...2020/10/18  · were detected from the State pool. With 41,353 Covid tests done during the...

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F or the first time in the last one-and-half months, the number of active coronavirus cases in India has dropped below the 8-lakh mark. However, reviewing the pan- demic situation in the country on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cautioned against any complacency even as experts have warned that the onset of winters and the forth- coming festivals could lead to a spurt in the cases as has hap- pened in Kerala after Onam. With 70,816 patients recovering in the last 24 hours, India’s tally of active cases dropped to 7.95 lakh. Though India continues to report the highest number of new cases in the world, the daily surge has come down from over 90,000 fresh daily cases in mid- September to about 70,000 since the past week. Decline in cases in Maharashtra has contributed in the overall decrease, even as the sharp surge in daily Covid-19 cases in Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal has worried the Central Government, which has rushed high-level teams of experts to help control the pandemic there. Chairing the meeting to review the Covid-19 pandem- ic situation and the prepared- ness of vaccine delivery, distri- bution, and administration, the Prime Minister noted a steady decline in the daily cases and the growth rate but he insisted on continued social distancing and Covid-appro- priate behaviour such as wear- ing the mask, regularly wash- ing hands and sanitation, espe- cially in the wake of the upcoming festival season. “The Prime Minister directed that we should make use of experience of successful conduct of elections and dis- aster management in the coun- try. In a similar manner, vac- cine delivery and administra- tion systems should be put in place. This should involve the participation of States/UTs/dis- trict-level functionaries, civil society organisations, volun- teers, citizens, and experts from all necessary domains. The entire process should have a strong IT backbone and the system should be designed in such a manner so as to have a lasting value to our healthcare system,” a PMO statement said. The meeting was attended by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Principal Secretary to PM, Member (Health) NITI Aayog, Principal Scientific Adviser, senior sci- entists, officers of PMO, and officials from various other departments. The PMO said two pan- India studies on the Genome of SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19 virus) in India conducted by ICMR and Department of BioTechnology (DBT) suggest that the virus is genetically sta- ble and there is no major muta- tion in the virus. The PMO said three vac- cines are in advanced stages of development in India, out of which two are in Phase II and one is in Phase-III and Indian scientists and research teams are collaborating and strength- ening the research capacities in neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal and Sri Lanka. There are further requests from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Qatar and Bhutan for clinical trials in their countries. To help the global com- munity, the PM directed the health authorities that India should not limit its efforts to its immediate neighbourhood but also reach out to the entire world in providing vac- cines, medicines and IT plat- forms for vaccine delivery system. I ndia has been ranked 94th among 107 nations world- wide in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020, faring poor- er than all its immediate neigh- bours and being put in the “serious” hunger category. Neighbouring Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan too are in the “serious” category but ranked higher than India in the latest GHI. While Bangladesh ranked 75, Myanmar and Pakistan are at the 78th and 88th position. Nepal at 73rd and Sri Lanka at 64th position are in “moderate” hunger cat- egory. In the region of south, east and south-eastern Asia, the only countries which fare worse than India are Timor- Leste, Afghanistan and North Korea. Last year, India’s rank was 102nd among 117 countries. China, Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, fig- ure among the top 20 with GHI scores of less than five. The Global Hunger Index is a peer- reviewed annual report, joint- ly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels. A suspect shot dead by police after the gruesome behead- ing of a history teacher — who discussed caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad with his class, leading to death threats — in an attack near Paris was an 18-year-old Moscow-born Chechen refugee, officials said on Saturday. France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said author- ities investigating the killing of Samuel Paty in Conflans- Sainte-Honorine on Friday also arrested nine suspects, includ- ing the teen’s grandfather, par- ents and 17-year-old brother. Paty had discussed carica- tures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad with his class, leading to threats and a com- plaint from a parent, police officials said. Islam prohibits images of the prophet. The officials could not be named because they were not authorised to discuss ongoing investigations. The French anti-terror- ism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said an investigation for murder with a suspected ter- rorist motive had been opened. Ricard told reporters that the suspect, who had been granted a 10-year residency in France as a refugee in March and was not known to intelli- gence services, had been armed with a knife and an airsoft gun, which fires plastic pellets. D r Reddy’s Laboratories on Saturday said it along with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has received approval from the Drug Control General of India (DCGI) to conduct phase 2/3 human clinical tri- als for Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V in India. This will be a multi-cen- tre and randomised controlled study, which will include safe- ty and immunogenicity check, the Hyderabad-based drug major said in a statement. “This is a significant development that allows us to commence the clinical trial in India and we are committed to bringing in a safe and efficacious vaccine to combat the pandemic,” Dr Reddy’s Co-chairman and Managing Director GV Prasad said. RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said the entity was pleased to collaborate with the Indian regulators. C hief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday visit- ed Puri to review the progress of the heritage project and beautification work under ABADHA scheme. After paying obeisance to the deities near the Singhdwar (Lions Gate), he visited around the Meghnad Pacheri (outer wall of the Jagannath Temple) and reviewed the progress of the works. He reviewed in details all aspects of the Shree Jagannath Heritage Corridor scheme. On the south east side from the erstwhile Emar Mutt site, he reviewed the arrangements that are being planned for a queue management system. Turn to Page 4 BHUBANESWAR:In view of the bye-elections to the Tirtol and Baleswar Sadar Assembly constituencies, the State Government on Saturday stat- ed that political meetings, other functions and gatherings in connection with the bye-polls would be allowed in these con- stituencies. Notably, the Government prohibited social, political, sports, entertainment, acade- mic, cultural, religious and other large congregations till October 31, 2020 to prevent the spread of Covid-19. In the fresh guidelines on Saturday, the Special Relief Commissioner’s Office said political meetings and gather- ings would be allowed only within the jurisdictions of the two constituencies and this order would come into force with immediate effect. Turn to Page 4 BHUBANESWAR: The daily Covid-19 cases continued downward trend in Bhubaneswar with 216 new infections registered on Saturday. With this, the city’s positive tally reached 26,995, out of which 3011 were active cases. Of the new cases, 161 were local contacts and 55 quarantine cases, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. The local contacts included 11 each from Chandrasekharpur and Nayapalli, 10 each from Unit- 9 and Patia, seven from Laxmisagar, six each from Pokhariput and Bomikhal, five each from Old Town and Jharpada and four each from VSS Nagar and Unit-6. Turn to Page 4 T he daily Covid-19 cases continued to show a declining trend in the State with 2,196 new ones reported from 29 districts and the State pool on Saturday. With this, the total caseload reached 2,66,345. Of the new cases, 1,274 were detected from quarantine and 922 were local contacts. Khordha again recorded the highest single-day 259 cases followed by Cuttack 175, Sundargarh 140, Mayurbhanj 119, Jajpur 113, Nuapada 108, Angul 107, Baleswar 104, Kalahandi 94, Jagatsinghpur 86, Kendrapada 82, Bargarh 80, Puri 77, Balangir 71, Jharsuguda 71, Subarnapur 70, Keonjhar 67, Nabarangpur 50, Malkangiri 38, Sambalpur 37, Kandhamal 34, Dhenkanal 33, Boudh 32, Koraput 29, Nayagarh 20, Bhadrak 16, Rayagada 14, Ganjam 13 and Gajapati seven. Besides, 50 positive cases were detected from the State pool. With 41,353 Covid tests done during the period, the cumulative tests rose to 40,01,065. Meanwhile, 17 more patients succumbed to the dis- ease on the day, taking the total toll to 1,121. While five died in Khordha district, two suc- cumbed in Cuttack. One casu- alty each was reported from Angul, Baleswar, Jagatsinghpur, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh, Puri, Sundargarh and Sambalpur districts. Turn to Page 4

Transcript of ...2020/10/18  · were detected from the State pool. With 41,353 Covid tests done during the...

Page 1: ...2020/10/18  · were detected from the State pool. With 41,353 Covid tests done during the period, the cumulative tests rose to 40,01,065. Meanwhile, 17 more patients succumbed

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For the first time in the lastone-and-half months, the

number of active coronaviruscases in India has droppedbelow the 8-lakh mark.However, reviewing the pan-demic situation in the countryon Saturday, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi cautionedagainst any complacency evenas experts have warned that theonset of winters and the forth-coming festivals could lead toa spurt in the cases as has hap-pened in Kerala after Onam.

With 70,816 patientsrecovering in the last 24 hours,India’s tally of active casesdropped to 7.95 lakh. ThoughIndia continues to report thehighest number of new cases inthe world, the daily surge hascome down from over 90,000fresh daily cases in mid-September to about 70,000since the past week.

Decline in cases inMaharashtra has contributed inthe overall decrease, even as thesharp surge in daily Covid-19cases in Kerala, Karnataka,Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh andWest Bengal has worried theCentral Government, whichhas rushed high-level teams ofexperts to help control thepandemic there.

Chairing the meeting toreview the Covid-19 pandem-ic situation and the prepared-ness of vaccine delivery, distri-bution, and administration,the Prime Minister noted a

steady decline in the dailycases and the growth rate buthe insisted on continued socialdistancing and Covid-appro-priate behaviour such as wear-ing the mask, regularly wash-ing hands and sanitation, espe-cially in the wake of theupcoming festival season.

“The Prime Ministerdirected that we should makeuse of experience of successfulconduct of elections and dis-aster management in the coun-try. In a similar manner, vac-cine delivery and administra-tion systems should be put inplace. This should involve theparticipation of States/UTs/dis-trict-level functionaries, civilsociety organisations, volun-teers, citizens, and experts from

all necessary domains. Theentire process should have astrong IT backbone and thesystem should be designed insuch a manner so as to have alasting value to our healthcaresystem,” a PMO statement said.

The meeting was attendedby Union Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan, PrincipalSecretary to PM, Member(Health) NITI Aayog, PrincipalScientific Adviser, senior sci-entists, officers of PMO, andofficials from various otherdepartments.

The PMO said two pan-India studies on the Genome ofSARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19 virus)in India conducted by ICMRand Department ofBioTechnology (DBT) suggest

that the virus is genetically sta-ble and there is no major muta-tion in the virus.

The PMO said three vac-

cines are in advanced stages ofdevelopment in India, out ofwhich two are in Phase II andone is in Phase-III and Indian

scientists and research teamsare collaborating and strength-ening the research capacities inneighbouring countries such asAfghanistan, Bhutan,Bangladesh, Maldives,Mauritius, Nepal and SriLanka.

There are further requestsfrom Bangladesh, Myanmar,Qatar and Bhutan for clinicaltrials in their countries.

To help the global com-munity, the PM directed thehealth authorities that Indiashould not limit its efforts toits immediate neighbourhoodbut also reach out to theentire world in providing vac-cines, medicines and IT plat-forms for vaccine deliverysystem.

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India has been ranked 94thamong 107 nations world-

wide in the Global HungerIndex (GHI) 2020, faring poor-er than all its immediate neigh-bours and being put in the“serious” hunger category.

Neighbouring Bangladesh,Myanmar and Pakistan too arein the “serious” category butranked higher than India in thelatest GHI. While Bangladeshranked 75, Myanmar andPakistan are at the 78th and88th position. Nepal at 73rdand Sri Lanka at 64th positionare in “moderate” hunger cat-

egory. In the region of south,east and south-eastern Asia,the only countries which fareworse than India are Timor-Leste, Afghanistan and NorthKorea.

Last year, India’s rank was102nd among 117 countries.China, Belarus, Ukraine,Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, fig-

ure among the top 20 with GHIscores of less than five. TheGlobal Hunger Index is a peer-reviewed annual report, joint-ly published by ConcernWorldwide andWelthungerhilfe, designed tocomprehensively measure andtrack hunger at the global,regional, and country levels.

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Asuspect shot dead by policeafter the gruesome behead-

ing of a history teacher — whodiscussed caricatures of Islam’sProphet Muhammad with hisclass, leading to death threats— in an attack near Paris wasan 18-year-old Moscow-bornChechen refugee, officials saidon Saturday.

France’s anti-terrorismprosecutor’s office said author-ities investigating the killing ofSamuel Paty in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on Friday alsoarrested nine suspects, includ-ing the teen’s grandfather, par-ents and 17-year-old brother.

Paty had discussed carica-

tures of Islam’s ProphetMuhammad with his class,leading to threats and a com-plaint from a parent, policeofficials said.

Islam prohibits images ofthe prophet. The officials couldnot be named because theywere not authorised to discussongoing investigations.

The French anti-terror-ism prosecutor Jean-Francois

Ricard said an investigation formurder with a suspected ter-rorist motive had beenopened.

Ricard told reporters thatthe suspect, who had beengranted a 10-year residency inFrance as a refugee in Marchand was not known to intelli-gence services, had been armedwith a knife and an airsoft gun,which fires plastic pellets.

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Dr Reddy’s Laboratorieson Saturday said it along

with Russian DirectInvestment Fund (RDIF) hasreceived approval from theDrug Control General ofIndia (DCGI) to conductphase 2/3 human clinical tri-als for Covid-19 vaccineSputnik V in India.

This will be a multi-cen-tre and randomised controlledstudy, which will include safe-ty and immunogenicity check,

the Hyderabad-based drugmajor said in a statement.

“This is a significantdevelopment that allows usto commence the clinicaltrial in India and we arecommitted to bringing in asafe and efficacious vaccineto combat the pandemic,” DrReddy’s Co-chairman andManaging Director GVPrasad said.

RDIF CEO KirillDmitriev said the entity waspleased to collaborate with theIndian regulators.

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Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik on Saturday visit-

ed Puri to review the progressof the heritage project andbeautification work underABADHA scheme.

After paying obeisance tothe deities near the Singhdwar

(Lions Gate), he visited aroundthe Meghnad Pacheri (outerwall of the Jagannath Temple)and reviewed the progress ofthe works.

He reviewed in details allaspects of the Shree JagannathHeritage Corridor scheme. Onthe south east side from theerstwhile Emar Mutt site, hereviewed the arrangements thatare being planned for a queuemanagement system.

Turn to Page 4

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BHUBANESWAR:In view ofthe bye-elections to the Tirtoland Baleswar Sadar Assemblyconstituencies, the StateGovernment on Saturday stat-ed that political meetings, otherfunctions and gatherings inconnection with the bye-pollswould be allowed in these con-stituencies.

Notably, the Governmentprohibited social, political,sports, entertainment, acade-mic, cultural, religious andother large congregations tillOctober 31, 2020 to prevent thespread of Covid-19.

In the fresh guidelines onSaturday, the Special ReliefCommissioner’s Office saidpolitical meetings and gather-ings would be allowed onlywithin the jurisdictions of thetwo constituencies and thisorder would come into forcewith immediate effect.

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BHUBANESWAR: The dailyCovid-19 cases continueddownward trend inBhubaneswar with 216 newinfections registered onSaturday. With this, the city’spositive tally reached 26,995,out of which 3011 were activecases. Of the new cases, 161were local contacts and 55quarantine cases, theBhubaneswar MunicipalCorporation (BMC) said. Thelocal contacts included 11 eachfrom Chandrasekharpur andNayapalli, 10 each from Unit-9 and Patia, seven fromLaxmisagar, six each fromPokhariput and Bomikhal, fiveeach from Old Town andJharpada and four each fromVSS Nagar and Unit-6.

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The daily Covid-19 casescontinued to show a

declining trend in the Statewith 2,196 new ones reportedfrom 29 districts and the Statepool on Saturday. With this,the total caseload reached2,66,345.

Of the new cases, 1,274were detected from quarantineand 922 were local contacts.

Khordha again recordedthe highest single-day 259cases followed by Cuttack 175,Sundargarh 140, Mayurbhanj119, Jajpur 113, Nuapada 108,Angul 107, Baleswar 104,Kalahandi 94, Jagatsinghpur86, Kendrapada 82, Bargarh 80,Puri 77, Balangir 71,Jharsuguda 71, Subarnapur 70,Keonjhar 67, Nabarangpur 50,Malkangiri 38, Sambalpur 37,Kandhamal 34, Dhenkanal 33,Boudh 32, Koraput 29,Nayagarh 20, Bhadrak 16,Rayagada 14, Ganjam 13 andGajapati seven.

Besides, 50 positive caseswere detected from the Statepool.

With 41,353 Covid testsdone during the period, thecumulative tests rose to40,01,065.

Meanwhile, 17 morepatients succumbed to the dis-ease on the day, taking the totaltoll to 1,121.

While f ive died inKhordha district, two suc-cumbed in Cuttack. One casu-alty each was reported fromAngul, Baleswar,Jagatsinghpur, Kandhamal,Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj,Nayagarh, Puri, Sundargarhand Sambalpur districts.

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Page 2: ...2020/10/18  · were detected from the State pool. With 41,353 Covid tests done during the period, the cumulative tests rose to 40,01,065. Meanwhile, 17 more patients succumbed

Watching one or the other dailysoap is our guilty pleasure.There is no denying that it

makes for a good watch if one wants totake a break from the reality of their lives.Of late, daily soaps are so in trend andthe one which tops the charts is Saathiya.Not because the storyline is somethingout of the box, but because YashrajMukhate decided to mix a scene from thepopular show and it went viral within notime.

Even Rupal Patel, who played KokilaBen couldn’t help but appreciateMukhate’s take on the popular scene.Now that the show has already receivedit’s share of admiration from theaudience, it is just the right time for themakers to launch Saath NibhaanaSaathiya 2 on Star Plus tomorrow.

Devoleena Bhattacharjee, who wasseen in Bigg Boss 13 is all set to play GopiModi once again. If one is to ask whatSeason 2 has on offer for the audience,it’s a no-brainer that they have to give ita watch.

“I can’t give out the story for Season2, because we are also not told about thewhole story, we just shoot as per ourdirector’s direction. Also there arefrequent changes during the shoot. Butone thing is for sure, that theentertainment quotient will surely behigh and with a message of womenempowerment. There will be a new loveangle between Gehna and Anant. I amsure audience will love it,” Bhattacharjeetells you.

Ask her about how excited she isto be back on screen as Gopi and sheis quick to answer — that herexcitement has no bounds. “I amsuper excited. I never imagined thatI will be coming back on TV asGopi. It gives me a different feel.Most of the times when there is aSeason 2 of a show, the characterremains the same but the actorschange. But I am getting to playGopi again and it is nothingshort of a gift to me,” she tells you.

A new season, she says, comewith a lot of new challenges. “Witha second season, the expectations ofthe audience are high. So it is challengingthat way. To bring a second season of ahit show is risky in itself, because of thehigh expectations. But I think, we haveproved ourselves and now theresponsibility lies on the newer lot andit’s there chance to prove themselves.Having said that, it doesn’t mean we

don’t have any responsibility, it is just thatthey have a larger part of play in it,” sheexplains.

If one is to remember, the infamousscene of the show where Gopi washes offAhem’s laptop with soap and water andhang it to dry, one would remember GiaaManek, who was then replaced byBhattacharjee. Ask her if it is challengingto step in to the shoes of an alreadyestablished character, she says that for herthe role was as new as it can be.

“I never thought that I am replacingsomeone. If I had would have focusedabout these things, I would have not beenable to pull that off. My focus was on todo justice to my character. That’s all. I sawit as a new role,” she says.

Initially, Bhattacharjee struggled withthe character, so much so that people toldhim that she won’t be able to play it. “Firstsix months were challenging. Things werenot falling in place. I got to know thatpeople felt that this was not my cup oftea. It felt bad. There were talks that theshow might get off air after Giaa’sreplacement. People expected me to actlike Giaa, but that’s not possible. I havea different personality and I will act inmy way, I can’t copy someone. Butdespite all this, I am a very stubbornperson, if I take up a job, I do my bestto make it happen. So was with Gopi. Ifought for my character. I did things inmy own way. I just didn’t let it go. I putin all my efforts and hard work and

eventually it did work. And when theaudience accepted me, Gopi’s characterwas changed quite a bit. She was

shown as a progressive woman. Evenher style was changed,” she tells you.

She tells you that she has a lot offun memories from the sets of theprevious season. “I was like the queenon the sets. I shared a good rapportwith everyone. We did so much fun.Some days were exciting, some weregood and some were bad. I laughed,cried, got angry and what not. Wewere like a big family and we enjoyedevery bit of it,” Bhattacharjee recalls.

Daily soaps are always tagged asover dramatic and over the top,

Bhattacharjee has a say on that. “That’snot true. The reason people love dailysoaps is that they find a connection withit. Everything that has been showhappens with us at some point of time.It’s just that we modify it as per the needof the story. Otherwise it is not overdramatic, it is just a reflection of thesociety,” she opines.

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There is something inherentlycute and sweet when onewatches movies that have

animals especially dogs. RememberThe Call of the Wild, Benji andMarley & Me? While not all animalmovies have a happily ever after, butit doesn’t take away the aww factorfrom them and Pup Academy thatdropped its second season on theOTT platform is no different. It goeswithout saying that the pups areadorable, sweet and cute and if onehas ever had a dog before, a need tohave another one is going to betough to resist.

If you are not a dog lover, thisseries that takes off where the firstone ended — a street pup — Boxer

being thrown out of pup academy forbringing in other street dogs into the

academy who then wreaked havocmay have a change of heart.

In the meantime, why not havefun and watch the little pups get upto no good, get into trouble and dowhat pups do best — shower love ontheir master.

But then the show is not aboutthe story as much as it is about thebond between a human and pup andhow much it affects the dog if hedoesn’t have this bond with hischosen human. The adage: Dog isman’s best friend couldn’t have hada better setting than this show. Somuch so that there is a dog namedD.O.G. Couldn’t be cuter than this.

However, if one is looking for astory that stimulates the brain, thisis not a show to watch. The story issimple and banal and take-off fromSeason 1 — a bunch of wolves,instead of dogs — who want to takeover the running of the academytheir way.

The good part is that it is family-friendly and a perfect watch for alldog parents and kids of all ages.

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K-pop made its presence feltback in 2012 when Psyreleased his single —

Gangnam Style. The song hadgone viral and propelled Psy intoinstant stardom. Since then K-pop has become a must-listen forall music lovers. So it is notsurprising that when the all-woman band came into the scenewith their debut album SquareOne after a gap of seven yearslaunched by YG Entertainment,

the group won its first awardduring a musical programme forWhistle at Inkigayo, becoming thegirl group that won the award thefastest. Since then the album’stracks have since surpassed 1.73billion streams worldwide.

This and much more isrevealed in Black Pink: Light Upthe Sky, a documentary thatfollows the lives the girl group andhow they reached where they aretoday given that each one ofthem came from a differentbackground.

But the thing binding themwas and is their love to performand sing.

The documentary introduces

the girls collectively andindividually which gives us alittle peek into what makes themtick. But the real emotions comeinto play when their guards aredown and they talk about missingtheir family and experiences thata 15-16-year-old would normallybe part of.

The whole, now that we are sosuccessful, how do we live up tothe expectations of the fans is real.Where they will be when they are42-44 — married with kids? Howlong will this success last? Itgives a glimpse of real fears andreiterates that all that glitters isnot gold.

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Page 3: ...2020/10/18  · were detected from the State pool. With 41,353 Covid tests done during the period, the cumulative tests rose to 40,01,065. Meanwhile, 17 more patients succumbed

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In view of the forecast ofheavy rains on October 19

and 20 due to a fresh low pres-sure over the Bay of Bengal, theGanjam district administra-tion on Satur held an emer-gency meeting to take stock ofpreparedness and asked itsstaffs not to leave headquarterstill the end of this month.

Ganjam Collector VijayAmruta Kulange directed theline departments and RevenueDepartment to be prepared to

ensure zero casualty.He stated that damages are

likely to occur due to incessantrains; and hence, the officialsmust be ready to meet anyeventuality.

All water bodies in the dis-trict have been swelling due toheavy rains last week.

The damages due toanother low pressure would besevere, the Collector said andasked officials to keep enoughstocks of relief materials in dif-ferent parts of the district.

He directed the Sub-

Collectors to be in touch withSarpanches as part of thepreparations and asked theSwayam Siddha, CovidMonitor and Covid Sakhi vol-unteers to remain alert.

Besides, the officials andvolunteers were asked to down-load ‘zoom’ app to discuss thesituation if need arises.

It was decided in themeeting that movement ofpeople and vehicles would bestopped on bridges and low-lying areas that are susceptibleto flood.

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Former Sambalpur MPAmar Pradhan’s son Ankur

along with two of his friendswas killed in a road mishapnear Telengapentha on theCuttack-Bhubaneswar road inthe wee hours of Saturday.

The two other deceasedhailed from the Goplapur areain Cuttack district.

Ankur and his friends wereon their way to Cuttack fromBhubaneswar in a Jaguar carwhen the vehicle met with anaccident at around 3 am.

The speeding car lost con-trol and fell into a roadsidecanal.

Getting information,

police rushed to the spot andrescued the three youthstrapped inside the car.

All the injured were imme-

diately rushed to the SCBMedical College Hospital here,where doctors declared thembrought dead.

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After a success of the MoBeach campaign and the

Blue Flag eco label accorded tothe Golden Beach, Puri, thedistrict administration starteda two-day beach-based publichealth programme, Mo BeachYoga, on Saturday.

The initiative is aimed atpromoting public health andenvironment education in anovel way amidst Covid-19

after the golden beach, identi-fied under the IntegratedCoastal Zone ManagementProject (ICZMP), recentlyreceived the ‘Blue Flag’ certifi-cate.

The programme is a pilotproject of the State Directorateof AYUSH, Department ofHealth & Family Welfare. Itstarted with 200 participants,all Covid-recovered persons, in10 locations of the beach.

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Levelling seri-ous allega-

tions againstsome OTVr e p o r t e r s ,Keonjhar BJDMP ChandraniMurmu hasaccused them of harassing, torturing anddefaming her.

In a statement, she said the reportershad circulated a morphed obscene videopertaining to her.

Murmu said OTV MD Jagi MangatPanda and her husband and BJP leaderBaijayant Panda are trying to save reporterRamesh Rath by claiming that this is anattack on the OTV by the State Government.

“Both Jagi Panda and Jay Panda arefriends to powerful people in Delhi andusing their connections to run media sto-ries that OTV reporter Ramesh Rath beingquestioned by police is an attack on mediaand journalism,” she said.Notably, Rath hadon Friday been picked up by the Keonjharpolice for questioning and later released.

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Parents of various schools ofthe city under the aegis of

Organisation of ParentsAssociations’ Forum (OPAF)on Saturday organised ademonstration here, protestinga “partial” MoU reachedbetween the Government andschool owners when they (par-ents) have suffered financiallya lot due to Covid pandemic.

“Instead of consideringplights of parents, the StateGovernment with help of a socalled parents’ association isproviding supports to com-mercially-run schools. TheMoU submitted at the HighCourt is partial and meant tosupport private schools,”alleged OPAF president DrGagan Bihari Rout and otherfunctionaries.

They demanded that the

schools take only tuition fees tomeet expenditure of salaries ofteachers and other employeesand waive all other charges.The Government should issuea specific direction to schoolsin this regard.

Parents of the Sai

International School, DAVSchool, ODM School, YoungFonix, BJEM, Mothers’ PublicSchool, Xavier School, SaintJosef, Kedargouri,Venkateshwar, AmrutaVidyalaya and Narayani Schooljoined the demonstration.

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The Bhubaneswar MunicipalCorporation (BMC) on

Saturday withdrew its order ofsealing the office ofBhubaneswar BJP MPAparajita Sarangi.

On October 10, the BMChad sealed the MP’s office for15 days after a video showingSarangi celebrating her birth-day with a large number ofwomen supporters with noCovid-19 precautions wentviral.

“In pursuance of a decisiontaken by the BMC to open allclosed-down shops, commer-cial establishments and insti-tutions in view of the ensuingPuja celebration, the sealingorder for the MP’s office atPalaspalli is hereby withdrawn,”read a BMC letter.

The BMC also asked

Sarangi to make her officepremises available for sanitisa-tion immediately and ensureadherence to all Covid-19guidelines in the premises.

Meanwhile on the day,Sarangi severely criticised theBMC for closure of her officealleging that the civic bodyclosed her office-cum-resi-dence while it had no suchpower under the EpidemicDiseases Act.

At a news conference, sheclaimed that her supportersseen in the video had beenallowed entry to her officeonly after observance of theCovid protocol. Neither sheand nor any of her well-wish-ers has been detected withCovid yet.

Quoting a Governmentnotification, she said a buildingcan be closed for 48 hours onlyin case of large-scale Covid out-break.

“The sealing of my office-cum-residence for a period of15 days amounted to forcibledispossession from my legally-held possession. This has been

done with a malicious intent,contrary to the spirit of law andis in clear violation of the pro-visions in law.

This has caused me pecu-niary hardship, mental agonyand has been done to malignmy image before the society. Ireserve my right to claim ade-quate compensation from theBMC for such excessive use ofauthority beyond its jurisdic-tion, to initiate defamationproceeding and initiate suchother legal proceedings as maybe suitable,” Sarangi said.

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Aday after theCommissionerate police

announced tough actionagainst the extortion mafias,the cops on Saturday arrestedgangster Sandeep alias RajaAcharya on the charge ofdemanding protection money.

The anti-extortion wing ofthe city police arrested thegangster; and he was ques-tioned at the Capital police sta-tion.

“Raja was extorting Rs20,000 from a person everymonth in connection with con-struction of a house. We arecurrently questioning him,”informed Commissioner ofPolice Sudhanshu Sarangi.

“Extortion (Dada Bati) isa serious issue and strict actionwill be taken against thoseindulging in such crime,”Sarangi said.

He also requested the res-idents of the twin city of

Cuttack and Bhubaneswar toinform police if somebody asksthem for extortion money.

He assured that the com-plainant’s name would be kepta secret.

Meanwhile, the denizenshave welcomed the crackdownby police and said such driveshould be carried throughoutthe year instead of during thePuja festivities.

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BHUBANESWAR: Raisingquestions over Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik’s recent aerialvisit to flood-affected districts,RTI activist Pradip Pradhan onSaturday demanded that theChief Minister’s Office give aclarification in this regard.Addressing a Press meet,Pradhan put five questionsand sought answers from theCMO. “Has the CM reallymade an aerial visit to flood-hitdistricts? If yes, which areas theCM visited in just 19 minutes,”asked Pradhan.

He also wanted to know thenames of officers and doctorwho accompanied him, if any.He too wanted that all videos ofthe CM visit be made public“According to Airport Authorityof India, the State Government’shelicopter flew for 19 minutesfrom 10.10 am 10.31 am. It isdifficult to conduct the aerialsurvey in 19 minutes. Peoplehave the right to know thetruth,” said Pradhan.

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The nine-day-longRath Yatra in the

Biraja Temple in Jajpurtown kicked off underthe shadow of the Covidpandemic on Saturday.

The entire town isunder Section 144 CrPC.All entry points to thetemple are barricadedand sealed debarringdevotees to attend theRath Yatra.

The 60-feet-highchariot was pulled byservitors in the presenceof police. All the servi-tors had been tested forCovid-19.

Notably, the OrissaHigh Court has allowedthe Rath Yatra after hear-ing PILs and directedthe administration toconduct it by adhering tothe Covid-19 guidelines

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A29-year-old woman doctor,Priya Shree, who was

doing her post-graduation andalso doing Covid duty at theIspat General Hospital here,died at the Jaiprakash Hospitalon Saturday. She had got infect-ed with coronavirus about tendays back.

She was a native ofNalanda district of Bihar andher cremation would take placehere on Sunday after the arrivalof her family members.

Significantly, the numberof deaths of doctors on Covidduty has gone up to four inSundargarh district so far.

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Congress leaders came downheavily on the Narendra

Modi Government at theCentre for the inordinate delayin establishing the AIIMSSatellite centre here.

The project was approvedduring the Congress-led UPAGovernment 2013-14, theyclaimed while campaigning forparty candidate for theBaleswar Sadar by-poll.

Addressing mediapersons,MLA Taraprasdad Bahinipatialleged that the dream projectis lying idle due to apatheticattitude of the ModiGovernment on account ofwhich people of north Odishaare not getting proper health-care. They are going 250 km toavail the services of AIIMS atBhubaneswar.

Party spokespersonSudarshan Das said the pro-posed 350-bed super speciali-ty hospital was approved to be

established at an expenditure ofRs 450 crore. Besides, a worldclass nursing school and apublic health were approved, hesaid.

Although foundation-stonewas laid by the then UnionHealth Minister JP Nadda in2018, yet only a boundary hasbeen built around the 25-acreplot at cost Rs 1.60 crore.

Bahinipati alleged that theBJP-led Union Governmenthad deceived the people ofnorth Odisha, particularlyBaleswar, adopting delayingand denying tactics.

They demanded that theproject established soon.

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Police on Saturdayarrested eleven

criminals fromDharamsala in the dis-trict for their involve-ment in many crimes inthe district and itsnearby areas.

“We have arrestedSk Basar Ali ofMahanga, Zakir Khanof Kendrapada, BimalDas of Patkura, SkIrfan of Brahmabarada,Sk Shoiba Allam ofChandapur and ArfanKhan of Charinagal,”said Jajpur SP Meena.

Besides, Sk Riasad and Sk Babu ofKendrapada town, Sanjay Kokate,Amarendra Samant and Kesto Khatua ofCuttack were arrested for receiving stolenproperties, said the SP.

Earlier, Madhabananda Sahoo ofBandhadiha village under the DharmasalaPS had filed an FIR that three miscreantslooted 800 grams of gold ornaments, 15kg of silver and cash of Rs one lakh bybrandishing arms and assaulting his son

Maheswar when he was returning homefrom his jewellery shop on October 6night. The cops seized two sharp weapons,a revolver, silver ornaments weighing 12kg, 76 grams of melted gold, Rs 5,89,100,four bikes and 11 mobile phones from thecriminals’ possession.

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Bodies of the two young sis-ters, who had jumped into

the Tel river under the Tushurapolice station in Balangir dis-trict two days ago, were recov-ered from river in separates dis-tricts on Saturday.

First, the body of AnchalAgarwal (21) was found atBadatenda under the Tarbha PSin Subarnapur district. Later,the body of Anchal’s elder sis-ter Anmol (25) was recovered

from Mahanadi at Janhapankaof Boudh district.Anchal andAnmol, daughters of RamtarAgarwal of Gudbhela village inBalanagir district, had gone outby a scooter telling their parentsthat they would visit Tushura.When they did not return tilllate hours, the family membersinformed police. Police foundtheir scooter and sandals fromthe river bridge. Fire Servicespersonnel were pressed intoservice but had not been ableto trace the girls in the water.

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Page 4: ...2020/10/18  · were detected from the State pool. With 41,353 Covid tests done during the period, the cumulative tests rose to 40,01,065. Meanwhile, 17 more patients succumbed

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The Orissa High Court onFriday adjourned the hear-

ing to Monday on the batch ofwrit petitions seeking to quashthe idol-height restrictionsimposed by the StateGovernment for the ensuingDurga Puja.

A Division Bench headed byChief Justice Mohammad

Rafiq adjourned the hearingwhen the Advocate Generalfailed to furnish details of theidol constructions by differentPuja Committees of Cuttackcity.

“Advocate General MrAK Parija prays for time to fur-nish details of nine numbers ofPuja Committees, who as perreport of the PoliceCommissioner constructedidols above four feet,” said theHC order.

At least 25 PujaCommittees have approachedthe court seeking to remove theidol-height restriction.

Among other restrictions,the Government has asked thePuja Committees to limit theidols’ height to four feet onlywhile idols of seven feet andmore are traditionally built.

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Much to the joy of tourists,the Bhitarkanika National

Park would be opened for dayvisitors from October 19 afterremaining closed for aboutseven months with adherenceto the Covid guidelines.

The tourists are going tofollow the Covid protocolissued by the ForestDepartment, informedRajnagar Mangrove (Forest)and Wildlife Division DFOBikash Ranjan Dash.

Earlier on October 1, thepark authorities had allowedtourists only for night stay atthe cabins of the Dangamala

crocodile research centrethrough online booking.

Now, a maximum of 500visitors per day, including thosewho would come by boat fromthe Gupti, Khola andChandabali entry points, wouldbe permitted.

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The KISS Foundation hasextended a helping hand to

four hapless kids of Anandpurin Kendujhar district who havebeen living a miserable life inthe absence of their parents fora few years having no seniormember in the family to lookafter them.

The children’s father is lan-guishing in jail after beingconvicted a lifer in a murdercase. Their mother abandonedthem and is missing since then.As their parents are not avail-able, one of the sisters, a minor,works as a daily wage labour-er to run the family.

Knowing this from media,KIIT & KISS and KISSFoundation founder DrAchyuta Samanta came for-ward to help out the kids. Heimmediately coordinated withthese kids through his repre-

sentatives and assured themthat they would be admitted tothe KISS, where they would getfree education.

The KISS Foundationwould provide Rs 3,000 permonth to each of the children

to meet their day-to-dayexpenses.

The kids are overjoyedafter getting such help. Alongwith people in their locality,they thanked the KISSFoundation and Dr Samanta.

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From page 1He directed that devotees

must be able to have a hassle-free entry through theSinghadwar and adequatearrangements should be madefor their comfort when theywait in queue to go inside thetemple for Darshan of thedeities.

Patnaik advised the author-ities to use technology forensuring safety and security sothat arrangements made arenot very obtrusive.

While reviewing from thesouthern side of the MeganandPaccheri, he advised to createtree-shaded spaces so thatParikrama is comfortable withspecial emphasis on an uni-versal access.

The heritage corridorshould be designed in such amanner that persons with dis-abilities are able to go aroundParikrama on their own, hesaid.

While reviewing on thewestern side, he advised that noutilities like electric substa-tion or control in master planshould be next to theMeghanath Paccheri. The pre-sent Cesu control room wouldbe suitably shifted. For devoteescoming from faraway places,adequate arrangements forkeeping their belongingsshould be made, the CMdirected.

While reviewing the north-ern side, he advised to makeadequate arrangements forserving Mahaprasad to largenumbers of people at one go.

For elderly devotees, ade-quate arrangements for electriccarts should be made so thatthey don’t face any issue evenif they are to park their vehiclesat a distance, he said.

He directed to complete

the land acquisition process byJanuary 1, 2021 and start ofwork on the corridor project.

Chief Administrator of theShree Jagannath TempleAdministration (SJTA) KrishanKumar said the works would becompleted in time under theguidance of the CM.

Among others, 5TSecretary VK Pandian, PuriCollector Balwant Singh andother senior officials were pre-sent in the review meeting.

Meanwhile, six members ofthe Youth Congress weredetained by police after theyshowed black flags to the CMnear the Mausi Maa Templewhen he was on his way to thecity.

The Youth Congress mem-bers were opposing the allegedsale of the Bagala Dharmasalaland.

On January 16, the CMhad last visited the JagannathTemple and laid foundation forseven projects worth Rs 510crore for the beautificationprogramme.

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However, the SRC laid followingconditions for the political meetingsand gatherings:

(1) In closed spaces, a maximumof 50% of the hall capacity will beallowed with a ceiling of 200 persons.Wearing of masks, maintainingsocial distancing, provision of ther-mal scanning and use of hand washor sanitiser will be mandatory.

(2) In open spaces, keeping thesize of the ground/open space inview, the district administrationshall give permission for gatheringfor such number of persons aswould be appropriate for ensuringstrict observance of the physical dis-tancing norms. Wearing of masks,provision of thermal scanning anduse of hand wash or sanitiser will bemandatory.

The District Magistrate shallensure strict enforcement of theconditions for holding the politicalmeetings and other functions andgatherings.

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From page 1The quarantine cases

included nine from Patia, fivefrom Satya Vihar and five fromNayapalli.

On the day, four patientssuccumbed to the disease,pushing the total toll to 133.

However, the city regis-tered more recoveries than thepositive cases with 307 patientsrecovering from the disease. Sofar, 23,830 persons have recov-ered.

Cuttack city recorded 85positive cases on the day, tak-ing the total to 14,031. Of thenew cases, 50 were quarantine,27 institutional quarantineand eight home quarantinecases.

However, 71 persons gotcured from the disease in thecity on the day, taking the totalrecoveries to 13,082.

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From page 1The deceased in Khordha were a 57-

year-old woman, a 70-year-old man, a73-year-old man, a 76-year-old man(allof Bhubaneswar) and a 37-year-oldwoman.

The Cuttack casualties were a 65-year-old woman and a 49-year-old man.

The other deceased were a 56-year-old man of Angul, a 69-year-old man ofBaleswar, a 79-year-old man ofJagatsinghpur, a 53-year-old man ofKandhamal, a 74-year-old man ofKeonjhar, a 58-year-old man ofMayurbhanj, a 66-year-old man ofNayagarh, a 77-year-old man of Puri, a64-year-old woman of Rourkela and a 75-year-old man of Sambalpur.

However, another 2, 842 personsrecovered on the day, taking the totalrecoveries to 2,44,227.

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Amritsar: A large number of peopleturned up on Saturday at the cremationof Shaurya Chakra awardee BalwinderSingh Sandhu, who was shot dead by twounknown assailants in Punjab's TarnTaran district.

Earlier, the family had refused to cre-mate the body unless the accused werearrested, but then agreed to conduct thelast rites after an assurance was given bythe Tarn Taran district administrationabout prompt action in the case.

The administration also assuredthem about their request for a govern-ment job for one family member.

The cremation was also attended byKhemkaran assembly constituency MLA,Sukhpal Singh Bhullar.

The police department has provid-ed three gunmen as security cover to thefamily.

The 62-year-old Sandhu, who foughtterrorism in Punjab, was shot dead in thedistrict on Friday, months after the gov-ernment withdrew his security cover. The

motorcycle-borne men pumped fourbullets into him when he was at his officeadjoining his home at Bhikhiwind.

Earlier, Sandhu''s wife Jagdish KaurSandhu, had told reporters, "The familywould not cremate him unless the killersare arrested.

She had also demanded securitycover for her family.

"All the family members -- I, my latehusband, his brother Ranjit Singh Sandhuand his wife Balraj Kaur Sandhu -- areShaurya Chakra awardees and this awardwas given by the Centre for our fightagainst militancy."

"Both the state and central govern-ments are accountable for the intelligencefailure that resulted in the killing of myhusband at the hands of terrorists,"Sandhu''s wife had said.

She also said if the state governmentfailed to provide security to the family,then it was the responsibility of theCentre to do the needful.

Agencies

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Former Congress PresidentRahul Gandhi on Saturday

kept up his attack on the cen-tral government over therecently enacted farm laws,saying these are a blatant attackon the soul of every farmer andthat such legislations weakenthe country's foundation.

Delivering a virtual addressfrom New Delhi at the launchof the second phase of SmartVillage Campaign in Punjab, hesaid, "These three laws are anattack on the soul of everyfarmer of this country, they arean attack on their sweat andblood. And farmers andlabourers of this countryunderstand this.”

Referring to his "tractorrallies" against the laws duringhis recent visit to Punjab andHaryana, Gandhi said, "I cameto Punjab and Haryana a fewdays ago and every farmer andlabourer knows that these three

laws are an attack on them."He said he was happy that

the Punjab government hasdecided to convene a specialsession of the Assembly onthese laws on October 19 whereMLAs will "decide about thesefarm laws".

Hitting out at the BJP-ledcentral government over thefarm laws, Gandhi said, "If weweaken the country's founda-tion, India will be weakened.When Congress party fights,we do that to protect andstrengthen the foundation.

This is the differencebetween us and the central gov-ernment.

They talk of the building,but they thrust schemes fromthe top without talking to thepanchayat and the people andtheir laws weaken India''s foun-dation."

"If these laws were infavour of farmers and labour-ers, then why did the govern-ment not allow a debate before

these were passed in Lok Sabhaand Rajya Sabha? Why werethey afraid of a debate? Entirecountry would have seen thedebate and decided if these lawsare for farmers'' benefit,” hesaid.

"But in Lok Sabha andRajya Sabha, the voice ofIndia's farmers was sup-pressed. I am happy that in thePunjab assembly, farmers,labourers'' voices will be heardin the special session,” saidGandhi.

The three farm bills -- theFarmer''s Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Bill, 2020, theFarmers (Empowerment andProtection) Agreement of PriceAssurance and Farm ServicesBill, 2020 and the EssentialCommodities (Amendment)Bill, 2020 -- were passed byParliament recently.Subsequently, President RamNath Kovind gave his assent tothe bills.

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Farmers under banners ofdifferent organisations held

protests across Punjab andburnt effigies of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi as they accusedthe BJP-led government at theCentre of maintaining a "stub-born attitude" towards the agi-tators'' demand of revokingthe newly enacted farm laws.

On Saturday, protests wereheld at many places, includingin Phagwara, Muktsar,Amritsar, Patiala and Bathindawhich led to a disruption ofvehicular traffic. Farmersassembled at Phagwara-Hoshiarpur road and held amarch. They then burnt theeffigy of prime minister alleg-ing that their leaders were "dis-respected" during a meetingwith Agriculture ministry offi-cials in Delhi.

Representatives of severalfarmers' bodies had onWednesday walked out of ameeting held in Delhi to dis-cuss the farm laws with the

Union agriculture secretaryafter finding no Union minis-ter present at the meeting.Addressing the protesters inPhagwara, BKU (Doaba)General Secretary SatnamSingh Sahni said, "We havebeen agitating against these

farm laws for the last threemonths. But the Centre hasturned a deaf ear to ourdemands."

Refuting reports about fis-sure among agitating farmerbodies, he asserted that theywere all united in their fight

against the "anti-farmer" laws.Another farmer leader

Manjit Singh Rai said, “If PMModi shows sincerity in thematter and himself intervenesand invites the agitating farm-ers, we will go for such par-leys."

In Ludhiana, a group ofagitating farmers demonstrat-ed outside a hotel at Ferozepurroad when a meeting of thePunjab BJP led by its state unitchief Ashwani Sharma was inprogress. The protesters raisedslogans against the Centre anddemanded the withdrawal ofthree farm reform laws.

Over the past several days,farmers have been blocking railtracks, laid siege to toll plazas,fuel pumps, shopping mallsand staged sit-ins outside theresidences of several BJP lead-ers in the state.

Rail traffic has been dis-rupted and in turn, coal supplyfor thermal power plants havebeen impacted by the farmers''agitation.

The farmers have beendemanding that the three farmlaws passed by Parliamentrecently be repealed.

They have expressedapprehension that the newlaws will pave a way for the dis-mantling of the minimum sup-port price system, leaving themat the "mercy" of big corporates.

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The Covid-19 tally drewclose to 96,000 in

Jharkhand after as many as 542people, including 242 in Ranchialone, were found infected onSaturday, figures released by thehealth department stated.

The Covid tally in Ranchi,which accounted for nearlyhalf of the cases on Saturday,shot up to 23,948. Despiteachieving a recovery rate closeto 90 per cent, Ranchi hadaround 2300 active cases ofCovid-19 infection on Saturdayevening.

Meanwhile, eight morepeople died of the viral infec-tion on Saturday, taking theCovid toll in the state up at 832,government data said. At leastfour of the eight Covid victimswere from East Singhbhum, thedistrict which has seen 323Covid casualties so far, thehighest among all districts inJharkhand. East Singhbhum,however, reported only 66 freshcases of infection and 55 recov-eries, taking the number of

active cases in the district up at1360.

Chief minister HemantSoren on Saturday met doctors,who are treating EducationMinister Jagarnath Mahto atBhagwan Mahavir MedicaSuperspecialty Hospital inRanchi, and sought updatesfrom them on the medicalcondition of the minister. Sorenalso sought suggestions fromdoctors regarding alternatetreatments that could helpMahto recover faster.

At least five ministers inJharkhand have been infectedby Covid-19 virus so far. HealthMinister Banna Gupta,Agriculture Minister BadalPatralekh, and Drinking Waterand Sanitation MinisterMithilesh Thakur have over-come Covid-19 infection.Minority Welfare Minister HajiHussain Ansari died a dayafter testing negative for Covid-19, while Mahto is said to becritical and admitted in theIntensive Care Unit (ICU) ofMedica hospital.

The Jharkhand govern-

ment has so far collected swabsamples of 28.42 lakh peopleand tested 28.27 lakh of themfor Covid-19. On Saturday,health workers collected swabsamples of 22,569 people andtested 20,952 of them. While95,967 people have tested pos-itive for Covid-19 so far inJharkhand, 88,559 of themhave recovered. As many as6576 people were battling theinfection across Jharkhand onSaturday, as per latest figureswith the state health depart-ment.

As per Govt data,Jharkhand Covid-19 mortalityrate was 0.86 per cent againstthe national average of 1.50 percent. The Covid recovery ratein the state was 92.28 per centagainst the national Covidrecovery rate of 87.80 per cent.The doubling rate of Covid-19infection in Jharkhand was113.5 days against the nation-al average of 80.78 days. Thegrowth rate of the infection inJharkhand during the past oneweek was 0.61 per cent againstthe national average of 0.86%.

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) onFriday said that the North

Corporation Commissionerunder the direction of thenmayor Adesh Gupta who isnow Delhi BJP chief in a letterissued on July 28, 2018 request-ed the Center to take over sixhospitals and medical collegesunder the civic body.

Senior AAP leaderDurgesh Pathak asked , "If in2018 Adesh Gupta was ready tohandover these hospitals tothe Center then why is the BJPdoing politics and betrayingpeople by not handing overthese hospitals to the AAPgovernment?

Pathak said, "The NorthMCD commissioner had writ-ten a letter to the Central Gov-ernment regarding handingover the hospitals and medicalcolleges under the North MCDto the Central government".

In this letter, the commis-sioner requested the centralgovernment to take over sixhospitals and medical collegesunder the North MCD which

includes Hindu Rao Hospital,Kasturba Gandhi Hospital,Rajan Babu TB Hospital,Girdhari Lal Hospital,Maharishi Valmiki Hospitaland Balak Ram Hospital. In thisletter, the Commissioner notedthat from the past 2-3 years theBJP ruled North MCD wasundergoing a financial crisis,therefore, they want the centralgovernment to take over thesehospitals, he said.

Pathak said, "In this letter,

the Commissioner has clearlynoted that the BJP has com-pletely failed to run these hos-pitals. In this letter, it was alsonoted that this is not the firsttime when any department ofthe MCD is being handed overto the central government.Earlier, the fire department,Delhi electricity board, JalBoard, and other agencies werealso, once upon a time, underthe MCD but for various rea-sons and for their proper func-tioning, these agencies earlierwere handed over to the DelhiGovernment ."

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The Chairman of Delhi JalBoard (DJB) Satyendar Jain

on Thursday inspectedWastewater Treatment Plants atvarious locations in NationalCapital and emphasized liftingof extra water from drains toensure 100 per cent capacityutlization of the existing'Sewage Treatment Plant' .

Jain visited Rohini (15MGD), Rithala (60 MGD),Coronation Pillar (30 MGD)alongwith Timarpur OxidationPond and Bhalaswa Lake siteand directed officials to fix alldefunct equipments and bio-gas plants on immediate basisand to utilize 80 acres of vacantland at Rohini STP, 60 acres ofForest at Rithala and 250 acresof forest near coronation pillarSTP for improving groundwa-ter table through the applica-tion of treated effluent

The minister also said that

untreated wastewater nearSTPs should be tapped andtreated in STPs to ensure 100per cent utilisation of the avail-able infrastructure and nountreated municipal sewageto reach stormwater drain.

Jain said "Due to burgeon-ing of population in our citymore and more water will berequired. While it is essential touse water wisely, it is also nec-essary to take steps to reducethe load on the availableresource and create ways for itssubstitution in activities wherepossible,"

"The government is com-mitted to Clean Yamuna andimprove depleting groundwater levels of Delhi. On thesame lines DJB started usingthe treated water for activitiesother than drinking like horti-culture purposes or giving itvarious other agencies whocan use this water to washbusses, trains, etc," he said.

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Page 5: ...2020/10/18  · were detected from the State pool. With 41,353 Covid tests done during the period, the cumulative tests rose to 40,01,065. Meanwhile, 17 more patients succumbed

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ASpecial NIA court in Delhihas convicted 15 accused

persons in connection withthe ISIS Conspiracy case.

The case pertains to crim-inal conspiracy hatched by theISIS to establish its base inIndia by recruiting Muslimyouth for ISIS, a proscribed ter-rorist organisation by using dif-ferent social media platforms.

The case was registered atPolice Station NIA, New Delhion December 9, 2015 undersection under provisions ofthe Indian Penal Code andUnlawful Activities(Prevention) Act.

During investigation,searches were conducted by theNIA in various cities across thecountry and 19 accused per-sons were arrested.

It was revealed that theaccused persons had formed anorganisation styled as Junood-ul-Khilafa-Fil-Hind (a groupseeking to establish Caliphatein India and pledging alle-giance to ISIS/ISIL) to recruitMuslim youth to work for ISISand commit acts of terrorismin India at the behest of oneYusuf-Al-Hindi alias ShafiArmar alias Anjan Bhai, whowas based in Syria and was pur-portedly the media chief ofISIS.

“This case had a hugeimpact on the like-mindedpeople who were likely to joinISIS. After the arrest of the ISISterrorists, their activities were

minimised and theirother asso-ciates were identified and ques-tioned to unravel their furtherplans,” the NIA said in a state-ment.

Several ISIS sympathisers,who had gone to join ISIS, wereintercepted at various loca-tions in the Middle East andwere deported to India. Theinvestigation conducted by theagency stopped the facilita-tion of the ISIS members inIndia as well as abroad, it said.

After completion of inves-tigation, the NIA had filedcharge-sheets against 16accused persons in 2016-2017.

On Friday, 15 accused wereconvicted and sentenced with

rigorous imprisonment (RI)and fine.

The convicted terroristsinclude Nafees Khan, 10 yearsRI with fine of �1,03,000,Mudabbir Mushtaq Sheikh, 7years RI and fine of �65,000,Abu Anas, 7 years RI and fine�48,000, Mufti Abdus Sami, 7years RI and fine of �50,000and Azhar Khan, 6 years RIwith a fine �58,000.

Others convicted includeAmzad Khan, 6 years RI with�78,000 fine, Mohd. ShariffMoinudeen, 5 years RI with�38,000 fine, Asif Ali, 5 yearsRI and fine of �38,000, Mohd.Hussain, 5 years RI and fine ofRs 38,000 and Syed Mujahid, 5years RI and fine �38,000.

The five others convictedare Najmul Huda, Mohd.Obedullah, Md. Aleem, Md.Afzal and Sohail Ahmad forfive years and a fine each of �38,000.

This case was first of itskind in which an extensive ter-rorist conspiracy involvingonline radicalisation washatched on cyber space.

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Congress on Saturday kick-started the Smart Village

Campaign (SVC) with the vir-tual launch of a �2,775 crorecampaign to power the com-plete rural transformation ofthe State in Punjab.

The smart village conceptis to focus on core areas likerenovation of ponds, streetlights, parks, gymnasiums,community halls, drinkingwater supply, model anganwa-di centers, smart schools andsolid waste management, thusmaking villages self-sustainingby providing enabling envi-ronments.

While doing so, the focusshall be on ‘inclusive’ growth,i.e. to include households suchas women -headed households,persons with disabilities, crit-ically ill persons, families ofmartyrs, scheduled castes, etc,he said.

Party sources said that thesame is to be replicated by allthe Congress ruled States inway to showcase a better formatof the Modi government'sAdarsh Village concept whichhas not shown much enthusi-asm.

Launching the campaignvirtually from the nationalCapital, former Congress chiefRahul Gandhi said the schemewould lead to the creation ofenormous rural infrastructureto raise the living standard andquality of life by capitalising ontechnological advances, as partof his government’s RuralTransformation Strategy.

Punjab Chief MinisterCapt Amarinder Singh, officialsand Sarpanchs, joined in from

a total of 1,500 digital locations,paving the way for execution of48,910 separate works acrossthe state.

Singh assured of adequateallocation for the schemes to beundertaken under the secondphase, which has been kick-started on the successful cul-mination of Phase I, which waslaunched in 2019 for the exe-cution of 19,132 works at a costof �835 crores.

Underlining the impor-tance of villages to keep thenation’s foundations strong,Rahul Gandhi said any weak-ening of the rural structurewould impede the nation’sprogress. He stressed the needto strengthen these foundationsfor a better India, pointing outthat protecting the villages andthe people living there wouldhelp protect the cities and thecountry.

Congress' ruled other statesof Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan,Puducherry is also studying theproject initiated by their coun-terpart in Punjab.

Rahul said the Congress

believed in working at thegrassroots and Congress gov-ernments start programmesonly after taking the views ofthe Panchayats into accounts.Since the schemes under SVChave been envisaged after delib-erations at the ground level,they will deliver the desiredresults, he said.

Adequate funds in Punjabhad already been transferred toall 13,264 Gram Panchayats inPunjab, the Chief Ministersaid, adding that his govern-ment intends to give assis-tance to those house-ownerswho are living in houses hav-ing temporary roofs. The inten-tion is “Har ghar pakki chhat”i.e. to provide the rural poorwith better housing facility.

In addition, 750 stadiumsare being taken up for devel-opment in rural areas for 2020-21 in Punjab. For this purpose,a target of minimum of 5 sta-diums per block has been allot-ted for this purpose. Newdesigns of 4 acres, 2 acres and1 acre playgrounds have beendeveloped.

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The Union Culture Ministryhas issued detailed

Standard Operating Procedures(SOPs) for ‘culture functionsand programmes' on preventivemeasures to control the spreadof Covid-19, according towhich, no cultural activities willbe allowed inside containmentzones.

According to an officialfrom the Ministry, these SOPshave to be followed by themanagement of theatres andperformance spaces, as well asthe entertainment/creativeagencies, artists and crew orany other persons who hire theauditoria or any otheropen/closed performancespaces, whether on payment orgratis.

“Comprehensive guidelineshave been issued for artists andcrew, management of greenrooms, stage management, cos-tume and makeup trials, sani-tization of the venue includingstage, open area seating etc,” theofficial added.

Further, State/UT Govtsmay consider proposing addi-tional measures as per their

field assessment.Guidelines issued by the

Union Home and HealthMinistries shall be strictlycomplied with during all activ-ities and operations, said theofficial.

Social/ academic/ sports/entertainment/ cultural/ reli-gious/ political functions andother congregations havealready been permitted with aceiling of 100 persons, outsidecontainment zones only.

In closed spaces, a maxi-mum of 50 per cent of the hallcapacity will be allowed, witha ceiling of 200 persons.

Wearing of face masks,maintaining social distancing,provision for thermal scanningand use of hand wash or san-itizer will be mandatory, whilein open spaces, keeping thesize of the space/ground inview, strict observance of socialdistancing, the mandatorywearing of face masks, provi-sion for thermal scanning andhand wash or sanitiser has tobe followed.

"State/UT Govts will issuedetailed SOPs, to regulate suchgatherings and strictly enforcethe same," said the official.

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The BJP on Saturday camedown heavily on the

Congress for its unequivocalsupport for the restoration ofJammu and Kashmir's specialstatus and the oppositionparty to include the restora-tion of Article 370 as apromise in its Bihar pollsmanifesto.

In a sharp riposte toCongress leader and formerUnion finance Minister PChidambaram’s comment onrestoring article 370, BJPpresident J P Nadda allegedthat the opposition party wassubscribing to a "DivideIndia" agenda. Another seniorBJP leader and union I & BMinister Prakash Javadekarsought to dare the Congressto put their promise of bring-ing back article 370 in theparty’s poll manifesto forBihar.

In August 2019, a presi-dential notification along withthe passage of requisite legis-lation in Parliament resultedin Article 370 becomingredundant and the state ofJ&K splitting into two- J & K,Ladakh- Union Territories.

Nadda drew a l inkbetween former Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi'srecent praise for Pakistan andChidambaram's pro-Article370 statement.

Chidambaram had wel-comed the formation of the'People's Alliance for GupkarDeclaration' and called for thepeople of J&K to be givenback their rights that existedbefore August 5, 2019.Terming the Centre's deci-sions as "unconstitutional",he said that mainstream par-ties, as well as people of J&K,should not be perceived as"anti-national".

Javadekar pointed out thatthe Congress knew very wellthat the people of the entirecountry had endorsed thedecision to scrap J&K's specialstatus.

"Congress leaders PChidambaram and DigvijayaSingh are saying that the deci-sion to abrogate Article 370was wrong and so, Congresswill take it back. Can theCongress include this in theBihar poll manifesto? Theyknow very well that the peo-ple of Jammu, Kashmir,

Ladakh and the rest of thecountry welcomed the move toabrogate Article 370. Theyhave seen the kind of progressin Jammu and Kashmir andLadakh in the past one year.But Congress is echoing thelanguage of the soft sepa-ratists," said the BJP leader.

Alleging that Congresswas endorsing the agenda ofsoft separatists, he regrettedthat the opposition partyrepeatedly went against themood of the people.

The Union Ministeraccused Sonia headed BJP ofpraising China and Pakistan.Maintaining that Article 370was always temporary innature, Javadekar listed thevarious benefits secured by thepeople of J&K and Ladakh inthe last one year.

"Congress is continuouslyadopting positions that goagainst the sentiments of thepeople of this country. RahulGandhi also praises Pakistan.They like to praise Pakistanand China on any issue.

The Constitution also stat-ed that Article 370 is for a lim-ited period, after which it willgo.

Separatism has ended andall the vulnerable sections ofthe society got the benefit ofreservation.

Many welfare laws wereimplemented in Kashmir," saidthe Union Minister.

Union Fisheries MinisterGiriraj Singh also expressed‘outrage’ at Congress' stanceand questioned whether theparty wanted to severe J&Kfrom India.

All original GupkarDeclaration signatories bar-ring for J&K Congress chiefGA Mir came together for thefirst time on Thursday sincethe abrogation of Article 370.The Gupkar Declaration was aresolution passed by NationalConference (NC), PeoplesDemocratic Party(PDP),Congress, CPI(M), JKPC andANC on August 4, 2019 (a daybefore the abrogation of arti-cle 370), pledging to protectthe "identity, autonomy andspecial status" of J&K.

After the meeting, NCpresident Farooq Abdullahannounced the formation ofthe People's Alliance forGupkar Declaration' andcalled for the restoration ofJ&K's special status.

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Union Minister for RoadTransport, Highways and

MSMEs Nitin Gadkari hasrequested the MaharashtraGovernment to take initiativefor preparation of detailed pro-ject report (DPR) for formationof the State Water Grid toovercome the recurring floodcrisis in the State. This wouldhelp the Government to ensurethe availability of the water indrought prone areas and savethe resources to manage theflood crisis. In a letter dated14th October, 2020 to ChiefMinister Udhav Thackeray, hiscabinet colleagues and SharadPawar, MP, he has sought earlydecision of the StateGovernment on this issue, fol-lowed by actions thereon.

Gadkari has drawn theattention of the Chief Ministerin this letter towards the seri-ous issue of heavy loss of livesand property that occur in thestate of Maharashtra every yeardue to floods. He has addedthat the floods create and trig-ger serious problems in differ-

ent parts of the State and thereis an urgent need to chalk outa plan to manage this naturaldisaster that becomes gravebecause of other man madefactors.

The Union Minister hassuggested to the Governmentof Maharashtra to take up theambitious project of formationof the State Water Grid on thelines of the National PowerGrid and Highway Grid. Theidea is to divert the flood waterfrom one river basin to theother river basin in the droughtprone area of the state. Theareas with shortage of thewater, scanty rainfall can getrelief by the Grid. This wouldhelp to increase the area underirrigation, while bringing sig-nificant reduction in the num-bers of suicides of farmers. Theletter goes on to say that vari-ous studies have shown that theincidents of the farmers' suicidehave come down in the areaswhere the irrigation cover ismore that 55%.

The Minister mentionedthat this would also help toincrease agriculture produce

and strengthen the rural andnational economy. The divert-ed flood waters would relievethe stress on the local resources.Transportation of goods andpassengers through rivers(Water Transport) can be com-menced in near future. Fishingand other businesses can flour-ish alongside and majoremployment can be generatedif such project is taken up as anessential infrastructure.

Gadkari has informed thathis Ministry is doing waterconservation by using thesoil/murum from water bodies,drains and rivers for construc-tion of Highways.

This synchronisation ofN.H. construction and waterconservation results not only inincreasing water storage capac-ity but saving environment.Initially this activity was doneon large scale in Buldhana dis-trict as pilot project and hencenamed as 'Buldhana pattern'.With this activity inMaharashtra, around 225 lakhcubic meter of material fromwater bodies, drains and rivershas been used in Highway

works with a result of increaseof 22500 TCM (ThousandCubic Meter) of water storagecapacity at `No cost to StateGovernment'. This has chargedground water table. Due todeepening and training of river,drains, etc, the floods havereduced, which otherwisespreads in nearby field due toreduced discharge capacity ofrivers and drains. This con-vergence has been appreciatedand accepted by NITI Aayog,which is in the process offorming policy based on thiswork done.

The Minister furtherinformed that the TamaswadaPattern adopted in Wardhaand Nagpur districts is anoth-er effort towards Rain WaterHarvesting, Conservation andGround Water Recharge.

These works are done onthe basis of Scientific andComplete Development ofMini-Micro Watersheds basedon study of HydroGeology,Topography and CivilEngineering. Work is doneessentially in the directionfrom Ridge to Valley.Tamaswada Pattern is mosthelpful to create augmentedSurface rain and Ground Waterstorages. It creates Flood free aswell as Drought free situationin treated Watershed. Thesetype of works are resulting inPreservation and Conservationof Traditional natural waterbodies.

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External Affairs Minister SJaishankar on Saturday said

peace and tranquillity along theLine of Actual Control(LAC) is"deeply disturbed" and this isobviously impacting the over-all relationship between Indiaand China.

Jaishankar made thesecomments against the back-drop of the over five-month-long border standoff betweenIndia and China in easternLadakh where each side has

deployed over 50,000 troops.The Sino-India boundary

question a very "complicated"and difficult issue, he said at awebinar on his book ‘The IndiaWay', giving a historical per-spective to development of therelationship between the twoneighbouring countries in thelast three decades.

The external affairs min-ister said the relationshipbetween India and China,which was "very difficult",was normalised since late1980s through a plethora of

initiatives like trade, travel,tourism, and societal activitieson the premise of peace and

tranquilli-ty alongthe bor-der.

"It isnot ourp o s i t i o nthat wes h o u l dsolve theboundaryquestion.We under-

stand that it is a very compli-cated and difficult issue.There have been many nego-

tiations at different lev-els...That is a very high bar fora relationship," Jaishankarsaid.

"I am talking about amuch more basic bar which isthat there must be peace andtranquillity along the LAC inthe border areas and that hasbeen the case since the late1980s," he added.

"Now, if peace and tran-quillity is deeply disturbed,then obviously there will bean impact on the relationshipand that is what we are see-

ing," he said referring to theborder situation in easternLadakh.

Jaishankar said bothChina and India are risingand assuming "bigger" role inthe world, but the "big ques-tion" is how the two countriesfind an "equilibrium".

"That is the basic case Iaddressed in my book," theminister said, adding he com-pleted the manuscript of thebook in April, before the bor-der row erupted in easternLadakh.

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Vice President M VenkaiahNaidu on Saturday called

for building a more equitablesociety on International Dayfor the Eradication of Poverty.

The theme for the Daythis year addresses the chal-lenge of achieving social andenvironmental justice for all,

according to the UnitedNations.

"Today, let us str ivetogether for the uplift of thedowntrodden & build a moreequitable society. We need toaddress the root cause ofpoverty in all its dimensions,be it economic, social, legal or

environmental," the VicePresident Secretariat tweetedquoting Naidu.

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ASupreme Court lawyers'body has condemned

Andhra Pradesh Chief MinisterYS Jagan Mohan Reddy's actionof writing a letter to Chief Justiceof India S A Bobde in which alle-gations have been levelled againsta sitting judge of the top court.

The Supreme Court BarAssociation (SCBA) said in itsresolution that “such action byconstitutional functionaries isopposed to conventions causingserious inroads impacting theindependence of the judiciary asenshrined in the Constitution ofIndia”.

The SCBA resolution waspassed days after anotherlawyers' body, Supreme CourtA d v o c a t e s - o n - R e c o r dAssociation (SCAORA), hadcondemned the "unwarranted"release of the letter written byReddy saying “it tends to scan-dalise and breach the indepen-dence of judiciary”.

The resolution of SCBA said

that its executive committee, ata meeting on October 16, strong-ly condemned the action of thechief minister of Andhra Pradeshin releasing his letter to theChief Justice of India (CJI) mak-ing allegations against the sittingjudge in the public domain.

A similar resolution wasalso passed earlier this week bythe Delhi High Court BarAssociation (DHCBA) statingthat the “ill-founded” letter“unfairly and without reasoncasts aspersions” on the conductof the apex court judge andjudges of the Andhra PradeshHigh Court.

The DHCBA said theOctober 6 letter is an abject anduncalled for

interference in the dueadministration of justice by thehigh court judges.

In an unprecedented move,the chief minister wrote the let-ter to the CJI, alleging that theAndhra Pradesh High Court wasbeing used to "destabilise andtopple my democratically elect-ed Government.

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Paytm users will have to paya 2 per cent fee on the

amount added to their e-wal-let using a credit card.

Until now, users had topay 2 per cent fee if theyloaded more than �10,000 intheir e-wallets via credit card ina month.

A message saying“Nominal charge of 2 per centis applicable on adding moneyusing credit card. Nominal feeis applicable since we pay highcharges to your bank/paymentnetwork when you add moneyusing a credit card. Please useUPI or debit card to add moneyfor free” is displayed whencustomers attempt to addmoney to their Paytm wallet viaa credit card.

Paytm is also providingan offer, wherein users will get2 per cent cashback up to Rs200 on adding minimum Rs 50using credit card, as per themessage.

When contacted, a PaytmPayments Bank spokespersonsaid customers have the flexi-

bility to add money to theirPaytm wallet from any of theirpreferred funding source,including UPI, net bankingand cards.

“The banks and credit cardcompanies charge a fee forloading money into the Paytmwallet from any of thesesources.

The 2 per cent charge ispassed on to customers, whouse credit cards for addingfunds to their wallet. For allother sources, we will contin-ue to absorb the cost of load-ing money,” the spokespersonsaid.

The spokesperson furthersaid the company has tem-porarily waived the 5 per cent

charge that is levied on moneytransfer from wallet to bankaccounts as a promotional offerfor the festive season.

“The amount added in thewallet can be used to transfermoney to another wallet orbank account, to make pay-ments to online and offlinemerchants via QR codes, toprocess bill payments, dorecharges and multiple otherforms of transactions. All suchtransactions will also continueto be free of cost for our cus-tomers,” the spokesperson said.

In 2017, Paytm had intro-duced a similar fee on amountsadded to wallet via credit cards,but had rolled back the decisionafter pressure from users.

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Genex Child DevelopmentProgramme, that works

on gender equality, on Saturdaysaid it will provide a fixeddeposit of �11,000 to every girlchild born in India, whoseparents register for the initia-tive.

Under the Genex GirlChild DevelopmentProgramme, every girl born inthe country, whose parentsregister for the same, will begiven �11,000 fixed deposit atthe time of birth. This is irre-spective of the religion, socialstatus or geographical locationof the parents, Genex said in arelease.

This programme is opento everyone in the entire coun-

try and it is free to avail thebenefits of this initiative, it said,adding parents can register onwww.Genexchild.Com.

This initiative is designedto empower the girl child withher own money when she turns18 and she would then have allthe right to use the same for hereducation, business or marriagewherever she deems fit. This isjust a step to make her feelindependent at the age of 18.The aim is to make girls eco-nomically strong and narrowthe age gap, Genex added.

Genex founder PankajGupta said, “We feel privilegedto be announcing the initiativealong with our 1,50,000 net-work partners. It is just a smallstep towards making the nextgeneration an independent.

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As much as �1.08 lakh croreworth of loans under the

liquidity package for stressedpower distribution utilities havebeen sanctioned so far, RECsaid on Saturday.

In May, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharamanannounced �90,000 crore liq-uidity infusion into cash-strapped discoms, facingdemand slump due to the lock-down to contain COVID-19.

This package waslater increased to �1.2 lakhcrore by the Ministry of Power.

“Till date, REC and PFC(Power Finance Corporation)have sanctioned �1.08 lakhcrore and released nearly

�30,000 crore to discoms underthe scheme,” REC said in astatement.

The loans under the pack-age will be co-funded by PFCand REC in equal proportion.The loans would be sanctionedin two equal tranches.

REC also said it has sanc-tioned � 2,790 crore to JammuKashmir Power CorporationLtd (JKPCL) under the scheme.

The agreement was signedbetween the Government ofJammu & Kashmir, JKPCL,REC and PFC.

Under the liquidity infu-sion scheme of the Centre,REC and PFC are extendingfinancial assistance at a con-cessional rate of interest, itadded.

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HDFC Bank on Saturdayreported a 16 per cent

rise in its consolidated netprofit to �7,703 crore for thesecond quarter ended onSeptember 30, 2020.

The private sectorlender had posted a consoli-dated net profit of �6,638 crorein the corresponding quarter ayear ago.

Total consolidated incomeduring the quarter underreview rose to �38,438.47 crorefrom �36,130.96 crore in July-September 2019, the bank saidin a release.

Consolidated advancesgrew by 14.9 per cent to �10.89lakh crore at the end ofSeptember 2020 from �9.47lakh crore a year earlier, HDFCBank said.

On standalone basis,HDFC Bank said after provid-ing �2,597.2 crore for taxation,it earned a net profit of �7,513.1crore, an increase of 18.4 percent over the quarter endedSeptember 30, 2019.

Total income (stand-alone) grew to �36,069.42 crorein the second quarter ofFY2021 from �33,755 crore inthe year ago quarter.

“While the previous quar-ter largely bore the burnt of theCOVID-19 pandemic, someof the softness continued intothe current quarter leading tolower retail loan origination,use of debit and credit cards bycustomers, efficiency in col-lection efforts and waivers ofcertain fees.

As a result, fes/otherincome were lower by approx-imately �800 crore.

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Apple is expected to witness 15 per cent iPhonegrowth next fiscal year and the primary wave of

Apple 5G telephones has placed the ball in carriersand builders court, research-driven US venture cap-ital firm Loup Ventures has forecast.

“While we believe it will take carriers years tobuild a compelling 5G infrastructure, Apple is readytoday with a lineup of phones that should enjoy athree-year upgrade cycle, compared to a typical one-year duration,” wrote Gene Munster and DavidStokman.

“Additionally, the company continues to advanceaugmented reality. We see the combination of AR anda 5G iPhone as the basis for why Apple is the bestway to invest in 5G”.

According to a report in DigiTimes, AppleiPhone 12 series shipments are expected to reach asmany as 80 million units by the end of the year owingto more affordable pricing strategy.

Shipments of the new iPhone lineup, includingthe iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro andiPhone 12 Pro Max, will at least top 70 million unitsby the end 2020, with the possibility of hitting 80 mil-lion barring a further escalation of the US-Chinatrade conflicts, it reported.

According to Munster and Stokman from LoupVentures, “We imagine the variety of iPhones whichare three years or older has elevated by 90 millionitems over the previous year, which supplies a tail-wind for iPhone demand within the coming year”.

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In a bid to encourage web check-in, airlinemajor IndiGo has introduced a service fee

for usage of check-in counters at the airports.Accordingly, the fee has come into

effect from Saturday.“We encourage all passengers to web

check-in as per the government directive,using our website or mobile app. The check-in fee at the airport counters is applicable onall bookings made, starting from October17,” the airline said in a statement.

The airline added that it is committedto take all precautionary measures for a con-tactless and hassle-free travel experience forits passengers.

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First time since lockdown,diesel sale in the country

has crossed over the pre-covidlevel with the country’s mostwidely consumed fuel witness-ing a nine per cent year-on-yeargrowth in the first 15 days ofOctober. The surge in demandafter months of subdued salesis the direct result of anincrease in the transport activ-ities ahead of the festival sea-son as consumers move out tomake those necessary pur-chases. According to officialsources, during the first fort-night of October, the sale ofdiesel increased by nine percent (YoY) to reach a level of2.65 million tonne. The growthis even more significant atclose to 25 per cent in relationto the previous month ofSeptember.

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As part of reforms orientedtowards providing cleaner

auto fuels in the country, gov-ernment will soon launch apilot on hydrogen CNG orHCNG soon, a senior govern-ment official said on Saturday.

Petroleum secretary TarunKapoor said that a pilot projecton HCNG is being undertak-en in Delhi soon that willimprove efficiency and reduceemissions drastically.

Speaking the InauguralSession of ‘Alternative FuelTechnology for Vehicles: ACure-all for SustainableMobility’ organised by PHDChamber of Commerce andIndustry in association withCSIDC, Government ofChhattisgarh, Kapoor said.

India is becoming a leaderin CNG, there has been a sig-nificant transition with theneed to move towards cleanerfuels like CNG, ethanol,biodiesel, and electric vehicles.

He said that we need toensure that CNG is availableand affordable ensuring thatvehicles are modelled to incor-porate CNG smoothly.

Discussing city gas distri-bution, he shared that there issignificant work happeningespecially in the infrastruc-ture so that CNG is seamless-ly available. “We will be doinga pilot project in Delhi onHCNG that will improve effi-ciency and reduce emissionsdrastically,” the secretary said.

Talking about ethanol, hementioned that by the nextyear, there would be a jump inthe ethanol production andIndia is planning to introduceE12 and E15 shortly.

Gradually, we will haveblended petrol all over thecountry and moving to a high-er percentage. We have to makepure ethanol available that ishappening in several coun-tries and, some countries alsohave multi-fuel vehicles likeBrazil. There is a pilot project

which will be implementedfor pure ethanol that will takeplace in Pune shortly, he said.

Kapoor deliberated aboutthe need to make biodieselaffordable and freely available.On the sector of compressedbiogas, he discussed that it’s anarea of focus as it’s importantfor the agriculture sector and,there is a huge source availablein the country. He also dis-cussed the projects undertak-en by the government for set-ting up biogas plants that willhelp in producing a large quan-tity of biogas that will also flowin the city gas distributionnetwork making it availablealong with CNG.

On Electric Vehicles, the oilmarketing companies are avail-able to facilitate and, we arelooking forward to better swap-ping coming to the petrol sta-tion, retail outlets, putting upelectric charging. We look for-ward to work closely with theindustry so that we can go for-ward, said Kapoor.

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Low base, along with moresustainable pent-up

demand, boosted domesticpassenger vehicles’ sales inSeptember on a year-on-yearbasis.

According to industry datareleased on Friday, a total of2,72,027 passenger vehicleswere sold in the domestic mar-ket, representing a rise of 26.45per cent, against the 2,15,124units off-take during the likeperiod of 2019.

The data released by theSociety of Indian AutomobileManufacturers (SIAM) alsoshowed a sequential growth insales during September.

In August, the domesticpassenger vehicles’ sales hadrisen by 14.16 per cent to215,916 units from 1,89,129units sold during the corre-sponding month of the previ-ous year.

Besides, the data showedthat car sales in the countryrose by 28.92 per cent to163,981 units in September,compared with 127,194 unitsduring the year-ago period.

As per SIAM, the datadoes not include sales figuresfrom some key players such asTata Motors.

In terms of utility vehicles,sales grew by 24.50 per cent to96,633, while vans’ offtake went

up by 10.64 per cent to 11,413units against the same montha year ago.

However, three-wheelersales were 18,640 units inSeptember 2020 compared to66,362 units on a y-o-y basis,marking a decrease by (-) 71.91per cent.

Additionally, two-wheelersales were 1,849,546 units inSeptember 2020, compared to1,656,658 units, representing agrowth of 11.64 per cent.

On the second quarterFY21 performace, SIAM datashowed that passenger vehiclesales rose 17.02 per cent to726,232 units from 620,620units sold during the corre-sponding month of the previ-ous year. In contrast, com-mercial vehicle sales stood at133,524 units from 167,173units showing a de-growth of(-) 20.13 per cent.Similarly,three-wheeler off-takedeclined. The segment’s salesdecrease by (-) 74.63 per centto 45,902 units from 180,899units.Two-wheeler sales seg-ment, however, reported a mar-ginal growth of 0.17 per cent to4,690,565 units from 4,682,571units.”In quarter-2 some seg-ments have shown signs ofrecovery. Passenger vehiclesand two-wheelers are positive,although on a very low base ofprevious year,” said SIAMPresident Kenichi Ayukawa.

Jaipur: In order to fillip theeconomic growth in the city,Jaipur DevelopmentCommissioner (JDC) GauravGoyal announced that in themeeting of PWC, for the firsttime JDA has decided to devel-op Agro-Warehousing Schemenear Amber tehsil in Jaipur.

JDC said that in Zone 12falling in village Akeda andMaheshpura in Amber tehsil,one lakh nineteen thousandsquare meters of land hasbeen earmarked for the pro-ject.

In it, 33000 square metershas been reserved to develop 18big warehouse plots.

Balance of the land willhave facilities like Hotels,Restaurants, Petrol Pumps,

Banks, Electric Sub-station,Commercial Shops and estab-lishments, weighbridges, andautomobile shops.

Speaking about its loca-tional advantage JDCinformed, that the scheme issituated on Jaipur-SikarNational Highway Number 11in the west direction on a 30meters wide road that is just 2kms before Tatiawas Toll Plaza.From the highway, it is only 10Kms away, 30 Kms from JaipurAirport, 20 kms from JaipurRailway Station and 10 Kmsfrom Vishwakarma IndustrialArea.

JDA’s famous housing pro-ject Anand Lok and SwapnaLok are very near to theupcoming project.

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On Saturday evening, UnionMinister of State for Road

Transport and HighwaysGeneral VK Singh inaugurat-ed the free vehicle zone foodbazar in a ceremony at theRajnagar District Center(RDC) developed by theGhaziabad DevelopmentAuthority (GDA) on the linesof Gangtok, the capital ofSikkim.

Earlier, Singh also inaugu-rated Divyang Park atIndirarapuram and NandiGaushala at RajnagarExtension. A cost of �10.89crore has been incurred onthese three projects.

On this occasion, GeneralVK Singh said in a functionorganised at RDC that we wantto make Ghaziabad a worldclass city. GDA is playing animportant role in realizing thisdream.

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Madison: Rising coronaviruscases in key presidential battle-ground states a little more thantwo weeks before Election Dayare the latest worry for electionofficials and voters fearing chaosor exposure to the virus atpolling places despite months ofplanning.

The prospect of poll work-ers backing out at the last minutebecause they are infected, quar-antined or scared of gettingsick has local election officials inMidwest states such as Iowa andWisconsin opening more earlyvoting locations, recruiting back-up workers and encouragingvoters to plan for long lines andother inconveniences.

Confirmed virus cases anddeaths are on the rise in theswing states of Iowa, Michigan,Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Ohioand Wisconsin.

Wisconsin broke recordsthis week for new coronaviruscases, deaths and hospitalisa-tions, leading to the opening ofa field hospital to handleCOVID-19 patients. Gov. TonyEvers said he plans to activatethe Wisconsin National Guardto fill any staffing shortages atelection sites.

While holding a competitivepresidential election during apandemic is “tricky business,”the governor said, “People areready to have this election over,and I think it will be a success-ful election with very few hic-cups.”

In Iowa, Scott CountyAuditor Roxanna Moritz openedadditional early voting sites inand around Davenport, thestate’s third-largest city, to try toreduce the number of peoplecasting ballots on Election Dayand to keep the virus fromspreading in large precincts.

“We have to remember thatthere is this thing calledCOVID,” Moritz said. “Ournumbers aren’t getting any bet-ter. The more people I can get toearly vote, the better.” The pan-demic’s recent trajectory close tohome has some voters recon-sidering a lifetime habit of enter-ing a voting booth on ElectionDay.

Tim Tompkins, a weldingengineer in Iowa, took the dayoff work to cast an early ballotat the Bettendorf CommunityCenter. Tompkins, 62, said heand his wife, Pat, were afraid ofcoronavirus exposure in Election

Day crowds but determined tovote, so they brought their ownsanitizer to the community cen-ter Friday.

“We’d go through a vat ofboiling COVID to get the cur-rent president out of office,”Tompkins said.

In some states, voting earlystill has carried health risks.Voters in Georgia, Texas andelsewhere encountered hours-long lines that required congre-gating with hundreds of otherpeople this week. In Georgia,nearly a quarter of the workersin a warehouse where FultonCounty’s election supplies arekept and voting equipment isreadied tested positive forCOVID-19.

The positive test results for13 of the preparation center’s 60workers shouldn’t delay electionoperations, county electionsdirector Rick Barron said.Barron said Georgia’s most pop-ulous county is working to hirereplacement staff and to imple-ment additional safety mea-sures, including daily rapid test-ing.

Voters in several Midweststates contested by U.S. PresidentDonald Trump and his

Democratic challenger, formerVice President Joe Biden,encountered lines when theywent to cast early ballots onFriday. Some described the deci-sion to vote this year as one that

required deliberation and evencourage.

Robert Baccus, 52, an inde-pendent contractor fromColumbus, Ohio, was amonghundreds in line at the Franklin

County Board of Elections earlyvoting center. He said he does-n’t trust voting by mail, so earlyvoting was his best option forcasting a ballot while trying tosafeguard his health. AP

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Washington: Joe Biden is warning Michiganvoters that President Donald Trump wants tostrip health insurance from tens of millions ofAmericans with preexisting conditions.

Campaigning outside Detroit on Friday, theDemocratic nominee said Trump promises toprotect the insurance eligibility of all Americansbut in reality wants to scrap the 2010 AffordableCare Act.

That law for the first time set a federalstandard that requires insurers to offer healthinsurance to customers regardless of their healthhistory.

Biden says Trump “can only see from hispenthouse” in Manhattan and doesn’t seemost Americans’ daily struggles.

A 2017 study from the Department ofHealth and Human Services found that as manyas 133 million Americans could be defined ashaving a “preexisting” condition by the stan-dards insurers used before the 2010 law.

Biden noted that the number could rise inthe wake of the pandemic. AP

Macon: Former US president Barack Obama willcampaign for Democratic party presidential can-didate Joe Biden in Pennsylvania next week, theBiden campaign has said.

President Donald Trump, however, told hissupporters here that Obama was an “ineffective”campaigner and this was good news for him as in2016 “they did a lousy job and that’s why I’m yourpresident”. Biden, 77, was the vice president dur-ing Obama’s two terms. While Obama hasendorsed Biden and his running mate Harris bymaking online campaigns for them, this would bethe first time that the 59-year-old former presidentwould be campaigning in person.

Four years after he left the presidency, Obamabecause of his oratory skills, still remains the biggestcrowd puller for the opposition Democraticparty. “On Wednesday, October 21, (former) pres-ident Obama will travel to Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, to campaign on behalf of Joe Bidenand Kamala Harris,” the Biden campaign said ina statement on Friday afternoon. PTI

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Baku (Azerbaijan): Azerbaijanon Saturday accused Armeniaof striking its second-largestcity with a ballistic missile thatkilled at least 13 civilians andwounded 50 others in a newescalation of their conflict overNagorno-Karabakh.

The Armenian DefenceMinistry denied launching thestrike, but the separatist author-ities in Nagorno-Karabakh putout a statement listing alleged“legitimate” military facilities inthe city of Ganja, althoughthey stopped short of claimingresponsibility for the attack.

Azerbaijani officials saidthe Soviet-made Scud missiledestroyed or damaged about 20residential buildings in Ganjaovernight, and emergencyworkers spent hours searchingin the rubble for victims andsurvivors.

Scud missiles date back tothe 1960s and carry a big loadof explosives but are known fortheir lack of precision.

In a televised address to thenation, Azerbaijan’s president,

Ilham Aliyev, denounced themissile strike as a war crimeand warned the leadership ofArmenia that it would faceresponsibility for that.

“Azerbaijan will give itsresponse and it will do soexclusively on the battlefield,”Aliyev said.

While authorities in bothAzerbaijan and Armenia havedenied targeting civilians, res-idential areas have increasing-ly come under shelling amidthe hostilities that have ragedfor three weeks despite Russia’sattempt to broker a cease-fire.

Stepanakert, the regionalcapital of Nagorno-Karabakh,came under intense shellingovernight, leaving three civil-ians wounded, according toseparatist authorities. AP

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Auckland: New Zealand PrimeMinister Jacinda Ardern won asecond term in office onSaturday in an election landslideof historic proportions.

With most votes counted,Ardern’s liberal Labour Partywas winning 49% of the votecompared to 27% for its mainchallenger, the conservativeNational Party.

Labour was on target to winan outright majority of theseats in Parliament, somethingthat hasn’t happened since NewZealand implemented a pro-portional voting system 24 yearsago. Typically, parties mustform alliances to govern, butthis time Ardern and Labourcan go it alone.

In a victory speech in frontof hundreds of cheering sup-porters in Auckland, Ardernsaid her party had gotten moresupport from New Zealandersthat at any time in at least 50years.

“This has not been an ordi-nary election, and it’s not anordinary time,” she said. “It’sbeen full of uncertainty andanxiety, and we set out to be anantidote to that.” Ardernpromised not to take her newsupporters for granted and to

govern for all New Zealanders.“We are living in an increas-

ingly polarized world, a placewhere, more and more, peoplehave lost the ability to see oneanother’s point of view,” she said.“I think in this election, NewZealanders have shown thatthis is not who we are.” Arecord number of voters castearly ballots in the two weeksleading up to the election.

On the campaign trail,Ardern was greeted like a rockstar by people who crammedinto malls and spilled ontostreets to cheer her on and getselfies with her.

Her popularity soared ear-lier this year after she led a suc-cessful effort to stamp out thecoronavirus. There is currentlyno community spread of thevirus in the nation of 5 millionand people are no longerrequired to wear masks or socialdistance. AP

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Bangkok: Pro-democracy activists in Thailandstaged a fourth straight day of high-profileprotests in the capital on Saturday, thwarting effortsby the authorities to stop them, including a shut-down of the city’s mass transit systems.

Unlike protests a day earlier, which saw policeusing water cannons to keep the protesters at bay,Saturday’s demonstrations were peaceful, with noreports of any clashes by the time participantsstarted heading home in the evening.

The protesters are calling for Prime MinisterPrayuth Chan-ocha to leave office, the constitu-tion to be amended to make it more democratic

and the nation’s monarchy to undergo reform.All stations of Bangkok’s elevated Skytrain

transit system were closed Saturday afternoon totry to keep protesters from gathering. The under-ground MRT system was also shut, and policeblocked off several roads.

Protesters met anyway as planned at theSkytrain stations, where they held small impromp-tu rallies, in effect establishing a temporary but activepresence across the city. AP

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Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau said Friday

his government will not stopstanding up for human rights inChina.

On Thursday, the Chineseambassador to Canada warned Ottawa against granting asylum to Hong Kong residents fleeing the situ-ation. Cong Peiwu said ifCanada cares about 300,000Canadian citizens in HongKong — and Canadian compa-nies doing business there — itshould support efforts to fightwhat he called fight violentcrime.

“We will stand up loudlyand clearly for human rights,”Trudeau said. “Whether it’stalking about the situation facedby the Uighurs, whether it’s talk-ing about the very concerningsituation in Hong Kong,whether it’s calling out China forits coercive diplomacy.”

Trudeau said Canada standswith with allies around theworld and the United States, toAustralia, to Great Britain, to

European nations to manynations around the world whoshare these concerns.

Canada’s oppositionConservative leader said theChinese ambassador shouldapologize or be expelled fromCanada.

“The Chinese ambassadorhas decided to engage in bel-ligerent rhetoric unbecoming ofhis office,” Conservative leaderErin O’Toole said in a writtenstatement.

“To be clear, this was athreat to the 300,000 Canadiansin Hong Kong. And a barelyveiled one at that. It was of thekind of tone and tenor onewould expect from someoneseeking protection money —not someone who is the officialemissary of a member of theUnited Nations Security Thegovernment should also swift-ly set up a “path” for politicalrefugees to come to Canadafrom Hong Kong and imposesanctions on Chinese officialsover the national security law,

O’Toole added.Protests against the Hong

Kong and mainland Chinesegovernments swelled last year,and Beijing clamped down onexpressions of antigovernmentsentiment in the city with a newnational security law that tookeffect June 30.

The law outlaws subversive,secessionist, and terrorist activ-ity, as well as collusion with for-eign powers to interfere in thecity’s internal affairs. The U.S.,Britain and Canada accuseChina of infringing on the city’sfreedoms.

Trudeau also said China is engaging in coercive diplomacy by imprisoning two Canadian men in retaliationfor the arrest of a ChineseHuawei executive on anAmerican extradition warrant.In December 2018, Chinaimprisoned two Canadian men,Michael Kovrig and MichaelSpavor, and charged them withundermining the country’snational security.

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Istanbul: Turkey’s president hasannounced the discovery of an addi-tional 85 billion cubic meters of nat-ural gas reserves in the Black Sea.

Speaking aboard the drill shipFatih on Saturday, President RecepTayyip Erdogan said explorations in theTuna-1 well were complete after reach-ing a depth of 4775 meters (5,222yards).

In August, Turkey announced thediscovery 320 billion cubic meters ofnatural gas reserves off the Black Seacoast, which energy analysts consid-ered notable but not large enough toturn Turkey into a regional energy hub.

Ankara says it plans to extract anduse the gas by 2023, hoping to even-tually decrease its dependence onenergy imports. Last year’s importstotaled more than $41 billion.

Turkey has increased its mar-

itime search for hydrocarbonresources, with several drill ships inwaters near the country. Its vessels inthe Eastern Mediterranean have beenat the heart of a dispute with neigh-boring Greece over the delimitation ofcontinental shelves.

“We will continue our search forhydrocarbon resources in the Black Seaand the Mediterranean,” Erdogan said.

This week, Turkey redeployed itssurvey ship Oruc Reis to disputedwaters in an area among Greek islands,Cyprus and Turkey's southern coast.Turkey pulled the vessel to shore lastmonth for maintenance and resupply,saying the move would give diplomacya chance, but the military and diplomaticspat continues. Erdogan warned thatTurkey would use diplomacy and “all itsmight” to defend the energy rights forTurkey and Turkish Cypriots. AP

Washington: A woman convicted offatally strangling a pregnant woman,cutting her body open and kidnappingher baby is scheduled to be the firstfemale inmate put to death by the USgovernment in more than six decades,the Justice Department said Friday.

Lisa Montgomery is scheduled tobe executed by lethal injection onDecember 8 at the FederalCorrectional Complex in Terre Haute,Indiana. She would be the ninth federal inmate to put to death since the Justice Department resumed exe-cutions in July after a nearly 20-yearhiatus.

Montgomery was convicted ofkilling 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnettin the northwest Missouri town ofSkidmore in December 2004.

Montgomery drove from herKansas home to Stinnett’s house in

Skidmore under the guise of adoptinga rat terrier puppy, prosecutors said.

When she arrived at the home,Montgomery used a rope to strangleStinnett, who was eight months preg-nant, but Stinnett was conscious andtrying to defend herself as Montgomeryused a kitchen knife to cut the baby girlfrom the womb, authorities said.

Prosecutors said Montgomeryremoved the baby from Stinnett’s body,took the child with her, and attempt-ed to pass the girl off as her own.

Montgomery’s lawyers arguedthat she had been suffering from delu-sions when she killed Stinnett, but ajury rejected her defense. Her lawyershad also argued that she was suffer-ing from pseudocyesis, which causesa woman to falsely believe she is preg-nant and exhibit outward signs ofpregnancy. AP

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They have been in rampag-ing form with five straight

wins but Mumbai Indians canill afford to bec o m p l a c e n tagainst a ChrisGayle-inspiredKings XI Punjab

side here on Sunday.A win for Mumbai

Indians will virtually sealthem a spot in the play-offswhile a loss for KXIP couldsend them out of contention.

Mumbai Indians havesteamrolled opposition teams

with an explosive battingline-up complemented by

a lethal bowling attackand the latest side to

bear their brunt werethe Kolkata Knight

Riders who suf-fered an eight-wicket defeat onFriday.

Tabble-top-pers MI boast of

top batsmen suchas captain Rohit

Sharma (251 runs)and his opening part-

ner Quinton de Kock(269) and both are in good

touch, while the middle-order

is manned by the likes ofSuryakumar Yadav (243 runs)and Ishan Kishan (186 runs).

Rohit played second fiddleto de Kock in MI’s win againstKKR, with the South Africanhitting 78 not out from 44balls.

In the bowling front, pac-ers Jasprit Bumrah and TrentBoult have formed the mostsuccessful pair this IPL with12 wickets apiece from eightmatches so far. Spinner RahulChahar chipped in againstKKR with two wickets for 18runs.

On the other hand, KXIPare languishing at the bottomof the table despite having thetop-two leading run-getters ofthe tournament in skipper KL Rahul (387 runs at a strikerate of 134.84) and his open-ing partner, Mayank Agarwal(337 runs).

KXIP’s problem has beenthat their batting and bowlinghave not fired in unison onmost occasions even thoughtheir confidence has beenboosted by the return ofGayle.

The self-proclaimedUniverse Boss made his firstappearance this IPL with abang, hitting a 45-ball 53, a

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AB de Villiers’ swashbuck-ling 22-ball 55 fashionedan incredible seven-wick-

et victory for Royal ChallengersBangalore over Rajasthan Royalson Saturday.

Chasing 178, DeVilliers smashed six sixesto help RCB win the gameafter all seemed lost forthem following the dismissalof Virat Kohli with the teamstruggling at 102 for threein the 14th over.

The seasoned SouthAfrican launched intoJaydev Unadkat for threesuccessive sixes in the 19thover to swing the match in histeam’s favour. He finished thegame in style, hitting Jofra Archerfor a maximum with two ballsstill to go.

RCB lost Aaron Finch (14)after Australia’s limited overscaptain had hit two sixes.

Kohli and Devdutt Padikkalstitched a 79-run partnershipfor the second wicket but con-sumed too many deliveries indoing so, failing to keep pace withthe required run rate.

Kohli brought the team’shundred by lofting Rahul Tewatiafor a big six over long-on, butPadikkal, while trying to breakthe shackles after struggling hisway to 35 off 37 balls, got outwhen his pull shot failed to clearBen Stokes in the deep.

And then came the bigwicket of Kohli, thanks to a bril-liant piece of fielding by Tewatia,who pulled off a catch inchesfrom the line at deep midwick-et on the rebound after thebatsman whipped it off hispads.

The ball travelled at a

great speed but Tewatia, comingoff a wicket in his previous ball,balanced himself after nearlyfalling over the line to completea fine catch.

Kohli made 43 off 32 ballswith the help of two sixes and afour.

The required run rate roserapidly as RCB struggled to findthe big overs, but de Villiers hadother ideas.

Earlier, skipper Steve Smith’scounterattacking 36-ball 57guided Rajasthan to 177 forsix.

Smith struck six foursand one maximum before

Chris Morris bowled abrilliant final over, con-ceding only four runswhile taking two wicketsto check RR from goingpast 180.

Fas t - m e d iu mbowler Morris fin-ished with excellentfigures of 4/26 infour overs.

Earlier battingfirst, Rajasthan were offto a brisk start as open-er Robin Uthappa (41 off22 ball) launched intothe RCB attack with aflurry of fours and a six.

Back in his favouredposition alongside BenStokes after another

change in the combination,Uthappa saw his team play twoquiet overs before smashingWashington Sundar for fourboundaries in the innings’ thirdover.

Isuru Udana was pulled andthen lofted over long-on byUthappa for the day’s first maxi-mum as RR raced to 38 for no lossin four overs.

Morris gave RCB their first

breakthrough when he had thesubdued Stokes caught down theleg side.

Uthappa scored two moreboundaries, off pacer NavdeepSaini, before his slow sweep wentinto the hands of the deep mid-wicket fielder off the bowling ofleg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.

Sanju Samson got going witha six that landed into the second

tier of the Dubai InternationalCricket Stadium. But he also fellto Chahal, taken at long-off byMorris as RR slipped to 69 forthree after a good start.

On the lookout for quickruns, Smith found an ally in JosButtler and the two added 55 runswhile steadying the ship.

Buttler fell for a 24-ball 25,but Smith continued to anchor

the RR innings.Chahal, meanwhile, bowled

two front foot no balls which werestruck for boundaries by Smith,giving his team 10 runs and twoadditional deliveries.

After RR scored 19 runs inthe long 18th over bowled byChahal, Tewatia hit Udana for asix and four to collect 15 from thepenultimate over.

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Anew captain inthe saddle,

Kolkata KnightRiders would look tosort out their batting woes andstrive for consistency whenthey face Sunrisers Hyderabadin an intriguing mid-table clashhere on Sunday.

After a string of below parperformances, Dinesh Karthikhanded over the reins to hisdeputy Eoin Morgan hoursbefore KKR’s match againstMumbai Indians on Friday.But the World Cup-winningEngland captain’s campaign asleader was off to a disappoint-ing start with MI handing KKRan eight-wicket mauling.

KKR are still in the top fourof IPL points table behindMumbai Indians, Delhi Capitalsand Royal ChallengersBangalore with four wins and asmany defeats. But if the two-time champions want to seal aplay-off spot, their batsmenneed to step up, shrug off theirinconsistencies and win match-es for the team.

After a massive 82-run lossto RCB, the KKR batsmenfailed yet again against MIbowlers as they were reduced to42 for 4 in the eighth over. Halfof KKR batsmen were gone for61 in the 11th over. An 87-rununbroken stand for the sixthwicket between Morgan (39 notout) and pacer Pat Cummins(53 not out) took them to 148for 5.

But MI needed just 16.5overs to overhaul the target, los-ing two wickets in the process.

At the top, Shubhman Gillhas failed to capitalise on hisstarts, while Rahul Tripathi hasnot gone past the 20-run markafter his brilliant 81 against theChennai Super Kings.

Nitish Rana has been prof-ligate and Karthik’s battingslot has been experimentedwith throughout the tourna-ment. Andre Russell andMorgan have also not been ableto make the kind of impactexpected from players of theircalibre.

The KKR bowlers did wellto fashion narrow victoriesagainst Kings XI Punjab and

CSK, but leaked runsagainst RCB and MI.To add to their woes,star spinner SunilNarine has beenreported for suspect

bowling action and he hasmissed two matches since then.

The Sunrisers, who occupythe fifth spot on the points tablewith just three wins from eightoutings, are also struggling.With the injuries ruling outpace spearhead BhuvneshwarKumar and all-rounderMitchell Marsh, the OrangeArmy is facing a conundrum ofwhether to strengthen theirbatting or their bowling unit, afact that skipper David Warnerconceded.

The team heavily relies onits batting unit, mainly on thetop four comprising JonnyBairstow, Warner, ManishPandey and Kane Williamson.

A cause of concern for theSunrisers is Rashid Khan’s form.After returning impressive fig-ures like 3/14, 0/12, 3/12, theAfghan leg- spinner remainedineffective in the team’s last twolosses. And skipper Warnerwill desperatelyhope that his starspinner finds hismojo back whichis imperativefor thet e a m ’ s success.

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MATCHES 18SUNRISERS HYDERABAD 07KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS 11

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RCB skipper Virat Kohli on Saturday called ABde Villiers the “most impactful player in IPL”

after the South African blasted a 22-ball 55 to setup an incredible win against Rajasthan Royals.

“AB is always been someone who’s been readyto look at the situation and adapt his game accord-ingly. In my eyes he’s the most impactful player inthe IPL,” Kohli said during the post-match presen-tation ceremony.

“If he goes, the opposition know they have a slimchance and there’s a good reason for that. It’s pure-ly because of the presence of someone like him thatteams feel we are never out of the game.”

“To be honest, you’re always tense in chasebecause you’re not sure how many balls AB is goingto get. Credit to Gurkeerat as well, he stuck with AB,got that important boundary. It doesn’t matter whothe bowler is, he does what he does.”

The seven-wicket victory takes RCB to 12 points— same as table-toppers Mumbai Indians and DelhiCapitals.

“The individuals are stepping up and we’ve beendone that all through the tournament, which is whywe have 12 points. Very happy right now becauseafter this we get three days off,” Kohli said.

Talking about his team, the Indian skipper said:“Our game pattern is very clear. Young Dev(Devdutt Padikkal) has batted beautifully, Finchy(Aaron Finch) has played some impact innings. Weunderstand the dynamics and we’re sticking to ourplans. The bowling has really stepped up this sea-son.

“(Chris) Morris has been brilliant, just that ener-gy he brings. (Navdeep) Saini, Washy (WashingtonSundar) and Isuru (Udana) as well, the bowling hascome together well.”

De Villiers, who was adjudged the Man of theMatch for his blistering knock, said he was nervousin the 19th over as he had to hit those big sixes toget his team home.

“I didn’t hit even one of them (sixes) off the mid-

dle. When Unadkat was bowling, I was looking legside but to be honest I was nervous because I knewI had to hit it well. Luckily I got a few away,” he said.

With four fifties, including a 33-ball 73 againstKolkata Knight Riders, the former South Africanskipper has been in rampaging form this IPL.

“I’m very very nervous and erratic (in chase)and I get very stressed like any player. I want to per-form for the team and show the owners I’m herefor a good reason.

“Last game I didn’t perform my role as well asI should have, but this time I did. It’s a cat and mousegame, I always respect the bowlers. If they bowl wellto me, they’ll have the upper hand.”

RR captain Steve Smith was crestfallen after yetanother defeat, their sixth in nine games.

“Sure it is a hard pill to swallow. Just got AB’dthere. That’s two in a row we were in the box seatto win but didn’t. Disappointing,” he said.

“I think it was a good score on a slow wicket.I thought we built the pressure pretty well and it tooka pretty special innings to take RCB home.”

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Faf Du Plessis hit his fourthhalf-century of the season

before Ambati Rayudu pro-duced another useful cameo asa collective batting effort pro-pelled Chennai Super Kings to179 for four against DelhiCapitals, here on Saturday.

Du Plessis (58) added 87runs with Shane Watson (36)after early fall of Sam Curran(0), setting it up nicely for theCSK.

Rayudu hit 45 off 25 ballswhile Ravindra Jadeja hit foursixes in his fiery 33-run knockas CSK collected runs in the lastthree overs. One of Jadeja’ssixes landed on the road outsidethe stadium.

They added 50 runs in 3.3overs during their unbeatenfifth wicket partnership.

While Watson relied on

safe ground-strokes consideringthe sluggish track Du Plessis didnot hesitate to improvise, play-ing a lot of scoop shots. Hepulled the short ones with ease.

Young pacer TusharDeshpande bowled a tight linewith decent speed and was

rewarded when Curran, with-out measuring the bowler,swung his arms but just man-aged a top-edge that was takenby Anrich Nortje (2/44).

The ball was stopping a biton the slow Sharjah wicket butafter four quiet overs, Du Plessiscreamed off 14 runs fromNortje’s first over, hitting hiscompatriot for a six and twofours.

Watson, using his experi-ence, got some quick runs byplacing the ball instead of goingafter the bowlers. His handlingof the both pacers and spinnerswas sensible as he kept thescoreboard moving.

Du Plessis completed hisfifty with a single of Nortje butWatson was castled by theSouth African in the next ball.

The Capitals batsmen didnot let off-spinnerRavichandran Ashwin take

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advantage of the slow surface, taking easyruns off him.

Rabada sent back Du Plessis whileNortje got rid of rival skipper MS Dhoni(3) but Rayudu and Jadeja helped the sidereach a competitive total.

knock that was laced with fivesixes and a four in KXIP’s winover Virat Kohli’s RoyalChallengers Bangalore.

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This year, 41-year-old ArpitaSarkar is relieved that rather thanbeing stuck for hours in traffic inthe month preceding Duga Puja,she has been able to commute

smoothly to and from office. “Things hadcome to such a head that we had decidedthat even though we hate spending thesedays away from Kolkata, we would do so,”she says. But a tiny miniscule virus hadother plans. So now, for the six days of thePuja, rather than engage in pandal-hopping,Arpita along with her family will cooksomething special at home, probably go to arelative’s house where children too would beable to catch up with their cousins. “That iswhat Pujo signified for us when we weregrowing up. Heading to Mama baari orBade Papa’s place with our parents is whatwe did as children. Even though, it is acommunity celebration, the crowds thathave become synonymous with Durga Pujaare not the essence of the festival,” says 41-year-old Arpita who works as an HR in amulti-national company in Kolkata andcounts dance and drama as her areas ofinterest. She often performs at the culturalprogrammes organised during Puja and thisyear she is recording the performancewhich is being put up jointly with otherartistes on YouTube channels.

Over the years, for Bengalis and non-Bengalis, Durga Puja came to be centeredaround how many pandals they hadhopped, which one displayed the besttheme and which Puja Committee was like-ly to win an award that year. The lament,especially among the older generation, wasthat the emphasis was now on an extrane-ous journey while the festival was more ofan inward cruise of devotion which hadgone completely missing. But nature oftenhas a way of setting humans on the path ofcourse correction, sometimes in the form ofa virus, only if they are willing to listen toits call.

Like every year, Ayandrali Dutta, traveland food writer who has made Delhi herhome for the past 12 years, will be makingher way back to Kolkata be a part of the168-year old ancestral Burrabazar MallickBari Durga Puja that is celebrated at herhouse. “Over the past five-six years, DurgaPuja has become a social media activitywhere you have to do a check in at all thepandals,” says Dutta who sees her annualhomecoming as something akin to theGoddess Durga’s return to her maternalhouse.

At Ayandrali’s, till last year, there wouldhave been around 300-400 people visitingand eating at her house. These would befamily friends, relatives, people who hadheard about the puja through word-of-mouth. “This won’t happen this year,” saysAyandrali firmly. While the aarti wouldtake place, the ceremonial conch would beblown but the place where the five-feet idolis placed would not be flocked with peoplewho had queued up for a dekko at the prati-ma. This year there would not be more thanfive-six at one time. But Ayandrali believesthat this was very much-required. “Weneeded to slow down and cut down on lot

of frills which we thought were an impor-tant part of life. After all, that is what wehave been doing during the past sevenmonths and it has done us a lot of good. Ithas made us realise that minimalism couldbe a part of life. Instead of 400 people eat-ing earlier, now there would be 50 and thatit is perfectly fine. If we are feeding forthe sake of charity, we can do it insome other place and in some otherway,” she says adding that Pujas hadbecome a larger than life affair.

While Ayandrali is muchyounger, Arup Sarkar, a retiredgovernment servant can recall atime when Pujas were simpleraffairs. “The budgets havebecome huge due to sponsorshipby political parties and corpo-rates. There is an excess of every-thing — lighting, theme, decora-tion. A lot of money is thrownaround on the display but the devo-tion that is needed is nowhere to befound. Earlier, the way the face wascrafted, the body made and the decora-tions done were exceptional. The idols weresimpler but they inspired devoutness. Thebhakti that came from the heart is no longerthere,” he says. He hopes for a return to thesimplicity of earlier times but is not relyingon the fulfilment of his wishes — even dur-ing the pandemic.

Arpita, a trained Bharatnatyam andOdissi dancer, too is not fond of the themepandals. “The competitions are a way ofshowing off how much money can besplurged. The focus is on making expensivepandals and political parties have jumpedinto the fray as well. When we wereyounger, we went to see the pandals everyyear. The idols and pandals were the sameeach year but they inspired devotion. Sincethey are so intricate and expensive now,there are many restrictions about where wecan sit and what we can touch so much sothat people are not able to enjoy them-selves,” she says.

Arup points out that earlier there was alot personal involvement. “The entertain-ment was different. Everyone from theextended family pitched in ensuring thatthe festivities went off smoothly. On thecultural side, someone sang, another onerecited. It was unparalleled anand,” he says.

Ayandrali too agrees that the complex-ion of Puja underwent a change as differentmembers of the household became busierand a lot of work was outsourced to people.“Earlier every member had a responsibilityto go and get the flowers, buy the vegeta-bles, decorate the house and more so therewas personal touch. Many of us no longerstay in Kolkata and when we return for Pujawe prefer to outsource the work and spendtime with family,” she says.

Of course, like contemporary times,earlier too pujas entailed dressing up to thenines; dhaaki players who by their rhythmicpercussions signalled the arrival of MaaDurga to her maternal home; the dhunochinaach made popular in the non-Bengalispeaking areas by countless Bollywoodfilms as well as pandal-hopping but it is the

new norms of social distancing that haveforced many to sit back and rethink aboutthe hijacking of this festival by Mammon.

The change had started around 25 yearsback when the concept of “theme puja”made an entry. From 1993-94 each of thepaara (area) began to conceptualise thepandal around a contemporary issue. It

could be questioning violence againstwomen while celebrating a goddess or

depicting the condition of refugees orcreating awareness about social issueof contemporary relevance. As thepandals grew in scale, awards startedbeing handed out for different cate-gories like best idol, lighting, deco-ration, social work and more. Toremain a contender in the competi-tions needed a scaling up of budgetsand corporate sponsorship or by

political parties entered the picture.And after that there was no looking

back as each year the magnificence andsize of the pandals grew and visitors

from and around Kolkata lined up. However, 48-year-old Sutirtha Basu, a

regional manager in a pharmaceutical com-pany has a different take. Sutirtha, whoused to visit nothing less than 50-60 pan-dals every Puja, feels that these gave artistesand craftspeople a platform to display theirtalent. “Artistes who conceptualise the pan-dals are from arts college and are really tal-ented. Depending on the theme, they getvillage artisans adept in crafts like mud,metal or others to make the pandals andgive them an opportunity to showcase theirability. An entire economy depends onDurga Puja. These people have tremendousflair but it was never exhibited,” he says andadds, “The awards are a recognition of thehard work and talent.” Not just the pandalsand idols but also the social work done byPuja Committee is rewarded.

Despite the changes, a bonedi puja orthe one celebrated at a Zamindar baari(home) like the one at Ayandrali’s ancestralhome, still maintains tradition. “Even ifthey do not assemble at any other time,they make sure to come during puja. Theydress up in traditional attire, wear the heir-loom jewellery and have cultural pro-grammes,” says Arup.

In fact, historically it was only thezamindar and other rich families who cele-brated Durga Puja at their homes. “Therewas no paara puja which started 100-110years back during the British Raj. Thezamindars objected to the paara pujas asearlier they had exercised a monopoly overorganising Durga puja. Being allowed tovisit one was considered to be a favourbestowed upon one. While all the paarapeople were not freedom fighters but theywanted that they should be able to expresstheir hatred against the British. So the asur(demon) in the pratima (idol) was depictedlike the British and the Goddess was shownto be killing him,” says Basu.

Fast forward to today. And whether wewould be able to annihilate materialism andimbibe the true spirit of the festival, thisyear and in the ones that follow, is a storythat is unfolding and yet to be written.

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The book Batla House writtenby former police officer KarnalSingh is a real thriller and goldmine of information on theanti-terror operations, history

and great analysis on the terror outfitstargeting India. Karnal Singh (IPS) whoretired as Chief of EnforcementDirectorate was the Chief of Special Cellof Delhi Police which conducted theencounter with Indian Mujahideen (IM)terrorists at Batla House in Delhi inSeptember 19, 2008. The terrorists werehiding in a flat in Batla House afterunleashing a series of terror attacks invarious places in Delhi six days ago onSeptember 13 evening by placing bombsin waste depositing boxes, which killed22 people and injured more than 130people. There were lot of controversiesand different versions and even a moviewas produced on the Batla Houseencounter, which was the finest precisionoperation of the Special Cell, the counterterrorism unit of Delhi Police.

After 12 years, the writer — KarnalSingh — the man who headed theencounter is declassifying the details ofcountry’s much talked about encounteroperation. Apart from thrilling momentsof the encounter declassified by the veryman who conducted the operation, thewriter explains how his trusted deputiescracked the case within six days of theserial blast which shook the Delhi onSeptember 13, 2008 evening. This bookalso details the personal life of policepersonnel and their sacrifices in familylife for the Call of Duty for the Nation.

Singh goes in detail about the life ofhis team members of the Special Cell,where the life of the policemen is always24x7. The blast day was a Saturday andthe writer, who was then JointCommissioner and head of the SpecialCell of Delhi Police, was helping youngerson in solving Maths problems. Whilerushing to the blast spot hearing the seri-al blasts in Delhi, he tells wife to callelder daughter, who was in the cityenjoying weekend with friends, backhome. In six days of hectic work, teamcracked down the hiding terrorists.There are many tearful moments in thebook when the writer talks about lateInspector Mohan Chand Sharma, wholost life in the encounter.

On September 18, a day before theoperation, Singh recounts getting callsfrom wife reminding him of their elderdaughter’s birthday. That very day, thewriter learns (from other colleagues) thatthe key officer Mohan Chand Sharma’s

son was in intensive care unit with acutedengue and dipping platelet counts.When he asked Sharma, the officerdimissed it saying wife and parents weretaking care of the child, and got back towork. ACP Sanjeev Kumar Yadav wholed the back-end team in the operationwas facing tussle with wife due to his latehours. On the day of the operation too,he had fought with his wife and upongetting a call from office did not thinktwice before leaving his wife mid way torush to office.

The writer details the lives of all histeam members giving due credits tothem, which is very rare in service sto-ries. From constables to officers, thebook details their role in the operation —unearthing the location of the hiding ter-rorists by tracing emails and mobilephones, using human intelligence,analysing the previous blasts in Jaipur,Ahmedabad, Surat etc. The writeracknowledges the role of each team matechecking the blast sites, explosive materi-als, forensic work and digital mapping tothe person and how they undertook therecce operations before the shootout.

The writer clears all the doubts onthe Batla House encounter in the minds

of many for the past 12 years. There weremany questions including why Sharmawas not wearing a bullet proof jacket. Intheir defence, it was a secret operationand the main team was disguised in plaincloth shirts. Batla House is a crowdedarea and densely populated by Muslims.As it was the festive season, the teamdecided to strike in the day, as manywould be trying to catch up on sleep postnight celebrations. Singh and teamreached the spot upon hearing about thebullet injuries of Sharma, requisitioningmore force and commandos. He detailshow he entered the encounter spot with asmall team, weaving their way throughnarrow bylanes, past angry crowds.

This book exposes the dark side ofIndian politics that works on appeasingminority vote bank. As all the terroristsbelonged to a community and hailedfrom Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh andshoot out location was a densely Muslimpopulated location in Delhi, the entirepolitical vultures were parading in theBatla House.

This book is full of so many interest-ing stories. One terrorist, who left thescene in the morning, got so frightenedupon hearing the news of the encounter

that he landed at a TV channel for liveshow in the evening. Nine bombs hadbeen planted and explosion and diffusiontook only in eight areas only. Explosionhappened at five areas and bomb diffu-sion happened in three areas. One bombdid not work and could not be identified.The email claiming the role by IndianMujahideen (IM) sent to media housesafter the first blast claimed nine spots.Book also explains back ground of manyterrorists, their role in money making byengaging in kidnapping for ransom,apart from role of radicalising agents.

The writer explains tough laws fordealing with terrorists. One such exam-ple is two days after the Delhi Blast, oneterrorist Aftab Ansari (already facingdeath conviction jailed in Kolkata for2002 American Centre) sent message toSingh saying he wanted to give details ofthe Delhi blasts. He had been caught bySingh in Delhi in 1995 and was jailed forsome years. Once out of jail, he master-minded the American Centre blast and isnow facing death conviction from 2005.After consulting Intelligence Bureau,Singh decided not to meet him inKolkata jail. This episode shows howflimsy are our laws in dealing terrorists

and Ansari is still on appeal against thedeath conviction. The writer argues fordifferent rules while arresting a personinvolved in terrorist cases. He says civil-ian norms on arrest can’t be applied to aterrorist, explain the loopholes in it.When a person is arrested, police is man-dated to inform relatives or near anddear ones. This is helpful for the otheraccomplices in the terror operations.

Singh explains the need for the maxi-mum possible information to be sharedwith media to avoid fake and wrong sto-ries. He explains in detail, how DelhiPolice suffered bad press due to the stop-page of press conferences by HomeMinistry and how he managed to handlethe media by calling people to provideright things.

He narrates how a lady journalist andher journalist husband gave valuableinputs on tackling wrong reports beingspread in media. The writer explains howhe met the Jamia Milia University ViceChancellor and appraised the exact infor-mation. Earlier the Vice Chancellordeclared legal help as some students werearrested. Actually the terrorists were liv-ing in garb of students and were doingprivate jobs. After an explanation by

Singh and DCP Alok Kumar with all evi-dences, the Vice Chancellor changed themind. The writer also explains how heconvinced then Union Minister KapilSibal with all details, when many rulingparty leaders were questioning the BatlaHouse encounter, as Delhi Assemblyelections and Lok Sabha elections werenearing. Sibal appraised the facts toPrime Minister Manmohan Singh thatday itself.

Apart from the thrilling narration ofa detailed probe on the blast and identi-fying the hidden terrorists in six daysand executing encounter in a crowdedarea, that too in daylight, this bookexplains many others aspects of policing.

This book is a classic book to beplaced in Police academies and librariesfor reference as it explains how to handleoperations and future cases on humanrights violation allegations and how toconduct trials. The book also details thehistory of terror outfits like SIMI, HuJi,IM and their linkages with Pakistan andits ISI funded training and how they rad-icalise the youth to work against India.Let us hope more declassifications willcome from Singh in the future throughmore books.

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The story of India’s wildlifesuccess is incomplete,unless its frontline warriors

are part of it. They are the firstline of defence in protectingIndia’s precious natural heritageand safeguarding its ecosystems.According to Sashidhar Vempala,author of first of its kind coffeetable book, titled The TigersBehind the Tigers, these men andeven women are the unsungheroes of India’s conservationsuccess story. Vempala is anacclaimed wildlife photographer,documentary filmmaker, conser-vationist and a sustainability pro-fessional. His films on conserva-tion topics and human wildlifeconflict, have won awards atinternational forums.

The book talks about thelives and stories of the forestguards, who are the real menbehind the conservation of tigersand the wildlife of India. The gistof six chapters of the book is thatthese men in khaki, patrolling thejungles are the real reason thetiger survives today.

All over India, 1,75,000 menand women serve the forests ofIndia, 24x7, striving to protectthe amazing natural habitat.Several lose their lives battlingpoachers of both wood and ani-mals, many are seriously injuredin animal attacks, but they go onwith a courage and valour that isinspirational. They have learntthe ways of the forest, the sounds,the animals tracks, the secretsand a sense of fearlessness,always bumping into the wildand that too, dangerous oneswhen on foot.

This book, published during

the Covid pandemic lockdownperiod, is a collection of picturesand the stories captured duringVempala’s work with them andhence it’s a tribute to these front-line forest protectors, who arealways at the frontlines of wildlifeprotection in our country.

In a recent conversation withAgenda, Vempala raised appre-hensions about the possibility ofthe big cat being susceptible toCoronavirus when Jim CorbettNational Park built quarantinewards. “But what about the forestguards? Are they still on duty?,”asked Vempala. But then he goeson to say most guards are underpermanent lockdown anyway.

Vempala in his book sayseach forest has a legend and eventhe vehicles have their stories. Herefers to one such instance in thedepartment bus at Kabini which

has many untold luck stories.Many, who cannot afford theexorbitantly high costs andmonopoly of Jungle Lodges andResorts, have to take this bus.The bus is considered extremelylucky in terms of a good sightingof the wilds when on board.

Each chapter deals with theimportance of the frontlineworkers, who have made it possi-ble to help tigers, lions, elephants,rhinos etc grow in numbers fordecades. Saving Tigers on Land,Saving Tigers in the Mangroves,Some Fauna They Save, HumanElephant Conflict, ConflictWithin and the Godspeed are thetitles which deal separately onsubjects and issues like economicvaluation of the tiger reserve,gene pool protection services,carbon sequestration, zone ofinfluence outside the reserve,

anti-poaching camps, theSunderbans mangroves, somekeystone species saved by thefauna alongwith hundred images.

While the book has notes onKaziranga, a separate chaptermakes for an interesting read onthe human elephant conflict.Vempala talks about a case studyin West Bengal where he men-tions that for many centuries, ele-phants have roamed the forest ofSouth West Bengal which has nonatural elephant/animal corridor.Yet, the elephants have passed ontheir knowledge of the routes totheir young ones.

Previously, the size of herd ofelephant was small —15-20, andtotal numbers of elephant thatroamed the zone was between 30and 45. This was for the period1970s-1980s when the forestcover was degraded to some

extent. But in recent time, in thelast 35 years, the zone hasimproved considerably in termsof green cover and the numbersof elephants have also increasedto more than 100.

The author narrates the sto-ries of women officers takingcare of Nature comprising thewild, the greens and the humansand their vested interests in keep-ing the cycle going. “No onewants to give up what they getand that’s why the solution canonly be collective and not con-flicting,” Vempala narrates, high-lighting that the conflict needsimmediate mitigation and theprotectors need their powers.

While it is understood thatanimals look for their own meals,there is an interesting chapter onhow the wild have their dedicat-ed cooks who besides making

their own meals, also cook forsmall animals to mighty ele-phants of the jungles.

In the last chapter, Vempalarues about the paltry wages ofthe guards risking the lives.World over, every year, morethan 100 rangers are killed inthe line of duty. India losesmore forest rangers each yearthan any other country in theworld. Yet, a forest guard inIndia is rarely felicitated or cele-brated.

The book urges us toacknowledge the work of theforest frontiers and details howthey work around the clock;what is a forest guards’ life likeand how they ensure that thetiger and all other wildlife isprotected in the forest. Thebook also mentions that the for-

est reserve runs on acute short-age of manpower and of availableapproved positions, they operateat 60 percent, going to as low as30 percent in some lesser impor-tant reserves. Daily wagers formthe bulk of the frontline forestforce and they supplement thepermanent staff of guards andforesters.

Such is Vempala’s passion forthe constituents of forest, that hefounded a nature conservationorganisation — GuardbookConservation Foundation —which works towards forest con-servation and supporting the for-est guards of India in their duties.Guardbook helps the forestguards not only with boots, jack-ets and torches but also withpowering up camps with solarenergy, setting up rainwater har-vesting pits and a lot more.

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����������������� ���������� �������� There are exigent issues in

Indian agriculture. India,despite being the largest milkproducer and second largestproducer of food in the world,has just 2.3 per cent share inglobal export market, with lowvalue addition. We process lessthan 10 per cent of agricultur-al produce and lose �90,000crore rupees annually due towastages. 44 per cent of Indianworkforce is engaged in agri-culture, contributing only 14per cent to GDP — keepingthese people tied in very low-income traps.

India’s agricultural pro-ductivity is drastically low evenas compared to global coun-terparts like BRICS; at Chineseyield levels, India could near-ly double its production orhalve the amount of landdevoted to cultivation — free-ing up that land for other pur-poses. So far, the Government’sstrategy to help the farmers hasbeen to provide subsidies, espe-cially the MSP and input sub-sidies. However, only 6 per centof the farmers have benefittedfrom the fruits of MSP, whichmostly happen to be the bigfarmers; farmers from onlyfew States like — AndhraPradesh, Punjab and Haryana;and mainly for wheat andpaddy. Another undesired off-shoot of the MSP policy is theexcess procurement of foodgrains by the Government — ithas to procure 90 per cent ofwheat from Punjab andHaryana — while 62,000tonnes of food grains was dam-aged in FCI warehousesbetween 2011 and 2017.

At the time of indepen-dence, facing food deficit, weneeded the targeted approachof MSP to increase the pro-duction of food grains.

Currently, while having foodsurplus, we are suffering withthe unsustainability of growingwater intensive food crops atthe lands ill-suited for them,owing also to free water andhighly subsidised electricity,resulting in alarming fall ofwater table in certain States,especially Punjab and Haryana.

If agriculture is to be madeprofitable, a focus on produc-tivity increase, crop diversifi-cation, exports and food pro-cessing is essential, while cre-ating infrastructure for min-imising losses.

The productivity trapThe productivity differ-

ence between the rainfed agri-cultural area and irrigated landsis immense. SwaminathanCommission stated that 60 percent of cropped area falls underrainfed agriculture contributingto only 45 per cent of total agri-cultural output. Thus, povertyis concentrated and food depri-vation acute in this area.

Agriculture is a very high-risk enterprise, much more sofor small and marginal farmerswhich form 86 per cent ofIndian farmer community andpossess land holdings of lessthan 2 hectares. It is difficult tomake agriculture profitable forthem because they are toosmall for the use of modernimplements, suffer from highinput cost due to lack ofeconomies of scale, leading tolow productivity. Only 40 percent of them manage access toformal credit, with low pene-tration of crop insurance. Thus,bearing the brunt of vagaries ofnature as well as market volatil-ity of food crops, stuck in thedebt trap of money-lenders;these farmers are pushed to sui-cide. In 2019 alone, around

10,000 farmers and farmlabourers died by suicide.

The Ashok DalwaiCommission has also calledproductivity increase as the sin-gle most important factor indoubling the income of mar-ginal farmer group.

Contract Farming and FPOsIn the recent policy initia-

tive, the Government has adopt-ed a two-pronged strategy:Contract farming and FarmerProducer Organisations (FPO).Contact farming will help thefarmers, especially small andmarginal farmers to access for-mal credit, modern implements,technical assistance, low costinputs and assured price at the

farm gate; thus, increasing cropproductivity, avoiding wastage,shielding the farmer from preand post-production risks.Another benefit of contractfarming is selection of cropsbased on agro-climatic and soilcondition of the area, makingthe agriculture sustainable.

FPOs are registered groupsof local farmers — especiallysmall and marginal ones — witha company like managementstructure. The function of FPOsis to help farmers in pre andpost production operationsfrom access to formal credit,inputs, technical assistance toprimary processing, market-ing, etc. They will also be wellplaced to negotiate over contract

farming or private purchase offood produce with private play-ers. They will be given monetarygrant and credit guarantee bythe Government to promotelocal produce. Government hasalso created AgricultureInfrastructure Fund (AIF) of Rs1 lakh crore for creating post-harvest infrastructure, whichwill be mostly functional by pro-viding interest subvention onsuch projects; and theGovernment intends to utilisethis Fund through the FPOs.

It will have to be seen howmuch of this vision is actuallyimplemented on the ground.The sustainability of the FPOs,post Government grant period,shall also be an area of concern.

State rights and APMCsAllegations of encroach-

ment of State rights and feder-alism are also being made asthe Central Government usedthe entry 33 of the ConcurrentList to bring out the farm Acts.It would be interesting to notethat none other than Prof MSSwaminathan, the biggest well-wisher of farmers’ rights inIndia, had recommended shift-ing agriculture to theConcurrent List and creation ofa single Indian agriculturemarket in his report in 2006.

While the APMCs wereformed for fair and transparentprice discovery for farmers,they have failed and succumbedto cartelisation, while becominghighly politicised. In return tothe mandi fee, the services pro-vided to the farmers are abysmal— with no cold storage facility,no facility for grading, sorting,packaging of food produce.Before the onset of e-NAM, thepan India e-trading portal bythe Central Government, andpush for mandis to connect —most weren’t providing e-trad-ing facilities. Ashok Gulati, anagricultural expert, has placedan important question in thepublic domain: instead of fear-ing the redundancy of APMCs,why don’t the StateGovernments take this oppor-tunity to make them a compet-itive option for farmers by pro-viding better services at lowerprice? In fact, we are seeing atrend to that effect –Karnatakahas greatly reduced the mandifee; Punjab and Haryana havereduced the mandi fee for basmati by 50% or more. So,the future of APMCs is tobecome more efficient andeffective and not be wrapped up,and States must work to thatregard.

Farmers vs corporatesThe reforms in agricul-

ture have also created certainareas of potential hazard tofarmer’s interests. As restrictionfor stocking up food isremoved, it can lead to bigretailers or corporates manip-ulate prices in the market,often to the disadvantage of thefarmers. In contract farmingalso, corporates can dictateprice to farmers and rejectproduce on the basis of quali-ty, shape, size, colour, etc. Samefear of less negotiating powerof farmers vis-à-vis big buyers,during sale of food produceeven outside APMC, exists.

Create Market RegulatorWhile capitalism has taught

the world that competitionimproves quality of options, weare equally aware of tendenciesof monopolies forming withoutany active oversight of State, ren-dering the competition neitherfree nor fair. Hence, an inde-pendent market regulator anddispute redressal forum (akin toTRAI and TDSAT) must be cre-ated for agricultural sector tocheck unfair practices by cor-porates and private players andprotect the interests of farmers.

Further, if the farmers areto be truly free and agricultureto be made profitable and sus-tainable — there’s still no alter-native to Government’s ownwork on the front of setting upcold chain for farmers in vil-lages, implementing more irri-gation projects, recharging ofaquifers, greater push to exten-sion services and primary pro-cessing at farms.

(The author is a public pol-icy analyst and a lawyer, analumnus of National LawUniversity, Jodhpur)

3 �� �����������$����������C����The sudden political unrest and

conflicts in former Soviet nationsare not accidental. The primary reasonis that all of them have suddenly ceasedto become a sphere of Russian influenceafter 1991. Kyrgyzstan, known as theonly democracy in Central Asia, has lit-erally turned herself into a mobocracyin a span of few days. The rag-tagOpposition backed groups are fastoccupying Government establishments,including the most prestigiousParliament building of the country.Currently, the protesters are appointingtheir favourites as mayors, ministers andeven Prime Minister. The only problemwith these self-declared or mob-appointed authorities is that all ofthem can be overturned by stronger andwell-armed groups again. So, therewould be no end to such chaos if it per-sists like this. The safe road ahead is tobring legitimate authorities back to theseat of power as per the law of the land.

However, Kyrgyzstan is no strangerto such calamities as its people had agood experience of Tulip Revolution of2005 and the resurgence of violence inthe year 2010. The Tulip Revolution isalso known as the First KyrgyzRevolution that led to the ouster ofPresident Askar Akayev in early 2005.Going back to the recent history of thecountry, what we find is the people ofKyrgyzstan had a strong yearning fordemocracy. The country conductedparliamentary elections on February 27,2005. The revolution started after theparliamentary elections when Askar’sallies came out victorious. But it wasalleged that the election was marred bywidespread election frauds. In fact, suchmalpractices were also confirmed by theOrganization of Security andCooperation in Europe (OSCE) afterthe election. Thus, a massive protestcampaign started to dislodge the cor-rupt and authoritarian regime ofAkayev, who had been ruling the coun-try since the 1990s. The revolution wasa turning point for Kyrgyz people as itmade them realise that democracy ispossible in their country.

The 2010 crisis took place becausePresident Kurmanbek Bakiyev wasousted from power in an uprising onApril 7, 2010. His stronghold in thesouth of Kyrgyzstan witnessed massiveviolence. During that time, the pro-Bakiyev supporters organised resis-tance to the interim Government led byPresident Rosa Otunbayeva by seizingGovernment buildings and taking offi-cials hostage. What added fuel to the firewas that the sizeable Uzbek communi-ty in the country backed the interimGovernment. Taking advantage of thepower vacuum, criminal gangs and

drug mafias aided in sparking com-munal violence in the southern city ofOsh between Kyrgyz and Uzbek groups.It forced thousands of Uzbeks to flee theregion. Most of them had fled toneighboring Uzbekistan only. As per theUN estimate nearly 4,00,000 peoplewere displaced during this violence. TheUN High Commissioner for Refugeesregarded the crisis as ethnic clashes. Butmany say that there was a strong ele-ment of Bakiyev in stoking violenceacross. But only this factor could hard-ly be blamed for mass killings and indis-criminate fighting among numerousgroups.

The current political turmoil start-ed only after the results of the parlia-mentary election held on October 4 wasdeclared. Interestingly, only four polit-ical parties out of 16 have crossed thethreshold to claim a seat in the coun-try’s Parliament called SupremeCouncil. This council was earlier knownas the Supreme Soviet of the KirghizSoviet Socialist Republic until 1991.Unfortunately, out of all these four par-ties, three are closely connected to rul-ing President Sooronbai Jeenbekov.None of the established Opposition par-ties has even secured a single seat inParliament. Therefore, all the 12Opposition parties have come togeth-er after the election to reject the results.That is how the current political dramaunfolded across the country, mainly inthe capital city of Bishkek. The prima-ry charges brought against the pro-Jeenbekov parties are vote-buying andvoter intimidation. For now, the author-ities have annulled the results of the dis-puted election, necessitating a re-run ofthe vote in the country of more than 6.5million people. What now the protest-ers are demanding is the immediateimpeachment of the President. A groupset up by several Opposition partiescalled as the Peoples CoordinationCouncil Opposition for now hasassumed all state powers and dissolvedthe Parliament. Meanwhile Parliamentagreed to nominate Opposition leaderSadyr Zhaparov for the post of PrimeMinister. He also aired his view that hewould propose a constitutional reformbefore holding presidential and parlia-mentary elections within two to threemonths from now. But he was uncer-tain about the backing of the coordi-nation council about his candidaturebecause there are strong differences ofopinions among all the allies. It wasabsolutely unclear when Parliamentcould be convened to approve hisappointment as Prime Minister. This alldemonstrates that the current situationis too fluid. And there is every possi-bility that some other leaders might also

claim key political offices. As PrimeMinister Kubatbek Boronov resigned,Jeenbekov called for an all-party meet-ing to resolve the political crisis.

Former President AlmazbekAtambayev might play a key role in thiscrisis. It’s very apparent from the seriesof events that have taken place in andaround Bishkek. The mob led byAtambayev’s son went to the StateCommittee for National Security andreleased his father from the prison.Therefore, Jeenbekov has termed thiscrisis as an attempt to seize power.Precisely, Zhaparov do not have aclean background and he was sentencedto prison for ten years for taking a per-son hostage. He is a former MP fromthe nationalist Ata Jurt Party. Aroundthe same time, some other notoriousleaders have also appeared in the scenejust to take the advantage of the chaos.Among them the most prominent oneMelis Myrzakmatov, who was a formermayor of Osh city, is now back from hisself-exile and started gathering hissupporters. He is well known for hisultra-nationalistic campaigns in theregion wherein ethnic clashes took placein the year 2010. Incidentally, he was themayor of the Osh when these conflictstook place there.

The problem at the heart ofKyrgyzstan is that it is the poorestnation of the former Soviet Union.There is an acute shortage of naturalresources in this country. But after thesudden collapse of the USSR, the coun-try became a gateway of trans-shipmentof Chinese goods for the whole post-Soviet republics. And the problem wasthat since the beginning, no singlegroup or leader could have monopolyover the country’s political landscape.It is only the coalitions that have beendominating the political scene so far.But ironically, there is no broad con-sensus among all these coalition groups.And again, those who were not includ-ed in the coalitions have also been ableto exert control over some pocketsacross the country.

Another issue is that in most of theCentral Asian Republics, the power ofthe First Secretary was brought topractice. But this did not materialise inboth Kyrgyzstan and in Tajikistan. Asa result in Tajikistan, the absence of anefficient leadership led to bloody civilwar in that country. When it comes toKyrgystan, the power calculation wasinitially stable, but gradually the fissureshave come to the fore. In fact, frequentchanges of leadership have led to fiercepolitical competition. Many a time,there is insufficient legitimacy of peo-ple who are occupying the corridors ofpower in Bishkek. These have added to

what we have witnessed today inKyrgyzstan.

At present, it’s simply mob rule.Now, to be pragmatic, Bishkek needs tofind a way to hold a fresh parliamen-tary election. But the worst-case sce-nario could be a fresh civil war. Thechances of such a catastrophe are toohigh. Too many groups are claiming andre-claiming their leaders as genuine rep-resentatives of the people. Better forKyrgyz people is to see that situationremains under control. The plain andclear message for both the vigilante andthe activists is not to destroy publicproperties in the days to come. After allthese are public assets. No one will gainanything by smashing public squares.Of course, they represent symbols ofpower and authority. But in reality, theyare run by the politicians. Henceinstead of crushing the physical struc-tures, it is better to change the leaders.And bring back true leaders so that theywould be able to safeguard commoninterests. Finally, it’s high moment forJeenbekov and the rest of the politicalfolk display complete sense and sensi-bility to save the fragile democracy ofthis former Soviet republic.

(The writer is an expert on international affairs)

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'���'����$������ �� ���������Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-

1898) is generally misun-derstood as a rabid commu-nalist or, at best, a parochialactivist who promoted Westerneducation among his co-reli-gionists by founding in 1877Muhammadan Anglo-OrientalCollege which grew intoAligarh Muslim University in1920. He was a social reformerwho sought to improve morale,education and infuse criticalthinking and scientific spiritamong his country people.Several articles in his Urduperiodical, The AligarhInstitute Gazette, are illustrativeof his concern for social reformand enlightenment among theHindus of the day.

In his following piece witha telling title, “Hindus tooshould visit England” (AligarhInstitute Gazette, 27 April1866), against the backdrop oftheir reservations about seavoyage, he advises: “We rec-ommend all Indians, particu-larly the competent lawyers, toundertake a visit to England.We should make it a point tosponsor the visit of talented,sincere persons of integrity toEngland. They will learn therethe norms of governance. Theirinteraction with the Britishpublic figures will be ofimmense benefit to India andIndians.”

Equally sagacious is hisfollowing advice to Hindubrethren, published in AligarhInstitute Gazette, October 29,1868: “Your plight is owing toyour low morale while youkeep blaming others. Wouldyou like to remain in the samemess forever? We believe thatif Hindus persist in their super-stitions, other communities inthe country will outpace themand assume honour and power.Hindus will only then regret,full of remorse. We are confi-dent that their giving up super-stitions will accrue to themvery rich dividends.”

Against the backdrop ofthe British policy of “divide andrule” by creating discordamong Hindu and Muslims, heinstructed them to live in har-mony. “India is inhabited by theadherents of many religions.Hostility on the grounds oftheir religious diversity marstheir relationship. They haveturned more antagonistic toone another by the day. As cit-izens of the same country let ushave cordial relations, good

conduct and treat one anotherwell as fellow countrymen. Wecannot have a single religion forthe whole country. However,this should not give rise tointolerance and bigotry…WeIndians are afflicted with suchsectarian hostility that we haveturned into foes, forgetting allof our common ties. Thoseguilty of it are utterly foolish.This foolishness will disgraceus and our country.”

Female infanticide, remar-riage of widows as a taboo, andchild marriage vitiated the thenHindu society. Far fromdemonising Hindus and plac-ing the blame at the door ofHinduism, Sir Syed exhortedthem to reflect on these issuesand act in a logical, humaneway: “Our fellow countrymenoppose the remarriage of wid-ows. So doing, they violate thelaws of nature. This prohibitionis against the will of the creatorof this world.”

On receiving reports aboutcordial inter-caste programmesin Punjab, he delightfullyremarked: “We are proud ofthose gentlemen in Punjabwho have eliminated inter-caste segregation and forged abond among all. Let our otherHindu brethren emulate thispractice. This will bring aboutreal progress and happiness inour country.”

He spoke highly of thoseBhargavas, Thakurs, Vaishyas,Chaturvedi’s, Chaubeys, Jatsand Brahmins who had set upeducational institutions inAgra, Bareilly, and westernUP: “Out Hindu brethren haveexcelled us, while we sit idly.They have paid special atten-tion to promoting education.”

Equally gratified he was tonote Rajputs having mealstogether with members of othercastes, as mentioned in AligarhInstitute Gazette, January 3,1873: “In Jaipur, food wasserved. All of them sitting onthe same table took it. Rajputs joined, without anyreservation.”

Being an educationist, herealised the importance ofinteraction and academic excel-lence which could take thecountry to greater heights. Heurged: “Let all patriots note thatif you have a sincere love ofyour country, you shouldencourage overseas education.This will sensitize our youths tothe latest happenings in theworld, boost their morale and

reinforce their confidence.”Sir Syed had cordial rela-

tions, notwithstanding occa-sional ideological differences,with the leading reformers ofthe day. He paid glowing trib-utes in his writings and speech-es to Raja Ram Mohan Roy(1774-1823), Dadabhai Naoroji(1825-1917), Sir Surender NathBanerji (1848-1925), KeshabChandra Sen (1834-1884),Swami Dayanand Saraswati(1824-1883) Lala Lajpat Rai(1865-1928), Raja Shiv Prasad (1824-1985) andBhartendu Babu HarishChandra (1850-1885).

Sir Syed brought out foryears an Urdu periodical aptlytitled Tahzeebul Akhlaq (SocialReformer) which upheld theideals of pluralism, peacefulcoexistence, critical thinkingcivic sense and self-respect. Inthe words of noted historianProfessor Mushirul Haque, “Asa Muslim, he considered it hisduty to help the Muslims; as anIndian, he made it a point towork for the good of the wholecountry. There was no ambi-guity in his concept of nation.”

(The writer is a Professor ofEnglish. Presently, he is Directorat UGC Human ResourceDevelopment Centre, AligarhMuslim University)

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Acouple of years back, a very dearfriend sought appointment for hisestranged wife. Though they had

separated, they remained good friends.The lady offered her birth particulars,based on which her astrological chartwas drawn. I, then, drew the chart at themoment of consultation. The rulingplanets emerging at that that momentdid not match with those of the chartdrawn against birth particulars providedby her. It implied that the birth particu-lars were not right. In the Krishnamurtysystem, there is a proven method tocheck whether the birth chart is right. Ithen asked the lady: “Are your birth par-ticulars correct?” “Yes”, she affirmed.There was no fun in arguing with her. So,I made all my observations based onwhat the chart drawn at the moment ofconsultation reflected. After havinganswer to her questions, she satisfactorilywent home. She then called up andthanked ex-husband for leading her to agood astrologer.

My friend then called me informingthat the lady was quite happy with you.He then asked me: “Please tell me thebirth particulars she furnished.” He wasleft aghast when I shared the birth par-

ticulars she had furnished. “Sir, she gaveyou wrong birth particulars. It was theone given to me at time of marriage tohide her actual date of birth. Later, Ifound her true horoscope. How come,your observations were so apt, eventhough she did not furnish her true birthparticulars?” “Well, I ignored the birthchart, and instead counted on what theastrological chart at the moment of con-sultation reflected”. I replied.

“How can the chart drawn at themoment of consultation reveal her stateof affairs so correctly?” He countered.“Remember, there is continuum in time.What one is faced at a particularmoment is culmination of doing andundoing in the past. Seeded in the pre-sent moment is how future is expected tounfold. The chart at the moment of con-sultation, reveals what prevails in yourmind, and the way it is going to progressin the emerging times. If you know thatyou are planting a mango seed, beingaware of its chemistry, you may be ableto figure out the timeline of its progres-sive growth. The astrological chart at themoment makes aware of the potentialseeded in mind, which makes it possibleto foresee the impending future events.”

We are often faced with such chal-lenging encounters in our professionallife, particularly in marriage matching. Ithas been observed that many parents ofgirls in marriageable age, fudge theirbirth particulars so that it matches withthe groom’s chart, to seal the marriage.They though hasten their girl’s marriage,but with what end? In their rush to shedtheir responsibility, they don’t care fortheir own daughter’s marital happiness.When problems arise, the groom sidecomes with the question: “Sir, we haddone matching before the marriage. Yet,why is it not working?” When crosschecked, it comes out that the girl’s chartwas incorrect.

Recently, I came across such a situa-tion when hassled parents of a newlymarried son came the other day withtheir charts. They asked me to suggestsome puja that may help restore his mar-ital happiness. Well, marital discord isalways because of attitudinal differencesof the partners. So, problem is seeded intheir minds. How can any pundit invadetheir mind space through puja to makenecessary attitudinal correction? Theyhave to self-correct themselves to ensuremarital happiness.

A look into the boy’s chart revealed

that he had an inflated ego — bound byhis own self-defined do’s and don’ts —coming as it may with Mars conjunctUranus, opposite Jupiter. He can’t digestanything happening at variance with hisown beliefs and perceptions. Being tact-less and undiplomatic, his ill-timed andill-framed reactions often unnerves oth-ers. When I looked at the girl’s chart, itwas found fudged. After making neces-sary correction, the chart revealed hertrue nature.

She was born in Gemini lagna. Thesign lord Mercury conjunct Sun andJupiter were in the lagna, opposite erraticUranus, mischievous Neptune andSaturn in the marriage signifying 7thhouse. Debilitated Moon was oppositeVenus. It implied that the girl lived in herown delusionary perceptions, distancedfrom ground realities. She wished to liveexclusively on her own terms, least both-ered about other’s sensibilities and con-cerns. Her sense of reasoning and judg-ment would be impaired. If things don’tmove her way, she may go wild. Theresult is there to see.

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