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A major controversy has erupted over a report in the Wall Street Journal that social media giant Facebook ignores cases of hate speech and objec- tionable content from leaders and workers of the ruling BJP for fear of antagonising the Modi Government. The Congress flagged the article as evidence of the alleged social media manipulation by the BJP. The ruling party hit back citing the Cambridge Analytica data scandal of 2014 to question Congress track record. The article titled Facebook Hate-Speech Rules Collide With Indian Politics said the Facebook India exec- utive opposed a move to ban a controversial BJP politician over his hate speech though the FB internal meetings was in favour of such action. Accusing the BJP and the RSS of controlling Facebook and WhatsApp in India and alleging that the two had attacked democracy in the country, the Congress demand- ed a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the entire controversy. “They spread fake news and hatred through it and use it to influence the electorate. Finally, the American media has come out with the truth about Facebook,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said shar- ing the article that has men- tioned direct involvement of the party in the system. The grand old party also accused the Facebook of ignor- ing several complaints lodged both at their US and Indian offices by meeting the manage- ment personally on many occa- sions including United States in 2018, but they did not pay heed to it and now with the pub- lication of an article in a US- based newspaper, the Congress has turned the heat on social media giant and the BJP. Unleashing a counter- attack on the Congress, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad said Rahul and his party had no moral right to question the BJP because they themselves faced the charge of having used online platforms to influence elections in India. “Losers who cannot influ- ence people even in their own party keep cribbing that the entire world is controlled by the BJP and the RSS. You were caught red-handed in alliance with Cambridge Analytica and Facebook to weaponise data before the elections and now have the gall to question us?,” Prasad tweeted in response to Rahul. In 2018, a whistleblower Christopher Wylie had told the British lawmakers that he believed that the UK-based Cambridge Analytica had deal- ing with the Congress party in India. Cambridge Analytica was accused of data breach to influence the US polls. Prasad also slammed Rahul for not condemning the recent communal violence in Bengaluru. “The fact is that today access to information and freedom of expression has been democratised. It is no longer controlled by retainers of your family and that is why it hurts. But, haven’t yet heard your condemnation of the Bangalore riots. Where did your courage disappear?,” Prasad asked in his second tweet addressed to Rahul. Taking to Twitter, Rahul shared the article by WSJ . The report alleged that the Facebook ignored hate speech- es by BJP Telangana MLA T Raja Singh and others. The social media giant is ignoring all these hate speeches to avoid the damages to its business prospects, the report added. Facebook’s senior India policy executive Ankhi Das had reportedly blocked the call for banning Singh from the social media platform and intervened when the MLA’s hate posts were flagged. Singh, who rep- resents Goshamahal Assembly constituency in Hyderabad, had made communally sensi- tive posts on Rohingyas saying they should be shot dead. H ectic preparations are underway to conduct the Monsoon Session of Parliament around mid-September keep- ing in mind the standard oper- ation procedures (SOP) of social distancing norms at the backdrop of Covid-19 pan- demic. In a first of its kind in the history of Parliament since 1952, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will make opti- mum use of both the chambers and all the galleries of both the Houses to hold the session. New technical and scien- tific installations such as four large display screens in the chamber of the House, anoth- er six small screens in the four galleries, audio consoles in the galleries, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, special cables con- necting the two Houses for transmission of audio-visual signals, polycarbonate sheet separating the official gallery from the chamber of the House, etc, have been put after a meeting between Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. T he day country was cele- brating Independence Day, parents found their 13-year-old Dalit girl badly mutilated body from a sugarcane field where she was raped and then killed by local boys a day before and left the body there. The father of the girl alleged that the rapist while killing her daughter also gouged her eyes and cut her tongue. The criminal even dragged the girl by putting a rope around her neck. On Sunday, the police claimed to have arrested two of the accused. The girl had gone missing earlier on Friday afternoon. When she did not return home till late evening, her par- ents and relatives started looking for her. They noticed some marks near a sugarcane field and found her body, police said. The girl’s father has denied enmity with anyone in the vil- lage, they said. The post-mortem report has confirmed the victim was sexually assaulted, but alle- gations that the girl’s eyes were gouged out and her tongue chopped off are wrong, the Additional Superintendent of Police, Lakhimpur Kheri, Arun Kumar Singh. Singh claimed that the girl sustained an injury just below her eye, possibly due to friction with the sharp leaves of sugar- cane in the field where the rape was committed. He said the arrested men, Sanjay Gautam and Santosh Yadav, both in their early twenties, have con- fessed to the crime. Both men are residents of the same village as the girl — Pakaria in the Isanagar area. O ne of India’s greatest open- ing batsman in Test crick- et and former Delhi District Cricket Association president Chetan Chauhan passed away on Sunday at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram after fighting a month-long battle due to Covid related complications. The opening batsman of 70s era, famous for not having single international hundred in his 12-year long career, played in 40 Tests and seven ODI match- es and despite coming close to three figures on many occasions (he got to 80-plus seven times, on two of those occasions getting to 93 and 97), he held the strange record - most Test runs (2084) without scoring a century — for many years before being toppled by Aussie spinner Shane Warne (3154). He was also remembered for his top of the order partnership with Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar, with whom he shared 12 hundred plus stands at an average of 53.25 and compiled 3010 runs in 59 times they batted together. And the most famous of it was when the duo added a best of 213, which came in the second innings against England at The Oval in August 1979. In that game courtesy to their stand, where he made 80 and Gavaskar scored 221, India managed to reach 429 for 8 in record chase of 438 runs. After retiring from the game, Chauhan served as the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) in various capacities — president, vice- president, secretary and chief selector — apart from being manager of the Indian Team during its tour of Australia in 2001. He was honoured with Arjuna award in 1981. After tak- ing the political plunge, Chauhan was twice elected to the Lok Sabha from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, in 1991 and 1998. At the time of his death, he was 73 and was serving as Minister of Sainik Welfare, Home Guards and Civil Security in the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet. J harkhand on Sunday report- ed 546 fresh cases of coron- avirus and 14 casualties across the State in the last 24 hours, as per the Covid bulletin released by the Health department. With 14 more deaths due to infection in the state, the death toll has reached 244. On Sunday the maximum death was reported from East Singhbhum the epicenter of infection in the State. Five peo- ple lost their life battling infec- tion in East Singhbhum, followed by three deaths in Ranchi. Two people died due to infection in neighboring West Singhbhum, while one death each was report- ed from Dhanbad, Gumla, Koderma, Palamu districts. Apart from fourteen deaths, 546 fresh cases were reported across the state capital. Among districts the maximum cases were reported from Dhanbad where 148 people were found infected with the virus on Sunday. Followed by Dhanbad, 113 cases of coronavirus were found from Ranchi district, 22 cases from Ramgarh, Saraikela(22), Koderma(11), Gumla(16) among others. However, the rosy picture for the state is that though 546 fresh cases were reported on Sunday, 566 people recovered from infection in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, from Tuesday the State Government is going to speed up testing. The Ranchi district administration is going to carry out rapid antigen tests at 20 places. The medical teams of district administration will be present at these 20 places. Ranchi deputy commissioner Chhavi Ranjan has deputed separate officials at these places. The Ranchi district admin- istration has asked people to reach these places for their corona test wearing masks. The district administration will follow all the safety norms such as maintaining social dis- tancing and others. Some of the places where rapid antigen testing will be car- ried out include CMPDI, High Court, Red Cross Society, Hotwar Jail, Marwari Bhawan and others. Apart from these, test centres have been created at rural areas too such as in Bero, Chanho, Bundu and Burmu, Ormanjhi, Ratu and others. With the rise in 546 fresh cases and 14 more deaths, the total number of corona cases in the state has reached 23224, with 8233 active cases and 14747 per- sons have recovered from infec- tion. At the same time the state recovery rate has reached 63.50 per cent which is still behind the national average of recovery rate of 71.50 per cent. The mor- tality rate of the state is 1.05 per- cent while the national mortal- ity rate is 1.90 per cent. C hief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday reiter- ated commitment of his Government to take all possi- ble steps to protect and ensure health and livelihood of people of Jharkhand amid outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic that has adversely affected economy as well as life of people. The Chief Minister said this while addressing people of Jharkhand at Morabadi ground on occasion of 74th Independence Day where he also outlined priorities of his Government. On this occasion as many as 10 Corona warriors including health workers, safai workers, doctors and police were felicitated for their exem- plary services. “This pandemic has posed a big challenge before humani- ty that badly damaged our socio- economic fabric. But we will have to stay together because we can overcome this challenge collectively,” said Soren. Sharing his experience and difficulties in executing rescue and rehabili- tation operations to protect and bring back labourers of Jharkhand stranded in other States; CM said that this was one of the biggest challenges. “But we did this success- fully. We ensured that they got food and shelter and a wide level relief operation was con- ducted that’s why no hunger death was reported in Jharkhand. Later on, we brought back as many as five lakh labourers of Jharkhand back to their state who were stranded in other states. Special train was operated for them and we also airlifted labourers who were stranded in Andaman & Nicobar and Ladakh,” CM said. CM said in order to miti- gate the economic impact of Covid-19 on the economically vulnerable section of society his government launched many important socio-economic activities. “We have launched Birsa Harit Gram Yojana under which horticulture activities on 27000 acres of land will be done besides as many as 11898 projects will be undertaken under Nilambar Pitambar Jal Samridhi Yojana. We are strengthening MNREGA in Jharkhand and during lock- down a total of Rs 25 crore cash was transferred in the bank accounts of labourers,” CM informed. Soren informed that dur- ing the lockdown the govern- ment ensured that labourers don’t face an economic crisis due to lack of employment. Hence, the government autho- rised MLAs on whose recom- mendation a labourer within Jharkhand was given Rs 1000 as assistance and Rs 2000 for those who were stranded in other states. Soren informed that as many as four newly opened medical colleges of Jharkhand situated in Hazaribagh, Dumka and Palamu will be named after famous tribal icons of Jharkhand whereas the Patliputra medical college in Dhanbad will be named as Shahid Nirmal Mahto. He said that as many as 5,000 schools of Jharkhand will be developed under Sobran Manjhi model school scheme. CM said in order to bring socio- economic equality his govern- ment has decided to form a high level committee to increase reservation of SC, ST and OBC in Government jobs whereas his government is already working on the demand to reserve 75 percent posts in the private sec- tor for local residents.

˘ˇˆ˙˙˝˛˙˚˜ˇ˜ $ ˛ ˇ€¦ · 2 days ago  · Analytica data scandal of 2014 to question Congress track record. ... “They spread fake news and hatred through it and use

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Page 1: ˘ˇˆ˙˙˝˛˙˚˜ˇ˜ $ ˛ ˇ€¦ · 2 days ago  · Analytica data scandal of 2014 to question Congress track record. ... “They spread fake news and hatred through it and use

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Amajor controversy haserupted over a report in the

Wall Street Journal that socialmedia giant Facebook ignorescases of hate speech and objec-tionable content from leadersand workers of the ruling BJPfor fear of antagonising theModi Government.

The Congress flagged thearticle as evidence of the allegedsocial media manipulation bythe BJP. The ruling party hitback citing the CambridgeAnalytica data scandal of 2014to question Congress trackrecord. The article titledFacebook Hate-Speech RulesCollide With Indian Politicssaid the Facebook India exec-utive opposed a move to ban acontroversial BJP politicianover his hate speech though theFB internal meetings was infavour of such action.

Accusing the BJP and theRSS of controlling Facebookand WhatsApp in India andalleging that the two hadattacked democracy in the

country, the Congress demand-ed a Joint ParliamentaryCommittee probe into theentire controversy.

“They spread fake newsand hatred through it and useit to influence the electorate.Finally, the American mediahas come out with the truthabout Facebook,” Congressleader Rahul Gandhi said shar-ing the article that has men-tioned direct involvement ofthe party in the system.

The grand old party alsoaccused the Facebook of ignor-ing several complaints lodgedboth at their US and Indianoffices by meeting the manage-ment personally on many occa-sions including United States in2018, but they did not payheed to it and now with the pub-lication of an article in a US-based newspaper, the Congresshas turned the heat on socialmedia giant and the BJP.

Unleashing a counter-attack on the Congress, UnionMinister for Electronics andInformation Technology andCommunications Ravi Shankar

Prasad said Rahul and hisparty had no moral right toquestion the BJP because theythemselves faced the charge ofhaving used online platforms toinfluence elections in India.

“Losers who cannot influ-ence people even in their ownparty keep cribbing that theentire world is controlled by theBJP and the RSS. You werecaught red-handed in alliancewith Cambridge Analytica andFacebook to weaponise databefore the elections and nowhave the gall to question us?,”Prasad tweeted in response toRahul.

In 2018, a whistleblowerChristopher Wylie had toldthe British lawmakers that hebelieved that the UK-basedCambridge Analytica had deal-ing with the Congress party inIndia. Cambridge Analyticawas accused of data breach toinfluence the US polls.

Prasad also slammedRahul for not condemning therecent communal violence inBengaluru. “The fact is thattoday access to information

and freedom of expression hasbeen democratised. It is nolonger controlled by retainersof your family and that is whyit hurts. But, haven’t yet heardyour condemnation of theBangalore riots. Where didyour courage disappear?,”Prasad asked in his secondtweet addressed to Rahul.

Taking to Twitter, Rahulshared the article by WSJ . Thereport alleged that theFacebook ignored hate speech-es by BJP Telangana MLA TRaja Singh and others. Thesocial media giant is ignoringall these hate speeches to avoidthe damages to its businessprospects, the report added.

Facebook’s senior Indiapolicy executive Ankhi Das hadreportedly blocked the call forbanning Singh from the socialmedia platform and intervenedwhen the MLA’s hate postswere flagged. Singh, who rep-resents Goshamahal Assemblyconstituency in Hyderabad,had made communally sensi-tive posts on Rohingyas sayingthey should be shot dead.

����� ��������

Hectic preparations areunderway to conduct the

Monsoon Session of Parliamentaround mid-September keep-ing in mind the standard oper-ation procedures (SOP) ofsocial distancing norms at thebackdrop of Covid-19 pan-demic.

In a first of its kind in thehistory of Parliament since1952, the Lok Sabha and theRajya Sabha will make opti-mum use of both the chambersand all the galleries of both theHouses to hold the session.

New technical and scien-tific installations such as fourlarge display screens in thechamber of the House, anoth-er six small screens in the fourgalleries, audio consoles in thegalleries, ultraviolet germicidalirradiation, special cables con-necting the two Houses fortransmission of audio-visualsignals, polycarbonate sheetseparating the official galleryfrom the chamber of theHouse, etc, have been put aftera meeting between Rajya SabhaChairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha SpeakerOm Birla.

������������������� �

The day country was cele-brating Independence Day,

parents found their 13-year-oldDalit girl badly mutilated bodyfrom a sugarcane field where

she was raped andthen killed bylocal boys a daybefore and leftthe body there.

The fatherof the girlalleged that therapist while killingher daughter alsogouged her eyes andcut her tongue. The criminaleven dragged the girl by puttinga rope around her neck. OnSunday, the police claimed tohave arrested two of theaccused.

The girl had gone missing

earlier on Fridayafternoon. Whenshe did not returnhome till lateevening, her par-ents and relativesstarted looking

for her. Theynoticed some marks

near a sugarcane fieldand found her body,

police said.The girl’s father has denied

enmity with anyone in the vil-lage, they said. The post-mortemreport has confirmed the victimwas sexually assaulted, but alle-gations that the girl’s eyes were

gouged out and her tonguechopped off are wrong, theAdditional Superintendent ofPolice, Lakhimpur Kheri, ArunKumar Singh.

Singh claimed that the girlsustained an injury just belowher eye, possibly due to frictionwith the sharp leaves of sugar-cane in the field where the rapewas committed. He said thearrested men, Sanjay Gautamand Santosh Yadav, both intheir early twenties, have con-fessed to the crime. Both menare residents of the same villageas the girl — Pakaria in theIsanagar area.

����� ��������

One of India’s greatest open-ing batsman in Test crick-

et and former Delhi DistrictCricket Association presidentChetan Chauhan passed awayon Sunday at Medanta Hospitalin Gurugram after fighting amonth-long battle due to Covidrelated complications.

The opening batsman of70s era, famous for not havingsingle international hundred inhis 12-year long career, played in40 Tests and seven ODI match-es and despite coming close tothree figures on many occasions(he got to 80-plus seven times, ontwo of those occasions getting to

93 and 97), he held the strangerecord - most Test runs (2084)without scoring a century — formany years before being toppledby Aussie spinner Shane Warne

(3154). He was also rememberedfor his top of the order partnership with Indian battinglegend Sunil Gavaskar, withwhom he shared 12 hundredplus stands at an average of 53.25 and compiled 3010runs in 59 times they battedtogether.

And the most famous of it was when the duo added a best of 213, which came in the second innings againstEngland at The Oval in August1979. In that game courtesy totheir stand, where he made 80and Gavaskar scored 221, Indiamanaged to reach 429 for 8 inrecord chase of 438 runs.

After retiring from the

game, Chauhan served as theDelhi & Districts CricketAssociation (DDCA) in variouscapacities — president, vice-president, secretary and chiefselector — apart from beingmanager of the Indian Team during its tour ofAustralia in 2001.

He was honoured withArjuna award in 1981. After tak-ing the political plunge,Chauhan was twice elected tothe Lok Sabha from Amroha inUttar Pradesh, in 1991 and1998. At the time of his death,he was 73 and was serving asMinister of Sainik Welfare,Home Guards and Civil Securityin the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet.

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

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Jharkhand on Sunday report-ed 546 fresh cases of coron-

avirus and 14 casualties acrossthe State in the last 24 hours, asper the Covid bulletin releasedby the Health department.With 14 more deaths due toinfection in the state, the deathtoll has reached 244.

On Sunday the maximumdeath was reported from EastSinghbhum the epicenter ofinfection in the State. Five peo-ple lost their life battling infec-tion in East Singhbhum, followedby three deaths in Ranchi. Twopeople died due to infection inneighboring West Singhbhum,while one death each was report-ed from Dhanbad, Gumla,Koderma, Palamu districts.

Apart from fourteen deaths,546 fresh cases were reportedacross the state capital. Amongdistricts the maximum caseswere reported from Dhanbadwhere 148 people were foundinfected with the virus onSunday. Followed by Dhanbad,113 cases of coronavirus werefound from Ranchi district, 22cases from Ramgarh,Saraikela(22), Koderma(11),Gumla(16) among others.

However, the rosy picture

for the state is that though 546fresh cases were reported onSunday, 566 people recovered from infection in thelast 24 hours.

Meanwhile, from Tuesdaythe State Government is goingto speed up testing. The Ranchidistrict administration is goingto carry out rapid antigen testsat 20 places. The medical teamsof district administration willbe present at these 20 places.Ranchi deputy commissionerChhavi Ranjan has deputedseparate officials at these places.

The Ranchi district admin-istration has asked people toreach these places for theircorona test wearing masks.The district administration willfollow all the safety normssuch as maintaining social dis-

tancing and others.Some of the places where

rapid antigen testing will be car-ried out include CMPDI, HighCourt, Red Cross Society,Hotwar Jail, Marwari Bhawanand others. Apart from these,test centres have been created atrural areas too such as in Bero,Chanho, Bundu and Burmu,Ormanjhi, Ratu and others.

With the rise in 546 freshcases and 14 more deaths, thetotal number of corona cases inthe state has reached 23224, with8233 active cases and 14747 per-sons have recovered from infec-tion. At the same time the staterecovery rate has reached 63.50per cent which is still behind thenational average of recoveryrate of 71.50 per cent. The mor-tality rate of the state is 1.05 per-cent while the national mortal-ity rate is 1.90 per cent.

��� ��!"#$%��!�$&'�()����(�*#� #'%+)��!��%'%#������������ ���

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Chief Minister HemantSoren on Saturday reiter-

ated commitment of hisGovernment to take all possi-ble steps to protect and ensurehealth and livelihood of peopleof Jharkhand amid outbreak ofCovid-19 pandemic that hasadversely affected economy aswell as life of people.

The Chief Minister saidthis while addressing people ofJharkhand at Morabadi groundon occasion of 74thIndependence Day where healso outlined priorities of hisGovernment. On this occasionas many as 10 Corona warriorsincluding health workers, safaiworkers, doctors and policewere felicitated for their exem-plary services.

“This pandemic has poseda big challenge before humani-ty that badly damaged our socio-economic fabric. But we willhave to stay together because wecan overcome this challengecollectively,” said Soren. Sharinghis experience and difficulties inexecuting rescue and rehabili-tation operations to protect andbring back labourers ofJharkhand stranded in otherStates; CM said that this was oneof the biggest challenges.

“But we did this success-fully. We ensured that they gotfood and shelter and a widelevel relief operation was con-ducted that’s why no hungerdeath was reported inJharkhand. Later on, webrought back as many as five

lakh labourers of Jharkhandback to their state who werestranded in other states. Specialtrain was operated for themand we also airlifted labourerswho were stranded in

Andaman & Nicobar andLadakh,” CM said.

CM said in order to miti-gate the economic impact ofCovid-19 on the economicallyvulnerable section of society his

government launched manyimportant socio-economicactivities. “We have launchedBirsa Harit Gram Yojana underwhich horticulture activitieson 27000 acres of land will bedone besides as many as 11898projects will be undertakenunder Nilambar Pitambar JalSamridhi Yojana. We arestrengthening MNREGA inJharkhand and during lock-down a total of Rs 25 crore cashwas transferred in the bankaccounts of labourers,” CMinformed.

Soren informed that dur-ing the lockdown the govern-ment ensured that labourersdon’t face an economic crisisdue to lack of employment.Hence, the government autho-rised MLAs on whose recom-mendation a labourer withinJharkhand was given Rs 1000as assistance and Rs 2000 forthose who were stranded inother states.

Soren informed that asmany as four newly openedmedical colleges of Jharkhandsituated in Hazaribagh, Dumkaand Palamu will be namedafter famous tribal icons ofJharkhand whereas thePatliputra medical college inDhanbad will be named asShahid Nirmal Mahto.

He said that as many as5,000 schools of Jharkhand willbe developed under SobranManjhi model school scheme.CM said in order to bring socio-economic equality his govern-ment has decided to form a highlevel committee to increasereservation of SC, ST and OBCin Government jobs whereas hisgovernment is already workingon the demand to reserve 75percent posts in the private sec-tor for local residents.

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The 74th Independence Daycelebrations in the city wit-

nessed the honouring of front-line staff of various civic bodiesand institutions for their contri-bution towards the fight againstthe Covid-19 pandemic.

State Health Minister BannaGupta, who unfurled theTricolur at Gopal Maidan inBistupur on Saturday felicitationof corona warriors, recognisedofficials and staff of three civicbodies — Jamshedpur NotifiedArea Committee, MangoNotified Area Committee,Jugsalai Municipality along with

doctors and health workers ofTata Main Hospital and MGMMedical College and Hospitaland the two Covid hospitals.They were handed over a cer-tificate of appreciation and amemento.

East Singhbhum deputycommissioner Suraj Kumar,senior superintendent of policeM Tamil Vannan and othersenior district administrativeofficials were present on theoccasion. Social distancingnorms were strictly in place inthe view of coronavirus.

Soon after unfurling thenational flag at 9.05am, theMinister inspected the parade.During the function the minis-ter also flagged off an anti-tobac-co awareness campaign vehicle.

State Health MinisterBanna Gupta inspects a parade

during Independence Day cel-ebrations at Gopal Maidan inJamshedpur on Saturday. Thefunction was also live streamedon the Facebook page of PRDEast Singhbhum.

In his address, he said thatthe development of rural areashas been uneven in comparisonto urban areas. However, theGovernment will work toensure the development of

rural areas. “We want to assurethe people of the district thatthe administration is dedicat-ed in ensuring all round devel-opment. The rural populationwould receive benefits of all thewelfare schemes of theGovernment”, he noted.

Meanwhile, Tata Steel cele-brated Independence Day witha lot of fervour across its offices,plants and mines. Sanjiv Paul,vice president (safety, health &sustainability), Tata Steelunfurled the tricolour at theCompany’s iconic JamshedpurSteel Works to mark India’s74th Independence Day. Hewas joined by a number ofCompany officials includingVice Presidents and the officebearers of Tata Workers’ Union.All the other guests, employeesand other stakeholders were

invited to join the function onthe webcast.

Addressing the gatheringafter unfurling the national flag,Paul said: “Our IndependenceDay has always been a day ofgreat celebration, a social eventmarked by people gettingtogether, congratulating eachother for having upheld the val-ues and principles that India’sfreedom fighters held dear andresolving to work harder andsmarter to strengthen that lega-cy and leaving behind an evenstronger India. The ambience offun, gaiety and general revelry,however, is missing this year. It’snot lost on any of us that westand under the Tiranga todayat a time which is unprece-dented. Never in the history ofIndependent India have weseen a crisis as grave.”

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Samples for Covid-19 testhere in Palamu division are

no longer sent to RIMS inRanchi.

Its testing has started in thePalamu medical college whichhas been dedicated by the chiefminister Hemant Soren to his-tory fame Raja Medinirai andnow this medical college is tobe known as Medinirai medicalCollege (MMC). Soren madethis announcement on August15. Deputy Commissioner ofPalamu Shashi Ranjan said,“Covid-19 test has begun inthis college from August 13.The first lot of samples senthere was of 149 suspects.Thereafter another lot of 89more samples were tested.”

Ranjan said, “The start oftest for Covid here has sparedour medical team a lot of painand problem in sending thesamples to RIMS Ranchi.”

Civil surgeon Palamu JohnF Kennedy said, “Samples arecollected in Palamu medicalcollege hospital. From here it issent to the medical college atPokhraha.” Kennedy said thesamples are sent in ‘cold chain’through ‘vaccine courier’.

Virology and Covid 19Diagnostic lab was e - inaugu-rated by the chief ministerHemant Soren on July 29 butthe testing of the samples forCovid 19 started only onAugust 13 as there is a longdrawn procedure for start oftest which is mandated to becleared by AIMS Raipur andIndian Council of MedicalResearcg (ICMR).

Districts of Garhwa andLatehar too will be sendinghere their samples for Covid 19test. Kennedy said the averagetest rate in Palamu is 340 a dayfor Covid 19.The estimatedcost of this lab here is worth2.50 crore.

Principal of this medicalcollege Jyoti Ranjan Prasadsaid there is a viral lab com-mittee chaired by head of thedepartment of pathology DrKamender Prasad which keepsa tab on the functioning of thelab here.

Prasad said the tests will beconducted through RT PCR.

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Cane bomb of 20 kg plant-ed under a culvert was

found in a joint search opera-tion conducted by 26th battal-ion of CRPF and Bokaro policeat Upparghat area under PankNarayanpur police station innaxal affected Nawadih blockunder Bermo sub-division inBokaro district.

The recovered cane bombwas later defused by the CRPFbomb disposal squad safely,said police sources.

The incident took place ataround 2.30 pm on Fridayevening. In connection withthe incident, police sourcessaid that the Pannk-Narayanpur police station areaof Nawadih block had a greatstroll during the martyr weekof CPI Naxalites.

The Naxalites were con-tinuously making their pres-ence felt in the Naxal-affectedforested areas of Upparghat inNawadih block.

Police and CRPF were get-ting such information that theNaxalites have planted a canebomb under the culverts dur-ing their presence.

The police and CRPF havegot information on Friday thata cane bomb has been plantedby the Naxalites under the cul-vert located on Harladih turnon the highly Naxal-affectedDeogada-Banshi road.

The cane bombs wereabout to blast but fortunatelythere were detected anddefused in time by anti-bombsquad. The items indicatedthat they were kept there onlya few days ago, he added.However, no arrest could bemade as the cane bomb andother explosives founddumped, said Kumar .

The Naxalites, it may berecalled, have been extensive-ly using landmines against thepolice force and the State policeand CRPF have suffered heavydamages including casualties inNaxal operation.

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Chainpur police in Palamuon August 15 felicitated a

woman activist SharmilaShumee, who during the lock-down phase distributed sani-tary pads among girls andwomen of poor economicclasses. SDPO Sadar SandipKumar Gupta, inspector ofpolice R R Shahi and officer incharge of Chainpur police sta-tion Sunit Kumar had short-listed some genuine peoplewho had worked ‘honestly’during the lock down for thewelfare of the poor and thedeprived and Sharmila wasthe one who was selected forthe felicitation ceremony.

“I understand there are alarge number of girls andwomen living on the fringe ofthe society who need to be toldof intimate hygiene,” saidSharmila. Shumee said “I usedto get packets of sanitary nap-kins from Aapda Mitra (Friend

in disaster) which I used to dis-tribute among the girls andwomen of backward andimpoverished class.”

SDPO Gupta said, “We thepolice salute all such womenwho come out of the cosy fourwalls of their houses and walk

down the streets for the causeof those women who do notmake any demand for them-selves.” OC Sunit Kumar said,“Sharmila Shumee jee is aninspiration to girls and womenand here we all acknowledgeher efforts.”

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Independence Day was cele-brated with patriotic fervor

and enthusiasm across Bokaroamidst Coronavirus pandemic.On the occasion of 74thIndependence Day Celebration,Jagarnath Mahato, Minister ofSchool Education & Literacy,Excise & Prohibition depart-ments, Government ofJharkhand, unfurled the tricolour at Police Line GroundBokaro and outlined the devel-opmental activities being doneby the State Government.

At Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL)Independence Day celebra-tions were organized atAdministrative Building com-plex. Executive Director(Projects and Personnel andAdministration) R Kushwahaunfurled the national flag andtook the salute of the parade.

On this eve Kushwahahonored the Corona warriorsof Bokaro General Hospital

(BGH), BSL Fire FightingServices, Public Health andCentral Industrial SecurityForce Bokaro Unit at the cere-mony with a citation for theirremarkable contribution in thebattle of COVID-19.

Apart from this, the win-ners of the Birsa MundaExcellence Award andCommendation Award wereannounced on the occasion ofIndependence Day. After theceremony, Kushwaha alongwith his senior colleagues alsoplanted a tree at City Park.

DPS Bokaro celebratedIndependence Day on its cam-pus remembering the martyrswho sacrificed their lives for theindependence and security ofthe country. The national flagwas hoisted by Principal, DPSBokaro, AS Gangwar, on thepremises of both the primaryand senior wing of the school.

While Delhi Public SchoolChas celebrated the day in agrandeur style at its school cam-

pus in presence of dozens ofteachers and non-teaching staffs.The crescendo of patriotic fer-vour was set up with the theme‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat —Swatantra Bharat’ to celebrate the74 years of Independence Day.

The celebrations to markthis day commenced with thehoisting of the “Tricolour” by theOfficiating Principal of DPS,Chas, Shailaja Jayakumar fol-lowed by National Anthem andsinging of Vande Mataram andother patriotic songs. On thisoccasion, the whole schoolechoed with slogans of “BharatMata Ki Jai” and “VandeMatram” as everyone took apledge to serve the nation andcontribute towards making thenation self-reliant and indepen-dent — “Aatmanirbhar aurSwatantra”. In her address, theChief Mentor of the school, DrHemlata S Mohan through thevirtual platform said, “India hasalways had a vision for thedevelopment of the world.

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To commemorate thenational Independence

Day, the management andemployees of Vedanta-Electrosteel Steels Limited(ESL), have taken a pledge tofree the plant of “Single-usePlastic” (SUP), by banning itsuse within the plant.

The company will also runan extensive awareness cam-paign to sensitize people on thehazards of single-use plastic

usage, urging people, includingits employees and businesspartners to give up use of sin-gle-use plastic, not only at theplant, but also at their homes,informed PR official of ESL.

The company has alsoorganised a virtual panel dis-cussion for its employees focus-ing on the initiatives taken toconserve and protect naturalresources, he said.

Plastic has emerged as amajor pollutant for all forms oflife and natural ecosystems. As

per industry estimates, 300million tonnes of plastic isproduced globally every year,half of which is from single-useplastic items. That is equivalentto the weight of the entirehuman population. Around 91percent of all plastic is not recy-cled and ends up in landfillsharming the environment.

Speaking on the occasion,Pankaj Malhan, CEO, ESL said,as a responsible corporate, wehave a number of ongoing ini-tiatives focused on sustain-

ability, aimed to positivelyimpact the environment.

We are all aware of the neg-ative impact that single-useplastic has on the environ-ment and on thisIndependence Day, we havedecided to gain freedom fromthis major pollutant, by com-pletely banning single-use plas-tics at our plant, said Malhanadding “I request and encour-age the people of Jharkhand tojoin us in this initiative tosafeguard the environment.”

“In addition to our focuson the environment, ESL alsoremains committed to sup-porting the Government ofIndia’s vision of ‘AtmanirbharBharat’, by continually inno-vating to produce high value,low-cost steel, to help reduceIndia’s steel imports”, Malhanadded.

Sandeep Acharya, ChiefHSE, ESL said, “We are pleasedto announce the initiative togain freedom from the use ofsingle-use plastic.”

DALTONGANJ: Answer sheetsof students appearing for thefinal year examination of BA, BSc, B Com Hons, General andVocational courses underNilamber Pitamber Universitywill carry barcodes in order toavoid anomalies in evaluation.Sources said bar code is beingintroduced to eliminate chancesof fudging of marks obtained bythe examinees and also to lessenthe work load on the operatorswho post marks.

Vice chancellor of NilamberPitamber university RamLakhan Singh said “We aregoing for this bar code to furthercheck, balance and eliminate allfollies related to examinees’ rollnumbers and any fudging ofmarks obtained. A computeroperator will not only find thebar code helpful to him but alsofind it easy to stay in the loop ofevaluation process.” PNS

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In a major breakthrough, thepolice and paramilitary

forces arrested four ultras ofPeople Liberation Front ofIndia (PLFI) under Gudripolice station area in WestSinghbhum district onSaturday evening.

Those arrested were iden-tified as Somnath Sandil (20)Mahadev Gope (19), both res-idents of Gudri thana area, andSantosh Kumar Murmu (35)and Pandey Honhaga (23),both residents of Sonua inWest Singhbhum.

The police seized twocountry-made pistols, twomagazines, 10 live cartridges,two motorcycles and four cellphones from the possession ofthose arrested.

West Singhbhum superin-tendent of police, IndrajeetMahatha said that they receiveda tip off that the movement ofPLFI activists was on the rise atthe Lodhai area where a num-ber of projects are in progress.

“Acting on the information,we put up a checking point ata strategic place in Lodhaiwhere forces belonging toCRPF’s battalion 60 weredeployed. During the raid in

the evening, four bike-bornemen were about to cross thechecking point, but at the sightof police and paramilitaryforces, they started runningback. On searching, the policefound two pistols, ammunitionand letters written on the let-terhead of PLFI,” said thesuperintendent of police.

Mahatha said there were 16letters which were written inthe name of contractors andbusinessmen from whom thosearrested were supposed to col-lect levy after sending them theletters.

The police and paramili-tary forces have beefed up thenaxal infested areas of WestSinghbhum district. Sourcesinformed that the police arefrisking commuters in the bor-dering areas. At some places

common people are also beinginterrogated by police andparamilitary forces on suspi-cion. Forces have beendeployed in strategic locations.The district police have main-tained that combing opera-tions in the Maoist infestedareas of the district will con-tinue as usual and there is noletup whatsoever.

Meanwhile, security per-sonnel have been asked tomaintain strict vigil on themovement of people in vul-nerable areas. He also informedthat the forces were carryingout special operations in thenaxal infested areas to keep therebels confined in their hide-outs. Security forces havelaunched intensive operationsagainst the ultras in the naxalinfested areas too.

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Dhanbad: Dhanbad DeputyCommissioner (DC) UmaShankar Singh on Saturdayrequested from Corona recov-ered people to donate plasma forupcoming plasma bank in coalcity. The appeal was made by theDC while addressingIndependence Day functionheld at Randhir Verma stadium.Work for setting up a dedicatedplasma therapy unit is on atblood bank located at PatliputraMedical College and Hospital(PMCH).The generosity of

those who have recovered wouldhelp in treating critically Coronaaffected paitents, he said.

It’s likely that the unit wouldstart operation from next week.At same time he also work fora super specialised ICU is alsoon at the Catholic lab buildingof the PMCH that now is dedi-cated Covid centre for asymp-totic paitents . This unut too isto start operation from nextweek,he announced. Dhanbadwould have 1,000 bed Covidfacility soon, he added. District

administration also honouredfront line Corona fighters onoccasion of Independent Day.These include the DhanbadIMA secretary Dr Sushi Kumarwho was among first doctorswho attended Covid paitents atdedicated Covid hospital atCentral Hospital and that toowithout any remuneration.

Besides , Dr UK Ojha ofPMCH who heads the test teamthe two microbiologists workingat PMCH lab, lab technician andassistants of PMCH who are

associated with Corona testsince day one . others inside DrManish of Sadar hospital besidesDirst Corona positive patientwho was found inDhanbad .

A 70-year-old female paitentwho fought and won despitebeing cancer patient are amongthose who was honoured. Staffthat helped in disposal of coro-na positive bodies were too hon-oured. Talking to The PioneerIMA Secretary said, “It’s a greathonour for me as it’s recognitionto my work I carried out with-out for humanity when moatbodthe community was grippedwith an unknown fear”. PNS

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The former captain of theIndian cricket team,

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (39)took his fans by surprise whenon Saturday he announcedhis retirement from interna-tional cricket thus signing-offhis nearly 16-year-long mes-merising international career.

Back in Ranchi, the home-town of Dhoni, not only com-mon people but also ChiefMinister Hemant Sorenbecame emotional over hisretirement.

“Mahi who gave the nationmoments of pride and enthu-siasm has taken retirementfrom international cricket.Now we will not be able to seeour beloved son of Jharkhandin blue jersey. But the heart isnot satisfied yet. I believe thatthe farewell match of Mahishould be organised in Ranchiand the world will be the eye-

witness to this. I appeal to theBCCI to organise a farewellmatch in Ranchi to be hostedby Jharkhand,” CM tweeted.

A day after Dhoniannounced retirement some ofhis fans were seen lurkingoutside his residence in Ranchibelieving he is in Ranchi andthey may see him.

“I follow him on Instagram.

I was randomly checkingInstagram when suddenly readhis post “thanks – Thanks a lotfor your love and supportthroughout. From 1929 hrsconsider me as Retired.” I askedmy husband and within half anhour the news became viral. Ihave seen him playing on theground a couple of times. Thevideo he posted was also veryemotional. However, he couldhave played for a few moreyears, but he gracefully depart-ed from international cricket,”said homemaker Sabita Mishra.

Even those who regularly

follow Dhoni and claim todecode his personality wereamazed over the timing.

“Dhoni is known forchanging the game in a sur-prising manner. You can’t justguess his next move on theground. But we were also sur-prised over the timing. Dhonichose Independence Day forretirement and as I came toknow; Independence Day coin-cides with the birthday of hismother also. Like his helicoptershot his retirement day is alsounique,” said Praveen KumarJha; a corporate professional.

However, Dhoni will play inthe Indian Premiere League(IPL) scheduled to be held inthe UAE in September, and hehas started practicing for hisfranchise Chennai Superkings,sources said.

Sporting the yellow jersey,Captain Cool will be seen inaction again this Septemberafter several months.

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The 74th Independence Daywas celebrated with zeal

and fervour at CentralCoalfields Limited (CCL), asubsidiary of Coal India.

CCL Chairman-cum-managing Director, GopalSingh on Saturday hoisted theNational Flag on premises ofthe Convention Center, NewBuilding ,CCL Headquarters inthe State Capital and wished everybody present onthe occasion.

Singh in his addressexpressed his gratitude towardsthe martyred freedom fightersand paid them condolences onbehalf of the entire CCL fam-ily. He stated that everyoneshould resolve to work collec-tively to fulfill the dreams of thefreedom fighters and con-tribute in the Country’s devel-opment. Singh said that whenthe entire world is battling theCovid pandemic, it is the bless-ings of our ancestors and free-dom fighters that are pro-pelling Country’s fight againstthis pandemic.

He stated that CCL has leftno stone unturned to supportthe Government in its waragainst pandemic and the twohospitals of the company atGandhinagar and Ramgarhhave been converted to Covidcentres and the recovery rate of

the Covid patients in these hos-pitals is almost 100 per cent. Heapplauded the doctors, para-medical staff, sanitary workersand all the other frontlineCovid warriors for their serviceto the humanity.

The CMD mentioned thateven during the lockdown peri-od the employees of the compa-ny relentlessly produced coal andit is because of the contributionsof these Coal warriors that thereis no scarcity of coal in the powerplants of the country.

He said out of every 10bulbs lighted in country 7 ofthem light by use of coal as theirenergy source. He told that thecompany has charted out strat-egy to increase to 207 milliontonnes in coming years. Singhstated that the Ecological parksof the company whose founda-tion stone was laid by the UnionMinister for Home, Amit Shahwill have a Divyang Centre, chil-dren park and Kayakalp schoolas its components.

Singh went in details aboutthe various CSR schemes of thecompany. He said the membersof CCL family distributed 490quintals of dry food packets intheir operational area to ensurethat nobody should sleep hun-gry and the company distrib-uted around 35,000 masks,3,000 bottles of sanitisers andcarried out many other welfareactivities in collaboration with

the local administration for thebenefit of the people. He alsotold that the company con-tributed Rs 20 crore toJharkhand State disaster man-agement fund and further Rs20 lakh were given to therespective district administra-tions of its command area.

Addressing the gathering ofCCL officials and staff the CMDmentioned in details about the34,383 students studying in the59 schools operated by the com-pany, CCL ke Laal and Laadlischolarship scheme, sports acad-emy and other CSR initiatives ofthe company.

He informed that an MoUhas been signed between thecompany and JharkhandGovernment under which14,000 villagers living in 17 vil-lages of Ramgarh district will besupplied water through themines operating in Kuju area.Singh mentioned that in last fiveyears the company has carriedplantation of more that 5.5 lakhsaplings in 230 hectares of land.In the Van Mahotsav celebratedthis year, the company distrib-uted 1 lakh fruit bearing saplings.

“Kayakalp” magazine hon-oring the contribution of theCovid warriors of the compa-

ny was launched by the hon-orable chief guest and thedirectors of the company.Director (Personal) CCL/ECLVinay Ranjan expressed hap-piness on the successful launchof the magazine and hailed thecontribution of the company’sCovid warriors as well as PRDepartment. Ten security per-sonals were honoured for theiroutstanding contribution atthe end of the programme.

The ceremony was attunedaccording to the Covid-19 timesand measures like social dis-tancing, sanitisation and otherswere observed. Director(Technical and Operations) VKShrivastava, Director (P and P)Bhola Singh, Director (Finnance)NK Agarwal along with variousGeneral Managers, Head ofdepartments and other digni-taries graced the occasion.Everybody, who was presentfollowed the rules of social dis-tancing and other guidelines ofthe Government. Live broadcastof the celebration was carried onofficial YouTube channel,Facebook page and twitter han-dles of the company throughwhich employees and the stake-holders of the company joinedthe celebrations.

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On the day when the entirenation is observing the

second death anniversary of for-mer Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee, a BJP delegation wasstopped from entering the StateAssembly premises, where thelife-size statue of former PrimeMinister stands. It was Vajpayeeunder whose tenure the statewas carved out from Bihar in2000 and a separate JharkhandState was created.

Counting the contributionof former prime minister whenthe new Assembly premiseswas gifted to people, the thenBJP Government headed byRaghubar Das had installed thelife-size statue of Birsa Munda— the freedom fighter ‘DhartiAbba’ who championed tribalrights and Atal Bihari Vajpayeeas Jharkhand State came intoexistence during his tenure atAssembly premises. Both thestatues are installed at two mainentrance gates of the Assemblyat Kute village.

On Sunday, the BJP dele-gation headed by party RajyaSabha MP Samir Oraon, BJPgeneral secretary Aditya Sahu,BJP media in-charge ShivPujan Pathak and others hadgone to pay homage toVajpayee on his death anniver-sary. BJP MP Oraon said,“When we reached theAssembly premises the securi-ty guards stopped us fromentering the premises. When

we informed them that wehad come to Assembly to payhomage to Vajpayee jee on hisdeath anniversary, we weretold that we have to take per-mission from either Speaker orAssembly secretary.”

“While the mobile ofSpeaker Rabindra Nath Mahtowas switched off, the secretaryMahendra Prasad blamed ussaying that we should haveinformed them earlier aboutVajpayee jee’s death anniver-sary,” added Oraon. Later, theBJP delegation was allowed toenter the Assembly premises,but no help or cooperation wasprovided to them by Assemblystaff members in garlandingVajpayee’s statue which is at acertain height from ground.

Echoing the views ofOraon, State BJP president andnewly elected Rajya Sabhamember Deepak Prakash said,“The Soren Government hasbecome so arrogant that theyhad no time to remember therole and contribution of lead-ers who played a key role increation of a separate state.”“The family based party evenfails to remember the stateprotocol of paying homage tothe leader whose statue isinstalled at Assembly premis-es,” added Prakash.

Chief Minister HemantSoren remembered Vajpayee ina tweet earlier that day. “BharatRatna Atal Bihari Vajpayee willstay alive in our memories. Hiscontribution to Indian politics

and his poetry will inspiregenerations,” the CM tweeted.“Desh ke purv pradhan mantribharat ratna Atal BihariVajpayee jee kee punyatithi parshat-shat naman,” he furtherstated.

The State BJP leaders laterpaid tributes to Vajpayee’s por-trait at BJP office. Sources saidthat the BJP is going to raise theissue at Parliament too. BJPleaders recount that Vajpayeejee’s association with Jharkhandis very old as in 1969 he had firstaddressed a rally at Dumka.Also, in 2000 when a separatestate was created Vajpayee jeechose Babulal Marandi whowas then State Minister in NDAGovernment to become firstChief Minister of State.

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While numerous degreeholders struggle to get a

job, students from KalyanGurukul are being successfullyplaced with companies involvedin construction, manufacturing,logistics, technical services andapparel in India and abroad.Since its inception in 2016, atotal of 12,625 students havebeen trained at the 28 Gurukulsacross Jharkhand while as manyas 10,740 have been placedwith multinational companiesincluding 600 who are workingin the Middle East Asian coun-tries including Dubai.

For class 10 dropoutSandeep Oraon, who works asan AC duct man with ShapporjiPalonji in Qatar joining theGurukul gave a new meaning

to his life. “I am leading a bet-ter life only because of theGurukul. Life has completelytransformed and I am happy toget a job,” said Oraon whodraws a monthly salary of Rs22,000 along with accommo-dation expenses.

The Gurukul’s are an initia-tive of PReJHa Foundation,Department of SC, ST/,Minority and BC Welfare andthe first facility was opened inDumka in 2016. The State cap-ital has three centres one each inKanke, Bundu and Bero. Whilethe one in Kanke offers trainingfor girls as sewing machineoperators the other two providetraining to boys in electricalplumbing and construction.

During the ongoing lock-down, the foundation hasensured that the alumni do not

face any distress and were sup-ported in getting their salaries,ration and medical facilitieswith close coordination of theemployers.

The institutes began oper-ations with an aim to provideskilled training to schooldropouts as well as those fromeconomically backward sec-tions of the society. The empha-sis is on practical experience forenhancing productivity imbib-ing quality and ensuring safety.The technical training is alsocomplemented with life skillssuch as spoken English, softskills, etiquettes and discipline.

“I have been closelyinvolved with the Gurukul’ssince its inception and theconcept here is very differentand good as compared to othertraining providers as this

ensures employment after thecompletion of the course. Thisis a major factor which makesit distinct from all other train-ing centres. All the facilities aremanaged by a retired Armypersonnel which furtherensures an all round develop-ment of the students,” saidTribal Welfare Commissioner,

Jharkhand Harsh Mangla.The Gurukul’s along with a

residential facility provideplacement linked training pro-gramme to both boys and girlsfrom 18- 35 years of age whilethe minimum eligibility crite-rion is class V dropout. Boysare trained in trades like dri-ving, wielding, constructions

and CNC machine operatorsamong others while girls areprimarily trained as sewingmachine operators. The train-ing period is of around 45- 60days depending on the grasp-ing capability of the student.

“The Gurukul customizespractical and theoretical train-ing in collaboration with indus-try and the trainees are jobready from the first day itself.The leadership provided byArmy personnel as principalsof the institutes instills lifelong discipline in the students,”said Lead Sevak Tarun Shukla.Over the years, students of theGurukul have been placed with companies like ShappoorjiPalloonji, L&T, JMC, Manliftand companies associated with Karoor Textile Park inTamil Nadu.

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Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee(JPCC) celebrated 74 th Independence

Day with enthusiasm across the State andthe party hoisted the National Flag at theparty head quarter in the State Capital bymaintaining social distancing due toCovid-19. On the occasion all fourMinisters of the party hoisted the flag attheir respective district headquarters.

JPCC Chief and Food Supply Minister,Rameshwar Oraon hoisted the NationalFlag at BS College Stadium Lohardaga.Speaking on the occasion Oraon said thatthe State Government has done tremendouswork during the global epidemic COVID19 period. The migrant workers, whoreturned to the State due to lockdown, arebeing provided employment in the State, headded. The Minister encouraged theCorona Warriors by giving them citations.

Health Minister in the StateGovernment, Banna Gupta hoisted thenational f lag at the district levelIndependence Day celebrations held atGopal Maidan in Jamshedpur. After salut-ing the tricolor and inspecting the parade,Gupta said, “We are also the benevolent ofRam Rajya, but Ram does not live in brickand mortar Ram is in the eyes of the poor.”

In a peaceful environment in Jamtaradistrict headquarter Agriculture Minister,Badal Patralekh hoisted the flag. Whilespeaking on the occasion, Patralekh said

that the Government had planned to workor development, but Corona demolishedthe plans. He gave information about theGovernment’s agenda like MGNREGA,agriculture, scheme for migrant laborers,disaster relief and others.

The Agriculture Minister announcedgood news for the debt-ridden farmers inthe State and said that the Governmentwaived the farmers loan upto Rs 2,000crore. He said that at the time of elections,the national level leaders of the party hadannounced the waiver of farm loan, theState Government led by Chief Minister,Hemant Soren is fulfilling its pre pollpromise. Along with this, he informedabout bringing a Rs100 crore scheme forthe farmers’ relief.

Congress Legislative Party Leader andRural Development Minister, AlamgirAlam hoisted the National Flag and inspect-ed the parade at Rani Jyotirmayi Stadium.Speaking on the Occasion Alam said thatthe State Government achieved many lau-rels in a very short period of time. “Duringthe eight-month of the Government’stenure till date a large number of works wereinitiated by the Government and providedjobs to many migrant workers who returnedto the State due to lockdown. The workbeing done for the laborers, farmers and theneedy during this Corona epidemi periodand Jharkhand is the first State in theCountry to do the best work in PM hous-ing,” he added.

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Aday after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s

announcement in hisIndependence Day speechabout the expansion of theNational Cadet Corps(NCC),Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Sunday approved theproposal for inducting over onelakh new cadets in 173 borderand coastal districts.

In his address from theramparts of the Red Fort, Modihad said the NCC will beexpanded in border and coastaldistricts so that these areas “gettrained manpower for disastermanagement, and the youthwill also get skill training formaking their career in thearmed forces.” He also said one-third of the inductees will begirls.

“About 173 districts in ourborder areas, our coastal areasshare their boundaries withsome or the other nation’s bor-der or coastline. In the comingdays, the NCC would beextended in those border dis-tricts for the youth there. Wewill train around one lakh newNCC cadets from borderingareas, and we will work towardsthe idea that amongst those,one-third of them are ourdaughters,” he had said.

Following up his

announcement, the defenceministry said on Sunday thedefence minister has approvedthe NCC proposal “for a majorexpansion scheme.”

Officials said more than1,000 schools and colleges havebeen identified in border andcoastal districts where the NCCwill be introduced. “As part ofthe expansion plan, a total of 83NCC units will be upgraded(Army 53, Navy 20, Air Force10) to impart NCC training tothe cadets in the border andcoastal areas,” the ministrynoted.

The Army will providetraining and administrativesupport to the NCC units locat-ed in border areas while theNavy will impart training to thecadets in coastal areas and theIAF to those units located closeto its airbases and stations.

The NCC is a youth devel-opment movement managed bythe armed forces. It also pro-vides exposure to cadets in awide range of activities, with adistinct emphasis on social ser-vices, discipline and adventuretraining.

It is open to all regular stu-

dents of schools and colleges ona voluntary basis. The NCCexpansion plan will be imple-mented in partnership withstate governments, the ministrysaid.

In Meghalaya, seven borderdistricts have been identified forNCC expansion which will beget 5,445 additional vacanciestaking the strength to 11,621 inMeghalaya over next threeyears, they said.

Under this scheme twominor units, 41 Artillery batteryand 42 Meghalaya Signal com-pany, will be upgraded to a bat-talion strength and 2 MeghalayaNCC Batallion will get addi-tional manpower. It is 100%central funded scheme. Also, 40higher secondary schools and15 colleges are identified inthese seven border districts,they added.

Set up in 1948, the NCC, atpresent, has a cadet strength ofmore than 14 lakh all over thecountry. Many NCC seniorcadets are now working withvarious state governments inthe fight against corona. TheBCC is headed by a Lt Generalrank officer.

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India is adding at least onelakh cases every two days to

its total tally which is now allset to touch the 26-lakh mark.The count on Sunday stood at25,89,682 cases with a single-day spike of 63,490 infections.India, the third worst-affectedby the pandemic after theUnited States and Brazil hasbeen reporting a higher dailysurge in caseload than the toptwo nations for the past 12days, according to the WorldHealth Organization data.

On August 2, India’s totalcoronavirus cases rose to17,50,724 with record single-dayincrease of 54,736 cases for thefirst time crossing 50,000 marks.Since then there has been nolooking back. In fact, India hasbeen reporting over 60,000 casesdaily since August 7, barringAugust 11 when the countryregistered 53,601 new cases ofthe Covid-19.

However, the total numberof recoveries has been on thepositive side rising to 18,62,258pushing the recovery rate to71.91 per cent, according to theUnion Health Ministry data.The steady rise in recoveries hasensured that the percentagecaseload of the country is reduc-ing. The current active cases(6,77,444) compose the actualcase load of the country. It is26.16 per cent of the total pos-itive cases today, registering fur-ther drop in the last 24 hours.

India on Sunday crossed50,000 deaths in 156 days whileUSA crossed 50,000 deaths in 23

days, Brazil in 95 days andMexico took 141 days to reachthis figure. Also, on August 2, thedeath toll due to Covid-19 stoodat 37,364 in India.

India’s case fatality rate, oneof the lowest globally, is below2 per cent and sliding further,sais Health Ministry officials asthey attributed it to the sustainedfocus on improved and effectiveclinical treatment in hospitals,supervised home isolation, useof non-invasive oxygen sup-port, and improved services ofthe ambulances for ferryingpatients for prompt and timelytreatment.

“Tireless efforts of ASHAworkers have ensured effectivesurveillance and trackingprogress of the patients in super-vised home isolation. Clinicalmanagement skills of doctorstreating COVID-19 patientshave been upgraded by activetechnical guidance through tele-consultation sessions by domainknowledge experts from AIIMS,New Delhi.

“This has ensured thatIndia’s Case Fatality Rate (CFR)is maintained below the globalaverage,” said the officials.

According to the ICMR, acumulative total of 2,93,09,703samples have been tested up toAugust 15 with 7,46,608 samplesbeing tested on Saturday.

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With the objective ofenhancing co-ordination,

the Indian Coast Guard hastaken the personnel of the StateMarine Police onboard theirships for patrolling. The MarinePolice are part of the Statepolice and one of the key stake-holders in ensuring coastalsecurity.

Giving details of the drill,Coast Guard officials said hereon Sunday, the Coast Guard hascommenced Joint CoastalPatrol (JCP) by embarkingMarine Police personnelonboard its ships to developsynergy. Moreover, this initia-tive provides sea training toMarine Police personnel forenhanced coastal security.

Joint Coastal Patrol is beinginstituted to enable imple-

mentation of Coastal SecurityScheme (CSS) through capac-ity building of Marine Police inthe overall Coastal SecurityConstruct.

These patrols will alsoenable in addressing issues ofcommunication, inter-oper-ability, attaining sea-legs andjoint investigation proceduresby Marine Police. The endeav-our includes class roominstructions and on job train-ing onboard Coast Guard ships.

The force will providehands-on experience to theMarine Police personnel onvarious aspects of safety, navi-gation, maintenance, lawenforcement, surveillance andinvestigation at sea within ter-ritorial waters that fall underthe jurisdiction of respectiveStates.

Officials also said with

implementation of joint patrol,the Marine Police personnelwill consolidate adequatetrained staff enhancing theiroverall operational efficiency.The effort is aimed at devel-oping the existing capabilitiesof the Marine police in securi-ty coast line.

India has a 7,000 km longcoast line with several littoralstates along it. In the aftermathof the Mumbai terror attacks in2007 when the terrorists camethrough the sea, the coastalsecurity architecture has under-gone a vast change. Besidesinstalling coastal radars, allthe stakeholders including theNavy, Coast Guard, MarinePolice, Customs and otheragencies regularly hold jointexercises to plug gaps andenhance seamless flow of infor-mation.

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As the country is fightingthe corona pandemic, a

98-year-old war veterandefeated the disease and cameout of the hospital in Mumbai.His name is Sepoy RamuLaxman Sakpal (retired), whocontracted COVID-19. He wasdischarged from the Navyhospital after being fully cured.

“Sepoy Sakpal, a residentof Nerul, was admitted toIndian Naval Hospital ShipAsvini in a critical state anddiagnosed with Pneumoniadue to COVID-19 a few weeksago. The veteran’s condition

was successfullymanaged at theNaval Hospital,leading to freedomfrom COVID-19 onAugust 15, India’sIndependence Day,”the Navy said onSunday.

Sakpal, whoserved in the MaharRegiment of theIndian Army, hasseen the immediateaftermath of theSpanish Flu about acentury ago and tothe Coronaviruspandemic in 2020.

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Congress on Sunday appoint-ed senior party leader Ajay

Maken as the new general sec-retary in-charge for Rajasthan,replacing Avinash Pande.Congress chief Sonia Gandhialso set up a three-membercommittee to resolve the issuesraised by party rebels inRajasthan.

Senior party leader AhmedPatel, Ajay Maken and generalsecretary organisation KCVenugopal have been mademembers of the panel.

The appointments come inthe wake of a rebellion in theRajasthan government withformer deputy chief ministerSachin Pilot and 18 other MLAsrevolting against Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot.

Though the rebellion wasquelled and a truce reached withPilot and the other MLAs, theparty leadership has announcedthe three-member panel to helpin the smooth resolution of theissues raised by them. Makenwas recently sent as observer bythe party to Rajasthan to helpresolve the differences and savethe government from the pos-sibility of losing its majority inthe state assembly. He was ear-lier the Delhi Congress chief.

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Of the 37 States and UnionTerritories, 32 have

received normal or above nor-mal rainfall till date while fiveStates are under deficient rain-fall so far. Of the eightStates/Union Territories in theSouth, five are in ‘excess’ cate-gory while two are comfortably‘normal’ with Kerala (-2 percent) being an exception.

India received 617.7 mmrainfall as against the normal of595.7 mm, an increase of fourpercent so far as an activemonsoon trough with anembedded circulation from anerstwhile low-pressure area atone end pumped in strongand moist winds from theArabian Sea even as a prevail-ing low-pressure area held upthe other end.

Buoyed by a significant 14per cent increase in planting ofoilseeds and rice due to goodmonsoon across India, the totalarea under kharif crops so far

crossed 1,000 lakh hectaresalready and is all set to clock anew record in total croppedarea. Kharif sowing datareleased by the AgricultureMinistry said a total of 1,016lakh hectare has been plantedso far, nearly 9 per cent morethan 936 lakh hectare sown inthe corresponding week lastyear.

According to the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD), sustained rains overhave helped the rainfall deficitsto moderate to 25 per cent overHimachal Pradesh and 50 percent over the Union Territoryof Jammu & Kashmir. But itscousin Ladakh is an exceptionwhere the deficit has worsenedto 68 per cent. The other sig-nificant deficit is in North-EastIndia over Manipur (-47 percent).

The IMD located this low,weakened from being well-marked the previous day, overJharkhand and neighbourhoodon Sunday afternoon. This

low is helping in a stream ofeasterly monsoon winds fromthe Bay of Bengal to convergeoverland with the south-west-erlies from the Arabian Sea. Itwould continue to movetowards North-West India andweaken further over the nexttwo days. It is into these friend-ly monsoon settings that anew low likely forming in theBay by Wednesday wouldthrow itself in, and keep themonsoon trough alive overthe plains of North India andsustain the heavy to very heavyrainfall.

The Met Departmentexpects an increase in rainfallover North-West India fromTuesday with fairly widespreadto extensive rainfall over theplains as well as Uttarakhandin the hills from Tuesday toThursday.

As per agriculture min-istry’s data, rice planting hasalready covered 352 lakhhectare, 14 per cent more than309 lakh hectare planted in the

same week in the previouskharif season. Major kharifoilseeds – soyabean andgroundnut – already surpassedthe acreage which is consid-ered normal. While soyabeanis planted over 119 lakhhectare, nearly 7 per cent morethan 111 lakh hectare coveredin the same week in the previ-ous season, groundnut area hasgone up by a significant 41 percent to 49 lakh hectare ascompared to same period lastyear. This has pushed theoilseeds area to 187 lakhhectare, 14 per cent more than64 lakh hectare in the corre-sponding week in kharif 2019.

The increase in pulsesacreage may be a marginal 2per cent, but major pulsescrops – arhar, moong andurad – have recorded anincrease in planted area withmoong and urad already sur-passing the normal area ofcropping. The total area underpulses crops so far is 124 lakhhectare.

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In a first of its kind instance,the Standing Committee

for National Board of Wildlifehas refused to give permissionto five proposals seeking col-lection of sand (balu, bajriand boulder) in the defaulteco-sensitive zone (ESZ) ofthe Uttarakhand’s RajajiNational Park unless the Statecomplies with its guidelinesenvisaging deployment ofdrones and CCTVs in theregion to check illegal sandmining.

In a meeting held lastmonth, the members of theNBWL noted that the State(Uttarakhand) Chief WildlifeWarden submitted the com-pliance certificate on the SandMining Guidelines of 2016.However, the NBWL mem-bers refused to give permis-sion for the proposal as itsought the compliance cer-tificate for the SustainableSand Mining guidelines of2020 from the State for fur-ther consideration of the pro-posals.

The panel was studyingthe proposals for collection ofriver bed materials from var-ious villages located nearby tothe boundar y of Rajaj iNational Park in Uttarakhand.

Noting that even after allthe regulatory procedure andpolicy being in place, thereare instances where illegalmining is taking place, theSustainable Sand Miningguidelines of 2020 documentprepared by the UnionEnvironment Ministr ystressed on regular surveil-lance of the sand miningreaches.

In this regard, “the mon-itoring agencies can monitorthe sites remotely by usingunmanned artificial vehicles(UAVs)/Drone which is nowa viable option. The drone canalso be used for reserves esti-mation, quantity estimation,land use monitoring,” saidthe document.

It also highlighted possi-ble use of IT/Satellite/Dronetechnology for effective mon-itoring of sand mining. “Withthe development in image

data processing tools and itsaccuracy acceptabi l ity,Drone/UAV fitted with theadvance camera are used forsurvey purposes. Such tech-nology has promising poten-tial in the survey of sand min-ing zones due to its fast andreliable output deliveries. Thesurvey is conducted using aset of instruments and com-patible software to utilized theproperly referenced data fordepicting the topography ofthe study area,” as per thedocument.

Drones are increasinglybeing used around the worldincluding in some states inIndia to check illegal activitieslike mining and to surveydamage to the environment.For instance, Gujarat hasalready initiated a programcalled ‘Trinetra’ for night sur-veillance by using night-vision drones to control ille-gal mining incidents.

This program is givingsatisfactory results. Such typeof system may also be devel-oped by each State within areasonable time, as per theMinistry’s document.

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India on Sunday called uponBRICS nations for realtime

sharing of information forputting a check on narcoticstrade.

In the 4th meeting ofBRICS (Brazil, Russia, India,China, South Africa) coun-tries’ anti-drug workshop, theIndian delegation pointed outthat there is a misuse of dark-net and other advanced tech-nologies for drug trafficking.

“Fruitful exchange ofopinions concerning the drugsituation in the BRICS states,the international and region-al trends of illegal traffickingin narcotic drugs, psychotropicsubstances and their precur-sors, as well as the impact ofvarious internal and externalfactors on the situation tookplace during the summit. Thecommon points emerged dur-ing the discussions includeneed for real time informationsharing among the memberstates and need to curbincreased drug traffickingthrough maritime routes.Misuse of darknet and otheradvanced technologies fordrug trafficking was one of thekey focal areas of the meeting,”said Indian delegation in state-ment.

The Indian delegation wasled by Rakesh Asthana,Director General, NarcoticsControl Bureau and com-prised of B. Radhika, DeputyDirector General (Ops), NCB,Vrindaba Gohil, FirstSecretary (Trade), Embassyof India, Moscow, VaibhavTandale, Under Secretary(Multilateral EconomicRelations), MEA and KPSMalhotra, Deputy Director(Ops), NCB.

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AJharkhand-based opium-trafficking network has

been busted with the seizure of24 kg of the contraband fromUttar Pradesh and Bihar, theNarcotics Control Bureau(NCB) said on Sunday.

It said the drug seizure,along with cash amounting to

�20.80 lakh, was made in twoseparate instances early thismonth.

A total of 24 kg of opiumwas seized in the two operationsconducted in Uttar Pradesh andBihar, NCB Deputy Director(operations) K P S Malhotrasaid.

Four people were alsoarrested, he added.

“The two seizures are linkedto Jharkhand-based networks.While Rajasthan and MadhyaPradesh are the traditionalopium-trafficking states,Jharkhand has recently emergedas the hub of illegal supply ofopium,” Malhotra said.

The hilly tracts of the stateprovide a safe haven for theopium poppy cultivators.

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Moderate to heavy rainfallcontinued to lash parts of

Rajasthan on Sunday, a Metdepartment official said.

During the past 24 hours,115 mm of rainfall was record-ed in Merta city of Nagaur, fol-lowed by 100 mm in Sedwa ofBarmer, 85 mm in Raipur ofPali and 65 mm in Ramsar ofBarmer district, it said.

The department has fore-cast heavy rain in Baran,Dungarpur, Jhalawar,

Karauli, Kota, SawaiMadhopur districts. There is alikelihood of moderate rainfallin Alwar, Baran, Bharatpur,Dholpur, Karauli, Jhunjhunu,Sikar during the next 24 hours.

Ahor in Jalore districtreceived 62 mm of rain, fol-lowed by 60 mm in Uniara ofTonk, 55 mm in Rohat ofPali, 46 mm in Ajmer, 44.5mm in Jodhpur.

From Sunday morning toevening, 13 mm of rainfall wasrecorded in Bhilwara, 12.4mm in Ajmer, 1.8 mm in

Jaipur, 0.4 mm in Dabok, anddrizzle in Bikaner and Alwar.

Bikaner recorded thehighest temperature of theday in the state with 40.2degrees Celsius. Maximumtemperature in major cities ofthe State was recordedbetween 38.6 and 30.6 degreesCelsius.

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After a gap of around fivemonths, pilgrimage to the

holy cave shrine of MataVaishno Devi, nestled inTrikuta Hills, was resumedearly Sunday morning fromKatra township.

Till late evening around200 pilgrims had performeddarshan inside the sanctumsanctorum. The helicopter ser-vices were not made opera-tional on day one of the yatradue to bad weather condi-tions.

Due to Covid-19 pandem-ic, the yatra was earlier sus-pended on March 18, 2020.

Chief Executive Officer,Shri Mata Vaishno Devi ShrineBoard, Ramesh Kumar toldreporters in Katra, “the pil-grimage to the holy cave shrinehas been resumed with neces-sary protocol in the wake ofCovid 19 pandemic”.

He along with other seniorofficers of the Shrine Boardalso participated during thespecial Pooja organised at theholy cave shrine on sunday.

Ramesh Kumar said, “toinstill confidence among thepilgrims the Shrine Boardauthorities have made elaboratearrangements to screen thepilgrims at the entry point ofthe start of a 13 km long yatratrek near Banganga”.

Elaborate security arrange-ments were also made to ensuresecurity and safety of pilgrimsalong the yatra trek.

For the ease and comfort ofpilgrims, all the supplementaryfacilities set up by the Boardlike the Battery OperatedVehicles, Passenger Ropewayand Helicopter services havebeen put into operation bystrictly following the socialdistancing norms and otherprecautionary measures.

In order to avoid congre-gational gatherings, book-ing/sitting of pilgrims in theAtka Aarti area/ ShradhaSuman Vishesh Pooja has notbeen allowed till further orders.

The Shrine board has alsoorganised free Langar atTarakote Marg and PrasadKendra at Sanjichhat have beenoperationalised for the facilityof pilgrims; besides opening ofBhojanalayas at Katra,Adhkuwari and Bhawan.

Before resuming the yatra,the Shrine board had set a ceil-ing of maximum number of2000 pilgrims per day includ-ing 100 pilgrims from outsideJ&K. The pilgrims registeredonline were permitted toundertake the yatra.

No current registrationcounter was set up in Katra toprevent assembly of pilgrims atone place.

A senior officer deployedby the district administration atBanGanga told The Pioneer,“On their arrival, the pilgrimswere subjected to manualscreening using thermalimagers, then they were askedto sanitise their hands andfinally their samples were col-lected to conduct rapid antigentest”.

Only those pilgrims whotest reports were negative wereallowed to undertake the pil-grimage, he added.

The CEO added that the

yatra is being allowed to move in a unidirectionalmanner. “The traditional routefrom Katra to Bhawan viaBanganga, Adhkuwari andSanjichhat is being used forgoing up and Himkoti route-Tarakote Marg will be used forcoming back from theBhawan,” he said.

Along the yatra trek, theshrine board authorities haveorganised facilities for handsanitisation at various places.

The announcements werebeing made on the audio sys-tem to use face masks andmaintain social distancing dur-ing the yatra.

A group of students whoreached katra told The Pioneer,“they were eager to visit theholy cave shrine of MataVaishno Devi for a long time.”When we came to know aboutresumption of yatra fromSunday we registered ourselveson line and reached here, said

Rajat Sharma.They were happyand seen chanti-ng slogans beforestarting the trek.

A newlymarried couplealso arrived therefrom Jammu.Sharing theirexcitement, thecouple said, “wewanted to visitthe holy cave

shrine soon after our mar-riage but due to lock down wecould not pay a visit. Today, weare going to seek blessings ofMata Vaishno Devi by payingobeisance inside the sanctumsanctorum”.

On the other hand evenafter the yatra was resumed, themarkets remained closed onaccount of weekend lockdownin Katra. Hotel owners arekeeping their fingers crossedand hoping for a large numberof pilgrims to arrive in Katra inthe coming days.

Ravi Kumar, an auto driver,who used to ferry pilgrimsbetween Katra and Bangangasaid, “we have faced toughtimes in the last five months.Now with the resumption ofyatra we are hoping to earn ourlivelihood as the shrine boardauthorities are expected toreview their decision byincreasing the upper limit ofpilgrims”.

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The new week began in TamilNadu in a not so positive note as

5,950 new persons were diagnosedwith Covid-19 on Sunday in theState. The day also saw 125 personsbreathing their last taking thedeath toll till date in the State to5,766.

On August 9, the State had diag-nosed 5,994 new patients and thisnumber come down to 5,835 byAugust 13 giving hopes of some kindof abatement in the disease. But thathopes were belied as the Covid-19cases shot up on Sunday.

As on Sunday, there were 54, 019Covid-19 patients in the State. Tilldate , the State had tested 3.38 lakhpersons with Covid-19. But 2.78 lakhpersons were cured of the pandem-ic till date. On Sunday, 68,444 sam-ples were tested in 135 laboratoriesfunctioning in the State.

While Chennai had the highest

number of new patients on Sunday(1,196) , Chengalpet (436),Kancheepuram (307) andThiruvallur ( 488) remained prob-lematic districts.

The spurt in the number of casesin Chennai for the last two days hassurprised medical professionalsbecause the district has seen thenumber of afflicted persons comingdown to 900 and remained in the900 to 980 range for a week. Thefever camps opened by StateGovernment across Chennai hadhelped in bringing the situationunder control but the joy of achieve-ment have become a thing of thepast.

The Indian MedicalAssociation’s Tamil Nadu branch hassaid that 32 doctors have died ofCovid-19 in the State. It also statedthat 15 more doctors had lost theirlives during the period showingsymptoms of the pandemic buttested negative.

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Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh): A video of a teenagegirl has gone viral on social media, in whichshe has alleged that an Inspector of theGovind Nagar police station asked her to dancein lieu of registering an FIR against thenephew of her landlord.

The 16-year-old girl alleged in the videothat the Inspector summoned her to the policestation during odd hours and asked her todance in front of him.

The girl with her family lives in a rentedaccommodation in Dabauli West area ofGovind Nagar.

The girl's family earns a livelihood by doing“jagran” parties. They had tried to lodge a com-plaint against the nephew of their landlord,accusing him of molesting the girl, besidesforcibly evacuating them from the rented por-tion of the house a few days ago, the family said.

The mother of the girl said the accusedAnup Yadav, nephew of the landlady, had onJuly 26 barged into their house and attackedthem. “Again, on August 7 night, my daugh-ter was molested by him while she was on herway back home from the market. It was whenshe approached Inspector Govind Nagar,Anurag Mishra, he asked my daughter to firstdance in front him and then he will registerher complaint,” the girl's mother told reporters.

The Govind Nagar Circle Officer VikasKumar Pandey, said that there was already adispute between the two sides with regard topossession of a house.

“There seems to be no substance in thecharges. Prima facie it appears that the girl hasmade the video viral in order to create pres-sure on the police. However, a probe is under-way in this regard,” said Pandey further said. IANS

Bengaluru: As part of its investigation into theriots that rocked the city's eastern suburb onAugust 11 night, police arrested 58 more peoplefor their alleged involvement in them, an officialsaid on Sunday.

“We have arrested 58 more people since Friday,taking the total number of suspects held for theirrole in the riots to 264 so far, DeputyCommissioner of Police (DCP) for Bengaluru EastS.D. Sharanappa told IANS here.

The police also booked 52 cases against all theaccused under various sections of the IPC (IndianPenal Code) for rioting, looting, arson anddestroying public property, ostensibly, in protestagainst a derogatory post on the social media onthat fateful day.

“Of the arrested, the main accused are in our(police) custody for interrogation, while othershave been lodged in the central jail on the city'soutskirts and the Ballari prison under 14-day judi-cial custody, as investigation on their role in theriots is underway,” said Sharanappa. Ballari is about330km northwest of Bengaluru in the southernstate.

In the two-hour long riots, the unruly mobburnt the house of Pulakeshinagar Assembly seg-ment's Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthyand the D.J. Halli police station in the vicinity, setscores of police and public vehicles on fire anddestroyed public property. To quell the mob vio-lence and control the situation, the police openedfire in which three youths from the locality suc-cumbed to bullet wounds later.

A fourth person, who was injured in the teargas the police fired at the unruly mob, succumbedon Saturday, taking the toll to four in the riots.

“Syed Nadeem, 24, who was in judicial cus-tody after his arrest on August 12, died in a state-run hospital in the city of stomach injury that hesuffered in the tear gas incident. He also testedCovid positive,” said Sharanappa. IANS

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Kerala on Sunday diag-nosed 1,530 new per-

sons with Covid-19 whileten patients succumbed to the pan-demic during the last 24 hours,according to a release issued by theDepartment of Health. Sunday wasthe last day of Malayalam monthKarkkadakam which was observedas Ramayana Month.

In yet another sign that com-munity transmission has set in theState, 1,351 persons out of the 1,530tested positive on Sunday contract-ed the pandemic through localtransmission. To quote a govern-ment physician in Ernakulam, it isdangerous to move around in theState as the corona virus is stalkingeverywhere and all face the risk ofaffliction. The death rate could bemore as the officials in the healthdepartment are waiting for results of

samples from theAlappuzha based NationalInstitute of Virology. TheState saw 53 health workers(including medical doc-tors) getting afflicted with

the virus. The day also saw the hos-pitalisation of 1,548 persons whowere tested positive for Covid-19.With the 10 deaths confirmed onSunday, the fatalities reached 156 inthe State till date due to the pan-demic.

K K Shylaja, health minister, hadwarned that the State may soon seethe number of afflicted personsreaching 10,000 per day. Since then,the number of covid patients haveonly moved upwards.

Thiruvananthapuram overtookMalappuram by Sunday evening andre-gained its status as the districtwith the highest number of personsto be tested positive in a single dayas the district saw 519 new patientsjoining the table.

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Aligarh's street children are bat-tling more than just poverty: sex-

ual abuse. Worse scenario is, manyof them are suffering from sexuallytransmitted diseases.

According to a survey conduct-ed by a NGO Sandesh, nearly 3500children have become vulnerable tosexual violence and abuse. Most ofthem live out of railway platformsand road sides.

Such a sex trade is carried out bythe children either at the instance ortheir poor parents or organisedgangs. In the absence of any plan forrehabilitating them, the issue hasbecome one of the serious concernin the city. Chaya (12) who lives onrailway platform, had been sexuallyabused several times before she tookill. She was brought to a doctor by hermother, who diagnosed her with aserious sexual disease.

Among the estimated 3500 streetchildren in the city, many are foundto be HIV positive. Many street girls,mostly from west Bengal and Bigar,have taken shelter in the city. Theyare being sexually harassed on a dailybasis in the name of giving liveli-hood.Not only this, but also thesechildren have become addicted toopium and drugs.

Beside this, most of the childrenspecially girls lives in slum areasalong with their parents, they workas rag pickers in the city. They aremost likely to become as a target ofsexual abuse. Some are pushed in thesex business by their poor parents forearning their livelihood.

Kalyani(15) said that she wasforcibly raped several times by thevendors at railway station. She fur-ther said..not only me but many girlshere are being sexually abused andwe being poor are unable to take anyaction.

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Case has been filed against Aam Aadmi Party's RajyaSabha MP Sanjay Singh in Aligarh and Lakhimpur

for giving inappropriate statements on casteism in apress conference held in lucknow under the sections153 A and 505 (1 B) of IPC.

During the press conference of Aam Aadmi Partyoffice in Lucknow, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singhaccused the state government of promoting caste pol-itics. He had said that the Thakurs are being respect-ed and other castes are being insulted in the state. Hesaid this earlier also that the President was not invit-ed for the foundation stone laying ceremony of ShriRam Temple. When this issue was raised, the Dalitshave also expressed their anger towards the govern-ment. There is anger against the government inRajbhar, Kurmi, Gaderia, Kashyap, Lodhi, Kumhar,Nai, Carpenter, Sonkar, Valmiki, Jatav, Paswan,Dhobi, Koli society in the state. Along with this, theBrahmin society of the state is also angry with the gov-ernment.

He also questioned Deputy Chief Minister Dr.Dinesh Sharma about how he, being a Brahmin, is tol-

erating injustice to his own people. Now people in thestate have started giving the slogan of STF meaningSpecial Thakur Force. Due to this, there is anger againstthe government among Dalits and Brahmins.

A case has been filed by a young man DeepakAgarwal, resident of GT road at the Bannadevi policestation, hurt by Sanjay Singh's statement of casteist pol-itics in Uttar Pradesh during the press conference inLucknow. On this basis, the police station has regis-tered a case under relevant sections.

Deepak says that it is wrong to accuse UP CM,because he is a “Mahant” and “Mahant” has no caste.According to SSP Muniraj ji, at present the case againstSanjay Singh on Deepak Agarwal's complaint has beenregistered under Section 153 A and 505 one B inBannadevi Police Station. Further action will be takenbased on the investigation.

Apart from this, FIR has been lodged againstSanjay Singh along with two more people namelySabhajeet Singh and Brajkumari in Lakhimpur fordividing the society and disturbing the social harmony.This case has been filed by Arvind Kumar, residentof Aliganj in the Gola police station of Lakhimpurunder same sections.

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Aligarh is used to be known asthe city of locks. But since lock-

down, it has been losing out on boththe fame and the job market.Thereason behind this is lack of funds,workers and government helpamidst this pandemic and alsoindulging of multinational compa-nies in this arena. Even though peo-ple are back on work, but sincemany workers left the job andwent back home, the lock industryhere is on the verge of winding up.

There are about 5000 lock unitsin the city, out of which few areorganised and work on a large scaleand the rest are small units. Partsof locks in these small units aremade in houses or small rooms.Aligarh lock industry is not onlyfamous in the city, but the locksmanufactured here are suppliedall over India and also in some for-eign countries. Different types oflocks, such as pad lock, lever locks

and cycle locks are manufacturedhere.

The lock industry here wasalready in threat from the othermultinational industries and chi-nese market, and now corona hashit hard over it.

The automated and chip locksof the chinese market has lowerdown the value of Aligarh locks inforeign markets and in India. Nowthis pandemic and the lockdownsituation has broken the backboneof this industry.

The pathetic part of this storyis that earlier there used to be 1000of workers employed in these units,but due to lockdown conditions,70% of workers are now jobless andwandering for their livelihood.

The history of lock industryhere goes back to 1818 when twoMuslim experts, Karim Elahi andNabi Bax, had started manufactur-ing locks in Kala Mahal. In 1860East India Company made it a largescale industry.

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Till the last week of June 2020,there was no uncertainty about

the return of CPI(M) to power inKerala in the 2021 Assembly elec-tion. The CPI(M) and PinarayiVijayan were all set to defeat andbreak the bane haunting the rulingparties in the State for decades, theanti-incumbency factor. Kerala hasbeen ruled alternately by the CPI(M)led Left Democratic Front and theCongress-led United DemocraticFront after each election.

Everything started falling apartfor Vijayan after the Customs depart-ment busted a massive GoldSmuggling Racket operating throughthe diplomatic channel ofThiruvananthapuram Airport.

It was found that M Sivsankar,the then principal secretary to theChief Minister had close links withSwapna Suresh, PS Sarith andSandeep Nair, the kingpins behindthe gold smuggling operation.Though Sivsankar was suspendedfrom service, the damage has been

done as it was found that Swapnawas working as a senior executive ofthe Kerala Government ownedSpace Park, an IT concern of whichSivsankar was the CEO.Swapna wasan HRD executive with the UAEConsulate in the capital city beforeshe switched over to Space Park. Butit was found that the woman was aschool drop out and managed to getthe Space Park assignment at asalary of �1,70,000 per month withthe help of a fake degree certificate.

Higher Education Minister K TJaleel, leader of the outlawed SIMI,was found to have close liaisonwith the UAE Consulate and wasreported to have received from theconsulate gift packets and Quranbundles in violation of all rules of theland. Though Jaleel denied anyunderhand dealings, probes provedthat all is not overboard and every-thing from smuggling to gifts havedirect links with terrorism, anti-Centre agitations and money laun-dering.

Sivsankar has been questionedby Customs, NIA and the ED.

Swapna and ten others are in the cus-tody of NIA and Customs. TheNIA has slapped the UAPA sectionsin the charge sheet against her.Though Vijayan claimed that he doesnot know Swapna, her mobile phoneoperators say that she had visitedChief Minister’s official residencefour times in the last week of June2020.

The Life Mission of the KeralaGovernment, a flagship programmeto ensure all people in the State geta rooftop above their heads, too isthe latest casualty as it has beenfound that contracts were issued onlyafter kickback was received .

Sreejith Panicker, young politi-cal commentator, is of the view thatchances of Pinarayi Vijayan and theCPI(M) returning to power after thenext election are unlikely. “Till theSpringler deal emerged in the hori-zon the government was doing well.It had succeeded in wiping outblack memories of Sabarimala con-troversy which was proved by the by-election results to the State assem-bly.

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The strong winds that start-ed with Bengal Chief

Minister Mamata Banerjee’s“cordial” avoidance of anIndependence tea party host-ed by Governor JagdeepDhankhar on Sunday assumedproportions of a full blownstorm over the proverbial teacup with the latter hitting outat the State Government forputting his office under sur-veillance.

The Trinamool Congressquickly hit back saying spyingwas the culture of RSS and BJPand was most common inGujarat. A fuming Governorwho had no love lost with theChief Minister ever since hisassuming the post last yearblasted at a press conferencealleging that his office was“under surveillance.” He said, “Iwould like to tell you all that theRaj Bhavan is under surveil-lance. It undermines the sanc-tity of the Raj Bhavan. I will do

everything to protect its sanc-tity,” adding “I have initiated avery serious, critical probe intoit. Sanctity of Raj Bhawan'sfunctioning has to be keptintact.”

Sources quoting theGovernor said his immediatecontext of reference was someconfidential documents thathad flown of the Raj Bhavancloset. Incidentally the contentsof the same documents werereferred to in a letter to him“from a very high office indi-cating that something is wrongsomehere.”

The Governor said, “asconstitutional act, I will not,will never suffer any surveil-lance of any nature whatsoev-er. Those who have done it,must pay the price according torule of law. My internal inquirywill be completed soonenough,” he said.

He said about his readinessfor sharing information what-ever was asked from him “butthe way the highest constitu-

tional office is being dealt withis a matter of concern.”

On the Chief Minister’sskipping the customary teaparty at the Raj Bhavan orga-nized every year, Dhankharsaid the incident was unpleas-ant. “It has been very painfulfor me....I was constantly inter-acting with the state govern-ment through the chief minis-ter, was impressing upon herconsistently that the pro-gramme will be held totally andstrictly following the COVIDprotocol and keeping the num-ber to bare minimum,” theGovernor said adding “it wouldhave been befitting for theoccasion, it would have been agood tribute to our freedom fighters' sacrifice if theChief Minister and members ofthe executive invited (hadattended); it has set a badprecedent.”

The Governor said that hehad invited about 35 distinguished guests includingthe Chief Minister and some

members of the executive.

Though Banerjee gave theprogramme a slip she paid anadvance “cordial visit withoutappointment” meeting theGovernor hours before theappointed time. She wasaccompanied by the ChiefSecretary, DGP, Commissionerof Police and others.

Referring to the standoffshe had been having with theGovernment “ever since Iassumed office last year” hesaid how he went to meet theVice Chancellor of a Universityonly to find the doors lockedand how he was regularly beingboycotted by the Government.Similarly he also mentionedhow the gates of the Assemblywere locked during his sched-uled visit to that place.

The way things worked inBengal only proved that “theseare no signs of democracy,these are no signs of freedom,these are signs of a police stateat work,” he said.

When contacted BengalDilip Ghosh said “I cannotcomment on the administrativematters but it is true that it ispolice state in Bengal because the lines of our lead-ers are always being tapped andthe BJP leaders are under sur-veillance and the police are act-ing as informers instead of pro-tecting the lives of peopleallowing the TMC goons to killBJP men every day.”

Reacting to the Governor’sallegations TMC MP MohuaMoitra said “the uncle shouldbe told that surveillance is nota part of the TrinamoolCongress’ culture … it is animport of the BJP-RSS and isaptly practiced in Gujarat,”while Bengal minister RajivBanerjee said “the ChiefMinister avoided the RajBhavan tea party because of thecorona protocols,” reminding“she had already maintainedthe courtesy visiting theGovernor during the daytime.”

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The excitement andcuriosity amongIndians towards theelections to the stillmost important office

in the world ie, the President of theUS, jumped several notches withthe announcement of theDemocratic vice-presidentialnominee, Kamala Harris.Expectedly, Kamala’s suitabilitywas immediately slammed byincumbent President DonaldTrump, who ungenerously andpatently derided her as a “madwoman”, “nasty”, “horrible”, “mean”and even incredulously and iron-ically, “disrespectful.” Meanwhile,the emotional instinct in India ledto jubilation of the first-ever“Indian” to be considered forsuch a post. This, to counter sen-timents that were less charitableowing to partisan preferences thatdug out selective statements madeby Democrat Party leaders onJammu & Kashmir, theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA), National Register ofCitizens (NRC), with them over-simplifying that Trump-Pencewould be more favourably dis-posed towards India than teamJoe-Kamala.

Importantly, Kamala Harris isnot Indian, she is an American ofpart Indian origin. She owes herprimary brief and loyalty to the USand its constituents and not toIndia, just as for Trump. Hermaternal Indian “connect” isundeniable and, therefore, shewould be intrinsically more sen-sitive, nuanced and will have bet-ter understanding of the Indianperspective. But that does not nec-essarily translate into any unfairbias as that diminishes her fideli-ty and professionalism towards the“stars and stripes.”

The challenge is the naivetéand instinctive presuppositionswith which we prematurely castpotential options as either “pro-India” or “anti-India”, often underappreciating the role of circum-stantial, evolutionary and realpoli-tik that besets reality. Officialneutrality notwithstanding, fact isthat New Delhi had seeminglypunted on a second term forTrump and even shed the usualrestraint of partisan preferences,when courting Trump in eventslike “Howdy Modi” or “NamasteTrump.” These shenanigans didnot have the banal sobriety of thetypical “Hyderabad House” meet-ings format. Instead, they were

public spectacles that reeked ofreciprocal political affirma-tions.

New Delhi went one stepahead to publicly spite theDemocratic Party’s campaignwhen the External AffairsMinister refused to meetCongresswoman PramilaJayapal after she moved a res-olution, urging India to endrestrictions on communica-tions in Jammu & Kashmir asswiftly as possible and preservereligious freedom of all resi-dents. Certainly, the positionadopted by theCongresswoman was inimicaland contrarian to that of theGovernment of India but did itwarrant a public snub?

Globally, Indian diplomatsengage with a cross-section ofpoliticians (even those with jar-ring views) to address, clarifyand nuance their views.However, the hypersensitivitydisplayed in this case may haveendeared India to Trump’s sen-sibilities. However, given the“lead” established by theDemocrats in the latest polls, ithas created a piquant situationfor the mandarins in the IndianExternal Affairs Ministry.

Importantly, the concernsraised by Democratic Senatorsrelated to “liberality” and“democratic” rights in Indiaand not “sovereignty” or ques-tioning Kashmir’s integrity.Perhaps usual engagement and

clarification could haveaddressed the issue.

The complexity of the sit-uation is that the presumptivenominee, Kamala Harris, maynot even be the “personal”preference of Joe Biden (giventheir bitter exchanges in theprimaries) but it is a matter ofelectoral mathematics andnecessities. Trump’s voter baseamong the immigrants is fastsinking, the sleight and racismof the “wall” against the largestimmigrant base of Hispanicsand the unmistakable insinua-tion of the “Coronavirus”against the second largest baseof Chinese ethnicity. Kamalafurther stitches together thethird biggest immigrant base ofIndian ethnicities, not to men-tion consolidate the African-American and women voters.

Indeed, part of the intrinsicDemocratic pitch, irrespectiveof the candidates, is its docu-mented commitment towardsliberalism, inclusivity, anti-warstance, pro-environment andpro-immigrant/minority issuesthat naturally militate againstthe preferences of democraciesthat are caught up in the fren-zy of uber-nationalism, majori-tarianism and perceived illiber-alities. So, the nativist instinct orthe “strongman” appeal of theRepublican leader is often coun-tered with the inclusivist andcivic right agenda of theDemocrats that could appear

wishy-washy and even indeci-sive. However, the truth is thatthe Indian experience of theTrump tenure was marked byirascible unpredictability (forexample, its unilateral u-turn onPakistan and with the AfghanTaliban), little accommodation(for example, it threatened Indiato toe its line on Iran againstNew Delhi’s regional interests)and frankly more showmanshipthan support when it mattered(for example, his continuousand controversial offer to “medi-ate” in the India-Pakistan realmand the meaningless inanities inthe Ladakh violence withChina).

The arms supply and shar-ing of sensitive technology toIndia made pure commercialsense to the US arms industry.India is also the only viable“pivot” to Asia, irrespective ofthe POTUSA or theGovernment in India. Trumpmight have dialled up his per-sonal charms on India occa-sionally but he was also guiltyof saying some of the mostungracious and intimidatingthings to India (for example,the threats during the hydrox-ychloroquine row).

In case Joe-Kamala win the2020 elections, the importanceand relevance of Kamala Harrisis much more substantial thanjust vice-presidentship as shebecomes the default future ofDemocratic leadership. Biden is

77 years old and Kamala is just55. Her evolution to the presi-dential candidature is logical.The politics of the Democraticparty is what it is and its moor-ings are well-known and pre-dictable. The same cannot besaid about Trump, who iswhimsical and flitting in hisdecision making. He mightappeal to the baser instincts ofthe uninitiated who may believein his “hate” for the others buthistory suggests that all thatpolitical muscularity is moreposturing, words and theatricsthan moral courage or bravery.

The likely post-Covidworld of a Democratic tenurein the US will ensure the pres-idential focus on recovering theeconomy, healing societaldivides and addressingAmerica’s primary concernsin China, the Middle East,Iran and North Korea. This willleave the “next important”issues like NATO, climatechange, India-Pakistan orIndia-China dimensions to thevice presidential candidate,herein, even with herDemocratic impulses and val-ues that Kamala Harris will cer-tainly bear. We could beassured of having a personbearing no discomfort, anath-ema or volatility about theconstitutional “idea of India.”

(The writer, a military vet-eran, is a former Lt Governor ofAndaman & Nicobar Islands)

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Women legal heirs”(August 13). Many families areinto the practice of creatingfamily trusts, which hold allassets, and women are kept outof their management deliberate-ly. In some cases, the propertiesmay be encumbered. One usuallogic given for denying womentheir share in ancestral proper-ty is that the family spendsmoney on their marriage whichoffsets the share. The SupremeCourt judgment will bring someclarity in the matter but inextreme cases of non-adherenceto the legal provision, womenmay have to litigate, whichrarely happens in Indian fami-lies. As the judgment does notapply to self-acquired proper-ties, the matter is still open andmore rulings may evolve later.

M RaghuramanMumbai

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Women legal heirs” (August13). The Supreme Court’s rulingthat daughters will have equal

rights in the parental property asa son even if their father diedbefore the Hindu Succession(Amendment) Act 2005 cameinto force is significant. In doingso, the apex court has placed theHindu women’s right to inheritancestral property beyond thepale of ambiguity.

It is a welcome ruling and alogical culmination of a longprocess to weed out patriarchal

prejudice of Indian laws. It wasan exercise that was speeded upsoon after independence, withthe framers of the Constitutioninscribing the promise of genderequality in the founding docu-ment of the nation.

The Hindu Succession Act,1956, made inroads into themale-dominated system.Though women didn’t get equalrights in the property, the law

made it possible for them toinherit property. While the restof India continued with the dis-criminatory practice, States suchas Kerala, Andhra Pradesh andKarnataka amended the law,giving equal rights to daughters.

That’s why the Parliamentamended the Act in 2005 to giveequal rights to daughters. Butdue to conflicting verdicts deliv-ered by courts on retrospectiv-

ity of the amendment, daugh-ters continued to be discrimi-nated against. Maintaining thatdaughters cannot be deprived oftheir right to equality, the topcourt has now ruled that the2005 amendment would beapplicable to them, irrespectiveof whether they were bornbefore or after it. Much neededfor gender parity.

Abhijit RoyJamshedpur

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Rewarding the honest”(August 14). The ModiGovernment has taken thebiggest step to reform the taxsystem by launching a transpar-ent taxation platform. The tax-payers will not only be rid of theincome tax department butalso of unnecessary disputes.The Government must nowensure that the system checkscorrupt officials as well as dis-courages those who refuse topay taxes.

Riddhi Via email

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Good leadership is the ability to respond withresilience and foresight to unanticipated forcemajeur events. Many silently assess how dif-

ferent is Modi 2.0’s performance thus far, as com-pared to Modi 1.0 in his mitigative response to cri-sis-management and more importantly, has hisGovernment sustained the momentum of reforms,despite the worst odds? Fairly, when a humanitar-ian crisis strikes on such a relentless scale as theCoronavirus pandemic has done, each nationalleader’s performance criteria must be gauged incomparison to global peers and not in isolation.

Briefly and in a single sentence, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi is fast emerging as a global states-man amid the vacuum of a leaderless world andin a space where the crumbling writ of multilater-al institutions renders them under-equipped toaddress the changing world order.

In the post-pandemic global order, Modi willbe far ahead of his peers, be it US President DonaldTrump or UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whenassessing Coronavirus-mitigation measures, or thepost-pandemic management of the economy.

One must bear in mind that India, with a pop-ulation of 1.38 billion and a high-living density, wasinevitably predisposed to a higher eventual strikerate of the disease, despite all-out efforts to con-tain the outbreak.

Even the healthcare capacities of the mostdeveloped nations, the US and the UK, have beenoverwhelmed by the pandemic, despite beingranked as number one and two by the GlobalHealth Security Index. In Trump’s lack of proac-tiveness in the initial stages of the pandemic, justthis one factor could hold enough weightage to costthe incumbent President his second term inNovember.

Britain’s contraction by 20.4 per cent in the sec-ond quarter of this year is by far the deepest amongadvanced economies, as the French Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) contracted by 13.8 per cent, Italyby 12.4 per cent, Germany 10.1 per cent, Canada12 per cent, the US 9.5 per cent and Japan by 7.6per cent.

Given the above data, India’s economic perfor-mance despite the contagion, or the Centre’s mit-igation-response must be fairly assessed, as it com-pares favourably even with its Asian peers anddeveloped countries. Because this year is not afinancial year that can be evaluated by normal eco-nomic metrics of GDP growth, joblessness or ris-ing sovereign debts. Even so, on sovereign debt toGDP ratios, much to India’s credit, our debt remainsmuch lower than that of developed countries.

The bi-annual ‘Mood of the Nation’ findings,therefore, did not surprise that 77 per cent of thosesurveyed were satisfied with the Prime Minister’sperformance during the Coronavirus crisis. Addedto the list of Modi’s “firsts”, is that he is the longest-serving non-Congress Prime Minister. While sixyears in governance is a long enough span, it is inad-equate to undo the over 60-year legacy of crony-ism and corruption of the Congress era.

Rarely have leaders been faced with volatilityand an uncertain future in multiple areas, all at thesame time. The pandemic has reinforced how a sin-gle destabiliser can trigger devastating chain-reac-tions in almost real-time across the globe due tothe inter-connectedness of people, trade, business-es and financial interdependency.

While globalisation has been in retreat, glob-al value chains have gotten more integrated andinterdependent, so, even a minuscule spark of a sov-

ereign default in one part of the world hasa rippling potential to upset future finan-cial forecasts.

This makes it all the more impera-tive for developing nations to pursue thepath India has taken under Modi todevelop strategic fallbacks by forgingstrong bilateral or pluri-lateral tradeequations with the “middle order coun-tries” or with a consortia of democracies.This strategy is an imperative for devel-oping countries to pursue in the long-term, in order to strengthen their domes-tic economies so as to keep growing at aGDP rate of over six to seven per cent.

Modi’s assertiveness must also beviewed positively when set against a lead-erless world, with the retreat of the USfrom global leadership and China display-ing a disdain for multilateral institutions.Very rightly, the Prime Minister has pro-posed the need for reforms in these insti-tutions, as the lack of proper coordina-tion has impeded global recovery becausetheir responses have been less than ade-quate in proportion to the crisis.

The receding writ of multilateralinstitutions is evident: The World HealthOrganisation for its weak initial responseto the pandemic; the World TradeOrganisation and the InternationalMonetary Fund, for their inadequateresponses towards developing countriesthat lack the financial resources to copewith the crisis; or the United Nations’(UNs’) inadequacy in curbing China’shegemonic ambitions.

How sustainable are the greenshoots of recovery in India? The answerlies in the progression of the pandemic,as all sectors, right from services, to con-struction, to manufacturing and availingof bank credit, or lowered consumer con-fidence have uniformly recorded quarter-ly falls globally due to precautionaryrestrictions imposed by governments.

Recovery anywhere in the worldpeaks or plateaus, linked to resumption

or suspension of normalcy. Consequently,Indian recovery, too, shows mixed signals,sometimes gaining momentum, at othertimes losing steam. While some econom-ic indicators have shown a rebound in 14sectors like exports, agriculture, trans-portation of goods, rail freight, powerconsumption, two-wheeler sales, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, other indica-tors like slowing of credit growth, low-ered diesel demand, sluggish retail activ-ity and Goods and Services Tax collec-tions have all witnessed contraction dueto demand destruction.

Encouragingly, the brightest sparkdespite the global slowdown has been inForeign Direct Investment inflows intoIndia in 2019-20, which are at $74 billion,an increase of 20 per cent over the pre-vious year. With India having attractedmore than $20 billion in the last fourmonths, this in itself is a re-endorsementof confidence in the Government and thecountry’s incremental potential forgrowth.

Following global best practices torestart India: In comparison to devel-oped nations, who calibratedly infusedmonetary and fiscal stimulus as an anti-dote to the recession, prescriptions byIndian economists remain divided on thetiming of stimulus 2.0.

According to the latest McKinseyReport, “the timing of repeated stimulusinfusions is the most crucial decision forsustainable recovery.” Therefore, “fiscalmeasures should not come too early. But,to avoid losing control of the fiscal tra-jectory, they should also not come too lateeither.”

While the Government has infusedliquidity, making the financial systemflush with funds, despite low interest rates,businesses continue to hold back oninvestments due to demand-destruc-tion; bankers are reluctant to lend andconsumers remain in austerity mode. Allthese factors are symptomatic of the econ-

omy being stuck in a stasis-mode, whichis not a standalone, India-specific risk butis typical of recessionary cycles.

Deferring stimulus packages hasgreat economic implications, leading tothe economic phenomenon of “hystere-sis”, wherein the after-effects of econom-ic shocks persist beyond the crisis andmonetary interventions fail to reviveaggregate demand. Therefore, the pre-dictability of the Government’s infusionsthrough direct spending in infrastructureprojects or welfare support “creates a mul-tiplier effect, with each unit of spendingproducing multiple outputs and raisingincomes.”

As regards social security measures,it is worth mentioning here how some ofthe developed economies have adoptedversions of Germany’s Kurzarbeit (shortwork) subsidy during the pandemic. Thispolicy keeps workers employed atreduced hours and pay, with theGovernment compensating some of theshortfall in wages. Such measures couldbe vital to include as an economic recov-ery tool-kit.

India will emerge as a leader in thepost-Covid world: In conclusion, eco-nomic shocks do not have to be the onlylasting legacies of a pandemic-ravagedworld. Nations that were pre-Covid pro-pellers of global growth will have dimin-ishing relevance in the post-pandemicgrowth. Therefore, amid a rapidly realign-ing global order, India will matter morein a leaderless world as it holds enoughweightage by adding 17 per cent to theworld’s GDP and is third in purchasingpower parity. So while the target ofachieving a $5 trillion economy might bedeferred, should Modi 2.0 persist with themomentum of watershed reforms, India’sgaining ascendency in the post-Covidfuture is an achievable goal.

(The writer is an author, columnist,and Chairperson for the Committee onFinancial Inclusion at the Niti Aayog)

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During the last decade or so, thetopic of religious extremism inSindh (outside its metropolitan

capital Karachi) has attracted theattention of various academics andpolitical commentators. This topicenjoys a special significance becauseof a narrative which explains theSindhi majority of the region as beingimmune to non-State as well as State-sponsored processes of “Islamisation,”which were initiated from the mid-1970s onwards. Ever since the 1980s,these processes mutated and perme-ated society in the shape of religiousradicalisation and militancy.

Extremism in Sindh is largely cen-tred in northern areas such as Ghotki,

Shikarpur and Jacobabad. These regions are closest to

Southern Punjab and the province ofBalochistan. As compared to the restof the provinces, where cases andepisodes of sectarian fighting, violenceagainst non-Muslim communitiesand terrorism by Islamists can betraced back 30-35 years, extremism isa relatively recent phenomenon in theSindhi-majority areas of Sindh.

The political scientist, MansoorBin Tahnoon Al-Nahyan, says thatSindh is not contiguous toAfghanistan or Pakistan’s KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP), which have beenravaged by years of religious militan-cy and radicalisation. According tohim, Sindh’s distance from conflictzones in this respect has spared it fromtheir fallout. Second, Sindhis have his-torically espoused Sufism and reject-ed orthodoxy.

Recently, a member of a Sindhinationalist organisation told me thatthe city had no such history till 1950,or till the Sindhis were in a majoritythere. This observation is not that off

the mark. Writer Rita Kothari says thatduring the days of the 1947 Partitionand the communal violence that itsparked in regions such as Gujarat andPunjab, Sindh did not suffer from anyvirulent fanaticism. Whatever faith theSindhis belonged, they were powerful-ly influenced by Sufi thoughts. Butonce there was a mass exodus of non-Sindhi Muslims from India, especial-ly towards Karachi, communal vio-lence did erupt here as well. However,by then, Sindhis had become a minor-ity in Karachi.

So, what is happening in the restof Sindh today, with rising cases of reli-gious extremism and violence, espe-cially in its northern areas?

According to the Sindhi nation-alists, it is the State which is attempt-ing to reshape Sindh’s religious texture,by allowing extremist outfits to set upshop here. He said the State is tryingto defuse Sindhi nationalism in themanner in which it did Pashtunnationalism in the 1980s by introduc-ing young people to radical religiousand sectarian ideas.

This narrative is not restricted toSindhi nationalists. Some prominentpolitical commentators, too, sub-scribe to it. However, I could find scantevidence of this during my trips tocentral and northern Sindh from thelate 1980s onwards.

But this does not mean it is entire-ly incorrect. Because there is nowenough evidence to substantiate thatthe State did indeed use militant reli-gious indoctrination in KP — fromthe days of the anti-Soviet “jihad” inAfghanistan — to displace the Pashtunnationalist sentiment and remodel itas something that the State believedit could control. So why shouldn’t itdo the same in Sindh? As we saw inKP, the State couldn’t control what itencouraged, because it mutated intosomething problematic.

The factors behind the rise of reli-gious extremism in some majorSindhi-majority regions of theprovince are a lot more complex. Forexample, names of parties such as PPP,MQM and Sindhi nationalist outfitsdominate discourses on the politics of

Sindh. But the name of anotherimportant political player in theprovince always goes missing: TheJamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI).

The JUI has strong political rootsin many northern areas of Sindh.Journalist Mushtaq Rajpar says thatthe JUI, despite having a PashtunDeobandi character, was able to rootitself in the largely Barelvi Sindhi-majority areas when, in the early1980s, it played a major role in theoften violent PPP-led Movement forthe Restoration of Democracy ralliesin Sindh against dictator Zia.

Khalid Mahmood Soomro, aSindhi from Larkana, became JUI’smain man in Sindh. He appropriatedSindhi nationalist interests in hisrhetoric, for example exhibiting oppo-sition to the Kalabagh Dam andaccepting the “shrine culture” of theregion, which is often criticised by theDeobandis. During the secondBenazir Bhutto regime (1993-96) JUIbecame part of the ruling coalition. Itwas during this period that JUI beganto build madrasas in northern Sindh.

By the mid-2000s, JUI in Sindh start-ed to sound more conservative. Insome areas, it also began to lose itsmosques and madrasas to the moreradicalised former members of JUI,many of who had merged with orjoined banned militant outfits, espe-cially after 2010.

But if it is these elements whohave been behind recent bomb attackson Sufi shrines in Sindh, are they alsothe ones kidnapping Sindhi Hindugirls and converting them? Not quite.In the 2016 anthology Islam, Sufismand Everyday Politics of Belonging inSouth Asia, the French political scien-tist Julien Levesque writes that thosedoing this actually belong to Sufiorders.

Levesque says that Sufism inPakistan is a contested space. This con-test is between the idea of Sufism con-structed by the revered Sindhi nation-alist ideologue GM Syed — which seesit as a secular expression of Sindhinationalism — and the Sufism of someQadri and Naqshbandi Sufi orders inthe province, who are critical of

Syed’s notion of Sufism, calling it athe-istic and anti-Islam.

The Sindhi politician MianMithoo, who has been accused offorcibly converting Sindhi Hindus,does not belong to any religiousparty. In fact, not only is he a Sufi spir-itual figurehead but he was once amember of the PPP. In the 2018 elec-tions, he ran as an Independent can-didate from a National Assemblyconstituency in Ghotki. He lost, butreceived 91,752 votes.

According to Levesque, till the1980s, the battle of the Islamic narra-tives in Sindh was mainly between theSindh nationalists’ concept of Sufismand the more federal-friendly idea ofSufism of the State and the Left-lib-eral PPP. But from the mid-2000s, thebattle has been about these two con-cepts struggling to stop being over-whelmed by the more reactionaryideas of Sufism held by the likes ofMian Mithoo and the Deobandi mil-itants who would rather have any ideaof Sufism entirely eliminated.

(Courtesy: Dawn)

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Washington: Democratic pres-idential nominee Joe Bidenhas asserted that if elected, hisadministration will stand withIndia against the threats NewDelhi faces from its own regionand along its borders andvowed to continue to rely onthe Indian-American diaspora,that keeps the two nationstogether.

Last week, Biden scriptedhistory by selecting Indian ori-gin Senator Harris, 55, as hisrunning mate in the US presi-dential election. Harris, whosefather is an African fromJamaica and mother an Indian,is the first-ever Black vice-presidential nominee.

Presidential elections inthe US will be held onNovember 3 and the 77-year-old is challenging incumbentRepublican President DonaldTrump in the polls.

“Fifteen years ago, I wasleading the efforts to approvethe historic civil nuclear dealwith India. I said that if the USand India became closerfriends and partners, then theworld will be a safer place,”Biden, who was vice-presidentin the Obama administration,said while addressing theIndian-American communityon India’s Independence Day.

If elected president, Bidensaid, he will continue to believe

this and also continue to standwith India against the threats itfaces from its own region andalong its borders.

Biden said that he willwork on expanding two-waytrade between the US andIndia, and take on big globalchallenges like climate changeand global health security.

If elected, the Democraticcandidate said, he will work tostrengthen the democracieswhere diversity is the mutualstrength.

On this day, let us “contin-ue to deepen the bond thatendures between our nation’sand our people,” Biden said.

He said that “as President,

I’ll also continue to rely on theIndian-American diaspora, thatkeeps our two nations togeth-er, as I have throughout mycareer”.

“My constituents inDelaware, my staff in theSenate, the Obama adminis-tration that had more Indian-Americans than any otheradministration in the history ofthis country, and this cam-paign with Indian Americans atsenior levels, which of courseincludes the top of the heap, ourdear friend (Kamala Harris)who will be the first IndianAmerican vice president in thehistory of the United States ofAmerica,” Biden said. PTI

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Houston: Kamala Harris’ his-toric selection as theDemocratic vice-presidentialcandidate has evoked mixedreactions from the influentialIndian-Americans, with amajority of them voicingunfavourable views about thesenator’s track record and herstance towards India and thecommunity.

Democratic presidentialcandidate Joe Biden scriptedhistory on Wednesday byselecting 55-year-old Harris, anIndian-American and anAfrican-American, as his run-ning mate in the election onNovember 3.

Born to a Jamaican fatherand an Indian mother,California Senator Harris, ifelected, would be the firstwoman vice president ever forthe country.

While her nomination hasfilled many aspiring women,particularly young women ofcolour, with joy across theglobe, Harris’ selection hasalso generated mixed reactionsfrom about 3.9 million Indian-Americans, both Republicansand indecisive voters, whobelieve she lacks understandingof what she stands for and doesnot consider herself as awoman of Indian origin.

Radha Dixit, the foundingmember of Indo-American

Conservatives of Texas, said,“The Democratic Party’sreliance on ‘Identity politics’has undermined her campaignbecause the focus has shifted toher being Indian, Asian,Jamaican, African-Americanand a woman of colour.Divisions in these communitiesare now coming to surface.Nowhere did Kamala try toclaim her Hindu or Indianheritage but people are thrust-ing their values on her”.

“If the Democratic Partyplatform and Kamala Harris’sposition on policy issues are thebasis for deciding this electionas it should be, no conserva-tives, men or women, will sup-port this ticket,” Dixit said.

Padma Shri awardeeSubhash Kak, Regents ProfessorEmeritus at the prestigiousOklahoma State University ispleased with Harris’ selectionbut is not happy with her polit-ical affiliation.

“But I’m disappointed withher political positions that arenot India-friendly and are farto the left on the politicalspectrum.

In this, she appears to beconsistent with Joe Biden whohas adopted an agenda thatdoes not acknowledge the needfor a special relationshipbetween the United States andIndia,” Kak said. PTI

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between the United ArabEmirates and Israel began work-ing on Sunday as the two coun-tries opened diplomatic ties,part of a deal brokered by theUS that required Israel to halt itscontentious plan to annex WestBank land sought by thePalestinians for a future state.

Associated Press journalistsin Jerusalem and Dubai wereable to call each other fromboth landline and cellularphones registered to Israel’scountry code +972 fromaround 1:15 p.M.

Over an hour later, Emiratiofficials acknowledged thatForeign Minister SheikhAbdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyanhad called his Israeli counterpartGabi Ashkenazi.

Israeli CommunicationsMinister Yoaz Handel issued astatement “congratulating theUnited Arab Emirates onremoving the blocks.” “Manyeconomic opportunities willopen now, and these trust-building steps are an importantstep toward advancing states’interests,” Handel said.

Also Sunday, Israeli newswebsites that had previouslybeen blocked by UAE authori-ties, like the Times of Israel, theJerusalem Post and YNet, couldbe accessed without usingmeans to bypass internet filter-ing in the Emirates.

In the UAE, a federation ofseven sheikhdoms on theArabian Peninsula, a recordedmessage in Arabic and Englishwould typically play prior toSunday saying calls to +972numbers could not be con-nected. The advent of internetcalling allowed people to getaround the ban, though thesetoo were often interrupted.

Some in Israel usedPalestinian mobile phone num-bers with +970 numbers, whichthose in the UAE could call.

The connection of phoneservice represents the first con-crete sign of the deal betweenthe Emiratis and Israelis.

Israel and the United ArabEmirates announced Thursdaythey were establishing full diplo-matic relations in the U.S.-bro-kered accord.

The historic deal delivereda key foreign policy victory toPresident Donald Trump as heseeks re-election and reflecteda changing Middle East inwhich shared concerns aboutarchenemy Iran have largelyovertaken traditional Arab sup-port for the Palestinians.

Palestinians say it puts a justresolution of the Middle Eastconflict even farther out ofreach by undermining an Arab

consensus that recognition ofIsrael only come in return forconcessions in peace talks. Thatremoves a rare source of lever-age for the Palestinians.

The agreement will makethe UAE the third Arab coun-try, after Egypt and Jordan, tohave full, active diplomatic tieswith Israel. The countriesannounced it in a joint state-ment, saying deals betweenIsrael and the UAE were expect-ed in the coming weeks in suchareas as tourism, direct flightsand embassies.

Early Sunday, the Emirates’state-run WAM news agencyannounced a UAE companyhad signed an agreement withan Israeli company for researchand study of the coronaviruspandemic. The move hassparked anger among somewho see it as a betrayal of long-standing efforts to establish anindependent state ofPalestinians. In Pakistan, hun-dreds of Islamists ralliedSunday to denounce theEmirati-Israeli deal.

The Jamaat-e-Islami partychanted slogans against theUnited States and burned effi-gies of President Donald Trump.They also set ablaze Americanand Israeli flags. AP

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Jerusalem: Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahusaid on Sunday that a deal toestablish full diplomatic tieswith the United Arab Emiratesproves that Israel doesn’t needto retreat from occupied landsought by the Palestinians inorder to achieve peace andnormalisation with Arab states.

Israel and the UAEannounced Thursday theywere establishing full diplo-matic relations in a U.S.-bro-kered deal that required Israelto halt its contentious plan toannex occupied West Bankland sought by the Palestinians.Netanyahu has insisted theannexation plans are only on“temporary hold” at therequest of the United States.

The UAE, like most of theArab world, long rejected offi-cial diplomatic ties with Israel,saying recognition should onlycome in return for concessionsin peace talks. Its accord withIsrael breaks that long-held

tenet and could usher in agree-ments with other Arab states,undermining an Arab con-sensus that was a rare sourceof leverage for the Palestinians.

“According to thePalestinians, and to many oth-ers in the world who agreedwith them, peace can’t bereached without conceding tothe Palestinians’ demands,including uprooting settle-ments, dividing Jerusalem andwithdrawal to 1967 lines,”Netanyahu said in a videostatement.

“No more. This concept of‘peace through withdrawaland weakness’ has passed fromthe world.”

The Palestinians want theWest Bank, east Jerusalemand the Gaza Strip for theirhoped-for state, and peace-making with them since the1990s has been based on with-drawal from those lands tomake way for a Palestinianhomeland. AP

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Johannesburg: South Africahas voiced its concern over thenormalisation of relationsbetween Israel and the UnitedArab Emirates (UAE), saying itis “regrettable” that it had beendone without engaging thepeople of Palestine.

“Peace and stability in theMiddle East, and particularly asustainable solution regardingthe plight of the Palestinianpeople, is of critical importanceto South Africa,” the country’sDepartment of InternationalRelations and Cooperation(DIRCO) said in a statementon Friday. Acknowledging thatthe UAE had the sovereignright to set its diplomatic rela-tions with the government ofIsrael, the statement said it was“regrettable” that it had done sobased on an agreement relatedto the fate of the Palestinianpeople without engaging thepeople of Palestine. PTI

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Bangkok: Anti-governmentprotesters gathered in largenumbers in Thailand’s capitalon Sunday for a rally that sug-gested their movement’sstrength may have extendedbeyond the college campuseswhere it has blossomed.

Thousands of peopleassembled at Bangkok’sDemocracy Monument, a tra-ditional venue for politicalactivities.

Hundreds of police werealso present, as well as a smallcontingent of royalists opposedto the protesters. There was noreliable estimate of the crowdsize, though it appeared to beone of the biggest demonstra-tions in several years.

The student-led movementhas three core demands: hold-ing new elections, amendingthe constitution and ending theintimidation of critics of thegovernment.

“It is clear that students

from several generations arethe driving force of change inThai society,” said NarinIsariyasith, a 20-year-old stu-dent at Thammasat University.

“We have done this in thepast, but Thailand still has nofull democracy,” he said.

“Dictatorship keeps com-ing back. And I think it is our

duty to end this vicious cycle.” Thailand has experienced

a successful coup roughly everysix years on average since thearmy toppled the absolutemonarchy in 1932 and replacedit with a constitutional monar-chy. But it has been under mil-itary rule for much of the timesince then.

As the army chief in 2014,current Prime Minister PrayuthChan-ocha led a coup oustingan elected government.

He then served as primeminister in the military regimethat succeeded it, and returnedas premier after a general elec-tion last year. Laws guiding the2019 election were widely seenas so heavily rigged in Prayuth’sfavor that victory was all butguaranteed.

Protest leaders triggeredcontroversy last week whenthey expanded their agenda,publicly criticizing Thailand’sconstitutional monarchy andissuing a 10-point manifestocalling for its reform.

Their action was virtuallyunprecedented, as the monar-chy is considered sacrosanct inThailand, and any criticism isnormally kept private. A lesemajeste law calls for a prisonsentence of three to 15 years foranyone found guilty of defam-

ing the royal institution.The sensitivity of the issue

was illustrated by the failure ofmost mainstream Thai mediato report in any detail on thestudents’ manifesto about themonarchy.

Police have arrested sever-al protest leaders and chargedthem with sedition for state-ments made at a small rally inJuly. They were released on bailand vowed to attend Sunday’srally, in what appeared to bedefiance of the terms of theirrelease. Many young people atSunday’s protest were unde-terred.

A 10th grade student fromSatriwithaya School, an elitesecondary school for girls, saidit was not the first protest shehad attended. The 14-year-old, who gave her name only asPang, was with friends at a tableselling books and other itemsto raise funds for the protestmovement. AP

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Washington: DemocraticParty’s presidential candidateJoe Biden and his running mateKamala Harris offered condo-lences on Sunday to DonaldTrump after the President’syounger brother died.

Robert Trump, 71, diedSaturday at a New York hospi-tal, Donald Trump announcedin a statement.

Former vice presidentBiden and his wife, Indian-American Senator Harris and

her husband condoled thedeath of the US president’sbrother in separate statements.

“Mr. President, Jill and I aresad to learn of your youngerbrother Robert’s passing,” Bidensaid on Twitter.

“I know the tremendouspain of losing a loved one —and I know how importantfamily is in moments likethese. I hope you know thatour prayers are with you all,” hesaid. PTI

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Cairo: Flash floods have ravagedswaths of Sudan for weeks, leav-ing at least 60 people dead anddestroying thousands of homessince late July, authorities and theUN humanitarian agency saidon Sunday.

The flooding also injuredtwo dozen people, and hasdestroyed or damaged morethan 30,000 houses nationwide,the Interior Ministry said.

More than 185,000 peoplein all but one of Sudan’s 18provinces have been affected bythe heavy rainfall and flooding,according to the UN Office forthe Coordination ofHumanitarian Affairs.

The floods also damaged atleast 14 schools, and some 1,600water sources have been conta-minated or are now non-func-tional, the report said.

Footage circulated online

showed floodwaters cutting offroads and sweeping away hous-es and people’s belongings in dif-ferent parts of the northeasternAfrican country.

More than 1,200 livestockwere lost and several hectares ofcrops were affected in the mid-dle of the agricultural season, theUN added. The Bout Dam hadcollapsed in late July after heavyrains and flooding in the south-eastern Blue Nile province,releasing 5 million cubic metresof water (170 million cubic feet)and flooding at least 13 neigh-bourhoods in the town of Bout,the UN said. “The collapse of thedam will likely have seriouslong-term consequences forover 100,000 people, including(internally displaced persons)and refugees, who rely on it astheir primary source of water,”the statement said. AP

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Kathmandu: At least 227 peo-ple lost their lives due to mon-soon-induced natural disas-ters across Nepal in the pasttwo months, officials said onSunday.

The Himalayan nation wit-nessed the arrival of monsoonon June 13.

Over 50 districts are affect-ed by landslides and floodstriggered by heavy rains, theofficials said.

Sindhupalchowk, theworst-hit district this mon-soon, recorded 24 deaths dueto rain-related incidents thismonsoon.

Nineteen people died and20 went missing over the pastthree-four days due to massive

landslides triggered by heavyrains in Lidi village of Jugalrural municipality inSindhupalchowk district,Natural Emergency OperationCentre chief Murari Vasti said.Dozens of houses weredestroyed and hundreds offamilies displaced due to heavyrains in the district, he said. PTI

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Cincinnati: Police inCincinnati said 17 people —including some likely fatalities — were shot at threeseparate locations early Sundaymorning.

In one shooting alone inthe city’s Over-the-Rhineneighbourhood, 10 people wereshot, with two possibly dead,Assistant Police Chief PaulNeudigate told news outlets.

In the Walnut Hills neigh-bourhood, about a block awayfrom the Harriet Beecher Stowehouse, three people were shot.And, in the Avondale neigh-bourhood, four people wereshot, including two who policesaid might be dead.

News outlets reported the

shootings took place within 60to 90 minutes of each other, butNeudigate said they “seem to beseparate independent incidentsbut horrific and tragic.” No sus-pect information was immedi-ately available.

“One extremely violentnight in the city of Cincinnati.Looking at possibly 17 victims,up to four that could be fatal atthis time. Why? That’s going tobe the question,” Neudigatesaid.

In July, the Enquirerreported that the city had expe-rienced a rise in shootings andhomicides from gun violenceduring the first half of the yearas compared to the same timeperiod in 2019. AP

�����'�+<��1�� ��4������������=�����������1������� Beijing: China’s Foreign

Minister Wang Yi has made arare visit to Tibet and the bor-der areas last week and empha-sised that the security and sta-bility of the region is importantto the overall development ofthe country, the official mediahere reported.

Wang, who is also a StateCouncillor of the rulingCommunist Party of China,met with Tibet’s CommunistParty secretary Wu Yingjie andchairman of the Tibet regionalgovernment, Qizhala and otherofficials on Friday.

The security and stability ofthe region is important to theoverall development of China,the Global Times quoted Wangas saying by the local TibetDaily.

Wang also visited the bor-

der areas to learn about the sit-uation of poverty alleviation,infrastructure building and theconstruction of villages, thereport said.

Wang goes on special“research trips” to severalChinese regions every year, thereport said.

Top Chinese leaders andofficials visit Tibet annually butit is rare for the foreign minis-ter to visit the remoteHimalayan region.

Wang said the governmentwill work with people in Tibetto ensure regional stability,China’s national security andsupport Tibet’s opening-up andcooperation with the outsideworld, economic and socialdevelopment.

Wang also spoke about thecurrent international situation,

apparently referring to China-US diplomatic, political andtrade tensions, which has led toa new low in bilateral ties inrecent weeks.

China ordered the US toclose the American consulate inChengdu, located close to Tibet,in retaliation to Washington’smove to shut down the Chineseconsulate in Houston.

Wang spoke about China’sdiplomatic efforts, saying thatTibet has made great achieve-ments regarding economicdevelopment, stabilising anddeveloping border areas, joiningexternal cooperation and par-ticipating in projects under theBelt and Road initiative (BRI).

China is beefing up the bor-der infrastructure in Tibetwhich shares a border withNepal. PTI

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Islamabad: At least 513 animalshave been reported as havinggone ‘missing’ from MarghazarZoo in Pakistan’s national cap-ital, a media report said onSunday.

According to a report issuedby the Islamabad MetropolitanCorporation (IMC) - whichwas managing the zoo then - inJuly 2019, there were a total of917 animals of and birds of dif-ferent species, the ExpressTribune reported.

In May, on the directions ofthe Islamabad High Court’s(IHC), the management of thezoo had been handed over tothe Islamabad WildlifeManagement Board (IWMB)with directions to shift the ani-

mals in the zoo to shelters, thepaper said.

However, the handoverdocuments dated July 16, 2020,and signed by the Zoo DeputyDirector Dr Bilal Khilji,Ministry of Climate ChangeBiodiversity Director NaeemAshraf Raja and the takeoverauthority, IWMB Chairman DrAnisur Rehman, showed thatonly 404 animals have beenhanded over, it said. A com-parison of the reports showedthat the numbers of various ani-mal species fluctuated withsome, like those of the BarkingDeer and the Hog Deer increas-ing from three to five and 7 to10 respectively, while those forsome other species failing. PTI

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Ariot was declared inOregon’s biggest city as

protesters demonstrated out-side a law enforcement build-ing early Sunday, continuing anightly ritual in Portland.

Officers used crowd con-trol munitions to disperse thegathering outside thePenumbra Kelly building, newsoutlets reported.

Protesters had thrown“softball size” rocks, glass bot-tles and other objects at offi-cers, police said on Twitter. Thedepartment also said securitycameras had been spray paint-ed and other vandalismoccurred.

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Porbandar: The MarineProducts Export DevelopmentAuthority (MPEDA) hasopened a quality control labo-ratory here to facilitate tests forseafood processors andexporters to confirm to prod-uct safety as per internationalregulatory requirements, thecentral agency said on Sunday.The laboratory is equippedwith advanced testing instru-ments to analyse antibioticresidues, heavy-metals, such ascadmium, lead, mercury andarsenic in seafood samples andhistamine in fish like tuna andmackerel, it said in arelease.The laboratory hasbegun efforts to secure accred-itation by the NationalAccreditation Board for Testingand Calibration Laboratoriesand the Export InspectionCouncil, the MPEDA said.

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Federal Bank is looking toenter the credit card seg-

ment in the next one year tocomplete its suite of lendingproducts, a senior official saidon Thursday.

The bank, which alreadyhas a co-branded card offeringwith SBI Cards, will focus on itsexisting customer base of over1 crore to sell cards, its coun-try head for deposit, cards andpersonal loans NiluferMullanfiroze told PTI. Allmajor banks have a credit cardoffering of their own for thecustomers, but the ongoingpandemic, which has resultedin job losses and salary cuts, hasled to concerns over asset qual-ity for unsecured products likecredit cards and personal loans.

“In next 9-12 months weare looking at a launch of anindependent credit card. Thereis an expectation that the newnormal should settle down inIndia by then,” Mullanfirozesaid. The bank will rely only onin-house customers and alsodeploy its analytics engine tochoose customers in a bid totake care of concerns on bookquality, she said, stressing thatthings will be better than whatthey are right now by then.

Already, there seems to bea pick-up in activity, with cred-it bureaus reporting enquiriesto have touched two-third ofpre-COVID levels,Mullanfiroze said, adding thatthe Chinese experience alsopoints to an uptick in activityonce COVID-19 infectionswane.

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Private carrier Vistara is like-ly to start flight operations

between India and the UK,Germany and France under thebilateral air bubble arrange-ments that have been signedwith these countries, sources inthe aviation industry said onSunday.Earlier this month,India and the UK signed abilateral air pact, under whichthe airlines of both the coun-tries can operate internationalflights with certain restric-tions. India had signed similarbilateral pacts with Germanyand France in July.Vistara gotits second B787-9 wide-bodyaircraft on Saturday. It hadreceived its first B787-9 aircraftin February.”Vistara has alreadygot the slots at the Heathrowairport in London. The flights

between Delhi and Londonare likely to be announced inthe next few days,” an industrysource told PTI.

The Delhi-London flight islikely to operate thrice a week,the source added.A wide-bodyaircraft has a bigger fuel tankthat allows it to operate long-haul flights. Vistara has 43planes in its fleet, of which 41are narrow-body aircraft likeA320neo and B737-800NG.The full-service carri-er is also likely to operateflights between India andGermany and India andFrance, another aviation indus-try source said, adding that theprobable destinations for theseflights are Frankfurt and Parisrespectively.

It is not clear which Indiancities will be connected toFrankfurt and Paris by Vistara.

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Hindalco IndustriesChairman Kumar

Mangalam Birla has saidCovid-19 and associated lock-downs have triggered a once in-a-century crisis for the societyand the economy and the coun-try’s GDP may contract in2020-21.

He mentioned that Covid-19 struck India at a time whenthe underlying economic con-ditions were subdued onaccount of heightened globaluncertainty and stress in thedomestic financial system. “Itis estimated that about 80 percent of India’s GDP originatesfrom districts which were clas-sified under red and orangezones during the lockdown,where economic activityremained severely constrained.Correspondingly, India’s GDPis likely to contract in FY21,which would be the first such

instance in over four decades,”Birla said in a letter to share-holders.

Given the fog of uncer-tainty all around, it is hard tobe prescient in these times,Birla said. A stringent nation-al lockdown to slow the spreadof the pandemic started in thelast week of FY2020 andremained active to varyingdegrees in different geographiesthrough most of the first quar-ter of 2020-21.

“But there is little doubton one reality: companies withquality leadership, sound busi-ness fundamentals, and a track

record of winning in turbulenttimes, will emerge as champi-ons in the new global order,” hesaid.

This year will see an eco-nomic contraction, but this2020 recession is turning outvery different from the pastrecessions, Birla said.

“It has been too sudden –almost off the cliff; its spreadhas been all-encompassing–affecting almost every econ-omy and sector, and the plungein economic activity levels andemployment has been unprece-dented,” he said.

On the positive side, thisrecession is likely to be one ofthe shortest, assuming no sec-ond wave of the pandemicrecurs. As present lockdownsaround the world get lifted, andbusinesses reopen, economicactivity is likely to bounceback fairly quickly, he said.

“Around USD 9-trillionstimulus from different gov-

ernments globally will help tosupport this recovery, alongwith the monetary actions bycentral banks. These policieswill also help to restrict the sec-ond-order effects like defaultsand bankruptcies,” Birla said.

Some scars of the cri-sis will remain in the form ofsubdued consumer and busi-ness confidence. Some sectors,like airlines and hospitality,will take time to recover fully.And some supply chain dis-ruption effects will linger. Asthe world emerges from thecurrent crisis, the next fewyears are likely to be marked bylack of buoyancy in growth,subdued commodity pricesand inflation, a cautious trendin project investments, height-ened risks of de-globalisationand political uncertainty; andincreased dependence of finan-cial systems on ultra-loosemonetary policy conditions,Birla said.

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The Finance Ministry isworking on norms to reg-

ulate salary paid to retiredcentral Government employeesre-appointed on contract andhas proposed keeping nomi-nation-based appointments at“bare minimum”.

In an office memorandumdated August 13, theDepartment of Expenditure,Ministry of Finance, said thatm i n i s t r i e s / d e p ar t m e nt sappoint retired central gov-ernment employees on contractbasis, including as consultants,but there are no uniform guide-lines for regulating the salarypayment in such cases.

The expenditure depart-ment has framed draft regula-tions for salary payments incase of appointment of retiredcentral government employeesand has invited comments ofministries/departments within10 days.

“It has been felt that there

is a need to have uniformity toregulate salary of such con-tractual appointment of retiredcentral Government employ-ees,” the department said. Thedraft guidelines state thatappointment of retired employ-ees on contract basis, includingas consultants, by way of nom-ination based on the credentialsof past service and not throughopen market advertisement,should not be made as a “mat-ter of practice and must be keptat bare minimum”.”Suchappointments may be madeonly in the justified exigenciesof the official work where pub-lic interest is served by theappointment of the retiredemployee,” the draft guidelinessaid.

With regard to salary pay-ment, the draft guidelines saida fixed monthly amount shallbe admissible, arrived at bydeducting the basic pensionfrom the salary drawn at thetime of retirement. It shall betermed as “salary”.

New Delhi: Hit by disruptionscaused by the Covid-19 pan-demic, both thermal and cok-ing coal imports at India’s 12major ports dropped 31 percent to 36.7 million tonnes(MT) in April-July 2020 overthe the same period a year ago,according to the Indian Ports’Association (IPA).

Thermal coal importsdropped 30 per cent to 23.19MT and coking coal shipmnetsfell 32.26 per cent to 13.51 MTduring this period. Coal vol-umes at these 12 major portsunder the control of the Centredeclined for the fourth straightmonth in July 2020. Theseports had handled 33.11 MT ofthermal coal and 13.51 MT ofcoking coal in the April-Julyperiod of the previous financialyear. The IPA, which maintainscargo data handled by theseports, in its latest report said“percentage variation from theprevious year” in thermal coaland coking coal handling was30 per cent and 32.26 per cent,respectively.Together, thermaland coking coal handling saw

a decline of 30.83 per cent atthese ports in the April-Julyperiod at 36.7 MT. Thermalcoal is the mainstay of India’senergy programme as 70 percent of power generation isdependent on the dry fuel,while coking coal is used main-ly for steel making. India is thethird-largest producer of coalafter China and the US, and has299 billion tonnes of resourcesand 123 billion tonnes ofproven reserves, which may lastfor over 100 years.

These 12 majorports had handled 705 MT ofcargo in the last financial year.These ports had together han-dled 236.01 MT of cargo dur-ing April-July 2018-19, theports body said.

Ports like Chennai, Cochinand Kamrajar saw their cargovolumes nosedive over 30 percent during April-July, whileJNPT and Kolkata suffered adrop of over 20 per cent.

India has 12 major portsunder the control of the centralgovernment - Deendayal (erst-while Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT,

Mormugao, New Mangalore,Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar(earlier Ennore), V OC h i d a m b a r n a r ,Visakhapatnam, Paradip andKolkata (including Haldia).

These ports handle about61 per cent of the country’stotal cargo traffic. These portshandled 705 MT of cargo lastfiscal. While Chennai port saw32.53 per cent decline in cargohandling to 11.08 MT,Kamarajar (Ennore) port suf-fered a drop of 35.64 per centto 7 MT in April-July, as perIPA data.Cochin Port saw a dipof 32.78 per cent to 7.76 MTduring the period. Cargo han-dling at JNPT port slipped27.69 per cent to 16.94 MT,while the same at Kolkatadeclined 26.09 per cent to16.05 MT. Mumbai port loggeda fall of 19.79 per cent to 15.85MT. In the wake of theCOVID-19 outbreak, sharpdeclines were witnessed inhandling of containers andPOL (petroleum, oil and lubri-cant) among other commodi-ties like coal. PTI

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Prices of natural gas in Indiaare likely to be cut to USD

1.9-1.94 - the lowest in morethan a decade - from October,denting revenues of producerssuch as ONGC who are alreadyincurring huge losses on gasproduction.

A gas price revision is duefrom October 1 and going bythe changes in the benchmarkrate in gas exporting nations,the price is likely to be any-where between USD 1.90 toUSD 1.94 per million Britishthermal unit (mmBtu), sourcesprivy to the development said.

This will be the thirdstraight reduction in rates inone year.

Prices were cut by a steep26 per cent to USD 2.39 permmBtu in April. Prices of nat-ural gas, which is used to pro-duce fertiliser and generateelectricity and is also convert-ed into CNG for use in auto-

mobiles as fuel and cooking gasfor households, are set every sixmonths - on April 1 andOctober 1 each year. Sourcessaid the cut in prices wouldmean a widening of losses forIndia’s top oil and gas produc-er ONGC.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp(ONGC) had posted � 4,272crore loss on gas business in2017-18, which is likely towiden to over �6,000 crore inthe current fiscal (April 2020 toMarch 2021), they said. ONGChas seen incurring losses on the65 million standard cubicmeters per day of gas it pro-duces from domestic fieldsshortly after the government inNovember 2014 introduced anew gas pricing formula thathad “inherent limitations” as itwas based on pricing hubs ofgas surplus countries such asthe US, Canada, and Russia.

The current USD 2.39 permmBtu rate is the lowest inmore than a decade.

New Delhi: The country’slargest power generation com-pany, NTPC ltd has developedan infrastructure at Rihandproject in Uttar Pradesh totransport fly ash in bulk tocement plants, located at dis-tance, at a cheaper cost. Thedevelopment is in line withNTPC’s commitment towards100 percent utilization of flyash from power plants.

The first rake of 59 BOXNtype of railway wagons carrying3450 Metric Tonne (MT) of flyash was flagged off fromNTPC’s Rihand Super ThermalPower station by Shri BalajiIyengar, Executive Director(NTPC Rihand) for ACCCement Manufacturing Plant,Tikaria, U.P. located at a distanceof 458 kms , in presence of othersenior officials of NTPCRihand. Lalit Trivedi, GeneralManager, East Central Railway

and Shri Suresh Rathi, HeadSupply Chain, ACC along withhis team joined the occasionthrough video conferencing.To transfer the first tranche,officials from NTPC Rihandapproached East CentralRailway along with leadingcement producers to commencethe supply of fly ash in BOXNwagons covered with tarpaulin.The innovation will pave theway for efficient and safer trans-portation of fly ash from thepower plants to cement pro-

duction units located at a dis-tance in larger quantity.

The effort marks the begin-ning of a new era for the trans-portation of fly ash from aremote location to a consump-tion centre, enabling powerplants for upgrading the uti-lization of fly ash with theavailability of additional mate-rial loading avenues for IndianRailways and accessibility of flyash to the cement plants in anenvironment-friendly mannerat a competitive price.

Kolkata: Here is a good newsfor all Metro commuters onceagain! After launching the on-line smart card recharge facil-ity a few days back, Metroauthorities have now developeda user friendly smart cardrecharge App amidst the lock-down! This new App willenable Metro commuters torecharge their smart cards fromthe comforts of their home andeliminate queues at Metro sta-tions when services will resumeafter COVID-19 lockdown.

Manoj Joshi, GeneralManager , Metro Railway hasexpressed his hope that thisApp will fulfill a long-standingdemand of Metro commutersand help them to rechargetheir smart cards easily. It willalso help to maintain social dis-tancing in Metro premises.

Users will be able to get

information about traintimings at various stationsbesides information aboutimportant historical andtourist places around dif-ferent Metro stations fromthis App.

Commuters will haveto download this Appfrom Google Play Storewhere it will be availablewithin a few days.

Useful informationabout different Metro sta-tions, fares, expected trav-el time between stations,Metro route map will alsobe available in this App forcommuters benefit.

C o r p o r a t ehouses/business establish-ments will be able to dis-play their advertisementsin this App. Important infor-mation about tenders of dif-

ferent departments will beavailable in this App too.

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The buzz in aviation circlesis getting louder that the

Tata group could be in the AirIndia’s cockpit as early as theNew Year, if it is the sole eligi-ble bidder for India’s nationalcarrier.

If the Tata bid is put in onor before the final submissiondate of August 31 and as itlooks at the moment, Tata willlikely be the sole eligible bidder.

Thereafter, if the Tata bidis deemed accepted, the 90 dayperiod for handover shall com-mence and end by November30 or at the most, by December31. So, one possible scenario isfor Tata to take control of AirIndia by January 1, 2021.

An IANS query sent toTata Sons went unanswered.

The Tata group, whichalready has a footprint in theairlines business, has showninterest in acquiring Air India,which at one point of time wasunder the Tata umbrella.

While the other bidders arenot known yet, globally, airlines

are under severe stress due tothe Covid-19 pandemic andresultant disruption on airtravel and tourism.

Tata is widely believed toemerge as the sole bidder forAir India and the salt to soft-ware conglomerate is likely toplace a bid before August 31,the last date for bids for AirIndia, which the governmenthas repeatedly said it will notbe extended.

The group already has anairline venture in Vistara and itis not yet clear as to how or ifit will consolidate the airlineventures including Vistara, AirAsia and the possible acquisi-tion of Air India.

According to reports, theTata group has already begundue diligence and is likely toput in a formal bid soon.

On the ensuing structurefor the airline business, there isspeculation that Tata is plan-ning to merge its existing stakein AirAsia with Air India intoa single entity.

Air India has been passingthrough a critical financial

condition from much beforethe Covid-19 onslaught. Thecrippling effect of the pan-demic, especially in the aviationsector, has further brought itsfinances to a precarious posi-tion. Recently, its pilots andother employees are on thewarpath as Air India has laidoff employees and

started a Leave WithoutPay (LWP) scheme.

From Tata Airlines andAir India to Vistara andAirAsia India, the Tata grouphas been an important part ofthe growing aviation sector inIndia.

From Tata Air Lines andthe long-since nationalised AirIndia to strategic joint ventureswith AirAsia Berhad andSingapore Airlines (SIA) forAirAsia India and Vistara,respectively, Tata has been pre-sent in the aviation sector.

The two joint venture air-lines operate independentlywith their respective businessmodels - low-cost (AirAsia)and full-service (Vistara).

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Air India is embroiled inanother controversy with

the selection process of eightGM (Ops) at a time when it isup for sale.

Sources say that at a timewhen Air India has initiatedpay cuts, citing financial diffi-culties, the positions for eightGeneral Managers are beingfilled with empanelment ofcandidates already done.Sources say that this will add tothe costs of the company at atime when it is citing inabilityto pay to other employees caus-ing more heartburn.

They add that these posi-tions are being filled at thebehest of a top airline officialand chances are that theseeight people would again bepromoted before the divest-ment of Air India.

Air India is conductinginterviews for the positions ofGM (Ops) in Wide Body andNarrow Body aircraft.

The candidature of the

Additional/Joint/Deputy GMsis being considered provision-ally for the post of GeneralManager (Operations).

The candidates for widebody include M. Mathur, C. M.Edekar, Pushpinder Singh,Deepak Dutta, G. P. Nambiar,Sachin Ogale, K. Mathur, R. N.Mucadum, M. A. Doctor,Pankaj Agrawal and AnupamChatterjee.

The candidates for narrowbody include Sanjay Yadav,Dinesh Kumar, YogeshSaraogi, Nivedita Bhasin,Sanjay Bhardwaj, S. Velraj,Nishank Roy, Tez PrakashSingh, Mukul Garg, IshwarPal, J. Aditya Rao and SangitaK. Bangar.

These candidates havebeen asked to appear for aninterview on August 19through video conference.“Before advising the candi-dates, please ensure that thereis nothing adverse againstthem”, a circular by thePersonnel department of AirIndia said.

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After a pause of over 45 days,petrol prices rose across

the four metros on Sunday.In the national capital, the

fuel was sold at �80.57 per litre,14 paise higher than the pre-vious level. Petrol price was at�80.43 in Delhi since June 29.

The price hike comes at atime when crude oil prices havebeen rising and the Brent crudeis trading around $45 per bar-rel.Price of petrol in the otherkey metros, Mumbai, Chennai

and Kolkata on Sunday were�87.31, �83.75 and �82.17 perlitre respectively.

Diesel prices, however,were unchanged for the 16thconsecutive day in Delhi at�73.56 per litre.

Price of diesel fell over �8in the city on July 31 after theDelhi Government announcedto slash the value added tax(VAT) on it.In Mumbai,Chennai and Kolkata alsodiesel prices were unchanged at�80.11, �78.86 and �77.06 perlitre.

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Air India has now accept-ed that 57 pilots seeking

greener pastures had resignedfrom the services of the airlineciting financial constraints.IANS broke the story saying50 pilots have been illegallyterminated.

Air India issued the clar-ification on the issue of accep-tance of resignation of pilots.

Air India said in a mediastatement, “The fact of thematter is that these pilots (57in number), seeking greenerpastures, had resigned fromthe services of Air India cit-ing financial constraints.

“The pilots include per-manent and contractual ones.

Some of the pilots had laterwithdrawn their resignations.Air India now no longerrequires the services of thesepilots and has now acceptedtheir resignations.”

“Moreover, some of thesepilots have filed writ petitionsbefore the Delhi High Courtseeking a direction to AirIndia to accept the with-drawal of their resignations.This matter is sub judice,” AirIndia said.

In a letter to Rajiv Bansal,Chairman and ManagingDirector, Air India on Friday,the Indian Commercial PilotsAssociation (ICPA) saidaround 50 pilots have receivedillegal termination lettersfrom the Personnel

Department in blatant viola-tion of company’s operationmanual and service rules.

“What’s happening?Around 50 of our pilots havebeen terminated overnightunceremoniously withoutproper procedure being fol-lowed. A rude shock for thosewho served the nation in thispandemic putting the nationfirst,” ICPA said in a tweet.

The ICPA in its letter toAir India CMD added thatpilots who tendered their res-ignation letters as far back asJuly 2019 but withdrew themwell within the mandatory sixmonths notice period havebeen relieved from servicesuddenly from 10 p.m. onThursday.

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Not often the first 15 min-utes into an episode of aseries do the magic. I

usually settle a little later onwhether to continue or drop itmid-way or sometimes, rightaway. Well, maybe it’s the par-ticular series that makes onedecide that and not a pre-deter-mined time frame.

A few minutes into the firstepisode of Amazon Prime Video’sBandish Bandits, and it alreadystarts to perk up my spirits. Firstthings first. Being locked downat home and in a year where trav-elling has become dream-like, the

series’ shooting location —Rajasthan — makes a ten on tenfirst impression. Set in Jodhpur,the city’s royalty, fabled grandeur,ornate temples, palaces, tradi-tions and blue rooftops make fora visual treat.

The beginning serves as anexposition and offers a peekinside the life of one of the twoprotagonists, Radhe (RitwikBhowmik), an aspiring Indianclassical musician, who striveshard to reach perfection. A stu-dent and an avid follower of hisgrandfather or Pandit RadheMohan Rathod aka Pandit ji(Naseeruddin Shah), patriarch ofthe most respected musicianfamilies (Rathod gharana) ofJodhpur, Radhe is the ideal san-skaari guy and son-in-law mate-rial. Then, we meet Tamanna(Shreya Chaudhary), a risingYouTube sensation, desperate tobecome an international popstar. The two opposites, amidfamily circumstances and every-day challenges, find their way to

self-discovery, music and love.Second, the series boldly

taps into the details of a musicgenre not many dare to experi-ment with — the Hindustaniclassical, making sure to stick toit and showcase it deeply. Radheand Tamanna first cross paths atTamanna’s concert in Jodhpur,which Radhe reluctantly attendsand ends up being mesmerisedby her beauty and stage confi-dence. They meet backstage, ameeting arranged by the organ-iser and Radhe’s friend Kabir(Rahul Kumar), where Tamannaand her friends laugh at Radhe byinsulting his art of classicalmusic. Radhe, for his counter,takes off his shoes, and withoututtering a word, starts singing ahigh-pitched raag, which leavesthe pop star amazed. I applaudthis very sequence the most inthe whole series for the way itconveys how there can’t be anyhierarchy in music, classical ormodern. Ultimately, both of themend up admiring each other’s

craft, irrespective of their hugevariance.

I feel, intellectually, there’s alot to take home from BandishBandits — from vernacular,music terminology to the idealsand traditions musical gharanashave been following over theyears. For instance, Pandit jikicks out a student from his class,who unknowingly starts singingin a high-pitched falsetto, a voiceproduction method abolished inIndian classical music. Later,Radhe is also slammed by Panditji or the crowned ‘SangeetSamrat’ of Rajasthan, for acci-dentally shifting to falsetto dur-ing a performance. The scenesvery well establish how themethod over the years has beenlooked at, by males, as an escapeinto a rather ‘feminine’ approachof singing than making one’s ownvoice strong enough. Yes, thenote was once called as “whenmen sing like women.” For Panditji, a singer like Ed Sheeran wouldjust ‘sound like girls.’ Anotherscore added for the script writ-ers — a great point of researchand its right depiction!

Not just that, the strict prin-ciples, which the millennialswould never approve of, havebeen given a lot of importance.For instance, Pandit ji, followinghis parampara, has tied a sacredthread to only his seven best stu-dents and Radhe has beenannounced as the eighth one.However, he reaches minuteslate for the knot-tying ceremonyand loses the chance. To get itback, he has to now go througha “shuddhikaran,” in the “kaalkothri” or better, live a mendicantlife in the city’s outskirts and

practise his discipline over musicfor a month. If he successfullyestablishes control, he can getback into business. Here, onewould wonder, ‘Who does that intoday’s age?’ Well, even thoughthis particular sequence gets a lit-tle stretched out, yet, I’d say, theseries manages to safeguard itselfby not seeming ancient. Intoday’s time when punctualityhas been taken for granted, thispractice in a small town teachesa millennial, and in turn, theaudience, the value of time andone’s craft.

The third credit goes to abefitting storyline with appro-priate twists and turns. Theextensively narrated plot con-stantly aims for the crescendo,reaches it and makes sure not tofall back, rather comes downslowly and when required.Radhe, who earlier rejectsTamanna’s offer of collaboratingwith him for a new song, gets toknow about his father’s financialproblems and decides to pitch inwith Tamanna. The collaborationturns out as a huge twist to theotherwise focussed-on-Radhe’squest plot — the two fall in love,Radhe is being compelled into anarranged marriage, which latergets called off, and Pandit jifinally decides to pass on his gha-rana legacy to Radhe as the heir.It’s now when the two set off tocreate a fusion of their classicaland Western artforms, and theband, ‘Bandish Bandits,’ givingthe audience some really spec-tacular music to groove on...“Sajan Bin Aaye Na MoheNindiya...” After all, it’s Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy music!

Not to forget that not even

once did I feel that the artisteslip-syncing such complicatedlyrics and raags were only acting!

Fourth, the characters arewell-etched and emerge as perthe need, refining the narrative,one episode at a time. And mindyou, each supporting charactermakes his/her presence felt —from Radhe’s fiancee, Sandhya(short appearance by TridhaChoudhary), Tamanna’s manag-er and friend, chiliastic city folkArghya (Siddharth Roy Kapur),to Pandit ji’s son from his firstmarriage, Digvijay (AtulKulkarni), and Radhe’s father,Rajendra (Rajesh Tailang). Butthe two characters, which standout for me, are Radhe’s mother,Mohini (Sheeba Chaddha) andhis paternal uncle, Devendra(Amit Mistry). The two prove tobe the saviours of both the ever-twisting plot and the failing pur-suits of Radhe. Initially, lookinglike the silent onlookers in thestory, the two take the limelightwhen required with their trau-matic and well-narrated pasts.

While Devendra, throughhis hard-hitting sarcasm, explainshis struggle of not being able tomeet his father-teacher’s expec-tations as an artiste, Mohini’ssilence but everlasting facialexpressions explain how, as awoman musician, she fell prey atthe hands of a man (Pandit ji)who just wanted to maintain hiscrown. She later takes the gha-rana in her hands and teachesRadhe the right way to learnmusic. Even though I liked theflashback into her story thatcame later, director Ankit Tiwarimade sure to give his audiencesubtle hints of her being a tal-ented musician through herclever, in-between tips given toRadhe.

I admire Mohini’s teachingapproach more than Pandit jibecause she explains how, as awoman, even though she wasasked to abandon music after hermarriage, she has stuck to it allher life through the everydaychores that she is engaged in. Shesuccessfully establishes the ideathat the way a woman can runand understand a household, noman can. A woman was and hasalways been an epitome of loveand compassion. She fiercelytakes the threshold of her gha-rana in her hands and leads it.

Fifth, the idea of acceptanceand self-discovery has been welllaid. While today’s generationmight not accept their flaws overself-esteem, Tamanna’s constantfailure of singing with her dreaminternational pop star makes herlook into the mirror after a snap-py but short blame-game. Sheeventually recognises why there’smore she needs to conquer andwork hard to be the ideal musi-cian.

Well, above all, the winnersof the series are its treasuredcharacters and the brilliantmusic!

Having friends will keep you healthyin the COVID-19 times and if we

believe researchers, feelings of jealousycan even be a useful tool to maintainand strengthen your bonding withfriends during the pandemic.

Not having friends has been asso-ciated with a greater risk of dying fromheart disease and with becoming sickfrom viruses.

A new study from Arizona StateUniversity, Oklahoma State University,and Hamilton College found that feel-ings of jealousy in these times wererelated to the value of the friendship andalso motivated behaviour that maintainfriendships.

“Friends aren’t just fun. They are animportant resource, especially in ourcurrent situation with ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks. Friends give supportduring conflict, buffer against loneli-ness, and can even provide life sus-taining resources when we need them,”said Jaimie Arona Krems from ArizonaState University (ASU), who is now anassistant professor of psychology atOklahoma State University. “We want-ed to understand how we keep friend-

ships, and we found feelings of jealousycan act like a tool for maintainingfriendships.”

Not all threats to friendships evokedjealousy. If a best friend moved away,people felt sadness and anger more than

jealousy. But when friendships werethreatened by another person — suchas a new romantic partner or new friendat work — jealousy was the dominantfeeling. The intensity of jealous feelingsvaried by how likely the third-partythreat was to replace someone in thefriendship.

A best friend gaining a romanticpartner elicited less jealous feelings thanthem gaining a potential new friend,revealed the study published in theJournal of Personality and SocialPsychology.

“The third party threats to a friend-ship were not just related to a best friendspending time away from us, it matteredwhether the person they were spend-ing time with could replace us as afriend,” said Douglas Kenrick,President’s professor of psychology atASU.

The authors found people felt less

jealous about their best friend spend-ing the same amount of time with a newromantic partner than a new acquain-tance, “which means what makes usmost jealous of is the possibility that wemight be replaced.”

Feelings of jealousy over beingreplaced were associated with behaviourthat could overcome the third-partythreats, like trying to monopolise a bestfriend’s time and manipulate theiremotions.

“Together, these behaviors arecalled ‘friend guarding’, and they occuracross cultures and also in non-humananimals. Female wild horses are knownto bite and kick other female horses,”said Keelah Williams, assistant profes-sor of psychology at Hamilton College.

Jealousy also led people to committo being a better friend. “Getting jeal-ous can sometimes be a signal that afriendship is threatened, and this sig-nal can help us jump into action toinvest in a friendship that we mighthave been neglecting,” said AthenaAktipis, assistant professor of psychol-ogy at ASU and author on the paper.

D��.�

�����Commander Emma Green leaves behind her husband and daughter to lead an

international crew of astronauts on a perilous three-year mission to Mars. Starring HilarySwank, Josh Charles and Vivian Wu, season 1 releases on Netflix on September 4.

��������� ����������� ��� �Nothing is as it seems when a woman

experiencing misgivings about her new boyfriendjoins him on a road trip to meet his parents at theirremote farm. Starring Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemonsand Toni Collette, the film releases on Netflix onSeptember 4.

���������������Real life mom-daughter duo Neena and

Masaba Gupta play versions of themselves in thisplayful, fictional peek into their lives in fashionand film. Starring Masaba Gupta, Neena Guptaand Neil Bhoopalam, season 1 releases on Netflixon August 28.

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Looking at the current situation of the world, themost challenging task to do nowadays is to man-

age business and industry, especially if it is on a largescale. Sometimes, all the difficulties come at once ina cluster. They arise because of sudden changes inthe governmental policies, bureaucratic procedures,worsening of communal or political climate, upsurgeof some troublesome elements in the labour unionor workforce, quick changes in technology and last-ly, due to a global pandemic that we are all facing sincemany months now. As aresult of all these trou-bles, the bad debts arerising, loans are pilingup and overall moralvalues and law & ordersituation in the societyare deteriorating. Thesemay ultimately causethe businessman, theindustrialist and the topmanagement staff acutemental pressure. Addingto these, one may alsohave some personalproblems that affecthis/her business or industrial management. Forinstance, one may have some serious illness, requir-ing immediate attention or there may be some seri-ous misunderstanding or disturbance in one’s fam-ily life that may cause loss of sleep, temper, mood,motivation or stamina. Hence, we should understanda fact that one’s family life and business are not twoseparate water-tight compartments but each oneinfluences the mind of the same person and affectshis morale, mood and manners. The atmosphere athome, therefore, affects one’s professional perfor-mance and vice versa.

Worldwide, there is a vast amount of literatureavailable on the subject of management of business,industry or institutions, much of which is written orbased on experience, churning and observance ofhuman behaviour. However, there are certain formu-las that have universal applicability and can be appliedwhile managing business as these formulas are of gen-eral nature. One of these generally applicable formu-la is that there would often or always be some eventsover which you do not have a personal hold but yourattitude towards them is your own creation.Therefore, it lies in your own hands to have a rightkind of attitude. For example, there may be a sud-den natural calamity or a communal riot or a changein government’s policy on trade and commerce thataffects you adversely. It is neither a thing of your owncreation nor of your own choosing. Even if you hadwilled it otherwise, you could not have changed thisevent. So bear with something beyond your control,stand upto it, face it and find a solution to it or a wayout of it.

People should take such kind of problems as anopportunity to apply their skills, use their presenceof mind and resourcefulness, and come out victori-ous. This positive attitude would develop your per-sonality and reward you with great happiness. If, onthe other hand, you feel dejected and despondent atthe very outset, dip deep into a mood of remorse andtotally give up effort, then the result would be trau-matic. The right attitude would, therefore, be to cheerup and think that you are definitely going to crossall these hurdles and come out successful. Therefore,the saying goes, “You cannot control what happensto you, but you can always control your attitudetowards what happens to you. With that, you will bemastering change rather than allowing it to masteryou.”

This kind of positive attitude will rush up ener-gy to our brain and we will be able to pass the hardtests creditably and without much stress. Oneshould always remember that it is our attitude thatdetermine our moods. So, if our attitude strength-en our will, raise our hopes, supplement our stami-na and put zest in our minds, we will certainly haveno tension. Instead, we will enjoy life like a game justas a football-player does not have fear or anxiety whilekicking the ball, but he enjoys the game, thinking thathe would get opportunities to show his sportsman-ship which will bring him laurels and rewards.

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As all education institutes hadto be shut in the wake of

Coronavirus, a programme HarGhar Pathshala was recentlylaunched by the HimachalPradesh Government. For thelast few months, the programmeis being implemented by holdingdigital classes, forming WhatsAppgroups of students and teachers toprovide hassle-free education tochildren. E-content has been pre-pared and students receive it in theform of assignments on thegroups. The plan, unfortunately,is facing several on-ground infra-structural challenges.

There are remote villages andhamlets in this hilly state that arenestled in the mighty mountainranges with limited infrastructur-al accessibility. One such region isthe snowbound district of Lahauland Spiti. Located approximately400 km from the state capitalShimla, the entire region lacksbasic facilities. Roads, healthcare,education, employment and elec-tricity are the major develop-ment challenges faced by thelocal population here. The state oftelecommunication is also quiteweak. In such a situation, wherethere is either no or poor internetfacility and the majority of the stu-dents do not have access to smart-phones, the strategy to reach outto each and every student in thevalley was revised. Instead ofrelying only upon the internetfacility, the assignments and e-content of different subjects arenow being delivered at theirdoorsteps.

The primary governmentschool in the Jholing village has

just four students — three girlsand a boy. Surender Paul, one ofthe two teachers employed here,says that he himself goes to thestudents’ homes to deliver theassignments. Every Monday andSaturday, he walks a few kilome-tres to deliver or receive back theassignments.

Schools have been closed formore than four months now dueto COVID-19. With no classroomsessions and no ‘one-to-one inter-action’ with the students, teachingand learning can indeed becomequite dull for both students as wellas the teachers. With time onhand, teachers are experimentingin creative ways to break thismonotony. To get his studentshooked on their studies, DevJaspa, a school teacher from the

government primary school inJasrath village in Keylong inLahaul and Spiti, has composedmusic for poems for Class III andhas shared it in form of audio withhis students. Dev believes that thechallenge in this unprecedentedsituation is to devise creativeways to ensure that students donot lose interest in studies. He alsokeeps them engaged and busythrough other creative activitieslike doodling and painting. Healso keeps sending videos that canbe both informative and entertain-ing for the students. There are twostudents each in Class I and ClassIII whom he teaches. The school,altogether, has eight students. “Asthere are a handful of students, weknow each one of them person-ally and are well aware of theiraptitude and interests. We have theadvantage of preparing content ina way that suits each one ofthem,” shares Dev.

Aarti, a Class III student,says that she enjoys listening to thepoems and watching education-al videos shared by her teacher.Her mother Hirdai, an Ashaworker, says that the students getassignments on their doorstepevery week. On completion ofthese assignments, a screenshot ofthe same is sent to the teacher onWhatsApp. As per the teachers,the only problem they constant-ly face is the low internet speedand an erratic network, which isdown for a minimum of four tofive hours every day. “As the vil-lage is categorised under theGreen Zone and there are onlyfour students (two each in ClassVI and Class VII) in the school,

I have taken the permission of theparents to allow me to conduct in-person classes once a week. Thesefour students come to an openarea, wearing their masks andmaintaining proper physical dis-tance. This way, I am able toanswer their queries in person,”explains Prem Singh, teacher in-charge of the government middleschool who faces serious networkissues while conducting onlineclasses.

The situation is no differentin the Spiti block. In Khar Village,which is inhabited by just 28 fam-ilies, there are 12 students enrolledin the primary school. As per theschool teacher, Chhewang Urgial,they face the dual challenges ofinternet connectivity and powersupply. Since the parents of thestudents are mostly uneducated,expecting them to help their chil-dren in their studies would beunfair.

Hence, the Har GharPathshala programme alsorequires parents to bear moreresponsibility for the education oftheir children, while teachersrequire to be more innovative andengaging in their approach. In theabsence of any other alternative,the online system at least ensuresthat the learning process of thestudents continues. Despite theclosure of the schools, its impacton the students is minimal. At thesame time, it is important to takeinto consideration the social, eco-nomic and physical location ofboth the students and the teach-ers before conceptualising such anapproach.

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India marked its 74th IndependenceDay this year. We have made greatstrides with nearly 50 per cent increase

in Human Development Index from the90s to 2018. Today, we are considered oneof the Asian Tigers when it comes toeconomy. We have made a footfall onMars, launched boldest tax reform, cre-ated several Indian multinational compa-nies and likewise in several other domainswe are shining on the global canvass. Atthis proud moment, we like to reflect onrequisites for keeping up the momentum.One of these is investing into our childrenwho are our future. Unfortunately, somefigures continue to be a worry for ournation. The child mortality is high (1.34million under five deaths annually). Theinstances of malnourishment in Indianchildren are almost five times higher thanin China, and twice those in Sub-Saharan

Africa. As per the National FamilyHealth Survey 2015-16, about five percent of children below the age of 18 yearsare orphans in the country. The phenom-enon of children with no one to care for,has serious implications for progressingahead, for, dismal quality of humanresources hinder in boosting socio-eco-nomic progress of a nation.

Children growing up in an orphan-age, as typically operated, experiencestructural neglect. Though, the JuvenileJustice (JJ) Act, 2015, the Integrated ChildProtection Scheme (ICPS) and FosterCare Guidelines, all ensure the provisionof minimum standards such as accom-modation viz physical infrastructure,sanitation, hygiene and services includ-ing medical facilities, diet scale, clothingand bedding, daily routine, education,vocational training, rehabilitation and

social reintegration. But there are criticalgaps in realising these rights. The dismalquality of care is a result of an interplayof myriad challenges — lack of physicaland human resources, sheer number ofchildren, combined with inadequatecapacities of child care functionaries.However, one of the most important fac-tors is the poor social-emotional interac-tions between the caregivers and children.It results in a number of troubling devel-opmental outcomes ranging from poorphysical growth to attachment problemsand general behavioural and mentaldeficits. One thing if we all recall, ourchildhood was safe and a loving environ-ment, which was largely created by ourparents. To be more specific, it was owingto our mothers, who remains a soundingboard in our lives till the end of time.

At SOS Children’s Villages of India,

we strive to recreate this experience forchildren by ensuring they have a stable,trained caregiver (SOS Mother), at alltimes. SOS mother is an autonomousindividual, who is invested in the holis-tic development of her children. We relyon in-house Child Care Standards that aredrawn on UN Guidelines of AlternativeCare and on the principles of the UnitedNations for Child Rights Convention(UNCRC) to ensure personalised, indi-vidual quality care to each child,to affordthem more stimulation, happy environ-ment and support till they are settled asindependent, contributing members ofour society. Every year upto 300 youngpeople are integrated into society, sever-al of them have become leaders in theirdomains.

What this experience has taught usis that nurturing children requires a rou-

tine, belongingness and safety, besides allthe basic amenities needed to support ahuman life. The experience of joyfulchildhood is created not through phys-ical walls or tall structures, rules or lawsbut with love, care and dedication.Owing to our six-decades experience inchild care, we work closely with the Stateand National Government in improvingthe outcomes in alternative care for twocrore children in this country. For, webelieve that, the true freedom will comewhen we all will come together inaffording children a stimulating, joyfulexperience where they are cared for withlove, safety and attachment with a ded-icated caregiver. Quality parental andalternative care is the key in building astronger nation.

(The author is the National Directorof SOS Children’s Villages.)

Be your own leader

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Gabriel Jesus was crouching on thefield and crying. Not even theManchester City jersey covering

his face could mask the agony.Raheem Sterling was lying across the

turf, his hands crossed over his eyes.Then, the Lyon players broke away

from their celebrations to console oppo-nents distraught at being knocked out ofthe Champions League without reachingthe semifinals for a fourth straight sea-son.

City, the most expensively assembledsquad in football history, had lost 3-1 tothe team that finished seventh in theFrench league.

“It’s incredible because we’re the sur-prise team,” Lyon goalkeeper AnthonyLopes said. “I don’t think many peopleexpected us to reach this stage of thecompetition.”

While Lyon prepares to face BayernMunich in its first Champions Leaguesemifinal in a decade, City must face upto another collapse in its quest tobecome European champions for the firsttime.

“We need to learn - it’s not goodenough and that’s it,” said Kevin De

Bruyne, who scored City’s only goal toequalize before Moussa Dembélé scoredtwice on Saturday.

“Different year, same stuff.” It leavesPep Guardiola still waiting for a firstChampions League title since 2011while coaching Barcelona, falling shortin three attempts with Bayern Munichbefore repeated failures with City. Aftersurrendering the Premier League trophyto Liverpool, City ends the season withonly the League Cup.

Guardiola’s decision to deploy anunfamiliar five-man defense to matchLyon’s system backfired when gapingholes were left at the back before MaxwelCornet struck the opener in the 24thminute.

“We won the tactical battle as we

master our system of play,” Lyon coachRudi Garcia said.

De Bruyne equalized in the 69th butsubstitute Dembélé restored the lead 10minutes later by putting a shot undergoalkeeper Ederson after being on thepitch for only four minutes.

Then came the chance to level againthat will haunt Sterling. Facing anunguarded net at the far post, Sterlingmissed the target completely and Lyonextended its lead 59 seconds later withDembélé scoring again.

This was an error-strewn perfor-mance by City on a night whenGuardiola was out-thought by Garcia,whose last major titles were the Frenchleague and cup double with Lille in 2011.

“Rudi Garcia has left his mark, has

instilled discipline,” sporting directorJuninho said. “We grew up. Now we needa little humility, a little calm.”

For the first time since 1996 theChampions League semifinals will notfeature a side from England and Spain.Instead France will take on Germany inthis unique pandemic-enforced conclu-sion to the Champions League in Lisbon,with single games without fans ratherthan two-legged semifinals.

After Paris Saint-Germain playsLeipzig on Tuesday, Lyon faces Bayernthe following night just like it did in the2010 semifinals. Bouyed by knocking outJuventus and City, Lyon will believe it canmake the final this time, even against aBayern side that thrashed Barcelona 8-2.

City’s biggest Champions League winof the season seemed to come off thepitch when its lawyers overturned a two-season ban from European competitions.But for a side that eliminated record 13-time champion Real Madrid in the pre-vious round, losing to Lyon was not inthe script.

Given that a place in the semifinalswas on the line, City’s back line didn’t riseto the challenge.

The lack of urgency in dealing with

Lyon's advance for the opener was care-less as Fernando Marçal sent a long ballover the top from inside his own half. Atthat point Kyle Walker was alongsideCornet at the halfway line but the Cityright back lingered rather than trackingback.

Aymeric Laporte also lost theadvancing Toko Ekambi. Eric Garcia didrun back to make the sliding tackle thatprevented Ekambi from shooting.

But Cornet had sprinted forward andwas left unmarked to pick up the looseball before exploiting Ederson beingcaught off his line. Cornet shot low pastthe goalkeeper into the corner of the net.

"Fortune smiled on me again againstthem," said Cornet, who also scoredthree goals against City in two groupstage games last season.

Although City began to find morespace to attack, the only threat came fromDe Bruyne’s free kicks.

More creativity was added whenGuardiola replaced Fernandinho withRiyad Mahrez who created the equaliz-er. The Algerian passed long down theleft flank to Sterling and the ball was cutback for the unmarked De Bruyne tocurl into the bottom corner.

Lyon made its own game-changingsubstitution with the arrival in the 75thminute of Dembélé, who met MaxenceCaqueret's pass to complete a counter-attack four minutes later.

City hoped the goal would be over-turned by VAR for a foul on Laporte inthe buildup but it was allowed to stand.

There were gasps among the fewpeople allowed into the stadium whenGabriel Jesus squared across the face ofgoal. Sterling leaned back to make theconnection at the far post but missed thetarget completely.

“This team is great,” De Bruyne said,“but we make too many mistakes.” HadEderson saved Houssem Aouar's tameshot at the other end, City might stillhave been able to force the game intoextra time. But it was spilled andDembélé was primed to complete thejob.

Lyon has to lift the European Cupfor the first time to return to the com-petition next season after only finishingseventh in a domestic league curtailedafter being suspended in March due tothe pandemic.

“It’s not down to luck,” Cornet said.“We worked really hard in trainingbefore returning to competitive football.”

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Jennifer Brady reached thefirst WTA final of her

career by using a power-based game to beat 16-year-old Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4 atthe Top Seed Open, the firsttennis tournament in theU.S. Since the start of thecoronavirus pandemic.

Brady, a 25-year-oldbased in Florida, will face JilTeichmann, a 23-year-oldleft-hander fromSwitzerland, in Sunday’s titlematch.

Neither finalist hasdropped a set at the hard-court tuneup for the U.S.

Open, which starts Aug. 31in New York.

Brady has ceded a totalof just 17 games through fourmatches and was brokenonly once - by Gauff. In theirmatch, Brady hit eight aces

and won 22 of 26 first-servepoints.

“If I’m able to serve well,I'm able to start the pointaggressive, start it in myfavor, looking for forehandsand be in control of the point

from the very first shot,”Brady said.

Gauff eliminated the No.2 and No. 8 seeds earlier inthe tournament.

“I couldn’t ask for a bet-ter first week back,” Gauffsaid.

“I mean, the whole goalis just to be in the prime forthe U.S. Open, and these aregood stepping stones.”

Teichmann reached thethird final of her career - andfirst on a hard court - byeliminating Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-2 in the day’s openingsemifinal.

The 116th-rankedRogers, who is from South

Carolina, was coming off aquarterfinal upset of SerenaWilliams on Friday.

Both of Teichmann’s pre-vious WTA titles came onclay in 2019, at Palermo,Italy, and Prague.

“Everyone thinks I’mjust a clay-court player. Ithink I've proven now thatit's not only this way,”Teichmann said.

“I’ve been feeling greaton hard courts since, let's say,the beginning of the year.”

As for her 2-0 record inpast WTA finals, Teichmannsaid: “That doesn’t meananything, (but) for sure, I’mgoing to the final confident.”

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Rishabh Pant will feel aweight off his shoulders

after Mahendra Singh Dhoni’sinternational retirement butthe immensely talented KLRahul is the likely first choicein white-ball cricket for theforeseeable future, feel threeformer India wicket-keepers.

Nayan Mongia, MSKPrasad and Deep Dasguptaagreed in unison that at pre-sent it will be a two-horse racebetween Rahul and Pant withSanju Samson adding a thirddimension but somewhat dis-tantly remaining in fringes.

“KL, I think will be firstchoice in 50 overs. WhateverI have seen of KL, he hasn’tbeen bad behind the stumpsand also once he started keep-ing, his batting form improvedin white ball cricket.

“On form, KL will be myfirst choice and after that youcan look at Rishabh and givehim chances,” Mongia, one of

India’s finest wicket-keepers,told PTI on Sunday. WhileDasgupta agreed withMongia, he feels the teamcould be “format flexible” onusing Rahul and Pant.

“Look, in T20s, I believeboth can play in the XI. Butgiven a choice, KL will be myMan for the time at least inT20s. “However in 50 over

format, may be team manage-ment and selectors can speakto him and see he wants to doit long term till 2023 WorldCup and bat at No 5 which isa critical slot in the middle-order,” Dasgupta, who hasextensively covered Indiancricket in past few years as abroadcaster, said.

For Prasad, who recentlywas head of the selectioncommittee, also agrees that KLwill have a slight edge butRishabh will be there in themix.

“If you go by NewZealand series, the last one weplayed, KL starts as first choiceand Sanju is also there but asthird choice. He did well andgives that flexibility to playextra batsman or bowler as perconditions. “But yes, after fivemonths, everyone starts fromscratch and IPL form will beimportant,” said Prasad.

So where does it leavePant? Prasad and Dasguptafeel that Dhoni’s retirement

shoud make Pant breathe eas-ier.

“Don’t forget that the con-stant comparisons with Dhoniwould have weighed a lot onhis young mind. It doesn’t helpin getting performances withthat pressure. So now, he isfree and can express himself inthe best possible manner. Butyes, he also needs to mature abit as a player,” Dasguptaasserted. For Prasad, Pant cannow be “Rishabh rather thanbeing Mahi Junior”.

"Indian cricket has invest-ed in Rishabh Pant over thelast few years. We have seenbest and worst of Pant in theseyears. He is someone who willserve Indian cricket for a longtime provided he is groomedproperly.

“This IPL will also provewhere each one stands interms of form and fitness. ButI agree that Rishabh needs tobe given a fair go before youthink of anyone else,” Prasadsaid.

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Tributes continue to pourin for Mahendra Sinmgh

Dhoni with the game’s gov-erning body ICC saying thatthe former India skipper“inspired a whole generationand will be sorely missed”.

Dhoni announced hisretirement from interna-tional cricket on Saturdayevening. A terse post on hisInstagram page read, 'con-sider me retired'.

The 39-year-old is theonly captain to have won allICC trophies — T20 WorldCup in 2007, ODI World

Cup in 2011 and theChampions Trophy in 2013.

“MS Dhoni is one of theall-time greats of the game.The image of his winningshot at the WankhedeStadium in the 2011 ICCMen's Cricket World Cupfinal is etched in the mem-ory of cricket lovers aroundthe world,” said ICC ChiefExecutive Manu Sawhney.

Sawhney was referringto the six which Dhoni hitoff Sri Lanka’s NuwanKulasekara to win the ODIWorld Cup title at home.

“He has inspired awhole generation and will

be sorely missed. On behalfof the ICC, I congratulatehim for an outstandingcricket career and wish himall the best for the future,”said Sawhney.

In 98 Tests, Dhoniscored 4,876 runs with 256catches and 38 stumpings,while amassing 10,773 runswith 321 catches and 123stumpings in 350 ODIs.

He last turned out forIndia during the semifinalsagainst New Zealand in theICC ODI World Cup lastyear.

In T20Is, the 39-year-old aggregated 1617 runs

with 57 catches and 34stumpings. He scored sixcenturies in Tests and 10 inODIs.

Dhoni spent 656 days asthe top-ranked batsman inthe ICC Men’s ODI PlayerRankings from 2006 to 2010and was the ICC ODI Playerof the Year in 2008 and2009.

He was in the ICC ODITeams of the Year in 2006,2008, 2009, 2010, 2011,2012, 2013 and 2014 and inthe ICC Test Teams of theYear in 2009, 2010, 2012 and2013. He won the ICC Spiritof Cricket award in 2011. ��� ���1�

Top-seeded Simona Halepdefeated third-seeded Elise

Mertens 6-2, 7-5 in the PragueOpen final on Sunday to claimher 21st WTA title.

The second-rankedRomanian broke Mertens fora 6-5 lead in the final setbefore converting her firstmatch point to win her secondtitle this year after the DubaiChampionships in February.

Before the Wimbledonchampion recovered from afoot injury she sustained inDubai, the coronavirus pan-demic forced a five-monthbreak.

It was the eighth title onclay for Halep, the first sinceshe won the 2018 FrenchOpen. Among the active play-ers, only Serena Williams with13 and her sister Venus withnine, won more titles on clay.

The No. 23-rankedMertens jumped to a 2-0 leadin the opening set beforeHalep took charge, taking sixstraight games.

Halep improved herrecord against her Belgianopponent to 4-1 at WTA tour-naments.

After the final, Halep saidshe would decide on Mondayif she is ready to play at theforthcoming U.S. Open.

The Prague Open is thesecond European tournamentsince the WTA restarted lastweek with the Palermo Openamid the coronavirus pan-demic, with strict health pro-tocols in place and no fans inthe stands and no mediaexcept a television broadcast-er.

The players were isolatedon one floor of a Prague hotelthat was completely booked bytournament organizers.

����� ��������

You will always be my captain,” said Indiaskipper Virat Kohli to Mahendra Singh

Dhoni on Sunday, expressing gratitude forthe “friendship and belief ” that he got fromthe talismanic senior.

In a nearly minute-long video posted onthe BCCI's official Twitter handle, Kohli saidDhoni’s retirement is that rare moment inhis life when he doesn’t have enough wordsto express his thoughts.

“Words fall short a lot of times in life andI think this is one of those moments. All Ican say is that you will always be that guywho sat in the last seat of the bus,” Kohli said.

Dhoni and Kohli shared a visibly com-fortable equation even after the latter tookover the leader’s mantle and both spoke high-ly of each other.

“We have shared a great camaraderie,friendship, understanding because we havealways played for the same roles, same goals,which was to make the team win,” he said.

“It’s been a pleasure playing under you,alongside you. You showed belief in me,which I would always be grateful for.

“I have said it before, I will say it again,you will always be my captain,” he signedoff.

Dhoni announced his retirement oninstagram on Saturday.

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Pakistan scrambled to 236 all outand reduced England to 7-1

before another bout of rain hit theweather-affected second test atthe Rose Bowl on Sunday.

Lunch was taken on the fourthday of the test with the bad weath-er looking likely to rob Pakistan ofa realistic chance to secure aseries-tying win in Southampton.

The tourists had England’sbatsmen exactly where they want-ed them before the teams went off,with Shaheen Afridi removingRory Burns for 0 off the fourth ballof the innings and both ZakCrawley (5) and Dom Sibley (2)

struggling to deal with a swingingand seaming ball.

Only five overs have beenpossible in England's innings so far,but they were encouraging ones forPakistan.

Resuming on 223-9 after thethird day’s play was wiped out byrain, Pakistan added 13 runs beforebeing dismissed when MohammadRizwan scooped a ball from StuartBroad high into the air, withCrawley taking the catch at coverpoint to end an important lower-order knock of 72 by the wicket-keeper.

Broad finished with figures of4-56.

Burns had already nicked

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Lewis Hamilton had no problems with his tiresthis time as he coasted to victory at the

Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, extending hischampionship lead to 37 points and clinching an88th career victory to move within three ofMichael Schumacher’s Formula One record.

The talk before the race was whetherMercedes’ tires would be vulnerable in the sear-ing summer heat of Spain, after experiencingproblems in the past two races at Silverstone.

But there were no such issues as Hamiltonfinished a sizeable 24 seconds ahead of MaxVerstappen - who has eight podiums in the pastnine races stretching back to last season.

Valtteri Bottas placed third to fall furtherbehind second-place Verstappen in the standings.

The winding 4.7-kilometer ( 2.9-mile) Circuitde Barcelona-Catalunya, with its combination ofslow and fast corners, is one of the hardest forovertaking.

After narrowly securing a record-extending92nd career pole position Hamilton made astrong start on the long straight to the first cor-ner. But Bottas was overtaken by Verstappen andthe Racing Point of Lance Stroll - who jumpedfrom fifth to third with a fine move on Bottas'right flank.

Track temperatures on the circuit werearound 50 degrees C (122 F) and Mercedes wasconcerned about catching too much sun.

"These black overalls are hot,” Bottas saidduring the race, throwing in an expletive foremphasis.

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Suresh Raina, who followedhis mentor Mahendra Singh

Dhoni into international retire-ment, on Sunday sounded con-vinced about his decision thatshocked some and surprised afew, saying he never “settled foranything without justification”.

One of India’s most prolif-ic white-ball players in the lastdecade and a half, Raina saidcricket runs through his veins.

“From a very young age, Ias a small boy had literally livedcricket on every street, gali andnukkad (lane and corner) ofmy small town before makingit to the Indian team,” Rainasaid in a statement.

“All I have known is crick-et, all I have done is cricket &it runs through my veins."

“There hasn’t been a singleday without counting my bless-ings & without acknowledgingeverything I have received

from god & my people whoshowered nothing but love onme.”

Raina, who played 226ODIs, 78 T20s and 18 Tests,said he never let injuries dictatehis fate.

“All I strived for was tovalue those blessings & give myeverything in return to mygame, to my country & every-one who has been a part of thisjourney.

“I had multiple surgeries,setbacks & moments when Ifelt that this is it but I didn’tstop or settle for anythingwhich was not justified.”

Raina thanked his family,coaches, physicians, trainers,teammates and his fans for thelove and support he receivedfrom them.

“It’s been an incredible rideand it would not have beenpossible without everyone whosupported me during my upsand downs.

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