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KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR

‘LOT OF PROGRESS TURKEY & PARLIAMENT WILL RAHANE UNVEILS

MADE IN BILATERAL TIES SUBCONTINENT PICK NEW LEADER, A ‘FOOLPROOF’
DURING INDIA VISIT’ SAYS MAHATHIR VICTORY PLOY

P6 P8 P13 P16

WEATHER
Delhi riots toll climbs to Row over timing
Partly cloudy sky. Possibility of thundery
of transfer of HC
38 as violence continues
development towards evening/night. The
maximum and minimum temperatures
would be around 27 and 15 degrees
Celsius respectively.
RAINFALL: Nil
Special Commissioner Shrivastava, however, assures the situation is returning to normal
judge Muralidhar
RELATIVE HUMIDITY
Max.100% Min.64% SNS & PTI STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
TEMPERATURE
Max: 27.5 °C (+2) Min: 13.0°C (+1)
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY HC gives NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY

SUN RISES
06:47 hrs
SUN SETS
18:20 hrs
MOON RISES
10:01 hrs
MOON SETS
22:24 hrs
THUMBNAILS
A student member of the Campus Front of
India is taken into police custody while resist-
ing arrest for protesting in the prohibited
zone near the Karnataka Governor's house,
against the violent clashes in Delhi.
India, Myanmar sign MoUs for development of
Rakhine State: India Thursday reiterated its
commitment to support Myanmar’s efforts
for promoting peace, stability and the socio-
economic development in Rakhine State which
was rocked by violence against Rohingya Mus-
lims as the two countries signed 10 MoUs. Four
of the MoUs pertain to launching development
projects in the Rakhine State under the
Rakhine State Development Programme.
Indian Women’s cricket team makes it to the
semis against NZ: India became the first team
to sail through to the semi-finals of the
Women's T20 World Cup on Thursday as they
beat New Zealand by three runs. Chasing India's
total of 133/8, the Kiwis ended on 130/6 at
the Junction Oval in Melbourne. Match nine was
by far the toughest outing for the Indian eves
as strike bowler Poonam Yadav was taken to
the cleaners by Amelia Kerr. P16
T
he death toll in the
national capital's
deadliest commu-
nal riots and may-
hem in more than three
decades soared to 38 today
as Delhi continued to be on
edge amid raging violence
with thousands of people
being forced to pick up the
pieces of their shattered
lives and smashed liveli-
hoods.
Four days after com-
munal conflagration that
began in Northeast Delhi
with clashes between pro and
anti-Citizenship Amend-
ment Act (CAA) and spiralled
into a cycle of bloodshed,
arson and looting, the body
of a man was found in a drain
at Johri Enclave, even as
there were scattered inci-
dents of vehicles and shops
AFP
being set on fire in Maujpur,
Bhajanpura and other areas.
Delhi Police transferred
the probe into these com-
munal riots and violence to
the Crime Branch and
formed two Special Inves-
tigation Teams (SITs) for
the purpose. The death toll
rose to at least 38, accord-
ing to senior officials.
The death count at GTB
P5 Hospital rose to 34. Till
Wednesday night, the total
count of fatalities had stood
at 27, 25 of those at GTB Hos-
pital in Dilshad Garden.
“Over 215 riot victims
have been brought to our
hospital and treated since
February 24. However, at pre-
sent only 51 patients are
admitted. The condition of
almost all patients are sta-
ble except one,” GTB Hos-
pital medical superintendent
Sunil Kumar said. Since
February 24, 25 victims have
been brought dead at GTB
Hospital and 9 have died dur-
ing treatment, he said.
One person was declared
brought dead by doctors,
while another had died dur-
ing treatment at LNJP Hos-
pital yesterday.
“One more death at LNJP
Hospital was recorded on
Thursday. One fatality was
reported at Jag Pravesh
Chandra Hospital on Thurs-
day, taking the total death
toll to 38,” a senior official
said.
Over 50 patients have
been provided treatment
at LNJP Hospital since vio-
lence broke out on Sunday
in Northeast Delhi, officials
at the hospital said.
“The situation is return-
ing to normal. We are here
to reassure people that we
are with them,” newly
appointed special com-
missioner S N Shrivastava,
who visited the affected
areas, told reporters.
The CBSE has postponed
classes 10 and 12 exams
scheduled on 28 and 29
February in the commu-
nal riots-affected North-
east Delhi and parts of East
Delhi, officials said.
The exam postpone-
ment announcement by
the CBSE came for the third
time this week due to the
riots.The next date for exams
for affected students will
be notified shortly, the CBSE
said. Battle-scarred and des-
olate with scorched, black-
ened walls, the ashen
remains of vehicles, glass
shards and bricks ~ these
were the scenes in the most-
ly mixed-communities
neighbourhoods of North-
east Delhi even as several fires
still burnt there.
Shops, pharmacies and
other establishments were
closed and people stayed
indoors unless it was
unavoidable to step out.
Several families were seen
leaving with whatever they
could salvage from their
destroyed homes.
As they tried to grapple
with the destruction of their
shops, workshops or carts,
residents recounted the vio-
lence of the night before.
In Yamuna Vihar, three
to four rioters came at
around 4 am today to burn
vehicles.
“One of them was hold-
ing a bucket in his hand. He
started pouring some liquid
on three vehicles. One of the
cars caught fire. We raised
an alarm after which they
fled,” a local resident said,
adding that groups of peo-
ple in the neighbourhood
stay up all night to keep
watch.
TURN TO PAGE 7
Delhi cops 4
weeks to
file reply
NEW DELHI, FEB 27
The Delhi High Court
Thursday allowed
impleadment of the
Centre in the PIL seek-
ing lodging of FIRs and
arrests in northeast Delhi
where communal vio-
lence has erupted over
the amended citizen-
ship law.
A bench of Chief Jus-
tice D N Patel and Jus-
tice C Hari Shankar
granted four weeks to the
Centre and the police to
file their replies to the PIL
seeking lodging of FIRs
against three BJP lead-
ers for allegedly making
hate speeches.
Solicitor General
Tushar Mehta told the
bench that as the Cen-
tre is responsible for
maintaining law and
order in Delhi, it be
made a party in the mat-
ter, which was allowed
by the court.
He informed the
bench that 48 FIRs have
been lodged in relation
to the violence and said
there be no judicial inter-
vention till normalcy is
restored in the nation-
al capital. Mehta said the
FIRs have been lodged
in relation to arson, loot-
ing and the deaths. PTI
SEE PAGE 2
A controversy broke out
today over the timing of the
transfer of Delhi High Court
judge, Justice S Muralidhar,
who had yesterday taken
on the police for not reg-
istering a case against three
BJP leaders for their alleged
hate speeches.
The Congress and other
Oppsoition parties
slammed the “midnight”
notification describing it
as “shameful” while the
Centre accused the oppo-
sition of politicising a “rou-
tine” transfer.
The Union Law Ministry
last night issued three sep-
arate notifications for the
transfer of Justice Muralid-
har and two other judges,
Justice Ranjit Vasantrao
More of the Bombay High
Court and Justice Ravi Vijay
Kumar Malimath of the
Karnataka High Court.
Justice Muralidhar was
transferred to the Punjab
and Haryana High Court.
The transfers were
approved by President Ram
Nath Kovind. The notifi-
cations came a few hours
after a bench headed by Jus-
tice Muralidhar, the third
senior-most judge in the
Delhi High Court, expressed
“anguish” over Delhi Police’s
failure to register FIRs
against alleged hate speech-
es by BJP leaders Parvesh
Verma, Kapil Mishra and
Anurag Thakur in con-
nection with the protests
against the new Citizenship
law.
Union Law Minister
Ravi Shankar Prasad said
Justice Muralidhar was
transferred on the recom-
mendation of the Supreme
Congress leader
Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra accused the
government of
making attempts to
“muzzle” justice and
“break people’s
faith in an upright
judiciary”.
certainly sad and shame-
ful,” she tweeted.
Taking a dig at the gov-
ernment over what he
called Muralidhar’s “sud-
den” transfer, former Con-
gress chief Rahul Gandhi
tweeted, “Remembering
the brave Judge Loya, who
wasn’t transferred.”
Special CBI judge B H
Loya, who was hearing the
high-profile Sohrabuddin
Sheikh fake encounter
case, died in alleged mys-
terious circumstances on
1 December 2014.
Congress chief
spokesperson Randeep
Surjewala at a press con-
ference on the issue alleged
that the BJP government
was “waging a battle of
revenge” against the judi-
ciary. He called the trans-
fer a classic case of “hit-and-
run injustice” by the gov-
ernment.
The CPI-M noted with
concern the “midnight
transfer” of Justice Muralid-

Congress, AAP politicising

Court Collegium and
Cong leaders meet AAP suspends accused the Congress party
of politicising a routine
har.In a statement, the
party said this transfer was
part of a recommenda-

Prez, demand Amit councillor charged transfer. tion of the Supreme Court

violence in Delhi, says BJP Shah’s resignation

SNS & PTI
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
The BJP on Thursday accused
the Congress and the AAP of
“politicising” the riots in Delhi
and claimed that attempts to
instigate violence had been
made for two months after
Congress president Sonia
Gandhi gave the call for ‘aar
yaa par’ (fight to the finish)
in December last year.
Addressing a press con-
ference at the party office,
senior BJP leader and Union
Minister Prakash Javadekar
asked why other political par-
ties were silent on the attack
on the policemen and on the
death of Intelligence Bureau
staffer Ankit Sharma.
“In such a situation, the
duty of all political parties
should be to consolidate
peace,” he said.
Taking on the AAP which
governs Delhi, Javadekar said
that its MLAs should have
worked for peace, but chief
minister Arvind Kejriwal iden-
tified riot victims by religion
in the Assembly. He alleged
that attempts to instigate vio-
lence had been made for the
last two months since Sonia
Gandhi gave the call for ‘fight
to the finish’ at a rally.
Javadekar said the BJP was
working to restore peace and
condemned the Congress,
the AAP for doing politics
over the violence that claimed
34 lives in northeast Delhi and
left over 200 injured.
He asserted that peace
was restored in two days due
to Union Home Minister Amit
Shah’s effective handling.
He said the Congress’s
demand for Shah’s resignation
was “petty politics.”
Earlier in the day, the Con-
gress hit out at the government
over the transfer of Delhi
High Court Judge S Muralid-
har, alleging that the Modi dis-
pensation was waging a bat-
tle of revenge against the
judiciary.
Muralidhar was transferred
to the Punjab and Haryana
High Court, on a day when a
bench headed by him
expressed “anguish” over the
Delhi Police’s failure to reg-
ister FIRs against alleged hate
speeches by BJP leaders
Parvesh Verma, Kapil Mishra
and Anurag Thakur.
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
A Congress delegation, includ-
ing party chief Sonia Gand-
hi, on Thursday urged Pres-
ident Ram Nath Kovind to call
for Home Minister Amit Shah’s
resignation over his alleged
“abdication of duty” during
the communal violence in
Delhi and remind the Centre
of its “raj dharma”.
The delegation, includ-
ing former Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, Leader of
Opposition in Rajya Sabha
Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed
Patel, P Chidambaram, K C
Venugopal, Priyanka Gand-
hi Vadra, Anand Sharma and
Randeep Surjewala, also sub-
mitted a memorandum to
the president over the wave
of violence in Delhi.
Reading out parts of the
memorandum before the
media outside the Rashtrap-
ati Bhavan, Sonia Gandhi said
that instead of taking reme-
dies to diffuse the situation in
Delhi, the Centre and the
newly-elected Delhi govern-
ment have remained “mute
spectators” to the violence.
The violence has taken
the lives of over 30 people and
businesses have fallen prey to
looting, Gandhi said.
The party also asked the
president to call for the resig-
nation of Home Minister Amit
Shah over alleged “abdication
of duty” during the violence.
Manmohan Singh, in his
remarks to the media, said the
Congress leaders called upon
the President to convey to him
that what has happened in the
last four days in the nation-
al capital is a matter of deep
concern and national shame.
in IB staffer's killing
SNS & PTI
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
The AAP tonight suspended its
councillor Tahir Hussain from the
party's primary membership
after an FIR was filed by police
against him for allegedly being
involved in the killing of an Intel-
ligence Bureau staffer Ankit Shar-
ma.
AAP sources said Hussain has
been suspended from the party
till police probe is completed
against him.
Sharma was yesterday found
dead in a drain in the riots-hit
Northeast Delhi's Chand Bagh area
where he lived.
Following the allegations,
police have charged Hussain
with murder. The complaint was
given by Sharma's father, fol-
lowing which a case was registered
under Sections 365 and 302 of the
IPC. Hussain has denied the alle-
gations.
He added that a “well-
settled process” was fol-
lowed in the transfer.
At the BJP briefing,
senior leader and Union
minister Prakash Javadekar
said the transfer was in line
with the recommendation
of the Collegium. The rec-
ommendation was made
on 12 February.
The Congress alleged
that the transfer of Justice
Muralidhar was aimed at
saving some BJP leaders in
the Delhi violence case
and exposed the govern-
ment's “intimidation and
vendetta politics” against
the judiciary.
Congress leader Priyan-
ka Gandhi Vadra accused
the government of making
attempts to “muzzle” jus-
tice and “break people’s
faith in an upright judiciary”.
“The midnight transfer
of Justice Muralidhar isn't
shocking given the cur-
rent dispensation, but it is
collegium, which the Delhi
High Court Bar Association
had protested “for well-
argued judicial-adminis-
trative considerations.”
The party said the post
haste implementation of
the transfer appeared to be
in response to what unfold-
ed in the Delhi High Court
yesterday.
The CPI (M) said, “The
fact remains that the Bench
headed by Justice Muralid-
har called the bluff of the
Delhi police in trying to
shield the hate speeches of
top BJP leaders in Delhi in
the course of the Delhi
Assembly election and
after.”
The CPI (M) politburo
urged the Government
that in “these times of
acute confidence deficit, the
transfer order must be
kept in abeyance to rein-
force the confidence of
the people in the judicial
system of the country.”

US body condemns
Delhi violence
SNS & PTI
WASHINGTON, 27 FEBRUARY
Expressing “grave concern”
over the violence in New
Delhi, a US commission on
international religious free-
dom urged the Indian gov-
ernment to take swift action
for the safety of its citizens.
The US Commission on
International Religious Free-
dom (USCIRF) said that the
Indian government should
provide protection to people
regardless of their faith amid
reports of attack on Muslims
and expressed “grave con-
cern” over the violence.
“We urge the Indian gov-
ernment to make serious
efforts to protect Muslims and
others targeted by mob vio-
lence,” USCIRF Chair Tony
Perkins said in a statement
on Wednesday.
Reacting to the statement,
India on Thursday described
the comments by the USCIRF
and by “few individuals” over
the violence in Delhi as “fac-
tually inaccurate, misleading”
and an attempt to politicise
the issue.
Mi n i s t r y o f Ex t e r n a l
Affairs (MEA) Spokesper-
son Raveesh Kumar said,
“We have seen comments
made by USCIRF, sections of
the media and a few indi-
viduals regarding recent
incidents of violence in
Delhi. These are factually
inaccurate and misleading,
and appear to be aimed at
politicising the issue”.
India evacuates over 230 people from Wuhan & Japan
SNS & PTI
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
India on Thursday brought
back 112 people from the
coronavirus-hit Chinese city
of Wuhan and another group
of 124 from Tokyo who were
on board a cruise ship infect-
ed by the deadly virus.
A C-17 Globemaster III
transport aircraft of Indian Air
Force evacuated 76 Indians and
36 foreign nationals from
Wuhan while an Air India
flight brought back the group
of 124 people from Tokyo.
The foreign national evac-
uated from Wuhan included
23 from Bangladesh, six from
China, two each from Myan-
mar and Maldives and one
each from South Africa, USA
and Madagascar.
Besides 119 Indians, the
people evacuated from Japan
included two from Sri Lanka
and one each from Nepal,
South Africa and Peru. The
group was among 3,711 peo-
ple who were on board the
coronavirus-infected Dia-
mond Princess ship when it
docked at the Yokohama port
near Tokyo on 3 February.
“In line with India’s neigh-
bourhood first policy and
Indo-Pacific vision, the spe-
cial flight also evacuated five
foreign nationals ~ two Sri
Lankans, one Nepalese, one
South African and one Peru-
vian,” the External Affairs
Ministry said.
Three Indian crew mem-
bers didn’t board the Air India
flight as they conveyed their
wish to continue their stay on-
board the cruise ship to com-
plete the period of extended
quarantine put in place by the
Japanese government.
Out of the total 138 Indi-
an nationals originally on-
board Diamond Princess, 16
Indian crew members have
tested positive for coron-
avirus and are receiving med-
ical care at an onshore med-
ical facility in Japan.
All the evacuees will under-
go a 14-day quarantine at the
facility set up by the Indian
Army in Manesar.
India sent the C-17 Globe-
master to Wuhan on Wednes-
day and it carried 15 tonnes
of medical supplies for coro-
navirus-affected people in
China.
On its return, the aircraft
brought back 112 people
including 23 citizens from
Bangladesh, six from China,
two each from Myanmar and
the Maldives and one each
from South Africa, the US
and Madagascar.
Earlier, India had evacuated
around 650 Indians from
Wuhan in two Air India flights.
“In all 723 Indian nation-
als and 43 foreign nationals
have been evacuated from
Wuhan, China in these three
flights,” the Ministry of Exter-
nal Affairs (MEA) said.
On the medical supplies
delivered by India to China,
the MEA said they will help
augment the country’s efforts
to control the coronavirus
outbreak which has been
declared as a public health
emergency by theWorld Health
Organisation.
“The assistance is also a
mark of friendship and soli-
darity from the people of
India towards the people of
China as the two countries also
celebrate 70th anniversary
of establishment of diplo-
matic relations this year,” it said.
02
If those involved in the riots are found to be
from the AAP, give them double punishment
ARVIND KEJRIWAL
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020 DELHI CHIEF MINISTER

Delhi riots: Centre made party in PIL for FIRs, arrests Court seeks CBI's response on plea of
Najeeb's mother against closure report
New bench grants 4 weeks to Union govt to file reply to plea for FIRs against 3 BJP leaders for making hate speeches PTI
PTI Thursday. Justice Muralid- The death toll in the com- NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY The petition, filed
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY har was transferred late last munal violence reached 34 on through advocate
evening to the Punjab and Thursday, with around 200 A Delhi court Thursday sought Harsh Bora, sought

T
he Delhi High Court
on Thursday made
the Centre a party in
the PIL which has
sought lodging of FIRs and
arrests in communal violence
in northeast Delhi over the
amended citizenship law and
gave it four weeks to file a reply
to the petition.
A bench of Chief Justice D
N Patel and Justice C Hari
Shankar said that “looking at
the complexity of the situa-
tion”, the central government
was seeking more time to file
a reply to the plea which has
also sought lodging of FIRs
against three BJP leaders over
their alleged hate speeches in
connection with the Citizen-
ship Amendment Act (CAA)
related violence.
On Wednesday, a different
bench of the high court, com-
prising of Justices S Muralid-
har and Talwant Singh, had
expressed anguish over the
police failure to register FIR
against the three BJP leaders
-- Anurag Thakur, Parvesh
Verma and Kapil Mishra -- over
their alleged hate speeches and
had asked the police com-
missioner to take a “con-
scious decision” on it by
Haryana High Court, days
after the Supreme Court col-
legium had made the rec-
ommendation.
When the arguments com-
menced post-lunch on Thurs-
day before the new bench,
Solicitor General (SG) Tushar
Mehta at the outset said some
of the alleged hate speeches
in question were three weeks
to more than a month old and
yet instead of waiting for one
more day the matter was
mentioned by the petitioners
before the bench headed by
Justice Muralidhar on the
ground that there was “great
urgency”.
Mehta said the petitioners
could have waited for one
more day as the matter was
listed for hearing before the
Chief Justice's bench on Thurs-
day.
The SG said that everyone
was trying to restore nor-
malcy in the national capital
and urged the court not to
intervene at this stage as it
would not be conducive to
maintaining law and order in
the city.
He further said: “Consid-
ering the prevailing situa-
tion, it is the considered opin-
ion of the police authorities
that any decision at this junc-
ture may not be conducive for
restoration of normalcy. The
decision (on lodging of FIR)
will be taken at an appropri-
ate stage in accordance with
law”.
The SG also submitted
that the authorities have
examined all the audio/video
clips and other material includ-
ing that on Twitter and “after
having carefully considered
all these materials, a con-
scious decision is taken to defer
the decision on the question
(of lodging FIR)”.
He also urged the court to
allow the impleadment appli-
cation moved by the Ministry
of Home Affairs (MHA), instead
of waiting for the petitioners'
reply as done by the previous
bench.
“Union of India's implead-
ment cannot depend on the
yes or no of the petitioner,”
said Mehta, who also stated
he was authorised by the LG
to appear for the police.
Delhi government stand-
ing counsel Rahul Mehra,
who also claimed to be appear-
ing for the police, said he will
not get into the issue of
appearance and instead urged
the bench to issue some direc-
tions in view of the serious-
ness of the situation prevail-
ing in north-east district of the
city.
Mehra said, “The court
yesterday had asked why FIRs
regarding hate speeches were
not lodged when FIRs for
other offences have been reg-
istered”.
He also told the bench
that as on date 48 FIRs have
been registered in connection
with the deaths, arson, loot
and other offences commit-
ted in that area.
people injured.
“In larger interest of the cit-
izens some directions may be
issued,” Mehra told the court.
However, the SG said the
MHA and police need time to
file a reply.
He also told the court that
the hate speeches would be
looked into and a decision
would be taken on what has
to be done and added that the
decision taken would be indi-
cated in the MHA response.
Senior advocate Colin Gon-
salves, who appeared for peti-
tioners Harsh Mander and
Farah Naqvi, said there was
“hatred in the air” due to the
alleged hate speeches and
“it resulted in the deaths,
arson and looting”.
He said if hate speeches led
to murder, then those mak-
ing such speeches would be
responsible for the death.
“FIR has to be lodged
immediately, today itself.
These people should be arrest-
ed and taken off the streets,”
he added.
The high court had on
Wednesday had observed
that the city had seen enough
violence and it should not wit-
ness another 1984 anti-Sikh
CBI's response on a petition
moved by Fatima Nafees,
mother of the missing JNU stu-
dent Najeeb Ahmed, against
the closure report it had filed
in the case.
Chief Metropolitan Mag-
istrate Harjyot Singh Bhalla
directed the CBI to file its
reply by May 8.
The petition, filed through
advocate Harsh Bora, sought
further investigation by the
probe agency in the case,
claiming that it did not con-
duct a proper investigation and
filed the closure report on
false grounds.
It challenged the conclu-
sion of the CBI in the case that
Ahmed went missing volun-
tarily.
Investigation into the dis-
appearance of Ahmed, who
went missing from the uni-
versity, came to an end last year
after the Delhi High Court
allowed the CBI to file a clo-
sure report in the matter.
The high court did not
agree with the allegation of
Ahmed's mother that the CBI
wanted to file the closure
report due to “political com-
pulsions”.
The CBI had filed the clo-
further investiga-
tion by the probe
agency in the case,
claiming that it did
not conduct a prop-
er investigation and
filed the closure
report on false
grounds
sure report saying efforts to
trace him have yielded no
results.
The agency had announced
a reward of Rs 10 lakh for
anyone giving information
about Najeeb and informed
police chiefs of all state police
in the country.
Ahmed had gone missing
from the Mahi-Mandvi hos-
tel of the Jawaharlal Nehru Uni-
versity (JNU) here on October
15, 2016, following a scuffle with
some students allegedly affil-
iated to the Akhil Bharatiya Vid-
yarthi Parishad (ABVP) the
previous night.
As Delhi Police remained
clueless about Ahmed's where-
abouts even after seven months
of his missing, the probe was
handed over to the CBI on May
16, 2017.

LEGAL NOTICES
IN THE COURT OF
SH. NIKHIL CHOPRA
Additional District Judge-02
(South)
Room No. 606, Sixth Floor,
Saket Court Complex,
New Delhi.
PC-42/2019
Date of hearing : 28-03-2020
Smt. Rahmati Begum, d/o
Mohammad Mohiuddin, w/o
Jarafat Hussain, r/o H. No. 29,
Ground Floor, Pocket-40, C.
R. Park, New Delhi-110019.
— Petitioner
Versus
1. The State (Govt. of NCT of
Delhi).
2. Shipra Sen, d/o Late Sh.
Sudhindra Kumar Sen, r/o C-
4/85/1, Ground Floor, Safdar-
jung Development Area, Hauz
Khas, New Delhi.
3. Rafi Ahmed, s/o Jarafat
Hussain, r/o Granbergs
Tubben, 194F, 1275 Oslo, Nor-
way.
Also at : H. No. 29, Ground
Floor, Pocket-40, C. R. Park,
New Delhi-110019.
— Respondents
Whereas, the petitioner
abovenamed has applied by a
petition under Section 276 of
the Indian Succession Act,
1925, for grant of Letters of
Administration, or Probate or
Succession Certificate in
respect of the estate left by
the deceased Late Smt. Promi-
la Sen, d/o Sudhindra Kumar
Sen, r/o H. No. C/4, 85/1 G/F S
D Area, New Delhi, who died
on 27-01-2016.
Notice is hereby given to
the general public having any
interest in the Letters of
Administration/Succession
Certificate of the estate of
the abovenamed deceased
may if he/she desire appear in
this Court on 28-03-2020 and
participate in the proceed-
ings before the grant of Letters
of Administration/Pro-
bate/Succession Certificate
or if desire to oppose the
application of the petitioner
aforesaid, he/she should enter
appearance in person in this
Court on the aforesaid date
and be prepared to adduce on
that day any documentary
and oral evidence which
he/she may desire to adduce
in support of his/her claim
to opposition to the applica-
tion of the petitioner aforesaid.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of this Court on this
11th day of February, 2020.
Additional District Judge-
02 (South)
Saket Court Complex,
New Delhi.
Seal of the Court
xyz-8166
IN THE HIGH COURT OF
DELHI AT NEW DELHI
(Testamentary Intestate
Jurisdiction)
Citation under Section 283,
Indian Succession Act, 1925.
In the matter of Test Case
No. 60/2019.
Ravinder Rana
— Petitioner
Versus
The State of NCT of Delhi &
Ors.
— Respondents
To,
All Concerned.
In the matter of estate of
Late Smt. Barfo Devi, w/o B.S.
Rana, r/o C-137, Pushpanjali
Enclave, Pitampura, Delhi-
110034.
Whereas Ravinder Rana,
s/o Sh. Bal Singh Rana, r/o C-
137, Pushpanjali Enclave, Pita-
mpura, Delhi-110034, has filed
a petition under Section 276 of
the Indian Succession Act.
1926, for grant of Probate in
respect of the Will dated 24-07-
2008 of Smt. Barfo Devi,
deceased.
And whereas the aforesaid
case is fixed for hearing on 27-
04-2020 at 10.30 a.m. before the
Hon'ble Court. This citation is
issued, in terms of Section
283 of the said Act, to all per-
sons claiming to have any
interest in the properties of the
said deceased to come to this
Court, file objections, if any,
and take part in the proceed-
ings on the date specified
above for the grant of Pro-
bate.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of this Court, in terms
of order dated 11th day of
February, 2020.
Assistant Registrar (O)
for Registrar General
Seal of the Court
xyz-8181
COURT NOTICE
(U/O 5 Rule 20 CPC)
IN THE COURT OF
Sh. Arvind Nashier
Addl. Distirict and Sessions
Judge,
Charkhi Dadri
CNR No. HRBHA2-000936-
2019.
DMC/145/2019
Next Date : 28-05-2020.
Bansi Lal
Versus
Sudesh
Publication issued to :
Sudesh, d/o Rajbir, Village
Dhanonda, Tehsil Kanina, Dis-
trict Mahendergarh.
In the above titled case, the
defendant(s)/respondent(s)
could not be served. It is
ordered that the defen-
dant(s)/respondent(s) should
appear in person or through
counsel on 28-05-2020 at 10-00
a.m.
For details logon to
http://www.highcourtchd.gov.i
n/?trs=district_notice&dis-
trict=Bhiwani
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court on this
the 25th day of February, 2020.
Addl. Distirict and Ses-
sions Judge,
Charkhi Dadri
Seal of the Court
xyz-8182
IN THE COURT OF
SHEFALI BARNALA TANDON
Administrative Civil Judge-
cum-
Additional Rent Controller
(Central)
Room No. 323, IIIrd Floor,
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi.
Petition No. SC/12/2020.
N.D.O.H. : 23-03-2020
Mrs. Lucy Bara, w/o Mr. Lalit
Joseph Bara, r/o House No.
6, Kh. 766, IInd Floor, Siddhi
Vinayak Apartments, Burari,
Delhi-110084.
— Petitioner (1)
Mrs. Agnes Kujur, w/o Mr.
James Kujur, d/o Late Mr. Vin-
cent Xalxo, r/o Quarter No.
843-F, Type 3, Timar Pur, Delhi-
110054.
—Petitioner (2)
Versus
The State & Anr.
— Respondents
FOR SUCCESSION
CERTIFICATE UNDER INDIAN
SUCCESSION ACT, 1925.
To,
All Concerned.
Whereas in the abovenoted
petition the applicant/peti-
tioner has applied for Suc-
cession Certificate to the
Hon'ble Court under Section
372 of the Indian Succession
Act, 1925, in respect of the
debts and securities amount
of Rs. xxx as per record to
be standing in the name of
Late Shri Justine Xalxo, the
deceased.
Whereas the 23-03-2020 at 10
O'clock in the forenoon has
been fixed for hearing of the
application notice is hereby
given to this concerned.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court on this
the 20th day of February, 2020.
Administrative Civil
Judge-cum-
Additional Rent Controller
(Central)
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi.
Seal of the Court
xyz-8183
PROCLAMATION REQUIRING
ATTENDANCE OF
DEFENDANT
(Order 5, Rule 20 of the Code
of Civil Procedure)
In the Court of
Sh. Jitendra Singh
Addl. District Judge-06 (Cen-
tral)
Room No. 318,
Tis Hazari Courts
Delhi
Case No. RCA DJ
No. /92/2019
Savitri Devi
Versus
Parvinder Kaur & Ors.
To,
Smt. Meera Singla, w/o Sh.
Rajesh Singla, V-14, Green
Park, New Delhi.
Whereas you are inten-
tionally evading service of
summons it is hereby noti-
fied that if you shall not
defend the case on the 5th
day of March, 2020 at 10-00
a.m., the day fixed for the
final disposal, it will be heard
and determined ex-parte.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court, this of
24-02-2020.
Addl. District Judge-06
(Central)
Tis Hazari Courts
Delhi
Seal of the Court
xyz-8184
IN THE COURT OF
SH. DHARMENDER SINGH
ACJ/CCJ/ARC (South East)
Room No. 203,
Saket Court
New Delhi
SS-3/20.
D.O.H. : 12-03-20
Anil Kumar Jain, s/o Late
Shri Attar Chand Jain, r/o D-
134, Defence Colony. New
Delhi-110024.
—Petitioner
Versus
Neera Garg & Ors.
1. State Govt. of NCT of Delhi,
through Concerned S.D.M. Dis-
trict South East, Old Gargi/
College Building, Lajpat Nagar
IV, New Delhi-110024.
2. Neera Garg, w/o Pallav
Garg, d/o Shri Attar Chand
Jain, r/o 232, Upper Ground
Floor, Kailash Hills, East of
Kailash, Sriniwaspuri, South
Delhi, New Delhi-110065,
3. Rajan Jain, s/o Shri Attar
Chand Jain, r/o D-133, Defence
Colony, Lajpat Nagar, Defence
Colony, South Delhi, New Delhi-
110024.
4. Rajni Gupta, w/o Shri Hari
Kishan Gupta, d/o Shri Attar
Chand Jain, r/o 5-9-30/1/12,
Bashirbagh Place, Near Hyder-
abad Hursing Home, Bashir
Bagh, Himayath Nagar, Hyder-
abad, Andhar Pradesh-500063.
5. Karvy Fintech Pvt. Ltd.,
having its office at: 305, New
Delhi House, 27, Barakham-
ba Road, New Delhi-110001.
— Respondents
To,
The State/General Public.
Whereas an application
under Section 372 of the Indi-
an Succession Act, 1925 has
been made by Anil Kumar
Jain, successor of Late Attar
Chand Jain, for grant of Suc-
cession Certificate in respect
of debts/securities of
deceased.
And whereas the said appli-
cant shall come for hearing on
12th March 2020, at 10-00 a.m.
Therefore, the public at
large is hereby given notice if
any person has objection to
the grant of Succession Cer-
tificate in favour of the said
applicant, he may appear and
file objections in writing, in
person or through duly
appointed pleader, on the
said date and time.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court, on 18-02-
2020.
Administrative Civil Judge
ACJ/CCJ/ARC (South East)
Saket Court
New Delhi
Seal of the Court
xyz-8185
IN THE COURT OF
SMITA GARG
Addl. District Judge-02
Shahdara District
Room No. 52,
Karkardooma Courts, Delhi.
PC-01/2020.
Anit Sood, w/o Rajiv Sood,
r/o 6942, East Rohtash Nagar,
Shahdara, Delhi-110032.
— Petitioner
Versus
(1) The State of NCT of Delhi,
New Delhi.
(2) Smt. Rita Veen, w/o Late
Sh. Ashok Kumar Veen, r/o
1/7271, 1st Floor, Shastri Gali,
East Gorakh Park, Babarpur,
Shahdara, Delhi-110032.
(3) Smt. Veen Lamba, w/o
Sh. Y. N. Lamba, C/o 6942, East
Rohtash Nagar, Shahdara,
Delhi-110032.
(4) Smt. Usha Sablok, w/o Sh.
Gulshan Kumar Sablok, C/o
6942, East Rohtash Nagar,
Shahdara, Delhi-110032.
(5) Smt. Sapna Sachdeva,
w/o Sh. Raju Sachdeva, C/o
6942, East Rohtash Nagar,
Shahdara, Delhi-110032.
(6) Smt. Usha Dua, w/o Sh.
Naresh Dua, c/o 6942, East
Rohtash Nagar, Shahdara,
Delhi-110032.
— Respondents
CITATION FOR PUBLICATION
OF PETITION FOR GRANT OF
PROBATE UNDER SECTION
276 OF THE INDIAN
SUCCESSION ACT, 1925.
Whereas the 16-03-2020 has
been fixed for hearing of the
case, notice is hereby given
that person having any inter-
est in the said petition con-
cerned may if he/she desire
appear in this court on the
said 16-03-2020 and see the
proceedings.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court, this
16th day of March, 2020.
Addl. District Judge-02
Shahdara District
Karkardooma Courts,
Delhi.
Seal of the Court
xyz-8187
IN THE COURT OF
SHRI ARVIND BANSAL
Administrative Civil Judge/
Additional Rent Controller
Commercial Civil Judge
(South-East)
Room No. 203,
Saket Courts, New Delhi.
SS-14/2020.
Sunita Puri
Versus
State & Ors.
Whereas an application
under Section 372 of the Indi-
an Succession Act, 1925 has
been made by Sunita Puri,
d/o Late Dwarka Nath Puri,
through S.P.A. Satwik Shar-
ma, r/o A-113-114, Dayanand
Colony, Lajpat Nagar-IV, New
Delhi-110024, Presently at :
r/o 15, Bideford Close, Han-
worth, Middlesex TW13 5PG,
England, successor of Late
Smt. Janak Puri, for grant of
Succession Certificate in
respect of debts/securities
of deceased.
And whereas the said appli-
cant shall come for hearing on
11-03-2020 at 10-00 a.m.
Therefore, the public at
large is hereby given notice if
any person has any objec-
tion to the grant of Succession
Certificate in favour of the
said applicant, he may appear
and file objections in writing,
in person or through duly
appointed pleader, on the
said date and time.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court on 26-02-
2020.
Administrative Civil
Judge/
Additional Rent Con-
troller/
Commercial Civil Judge
(South-East)
Saket Courts, New Delhi.
Seal of the Court
xyz-8188
IN THE COURT OF
SH. SANATAN PRASAD
Addl. District Judge-01
East District,
Room No. 8, 2nd Floor,
Karkardooma Courts, Delhi.
PC No. 05/2020.
Sapna Garg @ Sapna
Chhabra, residing at Flat No.
312, Kanungo Apartments, IP
Extension, Patparganj, Delhi-
110092.
Presently at: 20590, Canyon
View DR, Saratoga, Califor-
nia-95070, USA
— Petitioner
Versus
1. State
Through, Chief Secretary,
Office of Chief Secretary, Near
Sachivalaya Road, IG Indoor
Stadium, ITO, Vikram Nagar,
New Delhi-110002.
2. Mrs. Sucharita Jain @
Sucharita Chhabra, w/o Shri
Ajay Jain, residing at: E 104,
Preet Vihar, Shakar Pur, Bara-
mad, East Delhi, Delhi-110092,
India.
3. Mr. Sudhanshu Chhabra,
r/o Jackers Building 113, Carter
Road, Bandra West, Mumbai-
400050, India.
— Respondents
PETITION/APPLICATION
UNDER SECTION 278 READ
WITH SECTION 279 OF THE
INDIAN SUCCESSION ACT
FOR GRANT OF LETTERS OF
ADMINISTRATION IN
RESPECT OF PROPERTY
SITUATED AT FLAT NO. 312,
KANUNGO APARTMENTS, IP
EXTENSION, PATPARGANJ,
DELHI 92 OF DECEASED SMT.
SANTOSH CHABBRA.
Whereas a petition under
Section 278 of the Indian Suc-
cession Act, 1925, for grant
of Letters of Administration
filed by the petitioner.
Whereas in the abovenoted
petition the applicant/peti-
tioner has applied for Letters
of Administration of property
bearing No. Flat No. 312,
Kanungo Apartments, IP
Extension, Patparganj, Delhi-
110092.
Whereas the 28-04-2020 at 10
O'clock in the forenoon has
been fixed for hearing of the
case, notice is hereby given
that person having any inter-
est in the Administration of the
concerned may if he/she
desire appear in this Court
on the said 28-04-2020 and
see the proceedings.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of this Court on 14-02-
2020.
Addl. District Judge-01
East District,
Karkardooma Courts,
Delhi.
Seal of the Court
xyz-8189
PROCLAMATION REQUIRING
ATTENDANCE OF
DEFENDANT
(Order 5, Rule 20 of the Code
of Civil Procedure)
In the Court of
Sh. Nikhil Chopra
Addl. District Judge-02
(South)
Room No. 606
Saket Court Complex,
New Delhi.
CS No. 883/2017.
Trilok Goel
— Plaintiff
Versus
Kamlesh Kumari & Ors.
— Defendants
To,
1. LR's of Late Sh. Attar, s/o
Late Sh. Mansa Ram.
2. LR's of Late Sh. Kamal
Singh, s/o Late Sh. Mansa
Ram.
3. LR's of Late Sh. H. Jieley
Singh, s/o Late Sh. Mansa
Ram.
4. LR's of Late Sh. Abhey
Raj, s/o Late Sh. Mansa Ram.
5. Sh. Dalbir Singh, s/o Late
Sh. Abhey Raj, all residents of
House No. 14/1 to 14/23, Yusuf
Sarai, New Delhi-110016.
Whereas you are inten-
tionally evading service of
summons it is hereby noti-
fied that if you shall not
defend the case on the 24th
day of April, 2020 the day
fixed for the final disposal,
it will be heard and deter-
mined ex-parte.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court this 23-01-
2020.
Addl. District Judge-02
(South)
Saket Court Complex
New Delhi.
Seal of the Court
xyz-8190
PROCLAMATION REQUIRING
ATTENDANCE OF
DEFENDANT
(Order 5, Rule 20 of the Code
of Civil Procedure)
In the Court of
Sh. Nikhil Chopra
Addl. District Judge-02
(South)
Room No. 606
Saket Court Complex,
New Delhi.
CS No. 883/2017.
Trilok Goel
— Plaintiff
Versus
Kamlesh Kumari & Ors.
— Defendants
To,
1. LR's of Late Sh. Attar, s/o
Late Sh. Mansa Ram.
2. LR's of Late Sh. Kamal
Singh, s/o Late Sh. Mansa
Ram.
3. LR's of Late Sh. H. Jieley
KOLKATA
Statesman House,
4, Chowringhee Square
Kolkata-700 001
Tel: (033) 22127070-76,
(033) 41071700
Fax: (033) 2212-6181 / 7107-1780
Email:
thestatesman@vsnl.com
statesmandisplay@gmail.com
thestatesmanclassified@gmail.com
DELHI
Statesman House,
148, Barakhamba Road,
New Delhi-110 001
Tel: (011) 2331 5911
Ishan House (2nd floor)
A-90, Sector II, NOIDA,
UP 201 301
Tel: (0120) 4171421
Email:
delhistatesman@gmail.com
delhi@thestatesmangroup.com
BHUBANESWAR
Plot 3A, Zone B, Sector A,
Mancheswar Industrial Estate,
Bhubaneswar-751 010.
Tel: (0674) 2588060/61/62/
2586371, Telefax: 0674-2588061
Email:
bhubaneswar@thestatesmangroup.com
statesmanbbsr@gmail.com
AIR-SURCHARGE; Kathmandu - Re. 2, Eastern Region - Re. 1
Singh, s/o Late Sh. Mansa
Ram.
4. LR's of Late Sh. Abhey
Raj, s/o Late Sh. Mansa Ram.
5. Sh. Dalbir Singh, s/o Late
Sh. Abhey Raj, all residents of
Motiwara, Village Munirka,
New Delhi.
Whereas you are inten-
tionally evading service of
summons it is hereby noti-
fied that if you shall not
defend the case on the 24th
day of April, 2020 the day
fixed for the final disposal,
it will be heard and deter-
mined ex-parte.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court this 23-01-
2020.
Addl. District Judge-02
(South)
Saket Court Complex
New Delhi.
Seal of the Court
xyz-8191
IN THE HIGH COURT OF
DELHI AT NEW DELHI
(Testamentary Intestate
Jurisdiction)
Citation under Section 283,
Indian Succession Act, 1925.
In the matter of Test Case
No. 91/2019.
Mr. Raman Shorey & Anr.
—Petitioners
Versus
State of GNCT of Delhi & Ors.
— Respondents
To,
All Concerned.
In the matter of estate of
Late Sh. Manohar Lal Shorey
@ Manohar Shorey, s/o Late
Sh. Behari Lal Shorey, r/o 202,
Mohta Building, 2nd Floor,
Bhikaji Cama Place, R.K. Puram
(Main) Vasant Vihar, South
West Delhi-110066.
Whereas Mr. Raman Shorey,
s/o Late Sh. Manohar Lal
Shorey, permanent, r/o
Ballinguile, Bernnanstown
Road, Carrickmines Dublin-
18, presently at: C/o R.K.
Shorey, M-2/32, DLF Phase-2,
Gurugram, and Mrs. Rupa
Dewan, d/o Late Sh. Manohar
Lal Shorey, r/o 5, The Garth
Carrickmines Woods, Car-
rickmins, Dublin-18, have filed
a petition under Section 278 of
the Indian Succession Act for
grant of Letters of Adminis-
tration in respect of estate
of Sh. Manohar Lal Shorey @
Manohar Shorey, deceased.
And whereas the aforesaid
case is fixed for hearing on 16-
04-2020 at 11.00 a.m. before
Joint Registrar (Judicial) of
this Court. This citation is
issued, in terms of Section
283 of the said Act, to all per-
sons claiming to have any
interest in the properties of the
SILIGURI
13A, Dabgram Industrial
Growth Centre,
P.O. Satellite Township,
Siliguri-734015
Tel: 2568615, 2568063 and
2568787. Fax: (0353) 2568296,
Email:
siliguri@thestatesmangroup.com
City Office: 3rd Floor, Rina
Bhawan, Opp. HDFC Bank,
Panitanki More, Sevoke Rd.,
Siliguri-734015.
Ph.: 0353-2524077
SHIMLA
Cabin No. 305, P. C. Chambers
Near Jodha Niwas
The Mall Shimla-171001, H.P.
Tel: 0177-2815000
Email:
shimla@thestatesmangroup.com
HYDERABAD
The Statesman Limited, 2nd
Floor, UNI Building,
A.C. Guards, Hyderabad-
500004,
Ph.: 040-2339 1739
Email:
hyderabad@thestatesmangroup.com ranchi@thestatesmangroup.com
All other stations in India - Re. 1
said deceased to come to this
Court, file objections, if any,
and take part in the proceed-
ings on the date specified
above for the grant of Let-
ters of Administration.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of this Court, in terms
of order dated 11th day of
December, 2019.
Assistant Registrar (O)
for Registrar General
Seal of the Court
xyz-8192
COURT NOTICE
IN THE COURT OF
APARNA CHOUDHARY
Civil Judge
Junior Division
Gurugram.
CNR No. HRGR02-000664-
2020
Case No. CS/487/2020
Next Date 20-03-2020 at
10.00 a.m.
Rahul Dev Sood @ Rahul Sood
Versus
General Public
SUIT FOR DECLARATION
Notice to Defendant No. 1. :
General Public
In the above titled case, the
defendant(s)/respondent(s)
could not be served. It is
ordered that the defen-
dant(s)/respondent(s) should
appear in person or through
counsel on 20-03-2020 at 10-00
a.m.
For details logon to
http://www.highcourtchd.gov.i
n/?trs=district_notice&dis-
trict=gurgaon
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court on this
the 24th day of February, 2020.
Civil Judge
Junior Division
Gurugram.
Seal of the Court
xyz-8193
PROCLAMATION REQUIRING
ATTENDANCE OF
DEFENDANT
(Order 5, Rule 20 of the Code
of Civil Procedure)
In the Court of
Nivedita Anil Sharma
District Judge
(Commercial Court)
Room No. 57, 3rd Floor
Shahdara District
Karkardooma Court, Delhi.
CS (Comm) 122/2019
M/s. ASK Automotive Pri-
vate Limited
—Plaintiff
Versus
Mr. Deepak Kumar & Others.
— Defendants
To,
Mr. Alok Kumar, Khasra No.
337, Phase 1, Krishna Vihar
Chowk, Sewadhan, Loni, Ghazi-
abad, Uttar Pradesh.
—Defendant No. 2.
BANGALORE
No. 68, First Floor, Gold Tower,
50 Residency Road, Bangalore-
560025.
Tel.; 080-22229129, 080-22234813
Email:
bangalore@thestatesmangroup.com
MUMBAI
5, Kasturi Buildings, Jamshedji
Tata Road, Mumbai-400 020
Tel: (022) 2202 1045,
Email:
mumbai@thestatesmangroup.com
manuelfrancis@thestatesman.com
CHENNAI
Fagun Mansion (4th floor), 26,
Ethiraj Road, Chennai-600 008,
Tel: (044) 28278037, 28224800
Email:
chennai@thestatesmangroup.com
LUCKNOW
2/2, Butler Palace (Near Jopling
Road), Lucknow-226 001,
Ph.: (0522) 2206705
Email:
lucknow@thestatesmangroup.com
RANCHI
11/C, Road#1, Ashoknagar,
Ranchi - 834 002
Fax: (0651) 2247054
Email:
The Defendant abovenamed.
Whereas you are inten-
tionally evading service of
summons it is hereby noti-
fied that if you shall not
defend the case on the 13th
day of April, 2020, the day
fixed for the final disposal,
it will be heard and deter-
mined ex-parte.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court, on this
26th day of February, 2020.
District Judge
(Commercial Court)
Shahdara District
Karkardooma Court, Delhi.
Seal of the Court
xyz-8186
COURT NOTICE
(U/O 5 Rule 20 CPC)
IN THE COURT OF
Sh. Anil Kaushik
Addl. Civil Judge (Sr. Divi-
sion),
Gurugram
CNR No. HRGR02-002423-
2017.
Next Date : 31-03-2020.
Pasco Automobiles
Versus
Vijay Pal
Publication issued to :
Vijay Pal, s/o Sh. Gaze Singh,
575/10, Laxman Vihar, Phase-
II Opp. Sneh Hospital Wali
Gali, Gurugram, Haryana.
In the above titled case, the
defendant(s)/respondent(s)
could not be served. It is
ordered that the defen-
dant(s)/respondent(s) should
appear in person or through
counsel on 31-03-2020 at 10-00
a.m.
For details logon to
http://www.highcourtchd.gov.i
n/?trs=district_notice&dis-
trict=Gurugram
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court on this
the 13th day of February, 2020.
Addl. Civil Judge (Sr. Divi-
sion),
Gurugram
Seal of the Court
xyz-8194
I, SEEMA Bhattacharyya,
spouse of No. 287887‘R’
Sergeant Dipendranath
Bhattacharyya, R/o. Vill. +
P.O.: Baduria (Rathkhola),
P.S.: Baduria, Dist.: North 24
Parganas, Pin-743401, West
Bengal have changed my
name from Seema
Bhattacharyya to Sima
Bhattacharyya, vide affi-
davit sworn before the 1st
Class Judicial Magistrate,
Basirhat Court on
30.01.2020.
(B01837)
I, ALAUDDIN Ahmed, S/o.
late Janmahammed Biswas,
DOB 02.04.1957, residing at
R a g h u n a t h g a n j ,
Darbeshpara, Murshidabad,
WB shall henceforth be
known as Alauddin Ahamed
for all purposes, vide
Affidavit 3031 Notarized, Md
Abdul Latif dt. 25.02.20 at
Jangipur Court.
(B01841)
I, CHAMPA Paul, father –
Lt. Ramesh Chandra Paul,
residing at Harihat, Sakhari
Patty, P.O. + P.S.: Katwa,
Dist.: Purba Bardhaman, by
mistake my name and D.O.B.
is recorded as Kanak Chapa
Pal, D/o. Ramesh Ch. Pal and
28.10.1957 in my Higher
Secondary Admit Card, by
affidavit issued by
Honourable SDEM Katwa
Court on 14.02.2020, correc-
tion has been made to my
name and date of birth, now
my name is Champa Paul,
D/o. Lt. Ramesh Chandra
Paul and my D.O.B. is
19.10.1956. Champa Paul,
D/o. Lt. Ramesh Chandra
Paul and Kanak Chapa Pal,
D/o. Ramesh Ch. Pal is the
same, single and identical
person.
(B01842)
I, KULA Prasad Thakur,
S/o. Lt. Bishnu Prasad
Thakur, do hereby declare
that Kula Prasad Thakur &
Kali Prasad Thakur is same
and one identical person,
vide affidavit (No. 2703)
sworn before Ld 1st Class
Magistrate Court, Alipore,
19.02.20.
(B01849)
I, NEMAI Sarkar, S/o. late
Sidweshwar Sarkar, R/o.
Tentulbaria, North 24
Parganas, W.B.-743245, do
hereby declare that Nemai
Sarkar & Nemai Pramanick
is same and one identical
person, vide affidavit sworn
before Ld. 1st Class
Magistrate, Kolkata dated
24.02.2020, No. 2781.
(B01844)
I, MRIDULA Bal, W/o. Sri
Dulal Chandra Bal, D/o.
Amiya Biswas, have
changed my name from
Mridula Biswas to Mridula
Bal, both are same and one
identical person, vide affi-
davit sworn before Notary
Public, Kolkata dated
19.02.2020.
(B01843)
I, MOHIUDDIN, S/o. late
Makdum of Q-660, Pakaria
Talab, Kol.-24, henceforth be
known as Mohiuddin, S/o.
late Makdum, vide affidavit
before the 1st Class Judicial
Magistrate at Alipore on
10.01.2020. Mohiuddin, S/o.
late Makdum and Md
Mainuddin Qureshi, S/o. late
Md Makdum is the same
and one identical
person.
(B01847)
I, BIMLA, w/o Narotam Das,
r/o H. No. 336/9, New Rly. Road,
Near Chuna Bhatti, Gurugram,
declare that my daughter-in-
law Geeta Devi, w/o Late
Rajender Saini alias Raju, her
children Maya alias Rajbir,
Ambika, w/o Rajbir, & Ritu,
Renu is out of my control. I dis-
own them from my mov-
able/immovable properties.
Anybody dealing with them
will be doing at their own
risk. Me & my family are not
responsible for any kind of
act done by them.
xyz-8195
SALE NOTICE
Offers are invited from
public pursuant to solemn
order for sale by public auc-
tion dated 02.09.2019 passed
by Hon’ble High Court at
Calcutta in G.A. No. 1946 of
2018 of C.S. No. 272 of 1933 in
sealed cover enclosing
therewith Demand Draft /
Bankers Cheque or like
instrument drawn in favour
of undersigned Receiver
“Anima Chakraborty” as
Earnest Money Deposit not
less that 20% of the value
offered in connection with
the sale of the immovable
property being 5-storied
brick built building con-
structed on a total land area
of 12 cottahs 14 square feet
being situated at 115,
Cotton Street, Kolkata-
700007. While submitting
such offer, the offerer shall
not write his name and
address on the face of the
sealed cover. Such offer will
be received by the Receiver
and will be opened in the
Court.
Anima Chakraborty
Advocate and Receiver
Bar Association Room No. 3
High Court at Calcutta
Mobile: 9830035587
9038132399
(B01850)
TENDER No. WBTBCL/2020
02-0015 — West Bengal Text
Book Corporation Ltd.
invites sealed offer from
paper mills / authorised
dealer for supply of 58/60
gsm crème wove paper. For
details and any amendment
please visit our website:
www.wbtextbookcorpora
tion.com
(B01848)
e-TENDER is invited for
Construction of Academic
Building. For details of ten-
der and tender documents
may be downloaded from
http://www.wbtenders.gov.
in
(Tender ID No.
2020_DHE_275233_1)
Tender Ref No.
WB/BC/NIT-02/2019-20.
Principal
Behala College
(B01852)
UNIVERSITY OF
KALYANI
E-tender is invited
against Tender ID No.:
2020_UOK_275093_1 for
Purchase of 15 Nos. of
Split Air Conditioner for
Department of
Mathematics. Last date
for submission of quota-
tion: 09.03.2020. For
details please visit web-
site: www.klyuniv.ac.in
(for viewing only) and
http://wbtenders.gov.in
(for viewing & tender
submission).
Sd/-
Registrar
(B01845)
UNIVERSITY OF
NORTH BENGAL
Office of the Registrar
NOTICE INVITING
e-TENDER
Following e-Tenders are
invited from reputed
Vendors, for details
please visit: https://
wbtenders.gov.in
Sl.No.; NIT No.; Tender
Id respectively are:
1. 241/R-2020; 2020_
DHE_275083_1.
2. 243/R-2020; 2020_
DHE_275112_1.
3. 244/R-2020; 2020_
DHE_275130_1.
Registrar
(B01851)
UNIVERSITY OF
KALYANI
E-tender is invited
against Tender ID No.:
2020_UOK_275110_1 for
Extension of Construction
at Bengali Department
(Ground Floor and First
Floor). Estimated
Amount: Rs. 42,83,783.
Last date for submission
of quotation: 16.03.2020.
For details please visit
website: www.klyuniv.
ac.in (for viewing only)
and http://wbtenders.
gov.in (for viewing & ten-
der submission).
Sd/-
Registrar
(B01846)
 03
What message is central government trying to give by
transferring Justice Muralidhar, who showed his resentment
against police inaction during Delhi violence?
ASHOK GEHLOT
RAJASTHAN CHIEF MINISTER NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020

HC seeks govt, police’s reply on

THUMBNAILS
‘If rioters are from AAP, give JMI student’s
plea for compensation, FIR
them double punishment’ PTI
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY

The Delhi High Court onThurs-

day sought response of the Cen-
forhearingbeforethe highcourt
which sought response of the
Delhi government and police
on the plea. It was filed by
Shayaan Mujeeb who con-
CM announces `10 lakh and `2 lakh, respectively, for each of those killed or injured in N-E Delhi violence tre and the AAP government tended that he was in the uni-
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE ~ irrespective of religion and He also reportedly said that on a Jamia Millia Islamia stu- versity library on December 15,
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY caste, a probe must be con- the Delhi government will dent's plea seeking compen- 2019 studying, when police per-
ducted and action must be bear the cost of treatment of sation for injuries suffered by sonnel entered the building and

Commerce Secretary Anup
Wadhwan during the
two-day national confer-
ence on 'Packaging for a
Better Life', in the Capital
on Thursday. SNS
Raghav Chadha likely to be
DJB vice-chairman: First-
time Aam Aadmi Party
MLA Raghav Chadha is like-
ly to be the vice-chairman
of the Delhi Jal Board,
sources said on Thursday.
Chadha is an MLA from
Rajendra Nagar. The
sources said that an order
to this effect will be
issued soon.Burari MLA
Sanjeev Jha and Deoli MLA
Prakash Jarwal are likely
to appointed as DJB mem-
bers.Urban Development
Minister Satyendar Jain is
the chairman of Delhi Jal
Board. PTI
D
elhi chief minister
and AAP supremo
Arvind Kejriwal
today said that any-
one found involved in the
communal riots and violence
raging in Northeast Delhi
should be given the harshest
punishment possible in accor-
dance with the law of the
land.
No such person should be
spared, whether directly
involved in killings, arson,
loot and destruction of prop-
erty or accused of inciting
violence, he asserted.
Addressing a press con-
ference here, Kejriwal said, "If
anyone from his party is found
to have played a role in the riots
he should be given double pun-
ishment. There should be no
politics on the question of
security."
The CM was asked about
the alleged involvement of
AAP councillor Tahir Hussain
in the killing of an Intelli-
gence Bureau (IB) staffer Ankit
Sharma, 26.
Deputy CM Manish Siso-
dia was also present at the press
conference.
Meanwhile, senior AAP
leaders Sanjay Singh and
Gopal Rai also reportedly said
the party's stand on violence
remains clear that strictest
punishment must be given to
anyone associated with spread-
ing it.
The AAP leaders' reaction
came after the family of Shar-
ma, who was found dead in a
drain near his home in North-
east Delhi's riot-hit Chand
Bagh area, accused Hussain
of being behind his killing. Shar-
ma's family members alleged
that Hussain and his associ-
ates were behind his murder.
Hussain rejected these alle-
gations, calling them "false and
baseless". He called for an
impartial probe into the inci-
dent and said action should
be taken against the guilty.
Singh said they have heard
Hussain's side of the story
too. Rai said irrespective of reli-
gion or caste, a probe must be
conducted and action taken
against those found respon-
sible for inciting violence.
“I have just one thing to say
taken even if it is Tahir Hus-
sain or it is (BJP leader) Kapil
Mishra,” Rai told reporters.
At least 38 people were
killed and over 200 injured in
the communal clashes that
broke out in Northeast Delhi
after clashes between pro
and anti-Citizenship Amend-
ment Act (CAA) groups spi-
ralled out of control early this
week. Frenzied mobs torched
houses, shops, vehicles,
mosques, schools, and pelt-
ed stones at local residents and
police personnel.
Jaffrabad, Maujpur,
Babarpur, Yamuna Vihar,
Bhajanpura, Chand Bagh,
Shiv Vihar are among the
worst riots-affected areas
across Northeast Delhi.
At his press conference,
Kejriwal announced that the
Delhi government will give Rs
10 lakh to the families of
those who lost their lives in
these communal riots.
Those seriously injured
will get Rs 2 lakh, the CM said.
those injured in the violence
and admitted to private hos-
pitals.
Special camps will be set
up for people to get essential
documents which they lost
during arson, the CM said.
Kejriwal said these deci-
sions were taken at a high-
level meeting of senior offi-
cials which he had called to
provide relief to the riot-
affected people immediate-
ly.
He said he had made a
round of the riots-hit areas
and found that Hindus and
Muslims both had suffered the
loss of lives and properties.
The government has made
arrangements for the supply
of food to the "curfew-bound
localities", he said.
The CM also said four
night magistrates had been
appointed to control the sit-
uation and that peace com-
mittees had also been formed.
him allegedly in police action
against anti-CAA protesters
on December 15 last year.
A bench of Chief Justice D
N Patel and Justice C Hari
Shankar issued notice to the
Ministry of Home Affairs, Delhi
government and police seek-
ingtheirstandonthepleawhich
also wants registration of an FIR
into the offences allegedly
committed by the police forces.
The court listed the matter
for further hearing on May 20.
The petition filed by Mohd
Mustafa has sought that the
authorities be directed to pay
a compensation of at least Rs
one crore for physical and
mental losses suffered by him.
The plea has sought direc-
tion for reimbursing the stu-
dent the expenses of his med-
ical treatment that he had
already incurred, including
cost of travelling to hospitals.
On February 17, another
similar petition had come up
allegedly beat up the students
there. The court was initially
of the view that the petitioner
ought to have filed a civil suit
if he was seeking compensa-
tion as the claims made by him
would have to be proved
through evidence which can-
not be done in a writ petition.
Earlier, another student Mohd
Minhajuddin had moved a
plea seeking a probe into the
incident and demanding com-
pensation for injuries he suf-
fered.
Minhajuddin, according
to his plea, lost vision in one
eye in the incident. On Decem-
ber 15 last year, a protest
againsttheCitizenship(Amend-
ment) Act near Jamia Millia
Islamia turned violent, with
demonstrators pelting stones
atpoliceandsettingpublicbuses
and private vehicles on fire.
Police later entered the uni-
versity, firing teargas shells
and baton-charging students.

Delhi Police inaction in protecting minorities reminiscent of ’84 riots: Gujral

PTI
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
Shiromani Akali Dal MP
Naresh Gujral said on Thurs-
day that the Delhi Police's
“inaction” towards protect-
ing the lives and properties
of minorities in the national
capital is “reminiscent” of
the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The lawmaker, whose party
is a BJP ally, said no one
wants a repeat of what hap-
pened in 1984.
Speaking to PTI after shoot-
ing off a letter to Delhi Police
chief Amulya Patnaik, Gujral,
the son of former prime min-
ister I K Gujral, said that
minorities in certain parts of
Delhi are “frightened”.
“Because their lives and
properties have not been
protected by the Delhi Police,
which is very similar to what
we saw in 1984. It's shocking.”
In his letter, which has
also been marked to Union
Home Minister Amit Shah and
Delhi's Lieutenant Governor
Anil Baijal, the MP has
slammed the Police for
allegedly not acting on his call
on Wednesday, informing
them that a group of 16 peo-
ple from the minority com-
munity was trapped in a
house surrounded by rioters
and needed help.
“When a Member of Par-
liament's complaint is not
paid heed to, one can imag-
ine the plight of the common
man. No sane Indian wants a
repeat of 1984,” Gujral said.
In the letter, he has said that
at around 11:30 pm onWednes-
day, he received a call from an
acquaintance from the minor-
ity community that he and 15
others were trapped in a house
near Gonda Chowk in Mau-
jpur and a mob was trying to
break in.
Gujral said he called the
police for assistance and intro-
duced himself as a Member
of Parliament, and hoped that
the distressed people would
have got help.
“However, much to my
disappointment, no action
was taken on my complaint
and the 16 individuals received
no assistance from the Delhi
Police. They fortunately man-
aged to escape only because
some Hindu neighbours came
to their rescue.
“If this is the situation
when a MP makes a complaint
personally, it is not surprising
that certain parts of Delhi
continue to burn while the
police stand by apathetically,”
he wrote in his letter to the Delhi
police chief.

CAPFs personnel donate blood at AIIMS camp, GTB Hospital

SNS & PTI
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
Amid the deadly communal riots engulf-
ing Northeast Delhi which killed at
least34 people and injured over 200
people, the All India Institute of Med-
ical Sciences (AIIMS) here today organ-
ised a mega blood donation camp of offi-
cials of paramilitary forces ~like the Cen-
tral Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Cen-
tral Industrial Security Force (CISF),
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and
Border Security Force (BSF) ~ for victims
of these riots.
The officials from the CISF, ITBP
and BSF participated in the blood dona-
tion camp where a total of 2,000 units
of blood was collected.
Doctors, para-medical staff and
senior officers of paramilitary forces par-
ticipated in it and donated their blood.
On the occasion, CISF director gen-
eral Rajesh Ranjan said, “Everyone
should donate blood once in every
three months. It can boost our immu-
nity as well. We are lagging behind in vol-
unteer blood donation which can
increase by organising such volunteer
blood donation camps.”
CISF additional director Alok Kumar
Pateriya appreciated this AIIMS doctors'
cause.
Dr Vijay Kumar Gurjar, convenor of
blood donation camp, said young doc-
tors should also volunteer in such activ-
ities.
Over 1,300 personnel from the Cen-
tral Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) includ-
ing the CRPF, BSF, CISF and ITBP donat-
ed blood at this mega blood donation
drive organised by the AIIMS.
About 500 personnel from the CRPF,
400 from the CISF, 350 from the BSF and
100 from the ITBP donated blood at the
camp, a senior CAPF official said.
The chiefs of these forces ~ Rajesh Ran-
jan, BSF chief V K Johri and ITBP DG S
S Deswal ~ led their personnel at the AIIMS
blood donation drive, he said.
Meanwhile, nearly three dozen CRPF
personnel have donated blood at the GTB
Hospital here to supplement its bank in
view of the injured in the Delhi communal
clashes being admitted to the facility, offi-
cials said. They said a contingent of 50
personnel of the paramilitary were sent
to the hospital on Tuesday, of whom 34
donated blood while the rest were asked
to remain on standby.
“The donation was made in order to
supplement the blood bank of the GTB
Hospital where fatal and non-fatal casu-
alties of the Delhi riots were being
admitted since Monday,” a senior offi-
cial of the force said.
At least 34 people have been killed
and over 200 injured in the riots in
Northeast Delhi that began on Monday.

Vandalised schools: Burnt books,

charred boards, broken desks
PTI
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
“Welcome to a very happy
school” reads a half-charred
board at a private school in
Brijpuri area of North East
Delhi which is now home to
broken desks and burnt books
after it was vandalised dur-
ing the violence.
Arun Modern Senior Sec-
ondary School, which is over
32 years old, looks no less than
a cemetery, say officials, who
claim the damage is estimat-
ed to be over Rs 70 lakh.
“While I am yet to recover
from what has happened at the
school, my biggest relief is
that children were not in the
premises when this happened.
I do not even want to imag-
ine what would have hap-
pened if that was the case,”
school principal Jyoti Rani
told PTI.
“Our security guard was
there on Tuesday evening
when a mob entered the
premises. Scared by the hap-
penings, he rushed outside to
save his life. Only two days later,
we could gather the courage
to go to the school and all I
could see was vandalised
desks, burnt books in library
and a mess everywhere. It
looks no less than a cemetery
now,” she added.
Bhisham Sharma, a former
MLA and owner of the school,
said the rioters burnt books
worth Rs 70 lakh.
“The school has been run-
ning since 1987. The incident
happened around 5 pm on
Tuesday. They came and burnt
down everything. We have
lost records of 30 years. The only
thing we are thankful is that
there were no children at that
time in the school, otherwise
the loss would have been
huge,” he said.
“Two buses of the school
have been burnt. Calls were
made to the police and fire
brigade, but there was no
response. The fire tenders
arrived only onWednesday. The
firemen told us they could not
have come without the police
escorting them since they
were also being attacked and
their vehicles vandalised,”
Sharma added.
Shaheen, parent of a class
7 student of the school said,
“Why did the rioters have to
burn down a school which edu-
cates children? They are burn-
ing everything else and could
have spared schools. What
about the children who are
awaiting their final exams?
Their year-long effort will go
waste.”
At Rajdhani Public School
in Shiv Vihar, few student
bags, crayons strewn over,
half-burnt models that were
part of a recently held exhibition
and cut outs from the Repub-
lic Day celebrations last month,
are among the remains while
the entire library has been
burnt.
Security guard Pawan
Susheel said,“Kindergarten stu-
dents at times leave their bags
in schools. No student has been
hurt. This (the violence) did
not happen in school hours.
I came today only.”
Manoj Chandra, caretak-
er of the school said, “The riot-
ers came around 3 pm. They
had lathis and swords with
them and may have been 100-
200 in number. They barged
through the main gate, some
of them climbed the terrace.
Me, my wife and our two kids
were present at the school. We
ran from the back door to
save ourselves.
“We do not know what
they did to the school, but when
we came back here yesterday,
we saw that the reception
area was burnt and the entire
school had been vandalised,”
he said. Similar heart-wrench-
ing scenes can be witnessed
in the DPR School in the same
area. Nobody was present in
the premises. The main gate
of the school has been dam-
aged making it easy for any-
body to enter inside.
The school has been rav-
aged beyond recognition as the
air filled with a burning smell
makes you nauseating when
you enter its compound.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal announced
that children who have lost their
books and uniforms in the vio-
lence, will be provided the
same free of cost.
“The Directorate of Edu-
cation shall provide books
and notebooks free of cost to
children of both government
and private schools. The dis-
bursement will take place
from the respective schools.
Similarly, new set of uniforms
shall also be provided free of
cost,” he said on Thursday.
Schools have been closed
in North East Delhi and East
Delhi for three consecutive
days, while the CBSE has post-
poned board exams in the
area scheduled till February
29.
The communal violence
over the amended citizen-
ship law in northeast Delhi has
claimed 34 lives so far and left
over 200 people injured. Fren-
zied mobs torched houses,
shops, vehicles, a petrol pump
and pelted stones at locals and
police personnel.
Jaffrabad, Maujpur,
Babarpur, Yamuna Vihar, Bha-
janpura, Chand Bagh and
Shiv Vihar are among the
areas mainly affected by the
riots.
04
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020
Kartarpur: Pb House row
over questioning pilgrims
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, 27 FEBRUARY
O
pposition parties
created an uproar in
the Punjab Assem-
bly today over the
questioning by police of some
pilgrims returning from the
Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara
in Pakistan.
Punjab jails minister
Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa
told the Assembly that some
pilgrims were questioned
following information from
the Intelligence Bureau (IB)
unit in Amritsar.
He clarified that the state
government has nothing to
do with the questioning and
it was done on the directive
of the IB.
MLAs belonging to the
Opposition parties accused
the government of harassing
pilgrims making use of the
visa-free Kartarpur Corridor
to visit the Sikh shrine, just
across the border from Gur-
daspur district.
The uproar in the House
comes days after Punjab
Director General of Police
Dinkar Gupta triggered a
Himachal to channelise major rivers, rivulets
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SHIMLA, 27 FEBRUARY
The Himachal Pradesh gov-
ernment will work for chaneli-
sation of all major rivers and
rivulets of the state to curb
flooding and save riverside
land.
Replying to a query by
Gagret MLA Rajesh Thakur
during question hour, Jal
Shakti minister Mahender
Singh Thakur said the state
government was preparing a
detailed project report (DPR)
of all rivers and rivulets of
Himachal and a proposal
would be sent to the Central
government to seek funding
for channelisation of major
rivers.
"The state government
would make all rivers flood
prone zones and save adjoin-
Minister hand in glove with drug mafia: SAD
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, 27 FEBRUARY
The Shiromani Akali Dal
(SAD) today accused Punjab
health minister Balbir Singh
Sidhu of having hand in glove
with the drug mafia.
Addressing a Press con-
ference at the Press gallery in
the Punjab Assembly with the
SAD legislators, former min-
ister Bikram Singh Majithia
said the minister diverted
five crore buprenorphine
tablets used to treat narcot-
ic addiction to private cen-
ters and is providing shelter
to the accused by indulging
LEISURE
10 MINUTE CROSSWORD
ACROSS DOWN
1 Phantom (5) 1 Aircraft (6)
4 Whirl (4) 2 Slightly ill (3-6)
8 Petty quarrel (4)
9 Underground storey 3 Furniture item (5)
(8) 5 Not well lit (3)
10 Run away to wed (5) 6 Type of bet (6)
11 Shopping container (6) 7 Weather map line (6)
13 Item of headwear (6,3) 12 Impasse (9)
17 Attic (6)
18 Consecrate (5)
19 Breakfast food (5,3)
14 Soapy froth (6)
15 Holy (6)
21 Operatic song (4) 16 Garment (1-5)
22 Dull (4) 18 Counterfeit (5)
23 Exhausted (5) 20 Age (3)
SOLUTIONS TO YESTERDAY’S CROSSWORD
ACROSS 12 Stetho- DOWN
1 Flea, scope, 1 Forest,
3 Sea (Fleecy), 16 Apropos, 2 Elite,
8 Rhizome, 18 Sight, 3 Start-up, 14 Cassis,
20 Again,
9 Aware, 4 Ahead,
10 Sieve, 21 Imitate, 5 Covert,
22 Ewe,
11 Omitted, 6 Hero-
23 Rags.
By arrangement with The Independent
Figures in parentheses denote
the number of letters in the words required
row, suggesting in the media
that Pakistani agencies could
make overtures to Indian
pilgrims to Kartarpur Sahib.
Shiromani Akali Dal’s leg-
islative wing leader leader Sha-
ranjit Singh Dhillon raised the
issue during the Zero Hour.
“Devotees are being ques-
tioned in police stations by
Punjab police,” he said, cit-
ing a media report, and sought
a reply from the Congress-led
government.
Aam Aadmi Party legisla-
ing lands from erosion and
other such risks," he added.
He said the state govern-
ment would complete the
channelisation of Swan river
by 31 March and would utilise
Rs 922 crore that was sanc-
tioned for the purpose.
Leader of Opposition of
Mukesh Agnihotri said former
Chief Minister Virbhadra
Singh had got the Swan river
project approved to which
Thakur said everyone worked
in a cover-up operation.
Demanding Sidhu’s dis-
missal, Majithia said he
should be charged under the
Narcotic Drugs and Psy-
chotropic Substances (NDPS)
Act. “A separate inquiry should
also be ordered into the mat-
ter to buttress the investiga-
tion being carried out by the
Enforcement Directorate
(ED) keeping in view the
seriousness of the Rs 300
Crore drug tablet scam,” he
added.
Majithia said exemplary
action should be taken against
Sidhu as he was not only
responsible for the death of
BEETLE BAILEY/Mort Walker
RED EYE/Bill Yates & Mel Casson
DADDY DAZE/John Kovaleski
worship,
7 Taxi,
13 Terrace,
15 Stress,
16 Apace,
17 Pony,
19 Guava.
tor Kultar Singh Sandhwan
described the questioning
of pilgrims as “shameful”
and sought the immediate dis-
missal of Dinkar Gupta over
this. Akali leader Bikram
Singh Majithia sought the
suspension of Gurdaspur’s
senior superintendent of
police and a station house offi-
cer.
Jails minister Randhawa
quoted from a letter written
on February 17 by an IB offi-
cial to the Gurdaspur senior
for the project but it got stuck
due to some reasons but the
present government will com-
plete the project soon.
Thakur said the state gov-
ernment was also mulling
setting up sewerage treat-
ment plants in the state and
cluster of 2-3 panchayats
would be made for the pur-
pose.
State Forest minister
Govind Thakur while reply-
ing to a query of Nurpur MLA
Rakesh Pathania, said the
state government had sanc-
tioned social security pension
to 1,54,815 people in the last
two years and 12,811 cases
were still pending.
The cases would soon be
disposed off and the govern-
ment would grant social secu-
rity pension to these persons
too, he added.
thousands of addicts due to
diversion of buprenorphine
tablets, but also for creating
new addicts as the drug, if not
given under medical super-
vision, could result in addic-
tion.
The SAD leader alleged the
I strongly condemn the violence seen in Delhi over the last
few days. An impartial probe should be conducted and
stringent action be taken against the guilty...
superintendent of police
(SSP), seeking the question-
ing of some pilgrims.
He said the state govern-
ment will take strict action
against the SSP and the con-
cerned station house offi-
cer (SHO) if they are found
at fault. SAD members
stormed the Well of the House
and then staged a walkout.
Later Aam Aadmi Party and
Lok Insaaf Party MLAs also
walked into the Well of the
House, and staged their sep-
arate walkouts.
AAP MLA and Leader of
Opposition Harpal Singh
Cheema attacked the state
police chief, claiming that he
was posing a threat to peace
and amity in the state.
"The DGP had an eight-
year stint in the IB and he still
has links there,” Cheema
claimed.
Lok Insaaf Party legislator
Simarjeet Singh Bains claimed
that the questioning of the pil-
grims had exposed the con-
spiracy behind the DGP''s pur-
ported statement.
Bains said the police chief
should be removed and an FIR
lodged against him.
Supplementary
budget passed
SHIMLA, 27 FEBRUARY
The Himachal Pradesh
assembly today passed a
supplementary Budget of
Rs 6736 crore that was tabled
by Chief Minister Jai Ram
Thakur on Wednesday.
In the supplementary
Budget, a provision of Rs
3950 crore has been made for
non-plan expenses, Rs 904
crore for plan schemes and
Rs 3439 crore for loans and
overdraft (means and wages)
for non-plan expenditures.
State Jal Shakti minister
Mahender Singh Thakur in
the absence of the chief min-
ister presented Appropriation
Bill which was passed in the
House after discussion. SNS
principal secretary (health)
had served 12 show cause
notices to various private
centres on 2 December 2019,
with details of the missing
drug tablets and stated that
action would be initiated
against them under the NDPS
Fake degree issue
rocks HP assembly
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SHIMLA, 27 FEBRUARY
The issue of selling of around
5 lakh fake degrees by two pri-
vate universities of Himachal
Pradesh rocked the state
assembly with Congress rais-
ing the issue during ques-
tion hour in the House.
Raising the issue under a
point of order, Leader of Oppo-
sition Mukesh Agnihotri said
it was a serious issue and the
state government did not
inform the House.
"The issue has been raised
by the University Grants Com-
mission and state Education
Minister Suresh Bhardwaj
should have informed the
House on his own," Agni-
hotri said.
He demanded a thorough
probe into the entire episode
and strict action against the
private univerisities for
indulging in such irregulari-
ties. State Education minister
Suresh Bhardwaj, while
responding to the opposi-
tion's charge, said UGC had
received complaints against
13 universities of the country
and among these, two uni-
versities were from Himachal
Pradesh.
The complaint was for-
warded to the Chief Secretary
which had been sent to Direc-
tor General of Police and HP
Private Education Institutes
Regulatory Authority for fur-
ther action.
"Action can't be taken
against the private universi-
ties based on an anonymous
complaint and it is even men-
tioned in Central Vigilance
Commission rules. Still we
have forwarded the compli-
ant to the regulatory author-
ity to find out truth behind the
allegations," he said. Bhard-
waj said HP Private Education
Institutes Regulatory Author-
ity had sought record of degrees
awarded by these universities
in the last few years and all
records would be scrutinised.
UGC in a letter had men-
tioned Shimla and Solan-
based universities were sell-
ing fake degrees. The Shimla
based private university had
allegedly sold around 15,000
fake degrees for almost all
courses through agents across
the country to mint money. In
Act as well as licensing rules.
He said the centres were
asked to submit a reply in ten
days. Majithia also released
the show-cause notice issued
to Rusan Pharma which
accuses the company of dis-
pensing 2.87 crore tablets by
bypassing the government
system.
SAD leader Sukhwinder
Sukhi said instead of taking
action against the private
centres as well as Rusan
Pharma, the health minister
indulged in a cover-up oper-
ation by overruling the inquiry
of the health secretary and
asking civil surgeons to do
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rabble and Scrabble Tiles are registered trademarks. All
rights in the game are owned in the U.S.A by Hasbro Inc.,
in Canada by Hasbro Canada Inc., and elsewhere by J.W.
Spear & Sons Limited, a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc.
Suresh Bhardwaj
fact, the university sold those
technical education courses
degrees under which there
were only limited seats allo-
cated to educational insti-
tutes. The Solan-based private
university had sold around 4.5
lakh fake degrees in the last 7
years with the help of agents
from Punjab, Haryana,
Rajasthan, UP, Bihar, Delhi,
West Bengal and South India.
The private university did-
n’t even inform the HP Private
Educational Institutions Reg-
ulatory Commission that they
had awarded so many degrees.
The university had even print-
ed and awarded fake degrees
of Sri Lanka based Jayasurya’s
Open University for Com-
plementary Medicine without
informing the varsity author-
ities.
Bhardwaj lashed out at
Agnihotri for questioning
increase in supplementary
budget for state is already
debt-ridden and said the mis-
management of the previous
Congress government had
pushed the state into a debt
trap. "The previous Congress
governments focused only
on expenditure and didn't
manage the state's resources
properly that led to the state
government incurring losses
and forced the subsequent gov-
ernments to take loans for
expenses," he added.
Earlier, Agnihotri had
accused the state govern-
ment of presenting supple-
mentary budget of Rs 6,736
crore and said it wasn't right
to increase plan size of sup-
plementary budget.
"The state government's
expenses are rising every year
and there is already overdraft
of Rs 3400 crore in Himachal
Pradesh. The state government
should focus on financial
management and increase
the revenue of the state," he
added.
physical verification to cre-
ate utilisation record.
“This is against the grain
of the procedure used to
dispense the medicine which
is online so that a proper
record is maintained as to
who it is being administered
to and by whom. Rules stip-
ulate that the tablet has to
be put under the tongue of
medical practitioners and
there is no record of 5 crore
tablets being used in this
manner out of the total of 8.3
crore tablets to be used for
this purpose between Janu-
ary and November 2019” the
Akali leader added.
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UNION MINISTER
AROUND TOWN
ENGLISH FILM PVR Select City Walk - 9:45am, 12:30pm,
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Wave Cinema, Kausham- Wave Cinema, Kausham- PVR Ambience,Gurgaon
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A scene from
Thappad
TODAY IN DELHI
ENGAGEMENTS
India Intertnational
Centre, Sanatan Sangeet
edition of Collegiate choral
performances. Log on to
www.oldworldculture.com
for the schedule, at
Amphitheatre, India
Partition Archive explores
first-hand accounts with
women who witnessed
the partition, at Mandi
House, 5:40 a.m. to 11:30
Sanskriti; and IILMpresent Habitat Centre, Lodhi p.m. (till 29 February)
"Dilli Ki Sanskriti: Words Road, 7 p.m. (till 29
in the Garden – A National Gallery of
February)
Modern Art (NGMA) &
Celebration of Literature,
EXHIBITIONS
Arts and Ideas", The annual French Institute in India
present "Retrospective
festival ‘Words in the Dilli Haat presents
Garden 2020’ explores "Enchanting Ladakh", Exhibition of French Artist
‘Dilli ki Sanskriti’ during featuring Ladhaki Gerard Garouste", at
three enriching days, at C.D.pashmina, carpet weaving, NGMA, Jaipur House, India
Deshmukh Auditorium, wood carving, clay pottery, Gate, 11.00 a.m. to 8.00
40 Max Mueller Marg, hand knitted garments, p.m. (till 29 March)
9.30 a.m. (onwards) (till metal crafts, traditional The Japan Foundation
1 March) cusines and cultural
presents "Shojo Manga",
DRAMA programmes, at Dilli Haat, special event by curators
opp INA Market, 10.30 p.m. of Kyoto International
Habita World presents
to 9.00 p.m. (till 29
"Theatre Fest -- Old World Manga Museum, at
February) Tenshin Okakura Gallery,
Collegiate Theatre Festival
2020". Presenting fresh Mandi House Metro 5A Ring Road, Lajpat Nagar
productions from Station presents "The IV, (till18 April) 11.00 a.m.
Collegiate Theatre Societies 1947 Partition Archive", this to 7.00 p.m. (Closed on
with an exciting new exhibit by The 1947 Sundays) (till18 April)
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SUDOKU
Directions Make a 2 to
7 letter word from the
letters in each row.
Add points of each
word, using scoring
directions at right, 7-
letter words get 50- Sudoku is a number-placing
point bonus. "Blanks"
puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with
used as any letter
have no point value. several given numbers. The
All Judd's words are
object is to place the numbers 1
in The Official
Scrabble Players to 9 in the empty squares so
Dictionary(Merriam-
that no row, no column and no
Webster) and OSW
Official Scrabble answer to 3x3 box contains the same
Words(Chambers).
Judd's solution previous number. The difficulty level
tomorrow. puzzle increases through the week.
10-25-12
 05
I have just one thing to say - irrespective of religion and caste,
a probe must be conducted and action must be taken even if it
is Tahir Hussain or it is (BJP leader) Kapil Mishra
SANJAY SINGH
SENIOR AAP LEADER NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020

THUMBNAILS
Ensure peaceful civic polls: WB Guv J&K authorities
clear lands
encroached by
Dhankhar asks state poll commissioner to take steps to avoid rerun of 2018 panchayat poll violence Roshni Act
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE stake holders, Dhankhar told sion must take all steps to dis-
beneficiaries
KOLKATA 27 FEBRUARY Governor Jagdeep that as a constitutional body pel fears and impressions that
the commission “is obligated it is an extension of the gov- JAMMU, 27 FEBRUARY

Special operation under-
way at the Jolly Grant air-
port in Dehradun to con-
trol the menace of jackals.
The forest department has
fixed five cages inside the
airport to trap jackals,
which run on the runway
and pose danger to the
movement of aircraft. SNS
Delhi pollution control:
Environment minister
Gopal Rai said on Thursday
that the AAP government
will prepare a three-level
action plan~ quarterly,
annually and five years ~
to reduce pollution in the
Capital. Experts suggested
the government to issue a
direction that no outdoor
construction activities
should be conducted in
winters when the pollu-
tion levels rise. PTI
Bombay tourism: Tourists
visiting Mumbai will soon
be able to watch a cere-
monial drill at the state
police headquarters on
the lines of the famous
Changing The Guard cere-
mony at Buckingham
Palace. The announce-
ment was made by Maha-
rashtra Tourism minister
Aaditya Thackeray. PTI
Watchman convicted: A
Hyderabad court on
Thursday sentenced a 62-
year-old man to 10-years
rigorous imprisonment for
having unnatural sex with
a boy in May 2019. PTI
G
overnor Jagdeep
Dhankhar asked
State Election Com-
missioner Sourav
Das to take necessary steps to
ensure that the upcoming
municipal polls are not vio-
lence-ridden and not a repe-
tition of the scenario that was
noticed in the panchayat elec-
tions held in May 2018.
Das and commission sec-
retary Nilanjan Sandilya
reached Raj Bhawan at 11:30
a.m. today and the meeting
continued for 20 minutes.
During the meeting, Dhan-
khar told Das that “all steps
need to be taken to ensure that
there is no violence and the
kind of scenario noticed in the
panchayat elections held in
May 2018. The polls then were
reportedly hit with widespread
violence”. He urged the com-
missioner to inform him
India, Myanmar ink MoUs for development of Rakhine
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
India today reiterated its
commitment to support
Myanmar’s efforts for pro-
moting peace, stability and
the socio-economic devel-
opment in Rakhine State
which was rocked by violence
against Rohingya Muslims as
the two countries signed ten
MoUs in diverse fields.
Four of the MoUs per-
tain to launching develop-
ment projects in the Rakhine
State under the Rakhine State
Development Programme.
The agreements were
exchanged after wide-rang-
ing talks between Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi and vis-
iting Myanmar President U
Dhankhar urges the
commissioner to in-
form him regarding all
the steps taken under
Art 243(3) of the Con-
stitution. He takes
stock of the arrange-
ments for the polls
scheduled on second
or third week of April
ensuring fair and peaceful
polls” and suggested that a
prior engagement with the con-
cerned administrative and
police heads concerned would
be wholesome and productive.
“State Election Commission
regarding all the steps taken in the second or third week of like the Election Commission
under Article 243(3) of the April. of India is the de facto boss of
Constitution. Dhankhar took He told the commission- the bureaucracy”, stated the
stock of the arrangements for er that “in required situa- release issued by Raj Bhawan.
the polls so as to ensure peace- tions” the latter may “take Stressing on giving all par-
ful, orderly and fair elections, recourse even to transferring ties equal opportunities and
which is scheduled to be held officials ... in the interest of engaging in dialogue with all
Win Myint. The Myanmar
President arrived here yes-
terday on a four-day visit to
India. He was given a cere-
monial welcome at the Rash-
trapati Bhavan this morning.
Later, External Affairs min-
ister S Jaishankar called on
him.
A joint statement issued
by the two sides said India
also expressed its support for
the bilateral agreements
signed between Myanmar
and Bangladesh for the repa-
triation of the displaced per-
sons from Rakhine State and
hoped that the two countries
would continue to work
together in this direction.
The statement said India
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Myanmar’s President also reaffirmed its support for
Win Myint before a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday. � AFP Myanmar’s efforts toward
to provide a level-playing field
to all parties and candidates”
and “focused that free and fair
election giving all parties
equal opportunities is at the
heart of Democracy in its true
spirit.” Under Article 243K, the
commission has all the pow-
ers that Election Commis-
sion of India has under Arti-
cle 324 of the Constitution
wherein it has the authority
and competence to ensure that
one party doesn’t have an
undue advantage over anoth-
er just because it is in power,
the release stated adding:
“State Election Commission
like the Election Commission
of India is the de facto boss of
the bureaucracy.”
He stressed that the com-
mission should ensure level-
playing field to all as it is fun-
damental and non negotiable.
“The State Election Commis-
national reconciliation and
democratic transition to
establish a democratic fed-
eral union. Modi expressed
India’s full support for Myan-
mar’s peace process, being
pursued through a dialogue
between the government,
military and ethnic armed
groups under the nation-
wide ceasefire agreement
framework.
The two countries agreed
to cooperate in countering
terrorist groups and their
actions.
Both sides condemned
terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations and empha-
sised the need for stronger
international partnership in
countering terrorism and
violent extremism, including
ernment and must engage in
dialogue with all stake hold-
ers,” the statement read.
He stated that the State Elec-
tion Commission needs to
flag the issue to police and
administrative authorities
that any partisan approach
would invite exemplary con-
sequences.
Dhankhar expressed hope
that “timely precautionary
steps” by the commissioner
would “prevent unwholesome
scenario and instil confidence
in the electorate” and called
upon voters to exercise their
right to vote fairly and fearlessly.
Meanwhile, Das informed
Dhankhar that the Grievance
Management System will be
in place by the second week
of March and the commission
will hold a meeting with the
District Magistrates on 4
March.
through increased sharing of
information and intelligence.
India and Myanmar reit-
erated that defence and secu-
rity cooperation remained
one of the key pillars of
Myanmar-India bilateral rela-
tions.
They commended the
positive momentum in
exchanging visits of defence
personnel. The two leaders
acknowledged that the MoU
on Defe-nce Cooperation,
signed in July 2019, had set
the path for closer cooper-
ation. The Indian side reit-
erated its commitment to
assist Myanmar in capacity
building of Myanmar Defence
Services and enhance coop-
eration to add-ress security
concerns.
The Jammu authorities have
during the past week cleared
encroachments by influen-
tial persons over 6,500 acres
of prime land across Jammu
and Kashmir after the High
Court took serious note of the
“loot” of the government
and forest lands at throwaway
price under the Roshni Act
introduced during the regime
of Farooq Abdullah in 1990.
The district authorities
are busy pulling down
encroachment of forest and
other lands of the government
but the sprawling Bathindi
colony that has come up
here on the prime forest
land in the outskirts of Jammu
continues to be an acid test
for the administration as
top politicians, bureaucrats
and influential people, includ-
ing former chief ministers
Farooq Abdullah and Ghu-
lam Nabi Azad, have built their
mansions in the area.
The deputy commissioner
of Udhampur district with a
single stroke of pen expu-nged
illegal entries for 6,063 acres
of government land. These
encroachments indicate that
the revenue staff was hand-
in-glove with the encroach-
ers.
The Roshni Act that aimed
at conferring ownership
rights on encroachments to
the tune of about 2,50,000
acres of land also came under
criticism as allegations were
made that the step of the
Kashmir-centric government
was towards altering the
demography of the Hindu
majority Jammu. The court’s
observation came after the
J&K government filed a sta-
tus report on the beneficia-
ries of the Roshni Act, which
was scrapped in November
2018 by then governor Satya
Pal Malik. SNS

CPM questions
Mamata’s ‘silence’
on Delhi violence
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 27 FEBRUARY

The CPI-M state leadership today slammed the chief

minister and Trinamul Congress supremo Miss Mama-
ta Banerjee for her‘silence’ on ongoing violence in north
east Delhi that has claimed 34 lives in the national cap-
ital.
The party leadership has also asked all mass organ-
isations, students’ platforms and common people cut-
ting across their religious colours to stage state-wide protest
against the union home minister Amit Shah on Sun-
day when he would attend a rally organised by Bengal
BJP at the Sahid Minar ground.
Md Salim, CPI-M politburo member, today said,“Why
is Mamata Banerjee silent at a time when violence is
ravaging Delhi claiming so many lives including a police
officer of intelligence branch? She is maintaining silence
because she does not want further progress in connection
with the inquiry on ponzi scams Sharadha and Nara-
da in Bengal. So many investigating officers probing the
scams have already been transferred elsewhere.”
“The chief minister is busy with offering prayers in
Puri and all set to meet Amit Shah in Bhubaneswar tomor-
row. And Shah is also coming to Kolkata on Sunday, hard-
ly a day after the Bhubneswar meet, to attend his party
rally,” Md Salim alleged.
“Her party won’t make any protest against BJP as well
Shah whose hands have already become bloody with
bloods of riot victims in Delhi. The state government is
failed to prevent BJP that is sponsoring politics of reli-
gious divisions and hatred in Bengal.We won’t allow Shah
to address in his party programme silently without any
disruptions at Sahid Minar on Sunday,” the CPI-M leader
said. “People of Bengal who are anti-CAA and anti-NRC,
different mass organisations and students’ wings cut-
ting across their religious colours will stage protest against
BJP shouting slogans‘go back Amit Shah’ at Sahid Minar
that had witnessed many protest programmes includ-
ing RabindranathTagore’s historic decision to renounce
the Knighthood award in protest against Jallianwala Bagh
massacre in 1941,” he said requesting people to main-
tain communal harmony in the state.
Earlier in January when Prime Minister Narendra Modi
visited Kolkata there had been a state-wide protest against
him shouting slogans ‘go back Modi’, he added.
“How many people belong to CPI-M now so that the
party can get them together to protest against Amit Shah?
CPI-M is vanishing fast in the country just doing the
politics of opposition against people as well as us,” said
Dilip Ghosh, state BJP president.

AmitShah’seffigyburnt:StateChhatraParishadactivists
took out a procession on AJC Bose Road and burnt an
effigy of Union home minister, Amit Shah near Nona-
pukur tram depot today charging him of failing to com-
bat the violence in the national Capital over the last few
days. This is a rehearsal of the agitation we are plan-
ning to organise against Shah when he visits Kolkata
on 1 March.
This is an occasion when the actions of Congress and
the ruling party in this state, Trinamul can be compared
by the people,the Chhatra Parishad leader said. While
our leaders are demanding the resignation of Union home
minister for the Delhi clashes,Trinamul’s reaction to this
conflagration is muted, he claimed. Apart from asking
for peace, chief minister, Mamata Banerjee who always
has a word on everything under the Sun is silent on this
issue, Parishad leader Prasad said.
06
BJP is responsible for the riots. It's their Gujarat
model, which is nothing but spreading hatred
SAMAJWADI PARTY CHIEF AKHILESH YADAV
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020 ACCUSING BJP OF SPREADING VIOLENCE IN DELHI

THUMBNAILS India is incredible, lot of progress made in bilateral ties during visit: Trump
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
WASHINGTON, 27 FEBRUARY
President Donald Trump has
described the US' relationship
with India now as “extraordi-
nary” and said a lot of progress
was made in bilateral ties
during his maiden official
visit to the “incredible coun-
try” where America is going
to do a lot of business.
Trump's remarks came
even as his likely Democrat-
ic Party rival in the November
presidential elections Bernie
Sanders criticised the US pres-
ident for what he claimed
Brides during a mass mar-
was a “failure of leadership”
riage ceremony in Amrit-
sar on Thursday AFP
on the issue of human rights
in the light of the communal
riots in Delhi. President Trump
and his family visited India
from February 24 to 25 at the
invitation of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. Trump was
accompanied by top brass of
his administration, includ-
ing National Security Advisor
Robert O'Brien.
Talking to reporters after his
return from India on Wednes-
day, Trump said, “He (Prime
Minister Modi) is a great gen-
tleman, a great leader. It's an
incredible country.”
Trump visited Ahmedabad,
Agra and New Delhi. During
his stay, he addressed a mas-
sive rally in Ahmedabad along
with Modi, visited Agra and
held official meetings in New
Delhi.The US president was
feted at the world's largest
cricket stadium in the
“Namaste Trump” event in
Ahmedabad and was cheered
by tens of thousands of peo-
ple. “We were treated very, very
well and we really enjoyed it.
A lot of tremendous progress
was made in terms of rela-
tionship -- our relationship with
India is extraordinary right
now,” Trump said.
“We are going to be doing
a lot of business with India, they
are sending billions and bil-
lions of dollars now to the Unit-
ed States,” Trump said in
response to a question.
But in the midst of the
positive comments on India
by Trump, his family and
administration officials, his like-
ly Democratic Party rival in the
November 3 presidential elec-
tion, Sanders slammed the
president and said the Trump's
statement regarding the vio-
lence in New Delhi during
his India visit was a “failure of
leadership”.
Asked about incidents of
violence , the US president had
said, “As far as the individual
attacks, I heard about it, but
I didn't discuss that with him
(Modi). That's up to India.”
Reacting on Trump's state-
ment on the issue, Sanders on
Wednesday tweeted, “Over
200 million Muslims call India
home. Widespread anti-Mus-
lim mob violence has killed at
least 27 . Trump responds by
saying 'That's up to India'. This
is a failure of leadership on
human rights.”
Meanwhile, President
Trump's daughter Ivanka
noted that the president
announced that the US Inter-
national Development Finance
Corporation (USIDFC) will
open an office in India.
The USIDFC will estab-
lish a permanent presence in
India to strengthen our eco-
nomic ties, improve devel-
opment plus further women's
economic empowerment
through WGDP (Women's
Global Development and Pros-
perity Initiative)!”
On her arrival from India,
she thanked Prime Minister
Modi for “your warm hospi-
tality as we visited your beau-
tiful country and celebrated
the strength, spirit and unity
of the US and India!” “Through-
out our visit we saw monu-
mental achievements of
human creativity & proof of
the infinite capacity of the
human heart!” she said.

Company owner shot:

Two unidentified men
allegedly opened fire on
the car of the owner of
an engineering firm near
Palus in Western Maha-
rashtra's Sangli district,
the police said on Thurs-
day. PTI
I-T raid: The Income Tax
department on Thursday
raided at least 25 premis-
es linked to Chhattisgarh
government officials and
others on charges of tax
evasion, officials said.
Those covered under the
action include family
members of a IAS officer
in the state. PTI
BJP MLA robbed of mobile:
A BJP MLA was robbed of
his mobile phone while
waiting for a cab near Civil
Lines in the city, an offi-
cial said on Thursday. MLA
Babveer Singh Luthra was
waiting for a cab when
two motorcycle-borne
miscreants approached
him and snatched the
mobile phone from his
hand, DCP (South) said . PTI
Riots part of life,
keep happening:
H'yana minister
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, 27 FEBRUARY
Even as violence in Delhi
has led to the death of 38
people, Haryana power
minister Ranjeet Singh
Chautala kicked off a con-
troversy today by saying
there was nothing new in
what happened in the
national capital and simi-
lar incidents have occurred
in the past as well.
When asked about the
recent round of violence in
the national capital, Chau-
tala told reporters this was-
n’t the first time that riots
had happened.
“Riots keep on hap-
pening. They have been
happening in the past too…
When Indira Gandhi was
assassinated, all of Delhi was
burning. It is a part of life,
that keeps on happening,”
the minister told reporters.
In Delhi, Chautala con-
tinued, the government
had promptly controlled it.
“Yesterday curfew was
imposed in these parts….
Because this relates to Delhi
and is a judicial matter, I will
not comment,” he said.
Chautala had landed in
a controversy recently over
his proposal that children
of power consumers who
haven’t paid their electric-
ity bills shouldn’t be allowed
to sit for competitive exam-
inations.
An independent law-
maker from Rania assem-
bly seat in Sirsa district, he
was inducted in the
Manohar Lal Khattar cab-
inet last year when the BJP
stitched together a coalition
after failing to get a simple
majority in the 90-member
assembly.
The 74-year-old is the
son of Devi Lal, the former
deputy prime minister who
founded t h e In d i a n
National Lok Dal. He had
served as agriculture min-
ister between 1987 and
1989 but revolted against
his brother Om Prakash
Chautala after the brazen
and violent rigging of by-
polls on OP Chautala’s
seat Meham.
He later joined the Con-
gress where he stayed for
a decade. He left the Con-
gress for the BJP for a bit
but was back in the Con-
gress. He eventually con-
tested the 2019 elections
as an independent after
he didn’t get a Congress
ticket.
Implement Law Commission’s report: PIL
Plea in SC seeks laws to effectively deal with the offence of hate speech
Congress leaders led by party chief Sonia Gandhi walk to meet President Ram Nath Kovind and
submit a memorandum on the violence in the Capital. On Thursday.
PTI
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
A plea was filed in the Supreme
Court on Thursday seeking
direction to the Centre to
implement a Law Commis-
sion's report which suggest-
ed changes in penal and pro-
cedural laws to effectively
deal with the offence of hate
speech.
The filing of the PIL, which
might be taken up within few
days, assumed significance as
the Delhi High Court has
been critical of some of the
alleged hate speeches made
by politicians ahead of mas-
sive rioting in north-east Delhi
in which 38 persons have
died so far and around 200
injured.
BJP leader and lawyer Ash-
wini Upadhyay, in his PIL, has
sought a direction to the min-
istries of home and law and
justice to implement the 267th
report of the Law Commission,
prepared in March 2017, on
hate speech.
The apex court in 2014
had asked it to examine if it
“deems proper to define hate
speech and make recom-
mendations to the Parliament
to strengthen the Election
Commission to curb the men-
ace of 'hate speeches' irre-
spective of, whenever made.”
Analysing existing Indian
and offshore laws on the sub-
ject, the report had said, “Law
Commission of India is of
considered opinion that new
Remember Tienanmen
Square, Beijing in 1988?
And how Deng Xiaoping
handled it? Perhaps there
is a lesson there on how
to handle the engineered
disturbances of NE Delhi!
I'm sure all comrades will
agree!”
TATHAGATA ROY
MEGHALAYA GOVERNOR
Relatives wait outside mortuary for bodies to be handed over
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
Still to come to terms with the
loss of their loved ones in
violence in parts of northeast
Delhi, relatives are anxious-
ly waiting outside GTB hos-
pital's mortuary for the post-
mortem to be conducted
before the bodies are hand-
ed over to them.
Family members of people,
who are missing since the
violence broke out, also have
been asking hospital author-
PCI advises media not to glo-
rify Delhi violence: In the
wake of the communal riots
in Delhi, the Press Council of
India has advised the media
not to glorify violence and
desist from publishing or
telecasting pictures likely to
cause revulsion. The PCI also
drew the media's attention
towards the norms of jour-
nalistic conduct on covering
of communal disputes and
clashes. “News, views or
comments relating to com-
munal or religious disput-
es/clashes shall be publish-
ed after proper verification
of facts and presented with
due caution and restraint in
a manner which is conducive
to the creation of an atmos-
phere congenial to commu-
nal harmony, amity and
peace,” the norms state. PTI
provisions in IPC are required
to be incorporated to address
the issues...”.
The panel had suggested
amendment in IPC and Code
of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)
by inserting “new section 153C
(Prohibiting incitement to
hatred) and section 505A
(Causing fear, alarm, or provo-
cation of violence in certain
cases)”.
“Hate speech poses com-
plex challenges to freedom of
speech and expression. The
constitutional approach to
these challenges has been far
from uniform as the bound-
The Gujarat model has
been repeated in Delhi.
Whether the home minister
could not handle the situa-
tion in Delhi or he himself
had given such instructions
to the police should be
probed. He should resign
immediately.
NAWAB MALIK
MAHARASHTRA MINISTER
ities to check whether were
brought dead or are being
treated.
Relatives of 35-year-old
Mudassir Khan who have
been waiting at the mortuary
at GTB hospital said they are
still to recover from the shock.
“We have been coming
here since last two days. Yes-
terday, the in-charge IO said
that files were ready and the
post-mortem would be con-
ducted. Today, we have been
waiting here since 8 am and
the post-mortem is underway.
AFP
aries between impermissible
propagation of hatred and
protected speech vary across
jurisdictions,” the report had
said and referred to the legal
position in countries like the
USA, Canada, Germany, and
the United Kingdom.
The report also said that
hate speech “generally is an
incitement to hatred primar-
ily against a group of persons
defined in terms of race, eth-
nicity, gender, sexual orien-
tation, religious belief”.
The Law panel also said that
the hate speech is “any word
written or spoken, signs, vis-
ible representations within
the hearing or sight of a per-
son with the intention to
cause fear or alarm, or incite-
ment to violence”.
The PIL alleged inaction on
the part of the Centre since 2017
and sought a direction for
the implementation of the
report.
“Responsible speech is the
essence of the liberty grant-
ed under article 21 of the
Constitution. One of the great-
est challenges before the prin-
ciple of autonomy and free
speech principle is to ensure
that this liberty is not exercised
to the detriment of any indi-
vidual or the disadvantaged
section of the society,” the
plea said.
It said that in a country like
India, which has diverse castes,
creed, religions and languages,
hate speech poses a greater
challenge.
The Delhi Police's ‘inac-
tion’ towards protecting
the lives and properties of
minorities in the national
capital is a ‘reminiscent’ of
the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. It's
shocking. No one wants a
repeat of what happened
in 1984.
NARESH GUJRAL
SHIROMANI AKALI DAL MP
Family members of peo-
ple, who are missing,
also have been asking
hospital authorities to
check whether they
were brought dead or
are being treated
“We hope to get the body
soon. We will conduct the
last rites today itself,” his
nephew Arbaaz Khan said.
Talking about the situation
in his area in Mustafabad,
Arbaaz said with security
India rejects
statements of
OIC, USCIRF,
Sanders on
Delhi violence
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
India today rejected the obser-
vations made by the Organ-
isation of Islamic Coopera-
tion (OIC), the US Commis-
sion on International Religious
Freedom (USCIRF) and
Democratic presidential can-
didate Bernie Sanders on the
violence in Delhi, particularly
that Muslims were specifically
targeted, saying these were fac-
tually inaccurate and mis-
leading and appear to be
aimed at politicising the issue.
“Our law enforcing agen-
cies are working on the ground
to prevent violence and ensure
restoration of confidence
and normalcy. Prime Minis-
ter (Narendra Modi) has pub-
licly appealed for peace and
brotherhood. We would urge
that irresponsible comments
are not made at this sensitive
time,'' External Affairs Min-
istry spokesperson Raveesh
Kumar said in response to
questions on the statements
made by the USCIRF, Amer-
ican media and some indi-
viduals.
In a statement, the OIC said
it condemned the recent and
alarming violence against
Muslims and called upon
the Indian authorities to
bring the instigators and per-
petrators of anti-Muslim vio-
lence to justice.
“Over 200 million Muslims
call India home. Widespread
anti-Muslims mob violence
has killed 27 and injured
many more. Trump responds
by saying 'That's up to India'.
This is a failure of leadership
on human rights,'' Sanders
had tweeted yesterday.
In a statement, USCIRF
Chair Tony Perkins stated,
“The ongoing violence in
Delhi and the reported attacks
against Muslims, their shops,
and their houses of worship
are greatly disturbing. One of
the essential duties of any
responsible government is to
provide protection and phys-
ical security for its citizens,
regardless of faith. We urge
the Indian government to take
serious efforts to protect
Muslims and others target-
ed by mob violence.”
The USCIRF quoted
reports to say that several
mosques have been set alight
or vandalised. SNS
Our country has fallen
into the hands of despots.
More than 35 people have
died. They are indulging in
dividing the electorate on
communal lines for vote bank
politics. There is still no case
filed against Kapil Mishra for
his instigating acts.
SIDDARAMAIAH
CONGRESS LEADER
deployment, it is returning to
normal but there is still fear
among people. “No one is
able to sleep peacefully. There
is still fear. Children are not
going to school, everyone is
preferring to stay indoors and
we are not even using our vehi-
cles to commute. We are in
shock over what happened
within three days,” he said.
Mudassir was outside his
house in Kardampuri on Mon-
day when he was attacked by
a mob, his family said. He sus-
tained bullet injury on his
CAPITAL TURMOIL
Mayawati wants SC-supervised probe: BSP
chief Mayawati on Thursday demanded a
Supreme Court-supervised probe into the
communal violence in parts of northeast
Delhi and said that the Centre and the
AAP government should pitch in together
to compensate people for the loss suf-
fered in the riots.The former Uttar
Pradesh CM said police should be given a
free hand to control the law and order
situation in the national capital.In a state-
ment, she said the recent violence in
northeast Delhi was much like the 1984
anti-Sikh riots. PTI
CBSE postpones class 10, 12 exams: The
Central Board of Secondary Education has who had on Wednesday criticised the gov-
postponed class 10 and 12 exams sched- ernment as well as the police for the vio-
uled on 28 and 29 February in the violence- lence and transferred him.It is clear that
hit North East Delhi and parts of East Delhi,
the violence in Delhi has the sanction of
officials said. The exam postponement the police and that of the powers that gov-
announcement by the CBSE came for the
ern them.. Both PM and Union home min-
third time this week due to communal vio- ister maintained silence for three days
lence . “In view of a request received from when mayhem, madness and terror was
the Delhi government and to avoid incon- ruling the roads and streets of Delhi,
venience to students, staff and parents, Tarigami claimed. SNS
the exams scheduled for February 28 and
29 in North East Delhi and other affected
areas stand cancelled. The next date for
the affected students will be notified
Survived on bread, Maggi, say N-E Delhi
shortly,” CBSE Secretary Anurag Tripathi
residents as shops down shutters: Resi-
dents of northeast Delhi felt hardship to
said. PTI
run daily errands as they reported running
out of food, milk, medicines and other
essential items.
Pink Floyd's Roger Waters recites poem by With medical shops, grocery stores and
activist Aamir Aziz, calls CAA 'fascist, other establishments selling essential
racist': “Everything will be items downing shutters, people in the
remembered, Everything region are waging a grim battle for survival.
recorded”, Pink Floyd co- The locals in Brijpuri and Gokalpuri areas of
founder and legendary
northeast Delhi said they did not get milk for
musician Roger Waters three days.
said recently as he read
Ankit Tyagi, a resident of Brijpuri, said he
out Delhi student Aamir and his family survived on bread and Maggi
Aziz's poem at a protest
on Monday and Tuesday.
and described the CAA as
“There was no traffic movement in our area
“fascist” and “racist”.A
due to which we did not get milk on these
video from the protest show-
two days, which has made the situation dif-
ing Waters reciting the English version of
ficult for children. We survived on bread and
Aziz's popular poem “Sab Yaad Rakha
Maggi,” he said.
Jayega” has been circulating widely on
Though the situation in the area is under
Twitter and other social media plat-
control, people are still worried for their
forms.“This is a young man none of us
safety.
know, his name is Aamir Aziz. He is a young
poet and activist in Delhi. He is involved in “The children are not going to schools and
the fight against Modi and his fascist, racist police are claiming that the situation is
under control, but it is not. We cannot
citizenship law. I will read a little bit from
sleep in the night. This is for the first time
one of his poems,” the musician said, criti-
cising the Indian PM. PTI we are facing this kind of a situation here,”
Yogesh Thakur, another resident, said.
Shops and pharmacies remained closed in
Tarigami demands action against BJP lead-
the interior pockets of areas like Maujpur,
ers: Blaming Delhi Police's inaction and
Jafrabad and Yamuna Vihar, while pieces of
politics of hate spread by BJP as
bricks, glass shards and other remnants of
reasons for Delhi violence
the riots were cleared off the main
which has consumed 37
roads.
lives so-far, CPI (M)
Some stray incidents of violence and
leader Mohammad
arson were reported from Yamuna
Yousuf Tarigami alleged
Vihar, near Bhajanpura and Maujpur,
that the BJP government
with locals saying a car was partially
didn’t even tolerate the
burnt around 4 am on Thursday by
judge of Delhi High Court -
three to four miscreants in B Block. PTI
“The people of Delhi
ignored hate and voted
Riot-hit Guj town Khambat
for the AAP in the name
of development (in just declared ‘disturbed’ area
held polls).The Sangh pari-
var could not accept this STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Khambat town in central
and as a result Delhi is AHMEDABAD, 27 FEBRUARY Gujarat remained tense since
burning in the fire of hate Sunday when members of two
Even as the Khambat town in communities clashed and
ADVOCATE RAKESH RATHOD Anand district is limping back indulged incidents arson and
VANJARA COMMUNITY to normalcy, the Gujarat Gov- stone pelting.
REPRESENTATIVE ernment has invoked the At least 20 houses and
Disturbed Areas Act, 1991, in nearly two dozen vehicles
a substantial part of the city. were torched during the clash-
Coming as it did, the invo-
cation of the law to prevent
panic sale of properties comes
es.Failure to control the com-
munal clashes and arson tak-
ing place in their presence has
head and was declared brought on the 18th anniversary of the led to transfer of senior police
dead by doctors at GTB hos- Godhra train inferno which officials.
pital. He used to work in a plas- had triggered an un-prece- More than 70 people
tic scrap manufacturing unit dented communal riots in belonging to both the com-
and lived with his wife and chil- most parts of north and cen- munities have been arrested
dren in Kardampuri area. tral Gujarat. till Thursday while 3,000 peo-
Many relatives and friends The Disturbed Areas Act, ple, including former BJP
of riot-affected victims are in force in Gujarat for more MLA Sanjay Patel and former
waiting in the hospital anx- than three decades, prohibits councillors have been booked
iously to get details about panic sale of properties by res- for the violence.
their loved ones. Some of idents of troubled areas to The first incident of vio-
them claimed that neither members of another com- lence in Khambat was report-
police nor the hospital author- munity--- a process that fur- ed from Akbarpura area of the
ities are telling them exactly ther aggravates the ghet- town but it spread to other
when will the post-mortem be toization of the urban areas areas on Monday and Tues-
conducted. after communal clashes. day too.
 07
BJP is revealing its true colours and hidden agenda
by criticising freedom fighters...
CONGRESS LEADER U T KHADER
CONDEMNING THE ALLEGED STATEMENT OF BJP MLA AGAINST FREEDOM FIGHTERS NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020

Modi had cast

a spell on me
too: Shinde
Bihar passes resolution No ‘nazdeekiyan’ with
RJD, we will remain
Kishor accused
of plagiarism in
‘Baat Bihar Ki’
SOLAPUR, 27 FEB RUARY for caste-based census with NDA: JD-U
drive, case filed
PATNA, 27 FEBRUARY

Congress veteran Sushilku-
mar Shinde said on Thursday
that “a little Modi wave” still
prevails in the country, and
conceded that initially he
Lalu Prasad-led RJD has been making this demand for past five years PRESS TRUST OF INDIA tion is required. This helped A case has been filed against
PATNA, 27 FEBRUARY in passing the resolution election strategist-turned-
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE “SC/ST/OBCs have been against National Population politician Prashant Kishor for
PATNA, 27 FEBRUARY It’s a historical fact that deprived and dejected social- The ruling JD(U) in Bihar on Register (NPR) and National alleged plagiarism in his
ly and economically for ages. Thursday rejected specula- Register of Citizens (NRC) ‘Baat Bihar Ki’ campaign

himself had been impressed
by the prime minister.
Things began to go down-
hill after Narendra Modi's first
two years in office, he said.
Addressing party workers
here, Shinde said the Congress
succeeded in making the
Shiv Sena - a former BJP ally
- accept a common minimum
program for running a coali-
tion government in Maha-
rashtra. “We brought a sec-
ular government to power in
Maharashtra and this is just
a beginning,” he said. He
further said that prime min-
ister Modi still enjoys some
public support.
“I know that a little Modi
wave is still there. He had
cast a spell on us. He had
cast a spell on me too,” the
former Maharashtra chief
minister said.
“During the initial two
years, I too said that he was
doing good work, but later the
economic situation started
deteriorating, misleading
claims about employment
were exposed, a rift was being
created between communi-
ties and the situation in the
country deteriorated due to
some wrong decisions on
religious lines,” he said.PTI
T
he political develop-
ments in Bihar taking
place at quick inter-
vals have turned quite
interesting ahead of the com-
ing Assembly elections.
In another curious devel-
opment, the Bihar Assembly
today unanimously passed a
resolution favouring caste-
based Census in the state.
This comes barely a day
after the state Assembly had
passed another unanimous
resolution about not imple-
menting the National Regis-
ter for Citizens (NRC) and also
not implementing the Nation-
al Population Register on the
current format, thus becom-
ing the first NDA sate to pass
such resolution.
Assembly Speaker Vijay
Kumar Chaudhary moved
the resolution in the House
which was unanimously
adopted by all and passed.
Strangely, the main Oppo-
sition party in the state, the
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)
headed by Lalu Prasad, had
been making this demand for
the past five years.
In July 2015, Prasad had
first sat on day-long fast in
Patna’s Gandhi Maidan seek-
ing immediate release of
the social and spatial
demarcation within India
exists even today.
SC/ST/OBCs have been
deprived and dejected
socially and economically
for ages. Caste-based cen-
sus will provide a radical
ground at the policy level
for greater reforms
TEJASHWI YADAV
OPPOSITION LEADER
caste census figures saying the Given this background,
new data would form the the Bihar Assembly’s move to
basis for increased reserva- pass resolution for caste-
tion for the downtrodden based Census assumes much
class. significance.
In December last year, The RJD expressed hap-
too, the RJD chief had pressed piness over the development
for conducting caste-based and asked the Central gov-
census saying the NPR forms ernment to consider their
which have numerous demand.
columns incorporate “one “Thanks to the continu-
more” pertaining to respon- ous efforts by party chief
dent castes. Lalu Prasad and Opposition
The RJD which remains a leader Tejashwi Yadav, Bihar
strong votary a caste-based Assembly has finally passed
census has been pressing for a resolution to this effect. Now
re-allocation of quotas to Modi government should
castes in proportion to their conduct the caste-based cen-
population saying the 50 per sus,” the RJD said today.
cent cap put on reservation Tejashwi said its a histor-
by the Supreme Court has ical fact that the social and
been breached by the gov- spatial demarcation within
ernment. India exists even today.
Caste based census will pro-
vide a radical ground at the
policy level for greater social
and economic reforms,”
Tejashwi said.
What is further intriguing,
both the resolutions passed
from the Assembly followed
close-door meetings between
chief minister Nitish Kumar
and Opposition leader Tejash-
wi, son of Lalu Prasad.
The first resolution about
not implementing the NRC
was passed on Tuesday short-
ly after Tejashwi had met the
chief minister in latter offi-
cial chamber.
Again on Wednesday
evening, both these two lead-
ers met over tea in the offi-
cial chamber of the Assem-
bly Speaker and this saw the
passage of the resolution
favouring caste-based
census.
The BJP which is a part-
ner in the Nitish Kumar gov-
ernment has reacted bitter-
ly to this move of the chief
minister. “The government is
passing the resolutions like
a “chhapamar” (hit and run
squad). It looks to be a might-
is-right-like situation in the
state,” BJP legislator Sachhi-
danand Rai said.
tionstemming from the alleged
‘nazdeekiyan’ (closeness) wit-
nessed in the assembly premis-
es here over the last couple of
days between chief minister
Nitish Kumar and Opposi-
tion RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav
and said it is firmly with the
NDA.
JD(U) state unit president
Vashishtha Narayan Singh
pointed at the 'vishvaman'
(spewing of venom) by Yadav
against the state government
in his public statements when
asked about his meeting with
Kumar inside his Vidhan
Sabha premises chamber on
Tuesday.
Pictures of Kumar and
Yadav having tea with Speak-
er Vijay Kumar Chaudhary
after the day's proceedings on
Wednesday went viral on
social media.
“Koi nazdeekiyan nahi
(there is no closeness with
RJD)....We (JD(U)) are firmly
with the NDA and will remain
so,” Singh told reporters here
answering their questions
on it.
“In public life people do
meet each other despite polit-
ical differences. Coordina-
tion at some level between the
government and the opposi-
unanimously. Nothing fur-
ther should be seen in this,”
he said.
“While hazarding a guess
with regard to our relations
with Yadav's party (RJD) please
do keep in mind his 'vishva-
man' against us for getting a
clearer perspective,” Singh
said.
The 20-minute-long meet-
ing between the chief minis-
ter and Yadav had followed
heated exchanges during a
debate on an adjournment
motion moved on CAA-NPR-
NRC by Yadav and others
with the demand that the
House pass a resolution against
these like many other states.
The chief minister had
read out from a letter written
by the state government to the
Centre requesting that the
contentious clauses be
dropped from the NPR form
and suggested that it be treat-
ed as a resolution, endorsed
by the House and the Centre
be notified about the same.
Kumar had also admon-
ished Yadav on the floor of the
House for making personal
attacks against him. He had
said, “Your father (Lalu Prasad)
has a right to do so, but not
you.”
launched here last week,
police said on Thursday.
According to the com-
plaint lodged at the Pataliputra
police station in the city on
Wednesday night, Kishor
has used content developed
by Shashwat Gautam, a data
analytics coordinator with the
Congress, for his campaign,
Station House Officer (SHO)
Kamleshwar Prasad Singh
said. Gautam has also named
as accused his former aide
Osama, who was privy to
the content and whom he sus-
pects of making the same
available to Kishor after part-
ing ways, the officer said.
Based on the complaint,
a case has been lodged under
sections 420 (cheating
and dishonesty) and 406
(criminal breach of trust) of
the Indian Penal Code, he
added.
Further investigation in the
matter is underway, Singh
said. Gautam, who hails from
the East Champaran district,
joined the Congress last year.
The George Washington
University alumnus was ear-
lier associated with city-
based think tank ADRI and
worked with chief minister
Nitish Kumar. PTI

SP MP Azam Khan, wife,
son shifted to Sitapur jail
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
SITAPUR (UP), 27 FEBRUARY
A day after surrendering at a
Rampur court and being
remanded in judicial custody
there, SP MP Azam Khan, his
wife and son were on Thurs-
day shifted to Sitapur jail,
where party chief Akhilesh
Yadav met them.
After meeting Khan, Yadav
said the Smajwadi party party
MP has been targeted by the
BJP under a “political con-
spiracy”. “I met Azam sahab.
His wife is not well and son also
has injury in his hand. I hope
the jail administration will
provide them due facilities.
After the BJP came to power,
Azam Khan was targeted. It was
a political conspiracy due to
which he was sent to jail. The
court will help him,” he said.
Akhilesh was talking to
reporters after meeting Azam
Khan, his legislator-wife Tazeen
Fatma and MLA-son Abdul-
lah Azam, who were shifted
to the district jail here from
Rampur on early Thursday
morning.
“The three reached Sitapur
Jail on Thursday morning.
GOVT. OF NATIONAL CAPITAL TERRITORY OF DELHI
The case relates to
two birth certificates
of Abdullah Azam,
who allegedly gave a
wrong date of birth
while filing his nomi-
nation papers for the
UP assembly elections
in 2017.
They are expected to be here
till 2 March,” a jail official
said. On reaching Sitapur
from Rampur, Khan earlier
spoke to reporters waiting
for him at the jail entrance.
Asked about the number
of cases lodged against him,
Khan said, “The entire coun-
try knows what is happening
to me and my family.” On
being shifted to Sitapur Jail,
he said it was the govern-
ment's decision.
Khan and his family mem-
bers surrendered before a
Rampur court on Wednes-
day and were sent to judicial
custody till 2 March for their
alleged role in securing a fake
birth certificate of their for-
mer MLA son Abdullah.
The case relates to two
birth certificates of Abdullah
Azam, who allegedly gave a
wrong date of birth while fil-
ing his nomination papers
for the UP assembly elec-
tions in 2017.
Abdullah's election was
set aside by the Allahabad
High Court last December.
A Rampur BJP leader, Akash
Saxena, had lodged an FIR at
Ganj police station on 3 Jan-
uary, 2019, alleging fraud
related to Abdullah Azam's two
birth certificates. In April,
police filed the charge sheet
in court.
It alleged that Azam Khan's
son also had two passports and
two PAN cards.
In one birth certificate,
issued by the Rampur munic-
ipality, Abdullah's birth date
was mentioned as January 1,
1993. The other certificate
said he was born in Lucknow
on 30 September, 1990, accord-
ing to the charge against him.
A case was also registered
against Azam Khan and his wife
as they had submitted an affi-
davit testifying to the authen-
ticity of their son's second
birth certificate.
55,785 travellers screened for
COVID-19 at Mumbai airport
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
MUMBAI, 27 FEBRUARY
The Maharashtra Health
Department said on Thurs-
day that a total of 55,785
travelers have been screened
for possible novel coron-
avirus infection at the Mum-
bai international airport so
far.
Passengers arriving from
12 Covid-19 affected coun-
tries ~ China, Hong Kong,
Thailand, Singapore, South
Korea, Japan, Nepal, Indone-
sia, Vietnam, Italy, Iran and
Malaysia~ are being screened
at the Mumbai airport.
Those who are suspected
to have contracted the dead-
ly infection are sent to iso-
lation facilities for treatment.
However, no case of coro-
navirus infection has come
to light in the state so far, the
Health Department said in the
statement.
As many as 98 travelers
who had arrived from Covid-
19- affected areas were quar-
antined in hospitals across the
state, but 95 of them tested
negative for the virus as per
the National Institute of Virol-
ogy's (NIV) reports.
At present, five persons are
quarantined -- three at Naidu
Hospital in Pune and two at
Mumbai's Kasturba hospital.
Reports of swab samples of
three of these passengers
were awaited from the NIV.
All travelers from the
Wuhan city of China -- the
epicentre of the outbreak
of epidemic -- are being iso-
lated and tested, whether
they show any symptoms
are not, the Health Depart-
ment said. Follow-up at
home is conducted for the
travelers from Covid-19-
affected countries who do
not show any symptoms
during the screening at the
airport. “To date, out of 312
travelers, 228 have com-
pleted their follow-up of
14 days,” the department
said.
Screening arrangements
at Goa airport reviewed:
A high-level meeting was
held at the Dabolim inter-
national airport near here in
Goa on Thursday to review
the arrangements to screen
passengers for the novel
coronavirus (Covid-19).
Goa Health Minister Vish-
wajit Rane chaired the meet-
ing, which was also attend-
ed by Union health min-
istry's joint secretary Alok
Saxena, along with officials
from the Airports Authori-
ty of India and the state
health department.
“We have taken adequate
precautions to screen pas-
sengers arriving at the airport.
We will ensure that all pas-
sengers are examined and sus-
pected cases are identified,”
Rane told reporters after the
meeting.
Arrangements are in place
at the airport so that people
are safe, he said, adding
awareness is being spread
about Covid-19. Saxena said
cooperation extended by all
state governments has helped
curb spread of the deadly virus
in the country.
Maha Assembly seeks ‘classical’
tag for Marathi language
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
MUMBAI, 27 FEBRUARY
The Maharashtra legislative
Assembly on Thursday unan-
imously passed a resolution rec-
ommending to the Centre to
accord Marathi the status of a
“classical language”. The reso-
lution was moved by minister
for Marathi language Subhash
Desai.
The one line resolution
asked the Centre to take a deci-
sion to declare Marathi as a“clas-
sical language”. Speaking on the
issue, Food and Civil Supplies
minister Chhagan Bhujbal said
Marathi was an ancient lan-
guage, older than even Sanskrit.
All political parties in the state
should step up efforts to per-
suade the Centre to accord
classical language status to
Balraj Kundu to
withdraw support
from ‘corrupt’
Khattar govt
CHANDIGARH, 27 FEBRUARY
Haryana Independent MLA
Balraj Kundu announced
his decision to withdraw
support to the M L Khattar
dispensation on Thursday,
saying he was “deeply hurt”
Marathi, he said. The Assem-
bly also unanimously passed
a bill which makes Marathi a
compulsory subject across all
schools in the state.
Former chief minister
Prithviraj Chavan (Congress)
said it was during his tenure that
a committee was set up on the
issue under the chairmanship
of litterateur Rangnath Pathare
who gave a 500-page report on
classical language status for
Marathi.
“We forwarded the report
to the Centre in July 2013. But
then there was a change in gov-
ernment (at the Centre in May
2014). “In the last few years,
efforts to get classical status for
the Marathi language have not
yielded result. At the same,
five languages have been
declared as classical,” he said.

Administration Branch : Home Department

5th Level ‘C’ Wing, Delhi Secretariat, I.P. Estate, New Delhi
Delhi riots toll climbs...
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Baijal today held a review clean drinking water, ensur-
with the government giving
“clean chit” in the sugar
mills corruption he had
flagged.
meeting regarding the law ing timely medico-legal cer- “I had extended my
PUBLIC NOTICE A few kilometres away, an
old private school at Brijpuri
and order situation in the
national capital.
tificates and post mortem
reports etc. to the victims and
support to an honest
chief minister and an
This is for information of general public that Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, appeared to be in ruins. Following the meeting their families," said a state- honest government, but I
GTB Hospital present- which was held with top ment issued by the LG's came to know today that the
vide its order dated 26/02/2020 in WP(Crl.) No. 566/2020, has appointed ed a picture of despair with officials including special office. display of honesty is a farce,”
Ms. Zubeda Begum, Advocate, as ‘Amicus Curiae’ (AC) to act as Nodal some people sobbing uncon- commissioner of police Shri- "It was directed that the MLA told reporters
trollably and others main- vasta, the LG directed Delhi prompt action should be outside the Assembly,
Officer of the Court to co-ordinate between the victims and the various taining a stoic silence with Police to ensure continued taken to ensure availabili- after the chief minister
agencies to ensure that prompt action is taken and help is provided where barely held back tears as they adequate deployment of ty of essential supplies like refused to order any probe
needed. The mobile number of Ms. Subeda Begum, Advocate/Amicus waited there to receive the force, prompt registration of food, milk, grocery items etc. into allegations made
bodies of those killed in the FIRs and its expeditious in the affected areas," an offi- without substantial proof or
Curiae is 8588995254. communal mayhem. investigation, prevention cial said. due to personal
In addition to this, the following helpline phone numbers have also been Among those who lost of any untoward incident, All the related helpline enmity. “I withdraw my sup-
their lives was 22-year-old strict enforcement of direc- numbers like 100, 112, 011- port to this government and
pressed in service round the clock for providing all kind of help and assis- Ashfaq Hussain, an electri- tions under Section 144 and 22829334, 011-22829335 on Friday I will formally
tance to those affected by unfortunate incidents in North East and Shahdara cian who got married only visible police presence with (Delhi Police) and 101,102 hand over my letter to the
District of Delhi. 10 days ago and was shot outreach. (Delhi Fire Services), etc. be Governor and the Speaker,”
while he was returning home The LG also directed widely publicised, it was said Kundu, who represents
Disaster Management Helpline Number -- 1077 in Gokalpuri after attending them to ensure continued decided. Meham constituency in the
Deputy Commissioner (Shahdara) -- 011-22111077 to a complaint. vigil on borders and close Baijal also directed the Assembly. PTI
The relatives of 35-year- monitoring of sensitive Delhi government's rev-
SDM (Shahdara) -- 011-22110029 old Mudassir Khan from places like religious struc- enue department to take
Kardampuri said they have tures, schools, petrol pumps, confidence- building mea-
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) -- 011-22131104 been coming to the mortu- LPG godowns among other sures and make a quick sur-
Deputy Commissioner (North East) -- 011-22115289 ary for two days to claim his premises. vey of the quantum of loss-
body. Baijal also gave direc- es to individuals, families,
SDM (Yamuna Vihar) -- 011-22574468 “Today, we have been tives to officials to ensure safe business establishments,
waiting here since 8 am and passage for fire tenders and shops and institutions and
SDM (Seelampur) -- 011-22827367 the post-mortem is finally ambulances and general ensure their speedy com-
SDM (Karawal Nagar) -- 011-22574469 underway,” said Arbaaz public, setting up of suffi- pensation.
Khan. cient numbers of Help During the meeting, the
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East) -- 011-22829334 Mudassir, who worked in Desks/Help Lines and its LG was informed that ade-
scrap manufacturing unit, wider publicity to ensure quate staff including outside
-- 011-22829335 was outside his house on timely help to the victims force have been deployed in
Members of public may seek any kind of assistance like security, medical, Mo n d a y w h e n h e w a s and their families. affected areas on round-
attacked by a mob, his fam- "In addition, the LG the-clock basis. It was fur-
food shortage, sanitation, bedding & blankets etc. and give any information ily said. He sustained a bul- directed to set up sufficient ther informed that about 105
on above helpline numbers. These will be in addition to Delhi Police Helpline let injury on his head and number of shelter homes persons have been arrest-
Numbers 100 & 112. was declared brought dead with basic amenities includ- ed or detained in connec-
by doctors at GTB hospital. ing bedding, blanket, med- tion with Northeast Delhi
Special Secretary (Home) Delhi Lt Governor Anil icines, food, sanitation and riots.
DIP/Shabdarth/1406/19-20
08 NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020 Vol. CXXXXXI 50

Incorporating and directly descended

from THE FRIEND OF INDIA - Founded 1818
Turkey & Subcontinent A MEMBER
OF THE

Mr Trump in India
T he diplomatic irony has been rather excep-
tionally bitter. Donald Trump’s 36-hour visit
to India was somewhat pushed out of focus
by the communal flare-up that has overwhelmed
parts of Delhi, with the death toll rising to 27 till
Thursday afternoon. And yet the US President and
Prime Minister Narendra Modi were able to convey
a robust message to the west of the Radcliffe Line,
thanks largely to their personal chemistry. And
unlike some previous US Presidents, Mr Trump
chose not to follow up his visit to India with anoth-
er to Pakistan... as often as not to sing a different
piece. No, he hasn’t played a game of footsie while
on his first trip to the subcontinent - in an election
year to boot. Unmistakable is the emphatic ring to
the joint appeal to Pakistan to ensure that its terri-
tory was not used to launch terror attacks on India.
Furthermore, the government in Islamabad, not to
forget the GHQ in Rawalpindi, has been asked to
“bring to justice” the perpetrators of the Mumbai
and Pathankot outrages; the two leaders might as
well have added Pulwama to the frightful list of ter-
ror strikes. It is quite apparent that both countries
have utilised the opportunity to condemn terrorist
proxies and cross-border terrorism. The concerted
signal that has been emitted to Pakistan assumes
deeper significance when contextualised with last
week's decision of the Financial Action Task Force
ASIAN VOICES
It is important to recognise that unlike the Middle Eastern theatre which is contiguous Saving the ozone
to Turkish borders and direct interests, pandering to Pakistani urgency is realpolitik
and reflective of the carefully calibrated Turkish chessboard moves. India must call
Turkey's bluff and hypocrisy on terrorism, as it will remain contextually linked to Pakistan's I remember growing up hearing
about the expanding gigantic
ozone hole over Antarctica. Scien-
tists repeatedly warned us that deple-
own incorrigibility, duplicity and infamy tion of the ozone layer would mean
that we would lose our protection
against harmful UV rays. They pre-
dicted increased incidences of skin
cancers in humans and ecosystem
collapse if humanity did not act
immediately and collectively to stop
using ozone-depleting substances
such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFC)
and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC).
Last year, NASA reported that the
ozone hole over Antarctica was the
smallest that it had been since it was
first discovered in 1982. NASA report-
ed that the hole had reached its largest
size in 2000 and that it is expected to
return to its 1980 level by 2070. While
some of this shrinking has been a
result of abnormal Antarctic weather
during a handful of anomalous years,
scientists attribute much of this
progress to the successful eradication
of ozone-depleting substances from
human industrial activity. This ozone
problem occurred when ozone-

(FATF) to retain the country on the “grey list” for its
failure to suitably address the scourge and “export”
of terror. The occasional bouncers of Imran Khan ~
the threat of a nuclear war over the status of Kash-
mir ~ count for little in the overall construct. Nor for
that matter has the belligerent former cricketer
been able to convince the OIC (Organisation of
Islamic Cooperation), helmed by Saudi Arabia, to
convene a conference on Kashmir and the citizen-
ship issue. Internationally, Pakistan stands in
unsplendid isolation.
Neither the United States of America nor India
had actually expected a trade deal to be concluded.
Given the red herrings across the trail, it is rather
uncertain whether it can be signed by the end of
this year, as Mr Trump imagines. At any rate, it will
be a transitory phase in terms of America’s gover-
nance, specifically the presidential election in
November and the inaugural in January. Nonethe-
less, a positive development has been the $2.6 bil-
lion defence deal which envisages that India will
buy 24 MH-60 helicopters for its Navy. Additionally,
to beef up the strength of the Army, six AH-64 E
Apache choppers will be bought at a cost of $ 800
million. The agreements afford a critical impetus
to India-US defence ties and are of far greater
import than the hugs in Ahmedabad. Having said
that, the host country ought to have put its best
foot forward. On the contrary, the national Capital
was convulsed by communal frenzy over the iden-
tity of an Indian... 73 years after Partition.
A
ncient India’s connec-
tion with Anatolia dates
back to the Vedic era
(1000 BC). The rich cul-
tural exchanges continuing till
the Mughal-Ottoman empires.
Modern history is replete with
cordial engagements around Dr
MA Ansari’s famous mission to
Turkey, the Khilafat movement
and above all, India’s principled
support towards Turkey’s war of
independence. Mahatma Gand-
hi had openly taken a stand
against injustices on Turkey, dur-
ing the First World War. However
post-independence, the civilisa-
tional bonhomie had encoun-
tered the contretemps of the new
global order and ‘blocs’. Turkey
was part of CENTO (Central
Treaty Organisation) that was
ideologically opposed to the
Soviet ‘bloc’, towards which India
was predisposed. Co-religiousi-
ty, Cold War sensibilities and mil-
itary regimes in Islamabad and
Ankara, ensured a more-than-
cordial relationship between the
two nations, to the occasional
chagrin of India.
Turkey had issued a rare
communique in favour of Pak-
istan after the 1965 Indo-Pak war
Saudi Arabia from such a leader- religio-psycho-cultural bond to repeated in Indian-occupied- depleting gases like CFC and HFC
ship position. Psychologically, a more tangible and strategic Kashmir (sic) and Turkey will drifted up to the stratosphere and
the flipflop in the Pakistani nar- diplomatic-economic joinst- continue to raise its voice against reacted with the ozone molecules to
rative of getting inspired from manship in the Pak-Turk realm the oppression.” Islamabad lap- destroy them. These gases were pro-
more overtly secular moorings to has been unmistakably, acceler- ped up the rare endorsement of
veering towards abject religiousi- ated. This has led President its position and Delhi rightfully
ty has often seen Kemal Ataturk Erdogan to renege on the spirit summoned the Turkish Ambas-
emerge as the reference leader of his statement on a visit to sador for a verbal demarche. duced to be used in refrigeration, air
for many Pakistanis, most nota- India in 2017 ~ “Turkey will India referred to the recent Turk- conditioning, and aerosol spray cans. In
bly the former President, Pervez always be by the side of India in ish enthusiasm to take unwar- response to this news, in 1987, the Mon-
Musharraf. full solidarity while battling ter- ranted interest in the internal treal Protocol on Substances that
Today, the overt Islamisation rorism”, with the unquestionable affairs of other countries by stat- Deplete the Ozone Layer was finalised
of Turkish society with the emer- context of the source of ‘terror- ing, “This recent episode is but and eventually ratified by 197 signato-
gence of Recep Erdogan-led ism’ in India being, Pakistan. one more example of a pattern ries ~ making it the first treaty within
Islamist party, Justice and Devel- Turkey has had a complicated of Turkey interfering in the inter- the United Nations to have universal rat-
opment Party (AKP) has found relationship with terrorism, nal affairs of other countries. ification. This international treaty aimed
enhanced traction, emotions where it has attacked the Kurdish India finds that completely to protect the stratospheric ozone layer
and gravitation with Pakistan’s militia and sided with some unacceptable.” by phasing out the production and use
own confused and other extremist Turkey is an old hat in of harmful gases. Since it has come into
diluted secularity of militias in the Syri- charming Pakistan with churlish effect, it is estimated that over 99 per-
the past. Both an battleground. initiatives like naming the road cent of these problematic chemicals
nations are also at Turkey has also on which the Indian Embassy in have been eradicated and is considered
the crossroad of bal- shown belligerence Ankara is situated as Cinnah to be one of the most successful inter-
ancing their histori- against Saudi-US Caddesi i.e. Indian Embassy on national agreements in human history.
cal and fractured interests and often Jinnah Road! The power struggle
ties with the United taken contrarian within the Ummah and Turkey’s IN MEMORIAM
States, which affords positions, sparing ambition to assume a leadership
a common belliger- no effort to embar- role will require it to play along GHOSH DR. NALINI BHUSHAN —
ence and ‘voice’ rass Riyadh in the with Pakistan’s sensitivities and Our revered father — remembered
BHOPINDER
against the Western SINGH
Khashoggi affair. necessities, and the recent tilt this day and everyday by his family
powers that enables The churning in the and statements are part of that members. (BPL7373)
them to adopt hero- The writer IS Lt Gen Middle East with no gameplan. While the Indo-Turk
PVSM, AVSM (Retd), GOSWAMI SUKLA — In everlasting
ic postures within Former Lt Governor of clear winners in trade is not insignificant at $7.8 memory of my mother, who left me
the Ummah, and Andaman & Nicobar
sight, has offered an billion (2019), it is still less than
Islands & Puducherry this day in 2002. — Kaustav.
especially amongst opportunity to Tur- $18 billion with Malaysia, which (BPL7376)

Towards Pandemic? and subsequently supplied

armaments to the depleted Pak-
the electoral consti- key to cobble toge-
tuents. With much in common ther an alternate bloc composed
and the possibilities of a realpoli- of ‘unnaturals’ (e.g. Iran, Qatar,
too had sullied the relationship
with India on Kashmir, and
incurred Delhi’s wrath.
ANNOUNCEMENT

C
hina is in crisis. So too are large parts of the
world. Fears that the novel coronavirus might
soon be identified as a global pandemic are
frightfully real. Over the past few days, there has
been a surge in cases in Japan, Iran ~ where it is
said to have impinged on the presidential election
turnout ~ South Korea and Italy to name but a few
countries. However, if the statement by the Direc-
tor-General of the World Health Organisation,
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is any indication,
it is not a pandemic quite yet ; in that event it would
have spread internationally and in an uncontrolled
manner. While some contend that this is already a
pandemic in all but name, WHO is cautiously opti-
mistic about the measures that China has adopted
though there is some criticism over President Xi
Jinping's handling of the grave health crisis, the like
of which the world has not suffered in recent times.
If WHO has been somewhat hesitant in its usage
of the term, ‘pandemic’, it largely stems from its
concern over public reaction not the least because
of the overwhelming ignorance about the affliction.
istani armoury. The 1971 Indo-
Pak war was no different; Turkey
was among the last countries to
recognise Bangladesh. Turkey’s
continued support to Pakistan
had even led to the withdrawal
of its ambassador from Dhaka in
2016, when the authorities in
Bangladesh had executed Jam-
aat-e-Islami leaders convicted of
horrific crimes in the Liberation
War.
Re-imagining and project-
ing itself as the most progressive
and powerful Islamic nation at
the forefront of Ummah (Islamic
world), Ankara has tactically
supported Islamabad to burnish
its own emerging leadership
ambitions, with the implied
undercurrents of dislodging
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
tik win-win situation emerging Malaysia, Pakistan etc.) that It is important to recognise DAS PRADIP KUMAR (Bar-at-Law)
from supporting each other, could rival the Saudi Arabian that unlike the Middle Eastern — On February 24, 2020 (Monday) at
Turkey has emerged as amongst stranglehold over the Ummah theatre which is contiguous to his Kolkata residence, left for his
the staunchest supporters of via institutions like OIC (Organi- Turkish borders and direct inter- Heavenly Abode. A Memorial Service
Pakistan in the United Nations sation of Islamic Cooperation). ests, pandering to Pakistani will be held on March 5, 2020 (Thurs-
and other fora. Affluent Arab Open provocation to undo urgency is realpolitik and reflec- day) at 6-30 p.m. at Bhabanipur Brah-
allies like Saudi Arabia and the past equations, tenor and posi- tive of the carefully calibrated, mo Sammilan Samaj, 1A, Dr. Rajendra
United Arab Emirates are tions has been the preferred Turkish chessboard moves. India Road, Kolkata-700020. All his friends,
increasingly ‘balancing’ their act Turkish strategy. On a recent visit must call Turkey’s bluff and relatives and colleagues are request-
in favour of India, in the deeply to Pakistan, Erdogan has stirred hypocrisy on terrorism, as it will ed to attend his Memorial Service. —
hyphenated Indo-Pak realm. the hornet’s nest and gratuitous- remain contextually linked to The bereaved family.
Pakistan is reciprocating the ly obliged Islamabad on the con- Pakistan’s own incorrigibility, (BPL7375)
Turkish delight as it urges Turkey tentious issue of Kashmir, espe- duplicity and infamy. There are
to counter-leverage the embar- cially since Pakistan is struggling no major counter-levers available PERSONAL
rassing ‘abandonment’ by Arab to bankroll sympathisers to its to Delhi on Ankara’s latest provo-
Sheikhdoms, by joining hands position. Erdogan’s words in cation, other than sticking to its
with the avowedly anti-Saudi Islamabad were both calculated own principled stance, issuing DASCHAUDHURI A. B. (Baba) and
bloc that includes Turkey, Qatar, and short ~ “Events that hap- diplomatic demarches and wait- Shyamali (Ma) — Happy Golden Mar-
Iran and Malaysia. pened a hundred years ago in ing for the inevitable Pakistani riage Anniversary !! — Daughters
The metamorphosis from a Çanakkale in Turkey are being mis-step and disrepute. Uma and Runa. (BPL7374)
editor@thestatesman.com

Can't just watch the Chinese dying

Even if it is not “containable”, it can be slowed. The
world bears witness to a cocktail of insufficient CHINA'S INITIATIVES
medical knowledge, xenophobia and anxieties.
SIR, Your editorial (6 February) deserves compliments
“Using the word pandemic now does not fit the SIR, I am deeply shocked by Force aircraft, and he seems especially others’ opinions dor to Denmark and Ugan- for highlighting China's efforts to contain the outbreak
facts, but it may certainly cause fear,” is the warning Mr Niraj Srivastava’s article, worried about the possibility on the subject he writes on. da. But his contention is un- of coronavirus. The country's initiatives have been
of WHO's Director-General. The economic impact “The Killer Virus” (17 Febru- of its crew getting infected I’m afraid that he has missed diplomatic and bereft of hu- appreciated the world over, specifically the extraordi-
has been tremendous, stoking fears of a possible ary), in which he has criti- by the deadly virus. Ever PK Singh’s article, “Solidarity manitarian considerations. nary achievement of constructing the 1000-bed hospital
recession yet again. Airlines have been hit, major cized the Government of since the BJP under the lea- needed to fight the virus” Yours, etc., Asim Mukhopad- for coronavirus patients. Beijing has strengthened its
international events are being cancelled, and com- India’s decision to send me- dership of Narendra Modi (14 February). Mr Singh hyay, Kolkata, 17 February. administrative apparatus to address the crisis. It has
panies dependent on Chinese-made components dical supplies to China started its second innings writes, “WHO, South-east imposed a lockdown and a public health emergency.
where coronavirus has al- with a thumping majority of Asia region, must continue CONFUSED CITIZEN Also exemplary is the blanket travel ban. China's claim
have halted production. The word “pandemic”
ready killed an estimated 303 in the Lok Sabha, it has to strengthen its readiness to SIR, The Government has on 5 February that there has been a drop in the number
brings to mind the devastation of the Great Plague,
2700 people and afflicted got itself involved in various respond”. We live in a dyna- informed Parliament that it of suspected cases affords a ray of hope amidst the pre-
the Black Death or Spanish flu. The term's conno- more than 20,000. It has imbroglios, the latest being mic world that is intercon- has not taken any decision vailing gloom. The dreaded disease has spread to sever-
tation is intrinsically about its spread. Spanish flu shattered the powerful cou- the countrywide upsurge nected and on the move. on preparing a National al countries in South-east Asia and to Italy as well.
killed up to 100 million people as it swept the globe ntry’s economy and morale. over the Citizenship Amend- Member states in the region Register of Citizens. But this Yours, etc., Biswanath Chaudhuri, Kolkata, 6 February.
a century ago. According to one estimate, the swine Mr Srivastava is somewhat ment Act. will continue to step up and assurance may not be en-
flu pandemic in 2009 killed up to 203,000 people ~ idiosyncratic when he writes The Government’s gesture stand tall. The Indian Gov- ough to bridge the political
lower than the toll linked to seasonal flu in many that at a time when all coun- towards China is not only ernment has taken the right trust deficit. Placing the na- Several states, where and National Register of Cit-
years. The capacity of the health services and the tries are keeping a distance commendable, but cha- decision, one that it was tionwide NRC project in the Opposition parties are in izens. So it was but natural
government's response to the outbreak are as vital from China, is it sensible for llenging no less. I doubt if expected to take. If it were abeyance or at least declar- power, are now reluctant to for critics to link NPR, for
in China as in all the affected countries. Outside of India to embrace it? Our pol- Mr Srivastava is aware of the Indians instead of the Chi- ing a five-year moratorium proceed with the NPR up- which funds were sanc-
icy makers would do well to situation around him. If he nese, could we appreciate pending a wider consensus date. Many others are un- tioned in December 2019, to
Wuhan, the mortality rate is much lower in the rest ponder over this question can produce an editorial the rest of the world over- on the issue would have nerved over the exercise. the nationwide NRC that top
of China. Other countries with poor sanitation, before the aircraft takes off. from The Statesman, it is not looking our needs watching been more rational. Given This is a pity as NPR, which BJP leaders have been pro-
decrepit public health systems and malnourished By using the word, “aircraft”, at all illogical to expect him us die? Mr Srivastava has the radical nature of the ex- could have been used to mising for several months. It
populations, could pay a far higher price. India, for he implies an Indian Air to read the paper regularly, served as India’s ambassa- ercise, the extent of mistrust strengthen welfare mea- would be useful to recall
instance, fares poorly in all the three parameters. it has generated was only to sures, is now a victim of the Prime Minister Narendra
The affliction cries out for international support, be expected. CAA-NRC controversy. Un- Modi’s original call for ‘min-
and quite the most acutely so the patient. China All Indian citizens may be like the UPA government, imum government, maxi-
has shown the way by putting two hospitals in asked to prove their citizen- which did not pursue NRC mum governance’ and refo-
place within the span of a fortnight. Though the ship all over again, to the after the first NPR exercise cus on the economy that is
satisfaction of the petty in 2010, the NDA govern- in dire need of attention.
structures are prefabricated, it is the speed of the
bureaucracy. Inherent is the ment has become a victim With the NRC out of the
operation that has been truly astounding. And mistrust of the BJP dispen- of the BJP’s hypernational- way, the government will be
given the phenomenal progress of medical science, sation at the Centre. That ism. It has jumped the gun in a position to generate
it is fervently to be hoped that a vaccine wil be mistrust is only reinforced by promising a nationwide optimism over India’s eco-
developed in the not too distant future. Till Thurs- by the Assam chapter of the NRC to follow the controver- nomic prospects.
day afternoon, China has recorded 2715 deaths and NRC. The failure has been sial CAA. The Citizenship Yours, etc., Narayan
78,064 confirmed cases. The label of “pandemic” admitted by all parties, Rules, 2003, envisage NPR as Chandra Ghosh,
can only be of academic interest. including the BJP. the staging point for a local Madanpur, 7 February.
 NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020 09
Gambling ills must
be correlated with the following social
deviations : domestic violence,
100 YEARS AGO
divorce, bankruptcy, drug and alcohol
abuse, risky or illicit sexual behaviour
(especially prostitution) and problem
OCCASIONAL NOTE

be brought into focus

BHARAT DOGRA and public meetings against casinos
is seldom taken seriously, people
nos have become identified in the
public mind with several social prob-
impacts of gambling.
Crystal Fulton, Professor of Uni-
gambling.
“Additionally, Stokowski (1996)
and Long (1996), who studied gam-
bling towns in Colorado and South
Dakota, clearly indicated that the rates
of criminal activities increased due to
the development of casino enterprises
in these two locations. The increase in
the number of pathological gamblers
is another concerning issue regarding
the development of casino gambling.”
According to Gordon Moody
Association (Help for Problem Gam-
blers), “Anyone who gets caught up in
the downward spiral of problem gam-
bling finds only too soon that the neg-
ative impact on his or her life can be
devastating. Finding money to gam-
ble is usually the most immediate and
obvious issue which brings with it
enough problems, but in addition an
all-consuming compulsion to gamble
at any cost leads to difficulties which
affect employment, quality of life,
family relationships and mental and
physical health.
“And, of course, problem gam-
bling doesn’t just affect the individual.
It’s estimated that for every problem
gambler at least 10 other family mem-
bers, friends and colleagues are also
directly affected.”
A 2010 study in the UNLV Gam-
ing Research and Review Journal
revealed that those classified as prob-
lem gamblers were on average 84 per
cent more like to use hard drugs, 31
per cent more likely to binge drink and
260 per cent more likely to hire a pros-
titute.
Hence it is clear that gambling
The Hon. Mr. W.E. Crum, in his presiden-
tial address at the annual meeting of the
Bengal Chamber of Commerce, reviewed
some of the leading topics which have
engaged the attention of the Chamber
during the past year, and the retrospect
affords some ground for satisfaction.
Considering what the Empire has passed
through during the last five years, there is
something to be thankful for when we
find the president of the Chamber of
Commerce peacefully discoursing on
such subjects as currency, fiscal policy,
and experimental farms. In one impor-
tant matter Bengal has been more fortu-
nate than other parts of India. Mr. Crum
attributed its comparative freedom from
serious labour trouble to the fact that
employers have been particularly solici-
tous for the welfare of their workmen.
That this, however, as Mr. Crum said,
does not always secure immunity from
strikes is shown by the experience of
Madras mills where the conditions of
labour are “as nearly ideal as it is possible
for them to be.” The result of industrial
peace in Bengal has been greatly to the
advantage of both employers and
employees and of the general community
as well. There are several other subjects in
Mr. Crum’s address which will repay
detailed consideration. Not the least
important of them is the bridging of the
Hooghly. As bridge-builders the Govern-
ment have not hitherto appeared to
advantage, but it must be admitted that
they have been handicapped by war con-
ditions.
NEWS ITEM

S
ome time ago when adverse pub-
lic opinion started building about
undesirable social impacts of
casinos in Goa, the government
announced that it would stop all ‘orig-
inal Goans’ from entering casinos. This
was taken as an implicit recognition by
the government that adverse social
impacts had started manifesting despite
the limited reach of mostly boat-based
casinos.
At the same time local people in
the know took the government assur-
ance about not allowing original
Goans into casinos, whatever that
means, with several pinches of salt as
even powerful politicians were them-
selves found to visit casinos. It was
pointed out that there was hardly any
evidence of the ban being in place.
What politicians say at election rallies
CROSSWORD
pointed out.
In the subsequent debate it also
emerged that actually there were plans
to take casinos big-time to some
prime land locations and that a new
airport was being planned as part of
this initiative. A big player in casinos
was quoted as saying: “The Indian
government has asked casinos to build
integrated resorts in Goa. Gambling
operators who did not enter Macau,
when the game was liberalized at the
beginning of the millennium do not
want to miss the boat in Goa and want
to bet on what might be the next
Macau. We expect Goa to quickly
become a $ 1 billion market as it tran-
sitions to land-based casinos.”
Whatever may be the truth about
these plans it is clear that even with
their present-day limited range, casi-
NO 27876
A time for us to forget borders
PRAMOD MISHRA
lems. Women may not take any part
in gambling but still suffer its adverse
social impacts.
While gambling has been a seri-
ous addiction for a long time in histo-
ry, in modern times this problem has
taken novel forms with technology
making it possible to spread gambling
on a much wider scale. In addition,
powerful interests have been pleading
for legalising casino gambling and
other forms of gambling including
betting on sports events. Gambling is
not only being legalised in many parts
of the world; in addition many local
governments are even promoting
gambling to earn revenue. According
to one estimate the size of global legal
gambling may amount to $335 billion.
In such a situation there is need for
wider recognition of the adverse social
versity College, Dublin has written,
“Harmful gambling can have crippling
financial and social effects on the
gambler, their friends and family. In
the first national study on the social
impact of harmful gambling in Ire-
land, we examined how it affected
recovering gamblers, their families
and friends...Talking to people from
all walks of life...we found that a com-
mon theme was the devastating social
effects gambling had on people’s
lives.”
A review of existing research on
this subject by Shou-Tsung Wu and
Yeong-Shyang Chen says, “Although
some researchers have found that the
development of casino gambling has
no direct association with an increase
in criminal activities, most studies
have shown that casino gambling may
has very serious social impacts and
the rapid spread of legal gambling
should be resisted by social move-
ments. In addition, communities
should also resist the widespread
practice of various forms of illegal
gambling. In schools and in commu-
nity places there should be a clear
message against gambling, backed
with adequate information on the
adverse social impacts of gambling.
The highly dubious arguments given
for legalising gambling, including bet-
ting in sports events and casino gam-
bling, should be resisted strongly by
providing all the strong evidence
against the adverse social impacts of
all forms of gambling.
The writer is a freelance journalist who has
been involved with several social movements.
HOOLIGANISM IN
BURRA BAZAR
The Commissioner of Police met some of
the leading residents of Burra Bazar yes-
terday and at their request special patrols
of armed sergeants will be placed in this
area and a special staff deputed from the
Detective Department to run bad liveli-
hood cases against known bad charac-
ters. Government have been asked to leg-
islate in order to give police magistrates
power to remove from Calcutta up-coun-
try and other foreign bad characters who
have no proper means of livelihood. On
the other hand the Commissioner of
Police has asked the Marwari residents
to assist the police by giving evidence
against known bad characters, which up
to the present it has been almost impos-
sible to get anyone to do.
NEW CAWNPORE
HOSPITAL
Sir Harcourt Butler will open the

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION
2 Officer command-
3 Wine waiter’s
4 Copy video record-
5 Ex-PM’s involving
6 US soldier in
7 Maria not unhappy
ACROSS (8) 8 The man with lots
18 Is Escoffier’s oven
1 Agreements from
set apart? (8)
Spain about the 12
19 I will block return
French area in part 14
of Europe (7)
of unimpressive
spam? (1-4)
5 Wrong to retreat
20 Novel adding to its
in uncultivated
country, being
setting? (3,3,4,5)
23 Pub importing old 16
aggressive (7)
9 Lying about per-
ale ultimately as a
unit (2,3)
son in office not
getting elected (9)
10 Government lies at
24 Circular shape?
Staff carrying 17
barrel with it to
the fore of under-
standing a country
yard (9)
26 Criticise daughter
in Africa (5)
engaging in inter- 20
11 Development of
course in tight
lodge cuisine invol-
fabric (7)
ves historic apple
(6,9)
27 Former lover with 21
13/12 Unusually diffi- a bit of work
starts to upstage
dent being involv-
everyone in area
ed with a sexier
title for the Queen of date (7)
22
(5,11) DOWN
15 Trusty French
25
nobleman, collared 1 Just ignore source
by a couple, dump- of something un-
ed in Cornish river usually rough and
NOTE: Figures in parentheses denote the number of letters in the words required.
(By arrangement with The Independent, London)
T
he origin of the novel coronavirus
(Covid-19) in Wuhan, a city of 11
million people, has globally stig-
matised the beautiful city in cen-
tral China; and the epidemic’s spread all
over China affecting about 80,000 people
around the world has done the same to
China. The discourse surrounding the
fast-spreading virus and its origin city and
country has once again revealed the ten-
sion between the boundaries of what is
national and what is global.
Even in 2004, when I had travelled
to Wuhan to give four lectures on four
different days on writing in higher edu-
cation, dissertation writing, literary stud-
ies and postcolonial studies at Central
China Normal University after three days
of stay in Beijing, one could tell that the
Chinese dragon was roaring to rise and
shake off its European burden of colo-
nial history. High-rises were coming up
everywhere—Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan.
City streets and shops, including the
loud (5,3) multi-storey grocery stores with live
ing everyone left seafood in gigantic aquarium-like glass
earlier for pub (5) tanks and animals on floors and cages
(how sinister they appear now from news
romance, in emb- reports about the rise of the virus from
race of German
actress (9) one of the live animal floors of a grocery
store) were crowded with shoppers.
ing, perhaps, omit- What struck me was the youthful age
ting start (3) of the city population. Young men and
doctor in crude women with the latest gadgets walking
nonsense? It’s the streets and riding buses with bus dri-
material for vers taking swigs of green tea from their
conflict (11) glass/plastic bottles. I had never seen
column showing anybody drinking green tea like that. At
upturn in sense (5) times, I wished I had cooking facilities in
my hotel so I could try some of the
with a lover (9) seafood at the grocery stores, but I was
of money but not staying at the university hotel, where I
with the bosses (5) had Mao fish almost every day for dinner
See 13 Across when I ate by myself.
Murdered wife of
Locally, the fish was named after
Parisian: malevo-
lent figure enga- Mao because even though originally
ged in it (9)
Space and oppor-
called Wuchang fish, Mao had men-
tioned it in one of his poems: ‘No sooner
tunity to replace
Henry with tragic
had I drunk water from Xiang River than
I savoured Wuchang fish.’ Indeed, the
king (9)
Not the modern fish was both cheap ($5 for a whole
fashion? Dolls yet baked fish with delicious sauce all over it)
to be abandoned and tasteful. It was also in Wuhan that I
(3,5) got to know about the nine schools of
Dogs are entering
narrow gap on a
Chinese cuisine and taste the many
courses from the turntable at restaurants.
climb (5)
Youngster not I also came to know that the city not only
about to complete had its own very rich cuisine culture, but
plumbing chall- also hosted international restaurants.
enge? (1-4)
When a colleague from my institution,
Beginning without
skill is a pain (5) who had also gone there to give a lecture,
Weary, having and I went to a Brazilian restaurant, the
scored runs in variety and preparations of meat were
match (3) astonishing.
One night, the university’s English
faculty invited me to such a dinner,
where I got to eat lotus stem and lotus
root as vegetables (who knew you could
eat lotus!) and another night the English
Department faculty from Wuhan Univer-
sity (a higher ranking university than
Central China Normal) hosted me for
dinner in the city where I learned from
them about their curriculum and teach-
ing methods and shared with them my
experiences of the educational systems
in India, Nepal and the United States,
including theories and stories from my
globally known doctoral programme and
mentor. These highly educated Chinese
colleagues were curious and knowledge-
able. After a while, you forgot that you
were talking to colleagues from a differ-
ent country.
When I woke up early and went for a
walk in the morning, I found all the open
spaces and parks filled with people, espe-
cially the elderly, who did Tai Chi to the
tune of some music coming out of the
communal soundbox. Nobody looked
obese; everyone, old and young, looked
fit and slim. People in the streets and the
shops didn’t speak English. One day,
when I got caught in the rain, I went to a
store and asked for an umbrella; but
when the salesperson didn’t understand
what I was saying, I explained through
gestures. And he understood and sold me
an umbrella. Communication in the
absence of language is challenging; but if
there is goodwill between people, lan-
guage no longer poses a barrier for com-
munication.
One day, I rode a bus for a four or
five-hour journey to the Three Gorges
Dam. And the road went through villages
and green rice paddies. The dam was still
being built. I spent the night in the town
near the dam in a hotel. I had no prob-
lem communicating despite the absence
of a shared language.
Now that Wuhan has become the
epicentre of the coronavirus, it is impor-
tant to remember that 11 million people
live there—people who have been cut off
from the world and from other Chinese
cities. Even in this unprecedented crisis,
people must eat, shop for basic necessi-
ties and live in safety until the threat of
the virus subsides.
The Chinese government is now
being praised all over the world for taking
draconian measures to stop the virus. For
example, according to the New York
Times, the city of Beijing has imposed
new rules. Workers are not allowed to eat
face-to-face; offices and elevators can fill
only half their capacity at any one time,
and each worker needs to keep 2.5
square metres of workspace around
them. However, the world over, the Chi-
nese government was faulted for not
allowing the information to come out at
the earliest despite the early warnings of
a 34-year-old doctor, Li Wenliang, who
was interrogated by the police for
‘rumour-mongering’ and who later con-
tracted the virus and died.
There is no doubt that the legacy of
Western colonialism, and the present
threat that China’s rise poses to Western
powers, may have come out directly or
indirectly in the coverage of the virus in
many Western media outlets. But it is
also equally important to note that China
is no longer a small power but a global
player on the world stage, and so needs
to develop both a thick skin and a rea-
sonable degree of openness in matters
of health and safety because health, safe-
ty and other basic necessities are not
explicitly political matters. So, the regime
doesn’t need to be threatened about
openness in these matters. A rising glob-
al power needs to have an equally capa-
cious heart.
At the same time, it is also equally
important to remember that out of
China’s 1.4 billion people, about 79,000
people have contracted the Covid-19
virus and 2,764 have died. While precau-
tion, prevention and search for a cure are
important, there is no room for Sinopho-
bia, as has developed, for example, in
South Korea, where some shops have
begun posting signs saying, ‘No Chinese’.
Instead, despite the recent rise of hyper-
nationalism in many countries, this is the
time that countries need to forget their
borders and come together to control
and eliminate the virus because the virus
has transgressed national borders with-
out a passport or visa, and spread across
countries and continents.
The Kathmandu Post/ANN.
Georgina McRobert Memorial Hospital
in Cawnpore on Monday the 1st March.
The hospital has been built and endowed
by Sir Alexander McRobert principally for
the benefit of European and Anglo-Indi-
an residents of Cawnpore. The hospital
is situated in the heart of the Civil Lines
on a plot of land measuring about ten
acres and it is estimated that the cost of
buildings and equipment will exceed four
lakhs of rupees. His Honour will also on
the same day lay the foundation stone of
the Sonatana Dharma Arts and Commer-
cial College. The College authorities are
aiming at the establishment of a first
grade commercial college at Cawnpore.
PUNJAB AND
THE REFORMED
COUNCILS
LAHORE, FEB 27
A Punjab Government Press commu-
niqué just issued publishes the proceed-
ings of the committee which has advised
the Lieutenant-Governor on certain mat-
ters connected with the Reform Scheme.
The opinion of the committee is now
under the consideration of the Govern-
ment. The committee has made various
recommendations regarding the urban
and rural electorate, the distribution of
urban and rural seats, the franchise for
the Legislative Assembly and votes for the
Council of State. For the University seats
the committee advised that the franchise
should be extended to all fellows and
honorary fellows of the Punjab University,
all M.As and M.Sc’s and all other gradu-
ates of seven years’ standing of Punjab or
any Indian university or any other recog-
nised university of the British Empire.
The Sikh members, however, pressed a
claim for a larger share of representation.
ELECTRIC
TRAMWAYS FOR
BANGALORE
BANGALORE, FEB 27
The question of constructing electric
tramways in Bangalore has been dis-
cussed very frequently in recent years.
Before the war broke out the Government
of Mysore sanctioned a scheme, but it
was held in abeyance owing to the
impossibility of obtaining materials at a
reasonable price. As soon as the
Armistice was concluded the Chief Elec-
trical Engineer was requested to take up
the question and he submitted a note to
the Government of Mysore approving
generally the suggestions of the Chief
Electrical Engineer and directing investi-
gation of traffic prospects and the prepa-
ration of estimates.
10
Previous goverments are responsible for dip
in per capita income in Uttar Pradesh
UTTAR PRADESH CHIEF MINISTER YOGI ADITYANATH
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020 CLAIMING THAT HIS GOVERNMENT IS WORKING TO IMPROVE PER CAPITA INCOME

BJP using Savarkar as shield for

neo-nationalism politics: Sena
Naidu detained at airport
YSRCP supporters raise slogans of ‘Go Back Babu’ over his opposition to proposed 3 capital plan
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA BJP-ruled Centre has honoured STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE left his car and tried to walk attempt to clear the way for
MUMBAI, 27 FEBRUARY Savarkar is the question that the HYDERABAD, 27 FEBRUARY but was prevented by police the convoy. TDP leader Nakka
BJP leaders in the state should ask, and security and then he sat Anand Babu alleged the pro-

The Shiv Sena on Thursday
accused the BJP of using Hin-
dutva ideologue Veer Savarkar as
a “shield” to play the politics of
neo-nationalism.
Terming the BJP's love for
Savarkar as “fake”, the Sena said
that instead of targeting the
Maharashtra government, the
state BJP leaders should ask why
the party- ruled Centre has failed
to honour the freedom fighter so
far.
It also said that if the BJP
thought that it could corner the
Sena over the issue of Savarkar,
then it was mistaken.
“The BJP leaders in Maha-
rashtra declared that they would
target the (state) government on
the issue of Veer Savarkar. This
makes it clear that Savarkar is not
a subject of respect or faith for the
BJP, but just a political issue,” the
Sena said in its editorial in party
mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
“Veer Savarkar is not merely
a subject of discussion, but he
should be practised in life.
Savarkar's life symbolised sacri-
fice, principles, radiance and
struggle,” it added.
“Everyone paid respects to
Savarkar on his death anniversary
(observed on Wednesday). But
those who pretend to remember
Savarkar, have they really under-
stood him? BJP says it will corner
the government on the issue of
Savarkar. But those who themselves
are cornered, should not talk
about cornering others,” the
Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.
Instead of targeting the Maha-
rashtra government, whether the
F
it added.
“Why didn't the Centre con-
fer Bharat Ratna on Savarkar on
the Republic Day? Will the neo-
fans of Savarkar throw some light
on it? Demand for passing a res-
olution in Maharashtra Assem-
bly in honour of Savarkar if fine.
“But what happened to the let-
ters sent to Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi by former chief minis-
ter Devendra Fadnavis in which
he sought Bharat Ratna for
Savarkar? The Centre did not
even take note of the letters. This
is an insult of Maharashtra and
Veer Savarkar,” the Sena said.
After his release from Andaman
(Cellular Jail), Savarkar devoted
his life to social work in Ratnagiri.
“Political leaders, including
Mahatma Gandhi and RSS founder
Hedgewar, met him. Gandhiji
sought his cooperation for erad-
ication of untouchability and
propagation of Swadeshi,” it
added.
ormer Andhra Pra-
desh chief minister
and TDP president N
Chandrababu Naidu
was detained by police at
Visakhapatnam today after
YSRCP supporters blocked
his way from the airport for
almost five hours, raising slo-
gans of “Go Back Babu” over
his opposition to the pro-
posed three capital plan
and declaring Visakhapat-
nam as executive capital.
Naidu was scheduled to
hold a meeting with farm-
ers at Pendurthi in Vizag
and Vizianagaram districts
as a part of his Praja Chait-
nya Yatra. Both TDP and
YSRCP supporters had gath-
ered near the airport since
early morning as Naidu re-
ached Vizag around 11:30.
But his convoy was unable
to leave the airport due to
the protests by YSRCP sup-
porters who even sat in front
of his vehicle.
Ruling party supporters
carried posters with Naidu’s
photograph but crossed out
in black. They shouted “Go
back Babu”. They also car-
ried banners which pro-
claimed the TDP chief as a
traitor who has betrayed
the cause of North Andhra.
Naidu has been leading
a protest to continue Ama-
ravati as the capital of the
state and opposed the three
capital plan of chief minis-
ter YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The YSRCP leaders and
supporters who had assem-
bled in large numbers tried
to hurl eggs, tomatoes and
even footwear at the former
CM’s convoy. They attacked
the vehicles of other TDP lea-
ders with eggs and tomatoes
who had come to the airport
to receive Naidu, including
party MLA K Atchannaidu
and V Ganesh Kumar. At
one point the TDP president
down there on protest.
A visibly angry Naidu ar-
gued why he was not allowed
to proceed for his meeting
despite having permission
from the police. He wondered
why he was being stopped
when he and his party had
never stopped Reddy from
his padayatra when TDP
was in power. “Let the police
do whatever they can. They
can fire at me or kill me in
an encounter,” said Naidu,
furious with the police.
Later the police detained
him under section 151 of
CrPC to prevent cognizable
offences and took him back
to the airport lounge to send
him back to Vijayawada.
TDP leaders questioned
how the police allowed such
a large number of support-
ers of YSRCP inside the air-
port premises. They alleged
the police did not make any
testers were “paid artists”
brought in by YSRCP in lieu
of money.
However, YSRCP leaders
claimed it was not just their
activists who protested but
by all those who wanted
north Andhra to develop
along with coastal region.
They said Naidu’s claim that
5,000 people came from
Pulivendula was false. “Police
had the only option of send-
ing back Naidu rather than
stopping the thousand of pro-
testers who were asking him
to go back. It was for the po-
lice to act to save law and
order, said Ambati Ram-
babu.
Other passengers had to
face the brunt of the agita-
tion as they were forced to
wait till the airport author-
ities made alternative arr-
angements for them to depart
from the airport.

Nadda: An ordinary‘worker’ can
become ‘president’ only in BJP
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SHIMLA, 27 FEBRUARY
Bharatiya Janata Party’s
national president, Jagat
Prakash Nadda was today
accorded warm welcome on
his first visit to home state
Himachal Pradesh after
elevation to the top party
post in the country last
month.
Elated over the response
of people at ‘Abhinandan
rally’ in Solan and then at
a civic reception in Shim-
la, Nadda said he has
become the party presi-
dent with the blessings of
‘Dev Bhoomi’ and its peo-
ple and he will never let his
home state down.
“I am from a small state.
I could never imagine that
I would get such a big
responsibility. But this can
only happen in BJP that an
ordinary worker can
become party president.
There was no one in
politics in my family. BJP is
the only party, which does-
n’t go by dynasty or indi-
vidualism. It goes by ide-
ology.”He said most other
political parties in the coun-
try indulge in ‘vanshvad’,
‘parivarvad’ (dynasty) or a
particular samudayey (com-
munity), but BJP is a party
with a difference, which
works on ‘vicharvad’ (ide-
ology).
“We know who is going
to be the next president of
Congress. It cannot go
beyond one family. We
know that who is going to
be President of NCP, SP,
BSP or Telugu Desam. But
nobody knows this in BJP,
except for the fact that a
worker will become the
President,” he said.
He said it is BJP where
a person from an ordinary
family has become Prime
Minister of the country,
who has established him-
self as international leader.
The national BJP Pres-
ident hails from Bilaspur dis-
trict of Himachal Pradesh.
He has remained MLA
thrice, once leader of BJP
Legislative Party and twice
as minister in Himachal
government. He had moved
to the national BJP politics
in 2010 by quitting his cab-
inet berth.
Avoiding any reference
to controversial issues in the
country, he told the BJP
workers that they were for-
tunate to have associated
with this party. “My friends
in other political parties
keep asking me the scope
of entering into BJP now.
When I ask them why- they
say they are fed up of rais-
ing slogans for one family
all the time,” he said.
Anti-CAA stir, Delhi violence
have not dampened
investor sentiment: FM
PTI
GUWAHATI, 27 FEBRUARY
Union Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman on Thursday asserted
that the anti-CAA protests and
the recent violence in Delhi have
not dampened the spirit of investors.
Addressing a press conference
here after meeting various share-
holders post the Union Budget,
Sitharaman said investors whom
she met in her recent visit to Saudi
Arabia expressed willingness to
invest more in India.
“I met several investors... both
Saudi and Indian investors there.
No one showed any concern. On
the contrary, they were willing to
invest more in India,” she said.
Sitharaman claimed that the
companies also explored possi-
bilities for opening representa-
tive offices in India, reflecting their
willingness to invest more.
“Lots of interest were shown on
various projects,” the finance min-
ister said.
Asked specifically about protests
against the Citizenship (Amend-
ment) Act or the recent violence
in Delhi, Sitharaman said, “The sen-
timent of foreign investors has
not dampened at all.”
On the possible impact of coro-
navirus scare on the industry and
the economy, she said there is
none as of now.
“I have met 20-23 industries and
they did not express any anxiety
about raw material supply. How-
ever, if the situation does not
improve in the next two months,
there might have been problems
of raw material shortage, which we
are trying to see how best we can
help them out,” she added.
On the slowdown of the econ-
omy, Sitharaman said the mood is
gradually changing and positive
signs are seen due to continuous
efforts by the government and the
RBI together.
“There are green shoots visible.
Many of them sustained, while some
were revived. Our foreign exchange
is at good condition. Though cli-
matic conditions affected onion
prices, now it is stable and we lift-
ed the ban on exports.
“RBI announced stimulus pack-
age for growth of MSME and real
estate. Lending to banks has been
made at a lesser rate...,” she added.
On the AGR dues by telecom
operators, the minister said, “The
department concerned is working
on it after having met with the indus-
tries. Whatever is the decision of
the government, they will be
announced when they are ready.”
Sitharaman, who met the
bankers in her day-long trip to
Guwahati, said lenders have been
asked to work on financial inclu-
sions in the North East and be “a
lot more agile”.
“I specifically instructed them
to reach out to the tea garden
workers. Asked them to sort out the
difficulties and challenges in includ-
ing them in the banking net,” she
said.
The finance minister said banks
have been directed to activate all
frozen accounts of the tea garden
workers and make them DBT com-
pliant by March 15.
“We also asked the lenders to
install ATMs within 40 days in all
the locations of the 17 districts after
the state government gives the
list of places. The state has already
spoken to service providers for net-
work and there is no issue,” she
added.
Kanhaiya shares stage with Medha
Patkar, Tushar Gandhi at Patna rally
PTI
PATNA, 27 FEBRUARY
Social and cultural activists
from far and wide converged
here on Thursday to lend their
support to a massive rally
that marked the conclusion of
Kanhaiya Kumar's 'Jan Gan
Man Yatra' across Bihar to
galvanise public opinion
against CAA-NPR-NRC.
Medha Patkar of the Nar-
mada Bachao Andolan fame,
Mahatma Gandhi's grandson
Tushar Gandhi and former
IAS officer Kannan
Gopinathan, who gave up his
career at a young age in protest
against abrogation of Article
370, shared the stage with the
former JNU students' leader.
Shabnam Hashmi --
founder of socio-cultural
organisation ANHAD and sis-
ter of slain Marxist playwright
and director Safdar Hashmi -
- also joined them.
Congress MLA Shakil
Ahmed Khan, a former pres-
ident of JNU students' union
himself who accompanied
Kanhaiya during his tour that
commenced at Champaran on
January 30, Mahatma Gand-
hi's death anniversary, and
leaders of state units of CPI and
CPI(M) also addressed the
rally held at Gandhi Maidan.
Kanhaiya began his speech
with a one-minute silence
held in the memory of those
who lost their lives in Delhi vio-
lence.
Defending his frequent use
of the term “azadi” (freedom)
which supporters of the Sangh
Parivar hold to be tantamount
to supporting secession, Kan-
haiya said, “We must talk
about the virtues of azadi
here since today happens to
be the day when legendary rev-
olutionary Chandrashekhar
Azad had given up his life
fighting the British.”
Charging the ruling BJP
with pitting Hindus against
Muslims, he said, “Let us
resolve to defeat their agen-
da by emulating the fabled
friendship of Ram Prasad Bis-
mil and Ashfaqullah Khan.”
The young CPI leader, who
made an unsuccessful debut
from his native Begusarai Lok
Sabha constituency last year,
seemed unimpressed with
the resolution passed by the
Bihar Assembly earlier this
week against NRC and inclu-
sion of contentious clauses in
NPR forms.
“Both the government and
the opposition are busy con-
gratulating themselves. I extend
my congratulations as well. But
to all those who are present
here, I would say it is a half-
victory. We must not allow
our movement to fizzle out and
draw inspiration from Gand-
hi's model of civil disobedi-
ence when the NPR exercise
gets underway,” he said.
“Villagers should ask their
respective panchayat heads to
ensure that no NPR official is
allowed to come knocking in
their areas of jurisdiction
when NPR is scheduled to be
undertaken in May,” the CPI
leader said. “We have to brace
for a long and tough fight. We
are living under a regime
which sends conscientious
professionals like Dr Kafeel
Ahmed behind the bars and
declares anybody questioning
its actions as an anti-nation-
al,” said Kanhaiya, who has
himself been slapped with a
sedition case.
Earlier, in his address,
Tushar Gandhi likened CAA,
NPR and NRC to the “three bul-
lets that killed the Mahatma”
and asserted that these mea-
sures would “harm the poor,
belonging to all religious com-
munities and not just the
Muslims”.
“If the government does not
care about the poor, we must
tell those in power -- 'chale jaao'
(go away) just as we had done
to the British colonisers... it is
going to be a long fight. Inde-
pendence was achieved five
years after the call for Quit India
Movement,” he said.
“We need to keep repeat-
ing the importance of non-vio-
lence over and over again
while those with other value
systems simply have to utter
inciting statements,” he said,
in an oblique reference to the
controversial poll campaign
of Union minister and BJP
leader Anurag Thakur dur-
ing the recently-held Delhi
Assembly elections, which
the party lost.

Pushkar case: HC seeks govt stand on Tharoor's tweets plea Shah to address pro-CAA
PTI
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
The Delhi High Court on
Thursday sought the AAP
government's response on
Congress MP Shashi Tha-
roor's plea that the police be
directed to place before the
trial court certain tweets of his
wife Sunanda Pushkar before
her death in 2014.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri
issued notice to the Delhi
government and asked it to
file a status report on the
petition by Tharoor who has
claimed that the tweets of his
wife, in the days prior to her
death, would be an indication
of her state of mind.
The Congress MP has
moved the high court against
a trial court order of January
30 dismissing his plea for
directions to the police to
place before it certain tweets
of Pushkar.
The high court said the
tweets were available in the
public domain and the Con-
gress leader can access it
from there and place it before
the trial court.
To this, senior advocate
Vikas Pahwa, who appeared
for Tharoor, told the high
court that arguments on
charge are going on and he
would have to rely on the
prosecution evidence, which
includes the tweets.
That is why he was asking
the police to place on record
the entire tweets as the agency
had her phone, Pahwa said.
After hearing brief argu-
ments on behalf of Tharoor,
the high court listed the mat-
ter for further hearing on
March 18.
In the trial court, Tharoor,
the sole accused in the death
case of his wife, had con-
tended that the Delhi Police
was trying to selectively place
reliance on some of Pushkar's
tweets to claim the differ-
ences which allegedly led her
to commit suicide, whereas
in entirety they showed her
positive frame of mind and that
she was quite optimistic about
her relationship with him.
The former Union minis-
ter was accused by Delhi
Police under Sections 498-A
(husband or relative of hus-
band of a woman subjecting
her to cruelty) and 306 (abet-
ment of suicide) of the Indi-
an Penal Code.
The trial court had dis-
missed his plea saying that “at
the stage of (framing of )
charge such a roving inquiry
by the court is not expected”.
Tharoor had earlier told the
trial court, “This is a case
where cause of death is not
established yet. The charge
sheet took very adventurous
route and wanted a psycho-
logical autopsy. But nothing
has established in the case.
There are rather reports which
say it was neither homicide
nor suicide.
“A psychological autopsy
was conducted. They want-
ed to know the mental status
of victim. But till date they are
not clear whether she com-
mitted suicide or it was a
homicide.”
The tweets clearly indicate
that Pushkar was not having
any “suicidal ideation” as is
sought to be alleged by the
prosecution, he had con-
tended.
The police had told the
court that Pushkar was suf-
fering from mental agony
due to a strained relationship
with her husband.
She had a scuffle with her
husband and had various
injury marks a few days before
her death, it had said.
Police has accused Tharoor
of torturing his wife which led
her to commit suicide.
The maximum punish-
ment for the offence listed in
the charge sheet is 10 years
of imprisonment. However, if
convicted for 302 (murder),
the maximum punishment is
death penalty while the min-
imum is life imprisonment.
Pushkar, 51, was found
dead in a suite of luxury hotel
Leela Palace in Delhi's
Chanakyapuri on the night of
January 17, 2014.
meeting in Bhubaneswar
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
BHUBANESWAR, 27 FEBRUARY
Union home minister Amit
Shah is scheduled to address
a pro-CAA public meeting here,
the first since the violent clash-
es in Delhi, tomorrow. The
state unit of the BJP has been
on the overdrive mobilising
people for the meeting.
Shah who is to chair the East-
ern Zonal Council meeting in
the morning where Odisha CM
Naveen Patnaik,West Bengal CM
Mamata Banerjee and their
counterparts Nitish Kumar and
Hemant Soren are to attend, will
address the CAA rally in the after-
noon and also hold a close-door
meeting with state BJP leaders.
He is scheduled to stay over
night, visit Puri Jagannath Tem-
ple and Lingaraj Temple, before
inaugurating super speciality
private hospital and return to
Delhi on 29 February. The tim-
ing of his visit and CAA meet-
ing drew sharp criticism from
the Congress here.
“Instead of coming here
and preaching about CAA,
Shah should have concentrat-
ed on dousing the flames in
Delhi,” said veteran Congress
MLA Suresh Routray.

TENDER NITI module on AI to be accessible to 5,000 schools

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation
Mission (AIM) today launched
a base module of artificial
intelligence (AI) for school-chil-
dren which can teach them to
deal with large data, innovate
and create solutions for vari-
ous challenges.
Developed with the assis-
tance of National Association
of Software and Services Com-
panies (NASSCOM) and lead-
ing industrial partners, the
module can be accessed by
5,000 schools across the coun-
try, and will help their students
to pick up the new technolo-
gy at their Atal Tinkering Labs
(ATL), where students already
learn to do innovations. At a
NITI Aayog ceremony, its CEO
Amitabh Kant said it was esti-
mated that by 2030, the glob-
al market in AI was likely to be
in the range of 15 to 15.5 tril-
lion dollars, out of which
India’s share could be close to
a trillion dollars.
Only Indians could find
solutions to Indian problems,
he said. AI could help find solu-
tions to challenges like zero
emission world, diseases like
tuberculosis and cancer. “If we
are able to find solutions to
these challenges for the 1.3 bil-
lion people of India, we can
find solutions for the 7.5 bil-
lion people of the world too,”
he said.
He said the AI base mod-
ule could prove critical to help
young children get involved
with the new technology from
a very young age.
The base module contains
activities, videos and experi-
ments that enable students to
work through and learn the var-
ious concepts of AI.
AIM Mission Director R
Ramanan said that AI was
going to be an integral part of
the new 21st century innova-
tions. The Learn-It-Yourself
module would be accessible
to over 2.5 million students.
“This is the first ever industry-
government-academia ini-
tiative on such a scale to keep
the school students abreast of
latest technologies.”
NASSCOM president Deb-
jani Ghosh said “AI has become
a strategic lever for econom-
ic growth across nations and
will continue to be one of the
most crucial technologies of
the future.”
 11
I think it (economy) will bounce back. It has tremendous
potential. I see light at the end of the tunnel, it is not far
ANIL AGARWAL
CHAIRMAN OF VEDANTA RESOURCES NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020

THUMBNAILS
NCLAT sets aside insolvency Jet Airways’
lenders to seek
India-NZ trade: New Zealand

proceedings against Flipkart

on Thursday said it will look
forward to a bilateral trade
agreement with India in

fresh EoIs
case New Delhi does not
join the China-backed mega
trade deal RCEP. The Naren-
dra Modi-led government in
The order came over a petition filed by Mr Neeraj Jain, director of Flipkart India Private Ltd
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA quantities of LED TVs and
BIG RELIEF
November decided not to
join Regional Comprehen- NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY deliver the same to Flipkart at PRESS TRUST OF INDIA and expressed interest in Jet
its desired location. MUMBAI, 27 FEBRUARY Airways, a source said

sive Economic Partnership
deal as negotiations failed
to satisfactorily address
New Delhi's “outstanding
issues and concerns”. PTI
Mehul Choksi fined: The
Sebi on Thursday slapped a
total fine of Rs 5 crore on
fugitive businessman Mehul
Choksi, Gitanjali Gems and
another individual for vio-
lating various regulations,
including listing norms. PTI
GoAir: Leading global
authority on airline on-time
performance, Cirium, has
reported that GoAir is the
only airline from India to
have made it to the list of
top 10 most punctual air-
lines in the Asia-Pacific
region. Cirium tracks
around 30 lakh flights per
month using 600 global
sources, according to a
Press statement. SNS
Transport hubs: Knight
Frank India, international
T
he National Compa-
ny Law Appellate Tri-
bunal (NCLAT) has
set aside the order of
the NCLT to initiate insol-
vency proceedings against e-
commerce major Flipkart.
A three-member Bench of
the NCLAT released Flipkart
from the corporate insolven-
cy resolution process and
directed the interim resolu-
tion professional (IRP) appoint-
ed by NCLT to hand over the
records and assets of the com-
pany back to its promoter
immediately.
Earlier, on 24 October 2019,
the Bengaluru Bench of the
National Company Law Tri-
bunal (NCLT) had admitted
the insolvency plea filed by
Cloudwalker Streaming Tech-
nologies, an operational cred-
itor of Flipkart.
“We set aside the impugned
order dated 24 October 2019
passed by the adjudicating
authority (NCLT) and the
application filed under Sec-
tion 9 by the operational cred-
itor Cloudwalker Streaming
� A three-member Bench of the NCLAT released
Flipkart from the corporate insolvency resolution According to the opera- earlier.
process and directed the interim resolution pro- tional creditor, Flipkart received Defunct airline Jet Airways' The airline, which was
fessional (IRP) appointed by NCLT to hand over the delivery of the first few batch- committee of creditors has grounded in April last year,
records and assets of the company back to its pro- es but after that it avoided tak- decided to issue fresh expres- owes more than Rs 8,000
moter immediately ing delivery of the LED TVs on sion of interest (EoI) for the crore to banks, with those
the ground of lack of ware- carrier, which is undergoing from the public sector having
� Earlier, on 24 October 2019, the Bengaluru Bench house space. insolvency proceedings, significant exposure.
of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had admitted the insolvency plea It further submitted that according to a regulatory fil- Set up in 2011, the Far
filed by Cloudwalker Streaming Technologies, an operational creditor of Flipkart later, Flipkart started delay- ing. East Asia Development Fund
� The operational creditor failed to submit any documents to prove in existence ing the collection of the LED “We wish to inform that the is a state finance develop-
of the operational debt and the amount in default TVs, and in some instances did 8th CoC meeting of Jet Airways ment institution which war-
not collect them at all. (India) Ltd was held on 18 Feb- rants a flexible approach to
In an attempt to gain more ruary and in the e-voting projects' structuring and
Technologies Pvt Ltd, company on 24 February. ments to prove in existence profit out of the goods ordered, concluded on 25 February, the financing, as per its LinkedIn
petition is rejected,” said the Flipkart's operational cred- of the operational debt and the Flipkart was putting pressure CoC passed the resolution profile. Mumbai-headquar-
NCLAT. itor Cloudwalker Streaming amount in default,” the appel- on Cloudwalker Streaming to issue fresh invitation of EoI tered Enso Group has report-
It further said: “The Flip- Technologies, which used to late tribunal said observing that Technologies to offer the (round) for the corporate edly been roped in by the fund
kart India Pvt Ltd (corporate supply the e-commerce major Cloudwalker Streaming Tech- already imported and ware- debtor,” Jet Airways said in BSE to find an Indian partner
debtor) is released from the imported LED TVs, had filed nologies also failed to submit housed LED TVs, at a dis- filing on Wednesday. to form a consortium that
corporate insolvency resolu- a petition before the NCLT con- the copy of invoices and copies counted price. Against this backdrop, would later put in a for-
tion process.” tending that Flipkart default- of all the documents referred Later, the operational cred- the CoC extended the last mal bid.
The NCLAT order came ed for an amount of Rs 26.95 in the application. itor demanded payment for date of submission of reso- It has interests in diverse
over a petition filed by Mr Neer- crore. Cloudwalker Streaming the LED TVs procured and lution plans to 9 March. The sectors, including oil and gas,
aj Jain, director of Flipkart India However, it was rejected by Technologies had contended imported from 11 October earlier deadline for submit- metal mining, healthcare,
Private Ltd. the NCLAT, saying that the that Flipkart contacted it in sell- 2017 to 1 December 2017, ting the bids was 18 February. infrastructure and real estate,
“Interim resolution pro- demand notice delivered ing its product of LED TVs and based on the import and the The decision to call for as per its website. Earlier,
fessional will hand over the under Section 8(1) of the entered into a supply agree- purchase order issued by Flip- fresh bids was taken after a South American conglomer-
records and assets of the cor- Insolvency & Bankruptcy ment on 29 December 2016. kart, which failed to collect team from Russia's Far East ate Synergy Group and New
porate debtor to the pro- Code (IBC) was “not proper As per the agreement, it more than 70 per cent of the Asia Development Fund Delhi-based Prudent ARC
moter immediately, who will and was also incomplete”. would receive the purchase stock as ordered by them till along with Enso Group were given time to submit res-
manage the corporate debtor,” “The operational creditor order, after which it will import March 2018. It issued a demand met the committee of credi- olution plan. Reportedly, they
it added on its order passed failed to submit any docu- and procure the required notice on 8 June 2019. tors (CoC) earlier this month failed to meet the deadline.

ONGC, HPCL buy out IOC invests `3,000 cr to

property consultancy, in its
latest study, has projected
that the total retail oppor-
tunity across various trans-
port hubs in India will grow
manifold in the new
decade, a release says. SNS
Malabar Gold & Diamonds:
Malabar Gold & Diamonds
announced an advance
booking window where cus-
tomers can book wedding
jewellery to escape from
gold price volatility. Mal-
abar Gold & Diamonds also
offers free insurance cover
for one year, buy back
guarantee, zero deduction
charge for gold exchange,
according to a Press
release. SNS
Godrej Agrovet: Godrej
Agrovet Limited, an animal
feed and agribusiness com-
pany, informed on Thurs-
day that the chicken sales
have come down to 50 per
cent in the last one month
over speculation on social
media that it causes coron-
avirus disease. Godrej
Agrovet Ltd managing
director BS Yadav said its
bankers in Petronet MHB
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
State-owned Oil and Natur-
al Gas Corp (ONGC) and its
subsidiary Hindustan Petro-
leum Corp Ltd (HPCL) have
bought out lenders in Petronet
MHB Ltd, the firm that owns
a petroleum product pipeline
in Mangalore, for about Rs 371
crore.
A consortium of eight pub-
lic sector banks held 34.56
per cent stake in Petronet
MHB Ltd, where ONGC and
HPCL held 32.72 per cent
apiece.
ONGC and HPCL bought
17.28 per cent stake each
from lenders, the firms said
in separate but almost iden-
tical regulatory filings.
The two firms paid Rs
185.38 crore each for acquir-
ing 17.28 per cent more share
in Petronet MHB Ltd. They
now hold 49.996 per cent
each in the company that
transports petroleum prod-
ucts from Mangalore Refin-
ery.
Mangalore Refinery and
Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL)
is also a subsidiary of ONGC.
MRPL uses the pipeline of
Petronet MHB for moving
fuel.
In a regulatory filings,
ONGC and HPCL said
Petronet MHB Ltd had a net-
worth of Rs 796.30 crore as of
31 March 2019.
“The acquisition will open
up possible opportunities
for synergy, better cost eco-
nomics and revenue max-
imisation,” they said, ad-ding
that no governmental
or regulatory approvals
are required for the acquisi-
tion.
The acquisition is expect-
ed to be completed by 31
March.
“The company has entered
into a share purchase
agreement dated 27 February
2020, with consortium
of 8 nationalised banks, which
hold equity shares in Petronet
MHB Ltd, for acquisition
of 9.48 crore equity shares
aggregating to 17.28 per
cent of the paid-up equity
share capital at a price of
Rs 19.55 per share,” HPCL
said.
ONGC also posted a sim-
ilarly worded filing shortly after
HPCL disclosure.
“Post-acquisition the share-
holding of HPCL
in Petronet MHB will be
about 49.996 per cent,” HPCL
added. ONGC said it hold
49.996 per cent stake in
Petronet MHB after the acqui-
sition.
ONGC owns 51.11 per
cent stake in HPCL.
Ind-Ra revises
steel sector
outlook to
‘negative’
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
India Ratings and Research
(Ind-Ra) today said it has
revised its outlook on the steel
sector from 'stable-to-nega-
tive' to 'negative' for FY2021-
21. The revision has been
made seeing the steel demand
growth expectations of 5 per
cent and margin pressures
led by iron ore price risks, the
agency said in report.
High iron ore premiums for
new mine owners both cap-
tive and merchant could shift
the cost positions of steel
mills, it said.
“The slowing economic
activity as reflected in Ind-Ra's
GDP estimates of 5 per cent
and 5.5 per cent for FY20 and
FY21, respectively, would con-
tinue to affect demand growth
in the steel sector and any sig-
nificant pick-up is unlikely,”
Ind-Ra said in a report. PTI
upgrade Haldia refinery
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
KOLKATA, 27 FEBRUARY
State-owned Indian Oil Cor-
poration (IOC) has made an
investment of around Rs
3,000 crore to upgrade its
refinery at Haldia to meet
BS-VI emission norms, an
official said today.
The oil marketing PSU
will invest another Rs 388
crore for setting up a grass-
root bottling plant at Kharag-
pur, diesel exhaust fluid (DEF)
plant at Budge Budge and lube
blending unit at Paharpur in
West Bengal.
“IOC has made an invest-
ment of Rs 3,000 crore for
upgrading the refinery at Hal-
dia for the manufacture of
petrol and diesel to comply
with BS-VI emission norms,”
Mr Pritish Bharat, ED (West
Bengal, Sikkim and A&N),
said.
The new norms will come
into force from 1 April.
He said the new BS-VI
compliant fuel will have very
low sulphur content as com-
pared to BS-IV petrol or diesel.
The company has incurred
a total expenditure of around
Rs 17,000 crore across its
refineries in India to manu-
facture BS-VI compliant fuel,
Mr Bharat told reporters here.
“All the retail outlets of IOC
will be ready to supply BS-VI
compliant fuel from 1 April,”
he said.
The official said IOC will
be investing Rs 163 crore to
set up a new bottling plant at
Kharagpur with a proposed
capacity of 120 mtpa, which
will be commissioned by
2021.
The company is also com-
ing up with a DEF plant at
Budge Budge at an investment
of Rs 75 crore, Mr Bharat
said, adding, the new type of
fuel will be required to be used
by heavy commercial vehicles
for reducing emission of nitro-
gen oxide.
IOC will be investing Rs 150
crore for a modern lube blend-
ing unit at Paharpur in the
southern outskirts of the city,
he said. To a query, Mr Bharat
said initially, customers will
not have to pay a higher price
for purchasing BS-VI com-
pliant fuel.
He said IOC has awarded
contracts to two private play-
ers for setting up compressed
bio-gas plants in the state.
Besides plans to automate
all its retail outlets, the com-
pany will also augment its LPG
distributor network.
For IOC's various pipeline
projects in West Bengal, it will
invest an aggregate amount
of Rs 3,352 crore, Mr Bharat
added.

Need to boost demand to

poultry arm Godrej Tyson
Foods also witnessed 40
per cent decrease in sales
in last one month. SNS
PUMA revenue growth:
Global sports brand PUMA
posted a revenue growth
of 23 per cent at Rs 1,413
crore in its India business in
the year ended December
2019. Despite a slowdown
that impacted several
companies, PUMA record-
ed strong double-digit
growth during the year
under review, said a Press
release. SNS
Bharti AXA: Bharti AXA
General Insurance, a joint
venture between Bharti
Enterprises and AXA, on
Thursday said it has
started delivering policies
and renewal premium to
its customers through the
instant messaging
platform ~ WhatsApp,
according to a Press
release. SNS
32 food processing
projects cleared
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
The government today said
it has sanctioned 32 projects
in the food processing sector
leveraging an investment of
Rs 406 crore under the Prad-
han Mantri Krishi Sampada
Yojana (PMKSY).
These projects are spread
in 17 states and aim to cre-
ate employment for 15,000
people.
The projects were cleared
under the 'unit' scheme of
PMKSY by the Inter-Minis-
terial Approval Committee
chaired by food proces-
sing minister Harsimrat Kaur
Badal, an official statement
said.
Meetings of the Inter-Min-
isterial Approval Commi-
ttee (IMAC) to sanction
these projects were held on
21 and 26 February, it said,
adding that the projects
approved are running across
quadrilaterals of the country
covering over 100 agro-climatic
zones.
The main objective of the
project is creation of pro-
cessing and preserva-
tion capacities and mod-
ernisation/expansion of
existing food processing
units with a view to increas-
ing the level of processing
and value addition, leading
to a reduction of wastage of
food.
According to the ministry,
the processed food market is
expected to grow to $543 bil-
lion by 2020 from $322 billion
in 2016.
The period of implemen-
tation of PMKSY is 2016-20
and total outlay is Rs 6,000
crore.
fight coronavirus: PHDCCI
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
India needs to boost its domes-
tic consumption demand
and domestic capacities to
mitigate the likely impact of
Coronavirus (COVID) on
global trade, the PHD Cham-
ber of Commerce and Indus-
try (PHDCCI) said today.
"The fundamentals of the
Indian economy remain
strong and businesses will
adjust consequently in the
backdrop of robust economic
reforms undertaken by the
government to create a strong
and resilient economic envi-
ronment in the country,"
PHDCCI president D K Aggar-
wal said in a statement, while
noting that sectors such as
pharmaceuticals, solar and
iron and steel have been fac-
ing disruptions in imports of
raw materials from China
due to the outbreak of the
virus.
He called for a focus on
strengthening India's sup-
ply chain to its top 10 export
destinations including the
US, UAE, Hong Kong, Singa-
pore, UK and Germany, where
China significantly contributes
to their imports.
"It is very unfortunate
that Coronavirus has severe-
ly hit the world's second
largest economy, China, lead-
ing to a subdued global
demand scenario and weak-
er prospects for exports across
the nations," Mr Aggarwal
said, apprehending the spread
of the disease in many coun-
tries.
As China is a major play-
er in global trade, contribut-
ing around 13 per cent in world
merchandise exports, export-
ing majorly to the US, Hong
Kong, Japan, Korea, Vietnam,
Germany, India and the
Netherlands, the impact on
global trade would undermine
the growth prospects of the
world economy.
The disease, according to
PHDCCI figures, may hit
global GDP by 0.3 percentage
points, which amounts to
more than 250 billion dollars.
Disruptions in the global
supply chains will not only hit
China's exports but also
exports of the importing
countries as they are import-
ing a large chunk of raw
materials and intermediate
goods from China while
exporting to other respec-
tive destinations, PHDCCI
said.
Pidilite to buy majority
stake in Tenax India
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
Manufacturer of adhesives,
construction chemicals and
specialty chemicals Pidilite
Industries today announced
acquiring 70 per cent stake in
the Indian subsidiary of Ital-
ian firm Tenax SPA for around
Rs 80 crore. It has entered into
a definitive agreement with
Tenax SPA for acquiring 70 per
cent of the share capital of
Tenax India Stone Products for
a cash consideration of Rs 80
crore, said a statement.
Incorporated in 2005, Tenax
India is a subsidiary of Tenax
Italy and is engaged in sales
and distribution of Tenax
Italy products in India.
Tenax Italy is a leading
manufacturer of adhesives,
coating, surface treatment
chemicals and abrasives for
the marble, granite and stone
Industry. “This acquisition
will help expand Pidilite's
presence in the fast-growing
adhesives, coatings and sur-
face treatment chemicals
market for the marble and
stone industry and bring
world class technology to
India by investing in a man-
ufacturing plant,” Pidilite
Industries managing director
Bharat Puri said.
Tenax Italy will continue
to be a partner having 30 per
cent stake in Tenax India and
provide technical support
and market understanding of
marble, granite and stones
business in India and Saarc
markets. This acquisition by
Pidilite will enable Tenax
India to fully leverage the
sales, distribution and mar-
keting capability of Pidilite in
India and Saarc markets.

Stocks fall on coronavirus woes, F&O expiry VIL, COAI push

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
MUMBAI, 27 FEBRUARY
Equity indices reeled for the
fifth straight session today,
pressured by a sell-off in bank,
IT and energy counters, as the
global markets grappled with
fears of the coronavirus out-
break turning into a pan-
demic.
The expiry of February
series derivatives contracts too
kept the domestic markets
volatile, traders said.
After plunging over 465.69
points during the day, the
30-share BSE Sensex finally set-
tled 143.30 points, or 0.36
per cent, lower at 39,745.66
points.
Similarly, the broader NSE
Nifty fell 45.20 points or 0.39
per cent to end at 11,633.30
points.
The Sensex has now lost
1,577.34 points in five days,
while the Nifty has shed 492.60
points during the same peri-
od.
ONGC was the top loser in
the Sensex pack today, drop-
ping 2.61 per cent, followed
by HCL Tech, Mahindra &
Mahindra, SBI, IndusInd Bank
and ICICI Bank.
On the other hand, Sun
Pharma, Titan, Axis Bank and
Asian Paints climbed up to 3.68
per cent.
World markets extended
their losses while safe-haven
assets like gold and US trea-
suries strengthened after Pres-
ident Donald Trump
announced that the US was
stepping up its efforts to com-
bat the Covid-19 outbreak.
for urgent
relief measures
imports for various goods, Sectorally, BSE realty, oil and
SENSEX DOWN 143 POINTS he noted. gas, metal, teck, IT, industri- NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
Benchmarks also remained als, energy, telecom and auto
� Equity indices reeled for the fifth straight session on Thursday, pressured by a volatile on account of month- indices ended up to 2.09 per Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) has
sell-off in bank, IT and energy counters, as the global markets grappled with fears ly expiry of derivatives con- cent lower, while consumer told the government that
of the coronavirus outbreak turning into a pandemic tracts, he said, adding that sen- durables and healthcare set- it is unable to pay Supreme
� The expiry of February series deriv- timent remained sluggish tled on a positive note. Court mandated Rs 53,000
atives contracts too kept the domes- amid reports that GDP growth Broader BSE mid-cap and crore dues and sought state
tic markets volatile, traders said is likely to stay flat at 4.5 per small-cap indices fell up to 0.83 support to survive the crisis,
cent in October-December per cent. a contention that was sup-
� The 30-share BSE benchmark Sen- 2019. The government's GDP Bourses in Seoul and Tokyo ported by industry association
sex finally settled 143.30 points, or estimate for the December ended with significant loss- COAI.
0.36 per cent, lower at 39,745.66 quarter is scheduled to be es, while Shanghai and Hong With the crucial meeting of
points released on Friday. Kong closed with gains. DCC likely to be held tomor-
� The broader NSE Nifty fell 45.20 Further, relentless selling Stock exchanges in Europe row to discuss relief mea-
points or 0.39 per cent to end at by foreign portfolio investors plunged up to 1.80 per cent sures for the AGR-hit indus-
11,633.30 points (FPIs) spooked retail investors, in their morning sessions. try, VIL has made a strong push
traders said. Brent crude oil futures fell for setting off Rs 8,000 crore
According to provisional 1.33 per cent to $52.11 per of GST credits and a three-year
Indian markets were in seek safety in gold and bonds, Shares & Stock Brokers. data available with stock barrel. moratorium on payment of the
the negative territory as the said Mr Narendra Solanki, India is at risk of getting exchanges, so far this week, On the currency front, the remaining amount which
rapid global spread of the head fundamental research severely impacted by the epi- FPIs have offloaded stocks Indian rupee appreciated should be staggered over 15
coronavirus kept investors (investment services) - AVP demic economically because worth a whopping Rs 6,812.57 marginally to 71.62 per US dol- years at a simple interest rate
on the edge and made them equity research, Anand Rathi of its high reliance on Chinese crore on a net basis. lar (intra-day). of 6 per cent. PTI
12
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020
WEATHER
CITY
SINGAPORE
MAX(°C)
32
MIN(°C)
26 H
HONG KONG 21 19 H
TOKYO 12 4 CL
LONDON
DUBAI
8
23
2 H
19 S
SAN FRANCISCO 21
NEW YORK 8
11 CL
0 H
MOSCOW 3
S= sunny, CL= clear,
0 R
H=hazy, R= rainy...
THUMBNAILS
Russian President Vladimir
Putin and Mayor of
Moscow Sergei Sobyanin
at the Dream Island amu-
sement park ahead of its
upcoming inauguration in
Moscow on Thursday. � AFP
Strasbourg fire kills five: A
fire on Thursday in the
French city of Strasbourg
has left five people dead
and seven injured, the res-
cue services said. The fire
broke out overnight in a
seven-storey apartment
block and firemen had to
evacuate many people as
thick smoke enveloped
their homes. AFP
Domingo drops Spain
show: Scandal-hit opera
star Placido Domingo on
Thursday said his apology
over sexual harassment
allegations had given a
“false impression” but can-
celled his appearance in an
upcoming performance in
Madrid. AFP
Heathrow win: Britain's
Court of Appeal on Thurs-
day ruled in favour of
green campaigners who
oppose the building of a
third runway at London's
Heathrow airport,
Europe's busiest. The
court said the UK govern-
ment had failed to take
into account its commit-
ments to the Paris Agree-
ment to limit climate
warming. AFP
Pak confirms
first two cases
of virus
KARACHI/ISLAMABAD,
27 FEBRUARY
After two persons returning
from Iran tested positive for
the deadly coronavirus in
Pakistan's largest city Karachi,
all educational institutions
in Sindh and Balochistan
provinces have been closed.
On Wednesday, a young
man tested positive for the
novel coronavirus in Karachi,
the first confirmed case in
Pakistan. Shortly after, anoth-
er case was confirmed and
both have returned from
Iran, Special Advisor on
Health Dr Zafar Mirza said.
Sindh Education Minis-
ter Saeed Ghani announced
on Twitter that “all Govt and
private educational institu-
tions will remain closed on
Thursday & Friday (27th &
28th Feb).”
Balochistan government
announced to close down all
educational institutions
across the province till March
15. An official handout said
the government took the
step “as a precaution to pro-
tect children from coron-
avirus.”
“I can confirm first two
cases of coronavirus in Pak-
istan. Both cases are being
taken care of according to
clinical standard protocols
& both of them are stable. No
need to panic, things are
under control,” Mirza tweet-
ed on Wednesday.
“If you or somebody you
know have recently returned
from China, Iran or a coun-
try where #COVID?19 is
prevalent and if there are
symptoms like fever, cough,
difficulty in breathing, please
report by calling at 1166,” he
was quoted by the Dawn
news on Thursday.
Pakistan has closed its bor-
der with Iran where at least
19 people have died from the
virus. He said the government
had taken effective protec-
tive measures. PTI
Saudi Arabia halts pilgrimage over virus
Iran reported the highest death toll from the virus ~ 22 dead from among 141 confirmed cases ~ outside of China, where the outbreak began
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DUBAI, 27 FEBRUARY
S
audi Arabia on Thurs-
day halted travel to the
holiest sites in Islam
over fears about a viral
epidemic just months ahead
of the annual hajj
pilgrimage, a move that came
as the Mideast has over 240
confirmed cases of the new
coronavirus.
The extraordinary deci-
sion by Saudi Arabia stops forei-
gners from reaching the holy
city of Mecca and the Kaaba,
the cube-shaped structure
the world's 1.8 billion Muslims
pray toward five times a day.
The decision also affected
travel to Prophet Muham-
mad's mosque in Medina.
Authorities also suspended
entry to the kingdom to those
with tourist visas from nations
affected by the new virus.
The decision showed the
worry about the outbreak
potentially spreading into
Saudi Arabia, whose oil-rich
monarchy stakes its legiti-
macy on protecting Islam's
holy sites.
The epicenter in the
Mideast's most-affected coun-
try, Iran, appears to be in the
holy Shiite city of Qom, where
the faithful in reverence reach
out to kiss and touch a famous
shrine. Iran now has the high-
est death toll from the virus
22 dead from among 141 con-
firmed cases outside of China,
where the outbreak began.
The tiny, oil-rich nation of
Kuwait announced a sudden
jump to 43 cases from 26 on
Thursday as well, all linked to
travellers who recently came
from Iran. There have been no
confirmed cases of the new
coronavirus in Saudi Arabia
amid the outbreak.
“Saudi Arabia renews its
support for all international
measures to limit the spread
of this virus, and urges its cit-
izens to exercise caution before
traveling to countries experi-
encing coronavirus outbreaks,”
the Saudi Foreign Ministry
said in a statement announc-
ing the decision.
“We ask God Almighty to
Trump plays down virus threat, faces credibility test; Pence to lead efforts against crisis
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, 27 FEBRUARY
US President Donald Trump
faces a critical personal chal-
lenge in grappling with the new
coronavirus outbreak: Ask-
ing Americans to believe him
after he and some of his top
advisers have contradicted
federal scientists in playing
down the threat.
Keenly aware of the stakes
not just for public health but
also his credibility, Trump
conducted a lengthy press
conference Wednesday
evening aimed at reassuring
everyone that he has the cri-
sis well in hand.
Trump surrounded himself
with his administration's top
ALERT EYES
Pakistani soldiers wearing facemasks patrol near the closed Pakistan-Iran border in Taftan as
fears over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus escalate following its outbreak.
spare all humanity from all
harm.”
Disease outbreaks always
have been a concern sur-
rounding the hajj, required of
all able-bodied Muslims once
in their life, especially as pil-
grims come from all over the
world.
The earliest recorded out-
break came in 632 as pilgrims
fought off malaria. A cholera
outbreak in 1821 for instance
killed an estimated 20,000
pilgrims. Another cholera out-
break in 1865 killed 15,000 pil-
grims and then spread world-
wide.
More recently, Saudi Ara-
bia faced the danger from
another coronavirus, one that
caused the Middle East res-
piratory syndrome, or MERS,
which jumped from ill camels
to humans. The kingdom
increased its public health
measures during the hajj in
2012 and 2013, though no
outbreaks occurred amid the
pilgrimage.
Since September 2012,
there have been nearly 2,500
cases of MERS reported, with
858 deaths attributed to the
virus, according to the World
Health Organization.
Since it emerged in Decem-
ber in central China, the new
coronavirus has sickened
82,000 people globally, with
more than 2,700 deaths.
While millions attend the
hajj, which is this year set for
late July into early August,
millions more come during the
rest of the year to the holy sites
in the kingdom. Those other
pilgrimages are referred to as
the umrah. One of the biggest
times for the umrah is the Mus-
lim holy fasting month of
Ramadan, which is set to
begin at the end of April.
“It is unprecedented, at
least in recent times, but given
the worldwide spread of the
virus and the global nature of
the umrah, it makes sense
from a public health and safe-
ty point of view,” said Krist-
ian Ulrichsen, a research fel-
low at the James A Baker III
Institute for Public Policy at
Rice University.
“Especially since the Iran-
health experts. And he encour-
aged Americans to be prepared
for the virus' potential spread.
But he continued to min-
imise the risk, saying the out-
break may get a little bigger;
it may not get bigger at all. And
he continued to distance him-
self from the stated opinion
of public health officials that
it’s inevitable the virus will spr-
ead within the United States.
Protection of our environment is fundamental to the
enjoyment of all human rights
ACCUSING BRAZIL AND THE USA OF ‘ROLLING BACK’ ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
ian example illustrates how a
religious crossroads can so
quickly amplify the spread
and reach of the virus.” But by
leaving the suspension of
travel to the holy sites open-
ended, Saudi Arabia has
opened the possibility of this
year's hajj potentially being dis-
rupted as well.
The hardest-hit nation in
the Mideast is Iran, where
the state-run IRNA news
agency reported the new 22
deaths out of 141 cases of the
illness, named COVID-19.
Experts are concerned Iran
may be underreporting cases
and deaths, given the illness'
rapid spread from Iran across
the Persian Gulf. For example,
Iran still has not confirmed any
cases in Mashhad, even though
a number of cases reported in
Kuwait are linked to the Iran-
ian city.
In Bahrain, which con-
firmed 33 cases as of Thurs-
day morning, authorities halt-
ed all flights to Iraq and
Lebanon. It separately extend-
ed a 48-hour ban over flights
from Dubai and Sharjah in the
United Arab Emirates, through
which infected travelers
reached the island kingdom
off the coast of Saudi Arabia.
Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani said there were no
immediate plans to quaran-
tine cities but acknowledged
it may take one, two or three
weeks to get control of the virus
in Iran.
As Iran's 80 million people
find themselves increasingly
isolated in the region by the
outbreak, the country's sanc-
tions-battered economy saw
its currency slump to its low-
est level against the US dol-
lar in a year on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Iraq's Health
Ministry on Thursday
announced the first coron-
avirus case in the capital,
Baghdad, bringing the over-
all number of cases reported
in the country to six. All have
been linked to Iran.
Iraq has taken drastic mea-
sures to stem the spread,
including ordering schools
and universities closed for 10
days, starting Thursday.
The government also
banned public gatherings and
ordered the closures of cine-
mas, cafes, clubs and other
social forums for the same peri-
od. It wasn't immediately
clear whether the ban of pub-
lic gatherings would include
anti-government protest sites
such as Baghdad's landmark
Tahrir Square, where demon-
strators have been staging a
sit-in for months.
As businesses, schools and
people in general think about
preparing, the X-factor may be
an unpredictable president
who has clashed repeatedly
with scientists in his own
administration and tends to
see any crisis through the
lens of his own reelection
chances.
I don't think it's inevitable,
Trump said at the news con-
ference, where he announced
Vice President Mike Pence
would lead the administration's
response to the outbreak.
I think it has a chance that
it could get worse. There is a
chance you can get fairly sub-
stantially worse. But noth-
ing's inevitable. He also said
he had recently learned that
AFP
UN'S HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF MICHELLE BACHELET
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a meeting at the new COVID-19 coronavirus infectious
disease control headquarters at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Thursday. Abe called on
public schools to close nationwide from 2 March to prevent the spread of the new virus.
South Korea, US postpone military drills
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, 27 FEBRUARY
The South Korean and US
militaries on Thursday
announced that they were
postponing their annual
joint drills due to concern
about a viral outbreak that
has infected soldiers in both
countries' armed forces, put
many troops in quarantine
and closed base facilities.
Twenty-two South Kore-
an soldiers and one Ameri-
can service member in South
Korea have tested positive for
the new coronavirus, which
has infected about 1,770
people in the Asian country,
the largest outbreak outside
mainland China.
The allies have previ-
ously suspended or scaled
back their regular mili-
tary exercises, but that
was part of diplomatic
efforts to disarm North
Korea, which views the
training as a rehearsal for
an invasion.
It's the first time that the
allies have put off their
drills due to concerns about
an infectious disease, accord-
ing to the South Korean
Defence Ministry.
In a joint news conference,
South Korean and US mili-
tary officers said their joint
drills planned for the first half
thousands die from the flu each
year, contrasting that to the
coronavirus.
After two days of the stock
market tumbling, Trump took
to Twitter on Wednesday
morning to blame the media
and Democrats for causing
undue alarm and harming
American financial markets.
He singled out MSNBC
and CNN for doing every-
thing possible to make the
coronavirus look as bad as pos-
sible, including panicking
markets, if possible, and added
that incompetent ‘Do Noth-
ing Democrat’ comrades are
all talk, no action.
He blamed part of this
week's stock market slide on
people's reaction to Tuesday
Virulence of China virus declines; toll 2744
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
BEIJING, 27 FEBRUARY
The virulence of the novel coro-
navirus continues to show a
declining trend in China which
reported 29 new fatalities,
the lowest in weeks, taking
the death toll to 2,744 while
the confirmed cases climbed
to 78,497, officials said on
Thursday.
The country's National
Health Commission (NHC)
said it received reports of 433
new confirmed coronavirus
cases and 29 deaths on Wedn-
esday from 31 provincial-
level regions on the mainland.
Among the deaths, 26 were
from the epicentre of the
virus Hubei province and its
capital Wuhan and one each
from Beijing, Heilongjiang
and Henan, it said.
In Hubei province alone
2,641 people died due to the
virus since it erupted in
December last year including
2,104 fatalities in Wuhan.
of this year will be put off until
further notice.
South Korean military
chief Park Han-ki proposed
the delay out of concerns for
troop safety and Robert
Abrams, the commander of
the US military in South
Korea, accepted Park's pro-
posal based on the severity
of the virus outbreak, said
Kim Joon Rak, a spokesman
at the South Korean Joint
Chiefs of Staff.
Lee Peters, a US military
spokesman, said the post-
ponement decision “was
not taken lightly” and that
two countries' alliance
remains “ironclad and
unbreakable”.
South Korea boasts a
600,000-strong military, while
the US has 28,500 troops in
the country and those troops
are at particular risk due to
the close quarters at the
night's Democratic debate
and the possibility one
of those candidates might
replace him.
And Trump acknowledged
that the outbreak could have
an impact on GDP but insist-
ed that the US economy is still
doing great.
The setting for Trump's
evening press conference ~ the
White House press briefing
room ~ was meant to offer a
sense of calm and assurance
by the president.
It was only the second time
in his presidency that Trump
had spoken from the podium
in that room, and aides
acknowledged he was trying
to underscore that he has the
situation under control and
China’s National Health
Commission received
reports of 433 new
confirmed cases and
29 deaths on Wednes-
day from 31 provin-
cial-level regions on
the mainland
The province, which is
under lockdown, reported
409 new confirmed cases on
Wednesday, taking the total
confirmed cases to 65,596, local
health commission said.
Wuhan reported 383 new
confirmed cases and 19 new
deaths on Wednesday. In total,
the city has registered 47,824
confirmed cases.
In all 34,978 people were
hospitalised in Hubei province
of which 6,581 were still in
severe condition and 1,403 oth-
ers in critical condition.
The commission also said
Hubei reported 403 suspect-
ed cases, taking the total to
AFP
bases where they are sta-
tioned.
In recent days, South
Korea suspended some uni-
lateral field training, placed
9,990 troops under quar-
antine and banned most of
its enlisted soldiers from
leaving their bases. The US
military closed some ameni-
ties at several bases and was
urging its personnel to avoid
handshakes and large gath-
erings if possible.
Experts say the post-
ponement of the drills was
inevitable because the poten-
tial spread of the virus into
military barracks could weak-
en military readiness.
North Korea has not
publicly reported any case
of the virus, but experts say
the country also likely redu-
ced its own military training
as it's preoccupied with
guarding against the virus.
understands the gravity.
In advance, Trump played
down the mortality rate for a
pathogen that has been con-
firmed to have killed 2,700 peo-
ple globally. His top economic
adviser, Larry Kudlow, echoed
Trump's outlook, saying Tues-
day that the US had con-
tained the threat of a domes-
tic outbreak.
Trump's and Kudlow's
comments were at odds with
warnings from Centers for
Disease Control and Preven-
tion officials who said Amer-
ican communities need to
prepare now for when the
disease starts spreading
domestically. So far, there
have been just 60 confirmed
cases in the US.
2,019 cases. Capital Beijing
reported 10 cases on Wednes-
day, taking the total number
of cases to 400.
All over China, a total of
2,358 people were still sus-
pected of being infected with
the virus. A total of 32,495 peo-
ple had been discharged from
hospital after recovery includ-
ing 23,200 in Hubei province.
By the end of Wednesday,
91 confirmed cases including
two deaths had been report-
ed from Hong Kong, 10 con-
firmed cases in Macao and 32
in Taiwan including one death.
Bruce Aylward, an epi-
demiologist who led an
advance team from the World
Health Organisation (WHO),
told the media in Geneva that
China has changed the course
of COVID-19 outbreak, not-
ing that the rapidly escalat-
ing outbreak has plateaued and
come down faster than the pre-
viously expected.
Aylward said the unani-
mous assessment of the 25-
Iraq closes
public spaces as
first nCoV case
hits capital
The government
ordered the closure of
schools and universi-
ties, cafes, cinemas
and public spaces until
7 March in a bid to
contain the virus
BAGHDAD, 27 FEBRUARY
Iraq announced the first con-
firmed case of coronavirus in
the capital Baghdad on
Thursday, taking nationwide
infections to six and raising
concerns about the capacity
of the dilapidated health sys-
tem to respond.
The government
announced sweeping mea-
sures late Wednesday to try to
contain the spread of the
virus, ordering the closure of
schools and universities, cafes,
cinemas and other public
spaces until March 7.
It also banned travel to or
from some of the worst affect-
ed countries, including China,
Iran, Japan, South Korea, Thai-
land, Singapore, Italy, Kuwait
and Bahrain.
Iraq had already blocked
entry for foreigners travel-
ling from neighbouring Iran,
the main source of coron-
avirus infections in the Mid-
dle East, or China, where
COVID-19 originated.
The health ministry said the
first case in Baghdad was in
a young man who had recent-
ly returned from Iran.
The patient was placed
under quarantine in a Bagh-
dad hospital and is currently
“in good health,” it said in a
statement.
Iraq's six confirmed cases
have all been traced to neigh-
bouring Iran, a popular tourism
destination for Iraqis, who
also visit the country to receive
medical treatment.
Many hospitals in Iraq are
poorly equipped or in disre-
pair and there are fewer than
10 doctors for every 10,000 peo-
ple, the World Health Orga-
nization says.
The health ministry advised
against large gatherings, urg-
ing officials to take steps to
“restrict intermixing,” a move
that may deal a blow to anti-
government protests that have
gripped Baghdad and south-
ern Iraq since October. AFP
New case may be 1st from
unknown origin: A new coro-
navirus case in California
could be the first in the US that
has no known connection to
travel abroad or another known
case, a possible sign the virus
is spreading in a US commu-
nity, health officials said.
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention report-
ed the case Wednesday.
California officials said the
person is a resident of Solano
County, northeast of San Fran-
cisco, and is getting medical
care in Sacramento County.
They said they have begun the
process of tracking down peo-
ple who the patient has been
in contact with, a process
known as contact tracing.
member team which con-
ducted a nine-day field study
trip to Beijing, Guangdong,
Sichuan and Hubei is that
besides adopting a science-
driven agile response, China
followed a pragmatic approach
which is “technology-pow-
ered and science-driven”.
“They are using big data,
artificial intelligence (AI) in
places,” Aylward said, adding
that China has managed mas-
sive amounts of data in find-
ing each COVID-19 cases and
tracing contacts.
However, President Xi Jin-
ping, who presided over a
high power meeting on
Wednesday said while the
positive trend in preventing
and controlling the epidem-
ic is expanding and economic
and social development is
rapidly recovering, the situ-
ation in Hubei and Wuhan
remains “complex and grim
as the risk of a rebound of the
epidemic in other regions
cannot be overlooked”.

Parl will pick new leader: Mahathir
The announcement comes after the ruling alliance collapsed � Snap elections to be called if the vote ends in an impasse
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KUALA LUMPUR, 27 FEBRUARY
M
alaysia's interim
leader Mahathir
Mohamad on
Thursday said
Parliament will pick a new
prime minister next week fol-
lowing the collapse of the rul-
ing alliance and that snap
elections will be called if the
vote ends in an impasse.
Mahathir, who met the
king earlier on Thursday, said
the monarch couldn't find a
candidate with a clear major-
ity to lead the nation after con-
sulting all 222 lawmakers over
the last two days. As such, he
said the king decided to have
the lower house of Parlia-
ment vote on a new leader on
March 2.
“If the lower house fails to
find a person with the major-
ity, then we will have to go for
a snap election,” he told a news
conference.
A failed bid by Mahathir's
supporters to form a new
government without his des-
ignated successor, Anwar
Britain threatens to
walk away as EU trade
talks open post Brexit
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON,27 FEBRUARY
Britain laid out its opening
demands for the upcoming
trade talks with the Euro-
pean Union on Thursday,
including a blunt threat to walk
away from the negotiating
table if there is no progress
within four months.
The two sides appear head-
ed for a rocky first round of
negotiations as they try to forge
a new relationship following
the UK’s departure from the
now 27-nation bloc.
Britain and the EU both say
they want to reach a free
trade agreement, but have
starkly divergent views on
how it should be overseen and
what constitutes fair com-
petition between their two
economies.
The EU says Britain must
agree to follow the bloc’s rules
in areas ranging from state aid
to environmental protec-
tions, and give European
boats access to UK fishing
waters, if the two sides are to
strike a good deal.
But the UK is demanding
the right to diverge from the
bloc’s rules in order to strike
new trade agreements around
the world that it thinks will bol-
ster the British economy.
“In pursuit of a deal we will
not trade away our sover-
eignty,” Michael Gove, the
minister in charge of Brexit
preparations, told lawmakers
in the House of Commons.
“We will not be seeking to
dynamically align with EU
rules on EU terms, governed
by EU laws and EU institu-
tions.”
UN disarmament chief: Nuke arms race is threatening world
ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS, 27 FEBRUARY
The UN disarmament chief
warned Wednesday that the
specter of an unbridled nuclear
arms race is threatening the
world for the first time since
the 1970s, the height of the Cold
War between the United States
and the former Soviet Union.
Izumi Nakamitsu didn't
name any countries but she
was clearly referring to the
United States and Russia, and
possibly China, when she told
the UN Security Council that
relationships between states
especially nuclear-weapon
states are fractured.
So-called great power com-
petition is the order of the day,
Nakamitsu said.
Division, distrust and a
dearth of dialogue are increas-
ingly the norm. Russia-US
relations have been at post-
Ibrahim, and Mahathir's shock
resignation on Monday broke
apart the ruling alliance less
than two years after it defeat-
ed a corruption-tainted coali-
tion that had led the country
for 61 years.
Both Mahathir and Anwar
are vying for the premier-
ship, renewing a political feud
that stretches back more than
two decades.
“The king is obviously
being very cautious. He decid-
ed not to give Anwar or
Mahathir to form a govern-
ment and let the MPs decide,”
said James Chin, head of the
Asia Institute at Australia's Uni-
versity of Tasmania. “This
means horse trading will carry
on all weekend until Monday
morning.”
Anwar was Mahathir's
deputy in the 1990s during
Mahathir's first stint as prime
minister, but he was sacked
following a power struggle
and later jailed on sodomy and
corruption charges that he said
were trumped up.
Anwar led a reform move-
ment that helped build a
Britain’s negotiating man-
date insists that “we will not
agree to any obligations for
our laws to be aligned with the
EU’s, or for the EU’s institu-
tions, including the Court of
Justice, to have any jurisdic-
tion in the UK”
That conflict will be one of
the big hurdles in talks, which
are due to begin Monday in
Brussels. Fishing is likely to
be another flashpoint. EU
nations, especially France,
want Britain to grant European
fishing boats long-term access
to UK waters. Britain wants
to negotiate fishing quotas
annually.
Britain left the EU on 31
January but remains bound
by the bloc’s rules until a
post-Brexit transition period
ends on 31 December. A
divorce agreement between
the two sides allows for the
transition to be extended for
two more years, but British
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
insists he will not agree to that.
Johnson’s Conservative
government says the UK will
be leaving the bloc’s structures,
including its single market for
trade in goods and services,
as of 1 January, 2021.
Britain hopes by then to
have a trade agreement with
the bloc similar to the one
struck between the EU and
Canada. Such a deal would
eliminate tariffs and quotas
on trade and goods, but it’s
less clear what it would mean
for the services sector that
makes up four-fifths of Britain’s
economy. The UK also aspires
to strike side agreements in
areas including fisheries, law
enforcement and judicial
cooperation.
The British government is
warning businesses that no
matter what happens there will
be new barriers to trade
between Britain and the EU,
which currently accounts for
almost half of UK trade. Even
with a free trade deal there will
be new border checks and cus-
toms forms to fill out.
The EU-Canada deal also
took years to strike, now the
two sides have just months.
Cold War lows since Moscow's
2014 annexation of Ukraine's
Crimea.
Last year, Russia and the
US both withdrew from the
1987 Intermediate-range
Nuclear Forces Treaty, the US
saying it pulled out because
of Russian violations and the
Kremlin denying breaching the
treaty's terms.
Russia has said the US also
appears reluctant to extend the
New START treaty, the only
treaty governing the number
of strategic nuclear weapons
deployed by the two countries,
which expires in 2021.
Last week, US Defense
Secretary Mark Esper touted
a multibillion-dollar plan for
a top-to-bottom moderniza-
tion of America's nuclear
arsenal to keep up with Rus-
sia and outpace China.
In late December, Russia's
defense minister reported to
Pakistan’s fresh efforts to fight terrorism and promote security is
affording the US to expand trade between the two countries
fledgling opposition but was
jailed a second time for sodomy
in 2014 in a move he said was
aimed at killing his political
career.
Mahathir, who retired in
2003 after 22 years in power,
made a comeback in 2016,
spurred by anger over a mas-
sive graft scandal involving a
state investment fund.
Mahathir and Anwar rec-
onciled and forged an alliance
that won the 2018 election that
ushered in the first change of
government since indepen-
dence from Britain in 1957.
CATCALL
A woman wearing a protective mask holds her cat as she poses for a picture during a protest against corruption in the Iraqi gov-
ernment in the southern city of Basra on Thursday.
New Tunisian
government
after months
of deadlock
TUNIS (TUNISIA), 27 FEBRUARY
Tunisia has a new govern-
ment at last, after four
months of arguing among
rival parties.
After a 15-hour debate,
theTunisian parliament voted
129-77 with one abstention to
approve the government of
Prime Minister-designate Elyes
Fakhfakh on Thursday.
A previous effort to form a
government by a different
prime minister failed last
month. The Islamist party
Ennahdha has six ministeri-
al posts, more than any other
party, because it came out on
top in a parliamentary elec-
tion in October.
But it didn't win a major-
ity and has struggled to reach
compromise with other par-
ties about who should run the
government. President Kais
Saied had threatened to dis-
solve parliament and call a new
election if it couldn't agree on
a new government. AP
President Vladimir Putin that
a new intercontinental weapon
that can fly 27 times the speed
of sound had become opera-
tional, bolstering the country's
nuclear strike capability.
Nakamitsu warned that
the specter of unconstrained
nuclear competition looms
over us for the first time since
the 1970s.
We are witnessing what
has been termed a qualitative
But their relationship
remained uneasy as Mahathir
refused to set a time frame to
hand over power to Anwar.
Mahathir, the world's old-
est leader at 94, said Wednes-
day that he wanted to form a
nonpartisan government if
chosen as premier for a third
time. He said he had quit to
show he wasn't power crazy
and because he didn't want
to work with the former cor-
rupt regime that he had oust-
ed in 2018 polls.
But his unity government
plan was rejected by Anwar's
Mass shootout in US: Gunman
kills five at brewery, kills self
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MILWAUKEE (US), 27 FEBRUARY
An employee opened fire at
one of the nation's largest
breweries in Milwaukee,
killing five fellow workers
before ta-king his own life,
police said.
The assailant who
attacked the Molson Coors
complex on Wednesday was
identified as a 51-year-old
Milwaukee man who died
of a self-inflicted gunshot
wound, police said.
“There were five indi-
viduals who went to work
today, just like everybody
goes to work, and they
thought they were going to
go to work, finish their day
and return to their families.
They didn't and tragically
they never will,” Milwaukee
Mayor Tom Barrett said.
Authorities offered no
immediate motive for the
attack and did not release
details about the shooter or
how the shooting unfolded.
nuclear arms race, one not
based on numbers but on
faster, stealthier and more
accurate weapons, she said.
Regional conflicts with a
nuclear dimension are wors-
ening, and proliferation chal-
lenges are not receding.
The Security Council meet-
ing was requested by Ger-
many to commemorate the
50th anniversary of the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty on
US COMMERCE SECRETARY WILBUR ROSS
AFTER MEETING PAKISTAN’S TOP LEADERSHIP
Mahathir Mohamad,
who met the king on
Thursday, said the
monarch couldn't find
a candidate with a
clear majority to
lead the nation after
consulting all 222
lawmakers over the
last two days
camp and other opposition
parties, which said it would
only create a “Mahathir gov-
ernment” that was not
accountable to the people
and was unsustainable.
Anwar said lawmakers
from the three remaining par-
ties in his alliance had nom-
inated him to be prime min-
ister when meeting the king
after Mahathir rejected their
offer to restore their former gov-
ernment. Anwar's camp con-
trols 41 per cent of parlia-
mentary seats, 20 seats short
of a simple majority.
Mahathir on Thursday also
said he had rescinded his res-
ignation as chairman of his
None of the victims was
identified. Police, who were
still contacting relatives,
said identities would not be
released for at least 24 hours.
No o n e w a s w o u n d e d
beyond those who were
killed, authorities said.
Officers worked for hours
to clear the more than 20
buildings in the complex
where more than 1,000 peo-
ple work.
They announced at a
late evening news confer-
ence that the work was done
and all employees had been
allowed to go home. Police
Chief Alfonso Morales said
authorities believe the shoot-
er operated alone.
President Donald Trump
addressed the shooting
before speaking at the White
House about his adminis-
tration's efforts to combat
the coronavirus.
“Our hearts break for
them and their loved ones,”
the president said.
“We send our condo-
March 5 and to support the
upcoming conference to
review and advance its goals
which starts April 27 and ends
May 22.
Russia and the United
States clashed at the meeting
over the breakdown in arms
control negotiations.
But they supported a state-
ment by the 15-member Secu-
rity Council saying the treaty,
known as the NPT, remains the
cornerstone of the nuclear
nonproliferation regime and
the foundation for the pursuit
of nuclear disarmament and
the peaceful uses of nuclear
energy.
The council resolved to
advance the NPT's goals and
underlined the treaty's essen-
tial role in the preservation of
international peace, security
and stability as well as the ulti-
mate objective of a world
without nuclear weapons.
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020
Bersatu party.
Bersatu ditched the gov-
erning alliance four days ago
in a bid to form a new gov-
ernment with several oppo-
sition parties. But it flopped
after Mahathir quit in protest
of the plan to work with the
United Malays National Orga-
nization, the party of dis-
graced ex-Prime Minister
Najib Razak who is on trial for
corruption.
Mahathir reiterated Thurs-
day that he still cannot accept
UMNO but was willing to
embrace UMNO members
who leave the party. He said
he will accept the outcome of
Monday's vote and that the
new leader elected can choose
anyone he likes as his Cabi-
net members, alluding back
to the unity government plan
he proposed.
The political drama that
unfolded over the weekend saw
37 lawmakers, led by Bersatu,
ditching the ruling alliance,
depriving it of majority sup-
port. The king dissolved the
Cabinet but reappointed
Mahathir as interim leader.
AFP
lences. We'll be with them,
and it's a terrible thing, a ter-
rible thing.” The attack
occurred at a sprawling
complex that includes a
mix of corporate offices and
brewing facilities.
The complex is widely
known in the Milwaukee
area as “Miller Valley,” a
reference to the Miller Brew-
ing Co. that is now part of
Molson Coors.
Molson Coors CEO Gavin
Hattersley called the shoot-
e r “a n a c t i v e b re w e r y
employee.”
“Unfortunately, I am
devastated to share that we
lost five other members of
our family in this tragic
incident,” he said in an
email sent to employees.
“There are no words to
express the deep sadness
many of us are feeling right
now.” He said the office
would be closed the rest of
the week and the brewery
shuttered “for the time
being”.
Germany's Foreign Minister
Heiko Maas told the council
that despite its achievements
the NPT is facing serious set-
backs: Nuclear disarmament
has come to a standstill. New
technologies are creating dan-
gerous strategic imbalances.
And proliferation crises are
demanding our fullest atten-
tion. He pointed to North
Korea acquiring nuclear
weapons, disregarding the
NPT and Security Council
resolutions, as a key failure.
Maas said the only realis-
tic way ahead is applying
pressure and stepping up
nuclear diplomacy.
He urged international
support for US efforts to nego-
tiate with North Korea, and for
the 2015 Iran nuclear deal
which remains the best and
only promising tool to keep
Iran from obtaining nuclear
weapons.
Syria rebels fight back but
army makes more gains
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
IDLIB, 27 FEBRUARY
Syrian rebels on Thursday
reentered a key northwestern
town they had lost earlier
this month, reversing one of
the main gains of the gov-
ernment's devastating offen-
sive in the region.
The counteroffensive could
be short-lived however and
Russian-backed Syrian troops
continued to chip away at
other parts of the rebel bas-
tion, ignoring growing appeals
for a ceasefire.
The UN Security Council,
where Moscow has system-
atically vetoed truce initiatives,
was due to meet again on
Thursday amid growing con-
cern Idlib was witnessing the
nine-year-old war's worst
humanitarian emergency yet.
On Thursday, jihadists and
Turkish-backed rebels man-
aged to reenter Saraqeb, a key
crossroads town in Idlib
province they had lost earli-
er in February.
State news agency SANA
acknowledged that there were
"fierce clashes" between the
army and "terrorist groups on
the Saraqeb front".
A correspondent accom-
panied the rebels into Saraqeb,
where he found a ghost town
of bombed out buildings
deserted by its inhabitants.
The counterattack by the
rebels temporarily reverses one
of the key gains notched up
by the government since the
launch of its offensive against
the country's last rebel enclave
in December.
The cash-strapped gov-
ernment had been keen to fully
secure the M5, a highway
which connects Syria's four
main cities and passes through
Saraqeb.
The Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights
said that the air strikes were
carried out by government ally
Uncertainty looms
ahead of US-Taliban
peace deal signing
AGENCIES
DOHA, 27 FEBRUARY
Washington and the Tal-
iban are set to sign a deal Sat-
urday to secure America's
exit from its longest war
through gradually with-
drawing troops and starting
talks between Kabul and
the insurgents.
The agreement will like-
ly be heralded as marking the
start of a hopeful new era for
Afghanistan, which has seen
40 years of conflict.
But what happens next is
anyone's guess, with ques-
tions swirling around the Tal-
iban's intentions and
Afghanistan once more in the
grip of a political crisis
threatening to plunge the
impoverished country fur-
ther into the abyss.
The accord, to be signed
in Doha, comes after more
than a year of talks between
the Taliban and the US that
faltered repeatedly as vio-
lence raged.
While the deal's contents
have not been publicly dis-
closed, it is expected to see
the Pentagon begin pulling
troops from Afghanistan,
where between 12,000-
13,000 are currently based.
The US has said an ini-
13
Russia, which has come under
heavy Western criticism for the
high civilian death toll from
its bombing campaign.
State media accused the
"terrorists" of launching car
bombings and other suicide
attacks against government
forces attempting to retake the
town.
It said that the army had
inflicted heavy losses on the
attackers, despite the military
support it said they had
received from neighbouring
Turkey.
Some 950,0000 civilians
have fled the government
offensive, raising fears in
Ankara of a new mass influx
of refugees.
Turkey already hosts the
world's largest number of
Syrian refugees with around
3.6 million people, placing an
increasingly unpopular bur-
den on public services. The
Turkish defence ministry said
two of its soldiers had been
killed by government fire in
Idlib, taking its losses this
month alone to 19.
Turkey, which supports
several rebel groups in the Idlib
region, immediately respond-
ed to the attack by hitting Syr-
ian "regime targets", the min-
istry said.
The United Nations has
warned repeatedly that the
fighting in Idlib has the poten-
tial to create the most serious
humanitarian crisis since the
start of the civil war in 2011.
"As the UN Security Coun-
cil meets today, it is urgent for
Council members to adopt a
resolution calling for a cease-
fire in Idlib," David Miliband,
the chairman of the Interna-
tional Rescue Committee,
said.
More than half a million
of those displaced since
December are children, tens
of thousands of whom are
sleeping rough in the harsh
winter of northern Syria.
tial drawdown over the com-
ing months would be to
about 8,600, similar to the
troop level President Don-
ald Trump inherited after his
2016 election win.
Fu r t h e r re d u c t i o n s
depend on how well the
Taliban honour pledges to
start talks with the govern-
ment of President Ashraf
Ghani, who until now they
have dismissed as a US-
backed puppet, and seek a
c o m p re h e n s i v e “ i n t ra -
Afghan” ceasefire and peace
deal.
The insurgents are also
supposed to guarantee
Afghanistan is never again
used by jihadist groups such
as Al-Qaeda and Islamic
State to plot foreign attacks.
Meanwhile, Pakistan
Prime Minister Imran Khan
met Emir of Qatar Sheikh
Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani
in Doha on Thursday, just
two days prior to the sign-
ing of a landmark peace
deal between the US and the
Taliban.
Qatar's Energy Minister
Sa a d Sh e i rd a A l - Ka a b i
received Khan at the airport.
This is the second visit of
Prime Minister Khan to
Qatar after taking office in
2018.

Choose the right path to success
AMIT GOYAL
T
he banking industry serves a
broad range of individual and
business customers. Banks
and credit unions have variety
of various personnel to serve the
requirements of their clients from cus-
tomer service representatives to finan-
cial advisors to non-public bankers.
These institutions employ private
bankers to supply a further level of ser-
vice for top and ultra-high-net-worth
(UHNW) clients. A private banker pro-
vides in-depth analysis on an individ-
ual or company's financial circumstances
and makes recommendations based on
a specific investment, estate planning,
and charitable objectives. Private
bankers are typically employed with an
outsized financial organisation, while
financial advisors or wealth managers
serve outside the banking environ-
ment. In essence, private bankers are
personal financial advisors for the very
rich.
� What do private bankers do:
Private bankers add many various
parts of the financial services indus-
try. This includes banks, credit
unions, investment banks, and wealth
management firms. They provide
Real problems afflicting young professionals
Corporate organisations must
focus on holistic wellbeing of the
employees
PRAKRITI PODDAR
M
ost professionals find sta-
bility while they are work-
ing. For some, it is the best
phase of life as here they
strike financial stability, security and com-
mitment to dedicate themselves for the
respective profession that last a lifetime.
However, often the initial phase of this
life proves to be challenging, even
intimidating for the professionals.
There is also the possibility of
feeling overwhelmed by the transition
or isolated as you begin this phase of
life. Then there is also the dreadful
possibility of meeting a bully or two
or feeling intimidated by a senior or
even a boss who does not seem to like
you. Some professionals are not just
step into job but also step out of the
comfort of their homes as they start
living an independent life. Living away
from dependency for the first time
makes them more vulnerable and
intimidated. The result brings up the
hard challenges of life in front of us.
Instead of rising through the
ranks, we see burnout, loneliness,
physical burden of illnesses and a slow
creeping of mental and emotional
health issues. It is afflicting young pro-
fessionals in a major way today.
� Burnout as a modern-day
health hazard: Such is the rise in
this phenomenon that World Health
Organisation (WHO) recently recog-
nised burnout as an occupational
happening impacting health of indi-
viduals. Burn-out has been described
as a syndrome conceptualised as
resulting from chronic workplace
banking, advisory, and investment
services to ultra-rich clients. Private
bankers are typically assigned to
clients of a selected bank branch.
Unlike financial advisors, they do not
have the responsibility of continuous
prospecting. For smaller banks or
credit unions, a private banker may
make phone calls or reach out to
prominent individuals or businesses
to attract new high net-worth clients
to the financial institution. Private
bankers, in partnership with and sup-
ported by the bank, can also be liable
for implementing client appreciation
events to make sure a high level of
retention for the bank. Many private
banking divisions in large banks han-
dle virtually all aspects of clients’
finances. A private banker often
works with relatively few clients to
supply the main target and person-
alised service that non-public bank-
ing clients often demand. In some
firms, private bankers specialise in
managing client portfolios while rela-
tionship managers handle other
client needs.
� Educational qualifications:
Most financial institutions require
private bankers to hold at least a
bachelor’s degree. Undergraduate
stress that has not been successfully
managed. Feelings of energy deple-
tion or exhaustion; feelings of nega-
tivism or cynicism related to one’s job;
and reduced professional efficacy are
characteristics of this condition.
According to WHO, depression
and anxiety alone cost global econo-
my approximately one trillion dollars
annually due to lost productivity. In
fact, the WHO has deemed depression
a leading cause of disability. Approxi-
mately one-third of the mental health
cost burden is related to productivity
losses, including unemployment, dis-
ability, and lower work performance.
� From neutron star to a star: The
bright star in us begins to fade exactly
as does the neutron star. The neutron
star is known to be the brightest, and
it works really hard to be big, bold,
and impactful, till all the hydrogen
runs out. And then it just bursts. The
similarity is uncanny and we need to
take heed and build resources to con-
serve our energy and provide us with
long lasting productive health.
To supply a further level of
service for top and ultra-
high-net-worth clients,
professionals such as
private bankers are in high
demand these days
work best fitted to a career privately
banking focuses on accounting,
finance, or business. Although not
necessary, a marketing or advanced
diploma in banking & finance degree
may also benefit a private banker in
his or her career. Most employers like
to hire experienced candidates with
master’s degrees in disciplines like
finance, accounting or business
administration. Many employers also
look for experienced job candidates
who have a graduate degree in math-
ematics, statistics or law. Course add
subjects like taxation, risk manage-
ment, investing, and financial plan-
ning are especially valuable to
prospective private bankers.
� Skills required: Private bankers
must even be ready to analyse finan-
cial information to make and imple-
ment recommendations. That’s why
they should have a great understand-
ing of the banking and financial sys-
tems, along with knowledge about
credit and lending practices. They
should also stay up to date with cur-
rent events like economic and mar-
ket news. Even though they normally
affect high net-worth individuals, pri-
vate bankers should be ready to affect
all kinds of clients.
Remember that it is the leader who
has spent little time nurturing all the
other aspects of his life. It is time that
we promote the values key to good
health and help provide nurturing work
environments for our employees.
Having spent almost two decades
in the business of wellbeing, our com-
pany defined the wellbeing hexagon.
It is only when we incorporate a struc-
ture of wellbeing through the verticals
can one completely flourish. Opti-
mum health is skewed when any of
these factors is given less credence
than the other/s.
What is important to remember
is that a decline of optimal health in
any one of the vertical leads to an
imbalance and the other pillars com-
pensate for the loss of one until they
burnout as well.
But only attending to physical
health and skill development pro-
grammes tied in with leadership train-
ing will not solve the problem. The
mindset of employers needs to shift
to a new understanding of being the
principal providers for good holistic
They must be ready to analyse
financial information to make and
implement recommendations. A pri-
vate banker’s greatest responsibility
is to take care of relationships with
HNWIs to make sure their assets
remain with the financial organisa-
tion. An individual working as a per-
sonal banker must establish a rapport
with individuals quickly and build
trust with potential or current clients.
This is why excellent interpersonal
and communication skills are
required.
� Career path: Many private
bankers begin working in entry-level
securities analyst positions in wealth
management firms, banks, broker-
ages or other organisations within the
market. Many financial analysts study
stocks, bonds, and other securities to
supply financial plans, analytical
reports, and proposals for personal
bankers, portfolio managers, and
other senior investment profession-
als within the firm. With experience
and a record of high performance, a
securities analyst specialising in
investments can rise into a personal
banker position.
Other professionals within the
field begin working as personal finan-
health practices.
� Tackling burnout is crucial in
improving productivity: As consul-
tants, we have documented internally
the facade of wellbeing in corporates.
There is no holistic structure being
adopted.
Employers need to become
mindful of the burden that employees
face. The experience of an overworked
mind leads to a lack of motivation,
unforeseen errors, and lack of positive
interactions with the community.
Mental health problems have an
impact on employers and businesses
directly through increased absen-
teeism, negative impact on productiv-
ity and profits, as well as an increase in
costs to deal with the issue. In addi-
tion, they impact employee morale
adversely.
Investing in the holistic health
care is a necessity. It ensures that
employees are better equipped to
understand how to utilise their abili-
ties positively. It also improves team
work and creates a support system
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020
cial advisors serving retail clients at
banks and other financial services
firms. Personal financial advisors do
much of an equivalent work that non-
public bankers do, but they typically
affect clients who don’t have the
wealth to justify the value of the high-
ly personalised services private
bankers typically offer. A record of
success as a retail-level advisor can
cause an edge as a personal banker.
� Salary: A private banker’s com-
pensation is typically comprised of a
base salary plus commissions based
on assets under management (AUM)
fee. According to the foremost cur-
rent information available on Pay
scale, entry-level private bankers can
earn the minimum amount as 25000
per month including commissions
and bonuses. Private bankers with a
little book of clients tend to earn a
lower income than private bankers
with an outsized, established book of
business. Similarly, private bankers
who add regional banks or credit
unions are less likely to get on the
upper end of the salary scale than
those that work for larger national
financial institutions.
The writer is professor of TKWs Institute of
Banking and Finance
within the workplace that fortifies the
employees trust in the organisation
and the ability to depend on them.
It is important for organisations to
implement measures that allow suffi-
cient relaxation and leisure time for
employees to re-energise. The culture
of being available on official mails and
social media groups 24*7 has to end
and a real office cut-off time needs to be
laid down. Similarly, it must be ensured
that employees are not disturbed on
weekends and are allowed to spend
time doing activities outside work.
It is also important to make coun-
sellors easily available to employees
so that they open up and seek help
before it’s too late. Managers must
also be trained to be alert to identify-
ing symptoms of burnout among
employees and initiate remedial mea-
sures. Thus, it is essential to ensure
that employees are mentally fit, phys-
ically and nutritionally healthy.
The writer is councillor in HR, Corporate and
Education upliftment, director Poddar Well-
ness Ltd and Managing Trustee of Poddar
Foundation
14
PLUS POINTS
Felicitating leaders
Orpit Services Pri-
vate Limited, a unit
of Lakhotia Group,
hosted National
Women’s Leader-
ship Awards 2020 to
applaud the
admirable contri-
butions of women
entrepreneurs and
business excellence
gives every achiever
a platform to showcase their achieve-
ments and get them recognised in their
fields. Jyoti Jain, chairperson of FICCI
FLO Kolkata, Suchismita Paul, Mrs India
Worldwide 2019, Manish Maheshwari,
director of Orpit Services Private Limit-
ed, Geetanjali Mukherjee, CEO of Orpit
Services Private Limited, Harshit
Chokhani, brand ambassador of the
event were present to grace the occa-
sion. Women leaders from all over the
country were felicitated for their excep-
tional work. The National Women’s
Leadership Awards 2020 showcased
their high goals and outstanding
achievements through innovation, lead-
ership, dedication and commitment
towards learning.
Digital
transformation
Technology has seeped in to our lives to
such an extent that we can literally mon-
itor our own health status by technology
aided devices. Health Tech, or digital
health, uses technologies like databases,
applications, mobiles to improve the
delivery, payment, and/or consumption
of care, with the ability to increase the
development and commercialisation of
healthcare related products. With this
backdrop Medica Hospitals with The
Bengal Chamber organised the third
edition of Health Tech 2020 at Vivanta,
Kolkata recently. On this occasion Price-
waterCoopers Pvt Ltd released a thought
paper on “A technology boost for achiev-
ing universal health protection”.
The programme brought together
healthcare industry with doctors and
healthcare delivery professionals,
administrators, technology providers
and related stakeholders like policy
makers, financers start ups, academia,
research institutions to name a few.
Clinical challenge
The doctors
at Fortis Flt
Lt Rajan
Dhall Hos-
pital in Vas-
ant Kunj
performed a
unique and
first of its
kind proce-
dure to re-construct a jaw using 3D
printing technology in the city recently.
The titanium jaw was constructed using
this novel technology and implanted it
onto a 30-year-old man from Faridabad.
It gave him complete control over his
mouth, which allowed him to chew food
properly after seven years since his jaw
was removed due to cancer. The proce-
dure was successfully planned and per-
formed by Dr Mandeep Singh Malhotra,
head of department (HOD), head, neck
and breast oncoplasty and his team at
Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj (FHVK).
Enhancing economy
JK Lakshmipat University (JKLU) organ-
ised an international conference on
“Innovations in Technology, Manage-
ment and Design for Achieving Sustain-
able Development Goals (ICSDG)” at
their Jaipur campus in association with
Central University of Rajasthan, Indian
Institute of Crafts and Design (IICD)
Jaipur, Institute of Electronics and
Telecommunication Engineers, Materi-
als Research Society of India and Indian
Society for Training and Development
(ISTD) Jaipur recently. The conference
provided a platform for showcasing
innovations in technology, management
and design that can address sustainabil-
ity issues and catalyse actions and part-
nerships across disciplines and bound-
aries, to support United Nation’s 2030
agenda of Sustainability Development
Goals (SDG). The meeting was attend-
ed by many dignitaries and attracted
around 100 papers from different parts
of the country and abroad. Sustainabili-
ty promoting works of local artisans and
cultural events were also displayed at
the end of the event.

THUMBNAILS
Rijiju's hope: Sport minis-
ter Kiren Rijiju on Thurs-
day said he expected the
Tokyo Olympics to go
ahead smoothly despite
fears being expressed
about the fate of the
Games amid the novel
coronavirus threat. The
Olympic Games are sched-
uled to be held in July-
August.
Moscow chess: Indian
Grandmaster B Adhiban
held Azerbaijani's Rauf
Mamedov to a draw in the
eighth round to remain in
contention for the top
spot in a Moscow chess
tournament. Adhiban was
on 5.5 points after the
draw which followed a 74-
move marathon.
Leeds win: Mateusz Klich
fired Leeds back to within
four points of Champi-
onship leaders West Brom
with a 1-0 victory at Mid-
dlesbrough on Wednesday.
The Polish international
midfielder's goal on the
stroke of half-time
clinched a third consecu-
tive 1-0 win.
Beckham relieved: David
Beckham's quest to launch
a Major League Soccer
franchise will finally come
to fruition on Sunday
when Inter Miami make
their competitive debut in
a season-opening clash
with Los Angeles FC after
a six-year journey marked
by setbacks.
Javia, Adkar book tickets to Paris
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
Young tennis players Dev V
Javia and Vaishnavi Adkar
emerged victorious at the
Roland-Garros Junior Wild
Card Series in Delhi on
Wednesday.
Tournament ambassador
and 4-time Gland Slam cham-
pion Mary Pierce witnessed
the action on the final day of
the tournament and gave
away the coveted trophies
to the winners. The two play-
ers will now travel to Paris to
compete against their coun-
terparts from Mexico, Brazil
and China in the Roland-
Garros Junior Qualifiers with
a shot to qualify for the main
draw of the Roland-Garros
Junior Tournament 2020.
In the Girls' category
unseeded Vaishnavi Adkar
and Sanjana Sirimalla pulled
off upsets against the top
seeds to reach the final. The
two young players battled it
out in a tense, three-setter
Tennis will miss Sharapova as much as she will miss tennis, even if rivals shed no tears
PAUL NEWMAN
There will be plenty of peo-
ple around the world – espe-
cially those involved in the pro-
motion of women’s tennis –
who will miss Maria Sharapova
(in photo), but the news of the
32-year-old’s retirement is
unlikely to cause too much
sadness in the locker room.
From the days when she intim-
idated her teenaged contem-
poraries at Nick Bollettieri’s
academy in Florida with her
ferocious on-court commit-
ment, through to her reign at
the very top of her sport and
then her controversial come-
back following a 15-month sus-
pension for a drugs offence,
the Russian was never one to
seek out friends among her
rivals.
Sharapova once told The
Independent that she pre-
ferred to spend as little time
as possible in the locker room.
“It’s my least favourite place
in the world,” she said. “I do
my job at the site. I play my
matches. I do what I have to
do and I prefer to live my life
away from the site rather than
talk tennis all day.”
Whether she was playing
tennis, designing clothes,
De Bruyne makes the difference
Guardiola’s approach made things hard for City but when De Bruyne switched roles, the night changed
Real Madrid 1
Manchester City 2
MIGUEL DELANEY
MADRID, 27 FEBRUARY
I
f this is to be a last run at
the Champions League
for Pep Guardiola’s Man-
chester City, it has start-
ed with new ground broken –
as well as some significant men-
tal blocks broken.
It was quite a turnaround
all round. Against the oppo-
sition that mean the most to
Guardiola, and the club most
associated with the European
Cup, in a situation that seemed
to sum up so much of what has
gone wrong in this competi-
tion for the Catalan, he may
well have produced a victory
that means the most.
That’s how significant this
2-1 comeback against Real
Madrid felt. It was a night of
realisation, and some reck-
oning. This was the first time
Madrid had failed to win – let
alone lost – a Champions
League knockout first leg since
2013. It also felt like Guardi-
ola’s first big away win in
Europe since, well, his last
one here in 2011.
Will that be the prelude to
something as great? This did
have the feel of a significant
night precisely because of the
turnaround. The feel of that
mental block being broken was
meanwhile made all the stark-
er by the fact it was Madrid that
went into meltdown, especially
with Sergio Ramos’ late red
card.
City, by contrast, displayed
supreme resilience through a
which went down to the wire.
After losing the first set 4-6,
Maharashtra girl Vaishnavi
Adkar registered yet anoth-
er gritty comeback to win
the 2nd set 6-4. In the third
set, fortunes fluctuated till
Adkar eventually clinched
the set 7-6 (3) in a tie-break-
er.
The Boys' final was a more
straightforward affair as top
seed Dev V Javia stamped
his authority over the com-
petition once again to defeat
Chirag Duhan 6-2, 6-1. Gujarat
player Javia's dominant per-
formance throughout the
tournament saw him clinch
the title without losing a sin-
gle set in all three matches.
After the win, an elated
Vaishnavi said, "I don't think
anybody, least of all me,
expected this result. I am
really looking forward to com-
peting in Paris. The expo-
sure of playing against inter-
national players will immense-
ly help me to improve my
game."
walking down a catwalk or run-
ning her business affairs,
Sharapova was always the
ultimate professional. Even
during her enforced break
from the sport she took the
opportunity to enrol in cours-
es at Harvard Business School
and do an internship at a
London advertising agency.
Making tennis friends was
never on her agenda. “Once
her work is done she’s gone,”
Bollettieri once recalled when
asked about her approach to
practice. “She doesn’t like to
hang around. There’s no bull-
shitting afterwards with the
other players. It’s all busi-
ness.”
Sharapova did not have
too many sympathetic ears in
media centres either, but she
was rarely late for Press con-
ferences and interviews (unfor-
tunately the same cannot be
said for many of her contem-
poraries) and was often good
value. At the Australian Open
in 2012 she was asked about
comments by a rival, Agniesz-
ka Radwanska, who had crit-
icised her on-court grunting.
“Isn’t she back in Poland
already?” Sharapova said in a
cutting response, referring to
the fact that Radwanska had
Referees always come (to the Bernabeu)
and make decisions against us on purpose,
it’s always the same.
series of setbacks. There was
first of all the unfortunate
Aymeric Laporte injury. There
was then even more anxiety
at the back, as illustrated by
the error that led to Isco’s
opening goal. Most of all,
though, there was the way
this seemed to be setting up
the same old story: a ques-
tionable Guardiola approach
needlessly complicating an
away game. City played
through all of that, to just
play through Madrid. The
peerless De Bruyne, of course,
was central to that. It did
make a difference, however,
that he was actually moved to
the centre. It was in that sense
as if this game represented a
realisation for Guardiola’s side
as a whole. They realised they
were just better than this
pedestrian Madrid, who seem
Italian golfers quarantined, forced out
AGENCIES
MILAN, 27 FEBRUARY
Italian golfers Edoardo Moli-
nari and Lorenzo Gagli have
been quarantined in Muscat
and forced to pull out of the
Oman Open starting Thurs-
day over fears they may have
the coronavirus.
Gagli suffered flu-like symp-
toms during the week and as
Molinari, the older brother of
former British Open winner
Francesco, was his room-
mate both have been placed
in isolation as a precaution-
ary measure.
Gagli told Italian news-
paper La Nazione that he had
been told he would have to
remain isolated until next
Wednesday.
“It's an inexplicable deci-
sion,” Gagli said.
“If there was a risk of con-
tagion, then they would have
to isolate dozens of golfers and
cancel the tournament.”
Italy, which has reported
12 deaths and 400 confirmed
cases in Europe's worst out-
break of the virus, has attempt-
ed to lockdown the epicentre
in the north to contain its
spread.
Molinari, 39, comes from
Turin in the north of Italy
while 34-year-old Gagli hails
from Florence in Tuscany,
where there have also been
cases.
“We are following the sit-
uation,” Marco Durante, head
of the pro sector of the Ital-
been knocked out of the tour-
nament.
Even through to her final
match last month, Sharapo-
va remained one of the sport’s
best -known figures, despite
the fact that she had not won
a Grand Slam title for six years.
Contrast her fame with the
comparative anonymity of
some of her successors and you
appreciate how much the
sport’s administrators will
lament her retirement. How
many people would recognise
the latest female Grand Slam
singles champion, Sofia Kenin,
if she walked down the street?
From the day Sharapova
stormed on to the world stage
with her Wimbledon triumph
at the age of 17, the Russian
was box office. Her glamorous
good looks helped, as did her
extraordinary life story. Yuri,
her father, had to borrow
money to buy their air fares
from Russia to Florida in 1994
as he sought to develop her ten-
nis talent. Neither of them
could speak English at the
time and Sharapova’s moth-
er, Elena, was unable to join
them for two years because of
visa issues.
Bollettieri recognised Shara-
pova’s talent immediately and
so lacking in any kind of greater
idea.
This is compounded by
the fact Zidane himself does-
n’t think too much about the
opposition. Those close to
the Real Madrid dressing room
say it usually only amounts to
“15 minutes” ahead of big
games. In other words, he
doesn’t go into anything like
the detail Guardiola does.
Madrid generally just trust
themselves regardless of the
opposition.
That made Guardiola’s
usual attempt to quadruple or
quintuple bluff the opposition
all the more curious. You can’t
play poker against someone
playing solitaire. This oppo-
sition just aren’t looking at it
like you. And, for much of the
first half, that meant City did-
n’t really look like City. They
ian Golf Federation, told Sky
Sport Italia.
Formula One
Formula One teams were try-
ing to focus on the second ses-
sion of winter testing in
Barcelona while casting wor-
rying glances towards the
spread of coronavirus with the
message: “We are concerned,
but there's no need to panic”.
As veteran driver Robert
Kubica steered his Alfa Romeo
to the day's best time at Mont-
melo, talk in the paddock
was of growing fears over the
spread of the virus which has
killed over 2,700 people and
infected more than 80,000 in
34 countries.
The F1 world champi-
onship, which gets under way
in Melbourne on March 15,
had already lost the Chinese
Grand Prix from its schedule.
Ferrari, whose headquar-
ters are at Maranello in north-
ern Italy, one of the areas
put her on a scholarship at his
academy. She was in a talented
group of girls that included Jele-
na Jankovic and Tatiana
Golovin. “When she was 12 or
13 Maria used to scare the shit
out of them,” Bollettieri
recalled. “She intimidated
them with her game and with
the sheer force of her per-
sonality.”
A few years later Sharapo-
va faced Golovin in a semi-final
in Miami. Golovin, who was
VINICIUS JR
FOOTBALLER, REAL MADRID
were barely on the ball, ced-
ing up to 70 per cent of pos-
session to Madrid. When they
had it, Bernardo Silva and De
Bruyne were being deployed
in curious false-nine posi-
tions.
The whole set-up had the
effect of slowing the game
down, but they weren’t alone
in that. Madrid’s big games this
season have all been low scor-
ing, never going above a goal.
They don’t have the same fire-
power any more, especially with
Eden Hazard out.
It does feel telling that a pre-
vious member of the sup-
porting cast, in Karim Benze-
ma, is now the main event and
main scoring threat. His 30th-
minute header was parried by
Ederson, with Vinicius Junior
fluffing the follow-up. They
were there to be got at. It just
affected by the COVID-19,
insisted that the team was tak-
ing all sensible precautions.
German Open postponed
Badminton's German Open
will not go ahead next week
and the Polish Open has been
postponed, officials said as two
more Olympic qualifying
events fell victim to the coro-
navirus.
It hasn't yet been decided
whether the German Open,
originally scheduled for March
3-8, will be postponed or can-
celled entirely, the Badminton
World Federation said late
Wednesday.
New dates are being sought
for the Polish Open, which was
meant to take place on March
26-29, but it will not now fall
in the qualifying period for the
Tokyo Olympics. Both events
were in the same month as the
All England Open, one of the
biggest events in the bad-
minton calendar, although
that tournament is current-
ly still set to go ahead.
Olympics speculation
Athletes preparing for the
Tokyo Olympics will have to
“wait and see” whether the
Games go ahead as concerns
soar about the coronavirus,
the head of Australia's team
said Thursday.
Despite reassurances from
Tokyo organisers that all plans
were on track, chef de mission
Ian Chesterman said the ulti-
mate decision would be made
also born in Russia, suffered
a serious ankle injury in the
third set and eventually had
to retire, but while she was
being treated on the court
Sharapova appeared to show
a callous lack of interest. She
said later that she had not
appreciated the seriousness
of Golovin’s injury. The crowd
had already been booing
Sharapova after she had taken
two toilet breaks, but she
shrugged off their animosi-
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020
took a while for City to get this.
It was often as if City needed
to bring it back to basics a bit,
and just look to play through
Madrid more. It was thereby
no coincidence they looked so
much better when De Bruyne
decided to drop deeper and
drive through the middle. It was
the source of City’s best moves.
Alongside him, Riyad
Mahrez was having the most
Riyad Mahrez of games, often
brilliant and frustrating in the
same passage of control. He
took Ferland Mendy out of the
game with one audacious
twist, only to then shoot wide
with the feeblest of efforts. If
that was typical Mahrez, it
was also a fitting prelude to typ-
ical City 2019-20. Their best
spell was the set-up for one of
their worst moments, and a
Madrid goal. Nicolas Ota-
mendi lost it, Kyle Walker tried
to take too much out of it, and
Vinicius just took it off him to
play in Isco.
It was a horror show, but
also appeared an inevitable
progression of the anxiety
that was gripping that back-
line without Laporte. The die
had been cast in another way,
though. City had realised they
were the better side. They
went back to a more natural
approach, and naturally began
to boss the game. De Bruyne
did that more than anyone. He
set up Gabriel Jesus’ equalis-
er, before scoring the penal-
ty that gives City such an
advantage. It was just reward.
They had been the much bet-
ter team. It just took them a
while to realise that.
THE INDEPENDENT
by the International Olympic
Committee.
“It's a huge operation, the
Olympic Games, so nobody
wants to cancel the Games,
that's for sure,” Chesterman
said in Sydney, after announc-
ing members of Australia's sail-
ing team, which plans to head
to Tokyo in late May.
Although the Olympics
are scheduled to open on
July 24 and the Paralympics
on August 25, many teams are
planning to arrive earlier as
part of their final preparations.
Boxing affected
The International Boxing
Association (AIBA) on Thurs-
day cancelled the European
leg of its continental forum in
Italy, citing the novel coron-
avirus outbreak in that coun-
try.
The forum was scheduled
to be held on Saturday in
Assisi, where the Indian box-
ing team is currently partic-
ipating in a preparatory camp
for next month's Olympic
qualifiers in Jordan.
“Scheduled for February
29th in Assisi, Italy AIBA Euro-
pean Forum 2020 is cancelled
due to COVID-19 (coron-
avirus). This decision was
taken by AIBA leadership in
the best interests of the del-
egates,” AIBA Interim Presi-
dent Dr Mohamed Mous-
tahsane said in a statement.
The Indian boxers are
scheduled to fly out of Italy
on Friday.
ty.“It’s part of the sport,” she
said. “It happens everywhere.
The crowd needs entertain-
ment.”
Sharapova, who could com-
mand huge appearance fees,
was one of the players spec-
tators everywhere wanted to
see. Her game was never ele-
gant, but she struck the ball
with enormous power and
had a ferocious will to win.
She won five Grand Slam
singles titles – among cur-
rently active players only Ser-
ena and Venus Williams have
won more – and spent a total
of 21 weeks at the top of the
world rankings. She would
surely have achieved more
but for both the shoulder
problems that dogged her in
the latter stages of her career
and the ban which she served
after testing positive in 2016
for meldonium. Sharapova
said she had taken the drug
legitimately for medical rea-
sons for 10 years but had
failed to read a communica-
tion from the World Anti -Dop-
ing Agency informing all ath-
letes that it had been added
to its prohibited list.
Whether she was playing
a tennis match, designing
clothes or running her sweet-
Tousart gives Lyon the
edge against Juventus
Action during the match � AFP
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
LYON, 27 FEBRUARY
Cristiano Ronaldo drew a
blank as a Lucas Tousart goal
handed Lyon a surprise 1-0
win over Juventus in the first
leg of their Champions League
last-16 tie in France.
Midfielder Tousart net-
ted in the 31st minute on
Wednesday to give Lyon a lead
to defend when they head to
Turin for the return on March
17.
The goal came with Juven-
tus defender Matthijs de Ligt
off receiving treatment, but
it was just reward for an excel-
lent first half by a Lyon side
enduring a mediocre cam-
paign.
They then survived late
Juventus pressure to claim
their finest European result
since defeating Manchester
City in last season's group
stage.
“It was a top-class first-half
performance from us. It was
much harder in the second
half, but I was happy with how
we hung in there,” said Lyon
coach Rudi Garcia.
“I said to the boys that
when you're at home in the
first leg it's very important not
to concede, and now we need
to go and score there. We
must remain humble, it's
only half-time.”
Maurizio Sarri's side have
genuine ambitions of winning
a trophy that has evaded
Juventus for almost a quar-
ter of a century now, but they
could not claim a precious
away goal here, with Paulo
Dybala seeing a late effort dis-
allowed.
“In the first half it was not
the Juve that we know. We did-
n't get going in attack. I am
struggling to understand cer-
tain things,” said Sarri, who
thought his team could have
had two penalties.
“We didn't do enough
given this was a Champions
League match but fortunately
we still have 90 minutes to turn
it around.”
The match went ahead
before a full house at the
Groupama Stadium, includ-
ing around 3,000 Juventus sup-
porters allowed to attend
despite calls from some French
politicians to block their
access amid fears about the
spread of the coronavirus.
Those fans, and the Juve
squad, would have crossed the
Alps with confidence. The
Serie A leaders came as over-
whelming favourites against
manufacturing business,
Sharapova knew what the
public wanted. Her commit-
ment to all her interests was
unwavering. On the morning
after she had completed her
full set of Grand Slam titles by
winning the French Open in
2012, she boarded a budget
flight to Spain, where she
spent two days putting the final
touches to what has been her
highly successful Sugarpova
confectionery enterprise. In
her spare time, even when on
tour, she loved to immerse her-
self in sales figures and read
consumer reports.
Sponsors, ranging from
Nike to Tag Heuer and from
Canon to Land Rover, queued
up to be associated with Shara-
pova, who for 11 years in a row
topped a list of the world’s high-
est-earning sportswomen
compiled by Forbes maga-
zine. Her career earnings are
estimated by Forbes at $325m
(about £252m), a total bettered
only by Serena Williams, with
whom she had a career-long
rivalry.
It was no wonder that the
Women’s Tennis Association
welcomed Sharapova back
with open arms and tourna-
ments threw wild cards at her
15
a Lyon team looking like pos-
sibly the weakest left in the
competition.
The visitors' attack was led
by a Ronaldo in fine shape,
with the 35-year-old having
scored in all nine appear-
ances in 2020 and netted 19
times since the beginning of
December.
He and his club -- beaten
in five Champions League
finals since last lifting the
trophy in 1996 -- are in a
hurry to succeed in this com-
petition, but they did not
play like contenders to go all
the way.
Bidding to win a Cham-
pions League knockout tie for
the first time in a decade, it
was Lyon who quickly gained
the upper hand, with new sign-
ing Bruno Guimaraes out-
standing anchoring the mid-
field.
Karl Toko-Ekambi, anoth-
er January signing, headed off
the bar from Houssem Aouar's
corner midway through the
first half. It was a warning to
Juve of what was to come.
Sarri's team went tem-
porarily down to 10 men after
De Ligt was left stricken,
blood streaming from a head
wound, following a collision
in Lyon's area.
With the Dutchman off,
Lyon pounced. Aouar burst
into the box from the left
and teed up Tousart to score
from six yards.
With the heavily bandaged
De Ligt back on, Lyon con-
tinued to threaten, Toko-
Ekambi twice firing off target.
Juventus sent on Gonza-
lo Higuain and Aaron Ram-
sey in the second half and
started to push Lyon back.
Nevertheless, they strug-
gled to create chances, with
Ronaldo rarely looking like
adding to his recent tally and
having a late penalty appeal
rejected.
Higuain squandered a
good chance before Dybala
was denied by the offside
flag, and the Turin giants will
have to turn the tie around
in three weeks.
“We believe in ourselves.
With our fans right behind us,
we can progress through to
the next stages,” insisted
Ramsey.
They can look to what
happened at the same stage
a year ago for inspiration --
then, they needed to overturn
a 2-0 deficit against Atletico
Madrid, and a Ronaldo hat-
trick did the job in the return
at home.
when she returned from her
15-month ban three years
ago. Nevertheless, the reaction
of players at that time told a
different story as some object-
ed to the ease with which she
was immediately allowed back
into tournaments. “In my
opinion, for the kids, for the
young players, it’s not OK to
help with wild card players who
have been banned for doping,”
Simona Halep said before
Sharapova’s return in Stuttgart
in 2017.
Nevertheless, if opinions
about Sharapova have always
covered a broad spectrum,
there was one aspect of the
Russian’s character that was
never in doubt: she simply
loved playing tennis. That
was why she put herself
through so many comebacks
and why she continued to
want to play when prize money
was of little consequence to
her. “I really love playing,”
she said when asked towards
the end of her career how she
kept her motivation. “There’s
nothing else that really gives
me that feeling and that com-
petitiveness and the thrill,
the emotion that I get on
court.”
THE INDEPENDENT

Glenn McGrath (photo, left) is not in favour of four-day Tests.
“We have got to keep Test cricket alive with people coming
For more updates
THUMBNAILS
'Score big': Wasim Jaffer
says unless India's bats-
men build on their starts
and put a big total on the
board, bouncing back in
the Tests against New
Zealand will be hard. “With
200-250 (runs) you can't
win unless there is a lot of
help from the pitch," he
said.
New deal: England pace-
man Stuart Broad has
extended his stay with
Nottinghamshire by sign-
ing a new two-year con-
tract. The 33-year-old,
England's second leading
wicket-taker in Test crick-
et with 485 scalps, will
take in his 13th and 14th
seasons with the club.
Sharma's plan: Mohit Shar-
ma, who will be playing for
Delhi Capitals in the Indian
Premier League, is looking
forward to training under
Ricky Ponting. "I am at a
stage where good guid-
ance can change the
course of my career," he
said of his post-surgery
rehab process.
Bhatia confident: Wicket-
keeper-batswoman Taniya
Bhatia says India have got
better in terms of reading
and handling different sit-
uations, which was evi-
dent during the recent tri-
series in Australia when
her team beat both Eng-
land and Australia chasing
huge totals.
Warner reinstated as Verma stars as Indian girls move ahead
Sunrisers’ captain
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY
Swashbuckling Australian
batsman David Warner(in
photo) has been reinstated as
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
captain ahead of the upcom-
ing edition of the Indian Pre-
mier League (IPL).
Warner had missed the
2018 IPL season in the after-
math of the infamous Sand-
paper Gate controversy where-
in he was handed a one-year
ban by Cricket Australia. The
Australian board had also
said that the left-handed bats-
man will not be considered
for team leadership positions
in the future.
However, Warner returned
to IPL action last year and
played under Kane Williamson
for the Hyderabad-based fran-
chise. "I'm thrilled to be given
the captaincy for IPL 2020,"
Warner said in a message
posted on the SRH Twitter han-
dle. "I'm extremely grateful to
be given the opportunity to
lead the team once again.
"I'd like to thank Kane
and Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar
Kumar) for the way you guys
led throughout the last cou-
ple of years, you guys did an
outstanding job. And I'll be
leaning on you guys for sup-
port and your insight to the
game as well. And to the man-
agement thank you once
again for giving me this oppor-
tunity. And I'll try my very, very
best to lifting that IPL Trophy
this year," he added.
Bengal back
referrals
KOLKATA, 27 FEBRUARY
Bengal coach Arun Lal and
captain Abhimanyu Easwaran
today supported the cricket
board's move to use the deci-
sion review system - DRS - for
the first time in the semi-finals
of the Ranji Trophy. The DRS
will be in use for the first time
on India's domestic circuit in
the two Ranji semi-finals
beginning on Saturday. The
four semi-finalists -- Bengal,
Karnataka, Saurashtra and
Gujarat -- will benefit from
the use of the virtual pitch map
(for lbw decisions) and slow-
motion cameras, with each
team getting four reviews in
every innings. PTI
Printed and published by VINOD KUMAR GUPTA for THE STATESMAN LTD, Statesman House, 148 Barakhamba Road, New Delhi ��Editor: RAVINDRA KUMAR ��Executive Editor: USHA MAHADEVAN ��Printed at Vibha Publication Pvt Ltd, D-160 B, Sector 7, NOIDA 201301 (UP). ��The Statesman Ltd. RNB REG. No. M-8905,RNI No. 507/57
MATTER OF CHOICE
to the game. And, to me, the way to do that is day-
night Test cricket. I’m big fan of it. I’m not a big
fan of four-day Test cricket,” he says.
www.thestatesman.com
How India will run rings round New Zealand
AGENCIES
CHRISTCHURCH,27 FEBRUARY
Ajinkya Rahane(in photo)wants
to take on the New Zealand pace
battery with more intent in
the second Test and his fool-
proof strategy includes coun-
tering the awkward angles
which became a nightmare
for Indian batsmen during the
first Test at the Basin Reserve.
Rahane, who top-scored
with 46 in the first innings of
the opening Test, is hopeful that
a turnaround will happen on
a green top at the Hagley Oval,
which he reckons will be bet-
ter for batting compared to the
one they got in Wellington.
“I am not saying (we have
to be) more aggressive but
having that intent and clear
mindset will help us,” Rahane
told reporters on Thursday.
New Zealand pacers Trent
Boult, Tim Southee and Kyle
Jamieson used the short ball lib-
erally after coming wide of the
crease with an angle that was
disconcerting for the batsmen.
“I think they used that angle
really well inWellington. Bowl-
ing wide of the crease or from
the centre, they changed angles
while bowling the short balls.
I think their plan was completely
clear.
“As a batsman, if you going
to think about a particular
shot, then you need to back
yourself and play that shot.You
cannot doubt yourself. We
need to forget what happened
inWellington,” the Indian vice-
captain said.
According to Rahane, the two
net sessions at the Hagley Oval
In the four seasons he has
played for SRH, Warner has
tallied 562, 848, 642 and 692
runs -- finishing with the
Orange Cap in 2015, 2017
and 2019. With 4,706 runs
from 126 IPL games, the Aus-
tralian opener is fourth in
the list of the tournament's
all-time run getters, behind
the Indian trio of Virat Kohli,
Suresh Raina and Rohit Shar-
ma.
Sunrisers will begin their
IPL 13 campaign against
Mumbai Indians on April 1 at
the Rajiv Gandhi Interna-
tional Stadium.
Royals to play in Guwahati
Rajasthan Royals will be play-
ing two of their home games
in Guwahati in the upcoming
edition of the Indian Premier
League (IPL).
Royals will host Delhi Cap-
itals and Kolkata Knight Rid-
ers on April 5 and 9 respec-
tively at the Barsapara Stadi-
um. Both the games will be
played in the evening having
an 8 p.m. start, as per a BCCI
release.
If players feel burnt out, they should not play IPL: Kapil Dev
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NOIDA, 27 SEPTEMBER
Reacting to Virat Kohli's
comments on the team hav-
ing a tight schedule which is
possibly burning out the
players in the team, former
Indian cricket team captain
Kapil Dev said, "If they think
it is a burn-out, do not play
IPL (Indian Premier League)!
In IPL, you are not repre-
senting your country and if
you feel that you are burned
out, you can take a break from
it."
"Yes, IPL is an exposure.
But when you are repre-
senting your country, it
should be a different feeling.
You cannot put an IPL team
is being used to practice negat-
ing the awkward angles that Neil
Wagner and company can cre-
ate.
“That's what I said: try and
learn what mistakes we did as
a group, what can we learn. I
think we have to practice those
angles. We had a practice ses-
sion and we have one more
tomorrow. And you have to prac-
tice that and trust your ability
in the middle,” Rahane said in
a reassuring tone.
While net sessions are impor-
tant, it's the instincts in match
situations that counts, he said.
“But to change or adjust
those angles there are times you
need to be instinctive while you
are batting. It can mean stand-
ing on off-stump, or standing
outside the crease or staying
deep inside the crease like if it
is a pitch for cut shot then you
can stand deeper in the crease.
This is the mental side of the
game,” Rahane said.
“For me, as a batsman it is
important you show your intent
to the bowler, if you stand in
one spot then the bowler does-
n't need to change anything.
These are small things we have
been working on in practice and
how to use the crease and the
angles.
Doesn't matter how much
you practice you must trust or
have the belief to be able to do
it in the middle,” he added.
Cheteshwar Pujara has
drawn a lot of flak for his dour
approach in the first Test where
his painstaking 11 off 81 balls
put enormous pressure on the
other batsmen.
“Pujara was trying his bit,
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
MELBOURNE, 27 FEBRUARY
Shafali Verma's(in photo) 34-
ball 46 followed by a superla-
tive performance from the
bowlers helped India notch
up a narrow four-run win
over New Zealand in a crucial
group A match of the ICC
Women's T20 World Cup here
on Thursday.
Invited to bat, India post-
ed a below-par 133 for eight
against New Zealand in the
crucial group A match with
Shafali top-scoring with a
34-ball 46 and Taniya Bhatia
chipping in with a 25-ball
23.
India, however, produced
a disciplined performance
with the ball to restrict New
Zealand to 129 for six and reg-
ister their third successive
win in the tournament.
With this win, India topped
Group A, having beaten Aus-
tralia and Bangladesh in their
last two outing.
Defending the total, India
introduced spin straight away
but Deepti Sharma bled 12
runs with opener Rachel Priest
(12) hitting her for two bound-
aries.
But experienced pacer
Shikha Pandey removed Priest
in the next over when she had
her caught at mid wicket.
With Shikha and left-arm
spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad
bowling in tandem, New
Zealand played with caution
to reach 28 for one.
Back into the attack, Deep-
ti then cleaned up Bates with
a beauty of a delivery as New
Zealand slipped to 30 for two.
in front of your country."
Kapil Dev addressed the
media on the sidelines of an
event held at HCL Founda-
tions in Noida today.
He shared his thoughts on
India's ongoing series against
New Zealand, the Indian
women's cricket team and the
speculations surrounding
fellow world-cup winning
former captain, MS Dhoni.
Agreeing that India lost
because of the batsmen's
failure to gauge the oppo-
nents' bowling attack, Kapil
Dev said, "They lost because
they were under-prepared to
negotiate the line and length
of the ball. If they had worked
hard on that, they would
not have lost."
he was actually looking to score
runs. But I think Boult, Southee
and all their bowlers did not give
away much. It is all about hav-
ing that intent and I think
Pujara was actually looking to
score runs. It happens to all bats-
men, I mean all batsmen go
through that phase,” Rahane
said.
Each batsman is different
and everyone will have their
Poonam Yadav and Radha
Yadav then mounted the pres-
sure on the Kiwis and soon the
Black Caps were 34 for 3 when
the former dismissed skipper
Sophie Devine (14).
Maddy Green (24) and
Katey Martin (25) then tried
to resurrect the innings with
a 36-ball 43-run stand.
However, Gayakwad
returned to remove Green,
who danced down the pitch
only to end up with an out-
side edge as Bhatia did the rest.
Radha then dismissed
Martin to leave New Zealand
at 90 for 5 in 16.3 overs.
Needing 44 off 21 balls, Kerr
(34) blasted four boundaries
to accumulate 18 runs in the
penultimate over bowled by
Poonam to bring the equation
down to 16 off six balls.
In the final over, Heyley
Jensen (11) and Kerr cracked
a four each but Shikha held
her nerves in the end to com-
plete the win.
Earlier, 16-year-old Shafali
provided the fireworks as
India scored 49 for one in the
"I felt bad about this loss
because we played T20s, one
days and then the test match.
Had we played the test match
first, I could understand
them losing like this."
Coming to the topic of
whether or not Dhoni should
be playing in the upcoming
T20 World Cup, he said, "It
all depends on the manage-
ment; if you have not played
for one year, what would
you expect? As a fan of his,
I would like to see him all the
time. But cricket-wise he
has to play matches to be in
the team. Otherwise you are
doing injustice to certain
players which should not
be the case."
He was also all-praise for
counter mechanism style, he
explained. “You have to come
back stronger and play accord-
ingly. If you can trust your abil-
ity at the centre and counter
attack and everyone's game is
different. I play completely
different game than Virat and
Pujara. As a team we need to
figure it out how we are going
to play in the middle, com-
munication will be the key,” he
powerplay overs. But they
lost six wickets for 43 runs to
squander the good start.
Smriti Mandhana (11),
who returned to the playing
XI after missing the last match
due to illness, departed early
but Shafali and Taniya (23) kept
the scoreboard ticking, adding
51 runs for the second wick-
et.
In the 10th over, Taniya was
caught by Amelia Kerr at
backward point, while
Jemimah Rodrigues (10) was
caught by Kerr in the 12th over
as India slipped to 80 for 3.
Skipper Harmanpreet
Kaur's (1) poor form also
continued as she was soon
back to the hut after being
caught and bowled by Leigh
Kasperek.
Shafali, who was dropped
at long-on in the 8th over and
at mid-wicket in the 10th
over, then holed out to Jensen
at deep extra cover. She had
four hits to the fence and
three maximum shots in her
innings.
Left-handed batter Deep-
the Indian women's cricket
team, who booked their pas-
sages into the semi finals of
the women's T 20 world cup
by winning all three games
so far.
"They are playing well!"
he said. "The age has come
where we start looking up to
the women's performance
also."
"I would like to give a lot
of respect to the cricket
board. They have given
opportunities and all the
required facilities to the
girls. I would say our girls are
handled much better now
than 15 years back. So we
should give respect the peo-
ple who are looking after
them."
said.
While the 22-yard strip at the
Hagley Oval can't be separat-
ed from the outfield due its lush
green cover, Rahane said accord-
ing to HanumaVihari there will
be good pace and bounce on
this wicket.
“I generally don't see the
wicket before the game. But see
whatever we expected, we got
in Wellington, we expect the
same here. The India A guys
played here and Hanuma
(Vihari) was telling us that the
wicket was much better.
“There is good pace and
bounce on this wicket. We will
have to see and assess the con-
ditions very quickly on the
first day of the game and play
accordingly.”
Shaw injured
Young opener Prithvi Shaw
missed Thursday's training
session due to a swelling on his
left foot, increasing Indian
team management's worries
ahead of the second Test against
New Zealand beginning on
Saturday.
According to sources, Shaw
will undergo a blood test on
Thursday to ascertain the rea-
son of the swelling.
In case the medical report
is favourable, a call will be
taken during Friday's prac-
tice session on his availabili-
ty for the second Test. If Shaw
is not comfortable while bat-
ting, he will not make it to the
playing XI. Shubman Gill had
a good net session on Thurs-
day and it is expected that he
would be asked to open the
innings alongside Mayank
ti Sharma (8) and Veda Krish-
namurthy (6) brought up the
100 in the 15th over but both
departed soon as India
slumped to 104 for 6.
Radha Yadav then blasted
14 off nine balls, which includ-
ed a six in the final over, to give
some respectability to the
total.
Brief Score:
India women: 133 for 8 in 20
overs (ShafaliVerma 46; Amelia
Kerr 2/21).
New Zealand women: 129
for six in 20 overs (Amelia Kerr
34 not out; Shikha Pandey
1/21).
Australia win
In Canberra, Australia strolled
to back-to-back victories at
the Women's Twenty20 World
Cup as a potent opening part-
nership between Alyssa Healy
and Beth Mooney helped the
hosts beat Bangladesh by 86
runs. Healy's return to form
continued as she made a
carefree 83 to hit the top of
the tournament's run-scor-
ing charts, ably supported
by Mooney who ended
unbeaten on 81.
Sri Lanka gave them a
fright three days earlier but
there were no such scares
for the hosts as Bangladesh
only managed 103 for nine in
reply and Meg Lanning's side
climbed to second in Group
A.
Brief scores: Australia 189/1
(Alyssa Healy 83, Beth Mooney
81 not out; Salma Khatun
1/39); Bangladesh 103/9 (Far-
gana Hoque Pinky 36; Megan
Schutt 3/21, Jess Jonassen
2/17)
NEW DELHI
FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2020
Postal Reg. No. DL (ND)-II/6088/2018/-19-20
Indian officials nettled
CHRISTCHURCH, 27 FEBRUARY
The Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI) on
Thursday took a dig at the
Hagley Oval pitch where
New Zealand and Team
India will be taking on each
other in the second and
final Test beginning Satur-
day.
"Spot the pitch," read a
tweet from BCCI with a
couple of confused emojis
as the 22 yards looked quite
similar to that of the lush
green outfield.
The pitch at the Hagley
Oval will be closely watched
by the Indian team as they
look to bounce back and level
the series after losing the first
Test by 10 wickets in Welling-
ton.
Agarwal if Shaw is unable to
make it.
During Thursday's nets,
head coach Ravi Shastri was
seen paying extra attention
to Gill's session. At one point,
Shastri walked up to Gill and
was seen giving some techni-
cal inputs about footwork to
Gill and what's required to
check his uppish drives. The
Indian team management is
hopeful that the swelling will
not be a serious concern for
Shaw.
The Mumbai opener did-
n't even take part in the cus-
tomary warm-up session where
Pressure on De Kock
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
PAARL , 27 FEBRUARY
South Africa's Quinton de Kock
(in photo) claimed he had not
felt under pressure as captain
after a tense one-run win in a
Twenty20 international against
England earlier this month.
“I was still calm the whole
way,” he said, citing confidence
in the knowledge his players
understood if they stuck to the
basics they could prevail in a
tight finish. De Kock's calmness
has been tested considerably
since then - and the challenge
is set to be ratcheted up in a three-
match one-day series against
Australia, starting at Boland
Park in the CapeWinelands on
Saturday. On the face of it, De
Kock, 27, has been handed an
almost impossible task. Several
of South Africa's most experi-
enced players, including former
captain Faf du Plessis, fast
bowler Dale Steyn and consis-
tent scorer Rassie van der
Dussen, have been rested.
Aaron Finch will be leading what
looks like a full-strength tour-
ing side with the exception of
Glenn Maxwell, who is missing
because of surgery. Steve Smith
and DavidWarner, who returned
to the scene of the sandpaper
scandal inWednesday's victo-
ry at Newlands retain their
places. Already this season, De
Kock has carried the burden of
being South Africa's best bats-
man as well as being wicket-
keeper and skipper.
South Africa's crushing
defeat in the third Twenty20
international against Australia
earlier this week meant they have
lost five out of six series across
16
The Indian batters were
found wanting against the
pace and bounce which
was on offer at the Basin
Reserve.
Apart from Mayank Agar-
wal and to an extent Ajinkya
Rahane, the likes of Virat
Kohli, Prithvi Shaw and
Cheteshwar Pujara all found
it difficult against the New
Zealand pace trio of Trent
Boult, Tim Southee and
Kyle Jamieson.
And with Neil Wagner set
to feature in the second
Test, the task becomes all the
more difficult for the Indi-
an batters to come out with
an improved performance
and deny what can be their
first series defeat in the
ongoing ICC World Test
Championship.
players had a good time play-
ing touch rugby.
Shaw had a poor outing in
the first Test in Wellington,
getting dismissed cheaply in
both the innings. Tim Southee
got him for 16 with an
unplayable delivery in the first
innings and he also found
Trent Boult's short ball difficult
to negotiate when he was on
14 in the second essay.
Skipper Virat Kohli has
already said that he has con-
fidence in Shaw's ability to come
good because of his destruc-
tive ability and will certainly play
him if he is fit.
all formats since the start of their
tour of India in September.
The only exception being a
rain-affected one-day series
against England. During that
time they have won only five
out of 17 completed matches.
In four of those wins De Kock
has been South Africa's top-scor-
er and in three of them he has
been man of the match. He has
been his country's leading run-
scorer in five of the six series and
the second-highest run-scor-
er in the other. As an opening
batsman, De Kock has top-
scored for his side in six out of
ten white-ball matches.
When he fails, as he did
when bowled in the first over
by Mitchell Starc in the first and
third T20 matches, the rest of
the batting has crumbled. Never
entirely comfortable and sel-
dom articulate in facing the
media, De Kock struggled to
explain Wednesday's loss.
“I'm not too sure,” he said.
“It was just another blow-out.”
When De Kock was appointed,
Cricket South Africa's acting
director of cricket, Graeme
Smith, described his “unique
outlook and manner in which
he goes about his business”,
adding he was “tactically very
street smart.”