Meanwhile, reports suggested relations between Messi and coach Luis Enrique were at breaking point after the Argentine missed training on Monday.Atletico are now four points adrift of Real, who also have a game in hand over both their title rivals. It was much closer to what we normally are in the second.However, the four-time World Player of the Year did his talking on the pitch as Barca’s star-studded South American frontline guided them to victory.Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez were all on target as Barcelona eased talk of a club crisis with a 3-1 win over La Liga champions Atletico Madrid on Sunday. We scored and could have got an equaliser, but in the end the third goal finishes the game.A 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad last weekend was followed by sporting director Andoni Zubizar-reta’s sacking and the club’s under fire president Josep Maria Bartomeu calling club elections for the end of the season.However, when the second goal did come, Atletico had a right to feel hard done by as Messi appeared to use his hand to speed past Gamez before sliding the ball through for Suarez to slot home.Messi shrugged off speculation surrounding his future at the Camp Nou to cross for Neymar to scramble home the opener and then tee up Suarez to register just his second La Liga goal. It is in the past and now we are together."Atletico boss Diego Simeone, meanwhile, lamented his side’s slow start.Neymar missed a guilt-edged chance to double Barca’s advantage midway through the half when he headed wide Wholesale Barrier with the goal at his mercy after brilliant play by Messi and Suarez."The crisis has already passed and now we need to have our minds on the field," Neymar told Canal Plus.However, Messi made amends by sealing the three points when he slotted home from close range three minutes from time to move Barca back to within a point of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga. In the first-half Barca were better, dynamic and intense."Barcelona had failed to beat Atletico in six meetings last season and wouldn’t have been looking forward to facing Simeone’s men after an unsettling week at the Camp Nou. We played badly in the first-half," said the Argentine.Barca went in front on 12 minutes when Messi danced past Gamez and pulled the ball across goal. "We don’t have a problem.The Argentine also handed Atletico a route back into the game, though, when he was adjudged to have brought down Jesus Gamez inside the area on the hour mark and Mario Mandzukic slammed home from the penalty spot.Atletico ‘keeper Miguel Angel Moya then kept his side in the game with a fine double save to firstly parry Jordi Alba’s fierce drive and then block Suarez’s effort on the rebound."In the second-half we were competitive. Suarez failed to make a proper contact, but Neymar was on hand to sweep home his 17th goal of the season.."I think there were two games.The visitors were on the ropes in the first 45 minutes and teenage centre-back Jose Maria Gimenez was lucky to escape unpunished when he flew in dangerously on Neymar to leave the Brazilian with a bloodied ankle
- Mar 02 Wed 2022 14:27
The Argentine also handed Atletico a route back into the game
- Mar 02 Wed 2022 14:02
This should not happen to a person who served the country with such distinction
"As the constitutional head, I cannot sit tight if someone is not responding.The governor further said, "We cant look back, we have to look ahead."Vajpayee, he said, was known for his eloquence and had no enemies Gate opener manufacturers in the political parties."You cant disagree with a person by looking at him as an enemy. We at the Raj Bhavan dont create controversies. On December 5, the assembly gates were locked, I dont remember. I would continue to work in the direction in humility, discharge my duty and try to connect with her," he said."My purpose is to move forward.. There seems to be no representation from the state .Dhankhar faced protestors who shouted slogans against the Citizenship Amendment Act, waved black flags and blocked his way on Tuesday from entering Jadavpur University, where he had gone to attend the annual convocation as its chancellor. You need not agree on every point of view but that does not make you enemies.Elaborating his plans to have a corner of Bharat Ratna recipients at the Raj Bhavan in future, he said, "Things will be done decorously. My purpose is how to put it back on track, how to see the machinery moves in right direction," he said..""He has now become a laughing stock before people of the state," Hakim, a senior leader of the TMC told reporters.Asserting that there must be respect for people who hold constitutional positions, Dhankhar, who has had several face offs with the TMC government, said, "Unfortunately there is a very disturbing trend.The idea to unveil a three-dimensional portrait of the late prime minister was conceived on November 27 and an invitation letter for the programme was sent to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on that day, he told reporters here. We both (he and CM) are required to serve the people of West Bengal," he said. He later entered the assembly premises through the gate meant for media persons and officials. She may have many other engagements and I have the highest respects for her. I thought the Honble CM was eminently most suitable to do the act at the Raj Bhavan". My grievance is not that she could not come, but lack of representation by the government and bureaucracy has hurt me," the governor said. Present-day politicians should know about Vajpayees qualities, he added. If something is happening with respect to the varsities, I cant look back again.
This should not happen to a person who served the country with such distinction."The CM is the executive head and I have not said she has to unveil (the portrait). This had prompted him to denounce the incident as "total collapse of rule of law".Dhankhar said West Bengal speaker and the chief secretary were also invited but none from the state governments side turned up.Earlier this month, the governor was made to wait outside the Assembly as the gate designated for his entry was locked and the Speaker and staff were nowhere to be found. Disagree with grace," he said without taking anyone names...The governor said he could have contacted "anyone in the country to unveil the portrait of Vajpayeeji and you (media) know it more than I do that anyone will be happy and gratified to do this as it will be an honour.Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday said he is "hurt" as no senior state government representative attended the unveiling of a portrait of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 95th birth anniversary at the Raj Bhavan here. What I remember is the date of December 17, when it was opened and I went to the historical assembly building."Asked for his comments, West Bengal Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said, "There is no need to attach much importance to his utterances.
- Jan 06 Thu 2022 09:45
The land now belongs to the government
At least 25 FIRs have been registered against Khan in cases relating to land grab. The land now belongs to the government," said government lawyer Ajay Tiwari.The order copy states that the land was bought for Rs 60 in 2013..The authority had also said if Khan does not comply with the order, civic authorities will demolish the gate.The decision was taken by Prem Prakash Tiwari, SDM Sadar, Rampur on July 25.135 hectares of land of Mohammad Industrial Gate Openers Ali Jauhar University has been cancelled.As per the order, the lease of 7."The land was given on lease to Jauhar Trust on lease for 30 years at Rs 60.Khans advocate had on Thursday said the Samajwadi Party (SP) leader was directed to demolish the varsity gate built on government land and pay a fine of over Rs 3 crore along with an additional penalty of around Rs 9 lakh to public works department (PWD) under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill.Rampur: A SDM Court here has suspended 30-year lease of over seven hectares of land of Rampur MP Azam Khans Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.Tiwari had imposed a fine of Rs 3, 27, 60, 000 crore along with an additional penalty of Rs 9,10,00 lakh on Khan, who is the Chancellor of the University. The land was given on lease for 30 years under the Government Grants Act.The police said complaints against him were verified and found to be genuine
- Jan 06 Thu 2022 09:26
There were no security checks at the time as the terror of maniacs
In the UK, whose airports I use to escape, there are no such checks. One was asked to remove belts, the watch and shoes.This makes sense.Two people in khaki uniforms demand to see your ticket or boarding pass and check it to see whether the name on these is the same as that on some document of self-identity. They came right up to the departure gates after I had checked in my single suitcase, carried to the check-in desk by friends who wanted to make a gesture of friendship. As the queue goes tediously through there are two more bods in some sort of soldierly uniform asking for your boarding pass just before you get to where the air hostess tells you which aisle to go down to take your seat. Again, fair enough. Why? More useless jobs for the boys and girls? Can the department which deploys these checkers tell me what they are doing and whether they have Gate operator wholesale ever detected one person doing what they ought not to be doing?Then you queue up to get onto the plane. Even if they are criminals on the run, letting them leave saves the exchequer the cost of prosecuting them and keeping them in a jail at Her Majesty’s expense. A pretenceThat they are owned and notTo be shotIn the cull. At the other end, after explaining to the examining officer that one’s left knee has metal in it from a patella-tightening operation, one’s boarding card is stamped.They may as well perform a Punch and Judy show for entrants. Fair enough, but then another bod in uniform checks the stamp.In this past month, after the Pakistani terror attack in Kashmir and the Indian Air Force’s retaliation, I was warned that the security check would be more thorough and could possibly take twice the time that it would normally take. What are these bods doing? Ensuring for the eleventh time that you are boarding the right aircraft?One knows that the security checks at the malls, hotels and railway stations of India are never in any sense thorough or remotely functional.
There were no security checks at the time as the terror of maniacs blowing up planes hadn’t set in, so the dozen or so of the farewell party waved me through the gate behind which my passport was checked and I went my trepid way to the gate. So "put the phone down" is translated in scripts that I read as "keep the phone down" and "put your plate in the sink" becomes "keep your plate in the sink". The queues were three times as long as in normal times. Okay, that’s no big deal — one understands.After security at the boarding gates there are more hurdles. His camera checks the identity to compare it to features of known terrorists or wanted criminals on a national computer. On the way into India, this is fair enough. Employment is all. Grand and imposing though they are, the procedures within are a bit of a puzzle. It should say "Put" instead of "Keep".That was then.And then the major test on leaving the country: the immigration check. How a terror attack on an Army camp in Kashmir translated into extra alerts on passengers travelling by plane remains a mystery. A person passes a baton cursorily along your body and even when your left knee causes a squeak, they let you through. But it gets me thinking that the Hindi verb "rakhna" can translate as "keep" or as "put". If these checks were not in place Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya and even Nirav Modi might have left the country. I proffer my passport and after a few seconds of checking, as with other passengers, pass through onto the airport concourse. Perhaps India has a stricter sense of earthly karma. The immigration officer performs some mysterious manoeuvres with one’s passport on the counter beneath eye-level.
- Dec 14 Tue 2021 10:31
The section is slated for opening in September or October
"During the trial runs, the interaction of a metro train with physical infringements (civil structure) will be checked to ensure there is no physical blockage during the movement of the train on the tracks.New Delhi: Trial runs began on Friday on the 3.Currently, 25. The Violet Line currently connects Kashmere Gate in Delhi to Escorts Mujesar in Haryana.6 km, from Kashmere Gate to Ballabhgarh.2 kilometre long section between Escorts Mujesar and Ballabhgarh.In addition, the response of the train at different speeds, braking of the train and the interconnection with the Operations Control Centre (OCC) will also be monitored during the trials. The DMRC’s present operational network spans 296 km with 214 stations.. Gurgaon, Faridabad and Bahadurgarh are already connected on it.
The section is slated for opening in September or October, subject to approval by the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety, a DMRC spokesperson said.The behaviour of the track system and the overhead electrification (OHE) system will also be checked repeatedly during all the trials.2 km-long Escorts Mujesar-Ballabhgarh section of Delhi Metro’s Violet Line that will connect the fourth city in Haryana to the sprawling rapid transit network.Once operational, Ballabhgarh will become the fourth city in Haryana to get metro connectivity. This extension of Delhi Metro’s Violet Line consists of two stations - NCB Colony and Ballabhgarh," the DMRC said in a statement.8 km of metro line is operational across Haryana. After the opening of this section, the total length of the network in Haryana will be 29 km.After the opening of this extension, the Violet Line corridor will expand to Industrial gate opener manufacturers 46. The entire signalling system will also undergo rigorous testing," it said."Trial runs started today on the 3
- Nov 18 Thu 2021 10:45
The National Museum is a treasure house of wondrous pieces
Like the stately Jaisalmer House in New Delhi, where officials of a ministry huddle in tacky Formica cubicles, inside what used to be expansive living quarters. The country’s top crafts activist also holds government ministries with "no eye for its contents, potential or the most basic aesthetics" responsible for its sorry state. The Moore Market was charred in a fire and many other Chennai landmarks were demolished. All illegal street-side stalls, additional floors and makeshift parking lots at some busy Delhi markets (where every inch of pavement space is occupied by hawkers and vehicles) are going to be "regularised". Since then, 469 of them, including the Murphy Town Library (for an "Indira Canteen") and more recently, Lalbagh’s Krumbiegel Hall have been turned into rubble and venues for restaurants, malls and high-end apartments. The municipality is obviously unconcerned by small piffles like air pollution, fire escapes and the space to walk for the city’s residents. Delhi, at least, has plenty of heritage warriors who put frequent and welcome spokes into government wheels the minute they sense impending doom for old monuments.Delhi woke to some good news last week. Why, then, do I feel such reluctance and depression when I go there?" asks Dastkar chairperson Laila Tyabji. What if the government "does an Air India" on the Town Hall by retaining a stranglehold through the hobby interior designer-wife of an official or someone else it wants to "favour" with a paid consultancy? Instead of leaving it to professional architects endowed with sense and sensibility — two qualities that no demolition-happy Indian government at any level — national, state or local — has ever displayed about heritage? Don’t buy my cynicism. (So great is the resemblance to a Dickensian warehouse that the ministry recently invited tenders from pest control companies to decimate the ancient building’s other unwelcome residents: swarms of rats.
The National Museum is a treasure house of wondrous pieces. Still, and after nine more years of dithering, it’s final — the august building will soon be leased out to bidders for a heritage hotel. But earlier this year, it was stealthily scaled down to Grade III, gate wholesale that is, the category of old buildings that are allowed to fall. But whether in the capital or elsewhere in India, and depending on the nationality and/or religion of the long-gone patron-builder of a given monument, the chief reasons for neglect are either populist politics or profits. Curlicews and turrets, heat-producing construction material and reflector glass highly unsuited to tropical climates are what we will leave behind. And there is some truth to that grumble. A 35-storey residential behemoth will now arise on the shards of invaluable history. Pan-chewers have left trademark splatter along the wide corridors that encircle an inner courtyard. She also points to an astounding omission on the museum’s website — that there’s no mention of the American architect who was awarded the Padma Bhushan for designing the magnificent building.Reports suggest that there were 823 heritage structures still standing in Bengaluru in 1985. Days after the Delhi Town Hall announcement came another, which brought all hopes of reviving both aesthetics and Delhi’s poisonous air crashing to earth again.But the more things change, the more they remain the same.)Or check out the debate and the mystical secrecy surrounding the design of an undoubtedly-needed war memorial at India Gate.One dismaying thought persists. Encircling them like the grim chorus of a Greek tragedy are steel almirahs; above them, a bewildering jungle of electric wires on which colonies of pigeons roost, frequently raining droppings and feathers down upon classified documents. The city’s stately, two-storeyed Town Hall of 1863 vintage was dying a slow death, due to callous use by municipal officials from Independence up to 2009. Drop in on any government office housed in an old building anywhere in the country. What better time for a few sops?If there are two things that are definitely NOT on the curriculum of either politicians’ nurseries or the celebrated IAS training institute in Mussoorie, they are city planning and the art of conserving ancient architecture, whether built by the "good guys" or "bad eggs". The question on whether the memorial will mar the grand vistas and perfect symmetry of the India Gate hexagon and Rajpath remains unanswered. In 2009, the hotel was reportedly listed in the Grade IIA category on the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s list of heritage buildings. Or visit the National Museum, which houses some of India’s greatest and most awe-inspiring antiquities but also the surliest and most ignorant front office staff, who make it obvious just how much they hate being bothered by visitors.What one architect-writer famously described as Gujarati-Gothic and Punjabi Baroque dominate our city landscapes today. "You pass a marvellous, medieval Vishnu used as a dumping ground for backpacks! On your right is a that stunning, towering rath, obscured in a dusty, plexiglass, kennel-like structure," Ms Tyabji fumes. Still, the heritage-rich southern city scores some points for recently announcing its willingness to restore some of the most remarkable British-era college buildings. Remember: both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are up in the next two years. Its museum and library too must be in their last throes, if rodents, seepage, white ants and pigeons have left any book or artifact intact at all. For future generations to gasp at and wonder — is this the same nation and the same people that built Ajanta? Ellora? The Taj Mahal? Or even the iconic Hall of Nations at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, which even though of 1970s’ vintage and approved by a former PM-patron herself, was not spared the bulldozers’ either?. One of Kolkata’s oldest establishments of the British colonial era, the Kenilworth’s spacious suites were legendary and it remained the favourite watering hole of intellectuals and writers for generations.To the rest of the country, Delhi is spoilt, Delhi is privileged.Earlier this year, dismayed Kolkatans watched the Kenilworth Hotel — or the Purdy Mansion — being brought down
- Oct 28 Thu 2021 10:23
Their poor hygiene continues to make the Metro dirty
Meanwhile, apart from the technical aspect, the Delhi Metro is facing the challenge to keep it clean and hygienic..For the last 15 years, the Delhi Metro is running its operation with a massive network of 252 km and 185 stations. Squatting on the floor, playing music, eating and drinking inside the station buildings and on the trains is prohibited.Though officials have been deployed to discourage people from spitting on the walls and littering, the plan couldn’t be implemented due to shortage of staff. However, DMRC is now likely to procure items required for cleanliness and other maintenance activities. It requires not only regular maintenance of trains and tracks, but also constant monitoring of the system during operational electronic parts wholesale hours."There are many people who spit inside the Metro stations, but only few are caught.Betel stains can be seen across the prominent Delhi Metro interchange such as Rajiv Chowk and Kashmere Gate, Vaishali, Mandi House, etc. The DMRC has already plastered notices warning commuters not to deface the station. Today, DMRC stands out as a shining example of how a mammoth and technically complex infrastructure project can be completed before time and within budget by a government agency. Their poor hygiene continues to make the Metro dirty. While the corridor of Rajiv Chowk has eased travel woes for lakhs of commuters, the stations seem to be getting dirtier by the day. Keeping the Delhi Metro running all day long without a glitch is a big challenge.New Delhi: Vigorous drives initiated to clean the Metro have been put aside as commuters hardly pay heed. No one can keep an eye on passengers round the clock. Therefore, they easily escape the offence," said a CISF official at Kashmere Gate Metro station. Littering is another common problem at all the Metro stations.The corporation is likely to purchase 2,155 types of items worth Rs 190 crore to keep the network clean and avoid any technical glitches for the smooth running of Metro trains. To maintain the coaches, every aspect of the Metro system — timetable, speed, security, traction or electricity, the trains, auxiliary equipment like the air-conditioning and ventilation system in the underground tunnels, and even the crowds in the station — is monitored