12
A fter returning of migrants in April and May ahead of the onset of monsoon due to the nationwide lockdown, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh have witnessed a record sowing of kharif crops so far. Interestingly, the area sown in Punjab is estimated to have declined due to lack of farm labourers. According to Agriculture Ministry’s data, the area under kharif crops increased by 88 per cent over to 433 lakh hectares till Friday as against 230 lakh hectares in the corresponding week last year. Due to good rainfall and adequate farm labourers, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have witnessed a record sowing of kharif crops so far. The Ministry’s data showed that the area sown in Bihar is estimated 5.11 lakh hectare as against 1.17 lakh hectare last years during the same period. Similarly, Uttar Pradesh has witnessed kharif crops plantation of 5.96 lakh hectare as against the 1.52 lakh hectare last year. Both these States have faced influx of migrant work- ers during the lockdown peri- od. UP and Bihar that account- ed for nearly 75 per cent of trains ferrying migrants back received 1,723 and 1,680 shramik trains respectively. Similarly, Chhattisgarh which also saw migrants’ influx, reported 13.40 lakh hectare kharif crops sowing compared to 4.38 lakh hectare last year. As per the Ministry’s data, farmers have planted paddy over 68 lakh hectare so far as compared to 49.2 lakh hectares last year. Punjab has reported decline in kharif crops sowing due to shortage of farm labour- ers in the State. The area sown in the State is estimated 15.40 lakh hectare as compared to 21.07 lakh hectare last year. Big farmers have managed to bring back labourers from Bihar and UP while the small and mar- ginal farmers are finding diffi- cult in the absence of labour- ers during the kharif sowing season. The Ministry’s data showed oilseeds and pulses, which are predominantly rain-fed crops, recorded highest increase as compared to the same period last year. With Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra planting soyabean over 42.2 lakh hectares and 29 lakh hectares as compared to 8.5 lakh hectares and 1 lakh hectares, respectively, during the corresponding period the total area under soyabean cul- tivation zoomed 225 per cent to 109 lakh hectares. T he Central Government has suspended flights link- ing Kolkata’s NSI Airport to six hotspot cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur in Maharashtra, Chennai in Tamil Nadu and Ahmedabad in Gujarat following a request from Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. A statement issued by the airport authorities said, “It is informed that no flights shall operate to Kolkata from Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai and Ahmedabad from July 6 to July 19, 2020 or till fur- ther order whichever is earlier.” According to sources, the order was circulated by the air- port slot allocation team fol- lowing directives from the Aviation Ministry. Earlier, the State Government had requested the Centre to suspend flights to and from these cities following which a letter from the State Chief Secretary was sent to the Aviation Ministry. It said, “West Bengal is also witnessing a steep rise in cases. A large num- ber of cases have been report- ed from people coming in the State from outside with infec- tion. The Government of West Bengal has decided to stop or curtail the movement of incoming flights and trains into the State.” The Chief Minister too had told the media “though our recovery rate at more than 65 per cent is higher than the national rate we have problems with the infected people com- ing from outside, particularly the hotspot areas … I have asked the Chief Secretary to write to the Centre about sus- pending flights from the high- ly affected regions.” She, however, said that “the flights connecting the cities in Bengal and those to States where the crisis is not that deep can be carried on.” While Bengal has a total of about 21,000 cases, out of which 6,200 are still active, Maharashtra with a total of 1,92,990 confirmed cases is the worst-hit State in the coun- try. Tamil Nadu has 1,02,721 cases whereas Delhi is at third spot with about 95,000 cases. Gujarat has registered about 34,600 infections. A day after a Deputy SP and seven others were fatally ambushed by history-sheeter Vikas Dubey and his cronies at Bikru village of Chaubepur in Kanpur, the administration razed his palatial house to the ground in two hours on Saturday. Ironically, the same JCB machine that Dubey deployed to hinder police raid on Friday, was used to demolish his house. Dubey’s two luxury vehicles were also damaged beyond recognition. During subsequent search, the police discovered an underground bunker used for storing arms and ammunition by the ganglord. The house had four newly- built rooms and it was sur- rounded by a 12 ft high bound- ary wall topped by two feet barbed wire net. Villagers told the officials at site that the house was built about eight years ago. The original house within the cam- pus was now being used a shel- ter for caretakers. The campus had four entry gates and all gates were wide enough for four-wheeler to enter. Besides, CCTV cameras were found inside and outside of the four gates to monitor entry and exit of visitors. Dubey lived in the newly-built four rooms about 80 metres away from the main gate. While one of the rooms was used by his father Ram Kumar Dubey, housemaid Rekha, her hus- band and two daughters lived in a room just behind it. A t least 13 inmates of the juvenile home in Noida tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday and they have been sent to Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Greater Noida for treatment. There are total 162 children at the observation home and Covid antigen and PCR tests were conducted on all the inmates and 17 staffers of the observation home throughout Thursday. The results of the antigen test came on Thursday itself, and 13 of the inmates were found positive. Of them, seven were new inmates, who had been serving the mandatory isolation of 14 days in two separate rooms inside the premises. While there are three rooms which have been reserved for the new inmates to serve quarantine, the remain- ing reside in five different halls. However, there are multiple common areas used by all the inmates. And officials suspect that the six other old inmates could have contracted Covid since they were using the same wash- rooms, water coolers in the common area. “The health department officials were of the view that the old inmates got infected possibly because they used the same washrooms, water cool- ers and touched walls and win- dows of the premises. Anyway, we are offering warm water, tea to the inmates twice to the inmates, who are also being made to do gargles. The water coolers have been removed,” said Dharmendra Maurya, caretaker of Noida observation home. Geneva: China did not come forward on its own to report to the World Health Organisation (WHO) that it had a problem in Wuhan following the virus outbreak late last year, accord- ing to the updated information the UN health agency posted about how it has handled the Covid-19 crisis so far. On December 31, 2019, the WHO’s Country Office in China picked up a media state- ment by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission from their website on cases of “viral pneu- monia” in Wuhan, according to the chronology of events enu- merated by the WHO. On January 1, the WHO request- ed information on the report- ed cluster of atypical pneumo- nia cases in Wuhan from the Chinese authorities. IANS H ealth Minister T.S. Singh Deo on Saturday instruct- ed strict action against con- tractors who fail to complete construction works related to Health Department buildings within the stipulated time. The Minister’s instructions came while he was chairing a review meeting of the Chhattisgarh Medical Services Corporation Limited (CMSCL) Progress Report at his official residence. At the meeting, the Minister queried about the status of under-construction buildings of sub-Primary Health Care Centers, Community Health Centers, District Hospital, and other buildings. He found some contrac- tors are intentionally delaying the construction works and thereafter he instructed that they should be blacklisted and money recovered from them. A total of 112 coronavirus patients were discharged after recovery in Chhattisgarh on Saturday while only 94 fresh cases were reported, offi- cials said. Forty patients were dis- charged from Rajnandgaon, the highest number discharged from any district. Among the positive cases found on Saturday, Raipur accounted for 35 patients. Likewise, Bilaspur 19, Bemetara had 9 cases, Narayanpur 8, Janjgir-Champa 7, Bilaspur 5, Raigarh and Dantewada 3 cases each and Korea and Jagdalpur had 2 cases each while Rajnandgaon district also recorded 1 patient. Currently, there are 593 active Covid cases while 2,526 patients have been discharged after recovery. So far 14 patients have died. RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

 · Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur in Maharashtra, Chennai in Tamil Nadu and Ahmedabad in Gujarat following a request ... informed that no flights shall operate to Kolkata from Delhi, Mumbai,

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Page 1:  · Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur in Maharashtra, Chennai in Tamil Nadu and Ahmedabad in Gujarat following a request ... informed that no flights shall operate to Kolkata from Delhi, Mumbai,

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��$� �������� 67��879:$

After returning of migrantsin April and May ahead of

the onset of monsoon due tothe nationwide lockdown,Bihar, Chhattisgarh and UttarPradesh have witnessed arecord sowing of kharif cropsso far. Interestingly, the areasown in Punjab is estimated tohave declined due to lack offarm labourers.

According to AgricultureMinistry’s data, the area underkharif crops increased by 88 percent over to 433 lakh hectarestill Friday as against 230 lakh

hectares in the correspondingweek last year.

Due to good rainfall andadequate farm labourers, Bihar,Uttar Pradesh andChhattisgarh have witnessed arecord sowing of kharif cropsso far. The Ministry’s datashowed that the area sown inBihar is estimated 5.11 lakhhectare as against 1.17 lakhhectare last years during thesame period. Similarly, UttarPradesh has witnessed kharifcrops plantation of 5.96 lakhhectare as against the 1.52 lakhhectare last year.

Both these States have

faced influx of migrant work-ers during the lockdown peri-od. UP and Bihar that account-ed for nearly 75 per cent oftrains ferrying migrants backreceived 1,723 and 1,680shramik trains respectively.

Similarly, Chhattisgarhwhich also saw migrants’influx, reported 13.40 lakhhectare kharif crops sowingcompared to 4.38 lakh hectarelast year. As per the Ministry’sdata, farmers have planted

paddy over 68 lakh hectare sofar as compared to 49.2 lakhhectares last year.

Punjab has reporteddecline in kharif crops sowingdue to shortage of farm labour-ers in the State. The area sown

in the State is estimated 15.40lakh hectare as compared to21.07 lakh hectare last year. Bigfarmers have managed to bringback labourers from Bihar andUP while the small and mar-ginal farmers are finding diffi-cult in the absence of labour-ers during the kharif sowingseason.

The Ministry’s data showedoilseeds and pulses, which arepredominantly rain-fed crops,recorded highest increase ascompared to the same periodlast year.

With Madhya Pradesh andMaharashtra planting soyabeanover 42.2 lakh hectares and 29lakh hectares as compared to8.5 lakh hectares and 1 lakhhectares, respectively, duringthe corresponding period thetotal area under soyabean cul-tivation zoomed 225 per centto 109 lakh hectares.

������ ����!���� .;9.���

The Central Governmenthas suspended flights link-

ing Kolkata’s NSI Airport to sixhotspot cities of Delhi,Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur inMaharashtra, Chennai in TamilNadu and Ahmedabad inGujarat following a requestfrom Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee.

A statement issued by theairport authorities said, “It isinformed that no flights shalloperate to Kolkata from Delhi,Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur,Chennai and Ahmedabad fromJuly 6 to July 19, 2020 or till fur-ther order whichever is earlier.”

According to sources, theorder was circulated by the air-port slot allocation team fol-lowing directives from theAviation Ministry.

Earlier, the StateGovernment had requested theCentre to suspend flights toand from these cities following

which a letter from the StateChief Secretary was sent to theAviation Ministry. It said, “WestBengal is also witnessing asteep rise in cases. A large num-ber of cases have been report-ed from people coming in theState from outside with infec-tion. The Government of WestBengal has decided to stop orcurtail the movement ofincoming flights and trainsinto the State.”

The Chief Minister toohad told the media “though ourrecovery rate at more than 65per cent is higher than thenational rate we have problemswith the infected people com-ing from outside, particularlythe hotspot areas … I haveasked the Chief Secretary towrite to the Centre about sus-pending flights from the high-ly affected regions.”

She, however, said that“the flights connecting thecities in Bengal and those toStates where the crisis is not

that deep can be carried on.”While Bengal has a total of

about 21,000 cases, out ofwhich 6,200 are still active,Maharashtra with a total of1,92,990 confirmed cases isthe worst-hit State in the coun-try. Tamil Nadu has 1,02,721cases whereas Delhi is at thirdspot with about 95,000 cases.Gujarat has registered about34,600 infections.

!� �� .�6!#<

Aday after a Deputy SP andseven others were fatally

ambushed by history-sheeterVikas Dubey and his cronies atBikru village of Chaubepur inKanpur,

the administration razedhis palatial house to the groundin two hours on Saturday.Ironically, the same JCBmachine that Dubey deployedto hinder police raid on Friday,was used to demolish hishouse. Dubey’s two luxuryvehicles were also damagedbeyond recognition.

During subsequent search,the police discovered anunderground bunker used forstoring arms and ammunitionby the ganglord.

The house had four newly-built rooms and it was sur-rounded by a 12 ft high bound-ary wall topped by two feetbarbed wire net.

Villagers told the officialsat site that the house was builtabout eight years ago. The

original house within the cam-pus was now being used a shel-ter for caretakers. The campushad four entry gates and allgates were wide enough forfour-wheeler to enter.

Besides, CCTV cameraswere found inside and outsideof the four gates to monitor

entry and exit of visitors. Dubeylived in the newly-built fourrooms about 80 metres awayfrom the main gate. While oneof the rooms was used by hisfather Ram Kumar Dubey,housemaid Rekha, her hus-band and two daughters livedin a room just behind it.

�������!������� 6;$8�

At least 13 inmates of thejuvenile home in Noida

tested positive for coronaviruson Thursday and they have

been sent to GovernmentInstitute of Medical Sciences(GIMS) in Greater Noida fortreatment. There are total 162children at the observationhome and Covid antigen andPCR tests were conducted onall the inmates and 17 staffersof the observation homethroughout Thursday.

The results of the antigentest came on Thursday itself,and 13 of the inmates werefound positive.

Of them, seven were newinmates, who had been servingthe mandatory isolation of 14days in two separate roomsinside the premises.

While there are threerooms which have beenreserved for the new inmates toserve quarantine, the remain-ing reside in five different halls.However, there are multiplecommon areas used by all theinmates.

And officials suspect thatthe six other old inmates couldhave contracted Covid sincethey were using the same wash-rooms, water coolers in thecommon area.

“The health departmentofficials were of the view thatthe old inmates got infectedpossibly because they used thesame washrooms, water cool-ers and touched walls and win-dows of the premises. Anyway,we are offering warm water, teato the inmates twice to theinmates, who are also beingmade to do gargles. The watercoolers have been removed,”said Dharmendra Maurya,caretaker of Noida observationhome.

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

������������������������������� ����������������!���������������"������#��$�%����#��$�&' Geneva: China did not come

forward on its own to report tothe World Health Organisation(WHO) that it had a problemin Wuhan following the virusoutbreak late last year, accord-ing to the updated informationthe UN health agency postedabout how it has handled theCovid-19 crisis so far.

On December 31, 2019, theWHO’s Country Office in

China picked up a media state-ment by the Wuhan MunicipalHealth Commission from theirwebsite on cases of “viral pneu-monia” in Wuhan, according tothe chronology of events enu-merated by the WHO. OnJanuary 1, the WHO request-ed information on the report-ed cluster of atypical pneumo-nia cases in Wuhan from theChinese authorities. IANS

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Health Minister T.S. SinghDeo on Saturday instruct-

ed strict action against con-tractors who fail to completeconstruction works related toHealth Department buildingswithin the stipulated time.

The Minister’s instructionscame while he was chairing areview meeting of theChhattisgarh Medical ServicesCorporation Limited (CMSCL)Progress Report at his officialresidence.

At the meeting, theMinister queried about thestatus of under-constructionbuildings of sub-PrimaryHealth Care Centers,Community Health Centers,District Hospital, and otherbuildings.

He found some contrac-tors are intentionally delayingthe construction works andthereafter he instructed thatthey should be blacklisted andmoney recovered from them.

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Atotal of 112 coronaviruspatients were discharged

after recovery in Chhattisgarhon Saturday while only 94fresh cases were reported, offi-cials said.

Forty patients were dis-charged from Rajnandgaon,the highest number dischargedfrom any district.

Among the positive casesfound on Saturday, Raipuraccounted for 35 patients.Likewise, Bilaspur 19,Bemetara had 9 cases,Narayanpur 8, Janjgir-Champa7, Bilaspur 5, Raigarh andDantewada 3 cases each andKorea and Jagdalpur had 2cases each while Rajnandgaondistrict also recorded 1 patient.

Currently, there are 593active Covid cases while 2,526patients have been dischargedafter recovery. So far 14 patientshave died.

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Page 2:  · Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur in Maharashtra, Chennai in Tamil Nadu and Ahmedabad in Gujarat following a request ... informed that no flights shall operate to Kolkata from Delhi, Mumbai,

From the chart topperKumkum Bhagya to thekids’ most loved shows

Aladdin: Naam Toh SunaHoga, our favourite shows areready to air fresh episodes aftera three-month hault. Actorscovered in masks and thecrew in PPE kits, is the newnormal on the sets. Joining thebandwagon is the sanitiserwhich is now leading from thefront.

Like everyone else, theactors are also struggling tomaintain social distancing onthe sets and not let thepandemic affect their actingskills.

“Day one on the set wasextremely difficult. You wakeup and get to hear so manydeaths and the increasingnumber of cases every day. Itis indeed disheartening. Itaffects you in some or theother way. You have the fear ofcatching infections. However,we all are taking utmostprecautions and there is aprocess of sanitisation thatwe have to go through beforeentering the sets. Also whenyou are shooting, you haveyour co-actors and it becomesextremely difficult to maintainsocial distancing. The newnormal on the sets haschanged completely,”Siddharth Nigam, who playsAladdin in Sony Sab’s Aladdin:Naam Toh Suna Hoga, tellsyou.

The whole day on the sets,he says, is spent on what if wecatch infection. “Earlier, ourfocus was completely on thescene, but now we have to takecare of other things as well,”Nigam says.

But like every coin has twosides, Nigam feels that thereare certain pros and cons ofthe shoots resuming.

“The good thing is that alot of people have got theirjobs back. The ones who weresitting at home, unsure ofwhat the future will bring arenow back at work especially allthe technicians and the spotdadas. They can now earn aliving. But one con of this newnormal is that, earlier we hada cast and crew of 200 people

but now that has been reducedto 50. But then it is foreveryone’s safety only,” headds.

Chhavi Pandey, who playsTara in Sony Sab’s Tera KyaHoga Alia, tells you that sheis excited to get back towork after a long gap.

“I am excited toenter the show as Tara. Ithas been a long gap sincewe have been shootingand I have beenmissing it a lot. It’slike a new startfor me as I willbe workingon a newshow aftert h i sd i f f i c u l tphase and Iam sure Iwill have funwith theentire cast.The characterof Tara is veryelegant and she isnow going to bethe Vice-

Principal of the Englishmedium section of the school.I am looking forward toplaying this character and Ihope the audiences will enjoyit too.”

Karan Jotwani whoplays Neel in Zee TV’sQurbaan Hua tells youthat his first first day onthe set was exciting yetapprehensive but the

production house hasmade sure that the set is

sanitised regularly.“That’s how it

was. But thatwas okayb e c a u s eeveryone wasa litt leapprehensiveabout gettingback to workamid the

Coronavirusscare,” Jotwani says.

The biggestapprehension was tofollow all the normsand guidelineswhile shooting.

“There were a fewapprehensions. One, once youget busy with a shoot, youforget about social distancing.Second, sometimes you justforget to wear a mask and youcan’t just take this risk whileon the sets. These are the twofears that I had,” he tells you.

For Jotwani, adapting tothe new normal is neitherhard nor that easy. “This is onething that we have to livewith. The rising number ofcases are of course a cause ofworry but then the recoveryrate of patients is high. Havingsaid that, no one wants to getthrough the pain of beingdiagnosed with COVID-19. Iagree that it is the new normal,but all we need to do is to bepatient and take proper safetymeasures,” Jotwani adds.

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� From modeling to an actor, how hasthe experience been?

It has been amazing and I can’tcomplaint. I started my modeling careerin Paris. I just wish I had explored thismore instead of coming to Mumbai anddoing TV. There were some decisions thatI was not sure of since I was only 18. If Icould turn back time and go back to Paris,it would be a dream come true.� How did your acting career begin?

Modeling and acting were nowhere onthe radar. I was studying Science andwanted to be a Genetic Engineer. But theroad completely changed for me. What Iam doing now, I am thoroughly enjoying.� Why TV?

Nobody from my family is from theentertainment industry. They are alldoctors or engineers. After my assignmentgot over in Paris, I was asked to come back.I was staying in Europe, there was a hugecultural gap between the two countries.The modeling world is also so differentfrom India hence I was asked to comehome. But I did a music video forUniversal and that was the video that Ekta(Kapoor) had seen. Everything thathappened was by fluke. It is only recentlythat I have started making career choicebecause it has taken me such a long timeto understand how the industry works andlooking to doing web series not that TVhas taken a backseat.� You have done so many TV show, whathas been the attraction?

For me, doing TV is just like any otherjob. I got into acting by a casting agent fora Balaji show. Since then it has been fromgetting into one contract to another. Thatis the reason how and why I ended upbeing part of so many back-to-back TVshows. It has been a combination ofquantity of work with quality. � What is a character that you loveddoing?

I loved playing Tanushree Ambolkarin Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani. A lot of peopleenjoyed watching the show. One of thereasons I enjoyed the role was becauseAmbolkar played fashionista in the serialand I love to dress up and got to wear thekind of clothes I wanted to wear.Everything about that character fell intoplace.� How important is it to identify withthe character one plays?

It has become an important part of menow after doing TV for so many yearswhere I am able to understand thatcontent. However, there were times whenI faced challenges while doing a show thatI could not relate to like the show Naaginwere I played a shapeshifter. I couldn’trelate to it. It was not like a sci-fi horror

drama. In Naagin, it was a full-on familydrama and in the middle of it, one wasshape-shifting and I couldn’t find aconnect.� What kind of roles do you love doing?

I been looking forward for a projectthat has action. I want to portray a strongcharacter. It could be a cop or an action-driven role.� Does that mean that you have hadsome sort of training in doing actionsequences?

No, I have not taken any formaltraining. But when I was in school it wascompulsory to be part of Taekwondo andgymnastics. We had to be part of othersports as well. Since childhood, I have beendrawn to sports so n action show is rightup my ally. Also, once doesn’t see too manywoman-centric characters on TV so Iwould love to explore this genre.� Are the OTT platforms changing the

content being shown?Definitely. I have been watching a lot

of shows now which have the concept ofwoman-centric drama. The latest one isAryaa starring Sushmita Sen. Because ofOTT platforms, a lot of content is beingrediscovered or is very close to reality. I amlooking to doing more web series. My webshow is releasing this month — TheGhost Thesis — a horror drama. I recentlyfinished dubbing for it. I play a professorhere and am part of a team who go huntingfor a ghost in a palace.� How do you choose your projects? Doyou have a checklist?

I don’t have one. I wish I had it. Wedon’t decide what kind of content comesour way. Sometimes, if you have a huge listof projects coming your way, it may bepossible to choose but the kind of workthat I get for TV is usually family dramaor saas-bahu sagas. There is no checklist.

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In this dark, senseless world ofultimate individual enterprise,you would get so many negative

vibes that chugging along the 10episodes will become compulsive.It all starts with Krystal Stubbs alsoknown as the Aligator Widow afterher husband gets eaten up by one,leaving her homeless, pennilessand for what it matters, betrayed.

The series takes some gestationepisodes to get going but once itdoes, Crystal’s compulsions,situations, survival kits and herundying ambition to make moneygets to you in more ways than one.You squirm, you get annoyed, youcringe and yet to support her fastgrowing unholy endeavours whichleave no friend or foe untouched.Played to the hilt by a well endowedKirsten Dunst, OBGICF, is a dittyon capitalism and some say, drawsits marrow from the famoushomeselling chain Amway.

Amwayish or not, it’s all due tothe machinations of a ruthlessentrepreneur (Ted Levine isbrilliant and in the skin of Garbo)making his billions using people bydriving them into falseentrepreneurial modes which makesthem mortgage their lives in theservice of Garbo, the God who is thereal demon.

Lives are torn apart, marriagesbreak, loving couples and fathersturn into maniacal liars — all thisas Garbo makes his money bygiving his workforce pittance.Whoever deigns to raise a protest oreven an eyebrow is dealt with by hisnaked foot assassin.

The story is dark, truthfullyloose on honesty, too dependent oneverything that’s not really right butthe way it is woven through may getit some converts.

There is humour to break intothe intense intrigue, there is pathosto ruffle up an unconventionalromance, there is a mirror to adream that is very American, andthere is a lot more for you to spendsome time with this series.

Put together by Robert Funke

and Matt Lutsky, the story encasesthe pull and predicament ofcapitalism in its most naked form,eating into middle class mentalitieslike a moth on a mission. Somescenes are so raw and telling thatyou are almost driven away fromyour next shopping binge.

But that would be putting itmildly. The spiralled life of Stubbswill catch the eye as much as theemotion of all discerning viewers ofthis differently enabled series.

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Now we know that whatever the casemaybe, the bad guys always end up inthe docks and the guy we thought was

the bad one, ends up saving the day. It bogglesthe mind how the writers can come up with astoryline where the only person who is able tocatch the bad guys is the bad guy himself. Thatdoes sound familiar and something that wefind in our Bollywood movies.

So while the faces may not be familiar, thereis a connection. Also, there is the whole chasesequence that even though one knows that thebaddies will die there is a kind of fascinationto keep clued in as to how things will progress,albeit along the expected lines, this one hour33-minute French film that is dubbed inEnglish has interesting moments but it isdefinitely not a patch on the Fast and Furiousseries when it comes to rigged cars that moveat lightning speed.

But if you love cars and know anythingabout the engines and how the mechanics work,you may want to see this one.

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Page 3:  · Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur in Maharashtra, Chennai in Tamil Nadu and Ahmedabad in Gujarat following a request ... informed that no flights shall operate to Kolkata from Delhi, Mumbai,

RAIPUR | SUNDAY | JULY 5, 2020chhattisgarh 03

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

The system of examinationand award of Doctor of

Philosophy (Ph.D) at theIndira Kala SangeetVishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh(IKSV), underwent a radicalchange on Saturday as regularclasses have been suspendeddue to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chhattisgarh Governorand Chancellor AnusuiyaUikey has given clearance forthe amendment of conduct ofexamination and relatedissues.

The AmendmentOrdinance Number 18(Conduct of Examination)and Ordinance Number 60(Degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy) have been issued.

As per the ordinance,except for final year semestercourse, the graduation(Under Graduate/PostGraduation) and Diplomacourses, the evaluation

methodology will be based onintermediate semester andyear-end examinationevaluation held by theuniversity and colleges.

The Governor directed

that the students should beinformed about the conductof examination and relatedactivities at least a fortnight inadvance.

Ph.D scholars, whose

thesis submission period hasexpired or is ending duringthe Covid-19 epidemicperiod, may be allowed sixmore months from thescheduled date of submission.

The University will holdthe examination based on thecircumstances of Covid-19.

All examinations con-ducted before March 14, 2020-- after which the nationwide

lockdown started -- will beevaluated under the criterialaid down.

The ordinance states thatthe scheme of internal assess-ment is 50 percent gradingmarks obtained by the stu-dent while remaining 50 per-cent marks will be based onthe previous semester oryear's performance.

If the subject is not avail-able in the previous session,then 100 percent evaluationwill be done on the basis ofinternal evaluation of the cur-rent session.

The students will be per-mitted to improve on themarks obtained in the nextsemester year for which spe-cial examination will be held.

Students’ attendance dur-ing the lockdown period willbe considered as "attended".

On completion of all theexamination and evaluationfor the current academic ses-sion, the special provisionswill automatically be consid-ered as annulled.

STAFF REPORTER nBIJAPUR/DANTEWADA

Nine Naxalites, includingfour with a total reward of

`16 lakh on their head, surren-dered in Chhattisgarh's Bijapurand Dantewada districts ofBastar division, police said onSaturday. One of them is atuberculosis patient and hasbeen admitted in a hospital.

Two Maoists surrenderedin Bijapur and seven inDantewada.

Makdam Deva, 36, whosurrendered in Bijapur, was anactive member of theJagargunda-Basaguda AreaCommittee. He joined the out-fit in 1995 and carried a rewardof `5 lakh on his head,Inspector General of Police(Bastar Range) Sundarraj. Psaid.

"Deva was involved in sev-eral attacks on police teams,including the Basaguda attackwherein two security personnel

were killed, as well as murderof civilians in the area," headded.

In his statement, Deva saidhe was disappointed as he wasdenied promotion in theMaoist outfit due to discrimi-nation by senior leaders fromother states against those whoare from Chhattisgarh, theofficer said.

Woman Naxalite SumitraChepa, who returned to hervillage after she was asked toleave a rebel camp on June 12as she showed flu-like symp-toms and the Maoists thoughtshe had contracted coron-avirus, also surrendered inBijapur.

"Chepa was active as sec-tion commander of MaoistsPLGA battalion number 1 andwas involved in attacks inSukma, including the 2014Kasalpad attack in which 15policemen were killed, and thePidmel attack in 2015 wherein

three policemen lost their lives.She carried a reward of `8 lakhon her head," the officer said.

"Her corona report is nega-tive, but she is suffering fromtuberculosis and is being pro-vided treatment at the BijapurDistrict Hospital," he added.

In Dantewada, sevenNaxalites surrendered afterbeing impressed by the 'LonVarratu' (Return to YourVillage) campaign launched bythe local police,Superintendent of PoliceAbhishek Pallava said.

Among them, a womancadre, Hadme Mandavi (20), amember of military platoonnumber 26, and LakhmaMandavi (26), a Jan Militiacommander, were carryingrewards of `2 lakh and `1 lakhon their heads respectively, headded.

The rest are lower rungmembers of the outlawedMaoist outfit.

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Creating awareness andpromoting cleanliness as

well as maintaining good san-itation at individual and com-munity level is set to fetchrewards.

Laying emphasis on sus-tainability of sanitation prac-tices, Chhattisgarh Panchayatand Rural DevelopmentMinister T.S. Singh Deo saidthere is a need to constantlymotivate the people toinclude cleanliness in theirhabit.

The focus should be onsolid and waste managementfor better sanitation in the vil-lages which have becomeopen defecation free.

Singh Deo was on Fridayreviewing the Swachh BharatMission (Rural) campaign athis official residence-cum-office.

The Minister called for a

permanent model of solid andliquid waste management inrural areas. It should be apractical and economicalmodel so that it can generatelong term livelihood for thoselinked to it, an official com-munication quoted him assaying.

Swachh Bharat Mission(Rural) Director DharmeshSahu briefed on the secondphase of the Mission in 2020-

25. He said those creatingawareness and promotingcleanliness and maintaininggood sanitation at individualand community level, atblocks and districts, will berewarded.

He added that under awork plan worth `930.64crore, 1.23 lakh householdtoilets and 5,043 communitytoilets will be constructed.

Work plan has been pre-

pared for 3,526 solid wastemanagement, 4,130 liquidwaste management and 54plastic waste managementunits among others.

The Ministry of Jal Shaktiis holding a CommunityToilet Campaign from June15 to September 15. In view ofthe return of migrant workersin large numbers, the govern-ment wants construction ofpublic toilets fast-tracked.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

In the current season for‘green gold’ (tendu leaves),

Chhattisgarh has collected9,72,697 standard sacksagainst the targeted 16,71,000sacks -- a 58 percent achieve-ment. Tendu leave pluckers

have earned `389 crore asincome so far.

According to an officialstatement issued on Friday, theChhattisgarh State MinorForest Produce CooperativeUnion has collected 81,998standard sacks from Bijapur

district, 41,083 sacks fromSukma, 3,511 from Dantewada,11,819 from Jagdalpur and11,485 from Kondagaon districtamong others.

The quality of tendu leavesfrom Chhattisgarh is consid-ered the best in the country.

STAFF REPORTER nRAIGARH

Two men from Bihar whoshot dead the driver of a

cash van and looted `14.5lakh while it was beingdeposited in the SBI ATM inRaigarh on Friday have beenarrested within 10 hours ofthe crime, police said onSaturday.

“Police apprehended theaccused within 10 hours ofthe incident,” RaigarhSuperintendent of PoliceSantosh Singh told the mediaon Saturday.

Around 2 pm, two bikersshot dead the driver, injured aguard, and looted the moneyin broad daylight in KirodimalNagar area of Raigarh.

“After intensive searchoperations following localinputs and CCTV feed, boththe accused were arrestedfrom village Kerajhar onFriday midnight,” said

Inspector General of PoliceDeepanshu Kabra.

Police recovered thefirearms used in the killingand the looted money fromthe men, the officer said.

Shortly after the incident,all routes leading fromRaigarh to neighbouring stateswere sealed and intensive raids

were carried out, added Kabra.The arrested men, from

Bihar, were identified asSudhir Kumar Singh (Siwandistrict) and Pintu Verma(Ramgarh district). Bothhatched the plan 15 days agoand carried a recce of theplace and followed the cashvan for four days, police said.

Both had earlier tried toloot the Union Bank onDhimrapur Road in Raigarh,said the police.

Police recovered 2 pistols,2 country-made guns, 3 mag-azines with 26 rounds, 2 livecartridges, 2 knives, the bikeused in the crime plus thelooted cash.

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chhattisgarh Governmenton Saturday decided to

re-open the RTO barriers(check posts) located in 10districts of state.

An order in this connec-tion was issued on Saturdaylate evening.

Earlier, on August 10,2017 the BJP governmenthad closed all RTO barrierswhile reasoning that afterGST there was not much useof these barriers.

After the order, 16 checkposts in 10 districts will startfunctioning.

The check posts that willbe re-opened are Patekorha,Chhote Manpur and Manpurin Rajnandgaon district;Chilfi in Kabirdham;Khamharpali and Bagbahara

in Mahasamund; Kevchi inBilaspur; Dhanvar andRamnujgunj in Balrampur;Ghuritola and Chanti inKorea; Rengarpali inRaigarh; Shankh and

Lavakera in Jashpur; Kontain Sukma and Dhanpunji inJagdalpur.

As per the order theflying squad will also startfunctioning. The departmentofficials appointed at thesecheck posts have beenasked to take chargeimmediately.

Notably, while closingbarriers in 2017 the thenPWD and TransportMinister Rajesh Munat hadtold reporters that the stategovernment was receivingrevenue of around `100 croreannually from thesecheckposts.

Munat had described itas an important step towardsmaking Chhattisgarh abarrier-free state. GSTimplementation was anotherreason for closing down ofbarriers, he had stated.

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh

Baghel alleged on Saturdaythat Prime MinisterNarendra Modi makes dis-crimination within soldiersdue to politics.

He made the chargewhile speaking to the mediaafter attending a meeting ofCongress District and Urban(City) Presidents held at theCongress StateHeadquarters, Rajiv Bhawan,Raipur.

The Chief Minister saidthat soldiers fromChhattisgarh were also mar-tyred on the border withChina but Modi onlyremembered and mentionedthe jawans of Bihar in hisspeech.

For the entire day, the

Prime Minister remained inan election mood, the ChiefMinister said.

The Prime Ministerpolitically starts working forthe state where electionshave to be held soon, Baghelsaid.

Rewards for promoting, maintaining cleanliness Two arrested for `14.5 lakh loot, murder

C’garh reopens 16 RTO checkposts on the state borders

As per the orderthe flying squadwill also startfunctioning. Thedepartmentofficialsappointed atthese checkposts have beenasked to takechargeimmediately

Nine Maoists surrender

Changes announced in examinations of IKSV

C’garh achieves 58% tenduleaves collection target

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chhattisgarh has decidedto buy cow dung from

farmers and dairy owners at`1.50 per kg.

Cabinet Sub-CommitteeChairman and AgricultureMinister Ravindra Choubeyannounced on Saturday thatthe decision was arrived at ameeting held at 'BheejBhawan". The cow dung willbe bought under the‘Godhan Nyay Yojana’.

The proposal will betabled before the Cabinet forapproval.

Cabinet sub-committeemembers Forest Minister

Mohammed Akbar,Cooperative Minister DrPremsai Singh Tekam andUrban Administration

Minister Dr Shiv KumarDahariya participated in themeeting.

The state government is

going to launch the ‘GodhanNyay Yojana’ from the‘Hareli’ festival (July 20) byprocuring the cow dung

from farmers and cattleowners. The plan is to con-vert it into vermi-compost,said an official statement.

The Gauthan Committeeor their nominated groupwill collect cow dungdoor-to-door. A procure-ment card will be made onwhich the quantity and paidamount will be recorded.

Agriculture MinisterRavindra Choubey directedAgriculture CommissionerDr M Geetha andAgriculture Director NileshKshirsagar to fast-track theconstruction of 10 perma-nent tanks for vermin-com-post based on the area of‘Gauthan’ in the state.

C’garh to buy cowdung at `1.50 per kg

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

The Chhattisgarh BJP willcontinue to aggressively

point out the failures of theCongress government in thestate, former Chief MinisterRaman Singh said on Saturday.

He was speaking to themedia after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s interactionwith BJP leaders and workersearlier in the day.

Reacting to Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel's comment thathe remained in Chhattisgarheven after being the nationalVice President of the party, Dr

Raman Singh said: “Why has hea problem with my beingnational Vice President? Theworking area is Chhattisgarh.And what work I do will bedecided by my party President.”

On procuring cow dung at`1.50 per kg, the former ChiefMinister said: “The state gov-ernment could not procurepaddy at the promised rate,the promise of two years ofpaddy bonus and unemploy-ment allowance to youth hasnot been fulfilled... Let thegovernment procure it but itshould also procure the paddyat the promised rate.”

BJP to remain aggressiveagainst govt: Raman

PM discriminates oversoldiers' deaths: Baghel

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The beleaguered health offi-cials in Maharashtra went

into a tizzy on Saturday, as thestate witnessed an all-time highof 7,074 new Covid-19 positivecases and the total number ofinfected cases crossed 2 lakhmark to touch an astounding2,00,064 cases.

The day also saw a sub-stantial increase in the numberof reported deaths, as 295 morepeople succumbed to the pan-demic in various parts of thestate. The total number ofdeaths mounted to 8671 in thestate.

The number of new infect-ed cases has been rising for thepast three days. On Thursday,there were a record 6330cases, the number rose to 6334on Friday and touched a newall-time high of 7074 cases onSaturday.

Of the 295 deaths, 124deaths occurred in the last 48hours and rest 171 are from theprevious period.

Of the total 198 deathsreported on Friday, Mumbaiaccounted for 68 deaths takingthe total number of deaths inthe metropolis to 4,830, whilethe total number of infected

cases shot up by 1,163 cases totouch 83,237.

On a day when the totalnumber of patients dischargedfrom various hospitals after fullrecovery since the second weekof March this year touched 1,08,082, the recovery rate in thestate stood at 54.02 per cent.The mortality rate in the stateis 4.33 per cent. The state

health authorities pegged thenumber of “active cases” in thestate at 83,295.

Out of 10,80,975 samplessent to laboratories, 2,00,064have tested positive (18.51%)for COVID-19 until today.

Currently, 5,96,038 peopleare in home quarantine while41,566 people are in institu-tional quarantine.

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Asserting that the proposed�8,250 crore Chambal

Expressway could be a gamechanger for the poor and trib-als living in far-flung areas ofMadhya Pradesh, Rajasthanand Uttar Pradesh, unionMinister Nitin Gadkari onSaturday urged these states toexpedite land acquisition, envi-ronment clearances and taxrelief for the project.

The project will also pro-

vide cross-connectivity withthe Golden Quadrilateral'sDelhi-Kolkata corridor, North-South Corridor, East-WestCorridor and Delhi-Mumbai -Expressway.

"The upcoming express-way could be a game changerfor tribals and poor living in thefar-flung areas, speciallyChambal region which is con-sidered as one of the mostbackward areas in the country.

"While farmers of all three

states will be the biggest ben-eficiaries to send their produceto Delhi Mumbai markets, thisexpressway will be a boon forprimitive tribes like Saharia inMorena, Sheopur and otherareas," Road Transport andHighways Minister Gadkarisaid, reviewing the project.

The proposed expresswaywill prove to be the newestmodel of infrastructure devel-opment jointly between thestates and the Centre, he said.The about 404 km-long

expressway provides an alter-nate route from Kanpur toKota through Madhya Pradesh,and then it joins the Delhi-Mumbai corridor.

Reviewing the project withMadhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shivraj SinghChauhan, Union AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar and BJP leader andRajya Sabha MP JyotiradityaScindia, Gadkari emphasisedon expeditious environmentclearances, land acquisition

and royalty/local tax exemp-tions to make the project seethe light of the day soon.

He underlined that landacquisition should cater to thedevelopment of wayside ameni-ties, besides industrial andcommercial clusters withpotential for having smartcities, mandis, hunar haats,among others, on both sides.

The expressway will offerhuge employment potential inthese districts and adjoiningareas, he said.

Stressing on the need tobring down the cost, Gadkarisaid royalty and tax exemptionson the project material will savemore than �1,000 crore.

He suggested that chiefministers of the states throughwhich the road will pass shouldchair State-level High PoweredCommittee meetings to sort allstate-specific issues which willfacilitate faster implementa-tion of the project.

Madhya Pradesh hasalready exempted royalty on

minerals for this project.Gadkari also said he has

directed NHAI Chairman S SSandhu to prepare the DPR(detailed project report) at theearliest.

The project is expected tobe completed in about twoyears after land acquisition.

The states will share the�650 crore land acquisitioncost.

He also suggested forminga Chambal DevelopmentAuthority for better coordina-

tion and progress of the region.The minister said the pro-

ject can also have logisticsparks on the lines of multi-modal logistics parks beingconstructed in Indore, Jabalpurand Jaipur.

Senior officers of the stategovernments of MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan and UttarPradesh, as well as the UnionRoad Transport and HighwaysMinistry and NHAI partici-pated in the online reviewmeeting.

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Uttar Pradesh's GautamBuddh Nagar on Saturday

recorded five more deaths dueto Covid-19, while 83 morepeople,including the chief med-ical officer, were found positivefor the infection in the district,official data showed.

The death toll due to thenovel coronavirus has nowreached 28, while the tally ofpositive cases rose to 2,646, thehighest for any district in thestate, according to the datareleased by UP HealthDepartment.

The number of active casescame down to 972 from 1,005on Friday, as 105 more patientswere discharged after treat-ment, the data showed.

So far, 1,646 patients havegot discharged from hospitalsin the district, it showed.

The recovery rateimproved to 62.20 per centfrom 59.98 per cent on Friday.It was 61.60 per cent onThursday, 64.47 per cent onWednesday, 65.36 per cent onTuesday and 64.76 per cent onMonday, according to official

statistics.The mortality rate of pos-

itive patients grew to 1.05 percent from 0.89 per cent onFriday, according to the statis-tics.

CMO Deepak Ohri haddeveloped influenza-like ill-ness after which he was testedfor COVID-19 and resulted inpositive, Gautam Buddh Nagarofficials said.

"He has been admitted toan isolation ward for treatment.His condition is stable," DistrictSurveillance Officer SunilDohare said.

Meanwhile, senior doctorNepal Singh will officiate as thechief medical officer of GautamBuddh Nagar, the officer said,adding the CMO's office hasbeen sanitised as per protocolsfor COVID-19.

On the other hand, 3,328tests were carried out forCOVID-19 across GautamBuddh Nagar on Saturday,according to official data.

Of the total tests, 20 wereTrueNat, 1,512 were RTPCRand 1,796 were antigen-basedtestings, the data stated, addingthat 1,488 surveillance teams

were deployed for door-to-door screening in the district.

Gautam Buddh Nagar cur-rently has the second highestactive cases of COVID-19 afteradjoining Ghaziabad district(1,118) in the state.

They are followed byLucknow (490), Kanpur Nagar(328), Meerut (283), Varanasi(231), Aligarh (210),Bulandshahr (167) andMathura (153), the data stated.

From Friday to Saturday,772 new COVID-19 cases werereported across districts in thestate, while 560 patients got dis-charged from hospitals and 24deaths were recorded duringthe 24-hour period, it showed.

As of Saturday, there are7,627 active COVID-19 casesin UP, while 18,154 patientshave got discharged from hos-pitals and 773 deaths havebeen recorded so far, it added.

There are 2,35,433 activecases across the country, while18,655 deaths have beenrecorded and 3,94,227 patientshave got discharged, accordingto a central government dataupdated till Saturday.

New Delhi: The Covid-19 pos-itivity rate in Delhi has declinedto 10. 58 per cent after rising tonearly 37 per cent, and the aver-age number of cases has alsodropped by almost 1,000 overthe previous week, indicating awelcome trend, though expertshave cautioned the peopleagainst lowering their guard.

The national capital's recov-ery rate too has risen signifi-cantly crossing 70 per cent,Deputy Chief Minister ManishSisodia said. The national recov-ery rate is 60.81 per cent.

"Due to the efforts of Delhi's2 crore people, the hard workhas paid off. Congratulations toall corona warriors for takingthe recovery rate of Delhi toover 70 per cent. We all need towork hard to defeat corona,"Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwaltweeted.

Sisodia also took to Twitterto inform that out of 97,200patients, 68,256 have beencured. He said that positivityrate, which is the percentage of

people who have been foundpositive out of the total tested forthe coronavirus, has dropped to10.58 per cent. It had risen to36.94 per cent earlier.

For the seventh consecutiveday, Delhi has recorded freshcases in the range of 2,000.

On June 23, the nationalcapital had reported the highestsingle-day spike of 3,947 cases.The city continued to see over3,000 fresh cases per day till June26, when it reported 3,460infections.

From June 27 to July 4, theaverage fresh cases per daystands at about 2,495 com-pared to 3,446 cases per day theweek before.

If the trend continues,experts have claimed that thecity may go past the COVID-19peak in early August.

However, they have warnedthat if social distancing andhygiene norms prescribed byauthorities are not adhered to bythe people, there could be asurge again. PTI

New Delhi: The DelhiUniversity on Saturdayannounced that the online reg-istration process for admis-sion to undergraduate, post-graduate, M.Phil and Ph.Dprogrammes has been extend-ed till July 18.

The registration processhas received tremendousresponse despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision toextend the date has been takenin view of the notification ofdeclaration of CBSE result andthe postponement of JEE andNEET examinations, accordingto an official of the varsity.

The Central Board ofSecondary Education (CBSE)had announced that

the results for class 10 and12 exams will be declared by

July 15.The HRD Ministry on

Friday postponed medical andengineering entrance examsNEET and JEE to September inview of the spike in COVID-19cases. The last date was July 4but now it has been extendedto July 18. Students will be ableto register till 5 pm on the var-sity's admission portal.

Till 7.30 pm on Saturday,3,32,359 aspirants had regis-tered on the portal for admis-sion to undergraduate courses

while 2,17,971 had paid theregistration fees.

During the same time,1,30,781 aspirants had regis-tered for admission to post-graduate courses while 1,01,718candidates had made the pay-ment.

As many as 23,111 aspi-rants had registered on the por-tal for admission to M.Phil andPh.D programmes and 13,223candidates had completed theprocess by making the paymentfor registration fees.

The varsity had com-menced the registration processon June 20. This year, the reg-istration was delayed owing tothe coronavirus pandemic.

The entire process is hap-pening online due to the pan-demic situation. PTI

New Delhi: The process ofreorganisation of Delhi BJP hasbegun with the formation of 35teams to shortlist names oflocal leaders to be appointed aspresidents of the party's blockunits.

The 35 teams, each com-prising two senior leaders, willshortlist by July 9 the names ofpotential block-level workers tobe appointed as presidents.The shortlisting process willbegin from July 6, said a seniorDelhi BJP leader.

The party has decided tokeep the upper age limit forblock presidents to 45 years inorder to groom young leader-ship at the local level. There are280 block units of the BJP inDelhi.

The party leader said reor-ganisation of Delhi BJP was tostart immediately after theappointment of Adesh Gupta asits new president last month.

It has been delayed due topreoccupations with coron-avirus-related work and recentdevelopments in the country,he said.

Appointments of districtpresidents and new office bear-ers in the state team will alsobegin shortly. The process maytake at least a month, afterwhich all the names will beannounced simultaneously, headded.The reorganisation workwas discussed in a meeting ofDelhi BJP's core group lastweek. The meeting was also

attended by central observersfor supervising restructuring ofthe Delhi unit, includingnational general secretary ArunSingh and BJP Mahila Morchapresident Vijaya Rahatkar.

The names of potentialcandidates for the posts ofblock and district presidentswill be shortlisted after con-sultation with the present andformer presidents, MPs andcouncilors and state office bear-ers in respective blocks and dis-tricts, said a core group mem-ber present in the meeting.

The central observers hadguided the state leaders toensure that only "deserving"leaders with "good connect" inthe field were included in thenew team of Delhi BJP, hesaid. PTI

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Pune’s Mayor MurlidharMohol tested Covid-19

positive on Saturday, sendingthe waves of anxiety throughthe city at a time when thecivic health authorities arewaging a grim battle againstCoronavirus.

Making an announcementhimself about his having con-tracted the pandemic, MayorMahol said that he underwentCovid -19 test after sufferingfrom mild fever. The testturned out to be “positive”“My condition is stable. I willrecover soon and return toyour service again,” Mohol

said in the evening.With 841 deaths and

25,956 infected cases, the Punecity and district are the thirdworst-hit by Covid-19 afterMumbai and Thane in thestate.

Mohol, who belongs to theBJP, was elected as Pune’sMayor in November 2019.

Mahol is the fourth high-profile politician after Cabinetministers Jitendra Awhad,Ashok Chavan and DhananjayMunde to have tested positivefor Covid-19. Awhad, Chavanand Munde have long recov-ered from the epidemic andbeen discharged from the hos-pitals.

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Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on

Saturday announced cancella-tion of university and collegeexaminations in the state inview of the Covid pandemic,though the exams that arecurrently being conductedonline by some universities willcontinue uninterrupted.

In his weekly #AskCaptainFacebook Live session, theChief Minister said universityand college students will bepromoted on the basis of theirprevious years’ results.However, students who want toimprove their performancewill have the option to takinga fresh examination later, oncethe Covid crisis is over.Universities and colleges are inthe process of working out themodalities for implementingthe decision, he said, adding

that the decision would beannounced in the next fewdays. On the School Boardexaminations, the ChiefMinister said the state is fol-lowing the CBSE decisionannounced in the SupremeCourt some days ago.

Capt Amarinder, howev-er, urged all students to con-tinue with their studies inright earnest despite the can-cellation of their examina-tions. “You have to continue towork for your future,” he toldthe students.

EX-SERVICEMEN CANHAVE 6 ATTEMPTS IN PCSEXAMS

In an initiative for ex-ser-vicemen, Capt Amarinderannounced increase in thenumber of attempts for takingthe PCS examination. Whilethe SC candidates among thegeneral category will continue

to get unlimited chances, as perthe existing system, the generalcategory ex-servicemen willnow get six attempts, in linewith the overall general cate-gory, instead of the earlierfour chances. For the BC cat-egory of ex-servicemen, thenumber of attempts has beenincreased to nine, he said,adding that he had receivedseveral petitions from ex-ser-vicemen to be put at par withthe overall general category ofaspirants. AKALIS HAVESOLD OUT PUNJAB’SINTERESTS BY SUPPORT-ING ANTI-FARMER ORDI-NANCES, SAYS CAPTAMARINDER

Accusing the Akalis ofselling Punjab’s interests byagreeing to the anti-farmOrdinances in order to ruin thestate’s farming community,Capt Amarinder asserted thathe would take the fight against

the anti-farmer Ordinances tothe Centre. He said he wouldbe writing soon to the PrimeMinister for appointment forthe all-party delegation whichall Punjab parties, except theBJP, had unanimously decidedupon.

“No matter what SukhbirBadal or BJP say, once theseOrdinances are passed, theCentre’s next step would be toend the MSP regime and dis-mantle the FCI,” warned CaptAmarinder, pointing to therecommendations of theShanta Kumar committee.

“You can imagine whatwill happen to Punjab farmersif this becomes a reality,” hesaid, adding that the procure-ment process will come to anend and Mandis will be fin-ished once the Ordinancesbecome law. The Akalis wereonly interested in protectingtheir political interests, with

Harsimrat Kaur Badal focusedon safeguarding her position inthe Union Cabinet, said theChief Minister, adding thatthe Badals were appeasing theBJP to save their alliance inPunjab at any cost.

Underlining the need tosave Punjab and protect itsinterests, the Chief Ministersaid the Ordinances were 100%against Punjab and anti-farm-ers, as agreed by all politicalparties, except BJP and theAkalis. All the Kisan Unions,who he had recently met, alsowanted immediate scrappingof these Ordinances, he added.

COVID-19, THINGSNOT GOOD

On the Covid situation, theChief Minister said thingswere not good, as cases con-tinued to rise across India, andeven Punjab had touched the

6000 mark, with 157 deathsreported so far. He reiteratedthe importance of taking allprecautions, including socialdistancing and wearing ofmasks. Pointing out that 4000-5000 cases were being regis-tered every day for violations,including spitting on roads, heurged the people not to getcomplacent and violate therules for their own protectionand to save Punjab. “We canonly control, not cure,” saidthe Chief Minister, exhortingthe people to follow all guide-lines being shared bySarpanches and others as partof Mission Fateh.

He made it clear in replyto a question that recruit-ment of doctors, paramedicsand nurses was in progress onfast track with the Cabinethaving taken a special decisionto strengthen the fight againstCovid

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With the Central government imposing a banon 59 Chinese apps including the popular

entertainment platform Tik Tok on June 29, artistsacross Jharkhand claim that talent is not basedon a particular app.

Showing support to the government’s deci-sion, the users of apps like Tik Tok and Vigo Videoare worried about what happens to their contenton the various social media platforms and hopethat some similar Indian apps will soon be madefor them to showcase their talent.Dhanbad

based Dharam Kumar and Vikas Kumar hadabout 1.43 lakh followers on Tik Tok and closeto four lakh on Vigo Video. “We had been post-ing funny videos on Tik Tok for about six monthsand on the other one for almost two years now.Our videos were mostly on the native languageof Jharkhand.

This is a very good decision taken by the gov-ernment to ban Chinese apps. We will now postour videos on YouTube and hopefully a newIndian app will also be made soon.”“The biggestdrawback of this is that we have lost all our fol-lowers and will now have to start afresh.

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Punjab on Saturday report-ed five more fatalities due

to COVID-19, taking thedeath toll to 162 while 172fresh cases pushed the tally to6,109 in the state, according toa medical bulletin. Two deathswere reported in Moga andone each in Mohali,Hoshiarpur and Amritsar, thebulletin said.

Among the new cases, 61were reported in Jalandhar,one of the districts worst hitby the coronavirus pandemic,followed by 46 in Ludhiana; 16in Sangrur; nine in Amritsar;six in Bathinda; five each inBarnala, Ferozepur andMohali; three each in Patialaand Kapurthala;

two each in Moga,Gurdaspur and Pathankotand one each in Tarn Taran,Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar,Fatehgarh Sahib, Rupnagar,Fazilka, and Mansa. Of them,16 people had a recent travelhistory to other states.

Forty coronaviruspatients were discharged fromvarious hospitals after they

recovered from the infection.A total of 4,306 people havebeen cured of the infection sofar, according to the bulletin.There are 1,641 activeCOVID-19 cases in the state,as of now, it said.Ludhiana onSaturday topped the COVID-19 tally in the state by sur-passing Amritsar.

The virus count inLudhiana has reached 1,017,followed by 947 in Amritsar,834 in Jalandhar, 527 inSangrur, 354 in Patiala, 286 inMohali, 242 in Gurdaspur,224 in Pathankot,

206 in Tarn Taran, 186 inHoshiarpur, 148 in SBS Nagar,133 in Muktsar, 122 inFatehgarh Sahib, 116 in Moga,114 in Rupnagar, 111 inFaridkot, 109 in Kapurthala,107 in Ferozepur, 106 inBathinda, 102 in Fazilka, 69 inBarnala and 49 in Mansa,according to the bulletin.

FIVE MORE TEST POS-ITIVE IN CHANDIGARH

Five more people testedpositive for COVID-19 in

Chandigarh on Saturday, tak-ing the tally in the UnionTerritory to 459.

A 64-year-old woman,who lives in Daria, testedpositive for the disease.Samples of her seven familymembers will be taken fortesting, a medical bulletinsaid.

A 57-year-old man of sec-tor 30 and a 27-year-oldwoman of Manimajra areamong the fresh cases report-ed in the city on Saturday.

Two more COVID-19patients were discharged afterthey recovered from infection,taking the number of thosecured to 395, the bulletinsaid.

A total of 8,209 sampleshave been taken for testing sofar and of these, 7,717 testednegative,

while reports in 31 casesare awaited, it said. There are58 active cases as of now in thecity and six people have diedof the disease so far, the bul-letin said.

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Close on the heels of ban-ning 59 Chinese apps,

Prime Minister Narendra Modion Saturday invited the start-upand tech community to par-ticipate in the ‘AatmanirbharBharat App InnovationChallenge’ and exhorted themto create an ‘Aatmanirbhar AppEcosystem’.

“Who knows, I may alsouse some of these apps made byyou,” Modi said in a write-upon LinkedIn.

In a tweet, Electronics andInformation Technology (IT)Minister Ravi Shankar Prasadsaid that the PM has launchedthe challenge to encourageIndian application developersand innovators.

Today, there is immenseenthusiasm among the techand start-up community tocreate world class ‘Made inIndia Apps’, Modi said.

‘To facilitate their ideasand products, the Ministry ofElectronics and InformationTechnology along with the Atal

Innovation Mission are launch-ing the ‘Aatmanirbhar BharatApp Innovation Challenge’,’ theprime minister tweeted sharingthe link to the LinkedIn post.

Modi had given a call foran ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat” (aself-reliant India) and hadurged people to be ‘vocal forlocal’ products.

He said the app innovationchallenge is for those who havesuch a working product or ifthey feel they have the visionand expertise to create suchproducts.

“I urge all my friends in thetech community to partici-pate”, he said while sharing thewrite-up ‘Let us Code for anAatmanirbhar Bharat’.

India has a very vibranttech and start-up ecosystem,which has done India proudnationally as well as globally,Modi said.

The country’s youth haveexcelled in providing tech solu-tions across sectors, he said.

‘The COVID-19 pandem-ic has also brought about a bigdisruption, which is being tack-

led through the use of tech-nology to aid our day to daylives,’ the Prime Minister point-ed out.

Everyone is aware of thehuge potential of the marketand the scale products canachieve if they can satisfy thedemand, he said.

“Nowadays, we are seeinghuge interest and enthusiasmamong the start-up and techecosystem to innovate, developand promote homegrownapps,” Modi said.

“Today, when the entirenation is working towards cre-ating an Aatmanirbhar Bharat,it is a good opportunity to givedirection to their efforts,momentum to their hard-workand mentorship to their talentto evolve apps which can sat-isfy our market as well as com-pete with the world”, he said inthe write-up.

To help the start-up andtech community achieve thisobjective, the challenge will runin two tracks, which arePromotion of Existing Appsand Development of NewApps, Modi explained.

This challenge will be joint-ly hosted by the Governmentand members of the tech com-munity to make it more holis-tic, he said.

The Government recentlybanned 59 Chinese apps, someof them immensely popularlike TikTok and Shareit, ongrounds of ensuring securityand safety of Indian cyberspace.

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Stating that the BJP is notmerely an “election win-

ning machine” but an organi-sation for the service of thesociety, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Saturdaylauded the “seva” of the partyworkers in the time of coron-avirus crisis and suggested thatevery ‘mandal’, district andState prepares a digital work ofits experiences during the pan-demic and releases it bySeptember 25, on the birthanniversary of the BharatiyaJan Sangh and BJP ideologueDeen Dayal Upadhyay.

The Prime Minister, whowas reviewing the work ofparty workers in the last fourmonths of crisis and watchingthe presentations of seven BJPstates through video confer-encing , said the digitalisationfrom all tiers could finally beconverted into one that of theentire country, “inspiring thefuture generation”, not onlywithin the country but global-ly too.

Modi said digitalisationshould be done at least inthree languages-mothertongue, Hindi and English. Hesaid the work would give agreat strength and inspirationto those who would get to readthe “commendable service”done by lakhs of people during

the pandemic.Almost all top leaders,

including BJP President J PNadda, Union Home MinisterAmit Shah, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman,and BJP-run State ChiefMinisters including YogiAdityanath, Shivraj SinghChouhan and BJP state presi-dents were present in the BJPHeadquarters here. TheProgramme was titled “Seva hiSanghthan”.

Modi said he was proudthat BJP proved that “service”was its primary aim and powerwas only a means to an end.“This tradition we inheritedfrom our founding fathers andtheir hard work”.

He said some observers seean organisation in context ofelections only. “For us organ-isation is not an election win-ning machine, for us organi-sation means service foreveryone’s happiness and theidea of -Nation first”, Modi saidand went on to say that BJPhad tried to build an equalsociety.

He said BJP today repre-sents all section of societywith 52 dalit MPs, 43 tribalMPs, 130 OBC MPs and alsohaving 150 tribal MLAs in“Vidhan Sabhas”.

Presentations were madebefore the Prime Minister bythe state unit chiefs of seven

states including the election-bound Bihar as also Rajasthan,Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka,Delhi and Assam. All the pre-sentations detailed the distri-bution of food packets, face-masks, ‘Paduka’ and help ren-dered to stranded migrants inreaching their native places.Bihar state unit presidentmaintained that but for thehelp provided by them noteven 10 per cent of migrantscould have made it to theirhomes during the lockdown.

Intervening during theBihar session, the PrimeMinister briefly spoke in thenative language while laudingthe work done by the partywork. He said UP and Biharhas a great challenge and willhave to work with the samezeal in future.

Similarly, he congratulatedAssam unit saying they workedpro-actively and the work is“showing” with people’s confi-dence in BJP increased in thestate.

Modi asked all state unitsto be alert and aware of theapproaching festival season as“coronavirus danger is still thesame”. He asked the rest of thestate units to send their pre-sentations directly to him.

Nadda said 22 crore foodpackets were distributed inthe last 68 days and 5 crore“Modi ration kits” were alsodelivered.

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Zoya Khan from theVadodara district of Gujarat

has become the first transgen-der operator of the CommonService Centre (CSC) in India.

Union Minister ofElectronics and InformationTechnology, Ravi ShankarPrasad shared the news withher pictures of working in theoffice on his Twitter handle.

‘’Zoya Khan is India’s firsttransgender operator ofCommon Service Centre from

Vadodara district of Gujarat.She has started CSC work withTelemedicine consultation. Hervision is to support the trans-gender community in makingthem digitally literate & givethem better opportunities,’’ hesaid.

Common Service Centresare facilities provided by theGovernment of India for deliv-ering e-Services to rural andremote locations where avail-ability of computers andInternet was negligible or most-ly absent.

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Aday after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi visited Leh

and addressed the soldiers, theCongress on Saturday said timehas come for him to follow his“raj dharma” and tell the peo-ple of the country about thereality of Chinese “incursions”.

The grand old party alsocountered BJP’s claim that itwas only Modi to visit a front-line. Former Union MinisterKapil Sibal said former primeministers Indira Gandhi andLal Bahadur Shastri had visit-ed forward locations to boostthe morale of Indian soldiersand Jawaharlal Nehru too hadalso visited soldiers in the forward locations in NEFA in1962 to boost their morale.

“But it appears that ourprime minister stayed 230 kmaway in Nimu, Leh,” Sibal said,taking a swipe at Modi’s visit.

Posing a set of f ive questions to the PrimeMinister, Congress askedModi to say whether the actu-al picture of “Chinese occu-pation of our territory” up tothe “Finger 4 Ridge” in thePangong Tso area depicts thetruth on the ground.

Sibal used satellite imagesof Ladakh’s Pangong Tso fromMay and June to showChinese structures in the areaand asked the Prime Ministerto at least speak the truthabout it.

Sibal also asked Modi tostop doing the politics of“illusion and delusion” andshowing “red eyes” to China,and protect Indian territory.

“The times warrant India

to look eye-to-eye at Chinaand unequivocally tell themto retreat f rom their illegal and brazen occupationof Indian territory. Mr PrimeMinister, this is the only ‘rajdharma’ that you must follow,”Sibal said at AICC virtualPress conference.

“They say ‘pictures donot l ie’. Will the PrimeMinister now tell the nation- is this Indian territory onwhich radars, helipad andother structures have beenbuilt by the Chinese in abrazen act of transgression?

“Have the Chinese occu-pied our territory in GalwanValley, including ‘Patrol Point14’, where our 20 jawans ofthe 16 Bihar Regiment madethe supreme sacrifice? HasChina also occupied Indianterritory in Hot Springs?” theCongress leader asked.

“Has China occupied ourterritory up to ‘Y-Junction’ (18kms inside the LAC) in theDepsang plains, threatening India’s strategicDBO airstrip, which is theli fel ine for our military supplies to theSiachen glacier andKarakoram pass?” he asked.

On Modi saying this isnot the India of 1962 and theera of expansionism is over,the former Union Ministersaid Jawaharlal Nehru, thefirst Prime Minister of thecountry, had told China thenthat India wil l never accept the Chinese claim-line.

According to Sibal, Nehruwrote to China, saying Indiawill never submit to thedemand for it to accept the

Chinese 1959 line, whateverthe consequences and how-ever long and hard the struggle may be.

The Congress leader saidparadoxically, the Chinese1959 line clearly depicted theentire Galwan Valley in Indiaand it was only on June 16,2020, a day after the fatalclashes, that China formallylaid claim, for the first timeever, to the entire GalwanValley.

“Isn’t it correct that thelocal councillors of Ladakh,including BJP councillors,submitted a memorandum toPrime Minister Modi inFebruary about the capture ofour land by China? Whataction did the prime ministertake? Had he acted, wouldn’twe have been able to pre-emptthe brazen Chinese transgressions?” Sibal askedwhich was also seconded bythe his party colleague and aformer Jammu Kashmir ChiefMinister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

In a clear message toChina, Modi on Friday saidthe era of expansionism isover and that India’s enemies have seen the “fireand fury” of its armed forces,as he made an unannouncedvisit to Ladakh, signallingIndia’s firmness in dealingwith the border row with the neighbouring country.

In an address to troops inNimu, the prime ministerpaid glowing tributes to the20 Indian soldiers killed in theGalwan Valley clashes andsaid tales of the bravery andvalour of the armed forces areechoing in every part of thecountry.

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The Army on Saturdaytermed reports in social

media as ‘malicious” claiminga hastily assembled hospitaland fit soldiers posing asinjured during Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s visit to a mil-itary hospital in Leh on Friday.

Taking exception to reportshinting the event was staged,the Army said these were“malicious and unsubstantiat-ed accusations” in some quar-ters regarding the status of thefacility visited by the PrimeMinister.

It is unfortunate that asper-sions are being cast on how ourbrave Armed Forces are treat-ed. The Armed Forces give thebest possible treatment to theirpersonnel, the statement said.

It is clarified that the saidfacility is part of the CrisisExpansion capacity of 100 bedsand is very much part of theGeneral Hospital complex.

The COVID-19 protocolhad necessitated some wards ofthe General Hospital to beconverted into isolation facili-ties. Hence, this hall which oth-erwise was normally used as aTraining Audio Video Hallwas converted into a ward eversince the hospital was alsodesignated as COVID treat-ment hospital.

The injured braves havebeen kept there since theirarrival from Galwan to ensure

quarantine from COVID areas.Army Chief General M MNaravane and the ArmyCommander have also visitedthe injured braves in the samelocation on earlier occasions, itsaid.

After the bloody skirmishon June 15 in the Galwan val-ley leaving 20 Indian armypersonnel dead, the injured sol-diers were kept there to ensureisolation from COVID-19affected areas.

On a surprise visit toLadakh on Friday, Modiaddressed troops at Nimu out-side Leh and later visited theLeh military hospital and metthe soldiers.

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The Union Health Ministryon Friday revised the pre-

scribed dosage of anti-viraldrug Remdesivir for coron-avirus patients from six days

to five.According to the updat-

ed version of its ClinicalManagement Protocol for thecoronavirus released by theMinistry, the patients must beinjected with 200 milligram of

Remdesivir on day one and100 milligram for the nextfour days.

The Ministry had on June13 al lowed the use of remdesivir for “restrictedemergency use” in moderatecoronavirus cases.

Hyderabad-based drug-maker Hetero has theapproval to manufacture remdesivir forthe treatment of coronaviruspatients.

Last month, the companyhad said that it will deliver thefirst set of the medicine toMaharashtra, Delhi, TamilNadu, Gujarat ata price of�5,400 per vial.

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The BSF that secures thefrontiers on Bangladesh and

Pakistan continues to be head-ed by the ITBP Director GeneralSS Deswal in a stop-gap mea-sure for the last nearly fourmonths after the former BSFchief Vivek Johri was repatriat-ed to his parent MadhyaPradesh cadre on March 11.

The ITBP is the designatedborder-guarding force and LeadIntelligence Agency on the Lineof Actual Control (LAC) withChina while the BSF is in a sim-ilar role along the frontierswith Bangladesh and Pakistan.

For the last over twomonths, the Indian Forces are ina standoff positions with theChinese Army at several pointsalong the LAC in easternLadakh where the role of theITBP has further increased asadditional troops have been

rushed to augment a matchingresponse to the buildup of theChinese forces amid the ten-sions between the two countries.

The BSF also faces addi-tional threat along theInternational Boundary (IB)with Pakistan in Rajasthan andPunjab as Pakistan’s army is a“brother” army for Chinesecounterparts and can potentiallyplay a spoilsport in the event ofan escalation with Beijing. Theneed for a full-fledged chief ofthe BSF is the need of the hour,insiders said.

While Johri is a 1984 batchIndian Police Service (IPS) offi-cer of the Madhya Pradeshcadre who heads the police inthe State, Deswal is a Haryanacadre officer of the same batchand took additional charge ofthe BSF on March 11 when theITBP was one of the lead forcesmanaging quarantine facility

in the country to screen andquarantine, at its Chhawla camphere, the Indians and foreignersevacuated from Wuhan whichwas then the epicentre of theCovid-19.

Besides the charge of ITBP,Deswal continues to hold theadditional responsibility of theBSF till now.

“Consequent upon repa-triation of Vivek Johri, (1984,IPS officer of MP cadre),Director General BorderSecurityForce to his parentcadre, competent authority hasapproved that SS Deswal (1984-batch IPS officer of the Haryanacadre), DG, ITBP (Indo-TibetanBorder Police) shall hold addi-tional charge of the post of DGBSF vice Shri Vivek Johri, till theappointment and joining of thesuccessor or until further orders,whichever is earlier,” an orderissued by the Home Ministry onMarch 10 had said.

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Reviewing the progress ofagriculture research, exten-

sion and education in Indiathrough video conference,Prime Minister Narendra Modion Saturday stressed the needto adopt organic and naturalfarming practices on a cluster-based approach. He exhortedthe need to create awarenessregarding inclusion of milletslike Jowar, bajra, ragi and sev-eral other minor millets indiet to ensure a healthy diet.PM appreciated the effortstowards developing varietiesfocusing on specific require-ments of agro-climatic zonesand exhorted the need fordeveloping forward and back-ward linkages to assure betterreturns to farmers.

Reviewing the contribu-tions of ICAR in developingnew breeds of cattle, sheep andgoats, PM Modi stressed theneed for research on indige-nous breeds of dogs and hors-es. PM Modi exhorted thatstudy of grasses and local fod-der crops should be under-taken to understand theirnutritive value.

At the meeting, Dr.Trilochan Mohaptra, DirectorGeneral, Indian Council ofAgricultural Research cum-Secretary, Department ofAgricultural Research &Extension, presented the pri-orities, performance and pre-paredness to face various chal-lenges. ICAR has developedgeo-referenced OrganicCarbon Map of India, identi-fied 88 bio control agents and22 Bio pesticides which canpromote organic agriculture.

According to the agricul-ture ministry, the PM directed

that start-ups and agri-entre-preneurs need to be promotedto ensure innovation and useof technology in agricultureand allied sectors.

He highlighted the need toleverage information technol-ogy to provide information ondemand to the farmers. PMModi also directed thatHackathons may be organisedtwice a year to solve identifiedproblems and meet designneeds for tools and equipmentthat can reduce drudgery iffarming activity, given that alarge number of farm workersare women.

They said the PM appreci-ated the efforts towards devel-oping varieties focusing onspecific requirements of agro-climatic zones and exhorted theneed for developing forwardand backward linkages toassure better returns to farm-ers.

The PM highlighted thatavenues for enhancing bioethanol from sugarcane andother crops need to beexplored.

In an effort to bolster‘Kuposh Mukt Bharat’ (Indiafree from Malnutrition) 70 biofortified varities with enhancedIron, Zinc and Protein contenthave been developed. Bhagwa,

a variety of Pomegranate, isrich in Iron, Potassium,Vitamin C and Anti-oxidants.

Poshan Thali and Nutria-gardens are being promotedthrough Krishi VigyanKendras. Pilots were conduct-ed in Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh involving 76Krishi Vigyan Kendras and450 model farms. In its pre-sentation ICAR highlightedthe Magic seeder in Punjab,Haryana and Delhi to addressthe problem of stubble burningafter the harvest of paddy crop.There is a reduction of 52% inburning events in 2019 in com-parison to 2016.

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Washington: Two US aircraftcarriers were conducting exer-cises in the disputed SouthChina Sea on Saturday, the USnavy said, as China also carriedout military drills that havebeen criticised by the Pentagonand neighbouring states.

China and the UnitedStates have accused each otherof stoking tension in the strate-gic waterway at a time ofstrained relations over every-thing from the new coronavirusto trade to Hong Kong. TheUSS Nimitz and USS RonaldReagan were carrying out oper-ations and exercises in theSouth China Sea “ to supporta free and open Indo-Pacific,”the navy said in a statement.

It did not say exactly wherethe exercises were being con-ducted in the South ChinaSea, which extends for some

1,500 km (900 miles) and 90%of which is claimed by Chinadespite the protests of its neigh-bours.

“ The purpose is to showan unambiguous signal to ourpartners and allies that we arecommitted to regional securi-

ty and stability,” Rear AdmiralGeorge M. Wikoff was quotedas saying by the Wall StreetJournal, which first reported

the exercises.Wikoff, commander of the

strike group led by the RonaldReagan, said the exercises werenot a response to those beingconducted by China, which thePentagon criticised this week as“ counter-productive to effortsat easing tensions and main-taining stability” .

China dismissed the UScriticism of its drills on Fridayand suggested the United Stateswas to blame for increasing ten-sions. US carriers have longcarried out exercises in theWestern Pacific, including inthe South China Sea, accordingto the US navy.

At one point recently, theUnited States had three carri-ers in the region. Chinaannounced last week it hadscheduled five days of drillsstarting July 1 near the Paracel

Islands, which are claimed byboth Vietnam and China.Vietnam and the Philippineshave also criticised the plannedChinese drills, warning theycould create tension in theregion and impact Beijing’srelationship with its neigh-bours.

The United States accusesChina of trying to intimidateAsian neighbours who mightwant to exploit its extensive oiland gas reserves.

Brunei, Malaysia, thePhilippines, Taiwan andVietnam also lay claim to partsof the South China Sea,through which about $3 trillionof trade passes each year.

The US statement said thenaval exercises gave comman-ders the flexibility and capa-bilities “ that only the US Navycan command” . AGENCY

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New Delhi: Amid global con-cerns that China delayed givinginformation regarding the novelcoronavirus outbreak, a team ofWHO (World HealthOrganisation) will visit thecountry next week to investigatethe origins of the virus and itsspread to human beings.

The visit will take placemore than six months after theWHO’s Country Office inChina picked up a statementfrom the Wuhan MunicipalHealth Commission on cases of‘viral pneumonia’. WHODirector-General Dr TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus spokein January about an agreementwith China for sending a teamof international experts “ assoon as possible” to work onincreasing the understanding ofthe outbreak.

Covid-19 has killed over500,000 people in the world andcases and deaths are increasingby the day.

In an exclusive interviewwith ANI, Dr SoumyaSwaminathan, Chief Scientist,WHO said that a “ thoroughinvestigation” needs to be doneinto the origins of the virus.

She said that the WHO hasbeen working with the Chinese

government for the visit. “ Ateam is going to China nextweek to investigate the originsof the virus,” Swaminathan toldANI.

“ What is needed now is agood investigation going backbefore December to find outwhere and how it jumped fromanimal to human. Was there anyintermediate animal or not or itdirectly jumped from bat tohumans which are also possible?Bats have been implicated inother viral diseases — Nipah forexample. It is possible it camedirectly. It is also possible thatthere was an intermediate ani-mal-like in the case of SARS.That thorough investigationstill needs to be done,” she said.

Dr Swaminathan said thatthe Chinese government hadreported an outbreak of “ typ-ical pneumonia cases” fromWuhan on December 31. “ OurWHO country office in Chinapicked it up and on January 1,WHO activated its interna-tional mechanisms which we doas part of international healthregulations whenever there’sany new signal gets reported. Itis conveyed to everyone sothat the whole world knowsabout it,” she said. AGENCY

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Geneva: China did not comeforward on its own to report tothe World Health Organisation(WHO) that it had a problemin Wuhan following the virusoutbreak late last year, accord-ing to the updated informationthe UN health agency postedabout how it has handled theCovid-19 crisis so far.

On December 31, 2019, theWHO’’s Country Office inChina picked up a media state-ment by the Wuhan MunicipalHealth Commission from theirwebsite on cases of “ viralpneumonia” in Wuhan,according to the chronology ofevents enumerated by theWHO.

On January 1, the WHOrequested information on thereported cluster of atypicalpneumonia cases in Wuhanfrom the Chinese authorities.

On January 2, the WHOrepresentative in China wroteto the National HealthCommission, offering WHOsupport and repeating therequest for further information

on the cluster of cases.According to the WHO,

Chinese officials providedinformation to it on the clus-ter of cases of “ viral pneumo-nia of unknown cause” iden-tified in Wuhan only onJanuary 3.

The updated timeline ofWHO’’s response to Covid-19posted this week covers eventsup to June 26.

This timeline supersedesthe timeline statement pub-lished in April 2020.

US President DonaldTrump had earlier accused theWHO of being lenient onChina. Trump also suggestedthat the virus might have orig-inated in a laboratory in China.However, he did not present anyevidence to back up the claims.

The UN health body in amedia briefing earlier this weeksaid that it would send a team toChina next week to prepare toinvestigate the source of the virusresponsible for Covid-19 whichhas so far killed over 525,000people worldwide. IANS

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Kathmandu: A crucial meetingof Nepal’s ruling communistparty to decide the politicalfuture of embattled PrimeMinister KP Sharma Oli waspostponed until Monday toallow more time for the topleadership to iron out their dif-ferences over his autocraticstyle of functioning and anti-India statements.

The meeting of the NepalCommunist Party’s 45-memberpowerful Standing Committeewas scheduled to be held onSaturday at 11 AM local time.But it was postponed at the lastminute. Prime Minister’s pressadvisor Surya Thapa said themeeting was postponed untilMonday as the top leaders of

the NCP required more time toforge an understanding on theoutstanding issues.

The meeting has beenpostponed as NCP chairper-sons Oli and Pushpa KamalDahal Prachanda were busyholding internal consultationsamid the rift in the party.

“ The Standing Committeemeeting has been postponeduntil on Monday as both thechairs needed time for furtherdiscussions,” said BishnuSapkota, the press advisor toPrachanda. The meeting wassupposed to begin at the PrimeMinister’s official residence inBaluwatar to find a way outfrom the intra-party crisiswhich is dragging the ruling

communist party close to asplit.

During the meeting,majority of the party leaderswere expected to demand Oli’sresignation from the post ofPrime Minister accusing hisgovernment of failing to live upto the people’s expectationsand responding effectively tothe COVID-19 pandemic.

Many top leaders, includ-ing former prime ministerPrachanda, have also slammedOli for his anti-India remarks.

“ The Prime Minister’sremarks that India was con-spiring to remove him was nei-ther politically correct, nordiplomatically appropriate,” hesaid on June 30. PTI

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Seoul: North Korea onSaturday reiterated it has noimmediate plans to resumenuclear negotiations with theUnited States unlessWashington discards what itdescribes as “ hostile” policestoward Pyongyang.

The statement by NorthKorean First Vice ForeignMinister Choe Son Hui camedays after President DonaldTrump’s former national secu-rity adviser, John Bolton, toldreporters that Trump mightseek another summit withNorth Korean leader Kim JongUn as an “ October surprise”ahead of the US Presidentialelection.

Kim and Trump have metthree times since embarking ontheir high-stakes nuclear diplo-macy in 2018, but negotiationshave faltered since their secondsummit in February last year inVietnam, where the Americans

rejected North Korean demandsfor major sanctions relief inexchange for a partial surrenderof its nuclear capability.

Kim entered 2020 vowingto bolster his nuclear deterrentin face of “ gangster-like” U.S.Sanctions and pressure.

Choe’s statement followeda series of similar declarationsby the North that it would nolonger gift Trump with high-profile meetings he could boastof as his foreign policy achieve-ments unless it gets somethingsubstantial in return.

“ Is it possible to hold dia-logue or have any dealingswith the US which persists inthe hostile policy toward theDPRK in disregard of theagreements already made at thepast summit?” Choe said,referring to North Korea by itsformal name, the DemocraticPeople’s Republic of Korea.

“ We do not feel any need

to sit face-to-face with the U.S.,as it does not consider theDPRK-U.S. Dialogue as nothingmore than a tool for grapplingits political crisis,” she said.

Some analysts believeNorth Korea would avoid seri-ous negotiations with theUnited States at least until theNovember presidential elec-tion as there’s a chance U.S.Leadership could change.

The North in recentmonths have also been ramp-ing up pressure against SouthKorea, blowing up an inter-Korean liaison office in its ter-ritory and threatening to aban-don a bilateral military agree-ment aimed at reduce tensions.

It follows months of frus-tration over Seoul’s unwill-ingness to defy US-led sanc-tions and restart joint eco-nomic projects that wouldbreathe life into the North’sbroken economy. AP

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Mount Rushmore NationalMemorial (US): At the foot ofMount Rushmore on the eve ofIndependence Day, PresidentDonald Trump made a directappeal to disaffected white vot-ers four months before ElectionDay, accusing protesters whohave pushed for racial justice ofengaging in a “ merciless cam-paign to wipe out our history.”

The president dug furtherinto American divisions onFriday, offering a discordanttone to an electorate battered bya pandemic and wounded byracial injustice following thehigh-profile killings of Blackpeople. He zeroed in on thedesecration by some protestersof monuments and statuesacross the country that honourthose who have benefited fromslavery, including some pastpresidents. “ This movement isopenly attacking the legacies ofevery person on MountRushmore,” Trump said.

He lamented “ cancel cul-ture” and charged that some onthe political left hope to “ defameour heroes, erase our values, andindoctrinate our children.”

He said Americans shouldspeak proudly of their heritageand shouldn’t have to apologizefor its history.

“ We will not be terrorised,we will not be demeaned, andwe will not be intimidated bybad, evil people,” Trump added.

“ It will not happen.” The speech and fireworks at

Mount Rushmore came againstthe backdrop of a pandemic thathas killed over 125,000Americans. The president flewacross the nation to gather a bigcrowd of supporters, most ofthem maskless and all of themflouting public health guidelinesthat recommend not gatheringin large groups.

The discord was height-ened as the Trump campaignconfirmed during the presi-dent’s speech that KimberlyGuilfoyle, a top fundraiser forthe campaign and the girlfriendof Trump’s eldest son DonaldTrump Jr., had tested positive forthe coronavirus while in SouthDakota. AP

4��!�!�������������*�������������*�����������1������Washington: On an average

day, President Donald Trumpsends about 14 posts to the 28million Facebook followers ofhis campaign account. HisDemocratic rival, Joe Biden,delivers about half that manyposts to an audience of just 2million.

The numbers are similar-ly skewed in other spheres ofthe social media landscape.

On Twitter, Trump’s 82.4million followers dwarf Biden’s6.4 million. The president hasspent years cultivating a ragtagdigital “ army” of meme mak-ers and political influencerswho retweet campaign mes-sages hundreds of times daily.Trump is outspending Bidenon Google and YouTube adver-tising by nearly 3 to 1.

As his reelection bid facesgrowing obstacles, his prima-cy in the dizzying digital worldis one of his top advantages,giving him a massive plat-form to connect with sup-porters and push a messagethat ignores his vulnerabilitiesrelated to the pandemic,unemployment and race rela-tions.

Biden and his allies arenow working feverishly toestablish a social media forceof their own.

For the first time, Bidenoutspent Trump on Facebookadvertising in June, pouringtwice as much money into theplatform as the president. AP

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Islamabad: Washington’s envoyto Afghanistan stressedSaturday the economic benefitsof the peace deal with theTaliban, forging ahead with anagreement that has run intonew political obstacles both inthe US and regionally.

Zalmay Khalilzad waswrapping up a week-long tripthat included stops inUzbekistan, Pakistan and theGulf state of Qatar, where theTaliban negotiators are head-quartered.

The US signed a peacedeal with the Taliban inFebruary to end 19 years of warin Afghanistan.

Khalilzad has sought tostress the economic benefits ofthe peace deal throughout histour. In a series of tweets earlySaturday, the U.S. Envoy said hehad met with the QatarInvestment Authority and theTaliban’s chief negotiatorMullah Abdul Ghani, in thetiny Gulf state’s capital of Doha.

“ We agreed development

plans in support of peace cannever start too early,” Khalilzadtweeted.

However, Washington hasrecently become embroiled in

a controversy over intelligencereports that Russia was payingmoney to insurgents with linksto the Taliban to kill Americanand NATO soldiers. AP

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Hong Kong: Books written byprominent Hong Kong democ-racy activists have started todisappear from the city’slibraries, online records show,days after Beijing imposed adraconian national securitylaw on the finance hub.

Among the authors whosetitles are no longer available areJoshua Wong, one of the city’smost prominent youngactivists, and Tanya Chan, awell known pro-democracylawmaker.

Beijing’s new national secu-rity law was imposed onTuesday and is the most radi-cal shift in how the semi-autonomous city is run since itwas handed back to China byBritain in 1997.

China’s authoritarian lead-ers say the powers will restorestability after a year of pro-democracy protests, will notstifle freedoms and will onlytarget a “ very small minority”.

But it has already sent fearcoursing through a city used tospeaking openly, with policearresting people for possessingslogans pushing independenceor greater autonomy and busi-nesses scrambling to removeprotest displays.

Wong said he believed theremoval of the books wassparked by the security law.

“White terror continues tospread, the national securitylaw is fundamentally a tool toincriminate speech,” he wroteon Facebook, using a phrasethat refers to political perse-cution.

Searches on the publiclibrary website showed at leastthree titles by Wong, Chan andlocal scholar Chin Wan are nolonger available for lending atany of dozens of outlets acrossthe city.

An AFP reporter wasunable to find the titles at apublic library in the district ofWong Tai Sin on Saturdayafternoon.

The city’s Leisure andCultural Services Department,which runs libraries, said bookshad been removed while it isdetermined whether they vio-late the national security law.

“ In the process of thereview the books will not beavailable for borrowing and ref-erence,” it said.

The law targets acts ofsubversion, secession, terrorismand colluding with foreignforces. AFP

�������$����������!!����������������������Tokyo: Heavy rain in southern

Japan triggered flooding andmudslides on Saturday, leavingmore than a dozen people pre-sumed dead, about 10 missingand dozens stranded onrooftops waiting to be res-cued, officials and news reportssaid.

More than 75,000 residentsin the prefectures ofKumamoto and Kagoshimawere urged to evacuate follow-ing pounding rains overnight.The evacuation was notmandatory and it was notknown how many actually fled.

“ I smelled mud, and thewhole area was vibrating withriver water. I’ve never experi-enced anything like this,” aman in a shelter in Yatsushirocity, in western Kumamoto,told NHK TV. He said he fledearly fearing a disaster.

NHK footage showed largeareas of Hitoyoshi town inKumamoto inundated inmuddy waters that gushed outfrom the Kuma River. Manycars were submerged up totheir windows.

Mudslides smashed intohouses and floodwaters carriedtrunks from uprooted trees.Several people were standingatop a convenience store asthey waited for rescuers. AP

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Intelligence that Afghan militants might have

accepted Russian bounties forkilling American troops did notscuttle the US-Taliban agree-ment or President DonaldTrump’s plan to withdraw thou-sands more troops from thewar.

It did give critics of the dealanother reason to say theTaliban shouldn’t be trusted.

The bounty informationwas included in Trump’s pres-ident’s daily intelligence briefon Feb. 27, according to intel-

ligence officials, and two dayslater, the US and Taliban signedan agreement in Qatar.

The agreement clears theway for America to end 19years in Afghanistan and givesTrump a way to make good onhis promise to end USInvolvement in what he calls “endless wars.”

On March 3, three days after the agreement wassigned, the president had a 35-minute phone call with MullahAbdul Ghani Baradar, a co-founder of the Taliban andhead of their political office inQatar.

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Greater Noida: The GreaterNoida Authority is providingonline services for its allottees,residents, farmers andinvestors. Due to coronavirus,most of its services have beenmade online by the authority.The desiredinformation/information canbe obtained as soon as peoplesit at home.

In order of the above,online services, Mitra App,Problem Solving System,WhatsAppp and HelplineCentre are also working by theauthority.

Through which continuous

efforts are being made fortimely and timely disposal ofapplications, complaints andapplications received by theAuthority. In the order of theabove, a brief description of thesettlements made in a monththrough various online ser-vices, Mitra app etc.

A month ago, the facility ofCitizen Dash Boardwas startedunder which any person ofgeneral public, institution,intellectual and journalists, etc.can go to the above dash boardto get the desired information,information and the latest sta-tus of pending case.

And by visiting the GreaterNoida Authority’s website(https://investgnida.in/Home.aspx) can be accessed by click-ing the link titled‘Contemporary content’.Information on the following 3points/update status and pend-ing cases can be obtained byclicking on the following:

1- Mitra App2- Online Services.3- Department wise

Pendency.The new facility for gener-

al public/Greater Noida resi-dents has been started by theGreater Noida Authority.

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Coal India Ltd (CIL) andNLC India will jointly

develop solar power assets of3,000 MW with a likely invest-ment of around �12,000 crore,sources said on Saturday.

The two State-run compa-

nies had on Friday said theywould form a JV to develop5,000 MW of solar and thermalpower assets across the coun-try.”A solar JV is already inprocess of formation with aninitial capital of �10 lakh. Oncethe company is formed, therespective company boards will

decide the final contours of theproject. At present, solar capexfor each MW is around �4crore,” they said.TheGovernment plans to impose20 per cent basic customs dutyduty on imported solar panelsto boost the domestic industry,the sources said.

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The Central Government isgoing all out to ensure that

liquidity concerns of theMSME sector are addressed onpriority under its EmergencyCredit Line Guarantee Scheme(ECLGS).

As of July 1, 2020 publicsector and private banks havesanctioned loans worth over �

1.10 lakh crore under the 100per cent Emergency CreditLine Guarantee Scheme, ofwhich more than �52,000 crorehas already been disbursed.

There has been a big jumpin sanctions in the last coupleof weeks. And just in the last sixdays up to July 1 sanctions haveincreased by a whopping �10,000 crore while disburse-ment has increased by � 7,000

crore.In a tweet, office of Finance

Minister Nirmala Sitharamansaid: “As of July 1, the totalamount sanctioned under the100 per cent Emergency CreditLine Guarantee Scheme by#PSBs and private banks standsat �1,10,343.77 crore, of which�52,255.53 crore has alreadybeen disbursed.”

The ECLGS scheme is the

biggest fiscal component ofthe �20-lakh crore Self-ReliantIndia Mission packageannounced by FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanin May.To ensure that thescheme achieves its objective ofproviding adequate liquidity tothe MSME segment duringthe current difficult period, thefinance ministry has regularlyheld meetings with the banks.

A finance ministry state-ment said that banks fromboth public and private sectorhave contributed to the successof the ECLGS. Of the �52,000crore disbursement, public sec-tor banks have released �33,000 crore to about 12,59,000MSME accounts while privatebanks have disbursed �19,000crore to about 1,45,000accounts.

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While video conferencingapp, Zoom has a 40-

minute limit on group meet-ings in its basic or free plan, JioMeet, soft launched onGoogle Playstore and iOS on Thursday, has a 24-hourlimit on group meetings,absolutely free.

Based on rate card ofZoom below where $15 permonth is the charge for morethan 40 minute meeting time(which is equivalent to $180 onan annual basis) to the host. Inan apple-to-apple comparison,JioMeet is providing the samefunctionality and more, free ofcost. This translates to �13,500 of spoiler savings for ahost per year.

Zoom in a statement onJioMeet said, “Zoom has expe-rienced intense competitionsince it was established in 2011and yet we have become theplatform of choice for millions

of participants around theworld.

We know what it takes tobecome the unified communi-cations platform we are today,including the immense amountof work and focus required tocreate our frictionless userexperience, sophisticated secu-rity, and scalable architecture.”

The zero restriction ontime limit targets is disruptingthe Zoom digital experience.For instance in education,with 24-hour free JioMeet ses-sions, teachers will not berequired to cut short theirclasses as they are forced tousing Zoom. Similarly stu-dent won’t be restricted tolimit their questions and thismay enhance the learningexperience in both formal andinformal education.

Friends, alumni networksand relatives will now not needto be caught in the “tyranny of40 minutes,” the free timeallowed by Zoom runs out.

National and internation-al seminars will experiencecomplete migration a similarlimitation because without anyentry fee they can host theirresearch - and conversation canspill over beyond 40 minuteseasily for mutual benefit.

Sales demonstrations, espe-cially, say, SMEs, kiranas, willbe disrupted leading toenabling e-commerce.Likewise, brokers and any others needing constant andprolonged group video con-nectivity.

Collaborative cultural,social, musical, spiritual andevents can be held which arelivelihood source of perform-ers and continue to keep socialstructure and fabric alive.Likewise democratic events.

Besides a price tag of zero,in terms of features and func-tionality JioMeet score onadvantages. In a Zoom meet-ing, users can’t expand a par-ticipant’s video.

In JioMeet meetings userscan expand any participant’svideo or Shared Screen’s videoby a double tap.

JioMeet has 2 advancedmeeting settings over andabove Zoom options. Allowparticipants only from myorganization: If enabled onlyusers from host’s organsation(eg tcs.com or hll.com) can jointhat meeting. No potentialsnoops from other IDs.

It does not allow guestusers. If enabled every user willbe required to Sign Up beforejoining the meeting hencerestricting anonymous usersfrom joining the call.

Unlike Zoom, JioMeetusers can switch from onedevice to another withoutdropping out of the call. Zoom allows Sign Up only withEmail ID.

JioMeet allows sign upwith Email Id and mobile number.

Inside the call, Zoom

shows 4 participants at a timeon a single mobile screen (for

others, users need to scrollthrough multiple pages).

JioMeet allows 9 active partic-ipants on single mobile screen.

New Delhi: M Taj Mukarrumhas assumed the charge ofDirector (Finance) of PowerGrid Corporation of IndiaLimited (POWERGRID) on 4July, 2020. Prior to taking upthis assignment, he was work-ing as Executive Director(Finance), POWERGRID. MTaj Mukarrum has about thir-ty five years of experience inPower Sector which includesLong term Financial Planning,Financial Concurrence,CAPEX & O&M payments,vetting of Detailed ProjectReports (DPR)/Revised CostEstimates (RCE), Coordinationfor Project Financial ViabilityAppraisal by external profes-

sional Agencies forConsultancy Business Verticalincluding Smart Grid andEnergy Efficiency such asElectric Vehicle Charging (eV),Energy Audits, setting upSmart Grid CitiesInfrastructure, RailwayElectrification Projects.

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The three-day nationwidestrike by coal workers

against the Government’s deci-sion to open the sector for pri-vate players led to almost nilproduction in most of themines, and dispatch of the fuelwas totally blocked, a tradeunion leader said on Saturday.Five trade unions, includingRSS-affiliated BharatiyaMazdoor Sangh, of Coal Indiahave been on strike sinceThursday to protest againstthe government’s decision tostart commercial coal min-ing.”The three-day strike incoal industry is big success...Inmost of the mines (in all thethree days), production was niland the dispatch was totally

blocked,” Nathulal Pandey,president of HMS-affiliatedHind Khadan MazdoorFederation, said.However, aCoal India official has said thatcoal production was 4.81 lakhtonne on Thursday, which isclose to 38 per cent of the nor-mal 13 lakh tonne per day, cal-culated as average of 10 daysimmediately prior to stoppageof the operations.CILdespatched 5.78 lakh tonnes onthe first day of strike. This isaround 42 % of the normal off-take of 14 LTs/day, as perreferred calculation.A coalMinistry official said that onFriday CIL produced 5.55 lakhtonnes of coal Friday, which is42.7% of the 10 days averageproduction (from June 22 toJuly 1) of 12.969 lakh tonne.

New Delhi:Breaking all previ-ous records, NFLhas achieved high-est-ever fertilizersale of 12.85 LakhMT in first quarter(April-June) of thisfinancial year.

This is about21.5% higher thanthe sales of 10.57 LMT made bycompany in the first quarter of2019-20.

Other than significantgrowth in Urea sale, P&K fer-tilizers also recorded a growth

of 13% during the quarter. Inthe month of June’20, the com-pany sold 5.30 LMT of fertil-izers, up by 15.5% than the 4.59LMT sold in the same monthprevious year.

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With Reliance Jio launch-ing a Make in India

free video-conferencing appli-cation JioMeet that directlytakes on Zoom, the US-basedcompany said on Saturdaythey are not worried about theupcoming competition andknow what it takes to becomea successful unified commu-nications platform.

JioMeet offers enterprise-grade host control and secu-rity that and can be used for1:1 video calls and hostingmeetings with up to 100 par-ticipants. The application has

already been downloadedmore than 1,00,000 times onGoogle Play Store within notime.”Zoom has experiencedintense competition since itwas established in 2011, andyet we have become the plat-form of choice for millions ofparticipants around theworld,” the company said in astatement.”We know what ittakes to become the unifiedcommunications platform weare today, including theimmense amount of workand focus required to createour frictionless user experi-ence, sophisticated security,and scalable architecture,”

Zoom added.JioMeet has cre-ated a solid buzz in India.Other highlights in the desivideo meet app include easysign up with either mobilenumber or email ID, meetingin HD audio and video qual-ity.It offers support where theusers can click on a JioMeetinvite link and join from hisor her browser without down-loading the application.

Back-end technologyoptimises experience withHD video quality even atlower bandwidths and intu-itive and user-friendly inter-face enhances overall confer-encing experience.

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West Indies coach PhilSimmons says his team

will have to avoid early debacleswhich have often affected itsoverseas campaigns and takeinspiration from the 2017Headingley Test win to start thethree-match series againstEngland on the front foot.

A batting failure saw WestIndies lose the opening matchagainst England in Birminghamby an innings and 209 runs dur-ing their last Test tour in 2017.But they staged a remarkablecomeback in the second Test,chasing down 322 to record afive-wicket win in Headingley.

“We are drawing on that.The Test match beforeHeadingley we were horribleand that seems to be like thatmost times we go on tour. Weare trying to make sure that badmatch is taken out of the equa-tion and we start properly,”Simmons said during theCricket, on the Inside webinar.

“We are playing againstone of the best test teams inthe world and we need to starton the front foot. We’re tryingto bring back memories ofHeadingley and get the psy-chology right.”

The three-match Test series,which will mark the resumptionof International cricket follow-ing the coronavirus-forcedbreak, begins at Agaes bowl inSouthamption in a bio-secureenvironment on July 8.

The West Indies team has aworld class pace attack featuringthe likes of Kemar Roach,Alzarri Joseph, Shannon Gabriel,Chemar Holder and OshaneThomas but it is their battingthat has not been able to live upto expectations.

The 57-year-old Simmonssaid the batting unit is trying toget into the best mental stateahead of the series.

“I think the batters haveworked hard on getting to amental stage of where they needto be because most of them have

scored runs here,” he said.“(Shai) Hope has got back-

to-back hundreds here. It’sabout getting to the mentalstage where you are preparedfor a Test match in England,because it’s different to manyother places.

“The next three days of

practice is about sharpeningup the skills. But mentality isthe big thing.”

The Test series will beheld behind closed doors dueto Covid-19 pandemic andSimmons said it might affect afew seniors but for most itwon’t be an issue to play with-

out spectators.“I think maybe ... The

senior guys it might affect afew of them because they areused to sold-out matches inEngland. But in the Caribbeanthere’s not much crowds forTest so we are kind of accus-tomed to that,” he said.

���� � ����� Wicket-keeperJonny Bairstow and spin bowl-ing all-rounder Moeen Ali wereon Saturday left out of England’s13-man squad for the first ‘bio-secure’ Test against West Indies,starting July 8.

Ben Stokes will lead the sideand the squad features pacersJames Anderson, Stuart Broad,Jofra Archer and Mark Wood inaddition to all-rounders Stokesand Chris Woakes.

In the spin department,England have gone withDominic Bess. Jack Leach hasbeen left out of the main squadand is among reserves.

The most Notable omis-sions from the 30-man trainingsquad include Bairstow andMoeen.

Bairstow’s position in theside had first become uncertainin 2019 after a prolonged run oflow scores. He was initially leftout of England’s squad for theirtour of New Zealand but wasable to find a spot due to injuryto Joe Denly.

Bairstow then got a spot onthe tour of South Africa butscored only ten runs in twoinnings of the one Test heplayed. That left him with a tally

of only 334 runs in 2019 at anaverage of 18.55.

Moeen took a break fromred-ball cricket after beingdropped from England’s set upmid-way through the Ashes. Hewent wicket-less his first bowl-ing innings in the warm-upmatch and picked up two wick-ets in the second, but Bess andLeach both got more wickets.SQUAD: Ben Stokes (c), JamesAnderson, Jofra Archer,Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad,Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (wk),Zak Crawley, Joe Denly, OlliePope, Dom Sibley, Chris Woakesand Mark Wood. PTI

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Australia pacer JoshHazlewood says his team

prefers to “stay clear of engage-ment” with Indian captain ViratKohli whenever he is batting asit brings out the best in him.

Hazlewood and his provenpace colleagues will be upagainst the Kohli-led Indianteam if its upcoming tour ofAustralia goes on as scheduled.

Speaking on Star Sportsshow Cricket Connected,Hazlewood talked about bowl-ing to Kohli.

“We try to probably stayclear of engagement, obviously.I think that was fully evidentthroughout the (last Test) series(in 2018),” Kohli said.

“I think he likes to get in thattussle and it probably brings outthe best in him, especially whenhe’s batting, that was always ano-go-zone for the bowlers.”

However, the ploy is notquite the same when Kohli isleading the team out on thefield, according to Hazlewood.

“I think it’s a different caseif the guys are batting and he’s

in the field, you know they canget him engaged there andsort of work him out a little bitif possible.

“...But certainly when hewas batting, it was just leavinghim to his own devices, andhopefully, we get him in a bitof a switched off mood andtake advantage of that,” thepacer said, referring to theplanned upcoming engage-ments.

During the show,

Hazlewood also said thatCheteshwar Pujara is the oneplayer who wears down thebowlers with his workman-likeapproach to batting.

“Pujara will grind youdown and make you work forhis wicket, he really puts a priceon his wicket and we saw thatlast time in Australia.”

Kohli’s men are scheduledto tour Australia for a four-Testseries, beginning on December3 at Brisbane.

$�!��� Jaipur shall soonbe getting one of thelargest cricket stadiumsin the world, with a seat-ing capacity to accom-modate around 75,000spectators.

The world-classgreen stadium shall havemodern grand pavilionstands, corporate boxes,plush sports field, mod-ern club house and manyother world class featuresfor indoor games andsports training facilities,said Rajasthan CricketAssociation (RCA)Secretary MahendraSharma. He added thatthe stadium will bespread over 100 acres ofland.

“The land has beenfinalised in Chonp vil-lage, 25 km from Jaipuron the Jaipur-DelhiHighway and the con-struction is expected tobegin in the next fourmonths,” he added.

Sharma said thatthose coming to the sta-dium, including playersas well as the audience,would get world-classfacilities. There would beflood lights installed in

accordance to the ICCguidelines, with mod-ern pressbox for mediaand broadcast.

A parking facility toaccommodate around4,000 vehicles would bemade in the stadium.

Sharma informedthat this will be the thirdlargest stadium after theMotera Stadium inAhmedabad and theMelbourne CricketGround in Australia.While Motera has a seat-ing capacity of 1.10 lakh,the MCG can accommo-date 1.02 lakh spectators.

The stadium wouldfurther accommodatetwo practice groundswhich can be used forRanji Trophy matches.Also, there will be tworestaurants, 30 practicenets for players and apress conference roomwith a seating capacity of250.

The stadium wouldbe constructed in twophases; first phase to bedeveloped with 45,000seating capacity whilethe second would have aseating capacity of30,000. IANS

������ � A full trainingcamp for boxers is likely tostart on August 1 at theNational Institute of Sport(NIS) in Patiala, accordingto men’s boxing HighPerformance DirectorSantiago Nieva. NISallowed the boxers toreturn to the facility and onFriday, the first batch con-sisting of 13 men and threewomen arrived.

While boxers weresent away to their respec-tive homes before the firstlockdown was declared onMarch 25, Nieva has beenstuck at NIS for threemonths now. Uncertaintyover how he would get tohis native Sweden and howhe would get back to Indiain time for a national camp,whenever it was held,meant that Nieva ended upstaying put in Patiala.

“I have not seen mywife and daughters for sixmonths. They were sup-posed to come in Marchbut that was not possibleand I was supposed to gothere in May or June whichwas also not possible,”Nieva said. “But this is avery extreme situation andwe just have to (deal) withit. At some point this willhopefully end and I will be

able to go.”Nieva said that there

have been conversationswith the BFI about poten-tially going back home.“But the situation was verydifficult. There were noflights and we also wantedto start the camp in June.I want to start the campbefore I go over therebecause it is possible thatonce I go I won’t be able toreturn,” he said.

While his wards aretrickling back into the facil-ity, Nieva cannot meet anyof them yet as they have tofirst go through theirmandatory self-isolationperiod. “Before the lock-down we sent all the box-ers home. Now the boxersare coming back, the first

batch of 13 men and threewomen have arrived. I can-not meet any of them forthe next one week at least.There are more to come inthe coming weeks,” he said.

In keeping with theSAI Standard OperatingProcedures (SOP) for theresumption of training, theboxers arriving at NIS arethose in the mix for theTokyo Olympics. “Formore people to join and getready it will take a mini-mum of two weeks. So Iwould be very happy if wecan start a camp by August1. We believe that weshould be able to startsomething before August 1maybe even from July 15.

“But I know that (thesituation is such that) you

say one date and then thenext week, it gets changed.So I won’t speculate on thedates. We will try to getthem all here in the nexttwo three weeks but it’sokay if that is also post-poned by one or two weeksbecause there is nourgency. There are nocompetitions right now sowe have time. But yes, ifthey are here by August 1it will be good,” he said.

Contact trainingbetween the pugilistsseems an unlikely prospectfor the foreseeable future.SAI’s SOP states that spar-ring and even use of a ringwill not be permitted.However, considering thefact that Nieva believesthe first thing they wouldneed to do is get the box-ers down to their normalweights, the lack of spar-ring is not a big worry atthe moment.

“The biggest thing isthat some boxers havegained weight. They areabove their normal weightwhich is expected in thissport. So we will have to getthem to come down totheir proper weight first. AsI said, there is a lot of timeso no urgency of any kind,”he said. IANS

6���6�A potential pay disputebetween Cricket Australia andplayers was averted on Saturdayafter the governing body with-drew a contentious projection offinancial losses from the coro-navirus pandemic.

The decision to “reset”negotiations follows the resigna-tion last month of CA chief exec-utive Kevin Roberts, with hisinterim replacement NickHockley vowing to repair rela-tions between the two sides.

The body in June forecastrevenues would fall by nearly50% in the 2020-21 financialyear despite the pandemic hit-ting in the off-season and India’slucrative Test tour this year stillset to go ahead.

Australian players, both

men and women, operate undera revenue-sharing arrangementand faced a significant knock-oneffect in the amount of moneydistributed to their paymentpool, which is a fixed %age.

The Australian CricketersAssociation, which representsplayers, rejected the forecasts ashasty and issued the governingbody with a notice of dispute,which could have led to a courtstandoff.

But CA on Saturday agreedto postpone its projections untilit had a clearer idea of thefinancial impact of the pandem-ic. In turn, the ACA withdrawits notice of dispute.

“Today’s agreement is a sig-nificant step forward in cricket’sresponse to the challenges pre-

sented by the Covid-19 pan-demic and should provide ourstakeholders with renewed clar-ity and confidence about thesummer ahead,” CA said in astatement.

“Calculating revenue projec-tions 12 months ahead during aonce-in-a-century pandemichas not been without its chal-lenges, but we believe we havearrived at a position that pro-vides all parties with greater cer-tainty about how to navigate thenext year.”

The move is seen as a com-mon-sense approach from bothsides, given the picture for thecricketing summer aheadremains unclear.

So far, only two tours involv-ing Australia have been impact-ed by coronavirus — a two-Testtour of Bangladesh and a limit-ed overs visit from Zimbabwethat have both been cancelled.

There is also doubt overwhether Australia will be able tohost the T20 World Cup, but itsfour-Test series against Indiascheduled to start in Decemberis still expected to go ahead.

Officials also remain hope-ful of having crowds for the pop-ular T20 Big Bash League. PTI

�� �� 9�:;<7

Former Pakistan captainInzamam-ul-Haq has

backed rising star Babar Azam,saying the Pakistan white-ballskipper has the numbers toback him amid constant com-parisons with Virat Kohli.

“Babar is always comparedto Virat Kohli but the latter hasplayed a lot more cricket andif you look at their stats andperformances at the stageBabar is now, he has not donebadly at all,” Inzamam told aTV channel.

The two modern-daygreats are time and again pit-ted against each other, by fansand critics alike, for theirimpeccable playing styles andincredible consistency.

Azam recently stated thathe doesn’t want to be comparedwith India captain Kohli butwith some of the top-classbatsmen that have donned thejersey of Pakistan in the past.

“I don’t want to be com-pared with Virat Kohli. Itwould be better if people com-pare me with one of the

Pakistani legends like JavedMiandad, Mohammad Yousufor Younis Khan," Azam saidduring a teleconference as perCricket Pakistan.

Azam and his Pakistanteammates have alreadytouched down in England fortheir much-anticipated seriesin August which includes threeTests and as many T20Is.

“Babar struggled initially inTest cricket but we never hadany doubt about his ability sowe persisted with him and seetoday where he is standing inall formats,” Inzamam added.

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The England and WalesCricket Board (ECB) has

announced the resumptionof recreational cricket fromJuly 11 after Prime MinisterBoris Johnson gave the greenlight.

The ECB’s announcementon Friday night came afterJohnson made a U-turn afterhis earlier suggestion thatteas and dressing rooms wereamong major obstacles in theamateur and grassroots game— a traditional feature ofBrit ish summertime —returning amid the Covid-19pandemic.

An ECB statement saidthe UK Government’sannouncement pertaining torecreational cricket appliesat this time to England only.

“The ECB is delightedthat the UK Government hasgiven the green light for recre-ational cricket in England toreturn from Saturday 11 July,”the statement said.

“The latest update fromthe UK Government signalsprogression from Step 3 toStep 4 of ECB’s roadmap toreturn for the recreationalgame, meaning competitivecricket matches in Englandwith adjustments to respecthygiene and social distancingwould be permitted.”

Earlier on Friday, PMJohnson made a U-turn fromhis reservation of return ofrecreational cricket, sayinghe “sought scientific advice”after being “stumped”.

“We do want to work asfast as possible to get cricketback, and we will be publish-ing guidelines in the nextfew days, so that cricket canresume in time for next week-end,” he said.

������ �The Sports Ministryon Saturday removed the �2lakh cap on the salary given toIndian coaches for training eliteathletes in a bid to encouragethem to produce better results.

The move is also aimed atattracting former players tobecome high performance train-ers.

The announcement cameafter the ministry’s decision toextend the contracts of all for-eign coaches till September 30next year.

“Several Indian coaches areshowing very good results andneed to be rewarded for theirhard work. The Government isalso keen to attract the bestcoaching talent from across thecountry to train elite athletes andwe do not want the cap on com-pensation to be a deterrent forgood coaches to join,” SportsMinister Kiren Rijiju said.

The ministry release said theincreased remuneration andlonger contract period “is toattract ex-elite athletes into thehigh performance sportingecosystem, and to use theirexperience and skill to train ath-letes bound for major interna-tional competitions, includingthe Olympics”.

The future hiring — both

Indian and foreign — will be fora four-year cycle in sync with theOlympics to ensure continuity.

Indian Olympic Association(IOA) welcomed the move, say-ing it will encourage domesticcoaches to produce better resultsas they have been put on parwith their foreign counterparts.

“IOA and National SportsFederations wholeheartedlyappreciate the decision of theSports Ministry to remove salarycap of domestic coaches. Thecap was limiting our coacheswho have been producing high-performance internationalmedallists,” IOA SecretaryGeneral Rajeev Mehta said.

“This decision is alsoencouraging for more sportsper-sons to choose coaching as aprofession now. With new stepsto improve the coaching educa-tion, domestic coaches would beon par with international coach-es in the future.”

The ministry said eminentcoaches already working in var-ious Public Sector Undertakings(PSUs) would also be allowed tojoin on deputation and be eligi-ble for the 4-year contract as wellas the higher salary structure.

The remuneration will bedecided on the basis of their per-formance as an athlete as well as

his or her success as a coach.“All new coaches and exist-

ing coaches who are given thenew contract will be impartingtraining at National Camps andSAI's National Center ofExcellence (NCOEs), and will beselected jointly by the SportsMinistry and the National SportsFederations,” a ministry releasesaid.

Welcoming the move, chiefnational badminton coachPullela Gopichand said: “This isa long standing request of thesporting fraternity. I am veryhappy with the decision becauseit will give a great boost to theoverall sporting ecosystem byattracting many talented coach-es and eminent ex-athletes tojoin the profession.”

The Sports Ministry willalso resume grassroot-level tal-ent scouting with an eye on 2028Olympics when the situationarising out of the Covid-19pandemic improves.

The elite Indian coaches/exathletes, including those fromthe PSUs and leading sports pro-motion boards will be part of theTalent Scouting Committeewhich will be touring variousparts of the country to scout rawtalent in the age group of 10-15years. PTI

� ����� �!���� Former Indiaseamer Aavishkar Salvi has beenappointed head coach of thePuducherry senior team for theupcoming domestic season.

The development was con-firmed by a Cricket Associationof Pondicherry (CAP) officialwho also informed that formerMumbai first-class cricketerOnkar Khanvilkar will be assis-tant coach and former Rajasthankeeper Dishant Yagnik will donthe role of a fielding coach.

All the appointments are forone season.

Confirming the develop-ment, Salvi said, “This is my sec-ond stint with Puducherry as Iwas their head coach for the firstseason. This time, they havereappointed me.” “It is exciting.We don’t know when the crick-et season will start, but still if anassociation is preparing them-selves, it is a good thing to bepart of it,” added Salvi, whoplayed four ODIs for India.

Windies must draw on Headingley spirit: Simmons

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England middle-order bats-man Ollie Pope says the

absence of spectators in the firstTest against the West Indies willnot lessen the team’s intensity.

The three-Test series willbe played behind close doorsdue to the Covid-19 pandem-ic. The second and third Testwill be held in Manchester(July 16-20 and July 24-28).

“When we have big crowdsin and the Barmy Army arehere it is amazing but we’ll stillbe playing Test cricket and it’sstill the pinnacle,” Pope saidafter England’s intra-squadwarm-up game.

“Even if there’s not a singleperson in the crowd it’s stillwhat we all dreamed of doing.There will still be the samenerves in the morning becauseso much rides on it. When thatTest match starts up, crowd orno crowd, you are going to bereally up for it.”

The 22-year-old right-handed batsman said playingwithout spectators doesn’t affectthe quality of cricket.

“Whether we are going toplay a bit of music out of thespeakers I’m not sure but we

can find ways of creating ourown atmosphere I’m sure.We’ve got to find a way to dothat when we get on top orwhen we need a bit of energy.”

Pope said the intensity ofthe intra-squad three-daywarm-up game at the AgeasBowl here has put the team inthe right direction ahead of theopening Test.

The practice game betweenTeam Stokes and Team Buttlerended in a draw on the finalday on Friday. Pope made 55

not out in Team Buttler’s sec-ond innings to go with his 25in the first.

“The quality of competi-tion going on out there wasreally high-class throughoutthe three days. I think we’re get-ting there. We’re all moving theright direction,” Pope said afterthe game.

“I felt pretty good in thefirst innings, and it was nice tospend a bit more time out theretoday. We’re all moving in theright direction.”

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“We are serving a mission much greaterthan ourselves, and in helping the voiceless atthis time of strife, we are truly following theVeterinarian’s Oath”

The novel coronavirus, COVID-19,has caused a sudden change in theoperations worldwide. With thelockdown commencing March 22,2020, citizens were urged to stay at

home to contain the spread of the virus. Tokeep ourselves entertained, many of usresorted to watching online films, many ofwhich were ironically based on Virus out-breaks! One noticeable feature in most ofthese ‘End of the world’ themed movies is theabsence of the adversities faced byanimals/pets.

The sudden home confinement of thehuman race has altered the lives of animals,pets and strays alike. On the one side, naturewas its best with self purification of rivers,migratory birds returning to nest, turtles seenon the Mumbai coast after decades, multiplesightings of peacocks, etc. and then, you havethe species that has domesticated itself overthe years, namely, cats and dogs suddenly leftstranded without a constant source of foodowing to closure of restaurants and malls. Petdogs had to be restricted to relieving them-selves on a balcony or a diaper mat at oneend of a room due to confinement con-straints. All outdoor activities for pets cameto a halt. Many pet owners have mentionedthat their pets were initially overjoyed to havetheir parents home all day. As with us, every-one wants their space, and pets starteddemanding some quiet at home. Then camethe question of pet health care..

With only essential services being permit-ted during the lockdown, veterinary clinicsremained open for limited hours with cur-tailed staff. CGS Hospital (a unit of CGSCharitable Trust), which is a part of the phil-anthropic wing of DLF Ltd., situated inGurugram, remained open only for emergen-cies primarily only during the first week, butlater due to increased number of pet illnesscases, surgeries, pet hospitalisation and criti-cal care requirements, the hospital was rou-tinely functional. Most of the pet clinicsbeing closed or running for a few hours onlywith shortage of staff caused an increase infootfall at CGS during the lockdown period.All vets were on duty with staff, even though

it was difficult at times for veterinary nursingstaff to cross the Delhi border and no publictransportation in Gurugram as well.Veterinarians at the hospital were extremelycommitted to helping pets in need in spite ofthe possibility of Covid-19 exposure on a reg-ular basis.

The Pasha wing, a dedicated unit of CGSHospital committed primarily to serving des-titute dogs and cats was also functional dailyto help stray dogs and cats as most NGOsalso were providing only Emergency cases. Anotable mention is the successful surgery ofstray dog, Ruby, who was struggling to deliv-er at the side of the road for two days, andowing to the lockdown, her regular feedersand caretakers couldn’t reach her. However,one family managed to bring her in the weehours of the morning for an emergencyCaesarean section that managed to atleastpreserve the life of one puppy after rigorousveterinary neonatal care. The jubilant cries ofthat healthy puppy gave reward to the attend-ing vet’s sleepless night!

With restaurants and roadside eateriesshut, as an initiative to help the hungry andstarving stray dogs and cats, CGS Hospitalprovided fresh food to approximately 300-500stray dogs. These strays were fed twice dailyby the hospital team.

It is only when one believes that there islight at the end of the tunnel, can one emergeas one’s best self and truly help another self-lessly. This was aptly showcased by two dailywage labourers who when rummagingthrough the garbage at Sikanderpur found anemaciated sickly puppy. They immediatelyrushed on foot to the hospital for urgent vet-erinary care and continued to bring thatpuppy for the next five days, both in themorning and evening for necessary treatment.“Blessed is the man who has nothing and yetgives”. They even managed to rustle up a smallleash and collar and gave the chap a name —Lucky! And indeed, lucky he was! This inci-dent moved me to tears and reinforced ourbelief in the goodness of humanity.

“Fearing Pandemic Covid-19 is not theanswer to the current situation. CGS hospitalis here to help you and your pets. We arereaching out to both pet owners to quelldoubts regarding the spread of Covid inpets,” says Dr. Samar Singh Mahendran,Director, CGS. The CGS Vets also providedfree tele-OPD assistance to our regular

clients who were unable to bring their pets tothe hospital.

During the 100 days of lockdown, thehospital kept even functional advanced diag-nostics like Computerised Tomogragaphy(CT) Scan, which was exceptionally benefi-cial to diagnose a disc prolapse in suddenlyparaplegic Labrador, Max. Dr. VikashChauhan, a certified veterinary radiologist atCGS hospital said: “ Unfortunately due to thelockdown, many veterinary clinics and exter-nal labs weren’t open routinely and pets wereaffected. We managed to diagnose three casesof long standing intestinal perforations viaabdominal CT Scans and successfully operat-ed and saved the lives of those pets. The joyand satisfaction of a life saved is the ultimatereward.”

Outdoor pets sometimes find it hard stay-ing indoors and numerous reports of falls ofcats and dogs from high rise building terracesand balconies during the lockdown wasstrange. Three cats had to undergo surgery torepair their hard palate injuries. Mirza, theyorkie who had a Humpty-dumpty like falland fractured his femur, has recovered wellpost fracture stabilisation surgeries at theHospital. It is best that pets aren’t allowed toventure out onto roof tops on their own andare supervised when left on balconies torelieve themselves.

Stray dogs seemed to have claimed thestreets during the initial lockdown phase butas the lockdown opened, a drastically highnumber of road accidents resulting in frac-tures were noticed sadly.

Pet shops in most areas were closed andeven online supply of pet supplies was lag-ging behind. Regular deworming andectoparasite treatment was not easily avail-able to pet owners and thus began the viciouscycle of intestinal worm infections.

Lyla, a friendly Dobermann was present-ed with the complaint of chronic vomiting.She was diagnosed with oesophageal nodulesvia an Endoscopy and is getting the appropri-ate medical treatment she deserves.Minimally invasive diagnostic and surgicaloptions have been in focus in the medicalworld recently. Lyla and many other pets havebenefitted from Endoscopic and laparoscopicprocedures at the hospital.

Richard, the diabetic Labrador, had hisvision restored just this month at theOphthalmology Unit of CGS hospital.

Dr. Shriram Ganesan, the veterinary ophthal-mologist has treated many emergency eyetrauma cases, corneal ulcers, glaucoma andcataract cases in pets during this lockdownperiod, referred from far and wide. Some petowners have crossed state borders with spe-cial permissions just to treat their pets’ ocularissues due to lack of such expertise at theirtowns.

Loneliness and a need for companionshiphas lead to a sudden surge in the number ofpuppies adopted or purchased in Delhi NCR.Sadly, many of them tend to fall prey to viralinfections like Parvo virus and require hospi-talisation. The hospital infectious ward wasfilled during the lockdown phase but thank-fully, most puppies emerged triumphant overthe disease. There is always a special bondbetween each vet and a Parvo survivor puppy.Having personally treated quite a few duringthis phase and now vaccinating them postrecovery, it is always a special experience forme. There is no thank you as heartfelt as seenin the eyes of a Parvo survivor pup!

These are only a few examples of petshelped by dedicated vets at CGS Hospital.Veterinarians all over the world need to beapplauded for the wonderful work they aredoing inspite the odds. It is our profession,but also our passion to serve the voiceless.

With resilience and peer support, notonly the vets, but each and every employee ofveterinary hospitals and clinics continue tobrave the odds, providing valuable service tothe dogs and cats that come to them. Webelieve in our hearts that we too are COVIDWarriors!

The writer is a post graduateveterinary surgeon practising at

CGS Hospital, Gurugram.

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Human mind is the main source of stress as well as itsmain victim. Stress has always been a major psycho-somatic issue afflicting human health from ancient

to the modern times. For the ancient man, the problem wasanxiety of the uncertain. Little knowledge, naturally, proveddangerous. The irony is that with more knowledge, we worrymore now. As technology infiltrated our lives, life got derailed,and went offline. George Orwell’s proverbial big brother isgetting bigger causing more and more anxiety and stress tohuman beings. Aadhar that was supposed to make life eas-ier has become a cause for concern. While the banks are insist-ing on data and digitisation, the cyber thugs are swindlingmoney from accounts with consummate ease giving sleep-less nights to the customers. But this is not the only causeof online driven anxiety. The Coronakaal, as we can call itnow, is giving a double whammy. On the one hand warn-ings galore from many sources are scaring people to abnor-mal levels, while on the other, the work from home is mak-ing many experience virtual hell. A new mega organism, theonline CEO, has emerged on the scene. Relaxing in the coolclimes of homes the corona age boss is keeping all employ-ees in his loop on the toes. Shooting mails at the oddest ofthe hours he is issuing directives by the minute. One stepforward two steps backwards, that is the nature of command,because he himself is not sure what to do. Needless to sayall this is leading to excessive stress as the hapless employ-ees are continuously on alert for the next mail or WhatsAppmessage on their mobiles. These nightmarish experiencesare slowly but surely threatening to become a full blown healthcrisis. Already, anxiety and stress related disorders are on therise and frustration is leading to depression and even sui-cides. And you cannot blame this on Corona only. It is thebig bug, the bloated bossy ego of haughty minded peoplethat is the root cause. While Corona related data of distressis available, the online distress is making life more miser-able. People are already feeling the Zoom fatigue which maybe a generic expression for all the different online platformrelated stress. There is ample evidence to suggest that exhaus-tion from excessive video chatting is harmful to both mindand the body, as the total psycho-biology gets affected. It istime we thought of a tweak in workmen’s compensation actto include executives who are increasingly becoming victimsof on line stress due to idiosyncratic fancies of some peo-ple. There could not be a better time to enact the right todisconnect legislation that is waiting assent as a private mem-ber’s bill, given the agony and torture employees are subjectto. Many western nations already have such legislation in placeto protect employees from online firing directed at them. Notonly privacy and freedom but life as a whole is at stake asthis round the clock monitoring and maneuvering is drivingpeople crazy. As oldspeak is being replaced by newspeak ina new Orwellian global order, human beings become pup-pets tied to online strings. And the key deliverables in thisnew order are stress and anxiety. What Orwell visualised in1984 is being realized in 2020.

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The answer is quality of life. Theword quality is defined as thestandard of something when it is

compared to other things like how goodor bad something is. Why is quality oflife all important? Because we are eter-nal souls and very small. This smallnessis in comparison to God, whose partswe are, who is far too big to be reallycomprehended by the human brain.God is omnipresent. The Cosmicdesign does not allow us to ever get big-ger, because these bigger souls will beginclashing for supremacy.

How can we improve our situation?The answer again is: we can improve thequality of our lives. Usefulness comesfirst. In this material world people arerespected/given attention as long as theyare useful. It is not possible to exist wellon the basis of your laurels. That wasearlier. This world is very cruel in thisrespect. Even the family membersbegin to treat those, who are no longeruseful as burden. We cannot blame any-one for this, because there are alwaysduties for everyone. In my case, if Ispend a lot of time establishing a bet-ter connection with God by doing var-ious spiritual practices, I am givenrespect for doing that. Rather my fam-ily feels more secure due to my spiritu-al acts. Following ‘dharma’ is veryimportant for me. This defines my per-sonality. Doing “paropkar” (good deedsby helping others) is similarly very sat-isfying to me, that is whatever I can do,limited as I am due to my resources.

Resources are important to me. Iam still engaged in doing business.These resources allow me facilities andcomforts, which are important to me.Essentially, I am a householder; becom-ing a sannayasi is not my goal in this life.Writing on spiritual topics, which relate

to current events as far as possible givesme enormous satisfaction, becauseGod is involved in this activity; Heguides. This activity actually gives methe maximum satisfaction. I mostlyjudge myself on the progress mode onthis front.

Lastly, my connection with Godprovides to me everything superior likepeace, bliss, support, security, guidance,wisdom, help, energies of various kindslike ‘atmabala’ — the strength of thesoul, maintenance of my family and for-giveness for mistakes made by me, inad-vertently of course. Thankfully, there isa good connection between God andme. I mostly get God’s guidance duringmy sleep in night, which I can recollectupon getting up.

Everyone must figure out what suitsone’s nature, circumstances, availableresources, etc. However, the followingguidelines will be quite handy in estab-lishing what will enhance the quality ofone’s life. Our lives revolve around ourduties, therefore, we have to keep themuppermost in our minds.

Similarly, dharma should define our

character and attitude. Without them,the quality can be ordinary only. Whatwe aim for must be lasting. This isensured by a connection with God, whocontrols everything mine or yours. Andthis connection will ensure peace,without which there is no superior exis-tence.

In the end, I must mention thatsense enjoyments occupy an importantplace in our lives, but these should beappropriate only, that is what is requiredindeed by our bodies, minds, intelli-gence, etc. Anything beyond degrades;does not enhance the quality of life.Sense pleasures of momentary natureare always temporary. They should notdominate our psyche. Only then, we willadvance in the quality of life index. Andthis effort should be ongoing life afterlife, because we exist eternally. Weshould ensure that the next life will bebetter than the present one. The Cosmicdesign allows this continuity; we shouldtake advantage of it. After all, the nextlife will also surely come. �������� ������� ������� ��� ����� ����

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You, me, the birds, the bees,the tree, its roots and everyatom in the cosmos, are partof the same source — thesupreme consciousness.

Experientially understanding this iswhere we need to get to. The buckstarts from, and eventually comesback to you.

We aspire for divinity even thoughwe are already divine, unaware of ourtrue whole self. Instead, we search fordivinity in other people, places andthings. Which door we knock on is alldestiny’s play, and if destiny is kind tous, we will find on the other side of theopen door, a Siddh Guru, who will leadus onto the path of spiritual evolution,back to our true selves.

In principle, a guru is not a person,but a concept that embodies infinitewisdom and universal knowledge.Thus, in a guru-disciple relationship,the disciple emulates not the person herefers to as his guru — but his gunas(qualities). With all the technology,information and spiritual contentbeing so easily available in every lan-guage, do people still need a guru?

Most of us know ourselves at asuperficial level. That is, what we per-ceive ourselves to be. Or worse, whatwe believe others perceive of us.

A Siddh Guru who has the intuitiveknowledge to recognise you beyondyour physical self, knows you at the

three distinct levels of the body, mind,and spirit. He knows you not only inthe physical form you are in now, butalso who you were and will be in livesof the past and future A siddh gurualways knows the strength of a poten-tial disciple’s spirit. He will also try tosense the connection between the per-son’s destiny and his spiritual growth.

Nobody can introduce you toyourself better than your Guru. Byintroducing you to you, he introducesyou to your destiny and gunas, help-ing you to accept yourself on an as-is-where-is basis. He leads you to under-stand and engage in self-acceptanceand self-respect leading to an egolessself-worth of your own spirit.

Only when a disciple understandsthe totality of who and what he is, canhe play music to the words ‘Tat TwamAsi’ or ‘That You Are’ which means, atthe core, you are a part of the con-sciousness supreme.

This responsibility is immense.The concept of a guru is far more exalt-ed and profound, because not only ishe a role model, he takes on the disci-ple’s karmic debt and leads him out ofit to whatever extent possible. It isimperative for the guru to ensure thedisciple’s spiritual transformation.

On his journey towards spiritualadvancement, a disciple goes throughvarious stages of evolution, from shrad-dha (devotion) to bhakti (worship).

The final stage however, is not of wor-shipping the guru, but instead, wor-shipping the guru within YOU. Whiledevotion is a matter of heightenedemotion, acceptance is a more centredapproach without emotion as its powersource. Therefore, even though thejourney may start with devotion, itends with acceptance and self-worship.

It is not easy to assess the stage ofevolution of spiritual people. There isno standard metric. A man on thestreet may be more spiritually advancedthan one in saffron. Looks and style,knowledge of scriptures and oratoryabilities do not necessarily a spiritual-ist make. There are other attitudes andpractices, coupled with destiny andintent that make an individual rise onthe spiritual ladder. A guru looks forcertain qualities in his disciple:

Sense of Awareness: For a disci-ple to observe his own thoughts, reac-tions and actions, which your guru mayrequire you to change for yourimprovement.

Flexibility: your guru may wantfor you to have mouldability andnimbleness to change behaviour andreaction patterns set from past expe-riences.

Non-dogmatism: Dogmaticthinking chains one down to rituals,defeating the purpose of freeing youfrom the illusion that is maya. A guruwants a disciple to let go of this one

form of execution.Sense of Sacrifice: There cannot be

service without sacrifice and practice.To acquire certain spiritual skills, onemay need to sacrifice certain pleasures.

Sheer Guts: Spiritual serviceincludes safeguarding people againstsuch external forces and negativeenergies transmittable through prac-tices like black magic.

Initiative: While philosophy doessound impressive, it takes initiative andintent to put that philosophy into prac-tice and go beyond expected levels ofattainment and act intuitively.

Obedience: Disobedience andobedience are the snakes and laddersin the game of Guruism. Disobedienceleads your guru to relinquish hisresponsibility towards you as you haveshown a lack of faith in him.

Loyalty: Loyalty to the guru andhis mission is a critical component foracceptance by any spiritual master.

Spiritual training in physical pres-ence of the guru ensures an interaction,where one learns not only through the-ory but also from the teacher’s respons-es, body language, instant correctionsand so on. The guru often leads byexample and it is a disciple’s curricu-lum to perfect the prescribed practicesand not just understand theory. Thereis vast difference between attending alecture in a classroom and readingscriptures online.

Discipleship needs continuousmonitoring and interaction. Suchtraining includes rewards and admo-nitions. Many use their guru as acrutch, and not a launch pad. It is nec-essary for us to understand that a guruis the remover of ignorance and the onewho bestows internal knowledge.

Physical presence of the guru is aluxury one cannot bank on for anextended period of time. His teachingsand philosophy will succeed him. Asa tribute to the teacher, the disciplemust implement a collection of histeachings and instructions.

Many a siddh guru can awaken thepower of knowledge or intuition in hisdisciples by using their will power orspiritual energy. A guru gives knowl-edge, gati and clarity. A guru facilitatesthe lifting off of the veil of maya. Hewalks you through every step of real-isation that the world we perceivethrough our five senses is only a delu-sion, the reality lies beyond it. He teach-es you not only to accept but also to seeand live in this reality.

The guru introduces the disciple tothe disciple’s inner being, and withinthat being lies the ultimate guru.Wishing you luck in the journey offinding the divine with you!

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The world today is technologicallyvery advanced. But, despite theseadvancements, no invention till date

has been able to predict the occurrence,place of origin or the frequency of theearthquake. Although science has beensuccessful in setting up departments anda Richter scale to measure an earthquake,but, they are still lacking in predictingtime, place and frequency of an earth-quake. Scientists only accept a handfulreasons behind the occurrence of theseearthquakes — movement of tectonicplates; breaking of rocks within the earthsurface; increase of temperature in theinnermost earth surfaces leading to gasformation and eventually volcanic erup-tion.

Vedic Astrology is part and parcel ofthe Vedas. Astrology is the science ofknowing what lies in the future. The utili-ty of astrology is as clear as that of meteo-rology. But, a meteorological departmentcan only predict the weather for only afew days with the help of their devices.

Indian astrology contains a few point-ers about the future of earthquakes, withthe help of which the astrologers predictthe occurrence of these earthquakes.However, Indian astrology, using thePanchang can calculate all the upcomingastronomy events with complete accuracy.

Eclipse and earthquake: No earth-quake ever happens during the eclipseperiod. However, there is a probability ofearthquake in the coming post-eclipselunar phase of full moon or new moon(Purnima and Amavasya, respectively).

Time of earthquake: As per vedicastrology, the probability of occurrence ofthe earthquake is high during mid-day(12 pm) to sunset and from midnight tosunrise.

Retrograde Planet and earthquake:When major planets such as Jupiter, Marsand Saturn move to retrograde, there is achance of earthquake.

Planetary transits and earthquake:In Planetary transit, apart from the posi-tion of major planets such as Jupiter,Saturn and Mars, there should be a com-pliance in the positions of major astro-nomical bodies such as Moon and Rahu,like: Mars and Saturn should be oppositeto each other; Sun, Mars, Saturn andRahu in Kendra (1st, 4th, 7th and 10thhouse of horoseope); Sun, Mars, Saturnand Rahu transit to 8th house of horo-scope; Shadasthak Yoga of Mars andSaturn, Mars and Rahu, and Sun andMars.

Such planetary transit situations

increase the prevalence of an earthquake.

Months and earthquake: As perVedic astrology, there is a high-probabili-ty of earthquakes during summer (mostlyMay and June) solstice, and winter (most-ly December and January) solstice.

Meteorite and earthquake: There areseveral meteorites in the universe. But,when these meteorites are in proximity tothe earth or sun, the chances of the occur-rence of the earthquake increases.

Apart from these, the position ofUranus, cruel planets (kur grah) and thecollision of stars too have an importantrole in bringing about a disastrous anddevastating earthquake.

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Even as the whole world is facingan unprecedented global health

and humanitarian crisis with therapid spread of Covid-19 pandem-ic, China sees this as an opportuni-ty to push her geopolitical agenda.And, the same is explicitly evident inSouth Asia and the Indian Oceanregion where China is unmistakablyaiding her geopolitical agenda withhumanitarian assistance. UnlikeIndia, the Chinese approach inSouth Asia or in the Indian Oceanregion (IOR) is neither benign norin accordance with the principle ofmutual benefits and inclusiveness. Infact, it is merely guided by China’snational interest. And, interestingly,amused with growing Chinese influ-ence in their economic and securi-ty domains, many small countries ofthe region are not interested torealise the long term consequencesof China’s growing clouts. As mostof the small countries of South Asiaand the IOR are set to face worse eco-nomic crisis in the post Covid peri-od, China is ready to exploit the sit-uation for its own political, economicand strategic gains.

The recent report titled “AGlobal Survey of US-ChinaCompetition in the CoronavirusEra” by Hudson Institute, the USA,explicitly mentioned that China’simmediate goal in South Asia is tolimit any “defiance “from India andthwart its expanding partnershipwith the US. China’s penetration intoIndia’s region of influence (SouthAsia and IOR) is indeed a strategicloss for India. The neighbours in theChinese debt trap are undoubtedlya potential threat for India’s securi-ty. Further, the report rightly men-tioned that now China, the secondlargest economy in the world, is suc-ceeding its South Asia strategythrough the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI), which distributes loans andinvest in large infrastructure projectsacross the region.

After Pakistan and Sri Lanka,now Nepal, despite some resistancefrom its own citizens, is preparing toplunge into Chinese debt trap. Nepal’srecent political adventure, the con-stitutional claim after updating thecountry’s map without historical factsand evidence, is merely a conspiracyby ruling political party to ignite theanti-India sentiments for immediatedomestic political gains and toappease China. Certainly, it will notbe prudent to blame India’s neigh-bourhood policy for such a muddle

in the Indo-Nepal bilateral ties.The small countries of the region

such as Sri Lanka, Nepal, andMaldives choose to prefer “omnidirectional friendship with shiftingtilts” where ruling party or partiesand their leaderships primarily deter-mine the direction of the tilts. Thechange of guards in Sri Lanka andMaldives in 2015 and 2018 respec-tively assured the curtailment ofChinese influence in their respectivecountries. The ouster of the pro-China Mahinda RajapaskaGovernment in Sri Lanka in 2015and the Abdullah YameenGovernment in Maldives in 2018 wassighing of relief for India; while toIndia’s chagrin, KP Oli returned asPrime Minister of Nepal in 2018.

India, China’s jostle for influence

in the region is continued duringpandemic also, although, means andintentions are not the same. Yet, midof the Covid-19 crisis, India hasscaled up its diplomatic outreach andhumanitarian assistance in the mostpart of the world, including SouthAsia and the IOR. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s initiative to createan emergency Covid-19 fund forSAARC countries, India’s Covidmedical diplomacy and the IndianArmy and Navy’s initiatives to helpthe neighbouring countries to dealwith the growing numbers of coro-navirus cases in such an unprece-dented situation at domestic front,must be appreciated. India’s Covidmedical diplomacy is not only aboutexport of medicine, but also includesonline training programme for the

officials of health-care professionalsof SAARC countries and dispatch ofthe teams of military doctors toMaldives, Nepal and Kuwait. Indiasupplied medicine, both on com-mercial and the grant basis, to morethan 100 countries. But immediateneighbourhood remains the key priority for India as it suppliedthe medicine to immediate neigh-bours by Indian aircraft and Air force flights and to others by com-mercial couriers.

For India, Covid-19 pandemic isan occasion to coordinate, cooperateand lend assistance to smaller neigh-bours to fight against pandemic andcreate greater impact in the longterm. Medical diplomacy hasemerged as an effective tool of India’sCovid diplomacy, and certainly

enhancing India’s goodwill withmany countries. But China is notbehind; during the Covid pandem-ic, China is enhancing its influencein the region by providing medicalhardware and other assistance tosmaller countries of the region.China, which has already made herpotent presence in the region throughvarious means such as economy,trade, defence and soft power, is nowready to neutralise the Indian effortsin her immediate neighbourhood.And, undoubtedly, this is one of thekey reasons why despite the goodintension and approach India’s neigh-bourhood first policy has not beenmuch successful in last decades tomeet the expectations.

How to manage China’s risingprofile in South Asia in the post-

Covid period will certainly be anuphill task for India. However, it wasnever an easy task for any extraregional powers to dominate theperiphery of any regional power;advantage of geography blends withgood neighbourhood policy mighthelp India to balance China in theregion. Although, under the leader-ship of Prime Minister NarendraModi, to regain its influence in theregion India is making all efforts toengage neighbours more meaning-fully, but the situation demandssome extra efforts and calibrations.Finding ways to correct the past mis-takes in the neighbourhood policy isone of the most daunting tasks forIndia’s foreign policy makers.

In the neighbourhood, Indianeeds to embrace the logic of eco-nomic interdependence and ensurethe timely completion of ongoingconnectivity and development pro-jects. During his six years of tenure,Prime Minister Narendra Modi vis-ited all neighbouring countries andensured satisfactory progress onpolitical, diplomatic as well as phys-ical connectivity fronts. New Delhiseems determined to connect easternneighbours through BBIN(Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, andNepal) sub-regional initiative andwith the construction of more than10 new check points to facilitate tradeand movement of vehicles along theborders of eastern neighbours: Nepal,Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.Complaining against Chinese eco-nomic influence in the neighbouringcountries and China-linked securityconcerns in India’s vicinity, intangi-ble or tangible, is indeed a futile exer-cise. However, India should avoid thehabit of downplaying China-relatedsecurity concerns in South Asianwater. The China’s base and portstrategy in South Asian littoral statesor in the IOR or presence of Chinesesubmarines in the Andaman waterare definitely not only to serve theChina’s commercial interest. To bal-ance China in South Asian water orin the IOR, beside the capacity build-ing and capacity enhancement, withor without Quad India should nothesitate in engaging the US and otherlike-minded major and middle pow-ers in the region, especially in thevicinity of the Arabian Sea and theBay of Bengal.

(The writers are Delhi-basedInternational relations and foreignpolicy analysts)

The unprecedented situa-tion which has arisen glob-

ally because of the Covid-19pandemic has brought beforethe world many valuable learn-ings — sustainable and collab-orative practices to becomeself-reliant are the truest har-bingers of healthy societies,economies and healthiernations. As we battle Covid-19today and reconcile with thepossibility of a new endemicinfectious disease, we mustrealise that “atma nirbharta” isthe only way to not only cush-ion us from the socio-eco-nomic blow that this pandem-ic has dealt us but also prepareus for what lies ahead in a postCovid-19 world. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hasgiven a clarion call to all ourscientists, start-ups, industrysaying that “a self-reliant Indiais the only way forward —Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

The Department ofBiotechnology (DBT), sinceits very inception in the late80s, has been committed todelivering solutions for societalchallenges with a focus on“Make in India.” Today, as weare positioned from discoveryresearch to translationalresearch, from academia tostartups from institutional col-laboration to knowledge trans-lational clusters DBT has trans-formed the scientific innova-tion spectrum in India.

As appropriately said byour Prime Minister it is imper-ative that we don’t conflate aself-reliant India with a self-centered India. International

cooperation and collaborationare at the core of self-reliance— India’s progress willundoubtedly contribute toglobal progress. TheDepartment of Biotechnologyand its Public Sector BIRAC(Biotechnology IndustryResearch Assistance Council)has epitomised this value byinitiating multiple collaborativeresearch and development pro-grammes with several coun-tries and philanthropic organ-isations in diverse areas ofbiotechnology.

Vaccine research and

development has been a corefocus-area for DBT. In a mat-ter of national pride, in 2018,ROTAVAC — a vaccine tofight rotavirus developed withsupport from the Departmentof Biotechnology — becameIndia’s first indigenous vaccineto be prequalified by WHO.Rotavirus is a highly contagiousdisease that claims lives ofnearly half a million childrenevery year across the world —prequalification allowedROTAVAC to be procured byGAVI and UN agencies for usein low and middle-income

countries. Today 1 out of 6 chil-dren in the world receive India-manufactured vaccines. In2019, DBT launched the Ind-CEPI mission programmealigned with the Global CEPI,to calibrate efforts on devel-oping vaccines for diseases inIndia that could have epidem-ic potential, even as it preparesa multi-year plan to focus ondevelopment of vaccines formalaria, dengue, chikungunyaand tuberculosis.

Similarly, since 1987, theIndo-US Vaccine ActionProgram (VAP), a bilateral

programme of the DBT,Ministry of Science andTechnology, Government ofIndia; and the NationalInstitute of Allergy andInfectious Diseases of theNational Institutes of Health,the USA, has supported count-less research and capacitystrengthening programmes inpriority areas like viral hepati-tis (such as hepatitis C),typhoid, rabies, rotavirus diar-rhoea, acute respiratory infec-tions, tuberculosis, parasiticdiseases (leishmaniasis, malar-ia), HIV co-morbidities, strep-tococcal infections and dengue.It’s no surprise then that theIndo-US VAP has been recog-nised internationally as amodel bilateral programme inbiomedical research. The Indo-EU collaboration for develop-ment of an influenza vaccine isanother such example.

In our effort towards self-reliance, Biotechnology IndustryResearch Assistance Council(BIRAC), established by theDepartment of Biotechnology,has consistently exemplified theideation-to-innovation modelby identifying and incubatingefforts towards needs-basedproduct-focused research anddevelopment.

More recently, in the fightagainst Covid-19, DBT-BIRAChas led from the front. Withinthe first few weeks of theCovid-19 pandemic, DBT-BIRAC announced a Covid-19 research consortiumto develop safe and effectivebiomedical solutions to combatSARS-CoV-2. The consortium

received an overwhelmingresponse and has, so far, sup-ported over 70 proposals fordevelopment of diagnostics,vaccines, novel therapeutics,repurposing of drugs and othertechnologies to find solutions for the healthcarechallenges of this pandemic.More than 20 different VaccineCandidates are being devel-oped by our indigenous devel-opers from industry, startupsand academia.

A true example of ourmission towards self-reliance isthe development of indige-nous diagnostic kits for Covid19. In March 2020, when thefirst few testing activities beganwe were totally dependent onimported kits. TheGovernment took immediateaction and with a combinationof enabling policies and fund-ing opportunities, today wehave over 20 Indian manufac-turers and a kit productioncapacity of more than 1 lakhkits per day. To meet thisrequirement, the Departmentof Biotechnology and BIRACthrough the NationalBiopharma Mission have set upa manufacturing complex atAMTZ Vishakapatnam. Therequirement of indigenouscomponents, reagents andother related parts is now beingmet through N-BRIC, aNational Biomedical ResourceIndigenisation Consortia set upin a PPP model to cater to ourneeds to meet the targets ofAtmanirbhar Bharat.

BIRAC has been fast track-ing many innovations such as

glucose-monitoring and hyper-tension monitoring which arecritical in Covid-19 manage-ment. Similarly, several com-panies are being supported toscale-up production and man-ufacturing of testing andscreening kits, PPEs, ventila-tors, etc. From extendingfinancial support to solutionsthat are ready for deploymentto accelerating vaccine devel-opment and encouraging vac-cine research, DBT-BIRAC areplaying a catalytic and enablingrole in battling Covid-19 withindigenous solutions throughits 16 research institutes, morethan 1000 startups, and 50bio-incubators. The DBT-BIRAC team is also workingalong with the Drug ControllerGeneral of India (DCGI) toprovide a rapid response reg-ulatory framework for the dis-covery to delivery process ofCovid-19 innovations.

As the world is looking atfinding quick solutions formeeting the huge healthcarechallenges which Covid-19outbreak has brought before us,our effort is to ensure that ourinnovations continue to focuson scalability, sustainabilityand replicability.

As we prepare ourselves fora new world, our focus has to beon the importance of indigenousresearch and development ofimpact-driven innovation, thisis key for our march towards an‘Atmanirbhar Bharat.’

(The writer is Secretary,Department of Biotechnology,Government of India)

Page 12:  · Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur in Maharashtra, Chennai in Tamil Nadu and Ahmedabad in Gujarat following a request ... informed that no flights shall operate to Kolkata from Delhi, Mumbai,

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The truth is simple and sponta-neous. It is within everybody’ssight. We just need to look at

things with an open mind. The paradox,however, is that simple truth eludes ourattention. Our mind has become socomplexed that we can’t take note ofsimple things. We rather prefer going incircles in search of underlying truth,more often ending up having a frac-tioned view.

We all know that when glaciersmelt, water streams emerge, which endsin the sea. All through its run, it extendslife. But for water there will be no vege-tation on ground, in fact, no life. Fruitborn by trees and the crops grown sus-tain us. If we stop eating but we can stilllive on water, but mind will stop work-ing. So goes the saying: “Anna se bud-dhi, jala se prana”, meaning that foodgrains nourish our mind, and water sus-tains life. Not only that, the trees absorbcarbon dioxide that our body dis-charges, and in turn, release fresh oxy-gen to sustain our life. The trees alsomaintain weather cycle. Water runningdown the stream, as also in the seaevaporates, leaving behind all impuri-ties, forms cloud and then rains to

recharge our water resources and lifecycle. This way you can see, how inter-connected and interdependent our livesare.

You don’t need a rocket science tounderstand such fundamental truth.Such truths not in our reckoning, welose track of our collective obligations,and remain centred to our self-centricaspirational urges. Otherwise, we wouldhave cared not to vitiate environmentalconditions — not been careless to pol-lute our water resources and the envi-ronment around. Had the people inWuhan state of China maintained theirsense of hygiene, they would not havepicked up the Coronavirus, which hasovertaken the whole world. In fact, wehave lost our sense of proportion somuch that but for pandemics overtakingus, we don’t remember that the world isa unified organism, where no individualhas a reality independent of the whole.The obvious implication is that if eversomething happens at one end of thisworld, its effect will reach far and wideand so it happened. This pandemic istherefore a wake up call for all of us.

The question now is: how to remainlive to the above realities. It is again, not

a rocket science. You just need to clearoff the clutters of mind, purify yourmind so as to rise above all its limita-tions and preconditioning, and truthwill be forthcoming spontaneously. Theother day I was being interviewed onthe probable outcome of the recenteclipse. One of the viewer asked me:“Sun is the soul of the earth. If the Sunitself becomes afflicted during eclipse,how can people on earth remain good?”

Well, a cloud coming in way of thesolar light, will though restrict its reachto us, but can’t anyway bring down thesolar intensity. During the solar eclipse,Moon comes in between the Sun andEarth, and so, it is almost like a tempo-rary clouding effect. The Sun can noway be afflicted at all, I answered. Theanchor then asked me: “Sir, the punditsare suggesting so many remedial mea-sures to ward off the evil influence ofeclipse, but you have taken an altogetherdifferent approach. How is this differ-ence in approach?” Well, the pundits arestuck to their beliefs, and so are havinga coloured vision of this natural annularphenomenon, mostly to serve their vest-ed interest. Any of the remedial mea-sures they are suggesting can’t appeasethe cosmic forces nor could they change

their course. Nobody on the earth iscapable of changing the course ofnature. We have to bear with intelligent-ly, what the cosmos offers. Well, on mypart, I am looking at the whole phe-nomenon holistically and with an openmind, free from any preconditioningwhatsoever. So, I am able to see truth inblack and white.

Truth of life is that the cosmos issubject to continued twists and turnsand with related bearing on our lifecycle. We can’t change nature’s course.But we can certainly negotiate with thechallenges coming our way intelligentlyand minimise the damage, as we havebeen successively doing during cyclonesand such natural calamities. The call ofthe time is to purify our minds. We maythen remain alive about the living reali-ties of life. We may be able to sponta-neously and effortlessly strike truth.Accordingly, we could prepare ourselvesto negotiate with the challenges comingour way intelligently.

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