Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has lauded veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic decision to ‘fight’ after suffering a career-threatening knee injury, according to a statement on the club website.

Ibrahimovic and defender Marcos Rojo are facing lengthy spells on the sidelines after sustaining knee ligament damage in United’s Europa League quarter-final win over Anderlecht.

The Red Devils' top scorer subsequently used his Instagram account on Monday to defiantly declare: "Giving up is not an option."

Asked about the 35-year-old at his press conference on Wednesday, Mourinho admitted: "The future is a big surgery and a long period of recovering. But the future is also in the hands of a very strong guy, mentally very strong, who wrote immediately on social media that he will stop playing when he wants, not when people think.”

"It looks for me that he’s not going to give up and he’s going to fight. I’m really pleased with that because this is the Zlatan I know. He fought all his life and that’s what I told him – 'you have fought all your life since you were born.' I don’t see a reason not to fight.”

Commenting on the Swede's road to recovery, Mourinho added:
"We think he is in fabulous hands and he needs to recover from the injury and prepare himself mentally for the next step. I think the next step will always be something that he really wants, which is something I was saying before the injury in the period of doubt about his future; I have always said that.”

"He is much more important than myself and what I want, it’s what he wants. I always want the players to be happy and to choose their future, and this is what I think is going to happen. Now, before such an important surgery, I think it’s a waste of time to speak about what’s next," Mourinho added.

(All quotes are from www.manutd.com)

An India-born doctor and his wife along with another Indian-origin woman doctor have been indicted by a grand jury in the US for allegedly performing genital mutilation on two girls, in a first-of-its kind federal prosecution in the country.

Fakhruddin Attar, 53, his wife, Farida Attar, 50, both from Michigan state, were yesterday charged with conspiring to perform female genital mutilations (FGM) on minor girls out of Attar's medical clinic in Livonia. The Attars were arrested on April 21.

They were charged with helping another Indian-origin doctor Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Michigan, in performing genital mutilation on two 7-year-old girls in February at a clinic owned by Fakhruddin.

The federal indictment alleges the trio also tried to obstruct the investigation by telling other people to make false statement to authorities. The doctors are also accused of lying to investigators.

Unless they work out a plea deal, the three accused are headed to trial now, Detroit Free Press reported.

Nagarwala, Fakhruddin and Farida are believed to be the first people charged under federal US law, which criminalises FGM.

Genital mutilation, also known as cutting, has been condemned by the United Nations and outlawed in the United States. But the practice is common for girls in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

According to an online physician directory, Fakhruddin graduated from the Baroda Medical College in Gujarat, India in 1988.

The charges say that Nagarwala used to perform the medical procedure on minor girls at Burhani Medical Clinic (BMC) in Michigan that was owned and operated by Fakhruddin.

Fakhruddin's wife was employed at BMC as an officer manager.

The compliant against the Attars said that the couple arranged and assisted in the female genital mutilation of minor females performed by Nagarwala. While they allowed their clinic to be used by Nagarwala to perform the procedures, Farida assisted Nagarwala during the female genital mutilation procedures.

Fakhruddin told federal agents this month that he has known Nagarwala and she occasionally saw patients at his clinic even though she was not employed there. He said Nagarwala only saw the patients at BMC when the clinic was closed and that Farida used to be present in the examining room while Nagarwala treated the minor girls.

The investigation revealed that several minor girls informed forensic personnel that Nagarwala had performed procedures on their genitals and one minor girl said Farida had been present when Nagarwala did the FGM procedures.

According to the complaint, some of the minor victims travelled interstate to have the procedure performed. The complaint alleges that the FGM procedure was performed on girls who were approximately six to eight years old.

The number of girls under 18 at risk for FGM in the US has quadrupled since 1997. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 513,000 women and girls are at risk of FGM in the US. FGM has been a crime under federal law since 1996 and is punishable by up to five years in prison, however FGM is not a crime in 26 US states, including Michigan.

The complaint filed against Nagarwala last week had said federal agents reviewed her telephone records and further investigation revealed that parents of two minor girls had travelled to Michigan.

The girls were later interviewed by a forensic expert and one of the girls said she was told she was coming to Detroit for a "special" girls trip, but after arriving at the hotel, she learned that she and the other girl had to go to the doctor because "our tummies hurt." The girls had been taken to Nagarwala, who performed the procedure on the girls.

The World Health Organisation said female genital mutilation comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been cut in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is concentrated. WHO said FGM, which is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15, is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
 

Building on the success of the its first-generation AI platform, Infosys Mana and its Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solution, AssistEdge, Infosys on Thursday launched 'Infosys Nia', the next-generation Artificial Intelligence (AI) Platform for businesses.

Infosys Nia converges the big data/analytics, machine learning, knowledge management and cognitive automation capabilities of Mana; end-to-end RPA capabilities of AssistEdge; advanced, high-performance and scalable machine learning capabilities of Skytree; and optical character recognition (OCR), natural language processing (NLP) capabilities and infrastructure management services. 

"Nia takes our purposeful approach to AI, one in which technology serves to amplify people and empowers them to work in new ways, to new heights," Vishal Sikka, Chief Executive Officer at Infosys, said in a statement.

"When we bring this together with our unmatched ability to educate and train in AI techniques and emerging technologies, we now have the platform, the services and the skills, to deliver new unprecedented value to our clients," he added.

Infosys Nia, tackles business problems such as forecasting revenues, forecasting what products need to be built, understanding customer behaviour, understanding the content of contracts and legal documents, understanding compliance, and fraud.

The platform can improve order-to-cash process by creating a real-time risk profile to customise the collection strategy, expedite resolution of disputes, predict anomalies, prevent disputes, and enable better visibility and forecasting of cash flow to reduce days sales outstanding (DSO).

It can also predict variability in manufacturing and material cost, while also reducing product development cycle times.

Infosys Nia is available to order immediately.

The US on Thursday vowed to step up economic sanctions to force North Korea to resume talks over its nuclear programme, underlining that its past efforts had failed to halt Pyongyang's "unlawful" weapons programmes.

Briefing senators at the White House, top Trump administration officials said President Donald Trump wanted to use diplomatic measures and tighten sanctions to pressure Kim Jong-Un's regime.

The senators earlier were ferried in a bus from the US capitol to the White House for an unusual detailed briefing from the Trump administration officials on the current situation in North Korea.

President Donald Trump himself dropped by at the briefing, which was addressed by his top national security aides — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defence Secretary James Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Joe Dunford.

"Past efforts have failed to halt North Korea's unlawful weapons programmes and nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

With each provocation, North Korea jeopardises stability in Northeast Asia and poses a growing threat to our allies and the US homeland," the three top officials Tillerson, Mattis and Coats said in a joint statement after the meeting.

North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons is an urgent national security threat and the top foreign policy priority, they said, adding that upon assuming office, Trump ordered a thorough review of US policy pertaining to the North Korea.

"The president's approach aims to pressure North Korea into dismantling its nuclear, ballistic missile, and proliferation programmes by tightening economic sanctions and pursuing diplomatic measures with our allies and regional partners," the statement said.

It said the Trump administration is engaging responsible members of the international community to increase pressure on North Korea in order to convince the regime to de-escalate and return to the path of dialogue.

"We will maintain our close coordination and cooperation with our allies, especially the Republic of Korea and Japan, as we work together to preserve stability and prosperity in the region.

"The United States seeks stability and the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. We remain open to negotiations towards that goal. However, we remain prepared to defend ourselves and our allies," the three top Trump administration officials said in a statement.

Top American Senators, who had a rare bus ride from the Capitol to the White House, acknowledged that this was an unusual briefing.

At the same time, they differed on partisan lines on the context and importance of the briefing.

"In my congressional career, there s never been a similar type of meeting held at the White House. (But) I don't want to read too much into this," Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told reporters after the briefing.

"It was encouraging to see virtually every senator there, both Democrats and Republicans, and it was a long and detailed briefing," Republican Senator Ted Cruz told reporters after the meeting.

Cruz said he was "cautiously optimistic that we are seeing early signs that China is helping and cooperating and reining in North Korea….Time will tell".

"I don't want to get into the details of the briefing itself, but I think it's clear that they are going to take more steps, and steps to pressure China as well as others in the region, to get the results we need, which is peaceful denuclearization," said Senator Cory Gardner, who is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"North Korea's reckless belligerence threatens our allies in the region and could possibly threaten the homeland in the future," said Senator David Perdue.

"Today's briefing signals President Trump's willingness to engage and inform both Republicans and Democrats in Congress of the increasing risk posed by North Korea.

"A strong US partnership with our allies in the region is essential to reining in this rogue nation and sending the message that this threatening behaviour will not be tolerated," Perdue said.

A senior administration official told reporters that the White House is looking at broad range of options.

"We're looking at a broad range of options, obviously, across all elements of national power and multinational power in connection with North Korea. And so what the president has done is he's made a decision for us to pursue a certain course, and that course obviously has a number of options associated with it, depending on how the situation develops in the future," the official said.

"So I think that what you've seen is really an integrated effort to prioritise diplomatic and informational aspects of national power, but also what you'll see soon is using the economic dimension of national power, as well as the military preparations that are underway," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

According to the Senior Administration official, North Korea poses a serious threat to the US.

An American response to North Korean threat involves both economic and military options, he said.

"Some of the economic actions take time to develop. What we're endeavoring to do is to work with partners in the region and others to isolate the North Korean ballistic missile programme and the nuclear programme from any sort of external support," the official said.

"If you just look at the images, right, of the big parade there recently and look at the complexity of that equipment, those components, even the tires, right, are not made in North Korea.

"So it's clear that all of us have a lot more to do to isolate the regime from its access to the kind of materials and technologies and components it needs to advance those two very dangerous programs," the official added.

Some of the Democratic Senators said they learnt little from the White House briefing.

"It was a sobering briefing, and an important opportunity for the entire Senate to hear the emerging plans of the Trump administration to confront what is a very real threat to our security," said Senator Chris Coons.

After the briefing, Republican Senator John Boozman said Trump and his national security team have a clear grasp on the urgent need to address the escalating situation with North Korea.

"As Kim Jung Un continues to threaten the US and our allies, it is important that my colleagues and I have all the intelligence necessary to determine the best way forward. The bottom line is that Kim has to end his belligerent actions.

"If not, Congress and the administration need to leave every option on the table to counter these aggressions," Boozman said.

Expanding the list of material that can be produced by 3-D printing, researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have designed a system to print the basic structure of an entire building.

Structures built with this system could be produced faster and less expensively than traditional construction methods allow, the researchers said. 

"Our system points to a future vision of digital construction that enables new possibilities on our planet and beyond," said Neri Oxman, Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences.

Ultimately, the system is intended to be self-sufficient. It is equipped with a scoop that could be used to both prepare the building surface and acquire local materials, such as dirt for a rammed-earth building, for the construction itself. 

The whole system, detailed in a paper published in the journal Science Robotics, could be operated electrically, even powered by solar panels. 

The idea is that such systems could be deployed to remote regions, for example in the developing world, or to areas for disaster relief after a major storm or earthquake, to provide durable shelter rapidly.

The ultimate vision is "in the future, to have something totally autonomous, that you could send to the moon or Mars or Antarctica, and it would just go out and make these buildings for years," Steven Keating, who led the development of the system as his doctoral thesis work, said.

But in the meantime, he said, "we also wanted to show that we could build something tomorrow that could be used right away." 

The system consists of a tracked vehicle that carries a large, industrial robotic arm, which has a smaller, precision-motion robotic arm at its end. 

This highly controllable arm can then be used to direct any construction nozzle, such as those used for pouring concrete or spraying insulation material, as well as additional digital fabrication end effectors.

Unlike typical 3-D printing systems, most of which use some kind of an enclosed, fixed structure to support their nozzles and are limited to building objects that can fit within their overall enclosure, this free-moving system can construct an object of any size, the researchers said. 

As a proof of concept, the researchers used a prototype to build the basic structure of the walls of a 50-foot-diametre, 12-foot-high dome — a project that was completed in less than 14 hours of "printing" time.

Stunned by the crushing defeat in the Delhi civic polls, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Thursday resigned as its Punjab in-charge.

The co-incharge for Punjab, Durgesh Pathak, also resigned and the leaders submitted their resignations to AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal more than a month after the party received a drubbing in Punjab assembly polls as well.

"I have submitted my resignation from the post of Punjab in-charge to Arvind Kejriwal. Durgesh (Pathak) has also resigned from his co-incharge post for the state," Singh tweeted in the morning.

The BJP won 181 of the 270 wards for which elections were held. Thw AAP could win in just 48 wards and the Congress was way behind with 30 seats.

That AAP's popularity has slipped after the latest round of the assembly polls, when it failed to perform in Punjab up to its expectations and drew a blank in Goa. 

(With inputs from agencies)

Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu of India sailed into the quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia Championships with another clinical performance here on Thursday.

The Rio Games silver winner easily notched up a 21-14, 21-15 win over unseeded Japanese Aya Ohori in the second round match that lasted just 40 minutes at the Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium.

However, Ajay Jayaram crashed out in the second round of men's event, losing 19-21, 10-21 to Chinese Taipei's Hsu Jen Hao.

World number three Sindhu began her campaign in the continental tournament by defeating Dinar Dyah Ayustine of Indonesia 21-8, 21-18 in a lop-sided first round encounter.

London Games bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, HS Prannoy and the doubles pairs exited the tournament on the opening day yesterday.

Seeded third, the 21-year-old Sindhu is the lone Indian in fray now, and will take on He Bingjiao of China in the quarterfinals.

In the men's event, Jayaram, who had stunned Chinese fifth seed Tian Houwei in the first round, lost in straight games.

In the mixed doubles category, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy went down to top seeds Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen 15-21, 21-14, 16-21 in 50 minutes.

Sikki, partnering Ashwinin Ponnappa, also lost in the doubles competition to South Koreans Chae Yoo Jung and Kim So Yeong 20-22, 16-21 in 37 minutes.

Arsenal made heavy weather of being Leicester City at home on Wednesday to keep their hopes of a top-four finish alive, but full-back Hector Bellerin believes a shift to a 3-4-3 formation has only just begun to show results, according to a statement on the club website. 

Robert Huth’s 86th-minute own goal proved to be decisive as the Gunners ran out 1-0 winners at the Emirates to cut the gap between themselves and fourth-placed Manchester City to four points.

And after knocking Pep Guardiola’s men from the FA Cup on the weekend, Bellerin spoke of how crucial the goal and the result was: “It was really important for us to get the win today. The spirits were really high after the weekend, so we knew that we had to keep it up. Leicester is always tough. They’re a team that defend really well, so it’s always very hard to crack them. We had to wait until the last 10 minutes to do it but I think the team deserved the win. We had the most of the game and you know, there was good energy and good spirit and we’ve just got to keep it going into the weekend now.”

Arsene Wenger introduced Olivier Giroud in the second half to force a goal and Bellerin admitted that the change in tactics benefitted them, saying “Sometimes you’ve just got to switch the tactics. I think the team played with great energy at the beginning and we were getting chances, we just weren’t efficient enough. But then, towards the end we knew that we would have our chances and the goal came at the end. I think it’s good credit to the team that we kept going, we were patient and then we got the goal.”

Wenger has started to play three at the back for the first time since 1997 and Bellerin feels the new formation is working: “You know, for the style of play that the team has, it works really well. Sometimes you’ve just got to keep switching system and make the other teams just think about it for a second and I think the team is doing really good. No matter what system we play, I think the team is performing so we’ve just got to keep it going and enjoy every minute of it.”

There isn't any time to relax for Arsenal for Sunday sees them make the short trip to Tottenham Hotspur and Bellerin adds that the Gunners are in a good state of mind at the moment: “It’s really important to get to those games with a good spirit and good mood in the dressing room and after these two last results, the team is in a great one and we’ve just got to keep it going.”

(All quotes from www.arsenal.com)

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday chaired a meeting of high-level inter-ministerial team to review the implementation of development packages for Jammu and Kashmir.

The meeting comes in the wake of incidents of violence in the Valley including the recent attacks on security officials.

A Rs. 80,000-crore package for Jammu and Kashmir was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November, 2015.

So far, Rs.17,000 crore has been released to the state government by the Centre and around Rs. 40,000 crore out of the total Rs 80,000-crore package has been earmarked for improving road infrastructure, including semi-ring roads in Jammu and Srinagar, upgradation of important highways besides others.

An amount of Rs.7,854 crore has been earmarked for flood relief, reconstruction and flood management. A total of Rs 2,241 crore is meant for promoting tourism, which includes setting up 50 tourist villages.

In addition, Rs.11,708 crore has earmarked for power, new and renewable energy and Rs.4,900 crore for improving health care facilities in the state.

Terrorist on Thursday attacked an Army camp in Kupwara killing three army personnel. Two terrorists were also killed in the attack.

(With inputs from agencies)

Bad food habits can seriously damage your health. While healthy behaviours of the body are boosted by food, wrong choice of food or pattern of consumeing food can be responsible for early aging to heart problems, diabetes, cancer and many more chronic diseases. Stay healthy by eating right.

Sugar harms your health: Sugar often leads to mood swings, fatigue, headache and craving for more of it. It increases the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart diseases. Emerging research also suggests that high glycaemic diets are linked with many different forms of cancer 2, 3, 4. Sugar interferes with immune function leading to more infections and illness. A high sugar diet often results in chromium deficiency. It is the mineral that helps regulate blood sugar. High amount of sugar circulating in your blood accelerates aging. It causes tooth decay and gum disease. Sugar takes the place of essential nutrients and increases the stress level.

Fried food: Fat and calorie intake gets increased when consuming fried foods. It increases your risk of various health issues by accelerating the risk of type 2 diabetes, strokes, obesity and prostate cancer. With each reuse, oil becomes more degraded and gets more absorbed into food. It can contribute to weight gain, higher cholesterol and higher blood pressure.

Street food: Food away from home may not be fresh. It has greatest risk. Although, it may be tasty it may also be the worst thing to eat. Everytime it may not necessarily be bad, but in many cases it contains large amounts of carbohydrates, added sugar, unhealthy fats and salt. These foods are often high in calories and offer no or very less nutritional value. Making a habit of eating outside food may lead to poor health, poor nutrition and weight gain.

Chemically processed food, fast or junk food and artificially flavoured beverages: These foods are unhealthy and can make you sick and fat. Loaded with added sugar or great fructose corn syrup, their consumption in excess is seriously harmful. They contain all sorts of artificial ingredients, including preservatives, colorants and flavours added for various purposes. These food can lead to over consumption. Their hyper-rewarding nature make people addicted to them. High in refined carbs, they can lead to rapid spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels. This kind of food is low in essential nutrients or fibre and high in trans-fats or processed vegetable oils.

Bad eating habits: Eating fast, without nutrition in mind, too much or too low, is unhealthy. Large serving sizes, eating but not exercising enough, drinking water immediately before or after or in between meals, talking or watching TV while eating, going to bed hungry or after overeating, all these bad eating habits should be checked strictly and seriously.

Now that you know the negative impacts bad food habits can have on your body and mind, you need to be more careful while eating. Be well informed about food. Let the knowledge of ingredients be your guide. Know what you eat and stay healthy.

READ MORE: http://www.thestatesman.com/food/

An Indian-origin British soldier was on Thursday sentenced to a minimum of 22 years behind bars for killing his ex-girlfriend in north-east England last year.

Lance Corporal Trimaan "Harry" Dhillon, 26, was accused of breaking into Alice Ruggles' flat and slitting her throat from ear to ear.

Dhillon, who was described in a court as an obsessive, controlling and manipulative person, had denied murdering Ruggles in October last year.

But a jury at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday found him guilty of murder and Judge Paul Sloan sentenced him to a minimum of 22 years behind bars before being considered for parole.

Describing the killing as "utter barbarism", the judge told Dhillon: "Not a shred of remorse have you shown from first to last indeed you were concentrating so hard on getting your story right when giving evidence you forgot even to shed a crocodile tear".

Edinburgh-based Dhillon was found guilty of using his skills as a signaller with 2 Scots, the Royal Regiment of Scotland, to hack his 24-year-old victim's emails, phone messages and social media.

She was found dead in a pool of blood by her flatmate Maxine just days after she had told a police officer she did not want Dhillon to be arrested for harassment.

Ruggles had contacted Northumbria Police after she broke up with Dhillon as she was concerned about his behaviour when he travelled from his Scotland barracks, got into her back yard and knocked on her bedroom window late at night.

He allegedly left her flowers and chocolates and then walked away.

Dhillon was ordered by his commanding officer to stay away from his ex-girlfriend but he posted her a parcel containing photos and a letter.

According to the prosecution, Dhillon drove to Ruggles' home on October 10 last year and waited for her after he broke in through her bedroom window and took a knife from the kitchen.

There was a violent struggle which was heard by a neighbour upstairs and Dhillon then allegedly drew the blade across Ruggles' neck six times.

His victim also suffered a wound to the nose and her hand, along with chest injuries.

Dhillon had claimed she died as a result of an accident when she leapt at him with a carving knife.

He told the jury they had been struggling, that he had tried to disarm her and she cut herself when he blocked a lunge, and the knife stuck in her neck when she fell to the floor.

The jury played a frantic 999 call by Miss Ruggle's friend Maxine McGill in which she described finding the 24- year-old "covered in blood" and named Dhillon as the killer, calling him an "absolute psychopath".

Ruggles and Dhillon had developed an intense relationship over the internet while he was serving in Afghanistan and she was working for Sky in Newcastle.

The jury were told that Dhillon soon set about alienating her from her friends, knocked her self-confidence and demanded her constant attention.

His previous partner suffered similarly and her ordeal only ended after she took out a restraining order.

After the verdict, Ruggles' family released a statement through the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which helps people avoid becoming victims of violence.

Her mother Sue said: "I just keep thinking I can't believe we didn't identify the signs of stalking but you just don't know when it's going on".

"I would like what happened to Alice to encourage others to seek support if they are worried about someone's behaviour," Sue added.

The woes don't seem to end for spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday issued a contempt notice to the Art of Living foundation's head on a plea against him in the Yamuna floodplains case.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar issued notice to Ravi Shankar while seeking his reply before May 9, the next date of hearing.

The spiritual guru has been accused of damaging Yamuna's floodplains by organising a mega cultrual show. The plea filed by activist Manoj Misra has sought action against Ravi Shankar and said his remarks interfered with with free and fair dispensation of justice.

In a statement published on the AOL's website, Ravi Shankar had blamed the government and the NGT for permitting AOL to hold the function and said his foundation had obtained all necessary permissions, including from the green panel, and the event could have been stopped in the beginning itself if the river was so "fragile and pure".

In the plea filed through advocates Ritwick Dutta and Rahul Choudhary, Misra said the AOL head was "in the habit" of making statements to "denigrate the dignity and status of this tribunal, which was an interference in the fair dispensation of justice", that is the bedrock of the rule of law.

(With inputs from agencies)

Before Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg earned the sobriquet of Ink Street it was Urdu Bazar in the Jama Masjid area that enjoyed that status as it existed since Mughal times. There were papers like the Delhi gazette, the Moffusilite and the Morning Post (to quote Narayani Gupta) and then Master Ram Chandra, who edited two of Delhi's earliest Urdu newspapers ~ the Fawaid-al- Nazarin and the Qiran-us-Sa'adain, besides translating Macaulay's Minute on Education, which advocated the English medium. Much before the 1857 uprising the Urdu Press was abuzz with rumours of an imminent oubreak against the British. To add to the din there was the Zia-ul Akbar and Maulvi Nasir Ali's three newspapers ~ Nusratul- Islam, Nusrat-ul-Akbar and Mihir-ul-Islam, which advocated exposure of beef for sale. "That was after the Multan disturbances on cow slaughter". The Punjab government, which ruled Delhi, banned cattle slaughter in the city and the shops selling meat in Kashmere Gate, Mori Gate and Phatak Habsh Khan were closed and the trade transferred to Mor Sarai, says Gupta. That shows how the local press influenced government policy.

After the Capital was transferred to Delhi, the Calcutta papers, like The Statesman, descended from William Carey's Friend of India and The Englishman, began opening branch offices here, but the leader of Allahbad, the Pioneer, and National Herald stayed put in UP (United Provinces) and influenced public opinion in Delhi all the same through the writings of doyens like C Y Chinatamani, Rama Rao amd later M Chhalapathi Rau (Magnus), though the Hindustan Timeshad started publication in the city in 1924, followed by the Times of India office at 10 Daryaganj, Indian Express in Mori Gate and Aljamiat from Gali Qasim Jan. The Moffusilite threw up such moffusil correspondents as Fred Ellis and T Smith and with them Pandit Rajnath Kunzru and Nawab Faiyaz Khan, who graduated in Journalism from California University. Among the Englishmen active in Delhi were Stateman'sJames Cowley, who introduced the concept of a weekly Notebook, and resident editor Ian Stephen, who cycled all the way to Maulana Azad's house on a summer afternoon, wearing a vest, khaki shorts and wooden khadons, and managed to interview him despite communication problems. Then there were editors like Arthur Moore, who had to go back to London after taking up the cause of Indian Independence and Malcolm Muggeridge, who operated from Simla in summer, where he befriended Amrita Sher-gil and later complained of VD and exhaustion. The names of editors like Evan Charlton and Philip Crosland also need mention as Delhiwallah journalists.

Through their encouragement came up Prem Bhatia, Pran Chopra, Kishan Bhatia, Mahesh Chandra and S Nihal Singh. The last named travelled with the entourage of Queen Elizabeth II in the 1960s right up to Peshawar and the land of Kipling's Gungadin, to write about Chappali kababs. There was also M L Kotru, who had taken over as Chief Reporter from N N Rana and was lauded as the best feature writer. And his successor R K Raju, who went with wife Bula all the way to Kenya to lay flowers on Jim Corbett's grave, with the memorable epitaph: Until daybreak and the shadows flee away".

Of greater note and fame were: the Mahatma's son Devdas Gandhi, S Moolgaonkar, Frank Moraes, Khushwant Singh, Hamdi Bey, Chanchal Sarkar, Shamlal, B G Verghese, Kuldip Nayar, S C Kala and D C Kala. (The former's grand daughter, Leher Kala still writes a trendy weekly column, like Nayar). Then there was Uncle Atkinson, who was murdered by gay cycle mechanincs when Edata Narayan was editing Patriot. Some other names have faded from memory (mutatis mutandi). As for Urdu Bazar, now it is mostly famous for books which fire the imagnation. You can buy the works of any Urdu poet here, be it Mir Taqi Mir, Zauq, Ghalib, Momin, Zafar, Iqbal, Josh, Jigar, Firaq, Maikash, Faiz or the less well-known ones. The shops are stacked with them. You name the "shair" and you get the book you want, pretty cheap, as even M F Husain realised.

The bazaar is unique for perhaps nowhere else would you find so many rare Urdu books available easily. The people who sell them are learned in their own way and can recite line and verse from any "shair", who made his mark. They have acquired this mastery over the years, starting off as apprentices in their hereditary shops with beardless chins and then maturing with fullgrown beards. Walk into any shop and you'll find them sizing you up with glasses perched over their nosetips, people who speak a language so refined and cultured that you begin to feel a rustic in front of them and reach the unsettling conclusion that what you have been speaking for years is some coarse variation of the actual tongue. It's like Josh taking a budding votary of the Muse in Delhi to task for pronouncing "untees" (29) as "unatees" which means one less than "tees" (30). He attributed it to the Punjabi influence.

But Urdu Bazar is not only books and couplets, quoted to suit any situation. It's much more. It is also kabab and fried chicken stalls and paan, milk, and tea shops, where people discuss the daily happenings. And in the evening it is the rendezvous of vendors, who sell cool kheer, chamcham and rabri. It is also the stink from the chicken and fish shops, which gets smothered in the fragrance of "gajras" sold for milady's hairdo, and the perfume of attar,khas and raat-ki-rani that migles with the smell of chameli and agarbattis. In the 1960s, after the last namaaz had been said and the ongawallahs had lit dry grass to fend off the mosquitoes, one saw the solitary figure of Mir Mushtaq Ahmed looking down from the balcony of his old house ~ before a livelong day had been gathered into the vast mantle of the night.

When one occupied a room in Naaz Hotel, just behind the Jama Masjid long ago, one heard from the waiters that M F Husain used to stay there earlier on a monthly basis. He spent most of his time painting steet scenes of the Walled City and in the evening went for a barefoot walk around the area (a practice he continued even after moving to Jangpura). He would go via the new Meena Bazar in Azad Park (then under construction) to the mazar of Sheikh Kalimullah Jehanabadi, linger to hear snatches of the daily qawwali, then return through the fish market, stopping at the shrine of Hare Bhare and his disciple, Sarmad Shaheed, where he would browse through Urdu books at a small stall run by a young mullaji. From there Husain would usually go to Flora Restaurant, then famous for shammi kababs, or to Karim's, where mince samosas were sold, besides seekh kababs before dinner time. Finally, he would go home with some books he had bought on his evening round under his arm.

Another one looking for Urdu books and magazines was Chacha Niyaz Haider, a Shia playwright and novelist who, though always short of money, could manage to get some on credit. He did repay later, after borrowing from journalist Saeed Naqvi, then working for The Statesman, besides persuading him to give an extra Rs 5 to buy pint of rum. When Ghulam Rabbani Taban, the late Urdu poet, came from Basti Nizamuddin, he also spent some time looking for books, newspapers and magazines in Urdu Bazar. He used to write under the psedonym of "Farchat" while a student of MA English Literature at St John's College, Agra (favourite pupil of Prof Suraj Prasad, head of department) and once made Sarojini Naidu roll on the stage when he mimicked the cock-crow to signify that morning had come and it was time for the all-night mushaira to end. With maturity he began writing as "Taban" but older folk still preferred his tongue in check verses recited as "Farchakt". All this comes to mind when one visits UrduBazar, once Delhi's Fleet Street before English newspapers gave that name to Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.

The US on Thursday vowed to step up economic sanctions to force North Korea to resume talks over its nuclear programme, underlining that its past efforts had failed to halt Pyongyang's “unlawful” weapons programmes.

Briefing senators at the White House, top Trump administration officials said President Donald Trump wanted to use diplomatic measures and tighten sanctions to pressure Kim Jong-Un's regime.

The senators earlier were ferried in a bus from the US capitol to the White House for an unusual detailed briefing from the Trump administration officials on the current situation in North Korea.

President Donald Trump himself dropped by at the briefing, which was addressed by his top national security aides — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defence Secretary James Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Joe Dunford.

“Past efforts have failed to halt North Korea's unlawful weapons programmes and nuclear and ballistic missile tests. With each provocation, North Korea jeopardises stability in Northeast Asia and poses a growing threat to our allies and the US homeland,” the three top officials Tillerson, Mattis and Coats said in a joint statement after the meeting.

North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons is an urgent national security threat and the top foreign policy priority, they said, adding that upon assuming office, Trump ordered a thorough review of US policy pertaining to the North Korea.

“The president's approach aims to pressure North Korea into dismantling its nuclear, ballistic missile, and proliferation programmes by tightening economic sanctions and pursuing diplomatic measures with our allies and regional partners,” the statement said.

It said the Trump administration is engaging responsible members of the international community to increase pressure on North Korea in order to convince the regime to de-escalate and return to the path of dialogue.

“We will maintain our close coordination and cooperation with our allies, especially the Republic of Korea and Japan, as we work together to preserve stability and prosperity in the region.

“The United States seeks stability and the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. We remain open to negotiations towards that goal. However, we remain prepared to defend ourselves and our allies,” the three top Trump administration officials said in a statement.

Top American Senators, who had a rare bus ride from the Capitol to the White House, acknowledged that this was an unusual briefing.

At the same time, they differed on partisan lines on the context and importance of the briefing.

“In my congressional career, theres never been a similar type of meeting held at the White House. (But) I don't want to read too much into this,” Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told reporters after the briefing.

“It was encouraging to see virtually every senator there, both Democrats and Republicans, and it was a long and detailed briefing,” Republican Senator Ted Cruz told reporters after the meeting.

Cruz said he was “cautiously optimistic that we are seeing early signs that China is helping and cooperating and reining in North Korea….Time will tell”.

“I don't want to get into the details of the briefing itself, but I think it's clear that they are going to take more steps, and steps to pressure China as well as others in the region, to get the results we need, which is peaceful denuclearization,” said Senator Cory Gardner, who is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“North Korea's reckless belligerence threatens our allies in the region and could possibly threaten the homeland in the future,” said Senator David Perdue.

“Today's briefing signals President Trump's willingness to engage and inform both Republicans and Democrats in Congress of the increasing risk posed by North Korea.

“A strong US partnership with our allies in the region is essential to reining in this rogue nation and sending the message that this threatening behaviour will not be tolerated,” Perdue said.

A senior administration official told reporters that the White House is looking at broad range of options.

“We're looking at a broad range of options, obviously, across all elements of national power and multinational power in connection with North Korea. And so what the president has done is he's made a decision for us to pursue a certain course, and that course obviously has a number of options associated with it, depending on how the situation develops in the future,” the official said.

“So I think that what you've seen is really an integrated effort to prioritise diplomatic and informational aspects of national power, but also what you'll see soon is using the economic dimension of national power, as well as the military preparations that are underway,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Pakistani cricket authorities have threatened to sue Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for not playing bilateral series, causing them huge financial losses.

Najam Sethi, Chairman of PCB's Executive Committee tweeted on Wednesday night that they have conveyed it to the BCCI officials on then sidelines of ICC Executive Board meeting in Dubai.

"PCB has told BCCI it is suing for compensation against BCCI's refusal to play bilateral series as per Agreement signed in 2014," he tweeted.

Sethi, who is tipped to take over as Chairman of the PCB once again, had signed the MoU with the BCCI officials in 2014 on the sidelines of an ICC meeting.

Under the MoU, Pakistan and India were to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023 but India so far has refused to play even one series on the grounds that it s government has not given it clearance for bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan.

The BCCI refusal has come despite Pakistan agreeing to host its home series at neutral venues including Sri Lanka.

Pakistan claims it has lost nearly USD 200 million because of India s refusal to play two home series of Pakistan.

India has not played a full bilateral series with Pakistan since 2007 and the PCB since last year has been insisting it will be pursuing all legal avenues to seek compensation from the Indian.

The first legal course it has said it will announce will be to approach the ICC disputes resolution committee.

He also announced that Giles Clarke, Chairman of the ICC s Task Force on Pakistan cricket, has reviewed the security report of ICC experts and has agreed to hold three Twenty20 matches in Pakistan.

Sethi said the matches are scheduled for end of September 2017 and a team of ICC's "top current players" will play the matches.

Real Madrid again made light of the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo as they crushed Deportivo la Coruna 6-2 to maintain the upper hand in the La Liga title race on Wednesday.

Madrid and Barcelona are locked on 78 points at the top of the table, but Real have a game in hand over their title rivals.

Barca remain top thanks to their better head-to-head record as Lionel Messi struck twice to relegate Osasuna in a 7-1 thrashing.

Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane made nine changes in all from the side that lost 3-2 to Barca on Sunday to reignite the title race.

Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and the injured Gareth Bale were left out the Madrid squad for a third straight away league game, but again their absence wasn't missed.

"It is the hardest job for a coach. When they play like they did today and then maybe they won't play in the next game," said Zidane.

"We know I have a phenomenal group of players and all of them are ready for the challenge between now and the end of the season."

Alvaro Morata smashed home at the near post to give the visitors the perfect start after less than a minute.

James Rodriguez then added a second from Lucas Vazquez's cross as Madrid threatened to run riot inside the first 20 minutes.

However, the European champions have now kept just one clean sheet in their last 15 games and their defence was breached once more when Florin Andone turned home Gael Kakuta's mishit shot 10 minutes before half-time.

Vazquez, though, restored Real's two-goal lead before half-time and Zidane's men could even have reached double figures in a dominant second period.

Morata unselfishly teed up Rodriguez for his second of the night before Isco sealed a stunning individual display by smashing home 13 minutes from time.

Joselu got another goal back for Deportivo with a fine looping header, but fittingly Real had the final say when Casemiro's piledriver slipped under Deportivo 'keeper Przemyslaw Tyton.

At the Camp Nou, Barca fans paid homage to Messi's brilliance against Real in scoring the winner and his 500th goal for the club with the last kick of the game in Sunday's El Clasico.

The five-time World Player of the Year responded by opening the scoring as he pounced on an error in the Osasuna defence to stroll through on goal and lift the ball over the advancing Salvatore Sirigu.

Andre Gomes has been the scapegoat for many of Barca's most disappointing defeats this season but the Portuguese had arguably his best night in a Barca shirt as he drilled home Ivan Rakitic's cross to make it 2-0 on the half hour.

"We had the chance to use a lot of players that have played fewer minutes," said Barca boss Luis Enrique.

"It is a game that boosts those individuals, the team as a whole and gives us hope for the end of the season."

Roberto Torres's free-kick briefly brought Osasuna back into the game three minutes into the second half.

Barca, though, simply went through the gears with a four-goal burst in 10 devastating minutes.

Firstly, Gomes slotted home his second of the night after Gerard Pique's initial effort came back off the post.

Messi then curled in his 49th goal in 47 appearances this season from the edge of the area.

The Argentine instantly made way for 19-year-old Carles Alena to keep him fresh for Saturday's Catalan derby at Espanyol.

Paco Alcacer also grabbed a double for Barca's fifth and seventh.

And in between times Javier Mascherano bagged his first goal in 319 Barca appearances by blasting home from the penalty spot.

Osasuna's relegation was confirmed after Leganes beat Las Palmas 3-0 to move six points clear of the drop zone.

And Real Sociedad boosted their chances of qualifying for the Europa League with a 3-2 win at Valencia.