatMarathi be made a compulso-ry subject in schools run underall school boards in the state.

The chief minister said thatthe forum set up to foster thegrowth of Marathi had pro-posed: that Marathi be made

compulsory in education insti-tutions run under all boardsalong the lines of the state lan-guage policy practised in TamilNadu, that a Marathi languagedevelopment authority be set up,that the standard of Marathischools be improved in thestate, that the quality of educa-tion be enhanced to ensureagainst recurring closure ofMarathi schools, circulars beissued to encourage the readinghabits among students in schoolsand that a Marathi language cen-tre be set up in Mumbai.

The chief minister saidthat he and Education MinisterVinod Tawade, who is also theminister for Marathi language,would meet a delegation ofMarathi litterateurs on June 24to discuss and decide on theirvarious demands.

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Atrial court here onThursday rejected an appli-

cation made by BJP MP PragyaSingh Thakur, prime accused inthe 2008 Malegaon blast case,seeking permanent exemptionfrom appearance once a week.

The newly elected BhopalMP had said in her plea thatshe was suffering from variousailments and was not in thecondition to attend the court.

Thakur had also said thatbeing a 'sadhvi' (a womanascetic), she has to follow strictdiscipline for her 'sadhna' (wor-ship) and adhere to certaindietary rules.

In view of all this, it was notpossible for her to travel fromBhopal to Mumbai every week,said the application filed by herlawyer advocate J P Mishra.

She had also cited herduties as Bhopal MP as a rea-son for not being able to attend

the court.Advocate Mishra had also

submitted that as per herparty's whip, she needs toattend the ongoing Parliamentsession.

Therefore, she should beexempted from appearance atleast till the end of Parliamentsession on July 26, the lawyersaid.

However, special judge forNational Investigation Agency(NIA) cases V S Padalkar saidthese grounds were "not rea-sonable and genuine". Thejudge, though, exempted herfrom appearance on Thursday.

"Attendance of Parliamentis necessary and one shouldobey whip of the party", how-ever, no documentary evidenceabout any such whip was pro-duced, the judge said.

Thakur, during her lastappearance, had complainedabout dust in the courtroomand the chair provided for her.

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Karnataka Congress leadersfrom Veerashaiva-Lingayat

community Thursday metChief Minister HDKumaraswamy and demandedthat the government recom-mend to the Centre, granting ofthe OBC status to the com-munity.

The leaders also soughtsetting up of Veerashaiva-Lingayat DevelopmentCorporation.

The delegation that metChief Minister in the presence

of Deputy Chief Minister GParameshwara included-KPCC Working PresidentEshwar Khandre, HomeMinister M B Patil, senior leg-islators ShamanurShivashankarappa and S RPatil, among others.

"Those in Veerashaiva-Lingayat community who arebackward- socially, economi-cally and in education- forthem Veerashaiva-LingayatDevelopment Corporation hasto be set up.

All of us leaders and MLAshave submitted a memoran-

dum to theChief Minister,"Khandre told reporters after themeeting.

"Also, we have requested torecommend inclusion ofVeerashaiva-Lingayat in theOther Backward Class (OBC)list at the Centre. CM andDCM have responded posi-tively," he added.

Leaders said, various sub-sects of the community arealready on the OBC list in theState.

Patil, who was part of thedelegation, said there was nopolitics involved in it.

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Lucknow: Taking a cue fromthe Centre, Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said that there wasno place for corrupt officersand staff in the Governmentand they could be shown thedoor by giving them compul-sory retirement.

The Chief Minister saidthis while reviewing the workof Secretariat Administrationdepartment at Lok Bhawanhere on Thursday.

He asked the officials toprepare a list of corrupt officers,saying that such officers couldbe forced to take voluntaryretirement.

He also advised firm actionagainst corrupt employees, say-ing that they be barred frompromotion.

Yogi also asked the officialsto ensure payment of employ-ees’ dues pending for over fourmonths and to take action onissues related to promotion, fill-ing up of vacancies and retire-ment of employees.

Enquiring about e-officesystem, Yogi directed officials toexpedite work on connectingevery office with the system.

“It (e-office system) shouldlater be taken to district officesand arrangements should bemade to preserve importantdocuments of the secretariat,”he said.

Yogi also issued directivethat data of employees be fedon Manav Sampada portal sothat their service-related mat-ters could be disposed of in atime-bound manner.

“Soon, biometric systemwill be installed in secretariat,”he said. PNS

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Three children drownedwhile four other kids were

feared drowned after the driverof a pick-up van carrying 29people lost control as a resultof which the vehicle plungedinto Indira Canal in Nagramarea of Lucknow earlyThursday morning.

Senior police officials andDistrict Magistrate KaushalRaj Sharma reached the spot tooversee rescue work.

As per reports, RamBahadur of Sarai Pandey areaof Barabanki along with mem-bers of his extended family hadcome to Lucknow to attend themarriage of a kin’s son in PatwaKheda area. After attending thewedding ceremony, they left forBarabanki by a pick-up vanaround 2:30 am on Thursday.

As the van carrying 29 per-sons, including 22 adults, neared

Chheda Kheda village, driverDurgesh of Barabanki probablydozed off as a result of which thevan plunged into the canal.

Later, a massive rescueoperation was launched bypersonnel of National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF) andState Disaster Response Fund(SDRF) along with local police.

To control the agitatedcrowd that had gathered at thespot, PAC jawans and copswere deployed. Firemen werealso pressed into service tolocate the missing persons.

The 25-foot water in thecanal posed a stiff challenge inthe rescue operation. To speedup rescue work, officials divert-ed water to bring down thewater level in the canal andreduce the current.

The rescuers managed tofish out the bodies of three chil-dren, identified as Aman (9) ofNagram, Saurabh (8) and Shani

(5) of Sarai Pandey area ofBarabanki.

However, four other kids,identified as Sachin (6), Sajan(8), Mansi (4) and Manish (5),all from Barabanki, were miss-ing and efforts were on tolocate them.

Later, recalling the ordeal,a victim said, ‘It was pitch darkoutside. As the van hurtleddown into the canal, the driverscreamed in fear which sent usinto a tizzy. By the time wecould gather ourselves, the vanlanded on the canal bed. All ofus tried to locate our children.But as it was becoming difficultto hold breath in the water, wesomehow came out of thecanal. Most of the childrenwere missing and we startedcrying for help.”

A police spokesman saidthat the bodies were recoveredabout 200 metres away fromthe mishap spot around 4 pm.

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Congress general secretaryin-charge UP East,

Priyanka Gandhi Vadraattacked Chief Minister YogiAdityanath over deterioratinglaw and order, saying thatmembers of the fairer sexwere forced to live in anatmosphere of fear in UttarPradesh.

In a tweet on Thursday,Priyanka hit out at ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath “forhis failure to check crime”, say-ing that innocent minors were

being subjected to brutality inUP and women had beenpushed to live in fear of fallingprey to sexual abuse.

She alleged that even menwere torched alive in the stateand those enjoying power hadpreferred to keep their eyesshut towards such atrocities.The Congress leader sought toknow when would the UPgovernment start takingresponsibility of saving themodesty of girls and womenand when would they ensurea society free from fear toeveryone.

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The road between Coimbatore upto the Nilgiri mountains that

overlook the city has clearly beenresurfaced recently. It has someamazing turns and switchbacks.Despite the suicidal two-wheelerriders that seem to populate all hillroads in India, traffic is relativelymoderate and even though theroad is slightly narrow at times, itwould be a great road to drive in,if you had the right vehicle.Something like a Mini, or even aSwift for that matter. The new MGHector, on the other hand, is notquite the right vehicle. This was thewrong stretch of road to drive thismuch anticipated new SUV, pure-ly from a physical point of view.

And I am fairly sure that I amnot alone in these complaints. TheMG Hector had noticeable bodyroll. Sure I was attacking the cornersand not driving with passengers inthe back, but the amount of bodyroll reminded me of vehicles fromthe mid-2000s. The last time I hadsuch a wobbly ride in the moun-tains while driving was back whenI drove the Hyundai Santro ZipPlus

back in 2003 between Hubli andKarwar. Of course, the soft suspen-sion set-up meant the Hector cush-ioned the impact of uneven surfacesbetter than most, but this was cer-tainly not the sort of road to do thefirst drive impressions on.

And then there was the petrolengine. This 1.5-litre unit with150PS of power is sourced fromMG’s parent company ShanghaiAutomotive Industrial Corporation(SAIC), again a statutory reminderthat while Benedict Cumberbatchis quite English, the MG Hector isvery Chinese. Frankly again, muchlike the wobbly suspension, youtend to notice flaws in a vehicle oncertain roads. Mountain roads, forexample, involve a lot of gearchanges, and since MG only had themanuals and I was driving thepetrol Hector uphill, there is thesudden realisation that there isbarely a third gear. Many Indiancars have what we call “tall” gears.Explaining tall and short gears is ahighly technical subject but tallgears are primed for fuel economyand shorter gears for better accel-

eration. Many gearboxes nowa-days have a mix of both, short firstand second gears and tall fifth orsixth gears. This is all due to mod-ern manufacturing methods forgearboxes.

Long story short, with theHector petrol, when you shiftedfrom second to third at the enginespeeds you would normally shift,maybe a bit higher than usualbecause one is in the hills, youwould discover that there is noth-ing in third. Nothing. Nada, youpress the accelerator and find nopower whatsoever. Which is disap-pointing in the mountains. But itcould be a big concern while over-taking on the plains. That said, theFiat-Chrysler sourced 2-litre dieselthat also does service on theCompass, complete with its six-speed gearbox, is far superior todrive. The heavier engine up frontalso makes the diesel Hector feelever so slightly more planted. Sure,

you can argue that the MG Hectorwill mainly be bought be folks whowill be driven around, and the dri-ving dynamics really do not matterall that much and the soft suspen-sion will be appreciated by peoplewho work in Okhla Industrial Areafor example.

But what about the Hector’s

party piece, since the car evenwears an ‘Internet Inside’ badge, andyou have undoubtedly seen thatadvert where BenedictCumberbatch is talking to the carand the sunroof opens and we aretold it is all thanks to ‘artificial intel-ligence’ (AI). Well, a couple ofthings, voice controls have been

around in cars for two decades now,and they have never really been allthat great until recently.

The AI aspect of all this is thatthe system is now connectedthrough the cloud to a back-endwhich analyses the voice com-mands for you. I tried such an AIassistant on the new BMW 3-serieslast December in Portugal and itworked fabulously well. On theHector, well, it did open the sun-roof, the driver side window andallowed me to set the temperature.Very nice. But it could not find ourhotel, Le Meridien in Coimbatore.One possible reason is that in thehills, India’s notoriously poor cell-phone networks are diabolicallybad. But you know what, voicerecognition and AI assistance viaApple CarPlay and Android Auto,which the Hector also has supportfor, worked fine.

Frankly, on the Hector and theHyundai Venue for that matter,some of these aspects seem redun-dant and other bits of AI as beingpromised seem positively Orwellian.More on that in a future column. Iagree that voice commands poweredby a back-end, like Amazon’s Alexa,

are the future and you will likely seethat even on entry-level hatchbackswithin years. The Hyundai santroand Maruti WagonR, both alreadyhave support for third-party systemsfrom Apple and Google. Openingthe sunroof is quite gimmicky butI do expect MG to work on the AIthat will continually update itself.Next time, it might even recognisethe place I want to go to, althoughsomehow I trust Google Maps morethan the in-built TomTom system onthis car.

So should you buy one? Frankly,it depends on the price. And MGgave us no indications of what theprice will be. It has to undercut theHyundai Tucson. In fact, top-specmodels have to come close to theHyundai Creta prices to make itworthwhile. Because the vehicle, asis, cannot command a price premi-um. As far as Chinese products go,the analogy I’d use is that it aimedto be a OnePlus but ended up beinga Realme, not bad and it will pos-sibly be value for money, but not avehicle to get excited about. IfSherlock Holmes could drive, thiswouldn’t be the vehicle he would goabout London in.

It was on a summer evening in 2013when a video, showcasing a groupof performers who presented a

flashmob recreation of Rembrandt’sfamous painting The Night Watch,surfaced on Youtube and went viralovernight. One must remember thatthis was a pre social media sensationsworld. The stunt was organised to coin-cide with the return of the painting,which is considered one of the Dutchartist’s greatest works, to Amsterdam’sRijksmuseum.

Fast forward to 2019 and you have“Public Radio,” a unique art installa-tion at District Hall’s outdoor plaza inthe Seaport, Boston’s home for inno-vation. Standing 10 feet tall, elegant-ly sloped along at its front face withthe soft rainbow LEDs glowing behindhalf inch of frosted acrylic, it’s an inno-vative way to activate a public spaceusing a combination of interactive artand technology. You can turn themetal-rimmed dials to tune to a dif-ferent station as the correspondingLEDs light up on this giant radio invit-ing the public to play with and listento the latest broadcasts and music.Built by New American Public Art inthe Microsoft Garage at the NewEngland Research and DevelopmentCentre, Public Radio is an interactiveart installation with microprocessorparts and a futuristic look that encour-ages a spirit of community, workingand grooving together.

In interactive art works, where theart itself engages with the audience ata public space, it is presumed that theviewers are no longer passive onlook-ers but the ones who complete thework’s purpose through participa-tion. These could also be deliberate-ly left open-ended in order to make itmore understandable and readable forthe audience and draw them into whatwas once considered erudite and clas-sic.

�������From art in caves to graffiti and

sign illustrations in churches, frescoin mosques and tombs, Madhubani artto miniature paintings on fortifiedwalls, the age-old tradition of street artis the first one that comes to mindwhen we talk about art in the publicspace.

Giulia Ambrogi, co-founder andcurator of the St+art IndiaFoundation, talks about how street artdirectly engages the population, trig-gering conversations and beyond theconfined walls of a gallery.

“The idea was to move away fromthe elusive nature of the uptight artgallery concepts that the cities offer.It’s important because cities needidentities. The great power of streetart, the skills and the sensitivity of theartists speak, everywhere they gothey try to respond to the local nar-ratives. Street artists have to keep inmind a lot of things while making themurals — the architecture, texture ofthe wall, specific city in which they are,country, colours around them, thepeople that they meet, area that theybreathe in, flora and fauna, everythingshould merge together in conceptual-

isation and eventually execution oftheir pieces.”

She feels we live in a time and agewhere people are disconnected becauseof the fast chaotic life, “There shouldbe some moment in which we recog-nise ourselves in our own cities.” Forinstance, artist Dattaraj Naik, whorecently painted one of Goa’s biggestfootball-themed murals, where a childis sitting in a classroom and thinkingabout football, which is below his feet.The artwork aimed at representing thecommon aspirations and feelings ofschool students who try hard to keepa balance between academics andsports.

Artist and illustrator RohanChakravarty’s Gaj Yatra was a series ofcomic strips displayed at the MandiHouse Metro Station, engaging peopleand triggering conversations aroundvanishing habitats of elephants.

Time Changes Everything at theLodhi Art District changes with theangle of the sun. Come at noon to seethe wall’s metal cut-outs cast perfectshadows that spell out words like“hope”, “ambition”, time”, “people”—allconcepts that shift meanings overtime. At 6 pm, the shadows are melt-ing; at night or early morning, there arenone at all. It is a commentary on thenature of street art. which is ephemer-al because once a piece has beenmade, it is abandoned.

��������At the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art

(KNMA) recently, a group of perform-ers dressed in the costumes from the19th century, who casually convergedin the central atrium of a mall andbroke into a dance in the city. The pre-sentation aimed at recreating artist RajaRavi Varma’s Portrait of a Family,where the artist captures a SouthIndian family in their respective attires.

Kiran Nadar, chairperson, hadearlier said that since Indians aredeeply fond of dance and music, sowhat could be a better way to connectwith the public for spreading awarenessfor Indian art heritage?

��������In most art galleries and museums,

the ‘Do Not Touch’ rule is non-nego-tiable. But there could be some peoplewho can’t resist flouting rules. Howeverwith more innovative art coming to thefore, the rule doesn’t really stick to themby including people in the pattern thatthe artwork follows.

For instance, the Mirror Box at theMuseum Centre in Krasnoyarsk, Russiacreates a never-ending myriad ofreflections of everyone who peepedinside the box. On the other hand, AlanParkinson’s Luminarium installationallowed the viewers to step inside a cir-cular pavilion surrounded with vibrantcolours and soft lights. It is important

not to confuse these for 3D artworks.Anahita Taneja, director, Shrine

Empire, tells us about their recent cura-tion at the gallery, which allowedviewers to engage in a direct conver-sation with the artwork on display.

The installation titled, OneThousand Tears by artist SuchitraGahlot, asked a thousand people fromthe audience ‘Why did you cry last?’Their one word replies were labelled onto a thousand small vials. They werethen filled with a saline solution thatmatched the exact composition ofhuman tears. An accompanying useand throw book had the one-wordreplies printed on tissue paper. Onceread, the answers are lost forever.

Taneja says, “It was so beautiful tosee how people were constantly gettingattracted towards the work. It showedhow interactive works make a differ-ence to people, especially the artworkthat is touchable. Other sculptures andpaintings in a gallery are mostly lookedat and forgotten but such works staywithin the person even when s/hewalks out. They would not only beengaged with it at that time, but wouldalso tell the story to people they knowoutside.”

�)���������;Priya’s Mirror, the art exhibition,

curated by art connoisseur MuktaAhluwalia, brought together a range ofartworks and augmented reality instal-lations by four different artists thataimed to invoke in people a sense ofresponsibility towards the society. Theartworks were divided into four chap-ters, featuring India’s first female super-hero, ‘Priya Shakti.’ She is a rape sur-vivor, who helps a group of acid attacksurvivors to find their strengths andovercome their fears — finding simi-larity with the way she had conqueredher fears after the brutality she wentthrough.

One of the visuals had a young girl,in a quiet land, sitting on the back ofa tiger. To make it appear real, one hadto install a free application on theirphones called Blippar, and scan theimage through their phone’s camera.The app would activate the digital pro-gramme, which in turn would allowpeople to see the images moving.Here, the girl sits on the back of thetiger and flies away.

She explains that since art is capa-ble of instilling in people a sense ofresponsibility, then “why not make itmore interactive through various mediawe have today?”

Astral, by Australian illustratorand designer Stuart Campbell (popu-larly known as Sutu), features asequence of 21st century tableauxvivants that give participants the sensethat they are actually stepping intothe paintings.

In another illustration,Dark, by California-based dig-ital artist Steve Teeple, technol-ogy and organic matter convergewithin an inverted, globular spacewhere a few multi-colouredlights pierce through theuncharted inky black terrain ofdeep, dark space.

Yoga is a complementary therapy for childrendiagnosed with autism and special needs. As the

identification and detection of autism is on the rise,schools and parents have started to participate inseveral innovative yoga programmes. According toCentre for Disease Control, one out of 68 parentsand educators faces challenges in supporting chil-dren with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).

Autistic children face difficulty in being expres-sive, social and face emotional challenges and sen-sory integration deficits. Many children with spe-cial needs experience heightened levels of anxiety.

Yoga provides supplementary support. By con-necting the mind, body, and breath, it improves phys-iological and psychological processes throughbreathing techniques, postures, relaxation andmeditation. It increases strength, co-ordination, bal-ance and flexibility while improving social-emotion-al skills, body awareness, communication, self-reg-ulation, improves concentration. It reduces impul-siveness, anxiety, obsession and aggression.

They display decreased co-ordination, bodyawareness, sensory integration and competitive phys-ical outlets can be frustrating for them. Yoga is non-competitive and increases self-confidence. It allowspeople with autism to process the stimuli easily andself-regulate. Research on yoga has confirmed qual-itative behaviour changes in them includingincreased tolerance of sitting, adult proximity andsubsequent socialisation.

“They should practise yoga and asanas whichdirect the flow of blood towards the brain. Thisincreases the blood circulation and oxygen flow inthe nervous system. Asanas such as Halasana, VipreetNaukasana for five times a day for 10 seconds arehelpful. It strengthens their immune system, growthof tissues. Research has proved the importance ofpranayam,” says Dr Deepak Jha, yoga consultant andexpert at Medanta hospital.

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Yoga not only creates awareness of social cueslike actions, facial expressions and social behaviourbut puts them in touch with their own emotions.Controlled breathing teaches them to release emo-tions like anger, anxiety and frustration in a healthyand constructive manner. It provides them with anoutlet and gives out the message that it is okay tofeel such emotions.

�������@��;They experience high levels of anxiety which

adversely affects their behaviour, mood, health andsleep. Children can be constantly anxious becauseof sensory integration deficit, difficulty in commu-nication along with several other challenges. Yogahas specific breathing strategies to reduce anxietyand soothe nervous systems.

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Yoga is an effective tool for improving social-communication and cognitive skills in children.There is also the development of skills like eye con-tact, sitting tolerance, receptive as well as non-ver-bal communication skills. Once they follow theinstructor and listen to their mind and body, itenables them to develop emotions, language andcommunication skills.

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Children with ASD may display challengingbehaviours which can be improved with the inter-vention of yoga. It not only reduced anxiety but also

impacted mood and behavior.Several yoga asanas and breath-

ing strategies provide propri-oceptive and vestibular inputto support the child's sensoryintegration and self-regula-

tion. As a coping mecha-nism, yoga builds a senseof achievement among

parents andchildren.

( T h eauthor is

founder andCEO of a

provider of holisticcare and therapy

for children withspecial needs.)

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Of late, Aerocity hasevolved as Delhi’sfavourite party spot,

which perfectly caters to thosewho are looking for a place tosimmer down over weekends.An entrant which has beenmaking waves, stiffening up thecompetition further is TheImperfecto Shor Café at HotelPride Plaza. The place promis-es to transport you back to theRenaissance era. Designed byNuria Rodriguez Parra, thedecor of the Goth-inspiredcafé borrows heavily from theRomanesque architecture from17th to 18th century. Brickwalls, broken windows, vintage

portraits, hand-made, rusticchandeliers and large castledoors, this place is delightful-ly nostalgic, yet has a new-agevibe. Finally, the industrialdetailing and warm hand-made lights impart the café adistinctive character. There isno dearth of theme-based cafésin the city but Shor’s attentionto detail is certainly creatingsome shor (noise) among theguests.

The carefully-curatedmenu by chef Akansha Deantook us on a journey throughEurope, America, Asia andeven India, giving heart-feltcomfort food. What caught my

attention were the names ofdishes which were inspired by18th century iconic poets,rulers and famousscandals.

To beat theheat, I began mymeal with HelenC h a r l o t t e ’ sHeavenly Spirit, awatermelon salad.Served in a bowlmade of engravedmarble, the presenta-tion of the salad wasappealing as the bright-ness of the watermelonwas in stark contrast withthe background. Thoughthe Greek combination ofwatermelon and feta wasclassic, where the tanginessof the cheese was balancedby the sweetness of thefruit, it was the rasp-berry dressing thatgave it a tartytwist. The perfectf r u i t - c h e e s e -arugula combinationwhetted my appetite for more.

Next up was the Royalportal, which were classicSpanish croquetas with chick-en filling. Served in a roundwhite plate with onion dip,the presentation was dim butthe first bite was enough toreveal that they were cookedto perfection. While the rollwas crisp on the outside, thefilling of chicken was soft andcreamy. The marination ofthe chicken was well-done asit imparted the flesh a creamytexture, with a bit of tangi-ness.

Having dug deep into

the Mediterranean fare, Itravelled all the way to Asia ina matter of minutes. Since theplace has an eclectic range of

vegetarian and non-vege-tarian sushi, I decid-

ed to order a spicysalmon roll. Thedish arrived on ablack rectangular

tray, perfectlyshowcasing the

vibrant colours of thedifferent elements. The

portion size was morethan adequate as eightpieces were served in asingle portion. I loved the

meticulous preparation thatwent into each layer. Thecucumber and onion bitstopping added crunch to eachbite. I devoured the dish as itwas like an explosion of mul-

tiple flavours in my mouth.I ordered Aamchi

Aam, the bartender’srecommendation. The

drink scored high onpresentation as it was

served in a bronze glass, res-onating with the café’s theme.The drink was a joyful mix ofaam panna, litchi juice,served with a pinch of kaffirlime. The almond pistachiomango ice-cream floating onthe drink was like cherry onthe cake. The tanginess of thepanna and the sweetness oflitchi juice created a perfectbalance where neither of thetwo strong flavours overpow-ered the other.

Moving to the maincourse, I stuck to my Indianroots and ordered Dal-e-shorand Shor’s royal murg

makhani, the restaurant’s ver-sion of classic North Indianbutter chicken. There was but-ter naan to accompany. Servedin identical golden bowls, thedish’s flavours remained true tothe original. The taste remind-ed me of a typical Punjabidhaba, a rarity in cafés.

Finally, it was time for

desserts. On the chef 's recom-mendation, I ordered theQuinoa fruits pudding. To givethe dessert an Indian touch, thehigh protein quinoa wascooked like a kheer which wastopped with seasonal fruitslike mango, apple and melons.The flavours of the fruitsimparted the quinoa a mild

sweet taste. Indeed, the dessertwas a refreshing and fruity end-ing to my meal.

While the food scored fullmarks on its satiety value, weloved the service. The staff wasprofessional and well-trained.And this courteous behaviourwas not confined to the serv-ing staff. Every now and thenChef Akansha took time offfrom the kitchen to interactwith guests in order to makethem more comfortable andfind out their preferences. Solet us create some shor.

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guardshot down a US drone

Thursday amid heightened ten-sions between Tehran andWashington over its collapsingnuclear deal with world pow-ers, American and Iranian offi-cials said, though they disput-ed the circumstances of theincident.

The Guard said it shotdown the drone over Iranianairspace, while two US officialstold The Associated Press thatthe downing happened overinternational airspace in theStrait of Hormuz. The differentaccounts could not be imme-diately reconciled.

Previously, the US militaryalleged that Iran had fired amissile at another drone lastweek that was responding tothe attack on two oil tankersnear the Gulf of Oman. The USblames Iran for the attack onthe ships; Tehran denies it wasinvolved.

The attacks come againstthe backdrop of heightenedtensions between the US.

And Iran followingPresident Donald Trump’s deci-

sion to withdraw from Tehran’snuclear deal a year ago.

Separately, Saudi Arabiasaid Thursday that Yemen’sIranian-allied Houthi rebelslaunched a rocket targeting adesalination plant in the king-dom the previous night. TheWhite House said Trump wasbriefed about that attack.

Iran has quadrupled itsproduction of low-enricheduranium and threatened toboost its enrichment closer to

weapons-grade levels, trying topressure Europe for new termsto the 2015 nuclear deal.

In recent weeks, the US hassped an aircraft carrier to theMideast and deployed addi-tional troops alongside thetens of thousands already in theregion.

From Yemen, the Houthishave launched bomb-ladendrones into neighboring SaudiArabia.

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President Emmanuel Macronsent his top diplomatic

adviser to Iran this week as partof European efforts to defusetensions between Tehran andWashington, the French pres-idency said Thursday.

The adviser, EmmanuelBonne, held “high-level meet-ings” Wednesday in Tehran,“with the aim of contributingto the deescalation of tensionsin the region”, Macron’s officesaid.

The presidency refused tosay whom Bonne met, addingonly that he left Tehran onWednesday evening.

The strains betweenWashington and Tehranincreased Thursday with Iran’sannouncement that it had shotdown a US “spy drone” thatviolated Iranian airspace nearthe Strait of Hormuz.

The United States has yet torespond.

The incident marks thelatest escalation in tensionsfollowing last week’s attacks ontwo oil tankers in the Strait of

Hormuz, which the UnitedStates blamed on Iran.

Tehran has denied anyinvolvement.

Tensions between the long-time foes, who have had norelations since the hostage cri-sis that followed the 1979Islamic revolution, haveincreased sharply since USPresident Donald Trump lastyear abandoned a landmark2015 nuclear agreement withIran and reimposed sanctions.

Macron, who is travellingto a G20 summit in theJapanese city of Osaka on June28-29, will “have contact withthe main players” in the stand-off, his office said.

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The Pentagon confirmedon Thursday that Iranian

forces shot down a US navalsurveillance drone but insist-ed the aircraft was in interna-tional air space, not that ofIran.

The BAMS-D drone wasdowned by an Iranian surface-to-air missile system whileflying in international air-

space over the Strait ofHormuz, a US CentralCommand spokesman, NavyCaptain Bill Urban, said in astatement.

He said it happened at2335 GMT Wednesday.

“Iranian reports that theaircraft was over Iran arefalse,” he added. “This was anunprovoked attack on a USsurveillance asset in interna-tional airspace.”

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Hong Kong oppositiongroups called for another

major demonstration onThursday after the pro-Beijinggovernment did not respond todemands of protesters whohave shaken the city with mas-sive rallies.

Millions have marched this month to oppose a pro-posed law that would haveallowed extraditions to the Chinese mainland, but the huge protest movementhas morphed into a largerrebuke of Hong Kong’s admin-istration.

Under-fire chief executiveCarrie Lam has apologised andsuspended the controversialbill, but that has failed to quellthe opposition, with protestersdemanding she step down andcompletely withdraw the legis-lation.

A number of protestgroups, including studentunions, called for supporters tomobilise on Friday, asking peo-ple to gather at the city’s maingovernment complex to “holdpicnics” outside the legislaturestarting 7.00 am on Friday(2300 GMT Thursday).

They also recommended a

go-slow protest on roads andpublic transport, and urgedpeople to gather in other partsof the city to show their sup-port.

“Blossom everywhere,”read a statement circulated ina chat group on the messagingapp Telegram by eight informalprotest groups.

“There are many ways toparticipate. Think carefullyabout your own ways to showyour love to Hong Kong. June21 is not the end of the fight,there will be more in the com-

ing days.” The groups also recom-

mended a mass strike, but itwas not immediately clearwhich business or profession-al groups would support sucha call.

In addition to Lam’s ouster and the extradition law’swithdrawal, protesters havealso demanded the release ofthose detained during sporadic clashes with police last week, and an inves-tigation into allegations ofpolice brutality.

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Jeopardising peace talks inAfghanistan, American

forces in the war-torn countryhas taken into custody localleaders close to Afghanistan’sformer President HamidKarzai. According to AimalFaizi, a former aide to thethen President, Karzai told topUS military commander inAfghanistan General Millerthat the forces’ activities mili-tated against the efforts to finda peaceful solution to the cri-sis in Afghanistan.

“That is why you haveintensified bombing, nightraids and other types of mili-tary operations in Afghanistan,”Karzai told General Miller.

A number of night raidshave been conducted on influ-ential local leaders close toKarzai recently. The house ofKarzai’s brother in Kandaharwas hit by American forces’rockets and a security guardwas killed in the attack inearly June.

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Britain’s Treasury chief is urg-ing Conservative Party lead-

ership contenders to be honestwith the public and spell outwhat they would do if theirplans for leaving the EuropeanUnion falter.

Philip Hammond is expect-ed to use his Mansion Houseshowcase speech in the City ofLondon on Thursday to say thecandidates should outline whattheir Plan B might be ifParliament rejects both theBrexit deal negotiated by out-

going Prime Minister Theresa May as well as tak-

ing on Brexit with no deal at all.He plans to urge candidates

to offer realistic strategies fortaking the economy out of a“holding pattern” in which it hasbeen stuck as May sought to getthe deal through the House ofCommons — possibly even if itmeans another referendum onleaving the EU.

“We cannot allow ourselvesto be forced to choose betweenour democracy and our pros-perity,” Hammond’s excerptssaid. “If the new prime minis-ter cannot end the deadlock inParliament, then he will have toexplore other democratic mech-anisms to break the impasse.”

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ATurkish court on Thursdaygave life sentences to 24

people including senior militaryofficers in one of the biggest tri-als over the 2016 failed bid tooverthrow President RecepTayyip Erdogan.

The judge handed 17 ofthose sentenced 141 aggravatedlife terms each over the deathsof 139 people, for “violating theconstitution” and “attempting toassassinate the president”, statenews agency Anadolu reported.

Seven others were givenbetween one and 17 aggravatedlife sentences each, according toAnadolu.

Such sentences carry harsh-er prison conditions.

More sentences are expect-ed to be handed down onThursday against others amongthe 224 suspects on trial.

Among them is US-basedMuslim preacher FethullahGulen, who Turkey accuses ofordering the attempted putschwhich left hundreds dead andthousands more injured in July2016.

Gulen strongly denies theclaims. Turkey has failed to

secure his extradition.Former air force chief Akin

Ozturk and Mehmet Disli, thebrother of former ruling partylawmaker Saban Disli, whosince September has served asTurkey’s ambassador to theNetherlands, were among the17.

One suspect, LieutenantColonel Levent Turkkan, whowas the aide to then Chief ofStaff General Hulusi Akar, wasgiven one aggravated life sen-tence, Anadolu reported. Akar was appointed defenceminister in July 2018.

There was a tense atmos-phere minutes before the judgeissued his verdicts with dozensof people including relatives ofthose killed during the coup bidin July 2016, lambasting thecourt for not allowing them toenter.

Saliha Arigan, whose sonwas killed on the night of thefailed overthrow, pressed herselfagainst the gates, crying andshouting to be allowed inside.

“The state should beashamed,” she said. Even as theverdicts were handed down, thestrained mood continued with

further attempts by individualsto enter the courtroom complexby force.

An AFP correspondent wasnot allowed to enter the court-room by police.

The trial began in May2017 in the country’s largestcourtroom inside a prison com-plex in Sincan, outside the cap-ital Ankara.

The court also handeddown an aggravated life sen-tence for “violating the consti-tution” to Colonel Ali Yazici,Erdogan’s former military aide,Anadolu reported.

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Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan said on

Thursday his country is deter-mined to ensure that formerEgyptian PresidentMohammed Morsi’s dramaticdeath in a Cairo courtroom isnot forgotten.

Erdogan spoke during ameeting with a group of foreignjournalists a day after heclaimed that Morsi didn’t die ofnatural causes but was killed.

He compared Morsi’s deathto the brutal killing of Saudicolumnist Jamal Khashoggi,slain killed at the SaudiConsulate in Istanbul inOctober.

“In the same way that wedidn’t allow the murder of thelate Jamal Khashoggi to beforgotten, we will never allowMorsi’s drama to be forgotten,”Erdogan said.

The Turkish leader, who isa fierce critic of EgyptianPresident Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi,added that he believed that theUnited Nations should takeup “Morsi’s suspicious death.”In Cairo, Egyptian ForeignMinister Sameh Shoukrylashed out at Erdogan, sayingthe latest stream of his remarksreveal the depth of his ties tothe Muslim Brotherhood, apan-Arab movement thatEgypt has banned as a terror-ist group.

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Eighteen members of theIslamic State in the Greater

Sahara were killed in a jointoperation by US, French andNiger troops near Niger’s bor-der with Mali, the defenceministry said on Tuesday.

The June 8-18 operationtook place “in the northernborder region of Tongo Tongotargeting a gang of ISGS ter-rorists implicated in an ambushon May 14,” in which 28Nigerien soldiers were killed, itsaid.

“The toll on the enemy sideis: 18 terrorists neutralised,five terrorists, of whom threeare Nigerien, taken prisoner.”There were “no human or

material losses” during theoperation, which was code-named ACONIT, it said.

“Important materiel wasrecovered including equipmentbelonging to the Niger armedforces which were taken by theattackers after the ambush,” thestatement said.

In October 2017, the ISGSclaimed responsibility for araid which killed four US sol-diers and five Nigerien troopsin the same region, a mere 20kilometres from the Malianborder.

On June 8, a US armyvehicle hit a landmine near thetown of Ouallam, about 100kilometres north of the capitalNiamey, but there were nocasualties.

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For Jasprit Bumrah, wickets inEngland are the most difficult tobowl on, when it comes to white

ball cricket. He dispelled the popularnotion that the cloudy conditions givebowlers a lot of help in English condi-tions and said, for him England hasbeen the toughest turf to strategise hisbowling on.

“In white ball cricket, England isthe flattest and the most difficultwicket to bowl on for any bowler.Usually, there is no help. It may seemas if in the cloud conditions the ball willswing but the ball doesn’t swing nordoes it seam. So, in these conditions,we have to rely on our accuracy andclarity. Knowing there our flat wickets,we accordingly adjust. We prepare forthe worst situation and then if there ishelp we focus on that,” he told journal-ists after training at the stadium hereon Thursday.

However, he said, overall till nowthat wickets in the World Cup havebeen decent. “In the first game that weplayed here, there was some help withthe new ball but still it was a decentwicket. As the ball got older, it got bet-ter to bat on. The oval was a flat wick-et with 350 runs etc. There is somehelp at times, but you don’t focus onall those things. You see on a given daywhat works for you, analyse the wick-et quickly, if there is no help you goback to your strengths. If there is help,you try to swing the ball and try to takewickets. But most of the time it isalways easier to analyse the wicket anddecide on the day how the wicketbehaves,” he said while talking about400 plus scores not happening.

Talking about the entr y ofMohammed Shami into the openingovers due to Bhuvneshwar Kumar’shamstring injury, Bumrah said it madeno difference for him. “We are justfocussing on our strengths and dis-cussing the same with Shami. Thethree of us have played before and I amjust focussing on what we have to doand not on does it affect us or not,” hesaid.

Though, he said, the injury ofShikhar Dhawan was unfortunate, hewas all praise for KL Rahul’s adaptabil-ity and how the team benefits fromsuch strengths. Him batting up theorder “shows a lot about the ability ofthe player to adjust to the situation. He

was playing at No 4 and he adaptedwell. In the game against Australia,he got few balls but he cleared theball well. It says a lot about thequality of the player if he can adjust

according to situation. Wheneverhe wants to accelerate he can so that

gives us a lot of flexibility and noheadaches when we are facing aninjury. That’s a positive sign for us,” headded.

According to his skipper Virat

Kohli, Bumrah bowls as seriously atnets as he does in the matches and indoing so he had hit Vijay Shankar inthe nets yesterday. Talking about it, thebowler not many batsmen have beenable to fathom, said: “We don’t obvi-ously want to injure the batsmenbut…. nobody tells the batsmen not tohit so they hit as well. It was unfortu-nate that he got hit but he is fine. Youhave to do all your preparation (in thenets). You have to practice all yourdeliveries so best preparation for me isto bowl to batsmen,” he said.

And does he plan his strategies toa batsman? “Sometimes you can dothat, sometimes you want to try some-thing but before that you try it in thenets because it is easier. You want toexecute everything in the nets in thematch, it is just about repetition so Itry to do all of that be it anything beit death bowling,” he added.

Talking about his late burst againstPakistan he said, it was a stop and startgame against the arch rivals. “We hada good start against South Africa againstAustralia. As a bowling unit we did wellagainst Pakistan too despite the condi-tions. The ball was getting wet… It isdifficult sometimes for the bowlers toadjust in getting in and out of the fieldbut it was a good match for us. We did-n’t take a lot of wickets early up, we keptthe runrate under check so when thespinners came in the middle overs, theyhad to take some chances. They had agood partnership but once Kuldeep tooka wicket a lot of wickets came after thatbecause the runrate kept going up. Afterthat when we came, we came to knowthat in five overs Pakistan had to makesome 135 runs so we were just focussingon getting through the overs and just getalong with the game,” he said.

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Just one match old in thetournament, young the all-

rounder Vijay Shankar whofound space in the playing 11against Pakistan, suffered aninjury scare at training onWednesday due to which he hadto skip training on Thursday.

Talking to the media, pacerJasprit Bumrah allayed all fearsregarding the hit on the toe andsaid he was fine. It was Bumrah'syorker that had hit Shankar onhis toes.

On Thursday, Indian play-ers entertained a group of schoolkids with a light game of crick-et, Shankar was spotted walking

in his slippers with a slight limpbefore he jogged for a bit in hisgym trainers. That just half a lapof the field. He preferred to dosome basic exercises after thatnot taking part in the usual drillsand the net session.

Having bowled Imam-ul-Haq in his very first delivery inthe game against Pakistan,Shankar proved himself withhis medium paced arm andcarries a good reputation as amiddle order batsman.

The Team India injury ros-ter has been growing withShikhar Dhawan out of thetournament due to ametacarpal fracture andBhuvneshwar Kumar out for at

least the games againstAfghanistan on Friday and theone after that in Manchesteragainst the West Indies onJune 25.

The team management isconfident that Kumar's ham-string "stiffness" would allowhim to be up and bowlingbefore the England encounteron June 30 till when Shamiwould be opening the defencewith Bumrah. A hamstringtear would have packedBhuvneshwar out of the tour-nament.

Pacers Khaleel Ahmed andIshant Sharma are on back-uplist in case Kumar needs to giveway.

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Kane Williamson has to be NewZealand’s greatest ODI player of alltime — and innings like that against

South Africa tells you exactly why.He’s already there now and by the end of

his career his record will far exceed anythingwe’ve had in the past or present, he really isthat good.

Kane has done so much in such a shortperiod, whether a captain or not, he’s beenexceptional and he’s an absolute joy towatch. He plays all the shots, he knows howto manipulate the strike and he’s always goingto run hard.

What differentiates him from a lot of bats-men in this day and age is his sole focus iswinning the game and he tailors his battingtowards that.

The wicket was tricky, the South Africanbowling was very good and they took the paceoff the ball well, it was a tough time to bat.

But the way he understood that situationand got his team across the line was excep-tional, it’s what makes him one of the great-est in the world now and by the end of hiscareer he’ll be up there with some of the greatsof all time.

Then you have him alongside RossTaylor and you just want to sit down andwatch, for New Zealand to have both of thosetogether at a World Cup is pretty amazing.

You can’t underestimate Colin deGrandhomme’s influence in this win as well— he came out and was fluent and had thebest strike rate of anyone in the match.

To come out there in a pressure situa-tion and play your natural game takes a lotof guts, it is Colin’s game and the way heplays and he does that no matter what.

He took the pressure off Kane andallowed him to rotate the strike — that wick-et was always going to be tough to start onbut these two really nullified that and madeit easier for guys around them.

They looked unflappable. There wereovers where you’d have dots and a couple ofruns but they never worried at all.

Colin only plays one way! He sees ball,hits ball, and that simplicity makes him agood player. He’d have got confidence fromthe way he bowled and at times he’s beencriticised for the way he bats but you takethe rough when you get the smooth of thesegames.

If New Zealand play on that type ofwicket against a team with lots of spinnersit's going to be a challenge, so that’s some-thing that will be on the forefront of theirmind.

But it was a great game of cricket and atype we don’t see too regularly anymore, 240plays 240 is really exciting to watch becauseyou simply don’t know who is going to win.

This is a game that made you want towatch right to the bitter end and it’s reallygreat to have that alongside the high scores.You don’t see many other sports with thevariables quite like cricket and the sport isvery fortunate.

Next up for New Zealand is WestIndies, a side who haven’t quite matched theexpectation they had of them before thetournament.

On paper they’re very impressive butthey’re going to need something from thattop order if they want to beat New Zealand.Trent Boult and Matt Henry will look to beas aggressive as possible early on.

On the flip side Martin Guptill is some-one who will enjoy the pace coming onto theball that he can really get into with a chanceto be aggressive.

But for now it’s another win on the boardfor New Zealand, they’ve put in anothergood performance and should be more andmore confident with each game that comes.!�������K��!!�9��������!��� ����2L�::!�0F3G

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On a day when everyone found batting to be tough ona slow track, Colin de Grandhomme was the only play-

er to show fluent stroke-play and he credited his mantraof “keeping it simple” for the knock.

De Grandhomme (60 off 47 balls) played a crucial rolein New Zealand’s four-wicket victory over South Africa onWednesday.

“I just tried to watch it as hard as I can. I tend to seethe ball and hit the ball and it worked. That’s just my gameand that’s how I play. It went well. I just try to do my jobwhen I can. Some days it doesn’t work, today it did. Cricketis a simple game,” said De Grandhomme.

Chasing 242 in 49 overs in the rain-truncated match,New Zealand recovered from a mini slump at 137 for five,riding on a 91-run stand between skipper Kane Williamson(106 not out off 138 balls) and de Grandhomme, to reachhome with three balls to spare.

De Grandhomme acknowledged that having a playerof Williamson’s calibre alongside him made the task easi-er.

“Having Kane at the other end makes it a lot easier,knowing he's a gun. He didn’t give me too much advice, Idon’t take too much in.

“We had to take it to the last 10 overs so we had to buildfor 10 overs. Then we could see where we were. Luckilythe run-rate didn't get above seven so we were always stillin the game," explained De Grandhomme.

South African Rassie van der Dussen, who was instru-mental in his team posting a mildly competitive 241/6 withan unbeaten 67 off 64 balls, said it was a brilliant learningcurve for him.

“Every game, I go out there and I try and perform, learnand adapt. Every game is an experience, especially here,”he said.

“A lot of the guys have never played on these fields andfor me, I’ve never played against a lot of these guys so com-ing up against them and doing okay, I will definitely drawon that going forward.”

The pitch here was slower than expected and Van DerDussen felt South Africa’s total could have been enoughto seal a narrow win had a little bit of luck gone their way.

“We knew 240 was a good score. It’s tough when youplay well and you leave it all out there and it doesn’t go yourway. That’s what we did,” said the 30-year-old.

Van Der Dussen is currently South Africa’s second high-est run-scorer in the World Cup behind Quinton de Kockand has shown a hunger to contribute in tough situations.

“It’s the national team, it’s the best batters in the coun-try. When you get to this level, you’ve got to know whatyou’re about and I’ve been lucky that it has come off forme.

“If that shows leadership, then so be it. Every game,every time you represent your country, the Proteas, is a goodday and it’s an honour,” said Van Der Dussen.

South Africa have just one win from six matches so farand their semi-final hopes hang by a thread. But Van DerDussen said the Proteas would not compromise on theintensity in the remaining games.

“It’s a game for your country and why we play this game.We won’t let up on the intensity at all. Our character willbe shown in these remaining three games,” he insisted.

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Former South Africa spin-ner Paul Adams has ques-

tioned New Zealand skipperKane Williamson’s integrityafter he did not walk outdespite being caught behindby wicketkeeper Quinton deKock.

Williamson struck a com-posed unbeaten century tohelp New Zealand post afour-wicket win over SouthAfrica on Wednesday.

However, his knock wasmarred by a controversy afterhe was caught-behind byKock in the 38th over off thebowling of leg-spinner ImranTahir. Williamson was at 76then.

“Why didn’t KaneWilliamson walk,” Adamswrote on his twitter pagesparking a debate.

He further added inanother tweet: “KaneWilliamson was Mankad afterhe didn’t walk. Would he beupset.”

Interestingly, Tahir hadappealed against the insideedge of Williamson's bat, butit was turned down by theumpire. The South Africanteam did not request for areview and later replaysshowed a nick fromWilliamson.

South Africa skipper Fafdu Plessis, in the post-matchpresser, explained that hetrusted de Kock’s judgementand that’s why he didn’t go fora review.

“We weren’t aware of it. Ithink I was at long on at thetime, and Quinny is the clos-est to the action. He’s alwaysmy go to man,” du Plessis said.

“I just thought it was aplain miss. I just heard aboutit now at the post match thathe said he had a nick on it. Buteven Kane said he didn’tknow he had to fine tune it.He would have referred it. Butthat’s not where the game waswon and lost,” he added.

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New Zealand skipper KaneWilliamson, who struck a com-

posed unbeaten century on one of theslowest tracks of the World Cup sofar, believes the experience of play-ing here will hold his team in goodstead.

“It’s just really nice to build thosesorts of partnerships with that lower-middle order that were so important,and having that experience in thosesorts of situations as a collective is areally beneficial thing,” Williamsonsaid after the match.

“There’s been a number of vary-ing scores throughout this competi-tion. I suppose weather has had a lit-tle bit to do with it but we’ve been ona variety of surfaces and it’s been nicethat guys have adapted well,” headded.

While South Africa kept losingwickets at regular intervals and wereultimately restricted to what appearedto be a below-par score, Williamsonwas able to dig in, facing 138 balls.The captain, however, refused torate his innings.

“I don’t really rank innings, buteach time you can try and go out andcontribute to a winning performanceis something that you’re always want-ing to do, and it was nice I was ableto achieve that," he said.

Neither teams were able to scorefreely on a slow and not easy to nego-tiate track, with De Grandhommebeing the only exception.

Heaping praise on DeGrandhomme, Williamson said: “Thepartnership and the knock fromColin was outstanding in terms ofswinging that momentum, and he hitthe ball beautifully. Perhaps comingin fresh rather than trying to nego-tiate the surface prior might havebeen a positive thing.”

The next match at Old Traffordagainst the West Indies is likely toprovide a very different challenge butWilliamson believes his team hasshown its ability to adapt to differentconditions as they remain unbeaten.

“We also know that we’ve got anumber of games left on different sur-faces. We'll be back here again at somepoint.

"We won't know the differencethat will hold for us, but we'll alsohave Manchester, where we go next,and once again, I know that’s beenplaying well,” said the 28-year-old.

Williamson said they would haveto keep on adapting during the tour-nament depending on oppositionand surfaces.

“We know that, coming into theback-end of the tournament, therewill be some extremely tough gameson different wickets again, and we’llhave to wait and see what they holdfor us.

“We’ll just have to adapt and keepplaying the sort of cricket that givesus the best opportunity to win crick-et games, but day in, day out, that canvary a lot depending on oppositionand surfaces,” said Williamson.

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Captain Faf du Plessis was left con-templating the ruins of another

World Cup campaign on the groundwhere South Africa experienced theirgreatest heartache in the competition20 years ago.

The Proteas’ hopes of reaching thesemi-finals in England and Wales areall but over after a four-wicket defeatby New Zealand on Wednesday.

One minor consolation is that therecriminations from Wednesday'sreverse at Edgbaston are unlikely to beas great as those at Warwickshire'sheadquarters 20 years ago when a dis-astrous run-out saw them tie withAustralia and miss out on the final dueto an inferior net run rate.

South Africa are still alive at theWorld Cup but with just one win fromsix matches it would take an extraor-dinary combination of results to seethem into the semi-finals from a 10-team round-robin group phase.

Fans of AB de Villiers will arguethis proves the Proteas were wrong torefuse the gifted batsman’s offer tocome out of international retirementfor the World Cup, but others will saythe offer came far too late for it to beaccepted by South Africa's selectors.

Inevitably, given their painfulWorld Cup history, the question ofwhether South Africa “choked” onWednesday is bound to be asked.

“Choking”, however, implies

squandering a winning position,whereas this match in Birminghamwas more of a see-saw contest deter-mined largely by Williamson’s knock.

The New Zealand skipper is aworld-class batsman and the truth isthat South Africa's World Cup cam-paign was in trouble long before thisfixture.

Losing Dale Steyn without theveteran fast bowler delivering a ballat the tournament was blow, butSouth Africa were gambling on the35-year-old recovering from a long-standing shoulder injury.

South Africa did not help them-selves on Wednesday whenWilliamson, who had then made 76,got a thin edge off Imran Tahir towicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.

The Proteas did not request areview, only for replays to show anick.

This World Cup could well markthe last appearance at the globalshowpiece for players in their mid-30ssuch as Du Plessis and Proteas open-er Hashim Amla, who never really gotback to his best after being hit on thehead by a bouncer from England'sJofra Archer.

"If you look at our batting unit,we've got some future talent and somepromising players, but if you put ourtop six and you put the other top sixesaround the world, purely on a num-bers point of view, we won't be in thetop three," admitted Du Plessis.

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Still recovering from their 87-rundrubbing against Australia, formerchampions Sri Lanka will now face

a tough battle for survival when they lockhorns with a dominant England in theirWorld Cup fixture here today.

With just one win, Sri Lanka are cur-rently at the sixth spot with four pointsand will have to win rest of their fourmatches to salvage hopes of a semifinalberth.

The 1996 champions had lost theiropening match against New Zealand andthen rain robbed them off a chance tofight when two of their games werewashed out.

Last week, Sri Lanka suffered a 87-run loss against Australia at London andit will take a special performance for theIsland nation to keep themselves afloatfor the knockout stage when they comeacross hosts England, who have lookedsimply unstoppable.

England are placed comfortably at thesecond spot with four wins from fivegames, the only blemish being their lossto Pakistan.

Eoin Morgan and his men haveemerged as the best batting side thisWorld Cup as they have blown away theiropponents, amassing 300 plus scores infour of the five games — two of thembeing 386/6 against Bangladesh and397/6 against Afghanistan.

In fact, five English batsmen areamong the 10 highest-scoring batsmenthis World Cup and the team boosts offive hundreds out of the 12 World Cupcenturies so far.

Though England missed the servicesof opener Jason Roy due to an injury,Morgan's brutal 148 which was studdedwith a record 17 sixes helped them put397-6 against Afghanistan, with Joe Rootplaying the second fiddle.

To stop this brute force calledEngland, Sri Lanka will have to play outof their skins with the onus resting on thepace duo of Lasith Malinga and NuwanPradeep.

In batting, Sri Lanka too have toaddress their vulnerability in the middleorder which saw them collapse in everymatch so far.

While against New Zealand, SriLanka lost five wickets for 14 runs to bebundled out for 136, they were dismissedfor 201 in 36.5 overs by Afghanistan after

losing seven wickets for 36 runs.In their last match against Australia,

Sri Lanka slipped from 205 for 3 to be allout for 247 and the Dimuth Karunaratne-led side will have to come up with anextraordinary batting effort to counter thelikes of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood,who have 12 and 9 wickets so far respec-

tively.�L���

England: Eoin Morgan (capt), MoeenAli, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, JosButtler, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, LiamPlunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy,Ben Stokes,James Vince, Chris Woakes,Mark Wood.

Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne(capt), Dhananjaya de Silva, NuwanPradeep, Avishka Fernando, SurangaLakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews,Kusal Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, KusalPerera, Thisara Perera, MilindaSiriwardana, Lahiru Thirimanne, IsuruUdana, Jeffrey Vandersay.

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�What plans do you have to restrictEngland?

I think generally the England side area good side. I think they have good battingline-up so we know we need to defend lessthan 300. We have to give them less than300, so we have a couple of plans againstthe batters. And those are the things we aretrying to do in the middle as well.

And the batting line-up, actually, themiddle part, need to take some responsi-bilities to know if they have scored morethan 300, you have to definitely go for that.So those are the key things we discussedbefore the match and we were trying to dothem.�What kind of things have you beenworking on so that the middle order cancome back to form?

I think the only thing is we have tomentally prepare. They have lots of talentand, they did really good things for SriLanka in the recent past and I think theonly thing we need to do now is come upwith a good mindset. That's a key area. Ifyou are playing against good teams, youneed a strong mind thing.

We discussed lots about the mindset,and there's no point talking about the pastmatches. And already we know what hap-pened with the last four matches and, whatare the areas, what are the key areas wherethe main thing is we lost those matches andwe need to have a good mindset and pre-pare the England game.

There's four games left so we have toplay a good, play good, positive cricket witha good mindset.� England hit 25 sixes againstAfghanistan. Who do you think is theirmost dangerous batsman

I think everyone is a dangerous bats-man. If you take and start with their bat-ting line-up, Bairstow, if you take Roy, thoseare the explosive batsmen, they can changea game. So everyone is — we are not tak-ing everyone. We are taking everyone as agood batsman and good explosive batsman,so we have a plan for each individual andhopefully it will work in this game.�Do you think you have the bowlingstrength to restrict England for less than300

If we don't have, or if we have or if wedon't, it would be hard to do that. We needto do something like that. If we don't havegood pace, we have to think out of the boxso I think that is what we need the last fewdays what we had to do with the Englandbatters because we played in a homeseries before with them, so we have a cou-ple of ideas so we need to work on thosethings in the middle.�Do you see England's batting againstspin?

I think England is the best batting line-up against the spinners in the world, so ifyou take the Asian countries, England areplaying better than them, so that is why weneed to think about that, check the groundsand what are the combinations we havegoing through for England game.

Are we playing two spinners? Or arewe going with the extra batsman or fastbowlers? Those are the things we are dis-cussing now. The only thing is they are agood side against the spinners so far.�What is the update we have on Malinga?Is he with the side? What is the update?

Yeah, he is here with the side. Hismother-in-law's passed so that is why hewent. Those are the things in the end andwe have to accept those things and he waskeen to come and play. He came yesterdayand he was hitting with us and we had achat, all those things he's doing.

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It was awesome to watch Eoin Morganplay an innings like that againstAfghanistan. His performance was

literally a highlights reel from start to fin-ish, it was great hitting.

It was definitely important for himto deliver as the captain. There's been alot of the talk about positive cricket overthe last four years and Morgan just wentout there and showed it from the off.

The way he plays, how he lives thegame, that innings was brilliant. It wasremarkable how he struck the ball soconsistently. He obviously got a life on28 and then just took the game toAfghanistan.

A lot was made of their spinnerscoming into the game but he just hitthem out of the park — literally. It wasnot just him, though, as all the top fourbatsmen contributed to England's totalof 397/6.

That batting order is in real goodshape at the moment with everyone play-ing their part. I think Morgan was theonly one who hadn't really gone on andgot a big score so that'll be nice for him.

I know from personal experience, It'salways nice to be out there scoring runswhen you're leading a side.

All round, it was a very profession-al performance from England. I thoughtthe way they approached it was impres-sive, Jonny Bairstow being very aggres-sive upfront and Joe Root looking verycomfortable easily getting a run-a-ball 80and then Morgan just went mad.

The bowlers also did their job andI've been really impressed with MarkWood. There's been a lot of talk about

Jofra Archer in the build-up to the WorldCup — and he's performed brilliantly —but I think Mark's bowled outstanding-ly well, especially considering the injurieshe's had.

England will be desperate to keephim fit as that friendly competition withhim and Jofra is probably pushing himto the next level. I think they're proba-bly looking at the speed gun after gamesand it's healthy friendly competitionwhich is pushing both guys forward.

The way England have played over

the last four years, it was always goingto be interesting going into a World Cupto see whether they would stay soaggressive, it can be harder in a WorldCup.

To see them doing that at Old Traffordwas great. They are really living andbreathing that mindset of cricket that'spushing the boundaries, they're playingthat positive cricket, and the perfor-mance against Afghanistan was a clearexample of that.

I know Afghanistan haven't had thebest competition but they're a potentialbanana skin so for England to come outand play like that and win so convincing-ly is a really good sign.

They've got Sri Lanka next, whohaven't had a great competition either, butthen England have got some real testinggames so they'll take a lot of confidenceinto those and I think they'll be glad theyhave those testing games just before theyhopefully play in the knockout stages.

Sri Lanka, like Afghanistan, are a dan-gerous side on their day so they'll want toget that win and secure their place in thetop four as they can relax a bit then.

They can then keep playing the waythey play. Bar the top few, Sri Lanka's mid-dle order haven't really contributed in thisWorld Cup so it'll be a tough test for themagainst Jofra and Mark.

England will be looking to continuetheir fine run of form and keep contribut-ing with the bat and keep the bowlersbowling the way they have. Hopefully theweather will stay away too.!������M�K��!!�9��������!��� ����2L�::!

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Moeen Ali says he will always cherish beingpart of England's one-day revolution

ahead of what could be his 100th one-day inter-national appearance against Sri Lanka onFriday.

Moeen, 32, has played a key role inEngland's rise to the top of the ODI rankingsafter they crashed out of the 2015 World Cupin the first round.

The Eoin Morgan-led team have played anaggressive brand of cricket since then and havelived up to their pre-tournament favourites tag,with four wins from five matches so far at theWorld Cup.

"It obviously means a lot," said Moeen, a left-handed batsman who bowls off-spin.

"To play 100 ODI games for England is obvi-ously a dream. It's just being part of the team,being part of the change.

"Looking back, if I was to retire I'd alwaysbe able to say I was part of that change, the wholemindset changing and the great cricket we'veplayed."

Coming in at number seven in England's lastgame against Afghanistan, Moeen smashed 31off just nine balls to give the side fresh impe-tus after Morgan blasted a record 17 sixes in hisbreathtaking 148.

Moeen, who made his ODI debut in 2014,said batting down the order was not easy but wasan important role.

"Seven is not an easy position in my opin-ion," he said. "You're dictated to by the pace ofthe game and you have to try to get quick runswhich doesn't always happen.

"Top players like Jos Buttler and Ben Stokesfind it hard as well. I once heard from a greatplayer that if you come off three times in 10

you've done really well but if you come off makesure it's properly."

The fancied sides at the World Cup are lay-ing down a powerful marker but Moeen saidthere was still room for upsets.

"At the moment, the top four are there fora reason, because they're probably playing thebest cricket of all of the teams and the most con-sistent," he said.

England, finalists in 1979, 1987 and 1992,have never won the 50-over World Cup butMoeen said that they are hoping for glory onhome turf.

"As a team we know that a trophy mattersfor us. Hopefully this is it," he said.

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Australia opener David Warnermade Bangladesh pay for an earlydrop with a big hundred as the

reigning champions piled on the runs ina World Cup match at Trent Bridge onThursday.

Warner, missed on 10, made 166 inAustralia's imposing total of 381-5 -- hissecond century of the World Cup.

The 32-year-old, the highest run-scorer of the tournament, with 447 runs,is back to his devastating best forAustralia after completing a 12-monthban for his role in a ball-tampering scan-dal in South Africa.

"Today was a great foundation forour batting," said Warner, who sharedstands of 121 with captain Aaron Finch(53) and 192 with Usman Khawaja (89).

"I felt a little bit bogged down andfrustrated. I kept hitting fielders but Imanaged to hang in there.

"I was feeling a little bit fatigued bythe end but I was looking to score asmany runs as possible so our bowlers hadsomething to bowl at."

Soumya Sarkar gave Bangladeshfans something to cheer with 3-58 ineight overs.

But the Tigers still need to completetheir highest one-day international runchase and the highest at a World Cup ifthey are to achieve an improbable vic-tory.

They will be buoyed by making 322-3 to beat the West Indies by seven wick-ets in their previous match -- the second-highest run chase in World Cup histo-ry.

Bangladesh suffered a blow beforeplay when a back spasm ruled outMohammad Saifuddin, their leadingbowler at the tournament.

But his absence could not excuseBangladesh's often wayward bowling,with the recalled Rubel Hossain's ninewicketless overs costing an expensive 83runs.

Even so, Warner could have been outfor just 10 when a slashing cut offBangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortazafound its way to Sabbir Rahman at back-ward point.

But the fielder appeared not tohave seen the ball properly against thebackdrop of the crowd and it burstthrough his hands.

Australia captain and opener Finch,fresh from his 153 in an 87-run win overSri Lanka, was out soon after complet-ing his eighth fifty in 11 ODI inningswhen he guided a rising Sarkar deliverystraight to Rubel at short third man.

But that did not stop Warner press-ing on to a hundred.

He eventually fell when, trying touppercut Sarkar, he lobbed a catch toRubel at short third man. Warner faced147 balls, hitting 14 fours and five sixes.

But his exit simply brought in thebig-hitting Glenn Maxwell, who smashed32 off 10 balls before he was run out.

Khawaja fell in sight of a hundredwhen he bottom-edged a pull off Sarkarand wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim

dived forward to hold a good catch whileSteve Smith was plumb lbw to MustafizurRahman for one.

A brief rain break halted play after49 overs before Australia scored 13 offthe last over. Australia are currently

third in the World Cup table, with fourwins from five games, while Bangladeshare fifth.

The top four sides from the 10-teamround-robin stage qualify for the semi-finals.

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ALionel Messi penalty sal-vaged a 1-1 draw for

Argentina against Paraguay asthe two-time world championsonce again struggled at theCopa America.

Messi swept in a 57th-minute spot-kick at BeloHorizonte’s Mineirao Stadiumto cancel out a first-half open-er from Paraguay's RichardSanchez.

Argentina also had goal-keeper Franco Armani to thankfor a second half penalty savethat prevented Paraguay fromtaking a 2-1 lead in the GroupB battle.

The draw left Argentinawith one point from two gamesand on the bottom of the tablewith one game remaining.

However with the two bestthird placed teams advancingto the quarter-finals, Argentinacan still reach the last eight witha decisive win over Qatar intheir final group game.

The South American giantswill need to raise their gamehowever to advance any furtherafter another disjointed perfor-mance which followed theiropening defeat to Colombia onSaturday.

A lacklustre opening sawboth sides struggle to generateany sort of attacking momen-tum, with neither side manag-

ing to get a shot on goal untilParaguay striker DerlisGonzalez’s effort was deflectedbehind for a corner in the 29thminute.

From the ensuing setpiece,centre-half Junior Alonsoscooped a half-chance wide asArgentina escaped.

That flurry of activityspurred Argentina fleetingly atthe other end, with LautaroMartinez winning a free-kick ina dangerous position on theedge of the area after a foul byParaguay skipper GustavoGomez.

Messi however was unableto conjure anything from thefree-kick, floating his effortup and over the wall but with-out the pace to trouble goal-keeper Roberto Fernandez,who gathered comfortably.

In the 37th minute howev-er, Paraguay's more organisedperformance got its reward.

A swift counter-attack sawthe ball transferred toNewcastle United's MiguelAlmiron near halfway.

The livewire forwardturned on the after-burners toroast Roberto Pereya downthe left wing before crossing forSanchez who drove a low fin-ish into the bottom corner ofthe Argentina net.

A rattled Argentina weregiven a huge let-off momentslater when Armani came rac-

ing out of his area to shut downGonzalez.

A wild kick brought downthe Paraguayan player butArmani somehow escaped ared card and was only cau-tioned.

Argentina coach LionelScaloni went for broke at half-time, bolstering his attack withthe introduction of SergioAguero and the move paidinstant dividends.

Aguero deftly lost hismarker on 51 minutes andpulled back for Martinez,whose shot cannoned off thewoodwork. Messi pounced onthe rebound but Fernandezblocked with a diving save.

The chance appeared tohave gone begging but VARhad spotted that Martinez'sshot had in fact struck IvanPiris's arm before hitting thebar and Brazilian refereeWilson Sampaio pointed tothe spot.

Messi stepped up to sweepin the spot-kick and Argentinawere level.

Yet there was more dramain the 62nd minute whenParaguay's Gonzalez burst intothe box and was clumsilyhacked down by NicolasOtamendi for a clear penalty.Armani, who was fortunate tobe on the pitch, dived the rightway and parried Gonzalez'sspot-kick wide.

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India hockey captain Manpreet Singhon Thursday said new chief coach

Graham Reid's "simple and friendlyapproach" has brought a calming influ-ence on the team and it is reflecting onthe turf.

"The coach has created a friendlyenvironment in the team and he has kepta very simple approach. He is very openabout his thought process and isapproachable to each and every teammember. If any player has any concerns,he is always welcoming," Manpreetsaid.

"This has also improved the perfor-mance of the team on the pitch," addedthe 26-year-old midfielder fromJalandhar, who had an impressive FIHSeries Finals in Bhubneshwar.

Manpreet said 56-year-old Reid,who replaced Harendra Singh as Indianmen's hockey team chief coach in Aprilthis year, didn't tinker too much withtheir attacking style of play.

"The coach (Reid) has not made anysignificant changes as of now as he iscurrently new to the set up. He will belooking to make a few changes duringour camp which is scheduled in July," hesaid.

"Right now, he wants us to contin-ue the good work we did in this tourna-

ment (FIH Series Finals). He also wantsus to improve in our attacking game andwork more on creating goal scoringopportunities and penalty corners,"added Manpreet.

India, led by Manpreet, lived up totheir billing and thrashed South Africa5-1 in the summit clash to win the FIHSeries Finals in Bhubaneswar recently.

And the skipper said the team wouldlike to carry forward the momentumahead of the final qualifying round of the2020 Olympics to be held in November.

"We will continue to carry forwardthe momentum into the next tourna-ment. We will continue to rectify the mis-takes we made in this tournament. Weare currently preparing for the final qual-ifying round which is in November," saidManpreet.

India put up a stupendous show dur-ing the FIH Series Finals and Manpreetsaid there were plenty of positives to takehome from the just-conluded tourna-ment.

"There were many positives from thetournament as the team performed col-lectively as a group and we focused onboth aspects of our game.

"We showed what we are capable ofboth attacking and defensive play. Wewere very sound as we did not give manyscoring chances to our opponents," hesigned off.

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Maurizio Sarri said hisappointment as Juventus

coach was “the crowning”moment of his 30-year man-agerial career as the formerChelsea manager was present-ed by the Serie A giants inTurin on Thursday.

The 60-year-old returns toItaly after just one turbulentseason in the Premier Leaguewith Chelsea, having previ-ously coached his hometownteam Napoli for three seasons.

Juventus is the 20th teamthat Sarri has coached since theformer banker took over at Stia,a team in the Italian eighthdivision back in 1990.

“The offer of Juve, themost important team in Italy,is the crowning of a very longcareer, which for 80 percent ofthe time has been quite diffi-cult,” Sarri told a press confer-ence at the Allianz Stadium inTurin.

Despite his long coachingcareer Sarri only lifted his firsttrophy last month when heguided Chelsea to the EuropaLeague trophy.

“From an emotional pointof view, it was a very long paththrough the lower divisions andthen Serie A and then PremierLeague.

“It has been step after stepin a gradual way, a very longprocess.”

Chelsea was the only timeSarri has coached outside ofItaly but he failed to win overthe English fans despite return-ing the club to the ChampionsLeague with a third-placedfinish in the Premier Leagueand winning the EuropaLeague.

“The Premier League wasa great experience, but in thelatter half (of the season), I feltprofessional and personalneeds to return to Italy,” he said.

“I decided to come back toItaly because such an importantclub wanted me so strongly.

“I have never seen so muchdetermination on the part of aclub to hire a coach.”

M��������JSarri takes over from

Massimiliano Allegri, who ledJuventus to an eighth consec-utive Scudetto title.

“He was absolutely the firstchoice,” said Juventus sportingdirector Fabio Paratici of Sarri.

“We chose Mauriziobecause we felt he was the bestcoach for Juventus right now,just as Allegri was five years agoand (Antonio) Conte threeyears before that,"

“Sarri showed he can win inthe Premier League and inter-nationally, so he’s the rightman for the job.

Alegri paid the price foranother Champions Leaguefailure despite CristianoRonaldo's 100-million-euro($115 million) signing.

Sarri said he was relishingthe chance to coach five-timeBallon d’Or winner Ronaldo.

“I coached some verystrong players, but traininghim will be yet another step for-ward,” he said.

“I’d like to help him breaksome new records.”

The Champions League isthe top target for Juventus whohave not won the European titlesince 1996.

“At European level we havethis dream, this target we haveto pursue with great determina-tion but also great difficulty,” hesaid.

“Juventus will start with thetarget of winning theChampions League but with theknowledge there are anothereight or nine clubs that canwin.”

The former Empoli coachsaid that he would try to provehis critics wrong once again.

“In football, I know onlyone way of removing scepticismfrom the minds of people bywinning convincingly.

“I haven't won a lot, but Ibelieve that having fun on thepitch doesn't stop you winning."

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