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T he Congress has taken the Rajasthan crisis as an exis- tential challenge to democracy and decided to hold a coun- trywide protest on Monday even as Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot sent a second proposal to Governor Kalraj Mishra for convening an Assembly session from July 31. The agenda for the session is to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the State, and there is no mention of the floor test in it. The Rajasthan Governor had turned down the earlier proposal sent by the Chief Minister for holding an Assembly session on the ground that it didn’t cite any reason for convening the House and it was not justified when the State was reeling under a pandemic. Unlike in the case of Madhya Pradesh where the Congress tamely accepted the demise of the Kamal Nath Government, the party is gear- ing up for an all-out war against the BJP and the Modi Government against the attempt to destabilise the Gehlot regime in Rajasthan. Party leaders feel that the Centre has unleashed all the probe agencies and is misusing the office of the Governor as part of the conspiracy to top- ple the Gehlot Government, and if they didn’t fight it out no Opposition Government will survive in the country. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said democracy in the country will function in accor- dance with the Constitution and echo the voice of the peo- ple, who will reject the BJP’s “conspiracy of deceit and deception”. He was participat- ing in the Congress’ “SpeakUpForDemocracy” online campaign to expose what it called the designs of the BJP to topple the Gehlot Government and other State Governments run by Opposition parties. A large number of party leaders participated in the dig- ital campaign. Hitting out at the Centre, Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said, “While there’s a complete call for Covid mea- sures around the country, we have a Central Government and State Opposition in Rajasthan which has convert- ed it into a 24x7 activity to ensure the downfall of a duly elected Government. This shows their priorities. Is it conceivable that any Governor will refuse or delay the meet- ing of an Assembly which may have a numbers test?” Singhvi, who represented Rajasthan Assembly Speaker in the High Court, went on to add, “Suppose the Rajasthan High Court holds in favour of the State Government of Rajasthan or Speaker or Sachin Pilot, will it affect the Governor’s power to call the Assembly under 174? The ref- erence to a minimum of 21 days notice reflects the moti- vated nature of the Governor’s queries. Innumerable sessions have been called at a week’s or even five days’ notice.” Sources said the Congress is divided over fighting out a legal battle in the Supreme Court after senior leader Kapil Sibal expressed dismay over the way Rajasthan HC handled the matter related to the Speaker’s power. Sibal even said if the court ignored judi- cial precedence this way, the lawyers will have to look for other professions. Sources said some leaders within the Congress are in favour of withdrawing the SLP in the Supreme Court and fight a political battle across the country. The Congress filed a petition in the SC against the Rajasthan HC order restraining the Assembly Speaker from acting on disqualification notice served on the MLAs of the Sachin Pilot camp. The apex court will hear the issue on Monday. Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, meanwhile, slammed the Modi Government, said, “It has never happened before that a democratically-elected Government wants to hold an Assembly session but is not being allowed to do so. The is a constitutional crisis and mur- der of democracy.” “Instead of fighting the pandemic and the Chinese at the border, the Narendra Modi- led Government is busy fight- ing the Rajasthan Government. “The Governor must call for an immediate session to enable the Government to work smoothly,” Maken said. In Jaipur, Congress nation- al spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said that the BJP’s conspiracy to kill democracy in broad daylight in Madhya Pradesh and now in Rajasthan has been exposed. “Is democracy a slave of the Delhi Durbar? Is the majority a puppet in Delhi’s hands? Doesn’t the rule of vote matter? If not, then raise your voice,” he said.Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has warned that if Governor Kalraj Mishra did- n’t convene the Assembly he would take the protest to Delhi in front of Prime Minister’s res- idence. A s Covid-19 takes rural areas in its grip, the Centre is mulling to make it manda- tory for all PG medical students of 2018-19 batch to have one- year compulsory rural services in its medical colleges in the country. Sources in the Union Health Ministry said the Medical Council of India is considering a proposal in this regard and will soon take a decision on it. States, like Telangana, which admitted of communi- ty transmission in the State, have already taken such an ini- tiative and made it compulso- ry for all Post Graduate (PG) medical students of 2018-19 batch to have one-year services in Government medical col- leges in the State. The aim is to have trained healthcare workers in view of the Covid-19 pandemic in the rural areas where the healthcare system is almost on the brink. Sources in the Union Health Ministry said the Covid- 19 infections have started to increase in towns and districts in various States which is quite worrisome. More so when the health infrastructure in many areas is dismal with not many doctors posted at the PHCs even for the basic services. “Making the PG Students mandatorily work at the rural services aims to meet the demand supply gap at this time when Covid-19 has taken toll on over 32,000 lives and infected over 13 lakh people,” the sources said. The Ministry said doctors are needed for timely detection and transfer of patients. As of May 2020, there are 542 med- ical colleges and 64 stand alone PG Institutes in India whose qualifications are recognised by the Medical Council of India. D elhi has recorded a 44 per cent decline in the number of Covid-19 deaths in early July as compared to early June, the Delhi Government said on Sunday. The city recorded 605 deaths due to the viral disease between July 1 and 12 as against 1,089 fatalities during the same period in June, according to an analysis carried out by the Health Department. The Delhi Government’s Covid-19 hospitals saw a 58 per cent reduction in death – from 361 in early June to 154 in early July, it said. The Central Government Covid-19 hospi- tals saw a 55 per cent reduction in number of deaths, while pri- vate Covid hospitals witnessed a 25 per cent decline. Hospital-wise analysis of data revealed that total deaths vis-à-vis total admissions in the Central Government’s RML Hospital dropped from 81 per cent in June to 58 per cent in July, according to the Delhi Health Department. In Safdarjung Hospital the number of deaths vis-a-vis total admissions dropped from 40 per cent in June to 31 per cent in July. In LNJP Hospital the rate dropped from 28 per cent in early June to 16 per cent in early July, it said. P akistan tried to “backstab” India despite its attempts to keep friendly relations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his tribute to the Armed forces on the 21st anniversary of “Kargil war” who he said won the war against the enemy perched at advantageous icy Kargil heights in Ladakh. In his monthly radio address “Mann ki Baat”, Modi while focussing on Pakistan’s Kargil “misadventure” and brave response of Indian Army , also spoke about the coron- avirus situation, Assam and Bihar floods and how efforts undertaken by people to bring a positive change. Prime Minister began by remembering the martyrs of the Kargil war that was declared over on July 26, 1999. “The world witnessed the valour of Indian soldiers,” he said, adding, “Friends, at that point in time, I, too, was blessed with the opportunity to go to Kargil and witness the gallantry of our jawans. That day is one of the most precious moments of my life.” “Pakistan undertook this misadventure with sinister plans to capture India’s land and to divert its ongoing inter- nal conflicts. “Pakistan had the audaci- ty of trying to occupy Indian soil and deviate attention from its own internal unrest,” he said. “At the time, India was trying for improve relations with Pakistan. But as it is said, evil’s nature is to fight everyone without reason. People of this nature can only think of doing evil even to those who try to do them good. That’s why Pakistan backstabbed India despite India’s attempts at cordial rela- tions,” he said. “You can imagine, the enemy was perched high on the mountains while our forces were fighting them from below. But the high morale and true of our forces won against mountains,” he added. “Thanks to the courage of our Armed forces, India showed great strength in Kargil,” said Modi, recalling his own visit to the area. “Kargil Diwas” is celebrat- ed every year, marking the day the Indian Army recaptured all the Indian posts in Ladakh’s Kargil that had been occupied by Pakistan’s army 21 years ago. India lost 500 braves in the lim- ited conflict with Pakistan. Speaking about coron- avirus pandemic, the Prime Minister urged people to spare a thought for the frontline workers before removing their masks in public. U ttar Pradesh and Bihar have joined the list of some of the worst-affected States like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, and Karnataka as India’s Covid-19 count crossed 14 lakh mark on Sunday. Both UP and Bihar, which were able to play down the true extent of the pandemic by inad- equate testing, have finally come to terms with the reality. On Sunday Bihar recorded 2,605 cases, which took its over- all count to 38,919 cases and 249 fatalities. On the other hand, UP recorded 3,246 positive cases and 39 deaths. UP has now 66,988 cases and 1,426 death. Bihar carried out just around 10,000 tests at an aver- age during the last couple of days, whereas the number of positive cases stood at around 2,600-2,800. Such a high pos- itivity rate will have few paral- lels across the globe. The weekly growth of cases in Bihar is 7 per cent way above 1 per- cent of Delhi and 3 per cent of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Uttar Pradesh has now increased its testing and on Saturday it carried out as many as 57,000 tests. But on the yard- stick of test per on million, the State is way behind Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu , Andhra Pradesh and many other States. Delhi remained on course to flatten the corona curve as the national Capital recorded 1,106 cases and 21 deaths. This is far less a number than what the city was recording two weeks ago. Delhi has so far recorded 13,606 cases and 3,827 deaths. The city has just 11,904 active cases and near- ly 75 per cent of its Covid beds are vacant in the Government hospitals. Maharashtra recorded 9,000-plus Covid-19 infections for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday, as 9,431 people test- ed positive, while 267 people died of the pandemic in vari- ous parts of the State. After it recorded the high- est-ever 10,576 infections on July 22 and witnessed 9,895, 9,615 and 9,251 cases on July 23, 24 and 25 respectively, Maharashtra logged 9,431 new infected cases, taking the total number of positive cases to 3,75,799. With fresh 267 fatalities, the total number of deaths in the State mounted to 13656. There has been a substantial number of deaths for the past one week. C hief Minister Hemant Soren on Sunday said the number of Covid- 19 patients in Jharkhand were on the rise as the Government has intensified Covid testing across the state and is col- lecting swab samples of at least 8,000 people every day. While inspecting the arrangements at a colony for displaced people in Kute, which has been converted to a Covid care centre in wake of the rising cases of infection in State, Soren said that the Government was committed in pro- viding all possible medical facilities to the people of State. “There is no need to panic. As we intensify our testing process, the num- ber of cases will also rise. But the Government will ensure that every patient gets treated and there is no short- age of beds,” the Chief Minister said. Soren also inspected a Covid care facility at Khelgaon on Sunday and directed the officials concerned to ensure better treatment of all the patients who are housed at the centre. Soren said that 3,000 to 4,000 beds are being added across the state with immediate effect to treat Covid patients. Presently, the newly constructed houses in the colony at Kute, Ranchi and the Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium complex in Khelgaon have been utilized for treating Covid patients, he said. “Work is in progress to increase beds for infected patients across the State. I appeal to the people not to have any fear regarding beds and medical system. The state government will not allow any shortage for the treatment of patients. The Government has been very serious since the beginning about the corona infection,” he added. C ovid-19 cases reached 8,400 on Sunday with the State registering 457 cases—the high- est single day spike. Sunday’s growth in Covid-19 cases is 200 more from Saturday. On Sunday, the active cases were over 4,500, while two persons died due to infection. At the same time 183 people were dis- charged from hospital after recovering from infection. The number of active cases is 4,560, while 3,704 people have been discharged from hospital after recovering from infection as per the health bulletin released at 10 pm. The death toll has reached 85. The casualties included a 56-year- old person. The deceased a Sub Inspector at JAP was suffering from other diseases. Meanwhile the half of Covid-19 cases are from Ranchi, East Singhbhum, Dhanbad and Hazaribag dis- tricts. The rest twenty dis- tricts account for fifty per cent cases. In Ranchi the total cases is 1,470, with active case 1082, 371 persons have recovered from infection while 17 per- sons from State have died since the pandemic broke out in State in March this year. On Sunday, 96 cases were detect- ed in Ranchi while 67 persons were discharged from hospital. Followed by Ranchi, the highest number of cases is from East Singhbhum. In the district the number of cases is 1,306, while 846 cases are active. 439 persons have recov- ered from infection. East Singhbhum is ahead of Ranchi in casualties as the state record- ed 21 deaths till date. Hazaribag and Dhanbad too account for highest Covid cases. Hazaribag has reported 493 Covid-19 cases, while Dhanbad has 471 cases. The two districts have six and 13 deaths respectively. The Hazaribag district adminis- tration has taken several mea- sures to check the spread of infection. Last week, the Hazaribag district adminis- tration announced a week- long lockdown. In the State Capital too several measures have been taken to check the spread of infection such as traders’ bod- ies announcing closure of their shops and business establish- ments three day a week. But despite Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries bandh call most of the shops and business outlets were opened on Friday, Saturday. Meanwhile, Governor Droupadi Murmu has expressed concern over growth in Covid cases in the past few weeks. The Governor has urged the State Government to increase bed facilities at hos- pitals at the same time to con- duct more sample testing. The Governor has asked the state government to prepare a framework for tackling the menace. The Governor on Saturday called on chief sec- retary Sukhdeo Singh and health secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni.

Transcript of 2 #˙ 1 ˘ˇˆ ˙ ˝ ˛˚˜ ! 3ˇ 34 3567 /!# : ;˝

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The Congress has taken theRajasthan crisis as an exis-

tential challenge to democracyand decided to hold a coun-trywide protest on Mondayeven as Chief Minister AshokGehlot sent a second proposalto Governor Kalraj Mishra forconvening an Assembly sessionfrom July 31. The agenda forthe session is to discuss theCovid-19 situation in the State,and there is no mention of thefloor test in it.

The Rajasthan Governorhad turned down the earlierproposal sent by the ChiefMinister for holding anAssembly session on theground that it didn’t cite anyreason for convening theHouse and it was not justifiedwhen the State was reelingunder a pandemic.

Unlike in the case ofMadhya Pradesh where theCongress tamely accepted thedemise of the Kamal NathGovernment, the party is gear-ing up for an all-out war againstthe BJP and the ModiGovernment against theattempt to destabilise theGehlot regime in Rajasthan.

Party leaders feel that theCentre has unleashed all theprobe agencies and is misusingthe office of the Governor aspart of the conspiracy to top-ple the Gehlot Government,and if they didn’t fight it out noOpposition Government willsurvive in the country.

Congress leader RahulGandhi said democracy in thecountry will function in accor-dance with the Constitutionand echo the voice of the peo-ple, who will reject the BJP’s“conspiracy of deceit anddeception”. He was participat-ing in the Congress’“SpeakUpForDemocracy”online campaign to exposewhat it called the designs of theBJP to topple the GehlotGovernment and other StateGovernments run byOpposition parties.

A large number of partyleaders participated in the dig-ital campaign.

Hitting out at the Centre,Congress leader AbhishekSinghvi said, “While there’s a

complete call for Covid mea-sures around the country, wehave a Central Governmentand State Opposition inRajasthan which has convert-ed it into a 24x7 activity toensure the downfall of a dulyelected Government. Thisshows their priorities. Is itconceivable that any Governorwill refuse or delay the meet-ing of an Assembly which mayhave a numbers test?”

Singhvi, who representedRajasthan Assembly Speaker inthe High Court, went on toadd, “Suppose the RajasthanHigh Court holds in favour ofthe State Government ofRajasthan or Speaker or SachinPilot, will it affect theGovernor’s power to call the

Assembly under 174? The ref-erence to a minimum of 21days notice reflects the moti-vated nature of the Governor’squeries. Innumerable sessionshave been called at a week’s oreven five days’ notice.”

Sources said the Congressis divided over fighting out alegal battle in the SupremeCourt after senior leader KapilSibal expressed dismay over theway Rajasthan HC handledthe matter related to theSpeaker’s power. Sibal evensaid if the court ignored judi-cial precedence this way, thelawyers will have to look forother professions.

Sources said some leaderswithin the Congress are infavour of withdrawing the SLP

in the Supreme Court andfight a political battle across thecountry. The Congress filed apetition in the SC against theRajasthan HC order restrainingthe Assembly Speaker fromacting on disqualificationnotice served on the MLAs ofthe Sachin Pilot camp. Theapex court will hear the issueon Monday.

Senior Congress leaderAjay Maken, meanwhile,slammed the ModiGovernment, said, “It has neverhappened before that a d e m o c r a t i c a l l y - e l e c t e dGovernment wants to hold anAssembly session but is notbeing allowed to do so. The isa constitutional crisis and mur-der of democracy.”

“Instead of fighting thepandemic and the Chinese atthe border, the Narendra Modi-led Government is busy fight-ing the Rajasthan Government.

“The Governor must callfor an immediate session toenable the Government towork smoothly,” Maken said.

In Jaipur, Congress nation-al spokesperson Randeep SinghSurjewala said that the BJP’sconspiracy to kill democracy inbroad daylight in MadhyaPradesh and now in Rajasthanhas been exposed.

“Is democracy a slave of theDelhi Durbar? Is the majoritya puppet in Delhi’s hands?Doesn’t the rule of vote matter?If not, then raise your voice,” hesaid.Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has warned thatif Governor Kalraj Mishra did-n’t convene the Assembly hewould take the protest to Delhiin front of Prime Minister’s res-idence.

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As Covid-19 takes ruralareas in its grip, the Centre

is mulling to make it manda-tory for all PG medical studentsof 2018-19 batch to have one-year compulsory rural servicesin its medical colleges in thecountry.

Sources in the UnionHealth Ministry said theMedical Council of India isconsidering a proposal in thisregard and will soon take adecision on it.

States, like Telangana,which admitted of communi-ty transmission in the State,have already taken such an ini-tiative and made it compulso-ry for all Post Graduate (PG)medical students of 2018-19batch to have one-year servicesin Government medical col-leges in the State.

The aim is to have trainedhealthcare workers in view ofthe Covid-19 pandemic in therural areas where the healthcaresystem is almost on the brink.

Sources in the UnionHealth Ministry said the Covid-19 infections have started toincrease in towns and districtsin various States which is quiteworrisome. More so when thehealth infrastructure in manyareas is dismal with not manydoctors posted at the PHCseven for the basic services.

“Making the PG Studentsmandatorily work at the rural

services aims to meet thedemand supply gap at thistime when Covid-19 has takentoll on over 32,000 lives andinfected over 13 lakh people,”the sources said.

The Ministry said doctors

are needed for timely detectionand transfer of patients. As ofMay 2020, there are 542 med-ical colleges and 64 stand alonePG Institutes in India whosequalifications are recognised bythe Medical Council of India.

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Delhi has recorded a 44 percent decline in the number

of Covid-19 deaths in early Julyas compared to early June, theDelhi Government said onSunday. The city recorded 605deaths due to the viral diseasebetween July 1 and 12 asagainst 1,089 fatalities duringthe same period in June,according to an analysis carriedout by the Health Department.

The Delhi Government’sCovid-19 hospitals saw a 58 percent reduction in death – from361 in early June to 154 in earlyJuly, it said. The CentralGovernment Covid-19 hospi-tals saw a 55 per cent reductionin number of deaths, while pri-vate Covid hospitals witnesseda 25 per cent decline.

Hospital-wise analysis ofdata revealed that total deathsvis-à-vis total admissions in theCentral Government’s RMLHospital dropped from 81 percent in June to 58 per cent inJuly, according to the DelhiHealth Department.

In Safdarjung Hospital thenumber of deaths vis-a-vistotal admissions dropped from40 per cent in June to 31 percent in July.

In LNJP Hospital the ratedropped from 28 per cent inearly June to 16 per cent inearly July, it said.

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Pakistan tried to “backstab”India despite its attempts to

keep friendly relations, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi saidin his tribute to the Armedforces on the 21st anniversaryof “Kargil war” who he saidwon the war against the enemyperched at advantageous icyKargil heights in Ladakh.

In his monthly radioaddress “Mann ki Baat”, Modiwhile focussing on Pakistan’sKargil “misadventure” andbrave response of Indian Army, also spoke about the coron-avirus situation, Assam andBihar floods and how effortsundertaken by people to bringa positive change.

Prime Minister began byremembering the martyrs ofthe Kargil war that wasdeclared over on July 26, 1999.

“The world witnessed thevalour of Indian soldiers,” hesaid, adding, “Friends, at thatpoint in time, I, too, wasblessed with the opportunity togo to Kargil and witness thegallantry of our jawans. Thatday is one of the most preciousmoments of my life.”

“Pakistan undertook thismisadventure with sinisterplans to capture India’s landand to divert its ongoing inter-nal conflicts.

“Pakistan had the audaci-ty of trying to occupy Indiansoil and deviate attention fromits own internal unrest,” he said.

“At the time, India wastrying for improve relationswith Pakistan. But as it is said,evil’s nature is to fight everyone

without reason. People of thisnature can only think of doingevil even to those who try to dothem good. That’s why Pakistanbackstabbed India despiteIndia’s attempts at cordial rela-tions,” he said.

“You can imagine, the

enemy was perched high on themountains while our forceswere fighting them from below.But the high morale and trueof our forces won againstmountains,” he added.

“Thanks to the courage ofour Armed forces, Indiashowed great strength inKargil,” said Modi, recalling hisown visit to the area.

“Kargil Diwas” is celebrat-ed every year, marking the daythe Indian Army recaptured allthe Indian posts in Ladakh’sKargil that had been occupiedby Pakistan’s army 21 years ago.India lost 500 braves in the lim-ited conflict with Pakistan.

Speaking about coron-avirus pandemic, the PrimeMinister urged people to sparea thought for the frontlineworkers before removing theirmasks in public.

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Uttar Pradesh and Biharhave joined the list of

some of the worst-affectedStates like Maharashtra, TamilNadu, Delhi, and Karnataka asIndia’s Covid-19 count crossed14 lakh mark on Sunday.

Both UP and Bihar, whichwere able to play down the trueextent of the pandemic by inad-equate testing, have finallycome to terms with the reality.On Sunday Bihar recorded2,605 cases, which took its over-all count to 38,919 cases and 249fatalities. On the other hand, UPrecorded 3,246 positive casesand 39 deaths. UP has now

66,988 cases and 1,426 death.Bihar carried out just

around 10,000 tests at an aver-age during the last couple ofdays, whereas the number ofpositive cases stood at around2,600-2,800. Such a high pos-

itivity rate will have few paral-lels across the globe. Theweekly growth of cases in Biharis 7 per cent way above 1 per-cent of Delhi and 3 per cent ofMaharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Uttar Pradesh has now

increased its testing and onSaturday it carried out as manyas 57,000 tests. But on the yard-stick of test per on million, theState is way behind Delhi,Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu ,Andhra Pradesh and manyother States.

Delhi remained on courseto flatten the corona curve asthe national Capital recorded1,106 cases and 21 deaths. Thisis far less a number than whatthe city was recording twoweeks ago. Delhi has so farrecorded 13,606 cases and3,827 deaths. The city has just11,904 active cases and near-ly 75 per cent of its Covid bedsare vacant in the Governmenthospitals.

Maharashtra recorded9,000-plus Covid-19 infectionsfor the fourth consecutive dayon Sunday, as 9,431 people test-ed positive, while 267 peopledied of the pandemic in vari-ous parts of the State.

After it recorded the high-est-ever 10,576 infections onJuly 22 and witnessed 9,895,9,615 and 9,251 cases on July23, 24 and 25 respectively,Maharashtra logged 9,431 newinfected cases, taking the totalnumber of positive cases to3,75,799.

With fresh 267 fatalities,the total number of deaths inthe State mounted to 13656.There has been a substantialnumber of deaths for the pastone week.

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Chief Minister Hemant Soren onSunday said the number of Covid-

19 patients in Jharkhand were on therise as the Government has intensifiedCovid testing across the state and is col-lecting swab samples of at least 8,000people every day.

While inspecting the arrangementsat a colony for displaced people in Kute,which has been converted to a Covidcare centre in wake of the rising casesof infection in State, Soren said that theGovernment was committed in pro-viding all possible medical facilities tothe people of State.

“There is no need to panic. As weintensify our testing process, the num-ber of cases will also rise. But the

Government will ensure that everypatient gets treated and there is no short-age of beds,” the Chief Minister said.

Soren also inspected a Covid carefacility at Khelgaon on Sunday anddirected the officials concerned toensure better treatment of all thepatients who are housed at the centre.Soren said that 3,000 to 4,000 beds arebeing added across the state withimmediate effect to treat Covid patients.

Presently, the newly constructedhouses in the colony at Kute, Ranchi andthe Birsa Munda Athletics Stadiumcomplex in Khelgaon have been utilizedfor treating Covid patients, he said.“Work is in progress to increase beds forinfected patients across the State. Iappeal to the people not to have any fearregarding beds and medical system. Thestate government will not allow anyshortage for the treatment of patients.

The Government has been very serioussince the beginning about the coronainfection,” he added.

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Covid-19 cases reached 8,400on Sunday with the State

registering 457 cases—the high-est single day spike. Sunday’sgrowth in Covid-19 cases is 200more from Saturday. OnSunday, the active cases wereover 4,500, while two personsdied due to infection. At thesame time 183 people were dis-charged from hospital afterrecovering from infection.

The number of active casesis 4,560, while 3,704 peoplehave been discharged fromhospital after recovering frominfection as per the healthbulletin released at 10 pm. Thedeath toll has reached 85. Thecasualties included a 56-year-old person. The deceased a SubInspector at JAP was sufferingfrom other diseases.

Meanwhile the half ofCovid-19 cases are fromRanchi, East Singhbhum,Dhanbad and Hazaribag dis-tricts. The rest twenty dis-tricts account for fifty per centcases. In Ranchi the total casesis 1,470, with active case 1082,371 persons have recoveredfrom infection while 17 per-sons from State have diedsince the pandemic broke outin State in March this year. OnSunday, 96 cases were detect-ed in Ranchi while 67 personswere discharged from hospital.

Followed by Ranchi, thehighest number of cases is

from East Singhbhum. In thedistrict the number of cases is1,306, while 846 cases areactive. 439 persons have recov-ered from infection. EastSinghbhum is ahead of Ranchiin casualties as the state record-ed 21 deaths till date.

Hazaribag and Dhanbadtoo account for highest Covidcases. Hazaribag has reported493 Covid-19 cases, whileDhanbad has 471 cases. Thetwo districts have six and 13deaths respectively. TheHazaribag district adminis-tration has taken several mea-sures to check the spread ofinfection. Last week, theHazaribag district adminis-tration announced a week-long lockdown.

In the State Capital tooseveral measures have beentaken to check the spread ofinfection such as traders’ bod-

ies announcing closure of theirshops and business establish-ments three day a week. Butdespite Jharkhand Chamber ofCommerce and Industriesbandh call most of the shopsand business outlets wereopened on Friday, Saturday.

Meanwhile, GovernorDroupadi Murmu hasexpressed concern over growth in Covid cases in thepast few weeks.

The Governor has urgedthe State Government toincrease bed facilities at hos-pitals at the same time to con-duct more sample testing. TheGovernor has asked the stategovernment to prepare aframework for tackling themenace. The Governor onSaturday called on chief sec-retary Sukhdeo Singh andhealth secretary Nitin MadanKulkarni.

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With corona positive casesrefusing to slow down,

the administration has startedhunting for additional bedsfor Covid-19 patients. As partof its comprehensive plan, theadministration has decided toconvert educational institutesas Covid care centres.

At present there are around700 active cases in EastSighbhum while, total casesreported so far is around 1,300.

Deputy CommissionerSuraj Kumar and SeniorSuperintendent of Police MTamil Vanan inspected AwadhDental College, SkillDevelopment Center at Pardih,Kerala Public School, ShyamaPrasad College Parsudih andother places. They said that the

idea is to use these centres forthose patients who have little orno symptoms of corona.

Keeping in view the chal-lenges of the future, the districtadministration is ensuring anadequate number of beds andother medical facilities.

“According to healthexperts, the cases will be at itspeak in August. We are takingevery step to ensure that thereis no shortage of beds. Thoughthe recovery rate is equallygood in the district we want toadd atleast 1,000 more beds forCovid care,” said an official.

The Kolhan Divisionwhich was under green zone,came under coronavirus mapwith two persons testing pos-itive at Chakulia, under EastSinghbhum district on May 12.However, with the arrival of

migrants the figures started toincrease and now it has reached1300. Most of the patients donot have travel history. Severalother persons tested positivehave travel history fromMaharashtra, Delhi, Gurugramand Chennai. They had arrived in the city and werestaying in quarantine centres indifferent parts.

Tata Steel has also madearrangements for 507 Isolationbeds and 77 critical care bedswith invasive and non-invasiveventilators in the process ofbeing set-up at TMH,Jamshedpur. A total of 130Isolation bed facilities arealready operational at TMH.

With bed occupancyreaching cent percent in mostof the Covid hospitals in thecity, the administration is con-

verting school and college cam-puses as new health centres.

Presently, the coronaviruspatients are undergoing treat-ment at three hospitals, TataMain Hospital, Tata MotorsHospital and MGM MedicalCollege Hospital.

As bed availability in thethree hospitals reaches almost100 percent the administra-tion is prompted for carryingout inspection for other hos-pitals.

The Deputy Commissionerhas also appealed to the peopleof the district to strictly followthe rules of social distancing.Even a slight negligence can hitmany people in corona. Headvised people to strictlyadhere to physical distanceand essentially use masks andsanitizers.

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Afour feet long cobra wasrescued from a 20-feet

deep irrigational well atKoodaga village by a young girland her aides on Sunday.

Jyoti Kumari, who worksin tiger reserve Palamu, and herteam of 7 dedicated youngboys and girls namely VivekTiwary, Gaurav Verma,Anshika Srivastava, RaviPrakash Gupta, Santosh Ramand Malti Swansi rescued theserpent from the well.

As per the version of theirrigational well ownerAnirudh Prajapati, the cobrawas in the well for past eightdays and turned aggressivewith every passing day.

Sources said in this Covid19 pandemic when doctorsare refusing to attend patients,Jyoti and her team rushed toPrajapati today to rescue thesnake in his well.

Jyoti said, “As there was toomuch water in this huge welland there was no tool to goinside it even by the villagers wedecided to use our bucketmethod.”

“We put in one iron buck-et in the well. The snake cameand sat between the rope andthe bucket. We started pullingit slowly so as the snake may

not slip again and fall in thewell,” she added.

She said, “When the buck-et and the snake on it were justone foot down in the well weused snake tong and broughtthe snake on the surface. It waslater left in the nearby jungle.”

She has asked villagers towalk at night with torch lightas deadly reptiles come out oftheir hideouts during monsoonnights.

Jyoti Kumari has beentrained to be a master snake, monitor lizard rescuerby AK Mishra, now a retiredIFS officer.

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Apeace dialogue was held inplace of a full-fledged

peace committee meeting atDaltonganj police station inwake of Covid-19 pandemic onSaturday afternoon where onlya dozen members of the minor-ity community took part assur-ing a fleet of civil and policeofficials there of a trouble freeBakrid that falls on August 1.

Every year on festival likeHoli, Dussehra, Ramnavmi,Muharram, there was a ritual inthe past with the police andcivil administration to holdpeace committee meetings atpolice station/ block level butwith this pandemic such ameeting for peace has beensubstituted by dialogue forpeace.

Giving details of the peacedialogue SDPO sadar SandipKumar Gupta said “The peaceconversation was arranged inaccordance with all health pro-tocols like sanitization of tables,chairs, hands, masks on facesand maintenance of social dis-tancing.”

The talk was held in a sim-ple, plain but with firm reso-lution of the administrationthat festival be celebrated as fes-tival and not at the cost of any-one’s health or any danger tolaw and order as then law willtake its own course.

Gupta said the minority

community members whowere present in the peace talkwere told to observe this com-ing festival Bakrid with allcare, caution and norms ofhealth safety refraining fromgoing to the mosques to sayBakrid namaz etc as the gov-ernment has still its embargoon religious congregation inplaces of worship/ shrines/tombs etc

SDPO said from our side itwas a point straight that underno circumstances any aberra-tion would be brooked inregard to any matter of bannedanimal or banned meat inwhatever form it maybe found.

Gupta said the members ofthe Muslim community hadvowed to observe the normsand protocols which ensureand safeguard peace, amityand harmony among the com-munities.

SDPO said in this peacedialogue he asked the membersto explain the need of the titleMuslim Chamber ofCommerce whose self styledhead is said to be Guddu Khanas per some media reports ( notthe Pioneer). Gupta said, “I toldthe community to understandthe inherent damaging quotientin this kind of classification ofChamber of Commerce asnowhere in India or abroadChamber of Commerce isidentified by the name of anycaste, creed, faith etc.”

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SAIL may incur revenue loss-es during the current fiscal

as Indian Railways has cutdown its budget by 80 per centdue to the Covid-19 pandem-ic, said Director Technical SteelAuthority of India Limited(SAIL) Hari Nand Rai, whoholds an additional charge ofCEO Bokaro Steel Plant.

“SAIL’s annual businesswith Indian Railways isRs.8,000 crore and due to viruspandemic Indian railway hascurtailed its budget so we hopeit will indent less,” added Rai.

Notably, Bhilai Steel Plant(BSP) has been producingworld-class rails for IndianRailways for more than sixdecades from its Rail andStructural Mill (RSM) and thenew and modern UniversalRail Mill (URM) that has beenrolling out the world’s longest130-meter rail as a single piece.Both RSM and URM supplyUTS 90 prime rails in length upto 260 metre to IndianRailways.

Meanwhile, Bokaro SteelPlant (BSL) continues to striveto meet the challenges posed bythe Covid-19 lockdown in theglobal steel industry. Despitethe temporary shortfall in pro-duction, the team is makinggood use of the opportunitiesavailable to BSL, said Rai.

“Demand for steel seems tobe reviving in some way in theglobal market and BSL is ready

to take advantage of thisincrease in demand for steel inthe present time,” he added.

Aiming to increase itsdomestic as well as global mar-ket share BSL is aiming atscaling the steel output to 6million tonnes in the nextthree years.

At present, the BSL has aproduction of 4.5 milliontonnes which would be aug-mented further to 6 milliontones. For this, a thin slab cas-tor of 1.5 million tonnes capac-ity can be installed, he saidadding “With an estimatedinvestment of Rs 3000 croreBSL will go on massive mod-ernization and expansion pro-gram to increase it production.”

“SAIL aims to increase itscapacity form 20 MT to 50 MTby 2030 with an estimatedinvestment of Rs One Lakh

Crore,” added Rai.“Our vision is to increase

its production on time. In view of the improved

sentiment and confidenceacross sectors with specialemphasis on major infrastruc-ture projects, we are focused inthe direction of commissioningbalance modernization facili-ties at the earliest and ramp upproduction from already oper-ationalised units to meet thegrowing steel demand in thecoming days,” he said. Amidstvarious challenges on thiscourse BSL registered a soundprofit during the past two fis-cals. During Q1 and Q2 thisyear BSL has exported 80,000tons of special gread steel toChina and Vietnam, he said.

Now, BSL is mulling toerect a 4 MT pellet plant atBokaro Steel City. Its DPR is

ready and talks are on withKIOCL Company for settingup a pellet plant at Bokaro SteelPlant, said Rai.

KIOCL Limited (Formerlyknown as Kudremukh IronOre Company Limited), aFlagship Company under theMinistry of Steel, Govt. ofIndia; has been a pioneer withover four decades of experiencein operating Iron Ore Mining,Beneficiation and Iron–OxidePelletisation in the Country.

The pallets are made fromiron and fines which are furtherused to make steel in blast fur-naces.

With the use of the pellet,iron and fine stocked (lying) inthe mines will be put to gooduse and thus the use of iron andlumps will be reduced andproductivity will be increased,informed an official.

On the occasion of the102nd birth anniversary of

Nelson Mandela, it is note-worthy to look into the life andteachings of Mandela, alsoknown as Tata or Madiba.Mandela, who is often referredto as the ‘Gandhi of SouthAfrica’, was born on 18th Julyin Durban, South Africa. TheNelson Mandela InternationalDay is celebrated every year toshed light on the patrimony ofa man who changed the 20thcentury, further helping shapethe 21st century of SouthAfrica. Mandela shared stronglinks and similarities withMahatma Gandhi. Both weretwo different men from twodifferent eras, but carried oneindistinguishable dream. Thedream was to achieve freedomfor their countrymen. Mandelawas deeply impacted byGandhi’s notion of Satyagrahaduring his struggle to fightagainst Apartheid. “His phi-losophy contributed in no smallmeasure to bringing about apeaceful transformation inSouth Africa and in healing thedestructive human divisionsthat had been spawned by theabhorrent practice ofapartheid,” said Mandela. BothMandela and Gandhi,remained an intrinsic part ofSouth Africa’s history.Mandela’s contribution in lib-erating people from apartheidand bringing peaceful trans-formation in the countryremains remarkable in the his-tory of Africa. He followedteachings of Gandhi andbelieved that “Gandhi’s politi-cal technique and elements ofthe non-violent philosophy

developed during his stay inJohannesburg became theenduring legacy for the con-tinuing struggle against racialdiscrimination in South Africa”.

After spending twenty-seven years behind bars,Mandela chose the land ofGandhi, as his first destinationabroad in 1990. It was duringthis time that he was also con-ferred with Bharat Ratna -India’s highest civilian honour.Mandela was the first non-Indian recipient of BharatRatna, and this was even beforehe was conferred the NobelPrize for Peace in 1993. Whileunveiling of the GandhiMemorial in South Africa,Madiba said, “The Mahatma isan integral part part of our his-tory because it is here that hefirst experimented with truth;here that he demonstrated hischaracteristic firmness in pur-suit of justice; here that hedeveloped Satyagraha as a phi-losophy and a method of strug-gle.”. For his peacemakingefforts, and as a strong follow-er of Gandhi’s teachings he wasawarded the InternationalGandhi Peace Prize in 2001, bythe Indian government.

Mandela during his longfight against Apartheid, wasseen as a symbol for struggleagainst racial oppression andone of the most influential

leaders in the anti-Apartheidmovement. Mandela helpedbring an end to Apartheid andwas a global advocate forhuman rights in South Africa.For him, “in a world driven byviolence and strife, Gandhi’smessage of peace and non-vio-lence holds the key to humansurvival in the 21st century”.Whenever Mandela visitedIndia, he considered it a pil-grimage to the land of hispolitical guru. Mandela hasfurther said, “Gandhi’s politicaltechnique and elements of thenonviolent philosophy devel-oped during his stay inJohannesburg became theenduring legacy for the con-tinuing struggle against racialdiscrimination in SouthAfrica”. Both Gandhi andMandela, for their own people,went by another set of names- Gandhi was Bapu andMandela was famously knownas Tata. Both words mean‘father’ as they were father fig-ures to their nations. It is notan exaggeration to state thatboth Mandela and Gandhiwere great leaders and theirefforts to unite people of allclasses and opposition toracism are respected and appre-ciated worldwide. TheInternational Mandela Day,thus is a day to remind us of allhis achievements in workingtowards conflict resolution andbringing peace in South Africa.The day hopes to inspire peo-ple to embrace values such asfreedom, equality and democ-racy portrayed by Mandela.

(Dr Neha Sinha Research Fellow ICWA [email protected])

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Madhuri Vijay’s debut novelwas published at a time of

great political turmoil inKashmir. Barely a few monthsafter Article 370 was revoked,the book was awarded the JCBPrize for Literature, India’srichest and most prestigious lit-erary award. Delivering heracceptance speech at the JaipurLiterature Festival last year -online from her Hawaii home- the author lamented the pal-pable sense of hostility towardsfiction. Vijay said: “There is stilla communication blackout inplace (in Kashmir), yet here I’mspeaking to you across theworld with no problem at all.How does one reconcile such athing? Should it be reconciledat all? The best way I know, theonly way I know to grapplewith such questions is throughfiction. It is a strange andimperfect medium, but it is one of the few we have leftthat allows for the full range of nuanced complexitythat our world deserves,”. Howaptly put!

Salman Rushdie finds fic-tion as ‘’part social enquiry,part fantasy, part confessional’’.To him, the novel ‘’crosses

frontiers of knowledge as wellas topographical boundaries’’. Ifthat be true, Madhuri Vijaycomes out a gifted practition-er of novel as an art form; herdebut novel one outstandingexample.

“I’m thirty years old andthat is nothing”, says Shalini,the novel’s first person narra-tor at the very beginning. It’ssome kind of an acknowledg-ment that she’s neither youngenough to be naive nor oldenough to be wise. She deliv-ers this searching story as if ina trance of sadness after hermother’s suicide.

The protagonist is aBengaluru girl from an affluentfamily. She has been emotion-ally torn apart since child-hood between her parents whohave had an incompatible mar-riage. Shalini has been quiteattached to her mother, though.She’s brazen, mercurial andunsophisticated, yet oftentimesshe’s sensible and loving too.Her father is a successful entre-preneur, someone who’s fun-and-rum loving and whoseevenings are marked by booz-ing and listening to LPs ofSimon & Garfunkel, JohnColtrane, et al.

Her mother was quite oftena dissatisfied soul. Yet, the fewtimes Shalini saw her trulyhappy were during the visits ofan itinerant Kashmiri salesmannamed Bashir Ahmed. Bashircharmed both mother and,like Tagore’s Kabuliwala, thedaughter by recounting fan-tastical Kashmiri tales. Shalinigradually developed theimpression - gained from hermother’s gay body language inBashir Ahmed’s presence - thatthe duo have fallen in love.

Bashir Ahmed had, however,stopped visiting them a fewyears prior to her mother’sdeath.

Perhaps as a tribute to herdeceased mother, Shalini leavesher sheltered life in Bengaluruand embarks on a journey tothe mountainous Kishtwar areain Kashmir, in search forBashir Ahmed. But on arrivingin Kashmir, she’s confrontedwith the political upheavals ofthe region. And from here thenovel’s storyline meandersthrough the issues of armyexcesses, difficulties faced bythe people living in remotemountain villages, and thegrowing trust deficit betweenthe two major communities ofKashmir. The boundariesbetween fact and fiction appearto get blurred in the process. Sowhat at first seems like a rumi-native story of a young woman’s grief, later turns intoan engaging tale that dwellsupon the sensitive issues of reli-gious conflicts, political battlesand so forth.

The author switches modeone last time at the end of thenovel. She turns confessional.Six years after Shalini wentlooking for Bashir Ahmed andsix years since returning to herhome city of Bengaluru, sheconfesses not to have triedanything to ameliorate thepitiable conditions of peopleshe met in Kashmir.

“Even two summers ago,when a fifteen-year-old boy wasshot by the army in Srinagarwhile coming home fromschool, I managed to say noth-ing. But it is enough now. I’maware that I’m taking no risks byrecounting any of this, that, forpeople like me, safe and pro-

tected, even the greatest risk is,ultimately, an indulgence.

I’m aware of the likelyfutility of all that I have toldhere, and, I’m aware, too, of thethousand ways I have tried toexcuse myself in the telling ofit. All the same, whatever theflaws of the story or confessionor whatever it has turned out tobe, let it stand”.

One fascinating structural

feature of the story is the wayit goes back and forth in time.The protagonist’s reminis-cences about the unease ofgrowing up with her parents inBengaluru, alternates remark-ably well with the unfolding ofher Kashmir odyssey. MadhuriVijay writes with exceptionalfelicity and her future books,I’m sure, would be eagerlylooked forward to.

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Special arrangements areunderway for the bhumi

pujan of the proposed Ramtemple at Ayodhya on August5. As part of the arrangements,soil and water from sacredrivers will be taken to Ayodhyafor the bhumi pujan (groundbreaking) ceremony of LordRama temple at Ayodhya.

Members of the VishwaHindu Parishad on Sundayafternoon left for Ayodhya car-rying soil and sacred waterfrom 2,100 holy sites ofJharkhand. The VHPJharkhand unit in this con-

nection carried out a drivecollecting soil and sacred waterfrom religious places. The 2,100places included soil from 1,100sarna sthals too.

VHP Purvanchal DhamPunj Pramukh, Virendra Vimalsaid, “August 5 will be a historicday for all Hindus. The VHPcentral committee had asked usto part of this grand ceremony.The VHP Central committeehad asked us to collect soil and sacred water fromimportant rivers.”

VHP members and mem-bers from Sarna sect had col-lected soil from religious places.Today the soil and sacred waterfrom 2,100 places were filled in11 Kalash.

Out of these 11 Kalashnine contain soil and two con-

tain sacred water. A team headed by VHP

area organisational secretaryKeshav Raju today took theseKalash to Ayodhya.

Some of the places fromwhere soil was collected includeUlihatu, the birthplace ofDharti Aba Birsa Munda,Ramrekha dham in Gumladistrict where Lord Rama alongwith Sita and Laxman spenttime of their exile period. Apartfrom these soil were also col-lected from temples includingBaba Baidyanath (Deoghar),Chinnamastika Temple(Rajrappa), Parasnath, PahadiBaba Temple, Basukinath(Dumka), Amreshwar Dham

(Khunti), Gayatri Peeth,Bhadrakali Temple (Chatra),Vindhyavasini Temple, ShyamTemple, Anjanadham, DeoriTemple, Jagannathpur Temple.Soil was also collected from 35gurdwaras, 12 Jain pilgrimagesites, three Buddhist sitesamong others.

The sacred water was col-lected from River Ganga, Koel,Damodar, Swarnrekha, Barakaramong others.

Vimal said, “Had there wasno lockdown than thousands ofVHP members and Hinduswould have become part of thisgrand ceremony.”

Prime Minister NarendraModi will lay the foundationstone of the Ram Temple slat-ed to be built in Ayodhya onAugust 5.

Amid Covid-19 pandemicand to ensure maximum socialdistancing at the programme,the Shri Ram JanmabhoomiTirtha Kshetra has decidedthat there will not be more than200 people, including 150 invi-tees at the foundation stone lay-ing ceremony.

Former Deputy PM LKAdvani and Murli ManoharJoshi, Uma Bharti and VinayKatiyar part of temple agitationwill also grace the function.

On November 9, 2019, aConstitution Bench of theSupreme Court, permitted theconstruction of a temple at thesite where the Babri Masjidonce stood in Ayodhya, thusending the centuries-long dis-pute between the Hindus andMuslims.

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In the TEDx Kanke Webinar Seriestitled ‘The Rise of a New World’ the

speaker for the 16th session on July25 was Archana Sharma, NuclearScientist, CERN Laboratory, Genevawho spoke on Blue Sky Research onthe mist of Covid-19.

The series which began on May2 is slated to have speakers from thefields of technology, innovation,leadership, creativity and art and cul-ture of national and internationalacclaim. The sessions are beingstreamed live on the facebook pagefb.me/tedxkanke20.

“Blue Sky Research is researchwhich asks questions about natureand universe and is driven by unan-swered curiosity. There are doorsopening to new knowledge and BlueSky sits on the front lines of thesedoors, looking for answers and fur-ther questions. One of the first ques-tions was Newton asking why theapple fell on the earth which led tothe discovery of gravity and how mat-ters interact. Asking questions has ledus to understand how the solar sys-tem works and galaxies move. Asking questions, has led to lifechanging discoveries and this iswhere Blue Sky research comes intopicture,” said Sharma.

“All research suggeststhat we only see a smallfraction of the universe.About 95% of the uni-verse exists as dark mat-ter or dark energy.Gravitational waves andblack holes have also beenestablished. For recreatingthe Big Bang Theory inlaboratory conditions,protons are smashed athigh energy while thecollision was meant tounderstand what is produced in suchan experiment. A huge microscopecalled the Large Hedron Colliderwhich has ultra-high energy acceler-ator is used. There are two beam pipesthat go 27 km in circumference andthe protons are circulated in thesepipes. The protons move in bunchesat high speed so that when they col-lide, masses of other particles cancome out,” added Sharma.

“The magnets and the accelera-tion mechanism that are used (in thelargest accelerator on the planet) canhelp to produce beams of particlesthat be used for treatment such ascancer therapy. The target illumina-tion of cancer cells without damag-ing the healthy cells by creating a dig-ital scalpel through the beams hasbeen a huge progress in the treatment

of cancer patients. Inaddition, in COVIDtimes, creativity andproductivity of ideas hasincreased. In CERN, anew high energy venti-lator has been proposedto help Covid patientsrecover faster,” said thespeaker.

Rajeev Gupta cura-tor of the event said,“Whenever there is acrisis, there is hope. The

idea behind TED is ‘Ideas WorthSpreading’ and with that in mindTEDx Kanke Webinar series hasbeen started to connect great speak-ers from various spheres with localcommunities to seek a deeper under-standing of ourselves and our chang-ing world and to inspire ideas andaction for a better future for us all.The lockdown and social distancinghas inspired us to take the eventonline and reach out to more andmore people, keep them inspired,positive and be ready for the newworld post Covid-19.”

The series is being co-organisedby Kanishka Poddar, KanikaMalhotra, Priti Gupta, SantoshSharma, Rashmi Saha with an audi-ence from corporate, government,and different institutions pan India.

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City-based La Gravitea, a cafe at2, C H Area, is all set to host an

annual Miss Hearing Impaired con-test ‘KhamoSheWithLife’ with anaim to empower hearing impairedpeople on July 28. In view of Covid-19 the event will take place onFacebook and Twitter platforms. Itwill witness more than 100 hearingimpaired participants includingthree from foreign countries —South Africa, Nairobi, Bangladesh.

For the first time in the histo-ry of the country, a cafe is organ-ising such a magnanimous onlineevent empowering hearing

impaired people for the fourth con-secutive year.

The judge Monique Martinezfrom USA will declare six winnersin six different categories withtotal prize money of Rs.28,720being transferred to the winner’sbank account directly.

City-based café La Gravitea, isled by businessman Avinash Dugar.The most unique part of the caféis that it offers employment to thehearing impaired.

La Gravitea in posh CircuitHouse Area has employed wait-resses and cooks, all sourced fromSonari’s Bal Vihar, an institution thatworks with the hearing impaired.

Apart from serving breakfast, lunchand drinks, the most unique featureabout the cafeteria is their initiativeto empower women with hearingimpaired.

“I always had a passion to startmy own venture. Moreover, I wantto serve the society in every waypossible. I resigned from the cor-porate world and started my owntea vending kiosk. I had a populartea kiosk near Sacred HeartConvent School, where one morn-ing a hearing impaired girl camewith her brother,” recounted Dugar.

La Gravitea is the most soughtafter café famous for its more than100 international varieties of tea.

����� *1���

Clearing the air over theissue of Rs 1 Lakh penalty

and Jail up to two years for notwearing mask, JharkhandHealth Minister Banna Guptasaid that there are many mis-conceptions regardingJharkhand Infectious DiseasesOrdinance 2020. He said thatthe exorbitant fine is just arumor and it has nothing to dowith the ordinance.

Gupta said there was nolaw in the State to prevent thespread of infectious diseasesand infection, so this ordi-nance has to be brought.“Odisha and Kerala have alsobrought ordinances to theirstates. Therefore, theGovernment of Jharkhand hasalso brought this ordinance inpublic interest,” he added.

The Minister said somepeople, along with oppositionparties, are doing maliciouspolitics by spreading rumorsabout this ordinance, which iscompletely condemnable.

“This proposal has beenbrought to protect human lifeand it is still under process. Ithas got approval from the cab-inet. A draft of the Regulationis ready, which after goingthrough the departmentalprocess, will go to the Governor

for approval and will come intothe law only after it is approved.The Government is constant-ly reviewing this and it will beimplemented from the point ofview of public interest. Rs Onelakh penalty will be imposedon those who spread the infec-tion by organizing it and thereis a provision of different penal-ties in different rules to ensurecompliance with the instruc-tions issued by the StateGovernment in which the max-imum penalty amount will beRs One lakh or jail upto twoyears,” said Gupta.

The Minister clarified thatif one does not wear mask thena separate and comprehensiblepenalty amount has been pro-visioned but if a person orgroup is found guilty of inten-tionally spreading infectionthen the upper limit of penal-ty and jail can be applicable onsuch cases.

“There is a provision of dif-ferent punishment and pun-ishment for the wrongdoersand those who violate the

instructions in different cate-gories. The maximum penaltywill be 1 lakh rupees. Differentpenalty amount is proposed inother cases, including notapplying masks, gatheringcrowds, spreading infection,gathering crowds and others,”said Gupta.

Meanwhile JharkhandPradesh Congress Committee(JPCC) Chief and Food SupplyMinister, Rameshwar Oraonsaid on Sunday that the highpower committee formed bythe State Government is eyeingthe situation of the State andChief Minister Hemant Sorenwill take final decision in wakeof increasing corona infectionin the State. He said that liveli-hood is also important with life,keeping in mind all these facts,the Government will take adecision.

Oraon said after increasingthe number of corona infectedpatients, the health depart-ment is constantly working onincreasing beds and otherhealth facilities in the State.

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As coronavirus continues tosweep the globe, students

seem to be in a fix when itcomes to choosing the rightcareer path. While some areready to drop a year and waitfor the pandemic to be over,others are keen to study in acollege in their hometown nomatter how good the result.

As per career counsellorsacross Ranchi, no permanentchanges are foreseen in careertrends. However, changes incareer options being made arebeing observed with parentsnow preferring to send theirchild to a nearby city for grad-uation instead of a far away land.

“The present preference iseither to study in a college inyour hometown or go to anearest big city. People are nottoo keen to send their childrento any city from where travel-ling is a hassle or takes time.The primary reason for this isthe fear of another lockdown asparents obviously don’t wanttheir child stranded in an

unknown place. The careerchoices being made by the stu-dents are still the same thoughthe place of study might havechanged,” said career counsel-

lor Dr SS Singh from EducatifHeritage, Ranchi.

“In the last few years, stu-dents have also started opting forshort term job oriented cours-

es rather than long term ones.Instead of a B.Tech, the preferredchoice is now a B.Voc (Bachelorsin Vocational Training) which isa three years course as compared

to a four year engineeringcourse,” added Singh.

For those who wanted to amake a career in the field ofmedicine, China was a very

popular option but that desti-nation is not being consideredon any grounds. The trend ofgoing to Europe, USA, Canada,Australia and New Zealandhas also come down by about20- 25 percent.

“Over the years, for MBBSand engineering studentsKazakhstan has been a verypopular choice but they are noteager to go abroad. Presently,the various branches of com-puter science are verypopularoption. In the coming times theelectronic sector is also likely tocome up with various oppor-tunities. In engineering spe-cialisations either in computerscience or electronic and com-munications will be in hugedemand. For commerce stu-dents, BBA in ComputerApplication, BBA in Law orBBA in Business Accounts arepopular choices. A lot of stu-dents are also ready to wait fora year before they decide totake admission in their pre-ferred college in a course oftheir choice,” said Arvind Shahfrom Career Guidance, Ranchi.

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Anil Kumar Jha, whostepped down as

Chairman, Coal India Limited,the Maharatna coal mininggiant in January 2020 on attain-ing superannuation has beenappointed as a Member of theExpert Appraisal Committee(EAC) of Ministry ofEnvironment, Forest andClimate Change, Governmentof India, through aGovernment gazette dated July23. Jha will hold the office asMember of EAC for a term ofone year till June 5, 2021.

The ten member commit-tee consisting of a Chairmanincluding Jha, as Member,assumes importance in safe-guarding the overall environ-ment status and also on thebasis of merit advises environ-ment clearances.

The Central Governmenthas established an arrange-ment to appraise the projects,which have started the work

without obtaining prior envi-ronmental clearance and suchcases have been termed ascases of violation. The role ofEAC comprising members withexpertise in different sectors isto appraise and make recom-mendations to the CentralGovernment as regards cases ofviolation in all the sectors.The work of this expert com-mittee is to give advice on envi-ronmental clearances on dif-ferent government projects.

According to EnvironmentImpact Association notification2006, the evaluations of differ-ent proposals have four stagesthat is screening, scoping, pub-lic hearing and appraisal. Thiscommittee was involved invarious capacities in all thestages as mentioned exceptpublic hearing. Jha has threedecades of experience in coalmining activities under hisbelt and has led CIL, the singlelargest coal producing compa-ny in the world, from May 2018till January 2020.

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The Covid-19 virus has nowspread in the Government’s

offices in Jharkhand after theregional office of premier inves-tigative agency EnforcementDirectorate (ED) in Ranchiwas forced to shut down afteran official of ED was tested pos-itive with coronavirus.

The office of the ED; theCentral Government’s under-taking was shut down anddeep sanitisation was under-taken for disinfection of the EDoffice as well as other parts ofthe building.

While the asymptomaticofficial tested positive was keptin home quarantine and he isslowly recovering other staffmembers of this investigativeagency are under observationand their samples have been taken.

Sources in the ED con-firmed development sayingthat they are not sure as to howone of their officials got affect-ed by the virus.

But this is widely believedthat the said official came intocontact with a virus affectedperson during investigation ofa case. The contact tracing of allsuch persons are being done.

The office of the ED which

is currently investigatingaround a dozen money laun-dering cases is unlikely toreopen at a least a fortnight.

Prior to this a week back;headquarter of JharkhandPolice had witnessed Coronaexplosion when 24 police per-sonnel posted at the policeheadquarter were tested posi-tive. Among the affected aretwo reader rank staff and thecanteen staff who used to servetea to DGP MV Rao and otherofficials. The police headquar-ters was sealed.

As per the record ofJharkhand Police headquar-ter; across Jharkhand as manyas 477 police personnel havebeen affected with Covid-19virus. This includes one SSPand DSP rank official, fiveinspectors, 41 sub-inspectors,51 assistant sub-inspector rankofficials among others. Amongthem; 39 officials and person-nel have recovered.

Despite the good recoveryrate the government is worriedover the spread of pandemic.

The workforce and theworking hours at the officeshave been calibrated so thatnormal administrative workscontinue. So far only 30 percent of the total workforce atthe offices is permitted.

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Defence Minister RajnathSingh and Home Minister

Amit Shah on Sunday paidrich tributes to the KargilWar martyrs saluting them fortheir “unwavering andindomitable courage” toensure India is safe andsecure.

“The unwavering courageand patriotism of our ArmedForces have ensured that Indiais safe and secure,” the defenceminister posted on Twitter onthe occasion of the 21stanniversary of the country'svictory over Pakistan in theKargil War.

“I am also grateful tothose who despite becoming

disabled in battle, continue toserve the country in theirown ways and have set exam-ples worthy of emulation bythe Nation,” Singh said.

“On the 21st anniversaryof Kargil Vijay, I would like tosalute the brave soldiers of theIndian Armed Forces whofought the enemy under themost challenging conditions

that the world had witnessedin the recent history,” headded.

Singh, along with Chief ofDefence Staff General BipinRawat, Chief of Naval StaffKarambir Singh, Army ChiefGeneral MM Naravane andChief of Air Staff Air MarshalRKS Bhadauria, paid tributeto the Kargil War martyrs at

the National War Memorialhere.

"I congratulate all Indiancitizens on the occasion ofKargil Vijay Diwas. The sac-rifices made by soldiers, whichhelped us win the Kargil war,will always be a source ofinspiration for the armedforces," Singh told reporters.

For his part, Shah tweet-

ed in Hindi saying, “KargilVijay Diwas is a symbol ofIndia’s self-respect, valour andsteadfast leadership. I bow tothe soldiers who with theirindomitable courage drovethe enemy from the inacces-sible hills of Kargil and wavedthe tricolour there again. Thecountry is proud of the heroesof India, who are dedicated to

protecting the motherland.”On July 26, 1999, the

Indian Army had announcedthe successful culmination of"Operation Vijay", declaringvictory after the nearly three-month-long battles in the icyheights of Kargil. India lostmore than 500 soldiers in thewar.

The Kargil War was

declared over on July 26, 1999,after Indian soldiers pushedback the Pakistani troops, abulk of them drawn from theneighbouring countr y'sNorthern Light Infantry, fromthe captured peaks.

The day is observed as"Kargil Vijay Diwas" to com-memorate India's victory inthe war.

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BJP president JP Nadda onSunday said that the Indian

forces combined inspirationand strategy with valour tovanquish Pakistan during theKargil War despite facingadverse circumstances. Indiawill forever remember the sac-rifices made by Indian soldiersto secure the country's borders,he said.

Speaking at an event on the21st anniversary of Kargil VijayDiwas, Nadda also stressed onthe BJP's commitment to thewelfare of armed forces, sayingthe defence sector has alwaysreceived Prime MinisterNarendra Modi''s special focus.

The Modi Governmentimplemented ''one rank onepension'' scheme and cleared

all dues with payment of�33,000 crore, he said, addingthat 72 border projects arenow near completion whilework on them was not doneduring the UPA government.

The then Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee foughtwith Pakistan in the interna-tional arena during the Kargilwar and had made it clear thatIndia will not declare ceasefireuntil it secures its border bydefeating Pakistan, he said.

Nadda also noted Modi'svisit to Ladakh recently duringthe standoff with China andsaid that the Prime Ministerspends every Diwali with thearmed forces.

The PM himself went toLadakh, stayed there the entireday, held meetings, boostedthe morale of our jawans and

met the injured jawans, he saidadding this sends a messagethat 130 Crore Indians, underthe leadership of the PM, arestanding with the Army.

Hailing the armed forces,he said Pakistan was in an"advantageous" position dur-ing the Kargil war after occu-pying mountain heights but

Indian soldiers drew inspira-tion from the challenge andfought with valour and strat-egy to attain victory.

"It was the toughest battleon the highest mountains," hesaid even as he maintainedthat India will forever remainindebted to the brave sol-diers.

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At a time when a majority ofdental colleges in the coun-

try are facing financial hard-ships caused by the Covid-19-induced lockdown, the Centrehas added to their woes byincreasing the inspection,application and annual fee of allthe self-financed dental insti-tutes.

For instance, yearly fee forrecognised self-financed den-tal colleges having onlyBachelor of Dental Studies(BDS) Course has been dou-bled to �1 lakh while applica-tion fee for establishment ofnew dental colleges has beenraised from �6 lakh to � 9 lakhper college, as per a circularissued by the Dental Council ofIndia (DCI), an autonomousbody under the Union HealthMinistry.

Similarly, for the inspec-

tions carried out at UG/PG/ PGdiploma course in all speciali-ties/dental materials/diplomacourse in dentalmechanics/dental hygien-ists/dental operative roomassistant (DORA) level in addi-tion to yearly fee, fees one hasto shell out �1.50 lakh nowagainst previous amount �1lakhs while renewal/periodic/compliance verification recog-nition has been enhanced from�2 lakhs to �3 lakhs.

Application fee for startingof MDS Course/PG Diploma

Course in all specialities/den-tal materials and applicationfee for increase of seats inBDS/MDS has been increasedfrom �3 lakhs to �4.50 lakhs, asper the circular.

Also, application fee forstarting diploma course in den-tal mechanics/dental hygien-ists/dental operative roomassistant (DORA) has beenrevised from Rs 1 lakh to �1.50lakhs. The GST at the rate of 18per cent is also applicable on allthe payments, reads the circu-lar.

Last month, the DCI hadalso instructed all private den-tal colleges across the countryto pay full salary and stipend tothe faculties, students and otheremployees during Covid-19Iockdown period and warnedthem of strict action in casethey fail to do so.

The move followed sever-al complaints from the teach-ing and non-teaching staff ofnon-payment and in manycases deduction in salaries andstipend to them by the dentalcolleges.

The Council also remind-ed the colleges about PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andUnion Ministry of Labour andEmployment's advisories issuedfrom time to time, asking theprivate sector to not to deductor cut the salary of the peopleworking with the institutions inthe tough times when Covid-19 has swept the world.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi will inaugurate three

new high-throughput labs ofthe Indian Council of MedicalResearch on Monday throughvideo conferencing. The threenew high-throughput ICMRlabs have been constructed inMumbai, Noida and Kolkata.The labs will majorly boost thenation’s COVID-19 testingcapacities.

The Union Governmenthas adopted the test-track-treat strategy for early detectionand containment of theCOVID-19 pandemic. Underthis, the ICMR has ramped upits testing capabilities to effec-tively deal with Coronaviruscrisis.

“We have already askedthe state governments andunion territories to ramp up

testing capacities. Adding morelabs and enhancing the capac-ity of the approved labs willincrease the COVID-19 testingcapacities in the country,” saidan official from the UnionHealth Ministry.

These new testing labs willbe capable of testing over10,000 samples in a day and

also reduce turn-around-time.The inauguration is expected tobe followed by a review meet-ing on the current situation ofCovid-19 in the state.

Maharashtra ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeray,Uttar Pradesh Chief MinistersYogi Adityanath and WestBengal CM Mamata Banerjee

are expected to take part in thevirtual inaugural event.

Union Home MinisterAmit Shah, Union HealthMinister HarshVardhan andsenior officials are also expect-ed to be part of the expectedreview meeting. The meetingcomes at a time when India hasseen a massive surge in every-day cases. The country crossedthe 13 lakh mark on Sunday.India has recorded 48,661 casesof coronavirus as the totalCOVID-19 tally soared to13,85,522 on Sunday.

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As part of the efforts to putcounter narrative to the

insurgent groups' ideology, thesecurity agencies in theNortheast, Jammu and Kashmiras also Naxal-hit States haveplans to organise question andanswer sessions of surrenderedultras including undergroundguerillas and militants. Videos ofsuch sessions will be prepared byprofessional agencies and dis-seminated amongst youth tokeep them away from violentideologies.

In the States facing Naxalviolence, the Centre has advisedinitiation of synergised responseat Panchayat, Block and Districtlevel for moulding perception ofthe youth. The States have alsobeen advised to undertake edu-cational tour programmes foryouth in such areas, officials inthe security agencies said.

The Centre has furtheradvised creation of a databank ofpeople from Naxal areas livingoutside in cities/towns for stud-ies or jobs, The enlisted personsin the databank will be utilisedfor carrying back messages ofdevelopment and other positiveinformation and prevent gulliblepersons from being attracted toNaxalism. The idea has beenproposed to be taken up in‘mission mode’, they said.

In addition, there is a pro-posal to constitute a team of five

to seven academically-inclinedpolice officials in each of thesethree theatres of violence tostudy important cases of con-victed, surrendered, reformedterrorists, Naxals and insur-gents. Such teams will scientifi-cally analyse the modus operan-di used, means of radicalisa-tion/indoctrination and availablemeans of reintegrating them inmainstream society. The policeteam will also use academiciansin such exercises, they furthersaid.

In the Naxal areas, closercoordination between the policestations on inter-State border andjoint exercises for 15 days ormore is on the anvil,

In order to boost counter-insurgency measures, the UnionHome Ministry has advised set-ting up of separate teams by theState police forces, Central para-military forces and Central PoliceOrganisations to review securi-ty aspects like weapons, ballistics,uniform, laboratory infrastruc-ture and the like and recommendimprovements to be made in inthe equipment paraphernalia.The Directors General of theseagencies will review the recom-mendations and send them tothe Union Home Ministry.

In depth study of logisticchain of weapons, money andfood items among others of theNaxals groups will be carried outand means will be devised to dis-rupt them, they added.

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Gujarat on Sunday reportedthe highest single-day

spike of 1,110 new COVID-19cases, taking the total count to55,822 while 21 patients died,including 12 in Surat, the Statehealth department said.

The cumulative death tollin the state now stands at2,326.

The number of recoveredcases rose to 40,365 with 753patients being discharged dur-ing the day.

The recovery rate in theState now stands at 72.31 percent.

Surat continued to reportthe highest number of cases inthe State.

On Sunday, it added 299new cases, taking the count inthe district to 12,268, thehealth department said.

With 12 fatalities in theday, the death toll in Surat dis-trict went up to 544, it said.

Ahmedabad reported 163new cases, taking the count to25,692. With three deaths,the number of fatalities in thedistrict rose to 1,575.

Out of 21 fatalities in theday, two deaths were report-ed from Vadodara and oneeach from Gandhinagar, Jamnagar,Morbi, and Rajkot, the releasesaid.

Vadodara reported 92new cases, Rajkot 72, Amreli39, Banaskantha 35, Dahod30, Bhavnagar 31, Narmada26, Surendranagar 24, ChhotaUdepur and Patan 22 each,Junagadh 20, Jamnagar 14,Gandhinagar 19, Kutch 20,and Bharuch 19.

A total of 21,708 testswere conducted in the day,taking the total count in thestate so far to 6,42,370, whichcomes at 333.96 tests per dayper million population, thedepartment said.

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Anon-profit organisation hasappealed to Prime Minister

Narendra Modi to take imme-diate steps to set up a panel formigrant workers on the lines ofNHRC and NationalCommission for Minorities.

Pandit DeendayalUpadhyay Smriti Sansthan(PDUSS), in a statement onSunday said, this has "becomeimperative in view of the wide-spread problems and exploita-tion faced by these millions ofmigrants who constitute thelargest nomadic workforce inthe committee".

The PDUSS is a nationwidenon-profit organisation work-ing for the welfare of poor anddowntrodden since 1995.

"We have urged PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andthe Union government to takeimmediate steps for setting upa national commission formigrant workers on the lines of

National Human RightsCommission, NationalCommission for Women,National Commission forMinorities," it said in a state-ment.

The PDUSS said throughits founding members, AnandMani and Vinod Shukla, it hasalready submitted a draft bill onthe contours and compositionof the proposed national com-mission.

"The draft and model billhave already been presented tothe NITI Aayog more than twomonths ago," the statementsaid.

During the course of help-ing out migrant workers in theinitial stages of the lockdown,when hundreds of thousandsmigrant workers were return-ing to their native places bare-foot or on cycles, trucks, buses,PDUSS felt the need for a cen-tral body that can take care ofthe welfare of migrant workers,it said.

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The flood situation worsenedin Assam and Bihar on

Sunday with five more deathsand nearly 40 lakh peopleaffected in the two states, asanother spell of monsoon rainlashed Delhi but a sultry weath-er prevailed in Punjab andHaryana.

The five fresh deaths raisedthe flood-related toll in Assamto 102. Another 26 people havedied in landslides triggered byrainfall, the state disaster man-agement authority said.

Over 24.76 lakh people arehit due to floods in 23 districtsof Assam.

Goalpara is the worst-hitwith over 4.7 lakh people affect-ed.

Union Minister forDevelopment of North EasternRegion Jitendra Singh spoke toAssam Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal andassured him help from theCentre and the North EasternCouncil to restore and repairthe infrastructure damaged in

floods.Singh said the central gov-

ernment is constantly moni-toring the flood situation inAssam, Arunachal Pradesh andother affected states in thenortheast.

Prime Minister NarendraModi is taking regular updateson the situation, he added.

In Bihar, at least 10 peoplehave died and 15 lakh havebeen hit in 11 districts. Nearly10 lakh were affected by floodstill Saturday in 10 districts.

According to the state dis-aster management authority,Darbhanga is the worst-affect-ed district with 5.36 lakh peo-ple either being displaced ortrapped inside home.

Several rivers such asBaghmati, Burhi Gandak,Kamlabalan, Lalbakeya,Adhwara, Khiroi, Mahanandaand Ghaghra have swollen dan-gerously due to incessant rain-fall.

Many trains onMuzaffarpur-Narkatiaganj andSamastipur-Darbhanga sectionshad to change their routes

while others had to short-ter-minated, a railway official said.

Meanwhile, a 25-year-oldwoman gave birth to a baby girlon board an NDRF rescue boatplying on the swollen BurhiGandak river in EastChamparan district. Thewoman was rescued from hermarooned house when shedeveloped severe labour painand later delivered the baby,NDRF officials said.

The mother and the new-born girl have been admitted toa public health facility and theyare stable.

A total of 21 NDRF teamsare deployed in northern Bihar.

Light-to-moderate rainfalllashed parts of Delhi and UttarPradesh.

Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath con-ducted an aerial survey of theareas inundated by heavy rain-fall in Gorakhpur district andasked officials to ensure safetyof all dams. He directed the dis-trict administration to ensureadequate deployment of boatsin flood-affected areas.

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Aday after Nagalandrecorded its first death

due to COVID-19, three morepeople infected with the dis-ease died, while the State'stally rose to 1,289 after 50fresh cases were reported onSaturday, officials said.

All the four deathsoccurred in Dimapur district.

The state registered itsfirst COVID-19 fatality whenthe test result of a 50-year-oldman came out positive onFriday, three days after hisdeath, State Nodal Officer forIntegrated DiseaseSurveillance Programme, Dr

Nyan Kikon, had said.Three more COVID-19

patients succumbed sinceFriday and authorities wereascertaining whether theydied of the infection as theyhad comorbidities, Healthand Family Welfare MinisterS Pangnyu Phom said.

The Minister also tweeted,"Fifty new cases of COVID-19have been detected out of

344 test results receivedon Saturday - 20 in Mon,

19 in Dimapur, 7 inKohima and 4 inMokokchung."

The State now has 744active cases while 451 haverecovered.

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Senior BJP leader Mukul Royon Sunday dismissed claims

that he had been marginalisedin the saffron party and that hewas in touch with some of hisformer colleagues in theTrinamool Congress which heleft a few years ago followingdifferences with Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee.

“I am very much in theBJP… I have been in the BJP, Iam in the BJP and will contin-ue to be with the BJP in future,”Roy told journalist saying hisnot being invited in a Bengal-specific party meeting in Delhiwhere most senior leaders from

the State were present hadnothing to do with “the con-cocted facts that are beingreported in the media.”

Roy who was in Delhi tilla couple of days ago said he hadcome back to Kolkata to get hiseyes operated and that therewas no secret to be read intothe entire affair. On reports ofhis being in touch with topmostleadership of his erstwhile partythe TMC, he said “this is beingdone to malign me… if the per-sons who are saying this cancome in the open and claimthis in public I will ask them toprove his statements or faceaction… I am ready for anykind of probe for such kind of

charges being leveled againstme.”

Stories have been doing therounds that fault lines haveappeared between Roy a for-mer Man Friday of MamataBanerjee and his new party.

He also dismissed reportsthat he had got the posters ofPrime Minister Narendra Modiand Home Minister Amit Shahremoved from his Delhi officesaying “the posters wereremoved as per the ElectionCommission orders before theDelhi Assembly elections ….Subsequently things got over-looked due to the corona cri-sis… and most importantly Ipersonally did not notice them.However, I will get them fixedimmediately.

On whether he would

return to Delhi at once he saidhe would not as “my first pri-ority is to get my eyes operat-ed tomorrow where after I willbe under observation and thenonly I will be able to take adecision.”

With Roy not being in thethick of things recently storieshad started doing the roundsthat BJP State president DilipGhosh had got the formerRailway Minister’s wingsclipped following which hewas gradually cosying up to hisformer outfit which he and theBengal Chief Minister jointlyfounded in 1998.

On why he was not foundon the field he said “none wassupposed to be found on thefield during the corona times…we had to follow certain pro-

tocols provided by the CentralGovernment.” He also dis-missed reports of his annoy-ance at not being entrustedwith any post in the party. “Itis not true that I have noresponsibility … I am one ofthe hundred members of India’slargest party’s national execu-tive. .. Is it not enough toprove my relevance in myparty.”

On the question of leader-ship he said “leadership isdecided by the people whojudge your performance. TodayPrime Minister Narendra Modiand Home Minister Amit Shahare the tallest leaders not onlyof the party but also of thecountry inspiring millions ofpeople. This they have achievedby their performance.”

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Situation in Kerala continues unabated even on Sunday as927 new persons were diagnosed with Covid-19, accord-

ing to a press release issued by Health Minister KK Shylaja.A major cause of concern is the unprecedented increase inthe number of persons getting contracted with the pandem-ic through contacts. On Sunday 733 persons tested positivewere victims of contact. Two persons succumbed to the pan-demic during the last 24 hours.

Thiruvananthapuram continued to be the epicentre of thepandemic. The district tested 175 persons with coronavirusout of which 164 had contracted the pandemic through con-tact. Kasaragod tested positive for 107 persons out of which105 were infected through contacts.

The day saw 1,277 persons getting admitted to hospitalsacross the State. There are 494 hotspots in the State.

Out of the 927 tested with Covid-19 on Sunday, 76 wereexpatriates while 97 were those from other parts of the coun-try. The release by the minister said 67 persons could not giveany convincing answer to the question how they contractedthe pandemic.

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There was no abatement orrespite for people in Tamil

Nadu as coronavirus pandem-ic continued to cause havoc inthe State on Sunday, a day theGovernment had declared as atotal lockdown day.

While the State saw 85persons succumbing to thepandemic during the last 24hours, 6,986 persons were diag-nosed with Covid-19. By theend of the day, there were53,703 active cases of coron-avirus across Tamil Nadu and

this took the number of casestested positive till date to 2.13lakh.

The 116 laboratories acrossthe State tested 62,305 personson Sunday taking the numberof persons tested till date to2.26 million. The day also saw5,471 persons getting cured anddischarged from hospitalsacross Tamil Nadu.

Out of the 85 deaths regis-tered during the last 24 hours,75 died because of pre-existingmorbidity or chronic diseases.The fatalities in Tamil Nadu tilldate reached 3,494 on Sunday.

While Chennai showed asmall fall in the number of per-sons tested positive on Sunday(1,155), Chengalpet registered501 new cases, Kancheepuramaccounted for 363 persons andThiruvallur 480 new cases.The three districts along withChennai are observing strin-gent restrictions and regula-tions because of continuedhike in the number of cases.

The southern districts ofVirudhunagar (385),Kanyakumari (215),Thoothukudi (248) andTirunelveli (186) continued tobe problematic zones.

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Ballari (K'taka): Karnataka ForestMinister Anand Singh has testedpositive for Covid-19, sources closeto him said on Sunday.

Anand Singh, whose swab wascollected on Friday, was foundinfected with the coronavirus onSaturday night.

However, he is asymptomatic,his close aides told P T I. “He hasbeen tested positive but he is asymp-tomatic and is quarantined,” his con-fidante said requesting anonymity.

He also said that a few days ago,the minister's driver tested posi-tive.Earlier this month, TourismMinister C T Ravi had tested posi-tive for the contagion. Karnataka hadreported 5,072 cases on Saturdaywhile the overall tally of infectionsstood at 90,942. PTI

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Agartala: No action has beentaken even after 48 hours whena section of Covid-19 patientsmisbehaved with a woman doc-tor.

Tripura Health and FamilyWelfare Department DirectorRadha Debbarma said here onSunday that they would lodgean FIR over the incident of mis-behaviour with West TripuraDistrict Health SurveillanceOfficer Sangita Chakrabortyon Friday.

Stating that Chakraborty, ayoung doctor, worked hard totake care of Covid-19 and otherpatients, Debbarma told IANS,“The health directorate officialsafter scrutinising the video ofthe incident would file an FIR.”

Demanding 'exemplarypunishment', the All TripuraGovernment Doctors'Association (ATGDA) general

secretary Rajesh Choudhurysaid they had raised the issueswith higher authorities, includ-ing Sanjay Kumar Rakesh,Additional Chief Secretary (in-charge of Health and FamilyWelfare Department).

“If they failed to take anyaction, we would take appro-priate legal steps,” Choudhurytold IANS. Terming this kind ofuncivilised behaviour unex-pected and unacceptable, hesaid a precedent had to be setto warn others.

Dr Chakraborty said shewas abused and spat at bysome patients being treated ata Covid care centre, here, whenshe had gone there on Friday toadmit five women who hadgiven birth to babies a daybefore.

“The women had under-gone caesarian operations at

Tripura Medical College onThursday. When they testedCovid-19 positive, we decidedto shift them to the Covid carecentre. We had gone there witha health department team andthe police personnel. Whenwe tried to admit them, a groupof men and women obstructedthe process, claiming therewere no vacant beds,” she said.

When requested by otherdoctors and nurses to return totheir beds, some of them start-ed using filthy languages, spatat me and threatened to touchme and infect me with coron-avirus, Dr Chakraborty said.

“This is most unfortunateand dehumanising. We aretreating them. All patients needthe same care. We feel humiliated,” said another doc-tor, a colleague of DrChakraborty. IANS

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Coronavirus is now rapidlyspreading in the jails of

Uttar Pradesh. A day after 128inmates in Jhansi jail testedpositive for Covid-19, as manyas 228 inmates in Ballia districtjail have been found to beinfected with the deadly virus.

Jail superintendentPrashant Kumar Maurya said,“The infected prisoners havebeen accommodated in sepa-rate barracks in the jail. Theyare being given medicationand food as per the instructionof the health department.”

The lone woman inmatewho has also tested positive,has been admitted to the L-1hospital at Basantpur, the jailofficial added.

The jail administration said

that during an antigen test of817 inmates, 228 tested positivefor the virus including one staffmember.

There are 1,049 inmates inBallia prison. With Ballia'stally, the total number of pris-oners infected in the state hasreached 486. Besides, 25 jailstaff, too, have tested positive.

All the prisoners were test-ed through rapid antigen kitsand samples of those testedpositive have also been sent forconfirmatory RT-PCR test.

UP Chief Minister YogiAdityanath had earlier instruct-ed all the districts to set up tem-porary jails. A communiquewas also issued by the homedepartment in connection withthe same.

However, Ballia districtmagistrate Shrihari Pratap

Shahi, admitted that there wasno facility of temporary jail inthe district. “We had set upsuch jails only for 'TablighiJamaatis',” he added.

Shahi further said thatlarge-scale sampling was donein the jail after which 16inmates tested positive for thevirus on July 22. “Followingthat, we organised a largercamp of 20 medical teams andgot a maximum number ofinmates tested,” he said.

He also said that severalmeasures have been taken tolimit the spread of the virus.

“Of the total eight barracks,three barracks have beenturned into isolation wards, forthose coming from outside. Ateam of the health departmenthas been asked to deploy itsunit inside the prison,” he said.

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Maharashtra recorded9,000-plus Covid-19

infections for the fourth con-secutive day on Sunday, as9,431 people tested positive,while 267 people died of thepandemic in various parts ofthe state.

After it recorded the high-est-ever 10,576 infections onJuly 22 and witnessed 9895,9,615 and 9,251 cases on July23, 24 and 25 respectively,Maharashtra logged 9,431 newinfected cases, taking the totalnumber of positive cases to3,75,799.

With fresh 267 fatalities,the total number of deaths inthe state mounted to 13,656.

There has been a substan-tial number of deaths for thepast one week. The break-up ofdeaths in the state since July 20is: July 20- 176, July 21—246,July 22—280, July 23—298,July 24—278, July 25-257 andJuly 26—267.

Of the 267 deaths report-ed on Sunday, Mumbaiaccounted for 57 deaths, takingthe total number of deaths inthe country’s commercial cap-ital from 6,036 to 6,093 and theinfected cases increased by1,101 to touch 1,09,161 now.

Apart from 57 deaths inMumbai, there were 55 deathsfatalities in Pune, 48 in Thane,19 in Raigad, 15 in Jalgaon, 12in Satara, 9 in Aurangabad, 8 inSolapur, 6 in Palghar, 5 each inNashik and Akola, 3 each inKolhapur, Latur, Sangli,Yavatmal and Buldhana, 2 eachin Dhule and Nagpur and one

death each in Nandurbar, Jalna,Hingoli, Parbhani, Osmanabad,Amravati, Washim andWardha. In addition, one moreperson from another state diedin the state.

With 86,358 infected casesand 2346 deaths, Thane con-tinued to be the second worsthit district in Maharashtra.

Pune, which has emergedas the third worst affected dis-trict in terms of spread of thepandemic, has recorded 76,203infections and 1,714 deathstill now.

In a related development,the total number of patientsdischarged from various hos-pitals after full recovery sincethe second week of March thisyear touched 2,13,238.

The recovery rate in theState stood at 56.74 per cent.The mortality rate in the Stateis 3.63 per cent. The Statehealth authorities pegged thenumber of “active cases” in theState at 1,48,601.

Out of 18,86,296 samplessent to laboratories, 3,37,799have tested positive (19.92 percent) for Covid-19 untilSunday.

Currently, 9,08,420 peo-ple are in home quarantinewhile 44,276 people are ininstitutional quarantine.

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While the Indian Army onSunday celebrated the

21st anniversary of its victoryover Pakistan in the Kargilwar of 1999 and paid rich trib-utes remembering heroes of'Operation Vijay', the PakistaniArmy violated the ceasefireagreement along the line ofcontrol in Poonch sector onSunday.

According to the fieldreports, Pakistani troopsshelled forward areas ofBalakote sector in Poonch andalso targeted several civilian

houses during an intenseexchange of firing.

No loss of life and proper-ty was reported from theground zero till the time of fil-ing the report.

Both the frontier districtsof Rajouri and Poonch arewitnessing regular mortarshelling since last one week.According to local reports, thePakistani Army was attemptingto push small batches of infil-trators inside the Indian terri-tory to launch strikes on thesecurity forces ahead of the firstanniversary of Abrogation ofArticle 370 and reorganisa-tion of the state of Jammu &

Kashmir.Defence PRO in Jammu,

Lt-Col Devender Anand said,“At about 3.15 p.m, the PakistanArmy initiated unprovokedceasefire violation by firingwith small arms and shellingmortars along the LoC in the

Balakote sector of Poonch dis-trict on Sunday”. The IndianArmy retaliated befittingly, hesaid. Meanwhile, differentteams of security forces Sundaybusted three hideouts in threedifferent places foiling nefari-ous designs of the terroristsactive in the region. One suchhideout was busted in Loranarea of Poonch

Defence PRO said terror-ists plan to target forces thwart-ed with the recovery of twoIED's , In a tweet, PRODefence, Jammu said, “ a ter-ror hideout busted in Loran,Poonch. Two improvisedexplosive devices (IED) weigh-

ing 5 kgs and 3 kgs were recov-ered. Terrorists plan to targetforces thwarted”.

In Kashmir valley, twosimilar hideouts were busted inKupwara and Shopian.

According to a policespokesman, “Kupwara Policeand Army busted anothermodule of NacroTerrorism byseizing 01 AK 56, 02 Pistols, 20Grenades & 10 kg Narcotics. Atotal number of three individ-uals were arrested and thor-ough investigations werelaunched after registration ofFIR's in the case.

On the other hand, theShopian police and security

forces also busted a hideout inorchards of the Dachoo area. 02UBGL Grenades, 03 grenades,AK-47 Magazine, 20 AKrounds, ICOM Radio Set &other incriminating materialswere recovered. Case regis-tered.

Meanwhile, a day after atop Lashkar-e-Taiba comman-der was killed by security forcesin Srinagar Inspector Generalof Police Kashmir range, VijayKumar on Sunday said, “Afterthe killing of LeT terroristIshfaq Rashid Khan onSaturday, no resident ofSrinagar district in terroristranks now”.

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Jammu:The total number ofpositive cases of coronavirusSunday rose to 17,920 after 615fresh cases were detected in theUnion Territory of Jammu &Kashmir while seven morepatients died taking the deathtoll to 312.

According to the mediabulletin, out of 615 new posi-tive cases, 136 were reportedfrom Jammu division and 479from Kashmir division. Also 07Covid-19 deaths have beenreported; 01 from Jammu divi-sion and 06 from KashmirDivision, the bulletin said.

The situation continued toremain grim in Srinagar districtas 209 fresh cases were detect-ed taking the active positivecases to 2,331. 88 deaths havebeen reported from Srinagardistrict alone.

In Jammu after 3 persons(petitioner writer, securityguard,sanitary worker) engagedin the premises of the DC

office complex have turnedCOVID +ve. The entire com-plex of DC office with externalholding area on Wazarat roadis declared temporarily as a con-tainment zone for extensivesanitisation.

In Jammu division, frontierRajouri district has becomethe worst affected hotspot as ithas the highest number of 432active positive cases. Moreover,411 more Covid-19 patientshave recovered and dischargedfrom various hospitals, 41 fromJammu Division and 370 fromKashmir Division.

According to the bulletin,out of 17920 positive cases,7680 are Active Positive, 9928have recovered and 312 havedied; 23 in Jammu division and289 in Kashmir division.

The Bulletin further saidthat out of 581707 test resultsavailable, 563787 samples havebeen tested as negative till July26, 2020. PNS

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Amaravati(AP): AndhraPradesh's coronavirus tallytouched 96,298 on Sunday as itraced closer to the one lakhmark with the addition of 7,627new cases.

The COVID-19 toll crossedthe 1,000-mark, reaching 1,041after 56 fresh casualties werereported in the last 24 hours.

The latest government bul-letin said 3,041 patients weredischarged from hospitals in thelast 24 hours, taking the over-all discharges to 46,301.

The number of activeCOVID-19 cases stood at48,956.

Kurnool registered thehighest number of 1,213 newcases in a day, pushing the dis-trict tally to 11,570.

Guntur district also crossedthe 10,000-mark in the totalnumber of coronavirus cases.

East Godavari district con-tinued to show a rapid increas-ing trend, reporting 1,095 freshcases, taking its gross to 13,486.

East Godavari, Kurnool andGuntur districts now have over10,000 cases each whileAnantapuramu is very closebehind with 9,723 and WestGodavari with 8,412.

East Godavari is alsoreporting more deaths daily asits total toll mounted to 122 withnine fatalities in the last 24hours.

A 101-year-old woman PMangamma of Tirupati cameout triumphant in her battleagainst Covid-19. PTI

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Guwahati: Two Covid-19patients died in Assam onSunday, taking the toll to 79,Health Minister Himanta BiswaSarma said.

Both the patients -- a 53-year-old woman from Tinsukiaand a 50-year- old man fromDibrugarh -- succumbed at theAssam Medical College andHospital in Dibrugarh, he said.

“Two more #Covid-19patients succumbed to theirinfections. Both of them wereadmitted at AMCH, Dibrugarh.Deeply saddened. May Godprovide enough strength to theirfamilies to bear the loss,” Sarmatweeted. The mortality rate inthe State is currently at 0.25 percent, officials said.

The State has reported31,086 cases of Covid-19 in 117days since the first person waswas diagnosed on March 31.PTI

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Hagia Sophia is the most recog-nisable symbol of Istanbul(formerly Constantinople).For the last 85 years, thisgrand edifice has also embod-

ied the idea of the Turkish Republic whichMustafa Kemal Pasha (later called KemalAtaturk) founded in 1923. A cathedral forthe first nine centuries of its existence anda mosque for nearly 500 years after that,it has been functioning as a museum since1935. Recently, on July 10, TurkishPresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan decidedto repeal Ataturk’s decree which haddeclared it a museum. Hagia Sophia is nowofficially a mosque. However, far frombeing dropped from the museums’ portalof the Turkish Government(https://muze.gen.tr/), it is still being cher-ished as the most important one.

Erdogan’s decision has undermined theimage of Turkey at two levels. First, his actis a negation of the Kemalist legacy ofLaiklik (or Laicism), according to which,the Turkish State is avowedly secular.Second, at a deeper level, Erdogan hasrefreshed the memories of the Turkishaggression, which left the Greeks deeplyscarred from the Battle of Manzikert(1071) to the invasion of Cyprus (1974).Turkey’s international standing is likely tosuffer in the West.

Erdogan’s motives have always beensuspected. However, apprehensive of anintervention from the nation’s ultra-secu-lar Army, or the fear of the road to theEuropean Union being permanentlyblocked, he previously stopped short ofreversing the Ankara consensus on Turkishsecularism. Two decades ago, Erdogan hadpublicly recited a poem, “The mosques areour barracks, the minarets our bayonets,the domes our helmets and the faithful oursoldiers.” It led him straight into prison forfour months. He was also banned fromholding any political office. The ban waslater rescinded five months after his party,the Justice and Development Party (AKP),swept to power in the November 2002 elec-tions in Turkey.

Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) was themost exquisite cathedral of the EasternChurch. It was commissioned by Justinian,the Byzantine Emperor, as part of a mas-sive rebuilding of Constantinople, whichwas ravaged during the Nika riots (532AD). “Abandoning the traditional basilicanform”, says Will Durant, “they conceived adesign whose centre would be a spaciousdome, resting not on the walls but on mas-sive piers and buttressed by half a dome ateither end.” (The Age of Faith, Pg, 130). Themagnificent cathedral built at a huge costwas the result of five years of labour by10,000 workers, with Justinian intenselysupervising the construction work. Heinaugurated the cathedral on December 26,537 AD. It was thus a work of love, devo-tion and dedication.

Hagia Sophia passed offunder Turkish control on May29, 1453 AD, coinciding withthe conquest of theConstantinople by SultanMehmet II. Edward Gibbonpoignantly describes theepisode in Chapter 68 of hisclassic book, Decline and Fall ofthe Roman Empire. Under theorders of Mehmet II, the cathe-dral was converted into amosque and was named AyaSofia. Six minarets were con-structed, the icons of the wallswere plastered and a crescentmoon was installed upon thetop of the dome.

Yet, why did the fallencathedral continue to occupy acentral place in the Greek con-sciousness, surpassing in asense even the Parthenon onthe Acropolis of Athens? Ninedecades after Greece’s indepen-dence, as late as in 1919, theGreeks had invaded Turkey,which was then in the throes ofa revolution, hoping to redeemConstantinople and hold amass at the Hagia Sophia.

This is because it isChristianity that forged a uni-fied nation out of the Greeks.If today Greeks from Athensdown to the remotestDodecanese islands could feeland respond as one nation, thecredit should go to aConstantine or Justinian ratherthan a Pericles or Thucydides.Ancient Greece no doubt

evokes a sense of awe andwonder. Nine-tenth of thescholarship on Greece is stillconcentrated on its ancientperiod for good reasons.However, it was actually theByzantine period (fourth to15th century AD) that forgedthe spiritual and political unityof the Greeks. While the worldmight consider Iliad andOdyssey to be the most influ-ential work written in Greekever, to a native of Greece, it isNew Testament of the Bible.

The ancient Greek reli-gion, without a scripture,proved to be the weakest linkin the civilisation. The ascend-ing Greek philosophy and nat-ural sciences hollowed it outcompletely. “The terrible con-flict between philosophy andreligion,” informs Will Durant,“runs through the thought offifth century BC.” (The Life inGreece, Pg, 321). This was onereason behind the fall oftragedy, based on religion andmythology, and the consequentrise of comedy on the Greekstage in the fourth centuryBC. Second, from the verydays of city-states to the era ofSeleucid, Ptolemaic andAntigonid Empires, the Greekshad remained politically dis-united, notwithstanding theirlinguistic and mythologicalcommonality.

The Byzantine empire,whose establishment coincid-

ed with the State approval ofChristianity, secured politicaland temporal unity for theGreeks. This civilisation wascentred on Constantinople —a city inaugurated byConstantine on May 11, 330AD — which the Greeks con-sidered as their “eternal capital.”“Here beyond all expectations”,says Will Durant, “Greek civil-isation would display a savingcontinuity, tenaciously pre-serve its ancient treasures andtransmit them at last toRenaissance Italy and theWestern world.” (The Age ofFaith, Pg, 4).

Constantinople, 567 yearsafter its fall to the Turks, is stillthe spiritual centre of the GreekChurch. The EcumenicalPatriarchate of Constantinopleis based in St George Cathedral,Istanbul. It might be remem-bered that the then Patriarch,Gregory V, had triggered theGreek War of Independence onMarch 25, 1821, by exhortingthe Greeks to rebel against theOttoman. He was hanged forsedition at the main door of thePatriarchate, which has sincethen been welded shut. Theanti-Greek riots of September6-7, 1955, decimated the Greekcommunity left in the cityafter the exchange of popula-tion mandated by the erst-while League of Nations in1923.

The Constitution of Greece

(2001) makes zero reference tothe ancient Greek civilisation.This is in stark contrast to theConstitution of Egypt (2014),which waxes eloquent aboutancient Egypt. However, itexpatiates upon the relation-ship between the Church andthe State. The Constitution(Article 3.3) affirms that thetext Holy Scripture (Bible) shallbe maintained unaltered. Theofficial translation of the GreekBible into any language of theworld would require prior per-mission of the “Great Churchof Christ in Constantinople”(meaning the Patriarchate).

It is not anybody’s case thatthe denizens of Constantinoplewere facing crunch of mosquespace to offer prayers. Thereare already too many of them.“Most visitors in Istanbul,” saysa travel book, “will immediate-ly be struck by the quantity ofmosques, from the domedbuildings dominating skyline tothe small neighbourhoodmosques which would passunnoticed were it not for theminarets” (DK Eye WitnessTravel-Istanbul, Pg, 36). Thereare around 24 mosques, origi-nally Byzantine churches,which dot the seven hills ofConstantinople. Why is Turkeydeliberately setting the clockback?

(The writer is an authorand independent columnist. Theviews expressed are personal)

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Sir — When women are provingtheir calibre in every field, why nota Permanent Commission inIndia’s defence forces? Now thatthe Government has paved theway for it, the women’s reservationBill, which is still in a state oflimbo, should be steered throughthe Houses of Parliament so thatgender equality can prevail inevery walk of life in India.

Sravana RamachandranChennai

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Sir — This refers to the welcomedecision of the HaryanaGovernment to accord 50 per centreservation for women in pan-chayat elections. The SupremeCourt had already endorsed theearlier decision of the HaryanaGovernment mandating certaineducational requirements for con-testing the panchayat elections.Such decisions should be imple-mented at the national level. Manypolitical parties cry for religion andcaste-based quotas but opposethe reservation Bill for women.

The Election Commission’s

formula, mandating every polit-ical party to give at least 33 percent of tickets to women, must beimmediately enforced nationallyas an interim measure. Moreover,to prevent women candidatesfrom being misused as proxies fortheir male relatives, there should

be a system whereby the name orphoto of said relations should notbe permitted in campaigns ofwomen candidates. There shouldbe a uniform 33 per cent reserva-tion for women at all levels.

Madhu AgrawalDelhi

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Sir — The disposal of cases bycourts is synonymous with inor-dinate delay. If a criminal casetakes 35 years for disposal, thecourts have no reason to be in a

hurry to dispose of civil cases. Theverdict delivered by a Mathuracourt in Uttar Pradesh convicting11 Rajasthan policemen, whogunned down Raja Man Singh ofBharatpur and two of his col-leagues in Deeg area in 1985, cameafter 1,700 hearings. Altogether 25district judges heard it from timeto time over a period of 35 years.How well would it be if a judge,who seriously falls ill, is asked bya doctor to come after three-fourmonths for a check-up? Judicialreforms are absolutely necessary.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

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Sir — In view of the mountingCOVID-19 cases, State-wise datashows that India hasn’t mounteda united attack on the novelvirus. Some States have been toocomplacent. We need to testmore and the Union Governmentmust take control of the fight toflatten the curve. There should bea national testing protocol.

Kunal SinghVia email

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Owing to the Novel Coronavirus out-break, 2020 has been labelled as the yearof morbidity, increasing inequalities, dec-

imated lives and livelihoods when, ironically, itwas to be the year of ushering in ambitious deliv-erables under the Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs). The United Nations Departmentof Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) hasreiterated the necessity of fulfilling SDGs fordevelopment, post-COVID-19 recovery andalso for ensuring preparedness for a new andmonumental crisis of global climate change. Inview of this, it is pertinent to draw an SDG-levelmap on how India can walk this delicate pathwith enriching prospects.

Languid demeanour towards the SDGs:With respect to SDGs one and two, that deal withthe goals of “No poverty” and “Food Security”,India already ranks low on the Global HungerIndex (102 out of 117 countries). This is waybelow all its neighbouring countries. Childwasting in India is the highest rate for any nationin the world at 20.8 per cent and child stuntingis at 37.9 per cent. Even Bangladesh has seenstunting decline from 58.5 per cent to 49.2 percent between 1997 and 2011. Nepal has seen adrop in stunting from 56.6 per cent in 2001 to40.1 per cent in 2011. India’s score on hunger is30.3, which means it suffers from a level of hungerthat is “serious.” Even the Food and AgricultureOrganisation (FAO) has stated that over 200 mil-lion people in India remain chronically under-nourished. SDG three, pertaining to “GoodHealth and Well-being”, already finds about 1.3billion people having limited public health facil-ities, let alone the sophisticated treatment need-ed for saving the life of a COVID-19 patient. TheIndian healthcare sector manifests a poor scorein terms of the doctor-patient ratio. There is onedoctor for every 1,445 Indians as per the coun-try’s current population estimate of 135 crore,which is lower than the World HealthOrganisation’s (WHO’s) prescribed norm ofone doctor for 1,000 people.

India also has an acute shortage of hospitalbeds with the National Health Profile, 2019, datashowing that there are a total of 7,13,986Government hospital beds available in the coun-try. This amounts to 0.55 beds per 1,000 popu-lation as against the WHO’s recommendedstandard of five beds per 1,000 population. If wewere to include in-patient beds available in pri-vate, general and specialised hospitals and reha-bilitation centres, this number goes up to 0.7 bedsper 1,000 as per World Bank data.

The rural health infrastructure is in a sorrystate as 60 per cent of the Primary Health Centreshave only one doctor while about five per centhave none, as per the Ministry of Finance sta-tistics. This is in stark contrast to the urban milieuwhich has nearly 60 per cent of all healthcare pro-fessionals working for 30 per cent of the popu-lation. The India State-level Disease BurdenInitiative — which is a collaboration between theIndian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), thePublic Health Foundation of India (PHFI), theInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation(IHME), experts and stakeholders from about 100institutions across the country — states that anincrease in the number of diseases like diabetes,cardiovascular illnesses in the nation since 1990is likely to increase the fatality risk of COVID-19 patients. Emerging evidence has revealed thatType-1 diabetes may be triggered in COVID-19

patients, who had otherwise been non-diabetic.

In terms of SDG five (GenderEquality), India ranks a dismal 122 outof 162 countries in the GenderInequality Index. Meanwhile, the lock-down scenario has witnessed an almosttwo-fold rise in domestic violencecases, according to data shared by theNational Commission for Women, aconcern already raised by both WHOand UN Women.

SDG six (Clean Water andSanitation) is in the doldrums with 163million people in India without accessto clean, drinking water. About 82 percent of rural and 60 per cent urbanhouseholds do not have piped runningwater, meaning juxtapositioning avail-ability, accessibility of water and socialdistancing needs amid the pandemic.The outbreak has impacted the infor-mal sector the hardest, where more than80 per cent of the labour force of thecountry is employed. This part of theworkforce is likely to drop deeper intopoverty. Taking on SDG eight (DecentWork and Economic Growth) andSDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), Indiahas been witnessing jobless growth asreflected in the Periodic Labour ForceSurvey (NSSO, 2017-2018) data,exhibiting the shrinking share of thelabour force to 49.7 per cent in 2018from 55.5 per cent in 2012 and risingunemployment.

To make matters worse, the lock-down left about 96 per cent of themigrant labourers stranded, wherein 90per cent had no wages and 70 per centhad less than �200 ($3.89) in theirpockets, causing many of them toeventually return to the hinterland, gen-erating a large pool of unemployedworkers.

SDGs as building blocks to devel-

opment and post COVID-19 recov-ery: Contextual mapping of State per-formance under the SDG realm hasbeen captured through the manyindices that the NITI Aayog hasreleased, such as the Health Index,School Education Quality Index,Composite Water Management Indexand the SDG Index. These have culmi-nated towards understanding State-levelperformances in these core sectorsthrough self-assessment of needs andgaps, identification of State-specific pri-ority sectors, informed policy planning,skill development and vitalising com-petitive federalism.

The National Indicator Frameworkdeveloped for State rankings on SDGsby the Ministry of Statistics Planningand Programme Implementation(MoSPI) can serve as a guidebook toimprove performance. Further, all thespokes of SDGs need to be adhered to,including capacity and skill-develop-ment, financial support for planningand implementation, and a long-termoutlook on sustainable and inclusivedevelopment.

Beginning with SDG three, the totalexpenditure (out-of-pocket and public)on healthcare needs to be scaled upfrom the current 3.6 per cent of theGDP, which is much lower than theaverage of Organisation for EconomicCo-operation and Development(OECD) countries, which ranges fromeight to 17 per cent. While schemes likeAyushman Bharat have served as animportant tool, investments throughthe Public-Private Partnership routeshould be pursued in other aspects ofthe sectors and also in building localisedhealthcare infrastructure steadilythrough greater devolution of powerand finances to local governance.

For SDG eight and 10, welfare

schemes such as the Mahatma GandhiRural Employment Guarantee Scheme(MGREGS) need to be incrementedwith sustained budgetary allocation.During the pandemic, a notable step inthat direction was taken by the UnionMinistry of Jal Shakti when it decidedto employ the homeward-boundmigrant labour force in work related togroundwater rejuvenation, irrigationand water conservation. However, thereare reports that around 1.4 lakh fami-lies have reached their annual worklimit under the Act. They are now push-ing for wage rates to be increased andprovided on an individual basis ratherthan on the basis of households. In theshort-term, finalisation of labour lawreforms to coalesce the disaggregatedones (there are around 50 Central laws)and increase of social security coverage,while working towards a greater degreeof formalisation in the economy and anemphasis on labour-intensive sectors,like apparel and footwear in the medi-um-term, would address the chal-lenges facing the sector. For a long-termoutlook on SDGs, contributionstowards SDGs must be practised at theindividual level, be inclusive and mutu-ally beneficial.

The current crisis has recalibratedlifestyle patterns to encourage individ-uals into practising minimalism andsustainable consumption, which is acrucial step in the direction of endors-ing SDGs in the long-term, keeping inmind the emerging global threats in theform of climate change and resourcescarcity. Moreover, mainstreamingissues of gender equality, education andenvironment protection in the largerpolicy framework can help accomplishmulti-faceted results on the SDG front.

(Raj and Rijhwani are ResearchAssociates, TERI)

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Is there going to be a new ColdWar with China? Probably not.Consider the case of Huawei.

Mike Pompeo swept into London onTuesday like an overweight DarthVader, while his local satrap, BorisJohnson, waited nervously inDowning Street for judgment. Peopleswore they could hear Pompeo’scloak swish as he strode through thedoor. But it was all good: The BritishPrime Minister had done enough toappease the overlord.

The subject at issue was Huawei,the Chinese telecommunicationsfirm whose equipment has beenselling to governments throughout

the West because there are no com-parable Western products availableat a competitive price. The USresponse has therefore been political,not commercial. It demands that itsallies ban Huawei on “security”grounds.

The first US strike was in late2018, when it got Canada to arrestMeng Wanzhou, Huawei’s ChiefFinancial Officer, as she was chang-ing planes on her way to Mexico. Sheis still in Canada fighting extradition,while two Canadians are held inChinese prisons effectively ashostages for her release. The initialUS charge was breaking sanctionsagainst Iran, but she’s now accusedof stealing American trade secrets.

Britain had agreed to involveHuawei heavily in building its new5G network well before Johnsonbecame Prime Minister, but he stuckto the deal despite mounting USpressure to cancel because he is tak-ing Britain out of the EuropeanUnion (EU) and into what is poten-tially a very grim future.

More than half of Britain’s tradeis with Europe, but a free trade dealafter it has left looks increasinglyunlikely. What countries could pickup at least part of the slack? Only theUS or China, so Johnson desperate-ly wanted to keep both of thoseoptions open. Washington, of course,wanted Johnson to foreclose theChinese option.

Johnson stuck to his guns rightdown through the past year, reas-sured by Britain’s own security ser-vices that the Huawei technologyposed no threat, but eventually theUS pressure became irresistible.Huawei was told that it would not beparticipating in Britain’s 5G phonenetwork and that all its technologyin the 2G, 3G and 4G networkswould have to come out by 2027.

Only days later, however, Britishofficials whispered in Huawei’s earthat all was not lost. Britain mightreconsider its decision next year.Nobody said explicitly “after the USelection,” but obviously Britain wouldbe keen to bring Huawei back on

board if Donald Trump loses thatelection in November (as he nowseems quite likely to).

Word about this reachedWashington in micro-seconds.(When will they learn that in themodern communications environ-ment, anything you say to anybodyinstantly becomes known to every-body?) So Johnson was understand-ably anxious as he awaited the arrivalof the American viceroy. Sorry,Secretary of State.

But it was all right with Pompeo.Johnson would only be disloyal ifTrump loses, and Trump won’t losebecause he’s going to start a new ColdWar. That’s the plan — but it won’twork. It won’t work because none ofAmerica’s allies, not even one as des-perate as Johnson, believes thatChina is a threat grave enough to jus-tify a 40-year military confrontation.Or even a five-year one.

They are not naive about the cur-rent Chinese regime’s flaws. It is anasty, corrupt dictatorship, intoler-ant of dissent and oppressive towards

its minorities. But it is not territori-ally expansionist except in its ownimmediate neighbourhood (HongKong, Taiwan, South China Sea) andit is not ideologically attractive evento its own citizens.

The only ideological tool avail-able to Xi Jinping is nationalism. Hewould deploy it if necessary todefend his own power, just as Trumpis doing now, but for a sustainablecold war there needs to be a morecredible sense of threat than is cur-rently available to either party.

The idea that China is “the cen-tral threat of our times,” as Pompeoput it on Tuesday, is laughable. It’sa formidable competitor economical-ly (although demographically speak-ing it has feet of clay), but it’s simplynot interested in a classic militaryconfrontation. China does not both-er, for example, to maintain a strate-gic nuclear force remotely compara-ble to America’s or Russia’s. It trulybelieves that nuclear deterrencemakes that kind of war insane, andkeeps only enough missiles to deter

a crazed attacker. The border disputewith India is remote and petty, andwill not be allowed to escalate byeither side. This is true even thoughright now none of the two neigh-bours are willing to back down andare engaged in a contest of who willblink first in the icy heights ofLadakh, as their citizens watch withbated breath.

The other major powers, includ-ing the EU, are simply are not buy-ing into the Trump-Pompeo visionof a world divided into two hostileand militarised blocs like 1945-89.Even Boris Johnson, for all his sub-Churchillian pretensions, can’t takethe notion seriously and instantlyhedges his bets after he has to giveit lip-service. “Don’t defend Trump— attack China!” said the instruc-tions sent to the Republican Party’ssenatorial candidates, but it doesn’twork outside the US. It probablywon’t work inside either.

(Gwynne Dyer’s new book is‘Growing Pains: The Future ofDemocracy and Work.’)

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Oakland: Protesters inCalifornia set fire to a court-house, damaged a police stationand assaulted officers after apeaceful demonstration inten-sified late Saturday, Oaklandpolice said.

Demonstrators broke win-dows, spray painted graffiti,shot fireworks and pointedlasers at officers, the Oaklanddepartment said on Twitter.

Several tweets called forpeace and asked organisers to“help us provide safe spacesand safe places for demonstra-tors.”

The protest began earlierSaturday evening with groupssuch as the “Wall of Moms,”similar to a group that formedin Portland, Oregon, as pro-testers faced off with US agents

deployed to that city to guarda federal courthouse.

President Donald Trumphad sent the federal agents toclamp down on protests thathave occurred nightly since thedeath of George Floyd inMinneapolis on May 25.

The protest in Oaklandbegan peacefully, but turnedviolent later into the night.

An “unlawful assembly”was declared by police around11:30 pm and officers asked thecrowd to disperse.

The fire broke out at theAlameda County SuperiorCourthouse and was containeda short time later, news outletsreported. Police said protestersat one point were “breakingwindows and chanting racialslurs at residents.” AP

Dubai: The world's biggest cos-metics companies have beenselling a fairy tale that often goessomething like this: If your hus-band's lost interest in you, if yourcolleagues dismiss you at work,if your talents are ignored,whiten your skin to turn yourlove life around, boost yourcareer and command centerstage.

No company has hadgreater success peddling thismessage across Asia, Africa andthe Middle East than Unilever'sFair & Lovely brand, whichsells millions of tubes of skinlightening cream annually for aslittle as USD 2 a piece in India.

The 45-year-old brand earnsthe Anglo-Dutch conglomerateUnilever more than $500 millionin yearly revenue in India alone,according to Jefferies financialanalysts.

Following decades of per-vasive advertising promotingthe power of lighter skin, a re-branding is hitting shelves glob-ally. But it's unlikely that freshmarketing by the world's biggestbrands in beauty will reversedeeply rooted prejudices around“colourism,” the idea that fairskin is better than dark skin.

Unilever said it is removingwords like “fair”, “white” and“light” from its marketing and

packaging, explaining the deci-sion as a move toward “a moreinclusive vision of beauty.”

Unilever's Indian subsidiary,Hindustan Unilever Limited,said the Fair & Lovely brand willinstead be known as “Glow &Lovely.” French cosmetics giantL'Oreal followed suit, saying ittoo would remove similar word-ing from its products. Johnson& Johnson said it will stop sell-ing Neutrogena's fairness andskin-whitening lines altogether.

The makeover is happeningin the wake of mass protestsagainst racial injustice followingthe death of George Floyd, ablack man pinned to the ground

by a white police officer in theUS.

It's the latest in a series ofchanges as companies rethinktheir policies amid Black LivesMatter protests, which havespread around the world andreignited conversations aboutrace.

Activists around the worldhave long sought to counterUnilever's aggressive market-ing of Fair & Lovely, with thebrand's advertisements criti-cized by women's groups fromEgypt to Malaysia.

Kavitha Emmanuel found-ed the “Dark is Beautiful” cam-paign in India more than a

decade ago to counter percep-tions that lighter skin is morebeautiful than naturally darkerskin. She said multinationalcompanies like Unilever didnot initiate skin tone bias, buthave capitalized on it.

“Endorsing such a belieffor 45 years is definitely quitedamaging,” Emmanuel said,adding that it has eroded theself-worth of many youngwomen across India.

For women raised on thesefixed standards of beauty, themarket is awash in products andservices that can both brightenpigmentation from skin damageand outright lighten skin. AP

Chengdu: Moving trucks andvehicles with diplomatic platespulled out of a US Consulate insouthwest China on Sunday, asits impending closure over ris-ing bilateral tensions drew asteady stream of onlookers forthe second straight day.

People stopped to take self-ies and photos, jamming asidewalk busy with shoppersand families with strollers on asunny day in the city ofChengdu. A little boy posedwith a small Chinese flag beforeplainclothes police shooed himaway as foreign media cameraszoomed in.

The capital of Sichuanprovince, along with Houstonin Texas, has found itself in thelimelight of international pol-itics as China and the U.S.Exchanged tit-for-tat orderslast week to close each other'sconsulates in the two heart-land cities.

Police in Chengdu haveshut the street and sidewalk infront of the consulate and setup metal barriers along thesidewalk on the other side ofthe tree-lined road.

Uniformed and plain-clothes officers kept watch onboth sides of the barriers afterscattered incidents followingthe Chengdu announcementon Friday, including a man whoset off firecrackers and hecklers

who cursed at foreign mediashooting video and photos ofthe scene.

A man who tired to unfurla banner or sign late Sundaythat he called an open letter tothe Chinese government wasquickly taken away.

Earlier, a bus left the con-sulate grounds and whatappeared to be embassy staffspoke with plainclothes policebefore retreating back behindthe property's solid black gates.It wasn't clear who or what wason the bus.

Three medium-size trucksarrived and left a few hourslater, and cars with diplomaticplates departed in between.

China ordered the closing

of the Chengdu consulate inretaliation for a US order ear-lier in the week to close theChinese Consulate in Houston.

The US alleged that theHouston consulate was a nest ofChinese spies who tried to stealdata from facilities in Texas,including the Texas A&M med-ical system and the Universityof Texas MD Anderson CancerCenter in Houston. China saidthe allegations were “maliciousslander.”

The consulate closingswere a significant escalation inthe tensions between the twocountries over a range ofissues, including trade, tech-nology, security and humanrights. AP

Islamabad: Pakistan and Chinahave concluded a secret deal toexpand potential bio-warfarecapabilities, including runningresearch projects related to thedeadly anthrax, an Australianmedia report has alleged,prompting Pakistan to dismissit as a “politically motivated andfake story.”

In an article published onJuly 23, Australia's investigativenewspaper The Klaxon saidChina's Wuhan Institute ofVirology has signed a covertthree-year deal with Pakistanmilitary's Defense Science andTechnology Organization(DESTO) to collaborateresearch in "emerging infec-tious diseases".

The Wuhan Institute ofVirology has drawn the inter-national spotlight in recent

months because the novel coro-navirus is thought to haveoriginated in Wuhan. Therehad been speculation the dis-ease may have emerged fromthat laboratory, however mostexperts have since discountedthe theory.

In a statement on Sunday,the Pakistan Foreign Office(FO) described the article as a“politically motivated and fakestory” and said it was com-posed of “distortion of facts andfabrications that quote anony-mous sources”.

"There is nothing secretabout the Bio-Safety Level-3(BSL-3) Laboratory of Pakistanreferred to in the report.Pakistan has been sharinginformation about the facilitywith the States Parties to theBiological and Toxins Weapons

Convention (BTWC) in itssubmission of ConfidenceBuilding Measures," the FOsaid.

It said the facility is meantfor diagnostic and protectivesystem improvement byResearch and Development onemerging health threats, sur-veillance and disease outbreakinvestigation.

Pakistan strictly abides byits BTWC obligations and hasbeen one of the most vocal sup-porters for a strong verificationmechanism to ensure full com-pliance by the states and par-ties to the convention, the FOsaid.

The BTWC is a 1975 mul-tilateral disarmament treatybanning the production ofchemical and biologicalweapons. PTI

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United Nations: Pakistaninationals remain at the leader-ship levels in terror groupssuch as al-Qaida in the IndianSubcontinent, Islamic State inIraq and the Levant - Khorasanand Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan,and many of them are yet to beblacklisted, according to a UNreport.

The 26th report of theAnalytical Support andSanctions Monitoring Teamconcerning ISIL, al-Qaida andassociated individuals and enti-ties said that in April and May,the Afghan special forces con-ducted a series of countrywideoperations and arrested thehead of the ISIL-K AslamFarooqi (also known asAbdullah Orokzai) and his pre-decessor Zia ul-Haq (alsoknown as Abu OmarKhorasani) and others.

Farooqi, who hails fromPakistan's KhyberPakhtunkhwa, is the master-mind behind the deadly terrorattack on a prominent gurud-wara in Kabul in March thatkilled 25 Sikhs.

He is not blacklisted by theUN Security Council's 1267 al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee.Similarly, Haq is also a Pakistaninational and has not been black-listed yet. Al-Qaida in theIndian Subcontinent (AQIS)operates under the Talibanumbrella from Afghanistan'sNimruz, Helmand and

Kandahar provinces and itscurrent leader is Pakistan-bornOsama Mahmood, who is also“not listed” under the UNSCsanctions. Mahmood succeed-ed Asim Umar.

The report said that thegroup reportedly has between150 and 200 members fromBangladesh, India, Myanmarand Pakistan and “is reported-ly planning retaliation opera-tions in the region to avenge thedeath of its former leader.”

The Sanctions MonitoringTeam report said that the "largeterrorist group present inAfghanistan” Tehrik-e-TalibanPakistan (TTP) is led by AmirNoor Wali Mehsud.

Pakistan-born Mehsud wasdesignated a global terrorist bythe UNSC sanctions committeeonly this month, more than twoyears after he was named theTTP leader, following the deathof former TTP head MaulanaFazlullah. Mehsud is supportedby his deputy Qari Amjad andTTP spokesperson MohammadKhorasani, both not listed underthe UNSC sanctions.

This demonstrates that thePakistani nationals operate atleadership levels in the terrororganisations and point to theterror groups' Pakistani links.

The report said that al-Qaida is covertly active in 12Afghan provinces and its leaderAiman al-Zawahiri remainsbased in the country. PTI

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has written to the UN SecurityCouncil over continued “vio-lations” of its territory byPakistani military forces andsaid it will ask the 15-nationUN body to take necessarymeasures and actions to endthem if the situation is not de-escalated bilaterally.

Afghanistan's PermanentRepresentative to the UN AdelaRaz wrote to the President ofthe Security Council, Germany,to report on the most recentviolations of the Afghan terri-tory by Pakistan's militaryforces and said the “incur-sion" represents a reiteration ofviolations as Kabul had previ-ously expressed its concerns tothe Security Council inFebruary and August 2019.

Raz said in the letter thaton July 15, Pakistan militaryforces began “unprovokedartillery attacks” against Afghanborder posts and civilian resi-

dential areas in the Sarakanoand Asad Abad districts ofKunar Province.

The attacks included 12heavy artillery strikes targetingAsad Abad district and morethan 160 artillery rounds firedat Sarakano district. In additionto four casualties among mem-bers of the Afghan NationalDefence and Security Forces,the attacks claimed the lives ofsix civilians, including twowomen, and eight injuries andresulted in significant damageto civilian property.

“We would like to onceagain reiterate, as we have inprevious communications, thatthe issue of violations of Afghanterritory by Pakistani militaryforces has continued despitenumerous appeals made to theGovernment of Pakistan, bilat-erally and through other mea-sures, to cease their illegal andprovocative activities in oursovereign territory.

“In that regard, the gov-ernment of Afghanistanexpresses, once again, its strongcondemnation of Pakistan'sfailure to adhere to its obliga-tions under the principles ofthe Charter of the UnitedNations” as well as interna-tional law and internationalhumanitarian law, she said inthe letter.

Raz said the AfghanGovernment is “currentlyworking to de-escalate the sit-uation bilaterally, but shouldthis fail, it will call on theSecurity Council to take mea-sures and actions necessary tobring about an end to the vio-lations identified above.”

She also requested that theletter of complaint regardingPakistan's continued activitiesbe circulated as a document ofthe Security Council and “kepton record for reference shouldattempts at de-escalating proveunfruitful.” PTI

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Seoul: North Korean leaderKim Jong Un placed the city ofKaesong near the border withSouth Korea under total lock-down after a person was foundthere with suspected COVID-19 symptoms, saying “thevicious virus” may have enteredthe country, state media report-ed Sunday.

If the person is officiallydeclared a coronavirus patient,he or she would be NorthKorea's first confirmed case.

The North has steadfastlysaid it has had no cases of thevirus, a claim questioned byoutside experts.

The lockdown was declaredFriday afternoon. The North'sofficial Korean Central News

Agency saidthe suspect-ed viruspatient is arunaway whofled to SouthKorea threeyears ago before illegally cross-ing the border into the Northearly last week.

KCNA said respiratorysecretion and blood tests showedthe person “is suspected to have been infected” with thecoronavirus. It said the personwas placed under quarantine.People who had been in contactwith the suspected patient andthose who had been to Kaesongin the last five days were alsoquarantined. AP

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Tel Aviv: Police said on Sundaythey arrested more than a dozenIsraelis in country-wide proteststhe previous night that drewthousands of people in a grow-ing and persistent show of forceagainst Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu and hishandling of the coronaviruscrisis.

Thousands of peopledemonstrated outsideNetanyahu's official residence inJerusalem and hundreds gath-ered in a seaside park in TelAviv, demanding Netanyahu'sresignation and slamming hisresponse to the crisis.

For the first time since thewave of protests began weeksago, hundreds also assembledoutside Netanyahu's private

home in the upscale coastaltown of Caesarea, where heavysecurity greeted them.

Demonstrators acrossbridges and intersections wavedblack flags, the symbol of one ofthe movements behind theprotests that is demandingNetanyahu's ouster.

The protests are emergingas among the biggest challengesto Netanyahu's lengthy rulesince demonstrations over thecost of living in 2011 drew hun-dreds of thousands to the streets.

They come following whatcritics say is Netanyahu's fum-bling of the coronavirusresponse and in the shadow ofNetanyahu's corruption trial,which resumed earlier thismonth. AP

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Beirut: A bomb that explodedSunday morning in a vegetablemarket in a north Syrian bor-der town controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighterskilled eight and wounding 19,an opposition war monitorand the state news agencyreported.

The blast scorched marketstalls and scattered produce inthe town of Ras al-Ayn alongthe border with Turkey.

The state news agencySANA said the blast was causedby a car bomb while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights said the explo-sion was caused by a motorcy-cle rigged with explosives.

The Observatory said someof the wounded are in criticalcondition adding that the deadincluded a woman and a child.Turkey's Defense Ministryblamed the attack on Kurdishinsurgents, as it has in dozensof other such incidents.

Ankara has blamed explo-sions that killed and woundeddozens of people in northeastSyria in recent months onKurdish fighters linked to theKurdistan Workers' Party, orPKK, which has waged adecades-long insurgency insideTurkey It views the Kurdishfighters as terrorists, though thesame fighters had partneredwith the US Against the IslamicState group. AP

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Richmond (US): A city dumptruck was set on fire as pro-testers faced off with police inVirginia's capital during ademonstration in support ofprotesters on the other side ofthe country in Portland,Oregon.

Virginia State Police andRichmond police worked toclear the crowd of a severalhundred demonstrators lateSaturday. City police declaredan “unlawful assembly” around11 pm, and what appeared tobe tear gas was deployed to dis-perse the group.

Protesters had been plan-ning for days the demonstra-tion that was called “RichmondStands with Portland,” newsoutlets reported, in an appar-ent reaction to ongoing ten-sions between protesters and

U.S. Agents at the federal cour-thouse in Oregon's largest city.

Weeks of nationwideunrest have struck several UScities since the death of GeorgeFloyd in Minneapolis on May25. Saturday's protest inRichmond started at a park andthen demonstrators marched topolice headquarters, accordingto news outlets.

Police tweeted a photo ofrocks, batteries and other itemsthe department said werethrown at its officers during theprotest. A video also showed anofficer extinguishing a mattresson fire in the middle of a road.

Glass windows were alsoshattered at a Chipotle restau-rant and a VirginiaCommonwealth Universitydorm, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. AP

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Austin: A man was fatally shotat a protest in Texas when heapproached a vehicle and thedriver inside opened fire, policesaid.

The shooting happenedjust before 10 pm. During aprotest in Austin, policespokesperson Katrina Ratlifftold reporters early Sunday.The man was taken to a hos-pital where he was later pro-nounced dead.

The vehicle had honked,turned down a road and thensped toward protesters, wit-ness Michael Capochiano toldthe Austin American-Statesman. AP

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New Delhi: Traders’ bodyCAIT said it has released rakhiswith the message ‘Aksai Chinand PoK belong to India’ as atribute to Indian soldiers fortheir courage and determina-tion and remembering theirvalour on the occasion of KargilVijay Diwas on Sunday.

The Confederation of AllIndia Traders is spearheadinga campaign to boycott Chinesegoods. CAIT Secretary GeneralPraveen Khandelwal said thatrakhis with the message “AksaiChin and PoK belong to India”are made from the soil of Indiamixing with plantable seeds fol-lowed by paint and pasting asticker of the message havingrakhi thread on both sides. Hesaid on August 2, a day beforeRakhi, trade leaders across thecountry will visit ArmyHospital in different cities of allstates and tie rakhis to soldiers.The Kargil war was declaredover on July 26, 1999, afterIndian soldiers pushed backPakistani troops, a bulk ofthem drawn from the neigh-bouring country’s NorthernLight Infantry, from the cap-tured peaks in Kargil. PTI

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Asearch panel headed bythe cabinet secretary is

scheduled to interview short-listed candidates on August 7for the post of RBI deputyGovernor, sources said.

As per the earlier sched-ule, the interview was to takeplace on July 23 but wasdeferred due to some reasons.

The post had fallen vacantafter senior-most deputy gov-ernor NS Vishwanathan demit-ted office three months aheadof his extended tenure onMarch 31 on health groundsafter serving the monetaryauthority for 39 years.

The Financial SectorRegulatory AppointmentSearch Committee (FSRASC)has a list of eight names whowould be interviewed via videoconference, the sources said.

The selected name fromthe interview will be sent to theAppointments Committee ofthe Cabinet headed by the PMfor final approval, they added.

Besides the cabinet secre-tary, other members ofFSRASC include the RBI

Governor, financial servicessecretary and two indepen-dent members.

This vacancy of RBI deputygovernor has been reserved forthe central bank’s internal can-didate, who would look afterthe key supervisory and regu-latory functions at the MintRoad.As per the RBI Act, thecentral bank should have fourdeputy governors - two fromwithin the ranks, one com-mercial banker and another aneconomist to head the mone-tary policy department.

At present, the RBI hasthree deputy governors - BPKanungo, MK Jain and MichaelDebabrata Patra.Earlier thisyear, the government extendedKanungo’s tenure by a year witheffect from April 3, 2020.

Kanungo, whose term wasto end on April 2, had takencharge as a deputy governor inApril 2017.The deputy gover-nor appointments are made foran initial period of three yearsand the person is eligible forreappointment. The deputygovernor gets a fixed salary ofRs 2.25 lakh per month plusallowances.

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The much-awaited FinancialAction Task Force (FATF)

mutual evaluation of India’santi-money laundering regimeand legal measures framed tocheck financial crimes, sched-uled for this year, has beenpostponed till early next year inview of the coronavirus pan-demic, officials said.

They said the on-sitereview to be conducted byexperts of the global body wasscheduled to begin in Sep-Octbut the FATF secretariat inParis has conveyed to India thatthe review is being tentativelypushed to Jan-Feb next year.The FATF is a global moneylaundering and terrorist financ-ing watchdog that sets interna-tional standards to prevent ille-gal activities in the economicand financial channels of acountry and its inter-connect-ed linkages across the world.

It conducts “peer reviewsof each member on an ongoingbasis to assess levels of imple-mentation of the FATF recom-mendations and provides anin-depth description and analy-sis of each country’s system forpreventing criminal abuse of

the financial system.”The review of India’s anti-

money laundering and terror-ist financing regime was sched-uled for this year as part of aregular review cycle after 10years. The last such review wasdone in June 2010, a senior offi-cer in an anti-money launder-ing agency said. The FATF,post this review, had said in2013 that “India had made sig-nificant progress in addressingdeficiencies identified in itsmutual evaluation report anddecided that the country shouldbe removed from the regularfollow-up process.” India has setup a joint working group com-prising 22 central investigation,intelligence gathering and reg-ulatory agencies to make pre-sentations and brief the FATFexperts, drawn from variouscountries, this time. Some ofthe prominent agencies in thisgrouping supervised by theDepartment of Revenue underthe finance ministry include theCBI, ED, Income TaxDepartment, Directorate ofRevenue Intelligence, FinancialIntelligence Unit , Customs,market regulator SEBI, bankingregulator RBI and insuranceregulator IRDAI.

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Foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) remained net sellers

in Indian markets in July so faron account of both domesticand global factors, includingrising number of coronaviruscases and increasing tensionbetween the US and China.

According to the depos-itories data, overseas investorsinvested �2,336 crore in equi-ties but pulled out �2,422 crorefrom the debt segment, leadingto net outflows of �86 crorefrom Indian markets betweenJuly 1-24. In the previousmonth, FPIs were net buyers tothe tune of �24,053 crore.

Himanshu Srivastava, asso-ciate director - managerresearch, Morningstar Indiasaid that FPIs have adopted a“cautious stance” with respectto investment in Indian mar-kets. There is a surge in coro-navirus cases globally, tensionis increasing between the USand China, and Indian econo-my is still limping.

“These may act as adeterrent for foreign investors,”he said. However, he noted thata high quantum was invested

by FPIs in equities during thelast week.

Harsh Jain, co-founderand COO at Groww notedthat FPIs are investing major-ly in the insurance and IT sec-tor.

“Pharma and consumerdurables are also gaining pop-ularity,” he added.

The IT sector has post-ed good numbers and most ofthe companies have performedmore or less in line with theexpectations, he noted. Thismight add to the sector’sappeal. Regarding the debtsegment, Srivastava said, “FPIsare yet to gain the level of con-viction on Indian debt marketsto invest substantially. The pat-tern of FPI flows into the debtmarkets indicate that, given thecurrent scenario, they are prob-ably not finding the segment anattractive investment destina-tion.” Going forward, he saidthe FPI flows would be dictat-ed by several factors as the sce-nario globally continues toevolve. “On the domestic front,the challenges with respect torising COVID-19 cases andrecovery of economic growthremains,” he added.

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Driven by investments inliquid schemes as also

banking and PSU funds, debtmutual funds saw an inflow of�1.1 lakh crore in three monthsended June 2020 after wit-nessing massive redemptions inthe preceding quarter.

Most individual categoriesthat invest in fixed-incomesecurities, or debt funds, sawinflows. However, credit risk,overnight, ultra-short dura-tion, medium duration anddynamic bond funds saw with-drawals.

The positive inflowpushed the asset base of debt

mutual funds to �11.63 lakhcrore at June-end from �11.5lakh crore at the end of March,according to data withAssociation of Mutual Fundson India (Amfi).

As per the data, inflowsinto debt mutual funds were at�1.1 lakh crore in the threemonths ended June, comparedto outflows of �1.13 lakh crorein the January-March quarter.Investment into such fundswas at �19,690 crore during thequarter ended June 2019.

Nearly 80 per cent of thetotal inflows during the quar-ter under review in the fixed-income segment came throughliquid funds, where most of the

institutional money is parked.Liquid funds, with invest-

ments in cash assets such astreasury bills, certificates ofdeposit and commercial paperfor the shorter horizon, wit-nessed inflows amounting to�86,493 crore during the quar-ter under review. The segmenthad witnessed an outflow of�94,180 crore in the Marchquarter, typically due toadvance tax payment require-ments.

In addition, banking andPSU category, which is con-sidered as a safe option,received inflows of �20,912crore in the quarter endedJune 2020, compared to a with-

drawal of �66 crore in theprevious three months. As amandate, such funds need toinvest a minimum 80 per centof their total assets in debtinstruments of banks, publicsector undertakings, or publicfinancial institutions. Thismakes the category of invest-ment relatively safer than someof the other fixed-income cat-egories in terms of credit risk.

Further, investors pouredin �18,738 crore in corporatebonds. However, credit riskfunds, which invest 65 percent of the investment corpusin less than AA-rated paper,saw an outflow to the tune of�25,905 crore.

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The Government hasamended certain Indian

Accounting Standards (Ind-AS), including the standardrelating to leases amid thecoronavirus pandemic.

Ind-AS 103, 116 andsome other standards havebeen amended by theCorporate Affairs Ministry.

While Ind-AS 103 pertainsto business combinations, Ind-AS 116 relates to principles forrecognition, presentation anddisclosure of leases.

In the wake of the pan-demic, many lessors haveextended rent concessions tolessees. However, applying theInd-AS 116 requirements forchanges to lease payments

could have posed practical dif-ficulties in the current situa-tion.

Against this backdrop, theministry has amended the ruleswhereby entities would getrelief from lease modificationaccounting due to COVID-19related rent concessions. Theamendments can be followedby lessees for annual reportingperiods beginning on or afterApril 1, 2020.

Leading consultancy EYIndia’s Partner and NationalLeader (Financial AccountingAdvisory Services) SandipKhetan said the amendmentwas keenly awaited by Indiancompanies who were gearingup for their quarterly results.

“Lease modificationrequires re-computation of

lease liability using discountrate on the date of modifica-tion. This would have posedsignificant challenge to com-pany whose volume of leasesare very high.

“The amendment to Ind-AS 116 will provide significantrelief to such lessees foraccounting for rent conces-sions from lessors specificallyarising from the COVID-19pandemic,” he noted.

Jigar Parikh, Partner(Financial AccountingAdvisory Services) at EY Indiasaid that while lessees thatelect to apply the practicalexpedient do not need to assesswhether a concession consti-tutes a modification, they stillneed to evaluate the appropri-ate accounting for each con-

cession as the terms of the con-cession granted may vary.

As an example, he notedthat there are interpretationalissues with respect to whetherbenefit of rent concessionshould be accounted for inprofit and loss account oradjusted against right of useasset. Among others, the min-istry has also amended rulesregarding Ind-AS

103. These are aimed athelping entities to determinewhether a transaction needs tobe accounted as a businesscombination or as an assetacquisition. Sandip Khetan saiddetermining whether anacquired set of activities andassets is a business or not, couldresult in significantly differentaccounting outcomes.

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HDFC Bank chief executiveand managing director

Aditya Puri has sold morethan 74 lakh shares of the pri-vate lender to raise �842.87 crore, according toregulatory filings.

The share sale, which was executed between July 21 and 23, brought downPuri’s holding in the most val-ued Indian lender to just 0.01per cent from the earlier 0.14per cent.

The sale comes monthsahead of Puri’s retirement fromthe bank, which he led tobecome the largest by assets among private lendersand the second-largest overallover 25 years.

He sold 74.20 lakh of the77.96 lakh shares in the bankand Puri’s remaining holding ofthe bank shares is now 3.76lakh shares valued at over �42crore as of the last close.

A bank spokespersonexplained that the shares wereallotted to Puri over a period oftime at different price pointsand stressed that they were notgiven at par with the face valueof the share.

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Diesel price in the national cap-ital on Sunday inched

towards the �82 per litre-mark fol-lowing the second consecutive dayof price hike.

Diesel price was increased by15 paise per litre, according to aprice notification of state-owned oilmarketing companies. This tookthe retail selling price in the nation-al capital to the highest ever rate of�81.94 per litre.

Rates vary from state to statedepending on the incidence of localsales tax or VAT. This is the secondconsecutive day of price increase.Rates were hiked by 15 paise onSaturday. The price increase onSaturday came after a four-day hia-tus in rate revision.

Petrol prices on Sundayremained unchanged. Prices ofpetrol have remained static at�80.43 per litre for almost fourweeks. Petrol rates were last

changed on June 29.Prior to hitting the freeze but-

ton, petrol price had been increasedon 21 occasions since the oil com-panies reverted to daily price revi-sion on June 7.

The cumulative increase inpetrol came to �9.17 per litre.

Diesel rates have continued tobe revised sporadically in July.The cumulative increase in dieselprice since June 7 now totals�12.55 per litre.

In Mumbai, petrol is priced at�87.19 - unchanged since June 29,while diesel now costs �80.11 alitre.

Prior to June 7, oil companieshad for 82 days not revised petroland diesel prices as they adjusteda record increase in excise duty bythe Government against the fall inrates warranted due to interna-tional oil prices slumping to a two-year low.

Commenting on oil prices,ICICI Securities said sharp recov-

ery in oil price from lows in Aprilwas driven by fall in global supplysurplus from 22.7 million barrelsper day (bpd) to demand-supplybalance in June.

“Global oil supply in June fellby 13.7 million bpd from April lev-els, while demand recovered by 9.1million bpd during the same peri-od as per IEA. Falling supply andrecovery in demand led todemand-supply balance in June vssupply surplus of 22.7 million bpdin April,” it said.

It said lockdowns due to thesecond wave of infections have hurtdemand recovery in the US andIndia.

As per EIA data, total US, gaso-line and diesel demand decline wassteeper in the week ended July 17than in the preceding 4-6 weeks.

“In India, petrol and dieselconsumption decline is steeper at12-21 per cent year-on-year in July1-15 vs 9-16 per cent in June 16-30,” it said.

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Domestic equity marketsthis week will largely be

steered by corporate earnings,developments on US-Chinarelations front and Covid-19trends, analysts said.

Globally, investors seemedtreading cautiously last weekamid deteriorating US-Chinaties and an uncertainty abouteconomic recovery due to stillsurging Covid-19 cases inmany countries. Last week,China ordered the US con-sulate in Chengdu to be closed,in retaliation for the US closureof the Chinese consulate inHouston following spying alle-gations. On the coronavirusfront, India’s overall cases tallyclimbed to 13,85,522 and thedeath toll from the virus infec-tion rose to 32,063 on Sunday,official data showed.

Globally, the number ofCovid-19 cases has topped 1.6

crore and the death toll reachedclose to 6.5 lakh.

“Record virus infections inIndia have also unsettledinvestors, with its related delayin business and earnings recov-ery. Global markets were alsoaffected on account of risingUS-China tensions. Any fur-ther developments in this frontwill impact trade this week,”said Vinod Nair, Head ofResearch, Geojit FinancialServices. On the corporateearnings side, Kotak MahindraBank, Tech Mahindra, HDFCand Reliance Industries areamong the companies to filetheir quarterly financial resultsthis week. Another major eventthat markets would track is the

Fed interest rate decision onWednesday.

Last week, the BSE Sensexlogged gains of 1,109 points or2.99 per cent and the NSE Niftyrose 292 points or 2.68 points.

“Investors will keep a closeeye on the upcoming earningscommentary, US-China esca-lation, impact of coronaviruson the economy and develop-ment on vaccine,” said SumeetBagadia, Executive Director,Choice Broking.

Also, crude oil movementand rupee-dollar trend wouldbe monitored by investors,analysts said.

Siddhartha Khemka,Head - Retail Research, MotilalOswal Financial Services Ltd,said, “After the recent spike inNifty, market is expected toconsolidate for a couple ofdays, given flaring US-Chinarelations and persistent rise invirus cases. Thus, the marketvolatility is likely to continue.”

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The Reserve Bank is likely togo in for a minimum 25

basis points cut in key lendingrate in the forthcoming mon-etary policy review as the needto revive the coronavirus-hiteconomy is pressing notwith-standing marginal uptick ininflation, feel experts.

The Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC), headed byRBI Governor, is scheduled tomeet for three days beginningAugust 4 and announce itsdecision on August 6.

The central bank has beentaking steps proactively to limitthe damage to the economycaused by the outbreak ofCOVID-19 pandemic and sub-sequent lockdowns to preventthe spread of the disease.

A fast-changing macro-economic environment anddeteriorating outlook forgrowth necessitated off-cyclemeetings of the MPC – first inMarch and then again in May2020. The MPC cumulativelycut the policy repo rate by 115basis points over these two

meetings.Higher prices of food

items especially meat, fish,cereals and pulses pushed theretail inflation based onConsumer Price Index (CPI) to6.09 per cent in June. Thegovernment has tasked theRBI to keep inflation at 4 percent (+, - 2 per cent). The central bank mainly factorsin CPI while arriving at itsmonetary policy.

“We anticipate a furtherasymmetric cut of 25 basispoints in the Repo Rate and 35basis points in the ReverseRepo Rate, in a split decisionfrom the MPC,” opined AditiNayar, Principal Economist,ICRA.

Expressing similar views,Union Bank of India managingdirector and CEO RajkiranRai said, “There is a possibili-ty of a 25 basis points cut orthey may hold on (the rate).”

Nayar said furthersaid although the retail (CPI)inflation has exceeded theMPC’s target range of 2-6 percent for three consecutivemonths in the lockdown and

initial unlock period, it isexpected to recede within thisrange by August 2020.

Industry chamberAssocham, however, wants theRBI to focus more on loanrestructuring given the prob-lems being faced by the indus-try. “Industry requires anurgent restructuring of loansacross all the sectors to avertlarge scale defaults.

As is clear from the latestRBI report, restructuring isimperative both for the banksand borrowers.

“The restructuring of theloan should be amongst themain priority of the monetarypolicy committee,” saidAssocham Secretary GeneralDeepak Sood.

A treasurer with a state-runbank was of the view that theRBI is likely to keep the accom-modative stance and they maynot cut the rate this time.

“Right now, there is anample liquidity in the systemand transmission of rates ishappening. Reduction of rate atthis time may not serve anypurpose,” the treasurer

remarked.The monetary policy was

already in an accommodativemode before the outbreak ofCOVID-19, with a cumulativerepo rate cut of 135 basispoints between February 2019and the onset of the pandem-ic.

Siddhartha Sanyal, ChiefEconomist and Head –Research, Bandhan Bank saidthe RBI “looks set to continue”with its ‘accommodative’ mon-etary policy stance, targetedinfusion of liquidity and furthercalibrated lowering of interestrates,” he said.

Aarti Khanna, the founderand CEO of credit helpline‘AskCred’ said the RBI shouldtake steps to allow banks torestructure debt in the stressedsectors of the economy such astourism, entertainment, andtravel.

“So, while rate cuts arewelcome, they would serve lit-tle purpose unless steps aretaken to revive demand(expansionary fiscal policy bythe government) and proactivesteps are taken by RBI to

address the looming bad debtissue,” she said. Tanuj Shori,the founder and CEO of SquareYards, said given that eco-nomic activities are still strug-gling to gain strength, theMPC should consider furtherrelaxation in policy rates.

“However, besideslower interest rate, the govern-ment should also considerreducing stamp duty, to boostthe real estate sector whichemploys more than 50 millionpeople in India and is a majorcontributor to the country’sGDP,” he said.

Meanwhile, RumkiMajumdar, Economist, DeloitteIndia do not expect any rate cutthis time.

“Despite low interestrates, there is low demand forcredit as evident from risingbank deposits. Consumers arewary of spending on big tick-et items and will likely preferto save more instead, as theyare concerned about theuncertainties. Businesses areunlikely to borrow for invest-ments because of excess capac-ity,” she said.

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As the economy reels underthe pandemic and post

lockdown woes, Reserve Bankof India (RBI) GovernorShaktikanta Das is of the viewthat extreme risk aversion byfinancial institutions will haveadverse outcomes for all.

Noting that India’s financialsystem remains sound, Das, inhis foreword to the RBI’s latestFinancial Stability Report,wrote that in the current envi-ronment, the need for financialintermediaries to proactivelyaugment capital and improvetheir resilience has acquired toppriority.

“In the evolving milieu,while risk management has tobe prudent, extreme risk aver-sion would have adverse out-comes for all,” he wrote.

The Governor’s statementgains significance as concernshave been raised that banks are

still risk averse and are largelyshying away from lending ingeneral, except for the sover-eign guaranteed ECLGS loansfor MSMEs.

The Financial StabilityReport for July 2020 also showsthat bank credit, which hadconsiderably weakened dur-ing the first half of 2019-20, sliddown further in the subsequentperiod with the moderationbecoming broad-based acrossbank groups. “Subdued bankcredit shows clear signs of riskaversion,” the report said.

The Governor also saidthat currently there is growingdisconnect between the move-ments in certain segments offinancial markets and real sec-tor activity.

The pandemic hit India ina period of growth moderationand the ensuing disruptions indemand conditions and supplychains have been aggravated byglobal spillovers, he added.

“Of late, signs of a gradualrecovery from the nationwidelockdown are becoming visi-ble,” Das said.

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/(" ��#*��A brilliant but clumsy high school senior vows to get into

her late father’s alma mater by transforming herself and amisfit squad into dance champions. The film releases onNetflix on August 7.

*'1��'%*1"��A duplicitous young man finds success in the dark

world of social media smear tactics — but his virtualvitriol soon has violent real-life consequences. The filmreleases on Netflix on July 29.

5 � � � � )

Science fiction writers predict-ed in the 1950s that social net-

works like Facebook, Instagramand Twitter will trap billions ofpeople one day, in such a way thatthey will struggle to break-free,thus becoming perfect examplesof modern-day robotic prosump-tion.

Products where producerand consumer are blurred arecalled the “prosumer” so con-sumers also play a part in a prod-uct’s creation, as with socialmedia and Augmented Reality(AR) games. Science fictionauthors like pioneer FrederikPohl foresaw AR video games,the rise of social media andtrends of hyper-consumption inthe 1950s.

“Pohl’s work highlights theability of science fiction to pro-vide a better understanding ofpossible futures and the lastingimpacts of modern and emergingtechnologies, allowing people tosee what the world may becomein a way easily understood by amass audience,” said Dr MikeRyder from Lancaster UniversityManagement School.

Social media users are per-haps the best example of mod-

ern-day robotic prosumption,“mindlessly producing and con-suming content, while socialmedia firms sell their data andtarget them with ads that feed

back into the cycle. Users strug-gle to be break-free through afear of missing out (FOMO).”

New research, published inthe Journal of Consumer Culture

highlights many parallelsbetween the futures created bysci-fi pioneer Pohl in the 1950sand the modern world.

In the worlds imagined in

Pohl’s works, advertising firmsare in charge, exploiting cus-tomers for profit and pridingthemselves on their ability toshape human desire, where socialstatus and consumption areintrinsically entwined, and wherecharacters become hyper-con-sumers, threatening the stabilityof the local area.

“Science fiction is an impor-tant tool for testing ‘what-if ’ sce-narios, speculating on what thefuture might bring. Pohl’s worldsof hyper-consumption, robotworkers and ecological disasterare even more relevant todaythan they were in the 1950s,” saidRyder.

In The Space Merchants(1952, with CM Kornbluth), pro-tagonist Mitchell Courtenay isforced to spend his low wages ongoods to help make his workbearable, which creates an ongo-ing cycle of debt.

His behaviour becomes morelike that of a machine, a produc-ing-consuming robotic prosumer,unaware he is trapped in a cycle.This pre-empted the real-worldcriticism of Vance Packard, whodepicted a dystopia where mar-keters use psychological tech-

niques to influence behaviour tothe point consumers do notrealise they are being influenced.

“Humans become more andmore like machines, such thatconsumption itself becomes amechanical process, creating adystopian world where the onlyfreedom is the freedom not toconsume, one limited to the veryrich,” explained Ryder.

Take Airbnb for example,that acts as a broker for users whoare both the producers and con-sumers of goods, paying to rentrooms, while making moneythrough renting out their own.

Uber drivers and passengersare able to rate each other, mak-ing the consumers a sort of prod-uct, and AR video games such asPokemon GO see players becomepart of the product, appearing ineach other’s games and compet-ing for the same objectives.

According to researchers,social theorists and policy mak-ers need to take science fiction farmore seriously to help prepare forthe world of tomorrow. “Thechallenges that arise from newtechnologies should be consid-ered before they happen.”

G503�

On a regular summer day in2019, a journalist had goneto a madrasa with a spy

camera and a fictitious story of aknown PhD scholar who wantedto remarry her husband after aninstant triple talaq but didn’tknow the way out. He was referredto some of the people around anda man came up with a suggestion— nikah halala. “Marry her to acarpenter who works here,” hesaid. He would divorce her in twodays after consummating themarriage, post which she could goback to her previous husband.When the journalist refused theoffer, stating the social incompat-ibility between the two as a rea-son, the man offered his own can-didature. And in turn, he asked for�30,000, an amount which thejournalist refused as he couldn’tafford it with an income of�25,000 and a family of four. Aftersome bargaining, the man final-ly came down to �15,000.

Journalist and writer Ziya UsSalam amusingly recalls this storyon the other end of the phone,while talking about his recentbook, Nikah Halala: Sleeping WithA Stranger. It aims to present therealities of marriage and divorcein Islam, marking the differencesbetween how the Quran looks atrelationships and how the peoplemisuse them. While the holybook does not mention instanttriple talaq, the tradition of nikahhalala is unique to the Indian sub-continent that claims to bringsquabbling couples together butends up making a mockery of thefaith and punishes women for thecrimes of men.

Ziya says that Nikah Halala...has been written as a comparativevolume after the book, Till TalaqDo Us Part: Understanding Talaq,Triple Talaq and Khula (2018).“After the book, there was a lot ofcuriosity among people aboutnikah halala. Many people whoread it told me that they wantedto know more about the conceptand how it functions in our soci-ety. I had also at the time comeacross some people who had a dif-ferent perspective. I felt I mustclarify before the average readerwhat the Quran says about nikahhalala and what is the reality ofthe practice in India,” adds he.

The nikah halala, according toMuslim Personal Laws, dictatesthat a woman must consummateher marriage with another man ifshe wants to go back to her for-mer husband, whom she hasdivorced. However, there are anumber of misconceptionsaround the practice, which notonly lead to its manipulation butexploits women hugely. So howdoes the book address thesemyths? Ziya tells us, “I have spo-

ken about the Quranic injunctionsof the subject. The three verses ofthe Quran — from 229 to 231 —talk about the divorce, multipledivorce and the nikah halala. Asper the divorce section, the Quranallows it twice. The man candivorce his wife once, post whichthere is a three-month waitingperiod. In that span, the womanhas to stay with her husband andthe two can try to reconcile. If theman takes back his words andestablishes the reconciliation inbed, the talaq is ruled out and themarriage continues.”

However, if it doesn’t happenfor three months, the womanmoves out of the husband’s housebut both are still given a chanceto rethink, after which if they wantto get back together, they can havea proper nikah again without anythird party intervening. In case

things fall apart again, threemonths are again given for recon-ciliation. However, if now therecomes a second divorce and thenthe third one after a second nikah,the two cannot remarry.

“The Quran now completelyestablishes a woman’s indepen-dence. She should not become anobject of play in the hands of awhimsical husband who justthinks that he can take back hiswife whenever he wants to andthen again give talaq. After thethird divorce, the woman is inde-pendent to get married to anoth-er man if she wants to,” says Ziya,adding that now if her secondhusband dies or she wants to goback to her former husband, thetwo can remarry.

He adds, “Now, it’s called anikah halala! However, it cannotbe one if it has a pre-decided date

of divorce. It cannot be a plannedcourse that a man has now giventriple talaq to his wife and hewants her back, so she has tomarry some other man for anight, who then divorces her sothe former husband can take herback. They cannot marry just tobe divorced the next day. That’snot how it works. That’s not howQuran allows it.”

One of the chapters in Ziya’sbook narrates an incident of aman who had made a business outof nikah halala. In early 1990s,Islamuddin left for Bombay toearn a livelihood, leaving his wifeand children in Sasaram. Whilestruggling day and night to findsome relief in the new city, theman met an acquaintance whosuggested he marry a woman fortwo nights and ask for an amountin return and then divorce her.

This would not only make himearn a little extra but also let thewoman go back to her divorcedhusband. He suggestedIslamuddin to become a nikahhalala husband.

While that was how it workedin the pre-digital era, on socialmedia, today, trolls have beenusing nikah halala as athreat/abuse. Several websites andblogs have been conceptualised tooffer halala marriage services towomen who have been divorcedby their first husbands. One suchcurrently active Twitter page’sbio reads, “Assalamu’alaykumAlhmadulillah, this is a marriageservice for Muslims worldwide.Take an advantage of it now.”

Ziya comments, “People arecompletely ignorant about theprovisions of nikah halala. Theseblogs and Facebook pages offervarious men’s candidature to be ahalala husband and surprisingly,most of them are pretty well-offand educated people settled inplaces like Dubai and Kuwait. Thisis highly prominent in Pakistan.They are ready to take an inter-national flight to India and do anikah halala for two-three days,consummate the marriage,divorce the woman and then goback.”

He says that while for somethe intention of doing nikahhalala is completely pious andpure — to help their brothers orsisters in need — what they do notknow is that this is not the way ofthe Quran. Adds he, “Havingsaid that, there are also ill-inten-tioned people around us who arejust trying to fulfill their lust. Butboth of them are wrong. And it’sonly the woman who suffers.And that’s exactly what my bookhighlights.”

Is the book an attempt tochange the dialogue as to howMuslims and their traditions areperceived in India? The writersays that since he is a pratisingMuslim, he has known his com-munity inside out and hence,wants to bring out the wrongs. Headds, “I am criticising a Muslimpractice being a part of this reli-gion because I know very wellwhat is afflicting the community.”

He recalls his book Women inMasjid: A Quest For Justice, whichtalked about how mosques do notallow women to pray inside theirpremises as men, a restriction

which is not granted by the Quranbut is practised widely. He says,“In the book, I pointed out thatacross India, masjids have noprovisions for women. They notonly bar women actively but alsopractically. There are no toilets orno musallahs (prayer mats) avail-able to them in the mosque. Eventhe biggest two, Nizamuddin andHaji Ali Dargah, have strict reg-ulations for women’s entry. Afterthat book, one of the mosques inSeelampur addressed its gatheringone evening and talked about howwomen also have the completeright to practise their religion andpray in mosques just as men do.Some of the imams of the masjidhad read the book and theychanged some of the provisions oftheir premises. So when a bookcan change the way religiouspractices are followed, why shouldI not write about it?”

He also recalls how a womanjournalist, after his book TillTalaq Do Us Part..., “finallydivorced her violent and abusivehusband who had also given heran (invalid) instant triple talaq.”

Looking at history, religion isquite sensitive and comes with acertain kind of censorship inIndia. So how does Ziya keepsuch sensitivities in mind? Hebelieves that every religion, irre-spective of whether it is Islam,Hinduism, Christianity orSikhism, is “male-dominated.”He adds, “A religious society isdesigned by men to suit theirtaste. If as a Muslim, I criticisecertain practices of other reli-gions, whether it is Hinduism orSikhism, it may not be taken inthe right spirit, given the times weare living in. So just like I said, Iam a practising Muslim. And it’salso a reason why I’m more like-ly to be given a patient hearing.They are more likely to listen tome if I am calling out that prac-tice. Also, when one is speakingthe truth, you don’t have to thinkwhether it’s the right time tospeak it or not. Reality nevertransforms. When you are talkingabout a good thing in any reli-gion, there’s never a wrong timeto say it. The book in a wayexpresses the Quran. I think thisis also the best time to dispel anymisconceptions about Islam.”

On a lighter note, the quarantine period has turnedout to be quite productive for Ziyagiven that apart from NikahHalala..., two of his other workshave been published and arereleasing — Inside the TablighiJamaat and Shaheen Bagh: Froma Protest to a Movement. Hechuckles and says that the firstbook was already drafted in 2019and had to be published in April.But alas, “the lockdown!”

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An ex-soldier, ateen and a cop collidein New Orleans asthey hunt for thesource behind a dan-gerous new pill thatgrants users tempo-rary superpowers.Starring, Jamie Foxx,Joseph Gordon-Levitt andDominique Fishback,the film releases onNetflix on August 14.

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Most of the world believes that with the advance-ment of science and technology, humans have

been liberated from blind faith and superstition.They have now been enabled to understand the dif-ference between the truth and the myth. But whenone observes things more closely, one finds that, evenin this era of high tech and scientific sophistication,there are quite a number of current beliefs thatbelong to the category of myths, yet the intellectu-als are committed to them. One of these beliefs thatis savoured as truth is that the good of the societyis defined by democratic and political processes andnot by the maturity of the spiritual aspect of the per-sonalities involved.Even though onecan easily see thatthere are thousandsof social and polit-ical problems incountries, wheredemocratic andother politicalprocesses are atwork, yet one over-looks these afflic-tions and continuesto enjoy this cur-rent myth as truth.

It is an opensecret that thecountries which areconsidered as genuinely democratic, both constitu-tionally and practically, are also suffering badly fromfear psychosis and a tearing sense of insecurity. Thereare a large number of people there who are victimsof mental issues such as depression, paranoia, bro-ken marriages, fragmented families, drug habits,child abuse, increasing tendency to indulge in vio-lence, suicides and much more. Yet the myth pre-vails that full democratic processes and latest eco-nomic theories create conditions of heaven, so spir-ituality can take a back seat. This new kind of eco-nomic and political myth makes people convenient-ly forget that a mentally disturbed person, who isfacing inner turmoil, creates disturbance in the wholesociety. The truth, therefore, is that the disorder, tur-moil and violence that prevail in the society are areflection of the war that is there in the minds ofpeople. Hence, peace in the society cannot berestored by political science or economics, but bypractices that bring solace to the tormented spirit.

Let us not overlook the fact that consciously orunconsciously, every person is seeking some formof self realisation so that s/he can express his or herown potentialities. It would, therefore, amount todenying the undeniable truth that there is a spiri-tual dimension of man’s existence and we can over-look it at our own peril. Undoubtedly, the right typeof political and economic processes are necessarybut to think that these can bring happiness to lifewithout enriching the spiritual aspect of man’s per-sonality is like considering a myth as truth.

It is an irrefutable fact of life that man has a phys-ical and also a spiritual dimension of his life.Therefore, one cannot continue to live happily in astate of separation from an important part of him-self. It is a pity that in this era of science and tech-nology, man always talks only about the social, eco-nomic and political realities in an empirical and util-itarian language. He forgets other realities and val-ues which are spiritual in their nature. But the timehas come when man must wake up once again tothe truth that he has a social dimension. Hence, themyth that man is merely a physical being with onlyeconomic and political dimension has to be broken.Only when we have this holistic perspective of life,we will be able to have a self-realisation ethic. Onlythen, we will be able to have development of the fullhuman potential.

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Reverse migration of the workersand the distressing visuals of theirhardships while returning to their

villages during and after the lockdownhave raised some important concerns. Beit the video of a migrant worker impro-vising a wooden cart and pulling hispregnant wife and infant daughter intheir arduous journey, or that of anexhausted woman dragging her suitcaseon a highway, while her five year old son,worn out by exhaustion and weariness,sleeps on the suitcase — these visualsstare at us with tell-tale stories of despair.

Asha (name changed), a seven-year-old girl, was in charge of guardingher four-year-old sibling when a reliefworker on COVID-19 met her at the busstop. Waiting patiently for her parents toreturn home who had gone to look forfood from families nearby, the girlrevealed that they were originally fromBihar. This little family of road construc-tion workers were living in a slum inSirathu Tehsil at Kaushambhi district,Uttar Pradesh. They had no idea how togo back to their village. “We don’t evenhave money for food. How will we trav-el?” asked the seven-year-old.

The nationwide lockdown to preventthe spread of the pandemic has changedmany lives, mostly those of the margin-alised. The media coverage of the suffer-ings of the underprivileged families waslimited to the impact on their daily lives.As we move forward, it is time that wediscuss the detailed impact of the deci-sions that were taken in the past fewmonths on the lives of children. Thefront-liners at CRY (Child Rights andYou), during the relief work have wit-nessed the helplessness of several chil-dren like Asha who stare into a dark,bleak future.

�Impact on children’s health andhygiene

Health of children belonging to thelower strata has always been a major con-cern. Due to lockdown, the situation gotworse — children who accompaniedtheir parents while migrating back totheir villages faced immense challengeof food and water during travel. The issueof hunger is going to loom large overthem in the times to come. Due to theclosure of schools, the mid-day mealfacility is not in place, which in turn isleading to depleting nutrition levels inchildren.

They are now deprived of immuni-sation, basic health provisions andhygiene. ICDS (Integrated ChildDevelopment Scheme) and Public Healthcentres were completely shut during thelockdown, bringing all essential serviceslike Polio vaccinations, routine immu-nisations, availability of IFA (Iron & FolicAcid) tablets, take home rations (THR)and pre-natal / post-natal care of preg-nant women to halt in most of the states.Thus, the risk of undoing the gains ofprevious years in improving infant and

maternal mortality rates and immunisa-tion targets is very high. The suspensionof the usual sanitation and hygiene ser-vices at the community level have alsoincreased the chances of higher inci-dences of diarrhoea, jaundice, typhoidand other water-borne diseases.

�Plight of the working childrenSadly, many children (especially in

the 15-18 age group) migrate alone forwork. During the lockdown period,they were either not paid or were desert-ed by their employers. The children whowere working under hazardous condi-tions are at an extreme risk as theemployers cannot disclose their identi-ties (due to the illegal hiring), makingtheir rescue or provision of relief impos-sible.

�Threat to children’s safety and psy-cho-social well-being

To watch their families suffer createsdeep sense of anxiety, insecurity and

extreme psychological pressure on chil-dren, leaving them vulnerable for life.The long lasting emotional impacts ofsuch incidences on their lives and over-all personality are immense. The childrenof the workers have seen thousands of

people around them crying, dying andbegging for food and life. Their plight isbeyond comprehension.

Additionally, they are at an evenhigher risk of physical, emotional andsexual abuse, and even trafficking.Trafficking is a huge threat in overcrowd-ed areas, trains/buses, transit campswhere such predators are extremelyactive. Inaccessibility to education at thisstage also exposes children to crime andother abuse besides leaving them home-less.

This acute and severe stress on chil-dren during their formative years canimpact their self-esteem and decisionmaking abilities lifelong, thereby impact-ing their learning outcomes and reten-tion in school.

�Lag in educationEven before the pandemic, the fre-

quent movement adversely impacted thecontinuity of education for children ofmigrant workers. Many children get

enrolled, but didn’t attend school due toseasonal migration. Either they remainout of school or attend pre-school cen-tres run by civil society organisations atwork sites.

This year, however, will keep manymore children away from school push-ing them into child labour. Due to thegap in schooling, loss of family’s incomeand loss of interest as they have no accessto online or broadcast classes, many chil-dren might never return to schools.

�The way forwardVarious child rights organisation in

India, including CRY, have been provid-ing relief and rehabilitation services tovulnerable children and communities.They are reaching out to the governmentand frontline workers to provide essen-tial services. But there are miles to go andthe government, civil society organisa-tions and the private sector must joinhands in this journey.

The focus must be on education andsurvival. It is very important that chil-dren get enough food and nutrition.Food packets, milk and other weaningproducts must be a part of the packagefor younger children. Protein-rich nutri-ents and food diversity will boost theirimmunity and strength. We must alsorealise that uncooked food is of little helpas migrants do not have access tokitchens.

Those still returning to their nativevillages should be provided with usablepublic toilets with proper sanitation, andfor their dignity as well. Quarantine facil-ities, relief and transit camps at state bor-ders, block or panchayat level mustarrange safe and child-friendly shelterswhere nutritious food, water and sanita-tion facilities must be provided.

The overcrowded and under-per-forming Public Health Centres in villagesneed necessary financial and other sup-port to be able to tackle health emergen-cies. They must also attend to and admitthe returning migrants without discrim-ination.

In all of this, we must not forget ourgirls. They are vulnerable to being leftbehind and married off as a result of abjectpoverty. We also tend to forget about theirmenstrual health during emergent times.

It is time for local governments to stepup to the task. Tracking all children ofmigrant families, registering them,extending ICDS services to even unreg-istered ones, maintaining continuity ofimmunisation, supplementary nutritionand other maternal and child care servicesare the imperatives of the hour.Appropriate measures need adequateinvestments, and that truly is the call ofthe day for the government at every level.For, in words and in action, we must allbe in this crisis ‘together’, leaving behindno child and marginalised family.

(The writer is the CEO, CRY (ChildRights and You.)

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It is rightly said for Jammu andKashmir that it has always

been more than just a mereplace. The state, now UT, breatheswithin its locals and visitors alikewith a pulse that they can sense,a heartbeat that they can feel andan expression that they can per-sonify. Even though the beauty ofJammu and Kashmir never failsto amaze people, there are sever-al development challenges that itspeople have to face every day.Only if the UT administrationhad been serious in the field oftourism, multiple developmentchallenges of unemployment,backwardness and poverty couldhave been addressed. Althoughmany places in the UT, especial-ly in Kashmir province havebeen developed and are quitefamous among tourists, thereare many remote districts inJammu region that need specialattention.

Located at a distance of 235km from Jammu, Poonch districtis situated in between the banksof Poonch River and Betar River.The fact that there are rivers onboth sides of the city adds to itsbeauty and makes the place morecharming. Approximately 20 kmfrom Poonch city, the area ofTehsil Mandi is adorned withsnow-capped mountains frontedby chinar trees, waterfalls andendless streams of numerousrivers. About 32 km from here isthe border area of Saujiyan,blessed with a sumptuousautumn season. At a distance of

only a few kilometres, the area ofNediyan Dhok begins, whereone can find himself standing ina lush and green forest settingwith the scent of pine needleswafting in the air. In between theforest, there is a billowing andnoisy river as white as milk andas cold as ice. There are pasturesaround the green fields wherecattle roams. The sounds of localpeople’s songs and the housesbuilt are reminiscent of theancient times.

Tanveer Ahmed, a 30-year-old man, who came here forleisure, recalls, “Even when therewas no road, there were peoplecoming in around the spring sea-son. Now that the road has beenbuilt, more tourists are cominghere. But they all deal with cer-tain problems.”

While the world is reelingunder the pandemic, residents ofthe above-mentioned places anda few other several unexploreddestinations, have different con-cerns. They lack even the basicinfrastructure like schools, col-leges, hospitals and sanitation,

making it difficult for day to daysurvival.

The most difficult timecomes when the season changesand rains and storms start here.This is one such example why theresidents require special attentionfrom the higher authorities. Thevarious locations in the valley

have a great potential for tourismbut again, due to the situationsprevailing in the past fewdecades, there had been somelimp seasons in the touristarrivals. There is dire need andintervention of leaders at differ-ent levels to get back the tourismfootfall. And it’s only possible

when the development will takeplace, when all the facilities willbe easily available for tourists ata particular destination. The res-idents believe that if the area isbrought on the tourism map inthe right way, hundreds of young-sters will not be forced to stum-ble for employment. It’s only

due to the negligence that theyare facing such chaotic times.

“The government usuallyspends huge amounts just toenhance and improve the appear-ance of a place in order to bringin tourism footfall. But here, thematter is way different. With thesound of gushing water, aroma ofpine trees and the vibrancy of saf-fron, the valley is already blessedwith natural beauty, which sur-prises everyone. There is just aneed to uncover the area, whichis still in the shadows,” feelsGulbar Ahmed Lone, a 25-year-old resident of Gagrian.

Educated youth, here, couldhave made the best of their liveli-hood by joining the tourism sec-tor, but this has not yet been pos-sible due to the inattention. Thepeople here want to ask their lead-ers the question of how long willthey have to suffer from such dif-ficult situations. Will there be apermanent solution soon to erad-icate all these issues and boost inthe tourism sector? Well, thejourney might be long but thedestination seems certain. Hardwork is difficult, but the fruit ofthat hard work has always beensweet. Demand for bringing foot-fall needs to be further intensified.We need to extend our support tothe tourists, so that their journeyscan be made easier and the less-er known locations can be put onthe tourist map, which will in turnlead to employment of thou-sands of unemployed youth.

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Former Real Madridmanager Fabio Capello

believes Eden Hazard hasstruggled to deal with theweight of the Real Madridshirt following his high-profile move fromChelsea.

Hazard joined theSpanish club from Chelsea ona five-year contract for areported 100 million euros($116.54 million) ahead of the2019-20 season.

The Belgium internation-al inspired Chelsea to twoPremier League trophies dur-ing his time at StamfordBridge but has failed to hitsimilar heights in Spain, withinjuries limiting him to 21appearances in all competi-tions this season.

“He hasn’t been the play-er he was at Chelsea and hewas injured for a long time, hehasn’t adapted,” Capello toldMarca.

“I’ve always thought of

him as a great player but theReal shirt weighs heavily andHazard has sunk this year. It’sclear that he’ll be better nextseason,” added the Italian, wholed Real to two La Liga titles.

With Hazard strugglingfor form, the onus was onKarim Benzema toshoulder the goal-scor-

ing responsibilitiesand the Frenchstriker enjoyed oneof the best seasonsof his career, net-ting 21 leaguegoals and firing

Real to a record-extending 34th LaLiga crown.

“He’s become abenchmark for Real.He has taken on

responsibility that hedidn’t have when heplayed with Cristiano

Ronaldo, he has a nosefor goal and he’s shownit,” added formerEngland coachCapello.

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Nobody in world cricket is even close toEngland all-rounder Ben Stokes, who

is “in his own league”, reckons former Indiaopener Gautam Gambhir.

England’s World Cup hero Stokes hasbeen in top form in the ongoing Test seriesagainst the West Indies. He scored a mag-nificent 176 to help England win the sec-ond Test.

He has a tally of 313 runs apart fromnine wickets in two Tests.

“You can’t compare anyone in India atthe moment with Ben Stokes. Absolutelynot, because Ben Stokes is in his ownleague,” Gambhir said.

“What he has done in Test cricket, inone-day cricket, in T20 cricket, I don’t thinkso there’s anyone, let alone in India, thereisn’t anyone who’s even close to him inworld cricket at the moment,” he was quot-ed as saying in Star Sports show CricketConnected.

The 38-year-old Gambhir said Stokesis a cricketer whom every captain wouldlike to have in his team.

“That is the kind of impact player youneed in every line-up. It wouldbe a dream for every captainto have someone like BenStokes — whether he’s bat-ting, whether he’s bowling,whether he’s fielding,” saidGambhir, who played58 Tests between 2004and 2016.

Stokes ledEngland in the firstTest against the WestIndies in the absenceof Joe Root, thoughthey lost the series-opener.

Talking aboutStokes’ leadershipqualities, Gambhirsaid, “He’s a leader inhis own capacity. Youdon’t need to be called acaptain to be a captain.You can be a leader byyour own performancesas well.

“So, I think there area lot of guys would beactually looking to be likeBen Stokes, but unfortu-nately, there’s no one at themoment in world cricket.”

-����&���H Barcelona presi-dent Josep Bartomeu repeatedon Sunday that he had “nodoubt” that Lionel Messi wouldsign a new contract adding thathe can only see Neymarreturning in a player exchange.

“Messi has said manytimes that he wants to retirehere and I have no doubt thathe will re-sign,” said Bartomeuin an interview published byMundo Deportivo.

Messi’s contract expires inJune of 2021 and local radiostation Cadena Ser reported atthe start of July that theArgentine had broken off talkswith the club.

In discussing plans fornext season and financial con-straints on the club, Bartomeuaddressed another long-run-ning issue: the possibility thatNeymar would return from

Paris Saint-Germain.“Now we are making deci-

sions and the players, if they donot come as part of a playerexchange players, it is very dif-ficult for them to come,”Bartomeu said.

Bartomeu said anotherpriority was persuadingGerman goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, whose con-tract expires in 2022, to sign anew deal “not only for his qual-ity as a goalkeeper but for hispersonality”.

“He’s a pillar of the dress-ing room and of the future,”said Bartomeu. “At 28 he’s oneof the three best in the world.”

�����)��(1 Romelu Lukaku scored in

either half as Inter Milanclaimed a 3-0 win againststruggling Genoa to movesecond in Serie A behindJuventus who can win a aninth title in a row on Sundaynight.

Antonio Conte’s titleambitions took a knock withback-to-back stalematesagainst Roma and Fiorentina.

But Inter pulled backahead of Atalanta, and

within four points ofleaders Juventus, whoare poised to claim a

36th Scudetto when theyplay Sampdoria in Turin.

Lukaku nodded inCristiano Biraghi’s crossafter 34 minutes in the

northwestern port city, withthe former ManchesterUnited forward acceleratingto finish off an individual

effort three minutes intoinjury time. The 27-year-oldBelgian brought his tally to 23league goals this season, and29 in all competitions.

Alexis Sanchez, on-loanfrom United, was also on tar-get with eight minutes to go,picking up a Victor Mosescross to volley in for hisfourth league goal this sea-son.

FOUR GOALS OFFSIDEIn Naples, Napoli beat

Sassuolo 2-0 with the visitorshaving four goals ruled offside— two in either half. Threewere chalked off by VAR.

Albanian defender ElseidHysaj opened the scoring forNapoli after eight minutes inthe San Paolo Stadium.

Filip Djuricic then hadtwo goals ruled out as did

Francesco Caputo andDomenico Berardi followingVAR viewings beforeBrazilian Allan sealed thepoints for the hosts threeminutes into injury time.

Seventh-placed Napoli —already through to the EuropaLeague as a result of theirItalian Cup victory — extendtheir lead on pursuing Sassuolo,in eighth, to 11 points.

��&��#�H Second-rankedSimona Halep withdrew fromthe Palermo Ladies Open onSunday following a quarantineordinance issued by Italy’shealth ministry.

“Given the recent rise inCovid-19 cases in Romaniaand my anxieties around inter-national air travel at this time,I have made the tough decisionto withdraw from Palermo,”Halep tweeted.

“I want to thank the tour-nament director and the Italianministry of health for all effortson my behalf.”

The August 3-9 tourna-ment announced on Sunday

that the Romanian player’smanager, Virginia Ruzici, hadinformed Palermo officials ofthe decision.

The move comes afterItaly’s health minister on Fridaysigned an ordinance requiringall those who have in the last14 days stayed in Romania orBulgaria to quarantine.

STOSUR TO SKIP 2020��$���H� Former US Openchampion Samantha Stosurhas decided to sit out the restof 2020 amid the Covid-19pandemic after becoming amother last month but the 36-year-old Australian has vowed

to return to court next year.Stosur recently announced

this month that her partner LizAstling gave birth to daughterEvie in June.

“With the schedule com-ing up, with Covid, with quar-antine and with all the otherthings that you’re going tohave to deal with, I’ve decidedthat I’m going to take the restof the year off,” Stosur toldTennis Australia.

“I’m going to stay here,enjoy being with my family, gothrough all those little mile-stones that Evie is going to havein the next six months and justreally enjoy being home.” AP

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World championship Goldmedallist PV Sindhu on

Sunday said initial failures atthe international stage weredisappointing but defeatingthe then reigning Olympicchampion Li Xuerui at theChina Open in 2012 strength-ened her resolve to succeed inthe senior circuit.

Sindhu had burst onto thescene when as a 16-year-oldshe had stunned LondonOlympics Gold medallist Li inthe quarterfinals of ChinaMasters. A year later, sheclaimed a maiden Bronzemedal at the prestigious WorldChampionships.

She eventually went on towin five medals in the presti-gious tournament — twoBronze, two Silver and a Gold,besides the Olympic Silvermedal four years ago in Rio deJaneiro.

“When I started playing Iwas doing well but internation-al standards are not the same.In the beginning, I kept losingin first rounds, qualifyingrounds. I realised I needed togo out harder, that is when I

kept working hard,” Sindhutold paddler Mudit Dani on hisshow In The Sportlight.

“I used to feel sad andthinking what mistake I’mmaking, I am also workinghard as others.

“I think that turning pointI would say I got in 2012where I beat Li Xuerui, she wascurrent Olympic champion atthat time. Since then I workedextra hard and I have beenimproving step by step, year byyear.”

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Rory Burns andDom Sibley weresharing an

unbeaten opening standof 86 as England builtup a 258-run lead overthe West Indies by teaon day three of thedeciding third Test atOld Trafford on Sunday.

By dismissing theWindies for 197 beforelunch thanks to fourwickets from StuartBroad, England took alead of 172 runs into thesecond innings and wason course to take a for-midable advantage intothe final two days inManchester.

Burns was on 38and Sibley was 40 not

out.Earlier, Broad fin-

ished with figures of 6-31 to move onto 497Test wickets and contin-ue his brilliant form inthis match, havingalready smashed agame-turning 45-ball62 at the end ofEngland’s first innings.

Resuming on 137-6,Jason Holder and ShaneDowrich reached theirfirst target — getting theWest Indies past thefollow-on mark — asEngland started Day 3with the same pacemenwho f inished onSaturday, Jofra Archerand Chris Woakes.

However, it a l lchanged when veteransBroad and James

Anderson came into theattack.

Off his third deliv-ery of the day, Broadtrapped Holder lbw for46, with a review back-ing up the on-field deci-sion. Then, off his thirdover, Broad removedRahkeem Cornwall (10)and Kemar Roach (0) inthe space of four balls.

Broad then took thesixth wicket whenDowrich (37) slashedat a short ball andWoakes snaffled thecatch after gett inground from mid-on.

Broad was droppedfor the first Test — wonby the West Indies inSouthampton — anddidn’t take it well ,expressing his disap-

pointment in a TVinterview during thematch.

Restored for thesecond Test inManchester, Broad tookthree wickets in eachinnings in a win forEngland.

In the third Test,he has made his bestscore with the bat since2013 and taken his 18thfive-wicket haul inTests.

The West Indieswere further hamperedwhen wicketkeeperDowrich had to leavethe field after taking abal l from ShannonGabriel in the mouth.Joshua da Silva came onas a replacement forDowrich.3

� ��� ���������

Sri Lanka cricket legend KumarSangakkara has backed Sourav

Ganguly for the ICC chairman’spost, saying the BCCI president’s“astute cricket brain” and vastexperience as an administratormake him a “very suitable” candi-date for the role.

Admitting that he is a big fanof Ganguly, Sangakkara said theformer India captain has an inter-national mindset which is necessaryto remain unbiased in an importantposition.

“I think Sourav definitely canmake that change. Quite a big fanof Dada not just because of hisstature as a cricketer but I think hehas a very astute cricket brain,”Sangakkara, who is currently theMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC)Chairman, told India Today.

“He has the best interests of thegame at heart and that should notchange just because you are theBCCI president or the ECB or SLCor any other cricket board whenyou are at the ICC.

“Your mindset should be trulyinternational and not just con-strained by partisanship in terms ofwhere I come from — am I Indian,Sri Lankan or Australia or Englishbut really understand ‘yes I am acricketer and what I am doing iswhat is best for all cricketing coun-tries’.”

The former Sri Lanka skippersaid Ganguly has the potential tobuild relationships, which is vital forthe influential position in cricket’sgoverning body.

“I have seen his work evenbefore he took over as the BCCIpresident, even before administra-tion and coaching, and how he hasbuilt relationships with playersaround the world, his standing inthe MCC cricket committee,” headded.

Former BCCI chief ShashankManohar stepped down as theICC Chairman earlier this month.Hong Kong’s Imran Khwaja,Manohar’s deputy in the ICC, hasbeen given interim charge till thetime elections are not conducted forthe post.

Sangakkara is not the only for-mer international skipper to havevouched for Ganguly. FormerProteas captain and CSA directorof cricket, Graeme Smith had alsosupported Ganguly for the role.

Ganguly, on his part, recentlystated that he is in no hurry to takeup the ICC role.

������H Indian GrandmasterViswanathan Anand sufferedhis fifth straight defeat in the$150,000 Legends of Chessonline tourney, going down 2-3 to Peter Leko of Hungary.

The former world champi-on got off to a good start andwon the first game of the best-of-four contest. The next twogames were drawn before Lekolevelled by winning the fourth.

The Hungarian thenclaimed the Armageddon (a

tie-breaker) to ensure Anandremain winless and at the bot-tom of the points table.

Anand, who is making hismaiden appearance on theMagnus Carlsen Chess Tour,had earlier lost to Peter Svidler,Magnus Carlsen, VladimirKramnik and Anish Giri.

World No1 Carlsenbounced back strongly toavoid an upset, beating veter-an Vasyl Ivanchuk 3-2 to stayon top. PTI

-��&��H�Bayern Munich defend-er Niklas Suele has fully recov-ered from torn cruciate liga-ments as his team chase a trebleof titles, coach Hansi Flick saidon Sunday.

Germany internationalSuele suffered the injury inOctober and has not playedsince.

“I am very satisfied withhow he has been training andhis intensity level," Bayern coachHansi Flick told a news confer-ence.

“Even today in training innine against nine he did it real-ly well. I expect him to be at100%.” AP

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Kemar Roach set his sightson yet more success after

the fast bowler became just theninth West Indian — and firstsince 1994 — to take 200 Testwickets.

Barbados fast bowler Roachreached the landmark when hehad England’s Chris Woakesplaying-on during the secondday of the third Test onSaturday.

And the 32-year-old Roachwas understandably proud ofhis achievement in becomingthe first West Indies bowler

since Curtly Ambrose 26 yearsago to take 200 Test wickets.

“I guess I had that land-mark on my mind a little bit toomuch, I had a few restlessnights,” Roach, who amazinglywent wicketless when the WestIndies beat England in theopening match of this series,told the BBC.

“It’s good to get past thatbarrier now and see how manymore I can get. 300 would begreat. I’ll work hard to getthere and we’ll see how many Ican go past 300,” added Roach,now in his 59th Test followinga debut in 2009.

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Veteran pacers JamesAnderson and Stuart Broad

complement each other welland their performances overthe years have only proved thatage is just a number, feel formerEngland cricketers.

Both Anderson and Broadare in their mid-30s, but formerEngland captain Alec Stewartbelieves the duo should playtogether for England as long asit is possible.

“A lot has been said andwritten about whether Broadand Anderson are on their wayout and if they should playtogether,” Stewart, who hasscored 8463 runs in 133 Tests forEngland, was quoted as sayingon Sky Sports — Cricket Debate.

“Well, they have shown thatforget what their age is and whattheir birth certificates say — ifyou are good enough (age does-n’t matter). Pick on perfor-mance and what people can do.

“I appreciate having an eyeon the future but, here andnow, Broad and Anderson tak-

ing the new ball is as good asthere is and they showed alltheir qualities.”

While England dropped 34-year-old Broad for the first Testagainst the Windies which theylost in Southampton, Anderson,37, was rested for the secondgame.

But fielded together, both

the pacers are making an impactin the ongoing series decider.

Former England pacerDominic Cork agreed withStewart, saying Anderson andBroad’s different styles of bowl-ing augur well for the team.

“I understand these areback-to-back Test matches andEngland want to make surethey (Anderson and Broad) playthe majority of games,” said the48-year-old, who took 131 wick-ets in 37 Tests for England.

“But they are closing in on1,000 Test wickets between themand complement each otherreally well with their differentstyles of bowling. Jimmy under-stands the art of wobble seamand then when he swaps ends hetries to swing it, while Broadseems to be learning even more.

“While they are both fitand want to play, they playevery single Test match for me.Unless there are injury doubts,they are the first two on the list.”

Broad and Anderson haveplayed 117 Tests together, buthave fielded together only threetimes in the last 15 Tests.

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#�&��H Inter Milan coachAntonio Conte on Saturdaydismissed talk of a reportedmove by the Chinese-ownedItalian club for Barcelona starLionel Messi.

“We’re talking fantasyfootball, a situation that can-not be approached at Inter formany reasons,” Conte said.

Six-time Ballon d’Or win-ner Messi, 33, has spent hisentire professional career atBarcelona with his contractdue to expire in 2021.

“I don’t think there is amadman in the world whodoes not want Messi, but he isreally far from us and what wewant to build,” added the for-

mer Juventus & Chelsea coach.Inter CEO Giuseppe

Marotta also brushed asidetalk that the northern sidewanted Messi to rival Juventusstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Leo is not our goal andI don’t think he wants toleave Barcelona,” saidMarotta. AFP

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