ˇˆ ˙ rni regn. no. chheng/2012/42718, postal reg. no. - ryp … · 2020. 8. 19. · plenary...

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The Supreme Court onWednesday upheld the

Patna Police FIR to probe thealleged abetment to suicide offilm star Sushant Singh Rajputand subsequent transfer of thecase to the CBI. The verdictcame in response to actressRhea Chakraborty’s plea seek-ing transfer of the Patna PoliceFIR to Mumbai.

The SC said the obstruc-tions for the Bihar Police teamin Mumbai while investigatingthe Patna FIR registered byRajput’s father should havebeen avoided as it gave rise tosuspicion on the bonafide ofthe Mumbai Police’s enquiry.

“The records of the caseproduced before this courtdoes not prima facie suggestany wrongdoing by theMumbai Police. However, theirobstruction to the Bihar Policeteam at Mumbai could havebeen avoided since it gave riseto suspicion on the bonafide oftheir enquiry,” the court said.

The SC ruling ordering theCBI probe came when a singlejudge bench exercised the spe-cial powers under Article 142of the Constitution.

Justice Hrishikesh Roycited the Justice LS Panta judg-ment, “Under Article 142 ofthe Constitution, this court inthe exercise of its jurisdictionmay pass such decree or makesuch order as is necessary fordoing complete justice in anycause” or “matter” pendingbefore it. The expression“cause” or “matter” would

include any proceeding pend-ing in court and it wouldcover almost every kind of pro-ceeding in court, includingcivil or criminal.”

“This court’s (SC) powerunder Article 142(1) to docomplete justice is entirely ofdifferent level and of a differ-ent quality. What would be theneed of ‘complete justice’ in acause or matter would dependupon the facts and circum-stances of each case and whileexercising that power the courtwould take into considerationthe express provisions of asubstantive statute,” said JusticeRoy citing the Panta judg-ment.

Justice Roy further said,“The above ratio makes itamply clear that the SupremeCourt in a deserving case, caninvoke Article 142 powers torender justice. The peculiar cir-cumstances, in this case,require that complete justice isdone in this matter. How thisis to be achieved must now bedecided.”

Justice Roy underlinedthat the Bihar andMaharashtra Governmentsare making acrimonious alle-gations of political interfer-ence against each other, andthe legitimacy of the investi-gation has come under acloud. “These developments,unfortunately, have thepropensity to delay and mis-direct the investigation. Insuch a situation, there is a rea-sonable apprehension of truthbeing a casualty and justicebecoming a victim,” observedJustice Roy.

He asserted that to ensurepublic confidence in the inves-tigation and to do completejustice in the matter, the courtconsiders it appropriate toinvoke the powers conferredby Article 142 of theConstitution.

Justice Roy turned downthe MaharashtraGovernment’s arguments thatordinarily, the local policeshould conduct an investiga-tion into any reported crime

and entrustment of the inves-tigation to the CBI must be anexception to meet extraordi-nary exigencies, and the con-sent given by BiharGovernment, was for politicalexigencies.

“As a court exercising law-ful jurisdiction for theassigned roster, no impedi-ment is seen for exercise ofplenary power in the presentmatter,” said Justice Royinvoking Article 142 to trans-fer the Sushant Singh Rajputdeath case to the CBI.

The top court furthernoted that the Mumbai Policewere conducting only a limit-ed inquiry into the cause ofunnatural death, underSection 174 CrPC and there-fore, it cannot be said withcertainty at this stage that theywill not undertake an investi-gation on the other aspects ofthe unnatural death, by regis-tering an FIR.

The Mumbai Police in anaffidavit in the Supreme Courthad denied that the quaran-

tine of IPS officer VinayTiwary was aimed at obstruct-ing the investigation by theBihar Police in the case regis-tered by Sushant’s father inPatna. Clarifying the quaran-tine of the Bihar Police officer,the Mumbai Police said, “Infact, such a step was taken bythe Municipal Corporationfor Greater Mumbai and notby police authorities.”

The SC underlined thatuncertainty about the futurecontingency in Mumbai, thefather of the deceased has filedthe complaint at Patna, level-ling serious allegations againstRhea Chakraborty followingwhich, the FIR was registeredand the Bihar Police startedtheir investigation.

“The case is now takenover by the CBI at the requestof the Bihar Government. Thepetitioner has no objection forinvestigation by the CBI but issceptical about the bonafidesof the steps taken by the Bihar Government and thePatna Police,” observed JusticeRoy.

However, Justice Roynoted that the incidentsreferred to in the complaint doindicate that the MumbaiPolice also possess the juris-diction to undertake investi-gation. “Therefore, in theevent of a case being regis-tered also at Mumbai, theconsent for the investigationby the CBI under Section 6 ofthe DSPE Act can be compe-tently given by MaharashtraGovernment”, noted the topcourt.

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The second round of the sero-logical survey, conducted in

the first week of August acrossDelhi, has suggested that 28.35per cent of the tested people havedeveloped antibodies againstCovid-19. It means that theyhave been exposed to the virusbut were asymptomatic and didnot fell ill, said sources in theState Government.

Delhi’s population is aroundtwo crore. It means more than 50lakh people and every fourthperson in Delhi have been infect-ed with the virus one time oranother during the last sixmonths.

The highest prevalence hasbeen reported from the centraldistrict, said the sources.

The first round carried on asample size of 21,387 had shownthat 22.86 per cent of the peoplesurveyed had been exposed tothe virus. A serological surveyinvolves collecting blood samplesand testing it to determinewhether a person has developedantibodies against the virus.

During the second round ofsurvey, more than 15,000 sam-ples were lifted across 11 districtsin Delhi to assess the spread ofthe virus. Of the total samplescollected this time, half werefrom people between the ages of18 and 49.

The samples were processedin 18 authorised labs, said thesources. The data collated byresearchers at Maulana AzadMedical College has been sub-mitted to Principal HealthSecretary Vikram Dev Dutt.Despite several efforts, Dutt

could not be contacted.“The labs have submitted

their reports and, after compil-ing the data, we have found aprevalence of 28.35 per cent ofthe disease among people whowere tested in the second round.The highest prevalence has been

reported from the central dis-trict,” said a senior official fromthe State Health Department.

“We have already started thework on the next survey and ameeting is scheduled for August20 to discuss the sample size,”added the official.

In July, Delhi HealthMinister Satyendar Jain hadannounced that district healthofficials will carry out a sero-survey across the nationalCapital from the 1st till the 5thof every month. He had said theexercise will help theGovernment to identify thespread of the disease and to for-mulate policies for containmentand management of the disease.

The national Capital hasrecorded 1,398 fresh Covid-19cases in the last 24 hours, takingthe total number of coronaviruscases to 1,56,139, according tothe health bulletin of the DelhiGovernment. Nine patients dieddue to coronavirus and the totaldeath count has now reached4,235. In the last 24 hours, 1,320people got cured, while thenumber of people who have beencured of Covid-19 now increasedto 1,40,767.

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Punjab’s Covid-19 tally onWednesday breached

36,000-mark and the deathtoll surpassed 900-mark withthe State recording 1693 freshcases and 24 deaths in the past24 hours. With this, the state’sinfection tally stood at 36,083and death toll at 920.

Of the total 22 districts, fivedistricts — Ludhiana with 462,Jalandhar with 208, 117 fromPatiala, 114 from SAS Nagar(Mohali), and 111 fromFerozepur — reported freshcases in three-digit figure,accounting for 60 percent of theWednesday’s total cases.

Besides, 86 fresh cases werereported from Amritsar, fol-lowed by 68 from Sangrur, 64from Moga, 62 from Bathinda,59 from Fatehgarh Sahib, 54from Faridkot, 52 fromBarnala, 46 from Muktsar, 39from Gurdaspur, 38 fromFazilka, 34 from Ropar, 29from Hoshiarpur, 24 fromMansa, 10 from SBS Nagar,eight from Kapurthala, sevenfrom Tarn Taran, and one newcase from Pathankot.

The deadly virus claimedeight lives in Ludhiana district,followed by six in Patiala, threein Jalandhar and one each inAmritsar, Fatehgarh Sahib,Kapurthala, Barnala,Ferozepur, Pathankot andMansa districts.

As many 13 prisoners — 10from Bathinda and three fromBarnala, and six PolicePersonnel — two each fromLudhiana and Tarn Taran, oneeach from Mohali and

Bathinda, have been testedpositive while 17 positive caseshave the travel history to otherstates or countries. As many941 patients — including 281from Jalandhar, 236 fromPatiala, 170 from SAS Nagar(Mohali), 98 from Amritsar, 35from Hoshiarpur, 23 fromPathankot, 18 from Mansa, 15from Gurdaspur, 13 fromMoga, 12 from Sangrur, 10each from Barnala and Fazilka,nine from Muktsar, seven fromFerozepur, and four fromFatehgarh Sahib — have beendischarged in Wednesday afterrecovering from the conta-gion.

With this, the total numberof recoveries has reached22,703 at the rate of 68.62 per-cent. The state still has 12,460active cases — accounting for37.66 percent of the state’stotal positive cases — of which362 patients are on oxygen sup-port, and 36 are critical and onventilator support.

On Wednesday, a total of17,667 samples were collectedfrom across the state. Till date,the state has collected total of8,19,657 samples.

Meanwhile, SAD’s MLAfrom Dera Bassi NK Sharmahas been tested positive for thenovel coronavirus onWednesday. Currently, five leg-islators — Cabinet MinisterGurpreet Singh Kangar, PunjabVidhan Sabha Deputy SpeakerAjaib Singh Bhatti, AAP’s rebelMLA Nazar Singh Mansahia,SAD’s Dakha MLA ManpreetSingh Ayali, and Dera BassiMLA — are infected by thecontagion. Sharing the infor-

mation from his Facebookpage, Sharma has appealed toall the people who had come inhis contact to get their testsdone. “I would like to sharewith you that I am tested pos-itive for COVID-19. I was fac-ing mild symptoms from lastfew days, so I got myself test-ed and the report turned out tobe positive. I am now in com-plete isolation and perfectlyhealthy and will be back withmy well wishers soon,” he said.

PUNJAB COVID-19HEALTH SERVICES WELLPLACES, CLAIMS GOVT

Amidst reports that Punjabis unable to handle the heavypatient load owing to steep risein the COVID tally, PunjabChief Secretary Vini Mahajanon Wednesday claimed that theState is well prepared to handlethe current patient load and theState Government has part-nered with the private health-care sector to ensure greatercoverage and better utilizationof available resources in theState for the benefit of thepatients.“COVID response inPunjab is founded on the pil-lars of preparedness, inter-sec-toral coordination, intensivesurveillance, strict contain-ment, capacity building andcomprehensive patient man-agement. All desired diagnos-tic and drug therapy facilitieshave been ensured at bothLevel II and Level III facilities,”she said.

Mahajan said that the LevelII facilities in the state are wellprepared to handle the currentpatient load with more than 60

percent beds even lying vacantin the top four districts with thehighest COVID-19 caseloadcumulatively — that isLudhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala,and Amritsar.

“At Level III facilities inthese four districts, cumula-tively more than 40 percentbeds are currently unoccu-pied. Although given the cur-rent spurt of cases, the occu-pancy of hospital or ICU bedsby critically-ill patients isincreasing, the situation is farfrom being as grave as men-tioned in some news reports,”she said.

She said that while it is pos-sible that some individual cen-ters may report full occupancyat times, there is a strong mech-anism in place at the districtlevel to ensure that patients arereferred immediately to anoth-er centre with sufficient bedsand given the best possiblemedical care.“The Governmentalso has designated dedicatedofficers, called COVID PatientTracking Officers (CPTOs), forpatient tracking, who monitorevery person that tests positiveright from the time the testresult comes till the completionof treatment,” she said.Similarly,senior IAS and PCS officershave also been made in-chargeof tertiary care and Level IIIfacilities to ensure that there isoptimal utilization of resources,she said.

Moreover, the state author-ities are keeping a close eye onthe situation and appropriatesteps are being undertaken toensure sufficient availability ofbeds or ICUs for COVID-19

patients. The live bed statusavailability will also be madeavailable to the general publicshortly on the COVA App.

“While it is true that thereis a spurt in the number ofCOVID 19 positive cases, it hasbeen limited to major citiesincluding Ludhiana, Jalandhar,Amritsar, and Patiala. It is pri-marily driven by the easing oflockdown restrictions, rampingup of testing facilities and alsobecause of non-observance ofthe Government directivessuch as use of mask, main-taining social distancing, fol-lowing protocol for coughingor sneezing, etc,” she said.

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In yet another spike, theunion territory of

Chandigarh on Wednesdayreported 91 fresh COVID-19cases. One more resident dieddue to COVID-19 and thetotal toll reached 31 in the city.

The total tally of positivecases stood at 2396 including1012 active cases till theevening. 108 COVID-19patients were also declaredcured taking the total recover-ies to 1351.

“A 74 years old male resi-dent of Sector 24, who was aCOVID positive, expired inPGIMER on August 19. He suf-fered refractory septic shockdue to COVID acute respira-tory distress syndrome,” statedChandigarh HealthDepartment’s evening bulletin.

Giving details of the posi-tive cases, the bulletin stated,“The fresh cases were report-ed from Sectors 14, 15, 16, 19,20, 21, 22, 25, 37, 38, 40, 45, 47,50, 52, 56, 63, Daria, RaipurKhurd, PGIMER, Kajheri,Burail, Manimajra, MauliJagran, Dadumajra,Kishangarh, Khuda Lahora andBehlana.

Out of total 91 cases detect-ed, 55 were found positivethrough RT-PCR testing whilethe rest of the cases were detect-

ed through rapid antigen test-ing. Among those tested posi-tive included a one year oldmale child from Manimajraand a five-year old male childfrom Sector 25, according to thebulletin. The recovery rate ofpositive cases was recorded at56 percent while the fatality ratewas 1.29 percent.

Till date, 22730 samples ofcity residents have been testedfor COVID-19. 532 sampleswere tested in the past 24hours, the bulletin added. Withthe city witnessing rapid surgein positive cases, 1348 positivecases have been reported so farin the month of August.

PRIVATE HOSPITALS TOKEEP 25 PERCENT BEDSFOR COVID PATIENTS

With Chandigarh’s hospi-tals overwhelmed with

COVID-19 patients amid thesudden increase in spread ofinfection, the UTAdministration on Wednesdaydirected the private hospitals tokeep at least 25 percent bedsreserved for COVID-19patients. The Administrationhad earlier capped the treat-ment cost for COVID-19patients in the private hospitalsof the city.

“In exercise of the powersconferred under ‘TheChandigarh Epidemic Disease,COVID-19 Regulations, 2020notified under Epidemic DiseaseAct 1897, all the private hospi-tals are hereby directed to keepat least 25 percent of the bedsand ICU beds etc. in all specialityfor COVID 19 patients on pay-ment basis,” stated an orderissued by Arun Gupta, UTPrincipal Secretary Health.

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Ahead of the monsoon ses-sion of State Assembly

starting from August 26,Haryana Health and HomeMinister Anil Vij onWednesday said that a coronascreening camp will be organ-ised in the assembly premiseson August 24, in which MLAs,officers, employees and jour-nalists will be able to get theCovid-19 tested.

Recently Haryana VidhanSabha Speaker Gian ChandGupta said that anyone enter-ing the Haryana Vidhan Sabhacomplex for the upcomingmonsoon session will have toshow a COVID-19 negativecertificate.

Apart from this, all the dis-trict civil surgeons of the Statehave been instructed to organ-ise Covid-19 screening campfor MLAs of their respectivedistricts. Vij e said that doctorsin the State are treating patientseffectively due to which thecondition of corona is undercontrol. As a result, the recov-ery rate of corona patients inthe state is around 84 percent,death rate is only 1.1 percentand the duration of doubling ofpatients is 32 days.

The Health Minister saidthat to examine the antibodyamong the people, arrange-ments are being made to con-duct a sero-survey in 850 peo-ple in each district. Under this,550 people will be examined inthe villages of the districts and300 in the cities.A sero-surveyis an epidemiological tool thathelps in detecting unreportedor past cases of Covid-19 andin understanding the preva-lence of the disease in com-munities. In the survey, bloodsamples are randomly collect-ed from various high-risk pop-ulation groups — based on thecategories identified by theIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) — to look forantibodies against Covid-19.Antibodies are generated in thebody as an immune response tofight against the infection andprovide protection against con-tracting the same infectiousdisease again.He said that as nomedicines for corona havebeen prepared in the world soeveryone should wear masksand maintain a distance of 2yards while leaving the house.Apart from this, the policehave also been instructed totake action against those per-sons who do not wear masks.

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Taking notice of overcharg-ing being made by some

private hospitals and labs forthe treatment and test ofCOVID-19, Punjab Health andFamily Welfare Minister BalbirSingh Sidhu on Wednesdayinstructed the Civil Surgeons toensure that all such serviceswould be availed as per thecapped rates decided by theState Government.

“If anyone found violatingthe instructions, immediateaction would be taken againstthe management under theEpidemic Disease Act,” saidSidhu.

The Minister said that ser-vices of test and treatmentwere being provided free of costat all government health facil-ities so that all needy people getthe quality services without anyfinancial burden.

“Similarly, to check profi-teering by private hospitals,there was also a dire need to fixthe rates of private health estab-lishments during the currentpandemic.

That’s why, CaptAmarinder Singh led PunjabGovernment has fixed theirCOVID treatment rates in July,”

he said. Sidhu said that it wasbrought to his notice that evennow, some private hospitalshave been charging exorbi-tantly from families of patients.

He appealed to the man-agements of private hospitals toserve the humanity for thesake of safe future of our coun-try during this tough time andto “stop overcharging for thetreatment as families of patientsare already passing throughtrauma, financial shock, anddiscrimination associated withthe disease”.

Divulging about fixed ratesof treatment, the Minister saidthat for moderate sicknessrequiring Isolation Beds,including supportive care and

oxygen, the rates per day ofadmission are fixed at Rs10,000 for all private medicalcolleges, NABH private hospi-tals with teaching programmefrom NBE, Rs 9000 for NABHaccredited Hospitals (includingPrivate Medical Colleges with-out PG or DNB Course) and Rs8000 for Non-NABH accredit-ed hospitals.

The rates across these cat-egories of hospitals for SevereSickness (ICU without need forventilator) have been capped,respectively, at Rs 15,000, Rs14,000 and Rs 13,000, while forvery severe or critical patients,these are fixed at Rs 18,000, Rs,16,500 and Rs 15,000 respec-tively. All these rates are inclu-sive of PPE cost.

“To encourage private hos-pitals to cater to mild sicknesscases also, the PunjabGovernment has also fixed perday admission rates for suchcases at Rs 6500, Rs 5500 andRs 4500 respectively,” he added.

Sidhu said that to bringmore transparency in the pri-vate labs, the PunjabGovernment has also cappedthe cost of testing maximum Rs2400 for RT-PCR inclusive ofGST or Taxes, it also includesany cost involved in home col-

lection of samples. For antigentesting at private labs, the costhas been capped at maximumRs 1,000 including GST orTaxes and any cost involved inhome collection of samples, headded.

The Minister said that forgetting tested, no prescriptionfrom a doctor is required ingovernment hospitals andthose testing positive and areasymptomatic or mild symp-tomatic need not be admittedto hospitals and can opt forhome isolation, if they havefacilities.

Sidhu said that testing isavailable free of cost at allGovernment Health Facilities.The list of approximately 600Government (All DistrictHospitals, Sub DivisionalHospitals and CommunityHealth Centers) and 52 ICMRapproved private testing centersare available at the HealthDepartment’s website.

Some private labs providefacilities for home collection ofsamples.

“Instructions have beenissued to all DeputyCommissioners to take strictaction, if any hospital and pri-vate lab are found violating theorders,” he added.

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Punjab Finance MinisterManpreet Singh Badal on

Wednesday said that thePunjab Government has stoodby its employees and pension-ers despite the financial con-straints due to nationwide lock-down imposed to contain theCOVID-19 pandemic claimingthat the Government has paid100 percent salary and pensionto them “on time, without anydelay”.

Urging all employees andpensioners to terminate thestrike and help the StateGovernment fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Manpreet saidthat the State Government haseven allowed ProvisionalPension to the employees retir-ing from January 2020onwards, so that no one has toface financial crunch onaccount of the lockdown.

He said that the StateGovernment has lived up to itsfive mantras — salaries, pen-sions, subsidy to Powercom,debt servicing, and disbursingold-age and social securitypension — it has not default-ed for a single day.

“The State Government

has also increased the ex-gra-tia grant to Rs 50 lakhs payableto the dependents of govern-ment employees who die whileon duty fighting the novelcoronavirus,” he added.

“Punjab Government hadimposed a state-wide curfewfrom March 23, 2020, as tobreak the contagious COVID-19 transmission chain,” he said,adding that the economic activ-ity came to a standstill duringthe lockdown.

However, with the relax-ations in lockdown and theeconomy opening up, therehas been a revival in some sec-tors, though many sectorsremain subdued, he saidadding that the State, as a pre-cautionary measure in the

interest of citizens, has contin-ued with the weekend lock-down from June 13, 2020,onwards.

Manpreet said that how-ever, the State’s effort to breakthe transmission throughimposition of lockdown orcurfew has also meant a sig-nificant loss of Revenue andGross State Domestic Product(GSDP). “The state has fore-seen a shortfall in revenuesthat could be even more thanthe initial assessment of 25percent of Total RevenueReceipts (BE).

It could lead to an evenhigher shortfall of about Rs26,400 crore, that is about 30percent of our Total RevenueReceipts (BE) in 2020-21,” headded.

The Minister said that theState is now staring at a loss ofabout 30 percent in RevenueReceipts, making it imperativefor the State to take all steps itcan to reduce, if not bridge thisshortfall.

“Due to lockdown, theState has witnessed a shortfallof 80 percent in the State’s TaxRevenue collections in April2020 against the budgetarytargets.

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Hitting out at theOpposition for continuing

to play dirty politics at a timewhen Punjab was goingthrough a critical period in itsCOVID-19 crisis, Punjab ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh on Wednesday said thatthe one-day Assembly sessionconvened by the governmentwas a “constitutional require-ment”, as clearly mentioned inthe official announcement twodays back.Contrary to the Akaliallegation, the ‘cruel joke’ onthe people was not by PunjabGovernment but by SAD pres-ident Sukhbir Badal, whosepathetic record in attendance inAssembly as MLA showed howlittle importance he gave to theHouse and its sessions, said theChief Minister. From March2017 to May 2019, when he wasMLA, Sukhbir attended Housefor only 16 of the 40 days in ses-sion, he pointed out.

Capt Amarinder expressedshock at the reaction of SADpresident Sukhbir Badal andAAP leader Harpal SinghCheema, terming it not justludicrous but a manifestation ofthe total lack of sensitivity andconcern on the part of the two

opposition parties in the State.“Both the parties seemed

bent on playing with the sen-timents of the people, whoseonly concern at present is toprotect themselves from thecoronavirus, which is peakingin Punjab and could play havocwith the State before stabiliz-ing,” said the ChiefMinister.Responding toSukhbir’s remark that the sin-gle day session was ‘evidence ofthe government’s acknowl-edgement that it has lost themandate to govern’, CaptAmarinder said that theGovernment had the mandateof the people and did not needthe support of the handful ofSAD MLAs in the Assembly.

“The only pressure on thegovernment in calling the one-day session is constitutional,”the Chief Minister further said,urging Sukhbir to go and readup the Constitution, whoseprinciples and rules the Akalishad stopped upholding a longtime ago.Pointing out that sev-eral Ministers, MLAs, and offi-cials were currently eitherCOVID-19 positive or in quar-antine, the Chief Minister saidthat either Sukhbir was igno-rant of the ground situation orsimply did not care.

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Learning lessonsfrom the recent

hooch tragedy inci-dent that claimedmore than 100 lives,Punjab Governmenthas decided to put inplace stringent mea-sures, includingmandatory GPS link-age, to check in-transport pil-ferage of ethanol, spirits andother products by unscrupu-lous elements for use in themanufacture of illicit liquor.

From September 5, novehicles will be allowed totransport such products with-out tamper-proof sealing andGPS enabling. That was not all!The en-route stopping of thesevehicles would not be allowedin any case, and stringent pro-tocols would be implementedin case of a breakdown.

The orders, aimed at break-ing the “ugly” nexus betweenmanufacturers and transportersof the kind that led to the recenthooch tragedy, were issued bythe Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh onWednesday.

As per the directives issuedon Wednesday by Excise

Commissioner Rajat Agarwalon the Chief Minister’s orders,“From September 5, no vehicleswill be allowed to transportsuch products without tamper-proof sealing and GPSenabling.”“The GPS coordi-nates of the vehicle will need tobe preserved by the unit for aperiod of not less than 15 daysfrom the date of completion ofdelivery of a consignment,”stated the new directives, aimedat providing checks on trans-portation of Extra NeutralAlcohol (ENA), Ethanol,Specially Denatured Spirit(SDS), Denatured Spirit (DNS)and Rectified Spirit (RS) by thedistilleries.Under the new rules,the tamper-proof sealing ofthe tankers will be done by thedistillery units before dispatchand the seal will be broken onlyby the recipient.

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Former Deputy PrimeMinister Devi Lal's grand-

son Aditya and sitting legisla-tor Mohan Lal are among thenew district presidents appoint-ed by the ruling BJP in Haryanaon Wednesday. The appoint-ments were made by HaryanaBJP president and formerMinister Om Prakash Dhankar,exactly a month after he tookover as the new state chief ofthe party.

Among the 22 districtpresidents appointed by theparty, three have been retainedand they are Ajay Bansal(Rohtak), Gopal Sharma(Faridabad) and Ashok KumarDhand (Kaithal).

BJP leader Aditya Devi Lalhas been made Sirsa districtpresident, while party legisla-tor from Rai segment, MohanLal becomes the district chieffrom Sonipat, in which Barodaassembly constituency alsofalls.

Baroda assembly segmentfell vacant after demise of sit-ting Congress MLA ShriKrishan Hooda in April thisyear and bypolls in the con-stituency are due, though datesare yet to be announced by the

Election Commission. The BJPis eyeing to wrest the seatfrom the main oppositionCongress.

Two women who have alsobeen appointed district presi-dents are Gargi Kakkar(Gurugram) and ArchanaGupta (Panipat). Among oth-ers to be appointed districtpresidents include StateSecretary of party''s KisanMorcha, Raj Kumar Saini(Kurukshetra), party''s stateexecutive members SatyenderParmar (Dadri), Raju Moor(Jind), Vikram Kadian(Jhajjar).

In the appointments for thedistrict unit presidents, theparty has attempted to balancethe caste equations in the state,where politics revolves aroundJats and non-Jats.

Chief Minister ManoharLal Khattar also congratulatedthe newly appointed districtunit chiefs.

Ahead of appointment ofdistrict unit presidents, StateGeneral Secretary(Organisation) Suresh Bhatt,who was accompanied byDhankar, had met BJP presi-dent J P Nadda in New Delhion Tuesday.

Chandigarh: The ChandigarhAdministration on Wednesdaylaunched the National DigitalHealth Mission in the cityproposing to cover the entirepopulation in a month’s timeperiod. For this, a special drivewill be launched in every sec-tor of Chandigarh.

Punjab Governor and UTAdministrator VP SinghBadnore formally launched thescheme and got his first digitalhealth card at Raj Bhawan.Manoj Parida, Adviser to UTAdministrator said that theChandigarh Administrationproposes to cover the entireunion territory within a peri-od of one month.

On the first day itself,4,000 persons have registeredonline and got their digitalhealth cards online, he said.Chandigarh will be the first tocover the entire population ofunion territory with digitalhealth cards. This will also helpin better implementation ofAYUSH Health scheme, Paridasaid. PNS

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Notice Inviting Tender No. 04(1)/G/2020-21 Bilaspur, Dated 18.08.2020

TENDER NOTICE(2nd Call)

Online tenders are invited for the following's work upto 29.08.2020.

The tender documents can be purchased online through PWD Websitehttp://eproc.cgstate.gov.in before 29.08.2020 The other details can be viewedonline on the above-mentioned website.

OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEERPUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, NATIONAL HIGHWAY CIRCLE, BILASPUR (C.G.)

Superintending EngineerP.W.D., N.H. Circle Bilaspur (C.G.)

Sno. Name of work P.A.C. (Rs. in lacks) Name of Division1 2 3 4

01 WMM Patch Repair, BT Patch Repair,Cencrete Patch Repair and Hire of JCBfor Removing of Land Sliding Materialand Fixing of Km. Stone & 5th Km.Point Stone On Km. (32 to 50= 18 Km.& 74 to 97.600= 23.600 Km.) Total = 41.600 Km. on NH 45 (Extended).

Rs. 145.00 Executive Engineer, P.W.D; N.H. Division,

Bilaspur (C.G.)

G- 83136/4 Ryp/Dtd 19.8.20

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel

will transfer `1737.50 croreinto the bank accounts offarmers, tendupatta collec-tors and dung sellers. This isto mark the 76th birthanniversary of the late RajivGandhi.

The programme is sched-uled at 12.30 pm at CMHouse and will be attended byCongress interim presidentSonia Gandhi and formerCongress president RahulGandhi via video conferenc-ing. Cabinet Ministers willalso be present.

He will transfer `1,500crores into the bank accountsof 19 lakh farmers on August20 as the second installmentunder the Rajiv GandhiKisaan Nyay Yojana.

The Chief Minister willalso transfer `232.81 croresinto the bank accounts oftendupatta collectors asbonus for 2018. Money willalso be paid into the bankaccounts of sellers of cow

dung procured in thesecond fortnight of lastmonth.

Under the Rajiv GandhiKisaan Nyay Yojana ofChhattisgarh, 19 lakh farmersare being provided grant aidof `5,750 crores.

The first installment of`1,500 crores was transferredinto the accounts of farmerson May 21, the day RajivGandhi was assassinated onMay 21, 1991.

The government isprocuring dung at `2/kgunder the Godhan NyayYojana to be turned intoeco-friendly vermi compost.

Payment to those whosold dung between August 2and 15 will be made.

Bonus worth `232.81crores will go to the bankaccounts of 11,46,626tendupatta collectors of 728societies for tendupattacollection done in 2018 in 114

development blocks.It is noteworthy that in

the year 2018 season, a total14.85 lakh standard sacks oftendupatta was collected by880 primary forest societiesof the state. And the wage ratein 2018 was `2,500 perstandard sack of tendupattacollected.

In 2018, `371.15 croreswere distributed as wages to11,98,673 tendupattacollectors.

RAIPUR: ChhattisgarhPradesh CongressCommittee (PCC) willorganise a function to laythe foundation stone of dis-trict offices of ‘Rajiv Bhavan’in 22 district headquarterson August 20, to mark the76th birth anniversary of thelate Prime Minister RajivGandhi.

As per the itinerary,after the Rajiv Gandhi KisanNyay Yojana and otherscheme payment relatedevents are held at 12 noon,

PCC President MohanMarkam will address thegathering on video.

The foundation stoneevent will be held at 1.05 pmand at 1.10 pm AICC in-charge of Chhattisgarh P.L.Punia will address it. It willbe followed by formerCongress President RahulGandhi's address.

Mohan Markam hadissued directives to holdevents to mark the birthdayof Rajiv Gandhi across thestate.

CM to transfer `1737.50 cr todayFoundation stone ofdistrict offices to be laid


An Indian Air Force (IAF)Embraer Jet, used to

ferry the President or PrimeMinister, conducted a lowpass fly by at the SwamiVivekananda Airport here onWednesday as part of regularexercise.

Swami VivekanandaAirport Authority DirectorRakesh Sahai said that the jetreached Raipur Airport andstarted to land. But just beforetouching the runway, the planeagain took to the skies. Sahaisaid it is part of a routinepractice conducted by IAF.

He said the IAF had ear-lier conducted similar exer-cises at Raipur Airport withdifferent aircraft. The Jetleft for the Nagpur Air ForceBase after the session.

The Embraer Jet is usedby the IAF for VIP

movement, mainly for thePresident or Prime Minister.This type of practice is doneon a regular basis at airportsfor pilots to hone their skillsduring landing and take-off.VIPs regularly land in RaipurAirport, added Sahai.

IAF VIP jet conductsexercise over Raipur airport

STAFF REPORTER nBIJAPUR

Bollywood star Sonu Soodpromised new books to

Chhattisgarh village girlAnjali Kudiyam after a localjournalist on Wednesday putout a video showing her withwet eyes after her house col-lapsed due to floods inBijapur and drenched all herbooks.

“Wipe your tears sister,there will be new books and ahouse also,” Sonu Soodretweeted after being movedby the video posted by jour-nalist Mukesh Chandrakar.

Anjali's house was locat-ed in village Komala in dis-trict Bijapur, which has beenbattered by heavy rains.

On the night of August15-16, her house collapsed

due to floods. She was not sopained for the loss of thehouse and its materials butbecause her books wentunder water. The videoshowed her putting all herwet books in a bamboo

basket, while shedding tears. Sonu Sood had been pro-

viding assistance to the poorsince the start of the Covid-19induced lockdown throughdifferent means.

Chhattisgarh Pradesh

Congress Committeespokesperson R.P. Singh toldSonu Sood in a tweet: “Werespect the goodwill shownby you. Government ofChhattisgarh led by BhupeshBaghel is able to take care ofits daughters. Soon she willget the new books and house.The process has begun. Onceagain thanks for the benevo-lent gesture.”

Meanwhile, the Bijapurdistrict administration hand-ed over a cheque of `1.019lakh to Anjali for rebuildingthe house. The administra-tion also gave her books forpreparation for the Pre-Agriculture Test (PAT).

The district administra-tion of Bijapur is presentlyinvolved in rescue operationof villagers stranded in flood.

Marwahi notifiedas NagarPanchayatRAIPUR: The Chhattisgarhgovernment has issued notifi-cation to constitute Marwahias Nagar Panchayat inGaurela-Pendra-Marwahidistrict. The notification waspublished on August 18.

As per the notification,Marwahi Nagar Panchayatwill constitute GramPanchayat Marwahi, Lohariand Kumhari.

Within 30 days, if anylocal authority or person hasany objection over its consti-tution or has suggestions, thisshould be submitted beforethe District Collector at hisoffice during the office hours.

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel on the InternationalDay of the World’sIndigenous Peoples onAugust 9 announced grantingMarwahi the status of NagarPanchayat.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Dr Ajay Kumar Verma, Dean, AgricultureCollege and Research Centre Marra

(Patan) in Durg in Chhattisgarh, was appoint-ed Office-on-Special Duty (OSD) onWednesday to oversee the establishment of theproposed Mahatma Gandhi Horticulture andForestry University.

The appointment order was issued byChhattisgarh's Agriculture Development andFarmers’ Welfare and Bio-TechnologyDepartment.

Apart from the present job, he would look

into the responsibility of establishment of theuniversity, an official press release said.

According to an order issued from theSecretariat (Mahanadi Bhavan), till the appoint-ment of a new Vice Chancellor for the MahatmaGandhi Horticulture and Forestry University,Dr Ajay Verma would remain the OSD.

The Chhattisgarh government has passed aBill to set up the first Horticulture and ForestryUniversity in the state. Different HorticultureColleges will be opened in the districts.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has alreadyannounced the opening of HorticultureCollege at Jashpur.


Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel on

Wednesday urged UnionPanchayati Raj and RuralDevelopment MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar tosanction of `1,100 crores forconstruction of steel bridgesto ensure rural connectivity.

In a letter, the ChiefMinister said the state govern-ment has identified 454 LongSpan Bridges (LSB) including250 steel bridges for construc-tion, which will cost approxi-mately `1,100 crores, an offi-cial press release said.

Baghel said that if thesebridges are built, the tribal and

rural population will have supe-rior road connectivity which willenable the state to bring them tothe mainstream of development,improving their economic status.

He pointed out that theBastar division is hit by LeftWing Extremism and it suffersfrom geographical disadvan-tages due to dense forests andborders with other states.

Till now, 1,375 roads(7,228 km) have been con-structed in Bastar division andanother 692 roads (3,009 km)are being built.

He added that due toNaxalite activities and time-con-suming construction time, LongSpan Bridges (LSB) are not

feasible on these roads. Instead,construction of steel bridges ispreferred owning to prefabricat-ed nature of steel bridges, thusreducing the construction time.

He said that even mainte-nance and upgradation time isalso significantly less for steelbridges and these bridges canbe relocated or shifted conve-niently as per the need.

The Chief Minister toldthe Union Minister that thestate has till now constructed7.300 rural roads amounting to33,622 km along with 264 LSBincluding nine steel bridges.Furthermore, 1,240 roads(7,737 km) along with 114 LSBare under construction.

STAFF REPORTER nGARIABAND

Good news for wildlifelovers! Two wild buffalo

calves have been born inChhattisgarh’s Udanti-Sitanadi tiger reserve,officials said on Wednesday.

Wild buffalo is the stateanimal of Chhattisgarh and isamong the endangeredspecies of central India.

“A male and a femalewild buffalo calves were bornon August 18,” AdditionalPrincipal Chief Conservatorof Forest (Wildlife) ArunPandey was quoted as sayingin an official press release.

Both the claves and theirmothers are safe and healthy,the officials said, adding thatnecessary medicines and

nutritious fodder were beingprovided to the animals.

According to officials, forthe conservation of wildbuffalo, the state governmentis undertaking every possiblestep.

Currently, there are 10wild buffaloes at theUdanti-Sitanadi tiger reserve,located about 245 km fromRaipur in Gariaband district.Of these, eight are males.

According to the ForestDepartment, the decision tostart breeding of wild buffaloin captivity was taken in2009.

The Chhattisgarhgovernment has also decidedto bring wild buffalos fromAssam. But this has nothappened yet due to theCovid pandemic.


Chhattisgarh DirectorGeneral of Police (DGP)

D.M. Awasthi on Wednesdayinteracted with lower rungcolleagues via video call andordered instant action toredress their grievances.

This was part of ‘Spandan’programme aimed at decreas-ing the stress level in the policeforce, an official press releasesaid. Constable Hemlata Sahuposted in Balrampur told theDGP that her child was weaksince birth and her mother-in-law was paralyzed. Her hus-band was posted in SankariBilaspur and it was becomingtough to balance professional

and personal life.Awasthi immediately

ordered the transfer of Hemlatafrom Balrampur to Bilaspur andtold Hemlata to start packing asher transfer orders will bereaching shortly. "TheConstable gave tearful thanks tothe DGP," the press release said.

Akhilesh Yadav in Bastar’sPakhnar camp told the DGPthat his child had recentlydied due to which his wife wascontinuously in depression.

Agreeing that AkhileshYadav needed to be with hiswife, the DGP immediatelycalled Rajnandgaon BattalionCommandant Sarju RamSalam and asked him to haveYadav shifted from Bastar toRajnandgaon.

CM seeks `1,100 croresto build 454 steel bridges

Spandan: DPG resolvesgrievances of cops

Dr Verma to oversee birth ofHorticulture and Forestry University

Two wild buffalocalves born in Udanti

Sonu Sood offers help to girl,Chhattisgarh govt acts fast


Three deaths of Covid posi-tive patients was reported

in Chhattisgarh as the totalnumber of active cases crossedthe 6,000 mark on Wednesday.

Also, 652 fresh cases weredetected in different districtswhile 338 patients were dis-charged upon recovery, offi-cials said.

Of the 652 cases, 291 werefrom Raipur, the currenthotspot of coronavirus in thestate.

After the three deathsreported on Wednesday, thetotal number of fatalities ofCovid positive patients inChhattisgarh reached 161.

A 53-year-old man fromRaigarh who was a heartpatient was admitted atLakhiram AgrawalMemorial Medical CollegeRaigarh due to breathingproblem and weakness on

August 16. He died onAugust 17 and was detectedCovid positive.

A 54-year-old man fromSaja Bemetara, who was suf-fering from kidney disease,high blood pressure and meta-bolic acidosis and was alsodetected Covid positive, wasadmitted in Dr BR AmbedkarMemorial Hospital Raipur onAugust 18 and died withinhours, the officials added.

A 60-year-old womanfrom Kusalpur locality inRaipur was admitted in AIIMSRaipur on August 17 withfever, breathing trouble andweakness. She had blood pres-sure and diabetes. She died thesame day and was later foundCovid positive.

So far 17,845 persons havetested Covid positive but11,185 have recovered.Currently, there are 6,139active cases in Chhattisgarh.

Over 6,000 activeCovid+ve cases inC’garh, 3 deaths

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on

Wednesday conducted search-es in multiple cities in connec-tion with a money launderingcase against Tablighi Jamaatleader Maulana SaadKandhalvi, trusts linked to theJamaat and others.

Premises in Mumbai,Hyderabad and Delhi inlcud-ing the Markaz of the outfit atNizamuddin here besides afew other locations weresearched to gather evidence,officials said.

The operation was con-ducted under the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA), the ED said.

The agency had filed amoney laundering case inApril against Maulana Saadand others after it took cog-nisance of a Delhi Police FIRagainst these entities.

The Crime Branch of theDelhi Police had on March 31lodged an FIR against sevenpeople, including the cleric,on a complaint by the stationhouse off icer (SHO) ofNizamuddin police station forholding a congregation ofTablighi Jamaat followers inalleged violation of the ordersagainst large gatherings tocontain the spread of coron-avirus.

Saad was alleged to haveorganised the religious gath-ering in March at NizamuddinMarkaz in violation of socialdistancing protocol imposedby the Centre to curb thespread of Covid-19.

Before the congregation atNizamuddin, the TablighiJamaat had organised anIjtema in Malaysia whereinthe members had widelypropagated against followingthe protocol to check thespread of the coronavirus.

As part of the probe, theED is looking into the per-sonal finances and charges ofalleged money launderingagainst Maulana Saad andsome other office bearers andassociates of the TablighiJamaat.

Donations received by theIslamic organisation from for-eign and domestic sourceswithout due authorisationsare also being probed by theagency.

The police FIR registeredagainst the Tablighi Jamaatevent said Delhi Police con-tacted authorit ies ofNizamuddin Markaz here onMarch 21 and reminded themof the government order pro-hibiting any political or reli-gious gathering of more than50 people.

Despite repeated efforts,the event organisers failed to

inform the health departmentor any other Governmentagency about the huge gath-ering inside the Markaz anddeliberately disobeyedGovernment orders, says theFIR.

More than 25,500 Tablighimembers and their contactshave been quarantined in thecountry after the Centre andthe state governments con-ducted a “mega operation” toidentify them, the govern-ment had said.

At least 9,000 people par-ticipated in the ijtema (reli-gious congregation) atNizamuddin. Later, many ofthe Tanlighis travelled to var-ious parts of the countryostensibly to spread the virus.

Some of the accused for-eign nationals of the Jamaatwho participated in the con-gregation have been recentlyallowed to walk free andreturn to their countries bylocal courts on payment ofvarying fines, after theyaccepted mild charges underthe plea bargain process.

However, a number ofthem could not fly back totheir countries due to thependency of some other policeFIRs lodged against them forthe same offence or otherswho sought trial in the pend-ing cases and did not resort tothe plea bargain.

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The face-off between theBJP and the Congress over

controversy related toFacebook allegedly showingfavours to the ruling party hasspilled over in the standingcommittee for Information andTechnology where both theparties have moved privilegemotion against each other.

The Department RelatedStanding Committee forInformation and Technology ischaired by Congress MP ShashiTharoor.

While Tharoor has moveda privilege motion noticeagainst BJP Lok Sabha MPNishikant Dubey, the latter hasalso moved a privilege motionnotice against Tharoor as wellas former Congress presidentRahul Gandhi.

According to sources,Tharoor on Tuesday filed aprivilege motion notice againstthe BJP MP from Jharkhandand soon after this, Dubeytook to Twitter to announce abreach of privilege motionnotice against both Tharoorand Rahul for casting asper-sions on the BJP as a party.

The row started whenTrinamool Congress MPMahua Moitra attacked onher Twitter handle a BJP law-maker citing political agendafrom the ruling party by

being critical of Tharoor forsummoning Facebook beforethe committee.

Tharoor added to Moitra’stweet, saying the BJP was con-stantly undermining the pow-ers of the committee and alsotalking about the rules androle of the chairman of thebody.

Dubey lashed out at both,reminding them of the com-mittee rules and how Tharoorhad passed off his party’spolitical agenda as committeepriority.

Dubey in his letter hasunderstood to have said thatTharoor had “never consulted”the agenda of summoningFacebook and/or WhatsApp inany of the meetings of theParliamentary Committee onInformation Technology.

It is, therefore, accordingto BJP MP is “a clear case, ofbreach of privilege by ShashiTharoor in the capacity ofHonourable Chairperson ofthe Departmentally RelatedStanding Committee onInformation Technology.”

Dubey’s notice also refersto a “breach of privilege” byMP Rahul who had tweetedthat the “BJP and RSS controlFacebook and WhatsApp inIndia, they spread fake newsand hatred thorough it and useit to inf luence the electorate”.

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The Navy top brass onWednesday commenced a

three-day meet to review itsoperational readiness in thebackdrop of stand-offs at theLine of Actual Control(LAC)even as Defence MinisterRajnath Singh lauded the ser-vice for deploying its warshipsin a “proactive” manner and itsreadiness to face any chal-lenge. Singh, however,refrained from naming China.

These remarks fromRajnath at the inauguration ofthe Navy Commanders’ confer-ence came at a time when theNavy has deployed most of itsfrontline warships in the strate-gically important Indian Oceanregion. These mission-baseddeployments were undertakento deny China any advantage inthat region. Moreover, theIndian warships and maritimereconnaissance aircraft weremaintaining round the clockvigil and keeping an eye on themovement of the Chinese ships.

Addressing the comman-ders, Rajnath also compliment-ed the men and women of theIndian Navy for their role in pro-tecting the maritime interests ofthe nation and expressed confi-dence in the Indian Navy’s pre-paredness to meet any challengethrough a proactive response indeploying its ships and aircraft.

Speaking on the unprece-dented challenge posed byCovid-19 pandemic, he con-gratulated the Navy, on the con-duct of the biggest ever repatri-ation operation “Operation

Samudra Setu”, which has con-tributed extensively to thenational interest.

Despite the difficult seaconditions and the challenges ofdealing with an unseen enemyin the form of the Corona virus,the Navy was instrumental inbringing home almost 4,000people from neighbouringcountries in the Indian OceanRegion (IOR). Also, under‘Mission Sagar’, medical aid wasprovided to the countries ofSouth West Indian OceanRegion (Maldives, Mauritius,Comoros, Seychelles andMadagascar). He also lauded theefforts of all Naval Commandsin setting up of the quarantinefacilities to aid the civil admin-istration in managing Covid-19.

Referring to the dynamicchanges taking place in thearmed forces, the minister rihighlighted the creation of thepost of Chief of DefenceStaff(CDS) and Department ofMilitary Affairs as major mile-stones in bringing more syner-gy amongst the three services,especially in training, procure-ment and staffing and bringingjointness in operations.

Rajnath said accepting thechallenges arising out of theCovid 19 situation in the currentfinancial year, the Navy hascontinued to progress the operational, administrative andmodernisation efforts.Notwithstanding these fiscalchallenges, the Government hasinvoked the Emergency Powersto meet the emergent requirements of the services, headded.

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The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) on

Wednesday predicted intenserainfall over central parts of thecountry during the next fivedays. Due to favourable con-ditions, widespread rain, withisolated heavy to very heavyspells, is very likely overGujarat, Maharashtra, Goa,Madhya Pradesh (MP),Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,Odisha, and Vidarbha duringthe next four-five days.Extremely heavy rain is alsolikely over south-west Odishaon Wednesday; Vidarbha andChhattisgarh on Thursday andGujarat on Saturday.

According to the IMD, themonsoon trough is active andlies south of its normal position(from Ganganagar to the Bay ofBengal). It is very likely to beactive and near-normal/southof its normal position duringthe next five days.

The convergence of strongmoist southwesterly windsfrom the Arabian Sea overplains of Northwest India andCentral India at lower levelsvery likely to continue duringnext two days.

“The monsoon trough isactive and lies close to its nor-mal position. It is very likely toshift southwards during thenext 24 hours and remainactive during the next fivedays. There is a convergence ofstrong moist southwesterlywinds from the Arabian Seaover plains of north-west Indiaand Central India at lower lev-els and likely to continue dur-ing the next three-four days,”IMD said.

Fairly widespread andheavy rain is likely over north-west India, including theWestern Himalayan region,until Thursday. Very heavyrain is likely over Jammu &Kashmir, Ladakh onWednesday and Uttarakhandand Punjab on Thursday; west-ern Uttar Pradesh onWednesday; eastern Rajasthanfrom Thursday until Saturday;and very heavy rain is likelyalso over northeastern states,except for Arunachal Pradesh,during the next three-fourdays, the IMD said.

Monsoon rain over thecountry since June 1 is 4.4%excess; 25.6% excess over thesouthern peninsula; 6.9%excess over central India; 5.8%excess over eastern and north-eastern India and 17.9% defi-ciency over north-west India.

New Delhi: A group of 772lawyers have written to ChiefJustice of India SA Bobde,raising concerns about anemerging trend to “browbeatand intimidate the judiciary”.

“India has witnessed aseries of attacks by institu-tional disruptors against judgeswho are unwilling to agreewith them and toe the linedrawn by them. It is unfortu-nate that when political ends oflawyers are not served by adecision of the court, they vil-ify the court by making scan-dalising remarks. The SupremeCourt of India, as well as thejudges, are subject to bothscurrilous language, maliciousattacks and scandalisingremarks,” the lawyers said inthe letter which comes againstthe backdrop of the PrashantBhushan case.

On August 14, theSupreme Court held senior

advocate Prashant Bhushanguilty of contempt of court andfixed the date of hearing for hissentencing on August 20.

A statement was issued by

“Campaign for JudicialAccountability and Reforms”(CJAR) on August 15, con-demning the judgment andfurther calling upon theSupreme Court, and everyjudge, to reconsider their deci-

sion. CJAR includes a retiredjudge, Justice P.B. Sawant, for-mer Union Law Minister andsenior advocate ShantiBhushan, among others as theirpatrons. IANS

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Former Supreme Courtjudge Justice Kurian

Joseph Wednesday came outin support of lawyer PrashantBhushan and said contemptcases against him raised sub-stantial questions of lawwhich should be heard by aconstitution bench. JusticeJoseph also said that a personconvicted by the top court ina suo-motu case should getan opportunity for an intra-

court appeal. “Under Article145 (3) of the Constitution ofIndia, there shall be a quo-rum of minimum five Judgesfor deciding any case involv-ing substantial questions oflaw as to the interpretation ofthe Constitution,” Joseph saidin a statement. The formerjudge said a three-judgebench of the Supreme Courthas decided to hear a fewserious questions on thescope and extent of the con-tempt of Court.

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Aday before the scheduledhearing on quantum of

sentence, activist-lawyerPrashant Bhushan who hasbeen held guilty of criminalcontempt for his two deroga-tory tweets, moved theSupreme Court seeking defer-ment of the proceedings till areview petition is filed andconsidered. A contemnor can

be punished with simpleimprisonment of up to sixmonths or with a fine of up to�2,000 or with both.

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The Supreme CourtWednesday refused to

entertain a plea challengingthe Jharkhand government’’sdecision to appoint M V Raoas the acting Director Generalof Police (DGP) saying a PILcannot be accepted in a servicematter.

A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices A SBopanna and VRamasubramanian, dismissedthe plea filed by a Jharkhandresident.

During the hearing, senioradvocates Fali S Nariman andNeeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing

for the JharkhandGovernment, said that it isproxy litigation and the courtcannot interfere in the servicematter under Article 32 juris-diction.

Senior advocate RVenkataramani, appearing forthe petitioner Prahlad NarayanSingh, said that he is a residentof the state and wants to knowas to how was the incumbentDGP (Rao) appointed as act-ing DGP despite the verdict oftop court in the Prakash Singhcase (2006) on police reforms.

The bench toldVenkataramani that it is notgoing to entertain this petition.

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Keeping in view the inter-est of sugarcane farmers,

the Union Cabinet onWednesday approved raisingthe fair and remunerative(FRP) price of sugarcane by�10 to peg it at �285 a quin-tal. This price has been fixedfor the new marketing seasonof sugarcane starting October2020-21 (October toSeptember). The cabinet alsoapproved providing a premi-um of �2.85 per quintal forrecovery at 11 percent.

The decision to increase theFair and Remunerative Price(FRP) of sugarcane for the2020-21 marketing year wastaken in the meeting of theCabinet Committee onEconomic Affairs (CCEA). Thegovernment had fixed sugar-cane FRP at �275 per quintal forthe current 2019-20 marketingyear.

According to the cabinetdecision, the FRP of �285 perquintal has been fixed for a basicrecovery rate of 10 per cent.However, a premium of �2.85per quintal will be paid bysugar mills for every 0.1 per centincrease above 10 per cent in therecovery, it said. Also, the gov-ernment has made a provisionfor reduction in FRP by Rs 2.85per quintal for every 0.1 per-centage point decrease in recov-ery, in respect of those millswhose recovery is below 10 percent but above 9.5 per cent.However, for mills having recov-ery of 9.5 per cent or below, theFRP is fixed at � 270.75 perquintal in place of �261.25 perquintal in the current season.“The determination of FRPwill be in the interest of sugar-cane growers keeping in viewtheir entitlement to a fair andremunerative price for theirproduce,” the statement said.

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Covid-19 patients may losetheir sense of smell and

cannot detect bitter or sweettastes but they can breathefreely and do not tend to havea runny or blocked nose as inthe case of a bad cold, as per astudy.

Published in the journalRhinology, the study is a firstof its kind to compare how peo-ple with Covid-19 smell andtaste disorders differ fromthose with other causes ofupper respiratory tract infec-tions.

According to theresearchers, including thosefrom the University of EastAnglia (UEA) in the UK, theirwork could help develop smelland taste tests for fast Covid-19 screening - in primary careand emergency departments.

The findings lend weight to

the theory that Covid-19infects the brain and centralnervous system.

“The loss of smell andtaste is a prominent symptomof Covid-19, however it is alsoa common symptom of havinga bad cold,” said lead researcherCarl Philpott, a professor atUEA’s Norwich MedicalSchool.

“We wanted to find outexactly what differentiatesCOVID -19 smell loss with thekind of smell loss you mighthave with a cold and blocked-up nose,” Philpott said.

The research team carriedout smell and taste tests on 10COVID-19 patients, 10 peoplewith bad colds and a controlgroup of 10 healthy people --all matched for age and sex.

“We wanted to see if theirsmell and taste test scorescould help discriminatebetween COVID-19 patients

and those with a heavy cold,”Philpott said.

The researchers noted thatCOVID-19 behaves different-ly to other respiratory viruses,for example by causing thebody’s immune system toover-react, known as acytokine storm, and by affect-ing the nervous system.

They found that smell losswas much more profound inthe COVID-19 patents, andthey were less able to identifysmells, and were not able toidentify bitter or sweet tastes.

The researchers said itwas this loss of true tastewhich seemed to be present in

the COVID-19 patients com-pared to those with a cold.

“This is very excitingbecause it means that smelland taste tests could be used todiscriminate between Covid-19 patients and people with aregular cold or flu,” Philpottsaid.

“Although such tests couldnot replace formal diagnostictools such as throat swabs,they could provide an alter-native when conventional testsare not available or whenrapid screening is needed --particularly at the level of pri-mary care, in emergencydepartments or at airports,” headded.

The study also shows thatthere are altogether differentthings going on when it comesto smell and taste loss forCovid-19 patients, comparedto those with a bad cold, theresearchers said.

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As countries adopt-ed prevention and

control measures tocontain Covid-19,many vital violenceprevention andresponse services weresuspended or inter-rupted, leaving manychildren at the receiv-ing end as they sufferedviolence and exploita-tion at homes.

Sample this :Nearly 10,000 out of 4.6lakh calls that theUnicef received in 21days from March 20 toApril 10, 2020 duringthe Covid-19 pandem-ic, needed interventionfrom the childline staff

of the global agency toprotect the childrenvictims of abuse andexploitation.

Of these, 30 percent were related toCovid-19 and with aneed for protectionfrom abuse andexploitation.

“The Covid-19pandemic has causeddisruptions to childprotection services inmore than 100 coun-tries, leaving a largenumber of children atincreased risk of vio-lence, exploitation andabuse,” according to aglobal survey byUnicef, details of whichwere released onWednesday.

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The Union HealthM i n i s t r y ’ s

‘eSanjeevani’ digital plat-form has provided twolakh tele-consultationsto the patients seekingmedical guidance amidthe Covid-19 pandemic.

“In a short span oftime since November2019, tele-consultation by‘eSanjeevani’ has beenimplemented by 23 states(which covers 75 per centof the population) andother states are in theprocess of rolling it out.

“In what can be seenas a big push for the‘Digital India’ initiativeof the prime minister, theeSanjeevani platform has

proved its usefulness andeasy access for the care-givers and the medicalcommunity, and thoseseeking healthcare ser-vices in the time ofCOVID-19,” the ministrysaid in a statement here.

The eSanjeevani plat-form has enabled twotypes of telemedicine ser-vices — doctor-to-doctor(eSanjeevani) andp a t i e n t - t o - d o c t o r(eSanjeevani OPD) tele-consultations. The formeris being implementedunder the AyushmanBharat Health andWellness Centre (AB-HWC). It aims to imple-ment tele-consultation inall the 1.5 lakh Healthand Wellness Centres in

conjunction with identi-fied medical college hos-pitals in a ‘Hub andSpoke’ model, as per thestatement.

“States have identi-fied and set up dedicated‘Hubs’ in medical collegesand district hospitals toprovide tele-consultationservices to ‘Spokes’, i.esub-health centres(SHCs), primary healthcentres (PHCs) andHealth and WellnessCentres,” it said.

The Ministry rolledout the second tele-con-sultation service‘e S a n j e e v a n i O P D ’enabling patient-to-doc-tor telemedicine owing tothe COVID-19 pandem-ic in April this year.

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The Congress has urged LokSabha Speaker Om Birla

and Rajya Sabha Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu to allow MPsto participate in the upcomingMonsoon session of Parliamenteither physically or virtually asis being done by the courts.

While Congress leaderAdhir Ranjan Chowdhury haswritten a letter to Birla, PChidambaram has written toNaidu to allow MPs, unable toparticipate physically, attend

the proceedings through anapp or a link.

In his letter, Chowdhurysaid the monsoon sessionwould be held shortly as therules say that the interveningperiod between two sessions ofParliament cannot exceed sixmonths.

“Under these circum-stances, I thought it prudentto suggest to you that anAPP and link should be pro-vided to members (like in theSupreme Court and HighCourts).

“Members who are phys-ically present may speak inthe House. Members whocannot be physically presentshould be allowed to speak viaan APP. When the member’sname is called, his mike willbe unmuted, and he can speakfor the al lotted t ime,”Chowdhury said.

He said this facility is“absolutely necessary” in viewof the fact that the number ofnew COVID19 cases are ris-ing and by September it maytouch 70,000 per day.

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Mount Abu, the sole hillstation of the desert

State of Rajasthan, is wit-nessing a steady rise in thenumber of domestic touristsfollowing relaxations in theCovid-19 lockdown, an offi-cial said on Wednesday.

Famous for its scenic nat-ural beauty, the hill station sit-uated in Sirohi district hasreceived more than 10,000tourists after a long gap, theoff icia l f rom the state’stourism department said.

The destination remainsf looded with tourists during the summer seasonbut this year, due to the coro-navirus lockdown, there wereno tourists.

However, people haveagain started visiting MountAbu and the footfalls aregradually r is ing even

during the ongoing monsoonseason.

“The figure of tourists inMount Abu is rising... Similartrends have been noticed inUdaipur where tourists areexploring short and safe vaca-tions while following safetyguidelines,” the official said.

The safety of tourists andlocals is the top priority of thestate government and guide-l ines on preventive measures to contain thespread of COVID-19 arebeing strictly adhered to at allmonuments, resorts etc., AlokGupta, Principal secretary of the tourismdepartment, said.

“After missing the entiresummer season, people areeager for a getaway. Localtourists are returning in bignumbers. While unlockingtourism, the safety of peopleis our concern,” he said.

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The Supreme CourtWednesday dismissed a

plea questioning the setting upof a three-member judicialcommission, headed by formerapex court judge Justice B SChauhan, to inquire into theencounter killing of gangsterVikas Dubey. A bench headedby Chief Justice S A Bobde saidthat there were enough safe-guards to ensure fair inquiry bythe judicial panel into theencounter which took place inKanpur.

The verdict came on a pleafield by advocate GhanshyamUpadhaya seeking re-constitu-tion of the inquiry commissionand substituting its members —Justice (retd) B S Chauhan, for-mer Supreme Court judge,Justice (retd) Shashi KantAgarwal and retired UttarPradesh DGP K L Gupta —with other former judges of theapex court and retired DGPs.

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There were 53, 155 active Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu as on

Wednesday evening. While 116 per-sons succumbed to the pandemic onWednesday, 5,785 new persons werediagnosed with Covid-19.

The total number of patients test-ed positive till date reached the fig-ure of 3.55 lakh while 2.96 lakh per-sons recovered from the pandemic tilldate.

The State health department stafftested 65,592 persons across theState as part of aggressive testing toidentify and isolate the covid-19virus.

The metropolis of Chennai saw1, 186 patients testing positive onWednesday. Situation in the threeneighboring districts of Chengalpet(315) , Kancheepuram (257) andThiruvallur ( 393) continued to beunabated.

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The loss of police resources inthe district during the CAA-

NRC violence will now be recov-ered by force in Meerut. The StateGovernment has constituted theProperty Damage ClaimsTribunal in Lucknow and Meerutdistricts of the State. It has madeMeerut the headquarters ofAligarh district. After the forma-tion of this authority, now therecovery work will be accelerat-ed. The district police-adminis-tration will stake a claim to recov-er �1.83 lakh for the damages.

During the opposition to theCitizenship Amendment Act, itwas decided to compensate theloss of police resources that weredamaged in AMU on the night of15 December and during theviolence that took place on 20December in Shahzamal andCharkhawalan. The rebels dam-

aged six police vehicles withstones. 12 chairs and 4 CCTVcameras installed in public placeswere broken. The loss for vehicleswas estimated to be �1.15 lakh. Atthe same time, the loss of chairand CCTV cameras was estimat-ed as �68,000. In this way, theentire amount was fixed as �1.83lakh. A report has been submit-ted by the police administrationto the district administration tomake up for the loss. The districtadministration referred it to thegovernment. Now YogiAdityanath, the head of the stategovernment, will look upon thecompensation of the loss of gov-ernment property due to suchriots and crimes.

According to SSP Muniraj ji,thr report of damage caused dur-ing the CAA-NRC violence willbe sent to the authorities,once thefull guide lines from the state gov-ernment are sentto stake claims.

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The BJP's Muslim leader, Ruby AsifKhan is being threatened for

praising Ram at home and sendingRakhi on Rakshabandhan at the timeof foundation ceremony of Ram tem-ple. She is recieving threats of killingand rejecting her from Islam. Postershave also been pasted. BJP leader hasfiled a complain at Dehli Gate policestation. Ruby Asif Khan, wife of AsifKhan, is a resident of ADA ColonyShah Jamal of Dehli Gate and is thepresident of Mahavir Ganj MandalMahila Morcha of the BharatiyaJanata Party.

Ruby Asif Khan sent a rakhi toShreeRam on 30 July. On 5 August,when the foundation ceremony of the

Sri Ram Temple was performed inAyodhya, she performed aarti andworshiped Ram with other women ather home. A check of �5,100 was alsosent to the Ram Temple Trust by her.

Ruby Asif Khan alleges that nowsome people are threatening to burnher alive and kill her. They are threat-ening to reject me from Islam. Thesepeople have pasted posters in thelocality and in the area. Threat pam-phlets are also being distributed.

Ashish Kumar, in-charge of PoliceStation Dehli Gate, told that the BJPleader has filed a complain. Police isinvestigating the matter, posters thathave been pasted have been asked tobe removed. Action will be taken asper the law against whosoever is guiltyin this case.

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Aperusal of the 815 pageverdict delivered by the

Madras High Court onTuesday dismissing the peti-tions filed by Vedanta Groupseeking an order for reopen-ing the Sterlite CopperSmeltering plant atThoothukudi show that boththe DKM and the AIADMKdo not have anything to rejoiceabout the court’s decision.

Industrialists and entre-preneurs may not get enam-ored by invitations made bythe AIADMK and the DMK toset up factories in the State, say

industrialists and research sci-entists.

“Copper smelter plantspollute and they pollute heav-ily. One is at a loss to under-stand why the thenGovernment gave permissionto the Vedanta Group to set upa heavily polluting plant inThoothukudi,” said K NChandrasekharan, former topscientist in the Department ofAtomic Energy who is a met-allurgical engineer.

According to the series ofevents chronicled by theMadras High Court in its ver-dict, Sterlite Industries gotthe permission to set up the

plant in 1997 while the DMKwas in power. It was theAIADMK government thathad given 102.5 hectares ofland in Thoothukudi to thegroup in 1994.

The environmentalClearance was accorded by theCentre in 1995 while P VNarasimha Rao was the PrimeMinister and the AIADMKwas an alliance partner of theCongress.

This was followed by theTamil Nadu Government’sclearance to the plant for pro-ducing 234 tons/day copperand 638 tons per day sulphuricacid.

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BJP leader Nishit Sharmahas objected to the AMU

invite to Professor Hilal Sahinof Turkish University ofGiresun in a webinar at AMU.The matter is now heating up.He has asked the HumanResource DevelopmentMinister to investigate the mat-ter and punish the organizers ofthe webinar and question theVice Chancellor. Other BJPleaders have also taken a dig inthis matter.

Dr. Nishit Sharma says thatthe webinar was organized byAMU on August 13, in whicha Turkish professor was invit-ed. The theme of the webinarwas 'Turkey, India andMahatma Gandhi: In the lightof the Khilafat Movement'. Inthis, AMU VC Prof. TariqMansoor was also present.

Dr. Nishit Sharma says thatTurkey supported the Islamicterrorist organization ISIS.Opposed the removal of Article370 and supported Pakistan.

The BJP leader says that theKhilafat movement that wasdiscussed is known for geno-cide in the history of India andthe world. Riots erupted inKolabar and Armenia etc. ofKerala and massacre of non-Muslims. According to him, aturkish professor should not beinvited in the webinar.

He has demanded theHuman Resource DevelopmentMinister to investigate this andpunish the organizers of thewebinar.

A case of treason should befiled against the organizers:Dr. Manvendra.

Dr. Manvendra PratapSingh, Vice President of BJPBraj Region and Member ofNational Minority EducationMonitoring Committee, saidthat it is a matter of greatregret to provide the TurkishProfessor an opportunity tospeak in a webinar. Everyoneknows that the President ofTurkey is running an anti-India campaign. Attempting torekindle the Khilafat is a crimelike treason. It is a matter ofshame that the AMU's VC waspresiding over that webinar. Acase under treason should befiled on organizers . The districtadministration should imme-diately file an FIR against suchpeople. Questioning Turkishuniversity professor is baseless:AMU Aligarh MuslimUniversity has said that theobjection of some BJP leadersfor inviting Turkish Professor HHilal Sain in the webinar isbaseless.

The university administra-tion has said that MahatmaGandhi openly supported theKhilafat Movement started inTurkey in 1920.

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The charm of Onam festival season in Kerala is all setto be washed away by the coronavirus as 2,333 new

persons were tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.This is the highest number of persons diagnosed on a sin-gle day with Covid-19 and the total number of patientsin the State reached 50, 231.

The day also saw seven deaths taking the total fatal-ities till date in Kerala to 182, said a release by theDepartment of Health.

That the State has become unsafe for travelers andtourists has been proved by the number of persons get-ting contracted with Covid-19 through community trans-mission.

Out of the 2,333 patients tested positive onWednesday, 2,151 were victims of community trans-mission. 53 patients failed to furnish details like how andfrom where they contracted the pandemic.

Seven personnel belonging to the Southern NavalCommand head quarters at Kochi and 17 health work-ers too were afflicted with the pandemic on Wednesday.The release further stated that 1,780 persons were hos-pitalized in the State while 1,217 were cured of the pan-demic.

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An 'illustrious' journey of ayoung Wushu player from

Jammu & Kashmir, whichstarted from the North Easternstate of Mizoram in 1995,Tuesday hit another milestoneafter Kuldeep Handoo's namefigured in the list of 13 coach-es recommended for this year'sDronacharya award by theSports Ministry's selectioncommittee.

Handoo, currently servingas the National Chief Coach,himself struck gold for thefirst time at the 6th NationalWushu Championship atMizoram in 1995. Since thenhe never looked back.

Before donning the cap ofa national coach, the lanky ladfrom Rainawari went on to cre-ate history and won 11 goldmedals in the National cham-pionships and 6 Internationalmedals in his eventful career.

Even after winning sever-al championships and groom-ing hundreds of young playershe is not ready to hang hisboots.

Speaking to The PioneerKuldeep Handoo said, “ myeyes are now set on winning agold medal in the 2022 AsianGames. I am working hard tofulfill my dream and groomingyoungsters for the same”.

Before participating in theAsian Games, “we are going toparticipate in the WorldChampionships scheduled tobe held in 2021 in the USA andAustralia”.

Due to nationwide lock-down in the wake of Covid-19pandemic, Handoo could notattend outstation training ses-sions but he is regularly coach-ing his players using socialmedia tools.

Reliving his long journey,Kuldeep Handoo said, “I havecome a long way from mynative place-Rainawari inSrinagar”.

He said despite sufferingpangs of migration my parentsalways supported me and moti-vated me to dream big.

Handoo said, “when i wasa kid i loved playing cricket in

my neighborhood inRainawari, a kashmiri panditlocality”.

He said, “at the peak of mil-itancy as the situation wors-ened my family was also forcedto migrate from the Kashmirvalley. I still remember beforestepping out of the house, forthe last time, I could not lay myhand on my cricket bat”. InJammu, “I stopped playing. Ialmost lost touch with myfavorite game. I was disen-chanted and remained silent.Tochannelise my energies a fam-ily friend motivated me to takeup any other sports activity”.

A die hard fan of Bruce Leemovies Kuldeep said, “I start-ed playing Taekwondo. Afterattending some practice ses-sions he said, I started enjoyingthe sport and gave vent to myanger by ruthlessly knockingdown my opponents”. In1995, my mentor and coachVishal Sharma convinced me totry my hand at Wushu as well.Rest is history, he added.

In recognition of his vasttalent and contribution to thepromotion of martial arts inJammu and Kashmir TheWushu Association of Indiaabsorbed him as Nationalcoach for the TEAM INDIA.Under his leadership, TeamIndia had won two gold medalsin world Championships andone in world cup, 28 silvermedals and 57 Bronze medalsin different championships.

In recognition of his ser-vices, the Jammu and Kashmirgovernment appointed him asInspector in the police depart-ment and conferred on him theprestigious state award, Sher-i-Kashmir award, Parshuramaward etc.

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In what the BJP leaders called a pol-itics of vendetta resorted to by the

Mamata Banerjee Government, theofficials of Bengal Police onWednesday raided the house of saffronstrongman and MP from BarrackporeArjun Singh.

The search was in connection of anold said Singh quoted the officials assaying but sources in the police saidthey were looking for documentsrelated to transactions from a localcooperative bank of which Singh wasthe chairman before he became an MP.

“There are reports of financialirregularities worth �12 crore,” sourcessaid on conditions of anonymityadding names of two close relatives of

the BJP MP were also involved.Singh, a former four-time

Trinamool Congress MLA consid-ered close to the Chief Minister left theparty in 2019 after his demand for aparliamentary ticket from Barrackporewas turned by the leadership. In sub-sequent elections he defeated the thensitting Trinamool MP Dinesh Trivedi.

The parliamentary polls saw mas-sive violence following which the BJPcandidate managed to scrape throughby little more than 10,000 votes.

Crying “vendetta politics”— anallegation Banerjee has always leveledagainst the BJP Government every timeher party functionaries were arrestedby the CBI in connection of chit fundscams —Singh said the Chief Minister“has singled me out because I havebeen giving her a tough political fightin Barrackpore … I snatched the MP

seat, then the BJP wrested the BhatparaMLA seat too from the TMC … thisis why she is angry on me and is send-ing police forces after leveling falsecharges against me.” Singh’s son andbrother-in-law are also sitting legisla-tors of the BJP.

Singh also said that “the TMC gov-ernment has framed 93 cases againstme so as to harass me after MamataBanerjee and her nephew (AbhishekBanerjee) failed to counter me politi-cally … Her nephew had said that hewill leave politics if he would not winhis seat by 2 lakh votes. But that wasnot to be. Though he won by wafer thinmargin he has notkept his words.”

Barrackpore has often been in thenews of late with repeated political-gang wars and public shootouts takingplace mostly involving goons fromboth sides.

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In the erstwhile State ofJammu & Kashmir, a 262

metre long bridge over riverJhelum at Jetty area ofKhawajabagh in NorthKashmir's Baramulla districtcould not be completed byfive Chief Ministers, twoGovernors and one Lt-Governor between 2002- tillJuly 2020.

Reason- adequate fundswere not made available atdifferent intervals to the projectexecuting agency leading tocost escalation and unwar-ranted delay in its completion.

On Wednesday, Lt-Governor Manoj Sinha duringhis visit to the Baramulla dis-trict headquarters approvedfunds to the tune of �21 crore

under Jammu & KashmirInfrastructure DevelopmentCorporation for completingthe construction work of theJetty bridge within a span of 2years

LG also e-inaugurated var-ious developmental projects atBaramulla. According to offi-cial sources, Jetty bridge wasenvisaged in 1998 but actualwork on ground zero was start-ed in the year 2002.

Jammu and KashmirProjects ConstructionCorporation (JKPCC) wasallotted the construction workof the bridge.

Between 2002 and June2018, five Chief Ministersnamely Mufti Mohd Sayeed,Ghulam Nabi Azad, OmarAbdullah, Mufti Mohd Sayeed(second term) and Mehbooba

Mufti remained in office butnone of them could ensure itscompletion.

Local residents in the areaoften blamed lack of funds forfrequent suspension of work onthe project.

The 262-meter bridge wassupposed to connectKhawajabagh and Janbazporaareas, and Rafiabad areas withSrinagar-Baramulla road high-way to ease load on the trafficpassing through Baramullatown.

A local resident in the areaclaimed, “work on the projectwas started when i was study-ing in the degree college. Aftercompleting me studies i gotmarried and now my childrenare going to school but thebridge is hanging in balanceover river Jhelum”.

According to officialsources, work on the bridgewas moving at snails pace fromthe very beginning. It was sus-pended in 2014 and later it wasresumed in 2017.

According to the pressstatement issued by theDepartment of Informationand Public Relations in January2017, Minister for R&B andParliamentary Affairs AbdulRehman Veeri while respond-ing to a question by GhulamNabi Monga in the UpperHouse had stated that con-struction work of Jetty Bridgein Baramulla on river Jhelumwas awarded to JKPCC in theyear 2001-02.

According to him, theGovernment had released�6.18 Crore to JKPCC for con-struction of the bridge.

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Ahmedabad: The Election Commission ofIndia (ECI) told the Gujarat High Court onWednesday that it will assess the coronavirus sit-uation and decide whether bypolls to eightAssembly seats in the State should be deferred.

The poll panel was responding to a PublicInterest Litigation seeking indefinite postpone-ment of the byelections.

The ECI will also frame broad guidelineswithin three days on holding of general andbyelections during the COVID-19 pandemicbased on guidelines issued by the UnionMinistry of Home Affairs and Ministry ofHealth, it had said in a press release issued onTuesday.

The release was submitted to the high courtalong with an affidavit-in-reply.

Petitioner Farsu Goklani sought indefinitepostponement of byelections to eight Assemblyseats -- which fell vacant after Congress MLAsresigned -- in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

“....The ECI is assessing the situation includ-ing the pandemic and so far not announceddates for the by-elections in the state of Gujaratas well as those in other states,” the poll bodysaid.

“The Election Commission will take appro-priate decision as to whether to announce elec-tions at an appropriate time or if required todefer holding of elections after following dueprocedure as prescribed in law,” said Joint ChiefElectoral Officer, Gujarat, Ajay Bhatt.

On the basis of the guidelines it is going toform, Chief Electoral Officers of states whereelections are due shall prepare a comprehensiveplan of COVID-19 related measures during theconduct of elections, the ECI's Tuesday releasesaid.

Bhatt also cited two Supreme Court judg-ments where it was held that the ultimate deci-sion on “whether it is possible and expedient tohold the elections” must rest with the ECI.PTI

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Maharashtra witnessed thehighest-ever infection tally

of 13,165 on Wednesday, even thetotal Covid 19 toll –with fresh 346deaths – breached 21,000 mark totouch 21,033.

Eleven days after the dailyinfections touched a new high12,822 (on August 8), theCoronavirus reared its ugly head,as 13,165 tested positive for thepandemic in various parts of thestate.

With fresh infections, thetotal infected cases in the statejumped to a staggering 6,28,642.

Pune with 1,37,601 freshcases continued to race ahead ofMumbai with 1,31,542 in terms ofthe total infections.

Of the 346 deaths reported onWednesday, Pune accounted for ahighest of 86 deaths, followed by46 deaths in Mumbai, 42 in Thaneand 26 in Nagpur.

Similarly, there were 18 deathsin Sangli, 15 each in Solapur andKolhapur, 14 deaths in Palghar, 13in Ahmednagar and 10 inYavatmal.

On the lower side, there were9 deaths each in Jalgaon andSatara, 7 in Raigad, 6 each inNashik and Osmanabad, 4 inBhandara, 3 each in Dhule,Parbhani and Latur, 2 each inSindhudurg, Beed and Akola, 1each in Aurangabad, Hingoli,Wardha and Gondiya. In addition,one person from another statedied in Maharashtra.

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In a world of rapid revolution in theknowledge landscape, dramaticadvances in science and researchtechnology, evolution in entrepre-neurial aspirations, changing

employment paradigm, growing digiti-sation of learning process and risingneeds of innovation to address spirallingglobal challenges, the NationalEducation Policy (NEP), 2020, is a pio-neering initiative. It will help transformIndia’s educational system into a holis-tic, multi-disciplinary, flexible, synergis-tic, equitable, pluralistic, responsible andinnovative learning ecosystem.

NEP 2020 is like a déjà vu of theparadigm ingrained in the ancientIndian educational system, one thatentrenched the highest standards ofmulti-disciplinary teaching and researchin world-class universities such asTakshashila, Nalanda, Vikramshila andVallabhi. These universities nurturedthousands of students from India andabroad, focussing on multi-discipli-nary research and innovation to buildwell-rounded and innovative individu-als, who had the capability to lead andemancipate society through their knowl-edge and wisdom. Famous intellectualsof India such as Chanakya, Panini,Charaka, Vishnu Sharma and Jivaka,who were the students of the TakshashilaUniversity, left an indelible mark inworld history for possessing deeperknowledge in their respective fields ofstudy.

Now, the time is opportune to ini-tiate a complete overhaul of the Indianeducational system by infusing the pastglory and at the same time, keeping inmind the contemporary context as thekey driver of the mission. The 21st cen-tury world demands a holistic and multi-disciplinary educational system that candeliver integrated skills and capacities tothe students, making them not onlygreat professionals but also transform-ing them as global leaders who can leadthe Government, enterprise, politics,economy, society and human progresswith greater efficacy.

The key differentiator of NEP 2020is the synergy in curriculum across alllevels of education — from early child-hood care to primary education toschool education and higher education.This will help the students learn andgrow in an ecosystem where learning isnot just limited to examinations and cer-tificates, but goes beyond that, helpingthem develop critical thinking, ethicalvalues, the spirit of service and inculcatelife skills such as communication, coop-eration, teamwork and resilience. Thecornerstone of NEP 2020 is the inclu-sion of students from all social strataacross the educational system throughvarious supportive policies. This will

help the students — irrespectiveof their gender, caste, religion,language, socio-economic con-ditions and region — avail high-quality education for their over-all growth and contributetowards nation-building.

Pivoted on multi-discipli-nary learning in higher educa-tion, NEP 2020 will empowerstudents to adapt the demands ofthe 21st century in a more effec-tive way. For example, a studentlearning AI as a major with eco-nomics as a minor can build abetter AI system for economicdevelopment than a studentwhose focus is only on AI. As theworld is changing, it’s imperativefor a country like India to adaptto the multi-disciplinary form oflearning so as to address theglobal challenges in energy,healthcare, water, food and san-itation among others. Forinstance, the challenges thrownby the COVID-19 pandemiccan only be addressed througha multi-disciplinary approach.

NEP 2020 has articulated aparadigm shift from NEP 1986by urging higher educationalinstitutes to have a greater focuson research and innovation byestablishing centres for start-upincubation, technological devel-opment, in frontier areas ofresearch, greater industry-acad-emia collaboration and inter-dis-ciplinary research, includinghumanities, social sciences, sci-ence and technological research.This approach will strengthentranslatory research, innovation,

IP creation and entrepreneurshipin the country. The studentspassing through such education-al system will be tomorrow’s jobcreators, innovators, leaders andinstitution builders. Globally, it’san established fact that a multi-disciplinary approach to educa-tion is good for the economicprogress of a country.

Global higher educationalinstitutes such as MIT, Stanford,Harvard, Caltech, Oxford,Cambridge and Princeton havesignificantly contributed toresearch, innovation, IP cre-ation and economic progress.Countries like the US and theUK have leveraged such multi-disciplinary educational systemsto become industrially and tech-nologically developed nations.

One of the most laudablefeatures of NEP 2020 is theextensive use of technology inthe teaching and learningprocess. Technology can reducethe barriers, enhance access,increase affordability and ensureinclusion. As India is a globalleader in IT and emerging tech-nology domains, NEP 2020 canleverage the robust digital infra-structure established by theGovernment and the industry.

Online and digital educationwill also help divyang studentsaccess the learning ecosystem ina seamless manner. The forma-tion of the National EducationalTechnology Forum (NETF), asproposed by the new NEP, is apioneering idea to promote thefree exchange of ideas across

higher learning institutes to fos-ter innovation across the board.

India is now at the cusp ofdigital transformation and itsimpact is benefitting the societyat large. Further, a strong foun-dation of the IT industry haspaved the way for tech start-upsto leverage emerging technolo-gies such as AI, machine learn-ing, IoT, big data, blockchain androbotics. Such dynamism in theecosystem has also resulted inbuilding a start-up culture in thecountry. To further strengthenthis start-up culture and enableit to become an enormous massmovement across industry ver-ticals, NEP, 2020, will play acolossal role by supplying profes-sionals, who are inherently dri-ven by the spirit of innovationand entrepreneurship.

The new education policyalso envisions a comprehensiveapproach to transform the qual-ity and quantity of research inIndia in an integrated manner. Asignificant shift in school educa-tion system to encourage a moreplay and discovery-based style oflearning, with an emphasis onscientific method and criticalthinking, will further foster inno-vation early in the life of students.In extension, the establishmentof a National ResearchFoundation (NRF), as envi-sioned by NEP, 2020, will pro-mote a culture of research andinnovation of higher order acrossall disciplines.

NRF will also play a catalyt-ic role in propelling the growth

of IPRs and patents in variousdomains. Research and innova-tion will further promote start-up culture in the country todevelop path-breaking productsand solutions to address localand global challenges.

NEP 2020 also proposes asignificant rise in the allocationof funding for education fromthe current 4.43 per cent of theGDP to six per cent. As fundingis critical for any national mis-sion, public-private-partnershipwill play a transformative role indeveloping a modern, advancededucational ecosystem to achievea high-quality and equitableeducation system, one that cansteer India’s future economic,social, cultural, intellectual andtechnological progress andgrowth.

NEP 2020 is a pioneeringstep towards building thebedrock for a self-reliant India.The principles, objectives,visions, missions and directiveswill enable us to have a knowl-edge-driven economy. A knowl-edge-based educational ecosys-tem will promote innovation-ledentrepreneurship, encourageyouth of the nation to becomejob creators, bolster industrialproductivity and rev up inclusivedevelopment. This will eventu-ally accelerate the growth of theeconomy, increase per capitaincome and transform Indiainto a global technology leaderin the times to come.

(The writer is DirectorGeneral, STPI, Govt of India)

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Sir — There can be no doubt thatwith the Supreme Court’s deci-sion to hold advocate PrashantBhushan guilty of criminal con-tempt for his two “false and mali-cious” tweets, the space forbonafide criticism of the judicia-ry has become more restricted.This is also apparent from theBench’s assertion that Bhushan’scase needs to be tackled with an“iron hand” lest quips like these “affect the national honour andprestige in the comity of nations.”

Many liberal democracieshave decriminalised the “scan-dalising” of the courts based onthe ideal that criticism is neces-sary to make the judicial systemstronger and foolproof. As such,it is disappointing that the topcourt of India has taken a differ-ent stand.

Further, it should not be for-gotten that only in 2018, fourSupreme Court judges had comeout in the open to speak againstthe then Chief Justice of India ina Press meet. Was any con-tempt case filed or action initi-ated against them?

It was expected that theapex court’s verdict will be advi-

sory in nature. The decision ofthe Bench to come down heav-ily on Bhushan in view of his dis-sent could shake the trust of thecommon man in the institutionwhich he considers to be his lastresort and rescuer.

Tharcius S FernandoChennai

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Sir — This refers to the article,“The Indian connection” (August19) by Kalyani Shankar. Indiansare rightly on cloud nine after theelection of Kamala Harris as JoeBiden’s running mate in the

upcoming US presidential elec-tions. In Harris, India will havea strong supporter who can argueits cause. Intriguingly, Biden,too, has an Indian connection.One of his forefathers, GeorgeBiden, had settled in India dur-ing the East India Companyregime and had married an

Indian woman. Harris has grownup with a tinge of Indian culturebut has simultaneously lived aproudly African-American life.Biden has expressed his intentionto stand by India regarding bor-der issues. On the other hand,Prime Minister Narendra Modiand US President Donald Trumpenjoy an excellent rapport. Bidenor Trump, India will not be loserin either case.

Azhar Ali KhanRampur

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Thanks for the memories”(August 18). Dhoni’s decision toretire from international crick-et has come at the right time. Asthe captain of the men’s cricketteam, he has shown the way toremain cool in tense situationsand win the game. This is whyhe is respected by all quarters.Though we will miss Dhoni, welook forward to his “helicoptershot” in the IPL.

Sweta SankrityanVia email

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The Coronavirus pandemic has caused eco-nomic disruptions and shutdowns in manycountries across the world. Imposition of

nationwide lockdowns, layoffs in the workforce andrestrictions on non-essential travel have minimisedmarket output and affected foreign trade signifi-cantly. The lurking threat to all vital elements ofhuman life has also become prominent in the formof job losses, disruption in water supply and access,dwindling food production and distribution, andthreats to health and well-being. The COVID-19outbreak is not just an economic but a humanitar-ian and environmental crisis. This has impededIndia’s contribution towards the 17 SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs) that were put forth in2015 with an objective to eradicate poverty, safe-guard the planet and ensure peace and prosperi-ty for all by 2030. Moreover, the response to cli-mate change has also lost traction globally with thepostponement of the Conference of Parties(COP26) to 2021.

While India continues to grapple with thesechallenges, the contagion has offered two key learn-ings that can be leveraged for addressing climatechange domestically in coherence with our SDGcommitments. First, the COVID-19 responsemechanisms provide an exemplary account of therole of cooperative and collective action betweennational and sub-national governments for contain-ing the spread of the epidemic. Second, it show-cases how proactive structural changes —includ-ing the creation of health infrastructure, enforce-ment of guidelines and regulatory actions — canenhance the resilience of a system to effectivelyrespond to a crisis situation.

Third, the pandemic shows that society canadjust fast in the face of a crisis. Thus far, climatechange is not seen as a crisis. While the COVID-19 curve is likely to flatten eventually, the impactsof climate change will continue to rattle differentparts of the country through severe hydro-mete-orological events, ranging from the deadly cycloneAmphan to the wrecking floods in Assam and Biharbeing witnessed this year. The aforementionedlearnings likewise reinforce the need to adopt a bot-tom-up approach, involving sub-national entities,including State and local governments to step upstringent action for mitigating the impacts of cli-mate change in harmony with the CentralGovernment’s commitments at the domestic andglobal milieu. As the key lever of climate action inthe States, the State Action Plan on Climate Change(SAPCC), nears completion of the first phase of itsimplementation, this year invigorates hope forStates to ratchet up their SAPCC ambition underthe direction of the Ministry of Environment, Forestand Climate Change. Taking cognisance of the con-vergent nature of issues and the associated socialimpacts unveiled by the contagion, countriesaround the world are rallying towards “green recov-ery” — a road not taken earlier.

The ongoing revision of SAPCC offers a uniqueopportunity to States to experience “green recov-ery” that addresses multiple threats synergistical-ly through the integration of strategies (to absorbshocks from the pandemic), by enhancing climateresilience (impacts of climate change) and safe-guarding sustainable development (threat to peo-ple and inclusive action). This is critical to ensurethat incremental actions towards greening the post-COVID recovery as well as the economy are notjust reactive to the immediate crisis but are sus-tained well beyond the revival of the State’s econ-

omy. The SAPCCs inherently cater to amyriad SDGs, most noteworthy of whichwould be SDG 13 on Climate Action. TheSDGs have passed the baton of enforc-ing sustainable and inclusive develop-mental trajectories to all countries andunder this ambit there is enormouspotential for States to incorporate theSDGs within their SAPCC narratives andvice-versa. Through their sectoral inter-ventions that navigate across agriculture,energy, industries, health, employmentand resource conservation strategiescatering to water, forestry, biodiversityand so on, the SAPCCs can be potential-ly linked to several SDGs.

The recent TERI study, based oncontent analysis and rapid assessmenttechnique, mapped out the linkages thatexisted between all the 33 SAPCCs andthe 17 SDGs. As anticipated, the promi-nent linkages witnessed between SAPCCstrategies and the SDGs corresponded tosustainable agriculture (zero hunger,SDG two), renewable and efficient ener-gy (affordable and clean energy, SDGseven), sustainable urban landscapes(austainable cities and communities,SDG 11) and capacity-building (partner-ship for the goals, SDG 17) followed bycomplementarities with other SDGs.These include good health and well-being, clean water and sanitation, indus-try innovation and infrastructure,responsible consumption and productionand life on land.

Interestingly, linkages with targetsresonating with other crucial SDGs suchas quality education, gender equality,decent work and economic growth, jus-tice and strong institutions, were infre-quent and exceptional for a limitednumber of SAPCCs. Specific congruen-cies with SDG 4, which included integrat-ing the climate change module in theeducation curriculum, were witnessed inthe States of Chhattisgarh, Puducherry

and Tamil Nadu (TN), while States suchas Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthanand the Union Territory of Lakshadweepunderlined SDG 4 as necessary forbuilding adaptation capacities, resilienceand public awareness.

With respect to gender equality, theSAPCC of Himachal Pradesh identifiedthe gender component of climate actionstrategies and missions, such as in theGreen India Mission. Kerala was anoth-er State, which in its SAPCC, took cog-nisance of the indispensable role ofwomenfolk in forest and resource man-agement. Tripura’s SAPCC demarcatedthe role which women play in promot-ing social capital and resilience-buildingof communities through their Self-HelpGroups. SDG 8 (decent work and eco-nomic growth) has immense potential tocontribute towards a greener economythrough green jobs under climate actionstrategies within the SAPCCs.

Gujarat’s SAPCC has advanced onthis goal for creating green jobs throughactivities pertaining to afforestation,renewable energy-installation, waste tobio-fuel programmes, to name a few.Other SAPCCs, such as those of UttarPradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Island andMadhya Pradesh, have iterated the needto bolster employment under the sectorsof fisheries, industries and forestry to fos-ter sustainable growth and develop-ment. SDG 14 (Life below water) andSDG 16 (Peace, justice and strong insti-tutions) have seen limited linkages as onlycoastal SAPCCs would correspond to theformer and the need to build institution-al effectiveness and accountability wasunderscored only in Andhra Pradesh andTamil Nadu.

Further, the SDG India Index 2019rankings have classified States based ontheir performance. The NationalIndicator Framework (NIF), prepared bythe Ministry of Statistics and Programme

Implementation (MoSPI), is the back-bone of SDG rankings and elucidates howthe climate action agenda can beupscaled. The NIF spans over enhancingadaptive capacity of States, morbidity dueto climate extremes, reduction in emis-sions, meeting the Nationally DeterminedContributions (NDC) targets and inte-grating climate change module in theeducation curricula. Therefore, persist-ing congruencies between the two agen-da and the NIF overlap the aspiration ofa green economy, where an integratedframework of mutually co-benefittinggovernance for planning and imple-mentation is a requisite.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, inhis recent address at the India GlobalWeek 2020, reiterated the need for reviv-ing an India which is sustainable. He alsomentioned his vision of an AtmanirbharBharat that is self-sustaining and self-gen-erating and which reinforces the need forgreening the recovery as well as the econ-omy. Following suit, UP has already start-ed a “One District, One Product” initia-tive to harness local traditions, art andenterprise; reiterating the need to go local.This, if successful, will have a positiveeffect and encourage SDG commitments.States must endorse a holistic approachto include strategies in the SAPCCwherein green recovery measures areplanned in consonance with their abili-ty to mitigate climate change and achieveSDGs.

Strategies need to be devised acrosssectors that will make India’s economicrecovery sustainable and climate-proof.However, devising such effective greenstrategies as the economy recovers wouldalso demand one to assess how “green-ness” is defined and measured, as that remains woefully unaddressed at pre-sent.

(Pruthi and Raj are ResearchAssociates and Pahuja is, Fellow, TERI)

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Recently somebody shared a videolink of an old television debatein which I had featured. Then

came the query, “Why aren’t youdebating on television these days?” Ireplied that since I am out of sync withthe style of the debate, which is invogue now, I opt out of the few offersthat come my way, especially whenthey need a dozen people peeping outof the tiny windows on the televisionscreen. However, the other person wasnot convinced by my explanation. Hesaid that it was just “a case of sourgrapes” as I was “outdated.” Thatremark stung me a bit but it also gotme thinking. Have I become outdat-ed? I had been mulling over this con-

versation for some time. Hence, I wasshaken when the news of Congressspokesperson Rajiv Tyagi collapsingafter a “toxic” television debate camein.

In hindsight, I thought, it had beena wise decision for a hypertensive andpre-diabetic person like me to opt outof these cantankerous shows of abu-sive persons baying for each other’sblood, spurred by an unscrupulouscheerleader christened as anchor.With no political fortune to seek andthe channels increasingly tighteningtheir purse strings when it comes topaying the panelists, I think it has beena wise decision to not put one’s life atrisk.

Many years ago, when I had justmoved from being a relative junior inthe profession to a middle leadershipposition in The Pioneer, a tempting joboffer had come my way from a televi-sion channel. In those days, televisionchannels were popping up a dime adozen as a Supreme Court order hadended Doordarshan’s monopoly onairtime. There were many whothought, and rightly so in many cases

(especially those with poor writing andediting skills) that television was theplatform to be in. When I entered ThePioneer Editor Dr Chandan Mitra’soffice with the offer letter in my handand asked for his permission to resign,he asked me to sit down and ordereda cup of coffee. He then told me thatsomeone with good writing skillsshould never seek to make a career asa television reporter. I thought this tobe a stratagem to retain me in theorganisation because in those days DrMitra himself would frequent televi-sion studios and was a celebrity in hisown right.

My doubts got cleared when hesaid, while sipping his piping hot cupof coffee, that television was a greatplace to be, if one was invited as a pan-elist for inputs beyond the bare news.That is what television debates oughtto be and to be fair it remained thatway for a very long time. It is justunfortunate that this has now beenturned on its head.

I must share that I was introducedas a television panelist on the recom-mendation of Dr Mitra on a news item

which I had penned and which hadcreated quite a stir. However, myappearances on television remainedinfrequent as I neither enjoyed thepolitical and social station of DrMitra, nor did I have the liberty of anEditor to leave office early for a tele-vision talk show. I, however, had along-run as a television panelistbetween 2008 and 2017 when the erst-while STAR News and later ABP Newsunder the stewardship of Shazi Zamanplanned pre-recorded talk show-basedcontent. The guest would be present-ed before a group of people fromacross the social spectrum and a fewjournalists, who would grill the per-sonality. But the lines of civility werenever crossed in those days.

The shows were planned in sucha manner that for the panelists, quickwit and intelligence became the mostimportant tools for creating an impactand surviving the scrutiny of theaudience. It was very clear that shout-ing, running down and abusing co-panelists were not part of the shows’grammar or the channels’ culture.

Appearances at these shows also

gave me the opportunity to rub shoul-ders and meaningfully interact withmany a veteran of the profession, spe-cially from language papers. Theybrought with them sagacious knowl-edge not earned by way of appendinga foreign degree but by years spent inthe field witnessing the evolution ofIndian society and politics and remain-ing its consistent student.

The recording sessions, whichwould expand over three to fourhours, always included space for infor-mal interaction with the guest of theday. These sessions were actually greatsittings in scholarship. Today I see onscreen such “scholars”, by the way ofholding a professorial position, gestic-ulating, pointing fingers and spewingvenom, which would make even themost wayward student cower with fear.

A media platform’s essential occu-pation should be dissemination ofwell-argued information rather thandebates which could pass off as a goator cock fight in a village marketplace.The late Rajiv Tyagi had the reputationof being a “forceful” spokesperson forthe Congress Party. Congress scion

Rahul Gandhi in his condolence mes-sage called him a “babbar sher (lion).”

However, one should not forget,that at the end of the day Tyagi, too,was another gladiator, in the ring fora bloody bout set up by channels everyevening. The world of professionalboxing and wrestling is full of tales offighters getting fatally injured anddying early. Are we now seeing a sim-ilar trend emerging in televisiondebates, which today are a euphemismfor sessions of shouting, aggressivebehaviour and abusing with physicalassault thankfully being avoided dueto the Corona protocols being inplace?

Given the untimely demise ofTyagi and the humiliation which isheaped on many in the name of tele-vision debates, personally for me sourgrapes are preferable over being linedin a row to be caned by a hectoringanchor.

(The writer is a senior journalistand Professor-ChairpersonVivekananda School of Journalism andMass Communication, VIPS, GGSIPU,Delhi)

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Facebook Chief OperatingOfficer Sheryl Sandberg has

said that posts uploaded by USPresident Donald would betaken down if they violate thesocial media company’s policieson hate speech and false infor-mation. Ahead of theNovember 3 presidential pollsin the US, Facebook has takena series of steps to check thespread of misinformationthrough its platform.

Kabul: Bomb attacks in Kabuland in northern Afghanistan,as well as an ambush in thecountry’s south killed at leastfive people on Wednesday andwounded 15, officials said.

Two sticky bombs target-ed government employees inthe Afghan capital, killingtwo people, including a policeofficer, and wounding twoothers, police said.

Meanwhile in PuliKhumri, the capital of north-ern Baghlan province, a bombtargeted a vehicle belonging to

the provincial intelligencedepartment, killing two ser-vice members and wounding11 people, including both mil-itary and civilians, said NazirNajem, the provincial gover-nor’s spokesman.

In southern Urozganprovince, gunmen ambushedthe vehicle of the intelligencechief in the city of Tarin Kowt,killing him and woundingtwo other service members,said Zelgay Ebadi, thespokesman for the provincialgovernor. AP

Washington: Democrats haveofficially named Joe Biden astheir presidential candidateafter several elder statesmenlauded the former US vicepresident’s leadership skills tochallenge incumbentRepublican President DonaldTrump in November.

Two Democratic formerpresidents, Bill Clinton andJimmy Carter, and former sec-retary of state John Kerryendorsed Biden on Tuesday, thesecond day of the DemocraticNational Convention (DNC).Former secretary of state Colin

Powell, a Republican, alsobacked Biden’s candidacy.

Biden, 77, became theDemocratic Party’s nomineefor the November 3 presiden-tial election on Tuesday nightin a pre-recorded roll call votefrom delegates in all 50 states.

He said the nomination“means the world to me andmy family, and I’ll see you onThursday,” referring to hisspeech accepting the nomina-tion on the final night of thefour-day convention which islargely virtual, amid the coro-navirus pandemic. PTI

Gaza City (Gaza Strip):Hundreds of Palestinians in theGaza Strip on Wednesday ral-lied against the US-brokereddeal to normalise ties betweenIsrael and the United ArabEmirates.

Protesters burned Israeliand American flags, trampledon posters of Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahuand President Donald Trump,and chanted “normalisation isbetrayal to Jerusalem andPalestine.”

Unlike Palestinian protest-

ers last Friday near the AlAqsa Mosque compound inJerusalem’s Old City who alsoburned posters of the Emiraticrown prince, the Gaza demon-strators stopped short of burn-ing symbols of the UAE —apparently not to antagonisethe Gulf Arab country, wheretens of thousands ofPalestinians work and live.

The demonstrators in GazaCity also voiced support forPalestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas for his rejec-tion of President Donald

Trump’s Mideast plan, whichthe Palestinians say unfairlyfavours Israel.

The protest was organisedby the militant Hamas group,which rules the Gaza Strip, andother factions.

Khalil al-Hayya, a seniorHamas official, denounced theIsraeli-Emirati deal.“Normalisation with the occu-pation harms us and doesn’tserve us,” he said. “Instead, itserves and promotes the occu-pation in its projects that targetPalestine and the region.” AP

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New Zealand appears to begaining control over a coro-

navirus outbreak in Aucklandafter just five new communityinfections were reportedWednesday amid record levelsof testing and contact tracing.

A sixth infection was foundin a quarantined traveler whohad returned from Qatar.

Prime Minister JacindaArdern says 500 more militarypersonnel would be deployed toquarantine hotels.

Bamako (Mali): The Maliansoldiers who forced PresidentIbrahim Boubacar Keita toresign in a coup promised earlyWednesday to organise newelections after their takeoverwas swiftly condemned by theinternational community.

In a statement carriedovernight on state broadcasterORTM, the mutinous soldierswho staged Tuesday’s militarycoup identified themselves asthe National Committee for the

Salvation of the People led byCol. Maj. Ismael Wagué.

“With you, standing asone, we can restore this coun-try to its former greatness,”Wagué said, announcing thatborders were closed and that acurfew was going into effectfrom 9 p.M. To 5 a.M.

The news of Keita’s depar-ture was met with jubilation byanti-government demonstra-tors in the capital, Bamako, andalarm by former colonial rulerFrance, and other allies and for-eign nations.

The UN Security Councilscheduled a closed meetingWednesday afternoon to discussthe unfolding situation in Mali,where the U.N. Has a 15,600-strong peacekeeping mission.

Keita, who was democra-tically elected in a 2013 land-slide and re-elected five yearslater, still had three years leftin his term. AP

Brussels: European Unionleaders on Wednesday saidthey stand beside the peopleprotesting for democratic rightsin Belarus, underlining thatthe EU rejects the electionresults that kept the country’sleader of 26 years in power andis preparing a list of Belarusianswho face sanctions over votefraud and a brutal crackdownon protesters.

The message of supportcame as the leading oppositioncandidate urged the Europeans

to support “the awakening ofBelarus,” and as authorities inthe country began again detain-ing protesters, who took to thestreets of Minsk for an 11th dayto demand that PresidentAlexander Lukashenko resign.

“The European Unionstands in solidarity with thepeople of Belarus, and we don’taccept impunity,” EuropeanCouncil President CharlesMichel told reporters afterchairing an emergency tele-conference.

“We don’t recognize theresults presented by the Belarusauthorities” Michel said theEU will impose sanctions on “asubstantial number” of peoplelinked to election fraud and vio-lence.

He declined to name any ofthose who might be listed. Healso said that the 27-nation blocfully supports mediating effortsbetween the Belarusian gov-ernment and opposition over-seen by the Organisation forSecurity and Cooperation inEurope. AP

Cairo: Sudan on Wednesdayfired the spokesman for theforeign ministry, a day after heremarked that the Africancountry was looking forwardto making a peace deal withIsrael.

The development comesafter last week’s bombshellannouncement of a dealbetween the United ArabEmirates and Israel to normal-ize relations, which will makethe UAE only the third Arabnation, after Egypt and Jordan,to have full ties with Israel.

Sudan’s acting ForeignMinister Omar Qamar al-Dinsaid he dismissed AmbassadorHaidar Badawi from his postafter Badawi said Tuesday thatSudan was “looking forward toconcluding a peace agreementwith Israel.” AP

Berlin: Saudi Arabia’s foreignminister on Wednesday cau-tiously welcomed an agreementbetween its close ally the UnitedArab Emirates and Israel toestablish full ties and exchangeembassies.

Prince Faisal bin Farhansaid the deal, which also haltedunilateral annexation by Israelof West Bank territory sought bythe Palestinians, “could beviewed as positive.”

But he refrained from out-right backing the move andstressed Saudi Arabia is open toestablishing similar relationson condition that a peace agree-ment is reached between Israeland the Palestinians.

His remarks during a newsconference with GermanForeign Minister Heiko Maaswere the first public commentby Saudi Arabia on Thursday’ssurprise announcement by USPresident Donald Trump thathis administration helped bro-ker the UAE-Israel agreement.

Bahrain, Oman and Egyptissued official statements wel-coming the agreement. The

kingdom did not issue similarstatements and did no-t respond to requests for com-ment until Wednesday’s newsconference in Berlin.The UAEframed its agreement as a suc-cessful measure that haltedIsraeli plans to annex WestBank territory. Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu,however, has said the suspen-sion is only temporary.

The Palestinians haveissued scathing statements say-ing the UAE undermined Arabconsensus and describing themove as a “betrayal ofJerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosqueand the Palestinian cause.” SaudiArabia, like other Arab Gulfstates, has built quiet ties withIsrael over the years, in partbecause of shared concernsover Iran and its policies in theregion. Prince Faisal reiteratedduring the press conference thekingdom’s long-stated publicstance of support for the ArabPeace Initiative which promis-es Israel full ties with Arab statesif a peace settlement is reachedwith the Palestinians. AP

Taipei: Chinese hackers infil-trated at least 10 Taiwan gov-ernment agencies and gainedaccess to around 6,000 emailaccounts in an attempt to stealdata, officials said Wednesday.

The damage done was “notsmall”, according to a topTaiwan cyber official, who saidthe full impact was still beingassessed.

Taipei has accused Beijingof stepping up a cyber cam-paign since 2016 when Taiwanelected President Tsai Ing-wen,who refuses to acknowledgeBeijing’s insistence that theself-ruled democratic island ispart of “one China”.

Tsai, who views Taiwan asde facto independent, won re-

election by a landslide inJanuary in what was seen as astrong rebuke to Beijing’s cam-paign to influence the island.

According to the TaiwanInvestigation Bureau’s CyberSecurity Investigation Office,two well-known Chinese hack-ing groups — Blacktech andTaidoor — have been targetinggovernment departments andinformation service providerssince 2018.

“We know for sure thatthese 6,000 emails have beencompromised. We are stillassessing the extent of thedamage,” the office’s deputydirector, Liu Chia-zung, toldAFP.

“As far as we know, the

damage done by this infiltra-tion is not small,” Liu added.

“We are making this pub-lic because we want to alerteveryone of the threat andstop further damage.”

The announcement comesa week after US health secretaryAlex Azar wrapped up a his-toric trip to the self-ruledisland as China warnedWashington not to “play withfire”.

Beijing has ramped updiplomatic and economic pres-sure on Taiwan as well asincreasing military drills nearthe island, including its jetsbreaching Taiwan’s air defencezone with unprecedented fre-quency in recent weeks.

Washington: No new high-level trade talks have beenscheduled between the UnitedStates and China but the twosides remain in touch aboutimplementing a Phase 1 deal,White House Chief of StaffMark Meadows told reportersaboard Air Force One onTuesday.

US President DonaldTrump earlier told reportersduring a visit to Yuma,Arizona, that he had post-poned an August 15 review ofthe trade agreement signedwith China in January given hisfrustration over Beijing’s han-dling of the coronavirus pan-demic.

“I postponed talks withChina. You know why? I don’twant to deal with them now,”Trump said during a briefingon construction of a borderwall with Mexico. “What Chinadid to the world was not eventhinkable. They could havestopped (the virus).”

Meadows said the review,mandated as part of the tradeagreement with China, hadnot been rescheduled, but USrade Representative RobertLighthizer remained in regularcontact with his counterparts in

China about fulfilling its com-mitments.

“There are no rescheduledtalks ... at this point,” Meadowstold reporters.

“Ambassador Lighthizercontinues to have discussionswith his Chinese counterpartsinvolving purchases and ful-filling their agreements.”

Trump struck a non-com-mittal tone when asked if hewould pull out of the trade dealwith China, saying, “We’ll seewhat happens.”

During visits to Arizonaand Iowa on Tuesday, Trumpexpressed frustration aboutChina’s handling of the healthcrisis and its failure to containthe disease, but he also laudedrecord purchases by Beijing ofUS farm products.

China’s imports of US farmand manufactured goods, ener-gy and services are well behindthe pace needed to meet a first-year target increase of $77 bil-lion over 2017 purchases. Butits purchases have increased asChina’s economy recovers froma coronavirus lockdown earli-er this year. AGENCY

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The GST Council is likely tomeet on August 27 to dis-

cuss the compensation payoutto states and the opinion of theAttorney General on the legal-ity of market borrowing tomeet revenue shortfall.

Sources said the 41stmeeting of the Goods andServices Tax (GST) Councilwould be a single agenda meet-ing on states’ compensation tobe held via video conferencing.

Besides, a full-fledgedmeeting of the Council wouldbe held on September 19, agen-da for which is to be decided indue course, they added.

The Attorney General-who is the chief legal officer ofthe government - has opinedthat the Centre has no statuto-ry obligation to make up forany shortfall in GST revenuesof states from its coffers ,

sources had said.They had earlier indicated

that following the AG’s opinion,states may now have to look atmarket borrowings to meetthe revenue shortfall and theGST Council will take a finalcall. The Centre had in Marchsought views from AttorneyGeneral KK Venugopal on thelegality of market borrowing bythe GST Council to make upfor any shortfall in compensa-tion fund - a corpus createdfrom levy of additional tax onluxury and sin goods to com-pensate states for revenueshortfall arising from theirtaxes being subsumed intoGST.

The AG had also opinedthat the Council has to decideon meeting the shortfall in theGST compensation fund byproviding the sufficient amountto be credited to the fund.

Sources said the options

before the Council for meetingthe shortfall could be to ratio-nalize GST rates, cover moreitems under the compensa-tion cess or increase the com-pensation cess, or recommendhigher borrowing by states tobe repaid by the future collec-tion into the compensationfund.

Since raising tax or cessrates might not be feasible inthe current pandemic situation,the option that remains is eachstate borrowing from marketagainst the consolidated fundof the state. Under theGST law, states were guaran-teed to be compensated bi-monthly for any loss of revenuein the first five years of the GSTimplementation from July 1,2017. The shortfall is calculat-ed assuming a 14 per centannual growth in GST collec-tions by states over the baseyear of 2015-16.

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The Centre on Wednesdayapproved a proposal to give

one-time relaxation in workingcapital limit norm for discomsunder the Ujwal DISCOMAssurance Yojana (UDAY) toget loans as part of the �90,000crore liquidity infusionscheme.After the Cabinetmeeting, Union MinisterPrakash Javadekar in a pressconference said, “Power sectorhas a problem. There is aslump in power consumption.The bills are not being collect-ed by them. PFC and REC havebeen allowed to give loansabove the limit...(of) more than25 per cent working capitallimit. This will increase liq-uidity of the state discoms”.

“The working capital limitis 25 per cent of last year’s rev-

enue. Now, the limit is relaxed,”

he further said. According to anofficial statement, the CabinetCommittee on EconomicAffairs, chaired by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, hasapproved a one-time relax-ation to Power FinanceCorporation (PFC) and RECLtd for extending loans to dis-coms above limits of workingcapital cap of 25 per cent of lastyear’s revenues under UDAY.

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Markets regulator Sebi onWednesday proposed

relaxation in norms pertainingto 25 per cent minimum pub-lic shareholding for companieswhich undergo corporate insol-vency resolution and seekrelisting following the process.

Besides, it proposedenhanced disclosure for suchcompanies. Sebi said it is pos-sible that pursuant to imple-mentation of the resolutionplan, the public shareholding insuch companies may drop toabysmally low levels.

In fact, in one recent caseit was observed that post cor-porate insolvency resolutionprocess (CIRP), the publicholding decreased to 0.97 percent, and it showed 8,764 percent jump in share price in spiteof additional preventive sur-veillance actions, includingreduction in price band andmoving the scrip into trade fortrade segment.

According to Sebi, suchlow public shareholding raisesmultiple concerns like failure offair discovery of price of thescrip and need for increasedsurveillance measures and maytherefore be a red flag forfuture cases.

Low float also prohibitshealthy participation in tradingof such companies majorly dueto issues related to demand andsupply gap of shares, the regu-lator added.

Accordingly, the regulatorhas proposed recalibration ofthreshold for minimum publicshareholding (MPS) norms incompanies which undergoCIRP and seek relisting ofshares pursuant to implemen-tation of the approved resolu-tion plan.

It has sought views of pub-lic and market intermediariestill September 18 in this regard.

It has been suggested thatpost-CIRP companies may bemandated to achieve at least 10per cent public shareholdingwithin six months and 25 percent within three years fromthe date of breach of MPSnorm. Currently, the normsmandate that in case publicholding of such company fallsbelow 10 per cent, then thesame will be increased to atleast 10 per cent within 18months and 25 per cent with-in three years. Another optionwhich has been suggested isthat post-CIRP companies maybe mandated to have at least 5per cent public shareholding atthe time of relisting.

New Delhi: The Government’snew Affordable Rental HousingComplexes (ARHC) policy willboost supply of rental accom-modations besides opening theprospects of launching resi-dential REIT in the country,according to Savills report.

India has seen two suc-cessful launches and listing ofthe Real Estate InvestmentTrust so far with fund raisingof more than �9,000 crore, butboth were for rent-yieldingcommercial assets mainly officeparks.The consultant launcheda research report titled - ‘Rentalhousing in India: A study of theupcoming wave’ at an eventorganised by FICCI.

“Rental housing is anoth-er market that is yet to betapped, especially in the urbanareas which have seen prices ofhomes go beyond the cusp ofmost of the city dwellers.

“The recently releasedoperational guidelines onARHC are a long-awaited giantleap in the right direction,” saidAnurag Mathur, ChiefExecutive Officer, SavillsIndia.The property consultantsaid that rental housing inIndia could possibly see aboom in the next two yearsbacked by the recent reformsannounced by the government.

Rapid urbanization, migra-tion to cities and the rising costof home ownership are thethree key demand drivers foraffordable rental housing inIndia.

As per the 2011 census,urban households on rentstood at over 21 million, whichis around 20 per cent of thetotal number of houses inurban India. Almost 80 percent of the rental housing mar-ket in the country is concen-trated in urban centres, thereport said.

While India’s urban popu-lation share has grown morethan threefold in over a centu-ry at around 10 per cent in the1900s to current levels of morethan 34 per cent, annual inter-state migration is estimated tobe growing at around 9-10million annually. Meanwhile,the cost of house ownershipacross India has shown aCAGR of around 5 per cent inthe past few years, as per thereport. The policy initiativesover the last few years - includ-ing the establishment of RERA,PMAY, Model Tenancy Law,and others - gave the founda-tion for the development ofrental housing.

However, the ARHCsOperational Guidelines July2020 has now laid a roadmap.

“Operational Guidelinesfor ARHCs has laid down twomodels - while the first model(M-1) envisages the operationof vacant government fundedhouses as ARHCs by a conces-sionaire for 25 years, the secondmodel (M-2) provides for pub-lic & private entities to createARHCs on their own vacantlands,” the report said. PTI

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In yet another exodus, GoAirhas seen the exit of half-a-

dozen senior executives inrecent weeks amid the budgetairline struggling to pay salariesand keeping a significant chunkof staff on leave without pay,according to two sources.

The Wadia group-pro-moted carrier has around 6,700employees and around as muchas 4,000-4,500 of them are onleave without pay (LWP), oneof the sources said.

When contacted for com-ments on quitting of seniorexecutives, a GoAir spokesper-son neither denied nor con-firmed the resignations.Theairline “continues to assess thecurrent market situation andwill align its cost structureswith the current flight opera-tions. These are planned fur-loughs in order to minimisecash burn so that the staffcount is aligned to the currentscale of operations”, thespokesperson said in a state-ment.The airlines industry hasbeen grappling with strongheadwinds due to the coron-avirus pandemic, with many ofthe carriers laying off people as

part of cost-cutting measures.GoAir has also been severelyhit by suspension of flight ser-vices to curb the spread ofcoronavirus. Besides announc-ing paycuts for most of itsemployees in March, GoAirhad also announced the LWPscheme for 60-70 per cent ofthe staff in April.

The sources quoted abovesaid salary payments to theremaining 30 per cent of theworkforce is also not regular.

Earlier this month, the air-line gave three options to theemployees -- voluntary resig-nation, termination and con-tinue on LWP for an indefiniteperiod. Subsequently, morethan half-a-dozen senior exec-utives left the airline whilesome others mulling variousoptions, the sources told PTI.

“The top deck at GoAir isnow almost empty. In the lastfew weeks, the airline’s com-pany secretary, vice-presidentsfor international operations,cargo, procurement, customerservices, inflight services, andcorporate communication quitthe carrier as these peoplewere not getting paid sinceApril on account of LWP,” oneof the sources said.

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Market benchmarks tickedhigher for the third

straight session on Wednesday,propped up by RelianceIndustries, HDFC Bank andICICI Bank amid a bullishtrend in global equities.

The BSE Sensex toucheda high of 38,788.51 during theday but succumbed to profit-booking at the fag-end of thesession. It finally closed at38,614.79, up 86.47 points or0.22 per cent.

On similar lines, the NSENifty rose 23.05 points or 0.20per cent to 11,408.40.

Market behemoth RelianceIndustries climbed 0.68 percent after announcing acquisi-tion of 60 per cent stake in e-pharmacy Netmeds for �620crore. Tech Mahindra was thetop gainer in the Sensex pack,rising 1.91 per cent, followed byBharti Airtel, Maruti, ICICIBank, HDFC Bank, SBI, RILand , Asian Paints.

On the other hand, BajajAuto, ONGC, Nestle India,

HUL and Kotak Bank wereamong the laggards, slipping upto 1.42 per cent.

According totraders, domestic bourses fol-lowed positive cues from

global markets after USequities hit record highs inovernight session.

“Ever present fears regard-ing the Covid-19 impact oneconomic recovery broughtabout volatility in the globalmarkets, despite US marketssurging to record highs. Indianindices also exhibited thisvolatility before closing theday with a positive bias.Banking index again led thegains.

“The gains in the Indianmarket, as in the global mar-kets, have been driven by ampleliquidity and the expectation ofnormalisation of business sup-ported by government mea-

sures, in a post Covid-19 sce-nario.

However, investors mustcontinue to remain stock spe-cific and use the accumulationstrategy for the time being,”said Vinod Nair, Head ofResearch at Geojit FinancialServices.

BSE telecom, realty,industrials, basic materials,utilities and finance indicesjumped up to 1.49 per cent,while IT, FMCG, healthcareand teck indices ended in thered.

Broader BSE mid-cap andsmall-cap indices rallied asmuch as 1.16 per cent.Persistent foreign fund inflowstoo buoyed investor sentiment,traders said. Foreign institu-tional investors bought equitiesworth a net Rs 1,134.57 croreon Tuesday, provisionalexchange data showed.

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India’s general Governmentdebt-to-GDP ratio is set to

surge, with a World Bankreport projecting the ratio atrising to its peak of 89 per centin the financial year 2022-23,before gradually declining.

The report titled ‘IndiaDevelopment Update’ for July2020, noted that with the rev-enue outlook seriously dented,and new expenditure impera-tives, the fiscal deficit and debtof the central and state gov-ernments are likely to increasesharply over the next two years.

“India’s debt-to-GDP ratiois projected to increase signif-icantly in the short term,reflecting the expected con-traction in GDP growth andincrease in the primary deficit.While there is a significant levelof uncertainty around the pro-jections, the general govern-ment debt-to-GDP ratio is pro-jected to peak at around 89 percent in FY22/23 before gradu-ally declining thereafter,” itsaid.

General government debt

refers to the overall liabilities ofboth the Union Governmentand states.It, however, notedthat the country’s public debt isexpected to remain sustainablebecause it is mostly denomi-nated in domestic currency, oflong or medium-term maturi-ty, and is predominantly heldby residents.In a baseline sce-nario, which takes into accountrevised growth projections,lower-than-expected divest-ment proceeds, and newexpenditure commitments, thefiscal deficit of the central gov-ernment is projected toincrease to 6.6 per cent ofGDP in FY 2020-21 andremain at a high of 5.5 per centin the following year.

“Assuming that, the states’deficit is contained within 3.5-4.5 per cent of GDP, the deficitof the general government mayrise to around 11 per cent in FY2020-21,” it said. Further, thereport also said that the WorldBank may project a steepercontraction of the Indian econ-omy for the current financialyear, revised from the previousestimate of 3.2 per cent.

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Gold prices fell by �640 to�54,269 per 10 gram in

the national capital onWednesday following declinein international prices of theprecious metal, according toHDFC Securities.

The yellow metal hadclosed at �54,909 per 10gram in the previous trade.Silver prices also faced sellingpressure and declined by�3,112 to �69,450 per kgfrom �72,562 per kg in theprevious trade. In the globalmarket, gold was quotinglower at USD 1,988 perounce, while silver was trad-ing flat at USD 27.43 perounce. “Gold prices paredprevious gains on dollarrecovery as dollar index wit-nessed recovery onWednesday ahead of the USFederal Open MarketCommittee (FOMC) min-utes,” HDFC Securities SeniorAnalyst (Commodities)Tapan Patel said.

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The rupee pared its initialgains to settle 6 paise

lower at 74.82 against the USdollar on Wednesday due tosuspected RBI interventionand uncertainty ahead of therelease of minutes of the USFederal Reserve meeting.

At the interbank forexmarket, the domestic unitopened at 74.71 against theUS dollar, but lost ground andfinally settled at 74.82 against,down 6 paise over its previ-ous close of 74.76. During thesession, the local unit wit-nessed an intra-day high of74.67 and a low of 74.93against the greenback.Meanwhile, the dollar index,which gauges the greenback’sstrength against a basket of sixcurrencies, fell 0.04 per centto 92.23. The market focus ison Fed minutes, Rahul Gupta,Head of Research- Currency,Emkay Global FinancialServices said.

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New Delhi: With an aim toupskill 1000 tyre mechanics intyre repair, mounting ordemounting in the country,Rubber Skill DevelopmentCouncil, in partnership withBridgestone, has launched TyreCarewala project, whose pilotphase has been launched fromKanpur to train 500 mechan-ics there.

“These tyre mechanicswill undergo training and thenwill be certified once they clearthe assessment,” said ShewaniNagpal, COO, Rubber SkillDevelopment Council.

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New Delhi: SLR Metaliks Ltdstrategically used the lock-down period to enhance its fur-nace capacity from 0.3milliontonnes to 0.4 million tonnesannually.

It has truly been anAtmanirbhar phase for a com-pany like ours which has beenable to make a phenomenalleap, said Rajkumar Goel, MD,SLR Metaliks.

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The Delhi Disaster ManagementAuthority (DDMA) allowedhotels and weekly markets to

open on a trial basis in the national cap-ital, complying with the COVID-19 pro-tocols. However, fitness centres andgyms have not been given permissionto open. The meeting, chaired by LGAnil Baijal, happened on August 18 andresulted in favour of the hoteliers, whowelcomed the decision of the govern-ment.

The Hotel Association of India(HAI), which represents 300 hotelsacross categories, also supported themove. A spokesperson of HAI said,“The Hotel Association of India wel-comes the move by the StateGovernment to allow the hotel and hos-pitality sector to start operations again

in New Delhi. Indian HospitalityIndustry holds immense potential to bea global leader and we believe this movewill slowly help this capital-intensive,people-centric sector to gradually inchtowards revival. While the opening ofhotels in Delhi will help in aiding theresurgence of the sector, there is a lotmore support required to keep the ‘sur-vival and revival’ of the industry inmind.”

“We have been aggressively pursu-ing the government — both State andCentral — to allow an extension on loanmoratorium, relief towards PropertyTax, Excise Duty, Fixed Electricity andPower Costs. Our vision is to provideall the necessary elements that will pro-pel the sector towards heightenedgrowth in the years to come. Extending

support to the government, we have alsoproposed to bring in an inter-state taskforce to share the load in reviving thesector,” the spokesperson added.

Dr Jyotsna Suri, ExecutiveCommittee Member, Hotel Associationof India and Chairperson and MD,Bharat Hotels Limited, said, “We wel-come the move of the Government forreopening of hotels in Delhi. We arethankful to LG Anil Baijal, Chief Ministerof Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, and Ministerof State for Tourism and Culture, PrahladSingh Patel, for this initiative. This deci-sion will enable the revival of the indus-try and help sustain the livelihood ofmany employees affected by the lock-down. We look forward to resumingoperations as per new norms and withstrict hygiene and sanitisation protocols.”

The Wallace Collection in Londonhosts Forgotten Masters: IndianPaintings for the East India

Company, curated by award-winninghistorian, William Dalrymple. Theexhibition, which roughly spans theyears between 1770 and 1840, is dedi-cated to the Indian artists who werecommissioned by British patrons asso-ciated with the East India Company(EIC). These artists (whose many workswere destined for export to Europe)have been generally grouped, by art his-torians and curators under the umbrel-la term ‘Company Painting’ ratherthan credited to individuals.

The exhibition aims to point outthat these individuals deserve a placein the history of Indian art more thanthey merit a place in the history of colo-nialism. Dalrymple, who calls himselfMehrauli goat herd, steps out of hisorbit and does India a huge favour incalling a spade a spade and giving iden-tities to these unknown artists.

‘Kampani Qalam’, the Urdu namefor the rich, hybrid art style associat-ed with commissions for the EIC, hasbeen split into six rooms of absolutenostalgia and brilliance in composition-al character.

�-��5��-�! �Bengali-speaking artists and

Calcutta feature in this epic sojournsince the city was the headquarters ofthe EIC. Story goes that Elijah Impey,chief justice of Calcutta’s SupremeCourt, and his wife, Mary, had amenagerie of pets — animals andbirds. Mary commissioned the giftedMuslim painter Shaikh Zain-ud-din ofPatna to create an album documentingtheir exotica between 1777 and 1783.Zain-ud-din was then supported by apair of Hindu painters from Patna. Thethree did the lion’s share of the workwhile Zain-ud-din executed or oversawmore than 300 stunning sheets. Allthree natives of Patna spoke Bengali.

Critics have called this show of 100works, fascinating and delightful. TheBengali-speaking trio was master in the

Mughal miniature style of painting butunder their new aegis would createworks that were a new hybrid artform. Birds, animals and botanicalsformed the beauty of composition andnatural history.

The master, Shaikh Zain-ud-din,and his assistants, Ram Das andBhawani Das, were the core team forImpey. The latter’s, specialised in botan-ical drawings, Spray of Green Mangoes(1775) is a delightful showcase of all fer-tile greens in the spectrum and thefruit’s luscious deep tones contrastingwith the lime bending branches.Bhawani Das excelled at drawing ani-mals too, perhaps as shown in his MaleFruit Bat (1772-82). Painting throughwatercolours on paper in the Europeantradition, Das captured the form of thefruit bat using the Mughal practice of

prataj — a meticulous shading fromlight to dark to define shape.

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Combing a wide variety of Indiantraditions, curator Dalrymple alsoshifts the limelight from EIC commis-sioners towards the brilliance of theIndian artists. He belatedly honoursthese historically-overlooked artistsincluding Shaikh Zain-ud-din, BhawaniDas, Shaikh Mohammad Amir ofKarriah, Sita Ram and Ghulam AliKhan. He brings out a forgottenmoment in the Anglo-Indian history.These dazzling, surprising artworksoffer a rare glimpse of the culturalfusion between British and Indian artstyles as they reflect the beauty of thenatural world as well as the social real-

ity of those times.

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lights the conversation between tradi-tional Indian, Islamic and Westernschools and features works fromMughal, Marathi, Punjabi, Pahari,Tamil and Telugu artists. They werecommissioned by a diverse cross-sec-tion of EIC officials, ranging frombotanists and surgeons to the membersof the East India Company civil service,diplomats, governors and judges, theirwives, as well as some more itinerantBritish artists and intellectuals passingthrough India for pleasure and instruc-tion. What they all had in common wasa scholarly interest in, and enthusiasmfor, India’s rich culture, history and eco-logical biodiversity.

The exhibition highlights the maincentres of ‘Company School’ painting— Calcutta and Lucknow, whereprovincial Mughal painters fromMurshidabad, Patna and Faizabad wereemployed; Madras and Tanjore, whereartists from the South Indian traditionsreceived patronage; and Delhi, whereImperial Mughal artists created someof the finest works of this period. Theirpaintings represent one of the great andforgotten moments of Indian art dur-ing a period of cultural exchangebetween the artists and their EICpatrons.

Xavier Bray, director, WallaceCollection, hopes that the show will“highlight the long history of culturalco-operation between the UK andIndia and help foster partnershipsbetween Indian donors and UK insti-tutions. To this end, the exhibition issponsored by DAG, a commercialgallery with locations in India and NewYork.”

Dalrymple puts the spotlight onForgotten Masters, gives them an identitylong overdue and proves that the KampaniQalam was not a relic of the EIC but anunbroken tradition of Indian art before theadvent of conspicuous colonialism andimperial photography.

(The exhibition runs till September 13.)

After the departure of TikTok, Instagram Reels has

become the most popular appfor young Indians as seven in 10(18 to 29 age group) said theywould like to use Reels as a plat-form for video sharing, a newreport said.

In the absence of theChinese short-video-makingapp Tik Tok, nearly two-thirdsof urban Indians (65 per cent)said they are likely to turn toalternatives or start using videoapps that are either Indian ornon-Chinese in origin, accord-ing to data provided by YouGov,an Internet-based marketresearch and data analytics firm.

Millennials (69 per cent)were most likely to show theirreadiness to switch to Tik-Tok’salternatives, as compared toGenZ (54 per cent). Likewise,men were more likely thanwomen to hold a similar view(70 per cent vs 59 per cent).

“The government’s decisionto ban Tik Tok along with otherChinese apps has presented an

opportunity for homegrownplayers who are gearing up totake advantage of this situation,”said Deepa Bhatia, GeneralManager, YouGov India. “It is,therefore, imperative to gaugethe needs of the audience andunderstand their preferences inthis space,” she added.

Nearly 68 per cent TikTokcontent creators said they arelikely to switch to Indian ornon-Chinese versions of videosharing apps. On being present-

ed with a list of alternatives,Instagram Reels topped the listof apps most likely to be used bypeople in the future.

The platform, which isFacebook’s answer to TikTok, iswelcomed by more than six in10 (62 per cent ) urban Indianswho claim to have tried it andare likely to continue using it.

“Nearly as many have asimilar view about Singapore-based app Cheez (59 per cent),which has a higher appealamong tier-2 users as com-pared to tier-1 city residents,”said the survey.

Apart from these foreignapps, more than half claimed tohave tried the homegrown appRoposo and are likely to use itin the future (54 per cent).

Other regional social mediaapps such as Moj (47 per cent),Gana Hotshot (44 per cent),Josh (42 per cent), Taka Tak (42per cent), Mitron (40 per cent)and Chingari (36 per cent) alsoappear to have gained ground,the survey revealed.

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Pakistan head coachMisbah-ul-Haq has praised

his side’s commitment andbelief in the second Test againstEngland following a heart-breaking defeat in the seriesopener.

“It was always going to bedifficult to fight back afterwhat happened in Manchesterbut the players’ commitmentand belief was outstanding.

“We have the belief that wecan come back in the final Testand it’s so important to us thatPakistan supporters back homeand around the world sharethat belief with us,” Misbahwrote in his column for thePakistan Cricket Board website.

Pakistan recovered from158 for six to 236 all out andthen had England reeling at110 for four when the rain-affected match ended.

“It was another brave deci-sion to bat first in the secondTest given the conditions but

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The wait is finally over forParis Saint-Germain.After 110 Champions

League matches, the Frenchpowerhouse has made it to thefinal of Europe’s top club com-petition.

And there was no need forlate drama for PSG this time asÁngel Di María scored a goaland set up two others in a com-fortable 3-0 win over Leipzig inthe semifinals on Tuesday.

PSG became the firstFrench league club to reach theChampions League final sinceMonaco in 2004, and it canbecome the second Frenchteam to win the title afterMarseille in 1993.

PSG will face either five-time champion Bayern Munichor fellow French club Lyon.They meet on Wednesday inthe other semifinal.

Marquinhos and JuanBernat also scored as theQatari-owned French club

moved a win away from final-ly capturing an elusiveEuropean crown.

Neymar, who set upone of the goals with aneat backheel flick insidethe area, is also a stepcloser to fulfilling hisgoal of winning theChampions League awayfrom former club Barcelona.

The result ended a surpris-ing run for the Red Bull-backedLeipzig, the young Germanclub that was making only its

second Champions Leagueappearance.

PSG looked in control fromthe start at Benfica’sStadium of Light, withMarquinhos and Di Maríascoring in the first halfand Bernat adding to thelead in the second.

PSG has been domi-nant in France but the maingoal for its Qatari owner hasbeen to win the ChampionsLeague title and earn its placeamong Europe’s elite. The club

was eliminated in the tourna-ment’s round of 16 in the lastthree seasons, and in the quar-terfinals four straight timesbefore that.

PSG was back at fullstrength in attack with KylianMbappé and Di María return-ing to the starting lineup.Mbappé didn’t play from thestart in the quarterfinals as herecovered from injury, while DiMaría was suspended on accu-mulation of yellow cards.

Di María delivered a per-fect free kick into the area forMarquinhos to open the scor-ing in the 13th minute with aheader into the far corner. TheBrazilian midfielder also scoredthe crucial 90th-minute equal-izer against Atalanta.

Di María added the second

from inside the area in the 42ndafter a nice flick by Neymar ina buildup that began withLeipzig goalkeeper PéterGulácsi making a bad pass. DiMaría’s second assist set up JuanBernat close-range goal in the56th.

PSG was denied by thewoodwork three times in thefirst half alone, with Neymar,Mbappé and Di María comingclose to scoring. It also had agoal disallowed for a handball.

PSG has scored in its last 34Champions League games,matching the record set byReal Madrid from 2011-2014.

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Kolkata Knight Riders headcoach Brendon McCullum

wants to delegate some “leader-ship responsibility” to youngShubman Gill during theupcoming IPL in the UAE.

During last season,Shubman batted way lowerdown the order which got thefranchise lot of flak.

“What a talent, and what agood guy as well. He is going tobe a part of our leadershipgroup this year as well, at leastin some capacity,” the formerKiwi skipper said of Gill in aninterview in KKR website.

“Even though he is young,I am a big believer that it’s notnecessarily true that you havingplayed for a long time makes you

a good leader,”the formerBlack Capsskipper said.

A p a r tfrom the star

Windies all-r o u n d e r

A n d r eRussell, the2 0 - y e a r-old Gillp l a y e ds o m eresponsibleknocks in

2019 edition but his battinglower down the order hurt theteam’s cause.

“It’s about you exhibiting thebehaviours of a leader. It’s alwaysgood to have a cross-section ofleadership within your group. Tous, Shubman is one of those guyswe would look to lean on forsome leadership throughoutthis season,” McCullum said.

Dinesh Karthik took overthe captaincy from their mostsuccessful skipper GautamGambhir in 2018 when theymade the play-off for the lasttime.

Backing Karthik as the oneof the best wicketkeepers ofIndia, McCullum said: “You’vegot to break DK down a little bitinto different parts to under-stand this. I think first andforemost, wicketkeeping. He’s upthere with the very best wicket-keepers in India.”

On Karthik’s batting, theNew Zealand great said: “He’s as

good and asadaptable inany role. He

doesn’t comewith perhaps, the

stardom that someguys do and that’s just

DK’s personality.“But he’s a big star

within the KKR franchise,he’s now been at the helm

for a couple of years and he’shad some success.”

McCullum believes thatKarthik has now matured as

a leader.“The team hasn’t quite got

over the line, but I think DK isin that stage in his leadershipwhere he’s almost ready to real-ly mature and to really take own-ership of the Knight Riders setup and back his judgement.”

With the addition of PatCummins and Eoin Morgan totheir leadership group,McCullum felt that Karthikwould also get some support tobring out his best.

,�-/�!��? Seven monthsafter dominating Australia’sTest summer , MarnusLabuschagne is hoping tocement his place in thenation’s limited overs sideson the white-ball tour ofEngland.

Labuschagne, whomade his ODI debut inIndia in January, averagesover 50 from seven match-es in the format but is yet towin selection in AaronFinch’s T20 side.

“It doesn’t matter whatthe format is, I want to getbetter,” Labuschagne toldreporters in Brisbane onWednesday.

“Definitely some areasin one-day cricket I’m con-

tinuing to develop are mybowling, making sure I geta bit more consistent andbecome a better option forthe skipper with the ball inthose middle overs. “I alsowant to keep working onmy batting at the death.”

Covid-19 scuppered hisplans to play for Englishcounty side Glamorgan butLabuschagne kept himselfbusy at Cricket Australia’straining centre in Brisbane.

“It’s been good to havefive months to work on(short format) skills —whereas if I was playingcounty cricket then youmight not have the oppor-tunity to work on those spe-cific skills,” added the 26-

year-old righthander.Boasting an average of

63.43 from his 14 Tests,Labuschagne has alreadybeen touted as a futureleader of the Australianteam by former captainRicky Ponting.

However, Labuschagnesaid he is not thinkingabout leadership roles andis happy for his bat to do thetalking.

“I love being a leaderbut I don’t think that meansyou need a title,” he said.

“It’s just about ... enjoy-ing my cricket and makingsure that I keep stayingconsistent scoring runs forAustralia — because that’smy job.” Agencies

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Delhi Capitals head coachRicky Ponting says he will

not allow senior India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwinto employ the controversial‘Mankading’ dismissal duringthe upcoming IPL as “it’s notwithin the spirit of the game”.

Last IPL, Rajasthan Royalsbatsman Jos Buttler was runout on 69 while backing up atthe non-striker’s end, withAshwin, then captaining KingsXI Punjab, whipping off thebails after the batsman steppedout of the crease before the ballwas bowled. Ashwin will playfor Delhi Capitals this year.

“I’ll be having a chat with

him about (Mankading), that’sthe first thing I’ll do. That isgoing to be a hard conversationI will have with him. I think,even him, looking back now,

probably he’d say it was with-in the rules and he’s right to doit,” Ponting said while speakingon The Grade CricketerPodcast.

“...Watching that last sea-son, as soon as it happened, Iactually sat our boys down andsaid ‘Look, I know he’s done it,there’ll be others around thetournament who’ll think aboutdoing this well but that’s notgoing to be the way that we playour cricket. We won’t be doingthat’.”

The senior Indian bowlerhad defended his act at thattime, saying it was within therules of the game.

But Ponting feels the con-troversial mode of dismissal isagainst the spirit of the game.

“But this is not within thespirit of the game, not in theway I want, at least with theDelhi Capitals anyway,” he said.

/��-��? Barcelona will tryto end one of the worst crisesin club history with RonaldKoeman as its coach.

Barcelona officiallyannounced a deal withKoeman on Wednesday, a dayafter club president JosepBartomeu had said theDutchman accepted the coach-ing offer.

The official announcementcomes five days after theteam’s humiliating 8-2loss to BayernMunich in theChampions Leaguequarterfinals.

Barcelona saidthe former defender’sdeal runs throughJune 2022.

K o e m a nreplaces the firedQuique Setién,who stayed

only 25 matches on the jobafter taking over from ErnestoValverde in January.

“The Dutchman bringsmore than 20 years of experi-ence as manager and eighttrophies on his CV,” the clubsaid.

Koeman had been coach-ing the Dutch national teamsince 2018, and previouslycoached in the Premier League,

the Spanish league, theDutch league and thePortuguese league.

As a player, Koemanhelped Barcelona clinchits first European title byscoring an extra-time

winner in a finalagainst Sampdoria

at WembleyS t a d i u mnearly twod e c a d e sago. AP

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Former Pakistan all-rounderAzhar Mahmood is set to

play a crucial role in scripting hisnative country’s downfall in thethree-match T20 series againstEngland after the hosts includedhim in the coaching staff for theupcoming contest, startingAugust 28.

The England and WalesCricket Board (ECB) on Tuesdaysaid that Mahmood, 45, willsupport England bowling coachJon Lewis during the series to beplayed in a bio-secure environ-ment at Old Trafford.

Mahmood, who is now aBritish citizen, was a member ofPakistan’s coaching staff underMickey Arthur till last year.

England assistant coachGraham Thorpe will assume thehead coach’s role for the three-match series in place of ChrisSilverwood. He will be support-ed by assistant coach PaulCollingwood.

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�� %�$(��&�+��#�7%�&�%��&��Lisbon: Paris Saint-Germainforward Kylian Mbappe hasbacked teammate Neymar tobe named world’s best playerby FIFA this year.

Neymar has struck a richvein of form in 2020, guidingPSG to a domestic treble andto within one victory of theirfirst UEFA Champions Leaguetriumph.

“It’s very enjoyable to playwith a guy like Neymar. He isone of the best in the world,”Mbappe told reporters.

“If we win the ChampionsLeague, he will certainly be ina position to win the award. Heis destined to win this type oftrophy.”

Despite not being on thescoresheet in PSG’s past twomatches, Neymar has shone ina playmaker role that hasshowcased his fine passingskills. His back flick to set upAngel Di Maria’s first-half goalon Tuesday put in him in thetop 10 for all-time ChampionsLeague assists.

PSG captain and fellowBrazilian Thiago Silva alsosaid Neymar deserved to berecognised as the world’s pre-eminent player.

“Whether we win the finalor not, I believe he can win it,”Silva said. “We know it’s hisgoal. He is an excellent playerand this year he has doneincredible things. He has beenmotivated since we came backfrom the pandemic. I think histime will come. He just has tokeep working hard like he’sdoing.” AP

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everybody took on the challenge. Overall I’mreally happy with the way the team batted.Everybody just tried to hang in and score runs.

“The partnerships involving Abid Ali,

Azhar Ali and Babar Azamat the top of the order werereally pleasing and encour-aging, in testing conditions,”wrote Pakistan’s most suc-cessful Test captain.

Misbah opined thebowlers’ performance inEngland’s short first inningswould give his side therequire momentum going inthe third Test, which willcommence at Ageas Bowl inSouthampton on Friday.

“We expected the pitchto deteriorate towards theend of the match and it did.Even with just a couple ofhours of sun at the end of thematch, Yasir Shah was able tochallenge the England bats-men,” he said.

“The seamers alsobowled really well and I wasreally happy with the way wefinished the match. That lastsession, even as the gamedrifted towards a draw, givesus a lot of confidence goinginto the last Test.”

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The coronavirus-forcedbreak has helped Australia’s

limited overs skipper AaronFinch to re-assess his career ashe aims to extend his career tillthe 2023 ODI World Cup inIndia.

Finch said he is target-ting to end his career ona high with a WorldCup final appearancein 2023.

“My end date atthis stage is theWorld Cup final ofthe 2023 WorldCup in India.That’s my goal andI’m sticking to it,”Finch was quoted as say-

ing by SEN radio network.“That’s what I had my

mind set on a fair while (ago),but I think this period has justconfirmed it. That’ll see me

through to 36 (years old),obviously with form andeverything permitting,and injuries.”

The 33-year-oldright-handed batsmansaid the five month-long forced break hasrejuvenated himand he now desiresto lead Australia in

next three majorICC events — the T20

World Cups in 2021and 2022 followed bythe ODI World Cup in2023.

“Having this break, as dif-ficult as it’s been for so manypeople, for athletes and espe-cially ones that are travellingnonstop and playing for 10 or11 months of the year, it’s beenthat mental freshen up thatpeople probably needed buthaven’t had the opportunity todo.

“If I thought I was going tobe pushing it to get to that date,this break has confirmed thatI’ll be ready to go right throughto that period,” he said.

Finch and Australia willresume competitive cricketafter six months when theytour England next month forthree T20Is and as many ODIs,starting September 4 atSouthampton.

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ˇˆ ˙ rni regn. no. chheng/2012/42718, postal reg. no. - ryp … · 2020. 8. 19. · plenary...

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