Central Chronicle

Monkeypox caseNNeeww DDeellhhii:: Delhi report-ed its fifth monkeypoxcase with a 22-year-oldAfrican woman testingpositive for the infection,official sources said onSaturday. The woman hadtravelled to Nigeria amonth ago. She wasadmitted to LNJP Hospitaltwo days ago and herreports came out onFriday night, confirmingthat she was positive. Sheis the second woman inthe national capital tocontract the infection.Four persons, includingtwo women, are admittedto the LNJP Hospital withmonkeypox while onepatient was dischargedfrom the facility.

Graft caseCChhaannddiiggaarrhh:: The HaryanaState Vigilance Bureau onSaturday said it hasarrested a former deputysuperintendent of policeand a constable posted inthe Rajasthan Police in agraft case. A spokesper-son of the bureau saidthey arrested Sailender,who retired as a DSPfrom the RajasthanPolice, and DarshanSingh, a constable andposted as reader to thestation house officer inChitrakoot police station,Jaipur, in Rajasthan foraccepting a bribe of Rs80,000. Both accusedwere allegedly demand-ing money from the com-plainant, who belonged toHaryana, in lieu of remov-ing his name from an FIRregistered against him atthe chitrakoot police sta-tion in Jaipur.

Footwear hurled MMaadduurraaii:: A man wasdetained after a footwearwas hurled on the car ofTamil Nadu FinanceMinister Palanivel ThiagaRajan here, when he wasreturning after payinghomage to a slain Indianarmy soldier hailing fromthe district. Rifleman DLakshmanan, a residentof T Pudupatti village inthe district, was amongthe army personnel killedin a terror attack inJammu and Kashmir'sRajouri on Thursday. Hismortal remains reachedhere for the last rites.The minister, officials andstate BJP chief KAnnamalai paid tributesto the departed soldier.

Decomposed carcassUUddhhaaggaammaannddaallaamm ((TTNN))::A female elephant wasfound dead in a highlydecomposed state andalso partially eaten bywild animals in Anaikattyarea of Segur forestrange, officials said. Theforest department staffnoticed the carcass dur-ing patrolling in the areaon Friday evening and apost-mortem was con-ducted on Saturday. Theautopsy report suggest-ed that the tushes werenot developed for thefemale elephant. Thecause of death cannot beascertained as the car-cass was decomposed.

AZADI KA AMRIT MAHOTSAV

Students form a human chain in the shape of the Indian Map as they celebrate Azadi KaAmrit Mahotsav to commemorate 75 years of Indian independence, in Varanasi, Saturday.

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BRIEF

Women purchase tri-colouredbangles ahead of

Independence Day, in OldDelhi, Saturday.

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New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI):

With 'Har Ghar Tiranga'campaign picking pace,Residents WelfareAssociation (RWAs) in thenational capital are con-cerned about the disposal ofthese flags in a dignifiedmanner after the celebra-tions.

RWAs across the city arebrainstorming ideas toavoid disrespect for the na-tional flag. They are run-ning social media aware-ness campaigns about therules to be followed. Someof them will also launchcampaigns for collection offlags from households andtheir respectful disposal.

The 'Har Ghar Tiranga'campaign under the aegisof 'Azadi Ka AmritMahotsav' kicked off onSaturday. The Union gov-ernment has urged peopleto hoist or display tri-

colours in their housesfrom August 13 to 15 tomark the 75th anniversaryof India's independence.

Taking cognisance of thedisposal of flags, theMunicipal Corporation ofDelhi (MCD) said it has

given special instructionsto its Safai Sainiks to collectdishevelled or soiled flagsseparately.

"MCD attaches huge im-portance and dignity to thenational flag. In pursuanceto this, it has given special

instructions to its SafaiSainiks to collect dishev-elled or soiled flags sepa-rately and deposit them intheir respective zonal con-trol room," MCD director(Press and Information)Amit Kumar told PTI.

"These flags will then bedisposed with all dignityand respect as per the pre-scriptions laid down in theFlag Code," he added.

According to the FlagCode, 2002, a damaged orsoiled flag shall shall be de-stroyed as a whole in pri-vate, preferably by burningor any other method consis-tent with its dignity.

Atul Goyal, who headsthe United Residents JointAction (URJA), a civil socie-ty initiative of 2,500 resi-dents' welfare associations,said lakhs of flags will beused this Independence Dayand they should be disposedappropriately.

Shimla, Aug 13 (PTI):

The Himachal PradeshAssembly passed a bill onSaturday forbidding "massconversion" and enhancingthe maximum punishmentto 10 years imprisonment inits 2019 law against anychange of religion throughforce or allurement.

The Himachal PradeshFreedom of Religion(Amendment) Bill, 2022,was passed unanimouslywith a voice vote.

The bill inserts the refer-ence to "mass conversion",which is described as twoor more people convertingat the same time, in the 2019Act and proposes to in-crease the punishment forforced conversions to amaximum of 10 years fromseven years.

The Jai Ram Thakur-ledgovernment introduced the

bill on Friday. It is a morestringent version of TheHimachal PradeshFreedom of Religion Act,2019, which came into forcebarely 18 months ago.

The 2019 Act was notifiedon December 21, 2020, 15months after it was passedin the state assembly. The2019 version had in turn re-placed a 2006 law, which pre-scribed lesser punish-ments.

It stipulates that the com-plaints made under the Actwill be investigated by a po-lice officer not below therank of a sub-inspector. Theoffences will now be triedby a sessions court.Introducing the bill onFriday, Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur said the 2019Act did not have a provisionto curb mass conversion,and "therefore, a provisionto this effect is being made."


A local court hearing a caserelated to the 2020 northeastDelhi riots expressed dissatis-faction with public prosecu-tors appearing on an ad hocbasis.The judge directed theCommissioner of Police toensure "appointment and reg-ular appearance of a prosecu-tor in this case".The judge's observation cameafter a Special PublicProsecutor (SPP) submittedthat he was appearing in thecase on an ad hoc basis with-out any concrete order fromthe police department."The matter is referred to theCommissioner of Police to getenquired as to why a properregular public prosecutor forthis case was not ordered tilldate in the backdrop of thefact that the previous prosecu-tor stopped appearing in the

matter," Additional SessionsJudge Pulastya Pramachalasaid in an order passed onAugust 4.The judge said in the absenceof a regular prosecutor wit-nesses were being dischargedwithout being examined ascharges were not framed.The judge directed a copy ofthe order be sent to theCommissioner of Police for"necessary compliance andappointment and regularappearance of a prosecutor inthis case".During the hearing in the riot-ing case registered at KhajuriKhas police station, the judgealso said the charge foroffence under Section 188(disobedience to an order law-fully promulgated by a publicservant) of the IPC was notpressed and after realising the"omission" the prosecutionfiled an application for fram-ing of the additional charge.

Mehsana, Aug 13 (PTI):

Former Gujarat DeputyChief Minister Nitin Patelwas injured after being at-tacked by a stray cow in thestate's Kadi town during a`Tiranga Yatra' onSaturday.

He suffered a minor frac-ture in his left leg duringthe incident, the BJP leadersaid.

Patel was deputy chiefminister and health minis-ter in the previous VijayRupani government in thestate. A large number ofpeople had joined in a pro-cession organised by thestate BJP at Kadi inMehsana district to cele-brate 75 years ofIndependence, Patel told re-porters at his residence inAhmedabad. "A TirangaYatra had been organisedat Kadi where nearly 2,000people participated. It had

completed almost 70 per-cent of the distance andreached a vegetable marketwhen a cow suddenly camerunning," Patel said. In thecommotion, he and a fewothers were thrown downto the ground, he said.

In a video clip, the cow isseen rushing past them andsecurity personnel and oth-ers coming to Patel's help.

He had difficulty walkingwhen he stood up, he said.

He was taken to a privatehospital where X-ray andCT scan showed that he hada minor fracture in his leftleg, Patel added.

"The doctors fixed a tem-porary splint to stabilizethe leg and advised me totake rest for 20-25 days," hesaid.

Srinagar, Aug 13 (PTI):

Northern ArmyCommander LieutenantGeneral Upendra Dwivedion Saturday reviewed thesecurity situation alongthe Line of Control inKashmir and commendedthe forces for maintaininga strong counter-infiltra-tion grid.

Lt Gen Dwivedi was ac-companied by ChinarCorps Commander Lt GenADS Aujla, an Armyspokesperson said.

"#LtGenUpendraDwivedi, #ArmyCdrNC, visitedForward Areas of

#Kashmir along #LC & re-viewed the security situa-tion," the Army'sNorthern Command said

in a tweet.It said Lt Gen Dwivedi

lauded all ranks for theirprofessionalism in main-

taining the sanctity of theLine of Control (LoC).

Lt Gen Dwivedi arrivedhere on Saturday, theArmy spokesperson said.

"Lt Gen Dwivedi wasbriefed on the prevalentsecurity situation andmeasures instituted tocounter adversaries' de-sign and developmentworks being undertakenby the Indian Army. "Helauded the strong counter-infiltration grid along theLoC. He also appreciatedthe strict control exercisedby the formation to abideby the ceasefire under-standing," he said.


The Supreme Court hasordered release of a manconvicted for rape andmurder of a minor girlnoting he has been in jailfor almost 19 years despitebeing declared a juvenile.

A bench of justicesIndira Banerjee and VRamasubramanian said ajuvenile cannot be de-tained in custody beyondthree years according tothe provisions of theJuvenile Justice (Care andProtection of Children)

Act, 2000, in force at thematerial time when the in-cident took place.

"The petitioner has ad-mittedly been under in-carceration in jail forabout 18 years and 9months. This is not in dis-pute.

"Counsel appearing onbehalf of the Respondent-State seeks time to lookinto the case. Since thereis an order of the JuvenileJustice Board passed wayback in 2014, declaring thepetitioner a juvenile, therecan be no question of any

further detention of thepetitioner in custody," thebench said.

The top court directedthat the petitioner shallimmediately be grantedinterim bail on a personalbond and ordered that hereport to the local policestation once a week.

The apex court was toldthat the convict was con-victed inter alia under sec-tion 302 (murder) and 376(rape) of the Indian PenalCode and was imposed thepunishment of death sen-tence.

Bhubaneswar, Aug 13 (PTI):

In a first for the country,the Odisha governmenthas decided to providewedding kits' to newlymarried couples fromSeptember to raise aware-ness about family plan-ning, officials said. Thekits will contain contra-ceptive pills, condoms, abooklet on methods andbenefits of family plan-ning, and the marriageregistration certificateamong other items, theysaid. This is a part of theNational Health Mission's(NHM) Nai Pahal Scheme'.The objective is to createawareness among newlymarried couples to adoptfamily planning, Directorof Family Planning BijayPanigrahy said.

Har Ghar Tiranga

Disposal of flags a matter of concern

A young woman holds the tricolor ahead of upcomingIndependence Day, in Old Delhi, Saturday.

Himachal Assembly passesbill against forced mass

conversion with voice vote

Former deputy CM Nitin Patel injured inattack by stray cow during Tiranga Yatra

NNeeww DDeellhhii:: BJP leaders, including Union ministers, joined the 'HarGhar Tiranga' campaign across the country as the three-day exer-cise began on Saturday to mark the 75th anniversary of India'sIndependence. Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J PNadda hoisted the national flag at their residences and posted pic-tures on social media. As part of the exercise in the run-up toIndependence Day, the BJP also held an exhibition on the eve ofPartition Horrors Remembrance Day on August 14, at its office here."Attended the poignant exhibition on 'Partition HorrorsRemembrance Day' at BJP HQ that reminds us all of the pain oflakhs of our brothers and sisters during partition. We must neverforget the cost that politics of hate and divide, driven by personalselfish interests imposed on us," Nadda said.

BJP leaders join ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign across country

2020 riots: Delhi court askspolice commissioner to appoint

regular public prosecutor

19 years in jail despite being juvenile

SC orders release of manin rape, murder case

Northern Army commander reviewssecurity situation along LoC

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj SinhaSaturday claimed the government will strike the last nail in the cof-fin of terrorism in the union territory in one year. He made theseremarks while speaking here at a function at SKICC where he laidthe foundation stone of 25 DDC, BDC buildings and inaugurated1000 amrit sarovars across the Union territory. The Lt Governor saidit is "our sacred obligation to defend every inch of motherland andeven if we have to sacrifice everything, we shall be ready". "Somepeople, on behest of the neighbouring country, are trying to createdisturbance in J-K. The neighbouring country which itself is living inmisery, can't do any good to the people of J-K," he said.

‘Will strike last nail in coffin of terrorism in one year’

‘Wedding kits’ toraise awareness

on family planning Raipur, Aug 13 (PTI):

The Central ReservePolice Force (CRPF) hasbeen reaching out to re-mote villages inChhattisgarh's Maoist-hitBastar region under the'Har Ghar Tiranga' cam-paign and distributing thenational flags.

CRPF officials said theyhave also covered those vil-lages where the nationalflag had never been hoistedsince Independence due tovarious reasons includingthe Maoist threat.

Security personnel havenot only told villagers tohoist the tricolour in theirhouses but also made themaware of the importance ofIndependence day. Themove is also helping securi-ty forces to improve rela-

tions with locals living inthe shadow of Left Wing ex-

tremism. Thirty-eight bat-talions of CRPF, the largest

paramilitary force, are de-ployed in Chhattisgarh, ex-

tensively in Bastar, forcounter-insurgency opera-tions. One battalion com-prises around 1,000 person-nel. "As many as one lakhnational flags have beendistributed by CRPF per-sonnel in interior villagesof Dantewada, Bijapur,Bastar and Sukma districtsin the last one week,"Inspector General (CRPF),Chhattisgarh sector, SaketKumar Singh told onSaturday.

The CRPF, which re-mains stationed in Bastarfor more than a decade tofight the Maoist menace,aims to connect tribals ofremote villages with thecelebrations to mark the75th year of Independence,he added. The drive to dis-tribute national flags as apart of the 'Har Ghar

Tiranga' campaign waslaunched early this weekand it will be concluded onSaturday, he said.

Mostly those villageswere covered which fallwithin a radius of 7-8 kmaround security camps andpolice stations. As there areseveral camps situated insouth Bastar, a large num-ber of villages have beencovered there, Singh added.

In some villages wherethe tricolour had neverbeen hoisted, villagerswere amazed to see the na-tional flag. Their responsewas superb as they notonly received flags withwarmth but also listenedpatiently to security forceswhen they explained tothem the importance of I-Day and the national flag ,the IG said.

CRPF distributing tricolour in remote villages of Maoist-hit Bastar divisionA Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) personnel

gives the national flag to achild in Karli village, near

Dantewada.

Central Chronicle News

Bhilai, Aug 13: RupaliMahtari GudiBahuuddeshiya Sanstha,Bhilai, distributed sta-tionery, note books andshoes among the under-privileged tribal studentsin Government PrimarySchool in Village Narkalo,Block Lakhanpur, DistrictSurguja.

The organisation dis-

tributed shoes and otheritems among the childrenso that they could attendthe Independence Day cele-brations of Azadi KaAmrit Mahotsava in com-plete school uniform.Members of the organisa-tion addressed the stu-dents and threw light onthe significance of inde-pendence and patriotism.

Rupali Mahtari GudiBahuuddeshiya Sanstha

Patron Anju Dewangan(from Soul ConnectionMeditation Group,Australia and a native ofvillage Hardi, Bilaspur),Neelam Shukla, VaibhaviSethi, Kokil Kakkar, IlaGupta, Varsha Khilnani,Akhilesh Kashyap andschool HM Santosh KumarPatel, Damayanti Panna,Thaneshwari Tiwari,Kamlesh Kumar Rajwadeand others were present.


Bhilai, Aug 13: On the eveof Independence Day,Minister of Home andPublic Works, TamradhwajSahu honored the familiesof the martyrs during aprogramme organised atKala Mandir in CivicCentre. Family members ofmartyrs from State PoliceForces as well as IndianArmy were honoured.

Home Minister special-ly honoured the family ofMartyr LieutenantColonel Kapil Dev Pandey,who made supreme sacri-fice in the lines of duty atManipur. His motherKusum Pandey and SisterBhavana Pandey (seniorjournalist) received thehonour.

In his address, HomeMinister said that thespirit of patriotism is agreat emotion. The sol-

diers who laid down theirlives for the country aresacred for all the countrymen. With their courageand bravery, they keep themotherland safe.

The entire country isgrateful to them. In his ad-dress, MLA Arun Vorasaid that martyrs have sac-rificed their today for abetter tomorrow for all thecountrymen. The freedom

fighters and martyr sol-diers made great contribu-tions for making the coun-try stronger.

Durg Mayor DheerajBakliwal said that such anevent increases thestrength of the martyrfamilies. CollectorPushpendra KumarMeena in his address saidthat we are grateful to themartyred soldiers, who

protected our countrywith their courage.

The country is safe be-cause of their patrioticspirit. In his address, SPDr Abhishek Pallava saidthat we are grateful to allthe martyred soldiers.

Today, beforeIndependence Day, it is apleasure to spend sometime with the families ofall the martyrs. By serving

the country and helpingthe people, we can pay ourtrue tribute to the mar-tyred soldiers.

On this occasion, all thepolice officers and jawanswaved the national flags.SP Dr Abhishek Pallavsang patriotic songs withthe tricolor in his hands.The entire atmosphere wasdrenched in the colour ofpatriotism.


Bhilai, Aug 13: A Trainfrom Antagarh to Durgwas inaugurated atAntagarh station byMohan Mandavi, ChiefGuest and Member ofParliament. Anoop Nag,MLA, Divisional RailwayManager, Raipur, andAnirban Dasgupta,Director I/c (BSP) were thespecial guests on the occa-sion. K K Singh, ED I/c (P&A), and Tapan Sutradhar,ED (Mines & Rowghat),

Anupam Bisht, GM(MinesHQ), S K Soni, GM(NW &Mines) and other senior of-ficials were present duringthe function.

Dasgupta in his addresssaid that he sought the sup-port of the people presentto start Rowghat minessoon. Rails being madefrom the State's earth willgo a long way in develop-ing our Nation, he said.

We are overcomingchallenges with your sup-port and will soon com-plete this railway line

journey soon, he added.The Passenger Train

from Antagarh to Durgwas flagged off by MohanMandavi, Chief Guest forthe inaugural run. Thistrain route is part of theDalli - Rajhara - Rowghatline (95 km) and is fundedby SAIL-Bhilai Steel Plantunder SECR (SouthEastern Central Railway).

The new service con-nects Antagarh to Dalli-Rajhara, located 60 kmsaway. It will be furtherconnected to Taroki sta-

tion in January 2023.At the outset, the digni-

taries visited DAV School,Antargarh and distributedFlags and Sweets underthe banner of 'Azadi kaAmrit Mahotsav'. DAVSchool at Antagarh is runby SAIL-Bhilai Steel Plantand caters to students from22 villages in the bufferzone of Rowghat.Currently, the school ishome to 330 students fol-lowing CBSE Englishmedium from Classes 1 to 7and is fully funded by BSP.


Bhilai, Aug 13: Under theHar Ghar Tiranga cam-paign, Women of SelfHelp Groups operatingunder the BhilaiMunicipal Corporationhad put up stalls at differ-ent places for selling thenational flags. Peoplebought over 30000 flagsfrom these stalls. MayorNeeraj Pal andC o r p o r a t i o nCommissioner LokeshChandrakar have ap-pealed to the people tomake the campaign agrand success.

M u n i c i p a lCommissioner LokeshChandrakar inspected thestall in the Main Officeand purchased the tricolorfrom the women. Underthe Har Ghar Tiranga pro-gramme, people are beinginspired to hoist the na-tional flag in their respec-

tive homes. 10,000 Tricolorflags were manufacturedby Sankalp Self HelpGroup, Kohka, 5000 byHayat Self Help Group,4000 by Miraj Self HelpGroup, 7000 by IshwariSelf Help Group and 4000by Jai Bajrangbali SelfHelp Group.

All the tricolor flagswere bought by the localsfor hoisting at theirhomes. To make the HarGhar Tiranga program a

success, the women of SelfHelp Groups were work-ing hard for a long timeand after preparing theflags, made them availablein the markets by settingup stalls at different spots

On the occasion ofIndependence Day, MayorNeeraj Pal will unfurl thenational flag in the mainoffice of the BhilaiMunicipal Corporation,while MLA DevendraYadav will unfurl the flag

in Shaheed Garden Sector5. Presidents of the zonecommittees will hoist theflag in all the sub-division-al offices of the corpora-tion.

Cleanliness and gar-landing of all the impor-tant monuments will bedone and special care isbeing taken for cleanli-ness at places where thestatues of great personali-ties have been installed. Inpublic institutions and of-fices, where the nationalflag will be hoisted, patri-otic songs will be played.

Elaborate arrangementsof lighting will be made inthe office, Shaheed Udyan,zone offices and otherplaces. Mayor Neeraj Paland CorporationCommissioner LokeshChandrakar have ap-pealed to the people to cel-ebrate Independence Daywith enthusiasm and gaiety.

Two-day ‘Sangeetotsav’ tobe organised at Mahatma

Gandhi Kala MandirCentral Chronicle News

Bhilai, Aug 13: A Two-day 'Sangeetotsav' will beorganised at MahatmaGandhi Kala Mandir bySports and Recreationgroup of SAIL-Bhilai SteelPlant at Mahatma GandhiKala Mandir from August14-15, 2022. Classical musicand dance performancesalongwith dance onPatriotic songs will be or-ganised from 7.30 pm.

A 2-minutes silence willbe observed on August 14,2022 to mark 'PartitionHorrors Remembranceday'. Sanskriti Wahaneand Prakriti Wahane, sis-ters will performJugalbandi on Sitar and

Santoor. Dr PrabhkarKashyap and DiwakarKashyap will also presentsongs. Classical songs willalso be performed duringthe 2-hour programme.Upasana Tiwari,renowned dance guru willdirect a dance perform-ance with 100 students inboth classical andPatriotic form. Kathakdance alongwith a dancededicated to our nation'sfreedom fighters will beperformed on August 15,2022. Interested music anddance connoisseurs are in-vited to attend the pro-gramme at MahatmaGandhi Kala Mandir fromAugust 14-15, 2022. Entryfor the event is free of cost.


Bhilai, Aug 13: SAIL-Bhilai Steel Plant'sEducation departmentunder the guidance ofShikha Dubey, GM(Education). organised a"Prabhat Pheri" on 13August 2022 under the ban-ner of 'Azadi ka AmritMahotsav' As many as 3000students from 15 schools ofBSP, including Bhilaitownship, Rajhara andHirri took part enthusias-tically in the PrabhatPheri.

Approximately 200 stu-dents from each schoolalong with the Teachers

and Head of the schoolmarched in the vicinity ofthe schools. Students were

shouting slogans infusinga spirit of patriotism andpride in the Indian

Tricolour. The studentswalked past their schools,waving Tricolour balloons

and Flag. They took partwith full zeal with patriot-ic fervour and walked

along with their schoolbanners during thePrabhat Pheri.

BMC officials pledge to makethe country ‘Drug Free’


Bhilai, Aug 13: The offi-cials of Bhilai MunicipalCorporation took oathunder Drug Free IndiaCampaign. On the instruc-tions of Mayor Neeraj Paland CorporationCommissioner LokeshChandrakar, the officers /

employees came togetherto take a pledge to maketheir community, family,friends as well as them-selves drug free under theDrug Free IndiaCampaign.

The officers / employeestook a resolution to makethemselves drug-free.They also took an oath to

make India Drug-Free bymaking all possible effortsin their own capacity.Under the Azadi Ka AmritMahotsav, an oath takingprogram was organizedunder the Drug-Free IndiaCampaign in which the of-ficers/employees of BhilaiCorporation participatedenthusiastically.

Full dress rehearsal held at Police Ground before I-Day


Bhilai, Aug 13: CollectorPushpendra KumarMeena and SP DrAbhishek Pallav tookstock of the preparations

in Police Lines Ground forthe Independence Dayprogramme. On the eve ofIndependence Day, a fulldress rehearsal was or-ganized on Saturday forthe preparations for the

Independence Day cele-brations to be held in thePolice Lines.

Collector PushpendraKumar Meena and SP DrAbhishek Pallav werepresent on the occasion.

The Collector reviewedthe preparations in the en-tire campus and instruct-ed to make arrangementskeeping in mind the socialdistance. SDM JageshwarKaushal and other officers

were also present.Ravindra Choubey,

Minister ofParliamentary Affairs,Agriculture Developmentand Farmers Welfare andBiotechnology, LivestockDevelopment, Fisheries,Water Resources andPanchayat and RuralD e v e l o p m e n tDepartment, will be thechief guest in the mainfunction organized inDurg district on the occa-sion of Independence Day.He will take the salute ofthe parade after hoistingthe flag at Police Groundat 9:00 am. After the guardof honour, the ChiefGuest will read the mes-sage of the ChiefMinister.

CENTRAL CHRONICLE, RAIPUR, SUNDAY, AUGUST 14, 2022

3000 students take part in Prabhat Pherip Organised at

BSP schools

SHGs sell over 30000 flags under Har Ghar Tiranga Campaign

Train from Antagarh to Durg inaugurated at Antagarh station

Families of martyrs honoured on I-Day eveStationery and shoes distributedamong tribal students


Door-to-door drive for

Covid vaccination

Raipur, Aug 13: CollectorDr Sarveshwar Bhure helda meeting of the officers ofthe department concernedto expedite the vaccina-tion of Covid in the meet-ing room of theCollectorate here today. Hetook development block-wise information aboutthe vaccination sessionfrom the officials of theHealth Department andafter taking informationabout due second dose andthe precaution dose, he di-rected to complete the tar-get by making an actionplan.

The collector inquiredabout the storage pointand vaccine stock and in-quired about the target ofapplying Covid dosage toclass-wise beneficiaries in-cluding health care work-ers, frontline workers, stu-

dents of 12 to 14 years, stu-dents of 15 to 17 years, citi-zens of 18 to 44 years andcitizens above 44 years. Heemphasized coordinateamong the officials of theconcerned department tomake a better action plan.

The Collector instructedthe officers of MunicipalCorporation Raipur to pre-pare an action plan forzone wise vaccination incoordination with theHealth Department. Allthe Anganwadi workers ofICDS have been instructedto make door-to-door visitswith the vaccination team.He asked all the SDMs toprepare an action plan forPanchayat wise vaccina-tion in coordination withCMO and DPM.

He asked all govern-ment offices to ensurecomplete booster vaccina-

tion of the employees andofficers. In the industrialareas of Urla and Birgaon,the CMO was directed toform a separate team for100% vaccination of peo-ple working in industries.He directed the AssistantCommissioner TribalDepartment to make anaction plan for vaccinationof students residing inhostels and to the officersof the EducationDepartment to ensure100% vaccination ofschool students. The meet-ing was attended byRaipur MunicipalCommissioner MayankChaturvedi, all SDMs,Chief Medical and HealthOfficer, Panchayat andcivic body officers, districtprogramme officer and of-ficers of other concerneddepartments.

Tricolor is our pride: Lakhma

RRaaiippuurr,, AAuugg 1122:: The 75th yearof India’s independence isbeing celebrated all over thecountry as ‘Azadi Ka AmritMahotsav’. ‘Har Ghar TirangaAbhiyan’ has also been startedunder the ‘Azadi Ka AmritMahotsav’. Many events arebeing organized on this occa-sion. In this series, a tirangarally was organized fromDornapal to Sukma by the223rd Corps of the CentralReserve Police Force. StateIndustries and Excise Minister,Kawasi Lakhma participated inthis rally and hoisted the tricol-or. On this occasion, Lakhmaextended greetings and bestwishes to everyone on the 75thanniversary of the country’sindependence. He said that thetricolor is our strength for theunity of the country and it is

our pride. He encouraged thesecurity personnel. During thetricolor rally, school childrenand local people welcomed therally with the tricolor in theirhands at many places betweenDornapal and Sukma. SukmaDistrict Collector Mr. Harish S.,Superintendent of Police Mr.Sunil Sharma, CommandantMr. Raghuvansh Kumar andmany officers were present inthis rally. It is worth mentioningthat under the ‘Azadi Ka AmritMahotsav’, a tricolor programis being run at every house onthe occasion of IndependenceWeek. Meanwhile, ‘Har GharTiranga Abhiyan’ is also beingorganised by the state govern-ment from August 11 to 17,2022. Through this campaign,all the citizens of the state arebeing motivated to hoist thenational flag tricolor in theirhomes so that the feeling ofpatriotism and respect for thenational flag increases in themind of all the citizens.

Every section of society feeling cheated under Cong rule: Sao


Raipur, Aug 13: Newlyappointed BJP StatePresident Arun Sao wasaccorded warm welcomeby the party workers andleaders on his arrival atthe Swamy VivekanandAirport on Saturdaymorning. BJP leaders wel-comed him amidst thebeating of drum-beats andshowering of flowerpetals. Hundreds of BJYMworkers took out a motor-cycle rally and led the car-cade of newly appointedBJP State President.

The BJP State PresidentArun Sao was welcomedmid-way at Mana Chowk,Phundhar Chowk by theBJP workers. He alightedat the VIP Chowk and vis-ited Lord Ram’s templeand offered obeisance toLord Shri Ram and soughtblessings for peace andprosperity of all. After thishe garlanded the statue ofPt. Deendayal Upadhyay atTelibandha chowka andon reaching Telibandhachowk he was welcomed

by Sarv Sahu Samaj. FromTelibandha the BJYM bikerally went to Bhagat SinghChowk and here he gar-landed the statue of mar-tyr Bhagat Singh and of-fered rich tributes to theleader and here the BJPMinorities cell memberswelcomed him.

From here the rallyreached Ambedkar Chowknear Collectorate and hereArun Sao garlanded thestatue of BR Ambedkarand offered rich tributes tothe leader. After this BJPKissan Morcha workershanded over a ‘hal’ toArun Sao and welcomedhim at Shastri Chowk and

during this slogans relatedto ‘Jai Jawan-Jai Kissan’were raised and Arun Saogarlanded the statue of LalBahadur Shastri atShastri Chowk. At DentalCollege, RajbandhaMaidan, members of BJPPichada Varg welcomedthe BJP State Presidentand on reaching the BJP’sstate office, Arun Sao waswelcomed amidst shower-ing of flower petals andbursting of fire crackers.

Speaking on the occa-sion BJP State PersidentArun Sao addressing theparty workers inChhattisgarhi said thatright since his father was

Mandal President at thattime he was 10 yr andsince then he is workingfor the party’s flag and forthe party.

Remembering his fatheron this occasion he saidthat it was his inspirationthat he lifted the party’sflag and had worked sin-cerely in VidyarthiParishad, Yuwa Morchaand BJP and a small partyworker like him has beenhanded over the charge ofState BJP President. Hesaid that it is fortunate forhim that he will get theguidance of senior partyleaders Dr Raman Singh,Vishnu Deo Sai,

Dharamlal Kaushik andother leaders.

The BJP State PersidentArun Sao charged thatAtal Behari Vajpayeeformed new Chhattisgarhto relieve it from hunger,poverty and free it fromnaxalism. But underCongress leadership thedirection in which thestate is progressing ishighly unfortunate andthe party would ensurethat it is ousted in the nextelections. He charged thatthe people of Chhattisgarhhave been cheated andevery section of the socie-ty is feeling exploited andharassed by the Congressgovernment. He chargedMafia-raj is going inChhattisgarh and it hasbecome capital of crimes.The black business ofdrugs and illicit liquor isflourshing in the state andbe it farmers, youth,women, or eleders they allare feeling cheated and itcan be very well said thatthere is hardly any personwho has not being cheatedby Congress.

On this occasion outgo-ing BJP State PresidentVishnu Deo Sai, ex- CM DrRaman Singh and Leaderof Opposition in VSDharamlal Kaushik alsoaddressed the party work-ers and greeted Arun Saoas the new BJP Chief ofState.

Heavy rainfall alert for severaldistricts of state

Raipur, Aug 13 (PTI):Several districts ofChhattisgarh are likely to re-ceive heavy rainfall over thenext two days, theMeteorological Departmentsaid on Saturday.

Bilaspur, Korba, Mungeli,Gariaband, Raipur, Durg andDhamtari districts may wit-ness heavy spells of showerswith thunderstorms at oneor two places in the next 48hours, said HP Chandra, ameteorologist at Raipur’smeteorological centre. Heavyto very heavy rainfall is like-ly in Raigarh, Janjgir-Champa, Balodabazar andMahasamund districts in thenext 48 hours, he added. Therainfall warning was issuedat 1:30 pm on Saturday.

A low pressure area liesover north Bay of Bengal.Associated cyclonic circula-tion extends upto 7.6 kmabove mean sea level tiltingsouthwards. The monsoontrough now passes throughcentre of depression overnorthwest and adjoiningnortheast Arabian Sea,Erinpura, Kota, Satna,Daltonganj, Digha andthence southwards to thecentre of low pressure areaover north Bay of Bengal

and extends upto 1.5 kmabove mean sea level. Theseactivities are likely to resultin heavy rainfall in four divi-sions- Raipur, Durg, Bastarand Bilaspur ofChhattisgarh, Odisha andnorth Andhra Pradesh tillAugust 15, Chandra said in astatement. An average rain-fall of 762.9 mm has beenrecorded in Chhattisgarh tillFriday since June 1, as perthe state revenue depart-ment. The highest rainfall of1,778.4 mm was recorded inBijapur district while theSurguja district witnessedthe lowest average rainfall of302.7 mm during this period.At least 63 people have diedin rain-related incidents andother natural calamities be-tween June 1 and August 11

as southern and central re-gions were battered by rain,an official said. As many as55 houses were completelydestroyed while 471 werepartially damaged as a resultof rainfall during the sameperiod while ten reliefcamps were set up in rain-af-fected districts, he said.Rainfall-related incidentshave also claimed the lives of340 cattle in the state sinceJune 1. Of 63 deaths reportedsince June 1, 35 were causedby lightning, 22 took placedue to drowning and six dueto snake bite,” the officialsaid.

The districts of Raigarh,Janjgir-Champa, Mungeliand Kondagaon receivedheavy rains in the last twodays, he said.

Can order probeinto death of SinghDeo’s relative: CM

Raipur, Aug 13 (PTI)Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghelon Saturday said the gov-ernment can order aprobe into the death of arelative of his cabinet col-league T S Singh Deo ifthe family wanted it.

Veerbhadra PratapSingh (42), vice-presidentof Lundra JanpadPanchayat in Surguja dis-trict, was found dead nearrailway tracks in Bilaspurdistrict on Friday.

Police suspect that hemight have fallen acciden-tally from the Durg-Ambikapur Express onwhich he was travelling.

The opposition BJP has,however, demanded a judi-cial probe saying thedeath took place under

suspicious circumstances.Asked about the de-

mand, Baghel told re-porters here, I spoke to T SSingh Deo yesterday andhe did not express thiskind of suspicion aboutthe incident. But if thefamily wants, we don’thave any problem order-ing investigation.”Veerbhadra Pratap Singhalias Sachin Baba, a rela-tive of Health MinisterSingh Deo, belonged to the

Dhaulpur wing of theerstwhile Surguja royalfamily. He was travellingto Ambikapur fromRaipur by the Durg-Ambikapur Express onThursday night and itseems that he fell acciden-tally from the movingtrain and died of injuries,Bilaspur SeniorSuperintendent of PoliceParul Mathur had saidearlier. BJP MLA AjayChandrakar said `Sachin’(as he was known) hadbeen arrested in connec-tion with the alleged at-tack on the convoy ofCongress MLA BrihaspatSingh in July 2021.

It could very well be apolitical murder,Chandrakar said, de-manding that ChiefMinister Baghel orderprobe by a sitting HighCourt judge.

‘TIRANGA YATRA’

(Top)- CRPF personnel took out massive ‘Tiranga Yatra’ in capital city on occasion of‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahostsav’ here on Saturday. (below) A full dress rehearsal was heldat the police parade ground on eve of I-Day.

p If family wishes

In the coming two days

Accorded warmwelcome by partyworkers and lead-ers from Airport toparty’s Ekatmaparisar

p Minister participatedin ‘Har Ghar TirangaAbhiyan’


Chinese Rakhi lost Indian market: CAITRaipur, Aug 13: CAITNational Senior VicePresident Amar Parwani,chairman MangelalMaloo, Amar GidwaniState President JitendraDoshi, State WorkingPresident Vikram SinghDeo, Parmanand Jain,Vashu Makhija, StateGeneral SecretarySuriender Singh, StateWorking GeneralSecretary Bharat Jain,State Treasurer AjayAgrawal and state mediaincharge Sanjay Choubeyinformed that once againthis year, the traders andpeople of India gave a se-vere jolt to China by opt-ing for “Bhartiya Rakhi’instead of using anyChinese Rakhi celebrat-ing Raksha Bandhan festi-val across the country.Practically, there was nodemand for Chinese rakhi

this year and all along themarkets all over the coun-try only Bhartiya Rakhiwere in great demand. Itspeaks to the gross senti-ments of the people ofIndia for avoiding usage ofChinese goods in theirdaily life. Approximately,there was a trade of about7 thousand crores ofRakhi this year.Retrieving the gloriouspast of Indian festivals,the CAIT also called forusage of “ Vedic Rakhi” torekindle the traditionwhich has revived India’sancient culture and sanc-tity of Rakhi festival.

CAIT National SeniorVice President Mr. AmarParwani and StatePresident Mr. JitendraDoshi said that every fes-tival of India is embeddedwith old culture and civi-lization of the country

which has been greatly de-stroyed by rapid western-ization and thereforethere is a need to re-estab-lish India’s cultural val-ues. Keeping this objec-tive in mind and to reducethe country’s dependenceon China and makingIndia a self dependentcountry. The time hasgone when Indian peoplewere crazy about theChinese Rakhi because ofits designs and being costeffective. However, withthe change of time andmindset, the people havenow relied much on localmake Rakhi. On the otherhand, the CAIT encour-aged the people to useVedic Rakhi of differenttypes particularly amongthe trading community ofthe country. Vedic Rakhiis a self created Rakhi.Entire nation celebrated

the Rakhi festival withgreat fanfare but withusage of Bhartiya Rakhi.While tying the RakshaSutra, the people uttermost powerful Vedic vers-es “Yen Badho Bali Raja,Danvendro Mahabalah-Ten Tvam RakshaBadhnami, RakshaMachaal Machaal. BothMr. Parwani & Mr. Doshisaid that the trade associa-tions all over the countryunder the aegis of CAITlaid greater emphasis onpreparation of VedicRaksha Rakhi having es-sentially five things hav-ing their own great rele-vance include Durva i.e.grass, Akshat i.e. rice,Saffron, Sandalwood andmustard seeds. These canbe stitched in a silk clothand are threaded withKalava and thus VedicRakhi can be prepared.

Collector issues orderto deduct salary

Jagdalpur, Aug 13:Collector Chandan Kumar,who arrived at SwamiAtmanand ExcellentEnglish Medium School(SAGEMS) andGovernment HigherSecondary SchoolTokapal, Hindi MediumSchool, found that, manyteachers are on leave with-

out application approval.In which lecturer ofHigher Secondary SchoolTokapal Anita Phulesar,Aradhana SinghBhadauria, AnshumalaMinj, Pooja Gupta, SwamiAmanand ExcellentEnglish Medium Schoollecturer Arpana Singh,Priyanka Verma,Librarian Tanay Ghosh,Assistant Grade-2 Mohd.Yasir has been instructedby the Collector to deducttheir salary for the day ofabsence.

District Panchayat CEORohit Vyas, DevelopmentBlock Education OfficerTokapal BR Baghel, BRCAjay Sharma andPrincipal VidhushekharJha were present duringthe inspection of theCollector.

Police increases patrolling in sensitive areas


Jagdalpur, Aug 13:Under the leadership ofSSP Jitendra SinghMeena, action is beingtaken continuously underbasic policing by BastarPolice for the purpose ofcrime control and law andorder. Keeping in view theupcoming IndependenceDay, under the supervi-sion of Addl. SP NiveditaPaul and all the SDMs, ac-tion is being takenagainst criminal and anti-social activities for peace-ful conduct in the contextof upcomingIndependence Day. On the

other hand, precaution-ary action is also beingtaken through visiblepolicing.

In the same line today,the Bastar police on occa-sion of IndependenceDay, along with ThanaCity Kotwali andBodhghat Police, keepingin view the arrival of

VIPs in Bastar and ensur-ing peaceful programme,with help of BombDisposal Squad and DogSquad, intensive pa-trolling is being done insensitive areas of the cityincluding Lalbagh,Motilab Para, SanjayBazar, Dharampura,G a n g a m u n d a ,

Nayamunda etc. Apartfrom this, major placeslike Maa DanteshwariAirport, Bus Stand,Railway Station, Lalbaghetc. are being checked inJagdalpur. Apart fromthis, the people staying atthe hotels, lodges, inns,dhabas etc. places of thecity are also being verifiedand the reasons for theircoming and going. Apartfrom this, checking ofpassengers and goods isalso being done by puttingup check-posts onAmaguda, Dharampura,Geedam Road and MadiyaChowk and roads leadingto the city. The move-ments of people comingfrom the city is also beingmonitored, as well as allthe police station and out-post in-charges of Bastardistrict have been in-structed to remain on thealert. Apart from this, in-structions have also beengiven to the police stationin-charges of rural areasfor necessary securityarrangements in the dis-trict.

One killed and otherinjured as bike collides

with roadside boardCentral Chronicle News

Jagdalpur, Aug 13:Under the Kodnar policestation area of the district,the speeding sports bikecollided with the board onthe roadside, due to whichit was blown away. A youthriding the bike died on thespot, while another youthsitting behind the bikewas seriously injured andhe has been admitted toMedical College Hospital.

On the information ofthe accident, the policereached the spot and aftersending the body for post-mortem, took the matterinto consideration.Kodnar police station in-charge Vikas Chandra Rai

said that, YogeshVishwakarma age 22 yearsresident Tokapal policestation Parpa and Amanage 28 years residentTokapal, both were goingon bike towards Kodnarpolice station area.

Meanwhile, near theArapur pond, they collidedwith the sign board by theroadside. Yogesh died onthe spot in this accident.At the same time, Amanwas admitted to GovtHospital in serious condi-tion.

Allons celebrate Raksha Bandhan

BBeemmeettaarraa,, AAuugg 1133:: The festivalof ancient sacred and unbreak-able love of siblings was cele-brated with the festival ofRaksha Bandhan by MahatmaHumanity Club at the old agehome in Kanteli village ofBemetara district. The studentsof Allons Public School,Bemetara, today tied Rakhies onthe wrists of the old people anddistributed sweets and fruits tobring happiness on the faces ofthe old people. There was hap-piness on the faces of the oldpeople on seeing this scene. Assoon as they met the children,there was a wave of happinesson their faces. They congratu-lated all the new people. The oldpeople are staying away from aprosperous family, whose lovedones have left them at the oldage home due to selfishness.Explaining their compulsion tostay in the ashram, the old peo-ple said that today we are meet-ing our loved ones while havingRakhies with the soft hands of

these children. The eyes of theold people filled in the memoryof their families. They sharedtheir experiences with the chil-dren. The old people said thatthey kept celebrating such fes-tivals so that their morale con-tinues to increase.

M.F. Hussain Club (Art Club)organized Rakhi making compe-tition in three groups in theschool premise in which stu-dents participated enthusiasti-cally. Primary (Class I to V)Winner List Class - I -1st –Samridhi Verma, 2nd – Jayanti

Verma , 3rd – Rupesh Verma ,Class – II - 1st – Khejal Sahu, 2nd– Bhavya Shrivastava, 3rd –Aradhya Sao, Class – III - 1st –Poorvi Sahu, 2nd – PranshiDhruw & Kumanshu Verma, 3rd– Mishika Koushal & OjasviSahu, Class – IV- 1st – NishthaSingh, 2nd –Arvind Sahu &Vanya Verma, 3rd – PeehuParganiha, Class – V- 1st –Pratik Tandon, 2nd –Abhay Sahu& Tanmay Gendre, 3rd -Pratyaksh Singh & NidhiDewangan, (Class – VI to VIII)Winner List, 1st – Sadhika GildaClass – VIII, 2nd – ShubhishreeTiwari Class – VII, 3rd – ShreyaBhutada Class – VI (Class –IX toXII) 1st – Shakshi Verma Class –IX, 2nd – Geetanjali YadavClass – XI Science , 3rd – AdvitTiwari Class – X. Seeing theenthusiasm of the children, theprincipal and teachers appreci-ated the enthusiasm of the chil-dren.

On the occasion of theRaksha Bandhan, the studentswanted to protect the environ-ment in the future and to pro-tect the forests by tying Rakshasutras to the trees. The studentsof Allons of Go Green Club said“If we protect the trees, thetrees will protect us”. By tying

Rakshabandhan to the trees, thechildren gave an auspiciousmessage to the public, fulfillingthe purpose of securing theirfuture, which is inspiring for thesociety.

Principal of the school Dr.Satyajit Hota said that RakshaBandhan is a symbol of mutuallove and respect of sisters andbrothers, which makes strongrelations. Seeing the smile onthe faces of the old people, hesaid that I have got emotionalatmosphere by coming here.After listening to all of them,while educating the children, hesaid that what can a person dofor society who does not servehis parents? His visit to templeand Masjid is also futile. All thepilgrims are present in the serv-ice of their parents. Therefore,we should serve our parents.This is our true devotion.Explaining the importance oftrees, he said that by followingthe motto of ‘Vanam RakshatiRakshtah’, the objective is topresent environmental friendli-ness in a realistic form today.The trees are life-giving for us.Our future is secured only bytrees. Serving trees and eldersis our eternal Vedic tradition.We must follow it.

Water level of Indravati slowly receding

Jagdalpur, Aug 13:Indravati river is flowingabove the danger markdue to incessant rains inBastar district for last fewdays. The old bridge ofIndravati river is sub-merged since last twodays. But with rains stop-ping, the water level of theIndravati river is nowslowly receding. ByWednesday evening, thewater above the old bridgeof Indravati river is likelyto recede. But dark clouds

are still hovering the re-gion on Wednesday anddue to which there is stillpossibility of heavy rains.

Along with this, manywards and low-lying areaof city are also waterlog-ging and JMC is busy in si-phoning of rain- waterfrom flooded streets andlanes of different wardsincluding drains as well.Corporation’s flood disas-ter team is continuouslycarrying out relief worksfor the flood victims of OldBridge, Mahadev Ghat,Ganpati Resort area, andother areas. It is notablehere that flood reliefcamps have been openedin Panara Para School,

Indira Gandhi School,Bhagat Singh School andall arrangements havebeen made to stay in LalBahadur Shastri School

and other relief camps.Bastar Collector

Chandan Kumar informedthat 60 families of the dis-trict have been badly af-

fected due to heavy rains,and arrangements havebeen made to keep all ofthem in relief camps.

BSS to observe ‘AmritMahotsav’ from today

Raipur, Aug 13: On theoccasion of 75thIndependence Day whichis being observed as AmritMahotsav all throughoutthe country, Bharat SevaAshram Sangha (BSS) isalso observing this pro-gramme in a grand man-ner. As per the pro-grammedetails received,Vishwa Shanti Yagya isslotted from 10 am to 11am, patriotic music andbhajan programme from11 am to 12 noon, dis-course and blessings bySwamiji along with poojaand aarti, prasad distribu-tion at 1 pm and from 6:30

pm different personalitieswho have achieved excel-

lence in their respectivefields will be honouredwith SwamiPranavananda MemorialAward. On this occasionschool children will pres-ent different cultural pro-grammes.

On August 15 after un-furling of tricolor at 8:30am stone will be laid ofBharat Mata massive tem-ple and prayer hall bySwamiji. Later from 10 amto 12 noon a rally will betaken out from MariveDrive to Netaji SubhashStadium here, informsSwami ShivarupanandaSecretary BSS Raipur.

IIIT Director PK Sinha awarded AAIA FellowRRaaiippuurr,, AAuugg 1133:: It is a matterof great pride and honour forIIIT-NR and Chhattisgarh thatthe Asia-Pacific ArtificialIntelligence Association(AAIA) has conferred its high-est honour, the Fellow of theAssociation, on Dr. Pradeep K.Sinha, the Director of IIIT-NR.Considering Dr. Sinha’s con-tributions to the advance-ment of Science & Technologyand Technical Education, theExecutive Board of the AAIAdecided to bestow this honourupon him after recognizinghim amongthe top scientistsof the world with outstandingachievements in the area ofDistributed Computing.

Based in Hong Kong, theAsia-Pacific ArtificialIntelligence Association(AAIA) is an academic, non-profit and non-governmentalorganization voluntarilyformed by a large group ofacademicians worldwide. Itaims to build a broad AI indus-try, bringing together scien-tists and entrepreneurs relat-ed to AI applications to devel-op AI industries, including the

AI Ocean, AI Transportation,AI Computing, AICommunication, AI Robot, AIEducation, AI Agriculture, AIFinance, AI Medicine, AIEnergy, and dozens of AIapplication fields. The mainmission of the AAIA is tostrengthen scientists in thefield of AI and other fieldsworldwide to promote thedevelopment and applicationof AI through academicresearch, academicexchanges, science educa-tion, science exhibitions, aca-demic conferences, academicpublications, summer/wintercamps and other activities.

The fellows of the Asia-Pacific Artificial IntelligenceAssociation (AAIA) includesome of the world’s eminentacademicians who come fromStanford University, PrincetonUniversity, MIT, CaliforniaInstitute of Technology,Cornell University, ColumbiaUniversity, University ofOxford, Imperial CollegeLondon, University of Toronto,University of Waterloo,University of Melbourne,

Sydney University, NanyangTechnological University,Singapore NationalUniversity, Peking University,Tsinghua University, ZhejiangUniversity, Shanghai JiaoTong University and other uni-versities, as well as theworld’s top scientists in AIrelated fields from Google,Microsoft, IBM, Alibaba,Huawei, JD.com and otherhigh-tech companies. Themembers of IIIT-NR are proudthat with this new develop-ment, their institute joins theleague of these top academicinstitutes.

Foreseeing the immensedemand arising for experts in

Data Science and ArtificialIntelligence in the nearfuture, Dr. Sinha played avital role in introducing newB. Tech. and M. Tech. pro-grams in Data Science &Artificial Intelligence (DSAI)in IIIT-NR, in the year 2019,making IIIT-NR one of thefirst institutes in the countryto have such a program.Today, this branch of engi-neering is the most soughtafter branch among the stu-dents seeking admission inIIIT-NR. Dr. Sinha’s profes-sional career spans more thanthirty-five years, duringwhich his technical contribu-tions include building premieracademic institutes; buildingsupercomputing systems andfacilities; developing health-care products and solutions;innovating ideas leading tointernational patents; andauthoring six books in thearea of Computer Science &Engineering. Since 2015, Dr.Sinha has been deeplyinvolved in building IIIT-NayaRaipur as a premier academicinstitute of the country.

Earlier he was with theCentre for Development ofAdvanced Computing (C-DAC), where he had lednational programs in theareas of Supercomputing,Grid Computing, and HealthInformatics. Prior to joiningC-DAC, Dr. Sinha was in Japanfor ten years, working on cut-ting edge computing tech-nologies. Dr. Sinha is a Fellowof IEEE, Fellow of ComputerSociety of India (CSI) andACM Distinguished Engineer.He is also the recipient of sev-eral other awards and recog-nitions, including the “2011VASVIK Research Award” andthe “2013 Intel PathfinderAward”.

On receiving this recogni-tion, Dr. Sinha thanked theState Government for givinghim the opportunity to setupa new technical institute inChhattisgarh. He alsothanked IIIT-NR members andall other stakeholders of IIIT-NR for their help and supportin building IIIT-NR as a pre-mier technical institute of thenation.

Scouts Guides activitiesto start soon


Raipur, Aug 13: Scoutguide activities will beconducted in all govern-ment, non-government,Eklavya schools andSwami Atmanand schoolsof Chhattisgarh. In this re-gard, instructions havebeen given by theDirectorate of PublicInstruction to all theDivisional Joint DirectorSchool Education andDistrict Education

Officers to ensure the reg-istration of Scout-Guide,Rover Ranger team andoperation of the team inall the schools of the dis-trict. In a letter issued bythe Director PublicEducation Directorate tothe concerned, it has beensaid that the work ofscouting-guiding is beingconducted smoothly byBharat Scouts and GuidesChhattisgarh in all the dis-tricts of the state.

In this regard, makesure to register the teamand conduct the team asper the new education pol-icy in all government, non-government, Eklavyaschools and SwamiAtmanand excellentEnglish and Hindi medi-um schools in the state, sothat students can partici-pate in scouting-guiding

activities.It is noteworthy that in

the meeting of StateCouncil of Bharat Scoutsand Guides on August 8ththis month, SchoolEducation Minister andState President ScoutGuide Dr. Premsai SinghTekam announced to startactivities of Scouts andGuides in all schools.Minister Dr. Tekam hadsaid that the Scout andGuide project has beenlaunched in the state withthe aim of developing thespirit of service efficientlyby explaining to them theimportance of labour forself-confidence, characterbuilding, healthy habitsand life skill developmentin the children of all thedistricts of the state andmust be implemented inall schools.

Of teachers notcoming to duty

In all schools ofChhattisgarh

Instructions to divi-sional and DEOs tostart registrationand operation ofteams in schools

Comes as big reliefto nearby villagersin the region

Jagdalpur: The body of ayoung person who wasdrowned in the strong cur-rents of Goria Bahardrain was not found tillWednesday. A youthjumped from theGoriyabahar drain locat-ed on the NationalHighway near villageAdawal of the district.According to eyewitness-

es, the young man imme-diately got swept away inthe strong current of thedrain. On getting informa-tion about the incident,Bodhghat police and headconstables jawans teamsstarted search of the bodyof the youth. The body isfeared to have beenwashed away due to thehigh water-level due to

floods.Bodhghat police station

in-charge Lalji Sinha saidthat Budhram Baghel, aresident of Hatakchora,suddenly jumped into theGoria Bahar drain. Assoon as the informationwas received, the policeand SDRF team got en-gaged in search of theyouth since last evening.

Youth gets drowned in Goria Bahar drain

By visiting old agehome and tyingRakhies on thewrists of old people

Includinig Lalbagh,Motilab Para,Sanjay Bazar, BusStand

Intensive checkingin Hotels, Lodges,Dhabas, RailwayStation, Bus Stand,Airport


Konta, Aug 13: A rally wasorganized from Dornapalto Sukma by the CentralReserve Police Force of the223rd Corps to make theHar Ghar Tricolor cam-paign successful on the75th anniversary of inde-pendence under the AmritMahotsav of India's inde-pendence.

In this rally, Excise andIndustries MinisterKawasi Lakhma partici-pated and waved the tricol-or. During this, MinisterLakhma has congratulat-ed everyone in advance onthe 75th anniversary of in-dependence.

He said that the tricolorflag is our strength and itis our pride, our pride. Healso encouraged the sol-diers. School children andpeople at various placesbetween Dornapal andSukma welcomed the rally

with tricolor flags in theirhands.

When the rally reachedSukma, a large number ofpeople under the leader-ship of SukmaMunicipality PresidentRaju Sahu gave a grandwelcome to the rally withfireworks and tricolor intheir hands. Various offi-cers including CollectorHaris S, Superintendent ofPolice Sunil Sharma,C o m m a n d a n tRaghuvansh Kumar par-ticipated in the rally.

It is worth mentioningthat on the occasion ofIndependence Week underthe Amrit Mahotsav ofAzadi, the StateGovernment is organizing"Hamar Tricolor" cam-paign from 11 to 17 August2022 under "Har GharJhanda Program". Underthis, all citizens are beingmotivated to hoist the na-tional flag in their homesso that the feeling of patri-otism and respect for thenational flag increasesamong the common people.


Katgi, Aug 13: Bhojlifestival in Chhattisgarh iscelebrated with great en-thusiasm in the village,seeds are sown on the dayof Bhojli, Pola andPanchami , and as per tra-ditions, only after seeingBhojli, the farmers guess

the paddy yield sown inthe field.

The festival was cele-brated by singing songsfrom Bhojli , and GoddessGanga Devi.Later BhojliVijran program was cele-brated in the area of theregion. Inareas of Katgi,Sarvani, Sarva, Baijnath,Malda, Pikri, Bhadra,

Kalmidih , Khaira ,Jhabdi, Madkda,Baijnath, Hasuwa,Dhamalpur, Nawapara,Amodi, Deradih, Rampur,Kot, Tiprunga,Manakoni, Darra,Giroudpuri, Madwa,Matia, Tendubhata, etc.,immersion was done withgaiety.

Rajesh Soni

Surajpur, Aug 13: It is amatter of misfortune thatthe Jaistambh built in thecity in honour of martyrsand freedom warriors hasbeen destroyed by illegalencroachment and en-croachers.

The monument in thecentre space of the cityhas been encroached byshops, hotels and othertrade centers, making it al-most not visible to publicglare, even in days of na-tional importance. Peopleand leaders which also in-clude prominent citizensvisit the place onIndependence andRepublic Day, but soon theplace is again left hostile

to encroachers.The place where

Jaistambh stands wasonce a centre of patrioticattraction, but lately thethickening population andtraders opening new ven-tures across the place havehelped the monument gocompletely submergedwithout breath takingspace. Alert citizens andintellectuals have demand-ed freeing of Jaistambh,and once again and felici-tating it to its lost glory.

WWhhaatt ooffffiicceerr ssaayyssInformation about en-

croachment will be taken andafter that action will be taken.The municipality will be askedto write a letter to clean andrestore it. Ravi Singh SDMSurajpur.


Masturi, Aug 13: In themeeting room of the localJanpad Panchayat, themembers of the women'sself-help groups, who ar-rived from different grampanchayats of the area, dis-tributed the tricolor flagsprepared by themselves.

To give shape to the tri-color program at everyhouse in the country, thewomen self of differentgram panchayats of theblock. The help groupshave made the tricolor flagon their own hands.

The local JanpadPanchayat reached to dis-tribute it. The work of theWomen Self Help Groupswas praised. With the aimof maintaining the moraleof the women and makingthe tricolor program a suc-

cess in every household,the Panchayat StaffOfficer and other villagerspurchased the flag. Alongwith this, all the peopletook a pledge to make theTricolor program everyhome a success.

The members of theWomen Self Help Grouptold during a discussionthat so far more than fiveand a half thousand flagshave been purchased bythe people. From this itseems that the people of

rural areas also under-stand well the respect ofthe tricolor and the tri-color program at everyhome. And every househas taken a pledge tomake the tricolor pro-gram a success. It maybe mentioned that themembers of women self-help groups of villagepanchayats includingSipat, Sothi, Podi, Janji,Tikari, Limtara, Lavar,Kirari, Jairamnagar,Beltukri, and other gram

panchayats had set up apandal to distribute flagsin the local JanpadPanchayat premises.

On this occasion, ChiefExecutive Officer KumarSingh Laharen encour-aged the women of SelfHelp Groups while guid-ing them and apprisedabout the facilities provid-ed by the Central and StateGovernments to womenself-help groups and thework to be done for the up-liftment of women.

Chandra Shekhar Sharma

Kawardha, Aug 13: Thespiritual heritage ofChhattisgarh BhoramdevTemple does not need anintroduction in terms ofspiritual and religious con-text, and the evidencefound in PacharahiBakela, under excavationprocess has made it anarcheological wonderworld over.

But lately the very life ofthe temple is at stake asboth whether and time hasplayed spoil sport on thepremises and the ASI, hasfailed to give it a lifelinerestoration.

The temple an architec-tural wonder by theNagvanshi rulers, is latelycovered with moss andtrees like 'Banyan, Peepalhave grown on the walls ofthe temple and damagedthe temple through itsroots.

During the rainy seasonrain water is leaking fromthe walls and roof of thetemple, which has becomea threat to the existence ofthe temple. The situation

gets worse when it rainsheavily as the temple to thesanctum is dripping heavyin water.

About three years ago,several guidelines were is-sued by the ArchaeologicalDepartment in view of thegrowing problem, alongwith doing chemical pol-

ishing for proper mainte-nance of the temple, cut-ting a big tree near the tem-ple and rice was specifical-ly prohibited in the temple.

Sixty five lakh sixty twothousand three hundredeighty -four ( 65,62,384 ) ru-pees were approved on 4February 2022 for plinth

protection , repair , chemi-cal treatment of the temple, out of which thirty twolakh eighty thousand(32,80,000) rupees on 11February 2022 were trans-ferred. But, despite severalcorrespondence and verbaldiscussions by the DistrictCollectorate to the Director

of the ArchaeologicalDepartment, no action wastaken nor the work startedin 7 months.

The history of theA r c h a e o l o g i c a lDepartment itself, whichtook the district adminis-tration in the dock regard-ing the condition of the

temple, is now overshad-owing the temple of its ar-chaeological importance.

Meanwhile, people anddevotees continue tospread rice in the templepremises leading tomildew and fungal growthin the already deteriorat-ing structure.

Tricolor yatra to betaken out by Congress


Churikala, Aug 13: InNagar PanchayatChhurikala on August14, under the leadershipof regional MLAPurushottam SinghKanwar, a Tricolor yatrawill be taken out byCongress and in this re-gard, Ashok Devangan

MLA representative toldthat the tricolor tour willbe taken out by the StateCongress Committee inall the 90 assembly con-stituencies of the state,in which the MLA of thearea, along with the of-fice bearers and workersof the CongressCommittee, will cele-brate the tricolor onAugust 14 in the NagarPanchayat Chhurikala.

Devangan further saidthat this padyatra will betaken out in every assem-bly constituency and allministers, MLAs andsenior Congress leaders,Block District andMahila Congress, YouthCongress, NSU officialswill lead in their respec-tive constituencies.

New entrepreneurs will be prepared fromFisheries Polytechnic: Dr. Dakshinakar


Dhamdha, Aug 13:Fisheries Polytechnic ,Rajpur ,under Dau ShriVasudev ChandrakarKamdhenu , University isoperating since last twoyears and this college wasopened under the guid-ance of Dr. NPDakshinakar ViceChancellor.

The creation of the uni-versity was done with theobjective to create new en-trepreneurs in the stateand for the people of thestate in the fisheries sec-tor. Dr. N. Sarang ,Principal , FisheriesPolytechnic , RajpurDhamdha told that 12thpass students are admitted

in Biology Polytechnic, viaVyapam through PAT /PVPT test. Dr. Sarang fur-ther also informed that

government employmentis decreasing day by dayand for this, the only op-tion is to create self made

entrepreneurs, which canopen the door of immensepossibilities of self - em-ployment for the state.

Kids took part in fancy dress competitionCentral Chronicle News

Bacheli, Aug 13: On occa-sion of 'Azadi ka AmritMahotsav', the parents ofschool children of MyKidz Nursery school inBacheli had dressed themin attire of Pt. JawaharlalNehru, Dr BR Ambedkar,Bharat Mata, Adivasi free-dom fighter Birsa Munda,soldier, police, Jawan,Jhansi Ki Rani,Chandrashekhar Azadand other personalitieswho were part of the coun-try's freedom struggle.

This was part of thefancy dress competitionorganised and it was en-thusiastically participat-ed. In this programme asjudge and guest was for-mer Sankul co-ordinator

Fakre Alam, AmlenduChakraborty, Govind Nag,

Nafiz Qureshi, SchoolPrincipal Shireen Verma,

Reshma and other schoolstaff were present.


On occasion of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’

Urgent restoration of Bhoramdev Temple needed

WSHG distributes tricolor Farmers worried aboutloss of crops in floods


Jagdalpur, Aug 13: Dueto the floods in Indravati,Narangi and Markandeyarivers flowing in Bastar di-vision, it has been predict-ed that the crop has beensubmerged in more thanone thousand hectare areaof the river bank. Due toheavy rains, there was aflood situation in the localrivulets.

Now with the floodwater receding, farmersare worried about cropdamage. Farmers say thatif the crop is submerged inwater for more than 36hours, there is a risk ofcrop failure. It is to beknown that due to the con-tinuous rains sinceAugust 06, Bastar division

had to face the havoc offloods. It is noteworthythat for the last two years,there was not much floodin Indravati, Narangi andMarkandeya rivers.Deputy Director,Agriculture DepartmentShyam Sevata said, loss ofcrop will be clear onlyafter the water recedes,how many hectares ofcrop were submerged inflood water, and how muchdamage has been done. Atpresent, nothing can besaid on this subject.

Jaistambh remains lost and anonymous due

to encroachment

Bhojli celebrated withenthusiasm and fanfare

Lakhma participates in tricolor yatra

INDEPENDENCE DAY

A vendor sells kites for the upcoming Independence Day, in Old Delhi, Saturday.

Goa govt plans to promotewaterfalls in state astourism destinations

Panaji, Aug 13 (PTI)

Although Goa is popularfor its beaches and places ofworship, the state govern-ment is planning to pro-mote waterfalls, whichcome alive during the mon-soon, as tourism destina-tions.

Goa is bestowed with sev-eral waterfalls, includingthe Dudhsagar Falls, thatfeatured in Shah RukhKhan and DeepikaP a d u k o n e - s t a r r e r“Chennai Express”. Anumber of waterfalls locat-ed in Sattari, Sanguem andCanacona talukas spring tolife during the rainy seasonand attract large number ofvisitors.

Talking to PTI, stateForest Minister VishwajitRane said the governmentintends to promote water-falls in the state as tourismattractions.

“Many small waterfallsin the state are tourist at-tractions. We want to edu-cate people visiting theseplaces to remain safe andnot to litter,” he said.

Rane said the forest de-

partment will levy somenominal fee from those vis-iting these waterfalls sothat the government getsrevenue, which can then beused for the upkeep ofthese places.

Earlier this week, theminister had said that wa-terfalls in Goa and sur-rounding areas would get afacelift with new facilitiesto be provided to tourists.

“Waterfalls in Goa andsurrounding areas to get afacelift. From a registrationcounter at the entrancegate, bio-toilets at every 500mtrs, picnic spots and aguide to accompany thegroups, we will ensure peo-ple visit the waterfalls andavail the facilities,” Ranehad tweeted.

He said the ForestDepartment will ensure theprotection of the waterfallsand enhance the visitor ex-perience.

Although DudhsagarFalls, located on the Goa-Karnataka border, is a starattraction among visitors,there are several other wa-terfalls in the state, includ-ing Bhati and Mainati wa-

terfalls in Sanguem,Bamanbudo in Canacona,Saleli and Pale in Sattari,that attract a large crowd.

A senior official attachedto Collem police stationsaid that in order to reachthe Dudhsagar waterfall,one has to trek for almost13 kms one way.

“But people prefer totake that pain to reach tothis waterfall,” he said.

“Visiting Dudhsagar isnot less than a craze eversince the release of“Chennai Express”, as oneof its t scenes was shothere. Round the year, thereare visitors who flockhere,” said Sampad Naik,who runs his Jeep serviceto this waterfall fromCollem town.

More than 200 jeeps ferrytourists to this waterfallduring the non-monsoonseason.

“But when it rains, allthe roads leading to thiswaterfall are closed (forsafety reasons),” he said.

One has to travel throughBhagwan MahaveerWildlife Sanctuary to reachthe waterfall.

Priyank Kharge calls BJP dispensation in Karnataka as bribe-couch govtBengaluru, Aug 13 (PTI)

Senior Congress leaderPriyank Kharge hasdubbed the BJP led dis-pensation in Karnatakaas ‘bribe-couch govern-ment’, alleging that noone can land a job with-out paying bribe.

The former minister’sstatement drew sharpcriticism from the saf-fron party, which askedKharge to keep his house

in order first.At a press conference

on Friday, Kharge said,In this government, youhave to shell out moneyto get a government job.In the past, two ministersof this government haveresigned. He was refer-ring to RameshJarkiholi’s resignation asWater ResourcesMinister over his allegedinvolvement in a sex-for-job scandal last year.

Another BJP MLA K SEshwarappa too resignedas minister after a civilcontractor died by sui-cide alleging that the for-mer had demanded 40per cent commission forexecution of a publicwork.

If a woman fromKarnataka wants a job,she will have to get on tothe couch (Mancha) andmen can land a job onlyby paying a bribe

(Lancha in Kannada),Kharge, who is son ofCongress stalwartMallikarjun Kharge, al-leged.

“This government hasbecome a ‘Lancha-Mancha Sarkara’ (bribeand couch government).”Kharge also accusedPrime MinisterNarendra Modi of ‘fail-ing’ to keep up his prom-ise of creating two crorejobs annually.

The BJP hit back atKharge saying, he shouldfirst see how many holesare there in his tiled roof.

The stories of thecolourful nightlife of theCongress leaders is not amere hearsay. There aremany secret CDs avail-able, the BJP charged inits tweet.

The party also saidthat the gentle Congressleaders are like a tiger inthe hide of a cow.

CBI looks to interrogate statehospital head who sent doctor

to Anubrata’s houseKolkata, Aug 13 (PTI)

The CBI is planning tointerrogate the superin-tendent of Bolpur hospi-tal who allegedly sent agovernment doctor to thehouse of TMC leaderAnubrata Mondal for pre-scribing him two weeksof bed rest ahead of hisarrest, an officer said onSaturday.

The CBI is looking toknow who in the TMCcontacted doctorBuddhadeb Murmu, thesuperintendent, for send-ing a doctor to Mondal’sNichupatti house inBolpur and prescribe himbed rest, he said.

“We will also ask himwhether he had directedthe visiting doctor to pre-scribe 14 days of bed restfor the TMC leader,” theCBI officer told PTI.

Mondal, who skippedCBI summons severaltimes before his arrestciting health issues, hadlast Tuesday complainedof severe illness, follow-ing which doctor Murmuhad sent doctorChandranath Adhikaryto his house who pre-scribed him 14 days ofbed rest.

Mondal then wrote tothe CBI that following thedoctor’s advice he wasunable to appear beforethe agency for question-ing in the cattle smug-gling case.

Discarding the allega-tions that he had pres-

surised doctor Adhikaryto visit Mondal, doctorMurmu said he will befully cooperating with theinvestigators in case theysummon him.

“I had got a call fromthe Birbhum zillaparishad sabhadhipatiBikas Roy Chowdhurythat Anubrata Mondal isvery ill and a team of doc-tors should immediatelybe sent to his residence.Then, I had requesteddoctor Adhikary to go tohis house and never cre-ated any pressure onhim,” doctor Murmusaid.

“The prescription waswritten by doctorAdhikary himself andthe 14 days of bed rest ishis observation. I havenothing to hide and willfully cooperate with theCBI if they call me,” hesaid.

Bikas Roy Chowdhurysaid that he never had“directed” doctorMurmu, and had just “re-quested” him to send ateam of doctors to see theTMC leader.

“I had got a call fromAnubrata’s family that heis very ill and that is thereason I had requesteddoctor Murmu, but neverdirected him,” he said.

CBI, which has startedgrilling Mondal at theirKolkata office, claimedthat the TMC leader wasnot cooperating with in-vestigation in the cattlesmuggling case.

Sisodia to PM Modi

‘Stop talking here and there, answer why youruined country’s economy for friends’

New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI)

Delhi Deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodiaon Saturday alleged PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s“dostvaad” has “complete-ly ruined” the country’seconomy and asked him toanswer why his “friends”got tax exemptions andtheir loans worth croreswaived. At a press confer-ence, he alleged the Centrehas written off loansworth Rs 10 lakh crore andgave Rs 5 lakh crore tax ex-emption to Modi’s“friends”, pushing thecountry’s economy to sucha “bad state” that it has tosay nothing can now beprovided to people for free.“Prime Minister NarendraModi’s ‘dostvaad’ has com-pletely ruined the coun-try’s economy,” Sisodiatold reporters. When thequestions are raised, theBJP-led government at the

Centre and the rulingparty’s leaders start “talk-ing here and there”, he al-leged.

“So, I once again appealto the prime minister toanswer why he wrote offloans of his friends worthRs 10 lakh crore and ex-empted their tax to thetune of Rs 5 lakh crore tobenefit them and put thecountry’s economy to sucha state that you have to saythat country will be ruinedif anything is given to peo-ple for free now,” the AAPleader said.

“Answer this questioninstead of talking here andthere that you keep doingall the time,” he added.Prime Minister NarendraModi’s remarks on ‘revdi’culture last month hasstarted a debate on free-bies in the country andthereafter a politicalslugfest is on between theBJP and the AAP on the

issue.He used ‘revdis’, a popu-

lar north Indian sweetoften distributed duringfestivals, as a metaphor forfreebies being promised byvarious parties to grabpower and said the people,especially the youth,should guard against it.

On Saturday, Sisodiasaid it is for the first timein the last 75 years that theUnion government had to“tax” food items like milk,curd, wheat and rice.

“The Central govern-ment is saying it does nothave money to buildschools, hospitals, pay pen-sions and bring schemes togive relief to poor peoplein the country,” heclaimed. The Centre lacksfunds to support suchmeasures because it usedtaxpayers’ money to fill upthe “coffers of the friends”of Prime Minister Modi,Sisodia alleged.

ECoR to observePartition Horrors

Remembrance DayBhubaneswar, Aug 13(PTI): The East CoastRailways (ECoR) has de-cided to observe thePartition HorrorsRemembrance Day hereon Sunday in an effort ofbring out the suffering ofmillions of people duringIndia’s partition to thefore, an official said.

The entire nation is ob-serving RemembranceDay of Horrors ofPartition on August 14 asearlier announced byPrime Minister NarendraModi in his IndependenceDay Speech last year.

The day will bring tolight the agony, sufferingand pain of millions ofpeople who were displacedduring partition.

It will remind the coun-try, that its independencewas preceded by thelargest displacement ofhuman population in the

last century.The partition also

claimed the lives of a largenumber of people.

To mark the occasion,an Exhibition will be alsobe organised atBhubaneswar RailwayStation here. UnionEducation MinisterDharmendra Pradhan willgrace the occasion at 11AM on Sunday.Bhubaneswar MPAparajita Sarangi andlocal MLA AnantaNarayan Jena are sched-uled to attend the pro-gramme.

Exhibition on PartitionHorrors RemembranceDay will also being organ-ised at various importantrailway stations over EastCoast Railway includingPuri, Bhubaneswar,Sambalpur andVisakhapatnam RailwayStations, an official said.

Congress need not teachpatriotism to us: Karandlaje

Mangaluru, Aug 13 (PTI)

Congress need not teachpatriotism to the RSS, andthe Sangh Parivar doesnot want lessons from thevery people who joinedhands with Pakistan andChina, Union Minister ofState for Agriculture andFarmers Welfare ShobhaKarandlaje said onSaturday.

Addressing reporters inUdupi, she alleged thatCongress is a party of peo-ple who insulted India inItaly and Europe.

Karandlaje said theCongress had always

found pleasure in belit-tling the RSS and claims italone won freedom. Thereis patriotism in the bodyand mind of RSS, she said.

Though MahatmaGandhi had askedCongress leaders to dis-band the party after thefreedom struggle, theystill cling to the oldbanyan tree planted bytheir forefathers, she said.

The Minister said dur-ing its rule, the Congresscould not take any legalaction against the RSS.The motto of the RSS is topropagate patriotism andprotect the country, she

said.The Minister con-

demned the murder ofBJP youth wing leaderPraveen Nettaru atBellare in Sullia recently.We fail to understand thepsyche of people whomurder innocent Hinduyouths, she said, addingNettar was never involvedin activities against anysection and alwaysworked for the people.

The assailants and per-petrators behind the mur-der should be awardedstringent punishment, theMinister said. The probeinto the case should also

find out the motive behindthe murder and the fi-nancing of criminalgroups.

She said the NIA wouldinvestigate into the case inall angles and find out theperpetrators. I have re-quested the Union HomeMinister Amit Shah to en-sure that the killers arestrictly punished and hehas responded positively,she said.

Urging people to partici-pate in the Azadi ka AmritMahotsav, Karandlaje saidthe tricolour should behoisted in front of everyhouse in the country.


BRIEF

BJP practises Jodhpur: The BJPpractises what itpreaches, DefenceMinister RajnathSingh said onSaturday as he un-veiled a statue of aRajput general of theMughal era here. “It issaid that there is a dif-ference between whatpoliticians say anddo,” Rajnath said un-veiling the statueVeer DurgadasRathore at SalvanKalan village ofJodhpur on theRajput general’s 385thbirth anniversary.“But the BJP doeswhat it says. We getthis inspiration fromsons of the soil likeVeer DurgadasRathore,” Rajnathsaid in his address.Praising the installa-tion of the statue,Rajnath said Rathorestood for religiousharmony. “We need tolearn from him at atime when some pow-ers are conspiring towiden the rift be-tween Hindus andMuslims,” he said.

Teenagers drownShimla: Twoteenagers drowned inSwan river inHimachal Pradesh’sUna district onSaturday, the state dis-aster management de-partment said. Sahil(14) and Jatin (15) ofLower Bhadsali vil-lage drowned acciden-tally while takingbath in Swan rivernear Lower Bathedaof Haroli sub-divisionat around 3.15 pmtoday, it said. Both thebodies have been re-covered, the depart-ment added.

Election CommissionerJaipur: Former IASofficer MadhukarGupta was appointedas the Rajasthan StateElectionCommissioner onSaturday. GovernorKalraj Mishra issuedthe appointmentorder, a Raj Bhawanspokesperson said.Gupta has been ap-pointed for a term offive years or till theage of 65 years,whichever is earlier,according to the order.He will succeed P SMehra, who recentlycompleted his tenureas the state electioncommissioner.

Cops rescuePalghar: A 12-year-oldgirl was rescued from agroup of three kidnap-pers in Wada taluka ofMaharashtra’s Palghardistrict, a police offi-cial said on Saturday.The girl was abductedby three persons in acar while she was re-turning from school onFriday evening, saidSuperintendent ofPolice Balasaheb Patil.“After the girl’s parentsfiled a complaint withWada police station,several teams wereformed to rescue thechild and nab the cul-prits. We found out shewas being kept in afarmhouse in Wada.The child was rescuedin the early hours ofSaturday and was re-united with her par-ents,” the SP said.

Defence Minister RajnathSingh at the unveiling ofa statue of renownedMarwari warrior VeerDurgadas Rathore, inJodhpur, Saturday.

GARDA LAKE

A view of the peninsula of Sirmione, on Garda lake, Italy. Lake Garda water level has dropped critically following severe drought resulting in rocks to emerge around the Sirmione Peninsula.


Islamabad, Aug 13 (PTI):

Pakistan will attend thecounter-terrorism drillshosted by India under theambit of the ShanghaiCooperation Organisation(SCO) in October, despitea chill in bilateral ties, amedia report said onSaturday.

While Pakistani andIndian military contin-gents have taken part incounter-terrorism exer-cises together, this will bethe first time thatPakistan will be attendingsuch drills in India, TheExpress Tribune newspa-per reported.

Pakistan will attend the

international counter-ter-rorism exercise scheduledin October this yearunder SCO’s RegionalAnti-Terrorism Structure(RATS), the newspaperquoted Pakistan ForeignOffice Spokesman AsimIftikhar as saying onFriday at the weekly brief-ing. “Yes, there will be ex-ercises under the ambit ofSCO RATS (RegionalA n t i - T e r r o r i s mStructure), the spokesper-son said, adding thatIndia was chairing theSCO RATS this year.

These exercises arescheduled to be held inIndia in Mahesar inOctober, and as Pakistan

is a member, we will par-ticipate, he said.

At what level, I thinkwhen we approach that,we will let you know,” theFO spokesperson added.

The exercise scheduledto be held in Manesar inHaryana will see partici-pation from Russia,China, Pakistan, Iran,Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan, andUzbekistan, besides India.

India and Pakistan,under the banner of theSCO are part of the nine-member Beijing-based re-gional body. The move istermed to be significantgiven the tensions be-tween India and Pakistan

after New Delhi abrogatedArticle 370 of theConstitution to revoke thespecial status of Jammuand Kashmir on August 5,2019. India’s decisionevoked strong reactionsfrom Pakistan, whichdowngraded diplomaticties and expelled theIndian envoy.

India has repeatedlytold Pakistan that Jammuand Kashmir was, is andshall forever remain anintegral part of the coun-try. India has said it de-sires normal neighbourlyrelations with Pakistan inan environment free ofterror, hostility, and vio-lence.

Pakistan to attend SCO counter-terrordrills in India: Foreign Office

Tehran, Aug 13 (AP):

Iranians reacted withpraise and worry onSaturday over the attackon novelist SalmanRushdie, the target of adecades-old fatwa by thelate Supreme LeaderAyatollah RuhollahKhomeini calling for hisdeath.

It remains unclear whyRushdie’s attacker, identi-fied by police as HadiMatar of Fairview, NewJersey, stabbed the authoras he prepared to speak atan event Friday in westernNew York.

Iran’s theocratic govern-ment and its state-runmedia have assigned nomotive to the assault.

But in Tehran, somewilling to speak to TheAssociated Press offeredpraise for an attack target-ing a writer they believetarnished the Islamic faithwith his 1988 book The

Satanic Verses .In the streets of Iran’s

capital, images of the lateAyatollah RuhollahKhomeini still peer downat passers-by.

I don’t know SalmanRushdie, but I am happy tohear that he was attackedsince he insulted Islam,”said Reza Amiri, a 27-year-old deliveryman. This isthe fate for anybody whoinsults sanctities.

Others, however, wor-ried aloud that Iran couldbecome even more cut offfrom the world as tensionsremain high over its tat-tered nuclear deal.

I feel those who did it aretrying to isolate Iran,” saidMahshid Barati, a 39-year-old geography teacher.This will negatively affectrelations with many evenRussia and China.

Khomeini, in poorhealth in the last year ofhis life after the grinding,stalemate 1980s Iran-Iraq

war decimated the coun-try’s economy, issued thefatwa on Rushdie in 1989.

The Islamic edict cameamid a violent uproar inthe Muslim world over thenovel, which some viewedas blasphemously makingsuggestions about theProphet Muhammad’s life.

“I would like to informall the intrepid Muslims inthe world that the authorof the book entitledSatanic Verses’ ... as wellas those publishers whowere aware of its contents,are hereby sentenced todeath,” Khomeini said inFebruary 1989, accordingto Tehran Radio.

He added: “Whoever iskilled doing this will be re-garded as a martyr andwill go directly to heaven.”

Early on Saturday,Iranian state media madea point to note one manidentified as being killedwhile trying to carry outthe fatwa.

Praise, worry in Iran after Rushdieattack; government quiet

Tokyo, Aug 13 (AP):

Tropical Storm Meari un-leashed heavy rains onJapan’s main Honshu is-land as it headed northwardSaturday toward the capital,Tokyo, according toJapanese weather officials.The Japan MeteorologicalAgency said that Meari

made landfall in ShizuokaPrefecture, southwest ofTokyo, in the afternoon,bringing sudden heavyrains and blasting winds toa widespread area, andprompting warnings aboutmudslides and flooding.More than 72,000 people inthe area’s main city ofShizuoka were told to evac-

uate due to possible land-slides.

Meari, packing sustainedwinds of up to 72 kilometers(45 miles) per hour, passedover Shizuoka and was trav-elling at a speed of about 20kilometers (12 miles) anhour and was expected tocontinue northward beforeveering eastward, swingingover the Pacific Ocean byearly Sunday.

The Tokyo area was ham-mered by periodic down-pours starting in the latemorning. Warnings on highwaves in coastal areas wereissued for Tokyo, KanagawaPrefecture, southwest ofTokyo, and other nearbyareas.

The authorities warnedagainst going near rivers orother waters, as the levelsmay rise suddenly. Rainfallwas expected to worsen inTokyo and areas north ofTokyo in the evening, theysaid.

Tropical Storm Meari hammersJapan with heavy rainfall, wind

A woman rides a bicycle during an isolated downpour inthe Akihabara district of Tokyo on August 13, as heavyrains brought by Tropical Storm Meari hit the area.

Bangkok, Aug 13 (AP):

The Chinese air force issending fighter jets andbombers to Thailand for ajoint exercise with theThai military on Sunday.

The training will in-clude air support, strikeson ground targets andsmall and large-scaletroop deployment, theChinese Defense Ministrysaid in a statement postedon its website. China’s ex-panding military activi-ties in the Asia-Pacific re-gion have alarmed theUnited States and its al-lies and form part of agrowing competition be-tween the world’s twolargest economies.

US Defence SecretaryLloyd Austin visitedThailand in June as partof an effort to strengthenwhat he called America’sunparalleled network ofalliances and partner-

ships in the region.The Falcon Strike exer-

cise will be held at theUdorn Royal Thai AirForce Base in northernThailand near the borderwith Laos. Thai fighterjets and airborne earlywarning aircraft fromboth countries will alsotake part. The trainingcomes as the U.S. holdscombat drills inIndonesia withIndonesia, Australia,Japan and Singapore inthe largest iteration ofthe Super Garuda Shieldexercises since theybegan in 2009. It also fol-lows China’s sendingwarships, missiles andaircraft into the watersand air around Taiwan ina threatening response toa visit by U.S. HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi tothe self-ruled island,which China claims as itsterritory.

China sending fighter jets toThailand for joint exercises

Billings, Aug 13 (AP):

A diesel pipeline inWyoming owned by a com-pany that’s being sued byfederal prosecutors overprevious spills in two otherstates cracked open and re-leased more than 45,000 gal-lons (205,000 liters) of fuel, astate official said Friday.

Cleanup work is ongoingfrom the spill that was dis-covered by the pipeline’s op-erator on July 27, said JoeHunter, EmergencyResponse Coordinator withthe Wyoming Departmentof Environmental Quality.The fuel spilled on privateranchland near the smallcommunity of Sussex ineastern Wyoming, he said.

Contaminated soil wasbeing excavated and placedinto a temporary stagingarea, and it will be spreadonto a nearby dirt roadwhere the fuel is expectedto largely evaporate,

Hunter said.The line is operated by

Bridger Pipeline, a sub-sidiary of Casper-basedTrue companies, accordingto an accident report sub-mitted to the US CoastGuard’s National ResponseCenter. The company ini-tially reported only 420 gal-lons (1,590 liters) hadspilled, but later revised itsestimate to 45,150 gallons(205,250 liters), according toa National Response Centerdatabase.

True and its subsidiarieshave a long history of spills.In May, federal prosecutorsin Montana alleged thatrepresentatives of BridgerPipeline had concealedfrom regulators problemswith a pipeline that brokebeneath the YellowstoneRiver near the city ofGlendive in 2015. The breakspewed more than 50,000gallons (240,000 liters) ofcrude into the river andfouled Glendive’s drinkingwater supply.

In North Dakota, federalprosecutors and the stateAttorney General’s Officeare pursuing parallelclaims of environmental vi-olations against a secondTrue companies subsidiaryresponsible for a 2016 spillthat released more than600,000 gallons (2.7 millionliters) of crude, contami-nating the Little MissouriRiver and a tributary.Representatives of the com-panies have denied violat-ing pollution laws and re-jected claims that problemswith the Montana line wereconcealed from federal reg-ulators. The Wyoming spillwas caused by a crack at aweld in the line, saidHunter, who did not knowhow long it was leaking be-fore being discovered. Thespilled fuel did not appearto reach any waterways andno enforcement actions forenvironmental violationswere planned, he said.

Pipeline break spills 45,000 gallons of diesel in Wyoming


The IMF’s executive boardwill meet on August 29 to ap-prove a bailout package forcash-strapped Pakistan with-in this month, including thepending disbursement ofabout USD 1.18 billion, amedia report said onSaturday. The developmentfollows the completion of theUSD 4 billion in bilateral fi-nancing from four friendlynations, including China andSaudi Arabia, and would pavethe way for immediate dis-bursement, expected to be inPakistan’s account before theend of working hours onAugust 31. Finance MinisterMiftah Ismail told Dawn thata letter of intent (LOI) was re-ceived early Friday from thelender for the revival of the

programme under the stafflevel agreement (SLA) andmemorandum of economicand fiscal policies (MEFP)signed last month. We aregoing through the LOI,would sign and send [it]back to the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) any-time soon and look forwardto (executive) board meet-ing later this month for ap-proval, he said. Sources saidthe executive board wouldmeet on August 29 to takeup Pakistan’s case for ap-proval of the completion ofthe seventh and eighth re-views of the Extended FundFacility (EFF), besides aUSD 1 billion increase inthe size of the programmeto USD 7 billion and the ex-tension of its tenure toAugust 2023.

IMF money to arrive inPakistan by August-end

U S Speaker Nancy Pelosi'svisit to Taiwan has elicited a

strong response from China: threedays of simulated attack onTaiwan with further drills an-nounced, plus a withdrawal fromcritical ongoing conversationswith the US on climate change andthe military. This strong reactionwas predictable. President XiJinping had earlier warnedPresident Joe Biden not to playwith fire . Of course, if Pelosi'svisit hadn't gone ahead, the Bidenadministration would have faced astrong reaction from both partiesin Congress for not standing up toChina's threat to Taiwan or humanrights issues regarding Tibet andXinjiang, not to mention HongKong. So where does it leave tradebetween the world's two leadingpowers?

How business trumped ideology

Consider the not-too-distantpast. The US supported theRepublic of China against Japanin the Pacific war of 1941-45. Whenthe Chinese leadership fled toTaiwan in 1949 following the victo-ry of Mao Zedong's communists inthe Chinese civil war, Washingtoncontinued to recognise the exiledregime as China's legitimate gov-ernment, blocking the People'sRepublic of China (PRC) from join-ing the United Nations. This shift-ed in 1972 following PresidentNixon's historic visit to China (in amove to isolate the Soviets). TheUS now recognised the PRC asChina's sole government and ac-cepted its One China policy. Itdowngraded its Taiwan relationsto merely informal, while affirm-ing a peaceful settlement to themainland communists' claim that

this was a breakaway provincethat had to be assimilated. Thisopened US-China trade, ending aUS trade embargo in place sincethe 1940s. Economic ties proliferat-ed in the 1980s under Mao's eventu-al successor, Deng Xiaoping, help-ing the Chinese economy to multi-ply while the US enjoyed lower con-sumer prices and a stronger stockmarket.

Western manufacturing firmseither outsourced to Chinese firmsor set up operations themselves.They benefited from cheaper pro-duction and for those outsourcingnot having to own factories or dealwith labour issues. In turn, theChinese gained tremendous manu-facturing capability. As China'smiddle class grew wealthier, thecountry became a major targetconsumer market for US firmssuch as Apple and GM. TheChinese authorities insisted thiswas done through local partnerfirms, transferring technology inthe process and further enhancingthe nation's manufacturing know-how.

The growing Chinese threatChina and the US captured more

than half the growth in GDPacross the world from 1980 to 2020.US GDP grew nearly five timesfrom US 4.4 trillion ( 3.6 trillion) toUS 20.9 trillion ( 17.3 trillion) intoday's money, while China's grewfrom US 310 billion to US 14.7 tril-lion. China is now the secondlargest economy, although the IMF,World Bank and CIA consider itthe largest once purchasing poweris taken into account. The US isstill well ahead on per capita in-come (US 69,231 vs US 12,359 in2021), though China's is now that ofa developed country, having lifted800 million people out of poverty inthe process.

The US has become increasinglyconcerned about China's fastereconomic growth and the fact thatthe US buys much more from itsrival than the other way around.This drove the big decline in US do-mestic manufacturing that fa-mously helped Donald Trump towin the US presidency. Equally, therivalry has extended to other areasas China has sought a leading roleon the world stage. Both nations

are nuclear powers, although theChinese military has only 350 nu-clear warheads to America's 5,500.China has a larger navy, with some360 battle force ships compared tothe US 297, although China's aremostly smaller only three aircraftcarriers compared to America's 11,for example. The two countries arealso competing in space to bringastronauts to the Moon and estab-lish the first lunar base.

All this has threatenedAmerican dominance, whilePresident Xi has also been muchmore forthright both domesticallyand internationally than anyChinese leader since Mao. The UShas gradually become more hos-tile, starting with PresidentObama's pivot towards other Asiannations in 2016 and then PresidentTrump's public complaints andeventual sanctioning of China'sunfair trade practices.

Bipolarity is backCOVID-19 further increased the

distance between the two coun-tries. After China's zero COVID pol-icy helped to disrupt supply chainsand cause product shortages, theBiden administration began call-ing for reduced dependency on itsrival. US firms have duly been re-structuring their supply chains. InJune, Apple moved some iPad pro-duction from China to Vietnam, al-beit also because of growing de-mand in south-east Asia.

Near-shoring to Mexico is gain-ing momentum. Apple manufactur-ers Foxconn and Pegatron are con-sidering producing iPhones forNorth America in Mexico ratherthan China to take advantage oflower labour costs and the free-trade agreement between the USand Mexico. Two global blocs areincreasingly emerging, with UStreasury secretary Janet Yellen inApril calling for friend-shoringwith trusted partners, dividingcountries into friends or foes. TheBiden administration announcedat the June G7 meeting a newPartnership for GlobalInfrastructure and Investment .Aiming to mobilise US 600 billionin investments over five years, thisis an overture to various develop-ing countries already being courtedby China under its similar Belt and

Road Initiative.Silver linings

As US-China relations havemoved from building bridges in1972 to building walls in 2022, coun-tries will increasingly be forced tochoose sides and companies willhave to plan supply chains accord-ingly. Those seeking to trade inboth blocs will need to divisionalise, running parallel operations.American companies wanting toserve Chinese consumers will stillneed to manufacture in China orother nations within that bloc,while Chinese companies will needto do the same in reverse.Interestingly, Chinese companieshave been rapidly buying farmlandand agriculture-based companiesin the US and elsewhere. Yetthough the new supply chains willalmost certainly increase costs forwestern consumers and dampenChina's growth, there will be bene-fits. Supply chains should be moreresilient to future crises and alsomore transparent, while reducedtransportation (and reliance onChinese coal) should cut carbonemissions. This should help to meetthe UN Sustainable DevelopmentGoals on environmental and socialsustainability. The cobalt andnanochips examples also show howthe US-China rivalry is catalysinginnovation. And importantly, glob-al trade will continue growing ascountries depend on each other,even as trade links change.

It will certainly take time to findan equilibrium. It took years for theUSSR and US to figure out how toco-exist without getting into directmilitary conflict. Hillary Clintonwrote in 2011 as Secretary of Statethat there is no handbook for theevolving US-China relationship ,and that remains the case today. Atany rate, the businesses that thrivein this new environment will likelybe those that plan for a dividedworld with divisional supplychains. The recent Taiwan row willprobably not lead to direct militaryconflict; rather it will reinforce atrend that has been gathering mo-mentum for a decade or more.

Writer is Professor of Operationsand Supply Chain Management,

City, University of London

ChronicleC E N T R A L

Established 1974 Volume 47 No. 311

On a positive noteWe habitually criticise our

country, but ignore the posi-tive side. India of 1947 andnow are worlds apart.Successive governments havebeen vigorously contributingtowards development andpoverty alleviation. It beganwith the setting up of steelplants, light and heavy ma-chinery factories and massiveenergy generators, like theBhakra Dam, and the substan-tial expansion of the canaland rail network. Today, Indiais among the top industri-alised nations. We have at-tained success in the field ofspace and nuclear technolo-gies. From import substitu-tion to indigenisation to‘Make in India’, the nation ison the right path. India maywell become the auto-hub ofAsia in the near future.Public-private partnershiphas bloomed in the last decadeand we have world-class high-ways. We have excelled in thefield of immunisation, the lat-est being the massive Covid-19vaccination programme. Wehave stood up well to the chal-lenges posed by our adver-saries. Indian democracy is vi-brant and functioning.Peaceful transfer of power is afeather in India’s cap.

GS Anand, by mail

Terror attack in J&KReference to ‘Army camp at-

tacked in Rajouri, 4 soldierskilled’, it marks the return offidayeen attacks in J&K.Though both terrorists wereneutralised, four soldierswere also martyred in the en-counter. Undoubtedly, J&K’ssecurity set-up has been suc-cessful in preventing big at-tacks but terrorists switchingto new tactics and the targetedkillings of ordinaryKashmiris have created an at-mosphere of fear obstructingthe path of normalcy. So,small extremist groups needto be engaged so that targetedkillings can be prevented, en-abling security forces returnto their primary job of han-dling cross-border terrorism.That’s why the democraticprocess needs to be fully re-stored in J&K. The EC’s deci-sion to hold back the publica-tion of final electoral rolls forJ&K assembly polls not onlykeeps democratic politics inthe UT unsecured, it also hassecurity ramifications.

Sanjay Chopra, Mohali

Proper strategy needed

The Army camp where a fi-dayeen attack took place inRajouri has thick vegetationall along. It is similar to theUri camp attack that occurreda few years ago. It’s not under-stood why excuses of defeatare not eliminated in the firstinstance. Peace times shouldbe utilised best by conductinginspections and makingpreparations instead of enjoy-ing camps. All feedbacks andshortcomings should berecorded, monitored and re-sponsibility fixed to avoidsuch losses.

Ashok Kumar Goel,Panchkula

LETTERSTO THE EDITOR✍


Students make a human chain in a formation that reads 75 as they celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ ahead ofIndependence Day, in Nadia district, Saturday, Aug. 13.

China-US tensions: How global trade began splitting into two blocs

I-DAY CELEBRATIONS

T he Earth is approximately1.1 degree Celsius warmer

than it was at the start of the indus-trial revolution. That warming hasnot been uniform, with some re-gions warming at a far greaterpace. One such region is the Arctic.A new study shows that the Arctichas warmed nearly four timesfaster than the rest of the worldover the past 43 years. This meansthe Arctic is on average around 3degree Celsius warmer than it wasin 1980. This is alarming, becausethe Arctic contains sensitive anddelicately balanced climate compo-nents that, if pushed too hard, willrespond with global consequences.WWhhyy iiss tthhee AArrccttiicc wwaarrmmiinngg ssoo mmuucchh

ffaasstteerr??A large part of the explanation

relates to sea ice. This is a thin layer(typically one metre to five metresthick) of sea water that freezes inwinter and partially melts in thesummer. The sea ice is covered in abright layer of snow which reflects

around 85% of incoming solar radi-ation back out to space. The oppo-site occurs in the open ocean. Asthe darkest natural surface on theplanet, the ocean absorbs 90% ofsolar radiation. When covered withsea ice, the Arctic Ocean acts like alarge reflective blanket, reducingthe absorption of solar radiation. Asthe sea ice melts, absorption ratesincrease, resulting in a positivefeedback loop where the rapid paceof ocean warming further amplifiessea ice melt, contributing to evenfaster ocean warming. This feed-back loop is largely responsible forwhat is known as Arctic amplifica-tion, and is the explanation for whythe Arctic is warming so much morethan the rest of the planet.

IIss AArrccttiicc aammpplliiffiiccaattiioonn uunnddeerreessttiimmaatteedd??

Numerical climate models havebeen used to quantify the magni-tude of Arctic amplification. Theytypically estimate the amplificationratio to be about 2.5, meaning the

Arctic is warming 2.5 times fasterthan the global average. Based onthe observational record of surfacetemperatures over the last 43 years,the new study estimates the Arcticamplification rate to be about four.Rarely do the climate models obtainvalues as high that. This suggeststhe models may not fully capturethe complete feedback loops re-sponsible for Arctic amplificationand may, as a consequence, under-estimate future Arctic warming andthe potential consequences that ac-company that.

HHooww ccoonncceerrnneedd sshhoouulldd wwee bbee??

Besides sea ice, the Arctic con-tains other climate componentsthat are extremely sensitive towarming. If pushed too hard, theywill also have global consequences.One of those elements is per-mafrost, a (now not so) permanent-ly frozen layer of the Earth's sur-face. As temperatures rise acrossthe Arctic, the active layer, the top-

most layer of soil that thaws eachsummer, deepens. This, in turn, in-creases biological activity in the ac-tive layer resulting in the release ofcarbon into the atmosphere. Arcticpermafrost contains enough carbonto raise global mean temperaturesby more than 3 degree Celsius.Should permafrost thawing accel-erate, there is the potential for arunaway positive feedback process,often referred to as the permafrostcarbon time bomb. The release ofpreviously stored carbon dioxideand methane will contribute to fur-ther Arctic warming, subsequentlyaccelerating future permafrostthaw. A second Arctic componentvulnerable to temperature rise isthe Greenland ice sheet. As thelargest ice mass in the northernhemisphere, it contains enoughfrozen ice to raise global sea levelsby 7.4 metres if melted completely.

When the amount of melting atthe surface of an ice cap exceedsthe rate of winter snow accumula-

tion, it will lose mass faster than itgains any. When this threshold isexceeded, its surface lowers. Thiswill quicken the pace of melting,because temperatures are higher atlower elevations.

This feedback loop is often calledthe small ice cap instability. Priorresearch puts the required temper-ature rise around Greenland for thisthreshold to be be passed at around4.5 degree Celsius above pre-indus-trial levels. Given the exceptionalpace of Arctic warming, passingthis critical threshold is rapidly be-coming likely. Although there aresome regional differences in themagnitude of Arctic amplification,the observed pace of Arctic warm-ing is far higher than the modelsimplied. This brings us perilouslyclose to key climate thresholds thatif passed will have global conse-quences. As anyone who works onthese problems knows, what hap-pens in the Arctic doesn't stay inthe Arctic.

Central Chronicle welcomes, articles, write ups, comments on different issues foreditorial page (800-900 words), Letter to editor for this page. It can be sent by

e-mail at: [email protected] letters can be edited or rewritten for clarity of thoughts.

MAN MOHAN S SODHI

Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the world new research

T he manner in which China has blocked a joint proposal by India andthe US at the UN Security Council to designate Pakistan-based

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) deputy chief Abdul Rauf Azharas a global terror-ist shows Beijing's "double speak and double standards" in fighting terror-ism. New Delhi has viewed as "politically motivated" the actions by Chinain nearly every listing case of Pakistan-based terrorists, saying the movereflected "undermining" of the entire sanctity of the working of theUNSC's Sanctions Committees. The proposal to designate Abdul Rauf wasmoved in the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee and the documents relatedto it were circulated among all the member nations. All other 14 memberstates of the top UN body supported the move. Abdul is the younger broth-er of JeM chief Masood Azhar and has been involved in planning and exe-cuting numerous terror strikes in India including the hijacking of IndianAirlines aircraft IC814 in 1999, the attack on the Parliament in 2001 andthe targeting of the IAF base in Pathankot in 2016. The designation ofAbdul Rauf would have resulted in a global travel ban on him as well asrequiring Pakistan to freeze his assets and to cut off his access to weaponsand related materials. The US Department of Treasury had in December2010 designated "Abdul Rauf Azhar, a senior leader ofJaish-e Mohammed(JeM), for acting for or on behalf of JeM." The US said as a senior leader ofJeM, Abdul Rauf Azhar "has urged Pakistanis to engage in militant activi-ties. He has served as JEM's acting leader in 2007, as one of JEM's mostse-nior commanders in India, and as JeM's intelligence coordinator."In 2008 Azhar was assigned to organise suicide attacks in India. He wasalso involved with JEM's political wing and has served as a JeM official in-volved with training camps. The latest action came less than a month afterChina - a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Counciland an all-weather friend of Pakistan - blocked a similar joint proposal byIndia and the US to blacklist Pakistan-based deputy leader of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba Abdul Rehman Makki. Makki too has been involved in raisingfunds, recruiting and radicalising youths to resort to violence and planningand executing attacks in India, including the Mumbai terror strikes. Boththe terrorists have already been sanctioned by the US under its domesticlegislation. After China blocked the proposal to designate Makki as an in-ternational terrorist, New Delhi said that the action ran counter to Beijing'sclaim of combating terrorism. Makki is the head of the political affairs ofLashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and Jamatud-Dawa (JuD), and served as head ofLeT's foreign relations department. The LeT has been involved in major at-tacks in India such as the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Red Fort Attack in2000, Rampur CRPF Camp attack in January 2008, Khanpora(Baramulla) attack in 2018, Srinagar attack in June2018 andGurez/Bandipora attack in 2018. In 2009, India moved a proposal by itselfto designate Azhar. In 2016 again India moved the proposal with the P3 -the US, the UK and France in the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee toban Azhar, also the mastermind of the attack on the air base inPathankot in January, 2016. In 2017, the P3 nations moved a similar pro-posal again. However, on all occasions, China blocked India's proposalfrom being adopted by the sanctions committee. It was in May 2019, thatIndia won a huge diplomatic win at the UN when the global bodydesignated Masood Azhar as a "global terrorist.

China’s stand on terror

Dr Mohan Kumar

I t was in May 2020 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the clari-on call for a Bharat that was 'Aatmanirbhar'. It is important to clarify

what this meant and what it did not. While a rough translation of the wordis no doubt 'self-reliant', it is nevertheless not the kind of self-reliance thatIndia arguably believed in and practised in the early years of itsIndependence up until the seventies and eighties. It is easy to state what itis not. It is certainly not autarchy; it is certainly not inward-looking, and it ismost certainly not stopping imports and making every product at home. Itmay be more prudent to think of 'Aatmanirbharta' as Self-Reliance 2.0. Inthis framework of Self-Reliance 2.0, the PM clarified that rather than beingself-centred, India will open up even more to the world outside, guided byits motto: 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', or our Earth is just one family. Modiwent on to say that Aatmanirbharta will stand on five pillars: Economy, in-frastructure, technology, demography and demand. The PM explained theraison d'etre of Aatmanirbharta by saying that this should prepare India forparticipation in global supply chains and that this is a battle India cannot af-ford to lose. There is little doubt that the global Covid-19 pandemic played asignificant role in India's push for Self-Reliance 2.0. Take the simple exam-ple of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and N-95 masks. At the begin-ning of the pandemic, India was not making any N-95 masks. Today, Indiamanufactures at least 200,000 N-95 masks a day, if not more. Even moreimpressive is India's own record of vaccinating its mammoth population.When Covid emerged in 2020, almost no one believed India could ever fullyvaccinate its population and that such an exercise would take years. Yet, inJuly 2022, about 18 months after the first vaccination, India completed twobillion doses of vaccines for its citizens. The story of how this was achievedis worthy of a case study, which will cover vital issues such as public-privatepartnership, Centre-state cooperation and not to forget, and building aware-ness among citizens and getting their participation willingly in this exercise.Indeed, the WHO and others have praised India and the best practices herewill be emulated the world over. Proving that Self-Reliance 2.0 is not just forIndians, the country also exported a large number of vaccines and PPE kitsto countries all over the world. The latest statistics from the MEA websitetalk of 240 million (approx) vaccines which have been delivered to 101 coun-tries, including developed, developing and least-developed nations. Thestory of India being the pharmacy of the world is too well known to bear anyrepetition here. All of this is real Aatmanirbharta at work. The Co-WIN plat-form that India used for administering vaccines to its mammoth populationwas remarkable. Co-WIN is essentially a cloud-based IT solution for plan-ning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating Covid vaccination in India.By July 2021, India decided to make this open platform available to all coun-tries for their use. In the Co-WIN global conclave organized in July 2021, asmany as 142 countries expressed interest in adopting it. Again, this isAatmanirbharta at work. The war in Ukraine has had a profound impact notjust in Europe, but more importantly on developing and least-developedcountries. Specifically, the war has impacted food, energy and commodityprices adversely. Wheat shortage in particular is expected to affect Africaand the Middle East quite significantly. At a time like this, it is comforting toknow that India's position when it comes to food security for its huge popu-lation is satisfactory. This is yet another manifestation of Self-Reliance 2.0.Indeed, not only was India able to give away food grains and lentils to 800million of its citizens as part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, butIndia was also able to carry out modest exports of food grains to low-incomecountries that needed it. Again, Aatmanirbharta is at work. The above is notto suggest that everything is rosy. India faces monumental challenges withregard to the eradication of poverty, job creation and investment inhealth/education/skills of its vast population. But the lessons are clear: Indiais sui generis and it is only an "Indian" model that will work for India andIndians. Hence, is the capital importance of Aatmanirbharta. After all, as wehave seen above, 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' is not just good for India, but alsofor the world at large.

((DDrr MMoohhaann KKuummaarr iiss aa ffoorrmmeerr IInnddiiaann AAmmbbaassssaaddoorr wwhhoo iiss aa ffuullll--ttiimmee aaccaaddeemmiicc nnooww.. TThhee vviieewwss eexxpprreesssseedd aarree ppeerrssoonnaall))

India’s march towards‘Aatmanirbharta’


BRIEF

Zero power bills

Beas (Pb): PunjabChief MinisterBhagwant Mann onFriday said 51 lakhhouseholds of thestate can look forwardto getting zero elec-tricity bills fromSeptember 1. Afterdedicating the 66 KVButaari-Beas line tothe people, the chiefminister said that theAam Aadmi govern-ment in the state hasprovided 600 units offree power per billingcycle to every sectionof society. He said thatdue to this "pro-peopleinitiative" 51 lakhhouseholds out of atotal 74 lakh will getzero electricity billfrom September.

Corporate tax New Delhi: The in-come tax departmenton Friday said corpo-rate tax collections inthe first four monthsof the current fiscalhave grown 34 percent over the year-agoperiod. During 2021-22fiscal, corporate taxcollections stood at Rs7.23 lakh crore, a 58per cent growth over2020-21 mop up. Evenwhen compared to col-lections of FY 2018-19(pre-COVID period),the collections of FY2021-22 are higher byover 9 per cent, the I-Tdepartment tweeted.

Nano urea sales

New Delhi: Nanourea is now beingwidely accepted byfarmers across thecountry as 1.12 crorebottles of 500 ml eachhave been sold so farin this fiscal,Fertiliser MinisterMansukh Mandaviyasaid. Mandaviya,who reviewed theprogress of nanourea production andsales, directed his of-ficials to include thisproduct in themonthly supply planof the states to reachmore farmers. Healso asked the offi-cials to take steps topromote this productso that farmers har-ness its benefits be-sides sensitising re-tailers, an officialstatement said.

Basmati rice exportsNew Delhi: Exportsof basmati rice in-creased by 25.54 percent in April-Junethis fiscal year to USD1.15 billion (aroundRs 9,160 crore), thecommerce ministrysaid. TheAgricultural andProcessed FoodProducts ExportDevelopmentAuthority (APEDA)has commenced a sur-vey to estimateacreage, assess crophealth and expectedyield of aromatic andlong-grain rice dur-ing 2022-2023 kharifseason using climate-based yield model-ling, it said. It said thesurvey is being con-ducted after a gap oftwo years due toCovid-19 restrictions.

New Delhi, Aug 13:

Retail inflation softenedto 6.71 per cent in July dueto moderation in foodprices but remained abovethe Reserve Bank's com-fort level of 6 per cent forthe seventh consecutivemonth. With retail infla-tion continuing to remainhigh despite a fall in pricesof vegetables and edibleoils, among other com-modities in July, theReserve Bank of India(RBI) might go for anotherrate hike in September.The Consumer Price Index(CPI) based retail inflationwas at 7.01 per cent in Juneand 5.59 per cent in July2021. It was above 7 percent from April to Junethis fiscal.

According to the data re-leased by the NationalStatistical Office (NSO) on

Friday, food inflation inJuly moderated to 6.75 percent as against 7.75 percent in June. The retail in-flation is above RBI's uppertolerance level of 6 percent and has remained atthat level for the past sevenmonths. Meanwhile, themoderation in retail infla-tion in July was mainly

due to easing of vegetableand edible oil prices. In thecase of 'fuel and light', theprices remained high.Fears of a global recessionand fresh geopolitical un-certainties have led to acorrection in commodityprices from the peaks seenin mid-June 2022, ratingagency ICRA's Chief

Economist Aditi Nayarsaid.

However, she said thatrobust domestic demandfor services poses risks,given its significant sharein CPI basket and hence,remains a key monitorablealong with significant lagin kharif sowing of rice.Services account for over23.4 per cent of CPI basket.

"Given the MonetaryPolicy Committee's focuson anchoring inflation ex-pectations and the RBIGovernor's statement oninflation moving closer tothe target of 4 per centover the medium term, weexpect another rate hike ofabout 10-35 bps (0.10-0.35per cent) in the September2022 policy meeting," shesaid. RBI has hiked thebenchmark repo ratethrice in a row and the rateis now at 5.4 per cent.

Retail inflation eases to6.71 pc in July on lower

vegetable, edible oil prices

New Delhi, Aug 13:

India's exports rose by2.14 per cent to USD 36.27billion in July while thetrade deficit almost tripledto USD 30 billion duringthe month due to over 70per cent rise in crude oilimports, according to offi-cial data released onFriday. Imports shot up by43.61 per cent to USD 66.27billion in the month com-pared to July 2021, the datashowed. The trade deficitwas USD 10.63 billion inJuly 2021. Preliminary datareleased earlier this monthhad shown a 0.76 per centcontraction in exports atUSD 35.24 billion for July.

However, exports duringApril-July 2022-23 rose by20.13 per cent to USD 157.44billion. Imports during thefour months increased by48.12 per cent to USD 256.43billion. The trade deficitstood at USD 98.99 billionas against USD 42 billionduring April-July 2021-22.

Imports of crude and pe-troleum products duringJuly this year were USD21.13 billion, up 70.4 per

cent compared to USD 12.4billion in July 2021.Imports of coal, coke andbriquettes shot up morethan twofold to USD 5.2 bil-lion while that of vegetableoil rose 47.18 per cent toUSD 2 billion in July thisyear. Inbound shipments ofgold, however, declined by43.6 per cent to USD 2.37 bil-lion compared to 4.2 billionin July 2021.

Exports of engineeringgoods; petroleum products;gems and jewellery; anddrugs and pharmaceuti-cals, contracted in July2022 year-on-year. On theexport front, sectors whichrecorded positive growthinclude petroleum prod-ucts, leather, electronic

goods, and coffee.Engineering, gems andjewellery, plastic, cashewand carpet segments wit-nessed a fall. According tothe data, the estimatedvalue of services export forJuly 2022 is USD 24.91 bil-lion, exhibiting a positivegrowth of 28.69 per centyear-on-year. Imports areestimated at USD 15.95 bil-lion, a growth of 40.02 percent.

Federation of IndianExport OrganisationsPresident A Sakthivel saidthat signs of a likely slow-down in exports can beseen as global inventoriesare pretty high and themerchandise exports arefacing a triple whammy.

Exports up 2.14pc to USD 36.27 bn inJuly; trade deficit at record USD 30 bn

New Delhi/Chennai, Aug 13:

Telecom ministerAshwani Vaishnaw askedBSNL staff to focus on cus-tomers and solve theirproblem immediately inorder to help in turningaround the fortunes of theloss-making organisation.The government has ap-proved a package of Rs1.64 lakh crore for the com-pany and now responsibil-ity lies on everyone tomake the organisationvery strong, the ministersaid. "I am rock solid withyou.

The Prime Minister iswith you. Now, we have tobe with our customers.Every customer is God.Customer is the king.

Whatever problems cus-tomers face, they shouldbecome our problem and(we should) solve them im-mediately. Focus on yourcustomers," Vaishnaw toldthe staff during his visit toChennai. Last week, theminister had asked BSNLemployees to either "per-form or perish" and thosewho don't want to work

can take early retirement."I will measure KPIs (KeyPerformance Indicators),performance, and the re-sult every month. Thosewho don't want to workcan take VRS and gohome," the minister hadsaid. The minister expectsBSNL employees to deliverpositive results in 24months.

Focus on customers, solve their problemsimmediately: Vaishnaw tells BSNL staff

New Delhi, Aug 13:

Units in a special eco-nomic zone that want topermit work-from-home foremployees will have to for-mulate a scheme and takeapproval from developmentcommissioners concerned,the commerce ministrysaid on Friday.

In July, the governmentallowed WFH for a maxi-mum period of one year ina special economic zone(SEZ) unit. The facility canbe extended to 50 per cent oftotal employees. The guide-lines issued by the ministrysaid the units will also haveto submit an application totheir development commis-sioners, notifying the adop-tion of the scheme, at leat14 days in advance from the

date of implementation ofthe scheme. TheDepartment of Commercehas notified new rule 43Afor WFH in SpecialEconomic Zones Rules,2006. These rules were is-sued on demand from theindustry to make a provi-sion for a countrywide uni-form WFH policy across allSEZs.

The new rule providesWFH for a certain categoryof employees of a unit inSEZ. These include employ-ees of IT/ITeS SEZ units;employees who are tem-porarily incapacitated; em-ployees who are travellingand who are working off-site. "The units intending toor implementing WFH willformulate and adopt aWFH scheme," it said.

Comm min issues WFHguidelines for SEZ units

Kolkata, Aug 13:

India's seafood exports rose 15per cent on-year to USD 1.99billion in the first quarter endedJune 2022, a senior official saidon Friday. "In 2021-22, totalexports were 7.76 billion, ajump of 30 per cent over FY21,"Marine Products ExportDevelopment Authority(MPEDA) Chairman K NRaghavan said. He was here toparticipate in a roadshow forthe India International SeafoodShow 2023 to be held in Kolkataon February 15-17, 2023, after agap of 16 years. The officialsaid seafood shipments toEurope are expected toincrease in the years to come,with the likely easing of certaincurbs imposed by the European

Union. Europe contributesabout 15 per cent of the totalexports in this segment. An EUaudit is slated soon, followingwhich the embargo on register-ing new units is expected to belifted," Raghavan said. Indiafaces embargoes related toresidue antibiotic traces inshrimp export consignments,restricting shipments of marineproducts to the European mar-ket. The Indian government hasbeen taking several measuresto overcome the problemthrough direct intervention anddialogues, said SeafoodExporters Association of IndiaPresident Jagdeesh Fofandi,who was also present at theevent. He said the governmentis aiming at doubling marineexports by 2025.

India’s seafood exports rise15pc to USD 1.99 billion in

June quarter: Official

Mumbai, Aug 13:

Life InsuranceCorporation has said it hasnot received any timelinefrom the government forthe stake sale in its sub-sidiary IDBI Bank. LICowns 49.2 per cent of thelender and the governmentand public own the re-maining shareholdings inthe bank which was on theverge of collapse before itwas forced into the controlof LIC weighed by a thirdof its loans turning dud.

Addressing the mediaduring its maiden earn-ings call, chairman M RKumar said theCorporation has no time-line yet for the stake sale.The divestment depart-ment is working on it butso far no expression of in-terest has been called in.

Nor has there been any for-mal proposal from the de-partment to us, he added.In its IPO filings in Marchthis year, the insurance be-hemoth had said that itwould retain part of its 51per cent stake in IDBIBank to reap the benefitsof the bancassurancechannel. The plan is tocompletely privatise thebank as the governmentwants to exit it. IDBI Bankbecame a subsidiary of

LIC with effect fromJanuary 2019, followingthe acquisition of an addi-tional 82,75,90,885 equityshares. On December 19,2020, IDBI Bank was re-classified as an associatecompany due to the reduc-tion of LIC shareholdingto 49.24 per cent followingthe issuance of additionalequity shares by the bankunder a qualified institu-tional placement. LIC hadbought a 51 per cent stakein IDBI Bank in 2019 for Rs21,624 crore at an averageprice of Rs 61 per share.Though the bank has comeout of the RBI's restrictiveactions, its share price hasnever reached the LIC buy-out level and on Friday itclosed down by over 2.5 percent at Rs 39.85 on the BSEon a day when bankingstocks were rallying.

No timeline from govt for sellingIDBI stake, says LIC chairman

Mumbai, Aug 13:

HDFC Bank, India’s largest pri-vate sector bank, in associationwith Amity Global BusinessSchool (AGBS), one of India’sleading educational institu-tions, has launched an 8-monthcertification programmeknownas‘RisingBankers’ for aspiringbankers. The programme aimsto turn young graduates intowell-trained, customer-facingpersonnel. It involves on-cam-pus learning, an internship,and a full-time job opportunityat the Bank on successful com-pletion of the certification. Theprogramme is accepting appli-cations from candidates acrossthe country looking to get realworldexperience and earnwhile they learn. Through thisprogramme HDFC Bank willcreate a pipeline of qualifiedtalent who will offera consis-tent, high-quality customer

service experience across geo-graphiesand languages in thecountry.The programme will train can-didates in all facets of bankingoperations in a working envi-ronment. The 8-month coursewill entail a 5-month stint atthe state-of-the-art facility atAmity Global Business Schoolcampus in Noida, where candi-dates will attend residentialclassroom sessions. This willbe followed by a 3-month paidinternship at any HDFC Bankbranch across India. On suc-cessful completion of thisintensive programme, the stu-dents will be employed withHDFC Bank as a Customer CareExecutive or CustomerExperience Executive with astarting salary of Rs 3 lakh perannumFurthermore, they willbeawarded a PG Diploma inCustomer ExperienceManagement from AGBS.

HDFC Bank launches RisingBankers programme

New Delhi, Aug 13:

Wynk Music, India’snumber 1 music stream-ing app by downloads anddaily active users today in-troduced Wynk Studio,India’s largest music dis-tribution ecosystem for in-dependent artists based inIndia and overseas. Thestudio will enable artiststo launch their music andwill also partner them inmonetizing their music ona host of platforms andwill be a part of Airtel’sdigital products portfoliowhich includes Wynk,Airtel Xstream, AirtelAds, Airtel IQamong oth-ers.

Wynk Studio is Airtel’sleap towards acceleratingthe music ecosystem inIndia. The studio plans tolaunch 5000 independentartists on the platform in

thenext 1 year. This willbring forward unknowntalent stymied by musicindustry’s three mostpressing problems -Discovery, Monetizationand Analytics, which to-gether determine the dif-ference between successand failure in the Indianmusic industry.

The Indian music indus-try is at an inflectionpoint. Indians on averagespend about 21 hours perweek listening to music asagainst a global average of18 hours. Almost 30% ofthe top performing songsacross any music platformin India are today from in-dependent artists andthese independent artistsare all set to drive thegrowth of the industry by50% from roughly 2000Crat the moment to 3000Crby 2025.

Airtel introduces Wynk Studio

Mumbai, Aug 13:

The RBI issued fresh in-structions barring recov-ery agents from resortingto intimidation of borrow-ers as well as calling thembefore 8 am and after 7 pm.While issuing additionalinstructions to regulatedentities including banks,NBFCs and ARCs, ReserveBank (RBI) said it has ob-served that recoveryagents are deviating fromits instructions with re-gard to the recovery ofloans.

"It is advised that theREs (regulated entities)shall strictly ensure thatthey or their agents do not

resort to intimidation orharassment of any kind,either verbal or physical,against any person intheir debt collection ef-forts," ?the ?RBI said in anotification. It also askedthem not to send inappro-priate messages to them inany form, make threaten-ing or anonymous calls be-sides not calling the bor-rower before 8 am andafter 7 pm for recovery ofoverdue loans, or makefalse and misleading rep-resentations.

RBI has issued guide-lines from time to time aspart of the Fair PracticesCode (FPC), and has al-ready advised REs thatthey should not resort tointimidation or harass-ment of their borrowers,calling them on phone at

odd hours in their debt col-lection efforts, among oth-ers. The banking regulatorsaid it took into accountcertain recent develop-ments including growingincidences of unacceptablepractices followed by RAs(recovery agents) to issuethese additional instruc-tions to REs. These addi-tions have extended thescope of guidelines whilelimiting the hours for call-ing borrowers on phone forrecovery of overdue loans.RBI said these instructionswill be applicable to allcommercial banks (includ-ing regional rural banks),Cooperative Banks, Non-Banking FinancialCompanies (NBFCs), AssetReconstruction Companies(ARCs) and all India finan-cial institutions.

RBI directs loan recovery agentsnot to intimidate borrowers

No calling before 8 am & after 7pm

New Delhi, Aug 13:

India's industrial produc-tion grew in double digit forthe second month in a rowat 12.3 per cent in Junemainly due to strong per-formance by manufactur-ing, power and mining sec-tors, according to officialdata released on Friday.However, the data showedthat the industrial outputgrowth is lower than 19.6per cent recorded in Maythis year. It was 6.7 per centin April. Factory output,measured in terms of theIndex of IndustrialProduction (IIP), had ex-panded by 13.8 per cent inJune 2021, the data showed.The manufacturing sectorexpanded by 12.5 per cent inJune 2022 compared to 13.2per cent recorded in theyear-ago period, the data re-

leased by the Statistics andP r o g r a m m eImplementation Ministryshowed.

The power sector showeda growth of 16.4 per cent asagainst 8.3 per cent a yearago, while the mining sec-tor witnessed an expansionof 7.5 per cent in June 2022compared to a 23.1 per cent

growth last year. DuringApril-June this year, IIPgrew 12.7 per cent asagainst 44.4 per cent growthin the same period a yearago. Capital goods output,which is a barometer of in-vestment, rose by 26.1 percent in June 2022 against27.3 per cent in the year-agomonth.

Industrial production growth remains indouble digit for 2nd month at 12.3pc in June

New Delhi, Aug 13:

Edible oil imports rose 31 percent to 12.05 lakh tonnes inJuly amid a fall in global pricesof palm, soyabean and sun-flower oils since June, accord-ing to industry data. Theimport of edible oils stood at9.17 lakh tonnes in the samemonth last year.In a statement on Friday, theSolvent Extractors'Association of India (SEA) saidthe import of vegetable oils,comprising edible and non-edible oils, in July this yearrose 24 per cent to 1,214,353tonnes. In the year-ago period,it stood at 9,80,624 tonnes inJuly 2021.Oil marketing year runs fromNovember to October. DuringNovember 2021 to July 2022period, the imports of edibleoils rose to 96,95,305 tonnesfrom 93,70,147 tonnes in theyear-ago period.

Edible oil importsrise 31 pc to 12.05lakh tonnes in July

Angelina Jolie gets emotional ondropping daughter Zahara at collegeHollywood actress Angelina Jolie had

mixed emotions as another of herchildren stepped out of their comfort zone.

The mother of six shared she was barely ableto contain her tears while dropping her daugh-ter Zahara off at Spelman College, reportsaceshowbiz.com.

The school's Vice President of StudentAffairs Darryl Holloman shared pictures

and a video of the mother and daughterduo arriving on the school's move-in

day. In the clip, the actress met withschool president Dr. Helene Gayle andhad a short interview.

Dressing down in an all-black outfit,Jolie said, "I'm going to start crying if I talk

about today." The Academy Award-winning actressadded, "I haven't started crying yet so..."

‘I never said no to any role that came my way’

With her portrayal ofVidhi in Star Bharat'srecently launched pro-

gramme "Na Umra Ki SeemaHo," Rachana Mistry is swiftlyrising to the top of the audi-ence's favourites list. Rachanahas won the audience's affec-

tions by portraying Vidhi, astraightforward mid-

dle-class girl.Before landing

the lead role inNa Umra Ki

Seema Ho,R a c h a n aMistry hasprevious-

ly portrayed a variety of roles.Rachana talks about her jour-ney thus far while expressingher thanks. She explains, "Mypath has been filled with a lot ofhard work and hardships thathave brought me to this point inmy life. This is a slow process,and the only way to succeed is tohave faith in your abilities andnever give up on your goals. Iplayed many various personali-ties and roles before landing myfirst main role in "Na Umra KiSeema Ho." She continues, "Ifyou have talent and are deter-mined to achieve your goals,you will succeed in life. Fame

didn't come easily to me either; Iworked hard for many yearsand I never turned down anyrole that came my way becauseevery character has helped melearn something and has im-proved my craft. Therefore,never give up and always putyour best into your effort, nomatter how minor. In the recenttrack of ‘Na Umra Ki Seema Ho’we can see a friendship buildingup between Dev and Vidhi. Willthis growing bond bring themcloser to each other? How willdestiny make them part of eachother’s life? To know how thestory unfolds further.

Amother and child’sbond is believed tobe eternal, selfless,

strong and based on un-conditional love. Whilethere are no bounds tomotherly love and affec-tion, it can be complicated,especially when the childin question is the illegiti-mate son of your husband.And what happens whendestiny brings you togeth-er with that child underthe same roof ? Such isYashoda and Krishna’sstory, brought together byfate and how their lifetakes a blind turn.

&TV is all set to presenta family drama, ‘DoosriMaa’ - the story of awoman living in UttarPradesh with her hus-band, two daughters andin-laws whose happy,peaceful family life comesto a screeching halt when

she and her husband un-knowingly end up adopt-ing his illegitimate child.The show is produced

by Zee Studios. Stay tunedto know more on DoosriMaa, coming soon only on

&TV!

Mouni Roy is dying to be a part of

larger-than-lifemovies

Actress Mouni Roy, who will beseen in filmmaker AyanMukerji's upcoming film

'Brahmastra', said that she wouldlike to work in South Indian moviesas she is dying to be a part of larger-than-life movies.

When asked if she would like towork in South Indian films, Mouniin ShareChat LIVE AudioChatroom said: "I am keen onbeing a part of films down South,and I really think they are mak-ing some brilliant content. I amdying to be a part of the larger-than-life movies they are mak-ing."

Roy also revealed how sheloves to watch 'Friends' andshowed affection towardsRachel and Phoebe's charac-ters.

"'Friends' is my go-toshow. Whenever I am reallyhappy or sad, I start watch-ing Friends as it makes mefeel good. I feel like I amhanging out with them."

Revealing herfavourite charactersfrom the show, sheadded, "I love themall, but I feel that I ama combination ofRachel and Phoebemyself."

'Brahmastra' is afantasy adventuretrilogy. It alsostars AmitabhBachchan, AliaBhatt, RanbirKapoor andNagarjuna.

ACROSS

1. Stocking mishaps

5. Bistro

9. Nighttime vision

14. Hero's tale

15. In the center of

16. Appearance

17. Cruising

18. Circus leader

20. Pronouncement

22. Lighting gas

23. Compass point (abbr.)

24. Pittsburgh player

26. Ump's kin

28. Serious plays

31. Enlightened one's words (2 wds.)

35. Range

39. Ripped

40. Easter flower

41. Document

42. Nervous twitch

43. Southern beauty

44. Notable periods

45. Window frame

46. Motorist's aid

47. Bruise

48. Walks in

50. Wallet bill

52. Daily grind (2 wds.)

57. Enjoy the slopes

60. Frank

63. Good sense

64. Emphasize

67. Urgent

68. Achievers

69. Steals from

70. Eden resident

71. Fixed gaze

72. Army division

73. Bank (on)

DOWN

1. Peruses

2. Troubled

3. Brother's daughter

4. Frighten

5. Profession

6. Friend (Fr.)

7. Helsinki native

8. Margin

9. Keaton or Sawyer

10. Real estate abbr.

11. Devours

12. Epochs

13. Simple

19. Telegraph inventor

21. Church official

25. Wicker

27. ____ mignon

29. Slightly wet30. Robin Hood, e.g.32. Window part33. Singer ____ Fitzgerald34. Needle openings35. Gush forth36. Concern37. Milky stone38. Green sauce43. Moisten while cooking45. Leaks slowly49. Most unusual51. From Oslo53. Speed checker54. All kidding ____55. Atoll material56. Foe57. Soap bubbles58. Snarl59. Thought61. Light brown62. High ____65. Make a mistake66. Batter's stat


This is a terrific time to start some phys-ical activity that takes you outside andgets your blood pumping, Aquarius.Don't think this means you have tobecome the star player at a tennis club.A simple walk around the block everymorning may be all you need to feel aboost in physical and mental energy.

Aquarius: Jan 21 – Feb 18

You may feel like you're being tested insome way and must prove that what you'redoing is valid and correct, Pisces.Fortunately, you should feel an emotionalboost that will help you be confident aboutwho you are, regardless of what other peo-ple think. The biggest tests are those thatyou give yourself. You are your toughestcritic.

Pisces: Feb 19 – Mar 20

You're able to assert yourself with moreconfidence than usual, Aries. You shouldhave a grounded perspective regardingyour emotions. You aren't afraid to speakyour mind in a situation where normallyyou'd only say anything that helps keepthe peace. Other people may prefer thatyou keep things on an even keel, but youaren't working for them.

Aries: Mar 21 – Apr 20

Just when you feel like you've come to apoint of emotional stability and calm,Taurus, something happens to throw youoff balance. You may be uneasy with thenotion of stability and feel what you real-ly want is risk, action, and excitement.This inner conflict makes it hard for youto operate. Try not to overanalyze everypiece of the equation.

Taurus: Apr 21 – May 21

You have lots of energy and self-confi-dence, Gemini. That's wonderful, but itmay also put you at greater risk fordangerous experiences and accidents.You could find that you're much moreaggressive, especially if someonecrosses you.

Gemini: May 22 – June 21

Be happy with yourself and others,Cancer. Stop trying to find fault witheveryone you interact with. By criticizingwhat they do and how they do it, you couldwake up one morning and find that youhave no friends. By only seeing the bad inpeople, you may talk yourself out of rela-tionships with them. Be careful aboutcoming across as a know-it-all.

Cancer: June 22 – July 22

You may be bursting with energy andyearning to be a free spirit, Leo. At thesame time, your emotions could find away to block these thoughts. You mayfeel like there's some sort of weightholding you down, making it difficult toact freely. This could cause you to actfitfully, leaving you frustrated anddefeated.

Leo: July 23 – Aug 23

You may feel a bit blue due to a naggingweightiness that pins you down to realityinstead of being free to fly, Virgo. You mayact out in an effort to prove to yourself andothers that you're somehow above Earthlythings. Get over the mental block that saysbeing grounded is a bad thing. Plant yourfeet firmly on terra firma. That's how youfind balance and attain your goals.

Virgo: Aug 24 – Sept 22

You're able to work much more efficientlyand effectively, Libra. Your energy isstrong, and you don't need to fight inorder to get your voice heard. Attend todetails and don't get discouraged by anydiscomfort that might arise. As long asyou approach things with a positive atti-tude, everything should work out fine.

Libra: Sept 23 – Oct 23

Different people measure success by dif-ferent scales. You shouldn't get discour-aged if your accomplishment today seemssmall compared to what others have donein the same period. Comparisons willmake it difficult for you to feel like you'regetting anywhere. Someone else willalways do more.

Scorpio: Oct 24 – Nov 22

You could feel as if the battle hasbegun and you're the target,Sagittarius. If you don't have a solidforce behind you, this period could bedifficult. Emotionally, this may not beyour best day. Instead of feeling yourfeelings, you examine them in amethodical, rational manner.

Sagittarius: Nov 23 – Dec 21

It could be scary for you to do anythingrisky for fear of conflict or failure,Capricorn. Perhaps you've tried tobecome invisible in different situations soyou can avoid being noticed. Thesedefense mechanisms may serve you for awhile but acting out of fear or guilt won'tget you where you need to go.

Capricorn: Dec 22 – Jan 20

C R O S S WO R D 391

SOLUTION 389

HOROSCOPE SUNDAY AUGUST 14

Singer AdityaNarayan shared hischildhood dream of

joining the army withNamrata Kumari Ojha,wife of Galwan martyrKundan Ojha, on"Superstar Singer 2".

Ojha was among the 20Indian soldiers who losttheir lives during a clashwith the Chinese forces inGalwan Valley in Ladakh.

The singer says that hewill sponsor the educationof their daughter.

Aditya, who is also thehost of the show, said: "Asa child, I was very passion-ate about the Indian Armyand I wanted to be a part ofit. But being the only sonof my parents, it could notbe possible. But whenevermy country will need me, Iwill be the first one to beready."

Appreciating Namratafor the way she is takingcare of her daughter,Aditya said: "I feel im-mensely happy to seeNamrata ji that you are sostrong and have not losthope and are workingalong with taking care ofyour beautiful daughter. Itoo have a daughter, she isnearly as young as Diksha.Your daughter is reallysweet and so as a smalltoken of love, I would liketo sponsor Diksha's educa-tion.

"I want her future to bebright, I want her to study

well and be whatever shedreams of being. I wouldreally like it if you andDiksha could come hometo meet my parents, mywife and my daughter.They will be really privi-leged to meet you and yourdaughter."

On the eve ofIndependence Day, thesinging reality show"Superstar Singer 2" willhave a special episode fea-turing personalities fromthe Indian defence forcesand their families, whowill share some touchingand interesting anecdotes.

Singer and judge AlkaYagnik, expressing hergratitude towards Indiansoldiers, said: "We can'teven imagine the level ofsacrifice Namrata ji hasmade for the safeguard ofour country. The countryhas lost one soldier, butshe lost her whole world.Just the thought of suchselfless sacrifice moves medeeply. Even thoughKundan ji could not seehis daughter's face, I amsure his blessings are al-ways on Diksha.

"The great sacrifice hemade for his country willreturn as a blessing to herand she will have a beauti-ful future. Salute toNamrata ji and her fami-ly," she concludes."Superstar Singer 2" airson Sony EntertainmentTelevision.

Aditya Narayan:

As a child, I wanted to

be a part of Indian Army

&TV to present a familydrama ‘Doosri Maa’


Toronto, Aug 13 (AP):

Two-time championSimona Halep beat CocoGauff 6-4, 7-6 (2) to reachthe National Bank Opensemifinals.

Halep, the 30-year-oldfrom Romania, won theevent in Montreal in 2016and 2018. She will face sev-enth-seeded JessicaPegula, a 6-3, 6-3 winnerover Yulia Putintseva ofKazakhstan. The 15th-seeded Halep is 4-0 againstthe Gauff, the 18-year-oldAmerican seeded 10th. Inthe night session, BeatrizHaddad Maia of Brazilousted 12th-seed BelindaBencic of Switzerland 2-6,6-3, 6-3. On Thursday,Haddad Maia beat top-ranked Iga Swiatek ofPoland. In the late match,14th-seeded KarolinaPliskova of the CzechRepublic played ZhengQinwen of China.

Halep beats Gauff 6-4, 7-6 (2)to reach Toronto

semifinals

Montreal, Aug 13 (AP):

Fourth-seeded CasperRuud of Norway routedhometown favorite FelixAuger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-2in the National BankOpen quarterfinals.

"It was one of thosedays where everything

goes in one favor andluckily it was in myfavor," Ruud said afterreaching his thirdMasters 1000 semifinal ofthe season.

The sixth-seededAuger-Aliassime, made 21unforced errors to justeight for Ruud.

"(My) first two matcheswere good, some positivethings," Auger-Aliassimesaid.

"I never thought itwould be ending like thistoday."

Ruud will face eighth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz ofPoland, a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-1

winner over Nick Kyrgiosof Australia.

In the night session,Britain's Daniel Evansbeat American TommyPaul 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, andSpain's Pablo CarrenoBusta topped Britishqualifier Jack Draper 7-6(4), 6-1.

Ruud routed hometown favoriteAuger-Aliassime in Montreal

Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada reacts after losing a point against Casper Ruud of Norway.

Kingston, Aug 13 (AP):

Glenn Phillips struck ahalf century from 33 ballsto propel New Zealand to a90-run win over the WestIndies in the secondTwenty20 international,clinching the three-matchseries with a 2-0 lead.

After reaching his fifthT20 half century, Phillipswent on to 76 from 40 ballsand led New Zealand to 215-5 as it batted after winningthe toss, exceeding the 185-5that was a winning total inthe first match of the se-ries. His innings includedsix sixes and four fours.

The West Indies man-aged only 125-9 in reply,lacking the partnershipsthat underpinned a NewZealand total which wasthe highest by a visitingteam against the WestIndies in a T20 in theCaribbean.

Phillips put on 71 for thethird wicket with DevonConway who made 42 from34 balls and 83 with DarylMitchell who made 48 from20.

The West Indies' bestwere stands of 35 for theseventh wicket betweenRomario Shepherd andRovman Powell whichbegan when the home teamwas 40-6 and the matchprobably was already lost.

Hayden Walsh (10) andObed McCoy (23) put on 38in an unbroken stand forthe last wicket.

Phillips put to good usehis knowledge of condi-tions at Sabina Park, whichis his home ground in theCaribbean PremierLeague. Coming back toSabina Park is amazing.I've got great memories

here, Phillips said in a tele-vision interview. Beingable to get a 50 for my coun-try over here in front of acrowd which I really love isdefinitely very special forme. Credit to the WestIndies for the way theybowled up front with thenew ball which was really,really good in terms of tak-ing the pace off the ball

when it was new and hard-er. As it got older the pitchbecame a bit nicer to baton. Seven West Indies wick-ets fell to spin bowlers, in-cluding the first four of theinnings.

Mitchell Santner, whowas Man of the Match forhis 3-19 in the first match,took a wicket with his firstball and two wickets in his

opening over to set backthe West Indies' run chase.

Off spinner MichaelBracewell, who replacedfast bowler LockieFerguson in the NewZealand lineup, also took awicket with his first deliv-ery, dismissing captainNicholas Pooran (1) as theWest Indies slumped to 12-3at the start of the fourthover. Santner andBracewell both finishedwith 3-15 while Ish Sodhitook 1-36. Tim Southee tookthe only wicket which fellto a fast bowler, removingOdean Smith at the tail andreturning 1-34.

Shimron Hetmeyer wasthe first batsman not to fallto a spin bowler, run out bya direct hit at the bowlersend by New Zealand cap-tain Kane Williamson. TheWest Indies were 28-5 atthat point and couldn't re-cover. We just didn't showup today, Pooran said.

They batted us out of itand we couldn't see ourway with the bat. We hadto stay in the game. It justdidn't start well for us. Weare struggling but themore cricket we play ourperformance will grow.

The final T20 will beplayed on Sunday at thesame venue, followed bythree one-day interna-tionals.

New Zealand beats Windies by 90 runs, leads T20 series 2-0

Michael Bracewell (L), Tim Southee (C) and Martin Guptill (R) of New Zealand celebrate the dismissal of Jason Holder of West Indies during the 2nd T20i match between West Indies and NewZealand at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica.


Indian women's hockeyteam forward Jyoti sayschief coach JannekeSchopman's hands-on ap-proach has helped her tomake drastic improve-ments as she won a bronzemedal on debut at theCommonwealth Games.

The 22-year-old was partof the Indian women'shockey team that returnedto India after clinching amemorable bronze medalat the BirminghamCommonwealth Games,ending a 16-year medaldrought at the quadrenni-al event.

"The players and coach-ing staff have reallyhelped me improve mygame. Now I feel a lotmore confident while car-rying the ball and my offthe ball movement has im-proved drastically," shesaid in a Hockey India (HI)release.

"The coaching staffhave also given me a lot ofconfidence to try some-thing different and cre-ative on the field."

On the influence ofSchopman, Jyoti said:"Janneke has helped meimprove my game. Shehas taught me how to

make the game simple andeasy for myself, I do notponder on the ball any-more and look to move itas swiftly as possible.

"Her hands-on approachduring practice sessionshas bought out the best ofmy abilities."

Talking about her maid-en appearance at the megasporting event, Jyoti said:"Commonwealth Gameswas especially importantfor me because this wasmy first appearance forthe team at a multi-disci-pline event.

"Winning the bronzemedal filled us up with animmense sense of prideand joy and is a true re-

ward for everyone's effortsconnected to the team.The bronze medal hassurely made this outingdoubly special for me."

The women's teamclaimed the bronze medalafter pulling off a thrilling2-1 shootout win over NewZealand after a 1-1 score-line in regulation time.

"My whole experience ofthe Games was amazing.We won our matchesagainst Ghana, Wales andCanada but lost toEngland in the groupstages. I also understoodthat losing and winningwill always be an impor-tant part of any tourna-ment," she said.

Schopman’s hands-on approach hasbought the best out of me: Jyoti


Australian great IanChappell is certain Testcricket "won't die" in hislifetime but wonderedwhether the best playerswould play it in the futureamid the proliferation ofT20 leagues.

The former Australiacaptain believed that inter-national cricket faces areal challenge of retainingplayers in the face of rapidexpansion of T20 leaguesaround the world.

"(Test cricket) won't diein my lifetime. But who'llbe playing it? That's the bigquestion," Chappell wasquoted as saying by 'WideWorld of Sports'.

"If you haven't got yourbest players, is Test cricketworth watching? The an-swer is probably no. Testcricket is a good game, butit's got to be well played,"he added. Chappell alsospoke about the issue ofChris Lynn seeking a No-objection Certificate(NOC) from CricketAustralia to play in theUAE's ILT20. Lynn has reg-istered himself as a mar-

quee player in the ILT20but will require a No-objec-tion Certificate (NOC)from CA to play in theleague, something he maynot get as the Australiancricket board also runs theBig Bash League at thesame time. Chappell said ifhe were at Lynn's place hewould take CA to court inthe event he is not given anNOC. "To me, you then goback to the World SeriesCricket days, where theytook the board to courtover restraint of trade. Is ita restraint of trade?

"In Chris Lynn's case, ifhe hasn't got a contractwith Cricket Australia orCricket Queensland,what's to stop him? If I wasChris Lynn and I wantedto play in the UAE I'd takethem to court. I don't thinkCricket Australia wouldhave a hope in hell.

Test cricket won’t die inmy lifetime: Ian Chappell

Dubai, Aug 13 (PTI):

Australian legend RickyPonting feels MohammedShami's strength lies inthe longest format andthere are better quickbowlers in India's T20 setup, weighing in on his ab-sence from the Asia Cupsquad.

India have pickedBhuvneshwar Kumar,Avesh Khan and ArshdeepSingh as the three special-ist fast bowlers with all-rounder Hardik Pandyabeing the fourth pacer inthe 15-member squad.

"He's (Shami) been avery, very good bowler forIndia for a long time now.If you look at hisstrengths, his Test cricketis probably where hethrives the most," Ponting,a two-time World Cup-win-ning captain, said in thelatest episode of The ICCReview.

"I think there are betterfast bowlers in Indian T20cricket than Shami andthey've only named three(for the Asia Cup). So ifthere's potentially four

named in the squad hemight be the fourth manin." With Jasprit Bumrahand Harshal Patel nursinginjuries, many felt Shamimight be included to sharethe new-ball duties duringthe Asia Cup.

"I would think they'llprobably only have thefour quicks coming toAustralia. They'll stillwant to bring a lot of spinhere even though the wick-ets are probably not thatconducive," Ponting said.

The Asia Cup will beheld in Dubai and Sharjahfrom August 27 toSeptember 11 and Pontingpicked India as thefavourites to win the tour-

nament. "It's always hardto go past India in anytournament, not just anAsia Cup, but I think everytime we talk about the T20World Cup which is com-ing up, I think that Indiawill be right in the thick ofit there," the 47-year-oldsaid. "Their depth is defi-nitely better than theother teams and I thinkIndia will win the AsiaCup." Arch-rivals Indiaand Pakistan haven't com-peted in a bilateral seriesfor nearly a decade now.

"To be totally honest it'sone that we've beenstarved of, haven't we look-ing back the last 15 or 20years," Ponting said.

There are better fast bowlers in IndianT20 cricket than Shami: Ponting


Star India batterCheteshwar Pujaracracked 22 runs in an overen route to his scintillat-ing 107 off 79 balls for hiscounty side Sussex in theRoyal London One DayCup in Birmingham.

However, Pujara's in-nings went in vain asSussex fell short by fourruns while chasingWarwickshire's 310 for sixon Friday.

Pujara, India's battingmainstay in Tests, lookedin ominous touch as heslammed three fours and asix in the 45th over offmedium pacer LiamNorwell to keep Sussex inthe chase.

Overall, Pujara smashedseven fours and two sixesduring his innings. He wasdismissed in the first ballof the 49th over by OliverHannon-Dalby as Sussexfinished at 306 for seven.

Pandya snaps threewickets

Spin all-rounder KrunalPandya, who turned up for

Warwickshire, played animportant role in his side'swin as he made amendsfor his two-ball duck witha three-wicket haul.Pandya took the wickets ofAli Orr (81), Tom Clark(30) and Delray Rawlins

(11) to return with figuresof 10-0-51-3. Earlier, RobertYates hit a 111-ball 114,while Will Rhodes (76) andMichael Burgess (58)cracked fifties to takeWarwickshire to a 300-plustotal.

Pujara’s hit 79-ball 107 for Sussexin Royal London One Day Cup

Coimbatore, Aug 13 (PTI):

The dream of formerpresident A P J AbdulKalam for making Indiaa superpower would berealised by 2047 whenthe country celebratesits 100th year of inde-pendence, UnionMinister of State forInformation andBroadcasting andFisheries L Murugansaid on Saturday.

Under Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's gover-nance, the country ismoving towards the pathof becoming a super-power in the globalarena, Murugan told re-

porters after participat-ing in the 'Freedom RunMini Marathon' organ-ised by SwamiVivekanana SevaKendra here as part ofthe 75th IndependenceDay celebrations.

"People are hoistingthe national flag atoptheir houses to celebratethe 75th IndependenceDay, respecting the callgiven by PM Modi aspart of the 'Har GharTiranga' campaign," theBJP leader said. Tribalcommunities living inremote areas of thecountry are showing en-thusiasm on hoisting thetricolour, Murugan said.

3 months after return to IAS, Shah Faesal appointed as deputy secretary in Union tourism ministry


IAS officer Shah Faesal,who had a brief stint inpolitics, has been posted asa deputy secretary in theunion tourism ministryover three months afterbeing reinstated, officialssaid on Saturday.

The order on the postingof 2010-batch IAS officerfrom erstwhile Jammuand Kashmir cadre wascleared earlier this week.

He was reinstated in thelast week of April after thegovernment accepted hisapplication for withdraw-ing his resignation.

Faesal could not bereached for a commentthrough calls or messages.

Faesal, who was the first

Indian AdministrativeService exam topper fromJammu and Kashmir, hadearlier this year droppedhints about his return tothe government servicewhen he sent out a seriesof tweets speaking abouthis idealism letting himdown in 2019 when he hadresigned.

He had said, "8 monthsof my life (Jan 2019-Aug2019) created so much bag-gage that I was almost fin-ished. While chasing achimera, I lost almosteverything that I had builtover the years. Job.Friends. Reputation.Public goodwill. But Inever lost hope. My ideal-ism had let me down," hehad said.

"But I had faith in my-self. That I would undo themistakes I had made. Thatlife would give me anotherchance. A part of me is ex-hausted with the memoryof those 8 months andwants to erase that legacy.Much of it is already gone.Time will mop off the restin believe," he had tweeted.

"Just thought of sharingthat life is beautiful. It isalways worth giving our-selves another chance.Setbacks make usstronger. And there is anamazing world beyond theshadows of the past. I turn39 next month. And I'm re-ally excited to start allover again," he tweeted inApril this year.

Faesal, who had submit-

ted his resignation inJanuary 2019 and floatedthe Jammu and KashmirPeople's Movement(JKPM) party, was de-tained under the stringentPublic Safety Act immedi-ately after the abrogationof the special status of theerstwhile state of Jammuand Kashmir.

However, after his re-lease, Faesal gave up onpolitics and gave indica-tions he was willing to re-join government service.His resignation had notbeen accepted.

The doctor-turned-bu-reaucrat formed his partyto "revive democratic poli-tics" in Jammu andKashmir but his politicalcareer ended abruptly.

The home ministry,which is the cadre control-ling authority for theArunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and UnionTerritory (AGMUT) cadre,had asked for an opinionof the Jammu andKashmir administrationabout his plea for with-drawing his resignation.

Hailing from the remotevillage of Lolab in northKashmir, Faesal, whose fa-ther was killed by terror-ists in 2002, had topped theUPSC examination in2009. Faesal was vocalabout the "unprecedentedcurbs" on the people ofJammu and Kashmir afterthe abrogation of the op-erative provisions ofArticle 370.

Ranchi, Aug 13 (PTI):

Pronouncing imprison-ment till death to an au-torickshaw driver and hisaccomplice in connectionwith the murder of aDhanbad Court Judge lastyear, a special CBI Court inits order said "such culpritneeds to be kept behindbars till the end of his life".CBI court judge Rajni KantPathak on July 28 held au-torickshaw driver LakhanVerma and his associateRahul Verma guilty ofmurdering 49-year-old ad-ditional sessions judgeUttam Anand

Observing that "no-body can think that ajudge of Jharkhand judi-

ciary would be murderedin such a way. This inci-dent shook not only theentire judicial fraternityof the country but on thecitizen at mass level," theSpeical CBI Court JudgeRajni Kant Pathak said a'lenient view' in the casewas ruled out.

Additional SessionsJudge, Dhanbad, Anandwas hit by a heavy au-torickshaw on July 28 lastyear at Randhir VermaChowk close to districtcourt while he was onmorning jog at around 5am. He died on the sameday. The Special CBIcourt in its order ob-served that after such anincident there was an at-

mosphere of fear amongthe family members ofjudicial officers and peo-ple who were compelledto think if this could hap-pen to a judge how safewere ordinary citizens.

There is provision foronly two punishments formurder One for life and an-other for hanging (capitalpunishment), the Judgeobserved. However, hepointed out, that going bythe decisions of the apexCourt the case does notcome under the purview ofrarest of the rare and inhis order said "in my opin-ion if convicts are awardedlife imprisonment, he maybe released from custodyafter 14 years or so, accord-

ing (to) Jail Manual."The order therefore

said: "But to the mind ofthis court such culpritneeds to be kept behindbar till the end of his life.If released, it would senda wrong massage to socie-ty particularly those whowitnessed such type of in-cident. Also they maycommit the same offenceagain having no respectand regard for human lifeand law of the land."

"As observed by theHon'ble Supreme Court lifeimprisonment without anyremission till last breathcan be imposed as substitu-tion of death sentence.Accordingly, convictsLakhan Kumar Verma and

Rahul Kumar Verma arehereby sentenced to under-go rigorous imprisonmentfor life without any remis-sion and commutation tilllast breath along with fineof Rs 20,000 for each con-victs for the offence pun-ishable u/s 302/34 of theIPC and in default of fine,the convicts aforesaid shallundergo simple imprison-ment for one year," theorder said.

The convicts were fur-ther sentenced to undergorigorous imprisonment forseven years with fine of Rs10,000 each for the offenceunder sections 201/34 ofthe IPC and in default offine simple imprisonmentfor six months. Evacuation

efforts intensified asYamuna flows above dan-ger mark in Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI)Evacuation of people fromvulnerable areas intensi-fied as the swollen Yamunariver continued to flowabove the danger mark of205.33 metres in Delhi onSaturday, officials said.The flood control roomsaid the water level was at205.99 metres at 3 pm, un-changed since 5 am. Theriver had breached thedanger mark of 205.33 me-tres around 4 pm on Fridayfollowing heavy rain inupper catchment areas,prompting authorities toevacuate people from low-lying areas.


Around 100 AfghanSikhs and Hindus want tocome to India but are un-able to as some of theirfamily members are yet toreceive their e-visas fromthe government of India, aSikh leader said onSaturday.

President of GurdwaraManagement Committee,Kabul, Gurnam SinghRajwanshi, who was evac-uated from Kabul with fiveof his family members onFriday, said his son isamong those awaitingtheir e-visas.

Around 28 of them areyet to receive their visas.Because of this, 100 ofthem are waiting as it isdifficult for most Afghan

Hindus and Sikhs to leaveany of their family mem-bers behind and come toIndia, Rajwanshi said.

Urging the Indian gov-ernment to grant e-visas tothe minority communitymembers in the Taliban-controlled country, he saidmany of those who haven'treceived their visas are in-fants and children. "Thesituation is so volatile thatwe cannot leave the familymembers, especially thewomen and children, bealone there even for aminute," he added.

Since terrorists attackedKarta-E-Parwan gurdwarain Kabul on June 18, 66Afghan Sikhs and Hindushave been evacuated toIndia in four batches.

Recalling the attack,

Rajwanshi said 18 AfghanSikhs were inside the gur-dwara when it was target-ed and two of them died.

"Businesses of manywere ruined because evenour shops used to be tar-geted. Afghan Sikhs havestopped visiting gurd-waras there," he said.

None of the gurdwarasin Afghanistan is function-al anymore and people arealso scared to visit them,he said.

"We were born in thatcountry (Afghanistan), wegrew up there, we have ourhouses there but we can-not even imagine goingback to that place again,"he added. Those who havearrived in India are nowfocusing on rebuildingtheir lives.

Zakir Hussain says feelings forIndia is beyond explanation

Singapore, Aug 13 (PTI):

Tabla maestro ZakirHussain says his feelingsfor India cannot be de-scribed in words as thecountry holds a very spe-cial place in his heart. It isa feeling that is beyond ex-planation. India is a veryspecial country for me. It islike a music symphonythat despite different com-ponents of music are ableto make a unify projectionof great creativity, Hussainsaid at a press conferenceheld on Saturday.

Having been born there,grown up there, learnedmy art there and educatedthere and even now, afterhaving established resi-dence in America for over40 years, I still carry myIndian passport, he added.Hussain, who is here for a

concert on the eve ofIndia's 75th year ofIndependence, said Indianmusic grew and represent-ed the country way beforebusiness houses came byto make it one of the eco-nomic powers of theworld. In the 1960s-70s, theworld looked at India andappreciated what it had tooffer, yoga, meditation,music and cuisine, headded.

"When the people talkedabout India, they talkedabout the culture and itsmusic. And you cannot ex-clude a country from itsculture, said Hussain. Acountry is loved, respect-ed, honoured and reveredbecause of its culture, andnot alone based on itswealth of reserves, thetable maestro added. Hesaid legendary musicians

Ravi Shankar, BismillahKhan and many greatartists from the countrytravelled all over the world,regaled the audiences andbrought attention toIndia's cultural creativity.

For that, I appreciate allthe efforts put in by thesegreat maestros. And, it isstill being done. And peo-ple like me have a chanceto travel around the worldbecause the platform wascreated by the great maes-tros. The concert bySingapore Indian FineArts Society (SIFAS), sup-ported by the HighCommission of India, willbe staged on Sunday, cele-brating the close culturalties between Singaporeand India.

Hussain, the world-fa-mous table virtuoso, will bejoined by Indian maestros

Kala Ramnath on violinand Jayanthi Kumaresh onveena. Welcoming themaestros to Singapore,Indian High CommissionerP Kumaran said, It is thebrilliance of artistes whomwe have here today whichmakes India proud global-ly."

They are an internation-al phenomena and India'snational treasure, and thisyear gives us an opportuni-ty to celebrate our incredi-ble Arts and Artists fortheir tremendous contribu-tion," he added. Culturallinkages between India andSingapore span the millen-nia, he said, adding, it isvery encouraging to see thecontinuity of culturalbonds between India andSingapore and the enthusi-astic support to Indian artsand artists here.


Printed and Published by Sameer Maheshwari on behalf of Ramgopal Investments Pvt. Ltd. at Navbharat Press, Navbharat Bhawan, Press Complex, Raipur. Editor in Chief - Sameer Maheshwari. Editor: Sameer Shukla (Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act.),Phone: (0771) 4257700 Fax : (0771) 4257703 , Postal Regn. No. C.G./RYPD.N./62/2019-21, Regd. No. 26172/74/RNI

Students hold the tricolor during full dress rehearsal for Independence Day celebrations, at Guru NanakStadium in Amritsar, Saturday.

FULL DRESS REHEARSAL


The golden period ofIndian sports is knockingon the door, said PrimeMinister Narendra Modion Saturday as he hailedthe gutsy show of theIndian contingent whichreturned with 61 medalsfrom the CommonwealthGames. Modi on Saturdayhosted the Indian contin-gent at his residence to fe-licitate the players here.

The Indian athletes pro-duced a sensational showin Birmingham, claiming61 medals, including 22gold, 16 silver and 23bronze. "The real assess-ment of this performancecan't be made with justnumber of medals, ourathletes competed neck-to-neck. There may havebeen a difference of 1s or1cm but we will make thatup I am confident of that,"

Modi said during hisspeech. "It is just a startand we are not going tojust sit quietly, golden peri-od of Indian sports isknocking on the door." "Wehave the responsibility of

making a sporting systemwhich is the best in theworld, inclusive, diverseand dynamic. No talentshould be left out as theyare all assets." While Indiaproduced a dominating

show in badminton,wrestling and weightlift-ing, the athletes also didwell in athletics, judo andlawn bowl, where theywon India's first-evermedal in the Games.

"Not only are westrengthening the sportsthat we have been strongin but have also left a markin new sports. In hockeywe are trying to get ourlegacy back," Modi said."Since the last time, wehave won medals in fournew sports, from lawnbowls to athletics, our per-formance has been spec-tacular. This performancewill help increase youth'sinterest in new sports. Wehave to improve our per-formance in new sports."The Indian team also wona silver in women's T20cricket which was intro-duced for the first time atthe CWG.

PM Modi hosts India’sCommonwealth Games contingent

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with wrestler Sakshi Malikand Vinesh Phogat during the felicitation ceremony of theIndian contingent for the Commonwealth Games 2022, inNew Delhi, Saturday.

100 Sikhs, Hindus waiting to come to India: Afghan Sikh leader

Dhanbad Judge Murder : ‘Such culprits need to be kept behind bars till end of life’

People hold national flags at Kedarnath Temple during Azadi ka Amrit Mahostav, in Kedarnath, Saturday.

AZADI KA AMRIT MAHOSTAV

‘Kalam’s dream of Indiabecoming superpower

will be achieved by 2047’

Monkeypox caseNNeeww DDeellhhii:: Delhi report-ed its fifth monkeypoxcase with a 22-year-oldAfrican woman testingpositive for the infection,official sources said onSaturday. The woman hadtravelled to Nigeria amonth ago. She wasadmitted to LNJP Hospitaltwo days ago and herreports came out onFriday night, confirmingthat she was positive. Sheis the second woman inthe national capital tocontract the infection.Four persons, includingtwo women, are admittedto the LNJP Hospital withmonkeypox while onepatient was dischargedfrom the facility.

Graft caseCChhaannddiiggaarrhh:: The HaryanaState Vigilance Bureau onSaturday said it hasarrested a former deputysuperintendent of policeand a constable posted inthe Rajasthan Police in agraft case. A spokesper-son of the bureau saidthey arrested Sailender,who retired as a DSPfrom the RajasthanPolice, and DarshanSingh, a constable andposted as reader to thestation house officer inChitrakoot police station,Jaipur, in Rajasthan foraccepting a bribe of Rs80,000. Both accusedwere allegedly demand-ing money from the com-plainant, who belonged toHaryana, in lieu of remov-ing his name from an FIRregistered against him atthe chitrakoot police sta-tion in Jaipur.

Footwear hurled MMaadduurraaii:: A man wasdetained after a footwearwas hurled on the car ofTamil Nadu FinanceMinister Palanivel ThiagaRajan here, when he wasreturning after payinghomage to a slain Indianarmy soldier hailing fromthe district. Rifleman DLakshmanan, a residentof T Pudupatti village inthe district, was amongthe army personnel killedin a terror attack inJammu and Kashmir'sRajouri on Thursday. Hismortal remains reachedhere for the last rites.The minister, officials andstate BJP chief KAnnamalai paid tributesto the departed soldier.

Decomposed carcassUUddhhaaggaammaannddaallaamm ((TTNN))::A female elephant wasfound dead in a highlydecomposed state andalso partially eaten bywild animals in Anaikattyarea of Segur forestrange, officials said. Theforest department staffnoticed the carcass dur-ing patrolling in the areaon Friday evening and apost-mortem was con-ducted on Saturday. Theautopsy report suggest-ed that the tushes werenot developed for thefemale elephant. Thecause of death cannot beascertained as the car-cass was decomposed.

AZADI KA AMRIT MAHOTSAV

Students form a human chain in the shape of the Indian Map as they celebrate Azadi KaAmrit Mahotsav to commemorate 75 years of Indian independence, in Varanasi, Saturday.

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Women purchase tri-colouredbangles ahead of

Independence Day, in OldDelhi, Saturday.

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With 'Har Ghar Tiranga'campaign picking pace,Residents WelfareAssociation (RWAs) in thenational capital are con-cerned about the disposal ofthese flags in a dignifiedmanner after the celebra-tions.

RWAs across the city arebrainstorming ideas toavoid disrespect for the na-tional flag. They are run-ning social media aware-ness campaigns about therules to be followed. Someof them will also launchcampaigns for collection offlags from households andtheir respectful disposal.

The 'Har Ghar Tiranga'campaign under the aegisof 'Azadi Ka AmritMahotsav' kicked off onSaturday. The Union gov-ernment has urged peopleto hoist or display tri-

colours in their housesfrom August 13 to 15 tomark the 75th anniversaryof India's independence.

Taking cognisance of thedisposal of flags, theMunicipal Corporation ofDelhi (MCD) said it has

given special instructionsto its Safai Sainiks to collectdishevelled or soiled flagsseparately.

"MCD attaches huge im-portance and dignity to thenational flag. In pursuanceto this, it has given special

instructions to its SafaiSainiks to collect dishev-elled or soiled flags sepa-rately and deposit them intheir respective zonal con-trol room," MCD director(Press and Information)Amit Kumar told PTI.

"These flags will then bedisposed with all dignityand respect as per the pre-scriptions laid down in theFlag Code," he added.

According to the FlagCode, 2002, a damaged orsoiled flag shall shall be de-stroyed as a whole in pri-vate, preferably by burningor any other method consis-tent with its dignity.

Atul Goyal, who headsthe United Residents JointAction (URJA), a civil socie-ty initiative of 2,500 resi-dents' welfare associations,said lakhs of flags will beused this Independence Dayand they should be disposedappropriately.

Shimla, Aug 13 (PTI):

The Himachal PradeshAssembly passed a bill onSaturday forbidding "massconversion" and enhancingthe maximum punishmentto 10 years imprisonment inits 2019 law against anychange of religion throughforce or allurement.

The Himachal PradeshFreedom of Religion(Amendment) Bill, 2022,was passed unanimouslywith a voice vote.

The bill inserts the refer-ence to "mass conversion",which is described as twoor more people convertingat the same time, in the 2019Act and proposes to in-crease the punishment forforced conversions to amaximum of 10 years fromseven years.

The Jai Ram Thakur-ledgovernment introduced the

bill on Friday. It is a morestringent version of TheHimachal PradeshFreedom of Religion Act,2019, which came into forcebarely 18 months ago.

The 2019 Act was notifiedon December 21, 2020, 15months after it was passedin the state assembly. The2019 version had in turn re-placed a 2006 law, which pre-scribed lesser punish-ments.

It stipulates that the com-plaints made under the Actwill be investigated by a po-lice officer not below therank of a sub-inspector. Theoffences will now be triedby a sessions court.Introducing the bill onFriday, Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur said the 2019Act did not have a provisionto curb mass conversion,and "therefore, a provisionto this effect is being made."


A local court hearing a caserelated to the 2020 northeastDelhi riots expressed dissatis-faction with public prosecu-tors appearing on an ad hocbasis.The judge directed theCommissioner of Police toensure "appointment and reg-ular appearance of a prosecu-tor in this case".The judge's observation cameafter a Special PublicProsecutor (SPP) submittedthat he was appearing in thecase on an ad hoc basis with-out any concrete order fromthe police department."The matter is referred to theCommissioner of Police to getenquired as to why a properregular public prosecutor forthis case was not ordered tilldate in the backdrop of thefact that the previous prosecu-tor stopped appearing in the

matter," Additional SessionsJudge Pulastya Pramachalasaid in an order passed onAugust 4.The judge said in the absenceof a regular prosecutor wit-nesses were being dischargedwithout being examined ascharges were not framed.The judge directed a copy ofthe order be sent to theCommissioner of Police for"necessary compliance andappointment and regularappearance of a prosecutor inthis case".During the hearing in the riot-ing case registered at KhajuriKhas police station, the judgealso said the charge foroffence under Section 188(disobedience to an order law-fully promulgated by a publicservant) of the IPC was notpressed and after realising the"omission" the prosecutionfiled an application for fram-ing of the additional charge.

Mehsana, Aug 13 (PTI):

Former Gujarat DeputyChief Minister Nitin Patelwas injured after being at-tacked by a stray cow in thestate's Kadi town during a`Tiranga Yatra' onSaturday.

He suffered a minor frac-ture in his left leg duringthe incident, the BJP leadersaid.

Patel was deputy chiefminister and health minis-ter in the previous VijayRupani government in thestate. A large number ofpeople had joined in a pro-cession organised by thestate BJP at Kadi inMehsana district to cele-brate 75 years ofIndependence, Patel told re-porters at his residence inAhmedabad. "A TirangaYatra had been organisedat Kadi where nearly 2,000people participated. It had

completed almost 70 per-cent of the distance andreached a vegetable marketwhen a cow suddenly camerunning," Patel said. In thecommotion, he and a fewothers were thrown downto the ground, he said.

In a video clip, the cow isseen rushing past them andsecurity personnel and oth-ers coming to Patel's help.

He had difficulty walkingwhen he stood up, he said.

He was taken to a privatehospital where X-ray andCT scan showed that he hada minor fracture in his leftleg, Patel added.

"The doctors fixed a tem-porary splint to stabilizethe leg and advised me totake rest for 20-25 days," hesaid.

Srinagar, Aug 13 (PTI):

Northern ArmyCommander LieutenantGeneral Upendra Dwivedion Saturday reviewed thesecurity situation alongthe Line of Control inKashmir and commendedthe forces for maintaininga strong counter-infiltra-tion grid.

Lt Gen Dwivedi was ac-companied by ChinarCorps Commander Lt GenADS Aujla, an Armyspokesperson said.

"#LtGenUpendraDwivedi, #ArmyCdrNC, visitedForward Areas of

#Kashmir along #LC & re-viewed the security situa-tion," the Army'sNorthern Command said

in a tweet.It said Lt Gen Dwivedi

lauded all ranks for theirprofessionalism in main-

taining the sanctity of theLine of Control (LoC).

Lt Gen Dwivedi arrivedhere on Saturday, theArmy spokesperson said.

"Lt Gen Dwivedi wasbriefed on the prevalentsecurity situation andmeasures instituted tocounter adversaries' de-sign and developmentworks being undertakenby the Indian Army. "Helauded the strong counter-infiltration grid along theLoC. He also appreciatedthe strict control exercisedby the formation to abideby the ceasefire under-standing," he said.


The Supreme Court hasordered release of a manconvicted for rape andmurder of a minor girlnoting he has been in jailfor almost 19 years despitebeing declared a juvenile.

A bench of justicesIndira Banerjee and VRamasubramanian said ajuvenile cannot be de-tained in custody beyondthree years according tothe provisions of theJuvenile Justice (Care andProtection of Children)

Act, 2000, in force at thematerial time when the in-cident took place.

"The petitioner has ad-mittedly been under in-carceration in jail forabout 18 years and 9months. This is not in dis-pute.

"Counsel appearing onbehalf of the Respondent-State seeks time to lookinto the case. Since thereis an order of the JuvenileJustice Board passed wayback in 2014, declaring thepetitioner a juvenile, therecan be no question of any

further detention of thepetitioner in custody," thebench said.

The top court directedthat the petitioner shallimmediately be grantedinterim bail on a personalbond and ordered that hereport to the local policestation once a week.

The apex court was toldthat the convict was con-victed inter alia under sec-tion 302 (murder) and 376(rape) of the Indian PenalCode and was imposed thepunishment of death sen-tence.

Bhubaneswar, Aug 13 (PTI):

In a first for the country,the Odisha governmenthas decided to providewedding kits' to newlymarried couples fromSeptember to raise aware-ness about family plan-ning, officials said. Thekits will contain contra-ceptive pills, condoms, abooklet on methods andbenefits of family plan-ning, and the marriageregistration certificateamong other items, theysaid. This is a part of theNational Health Mission's(NHM) Nai Pahal Scheme'.The objective is to createawareness among newlymarried couples to adoptfamily planning, Directorof Family Planning BijayPanigrahy said.

Har Ghar Tiranga

Disposal of flags a matter of concern

A young woman holds the tricolor ahead of upcomingIndependence Day, in Old Delhi, Saturday.

Himachal Assembly passesbill against forced mass

conversion with voice vote

Former deputy CM Nitin Patel injured inattack by stray cow during Tiranga Yatra

NNeeww DDeellhhii:: BJP leaders, including Union ministers, joined the 'HarGhar Tiranga' campaign across the country as the three-day exer-cise began on Saturday to mark the 75th anniversary of India'sIndependence. Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J PNadda hoisted the national flag at their residences and posted pic-tures on social media. As part of the exercise in the run-up toIndependence Day, the BJP also held an exhibition on the eve ofPartition Horrors Remembrance Day on August 14, at its office here."Attended the poignant exhibition on 'Partition HorrorsRemembrance Day' at BJP HQ that reminds us all of the pain oflakhs of our brothers and sisters during partition. We must neverforget the cost that politics of hate and divide, driven by personalselfish interests imposed on us," Nadda said.

BJP leaders join ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign across country

2020 riots: Delhi court askspolice commissioner to appoint

regular public prosecutor

19 years in jail despite being juvenile

SC orders release of manin rape, murder case

Northern Army commander reviewssecurity situation along LoC

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj SinhaSaturday claimed the government will strike the last nail in the cof-fin of terrorism in the union territory in one year. He made theseremarks while speaking here at a function at SKICC where he laidthe foundation stone of 25 DDC, BDC buildings and inaugurated1000 amrit sarovars across the Union territory. The Lt Governor saidit is "our sacred obligation to defend every inch of motherland andeven if we have to sacrifice everything, we shall be ready". "Somepeople, on behest of the neighbouring country, are trying to createdisturbance in J-K. The neighbouring country which itself is living inmisery, can't do any good to the people of J-K," he said.

‘Will strike last nail in coffin of terrorism in one year’

‘Wedding kits’ toraise awareness

on family planning Raipur, Aug 13 (PTI):

The Central ReservePolice Force (CRPF) hasbeen reaching out to re-mote villages inChhattisgarh's Maoist-hitBastar region under the'Har Ghar Tiranga' cam-paign and distributing thenational flags.

CRPF officials said theyhave also covered those vil-lages where the nationalflag had never been hoistedsince Independence due tovarious reasons includingthe Maoist threat.

Security personnel havenot only told villagers tohoist the tricolour in theirhouses but also made themaware of the importance ofIndependence day. Themove is also helping securi-ty forces to improve rela-

tions with locals living inthe shadow of Left Wing ex-

tremism. Thirty-eight bat-talions of CRPF, the largest

paramilitary force, are de-ployed in Chhattisgarh, ex-

tensively in Bastar, forcounter-insurgency opera-tions. One battalion com-prises around 1,000 person-nel. "As many as one lakhnational flags have beendistributed by CRPF per-sonnel in interior villagesof Dantewada, Bijapur,Bastar and Sukma districtsin the last one week,"Inspector General (CRPF),Chhattisgarh sector, SaketKumar Singh told onSaturday.

The CRPF, which re-mains stationed in Bastarfor more than a decade tofight the Maoist menace,aims to connect tribals ofremote villages with thecelebrations to mark the75th year of Independence,he added. The drive to dis-tribute national flags as apart of the 'Har Ghar

Tiranga' campaign waslaunched early this weekand it will be concluded onSaturday, he said.

Mostly those villageswere covered which fallwithin a radius of 7-8 kmaround security camps andpolice stations. As there areseveral camps situated insouth Bastar, a large num-ber of villages have beencovered there, Singh added.

In some villages wherethe tricolour had neverbeen hoisted, villagerswere amazed to see the na-tional flag. Their responsewas superb as they notonly received flags withwarmth but also listenedpatiently to security forceswhen they explained tothem the importance of I-Day and the national flag ,the IG said.

CRPF distributing tricolour in remote villages of Maoist-hit Bastar divisionA Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) personnel

gives the national flag to achild in Karli village, near

Dantewada.


Bhilai, Aug 13: RupaliMahtari GudiBahuuddeshiya Sanstha,Bhilai, distributed sta-tionery, note books andshoes among the under-privileged tribal studentsin Government PrimarySchool in Village Narkalo,Block Lakhanpur, DistrictSurguja.

The organisation dis-

tributed shoes and otheritems among the childrenso that they could attendthe Independence Day cele-brations of Azadi KaAmrit Mahotsava in com-plete school uniform.Members of the organisa-tion addressed the stu-dents and threw light onthe significance of inde-pendence and patriotism.

Rupali Mahtari GudiBahuuddeshiya Sanstha

Patron Anju Dewangan(from Soul ConnectionMeditation Group,Australia and a native ofvillage Hardi, Bilaspur),Neelam Shukla, VaibhaviSethi, Kokil Kakkar, IlaGupta, Varsha Khilnani,Akhilesh Kashyap andschool HM Santosh KumarPatel, Damayanti Panna,Thaneshwari Tiwari,Kamlesh Kumar Rajwadeand others were present.


Bhilai, Aug 13: On the eveof Independence Day,Minister of Home andPublic Works, TamradhwajSahu honored the familiesof the martyrs during aprogramme organised atKala Mandir in CivicCentre. Family members ofmartyrs from State PoliceForces as well as IndianArmy were honoured.

Home Minister special-ly honoured the family ofMartyr LieutenantColonel Kapil Dev Pandey,who made supreme sacri-fice in the lines of duty atManipur. His motherKusum Pandey and SisterBhavana Pandey (seniorjournalist) received thehonour.

In his address, HomeMinister said that thespirit of patriotism is agreat emotion. The sol-

diers who laid down theirlives for the country aresacred for all the countrymen. With their courageand bravery, they keep themotherland safe.

The entire country isgrateful to them. In his ad-dress, MLA Arun Vorasaid that martyrs have sac-rificed their today for abetter tomorrow for all thecountrymen. The freedom

fighters and martyr sol-diers made great contribu-tions for making the coun-try stronger.

Durg Mayor DheerajBakliwal said that such anevent increases thestrength of the martyrfamilies. CollectorPushpendra KumarMeena in his address saidthat we are grateful to themartyred soldiers, who

protected our countrywith their courage.

The country is safe be-cause of their patrioticspirit. In his address, SPDr Abhishek Pallava saidthat we are grateful to allthe martyred soldiers.

Today, beforeIndependence Day, it is apleasure to spend sometime with the families ofall the martyrs. By serving

the country and helpingthe people, we can pay ourtrue tribute to the mar-tyred soldiers.

On this occasion, all thepolice officers and jawanswaved the national flags.SP Dr Abhishek Pallavsang patriotic songs withthe tricolor in his hands.The entire atmosphere wasdrenched in the colour ofpatriotism.


Bhilai, Aug 13: A Trainfrom Antagarh to Durgwas inaugurated atAntagarh station byMohan Mandavi, ChiefGuest and Member ofParliament. Anoop Nag,MLA, Divisional RailwayManager, Raipur, andAnirban Dasgupta,Director I/c (BSP) were thespecial guests on the occa-sion. K K Singh, ED I/c (P&A), and Tapan Sutradhar,ED (Mines & Rowghat),

Anupam Bisht, GM(MinesHQ), S K Soni, GM(NW &Mines) and other senior of-ficials were present duringthe function.

Dasgupta in his addresssaid that he sought the sup-port of the people presentto start Rowghat minessoon. Rails being madefrom the State's earth willgo a long way in develop-ing our Nation, he said.

We are overcomingchallenges with your sup-port and will soon com-plete this railway line

journey soon, he added.The Passenger Train

from Antagarh to Durgwas flagged off by MohanMandavi, Chief Guest forthe inaugural run. Thistrain route is part of theDalli - Rajhara - Rowghatline (95 km) and is fundedby SAIL-Bhilai Steel Plantunder SECR (SouthEastern Central Railway).

The new service con-nects Antagarh to Dalli-Rajhara, located 60 kmsaway. It will be furtherconnected to Taroki sta-

tion in January 2023.At the outset, the digni-

taries visited DAV School,Antargarh and distributedFlags and Sweets underthe banner of 'Azadi kaAmrit Mahotsav'. DAVSchool at Antagarh is runby SAIL-Bhilai Steel Plantand caters to students from22 villages in the bufferzone of Rowghat.Currently, the school ishome to 330 students fol-lowing CBSE Englishmedium from Classes 1 to 7and is fully funded by BSP.


Bhilai, Aug 13: Under theHar Ghar Tiranga cam-paign, Women of SelfHelp Groups operatingunder the BhilaiMunicipal Corporationhad put up stalls at differ-ent places for selling thenational flags. Peoplebought over 30000 flagsfrom these stalls. MayorNeeraj Pal andC o r p o r a t i o nCommissioner LokeshChandrakar have ap-pealed to the people tomake the campaign agrand success.

M u n i c i p a lCommissioner LokeshChandrakar inspected thestall in the Main Officeand purchased the tricolorfrom the women. Underthe Har Ghar Tiranga pro-gramme, people are beinginspired to hoist the na-tional flag in their respec-

tive homes. 10,000 Tricolorflags were manufacturedby Sankalp Self HelpGroup, Kohka, 5000 byHayat Self Help Group,4000 by Miraj Self HelpGroup, 7000 by IshwariSelf Help Group and 4000by Jai Bajrangbali SelfHelp Group.

All the tricolor flagswere bought by the localsfor hoisting at theirhomes. To make the HarGhar Tiranga program a

success, the women of SelfHelp Groups were work-ing hard for a long timeand after preparing theflags, made them availablein the markets by settingup stalls at different spots

On the occasion ofIndependence Day, MayorNeeraj Pal will unfurl thenational flag in the mainoffice of the BhilaiMunicipal Corporation,while MLA DevendraYadav will unfurl the flag

in Shaheed Garden Sector5. Presidents of the zonecommittees will hoist theflag in all the sub-division-al offices of the corpora-tion.

Cleanliness and gar-landing of all the impor-tant monuments will bedone and special care isbeing taken for cleanli-ness at places where thestatues of great personali-ties have been installed. Inpublic institutions and of-fices, where the nationalflag will be hoisted, patri-otic songs will be played.

Elaborate arrangementsof lighting will be made inthe office, Shaheed Udyan,zone offices and otherplaces. Mayor Neeraj Paland CorporationCommissioner LokeshChandrakar have ap-pealed to the people to cel-ebrate Independence Daywith enthusiasm and gaiety.

Two-day ‘Sangeetotsav’ tobe organised at Mahatma

Gandhi Kala MandirCentral Chronicle News

Bhilai, Aug 13: A Two-day 'Sangeetotsav' will beorganised at MahatmaGandhi Kala Mandir bySports and Recreationgroup of SAIL-Bhilai SteelPlant at Mahatma GandhiKala Mandir from August14-15, 2022. Classical musicand dance performancesalongwith dance onPatriotic songs will be or-ganised from 7.30 pm.

A 2-minutes silence willbe observed on August 14,2022 to mark 'PartitionHorrors Remembranceday'. Sanskriti Wahaneand Prakriti Wahane, sis-ters will performJugalbandi on Sitar and

Santoor. Dr PrabhkarKashyap and DiwakarKashyap will also presentsongs. Classical songs willalso be performed duringthe 2-hour programme.Upasana Tiwari,renowned dance guru willdirect a dance perform-ance with 100 students inboth classical andPatriotic form. Kathakdance alongwith a dancededicated to our nation'sfreedom fighters will beperformed on August 15,2022. Interested music anddance connoisseurs are in-vited to attend the pro-gramme at MahatmaGandhi Kala Mandir fromAugust 14-15, 2022. Entryfor the event is free of cost.


Bhilai, Aug 13: SAIL-Bhilai Steel Plant'sEducation departmentunder the guidance ofShikha Dubey, GM(Education). organised a"Prabhat Pheri" on 13August 2022 under the ban-ner of 'Azadi ka AmritMahotsav' As many as 3000students from 15 schools ofBSP, including Bhilaitownship, Rajhara andHirri took part enthusias-tically in the PrabhatPheri.

Approximately 200 stu-dents from each schoolalong with the Teachers

and Head of the schoolmarched in the vicinity ofthe schools. Students were

shouting slogans infusinga spirit of patriotism andpride in the Indian

Tricolour. The studentswalked past their schools,waving Tricolour balloons

and Flag. They took partwith full zeal with patriot-ic fervour and walked

along with their schoolbanners during thePrabhat Pheri.

BMC officials pledge to makethe country ‘Drug Free’


Bhilai, Aug 13: The offi-cials of Bhilai MunicipalCorporation took oathunder Drug Free IndiaCampaign. On the instruc-tions of Mayor Neeraj Paland CorporationCommissioner LokeshChandrakar, the officers /

employees came togetherto take a pledge to maketheir community, family,friends as well as them-selves drug free under theDrug Free IndiaCampaign.

The officers / employeestook a resolution to makethemselves drug-free.They also took an oath to

make India Drug-Free bymaking all possible effortsin their own capacity.Under the Azadi Ka AmritMahotsav, an oath takingprogram was organizedunder the Drug-Free IndiaCampaign in which the of-ficers/employees of BhilaiCorporation participatedenthusiastically.

Full dress rehearsal held at Police Ground before I-Day


Bhilai, Aug 13: CollectorPushpendra KumarMeena and SP DrAbhishek Pallav tookstock of the preparations

in Police Lines Ground forthe Independence Dayprogramme. On the eve ofIndependence Day, a fulldress rehearsal was or-ganized on Saturday forthe preparations for the

Independence Day cele-brations to be held in thePolice Lines.

Collector PushpendraKumar Meena and SP DrAbhishek Pallav werepresent on the occasion.

The Collector reviewedthe preparations in the en-tire campus and instruct-ed to make arrangementskeeping in mind the socialdistance. SDM JageshwarKaushal and other officers

were also present.Ravindra Choubey,

Minister ofParliamentary Affairs,Agriculture Developmentand Farmers Welfare andBiotechnology, LivestockDevelopment, Fisheries,Water Resources andPanchayat and RuralD e v e l o p m e n tDepartment, will be thechief guest in the mainfunction organized inDurg district on the occa-sion of Independence Day.He will take the salute ofthe parade after hoistingthe flag at Police Groundat 9:00 am. After the guardof honour, the ChiefGuest will read the mes-sage of the ChiefMinister.

CENTRAL CHRONICLE, BILASPUR, SUNDAY, AUGUST 14, 2022

3000 students take part in Prabhat Pherip Organised at

BSP schools

SHGs sell over 30000 flags under Har Ghar Tiranga Campaign

Train from Antagarh to Durg inaugurated at Antagarh station

Families of martyrs honoured on I-Day eveStationery and shoes distributedamong tribal students


Door-to-door drive for Covid vaccination

Raipur, Aug 13: CollectorDr Sarveshwar Bhure helda meeting of the officers ofthe department concernedto expedite the vaccina-tion of Covid in the meet-ing room of theCollectorate here today. Hetook development block-wise information aboutthe vaccination sessionfrom the officials of theHealth Department andafter taking informationabout due second dose andthe precaution dose, he di-rected to complete the tar-get by making an actionplan.

The collector inquiredabout the storage pointand vaccine stock and in-quired about the target ofapplying Covid dosage toclass-wise beneficiaries in-cluding health care work-ers, frontline workers, stu-

dents of 12 to 14 years, stu-dents of 15 to 17 years, citi-zens of 18 to 44 years andcitizens above 44 years. Heemphasized coordinateamong the officials of theconcerned department tomake a better action plan.

The Collector instructedthe officers of MunicipalCorporation Raipur to pre-pare an action plan forzone wise vaccination incoordination with theHealth Department. Allthe Anganwadi workers ofICDS have been instructedto make door-to-door visitswith the vaccination team.He asked all the SDMs toprepare an action plan forPanchayat wise vaccina-tion in coordination withCMO and DPM.

He asked all govern-ment offices to ensurecomplete booster vaccina-

tion of the employees andofficers. In the industrialareas of Urla and Birgaon,the CMO was directed toform a separate team for100% vaccination of peo-ple working in industries.He directed the AssistantCommissioner TribalDepartment to make anaction plan for vaccinationof students residing inhostels and to the officersof the EducationDepartment to ensure100% vaccination ofschool students. The meet-ing was attended byRaipur MunicipalCommissioner MayankChaturvedi, all SDMs,Chief Medical and HealthOfficer, Panchayat andcivic body officers, districtprogramme officer and of-ficers of other concerneddepartments.

Tricolor is our pride: Lakhma

RRaaiippuurr,, AAuugg 1122:: The 75th yearof India’s independence isbeing celebrated all over thecountry as ‘Azadi Ka AmritMahotsao’. ‘Har Ghar TirangaAbhiyan’ has also been startedunder the ‘Azadi Ka AmritMahotsao’. Many events arebeing organized on this occa-sion. In this series, a tirangarally was organized fromDornapal to Sukma by the223rd Corps of the CentralReserve Police Force. StateIndustries and Excise Minister,Kawasi Lakhma participated inthis rally and hoisted the tricol-or. On this occasion, Lakhmaextended greetings and bestwishes to everyone on the 75thanniversary of the country’sindependence. He said that thetricolor is our strength for theunity of the country and it is

our pride. He encouraged thesecurity personnel. During thetricolor rally, school childrenand local people welcomed therally with the tricolor in theirhands at many places betweenDornapal and Sukma. SukmaDistrict Collector Mr. Harish S.,Superintendent of Police Mr.Sunil Sharma, CommandantMr. Raghuvansh Kumar andmany officers were present inthis rally. It is worth mentioningthat under the ‘Azadi Ka AmritMahotsao’, a tricolor programis being run at every house onthe occasion of IndependenceWeek. Meanwhile, ‘Har GharTiranga Abhiyan’ is also beingorganised by the state govern-ment from August 11 to 17,2022. Through this campaign,all the citizens of the state arebeing motivated to hoist thenational flag tricolor in theirhomes so that the feeling ofpatriotism and respect for thenational flag increases in themind of all the citizens.

Every section of society feeling cheated under Cong rule: Sao


Raipur, Aug 13: Newlyappointed BJP StatePresident Arun Sao wasaccorded warm welcomeby the party workers andleaders on his arrival atthe Swamy VivekanandAirport on Saturdaymorning. BJP leaders wel-comed him amidst thebeating of drum-beats andshowering of flowerpetals. Hundreds of BJYMworkers took out a motor-cycle rally and led the car-cade of newly appointedBJP State President.

The BJP State PresidentArun Sao was welcomedmid-way at Mana Chowk,Phundhar Chowk by theBJP workers. He alightedat the VIP Chowk and vis-ited Lord Ram’s templeand offered obeisance toLord Shri Ram and soughtblessings for peace andprosperity of all. After thishe garlanded the statue ofPt. Deendayal Upadhyay atTelibandha chowka andon reaching Telibandhachowk he was welcomed

by Sarv Sahu Samaj. FromTelibandha the BJYM bikerally went to Bhagat SinghChowk and here he gar-landed the statue of mar-tyr Bhagat Singh and of-fered rich tributes to theleader and here the BJPMinorities cell memberswelcomed him.

From here the rallyreached Ambedkar Chowknear Collectorate and hereArun Sao garlanded thestatue of BR Ambedkarand offered rich tributes tothe leader. After this BJPKissan Morcha workershanded over a ‘hal’ toArun Sao and welcomedhim at Shastri Chowk and

during this slogans relatedto ‘Jai Jawan-Jai Kissan’were raised and Arun Saogarlanded the statue of LalBahadur Shastri atShastri Chowk. At DentalCollege, RajbandhaMaidan, members of BJPPichada Varg welcomedthe BJP State Presidentand on reaching the BJP’sstate office, Arun Sao waswelcomed amidst shower-ing of flower petals andbursting of fire crackers.

Speaking on the occa-sion BJP State PersidentArun Sao addressing theparty workers inChhattisgarhi said thatright since his father was

Mandal President at thattime he was 10 yr andsince then he is workingfor the party’s flag and forthe party.

Remembering his fatheron this occasion he saidthat it was his inspirationthat he lifted the party’sflag and had worked sin-cerely in VidyarthiParishad, Yuwa Morchaand BJP and a small partyworker like him has beenhanded over the charge ofState BJP President. Hesaid that it is fortunate forhim that he will get theguidance of senior partyleaders Dr Raman Singh,Vishnu Deo Sai,

Dharamlal Kaushik andother leaders.

The BJP State PersidentArun Sao charged thatAtal Behari Vajpayeeformed new Chhattisgarhto relieve it from hunger,poverty and free it fromnaxalism. But underCongress leadership thedirection in which thestate is progressing ishighly unfortunate andthe party would ensurethat it is ousted in the nextelections. He charged thatthe people of Chhattisgarhhave been cheated andevery section of the socie-ty is feeling exploited andharassed by the Congressgovernment. He chargedMafia-raj is going inChhattisgarh and it hasbecome capital of crimes.The black business ofdrugs and illicit liquor isflourshing in the state andbe it farmers, youth,women, or eleders they allare feeling cheated and itcan be very well said thatthere is hardly any personwho has not being cheatedby Congress.

On this occasion outgo-ing BJP State PresidentVishnu Deo Sai, ex- CM DrRaman Singh and Leaderof Opposition in VSDharamlal Kaushik alsoaddressed the party work-ers and greeted Arun Saoas the new BJP Chief ofState.

Heavy rainfall alert for severaldistricts of state

Raipur, Aug 13 (PTI):Several districts ofChhattisgarh are likely to re-ceive heavy rainfall over thenext two days, theMeteorological Departmentsaid on Saturday.

Bilaspur, Korba, Mungeli,Gariaband, Raipur, Durg andDhamtari districts may wit-ness heavy spells of showerswith thunderstorms at oneor two places in the next 48hours, said HP Chandra, ameteorologist at Raipur’smeteorological centre. Heavyto very heavy rainfall is like-ly in Raigarh, Janjgir-Champa, Balodabazar andMahasamund districts in thenext 48 hours, he added. Therainfall warning was issuedat 1:30 pm on Saturday.

A low pressure area liesover north Bay of Bengal.Associated cyclonic circula-tion extends upto 7.6 kmabove mean sea level tiltingsouthwards. The monsoontrough now passes throughcentre of depression overnorthwest and adjoiningnortheast Arabian Sea,Erinpura, Kota, Satna,Daltonganj, Digha andthence southwards to thecentre of low pressure areaover north Bay of Bengal

and extends upto 1.5 kmabove mean sea level. Theseactivities are likely to resultin heavy rainfall in four divi-sions- Raipur, Durg, Bastarand Bilaspur ofChhattisgarh, Odisha andnorth Andhra Pradesh tillAugust 15, Chandra said in astatement. An average rain-fall of 762.9 mm has beenrecorded in Chhattisgarh tillFriday since June 1, as perthe state revenue depart-ment. The highest rainfall of1,778.4 mm was recorded inBijapur district while theSurguja district witnessedthe lowest average rainfall of302.7 mm during this period.At least 63 people have diedin rain-related incidents andother natural calamities be-tween June 1 and August 11

as southern and central re-gions were battered by rain,an official said. As many as55 houses were completelydestroyed while 471 werepartially damaged as a resultof rainfall during the sameperiod while ten reliefcamps were set up in rain-af-fected districts, he said.Rainfall-related incidentshave also claimed the lives of340 cattle in the state sinceJune 1. Of 63 deaths reportedsince June 1, 35 were causedby lightning, 22 took placedue to drowning and six dueto snake bite,” the officialsaid.

The districts of Raigarh,Janjgir-Champa, Mungeliand Kondagaon receivedheavy rains in the last twodays, he said.

Can order probeinto death of SinghDeo’s relative: CM

Raipur, Aug 13 (PTI)Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghelon Saturday said the gov-ernment can order aprobe into the death of arelative of his cabinet col-league T S Singh Deo ifthe family wanted it.

Veerbhadra PratapSingh (42), vice-presidentof Lundra JanpadPanchayat in Surguja dis-trict, was found dead nearrailway tracks in Bilaspurdistrict on Friday.

Police suspect that hemight have fallen acciden-tally from the Durg-Ambikapur Express onwhich he was travelling.

The opposition BJP has,however, demanded a judi-cial probe saying thedeath took place under

suspicious circumstances.Asked about the de-

mand, Baghel told re-porters here, I spoke to T SSingh Deo yesterday andhe did not express thiskind of suspicion aboutthe incident. But if thefamily wants, we don’thave any problem order-ing investigation.”Veerbhadra Pratap Singhalias Sachin Baba, a rela-tive of Health MinisterSingh Deo, belonged to the

Dhaulpur wing of theerstwhile Surguja royalfamily. He was travellingto Ambikapur fromRaipur by the Durg-Ambikapur Express onThursday night and itseems that he fell acciden-tally from the movingtrain and died of injuries,Bilaspur SeniorSuperintendent of PoliceParul Mathur had saidearlier. BJP MLA AjayChandrakar said `Sachin’(as he was known) hadbeen arrested in connec-tion with the alleged at-tack on the convoy ofCongress MLA BrihaspatSingh in July 2021.

It could very well be apolitical murder,Chandrakar said, de-manding that ChiefMinister Baghel orderprobe by a sitting HighCourt judge.

‘TIRANGA YATRA’

(Top)- CRPF personnel took out massive ‘Tiranga Yatra’ in capital city on occasion of‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahostsao’ here on Saturday. (below) A full dress rehearsal was heldat the police parade ground on eve of I-Day.

p If family wishes

In the coming two days

Accorded warmwelcome by partyworkers and lead-ers from Airport toparty’s Ekatmaparisar

p Minister participatedin ‘Har Ghar TirangaAbhiyan’

Vijender Singh will be my

No. 9 knockout: Eliasu

Raipur, Aug 13: EliasuSulley, with 8 previousknockouts to his name islooking to carve VijenderSingh’s name into his un-beaten record book in theupcoming Jungle in theRumble happening inRaipur on August 17th.

“I’ve watched his previousbouts and know what hedoes best but I’m not wor-ried because knockout no.9has Vijender Singh’s namewritten all over it. Hisstature does not bother me, Iknow the crowd will be be-hind him at the fight, but Iknow how to silence themall.” said Eliasu Sulley, theopponent from Ghana whileaddressing the scribes here.

Vijender Singh, who hasbeen training in Manchesterfor almost over a year nowwas not bothered by thesecomments at all and is justworking on the final touchesof his preparations.Vijender who was calmlylooking at his opponent hadlittle to add, “He is forgetting

that I have previously dealtwith 12 of such boxers in arow who had almost thesame things to say to me butwe all know how those fightsturned out. This is just astepping stone into a newera in my professional box-ing career.”

“Vijender has not been inshape, I saw his last fight, Ithink it’s time for him to re-tire. This fight will be afarewell to him from myside, with a knockout ofcourse,”added Sulley.

Vijender Singh replied,“But everything my oppo-nent is saying is all talk, I amnot bothered and it showsthat he has not done hisbackground check. I willturn the tables on the knock-out and cannot wait to getinto the ring with him.” “ Iam excited for the people ofRaipur to come witness thisfight because I have a verystrong connection withRaipur. I have always gottena lot of support fromChhattisgarh since the timeI turned professional in 2015including the CM,” Vijenderon fighting in Raipur for thefirst time. It is notable thatJungle in The Rumble willbe held at the Balbir JunejaStadium in Raipur onAugust 17th, 2022.

Raipur, Aug 13: A reviewmeeting of the officers ofthe Revenue Departmentwas held at Red Cross meet-ing hall located in theCollectorate premises heretoday under the chairman-ship of Collector DrSarveshwar NarendraBhure. Officials have re-solved the pending revenuecases expeditiously withcontinuous monitoring bythe collector.

More than 1100 casespending for a long timewere resolved in the lastone month only. TheCollector instructed the of-ficers to resolve the rev-enue cases within the timeperiod prescribed by thegovernment.

The collector inquiredabout the details of courtwise revenue cases. He di-rected the revenue officersto expedite the work. Due tothe regular inspection andreview being done by thecollector, the pending casesare being sorted out rapid-ly. He gave strict instruc-tions to the officers to en-sure that ten thousandcases are resolved in thenext three months. He saidthat the RevenueDepartment is an impor-

tant department of theState Government. He toldthe officials to benefit thecommon citizens by resolv-ing the cases with sensitivi-ty and promptness.

The Collector instructedall the SDMs andTehsildars to take strict ac-tion on illegal plottinggoing on in the district andsaid that their Khasra num-ber should also be blocked,so that their purchase andsale and registration couldnot take place. He asked tolay emphasis on disposal ofpending cases of 2 yearsand above.

The Collector asked theCommissioner ofMunicipal Corporation,Raipur to bring progressafter taking informationabout the status of MorMakaan Mor Awas Yojana.In the cases ofMukhyamantri MitanYojana, he instructed to doit on priority, without de-manding the original docu-ments. He directed all the

authorized officers regard-ing the Rajiv GandhiAshram Patta Yojana, aftertaking information aboutthe number of families sur-veyed, claim objection, eli-gible ineligible beneficiar-ies.

The Collector did a tehsilwise review of the disputedand undisputed cases oftransfer, division, diversionand demarcation to be re-solved within the timelimit. He inquired aboutthe pending cases of recordcorrectness and gave strictinstructions for rectifica-tion of records. He directedAdditional Collector BBPanchbhai to mark the listof cases of illegal plottingand send it to the DeputyCollectors for investiga-tion. Raipur MunicipalCommissioner MayankChaturvedi, AdditionalCollector BB Panchbhai, allSDMs, all Tehsildars,Nayab Tehsildars andRevenue Officers werepresent at the meeting.

Collector sets a target of resolving 1000revenue cases in next 3 months


Chinese Rakhi lost Indian market: CAITRaipur, Aug 13: CAITNational Senior VicePresident Amar Parwani,chairman MangelalMaloo, Amar GidwaniState President JitendraDoshi, State WorkingPresident Vikram SinghDeo, Parmanand Jain,Vashu Makhija, StateGeneral SecretarySuriender Singh, StateWorking GeneralSecretary Bharat Jain,State Treasurer AjayAgrawal and state mediaincharge Sanjay Choubeyinformed that once againthis year, the traders andpeople of India gave a se-vere jolt to China by opt-ing for “Bhartiya Rakhi’instead of using anyChinese Rakhi celebrat-ing Raksha Bandhan festi-val across the country.Practically, there was nodemand for Chinese rakhi

this year and all along themarkets all over the coun-try only Bhartiya Rakhiwere in great demand. Itspeaks to the gross senti-ments of the people ofIndia for avoiding usage ofChinese goods in theirdaily life. Approximately,there was a trade of about7 thousand crores ofRakhi this year.Retrieving the gloriouspast of Indian festivals,the CAIT also called forusage of “ Vedic Rakhi” torekindle the traditionwhich has revived India’sancient culture and sanc-tity of Rakhi festival.

CAIT National SeniorVice President Mr. AmarParwani and StatePresident Mr. JitendraDoshi said that every fes-tival of India is embeddedwith old culture and civi-lization of the country

which has been greatly de-stroyed by rapid western-ization and thereforethere is a need to re-estab-lish India’s cultural val-ues. Keeping this objec-tive in mind and to reducethe country’s dependenceon China and makingIndia a self dependentcountry. The time hasgone when Indian peoplewere crazy about theChinese Rakhi because ofits designs and being costeffective. However, withthe change of time andmindset, the people havenow relied much on localmake Rakhi. On the otherhand, the CAIT encour-aged the people to useVedic Rakhi of differenttypes particularly amongthe trading community ofthe country. Vedic Rakhiis a self created Rakhi.Entire nation celebrated

the Rakhi festival withgreat fanfare but withusage of Bhartiya Rakhi.While tying the RakshaSutra, the people uttermost powerful Vedic vers-es “Yen Badho Bali Raja,Danvendro Mahabalah-Ten Tvam RakshaBadhnami, RakshaMachaal Machaal. BothMr. Parwani & Mr. Doshisaid that the trade associa-tions all over the countryunder the aegis of CAITlaid greater emphasis onpreparation of VedicRaksha Rakhi having es-sentially five things hav-ing their own great rele-vance include Durva i.e.grass, Akshat i.e. rice,Saffron, Sandalwood andmustard seeds. These canbe stitched in a silk clothand are threaded withKalava and thus VedicRakhi can be prepared.

Collector issues orderto deduct salary

Jagdalpur, Aug 13:Collector Chandan Kumar,who arrived at SwamiAtmanand ExcellentEnglish Medium School(SAGEMS) andGovernment HigherSecondary SchoolTokapal, Hindi MediumSchool, found that, manyteachers are on leave with-

out application approval.In which lecturer ofHigher Secondary SchoolTokapal Anita Phulesar,Aradhana SinghBhadauria, AnshumalaMinj, Pooja Gupta, SwamiAmanand ExcellentEnglish Medium Schoollecturer Arpana Singh,Priyanka Verma,Librarian Tanay Ghosh,Assistant Grade-2 Mohd.Yasir has been instructedby the Collector to deducttheir salary for the day ofabsence.

District Panchayat CEORohit Vyas, DevelopmentBlock Education OfficerTokapal BR Baghel, BRCAjay Sharma andPrincipal VidhushekharJha were present duringthe inspection of theCollector.

Police increases patrolling in sensitive areas


Jagdalpur, Aug 13:Under the leadership ofSSP Jitendra SinghMeena, action is beingtaken continuously underbasic policing by BastarPolice for the purpose ofcrime control and law andorder. Keeping in view theupcoming IndependenceDay, under the supervi-sion of Addl. SP NiveditaPaul and all the SDMs, ac-tion is being takenagainst criminal and anti-social activities for peace-ful conduct in the contextof upcomingIndependence Day. On the

other hand, precaution-ary action is also beingtaken through visiblepolicing.

In the same line today,the Bastar police on occa-sion of IndependenceDay, along with ThanaCity Kotwali andBodhghat Police, keepingin view the arrival of

VIPs in Bastar and ensur-ing peaceful programme,with help of BombDisposal Squad and DogSquad, intensive pa-trolling is being done insensitive areas of the cityincluding Lalbagh,Motilab Para, SanjayBazar, Dharampura,G a n g a m u n d a ,

Nayamunda etc. Apartfrom this, major placeslike Maa DanteshwariAirport, Bus Stand,Railway Station, Lalbaghetc. are being checked inJagdalpur. Apart fromthis, the people staying atthe hotels, lodges, inns,dhabas etc. places of thecity are also being verifiedand the reasons for theircoming and going. Apartfrom this, checking ofpassengers and goods isalso being done by puttingup check-posts onAmaguda, Dharampura,Geedam Road and MadiyaChowk and roads leadingto the city. The move-ments of people comingfrom the city is also beingmonitored, as well as allthe police station and out-post in-charges of Bastardistrict have been in-structed to remain on thealert. Apart from this, in-structions have also beengiven to the police stationin-charges of rural areasfor necessary securityarrangements in the dis-trict.

One killed and otherinjured as bike collides

with roadside boardCentral Chronicle News

Jagdalpur, Aug 13:Under the Kodnar policestation area of the district,the speeding sports bikecollided with the board onthe roadside, due to whichit was blown away. A youthriding the bike died on thespot, while another youthsitting behind the bikewas seriously injured andhe has been admitted toMedical College Hospital.

On the information ofthe accident, the policereached the spot and aftersending the body for post-mortem, took the matterinto consideration.Kodnar police station in-charge Vikas Chandra Rai

said that, YogeshVishwakarma age 22 yearsresident Tokapal policestation Parpa and Amanage 28 years residentTokapal, both were goingon bike towards Kodnarpolice station area.

Meanwhile, near theArapur pond, they collidedwith the sign board by theroadside. Yogesh died onthe spot in this accident.At the same time, Amanwas admitted to GovtHospital in serious condi-tion.

Allons celebrate Raksha Bandhan

BBeemmeettaarraa,, AAuugg 1133:: The festivalof ancient sacred and unbreak-able love of siblings was cele-brated with the festival ofRaksha Bandhan by MahatmaHumanity Club at the old agehome in Kanteli village ofBemetara district. The studentsof Allons Public School,Bemetara, today tied Rakhies onthe wrists of the old people anddistributed sweets and fruits tobring happiness on the faces ofthe old people. There was hap-piness on the faces of the oldpeople on seeing this scene. Assoon as they met the children,there was a wave of happinesson their faces. They congratu-lated all the new people. The oldpeople are staying away from aprosperous family, whose lovedones have left them at the oldage home due to selfishness.Explaining their compulsion tostay in the ashram, the old peo-ple said that today we are meet-ing our loved ones while havingRakhies with the soft hands of

these children. The eyes of theold people filled in the memoryof their families. They sharedtheir experiences with the chil-dren. The old people said thatthey kept celebrating such fes-tivals so that their morale con-tinues to increase.

M.F. Hussain Club (Art Club)organized Rakhi making compe-tition in three groups in theschool premise in which stu-dents participated enthusiasti-cally. Primary (Class I to V)Winner List Class - I -1st –Samridhi Verma, 2nd – Jayanti

Verma , 3rd – Rupesh Verma ,Class – II - 1st – Khejal Sahu, 2nd– Bhavya Shrivastava, 3rd –Aradhya Sao, Class – III - 1st –Poorvi Sahu, 2nd – PranshiDhruw & Kumanshu Verma, 3rd– Mishika Koushal & OjasviSahu, Class – IV- 1st – NishthaSingh, 2nd –Arvind Sahu &Vanya Verma, 3rd – PeehuParganiha, Class – V- 1st –Pratik Tandon, 2nd –Abhay Sahu& Tanmay Gendre, 3rd -Pratyaksh Singh & NidhiDewangan, (Class – VI to VIII)Winner List, 1st – Sadhika GildaClass – VIII, 2nd – ShubhishreeTiwari Class – VII, 3rd – ShreyaBhutada Class – VI (Class –IX toXII) 1st – Shakshi Verma Class –IX, 2nd – Geetanjali YadavClass – XI Science , 3rd – AdvitTiwari Class – X. Seeing theenthusiasm of the children, theprincipal and teachers appreci-ated the enthusiasm of the chil-dren.

On the occasion of theRaksha Bandhan, the studentswanted to protect the environ-ment in the future and to pro-tect the forests by tying Rakshasutras to the trees. The studentsof Allons of Go Green Club said“If we protect the trees, thetrees will protect us”. By tying

Rakshabandhan to the trees, thechildren gave an auspiciousmessage to the public, fulfillingthe purpose of securing theirfuture, which is inspiring for thesociety.

Principal of the school Dr.Satyajit Hota said that RakshaBandhan is a symbol of mutuallove and respect of sisters andbrothers, which makes strongrelations. Seeing the smile onthe faces of the old people, hesaid that I have got emotionalatmosphere by coming here.After listening to all of them,while educating the children, hesaid that what can a person dofor society who does not servehis parents? His visit to templeand Masjid is also futile. All thepilgrims are present in the serv-ice of their parents. Therefore,we should serve our parents.This is our true devotion.Explaining the importance oftrees, he said that by followingthe motto of ‘Vanam RakshatiRakshtah’, the objective is topresent environmental friendli-ness in a realistic form today.The trees are life-giving for us.Our future is secured only bytrees. Serving trees and eldersis our eternal Vedic tradition.We must follow it.

Water level of Indravati slowly receding

Jagdalpur, Aug 13:Indravati river is flowingabove the danger markdue to incessant rains inBastar district for last fewdays. The old bridge ofIndravati river is sub-merged since last twodays. But with rains stop-ping, the water level of theIndravati river is nowslowly receding. ByWednesday evening, thewater above the old bridgeof Indravati river is likelyto recede. But dark clouds

are still hovering the re-gion on Wednesday anddue to which there is stillpossibility of heavy rains.

Along with this, manywards and low-lying areaof city are also waterlog-ging and JMC is busy in si-phoning of rain- waterfrom flooded streets andlanes of different wardsincluding drains as well.Corporation’s flood disas-ter team is continuouslycarrying out relief worksfor the flood victims of OldBridge, Mahadev Ghat,Ganpati Resort area, andother areas. It is notablehere that flood reliefcamps have been openedin Panara Para School,

Indira Gandhi School,Bhagat Singh School andall arrangements havebeen made to stay in LalBahadur Shastri School

and other relief camps.Bastar Collector

Chandan Kumar informedthat 60 families of the dis-trict have been badly af-

fected due to heavy rains,and arrangements havebeen made to keep all ofthem in relief camps.

BSS to observe ‘AmritMahotsav’ from today

Raipur, Aug 13: On theoccasion of 75thIndependence Day whichis being observed as AmritMahotsav all throughoutthe country, Bharat SevaAshram Sangha (BSS) isalso observing this pro-gramme in a grand man-ner. As per the pro-grammedetails received,Vishwa Shanti Yagya isslotted from 10 am to 11am, patriotic music andbhajan programme from11 am to 12 noon, dis-course and blessings bySwamiji along with poojaand aarti, prasad distribu-tion at 1 pm and from 6:30

pm different personalitieswho have achieved excel-

lence in their respectivefields will be honouredwith SwamiPranavananda MemorialAward. On this occasionschool children will pres-ent different cultural pro-grammes.

On August 15 after un-furling of tricolor at 8:30am stone will be laid ofBharat Mata massive tem-ple and prayer hall bySwamiji. Later from 10 amto 12 noon a rally will betaken out from MariveDrive to Netaji SubhashStadium here, informsSwami ShivarupanandaSecretary BSS Raipur.

IIIT Director PK Sinha awarded AAIA FellowRRaaiippuurr,, AAuugg 1133:: It is a matterof great pride and honour forIIIT-NR and Chhattisgarh thatthe Asia-Pacific ArtificialIntelligence Association(AAIA) has conferred its high-est honour, the Fellow of theAssociation, on Dr. Pradeep K.Sinha, the Director of IIIT-NR.Considering Dr. Sinha’s con-tributions to the advance-ment of Science & Technologyand Technical Education, theExecutive Board of the AAIAdecided to bestow this honourupon him after recognizinghim amongthe top scientistsof the world with outstandingachievements in the area ofDistributed Computing.

Based in Hong Kong, theAsia-Pacific ArtificialIntelligence Association(AAIA) is an academic, non-profit and non-governmentalorganization voluntarilyformed by a large group ofacademicians worldwide. Itaims to build a broad AI indus-try, bringing together scien-tists and entrepreneurs relat-ed to AI applications to devel-op AI industries, including the

AI Ocean, AI Transportation,AI Computing, AICommunication, AI Robot, AIEducation, AI Agriculture, AIFinance, AI Medicine, AIEnergy, and dozens of AIapplication fields. The mainmission of the AAIA is tostrengthen scientists in thefield of AI and other fieldsworldwide to promote thedevelopment and applicationof AI through academicresearch, academicexchanges, science educa-tion, science exhibitions, aca-demic conferences, academicpublications, summer/wintercamps and other activities.

The fellows of the Asia-Pacific Artificial IntelligenceAssociation (AAIA) includesome of the world’s eminentacademicians who come fromStanford University, PrincetonUniversity, MIT, CaliforniaInstitute of Technology,Cornell University, ColumbiaUniversity, University ofOxford, Imperial CollegeLondon, University of Toronto,University of Waterloo,University of Melbourne,

Sydney University, NanyangTechnological University,Singapore NationalUniversity, Peking University,Tsinghua University, ZhejiangUniversity, Shanghai JiaoTong University and other uni-versities, as well as theworld’s top scientists in AIrelated fields from Google,Microsoft, IBM, Alibaba,Huawei, JD.com and otherhigh-tech companies. Themembers of IIIT-NR are proudthat with this new develop-ment, their institute joins theleague of these top academicinstitutes.

Foreseeing the immensedemand arising for experts in

Data Science and ArtificialIntelligence in the nearfuture, Dr. Sinha played avital role in introducing newB. Tech. and M. Tech. pro-grams in Data Science &Artificial Intelligence (DSAI)in IIIT-NR, in the year 2019,making IIIT-NR one of thefirst institutes in the countryto have such a program.Today, this branch of engi-neering is the most soughtafter branch among the stu-dents seeking admission inIIIT-NR. Dr. Sinha’s profes-sional career spans more thanthirty-five years, duringwhich his technical contribu-tions include building premieracademic institutes; buildingsupercomputing systems andfacilities; developing health-care products and solutions;innovating ideas leading tointernational patents; andauthoring six books in thearea of Computer Science &Engineering. Since 2015, Dr.Sinha has been deeplyinvolved in building IIIT-NayaRaipur as a premier academicinstitute of the country.

Earlier he was with theCentre for Development ofAdvanced Computing (C-DAC), where he had lednational programs in theareas of Supercomputing,Grid Computing, and HealthInformatics. Prior to joiningC-DAC, Dr. Sinha was in Japanfor ten years, working on cut-ting edge computing tech-nologies. Dr. Sinha is a Fellowof IEEE, Fellow of ComputerSociety of India (CSI) andACM Distinguished Engineer.He is also the recipient of sev-eral other awards and recog-nitions, including the “2011VASVIK Research Award” andthe “2013 Intel PathfinderAward”.

On receiving this recogni-tion, Dr. Sinha thanked theState Government for givinghim the opportunity to setupa new technical institute inChhattisgarh. He alsothanked IIIT-NR members andall other stakeholders of IIIT-NR for their help and supportin building IIIT-NR as a pre-mier technical institute of thenation.

Scouts Guides activitiesto start soon


Raipur, Aug 13: Scoutguide activities will beconducted in all govern-ment, non-government,Eklavya schools andSwami Atmanand schoolsof Chhattisgarh. In this re-gard, instructions havebeen given by theDirectorate of PublicInstruction to all theDivisional Joint DirectorSchool Education andDistrict Education

Officers to ensure the reg-istration of Scout-Guide,Rover Ranger team andoperation of the team inall the schools of the dis-trict. In a letter issued bythe Director PublicEducation Directorate tothe concerned, it has beensaid that the work ofscouting-guiding is beingconducted smoothly byBharat Scouts and GuidesChhattisgarh in all the dis-tricts of the state.

In this regard, makesure to register the teamand conduct the team asper the new education pol-icy in all government, non-government, Eklavyaschools and SwamiAtmanand excellentEnglish and Hindi medi-um schools in the state, sothat students can partici-pate in scouting-guiding

activities.It is noteworthy that in

the meeting of StateCouncil of Bharat Scoutsand Guides on August 8ththis month, SchoolEducation Minister andState President ScoutGuide Dr. Premsai SinghTekam announced to startactivities of Scouts andGuides in all schools.Minister Dr. Tekam hadsaid that the Scout andGuide project has beenlaunched in the state withthe aim of developing thespirit of service efficientlyby explaining to them theimportance of labour forself-confidence, characterbuilding, healthy habitsand life skill developmentin the children of all thedistricts of the state andmust be implemented inall schools.

Of teachers notcoming to duty

In all schools ofChhattisgarh

Instructions to divi-sional and DEOs tostart registrationand operation ofteams in schools

Comes as big reliefto nearby villagersin the region

Jagdalpur: The body of ayoung person who wasdrowned in the strong cur-rents of Goria Bahardrain was not found tillWednesday. A youthjumped from theGoriyabahar drain locat-ed on the NationalHighway near villageAdawal of the district.According to eyewitness-

es, the young man imme-diately got swept away inthe strong current of thedrain. On getting informa-tion about the incident,Bodhghat police and headconstables jawans teamsstarted search of the bodyof the youth. The body isfeared to have beenwashed away due to thehigh water-level due to

floods.Bodhghat police station

in-charge Lalji Sinha saidthat Budhram Baghel, aresident of Hatakchora,suddenly jumped into theGoria Bahar drain. Assoon as the informationwas received, the policeand SDRF team got en-gaged in search of theyouth since last evening.

Youth gets drowned in Goria Bahar drain

By visiting old agehome and tyingRakhies on thewrists of old people

Includinig Lalbagh,Motilab Para,Sanjay Bazar, BusStand

Intensive checkingin Hotels, Lodges,Dhabas, RailwayStation, Bus Stand,Airport


Konta, Aug 13: A rally wasorganized from Dornapalto Sukma by the CentralReserve Police Force of the223rd Corps to make theHar Ghar Tricolor cam-paign successful on the75th anniversary of inde-pendence under the AmritMahotsav of India's inde-pendence.

In this rally, Excise andIndustries MinisterKawasi Lakhma partici-pated and waved the tricol-or. During this, MinisterLakhma has congratulat-ed everyone in advance onthe 75th anniversary of in-dependence.

He said that the tricolorflag is our strength and itis our pride, our pride. Healso encouraged the sol-diers. School children andpeople at various placesbetween Dornapal andSukma welcomed the rally

with tricolor flags in theirhands.

When the rally reachedSukma, a large number ofpeople under the leader-ship of SukmaMunicipality PresidentRaju Sahu gave a grandwelcome to the rally withfireworks and tricolor intheir hands. Various offi-cers including CollectorHaris S, Superintendent ofPolice Sunil Sharma,C o m m a n d a n tRaghuvansh Kumar par-ticipated in the rally.

It is worth mentioningthat on the occasion ofIndependence Week underthe Amrit Mahotsav ofAzadi, the StateGovernment is organizing"Hamar Tricolor" cam-paign from 11 to 17 August2022 under "Har GharJhanda Program". Underthis, all citizens are beingmotivated to hoist the na-tional flag in their homesso that the feeling of patri-otism and respect for thenational flag increasesamong the common people.


Katgi, Aug 13: Bhojlifestival in Chhattisgarh iscelebrated with great en-thusiasm in the village,seeds are sown on the dayof Bhojli, Pola andPanchami , and as per tra-ditions, only after seeingBhojli, the farmers guess

the paddy yield sown inthe field.

The festival was cele-brated by singing songsfrom Bhojli , and GoddessGanga Devi.Later BhojliVijran program was cele-brated in the area of theregion. Inareas of Katgi,Sarvani, Sarva, Baijnath,Malda, Pikri, Bhadra,

Kalmidih , Khaira ,Jhabdi, Madkda,Baijnath, Hasuwa,Dhamalpur, Nawapara,Amodi, Deradih, Rampur,Kot, Tiprunga,Manakoni, Darra,Giroudpuri, Madwa,Matia, Tendubhata, etc.,immersion was done withgaiety.

Rajesh Soni

Surajpur, Aug 13: It is amatter of misfortune thatthe Jaistambh built in thecity in honour of martyrsand freedom warriors hasbeen destroyed by illegalencroachment and en-croachers.

The monument in thecentre space of the cityhas been encroached byshops, hotels and othertrade centers, making it al-most not visible to publicglare, even in days of na-tional importance. Peopleand leaders which also in-clude prominent citizensvisit the place onIndependence andRepublic Day, but soon theplace is again left hostile

to encroachers.The place where

Jaistambh stands wasonce a centre of patrioticattraction, but lately thethickening population andtraders opening new ven-tures across the place havehelped the monument gocompletely submergedwithout breath takingspace. Alert citizens andintellectuals have demand-ed freeing of Jaistambh,and once again and felici-tating it to its lost glory.

WWhhaatt ooffffiicceerr ssaayyssInformation about en-

croachment will be taken andafter that action will be taken.The municipality will be askedto write a letter to clean andrestore it. Ravi Singh SDMSurajpur.


Masturi, Aug 13: In themeeting room of the localJanpad Panchayat, themembers of the women'sself-help groups, who ar-rived from different grampanchayats of the area, dis-tributed the tricolor flagsprepared by themselves.

To give shape to the tri-color program at everyhouse in the country, thewomen self of differentgram panchayats of theblock. The help groupshave made the tricolor flagon their own hands.

The local JanpadPanchayat reached to dis-tribute it. The work of theWomen Self Help Groupswas praised. With the aimof maintaining the moraleof the women and makingthe tricolor program a suc-

cess in every household,the Panchayat StaffOfficer and other villagerspurchased the flag. Alongwith this, all the peopletook a pledge to make theTricolor program everyhome a success.

The members of theWomen Self Help Grouptold during a discussionthat so far more than fiveand a half thousand flagshave been purchased bythe people. From this itseems that the people of

rural areas also under-stand well the respect ofthe tricolor and the tri-color program at everyhome. And every househas taken a pledge tomake the tricolor pro-gram a success. It maybe mentioned that themembers of women self-help groups of villagepanchayats includingSipat, Sothi, Podi, Janji,Tikari, Limtara, Lavar,Kirari, Jairamnagar,Beltukri, and other gram

panchayats had set up apandal to distribute flagsin the local JanpadPanchayat premises.

On this occasion, ChiefExecutive Officer KumarSingh Laharen encour-aged the women of SelfHelp Groups while guid-ing them and apprisedabout the facilities provid-ed by the Central and StateGovernments to womenself-help groups and thework to be done for the up-liftment of women.

Chandra Shekhar Sharma

Kawardha, Aug 13: Thespiritual heritage ofChhattisgarh BhoramdevTemple does not need anintroduction in terms ofspiritual and religious con-text, and the evidencefound in PacharahiBakela, under excavationprocess has made it anarcheological wonderworld over.

But lately the very life ofthe temple is at stake asboth whether and time hasplayed spoil sport on thepremises and the ASI, hasfailed to give it a lifelinerestoration.

The temple an architec-tural wonder by theNagvanshi rulers, is latelycovered with moss andtrees like 'Banyan, Peepalhave grown on the walls ofthe temple and damagedthe temple through itsroots.

During the rainy seasonrain water is leaking fromthe walls and roof of thetemple, which has becomea threat to the existence ofthe temple. The situation

gets worse when it rainsheavily as the temple to thesanctum is dripping heavyin water.

About three years ago,several guidelines were is-sued by the ArchaeologicalDepartment in view of thegrowing problem, alongwith doing chemical pol-

ishing for proper mainte-nance of the temple, cut-ting a big tree near the tem-ple and rice was specifical-ly prohibited in the temple.

Sixty five lakh sixty twothousand three hundredeighty -four ( 65,62,384 ) ru-pees were approved on 4February 2022 for plinth

protection , repair , chemi-cal treatment of the temple, out of which thirty twolakh eighty thousand(32,80,000) rupees on 11February 2022 were trans-ferred. But, despite severalcorrespondence and verbaldiscussions by the DistrictCollectorate to the Director

of the ArchaeologicalDepartment, no action wastaken nor the work startedin 7 months.

The history of theA r c h a e o l o g i c a lDepartment itself, whichtook the district adminis-tration in the dock regard-ing the condition of the

temple, is now overshad-owing the temple of its ar-chaeological importance.

Meanwhile, people anddevotees continue tospread rice in the templepremises leading tomildew and fungal growthin the already deteriorat-ing structure.

Tricolor yatra to betaken out by Congress


Churikala, Aug 13: InNagar PanchayatChhurikala on August14, under the leadershipof regional MLAPurushottam SinghKanwar, a Tricolor yatrawill be taken out byCongress and in this re-gard, Ashok Devangan

MLA representative toldthat the tricolor tour willbe taken out by the StateCongress Committee inall the 90 assembly con-stituencies of the state,in which the MLA of thearea, along with the of-fice bearers and workersof the CongressCommittee, will cele-brate the tricolor onAugust 14 in the NagarPanchayat Chhurikala.

Devangan further saidthat this padyatra will betaken out in every assem-bly constituency and allministers, MLAs andsenior Congress leaders,Block District andMahila Congress, YouthCongress, NSU officialswill lead in their respec-tive constituencies.

New entrepreneurs will be prepared fromFisheries Polytechnic: Dr. Dakshinakar


Dhamdha, Aug 13:Fisheries Polytechnic ,Rajpur ,under Dau ShriVasudev ChandrakarKamdhenu , University isoperating since last twoyears and this college wasopened under the guid-ance of Dr. NPDakshinakar ViceChancellor.

The creation of the uni-versity was done with theobjective to create new en-trepreneurs in the stateand for the people of thestate in the fisheries sec-tor. Dr. N. Sarang ,Principal , FisheriesPolytechnic , RajpurDhamdha told that 12thpass students are admitted

in Biology Polytechnic, viaVyapam through PAT /PVPT test. Dr. Sarang fur-ther also informed that

government employmentis decreasing day by dayand for this, the only op-tion is to create self made

entrepreneurs, which canopen the door of immensepossibilities of self - em-ployment for the state.

Kids took part in fancy dress competitionCentral Chronicle News

Bacheli, Aug 13: On occa-sion of 'Azadi ka AmritMahotsav', the parents ofschool children of MyKidz Nursery school inBacheli had dressed themin attire of Pt. JawaharlalNehru, Dr BR Ambedkar,Bharat Mata, Adivasi free-dom fighter Birsa Munda,soldier, police, Jawan,Jhansi Ki Rani,Chandrashekhar Azadand other personalitieswho were part of the coun-try's freedom struggle.

This was part of thefancy dress competitionorganised and it was en-thusiastically participat-ed. In this programme asjudge and guest was for-mer Sankul co-ordinator

Fakre Alam, AmlenduChakraborty, Govind Nag,

Nafiz Qureshi, SchoolPrincipal Shireen Verma,

Reshma and other schoolstaff were present.


On occasion of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’

Urgent restoration of Bhoramdev Temple needed

WSHG distributes tricolor Farmers worried aboutloss of crops in floods


Jagdalpur, Aug 13: Dueto the floods in Indravati,Narangi and Markandeyarivers flowing in Bastar di-vision, it has been predict-ed that the crop has beensubmerged in more thanone thousand hectare areaof the river bank. Due toheavy rains, there was aflood situation in the localrivulets.

Now with the floodwater receding, farmersare worried about cropdamage. Farmers say thatif the crop is submerged inwater for more than 36hours, there is a risk ofcrop failure. It is to beknown that due to the con-tinuous rains sinceAugust 06, Bastar division

had to face the havoc offloods. It is noteworthythat for the last two years,there was not much floodin Indravati, Narangi andMarkandeya rivers.Deputy Director,Agriculture DepartmentShyam Sevata said, loss ofcrop will be clear onlyafter the water recedes,how many hectares ofcrop were submerged inflood water, and how muchdamage has been done. Atpresent, nothing can besaid on this subject.

Jaistambh remains lost and anonymous due

to encroachment

Bhojli celebrated withenthusiasm and fanfare

Lakhma participates in tricolor yatra

INDEPENDENCE DAY

A vendor sells kites for the upcoming Independence Day, in Old Delhi, Saturday.

Goa govt plans to promotewaterfalls in state astourism destinations

Panaji, Aug 13 (PTI)

Although Goa is popularfor its beaches and places ofworship, the state govern-ment is planning to pro-mote waterfalls, whichcome alive during the mon-soon, as tourism destina-tions.

Goa is bestowed with sev-eral waterfalls, includingthe Dudhsagar Falls, thatfeatured in Shah RukhKhan and DeepikaP a d u k o n e - s t a r r e r“Chennai Express”. Anumber of waterfalls locat-ed in Sattari, Sanguem andCanacona talukas spring tolife during the rainy seasonand attract large number ofvisitors.

Talking to PTI, stateForest Minister VishwajitRane said the governmentintends to promote water-falls in the state as tourismattractions.

“Many small waterfallsin the state are tourist at-tractions. We want to edu-cate people visiting theseplaces to remain safe andnot to litter,” he said.

Rane said the forest de-

partment will levy somenominal fee from those vis-iting these waterfalls sothat the government getsrevenue, which can then beused for the upkeep ofthese places.

Earlier this week, theminister had said that wa-terfalls in Goa and sur-rounding areas would get afacelift with new facilitiesto be provided to tourists.

“Waterfalls in Goa andsurrounding areas to get afacelift. From a registrationcounter at the entrancegate, bio-toilets at every 500mtrs, picnic spots and aguide to accompany thegroups, we will ensure peo-ple visit the waterfalls andavail the facilities,” Ranehad tweeted.

He said the ForestDepartment will ensure theprotection of the waterfallsand enhance the visitor ex-perience.

Although DudhsagarFalls, located on the Goa-Karnataka border, is a starattraction among visitors,there are several other wa-terfalls in the state, includ-ing Bhati and Mainati wa-

terfalls in Sanguem,Bamanbudo in Canacona,Saleli and Pale in Sattari,that attract a large crowd.

A senior official attachedto Collem police stationsaid that in order to reachthe Dudhsagar waterfall,one has to trek for almost13 kms one way.

“But people prefer totake that pain to reach tothis waterfall,” he said.

“Visiting Dudhsagar isnot less than a craze eversince the release of“Chennai Express”, as oneof its t scenes was shothere. Round the year, thereare visitors who flockhere,” said Sampad Naik,who runs his Jeep serviceto this waterfall fromCollem town.

More than 200 jeeps ferrytourists to this waterfallduring the non-monsoonseason.

“But when it rains, allthe roads leading to thiswaterfall are closed (forsafety reasons),” he said.

One has to travel throughBhagwan MahaveerWildlife Sanctuary to reachthe waterfall.

Priyank Kharge calls BJP dispensation in Karnataka as bribe-couch govt’Bengaluru, Aug 13 (PTI)

Senior Congress leaderPriyank Kharge hasdubbed the BJP led dis-pensation in Karnatakaas ‘bribe-couch govern-ment’, alleging that noone can land a job with-out paying bribe.

The former minister’sstatement drew sharpcriticism from the saf-fron party, which askedKharge to keep his house

in order first.At a press conference

on Friday, Kharge said,In this government, youhave to shell out moneyto get a government job.In the past, two ministersof this government haveresigned. He was refer-ring to RameshJarkiholi’s resignation asWater ResourcesMinister over his allegedinvolvement in a sex-for-job scandal last year.

Another BJP MLA K SEshwarappa too resignedas minister after a civilcontractor died by sui-cide alleging that the for-mer had demanded 40per cent commission forexecution of a publicwork.

If a woman fromKarnataka wants a job,she will have to get on tothe couch (Mancha) andmen can land a job onlyby paying a bribe

(Lancha in Kannada),Kharge, who is son ofCongress stalwartMallikarjun Kharge, al-leged.

“This government hasbecome a ‘Lancha-Mancha Sarkara’ (bribeand couch government).”Kharge also accusedPrime MinisterNarendra Modi of ‘fail-ing’ to keep up his prom-ise of creating two crorejobs annually.

The BJP hit back atKharge saying, he shouldfirst see how many holesare there in his tiled roof.

The stories of thecolourful nightlife of theCongress leaders is not amere hearsay. There aremany secret CDs avail-able, the BJP charged inits tweet.

The party also saidthat the gentle Congressleaders are like a tiger inthe hide of a cow.

CBI looks to interrogate statehospital head who sent doctor

to Anubrata’s houseKolkata, Aug 13 (PTI)

The CBI is planning tointerrogate the superin-tendent of Bolpur hospi-tal who allegedly sent agovernment doctor to thehouse of TMC leaderAnubrata Mondal for pre-scribing him two weeksof bed rest ahead of hisarrest, an officer said onSaturday.

The CBI is looking toknow who in the TMCcontacted doctorBuddhadeb Murmu, thesuperintendent, for send-ing a doctor to Mondal’sNichupatti house inBolpur and prescribe himbed rest, he said.

“We will also ask himwhether he had directedthe visiting doctor to pre-scribe 14 days of bed restfor the TMC leader,” theCBI officer told PTI.

Mondal, who skippedCBI summons severaltimes before his arrestciting health issues, hadlast Tuesday complainedof severe illness, follow-ing which doctor Murmuhad sent doctorChandranath Adhikaryto his house who pre-scribed him 14 days ofbed rest.

Mondal then wrote tothe CBI that following thedoctor’s advice he wasunable to appear beforethe agency for question-ing in the cattle smug-gling case.

Discarding the allega-tions that he had pres-

surised doctor Adhikaryto visit Mondal, doctorMurmu said he will befully cooperating with theinvestigators in case theysummon him.

“I had got a call fromthe Birbhum zillaparishad sabhadhipatiBikas Roy Chowdhurythat Anubrata Mondal isvery ill and a team of doc-tors should immediatelybe sent to his residence.Then, I had requesteddoctor Adhikary to go tohis house and never cre-ated any pressure onhim,” doctor Murmusaid.

“The prescription waswritten by doctorAdhikary himself andthe 14 days of bed rest ishis observation. I havenothing to hide and willfully cooperate with theCBI if they call me,” hesaid.

Bikas Roy Chowdhurysaid that he never had“directed” doctorMurmu, and had just “re-quested” him to send ateam of doctors to see theTMC leader.

“I had got a call fromAnubrata’s family that heis very ill and that is thereason I had requesteddoctor Murmu, but neverdirected him,” he said.

CBI, which has startedgrilling Mondal at theirKolkata office, claimedthat the TMC leader wasnot cooperating with in-vestigation in the cattlesmuggling case.

Sisodia to PM Modi

‘Stop talking here and there, answer why youruined country’s economy for friends’

New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI)

Delhi Deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodiaon Saturday alleged PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s“dostvaad” has “complete-ly ruined” the country’seconomy and asked him toanswer why his “friends”got tax exemptions andtheir loans worth croreswaived. At a press confer-ence, he alleged the Centrehas written off loansworth Rs 10 lakh crore andgave Rs 5 lakh crore tax ex-emption to Modi’s“friends”, pushing thecountry’s economy to sucha “bad state” that it has tosay nothing can now beprovided to people for free.“Prime Minister NarendraModi’s ‘dostvaad’ has com-pletely ruined the coun-try’s economy,” Sisodiatold reporters. When thequestions are raised, theBJP-led government at the

Centre and the rulingparty’s leaders start “talk-ing here and there”, he al-leged.

“So, I once again appealto the prime minister toanswer why he wrote offloans of his friends worthRs 10 lakh crore and ex-empted their tax to thetune of Rs 5 lakh crore tobenefit them and put thecountry’s economy to sucha state that you have to saythat country will be ruinedif anything is given to peo-ple for free now,” the AAPleader said.

“Answer this questioninstead of talking here andthere that you keep doingall the time,” he added.Prime Minister NarendraModi’s remarks on ‘revdi’culture last month hasstarted a debate on free-bies in the country andthereafter a politicalslugfest is on between theBJP and the AAP on the

issue.He used ‘revdis’, a popu-

lar north Indian sweetoften distributed duringfestivals, as a metaphor forfreebies being promised byvarious parties to grabpower and said the people,especially the youth,should guard against it.

On Saturday, Sisodiasaid it is for the first timein the last 75 years that theUnion government had to“tax” food items like milk,curd, wheat and rice.

“The Central govern-ment is saying it does nothave money to buildschools, hospitals, pay pen-sions and bring schemes togive relief to poor peoplein the country,” heclaimed. The Centre lacksfunds to support suchmeasures because it usedtaxpayers’ money to fill upthe “coffers of the friends”of Prime Minister Modi,Sisodia alleged.

ECoR to observePartition Horrors

Remembrance DayBhubaneswar, Aug 13(PTI): The East CoastRailways (ECoR) has de-cided to observe thePartition HorrorsRemembrance Day hereon Sunday in an effort ofbring out the suffering ofmillions of people duringIndia’s partition to thefore, an official said.

The entire nation is ob-serving RemembranceDay of Horrors ofPartition on August 14 asearlier announced byPrime Minister NarendraModi in his IndependenceDay Speech last year.

The day will bring tolight the agony, sufferingand pain of millions ofpeople who were displacedduring partition.

It will remind the coun-try, that its independencewas preceded by thelargest displacement ofhuman population in the

last century.The partition also

claimed the lives of a largenumber of people.

To mark the occasion,an Exhibition will be alsobe organised atBhubaneswar RailwayStation here. UnionEducation MinisterDharmendra Pradhan willgrace the occasion at 11AM on Sunday.Bhubaneswar MPAparajita Sarangi andlocal MLA AnantaNarayan Jena are sched-uled to attend the pro-gramme.

Exhibition on PartitionHorrors RemembranceDay will also being organ-ised at various importantrailway stations over EastCoast Railway includingPuri, Bhubaneswar,Sambalpur andVisakhapatnam RailwayStations, an official said.

Congress need not teachpatriotism to us: Karandlaje

Mangaluru, Aug 13 (PTI)

Congress need not teachpatriotism to the RSS, andthe Sangh Parivar doesnot want lessons from thevery people who joinedhands with Pakistan andChina, Union Minister ofState for Agriculture andFarmers Welfare ShobhaKarandlaje said onSaturday.

Addressing reporters inUdupi, she alleged thatCongress is a party of peo-ple who insulted India inItaly and Europe.

Karandlaje said theCongress had always

found pleasure in belit-tling the RSS and claims italone won freedom. Thereis patriotism in the bodyand mind of RSS, she said.

Though MahatmaGandhi had askedCongress leaders to dis-band the party after thefreedom struggle, theystill cling to the oldbanyan tree planted bytheir forefathers, she said.

The Minister said dur-ing its rule, the Congresscould not take any legalaction against the RSS.The motto of the RSS is topropagate patriotism andprotect the country, she

said.The Minister con-

demned the murder ofBJP youth wing leaderPraveen Nettaru atBellare in Sullia recently.We fail to understand thepsyche of people whomurder innocent Hinduyouths, she said, addingNettar was never involvedin activities against anysection and alwaysworked for the people.

The assailants and per-petrators behind the mur-der should be awardedstringent punishment, theMinister said. The probeinto the case should also

find out the motive behindthe murder and the fi-nancing of criminalgroups.

She said the NIA wouldinvestigate into the case inall angles and find out theperpetrators. I have re-quested the Union HomeMinister Amit Shah to en-sure that the killers arestrictly punished and hehas responded positively,she said.

Urging people to partici-pate in the Azadi ka AmritMahotsav, Karandlaje saidthe tricolour should behoisted in front of everyhouse in the country.


BRIEF

BJP practises Jodhpur: The BJPpractises what itpreaches, DefenceMinister RajnathSingh said onSaturday as he un-veiled a statue of aRajput general of theMughal era here. “It issaid that there is a dif-ference between whatpoliticians say anddo,” Rajnath said un-veiling the statueVeer DurgadasRathore at SalvanKalan village ofJodhpur on theRajput general’s 385thbirth anniversary.“But the BJP doeswhat it says. We getthis inspiration fromsons of the soil likeVeer DurgadasRathore,” Rajnathsaid in his address.Praising the installa-tion of the statue,Rajnath said Rathorestood for religiousharmony. “We need tolearn from him at atime when some pow-ers are conspiring towiden the rift be-tween Hindus andMuslims,” he said.

Teenagers drownShimla: Twoteenagers drowned inSwan river inHimachal Pradesh’sUna district onSaturday, the state dis-aster management de-partment said. Sahil(14) and Jatin (15) ofLower Bhadsali vil-lage drowned acciden-tally while takingbath in Swan rivernear Lower Bathedaof Haroli sub-divisionat around 3.15 pmtoday, it said. Both thebodies have been re-covered, the depart-ment added.

Election CommissionerJaipur: Former IASofficer MadhukarGupta was appointedas the Rajasthan StateElectionCommissioner onSaturday. GovernorKalraj Mishra issuedthe appointmentorder, a Raj Bhawanspokesperson said.Gupta has been ap-pointed for a term offive years or till theage of 65 years,whichever is earlier,according to the order.He will succeed P SMehra, who recentlycompleted his tenureas the state electioncommissioner.

Cops rescuePalghar: A 12-year-oldgirl was rescued from agroup of three kidnap-pers in Wada taluka ofMaharashtra’s Palghardistrict, a police offi-cial said on Saturday.The girl was abductedby three persons in acar while she was re-turning from school onFriday evening, saidSuperintendent ofPolice Balasaheb Patil.“After the girl’s parentsfiled a complaint withWada police station,several teams wereformed to rescue thechild and nab the cul-prits. We found out shewas being kept in afarmhouse in Wada.The child was rescuedin the early hours ofSaturday and was re-united with her par-ents,” the SP said.

Defence Minister RajnathSingh at the unveiling ofa statue of renownedMarwari warrior VeerDurgadas Rathore, inJodhpur, Saturday.

GARDA LAKE

A view of the peninsula of Sirmione, on Garda lake, Italy. Lake Garda water level has dropped critically following severe drought resulting in rocks to emerge around the Sirmione Peninsula.



Pakistan will attend thecounter-terrorism drillshosted by India under theambit of the ShanghaiCooperation Organisation(SCO) in October, despitea chill in bilateral ties, amedia report said onSaturday.

While Pakistani andIndian military contin-gents have taken part incounter-terrorism exer-cises together, this will bethe first time thatPakistan will be attendingsuch drills in India, TheExpress Tribune newspa-per reported.

Pakistan will attend the

international counter-ter-rorism exercise scheduledin October this yearunder SCO’s RegionalAnti-Terrorism Structure(RATS), the newspaperquoted Pakistan ForeignOffice Spokesman AsimIftikhar as saying onFriday at the weekly brief-ing. “Yes, there will be ex-ercises under the ambit ofSCO RATS (RegionalA n t i - T e r r o r i s mStructure), the spokesper-son said, adding thatIndia was chairing theSCO RATS this year.

These exercises arescheduled to be held inIndia in Mahesar inOctober, and as Pakistan

is a member, we will par-ticipate, he said.

At what level, I thinkwhen we approach that,we will let you know,” theFO spokesperson added.

The exercise scheduledto be held in Manesar inHaryana will see partici-pation from Russia,China, Pakistan, Iran,Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan, andUzbekistan, besides India.

India and Pakistan,under the banner of theSCO are part of the nine-member Beijing-based re-gional body. The move istermed to be significantgiven the tensions be-tween India and Pakistan

after New Delhi abrogatedArticle 370 of theConstitution to revoke thespecial status of Jammuand Kashmir on August 5,2019. India’s decisionevoked strong reactionsfrom Pakistan, whichdowngraded diplomaticties and expelled theIndian envoy.

India has repeatedlytold Pakistan that Jammuand Kashmir was, is andshall forever remain anintegral part of the coun-try. India has said it de-sires normal neighbourlyrelations with Pakistan inan environment free ofterror, hostility, and vio-lence.

Pakistan to attend SCO counter-terrordrills in India: Foreign Office

Tehran, Aug 13 (AP):

Iranians reacted withpraise and worry onSaturday over the attackon novelist SalmanRushdie, the target of adecades-old fatwa by thelate Supreme LeaderAyatollah RuhollahKhomeini calling for hisdeath.

It remains unclear whyRushdie’s attacker, identi-fied by police as HadiMatar of Fairview, NewJersey, stabbed the authoras he prepared to speak atan event Friday in westernNew York.

Iran’s theocratic govern-ment and its state-runmedia have assigned nomotive to the assault.

But in Tehran, somewilling to speak to TheAssociated Press offeredpraise for an attack target-ing a writer they believetarnished the Islamic faithwith his 1988 book The

Satanic Verses .In the streets of Iran’s

capital, images of the lateAyatollah RuhollahKhomeini still peer downat passers-by.

I don’t know SalmanRushdie, but I am happy tohear that he was attackedsince he insulted Islam,”said Reza Amiri, a 27-year-old deliveryman. This isthe fate for anybody whoinsults sanctities.

Others, however, wor-ried aloud that Iran couldbecome even more cut offfrom the world as tensionsremain high over its tat-tered nuclear deal.

I feel those who did it aretrying to isolate Iran,” saidMahshid Barati, a 39-year-old geography teacher.This will negatively affectrelations with many evenRussia and China.

Khomeini, in poorhealth in the last year ofhis life after the grinding,stalemate 1980s Iran-Iraq

war decimated the coun-try’s economy, issued thefatwa on Rushdie in 1989.

The Islamic edict cameamid a violent uproar inthe Muslim world over thenovel, which some viewedas blasphemously makingsuggestions about theProphet Muhammad’s life.

“I would like to informall the intrepid Muslims inthe world that the authorof the book entitledSatanic Verses’ ... as wellas those publishers whowere aware of its contents,are hereby sentenced todeath,” Khomeini said inFebruary 1989, accordingto Tehran Radio.

He added: “Whoever iskilled doing this will be re-garded as a martyr andwill go directly to heaven.”

Early on Saturday,Iranian state media madea point to note one manidentified as being killedwhile trying to carry outthe fatwa.

Praise, worry in Iran after Rushdieattack; government quiet

Tokyo, Aug 13 (AP):

Tropical Storm Meari un-leashed heavy rains onJapan’s main Honshu is-land as it headed northwardSaturday toward the capital,Tokyo, according toJapanese weather officials.The Japan MeteorologicalAgency said that Meari

made landfall in ShizuokaPrefecture, southwest ofTokyo, in the afternoon,bringing sudden heavyrains and blasting winds toa widespread area, andprompting warnings aboutmudslides and flooding.More than 72,000 people inthe area’s main city ofShizuoka were told to evac-

uate due to possible land-slides.

Meari, packing sustainedwinds of up to 72 kilometers(45 miles) per hour, passedover Shizuoka and was trav-elling at a speed of about 20kilometers (12 miles) anhour and was expected tocontinue northward beforeveering eastward, swingingover the Pacific Ocean byearly Sunday.

The Tokyo area was ham-mered by periodic down-pours starting in the latemorning. Warnings on highwaves in coastal areas wereissued for Tokyo, KanagawaPrefecture, southwest ofTokyo, and other nearbyareas.

The authorities warnedagainst going near rivers orother waters, as the levelsmay rise suddenly. Rainfallwas expected to worsen inTokyo and areas north ofTokyo in the evening, theysaid.

Tropical Storm Meari hammersJapan with heavy rainfall, wind

A woman rides a bicycle during an isolated downpour inthe Akihabara district of Tokyo on August 13, as heavyrains brought by Tropical Storm Meari hit the area.

Bangkok, Aug 13 (AP):

The Chinese air force issending fighter jets andbombers to Thailand for ajoint exercise with theThai military on Sunday.

The training will in-clude air support, strikeson ground targets andsmall and large-scaletroop deployment, theChinese Defense Ministrysaid in a statement postedon its website. China’s ex-panding military activi-ties in the Asia-Pacific re-gion have alarmed theUnited States and its al-lies and form part of agrowing competition be-tween the world’s twolargest economies.

US Defence SecretaryLloyd Austin visitedThailand in June as partof an effort to strengthenwhat he called America’sunparalleled network ofalliances and partner-

ships in the region.The Falcon Strike exer-

cise will be held at theUdorn Royal Thai AirForce Base in northernThailand near the borderwith Laos. Thai fighterjets and airborne earlywarning aircraft fromboth countries will alsotake part. The trainingcomes as the U.S. holdscombat drills inIndonesia withIndonesia, Australia,Japan and Singapore inthe largest iteration ofthe Super Garuda Shieldexercises since theybegan in 2009. It also fol-lows China’s sendingwarships, missiles andaircraft into the watersand air around Taiwan ina threatening response toa visit by U.S. HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi tothe self-ruled island,which China claims as itsterritory.

China sending fighter jets toThailand for joint exercises

Billings, Aug 13 (AP):

A diesel pipeline inWyoming owned by a com-pany that’s being sued byfederal prosecutors overprevious spills in two otherstates cracked open and re-leased more than 45,000 gal-lons (205,000 liters) of fuel, astate official said Friday.

Cleanup work is ongoingfrom the spill that was dis-covered by the pipeline’s op-erator on July 27, said JoeHunter, EmergencyResponse Coordinator withthe Wyoming Departmentof Environmental Quality.The fuel spilled on privateranchland near the smallcommunity of Sussex ineastern Wyoming, he said.

Contaminated soil wasbeing excavated and placedinto a temporary stagingarea, and it will be spreadonto a nearby dirt roadwhere the fuel is expectedto largely evaporate,

Hunter said.The line is operated by

Bridger Pipeline, a sub-sidiary of Casper-basedTrue companies, accordingto an accident report sub-mitted to the US CoastGuard’s National ResponseCenter. The company ini-tially reported only 420 gal-lons (1,590 liters) hadspilled, but later revised itsestimate to 45,150 gallons(205,250 liters), according toa National Response Centerdatabase.

True and its subsidiarieshave a long history of spills.In May, federal prosecutorsin Montana alleged thatrepresentatives of BridgerPipeline had concealedfrom regulators problemswith a pipeline that brokebeneath the YellowstoneRiver near the city ofGlendive in 2015. The breakspewed more than 50,000gallons (240,000 liters) ofcrude into the river andfouled Glendive’s drinkingwater supply.

In North Dakota, federalprosecutors and the stateAttorney General’s Officeare pursuing parallelclaims of environmental vi-olations against a secondTrue companies subsidiaryresponsible for a 2016 spillthat released more than600,000 gallons (2.7 millionliters) of crude, contami-nating the Little MissouriRiver and a tributary.Representatives of the com-panies have denied violat-ing pollution laws and re-jected claims that problemswith the Montana line wereconcealed from federal reg-ulators. The Wyoming spillwas caused by a crack at aweld in the line, saidHunter, who did not knowhow long it was leaking be-fore being discovered. Thespilled fuel did not appearto reach any waterways andno enforcement actions forenvironmental violationswere planned, he said.

Pipeline break spills 45,000 gallons of diesel in Wyoming


The IMF’s executive boardwill meet on August 29 to ap-prove a bailout package forcash-strapped Pakistan with-in this month, including thepending disbursement ofabout USD 1.18 billion, amedia report said onSaturday. The developmentfollows the completion of theUSD 4 billion in bilateral fi-nancing from four friendlynations, including China andSaudi Arabia, and would pavethe way for immediate dis-bursement, expected to be inPakistan’s account before theend of working hours onAugust 31. Finance MinisterMiftah Ismail told Dawn thata letter of intent (LOI) was re-ceived early Friday from thelender for the revival of the

programme under the stafflevel agreement (SLA) andmemorandum of economicand fiscal policies (MEFP)signed last month. We aregoing through the LOI,would sign and send [it]back to the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) any-time soon and look forwardto (executive) board meet-ing later this month for ap-proval, he said. Sources saidthe executive board wouldmeet on August 29 to takeup Pakistan’s case for ap-proval of the completion ofthe seventh and eighth re-views of the Extended FundFacility (EFF), besides aUSD 1 billion increase inthe size of the programmeto USD 7 billion and the ex-tension of its tenure toAugust 2023.

IMF money to arrive inPakistan by August-end

U S Speaker Nancy Pelosi'svisit to Taiwan has elicited a

strong response from China: threedays of simulated attack onTaiwan with further drills an-nounced, plus a withdrawal fromcritical ongoing conversationswith the US on climate change andthe military. This strong reactionwas predictable. President XiJinping had earlier warnedPresident Joe Biden not to playwith fire . Of course, if Pelosi'svisit hadn't gone ahead, the Bidenadministration would have faced astrong reaction from both partiesin Congress for not standing up toChina's threat to Taiwan or humanrights issues regarding Tibet andXinjiang, not to mention HongKong. So where does it leave tradebetween the world's two leadingpowers?

How business trumped ideology

Consider the not-too-distantpast. The US supported theRepublic of China against Japanin the Pacific war of 1941-45. Whenthe Chinese leadership fled toTaiwan in 1949 following the victo-ry of Mao Zedong's communists inthe Chinese civil war, Washingtoncontinued to recognise the exiledregime as China's legitimate gov-ernment, blocking the People'sRepublic of China (PRC) from join-ing the United Nations. This shift-ed in 1972 following PresidentNixon's historic visit to China (in amove to isolate the Soviets). TheUS now recognised the PRC asChina's sole government and ac-cepted its One China policy. Itdowngraded its Taiwan relationsto merely informal, while affirm-ing a peaceful settlement to themainland communists' claim that

this was a breakaway provincethat had to be assimilated. Thisopened US-China trade, ending aUS trade embargo in place sincethe 1940s. Economic ties proliferat-ed in the 1980s under Mao's eventu-al successor, Deng Xiaoping, help-ing the Chinese economy to multi-ply while the US enjoyed lower con-sumer prices and a stronger stockmarket.

Western manufacturing firmseither outsourced to Chinese firmsor set up operations themselves.They benefited from cheaper pro-duction and for those outsourcingnot having to own factories or dealwith labour issues. In turn, theChinese gained tremendous manu-facturing capability. As China'smiddle class grew wealthier, thecountry became a major targetconsumer market for US firmssuch as Apple and GM. TheChinese authorities insisted thiswas done through local partnerfirms, transferring technology inthe process and further enhancingthe nation's manufacturing know-how.

The growing Chinese threatChina and the US captured more

than half the growth in GDPacross the world from 1980 to 2020.US GDP grew nearly five timesfrom US 4.4 trillion ( 3.6 trillion) toUS 20.9 trillion ( 17.3 trillion) intoday's money, while China's grewfrom US 310 billion to US 14.7 tril-lion. China is now the secondlargest economy, although the IMF,World Bank and CIA consider itthe largest once purchasing poweris taken into account. The US isstill well ahead on per capita in-come (US 69,231 vs US 12,359 in2021), though China's is now that ofa developed country, having lifted800 million people out of poverty inthe process.

The US has become increasinglyconcerned about China's fastereconomic growth and the fact thatthe US buys much more from itsrival than the other way around.This drove the big decline in US do-mestic manufacturing that fa-mously helped Donald Trump towin the US presidency. Equally, therivalry has extended to other areasas China has sought a leading roleon the world stage. Both nations

are nuclear powers, although theChinese military has only 350 nu-clear warheads to America's 5,500.China has a larger navy, with some360 battle force ships compared tothe US 297, although China's aremostly smaller only three aircraftcarriers compared to America's 11,for example. The two countries arealso competing in space to bringastronauts to the Moon and estab-lish the first lunar base.

All this has threatenedAmerican dominance, whilePresident Xi has also been muchmore forthright both domesticallyand internationally than anyChinese leader since Mao. The UShas gradually become more hos-tile, starting with PresidentObama's pivot towards other Asiannations in 2016 and then PresidentTrump's public complaints andeventual sanctioning of China'sunfair trade practices.

Bipolarity is backCOVID-19 further increased the

distance between the two coun-tries. After China's zero COVID pol-icy helped to disrupt supply chainsand cause product shortages, theBiden administration began call-ing for reduced dependency on itsrival. US firms have duly been re-structuring their supply chains. InJune, Apple moved some iPad pro-duction from China to Vietnam, al-beit also because of growing de-mand in south-east Asia.

Near-shoring to Mexico is gain-ing momentum. Apple manufactur-ers Foxconn and Pegatron are con-sidering producing iPhones forNorth America in Mexico ratherthan China to take advantage oflower labour costs and the free-trade agreement between the USand Mexico. Two global blocs areincreasingly emerging, with UStreasury secretary Janet Yellen inApril calling for friend-shoringwith trusted partners, dividingcountries into friends or foes. TheBiden administration announcedat the June G7 meeting a newPartnership for GlobalInfrastructure and Investment .Aiming to mobilise US 600 billionin investments over five years, thisis an overture to various develop-ing countries already being courtedby China under its similar Belt and

Road Initiative.Silver linings

As US-China relations havemoved from building bridges in1972 to building walls in 2022, coun-tries will increasingly be forced tochoose sides and companies willhave to plan supply chains accord-ingly. Those seeking to trade inboth blocs will need to divisionalise, running parallel operations.American companies wanting toserve Chinese consumers will stillneed to manufacture in China orother nations within that bloc,while Chinese companies will needto do the same in reverse.Interestingly, Chinese companieshave been rapidly buying farmlandand agriculture-based companiesin the US and elsewhere. Yetthough the new supply chains willalmost certainly increase costs forwestern consumers and dampenChina's growth, there will be bene-fits. Supply chains should be moreresilient to future crises and alsomore transparent, while reducedtransportation (and reliance onChinese coal) should cut carbonemissions. This should help to meetthe UN Sustainable DevelopmentGoals on environmental and socialsustainability. The cobalt andnanochips examples also show howthe US-China rivalry is catalysinginnovation. And importantly, glob-al trade will continue growing ascountries depend on each other,even as trade links change.

It will certainly take time to findan equilibrium. It took years for theUSSR and US to figure out how toco-exist without getting into directmilitary conflict. Hillary Clintonwrote in 2011 as Secretary of Statethat there is no handbook for theevolving US-China relationship ,and that remains the case today. Atany rate, the businesses that thrivein this new environment will likelybe those that plan for a dividedworld with divisional supplychains. The recent Taiwan row willprobably not lead to direct militaryconflict; rather it will reinforce atrend that has been gathering mo-mentum for a decade or more.

Writer is Professor of Operationsand Supply Chain Management,

City, University of London

ChronicleC E N T R A L

Since 1974 Volume 10 No. 136

On a positive noteWe habitually criticise our

country, but ignore the posi-tive side. India of 1947 andnow are worlds apart.Successive governments havebeen vigorously contributingtowards development andpoverty alleviation. It beganwith the setting up of steelplants, light and heavy ma-chinery factories and massiveenergy generators, like theBhakra Dam, and the substan-tial expansion of the canaland rail network. Today, Indiais among the top industri-alised nations. We have at-tained success in the field ofspace and nuclear technolo-gies. From import substitu-tion to indigenisation to‘Make in India’, the nation ison the right path. India maywell become the auto-hub ofAsia in the near future.Public-private partnershiphas bloomed in the last decadeand we have world-class high-ways. We have excelled in thefield of immunisation, the lat-est being the massive Covid-19vaccination programme. Wehave stood up well to the chal-lenges posed by our adver-saries. Indian democracy is vi-brant and functioning.Peaceful transfer of power is afeather in India’s cap.

GS Anand, by mail

Terror attack in J&KReference to ‘Army camp at-

tacked in Rajouri, 4 soldierskilled’, it marks the return offidayeen attacks in J&K.Though both terrorists wereneutralised, four soldierswere also martyred in the en-counter. Undoubtedly, J&K’ssecurity set-up has been suc-cessful in preventing big at-tacks but terrorists switchingto new tactics and the targetedkillings of ordinaryKashmiris have created an at-mosphere of fear obstructingthe path of normalcy. So,small extremist groups needto be engaged so that targetedkillings can be prevented, en-abling security forces returnto their primary job of han-dling cross-border terrorism.That’s why the democraticprocess needs to be fully re-stored in J&K. The EC’s deci-sion to hold back the publica-tion of final electoral rolls forJ&K assembly polls not onlykeeps democratic politics inthe UT unsecured, it also hassecurity ramifications.

Sanjay Chopra, Mohali

Proper strategy needed

The Army camp where a fi-dayeen attack took place inRajouri has thick vegetationall along. It is similar to theUri camp attack that occurreda few years ago. It’s not under-stood why excuses of defeatare not eliminated in the firstinstance. Peace times shouldbe utilised best by conductinginspections and makingpreparations instead of enjoy-ing camps. All feedbacks andshortcomings should berecorded, monitored and re-sponsibility fixed to avoidsuch losses.

Ashok Kumar Goel,Panchkula

LETTERSTO THE EDITOR✍


Students make a human chain in a formation that reads 75 as they celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ ahead ofIndependence Day, in Nadia district, Saturday, Aug. 13.

China-US tensions: How global trade began splitting into two blocs

I-DAY CELEBRATIONS

T he Earth is approximately1.1 degree Celsius warmer

than it was at the start of the indus-trial revolution. That warming hasnot been uniform, with some re-gions warming at a far greaterpace. One such region is the Arctic.A new study shows that the Arctichas warmed nearly four timesfaster than the rest of the worldover the past 43 years. This meansthe Arctic is on average around 3degree Celsius warmer than it wasin 1980. This is alarming, becausethe Arctic contains sensitive anddelicately balanced climate compo-nents that, if pushed too hard, willrespond with global consequences.WWhhyy iiss tthhee AArrccttiicc wwaarrmmiinngg ssoo mmuucchh

ffaasstteerr??A large part of the explanation

relates to sea ice. This is a thin layer(typically one metre to five metresthick) of sea water that freezes inwinter and partially melts in thesummer. The sea ice is covered in abright layer of snow which reflects

around 85% of incoming solar radi-ation back out to space. The oppo-site occurs in the open ocean. Asthe darkest natural surface on theplanet, the ocean absorbs 90% ofsolar radiation. When covered withsea ice, the Arctic Ocean acts like alarge reflective blanket, reducingthe absorption of solar radiation. Asthe sea ice melts, absorption ratesincrease, resulting in a positivefeedback loop where the rapid paceof ocean warming further amplifiessea ice melt, contributing to evenfaster ocean warming. This feed-back loop is largely responsible forwhat is known as Arctic amplifica-tion, and is the explanation for whythe Arctic is warming so much morethan the rest of the planet.

IIss AArrccttiicc aammpplliiffiiccaattiioonn uunnddeerreessttiimmaatteedd??

Numerical climate models havebeen used to quantify the magni-tude of Arctic amplification. Theytypically estimate the amplificationratio to be about 2.5, meaning the

Arctic is warming 2.5 times fasterthan the global average. Based onthe observational record of surfacetemperatures over the last 43 years,the new study estimates the Arcticamplification rate to be about four.Rarely do the climate models obtainvalues as high that. This suggeststhe models may not fully capturethe complete feedback loops re-sponsible for Arctic amplificationand may, as a consequence, under-estimate future Arctic warming andthe potential consequences that ac-company that.

HHooww ccoonncceerrnneedd sshhoouulldd wwee bbee??

Besides sea ice, the Arctic con-tains other climate componentsthat are extremely sensitive towarming. If pushed too hard, theywill also have global consequences.One of those elements is per-mafrost, a (now not so) permanent-ly frozen layer of the Earth's sur-face. As temperatures rise acrossthe Arctic, the active layer, the top-

most layer of soil that thaws eachsummer, deepens. This, in turn, in-creases biological activity in the ac-tive layer resulting in the release ofcarbon into the atmosphere. Arcticpermafrost contains enough carbonto raise global mean temperaturesby more than 3 degree Celsius.Should permafrost thawing accel-erate, there is the potential for arunaway positive feedback process,often referred to as the permafrostcarbon time bomb. The release ofpreviously stored carbon dioxideand methane will contribute to fur-ther Arctic warming, subsequentlyaccelerating future permafrostthaw. A second Arctic componentvulnerable to temperature rise isthe Greenland ice sheet. As thelargest ice mass in the northernhemisphere, it contains enoughfrozen ice to raise global sea levelsby 7.4 metres if melted completely.

When the amount of melting atthe surface of an ice cap exceedsthe rate of winter snow accumula-

tion, it will lose mass faster than itgains any. When this threshold isexceeded, its surface lowers. Thiswill quicken the pace of melting,because temperatures are higher atlower elevations.

This feedback loop is often calledthe small ice cap instability. Priorresearch puts the required temper-ature rise around Greenland for thisthreshold to be be passed at around4.5 degree Celsius above pre-indus-trial levels. Given the exceptionalpace of Arctic warming, passingthis critical threshold is rapidly be-coming likely. Although there aresome regional differences in themagnitude of Arctic amplification,the observed pace of Arctic warm-ing is far higher than the modelsimplied. This brings us perilouslyclose to key climate thresholds thatif passed will have global conse-quences. As anyone who works onthese problems knows, what hap-pens in the Arctic doesn't stay inthe Arctic.

Central Chronicle welcomes, articles, write ups, comments on different issues foreditorial page (800-900 words), Letter to editor for this page. It can be sent by

e-mail at: [email protected] letters can be edited or rewritten for clarity of thoughts.

MAN MOHAN S SODHI

Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the world new research

T he manner in which China has blocked a joint proposal by India andthe US at the UN Security Council to designate Pakistan-based

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) deputy chief Abdul Rauf Azharas a global terror-ist shows Beijing's "double speak and double standards" in fighting terror-ism. New Delhi has viewed as "politically motivated" the actions by Chinain nearly every listing case of Pakistan-based terrorists, saying the movereflected "undermining" of the entire sanctity of the working of theUNSC's Sanctions Committees. The proposal to designate Abdul Rauf wasmoved in the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee and the documents relatedto it were circulated among all the member nations. All other 14 memberstates of the top UN body supported the move. Abdul is the younger broth-er of JeM chief Masood Azhar and has been involved in planning and exe-cuting numerous terror strikes in India including the hijacking of IndianAirlines aircraft IC814 in 1999, the attack on the Parliament in 2001 andthe targeting of the IAF base in Pathankot in 2016. The designation ofAbdul Rauf would have resulted in a global travel ban on him as well asrequiring Pakistan to freeze his assets and to cut off his access to weaponsand related materials. The US Department of Treasury had in December2010 designated "Abdul Rauf Azhar, a senior leader ofJaish-e Mohammed(JeM), for acting for or on behalf of JeM." The US said as a senior leader ofJeM, Abdul Rauf Azhar "has urged Pakistanis to engage in militant activi-ties. He has served as JEM's acting leader in 2007, as one of JEM's mostse-nior commanders in India, and as JeM's intelligence coordinator."In 2008 Azhar was assigned to organise suicide attacks in India. He wasalso involved with JEM's political wing and has served as a JeM official in-volved with training camps. The latest action came less than a month afterChina - a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Counciland an all-weather friend of Pakistan - blocked a similar joint proposal byIndia and the US to blacklist Pakistan-based deputy leader of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba Abdul Rehman Makki. Makki too has been involved in raisingfunds, recruiting and radicalising youths to resort to violence and planningand executing attacks in India, including the Mumbai terror strikes. Boththe terrorists have already been sanctioned by the US under its domesticlegislation. After China blocked the proposal to designate Makki as an in-ternational terrorist, New Delhi said that the action ran counter to Beijing'sclaim of combating terrorism. Makki is the head of the political affairs ofLashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and Jamatud-Dawa (JuD), and served as head ofLeT's foreign relations department. The LeT has been involved in major at-tacks in India such as the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Red Fort Attack in2000, Rampur CRPF Camp attack in January 2008, Khanpora(Baramulla) attack in 2018, Srinagar attack in June2018 andGurez/Bandipora attack in 2018. In 2009, India moved a proposal by itselfto designate Azhar. In 2016 again India moved the proposal with the P3 -the US, the UK and France in the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee toban Azhar, also the mastermind of the attack on the air base inPathankot in January, 2016. In 2017, the P3 nations moved a similar pro-posal again. However, on all occasions, China blocked India's proposalfrom being adopted by the sanctions committee. It was in May 2019, thatIndia won a huge diplomatic win at the UN when the global bodydesignated Masood Azhar as a "global terrorist.

China’s stand on terror

Dr Mohan Kumar

I t was in May 2020 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the clari-on call for a Bharat that was 'Aatmanirbhar'. It is important to clarify

what this meant and what it did not. While a rough translation of the wordis no doubt 'self-reliant', it is nevertheless not the kind of self-reliance thatIndia arguably believed in and practised in the early years of itsIndependence up until the seventies and eighties. It is easy to state what itis not. It is certainly not autarchy; it is certainly not inward-looking, and it ismost certainly not stopping imports and making every product at home. Itmay be more prudent to think of 'Aatmanirbharta' as Self-Reliance 2.0. Inthis framework of Self-Reliance 2.0, the PM clarified that rather than beingself-centred, India will open up even more to the world outside, guided byits motto: 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', or our Earth is just one family. Modiwent on to say that Aatmanirbharta will stand on five pillars: Economy, in-frastructure, technology, demography and demand. The PM explained theraison d'etre of Aatmanirbharta by saying that this should prepare India forparticipation in global supply chains and that this is a battle India cannot af-ford to lose. There is little doubt that the global Covid-19 pandemic played asignificant role in India's push for Self-Reliance 2.0. Take the simple exam-ple of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and N-95 masks. At the begin-ning of the pandemic, India was not making any N-95 masks. Today, Indiamanufactures at least 200,000 N-95 masks a day, if not more. Even moreimpressive is India's own record of vaccinating its mammoth population.When Covid emerged in 2020, almost no one believed India could ever fullyvaccinate its population and that such an exercise would take years. Yet, inJuly 2022, about 18 months after the first vaccination, India completed twobillion doses of vaccines for its citizens. The story of how this was achievedis worthy of a case study, which will cover vital issues such as public-privatepartnership, Centre-state cooperation and not to forget, and building aware-ness among citizens and getting their participation willingly in this exercise.Indeed, the WHO and others have praised India and the best practices herewill be emulated the world over. Proving that Self-Reliance 2.0 is not just forIndians, the country also exported a large number of vaccines and PPE kitsto countries all over the world. The latest statistics from the MEA websitetalk of 240 million (approx) vaccines which have been delivered to 101 coun-tries, including developed, developing and least-developed nations. Thestory of India being the pharmacy of the world is too well known to bear anyrepetition here. All of this is real Aatmanirbharta at work. The Co-WIN plat-form that India used for administering vaccines to its mammoth populationwas remarkable. Co-WIN is essentially a cloud-based IT solution for plan-ning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating Covid vaccination in India.By July 2021, India decided to make this open platform available to all coun-tries for their use. In the Co-WIN global conclave organized in July 2021, asmany as 142 countries expressed interest in adopting it. Again, this isAatmanirbharta at work. The war in Ukraine has had a profound impact notjust in Europe, but more importantly on developing and least-developedcountries. Specifically, the war has impacted food, energy and commodityprices adversely. Wheat shortage in particular is expected to affect Africaand the Middle East quite significantly. At a time like this, it is comforting toknow that India's position when it comes to food security for its huge popu-lation is satisfactory. This is yet another manifestation of Self-Reliance 2.0.Indeed, not only was India able to give away food grains and lentils to 800million of its citizens as part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, butIndia was also able to carry out modest exports of food grains to low-incomecountries that needed it. Again, Aatmanirbharta is at work. The above is notto suggest that everything is rosy. India faces monumental challenges withregard to the eradication of poverty, job creation and investment inhealth/education/skills of its vast population. But the lessons are clear: Indiais sui generis and it is only an "Indian" model that will work for India andIndians. Hence, is the capital importance of Aatmanirbharta. After all, as wehave seen above, 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' is not just good for India, but alsofor the world at large.

((DDrr MMoohhaann KKuummaarr iiss aa ffoorrmmeerr IInnddiiaann AAmmbbaassssaaddoorr wwhhoo iiss aa ffuullll--ttiimmee aaccaaddeemmiicc nnooww.. TThhee vviieewwss eexxpprreesssseedd aarree ppeerrssoonnaall))

India’s march towards‘Aatmanirbharta’


BRIEF

Zero power bills

Beas (Pb): PunjabChief MinisterBhagwant Mann onFriday said 51 lakhhouseholds of thestate can look forwardto getting zero elec-tricity bills fromSeptember 1. Afterdedicating the 66 KVButaari-Beas line tothe people, the chiefminister said that theAam Aadmi govern-ment in the state hasprovided 600 units offree power per billingcycle to every sectionof society. He said thatdue to this "pro-peopleinitiative" 51 lakhhouseholds out of atotal 74 lakh will getzero electricity billfrom September.

Corporate tax New Delhi: The in-come tax departmenton Friday said corpo-rate tax collections inthe first four monthsof the current fiscalhave grown 34 percent over the year-agoperiod. During 2021-22fiscal, corporate taxcollections stood at Rs7.23 lakh crore, a 58per cent growth over2020-21 mop up. Evenwhen compared to col-lections of FY 2018-19(pre-COVID period),the collections of FY2021-22 are higher byover 9 per cent, the I-Tdepartment tweeted.

Nano urea sales

New Delhi: Nanourea is now beingwidely accepted byfarmers across thecountry as 1.12 crorebottles of 500 ml eachhave been sold so farin this fiscal,Fertiliser MinisterMansukh Mandaviyasaid. Mandaviya,who reviewed theprogress of nanourea production andsales, directed his of-ficials to include thisproduct in themonthly supply planof the states to reachmore farmers. Healso asked the offi-cials to take steps topromote this productso that farmers har-ness its benefits be-sides sensitising re-tailers, an officialstatement said.

Basmati rice exportsNew Delhi: Exportsof basmati rice in-creased by 25.54 percent in April-Junethis fiscal year to USD1.15 billion (aroundRs 9,160 crore), thecommerce ministrysaid. TheAgricultural andProcessed FoodProducts ExportDevelopmentAuthority (APEDA)has commenced a sur-vey to estimateacreage, assess crophealth and expectedyield of aromatic andlong-grain rice dur-ing 2022-2023 kharifseason using climate-based yield model-ling, it said. It said thesurvey is being con-ducted after a gap oftwo years due toCovid-19 restrictions.

New Delhi, Aug 13:

Retail inflation softenedto 6.71 per cent in July dueto moderation in foodprices but remained abovethe Reserve Bank's com-fort level of 6 per cent forthe seventh consecutivemonth. With retail infla-tion continuing to remainhigh despite a fall in pricesof vegetables and edibleoils, among other com-modities in July, theReserve Bank of India(RBI) might go for anotherrate hike in September.The Consumer Price Index(CPI) based retail inflationwas at 7.01 per cent in Juneand 5.59 per cent in July2021. It was above 7 percent from April to Junethis fiscal.

According to the data re-leased by the NationalStatistical Office (NSO) on

Friday, food inflation inJuly moderated to 6.75 percent as against 7.75 percent in June. The retail in-flation is above RBI's uppertolerance level of 6 percent and has remained atthat level for the past sevenmonths. Meanwhile, themoderation in retail infla-tion in July was mainly

due to easing of vegetableand edible oil prices. In thecase of 'fuel and light', theprices remained high.Fears of a global recessionand fresh geopolitical un-certainties have led to acorrection in commodityprices from the peaks seenin mid-June 2022, ratingagency ICRA's Chief

Economist Aditi Nayarsaid.

However, she said thatrobust domestic demandfor services poses risks,given its significant sharein CPI basket and hence,remains a key monitorablealong with significant lagin kharif sowing of rice.Services account for over23.4 per cent of CPI basket.

"Given the MonetaryPolicy Committee's focuson anchoring inflation ex-pectations and the RBIGovernor's statement oninflation moving closer tothe target of 4 per centover the medium term, weexpect another rate hike ofabout 10-35 bps (0.10-0.35per cent) in the September2022 policy meeting," shesaid. RBI has hiked thebenchmark repo ratethrice in a row and the rateis now at 5.4 per cent.

Retail inflation eases to6.71 pc in July on lower

vegetable, edible oil prices

New Delhi, Aug 13:

India's exports rose by2.14 per cent to USD 36.27billion in July while thetrade deficit almost tripledto USD 30 billion duringthe month due to over 70per cent rise in crude oilimports, according to offi-cial data released onFriday. Imports shot up by43.61 per cent to USD 66.27billion in the month com-pared to July 2021, the datashowed. The trade deficitwas USD 10.63 billion inJuly 2021. Preliminary datareleased earlier this monthhad shown a 0.76 per centcontraction in exports atUSD 35.24 billion for July.

However, exports duringApril-July 2022-23 rose by20.13 per cent to USD 157.44billion. Imports during thefour months increased by48.12 per cent to USD 256.43billion. The trade deficitstood at USD 98.99 billionas against USD 42 billionduring April-July 2021-22.

Imports of crude and pe-troleum products duringJuly this year were USD21.13 billion, up 70.4 per

cent compared to USD 12.4billion in July 2021.Imports of coal, coke andbriquettes shot up morethan twofold to USD 5.2 bil-lion while that of vegetableoil rose 47.18 per cent toUSD 2 billion in July thisyear. Inbound shipments ofgold, however, declined by43.6 per cent to USD 2.37 bil-lion compared to 4.2 billionin July 2021.

Exports of engineeringgoods; petroleum products;gems and jewellery; anddrugs and pharmaceuti-cals, contracted in July2022 year-on-year. On theexport front, sectors whichrecorded positive growthinclude petroleum prod-ucts, leather, electronic

goods, and coffee.Engineering, gems andjewellery, plastic, cashewand carpet segments wit-nessed a fall. According tothe data, the estimatedvalue of services export forJuly 2022 is USD 24.91 bil-lion, exhibiting a positivegrowth of 28.69 per centyear-on-year. Imports areestimated at USD 15.95 bil-lion, a growth of 40.02 percent.

Federation of IndianExport OrganisationsPresident A Sakthivel saidthat signs of a likely slow-down in exports can beseen as global inventoriesare pretty high and themerchandise exports arefacing a triple whammy.

Exports up 2.14pc to USD 36.27 bn inJuly; trade deficit at record USD 30 bn

New Delhi/Chennai, Aug 13:

Telecom ministerAshwani Vaishnaw askedBSNL staff to focus on cus-tomers and solve theirproblem immediately inorder to help in turningaround the fortunes of theloss-making organisation.The government has ap-proved a package of Rs1.64 lakh crore for the com-pany and now responsibil-ity lies on everyone tomake the organisationvery strong, the ministersaid. "I am rock solid withyou.

The Prime Minister iswith you. Now, we have tobe with our customers.Every customer is God.Customer is the king.

Whatever problems cus-tomers face, they shouldbecome our problem and(we should) solve them im-mediately. Focus on yourcustomers," Vaishnaw toldthe staff during his visit toChennai. Last week, theminister had asked BSNLemployees to either "per-form or perish" and thosewho don't want to work

can take early retirement."I will measure KPIs (KeyPerformance Indicators),performance, and the re-sult every month. Thosewho don't want to workcan take VRS and gohome," the minister hadsaid. The minister expectsBSNL employees to deliverpositive results in 24months.

Focus on customers, solve their problemsimmediately: Vaishnaw tells BSNL staff

New Delhi, Aug 13:

Units in a special eco-nomic zone that want topermit work-from-home foremployees will have to for-mulate a scheme and takeapproval from developmentcommissioners concerned,the commerce ministrysaid on Friday.

In July, the governmentallowed WFH for a maxi-mum period of one year ina special economic zone(SEZ) unit. The facility canbe extended to 50 per cent oftotal employees. The guide-lines issued by the ministrysaid the units will also haveto submit an application totheir development commis-sioners, notifying the adop-tion of the scheme, at leat14 days in advance from the

date of implementation ofthe scheme. TheDepartment of Commercehas notified new rule 43Afor WFH in SpecialEconomic Zones Rules,2006. These rules were is-sued on demand from theindustry to make a provi-sion for a countrywide uni-form WFH policy across allSEZs.

The new rule providesWFH for a certain categoryof employees of a unit inSEZ. These include employ-ees of IT/ITeS SEZ units;employees who are tem-porarily incapacitated; em-ployees who are travellingand who are working off-site. "The units intending toor implementing WFH willformulate and adopt aWFH scheme," it said.

Comm min issues WFHguidelines for SEZ units

Kolkata, Aug 13:

India's seafood exports rose 15per cent on-year to USD 1.99billion in the first quarter endedJune 2022, a senior official saidon Friday. "In 2021-22, totalexports were 7.76 billion, ajump of 30 per cent over FY21,"Marine Products ExportDevelopment Authority(MPEDA) Chairman K NRaghavan said. He was here toparticipate in a roadshow forthe India International SeafoodShow 2023 to be held in Kolkataon February 15-17, 2023, after agap of 16 years. The officialsaid seafood shipments toEurope are expected toincrease in the years to come,with the likely easing of certaincurbs imposed by the European

Union. Europe contributesabout 15 per cent of the totalexports in this segment. An EUaudit is slated soon, followingwhich the embargo on register-ing new units is expected to belifted," Raghavan said. Indiafaces embargoes related toresidue antibiotic traces inshrimp export consignments,restricting shipments of marineproducts to the European mar-ket. The Indian government hasbeen taking several measuresto overcome the problemthrough direct intervention anddialogues, said SeafoodExporters Association of IndiaPresident Jagdeesh Fofandi,who was also present at theevent. He said the governmentis aiming at doubling marineexports by 2025.

India’s seafood exports rise15pc to USD 1.99 billion in

June quarter: Official

Mumbai, Aug 13:

Life InsuranceCorporation has said it hasnot received any timelinefrom the government forthe stake sale in its sub-sidiary IDBI Bank. LICowns 49.2 per cent of thelender and the governmentand public own the re-maining shareholdings inthe bank which was on theverge of collapse before itwas forced into the controlof LIC weighed by a thirdof its loans turning dud.

Addressing the mediaduring its maiden earn-ings call, chairman M RKumar said theCorporation has no time-line yet for the stake sale.The divestment depart-ment is working on it butso far no expression of in-terest has been called in.

Nor has there been any for-mal proposal from the de-partment to us, he added.In its IPO filings in Marchthis year, the insurance be-hemoth had said that itwould retain part of its 51per cent stake in IDBIBank to reap the benefitsof the bancassurancechannel. The plan is tocompletely privatise thebank as the governmentwants to exit it. IDBI Bankbecame a subsidiary of

LIC with effect fromJanuary 2019, followingthe acquisition of an addi-tional 82,75,90,885 equityshares. On December 19,2020, IDBI Bank was re-classified as an associatecompany due to the reduc-tion of LIC shareholdingto 49.24 per cent followingthe issuance of additionalequity shares by the bankunder a qualified institu-tional placement. LIC hadbought a 51 per cent stakein IDBI Bank in 2019 for Rs21,624 crore at an averageprice of Rs 61 per share.Though the bank has comeout of the RBI's restrictiveactions, its share price hasnever reached the LIC buy-out level and on Friday itclosed down by over 2.5 percent at Rs 39.85 on the BSEon a day when bankingstocks were rallying.

No timeline from govt for sellingIDBI stake, says LIC chairman

Mumbai, Aug 13:

HDFC Bank, India’s largest pri-vate sector bank, in associationwith Amity Global BusinessSchool (AGBS), one of India’sleading educational institu-tions, has launched an 8-monthcertification programmeknownas‘RisingBankers’ for aspiringbankers. The programme aimsto turn young graduates intowell-trained, customer-facingpersonnel. It involves on-cam-pus learning, an internship,and a full-time job opportunityat the Bank on successful com-pletion of the certification. Theprogramme is accepting appli-cations from candidates acrossthe country looking to get realworldexperience and earnwhile they learn. Through thisprogramme HDFC Bank willcreate a pipeline of qualifiedtalent who will offera consis-tent, high-quality customer

service experience across geo-graphiesand languages in thecountry.The programme will train can-didates in all facets of bankingoperations in a working envi-ronment. The 8-month coursewill entail a 5-month stint atthe state-of-the-art facility atAmity Global Business Schoolcampus in Noida, where candi-dates will attend residentialclassroom sessions. This willbe followed by a 3-month paidinternship at any HDFC Bankbranch across India. On suc-cessful completion of thisintensive programme, the stu-dents will be employed withHDFC Bank as a Customer CareExecutive or CustomerExperience Executive with astarting salary of Rs 3 lakh perannumFurthermore, they willbeawarded a PG Diploma inCustomer ExperienceManagement from AGBS.

HDFC Bank launches RisingBankers programme

New Delhi, Aug 13:

Wynk Music, India’snumber 1 music stream-ing app by downloads anddaily active users today in-troduced Wynk Studio,India’s largest music dis-tribution ecosystem for in-dependent artists based inIndia and overseas. Thestudio will enable artiststo launch their music andwill also partner them inmonetizing their music ona host of platforms andwill be a part of Airtel’sdigital products portfoliowhich includes Wynk,Airtel Xstream, AirtelAds, Airtel IQamong oth-ers.

Wynk Studio is Airtel’sleap towards acceleratingthe music ecosystem inIndia. The studio plans tolaunch 5000 independentartists on the platform in

thenext 1 year. This willbring forward unknowntalent stymied by musicindustry’s three mostpressing problems -Discovery, Monetizationand Analytics, which to-gether determine the dif-ference between successand failure in the Indianmusic industry.

The Indian music indus-try is at an inflectionpoint. Indians on averagespend about 21 hours perweek listening to music asagainst a global average of18 hours. Almost 30% ofthe top performing songsacross any music platformin India are today from in-dependent artists andthese independent artistsare all set to drive thegrowth of the industry by50% from roughly 2000Crat the moment to 3000Crby 2025.

Airtel introduces Wynk Studio

Mumbai, Aug 13:

The RBI issued fresh in-structions barring recov-ery agents from resortingto intimidation of borrow-ers as well as calling thembefore 8 am and after 7 pm.While issuing additionalinstructions to regulatedentities including banks,NBFCs and ARCs, ReserveBank (RBI) said it has ob-served that recoveryagents are deviating fromits instructions with re-gard to the recovery ofloans.

"It is advised that theREs (regulated entities)shall strictly ensure thatthey or their agents do not

resort to intimidation orharassment of any kind,either verbal or physical,against any person intheir debt collection ef-forts," ?the ?RBI said in anotification. It also askedthem not to send inappro-priate messages to them inany form, make threaten-ing or anonymous calls be-sides not calling the bor-rower before 8 am andafter 7 pm for recovery ofoverdue loans, or makefalse and misleading rep-resentations.

RBI has issued guide-lines from time to time aspart of the Fair PracticesCode (FPC), and has al-ready advised REs thatthey should not resort tointimidation or harass-ment of their borrowers,calling them on phone at

odd hours in their debt col-lection efforts, among oth-ers. The banking regulatorsaid it took into accountcertain recent develop-ments including growingincidences of unacceptablepractices followed by RAs(recovery agents) to issuethese additional instruc-tions to REs. These addi-tions have extended thescope of guidelines whilelimiting the hours for call-ing borrowers on phone forrecovery of overdue loans.RBI said these instructionswill be applicable to allcommercial banks (includ-ing regional rural banks),Cooperative Banks, Non-Banking FinancialCompanies (NBFCs), AssetReconstruction Companies(ARCs) and all India finan-cial institutions.

RBI directs loan recovery agentsnot to intimidate borrowers

No calling before 8 am & after 7pm

New Delhi, Aug 13:

India's industrial produc-tion grew in double digit forthe second month in a rowat 12.3 per cent in Junemainly due to strong per-formance by manufactur-ing, power and mining sec-tors, according to officialdata released on Friday.However, the data showedthat the industrial outputgrowth is lower than 19.6per cent recorded in Maythis year. It was 6.7 per centin April. Factory output,measured in terms of theIndex of IndustrialProduction (IIP), had ex-panded by 13.8 per cent inJune 2021, the data showed.The manufacturing sectorexpanded by 12.5 per cent inJune 2022 compared to 13.2per cent recorded in theyear-ago period, the data re-

leased by the Statistics andP r o g r a m m eImplementation Ministryshowed.

The power sector showeda growth of 16.4 per cent asagainst 8.3 per cent a yearago, while the mining sec-tor witnessed an expansionof 7.5 per cent in June 2022compared to a 23.1 per cent

growth last year. DuringApril-June this year, IIPgrew 12.7 per cent asagainst 44.4 per cent growthin the same period a yearago. Capital goods output,which is a barometer of in-vestment, rose by 26.1 percent in June 2022 against27.3 per cent in the year-agomonth.

Industrial production growth remains indouble digit for 2nd month at 12.3pc in June

New Delhi, Aug 13:

Edible oil imports rose 31 percent to 12.05 lakh tonnes inJuly amid a fall in global pricesof palm, soyabean and sun-flower oils since June, accord-ing to industry data. Theimport of edible oils stood at9.17 lakh tonnes in the samemonth last year.In a statement on Friday, theSolvent Extractors'Association of India (SEA) saidthe import of vegetable oils,comprising edible and non-edible oils, in July this yearrose 24 per cent to 1,214,353tonnes. In the year-ago period,it stood at 9,80,624 tonnes inJuly 2021.Oil marketing year runs fromNovember to October. DuringNovember 2021 to July 2022period, the imports of edibleoils rose to 96,95,305 tonnesfrom 93,70,147 tonnes in theyear-ago period.

Edible oil importsrise 31 pc to 12.05lakh tonnes in July

Angelina Jolie gets emotional ondropping daughter Zahara at collegeHollywood actress Angelina Jolie had

mixed emotions as another of herchildren stepped out of their comfort zone.

The mother of six shared she was barely ableto contain her tears while dropping her daugh-ter Zahara off at Spelman College, reportsaceshowbiz.com.

The school's Vice President of StudentAffairs Darryl Holloman shared pictures

and a video of the mother and daughterduo arriving on the school's move-in

day. In the clip, the actress met withschool president Dr. Helene Gayle andhad a short interview.

Dressing down in an all-black outfit,Jolie said, "I'm going to start crying if I talk

about today." The Academy Award-winning actressadded, "I haven't started crying yet so..."

‘I never said no to any role that came my way’

With her portrayal ofVidhi in Star Bharat'srecently launched pro-

gramme "Na Umra Ki SeemaHo," Rachana Mistry is swiftlyrising to the top of the audi-ence's favourites list. Rachanahas won the audience's affec-

tions by portraying Vidhi, astraightforward mid-

dle-class girl.Before landing

the lead role inNa Umra Ki

Seema Ho,R a c h a n aMistry hasprevious-

ly portrayed a variety of roles.Rachana talks about her jour-ney thus far while expressingher thanks. She explains, "Mypath has been filled with a lot ofhard work and hardships thathave brought me to this point inmy life. This is a slow process,and the only way to succeed is tohave faith in your abilities andnever give up on your goals. Iplayed many various personali-ties and roles before landing myfirst main role in "Na Umra KiSeema Ho." She continues, "Ifyou have talent and are deter-mined to achieve your goals,you will succeed in life. Fame

didn't come easily to me either; Iworked hard for many yearsand I never turned down anyrole that came my way becauseevery character has helped melearn something and has im-proved my craft. Therefore,never give up and always putyour best into your effort, nomatter how minor. In the recenttrack of ‘Na Umra Ki Seema Ho’we can see a friendship buildingup between Dev and Vidhi. Willthis growing bond bring themcloser to each other? How willdestiny make them part of eachother’s life? To know how thestory unfolds further.

Amother and child’sbond is believed tobe eternal, selfless,

strong and based on un-conditional love. Whilethere are no bounds tomotherly love and affec-tion, it can be complicated,especially when the childin question is the illegiti-mate son of your husband.And what happens whendestiny brings you togeth-er with that child underthe same roof ? Such isYashoda and Krishna’sstory, brought together byfate and how their lifetakes a blind turn.

&TV is all set to presenta family drama, ‘DoosriMaa’ - the story of awoman living in UttarPradesh with her hus-band, two daughters andin-laws whose happy,peaceful family life comesto a screeching halt when

she and her husband un-knowingly end up adopt-ing his illegitimate child.The show is produced

by Zee Studios. Stay tunedto know more on DoosriMaa, coming soon only on

&TV!

Mouni Roy is dying to be a part of

larger-than-lifemovies

Actress Mouni Roy, who will beseen in filmmaker AyanMukerji's upcoming film

'Brahmastra', said that she wouldlike to work in South Indian moviesas she is dying to be a part of larger-than-life movies.

When asked if she would like towork in South Indian films, Mouniin ShareChat LIVE AudioChatroom said: "I am keen onbeing a part of films down South,and I really think they are mak-ing some brilliant content. I amdying to be a part of the larger-than-life movies they are mak-ing."

Roy also revealed how sheloves to watch 'Friends' andshowed affection towardsRachel and Phoebe's charac-ters.

"'Friends' is my go-toshow. Whenever I am reallyhappy or sad, I start watch-ing Friends as it makes mefeel good. I feel like I amhanging out with them."

Revealing herfavourite charactersfrom the show, sheadded, "I love themall, but I feel that I ama combination ofRachel and Phoebemyself."

'Brahmastra' is afantasy adventuretrilogy. It alsostars AmitabhBachchan, AliaBhatt, RanbirKapoor andNagarjuna.

ACROSS

1. Stocking mishaps

5. Bistro

9. Nighttime vision

14. Hero's tale

15. In the center of

16. Appearance

17. Cruising

18. Circus leader

20. Pronouncement

22. Lighting gas

23. Compass point (abbr.)

24. Pittsburgh player

26. Ump's kin

28. Serious plays

31. Enlightened one's words (2 wds.)

35. Range

39. Ripped

40. Easter flower

41. Document

42. Nervous twitch

43. Southern beauty

44. Notable periods

45. Window frame

46. Motorist's aid

47. Bruise

48. Walks in

50. Wallet bill

52. Daily grind (2 wds.)

57. Enjoy the slopes

60. Frank

63. Good sense

64. Emphasize

67. Urgent

68. Achievers

69. Steals from

70. Eden resident

71. Fixed gaze

72. Army division

73. Bank (on)

DOWN

1. Peruses

2. Troubled

3. Brother's daughter

4. Frighten

5. Profession

6. Friend (Fr.)

7. Helsinki native

8. Margin

9. Keaton or Sawyer

10. Real estate abbr.

11. Devours

12. Epochs

13. Simple

19. Telegraph inventor

21. Church official

25. Wicker

27. ____ mignon

29. Slightly wet30. Robin Hood, e.g.32. Window part33. Singer ____ Fitzgerald34. Needle openings35. Gush forth36. Concern37. Milky stone38. Green sauce43. Moisten while cooking45. Leaks slowly49. Most unusual51. From Oslo53. Speed checker54. All kidding ____55. Atoll material56. Foe57. Soap bubbles58. Snarl59. Thought61. Light brown62. High ____65. Make a mistake66. Batter's stat


This is a terrific time to start some phys-ical activity that takes you outside andgets your blood pumping, Aquarius.Don't think this means you have tobecome the star player at a tennis club.A simple walk around the block everymorning may be all you need to feel aboost in physical and mental energy.

Aquarius: Jan 21 – Feb 18

You may feel like you're being tested insome way and must prove that what you'redoing is valid and correct, Pisces.Fortunately, you should feel an emotionalboost that will help you be confident aboutwho you are, regardless of what other peo-ple think. The biggest tests are those thatyou give yourself. You are your toughestcritic.

Pisces: Feb 19 – Mar 20

You're able to assert yourself with moreconfidence than usual, Aries. You shouldhave a grounded perspective regardingyour emotions. You aren't afraid to speakyour mind in a situation where normallyyou'd only say anything that helps keepthe peace. Other people may prefer thatyou keep things on an even keel, but youaren't working for them.

Aries: Mar 21 – Apr 20

Just when you feel like you've come to apoint of emotional stability and calm,Taurus, something happens to throw youoff balance. You may be uneasy with thenotion of stability and feel what you real-ly want is risk, action, and excitement.This inner conflict makes it hard for youto operate. Try not to overanalyze everypiece of the equation.

Taurus: Apr 21 – May 21

You have lots of energy and self-confi-dence, Gemini. That's wonderful, but itmay also put you at greater risk fordangerous experiences and accidents.You could find that you're much moreaggressive, especially if someonecrosses you.

Gemini: May 22 – June 21

Be happy with yourself and others,Cancer. Stop trying to find fault witheveryone you interact with. By criticizingwhat they do and how they do it, you couldwake up one morning and find that youhave no friends. By only seeing the bad inpeople, you may talk yourself out of rela-tionships with them. Be careful aboutcoming across as a know-it-all.

Cancer: June 22 – July 22

You may be bursting with energy andyearning to be a free spirit, Leo. At thesame time, your emotions could find away to block these thoughts. You mayfeel like there's some sort of weightholding you down, making it difficult toact freely. This could cause you to actfitfully, leaving you frustrated anddefeated.

Leo: July 23 – Aug 23

You may feel a bit blue due to a naggingweightiness that pins you down to realityinstead of being free to fly, Virgo. You mayact out in an effort to prove to yourself andothers that you're somehow above Earthlythings. Get over the mental block that saysbeing grounded is a bad thing. Plant yourfeet firmly on terra firma. That's how youfind balance and attain your goals.

Virgo: Aug 24 – Sept 22

You're able to work much more efficientlyand effectively, Libra. Your energy isstrong, and you don't need to fight inorder to get your voice heard. Attend todetails and don't get discouraged by anydiscomfort that might arise. As long asyou approach things with a positive atti-tude, everything should work out fine.

Libra: Sept 23 – Oct 23

Different people measure success by dif-ferent scales. You shouldn't get discour-aged if your accomplishment today seemssmall compared to what others have donein the same period. Comparisons willmake it difficult for you to feel like you'regetting anywhere. Someone else willalways do more.

Scorpio: Oct 24 – Nov 22

You could feel as if the battle hasbegun and you're the target,Sagittarius. If you don't have a solidforce behind you, this period could bedifficult. Emotionally, this may not beyour best day. Instead of feeling yourfeelings, you examine them in amethodical, rational manner.

Sagittarius: Nov 23 – Dec 21

It could be scary for you to do anythingrisky for fear of conflict or failure,Capricorn. Perhaps you've tried tobecome invisible in different situations soyou can avoid being noticed. Thesedefense mechanisms may serve you for awhile but acting out of fear or guilt won'tget you where you need to go.

Capricorn: Dec 22 – Jan 20

C R O S S WO R D 391

SOLUTION 389

HOROSCOPE SUNDAY AUGUST 14

Singer AdityaNarayan shared hischildhood dream of

joining the army withNamrata Kumari Ojha,wife of Galwan martyrKundan Ojha, on"Superstar Singer 2".

Ojha was among the 20Indian soldiers who losttheir lives during a clashwith the Chinese forces inGalwan Valley in Ladakh.

The singer says that hewill sponsor the educationof their daughter.

Aditya, who is also thehost of the show, said: "Asa child, I was very passion-ate about the Indian Armyand I wanted to be a part ofit. But being the only sonof my parents, it could notbe possible. But whenevermy country will need me, Iwill be the first one to beready."

Appreciating Namratafor the way she is takingcare of her daughter,Aditya said: "I feel im-mensely happy to seeNamrata ji that you are sostrong and have not losthope and are workingalong with taking care ofyour beautiful daughter. Itoo have a daughter, she isnearly as young as Diksha.Your daughter is reallysweet and so as a smalltoken of love, I would liketo sponsor Diksha's educa-tion.

"I want her future to bebright, I want her to study

well and be whatever shedreams of being. I wouldreally like it if you andDiksha could come hometo meet my parents, mywife and my daughter.They will be really privi-leged to meet you and yourdaughter."

On the eve ofIndependence Day, thesinging reality show"Superstar Singer 2" willhave a special episode fea-turing personalities fromthe Indian defence forcesand their families, whowill share some touchingand interesting anecdotes.

Singer and judge AlkaYagnik, expressing hergratitude towards Indiansoldiers, said: "We can'teven imagine the level ofsacrifice Namrata ji hasmade for the safeguard ofour country. The countryhas lost one soldier, butshe lost her whole world.Just the thought of suchselfless sacrifice moves medeeply. Even thoughKundan ji could not seehis daughter's face, I amsure his blessings are al-ways on Diksha.

"The great sacrifice hemade for his country willreturn as a blessing to herand she will have a beauti-ful future. Salute toNamrata ji and her fami-ly," she concludes."Superstar Singer 2" airson Sony EntertainmentTelevision.

Aditya Narayan:

As a child, I wanted to

be a part of Indian Army

&TV to present a familydrama ‘Doosri Maa’


Toronto, Aug 13 (AP):

Two-time championSimona Halep beat CocoGauff 6-4, 7-6 (2) to reachthe National Bank Opensemifinals.

Halep, the 30-year-oldfrom Romania, won theevent in Montreal in 2016and 2018. She will face sev-enth-seeded JessicaPegula, a 6-3, 6-3 winnerover Yulia Putintseva ofKazakhstan. The 15th-seeded Halep is 4-0 againstthe Gauff, the 18-year-oldAmerican seeded 10th. Inthe night session, BeatrizHaddad Maia of Brazilousted 12th-seed BelindaBencic of Switzerland 2-6,6-3, 6-3. On Thursday,Haddad Maia beat top-ranked Iga Swiatek ofPoland. In the late match,14th-seeded KarolinaPliskova of the CzechRepublic played ZhengQinwen of China.

Halep beats Gauff 6-4, 7-6 (2)to reach Toronto

semifinals

Montreal, Aug 13 (AP):

Fourth-seeded CasperRuud of Norway routedhometown favorite FelixAuger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-2in the National BankOpen quarterfinals.

"It was one of thosedays where everything

goes in one favor andluckily it was in myfavor," Ruud said afterreaching his thirdMasters 1000 semifinal ofthe season.

The sixth-seededAuger-Aliassime, made 21unforced errors to justeight for Ruud.

"(My) first two matcheswere good, some positivethings," Auger-Aliassimesaid.

"I never thought itwould be ending like thistoday."

Ruud will face eighth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz ofPoland, a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-1

winner over Nick Kyrgiosof Australia.

In the night session,Britain's Daniel Evansbeat American TommyPaul 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, andSpain's Pablo CarrenoBusta topped Britishqualifier Jack Draper 7-6(4), 6-1.

Ruud routed hometown favoriteAuger-Aliassime in Montreal

Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada reacts after losing a point against Casper Ruud of Norway.

Kingston, Aug 13 (AP):

Glenn Phillips struck ahalf century from 33 ballsto propel New Zealand to a90-run win over the WestIndies in the secondTwenty20 international,clinching the three-matchseries with a 2-0 lead.

After reaching his fifthT20 half century, Phillipswent on to 76 from 40 ballsand led New Zealand to 215-5 as it batted after winningthe toss, exceeding the 185-5that was a winning total inthe first match of the se-ries. His innings includedsix sixes and four fours.

The West Indies man-aged only 125-9 in reply,lacking the partnershipsthat underpinned a NewZealand total which wasthe highest by a visitingteam against the WestIndies in a T20 in theCaribbean.

Phillips put on 71 for thethird wicket with DevonConway who made 42 from34 balls and 83 with DarylMitchell who made 48 from20.

The West Indies' bestwere stands of 35 for theseventh wicket betweenRomario Shepherd andRovman Powell whichbegan when the home teamwas 40-6 and the matchprobably was already lost.

Hayden Walsh (10) andObed McCoy (23) put on 38in an unbroken stand forthe last wicket.

Phillips put to good usehis knowledge of condi-tions at Sabina Park, whichis his home ground in theCaribbean PremierLeague. Coming back toSabina Park is amazing.I've got great memories

here, Phillips said in a tele-vision interview. Beingable to get a 50 for my coun-try over here in front of acrowd which I really love isdefinitely very special forme. Credit to the WestIndies for the way theybowled up front with thenew ball which was really,really good in terms of tak-ing the pace off the ball

when it was new and hard-er. As it got older the pitchbecame a bit nicer to baton. Seven West Indies wick-ets fell to spin bowlers, in-cluding the first four of theinnings.

Mitchell Santner, whowas Man of the Match forhis 3-19 in the first match,took a wicket with his firstball and two wickets in his

opening over to set backthe West Indies' run chase.

Off spinner MichaelBracewell, who replacedfast bowler LockieFerguson in the NewZealand lineup, also took awicket with his first deliv-ery, dismissing captainNicholas Pooran (1) as theWest Indies slumped to 12-3at the start of the fourthover. Santner andBracewell both finishedwith 3-15 while Ish Sodhitook 1-36. Tim Southee tookthe only wicket which fellto a fast bowler, removingOdean Smith at the tail andreturning 1-34.

Shimron Hetmeyer wasthe first batsman not to fallto a spin bowler, run out bya direct hit at the bowlersend by New Zealand cap-tain Kane Williamson. TheWest Indies were 28-5 atthat point and couldn't re-cover. We just didn't showup today, Pooran said.

They batted us out of itand we couldn't see ourway with the bat. We hadto stay in the game. It justdidn't start well for us. Weare struggling but themore cricket we play ourperformance will grow.

The final T20 will beplayed on Sunday at thesame venue, followed bythree one-day interna-tionals.

New Zealand beats Windies by 90 runs, leads T20 series 2-0

Michael Bracewell (L), Tim Southee (C) and Martin Guptill (R) of New Zealand celebrate the dismissal of Jason Holder of West Indies during the 2nd T20i match between West Indies and NewZealand at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica.


Indian women's hockeyteam forward Jyoti sayschief coach JannekeSchopman's hands-on ap-proach has helped her tomake drastic improve-ments as she won a bronzemedal on debut at theCommonwealth Games.

The 22-year-old was partof the Indian women'shockey team that returnedto India after clinching amemorable bronze medalat the BirminghamCommonwealth Games,ending a 16-year medaldrought at the quadrenni-al event.

"The players and coach-ing staff have reallyhelped me improve mygame. Now I feel a lotmore confident while car-rying the ball and my offthe ball movement has im-proved drastically," shesaid in a Hockey India (HI)release.

"The coaching staffhave also given me a lot ofconfidence to try some-thing different and cre-ative on the field."

On the influence ofSchopman, Jyoti said:"Janneke has helped meimprove my game. Shehas taught me how to

make the game simple andeasy for myself, I do notponder on the ball any-more and look to move itas swiftly as possible.

"Her hands-on approachduring practice sessionshas bought out the best ofmy abilities."

Talking about her maid-en appearance at the megasporting event, Jyoti said:"Commonwealth Gameswas especially importantfor me because this wasmy first appearance forthe team at a multi-disci-pline event.

"Winning the bronzemedal filled us up with animmense sense of prideand joy and is a true re-

ward for everyone's effortsconnected to the team.The bronze medal hassurely made this outingdoubly special for me."

The women's teamclaimed the bronze medalafter pulling off a thrilling2-1 shootout win over NewZealand after a 1-1 score-line in regulation time.

"My whole experience ofthe Games was amazing.We won our matchesagainst Ghana, Wales andCanada but lost toEngland in the groupstages. I also understoodthat losing and winningwill always be an impor-tant part of any tourna-ment," she said.

Schopman’s hands-on approach hasbought the best out of me: Jyoti


Australian great IanChappell is certain Testcricket "won't die" in hislifetime but wonderedwhether the best playerswould play it in the futureamid the proliferation ofT20 leagues.

The former Australiacaptain believed that inter-national cricket faces areal challenge of retainingplayers in the face of rapidexpansion of T20 leaguesaround the world.

"(Test cricket) won't diein my lifetime. But who'llbe playing it? That's the bigquestion," Chappell wasquoted as saying by 'WideWorld of Sports'.

"If you haven't got yourbest players, is Test cricketworth watching? The an-swer is probably no. Testcricket is a good game, butit's got to be well played,"he added. Chappell alsospoke about the issue ofChris Lynn seeking a No-objection Certificate(NOC) from CricketAustralia to play in theUAE's ILT20. Lynn has reg-istered himself as a mar-

quee player in the ILT20but will require a No-objec-tion Certificate (NOC)from CA to play in theleague, something he maynot get as the Australiancricket board also runs theBig Bash League at thesame time. Chappell said ifhe were at Lynn's place hewould take CA to court inthe event he is not given anNOC. "To me, you then goback to the World SeriesCricket days, where theytook the board to courtover restraint of trade. Is ita restraint of trade?

"In Chris Lynn's case, ifhe hasn't got a contractwith Cricket Australia orCricket Queensland,what's to stop him? If I wasChris Lynn and I wantedto play in the UAE I'd takethem to court. I don't thinkCricket Australia wouldhave a hope in hell.

Test cricket won’t die inmy lifetime: Ian Chappell

Dubai, Aug 13 (PTI):

Australian legend RickyPonting feels MohammedShami's strength lies inthe longest format andthere are better quickbowlers in India's T20 setup, weighing in on his ab-sence from the Asia Cupsquad.

India have pickedBhuvneshwar Kumar,Avesh Khan and ArshdeepSingh as the three special-ist fast bowlers with all-rounder Hardik Pandyabeing the fourth pacer inthe 15-member squad.

"He's (Shami) been avery, very good bowler forIndia for a long time now.If you look at hisstrengths, his Test cricketis probably where hethrives the most," Ponting,a two-time World Cup-win-ning captain, said in thelatest episode of The ICCReview.

"I think there are betterfast bowlers in Indian T20cricket than Shami andthey've only named three(for the Asia Cup). So ifthere's potentially four

named in the squad hemight be the fourth manin." With Jasprit Bumrahand Harshal Patel nursinginjuries, many felt Shamimight be included to sharethe new-ball duties duringthe Asia Cup.

"I would think they'llprobably only have thefour quicks coming toAustralia. They'll stillwant to bring a lot of spinhere even though the wick-ets are probably not thatconducive," Ponting said.

The Asia Cup will beheld in Dubai and Sharjahfrom August 27 toSeptember 11 and Pontingpicked India as thefavourites to win the tour-

nament. "It's always hardto go past India in anytournament, not just anAsia Cup, but I think everytime we talk about the T20World Cup which is com-ing up, I think that Indiawill be right in the thick ofit there," the 47-year-oldsaid. "Their depth is defi-nitely better than theother teams and I thinkIndia will win the AsiaCup." Arch-rivals Indiaand Pakistan haven't com-peted in a bilateral seriesfor nearly a decade now.

"To be totally honest it'sone that we've beenstarved of, haven't we look-ing back the last 15 or 20years," Ponting said.

There are better fast bowlers in IndianT20 cricket than Shami: Ponting


Star India batterCheteshwar Pujaracracked 22 runs in an overen route to his scintillat-ing 107 off 79 balls for hiscounty side Sussex in theRoyal London One DayCup in Birmingham.

However, Pujara's in-nings went in vain asSussex fell short by fourruns while chasingWarwickshire's 310 for sixon Friday.

Pujara, India's battingmainstay in Tests, lookedin ominous touch as heslammed three fours and asix in the 45th over offmedium pacer LiamNorwell to keep Sussex inthe chase.

Overall, Pujara smashedseven fours and two sixesduring his innings. He wasdismissed in the first ballof the 49th over by OliverHannon-Dalby as Sussexfinished at 306 for seven.

Pandya snaps threewickets

Spin all-rounder KrunalPandya, who turned up for

Warwickshire, played animportant role in his side'swin as he made amendsfor his two-ball duck witha three-wicket haul.Pandya took the wickets ofAli Orr (81), Tom Clark(30) and Delray Rawlins

(11) to return with figuresof 10-0-51-3. Earlier, RobertYates hit a 111-ball 114,while Will Rhodes (76) andMichael Burgess (58)cracked fifties to takeWarwickshire to a 300-plustotal.

Pujara’s hit 79-ball 107 for Sussexin Royal London One Day Cup

Coimbatore, Aug 13 (PTI):

The dream of formerpresident A P J AbdulKalam for making Indiaa superpower would berealised by 2047 whenthe country celebratesits 100th year of inde-pendence, UnionMinister of State forInformation andBroadcasting andFisheries L Murugansaid on Saturday.

Under Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's gover-nance, the country ismoving towards the pathof becoming a super-power in the globalarena, Murugan told re-

porters after participat-ing in the 'Freedom RunMini Marathon' organ-ised by SwamiVivekanana SevaKendra here as part ofthe 75th IndependenceDay celebrations.

"People are hoistingthe national flag atoptheir houses to celebratethe 75th IndependenceDay, respecting the callgiven by PM Modi aspart of the 'Har GharTiranga' campaign," theBJP leader said. Tribalcommunities living inremote areas of thecountry are showing en-thusiasm on hoisting thetricolour, Murugan said.

3 months after return to IAS, Shah Faesal appointed as deputy secretary in Union tourism ministry


IAS officer Shah Faesal,who had a brief stint inpolitics, has been posted asa deputy secretary in theunion tourism ministryover three months afterbeing reinstated, officialssaid on Saturday.

The order on the postingof 2010-batch IAS officerfrom erstwhile Jammuand Kashmir cadre wascleared earlier this week.

He was reinstated in thelast week of April after thegovernment accepted hisapplication for withdraw-ing his resignation.

Faesal could not bereached for a commentthrough calls or messages.

Faesal, who was the first

Indian AdministrativeService exam topper fromJammu and Kashmir, hadearlier this year droppedhints about his return tothe government servicewhen he sent out a seriesof tweets speaking abouthis idealism letting himdown in 2019 when he hadresigned.

He had said, "8 monthsof my life (Jan 2019-Aug2019) created so much bag-gage that I was almost fin-ished. While chasing achimera, I lost almosteverything that I had builtover the years. Job.Friends. Reputation.Public goodwill. But Inever lost hope. My ideal-ism had let me down," hehad said.

"But I had faith in my-self. That I would undo themistakes I had made. Thatlife would give me anotherchance. A part of me is ex-hausted with the memoryof those 8 months andwants to erase that legacy.Much of it is already gone.Time will mop off the restin believe," he had tweeted.

"Just thought of sharingthat life is beautiful. It isalways worth giving our-selves another chance.Setbacks make usstronger. And there is anamazing world beyond theshadows of the past. I turn39 next month. And I'm re-ally excited to start allover again," he tweeted inApril this year.

Faesal, who had submit-

ted his resignation inJanuary 2019 and floatedthe Jammu and KashmirPeople's Movement(JKPM) party, was de-tained under the stringentPublic Safety Act immedi-ately after the abrogationof the special status of theerstwhile state of Jammuand Kashmir.

However, after his re-lease, Faesal gave up onpolitics and gave indica-tions he was willing to re-join government service.His resignation had notbeen accepted.

The doctor-turned-bu-reaucrat formed his partyto "revive democratic poli-tics" in Jammu andKashmir but his politicalcareer ended abruptly.

The home ministry,which is the cadre control-ling authority for theArunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and UnionTerritory (AGMUT) cadre,had asked for an opinionof the Jammu andKashmir administrationabout his plea for with-drawing his resignation.

Hailing from the remotevillage of Lolab in northKashmir, Faesal, whose fa-ther was killed by terror-ists in 2002, had topped theUPSC examination in2009. Faesal was vocalabout the "unprecedentedcurbs" on the people ofJammu and Kashmir afterthe abrogation of the op-erative provisions ofArticle 370.

Ranchi, Aug 13 (PTI):

Pronouncing imprison-ment till death to an au-torickshaw driver and hisaccomplice in connectionwith the murder of aDhanbad Court Judge lastyear, a special CBI Court inits order said "such culpritneeds to be kept behindbars till the end of his life".CBI court judge Rajni KantPathak on July 28 held au-torickshaw driver LakhanVerma and his associateRahul Verma guilty ofmurdering 49-year-old ad-ditional sessions judgeUttam Anand

Observing that "no-body can think that ajudge of Jharkhand judi-

ciary would be murderedin such a way. This inci-dent shook not only theentire judicial fraternityof the country but on thecitizen at mass level," theSpeical CBI Court JudgeRajni Kant Pathak said a'lenient view' in the casewas ruled out.

Additional SessionsJudge, Dhanbad, Anandwas hit by a heavy au-torickshaw on July 28 lastyear at Randhir VermaChowk close to districtcourt while he was onmorning jog at around 5am. He died on the sameday. The Special CBIcourt in its order ob-served that after such anincident there was an at-

mosphere of fear amongthe family members ofjudicial officers and peo-ple who were compelledto think if this could hap-pen to a judge how safewere ordinary citizens.

There is provision foronly two punishments formurder One for life and an-other for hanging (capitalpunishment), the Judgeobserved. However, hepointed out, that going bythe decisions of the apexCourt the case does notcome under the purview ofrarest of the rare and inhis order said "in my opin-ion if convicts are awardedlife imprisonment, he maybe released from custodyafter 14 years or so, accord-

ing (to) Jail Manual."The order therefore

said: "But to the mind ofthis court such culpritneeds to be kept behindbar till the end of his life.If released, it would senda wrong massage to socie-ty particularly those whowitnessed such type of in-cident. Also they maycommit the same offenceagain having no respectand regard for human lifeand law of the land."

"As observed by theHon'ble Supreme Court lifeimprisonment without anyremission till last breathcan be imposed as substitu-tion of death sentence.Accordingly, convictsLakhan Kumar Verma and

Rahul Kumar Verma arehereby sentenced to under-go rigorous imprisonmentfor life without any remis-sion and commutation tilllast breath along with fineof Rs 20,000 for each con-victs for the offence pun-ishable u/s 302/34 of theIPC and in default of fine,the convicts aforesaid shallundergo simple imprison-ment for one year," theorder said.

The convicts were fur-ther sentenced to undergorigorous imprisonment forseven years with fine of Rs10,000 each for the offenceunder sections 201/34 ofthe IPC and in default offine simple imprisonmentfor six months. Evacuation

efforts intensified asYamuna flows above dan-ger mark in Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI)Evacuation of people fromvulnerable areas intensi-fied as the swollen Yamunariver continued to flowabove the danger mark of205.33 metres in Delhi onSaturday, officials said.The flood control roomsaid the water level was at205.99 metres at 3 pm, un-changed since 5 am. Theriver had breached thedanger mark of 205.33 me-tres around 4 pm on Fridayfollowing heavy rain inupper catchment areas,prompting authorities toevacuate people from low-lying areas.


Around 100 AfghanSikhs and Hindus want tocome to India but are un-able to as some of theirfamily members are yet toreceive their e-visas fromthe government of India, aSikh leader said onSaturday.

President of GurdwaraManagement Committee,Kabul, Gurnam SinghRajwanshi, who was evac-uated from Kabul with fiveof his family members onFriday, said his son isamong those awaitingtheir e-visas.

Around 28 of them areyet to receive their visas.Because of this, 100 ofthem are waiting as it isdifficult for most Afghan

Hindus and Sikhs to leaveany of their family mem-bers behind and come toIndia, Rajwanshi said.

Urging the Indian gov-ernment to grant e-visas tothe minority communitymembers in the Taliban-controlled country, he saidmany of those who haven'treceived their visas are in-fants and children. "Thesituation is so volatile thatwe cannot leave the familymembers, especially thewomen and children, bealone there even for aminute," he added.

Since terrorists attackedKarta-E-Parwan gurdwarain Kabul on June 18, 66Afghan Sikhs and Hindushave been evacuated toIndia in four batches.

Recalling the attack,

Rajwanshi said 18 AfghanSikhs were inside the gur-dwara when it was target-ed and two of them died.

"Businesses of manywere ruined because evenour shops used to be tar-geted. Afghan Sikhs havestopped visiting gurd-waras there," he said.

None of the gurdwarasin Afghanistan is function-al anymore and people arealso scared to visit them,he said.

"We were born in thatcountry (Afghanistan), wegrew up there, we have ourhouses there but we can-not even imagine goingback to that place again,"he added. Those who havearrived in India are nowfocusing on rebuildingtheir lives.

Zakir Hussain says feelings forIndia is beyond explanation

Singapore, Aug 13 (PTI):

Tabla maestro ZakirHussain says his feelingsfor India cannot be de-scribed in words as thecountry holds a very spe-cial place in his heart. It isa feeling that is beyond ex-planation. India is a veryspecial country for me. It islike a music symphonythat despite different com-ponents of music are ableto make a unify projectionof great creativity, Hussainsaid at a press conferenceheld on Saturday.

Having been born there,grown up there, learnedmy art there and educatedthere and even now, afterhaving established resi-dence in America for over40 years, I still carry myIndian passport, he added.Hussain, who is here for a

concert on the eve ofIndia's 75th year ofIndependence, said Indianmusic grew and represent-ed the country way beforebusiness houses came byto make it one of the eco-nomic powers of theworld. In the 1960s-70s, theworld looked at India andappreciated what it had tooffer, yoga, meditation,music and cuisine, headded.

"When the people talkedabout India, they talkedabout the culture and itsmusic. And you cannot ex-clude a country from itsculture, said Hussain. Acountry is loved, respect-ed, honoured and reveredbecause of its culture, andnot alone based on itswealth of reserves, thetable maestro added. Hesaid legendary musicians

Ravi Shankar, BismillahKhan and many greatartists from the countrytravelled all over the world,regaled the audiences andbrought attention toIndia's cultural creativity.

For that, I appreciate allthe efforts put in by thesegreat maestros. And, it isstill being done. And peo-ple like me have a chanceto travel around the worldbecause the platform wascreated by the great maes-tros. The concert bySingapore Indian FineArts Society (SIFAS), sup-ported by the HighCommission of India, willbe staged on Sunday, cele-brating the close culturalties between Singaporeand India.

Hussain, the world-fa-mous table virtuoso, will bejoined by Indian maestros

Kala Ramnath on violinand Jayanthi Kumaresh onveena. Welcoming themaestros to Singapore,Indian High CommissionerP Kumaran said, It is thebrilliance of artistes whomwe have here today whichmakes India proud global-ly."

They are an internation-al phenomena and India'snational treasure, and thisyear gives us an opportuni-ty to celebrate our incredi-ble Arts and Artists fortheir tremendous contribu-tion," he added. Culturallinkages between India andSingapore span the millen-nia, he said, adding, it isvery encouraging to see thecontinuity of culturalbonds between India andSingapore and the enthusi-astic support to Indian artsand artists here.


Printed by Sameer Maheshwari on behalf of Ramgopal Investments Pvt. Ltd. at Navbharat Press, G.E. Road, Press Complex, Raipur and Published at Navbharat Bhawan, Near Bus Stand, Bilaspur, Editor in Chief - Sameer Maheshwari.Editor: Sameer Shukla (Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act.) Phone: (07752) 224563, 230591 Fax : (07752) 405338, Raipur : (0771) 4257700 Fax : (0771) 4257703, Regd. No. CHHENG/2012/44065

Students hold the tricolor during full dress rehearsal for Independence Day celebrations, at Guru NanakStadium in Amritsar, Saturday.

FULL DRESS REHEARSAL


The golden period ofIndian sports is knockingon the door, said PrimeMinister Narendra Modion Saturday as he hailedthe gutsy show of theIndian contingent whichreturned with 61 medalsfrom the CommonwealthGames. Modi on Saturdayhosted the Indian contin-gent at his residence to fe-licitate the players here.

The Indian athletes pro-duced a sensational showin Birmingham, claiming61 medals, including 22gold, 16 silver and 23bronze. "The real assess-ment of this performancecan't be made with justnumber of medals, ourathletes competed neck-to-neck. There may havebeen a difference of 1s or1cm but we will make thatup I am confident of that,"

Modi said during hisspeech. "It is just a startand we are not going tojust sit quietly, golden peri-od of Indian sports isknocking on the door." "Wehave the responsibility of

making a sporting systemwhich is the best in theworld, inclusive, diverseand dynamic. No talentshould be left out as theyare all assets." While Indiaproduced a dominating

show in badminton,wrestling and weightlift-ing, the athletes also didwell in athletics, judo andlawn bowl, where theywon India's first-evermedal in the Games.

"Not only are westrengthening the sportsthat we have been strongin but have also left a markin new sports. In hockeywe are trying to get ourlegacy back," Modi said."Since the last time, wehave won medals in fournew sports, from lawnbowls to athletics, our per-formance has been spec-tacular. This performancewill help increase youth'sinterest in new sports. Wehave to improve our per-formance in new sports."The Indian team also wona silver in women's T20cricket which was intro-duced for the first time atthe CWG.

PM Modi hosts India’sCommonwealth Games contingent

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with wrestler Sakshi Malikand Vinesh Phogat during the felicitation ceremony of theIndian contingent for the Commonwealth Games 2022, inNew Delhi, Saturday.

100 Sikhs, Hindus waiting to come to India: Afghan Sikh leader

Dhanbad Judge Murder : ‘Such culprits need to be kept behind bars till end of life’

People hold national flags at Kedarnath Temple during Azadi ka Amrit Mahostav, in Kedarnath, Saturday.

AZADI KA AMRIT MAHOSTAV

‘Kalam’s dream of Indiabecoming superpower

will be achieved by 2047’

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