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India on Monday successful-ly launched its second moon

mission Chandrayaan-2 fromits most powerful rocket witha plan to land the rover onSeptember 7 in the unexploredlunar south pole, exactly aweek after the liftoff was abort-ed due to a technical snag.

Carrying a “billion dreams”

in a giant leap for the country’sambitious low-cost space pro-gramme, the most complexand prestigious mission everundertaken by the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation(ISRO),if successful, will also makeIndia the fourth country afterRussia, the US and China topull off a soft landing on themoon.

“We bounced back with

flying colours after the earliertechnical snag. Success is com-ing after a call-off,” said abeaming and visibly relievedISRO Chairman K Sivan at themission control room of theSatish Dhawan Space Centre inSriharikota, about 100 km fromChennai, as scientists brokeinto cheers, shook hands andexchanged greetings.

Sivan, who announced thesuccess of the mission, wasaddressing the scientists short-ly after the towering geosyn-chronous satellite launch vehi-cle GSLV-MkIII-M1, dubbed as“Baahubali”, lifted off from thesecond launchpad at the space-port into cloudy skies at 2.43pm and successfully placedthe 3,850-kg Chandrayaan-2

into the earth orbit about 16minutes later.

The �978-crore unmannedmission also brought womanpower to the fore as it washelmed by two woman scien-tists of the ISRO — RituKaridhal and M Vanitha, theMission and Project directorsrespectively.

Joined by President RamNath Kovind and leaders acrossthe political spectrum, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi con-gratulated the scientists andsaid every Indian is immense-ly proud today.

In a series of tweets, Modireferred to the indigenous sys-tems used in Chandrayaan-2and said the mission is “Indianat heart, Indian in spirit!...“Efforts such as Chandrayaan-2 will further encourage ourbright youngsters towards sci-ence, top quality research andinnovation.”

The PM also shared pic-tures of him watching thelaunch on a large screen andshared his audio message to theISRO. “Chandrayaan-2 isunique because it will exploreand perform studies on thesouth pole region of lunar ter-rain which is not explored andsampled by any past mission.

This mission will offer newknowledge about the moon,”Modi said.

The ISRO is aiming for asoft landing of the lander in thesouth pole region of the moonwhere no country has gone sofar. Immediately afterChandrayaan-2’s separationfrom the rocket, the solar array of the spacecraftautomatically got deployed andthe ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and CommandNetwork at Bengaluru suc-cessfully took control of thespacecraft, the ISRO said in astatement.

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After already missing twoprevious deadlines set by

the Governor to face vote onthe Confidence Motion, theHD Kumaraswamy-ledCongress-JD(S) coalitionGovernment on Monday saidthey are ready for the floor testbut sought more time fromSpeaker KR Ramesh Kumar fordebate. As the confusion overvoting lingered, late on Mondaythe House was adjourned withthe Speaker announcing recon-vening the House at 10 am onTuesday and set a deadline forfloor test by 6 pm.

Congress leaderSiddaramaiah tweeted,“Tomorrow (Tuesday) we willfinish the floor test, after someof our members speak. By 4 pmtomorrow we will finish dis-cussion, by 6 pm we will finishthe floor test.”

Earlier, in the eveningshowing in the Assembly his“fake” resignation letter doingthe rounds on social media,HDK asked the Speaker toallow more time for discussionciting the instance of his forgedsignature on the fake resigna-tion letter. The CM said he willnot allow the House to getadjourned even if he has to sitall night.

Meanwhile the SupremeCourt on Monday decided tohear on Tuesday a fresh plea oftwo Independent KarnatakaMLAs seeking holding of the

floor test “forthwith” in theAssembly. A Bench headed byChief Justice Ranjan Gogoi onMonday declined to hear dur-ing the day the plea by RShankar and H Nagesh.

“On mentioning, the mat-ter is taken on board. List thematter tomorrow before theappropriate Bench as per theroster,” the Bench, also com-prising Justices Deepak Guptaand Aniruddha Bose, said in itsorder. For the third day run-ning, the Karnataka Assemblydebated the ConfidenceMotion.

At the outset, senior advo-cate Mukul Rohatgi, appearingfor the MLAs, said he has fileda new petition in the Karnatakamatter and it be heard eitherduring the day or tomorrow onurgent basis. “The floor test isbeing delayed on one pretext orthe other,” he said. He saidwhen the Congress-JD(S) coali-tion can take orders for hold-ing of floor test earlier, thensame order can be issued now.

In the Karnataka Assembly,as the Speaker asked the ruling

coalition members to concludetheir speeches quickly so thatthe trust vote process could becompleted on Monday itself,there were protests from them.

The coalition membersraised slogans saying, “We wantjustice, we want discussion.”

JD(S) and Congress mem-bers said the Supreme Courtitself had not shown urgencyon the issue as it had refusedurgent hearing of pleas by twoIndependent MLAs for floortest forthwith. As pandemoni-um broke out, the Speakeradjourned the House for 10minutes. As the Houseresumed its sitting after anhour’s delay, the Speaker madeit clear, “Everybody is watchingus. Please don’t make me ascapegoat. Let us reach ourgoal,” stressing that the processshould reach finality onMonday itself.

Kumaraswamy had movedthe confidence motion onThursday to decide the fate ofthe Government, rocked byrebellion by a section of itsMLAs threatening its survival.

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Aday after controversial BJPMP Pragya Singh Thakur

said she was not elected as alawmaker to clean up toilets butto tackle more important tasks,clearly showing her disregardfor Prime Minister NarendraModi-promoted “SwachchhAbhiyan”, party’s working pres-ident JP Nadda pulled her up for her dis-paraging remarks.

Nadda summoned her tothe BJP headquarters and con-veyed to her the party leader-ship’s displeasure with her com-ments made at Sehore in MPon Sunday, sources said. Pragyawas asked to refrain from mak-ing statements that go againstthe party’s programmes andideology, they said.

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After complaints of trafficsnarls at the descend of the

the recently inaugurated 2.85km long New Rao Tula Ram(RTR) flyover near SubrotaPark due to a confusing U-turn,Public Works Department(PWD) has decided to conducta survey of the flyover toaddress the problem. Thedepartment has decided toinstall signage at the U- turn fora smooth travel on the stretch.

PWD will deploy its staff tomonitor the traffic flow on theflyover. The staff will seekcommuters’ suggestions toaddress the problem. The PWDhas also invited public sugges-tion for the improvement ofthis section to provide asmooth travel.

“It has been witnessed thatthe traffic congestion and snarlshas been reduced and the jour-ney to Gurugram and Indira

Gandhi International Airport(IGIA) has become easier afterthe opening of the New RTRflyover. But, traffic congestionhas been witnessed at the U-turn as the people are gettingconfused after reaching theexit point, as where to turn dueto absence of signage,” said a

PWD official. The official said work has

started on the stretch. Abouteight road signs will be installeddisplaying information aboutthe way to Gurugram andIGIA at 300 m from the exitand U-turn.

“The issue will be solved as

the commuters will get an ideawhere to turn and go, once theroad signage is installed,” saidthe PWD official.

It is to be noted that theNew RTR flyover that connectsMunirka to Central Base Postoffice was thrown open to thepublic on July 16.

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The Amma Canteenslaunched by J Jayalalithaa

in 2013 in Tamil Nadu havebeen a big hit with the poor andthe rich alike. But with the sud-den demise of Jayalalithaa inDecember 2016, the AmmaCanteens are staring at theuncertain future as AIADMKseems not enthusiastic in run-ning the eateries. Many of the canteens are operating fornamesake.

The fall in quality has keptpeople away from these eater-ies which were a blessing forthe poor once. Then ChiefMinister Jayalalithaa used tomake surprise checks in theseeateries which resulted in thestaff maintaining cleanliness aswell as serving quality food.Not any more. Most of the

Amma Canteens have seen thenumber of customers falling by90 per cent.

The Amma eatery at RajivGandhi Government GeneralHospital used to cater to morethan 12,000 people daily. “Nowthe number of people has comedown to below 1,000,” said astaffer of the eatery.

Jesuraj, a social activist atthe industrial hub of Hosur,said though there are twoAmma Canteens in the city,customers have deserted it.“Quality of the food has comedown. The AIADMK is alsonot enthusiastic in runningthe same,” said Jesuraj.

According to CRSaraswathi, spokesperson ofAMMK, the entire Ammabrand services launched duringthe lifetime of Jayalalithaa arebeing wound up by the ruling

AIADMK. “They claim thatthe Government is that ofAmma. But they are windingup the Amma Canteens,Amma Mineral Water, AmmaMedical Shops and all otherschemes launched byJayalalithaa,” she said.

The response of theAIADMK spokesman was notencouraging. “We are busywith the Vellore Lok Sabhaelection work and this could bediscussed later,” said VaigaiChelvan, party’s chiefspokesman. It seems her own

partymen have become indif-ferent to the brand nameAMMA.

When the AIADMK-ledby Jayalalithaa swept the 2014Lok Sabha election sans anyallies, there was only one per-son in the State who was not

surprised by the results. It wasJayalalithaa. She had workedovertime to ensure that theAIADMK wins the 2014 LokSabha election as well as the2016 TN Assembly election.

The year 2016 marked the40th anniversary of MGRamachandran (Jayalalithaa’smentor, guide and everything)becoming the Chief Ministerof TN for the first time . Theyear 2017 marked the birthcentenary of MGR, as he wasaddressed by the people.Jayalalithaa wanted to dedicatethe two victories to her men-tor and she did it in style.

The ground work for the2014 Lok Sabha election waslunched by Jayalalithaa in2011 itself when she registereda landslide win in the Assemblyelection. Her master strokewas the Amma Canteens. Theeateries served breakfast, lunchand dinner at unbelievably lowprices to the urban poor.

All municipal corporationsand municipalities in TN wereasked to set up AmmaCanteens in their respectivejurisdictions. An idli, TamilNadu’s staple food was sold at�1, while pongal, sambar rice,lemon rice and poori weresold at �5. This is when a sin-gle idli cost �15, while sambarrice/ lemon rice cost �30 insmall time eateries, not tospeak about Saravana Bhavanor Adyart Anand Bhavan.

The management of theeateries were entrusted to selfhelp groups run by women.The eateries were maintainedin immaculate conditions asJayalalithaa herself was moni-toring their operations.

Political leaders and ChiefMinisters from other Statesmade a beeline to Chennai toget a first hand experienceabout the canteens with theintention to replicate the samein their States.

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After Chandrayaan-2, theISRO has planned launch

of its solar mission, Aditya-L1,in the first half of 2020 to studythe Sun’s corona, the outer lay-ers of the Sun, extending tothousands of kilometres.

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Police on Monday claimed tohave solved a murder mys-

tery after arresting three per-sons, including wife of the vic-tim, a merchant navy engineerwho was brutally killed at hishouse in Ekta Nagar locality afew days ago.

K Vamsi Lata (50) wife ofthe victim K VishwanathSharma, got his husband mur-dered as she was fed up of hisregular alcohol abuse,Additional Superintendent ofPolice (ASP) Prafull Thakurtold reporters.

Vamsi Lata roped in hertenants Luvkush Shukla (27)and Avinash Yadav (20), bothnatives of Uttar Pradesh to killthe merchant navy engineer,the ASP said while adding sheallegedly paid Rs 5 lakh for exe-cuting the plan.

“In a pre-planned man-

ner, the Vamsi Lata on inter-vening night of Saturday andSunday left the main entranceof their house open to facili-tate the entry of Shukla andYadav. As per the plan Shuklaand Yadav entered the houseand attacked Sharma withthick wooden stick. They hithim on his head while he wassleeping in his bedroom,” theASP said.

Sharma’s daughter was thefirst person to spot her fatheras she woke up early in the

morning for study. Sharmawas then admitted to govern-ment hospital where he suc-cumbed to injuries on Mondaymorning, the ASP added.

Police have recoveredscooty, wooden stick used inthe murder and five mobilephones from the possession ofthe two.

They have been bookedunder Sections 302 (murder)and 34 of the IPC. Furtherinvestigation is underway,police said

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The Parliament on Mondaypassed The Protection of

Human Rights (Amendment)Bill, 2019 to expedite theprocess of appointment ofchairperson and members ofNHRC and States' rights bod-ies, with Home Minister AmitShah allaying fears of theOpposition — which wantedit to be sent to a parliamentarypanel — that the Governmentmay influence the appoint-ment to the panels.

Intervening in the debatein Rajya Sabha, Shah said theage limit for appointment tothe panel has been reduced tofill the vacancies. The Bill,which was passed by LokSabha on Friday, provides forreduction in tenure of chair-persons of national and statehuman rights bodies to threeyears from the current fiveyears.

It also stipulates thatbesides a former chief justiceof India, as is the currentrequirement, a formerSupreme Court judge can alsobecome NHRC chairperson."There has been apprehensionthat it will be government'scommittee ... Or memberscould be re-appointed afterthree years," Shah said andpointed out that there waspanel for appointment.

If appointments areviewed with suspicion thanany democratic body cannotfunction, he said. The Bill waspassed by voice vote in RajyaSabha, completing the parlia-mentary process.

Earlier, Opposition mem-bers in Rajya Sabha demand-ed that the bill be sent to aparliamentar y panel for

scrutiny. The MPs alsoclaimed that they were notgiven enough time to moveamendments.

Participating in thedebate, Congress MP Vivek KTankha expressed apprehen-sion that the proposedchanges in law would empow-er the government to hand-pick members. Tankha said

the Government should havebrought "functional amend-ments" in the existing lawand not "cosmetic" ones.

He said if the bill was sentto select committee or stand-ing committee of parliament,larger issues would have beenaddressed. Elmaram Kareem(CPI-M) too made a case forsending the bill to a select

committee of Rajya Sabha. Asimilar demand was made KRavindra Kumar (TDP).

Raising a point of order,Sukhendu Sekhar (TMC) saidas per a rule (130), membersshould be given two workingdays to move amendments ona bill. In the case of the cur-rent bill, the House was

informed about the passage ofthe bill only after 5 pm onFriday, he said and asked if theRule 130 has been "disposedof ".

Leader of the Oppositionand senior Congress leaderGhulam Nabi Azad also raisedobjection on the "procedure"being followed on the Bill.

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Proceedings in the RajyaSabha were repeatedly

marred on Monday as theOpposition parties, includingCongress, TMC, SP and Leftparties, raised a din over issueslike ongoing political crisis inKarnataka, Sonbhadra killingsand mob lynching. While themorning session saw twoadjournments, the post-lunchsession was adjourned once.

As soon as the Housereassembled at 2 pm afterQuestion Hour and Zero Hourin the pre-lunch session washedout by the protests, DeputyChairman Harivansh askedMinister of State for HomeAffairs Nityanand Rai to moveThe Protection of HumanRights (Amendment) Bill 2019for passage in the House.

Opposition members soontrooped into the well and start-ed raising slogans highlightingvarious issues like political cri-sis in Karnataka, killings inSonbhadra district of UP andmob lynching in Bihar.

Harivansh told membersthat the Chairman has already

given a ruling on the politicalcrisis in Karnataka and that theissue cannot be discussed hereas the matter is sub-judice.

Raising a point of orderunder Rule 95, TMC leaderDerek O'Brien said membersdid not get sufficient time tosubmit amendments to theHuman Rights bill as the draftlaw was passed by Lok Sabhalast week and sent to the Houseon Friday evening. He point-ed that the bill was listed fordiscussion on Monday withoutgiving sufficient notice to mem-bers to file their amendmentsto the draft law. However, thechair said members had timetill noon to file their amend-ments to the Bill.

Bhupender Yadav (BJP)said the Chairman has power toallow amendments of mem-bers. Congress leader AnandSharma said members shouldget at least two days notice tofile their amendments to thebill. He said the government isin a hurry to pass the bill andmembers' right to moveamendments is being violated.

The Deputy Chairmancalled out names of two mem-

bers to move their amend-ments. But when they did notdo so, he considered theamendments are not moved.DMK member Tiruchi Sivasaid members, who wanted tomove amendments, asked theChair to bring the House inorder, "but you presumed thatthey did not move amend-ments."

The Deputy Chairmanexpressed dismay over mem-bers throwing pieces of paperson him and other officials sit-ting below him and asked ifthis was the way the chairshould be treated. O'Brien inthe meantime blamed theChair for not conducting thebusiness in a congenial envi-ronment. Amid the din, theDeputy Charmian adjournedthe House till 3 PM.

Earlier, proceedings weremarred in the pre-lunch peri-od after members of oppositionparties vociferously protestedover various issues. They raisedslogans since the start of theday's proceedings and almostthe entire Opposition wastogether in protesting includingCongress, SP, BSP, TMC, CPI

and CPI-M besides RJD andAAP.

As soon as the Housemourned the death of formerDelhi Chief Minister SheilaDikshit and listed officialpapers laid on the table of theHouse, opposition memberswere up on their feet raisingtheir issues.

Chairman M VenkaiahNaidu said the Karnataka issueis pending before the SupremeCourt and the House cannotdiscuss it. As his pleas wentunheeded and members start-ed raising slogans, theChairman adjourned the housetill 12.00 pm at 11.10 am.

Similar scenes were wit-nessed at 12.00 pm soonHarivansh called for theQuestion Hour. WhileMinister of State forEnvironment Babul Supriyocontinued to answer a questionpertaining to a question on therehabilitation of villages, theprotesting members contin-ued to raise a din and came intothe well. Unable to pacify theagitated members, the chairadjourned the proceedings till2:00 pm.

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Fifty days into office in itssecond term, the Modi

Government on Monday saidit is already "walking the talk"on the promise of rapid devel-opment and claimed to createa five trillion dollar economywith �100-lakh-crore invest-ment in infrastructure devel-opment in coming years.

Information andBroadcasting Minister PrakashJavadekar presented the reportcard and achievements of theGovernment asserting that"speed, skill and scale" havebeen manifested in the first 50days of its second term.

Javadekar said the ModiGovernment has hit theground running for the welfareof all sections of the society,including farmers, traders,small businesses, unemployedyouth and middle class. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi wassworn-in on May 30 after theBJP won 303 seats — the firsttime since 1971 that an incum-bent Government returned topower with such a thumpingmandate.

The Government hastaken historic decisions whichshow a clear roadmap of fasterdevelopment in infrastructure,social justice and education, hesaid. Javadekar expressed con-fidence over the successfullaunch of Chandrayaan-2 andadded that India's mannedmission to space, Gaganyaan,will be launched in 2022.

"With �100 lakh crore ofinvestment to be made inroads, railways, ports, airportsand other infrastructure, theformation of Jal ShaktiMinistry, the mission to reachout to every house by 2024

with assured water supply, weare walking the talk with speedand many historical decisions,"he said.

"Investment will comefrom across globe. In 50 daysso much has been done for allsections of the society that peo-ple are assured of what Modihad said after assuming powerthat 'sabka saath, sabka vikas,aur sabka vishwas' (with all,development for all, witheveryone's trust) and fast-paced development.

"People have seen action onthis vision. Speed, skill and scalehave been manifested in the 50days. Farmers, soldiers, youth,labourers, middle class, traders,taking India forward, takingIndia's relations with neigh-bours forward, investment,development of resources, fightagainst corruption and socialjustice, have been the highlightsof 50 days," he said.

Citing the setting up of anational research foundation,giving labour, particularlyunorganised labour, and smalland medium-sized enterprisesrequired help for flourishing,he said these efforts will notonly increase the employmentopportunities, but also ensurejustice and welfare for all sec-tions of the society.

He also reiterated confi-

dence that the governmentwill achieve its dream ofbecoming a $5 trillion econo-my in the period in which ithas decided to achieve thetarget. Listing the achieve-ments of the Government inthe first 50 days in office,Javadekar said importantdevelopments were �6,000assistance to all farmers,increase in Minimum SupportPrice of several crops by two-three times, and 10,000 farm-ers organisations being formed.He said changes in labourcode will benefit 40 croreinformal sector workersthrough wage and labour secu-rity.

The Minister also high-lighted steps taken to boostinvestment in the country suchas �70,000 crore provided forPublic Sector Banks (PSB)recapitalisation and a separateTV channel for start-ups to belaunched. He also underlinedthe success of steps taken bythe Government in reducingthe impact of separatists inJammu & Kashmir.

The Prime Minister's firstdecision after assuming officefor the second term was forchildren of slain military andpolice personnel, giving schol-arship to them. Among otherachievements of theGovernment, he cited pen-sion for traders, tax benefit forthe middle class, and benefitsof home loans interest and theGST.

Javadekar further talkedabout the decisiveness ofGovernment in safeguardingchildren against sexual crimesthrough amendments toPOCSO Act. He also outlinedthe steps taken to reform med-ical education in the country.

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President Ram Nath Kovindon Monday gave assent to

a key Bill of Uttar Pradesh thatpaves way for the reintroduc-tion of the 'provision of antic-ipatory bail' as it was nullifiedwhen the country was under-going the Emergency of 1976.The Bill provides amendmentsfor Uttar Pradesh in Section438 (anticipatory bail) of theCrPC.

Confirming to theapproval, an official from theHome Ministry said, "ThePresident has given assent tothe Code of CriminalProcedure (Uttar PradeshAmendment) Bill, 2018." Withthe presidential assent, theprovision of applying for ananticipatory bail in UttarPradesh has been restoredafter over four decades.Barring Uttar Pradesh andUttarakhand, all other states inthe country have the provisionof anticipatory bail.

The amendment providesthat it will not be necessary forthe accused to be present dur-ing the hearing for the antici-patory bail. It also provides forcertain mandatory conditionsor riders to be imposed by thecourt before considering grant-ing the anticipatory bail,including not allowing theprovision in case of seriouscrimes. Besides, there will beno anticipatory bail in caseswhere the punishment is deathsentence and also cases underthe Gangster's Act

In 2009, the State LawCommission had also made arecommendation for re-intro-duction of a modified bill. In2010, the then Mayawati gov-ernment had cleared a bill inthis regard and sent to the cen-tral government for approval.However, it was put on hold.Later, it was sent back withsuggestions for some modifi-cations. Before clearing thefresh bill, the Yogi Adityanathgovernment had set up a com-mittee, headed by the princi-pal secretary (Home), whichincluded the director general(prosecution) and officials ofthe law department, to studythe shortcomings of the pastand utilisation of the provisionin other states.

Under Section 438 of theCrPC, imposing conditions orriders before an anticipatorybail has been left to the dis-cretion of the court. However,in the UP amendment, certainriders have been imposed.These include the accusedwould have to be present forinterrogation wheneverrequired by police, the accusedwill not threaten anyonedirectly or indirectly involvedwith the case and that theaccused will not leave thecountry without the permis-sion of the court, another offi-cial said.

Another amendment isthat the court would have todecide on the application foran anticipatory bail within 30days. West Bengal has thisprovision, the official said.

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Union Minister Ram VilasPaswan on Monday said

there should be no politicsover the decision to adjourn theLok Sabha till 2 pm and not forthe entire day following thedeath of his younger brotherand MP Ram Chandra Paswansaying a new convention hasbeen set so that the Housecould resume its duties after thecondolences.

Congress leader in the LokSabha Adhir RanjanChowdhury had earlier in thehouse urged the Speaker not todo away with tradition sayingthe house be adjourned for theday.

Lok Sabha proceedingswere adjourned till 2 pm onMonday as a mark of respect

for sitting memberRamchandra Paswan whopassed away.

Speaker Om Birla led theHouse in expressing condo-lence over the passing away ofPaswan and former Delhi ChiefMinister Sheila Dixit.

Ram Chandra Paswan, aLok Janshakti Party member,was a member fromSamastipur in Bihar. He passedaway on Sunday. Dixit, whohad also been a Lok Sabhamember, died on Saturday last.

The members expressedtheir condolence and stood insilence for a while.

Opposition members,including from the Congress,protested after Birla said theHouse has been adjourned till2 pm. Chowdhury sought theSpeaker not to do away with

tradition and said the Houseshould be adjourned for theday. Traditionally, proceedingsare adjourned for the day whena sitting member passes awaywhen the House is in session

Paswan said there shouldbe no politics over the decisionto adjourn the Lok Sabha till 2pm.

"The decision to adjournLok Sabha till 2 pm showsParliament's feelings for myfamily at the death of mybeloved brother RamchandraPaswan," the minister tweeted.

"Parliament has started anew convention so that it canresume its normal duties after2 pm," he said. "Ram ChandraPaswan has been a voice and aleader for Dalits and the weak.No politics should be done overthis," he said.

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The Opposition parties onMonday conveyed to the

Centre that it was againstextending the ongoing ses-sion of Parliament.

During a business advi-sory committee meetingchaired by Lok Sabha SpeakerOm Birla, the Governmentconveyed to the Oppositionparties that it was consider-ing to extend the ongoingParliament session.

The Government saidthat there are about 10 billswhich are pending and otherlegislative business whichthey would like to completeduring the ongoing session,the sources added. Leaders ofvarious Opposition partiesthen categorically told theUnion Ministers present in

the meeting that they wereagainst extension of the ses-sion.

The ongoing session isscheduled to conclude onJuly 26, but sources said theGovernment was mulling toextend it till August 2 toensure passage of all the billslisted for business. The firstsession of the 17th LokSabha, which started on June17, has been the most pro-ductive till July 16 in the last20 years, with the LowerHouse registering 128 percent productivity till Tuesday,according to think tank PRSLegislative Research.

Productivity means thenumber of hours the Houseactually functioned com-pared to the number of hoursofficially earmarked for it towork.

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The Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Monday attached

assets consisting of 61 flats, 82open plots and six plots withbuildings located in Coimbatoredistrict worth �119.6 crore of lot-tery kingpin Santiago Martin andhis associates.

The ED had initiated inves-tigation under the provisions ofPrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) againstSantiago Martin and his com-pany Future Gaming Solutions(P) Ltd (presently, FutureGaming and Hotel Services (P)Ltd.) and formerly MartinLottery Agencies Ltd on thebasis of charge sheet filed byCBI, ACB, Cochin for offencesrelating to criminal conspiracy,cheating and for violation of pro-visions of Lotteries (Regulation)Act,1998 and Rules of Lotteries(Regulation) Rules, 2010.

"Santiago Martin and othersentered into a criminal conspir-acy among them to violate theprovisions of Lottery RegulationAct, 1998 and to obtain wrong-ful gain by cheating SikkimGovernment. In furtherance ofthe criminal conspiracy, anagreement contrary to the pro-visions of Lottery RegulationsAct was dishonestly enteredbetween Santiago Martin andofficials of Sikkim Governmentby which Martin Lottery AgencyLtd could practically run theSikkim State Lottery and avoidthe remittance of face value of thelottery tickets to theGovernment," the agency said.

This led to wrongful gain toSantiago by way of non-remit-tance of sale proceeds to the pub-lic account of State of Sikkim, itsaid.

Investigation under PMLArevealed that Santiago Martinand his associates made illegalgain to the extent of �910.3 croreon account of inflating the prizewinning tickets claim for theperiod from April 1, 2009 toAugust 31, 2010.

Martin invested this illegal-ly generated money from his lot-tery business into the purchaseof immovable properties in thename of 40 companies whichwere used for laundering theproceeds of crime.

Earlier, the ED had issuedtwo Provisional AttachmentOrders attaching assets worth�138.5 crore in this case.

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New Delhi: The SupremeCourt asked the Jammu &Kashmir High Court onMonday to decide within sixweeks the plea seeking ban onthe use of pellet guns for con-trolling street protests in theState.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi took noteof a letter dated July 4 by theRegistrar General of the HighCourt that the matter is listedfor hearing on Tuesday beforea division bench.

The PIL on the issue wasfiled before the high court in2016 by by Jammu & KashmirHigh Court Bar Associationseeking stay on use of pelletguns as a large number ofpeople had been killed orinjured due to its use.

Taking on record the letterof the Registrar of the HighCourt, the bench, also com-prising Justices Deepak Guptaand Aniruddha Bose, said: "Werequest the Division Bench ofthe High Court to expedi-tiously decide the matter andpass order preferably within sixweeks."

The lawyers associationhad approached the apex courtwith an appeal against theinterim order of the HighCourt which on September 22rejected the plea seeking a banon use of pellet guns on theground that the Centre hadalready constituted aCommittee of Experts throughits Memorandum dated July 26,2016 for exploring alternativesto pellet guns. PTI

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Railway tracks running throughthe forests in the country

knocked down at least 60 ele-phants and 8 big cats in the lastthree years between 2016 and 2018-19.

Replying to a question on deathof animals due to train accidents,Union Environment MinisterPrakash Javadekar informed theRajya Sabha that movement ofwild animals in search of food andwater brings them in close prox-imity to railway lines, leading toaccidental deaths.

According to the data provid-

ed by the Minister, 60 elephants,eight tigers and one lion werekilled in train accidents between2016 and 2018-19.

"Rail tracks do pass throughforest areas also. Movement ofwild animals in search of food andwater, brings them in very closeproximity to railway lines and attimes, leads to accidental deaths.

"The state/Union territories'Forest Departments manage theforest and wildlife habitats withcooperation of other sectors,"Javadekar told the Rajya Sabha ina written reply.

The ministry said it has no planto remove railway tracks from for-

est areas but several measures havebeen taken to track animal move-ment around railway track, espe-cially that of lion.

"Adequate number of trackershave been deployed for day-nightpatrolling to watch lion movementalong railway tracks.

"Regular and extensivepatrolling by frontline field staff ofthe State Forest Departments isdone so that wild animals can beretained in their habitat," it said.

The environment ministry saidthat standard operating procedure(SOP) has been issued to managetigers dispersing in human-domi-nated landscapes to safeguard

humans as well as the big cats. "Elephant-proof solar electric

fence has been established in statessuch as Odisha to avoid elephantdeaths due to trains," it said.

Out of the 60 elephants thatdied in the last three years, 19 diedin 2018-19, 20 in 2017-18 and 21 in2016-17. The state with the highestnumber of elephant deaths due totrains in the three years is Assamwhere 22 of them were killed.

Wildlife activists say that theconversion of tracks from meterand narrow gauge to broad gaugehas meant the introduction ofmore fast trains, and henceincreased risk to pachyderms.

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In a major reshuffle of the Army topbrass, Lt General Manoj Mukund

Naravane, now heading the EasternCommand, will be the new Vice Chiefafter incumbent Lt General DevrajAnbu retires on August 31. Naravaneis in line to be the next Army Chief ashe is the senior most after General BipinRawat, who retires year end.

Once Naravane moves to NewDelhi to assume charge as Vice-Chief,Lt General Anil Chauhan, at presentchief of Directorate General of MilitaryOperations(DGMO) will take over the

new Eastern Command. Lt General RP Singh, now the commander of the21 Strike Corps in Bhopal, will be head-ing the Chandimandir-based WesternCommand, replacing Lt GeneralSurinder Singh who retires on July 31,sources said here on Monday.

Lt Gen AS Kler will head theJaipur-based South-Western Commandreplacing Lt Gen Cherish Matheson,who retires on August 31. TheLucknow-based Central Commandwill now be headed by Lt Gen I SGhumman. He will replace Lt GenAbhay Krishna, who retires onSeptember 30.

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chhattisgarh 03RAIPUR | TUESDAY | JULY 23, 2019

Special ‘Shringar’ of Hatkeshwar Mahadev situated on the banks of holy Kharun River, Mahadev Ghat, on the outskirts of Raipur city wasbeing performed. (1). Devotees throng the temple on the occasion of the first ‘Shrawan Somwar’. A view of devotees standing in the queue,waiting for their turn to have a glimpse of Lord Mahadev. (2) Photo Santosh Sahu

1 2

STAFF REPORTER nAMBIKAPUR

Five police persons, including aThana in-charge, two sub

inspectors and two constables,were suspended after a youth whowas nabbed for questioning in con-nection with a theft case allegedlycommitted suicide during interro-gation, police said on Monday.

The alleged suicide tookpolitical turn when BJP youthwing members on Mondaystaged a chakka jam with thebody of the accused onAmbikapur-Banaras highway.

Notably, on July 11 a busi-nessman who deals in plywoodhad registered a complaint thatcash worth `13 lakh was stolenfrom his house after Pankaj andImran had visited his house to

install a CCTV camera.Based on the complaint the

two were rounded up by policefor questioning.

“They were questioned bypolice in connection with thetheft. Pankaj on the pretext ofattending nature’s call went outand later his body was foundhanging from window of a pri-vate hospital near the cyber celloffice,” Superintendent of Police

Surguja Ashutosh Singh said.Taking note of the incident,

Inspector General of Police (IG)Surguja KC Agrawal suspendedTI Vineet Dubey, SI ManishYadav, SI Priyansh John,Constable Deendayal andConstable Lakshman Ram.

Meanwhile, police going bythe short postmortem reportsaid that Pankaj had committedsuicide.

Five policemen suspended inconnection with custodial death

“They were questioned by police in connectionwith the theft. Pankaj on pretext of attendingnature’s call went out and later his body was

found hanging from window of a private hospitalnear the cyber cell office,” Superintendent of

Police Surguja Ashutosh Singh said

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel congratulated

all the citizens of the country, espe-cially the scientists, technicians andstaff associated with the ISRO, onsuccessful launch of India's ambi-tious mission 'Chandrayan-2' todayfrom Sriharikota.

He said that India has taken abig leap in the field of space scienceand has set a new milestone.

Chief Minister said in his mes-sage that all the citizens of the coun-try are overjoyed on this prestigiousachievement of Indian scientists andhe wished that just like Chandrayan-1, Chandrayan 2 will also completeall the levels successfully.

“Once again, Chandrayan-2will have successful soft landing,while its loonier orbiter, lander andwheeler rover will also achieve its

objectives,” Baghel said.Chief Minister has expressed

hope that India will soon becomethe fourth country in the world,after Russia, America and China tohave the efficiency to do soft land-

ing on moon.This space mission of India and

the important data collected fromthe same will give a new directionto space science in India and in theworld as a whole, he added.

Ramesh Baisto arrive statecapital today

RAIPUR: A rousing welcomeawaits newly notified Governor ofTripura Ramesh Bais on his arrivalto capital city on Tuesday.

BJP sources informed that Baiswill arrive at Swami VivekanandAirport, Mana at 2 p.m. on Tuesdayand the district BJP instructed itsleaders and workers to remain pres-ent at the airport to welcome Bais.Different social and business organ-isations and distinguished citizenshave reportedly decided to accordhim welcome according to the tradi-tion of the state with performance offolk bands and folk artists.

CM congratulates people onsuccessful launch of Chandrayan-2


Rural sports competitions, culturalprogrammes and a food fête will by

the highlights of this year’s 'HareliTihaar' to be celebrated with great zealand enthusiasm in Chhattisgarh onAugust 1.

The 'Hareli' is one of the major fes-tivals of the state and this year the stategovernment has declared a public holi-day on the occasion.

The government has also decidedto celebrate this agriculture festival on awide scale to conserve and protectChhattisgarhi culture.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel,Agriculture Minister RavindraChoubey and Culture MinisterAmarjeet Bhagat have given instruc-tions to officials of various departmentsto organise programmes on 'HareliTihaar' in district headquarters, blockheadquarters and gram panchayats.

These programmes will be attend-ed by Chief Minister, Ministers andother prominent guests.

Apart from rural sports competitions,

cultural programmes, stalls ofChhattisgarhi delicacies will be put upand symbolic plantation will be organised.

There will also be 'Gedi Daud' anda prize distribution programme.

Likewise, newly built cowsheds willbe showcased in villages.

State government has ensured par-ticipation of Panchayat and Rural

Development, Agriculture, AnimalHusbandry, Culture and PublicRelations Departments in organizingprogrammes for celebration of HareliTihaar.

Panchayat and Rural DevelopmentDepartment has been appointed asnodal development department for thesame.

‘Hareli' to be celebratedon August 1 with gaiety


Chhattisgarh Rural RoadDevelopment Agency of

the Panchayat and RuralDevelopment Department,which is responsible for imple-mentation of the PMGSY, hasinvited applications forempanelment of state qualitymonitors.

Last date of applicationsubmission for empanelmentis August 9, 2019.

Executive engineers (civil)or engineers, who has retiredfrom higher posts, and retired

professors of engineering andpolytechnic colleges ofChhattisgarh and neighbouringstates can apply for the empan-elment. Applicants should haveprofessional skills as well as theexperience of road construc-tion and maintenance.

Detailed informationregarding eligibility criteria forempanelment, duties of statequality monitors, honorariumand travelling allowance canbe obtained from quality con-trol cell of Chhattisgarh RuralRoad Development Agency onworking days and hours.

Last date to apply forempanelment of qualitymonitors is August 9

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

State executive body meet ofwomen’s Congress held at

party’s state headquarters atRajiv Bhawan here on Mondayemphasised the need for join-ing the Suraji Gaon Yojana‘Narva Garva Ghurva Badi’(NGGB), which will generateemployment for women.

The meeting was chairedby state president PhoolodeviNetam.

Phoolodevi addressing themeet underlined the need tomake prosper villages so thatthe state could also develop.

By construction ofGauthans (cow sheds) and

encouraging animal hus-bandry, production of milkand its byproducts have to beincreased in villages, she said.

Similarly the use of cow

dung as manure will increasefertility of fields and ultimate-ly will help the farmers toprosper because of high yieldof crops, she added.

Asserting that budget pro-visions have been made forNGGB by Bhupesh Baghel gov-ernment, Phoolodevi furtherappealed the women cadre to

publicize the scheme tovillagers so that cooperation ofall could be ascertained for thesuccess of the project.

The NGGB has also beenlinked to Mahatma GandhiNational Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme(MNREGA) which will alsogenerate employment forvillagers, she said.

Citing that it was begin-ning of new academic session,she also urged the womanworkers to ensure that no girlchild dropout of schools.

The women’s Congressalso thanked Baghelgovernment for declaringgeneral holiday on theoccasion of ‘Haritalika Teej’.

Women’s Congress stresses onNGGB for women empowerment

STAFF REPORTER nDANTEWADA

Two powerful improvisedexplosive devices (IEDs)

that were hidden in effigieswere detected and defused bysecurity forces in the insur-gency-hit Dantewada district,police said here on Monday.

“Police had received infor-mation that two effigies withsuspected IEDs were detectedin Kondasavli village underAranpur police station limits.Bomb disposal squad (BDS)immediately reached the spotand defused the bombs,”Superintendent of Police (SP)Dantewada Abhishek Pallavsaid.

The IEDs weighing 2 kgand 5 kg each were detected bysecurity forces.

This is for the first timethat Maoists have used effigy

for hiding IEDs. It is very dan-gerous because children orcommon people could touchthese effigies out of curiosityleading to fatal incident, the SPsaid.

Notably, Maoists willobserve their Shahidi Saptah(martyr’s week) from July 28 toAugust 3.

IEDs hidden ineffigies detectedand defused

“Two effigies withsuspected IEDs were

detected in Kondasavlivillage under Aranpurpolice station limits.Bomb disposal squad(BDS) immediately

reached the spot anddefused the bombs,”

Superintendent of Police(SP) Dantewada

Abhishek Pallav said.

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

State Congress on Mondaycriticised the Narendra

Modi government formeager increase inminimum wages of laboursand termed it disappointing.

After deceiving farmerswith nominal hike inMinimum Support Price ofpaddy crop, the Centre nowgave jolt to the poorlabourers, it said

In a statement stategeneral secretary andchairman communicationwing of PCC Shailesh NitinTrivedi said despite theSatpathi committee’s

recommendation to increasethe minimum wages ofemployees to `200 and tohike it to `375, the increaseof meager `2 in thefunctional rate of `178 wasdisappointing, he said.

“The intention of theexpert committee of labourministry was that labourersshould at least get `9750 permonth so that they could beable to give a better life totheir family”. It was alsomentioned in the economicsurvey-2019 that in order todecrease disparity and alle-viate poverty the minimumwages have to be increased.

It is astonishing that86% of the states are provid-ing higher minimum wagesthan the rate fixed by theCentre. It is `240 inChhattisgarh which is farbetter that the minimumwages fixed by the Centre,Trivedi further added.


The 12th edition of ‘Kathakaar’ aseries of storytelling events

aimed at bringing people together toshare legends, folklore, fables, chron-icles, in a bid to revive the indigenousart of storytelling held here success-fully.

Co-founded by Shrishti Trivediand Sourabh Tiwari this series of sto-rytelling events calls out storytellersto revive this fading indigenous artform and create a space to live thestories, to share stories rich withexperience, stories with a lesson, orones brimming with emotions.

“Kathakaar is a space for the hid-den storyteller in anyone. It is whereone can perfect the art of storytelling,conquer stage fear and be an incredi-ble orator,” Shrishti Trivedi informed.

The Vol. 12 of Kathakaar’s line upwitnessed a multitude of storytellers

who had diverse stories to share.Shashank Pandey recited A

Spring in My Autumn, a story relish-ing the joy and pain love brings to us.Aparajita Pandey let loose the emo-tions that overwhelm us while sayinggoodbye to someone you love.

In the age of excessive technolo-gy and eyes glued to screens,Kathakaar is a fresh and welcomechange. It urges people to get out oftheir home and experience the realthings, share stories and form humanconnections, Trivedi said.

Kathakaar organises 12th volumeof story jamming in Raipur

Minor increase in minimum wagesfor labours disappointing: Congress

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The prices of English liquorbrands manufactured and

bottled in India and countryliquor will increase inHimachal Pradesh by an aver-age of about 10 percent withthe state government onMonday increasing the ex-dis-tillery price (EDP) of countryliquor and IMFS (EnglishLiquor) for the year 2019-20.

The ex-distillery price hasbeen increased by five percent tomeet the increased cost of pro-duction of the liquor manufac-turing plants, Commissioner ofState Taxes and Excise AjaySharma said here He said it wasbrought to the notice of the gov-ernment that the cost of ENA(Extra Neutral Alcohol), thebasic ingredient for manufac-turing of liquor has increasedconsiderably over the last years.Similarly, the cost of glass bottlepacking carton has seen anupward trend in the recent past.

Sharma said that the basicraw materials needed for man-ufacturing of liquor are taxableunder the GST regime where-

as liquor is covered under VAT.The taxes imposed under GSTcannot be adjusted under VATdue to which the cost of pro-duction of liquor has increased.In order to protect the liquorindustry in the State, a marginalincrease of 5 percent in the ex-distillery prices has been made.

The Commissioner saidthat there will be no impact onthe MRP rates on the beer,wine, cider and the liquor brandsmanufactured and bottled in for-eign countries such as ChivasRegal, Glenlivet and Blue-labeletc. However, the effect on thecountry liquor and Englishliquor brands manufacturedand bottled in India shall be anaverage increase of about 10 per-cent. The government exchequeris expected to gain additionalrevenue of Rs 20-25 crores bythis minimal increase.

Sharma said that normallythe increase in EDP rates is givenat the beginning of the financialyear from 1st April every yearbut the same could not be givendue to the implementation ofModel Code of Conduct for theLok Sabha Elections-2019.

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Kalraj Mishra was sworn inas the Governor of

Himachal Pradesh at RajBhawan here with Chief Justiceof HP High Court, Justice V.Ramasubramanian adminis-tering the oath of office andsecrecy to him.

Chief Minister Jai RamThakur, Lady GovernorSatyawati Mishra and wife ofChief Minister Sadhna Thakurwere also present on the occa-sion. The Governor was alsogiven an impressive Guard ofHonour on the occasion. ChiefSecretary B.K. Agarwal readout the warrant of appoint-ment.

Secretary to the GovernorRakesh Kanwar obtained sig-nature of the Governor on thecharge certificate.

Top political and civil offi-cers were present on the occa-sion.

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The death of a key accused inthe alleged smuggling of

biggest ever narcotics haulworth � 2,700 crore fromPakistan, who was lodged in ajail in Amritsar on Sunday hasstoked a fresh controversy inPunjab with the oppositionseeking a High Court moni-tored probe.

Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh has alreadyordered a magisterial probeinto his death. The magisteri-al enquiry will be in additionto the postmortem, which willbe conducted by a board ofdoctors, and the judicial pro-ceedings under the CrPC to beconducted by a judicial magis-trate.

The accused, GurpinderSingh (29), a rock salt importer,was arrested in connectionwith the biggest ever narcoticshaul in which the CustomsDepartment had seized 532 kgof heroin worth Rs 2,700 croreat Attari border in Amritsar,which was smuggled into Indiafrom Pakistan in a truck.Gurpinder Singh was appre-hended by the CustomsDepartment on June 30 andsince July 2 he was sent to judi-

cial remand.

SAD DEMANDS HC-MONITORED PROBE INTODEATH OF HIGH PROFILEACCUSED IN JAILS

Demanding a Punjab andHaryana High Court moni-tored probe into the death ofhigh profile accused in judicialcustody, the Shiromani AkaliDal (SAD) on Monday soughtthe sacking of Punjab JailsMinister Sukhjinder SinghRandhawa for the completebreakdown of administrationin the state jails.

“The death of 548 kg hero-in drug haul prime accusedGurpinder Singh in Amritsar

jail has raised several questionsprimarily because accusedinvolved in extremely sensitivecases are dying in Punjab jails,”said the former Minister andSAD leader Maheshinder SinghGrewal. He said that it wasstrange that Gurpinder hadbeen denied appropriate med-ical attention. “It needs to beascertained if this was deliber-ate and whether there was anyfoul play behind the death ofGurpinder as is being claimedby his family,” he said.

Grewal said that earlier,the sacrilege accusedMohinderpal Bittu was mur-dered in Nabha jail after beingallowed out of his cell despite

express orders that he be keptin isolation and not be allowedto mingle with other prisoners.

AAP SEEKS PROBE BYSTF UNDER SITTING HCJUDGE

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)senior leader and the Leader ofOpposition in Vidhan SabhaHarpal Singh Cheema hasdubbed the “custodial death” ofRs 2700 crore heroin haul’smain accused Gurpinder Singhas a big conspiracy, whiledemanding a time-boundinvestigation of the entireepisode by the Special TaskForce chief Harpreet SinghSidhu under the supervision ofthe sitting judge of the Punjaband Haryana High Court.

AAP MLA from SunamAman Arora also raised seriousquestions over the “custodialdeaths” of accused servingterms in different cases inPunjab jails.

“The death indicates thatthe state government and thepolice is working under thepressure of drug traders oper-ating in the State,” he saidadding that the Chief Minister,who is also the Home Ministerof the State, must take respon-sibility of the incidents.

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Haryana Chief Secretary,Keshni Anand Arora on

Monday said all arrangementshave been ensured to facilitateKanwarias and ensure a safeand comfortable yatra for devo-tees in the state.

Arora directed all theDeputy Commissioners andPolice Officers to arrangepolice patrolling vehicles andambulances on every 10 to 15kms for the Kanwar yatrawhich will continue till July 30.Apart from this, arrangementof 24 hours emergency servicesshould be made available in thehospitals for the convenience ofthe devotees.

Presiding over a meetingwith all the DivisionalCommissioners, DeputyC o m m i s s i o n e r s ,Superintendents of Police andChief Medical Officers throughvideo conferencing here,

she directed the concernedofficials to ensure proper traf-fic management during theya-tra. In the meeting, prepara-tions of the 550th PrakashParv Samaroh and the Jal

Shakti Abhiyan were alsoreviewed.

Director General of Police,Manoj Yadava said adequatesecurity arrangements havebeen made in the state. Asmany as 4,000 policemenreceiving training fromHaryana Police Academy havebeen deployed. 250 additionalpolicemen each have beendeputed in every district andthe vehicles are being checked.

Reviewing the prepara-tions for the 550th PrakashParv of Sri Guru Nanak Dev tobe held in Sirsa on August 4,Arora directed the concernedofficials to assess actual num-

ber of buses and the number ofdevotees, and send the reportby July 30 so that all arrange-ments could be completed atthe district level. She said thata special line should bearranged on toll plazas for allthe vehicles coming to thefunction and the police per-sonnel should also be presenton toll plazas so that devoteesmay not face any inconve-nience.

Director General,Information, Public Relationsand Languages Department,Sameer Pal Srow said that thefunction will be organised fortwo days.

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With the State Assemblyelections approaching,

there will be no transfers in theHealth Department, HaryanaHealth Minister Anil Vij saidon Monday.

A state health officer saidthat around 10 to 20 applica-tions seeking transfer and for-warded by the local publicrepresentatives are beingreceived at the department ona daily basis.

Reacting on increasingnumber of transfer lettersthrough various sources to thedepartment concerned, Vij toldreporters that the state gov-ernment has adopted the pol-icy of not transferring anygovernment employees in thenext three months.

"All the governmentemployees will have to work attheir assigned posts till theupcoming assembly electiongets over. Next governmentwill address this issue. Notransfer of government officialswill take place at any cost in thenext three months", he reiter-ated.

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Adelegation from InvestPunjab, the state’s invest-

ment promotion and facilitationagency, will be visiting Taiwanfrom July 22 to 27 to discuss thepotential economic and tradepartnerships, talent exchanges,and resource sharing betweenPunjab and Taiwan.

Besides the StateGovernment representatives,including Additional ChiefSecretary (ACS), InvestmentPromotion, Vini Mahajan andInvest Punjab Chief ExecutiveOfficer (CEO) Rajat Agarwal,the delegation would comprisesenior leadership of Punjab-based corporates including HeroElectric managing director(MD) Naveen Munjal, TridentLimited vice chairman AbhishekGupta, Hero Cycles directorAbhishek Munjal, among others.

“Punjab has selected Taiwanas a focus country due to theplethora of investment oppor-tunities and potential business

synergies possible in the Bicycleand Bicycle Components,Electric Vehicles, Electronics,Light Engineering, AutoComponents, Skill Developmentand Textiles sectors,” added thespokepserson.

ACS (InvestmentPromotion) Vini Mahajan andInvest Punjab CEO RajatAgarwal will be addressing thegathering at Taiwan-ASEAN-India Strategic PartnershipForum in Taipei and Hsinchu toshowcase the readiness ofPunjab to cater to the industri-al requirements of Taiwanesecompanies.

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A‘Birds Paradise’ would bedeveloped in the union ter-

ritory of Chandigarh with theAdministration chalking outan ambitious plan to develop a‘Bird Park’ here on the lines ofJurong Bird Park in Singapore.

The ‘Bird Park’ would bebuilt on about four acres of landin ‘Nagar Van’, the forest areabehind the Sukhna Lake.

“The ChandigarhAdministration has planned todevelop the ‘Bird Park’, a hometo resident and migratoryspecies of birds here. The pro-ject envisages creating a newtourist attraction in Chandigarhand a place for bird lovers andaspiring ornithologists,” saidManoj Kumar Parida, Advisor

to UT Administrator.He said, “Since the park is

being developed on the lines offamous Jurong Bird Park, we aresending an officer to Singaporeto study various aspects of birdecology so that the model canbe replicated successfully here inChandigarh.”

Jurong Bird Park, Asia’slargest bird park houses morethan 3500 bird across around400 species including threatened

species. This sprawling parkoffers adventurous experience tocapture the winged beautiesduring walk in waterfall aviary,bird shows among other events.

Giving details of the pro-posed project, UT ChiefConservator of Forest and ChiefWildlife Warden, DebendraDalai while talking to ThePioneer said, “The ‘Bird Park’ isproposed to be developed intwo phases in Nagar Van.”

‘Nagar Van’ was openedhere for the visitors last year.Spread over 100 hectares in andaround the lake reserve forestarea, Nagar Van has facilitiessuch as walkways, jogging trails,nature trails, shallow water bod-ies, visitors’ shed among others.

Dalia said, “In the firstphase, we have planned todevelop open areas to house res-

ident bird species and migrato-ry birds.

In the second phase,aviaries would be built for theexotic species of birds. A waterbody has already been devel-oped in the area,” he said.

“We have also planned tobring various species of exoticbirds here,” he added.

Notably, over thousands ofwinged guests have been mak-ing their abode at water bodiesin the city every winter for over26 years now. The migratorybirds reach Chandigarh everyyear by mid-November fromSiberia, Central Asia and theupper Himalayas and their staylasts till March.

Apart from migratory birds,the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuaryhere is a home to more than 65species of birds.

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Punjab Government wouldinitiate a special survey of

crop loss once the water level inthe fields recedes in the affect-ed areas of the State. The reportwill be sent to the authoritiesconcerned for issuing compen-sation, said the Special ChiefS e c r e t a r y - c u m - F i n a n c eCommissioner (Revenue)Karanbir Singh Sidhu.

Sidhu, who visited Phuladvillage near Moonak on Mondayto review the ongoing work ofplugging the breach in Ghaggarriver on the directions of ChiefMinister Punjab CaptAmarinder Singh, assured thevillagers that the PunjabGovernment is worried aboutthe destruction of the crops ofthe farmers and assured to ini-

tiate a special survey of crop loss.He said that due to the

floods in the river Ghaggar,farmers suffered crop loss andauthorities were told to assess theloss in transparent way so thatno affected farmer is deprived ofcompensation.

“Punjab Government isfully committed to provide ade-quate compensation to theaffected farmers and officers areon the job to prepare a report,”said Sidhu.

Reviewing the work beingdone to plug the breach byArmy personnel, NDRF, SDRF,civil and police teams, socialworkers, MGNREGA workers atvillage Phulad, he said that thewater level is decreasing rapid-ly in the Ghaggar river, and itwill help the rescue teams inplugging the breach in shorttime.

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Vienna: The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, YukiyaAmano, has died after suffering poor health for some time,the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday,as international tensions run high over Iran’s nuclear activities.

The longtime Japanese diplomat, who was 72, held theIAEA’s top job since December 2009.

“The secretariat of the International Atomic EnergyAgency regrets to inform with deepest sadness of the passing away of DirectorGeneral Yukiya Amano,” the IAEA said in a statement.

It said that Amano died July 18. But his family had only informed the IAEAlate Sunday, “with the specific request not to disclose it until the family funer-al had taken place on 22 July in a quiet atmosphere.” No details were given aboutthe cause of death. AFP

Tehran: Iranian authorities said onMonday that security agencies had arrest-ed 17 suspects and sentenced some ofthem to death after dismantling a CIA spyring in a case announced last month.

The agencies “successfully disman-tled a (CIA) spy network,” the head ofcounter-intelligence at the Iranian intel-ligence ministry, whose identity was notrevealed, told reporters in Tehran.

“Those who deliberately betrayedthe country were handed to the judi-ciary... Some were sentenced to deathand some to long-term imprisonment.”

The announcement comes as Iran-US tensions soar after the United Stateswithdrew unilaterally from a landmark2015 nuclear deal and reimposed eco-nomic sanctions on the Islamic republic.

The suspects had been “employed atsensitive and crucial centres and also theprivate sector related to them, working ascontractors or consultants,” said the offi-cial. Seventeen suspects had been iden-tified, all of them Iranians who had actedindependently of each other, he said.

Some of them had been recruited byfalling into a “visa trap” set by the USCentral Intelligence Agency for Iranians

seeking to travel to the United States.“Some were approached when they

were applying for a visa, while others hadvisas from before and were pressured bythe CIA in order to renew them,” saidthe counter-intelligence chief. AFP

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Britain’s prime ministerialrace entered its final phase

as voting closes on Mondayevening for counting to beginbefore Theresa May’s successoris unveiled on Tuesday.

The frontrunner through-out the contest has been formerforeign secretary Boris Johnsonas the Conservative Party’sover 160,000 members up anddown the UK filed in theirpostal votes to decide betweenhim and the current foreignsecretary, Jeremy Hunt.

They have until 1700 localtime to ensure their ballotpapers have been submitted inthe election after which thecounting process is set to begin,with the party’s influential 1922Committee in charge of theelection of the new Tory leaderwho will take charge atDowning Street.

In terms of timeline, Maywill carry on as caretaker PMfor a few days still as she is set

to address her final PrimeMinister’s Questions sessionin the House of Commons onWednesday after which shewill head to BuckinghamPalace to formally offer her res-ignation to Queen Elizabeth II.

The 93-year-old monarchwill then meet the newly-elect-ed Conservative Party leaderand invite him to form a newgovernment. The new PM thentraditionally makes a statementon the steps of 10 DowningStreet before taking officialcharge before Parliament’s sum-mer recess is set to kick off fromFriday until early September.

In one of final major primeministerial acts, May is chair-ing the government’s emer-gency Cobra meeting onMonday after a British-flaggedtanker was seized by Iran in theGulf last week.

She will receive updatesfrom ministers and officials onthe crisis since the vessel and itscrew, including Indian nation-als, was seized.

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Anger soared in Hong Kong onMonday over a vicious assault

against pro-democracy protestersby a mob of suspected triad gang-sters that left dozens wounded, onecritically, in a dramatic escalationof the political violence plaguingthe financial hub.

The city’s roiling unrest took adark turn late Sunday when gangsof men — most wearing white t-shirts and carrying bats, sticks andmetal poles — set upon anti-gov-ernment demonstrators as theyreturned from another huge marchearlier that day.

Footage from the attack broad-cast live on Facebook showed peo-ple screaming as the men beat mul-tiple protesters and journalists inYuen Long station and inside sub-way trains, leaving pools of bloodon the floor.

Hospital authorities said 45people were wounded in the attack,with one man in critical conditionand five others with serious injuries.

Critics rounded on the city’sembattled police force, accusingofficers of taking more than anhour to reach the station despitefrantic calls from those underattack and then failing to arrest thearmed men who stayed in thestreets around the station intoMonday morning.

Some men in white shirtswere later filmed leaving the scenein cars with Chinese mainlandnumber plates.

Lam Cheuk-ting, a pro-democracy lawmaker, was one of

those wounded in the melee, sus-taining lacerations to his face andarms. He criticised police for theirresponse and accused “triad mem-bers” of being behind the attacks.

“Their very barbaric and vio-lent acts have already completelyviolated the bottom line of HongKong’s civilised society,” he toldreporters early Monday.

Nathan Law, a prominent pro-democracy activist, added onTwitter: “When the Chinese mobsare attacking the citizens, no lawenforcement are there. Shame onthe government.”

The clashes have ratcheted upfears that the city’s feared triadgangs are wading into the politicalconflict.

Yuen Long lies in the NewTerritories near the Chinese border

where the criminal gangs andstaunchly pro-Beijing rural com-mittees remain influential. Similarassaults by pro-government vigi-lantes against demonstrators dur-ing the 2014 “Umbrella Movement”protests were blamed on triads.

Hong Kong has been plungedinto its worst crisis in recent his-tory by weeks of marches and spo-radic violent confrontationsbetween police and pockets ofhardcore protesters.

The initial protests were lit bya now-suspended bill that wouldhave allowed extraditions to main-land China.

But they have since evolvedinto a wider movement calling fordemocratic reforms, universal suf-frage and a halt to sliding freedomsin the semi-autonomous territory.

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Tehran: Iran’s Supreme LeaderAyatollah Sayyid Ali HusseiniKhamenei said the objective ofa US plan for West Asia peacewas to “destroy Palestinianidentity”, as he met on Mondaywith a Hamas delegation.

US President DonaldTrump’s adviser and son-in-lawJared Kushner has been push-ing what he calls the “oppor-tunity of the century” - a con-troversial plan that wouldpump USD 50 billion into thePa l e s t i n i aneconomy.

Khameneitook aim at itas he hosted aHamas delegation in Tehran ledby Saleh al-Arouri, deputyhead of the Palestinian Islamistmovement’s political bureau.

“The objective of this dan-gerous plot is to destroyPalestinian identity” and weshould not allow them “todestroy Palestinian identity byusing money,” said the supremeleader.

“One of the ways to con-front this plot is for thePalestinian people to feel thatthey have progressed.”

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Faced with the near unanimousverdict of the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) (15:1) on theimprisonment of India’s formerNaval officer, Islamabad buckled

on July 19, 2019, and informedCommander Kulbhushan Jadhav of hisrights under Article 36 of the ViennaConvention on Consular Relations, 1963,and promised consular access. It followsthat Pakistan has also accepted the ICJ’sdirective to stay Jadhav’s execution until thejudicial process is reviewed in a fair andtransparent manner, bringing huge reliefto his family and to India, though concernsfor his future remain high.

There is still no clarity that Pakistan willallow retrial in a civilian court. Its leaderstried to hype the fact that the court reject-ed India’s plea for annulling the militarycourt’s conviction of Jadhav and orderinghis release and safe repatriation to India. Butthat is because the ICJ is not an appellatecriminal court. Its jurisdiction was basedon Article I of the Optional Protocol, whichis limited to interpretation or applicationof the Vienna Convention, and Pakistan’sbreach of its obligations under Article 36thereof. In all matters of substance, the ICJruled in favour of India.

According to Pakistan’s narrative, Jadhavwas arrested on March 3, 2016, while engag-ing in acts of espionage and terrorism onbehalf of India, in Pakistani Balochistan,which he entered illegally from Iran. Heallegedly held an Indian passport in the nameof “Hussein Mubarak Patel.” India counteredthat Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran, wherehe was running a private business after retire-ment. India was informed of the arrest onlyon March 25, 2016, and immediately demand-ed consular access, a plea it repeated severaltimes, in vain.

Pakistan obtained a “confession” (July 22,2016), and Jadhav was tried before a FieldGeneral Court Martial under Section 59 ofthe Pakistan Army Act of 1952 and Section3 of the Official Secrets Act of 1923.Throughout this process and even afterJadhav was sentenced to death (April 10,2017), India was denied consular access.However, Jadhav’s wife and mother were per-mitted to meet him on December 25, 2017,under humiliating conditions (his wife wasforced to remove her mangalsutra and ban-gles, the auspicious symbols of married life),and under intimidating scrutiny fromPakistani officials, who remained presentthroughout. The poor Commander barelyspoke and appeared to be under great phys-ical and mental stress.

Finally, India approached the ICJ (May8, 2017), alleging violations of the ViennaConvention under Article 36 (1) and ArticleI of the Optional Protocol concerningCompulsory Settlement of Disputes. It wonan early reprieve when the court (May 18,2017) asked Pakistan not to execute Jadhavuntil the hearing was complete. Astonished

at this victory secured by senioradvocate Harish Salve, Pakistanchose judge Tassaduq HussainJillani to sit on the Bench as anad hoc judge. He dissentedagainst each and every decisionof the court.

During the proceedings,Pakistan was unable to state thatit had informed Jadhav of hisrights under Article 36 (1, b).Instead, it contended that theVienna Convention does notapply to an individual suspectedof espionage, which the courtinterpreted as a breach of oblig-ation. Pakistan had no explana-tion for the three-week delay ininforming India of the arrest anddenying us the opportunity toarrange for Jadhav’s legal defence.Its plea that India did not coop-erate in investigating Jadhav’salleged crimes did not cut any icewith the court, which held thatconsular access cannot be condi-tional. It held that Pakistan’scontention that Jadhav wasallowed to choose a lawyer forhimself, but opted for a defend-ing officer qualified for legalrepresentation, even if estab-lished, did not override India’sright to arrange his legal repre-sentation.

Asserting that breach ofobligations must involve repara-tion and that “reparation must, asfar as possible, wipe out all theconsequences of the illegal act”,the court opined that the appro-priate remedy must be effective

review and reconsideration of theconviction and sentence. It notedthat the Pakistani Chief of ArmyStaff confirmed the death sen-tence on Jadhav on April 10,2017, and his appeal to theMilitary Appellate Court underSection 133 (B) of the PakistanArmy Act of 1952 was alsorejected.

The court observed thatJadhav made a mercy petition tothe Chief of Army Staff and hismother sought to file a petitionwith the Government ofPakistan under Section 131 andan appeal under Section 133 (B)of the Army Act. The outcomeof these petitions is unknown.Jadhav can also send a mercypetition to the President ofPakistan within 90 days of thedecision of the Chief of ArmyStaff on his mercy petition.

Pakistan claimed that itsHigh Courts have reviewed juris-diction. But the court noted thatArticle 199 (3) of the Constitutionof Pakistan has been interpretedby the Supreme Court of Pakistanas limiting the availability ofsuch review for a person subjectto any law relating to the ArmedForces of Pakistan, including thePakistan Army Act of 1952.Article 8 (1) of the Constitutionprovides that any law that isinconsistent with fundamentalrights guaranteed under theConstitution is void, but this doesnot apply to the Pakistan ArmyAct due to a Constitutional

amendment. Hence, it is unclearif judicial review of a militarycourt’s decision will be availableon grounds of violation of rightsunder Article 36 (1) of theVienna Convention.

The ICJ said review andreconsideration of the convic-tion and sentence of Jadhavmust be “effective”, thatPakistan could decide themeans, “including, if necessary,by enacting appropriate legis-lation.” Pakistan, it concluded,must ensure that full weight isgiven to the effect of the vio-lation of the rights enshrinedin Article 36 of the ViennaConvention, as emphasised inparagraphs 139, 145 and 146 ofthe judgement. It directed“continued stay of execution”of Commander Jadhav till thereview process is completed.

Islamabad should now,without further ado, furnishIndia with a copy of the chargesheet against Jadhav, transcriptsof the military court proceed-ings, judgement, Army Chief ’sconfirmation of death sentenceand copies of Jadhav’s mercypetition so that consular accesscan be fruitful. Alternately, it cansimply pardon him, send himhome and close this sordidchapter. On no account shouldhe suffer “cardiac arrest.”

(The writer is Senior Fellow,Nehru Memorial Museum andLibrary; the views expressed arepersonal)

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Sir — This refers to the report,“Sheila Dikshit: A requiem” (July21) by Chandan Mitra. In thedemise of Sheila Dikshit we havelost an epitome of old-worldcharm. In an age of politicalpolarisation, she was progressiveyet humane and genuine. In thecurrent craggy phase of politics —India not being an exception —there is a yearning globally for theold world order, which symbol-ised purposeful decisiveness tem-pered by grace, to be restored.

Sheila Dikshit’s comebackthis year as the Delhi Congresschief just ahead of the Lok Sabhaelection provided hopes of revivalfor the grand old party. It was apity that the temper of politics ofthe day denied her a simpleacknowledgment of her merit.

The national capital has wit-nessed a few uneasy years due toconfrontational and abrasivepolitics. Given this, a re-ascen-dence of Dikshit, to whateverdegree, could have reset thestandards of a wayward politicaldiscourse. But now we have losther forever.

R Narayanan Navi Mumbai

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Defenceless defence” (July 17)by Ashok K Mehta. Viewed fromthe bellicose threat from the twofronts — China and Pakistan —defence allocation appears to be

inadequate. A powerful countryis judged and recognised onaccount of its military strengthand capability. Have we forgottenthe humiliating defeat we had tobear at the hands of China dur-ing the border conflict in 1962?It was due to ill-preparedness thatwe lost the war.

It was also the monumentalfolly of Jawaharlal Nehru, who didnot care about defence prepared-ness as was warranted by India.

The present ModiGovernment must not commitsuch a blunder for which Indiawill have to face insurmountableproblems in the future. The

Government must rethink onincreasing defence budget.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

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Sir — This refers to the report,“Sheila Dikshit: A requiem” (July21) by Chandan Mitra. In the pass-ing of former Delhi Chief MinisterSheila Dikshit, the political worldhas lost a leader who will beremembered for her stellar role asa politician and administrator.She showed India that the word“politics” had greater meaning: Ofserving and supporting the com-mon man in all ways possible. Herrole as a law-maker shall always beremembered for the great contri-bution she made to the poor andthe downtrodden. She gave life toDelhi by transforming it into avibrant, well-developed city.Always affable, she was almost likea mother figure who was respect-ed across the political spectrum.Dikshit will remain etched as oneof India’s tall leaders.

M PradyuThalikavu

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Universal health coverage (UHC), whichaims to ensure that all people receiveproper and adequate healthcare without

suffering financial hardship, is an integral partof achieving the UN-mandated SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDG). It enables countriesto make the most of their strongest asset:Human capital. Physical and mental well-beingis at the core of creating communities that thrive.Health is, therefore, a foundational investmentin human capital and in economic growth —without good health, children are unable to goto school and adults are unable to go to work.

India’s economy is soaring and is now the world’senvy but its healthcare system remains an Achilles’heel. For millions of people, the high costs of treat-ment continue to undermine economic progress.This is largely on account of the country’s dilapi-dated healthcare system — a major symptom of thedire lack of funding. India ranks poorly in interna-tional rankings on most health indices. Accordingto a recent study published in the British MedicalJournal, 54 per cent of health professionals in India,including doctors, nurses, paramedics and midwives,do not have proper qualifications; while 20 per centof adequately qualified doctors are not part of thecurrent workforce. Despite being the world’s sixthlargest economy, India’s public health spending haslanguished at under 1.5 per cent of the GDP — oneof the lowest in the world. In comparison, the UKspent 9.6 per cent of its GDP in 2017 on health andthe US spends 18 per cent of the GDP.

Another point to be noted here is that thegrowth of healthcare facilities has been concen-trated in the private sector even as theGovernmental hospitals continue to be under-resourced, understaffed and poorly managed, thusdelivering poor quality of care. This has led to arapid mushrooming of unregulated privateproviders, which today account for 93 per centof all hospitals — up from eight per cent in 1947.Private facilities also account for 64 per cent ofall beds and employ 85 per cent of all doctors inthe country. This contributes to the ever-widen-ing gap in access to healthcare between rich andpoor communities in India. Out-of-Pocket(OOP) expenditure on healthcare in India — per-sonal spending — contributes to approximately86 per cent of private expenditure and 60 per centof overall healthcare expenditure in the countryand is much more than the rates in countries likeThailand (25 per cent) and China (44 per cent).

Other indices of healthcare are also alarming— 63 million people are pushed into poverty dueto healthcare expenses. Additionally, hospital beddensity is merely 0.9 per 1,000 people, while the min-imum advocated by the World Health Organisation(WHO) is 3.5 beds per 1,000 people. According tothe international consultancy, KPMG, there is oneGovernment doctor for every 10,189 people; onehospital bed for every 2,046 people; and oneGovernment-run hospital for every 90,343 people.These are certainly mind-numbing figures.

Healthcare expenses are a major cause of impov-erishment for working families. Private healthcarehas catastrophic costs that shave off hard-earned sav-ings of patients and their families, thereby becom-ing a primary route to bankruptcy. All these havespillover consequences for families, resulting in lessmoney available to households for food, education,housing and long-term plans. A health event is a

bigger risk to farmers than an unsuccess-ful crop. Once they sell their land or live-stock, they become indentured labourersand that takes a generation to fix. Theeffects of poor health on workforce pro-ductivity are well documented, too.Indians work for just six-and-a-half yearsat peak productivity (compared to 20 yearsin China, 16 in Brazil and 13 in Sri Lanka),ranking 158th out of 195 countries in anInternational Ranking of Human Capital.

Health insurance is emerging as animportant financing tool in meeting thehealthcare needs of the poor. Life is atough ordeal for families hit by “healthshocks.” Poor families have long sufferedthe triple curse of sudden illness — thetrauma associated with sickness, financialburden of intensive healthcare and the lossof wages. By managing risks and avoid-ing debt, those who have micro-insurancepolicies, are in a position to protect themeagre wealth they accumulate, generatemore income and even get a fair chanceto rescue themselves and their families outof the mire of poverty.

The poor prefer health insurance tolife insurance, as they say, “We die oncebut go to the doctor many times eachyear.” By hedging life’s uncertainties,they are in a position to protect thewealth they accumulate, generate moreincome and can even get a fair chanceto rescue themselves and their familiesout of the mire of poverty.

Community-based health insurance,rather than market-mediated orGovernment-provided insurance is wide-ly considered an appropriate way ofreaching and protecting the poor. Thedevelopment of private health insurancehas potential risks and benefits in termsof healthcare access for the poor. It couldresult in substantial long-term welfare

benefits but it is unaffordable for mostlow-income families.

One of the flagship programmes ofthe NDA government, the AyushmanBharat, a Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojana (PM-JAY), has committed toachieving UHC for all citizens. The pol-icy is certainly a game changer. With aclient base of over 400 lakh, of which96 per cent are female, the microfinancesector is best placed to offer healthinsurance. Microfinance already catersto a substantial segment of the targetpopulation that desperately requiresaccess to affordable healthcare.

In the last few years, the microfi-nance industry has been in the forefrontof creating innovative insurance prod-ucts for the underserved, which com-plemented the Government’s pensionplatform. The synergy between the sec-tor and Government can help ensurethat everyone has the rights and accessto improved health outcomes.

India must revitalise its publichealth system to ensure access, out-come, quality and affordability. Focusmust be on finding solutions which areaffordable, scalable and yet of a highquality. The Government needs tosupplement curative services with pre-ventive measures by strengtheningancillary civic services like insect man-agement, water purification systems,sewage systems and plants for treatmentof industrial effluents and waste. Dueto poor hygiene and sanitation, peopleare suffering from pneumonia, malnu-trition, malaria and tuberculosis.

The biggest disease burden sits onthe bottom pyramid of 500 million peo-ple. They don’t have access to reliablediagnosis or proper treatment. If theyget diagnosed, they find it hard to get

treatment. Government-run hospitalsare free for everyone but access is dif-ficult, quality is abysmal and corruptionis endemic. Another challenge for thehealth sector is the lack of provisionsto deal with non-communicable dis-eases such as cardiovascular diseases,cancer, chronic respiratory diseases anddiabetes.

Unlike the short-term effects of com-municable diseases, the dual health andeconomic impacts of non-communicablediseases on individuals, families andhouseholds are devastating and long-last-ing. It is estimated that India is likely tolose $4.58 trillion before 2030 due toNCDs as a Government-run healthcaresystem focusses only on maternal andchild care, especially at the rural level. Thiswould mean providing a clean environ-ment and potable water so that infectiousdiseases are contained to the minimumand a stress-free and healthy lifestyle ispromoted to ward off the growing threatof non-communicable diseases.

We need a National Medical Serviceunder the National Health Mission thatcan have a national pool of doctors, whocan be distributed across States to cor-rect unevenness of the quality of med-ical services in different regions. Pooledpublic procurement and strategic pur-chasing of equipment and medicalsupplies will save costs and help attainefficiency, thereby promoting qualitycontrolled health services. Sharing ofbest practices can help tone up the defi-cient regions. The flow of talent throughthis national medical cadre will bringabout more balanced development ofhealth services at the national level.

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

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A2018 Lancet study titled,‘Mortality due to low-qualityhealth systems in the univer-

sal health coverage era: A systemat-ic analysis of amenable deaths in 137countries’ claims that more Indiansdie due to poor quality of healthcareservices rather than due to access tohealthcare. The study analyses“amenable deaths” in 137 low andmiddle-income countries (LMICs)using data from the 2016 ‘GlobalBurden of Disease’ study. It estimatesthat in 2016, more than 2.4 millionIndians died due to conditions thatcould have been treated by health-care. Of this, nearly 1.6 million peo-ple or 66 per cent died due to poorquality of healthcare services while

838,000 people died due to non-util-isation of healthcare services, accord-ing to the study.

In low-income economies, evi-dence is emerging that expandinghealthcare coverage does not neces-sarily result in better outcomes. TheLancet research was undertaken inthe context of the Universal HealthCoverage (UHC), which is aggres-sively being pushed by theGovernment through the AyushmanBharat scheme. The idea behindUHC is to reduce the financial bur-den for better access to health ser-vices. However, despite improvedcoverage and reduced financial risk,mortality and morbidity will notreduce on its own. This because uni-versal healthcare coverage by insur-ance will not guarantee “quality.”

According to the NationalFamily Health Survey (NFHS) con-ducted in 2015-16, 55 per cent ofIndian households reported notusing Government health facilitieswhen sick and 48.1 per cent house-holds cited poor quality of care as thereason. Consequently, private health-care facilities have had to shoulder

a disproportionate burden of care,especially in metro cities. However,the paradox is that private sectorhealthcare delivery is fragmented anderratic due to the lack of standardi-sation of protocols and the inabilityof promoters to invest in “quality.”

Some of the pressing challengesfor the Government include spend-ing on health infrastructure, trainingand educating professionals, get-ting latest technology and expand-ing the network of hospitals, dispen-saries and primary health centres toensure quality and, thus, solve thelarger crisis in the health sector.

India remains among the lowestspenders on health — it currently,spends 1.5 per cent of the GDP forhealth, which is the lowest in theworld. The public health system, too,is in shambles and private services,while being unaffordable, are riddledwith profiteering malpractices —from overcharging to unnecessaryprocedures imposed upon people togeneral apathy — that have cost lives.Almost 122 Indians per 100,000 diedue to poor quality of care each year,as per the study.

There are numerous reports,which prove that the Government-run insurance schemes have not onlyended up increasing people’s out-of-pocket expenditure but they also leadto private hospitals imposing unnec-essary procedures to extract money.AB-PMJAY has come as a relief tothe poor, but it can’t strengthen pri-mary healthcare or improve curativecare facilities or reduce the burdenfor hospitalisation. To address prima-ry care, the scheme includes open-ing of wellness centres but results areyet to be seen.

The performance of privateproviders is quite varied. In theabsence of categorisation of hospitals,all are seen through the same lens.There is no specified patient safetystandard or a comprehensive mon-itoring mechanism that can enablepatients to compare clinical out-comes. Clinical data is not accumu-lated at a central level nor are out-comes or even patient experienceever discussed. Quality gets compro-mised as decision-makers attempt tosolve sectoral problems in isolation.

Efforts to improve the quality of

healthcare and attempts to evaluatethe impact of these efforts invariablyface challenges because of the lack ofreliable administrative data.Measuring the quality of the processof delivering healthcare and theresulting health outcomes is especial-ly challenging, requiring methodsand approaches that go beyond stan-dard service statistics and facility sur-veys. Stringent laws, with the end tar-get of improving clinical outcomesand patient experience, are a neces-sity but would need significantinvestment from States, financialand otherwise, to create competitiveand world-class healthcare facilities.

Recently, the Government indi-cated a positive interest in makinghealthcare a national priority, alongwith accompanying budgetary allo-cations. With multiple stakeholdersand varying degrees of capabilities,the crux of any programme shouldrest on the question of standardaccountability from all formats andsizes of healthcare providers as muchas affordability. The entire healthcareecosystem needs to be pivoted onquality and accountability standards.

Some structural issues are now beingaddressed with the Ayushman Bharatprogramme but there should be aNational Quality Monitoring Agencyembedded in the National HealthAuthority, that can monitor clinicalquality, publish data on clinical out-comes, patient safety and infectionrates in various hospitals across thecountry. Patients should have accessto clinical data so as to makeinformed choices.

Moreover, a quality regulatorymechanism will encourage hospitalsto constantly map their performanceon diverse components of patientcare, making the establishment ofgood clinical practices obligatory. Amechanism to reward and incentivisehospitals that consistently delivergreat standards of care, while appro-priately penalising defaulters, willencourage compliance and helpbuild a robust healthcare deliverymodel. This will encourage under-standing of the components that con-tribute to the cost of high-quality careand the pricing of healthcare services.

(The writer is founding member,Indian Alliance of Patient Groups)

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In a second incident of‘unprovoked’ ceasefire viola-

tion by the Pakistani Army inthe last three days, an IndianArmy jawan attained martyr-dom along the Line of Control(LoC) in Sunderbani sector ofRajouri district on Monday.

Hitting back, strongly,Indian Army claimed to havecaused extensive damage toseveral forward Pakistani posts and casualties toPakistani soldiers. These twoincidents of ceasefire viola-tions have been reported aftera long gap and at a time whenPakistan Prime Minister ImranKhan is visiting USA.

According to groundreports, “unprovoked firing from

the Pakistani side start-ed in Keeri Batal area ofSunderbani earlyMonday morning”.“Several civilian pock-ets were targeted by thePakistani Army duringheavy exchange ofmortar shelling spread-ing panic among thelocal residents. Several housesalso bore the brunt of heavy fir-ing in the area.

Ministry of DefenceSpokesman based in Jammu, LtCol Devender Anand in a pressstatement said, “Pakistan Armyresorted to ‘unprovoked’ cease-fire violation on the LoC earlyMonday morning”.

He said, “Indian Armyresponded strongly and inflict-ed heavy damage to Pakistan

Army posts andcasualties toPakistan soldiers”.Details of damage isyet to be ascer-tained, he added.

“In the firingincident, RiflemanMd Arif Shafi AlamKhan Pathan, an

army soldier, was criticallyinjured. He was evacuated toArmy Hospital by air, where hesuccumbed to the injuries”Defence spokesman said.Rifleman Md Arif Shafi AlamKhan Pathan, hailed fromVillage Nawayard, TehsilFatehganj District Vadodara,Gujarat and is survived by hisparents, father Shafialam KhanPathan and mother HabibanBanu.

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Ahigh drama was witnessedat and around nine-storey

Mahanagar Telephone NigamLimited (MTNL) building atBandra in north-west Mumbaion Monday, as the fire fightersdaringly rescued 84 people —most of whom MTNL employ-ees — trapped on the terraceafter a major fire out in twofloors of the building.

One fireman Sagar D Salve(25) was rushed to the nearbyBhabha Hospital after he suf-fered from intense suffocationwhile fighting the blaze. Laterin the evening, the doctors atthe hospital described Salve’scondition as “stable”.

In a dousing effort thatlasted for nearly four hours, theMumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) —for the first time in the coun-try — deployed a fire fighting

robot — in its operation, as200-0dd rescuers battled withthe fire and consequent smokein the third and fourth floorsof the building and evacuated84 people trapped on the ter-race of the building.

Acquired by the MFB lastweek, the Rs 2 crore fire fight-ing robot — better known as“RoboFire” is remotely con-trolled by an operator and isequipped with a camera andcaterpillar tracks to manoeuvrein any terrain.

The fire broke out at 3.10pm at the MTNL’s Bandra tele-phone exchange, located on thebusy SV Road. Before long, thepolice cordoned off traffic onthe road to enable fire brigadevehicles to rush to the tragedysite, an action that led to mas-sive traffic snarls roads leadingto the northern suburbs.

The enormity of the fire

could be gauged from the factthat the 31 fire tenders, oneQuick Response Vehicle,Robofire, six 6 Jet Towers, twoTurn Table Ladders and oneAngus ladder in their operation.

With fire and smoke hav-ing engulfed fourth and fifthfloors, there was no escaperoute for many of the MTNLemployees who rushed to theterrace which eventuallyproved to be a prudent move.

Huge crowds had gath-ered around the Bandra tele-phone exchange building towitness the fire fighting andrescue drama. Several of thetrapped MTNL employees —women wrapped their ‘dupat-tas’ on their faces and menhand towels and karchiefs wereseen frantically waving theirhands and screaming for help

from the rescue teams sta-tioned below.

The rescuers — bravingstrong winds — made it to theterrace using sophisticated lad-ders and brought down thepeople trapped on the terraceusing sophisticated ladders attheir disposal. What had madematters worse for the rescuerswas thick cloud of smoke ema-nating from the fire-hit building.

MTNL’s Executive DirectorAK Srivastava confirmed thatalmost all the people trappedon the terrace were broughtdown safely by the fire brigadepersonnel by 6 pm.

Monday’s was the consec-utive major fire mishap in themetropolis two consecutivedays. On Sunday, one personwas killed and 14 others wererescued, when fire broke in anold dilapidated building locat-ed behind Taj Mahal Hotel on

Merry Weather Road at Colabain south Mumbai.

Two persons, including afireman, were injured in themishap.The fire, which brokeout in a third floor flat ofChurch Chember Building ataround 12.10 pm on Sunday,had spread to stair case of thesecond floor of the ground plusthree-storey structure. Electricwiring, installations, furniture,household articles in the thirdfloor flat with loft in an areaabout approx.5000 sq ft andstaircase of the 2nd floor weregutted in the fire.

One Sham Iyer (54), a res-ident of the flat where firebroke out, who had gone backinside the flat after his familymembers ram out, to extin-guish fire and got trapped inthe blaze, was killed, before thefire brigade arrived on thescene.

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Unhappy with the Income TaxDepartment for sending notices

to Durga Puja committees of Kolkata,Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee on Monday attackedNarendra Modi Government for“exploiting Hindu sentiments duringelections on the one hand whileimposing income tax on Durga Pujacommittees.”

Condemning the “dirty move” afuming Chief Minister said, “DurgaPujas are organised by collecting sub-scription from the people or in somecases by getting sponsorships,”reminding, both the people who givesubscription and the sponsors paytheir income tax and GST respectively.

“They (BJP) are two-faced peo-ple who use Hindutva to divide thepeople and win elections but when itcomes to Durga Puja which is so closeto the heart of the Bengali people theyimpose tax. This is disgusting. DurgaPuja is both a religious and socialfunction and not a commercial eventthat you have to impose income taxon it. The Government which claimsto be a people’s government has asocial obligation towards such cul-tural events.”

According to sources the I-TDepartment has summoned or in theprocess of summoning about 104Durga Puja committees from Kolkatawith their income tax files.

Incidentally most number ofDurga Puja committees are con-trolled by the Trinamool Congressleaders including Ministers and peo-ple’s representatives. The Bengal rul-ing outfit is apprehensive of thesecommittees going into the hands ofthe BJP which too is trying to enterthe Durga Puja scenario in a big wayso as to acquire toehold in the clubsand local areas dominated by these

committees, sources said.“They will call the organisers,

browbeat them and get them to sidewith the BJP,” a TMC MLA fromSouth Kolkata said adding he wouldnever submit to the arm-twisting tac-tic of the BJP. “These people (BJP) arecapturing EVMs, MLAs, MPs one byone and now they are trying to cap-ture Durga Pujas even,” she said.

Standing firmly by the Puja com-mittees the Chief Minister said “fes-tivals are festivals. Durga Puja is oneof those festivals which has drawnglobal attention and excitement.Nowadays the people from all over thecountry and the world visit Kolkataand take part in the festivities.”Circuitously attacking the BJP forspending crores in the elections butnot getting the expenditure taxedBanerjee wondered why “some partieswhich spend hundreds of crores ofrupees to win the elections do not payincome tax,” ruing “the Durga Pujaswhich are the biggest festival of Bengalare being taxed like this. The peopleof Bengal will not take it lying down.”

The champions of Hinduism wereinsulting one of the biggest festivals ofthe Hindus, Banerjee said remindinghow her Government had honouredis social obligation by paying an hon-orarium of Rs 10,000 to the commu-nity Durga Pujas last year.

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An Indian, who bought afive-acre plot on the moon

16 years back, feels that Indiasuccessfully launching its lunar mission Chandrayaan-2on Monday has given himhope of landing on the moonin his life time.

Rajeev V Bagdi, who pur-chased the plot of land onmoon for $140 from New York-based Lunar SocietyInternational in 2003, said thatIndia’s second lunar mission in11 years was for the goodnessof the entire mankind.

“As an Indian I feel proudover the successful launch ofChandrayaan-2. It will bring lotof goodness to the mankind,”Rajeev told IANS.

India’s second lunar mis-

sion was on track as its‘Bahubali’ GSLV rocket suc-cessfully put the moon space-craft — Chandrayaan-2 — intothe orbit in a copy book styleon Monday afternoon.

Bagdi is hopeful that moontourism will start by 2030.“When I purchased the plot, Ithought at least my cominggeneration will benefit from it,but now I am hopeful that I willbe able to go to the moon withmy family,” said Bagdi, whoowns an ayurveda store.

Like many others, Bagdiwas fascinated by the moonsince his childhood. “I don’tknow why I was so inquisitiveabout the moon. While surfingthe internet, I came across anarticle on moon land selling. Istudied it, did my researchand took a decision to buy the

plot,” he said.He has official documents

issued by the Lunar Republic,including registered claim anddeed for lunar property, decla-ration of citizenship and map.

“Rajeev Bagdi is the trueand legal owner of the proper-ty located at Mare Imbrium(Sea of Rains) 32.8 degreenorth latitude, 15.6 degree westlongitude track-30,” reads thedeed registered by the LunarRegistry in New York on July27, 2003.

“I have claim on moonfrom that society. If their explo-ration becomes successful, ifthey succeed in making humantourism on moon a reality andtake control of this land parcel,they will honour the deed asper the map given,” explainedBagdi.

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Congress’ attempt onMonday to claim credit for

the successful launch of India’slunar mission Chandrayaan-2by highlighting the role of itstwo prime ministers, includingJawaharlal Nehru, triggered arow with the BJP accusing theopposition party of politicisingthe event through its “demean-ing” remarks.

In its tweet, the Congressalso mentioned former primeminister Manmohan Singh forsanctioning the Chandrayan2project in 2008, evoking asharp reaction from the rulingparty spokesperson SambitPatra, who said that there is atendency to fall back on thepast when there is “no futureleadership” in view.

Congratulating the ISROfor the successful launch, theCongress tweeted,”this is a goodtime to remember the visionarymove of India’s first PM PanditJawaharlal Nehru to fund spaceresearch through INCOSPAR in

1962 which later became ISRO.And also Dr Manmohan Singhfor sanctioning theChandrayan-2 project in 2008.”

However, the BJP hit backaccusing the Congress of draw-ing the issue into politicalarena. “This is really demean-ing.. It’s a proud moment forevery Indian. Shouldn’t havebeen drawn into the politicalarena,” Patra said in a tweet.

“By the way when there isno future leadership in viewthere’s a tendency to fall back onthe past to stay relevant...Sadlythis is what has happened to theCongress,” he added. Earlierhailing the launch, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi said onTwitter, “special moments thatwill be etched in the annals ofour glorious history. The launchof Chandrayaan-2 illustratesthe prowess of our scientists andthe determination of 130 croreIndians to scale new frontiers ofscience. Every Indian isimmensely proud today.”

Congratulating the ISRO,BJP President and Home

Minister Amit Shah said theyhave set another benchmark inthe field of space technologyand that a grateful nation isproud of the ISRO scientists.

Echoing his party’s line,Congress spokesperson RajeevGowda said,”from buildingAryabhatta in makeshiftasbestos sheds in Peenya,Bangalore in 1970s to successof Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 andChandrayaan-2 today, ourspace program’s incredible suc-cess is our national pride.Kudos to ISRO, our scientists,engineers and visionary lead-ers from PM Nehru onward.”

Senior Congress leaderAnand Sharma had also onSunday said,”India’s space jour-ney began with Pt Nehru, andtook a giant leap in 1975 withthe launch of Aryabhat, led bycharismatic PM Indira Gandhi.ISRO has many notableachievements includingChandrayaan (2008) andMangalayaan (2013). WishingTeam ISRO all the best forChandrayaan-2.”

Lucknow: As soon asChandrayan 2 soared up intothe skies, a rent of cheer torethrough the roof of a house inLucknow. The house inRajajipuram, where RituKaridhal Srivastava, the missiondirector of Chandrayan-2, lived,is suddenly the centre of attrac-tion and has acquired a celebri-ty status almost overnight.

The phones are continu-ously engaged and after con-siderable effort, Ritu’s sisterVarsha agreed to speak.

“We are so proud of our sis-ter. After our parents’ demise,she is the eldest in the family andhas been a mother figure to meand my brother Rohit,” she said.

Varsha recalls that Rituwas always fond of the stars.“My mother would stay awakeall night with Didi (Ritu) whenshe studied. Didi was always

fond of stars and would lieawake staring at the sky. Didiwas curious to know what laybeyond the sky. We belong toa middle class family but Didialways yearned to go beyondthe limits,” she recalled.

In 1997, Ritu received a let-ter inviting her to join theIndian Space Research

Organisation office inBengaluru. The decision wastough but her parents allowedher to go and pursue her dreams.

Ritu’s husband, Avinash,and her two children Adityaand Anisha, are her biggestsupporters in her starry mis-sion. “Her family support is sostrong that she has been able todevote full time and energy toher dreams,” says Varsha.

Ritu graduated in physicsfrom Lucknow University andthen went to the IndianInstitute of Sciences for herMasters degree. She obtained adegree in Aerospace Sciencesand then joined the ISRO. Shewas deputy operation directorfor ‘Mangalyan’ and is nowmission director forChandrayan-2. The girl whostared at the stars, has finallytouched the moon. IANS

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New Delhi: Lauding the suc-cessful launch of Chandrayaan-2, the HRD Ministry onMonday encouraged studentsto take up careers in aerospaceengineering and said its‘Swayam’ portal will offeronline courses on the subjectfrom July 29.

India on Monday success-fully launched its second lunarmission Chandrayaan-2onboard its powerful rocketGSLV-MkIII-M1 from theSriharikota spaceport to explorethe uncharted south pole of thecelestial body by landing arover. “ISRO will go ‘back to themoon’ today. Learn AerospaceEngineering with Swayam, whoknows, if you are a part of thejourney the next time,” theHuman Resource DevelopmentMinistry tweeted. PTI

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Cash strappedInfrastructure Leasing

and Financial Ser vices(IL&FS) Monday said it hasreceived approval fromNCLAT appointed Justice(Retd) D K Jain for the pro-posed sale of its balance 51 perof stake in seven wind energysubsidiaries to OrixCorporation of Japan.

Justice Jain who has beenappointed by the NCLAT tosupervise the operation of theresolution process of IL&FSgroup companies, the compa-ny said in a release.

The wind energy sub-sidiaries are held under IL&FS

Wind Energy Ltd (IWEL).Currently, Orix

Corporation owns 49 per centstake in each of 7 operatingwind power plants of theGroup and had expressed itsintent to buy out the remain-ing 51 per cent stake held byIWEL.

“The approval has beengranted on the conditionsthat the proposal will now beplaced before the NCLT for itsapproval and the bid amountrealized from the sale be keptin an escrow account,” therelease said.

This amount in theescrow account will only to bedisbursed in accordance withthe directions in the proceed-

ings, pending beforeNCLT/NCLAT, it said.

Orix Corporation haddecided to match the offer ofthe highest bidder, of approx-imately �4,800 crore for 100per cent of enterprise value,contemplating no hair cut tothe debt of the SPVs aggre-gating to approx �3,700 crore,the company said.

The sale to Orix will leadto resolution of the followingseven companies of the IL&FSGroup — Lalpur Wind EnergyPrivate, Etesian Urja, KhandkeWind Energy Private, RetadiWind Power, Wind Urja IndiaPrivate, Tadas Wind EnergyPrivate and Kaze EnergyLimited.

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IL&FS TransportationNetworks, a group company

of the troubled IL&FS group,has defaulted on payments of�26.02 crore due on interest ofnon-convertible debentures(NCDs) because of insuffi-cient funds.

The interest due andpayable on July 21, 2019... Wasnot paid to the debenture hold-ers due to insufficient funds,the company said in a filing tostock exchanges.

IL&FS TransportationNetworks said it had defaultedin payments of interest amount

of debentures of �14.62 croreand �11.40 crore.

Infrastructure Leasing &Financial Services (IL&FS) andits subsidiaries have defaulted

on many debt instruments overthe past few months due toinsufficient funds. The group’stotal debt stood at over �90,000crore as of October 2018.

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The rupee depreciated by 12 paise to close at 68.92 against theUS dollar on Monday tracking heavy losses in the domestic

equity market and a spike in crude oil prices following Iran’sseizure of a British tanker.

Forex traders said a stronger US dollar against major cur-rencies overseas also weighed on the rupee sentiment.

Besides, market participants are not very hopeful about large-scale easing by the Reserve Bank, following RBI GovernorShaktikanta Das’s statement, wherein he said a change in mon-etary policy stance effectively equates to an additional 25-bps ratecut, traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange (forex) market, the domes-tic currency opened lower at 68.95 per dollar, and further lostground to touch the day’s low of 69.06. The rupee finally settledat 68.92, down 12 paise over its previous close.

The rupee had settled at 68.80 against the US dollar on Friday.“Indian sovereign bonds fell after the Reserve Bank of India

Governor Shaktikanta Das said further rate cuts will depend onincoming economic data. This statement has turned down theexpectations of large easing in upcoming monetary policy,” saidV K Sharma, Head PCG & Capital Markets Strategy, HDFCSecurities.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.49 percent to $63.40 per barrel.

“Brent crude prices heading for its biggest gain in more thana week, after Iran’s seizure of a British tanker fanned concernsof a confrontation that could disrupt Middle East supplies,”Sharma added.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strengthagainst a basket of six major currencies, moved up by 0.09 percent to 97.23.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers inthe capital markets, pulling out �950.15 crore Friday, provisionaldata showed.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Government bond yield was at 6.42per cent on Monday.

Going ahead, global cues are expected to dictate terms to theIndian rupee, traders said.

“The ECB meeting on Thursday, the US Q2 preliminary GDPprint on Friday and the FOMC meeting on July 31, wherein mar-ket participants expect a rate cut, would be the focal points ofcurrency traders,” said Rajesh Cheruvu, The Chief InvestmentOfficer of Validus Wealth.

Meanwhile, Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL)set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 68.8249 and forrupee/euro at 77.5161. The reference rate for rupee/British poundwas fixed at 86.2248 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 63.93.

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Investor wealth plunged over�4 lakh crore in three days

of market fall amid weakglobal trends and muteddomestic sentiments.

Stock markets extendedtheir losses for a third straightday with cumulative losses of3.05 per cent or 1,184.15points since July 18.

The 30-share index onMonday cracked 305.88points or 0.80 per cent to set-tle at 38,031.13, a level notseen since May 17.

Led by losses in the equi-ty market, the market capi-talisation of the BSE-listedcompanies eroded by�4,37,602.4 crore to�1,44,76,204.02 crore in threedays.

“Indian markets contin-ued their losing streak onMonday led by muted domes-tic sentiments and unsup-portive global cues. With lackof any fresh positive domes-tic triggers and uncertainglobal cues, we maintain ourcautious stance on the Indianequity markets. We expectstock specific volatility toremain high in the comingsessions, as the markets arelikely to be driven by the on-going earnings season,” saidAjit Mishra, vice-president(research), Religare BrokingLtd.

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Promoters of debt-riddenJaypee Infratech on

Monday proposed before theNCLAT that they will paycreditors entire outstandingamount without any hair cutand complete pending pro-jects within three years.

The National CompanyLaw Appellate Tribunal(NCLAT) reserved its orderover exclusion of litigationperiod from the ongoingCorporate InsolvencyResolution Process (CIRP) ofJaypee Infratech.

A two-member benchheaded by Chairman Justice S JMukhopadhaya asked theJaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL),the promoter of Jaypee Infratech,to file written submissions overexclusion of time frame.

The appellate tribunal hasdirected to list the matter onJuly 29, when it is likely to passthe order on this.

Lenders are requesting toexclude the 250 days fromSeptember 17, 2018, to June 4,2019, from the stipulated peri-od for Corporate InsolvencyResolution Process (CIRP), as

this time was taken by theNational Company LawTribunal (NCLT) to decide onthe voting rights of the home-buyers.

During proceedings of theNCLAT, the promoters offeredto pay the 100 per cent out-standing amount to the credi-tors without any hair cut.

It also offered to completethe construction of the remain-ing flats within three yearsand hand over to the originalallottees.

Jaypee Infratech went intoinsolvency in August 2017 afterthe National Company LawTribunal (NCLT) admitted anapplication filed by an Bank-led

consortium.It has Rs 9,800 crore out-

standing to 13 banks. The firmalso required to completearound 20,000 flats and han-dover them to home buyers

In the first round of insol-vency proceedings conductedlast year, the Rs 7,350-crore bidof Lakshadweep, part ofSuraksha Group, was rejectedby lenders. Later in October2018, the IRP started the sec-ond round of bidding process.

Jaiprakash Associates Ltdhas submitted its bid to regaincontrol over its subsidiaryJaypee Infratech. Business con-glomerate Adani group toohas submitted unsolicited bid.

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The National CompanyLaw Tribunal (NCLT)

Monday reserved its order inthe ministry of corporateaffairs (MCA) plea seekingfive-year ban for IL&FSFinancial Services auditors -Deloitte and BSR Associates.

After hearing argumentsof the auditors and the MCA,the tribunal comprising of VPSingh and R avikumarDuraisamy reser ved theorder.

Deloitte Haskins & Sellsand BSR Associates, which isan affiliate of KPMG, are nolonger the auditors of crippled

IL&FS group, with the formerresigning in FY18 and the lat-ter as recent as last month.

But the corporate affairsministry has sought a five-year ban on them for theirfailure to do the statutory jobproperly while they wereauditing these group compa-nies.

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As the insolvency process forJet Airways moves ahead,

the airline’s stake in Jet PrivilegePvt Ltd that is on an “acceler-ated growth path”, could well bean attraction for prospectivebidders.

For its part, Jet PrivilegePvt Ltd (JPPL) — an indepen-dent entity in which JetAirways has 49.9 per cent stakeand is part of Etihad Group —is working to build a “robustvertical-agnostic, multi-brandcustomer engagement plat-form”.

JPPL was set up to manageand further develop JPMiles, aloyalty and rewards pro-gramme.

Even as Jet Airways facedturbulence before being forcedto ground operations on April17, JPPL has been a profitableventure.

The company’s profit aftertax rose to R 129.82 crore lastyear from Rs 121.64 crore in2017, as per a document issuedfor prospective bidders of JetAirways under the insolvencyprocess.

“JetPrivilege is on an accel-erated growth path to build arobust vertical-agnostic, multi-brand customer engagementplatform that drives loyalty forbrands while accruing numer-ous meaningful and valuablebenefits to members throughits reward currency JPMiles,”JetPrivilege Managing DirectorManish Dureja told PTI.

Immediate focus is to con-solidate growth in the travelspace, including flights andhotel stays, he added.

In the document, the fre-quent flyer programme of JPPLhas been mentioned as amongthe factors for investment ratio-nale regarding Jet Airways.

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Acountry-wide ‘taxpayer e-assistance campaign’ will

be launched on Wednesday byFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman to mark the 159th‘Income Tax Day’, officials saidon Monday.

The campaign has beenconceptualised by the CBDTand it will be launched acrossall regional offices of theIncome Tax Department, theysaid.

The taxman will holdcamps to help taxpayers in e-fil-ing of their returns and this“hand-holding” will be done toenable them understand therecent changes in the forms,laws and utilities (softwares) ofthe direct taxes regime, a poli-cy plan accessed by PTI stated.

Among other events, allregional offices of the IncomeTax Department will celebratethe day by honouring thoseassessees who file their taxesdiligently.

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The Ministry of New andRenewable Energ y

(MNRE) Monday issuedguidelines for rollout of the�34,422-crore PM-KUSUMscheme, which wouldencourage farmers to gener-ate solar power in their farmsand use the clean energy toreplace their diesel waterpumps.

The Pradhan Mantr iKisan Urja Suraksha evamUtthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme entails set-ting up of 25,750-MW solarcapacity by 2022 with thetotal central financial supportof Rs 34,422 crore.

The Cabinet Committeeon Economic Affairs (CCEA)in February approved thelaunch of the scheme with theobjective of providing finan-cial and water security.

The scheme has threecomponents.

The Component-A pro-vides for setting up of 10,000megawatt of decentralisedground/ stilt-mounted grid-connected solar or otherrenewable energ y-basedpower plants.

New Delhi: Sounding a note of caution, EAC-PM member RathinRoy on Monday urged the government to issue a white paperon medium-term fiscal framework, arguing that it would be dif-ficult to meet the Budgetary tax collection target for 2019-20.

Roy, while speaking at an event here, also expressed his reser-vations over the government’s decision to start raising a part ofits gross borrowing programme from external markets in for-eign currencies.

“Given this revenue shortfall, the expectation from the rev-enue department is the tax/GDP ratio will rise by more than oneper cent of the GDP, I don’t know how this is going to happen.

“...My plea to Government is to immediately issue a whitepaper if you like that incorporates medium term fiscal frame-work for next 3-5 years,” he said.

According to the Budget document, the Government aimsto collect $370 billion as taxes in the current fiscal. PTI

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Antoine Griezmann onMonday said he couldn’t

wait to make his Barcelonadebut and that his heart waswith the team as he tries tomove on from a sour exit fromSpanish rivals Atletico Madrid.

Griezmann’s 120 millioneuros transfer was contested byAtletico, who insistedBarcelona should have paid ahigher price for the WorldCup-winning French striker.

But he told media inTokyo: “I am very happy aboutthe outcome of my transfer. Iam very eager to play as soonas possible.”

“I wish Atletico players allthe best of luck. I am focusedon giving my all so that Barca

will deliver good results,” hesaid in Spanish through atranslator.

Barcelona’s offer triggered

Griezmann’s release clause butAtletico said the Catalan clubnegotiated the deal before thebuy-out price dropped from

200 million euros at the start ofJuly.

Atletico are reportedlyplanning to take their case toFIFA.

Griezmann voiced hisappreciation for his time atAtletico and his strong relation-ship with their coach, DiegoSimeone.

But the Frenchman said heis now committed to Barca.

“I am focused on fitting inamong the Barcelona players.My heart is here with them,” hesaid.

The Spanish giants willplay a friendly against Chelseaon Tuesday, and on Saturdaythey face Japan’s Vissel Kobe,who feature ex-Barca playersAndres Iniesta, David Villaand Sergi Samper.

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Manchester United mid-f ielder Juan Mata

hopes Paul Pogba remains atOld Trafford next seasonand rubbished suggestionsthe Frenchman could be adisruptive influence if he isnot allowed to move.

Pogba has publicly stat-ed his wish for a “new chal-lenge,” amidst interest fromReal Madrid.

The World Cup winner’sagent Mino Raiola also toldThe Times earlier this monththat “everyone knows thewillingness of Paul to moveon.”

However, Pogba hastravelled with United ontheir pre-season tour ofAustralia and Singapore andshone in victories over PerthGlory, Leeds United andInter Milan.

“We all know Paul andhe is a fantastic midfielder,and a very good guy, verypositive, and a good influ-

ence for everyone,” Matatold Sky Sports.

“I think he is happy andbrings everyone together,but I cannot speak for otherpeople — I speak for myself.

“As a team-mate and afriend I would like him tostay and be happy becausehe is a very good player forus.”

David de Gea does lookset to remain with the RedDevils despite entering thefinal year of his contractwith a new deal for theSpaniard reportedly to befinalised in the coming days.

“David is the best goal-keeper in the world and oneof my best friends so I wanthim to stay,” added Mata,who himself signed a newtwo-year contract to stay atUnited last month.

“On a professional level,it would be great if he staysbecause he will give us manypoints over the next season,so I'm very happy if hestays.”

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Former India spinner Nilesh Kulkarni on Mondaywelcomed the selection of rookie leggie Rahul

Chahar in the India T20 squad for the upcoming WestIndies tour, saying more options are being created.

Chahar was the lone new face across three for-mats for the tour to the Caribbean after he was namedin the T20 squad by the national selection panel onSunday.

“Well, in my opinion, it’s a good inclusion pure-ly because Rahul had a good season last year. Moreimportantly, if the selectors are addressing that area,if at all the injury or form concerns erupt with Kuldeep(Yadav) and Yuzvendra Chahal, then you still have aback-up bowler ready to fill in that slot and there isno void,” said the former Mumbai left-arm spinner.

Kulkarni, who played three Tests and 10 ODIs,reasoned that by bringing in Chahar, the selectors werenot depending on one or two individuals.

“So it is a brilliant strategy and compliments forthat thought process of the team management andselectors. That is how you build (a team) by creatingmore options and not depending on one or twooptions,” he added.

Apart from Rahul Chahar, Krunal Pandya,Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar are the otherspinners in the T20 squad.

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Last season’s Champions League semi-finalists Ajax were on Monday drawn to

face Greek champions PAOK Thessalonikiin the third qualifying round for this year’sgroup stages.

The Dutch side do not get automaticentry into the group stages despite winningthe Eredivisie for the 34th time and comingwithin seconds of reaching the ChampionsLeague final.

If they beat PAOK, Erik ten Hag’s teamwill still need to win a play-off to join thelikes of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Juventusin the main competition.

It is not the easiest of ties for Ajax whohave already lost several players from theirexciting young squad.

Central defender Matthijs de Ligt has leftfor Juventus while midfielder Frenkie de Jonghas joined Barcelona.

PAOK went unbeaten on their way towinning the Greek Super League, finishingfive points ahead of Olympiakos as they con-quered their first league title in over threedecades.

The first leg will be played at PAOK’s

Toumba Stadium on August 6 or 7 with thereturn in Amsterdam a week later.

Two-time European champions Porto,who finished two points behind championsBenfica in Portugal, will face Krasnodar, whofinished third in Russia while Belgian run-

ners-up Club Brugge will meet theirUkrainian counterparts Dynamo Kiev.

If Scottish champions Celtic beatEstonia’s Nomme Kalju in the second roundof qualifying, they will face either Romanianside Cluj or Maccabi Tel-Aviv of Israel.

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Alejandro Pozo deliveredthe late dagger in 10-man

Sevilla's 2-1 friendly win overLiverpool in Boston, a defeatmade worse for the Europeanchampions when they sawYasser Larouci stretchered off.

Liverpool manager JurgenKlopp was furious at JorisGagnon’s outrageous kick at anon-rushing Larouci in the 76thminute.

Gnagnon was shown astraight red card after sweep-ing one of the Frenchman's legsout from underneath him,toppling him to the pitchwhere his head bounced hardon the ground.

“(It’s) much too early in theseason to create headlines withsaying the things I think aboutthe situation,” Klopp said at hispost-match press conference,where he added that it

appeared that the 18-year-oldLarouci was “lucky” in terms ofavoiding serious injury.

“But of course, how italways is with these things wehave to wait a little bit. I don’tknow 100 percent. It looks likehe was lucky but I only spokequickly to the Doc and that'swhat he said, but we have tosee.”

Even with the La Liga out-fit reduced to 10 men,Liverpool were unable find away ahead, and Pozo sealed itin the 90th minute as hesmoothly collected a pass fromMunir El Haddadi, roundedLiverpool keeper SimonMignolet and knocked thewinner into an unguarded net.

Sevilla had enjoyed by farthe majority of scoring chanceson a sweltering evening atFenway Park — home of theWorld Series ChampionBoston Red Sox. Both

Liverpool and the Red Sox areowned by groups led by JohnW Henry.

Players were granted waterbreaks in the hot, humid con-ditions, and even the pitch cre-ated on the baseball diamondreceived extra water during the

match.The pro-Liverpool crowd

weren't treated to many of theclub's stars as Brazilian inter-nationals Roberto Firmino andAlisson were both absent forthe Reds following their CopaAmerica campaign along with

Mohamed Salah and SadioMane, both missing due to theAfrican Cup of Nations.

As in a 3-2 defeat toBorussia Dortmund on Fridayin Indiana, there was someshaky defending fromLiverpool.

Nolito’s powerful shot inthe 37th minute past Liverpoolstarting goalkeeper AndyLonergan — who was atMiddlesbrough last season —was Sevilla’s reward after a half-hour of pressure.

It needed a sprawling savefrom Lonergan in the 13thminute to deny Luuk de Jongafter Liverpool lost posses-sion in their own territoryand de Jong was just wide witha header in the 23rd.

Liverpool’s equalizer cameoff a scrappy set piece as TrentAlexander-Arnold’s corner waskept alive by Nat Phillips, theball falling to an unmarked

Divock Origi who swept infrom close range in the 44th.

Both teams made whole-sale changes at halftime, buteven a match that was just onemore step in both team’s pre-season preparations there wasnothing laid back about Sevilla.

A foul was called on EverBanega for a hard tackle in the12th minute and when heslammed the ball to the groundin protest he was shown a yel-low card.

Liverpool midfielderHarry Wilson took a smack tothe face just before halftime —an infraction that paled incomparison to that ofGnagnon — who was arguingwith the referee as Laroucireceived treatment.

“Harry got a knock on hisjaw and a finger in his eye, sonot too cool,” Klopp said. “Heshould be OK as well butcouldn't carry on as well.”

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Juventus head coachMaurizio Sarri expects the

Serie A champions to makemore signings before thetransfer window closes.

It has been a busy off-sea-son for Juve, who have signedMatthijs de Ligt, AaronRamsey, Adrien Rabiot, LucaPellegrini, Merih Demiral andGianluigi Buffon.

Juve have also been linkedwith former midfielder andManchester United star PaulPogba, as well as Inter outcastMauro Icardi.

There is also uncertaintyover the likes of GonzaloHiguain, Blaise Matuidi andMario Mandzukic, and Sarriprovided a transfer updatefol lowing Sunday'sInternational Champions Cuploss to Tottenham.

"I don't want to occupy

myself too much on the mar-ket because I think that's theright thing to do and becauseI keep much less of an eye on

it than those whoare in charge," saidSarri, whose team

lost 3-2 to Spurs."Maybe there are

leagues and players I don'tknow about. Therefore, it'sbetter to leave it to those whoare in charge.

"We have lots of players incertain positions and less inothers, but we're talking abouta situation where I have sevenplayers in Turin carryinginjuries and five who have yetto return from internationalcommitments.

"I think the club, betweennow and the end of the trans-fer window, will do somethingin terms of incomings, butwe'll also have to do some-thing in terms of outgoings.

"We have so many playersright now that we'll have tokeep two or three out of ourChampions League squad. Wecertainly have to do some-thing."

Cristiano Ronaldo was ontarget at the National Stadiumin Singapore, where the five-time Ballon d'Or winner putJuve ahead four minutes afterHiguain cancelled out ErikLamela's opener.

Tottenham, however,stormed back thanks to LucasMoura and Harry Kane's stun-ning long-range effort in the93rd minute.

Discussing Ronaldo, Sarrisaid: "Cristiano's the best play-er in this team. Therefore, wemust set up the other 10 welldefensively. He can play any-where on the field. He's thebest and it's important for himto be free on the pitch."

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American John Isner cap-tured his fourth title at the

ATP grass court tournament atNewport, Rhode Island, beatingAlexander Bublik 7-6 (7/2), 6-3.

Isner, who was sidelined bya stress fracture in his left footfor three months after reachingthe Miami final in March, wasthe top seed in the tournamentthat he also won in 2011, 2012and 2017.

Bublik, the seventh-seeded22-year-old from Kazakhstanwho was playing in his first ATPfinal, double-faulted on breakpoint to fall behind 3-2 in thesecond set, and that was theonly opening the big-servingIsner needed.

The 34-year-old American— who produced only a mod-est five aces but put 79 percentof his first serves in play — fin-

ished off the match with a fore-hand winner even as he slippedon the grass and sprawled for-ward.

He converted all three of hisbreak points in the game,including on match point whenthe Kazakh failed in his bid tocatch Isner out with an under-arm serve on the final point.

While that didn’t pan out,Isner urged Bublik to continueto pursue his “quirky” game.

“It was a lot of fun to playagainst you today,” Isner toldhim.

“You’re very quirky, but Imean that in a very sincere way.You’re fantastic for the gameand we all hope you continue tohave great results in the futurebecause guys like you areimportant to keep tennis excit-ing.”

The towering American alsohad words of thanks for histeam, especially his physicaltherapist.

“It’s not easy keeping a guylike myself healthy,” said Isner,who is slated to appear nextweek in Atlanta, Georgia, insearch of a sixth title in theBB&T Open.

Bublik, who has toiled large-ly on the ATP Challenger Tour,is assured of reaching a career-high ATP ranking on Monday,when he will break into the top75 for the first time.

Bublik had earned the firstbreak of the match at 5-5 in theopening set, but he double-faulted on break point in thenext game as it went to atiebreaker that Isner dominated.

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Chief selectors MSK Prasad startedSunday’s press conference with greatgusto after picking the Indian squads for

the Windies tour. Not only did he say that hewould clear all doubts about the strangereplacement pattern during the World Cup, butalso added that he would clear the air over MSDhoni’s position. While he started on the linesthat Rishabh Pant is being groomed with aneye on the 2020 World T20, what he did notreveal was how the team management hasrequested Dhoni not to retire at the moment.

Sources in the know of developments saidthat while Pant is being readied with an eyeon the 2020 World T20, the team managementdoesn’t wish for Dhoni to hang his boots asthat could create a sudden vacuum in the set-up which will be hard to fill if Pant suffers aninjury by any chance going into the next show-piece event.

“Dhoni knows what his role and positionis. All these talks about his retirement andwhen he will call it quits makes no sense ashe is a team player. He will never react to anycontroversy and I am sure you all know thismuch about the man and his ethics.

“While the team management is groom-ing Pant with an eye on the next T20 WorldCup and beyond, they want Dhoni as a men-tor and back-up if he is needed going into thetournament. They want him to stick arounda bit longer.

“Take a look around and tell me who areyour options if Pant suffers an injury? To behonest, all the names on the other side don’t

match-up to be half as good as Dhoni still is.Yes, there is no denying the fact that Pant isthe future and he will be looked at across allformats, but Dhoni’s guidance as well as pres-ence is still needed,” the source explained.

Prasad on his part said that the team waslooking at Pant across all formats and that itwas on Dhoni to decide when he wishes toretire. “Retirement is purely individual. A leg-endary cricketer like Dhoni...he knows whento retire. But as far as the future roadmap isconsidered, that is in the hands of the selec-

tors. He (Dhoni) is unavailable for thisseries. Having said that, we had certainroadmaps till the World Cup.

Subsequently, post the World Cup, we havelaid down few more plans. “We thought of giv-ing as many opportunities to Rishabh Pant tosee he is groomed. That’s our plan right now.Pant hasn’t done anything wrong for his non-inclusion in the playing XI. Pant will be play-ing all the three formats so we will have to lookabout his workload management,” he said.

When asked why Prasad made such acomment if it was indeed a team managementdecision to ask Dhoni to hang around a littlelonger, the source declined to get into that butsaid that there seems to be more than whatmeets the eye when it comes to his handlingof questions on Dhoni.

“Even earlier he had made a public state-ment about Dhoni that was different from whathe had stated in private on the day of a selec-tion meeting. He had said that MS had want-ed rest and in public he said that the selectorswere looking for more options,” the sourceadded.��)�� 8��

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Harmeet Desai and AyhikaMukherjee won the men’s

and women’s singles titles ashosts India completed a cleansweep, claiming all the sevenGold medals on offer at the21st Commonwealth TableTennis Championships hereon Monday.

Harmeet, 26, beatfavourite G Sathiyan 4-3 (9-11,6-11, 11-5, 11-8, 17-15, 7-11,11-9 in a hard-fought final toclaim the men’s singles title.

After being down 0-2 ini-tially, Harmeet made a valiantcomeback to outwit Sathiyanin a marathon seven gamecontest.

Earlier in the day,Anthony Amalraj and ManavThakkar claimed the men’sdoubles gold by stunning topseeds Sathiyan and SharathKamal 3-1 (8-11, 11-6, 13-11,12-10).

In women singles, Ayhikawon her maiden Gold in thechampionships, thrashing for-mer national championMadurika Patkar 4-0 (11-6,11-4, 11-9, 19-17).

Pooja Sahasrabudhe andKrittwika Sinha Roy defeatedcompatriots Sreeja Akula andMousumi Paul 3-1 (11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10) to claim thewomen’s doubles crown.

Interestingly, no paddlercould replicate their Gold-winning performance in otherevents.

The domination of homepaddlers could be gauged fromthe fact that all finals Mondayfeatured only the Indians.

Indian paddlers toppedthe medals tally with sevenGold, five Silver and threeBronze. England (2 Silver, 3Bronze) were second ahead ofSingapore (6 Bronze),Malaysia and Nigeria (1Bronze each).

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Ace Indian shuttler P V Sindhuwill have to quickly pick upthe pieces after her deflating

loss in the Indonesia Open final andprepare for the next battle at theJapan Open BWF World TourSuper 750 starting here today.

The $ 750,000 tournament willalso see the return of Saina Nehwal,who had missed the IndonesiaOpen Super 1000 event due to fit-ness issues.

Sindhu missed an opportunityto break a seven-month titledrought when she lost in straightgames to Akane Yamaguchi inJakarta on Sunday and the Indianwill look to go the full distance whenshe opens against China’s Han Yuehere.

If she crosses the opening hur-dle, Sindhu will face eitherScotland’s Kirsty Gilmour or Japan’sAya Ohori in the second round.

The fifth seed will also aim toavenge her final loss to Yamaguchias she is likely to face the world No4 Japanese in the quarterfinals.

“Overall, it was a good tourna-ment for me at Indonesia and I hopeI can take the confidence going for-ward and do well at Japan,” Sindhuhad said after the finals on Sunday.

Saina, seeded eighth and theonly Indian to win a title this sea-son, will open against Thailand’sBusanan Ongbamrungphan, anopponent against whom she enjoysa 3-1 head-to-head lead.

In men’s singles, it will be an all-Indian opening round battlebetween HS Prannoy and eighthseed Kidambi Srikanth.

The duo has faced each otherfive times so far in the internation-al circuit with Srikanth having thelast laugh in the past four occasions.

Among other Indians, B SaiPraneeth, who had reached thefinals of the Swiss Open, will faceJapan’s Kenta Nishimoto.

Sameer Verma, who had missedthe Indonesia Open due to a shoul-der problem, will look to test his fit-ness against Denmark’s AndersAntonsen, runner-up in Jakartaafter a marathon final on Sunday.

In the doubles draw, the men’s

pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddyand Chirag Shetty will square offagainst England’s Marcus Ellis andChris Langridge, who won a Bronzemedal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Manu Attri and B SumeethReddy will cross swords withMalaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and NurIzzuddin in another men’s doublesmatch.

The women’s doubles pair ofAshwini Ponnappa and N Sikki

Reddy will face off against theKorean combination of Kim SoYeong and Kong Hee Yong in theopening round.

The mixed doubles pair ofPranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki willface an uphill task when they meettop-seeded Chinese combination ofZheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong,who claimed the Indonesia Opentitle on Sunday.

Satwiksairaj and Ashwini willopen against German pair ofMarvin Seidel and Linda Efler inanother mixed doubles match.

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India A’s top-order, led byopener Ruturaj Gaikwad,

fired in unison to steer theteam to a convincing eight-wicket win in the fifth and finalunofficial one-dayer againstthe West Indies A, completinga 4-1 series triumph here.

Rahul Chahar (2/53) andhis cousin Deepak (2/39),alongwith pacer Navdeep Saini(2/31) — all of whom madethe cut for India’s limited oversquad on Sunday picked uptwo wickets each to help IndiaA dismiss West Indies A for236 in 47.4 overs.

Gaikwad (99) then ledthe chase but missed out on awell-deserved century. His fel-low opener Shubman Gill (69)and first-down Shreyas Iyer

(61) also blasted half-centuriesas India A overhauled the tar-get in 33 overs at CoolidgeCricket Ground here.

Gill hit eight fours andthree sixes in a 40-ball 69 toshare an opening stand of 110with Gaikwad. He was dis-missed by the off-spinnerRahkeem Cornwall in the12th over.

Gaikwad then took IndiaA to the brink of victorybefore being removed byKeemo Paul with the visitorsneeding just 15. His 89-ballinnings was laced with 11fours and three sixes.

Iyer, who added 112 runsfor the second wicket withGaikwad, remained uncon-quered with 61 off 64 balls. Hehad three hits to the fence andcleared the ropes twice.

Earlier, electing to bat,West Indies A made a goodstart with opener Sunil Ambriscracking a 52-ball 61 studdedwith seven boundaries and twosixes to give the team earlymomentum.

But India A’s bowlers trig-gered a collapse, reducing thehosts from 77 for no loss to 103for six.

Sherfane Rutherford thencame up with a 70-ball 65 tolift West Indies A to 236.Khary Pierre hit four bound-aries and a six in his unbeat-en 35 off 34 balls before run-ning out of partners.BRIEF SCORES: India A 237for 2 (Gaikwad 99, Gill 69;Keemo Paul 1/37) beat WestIndies A 236 (Rutherford 65,Ambris 61; Saini 2/31) byeight wickets.

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Australia captain TimPaine is confident that

left-handed batsmanUsman Khawaja will be fitand available for the firstAshes Test against Englandbeginning August 1 atEdgbaston.

Khawaja had picked upa hamstring injury duringAustralia’s clash againstSouth Africa in the recent-ly concluded World Cup and was subse-quently ruled out of the tournament. Hewill also not be available for the warm-upTest slated to begin Tuesday.

“I don’t think he’s in serious doubt (ofmissing the first Ashes Test),” cricket.com.auquoted Paine as saying in Southampton.

“He’s in a rehab stage so the decision

has been made that he won’tplay at this stage.”

“There is a possibility,maybe, if something were tohappen to someone else hemight be right for the backend of the game.

“But we expect him to befully fit and available forselection for the first Test,” headded.

The 32-year-old hasbeen batting at the No 3 spotsince the last Ashes series in

England four years ago, posting eight cen-turies and an average of 47.76 in that peri-od.

Cricket Australia selectors are set toname the Ashes squad at the end of thefour-day game between Hick XII, led byPaine and Haddin XII captained by TravisHead.

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Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan has promised

Pakistani-Americans that he isworking on a plan to develop the“best cricket team of the world” fol-lowing the country’s debacle in therecently-concluded ICC WorldCup in the UK.

Addressing a large crowd at a community eventat Washington’s Capital One Arena on Sunday, thecricketer-turned-politician said a ‘Naya Pakistan’ wasbeing created in front of people's eyes.

“People ask ‘Where is Naya Pakistan?’– it is beingcreated in front of your eyes,” he said.

Referring to the poor show of the Pakistani teamin the recently-concluded ICC World Cup crickettournament, Khan said he had “started working ondeveloping the best cricket team of the world in thenext tournament, by bringing the best players in theteam”.

“Remember my words,” said the prime minister,who led Pakistan to victory at the 1992 Cricket WorldCup.

Khan is currently on a three-day visit to the USand is scheduled to meet President Donald Trump atthe White House on Monday.

He had given some pep talk to the country's crick-et team ahead of their duel against India in the cru-cial ICC Cricket World Cup match on June 16, say-ing the fear of losing leads to a negative and defen-sive strategy.

Pakistan, which lost the match against India, couldnot make it to the semi-finals and finished fifth in thetournament that was won by England for the first time.

Former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket BoardNajam Sethi has blamed the present management ofthe board for the national team’s poor show in theWorld Cup.

“I have played cricket all around the world. I haveseen the most cricketing talent in Pakistan. But[because] there is no system of merit, we can't bringthat talent up. This is why we are not dominating theworld [in cricket] — because there is no meritocra-cy,” Khan said.

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Indian athletics’ HighPerformance Director Volker

Herrmann feels star sprinter HimaDas is nearing her best, having wonfive successive Gold medals inthree weeks in Europe.

The 19-year-old Hima has wonfive races — four in 200m and onein her pet 400m event — in Polandand Czech Republic since July 2. Shehas been improving on her timingeven though the field in all the fiveraces was mediocre.

“Hima is progressing in theright direction. If you want to runsub 50 seconds (in 400m) you alsohave to be able to run sub 22.80 in200m. She is getting closer,”Hermann said, explaining why shebegan with 200m races beforeswitching to 400m in her last raceon July 20 when she clocked a sea-son best time of 52.09.

Hima is yet to qualify in either200m or 400m for the WorldChampionships, to be held in Dohafrom September 26 to October 6.

The World Championships quali-fying mark stands at 23.02 and51.80.

Her male counterpartMuhammed Anas has qualifiedfor the World Championships afterbettering his own 400m nationalrecord last week.

“We also have MuhammedAnas breaking his own record andthat is quite promising,” said the 38-year-old Hermann who took chargeon July 1.

The highly qualified German,who has worked in similar capaci-ty in his native country andSingapore, said athletes around theworld have been making changes intheir training due to the WorldChampionships happening late inthe season, and the Indians are alsoadjusting accordingly.

“All around the world, the ath-letes are facing the same problem.The coaches have to rush the wholepreparation model. The athletes willneed to peak twice, the first (peak)right now and second by the end ofSeptember.

“We are preparing a series ofcompetition to raise our perfor-mance level and then we will con-tinue on a slightly higher level withhigher intensity towards WorldChampionships,” he added.

He said 25 to 30 Indian athletescan qualify for next year’s TokyoOlympics.

“In men’s and women’s 400mrelay, the eight finalists at WorldChampionships will directly qual-ify for Tokyo and in certain ways,that is the easiest for us to qualify.Mixed 400m relay is another one wecan qualify. Then, we are in a goodsituation in javelin throw and400m.

“Tokyo is exactly one year fromnow. We will work on the strengthsand weaknesses of our athletes to doour best. But we need to look for-ward to 2024 and 2028 Olympics.”

Hermann said his plan is tomake three different strategies forthe three upcoming Olympics.

“First for Tokyo, we will workwith the current athletes in highperformance team. Secondly for2024, besides the current athletes wehave to find talented ones at youthand junior levels who have poten-tial to be at top level in five yearsfrom now. They can be 15, 16 and17 years of age,” he said.

“For 2028 Olympics, we have towork with 10, 11 or 12 years oldchildren. To be honest, these areathletes with which we can initiatechange in Indian athletics. Weneed to work at state and districtlevel, give proper foundation tothese kids, more towards coretraining and technical model.

“India should develop its ownphilosophy and not copy from sayUSA or another country to face

specific challenges it has. Theworking of officials should bestreamlined and coaching methodsshould be same throughout thecountry.”

He said that training of highperformance athletes should focusmore on increasing intensive qual-ity sessions rather than on volume,and provide enough recovery time.

“The modern method of train-ing is to increase number of inten-sive sessions and achieve highquality. You cannot have high vol-ume and high intensity. But youhave to have enough recoverytime. Otherwise, you will haveinjury and mental fatigue.

“The ideal training is to ensure100 per cent in few events likeWorld Championships orOlympics. It is important to giveone time 90m throw (in javelin)instead of five time 85m.

“Unlike other sports, it is notenough to give 96 or 97 per cent ina top event, you have to be 100 percent. The three or four per centmake all the difference.”

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Consistency is the best way toimpress a skipper and all-

rounder Krunal Pandya wants toput his best foot forward in fontof Virat Kohli during the upcom-ing T20 series against West Indiesstarting August 3 in Florida.

The elder of the two ‘Pandyabrothers’, Krunal has been select-ed in India’s 15-member squadled by Kohli for the three T20sagainst the West Indies.

And the spin-bowling all-rounder said he now wants topick on his skipper’s brian onhow to achieve consis-tency which will givehis limited overscareer much-need-ed fillip.

“West Indiestour I am look-ing forward to itbecause there isa lot of cricket infuture. Obviously, Iwant to perform consis-tently in both battingand bowling,” Krunaltold bcci.Tv.

“I want to learn fromVirat (Kohli) how todevelop that hunger andbe a consistent per-former.”

Krunal, who is alreadyin the West Indies with theIndia A side, said suchtours help a cricketer ingaining experience.

“India A tours help alot. In the last 2-3 years, Ihave played in South Africa,New Zealand and England.It gives you experienceand advantage when you

tour these countries with thesenior team,” he said.

Krunal also admitted that heis a big admirer of two-timeWorld Cup skipper MahendraSingh Dhoni, who is at the twilightof his career now.

“There is no big finisher inIndian and world cricket thanMahi bhai (Dhoni). He has been

doing this day in and day out.His patience and the way hereads the situation are thequalities which I wouldlike to learn from him," saidthe 28-year-old left-han-

der, whose younger brotherHardik has been rested

for the entire tour ofWest Indies.

Krunal said rep-resenting MumbaiIndians was thebiggest turningpoint of his crick-eting career.

“The biggestturning point in my

career is to representMumbai Indiansbecause that gave mea platform to show-case my abilities. Theamount of pressureyou are in when youare playing IPL isdifferent,” he said.

The f irst twoT20s between Indiaand West Indies willbe played in FortLauderhill, USA onAugust 3 and 4while the f inalmatch of the serieswill be hosted by

Guyana onAugust 6.

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Veteran Sri Lankan pace bowlerLasith Malinga will retire from one-

day international cricket after the firstmatch of a three-match series againstBangladesh, skipper DimuthKarunaratne said on Monday.

Malinga was named in the 22-manSri Lanka squad for the series withmatches scheduled for July 26, 28 and 31at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

But speaking at the team's press con-ference in the Sri Lankan capital,Karunaratne confirmed the 36-year oldfast bowler and former captain wouldonly appear in the first game.

“He is going to play the first match.After that he is retiring. That’s what hesaid to me. I don’t know what he said forthe selectors but for me he said he isplaying only one match,” saidKarunaratne.

Malinga, 35, will leave as Sri Lanka’sthird highest wicket-taker in ODI crick-et with 335 wickets in 219 innings so far.

Only Muttiah Muralitharan (523)and Chaminda Vaas (399) have takenmore wickets than Malinga in ODIs forSri Lanka.

Malinga retired from Test cricket in2011 but continued to remain availablein other formats since then.

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Maisnam Meiraba put up a braveeffort before India bowed out of the

Asia Junior Championships on Mondayafter suffering a 0-3 loss to Indonesia inthe quarter-finals of the Mixed Team eventin Suzhou, China.

In an absorbing battle between two top20 junior players, World No 14 Meirabamanaged to take a game off his 17thranked opponent, Bobby Setiabudi but theIndonesian proved too strong in the endwith a 21-17, 15-21, 21-11 win in 59 min-utes.

The Manipur boy, who won his firstinternational tournament at the WhiteNight Russian Junior International earli-er this month, had been in fine formthroughout the event and won his match-es against Korea and Macau.

Meiraba’s performance, even thoughin a losing cause, stood out as none of theother results went in India’s favour.

In girls’ singles, Malvika Bansod wasunlucky to miss out on winning a tightfirst game and eventually went down fight-ing 20-22, 7-21 to junior World No 4 PutriKusuma Wardani.

Tanisha Crasto and Sathish KumarKarunakaran suffered a 15-21, 18-21defeat to Leo Rolly Carnando and IndahCahya Sari Jamil in mixed doubles.

The Indian youngsters will now focuson the individual competition that startson Wednesday.

Maisnam Meiraba will try to defendthe boys’ singles Gold that Lakshya Senhad won last year to end India’s 54-yearwait.

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