˙ ˆ˝ ˛ ˘ ˇ ˆˆ˙ ˝˛ ˆ ˛ ! , ! -˛. ˜˜ ˇ˘ ˛˜ +# ˇ ˆ...2 days ago  · in icu and...

14
A n eight-member team of CBI SIT headed by a Joint Director left for Mumbai on Thursday to probe the myste- rious death of film actor Sushant Singh Rajput even as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recorded the statement of film director Rumi Jaffery in a related money laundering case. The CBI SIT team com- prises JD Manoj Sridhar, Deputy Inspector General and supervisory officer Gagandeep Gambir, Superintendents of Police Nupur Prasad and Ravi Gambhir besides Additional Superintendent of Police and Investigating Officer Anil Kumar Yadav and two consta- bles, sources said. After reaching Mumbai, the CBI team is expected to visit the scene of crime and also undertake crime reconstruc- tion besides seeking the docu- ments related to the accidental death probe, autopsy report and other such materials from the Mumbai Police, they said. The CBI move comes a day after the Supreme Court okayed the registration of the case by the Patna Police on a complaint from Rajput’s father and subsequent transfer of the FIR to the CBI. The CBI had on August 6 re-registered the case naming the same set of accused including actress Rhea Chakraborty, her relatives, Rajput’s business managers and friends among others. Soon after the SC judg- ment approving the CBI probe into the issue, the CBI had said, “The investigation related to death of Sushant Singh Rajput is continuing. The CBI team will visit Mumbai in due course for further investigation. Other details can not be shared at this stage.” Meanwhile, the ED on Thursday recorded the state- ment of film maker Rumi Jaffery in connection with a money laundering case regis- tered after taking cognisance of the Bihar Police FIR into the FIR relating to abetment to sui- cide of Rajput. Jaffery’s statement was recorded with regard to his reported plans of directing a movie with the late actor and the finances involved in that project, sources said. Jeffery had earlier been questioned by the Mumbai Police which was probing the death of the actor under the accidental death report (ADR) procedure of the CrPC. Rajput (34), was reported- ly found hanging at his home in a Bandra locality in Mumbai on June 14. A t least 0.28 per cent patients of 6,86,395 Covid-19 infected cases are on ventilator support while 1.92 per cent are in ICU and 2.62 per cent on oxygen support, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday said adding that a total 20,96,664 people have recu- perated so far, pushing India’s recovery rate to 73.91 per cent. On Thursday, India’s coro- navirus caseload rose to 28,36,925 with a record single- day spike of 69,652 infections. The death toll climbed to 53,866 with 977 new fatalities. With 58,794 recoveries in a span of 24 hours, India’s recovery rate amongst Covid- 19 patients has reached nearly 74 per cent (73.91 per cent) reflecting that the number of patients recovering is on a steady rise over the past sever- al months, said the Ministry. “Focus on standard of care protocol including use of non- invasive oxygen, better skilled doctors, and improved ambu- lance services have culminated in the desired results,” it said. The record high recoveries have ensured that the active cases, the “actual caseload” of the country, currently comprise only 24.19 per cent of the total cases. Continued on Page 4 T he Congress is gearing up to raise issues like the bor- der standoff with China in Ladakh, Facebook’s alleged nexus with the ruling BJP, the Government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, increased economic crisis, job losses, and agrarian distress during the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament that is likely to start from September 10. The Congress has also urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to allow MPs to participate in the session either physically or virtually as is being done by the courts. While Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has written a letter to Birla, P Chidambaram has written to Naidu to allow MPs, unable to participate physically, attend the proceedings through an app or a link. A senior Congress Member of Parliament said the party would demand a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the border row, especially after his remarks at the June 19 all-party meet- ing that there have been no intrusions by Chinese forces into Indian territory in Ladakh. The party has attacked Modi for refraining from nam- ing China in his Independence Day speech, saying the Government should tell the people how it proposes to push back the Chinese forces occu- pying Indian territory. AICC sources said while they are also coordinating with other Opposition parties, the Congress will demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Wall Street Journal report last week that claimed Facebook’s Indian staff ignored its rules in handling hate speech by BJP politicians. The Congress has alleged an “unholy nexus” between Facebook and the BJP. The party also desires for a discussion on the PM Cares Fund in the wake of the Prime Minister’s Office denying information under RTI. Continued on Page 4 I ndore has been ranked the cleanest city for the fourth consecutive year and Chhattisgarh the cleanest State for the second time under the Swachchh Survekshan 2020 ranking released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Thursday. Surat and Navi Mumbai were ranked second and third, respectively. According to the ranking, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is the clean- est Capital city in India. Varanasi, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency, has been chosen as the cleanest town on the banks of river Ganga and Jharkhand was adjudged the cleanest state of India among those with less than 100 urban local bodies (ULBs) or cities. PM Narendra Modi, who was originally supposed to announce the results, could not attend the event. According to the ranking, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is the cleanest Capital city while Bengaluru adjudged the Best Self Sustainability award in the Mega city catego- ry. Among the cities with over one lakh population, Indore was ranked number one, fol- lowed by Surat, Navi Mumbai, Ambikapur, Mysore, Vijayawada, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Chandrapur and Khargone. Among smaller cities, with population under one lakh, the top three cities - Karad, Sasvad and Lonavala - were all from Maharashtra. The survey, which covered 4,242 cities and saw the par- ticipation of 1.87 crore citizens, was completed in 28 days. On this occasion, Union Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Hardeep Singh Puri today gave away the awards to the winning cities and States of Swachchh Survekshan 2020 at a virtual event titled Swachh Mahotsav organised by the Ministry. In 2019, Indore was award- ed the cleanest city in the country while Bhopal was declared the cleanest Capital. Ujjain bagged the award for being the cleanest city in the population category of 3 lakh to 10 lakh. Indore had retained the top spot in the survey for three consecutive years. “Four times in a row the cleanest city in the country! We will progress together to fulfill the dream of a prosperous MP with Swachh MP”, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted soon after results of the Swachh Sarvekshan 2020 were announced. Chhattisgarh was ranked the cleanest State out of those with over 100 cities, followed by Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh while Jharkhand was the cleanest among those with less than 100 urban local bod- ies (ULBs) or cities. In the cat- egory of “Ganga towns”, Varanasi, has been chosen as the cleanest town on the banks of river Ganga. “Heartiest con- gratulations to PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, who repre- sents the city in Lok Sabha, for his visionary leadership which has inspired the people of the town for this achievement,” the Union Minister said. Jalandhar got the top rank among cantonments category. A total of 6 cities (Indore, Ambikapur, Navi Mumbai, Surat, Rajkot and Mysuru) have been rated as 5-star cities, 86 cities have been rated 3-Star and 64 cities have been rated 1- Star, as per Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’ Star Rating Continued on Page 4 A dvocate Prashant Bhushan’s contempt case took a queer turn on Thursday when the Supreme Court deferred its decision on award- ing him punishment and asked him to reconsider his statement on the proceedings. Interestingly, Attorney General KK Venugopal also asked the court not to proceed against Bhushan, who refused to ten- der an apology. The Bench had found him guilty of contempt of court for his tweets criticising Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and the judiciary posted earlier this year. The court sought an unconditional apology from Bhushan by August 24. “We have given time to the con- temnor to submit uncondi- tional apology, if he so desires. Let it be filed by 24.08.2020. In case, an apology is submitted, the case to be posted for con- sideration on the same, on 25.08.2020,” the court said. “There is no person on earth who cannot commit a mistake. You may do hun- dreds of good things but that doesn’t give you a licence to do 10 crimes. Whatever has been done is done. But we want the person concerned to have a sense of remorse,” said Justice Arun Mishra. In its suo motu contempt case against Bhushan, while the apex court Bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai, and Krishna Murari, gave the lawyer four days’ time to reconsider his statement on the proceedings, the advocate refused to blink and seek court’s “mercy.” Thousands of lawyers, civil right activists and retired judges have appealed to the Supreme Court not to proceed with any punitive action against Bhushan. On Thursday, the Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) expressed concern over the SC’s decision to hold Bhushan guilty of con- tempt of court. The BHRC defended the right of the lawyers to criticise the institution and to exercise their right to freedom of speech in the process. The BHRC asked the Supreme Court to review this decision and dis- charge Bhushan of this charge. Continued on Page 4 A head of the Bihar Assembly polls, as part of the “Aya Ram, Gaya Ram” tradition, former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Thursday quit Mahagathbandhan, led by the RJD. Manjhi gave no indication about the future of Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), but given the lack of option it has, it is understood that he would go back to the NDA. Manjhi has so far not been able to play any significant role in wooing even his Dalit voters in previous polls. If he joined the NDA, he could at best hope to get a chance to contest four-five seats of central Bihar. The HAM decided to walk out of the the five parties Opposition coalition in Bihar at the party’s “core committee” meeting convened at Manjhi’s resi- dence, said party spokesman Danish Rizwan. “HAM will no longer be a con- stituent of the grand alliance. The party has decided to leave mahagathband- han,” said Rizwan. Apart from HAM, the mahagath- bandhan in Bihar comprises of RJD, Congress, Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) and Bollywood set designer Mukesh Sahni headed-Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP). Blaming the RJD for the failure to form a coordination committee within the grand alliance for its better func- tioning, the HAM leader said, “Leaders who do not listen to the constituent part- ners, will they listen to the people after coming to power?” “Our leader Manjhi has categorically stated that there is no point in continuing with the alliance which does not follow democratic norms and listen to its partners, “Rizwan said. T here was no breakthrough in ending the stalemate at the volatile at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh in the latest round of diplomatic-level talks on Thursday. However, India and China pledged their commitment to complete disengagement of troops from all the friction points “expeditiously.” The two sides also expressed their resolve to main- tain peace at the LAC and con- tinue dialogue to address dif- ferences. These takeaways emerged from diplomatic-level talks under the aegis of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination. These joint secretary level talks, fifth since the stand-offs started in early May, were ongoing process to end the logjam. New Delhi: Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhwat on Thursday said he has tested pos- itive for coronavirus. The Minister said in a tweet that he underwent a coronavirus test after expe- riencing symptoms of the infection. On the advice of doctors he is getting admitted to a hos- pital, he said. The minister held two important meetings on Tuesday. One was on the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL). Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar was physically present at the meeting. A fter lagging behind for many years, Uttar Pradesh created a record of sorts when the state won two major awards out of 12 and its 19 civic bodies got top ranks in the Swachh Sarvekshan, 2020, the results of which were announced on Thursday. “This is a big achievement for the state as it won two major and 19 minor awards. Many cities have done excep- tionally well in the survey,” Chief Minister Yo g i Adityanath said here on Thursday. Many cities with more than 10 lakh population have shown improvement in their ranking as compared to pre- vious years. Lucknow got 12th rank, Agra 16th, Ghaziabad 19th, Prayagraj 20th, Kanpur 25th and Varanasi 27th rank in the survey. Yogi said the government was giving special attention to cleanliness and therefore it was implementing the Swachh Bharat Mission in letter and spirit. He said during the unlock, the government had ensured sanitisation of market and public places on Saturdays and Sundays. In an attempt to keep a separate track of the towns and cities which are situated on the banks of the Ganga river, the Centre also issued a separate list of top performing Ganga towns. Among the large Gangetic cities, Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, topped the list followed by megacity Kanpur Nagar. Prayagraj, where the mighty river Yamuna converges on the Ganga, also secured the fourth rank. Besides, 19 civic bodies have been felicitated, includ- ing Varanasi, Shahjahanpur, Lucknow, Firozabad, Kannauj, Chunar, Gangaghat, Awagarh, Meerut Cantonment, Gajraula, Muradnagar, Syana, Palia Kalan, Mallawan, Barua, Sagar, Baldev, Achchlda and Mathura Cantonment. In 2018, only three civic bodies had won awards in Swachh Sarvekshan while in 2019 this number rose to 14 and this year 19 civic bodies have won laurels, the chief minister said. “The main reason for this jump in ranking is that UP has completed the target to con- struct toilets. Around 60,000 community toilets have been built while special Pink toilets have been constructed for women. The state has been declared Open Defecation- Free (ODF) and the same has been verified through Quality Council of India (QCI),” Yogi said. He said 413 civic bodies in UP were ODF+ and 17 municipal corporations had got the ranking of ODF++. The main function was held in Delhi where Union Minister Hardeep Puri declared the awards. In Lucknow, Urban Development Minister Ashutosh Tandon, Chief sec- retary RK Tiwari and other senior officials attended the function. L ucknow reported 796 fresh cases of coron- avirus infection, taking the city’s tally to 19,764, while 12 more COVID-19 patients died, pushing the death toll to 246 on Thursday. An MLA and 22 staff members of Vidhan Sabha secretariat were among those who tested positive in the city. With 1,014 COVID-19 patients being dis- charged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, 12,813 coronavirus infected people have recov- ered and 6,705 active cases are undergoing treat- ment in the city. Meanwhile, 4,991 more people tested posi- tive across the state, taking the tally of confirmed cases to 1,72,334. The COVID-19 death toll in the state mounted to 2,733 as 95 more patients lost the fight against the deadly virus.

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Page 1: ˙ ˆ˝ ˛ ˘ ˇ ˆˆ˙ ˝˛ ˆ ˛ ! , ! -˛. ˜˜ ˇ˘ ˛˜ +# ˇ ˆ...2 days ago  · in ICU and 2.62 per cent on oxygen support, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday said adding

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An eight-member team ofCBI SIT headed by a Joint

Director left for Mumbai onThursday to probe the myste-rious death of film actorSushant Singh Rajput even asthe Enforcement Directorate(ED) recorded the statement offilm director Rumi Jaffery in arelated money laundering case.

The CBI SIT team com-prises JD Manoj Sridhar,Deputy Inspector General andsupervisory officer GagandeepGambir, Superintendents ofPolice Nupur Prasad and RaviGambhir besides AdditionalSuperintendent of Police andInvestigating Officer AnilKumar Yadav and two consta-bles, sources said.

After reaching Mumbai,the CBI team is expected tovisit the scene of crime and alsoundertake crime reconstruc-tion besides seeking the docu-ments related to the accidentaldeath probe, autopsy reportand other such materials fromthe Mumbai Police, they said.

The CBI move comes a dayafter the Supreme Courtokayed the registration of thecase by the Patna Police on a

complaint from Rajput’s fatherand subsequent transfer of theFIR to the CBI. The CBI had onAugust 6 re-registered the casenaming the same set of accusedincluding actress RheaChakraborty, her relatives,Rajput’s business managers andfriends among others.

Soon after the SC judg-ment approving the CBI probeinto the issue, the CBI had said,“The investigation related todeath of Sushant Singh Rajputis continuing. The CBI teamwill visit Mumbai in due coursefor further investigation. Otherdetails can not be shared at thisstage.”

Meanwhile, the ED onThursday recorded the state-ment of film maker Rumi

Jaffery in connection with amoney laundering case regis-tered after taking cognisance ofthe Bihar Police FIR into theFIR relating to abetment to sui-cide of Rajput.

Jaffery’s statement wasrecorded with regard to hisreported plans of directing amovie with the late actor andthe finances involved in thatproject, sources said.

Jeffery had earlier beenquestioned by the MumbaiPolice which was probing thedeath of the actor under theaccidental death report (ADR)procedure of the CrPC.

Rajput (34), was reported-ly found hanging at his homein a Bandra locality in Mumbaion June 14.

����� ()'�*)+,-

At least 0.28 per cent patientsof 6,86,395 Covid-19

infected cases are on ventilatorsupport while 1.92 per cent arein ICU and 2.62 per cent onoxygen support, the UnionHealth Ministry on Thursday

said adding that a total20,96,664 people have recu-perated so far, pushing India’srecovery rate to 73.91 per cent.

On Thursday, India’s coro-navirus caseload rose to28,36,925 with a record single-day spike of 69,652 infections.The death toll climbed to53,866 with 977 new fatalities.

With 58,794 recoveries ina span of 24 hours, India’srecovery rate amongst Covid-19 patients has reached nearly74 per cent (73.91 per cent)reflecting that the number ofpatients recovering is on asteady rise over the past sever-al months, said the Ministry.

“Focus on standard of careprotocol including use of non-invasive oxygen, better skilleddoctors, and improved ambu-lance services have culminatedin the desired results,” it said.

The record high recoverieshave ensured that the activecases, the “actual caseload” ofthe country, currently compriseonly 24.19 per cent of the totalcases.

Continued on Page 4

����� ()'�*)+,-

The Congress is gearing upto raise issues like the bor-

der standoff with China inLadakh, Facebook’s allegednexus with the ruling BJP, theGovernment’s handling of theCovid-19 pandemic, increasedeconomic crisis, job losses,and agrarian distress during theupcoming Monsoon Session ofParliament that is likely tostart from September 10.

The Congress has alsourged Lok Sabha Speaker OmBirla and Rajya SabhaChairman M Venkaiah Naiduto allow MPs to participate inthe session either physically orvirtually as is being done by thecourts. While Congress leaderAdhir Ranjan Chowdhury haswritten a letter to Birla, PChidambaram has written toNaidu to allow MPs, unable toparticipate physically, attendthe proceedings through anapp or a link.

A senior CongressMember of Parliament said

the party would demand astatement from Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on the borderrow, especially after his remarksat the June 19 all-party meet-ing that there have been nointrusions by Chinese forcesinto Indian territory in Ladakh.

The party has attackedModi for refraining from nam-ing China in his IndependenceDay speech, saying theGovernment should tell thepeople how it proposes to pushback the Chinese forces occu-pying Indian territory.

AICC sources said whilethey are also coordinating withother Opposition parties, theCongress will demand a JointParliamentary Committeeprobe into the Wall StreetJournal report last week thatclaimed Facebook’s Indian staffignored its rules in handlinghate speech by BJP politicians.The Congress has alleged an“unholy nexus” betweenFacebook and the BJP.

The party also desires fora discussion on the PM CaresFund in the wake of the PrimeMinister’s Office denyinginformation under RTI.

Continued on Page 4

����� ()'�*)+,-

Indore has been ranked thecleanest city for the fourth

consecutive year andChhattisgarh the cleanest Statefor the second time under theSwachchh Survekshan 2020ranking released by theMinistry of Housing andUrban Affairs on Thursday.Surat and Navi Mumbai wereranked second and third,respectively. According to theranking, New Delhi MunicipalCouncil (NDMC) is the clean-est Capital city in India.

Varanasi, which is PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s LokSabha constituency, has beenchosen as the cleanest town onthe banks of river Ganga andJharkhand was adjudged thecleanest state of India amongthose with less than 100 urbanlocal bodies (ULBs) or cities.PM Narendra Modi, who was

originally supposed toannounce the results, could notattend the event.

According to the ranking,New Delhi Municipal Council

(NDMC) is the cleanest Capitalcity while Bengaluru adjudgedthe Best Self Sustainabilityaward in the Mega city catego-ry. Among the cities with overone lakh population, Indorewas ranked number one, fol-lowed by Surat, Navi Mumbai,Ambikapur, Mysore,Vijayawada, Ahmedabad, New

Delhi, Chandrapur andKhargone. Among smallercities, with population underone lakh, the top three cities -Karad, Sasvad and Lonavala -

were all from Maharashtra.The survey, which covered4,242 cities and saw the par-ticipation of 1.87 crore citizens,was completed in 28 days.

On this occasion, UnionHousing and Urban Affairs(MoHUA) Hardeep Singh Puritoday gave away the awards tothe winning cities and States of

Swachchh Survekshan 2020 ata virtual event titled SwachhMahotsav organised by theMinistry.

In 2019, Indore was award-ed the cleanest city in thecountry while Bhopal wasdeclared the cleanest Capital.Ujjain bagged the award forbeing the cleanest city in thepopulation category of 3 lakhto 10 lakh. Indore had retainedthe top spot in the survey forthree consecutive years. “Fourtimes in a row the cleanest cityin the country! We willprogress together to fulfill thedream of a prosperous MP withSwachh MP”, Madhya PradeshChief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan tweeted soon afterresults of the SwachhSarvekshan 2020 wereannounced.

Chhattisgarh was rankedthe cleanest State out of thosewith over 100 cities, followed by

Maharashtra and MadhyaPradesh while Jharkhand wasthe cleanest among those withless than 100 urban local bod-ies (ULBs) or cities. In the cat-egory of “Ganga towns”,Varanasi, has been chosen asthe cleanest town on the banksof river Ganga. “Heartiest con-gratulations to PM Shri@narendramodi Ji, who repre-sents the city in Lok Sabha, forhis visionary leadership whichhas inspired the people of thetown for this achievement,”the Union Minister said.

Jalandhar got the top rankamong cantonments category.A total of 6 cities (Indore,Ambikapur, Navi Mumbai,Surat, Rajkot and Mysuru)have been rated as 5-star cities,86 cities have been rated 3-Starand 64 cities have been rated 1-Star, as per Ministry of Housingand Urban Affairs’ Star Rating

Continued on Page 4

����� ()'�*)+,-

Advocate PrashantBhushan’s contempt case

took a queer turn on Thursdaywhen the Supreme Courtdeferred its decision on award-ing him punishment and askedhim to reconsider his statementon the proceedings.Interestingly, Attorney GeneralKK Venugopal also asked thecourt not to proceed againstBhushan, who refused to ten-der an apology.

The Bench had found himguilty of contempt of court forhis tweets criticising Chief

Justice of India SA Bobde andthe judiciary posted earlierthis year.

The court sought anunconditional apology fromBhushan by August 24. “Wehave given time to the con-temnor to submit uncondi-tional apology, if he so desires.Let it be filed by 24.08.2020. Incase, an apology is submitted,the case to be posted for con-sideration on the same, on25.08.2020,” the court said.

“There is no person onearth who cannot commit amistake. You may do hun-dreds of good things but that

doesn’t give you a licence to do10 crimes. Whatever has beendone is done. But we want theperson concerned to have asense of remorse,” said JusticeArun Mishra. In its suo motucontempt case against Bhushan,while the apex court Bench ofJustices Arun Mishra, BRGavai, and Krishna Murari,gave the lawyer four days’ timeto reconsider his statement onthe proceedings, the advocaterefused to blink and seekcourt’s “mercy.”

Thousands of lawyers, civilright activists and retiredjudges have appealed to the

Supreme Court not to proceedwith any punitive action againstBhushan.

On Thursday, the HumanRights Committee of Englandand Wales (BHRC) expressedconcern over the SC’s decisionto hold Bhushan guilty of con-tempt of court.

The BHRC defended theright of the lawyers to criticisethe institution and to exercisetheir right to freedom of speechin the process. The BHRCasked the Supreme Court toreview this decision and dis-charge Bhushan of this charge.

Continued on Page 4

����� �� (�

Ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls,as part of the “Aya Ram, Gaya Ram”

tradition, former Chief Minister JitanRam Manjhi on Thursday quitMahagathbandhan, led by the RJD.Manjhi gave no indication about thefuture of Hindustani Awam Morcha(Secular), but given the lack of optionit has, it is understood that he wouldgo back to the NDA.

Manjhi has so far not been able toplay any significant role in wooing evenhis Dalit voters in previous polls.

If he joined the NDA, he could atbest hope to get a chance to contestfour-five seats of central Bihar.

The HAM decided to walk out ofthe the five parties Opposition coalitionin Bihar at the party’s “core committee”meeting convened at Manjhi’s resi-

dence, said party spokesman DanishRizwan. “HAM will no longer be a con-stituent of the grand alliance. The partyhas decided to leave mahagathband-han,” said Rizwan.

Apart from HAM, the mahagath-bandhan in Bihar comprises of RJD,Congress, Upendra Kushwaha’sRashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) andBollywood set designer Mukesh Sahniheaded-Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP).

Blaming the RJD for the failure toform a coordination committee withinthe grand alliance for its better func-tioning, the HAM leader said, “Leaderswho do not listen to the constituent part-ners, will they listen to the people aftercoming to power?” “Our leader Manjhihas categorically stated that there is nopoint in continuing with the alliancewhich does not follow democratic normsand listen to its partners, “Rizwan said.

����� ()'�*)+,-

There was no breakthroughin ending the stalemate at

the volatile at the Line ofActual Control (LAC) inLadakh in the latest round ofdiplomatic-level talks onThursday.

However, India and Chinapledged their commitment tocomplete disengagement oftroops from all the frictionpoints “expeditiously.”

The two sides alsoexpressed their resolve to main-tain peace at the LAC and con-tinue dialogue to address dif-ferences.

These takeaways emergedfrom diplomatic-level talksunder the aegis of the WorkingMechanism for Consultationand Coordination. These jointsecretary level talks, fifth sincethe stand-offs started in earlyMay, were ongoing process toend the logjam.

New Delhi: Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra SinghShekhwat on Thursday said he has tested pos-itive for coronavirus. The Minister said in a tweetthat he underwent a coronavirus test after expe-riencing symptoms of the infection. On the

advice of doctors he is getting admitted to a hos-pital, he said. The minister held two importantmeetings on Tuesday. One was on the SutlejYamuna Link (SYL). Haryana Chief Minister MLKhattar was physically present at the meeting.

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After lagging behind formany years, Uttar Pradesh

created a record of sorts whenthe state won two majorawards out of 12 and its 19civic bodies got top ranks inthe Swachh Sarvekshan, 2020,the results of which wereannounced on Thursday.

“This is a big achievementfor the state as it won twomajor and 19 minor awards.Many cities have done excep-tionally well in the survey,”Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said here onThursday.

Many cities with morethan 10 lakh population haveshown improvement in theirranking as compared to pre-vious years. Lucknow got 12thrank, Agra 16th, Ghaziabad19th, Prayagraj 20th, Kanpur25th and Varanasi 27th rankin the survey.

Yogi said the governmentwas giving special attention tocleanliness and therefore itwas implementing the SwachhBharat Mission in letter and

spirit. He said during theunlock, the government hadensured sanitisation of marketand public places on Saturdaysand Sundays.

In an attempt to keep aseparate track of the townsand cities which are situatedon the banks of the Gangariver, the Centre also issued aseparate list of top performingGanga towns.

Among the large Gangeticcities, Varanasi, the Lok Sabhaconstituency of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,topped the list followed bymegacity Kanpur Nagar.Prayagraj, where the mightyriver Yamuna converges onthe Ganga, also secured thefourth rank.

Besides, 19 civic bodieshave been felicitated, includ-ing Varanasi, Shahjahanpur,Lucknow, Firozabad, Kannauj,Chunar, Gangaghat, Awagarh,Meerut Cantonment,Gajraula, Muradnagar, Syana,Palia Kalan, Mallawan, Barua,Sagar, Baldev, Achchlda andMathura Cantonment.

In 2018, only three civic

bodies had won awards inSwachh Sarvekshan while in2019 this number rose to 14and this year 19 civic bodieshave won laurels, the chiefminister said.

“The main reason for thisjump in ranking is that UP hascompleted the target to con-struct toilets. Around 60,000community toilets have beenbuilt while special Pink toiletshave been constructed forwomen. The state has beendeclared Open Defecation-Free (ODF) and the same hasbeen verified through QualityCouncil of India (QCI),” Yogisaid.

He said 413 civic bodies inUP were ODF+ and 17municipal corporations hadgot the ranking of ODF++.

The main function washeld in Delhi where UnionMinister Hardeep Purideclared the awards. InLucknow, UrbanDevelopment MinisterAshutosh Tandon, Chief sec-retary RK Tiwari and othersenior officials attended thefunction.

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Lucknow reported 796 fresh cases of coron-avirus infection, taking the city’s tally to

19,764, while 12 more COVID-19 patients died,pushing the death toll to 246 on Thursday.

An MLA and 22 staff members of VidhanSabha secretariat were among those who testedpositive in the city.

With 1,014 COVID-19 patients being dis-charged from hospitals in the last 24 hours,12,813 coronavirus infected people have recov-ered and 6,705 active cases are undergoing treat-ment in the city.

Meanwhile, 4,991 more people tested posi-tive across the state, taking the tally of confirmedcases to 1,72,334.

The COVID-19 death toll in the statemounted to 2,733 as 95 more patients lost thefight against the deadly virus.

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NOTICE

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Aburnt body of a class X girlstudent who had gone miss-

ing last Monday in Bhadohi dis-trict was found in Jaunpur onWednesday.

Superintendent of Police ofBhadohi, Ram Badan Singh,said on Thursday that the fam-ily of the girl had identified thebody, which was in a very badcondition.

Though there was a reportthat the body was burnt withacid before it was thrown in theriver after gang-rape, police saidthe post-mortem report saidthat the girl had drowned andthere was no confirmation ofrape. According to reports, thegirl hailing from Tulsi Chak vil-lage under Kotwali police stationwho went with her cows wasgang-raped and murdered.

In order to conceal the iden-tity of the victim, the killersburnt the body with acid andthrew it in the Varuna river.After the body was recoveredfrom Varuna river in Jaunpurdistrict on Wednesday, the iratevillagers had blocked theBhadohi-Jaunpur highway. Theyclaimed that the local police didnothing which led to the inci-dent. The family alleged thatthey had expressed suspicionthat two local youths wereinvolved in the incident, but thecops bought them for interroga-tion but set them free withoutenquiring about the missinggirl. Now those youths areabsconding.

The Bhadohi district policechief said that four police teamshad been formed to trace out thekillers. He said that as there wasconfusion in the post-mortemreport so the family was stoppedfrom cremating the body and itwas sent for a second autopsy.

He said the second post-mortem would be conducted bya panel of five doctors that tooin presence of forensic experts sothat the sequence of eventscould be established and so thatthe accused may not go scot freein the absence of evidence.

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In a tragic mishap in Etawah, formerchairman of Cooperative Bank and his

son were killed in a road accident onAgra-Lucknow Expressway on Thursdaymorning.

Reports said that Ramesh ChandraChowdhary, a former chairman ofCooperative Bank in Mathura, was com-ing to Lucknow along with his sonRupendra Singh on Thursday morning.

Chowdhary was driving the car.When he was crossing Channel Number-

8 in Basrehar locality of Etawah on Agra-Lucknow Expressway, he lost control overhis speeding car which hit a road dividerand overturned.

While Chowdhary died on the spot,his son was critically injured. The localvillagers rescued Rupendra Singh andcalled the police and the cops shifted theinjured to Saifai Post-Gradute Instituteof Medical Science but he too suc-cumbed to his injuries within a fewhours.

A case was registered in this regardby the police.

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While Uttar Pradesh Congresspresident Ajay Kumar Lallu

and other senior leaders, includingMaharashtra minister Nitin Raut,were detained by the police when theywere leading a delegation to the slainDalit sarpanch’s house in Azamgarh,the blue ‘gamchhas’ worn by theminvited sharp criticism from withinthe party.

Reports said that Maharashtraminister Nitin Raut was detained bythe UP Police at the border ofAzamgarh district on Thursday whenhe was on his way to join a Congressdelegation.

The Congress delegation, led byUPCC chief Ajay Kumar Lallu hadbeen detained earlier in the daywhen it was going to meet thefamily of Dalit sarpanch SatyamevJayate, who had been shot dead lastFriday.

Raut, who is also the chairman ofAll India Congress Committee forScheduled Castes, was scheduled tojoin the delegation.

Raut has termed the incident“gruesome” and has voiced concernover the law and order situation inUP and the growing attacks onDalits.

While Raut was detained at theAzamgarh border, the Congress del-egation that included Rajya Sabhamember PL Punia, was detained atthe Circuit House and not allowed toproceed to Bansgaon village where theslain sarpanch lived.

Reacting sharply to the killing andthe manner in which the policestopped them from meeting the slainsarpanch’s family, he UPCC chief said

anarchy prevailed in the state whichwas witnessing a jungle raj.

He charged that instead of track-ing criminals striking at their will any-where in the state almost daily, the lawenforcing agencies were workinground the clock to silence those whowere raising voice against the lawless-ness in the state and the government’sfailure to control it.

Earlier in the day, when AjayKumar Lallu led a delegation toAzamgarh to visit the family ofSatyamev Jayate, majority of theparty leaders were seen wearing blue‘gamchhas’.

The shade of blue was strikinglysimilar to the blue shade of BahujanSamaj Party.

The blue ‘gamchhas’ evoked astrong reaction from within the party.A Congress MLA said: “It now seemsthat we are being sub-let to the BSP.Congress leaders normally wear tri-colour ‘gamchhas’ but they haveopted for blue. We do not know whatmessage our leaders are trying to sendout by doing this.”

When contacted, at least, twoparty spokesmen refused to commenton the issue.

UP Congress media convenorLallan Kumar, however, reactedstrongly and said: “The BSP does nothave the copyright over blue colour,or for that matter, any other colour.The Congress has always fought forthe rights of Dalits. Has Mayawatireached out to the family of the Dalitsarpanch who was shot dead lastweek?”

Kumar said the blue colour rep-resented the ideology of BabasahebBR Ambedkar and was also a part ofthe Congress ideology.

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The opposition Samajwadi partyMLAs, ahead of the commencement

of the monsoon session of the UttarPradesh Legislature, staged a protest inthe Vidhan Bhawan against law andorder situation and the government’shandling of the coronavirus pandem-ic.

Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said thegovernment should answer the querieson various issues like unemploymentand law and order situation.

In a tweet in Hindi, Yadav said,“This session of the UP LegislativeAssembly is going to be historic in anumber of ways. The government hasto answer questions raised by the oppo-sition and its own people on coron-avirus, unemployment, casteist atroci-ties and poor law and order.”

“The government’s ‘thoko neeti’(encounter policy) has become a pointof ‘aantarik kalah’ (internal discord)instead of becoming a point of ‘sulah’(reconciliation),” Yadav said.

The SP members of both Houses ofthe legislature staged a protest infront of the statue of former PrimeMinister Chaudhary Charan Singh,holding banners against the state gov-ernment.

Speaking on the occasion, MLC and

party’s state president Naresh Uttamalleged that there was jungle raj in thestate. He said incidents of murder, loot,

rape and kidnapping were taking placeon a daily basis and it appeared thatcriminals had no fear of law.

Uttam said the Yogi Adityanathgovernment had totally failed to checkCOVID-19 pandemic. He said the

height was that in the name of this dis-ease, funds were being misused.

Another member of the LegislativeCouncil, Anand Bhadoria, alleged thatdeteriorating law and order had addedto the woes of the people already fac-ing problems due to coronavirus pan-demic.

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Partymembers on the opening day of themonsoon session of the Assemblygheraoed Health Minister Jai PratapSingh and complained to him about theirregularities and lack of medical facil-ities in their districts for COVID-19patients.

The minister assured the membersthat he would personally look into theircomplaints and even asked them to givetheir complaints in writing. Later, talk-ing to media persons, SP MLA fromKanpur, Haji Irfan Solanki, said thatthey caught the health minister whenhe was entering the House.

“We had complained about theirregularities in the district leading toa major spike in COVID-19 cases in thestate,” he stated. “I have asked the healthminister to visit Kanpur Nagar andinspect the health facilities there toknow the truth,” he said.

Several other opposition legislatorsalso raised the issue of lack of properhealth facilities for COVID-19 patients.

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With the aim to ameliorate waterwoes of Bundelkhand region,

the Uttar Pradesh government hassigned a memorandum of understand-ing (MoU) with Israel to establish theIndia-Israel Bundelkhand Water Projectwhich will help in implementing theIsraeli model of water management,which experts say is prudent forBundelkhand.

The agreement was signed byAmbassador of Israel in India, Dr RonMalka, and Agriculture ProductionCommissioner Alok Sinha, of the

Government of Uttar Pradesh here onThursday.

On the occasion, Dr Ron Malkasaid: “This is another example of themultifaceted partnership between Israeland India. Israel is keen to share its mostadvanced, innovative, and cutting-edge water technologies with theGovernment of Uttar Pradesh. Watersecurity is the top priority in ourstrategic water partnership with India.”

The project aims to demonstrateand implement the Israeli model forwater management tailored to thewater challenges of Bundelkhand regionof UP.

The project comprises three key-components of the value chain: waterconservation, water efficient trans-portation and advanced water practicesfor agriculture.

In recent decades, cutting-edgeinnovations developed in Israel totackle water shortage have helped posi-tion it as a world leader in all aspectsof water management. Israel is proudto share its expertise in water to pro-mote water and food security aroundthe world and especially with its pre-cious friend India.

During Prime Minister NarendraModi’s visit to Israel in 2017, Israel and

India had signed two major wateragreements to increase cooperation inwater conservation and state water util-ity reform in India.

In 2019, Union Minister for JalShakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat,had made a historic visit to Israel in theframework of the WATEC conferencein order to advance cooperation in thefield of water between the two coun-tries. This agreement is a flagship pro-ject in the ongoing cooperation betweenthe two countries and opens a newchapter, allowing the countries to lever-age strategic cooperation in the field ofwater.

Lucknow (PNS): With pan-chayat elections slated for the endof the year, the Bharatiya JanataParty has set a target to constitutea five-member committee atevery booth. The chairman of thecommittee will hold weekly vir-tual meetings preferably withdifferent people.

The calendar of the pro-gramme has already been decid-ed and handed over to the seniorparty leaders to implement it.

Sources said that the partyhad stressed that the committeewould have representation of allimportant communities, includ-ing members from the ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes.

It would be mandatory fortwo members of the committee tohave smartphones so that they

may communicate with the peo-ple virtually, if required.

“The IT cell of the party hascreated around 40,000 WhatsAppgroups for rapid communica-tion transmission, right down tothe booth level workers and weare going to use this channel forpropagating our ideas amongour supporters,” a senior BJPleader said. He said that theparty workers were well informedabout the latest technology andwould have no problem in com-municating with the cadre.

The idea behind creating40,000 WhatsApp groups is toensure that party decisions per-colate to the grassroots level.

The BJP has used the lock-down period to strengthen its dig-ital presence at the block level.

The party has already ensuredthat all the district offices areequipped with a video-conferenc-ing facility. “This helps the lead-ership in contacting party work-ers and giving instructions forimplementing them at the groundlevel. The party is also workingthrough an audio bridge thatallows multiple audio inputs to bemixed and sent to audio outputs,”the leader said.The audio bridgewas recently put to use when theparty organised 44 virtual rallieson July 17. Through this bridge,one can interact with 20,000party workers at a time.

The BJP has decided to nom-inate one convenor each for60,000 village panchayats and15,000 block and district pan-chayats.

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The Uttar Pradesh Assembly is likely to witness noisyscenes on Friday as the opposition parties are gear-

ing up to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party-led govern-ment on law and order and the coronavirus pandemic.

The Assembly will meet for transacting the legisla-tive business on the second day of the monsoon session.

On the opening day of the monsoon session onThursday, the House was adjourned after paying con-dolences on the death of four sitting members, includ-ing two ministers, due to COVID-19 and 20 other for-mer members. UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu, whois a sitting MLA from Tamukhiraj constituency inKushinagar district, said, “The Congress will raise theissues of poor law and order in the state, women’s secu-rity, problems faced by the farmers and flood.”

Samajwadi Party MLA Ujjawal Raman Singh said,“The UP government has failed on all fronts, be it lawand order or the coronavirus crisis. It also fears that BJPMLAs may corner it on a number of issues, as its ownMLAs are angry with it.”

Just before the start of the brief monsoon session,the main opposition party, Samajwadi Party, staged aprotest in Vidhan Bhawan on Thursday against the poorlaw and order in the state and the government’s han-dling of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Three persons, including anelderly couple, were found

murdered in a hamlet underNigoha police station area onThursday, sending the policetop brass into a tizzy. A hugepolice team, led ADG(Lucknow Zone) SN Sabat,camped in the village for sev-eral hours to find out motivefor the murders of the elderlycouple and a private securityguard and the link between thetwo incidents.

However, the ADG ruledout loot and sexual assaultwith the elderly woman. Healso clarified that the murder ofthe elderly couple had no con-nection with that of the secu-rity guard as he was missing forlast three days and the bodywas recovered from a pond inthe area. The ADG hinted atthe role of some insider andsaid further investigation wasunderway.

The victims were identifiedas Ram Sanehi (70) & his wifeRamjanki (65) of Udaipur vil-lage on Lucknow-Allahabadroad and the security guard asShatrohan of the same village.

As per reports, the elderlycouple were staying all alonewhile their sons Moolchand,Ram Narayan and LaxmiNarayan were living in differ-ent places. Moolchand ispresently staying in New Delhiwhile Ram Narayan and LaxmiNarayan live in the same vil-lage. It surfaced that onMonday last, Ram Narayanhad visited the house of his par-ents to give them some clothesand fruits. On Thursday morn-ing, the couple’s maternalgrandsons — Vinay and Ajay ofRae Bareli — reached the houseto give them fruits and otheritems. Vinay told the police thathis grandfather did not respondto his calls, so he pushed thedoors which were not boltedfrom inside.

He told the police that hewas shocked to see his grand-parents lying in a pool of blood

and their faces had beensmashed with some heavyobject. Vinay and Ajay imme-diately reached the house oftheir maternal uncle RamNarayan and soon the newsspread like wildfire. A hugenumber of villagers reached thescene, as did the police.

While the police were car-rying out investigation, somevillagers informed them that aprivate security guard,Shatrohan, was found dead ina pond, 200 metres away fromthe house of elderly couple. Ateam was sent to the place.

While the police were busyin investigation, villagers sus-pected that robbers struck thehouse and killed the elderlycouple and security guard.

However, the ADGscotched these apprehensionsand said there was no linkbetween the two incidents.

Sources said the police sus-pected role of some insider inthe murder of the elderly cou-ple. “The faces of the couplewere were smashed with someheavy object and it appearedthat the killer(s) had deep-root-ed hatred for the couple. Thepolice are probing the case con-sidering this angle too,” a seniorofficial said.

The police also pressedthe dog squad to get a clueabout the killers. Sources said

the sniffers had given a clueabout those involved in theincidents. SP (Rural) Ajay couldnot be contacted for his com-ment while his PRO said thebodies had been sent for autop-sy and further probe wasunderway.

Investigation revealed thatthe elderly couple had notcome out of their house for thelast two days. Villagers told thepolice that the couple were reli-gious and the woman used topluck flowers for puja from anorchard near the house.Orchard owner Ram Kumarsaid the elderly woman did notpay visit for the last two days.“We thought she might beunwell and today we wereshocked to know that the cou-ple were murdered,” Kumarsaid. The police put couple’s sonRam Narayan on the radar ashe did not visit the house sinceMonday and reached thereonly after the incident came tolight. Sources said the woman’sclothes were found in adisheveled state and she waslying on the ground while herhusband on a cot. Villagers saidRam Sanehi used to complainthat his sons were not takingcare of them and had alsosought police help. His sonRam Narayan said he used toextend monetary help to hisfather.

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Lucknow secured 12th rankamong the 4,242 cities in

the the Swachh Survekshan-2020, results of which weredeclared on Thursday. Thestate capital made a giant leapfrom of 121th spot in 2019 to12th this year in the categoryof cities with a population ofmore than 10 lakh. Lucknowalso won the ‘Fastest MoversState Capital Award’. In UP,the state capital has beenranked No. 1. Mayor SanyuktaBhatia, who was congratulat-ed by Union minister HardeepSingh Puri through video-conferencing, said her efforts

would continue till the cityclinched the first spot.

The mayor pointed outthat last year, Lucknow hadmissed out on a good rankbecause construction of toi lets had not been completed.

“This time, we completedthe construction of toiletsand also ensured cleanliness.We have made a giant leap butwe have to reach the numberone position and efforts inthis direction will continue.We got the inspiration fromPrime Minister NarendraModi and Chief Minister YogiAdityanath. The efforts madeby the officials and workers

have to be lauded,” she said.The mayor said that theCentral government teamsvisited the state capital with-out informing them to takea feedback from residents.Regarding the future plans,she said they had visitedIndore to know finer points.“One of the main reasons forgetting a better rank wasthat this time we reduced thedumping points on roads.Those dumping points werean eyesore because of theirvisibility even as rag-pickerswould scatter the garbageand stray animals wouldmake it worse,” she pointedout. The mayor said that a

mobile app would be linkedto the Smart City officewhich would show the timeof garbage collection fromhouses. She said they wouldmake efforts to improvedoor-to-door garbage col-lection.

M u n i c i p a lCommissioner Ajay Dwivedisaid it was a result of theefforts of the entire team. “Ascompared to all the otherstate capitals, we have madethe biggest jump from 121thto 12th rank,” he said. Headded that they would focuson door-to-door garbage col-lection to be among the topfive cities next time.

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Chief Medical Officer DrRajendra Prasad Singh

said they have received fourmore ambulances, taking thestrength in Lucknow to 52.The ambulances have beenprocured from MP funds.Now, the efforts will be toensure that allocation of theambulance and the time ittakes in shifting a patient tohospital is reduced, the CMOsaid, adding that an adminis-trative officer and a doctorwould be monitoring the exer-cise.

Meanwhile, Dr AjayKumar Verma from theRespiratory Medicine depart-ment of KGMU is carrying outtwo researches — one is on theuse of hydroxychloroquine asa prophylactic and the secondon mortality rate indicators inCovid-19 patients. Theresearch is being carried out atthree centres — Ram ManoharLohia Hospital, KGMU andHind Institute (Sitapur).

“We are trying to study theknowledge, attitude and prac-tice of the use of hydroxy-chloroquine amongst health-care professionals for preven-tion of coronavirus infectionbecause all the drugs are in theexperimental stage and we aretrying to study what healthworkers think about the use ofthe drug and what are theadvantages and disadvantagesas well as adverse effects, ifany,” he said.

Dr Verma said it was aquestionnaire-based study andthey were providing forms tohealth workers, doctors andnurses. “We are collecting thefeedback the paper on ourfindings will soon be pub-lished,” he said.

The second research is onthe patients admitted in theGandhi Ward of KGMU. Whatis being studied is the progressof disease in each patient.“This study is still in a nascentstage. We are studying themortality predictors ofpatients, which means the rea-sons for their deaths. We willassess the data in a month’stime,” Dr Verma said. He

added that they would be cov-ering over 100 patients in onemonth. “Only 4-5 per cent ofthe patients are critically ill and

this data will give us the nec-essary clues with the help ofwhich we can carry out furtherstudies,” he added.

KGMU spokesperson DrSudhir Singh said theirresearch cell was carrying outmore than 50 research projects,

including drug trials, withmany on herbal drugs.

Balrampur Hospital direc-tor Dr Rajeev Lochan pointedout that the number of patientscoming for regular operationshad reduced drasticallybecause of Covid-19. “Thenumber of out-patients hasgone down to quite someextent. Before the coronaviruspandemic, we were seeing8,000-10,000 patients everyday in OPD, but now the fig-ure has come down to 2,000-3,000. All the OPDs are run-ning and all the facilities areopen. Patients are being admit-ted for surgeries but the influxof patients for surgery hasdecreased,” he pointed out.

He said most of the queriesthey were getting on thetelemedicine were related togastrointestinal disorders andjoints pain. “There are querieson diarrhoea, constipation andpain,” he added

Meanwhile, UPMRC hasstarted its cost-cutting mea-sures in view of the coron-avirus pandemic. A UPSRTCofficial said they had startedrestricting the expenditure onofficial programmes and werealso making negotiations onpurchases. “Instead of givinghome rent allowance toemployees, they have beenasked to shift to the newly-con-structed Metro Colony. Forthe new recruitments, we havepostponed their joining tillthe time the metro servicesstart,” he said.

��������Dr Surya Kant, head of

Respiratory Medicine depart-ment, has been nominated as themember of Editorial AdvisoryBoard, Journal of Indian MedicalAssociation (JIMA). JIMA wasestablished by Dr BC Roy in theyear 1930. It is indexed in theleading agencies and is one themost widely read journals. Thejournal has a reader base of 3.5lakh amongst clinical fraternity.Dr Surya Kant is the first doc-tor from UP to be have receivedthis honour. He has been nom-inated by Indian MedicalAssociation’s (IMA) nationalpresident Dr Rajan Sharma.

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As many as 796 personstested positive in

Lucknow on Thursday. Out of46 MLAs and MLCs tested atVidhan Bhawan on Thursday,one MLA tested positive forcoronavirus. Besides, of the414 staff members of VidhanBhawan, 22 tested positive.

On Thursday, 1,014 per-sons recovered, taking thetotal number of patients whodefeated Covid-19 to 12,813 inthe district. The death toll inthe district is 246 while thetotal number of active cases is6,705.

A senior official at theCMO office said those whotested positive included 35from Mahanagar, 32 eachfrom Indiranagar &Thakurganj, 28 fromGomtinagar, 26 fromTalkatora, 23 each fromAlambagh, Cantt &Sarojininagar, 23 fromHasanganj, 21 from Chinhat,18 each from Jankipuram &Madiaon, 17 each fromHazratganj & Chowk, 16 fromAshiyana, 15 from Gudamba,14 each from Rae Bareli road& Aliganj, 12 fromGomtinagar Extension, ninefrom Naka and five fromBazaarkhala.

There were 12 deaths inthe city and the victimsincluded eight from Lucknowand four from other districts— one each from Unnao,Lakhimpur Kheri, Hardoi andSant Kabirnagar.

In Lucknow, two patientseach died at KGMU & EraMedical College, one each atIntegral Hospital, TS MishraHospital, Vivekanand

Polyclinic Institute of MedicalSciences and Vidya Hospital.

KGMU spokespersons DrSudhir Singh said that a 63-year-old patient fromLakhimpur, 69-year-oldpatient from Lucknow and 50-year-old patient fromKushinagar died on Thursday.

Meanwhile, in the state,4,991 persons tested positivefor coronavirus, including 348in Kanpur, 186 in Gorakhpur,147 in Varanasi, 319 inPrayagraj and 119 in Deoria,taking the total number ofcases to 1,72,334.

There were 95 deaths,included one each in Bareilly,Ballia, Jaunpur, Aligarh,Deoria, Agra, Shahjahanpur,Basti, Hardoi,Siddharthnagar, Sultanpur,Mathura, Mainpuri, RaeBareli, Farrukhabad,Ambedkarnagar, Shrawasti &Hamirpur, two each inKushinagar, Saharanpur,Unnao, Bijnore, Mahoba,Lakhimpur Kheri, Fatehpur &

Amethi, three each in Jhansi,Meerut, Pilibhit &Moradabad, four each inGhazipur, Gorakhpur &Varanasi, f ive each inPrayagraj & Chandauli, sevenin Azamgarh and nine inKanpur, taking the toll to2,733. Besides, 5,863 personsrecovered taking the strengthto 1,21,090. Currently, thereare 48,511 active cases in thestate.

Earlier, five teams fromthe CMO office tested theMLAs and MLCs at VidhanBhawan on Thursday. Asenior official at the CMOoffice said three teams weredeputed for the Vidhan Sabhaand two for Vidhan Parishad.The teams collected the sam-ples of MLAs and MLCs pre-sent on the first day of the ses-sion. “Some of them hadalready got themselves testedwhile others were tested atVidhan Bhawan,” he said.Ivermectin tablets were alsodistributed among them.

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Facing opposition attacks onlaw and order front, the UP

Home department onThursday released a statementclaiming that despite being themost populated state of thecountry, crime during the pre-sent Bharatiya Janata Partyregime was completely undercontrol. The communiqué citesthe crime rate in 2016 and alsoin 2012 to buttress the claim ofcontrol over crime.

The Home departmentspokesman claimed that underthe ‘zero tolerance’ towardscrime policy of the govern-ment, the crime figures reflecthow the situation is well undercontrol.

Giving example, thespokesman said that in com-parison to dacoity figures in2016, the same in 2020declined by 74.50 per cent.Similarly, he said, loots declinedby 65.29 per cent in compari-son to 2016, murders by 26.43per cent in the same period,extortions by 54.55 per cent,road hold-ups by 100 per cent,rape cases by 38.74 per cent etc.

In comparison to 2012,the dacoity cases declined by74.67 per cent, loot cases by54.25 per cent, murder cases by29.74 per cent, rape cases by38.74 per cent and extortion

cases by 64.29 per cent, heclaimed. The spokesmanclaimed that taking stern actionin incidents of rape of minors,the government had so far gotaccused convicted in 922 casesfrom January 1 to June 30 thisyear.

In five of these cases, theaccused got capital punish-ment, in 193 cases, the accusedgot life imprisonment and sternpunishment in the remainingcases, he added.

In a crackdown againstcriminals, the spokesman saidthat in 2016, 13,615 criminalswere booked under theGoonda Act while in 2020, thisfigure rose to 17,908. Likewise,the number of criminalsbooked under Gangsters Actwas 1,716 in 2016 and now ithad increased to 2,316 whileunder the National SecurityAct, 82 persons were bookedearlier, in the present regime sofar 112 persons were bookedunder the National SecurityAct.

The spokesman also citedNational Crime Record Bureau(NCRB) figures of 2018, claim-ing that while the state had16.85 per cent population of thecountry, the crime percentagein UP was just 10.92 points ofthe total crime in the country,which showed that law andorder is well under control.

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6� �����/��/��1������-'���� �Lucknow (PNS): In a hit-and-run case, a speedingunidentified vehicle knockeddown a youth at Polytechniccrossing around 11 pm onWednesday. Police were yet tofind out the errant driver. Theyouth, identified as RavishKumar (25) of Patel Nagar, wasreturning to his room fromsomewhere on a bike. Whenhe reached the crossing, thespeeding vehicle knocked himdown and sped off. Passersbyrushed to the rescue of theyouth and also called thepolice. The victim was rushedto a hospital where he wasdeclared brought dead.

While the SHO could notbe contacted, a policespokesman said the youthdied on the spot. He said thepolice registered a case on thecomplaint of deceased’s cousin,Chandreshwar Kumar ofKushinagar. “The police arecarrying out drives to disci-pline the unruly traffic andcurb overspeeding. But thisincident exposed the police’stall claims,” commuters said.They said the police remainalert during the day time whenthey have to slap fines oncommuters but their enthusi-asm evaporates during thenight hours.

�*'�&�%�%$+',��$� +�-�+.�%$�+��'���*'�*�$Lucknow (PNS): Thievesstruck at a grocery store inChinhat some time onWednesday night anddecamped with Rs 70,000 incash and goods worth over Rs30,000. Police said they werescanning CCTV footage andyet to get any clue about themiscreants. Vinod Tiwari runsthe shop opposite the postoffice on Satrikh road in thearea. On Wednesday evening,Tiwari closed the shop. Whenhe reached there on Thursdaymorning, he found the shopburgled. “The thieves disman-tled the shutter to enter theshop. They decamped withcash and goods,” Tiwari said.

Meanwhile, the Gosainganjpolice on Thursday arrestedthree accused carrying a rewardof Rs 5,000 each. Those arrest-ed were identified as Amardeepof Gosainganj and Faizan Khan& Ashish Kumar (both ofBarabanki). Inspector DKKushwaha said the police hadrecovered a huge quantity ofsmuggled liquor on September24 last year and the names ofthese accused had surfacedthen. He said the accused usedto smuggle liquor bottles fromPunjab to UP. “The accusedwere absconding since then. OnThursday, an informer tippedoff police about their presencenear Dream Valley and theywere nabbed,” Kushwaha said.

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+����������� ��� ���� ��The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday shifted two IPS

officers. Additional Commissioner (Law and Order) in GautamBuddha Nagar, Akhilesh Kumar, and DIG (Jails) in Lucknow LuvKumar will swap their posts, according to an official commu-niqué released here on Thursday.

�������������������A WhatsApp chat bot, based on artificial intelligence, was

launched on Thursday for convenience of the candidates ofUttar Pradesh State Entrance Examination-2020 by AKTU. Itwas launched on Thursday by Vice-Chancellor VK Pathak.AKTU spokesperson Ashish Mishra said the chat bot wouldprovide real-time answers to the questions related to UPSEE-2020. “If a candidate raised a question, the information willbe made available within seconds. Candidates can get infor-mation related to exam, application number, results and coun-selling. In the past years, thousands of questions were askedby the candidates and it was difficult to answer with imme-diate effect. With the launch of chat bot, it will be possible toanswer all the questions with immediate effect,” he said.Meanwhile, the result of online proctored entrance exam ofMTech, MArch, MPharm, MDes and MURP was declared onThursday. UPSEE coordinator Vineet Kansal said nearly 1,700candidates had appeared for the entrance exam and 1,668cleared it. The entrance examination for BTech, BPharm,BArch, BDes, MBA, MCA, BHMCT, BFAD, BFA is scheduledfor September 20.

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A team of five studentsof City Montessori School,Gomti Nagar Campus IICambridge Section, wonthree prizes in ‘National F1Challenge InternationalCompetition’, based onScience, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Team‘Adrenaline’ comprising Divyansh Tripathi, Prabal Agarwal, AryanPandey, Luvish Ramchandani and Mayank Singh bagged the‘Innovative Thinking’ ‘Digital Media’ and ‘Scrutineering’ awardsat the prestigious competition. Students of various reputed schoolsacross the world had participated in the contest wherein CMSstudents proved came up trumps. The team was led by Mathsteacher Kumar Abhishek.

��"��� �� �A mango orchard was established at KVK, Indian Institute

of Sugarcane Research. The programme started with the plan-tation of a mango sapling by IISR director AD Pathak. Saplingsof Ambika, Arunika, Mallika, Aamrapali, Dussehri, Chausa andLangda were planted in the orchard. Pathak said that farmersof Lucknow would be benefitted by this orchard as improved tech-nology package would be demonstrated to them. Nodal officerand principal scientist SN Singh said Lucknow is known formango production and KVK would emerge as an experimentalknowledge centre for demonstrating the latest technologies ofmango production.

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The Medical Council ofIndia has approved the

launch of MCh (Plastic andReconstructive Surger y)course at the department ofPlastic Surger y, SanjayGandhi Post-GraduateInstitute of Medical SciencesIndia from this year.

SGPGI spokesperson saidthe department had beendelivering state-of-the-art ser-vices in plastic surgery tohundreds of patients for thelast several years. “It has beenproviding care in all the dis-ciplines of plastic surgery,including cosmetic surgery,craniofacial surgery, burn

reconstruct ive surger y,peripheral nerve and handsurgery. The department isalso involved in helping withtreatment of patients who aresocially stigmatised, and hastreated many patients, espe-cially females who have beenvictims of acid attack. Thedepartment played a stellarrole in the management ofheavily burned victims ofNTPC-Unchahar blast whichoccurred few years back,” shesaid.

In the last few years, thedepartment has conductedcomplex surgeries for vascu-lar malformations, craniofa-cial and peripheral nervesurgeries with satisfactory

results. The department hasnow become a referral centrefor treatment of these prob-lems in north India.

Head of the departmentDr Rajiv Agarwal said thatwith the introduction of thiscourse, they would now beable to further enhance theirservices to needy patientsand it would also pave theway for further expansion ofthe department in deliveringand reaching out to patients in a bigger and bet-ter way.

“The training of youngdoctors in plastic surgeryfrom this prestigious institutewill also help them return tothe society and treat many

patients with crippling defor-mities,” he said.

SGPGIMS director Dr RKDhiman said the departmentof Plastic Surgery not onlytreats patients coming to itsown OPD but has also beeninstrumental in helpingalmost all other surgical spe-cialties existing in the institutelike neurosurgery, gastro-surgery, paediatric surgery,urology, ophthalmics, oncol-ogy and apex trauma centrewhere the services of plasticsurgeon are essential lyrequired in reconstruction ofraw areas, soft tissue andbone defects and in takingcare of patients coming to thetrauma centre.

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The Uttar Pradesh govern-ment, to facilitate the pro-

motion of the micro, small andmedium enterprises sector inthe state in the post-COVID-19 times, has decided to fasttrack the setting up the unitthat allows MSMEs to startoperations within 72 hoursafter submitting their applica-tion.

The new MSME units willnot have to wait for obtainingno objection certificates(NOCs) from various depart-ments and government agen-cies. The UP cabinet hasapproved a draft bill, ‘MicroSmall and Medium Enterprises

(Infrastructure and Operation)Bill, 2020’, which will be tabledin the monsoon session of UPlegislature for approval.

The bill seeks to exemptMSMEs from variousapprovals and inspections thatare required for their estab-lishment and operations inthe initial years.

At present, one needs to getclearances from 29 differentdepartments before beingallowed to establish an MSMEunit in the state. Interestingly,until now UP did not have itsown MSME Act and was work-ing on the basis of the Centrallegislation.

According to AdditionalChief Secretary (MSME)

Navneet Sehgal, henceforthanybody willing to set up a newMSME unit can submit anapplication on a prescribedformat and will be givenapproval within 72 hours.

“An application can bemade through a ‘Declaration ofIntent’ to the district levelnodal agency (DLNA), whichwill have to issue an acknowl-edgement within 72 hours ofreceiving the application. Thisacknowledgement certificatewill remain valid for 1,000days from the date on which itis issued. On the basis of thisacknowledgement, one canestablish the unit,” the ACSsaid, adding that the investorwill then have 1,000 days to get

the necessary clearances afterthe first go-ahead.

“The new law would helpin setting up of more MSMEunits in the state, which in turnwill help in creating employ-ment opportunities. We haveset a target to create about 15lakh jobs in the next one year,”Sehgal said.

However, MSME unitsproducing products like tobac-co, gutka, pan masala, alcohol,carbonated drinks, fire crack-ers, plastic bags of 40 micronsor less and other items that arebanned by the government ormarked by UP PollutionControl Board in red categorywill not be covered by the pro-posed law.

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From Page 1Incidentally, the UK abolishedthe statutory offence of criminalcontempt of court in 2013.

In his statement filed inresponse to the August 14 ver-dict holding him guilty of con-tempt, Bhushan quotedMahatma Gandhi, saying, “I donot ask for mercy. I do notappeal to magnanimity. I amhere, therefore, to cheerfullysubmit to any penalty that canlawfully be inflicted upon me forwhat the court has determinedto be an offence, and whatappears to me to be the highestduty of a citizen.”

When the court started thehearing in the matter for award-ing sentence to Bhushan, SeniorAdvocate Dushyant Dave,appearing for Bhushan, request-

ed it to adjourn the case asBhushan was going to file areview petition against thecourt’s August 14 verdict.

“If that can be reviewed,this (sentencing) can also bereviewed,” Justice Mishra said,rejecting the plea.

Dave then responded, “Ifthat (conviction judgment) isreviewed, then sentencing willbecome infructuous.”

“In the event we decide toimpose any kind of punish-ment, we assure you that itwon’t be in operation till thereview is decided. Don’t worry,we will be fair to you... Evenif you are not fair to us,”Justice Mishra added.

At this point, Justice Gavaisaid it seemed that the reviewwill be filed after one of thejudges on the Bench retires.Justice Mishra retires onSeptember 2.

But Dave countered him,saying, “Review can be filedwithin 30 days. Let the impres-sion not go that review will notbe filed till Justice Mishraretires...Every order of JusticeMishra can be reviewed, butthat does not mean that reviewhas to be filed before JusticeMishra retires. There is astatutory limit of 30 days.”

Dave went on to add,“Heavens are not going to fallif the sentencing is deferred tillthe review is decided. It is notprovided in the law that it hasto be decided by the sameBench.”

Refusing to defer the hear-ing, Justice Mishra said, “A

sentencing is a continuation ofhim being found guilty. Will itbe appropriate if anotherBench decides on sentenc-ing? Suppose I was not demit-ting office, then would it beappropriate for another Benchto decide on sentencing?”

At this point, Bhushanread a statement on the court’sverdict finding him guilty ofcontempt. The statement read:“I am pained at the verdict thatthe court held me guilty. I ampained that I am grossly mis-understood. I am shockedthat the court arrived at theconclusion without provid-ing any evidence about mymotives....I believe that opencriticism is necessary in anydemocracy to safeguard theconstitutional order. Savingthe constitutional order shouldcome above personal or pro-fessional interests. My tweetswere a small attempt to dis-charge what I consider myhighest duty...I do not ask formercy. I do not appeal formagnanimity. I cheerfully sub-mit to any punishment thatcourt may impose...”

Bhushan went on to saythat his tweets were out of abona fide attempt to dischargehis duty as a citizen. “I wouldhave been failing in my dutyif I did not speak up at thisjuncture of history. I submit toany penalty which the courtmay inflict. It would be con-temptuous on my part to offerapology...”

Senior advocate RajeevDhavan then addressed the

court, arguing that in con-tempt cases, the nature of thecontemnor, as well as thenature of the offence have tobe considered.

Justice Mishra then said,“You want us to balance, thecourt is for balance, if we don’tbalance the whole institutionwill be destroyed. But if coun-sel’s interest has to be pro-tected, at the same time theinstitution also has to be pro-tected. You all are part of thisinstitution, this system...

...Sometimes in zeal, youcross the lakshman rekha. Weappreciate the cases and thework and efforts for goodcases. In my entire judicialcareer, I have never held anyone person guilty of con-tempt.”

Dhavan went on to arguethat for contempt proceedingsto be invoked, it has to beshown that a statement caus-es a substantial interference inthe functioning of the justicedelivery system. Referring toBhushan’s first tweet on CJIBobde on the motorbike, heasked, “How can a lawyer’stweet about CJI not wearing amask affect the functioning ofthe court?”

When Dhavan referred toBhushan’s affidavit and plead-ed that truth is an absolutedefence in defamation andcontempt cases,, the Benchsought Attorney General KKVenugopal’s views on the state-ment made by Bhushan andwhether he should be givenmore time. The AG said that

it would be “tremendouslygood” if the court gaveBhushan time.

But Bhushan was notinclined to seek the court’sindulgence and said, “It isunlikely that there will besubstantial change in my state-ment”, he said.

The court then said, “Wecan give you time and it is bet-ter if you consider it. Thinkover it...we will give you 2-3days time.”

Senior advocate RajeevDhavan then argued that thecourt has not spelled out anyreasons on how the tweetswere “scurrilous”. “The con-clusion was reached withoutconsidering the justification ofPrashant Bhushan. Dave didnot want to embarrass thecourt (by going into the detailsof the affidavit).”

Dhavan pointed out thatretired judges and thousand oflawyers have supportedBhushan’s and asked the court,“Are they in contempt too?”

At this stage AGVenugopal requested the courtnot to punish Bhushan. Onthis, Justice Mishra asked himto consider the entire case andthen make submissions after2-3 days. The AG said, “I havea list of nine judges who hadsaid that there is corruption inthe higher levels of the judi-ciary. I had myself said it in1987...” The court ultimatelygave Bhushan 2-3 days toreconsider his statement madein response to the August 14verdict.

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From Page 1Protocol for Garbage Free Cities.

According to the ministry, 4,324 urban localbodies have declared open defecation free sofar while 1,319 cities certified ODF plus and489 ODF ++. Speaking about the SwachhBharat Mission- Urban, Puri said it had hada deep impact on health, livelihoods, qualityof life and behaviour, which had come inhandy when dealing with the COVID-19 pan-demic. When the mission was launched in

2014, waste processing was 18 percent. Nowit had increased to 66 percent. “The main-streaming of informal waste workers, provi-sion of social security schemes and safety gearto all sanitation workers, dignity, recognitionand welfare of sanitation workers and theirfamilies was accorded due importance,” Purisaid. He added that the survey team visitedover 58,000 residential and over 20,000 com-mercial areas covering over 64,000 wards-allin 28 days.

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From Page 1India also for the first time conducted a

record number of more than 9 lakh Covid testsin a span of 24-hours and is poised to see anexponential increase towards its resolve of test-ing 10 lakh samples daily.

Early identification through testing, sur-veillance and contact tracing along withfocus on timely and appropriate clinicaltreatment of Covid-19 patients have ensuredthat not only is the case fatality rate lower thanthe global average and progressively declin-ing but also a small proportion of the activecases are on ventilator support, the ministry

said. The cumulative tests conducted so farfor detection of coronavirus infection in thecountry has increased to 3,26,61,252. “As thenational average falls below 8 per cent, thereare 26 states and UTs that are reporting lowerrates than the national average,” the ministrysaid.

“Although higher number of tests willpush the positivity rate initially, but as theexperience from several states and UTs hasamply depicted, it will eventually lower whencombined with other measures such asprompt isolation, effective tracking and time-ly clinical management,” it stated.

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�����#�$�#"���������������!�%�!�������������������&��#������From Page 1

“We will also take on theGovernment over its mishandlingof the Covid-19 pandemic. When

Rahul Gandhi flagged the issueas early as February, he wasridiculed by the BJP. See, wherewe stand now. We have becomethe third country in the worldto cross over two million Covid-19 cases. We also saw an ill-con-ceived lockdown that resultedin a huge economic crisis andmassive job losses. TheGovernment has to tell us whyand how it failed in containingthe pandemic,” said the MPrequesting anonymity.

The issue of the sale of 32PSUs and handing over railwaysand airports to private partieswill also be raised during thefirst-ever virtual session ofParliament.

“We are in talks with otherlike-minded Opposition partiesto present a united front inParliament on all critical issuesconfronting the country. Wewill meet soon to firm up ourParliament strategy,” said theMP. The Monsoon Session,which usually starts in mid-July,has been deferred due to thepandemic, which led to asweeping federal lockdownfrom March 25.

Welcoming the decisionto hold the Monsoon Session ofthe two Houses of Parliament,

Chidambaram said it is veryimportant that the Housesshould meet, even during thepandemic, to deliberate onmany issues that concern thenation and the people.

In a letter to Lok SabhaSpeaker, Adhir RanjanChowdhury said under thecurrent circumstances,Parliament should develop anApp and link should be pro-vided to members like in theSupreme Court and HighCourts in practice now.

“Members who are physi-cally present may speak in theHouse. Members who cannotbe physically present should beallowed to speak via an app.When the member’s name iscalled, his mike will be unmut-ed, and he can speak for theallotted time,” Chowdhury said.

Noting that proceedingsof the House are open, record-ed, reported in the media, andtelecast, Chidambaram said insuch circumstances it should bequite easy to employ technolo-gy to enable members to par-ticipate either physically or vir-tually in the proceedings of theHouse. Special arrangementsare being made to ensure thatthe members are safe and to

maintain social distancinginside the House, he noted.

“However, you will kindlyappreciate that when nearly245 members of the RajyaSabha gather in one place, withnearly 300 officers, staff andsecurity personnel in atten-dance, (and a larger number inthe adjacent Lok Sabha), it isnearly impossible to avoid thespread of the virus,”Chidambaram said in the letterto the Vice President.

All evidence points to theconclusion that when peoplegather in significant numbers inone place, they are vulnerableand are exposed to infection, hesaid. “I am afraid this appre-hension will discourage manyMembers from participatingphysically in the proposedSession of the House,”Chidambaram said further.

Hectic preparations areunderway for the MonsoonSession of Parliament with sev-eral first-time measures in viewof the Covid-19 pandemic suchas staggered sitting of LokSabha and Rajya Sabha and useof both chambers and galleriesto accommodate memberswhile following physical dis-tancing norms, officials said.

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Banaras Hindu University(BHU) has been ranked in

the Band ‘A’ (i.e. 11th to 25th)in the Atal Ranking ofInstitutions on InnovationAchievements (ARIIA), issuedjointly by Ministry ofEducation, Government ofIndia, MHRD Innovation Celland All India Council ofTechnical Education (AICTE).The main objective of thisranking is to categorise govern-ment and non-governmentaleducational institutions acrossthe country on the basis ofinnovation efforts in them sothat through this, the pro-grammes of innovation in thecountry have to be accelerated.Due to the efforts taken by thegovernment to promote inno-vation in the country duringthe last five years, India hasreached 52nd position in 2019as compared to 81st position in2015 in the Global InnovationIndex.

Higher educational institu-tions are playing an importantrole to create a sustainableinnovation ecosystem for Indiato emerge as a global innova-tion hub. These higher educa-tional institutions are being cat-egorised on the basis of theirfunctions through the Atalranking. This ranking wasstarted by the Ministry ofHuman Resource Development(MHRD) in 2018 with thesame objective. Under this,higher educational institutionsare evaluated primarily onthese six main parameters—Programmes and Activities onIPR, Innovation, Start-up andEntrepreneurship, PreIncubation & IncubationInfrastructure & Facilities toSupport I&E, Annual BudgetSpent on Promoting andSupporting I&E Activities,Courses on Innovation, IPRand EntrepreneurshipDevelopment, IntellectualProperty (IP), TechnologyTransfer and

Commercialisation, andSuccessful Innovation andStart-ups & FundingInnovation & start-ups.

In this order, BHU hasbeen included in the band ‘A’ inthis year’s Atal ranking releasedby Vice-President VenkaiahNaidu on Wednesday. BHU hasalways been an institution pro-moting innovation and entre-preneurship. On the one hand,while the Design InnovationCentre (DIC) established in2015 is promoting innovationat the university, the AtalIncubation Centre at CentralDiscovery Centre (CDC) isproviding incubation facilitiesto startups as well as helping infinancing. Courses related toinnovation in various facultiesand institutes of the universi-ty have also been prepared forthis purpose and they are alsogoing on at the Institute ofManagement, Institute ofAgricultural Sciences and DIC.

In order to promote inno-vation in BHU, the DIC and

MIC-IIC i.e. the InternalInnovation Cell of the Instituteof Science are inspiring inno-vation in various disciplinesincluding medicine, scienceand art so that the students canalso involve themselves in thepolicy decision process. MIC-IIC BHU chairman Prof SSrikrishna said that by makingstudents a member of the IIC,this whole process of promot-ing innovation is not onlybeing made transparent butalso the skill is being taught tothe students to develop thespirit of entrepreneurship with-in them for future. DIC con-venor Dr Manish Arora saidthat the BHU is determined topromote innovation and entre-preneurship. ‘We’re making alot of efforts in this direction.Our performance in this year’sAtal rankings is satisfactory. Wesincerely hope that in the com-ing year we will be successfulin the goal of making ourinstitute in the Top-5 in thisranking,’ he added.

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The national webinar on‘National Education Policy

(NEP)-2020: Strategies andImplementations’ was organ-ised by the Faculty ofEducation, Banaras HinduUniversity (BHU). About 200participants from UP,Rajasthan, J&K, Kerala, NorthEast, Punjab, Haryana, MP,Delhi, West Bengal, TamilNaidu Bihar and Jharkhandparticipated. Prof CPSChauhan (chairman, IUCTEand ex-dean, Faculty of SocialSciences AMU) Prof PankajArora (former dean,Admission, Central Institute ofEducation, University of Delhi)delivered their lectures as mainresource persons.

In the first session, Prof

Chauhan highlighted theimportant points of NEP-2020such as quality research, exam-ination reforms, school educa-tion based upon vocationalskills and structure of schooleducation. He also discussedthe importance of mothertongue and regional languagein the development conceptsof mathematics and sciences.He elaborated the importanceof vocational skills for self-reliance for career develop-ment in the policy. He alsotouched various aspects ofnew NEP-2020 such as multi-disciplinary universities, spe-cially intensive research uni-versities and teaching intensiveuniversities, integrated 4BEd.courses and emphasisedthe important components ofNEP-2020 quality of research

and teaching, skills develop-ment, improvement of highereducation and it’s examinationsystem and 6% expenditure ofGDP which is lower. He high-lighted the patterns of thesemester system from IX classto XII followed by term exam-inations and highlighted theimportance of MEd and MA.(Education) in teacher educa-tion which is lacking in NEP-2020.

In the second session, ProfArora discussed the gist ofNEP-2020 in reference to cur-riculum changes and innova-tive education, emphasisedupon skills based educationwhich is based on a holisticapproach. He highlighted theimportance of multidiscipli-nary institutions andexplained the quality research

and teaching, how to developthe quality of higher educa-tion. He also highlighted thechallenges and goodness ofteacher education in NEP-2020. Prof Arora highlightedimportant features of NEP-2020 in enhancement ofresearch and teaching.

The webinar was startedwith a welcome address bydean Prof SK Swain, followedby resource lectures of ProfCPS Chauhan and Prof PankajArora and they were intro-duced by Prof Seema Singhand Prof Anjali Bajpai respec-tively. The concluding com-ments were given by ProfSwain. It was conducted byDrLalta Prasad, organisingsecretary while the vote ofthanks was proposed by DrLalta Prasad.

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Police Mitra, a voluntaryblood donor group of

policemen and civilians, haslaunched its websitewww.policemitraa.org hererecently to help people seekingblood transfusion for the treat-ment of their loved ones.

Through the website, aperson seeking blood for apatient will be able to accessthe donor’s details city-wise.While those who wish todonate their blood, can viewseeker’s details on the websiteand reach the hospital or

blood bank concerned for thepurpose. Police Mitra aims toconnect at least 50,000 suchvolunteers across the country.

IG (Prayagraj range) KPSingh said ‘Police Mitra’ is aplatform where cops and pub-lic work together to save asmany lives as possible. Withthe launch of the website,more people could accessdonors and thus more livescould be saved.

Any person can register onthe website. If any person reg-isters for donating blood or forseeking blood from a donor, ateam of Police Mitra will carry

out their verification. Peoplewill also be encouraged todonate blood through thewebsite, he added.

The website has a ‘request’column where anyone cansend a request for donatingtheir blood or seek blood forcritical patients, said Singh.However, Police Mitra volun-teers will verify all details ofthe request before donatingtheir blood or inviting some-one for blood donation, headded.

IG said that around 5,000active members of Police Mitragroup are accessible for volun-

tary blood donation in 18states of the country includingUP.

Earlier, these donors con-nected with the public throughsocial media platforms.

During the lockdownperiod, Police Mitra has man-aged to save at least 25 lives inPrayagraj by donating blood.Constable Ashish Mishra hadfounded the group inFebruary, 2017 with the aim todonate blood to patients in thetime of crisis. Since its incep-tion in February, 2017, thegroup has saved more than1,500 lives.

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The police on Thursday tookthe scores of workers of

Samajwadi Party (SP) into theircustody when they were goingto the office of DistrictMagistrate to submit a memo-randum regarding the prob-lems being faced by weavers.Later on, the police releasedthem on personal bonds.

The SP workers in scores,led by senior party leader LaluYadav, gathered at Maidagin togo to the DM office to submitmemorandum regarding theproblems being faced byweavers. But, the policestopped them when theyreached Lohatia on bicyclesand not allowed to them tomove ahead giving reason thatthe Section 144 is in effectivein the district. The workers putup a strong protest and raisedslogans against the govern-

ment, police and administra-tion.

When the workersremained rigid on movingahead the police took them intheir custody which led to ten-sion there. The police tookthem to the Police Lines. Whenthe leaders and workers of theparty became aware about this,they reached the Police Lines inlarge numbers.

They said that each andevery person has the right toput its views in democracy butthe government is following thepolicy that the British Rule hadadopted against the freedomfighters. The weavers havebecome jobless and are facinghardship, the workers.

They were going to the DMoffice peacefully to apprise thelatter of the problems beingfaced by weavers but the policedetained and took them toPolice Lines showing the atti-

tude of tyranny. They wouldcontinue their fight for thecause of weavers, the workerssaid. Later on, the policereleased them on personalbonds. Besides Lalu Yadav,Brijmohan, Bhaiya Lal,Ishteyaq, Dabloo Maurya andmany others were also takeninto custody by the police.

P R E - P L A C E M E N TOFFERS: After reopening ofthe Indian Institute ofTechnology, Banaras HinduUniversity (IIT-BHU) for thenew academic session of 2020-21, the Training and PlacementCell has started its activity onAugust 10 last, related to selec-tion of B.Tech., IDD,M.Tech./M.Pharm., M.Sc. stu-dents for summer internships.The entire process was con-ducted remotely. Professorincharge of the cell Prof AKAgarwal said that 109 studentsof the institute have been given

pre-placement offers (PPOs) byreputed companies in the firstday slot.

According to him, thistime, 81 students have beenoffered paid internships forsummer internships. In theprevious academic year, 60students were given paidinternships in the first dayslot. He said that till August 17,among the major companies,Goldman Sachs, De Shaw,Microsoft, Google, ITC, Cisco,Uber, Nutanix, Sprinkle etc.were interviewed. The maxi-mum annual package of Rs.45.60 lakh and minimum pack-age of Rs. 6.60 lakh were givenin the PPOs.

At the same time, in thepaid internship, the maximumpackage has been givento the students of Rs 2 lakh permonth while the minimumpackage of Rs 80,000 permonth.

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On one hand, the number ofcorona patients is con-

stantly increasing, while thenumber of patients recoveringfrom it is also proceeding highwith each passing day. In thereport that came late onWednesday, a total of 286 coro-na positive patients have beenfound in the district, while1500 samples have been report-ed negative. After the increasein the number of patients, thenumber of corona patients hasnow crossed 6000. There arecurrently 1911 active casesundergoing treatment here atdifferent Covid Hospitals.

These days, due to thepromotion of home isolationand private hospitals, now thepressure of patients in Covidhospitals has reduced signifi-cantly. 82 patients were dis-charged from various Covidhospitals and went home. Mostpatients prefer to stay in homeisolation.

This is the reason that cur-rently 1500 corona patientsare placed in home isolation.Majority of the patients areadmitted to Swaroop RaniNehru Covid Hospital of L3.The number of patients here is125 while 78 patients havebeen admitted in Beli CovidHospital, 45 patients in KotwaBani Covid Hospital, 29 inRailway Hospital, 58 inKalindipuram Covid Care

Centre and 28 patients inUnani Covid Care Centre.

CMO Dr GS Bajpai saidthat ‘The number of patients isincreasing with each passingday. In such a situation, we allneed to fight together. If we alljoin together in this work thensurely victory will be ours. Hesaid that our team in CovidHospitals is engaged in thetreatment of corona patientsand specialist doctors are beinginvolved so that better treat-ment can be provided and thepatients go home soon’. Heappealed to the masses to wearthe mask.

In the neighbouring dis-trict of Pratapgarh, privatehospitals have also been made

responsible for providing bet-ter facilities to the coronavirusinfected patients. Separate bedshave been asked to be keptempty in private hospitals fora large number of patientsbeing found every day. No lax-ity would be tolerated in thisconnection.

The number of corona-positive patients in the districtis increasing every day. Nowthis number has crossed 1200in the Pratapgarh district. Mostof the patients are being admit-ted to the 200-bed CovidHospital set up at SaintAnthony Inter College in thecity. There might be insufficientroom for patients.

In such a situation, the

department has issued instruc-tions for private hospitals. Itsaid that the government hasasked to reserve 20 per centbeds of all private hospitals forcorona patients. Its letter hasbeen sent to the hospital own-ers at the local level.

There are 25 such privatehospitals in the district, whereadditional facilities will bestarted for the admission ofpatients. Currently five Covidhospitals are functioning in thedistrict. Also 215 patients havebeen allowed for home isola-tion. The government hasreduced the load of hospitals byfacilitating and allowing homeisolation.

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The Allahabad High Courtdirected the district admin-

istration of all districts of thestate to vigorously enforcesocial distancing and the wear-ing of masks as per the circu-lars of the government datedAugust 6 and August 12, 2020.

Besides, the court alsoappointed two AdvocateCommissioners and directed tosubmit their joint reportregarding the measures takento check the spread of coron-avirus in the city.

Hearing a PIL seeking bet-

ter facilities at quarantine cen-tres, a division bench compris-ing Justice Siddhartha Varmaand Justice Ajit Kumar fixedAugust 25, 2020 as the nextdate of hearing of the matter.Later, the High Court passedvarious directions to containthe spread of coronavirus in thestate.

Earlier, as per the directionof the court, Bhanu ChandraGoswami, District Magistrateand Abhishek Dixit, SeniorSuperintendent of Police (SSP),Prayagraj were present throughvideo conferencing.

Both DM and SSP submit-

ted before the court thatPrayagraj being one of theseven districts where the stategovernment was intensivelykeeping a watch and because ofwhich various steps were beingtaken, it would be possible tocurb the COVID-19 infectionto a great extent by the nextdate fixed.

They further submittedthat as per the government cir-culars dated August 6 and 17,2020, they would definitelysee that social distancing ismaintained and that people inthe city wear masks.

In addition to it, Abhishek

Dixit, Senior Superintendent ofPolice, Prayagraj has assuredthat police pickets would be setup at various vantage points.

Taking their submissionson record, the court observed,‘We do hope and trust thattheir efforts to control theCOVID-19 infection by thenext date fixed, would bearresults.’

The court further said thatin view of the explanationgiven by DM and SSP, thecourt would as of now is notinitiating the contempt pro-ceedings. However, it willremain pending.

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The birth anniversary of for-mer Prime Minister Rajiv

Gandhi on August 20 isobserved as ‘SadbhavanaDiwas’ every year. The themeof Sadbhavana Diwas is to pro-mote national integration andcommunal harmony amongpeople of all religion, languageand regions. The idea behindobservance of SadbhavanaDiwas is to eschew violenceand to promote goodwillamong the people. Ministry ofYouth Affairs and Sports andMinistry of Railways hadadvised to organise Sadbhavanapledge taking ceremony onAugust 20.

In wake of ongoingCOVID-19 crisis, NorthCentral Railway had decidedthat Sadbhavana pledge shall betaken by officers, staff andsupervisors from their respec-tive office/workplace avoidinglarge congregation, maintain-ing social distancing and fol-lowing all laid down precau-tions for COVID-19. GeneralManager North Central andNorthern Railway RajivChaudhry took followingSadbhavna pledge in his cham-ber at North Central RailwayHQ office Subedarganj.

‘I take this solemn pledgethat I will work for the emo-tional oneness and harmony ofall the people of India regard-less of caste, region, religion orlanguage. I further pledge thatI shall resolve all differencesamong us through dialogueand constitutional means with-out resorting to violence’.

This pledge was taken inHQ office, divisions and allwork centres of North CentralRailway at 11:30 hours.Officers, supervisors and stafffrom different units includingPrincipal Head of Departments(PHODs) of NCR and DRMsfrom Prayagraj, Jhansi andAgra divisions tookSadbhavana pledge followingCOOVID-19 related precau-tions.

Sadbhavana pledge takenby GM Rajiv Chaudhry hasalso been shared amongRailway employees of NorthCentral Railways electronical-ly to facilitate Sadbhavanapledge taking by officials whocould not take pledge at theirrespective office/workplace dueCOVID-19 related restrictions.

COLLOQUIUM ONINFORMATION FLUX:Indian Institute of InformationTechnology, Allahabad isorganising a two-day online

colloquium on ‘InformationFlux and its impact on societalresilience: A cause of conflict orconcord’ on Jhalwa campus.

The colloquium aims toprovide a platform for the stu-dents, researchers and acade-micians to share the knowledgeand ideas on recent trends inthe field of technology andmanagement, issues and chal-lenges currently faced in thenetworking folklore prevail-ing in the pandemic scenariothat has given quantum jumpto the flow of information andsocial networking. Moreover,the economic and politicalissues in the international levelalso provide a boost to the phe-nomenon of information flowand accordingly creates varioussentiments and moods in thesocial network environment.

The objective to hold thiscolloquium on informationflux is to connect the stakehold-ers and identify trends on howinformation is shaping thesociety and how its abundanceis making an impact on societalresilience. The colloquium hasbeen divided into four themesthat revolve around the varioustracks such that each key themethrows light on various dimen-sions of use and misuse ofinformation technology and

how its management and opti-misation of information strikein such a way that it becomesthe driver of concord ratherthan an inspiration for conflictsand unrest in the overall envi-ronment. Eminent speakerswill be delivering talks onrecent trends and advances inthe field of InformationTechnology, its Security, andManagement. The colloquiumaims to provide an excellentplatform for researchers topresent their research work inthe various technical sessions.

6 AUTOLIFTERS HELD:Six members of an inter-districtauto-lifting gang were arrestedin Pratapgarh late onWednesday with the recoveryof 10 stolen bikes. The arrest-ed were identified as RaviendraKumar Patel alias Nanhke (kingpin) of Raipur, Rithi, RahulVerma of Kandhai, SurajVerma of Ramkola, RohitVerma of Patti, Ashish Vermaof Patti and Subhash KumarVaranasi’s Amuwahi. SP (Pratapgarh) Abhishek Singhsaid a team of Patti police sta-tion received a tip-off about themovement of an auto-lifters’gang. The team cordoned offthe Bharokhan canal bridgeroad and managed to arrest sixmembers of the gang.

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Prayagraj range now has the highest numberof health staffers being infected by the coro-

navirus disease. According to the Health depart-ment, coronavirus has infected 96 healthcareworkers, including doctors, nurses and para-medics in the range. While 69 corona warriorshave tested positive in Prayagraj, 12 cases eachwere reported from Pratapgarh and Fatehpur.Three medical staffers were diagnosed inKaushambi.

The tally of containment zones in Prayagrajhas crossed the 1,450-mark — the highest in the

range. In fact, containment zones in Prayagrajare more than twice the combined count ofKaushambi, Pratapgarh and Fatehpur, theremaining three districts in the range.

As per statistics, Prayagraj has 1,453 contain-ment zones, followed by Fatehpur (335),Kaushambi (139) and Pratapgarh (138). InPrayagraj, 873 out of 1,453 containment zonesare in urban and semi urban areas and remain-ing in trans-Ganga and Yamuna areas.

Additional Director, Health, Dr SudhakarPandey said that more corona warriors havebeen diagnosed with COVID-19 in Prayagrajcompared to neighbouring districts.’

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As many as 161 newCOVID-19 patients have

been detected in the district onThursday. With this, the totalnumber of cases has reached6,205. Besides, the district alsosaw three more deaths, increas-ing the toll to 117. During theday, the follow-up negativereports included 71 patientsrecovered from home isolationand the total number ofpatients cured at home hasincreased to 2,746 while 29recovered from the hospitals.With this, the total number ofpatients discharged from thehospitals has reached 1,957while the total number of curedpatients is 4,703 leaving 1,385active patients. With this, therecovery rate in the district hasslightly declined to 75.79 whilemortality rate has remained at1.88 per cent.

Meanwhile, this parlia-mentary constituency of thePrime Minister Narendra Modihas received a good news whenin the list of cleanest cities ofthe country, Varanasi emergedas Cleanest Ganga Townamong the large Gangetic citiesand it is followed by Kanpur(UP), Munger (Bihar) andPrayagraj (UP). However, thecity could not get place amongthe Top-20 cities with morethan 10 lakh population thoughthere were four UP cities

including Lucknow (12th),Agra (16th), Ghaziabad (19th)and Prayagraj (20th).

According to the ChiefMedical Officer (CMO) DrVB Singh, in the first reportreceived by 11 am during theday, as many as 83 new coro-na patients were found out of785 reports received fromMicrobiology department ofBanaras Hindu University(BHU). Till then, the total testreports received were 77,536and the results of 7,150 exclud-ing 1,234 RTPCR samples col-lected a day ago are awaited.Out of these, 71,409 were neg-ative reports, while 6,127 pos-itive. The total number of sam-ples collected was 85,920.Meanwhile, a female aged 50from Lallapura (Sigra) and

male aged 51 fromMehmoorganj died at SSHBHU and DDU Hospital.Earlier, males aged 80 and 59from Jalalipatti (DLW) andGopalpur respectively died atSSH BHU while female (65)from Salarpur Panchloshi andmale (62) from Nathupur suc-cumbed to COVID-19 at DDUHospital. With the addition of36 red zones, the total numberof hotspots has increased to1,274 including 313 red zones.Five green zones have beenconverted into red zones again.Besides, there are 961 greenzones including 17 new ones.

Earlier, this region ofPurvanchal (eastern UP) com-prising 10 districts of threedivisions saw 487 new coronapatients on Wednesday. The

maximum number of cases129 was found in Varanasi(6,044) followed by 91inAzamgarh (2,412), 68 inGhazipur (2,315), 62 inJaunpur (3,222), 35 in Ballia(3,204), 33 in Chandauli(1,457). 27 in Mirzapur (1,411),21 in Mau (973), 18 in Bhadohi(925) and three in Sonbhadra(1,157).

Out of total 23,124 coronapositive cases, 17,072 havebeen cured either at home iso-lation or discharged from hos-pitals and the recovery rate hasdeclined to 70.70 per cent.The mortality rate hasincreased to 1.40 per cent witha death toll of 324.

Meanwhile, a meeting ofdirectors of various institutesand deans of faculties was heldat BHU under the chairman-ship of rector Prof VK Shuklain which it was decided that inview of coronavirus pandemicand in the interests of students,no changes would be made inhostel accommodations andany decision in this directionwould only be taken on thedirectives of EducationMinistry or University GrantsCommission (UGC). Themeeting was also attended byregistrar Dr Neeraj Tripathi,dean of students Prof. MKSingh, professor-incharge ofStudents Welfare Centre ProfKK Singh and chief proctorProf OP Rai.

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Four accused involved in thetheft committed in Kaimhra

town under the Phardhanpolice station were arrestedrecently. Reports said that atheft was committed in thehouse of Amit Kumar Bajpai, aresident of Kaimhra, late onAugust 14. They had takenaway jewellery, mobile phoneand cash from there. On beingtipped off by an informer, thepolice arrested four people,including Atul Bajpai, a resi-dent of Kaimhra town. Duringinterrogation the three othersdisclosed their names asAkhilesh Bajpai, Arun Kumar,Utkarsh Mishra alias Chhotu,residents of Gadgaon Amjatpurunder the Neemgaon policestation in Kheri district.According to the police, onclues provided by the accusedAtul Kumar Bajpai the stolengoods were recovered from autensil kept on the toilet roofin his house. Inspector inchargeVimal Gautam said that thefour accused had been sent tojail. Meanwhile the Nigasanpolice arrested two accusedmaking illegal weapons recent-ly. A large number of pre-pared and semi-prepared ille-gal weapons and instrumentsfor making them were alsorecovered. SP Satendra KumarSingh said that the Nighanpolice on being tipped off by aninformer conducted a raid andsurrounded Rajaram’s sugar-cane field in Teliyar village onPadhua-Lehbadi road. In thefield Bhandari alias JagatNarayan, a resident of Sujikundavillage under the Dhauraharapolice station and Ram Telan ofTeliyar village under Nighasanpolice station, were operating anillegal arms factory. The policerecovered a gun and a pistol of12 bore etc besides equipmentfor making them. The SP hasannounced a prize of �5,000 forthe police team.

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DM Sushil Kumar Patel said that livestock had been theresource for strengthening rural economy since long so it

was the need of the hour that the farmers take it as a way to earnmore apart from farming. These views were expressed by himwhen he kicked off the 30-day-long drive to vaccinate cattle underNational Animal Disease Control Programme in Chheetpur vil-lage under city block. The programme was started with the wor-shipping of ‘gaumata’ (cow) by applying ‘tilak.’ He said that theemotional attachment was amust to save cattle from dis-eases. He said that by protect-ing the cattle from diseases wecontributed to the society. Headded that diseases like‘Khurpaka’ (foot disease) and‘munhpaka’ (mouth disease)were infectious and to checkthem vaccination drive was being kicked off in the district. ChiefVeterinary Officer Kapoor Singh apprised that through 42 teamsas many as 7,99,000 cattle had to be vaccinated during the month-long drive. The teams equipped with the vaccination kits wereflagged off jointly by the DM and CDO Avinash Singh. The pro-gramme was also graced by Arvind Kumar DPRO, additionaldirector, Animal Husbandry, BDO (City), veterinary doctors andthe staff related with the vaccination. Besides, the DM and CDOinaugurated a goat shed constructed at a cost of �1.72 lakh, sheepshed built at a cost of �1.72 lakh and a buffalo shed (�1.40 lakh)which was targeted to provide job to migrant labourers.

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Several efforts are being madeby the North Eastern

Railway (NER) administrationto achieve the goal of doublingthe loading of goods by the year2024. By providing better facil-ities for loading of goods to theindustry they are being attract-ed towards rail transport.

In the same sequencenewly-modified goods (NMG)wagons are being made at theNER’s mechanical workshopsin Gorakhpur and Izzatnagarwhich will have a very impor-tant role in the transportationof cars and other automobiles.

The NMG wagons arebeing built from internalresources. The old ICF coach-es which have become unusablein passenger trains are being

converted into NMG rake andis being prepared for trans-portation of car and otherautomobiles. For this along

with fully packing the doorsand windows of old ICF coach-es other necessary improve-ments are being made so thatthe automobile can be trans-ported in a better way and safe-ly. At the mechanical factory,Izzatnagar, 60 NMG wagons

have been prepared so far,Chief Public Relations Officer(CPRO) Pankaj Kumar Singhsaid. Similarly, 13 NMG wag-ons have been made at themechanical factory, Gorakhpur,so far. The work of preparingNMG wagons in both theseworkshops is being done at arapid pace. NMG wagon isvery useful in context of thedemand for speedy and pro-tected transportation of auto-mobiles and other automobilesin the automobile world.Through it transportation ofcars and automobiles is eco-nomical compared to roadand will be faster, safer, pro-tected and more environmentfriendly. The benefit of whichtraders will get directly and thesociety indirectly in the form ofbetter environment.

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Saplings were planted by theParyavaran Sanrakshan

Gatividhi at SankatMochan Mandir onThursday. RSS Zilapracharak Yashvirplanted saplingalong with vibhagpracharak Ajay andMahant AyodhyaDas. Prantiya sahsanyojak DharmikAmit said humanswere the best cre-ation of nature buthad polluted the environment.As a result, today human life itselfwas in danger, he said. He alsostressed on using cloth or paperbags and saving the nature

with water harvesting, by plant-ing trees and developing hous-es as greenhouses. Zilapracharak RSS Yashveer said

that today the mostimportant responsi-bility on all of us towork for environmentalprotection and plantmore and more trees. Healso said one can con-serve the environmentby disposing of wet anddry garbage separately.In this programmeMahesh, Bundelkhandincharge of all villages),

Jagat, Nagar Karyavah, DrBrahmanand, Amit, Ravindra,Mahant Ayodhya Das, and dis-trict secretary BJP AmitNiranjan were also present.

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The mortal remains of Armyman, Ravi Singh, who was

matryred during an encounterwith militants in Kashmir, wereconsigned to the flames on thebank of Ganga in Gaura villageunder Chhanbey block onThursday. Earlier the coffin car-rying the body of the martyrreached the district in an armyvehicle on Thursday morning. Alarge number of villagers gath-ered to bid a tearful adieu to themartyr. Uttar Pradesh Minister ofForest and Environment DaraSingh Chauhan visited Gaura vil-lage, a native place of the mar-tyr, on Wednesday, and com-municated the message of theChief Minister Yogi Adityanathto the martyr’s family. SanjaySingh, father of the martyr, lit thepyre. Prominent among thosepresent on the occasion UPMinister of State for Energy

Rama Shankar Singh Patel, allthe MLAs of the district, MLCAshish Patel, former state min-ister, Kailash Chaurasia, and theentire administration, includingDM, Sushil Kumar Patel.

TRAGIC END: A manwas run over by an unidentifiedfourwheeler in Bhagawatideyivillage under the Ahraurapolice station on Thursday.Radhey Patel (58), a resident ofPatihta village under Ahraurapolice station, was on Ahraura-Chunar road when he was hitby an unidentified vehicle anddied on the spot. On gettinginformation the police took hisbody into custody for com-pleting legal formalities.

BODY FOUND: The bodyof an old woman was foundlying under a culvert nearBhonkraudh canal underJamalpur police station. As perthe reports, Laachi Devi (85),a resident of Surthapur village

under Chakia police stationwas missing since Monday.Her family members were try-ing to trace her whereabouts.On Wednesday when anunidentified body was found inthe canal, her family membersapproached the police and itwas identified as that of themissing woman. After recov-ering the body in canal thepolice handed over the body toher kin after completing thelegal formalities. Meanwhilean unidentified woman wasrun over by a train in Jamalpurvillage under Adalhat policestation. Some villagers saw itnear a railway track informedthe police. Adalhat policereached on the spot, called thelocals for identification of thevictim but all their effortsended in vain. After recoveringthe body of the 35-year-oldwoman the police completedthe legal formalities.

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During a launched underthe direction of

Superintendent of Police,Manilal Patidar the team con-stituted by inspector inchargeKharela Santosh Kumar Singhon being tipped off by aninformer arrested two accusedwith illicit liquor recently.They culprits were later iden-tified as Moolchand Ahirwar(25), son of Bhanti, and BabluAnuragi (26), son ofDhaniram, a resident ofPunniya village under theKharela police station inMahoba from an area situatedclose to the canal culvert in Tikrivillage along with five litres ofillicit liquor each.

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A70-year-old woman, Badami Devi, was murdered by hernephew with an axe in Banshiya village under the Chauri

Chaura police station on Wednesday. Greed for woman’s por-tion of land was the motive behind the crime. According to infor-mation, Badami Devi’s husband, Ram Sipahi Yadav, had retiredfrom CRPF. He was the second of three brothers and had diedof illness on Tuesday evening. She went out to throw leaf plateswith the son of her brother-in-law Rajapati Yadav around 7:30pm. At some distance away from home, Vinod Yadav, son of GamaYadav, her elder brother-in-law, reached there with an axe andattacked her as a result of which she died on the spot. The mainaccused Vinod has been arrested by the police.

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Thieves targeted a closed house of Omprakash Pandey, inSiktipur village under Balua police station and fled with cost-

ly items, including jewellery. They also took away the scooty keptthere with them which was found in an abandoned conditionnear Katarupur village. On getting information the victim report-ed the matter to the police which was investigating it.

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Kanpur DivisionalCommissioner Sudhir M

Bobde has expressed concernover the poor and faulty Coviddata feeding. He asked theadditional director, health, toensure proper feeding of Coviddata and tracking and tracingon priority.

The divisional commis-sioner said testing of Covid sus-pects should be carried out onpriority and people who werein contact with such suspectsshould also be placed undersurveillance.

He said all the reportswhich had been provided byprivate hospitals, clinics anddruggists regarding flu patientsbe put under scanner and a listbe prepared of people who hadbeen in touch with them.

Bobde said flu patientsreported by private clinicsshould be tested using antigen

test on top priority. He said theantigen test kit should be pro-vided free of cost.

The divisional commis-sioner directed authorities tocarry out surprise inspectionsof government and privatehospitals looking after COVID-19 patients.

He said there had beenreports of many errors in Covid

data feeding at KanshiramHospital and directed officialsto remove these errors.

Meanwhile, the divisionalcommissioner directed the dis-trict officials of all depart-ments to attend a high-levelmeeting summoned on August28. He said the meeting was totake up the issue of traffic con-gestion in Kanpur and ways to

reduce the traffic density andallow smooth movement oftraffic on the roads.

Bobde said 30 major pro-jects were pending and thusdecision had to be taken on pri-oritising them so that workcould be started on a war foot-ing.

It may be mentioned thatthe major projects pendinginclude the 105-km outer ringroad which would reduce thetraffic pressure in Kanpur city.

Under the project, trafficand heavy vehicles fromKannauj and Allahabad will nomore enter the city limits.Besides, the flyovers projectsalso need to be speeded up.

The divisional commis-sioner said all the projects hadto take off at the earliest. Hesaid such review meetingswould be held every month.

He also stressed on givingfurther momentum to theKanpur Metro project.

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Is the high rate of COVID-19deaths at the LLR Hospital

due to sub-standard ventilatorssupplied by the company?

A team of doctors whichhas taken up the cudgels toreduce the COVID-19 deathrate in the city has raiseddoubts over the quality of ven-tilators supplied to the LLRHospital.

The team found that out ofthe 16 ventilators supplied bythe company, most of them hadmalfunctioning software due towhich double the strength ofoxygen was being supplied tothe lungs causing pulmonaryfibrosis.

These doctors currently

manning Covid hospital atLLR Hospital claimed that thesoftware failure of the ventila-tors rendered them useless andputting patients on such ven-tilators posed a threat to theirlives.

They said the oxygen sup-ply monitor was controlledwith the help of a softwarewhich was highly crucial andthe most important software ofthe ventilator. They said thecompany which had suppliedthe ventilators had beeninformed about the malfunc-tion but till date nothing hadbeen done.

The doctors claimed thatprolonged exposure to above-normal oxygen partial pres-sures, or shorter exposures to

very high partial pressures,could cause oxidativedamage to cell membranes,collapse of the alveoli in thelungs, retinal detachment, andseizures.

They said oxygen toxicitywas managed by reducing theexposure to increased oxygenlevels and this had to be regu-lated with the help of a softwarewhich maintained the desiredlevel of oxygen flow into thelungs. They added that this alsowas the major cause of fluctu-ating blood pressure and most-ly led to blood pressure shoot-ing beyond control.

LLR Hospital ChiefMedical Superintendent DrRicha Giri admitted that the 16ventilators supplied at a cost of

Rs 1 lakh each, were lying inop-erative because the softwarewas not working properly.

She said a complaint hadbeen made to the companywhich had supplied the venti-lators but it had stated that thesoftware in question could beprovided only at an extra costas it was costly and could notbe provided in the tenderedbudget.

Dr Giri also said that thegovernment had approved asum of Rs 4 crore for setting upCT Scan unit in the hospitalwhich was highly necessary tomonitor the damage to thelungs in COVID-19 patients.She said very soon the Covidhospital would get a CT Scanmachine from Lucknow.

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Hundreds of Congressmenled by party’s city unit

president Har PrakashAgnihotri, assembled at RajivVatika in Motijheel to pay flo-ral tributes former prime min-ister Rajiv Gandhi on the birthanniversary of the visionary ofthe modern era on Thursday.

Addressing the gatheringafter garlanding the statue offormer prime minister RajivGandhi, Agnihotri said RajivGandhi was the harbinger ofcomputer era and today thecountry stood at par with therest of the world because ofhim. He said Rajiv Gandhi’svisit to China in 1988 was anhistoric event and he was theperson who lowered votingage to 18 and pushed for intro-duction of electronic votingmachines (EVMs).

Praising Rajiv for his bolddecision, Agnihotri said that itwas he who had reducedincome and corporate tax rates,simplified the licensing regimeand de-regulated sectors likecomputers, drugs and textiles.

He added that it was due toRajiv Gandhi that duties onimport of many items werereduced and incentives intro-duced for exporters. He said thedecision to set up a joint work-ing group to ensure “peace andtranquillity” at the border areaswas a breakthrough event.

Addressing the gathering,Athar Naeem said RajivGandhi’s pursuit of the idea ofpower transfer to the people bystrengthening the PanchayatiRaj system was a bold reformand the Congress passed a res-olution in 1989 seeking to con-fer constitutional status to thePanchayati Raj institutionwhich became a reality in the1990s. He added that apartfrom working for devolution ofpower, Rajiv also introduced a5-day-work week for govern-ment employees in 1989. Hesaid today it was essential forevery Congressman to emulatethe great leader who laid downhis life for the nation. He saidthe true tribute to the leaderwould be by treading the pathshown by him for a strongerand united India.

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;�7���������������'�KANPUR (PNS): Kanpur Nagar reported 306 more coronaviruspositive cases on Thursday.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Anil K Mishra said 306 more peo-ple had tested positive for coronavirus infection betweenWednesday evening and Thursday evening, taking the tally ofconfirmed cases in the city to 11,920.

He said with 73 COVID-19 patients being discharged fromhospitals, 3909 infected people had been cured in the city to dateand 3,439 active cases were undergoing treatment.

The CMO said with 7 more COVID-19 deaths in the city,the death toll stood at 347 on Thursday. He said a total of 2,500samples were taken for testing.

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The joint team ofEngineering, Enforcement

and Property Departments(Zone-1) of KanpurDevelopment Authority (KDA)got the plot No.120 under theKalyanpur police station vacat-ed from unauthorised posses-sion on Thursday.

It may be recalled that thedrive is being carried out on thedirectives of state administra-tion and the KDA Secretary SPSingh.

During the drive, TehsildarArchana Agnihotri, AssistantEngineer Akhilesh Singh,Junior Engineer Hasan Raza,KK Gupta, officials of engi-neering, revenue and enforce-ment departments and local

police force were present.Earlier, KDA Vice-ChairmanRakesh Kumar Singh reviewed

the functioning of FinanceDepartment and issued neces-sary instructions to the Finance

Controller. He directed him toidentify the areas wherefromreceipts of revenue haddecreased. He asked the FC toensure proper follow up withthese areas to increase the rev-enue receipts of KDA. He alsodirected him for the properupkeep of records and timelydisposal of matters. V-C hasdirected the Secretary andAdditional Secretary to put updetails of undisputed and unal-lotted properties of KDA beforehim for their onward disposalto increase KDA revenue.

During the review meeting,Secretary SP Singh, AdditionalSecretary Dr GudakeshSharma, Finance ControllerVK Lal, officers and employeesof the respective departmentswere present.

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City police have busted agang of drug smugglers

and recovered huge quantity ofdrugs worth around Rs 1 crorein international market fromthem. Police have arrested fourpersons involved in the trade.Addressing mediapersons, SSPDr Pritinder Singh said duringvehicle checking drive, Bajariapolice arrested two youthsalong with 2.5 kg charas. Theywere identified as RishabhSingh of Vijay Nagar andMukesh Shukla of AmbedkarNagar. At their behest, policeraided the house of SushilSharma in Vijay Nagar andarrested Nishar and Golu fromthere. Police recovered 27.5kg ganja, 103 diazepam tablets,six injection, 700 gm smackand 460 gm charas from them.Police recovered Rs.11.15 lakhcash of sale from all the fourcriminals. During the policeraid, Sushil Sharma and hisaccomplices managed to escapefrom the spot. Sushil Sharmawas found to be involved inover three dozen cases lodgedagainst him with differentpolice stations.

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A teenage girl mysterious-ly went missing from her house

in Hasnapur village under Rurapolice station of Kanpur Dehatlate Wednesday night.

When the girl’s mother,grandfather and grandmotherwoke up on Thursday morn-ing, they found her missingfrom her room.

They recovered her brokenslippers, clothes and bloodstains near the bathroom in theveranda.

ASP Anoop Kumar alongwith forensic experts and snif-fer dog squad reached thespot and carried out investiga-tions.

According to reports, the17-year-old girl’s father, a nativeof Hasnapur village, is

employed in a country-madeliquor shop in Kanpur. Duringthe lockdown, the girl alongwith her mother had come tolive in her grandparent’s housein the village.

The mother said that onWednesday night, she sleptwith her daughter in the roomwhile her father-in-law andmother-in-law slept in theveranda. On Thursday morn-ing, the girl, a class XI student,was found missing.

ASP Anoop Kumar saidthat had the girl been kid-napped, she would have raisedan alarm to wake up her fam-ily members.

Investigations are on.

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denly caught fire nearMaswanpur crossing inKeshavpuram under Kalyanpurpolice station area on Thursdaymorning.

Seeing a youth riding onthe burning motorcycle, thelocal residents raised and alarmand alerted him.

The youth jumped off themotorcycle and escapedunhurt. Police feigned igno-rance in the matter.

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Members of Income-tax,GST and Kanpur Bar

Association have demandedto enforcement of the AdvocateProtection Act in the state.They handed over a memo-randum addressed to ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath to thethe district magistrate onThursday.

Addressing the gathering,Kanpur Bar Association pres-ident of Basant Lal Gupta saidthere was resentment amongthe advocates of the states fol-lowing rise in murder and lifeattacks on them. He saidenforcement of AdvocateProtection Act was the need ofthe time for their security andlife cover.

Former president ofLawyers Association AvinashBajpai threatened to intensifyagitation if the state govern-ment failed to enforce theAdvocate Protection Act soon.

Vice-president of KanpurBar Association UpendraBhadauria said the reponsibil-ity for the security of lawyerswas on the state government.He said in view of the frequentmurders and life attacks onlawyers, the governmentshould soon enforce theAdvocate Protection Act inthe state.

Vice-president PradipGupta said the enforcement ofthe Act was the need of thetime.

Additional City MagistateArun Kumar received thememorandum on behalf of thedistrict dagistrate and assuredthe lawyers to soon send it tothe chief minister for action.

The delegation comprisedof lawyers Avinash Bajpai, PtRavindra Sharma, NareshTripathi, Rakesh Tewari, MohdQuadir Khan, Vinay Misra,SK Sachn, Raj Kamal Gupta,Mohit Shukla, Sanjay Dubey,Shivam Arora, ShikharChandra, Pranvir Singh,Deependra Kumar, SarveshVishwakarma, Shashi KantPandey, Manoj Dwivedi andAmit Agarwal.

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The bitter war of wordsbetween the BJP and the

Congress on the Facebook con-troversy is set to escalate fur-ther as BJP MPs NishikantDubey and Rajyavardhan SinghRathore have written letters tothe Lok Sabha Speaker OmBirla seeking the removal oftheir Congress counterpartShashi Tharoor as the chief ofthe Parliamentary StandingCommittee on InformationTechnology on the groundsthat the latter chose to speak tothe media about his intentionto summon officials of thesocial networking majorinstead of discussing the mat-

ter first in the parliamentarypanel.

Both sides have raised priv-ilege issues against each otherin the committee.

Subsequent to a report inthe American English dailyWall Street Journal that claimedthat Facebook refused to applyhate speech rules to BJP andRSS leaders, Tharoor had spo-ken about summoning thecompany’s officials before thecommittee due to the “seriousnature” of allegations.

“Issuing statements as towho would be summoned andwhat would be the agenda ofthe meeting is absolutelyuncalled for and is violative ofthe procedures of the LokSabha. The proclivity of the ITcommittee chairman to speakto media first undermines thefunctioning of the committeemembers and the committeeitself,” Rathore told newsper-sons on Thursday.

Former Information &Broadcasting Minister Rathoreis also a member of the IT com-mittee. He said he has writtena letter to Lok Sabha SpeakerOm Birla in this regard.

Rathore said the IT com-mittee members have no issueon “summoning whosoeverthe committee feels needs to besummoned for the protectionof the rights of citizens of ourcountry” but added that thematter should be discussed inthe panel first.

Dubey, who is also a mem-ber of the committee, has comeout openly against Tharoor forhis remarks and has filedbreach of privilege petitionsagainst him with the Speaker.

Dubey wrote, “Tharoor’stenure has been controver-sial... Speaking in SpenserianEnglish in foreign accent doesnot give one freedom to anindividual to disregard parlia-mentary institutions”

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Stalemate continued at thevolatile Line of Actual

Control(LAC)in Ladakh withthe latest round of diplomat-ic level talks on Thursdayunable to provide any break-through. However, India andChina reaffirmed their com-mitment to complete disen-gagement of troops from allthe friction points “expedi-tiously.”

The two sides alsoexpressed their resolve tomaintain peace at the LAC andcontinue dialogue to addressdifferences.

These takeaways emergedfrom diplomatic level talksunder the aegis of the WorkingMechanism for Consultationand Coordination(WMCC).These joint secretary leveltalks, fifth since the stand-offsstarted in early May, wereongoing to end tension at theLAC.

The five military leveltalks, so far, since the stand-offs started also did not see anypositive outcome with China,

till now, refusing to pull backfrom the friction points.Moreover, over the weeks ithas added muscle to its troopstrength at these sites besidesdeploying heavy guns andarmour.

With China not budgingand retreating from frictionpoints like PangongTso(Lake)and Depsang val-ley, the Indian security estab-lishment was expecting nomajor breakthrough in thisround of talks, sources said.They also said as the issue is“complex and complicated,”

the coming weeks will seemore parleys at the diplomat-ic and military level to bringdown temperature at thevolatile LAC.

Meanwhile, giving detailsof the latest round of WMCCtalks, ministry of externalaffairs spokesperson AnuragSrivastava said here the Indiandelegation was led by JointSecretary (East Asia), MEA,while the Director General ofthe Boundary & OceanicDepartment of the ChineseMinistry of Foreign Affairs ledthe Chinese delegation.

Srivastava said the twosides had a “candid” and in-depth exchange of views onthe existing situation in theIndia-China border areas.They reaffirmed that in accor-dance with the agreementsreached between the twoForeign Ministers and the twoSpecial Representatives (SRs),the two sides will continue tosincerely work towards com-plete disengagement of thetroops along the Line of ActualControl (LAC) in theWestern(Ladakh) Sector.

In this context they agreedto resolve the outstandingissues in an “expeditious”manner and in accordancewith the existing agreementsand protocols. The two sideswere in agreement thatrestoration of peace and tran-quility in the border areaswould be essential for theoverall development of bilat-eral relations, he said.

The two sides furtheracknowledged the need tomaintain close communica-tion through both the diplo-matic and military channels so

as to ensure complete disen-gagement. In this regard, theyalso agreed to continue theirongoing engagements includ-ing through the meetings ofthe WMCC, Srivastava said.

Sources said India alsoinsisted in the talks its standthat status quo ante be restoredon the LAC and no effort tochange the LAC is acceptableto it. Restoring status quo antemeans that China will have toretreat to its positions acrossthe LAC as they were on April30.

With talks making littleheadway till now, the Indianarmed force are now preparedfor the long haul. Besides hon-ing their operational pre-paredness, the Army has start-ed winter stocking in the rightearnest to sustain its troops inLadakh in the winter months.

In fact, winter will set inthere by September end withtemperature dipping to minus20 degrees some time later.The army is rushing prefabri-cated huts to withstandextreme cold besides otherlogistic support.

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When the country’s econo-my reeled under Covid-

19 impact, Prime MinisterEmployment GenerationProgram (PMEGP), which isimplemented by Khadi andVillage Industries Commission(KVIC), defied the trend.Boosted by the decision of theMinistry of MSME to eliminatethe role of district collectors inapproving the PMEGP pro-jects, the approval of projectsduring the first five months ofthis financial year went up bya whopping 44%.

The KVIC has approvedand forwarded 1.03 lakh pro-ject applications to the financ-ing banks as compared to71,556 projects during the cor-responding period last year.

PMEGP is the flagshipemployment generation pro-gram of the Central govern-ment and the KVIC is thenodal agency for implementingthe scheme. The MSMEMinistry on April 28 amendedthe guidelines to eliminate therole of the District Collectorsapproving any scheme. TheDM office, preoccupied as itwas with other administrativeworks, accorded the least pri-ority to clearing projects underPMEGP.

As per the amended guide-lines, KVIC, the nodal agencyfor implementing PMEGPscheme, was entrusted the taskof clearing the applicationsfrom prospective entrepre-neurs and forward it to theBanks for taking credit deci-sions.

During the period fromApril to August in 2020,financing banks sanctioned11,191 projects and �345.43crore margin money was dis-bursed to applicants as com-pared to �276.09 crore marginmoney disbursed for 9161 pro-jects in the first five months ofprevious year, i.e. 2019. Thenumber of sanctioned pro-jects by banks thus increasedby 22% while the disbursementof margin money by KVICincreased by 24% as comparedto the previous year.

The faster implementationof PMEGP projects this yearassumes greater significance asthe entire country was underlockdown for the most part ofthese five months.

The higher number of pro-jects also signifies the govern-

ment’s resolve to create self-employment and sustainablelivelihood for the people bypromoting local manufactur-ing.

KVIC Chairman ShriVinai Kumar Saxena said themassive jump in approval ofPMEGP projects is a result ofthe Prime Minister’s call for“Minimum Government,Maximum Governance”.

“Discontinuing the role ofDistrict Collectors has ensuredthe swift implementation of theprojects. However, the banksmust also expedite the processof sanctioning funds so as tobenefit the maximum numberof applicants. Timely disbursalof funds is crucial for the exe-cution of projects and creatingemployment in the country,”Saxena said.

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In what should come as a bigrelief, scientists and health

experts here have dispelledfears about the news related tothe discovery of mutant formof the novel coronavirus fromMalaysia as being “10 timesmore infectious”. They saidthat it is not a concern forIndia as the strain is alreadywidely prevalent here andisn’t any more virulent thanthe one originating in Wuhan.

Two-days ago Malaysia’sDirector General of Healthhad raised alarm overFacebook that the D614Gstrain of the virus was dis-covered from a cluster, includ-ing a restaurant owner return-ing from India calling it “10times more infectious andeasily spread by an individualsuper spreader.”

Virologist Upasana Raysaid that the mutation mayhave just been reported inMalaysia but is not new forthe world. “We saw it hap-pening in April and it even-tually dominated many coun-tries. It is new for Malaysiabut is not a new mutation,”said the senior scientist atKolkata’s CSIR-IndianInstitute of Chemical Biologysaid.

While some reports claimthe mutation is capable ofenhancing the infectivity ofthe virus, this is not wellestablished and also does notnecessarily indicate more virulence or harmfulness ofthe disease.

Ray pointed out that even

a highly infectious and trans-missible variant of the virusmight actually have a lesserability to cause disease inhumans.

Rajinder K Dhamija, headof the Department ofNeurologists , Dr LadyHardinge echoed similar sentiments saying that muta-tion of a virus is not uncom-

mon. This mutation is part ofthe spike protein that thenovel coronavirus uses toenter host cells. “We are surethat the vaccine being devel-oped will cover this strainalso,” he said.

The strain with theD614G mutation, dubbed the‘G clade’, became widelyprevalent in India even as far

back as Apri l , asserted Kumar Somasundaram, pro-fessor of Microbiology andCell Biology at the IndianInstitute of Science (IISc)Bangalore.

In June, Somasundaram’steam published a study in thejournal Current Science,analysing hundreds of sam-ples of the virus in India.

“Back in Apri l , i f 100 patient samples were analysedin India, 40-50 per cent ofthem had the G clade virus. If

you look at those analysed inJune, almost 95 per cent are Gclade… cumulatively if youadd up all the samples that

have been analysed over themonths, the G clade makes up70-75 per cent of the cases inIndia,” he explained.

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The Union Health Ministryhas taken exception to the

Federation of Obstetric andGynecological Societies ofIndia (FOGSI), the apex bodyof obstetricians and gyne-cologists, bid to hold a stringof webinars under the spon-sorship of a global foodmajor, Danone, terming it theviolation of Infant MilkSubstitutes, Feeding Bottlesand Infant Foods Act (knownas IMS Act) .

The move followed acomplaint by NGOBreastfeeding PromotionNetwork of India (BPNI)which accused the associa-tion of violating the IMS Actprovisions as four of its webi-nars were held by the majorfood company. The IMS Actprotects, promotes and sup-ports breastfeeding in India.

In a recent letter to theFO GSI, Union Health

Secretary Rajesh Bhushansaid that such an act was aviolation of the “The InfantMilk Substitutes, FeedingBottles and Infant Foods(Regulation of Production,Supply & Distribution) Act1992, and Amendment Act2003” (lMS Act) wherein anoffense committed is cog-nizable.

“It is clearly stated undersection 9(2) of the IMS Actthat “no producer, supplieror distributor referred to insub-section (l), shall offer orgive any contribution or pecuniary benefit to a healthworker or any association ofhealth workers, includingfunding of seminar, meeting,c o n f e r e n c e s ,educational course, contest,fellowship, research work orsponsorship,” pointed outthe official.

In this regard, saidBhushan to the FOGSI “youare requested to clarify thereason behind organizing

such webinars which appearto be directly violating theIMS Act provisions. You area lso requested to takeprompt and necessary actionto comply with the provi-sions of the IMS Act and toensure that such incidencesnever take place in future.”

Last year, following acomplaint by the BPNI, theUnion Health Ministry hadalerted the Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR)to “examine the matterregarding violation of theIMS Act by sponsoringresearch in five Indian hos-pitals.”

Following the complaint,ICMR constituted a probepanel, which concluded thatNestle’s sponsorship violatedthe law. The five-hospitalstudy was immediately ter-minated and the committeerecommended prosecutionof the v iolators ( theresearchers and the compa-ny).

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With various reports point-ing out possible SARS-

CoV-2 infection through theeye and the need for protect-ing eye health professionals aswell as patients, the UnionHealth Ministry on Thursdayissued guidelines that encour-age tele-consultations and fol-lowing an appointment systemfor those needing investiga-tions and procedures.

While no routine proce-dure/surgery has been allowedon a Covid-19 suspect or aconfirmed case, the Ministryhas banned operation of eyecare facilities in containmentzones. Persons above 65 yearsof age, persons with co-mor-bidities, pregnant women andchildren below the age of 10years should be encouraged tostay at home, unless they arepatients themselves.

Noting the examinationand procedures related to oph-thalmology involves closeinteractions with the patient,the Ministry said the guide-lines are aimed at minimisingthe spread of Covid-19 infec-tion among ophthalmologists,

ophthalmic assistants/techni-cians, nurses, support staff,patients and their attendants.

As per the ‘Guidelines onSafe Ophthalmology Practicesin Covid-19 Scenario’, eyedrops should be put in thepatient’s eye by a nursing orparamedical staff with a notouch technique.

Pre-surgical Covid-19 teston patients is not mandatory,but a thorough history takingand examination must be doneto ensure that patient hasminimal probability of havingthe infection.

According to guidelinesno routine procedure/surgeryshould be done on a Covid-19suspect or a confirmed case.

“Tele-counselling and tele-consultation should beencouraged to lessen patientvisits and/or appointment sys-tem can be followed to callpatients needing examina-tion/eye investigations/proce-dures,” the guidelines said.

Eye-care facilities should

encourage app-based mobilephone check in and paymentalong with digital prescriptionof glasses and medicines toprevent long queues, it said.

The identified patientsmay be called to the base hos-pital by appointment forcataract surgery, so that back-log of cataract cases does notbuild up.

“No eye-ball retrieval fromhomes to be undertaken, onlyHospital Cornea RetrievalProgram can be continued innon-Covid-19 cadavers, forutilization of corneas for ther-apeutic purposes only,” thedocument underscored.

In case a Covid-19 patientwith eye condition is to beadmitted, a separate room oran isolation ward should beused, the document stated.

According to experts,there are three potential routesthrough which SARS-CoV-2can infect the eye: by directcontact of the conjunctivawith infected droplets, bytouching the eyes with thehands or by migration ofupper respiratory tract infec-tion through the nasolacrimalduct.

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There’s good news for stu-dents and employed per-

sons with a disability looking toenhance or learn new skillcourses to add on to theirincome from the confines oftheir homes amid Covid-19pandemic.

Taking the Digital Indiamotto forward and to help thedisabled enhance their skills,online education platformDigiVidhyapeeth has offered atleast 10 seats in each batch of

its various skill courses to thecommunity free of cost.

“Covid-19 is changing theworking environments andarrangements particularly forpeople with disabilities who areat the receiving end in thesetough times.

“Keeping this in mind, wehave kept ten seats reserved forthe people with disability ineach course offered by ourorganisation. The aim is to helppeople with disabilities to be ontheir own and lead a dignifiedlife,” said DigiVidhyapeethfounder and managing director

Pradeep Khatri.Online digital platforms

like ours can play a key role insupporting disabled people tolearn as well as enhance newskills to help them get employ-ment, he said.

It is an online platformimparting skill developmenteducation to the youth as pertheir requirements. It offersthree types of courses–digitalmarketing, personal financemanagement and soft skilldevelopment wherein person-ality development is included atnominal fees.

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Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birlaon Thursday said that

Parliament need to ensure pub-lic participation in parliamen-tary oversight and improvinggovernance.

Addressing the fifth WorldConference of Speakers ofParliament through virtualmode, Birla said the informa-tion technology revolutionmade people close toParliaments and improving ingovernance. The agenda of themeeting was “Improving gov-ernance by bridging the gapbetween Parliaments and thePeople” and many Speakersacross the world attended themeet.

He mentioned thatParliament of India, repre-senting the aspirations of 1.35billion people, plays a proactiverole in ensuring engagementwith them.

Birla said that this involvesthe usage of five ‘I’s in theprocess: ‘Interact’, ‘Inform’,‘Involve’, ‘Imbibe’ and ‘Improve’.

Observing that the IndianParliament is the highest leg-islative institution of the nation,Birla said that our Parliamentis fully engaged with the peo-ple and always reinforces trans-parency and good governance.Birla mentioned that even dur-ing the Covid-19 pandemic, Parliament main-tained a 24X7 connect betweenthe parliamentarians and thegeneral public to ensure thatthe needy and the underprivi-leged are provided necessaryrelief and assistance withoutdelay.

Rajiv Pratap Rudy,Meenakshi Lekhi, Members ofParliament and SnehlataShrivastava, Secretary General,Lok Sabha also attended thepanel discussion.

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Education Minister RameshNishank Pokhriyal on

Thursday said thatGovernment is working toprevent talents and patentfrom leaving the country.“Now, we will stop both tal-ent and patent from leavingthe country,” Pokhriyal said atthe All India ManagementAssociation (AIMA) 25thconvocation.

He pointed out that 7.5-8

lakh Indian students go over-seas looking for their futureand, in the process, Rs 1.5lakh crore flows out of thecountry. “India is contribut-ing to the excellence of othercountries,” he remarked. Headded that the proof of oureducation’s excellence is thatthe CEOs of Google andMicrosoft studied in India.

The Minister said thatIndia would lead the onlineeducation revolution andefforts would be made tooffer online courses from the

world’s top 100 universities.He appreciated AIMA’s ini-tiative in promoting onlineeducation and testing, andasked the organization to pro-mote the objectives of theNEP.

Nishank also declaredthat the new curriculum ofmanagement and engineeringinstitutes would be devel-oped in partnership with theindustry.

He also stated that nowonwards 50% of the studentsof IIMs and IITs would work

with the industry during theirstudies.

AICTE Chairman, DrAnil Sahasrabudhe deliveredthe keynote address of theconvocation. He appreciatedAIMA for holding the coun-try’s first entirely online con-vocation.

He pointed out that covidhad allowed higher educationand regulation to go onlinethough AICTE had faced stiffresistance for two years indigitalising the approvalprocess.

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Appellate Courts need notto routinely re-appreciate

the evidence in a criminal caseas trial court is best placed toholistically appreciate thedemeanour of a witness, theSupreme Court has said.

A three-judge bench ofJustices N V Ramana, S ANazeer and Surya Kant madethe observations while dis-missing an appeal filed againsta Delhi High Court judgmentwhich had upheld the convic-tion and sentencing of theaccused under Section 394(Voluntarily causing hurt incommitting robbery) of the

Indian Penal Code andSection 25 of the Arms Act,1959.

“It must be highlightedthat appellate Courts oughtnot to routinely re-appreciatethe evidence in a criminalcase.

“This is not only for rea-sons of procedure, expedien-cy, or finality; but because thetrial Court is best placed toholistically appreciate thedemeanour of a witness andother evidence on record,”the bench said.

According to the prose-cution, the victim-com-plainant, Tabban Khan wasrobbed of Rs 30,000 by three

boys in May 17, 2001 inShahdara here.

The police caught the triothree days later from a busstand and recovered a knifefrom the appellant MohdAnwar and other co-accused.

The trial court held allthree accused guilty of robberywith attempt to cause grievoushurt and sentenced them toseven years rigorous impris-onment, two years rigorousimprisonment under Section25 of the Arms Act and fine ofrupees five thousand (orimprisonment of six monthsin lieu thereof).

The appellant (Anwar)approached the High Court

which dismissed the chargeunder Section 397 (robbery)of IPC, and instead convictedhim under Section 394 with areduced sentence of only twoyears rigorous imprisonment.

The top court said the tes-timonies of the witnesses areindeed impeccable and cor-roborative of each other.

It said thd crime of rob-bery with hurt has been estab-lished by the testimony of wit-ness and the other evidence onrecord.

The complainant had nomotive to falsely implicate theappellate and to allow the realculprits to go scot-free, theapex court said.

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Page 8: ˙ ˆ˝ ˛ ˘ ˇ ˆˆ˙ ˝˛ ˆ ˛ ! , ! -˛. ˜˜ ˇ˘ ˛˜ +# ˇ ˆ...2 days ago  · in ICU and 2.62 per cent on oxygen support, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday said adding

Who wantsKhalistan? Thenative Indian Sikhcommunity inPunjab has

absolutely no interest to discuss thesubject even in routine life. The Sikhdiaspora, attached with the main-land, too, has no interest in this issue.But some disgruntled groups,prompted by foreign funding, arerunning a futile campaign to raisethe subject without any supportfrom credible places. And a misguid-ed section of the Sikh diaspora hasplanned an unofficial vote on state-hood in 2020. The Sikh communi-ty in India is the most progressiveand prosperous one in the country.Its members have proudly represent-ed high offices — that of thePresident and the Prime Minister,the Army General, top bureaucrats,technocrats and State heads.Independent India, which com-prises 80 per cent Hindus, hasshowered tremendous love andrespect to the two per cent Sikhcommunity residing here. It can bea unique case to study anywhere inthe world wherein an overwhelm-ing majority of the population hasvoluntarily offered respect and posi-tion to the almost dismal-sizedminority.

Of course, there are differencesof opinion and governance disputeswithin the family but the two com-munities have integrated wellenough to be bifurcated by vestedforeign interests. A desperatePakistan, led by the Inter-ServicesIntelligence (ISI), has put much atstake to abet the Khalistan move-ment since Operation Blue Star.There are Western interest groups,too, that are based in the US,Canada and the UK, which areputting in lopsided efforts to flamethe fire so as to keep our progressin check. At the same time, they arekeeping the Indian Government ingood humour to balance a newemerging world order.

Lately, even the once sympathet-ic countries have decided to comeup with a clear policy of not support-ing Khalistan. Canada rejected it,saying, “Canada respects the sover-eignty, unity and territorial integri-ty of India and the Government ofCanada will not recognise thePunjab 2020 Referendum.” PunjabChief Minister Captain AmarinderSingh said that the categorical standtaken by the Justin TrudeauGovernment on this issue is exem-plary. He hoped that other nationsand Governments, too, would comeout against the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ),a US-based group, which wasbanned by India as a terroristorganisation last July. It has been

involved in recent anti-Indiaprotests in the US, the UK andCanada, which have been indi-rectly sponsored by Pakistaniagencies. Singh warned that fail-ing to oppose the separatist SFJcould set a dangerous precedentfor any country; this could beseen as a covert support to anorganisation that freely propa-gates secessionist activities.

Weeks ahead of the formalopening of the KartarpurCorridor between India andPakistan in 2019, New Delhi hadshared a 23-page dossier aboutKhalistani anti-India propagan-da led by Gopal Singh Chawla.An asset of the Pakistani intelli-gence agency, Chawla is the for-mer general secretary of thePakistan Sikh GurudwaraPrabhandhak Committee andpresident of the Punjabi SikhSangat. He is a well-knownKhalistan proponent, who oftenspews venom against India in hisspeeches and supports terrorismin Punjab.

In October 2018, in a tele-phonic interview, Chawla hadconfessed to having knowledge ofthe role of the Khalistanis in thekilling of RSS leaders in Punjab.“The killing of the RSS leaderswill continue in Punjab. RSS lead-ers are our very first target. Wedon’t want any interference of theRSS in our gurdwaras or inPunjab.” On being asked aboutthe support of globally-designat-ed terrorist and chief of the ter-ror group, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba,Hafiz Saeed, Chawla said: “Ihave had relations with HafizSaeed and they continue even

now. Doesn’t mean we operatetogether. Saeed is my ideal per-son. (sic).”

While several ISI chiefs in thepast have been vocal supportersof the Khalistan movement,including former Army GeneralHamid Gul, the Pakistani deepState seems to have nowembarked on the K2 (Kashmirand Khalistan) strategy with anew-found hate and vengeance.A part of this hatred stems fromthe fact that diplomatically,Pakistan has failed to gatherglobal momentum against India.Post the abrogation of Article 370,terror groups in Kashmir havebeen at their weakest in the lastthree decades.

The SFJ argues that Punjabis “currently occupied by India”and vows to organise a non-bind-ing vote — both in Punjab and20 countries where the Sikhdiaspora exists — on an indepen-dent Khalistan. The group hasnot disclosed how it will be ableto organise the vote in India orhow it will establish its represen-tative legitimacy.

In Punjab, the StateGovernment has traditionallybeen dominated by either theCongress or the Shiromani AkaliDal — a conservative, Sikh-majority, pro-autonomy Punjabiparty that is currently not striv-ing for independence, despite thefact that in past times, some of itsleaders and factions had beensecession proponents. NowAmarinder Singh has emerged asthe tallest nationalist leader, whohas the support of the entire Stateand the Indian Sikh communi-

ty. The so-called vote by the SFJ,therefore, remains a non-starterin mainland Punjab.

Secessionists have ignoredcertain historical facts from thePartition in 1947 to 1984. Forthat, we have to revisit Punjab’shistory. In the later part of the15th century, Sikhism had beenproclaimed by Guru Nanak as anew monotheistic religion thatrejected both Hinduism andIslam and rapidly gained follow-ers. Perceiving the growth of theSikhs as a threat, Mughal author-ities began to persecute them.And in 1606 Sikh leader GuruArjan Dev was executed byMughal emperor Jahangir, appar-ently for helping prince Khusrau.

Sikhism split into two move-ments: One led by Guru ArjanDev’s son Guru Hargobind, whobegan to regard his father as amartyr. He became more politi-cal and militaristic and startedorganising armed rebellionsagainst the Mughals. The otherwas led by Guru Arjan Dev’solder brother Prithi Chand, whofocussed on peace and non-vio-lence and rejected uprisings. TheSikhs first raised their weaponsagainst the Mughal empire underGuru Hargobind. The 10th andthe last Guru, Guru GobindSingh, organised Sikhs into a mil-itary sect called the Khalsa in1699 against the Mughal emper-or Aurangzeb. Guru GobindSingh was formally installed asthe leader of the Sikhs at the ageof nine. His four sons died dur-ing his lifetime — two in battleand two executed by the MughalArmy. Unfortunately, Chawla

ignores historical facts. He hasbeen blindfolded to read thescript written by Pakistan anddestabilise India. Likewise, a tinysection of the affluent, well-accomplished but confused Sikhdiaspora leaders are distorting theimage of the community by theiractions and ignoring the historyof the great Khalsa.

The tragedy of the Sikhs isthat they have not found a leaderworthy of carrying forward thelegacy of their illustrious Gurussince Maharaja Ranjit Singh.Present-day leaders have nointellect to understand the histor-ical perspective and current geo-political games where they arebeing used as pawns. We are stilltrying to get over the fallout of themisrepresented leadership ofJarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Nowanother “visionary”, GurpatwantSingh Pannu, wishes to lead theSikhs by carrying forward thelegacy of Bhindranwale. No onehas divided the Sikhs more thanBhindranwale. He has also poi-soned the minds of our youth,who have limited understandingof our faith and history but feelangry due to the attack on theGolden Temple.

It is high time that this dis-gruntled group sheds violenceand anti-India activities. Forwhat its leaders are selling is anillusion. The glorious sacrificemade by the Sikh community fortheir motherland is unparal-leled. The contribution made bythis community towards nation-building remains second to none.

(The writer is Editor-in-Chiefof Opinion Express)

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Sir — While it is welcome thatthe Government is consideringincreasing the legal marriageableage of women, it must not be for-gotten that crimes against themhave seen a stupendous rise inrecent times. According to data,a woman was raped every 15minutes in 2018.

These numbers are alarm-ing. My parents, albeit mistaking-ly, feel that if a girl child is mar-ried as early as possible, then shewould not be vulnerable to sex-ual violence and abuse. In fact,such women are more likely toface emotional as well as physi-cal abuse given their vulnerabil-ity. In over 140 countries acrossthe world, the lower age limit forwomen to get married is 18, bywhich time they have not evencompleted their education.Unless women are empoweredand can access all opportunitiesaccorded to men, their conditionwill continue to be the same.

NR RamachandranChennai

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Sir — This refers to the editori-

al, “Locals first” (August 20).That identity-based politics isgaining traction is reflected in theannouncement by MadhyaPradesh Chief Minister Shivraj

Singh Chouhan that allGovernment jobs in the Statewould be given to the locals.Though Chouhan’s statement isbeing seen as a political compul-

sion in the light of the Assemblybypolls in the State, it has creat-ed a controversy and could provecounter-productive. States likeAndhra Pradesh and

Maharashtra, too, have alreadypromised policies to give jobs todomiciles. What theGovernments have to make sureis that there are enough jobsgoing around in the first place.Along with the public sector, theorganised private sector has wit-nessed job losses, pay cuts andmanpower rationalisation inpandemic-hit times. Promisingjobs to the locals is no solutionfor unemployment.

N Sadhasiva ReddyBengaluru

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Locals first” (August 20). Thesons of the soil theoryannounced by the MadhyaPradesh Chief Minister will seta dangerous precedent if imple-mented. If every State adopts thiscriterion, then it will lead tosocial disharmony and nationaldisintegration. What is worse isthat the Congress party, too, sup-ports this.

ParthaVia email

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Melghat is a forest tract nestled in the Satpurarange in eastern Maharashtra. It is inhab-ited by indigenous people like the Korkus,

Gond and Bhilalas, who are bravely defending theirverdant world against the ravages of modern com-merce. Melghat has been in the news for severalyears for its lethal malnourishment, which had beenclaiming lives of hundreds of children year after year.The social landscape has now bloomed like the sur-rounding lush forest and tribals now enjoy bettersocial indices. The harbinger of this change is thework of an impressive range of social warriors, whohave helped build resilience of local communities.

Sobered by recurring disasters, the people, too,have honed their instincts and have taken chargeof their lives. Among the people who are leadingthis revolution is a home-grown social crusader cou-ple, Sunil and Nirupama Deshpande.

An opportunity arose in the 1990s for theDeshpandes to make social service a calling.Melghat was declared a severe malnutrition zonein 1993, following the death of 500 children, andthe region soon became a challenging arena fordevelopment workers. It was in this sombre envi-ronment that Sunil’s social chromosomes fired hisimagination to do something useful.

That vision had been years in the making. Hewas always stirred by a desire to do more with hislife and that of others. When his enterprising wifeNirupama, herself finely honed in a social mouldand an academically-trained social worker, nudgedhim to follow his heart, Sunil turned his back onhis urban upbringing and decided to pursue his pas-sion: Empowering the tribals.

“Giving up city life was inevitable…not that itwas appreciated by everyone, but my mind wasmade up,” recalls Sunil. The mission resonated withboth of them and germinated their dormant socialseed. The couple picked a remote village, Lavadain Melghat region, as their home and set upon alifelong romance with tribals. They decided to makebamboo the medium of economic regeneration oflocal tribal communities and founded SampoornaBamboo Kendra in 1996. It was followed by an arti-sans’ cooperative, Venu Shilpi Industrial CooperativeSociety, in 1998 with just 15 tribals. The society isthe marketing platform of the bamboo productioncentres, which have now increased to 37 sites acrossthe country. As many as 450 tribal families aredependent on the society for their livelihood.

When I first came in contact with Nirupama,I was heading my bank’s State operations inmicro-finance and she was a frontline campaign-er of the self-help group (SHG) movement inMaharashtra. I realised that the couple’s momentof epiphany was an inevitable milestone. Sunil wasintroduced to bamboo craft by another acclaimedbamboo enthusiast Vinu Kale. The main benefit ofbamboo is its amazing strength and enhanced aes-thetics as compared to wood, metal and steel. Thestructure of bamboo, with its long tubular fibres,densely packed and bonded with starch, gives itamazing durability.

Wherever it is available, bamboo is muchcheaper than higher-grade timber. There are a num-ber of positive attributes of this grassy material. Sinceit has a unique rhizome-dependent system, bam-boo is among the fastest growing and most adapt-able materials on the planet. It can grow up to 24inches in a day or more. Sunil decided to use it tobring prosperity to the tribals. His attempt was topush the possibilities of the material, primarily itsinherent tensile strength, and bring it out of its castof a rudimentary material, the urban conception

of which might be limited to the bambooladders used in construction. He is vig-orously promoting bamboo craftsman-ship by integrating traditional skills withmodern needs, making the craft a vehi-cle of emotional, aesthetic and econom-ic fulfilment. Sunil’s experiment mergestraditional and contemporary creativity.

Tribal areas typically face severaldevelopmental impediments: Small landholdings; low savings and capital forma-tion; limited market access; low levels ofhuman development; paucity of resourceslike skilled labour, reliable power supply,connectivity, transport and a young pop-ulation alienated from farming and otherrural occupations. They need solutionstailored to their needs and contexts. Thecauses of rural distress are manifold andthe root cause is lack of skills and econom-ic opportunity. As a consequence, theyouth is migrating to cities.

Filial piety has been a tenet of tribalvalues, helping to ensure that traditionsare passed down from one generation tothe next. While this sense of familial dutyhas ensured the survival of local tradi-tions, so far it’s not clear if it’s going to beenough. Times are changing and not allyoung people want to take over their par-ents’ old jobs, nor is it easy to attract newpeople to enter these trades. Sunil’s inter-vention has been able to reignite this bondand now the youth is enthusiastically onboard his mission.

Sunil and Nirupama understandthat interventions for regeneration of thetribal economy cannot be played out inthe same way that society perceives thepoor: Desperate citizens who need to berescued by the elite.

“We have to understand the localchallenges to improve their compositelivelihoods,” avers Sunil. According tohim, it takes local entrepreneurs, empow-ered to adapt easily to the nuances of local

culture, to create and drive change sus-tainably on the ground.

The bamboo kendra undertakestraining, research, organisation anddesign development and so far, 5,000 trib-al youth have been trained here. Awhopping 150 items are made here, themost popular being rakhis (wrist bands)and coasters. “We are unable to make fur-niture as the power supply is meagre andmeans of transportation don’t exist.” Thecouple is also focussing on agriculture andplantations. The duo has also taken up aproject for building bamboo bathroomsfor women.

They have established a villageknowledge centre where students aretaught traditional and cultural knowledgeto ensure that they live a successful prac-tical life in co-existence with the environ-ment. No student is awarded a degree ora certificate in this institution, they areonly imparted knowledge and for free.Their skill is their strongest credential forlivelihood employment. Gram Gyanpeethor ‘rural university’ has nine ‘gurukuls’where students learn art and crafts likepottery, stitching, making of bamboo,stone, metal and leather handicrafts.Later, these skills can be used to earn alivelihood.

Sunil is engaging the students at boththe craft and philosophical level. The tra-ditional spirit of creative work in tribalcommunities is rooted in bold experimen-tations, open and limitless interactions,collaborations and dialogues. Sunil hastried to retain this flavour in the knowl-edge systems at his centre.

The artisan is not only a repositoryof a knowledge system that was sustain-able but is also an active participant in itsre-creation. The artistic achievements ofthese craftsmen are contextualised withobjects and art works that encapsulatebamboo’s long-standing appeal. They

also highlight the material’s natural beau-ty and its versatility.

One of the most successful initiativesof the Deshpandes is the concept of eco-friendly bamboo rakhis. Aptly named“Shrushti Bandha” — to signify thehuman bond with nature — these rakhisuse wafer-thin bamboo shavings cutinto stars, triangles, pyramids, and so on,as a base, which is then combined withother locally-sourced decoration mater-ial.

“It is a simple technique that usesordinary tools. Five days of training canget any tribal to produce beautiful rakhis,”says Sunil. The centre has been produc-ing more than one lakh rakhis and ofthis, 50,000 have been exported to the UK,the US, Canada, Australia and Singapore.

“About 450 adivasis work for threemonths, using the simplest of tools andproduce about 50,000 rakhis. Each per-son earns between �150 and ��00 per daydepending upon the number of rakhisproduced,” says Sunil.

It has been a long, arduous trek forthe Deshpandes, whose small sapling hasgrown into a banyan tree. They haveencountered several challenges but theirdetermination has sustained them and thetribals they work for. In a world wheresocial issues are proliferating and wheregovernments are looking inward insteadof outward, hope comes from social entre-preneurs whose commitment and creativ-ity are driven by a purpose far bigger thantheir own identities.

Most revolutionary solutions wereevolved by people who looked at thefamiliar landscape with fresh eyes andbelieved that expertise was sterile with-out passion. The Deshpandes saw promisewhere others saw hopelessness. That hasmade all the difference.

(The writer is a well-known development professional)

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The pandemic’s impact willremain etched in our collectivememory for ages as virtually all

aspects of human life and develop-ment have been affected by it,including the renewable energy sec-tor. The COVID-19 lockdowns haveensured that renewable energy pro-jects have either stopped or arebehind schedule. For a sector thatwas already fighting for viability ina fossil fuel-driven economy, thecontagion is proving to be a deathknell.

According to a recent report byconsulting firm Bridge to India(BTI), a sharp drop in demand,

accompanied by construction delays,made worse by the poor financialcondition of distribution companies(DISCOMS), has ensured that Indiais now staring at a two to threeGigawatt (GW) loss of capacityaddition this year. These conditionshave been exacerbated by constraintsin debt financing.

The import of this has not beenlost on the Government, whichannounced a �90,000 crore liquidi-ty package in May for the power sec-tor. But unfortunately, the implica-tions for the renewable energy sec-tor are now driven by waning powerdemand in the face of these difficultcircumstances. The stimulus pack-age may prove to be too little and toolate to secure the sector and safe-guard the progress made till date.

Riding on these bleak condi-tions, the BTI has revised the basecapacity addition estimates from 43GW to 35 GW for solar power andfrom 15 GW to 12 GW for windpower. The BTI has also highlight-ed the problems that are rife in the

sector, which is now plagued byshortage of funds and capital, espe-cially debt capital.

Moreover, the financial crisislooming in the distribution business,too, needs urgent addressing if fur-ther deterioration is to be avoided.The cash-strapped DISCOMS are atthe centre of the storm as they areunable to pay renewable power pro-ducers. Analysts suggest that thelosses of DISCOMS may double to$15 billion, further deepening thecash crunch.

This will increase the stress onthe entire system, which is alreadyfacing unequal competition fromfossil fuel-driven power that is eco-nomical and in surplus. As it is entre-preneurs are wary of choosingrenewable power production as asustainable business and the currentconditions are not helping in mak-ing the sector lucrative for securingfuture investments.

According to the estimates of theInternational Energy Agency (IEA),this year was expected to be a record

one for renewable energy, not just forIndia but globally, too. Riding on arather strong performance in 2019,the IEA was expecting a similar runthis year.

In the US for instance, the on-shore wind power generation wasexpected to peak this year, whileChina was poised to witness a rushin completion of solar and windpower projects as the feed-in-tariffs(FITs) were scheduled to be phasedout this year.

India, on the other hand, waspositioned to make critical progressin the process of achieving 175 GWgrowth in wind and power energy by2022. But none of this happened. Infact, the IEA estimated that 2020would witness a three per centgrowth of biofuel production, which,too, did not materialise.

Many of India’s ambitiousrenewable energy targets have asocial welfare theme to them. Theserenewable energy projects not onlymean well for the environment butalso have the potential to be the har-

bingers of good news for margin-alised communities while providinga sustainable alternative to fossilfuels. But all this now seems to be injeopardy unless urgent structuralchanges are envisaged in the renew-able energy sector. These changesmust account for the recession in theeconomy and the fact that people arenot spending money the way theyused to before the pandemic hit analready sluggish economy.

These factors will help in design-ing what could be the toughest andmost complicated chapter in India’stransition from fossil fuels to renew-able energy. Consumer response toelectric vehicles in Delhi, post the lat-est Electric Vehicle Policy, wouldprove to be a big learning curve forthe sector.

One of the major aspects that theGovernment must attend to imme-diately is the availability of labour.This has been impacted severely dueto the migration of labourers to theirhometowns and villages. This has notonly stopped various projects in their

tracks but has also adversely impact-ed the Government’s ‘Make in India’initiative.

The conditions in the renewablepower sector are still evolving andthe impacts are still being identifiedand evaluated. Therefore, it is theright time for the Government toundertake necessary diagnostics onthe sector and carry out urgentremedial measures that can help itback on its feet.

Many experts feel that therenewable energy sector needs morethan just subsidies and other promo-tional measures. The requirementnow is for deep-rooted structuralchanges in the Indian renewableenergy guidelines and strategies.The success of these changes will beevident in future when India is ableto not only put back on track itsrenewable energy targets but is ableto provide people with dependable,viable and sustainable alternative tofossil fuels, too.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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TV18BRDCST 32.55 35.6 32.55 34.85MANAPPURAM 159.5 159.5 156.75 157.25SAIL 40.85 42.2 39.65 41.75GRANULES 303 323.25 303 316.55NBCC 27.9 29.9 27.6 29.5JUBLFOOD 1925 1980 1915 1965.6GAIL 101 103.05 100.35 101.45TITAN 1139 1139 1118.8 1126.45HDFCAMC 2400.05 2418.7 2385.5 2399.1NATIONALUM 38.5 40 38 39.1VOLTAS 640 675 640 669.85M&M 621 622.95 610 611.95SBICARD 816.9 818.95 807 808.35EQUITAS 53.9 57.4 53.7 56.45RAMCOCEM 695 722.75 690.2 718.3JBCHEPHARM 810 811.5 782.45 785.95APOLLOHOSP 1670 1704.85 1670 1694.45BAJAJ-AUTO 3050 3065.95 3025.8 3037.75JAICORPLTD 97.3 100.3 95.7 97.75CENTURYTEX 337 343 325 338.75MRF 60200 60338.9 59284.5 59481.6UBL 1014 1035 1005.1 1025.5RAYMOND 272.25 289.8 272.25 284.35ASIANPAINT 1870 1880 1817.8 1875.25NAUKRI 3334 3334 3246.75 3271.4CADILAHC 395.2 400.75 395.2 398.4IDFCFIRSTB 31.1 31.4 30.35 30.95CANBK 103.7 106.75 103.2 104.1BALKRISIND 1333 1396 1333 1389.6ADANITRANS 244.9 270.1 240.9 270.1COLPAL 1420.5 1436 1413.75 1428.85TATACONSUM 545 553 540.5 549.25ENGINERSIN 72.65 75.45 72 74.1APOLLOTYRE 127.65 130 126.45 128.7SRF 4275 4349 4225.5 4253.45JUBILANT 802 820.75 785.55 792.85WABAG 156.8 185.5 154.6 183.3NATCOPHARM 797.95 847.35 797.95 838.75PNBHOUSING 275 284.35 272.8 281.95UPL 498.75 498.75 487.95 492AMARAJABAT 739 745 722.6 742.6SHREECEM 21936.35 22205 21794.15 22102.75DMART 2254.85 2290 2219.45 2286.35INDHOTEL 97.75 104.3 97 102.55

TVSMOTOR 434 452 428 450.2MCX 1700 1720 1689.3 1702.1BANKBARODA 47.35 48 46.5 47.45BSOFT 171.75 177.4 167.45 172.45GUJGAS 304.2 315.9 300.05 313.1NOCIL 124 126.8 122.3 124.65DELTACORP* 117.1 123.5 114.35 121.65ABCAPITAL 60.1 64.3 60.1 62.95APLLTD 996.45 1012.9 977.2 980.85EIHOTEL 80.85 89.8 80.45 88ADANIGAS 163 170.9 161.7 167.65BLISSGVS 132.5 135 131.7 132.6GRAPHITE 194 201.8 189.4 194.6TORNTPHARM 2800 2823.5 2779.85 2814.05METROPOLIS 1686.55 1806.65 1684.35 1789.05HEG 819 834 805.3 813.45MEGH 74.4 78.8 73.35 78.3GMDCLTD 48.45 53.35 47.65 51.6GMRINFRA 21.1 22.3 21 22.2ICICIGI 1310.8 1320.3 1295 1298.15MINDTREE 1171.05 1178.65 1163 1175TATAMTRDVR 43.95 45.4 43.15 43.75BIOCON 398 398 391.5 394GNFC 172 184.9 171 182.8ADANIPOWER 37.5 39.6 37.35 38.45HDFCLIFE 600 600 590.1 595.45KALPATPOWR* 256.8 274.4 252.4 270.8NMDC 97.4 99 95.85 97.25AVANTI 508 525 501.55 515.35HEXAWARE 397.15 414.15 396.8 406.6CESC 608.5 640.5 606.75 632.55ICICIPRULI 453.35 453.35 437.85 439.2RADICO 400 415 396 402.65PTC 57.95 59.6 57.55 59.25SOBHA 262.3 272.95 255.25 266.2INDIAMART 3000 3107 2991 3052.55ATUL 5616 5778.5 5616 5751.6ADANIGREEN 377.9 380 366.05 374.8AJANTPHARM 1673.8 1673.8 1618.2 1623.4IBREALEST 69.25 74.55 68.2 70.65MAHLOG 312.6 376.75 309.05 351.4DABUR 494 496.6 489.15 492.7DBL 403 414.9 388 404.2CSBBANK 226.95 236.7 220.1 224.4SHK 82.4 85.8 81.5 84.65POWERINDIA 1009 1099.35 1007.05 1062.55ABBOTINDIA 16901 17099.05 16849 16870.9

RAIN 117.45 122.2 114.55 119JINDALSAW 68.05 71.7 66.05 68ACC 1429 1440.35 1412.05 1419.65UFLEX 361.35 373 360 370.35TATACOFFEE 115.9 117.85 114.3 115.45SUNTECK 240.25 248 236.35 242.8TRENT 607 624.3 598 613.2VIPIND 269.8 281.95 268 279.2BOSCHLTD 13650 13850 13497.1 13772.65JSWENERGY 57.6 59.9 56.8 57.25THYROCARE 782 822.15 770 792.45VRLLOG 159 172.5 157.4 168.55DISHTV 8.95 9.3 8.64 8.79IPCALAB 1999 2044.35 1988.55 2032.25ITDC 230 256.75 229.65 255.25ABFRL 138.5 144.85 138 142.6BAYERCROP 5970 6095.65 5941.3 5995.2GODREJCP 683 693.95 678.95 689.25FORCEMOT 1037.7 1092 1036.65 1085.25KAJARIACER 412 451 412 448.65HINDZINC 232.05 232.1 223 223.4WOCKPHARMA 315 320.75 313.1 315.65ISEC 467.2 476 457.35 460.3DIXON 8049.95 8098.5 7932.7 8023.6ALKEM 2846 2870 2833.05 2856.15TATACOMM 881 929 876 903.55GILLETTE 5124 5260 5100 5216.15DCAL 183.15 197.5 183.15 194.6EXIDEIND 166.3 170.95 163.2 169.75ITI 144 145.55 141.95 142.7SUZLON 3.97 3.98 3.84 3.9PAGEIND 19099 19134.35 18820.1 18994.65LTI 2370 2402 2354.1 2361.75INDIACEM 117 117.3 115.05 115.4OIL 96.7 100.15 96.6 99.75GODFRYPHLP 946.1 955 934.55 938.45BERGEPAINT 559.5 559.5 551.1 555.05PIIND 1960 1969.35 1926.5 1948.55LALPATHLAB 1862 1875.95 1834.9 1839.55MASFIN 691.95 814.95 682.95 804MARICO 371.25 373.7 370.1 373ALKYLAMINE 2899 2899 2800 2859.05AMBUJACEM 226.6 228.35 224.05 225.4CUMMINSIND 464.9 467.55 454.9 458.45BOMDYEING 71.3 73.1 70.55 71.2SJVN 23.4 25.1 23.2 24.95STRTECH* 148.9 149.25 144.7 146.2PRESTIGE 249.7 258.9 246.7 255.9HONAUT 31300 32899 31034.35 32454.45SHRIRAMCIT 969 1025 922 979.65SOUTHBANK 7.31 7.45 7.18 7.26TAKE 49.5 52.9 48.65 52.05CARBORUNIV 257 269.45 256.8 267MRPL 33.5 34.8 33.25 34.4POLYCAB 882.25 910 882.25 898.95COROMANDEL 768 783.3 753 759.6RVNL 23 23.25 22.8 23.1PHILIPCARB 122.8 126.75 122.35 124.25CGCL 206.45 207 202 203.25JUSTDIAL 392 399.9 391.45 392.85IEX 193.9 194.3 188 189.4AMBER 1825 1832.4 1760 1776.25CANFINHOME 369.15 372 366.3 367.2BRIGADE 155 166.9 154.2 163.9MFSL 537 544 533.5 537.75PGHH 9975 10199 9933 10081.1IDFC 28.8 29.55 28.6 29CAPPL 536 539.8 523.25 527.8SCI 60.65 62.5 59.8 61.3UNIONBANK 29.9 30.15 29.5 29.9FSL 56.9 57.4 54.85 56.35GRSE 213.95 224.35 212.7 215.2SYNGENE 480 485.1 464.4 474.45HINDCOPPER 39.6 41.55 39.3 40.7SWANENERGY 134.55 135.8 132.25 132.85BDL 442.8 442.8 433.45 434.75SBILIFE 863.3 865 849 852.65VBL 746 765.6 746 747.95ASTRAZEN 3362.4 3399.7 3335 3352.55ASHOKA 73.1 73.6 70.7 71.95MMTC 20.45 21.85 20.1 21.1IDBI 39.85 40 39.25 39.35BAJAJCON 183.5 184.25 179.45 180.25FINCABLES 296.4 300 291.95 294.7GMM 5951 5990 5820 5878.55JKCEMENT 1524.45 1554 1521.9 1531.3WABCOINDIA 7022 7022 7010.1 7012.3CHAMBLFERT 152 152.9 149.3 149.8IOB 11.3 11.9 11.18 11.43JSLHISAR 94.1 97.4 93.55 96.6EMAMILTD 349 356.5 342.2 352JKTYRE 62.15 62.3 60.85 61.35NAVINFLUOR 2048 2065 2005.5 2019.1LEMONTREE 30.3 31.25 29.9 31.25NAM-INDIA 272 274.5 269 271.35KEI 400 400 390.6 395.3WELCORP 113.95 117.65 113.15 116.05VENKYS 1384.9 1387 1361.55 1367.4KNRCON 251 265.2 250 252.15ESSELPRO 284.3 299.7 284.3 290.4ORIENTELEC 183.55 193.8 182.9 185.8TIMETECHNO 45.1 47.1 43.65 45.85CCL 272 278.95 264.75 266.85RCF 49.3 50 48.85 49.5BASF 1320.9 1372.45 1300.6 1347.65ADVENZYMES 234 241 231 234.95CRISIL 1735.25 1800 1731.95 1797CHENNPETRO 82.6 84.75 81.55 82.1COFORGE 2005 2027.6 1992.75 2003.05

ECLERX 680 723.2 680 712.6HFCL 15.85 16.46 15.5 16.06BBTC 1452.95 1457.9 1428 1440.3SPARC 182.95 186.45 181.9 182.35CROMPTON 259.15 265.95 257.8 263.8HERITGFOOD 362.65 368.8 355.25 363.55MAHSEAMLES 224 239.4 221 236JAMNAAUTO 42.9 45.3 41.5 44.55GARFIBRES 1881.4 1917.85 1816.9 1835.45BALRAMCHIN 148.5 149.7 146 147.9QUESS 375 378.4 362.1 367.05PNCINFRA 156.95 161 154 156.45RALLIS 290.05 301.9 290.05 297.6THERMAX 803.6 816.95 785.15 806.3GODREJAGRO 488 507.7 479.4 499.6MINDACORP 76 79.5 76 77.65MOIL 157 159.35 152.25 152.85CASTROLIND 124.5 124.5 122.65 123.05TNPL 123.25 128.4 123 126.1BLUEDART 1891.55 1934.6 1885 1914.55GREAVESCOT 81.25 82.05 79.9 80HIMATSEIDE 81.25 87.4 80.5 85.25CUB 125.9 125.9 122.7 124.55FDC 332 333.8 324.55 328.6PARAGMILK 112.85 115.2 110.1 111.1CYIENT 395 401 391.2 394.3AUBANK 736 737 718 725.7ABB 961.45 974.05 931 969.2NBVENTURES 56.5 57.7 55.5 55.9MIDHANI 211 215.45 211 211.7RITES 255 257 252.6 253.95SONATSOFTW 314.9 321.05 312.4 314.35AFFLE 2117 2122.2 2085.9 2106.15CEATLTD 868.5 877.45 868.5 874.25WHIRLPOOL 2020 2032.95 1990.45 2019.15TCNSBRANDS 351.5 404.5 351.5 383.8SUDARSCHEM 436.65 444 434.7 436.55SHOPERSTOP 165 179.9 165 172.7JYOTHYLAB 148.4 151 145.25 149.45MAHINDCIE 133 140 128.05 135.3IFCI 7.42 7.59 7.21 7.46FORTIS 139 141.3 138.8 139.9CENTURYPLY 137.9 140.15 137 138.5BALMLAWRIE 113.95 115.7 112 115.2ASTERDM 133.7 140.9 132.35 140.2AEGISLOG 191.3 194.8 185.1 191.75GSFC 61.1 63.5 61.1 62.85ZYDUSWELL 1629.1 1640 1611.2 1620.25REPCOHOME 141.45 146.35 138.3 146.35WELSPUNIND 48.7 51.3 48 49.45EDELWEISS 75 76.05 72.2 75.95PERSISTENT 995 1021 995 1004.65INDIANB 64 64.45 63.15 63.8SUMICHEM 280.15 283.95 276.6 280.9GHCL 158 164.25 156 160.95PFIZER 4545 4570.45 4517.05 4523.05FINOLEXIND 465 465 455 462.95NESCO 528.6 537 525 526.5RAJESHEXPO 467.3 468.4 465 467.15LAXMIMACH 3182.95 3372 3177.35 3291.65BAJAJELEC 464.05 474.45 462.8 465.1ORIENTREF 208 213.5 200 208.9TRIDENT 6.78 6.8 6.74 6.77DEEPAKFERT 156 157.65 153.1 153.75HUDCO 36.4 37.4 36.1 37ASTRAL 1119.15 1179.2 1114.8 1139.8PGHL 4789 4920 4711.6 4754.75NLCINDIA 53 54.05 52.85 53.9VINATIORGA 992.7 1008 990 992.5DCBBANK 83.4 83.4 81 82.6GSPL 206 207.85 203.95 205CARERATING 404.2 419.9 403 413.55GICRE 143.9 148.1 142.9 143.3LTTS 1595 1613.9 1566.05 1581.05GALAXYSURF 1820.05 1860.9 1818 1842.5GUJALKALI 330.15 336.35 324 325.65TATAMETALI 558.35 561.95 551.8 554.95KPITTECH 80 84.35 80 82.3LUXIND 1368.65 1390 1359.45 1369.9GESHIP 266.2 269.8 260.5 262.45DCMSHRIRAM 357.3 368.5 357.3 362.65SHANKARA 376.4 376.55 365.7 368.25IFBIND 444.95 455.8 438 442.55GLAXO 1501.25 1515 1482.65 1489.35ARVINDFASN 140 146.55 137.85 146.55GODREJIND 415 419 401 414.5IIFLWAM 1164.95 1180 1107 1123.8APLAPOLLO 2252.65 2295 2225 2264.9BIRLACORPN 594.35 602.7 590.3 593.4REDINGTON 118.7 119.5 115 115.35TVTODAY 224.9 236 221.9 227.55VMART 1801.4 1950 1800 1933.85MOTILALOFS* 711 711 685.5 689.05RELAXO 652.9 652.9 635 641.65KRBL 288.2 292.7 286.6 288.65PHOENIXLTD 643.5 652 632.7 646.7SCHNEIDER 78.95 85.65 78.5 83.8AIAENG 1678.55 1699.9 1666.5 1691.25JKPAPER* 99 100.7 97.7 99.35GPPL 78.05 82.8 78.05 81.05SUPRAJIT 176.1 182 176.1 177.7J&KBANK 17.35 17.4 17 17.05JSL 49.9 50.05 46 46.85HAWKINCOOK 4750 4770 4703.05 4755.65HEIDELBERG 187.7 193.85 187.1 191.7SFL 1387.95 1435 1345.9 1401.1VAIBHAVGBL 1744.3 1771.65 1700.15 1709.35SWSOLAR 250.15 252 248 250.15TTKPRESTIG 5419.9 5700 5384 5658.2

OFSS 3046.95 3069.5 3030 3045.65ALLCARGO 100.3 106.9 100.3 105.7UJJIVANSFB 35.75 35.75 35 35.55ORIENTCEM 69.9 73.65 69.85 71.65FLUOROCHEM 475 478.5 465.7 469IIFL 79.6 79.7 77.2 77.5ERIS 534.9 547.65 534.9 541.5IRCON 95.8 96 94.1 94.85OBEROIRLTY 371.75 381.3 370.95 377.7MAHABANK 12.25 12.51 12.25 12.36CREDITACC 612.8 617.95 606 608.4EIDPARRY 286.05 297 281.25 281.95FINEORG 2274 2328.7 2255 2266.5KEC 313.5 318.15 312.5 313.7WESTLIFE 370.05 383.25 365.4 371.85NIACL 119.5 119.5 116.25 116.5GET&D 109.2 115.05 107.65 111.75HATHWAY 36.05 37.9 36.05 36.753MINDIA 20800 20945.95 20477.9 20531.85GDL 86 92 86 91.45SYMPHONY 838.25 840.6 835 836.35JCHAC 2102 2126.55 2079 2116.5COCHINSHIP 343.05 346.7 340.2 341.65KTKBANK 43.95 44.5 43.45 44.1SANOFI 8360 8462.35 8351.2 8413.95JMFINANCIL 82.7 82.9 81.2 81.8DBCORP 79.4 83 78.8 80.85DHANUKA 809.25 820.7 800 806.45NILKAMAL 1290 1299 1256.15 1278.3MPHASIS 1197.15 1202.55 1193.4 1196.25LINDEINDIA 730 744.05 726.75 734.5SPANDANA 581.1 593.2 566.9 589.25STARCEMENT 90.1 92.7 90.1 92ENDURANCE 1027.85 1058.4 1025.25 1048.15MHRIL 174.2 182.6 173 180.2TATAINVEST 803.9 819.7 802.65 814.45SUNDRMFAST 475.95 478 462.2 468.55INTELLECT 186 190.2 181.45 186.7INFIBEAM 74.2 76 73.1 74.15INDOCO 254.7 254.7 245 246.2KSB 529.65 538.5 522 530.1CHOLAHLDNG 393.2 402.95 388 399.25SOLARINDS 1074 1074 1025.9 1048.75DALBHARAT* 776.3 785.85 761.55 774.15BLUESTARCO 542.4 556.7 541.05 549.7SKFINDIA 1600 1600.3 1560 1589.1VSTIND 3670 3670 3415.55 3450KANSAINER 492 492 481.3 485JKLAKSHMI 271 276.7 271 274.5PCJEWELLER 16.21 16.37 16 16.08GULFOILLUB 664.45 668.1 648.9 658.9PRSMJOHNSN 51.5 52.9 50.8 51.85SUPREMEIND 1283.95 1305.1 1283.95 1298.55INDOSTAR 258 259.95 249.7 256.05NAVNETEDUL 82 82.45 80.3 81.9AKZOINDIA 2036 2075 2033.8 2071.25JAGRAN 41.4 42.25 41.15 41.2UCOBANK 13.82 13.9 13.64 13.69ESABINDIA 1366.65 1440 1365.3 1418.75JTEKTINDIA 75.55 77.3 75.5 76.3SOMANYCERA 141.1 148.05 140.05 141.9GEPIL 507.6 513.5 492.65 511.6NH 347 349.5 342.1 347.1BAJAJHLDNG 2618.9 2628.35 2610 2616.2MAHLIFE 262.2 262.2 251.45 258.65TIMKEN 983 997.95 976.5 980LAOPALA 196.85 201.8 195.35 199.7TASTYBIT 12650 12767.3 12619 12697.75CENTRALBK 17.9 17.9 17.65 17.7GRINDWELL 540 549.3 539.8 548.15TEAMLEASE 2210 2243.95 2202.9 2232.3ZENSARTECH 182 182 176.05 179.45SIS 386.5 392.15 386.5 388.15MAHSCOOTER 2981.55 3023.95 2974.5 3016.75TVSSRICHAK 1481 1520.2 1460.9 1511AAVAS 1419.9 1419.9 1366.85 1375.35VTL 752.6 762.5 749 759.5TCIEXP 810 810 795.05 802.2SCHAEFFLER 3500 3512.5 3492 3496KPRMILL 590 590 561 566.5CERA 2431.05 2450 2430.9 2441.5TIINDIA 587 595.15 587 590.65OMAXE 76.8 77.25 74.6 74.9RATNAMANI 1159.2 1179.45 1141 1150.95

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11,317.45 11,361.45 11,289.80 11,312.20 -96.2NTPC 94.6 101.9 94.25 101.15 6.5ONGC 79 83.25 77.9 82.2 2.65POWERGRID 177.2 188.1 176.45 181.95 4.6COALINDIA 134.1 139 133.35 138.3 3.2BPCL 403.7 419.85 400.1 411.8 8.1JSWSTEEL 273 284.5 271.15 283.5 4.95IOC 87.9 89.7 87.1 89 1ZEEL 195 207 192.5 199.05 2.25HINDALCO 193.05 202.35 192.45 198.75 1.95HEROMOTOCO 2,912.00 2,964.90 2,892.65 2,959.50 26.45EICHERMOT 21,200.00 21,530.00 20,900.00 21,420.00 158.65CIPLA 758.35 771.75 758.35 763.25 4.9TATASTEEL 425 438.3 423.05 432.2 0.5BAJAJFINSV 6,255.00 6,314.00 6,231.05 6,305.00 5.95GAIL 101 103.15 100.3 101.5 0.05HCLTECH 708.5 715.85 706.05 709.8 -0.05DRREDDY 4,485.00 4,526.60 4,461.10 4,485.00 -4.25SHREECEM 21,974.00 22,236.45 21,788.20 22,044.75 -36.55BRITANNIA 3,880.00 3,910.20 3,837.25 3,868.00 -7.4TECHM 720 732 716.2 725.1 -1.6BAJFINANCE 3,378.00 3,414.50 3,353.05 3,400.00 -9.95TCS 2,257.00 2,276.55 2,240.05 2,249.00 -7.6ASIANPAINT 1,867.95 1,880.00 1,857.05 1,879.00 -6.7MARUTI 6,891.10 6,999.00 6,880.05 6,964.00 -26.3HINDUNILVR 2,186.00 2,197.80 2,176.15 2,184.80 -8.8GRASIM 660.15 675 655.05 662.1 -2.75INFRATEL 200 201.3 196.85 200.3 -1SUNPHARMA 524.5 529.9 521.05 522.5 -2.9NESTLEIND 16,300.00 16,340.00 16,185.25 16,235.00 -110.75BAJAJ-AUTO 3,059.00 3,065.00 3,025.35 3,037.00 -22.8INFY 958.9 965.5 951.3 951.8 -7.5HDFCBANK 1,054.95 1,068.95 1,052.00 1,057.35 -9.25ADANIPORTS 354.95 357.1 347.95 353.35 -3.3SBIN 194 196.35 193.25 194.95 -2.1UPL 494.85 498.75 487.25 493.5 -5.9HDFCLIFE 599 600 590.1 596.25 -7.2ITC 197 197.2 194.55 196 -2.45LT 986 1,005.00 981 995.95 -13.15KOTAKBANK 1,343.00 1,350.00 1,330.15 1,337.85 -17.75ULTRACEMCO 4,178.95 4,197.35 4,131.40 4,144.25 -55.6RELIANCE 2,120.00 2,123.90 2,088.00 2,098.60 -32.95INDUSINDBK 515.6 520.55 511.1 513.6 -8.55TITAN 1,130.05 1,138.40 1,118.80 1,129.00 -19.4M&M 620 623 610 612.8 -11.1BHARTIARTL 531 533.6 522.7 526 -9.85WIPRO 279 279 273.2 274.5 -5.25ICICIBANK 367 369.65 362.6 366.85 -7.6AXISBANK 437.9 441.3 433.25 434.6 -9.6HDFC 1,803.00 1,807.95 1,782.25 1,786.20 -41.75TATAMOTORS 123.45 125.65 121.1 121.85 -3.3

SE 500B

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27,597.60 27,738.70 27,480.55 27,687.90 -21.8NHPC 20.85 23.8 20.7 23.6 2.7ADANITRANS 242 269.65 241 269.65 24.5PFC 96.4 103.95 95.75 101.15 4.25IGL 396.45 413 395.2 412 17PNB 34 35.25 33.6 35.2 1DLF 156 164.55 155 160.7 3.15HINDPETRO 209 215.8 208.15 215 4.2HAVELLS 624 643.55 620.9 638.5 9.3BOSCHLTD 13,590.00 13,859.30 13,501.00 13,785.00 169.1PGHH 9,998.90 10,200.00 9,925.00 10,061.00 112.65UBL 1,014.00 1,035.00 1,005.65 1,025.80 10.7DIVISLAB 3,130.10 3,207.00 3,121.10 3,185.90 26.3DMART 2,252.00 2,290.00 2,219.00 2,285.20 18.6CADILAHC 397 400.8 395.05 399 3.2TORNTPHARM 2,801.20 2,824.90 2,780.10 2,815.50 20.9COLPAL 1,415.00 1,440.00 1,412.75 1,429.95 9.15PAGEIND 18,949.90 19,124.60 18,820.00 19,000.00 79.65LUPIN 984 999.9 978.3 983.65 2.7ABBOTINDIA 16,901.90 17,099.00 16,850.00 16,900.00 33.5CONCOR 391 396.35 385.3 394 0.7DABUR 492.8 496.85 490.35 494.4 0.2PIDILITIND 1,449.55 1,462.50 1,435.00 1,450.00 0.45SRTRANSFIN 686.4 696.5 678.05 688.9 -0.05BERGEPAINT 556.2 559.4 550.5 556.15 -0.05MARICO 372.65 374 370.5 373.25 -0.25GODREJCP 690 694.45 678.35 689.3 -1.35BANDHANBNK 286 290.9 284.65 289 -0.65SIEMENS 1,214.80 1,233.70 1,207.45 1,220.00 -3.8BIOCON 396 397.9 391.35 394.7 -1.65NMDC 96.95 99.2 95.65 97.2 -0.45BANKBARODA 47.15 48 46.4 47.35 -0.25OFSS 3,048.35 3,070.00 3,026.00 3,030.00 -18.35NAUKRI 3,299.95 3,319.60 3,247.25 3,274.00 -20ICICIGI 1,310.65 1,324.00 1,294.00 1,302.00 -8.65BAJAJHLDNG 2,619.00 2,629.95 2,601.55 2,614.80 -17.95ACC 1,424.90 1,440.90 1,411.65 1,419.20 -10.1PEL 1,435.00 1,449.75 1,416.05 1,425.40 -10.9AMBUJACEM 224.8 228.3 224 225 -1.95AUROPHARMA 861.9 874.95 855.55 856.5 -7.85MCDOWELL-N 588 590.5 581.4 584 -7.05SBILIFE 861 864.75 849 852.65 -11HDFCAMC 2,410.05 2,419.00 2,385.00 2,399.50 -31.3INDIGO 1,199.00 1,228.00 1,188.00 1,199.30 -15.95GICRE 144.75 148 142.6 143.65 -2.1SBICARD 818.4 818.55 807 808.9 -15.45PETRONET 253.75 253.75 246.85 250.2 -4.85ICICIPRULI 450 452.85 438.05 440 -14.55HINDZINC 232.2 232.2 222.85 224 -7.65MOTHERSUMI 123.9 124.7 118.85 119.6 -5.45MUTHOOTFIN 1,234.00 1,234.00 1,175.00 1,187.00 -68.65

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The BSE Sensex was trading344.53 points or 0.89 per

cent lower at 38,270.26; whileNSE Nifty was down 92.80points or 0.81 per cent at11,315.60.

ICICI Bank was the toploser in the Sensex pack, shed-ding around 2 per cent, fol-lowed by IndusInd Bank,HDFC, ITC, Asian Paints andTitan.

On the other hand, NTPC,PowerGrid, Sun Pharma andInfosys were among the gain-ers.

In the previous session,the Sensex closed at 38,614.79,up 86.47 points or 0.22 percent, while the Nifty rose 23.05points or 0.20 per cent to11,408.40.

Exchange data showed thatforeign institutional investors

bought equities worth Rs459.01 crore on a net basis onWednesday.

According to traders,domestic bourses followed neg-ative trend in global equities asselloff emerged after the USFederal Reserve released theminutes from its latest policymeeting.

The Fed’s minutes showedthat policy makers are findingit difficult to forecast the pathof the economy, as the coron-avirus likely would continue todampen economic growth.

Stock exchanges on WallStreet ended in the red inovernight session.

Bourses in Shanghai, HongKong, Tokyo and Seoul weretrading with heavy losses inmid-day deals. Global oilbenchmark Brent crude wastrading 0.75 per cent lower atUSD 45.03 per barrel.

New Delhi: India’s data centremarket provides an opportu-nity of $4.9 billion investmentby the year 2025, according toa JLL report.”India’s data cen-tre capacity is expected to growfrom 375 MW (megawatt) inH1 2020 to 1,078 MW by2025, presenting a $4.9 billioninvestment opportunity,” itsaid.According to JLL’s H12020 ‘(re)Imagine DataCentres: Running India’s digi-tal economy’ report, the impactof data protection laws,increased shift from captive toco-location data centres andimplementation of new tech-nologies like 5G, edge com-puting and the internet ofthings (IoT) will drive sus-tained investor demand forthis asset class over the next fiveyears.“India’s data centre market will

outperform over the next fiveyears, supported by a combi-nation of growing digital econ-omy, increased investor inter-est and stable long-termreturns,” said Ramesh Nair,CEO & Country Head, India,JLL. He was of the view thatgrowth in the sector will be fur-ther powered by co-locationsites which, through lowerupfront costs, heightened datasecurity, uninterrupted ser-vices and scalability, will, fur-ther, influence investors to re-imagine the potential of India’sdata centre space.”The 703MW expected capacity addi-tions is translating to 9.3 mil-lion sq ft of space, which willopen up greenfield investmentsfor real estate developers andinvestors to fuel the futuredevelopment of the sector,” headded. IANS

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India’s economy facesincreased risks of stagfla-

tion, which may slow down theeffectiveness of monetary andfiscal measures adopted by thecentral bank and government,Acuite Ratings said.

The economic trend ofstagflation is marked by risinginflation and falling GDPgrowth.

The ratings agency saidthat the uncertain outlook oninflation in the short-term hasalready led the Reserve Bank ofIndia’s Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC) to hold theinterest rates in August and hasalso diminished the likelihoodof any further rate cut in thenear term.

In a report, Acuite said thatimmediate steps need to betaken to bring down food infla-tion, “the higher levels of which

have already started to spillover to core inflation”.

“India’s consumer inflationhas increased to 6.93 per centin July 2020, a bit sharp andunexpected rise of 70bps(MoM) over that in June; sinceDecember 2019, CPI printhas been on an overdrive andhas been uncomfortably highover the 6 per cent upperlimit set by the MPC,” thereport said.

“Even though anunfavourable base effect is alsoplaying an important role inshaping the inflation trendline,food inflation (CFPI) has beenthe primary driver of the CPItrajectory and has mostly hov-ered over 8 per cent over thelast nine months since October2019.”

According to the report,supply and logistical bottle-necks arising from the pro-longed and intermittent lock-

down in certain parts of thecountry have continued tokeep food inflation high despitea good agricultural output overthe last two seasons.

“The animal protein seg-ment i.e. meat, fish, eggs andmilk, edible oil, vegetables andpulses have seen double digitinflation in July; limited oper-ations of APMCs in the lock-down period, import chal-lenges along with excess rainsor floods have all led to a dis-ruption in the supply chain ofagricultural products,” thereport said.

“Further, persisting highfood inflation along with short-age of labour have started tohave a rub-off effect on pricesof non-food products and ser-vices or core inflation; whichhas risen by 50 bps to 5.6 percent in July 2020 from 5.1 percent in June 2020 and 4.1 percent in last July.”

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� ������%������/�Mumbai: The rupee opened18 paise lower and slippedbelow the 75 per US dollarmark in opening trade onThursday after the US Fedmeeting minutes signalledat the central bank’s concernover Covid-19 and its impacton economy.The local unitopened at 75 at the interbankforex market, then lostground and touched 75.01against the US dollar, down19 paise over its last close of74.82. Meanwhile, the dollarindex, which gauges thegreenback’’s strength againsta basket of six currencies,rose 0.08% to 92.96.

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In a swift turn of events, thegovernment is looking to

bar Chinese firms from par-ticipating in government con-tracts in the sensitive powersector, especially for procure-ment of digital products thatare prone to malware threats.

Sources in the government

said that already global biddinghas been barred for publicprocurement of upto Rs 200crore, and more specific restric-tions may be imposed on useof Chinese gear in the criticalpower sector. A blanket ban onuse of sensitive digital equip-ment from China by the powersector may also be looked at buta decision on this is pending,

said the source quoted earlier.The power ministry has

already put restrictions onimports as such proposals willnow be vetted by it before per-mission is given. Also, indi-vidual digital equipment wouldbe scrutinised for malwarebefore being allowed insideIndian territory.

Besides, power companies

have been told to source local-ly in all categories where domes-tic capabilities exist. An indica-tion that firmer action is beinglooked at to prevent use ofChinese equipment in the powersector, sources said is the post-poned move to blacklist Chineseentity PT Hexing Technologyfrom participating in any futuregovernment tenders post.

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Bharti Enterprises hopes toset up a few ground stations

in India to receive signals fromthe 648-satellite constellationowned by UK-based OneWeband start offering its services inIndia, Chairman Sunil BhartiMittal said on Thursday.

Speaking at the webinar on

‘Unlocking India’s potential inSpace Sector’, he notedOneWeb with 648 satellites inthe Low Earth Orbit (LEO)plans to start its services inIndia in early 2022.

Bharti has to get the land-ing rights for its signals, set upground stations in the north,south and western parts of thecountry to start offering the

services in early 2022.Mittal also sought the

Indian Space ResearchOrganisation’s support to devel-op user terminals to cater toIndian needs, adding that thecountry needs affordablebroadband connectivity inrural areas.

According to him, areas inIndia have been earmarked

for offering OneWeb satelliteservices. In July this year, theUK government and BhartiGlobal Ltd won the bid toacquire OneWeb. Mittal saidthat one of the advantages ofthe LEO constellation is its lowlatency as compared to the con-stellation of geostationary satel-lites, and the services are beingtested with some BMW cars.

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New York: In his most blister-ing attack on Donald Trump,former president Barack Obamahas accused his successor oftreating the presidency like a “reality show” and said the topRepublican leader “ hasn’t growninto the job because he can’t.”

Obama, the country’s firstBlack president, spoke on thethird night of the virtualDemocratic NationalConvention on Wednesday justbefore Senator Kamala Harris ofCalifornia became the firstBlack person to be formallynominated for vice-president bya major party.

Former vice president JoeBiden is already the Democraticpresidential nominee.

Obama said that bothBiden and Harris have theexperience needed to get thingsdone and they have concretepolicies that will turn theirvision of a better, fairer, strongercountry into reality.

But he had some very harshwords for President Trump whois seeking re-election in theNovember 3 presidential polls.

“I have sat in the Oval

Office with both of the menwho are running for president.I never expected that my suc-cessor would embrace my visionor continue my policies,”Obama said.

Obama said that he hadhoped that Trump might “ showsome interest in taking the jobseriously … But he never did” .

“ I did hope, for the sake ofour country, that Donald Trumpmight show some interest intaking the job seriously; that hemight come to feel the weight ofthe office and discover somereverence for the democracythat had been placed in his care,”Obama said in an unusuallystrong criticism of Trump dur-ing his remarks.

“ For close to four yearsnow, he’s shown no interest inputting in the work; no interestin finding common ground; no

interest in using the awesomepower of his office to help any-one but himself and his friends;no interest in treating the pres-idency as anything but onemore reality show that he canuse to get the attention hecraves. “ Donald Trump hasn’t

grown into the job because hecan’t,” Obama said, giving hisaddress from Philadelphia,where the US Constitution wasdrafted and signed.

The former president saidone expects a president to bethe “ custodian” of American

democracy and one who, regardless of ego, ambi-tion or political beliefs, will pre-serve, protect and defend thefreedoms and ideals that somany Americans marched for,went to jail for, fought for anddied for. PTI

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Washington: Kamala Harris,who scripted history in US pol-itics as she became the firstIndian-American and Blackwoman to get a major party’svice presidential nomination,has assailed President DonaldTrump’s “ failure of leadership”that has cost “ lives and liveli-hoods.”

Introducing herself as thedaughter of Indian andJamaican immigrants at the vir-tual Democratic NationalConvention on Wednesdaynight, Harris, 55, fondlyremembered her Chennai-born

mother who she said taught hertwo daughters to “ be consciousand compassionate about thestruggles of all people” and tobelieve that “ the fight for jus-tice is a shared responsibility.”

“ My mother taught methat service to others gives lifepurpose and meaning. And oh,how I wish she were heretonight but I know she’s look-ing down on me from above,”she said in her acceptancespeech.

Harris said probably hermother, Shyamala GopalanHarris, could have never imag-

ined that “ I would be standingbefore you now speaking thesewords: I accept your nomina-tion for Vice President of theUnited States of America.”

“ She raised us to be proud,strong Black women. And sheraised us to know and be proudof our Indian heritage,” Harrissaid, emphasising her links toIndia.

“Family is my sister. Familyis my best friend, my nieces andmy godchildren. Family is myuncles, my aunts—my chit-this,” she said, referring to herrelatives in Tamil Nadu. PTI

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Bamako (Mali): A colonel inMali’s army says he’s now incharge of the West Africancountry, declaring himself chair-man of the junta that forced thedemocratically elected butunpopular president to resign.

Col. Assimi Goita, one ofthe five military officers whoannounced this week’s coup onthe state broadcaster ORTM,declared himself chairman ofthe junta now in power.

“ By making this interven-tion (the coup), we have putMali first,” Goita said in abroadcast that showed him

meeting with the top officials ofgovernment ministries and urg-ing them to resume workThursday.

“ Mali is in a sociopoliticaland security crisis,” he said.

“ There is no more room formistakes.” Across Africa andaround the world, leaders havestrongly condemned this week’scoup, calling for an immediatereturn to civilian rule and therelease of ex-President IbrahimBoubacar Keita and his primeminister, Boubou Cisse.

The two leaders weredetained by mutinous soldiers

on Tuesday who surrounded thepresident’s private residence inBamako and fired shots into theair. Under duress, Keita laterannounced his resignation onstate television, saying he didnot want any blood to be shedto keep him in power.

Analysts have said therewere few signs that politicalopposition leaders were aware of the coup plot inadvance, though they nowstand to benefit through anopportunity to serve in thetransitional governmentpromised by the junta. AP

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It was the statement of PakistanForeign Minister Shah

Mahmood Qureshi against theSaudi-led Organisation ofIslamic Cooperation (OIC), per-taining to the Kashmir dispute,which attracted irked responsefrom the Kingdom of SaudiArabia (KSA).

And while Pakistan’s mili-tary establishment is focused onmending the dented tiesbetween the two Islamic nations,Prime Minister Imran Khan’srecent statement, coupled withthe visit of Qureshi to China, issignalling at Islamabad extend-ing allegiance and inclinationtowards Beijing.

Qureshi, accompanied bysenior officials, will be inHainan, China, from August20-21 to take part in the secondround of China-PakistanForeign Ministers’ StrategicDialogue.

As per the Pakistan ForeignOffice, “ The Chinese side will

be led by State Councillor andForeign Minister Wang Yi.”

“ During the dialogue, bothsides will, inter alia, discusscooperation on Covid-19, bilat-eral relations and regional andinternational issues of mutualinterest. The visit will play animportant role in furtherstrengthening the Pakistan-China All-Weather StrategicCooperative Partnership anddeepen strategic communica-tion and coordination withChina on a range of issues,”said a Ministry of ForeignAffairs press release.

Qureshi’s visit comes a dayafter Prime Minister ImranKhan said that Pakistan’s futureis tied with China, indicating vis-ible signs of Islamabad’s intend-ed inclination towards its trust-

ed friend and partner China.“ It should be made clear

that our future is tied withChina, which has stood byPakistan through thick andthin. Both countries recogniseeach other’s importance and arefurther strengthening mutualties,” Khan stated in a televi-sion interview.

“Unfortunately, westerncountries are using Indiaagainst China,” he added. Khanalso rejected what he calledrumours about “ rifts” withSaudi Arabia, saying “ theyhave their own foreign policy”.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that while Pakistan has notbeen happy with the perfor-mance of OIC, specifically onthe Kashmir issue, Beijing hastaken its side on raising the issueof Kashmir at global platformslike the United Nations. WithPakistan cozying up with China,experts believe that Islamabadmay be sliding away from thefinancial dependency andalliance with Saudi Arabia.

Dubai: Iran displayed a surface-to-surface ballistic missile onThursday that Defence MinisterAmir Hatami said had a rangeof 1,400 kilometres and a newcruise missile, ignoring USdemands that Tehran halt itsmissile programme.

“ The surface-to-surfacemissile, called martyr QassemSoleimani, has a range of 1,400km and the cruise missile, calledmartyr Abu Mahdi, has a rangeof over 1,000 km,” Hatami saidin a televised speech.

Pictures of the missiles wereshown on state TV, which it saidwas “ the newest Iranian cruisemissile that will further strength-

en Iran’s deterrence power” .Soleimani, head of Iran’s

elite Quds Force, and Iraqi mili-tia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed in Januaryin a US strike on their convoy inBaghdad airport.

“ Missiles and particularlycruise missiles are very impor-tant for us ... the fact that we haveincreased the range from 300 to1,000 in less than two years is agreat achievement,” said IranianPresident Hassan Rouhani.

“ Our military might andmissile programmes are defen-sive.” The announcement comesas Washington is pushing toextend a UN-imposed arms

embargo against Iran, which isdue to expire in October underTehran’s 2015 nuclear deal withworld powers.

Tensions have been highbetween Tehran andWashington since 2018, whenPresident Donald Trump pulledout the United States from thedeal and reimposed cripplingsanctions on Iran.

Washington says its aim isto force Tehran to agree a broad-er deal that puts stricter limits onits nuclear work, curbs its bal-listic missile program and endsits regional proxy wars. Iran hasrejected talks as long as US sanc-tions remain in place. AFP

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Washington: The Trumpadministration is set to demandthe restoration of all interna-tional sanctions on Iran in amove that will further isolatethe U.S. At the United Nations,test the credibility of the U.N.Security Council and possiblydeal a fatal blow to one of for-mer President Barack Obama’ssignature foreign policyachievements.

At President DonaldTrump’s direction, Secretaryof State Mike Pompeo willtravel to New York onThursday to notify the worldbody that the US Is invokingthe “ snapback” mechanism inthe Security Council resolutionthat endorsed the 2015 Irannuclear deal.

“ The United States intendsto restore virtually all of thepreviously suspended UnitedNations sanctions on Iran,”Trump said on Wednesday.

“ It’s a snapback.” As setout by the resolution enshrin-ing the 2015 deal, snapbackwould re-impose UN Sanctionsthat were eased in exchange forcurbs on Iran’s nuclear pro-gram. But the US Move facessteep opposition and couldprompt a revolt from the coun-cil’s other members. None ofthem believes the US Has thestanding to do it becauseTrump withdrew from thenuclear deal two years ago. AP

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London: The brother of a sui-cide bomber who killed 22people at an Ariana Grandeconcert in the British city ofManchester was on Thursdayjailed for life for playing an “integral part” in the attack.

Hashem Abedi, 23, wasconvicted of murder, attemptedmurder and conspiring to causeexplosions at a trial that endedin March, after one of the worstterror attacks on British soil.

The IS group-inspiredbombing, carried out by his 22-year-old brother Salman, deto-nated among crowds of mostlyyoung people leaving the concertat the Manchester Arena. AFP

New York (AP): Former WhiteHouse adviser Steve Bannonwas arrested Thursday oncharges that he and three oth-ers ripped off donors to anonline fundraising scheme “WeBuild The Wall.”

The charges were con-tained in an indictmentunsealed in Manhattan feder-al court that alleged Bannonreceived over $1 million him-self, using some to secretly paya co-defendant, Brian Kolfage,and to cover hundreds of thou-sands of dollars of Bannon'spersonal expenses.

Federal prosecutors allegedthat Bannon and three others“orchestrated a scheme todefraud hundreds of thou-sands of donors” in connectionwith an online crowdfundingcampaign that raised morethan $25 million to build a wallalong the southern border ofthe United States.

According to the indict-ment, Bannon promised that100% of the donated moneywould be used for the project,but the defendants collective-ly used hundreds of thousandsof dollars in a manner incon-sistent with the organization’spublic representations.

The indictment said theyfaked invoices and sham “ven-dor” arrangements, amongother ways, to hide what wasreally happening.

The defendants learnedlast October from a financial

institution that the “We Buildthe Wall” campaign might beunder federal criminal investi-gation and took additionalsteps to conceal the fraud,according to the indictment.

Charges included conspir-acy to commit wire fraud andconspiracy to commit moneylaundering.

A phone at the office ofBannon’s lawyer went unan-swered Thursday morning. Aspokeswoman for Bannon didnot immediately respond to arequest for comment. It was notimmediately clear who wouldrepresent Kolfage at an initialcourt appearance.

According to the indict-ment, Bannon promised that100% of the donated moneywould be used for the projectand no one would be compen-sated, but the defendants col-lectively used hundreds of

thousands of dollars in a man-ner inconsistent with the orga-nization’s public representa-tions.

The indictment said theyfaked invoices and sham “ven-dor” arrangements, amongother ways, to hide what wasreally happening.

“It’s not possible to steal themoney,” Kolfage once said pub-licly, according to the indict-ment. “I can’t touch that money.It’s not for me.”

We Build the Wall origi-nally promoted a project for 3miles of fence posts in SouthTexas that was ultimately builtand largely funded by FisherIndustries, which has receivedabout $2 billion in funding forwall contracts. Tommy Fisher,CEO, didn’t respond to calls forcomment.

Trump recently criticizedthat section of wall after it

showed signs of erosion, sayingit was “only done to make melook bad,” even though it wasbuilt by his supporters.

Bannon led the conserva-tive Breitbart News beforebeing tapped to serve as chiefexecutive officer of Trump’scampaign in its critical finalmonths, when he pushed ascorched earth strategy thatincluded highlighting the sto-ries of former President BillClinton’s accusers. After theelection, he served as chiefstrategist during the turbulentearly months of Trump’sadministration.

The blunt-spoken, com-bative Bannon was the voice ofa nationalistic, outsider con-servatism, and he pushedTrump to follow through onsome of his most contentiouscampaign promises, includinghis travel ban on several major-ity-Muslim countries. ButBannon also clashed with othertop advisers, and his high pro-file sometimes irked Trump. Hewas pushed out in August2017.

Bannon, who served in theNavy and worked as an invest-ment banker at GoldmanSachs before becoming aHollywood producer, has beenhosting a pro-Trump podcastcalled “War Room” that beganduring the president’simpeachment proceedings andhas continued during the pan-demic.

)?G ������ $�����6������� �������� ������>������#�"����+���!�##����#"����������Moscow (AP): Russian oppo-sition politician Alexei Navalnyis in a coma and on a ventila-tor in a hospital intensive careunit after falling ill from sus-pected poisoning that his alliesbelieve is linked to his politicalactivity.

The 44-year-old foe ofRussia’s President VladimirPutin felt unwell on a flight backto Moscow from Tomsk, a cityin Siberia, and was taken to ahospital after the plane made anemergency landing in Omsk,Navalny’s spokeswoman KiraYarmysh said on Twitter.

She told the Echo Moskvyradio station he must have con-sumed something from tea hedrank at an airport cafe beforeboarding the plane earlyThursday.

During the flight, Navalnystarted sweating and asked herto talk to him so that he could“focus on a sound of a voice.” Hethen went to the bathroom andlost consciousness.

“Looks like Putin is doingreally badly — was handedsome data on protest sentimentgrowing explosively — if hemade the decision to poisonNavalny,” the politician’s closeally Vladimir Milov said in atweet.

Navalny is currently beingtreated at the Omsk ambulancehospital He is in a coma in grave

condition. Doctors at the hos-pital remain tight-lipped abouthis diagnosis.

Anatoliy Kalinichenko,deputy chief doctor of the hos-pital, told reporters that Navalnywas in grave, yet stable condi-tion. Kalinichenko said doc-tors are considering a variety ofdiagnosis, including poisoning,but refused to give details, citinga law preventing doctors fromdisclosing confidential patientinformation.

State news agency Tassreported that police were notconsidering deliberate poison-ing, citing an anonymous sourcein law enforcement who said “itis not unlikely that he drank orconsumed something yesterdayhimself.” Yarmysh on Twitterbristled at that suggestion: “Ofcourse. It’s just the tea was bad.This is what the state propa-ganda is going to do now — yellthat there was no deliberate poi-soning, he (did something) acci-dentally, he (did something)himself.”

Navalny’s doctor YaroslavAshikhmin told the indepen-dent Meduza outlet that he istrying to arrange his transfer toa clinic in Hanover orStrasbourg, saying that medicsin Europe not only can offer bet-ter treatment, but also figure outwhich toxin Navalny was poi-soned with.

Last year, Navalny wasrushed to a hospital from prisonwhere he was serving a sentencefollowing an administrativearrest, with what his team saidwas suspected poisoning.

Doctors then said he had asevere allergic attack and dis-charged him back to prison thefollowing day.

Navalny’s Foundation forFighting Corruption has beenexposing graft among govern-ment officials, including some atthe highest level.

Last month, he had to shutthe foundation after a financiallydevastating lawsuit fromYevgeny Prigozhin, a business-man with close ties to theKremlin. Belarus’ authoritarianPresident AlexanderLukashenko accused Navalnylast week of organising unprece-dented mass protests against hisre-election that have rockedRussia’s ex-Soviet neighboursince August 9.

He did not, however, pro-vide any evidence and that claimwas one of many blaming for-eign forces for the unrest.

Like many other oppositionpoliticians in Russia, Navalnyhas been frequently detained bylaw enforcement and harassedby pro-Kremlin groups. In 2017,he was attacked by several menwho threw antiseptic in hisface, damaging one eye.

�� �� !� ������-������������� ��-�������Minsk (AP): Demonstratorsagain took to the streets of theBelarusian capital and othercities Thursday, keeping uptheir push for the nation’sauthoritarian leader to stepdown after extending his 26-year rule in a vote the opposi-tion saw as rigged.

President AlexanderLukashenko has dismissed theprotesters as Western puppetsand threatened oppositionleaders with criminal charges.

Following that, a leadingopposition figure reportedreceiving threats and beingthreatened with arrest.

The 65-year-old Belarusianleader dismissed the EuropeanUnion’s criticism of the Aug. 9vote and told its leaders tomind their own business.

The EU leaders onWednesday rejected the officialresults of the election that

showed Lukashenko win 80 percent of the vote and expressedsolidarity with protesters. TheEU said it’s preparing sanctionsagainst Belarusian officialsresponsible for the brutal post-election police actions.

During the first four daysof protests, police detainedalmost 7,000 people andinjured hundreds with rubberbullets, stun grenades andclubs. At least three protestersdied. The crackdown fueledmassive outrage and swelledprotesters’ ranks, forcingauthorities to change tacticsand stop breaking up crowdsthat grew to an unprecedented200,000 on Sunday.

However, after standingback for days, police againbeefed up their presence on thestreets of the Belarusian capi-tal Wednesday, blocking accessto some government build-

ings and also deploying innumbers outside major facto-ries where workers have beenon strike since Monday.

The industrial action thathas engulfed major factoriesacross the country cast a toughchallenge to Lukashenko, whohad relied on blue-collar work-ers as his core support base.

In a bid to stop the strikefrom spreading, Lukashenkoon Wednesday warned thatthe participants would facedismissal and ordered lawenforcement agencies to pro-tect factory managers fromthe opposition pressure.

The Belarusian leader alsowarned members of theCoordination Council whoheld their first meetingWednesday that they couldface criminal responsibility fortheir attempt to create parallelpower structures.

����3��$���&���������������$�����(�������#�����������������Colombo (PTI): Sri LankanPresident Gotabaya Rajapaksaon Thursday vowed to abol-ish the 19th Amendment thatcurtailed the powers of thePresident and strengthenedthe role of Parliament.

“Our first task will be toremove the 19th amendmentto the Constitution”, he saidwhile making the ceremoni-al address outlining his poli-cies at the inaugural session ofthe new Parliament onThursday.

This stands in contrast tothe comments made by hisministers on Wednesday that19A would only be subject toamendments while retainingits healthy provisions.

The 19A adopted in 2015by the then reformist gov-ernment was subject to muchcriticism by the Rajapaksaclan as it prevented dual cit-

izens from contesting elec-tions. At the time, two of theRajapaksa family membersincluding the current presi-dent were dual citizens of theUS and Sri Lanka.

During the August 5 elec-tion, the Sri Lanka People’sParty (SLPP) sought two thirdsparliamentary mandate or 150seats in the 225-memberassembly to effect constitu-tional changes, the foremost ofthem was the move to abolishthe 19A.

The SLPP and allies won150 seats and have a two-thirdmajority to effect the consti-tutional change they desire.

Rajapaksa stressed thatwhile introducing a newConstitution, it is essential tomake changes to the currentelectoral system .

While GotabayaRajapaksa was elected as the

Sri Lankan President inNovember last year, his eldestbrother Mahida Rajapaksawon the general election andassumed charge as PrimeMinister on August 9.

Rajapaksa was delightedthat the public had given himtwo thirds majority — “for thefirst time in the history in anelection held under the pro-portional representation sys-tem” .

The 19A was the mainelection plank of the previousgovernment.

The 19A depoliticised thegovernment administration byensuring the independence ofkey pillars such as the judicia-ry, public service and elec-tions.

The reformists in 2015argued that the 19A was need-ed to correct the power imbal-ance created by the 18A which

the government of MahindaRajapaksa in 2010 had intro-duced.

The 18A lifted the twoterm bar for a president to runfor office.

The 19A brought in thereversal bringing back the twoterms bar and reducing thepresidential term from 6 to 5years. It pruned the powers ofthe presidency and empoweredparliament.

During his speech,President Rajapaksa alsostressed that his governancewill be based while giving fore-most place to Buddhism - thereligion of the 77 per cent of SriLankans.

“While ensuring priorityfor Buddhism it is now clear tothe people that freedom ofany citizen to practice the reli-gion of his or her choice is bet-ter secured,” he said.

@��������$���������%�������������������������������Berlin (AP): Young activists,including Swedish teenagerGreta Thunberg, are meetingGerman Chancellor AngelaMerkel to press theirdemands for tougher actionto curb climate change.

Thunberg, LuisaNeubauer from Germany andBelgians Anuna de Wevervan der Heyden and AdélaïdeCharlier arrived at the chan-cellery for a 90-minute meet-ing Thursday, the first high-prof i le ta lks the youthactivists have held with aworld leader since the start ofthe pandemic.

The coronavirus outbreakhas prevented the Fridays forFuture movement thatThunberg inspired fromholding its mass rallies inrecent months.

The activists argue thatgovernments around theworld are doing too little tocurb emissions of greenhousegases that are heating up theatmosphere. In a letter sent toworld leaders last month,they called for numerousmeasures including ending financing for oil andgas projects, including allforms of man-made emis-sions in reduction targetsand setting binding carbonbudgets.

Germany currently holdsthe six-month rotating pres-idency of the EuropeanUnion. Merkel has in thepast lauded the youthactivists for putting pressureon politicians to act againstglobal warming.

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Right from the announcement and the firststill from A Suitable Boy, a lot has been spo-

ken about Ishaan Khatter’s character in the six-part series by BBC. Living up to all expectations,Ishaan has delivered all the hype around hischaracter — Maan Kapoor. Not only us, butviewers from England and Ireland, who have

seen the first four episodesof the series, have beentalking about how won-derful he is with hiscraft. His performance is

ruling hearts throughoutthe world.

Talking about receivingso much love from all

over the globe,Ishaan said, “Itfeels fantastic thatmy work and thischaracter haselicited such awarm and pos-itive responsefrom the UKand I’m excited

for the rest ofthe world to see

it. It was a complexand difficult charac-

ter to portray so thefeedback has beentotally re-energising.”A Suitable Boy willalso be releasingworldwide on Netflixsoon.

Ishaan who isknown to have

u n c o n v e n t i o n a lchoices in films hasbeen effortlessly jug-

gling between massappeal as well as perfor-mance-oriented roles.While the actor has timeand again said he choos-es his characters verycarefully, he has a big line

up to impress his fanswith. Next, he will be

seen in three films,Khaali Peeli, Pippaand Phone Bhoot.

There’s a protective and nurturingcover to our health that our eldersand parents provide us with when

we are rocking in the cradle. And sincethen, they have always been the strongestsupport system. However, in return,most senior citizens in our society do notnecessarily enjoy the same attention thatthey had blessed us with. After decadesof hard work, it is one’s right to desire alife filled with protection. But at a timewhen they are most vulnerable, elderly aredevoid of such things. On the occasionof World Senior Citizens’ Day, why notconsider giving them a health cover toensure a secure and happy life?

With the world aging rapidly, it ismore likely that the number of senior cit-izens in need of health cover is only goingto rise. As per a recent study publishedin the Lancet, it is estimated that by theend of the century, the world will have2.37 billion individuals older than 65years and 1.70 billion individuals youngerthan 20 years.

Similarly in India, various studies inthe past decade have reported that 20 percent of the Indian population will be olderthan 60 years by 2050, which as per thegovernment can be as high as 34 crorepeople. At a time when India is struggling

to deal with the challenge of populationexplosion, making healthcare accessibleto the growing number of senior citizensis a daunting concern.

There are numerous reasons why agood health insurance cover is essentialfor the elderly and why it is an urgentneed that should be met. Senior citizensface many challenges including financialstruggles, increasing dependency, needfor specialised infrastructure, lack ofsocial support and so on... Then therecomes healthcare issues as well. They arealso most vulnerable to diseases and areat a higher risk of hospitalisation. Overthe years, people develop several non-communicable diseases (NCD). Elderlypeople are generally patients of comor-bidities and degenerative ailments. Theysuffer from a weaker immune system too.The cost of treatment for any of NCDsor conditions is generally high. Evenbefore admission into the hospital, theOPD and monthly medical bills becomea major constraint. The long-term cost torecovery can be a huge drain on the finan-cial and mental health of the senior peo-ple and their families.

With the recent outbreak of COVID-19, the risks of hospitalisation haveincreased as it’s a generally accepted factthat elderly people and those with comor-bidities are more vulnerable to contract-ing the virus. Therefore, it becomeseven more imperative for them andtheir families to invest in health insuranceso as to ensure that the cost of qualityhealthcare is covered.

The ongoing global pandemic haswitnessed a sudden spike in the demandfor health insurance policies, which hascaused panic buying. Although it hasbecome an absolute necessity for thesenior citizens to have a health insurancepolicy, it is equally important to careful-ly evaluate your purchase.

A modern-day health insurance pol-icy may cover an older individual, his orher spouse and even the entire family.The senior citizen health insuranceschemes are packed with unique benefitsfor them including cashless hospitalisa-tion, no pre-policy medical check-up,short wait-period for pre-existing diseasescover, annual health check-up and daycare expenses. If you are planning to get

a health insurance or gift your parents orgrandparents a health cover, here aresome of the very basic things to look for:

��%�445&�**,9�,,�(,9&�22-%���:2-&9/This is of utmost importance. A

young person may not need coverage ofa higher amount. However, elderly peo-ple have pre-existing conditions. Theirresponse to treatment is longer and theyneed more critical care. So it is better toopt for those insurance policies that offerhigh coverage.

*;$9�554�$$��:Is it a family floater plan, an individ-

ual, a cashless or reimbursement plan?Knowing these features are vital forinformed decision making. It is recom-mended to choose a policy that offerscashless treatment and covers post-hos-pitalisation expenses. Some policies covera policy holder’s spouse as well within thesame plan. Other plans provide freeannual health checkups at any time of theyear.

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When you choose a policy, it is wiseto choose the one which provides a widercoverage. Insurance may cover coretreatment costs but may not cover othercosts including OPD expenses, ambu-lance charge and consumables.

509&�(9It is wise to go with an insurance pol-

icy that covers pre-existing diseases. Itshould cover all issues and challenges thatcome with old age. Basically, the plansneed to be age appropriate. The oneswhich cover associated medical expens-es, pre- and post-hospitalisation chargesshould be preferred.

5:2�/9&�**,9�<<��*�:(�$$9&�5/Carefully learn about the rules relat-

ing to the waiting period, especially thosethat are applicable to pre-existing ailmentsbecause it can go upto four years. A pol-icy which ensures cover in a shorter dura-tion is the one that should be considered.

56$$�;%9:*This means that the insured person

will be bearing the cost of treatment alongwith the insurance company. The less theco-payment, the more viable the policy.

:9*<5&1�554�,,52$�*��2An insurance policy with a large net-

work of hospitals can be a life-saver. It isimportant to check whether the networkof hospitals span across India if you’re afrequent traveller.

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Do understand discount, top-ups,additional benefits and such aspects ofpolicies carefully. A good package canreally make a difference.

It is a natural truth that aging bringsits challenges, but we are a speciesknown for defying age. On World SeniorCitizens’ Day, let’s resolve to support thosewho have nurtured us to defy their ageand give them some of the best years oflife, full of health, care, security and hap-piness.

(The author, Ajay Shah, is the Directorand Head — Retail Business, ReligareHealth Insurance.)

The lockdown and the slow reopen-ing of the economy, not just in

India but across the world has hit peo-ple hard. Across sectors, including themedia, jobs have been lost and salariesslashed. I wish I could reassure myreaders that things will improve soonbut it might take a year. I have beenspeaking to several marketing chiefs inautomotive companies who are posi-tive publicly but they don’t expect 2021to be a stellar year and only see prop-er growth in 2022. However, this viewis not shared by every one.

The automotive sector is perkingup with several new vehicle launchessuch as the Honda City, Kia Sonet,Mahindra Thar and new variants andengines in the Maruti-Suzuki S-Cross.But the Skoda Rapid and the rebadgedBrezza (now also called the ToyotaUrban Cruiser), sales have been rela-tively tepid in the past few months asauto retailers struggle to move stocks.Maybe, the post-harvest festive seasonwill see some sales return but the goodtimes are still some time away. I’m notsure if all the dealerships and automo-tive journalists will ride out the storm.We can only hope for the best and thatthe damage is limited.

As there are some drives comingup in the few days, next week you will

read about what the new K15 petrolengine does to the S-Cross, then thereis the electrifying new Mercedes-BenzEQC too. I will also be driving the newclutchless IMT variant of the HyundaiVenue, a technology that might dra-matically change the entry-level auto-matic market and start the move awayfrom AMT gearboxes. So keep readingthis column for regular reviews andopinions on new cars and automotivetechnologies. You can even catch someof the videos that I have shot over thepast few months on my YouTubechannel.

But before all that, let me reminisceabout some of my enjoyable drives overthe years. By far, the most amazingexperience I’ve had with a car was theAudi Ice Drive in Finland, a few yearsago. Driving on a frozen lake in win-ter, sliding and slipping all over theplace was one of the most excitingthings I have ever done. The best part

is that this is open for anyone who canafford. Of course, in pandemic times,Audi might have curtailed their driveexperiences but if you get an opportu-nity to drive around in the ice andunderstand what ‘opposite lock’ is allabout, consider it. And if you can affordan Audi, you can easily afford to go toKittila in Northern Finland.

My next most enjoyable scenicdrive was with the Mini Convertible.It is the perfect car to drive around inperpetually sunny SouthernCalifornia. And mid-February meantthat the Pacific was still cold and thesurfer boys were nowhere to be seenon Malibu beach. It was fantastic dri-ving weather. Another great experi-ence with Mini was a couple of yearsago on the island of Mallorca. Again,the perfect car for that part of theworld with its narrow roads andsunny weather. I enjoy the Mini somuch that I’ve decided, the day I can

afford one, I’ll buy one.For my most enjoyable driving

experience in India, I’d have to go backalmost two decades ago to the day whendrives happened at one go and not in‘batches.’ I enjoyed the drives withoutneeding to worry about videos andsocial media. It was the HyundaiSantro ZipPlus variant which I drovefrom Bengaluru to Goa through theghats. It was so much fun that a fewyears later, I ‘borrowed’ an early-buildScorpio from Mahindra and drove fromMumbai to Allapuzha in Kerala mak-ing unplanned stops at beaches all theway down.

Now, as I sit and think that it hasbeen almost six months since I lastcaught a flight, I realise that thingsmight never be the same again. But carsare still around and I will keep drivingand writing about the experience foryou to read and enjoy. Do tweet me ifyou have any feedback.

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The ongoing pandemic has led to aparadigm shift in the food prefer-ence of people and the way they

consume food. Chefs and food experts aretherefore trying to create menus that areprimarily based on local produce ratherthan those being sourced from other statesor the country at large.

������ ��(���������Hence, in the near future, we are going

to witness many international dishesbeing given an Indian twist and vice versa.The millennial generation is well-travelledand ready to experiment and innovatewith food, thus giving rise to collabora-tive and fusion cuisines. In short, collab-orative cuisine is about combined ingre-dients, native cuisines, cooking tech-niques and flavour combinations and dishout magic on plates.

Typically, the pandemic has takenaway the exoticism of food from the menu.The masses have switched to basic meals,keeping away from complexity in itspreparation and the ingredients used.Food consumption has become a cautioushabit and people are highly conscious ofwhat they are eating and where it is com-ing from. As an answer, a switch to pre-packed meals with limited variety will begiven more importance over the lavishbuffet spreads during the pre-COVIDtimes. However, we assume that this isgoing to be short-lived. Although this stephas restricted the inclusion of many dish-es during every meal, safety measures arein place as this reduces the number ofhuman touchpoints. Food is safe when itis handled by as few people as possible andcooked as close to consumption. The pan-demic has given us an opportunity toexplore ways to keep food small and howit can be transported safely from one placeto the other without much human contact.

������������(����With working on a collaborative cui-

sine comes the responsibility of being atour innovative best. The different tasteprofiles of consumers provide chefs anopportunity to explore the possibility toinnovate and differentiate from those whoare following the same, old approach evennow.

The financial luxury of clients certain-ly acts as an advantage to continuouslyinnovate and be ahead of time when wetalk about our mundane menus with typ-ical components that we hardly everthink of changing. The new chef-ledmodel should act as an enhancer toexplore any opportunity to satisfy hungrytummies. At the same time, a look at achange rather than usual food is impor-tant.

:���� �����������Investing in food which is complete-

ly different from what is served usually iswhat the consumers are looking for rightnow. For example, a basic Aloo-muttersamosa can be changed into a Chicken-faji-ta samosa, in which chicken is mixed withfajita seasoning and flavour and thedough with cumin. This way, the samosahas a Mexican flavour to it but is still a partof the Indian cuisine. This kind of samosa,then, instead of mint or tamarind chut-ney, can be sided with the salsa sauce. Thisis the kind of innovation that we need,

which will become the differentiating fac-tor, especially in food when it comes tocafeteria services. It is a major requirementright now because when you present to acorporate crowd who is well-travelled,they don’t want to have the same rice anddal and the basic, chapaati. They look forsomething different and wish to explorenewer cuisines.

Another dish is Vegetable Au Gratin— a famous Western dish, in which youmix vegetables with cream sauce, gratecheese and bake it in the oven. For someinnovation, instead of using the creamsauce, we can substitute it with theMakhani sauce. It is typically very creamybut at the same time a bit sweet. You mixit to the right consistency, add gratedcheese and paneer on top and gratinate it.This dish acts as Au Gratin but it actual-

ly is now Veg makhani. However, the pre-sentation becomes completely different.

Similarly, for strudel, I have used flouras an exterior coating for the ingredientsand cooked in oven so that it turns out likea roll, which has a crusty exterior. One canchange the ingredients in this mixture andprepare it as a different dish which is stillgoing to be liked by people as it is uniquein nature. People are aware of the healthbenefits of vegetables and fruits and theyinsist of having them in their daily menus.Such a dish can provide the same vegeta-bles or fruits cooked in a different waysor mixed with a different sauce to makeit attractive and at the same time, moreinteresting.

As Indians, we like to bite into foodthat tastes Indian but looks very Western— one of the major reasons why ‘glocal’

(globally local) is becoming the newfood trend. For example, if you bite intoan apple pie, it may not just have appleinside, instead it could have Anjeer badamhalwa.

These are some of the innovations thatcan be brought into corporate cafés. Thecooking process stays the same but chefsneed to start mapping ingredients accord-ingly. Once you use the halwa as a sub-stitute ingredient for a pie filling, itshould have good consistency and so thatthe dough doesn’t get soggy. Otherwise,the whole purpose of using different ingre-dients gets defeated. From an outsider’sperspective, it is just a pie until you biteinto it to relish the Anjeer halwa.

Indian foods can be very nutritivethough it all depends on the way onecooks it. For stir-fried vegetable dishes likePalak mutter, for example, instead of cook-ing it for too long, we can use the flash-cooking method. Flash-cooking involvescooking ingredients at a very high flameso that the outer surface of the ingredientgets sealed, eliminating any loss of inter-nal juices and thus sustaining the nutri-tive aspects of the ingredients.

Well, if we can Westernise our daily,Indian meals with some mini twitches andinnovations, aren’t we creating a wholenew cuisine altogether?

(The writer is chef and managing part-ner with Elior India.)

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The Champions League final willfinally be a meeting of championsagain.

Bayern Munich made sure the titlematch will live up to the competition’sname by beating Lyon 3-0 on Wednesday,setting up a final against Paris Saint-Germain.

It’s the first time in 22 years that thefinal will feature two teams who qualifiedas domestic league champions.

Lyon wasted a couple of early chancesand was then overwhelmed by the clini-

cal Bavarian powerhouse, the competition’shighest-scoring team which wascoming off an 8-2 win overBarcelona in the quarterfinals.

Serge Gnabry netted twicebefore Robert Lewandowski addeda later header, giving that duo acombined 24 Champions Leaguegoals this season, part of Bayern’s total haulof 42.

PSG as a team only has 25 goals in thecompetition this season.

“We will look to organize our defense,but we know our biggest strength is puttingour opponents under pressure,” Bayern

coach Hansi Flick said.In 35 games since Flick was pro-

moted to manager in Novemberafter Niko Kovac’s firing, he won 32of them to steer Bayern from fourthplace in the Bundesliga, to GermanCup glory and into a first continen-tal final since lifting the European

Cup in 2013.Sunday’s game at Benfica’s stadium

will be the first time since Real Madridfaced Juventus in 1998 that two domesticchampions met in the final.

The loss for Lyon, in its firstChampions League semifinal in a decade,

cuts out the last route back into Europeancompetitions next season.

After only finishing seventh in the cur-tailed Ligue 1 season and being beaten inthe French League Cup final by PSG, Lyon

will be out of Europe for the first time sincethe 1996-97 season.

Back on the field where it knocked outManchester City on Saturday, Lyon wasmade to pay for the squandering its oppor-tunities to take the lead after finding morespace in the Bayern defense thanBarcelona, which was thrashed 8-2 onFriday.

Memphis Depay hit the side nettingin the fifth minute with only goalkeeperManuel Neuer to beat from a tight angleand Karl Toko Ekambi hit the right post.

“I don’t think we can have any regrets... Because we had two big chances,” Lyongoalkeeper Anthony Lopes said. “Wecould have been 2-0 up. In these top-levelmatches you pay for not taking yourchances though.”

Just a minute after the post deniedLyon the opener, Gnabry brushed asideseveral challenges as he cut in from theright and powered in a shot into the topcorner in the 18th minute.

“The first couple of minutes we strug-gled a little bit,” he said.

“My goal came at the right time to giveus a bit of confidence.”

His threat was evident across the pitchat the Sporting stadium in Lisbon, drivingforward with the ball for the move that ledto the second goal.

After releasing Ivan Perišic on the leftwing, the ball was squared into the penal-ty area. Lewandowski’s sliding connectionwas blocked by Lopes but Gnabry was onhand to knock in the second in the 33rd.

It extended Gnabry’s hot scoringstreak to nine goals across nine games inthis season’s pandemic-disruptedChampions League.

But Lyon was not out of sight.Just before the hour mark, Moussa

Dembélé fed Houssem Aouar who passedto Ekambi, but the forward shot straightat Neuer’s legs.

Lewandowski never has much trou-ble scoring, although it took until the88th minute this time when he rose tomeet Joshua Kimmich’s free kick witha header.

Lewandowski has now scored in nineconsecutive Champions League games,and has 55 goals overall for the season.

And it wrapped up a 20th successivevictory in all competitions for Bayern.

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Leeds’ first Premier Leaguegame for 16 years will see

Marcelo Bielsa’s men trav-el to defending championsLiverpool, whileManchester City andManchester United willmiss the opening weekendto give them extra time torecover from a late end to the2019-20 season.

In what will be the mosteagerly awaiting mathes ofthe new campaign, Cityand Liverpool are sched-uled to meet on the week-ends of November 7 at theEtihad and February6 at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp’smen do not facetraditional rivalsM a n c h e s t e r

United until 2021 with the RedDevils visiting Anfield onJanuary 16 and Liverpool head-ing to Old Trafford on May 1.

All sides were guaran-teed by the football author-ities to have at least 30 daysoff between the two seasonsafter the late finish to the2019-20 campaign.

Chelsea and Wolves willstart their seasons on Monday(September 14) after they toowere involved in European com-petition into August.

Leeds are back in the top-flight for the first time since2003-04, but could not haveasked for a tougher start, on

September 12 againstthe champions whohave not lost a league

game at Anfield inmore than threeyears.

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Rajasthan Royals, Kings XIPunjab and Kolkata Knight

Riders on Thursday arrived inthe UAE for the IPL beginningSeptember 19, setting the ballrolling for an event that manythought would not take placeamid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Royals and KXIP landed inDubai via a charter flight, whichwill be the norm this IPL dueto the ongoing health crisis. Alittle later in the evening,Kolkata Knight Riders arrivedin Abu Dhabi, their base for thetournament.

The players, who werealready tested multiple timesbefore departure, will nowundergo a six-day isolationperiod with testing on day 1, 3and 6. If they clear all the tests,they will be eligible to enter thetournament’s bio-bubble andstart training.

Subsequently, the players

and support staff will be testedevery fifth day of the tourney.

All three teams posted pic-tures of their players and sup-port staff before departure. TheRoyals squad was fully coveredin protective gear.

Defending championsMumbai Indians, ChennaiSuper Kings and RCB willarrive in the UAE on Fridaywhile the the other two teams,Sunrisers Hyderabad and DelhiCapitals, will land over theweekend.

���!!���� !��� ���Chennai Super Kings on

Thursday announced that vet-eran off-spinner HarbhajanSingh will not be boarding theflight with rest of squad onFriday to UAE due to personalreasons and instead join histeam within two weeks.

“Harbhajan will not betravelling with the team toDubai due to personal rea-sons. He is expected to join thesquad in two weeks,” a CSK offi-cial said on Thursday.

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The Europa League trophy is theheaviest of all UEFA silverware,

weighing in at a sturdy 15kg, some-thing Sevilla know all too well.They’ve lifted it five times, more thanany other club in history: back-to-back in 2006and 2007 back when the tournament was knownas the UEFA Cup, and a ‘three-peat’ in 2014, 2015and 2016. This Friday night in Cologne, theNervionenses are going all out for number six.

It won’t be easy though, going up against a tal-ented Inter Milan side featuring stars such asLautaro Martínez, Romelu Lukaku and DiegoGodín. The Italians know what it’s like to win thistitle too, having won it three times (1991, 1994 and1998). In fact, only Sevilla have won it on moreoccasions.

Both sides are in excellent form, with Sevillaundefeated since the coronavirus pause by win-ning nine and drawing five of their 14 fixtures sinceaction resumed and with Inter Milan having lostjust once since the restart, picking up 11 wins andfive draws along the way.

This saw Inter Milan finish second in SerieA, while Sevilla also secured Champions Leaguefootball for next year by finishing fourth in thefinal LaLiga standings.

Sevilla’s defence has been key to their strongfinish to the domestic season and their run to theEuropa League final, conceding just once since thecontinental restart: a penalty in their 2-1 semi-finalwin over Manchester United. Much credit shouldgo to Moroccan goalkeeper Bono – Sevilla’s keep-er in cup competitions this season – and centre-backs Diego Carlo and Jules Koundé. In addition,coach Julen Lopetegui has, since arriving last sum-mer, installed a possession-based system at theclub, helping to keep the ball away from theiropponents’ most dangerous forwards.

Lopetegui’s side can attack too, with their full-backs Jesús Navas and Sergio Reguilón alwayslooking to get forward. In central midfield, ÉverBanega is the creative force and he’ll be keen tomake an impact in what will be his final game forthe club.

A concern for Sevilla, though, is that their topscorer Lucas Ocampos – who has 17 goals thiscampaign – is an injury doubt for Friday’s matchafter suffering a knock in the semi-final.

��� ����� ��Inter Milan are similarly strong in defence and

have also conceded just a single goal since the com-petition’s restart, coming in their 2-1 quarter-finalwin over Bayer Leverkusenbefore they dispatchedShakhtar Donetsk 5-0 inthe semi-final. CoachAntonio Conte has creat-ed a solid back three, onewhich features a familiarfoe for Sevilla in the formof former Villarreal andAtlético de Madrid cen-tre-back Diego Godín.

����������Lukaku vs Carlos

and Koundé is set to be anepic matchup. The Belgianhas terrorised defenders allseason long, especially inthis tournament, but hemay not have come upagainst a pairing as solidas the Sevilla duo yet.

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Bob and Mike Bryan were noton the entry list released

for men’s doubles at the USOpen, possibly signalingthe end of the 42-year-oldAmerican twins’ record-breaking careers.

The Bryans won five oftheir 16 Grand Slam doublestitles together in New York,most recently in 2014.

Mike also won the 2018 US

Open with Jack Sock when Bobwas recovering from hip surgery.

The US Tennis Associationannounced its women’s andmen’s doubles fields, includingwild cards.

Three-time US Open cham-pion Kim Clijsters and playingpartner Hailey Baptiste receiveda wild-card entry in doubles togo along with the one she got forsingles as she makes her Grand

Slam comeback.The tournament

begins singles competi-tion August 31, and dou-bles on September 2. The

doubles fields are being cutfrom 64 to 32 teams for womenand men this year to reduce thenumber of people on-sitebecause of the coronavirus pan-demic.

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IPL-bound players from Englandand Australia will not be required

to undergo a six-day quarantine inthe UAE to enter the tournamentbubble as they will be coming froma controlled environment, RCBchairman Sanjeev Churiwala said onThursday.

Royal Challengers Bangalorehave in their ranks Aaron Finch andMoeen Ali, who will be busy in abilateral series comprising threeT20s and three ODIs, before the IPL.

The limited overs matches areslated to be held in England fromSeptember 4 to 16.

The IPL starts on September 19and, in all likelihood, all the Englishand Australian players will land inthe UAE via a charter flight onSeptember 17, making them avail-able for their respective team’s open-

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Two players of the South African men’s cricketteam have tested positive for Covid-19 and will

miss a specially-arranged culture camp, the coun-try’s cricket board said on Thursday.

Cricket South Africa (CSA), though, did notdisclose the names of the two players.

The board had conducted 50 tests on playersand support staff before the team’s culture camp inSkukuza from August 18 to 22. The camp,focussing on the team’s “identity, environment andperformance goals”, features 32 players.

“The testing is in line with fulfilling the organ-isation’s obligation and commitment to control thespread of the virus,” the CSA said.

“There were no replacements made for the twoplayers who tested positive. All those unable toattend the camp will join the proceedings virtual-ly.” The two players will miss the camp as they havesent into isolation as per the protocols.

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England captain Joe Root said onThursday he wants his players to

give it their all in the third Test withPakistan which gets underway thisweek as it could be their last for awhile.

England lead 1-0 and have toavoid defeat at the Ageas Bowl onFriday to seal what would be their firstseries win over Pakistan in 10 years.

It would make it a perfect sum-mer having beaten the West Indies 2-1 earlier in the season.

England’s next scheduled Testseries is in India in the new year butthe coronavirus pandemic may makethat impossible — playing it in theUAE could be a possibility.

However, Root says the playersshould perform as if this is the last

Test till next summer and “leave nostone unturned.”

“My message to the guys todaywas quite simple really,” he said at hiseve of match press conference.

“We don’t know when the nexttime is that we’ll play Test cricket.

“Let’s make sure we leave nostones unturned and we give every-thing to each other and the badgegoing into this last game.

“I fully expect everyone to giveeverything over the next five days andmake sure we give ourselves the bestchance of finishing the series 2-0.”Root, who missed their only Testdefeat of the summer in the first clashwith the West Indies due to becom-ing a father, said even playing with-out spectators beat what he fearedmight happen at the beginning of theseason.

“We feel extremely lucky to havegot the opportunity to play right now,”said the 29-year-old.

“At the start of the summer, wewere dreading the thought of not see-ing any international cricket.”

Root paid tribute to both theWindies and Pakistan for agreeing totour and having to live in a bubble toreduce the risk of them getting thevirus. “Credit to both touring teamsfor coming over and giving us thatopportunity to play, and to bothboards,” said Root.

“It’s been amazing to be a part ofthis experience. Hopefully we canhave a great finish to it.

“There’s been some really excit-ing games and I think it’s made forsome entertaining viewing at times.”

(3rd Test Day 1, Live from3pm onwards at Sony Six)

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FIGURATIVELY

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A7��!������#�"����(��>����B�����B�������������@�7>ing match.

“It is very clear from BCCISOP that each and every playerhas to go through quarantine (inUAE). However, the players fromEngland and Australia wouldalready be in a bio-bubble as theywould be playing the series there,”said Churiwala.

“If they continue to remain inthat bio-bubble and we can senda charter plane then they are assecure as other players.

“But they will have to gothrough Covid testing proceduresafter landing. It will be morestringent in their case. There willbe no compromise on safety,”added Churiwala on the eve of histeam’s departure to the UAE.

If things go as per plan, thenthe players will be available fortheir respective team’s openinggame, which they would have oth-

erwise missed in case of a six-dayquarantine.

The eight teams had initiallypressed for a three-day quarantinefor their players to start trainingearlier, but the BCCI did not agreeto that.

As per the UAE Government,players from both countries willneed to furnish Covid-19 negativetest certificates issued no morethan 96 hours before departure.

Churiwala hinted that evenfor the South Africa players due totake part in the IPL, a charter flightwill be organised.

Updating on RCB’s foreignplayers’ arrival, he said: “SouthAfrica players will arrive onAugust 22, September 17 forEngland and Australia players, SriLanka on September 1. Therecould be slight change in thisschedule,” he said.

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