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ASSENG/2015/64205

PAGE 5

Vol. II

Issue 82

Dibrugarh, Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Union textile Minister to sanction a textile park for Arunachal Page - 4

5 killed in a road accident in Lumding Lumding, Oct 4: Five persons were killed and four persons were injured after a truck collided head on with a car at the NH-54 in Lumding. The injured have been admitted to the Lumding civil hospital and are stated to be in a critical condition. (Bureau)

Ahead of Durga Puja, Assam minister asks public to shun Chinese goods Guwahati : Ahead of Durga Puja and Diwali celebrations in the state, a senior minister in the Assam government has appealed to the masses to avoid buying Chinese products.

Himanta Biswa Sarma’s statement comes days after the banned militant group United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFAI) warned a Hindu group for seeking a boycott of Chinese goods.

P-3

KMSS President Akhil Gogoi sent to 5-day remand Guwahati : Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) president and peasant leader Akhil Gogoi was produced at a local court at Kaliabor in Nagaon district. He has been sent to police remand for a day.

P-3 Govt asks 100 VSATs with solar power backup facilities from Centre Itanagar : Chief Minister Pema Khandu called on Union Minister of IT and Electronics Ravi Shankar Prasad today and asked for an interim measure to resolve the connectivity issues by providing VSATs with solar power backup facilities. These VSATs will be installed at 100 administrative centres.

P-4

Union textile Minister to sanction a textile park for Arunachal Itanagar : In a very positive development, Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani has agreed to sanction a Composite Textile Park for Arunachal Pradesh.

P-4

Under the aegis of Aries Corps Talent Management, Itanagar will be host to the first ever Mr Arunachal Mega Model contest scheduled for 19th November.

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Grooming guru and mentor Opang Jamir (Naga Supermodel & Lakme Fashion Week Model, Former Mr Earth India 2011 & Mister International India 2012) will conduct grooming sessions on personality development, softskills, communication skills, stage-presentation and etiquette for the candidates from November 8 to 13 next.

“As Grooming is an asset for an individual be it a man or woman, it makes easier to socialize, to grow intellectually and to have a positive outlook towards everything”, said Jamir.

The registration forms are now available at Aries Corps cafe "0" point Itanagar.

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Page - 9

India and Bangladesh have taken a "major decision" to erect a new fence to secure over 250 villages

India and Bangladesh have taken a "major decision" to erect a new fence to secure over 250 villages ahead of the present barbed-wire fence along the International Border (IB) to curb cross-border crime and instil a sense of security among the people living in the area.

CM assures minimum benchmark price to small tea growers A Staff Reporter Dibrugarh, Oct 4

Ahmed.

He said the decision will affect 148 villages "fully" ahead of the IB fence and 137 "partially" ahead of it.

"very challenging" and the forces do not want them to get divided by a fence which will affect the lives of the residents.

such as cattle-smuggling and circulation of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) were discussed by the two sides.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal expressing concern over the falling price of green tea leaves said that his government will take urgent steps to ensure that the small tea growers are paid the minimum benchmark price.

He gave this assurance while addressing in the 20th Annual General Conference of All Assam Small Tea Growers Association in Chabua town in Dibrugarh district on Monday.

Sonowal also announced a financial assistance of Rs one crore for the construction of the ongoing small tea growers association head office at Jorhat.

"Most of these villages are in West Bengal, while a few are in other Indian states sharing the border with Bangladesh. As the population lives and works here, the fence will have gates for people to cross over to the other side and come back," Sharma said.

"We will ensure that there are no objections from our side when the fence is erected. We need a humanitarian approach and it (the new fence) could be done as the present positive relation between India and Bangladesh is an example that is nowhere to be seen in the world," he said.

"The FICN menace has seen some reduction but much more needs to be done to bring this criminal activity further down," Sharma said.

He lauded the contribution of the small tea growers to the state economy with 50 per cent of the total tea production being contributed by them.

The state government will take steps so that the small tea growers get the right price for their produce, he said.

The BGB DG said the situation in these villages is

Both the DGs said regular issues between the two forces

Maj. Gen. Ahmed said both the sides were sharing "a lot of information", adding that his country had been cooperating with the BSF in curbing cattlesmuggling from India to Bangladesh.

The new fence will secure over 250 villages ahead of the present barbed-wire fence along the International Border (IB) The fence will curb cross-border crimes and instill a sense of security among the people living in the area

He said the government would do everything needed

COMMITMENT OF CM Announced a stateof-the-art museum in Dibrugarh so that the rich heritage as well as unparalleled contribution of the tea tribe can be preserved and documented Lauded the contribution of the Assured right price for the produce small tea growers to of the small tea growers the state economy with 50 per cent of Announced a financial assistance of the total tea Rs one crore for the construction of production being the ongoing small tea growers contributed by them association head office at Jorhat for a state-of-the-art museum in Dibrugarh so that the rich heritage as well as unparalleled contribution of the tea tribe can be preserved and documented.

AASTGA general secretary Rohit Borgohain welcoming the announcement said that the bought tea leaf factories have been violating the minimum pricing norms set up by the Tea

Board resulting in the slump in the price of green tea leaves.

While the minimum benchmark price of green tea leaves have been fixed at Rs 17 for the upper Assam tea producing districts like Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Sivasagar district, Contd. on Page 3

Kharsang and Miao excited over the visit of a AJYCP protests in Tinsukia team of Ministers to inaugurate KBM Hospital Sidharth Singh Tinsukia, Oct 4

Lomhom Tangha Kharsang, Oct 4

The people of Kharsang and Miao are excited to welcome a team of Ministers scheduled to come on 12th Oct for the Inauguration of the KBM Hospital, Injan in Kharsang.

Chowna Mein, The deputy Chief Minister who is also the health Minister will visit Kharsang along with the Minister of Education Hunchun Ngangdam, Parliamemtary Secretary for education, Bamang felix for the inauguration of the Hospital on 12th Oct. Tight security is in order in the wake of few notorious boys caught this weekend to ensure free and grand visit. The chief

Mr Arunachal to be held next month A Staff Reporter Itanagar, Oct 4

PAGE 10

WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE MATH IN HIGH SCHOOL

PTI New Delhi, Oct 4

"We have taken a major decision to erect a single-row fence for villages that are ahead of the present fencing but behind the IB. This well help in curbing cross-border crimes, smuggling instances and will instil a sense of security in the border population. The Bangladesh government and the BGB have given us the permission to do so," BSF chief KK Sharma said after signing the joint record of discussions with BGB DG Major General Aziz

Pages- 12

CROSSING AN UNCERTAIN RUBICON

India, Bangladesh agree to erect a new fence on the border

The decision was taken at the bi-annual director generallevel talks between the Border Security Force (BSF) and its counterpart Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) which concluded here on Tuesday.

5.00

To qualify for Mr Arunachal, the candidate must be a citizen of Arunachal Pradesh, aged between 18-28 years, with a height of at least 5 feet 7 inches or above. Additionally, the candidates must be unmarried, with educational qualification of 10+2 graduate under any stream, with fluency in Hindi or English.

The Ultimate winner of this contest is set to walk away with lots of exciting prizes, which include cash awards, a free trip of 4 days & 4 nights to Bangkok, shopping allowance, and tour and visit which is officially sponsored by FLYGURU.IN and DRUKAIR (Royal Bhutan Airlines), including various other sponsors.

The first and second runners up of Mr Arunachal will also get a paid trip to Bhutan.

The contest winner will also be a spokesperson for the youth of today on healthy lifestyles, HIV & AIDS Campaign, drugs free campaign etc.

KBM Hospital in Kharsang guest and his colleagues are likely to arrive at the inaugural function sharply at 10.30AM on 12th Oct 2016 at the venue.

The KBM Hospital which was built in a span of five years under Miao Diocese is first of its kind in the eastern region of Arunachal Pradesh. The Hospital will have X-Ray and

provision for all kinds of blood tests. Ambulance service is already in place. At least seventy percent of Changlang district is expected to benefit from the services of the hospital. It was also informed that the hospital will also have foreign doctors and nurses coming to render voluntary treatment for short durations.

Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP) launched a protest today at Tinsukia in support of their demands to cancel the notification that allows Bangladeshi and Pakistani citizens to stay in India without valid documents or even after expiry of their visas and Government’s decision to give citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshi.

The organisation argued that allowing Bangladeshi and Pakistani citizens to stay in India would jeopardise the demographic situation of some states and Assam would be most affected by it.

"Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals staying in Assam

AJYCP protest in Tinsukia. Pic - Sidharth Singh without valid documents pose a great threat to indigenous people living in the state. Under no circumstances this big chunk of foreigners will be allowed to settle in Assam," said Sanjib Ulop a prominent member of AJYCP. He said they want total autonomy because the state has no control over its resources, which are being exploited without the consent of the people, and if people have no

College of Horticulture & Forestry in Pasighat kicks off its annual college week

political and economic rights then the socio-economic condition of the masses can never be improved.

"Inner-line permit is required, as is prevalent in some northeastern states. This will not only check foreigners from coming in but will also stop them from permanently settling here," Simanto Das of AJYCP said.

He said dual citizenship has

been their long-pending demand. Dual citizenship is prevalent in some countries under the federal structure and is working well there, he said.

"The best workable system should be adopted with the changing times. A person living in Assam will be a citizen of Assam first and then a citizen of the country. There is no sense of separation as feared by a section of political leaders and intellectuals in the state and country as well," Das added.

Assam Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad has submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister of India with a copy to the Deputy Commissioner of Tinsukia.

“Our protest will be more aggressive if the demands are not fulfilled soon”, said Sanjib Ulop.

New Consumer Protection Bill in Winter Session of Parliament: Paswan

Staff Reporter Pasighat, Oct 4

PTI Guwahati, Oct 4

Parliament, the new legislation will be known as Consumer Protection Act 2016," he said.

The XVIth Annual College Week of College of Horticulture & Forestry, Pasighat here has began from Monday which was inaugurated by Dean, Dr. A.K. Pandey with the presence of faculty members and students.

The Centre today said the proposed new Consumer Protection Bill will be introduced in the coming Winter Session of Parliament for its passage to replace the existing 30-year-old law.

Listing out some important features of the proposed Bill, Paswan said punitive action has been suggested against celebrities for misleading advertisements, adulteration of food items and setting up of a Consumer Protection Authority.

While lighting the college week inaugural torch and saluting the march past teams of Crusader, Warriors, Raiders and White Walkers, Dr. Pandey lamented the importance of sports in student’s life to improve their personalities.

Hence, the college has undertaken every step to improve the infrastructures regarding sports, cultural facilities, literary, fine arts etc. added Dr. Pandey.

Informing about the various events of the college week which stretches from 3rd to 8th

Students during march past at XVIth Annual College Week of College of Horticulture & Forestry, Pasighat October, K.S. Tomar, Organizing Secretary cum Student Welfare Officer said that, Mohit Roy, B.Sc IIIrd Year (Horti) from the CHF, Pasighat participated in the 16th All India Inter

Agricultural University Youth Festival held at Orissa University of Agri & Tech, Bhubaneswar and has won 3rd position in the Light vocal Indian song. Dean AK Pandey gave away the prize and

certificate to Mohit Roy during the event. Total of 43 events under various categories like sports, cultural, literary, fine arts etc will be held during the 6 days long college week, added Tomar.

"We will introduce the new Bill in the next session of Parliament and it should be passed then. The Standing Committee had already passed it and submitted its recommendation," Union Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said at a press conference here.

The government would soon prepare a cabinet note regarding the Bill, he said.

"This will be a completely new Act and will replace the existing Consumer Protection Act, 1986. After passage by the

The Centre in August last year had introduced the Consumer Protection Bill, 2015 in the Lok Sabha to repeal the existing 30-year-old law and a Parliamentary Standing Committee submitted its report in April this year.

The minister also informed that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has procured 53,087 tonnes of paddy this year from Assam against its target of 55,000 tonnes.

Contd. on Page 4

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ET CAPSULES

Price -

CITY

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

PAGE 2

Tinsukia, Dibrugarh

Food and Civil Supply Reporter in Margherita Department conducts threatened for life sudden raid at Jorhat

Assam gold medalist of International Rural Games held at Gujarat.

Pic - Sidharth Singh

HOROSCOPE Aries

Taurus

You're apt to get the feeling that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence today, Aries. Try not to get too hung up on this. Either make the effort to go where the landscape looks richer and more fruitful or stay where you are.

The key to true happiness is to make sure that regardless of where you end up, you enjoy the spot where you are.

Your mind may wander to a fantasyland full of castles, wizards, and magic dragons today, Taurus. You could find that you're putting yourself in the robes of a beautiful or handsome figure in a tall tower who's waiting for the perfect mate to come along. Observe the fanciful scenario you've created and see how the symbols and characters connect with your real life. Your imagination is trying to tell you something.

Gemini

Get on the fast track and use your powerful words and creative mind to make quick decisions that are mindful yet spontaneous. If you get in a pinch today, Gemini, don't worry about it. Simply relax, take a deep breath, and let your intuition guide you to the right path. Instead of wasting your energy thrashing helplessly in the water, call for help.

Cancer

Start the day with some vigorous yoga and then some meditation to help clear your mind, Cancer. Stretch your body and get the blood flowing through all of your limbs. Once your blood is flowing, your mind will get moving. Before it gets too far into its noisy routine, take the opportunity to maintain a quiet, serene state while you clear out the static and set forth your goals for the day.

Leo

Virgo

Scorpio

Imagination and fantasy play a big part in your thinking today, Scorpio, and you shouldn't hesitate to embrace this frame of mind. There's a great deal of power to be drawn from your sense of freedom to explore and dream. Your thinking is more of a higher consciousness now. You should take advantage of this lofty perspective to see things from a neutral viewpoint.

Aquarius

Pisces

Bikul Bikash Gogoi Naharkatia, Oct 4: The much awaited festival Durga Puja is close at hand, artists are busy preparing idols of Durga, the Goddess of divine power.

Along with the all the people of India, people of Naharkatia are thronging the market places to buy clothes and gifts. This week, with the advent of Navratra all over the country, marks the beginning of the religious festivities.

The market are flooded

with shoppers. As compared to the last few years, the prices of all items have shot up this festival season but still people are buying clothes and other items at higher prices compared to last year.

Shops are being constructed along the roadside where various kind of food items will be prepared. There is a spree of joy and revelry among the people for the celebration.

While the various Puja committees have been

making excited preparations to ensure their celebrations stand out, there will be around twelve puja pandals in Naharkatia and the administration has been making all security arrangements so that the devotees can enjoy the Puja peacefully.

Meanwhile, the police have already met the office bearers of the Puja committees and advised them to take certain security measures to ensure safety of devotees and others.

Engage more of your rational mind today, Sagittarius. If your mind continues on its track into a fantasy world, you might consider enlisting the help of people who can help you bring some discipline to your situation. For you, the general feeling of the day is likely to be that the mind is willing but the flesh is weak. Let others help you get inspired to get out of lazy mode.

Suppose you were someone else for a day, Capricorn. How would it feel to be treated the way you normally treat other people? This is a good time to put yourself in someone else's shoes and experience life through their eyes. By doing this, you're apt to become more conscious of your own actions and the effect of those actions on the people around you.

Today your thoughts may turn to fashion and the different ways in which you can improve your wardrobe. Don't be afraid to create a look that reflects your true inner spirit. Deck yourself in external splendor to illustrate the many different colors and layers that you carry on the inside. Don't hesitate to pick up a fashion magazine at the grocery store.

The amazing thing about your nature is that, like a good politician, you have just the right tone of voice and catch phrase for every situation. You can put on your smile and charm and talk your way out of just about any pickle you get into. Embrace this incredible gift, but make sure that your overall goals are noble as opposed to self-serving or vengeful.

tacked media persons in the town where two Journalists were seriously injured and undergoing treatment currently.

Meanwhile Asom Jatiyotabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad, All Adivasi Student Association of Assam, Assam Bihari Nagarik Bikash Manch Margherita Regional Committee and Federation of Barua Buddhist Welfare Association of Assam have condemned the incident and warned that if reporters continue to get death threat to they will hold strong agitation in the coming days.

Rituraj Phukan Jorhat, Oct 4: More than ten shops had been raided by Jorhat food and civil supply department along with legal metrology department in Bongal Pukhuri area of the town against selling of house hold commodities more than its actual price on Tuesday.

The raid took place on account of complaint filed by some customers to district commissioner of Jorhat.

"Some customers had filed complains to district commissioner that these shops are selling house hold commodities in an increase price" said Binayam Krishna,

inspector of food and civil supply department.

"In our raid we found that four of these shops were selling commodities more than the actual price sort by the govt.� said Binayam Krishna.

Majuli store, Needs, Shyam Enterprise and Prada store are the four shops who were found selling commodities more than its actual price. A case was registered in the legal metrology department.

"We had registered a case against those stores and will take action against them very soon" said Krishna.

New born baby girl found near Brahmaputra River ET Bureau Dibrugarh, Oct 4: A new born baby girl was found today near Brahmaputra River.

According to police, someone left the baby with a blanket, mosquito net and a packet of cerelac near Brahmaputra River. The police immediately admitted the baby in Assam Medical Collage and Hospital, Dibrugarh and now the baby is said to be in good health condition.

SPORTS Tengapani blank Robarbari, Mamorani Anchalik win Sports Correspondent Dibrugarh, Oct 4: Tengapani Football club and Mamorani Anchalik Sports Club registered victory in their respective matches of the Makum Adivision Zonal league organized by Makum Sports Association at Makum Jyoti Nagar playground today.

In the first match, Tengapani FC blanked Robarbari FC 4-0. Ganesh Tanti strikes the first salvo for his team min the 36th minute. Ganesh receive a pass from the midfield and found the back of the net.

If you're having trouble tackling a giant problem, Virgo, don't get discouraged or overwhelmed. They key for you is to break things down into smaller chunks, analyze them, and figure out their role within the greater whole. You will find that by taking things one step at a time, any problem you encounter will be infinitely easier to overcome than you may have thought at first.

It may seem like everyone around you is happy and getting what they want while you're stuck in the trenches, Libra.

Don't compare yourself to other people and make judgments based on outside appearances. The truth of the matter is that they're most likely only looking at the immediate future and experiencing short-term pleasures. You, however, have your sights set on the long-term and will probably be much better off.

Capricorn

Naharkatia gears up for Durga puja

Do something for the community today, Leo, and really consider how your talents and skills can best be put to work. Consider volunteering at a school or library. Donate blood or help the elderly. Whatever you do, smile knowing that you're making direct contact with friends who need your assistance.

Instead of just complaining about the way things are going, take a proactive role in leading the way toward a more philanthropic world.

Libra

Sagittarius

ET Correspondent Margherita, 4 Oct: A reporter Mithun Baruah, belongs to a local newspaper was threatened of his life by an alleged Stone mafia in Margherita today.Ram Prasad, the President of the M a r g h e r i t a Journalist's Association when informed about the incident have condemned and said that the Margherita Administration needs to get up from its deep sleep and look around the atrocities faced by the Journalists community.

Last month also Coal Mafia of Tirap Colliery allegedly at-

Ganesh came strongly and scored his second goal in the 38th minute. Tengapani dominated the first half.

In the second half, Tengapani boys again dominated the game with their great striking abilities.

Suraj Tanti scored the third goal through a pass from right flank in the 55th minute. Five minute later Lachit Gaur strikes the last goal through a conversion from the left flank.

In another match, Mamorani Anchalik Sports Club defeated Jyoti Nagar

Sports Club 4-2. Hiranaya Barua scored hat-trick goals for Mamorani Anchalik in the 35th, 44th and 56th. Jayanta Barua scored the fourth goal for Mamorani in the 66th minute. At lemon break Mamorani Anchalik led 20.

Jyoti Nagar SC scored their first goal through Ujjal Kakoti in the 65thminute.

Ujjal received a pass from right flank and scored the first goal for his team. Amit Mura strikes the second goal for Jyoti Nagar SC in the 88th minute.

Dibrugarh University win

Durga Idol in the making at Sivasagar.

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Sport Correspondent Dibrugarh, Oct 4: Dibrugarh University defeated Pandit Ravisankar Shukla University, Raipur in the East Zone Inter - University Women Football Tournament 2016-17 organised by Dibrugarh University Sports Board in association with the Association of Indian Universities at Dibrugarh University playground here today. Altogether, 22 team take part in the tournament.

Sewali Rajkumari of Dibrugarh University scored the lone salvo for his

team in the 15th minute.

Sewali got a pass from the left flank and found the back of the net. Pandit Ravisankar Shukla University got many chances but failed to convert. Dibrugarh University dominated both the proceedings and qualified for the second round.

On yesterday, Dibrugarh University blanked Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Darbhanga 5-0. Sewali Rajkumari opened the account for DU in the 3rd minute. Sewali converted a midfield kick into goal.

Bonti Gogoi snatch the ball

from the opponents and fired the second salvo in the 15th minute. Mrinali Bora received a pass from the right flank and scored the third goal in the 25th minute. At lemon break Dibrugarh University led 30.

In the second half, Dibrugarh University again dominated the game with their offensive technique.

Sonali Konwar scored the fourth goal for his team in the 50th minute. Mridula Mech received a pass from Bonti Gogoi from the right flank and scored the goal in the 62nd minute.

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

AROUND THE

STATE

PAGE 3

College girl gang-raped KMSS President Ahead of Durga Puja, Assam minister Akhil Gogoi sent by boyfriend at Nagaon to 5-day remand asks public to shun Chinese goods ET Bureau Guwahati, Oct 4: A 19year-old college girl in Dhing in Nagaon district of central Assam is battling for life with 80 per cent burn injury after she set her ablaze to escape the social stigma for being gang-raped by her boyfriend and his two friends in a crematorium.

The incident happened on September 23 around midnight but the matter came to light only after the victim’s parents filed an FIR with the police on Friday.

Dhing police station officer in charge Khargeswar Bordoloi said that police on receiving the FIR immediately arrested the three accused, who have been identified as identified as Kangkan Saikia, Dipjyoti Kalita and Gautam Saikia. A local court on Saturday sent the

trio to five days police custody.

“The girl doused herself with kerosene on morning of September 24 and set herself on fire. Her family immediately took her to Nagaon civil hospital, which referred her to Guwahati Medical College and Hospital because of the grievous burn injury. According to medical reports she has received 80 per cent burn,” the police officer said.

The girl is at present in her home, still battling for life after Guwahati Medical College gave up hope on her survival and asked the parents to take her back to home.

According to the girl’s statements to her parents before she attempted the suicide, which have been put in the FIR, Kangkan,

with which she was in a relationship, and his two friends dropped at the gate of her college, Dhing College, at around 1am on September 24 after committing the ghastly crime.

It was the watchman and of the college who recognized the girl and called her father.

After reaching her home, she narrated the ordeal to her parents and then took the extreme step to kill herself by attempting suicide. Police believe that family chose not to approach the law fearing social stigma.

Assam Police till June has already registered 830 rape cases. In 2015, 1852 rape cases were registered, which comprised almost 7 per cent of all types of cases cognizable crimes under the IPC in the year. (With inputs from agencies)

3 ghats earmarked for idol immersion at Guwahati

ET Bureau Guwahati, Oct 4: Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) president and peasant leader Akhil Gogoi was produced at a local court at Kaliabor in Nagaon district. He has been sent to police remand for a day.

Police arrested Akhil from the KMSS headquarters when he was addressing a press meet in Guwahati on Sunday. He had allegedly gone underground after being accused of inciting villagers during an eviction drive near the Kaziranga National Park on September 19. The government had launched the eviction drive after an order by the Gauhati high court. Two persons were killed and several others injured in police firing to disperse protesters opposing the eviction drive.

Akhil Gogoi was made prime accused in incitement of the villagers.

Jakhalabandha police station registered cases against him on several serious charges - criminal conspiracy, rioting, being armed with deadly weapons, attempt to murder, and resorting to assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty.

Police produced Akhil before the sub divisional judicial magistrate, Kaliabor, at around 10.30am on Monday with a petition to send him to

ET Bureau Guwahati, Oct 4: With only a few days left for Durga Puja, the Kamrup (Metro) district administration has earmarked three ghats for immersion of idols on Dashami. These are: Kachomari ghat, Pandu ghat and Chunsali ghat.

The district administration has also tasked Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) with some crucial responsibilities, including providing floodlights to illuminate the ghats and removing the idols after immersion.

Besides, the administration has also asked concerned government agencies to en-

sure hassle-free celebrations. The commissioner of police has been asked to provide adequate security and keep rescue boats on standby at the ghats during immersion and to ensure smooth traffic. The administration has also asked the Assam State Electricity Board to provide round-theclock power supply during the festive days.

The joint director of Kamrup health services has been asked to provide medical teams with ambulances at the immersion ghats to tackle emergencies.

Meanwhile, acting deputy commissioner of Hailakandi, TT Daolagupu,

has directed puja committees of the district to strictly follow guidelines issued by the state Pollution Control Board for an eco-friendly Durga Puja.

According to the guidelines, use of baked clay and plaster of Paris should be avoided while making idols; nor should they be painted using toxic and non-biodegradable chemical dyes. The Pollution Control Board guidelines also prohibit the use of thermocol and other non-biodegradable materials for decoration and idol-making. Also prohibited is loud music before 8 am and after 10 pm.

ET Bureau Guwahati, Oct 4: Ahead of Durga Puja and Diwali celebrations in the state, a senior minister in the Assam government has appealed to the masses to avoid buying Chinese products.

Akhil Gogoi

five days' police remand.

But the court allowed the investigating officer of the case to take him into remand for a day.

Jakhalabandha police station officer in charge Deven Borah said, "We appealed for five days' police remand, but the court allowed a day's remand. Our interrogation is on."

Over 200 KMSS activists staged a dharna in front of the Kaliabor court and raised slogans against the government under the leadership of KMSS general secretary Bhasco De Saikia. The KMSS general secretary told media, "We staged a protest against the government for its failure to pay compensation to land holders before the eviction. Police arrested our leader Akhil Gogoi, imposing several serious charges against him. But the government has not taken any steps against police officers who opened fire on unarmed activists, leaving two dead and several injured."

CM assures minimum benchmark price to small tea growers Contd. from Page 1

the tea manufacturing units have been paying a mere Rs 8 to Rs 12 per kg to the small tea growers. It takes about 4.6 kg of green tea leaf to produce a kg of processed tea.

According to Borgohain, there are 1,18, 832 small tea growers in the state. Tea growers holding less than 10.12 hectares or 25 acres of plantation land are categorized as small tea growers.

“The small tea growers are facing huge losses as the prices are fixed arbitrarily by the bought tea leaf factories. They are unable to recover even the production cost which comes around Rs 12 per kg. There is a need for proper pricing policy of tea leaves. The small tea growers are the backbone of the state’s economy as they alone contribute 820 million kg of green tea leaves annually,” said Borgohain.

Voluntary blood donation hits a low in state: Report ET Bureau Guwahati, Oct 4: The state cuts a sorry figure when it comes to voluntary blood donation. According to the Statistics Information Management System (SIMS) of the National Aids Control Organization (NACO), only 57% of the total blood donated in the state in 2015-16 was voluntary, as against 100% in Arunachal Pradesh and 97% in Tripura.

The study arrived at the figure by using the total units of blood collected in both government and private blood in the state.

"To ensure availability of safe blood, voluntary blood donation needs to be 100%. This can be achieved through awareness campaigns," said Manvendra Pratap Singh,

project director of Assam Aids Control Society (ASACS).

On the occasion of the National Voluntary Blood Donation Day on Saturday, 10 organizations from different parts of the state were felicitated for their efforts in organizing camps and promoting voluntary donation of blood.

The Barak Valley Voluntary Blood Donation Forum, Silchar, received the first prize for having collected 1,488 units of blood in the last fiscal.

There are 67 blood banks (both government and private) in the state. Of these, 26 are NACO-supported.

There are usually two types of blood collection through voluntary blood donation and through re-

placement.

"A person can donate blood voluntarily only through self-motivation.

Awareness and proper knowledge play an important role. The existing infrastructure of blood banks, including transfusion equipment, also needs an overhaul," said PK Barooah, deputy director

of blood transfusion services, ASACS. The SIMS was introduced in the state in 2011-2012.

Through this, reporting units - including blood banks, Sexually Transmitted Infection clinics, Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres, Facility Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres and Targeted Intervention projects

- send data to the ASACS and NACO. Before SIMS, the state had something called the Computerised Management Information System (CIMS) through which the reporting units would send their findings to the nodal bodies.

The reports are analysed at regular intervals. (With inputs from agencies)

Himanta Biswa Sarma’s statement comes days after the banned militant group United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I) warned a Hindu group for seeking a boycott of Chinese goods.

“This Durga Puja people should avoid buying products made in China. Instead they should buy lamps, decorative lights and household utensils made in India,” he told journalists here on Monday.

Significantly, the minister’s appeal also follows Beijing’s declaration last Saturday that it has blocked a tributary of the Brahmaputra, to construct a dam for a major hydro-electric project in Tibet. It is not known if blocking the tributary will affect the volume

influential politician and is widely believed to have played a pivotal role in the BJP’s thumping victory.

Each year between Durga Puja and Diwali, Chinese products including decorative lights and lamps, gift items and firecrackers worth hundreds of crores of rupees are sold across India.

Himanta Biswa Sarma, who handles finance, health, education portfolios, clarified that it was his personal opinion that Indians should stop buying any product which has ‘Made in China’ marked on them.

(PTI)

of the Brahmaputra which flows across the length of Assam.

Sarma, who handles finance, health, education portfolios, clarified that it was his personal opinion that Indians should stop buying any product which has ‘Made in China’ marked on them. A former Congressman who joined the BJP ahead of the last assembly elections in Assam earlier this year, Sarma is an

Last month, leaders from the Assam unit of Hindu Yuva Chatra Parishad had appealed to people in the state to stop buying Chinese goods in order to hurt the neighbouring country economically.

Soon after the appeal, ULFA-I issued a statement asking the group and its leaders to stop its campaign seeking boycott of Chinese products. It said consumers have the right to buy goods which are cheap.

“Besides, neighbour China has age-old friendly ties with Assam and provides an alternative to Indian traders who have only profit in mind,” the statement read.

(With inputs from agencies)

Commuters caught in one-way traffic ordeal ET Bureau Guwahati, Oct 4: The new traffic arrangements in the city sent commuters in a tizzy on Monday morning after deputy commissioner of police (traffic), Amanjeet Kaur, made several important and busy routes inaccessible with 'one-way' signboards to ensure smooth movement of vehicles.

"I normally reach Machkhowa from Jalukbari in 15 minutes on my twowheeler. But, today, it took me more than 45 minutes to cover the same distance.

The situation is pathetic. I don't understand how the traffic department could make such an arrangement," said commuter Anup Kalita.

"If I need to go to Ulubari from my office on B Barooah road, I will have to go via Paltan Bazaar or Ganeshguri, which does not make any sense. I don't understand what kind of arrangement is this," said Abudin Khan, another resident.

Besides, there are strict regulations on parking as well.

Four major thoroughfares in the city - B Barooah Road, AT Road, MLN Road and SRCB - have turned into one-way roads. Many students and office goers got into heated arguments with traffic police on B Barooah road during the day.

Even VVIPs like chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal could not escape the traffic congestion and remained stuck for a considerable amount of time. Later, in an event, the CM assured that traffic problems would be resolved soon.

"The police have tried new methods to ease jams that have been a major cause of concern for the people of the city for a long time. I have also tried to obey the rules. I'm hopeful that it will be solved," Sonowal said.

Kaur said her department was trying its best to maintain steady movement of vehicles and it would take some time to sort out the problem.

"We have just implemented the new arrangement today.

It's very challenging. Every change is hard to accept in the beginning," she said.

(With inputs from agencies)

NGO Urges Assam Govt to solve Guwahati traffic problems ET Bureau Guwahati, Oct 4: Voluntary organization, Save Guwahati Build Guwahati (SGBG) on Monday urged the state Government to plan long-term measures for solving the problem of traffic congestion in the city. The organisation said that the government must reopen the existing roads, closed due to various reasons, and find alternative routes to ease traffic snarls.

The NGO also rapped the Guwahati traffic police for creating a chaotic situation in the city by making several roads one-way with effect from Monday. Addressing the media, former SGBG president and public activist Dhiren Baruah said that along with the population, the number of cars has also increased manifold in Guwahati and in the absence of a proper regulation mechanism, congestion is turning more chaotic day by day.

Baruah called for a prac-

tical and well thought out plan to control the situation as quick-fix measures might turn disastrous for both commuters and the administration. He said that the SGBG had given several representations to the state government, including the recommendations by renowned expert in road and management of traffic, Dr Padma Bora.

SGBG acting president Krishna K Barua advocated smart policing and bringing to book rule violators, so that others are discouraged to break traffic rules. Social activist Ajay Dutta stated that as Guwahati is under several authorities including the GDD, GMC, GMDA, PHE, PWD and even Jal Board, the problems of the city are nobody’s concern now. “The issue of road is also connected to the problem of footpath encroachment, lack of garages to park vehicles at night, lack of parking space, etc. Popularity of cabs like Ola and Uber has

made travelling convenient for people, but there should also be a proper mechanism to park these vehicles at night,” Dutta said.

Senior advocate Satyen Deka rued the fact that while making sudden traffic arrangements, the police do not take the public into confidence. “The horrible traffic arrangements done today highlight the lack of knowledge regarding Guwahati city on the part of the authorities concerned. It not only resulted in massive traffic chaos in the entire city on Monday, it also caused immense suffering to the common people, particularly school students and their parents,” he said.

The organisation’s general secretary Kailash Sarma sought the help and cooperation from all components of society to maintain a smooth flow of traffic on the roads of Guwahati. (With inputs from agencies)

REST OF

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

PAGE 4

ARUNACHAL

Union textile Minister Govt asks 100 VSATs with solar power backup facilities from Centre to sanction a textile park for Arunachal Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT)

ET Bureau Itanagar, Oct 4: Chief Minister Pema Khandu called on Union Minister of IT and Electronics Ravi Shankar Prasad today and asked for an interim measure to resolve the connectivity issues by providing VSATs with solar power backup facilities. These VSATs will be installed at 100 administrative centres.

Wifi hotspot will be created using these VSATs for public access, he suggested while requesting the ministry to consider funding for atleast 100 VSATs.

Pema briefed the Union Minister that Arunachal Pradesh has also accorded top priority to e-Governance and efforts are being made to realise this by making the entire State Civil Secretariat paperless in the days to come. He believed that with the help of information technology the state government would ensure transparency and accountability in Governance.

He however admitted the fact that the state has been lagging behind in terms of

devise a special mechanism to make these CSCs viable.

He also requested to upscale and expand NIC and SEMT with more manpower for Arunachal Pradesh.

A very small aperture terminal (VSAT) is a small telecommunication earth station that receives and transmits real-time data via satellite.

A VSAT transmits narrow and broadband signals to orbital satellites. The data from the satellites is then transmitted to different hubs in other locations around the globe.

IT and Telecom infrastructure due to rugged and inaccessible terrain, Low road density and such other reasons. Pema requested the IT and telecom ministry to support the state government to do a massive augmentation in the sector.

Pema requested for a special package to augment Telecom Infrastructure, not only to improve services but to meet the need of connectivity required for GST implementation. CM also

suggested for a policy to subsidize the bandwidth charges in Arunachal Pradesh which would act as an incentive for the private service providers and encourage them to invest in Arunachal Pradesh.

CM Khandu also pointed out that the Mission Mode projects such as e District, Swan and State Data Centre are yet to take off due to host of reasons including limited participation in

bids. He sought the Minister’s personal intervention to fast track and operationalizes these projects.

Citing that the present model of Common Service Centre (CSC) scheme and even the proposed CSC 2.0 is not viable in Arunachal Pradesh in backdrop of less population, less transaction, unreliable connectivity and limited G2C services, CM appealed the Ministry to

After giving a patient hearing, Union Minister assured the CM that Arunachal Pradesh would be accorded utmost priority. All out support would be extended to the state in IT and telecom sector.

He revealed that the Union Government contemplates to bring a revolution through CSC model. All schemes, programmes of central as well as state would be linked with CSC so that direct benefit is reaped by genuine beneficiaries. Ravi Shankar Prasad assured CM that the Ministry will strengthen telecom and IT services in the state so that all the populace of the state reaps the benefits of Government.

CM was accompanied by Deputy CM, Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary and Commissioner Finance during the call on.

ET Bureau Itanagar, Oct 4: In a very positive development, Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani has agreed to sanction a Composite Textile Park for Arunachal Pradesh. This composite textile park will have facilities for skill development, design and product up gradation and facilities for export of finished handicrafts.

For this the minister assured to immediately depute a

group of experts to handhold the state government in preparation of the DPR and running the centre there after.

CM Pema Khandu had called on the Union Minister at her Udyog Bhawan office today.

On the request of CM to assist the state government in exploring the usage of geo-textiles to mitigate and

prevent frequent landslides on the slopes of state and national highways, Irani requested the state government to get the vulnerability mapping done and submit a proposal which shall be sanctioned at a highly subsidised cost.

CM was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary and Finance Commissioner during the meeting.

NSS induction at National School of Drama conducts People of Kumey belt Government Col- 3-Day workshop on Acting in Miao cut off since Sept 27 lege Doimukh A Staff Reporter Itanagar, 4 Oct: An induction-cum-orientation programme of the newly enrolled volunteers of the National Service Scheme (NSS) unit of Government College, Doimukh was conducted on October 4 at the college premises.

Dr Joram Anyia Tana, Assistant Professor Hindi, D N Government College, Itanagar, delivered a lecture on ‘Role of Youth in Nation Building’ as resource person.

She exhorted the students to contribute in making India a progressive and developed country, for which, a sense of patriotism, commitment and nationalism must be imbibed among the students. She also narrated the contributions of freedom fighters and asked the students to emulate from them and instill a sense of oneness and one India amongst all.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr N T Rikam, Principal of the college highlighted the historical background of the NSS. Dr Rikam informed that

the idea of using youth energy was mooted by Mahatma Gandhi, and as such the National Service Scheme was launched during his birth centenary year 1969 on 24th September in 37 universities throughout the country.

The motto NSS is ‘Not Me, But You’ and the objective is to connect the campus with the community. Thus, the NSS volunteers are associated to community services through its regular activities and special camp programmes.

He also made emphasis on building personality development through association of NSS activities.

P G Tago, senior faculty member of the college spelt out the benefits and advantages of NSS volunteers in different fields.

Earlier, Dakbom Chisi, progarmme officer of NSS unit formally inducted the newly enrolled 100 volunteers of the college and asked them to be active volunteers and make best use of all the opportunities.

ET Bureau Miao, Oct 4: It is a proud moment for Newman School Neotan in Changlang District as the Theater in Education wing of the National School of Drama, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, chose this as one of the five venues in east Arunachal Pradesh to conduct workshop on acting with creativity for three days to promote and discover local acting talents.

Ms. Arpona Bora, chief organizer for the acting workshops in Northeast

India, inaugurating the event said, there is no dearth of talents in Northeast India. “This workshop will not only discover talents from this part of our country but also to help young students consider acting as vocation”, she said.

The first day of the event saw young students learning a few basic acting tips by way of group dynamics. The event was blessed to have Dorjee Wangdi, a local acting school graduate from Bomdila, West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh. Having completed Masters in

Theater in Education at National School of Drama, Tripura, he goes around to remote corners of Northeast India to inspire and motivate young students to give wings to their acting dreams.

Inaugurating the event, Fr. Felix, the Principal of the school, said workshops of this kind will go a long way in shaping the future of our young students.

“This event aims at providing the students with the much needed platform to discover their acting talents”, he said. With the help of these kinds of

Awareness program on Hygienic practices of water and sanitation held at Deomali ET Bureau Deomali, 4 Oct : With the pictorial presentation on hygienic practices of water and sanitation, Doi Tarak, Consultant, M&E cum IMIS, PHE & WS Division, Khonsa urged the gathering to construct sanitary toilets.

He informed of the incentive under SBM (G) for construction of sanitary toilets and said that one could approach the division for the same, provided they actually want to have and use sanitary toilets.

He also showed how to manage turbid water, especially during rainy

season and urged everyone to boil water for at least 20 minutes before consumption.

took part in the program, and were provided leaflets, post card, H2S strip bottles.

ter, build and use of toilets and low cost solid liquid waste management approach.

Highlighting the low cost solid liquid wasted management taken up at Changtheng village under Khonsa block, Tarak encouraged the villagers to keep low cost dustbins across colonies/ habitations in the village for non-biodegradable solid waste and soak pit for degradable solid and liquid waste.

The following day, through a power point and video clip presentation, Chonai Wangpan, Consultant, PHESD, Longding spread the massage of awareness on water and sanitation at Chongkhaw Gram Panchayat under Wakka Block on March 19, 2015.

Highlighting the water quality, he informed about SODIS (Solar Disinfection) technology, wherein disinfection of water can be done using only sunlight and transparent plastic bottles of about 6 cm diameters.

Here, filled bottles are exposed to sun rays for about six hours where UV rays pass through the bottle and kills microbes. He also added that SODIS is a free

He narrated the imporAltogether 200 persons tance of hand washing including PRIs, Govt after consuming anyofficials, and students thing, safe drinking wa-

and effective method t o d i s i n f e c t w a t e r, usually applied at the household level and is recommended by the World Health Organization as a viable method for household water treatment and safe storage.

He further added that 80 percent of diseases are caused through drinking contaminated water and most of the diseases in Wa k k a c i r c l e h a v e been found to be water borne. He encouraged the gathering to give prime important to water quality.

workshops we hope many young boys and girls from here will give us national representation in the field of drama, cinema and theater, he added.

Kanseng Rorang, a tenth grader local boy from Changlang District, said that he felt so lucky to be part of this acting workshop and he dreams to make it big in the acting arena with the help of this acting workshop.

With more workshops of this kind, one hopes to discover many hidden talents from Arunachal Pradesh and from Northeast India.

ET Bureau Koloriang, 4 Oct: The Koloriang-Parsi Parlo Road, which is the lifeline for the people of the Kumey belt (Damin, Parsi-Parlo and Pipsorang Circles) has remained cut off since September 27 last.

People of this part of the district are facing lot of hardships due to road blockage, with patients, women, aged and children being the worst sufferers.

The road has been disrupted due to cloud burst in the intervening night of September 27 last. Heavy landslides occurred at several places of Koloriang and Parsi-Parlo areas on the day and many culverts and retaining walls have been washed away in the incident.

There were 76 major and minor block points on Koloriang-Parsiparlo road, out of which 19 block points have been cleared so

far and 55 block points are yet to be cleared.

PWD officials under the supervision of Sangram Division Executive Engineer Byabang Togu and Koloriang Sub-division Assistant Engineer Nangram Sima are pressing all available men and machineries into service for early restoration of the said road.

Due to technical defects, the lone JCB machine deployed for the job is off road now and the executing agency has submitted an estimate of Rs 100 Iakhs for complete restoration of the road.

Kurung Kumey Deputy Commissioner Kanki Darang, along with SP Mihin Gambo, ADC Cheechung Chukhu, CO Nangram Pingkap and PWD officials inspected the progress of restoration work that is going on in Koloriang-Parsi Parlo Road today.

District Magistrate banned Dice and selling of lottery tickets

Aalo, 4 Oct: The West Siang District MagisNew Consumer trate has banned indiselling of lottery Protection Bill in viduals tickets, dice, calendars Winter Session of and gambling activities, Parliament: which are not mandated Paswan under the law as per government notification Contd. from Page 1 No. LOT-152/97, Dated "The state government 17 January/2007 within has procured 9,749 the jurisdiction of West tonnes against its target Siang district. of 20,000 tonnes. This is the highest ever The district magistrate procurement in Assam," has also banned putting he said. up hoardings, banners, pamphlets, etc on govTalking about the ernment property in the National Food Security township area by priAct, Paswan said 1.35 vate individuals, orgalakh tonnes of rice and nizations, schools, col5,781 tonnes of wheat leges, tutorials, governwere allocated every ment department and month for 2.49 crore non-governmental esbeneficiaries in Assam. tablishments in any form in the entire disHe also informed that FCI is currently working trict, without first obon to augment its storage taining written permiscapacity in the state to sion from the competent reach the capacity of 5.2 authority. lakh tonnes.

The Deputy Director UD & Housing, LM and respective administrative officers have also been directed to start indentifying such locations within their respective jurisdictions for putting up such posters, banners, hoardings at specific locations.

The district superintendent of police and the town magistrate have also been enjoined upon to enforce this order in letter and spirit. All administrative officers within their respective jurisdiction are also directed to enforce the order, and anyone found violating the order is/are liable to be booked and tried in accordance with the provisions of law. (DIPRO)

BUSINESS

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

RBI surprises with rate cut; home, auto loans to cost less New Delhi, Oct 4: Home, auto and corporate loans may get cheaper as the new RBI Governor Urjit Patel-led panel today marked its debut policy review with a surprise 0.25 per cent rate cut -- lowering borrowing cost to 6year low, which the industry lauded as a pre-Diwali gift.

In independent India's first collective interest rate setting decision, the 6-member Monetary Policy Committee, which has three members nominated by the government and the rest from the Reserve Bank, lowered repo rate to 6.25 percent from 6.50 percent.

First in six months, today's cut came amidst big clamour for easing rates especially after the departure of former GovernorRaghuram Rajan,

to cool food inflation pressures, especially with regard to pulses. These measures should help in moderating the momentum of food inflation in the months ahead. This has opened up space for policy action, as indicated in the third bi-monthly monetary policy statement," Patel said in the fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review for 2016-17.

Pic for representation purpose who was often accused by some sections, including those from the ruling BJP, of stifling growth by keeping rates too high.

The repo rate, at which RBI lends to banks, was 6.25 per cent in November 2010. It peaked to 8.5 per

cent in October 2011.

Within minutes of the RBI policy announcement, the government welcomed the rate cut saying it will boost liquidity and help achieve 8 percent GDP growth.

"The Government has announced several measures

India, Singapore to set up Finance Dialogue New Delhi, Oct 4: India and Singapore today decided to set up a Finance Dialogue, to be cochaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmuga ratnam of Singapore, to further strengthen bilateral trade and economic ties.

After comprehensive talks with his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, Lee Hsien Loong said the two sides discussed furthering Singapore and India's strong economic ties, for instance, by setting up a Finance Dialogue between the finance ministries of the two countries.

On the Singapore side, Shanmugaratnam will be appointed for the task

and India will appoint Jaitley to find "win-win outcomes" for both countries, Lee added.

The two-way trade between the two countries declined to USD 15.02 billion in 2015-16 from USD 16.93 billion in the previous financial year.

However, Singapore is the second largest source of foreign direct investment in India. The total FDI from Singapore to India has totalled USD 45.88 billion (April 2000 to March 2016) or 16 per cent of the inflows during the period.

In the last financial year, the FDI inflows totalled USD 13.69 billion.

Modi said that last year the bilateral ties were upgraded to the level of a Strategic Partnership with "renewed spirit, new

RBI nudges banks to pass on lower rate benefits to consumers

RBI governor Urjit Patel.

Mumbai, Oct 4: RBI today nudged banks to take a cue from cut in small saving schemes and pass on benefit of benefit of declining interest rates to consumers.

The Reserve Bank reduced the short term lending rate (repo rate) by 0.25 per cent to 6-year low of 6.25 per cent in the fourth bi-monthly monetary policy statement.

It also said that easy liquidity conditions engendered by it's operations should enable the smooth transmission of the policy action through various market segments.

"Furthermore, banks should find added impetus for better transmission by the recent downward ad-

justment in small savings rates," said the resolution by the 6-member Monetary Policy Committee headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel.

RBI has reduced key interest rate (repo rate) by 175 basis points since January 2015. However, the banks have been reluctant to pass on the entire benefits to consumers.

The government had last week reduced the interest rates on small savings schemes by 0.1 per cent for the October- December quarter of the 201617 fiscal. The schemes include, Public Provident Fund, Kisan Vikas Patra, and Sukanya Samriddhi Account.(Agencies)

energy" with an aim to deliver benefits to people of the two countries and to "combine the strengths of Singapore with the scale of India and dynamism of Singapore with vibrancy of our states".

On his part Lee said, "Singapore remains a firm believer in India and we will continue to contribute, where we can, to India's remarkable development story."

"Singapore is happy to support India's efforts to transform its economy, and to give India's youth the skills they need," Lee said, adding that his country was one of India's largest sources of foreign direct investment in 2015, and more than 8,000 Indian companies are present in Singapore.

(PTI)

Hyundai Motor recalls 7,657 units of small car Eon in India New Delhi, Oct 4: Hyundai Motor India is recalling 7,657 units of its entry level small car Eon to fix faulty clutch and battery cables.

The recall will cover Eon units produced in the month of January 2015.

The company has initiated a service campaign to recall and inspect the clutch cable fouling with battery cable of Eon cars produced in the month of January 2015, at no cost to customer, Hyundai Motor India said in a statement.

"The company will voluntarily recall 7,657 number of Eon cars in India manufactured between January 1 2015 January 31 2015," it added.

Eon customers of respective period will be notified in a phased manner for inspection of the clutch cable fouling with battery cable and replace the battery cable if found damaged.

The company asked owners of all affected Eon cars to take them to authorised Hyundai dealers.

In 2014, the company had recalled 2,437 units of its sports utility vehicle Santa Fe to replace a faulty stop lamp switch.

Over two million vehicles have been recalled by various automakers in India ever since the auto industry body SIAM started voluntary vehicle recalls for safety related issues in July 2012.

RBI's current rate cut along with reduction in small savings rates by the government will encourage banks to pass on the benefit to the borrowers, he said.

"The easy liquidity conditions engendered by the Reserve Banks operations should also enable the smooth transmission of the policy action through various market segments," he

said.

Following the rate cut, the BSE benchmark Sensex closed up by 91 points at 28,334.55.

Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa said the RBI policy will boost liquidity in the system and both the RBI and government are in sync with the inflation target.

"On the whole, this is a decision which will go down well with all sections of the economy," Lavasa said.

When asked if banks will pass on rate cut, he said: "It depends on the banks.

Banks also decides based on market sentiment".

Welcoming the rate cut as a 'pre-Diwali' gift, industry players hoped that banks would pass on the benefits and boost consumer sentiments in the ongoing festive season.(PTI)

Rupee edges up 7 paise against dollar

Pic for representation purpose.

Mumbai, Oct 4: The rupee edged higher by 7 paise to 66.52 against thedollar on Tuesday on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks ahead of RBI policy meet scheduled later in the day.

Forex dealers said a higher opening of the domestic equity market supported the rupee, but strength in the dollar against other currencies

overseas backed by improving prospects of a US rate hike capped the gains.On Monday, the rupee strengthened by 2 paise to close at 66.59 against the dollar on mild selling of the American unit by banks and exporters.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex was up 159.36 points, or 0.56 per cent, at 28,402.65 in early trade. (PTI)

Ola launches offline cab booking facility

PAGE 5

Sensex advances by 91 pts as RBI cuts rate by 0.25% Mumbai, Oct 4 : Markets continued its upward march for the third day today as the S&P BSE benchmark sensex moved up further by 91 points to close at 28,334.55 and NSE Nifty by 31 pts to 8,769.15 on persistent buying in select counters as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the interest rate by 0.25 pct to sixyear low of 6.25 pct.

The 6-member Monetary Policy Committee, headed

by Patel, reduced repo rate or the short term rate at which central bank lends to banks, to 6.25 per cent. Consequently, the reverse repo rate has also come down by a similar percentage point to 5.75 per cent.

Shares of Refinery, Telecom, Energy, Utilities, Realty and Metal sectors firmed up on good buying enquiries.

The sensex resumed higher at 28,377.64 and

The gauge had rallied 415.76 points in the previous two sessions. hovered in a range of 28,404.70 and 28,242.25 before ending at 28,334.55, showing a gain of 91.26 points or 0.32 per cent.

The sensex has gained by 507.02 points of 1.82 per cent in three trading days.

The NSE 50-share Nifty rose by 31.05 points or 0.36 per cent to 8,769.15.

In overseas stock markets, global stocks rose

after data showing expansion in US manufacturing boosted optimism over the health of the world's largest economy. China's stock exchange remained closed as part of a five-day National Holiday break.

Asian indices like Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan rose by 0.45 pct to 0.83 pct. European indices France, Germany and UK raised by 0.71 pct to 1.52 pct. (PTI)

Alliance Air to soon ink deal for 10 new ATRs New Delhi, Oct 4: Alliance Air, the regional arm of Air India, is likely to sign a pact soon for leasing 10 new turbo-prop planes as the airline plans to fly to smaller towns under the government's proposed regional connectivity scheme.

The state-owned regional airline is at the "final" stages of negotiations with lessors to lease these planes, a source close to the development said.

With two major domestic players not evincing much interest so far in the ambitious regional connectivity scheme (RCS), the government is pinning its hopes on the flag carrier to make it a success. The civil aviation ministry, however, is still working on the final contours of RCS. "The negotiations with the lessors for leasing of 72seater 10 ATR planes are at final stages and we expect to sign a deal soon," the source said.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, Alliance Air operates 39 point-topoint air services daily to 34 cities from its six base station -- Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Bhopal -with the majority of them being tier-II and tier-III cities. It currently has 10

Alliance Air to soon ink deal for 10 new ATRs ATRs in its fleet. Two of them are 42-seater ATRs. "We aim to have 14 ATRs in our fleet by March next year. As part of this, we will be inducting six new 72-seater ATRs between December this year and March 2017. Some of the 42- seater ATRs are also expected to be phased out during this period," the source added.

In January this year, the airline had floated bids for leasing of the twin turboprop planes for 12 years.

This was part of plans to further penetrate into unserved and under-served routes as well as to switch to a single-model fleet.

RCS seeks to provide air services between unserved and under-served

areas and is part of larger plans to boost the domestic aviation sector, which is clocking over 20 per cent passenger growth over the last several months.

The government expects the first flight under RCS, which is at advanced stages of finalisation, to take off in early January 2017.

There are 394 unserved and 16 under-served airports. State-owned AAI had recently said as many as 20 un-utilised airports are ready to start operations for regional flights.

A slew of incentives have been proposed under RCS, including Rs 2,500 cap on airfare for one-hour flights. (PTI)

Pakistan imposes condition to allow airtime to Indian TV content

The feature will be rolled out across all the 102 cities that Ola operates in, over the coming weeks, starting with four metros.

Mumbai, Oct 4: Taxi aggregator Ola today announced the launch of 'Ola Offline' across key metros in the country in a bid to tap customers who are unable to use data services on their phones.

The feature will enable customers to book a cab even without internet.

The customer has to send his location details to Ola via SMS following which the taxi aggregator will share driver details with the customer. The customer will then have to

call the driver to fix the ride, Ola said in a statement here.

The 'Offline' feature was piloted in several smaller markets like Indore and Nagpur, since June this year, it said.

The feature will be rolled out across all the 102 cities that Ola operates in, over the coming weeks, starting with four metros, it added.

The feature will be available across all cab categories like Micro, Mini, Prime and Lux. (Agencies)

New Delhi, Oct 4: Amidst strained Indo-Pak ties, Pakistan will seek reciprocity from India to allow airtime to Indian television content in the country.

The amount of airtime for Indian content in Pakistan will mimic the format India has adopted for the airing of Pakistani content, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said, reversing a Musharraf era relaxation on airing of popular Indian dramas and movies on Pakistani channels.

The decision was taken on Monday under which PEMRA will only allow airtime to Indian content if India allows airtime to Pakistani content.

The announcement comes amidst the strain in IndiaPakistan ties after the Uri terror attack and India's surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

According to PEMRA rules, local channels can

only show five per cent foreign contents but several Pakistani channels mostly rely on foreign contents, mostly Indian, Turkish, American and European.

A summary in this regard has been sent to the federal government, PEMRA said, adding that the government has also been requested to make airing of the Indian content conditional with that of Pakistan's content being aired in India.

PEMRA said in the light of the recommendations it has sent to the government, policies made during the General (retd) Pervez Musharraf regime will have no legal standing, which will "benefit the Pakistan industry grow".

The policies made during the Musharraf regime were put into effect by the then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz so only federal government has the powers to revoke them, PEMRA said.

It further said that from Oc-

tober 15, the body will take action against airing of all "unauthorised" content and TV channels in the country.

Last month, PEMRA said it would launch a crackdown on the illegal Indian Direct-to-Home (DTH) and airing of excessive foreign content by TV channels and cable operators.

"Around three million Indian DTH decoders are being sold in the country. We not only want this sale stopped but will also ask the relevant agencies to trace the money trail to determine the mode of payments made to Indian dealers selling these decoders to Pakistanis," PEMRA chairman Absar Alam had said.

All stakeholders, including cable operators and the Pakistan Broadcasters Association, had been warned that steps would be initiated soon against the airing of excessive foreign content, he said.(PTI)

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

“

Today's quote

"Don't take rest after your first victory because if you fail in second, more lips are waiting to say that your first victory was just luck."

–– A.P.J Abdul Kalam

In black and white The Centre's move to mop up black money from the economy by giving taxpayers amnesty to declare undisclosed past income by paying tax on it at an effective, slightly high rate of 45 per cent has yielded a surprisingly positive dividend. The four-month window granted for evaders to come clean opened sluggishly, but eventually over 64,200 assessees disclosed undeclared assets worth at least Rs.65,250 crore. Stern warnings from the Prime Minister himself about tough action and possible jail terms for those who failed to declare their 'cartloads' of black money may have added punch to the Finance Ministry's pitch. The haul is considerably higher than the Rs.4, 164 crore in assets and black money held abroad disclosed under a similar arrangement with a higher tax rate in 2015. This time, the tax department rightly focussed on demystifying and propagating the scheme, so potential beneficiaries were reassured that they would not be persecuted.

The almost Rs.30,000 crore in taxes being raked in provides a cushion for the Centre on the fiscal deficit management front since it hadn't set any explicit revenue expectations from the scheme.

The final stocktaking is still on, so the record collections under this scheme, vis-à-vis similar endeavours in the past, could rise further. The Centre, however, must not consider this the end of its campaign on black money. To put things in context, the average undisclosed income per taxpayer under the scheme stands at Rs.1.01 crore; and though the disclosures are nearly double those in the last income amnesty scheme (around Rs.33,700 crore), nearly two decades have passed since then, making comparisons misleading.

The tax department is aware that Rs.65,250 crore is just the tip of the iceberg - it had sent seven lakh letters to suspected evaders based on information on about 90 lakh high-value transactions that took place without PAN card details. The tax department must crack down on such evaders and spruce up its data-mining methods to expand the country's shallow tax base.

While the department's efforts have revealed undisclosed income of over Rs.58,000 crore in the last two and half years, and more is being pursued from tax havens where Indian holdings have come to light, all of this is akin to treating the symptoms without addressing the root cause. If the Centre is serious about attacking India's thriving black economy, it needs to be bold and, for starters, make electoral funding transparent, curb the misuse by the wealthy of tax-free income sops for farmers, and encourage cashless transactions.

The elusive peace in Colombia Colombia has missed, narrowly, an opportunity to end its five-decade-long civil war. Had a majority of the electorate voted 'yes' in Sunday's referendum on a peace agreement reached between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), it would have immediately set in motion the process of disarming the rebels. But the accord was rejected by a razor-thin majority, throwing the future of peace - and war as well, which both the government and the rebels had declared over - into uncertainty. It is not difficult to understand popular anger against FARC. The rebel group is accused of massacres, trading in illegal drugs and running extortion rackets. Over 52 years, the conflict has claimed 220,000 lives and displaced about six million people. A dominant section of Colombia's political class, led by former President Álvaro Uribe, was actively campaigning for a 'no' vote. Mr. Uribe had charged President Santos with handing Colombia over to FARC. The main criticism is that "justice" is being sacrificed for achieving "peace". Under the terms of the current agreement, most of FARC's rank and file would be allowed to lead civilian lives. The leadership will be judged in special tribunals with reduced sentences.

With all its imperfections, this was the best opportunity in decades to end a war in which both sides have committed terrible crimes. While the atrocities committed by FARC are well-documented, government troops and the army-backed right-wing paramilitary's stand accused of excessive use of force, turning the Colombian countryside into a war zone.

Where President Santos differed from his predecessors was in the realisation that there was no military solution to this conflict, leading to negotiations with the rebels four years ago with Cuba's mediation. The 'no' vote doesn't necessarily mean that the country will be pushed back into war. Both President Santos and FARC chief 'Timochenko' have said they would continue efforts to make peace. But it is not clear what options they have but to renegotiate a fresh deal and put it to another referendum. That means the government and the rebels may have to go through another round of tortuous talks. While reaching a new agreement has its own challenges, it is plausible for both sides, having established goodwill and trust over the past four years of negotiations, to look for creative diplomatic solutions to end the war for good. The Colombian government should also try to win over the opposition, which would strengthen its appeal to the public for a deal. The alternative to peace is to send FARC back to the jungles and risk a potential resumption of the war.

PAGE 6 EDITORIAL Crossing an uncertain Rubicon 'Surgical strikes' by the Indian Army won't goad the Pakistan military into announcing a VRS for its terrorists V. SUDARSHAN Old hands at the Intelligence Bureau (IB) have a riveting narrative, and even if parts of it are apocryphal, it's still telling. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee knew that if the attack on the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001 went unchallenged, it would send out wrong signals and engender other attacks. The evening of the attack, he got a briefing with a view to strike targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir; the IB had selected 12 targets and the Air Force was ready. The strikes would be punitive, short, sharp, one-off. After that, the terrorists and their backers would no longer launch attack after taunting attack on India without fear of reprisal. Mr. Vajpayee was evidently interested.

The Intelligence Bureau's plan Those days, the Air Force was sourcing satellite images of one metre resolution from IKONOS of military targets in Pakistan. Using these images, the Air Force generated three-dimensional models of the terrain and fed them into a flight simulator. And pilots would simulate bombing runs, releasing laser-guided bombs on the targets, which they would reach by contour flying. Mr. Vajpayee was told

the Air Force could hit targets as small as 10 metres by 10 metres. The hit would be so precise that the surrounding structures would still be standing afterwards.

Critically, there were no schools, hospitals, or places of worship near the prospective targets. In 15 minutes it would be all over, the planes would be out and back on the tarmac, whether they flew from Srinagar or Avantipur.

The next morning the IB briefed Mr. Vajpayee. Four of the targets were big buildings Lashkars operated from, sprawled over five acres in the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, where 200 terrorists were reportedly being trained. There were some Al-Badr camps, a Hizbul Mujahideen camp inside the town, and a building where the Jaish-eMohammed ran a guest house. In fact, only the previous week, a trusted agent had confirmed the operational details as well, both on the map as well as on the three-dimensional mockup. The IB didn't want to be lured into attacking targets that were emptied of terrorists at the last minute and replaced with innocent civilians; dirty tricks are part of the intelligence game.

All Mr. Vajpayee had to do was to call in the strike.

The timing looked right, the provocation couldn't be graver. Americans would have winked. After the World Trade Centre had

that could not possibly get more provocative. A couple of months later, on July 13, terrorists walked into Qasim Nagar in Jammu, lobbed grenades and shot 29 people dead. Nine Amarnath Yatra pilgrims were shot while they were asleep near Pahalgam in August that year. It wasn't until October that India finally ordered demobilisation. Never once did Pakistan breach India's threshold of tolerance.

been brought down, the U.S. was in the middle of a massive military campaign swarming Afghanistan. U.S. President George W. Bush had briefed Mr. Vajpayee on this when they met on November 9, 2001, in the Oval Office. Mr. Vajpayee had taken the opportunity to point out that there were in Afghanistan many terrorist camps in which groups inimical to India were being trained and indoctrinated to carry out attacks against India.

In the event, on December 14, Mr. Vajpayee hesitated, and did not cross the Rubicon. Perhaps it is not right to compare the scale of what would have been achieved if Mr. Vajpayee

had decided to strike then with what happened on September 28-29. It certainly doesn't look as though a single night's extremely modest military exertions have fixed the terrorism problem with Pakistan, as is being witnessed in Baramulla. Over many years, the U.S. and the coalition of the willing threw all they had and more into Afghanistan and Iraq, and look what they have left us. And Pakistan is not Afghanistan, it has an endless capacity to innovate on such matters.

Breaching the threshold of tolerance

Pakistan has seen worse, far worse. For example, when the Indian Army was kept mobilised, revved up, and on the start line for 10 long months during Operation Parakram, did it achieve what the policymakers started out to do? Not one in India's list of 'most wanted', which we brandished daily, did Pakistan give up. It is unclear if massing 5,00,000 troops even brought down infiltrations.

Consider the evidence.

The Kaluchak attack of May 2002, when terrorists stopped a bus and shot and killed 31 people, came even as the troops had been mobilised, a sort of dare

Had Mr. Vajpayee gone ahead and struck at Muzaffarabad, Pakistan would have by now have made sure that in and around every terror training camp there are schools, hospitals and places of worship to ward off such adventurism; that launch pads move farther from the Line of Control and merge seamlessly with the more dense civilian habitations.

The "surgical strikes" consequently won't goad the Pakistan military into announcing a VRS for its terrorists. Pakistan has demonstrated a capacity to hit at even heavily fortified targets with troubling ease - Pathankot, for instance. It won't take much for them to recalibrate and range further afield. Will New Delhi be able to manage the consequences of anything it starts? That has always been the question.

Journalism as collateral damage Neither the silence surrounding Ms. Jayalalithaa's health nor the sound bites on the 'surgical strikes' by the Indian Army without proof are good for democracy It is nearly impossible not to reflect on Mahatma Gandhi and try to draw new lessons from his prolific, yet insightful, writings when one has to write a column on October 2 that is dedicated to truth, accuracy and fairness.

Two recent developments bring home the increased opaqueness in our public affairs: the secrecy surrounding the health of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, and the details regarding the "surgical strikes" by the Indian Army across the Line of Control (LoC).

These developments have opened the door to look at many professional difficulties confronting journalists.

One of the most frustrating elements in the two issues at hand is the impenetrable iron curtain One day, a train was approaching the small town of Cheekyville. On the train was a strange guy with a big suitcase. He was called William Warbler - the man, not the suitcase - and he looked very common indeed. What made him most unusual, though, was the fact that whenever he needed to communicate he did it by singing opera. It didn't matter to William whether it was simply a matter of answering a brief greeting, like 'good day'. He would clear his voice and respond, "Gooood dayyy to youuuuuuuu..... tooOOOO!" It wouldn't be unfair to say that almost everyone considered William Warbler a massive pain in the neck. No one could get a normal, spoken, word out of him. And, as no one knew how he made his living - and he lived quite simply, always wearing his same old second-hand suit - they

that denies space for journalists to carry out the act of verification.

While the people holding offices of power and responsibility are maintaining a studied silence (as in the case of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and her Cabinet), those in charge of the "surgical strikes" are unusually garrulous without providing any evidence for their claims.

Neither the silence nor the excessive sound bites without convincing proof are good for democracy.

The lack of a credible information flow has only opened the tap for rumours, speculations, even panic.

Right to privacy versus public interest First, let us examine the case of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's health, about which we have been receiving calls on an hourly basis. It has been ten days since she was admitted to hospital.

Some bulletins were released by the hospital, which provided no clue about the nature of her illness. The party spokesoften treated him with disdain.

They made fun of his singing, calling him 'Don No One', 'Poor-Rotti', and 'Lazy Miserables'. William had been in Cheekyville for some years, when, one day, a rumour spread round town like wildfire: William had secured a role in a very important opera in the nation's capital, and

there were posters everywhere advertising the event.

Everyone in the capital went to see it, and it was a great success. At the end of its run - to everyone in Cheekyville's surprise - when William was

persons tell us not to believe in rumours and that the Chief Minister is recuperating fast. Some readers asked whether Media could explain why senior functionaries of the ruling party are busy invoking divine intervention if the Chief Minister is responding well to treatment.

While everyone agrees that there is an inalienable right to privacy concerning an individual's health condition, there is also a public interest angle to the state of health of someone holding public office. Ms. Jayalalithaa is the fulcrum of her party, with no real acceptable second-rung leaders. Her party is the third largest parliamentary party in the country. Her health has a bearing on the national polity, and much larger political import in the State. The secrecy breeds unnecessary conjectures and assumptions, which is not good either for the State or for her party. Media is doing its best to secure credible news and there is no selfbeing interviewed by reporters, he answered their questions by speaking rather than singing. And he did it with great courtesy, and with a clears and pleasant voice.

From that day, William gave up singing at all hours.

Now he did it only during his stage appearances and world tours. Some people suspected why he had changed, but others still had no idea, and continued believing him to be somewhat mad. They wouldn't have thought so if they had seen what William kept in his big suitcase. It was a large stone, with a handcarved message on it.

The message said: "Practice, my boy. Practice every second, for you never know when your chance will come."

Little did people realise that he only got the role in the opera because the director had heard William singing while out buying a newspaper.

censorship. Whatever information the reporting team is able to secure from reliable sources is being put out, and anything beyond what has been published so far would be in the realm of hearsay.

Importance of credible information The "surgical strikes" across the LoC belongs to a category where almost all the big words and phrases have to be invoked - national interest, security, strategic depth, second strike capability, media as force multiplier, futility of restraint, use of force when diplomatic initiatives fail, no other alternative for a nation state, and offence as deterrence - yet there is no clarity on what happened. I belong to a small section influenced by Stephen Dedalus of James Joyce.

Two memorable sayings of this alter ego of the Irish master in Ulysses are: "I fear those big words which make us so unhappy" and "history is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake."

. First, the terms "surgical strike" and "preemptive strike" were used within quotation marks rather than as a statement of fact. Second, it flagged the major consequence of this act by saying, "India's next steps, post-Uri, are in uncharted terrain, with New Delhi abandoning the self-proclaimed policy of 'strategic restraint' adopted in the face of earlier provocations by terrorists believed to be backed by Pakistan." The editorial further said that "the Centre will need to articulate what it regards as the new normal - and indeed, how it hopes, or plans, to dissuade Pakistan from escalating the situation in turn."

The "surgical strikes" were India's response to the Uri attack and this has an uncanny similarity to Operation Parakram, which was launched after the terrorist attack on Parliament House in 2001. In 2004, General Padmanabhan, who led the Indian Army during Operation

Parakram, explained in an exclusive interview to this newspaper that the "problems with India's military doctrine, and a lack of clarity within the Union Cabinet and on its war objectives may have undermined Operation Parakram at the very outset". It is worth remembering the casualty figures that were given by the then Defence Minister, George Fernandes, to the Indian Parliament: "The number of Army personnel killed or wounded in Jammu and Kashmir and the western sector during the mobilisation, Operation Parakram, from December 19, 2001 to October 16, 2002, was 1,874."

The disturbing question for journalists in these two cases is the lack of credible and trustworthy information, which in the case of Ms. Jayalalithaa is spreading panic, and in the case of the "surgical strikes" foments jingoism. Journalism cannot be a collateral damage in a country that enacted the Right to Information Act more than a decade ago.

Plundering of National Assets Sir, One wonders noting the mysterious notion of the ONGC authorities of the Assam assets in maintaining a 'Look to the other side' policy despite pilferage and stealth of the costly materials from its stores. Very frequently, we come across news about the stealth of oil and other costly materials in the media but the phenomenon is somehow hushed up for reasons best known to the ONGC high-ups. One is certain about the involvement of some officials with these antisocial elements as the way ONGC authorities connive the issue speaks volume of our contention about their involvement. A news paper report suggests that the Sivasagar Police could recover certain costly chemicals from the store of a culprit. The stealth takes place while transporting the chemicals from the ONGC's store of Lakwa to different oil-fields. Truck drivers transporting the chemicals are hand in-gloves with the thieves and certain big guns of ONGC's Assam assets.

The chemicals so stolen are sold to certain big contractors. The report further suggests that the main culprit is abetted by certain accomplices, namely Chetry, Paul who are instrumental in extending the smuggling exercise.

Through your esteemed daily, we appeal to our Chief-minister who also holds the Home portfolio to use his good office to nab all the culprits including the erring officials of ONGC who refrained from filing even an FIR for mysterious reasons.

Yours etc.

Ashok Bordoloi Dibrugarh

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

REST OF

PAGE 7

NORTHEAST

Paswan asks NE states to implement Election officers' training begins in Imphal total PDS computerisation IANS Shillong, Oct 4: Union Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday asked North Eastern states including Meghalaya to implement the end-to-end computerisation of the public distribution system to check leakages.

"I had personally written to all the chief ministers to implement the end-toend computerisation of the PDS and they must see that complaints should not be there," Paswan told reporters after chairing the Hindi Salahakar Samity meeting held in the city

it (foodgrain) reaches the fair price shops.

So far, 18 states have implemented the end-toend computerisation of PDS. On the other hand, the Union minister also asked the chief ministers to ensure Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) facilities are in place for both urban and rural areas.

Food & Public Distribution minister Ram Vilas Paswan here on Monday.

The move comes following complaints from beneficiaries about either less quantity or poor quality of

foodgrains being supplied to them.

Paswan said this will ensure end-to-end tracking of foodgrains till the point

Trade with Myanmar via Manipur remains suspended

Iamge for representational purpose IANS Imphal, Oct 4: The border trade between India and Myanmar through the international gate in Manipur has remained suspended since Monday afternoon, officials said on Tuesday.

Indian officials said that the halt in trade through the international gate connecting Manipur and Namphalong (Myanmar) at Moreh could be the result of an attack on a suspected Indian insurgent on the Myanmar side of the border on Sunday.

A police officer confirmed that there was no official closure of business from the Indian side.

"We contacted the Myanmarese officials to ascertain the reasons for the closure of Namphalong Gate, but they refused to say anything about it," he added.

On Sunday afternoon, five armed persons attacked a man, believed to be an Indian insurgent, at Namphalong. The seriously injured person was taken away to an undisclosed location.

In another incident on Sunday night, a powerful bomb was detonated near boundary pillar No.79, barely 40 metres away from Muslim Nagar locality here.

Although nobody was in-

jured, it caused panic among the villagers. Most of the unnerved villagers fled to safer areas fearing follow-up encounters.

Sources said the Myanmarese officials feel that some of the troublemakers may sneak into their territory masquerading as traders or tourists.

Police at Moreh said that so far, nobody has been arrested in connection with these violent incidents.

Almost all the traders returned empty handed to Imphal on Tuesday and nearly 50 hotels at Moreh were now without any customers.

Besides, a serpentine queue of loaded trucks could be seen along the Trans-Asian Highway No.102.

Some traders returning to Imphal said: "Indications are that the international gate will be reopened by the Myanmarese authorities only after security has been beefed up to check further violence."

As a fallout of the trade halt, there is a steep increase in the prices of foreign goods sold in different parts of the northeastern region.

MLAs apprehensive about Council by-polls Agencies Shillong, Oct 4: Several factors are preventing MLAs from contesting the by-polls to the vacant seats of KHADC and JHADC though the dichotomy exists between the amended dual posts Act of 2015, which prevents legislators from holding a district council post, and the Governor’s order backed by the Election Commission that the Council posts are not office of profit.

Moreover, the High Court of Meghalaya, while ruling that the dual posts Act is valid, had also upheld that the order of the Governor related to declaring the post of MDC as not an office of profit.

Seven legislators had quit the posts of MDCs following the amended dual posts Act which came into effect from October last year.

However, even after a year, KHADC CEM P.N Syiem is continuing both as MLA and MDC since the District Council post does not fall un-

der either the state or the central governments to call it as office of profit, and hence he does not face disqualification.

Despite this, there is fear among the legislators, who had quit the posts of MDCs to seek re-election.

The State government had repeatedly said the MLAs contesting the by-election will be at their own risks.

When asked whether the legislators can contest the council polls, District Council Affairs Minister Prestone Tynsong said, “It is up to their wisdom and risk.”

Another hurdle for the legislators who want to contest the by-polls is that the Retuning Officer can take a decision to disqualify the legislators who file nomination papers based on the dual posts Act or after receiving any complaint.

Besides, the legislators prefer not to contest the by-election since the Union Home Ministry will soon clear the amendment that prevents MLAs from holding the posts of

MDCs. While HDR Lyngdoh, a former MDC has decided to field his son to contest from Nongspung-Sohiong, former JHADC member and Independent legislator Stephanson Mukhim (War East) is also not keen to contest the by-polls.

Moreover, HSPDP’s Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit (Nongkrem) and Phlastingwell Pangniang (RambraiJyrngam) have given way to other candidates to contest the election.

Thought the UDP is yet to officially announce the candidates for MairangNongkhlaw and Mawthadraishan, which were earlier held by Metbah Lyngdoh and Brolding Nongsiej, sources said these UDP legislators are not likely to contest the vacant seats.

Moreover, NCP sources said the party will soon meet to decide on the candidate to contest Laban-Mawprem seat which was earlier held by Sanbor Shullai.

KV rape case: Acting principal suspended, teacher sacked Agencies Shillong, Oct 4: Yogesh Joshi, the acting principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya in Tura and main accused in the rape case, has been suspended by West Garo Hills DC Pravin Bakshi, who is also the chairman of the school. The other accused, teacher Deepjyoti Das, has been terminated from service.

The DC, who held an emergency meeting of the Vidyalaya Management Committee on Monday, said

the District Child Protection Unit led by the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) has recorded the statements of students abiding by the child rights protection guidelines. The team has also counselled the two high school girls, who were allegedly sexually harassed by Joshi and Das, and recommended that the victims be temporarily shifted to a shelter home “as the duo is under stress at the place where they are staying”.

It was also suggested in the

meeting that all schools should install CCTV cameras on campuses and inside classrooms.

Besides, a woman police officer has started inquiry as per the guidelines of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the POSCO Act. Meanwhile, in a letter of condemnation submitted to the DC, all teachers of Kendriya Vidyalaya have expressed remorse for the incident and vowed to take corrective steps for the future.

"It is upto the state governments to request as we have no problem," Paswan said while informing that only three states including Puducherry and Chandigarh have imple-

mented the DBT which is being sent direct to the beneficiary's account.

On the complaints of failure to distribute the rice for past few months, the union minister said that the state governments should also ensure that such complaints are addressed as this is under its purview.

"If there is any delay and we don t send grains on time for that we are responsible..However, when they (state govt) are lifting 100 per cent every month then why don't the beneficiaries get that 100 per cent every month," he said.

Manipur ACB calls on stakeholders to fight against corruption

Iamge for representational purpose Agencies Imphal, Oct 4: The Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) at Lamphelpat in Imphal on Monday has called on all the stakeholders to fight against corruption in the state.

In a statement, the ACB said that the branch is taking several steps to check corruption at all levels.

“In pursuance of the present union government's’ objective of ‘achievement of good governance’ and maximum effort to combat corruptions at all levels of governance, the CBI, the ACB is also taking

up different steps,” the statement stated.

The ACB has urged all stakeholders to report any bribery incidence to the branch and combat corruptions. “If any central government employee demands illegal money for any pending official work, pl (please) contact CBI, ACB at ph.0385-2414673, 03582414145 or emailhobacimpl@cbi.gov.in,” the statement added.

The ACB, in an effort to develop public awareness, appealed the state media to publicise about the steps undertaken in their respective platforms.

Agencies Imphal, Oct 4: Ahead of the upcoming Assembly election in Manipur, an 11day training programme for election officers started at Institute of Cooperative Management Conference Hall in Imphal on Monday.

The 'Training of Trainers and Facilitators' and 'Training on Leadership and Motivation' programme is jointly being organised by the chief electoral officer of Manipur and India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM)

Manipur Legislative Assembly under the supervision of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Around 100 trainees participated in the first day of the training on Monday.

The Manipur Legislative Assembly election, 2017 will be held in early 2017, as the term of current assembly expires on March 18, 2017.

Nagaland to implement eHospital concept IANS Kohima, Oct 4: The Nagaland government has proposed to implement the eHospital concept in two of its major hospitals in order to ease their data and services management.

Under the initiative, stateowned Kohima-based Naga Hospital and Dimapur-based Civil Hospital -- that attract 40 per cent of patients in the state -- will be the first to adopt the concept. eHospital is an open source health information management system (HMIS) which is configurable and easily customisable with multitenancy support.

It is designed to deploy in cloud infrastructure to manage multiple hospitals seamlessly.

It will include eBloodBank and Online Registration System (ORS), as well, said a statement.

Besides, there will be "online appointments with various departments of different hospitals -- using eKYC data of Aadhaar number, if patient's mobile number is registered with UIDAI. In case not it will use

Nagaland to implement eHospital concept patient's name", the statement said.It also said: "The new patients will get appointment, as well as Unique Health Identification (UHID) number. If Aadhaar number is already linked with UHID number, then appointment number will be given and UHID will remain same."

The eHospital concept confirms to HL7 Standards -- a set of international standards for transfer of clinical and administrative data between software applications used by various healthcare providers -for managing health care service delivery in government hospitals in India.

Under it ORS, eBloodBank solution is available to government

hospitals over cloud for accelerated infusion/ adoption of ICT tools and healthcare standards as a part of the initiative.

To promote the initiative, the National Informatic Centre(NIC) is providing eHospital software and cloud infrastructure free of cost as of now. "eHospital is powerful, flexible, and easy to use; and is designed and developed to deliver real benefits in terms of ITeS from outdoor clinics, IPD, Laboratories, Blood Bank and Hospital as a whole," the statement said. "eHospital runs on Linux and MS Windows platforms and can be easily customized to suit the requirements and reflect priorities of hospital management team," it said.

HC disposes HRD Minister flays Manipur of education for non-cooperation scam case Agencies Shillong, Oct 4: With the Single Bench of the High Court of Meghalaya headed by Judge SR Sen disposing of the petition on education scam on Monday, the petitioner has decided to move a larger Bench of the Court.

The single Bench disposed of the petition of Agnes Kharshiing citing that the case filed in the High Court is similar to the pending case in the Supreme Court.

While advocate N. Syngkon, the counsel on behalf of the petitioner, and V.K Jindal, senior counsel, assisted by M.K Marak on behalf of the CBI, were present during the hearing on Monday, the amicus curiae, K. Paul, was absent.

According to the Judge, as directed by the Court, P. Nongbri, the State counsel had filed an affidavit wherein in para 2, it was stated that the issue involved in the case is also pending before the Apex

Court.

“If it is so, I am not inclined to entertain the petition since the matter is already before the Apex Court, otherwise it will amount to judicial indiscipline,” the Judge said.

The Court in the order also reproduced para 2 of the affidavit, which highlighted the statement of the deponent that during the pendency of the Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court, the writ application on the same cause was filed before the High Court praying for a direction to hand over Laitumkhrah P.S. Case No. 62 (7) of 2011 to CBI. However, both Kharshiing and her lawyer Syngkon have maintained that the petition filed in the High Court is a criminal case whereas the one pending in the Supreme Court is of civil nature.

“Hence we have decided to move to a larger Bench of the High Court,” Kharshiing said.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar IANS Imphal, Oct 4: Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javedkar on Monday flayed the Congress government in Manipur for not extending cooperation to the central government.

Talking to reporters at the conclusion of his twoday visit to Manipur, Javedkar said the sports university cannot be constructed and the NH 37 cannot be improved in Manipur as the state government has not extended cooperation.

He promised to expose shortly the dubious role

of the Congress government in matters of developmental works.

Referring to the vituperative attacks of Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh for the failure to construct the sports university, Javedkar said the government has not allotted land for it though the state government claims to have allotted enough land and some owners had gone to court with the result that no construction works can be done.

Although Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured to spruce up the NH 37 within the first

100 days of the NDA government assuming office, the lifeline is still in a horrible condition.

Nearly 1,000 trucks were stranded as the wobbly bridge over the Makru river cannot withstand the weight of the loaded trucks.

Javedkar said: "Tenders had been floated for the repairing works. However, there is no cooperation from the state government."

Assuring that the NDA government wants to make the NH 37 linking Imphal, the state capital, with Assam by the 222km-long mountain highway, one of the best in the country, Javedkar said now just 72 km stretch of the highway is yet to be repaired.

He said: "A high-level team will soon visit Manipur to make inquiries into the non-cooperation of the state government. We will expose the dubious role of the Congress Ministry."

He also announced that he will keep coming to Imphal every 15 days to supervise the developmental works.

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

INTERNATIONAL

I have 'very strong ideas' to deal with ISIS: Trump

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump PTI Herndon, Oct 4: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday said that he has "very strong ideas" for defeating the Islamic State militant group and claimed that he has a "real" chance of winning against the terror outfit.

"I have a real chance of winning. I don't really want to tell you. I have very strong ideas and I'll be dealing with the people in this room and other folks that are, very good at this, but the last thing you want to do is give notice to the enemy," Trump told an election rally with army veterans here.

"When President (Barack) Obama announced that he

was leaving Iraq, I mean, he was talking about dates and times and what we're going to do," he said, arguing that the US should never make its policy public.

"The enemy pulls back.

We think we're doing well.

Well, they pull back.

They're not stupid. And then after we leave, you see what happened. So I just want to say that we are going to hit ISIS hard, and I mean really hard, but I do think this," he said.

He said that American public doesn't have to know details of the US's attack.

"The American public doesn't have to know the date and hour and second that we're going to attack and from what side we're

going to attack. We're going to attack from the eastern quadrant and it'll take place on a certain day, at a certain hour. They just want to see victory," he said.

"We don't have victory.

We're dropping things all over the place. Who knows what they're hitting. Who knows how many people are being killed and who knows if they're the right people.

But at some point, we have to stop a force that's going out and drowning people in steel cages and chopping off heads," he said.

Calling ISIS militants "barbaric people", Trump said "these people used to study medieval times, and you know, they chopped off heads. But until recently, this was a phenomena that you wouldn't see, the level of barbarism is unbelievable.

So we're gonna stop them, we're gonna stop them cold. We're gonna stop them very powerfully".

"But I don't think all of us should be -- unless it's a very confined room, we shouldn't be giving up our plans and it bothers me every time I see where we're planning to attack this one, that one," he said.

'Trump confuses leadership with dictatorship' PTI Washington, Oct 4: Donald Trump often confuses leadership with dictatorship, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has said as she accused her Republican rival of having a "weird fascination with dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin."

"He (Trump) gets confused between leadership and dictatorship. He has a hard time remembering who our friends are and who are adversaries are. He has a weird fascination with dictators like Putin," Clinton, bashed Trump's relationship with the Russian president, at an election rally in Akron, Ohio, a key battleground State.

"We have a lot of people living in this part of Ohio who, either themselves, their parents, or grandparents, came from countries that were under the yoke of oppression. And we are never going to let that happen again," she said.

The former secretary of state addressed several rallies in Ohio.

Clinton said if she becomes president, Trump will be the last major party nominee to keep his taxes largely under wraps.

"If I'm fortunate enough to be president, we're going to pass a law requiring anybody who is a nominee of a major, national party to have to release their taxes," she

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said.

At another election rally in Ohio, Clinton slammed the business record of Trump, who is a billionaire real estate mogul from New York.

"This is Trump to a T. He's taken corporate excess and makes a business model out of it. He abuses his power, games the system, puts his own interests ahead of the country's.

It's Trump first and everyone else last," she said.

"Not a single not a single CEO of a Fortune 100 company supports Trump's campaign. Think about it.

I've been endorsed by very successful people Warren Buffett, Mike Bloomberg, Mark Cuban.

I loved what Mark Cuban said when he endorsed me.

He said, 'Look, I've been successful.' He actually is a

real billionaire. And you know what? He used profitsharing to help his employees, not bankruptcy to fire people. And when he sold his first company, he shared the profits with his employees, and 300 of them became millionaires. That's the kind of business practices I want to see more of in our country," the 68-year-old said.

Clinton said she is going to use the White House and every tool at her disposal to make the case that patriotism is profitable.

"Standing up for America, investing in America will pay off. Now, we have always had innovators and entrepreneurs who build great companies and create real value.

But we should not and we will not respect those who get rich by cheating everybody else," she said.

Indo-Pak tensions reach White House as counter petitions filed PTI Washington, Oct 4 : The current tensions between India and Pakistan have reached the White House cyberspace, with two petitions being filed against both the countries and seeking response from the Obama Administration.

The White House has stopped accepting signatures for one of the petitions that sought to designate Pakistan as a 'state sponsor of terrorism', days after it gained a record half a million signatures which is five times the number needed to get a response from the Obama Administration.

Another petition claiming that India is "involved in spreading terrorism in its adjoining countries" has been submitted on the White House website.

The petition, filed against Pakistan, has been archived as it did not meet the "signature requirements", the White House said yesterday.

"Closed petition," said the petition page.

"This petition has been archived because it did not meet the signature requirements. It can no longer be signed," the White House said.

No further explanation has been given by the White House on closing the petition for signature.

Normally, it is open for a month for the people to sign.

However, it looks like that some of the signatures might not have met the terms of participation for these petitions.

As a result, it is very well possible that some of these signatures could be removed if there is evidence of fraud.

But the White House is expected to have an official response to the petition within the 60 days' deadline.

The petition was created on September 21 by a person who identified himself by initials RG and the petition needed 1,00,000 signatures in 30 days to get a response from the White House.

The benchmark was reached in less than a week,

and in less than two weeks, the petition crossed half a million signatures.

The petition comes after Congressman Ted Poe, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, along with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, introduced H R 6069, the Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act in the House of Representatives.

Pakistani-Americans are now campaigning for a signature campaign to support the anti-India petition on the White House website.

"India is involved in spreading terrorism and in bloody proxy wars against its adjoining countries, particularly Islamic Republic of Pakistan," the petition alleged.

The petition, which was created in September by an individual who identified himself with initials SS, has received nearly 64,000 signatures. It needs another 36,000 signatures to become eligible for getting a response from the Obama Administration.

PAGE 8

'SAARC failure compels Lanka to find other viable options' PTI Colombo, Oct 4: With the collapse of SAARC Summit in Pakistan, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that the failure of the regional grouping to deliver "acceptable results" for all members would spell a "bleak future" and compel his country to find other "viable options".

Wickremesinghe's remark assumes significance as Sri Lanka was one of the five SAARC memberstates which sided with India in pulling out of the summit scheduled in Islamabad on November 9-10 over an attack on an Indian army base in Uri on September 18 by Pakistan-based terrorists.

Delivering a lecture on 'Sri

Lanka and its Place in the World" at the New Zealand Parliament House in Auckland on Monday, the Sri Lankan premier said that following the Uri attack, the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad has been postponed.

"This year's SAARC Summit is in jeopardy due to the war prevailing on the border. However, as the SAARC plays an important role, carrying out the Summit is a matter of great importance," Wickremesinghe said.

"I explained that while the failure of SAARC to deliver acceptable results for all members would spell out a bleak future, it would also compel Sri Lanka to look towards other viable options," he said.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe He, however, did not elaborate what he meant by "other viable options" but said it was "imperative" that Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations work together to

improve regional cooperation.

Wickremesinghe recalled the 1985 SAARC Summit when Sri Lanka proposed countering border terrorism as an issue, but he rued it was ultimately not agreed upon due to disagreements among mem-

US welcomes India's ratification of Paris climate agreement IANS Washington, Oct 4: The US has welcomed as "fantastic news" India's ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change signed last year at the Conference of Parties (CoP) 21 climate summit in the French capital.

"Yeah. We welcome this," Elizabeth Trudeau, Director in the US State Department Press Office, said in the daily press briefing here on Monday.

"This is fantastic news," she said.

In a very significant symbolic gesture, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on Sunday, India deposited its Instrument of Ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change at the United Nations.

India's Permanent Repre-

US welcomes India's ratification of Paris climate agreement

sentative Syed Akbaruddin handed over the Instrument of Ratification signed by President Pranab Mukherjee to Santiago Villalpando, the chief of the Treaties Division.

According to the provisions of the Paris Agreement, the treaty will come into force as and when 55 countries, or signatories contributing 55 per cent

of the total global harmful emissions, ratify the Agreement.

"This significant contribution towards the early entry into force of the Paris Agreement underlines Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to global cause of environmental protection and climate justice and reaffirms India's responsive leadership in addressing the im-

pact of climate change," India's Permanent Mission in the UN said in a statement.

US President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande welcomed the move and congratulated India.

"Gandhiji believed in a world worthy of our children. In joining the Paris A g r e e m e n t , @narendramodi & the Indian people carry on that legacy," Obama said in a tweet.

In her briefing on Monday, Trudeau, while stating that the US was very encouraged by India's move, said: "We care about strong climate action , and the Paris Agreement has been a matter of personal commitment and leadership for both President Obama and (Indian) Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi."

ber-states.

He sout a simple plan from SAARC members which could be agreed upon to move forward in the light of the situation.

Sri Lankan Opposition parties have been critical of the government's decision to pull out of the Summit, alleging it was a decision to "please" India while causing displeasure to Pakistan.

Other than Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have also pulled out of the summit saying the regional environment was "not conducive" for a succesfull meet.

Nepal, the SAARC Chair, has asked member-states to ensure their territories are not used for crossborder terrorism.

Students, soldiers injured in helicopter crash in Malaysia IANS Kuala Lumpur, Oct 4: At least four students and several soldiers were wounded on Tuesday when a military transport helicopter crashed into a school building in the Malaysian state of Sabah.

The Malaysian Defence Ministry said in a statement that the US-made Sikorsky aircraft had taken off around 07.30 a.m. and crashed some two hours later, EFE news reported.

The helicopter clipped the roof of the main school building after it lost altitude and then crashed between the canteen and a hall building currently under construction within the school premises.

District Police Chief Assistant Commissioner Fadil Marsus confirmed the crash.

"The helicopter had 14 soldiers on board ... for the routine daily flight exercise," the statement added.

It did not specify the exact location the helicopter took off from.

'May making 'huge mistake' Pakistan gives 'evidence' to US on 'human rights with hard Brexit' violations' in Kashmir

AFP London, Oct 4: British Prime Minister Theresa May is making a "huge mistake" by heading for a hard Brexit - severing ties with the European single market, former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has said.

"I didn't meet a single voter who voted for Brexit who wanted to see British exporters being damaged and the City of London being cut off from the single market," the 49-year-old former Liberal Democrat leader told AFP in an interview.

"I think that Theresa May and her government are making a huge mistake."

In a speech on Sunday, the prime minister said she would begin Brexit negotiations by the end of March and would prioritise controlling immigration.

Experts say that to curb immigration - one of the key issues during the June 23 referendum - Britain may have to leave the single market, which allows free movement of people.

But opponents including business leaders have called for a more gradual exit that would retain access to the single market.

And today, the pound dropped to a 31-year-low against the dollar as the markets began to price in a higher likelihood of a "hard" Brexit.

Clegg, his party's spokesman on Brexit, said it was becoming clear that the government was taking a "fairly aggressive and confrontational approach" and he was "very perplexed"

Image for representational purpose by the strategy.

Seen as one of Britain's most pro-European politicians, Clegg speaks fluent Dutch and Spanish, has a Spanish wife and spent an early part of his career as a member of the European Parliament.

After a dramatic rise to power, dubbed "Cleggmania" during the 2010, he became deputy prime minister to David Cameron in an uneasy Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.

Clegg said he tried to dissuade Cameron from his decision to hold a referendum on EU membership.

"I told him on many occasions that I thought it was very foolish to hold a referendum in effect to settle an internal party dispute," he said, suggesting Cameron was under pressure from the rise of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party.

Cameron campaigned for Britain to remain in the EU and "was convinced he

was going to win," said Clegg.

In the end, Britons voted by 52 to 48 per cent to leave the EU, sending a shockwave through the union and British politics that eventually claimed the scalp of Cameron himself.

Clegg described May, who replaced Cameron, as a technocrat who lacked the imagination and vision necessary for her job.

"She is very diligent, she is very hard-working, and she immerses herself in detail, she is quite sort of technocratic, she is quite tough, she can be quite stubborn," he said.

While Clegg said such characteristics were good qualities for a politician in government, he was not entirely positive about May's style of politics.

"I never really saw very much imagination, or flexibility, or instinct, or vision, which I think is what you need in a prime minister," he said.

IANS Islamabad, Oct 4: Pakistan has given evidence of "human rights violations" in Kashmir to the US, the Foreign Office said on Tuesday.

Pakistan's ambassador to the US Jalil Abbas Jilani on Monday gave evidence of "human rights violations in Kashmir" to US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Olson, the Foreign Office said in a statement here.

Jilani submitted a dossier containing evidence of Indian "atrocities" in Kashmir to Olson and called for the US to take action against "the human rights abuse" by Indian forces in the Kashmir Valley, Geo News reported.

He urged the US to exercise its powers as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council to put an end to the "atrocities".

Jilani said Kashmiri people should be afforded their right to self-determination and further called on the international community to send human rights organisations to Kashmir to monitor the situation there.

Recalling Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's recent state-

ment that Kashmiris and Pakistanis were inseparable, Jilani reiterated that "Islamabad would continue to extend all possible moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir for realisation of their right to selfdetermination".

The meeting with Olson comes a day after Pakistani political leaders during an 'All Parties Conference' resolved to raise the Kashmir issue at various international fora and said they stood united against Indian "aggression" and violation of human rights in Kashmir.

The tension between India and Pakistan has been high since July 9, a day after top militant Burhan Wani was killed in a gunfight with Indian security forces. Islamabad has described Wani as a "martyr".

Relations between the two neighbouring nations further deteriorated after the September 18 attack at an Indian Army camp in Uri town of north Kashmir, which left 19 soldiers dead, and the Indian Army's surgical strikes to destroy seven terror launch pads across the Line of Control in Pakistan-held Kashmir.

Pakistan's ambassador to the US Jalil Abbas Jilani

EDUCATION

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

Problems at School? How to Handle the Top 4 Issues At some point as a parent, you will likely be faced with the dreaded email from your child’s teacher telling you that your kid has crossed the line and that you need to come in for another conference—or the principal will call to tell you that your teen has missed the last week of school altogether, unbeknownst to you.

Maybe you’ve discovered that your child’s grades have plunged from acceptable to barely passing.

What’s a parent to do?

Carole Banks, MSW addresses the top four school emergencies parents struggle with the most.

1. Acting out in school When your child acts out in school, it can be worrisome, frustrating and embarrassing. On top of the actual misbehavior, you fear that he’ll make a bad name for himself—that his reputation as a troublemaker will follow him from grade to grade. You may also feel judged—and blamed—by teachers and other parents for what your child does at school.

Some kids act out when they’re feeling left out or left behind. Make sure that your child is capable of doing the class work he is being asked to do, for example. Being behind (or ahead of) the class can create boredom, frustration, and anxiety—which may lead some kids to act out verbally or physically.

I want to stress that for the most part, you should not give consequences for school misbehavior at home, unless your child is damaging school property or hurting others physically. That’s because punishing your child at home is not going to give him the skills he needs to behave more appropriately.

In some cases, letting the school hold your child accountable is enough, but in chronic or severe acting-out situations, it will be important to work with the school to get of what is going on. You may then need to work with some local supports to address the behavior.

But for the most part, leave discipline for acting out at school to school officials—don’t punish your child twice. Understand that in this case, giving consequences is far less important than figuring out what your child needs to do differently the next time he wants to act out. In other words, if you say, “You have to stay in your room because you acted

spouse can’t be there, try to get your child into in an after school program or ask another trusted adult to be there with them. ØDon’t restrict your child from privileges until his grades improve. Understand that restricting your child from all of his privileges until he brings his grades up usually backfires. In effect, you end up taking away something that might actually motivate your child to improve.

Instead, I recommend that you require your child to study for a certain amount of time each day to earn those extras that night. out in school today,” you’re not addressing the behavior and it will not help your child because you’re not teaching him anything—except how to do time. Sometimes parents assume that their kids will figure out things on their own, but if you’re dealing with a chronic issue, you have to face facts: your child has not figured it out by himself and he is not likely to do so. You need to help him. So talk to the teacher—that’s your best first step. Take it from there. You need a sense of why he’s acting out and what’s happening in order to know how you can help your child change.

And pay close attention to what your child is saying at home; he should know that all experiences are okay to share. A word of caution: One important lesson James Lehman teaches us is to support the school authorities in front of your child. If your child hears your criticism of school officials and his teachers, he is likely to be disrespectful to them in class—and also to you, later on down the line.

some steps you can take immediately:

2. Dropping Grades If your child’s grades are dropping, rule number one is to become an investigator. In other words, really find out what’s going on with your child. Is he having problems at home or with other kids at school?

Is he having a tough time adjusting to middle school or high school? Are his study habits poor—and can you work on that together? For some kids, learning disabilities and medical problems may play a role. And for still others, drug and alcohol use may be the cause of falling grades. The main thing for you to do is find out the “why” and then come up with a plan to help your child. Here are

Ø Be realistic in your goals: When you structure your child’s study time to help him bring his grades back to an acceptable level, be realistic in your goals. Remember, it took time for your child to get behind, so you need to allow time for him to catch up. Get actively involved in your child’s homework by reviewing it and helping with study strategies.

I also recommend that you try to be present during study time. I know that many parents work and can’t be at home with their children after school. As a working parent and grandparent myself, I completely understand and sympathize with that situation. If you or your

ØMeet with your child’s teacher: Call your child’s teacher and ask for a meeting. Tell her what you are seeing at home—and then ask what she has observed in the classroom.

Ask her for any ideas she might have to help your child get back on track. ØSet up more structure at home. A common problem for many kids is a lack of structure in their after school schedule.

Make sure sports or other clubs do not come first, with homework being fit in at the end of the day (when your child is exhausted). This is not a good lesson to teach your child because it gives them the message that play comes before work—and is therefore more important than work. Clubs or sports should not come before school work and family time for your child.

The bottom line is that schoolwork has to be prioritized, and a structure has to be set up so it isn’t squeezed in at the last minute.

ØTalk to your child about what’s going on. Have a frank conversation with your child about his grades. Say, “Look, I’ve been letting you manage your homework on your own, but it’s not working.

Now we’re going to set up a study time every day where I supervise your work. We can talk about not doing that once your grades get back up where they need to belong. But in the meantime, we have to seriously set aside some time to work on this.”

And remember to ask your child about his day and show that you are interested; ask questions that require a longer answer than “yes” or “no.” On the Support Line, I’ve found that when parents really make a consistent effort

to keep up with their kids, they are seldom caught unawares when it comes to dropping grades or poor school performance.

3. “I hate my teacher!”

Every so often, your child will have a teacher with whom he just can’t seem to get along. Sometimes it’s a simple personality conflict; other times, your child is having difficulty responding to authority. I

think that the very first thing to do for your child in this situation is validate how he feels. Don’t agree with him and say, “Yeah, you’re right; your teacher is a jerk.” When you undermine the teacher’s authority, you are giving your child permission to disrespect her. On the other hand, you should allow your child to share with you what it’s like in class.

Don’t tell him he’s wrong or that he shouldn’t feel a certain way. Once your child has been heard, he’ll be more receptive to hearing your ideas about what he can do to make the situation better.

If your child is old enough, he has to learn to accept the fact that certain teachers require things that he might not agree with. It’s a fact of life that not every teacher is able to give your child what he would like to have. It’s a fact of life that some teachers are quite strict; they’re not warm and fuzzy. As a parent, you definitely would not want to ask them to do their job differently. Instead, work on helping your child. Say something like, “You know, you’re going to meet a lot of people in life, and you have to learn how to get along with them.

Even though this teacher isn’t your favorite, part of your job this year is to get through it, be respectful and do your best. I wonder how we can figure out how to do that?” (There’s

nothing wrong with asking the teacher for some ideas, as well.)

If the teacher does seem to be at fault, meet with him or her and share what your child’s experience has been. You will want to try to find some middle ground if at all possible.

You might also want to bring in another administrator or official, like the school social worker, to this meeting. This will keep

PAGE 9

Why you should choose math in high school

things civil and give you some support should you need it later.

4. Skipping school If your child is skipping school—either playing sick or skipping out of classes—again, you first need to investigate and find out why. Is your child failing, being bullied, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or does he have physical problems?

Some kids develop anxiety around going to school; they can have stomach aches or headaches as a result. Younger kids might cling to parents and cry. A lot of kids will say they’re sick in order to avoid school because they have anxiety about it.

If there’s an anxiety issue at play, a visit to your child’s pediatrician to determine whether counseling is in order might be your best course of action. A skilled counselor can gently get your child over the hump and teach them ways of coping with their nervousness around school. So the reason why your child is missing school chronically needs to be understood so it can be resolved. For example, if your child is being bullied, you will need to work with the school to make sure your child is protected and that it stops.

It’s no secret that failing to attend school can lead your child or teen to become involved in risky behaviors, especially if he

is not supervised consistently at home. If your child skips school chronically, you may have to involve community services and ask them to address the underlying reasons for school truancy. The juvenile justice system does not like the idea of kids skipping school and loitering around town, so there may be hope there. You might call up your local police department and say, “I can’t get my child to go to school. Are there any resources available in this community to help me get him back on track?”

Understand that if your child is chronically skipping school, it’s usually the result of a problem that has built up for quite some time. Often it’s the end of a long string of problems, rather than the beginning.

For this reason, I believe this is an issue that’s important to nip in the bud at an early stage. So when your child’s grades start dropping or he’s coming home moody and sad, intervene then. Keep the communication open and always stay interested in what’s happened to your child from day to day—it will pay off in the end, I promise you.

A recurring problem in most rich societies is that students in general do not take enough math - despite high availability of relatively well-paid jobs in fields that demand math, such as engineering, statistics, teaching and technology. Students see math as hard, boring and irrelevant, and do not respond (at least not sufficiently) to motivational factors such as easier admission to higher education or interesting and important work.

It seems to me we need to be much more direct in our attempts to get students to learn hard sciences in general and math in particular. Hence, addressed to current and future high school students, here are 12 reasons to choose lots of math in high school: Choose math because it makes you smarter. Math is to learning what endurance and strength training is to sports: the basis that enables you to excel in the specialty of your choice.

You cannot become a major sports star without being strong and having good cardiovascular ability. You cannot become a star within your job or excel in your profession unless you can think smart and critically -- and math will help you do that.

Choose math because you will make more money.

Winners of American Idol and other "celebrities" may make money, but only a tiny number of people have enough celebrity to make money, and most of them get stale after a few years. Then it is back to school, or to less rewarding careers ("Would you like fries with that?"). If you skip auditions and the sports channels and instead do your homework - especially math -- you can go on to get an education that will get you a well-paid job. Much more than what pop singers and sports stars make -- perhaps not right away, but certainly if you look at averages and calculate it over a lifetime.

Choose math because you will lose less money.

When hordes of idiots throw their money at pyramid schemes, it is partially because they don't know enough math. Specifically, if you know a little bit about statistics and interest calculations, you can look through economic lies and wishful thinking. With some knowledge of hard sciences you will probably feel better, too, because you will avoid spending your money and your hopes on alternative medicine, crystals, magnets and other swindles -- simply because you know they don't work.

Choose math to get an easier time at college and university. Yes, it is hard work to learn math properly while in high school.

But when it is time for college or university, you can skip reading pages and pages of boring, over-explaining college texts. Instead, you can look at a chart or a formula, and understand how things relate to each other. Math is a language, shorter and more effective than other languages. If you know math, you can work smarter, not

harder.

Choose math because you will live in a global world. In a global world, you will compete for the interesting jobs against people from the whole world -- and the smart kids in Eastern Europe, India and China regard math and other "hard" sciences as a ticket out of poverty and social degradation.

Why not do as they do -get knowledge that makes you viable all over the world, not just in your home country?

Choose math because you will live in a world of constant change. New technology and new ways of doing things change daily life and work more and more. If you have learned math, you can learn how and why things work, and avoid scraping by through your career, supported by Post-It Notes and Help files -- scared to death of accidentally pressing the wrong key and running into something unfamiliar.

Choose math because it doesn't close any doors. If you don't choose math in high school, you close the door to interesting studies and careers. You might not think those options interesting now, but what if you change your mind? Besides, math is most easily learned as a young person, whereas social sciences, history, art and philosophy benefit from a little maturing -- and some math.

Choose math because you will meet it more and more in the future. Math becomes more and more important in all areas of work and scholarship. Future journalists and politicians will talk less and analyze more. Future police officers and military personnel will use more and more complicated technology. Future nurses and teachers will have to relate to numbers and technology every day. Future car mechanics and carpenters will use chip-optimization and stress analysis as much as monkey wrenches and hammers. There will be more math at work, so you will need more math at school.

Choose math so you can get through, not just into college. If you cherry-pick the easy stuff in high school, you might come through with a certificate that makes you eligible for a college education. Having a piece of paper is nice, but don't for a second think this makes you ready for college. You will notice this as soon as you enter college and have to take remedial math programs, with ensuing stress and difficulty, just to have any kind of idea what the professor is talking about.

You don't have to become a mathematician (or an engineer) because you choose math in high school. But it helps to chose math if you want to be smart, think critically, understand how and why things relate to each other, and to argue effectively and convincingly.

Math is a sharp knife for cutting through thorny problems. If you want a sharp knife in your mental tool chest -- choose math!

NATION

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

PAGE 10

No compromise on country's 10 times more securitymen injured prestige, honour: Rajnath in Kashmir than civilians: CRPF IANS Kargil, Oct 4: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said there will be no compromise on the country's prestige and honour.

"I want to assure the people that the country's honour and prestige will not be compromised with and its head will always remain high," the minister said while interacting with the media here.

He also praised the Indian armed forces and said they have the backing of the entire country.

Rajnath Singh is on a twoday visit to the Ladakh re-

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh gion as part of the Centre's outreach to Jammu and Kashmir.

The minister is meeting delegations of political par-

ties, civil society groups and individuals and taking their suggestions on the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

PTI Jamshedpur, Oct 4: The number of security personnel injured in the stonepelting and hand grenade hurling incidents during the recent unrest in Kashmir is ten times more than the figure of civilians injured, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Director General K Durga Prasad said on Tuesday.

Besides the injured securitymen of Border Security of Force (BSF), Rashtriya Rifle and Jammu and Kashmir police, 3,000 CRPF jawans were wounded in the incidents, Prasad told reporters here.

Prasad, who laid the foun-

dation of a barrack and residential quarter for the Rapid Action Force personnel here, said out of the 3,000 injured CRPF jawans, 125 were seriously wounded and many of them were still undergoing treatment in hospitals.

A combined figure of injured securitymen was ten times more than the number civilians injured in the stone pelting, grenade hurling and mob firing during the unrest in the Valley, he said.

Stating that the securitymen maintained maximum restrain, he said the forces did not fire even

Sudeep Lakhtakia and IG CRPF, Jharkhand Sanjay Lathkar, said less lethal weapons such as PAVA shells and plastic pellets were used to control mob.

10 times more securitymen injured in Kashmir than civilians: CRPF

when groups of people hurled grenade and fired at them.

"We had lost one of our Commanding Officers in Srinagar on the Indepen-

dence day in the incidents," Prasad said.

Asked about the weapons being used by the paramilitary forces, Prasad, flanked by ADG CRPF

"We used pellet guns only when the situation was out of control," he said.

Referring to barracks and quarters, Prasad said, "We are constructing 10,330 units of quarter and 55 barracks in different locations across the country, which would help reduce the quarter problem from the existing 25 per cent to 16-17 per cent in the next two years.

Centre politicising Cauvery Cauvery row: SC asks issue, alleges AIADMK K’nataka to release Repo rate cut lifts markets' mood; PTI New Delhi, Oct 4: The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday accused the Centre of politicising the Cauvery water sharing issue and asked it to withdraw the petition submitted on Monday seeking modification in the Supreme Court order.

The AIADMK MPs, led by Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha M Thambidurai, took out a protest march from Parliament House to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in South Block after the 49-member contingent was allegedly denied permission to meet the prime minister.

"The central government is engaged a political game. They want to politicise the issue," Thambidurai told reporters after the march was stopped by the security personnel in front of the PMO. "We want them to withdraw the modification petition submitted in the apex court yesterday and constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

The Centre is duty bound to uphold the majesty of law, decision of Supreme Court and final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal," the Dy Speaker said.

A seven-member team of MPs, later, met the PMO officials and submitted a memorandum addressed to the prime minister seeking his intervention in constituting the CMB. The AIADMK MPs, in

their memorandum, accused the Centre taking a stand against Tamil Nadu and its farming community.

"We were shocked to hear that the Government of India has filed an Interlocutory Application on October 3, 2016, inter alia praying that the directions of the Supreme Court to set up a Cauvery Management Board be reviewed and recalled.

"This is a total shock and a complete reversal of the stand that the Government of India has been taking thus far.... The stand taken by the Government of India is against the State of Tamil Nadu and its farming community," it said.

The memorandum to the Prime Minister also accused certain Union Ministers of taking proKarnataka stand in the Cauvery issue.

"The central Ministers belonging to Karnataka have been vociferously supporting the stand of the Karnataka Government to not release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

"This is against the constitutional obligation cast on them to be neutral in any dispute between two states, as they are Union Ministers for the whole country. This action of the Union Ministers amounts to a grave injustice to the people of Tamil Nadu," it said.

The submission also urged the Prime Minister to direct the Water Resource ministry to withdraw the modification petition.

All 49 MPs of AIADMK

including 37 from Lok Sabha and 12 from Rajya Sabha participated in the protest march.

The Supreme Court had yesterday asked the Karnataka government to apprise it by today whether it has released water to Tamil Nadu as directed by it on September 30.

The Centre had yesterday moved the apex court seeking modification of its earlier order asking it to constitute the Board by Tuesday.

On September 30, SC had directed Karnataka to discharge 6,000 cusecs water from October 1-6, warning it that no one would know when the "wrath of the law" would fall on it.

The apex court had also directed the Centre to establish the Board, saying once it was constituted, its team would visit the sites to take a prima facie view of the ground reality and submit a report.

On October 1, Karnataka had moved a review petition in the apex court against its three orders on Cauvery water release to Tamil Nadu and direction to the Centre to create the Board.

In its review petition, Karnataka said "grave miscarriage of justice" has been caused to it pursuant to the three apex court orders of September 20, 27 and 30, by which it was directed to release 6000 cusecs of water till October 6 and the Centre was to constitute the Board by October 4.

2000 cusecs of water

Supreme Court of India New Delhi, Oct 4: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the state to release 2,000 cusecs of water everyday to Tamil Nadu from October 7 to 18.

The apex court order came after it earlier on Tuesday asked Karnataka how much Cauvery river water it can share with the downstream state in this period and sought the information be conveyed to it by 3.15 pm.

The apex court had on Sep 30 ordered the Karanataka

government to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery river water every day to Tamil Nadu for six days, starting October 1, while asking it to shun its stance of continued defiance of its order.

The top court by its September 5, September 12, September 20 and September 27 had asked Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu. Except for first two orders which were partially complied with, the last two were met with total defiance.

Don't demoralise army, BJP tells Congress, Kejriwal

Ignoring BRICS is ignoring turn of history: Tharoor IANS New Delhi, Oct 4: BRICS is an alternative forum standing up to the dominant communities shaping the world policies and ignoring the BRICS bloc is ignoring the turn of the history, said Shashi Tharoor, MP and Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs.

Inaugurating the BRICS Civil Forum here on Monday, Tharoor said that BRICS nations -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, with three trillion population represent about 40 per cent of world's population. The bloc contributes 20 per cent to the world GDP and is emerging as a dominant force.

The event, jointly organized by Ministry of External, Forum for Indian Development Cooperation (FIDC), and Research and Information System for Developing Countries is an important track II event to the 8th BRICS Summit being hosted by India later this month in Goa, said a RIS press statement.

Tharoor highlighted the importance of the BRICS

civil forum in shaping the global agenda and new world order.

Speaking about the role of Civil society in BRICS, Tharoor said that civil society has an important role of influencing the agenda of the summit by having a cohesive idea among them and conveying them to government. He added BRICS countries have already created the New Development Bank and there is further need to create knowledge hub among them as there is need of globalized connected networked world.

He emphasized that BRICS countries have important role in creating future institutions.

Amar Sinha, Secretary (ER), Ministry of External Affairs, in his remarks reiterated the point that BRICS is a forum of new ideas, shaping the global narratives. Government looks at civil society to show what BRICS can do in future. He stated that India has invited BIMSTEC countries and wants to know what they expect from BRICS countries in regard to new global

agenda. If BRICS has to become more than idea, it has to reach to people and there could be no other way than civil society to go and work at the grass root levels.

Shyam Saran, Chairman, RIS, said that BRICS countries are not super powers but they are shaping the world order. These countries will decide what will be the shape of new institutional order and this new order can't be decided until the action of the government are supported by the network amongst the people from different spheres of society. Government can do better if it reaches out to people through civil society, the statement said.

The event was attended by representatives from BRICS countries.

The goal of the two-day meeting is to ensure a constructive dialogue between civil society and decision makers in the main social spheres of healthcare, food security, human security, poverty, etc as well as sustainable development, urbanisation, and financial issues.

BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad New Delhi, Oct 4: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday slammed the Congress and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for raising doubts over the surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) carried out by the Indian Army last week.

Reacting to Congress leader and former union minister P Chidambaram’s statement that a similar strike was done under the previous UPA government back in 2013, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad sought a clarification from Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

"I want to ask him (P Chidambaram) is he also joining the bandwagon of doubting capacity of our jawans in conducting,” he

said.

“Madam Sonia Gandhi, is this the official stand of the party on this issue?

Please clarify,” he added.

Taking on Kejriwal who on Monday had asked for proof of the surgical strikes, the Union Minister said that the Delhi CM should not demoralise the army.

“I want to ask Arvind Kejriwal whether he believes in the extraordinary valour of our Army. If yes, then why are you getting influenced by the false propaganda of Pakistan,” he said.

Indian security forces carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) on September 29 after a terror attack on an army camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri on September 18.

Nifty closes above 8,750

New Delhi, Oct 4: Reacting positively to RBI’s decision of rate cut, domestic equity markets extended Monday’s jumps and closed Tuesday’s trading session with gains.

Reserve Bank of India slashed key lending rates by 25 basis points in its monetary policy review on Tuesday. Now, the repo rate or the lending rate stands at 6.25 per cent while the reverse repo rate stands at 5.75 per cent.

The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed 91 points higher at 28,335 and the Nifty at the

National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed 31 points up at 8,769.

On Monday, the Sensex had closed 377 points up at 28,243 and the Nifty had closed 127 points higher at 8.738.

In the broader markets, BSE Midcap index gained 0.5 per cent while Smallcap index surged 0.7 per cent.

All the BSE sectoral indices, except Capital Goods index, closed in the positive zone with Oil & Gas index leading the gains, up 2.3 per cent. Capital Goods index declined 0.5

per cent.

Top gainers in the Sensex30 pack: ONGC (up 5 per cent), Gail (up 4.9 per cent), SBI (up 2.3 per cent), Tata Steel (up 2 per cent) and Tata Motors (up 1.9 per cent).

Top losers in the Sensex30 pack: Coal India (down 2.1 per cent), M&M (down 1.9 per cent), L&T (down 1.4 per cent), HUL (down 1 per cent) and Axis Bank (down 0.8 per cent).

Meanwhile, the Rupee was trading 10 paise higher at 66.48 against the US Dollar.

UAVs seen at Indo-Pak border, tension prevails: BSF PTI New Delhi, Oct 4: The BSF on Tuesday said "tension" prevails along the western front in the wake of surgical strikes conducted by Indian forces and it has witnessed movement of UAVs very close to the Indo-Pak border in the recent past.

As part of measures to beef up overall security, the border guarding force has also reviewed the preparedness of security mechanisms along the eastern front with Bangladesh so that terrorists are not able to use that country to sneak into India and launch attacks.

"No doubt, the overall vigil has been increased (along western borders). All the defence and security forces establishments are on their highest alert.

There is tension on the western border..we are having active engagement (with Pakistan) at the Line of Control and we are receiving shelling from the other side. However, we are in supportive role at the LoC (to army)," BSF Director General KK Sharma told reporters here.

He said the BSF and their Bangladeshi counterparts Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), as part of the biannual talks that concluded here today, also did "touch upon" the security situation post the surgical strikes conducted by

UAVs seen at Indo-Pak border, tension prevails: BSF

army across the LoC and that both the forces are on "high vigil."

"There is no new input (about Bangladeshi territory being used by terrorists)...however, vigil has been increased along the Indo-Bangla border too," he said.

Sharma added that while there is "tension" at the International Border (IB) that runs along Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, there has been no ceasefire violation till now in these areas.

"We have noticed UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) coming 100 meters upto the border...may be they (Pakistani forces) want to check our preparedness but I can assure you that we are fully capable of giving a befitting reply and we will not allow any nefarious design of terrorists to succeed," he said.

The BSF chief added the force has not issued any order for vacating villages on the border and such directives may have been issued by the respective civil administrations of the states.

"We are even allowing Indian farmers to go to their farms which are beyond the Indo-Pak fence. We have never said vacate villages, people may have shifted out as precautionary measure. Now, people who had gone are coming back. There has been no untoward incident at the IB till now," he said.

Talking about a recent incident at the Attari-Wagah retreat ceremony, Sharma said an incident was reported where a "stone" was thrown towards the Indian side but it did not hit anyone and the matter was brought to the notice of their counterparts Pakistan Rangers.

Situation still 'live' after surgical strikes: IAF chief IANS New Delhi, Oct 4: The situation on the frontier with Pakistan is still "live" after the surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads by the Indian Army across the Line of Control (LOC) in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief said

Tuesday, adding that the force is fully capable of handling any eventuality, including a two-front war.

"Things are still live," Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said while addressing the annual Indian Air Force press conference ahead of Air Force Day on October 8 but refused to

answer questions on last week's surgical strikes.

Asked about IAF's preparedness in case of a two-front war, Raha said: "We are always ready and we will be ready."

He said the IAF had adequate resources to take on any challenge.

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

TECHNOLOGY

Google to launch Pixel and Pixel XL today, Verizon leaks 'Google Magic' feature Google is all set to launch the Pixel and Pixel XL today. The two phones bring an end to Google's Nexus line of smartphones.

Google is also expected to launch Chromecast Ultra, Google Wi-Fi and Google Home at the hardware event. While Google tried its best to keep it a secret, the two phones have leaked online over the last few months, and by now there is a little that is a secret anymore.

In the last few days, first Bell leaked the phone's photo and later UK-based retailer Carphone Warehouse went ahead and listed the Pixel and Pixel XL on its website with specifications and feature details. According to Gizmodo, Verizon Wireless not just listed the phones on its website but also revealed a mysterious feature named 'Google Magic'. The two phones were later removed from the listing. The famous tipster, Evan Blass, has also

The Google Pixel phone has a 5-inch AMOLED display with 1920 X 1080 pixel resolution, and is also topped with Gorilla Glass 4. The smaller phone has a 2770mAh battery.

posted photos of the two phones on his Twitter handle.

Despite all the leaks and rumours, Google Magic is a new word and almost nothing is known about it

A Cyber security company on Wednesday asserted that the hack of 500 million accountcredentials from Yahoo was the work of an Eastern European criminal gang, adding another layer of intrigue to a murky investigation into the unprecedented data heist.

providing technical evidence. Nation-state hackers are widely viewed as possessing more advanced capabilities than criminal groups, a perception that could benefit Yahoo as it works to minimize fallout from the breach and complete its sale to Verizon Communications Inc.

Arizona-based InfoArmor issued a report whose conclusion challenged Yahoo's position that a nation-state actor orchestrated the heist, disclosed last week by the internet company.

InfoArmor, which provides companies with protection against employee identify theft, said the hacked trove of user data was later sold to at least three clients, including one state-sponsored group.

InfoArmor concluded the Yahoo hackers were criminal after reviewing a small sample of compromised accounts, Andrew Komarov, the firm's chief intelligence officer, said in an interview. .

The hackers, dubbed Group E, have a track record of selling stolen personal data on the dark web, and have been previously linked to breaches at LinkedIn, Tumblr and MySpace, Komarov said.

Reuters was unable to verify the report's findings. Yahoo declined comment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the hack, did not return a call seeking comment..

"They have never been hired by anyone to hack Yahoo," Komarov, who is from Russia, said. "They were simply looking for well known sites that had many users."

Yahoo said last week that it only recently discovered the intrusion, which it blamed on a statesponsored actor without

Motorola launches Moto Z, Moto Z Play smartphones at Rs 39,999 and Rs 24,999 respectively

AMOLED display with 2560 X 1440 pixel resolution. The screen is topped with Gorilla Glass 4. The Google Pixel XL will also have a bigger battery at 3450mAh.

Cyber firm challenges Yahoo claim hack was state-sponsored

A U.S. government source familiar with the Yahoo investigation said there was no hard evidence yet on whether the hack was state-sponsored.

Attribution for cyber attacks is widely considered difficult in both the intelligence and research communities.

PAGE 11

In an illustration of the confusion about who carried out the hack and why, an NBC News report Wednesday interpreted Komarov's findings as pointing to the Russian government as the ultimate perpetrator.

A Wall Street Journal report, which said that InfoArmor was able to crack encrypted passwords for some Yahoo accounts provided by the newspaper, came to the opposite conclusion.

yet. Google Magic could very well be Google Assistant's fancier name, or something else altogether.

We will know more about this tonight at the launch.

The Verizon listing shows three colour variants

of the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. The phones will be available in blue, black and white colours.

According to reports, it is known that the Pixel XL will come with a 5.5-inch

Rest of the features on Pixel and Pixel XL are similar. Both the phones have a 12-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture.

On the front, the phones carry an 8-megapixel snapper. There is a fingerprint scanner on the back.

Both the phones are powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 821, along with 4GB RAM. The Pixel and Pixel XL will have two storage variants at 32GB and 128GB. The two phones will come with Android 7.1 Nougat.

WhatsApp's camera update lets users draw and add text over the images With over a billion users, WhatsApp is the most widely used chat app at present. Not just that it is also one of the simplest apps. It seems the Facebook-owned company has been on a roll to keep its reach intact. WhatsApp has released an update that lets users draw or add text over the images clicked by the app's camera.

Users can even add emojis over the photos and can automatically see the new editing tools when capturing a new photo or video or share one that's already on their phone. The new editing tools include a new pencil tool and T button. Alike Snapchat, these tools are used to scribble or draw on

photos clicked by the app's camera.

Users will also find a front facing flash when clicking selfies from the WhatsApp's camera. Please note that this update is only for the WhatsApp's camera and not the phone's camera. When clicking photos, a flash-like effect is seen on the screen.

Phones that do not have a front facing flash will use display panel for the effect.Ă— WhatsApp is the most popular chat app in the world and has over 1 billion monthly active users. The company recently also released the voicemail feature for its iOS and Android users. The feature allows to send a voicemail to a WhatsApp contact if he/she fails to take

Lenovo-owned Motorola has finally launched its 'Z -series' of smartphones in India. The company has launched Moto Z and its modular smartphone Moto Z Play with Motorola Mods.

Priced at Rs 39,999, Moto Z is claimed to be the slimmest premium smartphone in the world at 5.2mm. Moto Z runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system out-ofthe-box and features a 5.5inch Quad HD display of 1440x2560 pixel resolution. Under-the-hood, it packs a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor clubbed with 4GB RAM.

the WhatsApp call for any reason. Once enabled, the feature will allow people to leaves voice messages. If a person calls someone on WhatsApp and the call is missed or rejected, the app gives three options to the On camera front, Moto user: call again, cancel and Z houses a 13MP rear voice message. camera with laser-assisted The call again feature allows the person to call back and tapping on "cancel" closes the window, which is seen after the call is missed.

The "voice message" allows a users to send the message.

To do so a user has to press the record button, speak the message, remove fingers from the screen and the message is sent to the intended WhatsApp user.

autofocus, along with a 5MP front-facing shooter.

It includes 32GB/64GB of in-built storage, which can be expanded up to 2TB via microSD cards.

The smartphone supports 4G, LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB Type-C and GPS as connectivity options, and is backed by a 2,600mAh battery.

There's Turbo Charging support as well. The company has also ditched the traditional 3.5mm audio jack in the Moto Z smartphone.

The other launch Moto Z Play smartphone sports a price tag of Rs 24,999. the Moto Z Play runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out-of-the box and features a 5.5-inch full HD (1080x1920 pixels) resolution Super Amoled display. It is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor with 3GB RAM. Besides 32GB of inbuilt storage, the handset includes the usual connectivity features and has a battery capacity of 3,510mAh, which the company claims, can last up to 50 hours of use on a single charge. In addition, Moto Z Play supports Turbopower charging. On the camera front, the smartphone sports a 16MP rear camera and a 5MP front-facing camera. Moto Z Play comes in Black with Silver trim and White with Fine Gold trim colour options.

Along with the two smartphones, the company has also launched Motorola Mods. The Moto Mods are modular accessories for Moto Z series smartphones.Moto Mods launched include Moto InstaShare projector, JBL SoundBoost, Moto PowerPack and Moto Mod camera.

As the name suggests, the Moto InstaShare projector comes with inbuilt projector. It aims to transform the smartphone into a projector with just a snap.

JBL SoundBoost comes equipped with a JBL speaker and promises an enhanced sound experience.

Moto Mod camera comes with Hasselblad True Zoom mod and features 10x Optical Zoom with Xenon flash, ability to shoot in RAW format, physical shutter and zoom controls. It also allows users to edit images in Hasselblad's Phocus software.

Moto PowerPack comes with an inbuilt charger which will promises to give big boost to the smartphone's battery.

iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus up for sale in India, here are offers and discounts you will get ple's latest smartphones - iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus -- are now available for purchase. Though the phones will be available in India only after October 7, e-commerce companies Amazon and Flipkart have started accepting the preorders for both the phones.

Many offline retailers too are taking the pre-orders.

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available in 32GB, 128GB and 256GB storage variants in silver, gold and rose gold colours.

The new jet black colour variant will come only in 128GB and 256GB variants.

While Flipkart has partnered with Apple to sell the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in India, Amazon India will sell them via third-party seller. Both the companies have come up with enticing deals and offers to attract more and more customers.

So, for those who are eying the new iPhones and planning to buy one, the two companies have lots of interesting offers and freebies for you. Here is what you can expect when you open a web page to buy the shiny new iPhone from an e-retail site.

On Flipkart

Since Flipkart has partnered with Apple, there's no third-party seller involved in the process. The company will sell the phones directly via WS Retail which is the in-house retailer. Site has a page devoted to iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. The phones are available for pre-orders only in select cities: Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru and you will have to pay the full amount at the time of placing the order itself.

The iPhone 7(32GB) is available at Rs 60, 000, Rs 70,000 for the 128 GB variant and finally Rs 80,000 for the 256 GB version.

Similarly the iPhone 7 Plus for 32GB is priced at Rs 72,000, the 128 GB costs Rs 82,000 and finally the 256 GB version is for Rs 92,000. The jet black variant for both the phones is out of stock.

The company is giving a discount of up to Rs 24,500 if you are exchange your old iPhone.

Here's the list of exchange offer: r Rs 3,300 off in exchange of iPhone 4 rRs 4,000 for iPhone 4S r Rs 6,500 for iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5C

rRs 8,900 for iPhone 5S r Rs 17,900 for iPhone 6

r Rs 19,300 for 6 Plus

r Rs 21,700 for the iPhone 6S r And a discount of Rs 24,500 in exchange of iPhone 6S Plus.

The company assures the delivery of the phones to those who are pre-booking them by October 8. Buyers can also avail the EMI plans starting Rs 2,910 per month for 32GB variant, Rs 3,879 per month for 128 GB version and Rs 3,879 for its 256 GB version in case of iPhone 7. The iPhone 7 Plus buyers can buy the phone at EMI starting for Rs 492 per month for 32GB, Rs 3,976 per month for 128 GB and Rs 4,461 per month for the 246 GB variant.

Company is also giving Rs 10,000 cashback for Citi Bank Credit Card holders, which will be credited by January 8, 2017. The offer period start from September 30, 2016 , 12: 01 AM and lasts till October 01, 2016 11:59 PM 2016 or until the stock is there on the site.

The Offer is also applicable on EMI transactions on the credit card.

On Amazon India Amazon, which is the leading e-retailer in India at present, is also offering exciting offers and deals on the new iPhones. Since the company is not into a retail partnership with Apple for the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus, the phones on this portal are sold by thirdparty sellers.

for 128GB and Rs 8,217 per month for the 256 GB version. The EMI rates are different for each bank for both Flipkart and Amazon customers.

A "No-Cost EMI" option is also available on Amazon India, valid from September 30, 2016 to October 7, 2016. The plan looks like this:

iPhone 7 On Amazon, buyers will have option to get cashback of up to Rs 11,000 on iPhone 7 purchase done using HDFC Bank card between October 1 and October 5. EMI plans are also available starting Rs 5,359 per month for 32GB variant, Rs 6,252 for 128GB and Rs 7,145 per month for 256 GB in case of iPhone. The iPhone 7 Plus buyers can avail the EMI plans starting Rs 6,430 per month for 32GB, Rs 7,324 per month

r For 32GB: Rs 1,400 for 3 months, Rs 2,500 for 6 months, Rs 4,000 for 9 months and Rs 5,000 for 12 months. r For 128GB: Rs 1,600 for 3 months, Rs 3,000 for 6 months, Rs 4,500 for 9 month and Rs 6,000 for the 12 months plan. r For 256GB: Rs 1,800 for 3 months, Rs 3,500 for 6 months, Rs 5,000 for 9

months and Rs 7,000 for the 12 months plan.

iPhone 7 Plus For 32GB: Rs 1,600 for 3 months, Rs 3,000 for 6 months, Rs 5,000 for 9 months and Rs 6,000 for 12 months.

For 128GB: Rs 1,800 for 3 months, Rs 3,500 for 6 months, Rs 5,500 for 9 months and Rs 7,000 for 12 months.

For 256GB: Rs 2,000 for 3 months, Rs 4,000 for 6 months, Rs 6,000 for 9 months and Rs 8,000 for 12 months. iPhone buyers on Amazon will also get 80 per cent discount on Kindle eBooks, up to Rs 1,000. Those who preorder the iPhone7 and signup for the Prime One-year membership will receive Rs 500 Amazon.in Gift card.

cmyk

cmyk

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

PAGE 12

Indian Super League 2016: NorthEast United FC 2-0 FC Lodha committee vs BCCI: We can't run the Goa: Emiliano Alfaro propels Highlanders to top of the table game without money, says Anurag Thakur Guwahati, Oct 4: Emiliano Alfaro was the star on show at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati as the Uruguayan's brace (20', 62') set NorthEast United on course for a 2-0 home win over FC Goa, making it two wins in two for the Highlanders, sending them to the top of the Indian Super League (ISL) standings.

NorthEast United’s head coach Nelo Vingada made a solitary change to his eleven from the opening day victory against Kerala Blasters. Defensive midfielder Wellington Priori was introduced as a replacement for Nicolas Velez, as the Highlanders chose to go in with only one attacking option in Alfaro.

Halicharan Narzary kept his place but was shifted to the left flank as Katsumi Yusa was pushed into the right channel, a position he was familiar to playing in at Mohun Bagan. Marquee Didier Zokora, who was declared unfit for the full ninety, was benched yet again.

FC Goa missed out on the services of five players in Robin Singh, Denzil Franco, Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, Gregory Arnolin and Luciano Sobrosa.

The Gaurs lined up in a 4-4-1-1 formation with Raju Gaikwad, Rafael Dumas, Fulganco Cardozo and marquee Lucio as

part of the defensive line. Sanjay Balmuchu made a surprise start in midfield alongside Trindade Goncalves, Richarlyson Barbosa and Mandar Rao Dessai. Jofre Mateu was deployed as the number ten with Rafael Coelho leading the line.

Ten Indian players, eight Brazilians and one each from Uruguay, Japan, Ivory Coast and Spain walked onto the pitch featuring in the game.

Contrary to the dull opener on the weekend at the same venue, this match got off to an exciting start with some end-to-end action. Katsumi Yusa won a freekick early on but the home side chose to pass the ball backwards and build possession.

The home side got their first sniff of goal in the 12th minute of the game when Romaric crossed it for Alfaro who failed to connect it on the first attempt. Katsumi Yusa latched onto the loose ball but his shot was well saved by Kattimani.

NorthEast United broke the deadlock in bizarre fashion in the 20th minute. Lucio passed the ball to Laxmikant Kattimani and the Goan goalkeeper felt the wrath early from a charging Emiliano Alfaro. The Uruguayan pressured Kattimani into a half-baked clearance only

ball was helplessly put out of play by a wayward Romeo shot.

The home side sent the crowd into a frenzy two minutes past the hour mark. Halicharan Narzary redeemed himself after a poor performance in the first game with a serendipitous sideways heel-flick which cut open the opposition back-line.

Alfaro moved forward to deposit the ball into the net between the legs of Kattimani to put the Highlanders two to the good.

Emiliano Alfaro for the ball to rebound off Alfaro’s belly into the net.

Didier Zokora was introduced for the second time in the league off the bench as Mailson Alves went off after picking an injury.

The Gaurs had their first big chance of the game late into the first-half when Mandar Rao Dessai befooled Reagan Singh and dribbled in from the left to square it to Jofre who shot it right into the fists of Paul. Not much was made of the rebound as Cardozo shot it wide.

At half-time, the home side were looking at their first ever win over the Zico coached unit.

Sanjay Balmuchu was taken off to introduce Romeo Fernandes as FC Goa opted for a 4-2-3-1 post the breather. Romeo and Mandar were deployed as the two wide attackers with Jofre operating as the number ten.

Ten minutes into the half, Subrata Paul pulled off a blinder from a long range shot from Trindade Goncalves. Only three minutes later, Paul was into the act again. Mandar’s first time shot from inside the box was frantically saved and Trindade followed that up with an effort of his own from the left. Paul dived at full stretch and managed to keep it out but the loose

With ten minutes to go, Kattimani was again on the firing line as Nicolas Velez pranced into the penalty box.

He chose to pass it to an unmarked Alfaro whose shot was blocked by Raju.

With five minutes of added time, the tempo fuddled down a bit as NorthEast United collected their first ever victory against the mighty FC Goa since the inception of the ISL. They also condemned Goa to just their fifth away loss stretching across the three seasons of the ISL. ‘Professor’ Nelo Vingada helped his side to the top of the table as they collected six points from two games within just the first four days of the third edition of the ISL.

Amir flies home to Robert Lewandowski sick mother, will miss says Jurgen Klopp can lead Liverpool to title Abu Dhabi ODI Lahore, Oct 4: Left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Amir will not play the third one-day international against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Tuesday.

"Amir is returning Pakistan today due to serious illness of his mother.

The team management has allowed him to travel back home," a statement released by the Board said.

On Sunday, Azhar Ali-led Pakistan clinched the three-match ODI series

by beating the West Indies in the second ODI in Sharjah by 59 runs.

They had won the first game, too, by 111 Mohammad runs at Amir the same venue on Friday.

Amir picked up a wicket in each of the two matches.

Pakistan, who play the last ODI in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday (tomorrow),

need to beat the West Indies 3-0 to climb one rank to eighth, displacing their opponents [currently eighth] to ninth.

Both teams are fighting to get an automatic place in the 2019 World Cup. Hosts England and the seven highest-ranked sides in the one-day rankings on September 30 next year will qualify directly for the World Cup. The bottom four teams in the standings will be joined by the top six Associate sides in a 10-team qualifying round in 2018 from where two teams will qualify.

Notice to BCCI on 'Bias' in Chhattisgarh Ranji Team Selection Bilaspur, Oct 4: Chhattisgarh High Court has issued notice to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the state cricket association over a PIL alleging bias in the selection of Chhattisgarh Ranji trophy team.

A division bench of justices Pritinker Diwaker and Chandra Bhusan Bajpai served notices to BCCI and Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh (CSCS) yesterday seeking their replies, while

hearing the PIL filed by former cricketer R Vijay Naidu (a resident of Raipur), petitioner's lawyer Saurabh Dangi said.

The petitioner has alleged bias in the selection of Chhattisgarh state team which will make its Ranji Trophy debut in this season, he said.

The petition contended that rules of selection and other activities related to Ranji trophy team are not available on the website of CSCS, like it is in other

states.

Despite the apex court clear directives in BCCI vs Bihar Cricket Association case that transparency should not be compromised at any level, Chhattisgarh ignored it, he alleged.

The petitioner further alleged that three players, namely Rishabh Tiwari, Avinash Dhariwal and Ashutosh Singh, were inducted in the team without taking part in the selection trial, he said.

(PTI)

Robert Lewandowski has backed Liverpool to challenge for the Premier League title with "ruthless" Jurgen Klopp in charge.

Infantino, speaking during an event at Bogota`s Sergio Arboleda university, said a final decision would be taken by the FIFA Council in January, Colombian media reported. A FIFA spokesperson confirmed that the reports were accurate.

"These are ideas to find the best solution, we will debate them this month and we will decide everything by 2017," Infantino was quoted as saying. "They are ideas which we put forward to see which one

is the best."

Infantino said his suggestion was to have a preliminary knockout round involving 32 teams played in the host country, with the 16 winners reaching the group stage. A further 16 seeded teams would get a bye into the group stage, he said.

"The idea is that 16 teams would qualify directly to the group stage and the other 32 would play in a preliminary phase, in the country where the World

Thakur said it was unfortunate that they were not allowed to release funds to the state associations Lodha clarified it did not direct the banks to freeze BCCI's accounts "Has BCCI not done anything at all these years, these questions need to be answered," BCCI president Anurag Thakur said.

New Delhi, Oct 4: BCCI president Anurag Thakur on Tuesday refused to speculate on the fate of the ongoing Test series with New Zealand but categorically stated that the game cannot be run without money even as the Lodha Panel clarified it did not direct the banks to freeze cricket Board's accounts.

Thakur said it was unfortunate that they were not allowed to release funds to the state associations, which depend on them for money for hosting the games.

"I can't talk about whether series will go on or not but if players and associations are not paid, it raises serious at a time when the team is number one in Tests, No 2 in T20s, No 3 in ODIs. It's the most powerful Board. We have created a successful tournament like IPL. We can't run the game without money," Thakur said.

"BCCI does not take any money from outside whether it's central or state government.

Banks were told not to release payments. It is unfortunate that such a situation has arisen.

Has BCCI not done anything at all these years, these questions needed to be answered," Thakur fumed.

Taking an exception to the defiance of its recommendations, the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha panel had directed banks, where BCCI holds accounts, not to disburse "large" funds to the state associations, a decision taken by the Board at its Special General Meeting on September 30.

"Questions are being raised

about BCCI when we have increased the Test cricketers match fee from 7 lakh to 15 lakh. Most state units are unsure how they will be able to host games in this home season. They need to decide whether they can host the games or not, with or without money," Thakur said.

However, Lodha clarified that they did not ask the banks to block the BCCI accounts.

"We have not frozen the accounts of BCCI; we have directed the BCCI to not disburse funds to the state association. Day to day affairs, routine expenditure, matches, games, that should go on.

There is absolutely no prohibition," Lodha said.

The BCCI argued that state associations were dependant on the parent body for organising matches and they were unable to carry on their functioning in the wake of the latest directive from the Lodha panel, affecting their preparations for the upcoming games in the ongoing series against New Zealand.

"The members are pained at the treatment meted out to them.

They are dependent on BCCI's funds for organising matches.

So far seven associations have communicated their inability to host games in the home season while nine of them have inquired about the matter. If things are the way they are, the series (against New Zealand) could be called off by today evening," a senior BCCI official said.

"There is too much interference at the moment. People need to

"If things are the way they are, the series (against New Zealand) could be called off by today evening," a BCCI official said realise India has become a cricketing super power under BCCI's administration. We are the only sports body which has not taken a single penny from anyone including the government. We have created all the infrastructure on our own," the senior Board functionary added.

The all-out war between Lodha panel and BCCI took an uglier turn after the panel, in its letter yesterday, told the banks to block BCCI's payments to the state bodies.

"It has come to the notice of this Committee that certain decisions have been taken at the 'Emergent Working Committee' meeting of the BCCI on 30th September 2016 to disburse large funds to the various member associations," the panel had written.

"You are also aware that the BCCI has chosen to breach the judgement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court as well as the first set of Timelines set out by this Committee which includes the Fund Disbursement policy to be framed by 30.9.2016.

"As the status report is to be taken up for directions by the Hon'ble Court on Thursday, 6.10.2016, you are hereby directed not to take any steps towards financial disbursement of the amounts as resolved/approved after the direction dated 31.8.2016. Any violation of this direction will be placed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court for appropriate directions," it added.(PTI)

Jurgen Klopp and Robert Lewandowski worked together at Borussia Dortmund London, Oct 4: Liverpool has enjoyed a positive start to the season, winning five of their seven league matches, including victories at Arsenal and Chelsea.

Lewandowski, who worked under Klopp at Borussia Dortmund, thinks they have a "real chance" of competing for the title.

"Under Klopp I think they will be fighting for the title this season," Lewandowski told Goal.

"Pep and Manchester City will not make it easy for anybody to win the title, but Liverpool have a real chance.

"Without European football it can really help them with being fresh for games and with injuries and, even though Klopp is

always smiling, he is ruthless enough to take advantage of that."

Klopp twice led Borussia Dortmund to the Bundesliga title and also to the final of the Champions League.

"I have watched some Liverpool games since the arrival of Klopp, and you can see that the players are enjoying playing for him," Lewandowski added "As a player you know that he totally has your back, he is like a father figure and, because you have that trust in him as a player, it makes you totally open to his methods and his ideas which, in the long term, you always see are for the benefit of your game and for the team."(Agencies)

FIFA chief Gianni Infantino suggests 48-team World Cup Bogota, Oct 4: FIFA president Gianni Infantino, whose election promises included expanding theWorld Cup finals to 40 countries, on Monday proposed an even larger tournament involving 48 teams.

However, he suggested that 16 of those teams would go home after just one knockout match, and the remainder of the tournament would be played, as now, with a 32-team group stage, followed by a knockout phase.

HIGHLIGHTS

Cup is being played - they would play for the remaining 16 places," he said.

"It means we continue with a normal World Cup for 32 teams, but 48 teams go to the party.

"FIFA`s idea is to develop football in the whole world, and the World Cup is the biggest event there is," he added. "It`s more than a competition, it`s a social event."

Infantino was elected FIFA chief on Feb. 26 to replace Sepp Blatter, who received

a six-year ban for ethics violations.

A key point of Infantino`s election platform was to increase the tournament to 40 teams, although critics say this number creates difficulties in finding a suitable and simple format.

Germany coach Joachim Loew said on Sunday that a larger tournament would "dilute" its sporting value, while European clubs have strongly opposed an increase in the number of teams.(Agencies)

India Women Hockey Team

Vandana Katariya to lead India women's hockey team at Asian Champions Trophy India skipper Vandana feels the tournament will help the team access where they stand.

New Delhi, Oct 4: Forward Vandana Katariya was named as captain of the 18-member Indian women hockey squad for the Asian Champions Trophy, scheduled to be played in Singapore from October 29.

Defender Sunita Lakra was named as the vice captain of the side as Sushila Chanu, who led the side during the Rio Olympic Games has been omitted.

The Indian team has two goalkeepers, five forwards, six mid-fielders and five defenders. The tournament will feature defending Champions Japan, China, Korea and Malaysia apart from India.

"Though the Olympics could have ended better for the girls, they are high on confidence as they got to see what it really takes to play at the highest level and are vying to show-

case top quality hockey during the Asian Champions Trophy," said chief coach Neil Hawgood.

"The team has been training at SAI, Bhopal over the past three weeks and are looking fresh from a well-deserved break post Rio," Hawgood added.

Vandana feels the tournament will help the team access where they stand.

"I feel honoured to lead the team as they are a great bunch and we understand each other's weak and strong points. Rio was a great experience and there is a lot of scope for us to improve and I feel this tournament will help us understand where we stand and how we can improve our game as a team as well as individually," she said.

The Squad: GOALKEEPERS: Savita and Rajani Etimarpu DEFENDERS: Deep Grace Ekka, Renuka Yadav, Sunita Lakra, Hnialum Lal Ruat Feli and Namita Toppo MIDFIELDERS: Nikki Pradhan, Navjot Kaur, Monika, Rani, Deepika and Navdeep Kaur.

FORWARDS: Poonam Rani, Anuradha Devi Thokchom, Vandana Katariya, Preeti Dubey and Punam Barla.

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