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12 PAGES | `5.00BHUBANESWAR | THURSDAY, JULY 15 | 2021

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Kangana Ranaut is all set to make her OTTdebut in an adaptation of American TVseries ‘Temptation Island’

DELAYED DEBUTFormer India opener and top run-getter indomestic cricket, Wasim Jaffer appointedchief coach of Odisha

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Namita included inGames hockey teamNew Delhi: The IOC’s decision toallow ‘alternate athletes’ for teamevents has come as boon forOdisha women’s hockey playerNamita Toppo. The Sundargarhplayer has been added to theIndian hockey team for the TokyoOlympics. Traditionally 16-membersquads are allowed at theOlympics. However, due to theCovid-19 situation, the IOC haspermitted the addition of two moreplayers to each of the squads. P12

Govt to table 17 billsin Monsoon SessionNew Delhi: The government haslisted 17 new bills for introductionin the Monsoon Session ofParliament beginning July 19.Three of the bills seek to replaceordinances issued recently. Once asession starts an ordinance has tobe passed as a bill within 42 daysor six weeks, else it lapses. One ofthe ordinances was issued on June30 prohibiting any agitation andstrike by anyone engaged in theessential defence services. TheEssential Defence Service Bill, 2021has been listed to replace theordinance, according to a LokSabha bulletin issued July 12.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 14: Congressworkers in the state Capital tookto the streets Wednesday to protestagainst the steep hike in fuel andLPG prices. They blamed theCentre for increasing the miseryof the people during the pan-demic with the almost-daily in-crease in petrol and diesel rates.Women members of the partyalso joined in the demonstrations.

Several women leaders of theparty were seen demonstrating onthe road near the Congress Bhawanhere with LPG cylinders to expressthe plight of housewives and themiddle class who have been themost severely affected by the ex-orbitant hikes.

Odisha Pradesh CongressCommittee (OPCC) presidentNiranjan Patnaik and leaders likeSuresh Routray with a large num-ber of party workers took out acycle rally from Ram Mandirsquare to the Congress Bhawannear Master Canteen square.Niranjan incidentally used anelectric bicycle during the rally.

“The people of Odisha have beensuffering terribly and their miseryhas been compounded by the sharpincrease in prices of fuel, includ-ing LPG. It seems that the Centreis keen to help the rich and is notthinking about the poor. This iscertainly not a government of thepoor,” Niranjan said.

Routray also attacked the BJPgovernment at the Centre for the

hike in petrol, diesel and cookinggas prices. “We all have come to-gether today to protest against theconstant rise in fuel prices by theUnion government. Either the PMshould reduce the burden imple-mented due to the hike in fuelprices, or quit from his position,”Routray asserted.

The Congress will also supportthe six-hour bandh called Thursdayby the Left parties in Odisha toprotest against the fuel price hike.The Left parties have called for abandh from 6.00am to 12 noon.

Meanwhile Special Secretary(Home department), Santosh Balain a letter to collectors and districtmagistrates spelled out measures tobe taken during the Odisha bandhwhich include keeping all essen-tial services functional. Officialssaid it was apprehended that pro-testors may close down businessand other important establishments.

Petrol prices have already crossedthe century mark in a number ofcities in Odisha includingBhubaneswar. Diesel rates are alsonearing the ̀ 100-per-litre mark inmost of the states.

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, July 14: From olivewreaths to recycled metals sourcedfrom old cell phones and electronics,the reward for winning at theOlympics, the most sought-afterachievement in an athlete’s life,has come a long way, much likethe Games itself.

Made of recycled electronic de-vices and pebble-like in appear-ance, the medals in the upcomingTokyo Games will measure 8.5 cen-timetres in diameter, featuring theflying image of ‘Nike’, the Greekgoddess of victory. But, unlike pre-vious years, these will be producedfrom gold, silver and bronze (inthis case, copper and zinc) that hasbeen stripped from over 79,000 tonsof used cell phones and other small

electronic devices collected from allover the world.

During the ancient OlympicGames, athletes who emerged vic-torious were awarded ‘Kotinos’ orolive wreaths. Those were consid-ered a sacred prize in Greece, rep-resenting the highest honour.

In 1896, the long-lost tradition ofancient Greece, the Olympic Gameswas reborn in Athens. New practicesmade way for older ones and thusthe custom of awarding medalsbegan. Initially it was silver for thewinners while the runners-up re-ceived a copper or bronze medal. Itwasn’t until eight years later in the1904 St Louis Games, where thenow standard gold, silver, and bronzemedals, were first used. However,sizes and shapes of the medals var-ied among the host countries.

In 1923, the International OlympicCommittee (IOC) launched a com-petition for sculptors to design themedals for the Summer Games.The Italian artist GiuseppeCassioli’s design was chosen asthe winner in 1928.

At a time when environmentalconsciousness was on the rise, the2016 Rio Games scripted historyby becoming the most sustainableedition in Olympic history. The or-ganisers opted for more usage of re-

cycled material. The medals weremade of 30 per cent recycled ma-terial while the ribbons they wereattached to, were made of 50 per centrecycled plastic bottles. The gold wasmercury-free.

Following in Rio’s footsteps, theTokyo Games’ organisers haveopted for medals made of recycledelectronic devices, including dis-carded laptops and smartphonesphone, a proposal that won the‘Everyone’s Medal’ campaignlaunched by the Tokyo 2020 or-ganising committee in 2017.

“I never dreamed that the de-sign I submitted, only as a memo-rial to this lifetime event, would beactually selected,” winner of the de-sign, Junichi Kawanishi, had toldmedia when the medals werelaunched.

11% DA BOOSTFOR CENTRALGOVT WORKERS

AGENCIES

New Delhi, July 14: The SupremeCourt agreed Thursday to examinea fresh plea by a former army officerchallenging the Constitutional va-lidity of the sedition law on theground that it causes ‘chilling effect’on speech and is an unreasonablerestriction on free expression, afundamental right. A bench com-prising Chief Justice NV Ramana,AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy di-rected the petitioner to serve a copyof the plea to the Attorney GeneralKK Venugopal.

The plea, filed by Major-GeneralSG Vombatkere (Retd) submittedthat Section 124-A of the IndianPenal Code (IPC), which deals withthe offence of sedition, is wholly un-constitutional and should be ‘un-equivocally and unambiguouslystruck down’.

“The petitioner contends that astatute criminalising expressionbased on unconstitutionally vague def-initions of ‘disaffection towardsGovernment’ etc is an unreasonablerestriction on the fundamental rightto free expression guaranteed underArticle 19(1)(a) and causes constitu-tionally impermissible ‘ChillingEffect' on speech’,” the plea said. The

petition said there is need to takeinto account the ‘march of the timesand the development of the law’ be-fore dealing with Section 124-A.

Earlier, a separate bench of thetop court had sought response fromthe Centre on a plea challenging theConstitutional validity of seditionlaw, filed by two journalists –Kishorechandra Wangkhemchaand Kanhaiya Lal Shukla – work-ing in Manipur and Chhattisgarhrespectively.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 14:Odisha Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik launchedWednesday free MRI andCT scan services for can-cer patients at the AcharyaHarihar Post GraduateInstitute of Cancer (AH-PGIC) in Cuttack. It willcertainly help those patientswho cannot afford high-endtreatment facilities. Cancerpatients are usually charged`2,500 to ̀ 5,000 for availingof such services.

While launching theservices virtually, the ChiefMinister said that in thenext three years the stategovernment will developadequate cancer care cen-tres. Then people will nothave to visit other statesfor treatment of the

dreaded disease. People needing to avail

free MRI and CT scan facil-ities earlier had the optionof either going to the SCBMedical College and Hospitalin Cuttack or CaptialHospital here. However, withthe opening of the new fa-cilities at the AHPGIC, pa-tients will now get to avail ofthe free services at anotherhospital also.

Patnaik also said that theproposed Bargarh CancerHospital would also soonbe operational to facilitatetreatment of people inWester n Odisha. TheOdisha CM also talked aboutimproving facilities likechemo and radio therapyat district level hospitals.The CM said this wouldalso help in treating can-cer-stricken patients.

GUNNING FOR GLORY: Cyclists vie for places as they negotiate a steep rise Wednesday during the 17th stage of Tour de France in which the competitorscompleted a 178.4km tough journey from Muret to Saint-Lary-Soulan PHOTO COURTESY: TOUR WEBSITE

SC to look intosedition law againPLEA SAYS RULE RESTRICTS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

HC MISSIVE FORCBSE OVER FEES NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Courtdirected Wednesday the CBSE to decidewithin eight weeks if it would refund theexamination fees taken for Class X andClass XII board examinations as theyhave been cancelled due to the Covid-19pandemic. Justice Prateek Jalan orderedCBSE to consider as representation apetition by Deepa Joseph, mother of aClass X student studying in a CBSE affil-iated school here, who had paid `2,100as examination fee. CBSE’s decisionwould be open to challenge if Joseph isnot satisfied, the court clarified as itdisposed of the petition. There has to bereasonableness on both sides, the judgeadded.

AGENCIES

New Delhi, July 14: The UnionCabinet decided Wednesday to re-store Dearness Allowance (DA)and Dearness Relief (DR) for cen-tral government employees andpensioners from July 1, 2021. Inanother significant development therate of allowance was increased to28 per cent from the existing 17per cent. The increase in the DA andDR will impose an additional an-nual burden of `34,401 crore onthe exchequer. This informationwas provided Wednesday byInformation and BroadcastingMinister Anurag Thakur after thefirst physical Cabinet meeting formore than a year ended.

In view of the Covid-19 pandemic,the Union Government had frozenthe three additional instalments ofthe DA and DR which were duefrom January 1, 2020, July 1, 2020 andJanuary 1, 2021. The move which willcome into effect July 1, 2021 on-wards will benefit about 48.34 lakh

central employees and 65.26 lakhpensioners, Thakur said.

“The government has decided toincrease DA to central governmentemployees and DR to pensionerswith effect from July 1, 2021 rep-resenting an increase of 11 percent over the existing rate of 17per cent of the basic pay/pension,”said a government release.

Thakur also said, “In view ofthe unprecedented situation, whicharose due to the Covid-19 pandemic,three additional instalments ofDearness Allowance to the centralgover nment employees andDearness Relief to the pension-ers... were due,” Thakur said.

“#Cabinet approves restoring ofthree instalments of DearnessAllowance and Dearness Relief witheffect from 01.07.2021 representingan increase of 11% over the existingrate of 17% of the Basic Pay/Pension.No arrears for the period from01.01.2020 till 30.06.2021 shall be paid,”the official handle of PIB tweeted.

Naveen launches free MRI, CT scan services

Huge quantity of drugsseized, 5 dealers arrestedPOST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 14: Police seized Wednesday550 gm of brown sugar and `34 lakh in cashfrom a house in this city, a senior officer in-formed. Two persons including a woman werearrested in this connection, Commissioner ofPolice (CP) Soumendra Priyadarshi told re-porters. He said the value of the seized brown sugaris `55 lakh. This is the first time that such alarge quantity of heroin has been seized in theOdisha capital, Priyadarshi informed.

Following a tip-off, the narcotics wing of theCommissionerate of Police along with the per-sonnel of Sahid Nagar police station raided a houseat Kesura and seized the brown sugar packets and`34,80,000 in cash. However, the arrested woman’shusband managed to give the police a slip. Policesaid that the husband of the woman is a notoriousdrugs peddler in the area and a manhunt has beenlaunched to nab him.

The CP said that preliminary investigation hasrevealed that the arrested duo and the abscondingman are linked to a racket in Balasore district’sJaleswar locality.

Priyadarshi informed that the police will in-tensify investigation and raids under the NarcoticDrugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.He said the investigation will also include the fi-nancial aspects of the drug trade in the state.

In another separate development police alsoseized a huge cache of cannabis worth ̀ 5,00,000which was being smuggled in a car in Tamandoarea in the city. The cannabis was hidden in thedicky of the car. Three persons travelling in thevehilce have been arrested, police said. Duringinterrogation, it was revealed that the contrabanditem was being smuggled from Phulbani to SaliaSahi Basti locality in this city.

Police have taken serious note of the financialtrail of the syndicate during the probe of the casefiled under the Narcotic Drugs and PsychotropicSubstances (NDPS) Act, an official said.

Tokyo medals made of discarded mobiles, laptops Ceremony tweakedfor gender parityTOKYO: The number of oath-takers atthe Olympics opening ceremony hasbeen doubled from three to six for theTokyo Games to ensure gender parity.Giving this information Wednesday, theIOC said that the oath has also beenreworked slightly to incorporate ‘inclu-sion and equality’ in it. The Olympic oathis taken by an athlete from the hostcounty, on behalf of all the competitorsand the ceremony also includes onecoach and a judge. This time, Japan willpick two – one male and one female –from each group for the event. “This hasbeen done to maintain the gender bal-ance of the oath-takers,” the IOC said.“Also ‘inclusion’ and ‘equality’ have beenadded to the opening line of the Oath.

RELIEF FOR CANCER PATIENTS

Cong slams Centreover fuel price hikeLEFT PARTIES CALL FOR 6-HOUR BANDH TODAY ACROSS ODISHA

Congress women workers protest against the rise in LPG prices OP PHOTO

BJP FLAYS STATEOVER POWER RATES BHUBANESWAR: BJP workers and lead-ers Wednesday protested in the cityagainst the rise in power tariff in thestate. They blamed the BJD-led govern-ment for increase in electricity rates.“We have been demanding roll back ofincreased electricity tariff but in vain.The Odisha government has even failedto write a letter in this regard to theOdisha Electricity RegulatoryCommission (OERC) which is increasingthe rates at their own whims and fan-cies,” said Babu Singh, president ofBJP’s Bhubaneswar unit. MORE P4

Payment of DA had beensuspended for

3 installments due to Covid-19

The increase in DAallowance will cost the govt

an extra `34,401 crore

Bhubaneswar: Odia film actressBhoomika Dash, joining a host of otheractors, has launched her official YouTubechannel, Wednesday.

Earlier, several Odia cine celebritiesof the likes of Mahasweta Ray andVarsha Priyadarshini had createdtheir YouTube channels to builddee per connections with fans.

Speaking to Orissa POST,Bhoomika said, “I wanted to startthe channel a long time ago butit got delayed due to my hecticwork schedule.”

Apart from motivational con-tent, the channel aims to pres-ent funny and entertaining

videos to the subscribers, addedthe actress.

She will also showcaseher lifestyle and impor-tant events on the chan-nel, shared the actress.

In the introductionvideo, Bhoomika hasshared her journey inthe Odia film industryand talked about theprogression of her ac-ademic career.

On the work front,the actress has her up-coming movie ManaMora Kagaja Gudi readyto hit the screens. IANS

Mumbai: Darshan Kumaar, who plays aboxer in the upcoming film Toofaan, wastrained by Hollywood star Will Smith’s trainerDarrell Foster for the role. The actor taggedit as ‘a once in a lifetime experience’.

Darshan said: “I remember that in ourfirst meeting, Darrell said that he would teachme how to take a punch and not fake a punch.He said he won’t train me for a film, but he’dtrain me as a real pro boxer.

“That’s what the audience will get to wit-ness when they watch the film. They’ll feel thatthey are watching two real pro boxers,” he claimed.

Darshan shared that the ex-haustive training sessions

with Foster happened from7am to 3pm over a month.

Toofaantells the storyof a boxer, played byFarhan Akhtar, whopushes his limits andworks hard to winningin boxing. The film alsofeatures Paresh Rawal in

the role of a boxingcoach. IANS

Kangana to make OTT debut inTemptation Island adaptation

Mumbai: Actress KanganaRanaut is all set to make

her OTT debut withan Indian adapta-tion of the popu-lar television se-ries Temptation

Island. “Kangana isgoing to be the host of

a reality show whichwill premiere on an OTT

platform. The show will bean Indian adaptation of the

American reality show TemptationIsland, and the actress has already

signed on the dotted lines and is all set to

kick start the shoot,” a source closeto the developmentrevealed. The show Temptation Island brings togethercouples and singles to test their bond and strengthentheir connections.

Besides this, Kangana is gearing up for the releaseof her film Thalaivi, which has been delayed due tothe second wave of the Covid-19.

She also has Dhaakad, the period drama ManikarnikaReturns: The Legend Of Didda and Tejas in the pipeline.Besides this, Kangana will also don the director’s hatfor Emergency, based on the life of late Indian PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi.

Tuesday, the official website of her film productioncompany Manikarnika Films announced NawazuddinSiddiqui had been signed for her upcoming produc-tion Tiku Weds Sheru. IANS

P2 CHRIS MARTIN’S VIEW ON MUSIC

leisureColdplay frontman Chris Martin has adifferent definition of music. “Music is thisconstant conversation that goes back to thebeginning of time when humans were hittingbones on rocks and going, ‘Oh, that soundsnice’. It’s an evolving sort of time,” he said.

Actress Margot Robbie, who has played thedark role of Harley Quinn, says she intendsto take a break from the character afterworking on Birds Of Prey and The SuicideSquad as it was exhausting.

THURSDAY | JULY 15 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

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AQUARIUSThe rising Sun of today,brings one of the mostimportant days of your life.You will make important decisions whichwill have long-term impact on your life.During the second half of the day, youmay be lucky to have a windfall. It is avery favourable day for all the professionals, says Ganesha.

PISCESWork will shadow your per-sonal life as you focus allyour energy towardsachieving your goals today. The irony isthat you are doing this to achieve successand provide a better life for your family.So even though you will concentrate atwork and spend time away from yourloved ones, they will still be in yourthoughts and intentions. You will stillmanage ample time to spend with yourspouse, says Ganesha.

SAGITTARIUSCharming as ever, yourclose ones will be swoonedby your beauty today.Thanks to the new look your beauticiansuggested. Clad in the best of attires, yougrab eye-balls at a social do. Your statusand prestige is likely to increase. AsGanesha says, people may just go gagaover you today!

LIBRAGanesha says you will haveto spend more time in theoffice because of extraresponsibilities on you. This will result inyou paying less attention to your familymembers. You will also be more carefulabout spending money today and will bewary of your mounting expenses.

SCORPIOYou are likely to be occupiedwith your health issues inthe first half of the day. Yourstars indicate some fortunate events dur-ing this time. Evening will be spent relax-ing at a serene place in pleasant companyof your friends or beloved.

LEOYou will be busy dealingwith health-related issues.You need to watch your dietcarefully. You will work with afeeling of responsibility. You willbecome more serious aboutyour work. Everything will gosmoothly in your personal life,says Ganesha.

VIRGOToday will be a day full ofemotions and insights intolove. Despondency maytrouble you all through the day.However, Ganesha advises you toremain unaffected by it in your work.At your workplace you will be ingreat demand as a problem solver.

GEMINIThere are indications thatyou will get into a deepthinking mode today, feelsGanesha. Your craving for a little pleas-ure will get satisfied. You'll perform wellat work, but it wouldn't come close towhat you will achieve back home.

CANCERYou will like to display yourmoney power and clout. Butit will be purposeless.Normally, you are me-thodical but in theafternoon you may finish a task mindless-ly and you may have to repent.

ARIESTo speak of your persuasivepowers, you can even con-vince people to holiday inAlaska! Naturally, today also, the resultswill be amazing. But you also realise theneed to improve yourself and your home.Today, there should be some action onthis front, says Ganesha.

FORTUNE FORECAST

TAURUSGood luck will trail you likeyour shadow today, predictsGanesha. You are likely toget good news from out of the country inthe afternoon. You may take a chanceand express your hidden feelings tosomeone special. Overall, you will have ahassle-free frame of mind.

CAPRICORNYour jokes and humour willkeep your loved ones in ahappy mood. After all,laughter is the best medicine. Theirdesire to spend more time with you is atestimony to your friendly and jovialnature, feels Ganesha.

BREVITY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

SOLUTIONS

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CHECK FOR SOLUTIONS OF THE PUZZLES TOMORROW

post To solve the Sudoku puzzle, fill in the boxes in such amanner that every row, column and 3x3 box containsthe digits 1 to 9, without repeating any.

ROBBIE NEEDS BREAK FROM HARLEY QUINN

Mumbai: Age is just anumber is a line that theB-town is taking seriouslynow. A slew of veteransare all set to return onscreen over the nextmonths.

Here goes a list ofnames that are all set tocome back and set thescreen on fire in upcom-ing projects.

ZEENAT AMANVeteran actress Zeenat

Aman, who has alwayscaptured the nation’s imag-ination with her stunningscreen presence, is all setto be seen in an upcom-ing murder mysteryMargaon: The Closed File.The film tributes Agatha

Christies genre of work,and casts the 69-year-oldactress as head of anAnglo-Indian family.

NEETU KAPOORVeteran actress and late

actor Rishi Kapoor’s wifeNeetu Kapoor was last seenon screen in the 2013 filmBesharam. She is now setto make a comeback withthe new film Jug JuggJeeyo, which also starsAnil Kapoor, VarunDhawan and Kiara Advani.

DHARMENDRAAt 85, Dharmendra is

all set to return in KaranJohar’s upcoming direc-torial Rocky Aur Rani KiPrem Kahani starringRanveer Singh and Alia

Bhatt. The film also fea-tures Shabana Azmi andJaya Bachchan. In hisover 61-year-journey int h e i n d u s t r y,Dharmendra redefinedmachismo and is alsoknown for his on-screenpairing with wife HemaMalini .

JAYA BACHCHANVeteran actress and

politician Jaya Bachchanwill be seen in a full-fledged role in KaranJohar’s latest-announcedfilm Rocky Aur Rani KiPrem Kahani. The filmalso features RanveerSingh and Alia Bhattalong with Dharmendraand Shabana Azmi. PNN

Veterans on a comeback spree

When Darshan was trainedas pro boxer

Now Bhoomika launches her YouTube channel

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THURSDAY | JULY 15 | 2021 | BHUBANESWARRIOT OF COLOURS

A man repairs a colourfulumbrella in ChandiniChowk area of Cuttack,Wednesday

INFECTED RECOVERED DEAD

World 18,88,96,721 17,25,73,566 40,69,513

India 3,09,46,074 3,01,04,720 4,11,408

Odisha 9,45,749 9,20,646 4,795

COVID-19 TRACKER

downtown

POST NEWS NETWORK

Cuttack, July 14: Actor-turned-par-liamentarian Anubhav MohantyWednesday lodged a contempt ofcourt petition against his actresswife Varsha Priyadarshini in con-nection with a case pertaining totheir marital discord.

Mohanty also urged the familycourt here to close the mediationprocess.

The couple appeared at the me-diation centre of the family court.The conciliator counselled the cou-ple over two hours to settle the dis-cord through mutual consultation.

“I do not want to discuss issuesrelated to my personal life in pub-lic. If you have any queries, you canask my lawyer,” Mohanty toldmedia persons while returningfrom the court.

Talking to media, Mohanty’slawyer said, “Today, Varsha re-fused to sign on the counsellingreport saying that she did not havefaith in the counseling process. So,we have lodged a contempt plea in

the court seeking closure of themediation process.”

The conciliator will take a callon the issue and file a report inthe court, which is scheduled totake up the case Thursday,Mohanty’s lawyer added.

“Anubhav and Varsha had ap-peared at the mediation centreof the family court July 9. Theywere counselled to end the disputethrough mutual consultation.Today, the couple was also coun-selled at the mediation centre.Anubhav has urged the court toclose the mediation process, towhich I have raised an objection.The court will take a call andissue an order in this regard,”s a i d Va r s h a ’s l aw ye rRamakrushna Rath.

POST NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi, July 14: Perturbedby the sluggish pace of Covid-19 vac-cination, the Union Health MinistryWednesday advised the states toreview the status and progress invaccine procurement by PCVCson a daily basis.

This was revealed at a reviewmeeting on the immunisation pro-gramme wherein the ministry tookstock of the vaccine procurementand administration by PrivateCovid Vaccination Centres (PCVCs)in Odisha and 14 other states.

Union Health secretary RajeshBhushan chaired a high-level meet-ing with the Health secretariesand senior immunisation officialsof Odisha and other states on theissue. The Union Health secretaryinformed the states about the usageof CoWin platform as the back-end management tool for orderplacements.

During the review meeting, rolesof the states/UTs for demand ag-gregation and roles of Covid vac-cine manufacturers in quick dis-patch were further outlined, theministry said.

Underlining the tardy pace ofvaccination through the PCVCs,the Union Health secretary advisedthe states to review the status andprogress in vaccine procurementby PCVCs on a daily basis.

States were also advised to ensurespeedy and effective coordinationbetween the PCVCs and the vaccinemanufacturers to remove bottle-necks, if any. It was pointed outthat advance visibility of Covid-19

vaccines to the states by the UnionHealth Ministry was in turn re-quired to be communicated to thecitizens by the states.

“Many PCVCs have not placedany indent for the earmarked quan-tum of Covid vaccines. Many stategovernments need to facilitate thevaccine procurement by the PCVCs.States were advised to review thestatus on a daily basis and ensurethat indents for the earmarked

quantum are quickly placed withthe private vaccine manufactur-ers,” the Health Ministry said.

The Union Health Ministry hasorganised five regional workshopsto orient nodal officers of the statesand PCVCs for placing indent onCoWin, payment for the quantumof doses among others. The Healthsecretary further advised the statesto indicate if any refresher train-ing sessions are required.

Centre for regular reviewof pvt procurement of vax

TAKING STOCKSTATES WERE ALSO

ADVISED TO ENSURESPEEDY AND EFFECTIVE

COORDINATION BETWEENTHE PCVCS AND

THE VACCINEMANUFACTURERS

TO REMOVEBOTTLENECKS, IF ANY

THE MINISTRY SAID THAT MANY PCVCSHAVE NOT PLACED ANY INDENT FOR THE

EARMARKED QUANTUM OF COVID VACCINES

ADVANCE VISIBILITY OF COVID-19VACCINES TO THE STATES BY THE

UNION HEALTH MINISTRY WAS IN TURNREQUIRED TO BE COMMUNICATED TO THE CITIZENS BY THE STATES

Workers bring ‘Adapa Abadha’ from Srigundicha temple for sale at a counter near the shrine in Puri, Wednesday. Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadraand Devi Subhadra are now on a sojourn at Srigundicha temple as part of the annual Rath Yatra festival OP PHOTO

ADAPA ABADHA

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 14:The NationalHuman Rights Commission (NHRC)has issued a conditional summonto the superintendent of police (SP)of Bhadrak to appear before it August31, 2021 in connection with the allegedrape of a five-year-old girl by herneighbour in June last year.

The commission pronounced theorder July 13 while hearing a pleafiled by rights activist HimanshuSekhar Nayak June 17, 2020. The pe-titioner had informed the commis-sion that the heinous incident tookplace at Chadia under Chandbaliblock in Bhadrak June 13.

“It was around 7 pm when BabuMahalik, 32, found the girl playingnear her house and lured the minorto his house by offering her choco-lates. Later, he took her to a nearbydeserted place where he forced him-self on her. As the victim screamed,

locals rushed to the spot and cap-tured Mahalik,” Nayak told the apexrights body, pointing out that the in-cident saw widespread resentmentin the locality.

The commission took cognisanceof the issue June 26, 2020 and sought

a report from Bhadrak SP withinfour weeks. However, the SP did notrevert despite multiple remindersSeptember 24 and November 27.

Irked over the dilly-dallying at-titude of the SP, the apex rightsbody ordered him to appear before

it in person along with the reportat 11am August 31. “In case the re-port is received by August 24, 2021,personal appearance of the officershall stand dispensed with,” theNHRC order, a copy of which iswith Orissa POST, read.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 14: The OrissaHigh Court has officially joinedsocial media platform ‘Telegram’to provide court related informa-tion to advocates and the public.

The HC, through this platform,aims to provide advocates, litigantsand the people at large with real-time and instantaneous access toinformation regarding court'sevents, circulars, notices, press re-leases and case lists, said HC’sRegistrar General in a statement,Wednesday. One can join the OrissaHigh Court's official telegram chan-nel by signing in throughhttps://t.me/OrissaHighCourt.

In an attempt to ensure thatstakeholders get time to subscribethe channel, it has been decided tocommence information sharingon Telegram with effect from July19, 2021 (Monday).

Now, the subscribers will be ableto get updated information about thecourt without having to frequentlyvisit the court's website or duringtimes when the services of the web-site are inaccessible for any rea-son. Any information relating tothe HC published or shared throughTelegram would automatically alertthe subscriber (if so opted for by thesubscriber via notification option).

This will augment the court'sefforts towards making official in-formation accessible online throughthe comfort of personal hand-helddevices almost as soon as such in-for mation is published, theRegistrar said.

High Court joinsTelegram

MARITAL DISCORD

Anubhav files contemptplea against Varsha

The conciliator counselled the couplefor over 2 hours to settle the discordthrough consultation

If the SP submits the report by August 24, 2021, personal appearance of the officer shall stand dispensed with

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 14: In a reliefto the private bus owners, the stateTransport and Commerce MinisterPadmanabha Behera Wednesdayhinted at waiver of various taxesbeing paid by the bus owners, inview of Covid-19 pandemic.

Due to the outbreak of the sec-ond wave of Covid-19, the stategovernment has imposed lockdownand shutdown measures and ac-cordingly, the bus services werealso suspended. As a result, thebus operators are facing a lot ofhardship.

“Various relaxations on taxeshave been extended to the bus own-ers and we will continue to pro-vide them tax exemptions,” Beheratold reporters here.

Currently, private buses are ply-ing in as many as 20 Category-Adistricts. A decision regardingplying of buses in 10 Category-Bdistricts will be taken soon, hesaid. Last week, the private busowners’ association had urged thestate government to waive thetaxes in view of the losses in-curred on account of the pro-tracted lockdowns.

The ongoing partial lockdownrestrictions imposed in the statewill end Thursday. The state gov-ernment will come up with itsnew guidelines Thursday. Alleyes are on the guidelines as towhether more relaxations willbe allowed or not.

Meanwhile, the Health Servicesdirector Bijay Mohapatra saidthat the state government willtake a decision for the next un-locking process after a review ofthe present pandemic situation.The government is taking neces-sary steps to bring down the in-fection rate in Cuttack andBhubaneswar, he said.

WAIVER OF TAXES ONPVT BUSES LIKELY

IT WAS AROUND 7 PM JUNE 13 WHENBABU MAHALIK, 32, FOUND THE GIRL

PLAYING NEAR HER HOUSE ANDLURED THE MINOR TO HIS HOUSE BY

OFFERING HER CHOCOLATES

LATER, HE TOOK HER TO A NEARBYDESERTED PLACE WHERE HE FORCED

HIMSELF ON HER

AS THE VICTIM SCREAMED, LOCALSRUSHED TO THE SPOT AND

CAPTURED MAHALIK

NHRC summons Bhadrak SP over minor’s rape

POST NEWS NETWORK

Puri, July 14: Police have launched aprobe into the alleged entry of someunauthorised persons into the GrandRoad during the Srigundicha Yatra ofSrimandir deities July 12.

Kumbharpada police, meanwhile,sealed a lodge on allegation that severalpeople were present on its roof during thepulling of chariots on the Grand Road.

“There are allegations that someunauthorised people had witnessedthe mega festival in violation of theguidelines issued by the state govern-ment. We will examine the CCTVfootage and try to identify such persons.Stern action would be taken against theguilty,” said city DSP Janardan Padhi.

Puri Youth Lawyers’ Associationhas lodged an FIR in this regard withSinghadwar police. The associationhas also submitted a memorandum toCollector Samarth Verma and soughtan impartial probe into the incident.

The association alleged that someunauthorised persons had witnessedRath Yatra by impersonating Srimandirservitors and media persons.

Many locals, meanwhile, allegedthat some people including a few con-tractors, mining barons, personnel ofHaryana police and people from WestBengal had witnessed the festival in vi-olation of the norms issued by thestate government.

They had submitted a memo to theChief Minister too through the dis-trict Collector.

NORMS ‘BREACHED’DURING RATH YATRA

FILE PHOTO

downtownTHURSDAY | JULY 15 | 2021 | BHUBANESWARP4

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PNN/AGENCIES

Bhubaneswar, July 14: Odisha’sCovid-19 tally rose to 9,45,749Wednesday as 2,074 more peopletested positive for the infection,while 65 fresh fatalities pushed thestate’s coronavirus death toll to4,795, a Health official said.

Although there has been a sig-nificant decline in daily cases andtest positivity rate, fresh single-day fatalities continue to remainaround 60 since July 8.

Odisha’s active caseload has alsosignificantly come down to 22,860July 14 from 55,923 June 14. The totalnumber of recoveries has alsosoared to 9,18,041, including 2,641Tuesday, said the official.

The high number of fatalities re-mains a cause of concern for thestate. As many as 68 people hadsuccumbed to the infection Tuesday.

A total of 1,192 new cases wereregistered in quarantine centres,while 882 infections were detectedduring contact tracing.

Khurda district, under whichBhubaneswar falls, recorded thehighest number of fresh cases at443, followed by Cuttack (283) andPuri (133).

Khurda also registered the high-est number of fresh fatalities at20, followed by Bargarh (10) andSundargarh (7).

As many as 53 other coronaviruspatients have died due to comor-bidities to date.

Odisha has thus far tested over1.47 crore samples for Covid-19, in-cluding 69,287 Tuesday. The posi-tivity rate stands at 6.40 per cent.

At least four districts—Puri,Khurda, Cuttack and Nayagarh—have a test positivity rate of morethan 5 per cent with Puri record-ing the highest TPR of 12.4 percent, followed by Khurda (7.6),Cuttack (6.8). The rest 26 dis-tricts in Odisha have TPR below5 per cent.

Even though the rate of infectionhas come down in around twodozen districts, six coastal districtscontinue to report more than 100fresh cases every day.

“There is a need to monitor andregulate the interstate movementof people to keep the Covid-19 in-fection rate under control inOdisha,” chief of the Directorateof Medical Education and Training(DMET) CBK Mohanty said.

He said that Odisha may push it-self into danger and invite thethird wave of the pandemic if meas-ures to regulate inter-state move-ment are not taken immediately.

Mohanty cited instances of howthe infection spread rapidly in theborder districts of Odisha after ahigh number of cases were re-por ted in neighbouringChhattisgarh and Jharkhand dur-ing the second wave. The infec-tions which spread to the border dis-tricts later came to Bhubaneswarand Cuttack, he added.

65 more deaths push Covid-19 toll to 4,795Test positivity rate in the state stands at 6.40%

There is a need tomonitor and regulate theinterstate movement of

people to keep the Covid-19infection rate under control

in OdishaCBK MOHANTY | DMET

Khurda registered thehighest number of fresh fatalities at

20, followed by Bargarh (10) andSundargarh (7)

Odisha has thus far tested over 1.47crore samples for Covid-19, including

69,287 Tuesday

Puri, Khurda, Cuttack and Nayagarhhave a TPR of more than 5 per centwith Puri recording the highest of 12.4 per cent, followed by Khurda

(7.6%), Cuttack (6.8%). The rest 26districts in Odisha have TPR

below 5 per cent

IN A NUTSHELL

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 14:The HigherEducation department Wednesdayappointed principals for four degreecolleges in the state for a temporaryperiod.

Dillip Kumar Dash, a reader inPhilosophy, has been appointed asprincipal of Bhim Bhoi (Degree)College at Rairakhol in Sambalpurwhile Buddhadev Pradhan, a readerin Odia, has been made the principalof Anchalik Kisan Degree Collegeat Bheden in Bargarh.

The department has appointedBibhuti Bhushan Dash, a reader inPhysics as the principal of LaxmiNarayan (Degree) College atJharsuguda and Biswajit Khamari,a reader in English, as principal ofBrajarajnagar (Degree) College.

In a letter to the governing bod-ies of these colleges, HigherEducation department additionalsecretary Surendra Kumar Pandasaid the above said faculty memberswill carry out the responsibilitiesof the principals of their respectivecolleges in addition to their teach-ing assignments till alternativearrangements are in place.

The faculty members will notclaim the posts of regular princi-pals on the basis of the temporaryarrangements.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 14: The stu-dents’ council of Utkal UniversityWednesday alleged irregularitiesin implementation of funds underRashtriya Uchchatar ShikshaAbhiyan (RUSA) and made multi-ple demands that include fillingof multiple teaching and non-teach-ing staff vacancies in different de-partments of the University.

At a presser held near new ad-ministrative building, the students’council members also demandedclosure of departments openedunder public-private partnershipmode as they are focused more ondoing business than providingquality education. They also al-leged that many buildings such asthe E-library and the instrumentalroom are not working properly.Manas Kumar Sahu, a member ofthe council said that in last twoyears the education system of thevarsity has suffered a lot.

“We demand the University andthe government to prepare propereducation programme for the ac-ademic session so that studentsget proper education facility,” Sahusaid. Mahesh Prasad, another stu-dent, said, “We also demanded ac-tion against teachers who were re-cruited in different departmentswithout necessary qualifications.”

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 14: The AllIndia Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS) here will offer extracor-poreal membrane oxygenation(ECMO) facilities from Thursday,the institute’s ninth foundationday, an official said Wednesday.

According to sources, the launchof the extracorporeal life supportfacility at the premier healthcare in-stitute assumes significance as crit-ically-ill Covid-19 patients requiringECMO treatment were being airliftedto other states as Odisha did nothad the facility. AIIMS-Bhubaneswaris the first government hospital inthe coastal state to offer the life-saving treatment.

Department of Biotechnologysecretary Renu Swarup will gracethe event, which will be celebratedvirtually, as its chief guest. “Theevent will kick-start with a wel-come note from the AIIMSBhubaneswar director GitanjaliBatmanabane. Then, Dean(Academics) Debasish Hota, Dean(Examination) Manoj KumarMohanty and Dean (Research)Binod Kumar Patro will highlightachievements of the premier health-care institution,” said the official.

On the occasion, AIIMS med-ical superintendent SachidanandaMohanty will elaborate on the con-tribution of the institute in handlingCovid-19 along with recent progressin installation of technologies likePaediatric Bronchoscopy machine,PET-CT Scan machine, lithotripsyand DEXA scan machine.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 14: FormerUnion Minister Pratap SarangiWednesday termed those protest-ing against fuel price hike as “an-dolanjivis” and claimed that someare used to protest over the dailyaffairs of the government.

Sarangi was responding to theprotest calls in the state on the issueof consistently rising prices of petrol,diesel and cooking gas. He, how-ever, admitted that the skyrocketingprices of fuel due to high taxes im-posed by the Union government hashit the middle class hard, but Sarangitalked about several steps taken bythe government like production ofelectricity from cow dung.

“All parties are free to protest butthere is not a single issue that suchparties do not oppose. The Uniongovernment brought a pro-farmer

legislation, still there were protests.When we brought CAA, then therewere protests too. They are really‘andolanjivis’ as termed by the PMearlier,” he said.

Admitting the effect of inflatedfuel prices under the BJP govern-ment at the Centre, the formerUnion minister said, “It (high petrolprices) is indeed pinching the peo-ple but for that the government isarranging alternative sources offuel. The Union government is nowworking on ethanol plants, solarplants and others,” he said.

Utkal studentsdemand properacademic prog

RSP supplies steelfor Manipur bridge

Acting principalsfor four degreecolleges in state

ECMO facilityat City AIIMSfrom today

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 14: TheBhubaneswar MunicipalCorporation (BMC), Wednesday,stated that it will provide finan-cial assistance of up to Rs3,000 toabout 8,038 vendors falling underLetter of Recommendation (LOR)through Chief Minister’s ReliefFund.

As per sources, each vendorunder the LOR category will getRs3,000 through Direct BeneficiaryTransfer (DBT) mode. The fundswill be distributed to 13,459 vendorsshortlisted by the BMC in phasedmanner. Under the first phase, it willcover 8,038 street vendors.

“The DBT mode of money trans-fer will maintain transparency inthe distribution process so thatnone of the deserving beneficiar-ies are deprived of the relief meas-ure. In the first wave of the pan-

demic last year too, the BMC hadextended helping hands to smalltime traders and street vendors.

About 28,000 roadside vendorswithin the BMC jurisdiction havebeen shortlisted for the payment,of which, around 14,000 have beenidentified for receiving funds

under the two phases,” said aBMC official.

It can be mentioned that streetvendors are given assistance underPradhan Mantri Street Vendor’sA t m a n i r b h a r N i d h i ( P MSVANidhi) launched earlier inAugust, 2020. Street vendors, who

don’t have identity cards or cer-tificates of vending, can availbenefits under the PM SVANidhischeme through LOR.

Vendors can apply for LOR withany urban local body. They canavail a working capital loan of upto Rs 10,000 which is repayable inmonthly instalments in the tenureof one year.

The BMC officials mentionedthat Rs 3.57 crore has been ear-marked for this purpose. Last year,the state government had also an-nounced financial assistance worthRs 3,000 each to over 65,000 streetvendors across 114 urban local bod-ies (ULBs).

Welcoming the decision, secretary of Nikhila Odisha StreetVendors’ Association Manoj Swainsaid the assistance will be of im-mense support to small vendorsas the pandemic has ruined their livelihood.

8K City vendors shortlisted for Covid relief

Sarangi terms fuel price protesters as ‘andolanjivis’

The ex-minister admitted that the skyrocketing prices of fueldue to high taxes imposedby the Centre has hit the middle class hard

AFFIDAVITI, Moksh Jacob Danuka,aged about 21 yrs., S/o.Jacob Dayakar, residingAt: Qtr. No. C/200, NALCONagar, P.S./P.O.- NalcoNagar, Dist.- Angul, myactual name is MokshJacob Danuka. But myPassport No. J7315906 mysurname in that passportwas reflected as MokshJacob Dhanuka instead ofMoksh Jacob Danuka.Both are same and oneperson. Henceforth, I shallbe known as Moksh JacobDanuka for all purpose.Moksh Jacob Danuka.

CLASSIFIEDAFFIDAVIT

LOSTThe given below originaltitle deed has been lostfrom our Branch. Kindlyinform us anyinformation regardingthis original title deed toPunjab National Bank,Jharsuguda Branch,Beheramal. Schedule ofthe land: Deed No. 699 ofthe year 1999 vide KhataNo. 929/1587, Plot No. 1209,Mouza: Jharsuguda unitNo. 06, P.O./Dist.-Jharsuguda area of land0.04 acres in the name ofSanti Suna.

AGENCIES

Bhubaneswar, July 14: TheRourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has sup-plied steel for Makru bridge ofManipur, which was inauguratedby Union Road Transport andHighways Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Makru bridge is constructedacross river Makru in Tamenglongdistrict of Manipur.

The RSP has supplied 986 tonneof high tensile E410 grade New PlateMill (NPM) plates for the constructionof the bridge that is one of the keybridges of Imphal-Jiribam high-way (NH-37) which will improveconnectivity between Assam andManipur, an official statement said.

The bridge was inaugurated byGadkari Monday. It said that the

plates rolled out in the state-of-the-art NPM of RSP has been used inseveral other mega bridge proj-ects like Chenab bridge, MahatmaGandhi Setu and others.

RSP, a unit of Steel Authority ofIndia Limited (SAIL), has rein-forced its place as a committedcontributor in nation building en-deavours under AtmanirbharBharat, the statement said, addingthat it has supplied steel to manyimportant structures of nationalimportance.

An artisan works on clay idols of goddess Khudurukuni in Kumbhar Sahi area of Cuttack, Wednesday OP PHOTO

CREATIVE STROKES

Makru bridge is constructed across riverMakru in Tamenglongdistrict of Manipur

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 14: The BJPworkers Wednesday staged a protesthere demanding a rollback of thehiked electricity tariff in the state.

Several party workers flockedto Master Canteen Square hereraising slogans against the state gov-ernment and demanding fulfill-ment of their demands.

Babu Singh, Bhubaneswar BJPpresident, said, “We have been de-manding the rollback of increasedpower tariff from the state gov-ernment but to no avail. The stategovernment has even failed to writea letter in this regard to the OdishaElectricity Regulatory Commission(OERC).”

He also said, “OERC is increas-ing the electricity tariff as per itswhims and fancies. Huge amountof funds received by OERC do nothave a proper account on how theyhave been spent.”

Another party leader DilipMohanty said, “We have decided totake the protest to every corner of thestate. The electricity tariff has in-creased in the state due to the inabilityof the government to tackle it. Thisis an example of bad governance.”

He also added, “The state gov-ernment has failed in the wholeprocess. The middle class and thecitizens of the state are now facing

the heat due to the failure of thestate government. The party willfight for the interests of the peopleof the state.”

The saffron party had earlierannounced week-long protestsacross the state on the tariffhike issue. It demanded reduc-tion of power tariff and provi-sion of subsidies to the peoplelike in other states.

BJP stir over power tariff hike

AGENCIES

Bhubaneswar, July 14: In view ofthe six-hour ‘bandh’ call given bythe Left parties Thursday, the stategovernment directed the district ad-ministrations to take preventivemeasures to maintain law andorder, an official said Wednesday.

Home department special secre-tary Santosh Bala asked the Collectorsand District Magistrates to ensurethat essential services are not af-fected during the Odisha ‘bandh’.

Bala mentioned, in the letter, itis apprehended the protestors mayclose down business establishments,market places, government offices,courts petrol pumps, banks and fi-nancial institutions during thestrike. Vehicular traffic as well astrain services are likely to be hit,the official said. Notably, opposingthe skyrocketing prices of petroleumproducts and essential commodities,the Left political parties have calledfor a statewide bandh from 6 am to12 noon Thursday.

Bandh: Dists asked toensure law & order

POST NEWS NETWORK

Cuttack, July 14: A 15-year-old boyreportedly went missing in Kathajodiriver after he was hit by a train onthe railway bridge near Khannagarhere Wednesday.

The boy has been identified asSujit Mohanty, son of Mitu Mohanty,of Bishinab area in the city here.

According to sources, Sujit andthree of his friends were reportedlyplaying mobile games while walkingon the railway tracks in the evening.They walked on the railway bridge

unmindful of the imminent danger. Suddenly a train came from behind

and hit Sujit who was wearing theearphones. An injured Sujit fell intothe river. However, the other threemanaged to escape.

“The train came from the behind.Sujit was wearing the earbuds andwas busy playing the mobile games.He could not hear the alarm raised

by the other three. He fell into the riverafter being hit by the train,” said alocal.

Informed, Badambadi police,Government Railway Police and firebrigade personnel reached the spot andlaunched a rescue operation.

However, the rescuers could nottrace the boy from the river till thelast report came in.

Train hits boy playing mobile game

A rescue operation on to trace the missing boy OP PHOTO

A train came frombehind and hit Sujit whowas wearing the earphones. An injuredSujit fell into the river.However, the other threemanaged to escape

POST NEWS NETWORK

Keonjhar, July 14: As electricity is un-available in hilly, forested and remotepockets of Keonjhar district, the gov-ernment has made the provision of solar-powered pumping systems to ensuresafe drinking water in its various parts.

Sadly, most of these systems arelying defunct for lack of repair androutine maintenance. Distressed bywant of drinking water, people meettheir water needs from rivers andstreams in many cases.

It was alleged that the companywhich installed the solar system is notsetting things right despite signing anagreement with the government forits maintenance for five years.

Over 150 solar-powered pump sets aredefunct in Anandapur sub-division,leaving people to face drinking watercrisis. In such cases, people feed onwater from rivers, rivulets and streamsin their localities.

A case in point is Purunajoda pan-chayat under Telkoi block where 40families depend on river water sincethe day their solar energy-based drink-ing water project became defunct.

Hundreds of people living in

Ramchandrapur and Tigiria villagesunder Kaliahata panchayat have beensuffering a lot for the same reason.

The villagers pleaded for quick re-pair of these drinking water projectswhich are being executed by RuralWater Supply and Sanitation (RWSS)department.

People in the tribal pockets lamentedthat they are being deprived of basicdrinking water. Locals observed thatdrinking unhygienic water is causingsickness and diseases.

They pointed out that lakhs of rupeesare spent on drinking water projects,but the department has failed to dis-

charge its responsibility to maintainthese in hilly and remote areas.

They added that the company isbound by an agreement with the RWSSdepartment to repair these projectswherever necessary till five years aftertheir installation, but nothing is beingdone.

Though affected villagers apprisedthe RWSS authorities about their mis-eries due to shortage of water, no stepshave been taken to set these projectsright. Locals have been demandingimmediate repair of solar-powereddrinking water projects to alleviatetheir sufferings.

stateTHURSDAY | JULY 15 | 2021 | BHUBANESWARP5

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MOHALLA CLASS

Students of Jawanpalli UP School under Kalimela block in Malkangiri district attend a Mohalla class abiding by the Covid norms,Wednesday The Mohalla class aims at imparting lessons to students of remote and inaccessible regions in the state where Internetconnectivity is a constant problem OP PHOTO

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bolangir, July 14: The kendu leafdepartment, allegedly a den of cor-ruption and exploitation of work-ers, has hit the headlines for allthe wrong reasons again, a reportsaid.

The state government providescards (pass books) meant for freedistribution among kendu leafpluckers, but the forest officialsallegedly demand ̀ 500 to ̀ 1000 percard, the report said.

The cards issued to pluckerscontain the details of leaves col-lected by the pluckers and the vol-ume of leaves deposited by them atthe stock points (Phadi). However,the alleged collection of moneyfrom the pluckers by the forest of-ficials has blown the lid off the ex-ploitation of pluckers in the handsof forest officials.

The matter came to the fore afterPradip Purohit, former MLA andleader of Kendu Patra ShramikSangha, lodged a complaint with thestate forest secretary Mona Sharma.Purohit lodged a complaint after re-ceiving complaints of money col-lection from the pluckers underPatnagarh kendu leaf division andBolangir forest circle. Purohit hastermed the development unfortu-nate and demanded a thoroughprobe into the charges.

Acting on the complaint, Sharmahas directed the principal chiefconservator of forests (PCCF),kendu leaf, to conduct a probe and

submit a report to her Reports said high quality kendu

leaves are collected in Bolangirdistrict. The pluckers collect theseleaves every year and from thisthey earn their livelihood. In its bidto help the pluckers, the state gov-ernment provides them cards orpass books free of cost.

These cards contain the details

of the total number of leaves col-lected by the pluckers and the vol-ume of leaves deposited at thestock points (Phadis).

The Munshis and checkers atthe stocks points fill up these cardswhich help in releasing the wagesand bonus of the pluckers.

Kendu leaf pluckers HemalataNaik, Sabita Patel, Nira Deep,

Kulabati Deep, Haramani Sahu,Belmati Budek and Ashtamai Putelalleged that they were forced topay `500- `1000 to foresters andcircle checkers in lieu of the cards.

They also alleged that lakhs ofrupees had been misappropriated

on the pretext of repair and reno-vations of the stock points, kenduleaf binding and transportation.The money has been misappro-priated by preparing false bills andvouchers.

Notably, kendu leaf, known as thegreen gold of Odisha, is one of themost important non-timber forestproducts of the state. The kendu leafis also called silver leaf for itsgreater economic value and itscontribution to the state exchequer.They provide livelihood opportu-nities for the poor during lean sea-sons. The kendu leaf business is apride for the state because of its spe-cialized operations.

More than 8000 stock points(phadis) operate in the state wherethe procurement and processingof leaves takes place. The netprofit goes to the state exchequer50% of which is ploughed back askendu leaf grant in the develop-ment activities in the leaf grow-ing areas. According to a gov-ernment report, it creates 30million man-days within threeto four months and plays animportant role in the socio-economic development of tribalpeople, dalits and marginal-ized communities in the state.

When contacted, Ranjit Mallick,divisional forest of ficer ofBolangir kendu leaf division andin-charge of Patnagarh divisionsaid, he is aware of the com-plaints and will visit Patnagarhsoon to conduct a probe.

Cards for kendu leaf pluckers up for sale

n Alleged collection of money from the pluckers bythe forest officials has blown the lid off theexploitation of pluckers in the hands of forestofficials

n Ranjit Mallick, divisional forest officer of Bolangirkendu leaf division and in-charge of Patnagarhdivision, said he is aware of the charges and willvisit Patnagarh soon to conduct a probe

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhawanipatna, July 14: Aman was killed and two othersincluding a woman sustainedgrievous injuries after theywere hit by a speeding truckat Dharamgarh on NH-26 nearKoksara canal under Koksarapolice limits in Kalahandi.

According to eyewitnesses,three locals were standing onroadside and gossiping ataround 5 am. A goods-ladentruck ran over them.

One of the three died on thespot while two others werecritically injured. The deceasedwas identified as Juge Bemalof Chikili village and the in-

jured were Anta Gahir andRambati Deep.

Locals informed Koksarapolice who rescued the in-jured from a pool of bloodand rushed them to hospitalat Koksara. Police have reg-istered a case and launcheda probe.

POST NEWS NEWORK

Angul, July 14: A complaintwas filed at the Angul policestation on sale of over 32 dec-imals of land with forged sig-nature of the actual landowner.

The matter came to the foreafter the sub-registrar inAngul lodged a complaint atthe Angul police station. Policeregistered a case and startedan investigation.

Kadu Charan Gadnaik, avi l la g er of Phulpada-Pandapur area underBanarpal police limits vis-ited the sub-registrar officein Angul to verify and updatethe records of his ancestralproperties before selling them

to others. However, to his sur-prise he found that more thaneight gunth land (0.33 acre)on plot no-5 and khata no-5in Charatapata mouza hasbeen sold off to others byforging his signature.

He lodged a complaint withthe sub-registrar as the dis-closure created a furore inthe office. Acting on the com-plaint, the sub-registrar,Amlan Aparajita Mishra, filedan FIR at the Angul policestation.

When contacted, a senior of-ficial of the office said thematter is under investigation.Police will take legal actionagainst the accused if thecharges are proved true dur-ing the investigation.

1 run over by truck, 2critical in Kalahandi

Land sold off in Angul distforging owner’s signature

n The cards issued topluckers by thedepartment containdetails of leaves collected by themand the volume ofleaves deposited at the stock points (Phadi)

EXPLOITING TRIBALS

POST NEWS NETWORK

Jaleswar, July 14: Shantilata Roul,a resident of Sugo village underJaleswar block in Balasore was oncloud nine as her son returnedhome after 25 years.

Gourahari is the only son ofBaidhar Roul and Shantilata. Shemarried Baidhar when she wasonly 13 years old. But fate dealt hera blow when her husband passedaway, leaving her and her minorson to fend for themselves.

At that time, Gourahari was 17years old. He got married and hasa daughter.

He took upon himself the burdenof his family, but his earning wasnot enough to keep his pot boiling.With hope of better earning,Gourahari left for Kolkota 25 yearsago. But he had forgotten that he hadto look after his widowed mother,wife and daughter left behind athome.

He earned a lot and changed hisfortune. He owns a three-storied

building and leads his family wellin Kolkota.

On the other hand, his motherstruggled to save the family. Shemanaged to cultivate 10 acres onlease and strengthened her economy.

Besides, she earns from diaryand goat farming.

On the day of Rath Yatra,Gourahari returned home all of asudden to the dismay and joy ofhis mother. This reunion ofGourahari with his family made allemotional. He has decided that hewould not return to Kolkota.

Solar-charged drinking waterprojects defunct in hilly areas

PEOPLE FEED ON RIVER, STREAM WATER

A case in point isPurunajoda panchayatunder Telkoi block inKeonjhar district where 40families depend on riverwater since the day theirsolar energy-based drinkingwater project becamedefunct

Jaleswar man back in home after 25 yrs

On the day of Rath Yatra,Gourahari returnedhome all of a sudden tothe surprise and joy ofhis mother. This reunionof Gourahari with hisfamily made all emotional

WORDSWORTH

power post P6

T he Covid-19 pandemic has recast the world for millions of people. Or,more correctly, the pandemic has exposed and aggravated deep in-equalities of race, gender, and class across societies, and highlighted

the inability of many political systems to respond in ways that protect in-dividual human rights and dignity. The world will neither rebuild from thiscrisis, nor have any chance of tackling wider existential threats such asclimate change, until we can once more instill a sense of hope in politicaland civic life.

Fortunately, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a roadmap al-ready exists to help humanity chart a path forward. The declaration, adoptedby the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, is as relevant today as itwas amid the physical and moral devastation caused by World War II.

Article 1 of the declaration states an abiding truth with resounding clar-ity: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” To re-alise this vision today, we must push leaders to go beyond warm words andcommit to meaningful, feasible, and measurable actions. In particular, theyneed to ensure equitable global distribution of Covid-19 vaccines and pro-vide adequate financial support to countries most vulnerable to the ravagesof climate change.

For starters, high-income countries musttake steps to achieve the Gavi COVAX AdvanceMarket Commitment target of providing atleast one billion vaccine doses to the world’s poor-est countries no later than September 1, 2021,and more than two billion doses by mid-2022.

It is both morally unjust and – in health andeconomic terms – myopic for rich countries tohoard Covid-19 vaccines for their own popula-tions. The longer the coronavirus persists andmutates in poorer countries with fewer re-sources, the further away humanity as a wholewill be from fully vanquishing the threat tolives and livelihoods.

In the same spirit, G7 and G20 leaders shouldsupport calls at the World Health Organisationand the World Trade Organisation for volun-tary licensing and technology transfer forproduction of vaccines. Failing that, theyshould back an immediate waiver of certainintellectual-property rights under WTO rules– a move that US President Joe Biden recentlysupported.

Sadly, at their recent summit in the UnitedKingdom, G7 leaders failed to show an un-derstanding of the scale of their responsi-bility to address the inequalities exacerbatedby the pandemic. More broadly, Covid-19 hasexposed the shortcomings of narrow nation-alism and populist policies that disdain scientificevidence and empathy. No country, regard-less of its power or size, can tackle the public-health threat effectively on its own.

It is essential that leaders learn from their mistakes and heed the rec-ommendations of the expert Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparednessand Response. Only properly financed, integrated, and organised healthsystems will be able to withstand future pandemics and health emergencies.

As matters stand, however, the rich world’s failures in tackling Covid-19have increased the trust deficit between the Global North and South. Thisin turn will make it more difficult to reach an agreement at the next criti-cal international diplomatic gathering: the COP26 climate summit in Glasgowin November.

All countries need to ratchet up their near-term emissions-reduction tar-gets ahead of COP26, and we are still waiting for the major emitters to doso. In addition, rich countries must rebuild trust by showing how they willincrease their climate finance contributions – including a greater share foradaptation – to deliver the long-pledged $100 billion per year to help devel-oping countries combat global warming and its effects.

Two common threads run through the shared challenges we face in de-fending human rights, overcoming the pandemic, and tackling the climatecrisis: the need for vigilance against complacency, and the responsibility toact for the greater good. In these testing times, we can all draw inspirationfrom a leader who never wavered in his commitment to human rights andjustice: Nelson Mandela.

It is a historical irony that the Universal Declaration of Human Rightswas adopted in the same year that South Africa established its apartheidregime. But Mandela immediately saw the declaration’s power and potential.Speaking in 1997 as President of South Africa, he reflected that, “For allthe opponents of this pernicious system, the simple and noble words ofthe Universal Declaration were a sudden ray of hope at one of our darkest moments.”

Today more than ever, we need to rediscover and reassert the declaration’sprinciples of solidarity and common endeavour that Mandela so power-fully articulated throughout his life. Our task now is not to “build back bet-ter,” because we cannot build back from a status quo ante that produced in-equitable and dysfunctional systems. Rather, we must “build forward better,”marshaling our efforts with hope, discipline, and determination to build asustainable, peaceful, and just world for future generations.

The writer, former President of Ireland and UN HighCommissioner for Human Rights, is Chair of The Elders.

©PROJECT SYNDICATE

J ustice Prathiba M Singh of theDelhi High Court while hearingan estranged couple’s plea for

divorce has observed that a commoncode for all citizens as expressed inArticle 44 of the Constitution “oughtnot to remain a hope, but becomea reality.” She was referring to thelandmark Shah Bano case verdictwherein the Supreme Court in 1985had observed: “A common civilcode would help the cause of na-tional integration by removing dis-parate loyalties to laws having con-flicting ideologies.” The SC hadobserved that Article 44 of theConstitution has remained a deadletter and there is no evidence of anyofficial activity for framing a civilcode for the country.

The Shah Bano verdict was thefirst challenge to the MuslimPersonal Law (1937) which deniedmaintenance to indigent divorcedMuslim women. Then CJI YVChandrachud had observed thatright to equality and absence ofdiscrimination against women en-shrined in Articles 14 & 15 equallyapply to Muslim women. Section 125of CrPC, which provides for main-tenance to divorced women, wouldover-ride archaic and patriarchalMuslim Personal Law. However,the contentious part of the judge-ment was its direction to the gov-ernment to bring in a uniform civil

code at the earliest. The court re-ferred to Dr Tahir Mahmood’sscholarly book on Muslim PersonalLaw which says: “In pursuance ofthe goal of secularism, the Statemust stop administration of reli-gion-based personal laws… Insteadof wasting energies in exertingpolitical and theological pressure…the Muslims will do well to beginexploring and demonstrating howthe true Islamic laws, purged oftheir time-worn and anachronisticinterpretations, can enrich thecommon civil code of India.”

The court has been assiduouslyfollowing this line of argument insubsequent judgements like theSarla Mudgal judgement, 1995, whereJustice Kuldip Singh had observed:“When 80 per cent of the citizenshave already been brought under thecodified personal law, there is nojustification to keep in abeyanceintroduction of a uniform civilcode.” In Lily Thomas Case, 2000, de-sirability of a uniform civil code par-ticularly in regard to successionwas reiterated. In ADC vs. NCT(2015), the SC lamented the absenceof a uniform civil code with regardto guardianship of a Christian child.

Interestingly, the Law Commissionof India in its report in August 2018had stated that a uniform civil codeis neither necessary nor desirableat this stage. “Secularism cannot con-

tradict the plurality prevalent inthe country,” the Commission said.

In this backdrop it would be use-ful to look at the larger picture of con-flicting provisions in the Constitutionand the contrarian viewpoint of ac-ademia and activists who are op-posed to introduction of a uniformcivil code. The Constitution hasclearly provided in Articles 25 and26 the right to profess, practice andpropagate religion to all. On theother hand, Article 44 is an invo-cation to the State to endeavour forintroduction of a uniform civil code.Therefore, introduction of a uni-form civil code would be a clearnegation of fundamental rightsgiven to religious minorities.

The idea of achieving commonIndian identity is undesirable be-cause Indian identity is plural anda synthesis of differing views.Detractors believe that instead of auniform social code, the state shouldattempt to bring in substantiveequality at all levels and promotesocio-economic justice for all.

Flavia Agnes, a well-knownwomen’s rights activist, believesthat uniformity has not workedwell for women in India. Ratherthan uniformity, women need an ac-cessible and affordable justice de-livery system and inclusive modelof development. Prof NiveditaMenon believes that national in-

tegrity as a rational for a uniformcivil code along with its conflationwith women’s rights is unaccept-able because of its implicit ho-mogenising thrust. She stronglyadvocates reforms in personal lawswhich are patently unjust.

The above perspective clearlybrings home the inherent dangersof cultural homogenisation, giventhe plurality of Indian society. TheSarla Mudgal judgement made asobering observation: “The desir-ability of uniform civil code canhardly be doubted. But it can con-cretise only when social climateis properly built up by elite of thesociety; statesmen amongst leaderswho instead of gaining personalmileage rise above and awaken themasses to accept the change.”

Given the divisive times that welive in, respecting plurality in prac-tice of personal laws rather thanfoisting Hindutva under the guiseof a uniform civil code would be ad-visable. Promoting socio-economicjustice, transcending religious con-sideration should be the predom-inant remit of the government.The judiciary should not be seen aspromoting a uniform civil code ata time when the pluralistic fabricof India is under severe strain.

The writer teachesConstitutional Law.

Judicial overreach for uniform civil code

BIDEN’S AFGHAN BLUNDERA

fghanistan is on thebrink of catastrophe,and it is US PresidentJoe Biden’s fault. By

overruling America’s top gener-als and ordering the hasty with-drawal of US troops, Biden openedthe way for Taliban terrorists tocapture more than a quarter ofAfghanistan’s districts. Now, theTaliban is pushing toward Kabul,and the United States is lookingweaker than ever.

The US effectively ended itsmilitary operations in AfghanistanJuly 1, when it handed over tothe Afghan government thesprawling Bagram Air Base, whichlong served as the staging groundfor US operations in the country.In fact, ‘handover’ is too generousa description. In a sign of what isto come, US forces quietly slippedout of the base overnight aftershutting off the electricity. The re-sulting security lapse allowedlooters to scavenge the facilitiesbefore Afghan troops arrived andgained control.

Biden has vehemently defendedhis decision to withdraw, argu-ing that the US “did not go toAfghanistan to nation-build” andthat “staying would have meantUS troops taking casualties.” Hehas also stood by his rushed ap-proach, insisting that “speed issafety” in this context. “Howmany thousands more ofAmerica’s daughters and sonsare you willing to risk?”

The implication was clear:Questioning the wisdom of the USwithdrawal is tantamount to sup-porting the endangerment ofAmericans. But it is Afghans whoare really in jeopardy.

Recall the last time the US lefta war unfinished: In 1973, it hastilyabandoned its allies in SouthVietnam. The next year, 80,000South Vietnamese soldiers andcivilians were reportedly killed asa result of the conflict, making itthe deadliest year of the entireVietnam War. It is also worth not-ing that in 1975, the US effectivelyhanded Cambodia to the China-backed ultra-communist KhmerRouge, who went on to carry outunimaginable horrors.

Now, the US is leaving Afghansat the mercy of a maraudingIslamist force – one with a long his-tory of savage behaviour. Already,the Taliban offensive has dis-placed tens of thousands of civil-ians. And while the Afghan gov-ernment in Kabul teeters, theTaliban is seizing Americanweapons from the Afghan militaryand showing them off as theymarch across the country.

America’s justification for rush-ing out of Afghanistan is muchweaker than its reasoning forleaving Vietnam. Whereas 58,220Americans (largely draftees) diedin Vietnam, only 2,448 US soldiers(all volunteers) died over thecourse of 20 years in Afghanistan.Moreover, since the US formallyended its combat mission January1, 2015, the country has sufferedjust 99 fatalities, including in non-hostile incidents. During the sameperiod, more than 28,000 Afghanpolice officers and soldiers havebeen killed. None of this is tominimise the blood and treasurethe US has sacrificed inAfghanistan, let alone suggestthat American troops should stayindefinitely. On the contrary, end-ing America’s longest war is aworthy goal. But Biden’s approachentails effectively admitting thata terrorist militia has defeated

the world’s most powerful military,and then handing Afghanistanback to that militia. This under-cuts global trust in the US, jeop-ardises Afghan and regional se-curity, and threatens to trigger aresurgence of terror worldwide.

The Taliban’s impending re-turn to power will surely ener-gise and embolden other terror-ist groups in the larger globaljihadist movement. Furthermore,the Taliban, a creature of PakistaniISI, still receives significant aidfrom Pakistan’s military. So, whileBiden says that Afghanistan’s fu-ture is now in its own hands, it isactually mostly in Pakistani hands,as Afghan President Ashraf Ghanirecently noted. Among those fac-ing the most acute risks is India.When the Taliban was last inpower, from 1996 to 2001, it al-lowed Pakistan to use Afghan ter-ritory to train terrorists for mis-sions in India. Its return to powercould thus open a new front for ter-rorism against India, which wouldthen have to shift its focus fromintensifying military standoffswith China in the Himalayas.

The Taliban’s resurgence inAfghanistan helps China in otherways, too. Given that Pakistan isa Chinese client, the US with-drawal paves the way for Chinato make strategic inroads into

Afghanistan, with its substan-tial mineral wealth and strate-gic location between Pakistanand Iran.

China would achieve this byoffering the Taliban the two thingsit desperately needs: internationalrecognition and economic aid.With Russia also likely to recog-nise the Taliban’s leadership inAfghanistan, the group will havelittle incentive to moderate its vi-olence, despite its current at-tempts to polish its image.

Biden had a better option: TheUS could have maintained a smallresidual force in Afghanistan, inorder to provide critical air sup-port and reassurance to Afghanforces. Yes, this would have violatedthe deal that Biden’s predeces-sor, Donald Trump, struck with theTaliban in February 2020. But theTaliban have already violatedthat Faustian bargain. Biden washappy to overturn many ofTrump’s other actions, makinghis insistence on upholding thisdeal difficult to understand.

Biden says the US is “develop-ing a counterterrorism over-the-horizon capability” that does notrequire a physical presence inAfghanistan. But if Afghan se-curity continues to unravel, “over-the-horizon” operations will makelittle difference. The more likelyscenario will be an emergencyevacuation of US embassy per-sonnel and other American citi-zens from Kabul, much like theevacuation from Saigon in 1975.

Robert Gates, who served assecretary of defence underPresidents George W. Bush andBarack Obama, wrote in 2014that Biden “has been wrong onnearly every major foreign-pol-icy and national-security issueover the past four decades.” Thehurried US withdrawal fromAfghanistan is set to extend that pattern.

The writer is Professor of Strategic Studies at the

New Delhi-based Centre forPolicy Research and Fellow

at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin.

©PROJECT SYNDICATE

FOCUS

SPECTRUM

Robert Gates, who served as secretary ofdefence under Presidents George W Bush andBarack Obama, wrote in 2014 that Biden “hasbeen wrong on nearly every major foreign-policy and national-security issue over the pastfour decades.” The hurried US withdrawal fromAfghanistan is set to extend that pattern

Build Forward Better

THURSDAY | JULY 15 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

Can everybody contact the higherforces? No, not indeed; but theysubmit themselves to a disciplineand this brings them success.

SRI AUROBINDO

SOCIETY

ALREADY, THETALIBAN

OFFENSIVE HASDISPLACED TENS

OF THOUSANDSOF CIVILIANS.

AND WHILE THE AFGHAN

GOVERNMENT INKABUL TEETERS,THE TALIBAN IS

SEIZINGAMERICAN

WEAPONS FROMTHE AFGHAN

MILITARY ANDSHOWING THEM

OFF AS THEYMARCH ACROSS

THE COUNTRY

Brahma Chellaney

WISDOM CORNERHe is not a lover who does not love forever.

EURIPIDES

We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.JOHN DRYDEN

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.WILL DURANT

GEOPOLITICS

Readers of Orissa POSTare most welcome to contribute letters(200 words), articles andcolumns (between 750-1250words). Contributors arerequested to send theircontact numbers and fullpostal address/email ID. They may alsosend in their valuable comments, opinionand suggestions, preferably by email, to: edit@orissapost.com

B-15, Rasulgarh Industrial Estate,Bhubaneswar-751010

LettersTO THE EDITOR

THE JUDICIARYSHOULD NOT

BE SEEN AS PROMOTING A

UNIFORM CIVILCODE AT A TIME

WHEN THE PLURALISTIC

FABRIC OF INDIA IS UNDER

SEVERE STRAIN

SN Misra

Unruly fans

Sir, Ticketless football fansclashed, breached security cor-dons and charged into theWembley Stadium during Italyversus England Euro 2021 final.Three England stars - MarcusRashford, Jadon Sancho andBukayo Saka - whose penaltyshootout misses handed victoryto the Azzurri became targets ofracial abuse. The shameful dis-play has come in for condemna-tion from several quarters, in-cluding political leaders andfootball chiefs and could jeopar-dise England’s 2030 World Cup bid.

NJ Ravi Chander,BANGALORE

cmyk

cmyk

Mary Robinson

The longer the coronavirus persists

and mutates inpoorer countries

with fewerresources, the

further awayhumanity as a

whole will be fromfully vanquishingthe threat to lives

and livelihoods

Omnishambles

Arather splendid word entered the UK political lexicon in 2012. It wasuttered in the House of Commons during Prime Minister’s Questions

April 18 by the Labour leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband. He calledthe coalition government of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats anomnishambles because of several serious policy and public-relationsblunders, including some unexpected consequences of the Chancellor’sbudget of the previous month. The Daily Mail commented thatomnishambles “described the combination of tragedy and farce thatcharacterises modern politics” and the word has been gleefully taken upby many commentators, some even in the Conservative press. It beganlife in The Thick of It, a satirical BBC TV series about Westminsterpolitics created by Armando Iannucci. It was said in an episode inOctober 2009 by the foul-mouthed government head of communicationsMalcolm Tucker, played by Peter Capaldi, though he meant by it oneparticular person’s incompetence in everything she did. The wordappeared a few times following the broadcast but Ed Miliband’s use setit trending, as they say over on Twitter. Its instant popularity wasindicated through a number of compounds that were soon coined,including omnishambolism and omnishambolic.

Green ambience & students

Sir, Following the concept of Satyabadi Vana Vidyalaya ofPandit Gopabandhu Das and Shantiniketan of RabindranathTagore, the state government has taken the initiative toprovide soothing environs in educational institutions. Allgovernment-run schools in the state are to be gifted with aluxuriant green ambience under the Institutional PlantationProgramme. The School and Mass Education Departmenthas asked the District Collectors to ensure that plantationis taken up in a massive way in schools having boundarywalls or proper barricade fencing. The Panchayati Raj &Drinking Water Department has agreed to provide funds formaintenance of these plants for four years from the NREGAfunds. The saplings of forest species and fruit-bearing va-rieties which are suitable to local conditions must be plantedinside the campuses. It is necessary to ask the manage-ments of private-run schools to take up such plantationdrives. Parents will be motivated to send their children toschools to let them learn in the lap of nature.

Hitesh Kumar Parida, JAJPUR

Quitting politics forever

Sir, Super star Rajinikanth has once andfor all decided to quit politics as he hasrealised that politics is not his cup oftea. The statements of the actor made ear-lier and his hesitation to launch a polit-ical party unlike Kamal Hassan havemade it clear that he has no interest inpolitics and it is because of the pressurefrom fans and well-wishers that he talksabout politics. The matinee idol has de-cided to dissolve the Rajini MakkalMandram but will continue with his fanclub - Rajinikanth Rasigar NarpaniMandram to provide humanitarian serv-ices to the poor and the downtrodden. Itis better Rajinikanth continues to re-main in the entertainment industrywhere he is a matchless legend.

M Pradyu, KANNUR

stateTHURSDAY | JULY 15 | 2021 | BHUBANESWARP7

cmyk

cmyk

POPULATION CONTROL LAW

Activists of a social organisation take out a rally in Sambalpur, pressing for implementation of the strict populationcontrol law in the country OP PHOTO

HELPING HAND

A one-stop centre at PRM Medical College and Hospital in Baripada will provide emergency assistance, medical and legal help to destitute and distressedwomen OP PHOTO

POST NEWS NETWORK

Malkangiri, July 14:Constructionwork on two high-level bridges onBalimela-Malkangiri road hereare far from over despite four yearshaving lapsed since the projectswere launched.

Even a slight drizzle causes theresidents to experience a har-rowing time commuting on theroad as rain water flows aboutfour to five feet above the low-levelbridges and culverts.

In order to alleviate the suffer-ings of the people from this peren-nial problem, the government hadstarted construction of three high-level bridges at MV-11, Korukondaand MV-37 on Balimela-Malkangiriroad over four years ago. At pres-ent, there are low level culvertsat these places.

As of now, the construction ofthe high level bridge at MV-11 hasbeen completed and vehicularmovement has also been allowed.But the fate of the two other bridgesat Korukonda and MV-37 is stillhanging in balance.

The Malkangiri-Balimela roadis the only path that connectsMalkangiri and Balimela.Thousands of people of residingin villages under Korukonda,Tarlakota and Patrol panchayatsdepend on this road. In order to visitthe block and tehsil offices, peoplehave no other alternative. During

the rainy season, these villagers ex-perience immense hardships asthey remain cut off from the dis-trict headquarters for days to-gether.

Local villagers said they werehopeful that the bridges would becompleted at least before this rainy

season. But that did not happen.“We are suffering as the contrac-tor is not earnest in completing thework. During the monsoon whenrainwater flows over the culverts,we have no choice but to wait tillthe water recedes,” rued some villagers.

When contacted, MalkangiriAdditional District MagistrateBirsen Pradhan said that the con-tractor has already been directedto complete the remaining work atthe earliest. The half-constructedbridges will soon be completed,he added.

Commuters suffer as constructionof bridges hangs fire in Malkangiri

POST NEWS NETWORK

Baripada, July 14:Spurious liquortrade and drug peddling are thriv-ing in many pockets of Mayurbhanjdistrict. It is said that liquor mafiafrom Bihar is pulling the strings ofthis illegal trade, a report said.

According to the report, spiritand other materials used for mak-ing spurious liquor and brownsugar are supplied from parts ofWest Bengal to Mayurbhanj.

Scores of outlets have been per-mitted to Odia people to sell coun-try and foreign liquor in the district,but most of the shops have beenleased out to people of Bihar. In fact,the entire liquor trade is beingcontrolled by Bihar people.

On the other hand, brown sugarsmuggling is flourishing despiteraids by police and STF. Brownsugar worth lakhs of rupees hasbeen seized in the past too.Compared to previous years, suchillegal activities have gone up sev-eral times in the district.

The liquor business in the dis-trict generates over 30 crore as rev-enue per annum. More revenuecould be generated from the district,if excise officials succeed to curbillegal liquor trade.

Liquor is sold even at groceryshops, betel shops and road-sideeateries in many areas. Spuriousliquor business is also run paral-lel in most pockets.

According to official informa-

tion, there are 86 off foreign liquorshops, 14 bars and 20 country liquoroutlets in the district.

It was learnt that the districthad recorded a huge turnover ofliquor trade during shutdown andlockdown last year–the volume ofliquor sale was Rs 300 crore.However, this turnover is expectedto go up to Rs 350 crore this year.

Given the scope of liquor tradein the district, the excide depart-ment has set a target of generatingRs 35 crore as revenue from thecurrent year.

However, illegal liquor trade hasbeen a hurdle in generation ofmore revenues in the district. Theexcise department has been un-

successfully carrying out raidsand seizures to cub such paralleltrade. Last year, 41 people were ar-rested in connection with boot-legging and drug-peddling in the dis-trict while 164 cases had beenregistered.

However, in the current year,the excise department has steppedup its action against bootleggers.Till June 15, excise officials haveregistered 357 cases and arrested286 people in the district.

The department explains thatshortage of manpower has been ahurdle in containing the illegalliquor trade. The department nowrequires 27 constables.

Four excise range offices are op-

erating at Baripada, Udala,Rairangpur and Karanjia, besidestwo mobile units.

Only four vehicles are availablewith the department to conductraids. More manpower and vehiclesare needed to act against the liquortraders, it is said.

Shantanu Pal, a resident ofBaripada, said the people fromBihar supply spirit (meant forliquor making) from West Bengal.This spirit is supplied to localyouths who churn out liquor inthe name of branded companies.

Rakesh Singh, president of DalitAdivasi Mahasangh, expressedconcern over the proliferation of thespurious liquor trade. “People ofBihar take out liquor outlets onlease, but push spurious liquorthrough them. Poor tribals are atthe receiving end of the spuriousliquor business. Most of themsquander away a major part oftheir daily income while their do-mestic life is affected by their al-coholism,” he added.

Many tribal families have cometo the streets due to routine con-sumption of spurious liquor, headded.

Excise superintendent AshokKumar Seth said raids are being car-ried out to catch the bootleggers.

“The department can curb the il-legal liquor trade to a great extentif vacant posts are filled up andmore four-wheelers are supplied tous,” he observed.

People from Bihar push illegal liquor RAMPANT BOOTLEGGING

Scores of outlets have beenpermitted to Odia people to

sell country and foreign liquor inMayurbhanj district, but most ofthe shops have been leased outto people of Bihar. In fact, theentire liquor trade is beingcontrolled by Bihar people

Brown sugar smuggling is alsoflourishing despite raids by

police and STF. Brown sugarworth lakhs of rupees has beenseized in the past too

LIQUOR IS SOLD EVEN AT GROCERY SHOPS, BETEL SHOPS AND ROAD-SIDEEATERIES IN RURAL AREAS. SPURIOUS LIQUOR BUSINESS IS RUN PARALLEL

IN MOST TRIBAL POCKETS OF THE DISTRICT

POST NEWS NETWORK

Baisinga, July 14: People have de-manded passenger train halt atMachhapada in Baisinga area ofMayurbhanj district for decades.Their hope for the project hasbrightened after a technical teamof the railways conducted a surveyat the place recently.

The survey came hours after adelegation from the area met UnionRailway Minister AshwiniVaishnav in New Dehli.

Over 30,000 people living inSantra, Raghupur, Ambagadia andBaisinga panchayats will benefitfrom the passenger halt atMachhapada.

It was stated that Thakurtotarailway station of Rupsa-Bangiriposi railway is 2 km fromMachhapada. People of these areashave been putting pressure on lead-ers for a passenger halt facility.

They pointed out that after

Ashwini Vaishnav became UnionRailway Minister and MayurbhanjMP Bisweswar Tudu was madeUnion Minister of State for TribalAffairs and Jal Shakti, their de-mand will surely be fulfilled.

A couple of days ago, a delega-tion of people’s representatives ofBaisinga and Betanoti areas led byUnion Minister Bisweswar Tuduhad met the Union RailwayMinister. During the meeting, thedelegation demanded upgradationof Betanoti railway station and

establishment of a passenger haltat Machhapada.

Hours after this meeting, a tech-nical team from the RailwayMinistry, comprising a section en-gineer, a telecom engineer, a com-mercial inspector and a divisionalmanager, conducted a survey atMachhapada.

Scores of local people met thetechnical team and, insisted onimmediate steps for establishmentof a passenger halt facility at theplace.

Passenger-halt facility at Machhapada likely

POST NEWS NETWORK

Naktideula, July 14: TheBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) al-leged massive irregularities in theallotment of pucca houses underthe Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(PMAY). Hundreds of BJP workersfrom various parts of Naktideulablock staged protests near the blockof fice here in SambalpurWednesday.

They lamented that due to ir-regularities and corruption, thePMAY has failed to meet its ob-jective in the district. Thousandsof genuine beneficiaries are suf-fering without roofs over theirheads.

The agitation was led by thepar ty’s mandal presidentNetrananda Roul. The BJP work-ers slammed the state governmentfor its involvement in corruptionin the rural housing scheme.

They stated that large scale cor-ruption in housing scheme hadcome to the fore after a centralgovernment team revealed it in itsreport. They alleged that puccahouses were allotted to ineligiblebeneficiaries in the district. Theyalso stated that the state governmenthad hijacked the central housingscheme by branding it as Biju

Pucca Ghara Yojana. Plaques areseen fixed on the walls of the PMAYhouses, they alleged, adding thathousing units are distributed toruling party workers.

They also said that genuine ben-eficiaries are deprived of theirrights. Later, the delegation sub-mitted a memorandum to theGovernor through the BDO.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Sambalpur, July 14: Burla po-lice arrested a retired professor ofSambalpur University and his twosons under the Arms Act, 1959 forillegally possessing a double-bar-rel gun and also for allegedly usingit while threatening a local man inthis town, Wednesday.

According to a senior police of-

ficial, the accused identified asKeshav Chandra Panda was a pro-fessor in Physics department ofthe university. He had retired about10 years ago. The retired profes-sor’s two sons have been identi-fied as Durgesh and Dinesh, the of-ficial said.

Acting on an FIR lodged by RahulSharma from Burla town, policehave arrested the professor and

his sons. The accused trio had al-legedly threatened the complainantJuly 12 when the latter objected toa boundary wall erected on hisplot along NH-65 near Hirakudrailway station.

After being threatened with direconsequences, Sharma had left theconstruction site fearing for hislife. However, he had managed torecord the entire incident on his mo-

bile phone. On the other hand,based on a counter-FIR lodged byKeshav, police have arrested twomore persons named Basant Naikand Magadhu Singh.

The professor alleged that agroup of people led by Rahul andAmit Guru had demolished hisboundary wall on the same plotand assaulted one of his sons, BurlaSDPO S Dash informed.

Sambalpur: Rtd prof, sons held for possessing gun

Over 30,000 people living in Santra, Raghupur,Ambagadia and Baisingapanchayats will benefitfrom the passenger halt at Machhapada

Youth hacked to deathover past enmity POST NEWS NETWORK

Chhendipada, July 14: A youthwas hacked to death by a co-vil-lager over past enmity at Patrapadavillage under this police limits inAngul district, late Tuesday night.

Profusely bleeding, JeetendraSahu, 35, collapsed on the road andsuccumbed before any help couldreach him. On being informed,Bagadia outpost police reachedthe spot and started an investiga-tion.

Athamallik SDPO BhabaniShankar Udgata, Nisha andChhendipada police officialsWednesday reached the spot andtook stock of the murder. Policeregistered a case over a complaintlodged by the deceased’s familyand detained the deceased’s friendPitabas and four of his associates.A forensic team and sniffer dogswere pressed into service. The mur-der weapon was seized and thebody sent for post-mortem.

Police said the deceased,Jeetendra and the accused, Pitabas,were friends. A dispute arose be-tween them over the marriage ofa minor girl and non-payment offare of a hired vehicle. This souredtheir relationship and led to an al-tercation between the two Tuesdayevening.Deeply hurt, Jeetendrareturned home and hurled abusesat Pitabas and his family in an ine-briated condition. He left homeand was resting near a templewhen Pitabas noticed him andhacked him with an axe.

BJP protests PMAY irregularities

POST NEWS NETWORK

Patrapur, July 14: At least 13 per-sons were rendered hurt includingseven of them critically after a vanthey were travelling in overturnednear a temple at Talapada villageunder Patrapur block in Ganjam dis-trict.

Locals and police rescued the in-jured and rushed them to PatrapurCommunity Health Centre (CHC).The doctors administered them

treatment. Seven of the injuredwere shifted MKCG Medical Collegeand Hospital in Berhampur as theircondition deteriorated.

The mishap occurred when 20construction workers were returningfrom Nuapentha village when thevehicle overturned after a tyre of thevehicle burst on the road.

On being informed, Jarada policepersonnel, Patrapur BDO andtehshildar rushed to the spot andlaunched a rescue operation.

13 injured as van overturns in Ganjam

Fate of two other bridges at Korukonda and MV-37has been hanging in balance as people continue to suffer in silence

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WEST BENGAL THURSDAY | JULY 15 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

P8KERALA

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Kolkata, July 14: West Bengalmanaged to extract 13 lakh extradoses of vaccine in the last twomonths from its stipulated quotaonly by saving the extra dose givenin a vial to compensate for thewastage. Kerala is the only stateafter West Bengal that has recordeda negative wastage by skilfullyadministering the vaccine andhas earned accolades from thecentral government.

Technically the process is called‘negative wastage’ which meansnot only ensuring zero wastagebut actually eking out and ad-ministering an extra dose fromeach vial. State health departmentrecords said that in the last twomonths the state has recordedminus seven per cent wastage ofCovishield doses, an impressive featconsidering the low supply of vac-cines.

“A vial of vaccine containsenough doses to administer 10shots. But manufacturers add anextra dose in each vial as a wastagefactor. In most cases, a tiny amountof the vaccine gets wasted eachtime the vaccine is drawn into thesyringe. The extra dose is addedin the vial to compensate for thisloss. But if the vaccinator is skil-ful, it is possible to save this extradose to vaccinate 11 persons frommany vials,” a senior official of the

health department said.“The negative vaccine wastage

in Bengal is now around -7 percent, and the quantity saved willgo up further as we go on savingmore doses as the inoculationdrive progresses,” a state familywelfare officer said.

In other words, for every 1 lakhdoses, the state is managing 7,000extra doses. Such efficiency wasalso recorded by Kerala, a featthat came in for appreciation fromcentral government officials.

In Covaxin’s case, Bengal ini-tially had 1 per cent wastage, theoptimal wastage limit suggestedby the Centre. This has been re-duced to zero. The initial wastagewas due to public inhibitions aboutthe vaccine, sources said.

A vial containing 10 doses hasto be utilised within four hours ofopening. There were several casesof insufficient recipients turningup during this window, leadingto wastage.

Official data for May showKerala and West Bengal standingin sharp contrast to states likeJharkhand and Chhattisgarhwhich recorded a high 33.9 percent and 15.7 per cent wastage re-spectively. The wastage for otherstates is lower, but still on thehigher side like in Madhya Pradesh(7.3 per cent), Delhi (3.9 per cent),Gujarat (3.6 per cent) and UP (3.7per cent).

Till Tuesday evening, Bengalhad administered a total of around2,45,29,000 doses approximately,about 28 lakh doses of which weredone by private vaccination cen-tres. So far, the state has receiveda total o f about 1 .93 croreCovishield doses and 32 lakhCovaxin doses for governmentcentres since the inoculation drive

began, apart from 25 lakh doses forthe private sector since May.

The extra vaccination comesat a time the scanty vaccine sup-ply to Bengal has slowed the paceof vaccination in the state. Morethan 3 lakh doses were being ad-ministered daily around the thirdweek of June; the figure now is 2lakh plus.

REUTERS

Gosaba, July 14: For DeepakJena, a labourer on a remote islandin the Sundarbans delta in India,getting a COVID-19 vaccine wasproving to be difficult. Then a gov-ernment boat arrived with vac-cines.

Home to more than 4.5 millionpeople and the largest mangroveforest in the world, residents ofthe Bay of Bengal delta endureall the miseries nature throws atthem – from cyclones to erosion.

But the pandemic is testing aregion with only basic healthcarefacilities.

“It’s very difficult to get vacci-nated in this village area,” saidJena. “We used to line up atcrowded hospitals to get a shot,unsuccessfully, before the boatcame along.”

The state government of WestBengal, where the Indian side of theSundarbans is located, has

launched a “vaccination on boat”programme to reach the remotestparts of the forested area. On theother side is Bangladesh.

“We have targeted some migrantpeople and the people who can’treach our sub-centre … or anyother session site (for coronavirusvaccinations),” said Indranil Bargi,a medical officer in the Gosabaarea. AstraZeneca and partnerSerum Institute of India’s

Covishield is being used for thevaccination drive.

More than 400,000 people havedied from COVID-19 in India andthe government is trying to ex-pand its immunisation drive toprotect more people.

But logistical challenges ofreaching remote islands and treach-erous villages in the mountainshave complicated the immunisa-tion effort.

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Thiruvananthapuram, July 14:Former WHO health expert SS LalWednesday asked the PinarayiVijayan government to accept themistakes committed in tacklingthe Covid pandemic and to takethe corrective path now.

The situation of Covid in Kerala,despite observing strict protocols,continues to be grim as it has thehighest number of daily cases andactive cases and also has a size-able number of deaths.

Lal, a Congress candidate wholost the April 6 Assembly polls, isalso an acclaimed health profes-sional. He said the Covid pandemic,which has been raging sinceJanuary last year, has caught manygovernments napping.

“To make a mistake is natural,but Kerala government behavesas if it has not erred and that is thebiggest mistake and the need ofthe hour is to take corrective steps,”said Lal. He said initially the gov-

ernment blamed the returning di-aspora. “Every time the govern-ment came out with new rules, a sec-tion was there which was trying tocorrect the wrong, but they wereadmonished and there were thosewho batted for the government.Later, when it surfaced that thestrategy was wrong, the govern-ment was trying to defend itswrong,” said Lal.

Lal pointed out that the present

strategy to open shops Monday,Wednesday and Friday has turnedout to be a big flop as on these days,there were huge crowds in front ofshops and establishments.

“Gone are the days of never end-ing lockdowns as the economy hasto move on and only if there is ac-tivity will the people be able tomove forward. So immediate cor-rective steps have to be taken,”said Lal.

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Thiruvananthapuram, July 14:After Kitex, a leading industrialgroup decided to move to Telanganaalleging harassment in home stateKerala, many film producers hereare upset because Covid restric-tions are not being eased, and there-fore are shifting shooting locationsto Telangana and Tamil Nadu.

One of the biggest producers inthe Malayalam film industry,Antony Perumabavoor said thatdespite waiting for long, thingshere are still under lockdownnorms.

“One of my films has been wait-ing for release for the past 18 monthsdue to the pandemic. Now two filmsstarring Mohanlal, which were tohave been shot here, have beenlong delayed and hence we aremoving to Telangana and the firstone will begin its shoot tomorrow.This film is being directed by actorPrithviraj,” said Perumbavoor.

Due to the lockdown norms inKerala, film shooting is not tak-ing place here which is affecting theindustry severely. However, withTelangana and Tamil Nadu open-

ing up, industry sources said thatseven films are all set to move out.

“I have taken up the issue of re-

suming film shooting with nu-merous people, including ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan, but due

to obvious reasons, nothing hashappened. But, we cannot wait anylonger. We all know that shootingoutside Kerala is expensive, butstill we have to do it,” addedPerumbavoor.

The Covid pandemic has takena heavy toll on the Malayalam filmindustry and according to indus-try sources close to 100 films areready for release, but are unable tobe released and around Rs 800 croreis currently blocked because ofthis.

There are 720 movie halls in thestate and the owners are also in direstraits. Many expected that thesehalls will open soon, the secondCovid wave, however, has derailedall plans.

“This is a big loss as many ofthose who eke out a living workingin the film industry here will be fur-ther crippled as when a shoot isshifted from one state to another,only those who are really needed,will move from here, and the othersupport will be taken from the lo-cation only,” said a worried per-son who works as a light boy atthe film sets and has out of job fora long time.

AGENCIES

Kolkata, July 14: Admitting WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee’s petition for hearing,the Calcutta High Court Wednesdaydirected that notice be served uponLeader of Opposition SuvenduAdhikari, whose victory fromNandigram in the Assembly elec-tions was challenged by her.

Justice Shampa Sarkar directedthat Banerjee’s election petitionwill be taken up for hearing August 12.

The judge directed that in themeantime, notice be served uponAdhikari, a BJP MLA, and otherparties in the matter.

Justice Sarkar held that as pera report received by her benchfrom the high court administra-tion, the election petition was filedin compliance with the provisionsof the Representation of the PeopleAct.

The court also directed theElection Commission to preserveall records and devices related tothe polls in Nandigram.

The matter was reassigned tothe bench of Justice Sarkar byActing Chief Justice Rajesh Bindalafter Justice Kausik Chanda re-cused himself from hearing theTrinamool Congress chief's petition.

As per the result declared bythe Election Commission, Adhikaridefeated Banerjee by a margin of1,956 votes.

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Kochi, July 14: In a first of a kindmove, a Catholic nun Wednesdayappeared as ‘party in person’ inthe Kerala High Court to fight herown case.

Sister Lucy Kalapurakkal wasdismissed from the church atKerala’s Manathavady in August2019 by the Franciscan ClaristCongregation, after getting theVatican's clearance, for disobey-ing church authorities.

Since then, she has been fight-ing her case and she refused tomove out from the convent inWayanad district that she is re-siding in.

Wednesday after her counselwithdrew for personal reasons, thenun herself appeared as party inperson and said that since she al-ready has the case against her con-gregation in another court, sheshould be allowed to reside at herconvent, till its verdict comes.

She also wanted a review of anearlier directive of the High Court,which, in the course of the pro-ceedings in the case, expresseddoubts if she can continue to residein the convent.

Making a passionate plea, Sister

Lucy, noting that she has completed25 years of service as a nun andwish to continue the same way,said she has nowhere to go andshould not be driven on to thestreets. She requested police pro-tection at the place where she re-sides in the convent.

But the counsel for the congre-gation contended that as a rule, anun, when she moves from oneplace to another place, should onlystay in a convent and Sister Lucy,in the course of conducting the

case, has violated all this.The court, however, pointed out

that they are prepared to ensure thatshe gets protection to her life andproperty, wherever she stays. Thecourt later posted the case for giv-ing its final verdict.

Sister Lucy had supported thenuns’ strike in the state demand-ing the arrest of rape-accusedBishop Franco Mulakkal, whoheaded the Roman Catholic Diocesein Jalandhar.

However, she became a targetof the Church authorities aftershe joined the nuns’ protest againstthe delay in Mulakkal’s arrest de-spite the FIR against him.

But even though she was askedto move out from the convent then,she got an order from a court thatshe should not be forced out and hasbeen staying there since then.

Since then she had been receiv-ing notices from the church oncharges such as airing her opinionabout the bishop on TV channels,owning a car, and writing a book.

Incidentally, the Kerala HighCourt, in December 2019 declinedto ban the nun’s autobiography ti-tled “Karthavinte Namethil (In thename of Christ)” and it was re-leased later.

Catholic nun appears inHC to fight her own case

Sister Lucy Kalapurakkal had supported the nuns’ strike in Keralademanding the arrest of rape-accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal

HC admits CM’s plea against Suvendu’s electionCOURT DIRECTS ELECTION COMMISSION TO PRESERVE ALL RECORDS

AND DEVICES RELATED TO THE POLLS IN NANDIGRAM

Kolkata: Voicing displeasureover the ‘delay’ in holding elec-tions to seven West BengalAssembly seats, crucial forMamata Banerjee’s uninterruptedcontinuance as the chief minis-ter, the TMC said Wednesday aparty delegation will meet theElection Commission July 15 topress for it. Sukhendu ShekharRay, a senior leader of the state'sruling party, also taunted the pollpanel, wondering whether it was“waiting for a third Covid wave”

t o c o n d u c t t h e e l e c t i o n s.Maintaining that the pandemichas eased considerably, Ray saidthe situation was conducive forholding the polls. Bypolls are tobe held for five vacant seats, andfresh elections to two otherswhere polling was counter-manded following the death ofcandidates. The byelections areof critical importance to ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee, wholost the assembly poll to BJP'sSuvendu Adhikari in Nandigram.

The Constitution allows a per-son to occupy a ministerial po-sition only up to six months with-out getting elected to a statelegislature or the two Houses ofParliament. It mandates that aminister who is not a memberof legislature for six consecu-tive months shall cease to occupythe position at the expiration ofthat period. Banerjee needs toget elected to the assembly byNovember 4 to continue as thechief minister.

TMC raps EC over ‘delay’ in holding Bengal bypolls

Film shoots being shifted out of Kerala Own up mistakes in tacklingCovid: Expert asks Kerala CM

In Sundarbans, boats full of vaccines bring hope

Home to more than 4.5million people and the

largest mangrove forest inthe world, residents of the

Bay of Bengal deltaendure all the miseries

nature throws at them - from cyclones

to erosion

Bengal reports negative wastage of vaxNegative wastage means not only ensuring zero

wastage but actually eking out and administering an extra dose from each vial

It’s very difficult to get vaccinated in this village area.We used to line up at crowded hospitals to get a shot,

unsuccessfully, before the boat came along DEEPAK JENA I LABOURER

P9

nationalTHURSDAY | JULY 15 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

Rajasthangovernment

took several keydecisions to takestate to new heightsin higher educationASHOK GEHLOT| RAJASTHAN CHIEF MINISTER

At least 19 persons were arrested in Gujarat’s Dahod district Wednesdayafter a young tribal woman wasstripped and paraded by her husbandand others for allegedly running awaywith another man, police said

TRIBAL WOMAN STRIPPED OVER EXTRA-MARITAL AFFAIR

yy

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Our vision forKashi is to buildquality

infrastructure for thecoming generations.In that spirit, will belaying the foundationstone for CIPET, rural projects underJal Jeevan Mission and mango aswell as vegetable integrated packhouse in Karkhiyaon

NARENDRA MODI | PRIME MINISTER

of theday uote

The stategovernment isdiscussing the

implementation ofthe NationalPopulation Policy inKarnataka on thelines of Uttar Pradesh

ASHWATH NARAYAN |DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER OF KARNATAKA

Now manyfamilies,including the

downtroddensections, arerealising theimportance of havingone or two children. I think publicawareness should be created andlaws should not be made only for thesake of politics

BHUPESH BAGHEL |CHHATTISGARH CHIEF MINISTER

Piyush Goyal new leader of RSNew Delhi: BJP leader andUnion Minister Piyush Goyalwas Wednesday appointedas the Leader of the House inRajya Sabha, an elevationthat makes him the face ofthe government in the upperhouse. With the ruling BJPnot having a majority inRajya Sabha, Goyal will betasked with navigatingvarious political challengesin the House while delivering on thegovernment's legislativeagenda. Announcing theappointment, ParliamentaryAffairs Minister PralhadJoshi congratulated Goyal.

Over 9k kids rescued: KSCFNew Delhi: Over 9,000trafficked children wererescued from trains, busesand factories by lawenforcement agencies andBachpan Bachao Andolansince the beginning of the Covid pandemic, theKailash Satyarthi Foundationsaid as its founder KailashSatyarthi appealed for urgentpassage of anti-traffickingbill in the Monsoon Sessionof Parliament.

Himachal: 8 dead inrain-related incidents Dharamsala: Six bodies wererecovered in Boh valleyfollowing a landslidetriggered by heavy rainswhich altogether claimedeight lives in Kangra district,police said Wednesday.According to the police, aPunjabi Singer died after hefell into a nullah. ManmeetSingh, a resident ofAmritsar, had gone to Karerilake with his friends.

India, Maldives to boost tiesNew Delhi: In a telephonicconversation, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andMaldives President IbrahimMohamed Solih Wednesdaytook stock of the overallbilateral relations and theongoing substantivecooperation between thetwo countries.

New milestoneNew Delhi: The Ministry of JalShakti said Wednesday thatone lakh villages and 50,000 Gram Panchayatshave become 'Har Ghar Jal'.The Jal Jeevan Missionachieved a milestone inproviding tap water supply toevery household in one lakhvillages across India, in ashort period of 23 months.

SHORT TAKES

AGENCIES

New Delhi July 14: Why are thou-sands crowding into markets, pub-lic places and holiday destinationsseemingly without thought for thedevastating second wave India isbarely out of ? If you have askedyourself that question, you are notalone. That is the question bafflingexperts too.

It’s a combination of apathyand a certain fatalistic attitude,said senior epidemiologist LalitKant. Attempting to decode the‘no mask-no social distancing' reck-lessness underlining societal be-haviour, psychiatrist Nimish Desaiadded that the public is unable tosee the risks and correlate the re-strictions on them.

India has seen “heavy trends ofsocial irresponsibility”, Desai said.

Concerns have mounted afterimages on social and other mediaof snaking queues of cars waitingto enter hill stations and of peopleso anxious to get their lives back ontrack that basic precautions havebeen given the go by as they throngvacation spots and leisure sites.

“In all cultures what shouldhave happened is what is calledrisk perception — how muchdoes a society perceive the threat(to be) and how much does itmodify its behaviour accord-ingly,” Desai, director of theInstitute of Human Behaviourand Allied Sciences said in astatement. While the pandemicis primarily a health crisis, ex-perts say the role of a society incontrolling or fanning a contagioncannot be overlooked.

“The public in their conscious

or unconscious minds could notsee and correlate the restrictionson them,” Desai said, referring to

the peak of the first wave duringthe festive season last year. Aroundthe Diwali-Durga Puja season, peo-

ple seemed to be over-compensat-ing for the time they spent con-fined in their homes, he said.

This unlock doesn't seem very dif-

ferent. The seeming return to nor-malcy as India's Covid numbersdip is comforting. But the scenesof people not adhering to basicCovid protocols are also alarm-ingly familiar – that's exactly whathappened when the first wave wasebbing only to make way for a fe-rocious second one.

According to the senior epi-demiologist, the non-adoption ofCovid appropriate behaviour (CAB)is part of the reason for the secondwave. Social distancing alreadyseems a thing of the past, and dou-ble masks are on their way out, assingle ones resume their ‘chin po-sition'.

India's Covid death toll crossedthe four lakh mark earlier thismonth. Of this, nearly 60 per centwas during the second wave, theUnion Health Ministry has said.

A crowded market after ease in lockdown curbs in Mumbai PTI PHOTO

Decoding ‘no mask-no distancing’ public recklessnessLEARNING LOSSA whopping 85 % of the highereducation students in Indiabelieve they had a learning loss,according to a survey byTeamLease EdTech. The survey,titled “Covid-19 Learning Loss inHigher Education”, showed thatwhile students feel that the lossis between 40% and 60%,university leaders state that theloss has been 30 per cent to40%. The loss is twice theestimated learning loss in G7countries and it may take threeyears to repair.

APATHY OR BRAVADO?

FUN IN THE RAIN

Children play during heavy rain in New Delhi PTI PHOTO

AGENCIES

New Delhi, July 14: The UnionHome Ministry Wednesday saidblatant violations of Covid-19 norms have been observed in sev-eral parts of the country, includinghill stations, and asked states andunion territories to take actionagainst officials responsible forensuring compliance to laid downguidelines.

In a letter to all states and UTs,Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhallaalso said Covid-appropriate be-haviour is not being adhered to inpublic transport and massivecrowds are thronging marketplaces,violating social distancing norms.

Bhalla emphasised the secondwave of Covid is not yet over andthere is no room for complacencyand everyone must follow Covid-ap-propriate behaviour.

He said that with the decline inthe number of active cases, statesand UTs have started reopeningeconomic activities in a gradualmanner but the process of relax-ing restrictions should be care-fully calibrated.

During the periods of low posi-tivity, efforts must be stepped up toprevent any probable future surge,he said.

"However, blatant violations ofCovid norms have been observedin several parts of the country, es-pecially in public transport andat hill stations. Massive crowdsare also thronging the marketplaces, violating norms of social dis-tancing," he said.

The consequent increase in the'R'-factor (reproduction number)in some of the states is a matter ofconcern, Bhalla said.

The 'R'-factor indicates thespeed at which the infection isspreading in the country. An 'R'-

factor below 1 indicates that eachinfected individual is on averagepassing on the disease to lessthan one person.

"You may be aware that any in-crease in 'R' factor above 1.0 is anindicator of spread of Covid-19.Therefore, it is important that theauthorities concerned shall bemade responsible for ensuringCovid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB)in all crowded places, such as shops,malls, markets, market complexes,weekly markets, restaurants andbars, 'mandis, bus stations, rail-way platforms, stations, publicparks and gardens, gymnasium,banquet halls, marriage halls, sta-dia, sports complexes (if opened upby the State) as well as at all areasidentified as hotspots for trans-mission of Covid-19 virus," he saidin the letter.

Any establishment, premises,markets and other such placeswhere Covid-appropriate behav-iour is not being maintained is li-able for the re-imposition of re-strictions and the defaulters mayface action under the relevant laws,the home secretary said.

He also said Covid testing needsto be continued with the same vigoras it is extremely essential for anearly identification of cases andchecking the virus spread.

"You would appreciate that wemust guard ourselves against com-placency and laxity, which creep inas positivity declines. Instead, dur-ing the periods of low positivity, ef-forts must be stepped up to pre-vent any probable future surge," hesaid in a statement.

Bhalla said there should be con-tinuous focus on the five-fold strat-egy for effective management ofCovid-19 i.E. Test-track-treat-vac-cinate and adhere to Covid-appro-priate behavior.

AGENCIES

New Delhi, July 14: There has beenno attempt by the Indian or theChinese side to occupy the areas ineastern Ladakh from where theydisengaged in February and bothsides are involved in talks to resolvethe remaining issues in the region,the Indian Army said Wednesday.

The Army said it has been monitoring activities by the ChinesePeople's Liberation Army (PLA)including turnover of troops inthe region.

The Army stated this in a state-ment trashing a media report whichclaimed the Chinese military hasagain crossed the Line of ActualControl (LAC) in eastern Ladakhat several places and that therehas been at least one incident ofclash between the two sides.

It also said that the report men-tioning that agreements with Chinahave collapsed is "false and base-less". "Both sides have continuedwith negotiations to resolve thebalance issues, and regular pa-trolling in respective areas con-tinues. The situation on the groundcontinues to be as hithertofore.PLA activities, including turnover

of troops, continue to be moni-tored by the Indian Army," theArmy said. To a query about theIndian media report, ChineseForeign Ministry spokesman ZhaoLijian said in Beijing that he wasnot aware of it.

"I am not aware of the situationyou mentioned," Zhao said. Indiaand China have been locked in a mil-itary standoff at multiple frictionpoints in eastern Ladakh sinceearly May last year.

The two sides completed thewithdrawal of troops and weaponsfrom the North and South banks ofPangong lake in February follow-ing a series of military and diplo-

matic talks. The two sides are nowengaged in talks to extend the dis-engagement process to the re-maining friction points.

Meanwhile, external AffairsMinister S Jaishankar Wednesdayfirmly conveyed to his Chinesecounterpart Wang Yi that the pro-longation of the existing situa-tion in eastern Ladakh was visi-bly impacting the bilateral tiesin a "negative manner" and ruedthat there was no forward move-ment from the Chinese side sincethe disengagement in Pangonglake areas in February that hadcreated conditions for resolvingthe remaining issues.

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, July 14: The SupremeCourt Wednesday took suo motucognisance of a disturbing news onUttar Pradesh government's deci-sion to allow 'Kanwar Yatra' amidstthe Covid-19 pandemic and soughtresponses from the state as wellas the Centre "given the disparatepolitical voices" on the matter.

A bench headed by Justice R FNariman referred to the statementof Prime Minister Narendra Modithat not even a bit of compromisecan be made on Covid-19 contain-ment and said the citizens wereperplexed about the happeningsin view of the fact that as the UPgovernment has allowed the reli-gious 'yatra' commencing fromJuly 25.

It issued notices to the Centre andthe state governments of UttarPradesh and Uttarakhand whileposting the matter for hearingFriday.

The bench, also comprisingJustice B R Gavai, said that it was“little disturbed” to read that UPhas chosen to continue with theKanwar yatra, while Uttarakhandwith its hindsight of experience,has decided against it.

The Yogi Adityanath govern-ment Tuesday allowed the yatrafrom July 25 despite concernsraised in various quarters overthe risk posed by such events intriggering a possible third wave ofCovid-19. Every year, tens of thou-sands of ''Kanwariyas'' (devoteesof Lord Shiva) from northernstates travel on foot or by othermeans to collect water from RiverGanga at Haridwar to offer atShiva temples in their areas aspart of the yatra.

ALLOWING OFKANWAR YATRA

SC ISSUES NOTICE TOCENTRE, UP GOVT

COVID NORM VIOLATION

Centre issues freshwarning to states

Army monitoringChina’s activities

Ever since the disengagementagreement in February thisyear, there has been no attemptby either side to occupy theareas from where thedisengagement had beenundertaken. There have beenno clashes in Galwan or anyother area, the Army said

LAC ROW

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Mumbai, July 14: Seeking toscotch all speculation, NationalistCongress Party supremo SharadPawar Wednesday said that he wasnot standing in the Presidentialelection in mid-2022, as reported insome sections of the media.

Rubbishing the rumours circu-lating in political circles since thismorning after poll strategistPrashant Kishor met top Congressleaders in New Delhi, Pawar saidit was "absolutely false" that hewill contest for the post of President.

"I know what the result will be,given the party (ruling BharatiyaJanata Party) has more than 300MPs," the 81-year-old told media.

On his meetings with Kishor,

Pawar said that though they mettwice, the discussion pertainingto a company of his, in mid-Junein Mumbai and New Delhi.

"No talks were held regarding theleadership for the 2024 elections

or the Presidential polls. He also in-formed that he has quit the field ofdevising election strategies for par-ties," he added.

The veteran leader pointed outthat nothing has been decided sofar, whether it is the 2024 Lok Sabhaor Maharashtra Assembly elec-tions, since the polls are still far off,and the political scenario keepschanging.

"I am not going to assume anyleadership for the 2024 elections,"declared Pawar with an air of fi-nality on the issue.

The NCP's national spokesper-son and Maharashtra MinisterNawab Malik also made it clearthat there was no discussion per-taining to the Presidential polls inthe party.

Not in Presidential race: PawarAGENCIES

Kolkata, July 14: The three neo-Jamaat-ul- Mujahideen Bangladesh(JMB) terrorists, arrested in Kolkata,were setting up terror modules inWest Bengal and may have linkswith Al-Qaeda and Harkat-ul-Jihadal-Islami (HuJI), police said.

It is suspected that they have as-sociates in some districts of thestate, a senior officer of the SpecialTask Force (STF) of the KolkataPolice said Tuesday.

"Initial interrogation revealedthat the JMB operatives were try-ing to build modules in West Bengal.These terrorists may have linkswith terror groups Al-Qaeda andHarkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI).

The documents seized from themindicate this," the officer said. TheSTF arrested JMB operatives NajiurRahman, Rabiul Islam and Sabirfrom Haridevpur area in southKolkata Sunday. They areBangladeshi nationals who hadused forged documents to get aroom on rent.

Their linkman, identified asSalim Munshi, had used the iden-tity card of an unsuspecting elderlyman to prepare a fake identity cardfor Najiur, the officer said. Najiurbecame Jayram Byapari in the fakeidentity card and the elderly manhis father.

A number of JMB operatives, in-cluding Indians, were arrested inWest Bengal in the past few years.

Terrorists arrested in Kolkatamay have Al-Qaeda links: Police

P10THURSDAY | JULY 15 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

Afghan women andgirls are going to

suffer unspeakable harm. Thisis a mistake... They're just goingto be left behind to beslaughtered by these very brutalpeople, and it breaks my heart GEORGE W BUSH | FORMER PRESIDENT, US

Pope Francis was discharged from aRome hospital and returned home tothe Vatican Wednesday, 10 days afterundergoing surgery to remove halfhis colon. Francis, 84, gave thanks forthe success of the operation andoffered prayers for others

POPE RETURNS TO VATICAN

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internationalIran’s AtomicEnergyOrganisation

can enrich uraniumby 20% and 60% andif one day our reactorneeds it, it can enrichuranium to 90% purity

HASSAN ROUHANI | PRESIDENT, IRAN

of theday uote

Pledges ofdoses andfunds are

welcome -- but theyare not enough. Weneed at least 11billion doses tovaccinate 70 per cent of the world and end this pandemic

ANTONIO GUTERRES | SECRETARY-GENERAL, UN

My reference isto thechallenges that

have emanated bychanging the statusof the illegallyoccupied state ofJammu and Kashmir. There is aprincipal stand that we continue tostand with and that is inaccordance with the UN resolutions

MUHAMMAD SAAD KHATTAK | HIGH

COMMISSIONER FOR SRI LANKA, PAKISTAN

VOA ending itsBangla radio serviceWashington: Voice ofAmerica Tuesday announcedthat it is ending its radioservice in Bangla that servedBangladesh, West Bengal,Assam and Tripura for 63years. The FM and shortwaveradio transmissions of Voiceof America in Bangla wouldofficially end July 17, after 63years, according to a mediarelease. Simultaneously, theservice’s television andsocial media content willexpand considerably, asthese are platforms moreheavily used by VOA Bangla’s16 million weekly audiencemembers.

UAE inauguratesembassy in Tel AvivTel Aviv: The United ArabEmirates opened its embassyin Israel Wednesday, withIsrael’s President attendingthe flag-raising ceremony.The embassy is situated in theTel Aviv Stock Exchangebuilding and its openingfollowed the inauguration ofIsrael’s embassy in the UAElast month. The UAE’sambassador to Israel,Mohamed Al Khaja, raised his country’s flagoutside the Stock Exchangebuilding, with IsraeliPresident Isaac Herzog at his side.

Toll climbs to 72in S Africa riotsJohannesburg: The death tollclimbed to 72 from rioting inSouth Africa Tuesday, withmany people trampled todeath during looting at stores,as police and the militaryfired stun grenades andrubber bullets to try to haltthe unrest set off by theimprisonment last week offormer President Jacob Zuma. More than 1,200 peoplehave been arrested in thelawlessness that has raged inpoor areas of Gauteng andKwaZulu-Natal provinces.

Indonesia becomesAsia’s virus hotspotJakarta: Indonesia reported more than 54,000new Coronavirus cases forthe first time Wednesday,surpassing recent dailyinfections in India, whosedisastrous outbreak isdeclining, and becomingAsia’s new virus hotspot.Officials fear that the morehighly transmissible deltavariant is now spreading from the islands of Java andBali, where outbreaksprompted a partial lockdownthat closed places of worship, malls, parks andrestaurants.

SHORT TAKES

Alpha jets from the French Air Force Patrouille de France fly past Carrousel du Louvre during the Bastille Daycelebrations in Paris, France REUTERS

BASTILLE BLAST

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Brussels, July 14: The EuropeanUnion Wednesday unveiled sweep-ing new legislation to help meet itspledge to cut emissions of the gasesthat cause global warming by 55%over this decade, including a con-troversial plan to tax foreign com-panies for the pollution they cause.

The new legislation will involvearound a dozen major proposals —most of them building on laws al-ready in place to meet the EU’s oldgoal of a 40% cut in gas emissionsby 2030, compared to 1990 levels —and must be endorsed by the 27member countries and EU law-makers.

World leaders agreed six yearsago in Paris to keep the globalwarming increase to below 2 de-g rees Celsius (3 .6 de g reesFahrenheit), and ideally no morethan 1.5 degrees C (2.7 F) by theend of the century. Scientists sayboth goals will be missed by a widemargin unless drastic steps are

taken to begin cutting greenhousegas emissions.

“The principle is simple: emis-sion of CO2 must have a price; aprice on CO2 that incentivizes

consumers, producers and inno-vators to choose the clean tech-nologies, to go toward the clean andsustainable products,” EuropeanCommission President Ursula

von der Leyen said.The aim of the “Fit for 55” leg-

islation, commission officials say,is to ween the continent off fossil

fuels and take better care of theenvironment by policy design,rather than be forced into des-perate measures at some future cli-matic tipping point, when it’s allbut too late.

Among the most controversialelements is a plan for a “CarbonBorder Adjustment Mechanism.”It will impose duties on foreigncompanies, and so increase theprice of certain goods, notablysteel, aluminum, concrete andfertilizer.

EU unveils sweeping climate change planUK to decarbonise domestic transportCleaner air, healthier communities and tens of thousands of new green

jobs are set to become reality thanks to the UK’s revolutionarytransport decarbonisation plan, Transport Secretary Grant Shappsannounced Wednesday. With just months to go until major climate summitCOP26, the plan provides a world-leading ‘greenprint’ to cut emissions fromseas and skies, roads and railways, setting out a credible pathway for thewhole transport sector to reach net zero by 2050. Cleaner transport willcreate and support highly skilled jobs, with the production of zero emissionroad vehicles alone having the potential to support tens of thousands ofjobs worth up to 9.7 billion pound GVA in 2050. This will also ensure the airbreathe is cleaner in communities and reduce time spent in traffic.

FIT FOR 55

n Phasing out of gasoline and dieselcars by 2035

n Companies to pay for CO2 theyemit

n Taxes on shipping and aviationfuels for the first time

n New national limits on gases fromheating buildings

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Kandahar, July 14: The Talibansaid Wednesday they had capturedthe strategic border crossing ofSpin Boldak along the frontier withPakistan, continuing sweepinggains made since foreign forcesstepped up their withdrawal fromAfghanistan.

The situation on the groundcould not immediately be verified,but social media was abuzz with pic-tures of Taliban fighters lookingrelaxed in what appeared to be thefrontier town.

If confirmed, the taking of SpinBoldak would be the latest in astring of border crossings and dryports seized by the Taliban in re-cent weeks, with the insurgentslooking to choke off much-neededrevenue from the government in

Kabul while also filling their owncoffers.

Its seizure follows days of heavyfighting across Kandahar province,where the government was forcedto deploy commando fighters toprevent the fall of the provincialcapital even as the insurgentsinched closer to taking the frontiercrossing.

In a statement, insurgentspokesman Zabihullah Mujahidassured traders and residents therethat their “security is guaranteed”.

But Afghan officials insistedthey still had control.

“The terrorist Taliban had somemovements near the border area...The security forces have repelledthe attack,” said interior ministryspokesman Tareq Arian.

The particular border crossingis arguably one of the most strate-

gically valuable for the Taliban.It provides direct access to

Pakistan’s Balochistan province -- where the insurgents’ top lead-ership has been based for decades-- along with an unknown numberof reserve fighters who regularlyenter Afghanistan to help bolstertheir ranks.

Balochistan is also a favoured des-tination for fighters regularly head-ing for medical treatment and hostsmany of their families.

Taliban flag raised above Afghan-Pakistan border

‘Over 2.7L Afghans displaced since Jan’An estimated 2,70,000 Afghans

have been newly displacedsince January due to insecurity andviolence, the UN refugee agencyhas said, warning of a loominghumanitarian crisis in Afghanistanas security concerns grow overTaliban fighters rapidly seizingcontrol of large number of areasand the US troop withdrawal fromthe war-torn country. The UnitedNations High Commissioner forRefugees (UNHCR) is “warning of alooming humanitarian crisis inAfghanistan as the escalatingconflict brings increased humansuffering and civiliandisplacement.” The number ofcivilian casualties has risen 29 percent during the first quarter of thisyear compared to 2020, accordingto UN Assistance Mission inAfghanistan and an increasingproportion of women and childrenwere among those targeted.

The interior ministry insisted the attack had been repelled andgovernment forces had control, but a Pakistan security source

said the Taliban’s white flag was flying over the town

US overdose deathshit 93,000 in 2020ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York, July 14: Overdosedeaths soared to a record 93,000 lastyear in the midst of the Covid-19pandemic, the US government re-ported Wednesday.

That estimate far eclipses thehigh of about 72,000 drug over-dose deaths reached the previ-ous year and amounts to a 29%increase.

“This is a staggering loss ofhuman li fe,” said BrandonMarshall, a Brown Universitypublic health researcher whotracks overdose trends.

The nation was already strug-gling with its worst overdose epi-demic but clearly “COVID hasgreatly exacerbated the crisis,”he added.

Lockdowns and other pandemicrestrictions isolated those withdrug addictions and made treat-ment harder to get, experts said.

Overdose deaths are just onefacet of what was overall the dead-liest year in US history. With about378,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19, the nation saw more than 3.3million deaths.

The 21,000 increase is the biggestyear-to-year jump since the countrose by 11,000 in 2016.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Peshawar, July 14: Beijing saidnine Chinese workers were among12 people killed Wednesday by abomb attack on a bus in north-western Pakistan and called forsevere punishment, but Islamabadblamed the explosion on a “gasleak”.

Islamabad is Beijing’s closestregional ally, but the security ofChinese workers has long been ofconcern in Pakistan. Large num-bers of them are based in the coun-try to supervise and build infra-structure projects.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry in astatement said the bus “plunged intoa ravine after a mechanical fail-ure, resulting in leakage of gasthat caused a blast”.

Meanwhile, China’s foreign min-istry spokesman Zhao Lijian ex-

pressed his “shock and condem-nation over the bombing”.

He urged Pakistan to “severelypunish” those responsible and“earnestly protect” Chinese nationalsand projects. The Chinese embassyin Islamabad also earlier said its na-tionals had come under “attack”.

Both countries said nine Chineseworkers and three Pakistanis haddied in the disaster which hap-pened at around 7 am.

Arif Khan Yousafzai, a seniorgovernment official in Kohistandistrict where the blast happened,said around 28 people were alsoinjured. They were airlifted to hos-pital by the military, officials said.Pakistan authorities said an in-vestigation was under way.

In April, the Pakistani Talibanclaimed responsibility for a deadlysuicide blast at a luxury hotel host-ing the Chinese ambassador, whowas unhur t, in southwestBalochistan.

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Washington, July 14: The UnitedStates Tuesday said that it is readyto ship its Covid-19 vaccines ex-peditiously when it has the greenlight from the Indian governmentwhich has told the Americans thatit needs further time to reviewlegal provisions related to ac-cepting vaccine donations.

“We are ready to ship those vac-cines expeditiously when we havea green light from the Governmentof India,” State DepartmentSpokesperson Ned Price told re-porters at his daily news conference.

However, the vaccines to Indiacould not be sent because theIndian government is yet to clearthe necessary legal hurdles forsuch an emergency import.

“Before we can ship those doses,however, each country must com-plete its own domestic set of op-erational, of regulatory, and legalprocesses that are specific to eachcountry. Now, India has deter-mined that it needs further timeto review legal provisions relatedto accepting vaccine donations,”Price said.

“Once India works through itslegal processes, our donations of vac-cines to India will proceed expedi-tiously. We would need to refer youto the Government of India on thestatus of its discussions with

COVAX, which, in this case, is help-ing to facilitate that delivery,” he said.

Responding to another ques-tion, Price said that the COVID-19cooperation between the two coun-tries is built on decades of suc-cessful partnership in health andbiomedical research.

“We are partnering to strengthenthe global response to COVID-19 onissues ranging from addressinginfectious disease outbreaks tostrengthening health systems to securing global supply chains,”he said.

“We recently welcomed an ini-tiative to collaborate through theInternational Center of Excellencein Research focused on infectiousdiseases, and in this case that in-cludes COVID-19 and other emerg-ing threats. We look forward to anoverarching MOU, a memorandumof understanding, to enhance healthcooperation beyond that,” he added.

‘Awaiting greenlight from India to sendvaccine assistance’

The BidenAdministration hasannounced to share 80million doses from itsdomestic stockpile withcountries around theworld, including India

9 Chinese nationals among13 dead in Pak bus blast

China urges Pakistan tostart a probe into thematter as they don’tbelieve Islamabad’s gasleak story

4 Iranians chargedin plot to abductjourno in New YorkASSOCIATED PRESS

New York, July 14: An Iranian in-telligence officer and three allegedmembers of an Iranian intelli-gence network have been chargedin Manhattan with plotting to kid-nap a prominent Iranian oppositionactivist and writer in exile andtake her back to Tehran, authori-ties said Tuesday.

An indictment in Manhattanfederal court alleges that the plotwas part of a wider plan to lurethree individuals in Canada and afifth person in the United Kingdomto Iran. Victims were also targetedin the United Arab Emirates, au-thorities said.

The identities of the alleged vic-tims were not released butBrooklyn-based Masih Alinejadconfirmed that authorities hadtold her she was among the tar-geted victims. “I knew that this isthe nature of the Islamic Republic,you know, kidnapping people, ar-resting people, torturing people,killing people. But I couldn’t be-lieve it that this is going to happento me in United States of America,”Alinejad told The Associated Press.

The indictment acknowledgesthat, naming an exiled Paris-basedjournalist later seized by Iran andexecuted. Also named was aCalifornia-based member of anIranian militant opposition groupin exile whose family says he wasabducted by Iran while staying inDubai in 2020. Prosecutors allegedthe Iranian intelligence officer hadan electronic device containing agraphic of Alinejad alongside thosetwo men, prosecutors said.

Alinejad, who worked for yearsas a journalist in Iran, long hasbeen targeted by its theocracy afterfleeing the country following itsdisputed 2009 presidential electionand crackdown.

Confidence vote todecide govt’s tenure PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Kathmandu, July 14: The ap-pointment of Sher Bahadur Deubaas Nepal’s Prime Minister for arecord fifth time after the SupremeCourt’s intervention does not seemto provide the much sought-afterpolitical stability in the countryas he will have to go for a floor testin Parliament within 30 days.

Even if the 75-year-old veteranpolitician and Nepali Congress(NC) president, who has only 61seats in the 275-member House ofRepresentatives, somehow winsthe confidence vote, fresh electionswill have to be conducted in 18months, The Kathmandu Post news-paper reported.

In its order to appoint Deuba asPrime Minister, the Supreme CourtMonday said that he should com-plete the process of getting thevote of confidence as per Article 76(6) of the Constitution”, the reportsaid. According to Article 76 (6), hewill have to go for a floor test inParliament within 30 days of ap-pointment, it said.

“The result of the vote of trust willdecide the fate of the Deuba govern-ment,” the newspaper quoted BipinAdhikari, former dean at KathmanduUniversity School of Law, as saying.

NEPAL POLITICAL CRISIS

P11

businessTHURSDAY | JULY 15 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

We are excited to launchthe ‘AWS Startup Ramp’ in Indiawhere there is incredibleopportunity for startups to solvepublic sector challenges throughtheir innovative solutionsSANDY CARTER | VP, PUBLIC SECTOR

(PARTNERS AND PROGRAMMES), AWS

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companiesreached an all-time high of Rs 2,33,06,440.17 croreWednesday, mainly driven by optimisticsentiments in the broader market. At close oftrade, the BSE Sensex jumped 134.32 points to52,904.05, registering two straight session of gains

M-CAP OF BSE-LISTED FIRMSTOUCHES RECORD HIGH

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The globalsemiconductorshortage and

subsequentcomponent supplyconstraints haveextended lead timefor some enterprise mobile PCmodels to as long as 120 days. Thishas led to prices increasing in the billof materials, which vendors havepassed on to end users

MIKAKO KITAGAWA | RESEARCH DIRECTOR,GARTNER

of theday uote

Smallbusinesses’optimism is

rising as theeconomy opens up,yet a record numberof employerscontinue to report that there are fewor no qualified applicants for openpositions

BILL DUNKELBERG | CHIEF ECONOMIST, NFIB

The way 2021has started, Iwould call it a

year of ransomware.We are only half waythrough this year andalready $1tn hasbeen paid in ransom. Financialsector will have to be absolutely onits toes to ensure that all the effortsrequired for cyber resilience are putinto place

RAJESH PANT | NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY

COORDINATOR

Infy Q1 profitrises 22.7%New Delhi: IT services majorInfosys Wednesday posted a22.7 per cent rise in net profitto Rs 5,195 crore for the April-June quarter of 2021-22, andraised its revenue growthoutlook for the full fiscal. TheBangalore-based company’snet profit (after minorityinterest) was at Rs 4,233 crorein April-June 2020. Its revenuefrom operations grew 17.8 percent to Rs 27,896 crore in thefirst quarter of FY22 from Rs23,665 crore in the year-agoperiod, Infosys said.

RBI issuesdraft circularMumbai: The Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) Wednesday cameout with draft guidelinesallowing primary urbancooperative banks (UCBs) toaugment capital throughissuance of equity shares,preference shares and debtinstruments. The UCBs, it said,could raise share capital byissue of equity to personswithin their area of operationenrolled as members and also through additional equity shares to the existing members.

TCS to expandops in ArizonaNew Delhi: Tata ConsultancyServices (TCS) Wednesdayannounced plans to expandits operations in Arizona inthe US and invest more thanUSD 300 million (about Rs2,236 crore) by 2026. TheMumbai-based company willalso hire more than 220employees by 2023, it said.“TCS will also continue toexpand the reach of its STEM(Science, Technology,Engineering andMathematics) and ComputerScience educationprogrammes in Arizona by increasing teacher training and online content for students over the next two years," it added.

IT spending togrow 8% in 2021Mumbai: The informationtechnology (IT) spending inIndia is expected to reach$92.7 billion in 2021, growing 8 per cent from last year, asmany companies still sufferrevenue declines and ITspending is acceleratingahead of revenueexpectations amid thepandemic, a new Gartnerreport showed Wednesday.

SHORT TAKES

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, July 14: UniformJunction, India’s first one stop in-tegrated supply chain platform forK-12 schools, a part of the ArvindMafatlal group, Wednesday an-nounced its partnership withIsrael’s x10ed, a leading and cuttingedge learning analytics solutionprovider. At a virtual press meetheld Wednesday, the company an-nounced an investment of USD 1million in inter national partnerships.

The association will enableUniform Junction bring x10ed’sbest in class data science method-ologies empowering schools mapthe content to a set of abstractlearning outcomes such as cogni-tive skills, social skills, creativityand more. Priyavrata Mafatlal, Co-

Founder & Director, UniformJunction and MD & CEO, MafatlalIndustries said, “The demand forK 12 education technology is at aninflection point. At a time wheneducational institutions are in-vesting in deploying technologyand digitisation and are seekingnewer ways to engage young andbright minds, the demand for fu-turistic and global learning solutionsis on the rise.” Gil Almog, Founder& CEO, x10ed said, “Israel has hun-dreds of unique EdTech solutionsthat are a perfect fit for adoption tothe Indian education market.

This partnership will be the firststep in long-term knowledge-shar-ing cooperation aimed at creatingimpact, bring the best of educa-tion to the children, preparingthem for a dynamic and techno-logical future.”

REUTERS

Mumbai, July 14: Small loan spe-cialists in India that typically caterto people without bank accounts arefacing a jump in pandemic-relateddefaults that could forcesome of them out of busi-ness, industry expertswarn.

Loans overdueby 30 days are ex-pected to reach 14-16% of all so-calledmicrofinance loansin the immediate af-termath of the secondCovid-19 wave sweepingIndia, said KrishnanSitaraman, senior director at creditrating agency CRISIL.

That's higher than 6-7% inMarch, before the second wavetook hold, and also above the 11.7%reached in March 2017 after India'sdemonetisation drive - an attemptto boost digital transactions and

crack down on undeclared moneythat also hit microfinance lenders hard.

“Older loans that were takenin 2019 or early 2020 are at a higher

risk of defaults and they formabout 60-65% of the

l oan book forlenders,” said

HarshShrivastava,former headof theMicrofinance

InstitutionsNetwork, an as-

sociation repre-senting the sec-

tor in India. Rahul Johri, chair of Vector

Finance, a microfinance firm thatprovides loans to small enter-prises, said many support meas-ures brought in by the govern-ment had only helped largerinstitutions, while smaller play-ers had struggled.

AGENCIES

New Delhi, July 14: The whole-sale price-based inflation easedmarginally to 12.07 per cent inJune as crude oil and food items wit-nessed some softening in prices.However, WPI inflation remainedin double-digit for the third con-secutive month in June, mainlydue to a low base of last year. WPIinflation was at (-) 1.81 per cent, inJune 2020. In May 2021, the infla-tion was at a record high of 12.94per cent.

Experts said the continuing dou-ble-digit WPI inflation and its po-tential future spillovers into the re-tail inflation could inject uneasinessinto the tone of monetary policyand noted that WPI is expected toremain at an elevated level tillOctober 2021.

Snapping the five straightmonths of uptick, wholesale priceindex (WPI)-based inflation in Junesoftened as prices of food articlesand crude oil eased, even thoughmanufactured products hardened.

"The annual rate of inflation is12.07 per cent for the month ofJune, 2021 (over June, 2020) as com-pared to (–) 1.81 per cent in June2020.

"The high rate of inflation inJune 2021, is primarily due to lowbase effect and rise in prices ofmineral oils viz petrol, diesel (HSD),naphtha, ATF, furnace oil etc, andmanufactured products like basic

metal, food products, chemicalproducts etc, as compared the cor-responding month of the previ-ous year," the Commerce andIndustry Ministry said.

Inflation in fuel and power bas-ket eased to 32.83 per cent duringJune, against 37.61 per cent in May.Inflation in food articles too easedto 3.09 per cent in June, from 4.31per cent May, even as onion pricesspiked.

In manufactured products, in-flation stood at 10.88 per cent inJune, as against 10.83 per cent inthe previous month.

The Reserve Bank of India in itsmonetary policy last month keptinterest rates unchanged at recordlows and committed to maintainan accommodative policy stance tosupport growth.

Retail inflation remained abovethe RBI's comfort level of 6 percent for two straight months at6.26 per cent in June, data releasedearlier this week showed.

ICRA Chief Economist AditiNayar said the headline WPI in-flation is expected to continue tosoften, while remaining in double-digits in the September quarter.

"With the CPI inflation likelyto have peaked, we expect policynormalisation to commence in Q4FY2022, after the growth revival so-lidifies," Nayar said.

Industry chamber PHDCCIPresident Sanjay Aggarwal said sig-nificantly high fuel and power in-flation is escalating the input costsof the industry and its competi-tiveness in the domestic and in-ternational markets.

AGENCIES

New Delhi, July 14: You must befeeling the pain of rising fuel pricesafter it hit the century mark acrossthe country last month. But, the risehas not been sudden and the painhas been consistent throughoutthe last financial year and thisyear too, taking the pump prices ofpetrol and diesel to unprecedentedlevels not seen before, even dur-ing the big surge in global oil dur-ing 2010-14 period when crudeprices remained largely above $100a barrel.

A close look at the official dataprovided by Petroleum Planningand Analyses Cell reveals thatpetrol prices (in the national cap-ital) rose by a whopping Rs 20.97 perlitre between April 1, 2020 and

March 31, 2021 in FY21, the high-est ever levels to be recorded so far.

Petrol was priced at Rs 69.59 a litreat the beginning of FY21 on April1 last year and it was priced at Rs90.56 a litre on March 31 year. This

is a growth of 30.13 per cent in FY21.

The story of price hike doesn't endin the last fiscal. It has continuedwell into FY22, albeit at a muchsharper pace. In the three and halfmonths of current fiscal, petrol

prices have already risen by Rs10.63 paise a litre in Delhi from a levelof Rs 90.56 a litre on April 1 to Rs101.19 on July 14 in Delhi. This isalready a growth of 11.73 per cent.

In comparison to petrol, dieselprice rise has been less sharper.One reason for this has been VATcuts effected by several state gov-ernments to keep the price rise of

this transport fuel under somemanageable levels. Also, OMCshave gone soft on diesel price riselately, reducing the quantum ofhike compared to petrol .

PANDEMIC PAIN

Fuel prices rose over `20/litre in FY21, by `10 this year

New Delhi:As fuel prices climbedto a record high, India's newPetroleum Minister Hardeep SinghPuri has started dialling oil-pro-ducing nations to impress uponthem for a need to make prices af-fordable for consumers. Puri, wholast week called Energy Ministerof Qatar, Wednesday, dialled hiscounterpart in the UAE, SultanAhmed Al Jaber.

"Conveyed my desire to workclosely with UAE and other

friendly countries to bring a senseof calm, predictability and realismamong other suppliers in the en-ergy market to make it more af-fordable for consumers," Puritweeted.

The rebound in internationaloil prices from lows hit in Mayon the back of demand recoveryhas sent petrol and diesel ratesto a record high in India.

Petrol has crossed the Rs-100-a-litre mark in more than one and

a half dozen states and union ter-ritories, while diesel is being soldat over Rs 100 a litre in Rajasthanand Odisha.

"Had a warm courtesy call withHE Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber,UAE Minister of Industry andAdvanced Technology and MD &Group CEO of @AdnocGroup.Discussed ways and means to in-vigorate the vibrant bilateralstrategic energy partnership be-tween India and UAE," Puri said.

JUNE WPI INFLATION EASES ON LOWER FOOD PRICES

Snapping the five straight months of uptick, WPI-based inflation in June softened asprices of food articles and crude oil eased, even though manufactured products hardened

India’s microfinancesector hit as loandefaults surge

Olderloans that were

taken in 2019 or early2020 are at a higher risk of

defaults and they form about60-65% of the loan book

for lendersHARSH SHRIVASTAVA I FORMER

HEAD, MICROFINANCEINSTITUTIONS NETWORK

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Mumbai, July 14: The ReserveBank of India (RBI) Wednesdaybarred Mastercard Asia Pacificfrom onboarding new credit, debitand prepaid card customers witheffect from July 22 as it failed to com-ply with data storage norms. Thesupervisory action will not impactexisting customers of Mastercard,the RBI said.

Taking action ag ainstMastercard, RBI said, “notwith-standing lapse of considerabletime and adequate opportunitiesbeing given, the entity has beenfound to be non-compliant withthe directions on Storage ofPayment System Data”.

According to RBI, the directionswill not impact existing customersof Mastercard. "Mastercard shalladvise all card issuing banks andnon-banks to conform to these directions".

In terms of its circular on Storageof Payment System Data on April6, 2018, all system providers weredirected to ensure that within aperiod of six months the entiredata relating to payment systemsis stored only in India, as per thecentral bank. Mastercards becomesthe third major Payment SystemOperator on which restrictionshave been imposed for non-com-pliance with RBI’s direction onStorage of Payment System Data.

RBI imposes curbson Mastercard over data storage

Uniform Junctionto invest USD 1mn Bhubaneswar/ Bhawanipatna:

As a part of its continuousefforts to provide betterservices to consumers,TPWODL decided to reach outto consumers in a phasedmanner, instead theconsumers reaching out to itsoffices for their requirementslike new connection

applications and upgradation of load. As a first step in thisdirection, the company has decided to start the pilot servicecamp at Kesinga today. It will start by 11 a.m. and continue tillevening 5 p.m. at the Sub-Division Office of TPWODL. Duringthis period the consumers in Kesinga can reach out to thecompany officials and submit their application for newconnections, load change and ownership change. In order toprovide the services, a team from Burla along with the circleoffice team from Bhawanipatna is reaching Kesinga today.

BIZ BUZZ

PURI DIALS UAE FOR AFFORDABLE OIL PRICES

Samsung launches Galaxy F22 New Delhi: Samsung, India’smost trusted smartphonebrand, announced the launchof Galaxy F22 on Flipkart.Galaxy F22 comes withsegment-leading 6.4 inch HD+sAMOLED display with 90Hzrefresh rate. At its price point,Galaxy F22 will be the mostaffordable sAMOLED 90Hzdisplay available on Flipkart.Galaxy F22 also sports massive6000mAh battery and True 48MP Quad camera. Galaxy F22 is launching in two memoryvariants 4GB+64GB and 6GB+128GB priced at Rs 12499 andRs 14,499 respectively. Galaxy F22 will be available in twoattractive colours – Denim Blue and Denim Black. As anintroductory offer, consumers can avail Rs 1000 off onprepaid transactions on Flipkart. It supports Android 11 andOne UI 3.1. The smartphone also supports Samsung Pay Mini.

Arundhati Motobikesrolls out third Heroshowroom in CityBhubaneswar: In association withleading two-wheeler firm Hero MotoCorp, Arundhati Motobikes inauguratedits third Hero dealership at Lewis Roadnear Pantha Niwas, in city. StateTransport Minister Padmanabha Beheraand MSME Minister Dibya ShankarMishra were present at the inauguralceremony. Hero Moto Corp nationalsales head Ashutosh Varma and EastZone head Swami Nathan were alsopresent. Arundhati MotobikesManaging Partner Brahmananda Mehersaid that they have been associatedwith the company since 15 years andproviding the best possible service. Theshowroom is spread across 10,000 sq ftequipped with modern tools andautomotive workshops. With thisshowroom, Arundhati Motobikes aimsto provide best buying experienceapart from providing reliable service.Moreover, the services like onlinebuying, servicing booking, home pickupand delivery for senior citizens will bemade available.

TPWODL to address consumer issues

AGENCIES

New Delhi, July 14: The Centreproposes to develop the Gujarat-based GIFT International FinancialServices Centres (IFSC) as a'Longevity Finance Hub' to cater tothe investment and wealth man-agement needs of the 'silver gen-eration' comprising individualsaged 60 years and older.

As part of this initiative, theInternational Financial ServicesCentres Authority (IFSCA) has con-stituted an Expert Committee to rec-ommend approach towards devel-opment of a Longevity Finance Huband provide a road map for this end.

India plans to createLongevity Finance Hub

Printed and published by Tathagata Satpathy on behalf of Navajat Printers and Media Pvt. Ltd. and printed at Navajat Printers, B-15 Industrial Estate, Rasulgarh, Bhubaneswar -751010, Odisha;Phone:7894447142(Marketing). Editor: Tathagata Satpathy, RNI No. ORIENG/2011/37159

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sports P12THURSDAY | JULY 15 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Colombo, July 14: Handed cap-taincy for the Sri Lanka tour, ShikharDhawan’s idea of leadership is allabout keeping the flock togetherand in a good state of mind.

The left-handed opener was giventhe reins of the team after ViratKohli and other key players were

sent to England for the WTC Finalagainst New Zealand and the five-Test series against the hosts. SriLanka’s limited overs tour, com-prising of three ODIs and as manyT20s, will begin July 18 in Colombo.

“It is a big achievement for methat I have become the captain of theIndian side. As a leader, my idea isto keep everyone together and happy

– that is the most important thing,”Dhawan said on Star Sports show‘Follow the Blues’. “We have got alovely bunch of boys, great sup-port staff, and we have worked ear-lier as well.”

Dhawan says he shares a goodchemistry with legendary RahulDravid, who is the head coach forthe series. “I have a good relation

with Rahul Bhai. When I startedplaying Ranji Trophy, I playedagainst him, and I have known himsince then. When I went to playIndia A match, I was the captain,and he was the coach, so there wasinteraction.

“When he became the director ofNCA, we used to go there for around20 days, so we had a lot of interac-

tion, and now we have good chem-istry. And now that we have thechance to play six matches together,so it will be great fun, and I thinkwe all sync nicely,” he said.

The selectors have picked manyuncapped players, including thelikes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and ChetanSakariya, and Dhawan wants theyoungsters to enjoy their journey.

“Happy to get the youngsters inthe team and see their dreams cometrue. It’s a big thing that theseyoungsters have come from their re-spective home towns with certaindreams, and their dreams are get-ting fulfilled.

“And now, they should enjoy thejourney which landed them in teamIndia, and they should know thevalue of their strength and how toimprove it,” he said.

Dhawan said that both the sen-iors and youngsters from the squadwill learn from each other. “Thereare seniors in the team, so theyoungsters will learn from them,and we will get to learn from theyoungsters. Whenever I meet theyoungsters they often have newways of thinking, and I try to learnthings which will help us,” Dhawansigned off.

Dhawan to follow own ideology Number of oath-takers increased TOKYO: The numberof oath-takers at theOlympics openingceremony has beendoubled from threeto six for the Tokyo

Games to ensure gender parity, the IOCsaid while announcing that the oathhas also been reworked slightly toincorporate ‘inclusion and equality’ init. The Olympic oath is taken by anathlete from the host county, on behalfof all the competitors and theceremony also includes one coach anda judge. This time, Japan will pick two –one male and one female – from eachgroup for the event, which has been anintegral part of the Games since 1920.“The gender balance of the oath-takersis just one of a large number ofdecisions and commitments from theIOC and the Organising Committee topromote women in sport at all levels and in all structures, as stated inthe Olympic Charter,” the IOC said. Two words – inclusion and equality –have been added to the opening line of the Oath.

OLYMPICS DIARY

With the Olympics approaching, let’s take a look atinteresting facts and trivia about the Games from its

previous editions. Part of a series that startsWednesday, here are some highlights and fun factsfrom the first two editions of the modern Olympics

held in 1896 and 1900

GREECE OLYMPICS, 1896A long-lost tradition of ancient Greece, theOlympic Games stood revived in Athens 1,500years after being banned by Roman EmperorTheodosius I

Like their ancient counterpart, the 1896 AthensGames were an all-male affair. It was the onlytime in the history of modern Olympics thatthere were no women competitors

There were 241 athletes from 14 countries whocompeted in the Games, held from April 6 to 15

The athletes competed in 43 events covering athletics (track and field),cycling, swimming, gymnastics, weightlifting, wrestling, fencing,shooting, and tennis

Medals were awarded to the winners for the first time. However, nonewere gold. Athletes finishing first received a silver medal, an olivebranch and a diploma while those in second place were given abronze/copper medal, a branch of laurel and a diploma

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) retroactively assignedmedals to all third-placed athletes

American track and field athlete James Connolly won the triple jump tobecome the first Olympic champion in more than 1,500 years April 6, 1896

The Games produced the first-ever organised marathon but nearly halfthe competitors were forced to quit from exhaustion. Greece’s SpyridonLouis won the race.

Swimming events were held in the Bay of Zea. Competitors were ferriedout to a wooden raft and from there, they raced towards the shore witha string of floating, hollowed-out pumpkins as lane markers

Germany’s Carl Schuhmann emerged as the most successful athlete ofthe first Olympic Games of the modern era, finishing top in four eventsin gymnastics and wrestling. He also competed in the weightlifting event

Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras became the youngest documentedOlympian. At 10 years and 218 days old, Loundras competed in the teamparallel bars event. His team finished third

No weight classes existed for the wrestling competition, held in thePanathenaic Stadium. This meant that there was only one winneramong competitors of all sizes. The rules used were similar to modernGreco-Roman wrestling, although there was no time limit

PARIS OLYMPICS, 1900The Games were held in Paris as part of theWorld’s Fair. The organisers spread thecompetitions over five months

Unlike the 1896 Athens Games, no opening orclosing ceremonies were held

It was the first time that women featured inthe Games

American-born Helene de Pourtales became thefirst female Olympic champion as part of theSwiss winning team in the 1-2 ton sailing event

UK’s Charlotte Cooper became the first female to win an individualOlympic event – the women’s singles tennis competition.

The track-and-field events were held on a grass field that was unevenand often wet. Broken telephone poles were used to make hurdles, andhammer throwers occasionally found their efforts stuck in a tree

Weightlifting and wrestling were dropped and 13 new sports were added

It was the only time cricket featured in the Olympics. Only twocountries competed, Great Britain and hosts France

Athletes from different nations competed on the same team in tennis,football, polo, rowing and tug of war

Live pigeons were used as targets in the shooting events. It was the firstand only time in Olympic history when animals were killed on purpose.Birds were released one at a time from ‘traps’ in front of the shooters.Winners were determined by whoever shot the most birds out of the sky

Franco-Haitian rugby player Constantin Henriquez became the first blackathlete to win gold when France beat Great Britain and Germany to victory.He is also believed to be the first black competitor at the Olympics

THE NEW OATHDepending on the group that isspeaking, the new oath reads: “Inthe name of the athletes”, “In thename of all judges” or “In thename of all the coaches and offi-cials”. “We promise to take part inthese Olympic Games, respectingand abiding by the rules and inthe spirit of fair play, inclusionand equality. Together we standin solidarity and commit our-selves to sport without doping,without cheating, without anyform of discrimination. We do thisfor the honour of our teams, inrespect for the FundamentalPrinciples of Olympism, and tomake the world a better placethrough sport.”

Official song on Indian contingent launchedNEW DELHI: Sports Minister AnuragThakur Wednesday launched the‘Cheer4India’ song of the country’sOlympic contingent and urged thepublic to wholeheartedly rally behindits athletes during the Tokyo Games.Grammy Award winner composure ARRahman and young singer Ananya Birlacollaborated to present the officialsong of the Indian contingent for theTokyo Olympics, titled Cheer4India:Hindustani Way.

Emperor Naruhito likely to open GamesTOKYO: Japan’s Emperor Naruhito is likely to attend the openingceremony of the Tokyo Olympics July 23 and declare the Games open,according to a report. The Olympics host country is making arrangementsfor the emperor’s attendance at the opening ceremony, Kyodo newsagency reported, quoting an unnamed official privy to the development.The report said Naruhito “is prepared to also meet with visiting foreigndignitaries at the Imperial Palace.” The 61-year-old emperor is thehonorary patron of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.

BLAST FROM PAST

IT IS A BIGACHIEVEMENTFOR ME THAT I

HAVE BECOME THECAPTAIN OF THE INDIANSIDE. AS A LEADER, MYIDEA IS TO KEEPEVERYONE TOGETHERAND HAPPY – THAT IS THEMOST IMPORTANT THING

SHIKHAR DHAWAN

TOKYO OLYMPICS: VARUN, SIMRANJEET LATE INCLUSIONS INMEN’S SIDE; NAMITA, REENA IN WOMEN’S TEAM

4 added to hockey squads

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, July 14: DefenderVarun Kumar and mid-fielderSimranjeet Singh are set to maketheir Olympic debuts after theywere added to India’s men’s hockeysquad following the IOC’s decisionto allow “alternate athletes” inteam events because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hockey India, which had origi-nally named 16-member men’s andwomen’s squads for the upcomingGames, have now added two play-ers each in both the teams. WhileVarun and Simranjeet were lateinclusions in the men’s team, de-fender Reena Khokhar and expe-rienced mid-fielder Namita Toppowere added to the women’s side.

“Varun and Simranjeet havebeen added to the 16-member side.Now it is an 18-member side.Though they are additional, bothof them are up for selection inevery match as per IOC’s specialguidelines for Tokyo 2020,” a sourcetold this agency.

Traditionally, hockey teams inOlympics comprise 16 players eachbut the International OlympicCommittee (IOC) has made an ex-ception this time around, allow-ing every competing nation to havetwo extra players in their squadsfor the COVID-hit Summer Games.

As per the IOC, the sports inwhich “alternate athletes” will be

able to replace permanent playersin each match are hockey, football,handball, rugby and water polo.

In previous Olympics, stand-byplayers used to travel with hockeyteams but could only take part inthe Games in case a player in the16-member squad suffers an in-jury or is out of the Games per-manently.

Despite the additions, only 16players will be able to play in amatch and the teams will have tosubmit their list a day before their

games.While Varun, Simranjeet and

Reena will be competing in theirmaiden Olympics, Namita waspart of the women’s hockey teamthat qualified for the 2016 RioOlympics after a hiatus of 36 years.

Drag-flicker Varun, a member ofIndia’s 2016 Junior World Cup-win-ning side, will give eight-time goldmedallist India another penaltycorner option alongside the likesof Harmanpreet Singh, RupinderPal Singh and Amit Rohidas.

Namita Toppo (R) will join her statemate Deep Grace Ekka as one of the twolate inclusions in the women’s squad for Tokyo Games

ASSOCIATED PRESS

London, July 14: Hundreds of fanswithout tickets broke through se-curity barriers to get into WembleyStadium in a bid to watch Sunday’sEuropean Championship finalagainst Italy. UEFA Tuesday askedan investigator to study violenceby England supporters at the game.

The English Football Associationhas been separately charged withmultiple offences by fans before andduring their team’s loss to Italy ina penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw.

UEFA’s charges against England’sFA also relate to booing Italy’s na-tional anthem, a fan who stoppedplay by running on the pitch, throw-ing objects, and lighting fireworks.

The official attendance wasaround 67,000 of the stadium’s 90,000capacity, with many seats intendedto be left empty to distance fans.

But there was extremely highdemand for tickets for England’s firstmajor tournament final in 55 years.

UEFA inspectsfan stampedeat Wembley

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Cuttack, July 14: Former Testopener and domestic great WasimJaffer Wednesday has been namedchief coach of the Odisha senior sidefor the upcoming domestic season.

“He (Jaffer) will be the headcoach. He has been given a two-year contract,” Subrata Behera,Odisha Cricket Association CEOtold this agency.

The decision was taken follow-ing a meeting of OCA’s CricketAdvisory Committee as Jafferwould replace former state cap-tain Rashmi Ranjan Parida, whowas at the helm for two seasons.

“Besides development of cricketacross all age-groups, he (Jaffer) willalso be a part of coaches develop-ment programme across the state,”OCA secretary Sanjay Behera saidin a statement.

This will be Jaffer’s second stint

as the head coach of any stateteam. Following his retirement inMarch 2020, Jaffer, who is the lead-ing run-getter in Ranji Trophy, hadcoached Uttarakhand but he laterresigned following a fall-out withthe Association.

Jaffer, who has played 31 Testsand 2 ODIs, is also the batting coachof Kings XI Punjab, which plays inthe cash-rich IPL.

The Mumbai stalwart, who laterplayed for Vidarbha at the fag endof his illustrious career, winningback-to-back Ranji Trophy andIrani Cup.

Odisha had last reached quar-ters in the 2019-20 season when theylost to Bengal and batting has beenthe team’s weakness for a long-time.

The camp for the senior teamis slated to begin from July 25, sub-ject to the state government’s ap-proval keeping mind of the COVID-19 guidelines.

Jaffer named as new Odisha chief coach

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Dubai , July 14: The ICCWednesday officially confirmedthat teams will be awarded stan-dardised 12 points for a win, fourfor a draw and six for a tie duringthe second World TestChampionship cycle which kicksoff with the five-match series be-tween India and England in August.

The ICC further said that per-centage of points won will be usedto determine standings in the 2021-23 cycle. Earlier, each Test series car-ried a value of 120 points which ledto certain inequality in the table asa team winning a Test in a two-match series got 60 points com-pared to five-game series where aTest win is valued at 24 points.

ICC Acting Chief Executive GeoffAllardice said the changes weremade to simplify the points sys-tem while taking learning fromthe disruption last year.

The nine Test teams will play atotal of six series – three homeand as many away – just like the pre-vious edition.

WTC gets newpoints system

REUTERS

Saint-Lary Soulan (France), July14: Tadej Pogacar controlled his ri-vals and extended his overall leadin the Tour de France as the finalpodium took shape in a gruellingmountain 17th stage won by thedefending champion Wednesday.

The Slovenian outsprinted Dane

Jonas Vingegaard and Ecuador’sRichard Carapaz at the top of thelung-busting Col du Portet (16kmat 8.7 per cent) for his first stage winin this year’s Tour after being thefirst attacker in the final climb.

He now leads Vingegaard by fiveminutes, 39 seconds with Carapazin third place, a further four secondsback while Colombian Rigobrto

Uran slipped down to fourth, 7:17off the pace, after cracking in themist of the Col du Portet.

Pogacar burst away 8.4km fromthe top of the Pyreneean pass andonly Vingegaard, Carapaz andUran could follow at first.

The 178.4 km stage from Muretto the summit finish at the Col duPortet came down to a battle onthe final climb, where the GC rid-ers were closing in on the last sur-vivors of the day’s break as theymade their way up the early slopes.

Pogacar tried and tried againto get clear inside the last 2 km, buthe was unable to open a gap. ThenCarapaz struck. The move initiallydropped Vingegaard, but Pogacarheld on, and Vingegaard ultimatelyclawed his way back up inside thelast few hundred meters.

Finally, with 200 meters to go,Pogacar put in another big accel-eration and pulled away from hisrivals, taking his fifth career Tourstage victory at the line. Vingegaardtook runner-up honors after hisimpressive recovery, with Carapazfinishing third on the day.

Pogacar triumphs Stage 17