˘ ˇ ˆ...fresh attack on a BJP worker in the area on Sunday. ... worker identified as Abdul Hameed...

12
T he Government on Sunday announced an import embargo on 101 items to give a major boost to the Indian defence industry. This move towards self- reliance will see the domestic players manufacturing weapons ranging from artillery guns to missiles and assault rifles to name a few. They will also be expected to bag orders worth over 4 lakh crores over the next seven to eight years as the Army, IAF and Navy will be procuring world class weapon systems developed and manufactured within the country. The negative list or the embargo will commence from December this year in a grad- ed manner and continue till 2024 as the Services are now amidst negotiating deals with foreign vendors. As defence deals take relatively longer time compared to other contracts, the Government has gone in for timeline for stopping imports. Making the important announcement about the import embargo, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said here it is a big step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat (self- reliance) in defence. In a series of tweets, he said the Defence Ministry has pre- pared a list of 101 items for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timeline indicated against them. The Minister also said the Defence Ministry has also bifurcated the capital procure- ment budget for 2020-21 between domestic and foreign capital procurement routes. A separate budget head has been created with an out- lay of nearly 52,000 crore for domestic capital procurement in the current financial year, he said. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a call for a self-reliant India based on the five pillars, i.e., economy, infrastructure, system, demog- raphy & demand and announced a special econom- ic package for Self-Reliant India named 'Atmanirbhar Bharat.' Taking cue from that evo- cation, the Ministry of Defence prepared the list, said Rajnath, adding it will offer a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to manufac- ture the items by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting the technologies designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Elaborating upon the pol- icy, the Minister also said almost 260 schemes of such items were contracted by the Tri-Services at an approximate cost of 3.5 lakh crore between April 2015 and August 2020. "It is estimated that contracts worth almost 4 lakh crore will be placed upon the domestic industry within the next 6 to 7 years," he said. Of these, items worth almost 1,30,000 crore each are anticipated for the Army and the Air Force while items worth almost 1,40,000 crore are anticipated by the Navy over the same period. Singh said more equip- ment for import embargo would be identified progres- sively by the Department of Military Affairs in consultation with all stakeholders. The list also includes, wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) with indicative import embargo date of December 2021, of which the Army is expected to contract almost 200 at an approximate cost of over 5,000 crore, he said. The Defence Ministry offi- cials said the embargo on imports is planned to be pro- gressively implemented between 2020 and 2024. The aim is to apprise the Indian defence industry about the anticipated requirements of the Armed Forces so that they are better prepared to realise the goal of indigenisation. D elhi's own school educa- tion board is expected to be operational by next year, however, unlike other States it will not be imposed on Government schools, accord- ing to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Giving details of plans for setting up the state education board, Sisodia said the board will be in sync with the reforms proposed in the new National Education Policy (NEP) and the focus will be on continuous evaluation and not year-end exams. "We have recently set up two committees for working on the proposed board as well as curriculum reforms. An ideal situation would be that we make it operational by next year. Initially, around 40 schools will be affiliated to the board, which could be either Government or private," Sisodia told PTI in an interview. “We will have no imposi- tion. It will be optional for both government and private schools,” he said. D MK MP Kanimozhi on Sunday said a Central Industrial Security Force offi- cer asked her if she was an Indian, when she asked the woman official to speak in Tamil or English. "Today at the airport a CISF officer asked me if 'I am an Indian,' when I asked her to speak to me in Tamil or English as I did not know Hindi. I would like to know from when being Indian is equal to knowing Hindi. #hindiimposition," Kanimozhi who is also the DMK's women's wing secretary said on her twitter handle. A number of social media users replied supporting her, with one of them saying, "I am an Indian and Hindi has noth- ing to do with it! #hindiimpo- sition Pass it on!. According to party sources, the incident occurred in Chennai when the MP was at the airport to board a Delhi flight in the afternoon. I n a move to direct financial support and to empower the farmers of the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday electronically trans- ferred 17,100 crore to the bank accounts of over 8.5 crore farmers as part of the PM- KISAN scheme. The Prime Minister also launched the agriculture infra- structure fund with a capital of 1 lakh crore for agri-entre- preneurs, startups, agri-tech players and farmer groups for post-harvest management and nurturing farm assets through a video conference on the occasion of "Balram Jayanthi", a day when farmers worship plough. The first sanction of over 1,000 crore was made to over 2,280 farmers under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. Speaking on the occasion, Modi said no middlemen or commission was needed as the amount went straight to farm- ers. He also expressed satisfac- tion because the objective of the scheme was fulfilled. "17,000 crore of PM- Kisan Samman Nidhi have been deposited into bank accounts of 8.5 crore farmers with a single click. No middle- men or commission, it went straight to farmers. I am satisfied because the objective of the scheme is being fulfilled," PM Modi said during the launch of a financing facil- ity for farmers. E leven members of a family of Pakistan Hindu migrants were found dead at a farm in Rajasthan's Jodhpur district on Sunday morning, police said. A member of the family, however, was found alive out- side the hut they lived at Lodta village of the Dechu area, over 100 km away from Jodhpur city, an officer said. "But he claimed to have no idea about the incident, which believed to have happened in the night," said Superintendent of Police (Rural) Rahul Barhat. "We are yet to ascertain the cause and means of death. They appeared to have com- mitted suicide by consuming some chemical in the night," Barhat said. He said there was a smell of some chemical in the hut, suggesting they consumed something. The family belonging to the Bhil community had come to India from Pakistan's Sindh province in 2015 on a long- term visa. They had been living at the Lodta village farm, which they had hired for farming, for the past six months. “There was neither any injury mark on any of the bod- ies nor any evidences of any foul play,” the SP said. "But we have roped in a forensic team and a dog squad before arriving at any conclu- sion," he said. Preliminary investigation indicated that there was some dispute in the family over some issue. "Once we interro- gate the survivor, we would be in a position to find out what had led to this incident," he said. G rassroot workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are turning out to be “sit- ting ducks” in Kashmir valley in the absence of adequate secu- rity cover for even those who figure on the “hit list” of ter- rorists and fearing for their lives , about one dozen BJP workers have so far resigned from the membership of the party recently. Four party workers from Budgam resigned following fresh attack on a BJP worker in the area on Sunday. It is learnt the BJP workers have forwarded their letters of resignation to SSP Budgam and District President Budgam BJP. Budgam BJP president Aga Mohsin told reporters the letters of resignations of four BJP workers are in circulation on WhatsApp. “I will talk to them regard- ing their resignations," he added. According to a police spokesman, a BJP worker hail- ing from Budgam was shot at and critically injured by ter- rorists. He was out for a morn- ing walk when terrorists tar- geted him. This is the third incident in the valley in the last one week. On August 6, BJP sarpanch Sajad Ahmad Khanday was killed in Vessu village of Qazikund block in South Kashmir's Kulgam district. On August 4, BJP Panch Arif Ahmad was also critical- ly wounded after terrorists fired at him in Akhran Qazigund. According to a police spokesman, at about 6.30 am terrorists fired upon a BJP worker identified as Abdul Hameed Najar, son of Mohammad Jamal. "The BJP worker was shifted to SMHS hospital Srinagar for treatment where his condition is stable," police spokesman added. T he Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sum- moned actress Rhea Chakraborty, accused of abet- ting film star Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide, to appear before it again on Monday in an ongoing money laundering probe. Rhea was grilled for eight hours on Friday, while her brother Shouwik was ques- tioned for 18 hours on Saturday. The questioning con- tinued till Sunday morning. Shouwik is also an accused in the abetment to suicide case now taken over by the CBI from the Bihar Police. Shouwik's statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and his questioning centred on his personal busi- nesses, income, investments and financial dealings with his sister and the late film star. Besides Rhea, the ED has also summoned her father and co-accused Indrajit Chakraborty to appear before it on Monday. On Friday, the ED had briefly questioned Shouwik and Indrajit besides the actress' Chartered Accountant (CA) Ritesh Shah and business man- ager Shruti Modi, who also worked for Rajput. As part of the money laundering probe, the ED is looking into the financial deals involving the accused actress, her father and brother who are directors in two companies that are under the agency's gaze. The ED is seeking to estab- lish Rhea's income, invest- ments, business and profes- sional deals as the probe so far has shown mismatch between her income, expenditure and investments, they said. A s India breached 2 million Covid-19 cases on Friday and just in three days from then it has added two lakh more cases, taking the overall count well past 22 lakh cases on Sunday death in a day increased to 1,000. The country has started recording more than 60, 000 cases every day, and death toll are above 900 on daily basis. The way India is adding new cases and death, by the end of this month, the country could have around 3.5 million cases and nearly 75,000 deaths. Aparts from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka and West Bengal have started reporting huge number of cases on daily basis. With several States still not carrying out adequate number of tests, the caseload could go up substantially when the testing is ramped up. On Sunday, the country saw its highest single day death count of around 1,000 with Maharashtra alone reporting 390 deaths during the last 24 hours. Maharashtra reported 12,248 new cases, 390 deaths, while 13,348 patients dis- charged today. The total posi- tive cases in the State rose to 5,15,332 including 3,51,710 recovered patients and 17,757 deaths. Active cases stood at 1,45,558. Mumbai reported 1,066 new positive cases and 48 deaths, while situation in Dharavi remained under control. Tamil Nadu accounted for 119 deaths as there was no let up in the number of positive cases fatalities being reported from various places in the state, which recorded 5,994 new cases. This is for the eleventh day in a row Tamil Nadu is testing less than 6,000 persons per day. On August 1, the State had 5,879 patients while the num- bers came down to 5,875 on August 2 and 5,609 on August 3. Though the number further came down to 5,063 on August 4, since the last five days it has been showing hike in the num- ber of positive cases. A major fire broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning at Hotel Swarna Palace in Vijayawada, which had been converted into a Covid Care Centre (CCC). At least ten people are feared dead in the mishap besides several others who were injured, according to author- ities. The building was hous- ing Covid-19 patients who were mildly symptomatic and those who did not require hospitalisation. Ramesh Hospitals has taken Swarna Palace Hotel located in Vijayawada was transformed into temporary Corona hospital to treat Covid-19 patients. The flames suddenly start- ed in the hotel at about 4.45 am in the early hours on Sunday and the fire tenders started rescue operations at 5 am. S caling up testing capacity in the country, over seven lakh sam- ples have been examined for Covid-19 in a day taking the cumulative tests conducted so far to 2,41,06,535, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday with recovery rate rises to 68.78 per cent. T aking a dig, Congress leader and former Home Minister P Chidambaram said the Defence Minister promised a 'bang' on a Sunday morning and ended with a 'whimper.' The only importer of defence equipment is the Defence Ministry. Any import embargo is really an embargo on oneself. What the Defence Minister said in his historic Sunday announcement deserved only an Office Order from the Minister to his Secretaries! Import embargo is high sounding jargon. What it means is we will try to make the same equipment (that we import today) in 2 to 4 years and stop imports thereafter!, the Congress leader said in a series of tweets.

Transcript of ˘ ˇ ˆ...fresh attack on a BJP worker in the area on Sunday. ... worker identified as Abdul Hameed...

Page 1: ˘ ˇ ˆ...fresh attack on a BJP worker in the area on Sunday. ... worker identified as Abdul Hameed Najar, son of Mohammad Jamal. "The BJP worker was shifted to SMHS hospital Srinagar

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The Government on Sundayannounced an import

embargo on 101 items to givea major boost to the Indiandefence industry.

This move towards self-reliance will see the domesticplayers manufacturingweapons ranging from artilleryguns to missiles and assaultrifles to name a few.

They will also be expectedto bag orders worth over �4lakh crores over the next sevento eight years as the Army, IAFand Navy will be procuringworld class weapon systemsdeveloped and manufacturedwithin the country.

The negative list or theembargo will commence fromDecember this year in a grad-ed manner and continue till2024 as the Services are nowamidst negotiating deals withforeign vendors. As defencedeals take relatively longer timecompared to other contracts,the Government has gone infor timeline for stoppingimports.

Making the important

announcement about theimport embargo, DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh saidhere it is a big step towardsAtmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliance) in defence.

In a series of tweets, he saidthe Defence Ministry has pre-pared a list of 101 items forwhich there would be anembargo on the import beyondthe timeline indicated againstthem.

The Minister also said theDefence Ministry has alsobifurcated the capital procure-ment budget for 2020-21between domestic and foreigncapital procurement routes.

A separate budget headhas been created with an out-lay of nearly �52,000 crore fordomestic capital procurementin the current financial year, hesaid. He said Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has given a callfor a self-reliant India based onthe five pillars, i.e., economy,infrastructure, system, demog-raphy & demand andannounced a special econom-ic package for Self-Reliant Indianamed 'Atmanirbhar Bharat.'

Taking cue from that evo-cation, the Ministry of Defenceprepared the list, said Rajnath,adding it will offer a greatopportunity to the Indian

defence industry to manufac-ture the items by using theirown design and developmentcapabilities or adopting thetechnologies designed anddeveloped by the DefenceResearch and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO).

Elaborating upon the pol-icy, the Minister also saidalmost 260 schemes of suchitems were contracted by theTri-Services at an approximatecost of �3.5 lakh crore betweenApril 2015 and August 2020. "Itis estimated that contractsworth almost �4 lakh crore willbe placed upon the domesticindustry within the next 6 to 7

years," he said.Of these, items worth

almost �1,30,000 crore each areanticipated for the Army andthe Air Force while items worthalmost �1,40,000 crore areanticipated by the Navy overthe same period.

Singh said more equip-ment for import embargowould be identified progres-sively by the Department ofMilitary Affairs in consultationwith all stakeholders.

The list also includes,wheeled Armoured FightingVehicles (AFVs) with indicativeimport embargo date ofDecember 2021, of which theArmy is expected to contractalmost 200 at an approximatecost of over �5,000 crore, hesaid.

The Defence Ministry offi-cials said the embargo onimports is planned to be pro-gressively implementedbetween 2020 and 2024.

The aim is to apprise theIndian defence industry aboutthe anticipated requirements ofthe Armed Forces so that theyare better prepared to realisethe goal of indigenisation.

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Delhi's own school educa-tion board is expected to

be operational by next year,however, unlike other States itwill not be imposed onGovernment schools, accord-ing to Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia.

Giving details of plans forsetting up the state educationboard, Sisodia said the boardwill be in sync with the reformsproposed in the new NationalEducation Policy (NEP) andthe focus will be on continuous

evaluation and not year-endexams.

"We have recently set uptwo committees for working onthe proposed board as well ascurriculum reforms. An idealsituation would be that wemake it operational by next year.Initially, around 40 schools willbe affiliated to the board, whichcould be either Government orprivate," Sisodia told PTI in aninterview.

“We will have no imposi-tion. It will be optional for bothgovernment and privateschools,” he said.

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DMK MP Kanimozhi onSunday said a Central

Industrial Security Force offi-cer asked her if she was anIndian, when she asked thewoman official to speak inTamil or English.

"Today at the airport aCISF officer asked me if 'I aman Indian,' when I asked her tospeak to me in Tamil orEnglish as I did not knowHindi. I would like to knowfrom when being Indian isequal to knowing Hindi.#hindiimposition," Kanimozhiwho is also the DMK'swomen's wing secretary saidon her twitter handle.

A number of social mediausers replied supporting her,with one of them saying, "I aman Indian and Hindi has noth-ing to do with it! #hindiimpo-sition Pass it on!.

According to party sources,the incident occurred inChennai when the MP was atthe airport to board a Delhiflight in the afternoon.

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In a move to direct financialsupport and to empower the

farmers of the country, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onSunday electronically trans-ferred �17,100 crore to thebank accounts of over 8.5 crorefarmers as part of the PM-KISAN scheme.

The Prime Minister alsolaunched the agriculture infra-structure fund with a capital of�1 lakh crore for agri-entre-preneurs, startups, agri-techplayers and farmer groups forpost-harvest management andnurturing farm assets througha video conference on the

occasion of "Balram Jayanthi",a day when farmers worshipplough.

The first sanction of over�1,000 crore was made to over2,280 farmers under theAgriculture InfrastructureFund.

Speaking on the occasion,Modi said no middlemen orcommission was needed as theamount went straight to farm-ers.

He also expressed satisfac-tion because the objective ofthe scheme was fulfilled.

"�17,000 crore of PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi havebeen deposited into bankaccounts of 8.5 crore farmerswith a single click. No middle-men or commission, it wentstraight to farmers.

I am satisfied because theobjective of the scheme is beingfulfilled," PM Modi said duringthe launch of a financing facil-ity for farmers.

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Eleven members of a familyof Pakistan Hindu migrants

were found dead at a farm inRajasthan's Jodhpur districton Sunday morning, policesaid.

A member of the family,however, was found alive out-side the hut they lived at Lodtavillage of the Dechu area, over100 km away from Jodhpurcity, an officer said.

"But he claimed to have noidea about the incident, whichbelieved to have happened inthe night," said Superintendentof Police (Rural) Rahul Barhat.

"We are yet to ascertain the

cause and means of death.They appeared to have com-mitted suicide by consumingsome chemical in the night,"Barhat said.

He said there was a smellof some chemical in the hut,suggesting they consumedsomething.

The family belonging tothe Bhil community had cometo India from Pakistan's Sindhprovince in 2015 on a long-term visa.

They had been living at theLodta village farm, which theyhad hired for farming, for thepast six months.

“There was neither anyinjury mark on any of the bod-ies nor any evidences of anyfoul play,” the SP said.

"But we have roped in aforensic team and a dog squadbefore arriving at any conclu-sion," he said.

Preliminary investigationindicated that there was somedispute in the family oversome issue. "Once we interro-gate the survivor, we would bein a position to find out whathad led to this incident," hesaid.

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Grassroot workers of theBharatiya Janata Party

(BJP) are turning out to be “sit-ting ducks” in Kashmir valley inthe absence of adequate secu-rity cover for even those whofigure on the “hit list” of ter-rorists and fearing for their lives, about one dozen BJP workershave so far resigned from themembership of the partyrecently.

Four party workers fromBudgam resigned followingfresh attack on a BJP worker inthe area on Sunday.

It is learnt the BJP workershave forwarded their letters ofresignation to SSP Budgamand District President BudgamBJP. Budgam BJP presidentAga Mohsin told reporters theletters of resignations of fourBJP workers are in circulationon WhatsApp.

“I will talk to them regard-ing their resignations," he

added. According to a policespokesman, a BJP worker hail-ing from Budgam was shot atand critically injured by ter-rorists. He was out for a morn-ing walk when terrorists tar-geted him.

This is the third incident inthe valley in the last one week.

On August 6, BJP sarpanchSajad Ahmad Khanday waskilled in Vessu village ofQazikund block in SouthKashmir's Kulgam district.

On August 4, BJP PanchArif Ahmad was also critical-ly wounded after terroristsfired at him in AkhranQazigund.

According to a policespokesman, at about 6.30 amterrorists fired upon a BJPworker identified as AbdulHameed Najar, son ofMohammad Jamal. "The BJPworker was shifted to SMHShospital Srinagar for treatmentwhere his condition is stable,"police spokesman added.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has sum-

moned actress RheaChakraborty, accused of abet-ting film star Sushant SinghRajput's suicide, to appearbefore it again on Monday inan ongoing money launderingprobe.

Rhea was grilled for eighthours on Friday, while herbrother Shouwik was ques-tioned for 18 hours onSaturday. The questioning con-tinued till Sunday morning.Shouwik is also an accused inthe abetment to suicide casenow taken over by the CBIfrom the Bihar Police.

Shouwik's statement wasrecorded under the Preventionof Money Laundering Act(PMLA) and his questioningcentred on his personal busi-nesses, income, investmentsand financial dealings with hissister and the late film star.

Besides Rhea, the ED has

also summoned her father andco-accused IndrajitChakraborty to appear beforeit on Monday.

On Friday, the ED hadbriefly questioned Shouwikand Indrajit besides the actress'

Chartered Accountant (CA)Ritesh Shah and business man-ager Shruti Modi, who alsoworked for Rajput.

As part of the moneylaundering probe, the ED islooking into the financial dealsinvolving the accused actress,her father and brother who aredirectors in two companiesthat are under the agency'sgaze.

The ED is seeking to estab-lish Rhea's income, invest-ments, business and profes-sional deals as the probe so farhas shown mismatch betweenher income, expenditure andinvestments, they said.

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As India breached 2 millionCovid-19 cases on Friday

and just in three days fromthen it has added two lakhmore cases, taking the overallcount well past 22 lakh caseson Sunday death in a dayincreased to 1,000.

The country has startedrecording more than 60, 000cases every day, and death tollare above 900 on daily basis.

The way India is addingnew cases and death, by theend of this month, the countrycould have around 3.5 millioncases and nearly 75,000 deaths.

Aparts from Maharashtra,Andhra Pradesh and TamilNadu states such as Bihar,Uttar Pradesh, Assam,Karnataka and West Bengalhave started reporting hugenumber of cases on daily basis.

With several States stillnot carrying out adequatenumber of tests, the caseloadcould go up substantially when

the testing is ramped up. On Sunday, the country

saw its highest single day deathcount of around 1,000 withMaharashtra alone reporting390 deaths during the last 24hours. Maharashtra reported12,248 new cases, 390 deaths,while 13,348 patients dis-charged today. The total posi-tive cases in the State rose to5,15,332 including 3,51,710recovered patients and 17,757deaths. Active cases stood at1,45,558.

Mumbai reported 1,066new positive cases and 48 deaths,while situation in Dharaviremained under control.

Tamil Nadu accounted for119 deaths as there was no letup in the number of positivecases fatalities being reportedfrom various places in the state,which recorded 5,994 newcases.

This is for the eleventh dayin a row Tamil Nadu is testingless than 6,000 persons per day.On August 1, the State had5,879 patients while the num-bers came down to 5,875 onAugust 2 and 5,609 on August3. Though the number furthercame down to 5,063 on August4, since the last five days it hasbeen showing hike in the num-ber of positive cases.

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Amajor fire broke out in theearly hours of Sunday

morning at Hotel SwarnaPalace in Vijayawada, whichhad been converted into a

Covid Care Centre (CCC). Atleast ten people are feareddead in the mishap besidesseveral others who wereinjured, according to author-ities. The building was hous-ing Covid-19 patients whowere mildly symptomatic andthose who did not requirehospitalisation.

Ramesh Hospitals hastaken Swarna Palace Hotellocated in Vijayawada wastransformed into temporaryCorona hospital to treatCovid-19 patients.

The flames suddenly start-ed in the hotel at about 4.45am in the early hours onSunday and the fire tendersstarted rescue operations at 5am.

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Scaling up testing capacity in the country, over seven lakh sam-ples have been examined for Covid-19 in a day taking the

cumulative tests conducted so far to 2,41,06,535, the UnionHealth Ministry said on Sunday with recovery rate rises to 68.78per cent.

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Taking a dig, Congressleader and former Home

Minister P Chidambaram saidthe Defence Minister promiseda 'bang' on a Sunday morningand ended with a 'whimper.'

The only importer ofdefence equipment is theDefence Ministry. Any importembargo is really an embargoon oneself. What the DefenceMinister said in his historicSunday announcementdeserved only an Office Orderfrom the Minister to hisSecretaries!

Import embargo is highsounding jargon. What itmeans is we will try to makethe same equipment (that weimport today) in 2 to 4 yearsand stop imports thereafter!,the Congress leader said in aseries of tweets.

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Page 2: ˘ ˇ ˆ...fresh attack on a BJP worker in the area on Sunday. ... worker identified as Abdul Hameed Najar, son of Mohammad Jamal. "The BJP worker was shifted to SMHS hospital Srinagar

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The outbreak and increasingnumber of covid-19 infec-

tions in Gurugram and adjoin-ing district is already puttingincreasing pressure on thehealthcare system in the city.

Another challenge for thecity’s health facilities to deal withInfectious Medical Waste whichis increasing day by day and ifit’s not dealt with properly soonthe city could turn an epicenterfor infectious diseases in the statedue to inadequate facilities forbiomedical waste management.

According to data avail-able, there are more than 220hospitals, nursing homes andother health facilities that areoperational in the city and havea combined strength of 13,183beds. Keeping this in mind,there is only a single wastemanagement unit for the treat-

ment of waste generated bythese hospitals.The waste fromthese health facilities is thenincinerated at a common bio-medical waste treatment facili-ty in Sector 37.

The National Centre forDisease Control (NCDC) andthe Central Pollution ControlBoard (CPCB) has issued guide-lines for the safe handling anddisposal of Covid-19 relatedwaste.

As per the guidelines ofCPCB recommend one wastemanagement unit on every 10thousand beds. On the otherhand the district health depart-ment having expanded its test-ing criteria and capabilities forCovid-19, the quantity of bio-medical waste generated due tothe pandemic is set to increasemanifold. Solid WasteManagement Rules, 2016, andthe BioMedical waste

Management Rules, 2016restricts the occupier (hospitals,Nursing homes and other biomedical waste generator) forensuring treatment and dispos-al of generated biomedical wastethrough a Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment andDisposal Facility (CBWTF),located within a distance of 75KM.

Guidelines permit oneCBWTF on every 10 thousandbeds in a radius of 75 KM. If thislimit of beds exceeds, a newCBWTF should be establishedin the region.

“Few health care facilities inthe district are following the nec-essary procedure, which helps ustrack how much waste is gener-ated and how much is treated,”said an official in the HaryanaState Pollution Control Board(HSPCB), on the condition ofanonymity.

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With an aim to strengthenthe Aam Aadmi Party

before municipal corporationelections, senior leader andminister Gopal Rai on Sundayappointed Lok Sabha in-charge,district in-charge, district com-munication in-charge andassembly observers at all the 70assembly constituencies as partof restructuring the organisa-tion.

Rai said that the party willappoint the in-charge for all the70 assembly constituencies inthe second phase. “The AAP isworking on restructuring theorganisation keeping in mindthe upcoming MCD election,”he said.

In the second phase, AAP

will appoint the in-charge forall the 272 wards, Rai said,adding that in the restructur-ing process, priorities are givento the leaders who have workedhard during the 2020 DelhiAssembly election and also inthe difficult time of COVID 19pandemic.

The restructuring processis happening from the top to

the booth level," he said."Today we have appointed

Lok Sabha in-charge, districtin-charge, district communi-cation in-charge and assemblyobservers at all the 70 assem-bly constituencies. In the sec-ond phase, we will appoint thein-charge for all the 70 assem-bly constituencies. In the thirdphase, we will appoint the in-charge at all the 272 wards," hesaid.

The municipal electionswill be held in 2022. In 2017,the AAP lost the MCD elec-tions. However, in the assem-bly elections this year, theArvind Kejriwal-led AAP won62 seats and the BJP baggedeight seats in the 70-memberDelhi Assembly, while theCongress drew a blank.

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Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Sunday inau-

gurated a 200-bedded hospitaldedicated to treat Covid-19patients in Ambedkar Nagar onSunday.

Speaking at the inaugura-tion of a hospital, Kejriwalsaid the COVID-19 situation inDelhi is under control and therecovery rate is improving. “Incase the situation takes a turnfor the worse, the Govern-ment is fully prepared to dealwith it,” he said."The hospitalwas conceived in 2013. It is a600-bed hospital. We are inau-gurating the first 200 beds and

all the beds will have oxygensupply which will be used forthe treatment of COVID-19patients," Kejriwal said at thelaunch event.

On the COVID-19 situa-tion in Delhi, the chief minis-ter said that the situation isunder control, all parametersgood, recovery rate is improv-ing, positivity ratio is reducingand deaths have reduced," hesaid.

Kejriwal said that therewas no big hospital here or innearby districts. “Starting today,200 beds at the AmbedkarNagar Hospital have beenmade available for coronaviruspatients. All these beds have

oxygen facilities. Otherwise,this hospital has a capacity of600 beds," he said.

“The hospital will furtherbecome operational in its fullbeds capacity and ICUs in thecoming days. The 200 bedswhich will be made operationalfrom today will be a huge aidin the treatment of Coronapatients,” he said.

Talking about the para-meters in Delhi, he said that therecovery rate is improvingwhile the positivity ratio anddeath rate are decreasing.“There are fewer patients whorequire hospitalization.

Even though the situationis under control in the city, stillthe government is all preparedto deal with any situation," hesaid.

The Chief Minister hadalso inaugurated a 450-bedDelhi government hospital inBurari last month to deal withCovid-19.

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After a health inspector ofthe Municipal

Corporation of Dehradun(MCD) was found to beCovid-19 posit ive onWednesday last week, thetest of about 10 employeeswho possibly came in contactwith the patient was carriedout.

While talking to ThePioneer, the Dehradunmayor, Sunil Uniyal 'Gama'said on Sunday that there isno report of any new Covid-19 positive case in the munic-ipal corporation so far sincethe health inspector wasfound positive for the disease.Moreover, the officials stated

that the municipal commis-sioner, Vinay Shankar Pandeyhad directed all the 10 sus-pected contacts of the Covidpositive health inspector tostay in home quarantine aftertheir samples were taken forthe test and even though noone has been tested positivetill now, they will continue toremain in home quarantinefor the next few days.

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Though Chinese made deco-rative lights were popular

during Deepawali and otherfestive occasions, this year, theDehradun collectorate build-ing will be decorated with theLED light strings made by thewomen of Self Help Groups(SHGs) on the occasion ofDeepawali. Before that, somebuildings will be illuminatedwith these lights on the occasionof Independence Day.

The chief development offi-cer (CDO) Nitika Khandelwalsaid that thousands of womenare being provided training andemployment opportunitiesunder the National RuralLivelihood Mission (NRLM).She said that the training helpswomen to develop a skill set todo a job properly when they

actually commence a profes-sional task. She added thatSHGs are involved in variouskinds of work including take

home ration (THR) packaging,makings cotton masks and LEDlight strings. She further addedthat about 2,685 SHGs are cur-

rently associated with this pro-gramme and this number willcontinue to grow in the future.As informed by the project

director of District RuralDevelopment Agency (DRDA),Vikram Singh, more than 25,000women are working in SHGs inassociation with the districtadministration.

He further added that thetraining for making these LEDlight strings is being provided atthe growth centre in Thanoarea.

Moreover, Singh stated thatto promote and motivate thework of the women of theseSHGs, the collectorate buildingwill be decorated this year onoccasion of Deepawali withthese LED light strings.

Singh informed that pro-duction of about 2,000 LED lightstrings is currently under processand some of these will be usedto decorate some buildings onoccasion of Independence Dayon August 15. .�'���'�������/���������������������$�� ������/������� %�������������

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Punjab on Sunday reported atotal of 987 fresh cases of

the novel coronavirus besides24 deaths, taking the state’sCOVID-19 tally to 23,903 anddeath toll to 586.

Despite imposition of nightcurfew, Ludhiana continues toregister spike with nine deathsand 319 fresh cases in the past24 hours — breaching 5000-mark. With this, the district’stally stood at 5,203 (22 percentof the total positive cases in thestate) with 173 deaths (30 per-cent of the total deaths in thestate).

Besides Ludhiana,Amritsar reported four deaths,while three casualties werereported in Bathinda, two eachfrom Kapurthala and Jalandhar,and one each from Barnala,Gurdaspur, SAS Nagar(Mohali) and Sangrur.

Patiala district also regis-tered a spike with 204 freshcases, followed by 79 inJalandhar, 76 in Amritsar, 59 inMoga, 41 in Bathinda, 37 inFatehgarh Sahib, 29 inGurdaspur, 22 in SBS Nagar(Nawanshahr), 20 in Sangrur,18 in Ropar, 16 in Ferozepur, 14

in Barnala, 12 each inKapurthala and SAS Nagar(Mohali), eight in Hoshiarpur,seven in Pathankot, six each inMansa and Tarn Taran, and fivein Muktsar.

As many as 27 police per-sonnel — nine from Ludhiana,eight from Bathinda, five fromGurdaspur, four from Moga,one each from Sangrur,Nawanshahr, and Tarn Taran— were among the fresh pos-itive cases reported on Sunday.

Besides six prisoners —three from Bathinda, two fromMoga, and one from Ludhiana;nine healthcare workers, onefrontline worker from TarnTaran, other than 16 with trav-el history to other states andcountries were among the freshcases reported in the past 24hours.

As many as 459 patients —133 from Amritsar followed byLudhiana (90), Gurdaspur (52),Sangrur (50), Taran Tarn (35),Fatehgarh Sahib (25),Kapurthala (23), Fazilka (20),SAS Nagar (10), Hoshiarpur(7), Barnala (6), Mansa (4),Muktsar (3) and Moga (1) —were discharged on Sundayafter recovering from the dead-ly contagion. With this, the

total number of recoveries hasgone up to 15,319 — account-ing for 64 percent of the totalcases, with the state still having7,998 active cases (34 percentof the total positive cases) ofwhich 131 patients are on oxy-gen support, and 22 are criti-cal and on ventilator support.

In Ludhiana, a 19-year-old coronavirus positive girl,who was a patient of congeni-tal heart blockage, died whileundergoing treatment atLudhiana’s Dayanand MedicalCollege and Hospital. Earlier,the girl had tried to run awayfrom Ludhiana Civil Hospital’sisolation ward on Friday, as shewanted a smartphone but thefamily had refused.

HARYANA REPORTSNINE DEATHS, 792 CASES

Haryana on Sunday report-ed yet another spike with 792fresh COVID-19 positive casesand nine fatalities. With this,the state’s tally of positive casesreached 34781 and the total tollstood at 483. Five deaths werereported from Yamunanagar,two in Kurukshetra and oneeach in Faridabad and Sonepatin the last 24 hours. The

worst-affected district in thestate-Faridabad district hasreported a maximum of 150positive cases on Sunday cross-ing 10000-mark.

The total cases in the dis-trict were 10129 while 141deaths have been reported tilldate. Other two worst affect-ed districts namely Gurugramand Sonepat have so far report-ed 9728 and 3209 cases respec-tively. Gururgam has reported125 COVID-19 deaths whileSonepat recorded 43 fatalities.

“Out of 792 fresh cases, 150were reported from Faridabad,93 from Karnal, 80 fromGurugram, 55 from Panipat, 53from Sonepat, 52 from Ambala,20 from Hisar, 39 fromKurukshetra, 48 from Sirsa, 43from Yamunanagar, 32 inPanchkula, 37 from Palwal, 27from Mahendragarh amongother cases.

Out of critical patientsadmitted in the hospitals, 122patients were on oxygen sup-port while 25 were on ventila-tor,” the Haryana HealthDepartment’s evening bulletinstated. According to the bul-letin, the fatality rate is record-ed at 1.16 percent in Haryana.The case-doubling rate in

Haryana on Sunday stood at 28days, COVID positive rate was5.64 per cent and recoveryrate was recorded at 83.54 per-cent. 34781 patients including750 in the last 24 hours haverecovered and have been dis-charged from hospitals in thestate. There were a total of 6371active cases in Haryana till theevening.

As many as 7.44 lakh sam-ples have been tested till datein Haryana. The report of 5781samples is awaited, the bulletinadded. Notably, HaryanaGovernment has establishedplasma banks at Faridabad,Gurugram, Panchkula andRohtak.

A total 595 number ofplasma units have been col-lected from COVID 19 recov-ered patients till date and 291COVID-19 patients have beengiven plasma therapy treat-ment till now, as per the bul-letin. Apart from this, inten-sive sampling of COVIDthrough rapid antigen testingkits are being done inGurugram, Faridabad, Sonepatand Jhajjar, the bulletin furtheradded.

C H A N D I G A R H

RECORDS HIGHEST SIN-GLE DAY SPIKE OF 89CASES

The union territory ofChandigarh on Sunday wit-nessed the highest single-dayspike with 89 fresh COVID-19cases and one more residentsuccumbed to the virus. Thetotal cases crossed 1500-markand stood at 1515 till theevening while the toll hadreached 25. There were 585active cases in the city till theevening.

Earlier, it was on August 5when the city had witnessed itsprevious highest single-dayspike with 64 fresh COVID-19cases. “A 32 years old female,resident of Sector 32, expired ather house on August 7. She wasa known case of heart diseaseand was suffering fromJaundice and Ascites also.

She was sampled postdeath for COVID 19 and hasbeen reported as positive,” stat-ed Chandigarh HealthDepartment’s evening bulletin.

The bulletin stated, “Out of89 fresh infections, 60 weredetected through RT-PCRwhile 29 were found throughantigen testing.

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The COVID-19 which hadhit Chandigarh in the

month of March helped heal theenvironment to an extent butironically just like the globaltrend, the city has also witnesseda surge in single-use plasticwaste.

Days back, social mediawas abuzz with pictures of cleanskies of Chandigarh but nowworrying pictures of glut of dis-carded single-use masks, gloves,shoe covers, bottles of hand san-itizer, other personal protectiongear, cups, cutlery, plates, waterbottles among other items hasled to fresh health and envi-ronmental concerns.

The environmentalists feelthat with wearing a face maskbecoming a new normal toprotect ourselves from the con-tagious COVID-19, the depen-dence on single-use plastic as asafety measure has also signif-icantly increased, leading to areversal trend in ChandigarhAdministration’s push to phaseout single-use plastic items inthe city.

In Chandigarh, three sepa-rate notifications have beenissued by the UTAdministration since Septemberlast to impose a ban on a vari-ety of single-use plastic productsin the city.

The UT’s notification datedSeptember 27, 2019 hadimposed a ban on single useplastic cutlery, thermocol or sty-rofoam cutlery, single use plas-tic containers, plastic (sold inthe name of silver/aluminium)bag/pouch for packing fooditems, drinking water sealedglasses and plastic mineral waterpouch, single-time use razors,single-time use pens amongother items.

In January this year, theAdministration had issued afresh order extending the ambitof ban on single-use plasticproducts, banning industrialpacking (of any kind) less than50 microns, single use plasticcontainers (used for curd, kheer,ice creams etc) less than 250microns used for packaging ofdairy items, plastic sachets usedin cosmetic, ketchup and toi-letries having quantity of 30 ml

and less, and plastic sticks for earbuds, balloons, flags and can-dies. Later in July, theAdministration had includedplastic refill pouches havingquantities less than 500 ml,straws attached with tetra packs,and multilayered plastic used forfoods or snacks packing underextended producer responsi-bility (EPR) instead of puttinga ban on them.

Nevertheless, the itemswhich are banned have nowmade a comeback in the city asthe focus is shifted entirely onusing single-use plastic as a safe-ty measure against COVID-19.

A city-based environmen-talist Paveela Bali while talkingto The Pioneer said, “Theimportance of single-use PPEfor healthcare workers is not dis-puted. But from shopkeepers tosalons, everybody is now usingsingle-use plastic items whichare banned in the city. When wego to salons, they hand overplastic covers to the customersfor shoes and plastic bags forkeeping their belongings.Several shopkeepers are givingcustomers single-use plasticgloves before they enter theshops. Eateries and other shopsare also using plastic carry bagsfor home-delivery.”

“Not only this, as morepeople are wearing personalprotective equipment in theirdaily lives, they are discardinggloves and masks all over streets,parks and parking lots. This isnot only a health hazard butenvironmental hazard as well,”said Paveela, who had played amajor role in the stay over thecontentious Tribune Flyoverproject in Chandigarh.

Maintaining that theAdministration has miserablyfailed to keep a check on viola-tions of ban on single-use plas-tic items, she said, “We cannotignore such environmental haz-ards under the garb of COVID-19. It’s been more than fourmonths now and the plastic pol-lution problem is snowballing asthere is no focus on safe disposalof bio-medical waste, no inspec-tions are being conducted bysanitary inspectors to checkthe violations of ban and pub-lic’s environmental conscious-ness is also lost.”

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Page 3: ˘ ˇ ˆ...fresh attack on a BJP worker in the area on Sunday. ... worker identified as Abdul Hameed Najar, son of Mohammad Jamal. "The BJP worker was shifted to SMHS hospital Srinagar

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The contagion of the novelCoronavirus (Covid-19) in

Uttarakhand is continuing tosurge with a worrying momen-tum. On Sunday, eight patientsof the disease were reporteddead while 230 new patientssurfaced in the State.

The death toll from the dis-ease has now climbed to 125while the tally of the patientsaffected by the disease hasscaled to 9632. On the day, 171patients of the disease weredischarged from different hos-pitals of the State.

A total of 6134 patients haveso far recovered from the dis-ease and the recovery percentstood at 63.68 on the day. Thedoubling rate of the disease isnow 23.46 days.Three patients(75 and 37 year old females anda 61 year old male) were report-ed dead at All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS)Rishikesh on Sunday. Similarly

three patients (70 and 66 yearold females and a 73 year oldmale) were reported dead atGovernment Doon MedicalCollege (GDMC) hospital.

A 50 year old female wasreported dead at MahantIndiresh hospital while a 75 yearold male was reported dead atMetro hospital Haridwar.Haridwar district continues to

reel under the onslaught of thedisease with the state healthdepartment reporting 127 casesof the disease on Sunday. InDehradun 34 and in UdhamSingh Nagar 19 patients werereported on the day.

Similarly 16 patients cameup in Nainital, 11 in Tehri, eightin Rudraprayag, seven inChampawat, four in Uttarkashi,

three in Pauri and one Chamoliwere reported.

The State now has 3334active patients of the diseasewith Udham Singh Nagar at thetop position in the table of activecases with a count of 934.Haridwar is at second positionwith 895 active cases.

Nainital is in third positionwith 580 active cases while

Dehradun is in fourth positionwith 336 active patients ofCovid 19. Uttarkashi has 137,Pithoragarh 102, Tehri 76, Pauri74, Champawat 67, Bageshwar51, Almora 33, Chamoli 25and Rudraprayag 24 active caseseach of Covid-19.

The spike in the number ofCovid-19 cases in Uttarakhandcan be understood from the factthat in the week ending onSunday (August 8) maximumnumbers of weekly cases (1955)were reported by the authorities.

A time of 21 weeks haselapsed ever since the first caseof the disease was reported onMarch 15. The previous highestin a week was 19 week when1685 cases were reported.

On a worrying note 34deaths were reported in theweek that has just ended whichtoo is the highest in aweek.Incidentally the 21st weekalso saw a maximum number oftests as authorities tested swabsamples of 31732 persons.

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The agri infra fund willstrengthen the agricultural

sector and a self-reliant agri-culture sector will pave the wayfor Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). Stating this, thechief minister Trivendra SinghRawat said that the economy ofthe nation can be provided aboost only by according prior-ity to rural economy.

The role of agriculture andfarmers is of vital importancefor this purpose, said Rawatwhile thanking Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for announcingRs one lakh crore agri infrafund.

The Chief Minister furthersaid that the Prime Ministerhad also released the sixthinstalment of the PM KisanSamman Nidhi. A sum of Rs17,000 crore has been releasedfor this fund. This will direct-

ly benefit 8.5 crore farmersacross the nation. A sum of Rs2,000 each will be depositeddirectly in their bank accounts.The release of funds under PMKisan Samman Nidhi will alsobenefit the farmers inUttarakhand. So far a total of8.33 lakh farmers have beenregistered under this scheme inUttarakhand.

The CM further said thatthe State Government too hasinitiated various importantschemes for the farmers.Farmers are being provided

interest free loan of upto Rsthree lakh while self helpgroups are being providedinterest free loan of upto Rs fivelakh. Similarly, various initia-tives have been taken by theState government in the animalhusbandry, horticulture, herbalcultivation, pisciculture andother related sectors.

The Government of Indiahas approved the Uttarakhandintegrated horticulture devel-opment scheme worth Rs251.71 crore.

Further, for weather basedcrop insurance scheme, thedamage caused to apples fromhail has also been included inthe risk factors. Similarly, anaroma valley is being developedto encourage cultivation ofaromatic plants in the State.Work is also being undertakenfor new tea plantations on1,000 hectares in the comingfive years, added the CM.

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The State Government hasdeclared Gairsain as the

summer capital of Uttarakhandbut has not taken any concretesteps, not even put a signboard tothis effect in the area. FormerChief Minister Harish Rawatsaid this after reaching Gairsainalong with other Congress lead-ers on Sunday.

Talking to the media on theoccasion, Rawat said, “We havecome here to ask Chief MinisterTrivendra Singh Rawat, where isthe summer capital. Not even asignboard about Gairsain beingthe summer capital has been putup in three months since the

announcement was made. Thereis no sign of the Governmenthere. The meaning of a capital isthe Government but there is nosign of the Government machin-ery here.

At least some ministers andsecretaries should sit and work inGairsain so that we feel that atleast the summer capital is tak-ing shape. However, far from it,not even preparations are visiblehere.

It has remained as it waswhen our Government left it in2017 only one notification onpaper has been brought out aboutit being the summer capital.”Theformer CM further said, “We ask-ing the state government to hon-

our the notification and bring thegovernment here.

The State Governmentshould also make a roadmap onhow to facilitate important thingsneeded to make this the summercapital. However, even signboardshave not been put up on the road-sides in prominent locationsleading to the summer capitalGairsain.

This makes it appear as if thedeclaration was merely symbol-ic. Little more has been done hereby the State Government after thebuildings we had made here.

We had released money forconstruction of the secretariat butthe current State Government hasstalled that work too. Whenever

we came here we managed tomake the Government take somesteps. The first time we demon-strated in Gairsain, the StateGovernment was made to holdthe assembly session here andafter the second time we camehere the State Governmentbrought out the notification.

We hope that considering thestrong public sentiment on thisissue, the State Government willnow take some concrete stepstowards establishing the summercapital in Gairsain,” said Rawat.

Senior party leaders GobindSingh Kunjwal, Anusyua PrasadMaikhuri and others were alsoamong those present on theoccasion.

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The condemned buildingsin the city continue to

endanger the lives and prop-erty of people residing inthem and nearby, especiallyduring the rainy season.

After a building collapseincident in Chukkhuwalaarea last month, theMunicipal Corporation ofDehradun (MCD) claimedto have issued notices to theoccupants of condemnedbuildings listed by the cor-poration.

In addition to this, theMCD also pasted noticeson these buildings to raisepublic awareness and

encourage people to leavesuch dilapidated buildings assoon as possible. TheDehradun municipal com-missioner Vinay ShankarPandey has stated that thecases of about 32 such build-ings are pending in the courtdue to the owner-tenant dis-putes but considering thedanger these buildings canpose to lives and property,the MCD would keep its sidebefore the court to clarifyhow much risky it is to letthese buildings exist any-more.

At that time, the officialshad also stated that after giv-ing 15 days time to vacate 16undisputed condemned

buildings, the cor-poration will takeaction by com-mencing the proce-dure of demolishingsuch buildings withthe help of districtadministration andpolice.

However, nosuch action has beentaken by the corpo-ration. On being asked aboutthis matter, the deputymunicipal commissioner,Rohitash Sharma said thatthe corporation had alreadyissued the notices to theoccupants of these buildingsin July because corporationis aware of damage these

buildings can cause to thelives and property. The pro-cedure of taking the next stepin this matter is underprocess and in next fewdays, MCD will take actionagainst the undisputed con-demned buildings inDehradun, added Sharma.

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Page 4: ˘ ˇ ˆ...fresh attack on a BJP worker in the area on Sunday. ... worker identified as Abdul Hameed Najar, son of Mohammad Jamal. "The BJP worker was shifted to SMHS hospital Srinagar

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Aday before the launch ofthe 2,300-km optical fibre

cable connectivity project inAndaman & Nicobar, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi saidon Sunday that the UnionTerritory would be developedas a hub of 'blue economy' and'high-impact' projects would bedeveloped in 12 islands.

The Prime Minister wasinteracting with BJP workers ofAndaman and Nicobar Islandsthrough a video conference inthe presence of party presidentJ P Nadda.

The meeting comes a daybefore inauguration of thesubmarine optical Fibre cableconnecting Chennai and PortBlair which would provide fastinternet to the archipelago.

The submarine cable,which will also connect PortBlair to Swaraj Dweep(Havelock), Little Andaman,Car Nicobar, Kamorta, Great

Nicobar, Long Island, andRangat of the Island group, isexpected to transform life inthe remote Island includingdefence, business and tourismsectors.

An estimated 2,300 km ofsubmarine optical fibre cablehas been laid at an expenditureof about �1,224 crore and theproject has been completedwell within deadline.

“The internet connectivi-ty in Andman and Nicobar willgo through a sea change afterthe inauguration of the facili-ty on Monday. This will facil-itate online education, tourismand business in the island,” saidthe Prime Minister who alsopointed to the strategic loca-tion of its ports which he saidare established in “competitivedistance” with many placesand countries.

He said “high-impact pro-jects would be developed in 12islands” and Andaman andNicobar would emerge as a“blue-economy” front in thecountry.

Addressing the workers,Modi again stressed on “do gajki doori” and the importanceof wearing facemask to keepaway coronavirus. “We need toinsist on these two things andalso spread awareness...”, thePrime Minister said.

Modi said in the time ofpandemic it is important that“dialogue should continue”with all and “ we should beuseful for all”.

During the interaction,party workers described tothe Prime Minister how theyprovided food and medicalaid to people stuck in theisland during the lockdown.Modi praised their efforts inserving the distressed people inthe island during the coron-avirus pandemic saying “youhave passed with f lyingcolours”.

He asked party workers tocontinue their work with thespirit of ‘Seva hi sanghthan’motto.

The total number of coro-navirus patients in Andamanand Nicobar Islands reached1,222 on Saturday. The UnionTerritory has 778 active cases,while 425 have been cured ofthe disease so far. In all, 19patients have died in theislands.

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Ahead of the RajasthanAssembly session,

Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot has appealed toall MLAs to listen to the voiceof people to save democracyand stand with the truth in theinterest of people of the State.

In a letter to all MLAs,Gehlot sought their coopera-tion in fulfilling the promisesof development and prosperi-ty of the State. “It is my appealthat you should listen to thevoice of people in order toavoid wrong tradition, to main-tain people's trust in us and tosave democracy,” Gehlot said inthe letter.

The Assembly session inthe State, which has been wit-nessing politicial turmoil afterthe rebellion by former DeputyCM Sachin Pilot and legislatorsloyal to him, will start onAugust 14. Gehlot is likely toseek a trust vote during the ses-sion

Pilot was sacked as deputyChief Minister and the presi-dent of the State unit of theCongress after he and someMLAs loyal to him rebelledagainst Gehlot. Many believethat Gehlot still has an edge inthe numbers game and is con-fident of a majority.

“You may be a legislatorfrom any political party, you

should ensure and take a deci-sion after understanding voter'sfeeling that how a people'selected government continuesto work strongly for state'swelfare,”, he said, emphasisingthat efforts to destabiliseGovernment are not succesful.

The Chief Ministerexpressed faith that legislatorswill act in the larger interest ofpeople of the state and willcooperate in fulfilling thepromises of development andprosperity.

In the three-page letter theChief Minister also wrote aboutthe novel coronavirus pandem-ic besides mentioning “attemptsto topple his Government”. Thesenior Congress leader also saidthat former Prime Ministers -Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi,Atal Bihari Vajpayee - faceddefeats during elections, “butthey didn't let the institution ofdemocracy weaken”.

“I appeal to all of you thatto save the democracy, to ensurethat voters continue to trust usand a wrong precedent is not setby us, you all should listen to thevoice of people. While respect-ing the sentiment of your fam-ily members, your voters, pleasechannelise your efforts in ensur-ing the government - elected bythe people - continues to deliv-er with all its strength,” the 69-year-old leader wrote.

“I am confident that you all

with stand with the truth andwill contribute in deliveringpromises made to the public,” hesaid.

“Amid the pandemic, weshould all be concerned aboutfighting coronavirus... savinglives, economy, jobs. The stateGovernment is working dayand night for this. At such atime, some of our colleaguesand opposition leaders are try-ing to conspire against us... thisis unfortunate,” Gehlot's letterread.

Between 1993 and 1996,“similar attempts were made tomake such deals in order to top-ple the Bhairon SinghShekhawat government,” hementioned.

“At that as the UnionMinister and state's party chief,I had raised objection with(former Rajasthan governor)Baliram Bhagat and ex-PrimeMinister PV Narsimha Rao,stressing that it's against thedemocratic values to topple anelected government. Voters herewill never want that such aprecedent is set,” the ChiefMinister added.

Victory and defeat are a partof election cycles but the “peo-ple's mandate is the mostimportant,” he stressed.

“Our fight is to save democ-racy, it will continue. We willwin. Truth shall win... peopleshall win. All the MLAs -

whether those from the rulingparty or opposition - will winwho don't want the governmentto be destabilised,” Gehlot tweet-ed on Sunday.

Gehlot has claimdd that hehas the support of 102 MLAs,one above the majority mark.The BJP has 72 MLAs. Both theparties have been guarding theirflock amid the crisis.

BJP MLA Nirmal Kumawathad alleged that the Congressgovernment in Rajasthan was“harassing” opposition MLAs,and said they were on a pil-grimage to Somnath to seekmental peace.

Congress MLAs are cur-rently holed up in a Jaisalmerhotel as the party has accusedthe BJP of horse-trading fol-lowing the revolt by Pilot and 18MLAs loyal to him.

Pilot and his 19 MLAs in hiscamp are at resorts in BJP-ruledHaryana.

Earlier this week, the BSPappeal seeking a temporaryfreeze on the merger of its sixformer legislators withRajasthan's Congress govern-ment, was dismissed by theHigh Court. The six MLAshave sought transfer of the caseto the Supreme court.

If there is a freeze on themerger, Gehlot's numbers willdrop and he will have a tougherfight on his hands in case of atrust vote.

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Despite the loss of 4.5 lakhhectare crops due to floods

in 11 States and 20-60 per centdeficiency in rainfall in eightStates, kharif cultivation is all setfor a new record with sown areaunder many crops includingmajor oilseeds and cottonexceeding the normal area.

According to kharif sowingdata released by the AgricultureMinistry, a total of 966 lakhhectares were planted till date,nearly 10 per cent more than878 lakh hectare sown in thecorresponding week last year.Though there is nearly twomonths left in the season,paddy plantation such as rice,soyabean, cotton, maize andgroundnut already surpassedthe normal sown area.

The data shows that thereis a spectacular 17.36 per centincrease in rice planting too. Ascompared to 274.19 lakhhectare planted in same weeklast year, the area under rice sofar is nearly 322 lakh hectare, anincrease of 47.60 lakh hectare.

Telangana, Bihar,Jharkhand, West Bengal,Odisha, Chhattisgarh,Mahrarashtra have reportedmore paddy plantation so farwhile Assam, Punjab andHimachal Pradesh reported

less area under rice sowing.Similarly, there is a 4.22 per centincrease in area under pulseswith moong exceeding its nor-mal area and urad and arharinching closer to the respectivenormal areas.

Total under pulses so far isclose to 119.59 lakh hectare asagainst 114.77 lakh hectareplanted in the same period lastyear, an increase of 4.82 lakhhectare.

India has received 531.6mm rainfall as against the nor-mal of 533 mm so far while over1.33 crore population havebeen affected due to floodsacross India. According to theIndia MeteorologicalDepartment, the rain deficien-cy in Nagaland recorded 25 per-cent, Manipur 46 percent,Mizoram 26 percent, Tripura 10percent, Delhi 33 percent,Himachal Pradesh 34 percent ,Jammu and Kashmir 52 percentand Rajasthan 22 percent, so farwhile Assam, Bihar, Gujarat,West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala,

Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradeshare among those States reelingunder the flood.

As per the central watercommission report, most of theriver in the country are over-flowing or above the dangermark.

As against the designatedarea of 110 lakh hectare, soy-abean is sown over 118 lakhhectare so far.

Similarly, cotton has cov-ered 123.64 lakh hectare asagainst the normal area of 121lakh hectare. The area sown inthe same week last year was118.73 lakh hectare. At 47.29lakh hectare, groundnut plant-ing is nearly 44 per cent morethan 32.86 lakh hectare in thecorresponding week in the pre-vious kharif season.

The normal area undergroundnut is 41.41 lakhhectare. Against the assignedarea of 74.73 lakh hectare,maize is planted over 75.88lakh hectare already.

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The National GreenTribunal has directed the

Delhi DevelopmentAuthorithy (DDA) to fileresponse oo a plea allegingthat a lake in east Delhi isbeing polluted by operation ofboat services.

A bench headed by NGTChairperson, Justice AdarshKumar Goel, also noted thesubmission that concretisa-tion around trees is takingplace in violation of its orders.

“Let DDA file its responsewithin one month failingwhich coercive measuresunder Section 25 of theNational Green Tribunal Act,2010 read with section 51 ofCPC may be the only optionleft with the Tribunal. Theresponse be filed by e-mail,”the bench said.

According to the appli-cant, he made a representationto the authorities but the samehas not been acted upon.

The Delhi Tourism andTransportation DevelopmentCorporation told the benchthat no pollution is beingcaused in operating boats onthe lake.

With regard to the issue ofconcretisation of the trees,action is to be taken by DDA,the tribunal noted.

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Former Congress chief RahulGandhi on Sunday hit out at

the Centre over loomingunemployment in the country.He accused the Narendra ModiGovernment of failing to meetits promise of jobs for two crorepeople every year, and thenenacting policies that“destroyed India's economicstructure” and left crores with-out jobs.

His attack on theGovernment came as theCongress' youth wing launcheda “Rozgar do” campaign withthe objective to raise the voiceof the youth against allegedunemployment prevailing inthe country.

“When Narendra Modibecame the Prime Minister, hepromised the youth of thecountry that he will give jobsto two crore youth every year.He sold a dream, but the real-ity is that 14 crore people havebecome unemployed due tothe policies of Narendra Modi,”Rahul alleged.

Rahul alleged that theModi Government's decisionof demonetisation and its“faulty” implementation ofGST and the lockdown have“destroyed” the economicstructure of the country.

“Why did this happen?Because of wrong policies.Demonetisation, faulty imple-mentation of GST and thenlockdown - these three stepshave destroyed the economicstructure of the country andthe truth now is that India can-not give employment to itsyouth,” the former Congresschief said in a video messagehe tweeted.

Therefore, the IndianYouth Congress has hit thestreets, he said, expressinghappiness that the IYC willraise these issues in all townsand streets.

“Please join the 'RozgarDo' programme and alongwith Youth Congress, get jobsfor the youth of this nation,”the Gandhi scion said.

He also congratulated theYouth Congress on the occa-sion of its foundation day andurged them to keep fighting forthe youth of the country.

Expressing solidarity withthe campaign, Congress gen-eral secretary Priyanka GandhiVadra said “youth power” isIndia's strength.

“As opposed to the BJPGovernment's job-destroyingpolicies, there is a need to cre-ate more and more employ-ment opportunities for theyouth of India,” she said onTwitter.

“Rozgar Do is the demandof young India. Employment isthe need of young India,” shesaid.

Under the “Rozgar Do”campaign, the voices of theunemployed youth will beamplified all over the country,the IYC said.

“Anti-youth policies of thecentral government will behighlighted among the youthof the country through socialmedia and other mediums,” itsaid in a statement.

Several Congress leadersposted videos on social mediavoicing concerns over allegedrising unemployment in thecountry.

Congress' chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala saidthe demand of every youth ofthis country is “Rozgar Do”(give employment).

“We all demand, it is ourright that the youth of thecountry should get employ-ment on the basis of qualifica-tions and get ahead in theprogress of the country,” hesaid.

Several Congress leaderslike Digvijaya Singh, DependerHooda, Gaurav Gogoi, RajeevSatav, Gaurav Vallabh andRagini Nayak called foremployment opportunities forthe youth on social media aspet of the campaign.

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The far-flung tribal village ofChullyu in Arunachal

Pradesh will soon be bustlingwith spinning and weavingactivities with Khadi andVillage Industries Commission(KVIC) set to open the first ofits kind Training cumProduction Center of Silk inthe State.

Conceived just six monthsago, the Centre will belaunched in the first week ofSeptember. The KVIC hasrefurbished and converted adilapidated school buildinginto the training cum produc-tion center. The school build-ing has been provided to KVICby the education department ofArunachal PradeshGovernment zero rent.

Machinery like handlooms,Charkha, Silk reeling machinesand warping drums havealready arrived and installationof machines are in full swing.The first batch of 25 local arti-sans of Chullyu village hasbeen selected to begin thetraining with.

The project was conceivedin February this year during thevisit of KVIC Chairman ShriVinai Kumar Saxena to thistribal village Chullyu.

Identifying a great potential ofsilk production and other activ-ities of village industries in thevillage, Saxena sanctioned set-ting up of training cum pro-duction center for the Eri Silk,which is traditionally worn bylocal tribals.

The work, however, pro-gressed at a slow pace due toCovid-19 lockdown.

Recently KVIC also dis-tributed 250 honey bee boxesin Chullyu village which hasrich flora for production ofhigh-altitude honey.

Located on the main high-way just 30 km before themost popular tourist spot Ziro,Chullyu is a scenic villageknown for its eco-friendly waysof living. It is easily approach-able by tourists which is anadvantage for the local artisans.

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Incessant honking, loud con-struction activity, loud-

speakers at odd hours amongother noise pollution actionswill attract fines ranging from�1,000 to �1 lakh, country’s toppollution watchdog CentralPollution Control Board(CPCB) has proposed.

The new fines have beenproposed in response to a setof cases going on in theNational Green Tribunal(NGT) regarding noise pollu-tion wherein the applicantscomplained that despite sever-

al court orders, the problem ofnoise pollution continues in thenational capital.

In November 2019, abench headed by the NGTchairperson A.K. Goel had

asked the CPCB to look atrevising fines for burstingcrackers and for repeated vio-lations. The tribunal had alsoasked laying down stringent

compensation for tamperingwith the sound limiters.

In a report filed with theNGT in June this year, theCPCB came out with a string

of penalties for violation ofnoise pollution norms.

For instance, violation ofnorms regarding the use ofloudspeakers/public addresssystem can result in seizure ofthe equipment and a fine of�10,000.

Similarly, violation ofnoise pollution norms regard-ing the use of diesel genera-tor sets can result in sealing ofDG sets and a fine of �10,000to �100,000 depending uponits size.

The violation in cases ofsound-emitting constructionequipment can result in a

fine of �50,000 and its seizureor sealing.

The violation of noisenorms while bursting fire-crackers beyond the timelimit (prescribed by theSupreme Court) could attracta fine of � 1,000 (in the resi-dential, commercial or mixedzone) and �3,000 (in a silencezone).

But in case of violation ofnorms during public rallies,marriage procession or anyreligious event, a heavier fineof �10,000 could be levied onthe organiser in residen-tial/commercial or mixed

zone and � 20,000 in a silencezone.

In case of the first viola-tion of noise rule within afixed premise in a functionorganised by the resident wel-fare organisation, a marriagefunction, public or institutionevent, banquet hall, openground functions, a fine of�20,000 may be levied whilea second violation couldresult in a fine of �40,000.

However, more than twoviolations could result in afine of �100,000 and sealingof the premises, as per theCPCB proposal.

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Tele-consultation medicalfacilities –eSanjeevini and

eSanjeevaniOPD- launched bythe Centre is finding goodresponse from the patientsstuck at home due to the ongo-ing Covid-19 pandemic.

About 1.5 lakh tele-con-sultations have been complet-ed on the tele-medicine serviceplatforms of the Union HealthMinistry.

“It is planned to implementtele-consultation in all the 1.5lakh Health and WellnessCentres (as spokes) in a ‘Huband Spoke’ model, byDecember 2022,” said a seniorofficial from the Union HealthMinistry.

So far, eSanjeevani andeSanjeevaniOPD have been

implemented by 23 States whileothers are in the process ofrolling it out.

Union Health Minister DrHarsh Vardhan in a reviewmeeting said, “We have start-ed implementing the vision ofDigital India through broad-band and mobile phones at theAyushman Bharat - Healthand Wellness Centres.

“This has substantially aug-mented our health infrastructure during theCOVID pandemic”.

Echoing similar senti-ments, Minister of State forHealth Ashwini K. Choubeysaid that it would be a“gamechanger for people in therural areas who do not haveeasy access to medical specialists located in cities”.

Presently, telemedicine is

being provided through morethan 3,000 HWCs in 10 States.

Owing to the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic, theHealth Ministry launched thesecond tele-consultation ser-vice enabling patient-to-doctortelemedicine through‘eSanjeevaniOPD’ free of cost inaround 20 States.

Presently, on an average,around 5,000 consultations perday are provided through both themodes (eSanjeevani andeSanjeevaniOPD). Thetelemedicine platform is host-ing over 40 online OPDs, morethan half of these are speciali-ty OPDs which include gynae-cology, psychiatry, dermatol-ogy, ENT, ophthalmology, anti-retroviral therapy (ART) for theAIDS/HIV patients, non-com-

municable diseases (NCDs)etc.

The top ten States whichhave registered highest con-sultations through eSanjeevaniand eSanjeevaniOPD platformsare Tamil Nadu (32,035 con-sultations), Andhra Pradesh(28,960), Himachal Pradesh(24,527), Uttar Pradesh(20,030), Kerala (15,988), fol-lowed by Gujarat (7127),Punjab (4450), Rajasthan(3548), Maharashtra (3284)and Uttarakhand (2596).

The majority share in thedoctor-to-doctor eSanjeevaniconsultations at AB-HWCs hasbeen of Andhra Pradesh(25,478) and Himachal Pradesh(23,857) while Tamil Naduleads in the patient-to-doctoreSanjeevaniOPD services with32,035 consultations.

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Niti Ayog member Dr VKPaul on Sunday said India

has 1,466 cases per millionwhereas the world average,into the seventh month of thepandemic, is around 2,500 permillion even as he warnedpeople not to be complacent ifcases begin to decline.

“The trailer is over I think,but we are still before theinterval,” he said at a webinarorganised by the IndiaInternational Centre on thetopic towards a holistic long-term medicare system.

He pointed out that cur-rently, India is experiencing theworst phase in its fight againstCovid-19 with a total of 64,399new coronavirus cases getting

reported in the last 24 hours,taking the overall caseload to21,53,011, while the death tollmounting to 43,379 with 861fresh fatalities.

But there may be a silverlining said Dr Paul.

Citing the day-wise dailynew cases data, he said, “If welook at the five-day movingaverage, we could see somekind of stabilisation; I do notknow whether it is true or ran-dom, that only time will tell.Maybe, there is something outthere, which is indicating thatwe may have moved away from

the exponential rise and wemay be stabilising. But that onlytime will tell.”

Dr Paul said that the firstphase of the Covid-19 pan-demic was in the most popu-lous cities, in the western halfof the nation, where the pan-demic originated.

It seems now that the pan-demic in this part of the coun-try is now reaching some kingof peak. “As we have seen in thecontext of Delhi,” he added

Dr Paul said, “We still havelarge swathes of our geographyand large swathes of our pop-ulation, which are naive tothis virus. The virus loves peo-ple, the virus loves dense places,the virus loves irresponsible cit-izens who do not look aftertheir respiratory secretions anddo not maintain physical dis-

tance.”He insisted that mortality

rates in India continue to below and in terms of response,home-based isolation protocolshave succeeded. “Deaths will beimprinted in pages of history,how many deaths happened inthis pandemic in a givennation? Need to keep a sharpeye number of deaths? In caseof fatality rate, India is currentlyat 2.06 per cent. Some stateshave below 1 per cent casefatality rate. The highest wehave seen for a state is 6 percent or little above 6 per cent”said Dr Paul.

He insisted that in Indiathe mortality burden so far hasbeen on the lower side. “Wewould like to keep our casefatality rate below 1 per centand it is possible,” he added.

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The death toll in Friday’slandslide at Munnar in

Kerala reached 42 as search andrescue team retrieved 17 deadbodies by Sunday evening. Therescue team had retrieved 25dead bodies on Saturday. Afamily of 18 members wereperished in the disaster leavinga lone survivor.

Efforts are on by the NDRFteam to locate the workerswho were washed away in theearly morning water rush. Butthose engaged in the operationsaid that chances of locatingany more survivors wereremote because of the prevail-ing weather condition.

The Kerala Governmenthas come under severe criti-cism from opposition parties asthey alleged that the solatiumof �2 lakh granted to thedeceased by the administrationwas low compared to what

was offered to those who killedin Friday evening’s air crashinvolving Air India ExpressDubai-Kozhikode flight. TheKerala Government haddeclared �10 lakh each to thefamilies of those who lost theirlives in the air crash.

Union Minister of State forExternal Affairs who visitedMunnar and Rajamali said thatthe Kerala Government shouldbe more humane in its approachtowards the victims of the land-slide in the High Ranges. “Acompensation matching thesolatium allocated to thedeceased in the air crash shouldbe provided to victims inMunnar landslide,” said theunion minister.

Inclement weather contin-ued to torment most of the 14districts in the State on Sunday.The State Disaster Committeehad issued red alert in seven dis-tricts while orange alert has beenissued in six districts on Sunday.

Death and destructionwere reported from variouslow lying lands in the districtsof Alappuzha, Kottayam,Pathanamthitta and Idukki insouthern Kerala. Situation wasno different in Wayanadu,Kozhikode, Thrissur andMalappuram as rivers in allthese districts have been over-flowing since Saturday.

The Main Central Roadconnecting Angamali withThiruvananthapuram wasflooded in various places andthis threw traffic out of gear inmost places. According toIndian MeteorologicalDepartment many districts inKerala are likely to receiveheavy rainfalls on Mondayalso. There are strong possibil-ities of sea waves of 4 meterheight hitting the coastlinefrom the southern end to thenorthern tip of the Kerala coastin the next 24 hours,announced the IMD.

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The uninitiated may see thisas the standing proof of the

Social Justice for which theDravidian political parties stageagitations across Tamil Nadu.But this has resulted in creat-ing a serious wedge betweenthe Hindus and Christians inthe State and the responsibili-ty lies with the Hindu Religiousand Charitable EndowmentDepartment of Tamil Nadu.

More than four grounds ofprime land belonging to thefamous Sri GangadareswarTemple in Chennai’sPurasawalkam area has beengiven free on rent to theSalvation Army, an organiza-tion engaged in proselytization.“The Divisional Head Quarters

of the Salvation Army operatesfrom the premises along witha Church, absolutely free of costas the HRCE has given it onRent Free basis to the Church,”said TR Ramesh, president,Temple Worshippers Society,Tamil Nadu.

Ramesh said the land andbuilding given to the SalvationArmy are worth �2.5 lakh peryear but the HRCE has not col-lected anything till date fromthem. This land and buildingbelong to the Temple Trust andas per the by-laws governing

the Temple properties, the landor building can never be rent-ed out or leased or sold to anon-Hindu organization.

It may be remembered thatthe Madras High Court hadasked the HRCE Departmentin 2018 to inform the courtabout the “whereabouts” ofthe 50,000 acres of Templelands in the State to which theDepartment is yet to give anyreport.

The HRCE officialsremained incommunicado .according to Ramesh, theyrefused to partwith any infor-mation despite his efforts to getthe terms and conditions onwhich the premises has beengiven to the Salvation Army.

H Raja, national secretary,BJP, who launched the HinduTemples Reclaim Movement

has some shocking informationwith him. “We took a samplesurvey of the temples. In thesurvey, we uniformly foundthat 5 per cent of the templesexists no more. Among the38,646 temples, we estimatethat at least 1,800 templescould have been demolished togive way to buildings and shop-ping complexes. Then, at least20 per cent of the temples havebeen abandoned or are under-used,” said Raja.

Ramesh had some star-tling information to make onSunday. “Peaceful soldiers ofAbrahamic religions along withpseudo Hindus haveencroached the SreeKailasanathar Swamy Templeat Raasipuram and built pub-lic toilets right next to the tem-ple,” said Ramesh.

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Afake lieutenant colonel res-ident of Nurpur, Ludhiana,

who cheated people in thename of being admitted to theArmy, was questioned by theArmy Intelligence and intelli-gence agency in the districtprison. Along with this, the siteof arrest of this fake lieutenantcolonel was also checked.

It is said that the ArmyIntelligence also closelyinspected the vehicle recoveredfrom the fake colonel. Theyalso recovered three SIM cards.It has been told that there are15 cases of cheating on this fakecolonel in Punjab as well as inHaryana and Rajasthan. Policeof three states were looking for

him.Pradeep alias Piru, a resi-

dent of Nurpur Ludhiana, usedto cheat people in the name ofbeing recruited into the armyby being a fake lieutenantcolonel in the name of hisbrother Shravan Singh son ofGurmel Singh. He had takenseven and a half lakh rupees inthe name of enlisting in thearmy from Ramkumar, son ofKalicharan, resident ofKudwara village of Mont policestation in Mathura district.

While registering a reporton Ramkumar's statement, thepolice detained a fake lieu-tenant colonel in uniform in acar near Battodevi School invillage Bhilpur. Fake PAN card,fake ID, fake canteen card,

fake identity card, fake educa-tional records were recoveredfrom him.

After the fake lieutenantwas caught, the ArmyIntelligence is also trying tofind out to whom its wires areconnected. A four-memberteam of Army Intelligence ledby Major Gaurav Niranjaninspected the arrest site on andrecovered three SIM cards.

Pradeep alias Piru wasadmitted to the Army in 2002on the basis of his ShravanSingh's credentials and wassacked in 2016. After that, hewas roaming around and cheat-ing on people. It has been toldthat a women also used to workalong with him. Police issearching for her.

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The negligience of the districtadministration and the health

department has proved to be a threatto health of many people now. Covidpositive patients are roaming aroundin the public and no wonder how manypeople they have come in contact with.

A 60-year-old corona positivewoman, in Jawahar Nagar, was foundselling vegetables. Don't know howmany people would have come in con-tact with her. A 13-year-old girl of thesame family went to the mill to getflour. The danger of spreading theinfection to the girl child also cannotbe ruled out.

6 people of the same family werefound infected in Jawaharnagar. Theinfected patients were not admittedeven after 20 hours had passed.Meanwhile, the family members con-tinued to do their work like other days.Such carelessness is coming to the fore.That too in a situation when theinfection of corona in the district isspreading rapidly.

The work of sealing and sanitizingthe areas around the house of infect-ed patients is also not being done prop-

erly. Infections are also spreading byseeking contact with infected patientsand delaying their reports. Systems likeContainment Zone and Red Zone areno longer visible anywhere. There is aprovision for penalty on entering themarket without wearing a mask. Butthere is no shortage of people who aretaking risks themselves and puttingother people's lives at risk as well.Policemen are remaining mute andsimply spectating people roamingaround the streets without masks.Social and physical distance is also notbeing followed in the market. For this,no concerned efforts are being done bythe district administration.

Vishnu Kumar Bunty, social work-er told that the infected woman ofJawahar Nagar was selling vegetables.She was not admitted even after 18-20hours. The girl at her house went to thestore to get the goods. The business-men of Vishnupuri were also notadmitted for about 18-20 hours. Whenthe infected patients are not beingadmitted, then when and how will theycheck the people who come in contactwith them. Then how will Coronabreak the chains. There is a need to fol-low the rules strictly and act honest-

ly.Dr. BP Singh, CMO stated that

after the list of infected patients is out,attempt to admit the Covid +ve patientat the earliest are made. If it is delayedthen it is not good. Awareness andpublic support is necessary to break thecorona infection chain. Health depart-ment and administration is also mak-ing efforts for this. The court is alsovery serious about social distance andmasks.

A PAC Jawan who was covid pos-itive was found roaming in the HathrasMarket.

A Jawan from the ProvincialArmed Constabulary(PAC), who hadtested positive for Covid -19 along with11 others two days ago, was foundroaming in the market in Hathras, nearthe district hospital where he wasadmitted on Friday.

According to sources the Jawantried to hide his identity by saying thathe came to buy medicine for a patientadmitted in the hospital. However lateron he admitted that he is covid posi-tive and stepped out to buy medicidefor his upset stomach as no one in theisolation ward was giving medicines forhis upset stomach.

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Kerala, battered and bruised by nature’sfury for the last three days saw Covid-

19 continuing its dance of destruction acrossthe State as 1,211 new patients were diag-nosed with the pandemic on Sunday.

According to the media release issuedby the Government of Kerala (chief min-ister Pinarayi Vijayan does not meet scribeson Sunday), 1,026 patients contractedCovid-19 through social transmission.Thiruvananthapuram continued to top thelist of districts with 292 Covid-19 caseswhile Malappuram (170) and Kottayam(139) came second and third respectively.

The only news that offered consolationwas in the number of patients who werecured of covid-19 and discharged from hos-pitals. The day saw 970 patients leaving hos-pitals for homes.

The new patients include 76 expatriatesand 78 persons from other parts of thecountry.

There were 103 persons who could notpinpoint the source from where they con-tracted the pandemic.

The release said 12, 347 patients werebeing treated across the State for the pan-demic out of which 11, 742 are in hospitals.On Sunday, 1,278 persons were admitted tothe hospitals on account of Covid-19.

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Number of Covid-19 cases acrossTamil Nadu remains critical and

there is no let up in the fatalities beingreported from various places in theState. On Sunday, the Governmentmedical bulletin said 119 persons suc-cumbed to coronavirus while the num-ber of new cases diagnosed with covid-19 showed 5,994.

This is for the eleventh day in a rowTamil Nadu is testing less than 6,000persons per day. On August 1, the Statehad 5,879 patients while the numberscame down to 5,875 on August 2 and5,609 on August 3. Though the num-ber further came down to 5,063 onAugust 4, since the last five days it hasbeen showing hike in the number ofpositive cases.

As part of aggressive testing carriedout across the State, 68,179 personswere tested on Sunday. The number ofpersons discharged from hospitals tilldate crossed the 2.38 lakh on Sunday.This is against the 2.96 lakh personsdiagnosed with covid-19 till date in theState.

There were 53,336 active patientsacross Tamil Nadu on Sunday.

Chennai tested positive for 989 outof the 5,994 new patients across theState. Chengalpet (397), Kancheepuram(393) and Thiruvallur (396) remainedproblematic districts in the cluster offour districts which include Chennai.

Theni (360) is the only other dis-trict which tested more than 300 newpatients other than the four districtscluster led by Chennai. The death tollin Tamil Nadu reached 4,927on Sunday.

Jammu: Alert jawans of the Indian Armyeliminated one terrorist while two othersreceived injuries when an infiltration bidwas foiled along the line of control inKrishna Ghati sector of Poonch on Friday.

Thorough searches were being con-ducted in the area to retrieve the dead bodyof a terrorist but the same was dragged awayfrom the site.

Meanwhile, a fresh incident of cease-fire violation was also reported late Sundayevening in Shahpur Kirni and KrishnaGhati sectors of Poonch.

According to a Jammu based DefenceSpokesman, Lt-Col Devender Anand,” agroup of terrorists had attempted to infil-trate from across the LoC in Krishna Ghatisector on August 7, 2020. The alert IndianArmy troops detected the terrorists closeto LoC and immediately engaged themresulting in on the spot killing of one ter-rorist and serious injuries to other two”.

Defence PRO further stated, duringsearches it was found that the dead bodyof the terrorist had been dragged away fromthe incident site. However, one AK 47 Rifle,two AK 47 Magazines and some eatableswere recovered from the incident site.Defence PRO said, “Pakistan markings onthe eatables and a few other items clearlyindicate the complicity of Pakistan insponsoring terror activities in J&K”.

He said, the security forces are main-taining a robust Counter Infiltration gridalong the Line of Control to foil any nefar-ious designs by Pakistan.

According to Lt-Col Devender Anand,“ on Sunday at about 5.50 p.m Pakistan ini-tiated unprovoked ceasefire violation alongthe line of control by firing with small armsand shelling mortars in Shahpur Kirni andKrishna Ghati sectors in Poonch. “theIndian Army retaliated befittingly”, headded. PNS

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Hasin Jahan the estranged wife of Indiafast bowler Md Shami has lodged a

formal complaint with the Kolkata Policeafter getting life threats from some peoplefor praising the ground-breaking ceremonyat Ram Temple site in Ayodhya.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inau-gurated the programme at Ayodhya onAugust 5 after which Jahan, also an actorand a model congratulated the nation andcalled for religious unity.

“Soon after she posted her commentssome people started trolling her and shewas even given rape and murder threats,”a close acquaintance said adding Jahan hadalways been known for outspoken ways.

The actor on Sunday registered a for-mal complaint with the Lal Bazar policeheadquarters in Kolkata seeking actionagainst people who had been harassing heron the Net, sources said adding the policewere investigating the matter.

Cases under relevant sections of theIPC and IT laws have been registeredsources said.

“The offenders have told her that beinga woman from a particular community sheshould not have made such comments,”sources said adding however that the actorhad no immediate intentions of joiningpolitics.

Besides lodging a police complaintJahan who hails from Birbhum district ofBengal is also known to have brought thematter to the notice of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shahand Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,sources said.

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The Bengal Government which has tem-porarily banned flights from corona hit

regions have however decided to let interna-tional charter flights ferrying Indian nation-als land in the State.

The State Government has conveyed itsintentions to the External Affairs Ministry say-ing that all the corona negative patients tak-ing chartered flights to Bengal would beallowed to land at State airports provided theyboard the flights after having tested for coro-na and the stated flights follow certain stan-dard operating procedures.

“Only those with negative RT PCRreports will be allowed,” Government sourcessaid adding a letter to this effect had been sentto the Union Government on Saturday.

The standard operating procedure in suchcase will be effected from August 10, sourcessaid adding the MEA has been requested topass on the SOP to the Aviation Ministry and

Indian Missions abroad.The flights coming to Kolkata will be

required to carry clearance certificates fromthe Indian Missions or the MEA.

Besides it has also been said that therespective airlines ferrying in stranded pas-sengers from abroad will have to apply for ano-objection certificate from the State Government providing the sponsor, thenumber of passengers along with their detailsapart from an undertaking that the passen-gers so flying in are corona negative.

With the total number of infected patientsin Bengal passing 1 lakh mark the State government has taken certain strong measures that include restrictions onthe international flights and the flights com-ing from the corona hit regions of the coun-try.

Besides, the Government has also takena decision to impose bi-weekly lockdowns tobreak the corona chain in the State to someextent.

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The body of Capt. Deepak V.Sathe – who was killed in the

ill-fated Dubai-Kozhikode AirIndia Express flight crash – wasbrought from Kochi to Mumbaiin cargo flight on Sunday. Hisfuneral is expected to be held onTuesday.

Captain Sathe’s mortalremains were flown from CochinInternational Airport in Keralato Mumbai’s Chhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj International Airport(CSMIA), from where thebereaved family members thebody was received by familymembers, his colleagues, AirIndia officials and aviation fra-ternity who paid tributes tohim.

Capt Deepak’s family lives inthe Jalvayu Vihar complex in theupmarket Powai off Andheri(East) in north-eastern Mumbai.Capt. Deepak is survived by hiswife and two sons, Shantanu andDhananjay-- both of whom havegraduated from Indian Instituteof Technology-Bombay (IIT-B).His elder son Shantanu – who iscurrently in the United States,while younger son Dhananjayworks for a firm in Bengaluru,while daughter Anjali lives inMumbai.

Since Shantanu is based inSeattle and is expected to reachMumbai only by Monday, lateSathe’s family has scheduled hisfuneral for Tuesday.

Late Capt Sathe’s aged par-ents are in Nagpur, it is not cer-tain yet that they will be arriv-ing in Mumbai for son’s last rites.

In a related development,late Sathe’s family has appealedto the media for privacy in itshour of grief.

“Wing Commander (Retd)Deepak Sathe’s demise haspained the entire Sathe familyand we are all together. Underthese circumstances, we areunable to answer any mediaqueries, so kindly do not insist,”the family said in a statement putout on the social media Sundayevening.

The bereaved family sourcessaid that late Capt Sathe hadplanned to make a surprise visitto Nagpur to celebrate his moth-er’s 84th birthday on Saturday.But, destiny had other plans forlate Capt Sathe. He had last methis parents in March this yearand was constantly in touchwith them over the phone sincethen. He had spoken to his par-ents a day before the aircrash.

However, it was not clearwhether Capt. Sathe’s aged par-ents – both in their nineties andwho live in Nagpur -- would bearriving here for the last rites.

An IAF pilot for 27 longyears, he had joined Air India in2005, after his retirement. With10,000 hours of flying experienceon the Boeing 737 aircraft, lateCapt Sathe had flown 6,662 ofthese hours as the commander.

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Bengaluru: Karnataka HealthMinister B. Sriramulu on Sundaysaid that he has tested positive forcoronavirus. He is the fourthMinister in the state to be diag-nosed for the disease, apart fromChief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.

“In the wake of flu on Sunday,I have been tested for coronavirusand came positive,” he said onsocial media.

Hospitalised in a state hospi-tal in Shivajinagar, Sriramuluexpressed confidence that he willget cured soon, and asked peoplenot to worry.

From the beginning of thepandemic in March, the ministersaid that he has been extensivelytouring the state to review theHealth Department's work andmake arrangements to combatthe virus.

Sriramulu said that he hasprayed to God to heal him soonand bestow strength to serve morepeople during these hard times.

Meanwhile, all the people whocame in contact with him recent-ly have been requested to take pre-cautionary measures.

State Ministers B.C. Patil, S.T.Somasekhara and C.T. Ravi havealso tested positive for coron-avirus. IANS

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Gandhinagar: Gujarat's Covid-19tally breached the 70,000 mark onSunday as 1,078 fresh cases werereported, while 25 more deaths tookthe toll to 2,654, health officials said.

The state''s total number of caseswas at 71,064 following the detectionof fresh infections.

As many as 1,311 patients weredischarged on Sunday, taking thetotal number of recoveries to 54,138.

Surat, the new Covd hotspot reg-istering 20.59 per cent of Sunday's pos-itive cases, saw 222 cases, whileAhmedabad saw 153 cases coming up.

Vadodara once again afterSaturday, saw its daily spike climbingto 110.

Vadodara was followed by Rajkot95, Jamnagar 63, Panchmahals 47,Bhavnagar and Amreli with 35 each,Bharuch 28, Junagadh andGandhinagar with 27 each, Kutch 25,Valsad 21, Dahod and Surendranagarwith 18 each, Kheda, Mahesana andPatan with 11 each, Botad,Sabarkantha and Narmada with 10each, Mahisagar, Banaskantha andMorbi with 9 each, Porbandar andTapi with 7 each, Anand andDevbhumi Dwarka with 5 each,Navsari 3, Aravalli and Dang with 2each and Chhota Udepur with onepositive case.

The total number of Covid deathsin Ahmedabad has reached 1,638.Besides, 505 people have died inSurat, 100 in Vadodara, 46 in

Gandhinagar, 45 deaths in Rajkot, 30deaths in Patan, 26 deaths inBhavnagar, 24 in Aravalli, 23 inMahesana, 17 in Panchmahals, 16 inBanaskantha, 15 in Kheda, 14 inAnand and 11 in Bharuch.

The death toll rate of Ahmedabadwhich used to be around 81 per centof the total toll during the peak in Junegradually got lower. On Sunday, itcame down to 61.71 per cent. Gujarat'smortality rate has come down under4 to 3.73 per cent, but is still one of thehighest in the country.

Till now the health authoritieshave conducted nearly 10 lakh tests,9,87,630 RT-PCR tests in Gujarat. Outof a total RT-PCR tests carried out inthe 9,16,566, have been found nega-tive.

There are 14,272 active cases,out of which the condition of 14,199is stable, whereas 73 critical patientsare still on ventilator.

Currently, there are nearly 4.9 lakhpeople quarantined in the state at4,88,222, where 4,86,610 are homequarantined and 1,612 in governmentfacilities. IANS

Agra: A number of new coron-avirus cases now getting reportedfrom the rural hinterland of Agrahas got the authorities worried,even as 34 new cases took the dis-trict's total tally to 2,065.

Three members of a family inBarara village were found positivewhile several villages on theGwalior Road and ShamshabadRoad too have reported new coro-navirus cases.

In a village in Bah area, threegenerations of a family were foundcorona positive. New cases havebeen reported from villages inFatehabad area as well.

Meanwhile, Mathura districtreported 25 new cases, Mainpuri26, Etah 35, and Firozabad 13cases in the last 24 hours.

Active cases in Agra havegone up to 297, with 1,667 recov-eries. The recovery rate is 80.73per cent. The number of contain-ment zones in the city is 121.

Agra's infection rate has stead-ied at 3.23 per cent, and is con-sidered to be on the lower sidecompared with other cities ofUttar Pradesh.

The death rate too has comedown to 4.89 per cent from 6.30per cent earlier on.

The SN Medical College man-agement says it is now fully gearedwith trained manpower and med-ical infrastructure and medicines.A 200-bed hospital is equippedwith dialysis machines, ventilators,and facilities for plasma therapyetc. IANS

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Page 6: ˘ ˇ ˆ...fresh attack on a BJP worker in the area on Sunday. ... worker identified as Abdul Hameed Najar, son of Mohammad Jamal. "The BJP worker was shifted to SMHS hospital Srinagar

An interesting anecdote doing therounds among military veterans’groups on social media pertainsto an incident just after the 1971war. A young officer performing

duties of the Regimental Adjutant, the prin-cipal staff officer to the Commanding Officer,was approached by an extremely engagingand popular ex-serviceman — who wasemployed by a well-known corporate — foran authority letter to continue drawing can-teen stores from his unit. This was a commonoccurrence in those times when smart cardswere yet to make an appearance. However,on a hunch, the officer decided to obtain ver-ification of his antecedent prior to signing thecertificate from the office that maintaineddepartmental records.

Surprisingly, it turned out that the indi-vidual was a deserter from the Army and hadabsconded from his unit during the Sino-Indian conflict of 1962 while his unit wasdeployed in the combat zone. On receipt ofthis information, as was expected, the ex-sol-dier was apprehended and questioned. Heaccepted his guilt and explained that after hisunit was overrun by the Chinese, he success-fully evaded them and escaped to Bhutanwhere he got himself a job. One thing led toanother and he settled into civilian life andnever rejoined the Army. As is customary, hewas brought before a court-martial; was foundguilty and sent off to serve time in jail.However, the commanding officer being akindly soul and displaying immense empa-thy for the convict, convinced his companyto retain him on the rolls, while also arrang-ing to look after his family till he had servedhis sentence. Thus, on his return, the formersoldier not only got his job back but was alsoable to finally shed his sense of guilt andapprehension that had haunted him allthose years.

This is a simple straightforward tale ofbeing held to account for one’s misdeeds,which fortuitously ended well for the soldierand his family, despite all the trials and tribu-lations that he must have faced. A contrari-an view would suggest that in all likelihood,he had probably been traumatised by hisworld collapsing around him when his unitdisintegrated in battle, leaving him to fend forhimself. Given his experience and mental state— where there was no sufficient ground formitigation — should he not have beenabsolved of all wrongdoing? Of course,while this question may draw differing con-clusions, depending on one’s point of view andinterpretation of the law, what cannot be dis-puted is that he was guilty of fraudulentlyattempting to obtain benefits authorised onlyto military veterans. He deserved to be heldto account. Ironically, the account does notmake clear whether the latter aspect wasglossed over or even considered.

But here is the thing that the young sol-dier was undoubtedly an insignificant cog inthat vast military machine and yet, he was heldto account for the error he had committed.

One wishes that those responsi-ble for derailing the military andforcing it and this country to livethrough years of ignominy ofdefeat had also been meted outjustice in a similar manner. Thesad truth is that they got awaywithout being held accountableas neither resignations — like thatof Krishna Menon or GeneralThapar, the Army Chief — nordeprivation of further promotion,as some others faced, can becalled punishment enough. Atthe minimum, those responsibleshould have certainly faced dis-ciplinary proceedings, maybeeven have had their pensionsstopped, as was the case withGeneral AAK Niazi after he sur-rendered in Dhaka. After all, sur-rendering 37,000 square km ofthe territory that we claimed asours to the Chinese was nosmall matter. Yet, how did werespond to this humongous dis-aster? Shamefully, to say theleast, the Government did trans-fer the individual entrusted withthe defence of India, the thenDefence Secretary O Pulla Reddy,but subsequently nominated himas the founding Vice Chancellorof Andhra Pradesh AgriculturalUniversity. Talking of secondchances.

Our unwillingness andinability to fix the blame for actsof commission and omission atthe highest levels have ensuredthat no lessons are ever learnt. Wehave also gone on to perfect theart of deflection as the Kargil dis-

aster clearly showed. There wasno reason why Atal BihariVajpayee’s attempts at engagingPakistan should have led tocomplacency on the part ofeither the intelligence or thesecurity establishment. It was allvery well to have blamed it on“systemic intelligence failure”but why nobody thought it nec-essary to ask the question: Whilethe intelligence agencies mayhave failed to discern Pakistan’sintentions, how was it that the lat-ter occupied our territory with-out detection by the Army?Instead of taking it to task, wemade much of our top militarybrass, treating them as heroes forreclaiming — at great cost onemight add — what we should nothave lost in the first place. Ofcourse, the Government of theday could not have acted in anyother manner as that wouldhave been seen as a blemish onits performance as well.

Naturally, we are again wit-ness to this sordid cycle as theChinese once again make foolsout of us. The same clichedexcuses are being trotted out thatunfortunately, the “Wuhan-Mamallapuram spirit” made oursecurity establishment compla-cent and we were, thus, caughtwrong-footed as intelligenceagencies were unable to detectChinese movers or gauge theirintentions. The security establish-ment hopes to save itself theblushes by pushing the blame onits favourite whipping boy, “sys-

temic failure.” In this case, thecurrent border managementpractice that ensures a ratheropaque division of responsibili-ties between the Army and theIndo-Tibetan Border Police.

One can be certain that theywill manage to avoid being heldto account this time as well. Notleast because of the way PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hasattempted to change the narra-tive by denying any ingress or lossof territory and instead promot-ing through his minions “differ-ing perceptions of the LACbetween both sides” to fudge theissue. He hopes — and not with-out good reason given the blindsupport he enjoys — this willallow him and his Governmentto carry on as if it is business asusual. Unfortunately for him, theunexpected appearance in thepublic domain of the Ministry ofDefence report on the ingress bythe PLA — though now with-drawn — does suggest that thereare those within the Governmentwho have serious reservationsabout his actions and have nocompunction in showing him upfor dissembling.

Normally, in a bureaucraticand hierarchical system such asours, it is often the case that thoseleft holding the baby, so to say, arenot necessarily the ones respon-sible for its procreation in the firstplace. We would certainly nothave found ourselves in the pre-sent situation if the previousGovernment, and this one, had

shown even a modicum of inter-est in national defence and kepttheir eye on the ball. Modi findshimself in an extremely difficultsituation, not because theManmohan Singh Governmentwas negligent, which it certain-ly was, but because of his owndeliberate neglect of the militarysince 2014. He made all the rightnoises but had no time for themilitary, except for where ithelped his own political fortunes.

Similarly, General Rawatwould not have found himselfcaught in this controversy todayif he had not been appointed theChief of Defence Staff after pan-dering to Modi’s wishes. He can-not escape responsibility for hav-ing sabotaged the MountainStrike Corps (MSC) midwaythrough its raising while he wasChief of Army Staff. One mayrecall that it was after the ingressby the Chinese in the DepsangSector in 2013 that the dysfunc-tional Manmohan SinghGovernment understood theseriousness of the issue andsanctioned the raising of theMSC. Its raising was given fullattention by the Army Chief andwas of immense concern to theChinese because they clearlyunderstood the shift in the intentof the Indian armed forces froma purely defensive posture to amore pro-active one. It changedthe concept of Sino-Indian con-ventional deterrence.

Thus, one can imagine theirutter joy when the Modi-Doval-Rawat combine put the spannerin the works and put the MSCinto forced hibernation. Thiswas allegedly done because ofbudgetary constraints, some-thing that apparently had noimpact on the unbridled expan-sion of the Central Armed PoliceForces. It is obvious that purelydefensive actions on our part willnever restore the status quo ante,which we are insisting upon, inthe foreseeable future. If we donothing, the loss of territorywill be a body blow to our rep-utation in the region and inter-nationally.

In the long run, as happenedwith Nehru, it will be the ruina-tion of Modi. His reputation willsuffer, his ability to stay in powerwill be constrained and he will bereduced to a caricature. Ironically,while Nehru continues to shoul-der much of the blame for prob-lems that afflict us today, Modiand his minions will not havethat advantage. They will have tobear the consequences for theiractions. There is something to besaid for poetic justice and that oldadage, “As you sow, so shall youreap.”

(The author, a military veter-an, is a consultant with theObserver Research Foundationand a Senior Visiting Fellow withThe Peninsula Foundation)#������ ������������������)����

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Sir — Despite several rounds oftalks between India and China,no solution appears to be insight with regard to the bordercrisis along the Line of ActualControl. Clashes at Galwan wereproof enough that China cannotbe relied upon. It attacked Indiansoldiers without any provocation.To top it all, China’s expansion-ist tendencies and greed for grab-bing weaker landlocked territorythrough unfair means are a never-ending phenomenon. India’s rela-tionship with Russia, though onan even keel, cannot be ignorantof the former’s support to China.It is doubtful if Russia will extendus any help in case of a conflict.It is, thus, imperative that Indiaforges a military pact with the USto keep a check on China’sassertiveness, aggressiveness andother nefarious activities.

RashmiVia email

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Sir — In view of the COVID-19pandemic having battered theeconomy, it was expected that the

Reserve Bank of India (RBI)would come up with another ratecut but it left it unchanged at fourper cent. Instead, the Centralbank has allowed financial insti-tutions a special one-time dispen-sation to restructure loans which

are stressed due to the pandem-ic. Indeed, a rate cut at this junc-ture would have meant little.Unless demand is generated,units will continue to gasp for sur-vival despite the repaymentbreather.

The Monetary PolicyCommittee has also called for theappointment of an expert com-mittee to frame a window underthe prudential norms for speedyresolution of stressed loans.Besides, the gold loan-to-value

ratio has been increased to 90 percent. This will pave the way for arobust rise in the quality andquantity of loans. While extend-ing forbearance, it is imperativefor the banks to be diligent andcautious to prevent good moneyfrom turning into NPAs.

ShivanshVia email

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Sir — The Kashmir problemneeds to be tackled with sensitiv-ity. The people of Jammu andKashmir have suffered enough.All possible aid should be provid-ed to them. Kashmir should betransformed into a world-classtourist destination. Establishinggood colleges and other techni-cal institutes will help theKashmiri youth compete equal-ly with the rest of the nation asthey are talented and given toinnovation. By setting up goodmedical colleges and hospitals,public health needs can be takencare of, too.

Ashok MalikVia web

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After the release of the Reserve Bank ofIndia’s (RBI’s) half-yearly FinancialStability Report (FSR) on July 24, shares

of banks and finance companies were batteredat the stock market. Though the private banks(PVBs) like ICICI, HDFC, Axis Bank, BandhanBank got seared, the public sector banks (PSBs),too, bore the brunt of the bloodbath on the bours-es. The mayhem exposed the structural weak-nesses of the Indian banking system and theseverity of the Non-Performing Asset (NPA) cri-sis looming over them.

As the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Dasemphasised (and his sentiment was echoed bythe Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission)the soaring NPAs and the consequent capital ero-sion of the banks would need immediate recap-italisation of both PVBs and PSBs.

To alleviate the pandemic-created stress onborrowers, the RBI has already placed a mora-torium on the payment of loan instalments anddeferment of interest payments till August 31.However, the banks are fearing — as articulat-ed by the HDFC Chairman — that even solventborrowers may take advantage of this relaxationand not repay their loans. This would furtherworsen the financials of the banks.

The FSR has also acknowledged that thereis a major risk that the moratoriums may haveserious implications on the financial health of thebanks. Overall, about 50 per cent of all loans —65 per cent of Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises (MSME) borrowings and 56 per centof retail loans — were under moratorium as onApril 30, against only 39 per cent of corporateloans. The PSBs have a larger share — 58 per cent,82 per cent and 80 per cent respectively for cor-porate, MSME and individual loans, as against20 per cent, 43 per cent and 34 per cent respec-tively for the PVBs.

As far as Non-Banking Financial Companies(NBFCs) are concerned, 56 per cent, 61 per centand 46 per cent of the loans are under morato-rium respectively for these categories. The sce-nario is really disquieting. The RBI has assumeda contraction of the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) by 4.4 per cent, gross fiscal deficit of 10.9per cent and Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) of4.1 per cent as the baseline scenario assumingsteady recovery from the second-half of the cur-rent fiscal. The GDP contraction and fiscal deficitnumbers may be a tad too optimistic, given thesevere economic disruptions with no end in sight.

The FSR has stated that the Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of ScheduledCommercial Banks (SCBs) stood at 14.8 per centwhile their Gross Non-Performing Asset (GNPA)ratio stood at 8.5 per cent in March. But it pro-jected that the GNPA ratio may worsen furtherto 12.5 per cent by March 2021 under the opti-mistic baseline scenario and may escalate to 14.7per cent under a severely-stressed scenario.

The implications of these numbers areindeed very serious. As of March, the total NPAsof SCBs stood at �8.62 lakh crore; at the base-line scenario which seems a bit hopeful, thiswould rise to around �13 lakh crore and at theworst case scenario to �15 lakh crore, at whichlevel, all undercapitalised and overleveragedbanks would cease to be going concerns.

In fact, the pandemic has wiped out all thework done so far by the SCBs by using a largepart of their capital to correct their balance sheets

— which was so assiduously pursuedby the RBI during the last few years.This has seen a steady decline in theirGNPA ratio from 11.5 per cent inMarch 2018 to 8.5 per cent in Marchthis year. Though this reduced theirCRAR, however, it still remained abovethe Basel III-compliant RBI norms.Now, the loans are likely to rise to a 20-year high as a result of the crisis trig-gered by the pandemic.

As the RBI Governor said in theforeword to the FSR, “The financial sys-tem in India remains sound.Nonetheless, in the current environ-ment, the need for financial interme-diaries to proactively augment capitaland improve their resilience hasacquired top priority. In the evolvingmilieu, while risk management has tobe prudent, extreme risk-aversionwould have adverse outcomes for all.”

Under the current crisis, risk aver-sion, both by banks and borrowers, isonly to be expected as evidenced by thebanks parking their excess liquiditywith the RBI instead of lending. Creditdemand has not picked up despite theeasing of the lockdown and financialvulnerabilities are likely to be amplified,leading to a further deterioration in theasset quality of the banks due to the pil-ing up of mountains of bad loans.

As a 90-day window is given forpaying the loan instalments to keep theloans from being classified as NPAs, theexact position would be known only inDecember after the expiry of the mora-torium on August 31. But there is anurgent need to recapitalise the banks —both PSBs and PVBs — for buildingstronger buffers for them to be able toabsorb the losses.

The recapitalisation bond route bywhich the Government issues bonds tothe banks, which promptly invest them

in Government securities, is nothingmore than an accounting trick. Apartfrom increasing the Government’sinterest liabilities, it rarely addresses thedeeper structural problems of thebanks.

While the GNPA ratio of PSBs mayincrease to 15.2 per cent under the base-line scenario (16.3 per cent under theworst-case scenario), the ratios of thePVBs and even the foreign banks arelikely to increase to 7.3 per cent and 3.9per cent, respectively. Erosion of thecapital will shrink the system-levelCRAR of the banking sector as awhole from 14.6 per cent in March to13.3 per cent by next March under thebaseline scenario and to 11.8 per centunder severe stress conditions.

Five banks will fail to meet the min-imum prescribed CRAR level of nineper cent by March 2021 — five morewill be close (under 10 per cent) with-out merger or recapitalisation whichmight increase their systemic resilience.However, mergers of PSBs, now prac-tically stalled because of the lock-down, have their own problems. TheNPAs of the State Bank of India (SBI)worsened after its merger with associ-ates two years ago, with write-offs andpersistent slippages eating into profitand capital both, besides impeding thegrowth of credit.

Other mergers — Bank of Baroda(BoB) with Vijaya Bank and Dena Bankand Punjab National Bank’s (PNBs)1993 merger with the New Bank ofIndia also faced many problems. It isunlikely that the current mergers ofhealthy banks with weak banks willimprove the health of the banking sys-tem as a whole; in any case, they willnot cause any significant reduction ofthe NPA ratios of the amalgamatedbanks. Then there is the added danger

of spillover effects from the NPAs ofNBFCs, which are still unable to recov-er from the IL&FS shock of 2018. Banklending to NBFCs had increased dra-matically from �3 lakh crore inDecember 2016 post-demonetisation to�8 lakh crore in May this year. Anyincrease in their NPAs will automati-cally trigger a contagion, leading to fur-ther deterioration of the banking sys-tem. The gravity of the situation can-not be overemphasised.

The structural problems with therecovery of bad loans have remainedunresolved even after operationalisationof the Insolvency and BankruptcyCode (IBC). Of the total claims of �3.52lakh crore from 190 companies (tillDecember 2019), �1.52 lakh crore (43per cent) has been recovered, which ofcourse was a significant improvementover the earlier recovery rate of 10 percent. But only two cases — BhushanSteel and Essar Steel — accounted for49.5 per cent of the overall recoveries.

Given the huge number of case-loads — 1,961 as of December 2019 —and the time taken for disposal by theNational Company Law Tribunal(NCLT), the system is already gettingclogged like never before. With lowcredit offtake and higher NPAs, bankswill be forced to further lower thedeposit interest rates — already at therock-bottom — and drive depositorstowards the equity market or gold. Thisis hardly a recipe for revival. TheGovernment and the RBI must urgent-ly reassess the across-the-board mora-torium policy and limit it only to thehardest-hit, address the delays in IBCresolution and not further alienateand drive away the depositors.

(The writer is a former DirectorGeneral at the office of the CAG of Indiaand an academic.)

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The roots of the concept of theState lie in the political ideas for-mulated in ancient Greece and

the Roman Republic. Greek philoso-phers Plato and Aristotle write of the“polis” (the city State) as an ideal formof association, in which the religious,cultural, political and economic needsof the citizens can be satisfied. Theancient Roman idea of res publica ismore similar to the modern conceptof the State. The res publica was a legalsystem, the jurisdiction of whichextended to all Roman citizens, secur-ing their rights and determining theirresponsibilities.

However, it wasn’t until the 16thcentury that the modern concept of the

State fully emerged in Europe. Betweenthe 17th and 19th centuries, the ideawas expanded and developed in theworks of philosophers like John Locke,Thomas Hobbes, Jean-JacquesRousseau, Jeremy Bentham and KarlMarx. By the 19th century, the conceptof the State as we know it today, hadbeen practically established in variousregions of Europe.

According to the noted politicalanthropologist Professor Irfan Ahmad,till the 17th century, “the State gov-erned by not governing.” Seldom didit interfere in most affairs of its sub-jects. Its main interest was to extractlevies and taxes. Its administrativescope was limited. The French philoso-pher, Michel Foucault, claimed that thescope of the State began to expandfrom the 16th century. The idea of theState in non-Western regions was nodifferent. According to Irfan Ahmad,the nature of the State in Muslim-majority regions and in regions beingruled by Muslims was also static. It wasonly interested in gathering taxes andaiding the monarch and his vassals to

retain their wealth and power. The State as we know it today, is

thus a comparatively recent constructand a product of political and econom-ic modernity. So what do conceptssuch as “Islamic State” or “Riyasat-i-Madina (State of Madina)” reallymean? Such terms are often used byideologues and politicians in Muslim-majority regions. The thinking behindthem is that Islam is inherently polit-ical and its sacred texts lay out a blue-print for a State run by laws prescribedby Allah. Those who hold this viewinsist that such a State came into beingwith the arrival of Islam that activelyregulated every political, economic andsocial aspect of the community.

Irfan Ahmad writes that till the16th/17th century, the working of theState, even in powerful Muslimempires, was as limited as it was innon-Muslim realms. He adds that theidea of an Islamic State is actually notmore than a 100 years old. Accordingto the works of Egyptian scholars AliAbdel Raziq and Sa’id al-Ashmawi,theologically, Islam treats faith and the

concept of State separately and, in fact,puts more emphasis on faith and howit can operate as a moral guide.Ahmad writes, “to impose the mod-ern concept of the State on 7th centu-ry Arab society is misleading.” Becauseof infrastructural weaknesses, theState could not have expanded itsscope beyond a handful of duties, evenif it wanted to.

The Syrian academic and histori-an Aziz Al-Azmeh, in a widely-debat-ed 1990 essay Utopia and IslamicPolitical Thought, demonstrates thatthere is no political theory (about aState) in classical Islamic politicalthought. Fact is, those who insist thatthere is, are simply projecting the mod-ern concept of the State on ancient andmedieval Islamic polities, reimaginingthese polities as Islamic states whichinfluenced almost every aspect of thelives of their citizens. According toAhmad, such projections are the resultof ideas that first emerged in the early20th century.

One of the pioneers in this respectwas the prolific South Asian ideologue

and Islamic scholar Abul Ala Maududi.Ahmad writes that, as a young man,Maududi was associated with TheMuslim, a daily that took an anti-British, pro-Congress Party positionand promoted Muslim-Hindu unityand a secular set-up in India. However,after 1937, Maududi changed hisstance, especially when Jinnah’sMuslim League began to press for aseparate Muslim-majority State.Ahmad writes that all major politicalplayers in British India had becomesmitten by the concepts of the State andnationalism introduced in the regionby the British colonialists. The MuslimLeague began to speak about a MuslimState, the Congress about a post-colo-nial secular Indian State and theLeftists about a socialist State.

Rejecting all these concepts asungodly, Maududi came up with thetheory of Government of Allah orIslamic State. He then set out to for-mulate a new political theology, byinterpreting Islamic scriptures in thecontext of the State. In a 1941 essay, hewrites, “In reality, the classical Arabic

word deen approximately has thesame meaning which the word Statehas in the contemporary age.” Notingthat the modern State regulates almostevery facet of people’s lives, he contem-plated the creation of an Islamic Statethat would regulate every aspect of itscitizens’ lives according to laws laiddown by the Islamic scriptures.

Maududi understood the MuslimLeague as a secular Muslim national-ist organisation. So, to neutraliseMaududi’s criticism, Pakistan began toborrow his ideas. Yet, Maududi’s ownparty could not gain much tractionamong voters. This was probably dueto the aforementioned ploy by the Stateand, more so, because from the mid-1970s, even non-religious partiesbegan to adopt ideas from Maududiand fused them with their secular out-look. His ideas in this context reachedcompletion as an elaborate theory inhis 1979 magnum opus, FourFundamental Concepts of the Quran.

The theory suggested that anIslamic State existed during the earlydays of the faith because the sacred

scriptures were treated as an all-encompassing political constitutionand that such a State fell away becauseof corruption and needs to be re-enact-ed. Interestingly, this is the narrativepopularised by the Imran KhanGovernment. Though Maududi’s the-sis was inspired by largely Europeanideas of the State, this does not both-er those who take the revisionist his-torical claims of his theories as fact.

Ever since the 1980s, wheneverthere are claims and promises made bya variety of ideologues and leaders inthe Muslim world, about workingtowards an Islamic State, it is assumedthat it is rooted in the workings of a7th century Islamic realm. Accordingto Ahmad, objective history does notsupport this. As Egyptian scholarNasr Abu Zayd says, “Religious scrip-tures are at the mercy of the ideologyof its interpreter. For a communist,they would reveal communism, for afundamentalist they would be funda-mentalist text, for a feminist it wouldbe a feminist text, and so on ...”

(Courtesy: Dawn)

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Skopje (North Macedonia): Police in NorthMacedonia say they have found 94 migrantspacked into a truck in a the country's southeast.

A police patrol stopped the truck withMacedonian national license plates late Saturdaynear the town of Radovish, 110 kilometers (68miles) southeast of the capital, Skopje. The truckdriver fled from the scene, police said Sunday.

Police found 94 migrants from Syria,Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan packed into thetruck cargo area.

The migrants were detained and will be trans-ferred to a migrant shelter in the southern bor-der town of Gevgelija, pending deportation toGreece, where they came from.

The Greek border with North Macedonia wasclosed earlier this year due to the coronaviruspandemic.

But trafficking networks remain active, fer-rying migrants who make their way from Turkeyinto Greece and then attempt to head northtoward more prosperous countries in theEuropean Union. AP

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Belarusians are voting onwhether to grant their

authoritarian president a sixthterm in office, following a cam-paign marked by unusuallystrong demonstrations by oppo-sition supporters frustrated withthe country's stumbling econo-my, political repression andweak response to the coron-avirus pandemic.

Incumbent AlexanderLukashenko, in office for 26years, has made it clear hewon't hesitate to quash anyattempt by his opponents toprotest the results of Sunday'selection.

“If you provoke, you will getthe same answer,” he said after

casting his ballot.“Do you want to try to over-

throw the government, breaksomething, wound, offend, andexpect me or someone to kneelin front of you and kiss themand the sand onto which youwandered? This will not hap-pen.” But some voters weredefiant.

“There is no more fear.Belarusians will not be silentand will protest loudly," 24-year-old Tatiana Protasevich said ata Minsk polling place Sunday.

The head of staff for mainopposition candidate SviatlanaTsikhanouskaya was detainedlate Saturday for allegedly par-ticipating in authorized protestsand is likely to be in jail until atleast Monday.

Taipei: US Health and HumanServices Secretary Alex Azararrived in Taiwan on Sunday inthe highest-level visit by anAmerican Cabinet official sincethe break in formal diplomat-ic relations betweenWashington and Taipei in 1979.

Beijing has already protest-ed Azar's visit as a betrayal ofUS commitments not to haveofficial contact with the island.China claims Taiwan as its ownterritory, to be brought underits control by military force ifnecessary.

Azar is due to meet withthe island's independence-lean-ing President Tsai Ing-wenalong with health officials dur-ing a three-day visit aimed athighlighting cooperation in thefight against the coronavirus.

Taiwan's government-runhealth care system has beencredited with keeping thenumber of coronavirus cases tounder 500 with just sevendeaths, despite its close prox-imity to China where the virusoriginated.

China sees Taiwan as a keyirritant in its troubled rela-tionship with Washington,with whom it is also at oddsover trade, technology, theSouth China Sea and China's

response to the virus pan-demic.

The US maintains onlyunofficial ties with Taiwan indeference to Beijing, but is theisland's most important allyand provider of defence equip-ment.

Azar is the first healthsecretary to visit Taiwan andthe first Cabinet member tovisit in six years. In 2014,t h e n - E n v i r o n m e n t a lProtection Agency adminis-trator Gina McCarthy visitedTaiwan, sparking protests fromBeijing.

Azar's office said he will hold discussions on COVID-19, global healthand Taiwan's role as a supplier of medical equipmentand technology Azar's visitwas facilitated by the 2018passage of the Taiwan TravelAct, which encouragedWashington to send higher-level officials to Taiwan afterdecades during which suchcontacts were rare and freight-ed with safeguards to avoidroiling ties with Beijing.

China has cut contactswith Tsai over her refusal torecognise China's claim to theisland and has brought increas-ing diplomatic, economic and

military pressure against her,including by poaching awayseveral of its remaining diplo-matic allies and excluding itfrom international gatheringsincluding the World HealthAssembly.

That, in turn, has increasedalready considerable bipartisansympathy for Taipei inWashington and promptednew measures to strengthengovernmental and militaryties.

Also Sunday, TaiwaneseForeign Minister Joseph Wumet with the first representa-tive of Somaliland to the islandahead of the territory's open-ing of a representative office inTaipei.

Wu earlier tweeted thatMohamed Omar HagiMohamoud had “bravedChinese pressure” — a refer-ence to reports that Chinahad sought to block relationsbetween Taiwan and the regionon the Horn of Africa thatbroke from the rest of Somaliabut is not recognized by theUnited Nations as an inde-pendent country.

“The fact 'sovereignty &friendship aren't for sale'deserves international recog-nition,” Wu tweeted. AP

Washington: President DonaldTrump on Saturday signedexecutive orders extending eco-nomic help to Americans hit bythe coronavirus crisis after hisRepublican party and opposi-tion Democrats failed to agreeon a new stimulus package.

"We've had it and we'regoing to save American jobsand provide relief to theAmerican workers," he said ata press conference in his golfclub in Bedminster, New Jersey.

With double digit unem-ployment, massive disruptionto businesses from social dis-tancing rules, and stubbornlyhigh rates of coronavirus infec-tion, many Americans havebeen relying on relief measuresapproved earlier by Congress,but which mostly expired inJuly.

Trump said his decision tocircumvent Congress withexecutive orders would meanrelief money getting "rapidlydistributed."

One order aims to get $400a week added to unemploy-ment benefits, while two oth-ers offer some protection fromevictions and relief for studentloans.

A fourth measure —opposed by many Republicansas well as Democrats — ordersa freeze in payroll taxes.

Trump, speaking in theballroom of his Bedminster,New Jersey golf club with anaudience of club memberscheering him and laughing athis colorful insults againstopponents, said he was alsoworking on new tax cut ideas.

However, his executiveorders are likely to face courtchallenges, since they short-cir-cuit Congress, which has con-stitutional power over mostspending decisions.

Democrats, Republicansand White House negotiatorshad worked all last week with-

out coming close to a deal ona congressional relief bill.

Democrats pushed for amassive new $3 trillion stimu-lus package aimed at proppingup the economy, repairing thetattered postal system in timefor the presidential election,and giving the unemployed anextra $600 a week.

Democrats laterannounced they could drop theprice tag but refused theRepublicans' offer of a $1 tril-lion package.

Trump, who is down in thepolls against Democrat JoeBiden, faces broad criticismover his handling of the healthand economic responses to thecoronavirus pandemic. AFP

Kabul: A traditional Afghancouncil concluded Sunday withhundreds of delegates agreeingto free 400 Taliban members,paving the way for an early startto negotiations betweenAfghanistan's warring sides.

The declaration read out inboth of Afghanistan's officiallanguages of Pashto and Farsicalls for an immediate start tonegotiations and cease fire.The move looks to bring theUnited States a little closer toreturning its troops and endingits longest military engage-ment.

No date has been set butnegotiations between Kabul'spolitical leadership and theTaliban are expected to beginas early as next week and willmost likely be held in the mid-dle eastern state of Qatar, wherethe Taliban maintains a polit-ical office.

The Afghan negotiationswere laid out in a peace dealsigned by the United States andthe Taliban in February. At thetime of its signing it was tout-ed as Afghanistan's best chance

at ending decades of war.Afghan President Ashraf

Ghani praised delegates fortheir decision, urged theTaliban to stop fighting.

Taliban politicalspokesman Suhail Shaheen saidthe decision “was a good step,a positive step.” He said nego-tiations could start within oneweek of their prisoners beingfreed.

As for a cease fire, Shaheensaid the Taliban was commit-ted to the deal it struck with theUnited States and according tothat deal “the cease fire will beone of the items to be discussedduring the intra-Afghan nego-tiations."

The council's decision tofree the prisoners does notcome as a surprise as delegateswere urged by the US at thestart of the council, or jirga, onFriday to take “this difficultaction” so negotiations couldbegin to bring an end to thewar.

“To remove obstacle, tostart peace talks and to stop thebloodshed, the Jirga confirms

the release of 400 Taliban pris-oners,” said Atefa Tayeb, acouncil secretary who read outthe final declaration at theconclusion.

The deal negotiatedbetween the United States andTaliban calls for the govern-ment to free 5,000 prisonersand for the Taliban to free 1,000government and military per-sonnel in its custody as a good-will gesture ahead of the startof negotiations.

Kabul balked at the releasebut eventually freed all but thelast 400. President Ghani saidhe was not authorized to freethese because of the seriousnessof their crimes, and asked forthe council to decide instead.He did not detail of what the400 were accused.

Delegates were thereforegiven the stark choice of eitherfreeing the prisoners or seeinga war that has killed tens ofthousands continue. The dele-gates said they wanted inter-national guarantees that theTaliban would not return to thebattlefield.

Washington's Peace envoyZalmay Khalilzad spent morethan a year and a half negoti-ating the deal with the Talibanto provide for the withdrawalof American soldiers after morethan 19 years in Afghanistan.

The withdrawal began ear-lier this year but roughly 8,600US soldiers remain inAfghanistan and their return

will depend on the Talibanhonoring its commitment tofight against other terroristgroups and ensure Afghanistanis not again used to attack theUnited States or its allies.

The withdrawal of US andNATO troops is not dependenton the success of negotiationsbetween Kabul's political lead-ership and the Taliban. AP

Tokyo: The Japanese city ofNagasaki on Sunday marked its75th anniversary of the USatomic bombing, with the mayorand dwindling survivors urgingworld leaders including theirown to do more for a nuclearweapons ban.

At 11:02 am, the momentthe B-29 bomber Bockscardropped a 4.5-ton (10,000-pound) plutonium bombdubbed “Fat Man,” Nagasakisurvivors and other participantsstood in a minute of silence tohonor more than 70,000 dead.

The August 9, 1945, bomb-ing came three days after theUnited States dropped its firstatomic bomb on Hiroshima, theworld's first ever nuclear attackthat killed 140,000. On August15, Japan surrendered, endingWorld War II.

At the event at NagasakiPeace Park, scaled down because

of the coronavirus pandemic,Mayor Tomihisa Taue read apeace declaration in which heraised concern that nuclearstates had in recent years retreat-ed from disarmament efforts.

Instead, they are upgradingand miniaturizing nuclearweapons for easier use, he said.Taue singled out the US andRussia for increasing risks by

scrapping the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

“As a result, the threat ofnuclear weapons being used isincreasingly becoming real,”Taue said. Noting that theNuclear Proliferation Treatyentered into force 50 years ago,Taue urged the US and Russia toshow a (asterisk)workableway(asterisk) towards their

nuclear disarmament at theNPT review process next year.

He said that “the true hor-ror of nuclear weapons has notyet been adequately conveyed tothe world at large” despite strug-gle and efforts by hibakusha, oratomic bombing survivors, tomake Nagasaki the last place ofthe tragedy.

He also urged Japan's gov-ernment and lawmakers toquickly sign the 2017 Treaty onthe Prohibition of NuclearWeapons.

After taking part in the cer-emony, Prime Minister ShinzoAbe criticized the treaty for notbeing realistic. None of thenuclear states has joined, and itis not widely supported even bynon-nuclear states, he said.

“The Treaty on theProhibition of Nuclear Weaponswas adopted without takinginto consideration the reality of

the harsh national security envi-ronment,” Abe said at a newsconference.

“I must say the treaty is dif-ferent from Japan's position andapproach" even though theyshare the same goal of abolish-ing nuclear weapons, he said.

Abe has repeatedly refusedto sign the treaty. He reiteratedthat Japan's approach is not totake sides but to serve as a bridgebetween nuclear and non-nuclear states to encourage dia-logue to achieve a total nuclearban. Survivors and pacifistgroups say Japan is virtually sid-ing with the US and othernuclear states.

Abe cited “severe nationalsecurity environment and awide gap between the two sideson nuclear disarmament.” Healso noted Japan faces threats ofdevelopment and moderniza-tion of nuclear weapons from

“neighboring countries in theregion.” Taue, who spoke beforeAbe, disagreed, saying: “Amongthe nuclear-weapon states andcountries under the nuclearumbrella, there have been voic-es stating that it is too early forsuch a treaty. That is not so.Nuclear arms reductions arefar too late in coming.”

While Tokyo renounces itsown possession, production orhosting of nuclear weapons, asa US ally Japan hosts 50,000American troops and is pro-tected by the US nuclear umbrel-la. The post-WWII securityarrangement complicates thepush to get Japan to sign thetreaty as it beefs up its own mil-itary to deal with threats fromNorth Korea and China, amongothers. An aging group of sur-vivors have expressed a growingsense of urgency to tell their sto-ries, in hopes of reaching

younger generations to contin-ue their effort toward establish-ing a nuclear-free world.

“There is not much time leftfor us survivors,” said ShigemiFukabori, 89. He was a 14-year-old student mobilized towork at a shipyard whenNagasaki was bombed.

“I'm determined to keeptelling my story so that Nagasakiwill be the last place on Earth tohave suffered an atomic attack.”

Fukabori, who almostinstantly lost four siblings, saidhe never forgets the pile ofcharred bodies, bombed-outstreet cars and the badly injureddesperately asking for help andwater as he rushed back to hishouse in the back of theUrakami Cathedral, which wasalso nearly destroyed.

“We don't want anyone elseto have to go through this," hesaid. AP

Wellington: New Zealand onSunday marked 100 days sinceit stamped out the spread of thecoronavirus, a rare bright spotin a world that continues to beravaged by the disease.

Life has returned to nor-mal for many people in theSouth Pacific nation of 5 mil-lion, as they attend rugbygames at packed stadiums andsit down in bars and restau-rants without the fear of gettinginfected. But some worry thecountry may be getting com-placent and not preparing wellenough for any future out-breaks.

New Zealand got rid of thevirus by imposing a strict lock-down in late March when onlyabout 100 people had testedpositive for the disease. Thatstopped its spread. AP

Beirut: Lebanon's informationminister resigned on Sunday asthe country grapples with theaftermath of the devastatingblast that ripped through thecapital and raised public angerto new levels.

The resignation comescomes after a night of demon-strations against the ruling elite,blamed for the chronic mis-management and corruptionthat is believed to be behind theexplosion in a Beirut Portwarehouse.

Hundreds of tons of high-ly explosive material werestored in the waterfront hangar,and the blast sent a shock wavethat killed at least 160 people,wounded nearly 6,000 anddefaced the coastline of Beirut— destroying hundreds ofbuildings.

Manal Abdel-Samad said inher resignation letter thatchange remained “elusive” and

she regrets failing to fulfill theaspirations of the Lebanesepeople.

Her resignation comes asabout half a dozen lawmakersoffered their resignation inprotest over government per-formance. Local media alsoreported that another minister,and a close advisor to PrimeMinister Hassan Diab, was alsoexpected to resign.

Diab met with his Cabinetreportedly to discuss the resig-nations Sunday, but there wereno comments after the meeting.

“Given the magnitude ofthe catastrophe caused by theBeirut earthquake that shookthe nation and hurt our heartsand minds, and in respect forthe martyrs, and the pains ofthe wounded, missing and dis-placed, and in response to thepublic will for change, I resignfrom the government," Abdel-Samad wrote. AP

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Colombo: Mahinda Rajapaksawas sworn in on Sunday as SriLanka's new prime minister ata centuries-old Buddhist templeafter his party won a landslidevictory in parliamentary elec-tions that allowed the influen-tial family to consolidate powerfor the next five years.

The 74-year-old formerpresident and Sri Lanka People'sParty (SLPP) leader was admin-istered the oath of office by hisyounger brother and PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa at a gath-ering of Buddhist monks, rep-resentatives of the diplomaticcommunity and other seniorofficials.

"I am humbled by theopportunity given to me toserve my people again," hetweeted soon after starting hisfourth innings as prime minis-ter.

Mahinda Rajapaksa saidthe trust bestowed on him bythe people will inspire him tocontinue to serve the country.The prime minister vowed thathe would ensure that Sri Lankawould embark on a progressivejourney during his tenure.

Supporters of the SLPP litfirecrackers to celebrate his

swearing-in as the 13th PrimeMinister at the RajamahaViharaya in Kelaniya, a northColombo suburb, at the auspi-cious hour of 9:28 am local time.

The Rajamaha Viharaya,also known as the Kelaniyatemple, dates back to 2,500years. According to the websiteof the temple, it has often beenassociated with the rise and fallof Sri Lanka.

The SLPP, led by Mahindaand Gotabaya Rajapaksa, regis-tered a landslide victory in theAugust 5 general election, secur-ing two-thirds majority inParliament needed to amendthe Constitution to further con-solidate the powerful Rajapaksafamily's grip on power.

India's High Commissionerto Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay onSaturday became the first envoyto congratulate the new primeminister when he called onMahinda Rajapaksa.

Baglay recalled that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hadcomplimented the people andGovernment of Sri Lanka on thesuccessful conduct of electionsand had acknowledged theimpressive electoral perfor-mance of the SLPP. PTI

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Islamabad: Pakistan on Sundaywelcomed A traditional Afghancouncil's recommendation torelease the remaining 400Taliban members, expressinghope that the move will help inan early start to negotiationsbetween Afghanistan's warringsides.

The traditional Afghancouncil concluded Sunday withhundreds of delegates agreeingto free 400 Taliban members.

"We hope that with theimplementation of this step

relating to the prisoners' release,as envisaged in the US-TalibanPeace Agreement, the intra-Afghan negotiations will com-mence at the earliest,” theForeign Office (FO) said in astatement. The deal negotiatedbetween the US and Talibancalls for the government tofree 5,000 prisoners and for theTaliban to free 1,000 govern-ment and military personnel inits custody as a goodwill gestureahead of the start of negotia-tions. PTI

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Portland (US): A fire inside apolice union building ledauthorities in Portland,Oregon, to declare a riot andforce protesters away from theoffices as violent demonstra-tions continue in the city thathad hoped for calm after fed-eral agents withdrew morethan a week ago.

A group of demonstratorsbroke into the Portland PoliceAssociation building, set thefire and were adding to itwhen officers made the riotdeclaration late Saturday, policetweeted. Video shot by a jour-nalist shows smoke and flamesarising from inside the build-ing.

Several hundred people hadgathered outside the offices,which are located about 5 miles(8 kilometers) north of the fed-eral courthouse that had beenthe target of nightly violenceearlier this summer. AP

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Rome: With confirmed coronavirus cases in theUS hitting 5 million Sunday, by far the highestof any country, the failure of the most power-ful nation in the world to contain the scourgehas been met with astonishment and alarm inEurope.

Perhaps nowhere outside the US isAmerica's bungled virus response viewed withmore consternation than in Italy, which wasground zero of Europe's epidemic. Italians wereunprepared when the outbreak exploded inFebruary, and the country still has one of theworld's highest official death tolls at 35,000.

But after a strict nationwide, 10-weeklockdown, vigilant tracing of new clusters andgeneral acceptance of mask mandates and socialdistancing, Italy has become a model of viruscontainment.

“Don't they care about their health?” amask-clad Patrizia Antonini asked about peo-ple in the United States as she walked withfriends along the banks of Lake Bracciano, northof Rome. AP

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Jerusalem: Thousands of Israelisrallied outside Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu's resi-dence in Jerusalem on Saturdayas anger mounted over corrup-

tion allegations and his handlingof the coronavirus crisis. "Yourtime is up", read the giant lettersprojected on to a building at theprotest site, as demonstrators

waved Israeli flags and called onNetanyahu to resign over whatthey say is his failure to protectjobs and businesses affected bythe pandemic. AFP

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Page 9: ˘ ˇ ˆ...fresh attack on a BJP worker in the area on Sunday. ... worker identified as Abdul Hameed Najar, son of Mohammad Jamal. "The BJP worker was shifted to SMHS hospital Srinagar

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State-run BSNL will startoffering up to 10 times faster

broadband speed at 100 mbpsand up to 20 times more datadownload limit for its cus-tomers in Andaman andNicobar Islands from Monday,the company said on Sunday.

The announcement fromBSNL comes a day before thelaunch of 2,312 kilometre longChennai-Andaman andNicobar Islands (CANI) sub-marine optical fibre cable pro-ject by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

“Despite many challengesthe project is completed in ascheduled timeline and withoutany cost overrun. Being a firstof its kind project in India,BSNL ensured that the layingof submarine optical fibre cableis completed as per globalspecification to ensure quality,”BSNL chairman and managingdirector P K Purwar said.

BSNL will enhance dataspeeds across all the plansbetween 2-10 times after thelaunch of the project withoutcharging any extra amount

from the customers, accordingto details shared by the com-pany.

“For BSNL wire line seg-ment, copper broadband cus-tomers are now provided withhigher speeds which is up to10Mbps and up to 15 timesmore data download rangingfrom 30 GB to 750 GB in amonth on its existing plans,” thestatement said.

The data speed restric-tion after the download limit,will also be enhanced from 512kbps to up to 2 Mbps in vari-ous plans, it added.

“BSNL FTTH (OpticalFibre) customers are also pro-vided with higher speed up to100 Mbps and up to 15 timesdata volume download rangingfrom 60 GB to 1500 GB in amonth on its existing plans.The data speed restriction afterthe download limit, is alsoenhanced from 512 kbps to upto 4 Mbps in various plans,” thestatement said. BSNL cus-tomers who have subscribed tothe high end plan of �7,999 willbe upgraded from 10 mbpsspeed to 100 mbps downloadspeed.

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Despite several businessesremaining closed during

the lockdown, 81 per cent ofmicro enterprises polled areconfident of a recovery postCovid-19 whereas 57 per centreported not having any cashreserves to survive, accordingto a survey.

Initial results of a six-month survey that is underwayby GAME (Global Alliance forMass Entrepreneurship) inassociation with LEAD at KreaUniversity covering 1,500micro enterprises also revealthat 40 per cent tried to borrowmoney to cover expenses.

However, only 14 percent of the overall borrowingwas from formal borrowingsources.

As per the revised crite-ria, any firm with investmentup to Rs 1 crore and turnoverunder Rs 5 crore is classified asa “micro” enterprise.

Madan Padaki, co-founder of GAME, saidCOVID-19 has left a devastat-

ing impact on the Indian econ-omy, especially micro-enter-prises that comprise around 99per cent of all firms in India.

“Through this longi-tudinal survey, we intend totruly understand the on-ground situation and chal-lenges faced by microenter-prises in managing cash flows,dealing with broken supplychains and delayed payments.By keeping our ears to theground, we want to providespecific recommendations to allecosystem actors to acceleratethe recovery of these enter-prises,” Padaki said.

The survey also revealedthat across all respondents,female business owners facedmore household challengesthan men.

In fact, 70 per cent femalebusiness owners suggested interhouse conflicts as the biggestchallenge while 53 per centmen responded to the same.Women also faced more unaf-fordable expenses than men,with 46 per cent suggesting thesame, the survey said. PTI

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TRAI expects to finalise itsdecision on priority plans

of Vodafone Idea and Airtelwithin two weeks of gettingdetailed responses on itsqueries from the two telcos,according to a regulatorysource.

The source said thatwhile TRAI had “serious con-cerns” on multiple issues per-taining to the priority plans, ithad granted additional time upto August 10 to the two telcosto respond to its fresh round ofquestioning, as the playersthemselves had sought moretime to reply.

Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (TRAI) isprobing whether assuring min-imum, faster or average dataspeeds is technological feasibleor not.

And indeed, if it is, whyshould telecom operators offer-ing priority/platinum plans notbe able to quantify the same,and clear the air around treat-ment that will be meted outnon-premium customers aswell, the source privy to theongoing enquiry said.

Telcos must clearly quan-tify the benefits being offered

to consumers (of the priorityplans) in return for what theyare being charged. Subscriptionto a mobile plan is akin to a‘sale’ where consumer is thepurchaser of the service andhence the telcos “must quanti-fy” exactly what services suchusers are going to get.

Merely using the term‘better service’ is not suffice, thesource said.

Asked about the timelinesfor TRAI to come to a conclu-sion on the ongoing issue, thesource said that the two telcosthemselves had asked for somemore time earlier this month toanswer TRAI’s second round ofqueries, many of which weretechnical in nature and need-ed concrete data.

TRAI will finalise itsdecision on priority plan issuewithin two weeks of getting

response from the telcos, theextended time for which isMonday (August 10), thesource said.

Service quality must bespecified for two sets of usersnow -- priority and generalusers, and that informationtoo has not been given by thecompanies, so far, the sourceadded.

Moreover, when the planswere filed, the operators shouldhave drawn the regulator’sattention to the fact that theserepresented differentiatedofferings.

TRAI had recently grant-ed additional time to BhartiAirtel and Vodafone Idea tosubmit detailed responses onfresh set of questions on pre-mium plans, where queriesrange from what happens whena non-priority customer is sur-rounded by priority users dur-ing congestion, to limit ofthroughput configured for thetwo sets of network subscribers.

TRAI shot-off nearlytwo dozen additional ques-tions to Airtel and VodafoneIdea over the contentious pre-mium plans on July 31, and hadasked them to explain theirstand backed by data and pre-sentation.

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Indian authorities will notdeviate from the resolution

order passed by statutoryappellate body ITAT in cross-border tax disputes which areundergoing simultaneous res-olution through mutual agree-ment procedure (MAP), theincome tax department hassaid.

MAP is an alternative dis-pute resolution process underthe tax treaties, under which

competent authorities of twocountries enter into discus-sions to resolve tax related dis-putes. As many as 600 tax dis-putes have been resolved underMAP between April 1, 2014 toDecember 31, 2018.

The Central Board ofDirect Taxes has come out witha guidance note on MAP whichalso specifies cases or situationsin which India will provideaccess to MAP. Tax disputesrelating to transfer pricingadjustments, determination ofexistence of a permanent estab-lishment, attribution of profits topermanent establishments, char-acterisation or re-characterisa-tion of an expense or receipt asa taxable expense or taxableincome would be covered

under MAP if they result intaxation not in accordance

with the relevant DTAAs. The guidance note also said

that India shall provide access toMAP even in a situation wherethe Indian tax authorities applydomestic anti-abuse provisions.The CBDT also said that in caseof orders of Income TaxAppellate Tribunal, theCompetent Authorities of Indiashall not deviate from the ordersof the ITAT for the relevant yearwhere the dispute is decided onmerits.It said that since MAPand domestic remedy pro-ceedings can be availed by thetaxpayers simultaneously, therecould be instances where theITAT in India passes an orderin respect of the same disputes

that are also being examinedunder MAP. “Since the ITATis an independent statutoryappellate body, which is outsidethe administrative jurisdictionof the Indian tax authorities;and is the highest fact-findingbody on tax matters, the CAsin India shall not deviate fromthe orders of the ITAT for therelevant year where the disputeis decided on merits,” theCBDT guidance note said.

Such MAP cases shall beclosed as having been resolvedby a domestic remedy.

“However, if the orderof the ITAT does not resolvethe disputes but only sets themaside to be adjudicated afresh,then access to MAP would beprovided again after the fresh

adjudication by tax authorities,if requested for by the relevanttaxpayers,” it added.

In May, the Govt amend-ed Income Tax rules to state thatIndian authorities would“endeavour” to resolve disputesunder MAP within a time-frame of 24 months, a moveaimed at speedy settlement ofcases of MNCs which haveopted the alternative dispute res-olution process. Nangia & CoLLP Partner Shailesh Kumarsaid Indian tax authorities haveapparently shown their inten-tion to provide a speedy reso-lution to taxpayers opting forMAP by appointment of twodedicated offices for taking upMAP applications and negoti-ations.

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Asia Pacific, which accountsfor a third of the global

migrant workforce, is likely toface remittance losses of USD31.4-54.3 billion due to thecoronavirus pandemic, theAsian Development Bank(ADB) said in a report.

The Governmentsneed to come up with policymeasures to reduce the eco-nomic and social fallout arisingout of it, the ADB said.

Job losses stemming fromCovid-19 are hurting house-holds around the world, but forAsia and the Pacific’s 91 millionmigrant workers — a third ofthe global migrant workforce— the impacts will be partic-ularly severe, the ADB said inAugust 2020 brief on ‘COVID-19 Impact on International

Migration, Remittances, andRecipient Households inDeveloping Asia. “ADB econ-omists estimate that the regionfaces remittance losses rangingfrom USD 31.4 billion to USD54.3 billion. To reduce the eco-nomic and social impacts, pol-icy responses are proposed inareas such as social protection,immigration, labour, andhealth,” it said. In 2019, six ofthe 10 largest remittance recip-ients globally were from thisregion-India, China, thePhilippines, Pakistan,Bangladesh, and Vietnam, theManila-headquartered multi-lateral funding agency said.The countries likely to facemore severe effects from thepandemic-induced decline inremittance inflows are the oneswhere remittance shares togross domestic product (GDP)

and per capita remittances arehigh.

These include Tonga,Samoa, and other Pacific coun-tries, with remittances relativeto the size of their economiesand populations very high.

Central Asian countriessuch as Georgia, the KyrgyzRepublic, and Tajikistan, send-ing a large number of season-al and long-term migrantsmainly to the RussianFederation and Europe, willalso be hard-hit, along withsome of the major migrant ori-gin countries such as Nepal andthe Philippines, it added.

Remittances to Asia andthe Pacific, amounting to USD315 billion in 2019, are animportant and stable source ofincome for families back homeand help strengthen externalfinancing—alongside foreign

direct investment and tourismrecipients— in many develop-ing economies, said the reportpenned by four ADB econo-mists.They boost general con-sumption as well as investmentand help sustain Governmentdebts by contributing to theforeign currency revenue base,said the economists.

Jobs and worker welfareare severely affected by the pan-demic globally but some sec-tors are hurt more than otherssuch as retail and wholesaletrade, hospitality and recre-ation, manufacturing, andaccommodation and food ser-vice sectors.

These are the sectors large-ly in non-essential serviceswith frequent face-to-faceinteractions and the migrantand informal workers areamong those facing the most

severe impacts, as they often donot have regular contracts norstrong bargaining power, saidthe report. “Migrant workersare more vulnerable from lay-offs once prolonged lockdownsand production breaks drivecompanies out of business.

Also, uncertainty loomsabout the timing of full recov-ery, even as lockdowns arelifted, with concerns aboutpersistent weak demand insome economic sectors.

“The wide-scale economiccost of the COVID-19 pan-demic is expected to reachbetween USD 5.8 trillion andUSD 8.8 trillion globally, equiv-alent to 6.4 per cent to 9.7 percent of global GDP, reflectingthe spread of the pandemic toEurope, the United States, andother major economies,” saidthe report. The ADB said that

employment in host economiesof Asian migrants is contract-ing significantly.

“The remittance flows todeveloping Asia is to plungeamid the pandemic as duringthe first months 2020, remit-tances began to contract inmajor migrant source coun-tries...While some migrantworkers may feel altruistic andsend more money to theirfamilies in extremely difficultsituations, prevailing weak eco-nomic forecasts are pointingtoward declining remittances.”However, relative increase inremittance inflows is observedin June in selected countrieswhich can be attributed to lift-ing of lockdowns in destina-tions that allowed migrants toremit over the counter andintroduction of policy mea-sures that incentivise transfer

by reducing restrictions andtransaction fees, the ADB said.

Citing a study of 10migrant sending countries inAsia, the ADB said remittancedependent households are atrisk of falling into poverty, asit is estimated that a 1 per-centage increase in the share toGDP to remittances inflowfrom overseas is associatedwith a reduction in poverty gapby 22.6 per cent and povertyseverity by 16 per cent.

A study based on micro-data from selected economiesin South Asia and SoutheastAsia suggests that a 10 per centincrease in remittance inflowsleads to a 3–4 per cent rise inreal GDP per capita, it said.

Recommending policyactions to the host and sourcecountries, ADB economistssaid governments of host coun-

tries of migrants need to ensurethat migrant workers haveaccess to social protection,including employment-relat-ed support and social assis-tance, as well as health services.They should support employ-ers to help retain and hirelaid-off workers, includingmigrant workers.

Such effort contributes tothe smooth recovery of theeconomy by ensuring work-force availability and the reduc-tion of contagion risks, said thereport. Among others, the hostand source countries shouldcontinue to recognise remit-tance service providers as oneof the essential businesses toallow migrants and families totransact without disruption asremittance money is a lifelinefor many poor and vulnerablefamilies left behind.

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The dates for submission ofbids For online auction of

coal blocks for commercialmining could be furtherextended due to disruptionscaused by the Covid-19 pan-demic, sources said on Sunday.

The Centre had ear-lier extended the dates for sub-mission of technical bids.According to the revised sched-ule, the last date for submittinga technical bid is 2 pm ofSeptember 29, and e- auctionwould be carried out for qual-ified bidders between October19 and November 9.

However, the sources saidfurther extension is likely to besought by investors, keeping inmind the COVID-19 restic-tions on travel and movement.

“We are not sure whetherthis extension will be enoughfor bidders to complete evalu-ation and feasibility studies,which have to be conductedwith rigorous on-ground dataand inputs

. If needed, fresh extensionwould be sought,” a seniorofficial of a large corporate bid-der told PTI.

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The number of British com-panies planning to cut staff

numbers in June was five timeshigher than in the same montha year earlier, in an ominoussign of Covid-19’s economicimpact.

Figures obtained by theBBC show that 1,778 compa-nies informed the Governmentof plans to cut a total of 139,000jobs.

A year earlier the figurewas 345 companies announc-ing a total of 24,000 job loss-es.Businesses are required toinform the Insolvency Serviceif they plan to cut 20 or morejobs.

During the pandemic thegovernment has been payingthe salaries of almost 10 millionfurloughed workers.Economists are predicting asurge in unemployment whenthat program ends in October.

The U.K. Economy shrankby more than 20 per cent in thefirst half of 2020, and despitesome signs of recovery theBank of England says the econ-omy will end 2020 9.5 per centsmaller than it started theyear.

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Energy giant Saudi Aramcohas reported a 73 per cent

fall in its profit, or the netincome, for the April-Junequarter to $6.6 billion amid thepandemic.

During the same period of2019, the company had report-ed a net income of $24.7 billion.For the first half of 2020, it hasreported a net income of $23.2billion, compared to $46.9 bil-lion reported during the cor-responding period a year ago,the company said in a state-ment.

“Aramco navigated chal-lenging market conditions torecord net income of $6.6 bil-lion for the second quarter and$23.2 billion for the first half of2020, respectively, compared to$24.7 billion and $46.9 billionin the corresponding periods of2019.

This demonstratesAramco’s agility, strength andresilience across market cycles,”it said.

Noting that strong head-winds from reduced demand

and lower oil prices reflected inthe company’s second quarterresults, Aramco President &CEO Amin H.

Nasser said that the com-pany foresees a partial recoveryin the energy market aseconomies open up.

“We are seeing a partialrecovery in the energy marketas countries around the worldtake steps to ease restrictionsand reboot their economies.Meanwhile, we continue toplace people’s safety first andhave adapted to the new nor-mal, implementing wide-rang-ing precautions to limit thespread of Covid-19 whereverwe operate,” the CEO said.

He noted that despite thechallenges, the company deliv-ered “solid earnings” because oflow production costs, uniquescale, agile workforce, andunrivalled financial and oper-ational strength.

This helped the companyto deliver on its plan to main-tain a second quarter divi-dend of $18.75 billion to bepaid in the third quarter, Nasseradded.

New Delhi: On the anniversaryof Quit India Movement, theConfederation of all IndiaTraders (CAIT) on Sundaylaunched a campaign ‘ChinaQuit India’ to boycott Chinesegoods, while its members heldprotests across 600 placesacross the country.

The trader’s body saidthere is an urgent need tocheck “China’s growing foot-steps in India and import ofChinese goods”.Adding a newdimension to its nationwidecampaign “Bhartiya Saamaan-Hamara Abhimaan”, CAIT saidit has launched ‘China QuitIndia’ movement to boycott

Chinese goods and “held aprotest dharna at about 600places in different states of thecountry.”Expressing concernsover Chinese investment invarious Indian companies,start-ups and digital apps,CAIT said there is a need totake necessary action in thisregard. It said that Chineseinvestments in Governmentprojects and various sensitiveconstruction works should beput under government scanner.

On the 78th anniversary ofQuit India Movement, it saidpeople across the country hadcome together under the lead-ership of Mahatma Gandhi to

protest against the British Raj.While releasing the agen-

da of the ‘China Quit Indiacampaign’, CAIT SecretaryGeneral Praveen Khandelwal“urged the central governmentto carry out an all-round siegeof China and its activities inIndia”.“Several Chinese com-panies have made large invest-ments in Indian startups in siz-able numbers, all such startupsshould be asked to excludeChinese investors and the gov-ernment should announce alucrative policy to encourageIndian people to invest in thesestartups,” he said.

PTI

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Indian Railways is committedto integrate with the

Government e-marketplace(GeM) portal to move all itsprocurement to the platform,Union Minister Piyush Goyalsaid on Sunday.

The railways’ direct pro-curement of goods for its oper-ations or its public sectorundertakings or productionunits stood at about �70,000crore-�75,000 crore, theCommerce and Industry andRailways Minister said.

“I am happy to share thatGeM and Indian Railways areburning the midnight oil,working day and night toensure this entire �70,000 croreprocurement on the GeM plat-form,” Goyal said at the GeM-CII National PublicProcurement Conclave 2020.

“Our own belief is that itwill save railways not less than10-15 per cent and that couldbe a saving of as high as�10,000 crore,” he added.Railways buys more than 98per cent of its goods and ser-vices in India and moving thispurchase to the GeM platformin the next “probably 8-12

months” will help in makingprocurement process moretransparent, seamless, efficientand faster, Goyal said.

“The railways has com-mitted itself fully to integratewith GeM and move all pro-curement there(GeM)...Imagine we will save1000s and 1000s of man hoursof procurement time.

“The amount of elaboratetendering, advertisements, bids,bids opening, reverse auction,all of that become so seamlessthat our digital system of therailways will flag the require-ment on the GeM portal, andit will be available for thewhole world to see and moreand more people will be enticedto register on GeM as suppli-ers,” Goyal said.

He added that if any sup-plier or vendor provides badquality goods, it will be blacklisted not only on GeM, butthroughout the governmentsystem.

“We will ensure that theentire government system doesnot entertain that companyanymore,” he said, adding thatat a later stage, GeM will movefrom goods and services tocontracts.

The minister said the gov-ernment’s public procurementwould be in the range of USD100-150 billion (about �7.5lakh crore-�11.25 lakh crore),and probably more if one com-bines all the PSUs, state gov-ernment and local bodies.

He said GeM should playa role in publicising all thoseproducts which are not madein India, but are required inIndia in a big way so that “wecan encourage” entrepreneursto plan to make those productsin India, as is being done byrailways. He said railways hasidentified the products whichare imported and is workingthrough RDSO (ResearchDesign and StandardsOrganisation) to develop newvendors for those products.

“We have taken certaingame changing reform mea-sures in railway vendor regis-tration also. Number of prod-ucts have been moved out ofvendor registration.

“So mostly safety items arebeing kept for vendor registra-tion...If you are registered inany one organisation, you aredeemed to be Sregisteredthroughout the railways,” hesaid.

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With the COVID-19 pandemic,everyone is compelled toacknowledge the fact that

things cannot function the way theyused to anymore. As a part of the busi-ness community, society and the larg-er ecosystem, the need to learn to adaptto the new normal has become a neces-sity. Studies reveal how workplace con-ducts can be modified and regulated asper the changing requirements as thelockdown is gradually being lifted up.

A survey by Pulse studied the keycompetencies to survive the currentpandemic. Its second survey focussed onthe priorities and policies HR functionsshould adopt to help organisations andemployees navigate through the currentcrisis. The third survey now focusses onthe relevance of POSH Act and Policy(The Sexual Harassment of Women atWorkplace (Prevention, Prohibitionand Redressal) Act, 2013) in the newnormal considering the emerging cur-rent realities that have surfaced.

It lists these top priorities for organ-isations to look at while evaluating therelevance of POSH Act and Policywhile redesigning and reshaping theirwork culture and employee behaviour.

MODIFYING THE POLICY FORREMOTE WORKING

As the workforce continues to adaptto the changing needs of their workenvironment and undergo dramaticshift in workplace dynamics, organisa-tions should constantly re-look andrefresh their frameworks, practices,processes and policies for workplacesafety.

Thus, an important aspect to work-place safety is that the POSH policyshould be modified to meet the needsof remote or virtual working. Duringwork from home (WFH), the need forPOSH training has become a pressingrequirement as per the data in the sur-vey.

REDRESSAL OF DOMESTIC VIO-LENCE DURING WFH

Emerging dimensions of workplaceconduct and safety are equally impor-tant. This period of lockdown has ledto a staggering increase in domestic vio-lence cases in India and globally. Withsocial distancing in place, several peo-ple are unable to contact or seek helpfrom their regular support system.Taking this into account, Twitter Indiahas also launched search prompts tohelp domestic violence victims. Thus,with the merging of workplace and per-sonal space, there is a need to keep safe-ty of employees under check.

The policy says that the workplacecovers both organised and unorganisedsectors and includes any offsite, get-togethers, or any place that comesunder the ambit of work-related rela-tionship. Therefore, the need to safe-guard the physical and mental safety ofan employee within the new normalwith a shift in the work space, work safe-ty must continue to be a top priority forcompanies.

FOCUS ON LGBTQ-REL ATEDHARASSMENT

While some companies have madethe POSH policy gender-neutral, aneed for the POSH Act to be made intoa gender-neutral act by law has alsoemerged. This indicates the need forLGBTQ-related harassment to be takeninto consideration while reviewing the

policy in offices to ensure safety is nota privilege limited to a few within theworkforce.

CYBER BULLYING OR VIRTUALHARASSMENT

The need for HR leaders to reviewcomplex scenarios under the POSH Acthas become a pressing need. We areconnected virtually for long hourswhen it comes to work life as linesbetween professional and personalspace have blurred.

Emerging challenges have also sur-faced with virtual connectivity becom-ing a part of our everyday work thatneeds to be addressed. As per Gartner,by 2030, demand for remote workingwill increase by 30 per cent with “GenZ” entering the workplace. Cyber bul-lying or harassment on virtual plat-forms is a pressing concern that shouldbe addressed in the POSH policy.

SENSITISATION AND C ODE OF C ONDUCT FOR “NOT CAMERA-READY” BEHAVIOUR

As a major portion of our work-force continues to work from home,they operate in this workplace whileinteracting with colleagues and workteams. Therefore, a certain level of sen-sitisation of managers and otheremployees on “not camera-ready”behaviour, code of conduct and dresscode for video conferences, virtual orvideo conference guidelines arerequired to be clearly stated and put inplace. It will help maintain a certainlevel of professional conduct amongemployees.

POSH TRAINING DURING WFHIt is important for companies to

conduct training and awareness sessionsfor employees across the verticals with-in the organisation. It should include theleadership, managers, employees, newly-recruited staff and interns who are nowgetting on-board virtually. The need tobe sensitised to expected standards of

professional behaviour, redressal mech-anism and clear implications of false andmalicious complaints need to be takeninto consideration with assurance ofswift action.

Popular method for facilitatingtraining sessions or activities acrossindustries on the POSH Policy and Actwere Face-to-Face. However, even

though social distancing is the norm,the need to sensitise employees acrossmultiple locations should not be under-mined. Utilisation of virtual platformshas become an excellent mode of com-munication and learning with onlinetraining and webinars to support andaddress training needs of employees inan organisation.

After his first book, UrbanNaxals: The Making of

Buddha in a Traffic Jam,director and screenwriterVivek Agnihotri is now set tocome up with his secondnon-fiction book, Who KilledShastri?: The Tashkent Files.

Known for writingscreenplays of films like TheTashkent Files, Buddha In ATraffic Jam, and Dhan DhanaDhan Goal, Agnihotri hasbound together the elementsof the mystery around thelegendary Lal BahadurShastri’s death in the book.

According to the author, thisis “the first-ever book toinvestigate the mysteriousdeath of independent India’ssecond prime minister, LalBahadur Shastri, from allpossible angles.”

Commenting on hisbook, Agnihotri said, “Fouryears ago, I figured out thatthe first fundamental right ofa citizen in a democracy hasto be the right to truth buthow is it possible if we don’teven know the truth of oursecond prime minister ShriLal Bahadur Shastri mysteri-

ous death in Tashkent. That’show this journey begins afterfilling many RTIs and strug-gling with all the possiblesources. We decided to chasethe history and discover thetruth behind Shastri ji’sdeath and in his journey. Irediscovered the synergeticpolitics of India after thehumiliating defeat by Chinain 1962 till the emergency.How India was sold and Iconcluded that whoeverkilled Shastri are the samepeople who sold India, too.This book is my spiritualjourney into politics andvery strongly conveys that it’sbecause of the absence ofspirituality and moral valuesin politics; how India hassuffered generations aftergenerations. This book isalso a warning to the newgeneration as it aims toexplain to them why theymust fight in moral politicsand always stand up andfight for right the truth.”

Vivek’s directorial film,The Tashkent Files (2019),also came with a hashtagquestion — Who killedShastri? More than half acentury after that fatefulmorning in Tashkent and thequestion still remains unan-swered — Did Shastri real-ly die a natural death or wasit an assassination birthedfrom political disagree-ments? For the director, itwas a tweet that inspired himto work on the mystery relat-ed to his death.

The filmmaker andauthor has also made thebook available online forpre-orders. He has releasedthe cover of the book onsocial media, for pre-ordersand to get feedback. Thebook will hit the stands onAugust 28.

On the work front, Vivekwill start working on his newproject, titled, The KashmirFiles.

����������7789Demoted to an

academy job, a coptrains five foolhardystudents as assassinsin his risky revengeplot against policecorruption and theunderworld. StarringBobby Deol,Bhupendra Jadawatand Hitesh Bhojraj,the film releases onNetflix on August21.

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What do you doif your parents arekidnapped by a crewof internationalthieves? You begin awild overnightadventure —complete with spygear. The filmreleases on Netflix onAugust 21.

:������������A medical student enters a top German university on a secret mission to

uncover a conspiracy linking a family tragedy to a visionary biology professor.Starring Luna Wedler, Jessica Schwarz and Thomas Prenn, season 1 releases onNetflix on August 20.

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Discoveringthe truth

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The current events, especially growing bordertensions between the two Asian countries

reflect the present state of world. Likewise, thegrowing pandemic situation and the Indian gov-ernment’s handling of this and other nationalissues such as those relating to Kashmir or Assam,indicates the state of the Indian nation. The cur-rent events prove how egoism, confrontation andviolence have become the rule of the day. The sit-uations in the Western Asia is, indeed, becom-ing more and more complicated with the pass-ing of each day. It is acquiring new angles anddimensions, and is nearing its ignition point.There are now emerging new alignments andenmities. Many nations are now getting involvedinto it, either because of the resolutions of the UNSecurity Council or because of some other rea-sons. Even if this situation is now defused, it willbe only for a temporary phase and will keep smol-dering visibly or covertly.

Similarly, there are deep inter-party dissen-sions, social rifts, ethnic bickerings and econom-ic divides, which have added a new dimensionto the present Indian scenario. These are, in fact,un-resolvable because these are in-built. Hence,social scientists call them structural defects in thesociety which cannot be corrected unless thestructure of the society is changed. However,those who are well-versed with spiritual knowl-edge, would have no difficulty in diagnosing thepresent maladies that afflict the world in gener-al and the Indian nation in particular. They wouldunderstand that the present situation is due togross selfishness, egoand lack of self-con-trol, all of which arerooted in body-con-sciousness.

If we look atthese happeningsfrom a spiritualpoint of view, then itbecomes very clearas to why are theycaused and what aretheir results. Timeand again, it hasbeen said by manyreligious and spiritu-al leaders that thew o r l d - s i t u a t i o nwould soon take a wide turn for the worse somuch so that we will have to change our ways ofliving. A time would soon come when peoplewould flock in large numbers for receiving thespiritual knowledge. Silence and yoga wouldbecome the highest power to cure mankind fromall kinds of mental diseases. Looking at the seriesof events across the world, this situation seemsto be arriving very soon. Hence, we must all pre-pare ourselves in advance for such a crisis. Andfor that, we need to first of all pay greater atten-tion towards self improvement. Our stage of puri-ty and peace must get strengthened and becomeunshakable. We must pay full attention to theinculcation of all divine qualities such as humil-ity, patience, tolerance, contentment, honesty, sin-cerity and more. We must not lag behind evenin a single divine attribute for our goal is tobecome paragon of virtue or a divine being, whohas all divine qualities. For achieving this cher-ished goal, the time left is very less. Hence, if wedon’t wake up and speed up now, we will not beable to reach our goal. We must remember thatthe current condition of the world is a warningbell for us to improve ourselves and prepare wellfor unexpected emergencies.

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August is the month for twogarden W’s: weeding and

watering. Regular attention toboth keeps a vegetable or flowergarden pretty and productive wellinto autumn. For now, let’s look atwatering. It’s not necessarily lessrain that makes soils drier inAugust; it’s August’s combinationof heat and lush plant growth thatquickly dries the soil.

Don’t expect to recharge yoursoil with water by standing inplace with hose in hand, directinga shower of water onto yourtomato plants. You may find thissatisfying and relaxing on a hotsummer evening, but no one hasthe patience to stand fixed in placelong enough to do plants anygood. If you don’t believe me,scratch an inch or so into the soilwith your finger the next time youfinish watering in this manner.Unless you held the hose immo-bile for about an hour, only thesurface is wet.

INFREQUENT, DEEP WATER-ING FOR DEEP ROOTING

Shallow watering developsshallow root systems that can’treach water deeper in the ground.Promote deep rooting by givingyour soil weekly, but thorough,soakings that wet the soil at least

six inches deep. One inch ofwater on top of the soil will do this,as measured in straight-sidedcans set out with your sprinkler.Or, equivalently, apply about a halfa gallon of water over every squarefoot of ground.

You’ll probably do this week-ly watering with a sprinkler. Mostsprinklers take about an hour toput down that inch of water.

Some gardeners shy awayfrom watering when the sunshines for fear that beads of wateron the leaves will act as magnify-ing glasses and burn the leaves.Not true! (How many plants dieafter a sun shower?) Midday is notthe best time to water becauseevaporation and wind will carrymuch of the water off target.Nighttime also is not a good timeto water because the leaves staywet too long, promoting diseases.

Early morning or late after-

noon, when the air is cooler andusually calmer and leaves dry offreasonably fast, are the best timesto water with a sprinkler.

FREQUENT, SHALLOWWATERING IS AN OPTION

The shallow watering and theresulting shallow rooting that Icautioned against are bad only ifyou can’t keep up with the shallowwatering. You can keep up with it— and reap other benefits — withan alternative method of wateringcalled drip or trickle, irrigation.

The essence of drip irrigationis simply a plastic pipe laid in thegarden row, with emitters at inter-vals out of which water slowlydrips. Dripping takes longer but ismore efficient than sprinkling (itwas developed for farming thedesert by Israeli agricultural sci-entists), because water can beapplied slowly to approximatelyoffset what plants are using.Dripped water is less subject toevaporation and lessens thechance of diseases by not wettingplant leaves. The shallow layers ofsoil are also where beneficial bac-teria, fungi and other soil microor-ganisms are most active.

Drip irrigation, by pinpoint-ing water near your garden plants,also results in less weeding. A

sprinkler spreads water not onlyto your garden plants, but also topaths and areas between rows,where it promotes weed growth.Drip irrigation is really morethan just plastic pipes with holesin them. The emitters are engi-neering marvels that drip consis-tent amounts of water alongtheir lengths and are somewhatself-cleaning. Despite that self-cleaning feature, every drip sys-tem should also begin with asediment filter.

One of the best features ofdrip irrigation is that makesfrequent, shallow watering pos-sible simply by attaching a timerto your hose spigot. I set mytimer each spring and hardlythink about watering at all untilI bring it and the sediment fil-ter back indoors in autumn.Drip lines can be left in placeoutdoors all year.

Reserve hand watering forthe first few days that vegetableand flower transplants are in theground, and for your weeklydeep watering for newly plant-ed trees and shrubs.

It might seem that almostevery time you finish your handwatering, rain falls. Cause andeffect? No. It’s your imagination.

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It was the third week of March. Theteachers had almost completed thesyllabus and the schools were busy

preparing for the final exams.Computation of the average of the unittest scores of each student was beingdone. At that juncture, the novelCoronavirus had advanced and bared itsfangs in India.

As a precautionary measure, the gov-ernment announced the closure of all theeducational institutions. The studentswere briefed on the safety measures anda break till March 31 was declared.However, the risk of contracting the viruscalled for further closures and restric-tions. The students and parents were ina dilemma. Further, on April 1, cancel-lation of the final exams wereannounced. Every educational institutewas asked to promote the students to thenext grade based on their school assess-ments, projects, periodic tests and termexams. The well-heeled schools startedclasses via apps like Zoom.

As the reopening of schools remainunder a cloud of uncertainty, the state of

the current academic year looks toogrim. There seems to be no thoughtfulprogramme or policy in sight for engag-ing the students meaningfully. Virtualschooling has been implemented allacross the country even though a largenumber of students are deprived of inter-net connectivity and gadgets like smart-phones and laptops. The virtual modebecame a one-way communicationwhere the doubts of the students remainunanswered. Amid all this, are we real-ly interested in knowing what studentshave to say about ‘learning from home?’Well, it appears doubtful as not much hasbeen said about it.

This spontaneous virtualisation ofeducation came with various challengesfor both the administration and the stu-dents. In schools that were not equippedwith technology to conduct online class-es, teachers had to fend for ways tolaunch home-based learning. Some ofthem created lecture videos and forward-ed them to parents and children. It waslike delivering a lecture without keepingany scope for questions. It signaled that

neither the participation of students wastaken care of nor their accessibility toonline education was thought about.

Another major issue of accessibili-ty emerged in the families where therewas only one cell phone and two to threechildren. It became important for thechild to attend classes online as theabsentees were reprimanded by theschool. On the other hand, parents/oldersiblings were jittery because when theywanted the handset for work, the childwas busy attending the online classes. Akid of a daily wage earner developed aninferiority complex because she could-n’t access the file her teacher had sent.It was difficult for her to keep up withthe virtual classroom exercises andactivities. She faced a lot of disruptionin her studies. Initially, the parentstried to pacify her but when she refusedto relent, they had to borrow money tobuy a smartphone. This story is notrestricted to just one family, it’s all per-vasive. There are millions of stories ofsuch children committing suicide for notbeing able to access digital education.

The pandemic has posed many barriersin front of our education system — Haveteachers been trained to handle technol-ogy with ease? How many students areequipped to handle e-learning? What cri-teria was used to declare a school as adigital institute? According to the latestinformation, one of the bizarre criteriawas if the teachers of the school owneda mobile phone, it was considered to bea digital school.

From a global perspective, “Half ofthe total number of learners — around826 million students — kept out of theclassroom by the COVID-19 pandem-ic. They do not have access to a house-hold computer. Almost 43 per cent (706million) have no internet at home at atime when digitally-based distance learn-ing is used to ensure educational conti-nuity in the vast majority of countries.”These figures were compiled on the basisof data from the UNESCO Institute forStatistics and the InternationalTelecommunication Union.

While speaking about online educa-tion, one is compelled to compare it with

the offline mode. When children go toschool, they gain education not merelythrough books but vibrant activities andinteractions with teachers and friends.The best we were giving children wasmaking education a multi-sensorialexperience for them rather than just adigital one. In classrooms, when theteacher narrates an incident, the studentsunknowingly compare it with their ownexperiences and become eager to sharetheir stories. All these happenings go intodeveloping the intellect and character ofthe child. Online education is takingaway experiential learning, an integralpart of the school setting. It seems thate-learning can never be an alternative forin-person education.

Although virtual classes havebecome the new normal for education,but what about the students belongingto the underprivileged section of thesociety?

(The article was written originally inMarathi. It has been translated inEnglish by Alka Gadgil.)

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London Olympics Bronze-medallist SainaNehwal has resumed training at a separate

facility in Hyderabad after the coronavirus-induced break and is likely to join the nation-al camp at the SAI Pullela Gopichand Academyin a couple of weeks.

Saina is one of the eight Olympic hopefulswho have been allowed by the Sports Authorityof India (SAI) to resume training at the SAIPullela Gopichand Academy from August 7 fol-lowing the Telangana Government’s approval.

However, the former world No 1 has, forthe time being, decided to train with shuttlerhusband Parupalli Kashyap and 2014Commonwealth Games Bronze medallist RMVGurusaidutt at a different centre near theGopichand academy.

“We have been training at a centre near theGopichand academy for a week now. It is a smallfacility. We started with the basics as it was aftera long time that we were hitting the court,”Kashyap, a former Commonwealth Gameschampion, said.

“Saina has just joined. She will probably starttraining at the Gopichand academy in a cou-ple of weeks. She wants to get fitter and reacha decent level. She has sought the permissionof Gopi sir and discussed it with new Indonesiancoach Agus Dwi Santoso,” he added.

Kashyap, who is currently ranked 24th inthe world, believes the Gopichand academy isequipped with enough courts to accommodatea few more players, who can start training byfollowing social distancing and other regulationslaid down by SAI.

��%� ����� The BCCI is mullingNovember 19 as tentative date for startof domestic season with SyedMushtaq Ali T20 tournament butIndian players in various IPL teamswon’t be able to play first few roundsdue to quarantine protocols in place.

The delay in the beginning of thedomestic season due to pandemicmeans that only Mushtaq Ali trophyand Ranji Trophy (Dec 13 - March 10)comprising of 245 games (acrossformats with 38 teams) will be played.

There will be no Vijay HazareTrophy, Duleep Trophy or ChallengerSeries this year and as of now thereis no provision for Irani Cup also.

“This is a tentative list that hasbeen prepared and it has gone forapproval of president Sourav Gangulyand secretary Jay Shah,” a senior BCCIofficial told PTI.

While this is a draft schedule, itis being asked how the Indian play-ers, who will return from IPL, will playsince they will have to be in a 14-dayquarantine as per Government rules.

“That’s an issue primarily for theuncapped players, who would be withthe squad and would like to play somecricket. Now even a player’s team is

knocked out before play-offs, hewon’t be back before November 3 andtill Nov 17 will be in quarantine.

“For those whose teams are inplay-offs and may reach finals, theywill have to miss the first few roundsin that case. But again this is a draftproposal and there could be sometweaks in it,” the official said.

However with BCCI expecting toconduct the next IPL in India, start-ing end of March or early April, it isimperative that they keep a three-week window between Ranji final andbeginning of IPL which will help thedomestic stars recover after hectictournament. PTI

��?������� Serena Williams onSaturday said that she is press-ing ahead with plans to play inthe US Open despite a wave ofplayer withdrawals from theupcoming Grand Slam eventover coronavirus fears.

The 23-time Slam winnerreturns to tennis next week at theinaugural Top Seed Open WTAevent in Lexington, Kentucky,relaunching her season after asix-month hiatus caused by theCovid-19 pandemic.

Williams, who was one ofthe first players to commit to theUS Open despite the pandem-ic, said her plans remainunchanged, adding that she wastentatively planning to go to

Europe for the rescheduledFrench Open.

“I see myself doing it all if ithappens,” Williams said whenasked about her schedule duringa virtual press conference.

“But I am not planning forthe future, as tournaments got

cancelled I was just like, ‘Let mejust work on today and see whathappens.’”

Williams revealed that shehad been practicing on her owncourt, built with the same hard-cout surface used at the USOpen. She has also stayed fitwith construction of a homegym.

Serena, who is also sched-uled to play the Western andSouthern Open tune-up event inNew York before the US Open,admitted that only tournamentplay would allow her to proper-ly gauge her fitness.

“Everyone has an opportu-nity to be more fit now, becausewe spent so much time at home

to work on ourselves,” Williamssaid. “Fitness wise, there is goingto be a tonne of fitness, butmatch fitness is different to fit-fitness.”

Williams, who turns 39 inSeptember, meanwhile said shewas unable to say whether shewould be at the rescheduledTokyo Olympics in 2021.

“That is just looking too farahead, I don’t know if Tokyoplans to be in Tokyo, we willhave to wait and see,” she said.

“I don’t know what toexpect. One thing I have learnedis don’t plan, I am living for theday and for the moment, in agood way but I am not makingplans too far out.” AFP

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Max Verstappen delivered Red Bull’s first victo-ry at Silverstone since 2012 on Sunday when

he made the most of a superior strategy in sizzlingconditions to beat both Mercedes and claim victo-ry in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

It was the Dutchman’s first victory of the seasonand the ninth of his career and the first time a racehad been won by a driver who did not start on poleposition in seven races since last year’s Mexican GrandPrix.

Verstappen owed hisvictory to a team decisionto start the race on hardcompound tyres whilehis main rivals alllaunched from the gridon mediums, the twoMercedes men strugglingto manage tyre-wearthroughout the race.

During the race, RedBull asked him to easeoff, but he replied saying“I don’t want to drive likea grand-ma” before theteam relented.

Verstappen won by11.326 seconds ahead ofchampionship leader andsix-time champion LewisHamilton who passedMercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the closingstages.

Bottas, who started from pole, said: “Very frus-trating for me, to start from pole and finish third.

“It’s not ideal and I think that as a team we weresleeping at some points in the race. My strategy wasfar from ideal.”

Hamilton’s podium finish meant he equalledMichael Schumacher’s career record of 155 podiumfinishes. It was also his record-extending 38thpoints scoring finish in a row.

Charles Leclerc came home fourth after a ster-ling drive for Ferrari ahead of Alex Albon in the sec-ond Red Bull, Lance Stroll and his Racing Point team-mate Nico Hulkenberg. Esteban Ocon finished eighthfor Renault ahead of Lando Norris of McLaren andDaniil Kvyat of Alpha Tauri.

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Fast bowling great Wasim Akram hascome down heavily on Pakistan cap-

tain Azhar Ali for his decisions duringthe first Test against England, saying he“missed a trick quite a few times” in thevisitors’ three-wicket defeat here.

Akram was particularly critical ofAli’s decision to under-bowl pacerNaseem Shah, who was used for just 13overs out of 82 in the second inningswhile defending a target of 277.

“It will hurt. It will hurt thePakistan team and the cricket lovers inPakistan,” Akram was quoted as sayingby Sky Sports.

“Winning and losing is part ofcricket, but I think our captain misseda trick quite a few times in this game,as far as his leadership is concerned,”the former Pakistan captain said.

Akram felt with England reducedto 117 for five, the need of the hour wasto put pressure on Buttler, who wasfighting for his Test spot, and Woakes,who averaged just 5.22 with the bat inhis previous six Tests.

“When Woakes came in, therewere no bouncers, no short deliveries,they let him settle down and runs werecoming easy,” Akram said dissecting theerrors of Pakistan skipper Ali.

“Once the partnership got going,nothing happened — the turn didn’thappen, swing didn’t happen — andButtler and Woakes just took the gameaway.”

‘LET OFF THE HOOK’Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-

Haq is not happy with his side’s below-par batting effort in the first Test butmore disappointing to him was how thevisitors let England off the hook dur-ing their run chase.

“...We are disappointed that we letEngland off the hook after they werefive wickets down at one stage. The wayButtler and Woakes counter-attackedour bowlers it was very skilful,” Misbahsaid.

“Over all, we could have done bet-ter with the bat in the second innings.It would have been a different scenarioif it was a 300 above target. It is veryimportant to put up decent score in thesecond innings against England’s qual-ity bowling attack in their own condi-tions.”

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England looked all but beat-en when they stumbled to

117-5 in their pursuit of a 277-run target set by Pakistan atOld Trafford but captain JoeRoot felt confident about histeam’s battling qualities.

“We knew it would takesomething special but after lastsummer it is very hard tostop believing. It’s a real strongtrait of ours,” he said.

Almost a year on from BenStokes’ heroic batting displayto stun Australia in the 2019Ashes at Headingley, JosButtler and Chris Woakescombined to deliver a counter-attacking display in a 139-runsixth-wicket stand.

Buttler (75) was trappedleg-before with 21 runs stillrequired and the second newball due, but Woakes (84)stuck it out, edging the win-ning boundary down to thirdman to seal a famous victory.

“It was a brilliant chase. Icouldn’t be more proud of thelads,” Root said.

“Jos, it shows the mental

strength, to play that situationand manage different passagesof it, calculating risks, manip-ulating the spinner, brilliantinnings, and Chris was mag-nificent too.

“The more importantthing is we back it up again,and keep learning, but theclarity with which they playedshows the maturity of thegroup too.”

With England losing fourquick wickets after lunch,Woakes and Buttler had no

choice but to reel in the targetin one-day mode.

“It was good idea to takethem on and put them underpressure,” Woakes said. “He isone of the best white-ballplayers in the world — one ofbest run-chasers — and heshowed why today.”

��#��Pakistan batsmanShaan Masood’s centuryin the first Test has pro-pelled him to a career-best 19th place in theICC rankings for Testbatsmen while ChrisWoakes’s match-winning84-run knock inEngland’s chase helpedhim jump 18 places.

L e f t - h a n d e rMasood’s first-inningsknock of 156 pushedhim up by 14 places and

he is now second-highestranked Test batsman forPakistan behind BabarAzam (6th). Masood’sprevious best was 32ndposition in February thisyear.

Woakes is nowranked 78th in the bats-men’s list. Woakes, whoscored 19 and 84 in thematch, has also jumpedto seventh position in thelist of all-rounders.

Buttler’s innings of

38 and 75 have lifted himfrom 44th to 30th whileOllie Pope has attained acareer-best 36th afterscoring 62 and seven.

In the bowlers’ list,Pakistan leg-spinnersYasir Shah moved uptwo places to 22nd placeafter finishing with eightwickets in the match.Shadab Khan has re-entered the rankings at acareer-best 69th posi-tion. PTI

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Former Italy and Juventus star Andrea Pirlo wasappointed the Italian champions’ new coach, just

hours after Maurizio Sarri’s sacking with the clubpromising a “new chapter in world football”.

Sarri, 61, leaves Juventus after just one season,a day after the Italian giants crashed out of theChampions League in the last 16 to French clubLyon.

The 41-year-old Pirlo, with no previous top-level coaching experience, recently took over theJuventus U-23 side and arrives on a two-year con-tract.

“The choice is based on the belief that Pirlo haswhat it takes to lead from his debut on the bench,an expert and talented squad to pursue new success-es,” Juventus said.

“Today, begins a new chapter of his career in theworld of football: from Maestro to Mister.”

Pirlo’s swift appointment, a day after theirChampions League exit, is again a bold choice forclub president Andrea Agnelli.

Other former players have turned to coachingsuch as Zinedine Zidane, Frank Lampard andGennaro Gattuso, but Pirlo does so without expe-rience.

The former midfielder does, however, knowJuventus and its players well after an impressive four-year spell from 2011 to 2015.

“Pirlo has had a legendary career as a player. Inhis four years at the

centre of theJuventus mid-field, he won asmany league

titles, a CoppaItalia and two Italian

Super Cups,” Juventussaid.

He also won twoChampions Leagues and

two league titles withAC Milan.

At Juventus,Pirlo will now find

himself coachingsome of his for-

mer team-mates suchas Juventusgoalkeeper

G i a n g l u i g iBuffon, a yearolder at 42.

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Lionel Messi scored a bril-liant solo goal as Barcelonasaw off Napoli on Saturday

but they are likely to need some-thing even more special fromtheir captain to beat BayernMunich in the ChampionsLeague quarter-finals.

Messi’s weaving run andfinish came between an earlyClement Lenglet header and aLuis Suarez penalty, also won byMessi, as Barca stormed into a3-0 lead in the first half atCamp Nou.

But Lorenzo Insigne gaveNapoli hope just before theinterval and an unconvincingsecond period from Barcelona

left them hanging on for a 3-1win on the night, 4-2 on aggre-gate.

“A second goal would havegiven them a feeling of eupho-ria that can hurt you,” saidBarca coach Quique Setien.

“It’s normal to get a littlenervous.”

In winning the penalty,Messi took a heavy kick fromNapoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly andneeded treatment.

“It was a heavy knock,” saidSetien. “It will have to be treat-ed but I don’t think there is aproblem.”

After finishing five points

behind Real Madrid in La Liga,Barca resumed in theChampions League with doubtshanging over the form of theteam and the future of theircoach.

And victory against Napolieases the pressure but the per-formance will not inspire confi-dence, even with Messi seeming-ly rejuvenated after three weeksrest.

Napoli, whose own leagueseason only finished last week-end, should have had the advan-tage of rhythm but a disastrousopening half an hour left themwith too much to do.

Koulibaly, l inkedwith a move to severalelite European clubs thissummer, endured a par-ticularly disappointingnight.

Yet Barcelona willhave to improve significantly tomatch Bayern, who advancedafter putting seven past Chelseaover two legs and are arguablyfavourites to win the tourna-ment.

“It’s going to be very compli-cated,” admitted Setien ahead ofthe quarter-final on Friday.

Messi now has four goals inhis last three games and in aone-off match in Lisbon, theArgentinian is capable of any-thing.

But Bayern have their owntrump card in RobertLewandowski and a more com-plete team that makes themheavy favourites to reach thesemis.

7-1 IN TWO LEGSAt Allianz Arena, treble-

chasing Bayern Munich seal a 4-1 home win over Chelsea in thelast 16, return-leg tie afterRobert Lewandowski nettedtwice to .

“The anticipation is enor-mous. Barcelona has a goodteam with very good players, butif you look at the last few weeks,we can fly to Portugal with a lotof confidence,” said Bayerndefender David Alaba.

Lewandowski, the

Champions League’s top-scorer, bagged his 12thand 13th goals in Europethis season and played apart in all four Bayerngoals in Munich onSaturday.

Leading 3-0 from the firstleg at Stamford Bridge inFebruary, before the coronaviruspandemic halted the competi-tion, Bayern progressed 7-1 onaggregate.

“We can be pleased, it wasour first game for a month andit’s not easy to keep the rhythm,”added Alaba.

“We have prepared for thisfor the last two weeks and youcould see the result.”

Lewandowski netted apenalty with just 10 minutesgone at the Allianz Arena.

Winger Ivan Perisic thendoubled Bayern’s lead beforeEngland striker TammyAbraham tapped home a looseball to give Chelsea brief hope.

However, replacement mid-fielder Corentin Tolisso put theresult beyond doubt when hefired home a Lewandowski passwith 14 minutes to go.

“I am really happy with howwe played over the 90 minutes,the first 30 minutes we shutChelsea out,” said Bayern headcoach Hansi Flick.

This was a world-class dis-play from Lewandowski whoadded a late header to his pair ofassists.

He is now four goals short of

Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 17Champions League goals in2013/14.

“It’s not a goal of mine,” saidLewandowski when asked aboutRonaldo’s record. “We have a fewmore games in the knock-outround and I am just as happycreating goals as scoringthem.”

The Poland star was alsocoy when asked about a rival-ry with Barcelona star LionelMessi. “We have to performwell and show our quality as ateam against a good Barcelonaside, it’s a big game for every-body.”

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England’s star all-rounder Ben

Stokes will miss theremainder of thethree-match Testseries againstPakistan due to fam-ily reasons, thecountry’s cricket boardannounced on Sunday.

The England and WalesCricket Board (ECB), how-ever, did not specify theexact reasons for his pull-out.

“Stokes will leave theUK later this week and trav-el to New Zealand. He will

miss England’s two Testmatches against Pakistan at

the Ageas Bowl start-ing on Thursday 13August and Friday 21August,” the ECB saidin a statement.

He will be flyingto Christchurch —where his parents Ged

and Deb live.Stokes’ father — a for-

mer rugby league interna-tional — was hospitaliseddays ahead of England'sBoxing Day Test againstSouth Africa in Decemberlast year, and has since beenrecuperating at home inNew Zealand.

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