12
I ndia and the US are natural partners and both the coun- tries are committed to defend their people from radical Islamic terrorism. This was the focal point of visiting US President Donald Trump’s riv- eting speech made before a capacity crowd at Motera sta- dium here on Monday. The crowd erupted in a thundering applause when the US President said his country “loves India and its people.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who spoke both before and after the US President, hailed Trump’s visit as a “new chapter” in ties between the two countries. Both the leaders made these points during a public event “Namaste Trump” at the new look Motera stadium shortly after Trump arrived here to commence his two-day visit to India. He was accom- panied by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and top brass of his administration. Modi and Trump will hold talks in New Delhi on Tuesday wherein the two countries will ink a $3 billion defence deal for 24 Naval multi-role helicopters and six Apache attack heli- copters for the Army. While the Naval helicopter deal is about $2.6 billion, the Apache contract is over $980 million. Trump announced in his speech here about the two deals. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Modi had cleared the two defence deals last week. While the chemistry between Modi and Trump was fully evident as the two leaders shared many hugs and heaped praise on each other in front of 1,00,000-strong enthusiastic crowd, the traditional and colourful welcome left the US President impressed. “Five months ago, the US welcomed your PM at a giant football stadium, and you wel- comed us at the world’s largest cricket stadium. Thank you for spectacular welcome. We will always remember this remark- able hospitality,” Trump said. Known for his fondness to tweet, Trump earlier took to Twitter and tweeted messages in Hindi, including one expressing eagerness to visit India, to which Modi respond- ed by tweeting the Sanskrit phrase, “Atithi Devo Bhava (guest is god)”. Talking about India’s rich culture and extraordinary diversity repeatedly, Trump said India is always admired around the world as the place where millions of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Jews worship side by side in har- mony as it has great tradition of embracing individual free- dom, rule of law, dignity of every human being. “The First Lady and I have travelled 8,000 mile around the globe to deliver the message to all citizens across this nation — America loves India, America respects India, and America will always be a faithful and loyal friend to the Indian peo- ple,” Trump said. During his nearly 30 min- utes long speech, Trump also said, “While our nations have many differences, they are both defined and propelled by a fundamental truth — the truth that all of us are blessed with divine light and every person is endowed with a sacred soul” and quoted Swami Vivekanand. On his maiden visit to India as the US President, Trump, who was welcomed by Modi on his arrival here, said his country will remain a “loyal” friend of India and called Prime Minister Modi an “exceptional leader” who works day and night for the country. “India and the US are com- mitted to fight terrorists and their ideology, that is why my Government is working with Pakistan to crack down on terror groups,” the US President said. “Under my Administration we unleashed the full power of the military on blood-thirsty killers of ISIS in Iraq and in Syria. Today the ISIS territor- ial caliphate has been 100 per cent destroyed and the monster known as Al-Baghdadi, the founder and leader of ISIS, is dead,” he said. Continued on Page 4 W orld stock markets, including Indian indices, and oil prices tumbled on Monday with Milan and Seoul falling hardest on growing fears of a coronavirus pandemic, as gold hit a seven-year peak on safe-haven buying, dealers said. Wall Street stocks plunged in early trading on Monday, joining a global equity selloff on mounting worries that the spread of the new coronavirus will derail global growth. About 10 minutes into trading, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 28,191.85, down 2.8 per cent or around 800 points. The broad- based S&P 500 dove 2.6 per cent to 3,252.23, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index sank 3.1 per cent to 9,282.16. Losses were widespread with the technology, financial and energy sectors all down significantly as news of the infections in Europe, West Asia and Southeast Asia triggered more drastic efforts to stop people from travelling. “There is burgeoning fear that the shutdown effect that has hit China’s economy is going to take over elsewhere, dealing another blow to glob- al growth, and earnings growth, prospects,” said Briefing.Com analyst Patrick O’Hare. Indian stock benchmark Sensex on Monday sank near- ly 807 points, the second biggest single-day fall this year, tracking sell-offs in global mar- kets as coronavirus cases rose exponentially outside China. Starting off on a weaker note, the BSE gauge plunged to a day’s low of 40,306.36 after being caught in a panic selling as investors kept fretting over reporting of a large number of new virus cases in South Korea, Italy and Iran. Continued on Page 4 W alking hand-in-hand, US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on Monday evening went around the iconic Taj Mahal, hailing the 17th century Mughal-era mausoleum as a “timeless testament” to the rich and diverse beauty of Indian culture. The American power cou- ple spent almost an hour at the Taj Mahal, soaking in the beau- ty of the monument of love, and were briefed about the his- tory and traditions associated with architectural marvel. “The Taj Mahal inspires awe. A timeless testament to the rich and diverse beauty of Indian culture! Thank you India,” Trump and Melania wrote on the visitor’s book. Trump, accompanied by his wife, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, arrived here from Ahmedabad where they attended the ‘Namaste Trump’ event at the Motera stadium. The Taj Mahal, which was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died in 1631, was refurbished for the visit. Holding hands, the couple took a stroll in the resplendent gardens adjoining the pool at the celebrated monument, as a cool breeze made their experi- ence even more pleasant. Trump, dressed in a dark suit with a tie of light shade, and Melania, wearing a white dress accessorised with a green waistband, also posed for pho- tographs. Ivanka, wearing a white dress with red floral prints and red shoes, and Kushner, dressed in a sharp suit, took a stroll hand-in- hand around the monument. Continued on Page 4 Ahmedabad: A marble repli- ca of Mahatma Gandhi’s “three wise monkeys” statue, a copy of his Talisman or a piece of wis- dom as well as a special edition of his autobiography were among the items gifted to US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during their visit to the Sabarmati Ashram here on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi gift- ed the iconic statue of “three wise monkeys”. Ahmedabad: Using Bollywood to strike a chord with movie- loving Indians, US President Donald Trump on Monday hailed the “genius” of the Hindi film industry and recalled two all-time favourites, “Sholay” and “DDLJ”. Addressing the “Namaste Trump” event, the US President said people “take great joy” in watching Bollywood films and under- standing Indian culture through them. A Delhi Police Head Constable and three civil- ians were killed while several police personnel, including the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), were injured after pro and anti-Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) groups clashed for the second consecutive day on Monday and hurled stones at each other at Gokulpuri, Chanbagh and Maujpur areas. Violence between groups supporting and opposing the CAA was also reported in the Jafrabad and Bhajanpura areas. A youth also opened eight rounds of fire in the air on the streets on Monday afternoon in the Maujpur while the police tried to control him. The man, identified as Shahrukh from Shadara, was arrested later in the day. Police fired tear gas shells and also resorted to lathi charge to disperse the violent crowd of protesters. Following the violence, the Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik also stationed himself in the police control room (PCR) and closely mon- itored the situation. The police have also imposed section 144 of the CrPC, which prohibits assembly of four or more peo- ple, in areas affected by vio- lence in northeast Delhi. There was heavy stone pelting in Maujpur, while police baton-charged to dis- perse protesters in Jafrabad. Shops and houses were van- dalised and set on fire in Maujpur and Bhajanpura. Amit Sharma, the DCP Shahdara, official vehicle was also set on fire in Gokulpuri while a petrol pump was put on fire by the protesters at Bhajanpura. This is the second day of clashes in the city where US President Donald Trump will arrive on Monday evening. Meanwhile, sources in the Central security agencies hint- ed that riots were orchestrated by certain elements to malign the image of the country dur- ing the Trump visit. In the evening, Minister of State for Home Affairs, G Kishan Reddy condemned the attack by rioters. “My deepest condolences to the family of the Delhi Police Head Constable who lost his life amidst the protests in Delhi. Our Narendra Modi govern- ment condemns all forms of violence and we assure a stern action against the culprits,” he tweeted. Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said the situation is fully under control and suf- ficient forces were deployed on the ground. “The situation in Delhi is fully under control. The senior police officials are on the ground and sufficient forces are also deployed at the spot,” said Bhalla. “Armed police personnel have been deployed at strate- gic points. Areas with history of past clashes such as Jafrabad, Seelampur, Maujpur, Gautampuri, Bhajanpura, Chand Bagh, Mustafabad, Wazirabad and Shiv Vihar, are being monitored to maintain law and order situation,” said Alok Kumar, the Joint Commissioner of Police, Eastern Range. Meanwhile, the Delhi Metro closed entry and exit an uneasy calm prevailed in the Northeast areas. “Entry & exit gates of Jaffrabad, Maujpur- Babarpur, Gokulpuri, Johri Enclave and Shiv Vihar are closed. Trains will terminate at Welcome metro station,” the DMRC tweeted. Continued on Page 4 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

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Page 1: ˝ # ˆ #56˝57578 ’/5 9 #˛˜˚$%%˚& ˆ’(...2020/02/25  · and Melania, wearing a white dress accessorised with a green waistband, also posed for pho-tographs. Ivanka, wearing

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India and the US are naturalpartners and both the coun-

tries are committed to defendtheir people from radicalIslamic terrorism. This wasthe focal point of visiting USPresident Donald Trump’s riv-eting speech made before acapacity crowd at Motera sta-dium here on Monday. Thecrowd erupted in a thunderingapplause when the USPresident said his country“loves India and its people.”

Prime Minister NarendraModi, who spoke both beforeand after the US President,hailed Trump’s visit as a “new

chapter” in ties between thetwo countries.

Both the leaders madethese points during a publicevent “Namaste Trump” at thenew look Motera stadiumshortly after Trump arrivedhere to commence his two-dayvisit to India. He was accom-panied by his wife Melania,daughter Ivanka, son-in-lawJared Kushner and top brass ofhis administration.

Modi and Trump will holdtalks in New Delhi on Tuesdaywherein the two countries willink a $3 billion defence deal for24 Naval multi-role helicoptersand six Apache attack heli-copters for the Army. While

the Naval helicopter deal isabout $2.6 billion, the Apachecontract is over $980 million.Trump announced in hisspeech here about the twodeals. The Cabinet Committeeon Security (CCS) headed byPrime Minister Modi hadcleared the two defence dealslast week.

While the chemistrybetween Modi and Trump wasfully evident as the two leadersshared many hugs and heapedpraise on each other in front of1,00,000-strong enthusiasticcrowd, the traditional andcolourful welcome left the USPresident impressed.

“Five months ago, the US

welcomed your PM at a giantfootball stadium, and you wel-comed us at the world’s largestcricket stadium. Thank you forspectacular welcome. We willalways remember this remark-able hospitality,” Trump said.

Known for his fondness totweet, Trump earlier took toTwitter and tweeted messagesin Hindi, including oneexpressing eagerness to visitIndia, to which Modi respond-ed by tweeting the Sanskritphrase, “Atithi Devo Bhava(guest is god)”.

Talking about India’s richculture and extraordinarydiversity repeatedly, Trumpsaid India is always admired

around the world as the placewhere millions of Hindus,Muslims, Sikhs, Jains,Buddhists, Christians and Jewsworship side by side in har-mony as it has great traditionof embracing individual free-dom, rule of law, dignity ofevery human being.

“The First Lady and I havetravelled 8,000 mile around theglobe to deliver the message toall citizens across this nation —America loves India, Americarespects India, and Americawill always be a faithful andloyal friend to the Indian peo-ple,” Trump said.

During his nearly 30 min-utes long speech, Trump alsosaid, “While our nations havemany differences, they are bothdefined and propelled by afundamental truth — the truththat all of us are blessed withdivine light and every person isendowed with a sacred soul”and quoted Swami Vivekanand.

On his maiden visit toIndia as the US President,Trump, who was welcomed byModi on his arrival here, saidhis country will remain a“loyal” friend of India andcalled Prime Minister Modi an“exceptional leader” who worksday and night for the country.

“India and the US are com-mitted to fight terrorists andtheir ideology, that is why myGovernment is working withPakistan to crack down onterror groups,” the US Presidentsaid.

“Under my Administrationwe unleashed the full power ofthe military on blood-thirstykillers of ISIS in Iraq and inSyria. Today the ISIS territor-ial caliphate has been 100 percent destroyed and the monsterknown as Al-Baghdadi, thefounder and leader of ISIS, isdead,” he said.

Continued on Page 4

���+�'������� 02$�32*1'

World stock markets,including Indian indices,

and oil prices tumbled onMonday with Milan and Seoulfalling hardest on growing fearsof a coronavirus pandemic, asgold hit a seven-year peak onsafe-haven buying, dealers said.

Wall Street stocks plungedin early trading on Monday,joining a global equity selloffon mounting worries that thespread of the new coronaviruswill derail global growth. About10 minutes into trading, thebenchmark Dow JonesIndustrial Average stood at28,191.85, down 2.8 per cent oraround 800 points. The broad-based S&P 500 dove 2.6 percent to 3,252.23, while thetech-rich Nasdaq CompositeIndex sank 3.1 per cent to9,282.16.

Losses were widespreadwith the technology, financialand energy sectors all downsignificantly as news of theinfections in Europe, West Asiaand Southeast Asia triggeredmore drastic efforts to stoppeople from travelling.

“There is burgeoning fearthat the shutdown effect thathas hit China’s economy is

going to take over elsewhere,dealing another blow to glob-al growth, and earnings growth,prospects,” said Briefing.Comanalyst Patrick O’Hare.

Indian stock benchmarkSensex on Monday sank near-ly 807 points, the secondbiggest single-day fall this year,tracking sell-offs in global mar-kets as coronavirus cases roseexponentially outside China.

Starting off on a weakernote, the BSE gauge plunged toa day’s low of 40,306.36 afterbeing caught in a panic sellingas investors kept fretting overreporting of a large number ofnew virus cases in South Korea,Italy and Iran.

Continued on Page 4

������������������ �����������

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Walking hand-in-hand, USPresident Donald Trump

and First Lady Melania Trumpon Monday evening wentaround the iconic Taj Mahal,hailing the 17th centuryMughal-era mausoleum as a“timeless testament” to the richand diverse beauty of Indianculture.

The American power cou-ple spent almost an hour at theTaj Mahal, soaking in the beau-ty of the monument of love,and were briefed about the his-tory and traditions associatedwith architectural marvel.

“The Taj Mahal inspiresawe. A timeless testament tothe rich and diverse beauty ofIndian culture! Thank youIndia,” Trump and Melaniawrote on the visitor’s book.

Trump, accompanied byhis wife, daughter Ivanka andson-in-law Jared Kushner,

arrived here from Ahmedabadwhere they attended the‘Namaste Trump’ event at theMotera stadium.

The Taj Mahal, which wasbuilt by Mughal Emperor ShahJahan in memory of his wifeMumtaz Mahal who died in1631, was refurbished for thevisit.

Holding hands, the coupletook a stroll in the resplendentgardens adjoining the pool atthe celebrated monument, as acool breeze made their experi-ence even more pleasant.

Trump, dressed in a darksuit with a tie of light shade,and Melania, wearing a whitedress accessorised with a greenwaistband, also posed for pho-tographs. Ivanka, wearing awhite dress with red floralprints and red shoes, andKushner, dressed in a sharpsuit, took a stroll hand-in-hand around the monument.

Continued on Page 4

Ahmedabad: A marble repli-ca of Mahatma Gandhi’s “threewise monkeys” statue, a copy ofhis Talisman or a piece of wis-dom as well as a special editionof his autobiography wereamong the items gifted to USPresident Donald Trump andhis wife Melania during theirvisit to the Sabarmati Ashramhere on Monday. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi gift-ed the iconic statue of “threewise monkeys”.

����� ����� �������������� ���������� ������

Ahmedabad: Using Bollywoodto strike a chord with movie-loving Indians, US PresidentDonald Trump on Mondayhailed the “genius” of the Hindifilm industry and recalled twoall-time favourites, “Sholay”and “DDLJ”. Addressing the“Namaste Trump” event, theUS President said people “takegreat joy” in watchingBollywood films and under-standing Indian culturethrough them.

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ADelhi Police HeadConstable and three civil-

ians were killed while severalpolice personnel, includingthe Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (DCP) and AssistantCommissioner of Police(ACP), were injured after proand anti-Citizen AmendmentAct (CAA) groups clashed forthe second consecutive dayon Monday and hurled stonesat each other at Gokulpuri,Chanbagh and Maujpur areas.

Violence between groupssupporting and opposing theCAA was also reported in theJafrabad and Bhajanpura areas.A youth also opened eightrounds of fire in the air on thestreets on Monday afternoon inthe Maujpur while the policetried to control him. The man,identified as Shahrukh fromShadara, was arrested later inthe day.

Police fired tear gas shellsand also resorted to lathicharge to disperse the violentcrowd of protesters.

Following the violence, theDelhi Police CommissionerAmulya Patnaik also stationedhimself in the police controlroom (PCR) and closely mon-itored the situation. The policehave also imposed section 144

of the CrPC, which prohibitsassembly of four or more peo-ple, in areas affected by vio-lence in northeast Delhi.

There was heavy stonepelting in Maujpur, whilepolice baton-charged to dis-perse protesters in Jafrabad.Shops and houses were van-dalised and set on fire inMaujpur and Bhajanpura.Amit Sharma, the DCPShahdara, official vehicle wasalso set on fire in Gokulpuriwhile a petrol pump was put onfire by the protesters atBhajanpura. This is the secondday of clashes in the city whereUS President Donald Trumpwill arrive on Monday evening.

Meanwhile, sources in theCentral security agencies hint-ed that riots were orchestratedby certain elements to malignthe image of the country dur-ing the Trump visit.

In the evening, Minister of

State for Home Affairs, GKishan Reddy condemned theattack by rioters. “My deepestcondolences to the family ofthe Delhi Police HeadConstable who lost his lifeamidst the protests in Delhi.Our Narendra Modi govern-ment condemns all forms ofviolence and we assure a sternaction against the culprits,” hetweeted.

Union Home SecretaryAjay Bhalla said the situationis fully under control and suf-ficient forces were deployed onthe ground. “The situation inDelhi is fully under control.The senior police officials areon the ground and sufficientforces are also deployed at thespot,” said Bhalla.

“Armed police personnelhave been deployed at strate-gic points. Areas with historyof past clashes such as Jafrabad,Seelampur, Maujpur,Gautampuri, Bhajanpura,Chand Bagh, Mustafabad,Wazirabad and Shiv Vihar, arebeing monitored to maintainlaw and order situation,” saidAlok Kumar, the JointCommissioner of Police,Eastern Range.

Meanwhile, the DelhiMetro closed entry and exit anuneasy calm prevailed in theNortheast areas. “Entry & exitgates of Jaffrabad, Maujpur-Babarpur, Gokulpuri, JohriEnclave and Shiv Vihar areclosed. Trains will terminate atWelcome metro station,” theDMRC tweeted.

Continued on Page 4

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Two NGOs alleged in theSupreme Court on Monday

that the Election Commission(EC) has violated election rulesby destroying the VVPAT(voter verifiable paper audittrail) data of last year's LokSabha polls before the conclu-sion of the statutory one-yearperiod.

The NGOs - Associationfor Democratic Reforms(ADR) and Common Cause -- referred to the responsereceived through an RTI appli-cation from the EC and allegedbefore a bench headed by ChiefJustice SA Bobde that theVVPAT data was needed to be

preserved for a period of oneyear - a rule of the Conduct ofElection Rules. "We donot look into it at the moment,"the bench, also comprisingjustices BR Gavai and SuryaKant, said.

Appearing for the NGOs,lawyer Prashant Bhushan saidthe "shocking fact" hademerged in an RTI responseand they would file an appli-cation in this regard.

The bench had earlierissued notice to the poll panelon the PIL seeking a probe intoalleged discrepancies betweenthe voter turnout figure and thenumber of votes counted in 347constituencies during the 2019Lok Sabha polls.

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The Supreme Court onMonday refused to entertain

a plea seeking framing of guide-lines to ensure an expeditiousgrant of sanction to prosecutethe accused in serious offenceslike the sedition case against for-mer JNU Students' Union pres-ident Kanhaiya Kumar. A Benchof Chief Justice SA Bobde, jus-tices BR Gavai and Surya Kantsaid such an order could bepassed only in a specific case anddirections of generic naturecould not be issued. "The lawshould be followed in a partic-ular case," the bench told lawyerShashank Deo Sudhi, who wasappearing for former BJP MLANand Kishor Garg.

��� 02$�32*1'

The Centre on Mondaydenied allegations of a star-

vation death in Jharkhand andarbitrary cancellation of near-ly three crore ration cards ofpoor people across the countryin the Supreme Court, assert-ing that it was ready to provethem wrong.

"Let it be put on affidavit.I will respond and show allthese are wrong. It is all incor-rect statistics," AttorneyGeneral KK Venugopal told abench comprising Chief JusticeSA Bobde and justices BRGavai and Surya Kant.

The attorney general hadto intervene when senior advo-cate Colin Gonsalves, appear-ing in a PIL, alleged starvationdeaths following denial of food

in the absence of Aadhaarcard.

Gonsalves also claimedthat as many as three croreration cards of poor peoplehave been cancelled by author-ities across the country and a13-year-old girl had died ofstarvation in Jharkhand aftershe was denied ration onaccount of non-matching ofAadhaar details with her rationcard.

The attorney general sub-mitted that the Centre wouldfile a comprehensive affidaviton the issue and was waiting forreplies of state governmentswhich failed to file the same incompliance of notices issued tothem on December 9, 2019.He said the Centre would col-late the responses of states andfile a response.

����� 02$�32*1'�

The Comptroller andAuditor General (CAG) on

Monday held a brainstormingsession with representatives ofas many as seven Ministries toseek suggestions from the exec-utive on areas that could beselected for audit.

This would help in under-standing their concerns andwould also supplement therisk-assessment exercise beingundertaken by the CAG in thecourse of finalising the annu-al plan of audit activities.

The meeting, chaired byDeputy Comptroller andAuditor General AnitaPattanayak, sought more effec-tive audit exercise from the sec-

retaries and representatives ofthe selected Central Ministriesand departments.

The Ministries includedenvironment, forest and cli-mate change, jal shakti, earthsciences, new and renewableenergy, science and technolo-gy, food processing industries,and food and consumer affairs.

The meeting was intendedto focus on development, tech-nology and climate-relatedissues.

"We are keen on this inter-action... Activities undertakenby scientific and environmen-tal ministries are critical to thenational objective of broad-based economic growth andbalanced development acrossall sectors.

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Ayear since its launch, theModi Government's ambi-

tious cash-for-farmers pro-gramme 'PM KISAN'(Pradhan Mantri KisanSamman Nidhi) has reached asaturation level due to someStates' reluctance to adopt theCentral scheme and imple-mentation hurdles like linkingwith Aadhaar persisting.

There could be 2.13 croremore potential beneficiarieswho are left out from thescheme as States like WestBengal and Bihar have notadopted the scheme.

With the enrolment of 9.74crore potential beneficiaries,the new registration hasreached a saturation level,sources said and pointed outthat the scheme intended tocover 14 crore farmers.

As per the AgricultureMinistry's data, of the 68 lakh

farmers from the West Bengal,about 10 lakh farmers havealready self-registered for thescheme via the online portal ofPM-Kisan. Bihar's potential is158 lakh whereas data of only59.7 lakh has been uploaded.Bihar has adopted a beneficia-ry application based approachwhich is delaying identificationand upload.

According to UnionAgriculture Minister NarendraSingh Tomar, barring WestBengal and Bihar, all otherStates and Union Territories areimplementing the schemewhich has benefited 8.45 crorefarmers so far in the country,against the target of 14 crorefarmers.

On PM-Kisan portal, thecentre has received data oftotal 9.74 crore farmers. Theminister also launched PM-Kisan mobile App on comple-tion of one year of the imple-mentation of the scheme.

"States which haveachieved 90 percent or moresaturation have been asked tolook at inter district variationswhile states to do 100 percentverification of 25 randomlyselected villages in compara-tively low saturation districts,"he said.

The data says, only 9 farm-ers registered from Adamanand Nicobar Islands; 123 fromArunachal Pradesh; 121 fromChandigarh; 21 from DadraNagar Haveli; 633 from Delhi;30 from Goa, 4902 fromHimachal Pradesh;11 fromSikkim; 43 from Puducherry;733 from Meghalaya and 1010from Tripura.

According to sources,Aadhaar-based enrolment andcash transfers, slow internetconnections in many ruralcentres, and messy land recordshave slowed the programme.

"Problems in Aadhaarauthentication, or the process

of validating the biometricidentity with a beneficiary'sbank account, have limited thenumber of potential payouts,"sources added.

Aadhaar linking wasoptional for the first tranchethat covered the December2018-March 2019 period.

For the second instalmentcovering the period April-July 2019, Aadhaar authenti-cation was compulsory, exceptfor north-eastern States andthe erstwhile Jammu &Kashmir. On the first anniver-sar y of launch of theGovernment's ambitious PM-Kisan scheme, Tomar onMonday launched a mobileapp to broaden the reach ofthe programme that aims toprovide annually �6,000 toeach eligible farmer.

Under PM-KISAN, thegovernment provides incomesupport of �6000 a year tofarmers with a valid enrolment,

paid in three equal cash trans-fers of �2000 - one every fourmonths. It was launched on 24February 2019, when the firstinstalment was paid.

Stating that the cash ben-efit under the scheme will notonly help farmers but alsoboost the state economy, Tomarsaid: "Our officials haveapproached the state govern-ment in this regard many times.I have also written twice to thechief minister urging to join thescheme.

But no reply has come yetfrom the CM." Tomar saidsome states like AndhraPradesh, Bihar and Sikkim areslow in authenticating theirfarmers' data and the centralgovernment is pursuing withthem seriously.

About 85 per cent of thefarmers data registered underthe scheme has been Aadharverified, the rest will be com-pleted soon, he added.

����� 02$�32*1'�

Over 100 Indians strandedin coronavirus-hit Wuhan

could heave a sigh of relief asthe Centre on Monday said anAir Force flight to the crisis-hitChinese city is being plannedfor February 26 for bringing theevacuees back on February 27.

Union Health Minister DrHarsh Vardhan, who under-took a review of the ongoingcoronavirus (COVID19) man-agement across the countrywith senior officials of theMinistry, said he has beeninformed about the flight bythe Ministry of External AffairsMinistry.

The Health Ministry quot-ed Vardhan as saying this.

India's national carrier AirIndia has already evacuatedaround 640 Indians fromWuhan in two separate flights.According to estimates, over100 Indians are still living inWuhan.

A sizeable number ofcountries have evacuated theircitizens from China andrestricted movement of peopleand goods to and from thecountry in view of the massive

outbreak of coronavirus there.At present, the screening of

passengers is being done in all21 airports, 12 major and 65non-major seaports and bordercrossings.

In all 4,214 flights and4,48,449 passengers have beenscreened so far while as of now,2,707 samples have been test-ed of which only 3 samples hadearlier tested positive (Kerala)and all the three patients havebeen discharged from the hos-pitals and are now in home iso-lation.

"All Indian evacuees fromWuhan have tested negative for

COVID19 and have gone backto their homes from the quar-antine facilities. In all, 23,259persons were brought undercommunity surveillance in 34States/UTs through theIntegrated DiseasesSurveillance Programme(IDSP) network," said theMinister.

A revised travel advisoryon travel to Singapore has beenissued on February 22.

Regarding movementacross Kartarpur border inPunjab, it was informed thatin discussion with the HomeMinistry, Health Ministry andHealth Secretary, Punjab, spe-cial screening has beenstrengthened across the bor-der and further necessaryfacilitation for masks to beworn by pilgrims is being ini-tiated.

At present, in addition toscreening of passengers fromflights coming from China,Hong Kong, Thailand,Singapore, Japan and SouthKorea, entry screening hasbeen extended to flights com-ing from Vietnam, Nepal,Indonesia and Malaysia witheffect from February 23.

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Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Monday handed

over to the CISF the trophy forthe ''best marching contingent''amongst the paramilitary forcesand other auxiliary squads forperformance during theRepublic Day parade this year.

An event was held in theSouth Block office of thedefence ministry where CISFDirector General (DG) RajeshRanjan, contingent comman-der Deputy CommandantPrabh Simran Singh and otherofficials of the force receivedthe trophy from Singh, an offi-cial spokesperson said.

The CISF contingent isidentified by its distinct yellow-coloured headgear and had148-members when theymarched this time at the

Rajpath on January 26. this isthe sixth time that the force haswon this award, the spokesper-son said.

With a strength of nearly1.70 lakh personnel, theCentral Industrial SecurityForce (CISF) is a Central para-military that secures 61 airports

at present apart from vitalinfrastructure in the nuclearand aerospace domain.

The CISF DG congratulat-ed Contingent Commanderand other officers of CISF fortheir excellent performanceand bringing laurels to theorganization.

����� 02$�32*1'�

Peeved at the ModiGovernment's move to not

allow its top leaders, includingparty chief Sonia Gandhi, tomeet with the visiting US pres-ident Donald Trump, as hasbeen the tradition, theOpposition Congress hasdecided to give the officialbanquet hosted by PresidentRam Nath Kovind in honour ofthe visiting dignitary a com-pletely miss.

On Monday, news came inabout former Prime ministerManmohan Singh too notattending the banquet hostedby President Ram Nath Kovindin honour of the US Presidenton Tuesday.

Singh had earlier acceptedthe invite but expressed hisinability to attend the same. Hehas conveyed his regret to thePresident's office for not beingable to attend the banquet,sources close to Singh said.

Earlier, Congress leader inLok Sabha Adhir RanjanChowdhury and Leader of

Opposition in Rajya SabhaGhulam Nabi Azad had decid-ed to skip the President's ban-quet in protest over the party'stop leaders not being extend-ed an invitation.

Chowdhury said the ModiGovernment has done awaywith the tradition of allowingthe principal opposition partyto hold discussions with thevisiting US President, unlike inthe past when such meetingswere arranged. "I will notattend the banquet hosted bythe President on February 25.It is a protest on my behalf," hesaid.

He said the Governmenthas not extended an invite toCongress president SoniaGandhi. "We do not feel goodabout the change in traditionby the Modi Government,when the principal oppositionparty leaders are ignored dur-ing such key visits. In the past,we ensured the principal oppo-sition party leaders meet thevisiting dignitaries, includingUS President George Bush orBarack Obama," he said.

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As the US PresidentDonald Trump began his

ambitious two-day visit toIndia on Monday, the BJPdescribed "Namaste Trump",an event at Ahmedabad onthe line of 'Howdy Modi', a"master stroke" of publicdiplomacy between the twocountries.

Trump has said that theUS and India will seal majortrade pacts during his visitwhich is exclusively focusedon India. Trump is to seek re-election as President later thisyear.

A high-powered delega-tion is accompanying the USPresident with an eye onextracting a favourable tradedeal and reduction in tariff byIndia on American exports ." Modi is a tough negotiator.",said the US President whilemaking his speech at the'Namaste India' event in the

Gujarat Capital . On day one of the visit,

'Namaste Trump' was held atMotera Stadium inAhmedabad to welcomeTrump who was given a rous-ing ovation by a capacitycrowd of over one lakh.

Trump and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi alsoaddressed the audience in thestadium, the largest cricketstadium in the world .

"Namaste Trump is amasterstroke of public diplo-macy between India and US,"Vijay Chauthaiwale, whoheads the BJP's overseas

affairs department, said in aseries of tweets.

He asked if any other vis-iting foreign head of state hasever praised a country, itsnational heroes, heritage, cul-ture, music and leader soprofusely.

"This day will be writtenin the golden letters in the his-tory of India, thanks to thevisionary leadership of PMNarendra Modi," he said.

The US president wasdriven from airport toSabarmati Ashram and laterto the stadium as peoplelined-up on both sides of the22-km-long route to cheerboth the leaders. DescribingModi as a "tremendously suc-cessful leader" of the Indianrepublic, Trump, in his speechin the stadium , referred tothe BJP leader's "landslidevictory like no other in thelargest democratic electionever held anywhere on theface of the earth".

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The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on Monday

conducted searches at multiplelocations in Tamil Nadu andKarnataka in connection withthree ISIS-related cases.

In Tamil Nadu, searcheswere conducted at 10 locationsincluding one in Chennai City,one in Kanchipuram district,one in Toothukudi district,three in Salem district andfour in Cuddalore district.

The searches were con-ducted in connection withChennai Q Branch Case, ISISKhaja Moideen Module caseand ISIS-Al Hind ModuleCase.

The Q branch case relatesto 10 Bengaluru-based accusedpersons who allegedly con-spired with ISIS/ Daish mem-ber Khaja Moideen, native ofParangipettai, Cuddalore dis-trict, with the intention of car-rying out unlawful activities

and committing terrorist acts inIndia by procuring illegal armsin furtherance of the terror out-fit's agenda. During searches atthe houses of the 10 accused, 16SIM cards and 2 internet don-gles besides documents andbooks have been seized, theNIA said.

The ISIS Khaja MoideenModule Case, originally regis-tered by Special Cell of DelhiPolice, was re-registered byNIA on January 30 this yearagainst arrested accused Abdul

Samad, Khaja Moideen, SyedAli Navas and Jaffer Ali besidestheir associates for the con-spiracy to further the objectivesof the banned terror outfitISIS/ Daish by carrying out ter-rorist attacks in Delhi andNCR. During searches at thehouses of the arrested accusedon Monday, the NIA seizedfour laptops, one tablet, womobile phones and three SIMcards besides certain docu-ments including books sup-porting violent jihad.

In Karnataka, NIA carriedout searches at 15 locations inBengaluru city and Kolar dis-trict in connection with inves-tigation of ISIS AL HindModule Case at the houses ofarrested and abscondingaccused and office of AL-HindTrust. During searches, a num-ber of digital devices includingnine mobile phones, five SIMcards, one Laptop, two HardDiscs, four CDs/DVDs, 18Books, one auto rickshaw, fire

crackers and otherIncriminating documents havebeen seized from these loca-tions, the agency said in astatement.

ISIS AL Hind Module Casepertains to a criminal con-spiracy with an objective ofmurdering Hindu leaders, cre-ating communal riots and to doanti-national activities by form-ing a terrorist gang, beinginspired by ISIS, a proscribedterrorist outfit.

The members of the AlHind module conducted meet-ings at Bengaluru and otherparts of Karnataka, Tamil Naduand propagated ISIS ideology,procured arms and ammuni-tion and other incriminatingmaterial for executing theirplans The seized items will besubmitted before the jurisdic-tional NIA Special Courts atChennai and Bengaluru andthe digital devices subjected tocyber forensic examination,the NIA added.

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The Centre on Mondaygave in-principle approval

to the construction of an ele-vated expressway betweenDehradun and New Delhiwhich will reduce the distancebetween the two cities to 180kms. The Centre's Go-aheadto the project was conveyed toUttarakhand Chief MinisterTrivendra Singh Rawat by theNational Highway Authorityof India Chairman SS Sandhu.

Congratulating the peopleof the State after his meetingwith Sandhu, the ChiefMinister said the constructionof the highway will boosttourism and prove to be amilestone in its economicdevelopment. It will reducethe distance betweenDehradun and the nationalcapital to 180 kms and theState Government will extend

all support to the NHAI forthe construction of the ele-vated highway, Rawat said.

At present, the distancebetween Dehradun and Delhiis around 250 kms.

Work on the highway,which will reduce travel timebetween the two cities to twoand a half hours, will beginsoon, Sandhu said at themeeting with Rawat.

Construction of an ele-vated road on the routebesides a new tunnel near

Mohand on the outskirts ofDehradun is proposed as partof the project, the NHAIchairman said. Noting thatparts of the proposed highwayfalls under the jurisdiction offorest and wildlife depart-ment of neighbouring UttarPardesh, Sandhu asked theChief Minister to request theUP Government for speedyforest and environment clear-ances so that work on the pro-ject could be expedited.

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Page 3: ˝ # ˆ #56˝57578 ’/5 9 #˛˜˚$%%˚& ˆ’(...2020/02/25  · and Melania, wearing a white dress accessorised with a green waistband, also posed for pho-tographs. Ivanka, wearing

RAIPUR | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 25, 2020chhattisgarh 03

The victorious team of Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy, Bhopal, which won the 78th Mahant SarveshwardasMemorial All India Hockey Tournament held at Digvijaya Stadium in Rajnandgaon. The Academy beatNorthern Railways in a penalty shootout in the final. Pioneer Photo

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chhattisgarh GovernorAnusuiya Uikey said

quick decisions taken afterthe formation of the presentgovernment in state and itsthree-pronged approach hasbuilt trust, development andsecurity. The reflection isvisible at national level whereit is seen as a new hope. It hasalso pushed a new era,prosperity and participationof all in state. She said.

With customary addressof Governor the budgetsession of the state legislativeassembly began on Monday.The session will have 22sittings before it concludeson April 1.

Governor further said

there has been drasticdecline in incidents ofMaoist violence due to the

initiatives taken by thegovernment to ensure jus-tice. But the challenge to

maintain the situation andmake it better remains.Improvised and attractive

action plan for rehabilitationof surrendered Maoists hasbeen made, she added.

Governor said, state wit-nessed free and fair civicbody, three-tier panchayatelection. Initiatives havebeen taken for withdrawal ofcriminal cases against inno-cent Scheduled Tribes inBastar, while land atLohandiguda was returnedto tribal farmers, she pointedout.

“Steps to provide themforest rights are in progress.Additional to it the supportprice of minor forest producehas been hiked and procure-ment of 22 products beingensured. Several steps havebeen taken to strengthendemocratic systems andfunctioning in decentralized

mode to bring administra-tion closer to public,” sheadded.

Uikey said the govern-ment has given push to ruralculture and economythrough the initiative ‘NarvaGarva, Ghurva, Bari’ givingnew source of employmentto rural masses. It wasbacked by cottage industries,she said, adding youth,school going children, sportshave also been taken care.

After the addressCongress MLA DhanendraSahu moved the motion ofthanks on the Governor’sAddress after which Speakerinvited amendment andfixed date for discussion onFebruary 26-27. Speakerthen adjourned the Housetill Tuesday (February 25).

Chhattisgarh is seen asa new hope: Governor

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh police has recov-ered `7.80 crore from vari-

ous chit-fund companies andarrested 12 persons who weredirectors in these phony compa-nies, officials said here onMonday.

As per official informationin 2019, 56 case of cheating wereregistered against differentirregulated financial companies.Police teams are also working incoordination with different statepolice to arrest the office bearerson the run.

The local agents who werehired by the chit-fund compa-nies and they were not aware ofspurious intentions of the com-panies were made witnesses inthe case. Eighty such personswere made witnesses, officialsclaimed.

In 66 similar cases, 123

agents have agreed to becomewitnesses and the cases areunder court’s consideration, theyadded.

By 2020, 178 cases wereregistered against different chitfund companies and theirproperties are being auctioned.Properties of ‘Yalko Real Estateand Agri Farming Limited’ wereauctioned and `7.61 crore wasrecovered.

Likewise, from Bilaspur‘Kanya Welfare Society’ `2.80lakh was recovered. In the sameway its property at village Pairiworth Rs 16.4 lakh wasauctioned and the money wasdeposited in government’saccount, officials informed.

“Sixty-three cases forauction are under considerationwith local courts and 103 casesare pending with districtcollectors for the same,” officialssaid.

12 directors of chit-fundcompanies held, `7.80 cr recovered

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel, who also holds the

finance portfolio, will be pre-senting state’s budget for thefinancial year 2020-21 onMarch 3. Overall, it will be hissecond budget presentationafter coming to power inDecember 2018.

The date for presentationof the budget was finalized atthe meeting of business advi-sory committee held onMonday at the meeting hall inassembly premises.

Speaker, Chhattisgarh state

assembly, Charandas Mahantchaired the meeting which wasalso attended by ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel aswell as Leader of Opposition,Dharamlal Kaushik.

Parliamentary AffairsMinister Ravindra Choubeylater informed media personsthat March 3 was finalized forpresentation of the statebudget.

Generally, the annualbudget is presented in the lastweek of February and it wasexpected to be presented onFebruary 29, but as it wasweekend and it falls onSaturday the meeting decidedthe date for budget presenta-tion to be March 3, he said.

Notable, the stateassembly’s budget sessioncommenced here on February24 and will last till April 1.

Baghel to presentbudget on March 3

The date forpresentation ofthe budget wasfinalized at themeeting ofbusiness advisorycommittee heldon Monday

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

BJP legislators will grilltreasury bench on paddy

issue in the state assembly onTuesday.

A plan regarding thesame was chalked out at ameeting of BJP legislativeparty held at assemblypremises on Monday. Themeeting was chaired byleader of oppositionDharamlal Kaushik whilestate’s former chief ministerand senior BJP leaderRaman Singh was alsopresent in the meeting.

Kaushik later informedmedia persons that as a mark

of protest the BJP legislatorare going to wear black dress

on Tuesday and will alsomove an adjournment

motion demanding immedi-ate discussion on paddy issue.

The state governmenthad promised to procure allthe produce of the farmersbut the farmers were stillwaiting for their turn, hesaid.

Kaushik further said theyare going to demand of thegovernment to at least permitthose farmers to sell theirproduct who got tokens.Astonishingly they were alsodenied the procurement, headded.

“The legislators of BJPwill attend the House in blackdress as a mark of protestover government’s refusal ofextending the last date of pro-curement”, he furtherinformed.

BJP to grill government on paddy issue todayBJP legislators to wear black dress as a mark of protest

‘We are goingto demand ofthegovernment toat least permitthose farmersto sell theirproduct whogot tokens’

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Leadership and communitydevelopment program are

imperative for the develop-ment of youth in a state likeChhattisgarh, stated RajeshDhruv, Regional Director,Punjab National Bank,Farmer Training Centre.

He was speaking at theinauguration ceremony of 3-day residential workshop foryouth at PNB FarmerTraining Centre Jora andNehru Yuva Kendra (NYK),Raipur, an autonomous bodyunder Ministry of YouthAffairs and Sports,Government of India.

He further added thatyouth are the building blockin development of any nation.“Thus, it is our responsibilityto empower them so that theycan contribute in the nationbuilding and development,”he added.

Fifty youths from 3districts namely Raipur,Gariyaband and BalodaBazar participated in thistraining program.

Arpit Tiwari, DistrictYouth Coordinator, NehruYuva Kendra, Raipur statedthat the objective of thistraining programme is tobuild personality, characterand moral building on onehand and equipped youth

with basic qualities of leader-ship on the other hand.

In addition, the 3-daytraining program NYK willalso provide rural youth anopportunity to come together,share their experiences,exchange ideas and take upcommunity welfare and NationBuilding activities, he said.

Various sessions will beorganised in the trainingprogram over the period ofthree days on national inte-gration and development, vil-lage mapping and communitydevelopment, health issuesand drug abuse, personalitydevelopment and leadership,Panchayti Raj System and self-development to name a few.

‘Leadership & community developmentprogram imperative for youth’s growth’

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Following the spread of coro-navirus in China and other

countries, the social media wasabuzz with rumours that poul-try and its products are alsoinfested with virus and so suchproducts should not be con-sumed.

Such rumours led toreduction in sales of poultryproducts across the state.

To put to rest suchrumours being spread onsocial media, Director,Veterinary services, onMonday clarified that poultryproducts are not affected bycoronavirus and are safe forconsumption.

In an appeal, the director

urged not to believe in suchrumours being spread throughthe social media.

“There is no need to raisesuspicion on the chicken andeggs. WHO too had issued therecommendations that incooked chickens or eggsconsumed in clean environ-ment, there is no danger ofspread of diseases,” he said.

The state government hasbeen promoting, poultryproducts, mainly egg as asource of protein to fightmalnutrition. Large section ofpregnant women andmalnutrition affected childrenare being provided eggs whilethe government is alsopromoting consumption ofchicken.

‘Poultry products safe,no link to coronavirus’

Two IAS officers getnew responsibilitiesRAIPUR: Government ofChhattisgarh on Mondayissued order making minorchanges in the responsibilitiesof two IAS officers.

In an order issued byGeneral AdministrationDepartment, P. Dayanand(IAS-2006), ManagingDirector, Samagra shiksha andAdditional charge, Director,State Council for EducationResearch and Training(SCERT) has been posted asdirector, social welfare.

Jitendra Kumar Shukla(IAS-2011) Director, PublicInstructions and additionalcharge of Mission Director,State Literacy Mission alongwith his present charges willhold additional charge ofManaging Director, Samagrashiksha and Director, StateCouncil for EducationResearch and Training(SCERT).

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

In the ongoing NationalAgriculture Fair, the red,

green, orange colouredherbal ‘gulal’ are drawingcrowds. It has been preparedby Bhoomi Self-Help Groupof Tilda, Raipur district.

Member of SHG MeeraKanauje said in view ofupcoming Holi festival, thegroup having around 3000women members has pre-pared the herbal coloursusing natural materials. Forgreen colour of gulal, theleaves of marigold andspinach have been used whilefor yellow colour marigoldflower, turmeric and gramflour have been used. Theorange colour has been pre-pared from beetroot and

Amaranthus red (Lal Bhaji).She added that all are chemi-cal free and hence thesecolours will not cause anyharm to the skin.

Kanauje further said thatanother group Astha MahilaGram Sanghatan, is workingin the field of agriculture asmaximum women membersare uneducated. Under Bihanscheme, they were impartedtraining to make different

products. Apart from herbalcolours, they also preparelamp from cow-dung, flowerpots etc. The lamps are beingsold at Nagpur, Delhi,Rajasthan, Raipur fetchingan income of around Rs 5lakh for the group. She addedthat now women are prepar-ing herbal tooth powderalong with other organicproducts. This supplementedtheir household income.

Herbal colours draw crowdin National Agriculture Fair

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Those with an MSc degree or doctorate(PhD) in the field of pathology, med-

ical microbiology, medical biochemistry,medical genetics, biotechnology, immunol-ogy, molecular biology and applied biolo-gy with at least three years' training or workexperience in a medical diagnostic labo-ratory, have been now allowed to conductthe tests, generate and sign test reports oftests of their respective specialty. However,they will not be allowed to give any opin-ion or interpretation of laboratory results.

In 2017, they were barred from sign-ing the diagnostic reports.

The Union Health Ministry has issueda notification regarding the role of anauthorized signatory following the greensignal from the Board of Governors insupersession of the Medical Council ofIndia (MCI). As per the notification, MScwith PhD qualification in the field ofpathology, medical microbiology, medicalbiochemistry, medical genetics, biotech-nology, immunology, molecular biology,applied biology having experience of at

least three years post PhD in a laboratoryof same or higher level in aGovernment/recognised medical college orhospital shall be entitled to conduct thetests, generate and sign test reports inrespect of tests of their respective special-ty in medium and advanced medical lab-oratories, without recording any opinionor interpretation of lab results.

Dr Sridhar Rao, president, NationalM.Sc Medical Teachers' Association whohad been fighting on behalf of the stream,welcomed the move. He said, “Signingauthority was snatched from us and manyof our members lost jobs or demoted atworkplace and faced a lot of hardships.

“Clinical scientists signing laboratoryreports is practiced all over the world,including the US, the UK, the EuropeanUnion, Middle East countries, NewZealand, Sri Lanka, Nepal etc. In fact, theWest Bengal government had included theclinical scientists in its ClinicalEstablishments Act guidelines. With theUnion government clearing the way, restof the states must adopt these guidelines”,he added.

Aligarh (UP): Uneasy calm prevailedin localities under the old city's Kotwaliand Delhi Gate police stations here onMonday, a day after arson and groupclashes.

Most shops remained closed inviolence-hit areas but there were nofresh clashes on Monday. Districtauthorities were seen persuadingtraders to open for business, and thesituation improved by the evening.

“No untoward incident has beenreported from any place since Sundayevening,” Agra zone AdditionalDirector General Police (ADGP) AjayAnand told PTI.

On Sunday, over a dozen peopleneeded medical treatment after stone-pelting between groups of protestersand clashes with police.

Two policemen were among thoseinjured. The ADGP said MohamadTariq Munawwar (22), who suffered

gunshot injuries on Sunday, is now sta-ble after emergency surgery and hasbeen shifted to the ICU at JawaharlalNehru Hospital's trauma centre.

“If necessary, we will shift him toAIIMS, New Delhi. Currently, how-ever, doctors are satisfied with hisprogress,” Anand said.

He said police are in the processof identifying those involved inSunday's violence.

“At the same time, we are initiat-ing confidence-building measures withthe help of community leaders torestore normalcy in all affected areas,”he added.

District Magistrate ChandraBhushan Singh warned that anyattempt to spread rumours would bedealt with strongly and the stringentNational Security Act invoked.

Singh said internet services willcontinue to remain suspended tillmidnight Monday. PTI

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party andCongress staged a walkout in the UttarPradesh Assembly on Monday againstalleged police atrocities on peacefulanti-CAA protesters, including women,in Aligarh.

Soon after the House met at 11 am,Leader of Opposition Ram GovindChaudhary demanded a discussion onthe issue. He alleged that women werelathi-charged and tear gas shells werefired during the protest in Aligarh onSunday.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) leader andCongress leader Aradhana Misra, whoraised the issue through separate notices,alleged that the government is out crushthe peaceful protest against theCitizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

“Is this the 'Ram rajya' that the gov-ernment claims (to be aiming for). It hadbeen jungle law ever since the BJP came

to power,” Misra said, adding that theGovernment is answerable for the policeaction.

Chaudhary and Misra also demand-ed a judicial probe into the incident bya sitting Supreme Court or high courtjudge. In his reply, Parliamentary AffairsMinister Suresh Khanna said the Aligarhincident was a result of rivalry betweenthe protesting women and the Bhim Army.

“When vehicles were damaged andthere was anarchy, police stepped in andhad to use force,” he said. “The govern-ment will unmask those behind theseagitations and those patting the backs ofprotesters. No citizen will have tosuffer. It is the attitude of the Oppositionwhich is responsible for it

(violence) and nothing will happenif they do not encourage it,” he added.

Expressing dissatisfaction over theminister's reply, SP and Congress mem-bers staged a walkout. PTI

Sambhal (UP): Former UttarPradesh Governor Aziz Qureshion Monday alleged thatGovernment was sending peo-ple to raise 'pro-Pakistan' slogansduring anti-CAA protests aspart of a conspiracy.

Qureshi termed policeaction on protesters in Aligarhand Delhi as “barbarism” andsaid when those sitting in thegovernment feel defeated, theyindulge in firing and lathicharge.

“The followers of Hitler sit-ting in the government have gottheir people to sit along with theanti-CAA protesters, raisePakistan 'zindabad' slogans andindulge in vandalism and arsonto make it look like violentprotests. This has led to firing bythe police.

All this has been done in avery planned manner,” he toldreporters.

Attacking the BJP and theRSS, he alleged that they had“mischievous plans” for IndianMuslims who are being target-ed.”Just as Hitler set up camps ,the central government was set-ting up detention camps and allthis is being done to divide thecountry,” he said.

Qureshi alleged that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, HomeMinister Amit Shah and theirentire government, on the basisof their numbers in theParliament, has got theCitizenship law amended againstthe very ethos of theConstitution, thereby alienating20 crore people of the country. PTI

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Jammu: The Government is working on thereturn of migrant Kashmiri Pandits to theValley soon with honour and dignity in asecured environment, said a senior BJPleader.

BJP general secretary (Organisation)Ashok Koul also asked the displaced com-munity to get ready for the return for whichthey have been waiting for the last threedecades.

“It should be clear to all that the migrantPandits have to return to the Valley. TheGovernment is going to take a call on it verysoon,” said Koul.

He was speaking at an annual award dis-tribution function organized by HarmukhGanga (Gangbal) Trust (HGGT) in associa-tion with All Parties Migrants Co-ordinationCommittee (APMCC) here on Sundayevening.

The HGGT annually honours prominentpersonalities among Kashmiri pandits andtheir organizations in recognition of their con-tribution to the community. PTI

Srinagar: Security has been increasedacross Kashmir as a precautionary measurein view of US President Donald Trump'stwo-day visit to India, which began onMonday, officials said.

“In view of the incidents that have takenplace in Kashmir ahead of high profile vis-its to the country, security has beenstrengthened in the Valley,” a senior policeofficer said.

In March 2000, Lashkar-e-Taiba mili-tants killed 35 Sikhs in Chatisinghpora vil-lage in Anantnag district during the visit offormer US president Bill Clinton to India.

The official said additional personnelfrom the police and paramilitary forces havebeen deployed here and elsewhere in theKashmir Valley to ensure that militants arenot able to carry out any attacks.Surveillanceand area domination exercises have beenintensified in some areas, he said.Mobilevehicle check points have been set up at sev-eral places for curbing the movement ofpeople who provide logistical support tomilitants, the official said. PTI

Bengaluru: Fugitive gangsterRavi Pujari who is wanted inmany heinous crimes, includ-ing murder and extortion, wasbrought to the city in the earlyhours of Monday from Senegal,police said.

Later in the day, he wasproduced before the 1stAdditional City MetropolitanMagistrate's (ACMM) court which remanded him topolice custody till March 7.

A former close aide ofIndia's most wanted and mas-termind of the 1993 Mumbaiserial blasts, Dawood Ibrahimand gangster Chhota Rajan,Pujari was brought here undertight police security by an AirFrance flight. PTI

Mumbai: Gangster Ejaz Lakdawalahas told Mumbai Police that close aidesof Chhota Rajan had planned to killfugitive underworld don DawoodIbrahim in 1998, but the operationfailed.

Lakdawala, 50, who was on the runfor two decades and was once a closeaide of Dawood Ibrahim, made thisrevelation during interrogation by theMumbai Crime Branch following hisarrest last month in connection withcases of extortion and attempt to mur-der against him.

He told the police that aides ofChhota Shakeel attacked him andgangster Chhota Rajan after their

Imphal: Days after Class11 final exams were calledoff in Manipur govern-ment schools after pur-ported question papers ofat least five subjects sur-faced on social media, amanagement staff at ahigher secondary schoolwas arrested here in con-nection with the case. MSunderchand was appre-hended on Saturday bythe cyber crime unit of theManipur Police, based ona complaint filed by thesecretary of the Council ofHigher SecondaryEducation Manipur(COHSEM), a senior offi-cer said.

“There is an indicationthat English questionpaper might have beenleaked as well, along withthose of five other subjects-- Manipuri, Physics,Chemistry, Mathematicsand Biology,” he said.

Preliminary investiga-tion also revealed that theaccused not just “cut openthe seal of the questionpapers” but also took pho-tographs for circulation,the officer said. PTI

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From Page 1“Entry and exit gates of Udyog

Bhawan, Patel Chowk, CentralSecretariat and Janpath have alsobeen closed. Interchange facilitywill be open at Central Secretariat,”said a DMRC official. However, itis not clear if these metro stationshave been closed due to Trump’sarrival in Delhi or the CAAdemonstrations. All these stationsare close to ITC Maurya inChanakyapuri where DonaldTrump would be staying tonight.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Policeon Monday also appealed to thepeople to maintain peace and notto believe in rumours in the wakeof violence in parts of northeastDelhi during protests for andagainst the new citizenship law.

Beside the Delhi Police per-sonnel, around eight companies ofCentral Reserve Police Force(CRPF) and two companies ofRapid Action Force (RAF) havebeen deployed in the Northeastareas.

“Some incidents of violenceand arson were been reported inareas of North East District, par-ticularly in the areas of Maujpur,Kardampuri, Chandbagh andDayalpur. It is appealed to the peo-ple of Delhi and particularly to theNorth East District to maintainpeace and harmony and not tobelieve in any rumours. It is alsoappealed to the media not to cir-culate any disturbing pictureswhich may further aggravate thesituation,” said a senior policeofficial adding that the Delhi

Police is making every effort torestore normalcy.

“Section 144 has been imposedin the affected areas of North Eastdistrict and strict action will betaken against miscreants and antisocial elements,” the senior policeofficial added.

“Ratan Lal, Head Constablewas attached to the office of theAssistant Commissioner of Police,Gokulpuri and he was killed in theclashes today. Several police per-sonnel have been injured in theclashes. The DCP, Shahdara, suf-fered injuries to his head andhand. He was hospitalised and isdoing fine,” said the senior policeofficial.

Following the clashes, DelhiChief Minister Arvind Kejriwalurged Lt Governor Anil Baijal andUnion Home Minister Amit Shahto restore law and order in the wakeof violence in parts of northeastDelhi during protests for andagainst the new citizenship law.

“Very distressing news regard-ing disturbance of peace and har-mony in parts of Delhi coming in.I sincerely urge Honble LG nHon’ble Union Home Minister torestore law and order and ensurethat peace and harmony is main-tained. Nobody should be allowedto orchestrate flagrations (sic),” hetweeted.

“I just spoke to the L-G. He hasassured that more police forces arebeing sent. Violence will not be tol-erated by anyone. I request peopleto maintain peace. No solution willcome out of violence,” Kejriwaltweeted in Hindi.

��������������

From Page 1She also captured the moments in

her mobile phone and even gave herphone to a person to get a solo pic-ture clicked.

Trump and Melenia were alsobriefed about the history and impor-tance of the monument by a guide.

The US President’s visit to Agraand Taj generated huge excitementamong local residents. Some shopseven displayed their own banners,welcoming Trump to India.

Trump also took to Twitter toexpress his sentiments about his firstofficial visit to India.

“First lady and I have travelled8,000 miles around the world to givea message to each citizen of this coun-try – America loves India, Americarespects India, and the people ofAmerica will always be true andcommitted friends of the people of

India,” the American leader tweetedin Hindi.

From the Kheria airbase here,Trump’s convoy of over 30 vehiclesdrove to Oberoi Amarvilas hotelnear the Taj Mahal complex, as over15,000 school students who lined upon both sides of the route held US andIndia flags and cheered the US pres-ident as his motorcade passed by.

Massive billboards bearing greet-ing messages and pictures of Trump,First Lady and Modi dotted the near-ly 13-km convoy route as streetroundabouts decked up with US andIndia flags symbolised the US-Indiafriendship.

An extensive three-layered secu-rity was in place for his Agra visit, andauthorities had got the Taj Mahalpremises cleared of visitors by noon,hours ahead of Trump’s visit to the cel-ebrated architectural landmark.

The last US president to visit thethe Mughal-era wonder was BillClinton who had come to India in

2000. He had seenthe Taj along withdaughter ChelseaClinton. In 1959,then US presidentDwight David

Eisenhower had visited Taj along withthen prime minister JawaharlalNehru. From massive billboards bear-ing greeting messages to street round-abouts decked up with US and Indiaflags, Agra had waited excitedly towelcome President Trump andauthorities made arrangements to pre-sent a “lively Agra” to the visiting pres-ident, seeking to shake off the old tagof ‘city of ghosts’.

“During Clinton’s visit the citystreets were deserted due to securityarrangements, prompting him to callit a ‘city of ghosts’. This time the excite-ment can be felt in the air,” said MohitKumar, who works at a hotel inTajganj area.

“I was very young in 2000 whenClinton visited. We are very excited andhappy that another US President hascome to our city due to which the civicamenities have been improved,” he said.Earlier, on his arrival at the airbase, over250 artistes drawn from different partsof Uttar Pradesh performed the ‘Mayurdance’, ‘Rai folk dance’, Dhobia folkdance’ as sonorous sounds of ‘bumra-sia’ nagada, dholak, mridang, added tothe festive ambience.

A giant billboard there featuringTrump, First Lady Melania Trump

and Prime Minister Modi greeted thecouple with a message – ‘Grand wel-come of India’s best friend to the Cityof Love –Agra’.

Trump was received at the Kheriaairbase by Uttar Pradesh GovernorAnandiben Patel and Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath.

“From the airport, the USPresident’s convoy travelled till theOberoi Amarvilas hotel situated nearthe East Gate of the Taj Mahal com-plex. From there the President and hisfamily and members of high-level del-egation accompanying him movedinto eco-friendly golf carts to travelinto the monument premises,” asenior official said.

As per Supreme Court directions,petrol or diesel-operated vehicles arenot permitted within 500 m of the TajMahal’s gate. The architectural marvelinscribed into the UNESCO WorldHeritage Site in 1983 is made of whiteMakrana marble and red sandstones,and renowned for its intricate inlaywork on the stone surface.

Taj Mahal, considered one of theseven wonders of the world, stands onthe bank of Yamuna, and is alwayshigh on the itinerary of visiting headsof state.

From Page 1He also announced that

the two countries will firm updefence deals worth USD 3 bil-lion on Tuesday and that the USwill become India’s premierdefence partner. “US looks for-ward to providing India the bestand feared equipment on theplanet,” he said.

“India and US have natur-al and enduring friendship,”Trump said to a cheering crowd.Trump said both countries areworking on a “fantastic trade”deal, and observed that Modi isa “tough negotiator”.

The US President alsopraised Modi, saying the PrimeMinister is a “living proof” ofwhat an Indian can achieve withhard work as Trump referred tohis humble background as a tea-seller. Modi praised Trump’sleadership in containing ter-rorism.

Trump said as the world’slargest economy, India giveshope to all humanity and hasbecome an economic giant.“There is a difference betweena nation that rises by coercionand one that rises by setting itspeople free -- that is India. Indiaand the US have natural andenduring friendship,” he said.He also touched on India’s cul-tural diversity and riches as hehighlighted the success of itsblockbuster movies like DDLJ(Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge)and Sholay, and its sportingicons like Sachin Tedulkar andVirat Kohli.

He highlighted the boom inthe US economy under hispresidency and added that Indiawill soon be home to the biggestmiddle class as it will eliminateextreme poverty in next 10years. Addressing the gathering,Modi termed the visit as a“new chapter” and said therelations between the two coun-tries are no longer just anotherpartnership but a far greater andcloser relationship.

Welcoming the USPresident to “world’s biggestdemocracy”, Modi said foun-dations of new alignments,challenges, opportunities andchanges are being laid.

“India and the US rela-tions and cooperation will playan important role in decidingthe course of world in the 21stcentury. I am of the categoricalview that India and the US arenatural partners,” Modi said.

Underscoring the strongties between the two nations,Modi said the US is now India’slargest trading partner and theIndian military is involved in itsbiggest war exercise with the US.

Modi said Trump’s visit is a

new chapter in the relations. “Achapter that will become a newdocument of progress and pros-perity of the people of Americaand India,” he said.

Modi said the two countriesalso share spirit of enterpriseand innovation, shared oppor-tunities and challenges andshared hopes and aspirations.The Prime Minister also appre-ciated Trump Administration’sefforts in the field of health.

The biggest strengthbetween two people or nationsis trust, Modi said while quot-ing an old adage that “friendshipis where trust is unshakable”.

Highlighting the achieve-ments of the country, Modinoted that India not only has theworld record of sending themaximum number of satellitessimultaneously, but also is mak-ing the world record by doingthe fastest financial inclusion.

“Increasing manufacturingin India, expanding infrastruc-ture, will bring new possibilitiesfor America. In this era ofIndustry 4.0, the expansion ofthe digital economy in India willcreate many investment oppor-tunities for the US as well,” Modisaid. Industry 4.0 has beendefined as a name for the cur-rent trend of automation anddata exchange in manufacturingtechnologies. Modi also said weare inspired by a long-termvision, not just short term con-siderations. “Our bilateral rela-tions will grow, our economicpartnership will expand, ourdigital cooperation willincrease,” he said.

The Indo-US ties are nolonger just another partner-ship but have touched far greaterheights, and the Trump’s tripwith his family shows this,Modi said. The PM said today130 crore Indians are jointlybuilding a ‘new India’.“Our youth power is full of aspi-rations. Setting big goals, achiev-ing them is becoming the hall-mark of new India today,” hesaid. Modi noted that India notonly has the world record ofsending the maximum numberof satellites simultaneously, butalso is making the world recordby doing the fastest financialinclusion.

“Today the country withwhich India has the most exten-sive research and developmentpartnership is America,” hesaid. Referring to military ties,the Prime Minister said the twocountries have participated in anumber of bilateral militaryexercises. “We can make aneffective contribution not onlyin the Indo-Pacific region, butin the peace, progress and secu-rity of the whole world,” he said.

From Page 1While, the broader NSE Nifty sank

251.45 points or 2.08 per cent to 11,829.40.In late morning deals, Milan’s stock

market dived almost five per cent fol-lowing reports of a fourth death amid theCOVID-19 epidemic, an 84-year oldman in the northern Lombardy region.

It was the third death in Lombardy,where villages have been sealed off andsecurity measures enforced to stem thespread of the disease. Traders’ screens wereawash with red elsewhere in Europe too,with Frankfurt falling 3.7 per cent,London losing 3.5 per cent, Madriddown 3.3 per cent and Paris shedding 3.8per cent. Brent oil prices slumped four percent as the burgeoning crisis sparked glob-al energy demand worries. Conversely, onthe London Bullion Market gold surgedto USD 1,689.31 per ounce --- a level lastseen in January 2013 --- as investorssnapped up the precious metal as a safe-ty measure amid the market turbulence.“Fears over an escalation of the coron-avirus outside of China have caused amajor retreat in global markets andprompted wild swings in commodityprices,” said AJ Bell investment directorRuss Mould.

“Italy’s lockdown, as the countrytries to control the worst outbreak of thevirus in Europe, has caused investors topanic about how business and society willbe affected. A large spike in coronaviruscases in South Korea has also added tomarket concerns.

“The result is a large sell-off in equi-ties with... Europe and Asia deeply in thered,” Mould added.

Seoul nosedived 3.9 per cent as SouthKorea announced a surge in COVID-19infections, while Hong Kong erased 1.8per cent but Shanghai retreated by only0.3 per cent.

With the outbreak showing littlesign of easing, investors are increasinglyconcerned it could have a much longer-term impact on the world economy.Traders had been broadly optimistic thatthe virus -- which has killed nearly 2,600and infected 80,000 -- was being containedoutside China but a spurt of infections anddeaths in other countries including SouthKorea, Italy and Iran has fanned fears ofa global outbreak.

On Monday, South Korea said it had833 cases, making it the world’s worst-hitcountry outside China, with seven peo-ple now dead. President Moon Jae-inraised the virus alert to the highest “red”level.

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Washington/Agra: USPresident Donald Trump,seeking re-election, onMonday criticised theOpposition Democratic Party,some 13,000 kilometres awayfrom America in India, andsuggested that Senator BernieSanders could be his likelyrival in the presidential poll inNovember.

Trump, who is on a 36-hour visit to India comment-ed on the ongoing DemocraticParty nomination race andsaid, "It could go to the con-vention, it really could."

"They are going to take itaway from Crazy Bernie, theyare not going to let him win...Iactually think he would betougher than most of the othercandidates because he is likeme but I have a much biggerbase," Trump told reporters ashe flew on Air Force One fromAhmedabad to Agra, accord-ing to CNN.

Trump's comments on theAmerican political scene camea day after Sanders, 78, com-fortably won the crucialNevada Democratic Caucus,giving a big boost to his cam-paign for the 2020 WhiteHouse bid.

Earlier in the day, 73-year-old Trump, a Republican,

tweeted that he has secured arecord 95 per cent approvalrating in the Republican Party.

He also took a dig atHillary Clinton, the formerSecretary of State and hisDemocratic Party rival in the2016 presidential poll on the

victory of Sanders in theNevada Caucus. "Are anyDemocrat operatives, theDNC, or Crooked HillaryClinton, blaming Russia,Russia, Russia for the BernieSanders win in Nevada,"Trump tweeted. PTI

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Washington: Democratic can-didate Bernie Sanders has saidthat if elected president hewould "absolutely" use the mil-itary if warranted, both to pro-tect US interests and to supportits allies.

He also said he would bewilling to meet with the NorthKorean dictator, Kim Jong Un,as President Donald Trump hasdone. Sanders has emerged withan early lead in the Democraticnominating process, and as aself-declared democratic social-ist his foreign and security poli-cies are starting to draw closerscrutiny. But he has deniedbeing a pacifist.

In an interview airingSunday on CBS's "60 Minutes,"the Vermont senator was asked

in what circumstances he, ascommander-in-chief, woulddeploy US military forces. Helisted these criteria: "Threatsagainst the American people, tobe sure. Threats against ourallies. I believe in NATO.

"I believe that the UnitedStates, everything being equal,should be working with othercountries in alliance, not doingit alone." - 'We will not sit by'

When the interviewerasked whether he would ordermilitary action if Taiwan cameunder attack from China,Sanders replied: "Yeah. I mean,I think we have got to make itclear to countries around theworld that we will not sit by andallow invasions to take place,absolutely." AFP

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Beijing: China's coronavirus-hit Wuhan city on Mondayrevoked its decision to partiallylift a month-long lockdownbarely three hours after theannouncement, a media reportsaid, as the death toll climbedto 2,592, while the number ofconfirmed cases increased tomore than 77,000.

The Wuhan local admin-istration earlier announcedthat people who are not quar-antined and seeking specialtreatment or stranded in thecity can leave in batches. Thecity of 11 million people wasthe epicentre of the coron-avirus outbreak.

China locked downWuhan city on January 23, fol-lowed by the entire Hubeiprovince with over 50 millionpeople. Wuhan is the provin-cial capital of Hubei. Over 18cities in the province havebeen sealed.

No residents were allowedto leave the city since then,including several hundred for-eigners, mainly students.

India has evacuated 647Indians and seven Maldiviansby operating two specialflights. India is awaiting per-mission to airlift over 100more.

Barely three hours after thenotice was issued, the govern-ment announced that the deci-sion had been retracted saying

it was issued by a subordinateworking group of the city's dis-ease control command withouttheir superiors' approval, HongKong-based South ChinaMorning Post reported.

The disease control com-mand said it would reprimandthe officials who issued theorder without approval.

The evacuation has evokedhope for many as no residentswere allowed to leave the citysince then, including severalhundred foreigners, mainlystudents. PTI

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Tehran: Iran's Governmentvowed on Monday to be trans-parent after being accused ofcovering up the deadliest coro-navirus outbreak outside China,dismissing claims the toll couldbe as high as 50.

The authorities in theIslamic republic have comeunder mounting public pressuresince it took days for them toadmit to "accidentally" shootingdown a Ukrainian airliner lastmonth, killing 176 people.

The Government said onMonday that Iran's coronavirusdeath toll had jumped by four to12 - by far the highest outsideChina — as its neighbours

closed their borders andimposed strict quarantine mea-sures. But Ahmad AmirabadiFarahani, a lawmaker from theholy city of Qom, south ofTehran, alleged the governmentwas "lying" about the full extentof the outbreak.

The ILNA news agency,which is close to reformists, saidthe lawmaker spoke of "50deaths" in Qom alone.

"The rest of the media havenot published this figure, but weprefer not to censor what con-cerns the coronavirus becausepeople's lives are in danger,"ILNA editor Fatemeh Mahdianitold AFP. AFP

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Najaf (Iraq): Iraq on Mondayconfirmed its first novel coro-navirus case in an elderlyIranian national in the south-ern shrine city of Najaf,according to health officials.

Iraq, a country with adilapidated healthcare system,often hosts pilgrims and reli-gious students from Iran,where 12 people have died ofthe novel coronavirus since anoutbreak there was firstreported last week. Iraq hadblocked travel to and from theIslamic republic days beforeannouncing a seminary stu-dent in Najaf was the country'sfirst confirmed case. AFP

Muscat: Oman on Mondayreported its first two cases ofcoronavirus, and halted flightsto and from Iran with imme-diate effect, authorities andreports said.

Two Omani women whohad returned from Iran werediagnosed with the diseaseand were in a stable condition,state TV reported.

The civil aviation author-ity said in a tweet that it was"suspending all civilian flightsbetween the sultanate andthe Islamic Republic of Iranstarting today and until fur-ther notice". AFP

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Kuala Lumpur: MalaysianPrime Minister MahathirMohamad resigned on Mondayin a shock move after his polit-ical allies sought to bring downthe government and block thesuccession of leader-in-waitingAnwar Ibrahim.

It came after months of ris-ing tensions in the "Pact ofHope" coalition, whichstormed to a shock victory in2018 against a corruption-plagued government that hadruled Malaysia for six decades.

But there were calls forMahathir, the world's oldestleader at 94, to stay in officefrom allies who insisted he hadnot backed the formation of anew government and had quitin disgust at the plot.

The political drama beganon Sunday when Anwar's rivalsfrom the ruling coalition andopposition politicians held aseries of meetings aroundKuala Lumpur, stoking specu-lation a new alliance was tak-ing shape.

That coalition wouldreportedly have excludedAnwar, Mahathir's presumptivesuccessor and a former oppo-sition icon who was jailed foryears on questionable sodomycharges, blocking his ascent to

the premiership.With the fate of the gov-

ernment still uncertainMonday, Mahathir submittedhis resignation to the king. Themonarch accepted it, butappointed him interim leaderuntil a new premier is found,according to an official state-ment.

Anwar -- who has famous-ly stormy relationship withMahathir -- said the premierassured him "he played nopart" in attempts to form a newgovernment, and was "veryclear that in no way will he everwork with those associatedwith the past regime".

The proposed new coali-tion was reportedly set toinclude the United MalaysNational Organisation(UMNO) -- the party of dis-graced ex-leader Najib Razak,which was ejected from officetwo years ago.

Anwar and Mahathir puttheir differences aside andjoined forces to take on a cor-ruption-plagued government atthe 2018 polls. Mahathir, whopreviously served as premierfrom 1981 to 2003, had madea pre-election pledge to handpower to Anwar but has repeat-edly refused to fix a date.AFP

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London: Almost 600,000 mem-bers of Britain's main oppositionLabour party began voting onMonday for a new leader toreplace leftist Jeremy Corbyn inthe wake of a devastating elec-tion defeat.

Three candidates — allmembers of parliament — areon the ballot paper, with the finalresult due to be announced onApril 4.

Brexit spokesman KeirStarmer is currently the fron-trunner, viewed as more mod-erate than his main rival, Corbynally and business spokeswomanRebecca Long-Bailey.

The third candidate, LisaNandy, is well-regarded inWestminster but has a low pub-lic profile. Corbyn was electedLabour leader in 2015 in ashock result, after a politicalcareer spent on the sidelines ofa party where few MPs share hisstaunch socialist views. Now 70,he drew an enthusiastic follow-ing among young people but wasforced to step down after a sec-ond general election defeat inDecember. Labour suffered itsworst result since 1935 whileConservative Prime MinisterBoris Johnson triumphed withhis promise to get Britain out ofthe European Union. AFP

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into the forced sterilisation of dozens ofHIV-positive pregnant women said onMonday that their rights had beenbreached and called for governmentaction.

The investigation was launched in2015, when two women's rights organ-isations approached South Africa'sGender Equality Commission (CGE)with 48 documented cases of coercedsterilisation.

CGE obtained sworn affidavitsfrom the complainants on the allegedprocedures.

"All the women who had lodged thecomplaint were black women who weremostly HIV positive," CGE headKeketso Maema said in the reportreleased on Monday.

"Just before giving birth... They werecoerced or forced to sign forms that they

later learnt through various meanswere consent forms allegedly permittingthe hospital to sterilise them."

Investigators found that hospitalstaff threatened to deny women med-ical attention if they did not sign thepaperwork.

Some of the complainants saidthey were given the forms in momentsof "extreme pain" during which theycould not fully grasp the content, thereport said.

The commission concluded that thewomen suffered several rights violationsand were subjected to "degrading treat-ment".

It also accused medical staff ofbreaching their "duty of care".

The report, which has been sent tothe health ministry, advises the gov-ernment to review sterilisation paper-work. AFP

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Kathmandu: Nepal PrimeMinister KP Sharma Oli's birth-day celebrations were marred bycontroversy after pictures of himcutting a 15-kg-cake with thecountry's map drawn on it wentviral, according to media reportson Monday.

Oli's wife Radhika Shakya,along with a large number ofpeople, including school chil-dren, and his close aides attend-ed the 69th birthday celebrationsof the premier on Sunday at hisbirthplace in east Nepal'sTerhathum district.

The cake, with a replica ofthe country's map drawn on it,was taken in a helicopter fromKathmandu to the venue.

In the pictures circulatedonline, Oli is seen cutting thecake and distributing it to thechildren present at the occasion,Annapurna Post daily reported.

Social media users expressedanger at the use of the country'smap on the cake. "According toArt 151 of Criminal Code 2017,denigrating glory of the nation-al anthem, flag and coat of armsis restricted. "The Code prohibitsthe use of national emblems ininappropriate places and situa-tions. Anyone found to havebeen involved in such an act canface legal action," said one of thesocial media users online. PTI

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Colombo: Sri Lankawill deploy troopsto help police con-trol worsening traf-fic congestion in thecapital, the army saidon Monday.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a retiredarmy officer, ordered the military to assist traf-fic officers at the main entry and exit pointsto Colombo, a city which nearly a million peo-ple enter or leave daily, a spokesman said.

The military police will also lend support"in any other area where their services arerequired", spokesman ChandanaWickremasinghe added.

Traffic slows to a snail's space in Colomboduring the morning and evening rush hoursmaking it one of the slowest road systems inSouth Asia.

Recent studies have shown average speedsdrop below seven kilometres (4.3 miles) anhour in the morning and the evening.

The capital does not have a mass transitsystem, forcing many to use their own trans-port that chokes the narrow streets.

But Sri Lanka began work on its first lightrail transit system last year at an estimated costof USD 1.5 billion. The Japanese-funded pro-ject is expected to be operational withinabout five years. PTI

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The agitation against theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA), the National PopulationRegister (NPR) and related mat-ters, triggered largely by fears

that the Union Government will deprivemillions of Muslims of their citizenship, isone of the most confusing agitations thatthis writer has witnessed over the past fivedecades. The CAA has nothing to do withthe Indian citizens. It only seeks to providecitizenship to a limited number of peoplewho have been persecuted in three IslamicRepublics neighbouring India. The premiseon which the agitation is being carried onis completely baseless and is indicative ofthe extent of mischief a bunch of malcon-tents can do when the electorate rejectstheir agenda.

Organisers of the agitation are callingpeople to the protest sites by spreadingrumours that the CAA will enable theGovernment to snatch away their citizen-ship, when the fact is that the law has noth-ing to do with the people of this country.More importantly, anyone, who reads theCitizenship Act, 1955, (the entire Act andnot just the 2019 amendment to it), willrealise how water-tight the citizenship ofa natural-born citizen (a person born onIndian soil) is under this Act and that inreality, no one has the power to take it away.Section 3 of the Citizenship Act, 1955,describes citizens of India “by birth.” It says:

“Every person born in India (a) on orafter January 26, 1950, but before July 1,1987; (b) on or after the July 1, 1987, butbefore the commencement of theCitizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003,and either of whose parents is a citizenof India at the time of his birth; (c) on orafter the commencement of theCitizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003,where (i) both his parents are citizens ofIndia; or (ii) one of whose parents is a cit-izen of India and the other is not an ille-gal migrant at the time of his birth, shallbe a citizen of India by birth.”

As can be seen, probably 99 per centor more of the Indian citizens fall in thiscategory called “citizens by birth” and theybelong to all religions — Hindu, Muslimand Christian among others. Such peopleare also known as “natural born” citizens.They are distinct from naturalised citizensand indeed constitute the highest class ofcitizens (for example in the US, only a nat-ural born citizen can be the President).These citizens (this writer included) do not“apply” for citizenship. They become citi-zens when they first breathe life. They donot make an oath, swearing allegiance tothe Constitution of India because theirevery breath is deemed allegiance. Theirloyalty is taken for granted. They can giveup their Indian citizenship but no powercan deprive them of their citizenship.Among such citizens, those who commitrape and murder, can be hanged for the

offence, if the law so provides,but their citizenship cannot besnatched away from them. TheAct does not provide for it.They will take their citizenshipto the gallows. Such is thequality of this citizenship.

The citizenship Act offersother categories of citizenshiplike citizenship by registration(Section 5) and naturalisation(Section 6). These are basical-ly for foreigners who wish tosettle in India and seek Indiancitizenship or people of Indianorigin living abroad who wantto return to India and live as cit-izens in this country. There isanother category — foreigners,who marry Indian citizens andsettle down in the country.Sonia Gandhi, the president ofthe Congress, is an Italian expa-triate who moved to India afterher marriage to former PrimeMinister Rajiv Gandhi in 1968.

Under Section 5(2), Indiancitizenship can be granted to aperson coming via the registra-tion route. There is a similarprovision under Section 6 (2)for expatriates who apply forIndian citizenship through“naturalisation.” In both cases,citizenship is granted, subjectto conditions and restrictions,and only after they make theoath of allegiance.

In the case of SoniaGandhi, as per the law at thattime, she could have applied forIndian citizenship five yearsafter marriage but she did soonly after 15 years on April 7,

1983, and was granted citizen-ship on April 30, 1983. Despitebeing an Italian citizen in 1980,she illegally entered the elec-toral rolls that year and follow-ing a complaint, her name wasdeleted from the rolls.However, this is another storyfor another day. But one mayask, how is all this relevant?

These facts are pertinentbecause unlike natural-borncitizens, Sonia Gandhi’s citizen-ship is extremely vulnerable.Being a “naturalised” citizen,her citizenship is subject to sev-eral conditions and restric-tions. Further, if she violatesany of those conditions, her cit-izenship can be cancelled.

Section 10 of the citizen-ship Act lists out the situationsin which a citizen by registra-tion or naturalisation can bedeprived of his/her citizenship.It says that if the registration orcertificate of naturalisationwas obtained by means offraud, false representation orthe concealment of any mate-rial fact; or that citizen hasshown himself by act or speechto be disloyal or disaffectedtowards the Constitution ofIndia as by law established; orthat citizen has, during any warin which India may beengaged, unlawfully traded orcommunicated with an enemy;or that citizen has been ordi-narily resident out of India fora continuous period of sevenyears”, his/her citizenship canbe cancelled.

Further, unlike citizens bybirth, a naturalised citizen hasto swear allegiance to theConstitution of India. It cannotbe taken for granted. EveryMuslim citizen, who is swayedby the anti-CAA argument,must ask himself/herself thefollowing questions in order toknow the quality of citizenshiphe/she enjoys: Did he/she ever“apply” for citizenship likeSonia Gandhi? Was he/sheever asked to swear allegianceto the Constitution of India,like her? So, this is the powerand quality of the citizenship of99 per cent of the citizensunder the Citizenship Act,1955, but the Congress, after itsdecimation in the 2019 LokSabha poll, wants the Muslimsof India to believe that their cit-izenship is as fragile as that ofits party president.

This is nothing but anattempt to spread falsehoodand disaffection. It could evenbe seen as an attempt to over-throw a duly electedGovernment through guile andsubterfuge. Proud natural-borncitizens of India — Hindus,Muslims, Christians, Sikhs,Jains, Buddhists, Parsis andJews — must disengage them-selves from this campaignwhich is dangerous for ourdemocracy and for our consti-tutional well-being.

(The writer is an authorspecialising in democracy studies. Views expressed arepersonal.)

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Sir — The Kerala Governmentmust be lauded for its ambitioussanitation initiative as it plans toset up 12,000 pairs of public toi-lets on highways. The lack of pub-lic toilets on freeways causesinexplicable difficulties for people,especially women and children.Most often, travellers are clueless.There are either unmaintainedpublic toilets on the way or peo-ple have to visit hotels and spendmoney on food simply becausethey have to use the toilet there.

The land of the Government,public sector undertakings (PSUs)and cooperative institutions willbe utilised for this purpose. TheGovernment has decided toinstruct local self-Governmentinstitutions to identify land intheir areas alongside the State andnational highways.

The Government has fur-ther stated that those agencieswilling to cooperate with theproject would be made partners.There is also an idea to start smallshops and snack parlours alongwith these complexes, which can,in turn, give employment as wellas boost the economy. But thepublic will have to use them and

maintain them properly. OtherState Governments can followKerala’s template.

M PradyuKannur

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Sir — By ordering that barswould remain open till late in

some Haryana cities, the StateGovernment is looking toincrease its revenue from liquorsales. While increasing liquorcontracts and the number of

vends will generate someemployment and income forpeople associated with the sec-tor, the increase in liquor con-sumption may also cause a spurtin crime. The sale of liquor atshopping malls will also add tothe problem. This method ofadding on to the State’s revenueis against public welfare.

Yugal Kishore SharmaFaridabad

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Sir — Rumours are rife thatCongress leader Rahul Gandhimay once again take charge of theparty. But more than once, theCongress scion has demonstrat-ed that he is unsuited to lead theparty. Leaders, too, are toeing thesame line because they cannot beseen to be publically writing himoff. But Rahul does not seem toconnect with the masses. If theCongress cannot really lookbeyond the family. why not per-suade Priyanka Gandhi to step in?But who will bell the cat?

SrinivasVia email

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Page 7: ˝ # ˆ #56˝57578 ’/5 9 #˛˜˚$%%˚& ˆ’(...2020/02/25  · and Melania, wearing a white dress accessorised with a green waistband, also posed for pho-tographs. Ivanka, wearing

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Successive Governments have remainedobsessed with accelerating economic growthwithout caring about how it impacts income

distribution, forget any attempt to internalise thiscrucial aspect in development strategies. Theybelieve that the fruits of growth will automati-cally percolate to the lowest strata of society.Nothing could be farther from the truth. This isevident from a piece of research, Time to Care,released by rights group Oxfam ahead of the 50thAnnual Meeting of the World Economic Forum(WEF) held in Davos (Switzerland) from January21-24. According to the study, India’s richest oneper cent hold more than four-times the wealthheld by the 953 million people who make up thebottom 70 per cent of the country’s population.Further, the combined total wealth of 63 Indianbillionaires is higher than the total UnionBudget of the country for the fiscal year 2018-19.

At the global level, too, the report (for cal-culations, it draws upon latest data sources avail-able, including the Credit Suisse ResearchInstitute’s Global Wealth Databook, 2019 andForbes’ 2019 Billionaires List) brings out glaringinequalities in the distribution of wealth. Theworld’s 2,153 billionaires have more wealth thanthe 4.6 billion people who make up 60 per centof the planet’s population. The 22 richest men inthe world have more wealth than all the womenin Africa. The report notes, “global inequality isshockingly entrenched even as the number of bil-lionaires has doubled in the last decade”.

The Governments world over are fully awareof these glaring inequalities as well as their con-sequences. For instance, the WEF’s annualGlobal Risks Report (GRR) — which was thor-oughly discussed during the brainstorming ses-sions at Davos — observes, “inequality under-lies recent social unrest in almost every continent,although it may be sparked by different tippingpoints such as corruption, constitutional breach-es or the rise in prices for basic goods and ser-vices”. It also warned, “the downward pressure onthe global economy from macroeconomic fragili-ties and financial inequality continued to inten-sify in 2019.”

They also routinely pledge to address theseinequalities and come out with lofty declarationsat multilateral platforms, including those underthe auspices of the United Nations to bridge thegap between the rich and the poor, including byuse of what the GRR terms as “deliberateinequality-busting policies.” Yet, when it comesto action on ground zero, there is acute lack ofpolitical will on the part of Governments andother stakeholders; hence, the business as usualscenario and ever-increasing inequities.

Fundamentally, inequalities are intrinsic tothe way businesses are planned and orchestrat-ed. It all starts with the Government offering apolicy environment in which investors areoffered an opportunity to earn an attractive rateof return on investment. What that attractive rateshould be is not normally defined (though in cer-tain sectors like power, it guarantees a minimumreturn); so any level, howsoever high, can fallwithin the scope of “attractiveness.” A vastmajority of the businesses pursue the famousadage “profit maximisation” to the hilt. They dis-tribute their expenses in such a manner that theleast amount is given to the labour and the bulkof it comes back to the owner (or promoter) as“retained earnings.” The owners/promoters also

leave no stone unturned in ensuringthat their tax liability is kept at a bareminimum (for this, they retain the besttalent viz. chartered accountants andother financial wizards, paying themextraordinarily high salaries). Big busi-nesses also enjoy pricing power. Forinstance, those operating in metals suchas copper, zinc or in hydrocarbon viz.oil and gas enjoy natural monopoly.Leveraging this, they charge highprices, making windfall gains even asconsumers suffer erosion in purchas-ing power. This also applies to bankswho enjoy margins of three-four percent (difference between the averageinterest earning and the average cost offunds) yielding mammoth profit.Furthermore, there are companies inthe IT (information technology) andIT-enabled sector which use their intel-lectual prowess to post huge profitsyear-after-year.

Then, there are enterprises in thechemical, petrochemicals and agro-chemicals sectors who have hugely ben-efitted from a protective policy environ-ment, with high tariff on imports as wellas licensing and registration require-ments. These companies make moneyat the expense of millions of consumers,including farmers (for instance, theyhave to pay a high price for “new” cropprotection solutions for which domes-tic substitutes are not available).

The micro, small and mediumenterprises (MSMEs) may not be sowell positioned vis-a-vis large enterpris-es but ape the latter when it comes todistributing the proceeds of wealth gen-eration. Their owners spend the leaston payment to workers thereby boost-ing their retained earnings. They, too,get tax bonanza from the Governmentin a variety of ways (for instance, spe-cial package under composition schemeof Goods and Services Tax as well asincome tax). They may not find a placein the billionaires’ club but definitelyearn the multi-millionaire tag.

Then, there is the trader class, par-ticularly entities dealing in farm com-

modities. They buy products fromfarmers at a throwaway price — theminimum support price (MSP) notifiedby the Government remains mostly onpaper as its agencies don’t have thewherewithal to procure their produce— and sell to the consumer at a highprice. Irrespective of whether there issurplus or deficit, Indian markets areso orchestrated that only traders emergeas the real beneficiaries at the expenseof farmers at one end and consumersat the other.

There is yet another class of richwho are an offshoot of corruption ingovernance systems. This includes cor-rupt bureaucrats, politicians (besidesdubious businessmen) who amasswealth disproportionate to their knownsources of income by siphoning offfunds from welfare schemes and diver-sion of funds borrowed from public sec-tor banks to personal accounts or shellcompanies of which they are the ulti-mate beneficiaries.

How does the Government addressincome inequalities? Typically, thistakes the form of giving relief to thepoor by providing State assistance incash or kind. For instance, under thePM-KISAN, the Government gives�6,000 per annum to each of the 145million farmers in the country in threeinstallments of �2,000 each. As for helpin kind, it provides Mid-Day Meals toschoolchildren or free medical servicesto Economically Weaker Sections inhospitals.

There are umpteen instances ofsuch assistance — both by the Centreand States — entailing a mountain ofburden on the public exchequer. All ofthis goes only to help millions barelysurvive even as a good slice of this issiphoned off (the malice continues insubstantial measure despite theGovernment’s efforts to prevent it,using the direct benefit transfer mech-anism). However, it does nothing toaugment their productive capacity andprepare them for getting jobs. Evenwhere funds are given for empowering

and increasing the income earningcapacity (for instance, availability ofcredit at concessional rate of interest tofarmers and others engaged in pettyoccupations, supply of agriculturalinputs such as fertilisers at subsidisedrate, free electricity to farmers and soon), much of the promised help eitherdoes not reach or is cornered mostly bybetter-off farmers. Even those who gainfrom these support measures are at thereceiving end when it comes to inter-face with traders for selling their pro-duce.

Quite clearly, despite mammothsums spent on welfare of the poor or“empowering” them, income inequal-ities increase even during periods ofrapid economic growth. Even when,growth decelerates (for instance, dur-ing the current year when it declinedto an 11-year-low of five per cent), thenalso the inequalities persist as the poorlose much more than the loss experi-enced by the rich.

The solution doesn’t lie in moresops, concessional credit, fiscal incen-tives and so on. There is need for a fun-damental change in the way our indus-trialists do business and politicians andbureaucrats conduct themselves. While,the former need to shed their overzeal-ousness for profits, charge less fromconsumers, distribute more to workersand pay more taxes, the latter mustensure that every rupee is spent for thewelfare and empowerment of the poor.

Even as the Government shufflespolicy choices to attune them for cre-ating more jobs and increase income(by promoting labour-intensive sectorssuch as textiles, apparels, food service,hospitality and so on), unless thestakeholders change their mindsettowards the majority who are not soprivileged, inequalities will continue tohaunt and as pointed out in the GRR,even growth will remain vulnerable tothe deep divide between the rich andthe poor.

(The writer is a New Delhi-basedpolicy analyst)

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Malaria, is known as the “dis-ease of poverty” as it often hitsthose who have the least

access to healthcare. Statistics show that80 per cent of cases occur among 20per cent of the country’s population,mostly communities living in remoteareas. For India, malaria has been atricky foe with varying outcomes overthe decades. It has achieved greatstrides in curbing the disease everytime the Government has increasedintensification and on the groundimplementation of eradication pro-grammes. The reverse is also true.

Malaria was nearly eliminated in

the early 1960s but it soon re-emergedas a major public health problem. Earlysetbacks in its eradication coincidedwith DDT shortages and in the late ’60smalaria cases in urban areas started tomultiply. In the ’70s its resurgence wasa result of technical, financial and oper-ational problems. As a result, in 1976,a whopping 6.45 million cases wererecorded which led to the discontin-uation of eradication efforts. In orderto control the massive upsurge, theModified Plan of Operation waslaunched in 1977 which brought thesituation under control for five-sixyears. Malaria cases fell to 2.18 millionin 1984 and climbed back to three mil-lion in 1995, with substantial mortal-ity reported. However, since 2000,India has reduced the number of casesby more than half and the number ofdeaths by more than two-thirds. In theWHO’s World Malaria Report 2019,India was lauded for strengthening itsfight against the disease. These con-certed efforts need to be sustained,reinvented and amplified if we are

going to end malaria by 2030. Challenges ahead: In 2015, Prime

Minister Narendra Modi declared thecountry’s commitment to eliminatingthe disease by 2030. Soon after, in 2016,India introduced its National StrategicPlan for Malaria Elimination andtook several measures to end the mal-ady. But the biggest challenge remainsas India’s true burden of malaria isunknown. To understand and mapmalaria cases and fatalities, Indiasolely relies on data from Governmenthospitals. This highlights a big gap inthe realities of its malaria burden whenapproximately 70 per cent of urban and63 per cent of rural households use theprivate sector to seek medical care. Insome States malaria has been declareda notifiable disease, this means that pri-vate sector establishments have toadhere to Government guidelines,use recommended anti-malarial drugsand report cases to the authorities.However, it is yet to be declared a noti-fiable disease for many States, whichamplifies the gap in mapping the over-

all malaria burden. Several concretesteps are needed to win this fight.

Disease mapping: We must takealong the private sector to ensure a col-laborative surveillance method toobtain malaria’s exact burden. For thiswe need to foster a healthy partnershipbetween the private and public sectorfor mapping the disease in a holisticmanner. If such a mechanism for gath-ering data is implemented and the trueburden is identified, then India will bewell-placed to end the disease.

Effective partnerships:Collaboration between various stake-holders is the key to success. To cite anexample, an NGO, Malaria No More,launched a Malaria Action Coalition(MAC) in September 2019. The MACacts as a multi-sectoral coordinationplatform, chaired by the malarial Stateof Odisha, with representation fromnon-Government technical, researchand implementation agencies as wellas the private sector, donors, investorsand media partners to support theNational Vector Borne Disease Control

Programme.Creating awareness: Creating

awareness has been one of the majorcatalysts to reduce, if not completelyeliminate, a disease. Advocacy, aware-ness and on-ground programmes gohand in hand and the public and pri-vate sector have an equal role in it. Toreduce the burden of malaria it isimportant to empower communitiesby educating them. An individual hasto first learn to recognise and then pre-vent the disease. To further this effort,it is important that the individualspread information on malaria inhis/her area. This empowerment willonly come with education and self-awareness.

Government’s commitments:Modi and the Health Minister haveechoed India’s seriousness to endmalaria by 2030 on national andinternational platforms, includingduring last year’s CommonwealthHeads of Government Meeting, when52 leaders committed to halve malar-ia by 2023. With more Government

funding still needed, the CentralGovernment nearly trebled the outlayfor the National Vector Borne DiseaseControl Programme (NVBDCP) overthe last two years.

Ensuring adequate investment inmalaria is imperative to achievingIndia’s elimination goals.Implementing the Five Year Plan formalaria elimination shall require�10,653.16 crore. While theGovernment has increased it’s fund-ing for the NVBDCP, the CentralGovernment-allocated funds for it getdivided for disease control pro-grammes/interventions for six diseases,malaria, dengue, chikungunya, kala-azar, lymphatic filariasis and Japaneseencephalitis, creating a paucity ofresources. This makes private sectorcontributions extremely critical tobolster the Government’s efforts butthere is a lack of funding from it.However, sustained focus andincreased funding are crucial to boostthe fight against malaria. Its elimina-tion in India is important from a glob-

al and regional perspective because thecountry has the highest malaria bur-den outside sub-Saharan Africa. Some1.26 billion Indians are at risk of malar-ia and the country shares its borderswith several nations aiming for malar-ia elimination, including Bhutan,Bangladesh and Nepal. Sri Lanka,which eliminated malaria in 2016, isseparated by only a small stretch of sea,with frequent air travel occurringbetween the two neighbours. India alsoshares borders with Myanmar wherea drug-resistant malaria parasite hasbeen reported. Successful malariacontrol in India will enhance elimina-tion efforts across the region and theworld.

The challenges for the mammothtask — private sector partnership,increased domestic funding, surveil-lance mechanism, impact on the vul-nerable population — need to beaddressed. Till then there’s no room forcomplacency.

(The writer is Co-Founder, SmileFoundation)

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Ahmedabad: The renovatedMotera stadium here is yet tohost its first cricket match buton Monday the sprawling facil-ity became the site of a publicspectacle where US PresidentDonald Trump showeredencomiums on India andPrime Minister Narendra Modiamid a rather deliriouscrowd.

The jam-packed arena, alsoknown as Sardar Patel Stadium,frequently broke into applauseas people displayed enthusiasmfor the first visit by any USpresident to the home State ofModi.

Trumps praise for India,his denouncing of the menaceof terrorism and his try atHindi during his over 25-minute- long speech was wellreceived by people and punc-tuated by constant clappingby the nearly 1.25 lakh-strong

crowd.People were pleased when

Trump praised Modi, remem-bering his humble backgroundas a “chaiwala” (tea seller) andhis inspiring journey to theoffice of Prime Minister.

Though Modi and Trump'saddress for 'Namaste Trump'event was scheduled to startafter 1.30 pm, people fromacross Gujarat started arrivingat the world's biggest cricketstadium since 8 am.

Though placards and flagswere not allowed to be takeninside the stadium located inthe Motera area, people wereseen wearing masks of Trumpand Modi.

There was a continuousstream of people towards thestadium since the morning asparking areas for vehicles waskept some distance away fromthe stadium. PTI

Ahmedabad: A lot of eye-brows were raised on Twitterand many people expressedsurprise as US PresidentDonald Trump left a messagein the visitors' book atSabarmati Ashram without anymention of Mahatma Gandhi.

In the book, Trump wrote,“To my great friend PrimeMinister Naredra Modi, thankyou for this wonderful visit.”

Trump, who reachedAhmedabad on Monday for thefirst leg of his India tour, visit-ed the Ashram along with wifeMelania minutes after he land-ed here. After noticing nomention of Mahatma Gandhiin the message by Trump, neti-zens took to Twitter, compar-ing his note with that of formerUS President Barack Obama.

When Obama visited theMani Bhavan - where Gandhiused to stay while in Mumbai- in south Mumbai in 2010, hisnote in the visitors' book read:“I am filled with hope andinspiration as I have the priv-ilege to view this testament toGandhi's life. He is a hero notjust to India but to the world.”

Five years later, in January2015, after visiting the RajGhat in Delhi, Obama wrote,“What Dr Martin Luther KingJr said then remains true today.The spirit of Gandhi is verymuch alive in India today. Andit remains a great gift to theworld. May we always live inthe spirit of love and peace-among all people and nations.”

Congress leader ManishTewari posted an image ofTrump's remarks in theAshram visitors' book, saying“This is a snapshot of the notethat someone sent. It ostensi-bly is @realDonaldTrumpsnote at Sabarmati. No mentionof the Great Mahatma. Does heeven know who MohandasKaramchand Gandhi was? PTI

Ahmedabad: Using Bollywood to strikea chord with movie-loving Indians, USPresident Donald Trump on Mondayhailed the ‘genius’ of the Hindi film indus-try and recalled two all-time favourites,‘Sholay’ and ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’(DDLJ).

Addressing the 'Namaste Trump'event at the Motera Stadium here, the USpresident said people ‘take great joy’ inwatching Bollywood films and under-standing Indian culture through them.

“This is the country that producesnearly 2,000 movies a year from the hubof genius and creativity known asBollywood,” he told the gathering of about100,000 people packed into the stadium.

“All over the planet people take greatjoy in scenes of bhangra, music and dance,romance and drama, and classic Indianfilms like 'DDLJ' and 'Sholay',” Trump said,referring to two of the biggest hits inBollywood history.

While the 1975 multi-starrer ‘Sholay’,labelled a ‘curry western’ by many, is anaction-adventure film that has stood thetest of time, the 1995 Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol-led ‘DDLJ’ is an out and outromance.

‘Sholay’ director Ramesh Sippy saidhe was delighted that Trump included thefilm as a creative piece from India in hisspeech. “I feel overwhelmed, humbledthat the US president felt this way. I amdelighted that 'Sholay' is included in hisspeech as a creative piece from India. I amthankful to him for having mentioned'Sholay' after 45 years of the film,” Sippytold PTI. Yash Raj Films, the makers of'DDLJ', posted on Twitter, “DDLJtrumps!” This is not the first effort bythe US president to use popular cultureto reach out to Indians. Ahead of hismaiden visit to India, Trump shared avideo in which his face was superimposedon the hit movie-character Baahubali.

Ahmedabad: Waving Indianand US flags and Shouting slo-gans, thousands of people linedup the 22-km-long roadshowroute US President DonaldTrump and his wife Melaniatook to reach Motera stadiumfor the 'Namaste Trump' event.

Many people, includingstudents, from Ahmedabadand different parts of Gujaratarrived here since morning forthe spectacle of the ‘India RoadShow’ as troupes showed cul-tural performances.

Many were left disap-pointed after being refusedentry to the Motera stadium forwant of passes. But they tooksolace in standing along the

road to catch a glimpse of theleaders.

Authorities had earlier saidover one lakh people wereexpected to line up along theroadshow route.

Artistes from almost all

states performed during theroadshow. Separate stages foreach state were erected at reg-ular distance on the route.

Wearing traditional cos-tumes, artistes from differentstates performed on these 30-

odd stages and greeted theVVIPs when they passed fromthe route. Govindbhai Patel andeight members of his village inSabarkantha district, around70 km from here, reachedAhmedabad early morning andstood in a queue along theSabarmati riverfront and wait-ed for the convoy to arrive.

Modi's convoy arrived firstat the Sabarmati Ashram, fol-lowed by that of DonaldTrump, with the US Presidentand his wife sitting in theCadillac armoured limousine,called The Beast.

From the Ashram theconvoy then proceeded toMotera stadium. PTI

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Ahmedabad: India embraces free-dom, liberty, individual rights andthe rule of law, and is admiredaround the globe as people of dif-ferent religions worship side by sidein harmony, US President DonaldTrump said on Monday, lauding thecountry's accomplishments dur-ing his maiden State visit here.

He noted that India has anincredible potential and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi is layingthe foundations of its future.Hailing India's diversity, the USPresident said its unity is an inspi-ration to the world as it is knownfor its democracy, tolerance andpeace.

“India is a country that proud-ly embraces freedom, liberty, indi-vidual rights, the rule of law, andthe dignity of every human being.

“Your nation has always beenadmired around the earth as theplace where millions upon millionsof Hindus and Muslims, Sikhs andJains, Buddhists, Christians, andJews worship side by side in har-mony,” he said while addressing apacked Motera stadium at the'Namaste Trump' event here.

“The story of the Indian nationis a tale of astounding progress, amiracle of democracy, extraordi-nary diversity, and above all, strongand noble people.

“India gives hope to all ofhumanity. In just 70 years, Indiabecome an economic giant, thelargest democracy ever to exist andone of the most amazing asiansanywhere in the world,” Trumpsaid.

The potential for India isabsolutely incredible, he said whilenoting that India's rise as a pros-perous and independent nation isan example for every nation all overthe world and one of the out-standing achievements of the cen-tury. It is inspiring because Indiahas achieved all this as a democra-tic, peaceful and tolerant country,he said. PTI

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Srinagar: PDP chiefMehbooba Mufti's daughterIltija Mufti on Monday said theGovernment was busy withthe visit of US PresidentDonald Trump to India, whileDelhi was ‘burning’ and 8 mil-lion Kashmiris deprived oftheir fundamental rights.

She said the legacy ofMahatma Gandhi is remem-bered only during visits by for-eign dignitaries to SabarmatiAshram.

‘Hi Tea' & NamasteyTrump while Delhi burns & 8million Kashmiris remaindeprived of fundamental rights.Gandhi ji's legacy rememberedonly at perfunctory visits toSabarmati ashram by foreigndignitaries. His values longforgotten,” Iltija tweeted.

Iltija has been tweetingfrom her mother's Twitter han-dle after the PDP president wastaken into custody on August5 last year following abrogation

of Article 370. US President Donald

Trump landed at Ahmedabadin Gujarat on Monday for hisfirst visit to India to a grandwelcome by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and thousandsof people who lined the streetsand packed into the Motera sta-dium there to say ‘NamasteTrump’.

The first stop in the Trumpvisit was the SabarmatiAshram, home to MahatmaGandhi between 1917 and 1930during India's freedom strug-gle. From Ahmedabad, theTrumps will travel to Agraand then on to New Delhi onMonday evening.

Meanwhile, a Delhi Policehead constable was killed anda deputy commissioner ofpolice injured as clashes overthe amended citizenship lawbroke out in northeast Delhi'sJaffrabad and Maujpur onMonday, PTI

Bengaluru: Raising questionsabout the Situation in Kashmir,senior Congress leader and for-mer Karnataka Chief MinisterSidddaramaiah on Mondayasked the BJP heading theUnion Government to prove'normalcy' by hosting USPresident Donald Trump's eventin the valley.

If @BJP4India feelsKashmir has returned toNormalcy, & If @BJP4Indiafeels that there is no govt orches-trated violence. Now is the timeto prove the same by hosting@realDonaldTrump's event atKashmir, Siddaramaiah tweet-ed.

Amid concerns raised byOpposition parties, theGovernment has said effortshave been made to restore nor-malcy in Jammu & Kashmirwhich faced months of restric-tions after its special statusunder Article 370 was scrapped

in August last year.Siddaramaiah, who is

Leader of Opposition inKarnataka Assembly, in anoth-er tweet hit out at PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onthe long wall built near the air-port in Ahmedabad allegedly toblock view of a slum, ahead ofTrumps visit. It is time for@realDonaldTrump to getinspired from @narendramodi.Inspiration to build decorativewalls to hide not so decorativelife!! he tweeted.

The Opposition Congressin Gujarat had accused theBJP—ruled civic body inAhmedabadof building the 500-metre long wall to block view ofa slum colony.

Refuting the allegations,AMC officials had said theconstruction of the wall, aroundfour feet in height, was approvedmuch beforeTrump's Gujaratvisit was finalised. PTI

Mumbai: Panning DonaldTrump's visit to India, the ShivSena on Monday said the 36-hour-long sojourn of the USpresident in the country won'tmake 'an iota of difference' inthe lives of poor and middle-class Indians.

While leaving for India,Trump has said he is going todiscuss business with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,which makes it clear that histrip is aimed at boosting UStrade, the Sena said.

“There won't be an iota ofdifference in the lives of thepoor and middle-class peoplein India due to Trump's visit.Then where is the question ofpeople being appreciative orenthusiastic of his tour,” an edi-torial in Sena mouthpieceSaamana said.

“If there is any eagernessabout Trump's visit, it may bein Ahmedabad, where he landsfirst,” the Sena said. PTI

Lucknow: The Uttar PradeshSunni Central Waqf Board onMonday said it will build amosque as well as an Indo-Islamic research centre, a hos-pital and a library on the five-acre plot allotted to it follow-ing the Supreme Court'sAyodhya verdict.

The decision to accept theland was taken at a boardmeeting here. “It has beendecided at a meeting of theboard to take the five-acreland given to us by the UPGovernment,” board chairmanZufar Farooqui told reporters.

He said the board will setup a trust soon for the con-struction of the mosque.

“Besides the mosque, therewill be an Indo-Islamicresearch centre, a public library,a charitable hospital and otheruseful facilities on the land”, hesaid.

“The size of the mosquewill be decided keeping in

mind local needs,” he said.In a historic verdict in

November on theR amjanmabhoomi-Babr iMasjid dispute, the SupremeCourt ruled in favour of con-struction of a temple. It alsoruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for amosque within Ayodhya.

In 1992, the 16th centuryBabri mosque that stood on thedisputed site in Ayodhya wasdemolished by “karsevaks”,claiming that originally therewas a Ram temple at the samespot. Soon after last year's ver-dict on the Ayodhya land dis-pute, there were suggestionsthat the Sunni board shouldnot accept the plot.

There were also sugges-tions that instead of a mosqueto replace the demolished BabriMasjid, the Muslim communi-ty should build a public facili-ty like a hospital there.

The Sunni Waqf Board,

however, made it clear thatrejecting the site was not anoption.

“Following the SupremeCourt verdict, the Sunni WaqfBoard does not have the choiceof rejecting the five-acre alter-native land for the constructionof a mosque in Ayodhya as itwould amount to contempt ofcourt,” Farooqui had said ear-lier.

Besides Farooqui, there areseven other members on theSunni Waqf Board. Based onthe SC verdict, the Centre hadasked the Uttar Pradesh gov-ernment to allot five acres ofland to the Sunni WaqfBoard.The UP cabinet madethe allotment after its meetingof February 5.

The allotment letter is fora plot at Dhannipur village inAyodhya's Sohawal area, on theAyodhya-Lucknow highwayabout 20 km from the districtheadquarters. PTI

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As part of its first list of ben-eficiaries in the much-dis-

cussed farm loan waiverscheme released by it, the ShivSena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi(MVA) Government onMonday wrote off the loans of15,358 farmers from 68 villagesfrom across the State.

The 15,358 farmers, whosenames figured in the first list ofloan waiver beneficiaries, areamong the 34,83,908 farmerswho have been identified as thetotal number of beneficiaries inthe “Mahatma Jyotirao PhuleKarj mukti Yojana”.

While releasing the first listof beneficiaries in the loanwaiver scheme, MaharashtraChief Minister UddhavThackeray and deputy chiefminister Ajit Pawar interactedwith some of the farmer-ben-eficiaries from Parbani,Ahmednagar and Amravati

districts of the state throughvideo-conferencing fromMumbai.

The Chief Minister and hisdeputy interacted with loanwaiver beneficiary-farmersfrom three districts on thefirst day of the budget sessionof the Maharashtra Legislaturewhich got underway onMonday.

The names of farmers from68 villages in the districts ofParbhani, Ahmednagar andAmravati districts, in the firstlist of loan waiver beneficiaries.“Once the process of loan waiv-er is completed, the farmersconcerned release will be issueddebt-free certificates. The loanwaiver has started at the districtlevel,” a senior Governmentofficial said.

“We have collated thenames of 34,83,908 farmer-beneficiaries in a span of 35days. During the past 15 days,we have audited the details of

loans taken by the farmers. Wewill implement the loan waiv-er scheme in a computerisedsystem,” Uddhav said.

“We are not doing anyfavour to the farmers by imple-menting the loan waiverscheme. In reality, you can usin the Government as benefi-ciaries because receiving theblessings of farmers throughthe implementation of loanwaiver scheme.

The loans that are beingwaiver as part of the “MahatmaJyotirao Phule Karj MuktiYojana” range from �5,000 to�2 lakh per farmers.

Like Uddhav himself saidon Sunday, the Maharashtragovernment plans to completethe entire loan waiver schemein the next three scheme.

It is not clear yet as to howdifferent is the “MahatmaJyotirao Phule Karj MuktiYojana” from the “ChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj Krishi

Samman Yojana” announcedby the BJP-led saffron alliancegovernment in June 2017.

Under the �34,022 crore“Chhatrapati Shivaji MaharajKrishi Samman Yojana”announced by the previousDevendra FadnavisGovernment, there were ben-eficiaries was 89 lakh farmers.

The Devendra Fadnavishad said then that of the totalidentified beneficiaries, 40 lakhfarmers were expected tobecome totally debt-free. Of thetotal beneficiaries under thescheme, a total 36.10 lakhfarmers were eligible for afinancial assistance of Rs 1.50lakh each to clear their piled uploans.

It is not known yet if theprevious BJP-led saffronalliance government and if yes,how many farmers had beenbenefitted from the DevendraFadnavis dispensation’s loanwaiver scheme.

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Learning bitter lessons from DelhiAssembly elections, the Bengal BJP will

desist from making hate speeches in therun up to the Statewide municipal elec-tions, party insiders say.

Though the party will not jettisonpolarization as its political mainstay it willtry to focus on good governance, sourcessaid. Most of the schemes brought in bythe central Government during the last sixyears or so will be highlighted in the elec-tions they said.

Apart from this the party will alsobank on the good governance it providedin the municipalities run by it otherstates. Civic elections are likely to take placesometime in the month of April-May.

On whether the party will try to high-light the efficacy of the controversialCitizenship Amendment Act or for thatmatter National

Register for Citizens or even NationalPopulation Register a senior State com-mittee leader said “municipal elections arefought on the basis of civic amenities beingprovided or promised to be provided.Though the CAA is the part of a largerissue the party will like to stick to devel-opment as its main plank.”

That the party has not been in powerin the State and in most of the munici-palities and corporations will work in itsfavour as “our not being in power inmunicipal boards will rob the TrinamoolCongress of the stick to beat us on the issue

of non-performance whereas we will beable to highlight the common people’s bit-ter experience during TMC’s rule,” anoth-er party leader said adding however thatthe party workers will not however bestopped from using CAA in whispercampaigns.

“Where CAA is not required we willnot raise it but where it is required we willdefinitely raise it even during campaigns,”said another leader adding “there are manymunicipalities where Bangladeshi refugeesare in great numbers and they identifythemselves with the CAA-NRC cause. Insuch places we will definitely raise thisissue.”

Again there are some other placeswhere infiltration is a problem and thepeople have been suffering due to the infil-trators, “in such cases too we will use CAAand NRC,” he maintained adding howev-er that in general the party will desist fromstrongly worded campaigns.

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Sleuths of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) ofthe Kerala Police and National Investigation

Agency are probing how Pakistan made bulletsreached the Kulathupuzha Forest region inKollam district. A bunch of bullets with seals ofPakistan Ordnance Factory were found bylocals in Kulathupuzha on Saturday and theyquickly alerted the local police.

The initial probe by the local police con-firmed that the bullets were live and were fromPakistan.

Ballistic experts who rushed to the regionfound that the bullets were the ones which areused in long range machine guns. “Though thebullets were manufactured in the 1980s, they arestill active and could be used even now,” said oneof the ballistic experts who examined thebunch of bullets.

A team of officials from the Directorate ofMilitary Intelligence have reached Kollam to jointhe investigation and find out the routes throughwhich the bullets entered Kerala.

Unconfirmed reports in local media saidthat three of the bullets found in the bunch hadChinese markings. But officials refused to con-firm the news.

Monday morning saw a team of NIA offi-cials sweeping down on some of the areas inChennai and Salem giving credence to the the-ory that persons from Tamil Nadu too wereinvolved in the trafficking of bullets. But copssaid later in the day that the searches were in con-nection with the murder of special policeinspector Wilson who was killed last month atKaliyikkavila by alleged Islamic terrorists.

The officials of Kerala Police ruled out thepossibilities of the bullets being the same whichwere missed from the armory of the state police.Kerala had been shaken by the Comptroller andAuditor General’s recent report that a numberof guns and bullets were found missing from thearmory of the Kerala Police inThiruvananthaouram.

A team of officials led by TominThachankarri, ADGP found that the guns andbullets were accounted for.

Investigating agencies are concerned aboutthe location from where the bullets were found.“Kulathupuzha is a known haven of Islamicextremist organizations like Socialist DemocraticParty of India (SDPI) and Popular Front of India(PFI). They have their own hide-outs in the area.Since Kulathupuzha is close to Tamil Nadu bor-der, we are not ruling out the possibility ofinvolvement of inter-State gangs,” said a seniorpolice official in the region.

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In perhaps the first of its kind proteststaged against Citizens Amendment

Act (CAA) in the country, thousands ofpeople on Monday took out a 20 km-morcha against CAA in Buldhana dis-trict in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region.

The protesters walked a distance of20 km from the taluka town of Motalato Buldhana, the district headquarters.The citizens, who participated in themorcha were from groups based inWaghjal and Rajur in Motala, landed atBuldhana’s Shaheen Bagh.

Later on, a delegation of citizens

who participated in the morcha, hand-ed over a memorandum to theBuldhana district collector. In theirmemorandum, the protesting citizenssaid that CAA posed a threat the verytents of the Constitution and it need-ed to be annulled forthwith. “In indiawhere people from religions and casteslive together, CAA pits people from onesection of people against the other.

Speakers at the rally said that therewas nothing wrong in according Indiancitizenship to persecuted people inother countries, but CAA should notcause any harm to the Indian citizens

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Indian equity benchmarkSensex on Monday plunged

about 807 points in line withmassive sell-offs in global equi-ties as spike in new coronaviruscases beyond China spookedinvestors. The 30-share BSEgauge settled at 40,363.23,dropping 806.89 points or 1.96per cent.

While, the broader NSENifty sank 251.45 points or 2.08per cent to 11,829.40.

All Sensex componentsended in the red, with TataSteel cracking 6.39 per cent, fol-lowed by ONGC, Maruti,Titan, ICICI Bank, HDFC andBharti Airtel.

In a worrying sign for theglobal economy, the deadlycoronavirus is fast spreadingbeyond China. South Koreawent on high alert on Sundayfollowing a sharp jump incoronavirus cases, and Italy andIran took their own drasticcontainment steps.

Further, the IMF alsowarned that the deadly epi-demic could put an alreadyfragile global economy recov-ery at risk. Chinese PresidentXi Jinping on Sunday said thecoronavirus epidemic is thecountry’s “largest public health

emergency”. The death tollfrom the deadly virus climbedto 2,592 in China on Monday.

Seoul stocks ended in deepred after South Korea reported161 more coronavirus cases onMonday, taking the overallvirus cases to 763 and makingit the world’s largest total out-side China.

Bourses in Shanghai,Tokyo and Hong Kong alsoclosed with significant losses.

Stock exchanges in Europesank in opening trade withMilan’s FTSE MIB plungingover 4 per cent after Italy

reported its fourth death fromthe virus as the number of peo-ple contracting the virus con-tinued to mount.

Brent crude oil futuresdropped 3.62 per cent to USD55.84 per barrel.

On the domestic front,investors were eyeing USPresident Donald Trump’s two-day visit to India for furthercues on trade front. He reachedAhmedabad earlier in the day.

On the currency front, theIndian rupee depreciated by 21paise to 71.87 per US dollar(intra-day).

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The rupee on Monday fell by34 paise to close at more

than three-month low of 71.98against the US dollar, trackingheavy selling in domestic equi-ties and strengthening of theAmerican currency in the over-seas market.

Forex traders said investorsentiment remained fragileamid concerns over the impactof coronavirus outbreak onglobal economy.

The death toll due to coro-navirus climbed to 2,592 with150 new fatalities while thetotal number of confirmedcases increased to over 77,000,Chinese health officials said onMonday.

However, easing crude oilprices supported the local unitand restricted the fall to someextent.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the localcurrency opened on a negativenote at 71.94. During the day,the domestic currency toucheda high of 71.76 and a low of72.01 and finally settled 34paise lower at 71.98 against theUS currency. This is the lowestclosing level since November

13 when the rupee had settledat 72.09.

Financial marketsremained closed on Friday onaccount of ‘Mahashivratri’.

Indian stock marketsclosed with deep losses fol-lowing a massive sell-offs inglobal equities as spike in newcoronavirus cases beyondChina spooked investors.

“In line with other Asiancurrencies, the rupee declinedamid concern over coronavirusoutbreak, which is threateningto damage the global economy,”said said VK Sharma, HeadPCG and Capital MarketsStrategy, HDFC Securities.

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The government has askedtelecom companies includ-

ing Vodafone Idea, BhartiAirtel and Tata Teleservices tosubmit supporting documentson AGR self-assessment thatformed the basis of their statu-tory dues calculation, accord-ing to a DoT source.

The source, who did notwish to be named, said theexercise will help theDepartment of Telecom (DoT)examine the AGR calculationsbeing made by the telecom

players.All three telecom compa-

nies Bharti Airtel, VodafoneIdea and Tata Teleservices havebeen asked to provide sub-stantiating documents to sup-port their claims on AGR arith-metic, the DoT official added.However, no deadline has beengiven to companies to submitthe supporting documents.

Once substantiating docu-ments are filed by the compa-nies, the telecom departmentwill initiate random test checkson the AGR calculation in atime-bound manner.

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With the telecom firmsstaring at a massive �1.47

lakh crore of AGR dues, SBIchairman Rajnish Kumar onMonday said “nobody wants tokill the sector”.

The state-owned bank isyet to hear from the govern-ment on the issue, he said,when asked if it has soughtviews from bankers.

“Nobody wants to kill thesector, let me be very clear,”Kumar said, when asked aboutthe problems being faced by thetelecom industry.

It can be noted that earli-er this month, Kumar had saidthat State Bank of India has aloan outstanding of �29,000crore to the telecom sectorand another �14,000 crore inbank guarantees, which can getinvoked in case of a non-pay-ment of dues by the telcos.

There has been a flurry ofmeetings in the national capi-tal between senior official of thetelecom firms and the govern-ment over the past week.

Earlier this month, theSupreme Court has asked thetelecom firms to deposit anestimated �1.47 lakh crore inpast dues for spectrum andlicences by March 17.

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The DoT has sought �7,608crore in dues from GAIL

India for 2017-18 as the depart-ment appeared to be not press-ing for immediate payment of�1.83 lakh crore in past dues it had previouslyassessed from the state-ownedgas utility.

The Department ofTelecommunications (DoT)sent a notice to GAIL soonafter the February 14 hearingin the Supreme Court on duesowned by telecom companiessuch as Bharti Airtel, VodafoneIdea, sources privy to the devel-opment said.

The dues now being soughtfrom GAIL include a penaltyfor late payment, they said.

The Supreme Court’s orig-inal ruling in October last yearled the DoT to demand �1.47lakh crore in unpaid dues onlicence fees and spectrum usagecharges from telecom companies such asBharti Airtel and VodafoneIdea.

Its demand related to a 14-year-old dispute regarding thedefinition of adjusted grossrevenue (AGR), which theSupreme Court agreed shouldinclude all kinds of incomegenerated by the telcos.

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With mobile networks bet-ter or at par with any-

where else in the world, Indiahas an opportunity to becomea ‘premier digital society’, bil-lionaire Mukesh Ambani saidon Monday as he saw thecountry becoming the thirdworld’s largest economy with-in the next decade.

Speaking at a fireside chatwith Microsoft CEO SatyaNadella, he said the big changedriving this transformation wasthe deepening of mobile net-works which were working at amuch faster pace than before.

“I can easily say that themobile networks in India noware better or at par with any-where else in the world,” hesaid.

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The Government hasextended the time till

March 6 for bidders to poseadditional queries regardingsale of its 100 per cent stake inAir India. The Government hasissued the first set of clarifica-tion on Air India disinvestmentanswering queries of interest-ed bidders on the ‘confiden-tiality undertaking’ listed out in

the Preliminary InformationMemorandum (PIM) issuedon January 27.

The last date for submis-sion of written queries on PIMand Share Purchase Agreement(SPA) was originally set atFebruary 11, following whichthe Department of Investmentand Public Asset Management(DIPAM) on February 21issued a set of 20 clarificationson the queries raised.

New Delhi: Bharti Infratel onMonday extended the deadlinefor its merger with IndusTowers by two more months toApril 24 but cautioned thatfinal call on scheme imple-mentation will be taken by theboard based on assessment ofthe ongoing AGR-crisis and itsimpact on customers.

The delay in completion ofthe deal would come as a blowto Vodafone Idea which has tocough up �53,000 crore instatutory dues to the govern-ment and was eyeing about�5,500 crore from stake sale inIndus Towers. PTI

��� 02$�32*1'

The CompetitionCommission on Monday

ordered a detailed probeagainst MakeMyTrip (MMT)and OYO for allegedlyindulging in unfair businesspractices, on a complaint filedby the operator of TreeboHotels.

This is the second time inless than six months that thefair trade watchdog has calledfor an investigation against thetwo entities after findingprima-facie evidence of viola-tion of competition norms.

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The Government’s target ofAchieving a $5 trillion

economy by 2024-25 sounds“too idealistic”, an Niti Aayogofficial said on Monday.

The target has been so setto raise the bar of India’s eco-nomic performance, she said.

“For now, the ambitious $5trillion economy target is astatement of intent, whichsounds too idealistic,” saidBindu Dalmia, chairperson ofthe National Committee onFinancial Inclusion — NitiAayog.

India is “trapped” within arange-bound GDP growth of 5-6 per cent, she said at anMCCI-organised session here.

Dalmia said to get to a $5trillion or $10 trillion economyby 2030 from the current lev-els of $2.9 trillion, India needsto grow at 11.5 per cent annu-ally in nominal terms, or 7.5per cent in real terms over thenext 10 years.

In January, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had met econ-omists, private equity and ven-ture capitalists, business lead-ers and agri experts at NITIAayog, and called for focusedefforts to achieve the target ofmaking India a $5 trillioneconomy.

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Indian batsmen’s inadequa-cies in adverse conditionswere laid bare as they

crashed to an embarrassing10-wicket defeat against a ruth-less New Zealand side thatwrapped up the opening Test injust over three days here atBasin Reserve on Monday.

Starting the day on 144 forfour, India were all out for 191

in 81 overs in their secondinnings. This was a shade bet-ter than their dismal 165 in thefirst innings, which eventuallyproved to be decisive.

Trent Boult (4/39 in 22overs) and Tim Southee (5/61in 21 overs), one of the finestbut most under-rated new ballpairs in world cricket, showedthat when it boils down to play-ing incisive seam and swingbowling, this batting line-up is

still a work in progress.The required target of nine

runs was knocked off by NewZealand without much ado fortheir 100th Test win.

India’s last defeat wasagainst Australia at Perth dur-ing the 2018-19 series but theloss at the Basin Reserve wouldhurt them more because thevisitors have not surrendered insuch fashion of late.

There was no resistancefrom a star-studded line-upand more than intent, the fail-ure was due to poor techniqueon a track that had somethingon the third and fourth day.

This is a team that playsfast bowling much better thantheir predecessors, the reasonfor their success on the boun-cy Australian tracks.

But when it comes to fac-ing conventional seam andswing bowling in testing con-ditions, they are yet to learn theart of saving a Test match.

India had lost the mentalbattle on the first day itselfwhen they saw the moisture onthe wicket.

The toss became a factorand not for one session did theylook comfortable. MayankAgarwal was the only batsman

who felt at home, albeit inpatches, as New Zealandshowed what a Test matchstrategy is all about.

If the first innings wasabout mixing back of lengthdeliveries with fuller lengthballs, the second saw the pac-ers coming from round thewicket and targeting the rib-cage. The line was disconcert-ing and it stifled them forgood. It affected their mindset

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HARDIK TO PLAY IN D Y PATIL T20 TOURNEYNavi Mumbai: .� �������'���������������1�����#�������� �� � �� ����� ��� ���3�5�#� ��� �C<� ������ !�1������������ �� &��� ����� &���� ��/��� ������� ��� ���� ���������� � �� ������ ��� *�����!� ���� CG��������� �������������������B �������� �� (�� ����� ������� ��������&�������������� � ���0� ������������!�N����+��������E? ��@� ������ &�� ������ ��� &�� ������� ����� 1����#�������������������-�����������3������O������36�/���#� ����#�A��35�#� ������ �� ������>�������� #�A!� 3������ ���� ������ ��� ����� ��� ���� ���� ���������� ����� ���������/����!�

STAR SPORTS LAUNCHES 'KHEL BOLEGA' TVCMumbai: '#*��������������� ��������� ���������� ���������� � ������������ ��������� ���������������� ��� � � ��� ��� ������ �� ������� �� ��� �� �� ������������ ���� ��������������� �����!�'���������� � ������������������ ������������ ������������������������� �� �6�� ������ �� �� ��� ���'!� ����� ������������ ��� �� � ��� ������ ������� ����� ������� ���� ���������� ������ ������ ��?��������@����������� ��'#*� ����� ��� ������ ���������� ����� ������ �� ����������� �� ������� ���������������� ����� �����2������� ��� ���� ����� ����� ��� ���� �������!� ���� �6��������� �� �������� ���������� ��������� �������� �������������� ��������������� ��������������&������� �������'������� ������ ���'#*!�

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&����� Krishnappa Gowthamsnapped seven wickets asKarnataka sealed their place inthe semifinals after thrashingJammu and Kashmir by 167runs on the final day of theirRanji Trophy quarterfinal, hereon Monday.

Resuming the day at 245 forfour, Karnataka added another71 runs before folding for 316in their second innings, settingthe hosts a target of 331.

Jammu and Kashmir werebundled out for 163, courtesyoff-spinner Gowtham’s (7/54)seven-wicket haul.

Earlier, Abid Mushtaq(6/83) claimed six wickets,Parvez Rasool (3/88) took threeand Mujtaba Yousuf (1/44) dis-

missed one Karnataka bats-man. Overnight batsmanKrishnamurthy Siddharth (98)missed out on a well-deservedcentury, dismissed by Mushtaqin the 80th over.

His wicket triggered a col-lapse as Karnataka kept losingwickets regularly. SrinivasSharath (34) held on to one endand took the team across the300-mark before departing inthe 105th over.

SAURASHTRA IN LAST 4 �' ���� Saurashtra bookedtheir spot in the semifinals onthe basis of the first innings aftertheir quarterfinal tie againstAndhra ended in a draw on thefinal day.

Resuming at the overnightscore of 375 for 9, the visitorswere dismissed for 426 in 138overs in the second innings, set-ting an improbable target of 710runs for Andhra.

After being bowled out for136 in the first innings, Andhrafinished at 149 for 4 in 51 oversin their second essay before playwas called off.

A strokeful half-century byAndhra captain K S Bharat(55, 69 balls, 6 fours, 1 six) wasthe bright spot in the hostteam’s second innings.

The wicketkeeper-batsman,who is on the fringes of nation-al selection and has been part ofvarious India A teams in therecent past, showed why he is

rated highly, playing somedelightful shots during hisknock.

In Tangi, Bengal stormedinto the last four by virtue oftheir first innings lead overOdisha after only one sessionwas possible on the final daywhich was interrupted by badlight.

Resuming on 361 for seven,Bengal lost their remainingthree wickets for 12 runs insidesix overs to set Odisha animprobable 456.

In reply, Odisha were 39 forno loss in 10 overs when badlight stopped play as both theteams agreed upon a draw withtwo more sessions left on thefinal day.

����� 31 -

Mushfiqur Rahimhit his third Test

double century asBangladesh declaredtheir first innings witha lead of 295 onMonday in their one-off match againstZimbabwe.

Bangladesh endedtheir innings on 560for six in the final ses-sion before spinnerNayeem Hasan thenclaimed two wicketsin two balls in the firstover.

The visitorsreached nine for two atstumps on the thirdday, still needing 286runs to makeBangladesh bat againon a wearing pitch atthe Sher-e-Bangla

National Stadium.Mushfiqur, who

became the becamethe highest run-scorerfor Bangladesh inTests, hit an unbeaten203, while skipperMominul Haque made132, after the hostsresumed on 240 forthree.

Mushfiqur andMominul added 222for the fourth wicket,while wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Dasmade 53 to give thehosts their highest-ever total againstZimbabwe.

Mominul declaredthe innings soon afterMushfiqur reached the200-run mark afterAinsley Ndlovu pastextra cover for aboundary.

�����' �� The perfectexecution of plans againstIndia has pleased NewZealand skipper KaneWilliamson but he refusedto term his team’s 10-wicket win as “bouncingback” from their 0-3 deba-cle against Australia.

New Zealand cameinto the series after theirnightmare in Australiaand put up a splendid per-formance to outclass Indiain just over three days.

“Bouncing back isn’ta term that we use with-in our group. You can getcarried away thinkingabout results (especially)when you have a numberof poor ones and some-times the want (urge) fora good one can be a dis-traction towards getting(achieving) it,”Williamson said.

The Kiwi skipper,who also was the top-scorer for his side with awell-made 89, seemed sat-isfied with the perfor-mances of each and everyplayer of his team.

“So it’s aboutfocussing on things thatare important. The rolesthat give us the bestchance of success and ifwe do that, the resultmanifests and I thinkthat’s what we saw in thisgame and that was whatwas pleasing,” Williamsonsaid.

“It was a really bril-liant all-round game forus. Guys were really com-mitted to their roles on asurface that offeredenough to create a goodbalance between bat andball. It’s a really important

lesson moving forwardto Christchurch,” headded.

But Williamson alsowants to guard his teamagainst complacency as heexpects India to comehard in the second Test,starting February 29

“The challenge isthere in front of usbecause we know comeChristchurch we will needto be on our game again.India is the number one inthe world for a reason andthey have had success allaround the world,” hesaid.

��� #2+�1�

Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav deliv-ered yet again with timely dismissalsto lead India to a comfortable 18-run

win over Bangladesh in their ICC Women’sT20 World Cup match, here on Monday.

Invited to bat, a substantial partner-ship eluded them after a fiery start butIndia still managed to post a competitive142 for six at the WACA ground.

India were off to a flying start withopener Shafali Verma (39 of 17 balls) com-ing out all guns blazing in the Group Agame.

However, the Indian innings never gotthe impetuous after the departure of the16-year-old, who hit four sixes and twofours in her entertaining knock. Later,Veda Krishnamurthy (20 off 11) hit fewlusty blows to help India post a fightingtotal.

Bangladesh fought through MurshidaKhatun (30) and Nigar Sultana (35) butPoonam rattled the middle and lowerorder with her strikes.

In the end, Bangladesh could manage124 for eight, giving India their secondstraight win in the tournament.

“The way Shafali and Richa playedtoday, they showed how capable they arefor the team. Veda’s innings was turningpoint. We needed boundaries at that pointand she did a great job,” India skipperHarmanpreet Kaur said.

Poonam, who had helped India haltAustralia’s chase in their opening game aswell, was the top bowler again. She

scalped Sanjida Islam (10), Fahima Khatun(17) and Jahanara Alam (10) to make ittough for Bangladesh.

Bangladesh needed 49 runs from lastfive overs but they failed to negotiatePoonam’s flighted deliveries.

The Indian spinner had Fahimacaught by Shafali in the first ball of the 16th

over while Rajeshwari Gaekwad saw theback of well-set Nigar Sultana.

Poonam then returned to dismissJahanara, who stepped out looking for abig hit only to be stumped by Taniya.

The runs dried up and Bangladeshnow needed 22 off the final over.

Pacer Shikha Pandey clean bowled

Rumana Ahmed with a perfect yorker andwriting was clear on the wall.

Earlier, Shafali punished the rivalattack with her fluent stroke-making.

Attempting a big one, Shafali skied oneoff veteran Panna Ghosh and was dis-missed, caught by wicket-keeper ShamimaSultana.

This was after fellow opener TaniyaBhatia (2) was sent back by SalmaKhathun.

Shafali turned out to be the best scor-er in India’s innings.

Jemimah Rodrigues played a sedateyet crucial 34-run knock since hard-hit-ting skipper Harmanpreet Kaur wasalready dismissed by Ghosh.

With both Shafali and Harmanpreetcooling their heels back in the dug out,India’s run-rate took a dip.

Jemimah erred in judgement whilecalling Deepti for a single and was run out.

Richa Ghosh, who replaced SmritiMandhana in the playing XI, hit two splen-did boundaries before holing out toNahida Akter off Salma Khatun.

The slide continued with DeeptiSharma (11) running herself out follow-ing a mix up with Veda Krishnamurthy(20 off 11).

��� #2+�1�

Rachael Haynes hit a classy fifty to helpdefending champions Australia over-

come a fighting Sri Lanka by five wick-ets in their second Group A match.

Chamari Athapaththu (50 off 38balls) struck a quick half-century butNicola Carey (2/18), who missed theIndia game, and Molly Strano (2/23)helped Australia restrict Sri Lanka to amodest 122 for six.

Chasing the target, the Australianhearts were racing when Alyssa Healy,Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney —all fell within four overs before Haynesand captain Meg Lanning (41 not out)stitched a 95-run fourth-wicket stand totake the hosts out of trouble.

����� � 0�12��2+

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says BrunoFernandes has lifted the mood at Old

Trafford, comparing the January signingto a mix between former ManchesterUnited players Paul Scholes and JuanSebastian Veron.

Fernandes arrived for an initial 55million euros (£46 million) and, while thatcould rise to 80 million euros if a varietyof targets are reached, United look to havestruck a good deal.

The Portugal international hasimpressed in all three United starts to date,following up fine displays against Wolvesand Chelsea with a goal and an assistagainst Watford.

Successive wins have lifted Unitedinto fifth place in the Premier League tableas they push for Champions Leaguequalification.

"He's given everyone a boost,"Solskjaer said of the 25-year-oldFernandes. "It means more than just get-ting a player in. You can see the support-ers, they're used to players with that per-sonality, mentality and quality so he's beena big plus.

"He's come in from day one, the firstminute, and felt like a presence in thegroup. First training session, demandingthe ball.

"Some players take some time inwarming up but he felt confident straightaway.

"He's a bit of a mix between (Paul)Scholes and (Juan Sebastian) Veron, to befair. He's got the temperament maybe ofVeron and a lot of the quality of him andScholesy."

Solskjaer said Fernandes was a "bigpiece" in the team that United are look-ing to build, while Anthony Martial hasshown that he too can be a key compo-nent of the attack.

Monday's header at Chelsea was fol-

lowed by a fine goal at Club Brugge in theEuropa League and a clever clipped fin-ish past Ben Foster on Sunday.

"I am delighted with the weekAnthony's had," Solskjaer said. "He has gothis critics and I am one of his biggestprobably because I keep demanding dif-ferent stuff from him."

"This today is more than the Anthonywe know about," he added. "The skillbecause that is just mind-blowing, some-times the skill that he shows. But I wantmore from him and I'll keep at him."

��� 02$�32*1'�

Indian football team head coach IgorStimac is "impressed" by the talent on dis-

play in the I-League after he watched twomatches earlier this month.

He said he's looking forward to watch-ing more matches.

"It was fantastic to witness 2@ILeagueOfficial matches in Mumbaiand Goa and I'm really impressed with thetalents," Stimac tweeted.

"Looking forward to see more actionin coming days," he added.

The Croatian was in the stands inMumbai earlier this month when theIndian Arrows played Kolkata giants EastBengal (February 17) at the CooperageStadium. He also witnessed the matchbetween Mohun Bagan and ChurchillBrothers in Margao (February 22).

The former Croatia World Cupperhanded the Hero of the Match award toFran Gonzalez as the Mariners extendedtheir lead at the top of the I-League tablewith a 3-0 win.

During the launch of the I-League2019-20 in November last year, Stimac hadsaid "every Indian player in the Hero I-League is a potential candidate for a placein the senior team".

"I will keep coming to watch thematches whenever I can. The playersneed to know that each player in the HeroI-League with an Indian passport is one ofthe possible future candidates for thenational team. It's up to them how they per-form for their respective teams," he hadsaid.

India, already out of contention for aFIFA 2022 World Cup berth, play Asianchampions Qatar in Bhubaneswar onMarch 26.

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4���������8����3��,���������<����������������#�����0��������>������������������+��������������!"���<������� #�

)��'�������� ��������! �����������������!����'�"� �A����������������!������&������������������,����:��0������5������!���������������!�������'��!�7������ (�

and when Ajinkya Rahane andHanuma Vihari stepped out on thefourth morning, defeat was written allover as both looked ill-equipped tohandle such high quality seam bowl-ing.

Rahane (29 off 75 balls) andVihari (15 off 79 balls) are players whoonly play long-form cricket at theinternational level and both areknown for their patience.

But little did the Indian vice-cap-tain apprehend that he would get adelivery from Boult, which, instead ofmoving away after pitching, held itsline. With the ball doing exactly theopposite of what Rahane had thought,he had no option but to jab at it, and

all he got was an edge.Southee, who bowls lovely classi-

cal outswinger then bowled an off-cutter from the other end and beforeVihari could comprehend, it cameback sharply to peg the stumps back.

Within first 20 minutes, the twoseasoned practitioners of swing hadknocked the stuffing out of India’sresistance.

“A really brilliant all round gamefor us. It is also a step in the rightdirection as well,” Kane Williamsonsaid.

Southee, who had a terrific match,deservingly completed his 10th five-wicket haul, and all it took was 16overs to end the India innings.

N'����&���� ��������!�'��&� ��������������!�'������ �� ��� �������������( ������ ��������������&� ������� �� (����� �����������������������( ������ ����� ������� � ������!O

—VIRAT KOHLI ?����������������@

N0���R��������� ��� �� ��������� ���&� ������������ ��&� ���������� ����� �� �������( ���� � �!�����(������� ������������������������ ��&��������������� �� ������������� ���� �&�������������������������������� �������� ����� ������� �������������������� ���� �� !O

—VIRAT KOHLI

�����' �� Captain Virat Kohli had noqualms in admitting that India were out-played by New Zealand in the opening Testbut said they “can’t help it” if a few want tomake a “big deal” out of one loss.

“We know we haven’t played well, butif people want to make a big deal out of it,make a mountain out of it, we can’t help itas we don’t think like that,” the India skip-per said at the post-match interaction.

“Some people might want it to be theend of the world but it’s not. For us, it’s agame of cricket we lost and we move on andkeep our heads high,” Kohli said.

It is the acceptance of defeatthat defines the character of a side,the world’s premier batsman said.

“We understand that we needto play well to win, also at home.There’s no cakewalk at interna-tional level as teams will come andbeat you. You accept it and thatdefines our character as a side.”

If he had given credence tothe “outside chatter”, he saidthe team wouldn’t have beenwhere it is now.

“That’s why we have been

able to play this kind of cricket. If we wouldhave paid attention to the outside chatter,we would again be at No 7 or 8 in the rank-ings. We don’t really bother about what peo-

ple are saying on the outside.” One defeat can’t make a team,

which has been winning games of Testcricket, “bad overnight”. “If we have lostthen we have no shame in acceptingthat. It means we didn’t play this game

well. It doesn’t mean that we havebecome a bad team overnight. Peoplemight want to change our thoughts, butit doesn’t work like that.” PTI

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Edinson Cavani scored his 200thParis Saint-Germain goal andMarquinhos netted twice as the

Ligue 1 leaders bounced back fromtheir Champions League defeatby Borussia Dortmund to beatBordeaux 4-3 on Sunday, buttheir victory was marred byNeymar’s late sending-off.

After losing 2-1 in Germanyin their Champions League last 16first leg in midweek, PSG’s defen-sive weaknesses were againexposed as South Korean internation-al Hwang Ui-jo gave Bordeaux thelead at the Parc des Princes.

PSG turned it around thanks togoals by Cavani and Kylian Mbappeeither side of a Marquinhos brace, butat the other end there was a bizarregoal credited to the Brazilian defend-er Pablo and a Ruben Pardo strike hadthe home side hanging on at the fin-ish.

The evening concluded withNeymar being sent off in stoppagetime for a second yellow card for grap-pling with Bordeaux’s Yacine Adli,leaving the world’s most expensiveplayer facing a suspension.

Along with the shortcomings atthe back, it is another problem forcoach Thomas Tuchel to think about,even if his team are now 13 pointsclear atop Ligue 1 from Marseille, wholost 3-1 to Nantes on Saturday.

Tuchel’s men endured a bad startagainst mid-table Bordeaux, withskipper Thiago Silva going off hurtjust before Hwang put the away sidein front on 18 minutes, heading in acorner for his sixth Ligue 1 goal.

PSG were level in the 25thminute, though, as Di Maria’s crosswas headed in by Cavani, allowing theUruguayan to reach a double centu-ry of PSG goals.

He then hit the post from closerange before Marquinhos put Paris in

front in first-half stoppage time,using his shoulder to covert Di Maria’sfree-kick.

Nevertheless, there was still timefor Bordeaux to equalise at 2-2 beforethe interval.

Selected ahead of Keylor Navas ingoal, Sergio Rico’s clearance from aMarco Verratti back-pass struck Pabloand the Spaniard looked on in hor-ror as the ball ricocheted back into thenet.

However, Marquinhos nettedfrom close range for his second of thenight in the 63rd minute to make it3-2. Then, when Ruben Pardo lostpossession, Cavani set up Mbappe toscore PSG’s fourth, and his 16th in theleague this season.

Pardo made some amends with astunning strike for Bordeaux’s third,and the ninth goal Paris have conced-ed in three games altogether.

Icardi then had another goal dis-

allowed before Neymar was sent offfor his second yellow at the death.

“They have had quite a difficultweek in terms of results and theirconfidence has taken a knock too,”said Bordeaux’s Laurent Koscielny ofPSG.

“When you lose points andgames then your confidence canquickly disappear but they are greatplayers and they are capable of over-coming that.”

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India wil l host theCommonwealth shooting

and archery championships inJanuary 2022 and the medalsfrom the two events will becounted in the final tally of theBirmingham Games, anunprecedented moveapproved by the CGF.

However, the medals willbe added one week after theconclusion of the multi-disci-plinary sporting event inBirmingham, the

Commonwealth GamesFederation (CGF) announcedon Monday.

The decision was made atthe CGF’s Executive Boardmeeting here from February21 to 23.

It can be considered a bigwin for India since it hadthreatened to boycott theBirmingham edition of theGames for dropping shooting,an optional sport, from the

roster. Archery is also anoth-er optional sport.

“A CommonwealthArcher y and ShootingChampionships is set to takeplace in India in 2022 after aproposal to stage the eventwas approved by the CGFExecutive Board,” the CGFsaid in a release.

The two events will beheld in Chandigarh in January2022 while the Birmingham

Commonwealth Games arescheduled from July 27 toAugust 7, 2022.

“The decision confirmedthat Chandigarh 2022 andBirmingham 2022 will be twoseparately organised andfunded Commonwealth Sportevents. “One week followingthe Closing Ceremony ofBirmingham 2022Commonwealth Games, theCGF shall issue a medal table

that includes results from theChandigarh 2022Commonwealth Archery andShooting Championships, as afurther and final legitimateranking of competing nationsand territories from therespective competitions,” theCGF added.

Rarely the sporting worldhas seen such an arrange-ment that the medals of cham-pionships held outside major

Games are counted in thefinal tally (of the main event).

National Rifle Associationof India (NRAI) PresidentRaninder Singh, who mootedthe idea of theCommonwealth ShootingChampionships, admitted thatCGF’s decision was a “uniqueand unprecedented develop-ment” as well as “truly a gamechanging methodology”.

He was also candid incalling NRAI and IOA’s pro-posal as “admittedly againstthe grain”.

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������ Atletico Madrid followed uptheir surprise win over Liverpool by beat-ing Villarreal in La Liga on Sunday as JoaoFelix marked his return from injury witha first league goal since September.

Felix came off the bench at the WandaMetropolitano after almost a month outwith an ankle problem and the 20-year-oldlooked refreshed as he drove in Atletico’sthird in an impressive 3-1 vic-tory.

Kieran Trippier wasalso back after recoveringfrom a groin injury and hewas involved in Atletico’ssecond goal as Koke headedin.

Angel Correa had earliercancelled out Paco Alcacer’sstrike for Villarreal.

Atletico’s inconsistencythis season meansthey are out of thetitle race, 12 pointsadrift of leadersBarcelona, whothrashed Eibar 5-0 onSaturday.

But momentumwould be timely asAtleti bid to consoli-date their place inthe top four and cap-italise on their 1-0advantage againstLiverpool in theChampions Leaguelast 16 next month.

Diego Simeone’s sidemove up to third in La Liga,level on points with Sevilla,who earlier struck a superb 3-0 win away at fellow top-fourrivals Getafe. AFP

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Lionel Messi is the “greatest”footballer of all time, ahead

of even Diego Maradona, Napolicoach Gennaro Gattuso saidon Monday ahead of his side’sChampions League clash withBarcelona.

The 32-year-old Messiscored four goals at the weekendin Barcelona’s 5-0 win overEibar and has now beeninvolved in more than 1,000goals in his career, scoring 696and assisting another 306.

Gattuso was quick to praiseMessi, comparing the Barca starto Napoli legend Maradona.

“He’s the greatestand an example foreveryone,” said Gattusoahead of the sides’ last-16first leg today.

“He never says any-thing inappropriate. Hedoes things that only exist on thePlaystation, unthinkable things.

“But I saw him (Maradona)on VHS, or DVD. I never sawhim up close, at a stadium.

“I know the champion hewas and I know I missed some-thing wonderful. I regret it.Today I see Messi doing thingsthat Maradona was doing.”

Napoli captain LorenzoInsigne was not so keen toaccept that Messi has reachedgreater heights than 1986 WorldCup winner Maradona.

“Messi is the best in theworld today,” said Insigne. “Butfor us Neapolitans, Maradona is

everything and I don’t want tocompare them. Maradona issacred.”

But Insigne and Gattusoagreed that their team have to becareful not to focus only on try-ing to stop Messi.

“We have to be careful withtheir whole team, because it's notjust Messi,” said Gattuso.

Napoli are enjoying a recentupturn in form after a dreadfulstart to the Serie A seasonwhich culminated in the sack-ing of Carlo Ancelotti following

a 4-0 win over Genk thatsent them into theChampions Leagueknockout stage.

Last season’s Serie Arunners-up have won sixof their last seven games.

“Tomorrow (Tuesday), Iwant a Napoli side that are notafraid,” added Gattuso.

“I want to see a team thatknows how to battle... You needto stand up to Barcelona — youcan’t worry.

“I want to see a lively teamthat plays with joy until the end.Can Napoli win the ChampionsLeague? Never say never.”

It is the first time Napolihave reached the knockoutrounds since a last-16 loss toReal Madrid in 2017, whileBarcelona are bidding to makethe quarter-finals for a 13th con-secutive season.

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