Gandhinagar, July 5 (IANS) Gujarat's three young firebrand leaders - Hardik Patel, Jignesh Mevani and Alpesh Thakore - on Thursday raided a country liquor stand in the state capital and announced they would be carrying out similar 'janata (public) raids' on illicit liquor dens across the state to expose the government's failure in implentation of prohibition.
They alleged that the liquor stand was running right behind the Superintendent of Police's office here and they recovered liquor pouches from there.<br>
"Every year 10,000 to 15,000 youngsters are losing their lives by consuming illicit liquor. All three of us, Thakor Sena, Dalit Ekta Manch and PAAS (Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti), will together carry on 'janta raids' across the state, beginning Saturday, on illegal liquor dens," Thakore, the Congress legislator from Radhanpur in north Gujarat, told reporters. He was flanked by Mevani and Patel.
"Today, there is a rule of bootleggers in Gujarat," Thakore, who has been running a campaign against illegal liquor for nearly two years, added.
Patel said: "It is sad that liquor is easily available across the land of Gandhi. I went to Bihar recently but it was not available there. How come it is available in Gujarat? If police stops us from carrying out janta raids, it is a failure of the government."
Vadgam MLA Mevani said: "Police and government are responsible for the failure of prohibition policy. It is not the responsibility of Jignesh, Alpesh or Hardik to ensure that the law is implemented but that of the government. There seems to be a channel of corruption that is running from bottom till top. It is a state-wide nexus."
Thakore also said: "A lot of hue and cry is being made about 'Udta Punjab', but here the 'Dry Gujarat' too has similar problems. If the government can stop water pouches in a day, why cannot it stop sale of illicit liquor?"
<br>Police however denied there was any liquor den running from behind the SP's office and only a couple of polythene pouches containing 400 ml of country liquor were found. "It appears prima facie that someone may have planted the pouches! We don't have anything that shows that illegal liquor was being made there," said Gandhinagar SP Virendrasinh Yadav.
The three youth leaders raised the issue after four persons were admitted to local civil hospital in Ahmedabad after consuming spurious substance on Wednesday night. However, police said no traces of ethyl alcohol or methyl alcohol were found.
"The FSL reports suggest that no traces of any drugs or ethyl or methyl alcohol have been found in the initial reports of the blood samples of the four persons. We will have to wait for some more time," said Ahmedabad Crime Branch's Special Commissioner J.K. Bhatt.
Moreover, police also claimed that they want to seriously curb the sale of illegal liquor in the state. "We arrested 240 persons under PASA (Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act) and 55 persons were externed last year in Ahmedabad city alone. We have started a special prohibition drive," said Ahmedabad's Special Commissioner of Police K.L.N. Rao.
--IANS<br>desai/vd

Kazan (Russia), July 5 (IANS) Dubbed as a 'golden generation', a talented Belgium squad will be keen to re-create history while perennial title contenders Brazil will aim to avoid yet another upset when the two teams meet in the quarter-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup here on Friday.
The best result that Belgium have achieved in their World Cup history is reaching the semi-finals in 1986, when they eventually finished fourth.
Achieving that feat for a second time will surely be on the minds of every Belgium player when they take the field at the Kazan Arena.
If Belgium manage to win on Friday, they will set a new mark of five consecutive victories at the World Cup, beating the previous run of four matches. They have qualified for six consecutive World Cups, but have never progressed beyond the second round during this period.
With stars like Eden Hazard and Adnan Januzaj on the wings, the experienced Vincent Kompany at the centre of their defence, Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City and Marouane Fellaini of Manchester United along side Adnan Januzaj and Axel Witsel in midfield and the physical presence of Romelu Lukaku upfront, the Belgium squad have the ability to upset any team on their day.
The Belgians dominated their group, finishing at the top of the pile by winning their three matches. They were impressive against the likes of England, Tunisia and Panama, scoring nine goals while conceding twice.
But they were stretched to the limit by spirited and disciplined Japan in the second round before Nacer Chadli finished off a lighting quick, superbly crafted counter-attack in second half stoppage time to send Belgium through.
Their defence did relatively okay against Japan, but has a tendency to be caught on the counter, which allowed the Asian powerhouse to score their first goal.
The introduction of Fellaini and Chadli in the 65th minute turned things around for Belgium as both substitutes found the net.
But against Brazil, the Belgians will have to do much better. Defence is one of the strong points of the the current Brazil side, who have conceded just once in their four matches.
Their defence has been so water tight that they have allowed their opponents a mere five goal attempts on target in these four matches -- a jaw dropping feat.
Under their current coach Tite, Brazil have played 25 international matches, during which they have conceded just six goals.
"Our defence begins in attack. We try to help out as much as we can in that respect. Football's getting tougher and tougher all the time. It's more competitive, as we're seeing at this World Cup, and we have to do our bit. But we do play exciting football," Brazil midfielder Willian was quoted as saying by FIFA.com.
Announcing that Marcelo will return to the left-back position against Belgium, Tite said that Brazil will bank on team work and the individual skills of their formidable forwardline, which includes Paris Saint-Germain super star Neymar.
"It will be a great match. Both teams excel with a beautiful football. Belgium have great players and a great coach as well. I've always put them in the group of favourites (for the title). It's the same now," Tite said on the eve of the match.
"In the last third of the pitch, we are very strong individually and very skilful. That's what I tell them all the time: the coach works to get them well organised off the ball and in the build-up. But when we get to the last third it's time for them to use their creativity," he added.
The last time the two teams met was in 2002, when Brazil clinched a 2-0 victory enroute to lifting their fifth World Cup title. The current generation of Brazil stars will no doubt be hoping for a similar outcome this time as well.
--IANS<br>ajb/vm

Kolkata, July 5 (IANS) In order to evaluate the compliance of export subsidy schemes with WTO regulations, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade will review the progress of a committee set up by the Central government, an official said here on Thursday.
In the wake of US launching a challenge at the WTO to Indian export subsidy programmes, the government planned to evaluate certain export promotion schemes including Merchandise Exports from India Scheme and others.
"The committee was formed about one and half month back and is supposed to give report in three months. There is a meeting next week to understand how far the progress is," said Director General, Foreign Trade, Alok Chaturvedi on the sidelines of an event organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce.
The committee comprises representatives from Centre for WTO studies under Indian Institute of Foreign Trade as well as legal and export promotion councils.
According to a statement from the office of the US Trade Representative, Indian companies are receiving benefits totalling over $7 billion annually from the subsidy schemes that allows Indian exporters to sell their goods more cheaply to the detriment of American workers and manufacturers.
Chaturvedi said that India has taken up the issue at the WTO level and indicated that India might ask for a transition period, in case the country has to phase out export subsidies.
He, however, said that despite challenging times exports grew in 2017-18 and said that the centre was working on a strategy to boost exports further.
"These are challenging times. There are some uncertainties in the international trade in terms of tariff increases, volatilities in currencies, review of GSP regime by US and political developments in Iran, Russia and Middle East are adding to uncertainty," he added.
--IANS<br>bdc/vd

Chennai, July 5 (IANS) MRF's slick tyre received appreciation from all riders who used it during the free practice session as the second round of the MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship, commenced at the MMRT circuit here on Thursday.
The slick tyreswere supplied for the premier Super Sport Indian (165cc) and the Pro-Stock 301-400cc classes.
The impact of the slick tyres, being used for the first time in the championship, had an immediate impact with timings improving by about two seconds with the likelihood of dropping further at race pace this weekend.
The fastest rider on the track today in the 165cc class, KY Ahamed of TVS Racing, who leads the Super Sport Indian 165cc class following a double win in the first round last month, spoke glowingly about the MRF slick tyres after the practice session.
"We all are very happy with the MRF slick tyres. The tyres offer far better grip and I had more confidence taking the corners than before without any fear of crashing," Ahamed opined.
<br>"I did 1:56 today and I feel, this timing could come down further at race pace. It is just a question of getting used to the slicks and with more confidence, we can go quicker," he added.
The MRF slick tyres received equally good reviews in the Honda Ten10 camp as experienced international rider Sarath Kumar said: "The slicks are definitely good and we could lean much more in the corners with confidence due to the high grip."
--IANS<br>kk/vm

Ranchi, July 5 (IANS) Two persons including a nun of the Missionaries of Charity established by Mother Teresa, have been arrested for selling children, police said on Thursday.
According to Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anish Gupta, the FIR was lodged by the Child Welfare Society against the Missionaries of Charities on Wednesday.
Police interrogated the Charity head, sisters and other staff. One staffer was arrested on Wednesday night and the nun was arrested on Thursday.
As per the FIR, a baby, born to a pregnant girl staying in the Charity Home, was sold to a childless couple from Uttar Pradesh.
Police questioned two nuns -- Konsilia and Meridian. According to police, they have admitted to their crime. Police have also shifted 13 pregnant girls staying in the charity home.
According to police, six newborn babies have been sold to childless couple in the last one year.
The selling of children came to light when the couple, who had taken a new born baby from the charity home, complained that they had paid Rs 1.20 lakh for medical care and delivery of the child.
They brought the newborn baby in May. However, the baby was taken back by the charity home with assurances of returning it back after court procedures.
The couple complained to the Child Welfare Society after they failed to get the child.
Police are investigating the case. According to police, the incident is a case of human trafficking and they are trying to reach to root of the trafficking.
--IANS<br>ns/pgh/vm

London, July 5 (IANS) Germany's Angelique Kerber, the No. 11 seed, on Thursday booked a place to Wimbledon's third round for the seventh time in her career after knocking out United States' qualifier Claire Liu 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
The two-time Grand Slam champion took one hour and 54 minutes to end Liu's first Wimbledon's appearance, reports Efe.
Kerber is set to take on next ranked and seeded No. 18, Naomi Osaka of Japan, who prevailed over Britain's Katie Boulter 6-3, 6-4.
In other Wimbledon action, ranked and seeded No. 17 Ashleigh Barty of Australia reached The Championships' round of 32 after defeating Canada's qualifier Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 31 minutes.
Barty is set to square off against world No. 14 Daria Kasatkina of Russia who beat world No. 53 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-3.
--IANS<br>kk/vm

Bhopal, July 5 (IANS) The electoral bond scheme, launched to promote transparency in funding and donation received by political parties, has seen donors purchasing electoral bonds worth over Rs 438 crore, of which 348 bonds are valued at Rs 1 crore in the last three months, according to an RTI query.
Based on an initiative by the government and the Election Commission, the State Bank of India (SBI) introduced electoral bonds worth Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1,00,000, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore.
According to details gathered from the SBI on electoral bonds by a Madhya Pradesh-based social worker Chandrashekhar Gaur through the Right to Information (RTI) route, donors purchased bonds worth Rs 438 crore in three months -- March, April and May, from various SBI branches.
One particular detail which emerged clear is most of the bonds were purchased by the millionaires, to be donated to the political parties.
Of the Rs 438 crore bonds purchased, the political parties have monetized only 417 bonds.
The SBI data revealed that most of the bonds worth Rs 1 crore were purchased from a Mumbai branch -- 206, followed by New Delhi main branch -- 72, a Bengaluru branch -- 41, Kolkata main branch -- 40, a Chennai branch -- 14 and a Gandhinagar branch -- 11 bonds.
However, when Gaur asked for more details -- which parties received how many bonds and if those were monetized -- the bank, citing a "third party case", refused to divulge more information.
Former Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi however said not providing any information by citing or mentioning "third party" is against the rules and there is no such provision in RTI.
He said the bonds were issued to tackle the menace of black money but if any detail related to it is concealed, the purpose of issuing bonds won't be fulfilled.
--IANS<br>hindi-pgh/vd

Bengaluru, July 5 (IANS) The Karnataka budget for 2018-19 on Thursday allocated Rs 550-crore for progressive and sustainable farming after waiving a whopping Rs 34,000 crore loans of 17-lakh farmer families across the state.
Presenting a pro-farmer budget in the assembly, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who holds the Finance portfolio, told lawmakers that Israeli model of sustainable irrigation could suit the state's farmers in improving their lives.
"I visited Israel last year and studied their farm practices myself. I have no doubt that Israeli model of irrigation would protect the crops and make farmers' lives better," he saidin his two-hour long budget speech.
The budget allocated Rs 150 crore for creating Israeli model of irrigation, which makes use of drip irrigation methods to conserve water, in 5,000 hectares of dry land in each of the districts of Kolar, Chitradurga, Koppal and Gadag.
Another Rs 150 crore has been set aside to implement the same model of farming in 5,000 hectares land in each of Karwar, Tumakuru, Yadgir and Haveri districts.
The Chief Minister proposed that the state implements zero budget natural farming on the lines of Andhra Pradesh for better yields with lesser investment.
Rs 50 crore was allocated to implement zero budget natural farming in the state, with the support of United Nations Environment Programme which is offering technical assistance through Sustainable India Finance Facility.
The budget also made Rs 190 crore provision for coconut farmers, who have been witnessing unproductive crops due to shortage of rain in the state.
In health sector, the budget made provisions of Rs 10 crore for strengthening drug control, Rs 30 crore for heart, kidney, liver transplantation for the poor, Rs 40 crore for a 300 bed super speciality hospital in Ramanagara, and Rs 200 crore for new hospitals in Gadag, Koppal, Chamarajanagar, Hassan, Belagavi, Mysuru and Kalaburagi.
Mother and child health services and mental health protection services will be integrated with the Emergency Response Services available through ambulance and helpline numbers, Kumaraswamy said.
The Chief Minister announced Rs 150 crore package for infrastructure repairs of state-run primary schools, high schools and pre-university college buildings.
Another Rs 250 crore was set aside for development and infrastructure repairs of state-run graduate and post-graduate colleges.
Classes in English medium will be held along with Kannada in 1,000 state-run primary schools on an experiment basis, which will attract children to state-run schools, Kumaraswamy said.
The budget provided Rs 5 crore to install biometric instruments in all 48,000 government schools of the state to monitor the attendance of teachers and students.
Through the 'Chief Minister's Mathrusree Scheme' announced in the budget, Rs 1,000 per month will be transferred to the bank account of pregnant women from below poverty line (BPL) families for three months prior to the delivery and three months for the lactating mother, Kumaraswamy said.
Rs 350 crore has been earmarked for the scheme, which will be implemented from November 1.
--IANS<br>bha/vd

Kampala, July 5 (IANS) Uganda's national cricket team on Thursday set off for neighbouring Rwanda where it will battle with other east African countries in the 2020 ICC World Twenty20 Africa Region Qualifier.
Uganda will face off against Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda in the tournament that will run on July 7 to 14, reports Xinhua news agency.
The top two teams will represent the eastern African region in the regional finals where the best two African teams will qualify for the 2020 ICC World Twenty20.
Roger Mukasa, captain of the Ugandan team, told Xinhua that they are determined to go all the way to qualify and represent Africa.
"Playing at the ICC World Twenty20 is also our dream as a team," Mukasa said.
Uganda qualified last month to feature in the more competitive ICC World Cricket League Division 3 after it won the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division 4 tournament held in Malaysia.
The Rwanda tournament will be played on a double round robin format (teams play each other twice) with the top two sides moving on the next round of qualifiers.
Qualifiers are on-going all over the world with three taking place in Africa. The first African sub-regional qualifier (north-western sub region) was held with hosts Nigeria and Ghana qualifying. The southern sub-region qualifiers will be held in Bostwana.
The top two teams in each group of the three qualifiers will advance to the regional finals tournament, which will determine the two African entrants to the 2020 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.
Squad: Roger Mukasa (Captain), Brian Masaba, Hamu Kayondo, Dinesh Nakrani, Deus Muhumuza, Riazat Shah, Irfan Afridi, Henry Ssenyondo, Frank Nsubuga, Kenneth Waiswa, Fred Achelam, Charles Waiswa, Bilal Hassun and Ronak Patel.
--IANS<br>gau/vm