12
T amil Nadu has been wit- nessing incessant rain since Wednesday, leading to death of 20 people, with normal life in Chennai and suburbs coming to a standstill. However, the Government is yet to come out with any death figures. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) suspended the arrivals at Chennai Airport from 1.15 pm to 6 pm. However, the service was resumed later in the day. Several roads in Chennai were inundated on Thursday. The traffic police closed at least seven roads and 11 sub- ways, and created diversions across the city for commuters. Due to waterlogging on rail tracks, some suburban trains were suspended while others were delayed. The Regional Meteorological Centre has fore- cast that the metro and suburbs are likely to receive moderate to heavy rainfall during the next 24 hours and this is like- ly to aggravate the situation. S Balachandran, head, RMC, told The Pioneer that Tamil Nadu received 54 per cent rainfall more than the nor- mal level during the North East monsoon. “Chennai has received 77 per cent more rain- fall than normal level,” he said. In the next 24 hours, thun- derstorms with scattered heavy to very heavy rainfall are expected in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Ranipet. Thunderstorm with heavy rain can be expected in Vellore, Tirupattur, Vellore, Villupuram and Chengalpattu. Strong winds of 40-45 kmph likely over Chennai and suburbs. At the time of going to Press, there was an announce- ment from the RMC that the intensity of rain would come down by Friday morning. Last two days of rain inun- dated 1.5 lakh acres of stand- ing crops in Cauvery Delta dis- tricts, known as rice bowl of Tamil Nadu. Chief Minister M K Stalin has rushed a team of Ministers to Thanjavur to take stock of the situation. Massive relief operations are underway in Chennai and suburbs to help the people got stranded in the floods. The storm water drainages that carry the excess water from the seven reservoirs that feed the metro have been chocked and this is being seen as the reason for water logging and flooding of the main thoroughfares and ring roads. Pravin Pillai, a resident of Indira Nagar, a high end resi- dential premises, said he has been held up in the house because of the flooded roads and could not move out any- where for buying essential items. “We did not expect this kind of rain though the weath- er bureau had forecast of heavy downpours,” said Pillai. The Chief Minister is tak- ing stock of the situation on a round-the-clock basis and has deputed a team of ministers to lead and supervise the rescue and relief measures undertak- en by the national disaster response force. Governor RN Ravi, himself a former IPS officer, spoke to the NDRF and conveyed to the Centre about the kind of relief works underway in the flood affected areas. Video images of a woman police inspector in the suburbs carrying a person on her shoulders to an autorickshaw went viral. The inspector was seen carrying the 28 -year-old man on her shoulders to a waiting autorickshaw and asking the driver to take him to the near- est hospital caught the attention of the police chief who instant- ly complimented the officer. P unjab Vidhan Sabha on Thursday adopted a reso- lution against the Centre’s noti- fication extending the juris- diction of the Border Security Force from 15 to 50 km along the Indo-Pak interna- tional border in the State, call- ing it an “insult” to the State police force and seeking its withdrawal. The House urged the State Government to take up the matter with the Centre and get the notification with- drawn. The resolution was unan- imously passed by the House “rejecting” the Centre’s order in the absence of the only two BJP MLAs — Arun Narang and Dinesh Babbu — who left the House just before the Deputy Chief Minister-cum- Home Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was to move the resolution. Notably, the Central Government had the previous month amended the BSF Act to authorise the border guard- ing force to undertake search, seizure, and arrest within a 50 km stretch, up from the exist- ing 15 km, from the interna- tional border in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam. The resolution stated that “Punjab is a land of martyrs”, and “they have made exem- plary sacrifices in our coun- try’s freedom struggle”. “Punjab police is a unique patriotic force which has con- tributed immensely in main- taining the unity and integrity of the country. As per the Constitution of India, main- taining law and order is the responsibility of the State Government and for this pur- pose, Government of Punjab is fully competent,” read the res- olution. T here was no press confer- ence and no shutterbugs with cameras clicking to cap- ture the crossing over of polit- ical borders by a party leader. But the switching over of sides by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Jagtar Singh Jagga Hissowal to the Congress party grabbed attention like never before. For the first time in the recallable past, a leader — that too belonging to the principal opposition party — chose to shift loyalties inside the House during the Assembly proceedings. The Congress legislators were all elated and buoyant when AAP MLA from Raikot Jagtar Singh Jagga Hissowal came over to the Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi announcing to accept him as his Chief Minister — leaving his party colleagues equally stunned and disheartened see- ing their another party mem- ber shifting loyalties towards the Congress. The development came a day after AAP’s another MLA, Rupinder Kaur Ruby from Bathinda Rural reserved con- stituency, announced to switch sides to the ruling Congress. Ruby, who has resigned from AAP’s membership, still con- tinues to be the member of Punjab Vidhan Sabha. She was seen occupying a seat among AAP MLAs. With Jagga, a total of six legislators have given up AAP’s “broom” to hold Congress’ “hand”. The Congress sources have claimed that at least three more AAP MLAs are ready for the switch. Notably, AAP had 20 MLAs in the 117 member House after the 2017 polls — emerging as the second-largest party after the ruling Congress. However, the number contin- ued to fall over all these years. Already, AAP’s Dakha MLA HS Phoolka, the former Leader of Opposition, had resigned in 2019 which was also accepted by the Speaker. Only recently, Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rana KP Singh accept- ed Sukhpal Singh Khaira’s res- ignation and disqualified Master Baldev Singh Jaito, bringing AAP’s strength in the House down to 17. Out of the remaining 17 members, AAP’s three MLAs — Pirmal Singh, Nazar Singh Mansahia, and Jagdev Singh Kamalu — have already shift- ed their loyalties towards the Congress, and have submitted their resignations also. Its another MLA and former jour- nalist Kanwar Sandhu contin- ues to be a rebel, and is under suspension. With Ruby’s resignation and Jagga’s shift, the effective number of AAP MLAs has come down to 12. However, four of the rebels have not resigned as MLAs and contin- ue to sit in the House on AAP benches. At the time when the Charanjit Singh Channi was addressing the House for the first time after becoming the Chief Minister and thus the Leader of the Vidhan Sabha, Jagtar Singh Jagga Hissowal come over to him declaring that he “accepts a common man like Channi as his Chief Minister”. Without naming anyone, Channi said that another Chief Minister had taken a jibe at his credentials as the common man’s Chief Minister and ques- tioned the same. Retorting fur- ther, Channi said that if anyone from the opposition thinks that he (Channi) is the “aam aadmi”, they must say so in the open. Reacting to this, Jagga stood up and categorically said that he considers Charanjit Singh Channi as the aam aadmi. He went up to Channi’s seat and the chief minister, along with Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu and other Congress MLAs, welcomed him. Expressing displeasure over the turn of events in the House, AAP MLA Aman Arora accused the Speaker Rana KP Singh of promoting defection. “On a day you are bringing an anti-defection law, it is shock- ing you and the Congress is promoting defection,” said Arora adding that it is obvious to feel dejected when any of your colleagues left you. I ndia and Russia will review the entire gamut of strategic and Defence ties here next month during the summit between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Afghanistan is also likely to figure prominently during the talks as both the countries are major stakeholders there. The summit is held every year and Putin had visited India last time in 2018 and Modi went there the next year. This highest level exchange is a testimony to the time-tested ties between the two countries for more than five decades, sources said here on Thursday. The summit could not be held last year due to the ongoing corona pandemic. At least 20 summits have taken place so far. On the forthcoming visit, likely on December 6, the sources said Putin is likely to arrive here for a day-long visit on December 6 or 7 and hold bilateral talks with Modi. Besides exploring ways to further strengthen Defence and strategic ties, Afghanistan is also like- ly to be accorded priority during the summit, they said. India participated in the Moscow format of talks on Afghanistan in September and Russian National Security Adviser took part in a conclave here on Wednesday hosted by Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. Given this situation, Putin and Modi are likely to hold extensive talks on the Afghanistan issue and role of Pakistan. The Delhi Declaration on Wednesday appealed that the Afghan territory should not be used for spread- ing international terrorism and radi- calisation. The two leaders will also review the ongoing fight against corona pandem- ic. Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is being produced in India, and during the sec- ond wave, Moscow had sent humani- tarian support to New Delhi. I n 2020, when Covid-19 was at its peak, more than 22 million infants — the largest number in two decades globally did not receive the first dose of measles vaccine, according to a report pub- lished in MMWR. Although measles cases actually declined globally after hitting a 23-year high in 2019, Kate O’Brien, MD, MPH, director of WHO’s Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, warned that this likely represents “the calm before the storm.” “It’s critical that countries vaccinate as quick- ly as possible against Covid-19, but this requires new resources so that it does not come at the cost of essential immu- nization programs,” O’Brien said in a statement. “Routine immunization must be pro- tected and strengthened, oth- erwise, we risk trading one deadly disease for another.” According to a joint state- ment by the CDC and WHO, 24 measles vaccination cam- paigns in 23 countries were postponed last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. A s part of an ongoing bitter exchange of allegations and counter-allega- tions against each other by Maharashtra’s former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik, Fadnavis’ banker-wife Amruta and Malik’s son- in-law Sameer Khan served legal notices against each for defamatory statements being made against each other. On day when Malik welcomed a probe launched by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the Pune Wakf board scam and said he enjoyed the support of all the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders in his fight against Fadnavis and NCB’s Zonal director Sameer Wankhede, the fami- ly members of the two leaders joined them in the war of charges and counter charges. Fadnavis’ wife Amruta and Malik’s daughter Nilofer Malik-Khan released copies of the legal notices on their respective twitter handles, sent through their lawyers. “Mr. @nawabmalikncp shared a series of defamatory, misleading and maligning tweets including some pic- tures! Here is Notice of Defamation including criminal proceedings under various Sections of IPC. Either delete tweets in 48 hours with uncon- ditional public apology or face action!,” Amruta Fadnavis tweeted. Uploading the legal notice sent by her husband Sameer Khan to Fadnavnis threatening to file a Rs 5 crore defamation suit, Nilofer Malik-Khan tweet- ed: False accusations ruin lives. R aising the political tem- perature ahead of Assembly polls in five States, the BJP on Thursday sought to turn the tables on the Congress for comparing “the Hindu com- munity with Jehadi groups like ISIS and Boko Haram”. The BJP launched a no- holds-barred attack after senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid’s said comparison in his new book, “Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times’’ stirred a contro- versy. He also maintained “the robust version of Hindutva” has taken the centre stage in the country. The BJP asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi whether she would break her silence and tell “whether her party considers Hindus as fun- damentalists” and echo Congressmen like P Chidambaram and Shusil Kumar Shinde “who called Hindus as terrorists”. The controversy generated over the passage of the senior Congressman’s book that read: “Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduism known to sages and saints were being pushed aside by a robust version of Hindutva, by all standards a political version similar to the jehadist Islam of groups like ISIS and Boko Haram...”

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Page 1: 2%˛3/#2˚,4 567 , 44,5 0,123 5 ’ ˇ.;˛2 ;+˙ 9A: ˛A0; ˛+ 09

��������������������� ������������������������������������������������������� ��������� �������������������������������������������������� ��������������!"#$�� �������������� �$"���������������%&����������������� �����'�����������(��'���� ����������������)������&*����������� ���������� ���� ��� ���������&���������� ������������'�������������������������� �����������������������+����������,������&�-������.������/�0������'�������*

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Tamil Nadu has been wit-nessing incessant rain since

Wednesday, leading to death of20 people, with normal life inChennai and suburbs comingto a standstill. However, theGovernment is yet to come outwith any death figures.

The Airport Authority ofIndia (AAI) suspended thearrivals at Chennai Airportfrom 1.15 pm to 6 pm.However, the service wasresumed later in the day.

Several roads in Chennaiwere inundated on Thursday.The traffic police closed atleast seven roads and 11 sub-

ways, and created diversionsacross the city for commuters.Due to waterlogging on railtracks, some suburban trainswere suspended while otherswere delayed.

The RegionalMeteorological Centre has fore-cast that the metro and suburbsare likely to receive moderateto heavy rainfall during thenext 24 hours and this is like-ly to aggravate the situation.

S Balachandran, head,RMC, told The Pioneer thatTamil Nadu received 54 percent rainfall more than the nor-mal level during the North Eastmonsoon. “Chennai hasreceived 77 per cent more rain-

fall than normal level,” he said.In the next 24 hours, thun-

derstorms with scattered heavyto very heavy rainfall areexpected in Chennai,Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur andRanipet. Thunderstorm withheavy rain can be expected inVellore, Tirupattur, Vellore, Villupuram andChengalpattu. Strong winds of40-45 kmph likely overChennai and suburbs.

At the time of going toPress, there was an announce-ment from the RMC that theintensity of rain would comedown by Friday morning.

Last two days of rain inun-dated 1.5 lakh acres of stand-

ing crops in Cauvery Delta dis-tricts, known as rice bowl ofTamil Nadu. Chief Minister MK Stalin has rushed a team ofMinisters to Thanjavur to takestock of the situation.

Massive relief operationsare underway in Chennai andsuburbs to help the people gotstranded in the floods. Thestorm water drainages thatcarry the excess water from theseven reservoirs that feed themetro have been chocked andthis is being seen as the reasonfor water logging and floodingof the main thoroughfares andring roads.

Pravin Pillai, a resident ofIndira Nagar, a high end resi-dential premises, said he hasbeen held up in the housebecause of the flooded roadsand could not move out any-where for buying essentialitems.

“We did not expect thiskind of rain though the weath-er bureau had forecast of heavydownpours,” said Pillai.

The Chief Minister is tak-ing stock of the situation on around-the-clock basis and hasdeputed a team of ministers tolead and supervise the rescueand relief measures undertak-en by the national disasterresponse force.

Governor RN Ravi, himselfa former IPS officer, spoke tothe NDRF and conveyed to theCentre about the kind of reliefworks underway in the floodaffected areas.

Video images of a womanpolice inspector in the suburbscarrying a person on her shoulders to an autorickshawwent viral.

The inspector was seencarrying the 28 -year-old manon her shoulders to a waitingautorickshaw and asking thedriver to take him to the near-est hospital caught the attentionof the police chief who instant-ly complimented the officer.

���������������� � ����������������� ������������������������������� ������������ �������� �� �� ����������� ��

������ ��09�2�0��

Punjab Vidhan Sabha onThursday adopted a reso-

lution against the Centre’s noti-fication extending the juris-diction of the Border SecurityForce from 15 to 50 km along the Indo-Pak interna-tional border in the State, call-ing it an “insult” to the Statepolice force and seeking itswithdrawal.

The House urged theState Government to take upthe matter with the Centreand get the notification with-

drawn.The resolution was unan-

imously passed by the House“rejecting” the Centre’s orderin the absence of the only twoBJP MLAs — Arun Narangand Dinesh Babbu — who leftthe House just before theDeputy Chief Minister-cum-Home Minister SukhjinderSingh Randhawa was to move the resolution.

Notably, the CentralGovernment had the previousmonth amended the BSF Actto authorise the border guard-ing force to undertake search,seizure, and arrest within a 50km stretch, up from the exist-ing 15 km, from the interna-tional border in Punjab, West

Bengal and Assam.The resolution stated that

“Punjab is a land of martyrs”,and “they have made exem-plary sacrifices in our coun-try’s freedom struggle”.

“Punjab police is a uniquepatriotic force which has con-tributed immensely in main-

taining the unity and integrityof the country. As per theConstitution of India, main-taining law and order is theresponsibility of the StateGovernment and for this pur-pose, Government of Punjab isfully competent,” read the res-olution.

" �����"�������09�2�0��

There was no press confer-ence and no shutterbugs

with cameras clicking to cap-ture the crossing over of polit-ical borders by a party leader.But the switching over of sidesby the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) MLA Jagtar Singh JaggaHissowal to the Congress partygrabbed attention like neverbefore.

For the first time in therecallable past, a leader — thattoo belonging to the principalopposition party — chose to shiftloyalties inside the House duringthe Assembly proceedings.

The Congress legislatorswere all elated and buoyantwhen AAP MLA from RaikotJagtar Singh Jagga Hissowalcame over to the Chief MinisterCharanjit Singh Channiannouncing to accept him as

his Chief Minister — leavinghis party colleagues equallystunned and disheartened see-ing their another party mem-ber shifting loyalties towardsthe Congress.

The development came aday after AAP’s another MLA,Rupinder Kaur Ruby fromBathinda Rural reserved con-stituency, announced to switchsides to the ruling Congress.Ruby, who has resigned fromAAP’s membership, still con-tinues to be the member ofPunjab Vidhan Sabha. She wasseen occupying a seat amongAAP MLAs.

With Jagga, a total of sixlegislators have given up AAP’s“broom” to hold Congress’“hand”. The Congress sourceshave claimed that at least threemore AAP MLAs are ready forthe switch.

Notably, AAP had 20MLAs in the 117 member

House after the 2017 polls —emerging as the second-largestparty after the ruling Congress.However, the number contin-ued to fall over all these years.

Already, AAP’s DakhaMLA HS Phoolka, the formerLeader of Opposition, hadresigned in 2019 which wasalso accepted by the Speaker.Only recently, Vidhan SabhaSpeaker Rana KP Singh accept-ed Sukhpal Singh Khaira’s res-ignation and disqualifiedMaster Baldev Singh Jaito,bringing AAP’s strength in theHouse down to 17.

Out of the remaining 17members, AAP’s three MLAs— Pirmal Singh, Nazar SinghMansahia, and Jagdev SinghKamalu — have already shift-ed their loyalties towards theCongress, and have submittedtheir resignations also. Itsanother MLA and former jour-nalist Kanwar Sandhu contin-

ues to be a rebel, and is undersuspension.

With Ruby’s resignationand Jagga’s shift, the effectivenumber of AAP MLAs hascome down to 12. However,four of the rebels have notresigned as MLAs and contin-ue to sit in the House on AAPbenches.

At the time when theCharanjit Singh Channi wasaddressing the House for thefirst time after becoming theChief Minister and thus theLeader of the Vidhan Sabha,Jagtar Singh Jagga Hissowalcome over to him declaringthat he “accepts a commonman like Channi as his ChiefMinister”.

Without naming anyone,Channi said that another ChiefMinister had taken a jibe at hiscredentials as the commonman’s Chief Minister and ques-tioned the same. Retorting fur-

ther, Channi said that if anyonefrom the opposition thinksthat he (Channi) is the “aamaadmi”, they must say so in theopen.

Reacting to this, Jaggastood up and categorically saidthat he considers CharanjitSingh Channi as the aamaadmi. He went up to Channi’sseat and the chief minister,along with Punjab Congresspresident Navjot Singh Sidhuand other Congress MLAs,welcomed him.

Expressing displeasure overthe turn of events in the House,AAP MLA Aman Aroraaccused the Speaker Rana KPSingh of promoting defection.“On a day you are bringing ananti-defection law, it is shock-ing you and the Congress ispromoting defection,” saidArora adding that it is obviousto feel dejected when any ofyour colleagues left you.

���������������� ��������������� �����������������������������������

������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

����� ��!���������������������������������� ������ �!����

����������������������������������������������� ������ ���� ���� �������� ��"

����� 9.:��.;�2

India and Russia will review the entiregamut of strategic and Defence ties

here next month during the summitbetween President Vladimir Putin andPrime Minister Narendra Modi.Afghanistan is also likely to figureprominently during the talks as both thecountries are major stakeholders there.

The summit is held every year andPutin had visited India last time in 2018and Modi went there the next year. Thishighest level exchange is a testimony tothe time-tested ties between the twocountries for more than five decades,sources said here on Thursday. Thesummit could not be held last year dueto the ongoing corona pandemic. Atleast 20 summits have taken place so far.

On the forthcoming visit, likely onDecember 6, the sources said Putin is

likely to arrive here for a day-long visiton December 6 or 7 and hold bilateraltalks with Modi. Besides exploring waysto further strengthen Defence andstrategic ties, Afghanistan is also like-ly to be accorded priority during thesummit, they said.

India participated in the Moscowformat of talks on Afghanistan inSeptember and Russian NationalSecurity Adviser took part in a conclavehere on Wednesday hosted by IndianNational Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

Given this situation, Putin andModi are likely to hold extensive talkson the Afghanistan issue and role ofPakistan. The Delhi Declaration onWednesday appealed that the Afghanterritory should not be used for spread-ing international terrorism and radi-calisation.

The two leaders will also review theongoing fight against corona pandem-ic. Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is beingproduced in India, and during the sec-ond wave, Moscow had sent humani-tarian support to New Delhi.

����� 9.:��.;�2

In 2020, whenC o v i d - 1 9

was at its peak,more than 22million infants— the largestnumber in twodecades —globally did not receive the firstdose of measles vaccine,according to a report pub-lished in MMWR.

Although measles casesactually declined globally afterhitting a 23-year high in 2019,Kate O’Brien, MD, MPH,director of WHO’s Departmentof Immunization, Vaccines andBiologicals, warned that thislikely represents “the calm

before the storm.”“It’s critical that countries

vaccinate as quick-ly as possibleagainst Covid-19,but this requiresnew resources sothat it does notcome at the cost ofessential immu-

nization programs,” O’Briensaid in a statement. “Routineimmunization must be pro-tected and strengthened, oth-erwise, we risk trading onedeadly disease for another.”

According to a joint state-ment by the CDC and WHO,24 measles vaccination cam-paigns in 23 countries werepostponed last year because ofthe Covid-19 pandemic.

��������������������� ����������������

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�����(���� �+��02

As part of an ongoing bitter exchangeof allegations and counter-allega-

tions against each other byMaharashtra’s former Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis and MaharashtraMinister Nawab Malik, Fadnavis’banker-wife Amruta and Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan served legal noticesagainst each for defamatory statementsbeing made against each other.

On day when Malik welcomed aprobe launched by theEnforcement Directorate (ED)into the Pune Wakf boardscam and said he enjoyed thesupport of all the ruling MahaVikas Aghadi (MVA) leadersin his fight against Fadnavisand NCB’s Zonal directorSameer Wankhede, the fami-ly members of the two leaders

joined them in the war of charges andcounter charges.

Fadnavis’ wife Amruta and Malik’sdaughter Nilofer Malik-Khan releasedcopies of the legal notices on theirrespective twitter handles, sent throughtheir lawyers.

“Mr. @nawabmalikncp shared aseries of defamatory, misleading andmaligning tweets including some pic-tures! Here is Notice of Defamationincluding criminal proceedings undervarious Sections of IPC. Either delete

tweets in 48 hours with uncon-ditional public apology or faceaction!,” Amruta Fadnavistweeted.

Uploading the legal noticesent by her husband SameerKhan to Fadnavnis threateningto file a Rs 5 crore defamationsuit, Nilofer Malik-Khan tweet-ed: False accusations ruin lives.

������������ ������������������������������

����� 9.:��.;�2�

Raising the political tem-perature ahead of Assembly

polls in five States, the BJP onThursday sought to turn thetables on the Congress forcomparing “the Hindu com-munity with Jehadi groups likeISIS and Boko Haram”.

The BJP launched a no-holds-barred attack after seniorCongress leader SalmanKhurshid’s said comparison inhis new book, “Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood inOur Times’’ stirred a contro-versy. He also maintained “therobust version of Hindutva” hastaken the centre stage in thecountry.

The BJP asked Congresspresident Sonia Gandhiwhether she would break hersilence and tell “whether herparty considers Hindus as fun-damentalists” and echoCongressmen like PChidambaram and ShusilKumar Shinde “who calledHindus as terrorists”.

The controversy generatedover the passage of the seniorCongressman’s book that read:“Sanatan Dharma and classicalHinduism known to sages andsaints were being pushed asideby a robust version ofHindutva, by all standards apolitical version similar to thejehadist Islam of groups likeISIS and Boko Haram...”

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Sticking to his stand overthe issue of extension to

BSF’s jurisdiction, formerPunjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh onThursday asked the Congress-led State Government to notto politicise the national secu-rity, while asserting thatextending BSF jurisdictionneither infringes on federalauthority nor questions com-petence of state police.

Rejecting the resolutionunanimously passed in theVidhan Sabha against theCentre’s move to extend BSF’soperational jurisdiction from15 kms to 50 kms, Amarinderasked the CongressGovernment not to politicisethe issue of national securityfor petty partisan motives.

“The operational juris-diction of the BSF concernsnational security and not lawand order in the state, whichthe current powers that be inPunjab are apparently notable to understand,” he said.

Amarinder said that itwas sad that the Governmentwas trying to politicise anissue that concerns nationalsecurity and all border states,including Punjab.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on

Thursday said that 170'Antyodaya Gramodaya Melas'will be organized in the statefrom November 22 toDecember 15, through whicha target has been set to pro-vide employment to aroundone lakh people.

“Shri Vishwakarma SkillUniversity, Dudhola will playan important role in the'Mission Antyodaya' beingrun by the State Government,”the Chief Minister said whilepresiding over a review meet-ing regarding the progress ofthe ongoing works in theUniversity. The Chief Ministerdirected the Vice Chancellorof the University Raj Nehru,that in every 'AntyodayaGramodaya Mela', 10 employ-ees of Skill University shouldput up their stalls and informthe people about the skillingcourses the University is offer-ing. He said that studentsshould be sent for skilling ortraining in those traininginstitutes that are affiliatedwith the University.

Besides this, the data ofthe training institutes in whichthe students are sent for thetraining should also be main-tained by the University.

A dedicated cell should be

made in the University tomonitor all these activities, hedirected.

It was informed that thePrime Minister NarendraModi had laid the foundationstone of this University onNovember 19, 2018 with thegoal of providing skill-relatededucation to the youth as perthe need of the times. Itstransit office is in Gurugramwhile its permanent campus isbeing built at Dudhola in dis-trict Palwal.The Universityplanning is divided into threephases.

Its construction work hasbeen divided into 6 phasesand about 68 percent work ofthe academic blocks has beencompleted.This University willprove to be a milestone in tak-ing for ward the PrimeMinister's 'AatmanirbharBharat' campaign, Khattarsaid. He further said that theUniversity is working withan industry-integrated 'Earn-While Learn' model, whichprovides opportunities to thestudents to earn while study-ing so that they can meet theirexpenses.

During the meeting, theChief Minister was apprisedthat the University has trainedabout 4000 students throughcertificate, diploma, advanceddiploma, degree, short termprogrammes, student devel-opment programmes, etc.

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Over a year after Punjab’s allthe political parties, except

the BJP, came together to“unanimously” pass a resolu-tion and four Bills to counterthe Centre’s controversial farmlaws, Punjab Vidhan Sabha onThursday once again passed aresolution against the con-tentious legislations during thespecial session.

The resolution, demanding“enactment of a special legis-lation” in the Parliament, whichshould safeguard the interestsof marginal and small farmerswith a view “to save themfrom the imminent exploitationby the corporate sharks”, wasunanimously passed by theHouse after witnessing a debatemarred by unruly scenes fol-lowing “objectionable” remarksby the Chief Minister CharanjitSingh Channi againstShiromani Akali Dal MLABikram Singh Majithia. Duringthe hour-long debate, which

saw four adjournmentstotalling an hour, PunjabCongress president and MLANavjot Singh Sidhu, the Leaderof Opposition and AAP MLAHarpal Singh Cheema accusedthe Akalis of supporting thethree farm laws till the farmers’agitation gathered pace.

Lashing out at the SAD forthe three contentious laws,Sidhu said that the beginningwas made by the then ChiefMinister Parkash Singh Badalby notifying the ContractFarming Act, 2013. Termingthe 2013 Act “anti-farmer”,Sidhu sought its abolition.

Also accusing the SAD ofsupporting the farm laws,Cheema stated that even afterthese laws were framed, AkaliDal president Sukhbir SinghBadal, former Chief MinisterParkash Singh Badal, and theformer Union MinisterHarsimrat Kaur Badal sup-ported the laws. “They snappedties with the BJP only when thefarmers were opposed to the

laws and started the protest,” headded. Notably, the farmers,especially from Punjab andHaryana, have been protestingat Delhi borders for a year nowagainst the three farm laws —namely the Farmers’ ProduceTrade and Commerce(Promotion and Facilitation)Act, 2020; the FarmersEmpowerment and Protection)Agreement on Price Assuranceand Farm Services Act, 2020;and the Essential Commodities(Amendment) Act, 2020.

Even as the protests werestarted in Punjab much before,the epicentre of protest wasshifted to Delhi borders onNovember 26. Despite holdingseveral rounds of talks, thedeadlock between the farmers’leaders and the CentralGovernment continues.

Earlier, the state’sAgriculture and Farmers’Welfare Minister RandeepSingh Nabha moved the reso-lution terming the contentiouslaws as an “attack on the fed-

eral fabric of the nation”. Theresolution condemned thethree farm laws and demand-ed an immediate repeal of thesame for safeguarding the peas-antry.

The resolution pointed thatat the time of the passage of thecontentious bills in RajyaSabha, the opposition’s demandfor division by count was notaccepted.“The entry 33 of theconcurrent list relates to tradeand commerce and agricultureis neither trade nor commerce.The farmer is neither a tradernor is he engaged in commer-cial activity.

They (farmers) are simplycultivators, growers or pro-ducers, who bring their pro-duce in APMC market for sell-ing it, either at MSP or at aprice dictated by the trader,” itadded.

The House deplored theact of the Union Governmentof “misleading” the Parliamentby wrongfully interpreting theterm foodstuff in Entry 33 (b)

of the concurrent list to be thesame as agriculture stuff (agri-cultural produce) and therefore“made a questionable yet dis-honest attempt to achieve indi-rectly what it could not dodirectly”, stated the resolution.

The resolution remindedthe Centre that APMC Actshave constitutional validity andsanction. “These are State lawsenacted under the presumptionthat agriculture and agricul-tural marketing is a State sub-ject.

The regulated Mandisestablished under APMC Actshave a legal foundation, infra-structure and a well-definedmechanism of documentingeach and every purchase doneby a trader or a governmentprocurement agency.

On the other hand theunregulated markets are akin tospurious trade centers withoutany infrastructure, without anyinstitutional support and with-out any accountability,” itadded. Punjab Vidhan Sabha,

through the resolution, strong-ly deprecated and condemnedthe Centre’s efforts aimed atsystematic dismantling offarmer friendly regulated man-dis (APMC Mandis) andreplacing them with traderfriendly unregulated mandis.

“The Punjab Vidhan Sabhafeels concerned at the unfairconcessions extended to thetraders and corporations ofallowing purchases fromunregulated markets withoutpaying market fee, rural devel-opment fee etc. and thus pro-viding unfair advantage tounregulated markets vis-à-visregulated mandis.

This will eventually lead toshifting of trade from theAPMC mandis to the privatemandis apart from causing fis-cal loss to the StateGovernment and adverselyaffecting rural development,” itadded.

The resolution remindedthe Centre that 86 percent ofthe farmers have meager land

holdings who along with otherrural work force like carpenter,weaver, mason and unskilledlabourers form the backbone ofrural economy. UnionGovernment through thesecontentious laws is paving theway to dispossess them of theirlands and avocations and placethem at the mercy of corporate,it added.

Demanding enactment ofa special legislation in theParliament, the resolution stat-ed that said law should protectfarmers from their “imminentexploitation by the corporatesharks” who during the har-vesting season may procure theproduce at a price lower thanMSP, store it and then sell it tothe consumers at higher prices.

“The suggested special leg-islation should provide a legalguarantee to farmers that theirproduce will not be procured ata price less than MSP and thatthe procurement or purchase offarm produce at a price belowMSP will be a criminal offence,”

it stated.The resolutiondemanded that the procure-ment at MSP should be manda-tory for all crops and thatMSP be calculated taking com-prehensive costs into consid-eration.

SIDHU APPRECIATESCAPT

Speaking during thedebate, Sidhu has a word ofappreciation for his bête noireand the former Chief MinisterCapt Amarinder Singh forintroducing the Termination ofWater Treaties Act in 2004 tosafeguard Punjab’s interest.

Sidhu also showered prais-es on Capt Amarinder on thesteps he has taken for the farmdebt waiver in the State.

“The Minimum SupportPrice (MSP), AgriculturalProduce Market Committees(APMC), and public distribu-tion system (PDS) were intro-duced during the CongressGovernment’s tenures,” he said.

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Taking the attack right intothe Akali rank and file,

Punjab Chief MinisterCharanjit Singh Channi onThursday attacked theShiromani Akali Dal (SAD)over their “double-faced” poli-cies on Punjab.

Terming as unfortunate,Channi said that SAD alwayssaw everything through thenarrow prism of politics, espe-cially the issues of utmostimportance to Punjab such asdevolution of more powers tostates, transfer of Chandigarhto Punjab, besides the SriAnandpur Sahib resolution.

Coming all guns blazing atthe Akalis, Channi said thatthey were the gateway throughwhich the RSS, which hasalways been inimical to theinterests of Punjab, managed tomake inroads in the state.

“When the RSS and itspolitical wing the BJP under-mined the federal structure ofthe country by revoking theArticle 370 not only did theAkalis took sides with the BJPbut the SAD president SukhbirSingh Badal spoke in favour ofthe move and even went to theextent of not voting against theundemocratic move,” saidChanni, holding the Akalisresponsible for imposition ofsuch decisions on Punjab.

Effectively silencing thecriticism hurled at him on

meeting the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and the UnionHome Minister Amit Shah,Channi divulged that his meet-ings with both the dignitarieswere a courtesy call. “Perhapsthe Akalis have chosen to for-get very conveniently that Iwrote letters to the UnionGovernment emphasizing thereopening of the Sri KartarpurSahib corridor besides pleadingwith it repeatedly to roll backthe three draconian agriculturalfarm laws which are striking atthe very roots of the farmingsector which forms the back-bone of our agrarian economy.”

The Chief Minister furtherapprised the House that in hismeetings with the UnionGovernment on security issues,he always took the consistentstand that international bordersshould be sealed so that drugscould not enter Punjab. “Inever ever asked them toincrease the jurisdiction of theBSF in the State which I ambeing falsely accused off. I amvehemently in opposition tothis move by the Governmentof India,” he said.

Terming the Akalis aspower hungry people who cryhoarse in the name of people’sissues but always turn a blindeye when in power, Channisaid that the Akalis joinedhands with BSP just to comeinto power, and left BSP whenBJP came into power in Centre.

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Unruly scenes were wit-nessed in Punjab Assembly

on Thursday as the Congressand the Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) MLAs were virtuallycross swords after the ChiefMinister Charanjit SinghChanni made certain remarksabout Akali legislator BikramSingh Majithia, forcing theSpeaker to adjourn the Housefor four times.

As Akali MLAs continuedtheir protest demanding apol-ogy from the Chief Minister forhis “objectionable” remarks,the Speaker Rana KP Singhbarred all the SAD legislatorsfrom attending the House pro-ceedings further. The situationwent ugly when Channi, while

concluding the debate on theresolution on the Centre’s threefarm laws, accused Majithia ofcorruption and smuggling.Enraged, Majithia rushedtowards Channi’s seat, followedby other Akali MLAs joininghim in the well of the House,raising objection over the ChiefMinister’s remarks.

Congress MLAs too quick-ly come to Channi’s rescue,before things got bad, and aheated war of words ensuedbetween the two sides. DeputyChief Minister OP Soni andCabinet Minister Tript RajinderSingh Bajwa acted as referees,and trying to calm down bothsides, but in vain.

Congress MLA KulbirSingh Zira lost his temper andwas stopped by Deputy ChiefMinister Sukhjinder Singh

Randhawa when he was tryingto charge towards Majithia.Amidst pandemonium, theSpeaker adjourned the Housefour times to restore the order.Deputy Speaker Ajaib SinghBhatti, who was in chair,extended the adjournment by

15 minutes while Akali andCongress MLAs were called fora separate meeting. As theHouse resumed after almost aseries of adjournments, totallingan hour, SAD MLA PawanKumar Tinu lashed out at theChief Minister Channi for

diverting the House’s attentionfrom the debate on the threefarm laws, and sought an apol-ogy.

Supporting, the Leader ofOpposition and AAP MLAHarpal Singh Cheema alsocame down heavily on theChief Minister stating that hehad no right to speak ill of anyMLA. Cheema asked why theSpecial Task Force report ondrug smuggling had not beenmade public.

Even after the resolutionagainst farm laws was passed,the Akali MLAs continued toprotest against Channi andwere adamant that he apologise.

The Speaker adjourned theHouse for another time, whilebarring all the protesting SADMLAs from attending theHouse proceedings.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on

Thursday arrested Punjab’s for-mer legislator Sukhpal SinghKhaira in connection with amoney laundering case beingprobed against him and others.

The ED officials said thatKhaira was taken into custodyby the central probe agency inPunjab under provisions of

the Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA). Theagency had raided his premis-es in March this year. TheDirectorate has alleged thatKhaira is an “associate” of drugcase convicts and fake passportracketeers.Denying any wrong-doing, Khaira said that he wasbeing targeted by central agen-cies as he has been vocal againstthe Centre's three new farmlaws. Khaira had recentlyresigned from the state assem-bly, which was also accepted bythe Speaker. Khaira won the2017 assembly election fromthe Bholath assembly seat inPunjab’s Kapurthala district onAam Aadmi Party (AAP) tick-et. In January 2019, he resignedfrom primary membership ofArvind Kejriwal-led AAP andfloated his own outfit —Punjab Ekta Party.

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Chief Minister PushkarSingh Dhami has said that

he has taken more than 400decisions in his tenure of fourmonths and he takes no deci-sion without any base. He wasaddressing a programmeorganised to celebrateGopashtami at KishnayanGorakhsashala at Gaindikhatain Haridwar on Thursday. Hesaid that all the declarationsmade by him are being fol-lowed by the GovernmentOrders (GOs) and the work isvisible on the ground. TheCM said that the resources ofthe government are limited. Hesaid that the preceding gov-ernments too had madeannouncements but most ofthem have failed to take off. Hesaid that the country is moving

on a fast track of developmentunder Prime Minister (PM)Narendra Modi. The CM saidthat the PM had inauguratedand laid the foundation stonesof projects worth �400 croreand out of them projects worth�225 crore are complete. Heclaimed that work on the thirdphase would soon start inKedarnath.

Congratulating people onthe occasion of Gopashtami,the CM said that everythingassociated with cows isimportant for us. Heexpressed regret at the factthat people rear Cow as longas it provides milk and leavewhen it stops giving the milk.The CM said the state gov-ernment would expedite theconstruction of Cow Sheltersin different parts of the state.Remembering former CMNarayan Dutt Tiwari, Dhamisaid that he played a vital rolein development of the state sothe BJP government hasnamed SIIDCUL ofPantnagar after him.

The Assembly speakerPrem Chand Agarwal saidthat the people should followthe old practice of feeding thefirst Chapati to the cow.

Cabinet MinisterYatishwaranand said the cowis the basis of the economyand one cow feeds many peo-ple.

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Accepting the populardemand of a holiday the

chief minister Pushkar SinghDhami has declared a publicholiday on the occasion of thetraditional Pahadi festival ofIgaas. The day is also cele-brated as Dev Deepawali orBudhi Deepawali in themountainous parts of thestate and is held on the 11thday of Deepawali. The CMmade the announcement ofthe holiday in Haridwar onThursday.

The demand for a holidayon Igas generated momentumafter the Dhami governmentdeclared a public holiday onthe occasion of Chhath.

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Terming the Chief MinisterPushkar Singh Dhami as

someone obsessed with onlymaking announcements, thevice president of UttarakhandCongress Surendra Kumar hasclaimed that most of the dec-larations and schemesannounced by the CM areabout the schemes already inexistence. Talking to the mediapersons at the headquarters ofthe state Congress party hereon Thursday, Kumar said thatthe education minister ArvindPandey had recently said thatthere is no need for Lokayukta

in the state. He said that CMDhami should clear his standon the issue of Lokayukta. TheCongress leader said that theBJP in the run up of the assem-bly elections of 2017 hadannounced that it would bringLokayukta within 100 days ofassuming office but now theissue has been trashed by theBJP. He questioned- Is theLokayukta is not being broughtto protect the corrupt by theBJP?

He said that everyoneknows that the Congress gov-ernment led by Harish Rawathad sent the Lokayukta law tothe governor but it was mur-

dered in the womb in the RajBhawan. He said that thosewho were charged with cor-ruption by the BJP during theCongress regime are now withthe BJP and adoring high posi-tions.

He said that the declara-tions made by the CM on statefoundation day are the oneswhich were started by the for-mer CM Harish Rawat and thisgovernment has only changedthe name of the schemes.Kumar said that probably CMDhami does not even knowthat the schemes he isannouncing are already in exis-tence.

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The Transport departmenthas reopened its website for

the potential beneficiaries likedrivers, conductors and clean-ers for one week. This is forthose beneficiaries who hadfailed to get benefits under themonetary aid programme inthe first two phases. Thedepartment has stated this to bethe last chance to apply for anypotential beneficiary acrossthe state. This department hasreopened the website mainlyfor the transporters who didnot receive Rs 2,000 as the firstinstalment of the monetary

aid programme due to incor-rect bank details provided bythem and technical issues in thedepartment's website.

The department has thedata of a total of 2,741 benefi-ciaries from across the statewho did not receive monetaryaid.

The regional transport offi-cer (enforcement) ofDehradun, Sandeep Sainiinformed that the RTO had

sent a proposal to the depart-ment to reopen the website forthe applicants who failed to bethe beneficiaries in the first twophases.

He said that the depart-ment has approved the pro-posal and reopened the websitefrom Thursday. He said that thewebsite will remain open tillNovember 18 for eligible appli-cants.

He said that this is the lastchance for any eligible trans-porter to apply for the financialaid of �2,000 for the next sixmonths as the department willnot resume the applicationprocess again in the State.

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Former Chief Minister andsenior Congress leader

Harish Rawat has challengedthe Bharatiya Janata Party toprovide names of 3,200 peopleprovided employment by thestate government, adding thathe will leave politics if the BJPdoes so. He said that as soon asthe Congress forms its gov-ernment in the state filling thevacant posts will be its first task.Rawat said this while address-ing a large gathering as part ofthe Congress’ Vijay SankalpShankhnad Yatra here onThursday.

Rawat said that the enthu-siasm of Congress workers willmake history in Uttarakhandand bring the party to power in2022. He opined that Congress’victory here in 2022 willstrengthen the chances ofRahul Gandhi becoming thePrime Minister in 2024. Rawatalleged that the BJP govern-ment is one which dents theinterests of the poor, backward,farmers and small business-men. Stating that the BJP hadstopped the various public wel-

fare schemes of the Congressgovernment, he said that allthese will be resumed once theCongress returns to power. Hesaid that the priorities of theCongress will be employmentgeneration, economic empow-erment of women andstrengthening the farmers.

Pradesh CongressCommittee president GaneshGodiyal averred that develop-ment remains consistent onlyunder a Congress governmentwhereas the BJP has actuallyhampered development.

Meanwhile, the Congresspresented a show of strength

with the presence of its state in-charge Devendra Yadav, leaderof opposition Pritam Singh,deputy leader of oppositionKaran Mahra, PCC workingpresident Ranjit Rawat, MPPradeep Tamta, former cabinetminister Yashpal Arya andother senior leaders.

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With the portals ofGangotri temple being

closed to the public for the win-ter, the whole area now wearsa deserted look with the devo-tees now seeking blessings fromthe temple deity at her winterabode at Mukhba. However,about 60 ascetics have stayedback and are engrossed in var-ious devotional and Yogic pur-suits. Some are doing it byremaining silent while some areinvolved in difficult penanceand continuing their practicesin the bone-chilling cold at analtitude of about 4,600 metresabove sea level at Tapovan.The number of such ascetics isexpected to rise with theabsence of the devotees.

The Himalaya has beenthe centre of spiritual practice

for centuries. There are stillmany ancient caves where theSadhus performed extremepenance. From 1980-90, manyseekers were seen here, butgradually the number wasreduced over the years. Now 60Sadhus are practicing theirpenance amid the silence andgrandeur of the Himalaya.

Notably, Gangotri valley isfamous for Yoga and meditationfrom Gangotri shrine to

Gaumukh-Tapovan. Thousandsof devotees come here everyyear during the Yatra season butonly a few seekers live here inwinter after the Yatra period isover. The seers practiceSadhana not in Ashrams, but incaves and that too in the sub-zero temperatures. Sub divi-sional magistrate Chatar SinghChauhan said that about 60Sadhus are staying here in thewinter season.

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Go First (formerly knownas GoAir) announced the

launch of direct flights fromDehradun to Mumbai andDelhi. The first flight G82306 was flagged off onThursday from Dehradun at3 PM and arrived at Delhi at4:15 PM. Speaking as thechief guest on the occasion,the State’s Tourism andCulture minister SatpalMaharaj appreciated the con-nectivity of Go First airlines.He expressed hope that withthe start of these flights, manyvisitors will be able to reachUttarakhand and participatein the winter Char Dhamworship.

He informed that during the winters, the pre-siding deity of Yamunotri isworshipped at Kharsali, thedeity of Gangotri is worshipped at Mukhba, lordKedarnath is worshipped in Ukhimathwhile lord Badrinath is wor-shipped ritual ly in

Pandukeshwar and Joshimath.The start of the Go Firstflights will enhance the con-venience of tourists who willbe able to reach here to enjoyvarious attractions of the stateduring the winter, saidMaharaj.

According to airline offi-cials, Dehradun will be con-nected to Mumbai (1x daily)and Delhi (2x daily) withconnections to/fromAhmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow,Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata,Ranchi, Patna, Varanasi andGoa.

Speaking on the develop-ment, the airl ine’s CEOK a u s h i kKhona said, “At Go First, ithas been a constant endeav-our to build a strong networkthat will offer our customersease of travel and viableoptions to choose from. Theaddition of these new stationswill not only make our net-work robust but provide cus-tomers direct connectivity tometros and other importantcities and beyond.”

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)senior leader and Member

of Parliament (MP) fromPunjab, Bhagwant Mann willbe on a three-day visit toUttarakhand from Monday toparticipate in Kisan SankalpYatra. The spokesman of theparty, Sanjay Bhatt informedthat the party will organiseKisan Sankalp Yatra in variousconstituencies and Mann willjoin the campaign in Udham

Singh Nagar to support andinteract with the farmers. He isscheduled to arrive onNovember 15 for three days tosupport the farmers who havebeen fighting against the threefarm laws for over a year.Hinting on the arrival of thenational convener of AAP andDelhi chief minister ArvindKejriwal in the state and otherprominent leaders, Bhatt stat-ed that other senior leaders ofthe party will visit the state inthe next few days.

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The Dehradun CantonmentBoard has achieved the

first position in the category of'Innovation and Best Practices'under Swachh Survekshan2021 (SS21) in India. Theboard representative will befelicitated for this achievementin the Rashtrapati Bhawan onNovember 20.

The 'Innovation and BestPractices' category was recent-ly introduced by the Ministryof Housing and Urban Affairs(MoHUA) under SS21 toencourage the extra efforts putin by citizens and local bodiesin the field of sanitation andwaste management among oth-

ers. Addressing the mediaper-sons on Thursday morning, thepresident of the board,Brigadier Anirban Datta saidthat it is an honour to get thefirst position in this categoryacross the country. He con-gratulated and thanked thechief executive officer (CEO)Tanu Jain and employees of theboard stating that the board gotthis achievement due to theirdedication and hard work.

He also informed thatMoHUA will felicitate theboard on November 20 in theRashtrapati Bhawan. It is per-tinent to mention here that theresults of all categories underSS21 are expected to berevealed by next week.

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Kumaon commissionerSushil Kumar has directed

the Employment Departmentto conduct regular career coun-selling sessions for unemployedyouths to provide employmentand self-employment oppor-tunities to them. He directedthe officials concerned toorganise camps at village levelsto make the youths of remoteareas aware of employment-oriented schemes to benefit themaximum people of theKumaon division.

The commissioner statedthis during the review meetingof various schemes running inthe division under district sec-tor, state sector, centrally fund-ed and externally aided alongwith the divisional nodal offi-cers. He asked the employmentofficers to increase the numberof employment fairs organ-ised by the department to

reach the maximum unem-ployed people under theNational Rural LivelihoodMission (NRLM). He directedthem to take all the possiblemeasures to provide youthswith employment and self-employment opportunities inthe division. Besides this,Kumar also directed the offi-cials of the horticulture depart-ment to work on linking morefarmers with horticultureunder various schemes as ameans of employment.

He said that all the select-ed beneficiaries must be pro-vided with seeds and saplingson time. He also directed theofficials concerned to expeditethe preparation of the detailedproject reports (DPRs) and getthe respective approvals ontime to complete the workswhile adding that 100 per centof the allocated budget must beutilised by the end of thisfinancial year.

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Awoman from Gurugramvisiting Badrinath with her

family died on the spot afterbeing hit by a car being drivenby an allegedly drunk ITBPJawan near Mana Tiraha onWednesday night. According tosources, the 29-year old womanidentified as Sandhya Kumarwas run over by the I-10 cardof the Jawan at about 10:15 PMnear a Dharmshala.

According to the Badrinathpolice station in-chargeSatendra Singh, the accused hasbeen identified as Deepak whois posted in the ITBP 23rd bat-talion in Mana. He was drivinghis car allegedly drunk when heran over the woman onWednesday night.

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Abody was found below theLacchiwala flyover in

Doiwala on Thursday morningby some locals. The policearrived on the scene afterreceiving the information andidentified the deceased asBrijpal Singh from Bijnor inUttar Pradesh on the basis of aphotocopy of his Aadhaar cardrecovered from the body. Thepolice have also recovered amobile phone through whichthe police contacted his sonwho works as a driver atSrinagar in Pauri district. Thepolice informed that thedeceased Brijpal Singh was alabourer who used to work fora contractor in Dehradun.According to them, there weresome visible injuries on hisright hand and right side of hisforehead.

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Dehradun based collectiveof environmentally con-

cerned citizens-Citizens ForGreen Doon (CFGD) hasreported attempts online tospread disinformation andmalign it. The group stated thata “false and malicious cam-paign is underway againstCFGD with morphed pictureand concocted lies”.

The group stated that atweet displaying a photo-shopped pic depicts CFGD asagainst construction of borderroads in Uttarakhand andinsinuates that the group isanti-national. “CFGD is notagainst construction of borderroads nor is it anti national.

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Union Health MinisterMansukh Mandaviya on

Thursday warned that Statesand Union Territories ‘should-n’t think that Covid-19 is over’and should ask people not tolower their guard.

Mandaviya virtually metHealth Ministers of all Statesand Union Territories to reviewthe campaign of ‘Har GharDastak’ to ensure vaccination ofall adults who have not gottheir first dose of Covid-19 vac-cine or are overdue for theirsecond dose.

During the meeting,Mandaviya said that in thenational interest, all States andUTs must work together in acollaborative spirit towards‘Har Ghar Dastak’ Covid-19vaccination drive so that no

household is left unvaccinatedin the country, said the state-ment.

The meeting of the HealthMinisters comes a week afterPrime Minister Narendra Modion November 3 interacted withdistrict magistrates and healthofficials of over 45 districtsacross 12 States and UnionTerritories where the first dosecoverage of Covid-19 vaccinewas less than 50 per cent.

As per the official figures,around 79.2 per cent of India’sadult population has beeninoculated with at least onedose of Covid-19 vaccine,while more than 37 per cent ofaround 94 crore adult popula-tion has been administeredboth doses.

Uttar Pradesh tops the listof States which have adminis-tered the highest number of

Covid vaccine doses.Maharashtra is at second spot

followed by West Bengal,Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

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Delta variant of Covid-19continues to be the main

variant of concern and othervariants of interest or concernare now negligible in sequenc-ing data from India, theIndian Sars-CoV-2 GenomicsConsortium (INSACOG) saidon Thursday.

Delta was first detected inIndia in October last year.Low frequency of the newAY.4.2 variant in IndiaEuropesees rise in Delta variant

The forum set up underthe Union Ministry of Healthand Family Welfare, furthersaid that it has outcompetedother variants in most coun-tries adding that other VOI orVOC are now negligible insequencing data from India.

In its bulletin, INSACOGsaid “there is no change in theglobal scenario and calledDelta, including B.1.617.2(AY) and AY.x sublineages,main VOC globally.”

Delta which was detectedin India in October last yearwas responsible for the dev-astating second wave of thecoronavirus pandemic in thecountry, which reached itspeak in April-May 2022.

There is now a decliningprevalence of other variantsamong SARS-CoV-2sequences submitted to pub-licly available datasets or

reported to the WHO, it said.In India, Delta (B.1.617.2

and AY.x) continues to be themain variant of concern(VOC).

“No new VOI or VOC arenoted and other VOC andVOI other than Delta arenow negligible in sequencingdata from India,” it said.

Last week, INSACOG hadsaid that AY.4.2 variant is lessthan 0.1 per cent of all variantsof concern and variant ofinterest (VOC/VOI), and thus,too low to be of concern atthis time.

However, AY.4.3 is rapid-ly spreading in several coun-tries of Europe

Meanwhile, AY.4.3, anoffshoot of the Delta variant,is rapidly spreading in sever-al countries of Europe.

It has already been spot-ted 8,138 times in Englandand makes up around one in24 cases in the country afterfirst being detected in mid-July.

In Belgium, it makes up40 per cent of infections,while in Germany, it makes up30 per cent and in Denmark,just 15 per cent.

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Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot on Thursday

met Congress president SoniaGandhi after Rahul Gandhiand Priyanka are said to haveasked him to expand hisCabinet in the next few days toend a long-standing feud withrival Sachin Pilot by accom-modating his loyalists. Thepush also comes as theCongress has somewhat sortedout the Punjab muddle.

AICC sources saidPriyanka Gandhi had report-edly urged Gehlot to accom-modate Sachin Pilot’s support-ers in his Ministry.

Sources confirmed Gehlot’smeeting with Sonia Gandhiwas on “expanding theRajasthan Cabinet andappointing chairmen of statecorporations”.

“The party high commandwill decide on the Cabinetreshuffle in Rajasthan. AjayMaken has all the informationon it. We want good gover-nance to continue in the State,”Gehlot told reporters after themeeting.

Sources said the Congressleadership wants the reshuffleto take place immediately, inkeeping with a major promiseto Pilot when he agreed to drophis rebellion more than a yearago.

Besides Priyanka Gandhi,other Congress leaders likeKC Venugopal and Rajasthan

in-charge Ajay Maken werepresent at a meeting at RahulGandhi’s home in Delhi whereGehlot was reminded about thelong-delayed cabinet changes.Rahul Gandhi was not in themeeting however, sources said.

Last year, Pilot camped inDelhi with 18 MLAs for weeksas he felt short-changed andsidelined by Gehlot in theRajasthan Congress. ThreeMLA’s had broken fromSachin to avert a repeat of theMadhya Pradesh situationwhen Jyotiraditya Scindiajoined the BJP and made theCongress government lose itsmajority . These MLA’s arealso expected to be compen-sated with a ministerial berthand other posts.

In 2018, when theCongress won the Rajasthanelection, Pilot was creditedwith the party’s win but had tosettle for the post of Gehlot’sdeputy leading to a revoltwithin two factions of party.

In September this Pilotmet Rahul Gandhi andPriyanka Gandhi on severaloccasions. Sources in partysaid the party high commandGandhis want Pilot to takecharge of Gujarat ahead ofelections in the State nextyear.

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India on Thursday slammedPakistan for playing spoil-

sport by refusing to attend aconclave here on Wednesday todiscuss the situation inAfghanistan.

The conclave of theNational Security Advisors(NSA) issued a DelhiDeclaration urging that Afghansoil should not be used forspreading international terror-ism and radicalisation. Eightcountries, including India, tookpart in the meet. The othercountries were Russia, Iranand five Central Asian coun-tries which share the borderwith Afghanistan.

India had invited Pakistanalso but it declined to come onthe pretext that New Delhi hadnot invited the Taliban. Iranhad held such conclave in 2018and 2019 but Pakistan did notattend. China, which attendedthe two earlier events, did notparticipate in Delhi conclaveclaiming “scheduling issues.” It,is however, taking part in a par-allel conclave on Afghanistanon Thursday in Islamabadbesides the US and Russia.

As regards Pakistan’s non-participation here, ministry ofexternal affairs spokespersonArindam Bagchi highlightedthat India has been extendingsupport to Afghanistan for

many years but the situation onthe ground has become “verydifficult” over the last fewmonths.

He criticised Pakistan’sdecision to not attend DelhiRegional Security Dialogue onAfghanistan, saying it showsIslamabad’s attitude regardingthe crisis in the war-torn coun-try.

In an apparent reference toPakistan, he said there havebeen difficulties in providinghumanitarian assistance toAfghanistan due to a lack ofunimpeded access.

He highlighted that Indiahas been extending support toAfghanistan for many years butthe situation on the ground hasbecome “very difficult” over thelast few months. Pakistan has,so far, denied India to sendfood to Afghan through roadfrom Attari.

“One of the key elementswhich we’ve seen in previousmeetings was the need forunimpeded, unhindered accessfor humanitarian assistanceproviders...There have beendifficulties due to lack of unim-peded access,” Bagchi added.

He said that the “very seri-ous humanitarian situation” inAfghanistan was discussed atlength during the meeting ofNSAs of eight regional coun-tries, including India, Russia,and Iran.

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New Delhi: India onThursday said it has neveraccepted illegal occupation ofits territory and claims byChina particularly inArunachal Pradesh. NewDelhi also said China hasundertaken construction allalong the border and in ille-gally occupied Indian land.This strong official reactionby the Ministry of externalaffairs came in response to arecent Pentagon report lastweek which said China hasbuilt a village of more than100 dwelling units inArunachal Pradesh last year.Reacting unofficially, theIndian security establishment

had on Monday said the vil-lage was constructed on apiece of land where an AssamRifles post was overrun in1959. Since then, the Chinesearmy has a post there and itcontrols that area. TheMinistry of External Affairssaid here on Thursday, “Wehave taken note of the USDepartment of Defence’report to US Congress whichinter-alia also makes a refer-ence to construction activitiesby Chinese side along theIndia-China border areas par-ticularly in the Eastern Sector.Reports had also appeared inthe media earlier this year onthis issue.”

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Vice President M VenkaiahNaidu on Thursday urged

Governors and LieutenantGovernors of Union Territoriesto be proactive in overseeingthe implementation of theCentral Government’s pro-grammes and in mobilisingpeople for nation-building ini-tiatives.

Addressing a conference ofGovernors and LGs, Naiduurged them to “monitor andguide” the initiatives launchedby the Central Governmentinspired by the philosophy of‘Sabka Saath—Sabka Prayas’to ensure the nation’s progresswith effective public participa-tion.

Naidu shared with the par-ticipants his thoughts and con-cerns over a range of issues,including environmental pro-tection, promotion of entre-preneurship among farmers,healthcare for all, and promo-tion of constitutional values

and ethics in public life.Referring to the vast expe-

rience of governors in publiclife, the vice-president stressedthat they have an importantrole in shaping policies andtheir execution, ensuring effec-tive utilisation of scarceresources and ensuring probityand ethics in public life.

“Governors and Lt.Governors should function notonly as a constitutional author-ity but with the moral author-ity of an elder statesman,”Naidu underlined, adding they

should pioneer environmentalprotection, preserve cultureand nature for a better future.

The vice-president urgedthe governors and L-Gs toensure that governance andpublic life are marked by strictadherence to the philosophyand provision of theConstitution.

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Congress students’ wing theNational Students Union of

India (NSUI) on Thursdaylaunched the ‘Shiksha Bachao,Desh Bachao’ campaign tooppose the anti-student policiesof Modi Government.

AICC CommunicationsSecretary, Dr. Vineet Punia andNSUI National President, NeerajKundan launched the nationalcampaign at AICC headquar-ters.

Addressing the media per-sons, Kundan said education isthe birth right of every youthand child. BJP is working dayand night to snatch fundamen-tal right by privatising the edu-cation sector, he added. BJP’santi-students policies have hurtthe students’ interests but it wastrying to distract the studentsthrough the divisive agenda, hesaid.

Kundan added that the need

for this campaign has surfacedbecause BJP since the time hascome in power is changing theeducation system for its ulteri-or motives. NEP was launchedsilently by BJP government dur-ing the time of Corona pan-demic, which exposes its motiveand hidden agenda. The onlyimpact of this will be distancingeducation from the commonpeople, he claimed.

NSUI has demanded therelaxation of age limit for jobs asthe students could not competefor jobs as the selections werenot held during the two years ofCovid pandemic.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi will launch two cus-

tomer centric initiatives—theRBI Retail Direct Scheme andthe Reserve Bank – IntegratedOmbudsman Scheme—onFriday via video conferencing.

The RBI Retail DirectScheme is aimed at enhancingaccess to government securitiesmarket for retail investors andoffers them a new avenue fordirectly investing in securitiesissued by the Government ofIndia and the StateGovernments, according tothe Prime Minister’s Office(PMO).

Investors will be able toeasily open and maintain theirgovernment securities accountonline with the RBI, free ofcost, said the PMO.

The Union FinanceMinister and RBI Governorwill also attend the event.

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Regional parties collected �445.774 crore from

unknown sources in 2019-20which is 55.50 per cent oftheir total income. Of them,95.616 per cent or �426.233crore of this came from elec-toral bonds and �4.976 crorecollected by them from volun-tary contributions. The amountof total contributions declaredby the AAP, IUML and the LJPin their audit reports is lessthan the amount of total dona-tions (above Rs 20,000 only)declared in their contributionreports by Rs 6.105 crore, Rs31.20 lakhs and Rs 4.16 lakhs,respectively.

The Association forDemocratic Reforms (ADR) inits latest report said that ananalysis of their Income TaxReturns and donations state-ments filed with the ElectionCommission of India (ECI)shows that the sources remainlargely unknown. At present,political parties are notrequired to reveal the name ofindividuals or organisationsgiving less than �20,000. As aresult, a substantial amount offunds cannot be traced and arefrom ‘unknown’ sources,” itsaid.

The ADR said that the

contribution reports of theAAP, IUML and the LJP areavailable \on the website, butthe parties’ donations datashows discrepancies as declaredin their annual audit report andcontribution report (donationsabove Rs 20,000) for FY 2019-20.”During FY 2019-20, totalincome of regional parties fromunknown sources amounted toRs 445.774 crore and consti-tuted 55.50 per cent of theirtotal income as declared intheir audit reports,” it added.

Some of the top regionalparties to declare highestunknown income include theTRS (Rs 89.158 crore), TDP (Rs81.694 crore), YSR-C (Rs 74.75crore), BJD (Rs 50.586 crore)and the DMK (Rs 45.50 crore).The ADR said the total incomeof political parties from knowndonors (details of donors asavailable from contributionreport submitted by parties tothe Election Commission) is Rs184.623 crore, which is 22.98per cent of the total income ofthese parties.

The total income of polit-ical parties from other knownsources (membership fees,bank interest, sale of publica-tions, party levy etc.) is Rs172.843 crore, or 21.52 per centof total income, the reportsaid.

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The CBI has sought assis-tance from authorities in

the US in tracking two accused,C Prabhakar Reddy who is alsoknown as “Punch” Prabhakarand Mani Annapureddy, sus-pected to be staying in thatcountry in connection with acase related to alleged deroga-tory social media posts againstjudges and the judiciary.

Meanwhile, the CBI onThursday filed six morechargehseets in the case.

The agency has also shared

with the US authorities thearrest warrants issued againstboth the accused from relevantcourt here to buttress its claimsseeking their custody, officialssaid.

The CBI, which is theNational Central Bureau(NCB) for India under theInterpol mechanism, hasapproached InterpolWashington, which is theNCB of the United States,with the arrest warrantsagainst the duo, the officialssaid.

The CBI had gathered

information on the location ofthe accused using a BlueCorner Notice of the Interpol,they said.

Every country has anNCB, which is the link agencywith the Interpol.

The agency has filed sixmore chargesheets against asmany accused — SridharReddy Avuthu, JalagamVenkata Satyanarayana, GudaSridhar Reddy, SreenathSuswaram, Kishore KumarDarisa alias Kishore ReddyDarisa and Sudduluri AjayAmruth -- in the case.

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Zakia Jafri, widow of slainCongress MP Ehsan Jafri,

told the Supreme Court onThursday that the SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) whichgave a clean chit to then GujaratChief Minister Narendra Modiin the 2002 communal riotsshould itself be investigatedfor rendering conclusions con-trary to facts. Senior lawyerKapil Sibal, representing Jafri,alleged that the SIT did not do‘investigation’ but did a ‘collab-orative exercise’ and its probewas fraught with omissions toprotect conspirators.

“The SIT was renderingconclusions contrary to factsthey were aware of. In fact, SITshould be investigated. It istrue...I am not concerned withindividuals. I am concernedwith the process. I am only say-ing SIT did not do its job. It wasan act of protection. It did a col-laborative exercise,” said Sibal.He said that there was evidencein the form of electronic recordsincluding call data records ofsenior police officials and mobsidentifying houses of Muslims,all of which pointed towardsconspiracy.

But the SIT ignored all of itand did not conduct any furtherinvestigation into the and theMagistrate and High Court toochose to overlook the same, hecontended.

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The Supreme Court onThursday agreed to hear a

plea of two advocates and ajournalist seeking quashing ofa criminal case lodged underthe harsh UAPA provisionsagainst them for allegedlybringing facts through socialmedia posts about the “target-ed violence” against the minor-ity community in Tripura.

A bench comprising ChiefJustice N V Ramana andJustices A S Bopanna and HimaKohli was informed by advo-cate Prashant Bhushan thatthe two lawyers and the scribewho had gone there on a factfinding mission have been pro-ceeded against by the Tripurapolice under the UAPA fortheir social media posts and anFIR has been lodged and anotice under the CrPC has

been issued to them. “Why did not go to the

High Court? You go before theHigh Court,” the benchobserved initially and lateragreed to consider listing theplea after the lawyer said thatbesides seeking relief of quash-ing of the FIR, the plea alsochallenged the constitutionalvalidity of some UAPA provi-sions. “Please list it as thesepeople are imminently underthreat,” Bhushan said.

“Circulate the bundle. Iwill give a date (for hearing),”the CJI said.

Advocates, Mukesh andAnsarul Haq, and journalistShyam Meera Singh have beenaccused in the FIR lodged at theWest Agartala Police Stationunder the IPC and the UAPAprovisions for allegedly dis-seminating information aboutcommunal violence in the State.

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L u c k n o w / G o r a k h p u r :Paediatrician Kafeel Khan ofGorakhpur's BRD MedicalCollege and Hospital, who hadbeen suspended in 2017 after thedeath of 70 children due to oxy-gen shortage, has been dismissed,a Government official said here onThursday.

Dr Khan has been sackedafter being found guilty in theprobe into the circumstances lead-ing to the death of children in thehospital, UP Principal Secretary(Medical Education) Alok Kumarsaid.

As the matter is sub judice, thedetailed information about DrKhan's dismissal will be given tothe court, Kumar added.

Dr Khan had been attached tothe office of Director GeneralMedical Education (DGME) afterhis suspension on August 22,2017, in the wake of the children'sdeath during the month.

Reacting to the report of DrKhan's dismissal, Congress gen-eral secretary Priyanka GandhiVadhra termed his dismissal asmalice-driven and aimed atharassing him.

Expressing surprise over thereports of his dismissal, Dr Khan,

said he does not know how he hasbeen terminated despite the courtgiving him a clean chit earlier.

“Principal Secretary AlokKumar had on Wednesdayreleased a statement about my ter-mination from the BRD Medicalcollege,” he said, adding he, how-ever, has not received any termi-nation letter as yet.

"They have no authority toterminate me. They should havetaken orders from Uttar PradeshPublic Service Commission(UPPSC) (to suspend me),” heasserted in a statement on thereports of his termination.

"Among the eight people sus-pended in the lack of oxygen casein the hospital, the suspension ofseven others except mine had beenrevoked. The court had punishedall of them in one or the othermanner but the honourable courthad given me a clean chit oncharges of medical negligenceand corruption," Dr Khanclaimed.

“I was suspended on August22, 2017 in the case and on March5, 2019, the Allahabad High courthad asked the UP Government toend the inquiry and on April 18,2019, the high court had given me

a clean chit,” Dr Khan said.“When I was in jail, the UP

government again set up aninquiry against me on February24, 2020, and on August 6, 2021,the state government declared infront of the court that they arewithdrawing the inquiry order ofthe then Chief SecretaryHimanshu Kumar,” Dr Khan said.

He also explained that even onWednesday, the government hadnot told the court about his ter-mination.

“On November 10, 2021, therewas a date in the court but the gov-ernment did not submit anypapers regarding termination.The next court date is onDecember 7, 2021. I have nohope of justice from this govern-ment,” Dr Khan added.

After Kafeel's dismissal,Congress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi in a tweet inHindi said "Dr Khan's dismissal isdriven by malice. Motivated by ahate agenda, the government isdoing all this to harass him."

"But the Government shouldkeep in mind that it is not abovethe Constitution. The Congressparty is with Dr Khan in his fightfor justice," she said. PTI

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Apart from targeting the Bengali voters theTrinamool Congress is also trying to win

over the SC and STs of Tripura in the com-ing Agartala municipal elections and the Statepolls sources said adding the party has spe-cific plans for the three different segments ofthe voters.

“The BJP has done nothing save spread-ing mutual hatred among communities …they have attacked the opposition … misledthe youth and in the name of nationalism theyhave created communal disturbance … thepeople of this State particularly those fromAgartala have understood their policy and sothey are gradually tilting towards MamataBanerjee and the TMC,” said party leader RajibBanerjee.

Welcoming an Apex Court order direct-ing the Tripura Government and the StateDirector General of Police to allow peacefulcampaigning in the elections another TMCleader Shantanu Sen said “the order belongsto the people of Tripura who have been lan-guishing under the BJP rule … there is nodemocratic right in the State … But if the peo-ple give us a chance then Tripura will see thesame surge in their socio-economic life thathave come in Bengal under the MamataBanerjee regime.”

Ruling that every party has a right topeacefully campaign in the elections the Courthas asked the State Government to ensuresecurity of the contestants directing theDirector General of Police and the HomeSecretary to file a compliance report.

Rajib Banerjee said “in Tripura theGovernment is indifferent, the police a silentspectator and the democracy is

under threat … only the court can savedemocracy here.”

The order comes as a shot in the arm ofthe TMC which had been facing similarcharges in Bengal leveled by the BJP.

On the TMC’s chances of winning theelections the party leaders said “MamataBanerjee has shown in Bengal that she is afighter who pushed out the powerful LeftFront through years of struggle … she will doit in Tripura too and the people of this Stateknow it well.

Earlier party Raja Sabha MP SushmitaDev said that her party was targeting all sec-tion of the society “even the SC/ST voters areour voters…” She said “20 out of 60 seats arereserved for SC/ ST and those voters are equal-ly important. Biplab Deb Government hasdone nothing for Tripura … they have onlyexploited the people and tortured the oppo-sition … the people are determined to throwthem out … and as the Left and the Congressare in a bad shape the people have decided togive Trinamool Congress a chance.”

Reacting to the statements coming fromthe TMC's side senior Tripura BJP leaderNabyendu Bhattacharya said that “the TMChas been complaining of violence which ispeculiar to their own regime in Bengal … inTripura they have no cadre which is why theyare trying to get publicity through the media… but they will not be successful in this dirtygame … The BJP welcomes them to fightdemocratically in this State.”

Lucknow (UP): A delegation of healthworkers on Thursday met Congressgeneral secretary Priyanka GandhiVadra here, two days after they wereallegedly roughed up by police whiletrying to meet the Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister in Shahjahanpur.

Priyanka had on Wednesdayaccused the State Government of"insulting" the work done by theAccredited Social Health Activists(ASHAs), promising an honorarium of�10,000 per month to them andAnganwadi workers if her party comesto power in the State next year.

The ASHAs had tried to meetUttar Pradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath during his visit toShahjahanpur but they were roughedup by police, a Congress spokesmansaid.

"The workers met Priyanka

Gandhi, who arrived in the state cap-ital on Thursday morning and told herabout the issues faced by them, includ-ing those related to their wages and ser-vice conditions," he said. "Theyalso showed the injuries sustained bythem in Shahjahanpur," the spokesmanadded.

On Wednesday, Priyanka hadshared a purported video of the"assault" by police on ASHAs inShahjahanpur.

"Every assault on the ASHA sistersby the UP Government is an insult tothe work done by them," she had said.

Meanwhile, ShahjahanpurCongress president Rajnish Guptasaid Priyanka sent a health worker toa hospital as her condition was notgood.

She also constituted a panel oflawyers, who will fight a legal battle for

the hospitalised worker, he said.Shahjahanpur Superintendent of PoliceS Anand said on November 9, therewas a programme of Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath there.

During this, the workers tried to goto the public meeting, when they werestopped, after which worker PoonamPandey scuffled with a woman inspec-tor and its video had surfaced on socialmedia, he said.

A case has been registered againstPoonam, the SP said.Poonam alleged that she was badlybeaten up by woman inspector JyotiTyagi and other police personnel dueto which she suffered injuries and herhand was fractured.

On being asked that she allegedlyhit the inspector first, Poonam saidsomeone kicked her from behind dueto which she fell on the officer. PTI

Muzaffarnagar: A SpecialPOCSO court here on Thursdaysentenced a man to 12 years'imprisonment for raping a 15-year-old girl five years back.

Special Judge Sanjiv KumarTiwari also imposed a fine of Rs50,000 on Zahid, the convict,after holding him guilty undersection 376 of the Indian PenalCode and sections 3 and 4 ofProtection of Children fromSexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

According to POCSO lawyerManmohan Verma, the girl wasabducted by Zahid on July 19,2016 from her village in the dis-trict and taken to Delhi where shewas kept in a room and raped.

Baghpat (UP): A teenage girlwas allegedly raped and a videoof the act was made at a villagehere, police said on Thursday.

Police have arrested fivepeople in this connection andsent two teenagers to a juvenilehome.

The 15-year-old girl wascalled near her house onNovember 9 by two teenagers,both students of her school.

She was taken to a college,where she was raped,Superintendent of Police NeerajKumar Jadaun said.

While they were rapingthe girl, four others reachedthere, took photographs andmade a video of the act, he said.

The four also tried to rapethe girl but she managed to fleeand reached a field where afarmer tried to rape her, policesaid.

The girl was later rescuedby police. While thetwo teenagers were accused ofraping her, the other five wereheld for trying to outrage hermodesty and make her obscenevideo. PTI

Jaipur: Congress leader SachinPilot here on Thursday saiddecisions regarding his partyGovernment and organisa-tion in Rajasthan will be takensoon, amid speculations overthe Cabinet expansion andother political appointments intheState.

The former RajasthanDeputy Chief Minister said theAll-India Congress Committeeand the State Government arein constant touch over it as thepanel, which was formed byparty president Sonia Gandhiover a year ago, has complet-ed its work.

"I met (K C) Venugopal acouple of days ago. We con-tinuously discuss and soondecisions will be taken withregard to the organisation andthe Government," he toldreporters in Dausa.

The Congress had formeda three-member panel for theresolution of the issues raisedby the legislators led by Pilot, who had revolt-ed against Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot last year.

The Congress leader alsoaccused the Centre of collect-ing �20 lakh crore through

cess on petrol and diesel, giv-ing no relief to people evenafter the price of crude in theinternational market "halved".

Even during the coron-avirus lockdown, the Centredid not give any relief, he said.

Now, when the elections offive states are approaching, thegovernment has extendedrelief, he added.

The former Rajasthandeputy CM also flayed theCentre for unemployment andprice rise.

"Inflation is increasing,domestic gas cylinder costsover ��900, petrol and dieselare getting costlier than ghee.There are no jobs, industries are getting ruined, the econo-my has collapsed and farmersare agitating," he stressed.

He said people under-stand that the Congress is abetter option. Pilot alsoclaimed that his partyGovernment has fulfilled mostpromises it made in its electionmanifesto. On the question ofVAT on petrol and diesel in thestate, he said the ChiefMinister has said that theState Government will reduceprices. PTI

Muzaffarnagar (UP): The peopleof Uttar Pradesh would havefaced no problem, had YogiAdityanath not migrated herefrom Uttarakhand, SamajwadiParty president Akhilesh Yadavsaid on Thursday.

Yadav took the dig at theUttar Pradesh Chief Ministerdays after he promised compen-sation for the families of industrialtown Kairana in adjoining Shamlidistrict, who had migrated fromhere under the extortion threat.

Referring to Yogi's visit toKairana, Yadav said, "He cameand recalled exodus, the reality isthat if there had not been the exo-dus of the CM from Uttarakhand,our five years would not havebeen wasted."

Adityanath was born as AjayMohan Bisht in Panchur villageof Pauri Garhwal in June 1972

before the formation ofUttarakhand out of UttarPradesh.

Addressing a public meetingin Kairana on Monday, Yogi hadslammed the "Taliban mentality",saying it will not be accepted inthe state. Referring to the 2013communal riots in Muzaffarnagar,Adityanath had said the opposi-tion did not act when houses ofHindus were being burnt andinnocent youths killed inMuzaffarnagar.

The alleged exodus fromKairana was a key poll issuebefore the 2017 assembly elec-tions as the BJP had claimed thenthat scores of Hindu families hadleft the town after receivingthreats from criminals. Theclaim, however, was contested byothers.

Addressing the 'Kashyap

mahasammelan' in Budhana areahere, Akhilesh Yadav said the"Baba CM” does not understandanything and makes tall claimson law and order.

“Can anyone tell if policeare indulging in murders any-where in the country? I can givemany examples of innocentsbeing killed in UP,” he said, recall-ing the Gorakhpur murder of aKanpur trader and Kasganj cus-todial death of a youth and held

BJP responsible for the same.“The CM who cannot extend

security to a trader in his homedistrict, what could be expectedof him on the law and orderfront,” Yadav said, adding that theNational Human RightsCommission data says that mostcases of injustice and custodialdeaths are in UP.

Accusing Adityanath of pur-suing a "thoko niti (stagedencounter policy)”, the SP chiefsaid this led to the beating of ajailor and deputy jailor inFarrukhabad and injuries to 30others as no one knew who hadto be beaten up.

Referring to Yogi repeated-ly as “Baba CM”, Akhilesh said heshould have read his 'sankalppatra' (poll manifesto) which hadmade several promises to farmersand youths. PTI

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Aizawl: The Mizoram Government is planning to admin-ister Covid-19 vaccine to Myanmar nationals who have takenrefuge in the State following a military coup in the neigh-bouring country in February, a health department officialsaid on Thursday.

Altogether 12,736 people of Myanmar are currently stay-ing in various parts of Mizoram, particularly in districts bor-dering that country, according to the State police's record.

The official said the authorities of those districts are gear-ing up to vaccinate all the eligible refugees.

East Mizoram's Champhai district has the highest num-ber of Myanmar nationals at 7,291, followed by the south-ernmost Lawngtlai district at 1,746 and State capital Aizawlat 1,622. A large section of those who have taken refuge inthe state belong to the Chin, also known as the Zo, com-munity. They share the same ancestry and culture as theMizos of Mizoram. They were mainly the residents of Chin,a State in Myanmar, which shares its Western border withMizoram.

The majority of the Myanmar nationals are lodged inrelief camps set up by villagers, while others live with theirrelatives in the state and some others in rented houses, policesaid. They are provided with food, utensils, blankets and otheressential items by local people, NGOs and churches, officialssaid. Earlier, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga had writ-ten to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to pro-vide asylum to the Myanmar nationals on humanitariangrounds. The state government had also sent delegations toDelhi seeking assistance for those people.

However, the Centre is yet to give a response. India isnot a signatory to the UN Convention on refugees.

Six Mizoram districts- Champhai, Lawngtlai, Siaha,Saitual, Hnahthial and Serchhip - share a 510-km interna-tional border with Myanmar's Chin state. PTI

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Palghar: An offence has been registered against an unidenti-fied person for allegedly throwing ink at a driver of theMaharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) ata bus depot in Vasai of Maharashtra's Palghar district onThursday, police said.

The alleged incident took place at Navghar bus depot inVasai, where an unidentified man threw ink on driverKamlakar Waghmare in the morning, the station house offi-cer of Manikpur police station said.

An offence under section 332 (voluntarily causing hurt todeter public servant from his duty) of the IPC has been regis-tered, he said.

According to reports at the depot, some drivers attempt-ed to ply buses, but following the incident all buses returnedto the depot.

Speaking to reporters, depot manager Dileep Bhosale saidsome drivers and conductors were seriously concerned aboutthe strike and some of them wanted to resume work andattempted to ply the buses. However, the ink-throwingincident has aggravated the situation, he added. PTI

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and their kin unable to gettreatment in hospitals.

Next on the list was terror-ism — the lesser said the bet-ter. Security experts would bebetter placed to tell if demon-etisation led to any let-up interrorism. It would be too sim-plistic to assume that motivat-ed terrorists would stopbecause they could notexchange their notes. After alltheir accounts were not frozen.

As for counterfeits, accord-ing to the Government's dec-laration, more than 99 per centof the currency notes got backinto the system.

Digitisation, no doubts,improved but is still a verysmall fraction of the cashtransactions. Moreover, digi-tisation in a country like oursis conceivable only in cities.India operates on cash. Andwhy should a farmer pay afraction of money to Paytmfor transacting? Digitisationcomes with a transaction cost.Japan is still largely a casheconomy.

So what was the motive —the real motive — of theGovernment? The motiveswere indeed different from theones propagated.

Maybe one was theupcoming UP elections. InIndian elections cash rules. Itstripped the Opposition par-

ties of their cash tranche. Ormaybe to shift the fulcrum ofthe economy from an unor-ganised to an organised sector.The money started flowingeven more vigorously from thecommon man to entrepre-neurs. Whatever it was, itmeant severe hardships for thepeople, small businesses andworkers. Eighty-five per centof the economy is the informalsector which works on 95 percent cash transactions. It wasparalysed with the so-calledmasterstroke. While the infor-mal sector shrunk the organ-ised sector ate into its chunk.Indeed, they were betterequipped to adapt and takeadvantage of the new digitisa-tion and other policies.

Another big reasoncould be that the party inpower wanted to do some-thing dramatic. To showthat it was different from theprevious Government andhad the wish to purge theeconomy. It was a quick fixsolution, which has hardlyever worked anywhere in theworld, but it could be easilysold to common people. The‘shock and awe’ paradigmwas being invoked and putto good political mileage.

An argument oftendoled out is that if peoplesuffered then how come the

NDA Government cameback to power in 2019. Thathas some merit to it. Butthen people are often unableto connect the dots especial-ly when they are stuck with'shock and awe'. They feelthe hardships they are facingare somehow their follies, ormaybe they are unlucky.They fail to connect it to agrand executive order.Moreover, PM Modi camewith a lot of goodwill and peo-ple presumed he can do nowrong, no evil. Even if it didnot work his intentions weregood so he deserved a betterchance. He was let down bybureaucracy, the corporatesand exonerated the concept ofdemonetisation.

However, after five years,the Government did not doa single press conference orpress release commemorat-ing the occasion. No TV ador newspaper ad was com-memorating the occasion.Even the ministers whotweet about anything andeverything, gave the fifthbirthday of demonetisationa skip. Even the Governmentwants to forget about it as anightmare. But can we?

(The writer is a columnistand documentary filmmaker.The views expressed are personal.)

��������������� ���������Sir — It is really heartening to see TamilNadu Chief Minister MK Stalin work-ing on the field right from the day rainsstarted in the State. He has been wad-ing through water in various areas andsupervising measures to alleviate the suf-ferings of the people in distress, includ-ing feeding them and giving instructionsto the officers for further action. Hispresence is definitely a moral support tothe people who are affected by the floodand an encouragement to all thoseengaged in public service.

At this juncture, it is unfortunate thatinstead of extending their support to theGovernment to tide over the precarioussituation, the Opposition leaders havebeen indulging in mud-slinging andaccusing the ruling dispensation oftheir failure in solving other unimpor-tant issues which can definitely wait. Itis an irony that the AIADMK — whichhas ruled the State for the last 10 yearsand is the major contributor to the suf-fering of the people — is trying to placethe entire blame on the ruling DMK.CM Stalin has asserted that funds allo-cated for related works have been swin-dled by the AIADMK and that was thereal reason for the State.

Tharcius S Fernand | Chennai

�������������������������Sir — It is welcoming that India begana new chapter by initiating the AfghanDialogue with eight like minded nations.Though the timing is a little late, India'smove to concentrate on uncertain situ-ations in Afghanistan is welcoming.India did Delhi Dialogue with regionalpartners of Central Asia so as to send amessage out to the whole world thatIndia is still a reliable friend and strate-gic partner to its troubled friendAfghanistan. However, it is regrettablethat for some countries geopoliticalrivalry still comes before the discussionof Afghanistan’s future.

The way Pakistan and China skippedthe dialogue and vowed to initiate theirown version of dialogue shows their nar-row mindness. That can't stand a dia-

logue on Afghanistan being led byIndia. Pakistan specifically wanted tolead such a dialogue, claiming that aMuslim nation should lead Afghanistan.It is very selfish of Pakistan. MeanwhileChina is supporting such irrationalagendas of Pakistan. This clearly indi-cates that China, too, can't stand inter-national developments like the AUKUS,QUAD, Malabar Exercise, etc.

Kirti Wadhawan | Kanpur

��������������������������Sir — In the last few years, tragic fireaccidents in hospitals in various parts ofthe country have shaken the citizens ofthis country and has further highlight-ed serious lapses in the enforcement offire safety norms by authorities. It isheart-wrenching to imagine how theseinnocent patients, some of whom can-not even run for safety due to theirhealth conditions, are burnt alive as fireengulfs them in such accidents. TheGovernment authorities seem lax about

enforcing fire safety guidelines. This isall due to carelessness, poor supervision,insufficient staff and lack of dedicationon duty.

As part of a larger emergencyresponse mechanism, with the growthof cities, we should further moderniseand expand fire- force to meet the needsof growing Indian cities which needmodern and well-equipped fire forces.India has had a history of such deadlyfire incidents, hence these must bemade an opportunity to create an inde-pendent fire safety monitoring agencyat the Central and State level, to carryout the safety audit of such places andstreamline safety procedures for thesefacilities. This Monitoring agency shouldfrequently visit these hospitals to seewhether fire safety guidelines are beingproperly followed.

Ramesh G Jethwani | Bengaluru

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It has been five long yearssince Prime MinisterNarendra Modi announcedon November 8, 2016, that

the 500 and 1000 notes wouldnot be legal tender from mid-night. The brief telecast made aparadigm shift in the life ofevery Indian. Chaos and confu-sion followed the announce-ment. Long serpentine queueswere seen outside of banks tochange the notes. It was themoment of truth for India. Morethan 70 people lost their lives toexchange their notes.

We were told it was anattempt to dig out the blackmoney from the system andstop terror funding. The otherbenefits enumerated includedweeding out counterfeits anddigitising the economy. Fiveyears have gone by. Let's assess ifthe cherished goals have beenachieved, as the Government isreluctant to do so. Was it at all amasterstroke? Was it a surgicalstrike on the black money or astrike on the Indian economy?

Demonetisation did awayalmost 95 per cent of the curren-cy on a four-hour notice. It waschaotic with the Governmentchanging the goal post every sec-ond day.

After some time PrimeMinister Modi declared that hewas no economist and that hehad never claimed to be one buthis intentions were good. In thesame fashion, I can say that Idon’t hold a degree in econom-ics but my intentions of revisit-ing the demonetisation are good.I approach demonetisation as acommoner. I saw and enduredthe months of upheaval that fol-lowed demonetisation.

I as any other countrymancan vouch for one fact that blackmoney or the unaccountedmoney is still there in the system.During the exchange period,some people made a killing byfacilitating the exchange. For afraction of the cost, the blackbecame the new white.Innovative ideas to exchangethe old notes were flying all over.You could do it by buying gold,booking railway tickets, buyingpetrol and so on. But commonmen saw their marriages broken,jobs lost, cottage business shut

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Controlling tuberculosis isa disconcerting chal-lenge for India. The

decades' old unrestrainedtransmission of the diseasehas impacted millions ofIndians leaving them withlatent TB infection. A signifi-cant number of people beingundernourished weakens theirimmunity making them proneto TB reactivation.The densi-ty of the growing urban infra-structure has facilitated inquick transmission of TBacross all economic spheres.

India has undertakenactivities to control TB formore than half a century, still,TB has been the country'smost severe health condition.Nearly, 480,000 TB-relateddeaths happen every year andover 1400 every day. In addi-tion to this, around one million

cases are undetected or inad-equately diagnosed in India.

These tragic losses occurdue to the existing poverty, lackof infrastructure and equip-ment and less knowledge.Fortunately, India is in a betterposition to deal withTuberculosis now. The recentinterventions and technologi-cal advancements for TB diag-nosis have been effective inproviding appropriate andtimely treatment.

The National Strategy Plan2017-2025 for TB eliminationhas obtained remarkable goalsin strengthening the pro-gramme structure, supportsystems and implementationsurroundings for controllingTB. This comprises compulso-ry notification of all TB cases,aligning the programme withpublic health services and

National Health Mission, one-stop service for TB-HIV cases,tactical drug-resistant TB man-agement and revaluation ofpartnership guidelines.

As per the India TB report2021 published by the Ministryof Health and Family Welfare,NTEP (National TuberculosisElimination Programme) iden-tified more than 4,11,000patients. With these steps andmeasures NTEP almost cov-ered the gap of enrolment ofTB treatment. Notificationswere sent to 18, 05,670 patientsaround that time, which is 11

per cent more than the antic-ipated numbers.

Early diagnosis of peoplepossessing a high probability ofhaving presumptive TB is anessential part of the case iden-tification strategy. Patients withpresumptive TB would beproactively identified andreferred to the nearby diagnos-tic facility for suitable investi-gation. Patients attending boththe private and the public sec-tor institutions need to beperiodically tested for TBsymptoms by the healthcarefacilitators. Passive case detec-tion alone results in missedcases and late diagnoses.Enhanced medical outreach fordetecting more TB cases areelementary for universal access.

TB screening has to beundertaken at all the points ofcontact with healthcare person-

nel among the key population,which include the socially andclinically vulnerable anddeprived people. New diagnos-tics approved by WHO can beused in high burden resourcesettings like India.

RNTCP gained location-wise coverage in March 2006and since then, case notifica-tion rates have increased up tothe time where it remained sta-tionary. The notification rateshave decreased in many partsof India despite growing effortsexamining symptomaticpatients in the public sector.Steps for ascertaining TB noti-fication from private medicalcentres have contributed toincreasing the overall notifica-tion, but it's still incrementalonly.

Prevalent surveys suggest-ed that not all people with chest

symptoms seek care and treat-ment and many do not payattention to them. This provesthat the health services' pro-gramme needs to draw specialattention to create awarenessabout how to identify symp-toms and seek treatment.

Active case finding (ACF)is one way to do the abovementioned. ACF is a provider-initiative with the main objec-tive of early detection of casesby actively finding targetedsegments and to begin prompttreatment. It must be noted that'screening' is a vigorous proce-dure and prioritizing theapproach of screening, vulner-able groups and screeninginterval will have a regularassessment done by the pro-gramme. While there is a cleardefinition of vulnerable targetgroups for other national pro-

grammes, TB is no exception.Moreover, while the pro-gramme is capable of increaseexamining symptomaticpatients by 50-60 per cent; itwill result in added case find-ing substantially.

Analysing the social, eco-nomic, and political context ofthe operation of the TB pro-gramme has highlighted theinsight and need to rapidlyrespond to the issues to addressthe unavoidable TB epidemic.

The consistent shortage ofresources, indifferent privatesector and a weak public healthsystem add to the pre-existingchallenges in Indian’s medicalinfrastructure. Nevertheless,the research has shown that theNSP has huge underlyingstrengths, and they could beutilised for making an everlast-ing epidemiological impact.

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There is a high concentration ofgreenhouse gas emissions in townsand cities where the populations aredense and per capita electricity con-

sumption is high. It is therefore necessaryfor every town and city to have an urbanforest. Urban forest refers to planting treesin densely populated areas, like parks, street-ways, and private properties.

Like any other forest, it captures andstores atmospheric carbon dioxide duringphotosynthesis to help mitigate climatechange.It is also crucial to properly man-age and log natural forest patches and pro-tect them from construction and otherdevelopment activities in order to maintaintheir carbon sink capabilities.

The implications of global warming,including sea-level rise, temperaturechanges, precipitation change and more fre-quent extreme weather events, made it cru-cial to examine greenhouse costs. Thus, thework by William Nordhaus (an Americaneconomist) such as the DICE (DynamicIntegrated model of Climate and theEconomy), FUND (Regional Integratedmodel of Climate and the Economy) &PAGE (Policy Analysis of GreenhouseEffect) [which are a part of IntegratedAssessment Models (IAM)] are used to esti-mate the social cost of carbon which is thepresent value of the net future harms causedby an additional ton of emissions in a par-ticular year. The IAM model is a quantita-tive model that describes how the econo-my and the climate are interwoven world-wide.

He also suggested that governmentsaround the world should impose a carbontax in order to combat negative externali-ties caused by greenhouse gas emissions.Furthermore, a carbon tax would provideadditional revenue to the federal govern-ment that could be used to conserve anddevelop forests, thereby reducing theunequal impact of climate change on theaffluent and the poor. The model concludesthat attempts should be made to reduceemissions, even at economic cost.

Tropical forests are home to manyunique species of animals and plants as wellas provide food, medicine, and cleandrinking water to the people. They regulateregional rainfall and prevent droughts andfloods in the region. Thus, their protectionfrom deforestation and degradation is crit-ical not only to reduce emissions, but alsoto conserve biodiversity and support sus-tainable development.

Spatial fragmentation affects matingpatterns, gene flow and pollen dispersionwithin plant populations that are essentialto maintaining genetic diversity. Presently,degradation and fragmentation of habitatsare the leading causes of biodiversity lossin terrestrial ecosystems. Therefore, the peo-ple who rely on these resources are likelyto suffer the most.

In the coming years, climate change willcause major ecological and economic dis-asters in coastal cities, where mangroves andwater bodies are rapidly disappearing.

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Mangrove vegetation will becomeuninhabitable if it is not aggressive-ly protected now. Furthermore,waves, storms, and cyclones will like-ly make coastal areas inhospitable.

Himalayan range forests providevital protection and are the most vul-nerable to climate change. A largevariety of medicinal plants grow inthe sub alpine and alpine regions ofthe western Himalayas due to theirdiverse topography and climate.Medical plants play a crucial role inhealth care. Millions of people makea living as traditional healers or col-lectors or vendors of these plants. Itis possible that climate change couldhave harmful effects on medicinalplants, such as a decrease in avail-ability and species extinction.

In 2009, State Governmentsand Union Territories were asked toassess their climate vulnerabilityand devise state action plans to com-bat climate change. This is the firsttime the SAPCCs has facilitated dis-cussions on state-specific climatechange solutions. One of the majorgoals of SAPCC (State Action Planon Climate Change) is to protect theState from the adverse effects of cli-mate change and improve its ecolog-ical sustainability.

Most coastal states have devel-oped climate change action plans,which are under the purview of theMinistry of Environment, Forest andClimate Change (MoEFCC).However, there are no clear guide-lines on how states should coordi-nate their strategies. In addition, itis less clear how the MoEFCC isgoing to steer independent min-istries towards a common climate-change mandate.

At the UN Climate ChangeConference (COP21) in Paris, abreakthrough was achieved in thefight against climate change and itsnegative effects. As part of the

agreement, all (192) countries havecommitted to reduce emissions andwork together to adapt climatechange. In addition, countries wereurged to strengthen their commit-ments over time. The countriesagreed to outline publicly what cli-mate protection measures theyintend to take in their IntendedNationally DeterminedContributions (INDCs). The INDCprovided India with a unique oppor-tunity to strengthen its institution-al capacity for climate change strate-gies, particularly in relation to devel-opment issues.But the INDC doc-uments are merely a collection ofdomestic policies with the exceptionof the forest pledge and is also lim-ited to ongoing actions rather thancoming up with new initiatives.There is little evidence to suggest thatthe NDC has made any additionalcontribution to the development andimprovement in a national climatepolicy. However, the process of itsformation demonstrated a deliber-ate attempt at inter-ministerial coor-dination. MoEFCC initiated inten-sive consultations with various min-istries, departments, state authoritiesand inter-ministerial committeeswere constituted to prepare sector-specific background materials.Research organizations and thinktanks were also consulted for inputon modelling studies.

The question arises, what can bedone at grassroots level to maketrees, forests, and biodiversity moreresilient and more adaptable to theimpending climate crisis? Climatechange and other environmentalchallenges have made it crucial tounderstand how we can buildresilience in society, nature andinterconnected socio-ecological sys-tems.

It is imperative that not onlypoliticians and bureaucrats, but all

groups of citizens are enlightenedenough to take action and put pres-sure on the decision makers torespect the forest for its ecologicalservices in the context of climatechange in India.

Climate change will have a last-ing impact on the way we produce,transport, build, and think aboutforests. Therefore massive efforts arerequired to promote research inengineering, agriculture, architec-ture, transportation, and health ser-vices, as pollution is one of the maincauses of most illnesses in India.

To keep the environmenthealthy, India needs more resilientplan driven by communities.Furthermore, to protect communi-ties, we need to develop ecological& reliable technical solutions.Different methods are required toachieve carbon-free agriculture,architecture, transport, production,and consumption, etc.

It is important to include'Conservation of Forest' in earlychildhood education so that the chil-dren become more conscious oftheir actions from a young age.Empathy towards environment andall living creatures is an importantvalue that schools need to inculcatein children. Broad brush approachneeds to be refined in order to makecurriculum more interesting forstudents of diverse streams.

Climate change has global impli-cations and nations must take coor-dinated action to reduce emissionsand adapt to climate change.Diplomats from developed countriessuch as the United States, Germany,Netherlands, Japan and other EUcountries should prioritize fosteringinternational cooperation to trans-fer technologies and funds forresearch, education, forest conserva-tion and development of forestresources.

(The writer is a formerIndian Forest Service offi-cer. The views expressed

are personal.)

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Wellington: Chinese PresidentXi Jinping warned on Thursdayagainst letting tensions in theAsia-Pacific region cause arelapse into a Cold War men-tality.

His remarks on the side-lines of the annual summit ofthe Asia-Pacific EconomicCooperation forum cameweeks after the U.S., Britain andAustralia announced a newsecurity alliance in the regionwhich would see Australiabuild nuclear submarines.China has harshly criticized thedeal. And in a separate illus-tration of strains within APEC,one Southeast Asian delegatetold The Associated Press thatthe group had so far failed toreach agreement on a U.S. bidto host the 2023 summit due tounmet demands from Russia.

Xi spoke in a pre-recorded

video to a CEO Summit atAPEC, which is being hostedby New Zealand in a virtualformat. Xi is scheduled to par-ticipate in an online meetingwith other Pacific Rim leadersincluding U.S. President JoeBiden on Saturday.

In his speech, Xi saidattempts to draw boundaries inthe region along ideological orgeopolitical lines would fail. Hisreference to the Cold Warechoes Beijing’s oft-stated posi-tion that the U.S. should aban-don that way of thinking indealing with China.

The Asia-Pacific regioncannot and should not relapseinto the confrontation anddivision of the Cold War era, Xisaid.

Xi also said the regionshould make sure to keep sup-ply lines functioning and to

continue liberalizing trade andinvestment.

China will remain firm inadvancing reform and openingup so as to add impetus to eco-nomic development, he said.

The most pressing task inthe region is to make an all-outeffort to fight the pandemic andto emerge from its shadow assoon as possible, he said.

Meanwhile, the SoutheastAsian delegate, who spoke onthe condition of anonymitybecause they weren’t authorizedto publicly discuss the issue,said Russia had refused to sup-port the U.S. bid unless someof its diplomats were removedfrom a U.S. blacklist or allowedto enter the U.S. to participatein the APEC meetings.

The delegate said the U.S.is unlikely to agree to Russia’sdemands because issues involv-

ing America’s security are con-sidered non-negotiable. Thedelegate added that China hadstayed silent on the U.S. offer.

If the 21 APEC leaders failto reach a consensus on the U.S.bid by Friday, the delegatesaid, a paragraph in a draft ofthe summit communique wel-coming the U.S. offer wouldhave to be deleted.

New Zealand’s ForeignMinister Nanaia Mahuta saidearlier this week that APEC wasfounded on consensus and thatthere was not yet a confirmedhost for 2023.

Human rights lawyer AmalClooney also spoke at the CEOsummit, saying she believedthat liberal democracies couldimprove global human rightsby pressuring autocraticnations. AP

������� �� ���4�������������5�� �,���������6��!���! LAHORE: Pakistan’s Punjab

province Government onThursday removed the name ofTehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan(TLP) chief Saad Hussain Rizvifrom the terrorism list, suc-cumbing to pressure from theradical Islamist party whichwas involved in deadly clasheswith the police.

The Government, howev-er, didn’t clarify whether itwill pursue a number of casesregistered against Rizvi inwhich he was booked for ter-rorism charges.

According to a notificationissued by the provincialGovernment, Rizvi’s name hasbeen removed from the FourthSchedule, a list of proscribedindividuals who are suspectedof terrorism or sectarianismunder the Anti-Terrorism Act(ATA) 1997.

Rizvi, who was arrested onApril 12 ahead of planned

protests by the TLP, has beenlanguishing at Kot Lakhpat jailunder terrorism charges.

His name was placed onthe Fourth Schedule shortlyafter, on April 16.

A source in the Punjabgovernment told PTI that Rizviis facing over 100 FIRs underterrorism and murder, attempt-ed murder and other cases.

The decision to removeRizvi’s name from the terrorismlist comes days after the ImranKhan government entered intoa ‘secret agreement’ with theTLP.

The federal Governmenthas already lifted the ban on theTLP, citing in the larger nation-al interest.

Early this week, tens ofthousands of TLP workersended their over a week-longsit-in at Wazirabad, some150kms from Lahore, theywere holding to press the gov-

ernment to expel the Frenchambassador over blasphemoussketches of ProphetMuhammad, release of its chiefSaad Hussain Rizvi and revokethe group’s proscribed status.

It is expected that Rizvi willbe freed from jail soon.

However, the source saidthat the expulsion of the Frenchenvoy does not figure in secretagreement between the gov-ernment and the TLP.

The government has alsoset free over 1,200 TLP work-ers so far arrested during theclashes with the police inLahore and on way toWazirabad, in which 11Islamists and eight policemenlost their lives.

The TLP had launchedprotests on October 18 fromLahore and announced tomarch to Islamabad to force theGovernment to accept itsdemands. PTI

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BEIJING: Leaders of China’sruling Communist Party onThursday set the stage forPresident Xi Jinping to extendhis rule next year, praising hisrole in the country’s rise as aneconomic and strategic power

and approving a political his-tory that gives him statusalongside the most importantparty figures.

Central Committee mem-bers declared Xi’s ideology the“essence of Chinese culture” as

they wrapped up a leadershipmeeting. In unusually effusivelanguage even for a Chineseleader, a party statement said itwas “of decisive significance”for “the great rejuvenation ofthe Chinese nation.”

Xi, who has amassed morepersonal authority than anyleader since at least DengXiaoping in the 1980s, haswidely been expected to pursuea third five-year term as partygeneral secretary. That wouldbreak with a two-decade-oldparty tradition that wouldrequire the 68-year-old leaderto step down next year.

The party leadership’s res-olution on its history is only thethird since its founding 100years ago, following one underMao Zedong, the first leader ofthe Communist government,and another under Deng. AP

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WASHINGTON: President JoeBiden, whose son Beau was anIraq war veteran, is using hisfirst Veterans Day in office toannounce an effort to betterunderstand, treat and identifymedical conditions suffered bytroops deployed to toxic envi-ronments.

It centers on lung problemssuffered by troops who breathein toxins and the potentialconnection between rare res-piratory cancers and time spentoverseas breathing poor air,according to senior WhiteHouse officials. Federal officialsplan to start by examininglung and breathing problemsbut said they will expand theeffort as science identifiespotential new connections.

Biden planned to travel toArlington National Cemeteryin Virginia on Thursday to par-

ticipate in a wreath-laying cer-emony and deliver remarks.

The new federal effort isalso designed to make it easi-er for veterans to make claimsbased on their symptoms, tocollect more data from troopswho are suffering and to giveveterans more time to makemedical claims after symp-toms such as asthma and sinusproblems develop.

“We’re discovering there isa whole host of lung conditionsrelated to deployment,” said Dr.Richard Meehan, an immu-nologist and rheumatologist.The retired U.S. Naval Reserveofficer, who served in theMideast during the 1990s andagain in 2008, is co-director ofthe Denver-based NationalJewish Hospital Center forExcellence on Deployment-Related Lung Disease. AP

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London: India has highlightedthe need to focus on the emis-sions related to two and threewheelers alongside other vehi-cles as part of a zero emissionstarget at the COP26 summit inGlasgow.

Under the EmergingMarkets and DevelopingEconomies section of theCOP26 declaration on accel-erating the transition to 100 percent zero emission cars andvans’ released on Wednesday,India flagged the importance offocussing on all kinds of vehi-cles on the road to cleanertransport.

NITI Aayog, on behalf ofthe government of India,extended its support to thenon-binding COP26 declara-tion, focused on a global-levelacceleration of transition tozero-emission vehicles.

Two-wheelers and three-wheelers constitute more than70 per cent of global sales andmore than 80 per cent in India.All governments should alsosupport the transition of theselight vehicles to zero emissionvehicles, notes India’s inputs onthe declaration.

PTI

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,�����������!������%����(�� ���������'����,����COPENHAGEN: Sweden hascharged two executives of aSwedish oil exploration andproduction company for com-plicity in the military’s warcrimes in Sudan from 1999 to2003, including in its dealingswith the country’s regime tosecure the company’s oil oper-ations in the African nation.

The two, who were notidentified by the SwedishProsecution Authority, had “adecisive influence” on the busi-ness of Stockholm-basedLundin Oil AB in Sudan, theprosecutors said, adding onewas indicted for complicity forthe period May 1999-March2003, and the other for theperiod October 2000-March2003. Lundin Oil later becameLundin Petroleum and is nowknown as Lundin Energy.

From 1983 to 2005, Sudanwas torn apart by a civil warbetween the Muslim-dominat-ed north and Christian south.A separate conflict in Darfur,the war-scarred region of west-ern Sudan, began in 2003.Thousands of people werekilled and nearly 200,000 dis-placed. AP

Seoul: Senior US and SouthKorean diplomats discussedhow to restart stalled talkswith North Korea on Thursday,days after the North conduct-ed artillery firing drills in its lat-est weapons tests.

US Assistant Secretary ofState for East Asian and PacificAffairs Daniel Kritenbrink wasin Seoul for talks on securityissues including North Korea,economic cooperation andother matters.

Kritenbrink and his SouthKorean counterpart Yeo Seung-bae agreed on the importanceof pursuing stability on theKorean Peninsula.

The two discussed ways toresume the talks with NorthKorea as quickly as possible, theSouth Korean Foreign Ministrysaid in a statement.

The US Embassy in Seoultweeted that the two spokeabout “how our Alliance cancontinue to promote the rules-based international order in theIndo-Pacific & beyond.”Since September, North Koreahas conducted a spate of mis-sile and other weapons tests,including the artillery drills lastSaturday.

Some experts say NorthKorea aims to pressure the USand South Korea to recogniseit as a nuclear state in the hopethey will work to ease interna-tional sanctions on the North.

Nuclear diplomacybetween Washington andPyongyang largely remainsstalled since early 2019.

Kritenbrink separately metwith South Korean officialsand discussed economic rela-tionships and partnerships . AP

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Mumbai:Key stock marketindices Sensex and Niftydeclined for a third straight dayon Thursday due to heavy sell-ing in banking, financials andinfra stocks following globalinflationary concerns and for-eign fund outflows.

The equity benchmarkSensex tumbled by 433.13

points or 0.72 per cent to closeat 59,919.69 points as 24 of itsscrips declined.

The index had openedlower and later touched a day’slow of 59,656.26 points asbanking giants SBI and ICICIBank and HDFC took a beat-ing.

PTI

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Indian economy is expectedto grow by more than 10 per

cent in the current fiscal sup-ported by a record kharif cropand bright rabi prospects, NitiAayog Vice-Chairman RajivKumar has said.

Kumar, however, cau-tioned that inflation is emerg-ing as a key risk to sustainableglobal economic recovery withsupply chain constraints andrising energy prices.

“We expect India’s realGDP growth in FY22 to exceed10 per cent supported by arecord kharif crop and brightrabi prospects. This will boostrural demand and spur the

revival in the manufacturingsector with improving capaci-ty utilisation,” he wrote in NitiAayog’s newsletter ‘arthNITI’.

According to Kumar, sig-nificant increase in exportswill also boost economicgrowth and employment gen-eration. “Gradual pickup incontact-intensive services sec-tor is further likely to supportthe growth momentum. Indiaachieved the landmark mile-stone of administering 1 billionCovid-19 vaccine doses on 21October, he said. The NitiAayog Vice-Chairman alsonoted that the rapid vaccina-tion drive across the countrywill ensure that the risk offuture wave is minimised.

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The auction for the 5G spec-trum is likely to take place

around April-May next year,Communications MinisterAshwini Vaishnaw said onThursday.

While relief measuresannounced in September thisyear for telecom operatorsmarked the first set of reforms,the government will bring outa series of further reforms and“telecom regulatory structureshould change in coming 2-3years”, Vaishnaw said.

Speaking at the ‘TimesNow Summit 2021’, the minis-ter said India’s telecom sectorregulation has to be bench-marked with the global best,and added that “so, we willcome with a series of reformsin this, such that the globalbenchmark of regulations isachieved in India”.On the time-line for 5G auctions, Vaishnawnoted that the Telecom

Regulatory Authority of India(Trai), which looks at the struc-ture of auctions, is undergoingconsultations on the matter.

“I think they will submittheir report by February-mid iswhat we are thinking, maybeFebruary-end, maximum tomaximum March. Immediatelyafter that, we will have the auc-tions,” he said.

The comment assumessignificance as the Departmentof Telecommunications (DoT)was earlier hopeful of holding5G auctions by the end of thecurrent fiscal.

Giving a specific timelinefor the upcoming auction willbe difficult at this stage sincemuch depends on the time Traiwill take to finalise its views, theminister added. “But, today,our estimate is by April-May. Iwas earlier estimating March.But, I think it willtake...Because consultations arecomplex, diverse opinions arecoming...,” he said.

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India’s GDP will rise by USD406 billion by 2050 and more

than 43 million jobs will be cre-ated, as the Asia’s third-largesteconomy leaps towards a net-zero target, according to areport by Observer ResearchFoundation (ORF).

At the 2021 ClimateChange Conference, alsoknown as COP26, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi out-lined a net-zero emissions tar-get by 2070 for India. Also,India is targeting to increase itslow-carbon power capacity to500 gigawatts (GW) by 2030,and meet 50 per cent of itsenergy requirements fromrenewable energy by 2030.

“India’s net-zero carbonemissions target of 2070 ismomentous and praisewor-thy, but highly ambitious to saythe least,” an ORF statementsaid.

Structural changes andaccelerants required to steerthis transformation while bal-ancing the twin goals of sus-tainability and developmentare detailed in the report‘Shaping Our Green Future:Pathways and Policies for aNet-Zero Transformation’.

The report, ORF said, is acompendium of essays thatoffers possible solutions to sev-eral pressing questions andaims to provide a roadmap forIndia’s transition to a decar-bonised and green economy.

“The net-zero pathwaywill require committing to alegally binding net-zero targetby a fixed year,” said JayantSinha, Chairperson of theStanding Committee onFinance, in the report.

A legally binding net-zerotarget and supportive govern-ment policies can lead to mas-sive investments in green tech-nologies and equipment.

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The states will forego around�44,000 crore of tax rev-

enue after they reduced VAT onpetrol and diesel in thereminder of the fiscal but high-er central tax devolution of�60,000 crore will offset thelosses, according to a report.

After months of calls forlowering the taxes on the fuels,the Centre on November 4 cutexcise duty on diesel by Rs 10a litre and by �5 on petrol.Following this, as many as 25states and Union territorieshave lowered value-added tax(VAT) on these fuels.

The FY22 revenue loss ofthe states from tax cut is

around �44,000 crore, of which�35,000 crore is by way of lowerVAT and the rest indirectly,Aditi Nayar, chief economist atrating agency ICRA, toldreporters on Thursday.

But, the states are not actu-ally losing money as they aregetting �60,000 crore of addi-tional revenue from the Centreas part of the higher-than-budgeted tax devolution, shesaid.

While the Central excisereduction leads to no directrevenue loss to the states, thereduction of VAT, which islevied on an ad valorem basis,the excise cut will lower theirVAT inflows by �9,000 crore,Nayar said.

����� 9.:��.;�2

The Union Civil AviationMinister Jyotiraditya

Scindia on Thursday launchedthe e-governance for CivilAviation (e-GCA) online plat-form through which theDirectorate General of CivilAviation will provide 298 ser-vices including pilot licensingand medical examination. Theonline platform will provideservices to various DGCAstakeholders such as Pilots,Aircraft MaintenanceEngineers, Air TrafficControllers, Air Operators,Airport Operators, FlyingTraining Organisations,Maintenance and Design orga-nizations, among others.

The launch of the e-GCA

project under DGCA was partof the Minister’s 100-day planfor the aviation sector. The por-tal was developed by TataConsultancy Services.

“Two hundred and nine-ty-eight services have beenmoved to the e-GCA platform- 99 in the first two phases and198 in the next two phases. Thefirst 99 cover about 70-75 percent of what DGCA doesincluding pilot licensing, med-ical examinations, permissionto flying training organisa-tions and connecting regionaloffices to the headquarters,” hestated.

The next two phases coverthe remaining 30 per cent ser-vices of the DGCA, he said inhis speech after launching theonline platform ‘e-GCA’ here.

“And through this transforma-tion (DGCA to e-GCA), wehave achieved a number ofobjectives of becoming a singlewindow online service plat-form, eliminating proceduralinefficiencies and automatingregulatory reporting,” he noted.

On pilot licensing throughthe e-GCA platform, Scindiasaid, “In India, we have close to17,860 CPLs (commercial pilotlicenses). Add to that, there arealmost 1500 helicopter pilotlicenses. There are close toanother 10,000 PPLs (privatepilot licenses). So you are look-ing at a universe of almost30,000 pilots”.

The medical examinationof pilots used to be a very cum-bersome process in the old sys-tem, he noted.

����� 9.:��.;�2

McAfee Enterprise andFireEye on Thursday

released Cybercrime in aPandemic World: The Impactof Covid-19 findings, revealingthe imminent need for organ-isations to prioritise andstrengthen their cybersecurityarchitecture.

The findings brought tolight that during the past 18months, 81 per cent of globalorganisations experiencedincreased cyber threats, with 77per cent of the organisations inIndia experiencing downtimedue to a cyber incident duringa peak festive season.

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Back-to-school anxiety is acommon concern. Many

kids experience stress going toschool after enjoying their sum-mer or winter vacations, whilesome become anxious whenthey go to a new school for thefirst time. Now after a longCovid break where studentsspent months out of the tradi-tional classroom and studiedonline at home, going back toschool might feel scary.

As schools prepare toreopen their doors, many chil-dren find it difficult to cope withthis decision. Children areuniquely impacted during thepandemic. They have stayed athome with their parents andmight have been affected due topoor health, economic andsocial consequences. The pan-demic has taken a toll on humanhealth and some might haveexperienced the loss of lovedones. On the other hand, wor-rying about wearing masks andbeing unvaccinated can makechildren more nervous aboutjoining back.

How to identify your childis anxious?

While the stress of return-ing to school is common in chil-dren, it is also important toaddress it. Being a parent or aguardian, one needs to identifythe signs of anxiety in childrenand help overcome them. Whena child is anxious, the majorityof the time he/she will neverexpress it in words. Instead, oneneeds to look for clues andobserve changes in their behav-iour.

Children who experienceanxiety or feel nervous mayappear more clingy than nor-mal. This behaviour is one of themost visible signs that can be lesspresent in older children butcommonly seen in primary-school-aged children. Apartfrom this, children become rest-less and they can be seen facingdifficulty concentrating. Thechanges in their eating andsleeping patterns can be seenand their complaints aboutstomach ache, upset stomachand indigestion increase.

Identifying anxiety in chil-dren is also crucial for parents.Untreated or unaddressed anx-iety can increase the risk of poorconcentration in children. Thisaffects their performance, rela-tionship with friends and teach-ers that might lead to other seri-ous consequences.

Ways to deal with anxietyThe most effective way to

overcoming anxiety is to makeyour child speak about what’stroubling them. Without judg-ing their point of view or feel-ings, listen to their concernthat will make them feel better.Here are a few useful tips to dealwith back-to-school anxiety:

�Make things familiarChildren become anxious

when they enter into a completestrange or unfamiliar environ-ment. Thus, as the schoolapproaches, try to make your

child familiar with the environ-ment they might experience onthe first day of their school. Notbeing comfortable about theirschool environment can makethem nervous and develop anx-iety. It is better to tell them aboutnew guidelines, rules and safe-ty measures taken by the schoolto give them time to prepare forthings that will be new forthem.

�Assure they are not aloneSpread positivity around

the child and make them under-stand they will not be alone infollowing stringent safety rules.Other students and their friendswill also be a part of the newenvironment and teachers willalways be there to make themcomfortable. Remind them ofthe time they spent in school inthe pre-Covid era, enjoyingtheir favourite activity with theirloving friends and teachers. Afeeling of reconnecting mighthelp in easing their anxiety.

�Be present for them in needTransitioning from home to

school after a long break can beextremely difficult for children.Make an effort to be there withthem at least in the initial daysof school. Offer your supportand provide counselling beforethey re-join. After coming back,give them time and listen to howtheir day went to make sure yourchild expresses his/her feelingsand concerns.

�Promote healthy livingThe best way to address and

combat anxiety in children is bymaking them indulge in healthyhabits. Observe their eating andsleeping habits and makeimprovements in their schedule.A child needs to eat a balanceddiet, sleep properly and developphysical exercise habits to makesure their brain functions prop-erly. Healthy living can alsoboost their mood, release happyhormones and help with betterconcentration.

�Know when to seek outsidehelp

If anxiety in children per-sists for a longer period evenafter trying your best, it's timeto get serious about it. Seek addi-tional help — talk to your child’steacher or counsellor to makethem feel relaxed. The phase ofanxiety is temporary and acounsellor can play a critical rolein easing anxiety in children.

Summing upThe key to overcoming anx-

iety in children is to address iton time. Be present for yourchild always. Understand whatthey are going through whichmight be a challenging situationfor them. Spreading positivitythrough your words and extend-ing unconditional support canhelp the child manage theirstress and anxiety with muchmore ease.

(The author is MBBS, MDin Paediatrics and consultantat Apollo Cradle & Children’s

Hospital, Amritsar.)

For ages, we have been hearing thatessential oils have always been

used in beauty rituals helping to givethe best and all-natural results to yourskin. Keeping that in mind, face oilscontinue to have their growing pop-ularity for those looking for all-nat-ural skin type glow.

From having oily skin to dry orsensitive skin, using oils daily cansurely help you have a beautiful andever-glowing skin.

Below is the list of effective oilsgood for particular skin types:

�Oily skinJojoba oil Jojoba oil regulates sebum, it

helps to trick your skin that there isenough oil and sebum present so itdoesn't need additional oil to be pro-tected and hydrated by.

The oil is good and beneficial forones with oily skin, helping them toremove their makeup at ease.

You can even apply overnightwhich will directly help you reduce thesecretion of oil from your pores giv-ing you, as a result, glowing skin.

Grapeseed oilUsing grapeseed oil is beneficial

due to the oil being high in linoleic acidas this acid helps to reduce cloggedpores which, in turn, naturally helpsreduce the natural oily content.

The oil is good in treating oily oracne-prone skin as it has omega-6 fattyacid which can be used as a skin bar-rier, reducing the water loss from the

skin, and fighting acne. Helps in hydrating as it contains

vitamin C and vitamin E, whichensures that your skin appears tighterand more youthful.

�Dry skinAlmond oilThis oil has been used for ages in

treating dry skin conditions includingfacial eczema.

Almond oil is a good option if youhave rashes on your skin or anyinfections on your face, the oil worksbeautifully on it.

Dry skin gets dehydrated moreoften which gives you a dull and tiredlook, applying almond oil on your faceregularly will revitalize and rejuvenateyour skin making it look hydrated andbrighter.

Marula oilMarula oil is a wonderful mois-

turizer very lightweight that pene-trates so easily in your skin provingit to be an effective moisturizer for dryand aging skin.

It is especially ideal for ultra-dryand chapped skin as it has amazinghealing properties that enhance yourskin firmness making it smoother andsoft

�Acne-prone skinPomegranate oil

Pomegranate oil contains natur-al antimicrobials Vitamin C whichhelps fight against bacteria and fun-gus treating from acnes

If you are annoyed because ofyour acne-prone skin, Pomegranateoil seed oil will offer salvation andsolutions as it contains antimicrobialand anti-inflammatory properties.

If this oil is mixed with your sun-screen, it levels up the game giving adaily boost to your sun protection,adding an edge to SPF.

Rosehip oilThis oil is commonly used for

solving acne problems due to theabundance of vitamins, antioxidantsand essential fatty acids.

Rosehip oil contains fatty acidswhich helps to not only have mois-ture in your skin but even locks themoisture so that the skin retains it forlonger.

It is rich in Vitamin A and has thepotential to fight against age spots anddo wonders in your daily skincare bytreating wrinkles and acne prone skin.

�Normal skinArgan oilThe argan oil contains the anti-

sebum-effects which control the oili-ness in the skin and gives a smoother

and calmer complexion, This oilworks perfectly for both dry and oilyskin.

The oil gives a subtle, glowy lookif applied regularly.

It is an all-natural skin healer thatplumps fine lines, wrinkles and fightsagainst sun and pollution damage.

Retinol oilIt stimulates skin cell turnover,

which manifests an “exfoliating effect”making your skin brighter and more-toned skin with an increased level ofelastin.

The oil improves the texture,pumping your normal and healthyskin more smoothly.

�Sensitive skinMoringa oilIf you have sensitive skin and

have to think a thousand times aboutwhat to apply on your skin, moringaoil can be your best partner as it's thebest to be used as a moisturizer andbeneficial for delicate skin.

Sensitive skin gets easily affectedby pollution so if one applies moringaoil it protects and works as a skin bar-rier to let pollutants penetrate yourskin.

Be it your dry skin or oily skin,the moringa oil helps in nourishingand cleansing

Aloe vera oilSensitive skins are prone to sun-

burns so being called a burningplant aloe vera oil is effective in sooth-ing sunburns helping in skin repairsand building new skin cells.

The oil has an antioxidant effectthat helps repair breakouts on yourskin and even slow down the agingprocess of your skin

(The author is the founder ofLove Earth, a herbal and organic

skin-care brand.)

It will not be right to notappreciate the latest effortson part of a number of

organisations or hotels topromote India's rich culturalheritage, and bring the cur-rent generation one step clos-er to decolonisation. Don’t getme wrong, I’m all for goingglobal, however, inculcatingforeign traditions while for-getting or ignoring our own issomething unacceptable, inmy opinion.

Thus, when I receivedthe opportunity to explore theLadakh Cultural Festival atThe Claridges, I was full ofexcitement. I had not, yet, vis-ited the union territory (forI’m still exploring my initialbucket-list places in India),

and so when I tell you I wasmade to experience the actu-al culture at the event yester-day, I mean it.

In order to celebrateLadakh’s fascinating cul-ture, The Claridges, NewDelhi, is hosting theMighty Maryul Festival,in the heart of the cap-ital from November 10.The nine-day fest willexhibit resplendent artand artefacts, of whichI caught a pretty greatglimpse.

As I entered theClaridges garden, I waswelcomed by a charm-ing lady in a costume inbright colours. She saidsomething I could not

comprehend, and the reasoncould either be that I was

mesmerised by the vibran-cy or the not-so-valid factthat I did not understand

the local language.Everywhere I looked, Icould see performersand guests who hadtravelled all the wayfrom the largerKashmiri region.

Dr Latika Nath,a wildlife photogra-

pher from Ladakhwho is often known asthe ‘tiger princess’ forshe has pursued PhDin tiger managementand makes docu-mentaries on snow

leopards, was the moderator

for the evening. With a focus on Ladakh’s

beautiful fashion, delectablecuisine and revelling music,the event began with an infor-

mative and engrossing pre-sentation by Dr MonishaAhmed, a researcher on tex-tiles from Himalayas and anexpert on the Changthangregion of Ladakh. She sharedher knowledge on the tex-t i l es f rom L adak h andemerging fashion in thedemonstration.

It was followed by a cul-tural pop-up, a fashion showput together by renownedLadakhi fashion designers,Jigmat Norbu and JigmetWangmo, that entranced thespectators.

On subsequent days,Jigmat Couture’s statementpieces will be showcased atthe premises, where patronscan buy the sustainable

brand’s products and enjoythe al luring textures ofLadakhi craftsmanship. Thepop-up was accompanied byan enthralling live musicalperformance by a Ladakhifolk singer and instrumental-ist, Tsewang Phuntsog. Onhaving a word with Phuntsog,he exclaimed that he washaving the time of his life per-forming and bringing to lifehis local culture.

Also being exhibited arethe accessories of LenaLadakh Pashmina by StanzinMinglak and Sonam Angmo,and exhibitions by landscapeartist Kunal Batra, andThakalis Art Gallery. I pre-sume this will be a visualtreat for the art and historyenthusiasts.

Since the Ladakhi cui-s ine i s a major themethroughout the festival,noted chefs Pankaj Sharmaand Nilza Wangmo will bepresenting traditional andcontemporary flavours ofLadakh every night.

In a conversation withNilza, a Nari Shakti awardeewho also owns a restaurantcalled Alchi Kitchen in Alchi,Ladakh, she expressed, “I’mcooking all the main dishes ofLadakh, including the tradi-tional tea, the dzomo (yakcheese), a lot of herbs andmountain spices. Throughme, Ladakh food is travellingout of Ladakh.”

Speaking about her signa-ture dishes, she added,“People must try the Khamer,Yakini pulao, and Gur gurchao (salty tea with butter).”

I noticed that the cultureof Ladakh is similar toTibetan culture on many lev-els. Ladakh was hugely influ-enced by Buddhism whichreflects in the Ladakhis’ cloth-ing. The traditional Ladakhiattire includes the Perak, aheadgear studded with pre-cious stones and usually wornby women on special occa-sions, a Kuntop or a woollenrobe, and a Bok shawl thatwas inherently used bywomen to carry children.Men wear Goncha, a tradi-tional robe, and a Skeragwaist-band. The art and craftof Ladakh include wovencloth-like Pashmina, stick andwood baskets, carvings ofwood, and various paintings.The aforementioned tradi-tions will be displayed at TheClaridges till November 19.

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As the fall season is uponus, we crave to soak upthe romanticised gold-

en fall sunshine. CaféStayWoke, located in the heartof Gurugram's Worldmark, isjust the place to do so. Walkinginto the café, a strong yetpleasing whiff of freshlybrewed coffee took over mysenses. The café, resembling abeautiful glass cube, had thegolden-hour sun brimmingthrough the glass walls addingto the aesthetic. It offers bothindoor and outdoor seatingoptions. The black and gold-en décor adds a touch of ele-gance and sophistication to thecafé. The elegant, full-sizedcoffee bar at the centre, is trulythe heart and soul of thiscafé.

Once I was shown to mytable, I noticed the raw yetmatte-finished tables with apot of pink-brocade plant act-ing as the centrepiece. Shortlyafter, two refreshing drinks

were brought to the table.The first one was the StayWokelemonade, which resembledthe taste of a virgin mojito —minty lemony goodness —minus the calories! The otherdrink was a Kaffir lime kom-bucha served in an elegantflute glass. This was extreme-ly refreshing with a strongpunch from the kaffir limeleaves, leaving a sweet and fra-grant after taste.

This refreshing drink waspaired with a slightly spicy andtangy Chicken ghee roast.Served in a beautiful blackceramic plate, the colours ofthe bright red chicken poppedon the plate. The chicken waspaired with fried South Indianpapadam, garnished withcoconut shavings. This SouthIndian signature dish had justthe right amount of heat, tin-gling my taste buds gently. Thetanginess from the tomatoesand strong flavour from thecurry leaves and the mustard

seeds defined the dish. Thesebold flavours of the southmade the dish near-perfect.

The next dish was theAvocado toast. This superfoodhas garnered a lot of attentionin recent years but no restau-rant makes their avocado toastthe way Café StayWoke did.Served over either a sour-dough or focaccia bread slice,the avocados were mashedcombined with some creamcheese, finely chopped onions,coriander, topped with hempoil and pomegranate seeds.

This version of the classicavocado toast caters to theIndian palate and showcasesthe versatility of an avocado.The sweetness from the pome-granate and crunchiness fromthe onions with a hint of gar-lic worked well together.

On the table next was theKeema appam which took meon yet another trip to SouthIndia. The chicken keemarested on a bed of appam,topped with a beautifullypoached egg. As I ran myspoon over the egg, the deli-

cate white covering tore, giv-ing way to the runny yolk thatperfectly covered the keema.The appam was crispy on theoutside yet light and fluffy onthe inside. The keema, tossedin a variety of spices, had astrong flavour of the comfort-ing curry leaves. The best partabout this entire dish was thelightness of the meal. One cancomfortably eat an entire plateand not be over-stuffed!

For the mains, I had theVegetarian green Thai curry andthe Orange chilli chicken. As forthe Thai curry, the veggies areserved separately for thosewho don't prefer a lot of veg-gies in their curry. The curry isserved with kaffir lime rice,which adds a touch of freshnessto the heavy and thick curry.The flavours of the Thai curryand rice is as authentic as it canget and is a must-try! On theother hand, the fragrant chillichicken is more on the sweet-er side with just a dash of heat.The chicken so soft and tenderon the inside and crunchy onthe outside, wrapped in thethick, shining orange glazewill have you craving more.

Finally, it was time to endmy day with some dessert. Iwas served the signature Cloudpudding. Made with tendercoconut, this dessert was a setand had the consistencyresembling that of a pannacotta. Served on a bananaleaf, this soft, gooey coconutdeliciousness was the perfectway to end a satisfying meal.

At Café StayWoke, thevibe is relaxed, the food is deli-cious and the staff is courte-ous. If you're looking to havea good time with some deli-cious plates of food fromaround the world while soak-ing the sun and connectingwith nature, this may just bethe place for you.

In the last few years, theconvenience food indus-

try has shown rapid growthin India. About 79 per centof Indian consumers preferto have instant food due totime constraints as indicat-ed by the recent surveyconducted by theAssociated Chambers ofCommerce and Industry ofIndia (ASSOCHAM). Asper market reports, the con-venience food segment isexpected to show a volumegrowth of 5.8 per cent in2022. This can mainly beattributed to a busierlifestyle, the growing num-ber of nuclear families andmore people preferring towork late hours. Duringthe pandemic, as peoplestarted to work from home,the demand for conveniencefood spiked, and all esti-mates suggest the trend willcontinue to grow.

However, what changedafter Covid is the con-sumers' tendency to behealth-conscious of the foodthey consume. You see,most packaged food isloaded with preservatives,chemicals and highlyunhealthy ingredients likerefined flour and refinedsugar. These ingredients notonly help increase the shelflife of the food but also givethem their addictive flavourthat makes the consumerwant more and more. So,while they do offer the con-venience of carrying andeating wherever you wish,their health impact is alarm-ing, to say the least.

Post-pandemic, mostconsumers are relooking atimmunity and the role offood in building the same.The food industry in turnhas reciprocated with thetwo overarching themes ofproducts with better immu-nity and products with bet-ter nutrition for a healthylifestyle.

But the big question iswhether the products beingpitched as healthy or immu-nity-boosting offer thesebenefits or are they justtrying to ride the wave andmanipulate the consumers?The answer is always writ-

ten on the package. The FoodSafety and Standards Authority ofIndia (FSSAI) mandates everymanufacturer to specify the list ofingredients used to make anypackaged product. And whilemost of us tend to not considerthis key aspect of the package,that is where one should look tounderstand the health quotient ofthe offered product.

To put it gen-erally, prefermillets overwheat, whole-grain f lourover refinedflour, jaggeryor maple overrefined sugar.Any product thathas a list of chem-icals and raisingagents or names thatyou don’t consider asnatural food, should beavoided. Another hint is to lookfor shelf life as there is a limit tohow long you can store a com-pletely natural food withoutadding artificial preservatives.So anything that has a shelf life ofover five months is bound to haveartificial preservatives unless it isstored at sub-zero temperaturesor in a well-designed tetrapack.

These guidelines would mostprobably eliminate most of theofferings of major multinationals

as their scale of operationsmake it necessary to have alonger shelf life and be moreaddictive. This specific gap hasopened the gates for severalyoung start-ups that cater toniche demands by makingsmaller batches and deliveringthem fresh through their web-sites or modern e-commerce

platforms.Lastly, since

we live in ac o n n e c t e dworld, ourhealth isd i r e c t l ydep endent

on the healthof our fellow

beings and thehealth of our

environment. Fora portion of truly

healthy food, we asconsumers should

demand food that has apositive socio-environmentalimpact by using eco-friendlytechnologies to procure, processand deliver the food and creat-ing a social balance by offeringlivelihood opportunities torural India.

It is only when we startlooking holistically that wetruly appreciate the potentialhealth impact of the food choic-es we make.

(The author is a dentist andthe co-founder of Kivu, India's

first solar-baked cookies.)

TASTE OF ELEGANCE

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Cricket South Africa (CSA)on Thursday named a 14-

member South Africa ‘A’squad for the upcoming three-match four-day contestsagainst India ‘A’ inBloemfontein.

The home team will be ledby 32-year-old opening batterPieter Malan. The series, anopportunity for the players tovie for places in the seniorsquad before India’s upcomingtour of the country, will beheld from November 23 toDecember 9 at MangaungOval.

All-rounder George Lindeand fast bowler Lutho Sipamlaare in the squad with Warriorspacer Marco Jansen andKnights batter Raynard vanTonder also included.

CSA convenor of selectors

Victor Mpitsang stressed onthe significance of the series before the Indianteam’s tour.

“Test cricket remains oneof CSA’s key focus areas, alongwith ensuring that the formatcontinues to thrive and holdrelevance in our country.

“It is therefore vital that a

steady stream of talent contin-ues to emerge from our high-performance programme,”Mpitsang said in a pressrelease.

“The COVID-19 pan-demic saw the disruption ofthe South Africa A team’s fix-tures and CSA is pleased to seethe return of content for this

programme. We are lookingforward to more tours for thisteam in particular, as the Ateam programme is a crucialone to CSA’s overall pipelinestrategy.

“The senior South Africaand India teams will be clash-ing this summer here at home,so this is an ideal opportuni-ty for players with Proteasambitions to put their handsup and make a case for them-selves.”

On Tuesday, the BCCIalso announced the India ‘A’squad for the tour withGujarat’s Priyank Panchalnamed as captain of the teamthat also comprises PrithviShaw, Navdeep Saini androokie Kashmiri pacer UmranMalik.

South Africa ‘A’ squad: Pieter Malan (captain,

Rocks), Sarel Erwee

(Dolphins), DominicHendricks (Lions), Raynardvan Tonder (Knights),Sinethemba Qeshile(Warriors), SenuranMuthusammy (North WestDragons), Marco Jansen(Warriors), Migael Pretorius(Knights), Beuran Hendricks(Western Province), LuthoSipamla (Lions), GlentonStuurman (Warriors), GeorgeLinde (Western Province),Jason Smith (Dolphins), Tonyde Zorzi (Western Province).

Fixtures: November 23-26: 1st

Four-Day game at MangaungOval, Bloemfontein

November 29-December2: 2nd Four-Day game atMangaung Oval,Bloemfontein December 6-9:3rd Four-Day game atMangaung Oval,Bloemfontein.

New Delhi: The opening T20International between India andNew Zealand in Jaipur onNovember 17 could be played infront of a sizeable crowd with thehost association putting no restric-tions on entry of spectators witheven single shot of COVID-19vaccine. Those who are not jabbedwill have to carry a valid COVIDnegative test report which is notolder than 48 hours from the startof the match.

The Sawai Mansingh Stadiumwhich has a capacity of 25000 ishosting an international game aftereight years. “As per the current stateguidelines, we can have a fullcrowd. You need to be vaccinatedwith one dose or you carry a neg-ative test report which will bechecked at the entrance,” RajasthanCricket Association secretaryMahendra Sharma said. PTI

���� 9.:��.;�2

India is set to host the first-everyogasana world champi-

onship in June next year.The National Yogasana

Sports Federation (recognisedby the Sports Ministry) is work-ing towards building a strongculture of fitness, competition,well-being, and growth throughpractice and development ofyogasana. Addressing the open-ing ceremony of India’s firstPhysical National YogasanaSports Championships inBhubaneswar, NYSF presidentUdit Sheth said, “India is goingto host first-ever WorldYogasana Championship show-casing India’s heritage sport tothe world in June 2022.”

Yogasana sport for bothmale and female categories hasbeen included in the KheloIndia Youth Games, 2021.

���� 0�+���0�2

England were “devastated”to lose to New Zealand in

the T20 World Cup semifinalsbut proud to have fought“unbelievably well”, said limit-ed overs captain Eoin Morgan,who hopes to continue as theleader of the side.

New Zealand avenged theirheartbreaking loss in the 2019ODI World Cup final againstEngland on boundary count bybeating the same opponents byfive wickets in the T20 WorldCup first semifinals here onWednesday.

“Yeah, we’re devastated. Tobe on the wrong side of a closegame is not easy to take. Wefought unbelievably well on awicket that didn’t necessarilysuit our batting, but we man-aged to post in and around apar score,” Morgan said at thepost-match press conference.

“I’m extremely proud of theperformance that we put in.When you play really well, it

doesn’t always guarantee thatyou win games. Unfortunately,we found ourselves on the

wrong side of a really tightgame today.

“I hope to be back, I am stilloffering enough, and I loveplaying in this changing room.Incredibly proud to be theirleader,” said the 35-year-old,who has led the English T20side since 2014.

Sent in to bat, Englandposted 166 for 4 with MoeenAli remaining not out on 51.The Black Caps chased downthe target with one over to sparewith opener Daryl Mitchellplaying a pivotal role with anunbeaten 47-ball 72.

James Neesham also playedan important cameo, hitting an11-ball 27 with one four andthree sixes to take New Zealandto the final.

Morgan said England werein the game till the arrival ofNeesham, who completelychanged the complexion of thematch, playing shots not evenhis batters could execute on asluggish pitch.

“We were brilliant with the

ball. We were right in the gameprobably until Jimmy Neeshamcame to the wicket, if not aheadof the game. Everything workedright up until Neesham camein. It was a fantastic cameo inhigh-pressure circumstances.

“Throughout those inningseverybody struggled to clear theropes on both sides, that wasjust the nature of the pitch. Youhave to take your hat off to him.He played really well. We’veplayed against Jimmy a lot.He’s not struck the ball like thatagainst us ever. It’s really goodbatting.”

He also praised Black Capsopener Mitchell for his unbeat-en knock which was studdedwith four boundaries and asmany sixes.

“I’d say, so he’s played a hellof a hand today. He’s playedreally well against the No. 1 sidein the world and taken his sideright to the final.”

Morgan admitted that hisside was outplayed by New Zealand.

���� �+�02

Pakistan batters MohammadRizwan and Shoaib Malik are

suffering from “mild flu” andthey could be doubtful startersfor the T20 World Cup semifi-nal against Australia onThursday.

Rizwan and Malik, whomissed the team’s training ses-sion on Wednesday, though test-ed negative for COVID-19. Theteam has also cleared the regu-lar testing through the tourna-ment.

“Both players were tested forCOVID-19 and both tested neg-ative,” ‘ESPNCricinfo’ reported.

“As with the rest of theirsquad, they have cleared regularCOVID-19 testing through thetournament, including one acouple of days ago.

That is part of the ICC’s pol-icy to encourage teams to test as

often as possible,” it added.According to the report, the

two players woke up onWednesday morning with “light flu and low fever” andwere first advised to delay prac-tice but were later allowed to giveit a miss.

“Pakistan are not overlyconcerned at the moment abouttheir participation in Thursday’sgame, and will be reviewing theirstatus in the morning again,” thereport said.

���� 9.:��.;�2

India’s Tokyo Paralympics goldwinner Pramod Bhagat was on

Thursday named among sixshuttlers for the Male ParaBadminton Player of the Year bythe sport’s world body but noneof his compatriots featured in theable-bodied awards’ categories.

Reigning world championBhagat, who had won a historicgold medal in the men’s singlesSL3 class in the Tokyo Olympicsin September, was also namedalong with Manoj Sarkar for thenewly introduced ParaBadminton Pair of the Year,with five other nominees.

Sarkar had bagged a bronzein the men’s singles SL3 class inthe Tokyo Olympics.

The 33-year-old Bhagat,who had contracted polio whenhe was four years old, picked upthe sport after watching his

neighbours play. Initially, hecompeted against able-bodiedplayers before getting into com-petitive para badminton in 2006.Bhagat is also current worldnumber one and Asian champi-on in SL3. In SL3 classification,athletes with lower limb impair-ment compete. There was noIndian in the list of nominees inthe able-bodied categories.

Danish players ViktorAxelsen and Anders Antonsen,China’s Wnag Yi Lyu and Japan’sYuta Watanabe were nominatedfor the (able-bodied) Male Playerof the Year.

Axelsen was the gold medal-list at the Tokyo Olympics.China’s Tokyo Games gold win-ner in women’s singles, Chen YuFei, Spain’s Carolina Marin,Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying and Japan’sAkane Yamaguchi were thenominees for Female Player ofthe Year.

���� 0�+���0�2

Former England skipper Mike Athertonfeels New Zealand is the strongest team

across all three formats of the game at themoment after the Black Caps reached theirmaiden T20 World Cup final.

New Zealand registered a sensation-al five-wicket win over favourites Englandhere on Wednesday in the first semifinals.It would be their third final appearanceat an ICC global event in as many years.

Over the past few years, the BlackCaps have proved themselves to be a forcein all three formats. They reached the finalof the ODI World Cup in 2019, losing toEngland on boundary count and are theholders of the inaugural World TestChampionship title.

“They are an outstanding team, in allformats of the game really,” Atherton told‘Sky Sports’.

“They are through to another WorldCup final, they were a sliver away fromwinning the last World Cup in 2019, theyare the World Test Championship win-

ners. “Across formats, you would have tosay they are the strongest team at themoment so congratulations to them, a fan-tastic achievement with limited resourcesin terms of personnel and money andthings that we’ve often talked about,” headded.

Chasing 167, the Black Caps were onthe back foot when star opener MartinGuptill and skipper Kane Williamson weredismissed by Chris Woakes inside the firstthree overs of the reply.

England kept mounting pressure butopener Daryl Mitchell and JimmyNeesham had other plans.

Mitchell blazed his away to an unbeat-en 47-ball 72 before Neesham hit a flur-ry of sixes to give New Zealand the win.

“It just changed so quickly tonight. Fora long time in that chase,

I thought England were ahead of thegame,” Atherton said.

“The pitch looked two-paced andsluggish, no one really got going and sud-denly Neesham comes out and changedthat game with some fantastic hitting,”

Atherton said.Pakistan take on Australia in the sec-

ond semifinal and Atherton feels the for-mer champions have the edge over AaronFinch and Co.

“I’m going with Pakistan, I think theyhave got the best and most varied attackin this competition.

“You think of that attack: ShaheenShah Afridi, Haris Rauf, the spinners, thecombinations that they have so I reckonthey got the best attack and I think theywill win it,” he said.

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It was a “perfect and happyending” for Nisha Dahiya as

she emerged national champi-on in the women’s 65kg catego-ry a day after her dramatic“murder story” turned out to bea case of mistaken identity. The title clash ended in just 30seconds with Nisha, the U23world championship bronzemedallist, pinning her rivalJaspreet Kaur from Punjab.

Except for her semifinalagainst Haryana’s Priyanka, itturned out to be an easy day inthe office for the 23-year-oldNisha, who represents Railways.“It indeed is a happy and per-fect end to my campaign. I wasso stressed yesterday. I could noteven sleep. I was already low onenergy due to weight cut andthis incident just proved toomuch to handle,” Nisha told PTIafter winning her third gold

medal at the Nationals. It wasreported that Nisha had beenshot dead in Sonepat but laterit came to light that the deceasedwas her name sake and anupcoming wrestler.

Nisha’s agility and attackingmoves were too hot to handlefor her opponents. She stoodout with her leg attacks.

“Of course, an athletewants to be discussed andtalked about but I am sure notin this way. I want people toknow for my performance andnot for such freak incidents,”she said.

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Karolina Pliskova overcamea slow start before beating

Garbiñe Muguruza 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6) in her opening match atthe WTA Finals.

In a contest between twoformer No. 1-ranked players,the third-seeded Pliskovastruggled early adjusting tothe nearly 5,000-feet altitude ofGuadalajara, Mexico’s secondlargest city on Wednesday.

“The first set was not thebest from me. The serve wasamazing in the second set,many free points on the firstserve,” Pliskova said.

“Then it was a fightingthird set. I thought I just hadtoo many chances, didn’t makeit really, but happy it went myway in the end.”

Pliskova is playing theWTA Finals for the fifth time,having reached the semifinalsin 2018 and ‘19. The 2020 tour-

nament was canceled.She didn’t win any titles in

2021 but kept a high ranking byreaching the finals atWimbledon and Montreal, andthe semifinals at Cincinnati.

Pliskova now has a 9-2record against formerWimbledon and French Openchampion Muguruza, who wonthe Chicago and Dubai titles

this year and is making herfourth appearance at the sea-son-ending event.

“That was a very toughmatch for both of us. It was aone-point difference — I savedmany match points and is atough loss I fought as hard asI could,” Muguruza said.

“I´m happy with my fight-ing spirit even though I lost.”

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Mohammad Rizwan struckhis third half-century ofthe tournament before

Fakhar Zaman roared back toform with a 32-ball unbeaten 55 topower Pakistan to 176 for four inthe second semifinal of the ICCT20 World Cup here on Thursday.

Openers Rizwan (67 off 52)and Babar Azam (39 off 44) shareda 71-run stand before Zamanended the innings on a high withhis unbeaten knock.

The last five overs yielded 59runs for Pakistan.

Pakistan enjoyed their bestpowerplay of the tournament, rac-ing to 47 for no loss in six oversafter Australia put them in to bat.

Rizwan, who was down withflu ahead of the game, did not lookat his best early on and Babar tookthe lead in attacking the Australianpace attack. The Aussies werelooking for some swing early onbut they were not able to get it.

The Pakistan skipper beganwith a regal cover drive off a lateoutswinger from Josh Hazlewood.Babar, who had shown supreme

form in the group stage, looked insublime touch. Among the fiveregal boundaries he hit, his short-arm jab between deep midwicketand long-on stood out.

Leg-spinner Adam Zampa,who has been Australia’s go tobowler in the middle overs, final-ly got the breakthrough Australianeeded by having Babar caught inthe deep with Pakistan reaching 71for one in 10 overs. More than theball, it was the pressure created byZampa that led to the wicket.

Rizwan, who was droppedtwice in the innings, got into theact after Babar’s dismissal. The

wicketkeeper batter grew in con-fidence as his innings progressedand once he he got his trademarkhalf full half sweep shot right offHazlewood, he looked much moredangerous.

Australia did well from overs7-11, conceding only 28 beforeRizwan changed Gears.

He decided to take the attackto the impressive Zampa in the12th over which went for 14 runsand included a slog sweep for six.

Rizwan got his second six offHazlewood two overs later, dis-patching the seasoned pacer overdeep midwicket.

Zaman, who did not have a lotof runs under his belt heading intothe semifinal, hit a flat six over longoff to gain confidence.

With Zampa completing histidy effort, Pakistan were lookingfor a big over and that happenedto be the 17th when Hazlewoodwas hammered for 21 runs, includ-ing a six off a free hit.

After Rizwan’s dismissal,Zaman displayed his power hittingskills against Mitchell Starc, club-bing him for a six and four in a 15-run over.

Six-hitting machine Asif Alihad a rare failure in the tourna-ment as he was out first ball offCummins.

Zaman finished the innings onan exhilarating note, depositingStarc for two massive sixes to takethe team past 170.

Zampa (1/22 in four overs) wasthe pick of the bowlers forAustralia while Hazlewood was themost expensive, leaking 49 runs infour overs.

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Pliskova, Kontaveit open with wins at year-end WTA Finals

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