˝! ( ) ˇ...2020/08/23  · delhi, and west bengal-have collectively contributed more than two...

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A s part of efforts to re-cre- ate a crime scene and re- assess the circumstances lead- ing to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, the CBI team on Saturday visited the late actor’s duplex-flat in Mount Blanc at Bandra’s Carter Road in north- west Mumbai along with Sushant’s flatmate and friend Siddharth Pithani and cook Neeraj Singh and grilled these two key witnesses. Ahead of zeroing in on the late Sushant’s flat, the CBI investigators visited the Bandra police station where Accidental Death Report (ADR) was reg- istered on June 14 the day when the actor was found hanging in his flat and the Cooper Hospital, where the post- mortem was conducted. Though the Mumbai Police had gone through these exer- cises as part of the investiga- tions they conducted after reg- istering ADR, the CBI, which has been directed to investigate the case based on the FIR reg- istered by the Patna Police, is looking afresh at the case from all angles. One of the questions that the CBI team reportedly asked the team of doctors that con- ducted the post-mortem on Sushant’s body, as to why it conducted the post-mortem before the receipt of the actor’s Covid-19 test report. The stand taken by the doctors that there was no provision under the law that prohibited from conducting the post-mortem before the receipt of the coro- na report. A doctor, however, reportedly conceded to the CBI that they conducted the post-mortem late at night after being told to do so by the Mumbai Police. The CBI team reportedly questioned Sushant’s cook Neeraj Singh as to from where he had obtained and supplied drugs to the late actor. In a related development, from the New Delhi-based AIIMS — upon a request by the CBI — a five-member team of medical board of foren- sic experts is visiting Mumbai to look into Sushant’s autopsy report and study the case from various other angles. I ndia crossed three-million Covid-19 count on Saturday with yet another day of huge spike of around 70,000 new cases. India added the last one million cases in just 16 days. The country had crossed two- million count on August 6. On the other hand, the country went from one million to two million cases in 19 days between July 16 and August 5. India is also adding around 1,000 deaths daily. The country took nearly five-and-half month from January 31, the day India reg- istered its first Covid-19 cases in Kerala to one million counts on July 16. Eight States: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and West Bengal-have collectively contributed more than two million cases. India has been reporting the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases globally for the last 18 days. While India has reported more than 60, 000 cases or more dur- ing the period, the USA and Brazil, which are ahead of India in terms of total cases, are logging in around 45,000 cases daily. T he Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday shot dead five Pakistani intruders in the Ferozepur sector of Punjab after a suspicious movement along the international border. The BSF recovered one AK- 47 along with two magazines and 27 live rounds, four 9 mm Beretta pistols with seven magazines, 109 rounds of ammunition, nine pack- ets (9.92 kg) of contrabands sus- pected to be heroin, two mobile phones and 610 Pakistani cur- rency from the slain terrorists. Beretta semi automatic pistols have been used by the United States military as service pistols since 1985. The incident occurred in the area of responsibility of 103 Battalion of BSF under sector Ferozepur. “On 22 August, 2020, alert BSF troops on duty noticed some suspicious movement ahead of border security fence. Sensing the situation, BSF troops immediately launched a special operation. Subsequently, BSF troops cor- doned the area and challenged the intruders to stop and surrender but the Pak armed intruders did not pay any heed to the challenges and opened fire on BSF troops. In self-defence, BSF troops retaliated with fire due to which five Pak armed intruders succumbed to bullet injuries,” the BSF said in a statement. So far this year, the BSF has seized 356.81 kg of heroin, includ- ing the seizure during the day, 25 weapons of different types, 42 magazines of various weapons, 472 rounds of ammunition of different calibres and six mobile phones besides six Pakistani SIM cards. The BSF has apprehended 73 intruders and 15 Pakistani intrud- ers till now this year. P akistan has for the first time acknowledged the presence of Dawood Ibrahim on its soil after the Government imposed sweeping sanctions on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders which also includ- ed the name of the underworld don wanted by India. There was no official con- firmation on Pakistan Government including Ibrahim’s name in the list of terror groups and its leaders on whom fresh restrictions have been imposed. But if Pakistani media reports are true, this could be the first time Islamabad has acknowledged the presence of Ibrahim on its soil. Seeking to wriggle out of the FATF’s grey list, Pakistan on Friday imposed tough financial sanctions on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders, including Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and Ibrahim, by ordering the seizure of all of their properties and freezing of bank accounts, Pakistani news- paper ‘The News’ reported on Saturday. Ibrahim, who heads a vast and multifaceted illegal business, has emerged as India’s most wanted terrorist after the 1993 Mumbai bomb- ings. S idelined mainstream Kashmiri politicians on Saturday tried to put up a “united” front under the leadership of sitting par- liamentarian and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah to carry forward their struggle for the restoration of Statehood, Article 370 and 35-A in Jammu & Kashmir. Gaining freedom after a gap of almost one year, these leaders made clear their intent to wage a political struggle in a joint statement. “We all reiterate that we are bound, wholly, by the contents of the Gupkar Declaration and will unwaveringly adhere to it. We are committed to strive for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A, the Constitution of J&K and the restoration of the State and any division of the State is unacceptable to us. We unanimously reit- erate that there can be ‘nothing about us without us’,” said the statement issued by the leaders of National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party, Congress, CPI(M), Awami National Conference and Peoples Conference. Interestingly, some of the signatories of the joint statement are yet to clearly demonstrate their actual strength on ground zero and have decided to join the bandwagon of mainstream leaders to save their own skin as common people have completely lost faith in their leadership abil- ities. Dr Shah Faesal, who had also attend- ed the joint meeting at the residence of Dr Farooq Abdullah on August 4, 2019 was not a signatory to this statement as he had recently decided to quit politics. In the very beginning, the joint state- ment noted the events of August 5, 2019 have “unrecognisably changed the rela- tionship between J&K and New Delhi”. T he Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has said that the foreign nation- als, who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event held in Delhi in March this year, were made “scapegoats” and allega- tions were levelled that they were responsible for spreading Covid-19 in the country. A division bench of Justices TV Nalawade and MG Sewlikar made the observations on August 21 while quashing the FIRs filed against 29 for- eigners, who had attended the event. The bench also noted that while the Maharashtra police acted mechanically in the case, the State Government acted under “political compulsion”. The 29 foreign nationals were booked under various provisions of the IPC, the Epidemic Diseases Act, Disaster Management Act and Foreigner’s Act for allegedly violating their tourist visa con- ditions by attending the Tablighi congregation held at Nizamuddin in Delhi. The bench in its order noted that there was a big propaganda against the foreigners who had come to the Markaz in Delhi. “A political Government tries to find the scapegoat when there is pandemic or calamity and the circum- stances show that there is probability that these foreign- ers were chosen to make them a scapegoat,” the court said in its order. “The propaganda against the so-called religious activi- ty (Tablighi Jamaat) was unwarranted. The activity was going on for more than 50 years and it is there through- out the year,” it added. It said that the circum- stances and the latest figures of infection of Covid-19 in India show that such action against the petitioners should not have been taken. “It is now high time for the concerned to repent about this action taken against the foreigners and to take some positive steps to repair the damage done by such action,” the court said. New Delhi: The Centre has asked all States to ensure that there should be no restrictions on inter-State and intra-State movement of persons and goods during the ongoing unlocking process. In a communication to Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said there were reports that local level restrictions on movement were being imposed districts and States. W ith the arrest of a sus- pected ISIS operative, a major terror strike was avert- ed in the national Capital. The accused was nabbed from the central Delhi’s Ridge Road area following a brief exchange of fire. UP DGP Hitesh Chandra Awasthi sounded an alert in the State following the arrest of an alleged ISIS operative in Delhi. Security checks have also been intensified along the Delhi border in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida. The terrorist, Mustakeem Khan, alias Abu Yusuf, is a res- ident of Uttar Pradesh’s Balarampur district. He was under watch and he had planned to carry out a “lone wolf ” strike in the Capital.

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Page 1: ˝! ( ) ˇ...2020/08/23  · Delhi, and West Bengal-have collectively contributed more than two million cases. India has been reporting the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases globally

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As part of efforts to re-cre-ate a crime scene and re-

assess the circumstances lead-ing to the death of SushantSingh Rajput, the CBI team onSaturday visited the late actor’sduplex-flat in Mount Blanc atBandra’s Carter Road in north-west Mumbai along withSushant’s flatmate and friendSiddharth Pithani and cookNeeraj Singh and grilled thesetwo key witnesses.

Ahead of zeroing in on thelate Sushant’s flat, the CBIinvestigators visited the Bandrapolice station where AccidentalDeath Report (ADR) was reg-istered on June 14 the day whenthe actor was found hanging inhis f lat and the CooperHospital, where the post-mortem was conducted.

Though the Mumbai Policehad gone through these exer-cises as part of the investiga-tions they conducted after reg-istering ADR, the CBI, which

has been directed to investigatethe case based on the FIR reg-istered by the Patna Police, islooking afresh at the case fromall angles.

One of the questions thatthe CBI team reportedly askedthe team of doctors that con-ducted the post-mortem onSushant’s body, as to why itconducted the post-mortembefore the receipt of the actor’sCovid-19 test report. Thestand taken by the doctors thatthere was no provision underthe law that prohibited fromconducting the post-mortembefore the receipt of the coro-na report. A doctor, however,

reportedly conceded to theCBI that they conducted thepost-mortem late at night afterbeing told to do so by theMumbai Police.

The CBI team reportedlyquestioned Sushant’s cookNeeraj Singh as to from wherehe had obtained and supplieddrugs to the late actor.

In a related development,from the New Delhi-basedAIIMS — upon a request bythe CBI — a five-memberteam of medical board of foren-sic experts is visiting Mumbaito look into Sushant’s autopsyreport and study the case fromvarious other angles.

���� ����� �

India crossed three-millionCovid-19 count on Saturday

with yet another day of hugespike of around 70,000 newcases.

India added the last onemillion cases in just 16 days.The country had crossed two-million count on August 6. Onthe other hand, the countrywent from one million to twomillion cases in 19 daysbetween July 16 and August 5.India is also adding around1,000 deaths daily.

The country took nearlyfive-and-half month fromJanuary 31, the day India reg-

istered its first Covid-19 casesin Kerala to one million countson July 16.

Eight States: Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh,Delhi, and West Bengal-havecollectively contributed morethan two million cases.

India has been reportingthe highest number of daily Covid-19 cases globally for the last 18 days.While India has reported morethan 60, 000 cases or more dur-ing the period, the USA andBrazil, which are ahead ofIndia in terms of total cases, arelogging in around 45,000 casesdaily.

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The Border Security Force (BSF)on Saturday shot dead five

Pakistani intruders in the Ferozepursector of Punjab after a suspiciousmovement along the internationalborder. The BSF recovered one AK-47 along with two magazines and27 live rounds, four 9 mm Berettapistols with seven magazines, 109rounds of ammunition, nine pack-ets (9.92 kg) of contrabands sus-pected to be heroin, two mobilephones and �610 Pakistani cur-rency from the slain terrorists.

Beretta semi automatic pistolshave been used by the UnitedStates military as service pistolssince 1985.

The incident occurred in thearea of responsibility of 103Battalion of BSF under sectorFerozepur.

“On 22 August, 2020, alertBSF troops on duty noticed some

suspicious movement ahead ofborder security fence. Sensing thesituation, BSF troops immediatelylaunched a special operation.

Subsequently, BSF troops cor-doned the area and challenged theintruders to stop and surrender butthe Pak armed intruders did notpay any heed to the challenges andopened fire on BSF troops.

In self-defence, BSF troopsretaliated with fire due to which fivePak armed intruders succumbed tobullet injuries,” the BSF said in astatement.

So far this year, the BSF hasseized 356.81 kg of heroin, includ-ing the seizure during the day, 25weapons of different types, 42magazines of various weapons, 472rounds of ammunition of differentcalibres and six mobile phonesbesides six Pakistani SIM cards.

The BSF has apprehended 73intruders and 15 Pakistani intrud-ers till now this year.

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Pakistan has for the firsttime acknowledged the

presence of Dawood Ibrahimon its soil after the Governmentimposed sweeping sanctions on88 banned terror groups andtheir leaders which also includ-ed the name of the underworlddon wanted by India.

There was no official con-firmation on PakistanGovernment includingIbrahim’s name in the list ofterror groups and its leaders onwhom fresh restrictions havebeen imposed. But if Pakistanimedia reports are true, thiscould be the first timeIslamabad has acknowledgedthe presence of Ibrahim on itssoil.

Seeking to wriggle out of

the FATF’s grey list, Pakistanon Friday imposed toughfinancial sanctions on 88banned terror groups and theirleaders, including Hafiz Saeed,Masood Azhar and Ibrahim,by ordering the seizure of all oftheir properties and freezing ofbank accounts, Pakistani news-paper ‘The News’ reported onSaturday.

Ibrahim, who heads avast and multifaceted illegalbusiness, has emerged asIndia’s most wanted terroristafter the 1993 Mumbai bomb-ings.

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Sidelined mainstream Kashmiri politicianson Saturday tried to put up a “united”

front under the leadership of sitting par-liamentarian and National Conference chiefFarooq Abdullah to carry forward theirstruggle for the restoration of Statehood,Article 370 and 35-A in Jammu & Kashmir.

Gaining freedom after a gap of almostone year, these leaders made clear theirintent to wage a political struggle in a jointstatement.

“We all reiterate that we are bound,wholly, by the contents of the GupkarDeclaration and will unwaveringly adhereto it. We are committed to strive for therestoration of Articles 370 and 35A, theConstitution of J&K and the restoration of

the State and any division of the State isunacceptable to us. We unanimously reit-erate that there can be ‘nothing about uswithout us’,” said the statement issued by theleaders of National Conference, PeoplesDemocratic Party, Congress, CPI(M),Awami National Conference and PeoplesConference.

Interestingly, some of the signatories ofthe joint statement are yet to clearlydemonstrate their actual strength onground zero and have decided to join thebandwagon of mainstream leaders to savetheir own skin as common people havecompletely lost faith in their leadership abil-ities.

Dr Shah Faesal, who had also attend-ed the joint meeting at the residence of DrFarooq Abdullah on August 4, 2019 was nota signatory to this statement as he hadrecently decided to quit politics.

In the very beginning, the joint state-ment noted the events of August 5, 2019have “unrecognisably changed the rela-tionship between J&K and New Delhi”.

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The Aurangabad bench ofthe Bombay High Court

has said that the foreign nation-als, who had attended theTablighi Jamaat event held inDelhi in March this year, weremade “scapegoats” and allega-tions were levelled that theywere responsible for spreadingCovid-19 in the country.

A division bench of JusticesTV Nalawade and MGSewlikar made the observationson August 21 while quashingthe FIRs filed against 29 for-eigners, who had attended theevent.

The bench also noted thatwhile the Maharashtra policeacted mechanically in the case,the State Government actedunder “political compulsion”.

The 29 foreign nationalswere booked under variousprovisions of the IPC, theEpidemic Diseases Act,Disaster Management Act andForeigner’s Act for allegedlyviolating their tourist visa con-ditions by attending theTablighi congregation held at

Nizamuddin in Delhi. Thebench in its order noted thatthere was a big propagandaagainst the foreigners who hadcome to the Markaz in Delhi.

“A political Governmenttries to find the scapegoatwhen there is pandemic orcalamity and the circum-stances show that there isprobability that these foreign-ers were chosen to make thema scapegoat,” the court said inits order.

“The propaganda againstthe so-called religious activi-ty (Tablighi Jamaat) wasunwarranted. The activity wasgoing on for more than 50years and it is there through-out the year,” it added.

It said that the circum-stances and the latest figures ofinfection of Covid-19 in Indiashow that such action againstthe petitioners should nothave been taken. “It is nowhigh time for the concerned torepent about this action takenagainst the foreigners and totake some positive steps torepair the damage done bysuch action,” the court said.

New Delhi: The Centre hasasked all States to ensure thatthere should be no restrictionson inter-State and intra-Statemovement of persons andgoods during the ongoingunlocking process.

In a communication toChief Secretaries of all Statesand Union Territories, UnionHome Secretary Ajay Bhallasaid there were reports thatlocal level restrictions onmovement were beingimposed districts and States.

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With the arrest of a sus-pected ISIS operative, a

major terror strike was avert-ed in the national Capital. Theaccused was nabbed from thecentral Delhi’s Ridge Road areafollowing a brief exchange offire.

UP DGP Hitesh ChandraAwasthi sounded an alert inthe State following the arrest ofan alleged ISIS operative inDelhi.

Security checks have alsobeen intensified along theDelhi border in Uttar Pradesh’sNoida.

The terrorist, MustakeemKhan, alias Abu Yusuf, is a res-ident of Uttar Pradesh’sBalarampur district. He wasunder watch and he hadplanned to carry out a “lonewolf ” strike in the Capital.

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Page 2: ˝! ( ) ˇ...2020/08/23  · Delhi, and West Bengal-have collectively contributed more than two million cases. India has been reporting the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases globally

�What is your role in Pyaar Ki LukaChuppi?

I play Angad, a rich boy who falls in lovewith Srishti (played by Aparna Dixit) whois liked by Angad’s mother and is thoughtto be the perfect match for him and thefamily. But, later on they discover that theSrishti is a divorcee and then the dramaunfolds. Angad’s mother opposes themarriage and by now he is already in lovewith the Srishti and he leaves his house forher. Earlier, Angad was like a mumma’s boyand an ideal brother, but now he is upsetwith his family. On the other hand,Srishti’s life is also complicated because sheis now in love with Angad but her ex-husband, Sarthak, who is a friend ofAngad, apparently loses his memory.Angad now tries to help Sarthak regainhis memory but in the bargain hisfeelings are ruthlessly being crushed.So, there is a lot of turmoil in Angad’slife at the moment as he is goingthrough a very rough patch. �What made you say yes to the role?

It is a role which I had neverplayed before. A simple, confidentguy who is sorted and smiles inadversities and takes a stand foreverything. And apart from this,Dangal is one of the fastest growingchannel and I wanted to be part of it.I also trust the content of theproducers because I have workedwith them before. So, everything wasa positive and ticked the required boxes. �From an engineer to an actor, how didthe transition happen?

I was doing my summer training inMumbai in one of the automobilecompanies, that’s when it striked my mindthat I should start giving auditions.Gradually, I discovered that I love acting andhence the switch happened. This was thebridge of the transition. The more Iimmersed myself in acting, the more Idiscovered the actor in me and I startedenjoying it. Now I feel that acting is what Ido the best and I want to stick to it as of now. �How tough or easy is to survive in theindustry?

I feel when hardwork meets opportunityit leads to success. Only hard work but lackof opportunities might not find success andonly having an opportunity but no hardwork might be a waste. God has been kindand I have been lucky that things have beensmooth for me. Everybody has their sharesof ups and downs but that is a part and parcelof life.

�A role that you would say no to?I'd refrain from doing a role which will

send wrong signals to the youth or willdistract them. I would keep wanting to doroles where I can set examples and I havebeen fortunate to essay such roles in mycareer. �Any takeaways from the industry?

My whole life has been a takeaway fromthe industry. I have learnt so much.Whatever I am, the way I am, the way I talk,the things I have learnt, I owe a lot of it tothe industry. The most recent was the useof a fire extinguisher. We learn a lot of thingsdue to the profession. We do a lot ofcharacters and we need a lot of skills to essaythose roles. Apart from the worldlytakeaways, I have really grown emotionallyand spiritually. So yes, those are thetakeaways. �How hard or easy is it for you to shootwhile adapting to the new normal?

No doubt initially it was really hard.Because we had to wear a mask, remove itwhile we were giving a shot and then againwear it once it’s done. It was cumbersome.You are scared if anyone sneezes on the set.But now we have adapted to this new normaland I hope this new normal doesn’t stay forvery long and things go back to the oldnormal.

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This is not the first time that a copmovie has been made. But whatmakes this one different from all the

previous ones that Bollywood churned outis how when policemen in order to playby the book fall prey to the corruptsystem, they need to play the same gamethat the system played with them — saveyour back and root out the corruption.

Loosely based on the book titled TheClass of 83 by S Hussain Zaidi on how actualcops became encounter specialists in the1980s, the film is told from the perspectiveof one of the cadets who undergoes training.Directed by Atul Sabharwal Class of ’83 takesone on a journey of five cadets who pass outfrom the academy with aspirations of theirown but a lesson that was taught to themby the dean of the academy Vijay Singhplayed by Bobby Deol.

It is interesting to watch how Sabharwalhas interwoven personals live of these copswith their professional ones and how in theirquest to gun down the goons, but also endup taking money from the gangsters — a fallfrom what they had vowed to do — to kill

in order to cure a disease, take downBombay’s gangsters. While the movie maybe all about the five cops who take uponthemselves to clean the city, it is Bobby Deolwho holds the fort; who tweaks the syllabusat the academy to hold the attention andengage the young cadets and creates thesquad to take down the goons.

Deol has played the role of a dean well.It is surprising to see him underplay hischaracter. After seeing him in movies likeYamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se and Housefull4, Class of ’83 is a welcome change. To seehim with a brooding expression, not raisehis voice and walk away from aconfrontation is definitely a huge twist andsurprise. One would say that the actor istrying to reinvent himself. If these are thekind of roles that he will be choosinghenceforth, kudos to him and hopefully, wewill get to see movies that are more realisticand have a good story to tell.

Another plus is the running time; at 98minutes, the movie is crisp and to the point.However, the director could have spent timeon how the five built their friendship andgiven us the dynamics on how and why theyworked so well together. This is one moviewhere we would have liked to see more run-time.

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Here is a web series that is trulyexperimental. Not its contentbut the way it has been shot

— all under lockdown with the castquarantined in their homes. Theseries shows that if one has a relativelyengrossing story to tell, one doesn’tneed fancy props to tell it. While thereis nothing new here — a son returnsfrom Bangkok, home quarantineshimself for fear that he may pass onthe COVID-19 to his wife. Thingsonly go downhill from here — it turnsout that the son has been murdered.

What works in favour of thismini-series, mini because there areonly four episodes in this season andeach less than 28 minutes. Also,

Sanjay Kapoor and the rest of thestarcast has given a goodperformance and keeps the viewersin the game till the very end eventhough the reveal is done by end ofepisode 3.

Those who love to watch crime-thrillers will be able to guess howthis is going to unfold. But eventhen, the way the actors perform

from the confines of their homesand the way the story progresses,The Gone Game keeps youengrossed and you want to knowhow it will all end and leaving it ata juncture from where the makerswill go on to the next season.

The story will continue… is aninteresting way to end things.

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All those who loved the Spy Kids series will definitelylove this one too — a film that starts with an ordinarysleepover turns into a rollercoaster ride for two

teenagers and two preteens. It takes them on a journey thatis part silly, part fun and part thrill; it is about stealing thecrown. There can’t be a better way than to sit with yourkids with popcorn and Coke and enjoy the ride that TheSleepover takes one on.

A ride where the kids and their friends through aseries of clues left to them end up getting mixed withthe thieves who have roped in their mom, here’s the twist— in a witness protection programme — for another jobafter 15 years. The mom is in and so is the father (playedby Ken Marino) as collateral damage, a pastry chef. Ronis funny and ensures that the movie remains kid-friendly

even though there is kidnapping, guns being drawn andmean punches being thrown for good measure.

But the stars here are Maxwell Simkins, who playsKevin, and Lucas Jaye, who plays Lewis and wears pee-pee detecting underwear. Kevin is precocious, street smartand loves to tell tales. Lewis with his stoic expressionsis cute and funny making this one a fun-filled movie towatch.

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Page 3: ˝! ( ) ˇ...2020/08/23  · Delhi, and West Bengal-have collectively contributed more than two million cases. India has been reporting the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases globally

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Subhash Chander, 35, aCovid-19 survivor was dis-

charged from the PostGraduate Institute of MedicalEducation and Research onJuly 3 making it to the list ofCovid-19 recoveries inChandigarh, amid the rapidsurge in positive cases.

Few days later, the PunjabGovernment employeereturned to his job thinkingeverything was back to normalbut his throat infection andcrippling fatigue is nowherenear gone even after morethan a month now.

“I was tested negative forCovid-19 (Coronavirus) andwas subsequently dischargedfrom the hospital on July 3 afteraround 17 days of treatment,

however, I am still experienc-ing muscle weakness andundergoing treatment forthroat problem,” the Covid-19survivor tells.

“I had mild fever and a sorethroat when my report camepositive for Covid-19 and I wasadmitted to the PGIMER. Mymother and two sisters were alsotested positive in the month ofJune while my brother was test-ed negative,” he recalls addingthat his other family membersare doing fine now.

Still struggling with Covid-19 health complications,Subhash shares he wants todonate plasma for treatment ofother Coronavirus patients buthas been advised by the doctorsto wait for another fortnight tofully recover.

Subhash is not the onlyCovid-19 survivor who is going

through ‘post-viral fatigue’ asmany others too have report-ed developing fatigue and mus-cle aches after their recovery.

Almost two months afterDivya Singh, 23, was declaredcured and discharged from thehospital, she’s still working herway back to normal. AnotherCovid-19 survivor from thecity, Divya says she still experi-ences fatigue and anxiety postrecovery in the month of June.

“I was discharged fromthe treatment facility on June12 after spending around 20days in an isolation ward. I haddifficulty in breathing and hadno other symptoms. My twoother family members werealso tested positive and hadrecovered in June,” she tells.

“As the situation is wors-ening each day, there is alwaysa sense of fear at the back of my

mind of getting re-infected. Ihave not started going out andstaying at home. I work in acinema hall which is still shutdue to the pandemic,” saysDivya while waiting for thingsto get back to normal, likeeveryone else.

A diabetic patient, RajKumar, 40, had suffered feverand cough before he was testedpositive for the virus in June.Kumar says he recovered inaround 15 days and returnedhome. “Doctors told me not toworry and asked me to takemedicines regularly. I am thank-ful to the healthcare staff as theymonitored my health to ensurethat there are no health com-plications. I returned from thehospital fit and fine,” he tells.

“Fortunately, I did not suf-fer any long-term healtheffects,” says Kumar, who works

as a cab driver in the city.Though there is no data yet

on how many patients experi-ence lingering symptoms afterrecovering from the deadlyvirus, health experts maintainthat most common long-termeffects people experienceinclude bouts of exhaustion,anxiety, muscle aches andheadaches. People who haveco-morbidities and the elderlypeople are likely to face long-term effects even after gettingrecovered from the infection.

As The Pioneer spoke tomore recovered patients, everysurvivor had a different storyto tell. They shared stories ofexperiencing health problems,stigma and discriminationaround Covid-19 patients andon leading a happy life in thenew normal after recovery.

Ravinder Kaur, 33, says

the virus had taken a toll on herphysical and mental health. “Ialong with my three-year oldson was admitted in thePGIMER for around 30 daysand was discharged in the firstweek of June. My in-laws werealso tested positive and hadspent several weeks in an iso-lation ward. It was a difficultphase of life and the journeyback to good health was longand perilous,” she said.

After almost two months,I have now embraced the newnormal. My work now keepsme busy most of the times as Itake online classes of my stu-dents, shares Ravinder, who is a teacher in aGovernment school.

On stigma associated withCovid-19, she said, “The virushas created such a fear amongpublic that it has spawned a lot

of stigma and discriminationtowards the survivors. Initially,my family also faced stigma asneighbors’ hostility grew deep-er. However, things have changedover time and society is becom-ing empathetic and supportivetowards the survivors.”

Another Covid-19 survivor,Deshraj, 36, advises people tostay at home and not burden thehealthcare system as positivecases are surging in the city.

A healthcare worker atGovernment Medical Collegeand Hospital, Sector 32, hesays, “People need to under-stand that these are not normalcircumstances and they shouldnot defy safety norms of socialdistancing and wearing a mask.The COVID situation continuesto worsen as the city has report-ed more than 2600 cases till nowand our hospitals are overbur-

dened with infected patients.”For another Covid sur-

vivor, Anupa Singh, 54, life hasnot changed much in the pastfew months except she has tofollow two new rules of socialdistancing and wearing a maskwhenever she steps outside herhome amid the pandemic. “Myson had returned from Delhiand was tested positive for thevirus in June. I along with mydaughter was also tested posi-tive and was admitted in thePGIMER. We had no symptomsand were discharged after aweek and were recommendedhome isolation,” she said.

Nothing has changed in lifeand the experience taught meto be more patient and thank-ful, Anupa says while adding “Ifeel God had granted us thedesired break but we have to beextra cautious now.”

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Amid rising cases ofCoronavirus in the region,

all shops except those dealingwith essential items remainedshut in Punjab, Haryana andUT Chandigarh with weekendlockdown restrictions cominginto force on Saturday.

While, PunjabGovernment had announcedweekend lockdown in all citiesand towns on Thursday,authorities in Haryana andChandigarh ordered the clo-sure of all shops except thoseproviding essential services onFriday to check the spread ofCovid-19.

Punjab, Haryana and UTChandigarh have come up withstricter restrictions in the wakeof rising cases of the infection.

Shopkeepers who weredealing with non-essentialcommodities kept their shopsshut in both States and theircommon capital Chandigarh.

Unlike on weekdays, a less-er number of people were vis-ible on roads at most of theplaces on Saturday.

Policemen in adequatestrength were also deployed inall the cities to ensure theimplementation of weekendlockdown, officials said.

In Punjab’s Phagwara,Ashok Kultham, president ofCloth Merchant Association,said all the shops will reli-giously follow the State

Government’s lockdown guide-lines. “We have kept all ourshops closed,” he said. A stationhouse officer (city) inPhagwara Onkar Singh Brarclaimed that the weekend lock-down was completely observed.

He said policemen were advis-ing people to wear masks oth-erwise strict action would betaken against them. The SHOsaid eight men were held andtheir three vehicles wereimpounded on Friday night for

violating the night curfew. In Hoshiarpur also, most of

the markets wore a desertedlook but shops of essentialitems like medicines, vegeta-bles, milk, etc. remained open.

Hoshiarpur Deputy

Commissioner Apneet Riyaithas directed the officials con-cerned to ensure strict com-pliance of Section 144, pro-hibiting gathering of more thanfive persons. SeniorSuperintendent of Police

Navjot Singh Mahal said flagmarches were being conduct-ed at various places inHoshiarpur.

In Ludhiana, general sec-retary of the Punjab BeoparMandal Sunil Mehra welcomedthe move of the government,saying such restrictions arerequired to curb the spread ofCovid-19 which is alreadyincreasing at an alarming pace.

He, however, demandedthat the lockdown should beimposed on days other than theweekend as restrictions onSaturdays and Sundays wouldaffect trading activity inLudhiana.

In Moga, a police officialsaid that they had been issuingchallans to people who werenot wearing masks.

Besides weekend lockdown,the Punjab Government hadalso announced to extend thenight curfew by two hours from7 pm till 5 am in all the cities.In Punjab, shops and shoppingmalls would remain closed onSaturdays and Sundays butshops dealing with essentialgoods would remain open till6.30 pm, as per the orders.

Only home delivery offood items has been allowed byrestaurants, which could opentill 6.30 pm on weekends.

Liquor shops in both Punjaband Haryana are allowed toremain open but in Chandigarh,such shops will remain closedduring weekends.

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Forty-five Covid-19 fatalities in

Punjab pushed thedeath toll to 1,036while 1,320 freshcases took the State’s infectiontally to 40,643 on Saturday

According to an officialbulletin, the coronavirus fatal-ities include 15 deaths report-ed from Ludhiana, eight fromJalandhar, five from Sangrur,three from Mohali, two eachfrom Fatehgarh Sahib,Ferozepur and Amritsar andone each from Bathinda,Rupnagar, Moga, Faridkot,Mansa, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taranand SBS Nagar, according tothe bulletin.

Meanwhile, five securitypersonnel posted at the resi-dence of former Chief MinisterParkash Singh Badal inMuktsar district tested positivefor coronavirus, a senior healthofficial said.

The health authoritieshave also declared the resi-dence of Badal as a micro con-

tainment zone, the offi-cial said. Among dis-tricts which reportednew cases are Ludhiana(360), Patiala (177),Mohali (164), Amritsar(92), Kapurthala (74),Muktsar (68), Sangrur

(47) and Jalandhar (46),according to the bulletin.

Punjab is witnessing asurge in the number of coro-navirus cases and there arenow 15,305 active Covid-19cases in the State, the bulletin said.

A total of 409 more coro-navirus patients were dis-charged after they recoveredfrom infection. So far 24,302 people have recoveredfrom the infection in the State,it said.

Meanwhile, 49 patientsare critical and on ventilatorsupport while 336 are on oxy-gen support, the bulletin said.

With a collection of 22,110more samples for Covid test-ing, the figure of total samplestaken so far for testing hasreached 8,85,950 in the State,according to the bulletin.

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Twelve more people dieddue to covid-19 over the

last 24 hours on Saturday, tak-ing the fatality count due to thevirus to 597 in Haryana. Thenumber of patients of Covid-19in the State jumped to 53, 290with the State health depart-ment reporting the steepest sin-gle-day spike of 1161 freshcases of the disease.

The authorities discharged600 patients from differenthospitals after their recovery onthe day and the State now hasa total of 44, 013 recoveredpatients which puts the recov-

ery percentage at 82.59 percent.The doubling rate of the diseasein Haryana is at 33 days.

Faridabad’s Covid-19 tallynow stood at 11,627, highest inthe State with the districtreporting 97 fresh Covid-19cases, followed by Gurugram at10,872 with 102 new cases onthe day. Yamunanagar districtrecorded the steepest single-day spike of 157 fresh cases ofthe disease. 90 patients werereported in Ambala districtwhile 48 patients were found inSonepat. The health depart-ment also found 62 patientswere found in Rewari.

In Karnal, 91 patients were

discovered while 29 patientswere reported from Rohtakdistrict. Out of the 12 new fatal-ities, three were reported fromYamunanagar while two inKurukshetra and one each casein Sonepat, Rohtak, Panipat,Panchkula, Jind, Jhajjar and Sirsa.

The recovery rate increasedto 82.59 per cent, while thefatality rate is 1.12 per cent,according to the bulletin.

As many as 9.44 lakh sam-ples have been sent for testing.The positivity rate is 5.68 percent,, while the tests per millionpopulation stands at 37,269, thedepartment said.

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The hill State of HimachalPradesh recorded 61 fresh

Covid-19 cases on Saturday,raising the infection tally to4,790 while the state’s death tollfrom the disease climbed to 27with three more fatalities. Thetotal number of active Covid-19 cases in the State now standsat 1,434, an official said.

Of the three coronavirusdeaths, two persons succumbedto the virus in Solan districtwhile one in Mandi.

Of the 61 fresh cases, 39were reported from Bilaspur,five from Mandi, four each

from Shimla and Kinnaur, threeeach from Kangra and Kulluand one each from Chamba,Solan and Lahaul-Spiti.

Meanwhile, 46 moreCovid-19 patients — 21 inSolan, 11 in Kullu, eight inMandi, three in Kinnaur, twoin Kangra nad one in Chamba— have recovered from theinfection.

With this, the total numberof recoveries in the State haverisen to 3,280.

Of the 1,434 active cases inthe state, Solan has the highestnumber at 417, followed byKullu (162), Mandi (144),Sirmaur (137), Kangra (115),Chamba (91), Una (88),Bilaspur (118), Hamirpur (68),Shimla (65), Kinnaur (26) andLahaul-Spiti (3).

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Union Territory ofChandigarh on Saturday

recorded the steepest single-day spike of 145 cases, takingthe total coronavirus count inthe city to 2,776.

The city on Friday regis-tered 116 new cases, while twopeople had succumbed to theviral infection, pushing thedeath toll in the city to 33.

With Saturday’s addition,the total number of activecases in the city has gone up to 1,270.

So far, 24,693 people have

been tested in the city, out ofwhich 2,776 have been foundto be positive. Also, 1,471 peo-ple have been cured of theinfection so far. The cases werereported in almost all parts ofthe city.

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The Haryana Police onSaturday arrested an

Inspector General-rank officerfor allegedly assaulting awoman and a man after barg-ing into their homes inPanchkula district.

A spokesperson of the StatePolice department said thatIG (Home Guards) HemantKalson was arrested followingtwo separate complaints fromresidents of Pinjore Fridaynight. Kalson would be pro-duced in a court.

A woman alleged thatKalson, 55, barged into herhome on Friday night andmisbehaved with her and herdaughter. He also assaultedthe daughter, the woman com-plainant told police.

In the second complaint,Satyender Singh, a resident ofRattpur colony, alleged Kalsonentered into his home in an ine-briated state and assaulted him.Acting on the complaint,

Panchkula police bookedKalson under different sectionsof the IPC and arrested him.

The senior police officerhas courted controversy in thepast too. On July 27 this year,Kalson allegedly abused aPinjore woman and wasbooked under IPC Section 509on August 2. In April 2019, hewas placed under suspensionfor firing in the air during elec-tion duty in Tamil Nadu with-out valid explanation.

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Punjab Police Assistant Sub Inspector Jorawar

Singh was on Saturday dis-missed over the viral videoshowing him taking chitta (syn-thetic drug).

Acting on the directives ofChief Minister Capt AmarinerSingh, who also holds theHome portfolio, SSP TarnTaran Dhruman H Nimbalehas issued the notification dis-missing the ASI.

The Chief Minister hasalso warned of strict actionagainst any personnel in uni-form found indulging in crim-inal acts.

Taking serious note of theviral video, also reported by asection of the media on Friday,the Chief Minister had, duringhis #AskCaptain Facebook Livesession, announced his deci-sion to dismiss the ASI after anenquiry.

The enquiry prima facieshowed evidence that the ASI

posted at PS Sarai AmanatKhan, was consuming drugswith the help of a lighter andsilver foil, as seen in the video,according to an officialspokesperson.

The Chief Minister feltthat retention and continuationof ASI Jorawar Singh in servicewould be detrimental to theinterests of the State, policeforce as well as the general pub-lic. The dismissal was necessaryto send a strong message thatthe State Government wouldnot tolerate such criminal prac-tice, especially from those inuniform, felt CaptAmarinder, astatement said.

The spokesperson said notonly was the dismissal essentialto prevent erosion of the policeand government image in theeye of the citizens but also forthe success of the anti-drugsfight of the Captain Amarinderled Government, which haddeclared zero tolerance todrugs immediately after takingover the State’s reins.

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Punjab Government employ-ees on Saturday suspended

their agitation after they wereassured by a minister thatsome of their demands will bemet, according to an office-bearer of the union represent-ing them.

Under the banner of thePunjab State MinisterialServices Union, they had goneon mass casual leave on August 19. They had observeda pen-down strike from August6 to 14 too.

“We have decided to sus-pend our agitation fromSaturday,” union presidentMegh Singh said, adding thatCabinet Minister Tript RajinderSingh Bajwa on Friday assuredthem that some of theirdemands will be met. Singhsaid among their variousdemands, the government hasagreed to do away with a testfor stenographers for promo-tion after attaining 50 years ofage. Besides, the quota for

clerical staff to enable them tobecome excise and taxationofficers will also be revived,said Singh.

“Notifications for thesedemands are expected to beissued on Monday,” said Singh.

On reduction in theirmobile allowance, Singh said ameeting will be held with stategovernment representatives onWednesday. Employees havealso been seeking the rollbackof the decision due to whichnew recruits will be paid on apar with the central scale. Theyhave also been protesting therestructuring of departmentsand demanded the release ofpending instalments of dear-ness allowance, arrears, imple-mentation of the sixth paycommission recommendationsand restoration of the old pen-sion scheme.

On August 19, FinanceMinister Manpreet Singh Badalhad urged them to withdrawtheir agitation to help the stateGovernment in the fight againstthe Covid-19 pandemic.

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Haryana Police arrested1,625 offenders, including

36 most-wanted criminals, whowere not only accused inheinous crime but also carriedreward on their arrest, duringa month-long state-wide driveon criminals. Besides, policearrested 584 persons for hold-ing illegal arms.

Disclosing this, StateDirector General of Police(DGP) Manoj Yadava said thatthe crackdown was a part of aspecial drive conducted to checkcrime rate in the entire State.

A total of 932 POs, 652 bailjumpers and 5 parole jumperswere apprehended during thecrackdown, which began onJuly 16. Among the arrestedoffenders, many of them hadbeen evading arrest for long.

During the drive, the DGPinformed that police alsoarrested 584 persons on thecharges of holding illegal armsthat resulted in recovery of 436illegal pistols, 105 desi katta, 19

revolvers, 2 rifles, 2 guns, 10magazines, 670 cartridges and23 knives. Our strategies arevery clear and any kind ofcriminal and habitual offend-er will not be spared, he added.

Maximum 5 most-wantedcriminals had been arrestedfrom each of Panchkula,Rohtak and Palwal districtsfollowed by 4 from Sonipat and3 each from Narnaul and Nuhdistricts. Our field units includ-ing the Special Task Force havelaunched a special hunt topush the criminals and anti-social elements behind bars.

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The 10-day Ganesh festivalbegan on Saturday under

the shadow of the coronaviruspandemic, with devoteesrestricting celebrations to theirhomes and using online plat-forms to get ‘darshan’ of theLord at temples, amid strictCOVID-19 restrictionsimposed by governments.

The festival, which beginswith grand processions andcollective prayers at deckedup pandals, this year lacked itsusual pomp and show, with theCentre and state governmentsrestricting mass gatherings andmovement in the wake of thepandemic.

Only a limited number ofpeople wearing face masks andgloves, and maintaining socialdistancing installed Ganeshaidols at temples, with devoteeswatching the process online.

The Lalbaugcha Raja,Mumbai’s best-known

Sarvajanik (community)Ganeshotsav Mandal, cancelledthe festival this year in view ofthe pandemic, while Wadala’sGSB Sewa Samiti, consideredone of the richest mandals inthe metropolis, postponed cel-ebrations to ‘Magh ShudhChaturthi’ in February nextyear.

In Madhya Pradesh’sBurhanpur, for the first time inthe last 103 years, the idol ofLord Ganesh could not beinstalled at the Tilak on the firstday of the festival due to theCOVID-19 situation. Freedomfighter Bal Gangadhar Tilakhad started this practice in 1917during his visit to Burhanpurbordering Maharashtra.

“It is after more than a cen-tury that the city has missed onits date with Ganeshiji at TilakHall,” Maharastrian BrahminSamaj president Arun Shendetold PTI. In Maharashtra andits capital Mumbai, the festivalwas missing its pomp and

glory this year.The Maharashtra govern-

ment in its guidelines forGaneshotsav celebrations hassaid that processions shouldnot be taken out beforeinstalling and immersing ofidols. It also said that theheight of idols installed by sar-vajanik mandals and at house-holds should be limited to fourfeet and two feet, respectively,this year.

Mumbai and its neigh-bouring areas have been wit-nessing heavy rains since the last few days.

The downpour continuedon Saturday morning, but peo-ple stepped out to bring homethe idols of the deity amidchants ‘Ganpati bappa moraya’.

The festival of GaneshChaturthi, which is also knownas Vinayaka Chaturthi, marksthe birth of the elephant-head-ed God.

It begins on the fourth day(chaturthi) of the month of

Bhadrapada, the sixth month ofthe Hindu calendar. It con-cludes after 10 days on the dayof Anant Chaturdashi, whenthe idol is submerged in thenearest body of water.

The COVID-19 and grim floodsituation in certain parts ofKarnataka cast their shadow onthe festival this year with lack-lustre celebrations across thestate.

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India has crossed a significantmilestone of testing over 10

lakh samples for Covid-19 in aday, with more than 3.44 croresuch tests conducted so far,while the caseload in the coun-try is nearing the 30 lakh-mark.

As has been reported fromthe states and Union territories(UTs), which have pushedahead with aggressive testing,there is a commensuratedecline in the positivity rate, theUnion health ministry said ina statement on Saturday.

“Although a higher numberof tests will initially lead to arise in the positivity rate, it willeventually come down whencombined with other measuressuch as prompt isolation, effi-cient tracking and timely, effec-tive and clinical management,”the ministry said. U n i o nHealth Minister HarshVardhan said, “Keeping with itspromise of exponentiallyincreasing the number of dailyCovid-19tests, India hascrossed a significant milestoneof testing more than 10 lakhsamples in a day.”

With 10,23,836 Covid-19tests performed on Friday, thecountry has achieved its resolveto test 10 lakh samples daily, headded. The average number ofCovid-19 tests conducted dailyover the last three weeks also

depicts the progress made inincreasing the number of suchtests across the country,Vardhan said.

According to the IndianCouncil of Medical Research(ICMR), on an average,

8,89,935 Covid-19 tests wereconducted daily in the countryduring the last five days.

A total of 3,44,91,073 sam-ples were tested for the diseasein the country till August 21.

India is also testing around74.7 people per one-lakh pop-ulation, much higher than theWorld Health Organization’s(WHO) guidelines of testing 14people per one-lakh popula-tion, the apex health researchbody said.

Of the total 10,23,836 sam-ples tested on Friday, around3.8 lakh were subjected torapid-antigen tests, sourcessaid. Of the total samplestested for COVID-19 so far inthe country, around 28 per centwere subjected to rapid-antigentests, they added.

“In a testament to thedetermined, focussed, consis-tent and coordinated efforts ofthe Centre and the state andUT governments, India hasconducted 1 million tests in aspan of 24 hours. With10,23,836 tests done on Friday,India has achieved its resolve totest 10 lakh samples daily,” theministry said.

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Bihar BJP on Saturday set a target to win three-fourth of seatsfor the NDA in Bihar assembly elections due in October-

November. Stating the target in presence of BJP national generalsecretary Bhupendra Yadav and others, state party president SanjayJaiswal made an appeal to 76 lakh party workers in the state uptoPanchayat level to ensure that the coalition achieves the mark.

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There is a hindrance seen in the construction of thecountry’s first defense corridor. Farmers expressed

dissatisfaction with the compensation given in the acqui-sition of the proposed land for defence corridor at Andalavillage in Aligarh.

In the acquisition of land, government and admin-istration are giving farmers twice as much compensa-tion as the circle rate. Whereas the farmers are demand-ing four times more compensation than the circle rate.

And the farmer here are in a mood to agitate for thecompensation, just like the movement held in Jikarpurand Bhatta Parsaul if their demands are not fulfilled. Inthis movement of farmers, the Indian Farmers Union andCongress have entered. The participation of both havegiven strength to farmers.

Today, farmers had called a panchayat for this move-ment. Despite the vigil of the administration, former MPChaudhary Vijendra Singh and State President ofBharatiya Kisan Union, Chaudhary Harpal Singhreached Andala village for this panchayat but the localadministration did not let the panchayat to happen. Thefarmers then shouted agitation at the Shiva temple in thevillage and said that there will be agitation like JikarpurTappal (Aligarh) and Bhatta Parsol (Gautam Budh Nagar)to get four times more compensation and the movementhas started buzzing. Land acquisition work is going onin Andala village of Aligarh for country’s first defensenational corridor. It may be recalled that farmers had madea big agitation in 2010 for more compensation in lieu ofland acquisition for Yamuna Expressway in bhatta par-sol of gautam budh nagar and jikarpur tappal of Aligarh.When the movement was fierce, there was a clash betweenthe farmers and the police at both places and more than10 farmers were killed by the police in firing.

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KSurendran, chief of Kerala BJP,made a surprise check on the resi-

dential apartments for the poor beingconstructed at Wadakkancherry inThrissur district on Saturday as part ofthe LDF Government’s LIFE Missionand termed it as thoroughly unsafe forpeople to stay.

“This is being touted as a Rs 20crore project by the Government ofKerala. The media advisor to ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan himself hasalleged that Rs 4.5 crore had changedhands as commission. What kind ofsecurity would be there in a high risebuilding like this when it is built withsubstandard materials?” askedSurendran after visiting the apartmentcomplex.

He wanted the Government toconduct a thorough safety audit of thebuilding at the earliest. “If theGovernment fails to do so, the BJP willappoint a safety audit committee ofexperts who would inspect the build-ing,” said the Kerala BJP boss.

He also disclosed that the KeralaGovernment had hired two privateconsultancy firms including KPMG to bid for theThiruvananthapuram Airport and actas the legal consultants.

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Lucknow: The Uttar PradeshLegislature on Saturday passedaround two dozen importantbills, including the one underwhich rioters will have to pay forany damage to property, withoutany discussion, amid a din by theopposition which protested andshouted slogans against the gov-ernment. Once the bills werepassed, presiding officers ofboth the legislative assemblyand legislative council adjournedthe Houses abruptly sine die.The two houses were to con-clude the Monsoon Session onMonday but with the govern-ment completing its legislativeagenda soon, Saturday was thelast seating of the session.

Assembly Speaker HridayNarayan Dixit told PTI, “In all,27 bills were tabled in the assem-bly and passed by the House.”

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The Supreme Court hasextended by a month the

deadline for completion oftrial in the 1992 Babri Masjiddemolition case involving 32accused, including BJP veter-ans LK Advani, MM Joshi andUma Bharti, and said thatjudgement should be deliveredby September 30.

The top court, which hadearlier fixed August 31 as thedeadline for completion ofproceedings including pro-nouncement of the verdict,took note of the report filed byspecial judge S K Yadav in thehigh-profile case.

A bench of justices RF

Nariman, Navin Sinha andIndira Banerjee said, “Havingread the report of SurendraKumar Yadav, learned SpecialJudge, and considering that theproceedings are at the fag end,we grant one month''s time, i.e.,till September 30, 2020, tocomplete the proceedingsincluding the delivery of judg-ment”.

The order was passed onAugust 19 and was uploadedon the apex court websiterecently.

On May 8, the top courthad extended by three monthsthe time for completion of trialin the case and said that judge-ment should be delivered byAugust 31. The special CBI

court at Lucknow has com-pleted the recording of state-ments of the 32 accused undersection 313 of CrPC in thecase.

The mosque in Ayodhyawas demolished on December6, 1992, by ''kar sevaks'' whoclaimed that an ancient Ramtemple stood at the samesite.

Former deputy prime min-ister LK Advani and BJP vet-eran MM Joshi, who wereamong those leading the Ramtemple movement at that time,had deposed before the courtthrough video conferencing.

The court has also record-ed statements of BJP stalwartslike Kalyan Singh and Uma

Bharti, both of whom appearedin person.

Advani''s statement wasrecorded barely days before thegroundbreaking event onAugust 5 for a Ram temple atAyodhya.

Last year, a five-judgeConstitution bench of the topcourt had ruled that the 2.77-acre land claimed by bothHindus and Muslims would behanded over to a trust for thebuilding of a temple.

The court had also orderedthe allocation of a five-acreland at another site in Ayodhyafor building a mosque.

The top court had in Mayasked special judge S K Yadavto control the proceedings in

accordance with law so that thetime-frame is no longerbreached.

It had indicated to thespecial judge to avail the facil-ities of video conferencing tocomplete recording of evi-dence and hearing of applica-tions that are filed during thecourse of trial proceedings.

The top court order waspassed after the special judgehad written a letter seeking anextension of time granted tohim for completing the trial inthe politically sensitive case.

On July 19, last year thetop court had asked the specialjudge to deliver the verdictwithin nine months, whichwas to end this April.

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DMK MP Kanimozhi onSaturday took exception to

reports that Union AyushMinistry Secretary RajeshKotecha asked non-Hindispeaking yoga teachers andmedical practitioners to exit aCentral Government webinar ifthey did not speak or under-

stand the language and hassought probe into the matterwhich she termed “high con-demnable”.

Kanimozhi, who earlierthis month said it was “shame-ful” to equate knowledge ofHindi with nationalism andcalled out an instance of lan-guage bias at an airport, saidthe alleged incident was “high-ly condemnable” and wrote to

Ayush Minister Shripad Naikto demand an inquiry into thematter.

Kanimozhi reminded Naikabout “the promise made bythen Prime Minister JawaharlalNehru... on the floor of the LokSabha that as long as non-Hindi speaking states requireEnglish as an associate lan-guage, it will continue....

“I urge you to order aninquiry... and take actionagainst all officials who haveacted in a manner discrimi-

nating (against) our fellow cit-izens on the basis of language,”she wrote.

The DMK MP also askedthat all officials of the Ministrybe directed to conduct all meet-ings in English, with transla-tions to be made in Hindiwherever and whenever need-ed. The MP took to the twitterto raise the issue and tweetedthat the “Government shouldplace the Secretary under sus-pension and initiate appropri-ate disciplinary proceedings.

How long is this attitude ofexcluding non Hindi speakersto be tolerated ?”

Kotecha said his commentshas been manipulated. Whencontacted Kotecha said that hewas speaking in both the lan-guages but some hooliganssomehow entered the pro-gramme and started shouting.He also alleged that the “videohas been morphed.”

The report also quotedprogramme participants as say-ing they had tried to explain the

language problem , but weretold that they (the speakers)were not fluent in any otherlanguage. In a 40-second videoclip that has been circulatedonline, Kotecha can be seensaying: “Whoever wantsEnglish can leave... I am com-fortable in Hindi and wouldprefer speaking in Hindi...”

Talking to a TV channel,Kanimozhi said it was like“excluding one part of thecountry”. “It is like excludingone part of the country. Why

do you have to do that? You canat least make an effort to putsubtitles. I don't think anyofficer has the right to say, ‘I amgoing to speak only in Hindi,you can leave if you don'tunderstand,” she said.

“Why can’t they make aneffort to learn both languagesso they can communicate witheverybody? We're questioningthe imposition of one lan-guage,” she added.

She also posted a series oftweets on the incident.

“The statement ofSecretary of the UnionMinistry of Ayush Vaidya,Rajesh Kotecha, that non-Hindi speaking participantscould leave during a ministrytraining session, speaks vol-umes about the Hindi domi-nation being imposed. This ishighly condemnable,” she saidin one of her tweets.

The Lok Sabha MP fromTamil Nadu's Thoothukudithen repeated her tweets inTamil.

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Launching a fresh attack onthe Narendra Modi

Government over the Rafalefighter jet deal, formerCongress president RahulGandhi on Saturday said thatmoney was stolen from theIndian exchequer.

Rahul's latest attack onTwitter followed a news report,which he tagged on his handle,that claimed that the Ministryof Defence (MoD) told theComptroller and AuditorGeneral (CAG) that details ofthe off-set deals would beshared by the makers of theRafale — Dassault Aviation —three years after the deal.

Citing sources in the CAGoffice, the report claimed thatinformation regarding offsetcontracts were not shared byMoD.

“Money was stolen fromthe Indian exchequer in Rafale.

‘Truth is one, paths are many,’Mahatma Gandhi,” theCongress leader tweeted, quot-ing Mahatma Gandhi.

Of the 36 Rafale fightersthat India had ordered, the firstbatch of five Rafale jets werereceived last month. The Modigovernment had signed a?59,000-crore deal withDassault in September 2016.

In the run up to the generalelections last year, Rahul hadmade the deal his party’s mainelection plank and allegedfinancial irregularities andcronyism in the way Indian off-set partners, especially AnilAmbani-headed RelianceDefence, were chosen. Thegovernment as well asAmbani's group stronglydenied the allegations.

The former Congress chiefhas been attacking the Modigovernment on a plethora ofissues - from its handling of theCovid pandemic to the face-offwith China in Ladakh from the

economic slowdown to the jobcrisis. The Congress is planningto corner the Government onall these issues in the upcom-

ing monsoon session of theParliament that is likely tocommence from September10.

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With nearly ten rounds oftalks at the military and

diplomatic levels making littleheadway to defuse tension atthe Line of ActualControl(LAC) in Ladakh asChina is not withdrawing itstroops, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh on Saturdayhere reviewed the situationwith the three Services Chiefs,National SecurityAdvisor(NSA)Ajit Doval andChief of DefenceStaff(CDS)General BipinRawat.

While the top brassfavoured continuing dialogueat all levels to break the three-month long logjam, the two-hour meeting insisted Chinadisengage from all the frictionpoints at the earliest as a con-fidence building measure.

The operational readinessof the armed forces was alsoreviewed in case the with-drawal takes time. The likelydeployment of the troops evenduring the winter months inLadakh was discussed as thearmed forces were prepared fora long haul, sources said.

The ministerial level meet-ing came two days after thediplomatic level talks under theaegis of the WorkingMechanism for Co-ordinationand Consultation(WMCC).

Giving details of the fifth roundof parleys since the stand-offsstarted in early May, externalaffairs ministry spokespersonAnurag Srivastava had saidthe two sides had a “candid”and in-depth exchange of viewson the existing situation in theIndia-China border areas.

They reaffirmed that inaccordance with the agree-ments reached between thetwo Foreign Ministers and thetwo Special Representatives(SRs), the two sides will con-tinue to sincerely work towardscomplete disengagement of thetroops along the Line of ActualControl (LAC) in theWestern(Ladakh) Sector. Inthis context they agreed toresolve the outstanding issuesin an “expeditious” mannerand in accordance with theexisting agreements and pro-tocols.

The two sides were inagreement that restoration ofpeace and tranquility in theborder areas would be essentialfor the overall development ofbilateral relations, he said.

The two sides furtheracknowledged the need tomaintain close communicationthrough both the diplomaticand military channels so as toensure complete disengage-ment. In this regard, they alsoagreed to continue their ongo-ing engagements including

through the meetings of theWMCC, Srivastava said.

Sources said India alsoinsisted in the talks its standthat status quo ante be restoredon the LAC and no effort tochange the LAC is acceptable toit. Restoring status quo antemeans that China will have toretreat to its positions across theLAC as they were on April 30.

In this backdrop withdiplomatic level talks alongwith five rounds of military fail-ing to make China withdrawfrom the friction points espe-cially Pangong Tso(lake)andDepang valley, Rajnath wasbriefed about the assessment ofthe armed forces of likelysequence to unfold in the com-ing weeks, sources said.

Not willing to take anychances all along the 4,000 kmlong LAC from Ladakh in thewest to Arunachal Pradesh inthe east, the Indian armedforces in the past weeks had alsoramped up their capabilities.

While the army haddeployed its mountain warfaretrained troops at vantage posi-tions along the LAC for speedymovement, the IAF movedmost of its frontline fighterplanes to the forward basesnear the border. Similarly, theNavy had intensified patrollingin the Indian Ocean regionsince the face-offs lingered todeny any advantage to China.

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Saturday was Atham, the firstday of the 10-days long

Onam festivities, the ‘national’festival of Kerala which hasbecome the State’s biggest shop-ping festival over the years. ButOnam-2020 is all set for awashout was proved as theState diagnosed 2, 172 personswith Covid-19 on Saturday.

Situation is deteriorating inKerala by the hour with moreand more towns and panchay-ats coming under the grip of thepandemic. The day also the

department of health confirm-ing 15 deaths across the Statewere on account of Covid-19.The death toll in Kerala onaccount of coronavirus touchedthe 218 mark on Saturday.

As on Saturday, there were19, 538 persons under treat-ment in the State while Saturdayalone saw the hospitalisation of2,699 persons afflicted withthe pandemic. At the time ofgoing to Press, there are enoughindications that many moreplaces in the State would comeunder Containment Zones. TheGovernment is also planning to

open more liquor outlets tocoincide with the Onam festiv-ities.

A total of 1,964 personscontracted Covid-19 throughlocal transmission while 153patients failed to furnish thesource from where they gotafflicted. The increase in thenumber of health workers inthe State ending up as covid-19patients is a matter of concern.On Saturday, 54 health workerswere tested positive for thepandemic. The number ofhotspots in the State stand at616.

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In a sharp riposte to Congressleader Rahul Gandhi on the

French fighter jet purchasecontroversy, Union MinisterPiyush Goyal on Saturday saidhe is welcome to contest the2024 general elections on theissue and claimed that manyCongressmen felt that theGandhi scion's obsession withthe Rafale deal was “damaging”the party.

Goyal, who is RailwayMinister and a senior BJPleader, claimed that many inthe Congress have confidedthat Rahul’s obsession with

Rafale is damaging the party.“Many of Rahul Gandhi's

Congress colleagues confidein private that Rahul''s obses-sion with Rafale to wash off hisfather''s sins is damaging theparty. But if someone is want-ing to self-destruct, who are weto complain? We invite him tofight the 2024 elections onRafale,” Goyal tweeted.

The controversy over thepurchase of the high-endmulti-purpose French combatplanes , five of which landed inIndia this month amidst highmedia focus, was one of theCongress poll planks in the2019 Lok Sabha poll.

New Delhi: The CBI has bookedKS Oils Ltd, a company based inMadhya Pradesh's Morena, andits directors, includingManaging Director RameshChandra Garg, for alleged Rs938-crore loan fraud in StateBank of India (SBI) and carriedout searches at five locations,officials said Friday.

The factory and registeredoffice of the company inMorena, residences of Garg andanother director Saurabh Gargand its office at BarakhambaRoad, New Delhi were searched

by the agency on Friday, theysaid. Another director ofthe company Devesh Agarwalhas also been booked by the CBIbut no searches were carried outat his premises, they said.

“It was alleged that the find-ings of the forensic audit indi-cated that the financials of thecompany while applying forloan facilities were inflated. Itwas further alleged that theloan amount was misappropri-ated through fraudulent diver-sion,” CBI Spokesperson RKGaur said. PTI

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Vinayaka Chathurthi andthe 381st Foundation Day

of Chennai City turned out tobe a day people would like toforget because of the coron-avirus pandemic. Chennai Dayis an occasion to commemoratethe founding of the city ofMadras (present day Chennai)as it was on August 22, 1,639that the East India Companybought the Chennapattanamfrom the Vijayanagar Empire.

On Madras Day 2020, with

most of the people confined totheir homes and places ofdwelling, the State diagnosed5,980 new Covid-19 patients.The day also saw 80 personsgetting succumbed to the pan-demic with Chennai alonerecording 11 deaths.

The only news that gavesome consolation to TamilNadu was the slight fall in thenumber of positive cases anddeaths from that of Friday.(On Friday, there were 5,995new cases and 101 deaths).

Chennai saw 1,294 newpersons getting diagnosed with

Covid- 19 (slightly more thanthe 1,282 tested positive onFriday) on Saturday. Its neigh-bouring districts Chengalpet (406), Kancheepuram ( 257)and Thiruvallur (3840remained critical showing noabatement in the number ofpatients.

Situation in Coimbatore(389) and Cuddalore ( 309)continued to be issues of con-cern for the Government asnumber of patients remainedcritical. As on Saturdayevening, the State has 53,710active Covid-19 cases.

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After receiving a series ofcomplaints of blockades

in inter-State borders, theCentre on Saturday directed allStates to allow unhinderedmovement of persons andgoods and services.

The Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) told the Statesthat restrictions placed at locallevels by district administra-tions are violation of Centre'sguidelines. There should be norestrictions imposed on inter-State and intra-State move-ment of persons and goods andservices during the presentprevailing Unlock-3 guidelines,the MHA outlined.

“In a communication toChief Secretaries of all Statestoday, the Union Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA) has stat-ed that it has been reported thatlocal level restrictions on move-ment are being imposed by var-ious districts/States. Suchrestrictions are creating prob-lems in inter-State movementof goods and services and areimpacting the supply chain,resulting in disruption of eco-

nomic activities and employ-ment, besides affecting supplyof goods and services,” saidMHA in statement.

The MHA has said suchrestrictions at local levelimposed by DistrictAdministrations or by States,amount to violation of theguidelines issued by the MHAunder the provisions of theDisaster Management Act,2005. Drawing attention to theMHA’s Order dated July 29,2020 specifying Guidelines forUnlock-3, the communicationreiterates that there shall be norestriction on inter-State andIntra-State movement of per-sons and goods. No separatepermission/ approval/ e-permitwill be required for such move-ments. This includes move-ment of persons and goods forcross land border trade underTreaties with neighbouringcountries,” said MHA.

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Aforeign terrorist, believedto be the cadre of Lashkar-

e- Tayyeba hailing fromPakistan, was gunned down bythe joint teams of securityforces in village Check-i-Saloosa Kreeri area ofBaramulla on Saturday.

This is the secondencounter in the same area inthe last five days.

According to a policespokesman, “the operation waslaunched by the joint teams ofsecurity forces on the receipt ofinformation about the presenceof terrorists in the area onSaturday”.

The police spokesman said,during the search operation asthe presence of terrorists gotascertained they were given theopportunity to surrender, how-

ever they fired indiscriminate-ly upon the joint search party,which was retaliated leading toan encounter”.

In the ensuing encounter,01 terrorist was killed and hisbody was retrieved from thesite of the encounter.

Police spokesman claimed,“Although the affiliation of thekilled terrorist is being ascer-tained, reliable sources indicatethat the killed terrorist is Anees@Chotu Sultan, a Pak nation-al affiliated with LeT”.

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Five more people died inRajasthan due to coron-

avirus on Saturday, taking thedeath toll to 938, while 612fresh cases pushed the tally inthe state to 68,566, a healthdepartment official said.

Out of the fresh deaths,three were reported in Jaipurand one each in Kota andTonk, he said.

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman onSaturday said the CAG report on

defence offset performance will be tabledin the forthcoming session of Parliament.The report of the Comptroller and AuditorGeneral of India (CAG) on offset perfor-mance was scheduled to be tabled in thelast session of Parliament but could not bedone as the session had to be curtailed fol-lowing the outbreak of coronavirus pan-demic.

“The C&AG Report No 20 of2019...Defence Offset Performance wasscheduled to be tabled in Parliament dur-

ing the budget session (2020). The session ended, before date, due to

COVID. Now the report will be placed inthe next session. The contents will beknown only after that,” Sitharaman said ina series of tweets. Observing that thefirst Rafale fighter jet was handed over toIndia in October 2019, the minister said,“There is a year-wise phasing of how muchoffset obligation the companies/OEMshave to fulfill. MoD informs me that claimsof such obligations being fulfilled are com-ing in.”

Last month, India received the first setof five Rafale fighters from France. In the36 aircraft deal, signed for around Rs

58,000 crore, Dassault Aviation has agreedto provide all fighters in a fly away con-dition between 36 to 67 months from thedate of signing of the inter-governmentalagreement in 2016.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi onSaturday made a fresh attack on the gov-ernment over the Rafale fighter aircraftdeal.

In a tweet, Gandhi quoted a source-based news report which claimed that theCAG has submitted its performance auditon defence offset contracts to the gov-ernment with no mention of any offsetdeals related to the purchase of Rafale air-craft.

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Unfazed by criticism overhis stand favouring

Centre's decision to lease outthe airport here to AdaniEnterprises, senior Congressleader Shashi Tharoor said onSaturday privatisation wouldhelp expand its potential andattract investors.

The congress MP had facedflak not only from the Left par-ties but even from his ownparty for his stand favouringprivatisation of the Trivandrumairport. “Dear @drthoma-sisaac, thanks4yr thoughtfulcriticism of my stand onTvmAirport. I think you missthe point, which is not aboutrevenue. It is about expand-ing the potential of the airportto its fullest, there by providinga better facility to businesses &locals & attracting investors,”Tharoor tweeted on Saturday inreply to a tweet by state FinanceMinister Thomas Isaac.

Isaac had earlier tweetedthat Tharoor was “vocal forprimitive accumulation of cor-porates in contemporaryIndia.” “...Tharoor is so elo-quent against primitive accu-mulation of British in India butso vocal for primitive accu-mulation of corporates in con-temporary India. When wehave successful model of CIALin Kochi why does Tharoorconsider Adani is indispensablefor TVM? #airportprivatisa-tion.

“Thiruvananthapuram air-port privatised to Adani reject-ing the claim of Kerala govt,even after offer to matchAdanis rate.PMOs promise toaccept Kerala proposal broken.

People of Kerala will notaccept this act of brazen crony-ism.#Airportprivatisation,”Isaac had tweeted on August20.

Tharoor in his tweet todaysaid the Airport Authority ofIndia receives Rs 2,500 croreyearly.

“But since you mentionrevenue, in Delhi airport,@GMR agreed to give 46% rev-enue share to@AAI_Official, ahuge amount the Govt hadnever made before. Today forMumbai and Delhi airports,AAI gets 2500 crores yearly.And for Thiruvananthapuram,there are the additional bene-

fits of attracting businesses toour city that are now deterredby our poor (& worsening) airconnectivity.

The spinoff benefits inemployment & income gener-ation will also increase thestate govt's tax revenues,”Tharoor said.

The Union cabinet had onWednesday approved the pro-posal for leasing out airports atJaipur, Guwahati andThiruvananthapuram throughpublic-private partnership(PPP) for a 50 yearperiod.Adani Enterprises had wonthe rights to run six airports -- Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur,M a n g a l u r u ,Thiruvananthapuram, andGuwahati -- through the PPPmodel after a competitive bid-ding process in February 2019.

The CPI(M)-led LDF gov-ernment and the UDF spear-headed by the oppositionCongress had opposed the cen-tre's decision and an all partymeeting called by ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan onAugust 20 had demanded itswithdrawal.

Earlier Tharoor had comeout in support of the centre'sdecision and said “a privateentity running the operationscompetitively is the only waythis airport could flourish.”

“The people ofThiruvananthapuram want afirst-class airport worthy ofthe city's history, status andpotential.In this context, a deci-sion, however, controversial, ispreferable to the long delay wehave suffered,” he had said in atweet.

However, Congress partystate chief MullappallyRamachandran had criticisedTharoor's stand and said therewas no need for anyone to sup-port a corporate giant and themove to privatise the airportwas “deplorable”.

“We need to protest inorder to force the centre towithdraw this decision.None ofus need to be in the payroll ofthese corporate giants,”Ramachandran had said onThursday.PTI

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Kathmandu: China’s expan-sionist designs is going onunchecked in Nepal as it isslowly and gradually encroach-ing Nepali land at multiplelocations with the tacit supportof the present dispensationheaded by Prime Minister KPSharma Oli.

According to a report bythe Survey Department ofAgriculture Ministry of Nepal,China has illegally occupiedNepal’s land in several placesspreading over seven borderingdistricts. The report statedBeijing is fast moving forwardand further pushing Nepaliboundaries by encroachingmore and more landmass.

It is important to note thatthe data is being under-report-ed and the actual scenariocould be worse as the NepaliCommunist Party (NCP) istrying to shield the expan-sionist agenda of the ChineseCommunist Party (CCP).

It is believed that China hasmade inroads into several otherareas of Nepal, occupied land,

and slowly progressing withinthe country. Prime Minister KPOli government has preferredto keep mum over the ‘’illegaloccupation’’ of the village byChina under fears of displeas-ing the CCP.

The Nepali, districts whichare victims of China’’s land-grabbing plan includingDolakha, Gorkha, Darchula,Humla, Sindhupalchowk,Sankhuwasabha and Rasuwa.

According to the surveyingand mapping department ofNepal, China has pushed theinternational boundary 1,500

meters towards Nepal inDolakha.

It has pushed the boundarypillar Number 57 in theKorlang area in Dolakha, whichwas previously located at top ofKorlang.

The pillar has been anissue of confrontation betweenthe two countries and Chinapressurised the Nepali gov-ernment not to sign the fourthprotocol on resolving and man-aging border disputes betweenthe two countries as Chinawanted to maintain the statusquo and further transgress the

boundary arrangements.The surveying and map-

ping department has alsoreported that China has occu-pied Nepali villages in Gorkhaand Darchula districts. Similarto Dolakha, China has relocat-ed Boundary Pillar Numbers35, 37 and 38 in Gorkha districtand Boundary Pillar Number62 in Nampa Bhanjyang inSolukhumbu.

The first three pillars werelocated in Gorkha’’s Rui villageand areas of Tom River. ThoughNepal’’s official map shows thevillage as a part of Nepali ter-ritory and citizens of the villagehave been paying taxes to Nepalgovernment, China had occu-pied the region and merged itwith the Tibet AutonomousRegion of China in 2017.

Similarly, the HumanRights Commission has report-ed that a portion of the JiujiuVillage of Darchula has alsobeen occupied by China.

Numerous houses thatused to be a part of Nepal havebeen now taken over by China

and assimilated into theChinese territory.

Besides the reports of landgrabbing by the two Nepaliagencies, the Ministry ofAgriculture also recently cameup with a report highlightingmultiple cases of land grabbingby China.

The Ministry reportedabout China’’s occupation ofNepali land in at least 11 placesfalling under four Nepali dis-tricts. Most of the areas occu-pied in these districts are catch-ment areas of rivers, includingareas of Bhagdare river inHumla, Karnali river, Sanjenriver, and Lemde river inRasuwa; Bhurjug river, Kharaneriver, and Jambu river inSindhupalchowk, Bhotekoshiriver and Samjug river inSankhuwasabha; Kamkholariver and Arun river.

Nepal has refrained itselffrom going ahead with theborder talks with China since2005 as the Nepali governmentdoes not want to offend Chinaby reclaiming Nepali land and

at the same time dodge criti-cism at the domestic front forlosing territory to China. TheNepali government has alsosuspended the 2012 bordertalks to save itself from gettinginto an indecisive situation.

In June, members of theopposition Nepali Congressmoved a resolution in theHouse of Representatives, thelower house of the NepaleseParliament, asking the OliGovernment to restore thecountry’’s territory, which hadbeen encroached upon byChina.

The Nepali Congress law-makers alleged that China hadencroached 64 hectares of landin Dolakha, Humla,S i n d h u p a l c h o w k ,Sankhuwasabha, Gorkha andRasuwa districts of the country.

They alleged that few of thetotal 98 boundary pillars alongthe 1414.88 km long borderbetween Nepal and China hadgone missing while several oth-ers had been shifted inside theterritory of Nepal. AGENCY

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Washington: President DonaldTrump spent the week of theDemocratic NationalConvention forsaking what hashistorically been an incum-bent’s greatest advantage: He’sin the job his challenger wants.

Traditionally, an incum-bent would devote the week ofhis rival’s convention to bol-stering his own credentials asa leader. But rather than focus-ing on his command of the jobor using its power, Trump hitthe campaign trail, where heflouted his own administra-tion’s pandemic safety guidanceand expressed gratitude forsupport from adherents to anextremist conspiracy theory,QAnon.

It was a consequence ofTrump’s unwillingness to sharethe limelight, but also a neces-sary attempt to shift theNovember campaign from areferendum on his job perfor-mance to a choice betweenhimself and Joe Biden.

Ten weeks out fromElection Day, as the coron-avirus pandemic has ravagedTrump’s reelection chances,aides have recognized that avote on his presidency is notone he is likely to win.

Acting “presidential” —holding briefings and leadingnegotiations — won’t suit him,in the view of many aides, if hispresidency is what is holdinghim back.

Trump is not hoping to winover converts. Instead hisreelection strategy hinges onhis ability to animate his mostloyal supporters with fears of a

Democratic administration,motivating them to show up atthe polls and attempting to turnaway moderates who might beleaning toward voting for JoeBiden.

“Where is it written thatyou have to stay home and letyour opponent attack you for aweek?” said Trump campaigncommunications director TimMurtaugh.

“The president is a fighterand one who fights back, andthat’s what he was doing.” Thedynamic will be on display nextweek as Trump prepares for hisown convention.

While he is set to rely onthe trappings of the office –including the unprecedenteduse of the South Lawn as thebackdrop for his acceptancespeech – the crux of his mes-sage is expected to be sound-ing the alarm over the conse-quences of a Biden victory.

“No one will be safe in ourcountry, and no one will bespared,” he said Friday. Sensingvulnerability, Democrats spenttheir convention hammeringTrump’s fitness for the job hecurrently occupies, with formerPresident Barack Obamadeclaring that Trump has “nointerest in treating the presi-dency as anything but onemore reality show that he canuse to get the attention hecraves.”

“Donald Trump hasn’tgrown into the job because hecan’t,” Obama said bluntly. Inappearances this week, Trumpat times seemed to be trying toprove their point. AP

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New York: The world hit agrim coronavirus milestoneSaturday with 800,000 con-firmed deaths and close to 23million confirmed cases.

That’s according to a tallykept by Johns HopkinsUniversity. Governments havebeen attempting to balancepublic health with economichealth.

Officials believe the truenumbers are far higher becauseof a lack of testing and report-ing. In the U.S., the nation withthe most infections, healthofficials believe there may be10 times more cases than theconfirmed 5.6 million. TheU.S. Also leads the world indeaths, with more than175,000.

The news comes as SouthKorea, once considered a coro-navirus success story, bannedlarge gatherings, shutnightspots and churches andbanned fans from profession-al sports to slow a viral resur-gence. Germany, which alsoinitially slowed the virus,reported a four-month high ofmore than 2,000 cases onSaturday. Schools therereopened two weeks ago, andat least 41 schools this weekreported students or teacherswere infected. AP

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Berlin: The head of the UN’satomic watchdog agency willhead to Tehran next week topress Iranian authorities foraccess to sites where the coun-try is thought to have stored orused undeclared nuclear mate-rial, the organisation saidSaturday.

It will be the first visit toIran of International AtomicEnergy Agency DirectorGeneral Rafael Grossi since hetook office last December, andcomes amid intense interna-tional pressure on the countryover its nuclear program.

The focus will be on accessto sites thought to be from theearly 2000s, before Iran signedthe 2015 nuclear deal withworld powers. Iran maintainsthe IAEA inspectors have nolegal basis to inspect the sites.

“My objective is that mymeetings in Tehran will lead toconcrete progress in addressingthe outstanding questions thatthe agency has related to safe-guards in Iran and, in particu-lar, to resolve the issue of access,”Grossi said in a statement.

“I also hope to establish afruitful and cooperative chan-nel of direct dialogue with theIranian government which willbe valuable now and in thefuture.” The Iranian delegationto international organizations in

Vienna tweeted that “we hopethis visit will lead to reinforcedmutual cooperation.”

Since President DonaldTrump unilaterally pulled theU.S. Out of the nuclear dealwith Iran in 2018, the othercountries involved — France,Britain, Germany, Russia andChina — have been strugglingto keep it alive. The deal, knownas the Joint ComprehensivePlan of Action, or JCPOA,promises Iran economic incen-tives in exchange for curbs onits nuclear program.

But with the reinstatementof some American sanctions,Iran’s economy has been steadi-ly deteriorating and Tehranhas begun violating provisionsof the agreement to try to pres-sure the other countries to domore to offset those sanctions.

At the same time, Iran has con-tinued to provide IAEA inspec-tors with access to its nuclearfacilities — one of the majorreasons the countries still partyto the agreement stress it’simportant to keep it alive.

Last week, the US ratchetedup the pressure, officiallyinforming the United Nationsit was demanding the restora-tion of all UN sanctions on Iran,arguing that Iran is in non-compliance and invoking aprovision of the nuclear deal to“snap back” even more sanc-tions. Russia, China, Britain,France and Germany, whooften disagree, all declared theUS action illegal, arguing it isimpossible to withdraw from adeal and then use the resolutionthat endorsed it to re-imposesanctions. AP

Berlin: Russian dissidentAlexei Navalny, who is in acoma after a suspected poi-soning, arrived in Berlin on a special flight on Saturday for treatment by specialists at the German capital’s mainhospital.

A representative of theNGO that arranged the flightconfirmed that the plane hadlanded and that Navalny was instable condition.

“Navalny is in Berlin,” JakaBizilj, of the German organi-zation Cinema For Peace, toldThe Associated Press.

“He survived the flight andhe’s stable.” He said all otherinformation on the 44-year-old’s health would have tocome from his family and theGerman doctors now lookingafter him.

After touching downshortly before 9 a.M. At a spe-cial area of the capital’s Tegelairport used for governmentand military flights, Navalnywas taken by ambulance to thedowntown campus of Berlin’sCharite hospital.

Navalny, a politician andcorruption investigator who isone of Russian PresidentVladimir Putin’s fiercest critics,was admitted to an intensive

care unit in the Siberian city ofOmsk on Thursday.

His supporters believe thattea he drank was laced withpoison — and that the Kremlinis behind both his illness andthe delay in transferring him toa top German hospital.

When German specialistsarrived aboard a planeequipped with advanced med-ical equipment Friday morningat his family’s behest, Navalny’sphysicians in Omsk initiallysaid he was too unstable tomove.

Navalny’s supportersdenounced that as a ploy byauthorities to stall until any poi-son in his system would nolonger be traceable.

The Omsk medical teamrelented only after a charity thathad organized the medevacplane revealed that the Germandoctors examined the politicianand said he was fit to be trans-ported.

Deputy chief doctor of theOmsk hospital AnatolyKalinichenko then toldreporters that Navalny’s con-dition had stabilized and thatphysicians “didn’t mind” trans-ferring the politician, giventhat his relatives were willing“to take on the risks.” AP

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Washington: More than a dozenjournalists with the US government’spremier international broadcastermay soon be forced to leave theUnited States as their visas expire withno action from the agency’s new lead-ership.

Some 16 Voice of America jour-nalists will have to return to theirnative countries in the coming weeksunless the government agrees toeither renew their visas or extendgrace periods for them to depart,according to congressional aides.Several of the journalists, from Chinaand Indonesia notably, could face dif-ficulties at home because of theirwork for VOA, the aides said.

Rep Eliot Engel, the chairman ofthe House Foreign AffairsCommittee, complained Friday thatthe US Agency for Global Media,which oversees VOA and its sisteroutlets, had ignored congressionalrequests for an explanation as to why

the usually routine visa renewals hadnot been processed.

In addition, he said not even theaffected journalists had been givendetails of their status. There areroughly 80 foreign VOA employeesin the United States, but the docu-ments of the 16 are among the firstto come up for renewal, according tocongressional aides who were notauthorized to discuss the matterpublicly and spoke on condition ofanonymity.

Engel, D-N.Y., also appealed tothe departments of State andHomeland Security to extend graceperiods for those journalists whosevisas have already expired so they arenot forced to leave without having thetime to make adequate arrangements.

“It’s unconscionable that a USgovernment agency would createsuch fear and uncertainty for peoplewhom we asked to do a job,” Engelsaid in a statement. AP

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Top West African officials arearriving in Mali’s capital follow-

ing a coup in the nation this week tomeet with the junta leaders and thedeposed president in efforts to nego-tiate a return to civilian rule.

The mediation efforts onSaturday come a day after thousandsof Malians took to the streets ofBamako, the capital city, to celebratethe coup.

The West African regional blocknown as ECOWAS has strongly con-demned the coup and said the high-level delegation will work “to ensurethe immediate return of constitu-tional order.”

ECOWAS also demanded thereinstatement of deposed presidentIbrahim Boubacar Keita.

ECOWAS had said it is mobiliz-

ing a regional military force, an indication that it is preparing for a military intervention in case its negotiations with the junta lead-ers fail.

The high-level delegation is tohold talks with the junta, includingCol. Assimi Goita, who has declaredhimself the group’s leader.

Later the regional delegation willmeet with Keita and the otherdetained officials, according to theECOWAS program.

The widespread support for thecoup shown by the demonstration inBamako Friday means the junta mayargue to the ECOWAS delegation thatthey enjoy popular support.

The coup occurred on Tuesdaywhen soldiers detained the presidentand forced him to resign and to dis-solve the National Assembly and gov-ernment.

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Jaipur: Chief Minister ShriAshok Gehlot said every per-son dreams of having his ownhouse. The RajasthanGovernment is committed torealise this dream of the peo-ple. He said Rajasthan HousingBoard should work with mis-sion spirit in this direction,focusing on quality, timelinessand expansion.

Gehlot was addressing thefoundation stone and inaugu-ration ceremony of 25 projectsof Rajasthan Housing Boardthrough video conference at theChief Minister’s residence onSaturday. He inaugurated 14housing schemes and 4 ChiefMinister Jan Awas Yojana andlaid the foundation stone for 7projects as well as his booklets.He also launched Rana SangaMarket, Pratap Nagar, Jaipur. On this occasion, theChief Minister launched themobile app ‘RHB Sajag’ forquality control and released thebooklet.

Residential plans should bedeveloped according to theexpectations and expectationsof the public.

The Chief Minister saidthat providing quality housingto the economically weakerand minority sections of thesociety is also a part of goodgovernance. Housing boardhas a big role in this. He saidthat with the hope and expec-tations of the people, theHousing Board should do mas-ter planning for housingschemes across the state, so thatthe purpose with which theHousing Board was set up 50years ago can be realised.

The board got new life dueto the will of the government.Gehlot said the Rajasthan

Housing Board was seen as awhite elephant in the previousgovernment and had come toclose it, but the will of the cur-rent state government and thededication of the officers andemployees of the HousingBoard to work The result of thisis that the board has got new life.In the future, the Board shouldwork with this spirit to strength-en its goodwill. Expressing hap-piness at the inauguration ofnew projects, he said that thiswill not only give people a ter-race, but will also provide facil-ities like parks, coaching hubs,open gyms, open theater, foodcourts, walk-way.

Urban Development andHousing Minister ShantiDhariwal said that it is theresult of the public-friendlythinking of the Chief Ministerthat today the project of biggardens like City Park in Jaipuris taking concrete shape. At thesame time, the dream of own-ing houses for the economicallyweaker sections is coming true.He said that the HousingBoard, which is on the verge ofclosure, is running fast todaydue to the efforts of the StateGovernment.

Giving the presentation,Commissioner of HousingBoard Pawan Arora said that inlast ten months, Rajasthan

Housing Board has earned rev-enue of about 1400 crores byselling various residential andcommercial properties, whichis a big achievement. He saidthat along with revenue acqui-sition, the board has tried togive them a concrete form bytaking many useful decisions.

On this occasion, the ChiefMinister added a Kalpavrikshato be planted in the City Park,Mansarovar on his own behalf,handed over to theCommissioner and started theplantation program. Also, UrbanDevelopment and HousingMinister Shanti Dhariwal andPawan Arora were entrusted toplant the Rudraksha plant in thecity park. Around 21 thousandsaplings will be planted in thecity park.

Chief Secretary RajivSwaroop, Additional ChiefSecretary Finance NiranjanArya, Information and PublicRelations CommissionerMahendra Soni and othersenior officers were present onthe occasion.

These 14 housing schemesinaugurated

1. Vatika ResidentialScheme, Sanganer, Jaipur

2. Mahla ResidentialScheme, Ajmer Road, Jaipur

3.Mahatma Jyotirao PhuleResidential Scheme, Nasirabad

(Ajmer)4. Niwai Residential

Scheme, Niwai (Tonk)5. Chief Minister State

Employees Housing Scheme,Pratap Nagar, Jaipur

6. Weekend HomeRegistration Scheme-2020,Nayala, Jaipur

7. Patel Nagar Extension-Part-2 Residential Scheme,Bhilwara

8. Shahpura ResidentialScheme, Bhilwara

9.Shastri Nagar ResidentialScheme, Bhilwara

10. Atal Nagar HousingScheme, Bhinder, Udaipur

11. Dwarkapuri Yojna,Savina II and South ExtensionResidential Plan - Udaipur

12. Mahatma GandhiSambal Residential Scheme,Badli, Jodhpur

13. Manpur Housing

Scheme, Aburod City, DistrictSirohi

14.Khoda Ganesh PhaseIV Housing SchemeKishangarh (Ajmer)

Four Chief Minister publichousing schemes inaugurated

1. Chief Minister JanAwaas Yojana, Sector-3, PratapNagar, Jaipur

2. Chief Minister JanAwaas Yojana, Sector-28,Pratap Nagar, Jaipur

3. Chief Minister JanAwaas Yojana, Sector-7 (GH.3),Indira Gandhi Nagar, Jaipur

4.Chief Minister Jan AwaasYojana, Sector-7 (GH4), IndiraGandhi Nagar, Jaipur

The foundation stone of these7 schemes

1. Coaching Hub, PratapNagar, Jaipur

2. City Park, Mansarovar,Jaipur

3. Mahatma GandhiSambal Residential Scheme,Badli, Jodhpur

4. Jodhpur Chowpatty,Jodhpur

5. Kota Chowpatty, Kota6.Community Center,

Sector-3 Pratap Nagar, Jaipur7. Community Centre,

Sector-26 Pratap Nagar, Jaipur

New Delhi: Punjab NationalBank, India’s second-largestpublic sector bank todayannounced its financial resultfor the Quarter ended 30th June2020. The bank recorded a Netprofit of Rs 308 crore. GlobalBusiness of the bank reached Rs17,96,612Crore. The amalga-mation process ison coursewith the rollout of verticalisedorganisational structure, com-pletion of harmonisation ofprocess, augmented capacity,capability, and outreach.

Operating profit grew by2.5% on a YOY basis to Rs.5,280 Crore in Q1 FY’21.CRARas on June 30, 2020, improvedto 12.63%. Gross NPA ratio is

at 14.11% as on June 20 asagainst 15.49% in June 19.

Net NPA ratio reduced to5.39% as on June 20 down from5.51% as on March 20 and6.97% as on June 19.ProvisionCoverage Ratio (PCR)improved to 80.75% as on June20 from 70.37% as on June19.Internet Banking userscrossed 233 lakh.

UPI transactions increasedby 76% YOY to 19.16Crore.POS installed increasedYOY by 17.78% to 88,204.Bharat/BHIM QR Codeinstalled increased YOY by139% to 1,73,958.

The bank has rolled out averticalised organisation struc-

ture to improve operationalefficiency and provide steadygrowth momentum. Businessand control functions havebeen segregated to have afocused approach for businessdevelopment and improve cus-tomer service.DepartmentalVerticals at Head Office havebeen re-organised, and thenumber of Zonal Offices &Circle Offices have beenincreased to 24 and 161,respectively.57 CustomerAcquisition Centers for focus-ing on liability business fromCorporates, Institutions, HNIs,NRIs, including WealthManagement and RetailBusiness.

���� ����� �

The Finance Ministry onSaturday said 24 proposals

worth Rs 8,594 crore of stressedNBFCs and HFCs have beensanctioned under the specialliquidity scheme announced aspart of the Rs 20.97 lakh crore‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ package.

The scheme, which waslaunched on July 1, permitsboth primary and secondarymarket purchases of debt andseeks to address the short-term liquidity issues of non-banking financial companies(NBFCs) and housing financecompanies (HFCs).

Sharing implementationstatus update of the Rs 30,000crore Special Liquidity Scheme(SLS), Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman in a tweetsaid that 24 proposals with atotal sanctioned amount of Rs8,594 crore have been clearedas on August 21, while 17more applications seekingfinancing of up to Rs 3,684.5crore are under process.

“The amount disbursedstood at Rs 3,279 crore as on21.08.2020. Compared to07.08.2020, there is an increaseof Rs 2,195 crore in the amountsanctioned & an increase of Rs2,279 crore in the amount dis-bursed,” she tweeted.

NBFCs and HFCs cameunder stress following a seriesof defaults by IL&FS groupfirms in September 2018.

NBFCs including microfi-nance institutions registeredunder the RBI Act, 1934(excluding those registered as

Core Investment Companies)and any HFC registered withthe National Housing Bankunder the National HousingBank Act, 1987, which is com-plying with certain specifiedconditions, are eligible to raisefunding from this facility.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has provided funds forthe scheme by subscribing togovernment-guaranteed spe-cial securities issued by a trustset up by SBI Capital MarketsLtd (SBICAP).

The scheme is being imple-mented by SLS Trust, the SPVset up by SBICAP. The spe-cial liquidity scheme is open forthree months for making sub-scriptions by the Trust.

Under the scheme, thegovernment will provide anunconditional and irrevocableguarantee to the special secu-rities issued by the Trust.

The instruments will becommercial papers and non-convertible debentures with aresidual maturity of not morethan three months and rated asinvestment grade.

������ ���4<������;

Jeff Wilke, the CEO ofAmazon’s worldwide con-

sumer division, is set to retireearly next year after serving thecompany for over two decades.

Dave Clark, Amazon’sSenior Vice President of RetailOperations, will succeed Wilke,Amazon said in a statement on Friday.

In a memo to employees,Amazon Founder and CEO JeffBezos called Wilke his “tutor”.

Wilke, who joined thecompany in 1999, is often cred-ited with shaping the logisticssystem that the e-commercegiant has today.

“When you see us takingcare of customers, you canthank Jeff for it,” Bezos said inthe memo, announcing Wilke’sdeparture from the company.

“Jeff ’s legacy and impactwill live on long after hedeparts. He is simply one ofthose people without whomAmazon would be completelyunrecognisable,” the AmazonCEO said.

In a message to Amazonteams around the world, Wilkesaid that “it’s just time” for him“to take time to explore per-sonal interests that have takena back seat for over twodecades.”

“I’m planning to retire inQ1 of next year. I don’t have anew job, and am as happy withand proud of Amazon as ever,”Wilke said.

Several top Amazon exec-utives have recently announcedtheir plans to leave the com-pany including Vice Presidentof Robotics Brad Porter, TheVerge reported.

���� � ����� �

State-run power generationcompany NTPC proposes to

set up a wholly-owned sub-sidiary to house its growingrenewable energy portfolio sothat more focus is broughtinto the business that holds the potential of being thenext growth engine for thecompany.

The company, which hadinstalled a generation capacityof close to 63,000 ME, propos-es to have 32,000 ME of renew-able energy capacity under itshold by 2032. It already has5,000 MW of commissionedrenewable energy projects in its fold under the develop-er-mode model.

The NTPC has secured abid from NITI Aayog andDisinvestment departmentDIPAM for its new renewableenergy subsidiary and propos-es to carve out the new entitysoon after taking the board’sapproval and shareholders’nod. The capital structure of the new subsidiary will beworked out later.

“...concurrence had beenobtained from NITI Aayog,Government of India (GoI)and Department of Investmentand Public Asset Management(DIPAM), Ministry of Finance(MoF), Government of India,for formation of a wholly-owned subsidiary for NTPCrenewable energy business.The aforesaid wholly-ownedsubsidiary will be incorporat-ed under the provisions of theCompanies Act, 2013,” NTPC informed the exchangeson Friday.

Chennai: In a share swap deal,non-life insurer ICICILombard General InsuranceCompany will acquire the busi-ness of Bharti AXA GeneralInsurance Company Ltd.

In a regulatory filing lateFriday, ICICI Lombard said theboards of the two companies —ICICI Lombard and BhartiAXA General — had met onFriday and approved enteringinto definitive agreements fordemerger of Bharti AXA’s non-life insurance business intoICICI Lombard through aScheme of Arrangement.

According to ICICILombard, the shareholders ofBharti AXA General willreceive two shares of ICICILombard for every 115 sharesof Bharti AXA General held bythem as on the date on whichthe Scheme of Arrangement isapproved by the Board ofDirectors of the two compa-nies. The share exchange ratiowas recommended by inde-pendent valuers and acceptedby the boards of the two com-panies, ICICI Lombard said.

Under the terms of theagreement, AXA and Bhartiwill receive a total of 35.8 mil-lion shares of ICICI Lombardon closing, which would rep-resent 521 million euros, at cur-rent market value — the clos-ing price of ICICI Lombardshares on August 21, AXAsaid in a statement. Accordingto ICICI Lombard, the pro-posed transaction would enableit to consolidate its marketand become the third largestnon-life insurer in the countrywith a market share of about8.7 per cent. IANS

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��*����� �#�@$��/�� <� ������������ ���� �"����� ��9<� ���Mumbai: Optimism over thedevelopment of Covid-19 vac-cine along with broad-basedgrowth trends is expected toinduce volatility in the rupee’svalue during the short term.

The US Fed’s FOMC min-utes, US-China trade talks,and expectations on Q1 GDPrate will be the other key fac-tors steering the rupee. Lastweek, the rupee strengthenedto Rs 74.85 against a greenback.

“Expect next week range atRs 74.60 to Rs 75.10 with someappreciation bias,” said SajalGupta, Head, Forex and Rates,Edelweiss Securities. “FY21 Q1

GDP numbers are expected toshow contraction between 15-20 per cent and any positivesurprise could help the marketsentiments.” According toAnindya Banerjee, DVP,Currency and Rates, KotakSecurities: “Dollar is going tobe range-bound due to lack oftriggers.”

“The RBI interventionbelow Rs 74.80 and exporterselling above Rs 75.30 maykeep it between Rs 74.50 andRs 75.50 per dollar for themedium term.”

The Reserve Bank of Indiais known to enter the markets

via intermediaries to eithersell or buy US dollars to keepthe rupee in a stable orbit.

“This week the movementin USD/INR spot has mainlybeen dollar driven and the spottraded in a very tight range.Going ahead, insights into howthe US economy is recoveringfrom the coronavirus pandem-ic, optimism over vaccine, alongwith uncertainty regarding theUS-China trade talks will keepplaying out on the USD/INRpair,” said Rahul Gupta, Head of Research-Currency,Emkay Global FinancialServices. IANS

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Page 8: ˝! ( ) ˇ...2020/08/23  · Delhi, and West Bengal-have collectively contributed more than two million cases. India has been reporting the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases globally

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The national camp for wom-ens wrestlers, that was

scheduled to be held at theSports Authority of India (SAI)centre in Lucknow fromSeptember 1, has now beenpostponed. SAI on Saturdaysaid that new dates for the campwill be “intimated in due course”.

Wrestling Federation ofIndia (WFI) Secretary GeneralVinod Tomar said that thedecision was made after theelite wrestlers started pullingout of the camp.

“Our idea was to hold anational camp for elite

wrestlers, only 15-16 girlswere going to be there andwhen some say they can’tattend, others follow suit. Nowwe want to avoid a situationwhere we force them to comeby threatening disciplinaryaction and then somethinghappens to them, responsibil-ity for that will fall on ourheads,” Tomar said.

Tomar said while AsianGames Gold medallist VineshPhogat had told the federationin writing that she won’t beable to attend the camp, DivyaKakran informed the headcoach of the same. OlympicBronze medallist Sakshi Malik

meanwhile had said that thelack of training partnerswould make it difficult for herto train in Lucknow.

“We will assess the situa-tion next week but chances arethat nothing will take place atleast for the next 15 days,”Tomar said.

He, however, also saidthat the men’s national campwhich is set to start onSeptember 1 at the SAI centrein Sonipat is on course to starton the scheduled date.

Three wrestlers each fromsix Olympic categories (57kg,65kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg,125kg) will train.

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Manchester United andEngland defender Harry

Maguire’s trial on charges ofassault and attempted briberyhas been postponed untilTuesday after he testified beforea prosecutor.

The three defendants arenot obliged to attend the trialand are free to return home, theprosecutor’s office said onSaturday.

United captain Maguire, leftthe court building in anunmarked van for an undis-closed destination. He and thetwo other defendants werecharged with multiple instancesof assault and battery in regardto a fight they had with others

on Mykonos, an island in theCyclades group in the AegeanSea.

Police tried to break up thefight. Maguire and anotherdefendant are also charged withattempted bribery and assaultagainst a policeman.

��;� ����� Serena Williamsbelieves the withdrawal of someof the world’s top tennis playersfrom this year’s US Open amidthe Covid-19 pandemic willnot take the shine off a poten-tial record-equalling24th Grand Slamtitle for her.

Six of the top10 women’s play-ers, includingdefending champion Andreescuand world No 1 Barty, havedropped out of the Aug 31-Sept13 event, boosting Williams’chance of winning the major forthe first time since 2014.

“It still has to be tennis that’splayed, asterisks or not,” the six-time US Open champion toldreporters on Friday. “I think thiswhole year deserves an asterisk,because it’s such a special year —

history we have never beenthrough in this world.”

“I think we are living afuture history lesson. I thinkregardless, there is always goingto be some asterisk by it, becauseit’s never been done before.

“If you win, it was, like, wow,

I was able to win in this crazycircumstance where there wasno fans. It was just so sterile andweird, but I mentally camethrough. It might be a more

mental test than anything.”Williams, who has a

history of blood clots andpulmonary embolisms, said shehad concerns over travelling toNew York and is living in a rent-ed house instead of the officialplayers’ hotel as a precaution.

“I have health issues and Idon’t necessarily want to get sick,and if I do, I want the good ver-sion,” she said.

“I didn’t want to be in thehotel because I have lung issuesand felt it was a big risk for mepersonally. In a house, I can con-trol more. I needed to put mymind at rest so that I could per-form.” Agencies

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The longest EuropaLeague season camedown to a defender’s

spectacular shot and a strik-er trying to keep it out.

Instead of blocking DiegoCarlos’ overhead kick —which was going wide —Romelu Lukaku deflected itinto his own net. That hand-ed Sevilla a 3-2 win in the finalon Friday and a record sixthEuropa League title.

And it gave Lukaku thedistinction of scoring for bothteams.

The Belgium striker hadgiven Inter a perfect startwith an early goal after win-ning his first duel with DiegoCarlos, who could easily havebeen sent off in the process.

The Brazilian defenderwas the last defender when hefouled Lukaku on a counter-attack in the third minutebut was only given a yellowcard.

Lukaku scored the spotkick, but Sevilla fought its wayback into the game with twoheaders from Luuk de Jong,setting the stage for DiegoCarlos to hit his game-win-ning kick in the 74th.

The loss extended Inter’swait for a first European tro-phy since Jose Mourinho ledthe Italian club to theChampions League title in2010.

Sevil la has won theEuropa League in four of thelast seven seasons.

“This group deserve this.We’ve been fighting all seasonand getting over the problemsthat we’ve encountered,” saidSevilla right-back Jesus Navas,who won his third EuropaLeague with Sevilla — 14years after his first.

The game started atbreakneck pace despite beingthe 54th game of 2019-20 forboth teams in a season

extended because of the coro-navirus pandemic.

After just three minutesLukaku surged away with theball when a Sevilla attackingthrow-in was cleared, andDiego Carlos pushed himdown as he prepared to shoot.

Goalkeeper YassineBounou had played a key partin Sevilla’s run to the final but

could do nothing to stopLukaku’s powerful penaltykick into the bottom-left corner.

The lead lasted justseven minutes beforeLuuk de Jong leveledthe score with a divingheader off a cross fromright-back Jesus Navas.

De Jong was rewardedwith a start after scoring the

winning goal as a substituteagainst Manchester United in

the semifinals. TheDutch striker gaveSevilla a 2-1 lead in the33rd with a header atthe far post at a freekick, but three minuteslater Inter scored innearly identical fash-

ion, Diego Godin heading infrom almost the same position

off Marcelo Brozovic’s freekick.

Lukaku could have putInter back in front in the65th when he burst in behindSevilla’s defense but Bounoucharged out to block his lowshot.

After Sevilla reclaimedthe lead, Jules Koundé stoppedInter leveling once again whenhe cleared substitute Alexis

Sanchez’s shot off the line inthe 82nd.

Sevil la coach JulenLopetegui said he was delight-ed to win a trophy with Sevillain his first job since spendingbarely three months in chargeof Real Madrid in 2018. Hehad lost his job as Spain coachon the eve of the World Cupover his decision to take overReal.

“It was a very emotionalgame but in the second halfwe controlled the game a bitbetter we dug in,” Lopeteguisaid through a translator, pay-ing particular tribute to DiegoCarlos.

“He gave away the penal-ty then he scored that wonder-ful overhead kick.”

��;������ Japanese tennis starKei Nishikori on Friday said heis still positive for Covid-19 andwill remain in isolation into earlynext week as the start of the USOpen looms.

The 2014 US Open runner-up tested positive in Florida lastSunday and withdrew from theATP tuneup that starts onSaturday in the same Covid-19bubble atmosphere where theNew York hardcourt GrandSlam begins August 31.

Should he continue to test

positive into next week,Nishikori would be in jeopardyof missing the start of the USOpen.

“I just took another CovidTest and am still positive,”Nishikori said in a social mediapost Friday.

“I have very minimal symp-toms and am staying in full iso-lation. Next test will be early nextweek at which time we willupdate you.”

World number 31 Nishikorihas produced his best GrandSlam efforts at FlushingMeadows, including his loss toMarin Cilic in the 2014 final andsemi-final runs in 2016 and2018. Nishikori, whose mostrecent victory came in 2019 atBrisbane, has won six of 12career ATP titles on US soil.

The potential loss ofNishikori from the first GrandSlam event is another blow forthe US Open, which will alreadybe without defending championRafael Nadal, reigning women’schampion Bianca Andreescuand top-ranked Ash Barty. AP

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Boxer Nikhat Zareen, whowas making the headlines

in the early part of 2020, hasgrown past the disappoint-ment of not making it to theTokyo Olympics and is nowfocussed on putting out a “phe-nomenal” performance in theCommonwealth Games andthe Asian Games slated to beheld in 2022.

Nikhat and Mary Kom hadbeen at loggerheads ever since

the World Championships lastyear after the BoxingFederation of India had hintedthat there would be no trialsbetween the two boxers forgoing to the Olympic Qualifiersand that the six-time WorldChampion would go for theOlympic Qualifiers, originallyscheduled to be held in Wuhanand eventually took place inAmman in March. However,the duo participated in the tri-als in the national capital inDecember last year where

Mary Kom defeated Nikhat 9-1.

“It is every athlete’s dreamto represent his/her country inthe Olympics. Thus, when I didnot qualify for the TokyoOlympics, I was taken aback,”Nikhat said.

“But I took it in my stride,with a core belief that every-thing happens for a reason andinstead of dwelling upon it, weshould accept, learn and moveforward. I decided to lookahead, focus on the future

tournaments and prep myselffor them.”

The 24-year-old insistedthat as no tournaments arelined up this year, now she isworking towards channeling allher efforts to improve her fit-ness and agility for the eventswhich will be held in 2021.

“For now, I have my goalset for the CWG and AsianGames being held in the year2022. I am already preparingmyself to deliver a phenomenalperformance in these tourna-

ments,” said Nikhat.“Currently with no tourna-

ments lined up for the year, Iam channeling all my effortstowards improving my fitnessand agility for all the tourna-ments that will be held in theyear 2021.

“These tournaments willpave the way and hone myskills to better perform at theCWG and Asian Games, postwhich I will be dedicating myentire focus on the Olympics,”she added.

� � �;�;���

Sevilla coach Julen Lopeteguienjoyed sweet redemption

after his side beat Inter Milan3-2 in a thrilling Europa Leaguefinal on Friday to hand theSpaniard a first major trophy.

A highly-rated coach inSpain’s youth set-up, Lopeteguilanded a first job in elite clubcoaching when he took over atPortuguese giants Porto in 2014but was sacked 18 months laterafter failing to win a trophy.

He was named Spain coachand led his nation to qualify forthe 2018 World Cup in style buthis stay in Russia ended in sur-real circumstances when he

was sacked a day before thetournament kicked off whennews leaked out that he hadnegotiated a move to RealMadrid.

He then had a nightmarestay in the Spanish capital, los-ing the UEFA Super Cup toAtletico Madrid and then sawhis side thrashed 5-1 byBarcelona. He was sacked thenext day, only three monthsinto the job.

Lopetegui had beenreduced to tears following thoseabrupt departures but on Fridayhe shed tears of joy in Cologneafter his Sevilla side beat InterMilan 3-2 to win the EuropaLeague — previously known asthe UEFA Cup — for an incred-ible sixth time.

“You have to know how tocope with difficult momentsand overcome them. This is afeeling of immense happiness,”Lopetegui told reporters.

“I’m so grateful to our play-ers for how hard they worked.Our anthem says we never giveup and tonight we proved thatagain.”

��������PSG star Neymar is fullof praise for Liverpool bossJurgen Klopp.

The 28-year old is current-ly on the cusp of taking awayLiverpool’s European crown asPSG prepare to face BayernMunich in the final on Sunday.

Ahead of the chance tofinally break big-spenders PSG’swoes in Europe, Neymar wasasked about the Reds and Klopp.

He told the Daily Star: “Overthe last two seasons Liverpoolhave played some of the bestfootball in Europe.

“Last season winning theChampions League and thisseason winning a league wasstrong, because they won thePremier League so comfort-ably.” Neymar also offered up aLiverpool prediction for the2020/21 season, with Klopp’smen set to face Leeds Unitedfirst up on September 12.

He added: “Their coach hasbuilt a strong team and next sea-son I am sure they will be verycompetitive again.”

��� ����;�

Neymar is finally getting hisbig chance to shine.He is getting the opportuni-

ty to prove he doesn’t needLionel Messi to help himwin football’s biggest clubtournament.

He is getting the chanceto demonstrate that ParisSaint-Germain was right topick him to lead its quest fora European title.

He is getting the centerstage to show he can be the bestin the world. Neymar is gettinghis shot at glory in theChampions League final againstBayern Munich on Sunday.

The most expensive playerin the world is a match awayfrom breaking through with amajor title at PSG.

It was with the ChampionsLeague in mind that the Frenchclub and its Qatari owner paida record 222 million euros(more than $260 million at thetime) to sign the Brazilian starfrom Barcelona three years ago.

He failed in his first two

attempts to conquer Europewith PSG, with injuries keepinghim from playing in decisivemoments.

“On the ground with aninjury in 2018. On the groundwith an injury in 2019. On theground being thankful in 2020,”he said in an Instagram post this

week, along with photos of himinjured in the last two seasonsand then being grateful afterTuesday’s semifinal againstLeipzig.

“Two years in a row suffer-ing an injury in crucial momentsfor me and for my team. Now Iam fully fit, uninjured, and able

to help my teammates in the bestpossible way. I’m incrediblyhappy. I’m very, very happy.”

Neymar set up one of thegoals in the 3-0 win over Leipzigto put PSG in the final for thefirst time.

“We made history but wedon’t want to stop here. We wantmore,” he said in his post. “Weare going after the trophy.”

The 28-year-old Neymaralready won a ChampionsLeague title in 2015, when hewas Messi’s teammate atBarcelona as the Spanish club

clinched its fifth EuropeanCup crown. The Brazilianthrived in the tournamentand was crucial in thefinal against Juventus,

scoring one of the goals in a 3-1 win.

But that was Messi’s team,and it was the Argentine whoeventually won the Ballon d’Oraward that year, a prize Neymarhas always said he wanted towin.

According to media reports,one of the reasons he leftBarcelona was to move out of

Messi’s shadow so he could takea leading role somewhere else.And it made sense to do it atPSG, the big-spending Frenchclub that had made it to theknockout round of theChampions League five straighttimes but couldn’t get past thequarterfinals.

Neymar struggled at firstwith PSG, getting into con-frontations with teammates andfailing to perform at his best. Buthe has thrived this season eventhough he got off to a slow startbecause of injuries sustainedwith Brazil’s national team.

Neymar has played well inthe current mini-tournament inLisbon but has yet to score. Healso had some uncharacteristi-cally bad misses that could havebeen costly for PSG.

The Brazilian forward mayneed to be perfect at Benfica’sStadium of Light on Sunday tohelp his club defeat five-timechampion Bayern.

If he pulls it off, he will final-ly have reached glory. He willfinally have shown that he canbe the best in the world.

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Nantes was held to a 0-0 draw at 10-man

Bordeaux in the first gameof the French league season.

Nantes failed to capital-ize after Bordeaux mid-fielder Mehdi Zerkane wassent off after 20 minutes fora crude foul on center halfNicolas Pallois. Bordeauxcenter back LaurentKoscielny helped the homeside’s defense hold firm.

It was the first leaguegame played in France sinceMarch 8, after which theremaining matches of theprevious season were post-poned and then canceledaltogether because of thepandemic.

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Former Sweden midfielderFreddie Ljungberg has quit as

assistant coach of Arsenal, theEnglish club said on Saturday.

The 43-year-old Ljungbergtook the decision because hewanted to “progress my manage-ment experience” after two yearsat the club where he also playedfrom 1998-2007.

He returned to Arsenal in June2018 in a coaching capacity, first-ly with the under-23 team andthen with the seniors. Ljungbergalso had a month as caretakermanager between the firing ofUnai Emery and the hiring ofMikel Arteta last December.

“We’re really sad to see Freddieleave as we know how much heloves Arsenal,” technical director

Edu said.“However, we know he has

had various opportunities over thelast 12 months and stuck to the jobat Arsenal.

“Now he has the opportunityto consider other options, and itmakes sense for his career at thistime.”

Ljungberg has helped youngplayers like Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Reiss Nelson, Bukayo Sakaand Joe Willock transition toArsenal’s first team.

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Antonio Conte has hintedthat his future at Inter

Milan remains uncertainafter losing to Sevilla in thefinal of the Europa League.

Conte on Friday said heneeded time to reflect afterthe 3-2 loss in the final lefthis Inter team the runner-upfor the second time this sea-son after finishing a pointbehind Juventus in Serie A.

“It’s only right that Istart to reflect and to think

about things. I also have aprivate life and I need tounderstand what’s going on,”he said.

Taking the Interjob was worth it,“regardless of whatwill ultimately cometo pass in the com-ing days,” he said.

Conte added:“I’ve had anincredible experi-ence at this club,regardless of whatwill go on in the

future. But I have no regretswhatsoever.”

After the last Serie Agame of the season againstAtalanta, Conte said the clubcould have done more toprotect the team from criti-cism and “attacks.”

On Friday he pushedback at suggestions therecould be a rift with clubpresident Steven Zhang

and Inter’s Chinese own-ers, saying his relationshipwith them remained“strong.”

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APortrait of an Artist in the Worldshould have been released earlier;the launch scheduled for March (inKolkata) would have had us in dia-logue with Nemaida’s favourite

actor, Sharmila Tagore. The way Nemaida saw it,this would also have been the perfect summingup for a career as distinctive as his, which begandecades ago on the sets of Satyajit Ray’s GoopyGyne Bagha Byne. Destiny willed otherwise,however; the pandemic struck, life came to astandstill and then, sadly, Nemaida himself lost along battle with illness and passed away, thebook he had so ardently planned and workedon, lying unopened by his bedside.

Growing up in Kolkata, we had known ofthe ace photographer by reputation, but it wasonly when he came to our exhibition of ManjitBawa’s drawings that I got to really know him.His older son had passed away rather tragicallyand he was going through a particularly difficultperiod, he told Manjit and me. When we invitedhim to exhibit his works at Delhi’s Lalit KalaAcademy, he agreed at once, inviting us to hishome to select the photographs and make plansfor the event. He was elated when the showopened to a full house and glowing criticalacclaim, but what next? That was when Manjitand I decided to commission his first majorpublication on artists, Faces of Indian Art, con-sisting of portraits of artists in their studios.The success of the project broughtother assignments, and NemaiGhosh never looked back.Faces of Indian Art became aninvaluable archival resource.As the senior artists passed on,the documentation becameever more significant.Nemaida was planning a sec-ond volume, but it remainsincomplete.

Meanwhile, Paresh Maity came up with aunique offer, to accompany him and shoot himas he worked, travelled, relaxed. This was thebeginning of our collaboration, A Portrait of anArtist in the World, which spun over time intoits present avatar, an ambitious publication delv-ing into diverse aspects of Maity’s work process-es. Having been an integral part of both his pub-lications on artists, it was interesting to witnessjust how perceptively the photographer handledthese projects. While he was photographing stu-dios of the senior artists, his role was to makehimself as unobtrusive as possible, quietlyobserving the routine of the artists and thenshooting them over a couple of days. Aroundfour to five pages were allotted to each and, tohis credit, Nemaida both discerned and man-aged to convey the striking features of each one’swork process.

All these rules were discarded when it cameto Paresh Maity, not only was he more relaxedbut also he knew that there was no deadline.They could work as long as they wished, withoutany pressure. Such was their camaraderie thatboth sought each other out, making space forone another in their own crowded calendars,only because they enjoyed each other’s companyso much. I remember how a weekend trip toShantiniketan to participate in Basanta Utsav(the annual Spring Festival at Vishwa Bharati)was extended as we spent time exploring thesurrounding villages, soaking in the ambiance ofthe place. Impromptu sessions happenedunplanned, with the artist spreading his para-phernalia on the ground, beginning to paint, as

villagers passing by stood over his shoulder towatch him work. It made for an idyllic hour andwe would later wonder where Nemaida was dur-ing this time, only to have him produce (some-what gleefully) some brilliant photographs of theafternoon, composed unrehearsed, on the spot.Nemaida liked to say that he enjoyed workingwith a few characters (in life or on the film sets),the interplay between people and their expres-sions became his subject of interest. You realisethe truth of his words when you see his pho-tographs of Ray, the stills from Ray’s films likeShatranj ke Khilari or Gharey Bairey. The cam-era’s focuses relentlessly on the actor’s faces, afrown here, the flicker of a smile there or a fleet-ing glance, nothing misses his sharp eyes. Yet,cut to our afternoon in Shantiniketan, the lenswidens to capture much more than the artist,the gathering circle of onlookers also enter theframe and a tableau is created as if it had allbeen planned beforehand.

This, then, is the precise pattern of how hehad decided to work on this last assignment,where he would call the shots, edit and finalisethe picture all by himself. He was at liberty tophotograph as he wished, experiment andexplore different techniques, with Paresh’s com-

plete support. And as the duotravelled they discovered notonly their cultural affinities but

also other sensibilities thatcame from belonging tothe same geographical

locale, they found comfortin this bonding, their realization

that they shared a genuine friendshipeven though the photographer was much

older than the painter. The excitement of work-ing outdoors and in different countries madethis project even more appealing to NemaiGhosh who got up at the crack of dawn to do aquick recce in strange lands so that the naturallight was not wasted. As Paresh sat on the stepsof St Marcus Square in Venice, amidst the gon-doliers and tourists passing by, the tall figure ofNemaida would be crouched at a distance, wait-ing for the precise moment to click. It would bean instinctive decision, he knew. A silent voicewould command, ‘Cut!’ On the artist’s canvas, inthe meanwhile, the magnificent domes and sil-houettes of the Venetian skyline were graduallydefining themselves, rising as if from theexpanse of the sparking waters. A portrait with-in the portrait was gradually taking shape.

Chronicling the collaboration personallymeant revisiting places, remembering the littlerailway stations up in the mountains, the gypsiesand their shadow theatre in Rajasthan, the boatpeople in Kerala who took us to watch Kathakalidancers perform by firelight and the Akharawhere Bauls danced strumming their Ektara asthey twirled their voices pitched high and sweet.As we had walked through the empty moonlitKhowai, at the beginning of our travels,Nemaida told us stories of how he had come tovisit Shantiniketan that first time when SatyajitRay was making The Inner Eye. Paresh told ushow riverscapes would always remind him of hischildhood by the Rupnarayan River and how hewould spend many an hour dreaming about hislife as an artist. We would each record thesefleeting moments on our tape recorders, on filmrolls and sketch books and perhaps we wouldhave carried on forever had not reason steppedin to tell us that it was high time we gathered allthe different strands and worked on a publica-tion that would tell our story to the world.

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But tell me, Nemai-da, you were under a lotof pressure to find a salaried job as a youngman, weren’t you? Instead, you disobeyedyour family and became Ray’s Boswell, docu-menting his life and work.

In retrospect, I believe most sincerely thatif he hadn’t inspired me, I wouldn’t havebecome a photographer at all.

In fact, I aspired to be an actor. Theatrewas my first love and I managed to get rolesin plays every once in a way by hangingaround the sets, following the script sessions,etc.

Gradually, the stage became a familiarspace and I understood the nuances of light-ing. The dramatic act fascinated me, and frommy place in the tenth row, I began to takephotographs of actors performing. Finally, Iwas in control of my life. Photography becamea passion that took over my waking moments,driving me to experiment with light and form,day and night.

I am almost tempted to say, how very Bengaliof you.

Absolutely. Initially, once I was successfulwith my photographs in the theatre, seated

amongst the members of the audience andshooting without a flash, I became restless andmoved to capturing dance performances—jatra, chhau, etc. Then, shooting filmmakers, Imet Satyajit Ray, and for the next manydecades looked no further.

The desire to showcase my work contin-ued to haunt me and I felt frustrated aboutnot being able to mount major exhibitions,show the world my body of work. The actuali-sation of that dream happened much laterwhen I was offered a show at the NationalGallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. After that,many galleries approached me and I beganshowing more regularly. I also met you, Ina, atManjit Bawa’s exhibition in Calcutta and wespoke about collaborating on a book. It wasyour initiative that led to my subsequentmeeting with Sunaina Anand and the publica-tion of Faces of Indian Art. As a project, it wasa continuation of my early work, from thetime I photographed Binode BihariMukherjee in Santiniketan, around 1971-72.That was, of course, when Satyajit Ray wasmaking his documentary, The Inner Eye, onhim. In a sense, photographing artists in theirstudio brought back memories of that early

time when I was new to my art. I was re-ener-gised and fired up with excitement each time Istepped into a new studio. The adventure ofmeeting new people and looking at new workwas so inspiring.

What about your travels with Paresh Maity?It must have been fun to wander out in theworld and see him sketch and paint in thelanes of Venice, by the Thames in London?

That is right. Later, as I began this projectwith Paresh Maity, the same excitement filledmy waking hours. I travelled to new cities andcountries with Paresh and began working onthe idea of documenting not just the painterin his familiar environment but also in unfa-miliar spaces. As he randomly sat by the sideof a park or a market square and painted, itappeared to me as if his entire being light-ened. My modus operandi was to locate a spotwhere I could be unobtrusive. From that loca-tion, I would start shooting. It was fantastic.

Excerpted with permission from PareshMaity: A Portrait of the Artist in the World;

Photographs by Nemai Ghosh, Text by InaPuri, Westland, �4,999

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The year 2020 marks the birthcentenary of Nani APalkhivala, a name that is thebyword in India’s legal world.Palkhivala reigned the coun-

try’s court rooms for almost six decades.More than a lawyer what made him ahousehold name in India was his con-cern for the poor and middle class. Hecould identify himself with their happi-ness and sorrow because he too was amember of that strata of the society.While honouring Palkhivala with a D Scdegree in 1998, Prof B M Hegde the thenchancellor of the Manipal University,said in his address: “We are honouringNani Palkhivala with this D Sc becausehe gave us our democracy.” That sumsup his passion for democracy, liberalismand free enterprises.

Palkhivala has authored two booksfor the Indian public: We,The Nation —The Lost Decades and We, The People.Both the books are collection of essayswritten by Palkhivala and speeches hedelivered at the convocation ceremoniesof various universities and essays heauthored on varied topics ranging fromthe country’s education system, causesfor the economic backwardness of Indiaand faulty economic planning by policymakers and decision makers.

It was in one of his speechesPalkhivala pointed out the Achilles’ Heelof Indian economy and slow rate ofgrowth. “We have too much governmentand too less governance. Our rulers areonly concerned about the GrossDomestic Product instead of GrossNational Happiness. And the rulers areyet to understand the difference betweensocialism and capitalism,” saidPalkhivala who was out and out againstthe concept of socialism followed byJawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and ofcourse all the Left of the Centre politi-cians.

For Palkhivala, socialism meantsocial justice and not the State’s monop-oly over industries and businesses. TheGovernment has no business to be inbusiness,” was his catchwords. In the1970s, he articulated the concept that theGovernment should never end up as ajob providing agency but a job creatingagency. Even after five decades, theCentral and State governments continueto be what Palkhivala did not want themto be; job providing agency!

Those who have read the booksauthored by Palkhivala are yet to comeacross something that contradicts whathe wrote in 1980s and 1990s. Arun

Shourie, the celebrated journalist toowrote a book (Governance and theSclerosis That Has Set In) explaining thereasons which ‘sustained’ India as a poorcountry. There are many people in NewDelhi itself who do not want India todevelop. These people survive onlybecause of poverty and scarcity in thecountry.

The country saw a change of govern-ment in 2014 and a lot was expected of itover the next few years. But the tragedyis that though a lot of programmes andinitiatives were announced, nothingseems to have worked. The top politicalleadership is handicapped by the scarcityof people who could think out of the boxand come up with solutions which couldaddress the ever increasing problems.

It is at this juncture that former IASofficer Vijay Kelkar and his friend AjayShah have come out with a book, “InService of the Republic — The Art andScience of Economic Policy,” published byPenguin. The authors are economists ofrepute. Kelkar who served India as acivil service officer and held top-notchpositions in bureaucracy is known to be

a man of soft words. He has lived to thatimage through this scholarly work. No illfeelings towards anybody, that is Kelkar.The authors have stayed away from anycontroversies. They have presented asuperb brief demanding the annihilationof unnecessary governmental interven-tion in all matters of governance. Aftergoing through the book, one feels likesaluting Palkhivala again for his com-ment that we have too much govern-ment and too less governance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasbeen talking about minimum govern-ment and maximum governance sincehe launched his election campaign in2013. But things have not moved for-ward as the Indian versions of SirHumphrey Appleby and Sir BernardWoolley continue to call the shots inNew Delhi’s corridors of power. If thereare ministers in this government whoare devoted to their work, the first bookthey should read is the one authored byVijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah.

The book, which has eight parts and40 chapters, takes the readers throughthe intricacies of governance and eco-

nomic policies. In the opening chapteritself, the authors have proved how gov-ernment intervention even in solvingsmall problems, rapidly turns into amess. For the first time in modern India(post 1991), two economists have askedthe government to stay away from cer-tain activities and initiate new areas ofwork that better fit into the tasks of thegovernment. Even as one reads from onechapter to another, the picture thatunfolds before the eyes is that of con-temporary India. The Vedanta Group’scopper smelter plant at Thoothukudi inTamil Nadu is an issue which should beseen in this context. The entire responsi-bility of the stand off between the localpopulation and the Vedanta manage-ment remains with the Centre and Stategovernments. Wasn’t it possible to nip inthe bud itself revolts and riots whichresulted in the closure of the factory?

An important issue which has beendiscussed by the authors, and is of topi-cal relevance, is the Health Policy of theGovernment which is shrouded in chaosand confusion. During Coronavirusinduced lockdown, several panelists on

TV debates were heard questioning thefailure of the government in improvingupon the country’s health sector. Kelkarand Shah point out that healthcare andpublic health are two different entities —healthcare being the domain of the pri-vate sector while public health is popula-tion-scale initiatives that address exter-nalities and provide public goods.Veteran doctors like Prof B M Hegdeand Dr C V Krishnaswamy who consid-er their profession a noble service to thesociety frown at the concept of health-care, which has become a part of a majorindustry and money spinner.

“The public sector is not effective attranslating expenditures into healthcareservices. Privately produced healthcare isafflicted with market failure. Healthinsurance companies suffer from poorfinancial regulation of insurance andfrom dealing with a malfunctioninghealthcare system. Greater governmentspending on healthcare is popular. Atpresent, there are two pathways for thisincreased expenditure . More money canbe put into government healthcare facili-ties such as Primary Health Centres or

government hospitals. Alternativelymore money can be put into healthinsurance facilities who intermediatebetween individuals and private health-care providers. Both these pathwayswork poorly,” write Kelkar and Shah(page 322).

The authors have suggested a newstrategy: “Imagine a contract between anetwork of healthcare providers and thepatient which underwrites all healthcarefor the patient for life, in exchange forfixed monthly payments. This must benot just one doctor, but a network ofproviders that cover all aspects of health-care. When you get sick you would go toyour healthcare network and they wouldrender you healthcare services, at noadditional cost. Such networks are called“Health Maintenance Organisations”.This is known as out of the box thinking.

A must read for those who want totake up politics as a serious professionand also students of economics and pub-lic finance. These are not mere academicfindings but real life experiences from abureaucrat who has seen how the gov-ernment “operate” in India and an econ-omist who has learnt the subject becauseof his passion for it.

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In 1942, after the Quit IndiaMovement was launchedand almost immediatelycrushed by the British,things were moving at quite

a pace. The World War-II (WW-II) was going on.

On the other hand, NetajiSubhash Chandra Bose hadescaped from India in 1941 andformed the Indian NationalArmy (INA), in 1943, whichallied with Japan and intended toenter India from its far-easternside against the British and defeatthem. With America droppingthe two atom bombs on Japan,forcing it to surrender, the WW-II ended in August, 1945. In thesame month, Netaji was said tohave been killed in a plane crash.

Nearly 45,000 INA soldierswere taken prisoners-of-war andthe trials ensued in Red Fort;while almost 30,000 had laidtheir lives during the war. Thepolitical leadership in the coun-try was listless. But by November1945, something was happeningwithin India, which had madethe British jittery. It was not amere concern. For instance, themighty British Empire, whichhad, as a matter of policy arisingout of practical feasibility,stopped bringing in Britishtroops to control this vast land,was now thinking of rushing in“British reinforcements”. TheIndian troops, suddenly, were notreliable. The sympathy wave infavour of INA also gave in thehands of a deflated Congress, andeven Muslim League (which wasbusy furthering its communalagenda), an election campaignissue to whip up sentiment in its

favour. Ultimately, the British hadto dispense away with capitalpunishment to top three INAofficers, Shah Nawaz Khan,Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon andPrem Sehgal. Finally, they decid-ed to free India in, as early as,March 1946 — a secret that onlythe British knew. This back-ground could well have been dis-missed as yet another ‘story’around Bose and INA on theground of alleged ‘lack of prima-ry evidence’.

In the past few years, severalbooks — primarily by Anuj Dhar(Netaji: Back from Dead; India’sBiggest Cover-up and others),Kingshuk Nag (Netaji: LivingDangerously); and Maj Gen (retd)G D Bakshi (Bose — an IndianSamurai) have not only kept theBose and INA story alive, buthave painstakingly proved themyths around Netaji; particularlyhis death in a plane crash onAugust 18, 1945.

However, the real impact ofBose and INA on India’s inde-pendence; particularly against theubiquitous narrative of “De DeeHumein Azadi Bina Khadg, BinaDhaal...”, still appeared to be anon-starter. There was debate,but none of the sides had enoughto settle it. But no longer!

Netaji: India’s Independenceand British Archives by KalyanKumar De fills that long-felt gapbetween the legend of Bose andINA and the truth. Prior to this,Atlee accepting before the thenChief Justice of Calcutta HighCourt in 1956 that Gandhi’s rolewas “m-i-n-i-m-a-l” and it wasBose and INA, which forcedthem to quit, was among some of

the things available to us. But, itwas not on strong wicket as,indeed, it was tertiary evidence.

It is for the first time that wehave direct evidence from theBritish archives. These “Transferof Power” documents were de-classified by the British in 1971.That nobody bothered to look atthem all these years is a testimo-ny to our callous attitude towardsour own history.

They are records — in theforms of letters, reports and min-utes — of correspondences tak-ing place between the peoplewho mattered. How many of ushave heard of Lord ViscountWavell? Or General Auchinleck(the then head of the BritishIndian Army)? Or Lord Pethick-Lawrence (the then Secretary of

State for India in London)? Ofcourse there was the then PMAtlee. Interestingly, theseexchanges appear to have takenplace, and a decision arrived atwithin five-odd months —November 1945 and March 1946.

In fact, reading through theseletters, the reader would be led totwo more things, apart from con-cluding about Bose and INA’srole in India’s independence.One, the letters provide aninsight as to how it was the mili-tary, which helped the Britishcontrol this country, while seem-ingly engaging with the ‘civil-political leadership’. Two, Nehruand Jinnah, the British thought,were interested in playing theirown game. In those times, Netajihad become a rather sharp emo-

tive issue; more so, when it cameto Netaji-vs-Bapu/Nehru debate.Biases crept in fast and standswere taken in a jiffy. In such ascenario, the author has done agreat service to the truth bydoing two things — a) Quotingthe letters, reports and minutesverbatim, and, in full; b)Refraining from giving his owninterpretations.

It is akin to author invitingthe readers to the British archivesand dishing out paper-after-paper for the readers’ perusal,leaving it up to them to conclude.

The documents can’t be dis-missed because they are official;Written by the British for theirown consumption, carried out intop secret; and they are by andbetween people who mattered.

That we as a nation after evennearly 75 years of independenceare sparring over ‘who got usindependence’ is, actually, a sadstory. The celebration and vener-ation of all in the entire pantheonof national leaders should nothave been turned into a demoral-ising fight for credit.

But then, one person, onefamily and, by proxy, one partyhad to stay politically afloat inpost-independent India — bask-ing in the reflected glory of theirbenefactor. This book, thoughsmall, should put paid to all themyth-making in the last fewdecades. In short, it is safe to callit a “handbook of truth”.

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Declining gross enrolment ratio atthe primary and secondary stages

has proven to be an indomitable chal-lenge for India’s education system.Close to 10 per cent of the enrolledchildren do not complete their ele-mentary education. Of those who do,nearly 30 per cent drop out after ClassVI and of the remaining 44 per centdrop out before Class VIII. Thismeans that more than three crore chil-dren in the 6-17 years age group areexcluded from the education system.A large majority of them are childrenfrom marginalised communities,including Scheduled Castes, ScheduledTribes, religious minority groups anddifferently abled children. Girls are theworst affected across these categoriesand literacy data from several reportshave underlined this.

As per the 75th round of NSSOdata, female literacy rate in India was70.3 per cent compared to 84.7 percent for males among people of 7 yearsand above. The provision to create a“Gender-Inclusion fund” for capacitybuilding towards providing equitableand quality education to all girls andtransgender students is a historic steptowards a more inclusive learningenvironment.

A vast body of internationalresearch has conclusively shown that90 per cent of brain development in achild occurs before the age of five.

Modifying the existing 10+2 struc-ture of school education and intro-ducing the Early Childhood Care andEducation (ECCE) programme, NEP2020 has responded to this impendingneed with a strong commitment to uni-versalising pre-school foundationallearning. The NEP envisions thatevery child under the age of five willbe included in foundational learningprocess. A large percentage of childrenentering primary education in India,especially in Government schools, donot possess the ability to read andcomprehend basic texts, meaning thatthey are not school-ready.

Pre-school foundational learningwill ensure that children are schoolready as they enter grade 1 and will sig-nificantly reduce the number ofdropouts at the primary school level.Many research studies have shown thatpre-primary education is of tremen-dous importance as it gives children asolid foundation to begin an efficientand more productive educationalfuture. While children from privilegedand mostly urban households had thebenefit of attending pre-schools, chil-dren from marginalised families, ruraland remote areas were left in the lurch.To mitigate the exclusion of such chil-dren, the NEP also commits to give pri-ority to areas that are particularly socio-economically disadvantaged.

Setting up of the National Missionon Foundational Literacy andNumeracy to achieve universal foun-dational literacy by 2025 will ensurea focussed and time-bound imple-

mentation of the mentioned strategies. Foundational education in a

child’s mother tongue has been rec-ommended by several research stud-ies. UNICEF reports from across theworld support mother tongue educa-tion for a more efficient and inclusivelearning environment. Children learnbest if they learn in their mothertongue in the early years. The chal-lenge of coping with a language thatis not used in the households isgreater for children from marginalisedcommunities, Scheduled Tribes inparticular. Those who can afford sup-plementary training in an unfamiliarlanguage gain a significant advantageover their poorer counterparts.

The NEP recommends that themedium of instruction until at leastclass five to be in the local lan-guage/mother tongue/home language.This initiative would be a great levellerfor all those children; besides improv-ing their learning and reducing thedropout ratio after class five.

Offering a wide range of choicesof subjects to secondary school stu-dents would lead to a more holisticlearning environment for the children.Streams like music and arts havebeen undervalued in the educationalsystem for far too long. Although pri-vate educational institutions haverealised their importance makingthem integral to their curriculum, gov-ernment schools have continued toneglect them, dubbing them as “extra-curricular”. Underprivileged childrenin government schools have not beenexposed to a whole new world.

The NEP has also recognised thehuge educational potential of(Anganwadi) AWCs in India. There areclose to 14 lakh AWCs in India but theyhave been predominantly looked at asnutritional supplement centres tillnow. This policy realises their poten-tial as foundational teaching spaces. AsAWC are largely used by children frommarginalised communities, envisagingthem as centres for foundational learn-ing is a significant step towards a moreinclusive pre-school education. Scalingup the infrastructure of AWC wouldyield dual results: Improved nutritionalstatus of children and providing themwith foundational learning.

Research shows that undernutri-tion is one of the biggest impedimentsin the path towards education of chil-dren from underprivileged house-holds. Inadequate food and lack ofnutrition not only compromises theirimmunity but also impairs their learn-ing ability. Several studies have foundclear association between school mealsand educational performance.Introduction of breakfast in schools isa great step towards eliminating class-room hunger and universalisation ofprimary education.

A vision of an inclusive educationsystem towards achieving universaleducation is one of the biggest high-lights of the NEP. It sets the goal to

achieve 100 per cent gross enrolmentratio in preschool to secondary level by2030. Having a cohort of well-trainedteachers is a pre-condition for achiev-ing this. Other than the obvious mea-sures of improving teachers trainingand increase in recruitments, NEPrecognised critical gaps like urban-ruraldivide in the availability of teachers.

Recruiting teachers from localareas, providing them housing facili-ties and discouraging frequent trans-fers would lead to a more sustainableteacher-student relationship in ruralareas. Making a provision for “specialeducators” for differently-abled chil-dren at the middle and secondary levelis another novel step towards a moreinclusive and equitable education sys-tem. Providing barrier free access toschool infrastructure, providing themwith appropriate technology assis-tance tool and creation of accommo-dation facilities for these children onschool premises are all steps recom-mended in the policy towards creat-ing an enabling ecosystem for differ-ently-abled children.

The NEP recognises that socio-economic marginalisation and exclu-sion is multidimensional and that chil-dren from socio-economically disad-vantaged groups (SEDGs) have beenunderrepresented in the education sys-tem. Categorising their exclusion onthe lines of gender, socio-culturaland geographical identities, disabilitiesand vulnerabilities that include victimsof trafficking, orphans, child beggarsin urban areas, and the urban poor, theNEP has broadened the framework oflooking at exclusion from a class-caste-gender lens. The recommendation tocreate “special education zones”, areaswith large presence of SEDGs, wouldensure inclusive actions in most ofthese areas.

The NEP substantially lays thecritical foundation for a more inclu-sive school education. However, thereare innumerable challenges ahead interms of its implementation. And theimplementation of the provisions willessentially depend upon a harmoniouscooperation between the units of thefederal structure.

(The writer is anAssistant Professor atthe Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion andInclusive Policy, JNU,Delhi)

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Faith, as German philosopherArthur Schopenhauer defines, is

the enquiry of unknown, whichdoesn’t pay much attention to knowl-edge. The toxic face of majoritari-anism has been the motherboard ofreligious revisionism: An uncom-fortable truth both in the past and thepresent. Notions like “PromisedLand” among Jews, “Ram Rajya” inHinduism or “caliphate in Islam”continue to intrigue or captivatemasses and are used for political pro-paganda. History is replete withexamples where catalogues of suchhorrendous ideas exploit religion byportraying Gods as real estate agents.The partition of British India in 1947is often seen in a similar vein - aproduct of the collective ego ofelites who exploited religion forpower and political gains.

India’s tryst with destiny underJawaharlal Nehru found a secular lib-eral State. The Islamic Republic ofPakistan, on the other hand, posit-ed the army as custodian. One won-ders why the status of the army fol-lowed a different script in bothcountries despite mutual hatred,paranoia, fear, and antagonism onboth sides. The answer perhaps liesin events that occurred at the timeof partition. Pakistan suffered earlysetbacks: The passing of Jinnah anda weak Muslim League without

much political legitimacy. For India,Nehruvian consensus shaped a dif-ferent history. In 1946, as a memberof the pre-Independence govern-ment, he called for a radical changein the army which they inheritedfrom the British raj. Nehru’s idea ofa functional democracy attributedlimited role and space to the militaryand thus what India got was anaccountable and diverse army. ForPakistan, it was an “identity incon-gruous”. Although Jinnah envisioneda country with equal rights for non-Muslims, the reality has been quitethe contrary. As Babar Ayaz puts it,Pakistan was “caught in a whirlpoolof trust deficits”.

Religion gave the country acommon cause and identity, and aperceived threat to Islam and exis-tential threat from India gave thearmy the grandeur, power and con-trol it desired. The Pakistan Armyfunctioned without any account-ability, as rightly pointed out by his-torian Ayesha Jalal, and positeditself as the protector of Islam andguardian of the national borders.However, that wasn’t enough for thearmy to establish political cloutinternally. Islamic garb convenient-ly veiled the baggage of colonialismfor the Army to carry out its owndesign and shape its narrative. Thus,the uncharted manifesto of the

Pakistan Army was to follow thecolonial practices: ethnic imbalanceand the myth of the martial race(Punjabis, Pashtuns over the rest).

The marital race theory, with itsorigins in British Raj, was a blessingin disguise for the Pakistan Armyand an unfortunate casualty of thispractice were the Hindus of inde-pendent Pakistan. The sorry state ofHindus in Pakistan is a well-estab-lished fact, but rather lesser-dis-cussed aspect has been their lack ofrepresentation in the military.

To attribute exclusion of Hindussquarely to religion is perhaps anoversimplified hypothesis. Eventhough the religious factor cannot bediscounted, ethnic identity providesan alternative explanation. The exclu-sion of the Hindu community fromthe military at large may be seen asa subset of Pakistan’s attitude towardsMohajirs - an ethnic group which hasbeen sidelined in Pakistan’s socialfabric despite their Islamic affiliation.When General Ayub Khan took upthe reins of Pakistan in 1958, tensionbetween Mohajirs on one hand andSindhis, Punjabis and Pashtuns onthe other started surfacing. It wasduring this period that a sense ofalienation started enveloping thecommunity.

The ethnic cleavages in con-junction with the myth of the mar-

tial race sustained themselves withthe passing of time and the meltingpot of colonialism, faceless bureau-cracy and military’s politico-eco-nomic clout reduced the PakistanArmy to a clique of Punjabis andPashtuns. This was rubbed off on theface of Pakistan.

Therefore, the absence of Hindusin the Pakistan Army till 2001 wasnot just a matter of faith or religion.The myth of the martial race, whichkept Punjabis and Pashtuns at thehelm of military and political affairs,couldn’t save the marriage betweenthe ideology and religion as an ideaof Pakistan, and the 1971 Bangladeshwar came as a testament to this.

As an essential evil for the state’ssustenance, some space had to becreated for the ethnic minorities,including Balochis, Sindhis, andreligious minorities such as Hindus.

Hindu’s tryst with Pak ArmyInterestingly, in 2001, when

Pervez Musharraf became thePresident, the chicken started com-ing home to roost. Musharraf, aMohajir, needed to build a supportbase for his unelected party and thusco-opted the Mohajir QuamiMovement (MQM). This politicalalliance gave a sense of security to thealienated Mohajir community, whostarted altering the political situation

in Sindh to their advantage. It wasagainst this backdrop that Hindusfound a place in the military for thefirst time in the history of Pakistan.

The data on ethnic and religioussegregation in Pakistan militaryforces has been selective and scant.However certain cases are deliber-ately highlighted in the local andglobal media to portray a tolerantimage. In 2006, Danish, a resident ofSindh became the first Hindu cadetin the army. His induction was pre-ceded by Nankana Sahib’s HarcharanSingh, who became country’s firstSikh to have joined the forces in2005.

In 2008, the Pakistan Army hadtwo Hindu officers in its Medicalcorps: Capt Danish and Capt AneelKumar. In 2019, Dr Kelash Garvadabecame the first-ever Hindu Majorin the Pakistan Army.

Evidently the prospects of Hinduofficers rising higher up in the hier-archy seem to be limited evidentfrom the fact that after seven decadesof existence, the country’s highest-ranking Hindu officer is still aMajor. Moreover, since Major Kelashis being celebrated as the country’sfirst Hindu officer to have braced therank of Major, it is safe to assume thatboth Capt Danesh and Aneel Kumardid not rise further up the ranks. Itis also worth noting that the inclu-

sion of Hindus in officer cadre wasalways limited to the Medical corps.

Besides officers, the PakistanArmy also has Hindu soldiers. In2017, Lance Naik Chand Rabari, aSindh-based Hindu, died on activeduty while serving on Mangla frontnear Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,and got ample media attention inPakistan.

Evidently, in a bid to feign a tol-erant identity, the country continuesto play trump cards such as sporadicand selective inclusion of Hindus inits military forces. Even though,after 2001, the smokescreen of Hinduinclusion in military was celebratedas a watershed moment, the com-munity still continues to live on theperiphery. Equal citizenship, humanrights, religious freedom, these aresporadic political gimmicks used bythe Pakistan Army to strengthentheir domestic hold while portrayinga positive image to the world.Nevertheless, the toxic blend ofmartial race and Islamic garb willcontinue to keep Hindus on thefringe.

(Prem Anand Mishra is a doc-toral candidate at the School ofInternational Studies, JNU, NewDelhi. Divya Malhotra is a non-res-ident fellow at the Middle EastInstitute, New Delhi)

In the year 1963, an American EconomistRobert Heilbroner published a book named

“The Great Ascent”. In the book, Heilbronerwrote, “Economic growth is not merely a mat-ter of physical resources or of training skilledworkers, it needs ‘education’ of the whole population in new ways of life, thoughtand work.”

And five years later, the independent Indiapublished its first National Education Policy(NEP 1968). It manifested our unequivocalcommitment to embark upon the “greatascent” of economic development thatHeilbroner talked about.

Since then, we have come a long way.Indian education system has given one of themost sought-after brains to the world. We havegroomed one of the finest mathematicians,engineers, doctors and accounting profes-sionals that form the backbones of Fortune 500companies. India forms the fastest growing andthe fifth largest economy in the world andboasts having the most vibrant diaspora in dif-ferent geographies, thanks to the traditionalquench to seek wisdom and truth through dif-ferent sources of knowledge.

In the last three decades, we have witnesstremendous technological advancements anddrastic changes in economies and societies, buteducation could not remain immune from that.An ever-evolving technological landscapeand the commensurate requirements ofimproved knowledge, skills and attitude calledfor an equally agile and adaptive humanresource development. Our current educa-tional system increasingly struggled to offersolutions to these challenges. It looked increas-ingly static, compartmentalised and detachedfrom the ground realities.

Against this backdrop, the committeeheaded by renowned scientist and former ISROchief K Kasturirangan has proposed groundbreaking changes in both, educational policyand its implementation, culminating into theNational Education Policy (NEP 2020).

While a lot has been written and sharedin the public domain about NEP 2020, whatimpressed me as an educationist are the belowfive aspects:

Firstly, it introduces a much-needed flex-ibility, so that learners can choose their learn-ing trajectories and programmes. Therewould be no hard separations between arts andsciences, between curricular and extra-cur-ricular activities, between vocational andacademic streams, etc.

If we delve into the history, we see multi-ple examples of how great personalities hadswitched over from one educational sector toanother. Sir Charles Darwin had left his med-

ical education at Edinburgh halfway, andlater pursued his passion in Botany atCambridge. Jack Ma was a dropout of

Harvard prior to building his AlibabaEmpire. Similarly, Sachin Tendulkar is prac-

tically a PhD in Cricket; however, the currenteducational system didn’t call him even a grad-uate. However, things are expected to changeduring NEP 2020.

Secondly, it envisages making educationmore experiential. It’s worth mentioningpara 1.25 of NEP 2020, which says, “In our

opinion, all good and purpose-ful education should consist ofat least four basic elements:

� literacy or a study of lan-guages, the humanitiesand the social sciences;

� numeracy or a study of mathematicsand the natural sciences;

� work-experience; and� social service.

Thirdly, there is a clear shift of focus fromeducation during the formative years to a life-long education. This change was highly nec-essary to enable our human resources adaptto the disruptive changes. The Covid-19 cri-sis created an exponential need for online edu-cation, and the teaching fraternity and studentswere involuntarily familiarised with variousconferencing platforms.

Fourthly, it takes our endeavour of uni-versal education to the next level, viz. the uni-versal high-quality education. This emphasison quality is also reflected in the restructur-ing of school curriculum and pedagogy fromtoday’s 10 + 2 system to a new 5+3+3+4 design:Foundational stage, consisting of 3 years of pre-school and 2 years of primary school; prepara-tory stage, consisting of grades 3-5, buildingon the pedagogical and curricular style of thefoundational stage; middle stage, consisting ofgrades 6-8, introducing experiential learningwithin each subject and explorations of rela-tions among different subjects, along with theintroduction of more specialized subjectsand subject teachers; secondary stage, con-sisting of grades 9 -12, involving greater depth,greater critical thinking, greater attention tolife aspirations, and greater flexibility and stu-dent choice of subjects.

In particular, the students would have anoption of exiting after grade 10 and re-enter-ing in the next phase to pursue vocational orany other courses available in grades 11-12,including attending a more specialised school,if so desired.

This, coupled with the changes in gradingsystems and introduction of continuous feed-back mechanism may bring about the desiredqualitative changes in the educational sector.The NEP also focused on providing vocationaleducation and internship at school level.These internship will not limit benefitting onlyto the academic institutes and students, but itwill also have advantage for local market,industry and agriculture sector. As the localmarket will acquire the latest information forthe latest trends and latest developmentrespective fields from the students, it will assistthem to explore new market opportunitiesnationally and internationally. Students willhave an exposure to local corporate and agri-cultural sector that can lead them to utilisetheir knowledge to resolve issues faced by localmarket and also can contribute for its growth.In this way academic institutes can play a roleof catalyst for local social transformation.

Fifthly, the NEP proposes the much need-ed “de-bureaucratisation” of the higher edu-cation in India. It envisages an umbrella organ-isation, the Higher Education Commission ofIndia (HGCI) that would facilitate a “light buttight” regulatory framework. The committeeand the Government of India deserve around of applause for drafting and approvinga policy that envisions a faceless and trans-parent regulatory intervention using technol-ogy, thereby reducing the human interface.

Sixthly, education is one of the crucial toolsin soft power politics. Many international stu-dents carry impact of the country where theystudy. In India, more than 1 lakh internationalstudents attain their educational degrees in var-ious universities. India is one of the favourite

Educationaldestinationsof Asian andAfrican stu-dents owingto affordabil-ity of educa-tion anddiverse cul-ture system.The NEP willopen door tointernationaluniversities to establish their campus in India.Hence, it can be an opportunity for Indian andforeign universities to have collaboration andestablish their campus. This sort of collabo-ration will form a platform for exchange ofknowledge that will not restrict itself to academic level but it will reach among thestudents.

Seventhly, multidisciplinary approach ineducational system will bring holistic devel-opment among the students. It will also pro-vide an opportunity to students to pursue theirpassion and give various dimensions from students’ latest knowledge to the respective sectors.

A thorny path aheadA great policy does not necessarily result

into a great outcome, unless there is a con-tinued commitment towards the objective. Theearlier NEP 1968 envisaged an investment of6 per cent of GDP in the educational sector.As against that, our current outlay in the sec-tor is pegged at about 4.43 per cent (source:NEP 2020). This leaves us with an investmentgap of almost Rs 3 lakh crore year on year.

Out of the current expenditure, a sizableportion is spent on the primary education,leaving an insufficient investment in thehigher education. And the outcome is glaring.A recent OECD report mentions that around71 per cent of adults in India do not have uppersecondary education.

A lot of effort would go into building newcurriculum, material, testing standards, devel-oping AI-based evaluation apps, capacitybuilding, etc. To bring about the desired qual-itative change in education, the NEP 2020envisages conducting 6-month certificate pro-grammes for the anganwadi workers in EarlyChildhood Care and Education (ECCE). Justimagine, there are around 13 lakh anganwa-di workers in India. So, how much time willit take to conduct their certifications? Thanksto Government of India, where Prime MinisterModi has given his consistent focus on infra-structural development in the field of infor-mation technology which can enable flow ofinformation from urban to rural India. TheNEP focuses on online and digital education.These days Internet is flooded with educationalcontent. The content available thus need to bemonitored and authorised by Ministry ofEducation to eliminate unwanted content bur-den on the students.

The pursuit of knowledge (jnan), wisdom(pragyaa), and truth (satya) has always beenconsidered in Indian thought and philosophyas the highest human goal. Thus, NEP 2020is a great step forward to achieve that goal. Thedestiny of India is being shaped in universi-ties and academic institutions.

(The writer is executive president of MIT-World Peace University, Pune )

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Someone under acute stress cameasking the other day: “Sir, in thelast for years, my business has gone

for a toss. I have incurred heavy losses.I made all investments after consultingmy astrologer. The very time span theysuggested would be promising, actuallyproved disastrous. How can astrologygo so wrong? Recently, I had to gothrough a heart procedure. Was itbecause of too much of stress or was Idue for it? I have faced two maritalbreak ups and so, there is no family lifeleft. Why did I have to undergo such anordeal? Future seems bleak. Suggestsome puja that would help me securepeace of mind.”

Well, astrology did not go wrong,you were plain misled. Your chart sug-gests that during that period progressedSun, the 11th lord identified with fulfil-ment of desires was adverse to careersignifying 10th lord Moon. ProgressedMeridian, which reflects businessprospects was also ill-disposed to errat-ic Rahu. With such an adverse direc-tion, business had to go down the hill.But now, the directions have turnedpositive, and therefore, your businesswill grow. It is time to take initiative. As

Saturn regains its forward motiontowards September end, things willstart moving. From November end,benevolent Jupiter will aspect the 10thhouse, where after your business willbegin moving in strong terms. So,future is no longer bleak as you feelbecause of past setbacks. Remember,past is history, which will not repeatanymore now. Build up faith and getgoing with confidence. Having saidthat, given the fact the Moon, the lordof 10th house is posited in Mercuryowned sign Virgo. That makes sense ofplurality your basic nature. You willnever be satisfied with just one task inhand. You will delve into so manythings at one go, making the overalllogistics so difficult that it will not bepossible to pay due attention to thetasks in hand. You went on spreadingyour business across different countries.As a consequence, you could not dojustice to the callings of your businessthat was spread all across. So, morethan unfavourable time line, your atti-tude cost you heavily.

Now about your health issues, Sun,the natural signifying planet for heart isdebilitated. It is placed adverse to the

other luminary Moon pointing to acuteemotional stress and health vulnerabili-ty. This has to be read together with ail-ment signifying 6th sub-lord Mercury,which occupies its house of detriment,Scorpio sign. Also, Mercury is conjunctJupiter and Venus, which is indicativeof your self-indulgent habits, that had atelling effect on your health parametres.Now, Mercury that rules the circulatorysystem is opposite restrictive Saturn,which being 5th lord marked withheart, is tenanted in the 7th house car-rying killing propensity. Since, you areassured of a long life, it just ended upwith blockage of artery, leading to heartprocedure. It happened during Saturndasha and Mercury antardasha, imply-ing that you were due for it.

Now coming to your personal rela-tionships, Mars the 7th lord identifiedwith married partner, crosses path withJupiter, which speaks of your inflatedego. Mars again is placed adverse toVenus the lagna lord. The two readtogether makes egotistical clashes withthe partner imperative. If we look at thefiner coordinates, the 7th sub-lord isagain Mercury, a planet marked withmultiplicity, which being 12th lord isdetrimental to a happy married life.

Let us now look at astrologicalpointers to your overall habit tenden-cies. In this respect, mind signifyingMoon occupies Virgo sign, which isplaced adverse to the Sun. That bringsin a perfectionist streak in you, and onyour self-defined terms. You wish fromothers to prove true to the terms set byyou. If ever, someone falls short of yourexpectations, it becomes difficult foryou to digest. You then become over-critical of others, deride them, andwon’t hesitate making acerbic remarksagainst them. Given your inflated ego,you wish to force your way on others,not caring for other’s sensibilities andconcerns. Not to say anything on allow-ing independent space due to them.With this mindset, it will be difficult tobe in accord with others. So, rather thanblaming destiny indications or faultlines of your estranged partners, betterlook into your own habit tendencies andaddress them. Instead of looking for apuja dedicated to gain peace, better wayis to self-reflect and make necessaryamends through fresh educative inputs.

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