The “Truthers” say that the best and quickest way to change your perspectives about the 9/11 event and probably the whole world is watch YouTube videos on the collapse of World Trade Centre 7.

The plea has come against a backdrop that a lot of people, including a vast number of Americans themselves, were not aware that it was the third skyscraper which came down on that day, a few hours after the Twin Towers were completely destroyed.

This year’s anniversary of the historic event can be a lot different from previously. It’s because the “9/11 Truth Movement”, which believes that what panned out before the entire world on that faithful day in September, 2001 was an “inside job”, has been on an unprecedented offensive, buoyed by growing acknowledgement that WTC 7 came down in a very unusual way.

The US political system, which gained much sympathy at previous commemorations of 9/11, could be on the back foot in a few weeks’ time. Surging publicity surrounding WTC 7 and debate on why the steelreinforced building came down in a free-fall motion, like all structures subjected to controlled demolition would, upgraded the 9/11 Truth Movement from a bunch of “conspiracy theorists” who lacked credibility to a group of people who should be taken seriously.

A growing number of scientists, engineers, architects and academics have questioned the US government's official story that Middle Eastern fanatics carried out the worst terrorist attack on American soil. The so-called Truthers are now asking scientific questions, as opposed to what they describes as implausible or impossible theories of the US government's official investigators, who have been more or less backed up by America's mainstream media.

The questions cover the manners of the collapses of the three high-rise buildings, the lack of plane wreckages at the World Trade Center compound, the next-to- zero evidence of crashed commercial planes at the Pentagon and Pennsylvania, the “cartoon physic” of a plane “melting” into one of the Twin Towers and even the touching story of some passengers making phone calls from very high altitudes. “Inside job” videos on YouTube have been increasingly abundant and their numbers of views are climbing.

Most comments have been in favour of the 9/11 Truth Movement, although it's reasonable to argue that most watchers came to support “conspiracy theories” in the first place. What's remarkable is that skepticism or open mockery of the official story has come largely from Americans themselves and not even one Arab-looking doubter appeared in those videos. Proponents and supporters of the official version of what happened may soon have their backs against the wall. Two groups in particular have been pilloried.

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, the official investigators, has been ridiculed for failing to mention WTC 7 in its report. The National Institute of Standard and Technology, America's virtual utmost scientific body, has been jeered at for saying that Building 7 came down in a virtual free fall into its own footprint as a result of a office fire. So far, the official story remains the one to believe as far as the majority of the world population is concerned.

The “Truthers”, however, are hoping that the “tipping point” will come one day, though not probably in the near future. They include some who lost loved ones in the attacks. While this year's anniversary could give the US government a hard time, nothing decisive or earth-shattering is expected to happen.

Even those totally convinced that 9/11 was a “false flag” event, something designed to create pretexts for controversial American moves like the war on Iraq, say the stake “is too high” to change the official narrative. In fact, the entire world's status quo is at stake.

If America, the biggest democracy, is found guilty of 9/11, repercussions will rock a much-cherished political system embraced by many countries. The mainstream media, whose reputations have suffered from severe criticism lately, will face even harsher condemnation. World diplomacy and politics at the highest international level will be upended. Some “Truthers” have cited the Kennedy assassination and its consequences as a proof that something is simply “too big to blame”. And while JFK was a president, he was just one man.

9/11 was bigger because it involved thousands of American lives, which makes many “Truthers” believe that “cover up” efforts must be doubled. Yet other “Truthers” are convinced that, because 9/11 concerned thousands of innocent American lives, nothing should be too big to blame, and efforts to “uncover the truth” must be doubled. The latter group of Truthers also pointed out that there was no YouTube in the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination.

They said the biggest oversight of whoever carried out 9/11 was that they did not anticipate what YouTube, which came into existence a few years after the terror, could lead to. It remains to be seen what YouTube will actually lead the 9/11 story to.

Currently, YouTube is showing the world how WTC 7 came down, and allowing viewers to judge for themselves. It also demonstrates in repeated and super-slow motions the gutwrenching collapses of the Twin Towers,which purportedly were penetrated by commercial airplanes hijacked by Arab terrorists.

In addition, YouTube has made it possible for doubters to ask for plane wreckage, bodies and passengers; personnel belongings at the Pentagon and Pennsylvania. All the clips are there.

Some show the actual incidents while others display added graphics or comments that question the official story. Seeds of doubt have been planted, and many neutral viewers admitted they were more “open minded” after watching some of the videos. The best way,though, is watch both sides of the story and go from there.

The writer is Editor-at-large, The Nation. This is a series of columns on global affairs written by top editors and columnists from members of the Asia News Network and published in newspapers and websites across the region.

One cannot be too sure as to how long the sabre-rattling over different perceptions of the Indo-Chinese border will persist. However, the nub of the matter must be that one historical wrong, once made, cannot be unmade. Reacting to Defence Minister Arun Jaitley’s remarks, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang invoked the 1890 Sino-British Treaty and its sacrosanct nature in demarcating the border between the two nations in the Sikkim sector, currently the subject of a rather longish stand-off.

“I would like the Indian side to respect the 1890 treaty immediately and pull back the border troops which have crossed into Chinese territory back to the Indian side of the boundary,” Geng said. And if that is fair enough, one wonders why China is so unwilling to accept the McMahon Line as a fair demarcation. In its reckoning it is another imperial baggage like the Simla Convention of 1914 on which rests India’s claim on Arunachal Pradesh. Geng has accused India of using Bhutan as a “cover up” for the “illegal entry” into the Doklam area over which Bhutan has subsequently lodged a protest with the Chinese government.

It is legitimate to ask China, so cautious about international treaties, how it can justify its acts of transgressions into India’s territory with the help of Pakistan, even to the extent of mobilising an economic corridor and subsuming vast tracts of Indian land and increased PLA incursions across the LAC.

Pakistan arbitrarily signed away, according to Prime Minister Nehru’s statement in the Lok Sabha on March 5, 1963, 3.000 square miles of Indian territory to China.

As for the Doklam stand-off, the Indian Army, as per reports, is showing aggressiveness. It has been cautioned that an aggressive Indian policy towards China or for that matter a “New Forward Policy” might aggravate border disputes and push China to use force. After the ‘slight’ friction with China in 1959, the Indian army implemented aggressive action known as its Forward Policy following which the Chinese Army made a limited but successful ‘counter-attack’ in 1962.

If China establishes control over Doklam plateau, it will have the wherewithal to challenge India as that region lies immediately east of Indian defences in Sikkim and thus make India vulnerable. Lest we forget, it was Mao Zedong who once termed Tibet as the ‘palm’ of a hand with its five fingers as Ladakh, Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan, and what has so long been referred to as NEFA.

It pertains to our north-eastern states, specifically territories that Mao claimed needed to be ‘liberated’. Mao took the hard line that there was nothing in the ‘historical’ India-China friendship and that Nehru was a ‘bourgeoisie’ leader.

The pacifist and placatory Indian leadership remained impervious to Communist China’s repeated claims on Tibet and a large swathe of Indian territory. It continued to concede areas under duress that Tibet is a part of China, that China poses no military threat, that it is entitled to a seat in the Security Council, and that its dismal record of human rights is an internal matter, without being able to chart out a durable roadmap for Kashmir, its feet of clay. On 8 August 1949, India and Bhutan signed a Treaty of Friendship calling for peace and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.

The relationship gathered momentum when Jawaharlal Nehru visited Bhutan in 1958. While abiding by the principle of non-interference, the relationship involved considerable Indian assistance in exchange for Bhutanese deference to India’s foreign policy and defence concerns, especially relating to China.

Under Indian guidance, Bhutan developed a model of diplomatic engagement with the “middle powers”, but with none of the Permanent Five (P-5) members of the UN Security Council and thus, most significantly, not with China. China has been persuading Bhutan to let it open formal diplomatic links and an embassy in the capital of Thimpu, which would have none of it, barring a few like Bangladesh, Finland and Switzerland which have embassies and consulates. China’s ulterior motive is to extend its territory in the Chumbi Valley, a strategically important ‘V’ shaped area of Tibet between the Indian state of Sikkim to the west and Bhutan to the east.

This is extremely sensitive for India because the 3,000 m (9,500 ft) high valley juts down towards a strip of Indian territory called the Siliguri Corridor, which is the only land route ~ known as the ‘chicken’s neck’ ~ from the broad mass of India to the North-east and Nepal.

Therefore, India’s sensitivities are perfectly rational. Chumbi Valley is of geostrategic importance to China because of its shared borders with Tibet and Sikkim. DS Rajan, Distinguished Fellow, Chennai Centre for China Studies, in a 2015 paper noted that if China establishes control over Doklam plateau, it can challenge India as that region lies immediately east of Indian defences in Sikkim.

“This piece of dominating ground not only has a commanding view of the Chumbi Valley but also overlooks the Siliguri Corridor further to the east.” China has been seeking a quid pro quo with Bhutan, urging its government to cede to it the area close to Chumbi Valley, a tri-junction of Bhutan, Tibet and Sikkim in lieu of which Beijing would give up its claim over Bhutan’s central areas.

And China has been at this game for a fairly long time. When China built a 1200 km-long road in 1956 across Aksai Chin, of which some 180 km was claimed by India, to carve a route for Sianking, its westernmost province, into Tibet, India was caught napping.

It learnt about the road only in the following year by reading about this “remarkable” piece of engineering in Chinese newspapers. Years later it went ahead with its China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that passes through PoK with the same brutish disregard for Indian sovereignty claims, a nationalist India looking as feckless as ever, never being able to raise a howler with the same fever pitch as China does.

To the question as to why China still refuses to formally accept the McMahon Line, observers like Srinath Raghavan think that if China does so, it would be tantamount to accepting that Tibet had enjoyed de facto independence at the time of the Simla conference, weakening its claim that Tibet was an ‘inalienable’ part of China.

But such ‘historical’ intransigence apart, China’s tough talk is ably sustained by its military modernisation and incremental upgrading of its military posture in Tibet to enable rapid force deployment, backed by logistics capability and communications infrastructure and strategically interspersed by repeated incursions by the PLA across the Line of Actual Control (LAC). This includes the settled or undisputed areas like Sikkim in northeastern India.

Besides Chinese forays into Tibet and the Indian Ocean region (IOR), it keeps on leveraging economic and military relationships with India’s neighbours to establish a containment policy towards India. Massive Chinese infrastructure buildup in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in terms of rail, road, airfield, and telecommunications infrastructure is very much under way.

Sadly, if India is being ‘aggressive’ today, it is a case of too little, too late. It devolves on India to maintain the status quo at all costs.

The writer is a Kolkata-based commentator on politics, development and cultural issues

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapadi Palaniswamy, who holds the home portfolio, could have avoided appointing TK Rajendran as the Director-General of Police (Law and Order), minutes before he was due to retire on 30 June, thereby giving him an extension of service for two years and blocking the promotions of competent officers with better service records.

He has been holding additional charge as DGP (law and order) since September last and was due to retire. He had helped Palanaswami win a vote of confidence in the State Assembly by "protecting" 122 AIADMK MLAs of the Sasikala faction held at a beach resort near Chennai and bringing them to the House for the crucial vote. The extension given to Rajendran was not in consonance with Rule 16(1) of the AllIndia Service (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) of 1958 and its subsequent amendment.

More importantly, his name figured in the sensational gutka scandal. Gutka is a banned item but is available freely in most paan shops in the state. A search conducted by the Income Tax department on the company making gutka revealed payment of huge bribes to a minister in the Palanaswamy government and top police and other officials.

The Income Tax department has sent a report to the Chief Secretary requesting appropriate action. The Chief Minister has informed the Assembly that he has entrusted the matter to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau for inquiry. That the Chief Minister should choose a person who is under the lens of the Vigilance and AntiCorruption Bureau overlooking the claims of eligible untainted officials empanelled for the post and announce the decision minutes before the midnight hour tells its own story.

The panel of DGPs approved by the Union Public Service Commission included Archana Ramasundaram of 1980 batch, KP Mahendran of 1984 batch, besides Rajendran. He now gets the benefit of the Supreme Court order in the Prakash Singh case of a two-year tenure. Fish rots at the head.

A deputy superintendent of police and a sub-inspector attached to the CB-CID Idol Wing were caught selling antique panchaloha idols of Hindu deities stolen from ancient temples in Tamil Nadu to smugglers. The idols, valued at Rs 20 crore, found their way to an art gallery in New York. The sub-inspector has been arrested while the DSP has slipped out of the police net. TP Senkumar, who retired as DGP, Kerala, on 30 June, said in his farewell address that the percentage of lawbreakers in uniform was higher in the top echelons of the force than in the constabulary. The main threat to the police is from within its own ranks.

The police has its share of officers who could not rise above partisan politics in their line of duty. There is nothing wrong for police officers to have political views.

But it should not reflect in the discharge of their constitutional duties. To uphold the law, one must be politically neutral. Implementation of the Tamil Nadu Police (Reform) Act, 2013, can bring about a welcome change in the functioning of the police in the state.

The Territorial Army is not the regular Army so there is little reason to be alarmed over a soldier in Kashmir deserting his camp, taking his weaponry with him. There is, however, cause for concern if investigations establish that this was not a one-off incident and that militants have succeeded in their bid to compromise members of the “citizens’ army” ~ as they have done with the police.

The level of supervision in the TA might have to be brought on par with that of the regular force, particularly after men return from leave when they interact with “locals”, and hence are open to being misled, brain-washed or tempted. The officers already have their hands full, now they have the added responsibility of protecting their men from “sinister” influences.

The timing of the desertion of Sepoy Zahoor Thokar is significant, coming as it did on the eve of the anniversary of the killing of Burhan Wani. It confirms reports of militants using the occasion to fuel the passions that have never really died down over the past 12 months. A series of desertions/defections to their ranks would be just what the anti-national elements desire to boost their image.

Though there has been a stepping-up of “security”, there is every reason to apprehend a revival of the unrest, stone-pelting etc. The ongoing Amarnath Yatra would offer an easy target for militants determined to show that they retain their grip over the civilian populace. It may be premature to draw conclusions on what prompted the TA man to “jump ship”, yet the possibility of further breaking of ranks cannot be ignored.

Just because there have been massive responses to recruitment drives in the Valley does not mean any dilution of the decades-long resentment the Army has had to encounter there. Those “responses” are essentially a reflection of the economic woes of common folk.

The security forces, of late, appear to attempting to revive their “reaching out” to the people, but there is much ground to recover after the dilution of the Sadhbhavna campaign of yesteryear.

Apart from the political climate having been further polluted, the “battle for cyber-space” has assumed a new dimension ~ a dimension in which the “state” appears to be at the losing end.

Shutting down Internet services merely suppresses expression of animosity, actually causes ill-will to fester and erupt where it is unexpected.

Mehbooba Mufti has neither the goodwill nor the sagacity to come up with a breakthrough formula ~ and any efforts in that direction would be short-circuited by the BJP section of her coalition government, as well as New Delhi.

The BJP believes that attempting a political solution would be treason, but even with a bellicose Army Chief a military way-out seems unlikely.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday reviewed the expenditure made by the Ministry for the first quarter of this financial year, an official statement said.

"The ministry has utilized about 27 per cent of the budget during first three months (April to June, 2017), out of total budget of Rs.83,823.30 crores for 2017-18," it said. 

Rajnath Singh expressed satisfaction over the expenses and asked the officials to maintain the same tempo and also to ensure that the budget utilisation crosses 50 per cent by the end of September. 

Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Rajiv Gauba, Secretary, Border Management Sanjeevani Kutty, Special Secretary Rina Mitra and senior officers from all the divisions were also present in the meeting.

Union Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday asked manufacturers to print revised maximum retail price (MRP) along with the old one on their products after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) roll-out or face fine/jail sentence.

Addressing a press conference here, Paswan said people are facing some trouble which will last for some days.

"As prices of products have changed after implementation of GST, revised MRP will have to be displayed along with the old one. Those who do not follow it will face strict action," he told reporters here.

At the same conference, a Ministry official said that the violators will be fined Rs.10,000 and additional penalty according to the nature of product. There is a provision of jail sentence as well, he said. 

The dual MRP will be applicable till September 30. 

He also said that anyone can make inquiry or complaint regarding GST on the Ministry's helpline.

"We are setting up proper redressal mechanism. In addition to our ministry's helpline, we are planning to launch helplines at zonal level. We have asked the Finance Ministry to provide us with one or two experts to deal with GST-related issues. We have written to the Chief Ministers as well," the official said. 

He also said that the manufacturers have been asked to display product details in bigger font size. 

"Consumers should be able to easily read the details, be it manufacturer's name, date of manufacturing, import date, MRP, expiry date. It will applicable to e-commerce companies as well," he said.

He added that medical equipment under PCA (patient-controlled analgesia) will have to be sold with MRP printed on them.

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held their first ever and much-anticipated sit-down discussion here on Friday, focussing on the situation in Ukraine and Syria, fight against terrorism and cyber security, on the sidelines of the G20 summit here.

The meeting lasted about 2 hours and 20 minutes, according to Russian news agency Sputnik.

"I had a very lengthy conversation with the President of the United States. There were a lot of issues such as Ukraine, Syria, other problems, some bilateral issues," Putin said at the beginning of his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We again returned to the issues of fighting terrorism and cyber security," Putin added.

The Trump-Putin formal meeting came hours after a brief encounter upon arrival at the Hamburg summit, during which they shook hands and exchanged a few words.

Trump began their meeting by saying: "President Putin and I have been discussing various things. And I think it is going very well."

"We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, for the United States and for everybody concerned. And it is an honor to be with you," Trump said.

"I'm delighted to meet you personally, and I hope our meeting will bring results," Putin said after shaking hands with Trump.

Following the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Putin-Trump meeting was constructive and confirmed desire to search for mutually-beneficial agreements, according to Sputnik.

There were opportunities to speed up implementation of the Minsk Agreement on Ukraine, Lavrov said.

The Minsk agreement, which envisages a comprehensive ceasefire and a withdrawal of heavy weapons from the contact line, is aimed at a peaceful ending of the confrontation in Ukraine, which has killed more than 10,000 people and left almost 24,000 others injured.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Trump and Putin have agreed on a ceasefire deal covering part of Syria.

The ceasefire is to take effect on July 9 at noon Damascus time, according to German media. No other details were disclosed.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she welcomed the first ever personal meeting between Putin and Trump at the G20 summit.

"I very much welcome the fact that Presidents Trump and Putin met on the sidelines of the summit," Merkel said.

The two-day summit is attended by heads of state and government of the 20 major industrialized and emerging countries, as well as many international organisations. 

Member nations of the G20 international economic forum on Friday came out strongly in support of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on fighting terrorism saying they condemned "all terrorist attacks worldwide and stand united and firm in the fight against terrorism and its financing".

In a repeat of the separate statement on terrorism issued during the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey, in 2015, the leaders attending the 12th G20 Summit here on Friday said in a statement: "We, the Leaders of the G20, strongly condemn all terrorist attacks worldwide and stand united and firm in the fight against terrorism and its financing." 

"These atrocious acts have strengthened our resolve to cooperate to enhance our security and protect our citizens. Terrorism is a global scourge that must be fought and terrorist safe havens eliminated in every part of the world," said the statement.

It said the G20 leaders reaffirmed that all measures on countering terrorism needed to be implemented in accordance with the UN Charter and all obligations under international law, including international human rights law.

At a leaders' retreat ahead of the summit here, as a lead speaker, Modi presented a 10-point agenda on countering terrorism and, in a veiled reference to Pakistan, said countries supporting terrorism should be banned from joining the G20.

"We will address the evolving threat of returning foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) from conflict zones such as Iraq and Syria and remain committed to preventing FTFs from establishing a foothold in other countries and regions around the world. We recall UN Security Council Resolution 2178 (2014), which requires a range of actions to better tackle the foreign terrorist fighter threat," the G20 statement said.

"We will address the evolving threat of returning foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) from conflict zones such as Iraq and Syria and remain committed to preventing FTFs from establishing a foothold in other countries and regions around the world. We recall UN Security Council Resolution 2178 (2014), which requires a range of actions to better tackle the foreign terrorist fighter threat."

The statement said the G20 nations would facilitate swift and targeted exchanges of information between the intelligence and law enforcement and judicial authorities on operational information-sharing, preventive measures and criminal justice response, while ensuring the necessary balance between security and data protection aspects, in accordance with the national laws.

"We will ensure that terrorists are brought to justice," it sated.

The leaders called upon their border agencies to strengthen cooperation to detect travel for terrorist purposes, including by identifying priority transit and destination countries of terrorists.

"We will support capacity building efforts in these countries in areas such as border management, information sharing and watch-list capability to manage the threat upstream," the statement said.

On financing terrorism, the statement said the leaders' resolve to make the international financial system entirely hostile to terrorist financing and commit to deepening international cooperation and exchange of information, including working with the private sector, which has a critical role in global efforts to counter terrorism financing.

"We reaffirm our commitment to tackle all sources, techniques and channels of terrorist financing and our call for swift and effective implementation of UNSCR (UN Security Council Resolution) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards worldwide. We call for strengthening measures against the financing of international terrorist organisations in particular Islamic State (IS), Al-Qaeda and their affiliates."

Backing Modi's statement that there should be no safe havens for terrorists, a veiled reference to Pakistan, the statement said: "In order to eliminate all such 'safe spaces', we commit to intensify capacity building and technical assistance, especially in relation to terrorist financing hot-spots, and we support the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) in its efforts to strengthen its traction capacity and the effectiveness of FATF and FATF-style regional bodies."
 

It was a superb day for Indian athletes as they bagged four gold medals in the 400m and 1500m events in both the men's and women's races at the Asian Athletics Championships at Kalinga Stadium here on Friday.

Heavy showers disrupted the proceedings of the evening session on Day 2, but it wasn't enough to stop fans from cheering for the Indian athletes who responded in style on a day where 10 medal events were at stake, even as a major upset came about at the end of the evening in the men's 100m final.

India's lead in the medal standings stayed put as they won four gold, two silver and two bronze medals to add to their tally on Day 1. The hosts now have six gold, three silver and six bronze medals overall.

Nirmala Sheoran broke into the lead at the last turn and stayed there until the end under the unrelenting rain to take gold with a time of 52.01 seconds in the women's 400m, while Quach Thi of Vietnam ended with the silver medal with 52.78. Jisna Mathew completed the medals by taking third place, while 2015 Asian Championships silver winner and Asian Games bronze medalist M R Poovamma finished just outside the medal standings.

National champion Muhammad Anas, who broke the national record in the men's 400m two months ago, emerged in the lead at the final turn and held off stiff competition from compatriot Rajiv Arokia to make it an Indian one-two in pouring rain. Anas finished with an impressive time of 45.77 seconds and Arokia took silver with 46.14 seconds, just ahead of Oman's Ahmed Mubarak who settled for bronze. Just like Poovamma in the women's 400m, Amoj Jacob also finished fourth, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal.

Middle distance runner Ajay Kumar Saroj, however, caused a big upset in the men's 1500m by beating Qatar's Asian Games bronze medalist Jamal Hairane quite convincingly. Saroj clocked in an impressive 3:45.85 and finished over a second ahead of Hairane, while Iran's Moslem Niadoost rounded off the medals by taking bronze.

In the women's 1500m, Chitra P U dominated the field after a spectacular flourish in the final lap and opened up a lead of more than a second over China's Geng Min and Japan's Ayako Jinnouchi, who got silver and bronze respectively.

Ace Indian sprinter and local favourite Dutee Chand settled for bronze in the women's 100m behind the Kazakhstan duo of Viktoriya Zyabkina and Olga Safronova, who clinched gold and silver respectively in an intense final. Zyabkina won her second gold in the 100m at the Asian Championships after winning it in Pune in 2013, while Incheon Asian Games gold medalist in the 200m, Safronova settled for second place.

The men's 100m final had a surprise in store as Hassan Taftian of Iran came from behind in the last half of the race to clinch gold by a hundredth of a second, ahead of defending champion Femi Seun Ogunode of Qatar. Taftian finished with a time of 10.25 seconds to Ogunode's 10.26, while Yang Chun-Han of Chinese Taipei claimed bronze in a tightly contested field.

But there was more disappointment in store for Amiya Kumar Mallick, who was disqualified from the third semi-final of the men's 100m after making a false start as it began to drizzle earlier in the evening. Mallick had been part of another disqualification in the morning session on Day 2, when he passed the baton exchange zone in the final turn of the men's 4x100m semi-finals.

There was more to cheer in the men's shot put event, with youngster Tajinder Pal Singh Toor winning silver ahead of seniors Omprakash Singh Karhana and Jasdeep Singh Dhillon. China dominated the women's shot put final with a gold and silver double, while in the women's high jump, Nadiya Dusanova of Uzbekistan won the gold medal, carrying on from compatriot Svetlana Radzivil who had won the gold in the same event last year.

Thailand's Suttisak Singkon won gold in the men's decathlon after two days of gruelling competition which saw him finish with a total of 7,732 points, ahead of Japan's Kazuya Kawasaki who won silver and last year's silver medalist Guo Qi of China, who had to settle for the bronze medal this time.

There are aspects of the 1975-77 Emergency the country is now witnessing like the gagging of the press, intimidation of leaders, misuse of agencies, and the orchestrated lynch-mob violence, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said here on Friday.

"Nobody fears even the Prime Minister. Even on the day he condemned violence in the name of cow protection, a man was lynched in Jharkhand. The state's police force and the mob do not listen to the Prime Minister. That is what is worrying me," he said, adding that lynch-mob violence is "orchestrated and not spontaneous". 

Chidambaram was answering questions in a panel discussion on the occasion of launch of the book "Indira Gandhi- India's Most Powerful Prime Minister" written by journalist Sagarika Ghose.

Asked whether the country is witnessing another Emergency or what his party leaders say is mere rhetoric, the former Union Minister said the Constitution has been amended and it is not possible to impose Emergency of the 1975 type.

"It is practically impossible (to proclaim Emergency) but there are aspects of 1975-77 Emergency… muzzling of press, intimidation of leaders, use of agencies against organisations and entities, and above all attempt to stifle (dissenting) voices," he said.

About the 1975 Emergency he said the threat (of anarchy) was real then. Jayaprakash Narayan had issued a call to forces and there was a danger of law and order situation going out of hand. 

"The JP movement must have given apprehensions, but the answer (Emergency) was wrong. The threat was real," the senior Congress leader said. 

He said Indira Gandhi was brave enough to accept her mistake and apologise. She had the courage to call elections.

Asked whether Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi should apologise, Chidambaram said: "After 40 years, do generations have to apologise?" 

"I think there are some other apologies that are due," he said in an apparent reference to the present dispensation. 

Echoing Chidambaram's views, former Union Minister and BJP leader Arun Shourie said it was a kind of "decentralised situation" in which there is no centralised edicts but there is an erosion of institutions. The ties between the people and the state are weaker.

"The idea of Money Bill being used to marginalise the Rajya Sabha which is happening time and again and the scale of exaggeration of falsehood by 2,000 per cent….the bureaucracy has been weakened today…there is no single adviser whom we can say they know," he said. 

Comparing the position of Congress now with that existed in 1977 when Indira Gandhi came back to power three years after the defeat, Chidambaram said Indira Gandhi then fought ex-Congressmen and and some very tired socialists. 

"But what Congress is fighting now is a formidable machine called RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). They have a political mission. They will do everything to achieve it. The Congress is weak institutionally and at the roots," he said.

He said the organisation was completely neglected for 10 years when the party was in power between 2004 and 2014. The state unit and the district unit presidents neglected the party machinery. 

When told by moderator Karan Thapar that Sonia Gandhi was the Congress President and should she not be held responsible, Chidambaram said she was the President and she will take responsibility. 

Asked specifically about the leadership that will revive the party, he shot back that the leadership will emerge. 

In his remarks, Shourie said Indira Gandhi had good advisers but ultimately she was responsible for what she did. He said from accounts he had heard, he came to know that Indira Gandhi was remorseful. However, he said, he was not sure who advised her on dismissal of the governments of N.T. Rama Rao and Farooq Abdullah which was disastrous.

The Haryana government has sought 10 additional companies of central paramilitary forces to maintain law and order during the July 10 highway blockade protest by opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

Haryana Director General of Police B S Sandhu told media here on Friday that 10 additional companies of paramilitary forces have been sought from the central government in view of the call given by the INLD to stop Punjab vehicles from entering Haryana on July 10 (Monday).

The INLD protest is over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue.

Sandhu, who attended a meeting here on Friday of top civil and police officers of Haryana and Punjab to review security arrangements for the INLD protest, said that at present orders have been issued for four companies of para-military forces and, if required, more such companies would be sought.

Home Secretaries and DGPs of both states discussed the issue in detail so as to ensure that commuters do not face any inconvenience. Sandhu said that there is a possibility of blocking the road at five or six places on Monday.

"Police has made adequate arrangements for the smooth flow of traffic. At the sensitive places, the police administration is fully vigilant and the agitation would be resolved peacefully," the he said.

He said that the INLD is planning to block roads at two places in Ambala district and one place each in Dabwali, Kaithal and Jind districts. 

Haryana's Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Ram Niwas said that proper law and order situation would be maintained in the state.

"It would also be ensured that people do not face any inconvience due to the proposed agitation," he said.

The Odisha government on Friday announced cash rewards for Odia athletes winning medals in the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships being held at the Kalinga Stadium here.

While gold medal winners will get a cash award of Rs.7 lakh, the silver and bronze medalists will get Rs.5.5 lakh and Rs.2.5 lakh respectively, said Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Chandrasarathi Behera.

He said special awards will also be conferred on athletes for breaking any records.

Sources said state-owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) will bear the prize money for the athletes.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated Odia sprinter Dutee Chand, who bagged bronze in women's 100 sprint event.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday rebutted charges of saffronization against his and the Union governments, noting people saying so are misplaced in their analysis.

In his address at the launch of "Marching with a Billion", a book analysing the Narendra Modi government at midterm, he said people who make this charge are the ones who do not wake up early to see the bright sun in the morning and live in ignorance.

"The people who say so are the ones who wake up in the afternoon and hence they miss the colour of the morning," he said, pointing out how the nation was being filled with colours by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

"We are people who are not deterred by such accusations and are marching ahead in service of the nation, development and prosperity," he added.

He also complimented Modi for his historic visit to Israel, a first-ever by any Indian Prime Minister.

"People who were worried about their vote banks skipped Israel but we are people who are more committed to the people of this country and progress of the nation," he said.
 

The government on Friday held the first edition of "WINGS 2017" for expanding its regional connectivity scheme RCS-UDAN and said that the event will help in identification of new routes.

"All major airlines, NSOP, airport operators, cargo, tour operators and other ecosystem players participated in the event and were benefited from one-to-one government to business (G2B) interactions and explored various business possibilities," an official statement on the event said.

"Some notable outcomes expected from the forum are identification, marketing of new routes, destination and most importantly making flying accessible to the citizens across the country."

The event was organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) here.

According to the statement, the "closed room discussion" during the forum broadly entailed incentives to the airlines operators such as underwriting of seats, reducing the tax on ATF (air turbine fuel) and additional VGF (viability gap funding) among others.

"WINGS 2017 drew in 338 delegates from government and civil aviation sector. The event envisaged participation from 28 states and union territories of India," the statement added.

After the event, SpiceJet's Chairman and MD Ajay Singh told BTVi: "SpiceJet is keen on round two of UDAN."

Singh added that airlines required cheaper ATF.
 

The Congress has hit out at Narendra Modi government for being "indifferent towards Chinese incursions" and mocked it for forgetting its earlier bravado over the issue.

"What has surprised and shocked the nation is the meek response of the Modi government. This is the same Narendra Modi whose spin doctors said that he would show 'Red Eyes' to China, and they would go running back. 

"The only 'red' we have seen is the aggression of China. In the face of these provocative statements, all that the Home Minister Rajnath Singh had to say was, "Chinese intrusions are only perception". Perception? Tell that to our brave Jawans who had to resist Chinese aggression," said an article on the party website. 

It also said: "In the past the three years, Modi Government's foreign policy has been defined more by the Prime Minister's search for holiday destinations and photo opportunities rather than actually serving India's interests."
 

Praising the spirit and attitude of the Indian colts, senior national team skipper Sunil Chhetri on Friday expressed confidence that the Indian colts will give their best in the Under-17 FIFA World Cup.

India have been clubbed with Colombia, thed United States and Ghana in Group A of the 24-team tournament starting on October 6.

Speaking after the draw, Chhetri said: "It's the best tournament in the world in this age group. I am really excited. The boys are well prepared. I was talking to one of them and I asked which teams do you want? And he told me that it doesn't matter. We are just gonna go there and give our best."

"And I was really impressed. There are two things. As a team we will give whatever we have, and as hosts we will try to be the best the world has ever seen," India's all-time leading goalscorer added.

Chhetri was one of the four sportspersons doing the draw besides Argentina midfielder Esteban Cambiasso, Nigerian forward Nwankwo Kanu, and the country's top-ranked badminton player PV Sindhu. 

Sindhu said the experience for the boys would be one to remember and results won't matter.

"Of course, India being the hosts, I would like to wish them all the very best, and I think it's just that you need to believe in yourself and give your best, no matter what," she said.

"If you win…of course there are good teams there…but I think if we do well it's ok, but if we don't, if we lose, never mind it's just the experience. You will have to learn a lot more."

"This is only the starting for them and there is a long way to go. So I think being the hosts, there will always be pressure. I would like to wish India all the best and other teams as well," she added.

India, coached by Portuguese Luis Norton de Matos, will play their first game against the US on October 6 in New Delhi. 

Film: "Guest Iin London"

Director: Ashwni Dhir

Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kirti Kharbanda, Paresh Rawal, Tanvi Azmi and Sanjay Mishra

"Guest Iin London" is the rehash of director Ashwni Dhir's 2010 released Ajay Devgn starrer "Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge". It is a far cry from its predecessor in terms of entertainment as it kind of feels like leftovers while carving a stereotype of an irritating, parasitical guest.

This time as the title suggests, the guest Gangasharan Gandotra aka Chachaji (Paresh Rawal) along with his wife who he fondly calls Guddi (Tanvi Azmi), lands in the house of Aaryan Grover (Kartik Aaryan) while he is planning a fake marriage with Anaya Patel (Kirti Kharbanda) to get a permanent citizenship in Britain.

How Chachaji alters their plans and makes himself comfortable in Aaryan's house forms the crux of the tale.

The script is far-fetched, lazily crafted and is bogged down by the writer's fatigue where humour is derived from bland, parochial jokes and flatulence outbursts. There is even a full song which is unwarranted and dedicated to emission of wind.

The entire film pivots around Paresh Rawal, who an otherwise brilliant actor fails to impress in this shoddy film. He does nothing to elevate this sinking narrative. Tanvi Azmi as his wife is overshadowed by him and is only there to make excuses for his bad stomach. She does shine in a few independent scenes though, which are handled perfunctorily, thereby taking the focus from her. Case in point is the baby massage scene.