EC SAYS DELHI FINAL TURNOUT 62.59%, AAP QUESTIONS 'DELAY'The Election Commission announced on Sunday evening that the final voterturnout in the Delhi Assembly elections was 62.59%. With the Aam Aadmi Partyquestioning the "delay" in announcing the final turnout earlier in the day,the poll panel said it had followed the "laid down process" to compile data.While the turnout in Delhi in the 2015 Assembly elections was 67.12%, itfell to 60.5% in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.As the 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi voted on Saturday, severalpolling stations saw a rush beyond 6 pm. At 6.30 pm on Saturday, the pollpanel had given the estimated turnout as 61.91%.With no final word from the EC till afternoon on Sunday, AAP chief and ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: "What is EC doing? Why are they notreleasing poll turnout figures, several hours after polling?"Addressing a press conference in the afternoon, AAP Rajya Sabha MP SanjaySingh said the party feared a "deep conspiracy". "The EC should explain whyit has not announced the voting percentage yet. This is the first time inthe history of 70 years that the EC is not ready to announce the votingpercentage," he said.Hours later, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh and Deputy ElectionCommissioner Sandeep Saxena addressed a press conference in the evening,where they released the final figures. Denying any delay, Saxena said: "Wewanted to come out with accurate figure rather than speculating. This is notuncommon and we are not late. This is not about early or delay. This is alaid down process."Earlier, Delhi CEO Singh also said there was no "extraordinary" delay.While an EC official, who did not want to be named, admitted a delay, heattributed it to the application introduced by the poll panel for recordingthe turnout. "It's taking officers a little time to enter data into theapplication. That's all. During the Lok Sabha elections, there were somecomplaints of discrepancies between provisional and final turnout data. Soofficers are being extra-cautious," said the official.But Delhi Health Minister and Shakur Basti candidate Satyendar Jainquestioned the data shared on the mobile application. "After compilation ofform 17c for 143 booths, total 98,012 out of 144,777 votes polled in myconstituency (Shakurbasti), that works out to be 67.7% votes, whereas the ECwebsite shows only 49.19% polling. Why hasn't the official polling data beenreleased even 22 hours after polling," he tweeted earlier in the day.The turnout in the constituency was later updated to 67.6%.Meanwhile, the BJP's Delhi unit condemned the AAP's criticism. "In the lastone week, AAP leaders realised that that they are losing ground. But theexit polls of TV channels, which came out even before completion of voting,gave AAP new hope. The exit polls, which came out soon after 6 pm, must havebeen based on voter reactions of up to 3 pm or 4 pm polling, and hence arenot fully reliable," said Praveen Shankar Kapoor, Delhi BJP spokesperson.All exit polls have predicted the AAP's return to power.RESERVATION IN JOBS: CONGRESS, LEFT OPPOSE SC RULING, ASK GOVT TO CLARIFYITS STANDThe Supreme Court's ruling that reservation in promotion in public postscannot be claimed as a fundamental right and that no court can order a stategovernment to provide for reservation to SCs and STs is set to turn into amajor political battle. The Congress and Left on Sunday opposed the rulingand asked the Centre to clarify its stand.The Congress said it will raise the issue in Parliament and lead anagitation outside. It said the Central government should take steps orapproach the Supreme Court to seek a review.The CPI (M) asked the Centre to "rectify the lacuna leading to such aninterpretation through legislative resolutions in both Houses of parliamentand set right this lacuna in the Constitution forthwith". All possible legalmeasures to seek a review of such an interpretation must be explored, itsaid.TAIWAN SCRAMBLES JETS AS CHINESE AIR FORCE FLIES ROUND ISLANDTaiwan's air force scrambled on Sunday to intercept Chinese jets that flewaround the island claimed by Beijing as its own, in a move denounced byTaiwan's Defence Ministry as a threat to regional peace and stability.China has been flying what it calls "island encirclement" drills on-offsince 2016 when Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen first took office.In a statement, Taiwan's Defence Ministry said Chinese J-11 fighters and H-6bombers flew into the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan, then out intothe Pacific before heading back to base via the Miyako Strait, locatedbetween Japan's islands of Miyako and Okinawa, to the northeast of Taiwan."During this period, the national military appropriately used airreconnaissance aircraft and air defence forces in accordance with combatreadiness regulations," it said.The ministry provided a picture of a Taiwan air force F-16 shadowing one ofthe Chinese H-6 bombers.IRANIAN 'VICTORY' SATELLITE FAILS TO REACH ORBITIran unveiled a new short-range missile called Thunder on February 9 andlaunched a satellite named "Victory" which failed to reach orbit.The developments took place at a time of high tension with the UnitedStates, which killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in a dronestrike in Baghdad on Jan. 3, prompting an Iranian missile attack on a U.S.base in Iraq.Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad JavadAzari-Jahromi said the satellite launch had not gone as planned."I wanted to make you happy with good news but sometimes life does not gothe way we want it to. The launch was not successful," he tweeted.PSA FILE INDICTS OMAR FOR 'GETTING PEOPLE TO VOTE'The two former chief ministers have been under preventive detention sinceAugust 5 last yearOMAR Abdullah's ability to "convince his electorate to vote in huge numbers"and Mehbooba Mufti being "referred (to) as 'Daddy's girl' and 'Kota Rani'"for "her dangerous and insidious machinations and usurping profile andnature" are among the reasons cited by the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)administration for invoking the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) againstthe two former chief ministers.The PSA dossier prepared by the police on National Conference leader OmarAbdullah says that "the capacity of the subject to influence people for anycause can be gauged from the fact that he was able to convince hiselectorate to come out and vote in huge numbers even during the peak ofmilitancy and poll boycotts".While hailing the Centre's decision to revoke J&K's special status underArticle 370 as a "historic decision", the dossier has accused Abdullah oftrying to stoke public anger to trigger violent protests."Despite the fact that the subject has been a mainstream politician, he hasbeen planning his activities against the Union of India under the guise ofpolitics. And while enjoying the support of gullible masses, he has beensuccessful in execution of such activities," it says. "After revocation ofArticle 370 and Article 35A, in order to secure support of common people,the subject removed all covers/ curtains and while resorting to his dirtypolitics has adopted a radical methodology by way of instigating generalmasses against the policies of central government".The PSA dossier on PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, who headed the PDP-BJPcoalition government in the state before the two parties parted ways in June2018, says: "(The) subject is recognised as hot-headed and scheming person,known for dangerous and insidious machinations.. She has been promotingseparatism as corroborated by several confidential reports filed by(intelligence) agencies. The subject is referred, for her dangerous andinsidious machinations and usurping profile and nature, by the masses as'Daddy's girl' and 'Kota Rani', based on the profile of a medieval queen ofKashmir, who rose to power by virtue of undertaking intrigues ranging frompoisoning of her opponents to ponyardings (sic)."MAYAWATI SLAMS CONG, BJP LEADERS FOR VISITING TEMPLES FOR VESTED INTERESTSBahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday accused Congress and BJPleaders of never honouring saint-poet Ravidas during their tenure andindulging in "theatrics" now by visiting temples to realise their vestedinterests.The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister's remarks come on a day whenCongress leader Priyanka Gandhi is in Varanasi to offer prayers to GuruRavidas on the occasion of his birth anniversary."Congress, BJP and other parties did not give any respect or honour to SantGuru Ravidas during their tenure. But, after being out of power, they areindulging in various theatrics to realise their vested interests by visitingtemples and other places," Mayawati said in a tweet in Hindi.Ravidas Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Sant Ravidas, is being celebratedacross the country on Sunday. Guru Ravidas was a 14th-century saint andfounder of the Bhakti movement in North India.MNS CHIEF RAJ THACKERAY ALL FOR CAA AND NRCExtending his support to the new citizenship law and the proposed NationalRegister of Citizens, MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday warned of giving a"befitting reply" to rallies being held against the CAA and the NRC.In the afternoon, the MNS took out a huge march from Girgaum Chowpatty toAzad Maidan in south Mumbai demanding eviction of illegal Pakistani andBangladeshi infiltrators from the country. The morcha was culminated at AzadMaidan.Addressing the gathering of thousands of MNS activists at the Maidan,Thackeray said, "henceforth a stone will be answered with a stone and asword with a sword".The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief himself joined the "mahamorcha" (megamarch) on foot from Hindu Gymkhana to Metro Junction, a distance of aboutone km."Today, anti-CAA and anti-NRC protests were given a befitting reply withthis protest rally of the MNS. But let me warn you, next time morchas willbe answered with morchas. And if you continue with your drama, stones willbe answered with stones and swords with swords," he said.Thackeray appealed to the Central government to give a "free hand to thepolice for 48 hours to evict infiltrators from Mumbai".PENSION COST MANAGEMENT TOP ON MILITARY AGENDAChief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs are inintensive discussions on reducing the burgeoning pension cost to theexchequer by gradually increasing the retirement age of some non-combatants,prioritising hardware purchases and generating internal resources formilitary housing in cantonments.With the military pension budget mounting to Rs 1.33 lakh crore , or 0.5% ofgross domestic product, in fiscal 2020-21, from Rs 41,000 crore in 2010, andRs 6-7,000 crore of expense looming in June for the equalisation of pensionunder the One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme, Gen Rawat is learnt to be infavour of increasing the retirement age of certain classes of non-combatantsand medical staff to 58 years from 39 to cut the bill.Reforms also loom in the military housing sector with colonial bungalowsgiving way to future vertical housing with the armed forces generating theirown resources to fund these projects. The military plans to generate some Rs35,000 crore in the next seven to eight years, and the defence ministry isin support of the effort. "The days of Corps Commander living on a hill witha sprawling bungalow are over. Time has come for military commanders to stayin flats and in one building," said a senior officer.ABOUT TE BUDGET PROPOSAL ON HIKED BANJK DEPOSIT INSURANCEFinally, the deposit insurance cover has been raised five-fold to Rs 5 lakh- a huge comfort for small depositors, some of whom have been staring atlosing their money kept in fraud-hit and mismanaged cooperative banks. Nowif any bank fails, the depositors will get as much as Rs 5 lakh from theDeposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), a wholly-ownedsubsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).It took 17 years and a Rs 6,670-crore fraud in multi-state Punjab andMaharashtra Co-operative Bank to raise the cover. The latest revision, sixthsince it started in 1962 with a Rs 1,500 cover, has been long overdue. Eventhough it's a big jump from Rs 1 lakh, the last revision in 1993, it isstill less than what the amount should have been after adjusting inflation.'CASE CLOSED': BAREILLY GETS BACK ITS JHUMKA AND FLAUNTS IT HIGHMore than a half a century after tinseltown immortalised Bareilly as theplace where actress Sadhna had lost her "jhumka" in the 1966 classic 'MeraSaya' - remember the iconic song 'Jhumka Gira Re, Bareilly Ke Baazar Mein' -the city finally got back its revered earring in the form of a 272 kilojhumka made of brass and colourful stones, perched atop a 14-ft-high pole.Installed on Lucknow-Delhi highway on Saturday, just at the entry ofBareilly, the jhumka decorated with the city's famous 'zari' embroidery ishard to miss. The Paraskheda Chauraha, where it is now located, has now alsobeen renamed as "Jhumka Tiraha"."Today, Bareilly found its "jhumka". Now, we can finally announce that thecase of lost jhumka has been solved with a closure report," said an ecstaticRajesh Pandey, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Bareilly Range, whoeven took to Facebook to announce the city's new attraction.INDIA LOSE 2-3 TO BELGIUM IN FIH PRO LEAGUE MATCHIndia fought hard but a defensive lapse from Harmanpreet Singh cost themdear as they slumped to their first defeat in the second edition of the FIHHockey Pro League, losing 2-3 to world champions Belgium, in Bhubaneswaryesterday,.After defeating world number three the Netherlands in their opening twomatches of the FIH Pro League, India beat world number one Belgium in athrilling match on Saturday to continue their unbeaten run, which liftedthem to number four position in the world rankings.But the Manpreet Singh-led side could not repeat Saturday's performance andwent down fighting in their second match against world number one Belgium.Alexander Hendrickx scored from a penalty corner in the third minute forBelgium but it was Maxime Plennevaux's (17th, 26th) two field goals thatensured the win for the visiting side.India's goals came from the sticks of Vivek Sagar Prasad (15th) and AmitRohidas (17th).The win enabled Belgium to keep their top position at the standings with 14points from six games, while India are placed second with eight points fromfour matches.INDIA LOSE TO BANGLADESH IN U-19 WORLD CUP FINALYashasvi Jaiswal once again showed why he's one to watch out for in thefuture, cracking 88 off 121 balls. But his dismissal set in motion an Indiancollapse of seven wickets for the addition of just 21 runs in 7.4 overs forIndia to end their innings at a mere 177.In pursuit of 178, Bangladesh suffered a similar collapse, losing sixwickets for 52, as both the sides seemed to be passing the trophy to eachother. Till Akbar Ali, the Bangladesh captain, produced a rearguard toremember, taking Bangladesh across the line in a nervy finish, made moredramatic because of the weather.Dropped catches, fumbles, overthrows, over-the-top appeals, and some verbaljousting added to the drama of the 2020 Under-19 World Cup final. Heck, rainmade an appearance as well, leaving the sides scrambling for DLScalculations. After the weather cleared, the target was adjusted to 170, andBangladesh needed seven off 30 balls with three wickets in hand.Akbar and No.9 Rakibul Hasan rose above all the chaos upon resumption andcoolly led Bangladesh to their first-ever ICC title at any level. It wasHasan who struck the winning runs, when he stepped out and launched theUnder-19 Asia Cup hero Atharva Ankolekar over midwicket. The celebrationsthat followed were as crazy as the game itself.Such a finish did not seem as likely when Bangladesh were well in front at50 for 0 in the ninth over. Legspinner Ravi Bishnoi then let rip onewrong'un after another to send Bangladesh into a tailspin - he aloneaccounted for Bangladesh going from 50/0 to 65/4. They lost 3 more wicketsthereafter but managed to overtake India's 177 easily.Player Of The Match - Akbar Ali (Bangladesh)Player Of The Series - Yashasvi Jaiswal (India)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAYThis time, like all times, is a very good one if we but know what to do withit. - Ralph Waldo EmersonOFF TRACKI noticed the neighbour down the street was home every day, so after a fewweeks I asked him what was going on.He replied, "I left my job because of illness and fatigue."A few weeks later, his wife gave me the real truth of what happened. Turnsout my neighbour's boss got sick and tired of him.