Messi to make a comeback for Argentina

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March 22, 2019

Argentina head coach, Lionel Scaloni confirmed that Lionel Messi will play for Argentina and will make his comeback against Venezuela on March 23.

Messi has not played for his country since elimination from the 2018 World Cup and this will be Messi’s first feature for his country.

“It is a great joy to see Messi back. In spite of my youth I have the chance to train him,” Goal.com quoted Scaloni, as saying.

While hoping that Messi’s comeback will further strengthen Argentina, Scaloni said, “Let’s hope that with Messi’s return the team gets even better.”

The 31-year old is showing a great form in the Champions League, so Argentina will be hoping if he can replicate his form.

The Albiceleste will face Colombia, Paraguay, and Qatar in Group B of the Copa America, which is hosted by Brazil.

ODI rankings: Smriti Mandhana, Jhulan Goswami retain top spots

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Web Team

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March 22, 2019

India opener Smriti Mandhana and fast bowler Jhulan Goswami on Friday consolidated their top spots for the batters and bowlers, respectively, in the updated ICC Women’s ODI player rankings.

Mandhana leads the batters list, thanks to her brilliant performance against England in Mumbai last month. The top five saw no change as Ellyse Perry of Australia, Kiwi captain Amy Satterthwaite, India captain Mithali Raj, and West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor, all retained their places.

In the bowlers’ rankings, Australia’s Jess Jonnasen, Pakistan’s Sana Mir, Megan Schutt of Australia and Shikha Pandey of India form the list led by Goswami.

There are no changes in the top five all-rounders comprising Ellyse Perry of Australia, West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor, South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk, Deepti Sharma of India and Natalie Sciver of England.

Meanwhile, Australia are on the verge of qualification after only 12 matches, as they lead the ICC Women’s Championship table with 22 points. England have moved up to second place in the point table with 18 points from 15 matches.

India are at the third spot with 16 points from 15 matches while New Zealand have 14 points from 15 matches and South Africa have 13 from 12 matches, to settle at fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

Australia not underdog in World tournament, says Finch

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Web Team

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March 22, 2019

Australia captain, Aaron Finch opined that Australia should not be considered as underdogs as they have a great ability to play well in big tournaments.

“Australia are probably never true underdogs in a world tournament. I think our record suggests that. Regardless of the form you go into the tournament [knowing] Australia have a great ability to play well in big tournaments,” ICC (International Cricket Council) quoted Finch, as saying.

Finch-led Australia won both T20 series as well as ODI series against India, which evidently boosted the morale of Australia team. The defending champions may not be among the favourites of many former players but their recent series win against India has made them cynosure of all eyes and are being considered as a strong World Cup contender.

Moreover, the Australia team is about to witness the comeback of the banned duo, Steve Smith and David Warner, which will further succour the team with their experience.

Although, the selectors have decided to name the same squad for their series against Pakistan in UAE, they will have a hard time selecting their squad for the World Cup as they will have to make room for the banned duo.

The first ODI between Australia and Pakistan will be played in Sharjah on March 22.

This govt needs to stop pretending to be Indian Army: Akhilesh

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Web Team

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March 22, 2019

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said the sacrifices of the armed forces should never be questioned, but advised the government “to stop pretending to be the Indian Army”.

He also said that in a democracy it was a “fundamental right” to ask questions to politicians.

His remarks assume significance in the light of his party leader Ram Gopal Yadav claiming that the Pulwama terror attack was a “conspiracy” to garner votes.

The SP chief tweeted, “This government needs to stop pretending to be the Indian Army.”

Politicians who say that they cannot be questioned are dangerous, he said.

SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Thursday alleged that the Pulwama terror attack was a “conspiracy” to garner votes.

Ram Gopal, a general secretary in the Samajwadi Party (SP), also said that once there is a change at the Centre, investigations will be conducted into the incident and claimed that prominent people will come under the scanner.

Demonetisation was to whitewash black money: Yechury

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Web Team

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March 22, 2019

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Friday said that demonetisation was to “whitewash” black money, amidst reports that the current cash in circulation has jumped by more than 19 per cent from the pre-note ban days.

Media reports have indicated that the cash in circulation has jumped by 19.14 per cent to Rs 21.41 lakh crore as on March 15 this year from the pre-demonetisation level of Rs 17.97 lakh crore on November 4, 2016.

“Demonetisation by Modi on a whim, against all advice from RBI, was a way to whitewash black money. We know how jobs and lives were destroyed by notebandi. Now claims like ‘cashless’ economy also have turned out to be false and misleading Jumlas. #DemonetisationDisaster,” Yechury tweeted.

Delhi court sends close aide of Pulwama attack mastermind to NIA custody till Mar 29

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Web Team

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March 22, 2019

A Delhi court Friday sent alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Sajjad Khan, a close aide of Pulwama attack mastermind Muddasir, to NIA custody till March 29.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had sought his custody for 10 days from Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Syal.

Advocate M S Khan, appearing for Sajjad Khan, opposed the agency’s demand.

Sajjad Khan (27), a resident of Pulwama was arrested near the Lajpat Rai market late Thursday night.

Mudassir had tasked him with establishing a sleeper cell in Delhi, police said.

Forty Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14 after a JeM suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into their bus.

Oppn natural habitat of terror apologists, insults forces: PM Modi

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Web Team

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March 22, 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a fresh offensive on rival parties over the Pulwama terror attack and the subsequent IAF strike inside Pakistan, terming the Opposition “the natural habitat of terror apologists” and accusing them of “insulting” armed forces.

Using the hashtag ‘Janta Maaf Nahi Karegi’ (people will not forgive) in a tweet, Modi attacked Sam Pitroda, who looks after the Congress’ overseas affairs, for reportedly saying that post the Mumbai terror attacks, India could have responded with air strikes, but “according to me that’s not how you deal with world.”

“Loyal courtier of the Congress’ royal dynasty admits what the nation already knew- Congress was unwilling to respond to forces of terror. This is a New India – we will answer terrorists in a language they understand and with interest!,” Modi said.

“Opposition insults our forces time and again. I appeal to my fellow Indians – question Opposition leaders on their statements. Tell them- 130 crore Indians will not forgive or forget the Opposition for their antics. India stands firmly with our forces,” he added, using the hashtag.

In another tweet, the Prime Minister slammed Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, who alleged the Pulwama attack was a “conspiracy” to garner votes.

“This was a conspiracy but, when there will be a change of government, investigations will be done and prominent people will come under the scanner, who had pushed our youth to death to garner votes,” he alleged on Thursday speaking at a programme at Saifai.

PM Modi termed the statement reprehensible.

“Opposition is the natural habitat of terror apologists and questioners of our armed forces. This reprehensible statement by a senior leader like Ram Gopal Ji insults all those who have given their lives in protecting Kashmir. It humiliates the families of our martyrs,” he said.

The PM in his tweets tagged the reported statements of Yadav and Pitroda.

Mumbai Port Trust – Multiple Issues, No Easy Solutions

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Web Team

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March 22, 2019

No discussion about Mumbai’s notoriously land-starved real estate market is complete without mentioning the massive tracts of land held by various Government and non-Government agencies and bodies. Arguably, Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) is currently one of the largest landowners in the country’s otherwise land-scarce financial capital.

Mumbai Port Trust owns nearly 1,900 acres of commercially useable prime land in the south and south-central Mumbai along the sea-facing eastern coast. If put to good use, this large tract of land can help considerably in solving the city’s immense housing shortage.

Initially either oblivious or indifferent to its real worth, the port authorities have now realized that they sit on a veritable goldmine that can fetch massive capital. However, it is definitely not as easy as it may appear since many are now trying to capitalise on this precious land.

Some existing lessees are refusing to vacate the leased premises – even post expiry of their lease period of 100 years – or even allow the rentals to be hiked to match the current market rates. Others are engaged in long-drawn court cases commissioned by either party.

Either way, it is a fact that prime land in the heart of the city is lying unused to its best potential, despite the industry constantly harping on the housing shortage in the city’s heartland.

Issues – More Complex than Ever

The land of MbPT, a central government facility under the Union Ministry of Shipping, is increasingly appearing on the radar of the state government or the BMC for affordable housing. After all, there are prime land parcels. How far the State’s plans will actually be implemented even if they do get a share of the land is another big question.

Nevertheless, seeing the commercial viability of the land, the port trust in 2018 refused to relinquish a portion of its precious land on the eastern waterfront to the BMC. Instead, it planned to turn the land into a commercial development with sea terminal, water tourism, central business and finance districts, hotels, business offices etc. – leaving a mere 10-11 per cent of land for affordable housing.

Paradoxically, if we consider the rejuvenation/development of port cities in developed countries like the US and UK, a major emphasis has been given to affordable housing.

The authorities’ refusal last year to give away land for affordable housing also flies in the face of their assurances to the BMC during the formulation of the Mumbai Development Plan 2034. The result is that, just like the earlier mill lands being converted into prime residential and commercial hubs for the limited few, the portland will also see similar fate – if the various issues surrounding it are resolved at all.

To compound the issue, MbPT as of now does not even have any concrete plan to execute its development propaganda. Moreover, that implementation itself would pose to be a major challenge for them in the future.

Besides, the issue is far more complex than is immediately evident. Despite having ownership of this land, MbPT is unable to get their property vacated by several tenants whose lease periods (ranging from 1 month to 100 years) have long since expired. Quite correctly, the MbPT or the Government do not offer them an alternate rehabilitation plan.

Both parties are embroiled in innumerable court cases that will take years to be sorted out. As an added ‘inconvenience’, the Indian Tenancy Act is largely skewed in favour of tenants.

Even if the port wins most of the cases in its favour, the real challenge for implementation of its development will be funding. As it is, the prevailing funding crisis in the sector has left builders and other real estate stakeholders in dire straits. If we take the case of Dharavi, it is evident that despite all good intentions, the current cash crunch with developers has prevented even the ‘big boys’ from stepping forward and take up the challenge of building this mega project – which obviously requires massive funds.

No Solutions in Sight

It would be difficult to suggest any single ‘concrete’ solution to the tremendous challenge that the MbPT faces. The blame-game between all concerned parties will only ruin the realty prospects of land which could have otherwise been utilized to rejuvenate a city that needs serious affordable housing infusion.

The recent relaxation in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2018 that permits real estate activities up to 50 meters of the high tide line provides a respite to the MbPT. This essentially means that a lot of their land which falls within the coastal regulatory zone and where no real estate activity was permitted, has opened up.

On one hand, there are tenants irked by the port authorities, and on the other authorities that claim they are being deprived of their right to land ownership. However, taking a few steps back, one can only say that for Mumbai to reap the real benefits, there has to be an all-inclusive plan wherein all concerned real estate stakeholders get to some share of the benefits.

(The author of the article is the Chairman of ANAROCK Property Consultants.)

By Anuj Puri

Streamline Election Process

By

S. Krishna Kumar

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March 22, 2019

With the announcement of the date and the schedule for the “Festival of Democracy”, the General Elections 2019, by the Chief Election Commissioner, the political parties will soon kick start their campaigns nationwide vigorously. Simultaneously, the ‘Model Code of Conduct” as prescribed by the Election Commission will also come into force and which need to be strictly followed by the candidates and their political parties.

However, I would suggest the following additional measures to the Election Commission to implement:

a) Today, any Tom, Dick, and Harry can form a political party with a few followers. In India, we already have too many political parties – national and regional. Many of them are with identical names too. Hence, there must be a ban on the formation of a new party anymore. Needless to say, if a party doesn’t score a specific percentage of votes overall, it must be de-recognised immediately.

b) High time to enforce that only those candidates who have passed graduation from recognised universities (not postal or private ones or honorary degrees), will be eligible to contest. Today as we have seen in MP and Rajasthan, those who were totally illiterate and could not even read had not only got elected but were made ministers too! No candidate with “just 10th std. fail or 12th.std. pass” should ever enter the fray.

c) No candidate who is above 75 years of age should be allowed to contest. We still have leaders who are 80/85 plus and even with ailments, health problems etc. wish to contest. Let us have young and dynamic leaders in the fray.

d) No candidate should be allowed to contest from more than one constituency. Presently, even prominent candidates contest from two or even three different constituencies, to play safe. Once they win from both (or all three) constituencies, they keep one and surrender the other, where an election needs to held again. “Playing Safe” by contesting from more than one constituency, should be banned.

e) There should be a restriction on the number of candidates contesting for a single seat/constituency. In certain constituencies, the ballot papers (now EVMs) are as big as a newspaper!! Apart from increased costs, voters too become more confused.

f) No “Post-Poll alliances” between political parties should be permitted. Depending on the results, smaller parties take advantage of the scenario to join hands with the “winning party” which would form the government. Such alliances lead to horse-trading and buying of elected representatives. Here’s when the power of money comes into play.

g) If an MP, during his last term in the Parliament, had not maintained minimum attendance and had also not cared for his constituency, he/she should be disqualified and not be given the ticket to contest again from any constituency.

h) Though the EC, this time has instructed the candidates to specify the information related to criminals cases, any candidate who has a criminal record and who is on bail due to corruption and other cases going on against them, should not be allowed to contest. There is a provision for this in the constitution and a few leaders who were found guilty and given jail term are already banned from contesting.

i) Lastly, we have seen how many political leaders have amassed wealth and properties. The candidates, therefore, must be asked to provide the complete list of their wealth, assets and properties standing in their names and those of his/her family and ‘benamis’ too and to make this public.

It’s high time to streamline the election process completely and discipline the candidates to a great extent. TN Seshan, during his tenure as the CEC, decades ago, enforced many reforms and introduced a severe model code of conduct and disciplinary measures. Those were unthinkable then in the Indian political arena but many of his reforms and many more which were introduced subsequently, are being successfully implemented by our Election Commission.

However, we still have to enforce the above measures. Especially, to ban standing from more than one constituency, ban post-poll alliances, age limit, educational background, provision of the list of wealth, and asset etc. can be enforced immediately. Will our CEC team take note of the above for necessary implementation? Hope they still have time to announce some of the major reforms as said above.

My best wishes to the CEC and his team for the great general elections to be conducted peacefully and successfully.

Voters want to correct their mistake; we will be back

By

Afternoon Voice

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March 22, 2019

The Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Dhananjay Panditrao Munde, the nephew of late senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde, represents the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Born on July 15, 1975, MLC Munde joined NCP in 2012 leaving BJP where he worked as the Youth Wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s President in Maharashtra. In a conversation with Afternoon Voice Correspondent Aabid Ali, he shares his views on the politicisation of Pulwama terror attack and Balakot airstrike, corruption in the present state government, and threw light on the NCP-Congress poll strategies this season.

What do you think about the Pulwama Attack?

The heart-breaking terrorist attack in Pulwama killed more than 40 jawans of our nation and as the JeM had taken the responsibility, the IAF airstrikes in Balakot’s terror camps was a necessary step. The IAF deserves applaud for the successful operation. However, BJP politicising the strike for political mileage is unethical, depressing, and harmful for the country’s harmony. I believe the Indian voters are smart and practical; they are going to reject the BJP in upcoming polls. There have been many terror attacks in the last five years, but BJP took no action except playing politics over the martyred jawans.

How do you see the theft of Rafale deal documents from the Defence Ministry?

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry! When the opposition questioned the PM, who calls himself the Chaukidar of the country, claiming scams into the Rafale deal, the PM questioned our nationalism for questioning the IAF. However, just when it was about to be exposed that the Chaukidar is Chor, the documents related to the deal got stolen from the Defence Ministry. The same PM, who abused the opposition, couldn’t save the documents. Then, how can he save the country?

If the previous NCP-Congress government and the incumbent BJP-Sena government are compared, people believe Maharashtra has seen fewer corruption cases in the last five years. What do you think?

Frankly speaking, most of the corruption cases in Maharashtra were registered during the Devendra Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray government. The NCP has exposed scams in the state worth Rs 90,000 crores and boycotted 14 leaders so far; we have full proof and not a single one is challenged or proved wrong by the government. We have submitted all the proofs in the Assembly and asked the government to punish us if any proof is proved to be misguiding. No such grave corruption has ever been done in the political history of Maharashtra; however, the CM didn’t take any action and rather given a clean chit to all the ministers who are alleged in the scams.

Why did NCP-Congress had to face loss in the 2014 election?

A wave of change was going in 2014 and that benefitted the BJP in the Parliamentary elections. The same wave was also in Maharashtra and the state assembly polls held only four months after the LS polls. To make it clear, the BJP’s victory was initially led by nation-wide Modi wave and secondly because of the NCP-Congress fighting the elections separately.

What is the strategy of NCP to win the 2019 polls?

BJP-Shiv Sena came to power in Maharashtra after 15 long years. All their poll promises have been proved to be false and the government has failed at all the stages. We have been successful in highlighting all the jumlas and corruptions under the present government. People of this state, who are depressed with the ruling alliance, are with us. This is our strength, power, and strategy.

However, I am proud to say that our party workers are grounded, dedicated, and capable and they are ready to win the elections. Voters want to correct their mistake of choosing BJP-Sena in power as they know how much the NCP-Congress government had worked for them in their 10-years long tenure. If the people of the state bring us to power, we will solve their needs and make sure that the voters are happy with their decision.

There is no face in NCP other than Sharad Pawar. How do you look at it?

You have asked a very good question. Sharad Pawar Saheb is a very mature leader who has a great understanding of national politics. Since his stature is so high, it becomes obvious that if there is no leader of his stature in India, then how is it possible to find a leader like him in NCP. However, after him, we have our second group of leaders which include Praful Patel, Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule, Jayant Patil, Ganesh Naik, and Sunil Tatkare.

You are a grassroot leader. If your party lose the 2019 polls, would you like to sit in the Opposition or will you change the party if BJP offers you?

I am sure that we will win the upcoming state assembly elections; however, if unfortunately, we lose and if we have to sit in the Opposition, I will be with my party. Neither I have any relationship with BJP nor there will be any in the future.

How would you rate BJP in Maharashtra on a scale of 0-10 based on its performance?

Not even a single point. The manner in which BJP is playing politics in the state doesn’t suit to any political party. BJP is involved in corruptions and scams; the party is illegally earning money and using the same for their political rallies. The party doesn’t even hesitate to include goons and criminals in the party. I have been into BJP and I know its leaders and their backgrounds very well. BJP doesn’t deserve a single point. Giving the party any point is disrespectful for the BJP led by late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.