ˇ !# $ ˙ e *,072 0 (3/?6 )7? 0 )7 )/,’6a a/(72 a2 a (7/*2 · 1 day ago  · 6.7 per cent...

12
R ajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu on Monday suspended eight Opposition members from the House for the rest of the Monsoon Session over the unprecedented chaos in the Upper House during the pass- ing of the controversial farm Bills on Sunday. Naidu also rejected a no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition parties against Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narain Singh. The suspended members refused to leave the House and sat on a protest dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statute on the Parliament premises. The suspended members were joined by almost all the Opposition leaders, including former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party leaders Ram Gopal Yadav, Jaya Bachchan, and leaders from the Shiv Sena. Meanwhile, 18 Opposition parties have written to the President of India, requesting him not to give his approval to the farm sector Bills passed by both Houses. The protest will continue overnight and the suspended members will again attempt to enter the Upper House. If they are stopped, the protest will continue on the Parliament lawns. A similar protest overnight had happened on the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill when members remained in the Lok Sabha till wee hours. The suspended members — TMC’s Derek O’Brien and Dola Banerjee, AAP’s Sanjay Singh, Congress’s Rajeev Satav, Sayid Nasir Hussain, Ripun Bora; CPI(M)’s KK Ragesh and Elamaram Kareem — were told by the Chairman that they had displayed “unruly behaviour especially with the Chair and gross disorderly conduct”. “I am pained at what hap- pened yesterday. It defies logic. It is a bad day for the Rajya Sabha,” Naidu said. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan moved the motion for the suspension of the eight MPs. Naidu also rejected the no-confidence motion moved by 12 Opposition parties against his Deputy Harivansh, saying a notice period of 14 days is required. The suspend- ed members were asked to leave the House, but when they refused to do so, the ses- sion was adjourned until 10 am and then for a hour again. After the House recon- vened at 10.30 am, Deputy Chairman Harivansh said he will ask the Leader of the Opposition to speak before any Bills are discussed, but said that those who have been named by the Chairman can- not participate. I n a historic move to provide equal opportunity to women officers, for the first time the Indian Navy has allowed deployment of women offi- cers on warships. Till now, women were not given duties on sea-bound ships due to a variety of rea- sons, including lack of privacy and separate washrooms. In another development, the IAF has started training a woman pilot for flying the newly-inducted five Rafale jets. The force has already induct- ed ten women officers as fight- er pilots to fly various planes like the Mig-21s. As regards the Navy, Sub Lieutenant Kumudini Tyagi and Sub Lieutenant Riti Singh will be the first women offi- cers deployed on Navy war- ships as part of the ship’s crew. These two officers are training to operate a host of sensors onboard multi-role helicopters, including sonar consoles and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) payloads. Earlier, entry of women was restricted to the fixed wing air- craft that took off and landed ashore. A t least 12 people, including seven children, were killed and 10 others injured when a three-storey building collapsed while they were sleeping at their homes at Narpoli in the powerloom town of Bhiwandi in the adjoining Thane district in the early hours of Monday. Six children were rescued from under the debris by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and local fire brigade teams during the res- cue and relief operations car- ried out by them for the better part of the day. Detailed report on P5 I n a move to placate agitating farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and other States, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Monday hiked minimum support prices for rabi crops, including wheat, chana, gram, lentil, mustard, safflower among others, for the season 2021-22. The MSP for wheat has been hiked from 1,925 to 1,975 per quintal, an increase of 50 while MSP for chana (gram) has been hiked by 8.3 per cent from 4,875 to 5,100 a quintal, an increase of 225. As per the CCEA decision, MSP for masoor (lentil) dal has been hiked from 4,800 to 5,100 per quintal, an increase of 300. MSP of rapeseed and mustard has been hiked by 7 per cent, from 4,425 to 4,650 per quintal, an increase of 225. MSP for barley has been increased by 5.7 per cent, from 1,525 to 1,600, a hike of 75. The MSP of safflower has been increased to 112, from 5,215 to 5,327 per quintal. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar announced the Cabinet decision to hike MSP of rabi crops for the season 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha. Hundreds of farmer unions across Punjab and Haryana have called for multiple protests in the coming days, including a total shut- down on September 25, against the two agriculture Bills. Meanwhile, buoyed over good monsoon and higher acreage during the ongoing kharif crops, the Ministry of Agriculture has revised food- grains production target for 2020-21 to a record 301 million tonnes, an increase of 1.5 per cent from 298.3 million tonnes fixed earlier in April 2020. Earlier at the national confer- ence for rabi campaign 2020, the Ministry has fixed the tar- get of 119.60, 108.00, 5.00, 9.57, 29.00 and 47.80 million tonnes of rice, wheat, jowar, bajra, maize and coarse cereals, respectively. T he military-level talks between India and China resumed on Monday after six weeks to defuse the tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with both sides reaf- firming the need for early dis- engagement and de-escalation. India made it clear that pullback has to be from all the friction points in Ladakh, while the Chinese wanted the Indian Army to first vacate the heights on the south bank of the Pangong Tso (lake). The last round of parleys was held on August 2. The Indian delegation was directed to insist that China has to make the first move of dis- engagement and New Delhi will then respond positively reducing its troop strength, sources said. Given the complex and sensitive nature of the issue against the backdrop of the volatile situation at the border for the last four months, the two delegations decided to continue the dialogue. They also agreed to follow the five-point roadmap laid down by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. They had held a bilateral meet- ing on the LAC on September 10 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) in Moscow. With these guidelines etched at the political level, the dialogue at the Moldo meeting point on the Chinese side in Chushul on Monday went a notch higher with diplomats also part of the Indian delega- tion. Joint Secretary in the External Affairs Minister Navin Srivastava, who heads the Working Mechanism for Co- orindation and Co-operation (WMCC) for India-China bor- der issue, along with an Inspector General of the Indo- Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) participated in the parleys. The Indian team was led by Lt General Harinder Singh and two Major Generals. Lt General PG Menon also attended the crucial meeting. He is likely to replace Harinder Singh after his tenure as Leh- based 14 Corps ends in anoth- er couple of weeks. The Indian strategy for the latest round of military-diplo- matic level talks was cleared by the China Study Group (CSG) last week. It was made clear China has to refrain from its aggressive actions to unilater- ally change the LAC. I n the wake of continuing protest over the passage of the farm Bills passed by Parliament on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asserted that the Bills were the need of 21st century India and reassured farmers that the Government “Mandis”, the Government purchase of their produce, and the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism will con- tinue. Opposition parties and some RSS-affiliated organisa- tions have maintained that the Bills were tilted towards cor- porates vis-à-vis the small and marginal farmers, constitut- ing over 85 per cent of the farmers in the country. The PM, however, said that changes will help small farmers organise and get bet- ter price for their produce. Attacking those opposing the Bills, the Prime Minister said a “clique” of people exploit- ed farmers for long as they remained in shackles of rules regulating the sale of their produce and stated that this needed to change, which his Government has done. “After these historical changes in the agricultural sec- tor, some people are losing their control of it. So now these people are trying to mislead farmers on MSP. They are the same people who sat for years on the rec- ommendations of the Swaminathan Committee on MSP,” Modi said striking at the Congress without naming it. Describing the legislations as “very historic”, the Prime Minister said if somebody says that Government-regulated agriculture markets will be fin- ished after these reforms, then he is “blatantly lying”. Noting that his Government had brought the farm Ordinances, which these legislations will replace, in June, he said farmers are already getting a better price by 15 to 20 per cent for their pro- duce in several States.

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Page 1: ˇ !# $ ˙ E *,072 0 (3/?6 )7? 0 )7 )/,’6A A/(72 A2 A (7/*2 · 1 day ago  · 6.7 per cent year-on-year in July as against a growth of 11.4 per cent in the same month of the last

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Rajya Sabha ChairmanVenkaiah Naidu on

Monday suspended eightOpposition members from theHouse for the rest of theMonsoon Session over theunprecedented chaos in theUpper House during the pass-ing of the controversial farmBills on Sunday. Naidu alsorejected a no-confidencemotion moved by theOpposition parties againstDeputy Chairman HarivanshNarain Singh.

The suspended membersrefused to leave the House andsat on a protest dharna infront of the Mahatma Gandhistatute on the Parliamentpremises.

The suspended memberswere joined by almost all theOpposition leaders, includingformer Prime Minister HDDeve Gowda, NationalConference leader FarooqAbdullah, Samajwadi Partyleaders Ram Gopal Yadav, JayaBachchan, and leaders from theShiv Sena.

Meanwhile, 18 Oppositionparties have written to thePresident of India, requestinghim not to give his approval tothe farm sector Bills passed byboth Houses.

The protest will continueovernight and the suspendedmembers will again attempt to

enter the Upper House. If theyare stopped, the protest willcontinue on the Parliamentlawns. A similar protestovernight had happened on theAndhra PradeshReorganisation Bill whenmembers remained in the LokSabha till wee hours.

The suspended members— TMC’s Derek O’Brien andDola Banerjee, AAP’s SanjaySingh, Congress’s Rajeev Satav,Sayid Nasir Hussain, RipunBora; CPI(M)’s KK Rageshand Elamaram Kareem — weretold by the Chairman thatthey had displayed “unrulybehaviour especially with theChair and gross disorderlyconduct”.

“I am pained at what hap-pened yesterday. It defies logic.

It is a bad day for the RajyaSabha,” Naidu said.

Minister of State forParliamentary Affairs V

Muraleedharan moved themotion for the suspension ofthe eight MPs.

Naidu also rejected theno-confidence motion movedby 12 Opposition partiesagainst his Deputy Harivansh,saying a notice period of 14days is required. The suspend-ed members were asked toleave the House, but whenthey refused to do so, the ses-sion was adjourned until 10 amand then for a hour again.

After the House recon-vened at 10.30 am, DeputyChairman Harivansh said hewill ask the Leader of theOpposition to speak beforeany Bills are discussed, but saidthat those who have beennamed by the Chairman can-not participate.

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

���� /,6�*,072

In a historic move to provideequal opportunity to women

officers, for the first time theIndian Navy has alloweddeployment of women offi-cers on warships.

Till now, women were notgiven duties on sea-bound

ships due to a variety of rea-sons, including lack of privacyand separate washrooms.

In another development,the IAF has started training awoman pilot for flying thenewly-inducted five Rafale jets.

The force has already induct-ed ten women officers as fight-er pilots to fly various planeslike the Mig-21s.

As regards the Navy, SubLieutenant Kumudini Tyagiand Sub Lieutenant Riti Singhwill be the first women offi-cers deployed on Navy war-ships as part of the ship’screw.

These two officers aretraining to operate a host ofsensors onboard multi-rolehelicopters, including sonarconsoles and Intelligence,Surveillance andReconnaissance (ISR) payloads.Earlier, entry of women wasrestricted to the fixed wing air-craft that took off and landedashore.

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At least 12 people, includingseven children, were killed

and 10 others injured when athree-storey building collapsedwhile they were sleeping attheir homes at Narpoli in thepowerloom town of Bhiwandiin the adjoining Thane districtin the early hours of Monday.

Six children were rescuedfrom under the debris by theNational Disaster Response

Force (NDRF) and local firebrigade teams during the res-cue and relief operations car-ried out by them for the betterpart of the day.

Detailed report on P5

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In a move to placate agitatingfarmers from Punjab,

Haryana, Maharashtra andother States, the CabinetCommittee on EconomicAffairs (CCEA) on Mondayhiked minimum support pricesfor rabi crops, including wheat,chana, gram, lentil, mustard,safflower among others, for theseason 2021-22.

The MSP for wheat hasbeen hiked from �1,925 to�1,975 per quintal, an increaseof �50 while MSP for chana(gram) has been hiked by 8.3per cent from �4,875 to �5,100a quintal, an increase of �225.

As per the CCEA decision,MSP for masoor (lentil) dal hasbeen hiked from �4,800 to�5,100 per quintal, an increaseof �300. MSP of rapeseed andmustard has been hiked by 7per cent, from �4,425 to �4,650per quintal, an increase of�225. MSP for barley has beenincreased by 5.7 per cent, from�1,525 to �1,600, a hike of �75.The MSP of safflower has been

increased to �112, from �5,215to �5,327 per quintal.

Union AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar announced the Cabinetdecision to hike MSP of rabicrops for the season 2021-22 inthe Lok Sabha. Hundreds offarmer unions across Punjaband Haryana have called formultiple protests in the comingdays, including a total shut-down on September 25, againstthe two agriculture Bills.

Meanwhile, buoyed overgood monsoon and higheracreage during the ongoingkharif crops, the Ministry ofAgriculture has revised food-grains production target for2020-21 to a record 301 milliontonnes, an increase of 1.5 percent from 298.3 million tonnesfixed earlier in April 2020.Earlier at the national confer-ence for rabi campaign 2020,the Ministry has fixed the tar-get of 119.60, 108.00, 5.00,9.57, 29.00 and 47.80 milliontonnes of rice, wheat, jowar,bajra, maize and coarse cereals,respectively.

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���� /,6�*,072

The military-level talksbetween India and China

resumed on Monday after sixweeks to defuse the tension atthe Line of Actual Control(LAC) with both sides reaf-firming the need for early dis-engagement and de-escalation.

India made it clear thatpullback has to be from all thefriction points in Ladakh, whilethe Chinese wanted the IndianArmy to first vacate the heightson the south bank of thePangong Tso (lake). The lastround of parleys was held onAugust 2.

The Indian delegation wasdirected to insist that China hasto make the first move of dis-engagement and New Delhiwill then respond positivelyreducing its troop strength,sources said.

Given the complex andsensitive nature of the issueagainst the backdrop of thevolatile situation at the borderfor the last four months, thetwo delegations decided tocontinue the dialogue.

They also agreed to followthe five-point roadmap laiddown by External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar and hisChinese counterpart Wang Yi.They had held a bilateral meet-ing on the LAC on September10 on the sidelines of theShanghai Co-operationOrganisation (SCO) inMoscow.

With these guidelinesetched at the political level, thedialogue at the Moldo meetingpoint on the Chinese side inChushul on Monday went anotch higher with diplomatsalso part of the Indian delega-tion. Joint Secretary in the

External Affairs Minister NavinSrivastava, who heads theWorking Mechanism for Co-orindation and Co-operation(WMCC) for India-China bor-der issue, along with anInspector General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)participated in the parleys.

The Indian team was led byLt General Harinder Singh andtwo Major Generals. LtGeneral PG Menon alsoattended the crucial meeting.He is likely to replace HarinderSingh after his tenure as Leh-based 14 Corps ends in anoth-er couple of weeks.

The Indian strategy for thelatest round of military-diplo-matic level talks was cleared bythe China Study Group (CSG)last week. It was made clearChina has to refrain from itsaggressive actions to unilater-ally change the LAC.

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In the wake of continuingprotest over the passage of

the farm Bills passed byParliament on Sunday, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onMonday asserted that the Billswere the need of 21st centuryIndia and reassured farmersthat the Government “Mandis”,the Government purchase oftheir produce, and theMinimum Support Price(MSP) mechanism will con-tinue.

Opposition parties andsome RSS-affiliated organisa-tions have maintained that theBills were tilted towards cor-porates vis-à-vis the small andmarginal farmers, constitut-ing over 85 per cent of thefarmers in the country.

The PM, however, saidthat changes will help smallfarmers organise and get bet-ter price for their produce.

Attacking those opposingthe Bills, the Prime Ministersaid a “clique” of people exploit-ed farmers for long as they

remained in shackles of rulesregulating the sale of theirproduce and stated that thisneeded to change, which hisGovernment has done.

“After these historicalchanges in the agricultural sec-tor, some people are losing theircontrol of it.

So now these people aretrying to mislead farmers onMSP. They are the same peoplewho sat for years on the rec-ommendations of theSwaminathan Committee onMSP,” Modi said striking at theCongress without naming it.

Describing the legislationsas “very historic”, the PrimeMinister said if somebody saysthat Government-regulatedagriculture markets will be fin-ished after these reforms, thenhe is “blatantly lying”.

Noting that hisGovernment had brought thefarm Ordinances, which theselegislations will replace, inJune, he said farmers arealready getting a better price by15 to 20 per cent for their pro-duce in several States.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is like-ly to inaugurate Atal tunnel on Leh-

Manali highway in Himachal Pradesh’sRohtang on October 3.

“According to the Prime Minister’s ten-tative programme, he will come to Manalion October 3 for inaugurating the tunneland will also visit Lahaul,” said HimachalChief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while talk-

ing to the mediapersons here.The Chief Minister said that it is not

yet decided if the Prime Minister willaddress a public rally in Lahaul that day.

The Rohtang tunnel has been namedafter former Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee, who had announced the projecton June 3, 2000. The work to build it wasentrusted to the Border RoadsOrganisation (BRO).

The 9.2-km tunnel is the world’s

longest above an altitude of 3,000 metresand will reduce the distance betweenManali and Leh by 46 km.

The tribal district of Lahaul-Spitiwhich remains cut off for six months dueto heavy snowfall at Rohtang Pass, isexpected to benefit from the tunnel’sconstruction. Also, the tunnel will be notonly important from the strategic point ofview but is expected to give a boost totourism in Lahaul-Spiti.

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The union territory ofChandigarh on Monday

reported three COVID-19fatalities and 240 fresh positivecases.

With this, the death tolldue to COVID-19 reached 123while the total case tally stoodat 10298 in the city.

“Out of total 10298 positivecases, there were 2761 activecases in the city. With 273recoveries reported in the past24 hours, a total of 7411 resi-dents have so far recoveredfrom the virus,” statedChandigarh HealthDepartment’s evening bulletin.

Giving the details of thefatalities, the bulletin stated, “A36 years old male resident ofPalsora, a comorbid expired atPGIMER and a 70 years oldmale resident of Sector 15 diedat Fortis Hospital, Mohali onSeptember 21. A 68 years oldmale resident of Sector 24, acomorbid expired at PGMIERon September 19.”

Among the fresh 240 casesdetected, 144 were male resi-dents and 96 were female res-idents. In the past 24 hours, 11

positive cases were reported inSector 49, 10 cases each werereported in Manimajra, Sector27 and Sector 19, nine caseseach in Sectors 7, 15, 22 and 43,according to the bulletin.

The fresh cases werereported from Sectors 2, 7, 8,10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21,22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30,31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39,40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48,49, 50, 51, 52, 56, Sector 38west, Sarangpur, Ram Darbar,Raipur Kalan, PGIMER cam-pus, Mauli Jagran, Maloya,Manimajra, Kaimbwala, KhudaAlisher, Khuda Lohar,Kishangarh, Dhanas, Daria,Dadumajra, Bapu Dhamcolony, Burail and Behalana,the bulletin added.

There were192 criticalCOVID patients admitted inNehru Extension Centre,PGIMER, out of which 63belonged to Chandigarh, 61 toPunjab, 38 to Haryana and 18to Himachal Pradesh. In viewof the sudden surge in positivecases in the city, PGIMER hasincreased the bed capacityfor treatment of COVIDpatients to 400 beds from200.

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All set to take a digital leap,Punjab Government will

soon implement the e-chal-laning system across the state,besides providing options tomake payment through digitalgateways, and holding virtualcourts for traffic offenders.

Punjab Additional DirectorGeneral of Police (ADGP),Traffic, Sharad Satya Chauhan,during a webinar on ‘TrafficManagement and Road Safetyunder the COVID-19Pandemic’ on Monday, empha-sized on contactless and digi-tal methods of policing like e-challan system, single use ofstraw while checking for drunkand drive, and digi locker plat-form for checking documents.

Chauhan said that thePunjab Police is looking for-ward to implement e-challan-ing system throughout the stateafter a successful pilot projectin SAS Nagar and Patialathrough which a greater num-ber of offenders can be finedfor violation of traffic rules.

“Through the corporatesocial responsibility (CSR),enough machines would be

procured so that the entire statecan be brought to a digital plat-form and all challans would bemade through machines,” hesaid.

Sharing details, he saidthat the payments would bemade through digital gate-ways. The records generatedwould help the Punjab police toremain strict on repeat offend-ers and even cancel theirlicences, he said.

Talking about the ‘virtualcourts’ for traffic offenders —an initiative by the SupremeCourt, Chauhan said that withthe help of the courts, Ludhianacan be taken up as a projectwhere digital challans generat-

ed from the control room byautomatic cameras would besent to the virtual courts wheree-summons can be given tooffenders on the phone andthey can pay the fine throughdigital gateways attached to thevirtual courts.

Elaborating further,Chauhan said that this wouldbe the new addition to the chal-laning process and quickredressal to the problem whichcan be processed through dig-ital mode. He also talked aboutthe new training paradigmand methods of enforcementwith instructions to trafficpolice personnel.

To bridge the gap betweenPolice and the citizens ofPunjab through the use of dig-ital platforms, Punjab Policeand Safety Alliance forEveryone (SAFE) Society hasorganized the webinar — firstof its kind in the country under‘Safe Punjab Programme’.

“COVID-19 pandemic hasrestricted the Punjab Police tointeract in person with thecitizens of the state while keep-ing them unaware about thepractices adopted by PunjabPolice,” said the ADGP Traffic.

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Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on

Monday dismissed the Centre’spaltry hike in MSP of wheatand five other Rabi crops as acruel joke on the farmers amidtheir growing apprehensionsabout abolition of the MSPregime following the passage ofthe new Agriculture Bills inParliament.

“This is callous. They havemade a mockery of the farm-ers’ protests over the farm bills,which by all accounts willeventually pave the way forending the minimum supportprice (MSP) system and abol-ish the Food Corporation ofIndia,” said the Chief Minister.

Capt Amarinder said thatif the BJP-led NDAGovernment at the Centrethought it would appease theagitating farms with this triflinghike they clearly did not under-stand the situation. “You can’tjust throw crumbs at someone

who may be on the verge of los-ing his livelihood as a result ofyour shameful actions,” he toldthe Union Government.

The farmers have beenasking for a written guaranteethat MSP will not be tamperedwith, but instead, the Centrehas handed out to them ameasly offering, said the ChiefMinister, adding that this onceagain showed how little the BJPand its allies, including theShiromani Akali Dal (SAD),knew about the farmers andtheir problems.

At a time when the farm-ers, in fact the whole nation,were not even sure that theMSP regime will stay, and forhow long, making these mea-ger hikes in the support priceof a few crops amounted to tri-fling with their emotions, CaptAmarinder said.

The verbal assurances andpromises made by aGovernment which has failedto implement even its writtenpromises and commitments

are totally meaningless, he said,urging the CentralGovernment to even now takecognizance of the concerns ofthe farmers and address themwith meaningful steps insteadof such antics.

The Chief Minister saidthat the farmers are, at present,worried about their future, andthat of their families, and onlywant categorical and clear com-mitments, in black and white,that their produce will contin-ue to be procured in the APMCmarkets at a minimum assuredprice.

They want to be secureabout their livelihood, which inany case has been progressive-ly declining due to the Centre’santi-farmer policies over thepast 6 years, he added.

The Chief Minister alsoregretted that the Centre hadonce again failed to announcea bonus at the rate of Rs 100 perquintal for paddy straw man-agement to incentivize farmersnot to burn it.

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Making a last ditch effort,Shiromani Akali Dal

(SAD) on Monday “vehe-mently” urged the PresidentRam Nath Kovind not to granthis assent to the farmers’ billspassed by the Parliament,claiming that these “endangerthe very survival of farmers andother farm related labour andtrade”.

“The farmers came to thecountry’s rescue when thecountry needed them. Today, itis the country that must cometo their rescue,” said the mem-orandum submitted by theSAD delegation, led by partypresident Sukhbir Singh Badal.

The Akali leaders urgedhim to “act as the nation’s con-science keeper and the custo-dian of the Constitution” andcome to the rescue of farmers,farm and mandi labour andfarm traders.

“The party has taken thefarmers’ cause to the highestlevel in the country. The CoreCommittee of the party wouldmeet soon to decide the nextcourse of action to take the

struggle for justice to the nextlevel. But we will stand by thefarmers every inch of the wayforward,” said Sukhbir aftermeeting the president, addingthat SAD is a “farmers’ partyand 95 percent of our membersare farmers”.

Sukhbir warned that“ignoring the farmers’ senti-ments can have the potential todisturb social harmony andpeace in the country”.

He said that the party hasasked the President to heed thesentiments of millions andmillions of beleaguered farm-ers, farm and mandi labourers,arhtiyas and Dalits represent-ed here through us and to acton the basis of these sentimentsand send the concerned Billsback to the Parliament forreconsideration.

The memorandum sub-

mitted by SAD also asked thePresident “to advise theGovernment to send these Billsto a Select Committee ofParliamentarians which couldthen take the stakeholders onboard before presenting thesebills to the Parliament again”.

The memorandum alsohighlighted how the rulingparty “used its huge majority inthe Parliament to bypass thetime-honoured democratic tra-ditions of taking theOpposition and allies into con-fidence and building a nation-al consensus on critical issues”.

“This has cast a dark shad-ow on our democratic tradi-tions as it short-circuited theaccepted norms, proceduresand conventions of parliamen-tary democracy. It was a sadday for democracy,” said thememorandum.The memoran-dum further said that “issues atstake required in-depth con-sideration as the concernedbills for legislation have astrong bearing on the vitaland sensitive interests of thestakeholders — the farmers, thekhet and Mandi mazdoors , theArhtiyas and the Dalits”.

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Ending his year-long politi-cal exile following differ-

ences with Punjab ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh, the cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhuwill soon be seen batting for thefarmers in their agitationagainst the Centre’s new agri-culture-related legislations.

Sidhu, who broke hissilence three days back over theCentre’s “controversial” Billsby sharing his view on Twitter,is learnt to have made up hismind to return in the field toback the farmers.

Sources close to Sidhu havetold The Pioneer that the for-mer Minister, who is amongthe Congress party’s best ora-tors, would join the farmers’protest dharnas to take on the

BJP led Central Government,especially when the Congressparty has been raising the issuehead-on.

The Congress, not only inPunjab but also at the nation-al level, is waging a war againstthe Government over the farmbills. Right from the ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh, to the state party presi-dent Sunil Jakhar, CabinetMinisters, party MPs and eventhe party’s youth wing, areholding protests, lending sup-port to the farmers. “WithSidhu joining their protest, itwould boost the campaign,”said a Congress leader.

The development assumessignificance as the party high-command has recentlyappointed Uttarakhand’s for-mer Chief Minister HarishRawat as Punjab Congress

affairs general secretary in-charge. He has indicated atbridging the differencesbetween the party’s top brass.

Sidhu’s attempts to returnto the field also assume signif-icance as it came at a time whenthe party high command ismulling to re-induct him in the

State Cabinet.It is to be seen that what

role the party high commandwould give to Sidhu, whosereturn in the state’s active pol-itics has been demanded byseveral state party leaders.

Notably, Sidhu has beenstaying away from public gaze

and media ever since heresigned from the state Cabinetin September 2019, protestingover the change in his portfo-lio post party’s “not so good”performance in 2019 LokSabha polls.

Earlier, there were reportsthat the Congress MLA fromAmritsar East is warming upwith Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Sidhu, on Friday, had madehis presence felt in his distinctstyle to support the protestingfarmers in their agitationagainst the Centre’s three agri-culture-related bills whiledeclaring that “Punjab,Punjabiyat and every Punjabi”are with the peasants, “farmingis the soul of Punjab and attackon the soul would not be tol-erated”.

Slamming the BJP-ledCentral Government for bring-

ing the farm bills, Sidhu tookto Twitter, more than a yearafter he last tweeted onSeptember 25, 2019, to declarethat he vacated his officialbungalow as the CabinetMinister after resigning fromthe Capt Amarinder Singh-ledCabinet.

“Farming is the soul ofPunjab, the wounds of thebody can heal but an attack onour soul, our existence will notbe tolerated. The war trumpetsays Inqilab Zindabad, Punjab,Punjabiyat and each Punjabiare with the farmers,” he hadtweeted in a series of tweets.

Maintaining that the farm-ers “are the pride and identityof every Punjabi”, Sidhu hadasked the farmers to prepare fora struggle against theGovernment which has“snatched their rights”.

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The Haryana Congress heldprotests across the state on

Monday against Parliament’snod to the contentious farmbills, which the party describedas "black laws".

Former Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hoodaaddressed the protesters inSonipat, while the stateCongress chief Kumari Selja ledthe protest in Jind. Senior lead-ers Ajay Singh Yadav andKuldeep Bishnoi joined theprotest in Rewari and Hisar dis-tricts, respectively.

Congress workers raisedslogans against the BJP-ledCentral Government for bring-ing the “anti-farmers” bills.The party workers, who stageda protest at the district head-quarters, also submitted amemorandum addressed tothe President through deputycommissioners.

Hooda said that theCongress has sought a specialsession of the HaryanaAssembly to discuss the“impact and ramifications” ofthe farm bills. He said, the partywill also move a resolutionagainst these bills.

Addressing the protestersin Jind, the party's state unitchief Selja said that the “anti-farmer” move of the UnionGovernment will destroy thepeasants.

“BJP is pro-capitalist anddoes not understand the painof the poor and the farmers.The ruling party hurriedlypushed through these bills.They even did not care to lis-ten to the suggestion of theopposition members that billsshould be referred to the selectcommittee, which could havethen taken a view of farmers,farm-labourers, Arhitiyas(commission agents),” Seljasaid.

Congress MLA VarunChaudhary, who sat on aprotest in Ambala City, termedthe bills a move to ruin the livesof farmers, who are already fac-ing hardships.

Through the memoran-dum, he said, the party soughtthe President’s intervention inthe matter and asked him notto sign the bills.

The Farmer's ProduceTrade and Commerce(Promotion and Facilitation)Bill, 2020, and the Farmers(Empowerment andProtection) Agreement ofPrice Assurance and FarmServices Bill, 2020 were passedby the Rajya Sabha on Sundaywith a voice vote, amidunprecedented unruly scenesby protesting oppositionmembers demanding that theproposed legislations bereferred to a House panel forgreater scrutiny.

The two bills have alreadybeen passed by the Lok Sabhaand will now go to the presi-dent for his assent before theyare notified as laws.

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Punjab Congress on Mondayheld protests across the

state against the three Centralfarm bills, alleging the pro-posed legislations would “ruin”the farming community.

Congress workers raisedslogans against the BJP-ledGovernment at the Centre forbringing the “anti-farmer” Billsand also burnt effigies of theCentral Government.

Punjab Congress presidentSunil Jakhar led the agitation atBassi Pathana in FatehgarhSahib and slammed the NDAgovernment. “These Bills willruin farmers,” he said, promis-ing that his party would takeevery step possible to protectthe interests of the farmingcommunity.

Jakhar also hit out atPunjab's opposition party,Shiromani Akali Dal, saying

that it took a “U-turn” over the issueof the farm Billsafter sensing therewas anger amongfarmers against theproposed legisla-tions. “Earlier, theywere trying to mis-lead farmers bysaying that theseBills were in theirinterest,” he said.

Jakhar alsosaid that he washappy that all farmer outfitshave joined hands to opposethese Bills.

Farmers' outfits have givena call for ‘Punjab Bandh’ onSeptember 25 in protest againstthese Bills. In Hoshiarpur,Cabinet Minister Sunder ShamArora dubbed SAD leaderHarsimrat Kaur Badal's resig-nation from the Union cabinetas a “political stunt” and asked

why she did not quit the Modi-led government when the cor-responding ordinances werebrought in. Chief MinisterCapt Amarinder Singh had, aday before, said that his gov-ernment would take the BJPand its allies, including theAkalis, to court over the new“unconstitutional, undemoc-ratic and anti-farmer” laws ofthe Central Government.

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Announcing its full supportto the farmers' strike on

September 25 against anti-agriculture Draconian laws,Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP)Punjab unit on Mondaydirected all its leaders andworkers-volunteers to standfirm in this struggle.

The party has announceda program on September 24 toprotest against these blacklaws by forming humanchains across Punjab.

A delegation of MLAsand leaders, led by the Leaderof Opposition in VidhanSabha Harpal Singh Cheema

and Punjab in-charge JarnailSingh (MLA), handed over amemorandum to thePresident through PunjabGovernor and appealed not toapprove the anti-agriculturelaws.

Terming the coercionused by the ruling BJP to passthese agricultural laws as ablatant assassination ofdemocracy, Cheema demand-ed immediate resignation ofBJP MP and Union MinisterSom Prakash fromHoshiarpur in favor of thefarmers and warned to laysiege to the Union Minister'shouse if he did not resign.

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Dubbing September 20 asthe “darkest day in Indian

Farmers’ and Parliamentaryhistory”, the All India KisanSangharsh CoordinationCommittee (AIKSCC) onMonday warned the BJP ledCentral Government of nation-wide unrest if MSP (minimumsupport price) is not guaran-teed and crop price or pro-curement security and foodsecurity of poor is handedover to MNCs.

AIKSCC, a pan-Indianumbrella organization com-prising 250 farmers’ organiza-tions, stated September 20 isthe darkest day in IndianFarmers’ and Parliamentaryhistory when all norms havebeen usurped by the Central

Government to defend theright to loot by foreign com-panies and corporates againstnation’s farmers.

“The passage of two billshas shown how blatantly theBJP can obstruct even parlia-mentary norms to bow downbefore foreign and corporateinterests and harm its ownpeople,” said AIKSCC’s, PunjabChapter, convener DarshanPal. Accusing the CentralGovernment of invoking diver-sionary logic and placing bla-tantly wrong facts to justify itsstand, Pal said that these lawshave given free access of farm-ers’ crops to MNCs andcorporateS, “without any lawwhere a MSP will be declaredand private purchasers will beforced to buy at least at thatprice”.

“The Prime Minister statesthe farmers will have freedomto choose whom to sell to,where to sell, and at what rate.But in reality, farmers cannottransport their crops far awayand they have to sell at thenearest mandi. With only thecorporate available there andthe Central Government total-ly absent, crop prices willcrash,” he said.

Pal added that these Billsenable corporates to pool landof small farmers and saddlethem with losses due to pricecrash and crop loss and moredebts, with the entire profitbeing pocketed by the compa-nies.

AIKSCC has also appealedto the President Ram NathKovind to not to give his assentto the anti-farmers bills.

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The tally of COVID-19patients in Haryana

mounted to 1,13,075 onMonday as 1,818 fresh positivecases surfaced in the State.

Deaths of 28 patients werealso reported due to theCOVID-19 in the last 24 hoursafter which the death toll fromthe disease jumped to 1177. Ona positive note, the authoritiesdischarged 2187 patients fromdifferent hospitals of the stateafter their recovery on the day.

A total of 90, 884 patientshave so far recovered from thedisease and the recovery per-centage in the state is 80.37.The infection rate (IR) in thestate has increased to 6.65 per-cent with a doubling rate of 27days, stated Haryana HealthDepartment’s bulletin.

Of the 28 fresh deaths,four each were reported fromJind and Panipat; three eachfrom Panchkula, Kurukshetra;two each from Hisar, Sirsa,

Yamunanagar, and Kaithal; oneeach from Gurugram,Faridabad, Rohtak, Karnal,Mahindergarh and Nuh.

Among the districts whichreported a big spike in casesinclude Gurugram (314),Faridabad (251), Karnal, (104),Hisar (104), Kurukshetra (99),Rohtak (96), Ambala (92), Sirsa(89), Rewari (82), Panipat (79),Sonepat (68) and Panchkula(50).

The state has 21,014 activecases. As on Monday, Haryanareported the fatality rate at 1.04per cent, according to the bul-letin.

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Punjab’s COVID-19 infectiontally is just short of one lakh

mark as the State on Mondayreported 2,247 fresh cases.

With this, the State’s infec-tion tally stood at 99,930. TheState reported 47 deaths in aspan of 24 hours, taking thedeath toll to 2,860.

Among the fresh fatalities,maximum nine were reportedfrom Amritsar district; fol-lowed by seven in Jalandhar;five each in Pathankot andLudhiana; four each inKapurthala and Patiala; two

each in Bathinda, Hoshiarpur,Moga and Sangrur; and onedeath each in Faridkot,Fatehgarh Sahib, Ferozepur,Muktsar and Ropar districts.

Highest 255 fresh caseswere reported from Amritsardistrict, followed by 249 fromFerozepur, 245 from Ludhiana,233 from SAS Nagar (Mohali),221 from Jalandhar, 151 fromPatiala, 149 from Bathinda,101 from Gurdaspur, 87 fromHoshiarpur, 71 from Sangrur,65 each from Muktsar andFazilka, 56 from Pathankot, 51from Faridkot, 47 from Ropar,38 each from SBS Nagar andKapurthala, 36 from TarnTaran, 34 from Mansa, 21 eachfrom Fatehgarh Sahib andMoga and 13 new cases fromBarnala district.

As per the health bulletin,the total number of recoverieshas gone up to 75,409, whilethe state still has 21,661 activepatients, of which 475 are onoxygen support and 69 onventilators.

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Chandigarh: Haryana Police, inseparate incidents, have appre-hended two wanted criminals,carrying a collective reward ofRs 35,000 from Sonipat district.A spokesperson informed, inthe first operation, a CIA teamafter getting a tip-off aboutcriminal’s presence nearBahalgarh, immediately raidedthe location and nabbedDeshpal, a resident of districtMujaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.He was wanted in connectionwith 2011 murder case, and car-rying a reward of Rs 25,000.

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Chandigarh: Haryana StateVigilance Bureau has caughtred-handed Om Parkash,Clerk, Haryana Roadways,Sirsa, while accepting illegalgratification of Rs 2,000. Aspokesperson said, a complaintwas filed by Madan Lal,Conductor, HaryanaRoadways, Sirsa to StateVigilance Bureau that clerkOm Parkash is demanding Rs2,000 in lieu of putting up hisACP Case.

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Scientists at the CSIR-Centrefor Cellular and Molecular

Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabadhave analysed more than 2,000SARS-CoV-2, the virus thatcauses Covid-19 genomes fromIndia available in the publicdomain to understand the var-ious strains in circulation.

The clade or genetic groupcirculating in India has 70 percent similarity with the majorstrain around the world, hence, one vaccine or drug is suffi-cient to fight it, they said.

Earlier in June, the teamhad revealed the presence of adistinct virus populationamong Indians. This wasnamed the clade I/A3i, and isrecognised by the presence of4 specific variations in theirgenetic makeup (genomes).

At that time, 41 per cent ofall Indian SARS-CoV-2

genomes belonged to this clade.However, the current

analysis showed that the pro-portion of the A3i cladedropped to 18 per cent, it said.The findings of the study donewith scientists from CSIR-Institute of Integrative Biologyas collaborators, are now peer-reviewed and published in thejournal Open Forum InfectiousDiseases published by theOxford University Press.

The decrease in the pro-portion of A3i clade is accom-panied by an increase of theA2a clade, also referred to asthe G clade or the 20A/B/Cclades in other nomenclatures.

Viruses of the A2a or the Gclade carry the D614G muta-tion in their spike proteinwhich is shown to be associat-ed with an increased infectiv-ity.

At present, approximately70 per cent of all Indian as well

as global SARS-CoV-2genomes fall into this clade.“As expected for a strain whichis more infectious, A2a cladequickly became the dominantclade in India just like every-where else. There is no evi-dence to state that this muta-tion is clinically a more diffi-cult one,” Dr Rakesh K Mishra,Director, CCMB and a co-author of the study said.

“The similarity in viralgenome globally should beconsidered a positive news,because a vaccine or a drugtargeting this mutation willwork with the same effective-ness all over the world,” headded.

It is, however, important tonote that no clade at presenthas been conclusively shownto be associated with a moresevere form of COVID-9, oran increased risk of death, saidthe scientists.

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As the number of coron-avirus cases in India

mounts and demand formedical facilities increases,a survey by LocalCirclessaid that only four per centpatients were able to get aCovid-19 ICU bed throughthe routine process, while 78per cent had to use connectionsand clout. Another four percent said they did not get anICU bed at all.

After receiving many com-plaints from citizens fromacross the country about theirfamily friends or associatesnot being able to find an ICUbed at a government or privatehospital, LocalCircles con-ducted a survey to get citizen’spulse on the issue and receivedover 17,000 responses from

citizens located in over 211 dis-tricts of the country.

On experiences of peoplein their social network withregard to getting a COVID-19ICU bed, 55 per cent citizenssaid that they did not have anyperson in their network whoneeded it.

Thirty eight per centrespondents said they had touse clout to secure an ICU bedwhile seven per cent said theyhad to follow up extensively tosecure the ICU bed.

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The Lok Sabha on Mondaypassed the amendments to

the Foreign Contribution(Regulation) Act, 2010 thatseek to make Aadhaar manda-tory for NGOs to receive for-eign funds. The amendmentsaim to streamline the provi-sions of the FCRA by strength-ening the compliance mecha-nism and enhancing trans-parency and accountability inthe receipt and utilisation offoreign contribution worththousands of crores of rupeesevery year, said MoS HomeAffairs Nityanand Rai.

The amendments will limitthe use of foreign fundsreceived under FCRA foradministrative purposes fromthe current limit of 50% to20%. Also, Aadhaar card willbe mandatory for all officebearers of NGOs and otherorganisations which are seek-ing funds from foreign sources.

“The annual inflow of for-eign contribution has almostdoubled between the years2010 and 2019, but manyrecipients of foreign contribu-tion have not utilised the samefor the purpose for which theywere registered or grantedprior permission under thesaid Act. Many of them werealso found wanting in ensuringbasic statutory compliancessuch as submission of annualreturns and maintenance ofproper accounts,” the proposed

amendment States. “This has led to a situation

where the Central Government had to cancelcertificates of registration ofmore than 19,000 recipientorganisations, including non-governmental organisations,

during the period between 2011 and2019,” it added.

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Parliament on Mondaypassed the Insolvency and

Bankruptcy Code (IBC) Billproviding reliefs to companiesfacing insolvency due to thelockdown. Rajya Sabha hadalready passed the Bill. FinanceMinister told Lok Sabha whilereplying to the debate on IBC(Second Amendment Bill) thatthe Government passedOrdinance to protect the com-panies facing insolvency casesdue to the Lockdown. “Manycountries changed rules due tothe Lockdown to protect thecompanies who were facinginsolvency cases and recoverycases .

These amendments weremainly to stop the recoveriesand extension of time limit dueto Lockdown,” she said,explaining why Governmentbrought Ordinance and need-ed to accommodate theamendments.

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Parliament on Mondaypassed the Epidemic

Diseases (Amendment) Bill2020 to include Covid-19 pan-demic in the list of epidemicdiseases and also include thestringent punishments to thoseattack doctors and healthcareworkers. Rajya Sabha hadpassed the Bill earlier. Duringthe pandemic, the Governmenthad issued an Ordinance toprotect doctors and healthcareworkers after a series of reportsof attacks against them. HealthMinister Harsh Vardhanthanked the Lok Sabha MPs forpassing the Bill unanimouslyand said society must observezero-tolerance to any form ofviolence against healthcare ser-vice personnel and damage toproperty. As per its provisions,the commission or abetment ofsuch acts of violence will bepunishable with an imprison-ment for a term of threemonths to five years, and witha fine of �50,000 to �2,00,000.

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Asserting that it had a clearmajority in the Rajya Sabha

during the passage of the farmBills, the Government onMonday described the behav-iour of Opposition members inthe Rajya Sabha as “veryshameful and irresponsible” asalso their refusal to leave thehouse despite the Chairman’sorder to suspend them onMonday. The Government alsopointed out that there isenough visual evidence that theDeputy Chairman would havebeen nearly physically assault-ed had the Marshals not pro-tected him.

Union minister RaviShankar Prasad said the con-duct of leaders of oppositionparties was “illegal” and viola-tive of all parliamentary normsand rules and accused theCongress of double standardson the issues including contractfarming.

“The Government had aclear majority yesterday, 110present members were sup-porting the Agriculture Billsand only 72 were opposing. Wehad a decisive majority...theiragenda was to stop the House(Rajya Sabha) from passing theBills,” Prasad maintained.

On the Opposition’s claimthat the bills were passed with-out voting on Sunday, Prasad

said the deputy chairman hadasked the members ofParliament (MPs), who went tothe well of the house, to returnto their seats 13 times. He saiddiscussion went on peacefullyfrom 9.30 am to 1.30 pm andafter that the deputy-speakersaid “you want it to go to selectcommittee, I have to put it tomotion and please, go back onyour seats”. “How can votingtake place when you won’t goto your seats,” he asked.

Pointing to the possibilityof the chairman being physi-cally attacked, the Union min-ister said, “Yesterday was ashameful day in parliamenthistory. Mic was broken, aleader of a party tore a rulebook” and the chair came“very close to being physical-ly hurt”. “But for Marshalls,some physical hurt was possi-ble”, he sought to say addingthere is enough visual evi-dence if Marshallls would havenot protected the DeputyChairperson , he would havebeen nearly physically assault-ed.

He said following theirsuspension the oppositionmembers had no right to stayback in the house which theydid on Sunday. He said oncesuspension is ordered there isno discussion allowed andmembers have to exit thehouse.

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An eight-week programmecombining dementia edu-

cation with lifestyle changes todiet, physical activity and cog-nitive engagement throughbrain boosting games can sig-nificantly improve cognitiveperformance and reduce therisk of Alzheimer’s diseaseamong seniors with pre-dementia conditions,researchers have found.

Alzheimer’s disease is aneurological disorder whichcauses problems with memory,thinking skills, and behaviourand is the most common formof dementia.

The study used theBrainHQ app from PositScience for its brain exercisecomponent. Published in theJournal of the AmericanGeriatrics Society, the ran-domised trial assigned 119participants over the age of 65to either an active controlgroup or an intervention group.

The research team foundthat the intervention grouphad a significantly largerreduction in Alzheimer’s risk— using the AustralianNational UniversityAlzheimer’s Disease RiskIndex — than the controlgroup over the duration of thestudy. The size of the riskreduction was clinically sig-nificant, similar to the differ-ence in Alzheimer’s riskbetween a person who hasdiabetes and one who doesn’t.

Memory loss is one of the

earliest symptoms, along witha gradual decline of otherintellectual and cognitivefunctions leading to change ofbehavior, RK Dhamija(Director Professor andHOD), Department ofNeurology at Delhi-basedLady Hardinge MedicalCollege said. He added that asthere is no cure, it is impor-tant that one should take upreading, play brain challeng-ing games like crosswordsand Sudoku, connecting withpeople to keep the mindactive. “Lifestyle diseases suchas diabetes, high blood pres-sure should be strictly con-trolled.

“Since it is a neuro-degen-erative disease, it is thereforeimportant to recognise thesymptoms early. Timely andregular follow-up with a neu-rologist along with good sup-portive care can minimise thesuffering of these patients,” DrDhamija said.

Initial symptoms arememory impairment, word-

finding difficulties during con-servation, patients may forgettheir recent conversation,where they had kept theirwallets, they may even forgetwhether they had food or notor forget bank/ATM pass-words or their way to home.

Around 5 crore peopleare suffering with dementiaand it is estimated that everyyear one crore people withdementia are added , said DrDhamija. In India, 40 lakhpeople are afflicted with theneurodegenerative disease.

“The Government isn’tcurrently prioritising theirneeds, since the medical sys-tem is already burdened withthe responsibility of providingbasic care for infectious ill-nesses, cardiac ailments,oncology problems etc. Butthe Government needs to lookinto this gap in geriatric careon an urgent basis,” said JoyDesai, Director of theNeurology Department atJaslok Hospital & ResearchCentre, Mumbai.

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The CBI has registered a caseagainst Delhi-based private

firm Kwality Ltd and its direc-tors for causing an alleged lossof over �1,400 crore to a con-sortium of banks led by Bank ofIndia.

Following registration ofthe case on September 10, theagency on Monday conductedsearches at the premises of theaccused firm and its directors.

The CBI registered the caseon a complaint from Bank ofIndia against Kwality Ltd andothers including its Directors,and other unknown personsfor causing an alleged loss of�1,400.62 crore to Bank of Indiaand other consortium banks, theagency said.

“It was alleged in the com-plaint that the said accused hadcheated the Bank of India-ledconsortium comprising BOI(lead bank), Canara Bank, Bankof Baroda, Andhra Bank,Corporation Bank, IDBI,Central Bank of India,Dhanlaxmi Bank and SyndicateBank to the tune of �1,400.62core by way of diversion of bankfunds, sham transactions withrelated parties, fabricated docu-ments/receipts, falsified books ofaccounts, created false assets andliabilities among others,” it said.

The searches were con-ducted at eight locations includ-ing Delhi, Saharanpur,Bulandshahr (Uttar Pradesh),Ajmer (Rajasthan) and Palwal(Haryana) at the premises of theprivate company and otheraccused persons in the case.Further investigation is contin-uing, it further said.

Those named as accused inthe case include Kwality Ltd,Sanjay Dhingra, SiddhantGupta, Arun Srivastava andother unknown persons.

According to the FIR, diver-sion/misappropriation of publicmoney by the accused firm andindividuals was done during theperiod 2010-2017.

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The Supreme Court Mondaystayed former Uttar

Pradesh minister GayatriPrasad Prajapati’s interim bail,granted for two months onmedical grounds by theAllahabad High Court, in agang rape case.

The Lucknow bench of theAllahabad High Court onSeptember 3 had granted theinterim bail to Prajapati whowas a minister in the erstwhileSamajwadi Party Government.

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The Government onMonday informed the

Parliament that Pakistan istrying to target Indians work-ing in Afghanistan.

The Government in awritten reply in Lok Sabhasaid that several Indiansworking in development projects in Afghanistan havebeen attacked or kidnapped inthe last 12 years.

Pakistan under the UnitedNations Security CouncilResolution 1267 has also triedto designate four Indiansworking in Afghanistan asterrorists, the Government

reportedly said adding thatthe request was not approved.

“Pakistan has been tar-geting Indian professionalsworking in Afghanistanthrough a variety of ways.Several Indians working inAfghanistan on various development projects havebeen attacked and kidnapped over the past 12years,” Minister of State forExternal Affairs VMuraleedharan said.

“With the assistance of[the] Government ofAfghanistan, India has beenable to secure [the] release ofmany Indians from captivity.In addition, [the] Indian

embassy and its consulateshave also been attacked,” hesaid.

The Government alsoinformed Monday that it hasadopted a multi-pronged approach tos t r e n g t h e nprotection along the Line ofControl (LoC) with Pakistan.In a written reply in RajyaSabha, the Governmentinformed that improved tech-nological sur vei l lance,weapons and equipment forsecurity forces, improvedintel l igence and operational coordination arealso being carried out, report-ed a news agency.

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The ministry of housing andurban affairs (MoHUA)

has received proposals of 392km metro rail from six Stateswith an estimated cost of�1,27,825 crore so far. Theproposals have been receivedfrom Maharashtra, Karnataka,Kerala, Tamil Nadu, remainingthree corridors of Delhi metrophase 4 and Jammu andKashmir.

As per the ministry data,the remaining three corridorsof Delhi Metro Phase IV–Inder lok-Indraprastha ,Rithala-Bawana-Narela, andLajpat Nagar-Saket G Blockcorridors would be 44 kms long

and it would cost Rs 12,635crore. The deadline of the pro-ject is December 2024.

Bangalore Metro RailProject (Phase 2A and 2B) willbe 58 kms long and it wouldcost �14,844 crore. The projectis expected to be completedwithin 45 months from the dateof sanction.

Chennai Metro Rail ProjectPhase –II is 119 kms long andit would cost �63,246 crore.The dealine of this project isJune,2026.

Maharashtra’s metro railprojects include Nagpur,Thane, Pune and Nashik. Thetotal length of these four cities’metro will be 119 kms and itwould cost �22,961 crore.

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The Supreme Court onMonday agreed to hear a

plea which has sought direc-tions to the Centre, all Statesand Union Territories toforthwith re-open allAnganwadi centres in thecountry which were closedamid the COVID-19 pan-demic.

The apex court issuednotices to the Centre, statesand UTs and sought theirresponses on the plea whichhas claimed that functioningof all Anganwadi centres inthe country came to a “suddenhalt” and poor pregnant andlactating women and chil-dren were “left in the lurch”.

“Issue notice, returnablein four weeks. Counsel for thepetitioner is permitted to servea copy of this petition to theoffice of Solicitor General of India,” a benchcomprising Justices AshokBhushan, R S Reddy and M RShah said.

The bench was hearing aplea filed by Maharashtra-based Dipika Jagatram

Sahani who has sought adirection to the Centre, allstates and UTs to “conductgrowth monitoring of chil-dren to document growth inthe wake of the after effectsof the pandemic more par-ticularly malnourishmentamong children and anaemiain girl children and initiatecorrective steps forthwith”.

The petition has said thatthe Centre, states and UTsshould forthwith re-open allAnganwadi centres and pro-vide Angangwadi services inaccordance with the provi-sions of the National FoodSecurity Act, 2013.

“This public interest peti-tion filed under Article 32 ofthe Constitution of India,relates to the closure of theintegrated child developmentservices all across the coun-try, which provided supple-mentary nutrition to preg-nant women, lactating moth-ers, adolescent girls and chil-dren up to the age of 6 years,”it said.

“The Anganwadi centreswhich were running underthis scheme for decades wasclosed down using COVID asan excuse,” it claimed,adding,

“As a result, the most vul-nerable sections of the Indianpopulation suffered malnu-trition nation-wide. Thispetition seeks the re-startingof the Anganwadi centresimmediately.”

It has also sought a direc-tion to the Centre, states andUTs to provide hot cookedmeals, take home rations inconsonance with the provi-sions of the National FoodSecurity Act, 2013 as well asThe Supplementar yNutrit ion (under theIntegrated Child develop-ment Services Scheme) Rules,2020.

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The Government has com-pleted computerisation of

16,845 district and subordi-nate courts, Parliament wasinformed on Monday.

Union Minister of Lawand Justice Ravi ShankarPrasad also said 51,52,921cases were pending in highcourts across the country.

In a written reply to aquery in Lok Sabha, the min-ister said the Governmenthas released �1,459.52 crore to

various organisations involvedin implementation of the pro-ject.

This includes �1,077.76crore released to all highcourts, out of which �790.04crore has been utilized tillAugust 31, he said.

In the 2020-21 fiscal,funds have been released foreSewa Kendras in high courtsand district court complexes,equipment for VC cabins andconnectivity in court com-plexes and creating help deskcounters

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There cannot be a “univer-sal policy” on right to

protest and possible curbs asalso balancing it with acts likeblocking of roads are neededbecause the situation may“vary” from case-to-case, theSupreme Court said onMonday.

The top court’s observa-tion came while reserving theverdict on a batch of pleasagainst the anti-CAA protestswhich had led to blocking ofa road in Shaheen Bagh inthe national capital lastDecember.

The situation normal-ized later due to COVID-19

pandemic fear and subse-quent observance of protocol.

“There were some super-vening circumstances whichcame into play and it was noone’s hand. God almightyitself intervened,” said abench comprising Justices SK Kaul, Aniruddha Bose andKrishna Murari.

Taking note of the sub-missions of lawyers includingShashank Deo Sudhi, thebench said: “We have to bal-ance right to protest and theblocking of roads. We have todeal with the issue. Their cannot be universal policy asthe situation may vary oncase to case basis.

“In parliamentar y

democracy protest can hap-pen in Parliament and onroads but on road it has to bepeaceful”.

Amit Sahni, one of thelawyers who had filed theplea in the case, said that thiskind of protests should nothave been allowed in thelarger public interest.

“This was allowed tohave continued for more than100 days and people faceddifficulty. This kind of inci-dent should not have happened.

Yesterday in Haryanathere was ‘Chakka Jam’ inHaryana. They have alsocalled Bharat Bandh onSeptember 24-25,” he said.

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The UAE-based arms man-ufacturer Caracal on

Monday renewed its com-mitment to supply 93,895carbines to the Indian Armyunder a deal which has beenpending since 2018.

The Caracal in a state-ment stressed that it is com-mitted to the ‘Make in India’initiative and referred to itsselection for the deal to sup-ply the carbines.

“Caracal has alreadyidentified the required land,facility and local partners tobe able to commence pro-duction immediately.

Over 20 per cent of thecomponents fitted on theCAR 816 are already made inIndia, with Caracal now mak-ing commitment to fully manufacture the rifles in (the)country, in alignment withthe ‘Make in India’ initiative,”the company said in a state-ment.

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Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee has react-

ed to the alleged “forced passing”of the farmers’ Bills by compar-ing the BJP Government with“Hitler Raj” and said that herparty Trinamool Congress willstart an indefinite agitationdemanding a rollback of the“draconian law.”

Saying that “yesterday willbe remembered as a BlackSunday” in the history of par-liamentary democracy in IndiaBanerjee on Monday said, “theforced passage of the Bills inRajya Sabha only reminds oneof the Hitler Raj … it is dicta-torship at its peak,” adding herparty would however not take

things lying down and begin aprolonged movement againstthe “draconian law.”

Even as two TMC MPsDerek O’ Brien and Dola Senwere suspended from attendingthis session of the Rajya SabhaBanerjee said “no amount ofcoercion will deter us. We willnot bow our head before thisdictatorial Government,” adding“the way the Bills were passed inthe Upper House by sheer phys-ical force has made our headshang in shame. We feel dis-turbed and ashamed.

“I condemn the yesterday’sincident in the Rajya Sabha …the way the Bills were forciblypassed without following thenorms. Now it is clear that thisGovernment is not only attack-

ing the opponents but also thefarmers and daily wagers … Thefarmers’ independence is beinghijacked they are being madepowerless… The day is not farwhen we will face a food crisis.India is now staring at a famine.”

Apprehending that the pro-posed labour reforms couldbring untold hardship for thecountry’s work force Banerjeesaid the Government’s propos-als for labour reforms wouldcome as a bolt on the work force.

Calling for a broad-basedopposition unity, Banerjee said,“a time has come when all theparties should unite against thisdictatorial government whichsystematically destroying all thedemocratic institutions of thecountry … if need be the

Trinamool Congress will remainat the rear of the movement butthe parties should come forwardto join hands against thisGovernment.”

Attacking the Centre for

destroying democracy Banerjeesaid “the situation is such that allthe voices of decent are ruth-lessly suppressed. If you raiseyour voice they will implicateyouu in false cases.

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Ten out of 14 districts inKerala have come under the

scanner of various intelligenceagencies of the Centre , accord-ing to sources in NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA).

The caution by the Centrehas come as a follow up toSaturday morning’s arrest inErnakulam district of three per-sons with allege link to AlQaeda. The three were taken toDelhi where they are beingquestioned about their activitiesin Kerala.

“Ten districts in the Statehave sleeper cells of variousterrorist organisations and theyare under observation. We arealso in the process of finding outtheir associates in the StatePolice,” said an official who didnot want his name to be quot-ed. The presence of thousandsof migrant workers across theState have become a serious issuein Kerala.

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Welfare Party of India, thepolitical outfit launched

by the Jamaat e Islami, came outon Monday questioning thelegality of the arrests of threemigrant workers fromErnakulam district by the NIAon Saturday.

“We cannot believe the ver-sion of the NIA that the threewere arrested because of theirlinks with Al Qaeda. Thesearrests smack of a conspiracy,”said Hameed Vaniyambalam,WPI, president, in a statementreleased to the media.

According to Hameed, thenews being spread by the inves-tigation agency is with theobjective to create Islamophobiaand also to help the SanghParivar elements.

“Their intention is to createethnic hatred for the migrantlaborers among the local pop-ulation. These innocent work-ers are being portrayed as ter-rorists,” said Hameed.

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Former AMU student SharjeelUsmani, who was among

the main accused in connectionwith the ruckus in AMU regard-ing the CAA-NRC, is once againon the radar of the districtpolice and agencies. After objec-tion to the post made on socialmedia recently, its investigationis being conducted from the SPcity level. At the same time, legalopinion has been sought from

SPO on whether this comesunder the crime or not? Thedecision will be taken only aftergetting a legal opinion for filingthe case. Meanwhile, other agen-cies including ATS are moni-toring his activities.

Shamil Usmani, an alumnusof AMU, who was the mainaccused of inciting the ruckus on15th December night in AMUcampus, was arrested fromAzamgarh. He was sent to jail intwo main cases of AMU ruckus.

After this, Sharjeel was releasedfrom prison on bail. After hisrelease from prison, he tweetedone post from his Twitteraccount last week in which hehas asked people to come out onthe streets and protesting andfinished his tweet with poetry.This post was objected by theformer student of AMU and for-mer district spokesperson of BJP,Nishit Sharma, and tagged thetweeter account of the UP Policefor action.

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The corona is now active indistrict jail as well. 86 new

cases have been found includ-ing 17 from the district jail.After several days, the numberof infected people today is lessthan 100. 165 people recoveredand returned home. The num-ber of corona infected patientshas now reached 7430 in thedistrict.

86 people have been foundinfected in JN Medical College,Pandit Deendayal UpadhyayJoint Hospital, Private Lab,and Antigen Test. 17 people

were found from the district jailalone. District MagistrateChandra Bhushan Singh saidthat based on symptoms, theinfected patients are beingadmitted either to the covid-19hospital or home Isolation.Samples have been taken forfamily members and they arekept in home-quarantine.People in contact are also beingsampled.

Meanwhile, a coronapatient has run away from thePandit Deendayal Upadhyayjoint hospital today. Police havebeen informed by the hospitaladministration.

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Corona preventive medicineivermectin has no shortage

in the district. The drug inspec-tor denied the rumors of ashortage of medicine in themarket, saying that some blackmarketers are trying to makeprofits by spreading suchrumors.

Drug dealers have beenalerted regarding these. Alongwith this, an inspection was alsodone about the availability ofzinc along with Cefzim,Doxycycline, Azithromycin,Vitamin C, and Multi-Vitamins,and no shortage was reported.

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Bengaluru: Karnataka'sCongress legislator BKSangamesh from Bhadravathihas been admitted in a privatecity hospital after testing cor-navirus positive , a party offi-cial said on Monday.

“As 55-year-old Sangameshtested positive on Sunday, hewas brought to Bengaluru fromShivamogga and admitted inthe private hospital here fortreatment,” party spokesmanRajeev Gowda told IANS.

Bhadaravathi is about280km northwest of Bengaluruin the southern state. IANS

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At least 12 persons, includingseven children and

teenagers, were killed and 10others injured when a three-storey building collapsed whenthey were sleeping at theirhomes at Narpoli in the power-loom town of Bhiwandi in theadjoining Thane district in theearly hours of Monday.

As many as persons, includ-ing six children, were rescuedfrom under the debris by theNational Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF) and local firebrigade teams during the rescueand relief operations carriedout by them for the better partof the day.

Of those killed in themishap were a two-year-old girland a 75-year-old man.

A portion of the 43-year-oldJilani building, situated in thePatel Compound at Narpolinear Dhamankar Naka atBhiwandi, crashed at 3.45 am. .The building had in all 40 flats.There were 150 residents in thebuilding when it collapsed.

The rescue teams deployeda Dog Squad, high-tech sensorscameras, gas cutters to locate andrescue the victims trapped underthe debris.

The injured were rushed tothe hospitals at Bhiwandi andnearby Thane.

Those injured have beenadmitted to the local hospitals atBhiwandi and some shifted tothe Thane hospitals the officialssaid.

Thane’s Guardian MinisterEknath Shinde today visited thecrash site and inspected therescue and relief operations. Healso visited the hospital andenquired about the health of theinjured.

Shinde announced a com-pensation of Rs 5 lakh to thenext of kin of those killed in themishap. The minister alsoordered an inquiry as to why norepairs had been carried out inthe building despite the fact thatthe Bhiwandi_NizampurMunicipal Corporation

(BNMC) had served to thateffect in February this year.

Meanwhile, BNMC’sMunicipal Commissioner Dr.Pankaj Ashiya has suspendedthe then Assistant MunicipalCommissioner Sudham Jadhavand Engineer and Verificationofficer Dudhnath Yadav, pend-ing the inquiry.

The BNMC chief said thatthe collapsed building figured onthe list of dilapidated and dan-gerous structures and a vacatenotice had been issued to theresidents in February thisyear.President R. N. Kovind andPrime Minister Narendra Modimourned the death of the peo-ple in the Thane building crash.

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Twenty three Covid-19patients died in the Union

Territory of Jammu & Kashmiron Monday while the totalnumber of recoveries reporteda slight jump in comparison tototal number of fresh positivecases.

According to the mediabulletin, 1,158 patients recov-ered and discharged from dif-ferent hospitals while 1036new cases were detected takingthe tally of active positive casesof Coronavirus to 21887 whilethe death toll reached 1024.

Out of these 1036 freshcases, Jammu division report-ed 536 and Kashmir division

reported 473 cases. On theother hand, out of 23 deaths, 14deaths were reported fromJammu region and ninepatients died across Kashmirvalley on Monday.

Out of a total number fo65026 positive cases, 42115patients have recovered so farwhile 21887 are active positive.Out of these 12643 cases areactive in Jammu and 9244 inKashmir region.

On the other hand, theteam of doctors headed byPrincipal Government MedicalCollege,Jammu Dr NC DigraMonday claimed the premierHealth Institution is cateringwell to all sick patients amid theCovid-19 Pandemic.

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The Lieutenant Governor,Manoj Sinha, who is the

Chairman of Shri MataVaishnoDevi Shrine Board on Mondayformally launched home deliv-ery of Shri Mata Vaishno DeviPooja Prasad for devotees whomay not be able to visit thefamed Hindu pilgrimage, locat-ed between three peakedmountains popularly known as'Trikuta’, during the Boardmeeting at the Raj Bhavan onMonday.

To get Prasad deliveredhome packed in sanitizedboxes, a devotee can book thePooja Prasad through ShriMata Vaishno Devi Shrine

Board's website. Once the booking is done,

the Board ensures that Pooja isperformed within 72 hoursand Prasad is dispatchedthrough Speed Post.

So far, around 1500 pack-ets of Pooja Prasad have beendispatched by the Shrine Board to the devoteesacross the country throughspeed post for which the Boardhas entered into an agreementwith the PostalDepartment.

The Lieutenant Governor,while chairing the first meetingof the Shrine Board since tak-ing over in August this year,welcomed the Board Members,at the outset.

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Page 6: ˇ !# $ ˙ E *,072 0 (3/?6 )7? 0 )7 )/,’6A A/(72 A2 A (7/*2 · 1 day ago  · 6.7 per cent year-on-year in July as against a growth of 11.4 per cent in the same month of the last

The crass attempt by ShivSena to intimidate thenational award-winningactor, Kangana Ranaut,and to demolish her

property without adequate notice,must be condemned by all thosewho cherish democracy and rule oflaw in the country. It is also time totell the Shiv Sena that it does notown Mumbai and no Indian willgrant it the power to issue entry visasfor the city. Mumbai belongs toIndia.

The demolition of the actor’sproperty in Pali Hill area onSeptember 9 for alleged violationswas preceded by repeated threats byparty leaders and some goons, whowarned her not to return to herhome in Mumbai from HimachalPradesh. Among those who adopt-ed such a threatening tone was theState’s Home Minister. In addition,party leaders have hurled filthyabuses at her. Somebody should tellthese worthies to read Article19(1)(d) and (e) of the Constitutionof India which says all citizensshall have the right “to move freelythroughout the territory of India”and “to reside and settle in any partof the territory of India”. The ShivSena must also be told that “we thepeople” are not going to give upthese rights ever and give in to goon-da raj.

The Chief Minister of HimachalPradesh, Jairam Thakur, has right-ly taken up the cudgels on behalf ofRanaut and said that the attitude ofthe Maharashtra Government is“condemnable” and smacks ofvendetta politics. This disrespect to“Himachal’s daughter” is intolerable,he said while ensuring “Y Plus” secu-rity for her. This should alert theMaharashtra Chief Minister to whatlies ahead because nobody will tol-erate this kind of behaviour by ShivSainiks towards citizens hailingfrom other States.

The Bombay High Court hasrightly rapped the municipal corpo-ration on the knuckles and said thedemolition “smacks of malafide” andis “deplorable”. The court noted thatwhat the corporation terms as“unauthorised” construction didnot come up overnight. However,the corporation had suddenlywoken up from its slumber, issueda notice to Ranaut when she was outof the city and proceeded with thedemolition 24 hours later. Further,the court wondered whether themunicipal corporation would actwith “similar swiftness” in respect of

other numerous unauthorisedconstructions. In its order ofSeptember 9, the court hasrecorded in detail the attemptsmade by the municipal corpora-tion to stall the hearing and toprevent it from taking cognisanceof the petition until it had com-pleted the demolition. This isindicative of the arrogance of theexecutive and disrespect for thejudiciary.

The Shiv Sena has to be toldthat it does not own Mumbai.Sainiks have lived in this delusionfor too long. In fact, sevendecades ago, there was a strongargument in favour of makingBombay a Union Territory inview of its cosmopolitan outlookand strategic location.

A memorandum submittedon behalf of the Gujarat ResearchSociety in 1948 to the LinguisticProvinces Commission arguedfor Bombay’s independence. Itsaid “Bombay has been an allIndian city with an internation-al outlook and a distinctive non-provincial culture in which peo-ple from all provinces of Indiaand even foreigners play theirpart…It would, therefore, beunfair to transfer an internation-al port like Bombay to theprovince of Maharashtra ... cre-ated on the narrow ground of aprovincial language.”

The Commission saw merit inthis argument and said:“Nationalism and sub-national-ism are two emotional experi-ences which grow at the expenseof each other.” It said Bombay“should receive special treat-ment and be disposed of in thebest interests of India as a whole”and in its own interest.

The States ReorganisationCommission, which submitted itsreport in September, 1955, alsowarned of the pitfalls of region-al chauvinism. “The Constitutionof India guarantees commoncitizenship to all Indian people.There can, therefore, be only onenationality in India”, it said.

All this eventually convincedthe Centre that Bombay shouldbe a Union Territory and PrimeMinister Jawaharlal Nehru madethe announcement on January16, 1956. SK Patil, the presidentof the Bombay Pradesh CongressCommittee, said “the city wouldbe an oasis in the desert ofregionalism in India” and “ashining example of cosmopoli-tanism and liberal nationalism”.It is, therefore, strange that India’sgrand old party — Nehru’sCongress — which professedsuch liberal values, now sharespower with the Sena but has noinfluence over it.

The Shiv Sena is trying to por-tray Ranaut as a person who is ill-disposed towards Mumbai,Maharashtra and Marathi people.This does not appear to be truealthough there can be issues inregard to her choice of words.Ranaut has not attacked any ofthese entities. Her attack is on theShiv Sena for converting liberalMumbai into a garrison of hate.Nor is the Sena the sole reposi-tory of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s lega-cy. Indians across the worldadore him for his valour, hisnationalism and for his invaluablecontribution towards preservingIndia’s civilisational values. Theattempts by the Shiv Sena toappropriate him and reduce himto an icon of Marathi pride

must, therefore, be resisted. Shiv Sena leaders are also

talking about what Mumbai hasgiven to different professionals,including actors, directors andothers in the cine and televisionworld. They seem to forget whatthese individuals have given toMumbai. The city became whatit is because the best of entrepre-neurs and talented persons inbusiness, trade, manufacturing,entertainment and hospitalitygravitated towards this city,invested billions of rupees andgenerated employment for mil-lions. People from different States— Gujarat, Punjab, UttarPradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, TamilNadu, Jammu and Kashmir andKerala to name a few — arrivedin this city chasing their dreamsand made Mumbai what it istoday. For example, what wouldMumbai business and industrybe if the Gujaratis and Marwarishad not made it their home? Or,what would Bollywood be with-out the Punjabis? Or what wouldeateries be without the Irani andUdupi restaurants?

It is indeed tragic that the ShivSena, which stood so firmly forIndian nationalist causes duringthe life of its firebrand founder,Balasaheb Thackeray, shouldnow become a caricature of itselfand metamorphose into a “SoniaSena.” If it fails to appreciate andrespect our constitutional dhar-ma, many more States and ChiefMinisters will call it out. BharatMata will never allow Mumbai,a jewel in her crown, to fall intounworthy hands.

(The writer is an author special-ising in democracy studies. Viewsexpressed are personal)

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Sir — It is due to the completedisregard for COVID-19 proto-cols that Mumbai has become theworst-hit State in the country. Itwas recently observed that walk-ers on Marine Drive had beenopenly flouting the guidelinesunder which both wearing a facemask and following social dis-tance is mandatory. They notonly risked their lives but also putothers in danger. Despite BMC’sattempt to keep law and order,the officials have been facingresistance from the people whoare unwilling to pay fines fornon-compliance. CSMT,Crawford Market and BoraBazaar are other areas wheresuch irresponsible attitude is onpublic display. It’s high time thatpeople realise their responsibil-ity in helping the StateGovernment stop the spread ofthe virus.

Bhagwan ThadaniMumbai

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Sir — The mega sporting extrav-aganza, Indian Premier League,that started last week, was eager-

ly awaited by cricket fans acrossthe globe. Barring three shortseries in England, we haven’t seena lot of cricket this year. Thoughthese couple of weeks will havemany of us glued to the TVscreens, one is yet to get used tothe cricketers playing in emptystadiums with no cheerleaders orfans to motivate them.

Bal GovindNoida

����� ��� �� �Sir — Appropriate policyresponse and sustainable alterna-tives are needed to further theargument around the currentagricultural methods practised inIndia. According to the latest datareleased by National CrimeRecords Bureau on accidentaldeaths and suicides, 10,281 farm-ers committed suicide in 2019,

down from 10,357 in 2018,whereas the figure for dailywagers rose to 32,559 from30,132. The total number ofsuicides in the country went upto 1,39,123 in 2019 from 1,34,516in 2018. These worrying statis-tics call for an urgent responsefrom the Government to assistthe food producers of this nation.

Noor Ahmad Hyderabad

���������������� Sir — The spike in self-harm, sui-cidal ideation and behaviouramid COVID-19 pandemic is amajor concern. Anxiety, job loss,stress, loneliness and financialinsecurity top the list of concernsduring this time. Help-seekingwas highest among individualsaged 25 to 40 years, followed bythose between 18 and 25 yearsand between 40 and 60 years, asreported. Given the gravity of theissue, the Government needs toincrease socio-economic safetynets and devise ways to supportthose in need.

Khushbu VedUjjain

�������� ������Sir — The Himachal PradeshGovernment has announced therelease of the MLA’s Local AreaDevelopment Fund (MLAL-ADF), stating that the first instal-ment would be available inOctober. Other States, too,should release funds for devel-opment.

Yash Pal RalhanJalandhar

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On March 27 the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)Governor, Shaktikanta Das, announced acomprehensive action plan to resuscitate the

economy devastated by the Coronavirus. Apart frommeasures to increase availability of credit andreduction in the cost of capital, the plan sought toease the stress of loan repayments on businesses andindividuals. Among others, this included a three-month moratorium on payment of instalments inrespect of all term loans outstanding on March 31.On May 22, Das announced extension of the mora-torium for three months till August 31. To ease theburden of payment on those who availed of work-ing capital facilities, the Governor allowed them toconvert accumulated interest for the deferment peri-od into a funded interest term loan (FITL) which canbe paid by March 31, 2021.

The RBI eased asset classification norms for allaccounts coming under moratorium, too. Theseaccounts will be treated as non-performing assets(NPA) from 270 days overdue instead of 90 days over-due as per extant rule. It has also extended the 210-day resolution period for all large stressed accountsunder its June 7, 2019 circular (on its expiry, if banksare not ready with a resolution plan, the Insolvencyand Bankruptcy Code [IBC]comes into play) by afurther 180 days. To address the situation after themoratorium ends, on August 6, the RBI announceda scheme for one-time restructuring of the debt forlarge companies, besides extending till March 31, anexisting restructuring scheme for micro, small andmedium enterprises (MSME) with relaxed norms.It also set up an expert committee under KV Kamathto recommend the required financial parameters,along with the sector-specific benchmarks for thisspecial window.

Meanwhile, one Gajendra Sharma had filed aPublic Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court(SC) demanding waiver on interest charged by a pri-vate bank, citing relief given by the RBI on paymentof Equated Monthly Installments (EMIs) duringMarch and August 31, due to the pandemic. Duringthe last three months or so, the SC has heard the mat-ter thrice. It has made the following observations:On June 4 it said, “On one hand, you are grantingmoratorium (on loans) but continuing with inter-est. It is more detrimental.” On June 17 it observed,“There is no merit in burdening customers, who haveopted for the RBI-approved loan moratorium, withadditional interest. Once you fix a moratorium itshould serve the purpose desired. We see no meritin charging interest on interest.”

On September 10, 2020, it said, “We are keento waive interest on interest” for borrowers whoavailed the moratorium and asked the Governmentand the RBI to come up with a “concrete plan” withregard to the vexed issue. It posted the matter forhearing on September 28, when it is likely to giveits final order.

From the above, it is abundantly clear that theSC does not want banks to charge interest on inter-est for the moratorium period. Whether or not thiswill get reflected in its order, one can only wait andwatch. Meanwhile, it may be worthwhile to look atthe desirability or otherwise of such a move in par-ticular, its impact on the viability and financial sta-bility of the banking system.

At the outset, by granting moratorium to all andsundry, the RBI gave a signal that almost everyone

would be devastated by the pandemic. The SC has gone a step further by

aligning itself with a plea that the banksshould also not be charging “interest onunpaid interest amount during the mora-torium period.” Such a sweeping andbroad-based generalisation is totallydivorced from the reality. No doubt, theCoronavirus has caused unprecedenteddamage but this can’t be pushed to a pointof arguing that almost everyone has beenincapacitated and hence unable to servicethe loans. After all, even during the lock-down, a number of activities, especiallyhealth related, all essential goods and ser-vices besides firms in several other sectorspermitting work from home (WFH) con-tinued their business. Look at the GrossDomestic Product (GDP). During April-June 2020 it was about 23 per cent less thanduring April-June 2019 but it was notreduced to zero.

Businesses which contributed to thisGDP (about �2,550,000 crore duringApril-June 2020) can’t be termed as notbeing in a position to service their loan.The proof of the pudding is in the eating.A large number of borrowers have notavailed of the moratorium. For instance,in case of the State Bank of India (SBI), over80 per cent of its retail borrowers did notavail of the moratorium for two out of thefirst three months (March-May) initiallyallowed by the RBI. Further, 90 per centof such borrowers did not avail of themoratorium for one month. In otherwords, they continued to pay their EMI.

Yet, if in retrospect, the SC allowswaiver of “interest on unpaid interestamount” for all and sundry, this will beunfair to and discriminate against suchborrowers who decided not to avail of themoratorium and continued to service theirloans. A business by nature has ups anddowns. Every enterprise has a phase ofbuoyancy when it gets to reap extraordi-

nary profit (for instance, in the automo-bile sector during 2017-18/2018-19). Whycan’t the surplus or savings from thoseyears be used as a buffer against the cur-rent setback? Alternatively, in future, sayduring 2022-23, when the pandemicimpact will subside and the sectors startgenerating good profits, the surplus to beretained therefrom will provide adequatecushion to pay for current liabilities(including interest on interest).

The point in short is that there is nocompelling need for a firm impacted bythe crisis to rush to banks for relief. Toenjoy the fruits when the going is good andcome to the bank or Government for bail-out when in crisis is totally unacceptable.A bank does not run a charity. Its businessmodel involves taking money from depos-itors in lieu of promising a fixed return (callit interest rate) which is added to the invest-ed amount and returned to the depositoron maturity. The bank lends the funds thuscollected to borrowers, viz. industries, busi-nesses or individuals and so on and usesthe interest earning to service its deposi-tors (besides paying for its own “interme-diation” expenses).

The bank is legally bound to honourits contractual obligation to the depositori.e. it must return to him/her the princi-pal amount plus accrued interest on thematurity/due date. Imagine a situationwherein a bank defers payment of theinterest portion say by six months (becauseit is under stress for that long). Then it willnecessarily have to pay “interest on theunpaid interest amount.”

The depositor won’t forego this justbecause the bank was under stress. Thislogic holds with equal force when itcomes to the borrower discharging his/herliabilities to the bank. If the former delayspayment of interest (courtesy, moratoriummandated by RBI) then it must pay“interest on unpaid interest amount” to the

latter. Yet, if the top court forces banks toforego it, this will dent their ability to ser-vice the depositors. It will strike at the rootof architecture of the financial system andpose a serious threat to the viability ofbank.

Businesses can always approach banksfor support by way of additional fundingand negotiate for changes in the terms ofpayment. This is precisely what the RBI isfacilitating by way of one-time restructur-ing scheme (as 26 sectors have been iden-tified by the Kamath Committee for a cus-tomised package). But to expect banks tobear a portion of the cost in a broadsideand high-handed manner is an abhorrentidea.

On the other hand, to expect theGovernment to pick up the cost tagwould also be illogical and unfair. Apartfrom COVID-related expenses on medicalfacilities and health infrastructure (besidesincreasing expenditure on defence in thecurrent security environment), the Union’sscarce resources need to be preserved onlyfor addressing basic needs of the poorwhose survival depends on daily wages andwho — unlike firms — had neither anysavings from the past nor any hope of hav-ing any windfall gain in the future.

To conclude, if SC orders what it hasalluded to, this will affect the viability ofbanks or further bloat fiscal deficit (in case,the Government foots the bill), therebyjeopardising the country’s macro-eco-nomic fundamentals. This should beavoided and businesses need to remainfocussed on making best use of the RBI’spackage. Even so, the most crucial require-ment at this juncture is to “flatten” theCOVID curve at the fastest pace so thateconomic activities get back to normal.Sans this, any relief, howsoever generous,won’t be of much help.

(The writer is a New Delhi-basedpolicy analyst)

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The National Education Policy(NEP) 2020 offers accreditationto institutions for running open

distance learning and online pro-grammes. This is a unique opportuni-ty for Higher Education Institutes(HEIs) to enhance the courses beingoffered, improve access, increase enrol-ment and provide opportunities for life-long learning. Even before the lock-down, online learning platforms likeNPTEL and MOOCS were beingutilised in Uttar Pradesh (UP) for tech-nical education. However, these wereconsidered largely experimental and thereliance on e-learning in higher edu-cation was minimal. The pandemic,however, decreed teach-from-homeand learn-from-home. The PM e-Vidya scheme was launched and HEIsin UP embraced online education.Around 15,000 teachers adopted onlinepedagogy and over nine lakh students

benefitted from it during the first twophases of the lockdown.

However, like any technologicalrevolution, online education brings withit both opportunities for unparalleledgrowth and threats in the form of newlyvulnerable populations. To get maxi-mum dividends, we need to constructa structured environment for onlineeducation with the twin targets of inclu-sion and personalisation.

Content preparation, delivery andassessment will need to be optimiseddifferentially to match the needs of var-ied target groups. High calibre e-con-tent is the foundation of any such pro-gramme. A wealth of course content isavailable in English on various opensource platforms. This may be integrat-ed into the curriculum to maximisedelivery at the earliest. Meanwhile,efforts have to be made to prepare con-tent in regional languages. The coursematerial needs to be engaging and inter-active, with liberal use of audio, video,visuals and other features tailored to thecourse.

For instance, a course in zoologywould be more visual while a course inlanguage will require an interfaceequipped with grammar andspellcheck. Online learning is self-pacedand self-motivated. Students can learnat their own speed, going back and re-

reading, skipping or acceleratingthrough concepts as they choose.However, it relies heavily on the learn-er’s inclinations. Laid-back studentsmay fall behind the rest of the class.Thus, a time bound-schedule with fre-quent evaluation is necessary. Specialattention must be paid to students notdoing well, as to why their grades areslipping.

This scenario again points to theneed of a robust system of content deliv-ery and assessment. Discussion forumsand Breakout rooms (GoogleClassroom, Moodle, Zoom and so on)allow small-sized groups to be formed,with the instructor being able to visiteach of these and share his notes. Withwhiteboard integration, science teach-ers find mini gadgets like tabs with pensconvenient for performing mathemat-ical derivations and solving numericalproblems. Cross-institutional collabo-rative learning is also possible on plat-forms such as MS teams, WebEx,Skype and Google Hangouts whichallow learners to discuss problems inreal time. Simulation software and vir-tual labs help in imparting practicalknowledge to the students. This needsto be supplemented by tutorials andremedial classes, which should be per-sonalised and customised further.

Classroom interactions are also

essential for learning from peer groupsand acquiring networking skills andcivic sense. The challenge is to arriveat an optimal blend of online and class-room teaching. Topics that requireintrospection and debate should betaken up in traditional settings. Forexample, philosophy requires the abil-ity to analyse a given set of hypothesesand synthesise new postulates. It maybe difficult to acquire this proficiencyvirtually. Assessment of the studentsboth during and at the end of a coursehas always been a challenge for distancelearning programmes. Using e-plat-forms, a combination of online andoffline evaluations may be used.Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled ver-ification, face movement recognition,screen locking and remote invigilatorare some techniques that can minimisechances of use of unfair means duringonline tests.

Simultaneously, stringent qualitycontrol measures need to be put in placeto evaluate teachers. Of course, the end-term performance of the students is anabsolute parameter for making suchassessments. But concurrent evaluationsare essential to check time lags and pro-tect the students’ interests. The LearningManagement System (LMS) is a goodsolution that can be indigenised andadapted by institutes. It can review per-

formance and learn about the impactof teaching with dashboards andreports. Institutions can modify theexisting features of LMS to identify auser’s learning abilities, articulateaccordingly and extract meta-data tomake suitable recommendations forhelping them.

External reviews of content deliv-ery by subject experts and industrydoyens will be vital to upgrading thestandards of education. Peer review isa necessary part of any academicendeavour and will become easierthrough e-platforms. The NEP pavesthe way for multi-disciplinary institutesthrough course flexibility and transferof credits. Online education will be acornerstone in this. A ComputerScience major student wanting to cre-ate a start-up can do courses notbeing offered in his/her college, like anEconomics or Commerce minor, froma university specialising in it, throughan e-platform. This way, students canget a well-rounded education encom-passing all their diverse interests.

Basic compulsory courses likeethics, health and hygiene, digitalawareness and communication skillscan also be offered by universitiesonline. Some HEIs can strive tobecome centres of excellence for pro-viding specialised courses, like AI,

Internet of Things and MachineLearning, creative and liberal arts oryoga and meditation, online. Studentscan attend these even during their vaca-tions, thus freeing up time for regularcourses. The increased flexibility in tim-ings may be used to maximise the pay-off from physical college hours.

However, the biggest challenge inUP is equity and inclusion. The NITIAayog, in its Strategy for New India @75report, highlighted the quality and reli-ability of the internet as a major bot-tleneck. Only about 25 per cent of stu-dents have access to smartphones,laptops and the internet. Universitieswill have to develop mechanisms within-built functionalities to overcomethese deficiencies.

They can develop tabs preloadedwith e-content and devise a system forissuing such tabs for a fixed time, likebooks issued from library. Students canuse them at home, even without inter-net connectivity. The local industry canbe motivated to use their CorporateSocial Responsibility funds (CSR) toprovide hardware and software to col-leges. The National Broadband Mission,aiming to provide internet access in allvillages by 2022, will be a great help. TheGovernment can establish e-LearningParks in schools in remote areas withcomputers and internet connectivity.

Students enrolled in higher educationprogrammes can use these to accessdigital platforms after school hours.

The benefits of online learningextend to beyond just students. Onlineeducation opens up avenues for lifelonglearning. Once people get habituated tolearning and absorbing content throughe-platforms, they can continue to readand learn beyond the years of formaltraining. The NEP has called for a com-plete revamping of the higher educa-tion sector. Colleges will have to re-imagine their mission and work togeth-er towards reforming education.Coordination and collaboration will bekey to future growth. To jump start theprocess, the UP Department of HigherEducation has developed a portal foruploading of e-contents by HEIs. Thisis available to students across thecountry free of cost. Called the UPHigher Education Digital Library, thisbilingual portal was started on Teacher’sDay. UP has declared September andOctober as Vidyadaan Maah and urgedteachers to contribute to this library, inkeeping with our culture of charity.More than 3,000 pieces have beenuploaded by HEI faculty voluntarily onthe library till date.

(The author is Additional ChiefSecretary Higher Education Department,UP)

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Athens: Greece and Turkey areclose to reviving talks on atense dispute over rights toexploit potential offshore naturalgas deposits in the easternMediterranean, a Greek officialsaid on Monday.

“We are close to restartingthe exploratory talks. ... Therewill be an announcement whenthis is finalised but the atmos-phere is good,” Greek govern-ment spokesman Stelios Petsastold reporters.

Petsas also confirmed localmedia reports that US Secretaryof State Mike Pompeo is expect-ed to visit Greece for a meetingwith Greek Prime Minister

Kyriakos Mitsotakis to discussthe crisis, but added that theschedule is still being workedout.

The two neighbouringNATO members have been atodds for decades over mar-itime boundaries for commer-cial exploitation in an areabetween Turkey’s southerncoast, several Greek islands andthe war-divided island ofCyprus.

Under international pres-sure, Turkey pulled back aresearch vessel in the area whileboth countries have also easedtheir naval presence and haltedmilitary exercises.

Greek-Turkish talks on theissue were last held in 2016. Inrecent years, the dispute that hasbeen fueled by soured relationsbetween the EU and Turkey andwell as the discoveries of largenatural gas fields in other partsof the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey argues that Greekislands near its coastline shouldbe excluded from the calculationof commercial maritime bound-aries that far exceed the limits ofterritorial waters.

Athens calls the Turkishposition a violation of interna-tional law but says it is willingto settle the dispute at an inter-national court. AP

Beijing: A look at recent devel-opments in the South ChinaSea, where China is pittedagainst smaller neighbours inmultiple territorial disputesover islands, coral reefs andlagoons. The waters are a majorshipping route for global com-merce and are rich in fish andpossible oil and gas reserves.

CHINA SEND WAR-PLANES OVER TAIWAN

China flooded the TaiwanStrait at the northern end of theSouth China Sea with war-planes over two days last weekin an apparent attempt tointimidate the self-governingisland democracy it claims asits own territory.

The drills were timed tocoincide with the visit toTaiwan by a high-ranking USenvoy for talks and to attend amemorial service for formerTaiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, who led the island’s tran-sition to full democracy in theface of Chinese threats.

China’s defence ministrysaid the planes, including 32fighters of various types, fourbombers and one anti-subma-

rine warfare aircraft, crossedinto Taiwan’s air defense iden-tification zone on Friday andSaturday.

Taiwan responded by acti-vating its ground-based airdefence systems and scram-bling fighters, who orderedthe Chinese planes to leave,saying they would “bear all theconsequences” if they did not.

The Taiwan Strait is a busytransit route to and from theSouth China Sea which isroughly divided between Chinato the west and Taiwan to theeast.

CHINA COAST GUARDLEAVES INDONESIAWATERS

An Indonesian patrol shipconfronted a Chinese coastguard vessel that spent almostthree days in waters whereIndonesia claims economicrights and are near the south-ernmost part of China’s dis-puted South China Sea claims.

“We asked them to moveout as it was Indonesia’s EEZ.But they insisted that it isChina’s nine-dash- line terri-tory. Our officers at the vesselargued with them until theymoved out,” said Aan Kurnia,chief of the IndonesianMaritime Security Agency.

“The Chinese coast guardvessel finally left the NorthNatuna Sea on Monday at11:20 am,” he said.

China’s “nine-dash line”delineates its claim to virtual-ly the entire South China Sea.A 2016 international arbitra-tion ruling involving thePhilippines invalidated most ofChina’s sweeping claims in thesea, but China has ignored theruling.

US OFFICIAL: CHINAINSINCERE TOWARDSOUTHEAST ASIA

A US official accusedChina last week of bullying andinsincerity in its dealings withSoutheast Asian nations.

US Assistant Secretary ofState David Stilwell saidTuesday that Chinese insin-cerity is best illustrated in itsaggressive behaviour in theSouth China Sea, where it hasturned disputed reefs intoweaponised artificial islandoutposts despite a commit-ment not to militarise theregion.

In later testimony beforethe Senate, Stilwell said it wasnow clear to the US and othersthat China “seeks to disruptand reshape the internationalenvironment around the nar-row self-centered interests andauthoritarian values of a singlebeneficiary, the ChineseCommunist Party.”

Chinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi lashed back at the USin last week’s ASEAN meetings,saying Washington was the“biggest driver of militarisa-tion” and the “most dangerousfactor damaging peace” in theregion. AP

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Washington: Authorities havearrested a person suspected ofsending the deadly poison ricinin an envelope addressed to theWhite House but interceptedbefore it could be deliveredthere, a law enforcement sourcesaid on Sunday.

In response to a Reutersquery seeking confirmation ofmedia reports that a womanaccused of mailing the ricin-tainted letter had been takeninto custody at the US-Canadian border, the FBI fieldoffice in Washington issued astatement saying: “An arrestwas made of an individualallegedly responsible for send-ing a suspicious letter.”

The statement added: “Theinvestigation is ongoing.”

The law enforcementsource, familiar with the casebut speaking on condition ofanonymity, told Reuters the“suspicious letter” referred to inthe FBI statement was thesame as the envelope found tohave contained ricin.

The source also said theperson arrested was a woman

of Canadian citizenship.The Royal Canadian

Mounted Police said onSaturday that it had received arequest for assistance from theFBI in the investigation andthat the suspicious letter inquestion appeared to have beensent from Canada.

The RCMP further statedthat an FBI analysis of a sub-stance inside the envelopedetected “the presence of ricin,”a highly toxic agent derivedfrom castor beans.

While naturally occurring,the toxin requires a deliberateact to convert it into a biological weapon, with exposure to an amount as small as a pinhead capable ofcausing death within 36 to 72hours. No known antidoteexists.

Initially asked about theincident on Saturday, the FBIsaid it had joined the US SecretService and the US PostalInspection Service in the inves-tigation of “a suspicious letterreceived at a U.S. governmentmail facility.” AFP

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Washington: President DonaldTrump on Monday threw intodoubt a deal to restructure own-ership of the popular video appTikTok, vowing to block anydeal that allows its Chinese par-ent firm to retain any control.

The comments raised freshconcerns over a weekend dealthat appeared to avert a US-ordered ban of TikTok, whichthe Trump administration hascalled a national security risk.

The deal would makeSilicon Valley giant Oracle thedata partner for TikTok withretail giant Walmart also tak-ing a stake in a new entity to becalled TikTok Global.

But details of the planremained unclear, amid differ-ing accounts on the Americanand Chinese shares of the newfirm, and who would be in con-trol of the data and algorithms.

Trump on Monday toldFox News that TikTok’sChinese parent firm ByteDance“will have nothing to do withit and if they do, then we justwon’t make the deal.”

He added Oracle andWalmart “are going to havetotal control over it. They’regoing to own the controllinginterest... If we find they don’thave total control, then we’renot going to approve the deal.”

ByteDance, under pressurein China not to give in to USdemands, said it would hold an80 per cent stake in TikTokGlobal after a public shareoffering. The Chinese firmsaid the current plan “does notinvolve the transfer of anyalgorithms and technologies”and that reports to the contrarywere “rumors.”

A separate statement fromOracle offered a different viewof the transaction.

“Upon creation of TikTokGlobal, Oracle/Walmart willmake their investment and theTikTok Global shares will bedistributed to their owners,Americans will be the majori-ty and ByteDance will have noownership in TikTok Global,”Oracle vice president KenGlueck said. AFP

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Islamabad: Demanding PakistanPrime Minister Imran Khan’simmediate resignation, thecountry’s major Opposition par-ties have launched an alliance tohold a countrywide protestmovement to oust his govern-ment.

A 26-point joint resolutionwas adopted on Sunday by theAll Parties Conference (APC),which was hosted by thePakistan Peoples Party (PPP)and attended by PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl(JUI-F) and several other parties.

At a joint press conferenceafter the end of the multi-partymeeting, JUI-F chief MualanaFazl ur Rehman read out the res-olution and said that the

Opposition parties have agreedto launch an alliance namedPakistan Democratic Movement(PDM) to organise countrywideprotests against the PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) govern-ment from October.

The resolution alleged thatthe Khan government has beengranted “fake stability by thesame establishment” that inter-fered with the elections to bringthe incumbent rulers to power.

In an obvious reference tothe powerful Pakistan Army,the resolution expressed“extreme concern” over theincreasing interference of theestablishment in the internalaffairs of the country and regard-ed it as a “danger to the nation’sstability and institutions”. PTI

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Asserting that there is muteddemand for loans, SBI

Chairman Rajnish Kumar onMonday said banks are not riskaverse but they are being pru-dent in these trying times toavoid a repeat of the post-2008scenario when there was “dilu-tion” in credit underwriting

standards. Data clearly shows that

investment in the economyhas come down, the head of thecountry’s biggest lender said.

“If the capex (capitalexpenditure) is not happeningand investment in the econo-my is not happening at thesame pace, then obviously thisis a demand issue and the risk

aversion would be where thereis a demand and banks are notlending,” he said at a virtualevent organised by AIMA.

Non-food bank credit grew6.7 per cent year-on-year inJuly as against a growth of 11.4per cent in the same month ofthe last year, as per latest databy the Reserve Bank of India(RBI).

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The Indian stock marketplunged on Monday, track-

ing a global selloff due to afresh spurt of coronavirus casesacross Europe.

The BSE Sensex plungedover 800 points and the Nifty50closed below the 11,300 markas the resurgence in Covidcases has also given fuel toanticipation of renewed lock-down restrictions across coun-tries in Europe, including theUK and France.

The BSE Sensex closed at38,034.14, lower by 811.68points, or 2.09 per cent, fromthe previous close of 38,845.82.The Nifty50 on the NationalStock Exchange (NSE) settledat 11,222.20, lower by 282.75point, or 2.46 per cent, from itsprevious close.

The across-the-board sell-off was led by auto, telecom,metal and FMCG stocks.

Manish Hathiramani, tech-

nical analyst with Deen DayalInvestments, said: “The mar-kets have broken the support of11,300 on a closing basis andthis is definitely an alarmingsituation. We could drop to10,950-11,000 levels as the falltoday has been fierce and onthe back of good volumes.”

“The resistance on theupside is at 11,550-11,600. Untilthen the markets look weak,” headded. Siddhartha Khemka,Head of Retail Research atMotilal Oswal FinancialServices, said that the globalcues were negative at the startof the day with lofty valuations,fading US stimulus and freshwave of coronavirus infectionsin Europe being major risks. “Inthe US, attention is turningback to negotiations on freshstimulus and the forthcomingelection. Further, Europeanmarkets fell after a report onbank allegations and signs thatLondon is heading for a secondlockdown,” he added.

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The Government has setfoodgrain production tar-

get at a record 301 milliontonnes for the 2020-21 cropyear, up nearly 1.5 per centfrom the previous year’s output,on the back of good monsoonrains and higher acreage in thekharif season.

The target for the 2020-21 crop year (July-June) was setat the National Conference forRabi Campaign 2020, whichwas held on Mon to review theprogress of the kharif (summer-sown) season and plan for therabi crops. Addressing the event,Agriculture Minister NarendraSingh Tomar congratulatedfarmers and state govts for

record foodgrain productionof 296.65 million tonnes in the2019-20 crop year. “The con-ference set a target of 301 mil-lion tonnes of food grains pro-duction for 2020-21...,” an offi-cial statement said. Rice pro-duction target has been fixed at119.6 million tonnes in 2020-21as against 118.43 MT output inthe last year.

New Delhi: Focus on Safety ontracks, Mobility Enhancementwork, 160Kmph speedEnhancement, BDU andFreight Loading RajivChaudhry, General Manager,Northern & North Centralheld a review meeting with thedepartmental heads ofNorthern Railway throughvideo conferencing.Deliberations were held onkeeping focus on safety ontracks, enhancement of speed,Business Development Unitsand Freight loading. He saidthat, safety is the prime focusover Northern Railway. Hereviewed the work done overthe zone in improving themaintenance standard of track,welds and removal of scraplying near the tracks. Heinstructed the divisions onconducting drives to enhancethe safety and counsel the staffwhenever necessary &required.

Kolkata: Manoj Joshi, GeneralManager, Metro Railway hasreviewed the Metro servicesunder the present circum-stances in a high level meetingheld on Monday at Metro RailBhavan.

He laid special emphasis onsanitization of station premis-es, coaches, escalator handrails, smart gates and all othersurfaces which the commuters

are likely to touch during theirjourney.

He also said that the stationstaff should always be vigilantand refill the sanitizer bottles asand when required.

The RPF personnel werealso told to carry out theirduties and always remain alertand focused on the com-muters to maintain social dis-tancing.

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States which failed to submittheir options before the GST

Council meeting in Octoberwill have to wait for at least twoyears to get compensation onGoods and Services Tax col-lection shortfall expected dur-ing the transition period,Finance Ministry sources saidon Monday.

The sources said that suchstates will have to wait tillJune 2022 to get compensationdues, subject to the conditionthat the GST Council extendsthe cess collection periodbeyond 2022.

This is so because theCouncil is expected to adoptone of the two options given bythe Centre to meet the GSTcompensation needs of thestates this year.

The states which decideagainst operationalisation ofthe new GST compensationformula will get their duesonly to the extent of compen-sation cess collected in FY21

and distributed in proportionamong all states and union ter-ritories.

The balance shortfall willonly be met from the collectionof GST compensation cessbeyond the five-year transitionperiod that ends in June 2022.This will be subject to GSTCouncil approval to the exten-sion of compensation cess.

The GST Council, in its41st meeting on August 27,2020, had decided to give itsmember-states two borrowingoptions to meet their compen-sation shortfall and a responsetime of 7 working days fromthe formal receipt of thedetailed proposal on theoptions by email. Almost 15states had submitted theiroptions by September 15 andmore have joined since.

Option-1 on GST com-pensation brought before theCouncil last month allowsstates to borrow, under a spe-cial dispensation from theReserve Bank of India, a sumof about Rs 97,000 crore short-

fall calculated by the Centrethat is directly on account ofGST implementation.

Option-2 allows states toborrow the entire projectedGST compensation shortfallof Rs 2,35,000 crore (totalshortfall of Rs 3 lakh croreminus Rs 65,000 crore collect-ed as GST compensation cess)for FY21.

So far, 21 states/UTs haveexpressed preference forBorrowing Option-1 proposedby the Centre.

With GST Act requiringvoting for any resolutionregarding an option by at least20 states, the move is expectedto be adopted by the GSTCouncil at its meeting nextmonth.

If this option is indeedadopted, all states would beable to move ahead and borrowunder the scheme suggested bythe Centre to meet their short-fall arising due to GSTswitchover. If states still opt out,they will have to wait to get fullcompensation.

If there is one lesson that thispandemic has taught us, it is

the importance of being “AtmaNirbhar” in food. Imagine thescramble for food when every-thing including import is shutdown. Most countries whichhad food grains declared anexport embargo during thepandemic. India is a rare coun-try which not only fed its citi-zens and did it for free, but alsogave food as humanitarian aidand exported it to countries inneed.

During the lockdown, inMay, the Governmentannounced free supply ofrice/wheat and also provided akg of pulses each to about 20crore family. From a situationof acute scarcity in 2015-16when the country witnessedskyrocketing prices due to twosuccessive years of drought, toproviding free pulses to mostcitizens of the country in anever-seen-before times cer-tainly needs a closer study.

The pulses’ crisis during2015-16 was not a wastedopportunity but it set the coun-

try on an ambitious and desir-able path of self-sufficiency.The Government acted onsupply, demand and regulato-ry fronts with equal emphasis.The twin factors critical toimmediate increase in pulsesproduction was determiningthe Minimum Support Price(MSP) and procurement fromfarmers directly at this rate.Through the National FoodSecurity Mission (NFSM)launched in 2016-17 addition-al area was brought underpulses cultivation. TheGovernment aimed at increas-ing productivity and produc-tion of pulses in the country bydistribution of seed mini-kits,subsidy on production of qual-ity seeds, creation of 150 pulseseed hubs, involving ICARinstitutes and State AgricultureUniversities for cluster frontlinedemonstrations.

The Government increasedMSP of pulses by 8-16 per centin 2016-17. Elaborate arrange-ments were made for procur-ing of pulses from farmersunder the Price Support

Scheme . The Govt Guaranteefor procurement operation wasincreased manifold. Foreseeinga need to have strategic bufferof pulses, 20 lakh MT bufferstock of pulses was createdthrough the Price Stabilisationfund with a corpus of morethan Rs 10,000 crore. The StateGovernments -- particularlythose Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan, Maharashtra,Karnataka which lead in puls-es production -- worked inclose coordination for pro-curement of pulses.

All these measures result-ed in a 42 per cent increase inpulses production which isunheard of in any category offood articles and, certainly,such a jump has not beenachieved in a span of one yearin any country. NationalAgricultural CooperativeMarketing Federation Of IndiaLtd. (NAFED) played a pivotalrole in procurement under PSSand PSF by procuring 8.7 lakhMT in 2016-17. This amountwas equivalent to the last 15years combined.

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Former RBI GovernorRaghuram Rajan on

Monday suggested the gov-ernment to privatise selectpublic sector banks, set up abad bank to deal with NPAsand dilute the role ofDepartment of FinancialServices.

The reforms are necessaryto ensure growth of the bank-ing government without theperiodic boom-bust cycles, saida paper titled ‘Indian Banks: ATime to Reform?’, co-authoredby Rajan and former ReserveBank Deputy Governor ViralAcharya.

“Re-privatization of selectPSBs can then be undertakenas part of a carefully calibrat-ed strategy, bringing in privateinvestors who have both finan-cial expertise as well as tech-nological expertise; corporatehouses must be kept fromacquiring significant stakes,

given their natural conflicts ofinterest,” the paper said.

Noting that the govern-ment obtains enormous powerfrom directing bank lending, itsaid sometimes this power isexercised to advance publicgoals such as financial inclusionor infrastructure finance, some-times it is used to offer patron-age to, or exercise control over,industrialists. “Winding downDepartment of FinancialServices in the Ministry ofFinance is essential, both as anaffirmative signal of the intentto grant bank boards and man-agement independence and asa commitment not to engage in‘mission creep’ when compul-sions arise to use banks for serv-ing costly social or politicalobjectives,” the paper noted.Acc to the paper, private assetmanagement and national assetmanagement ‘bad banks’should be encouraged in par-allel to the online platform fordistressed loan sales.

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The rupee strengthenedby 7 paise to close at 73.38

against the US dollar onMonday, extending its gainsfor the second day on theback of firm Asian currenciesand weak crude oil prices.

Forex dealers said inflowsinto Indian equities and firm-ing Asian currencies againstthe dollar lent support to thelocal currency.

At the interbank forexmarket, the domestic unitopened at 73.43 and later roseto a high of 73.26 in the daytrade.

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The country’s largest lenderState Bank of India on

Monday said it has raised�7,000 crore by issuing Basel IIIcompliant bonds.“TheCommittee of Directors forCapital Raising at its meetingof held today on September 21,2020 accorded its approval toallot 70,000 Basel III compliantnon-convertible, taxable,redeemable...Debt instrumentsin the nature of debenturesaggregating to �7,000 crore, tobond subscribers,” SBI said ina regulatory filing.

The allotment of bonds tothe subscribers took place onthe same date i.E. September21, 2020, it added. The bondsqualify as tier II capital of thebank, and has face value of �10lakh each, bearing coupon rate

of 6.24 per cent per annumpayable annually for a tenor of10 years, it said. There is calloption after 5 years and onanniversary thereafter, it added.Call option means the issuer ofthe bonds can call back thebonds before the maturity dateby paying back the principalamount to investors. A monthback, SBI had raised �8,931crore by allotting 89,310 BaselIII-compliant debt instrumentsto bond subscribers.Under theglobally accepted Basel-III cap-ital regulations, banks need toimprove and strengthen theircapital planni Basel III normsare being implemented in phas-es since 2013 by Indian banksto mitigate concerns on poten-tial stresses on asset quality andconsequential impact on per-formance and profitability ofbanks.

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Alzheimer’s disease firstdescribed in 1906 by AloisAlzheimer (in Latin ‘de’,which means a depriva-

tion or loss; ‘ment’, which meansmind; and ‘ia’, is a state). Alzheimer’sdisease is presently the commonestcause of dementia having its onsetmost often after the age of 65 years.Presently, it is estimated that at least50 lakh people live with Alzheimer’sdisease in India (that is 0.003 per centof our entire population). However,as life span increases, it is estimatedthat this figure may double in theensuing decades.

The term dementia includessymptoms not only of memory lossbut may also include abnormalitiesof various other cognitive domainssuch as language functions, social andbehavioural aspects, inability to nav-igate and directional confusionoccurring in a person with previous-ly intact such abilities.

Alzheimer’s disease is charac-terised by gradually progressivememory loss as its core featurewhich also is the earliest feature. Thememory loss is mainly for recentevents and episodes (called episod-ic memory in medical terminolo-gy).The patients’ memory for pastevents of life remains unaffected in

the early years. Early features ofepisodic memory loss include repeat-ing the same questions again, mis-placing personal items, forgetting topay bills, keep appointments, difficul-ty retrieving names and also multi-tasking which was previously easilypossible. A change in personality ordevelopment of late-life depression oranxiety also warrants an evaluationfor onset of dementia.

Current studies believe that thebrain abnormality leading toAlzheimer’s disease starts at a muchearlier age and may be stronglyrelated to poor life-style habits name-ly bad sleeping habits, like late nightsor lesser sleep hours, excessive stress,obesity, Diabetes, high cholesterollevels, physical inactivity, excessivetobacco or alcohol intake. Geneticfactors certainly would be incriminat-ed if there are multiple membersfrom the same family developingmemory loss or for the younger onsetcases.

A common parlance among theyoung these days is that they sufferfrom poor memory. Encouraging forthem would be to note that this gen-erally is the result of lack of concen-tration arising out of poor sleepinghabits, excessive stress and physicalinactivity. However, if these poorlifestyle factors are not addressed intime they may sow the seeds forfuture dementia. Therapy forAlzheimer’s unfortunately is notcurative. As is known the dementia

slowly progresses to a point where inthe later stages the patient looses mostof the memory, mobility and sense ofbladder-bowel control. Therapymainly remains symptomatic withmedications that help replace somechemicals in the brain to partiallyboost up the memory. Stimulatingthe mind with brain games, socialinteraction with family/friends, musictherapy or any hobby that intereststhe patient helps slow down thesymptom progress. Massive fundshave been spent and even presentlybeing invested all over the world onexperimental studies for drugs still inthe pipe-line.

So would knowing the earlysymptoms help us? Yes, changingone’s life style habits for the betterwith strict control of contributory ill-nesses like Diabetes mellitus, hyper-tension, obesity, sleep apnea are thebest ways thence, to fight this fierce-ly progressive condition which affectsnot only the patient but the entirefamily who has to cope with this ill-ness which may run into years result-ing in what is often known as care-giver burnout for family members.An adequate sleep schedule, a goodfitness regime, a healthy diet, regu-lar meditation and avoidance ofstress in today’s fast life would hencebe of utmost importance to preventthis unforgiving illness.

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Cardiac ailments are considered to be one of the deadliest dis-eases and the leading cause of mortality in India. As per the

reports of WHO, cardiac problems are estimated to kill at leastone in every five men and one in every eight women. Progressiveheart failure which is caused due to the plaque (fatty substance)build up in the arterial linings of the blood vessels are primar-ily attributed to lifestyle habits and conditions such as smoking,overweight, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Heart attacks were once only associated with old age. Recently,more people in their 20s, 30s and 40s have been suffering fromheart ailments. Apart from a person’s genetic disposition and fam-ily history which are the most common and uncontrollable riskfactors, the Indian youth is now being succumbed to heart ail-ments due to poor lifestyle, stress, erratic sleep patterns. This inturn causes inflammation and raises the risk of cardiac ailments.Sedentary lifestyle clubbed with smoking are further risk factorsthat trigger the risk symptoms among the younger generation.

Cardiac Hospitals in India perform more than 2 lakh openheart surgeries and are increasing annually by 25 per cent butthey are not able to control the numbers of heart attacks. Thesurgeries done are only palliative. Educating the essentials aboutHeart disease and its risk factors is important to eradicate thecasualties from the root.

What are the symptoms?Not every CHD patient has the same symptoms and angi-

na chest pain as its most common feature. Symptoms may varyfrom nil to severe, some may have an uncomfortable feeling like

indigestion and some casesmay be experiencing severepain, heaviness or tightness.The pain is usually felt in thecentre of the chest, that spreadsto the arms, neck, jaw and evento stomach, and is accompa-nied by palpitation and unusu-al breathlessness.

If arteries become com-pletely blocked, it can cause aheart attack that can causepermanent damage to the heartmuscle. The discomfort or painof a heart attack is usuallysimilar to that of angina, but isoften more severe and may beassociated with sweating, light-headedness, nausea and breath-lessness. This is more commonin people with Diabetes. Heart

attack if not treated straight away can be fatal.Assessment of a suspected CHD patient involves the med-

ical and family history, assessing the lifestyle and taking bloodtests. Further tests to confirm a diagnosis of CHD includes non-invasive tests like an electrocardiogram (ECG) to identify thestructure, thickness and movement of each heart valve, X-rayto look at the heart, lungs and chest wall to rule out any otherconditions that may be causing symptoms, Treadmill test (TMT)during exercise to know the effect of exercise on the heart,Cardiovascular cartography heart flow mapping, CT angiogra-phy and the invasive coronary angiography to identify whetherthe coronary arteries are narrowed and how severe the block-ages are.

Although coronary heart disease cannot be cured, treatmentcan help manage the symptoms, improve the functioning of theheart and reduce the chances of problems such as heart attacks.Effective management includes a combination of lifestylechanges, medicines and non-invasive treatments. Invasive andsurgical treatments are required in more severe cases and the out-comes are favourable in most of the cases, where the person isable to resume their normal life. Some simple lifestyle changesinclude eating a healthy balanced diet, doing regular exercise,no smoking and controlling blood cholesterol and sugar levels.These can reduce the risk of CHD, stroke and dementia.

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����$��� If one is to sellsomething during thecurrent time, all that isneeded is to call it immunitybooster and it will run out ofthe shelves at the speed oflight. And rightly so, whenimmunity is yourpreliminary shield tokeep the COVID-19infection at bay.

But oneneeds notlook forsuch aningredient inthe markets, itis r ight in thekitchen. Cinnamon,widely used as a flavouringagent, is loaded with power-ful antioxidants, such aspolyphenols. It has anti-inflammatory properties.

Not only this, cinnamonas a spice is also known for itsimmunity boosting proper-ties. Just add it in your kadhaand you are good to go.

It is also linked to areduced risk of heart disease,

the world’s most com-mon cause of prema-

ture death. It keepsc h o l e s -t e r o l ,t r i g l yc -

erides andblood pressure

under check.Apart from the

beneficial effects oninsulin resistance, cinna-

mon can lower blood sugar byseveral other mechanisms. Sonow you have more than onereason to add it in your dailyroutine.

One of the most basicthings that one mustdo for long hair is to

oil them regularly. One canuse coconut, almond oreven olive oil. Massage itinto the scalp and leave itovernight. Wash witha mild shampoo inthe morning.However, if youhave an oily skin,oil your hair andleave it for anhour and thenwash off. Onecan wrap a hottowel around thehead for 10 minutes tohelp in the better absorptionof the oil.

If one reason why youdon’t want to sport long hairis because they fall, use aloevera. It soothes the scalp andconditions hair. It reducesdandruff and unblock hair

follicles that may be blockedby excess oil. You can applypure aloe vera gel to yourscalp and hair a few times aweek.

Apply a m mask madeof egg; it is an excellent

source of protein,which helps your

hair grow longer.Just crack opentwo eggs, strainthe yolks and usethe egg white onyour hair. Let itstay for 20 min-

utes and wash off.Another reason

why hair don’t growlong could be split ends.Boil two-three cloves ofgarlic with an essential oiland massage this on hairroots. Garlic is known toreduce breakage andimprove blood circulation,which leads to long hair.

Most women love long andsilky hair but end up with dull

and lifeless ones and henceprefer to keep them short.

ROSHANI DEVI shareshousehold tips that one can

follow to keep long tresses

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Women have multiple hair removaloptions, if they choose to. From

waxing to epilators to laser hair removaland shaving, are some of the easily avail-able options for hair removal. KeratosisPilarsis is a non-contagious skin conditionwhich can be cause due to shaving. Alsoknown as a strawberry legs, this conditiongives you small red bumps that have a seedlike appearance.

Strawberry legs can make you feel alittle conscious of your appearance ifyou’re wearing shorts, skirts or dresses.However, this is not something that oneshould worry about. Its one of the mostcommon skin conditions and has over 1crore cases each year in India alone. It canbe easily controlled and treated by select-ing the right skin care routine and service.

Here are some insights into this prob-lem and how one can deal with it.Characterised by the appearance darkspots, Strawberry legs can be caused dueto unclogged pores, excessive keratinbuilding up extra skin which blocks poresand hair follicles. These blocked pores andhair follicles can lead to ingrown hair,causing the skin to get patchy and dry.Frequent usage of razors can also cause acondition called Folliculitis, where hairfollicles can become inflamed and infect-ed.

You can prevent strawberry legs withthe following: �Opt for dry brushing or exfoliation a daybefore shaving �Opt for waxing instead of shaving �Moisturise your skin to prevent dryness,patchiness and uneven skin �Use a loofah during shower � Shave once hair growth is enough

Home treatments for strawberrylegs:�Dry brushing: Using this technique canhelp you in removing excessive skin buildup. It also prevents ingrowths.� Scrubbing/exfoliation: Scrubbing andexfoliating on a daily basis can help incleaning out clogged pores. It also makesskin soft and supple. One can use Humanand Kind Body Scrub, it is vegan and gen-tle on the skin.

If you don’t wish to buy one, you canalso make a scrub at home with semoli-na, oil and honey. Baking soda and milkcan also be used. � Loofah: Loofah also helps in exfoliat-ing and removing dry skin. Ideally, aloofah should be used for every alternateshower. �Doctor prescribed creams and ointmentcan also help in curing the appearance ofstrawberry legs if the condition is aggra-vated. � Chemical exfoliation: Chemical peelsare also a great option but should be usedunder the guidance of a professional aes-thetician. �(��2�����������(�����>����?��!��$�@���(������

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In a rare case, 86 year old lady who herself wasa doctor, became one of the oldest cadavericdonor in Delhi. A resident of South Delhi, the

lady was declared brain dead on September 12late at night, at a Delhi hospital, after sufferingfrom an acute stroke post which the familyexpressed her wish of donating her liver and kid-ney at the time of her death.

Many hospitals were apprehensive of retriev-ing the organs from an 86 year old, undermin-ing the health of those organs, but IndraprasthaApollo welcomed this liver donation as it wouldbe life saving for a patient in need. A 42 year oldman who was a patient of Hepatitis C, consequent-ly, had suffered from liver failure and was in urgentneed of a liver transplant. The liver transplant teamheaded by Dr Neerav Goyal carried out theprocess of extracting the liver from the lady, har-vesting it to ensure it can be used for transplantin a healthy condition and successfully conduct-ing the procedure of liver transplant. While thekidney was accepted by the hospital where shedied, the donor’s liver was transplanted atIndraprastha Apollo Hospitals, into the 42 yearold man at midnight on September 13, withinhours of the donation.

Dr Neerav Goyal, Senior Consultant, LiverTransplant, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, said:“The usual acceptable age for cadaver organ trans-plant is 65 years of age, people beyond that ageare considered as marginal donors. When we gotto know that there is a cadaver donor for liver,we decided to evaluate the organ to examinewhether it will be suitable for donation. The liverbiopsy revealed that the lady had a perfectlyhealthy liver, like that of a young person, hencewe decided to go ahead with the procedure.”

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*��� In a first-ever recorded medical procedure

of its kind, doctors at BLK Hospitalremoved a ruptured Hydatid cyst from theright lung of Ruhi-Un-Nisa, a 45-year-oldwoman from Srinagar, without conductingan open chest surgery. The cyst, formed bythe larvae of tapeworms, was excised piece-meal by freezing it using a cryoprobe.

The patient showed initial symptomsand discomfort in July this year when shespit blood while coughing. She underwenta CT scan of the chest which revealed 43X 35mm cyst (equivalent to a size of ten-nis ball) in superior segment of lower lobeof right lung. The patient followed the CTscan with a bronchoscopy procedure there-after in Srinagar. However, her conditiondeteriorated, and she went into respirato-ry distress. Ruhi-Un-Nisa was unable to liedown and had not slept for close to twomonths. She had severe difficulty in breath-ing; she went to hospital in Kashmir where

she was advised to rush to Delhi for emer-gency treatment.

The patient came with severe breath-lessness and constantly felt a salty-bitter tastein her mouth. Doctors suspected the symp-toms to be caused by a ruptured Hydatidcyst.

The team led by Dr Sandeep NayarHOD, Chest & Respiratory Diseases, at BLKHospital flushed out the spilled fluids/con-tents from both lungs. He then excised theruptured membrane with the help of aCryoprobe (a surgical probe to applyextreme cold to body tissues and freezethem). The membrane was frozen andextracted through the mouth and it gaveimmediate relief to the patient from hersymptoms. Dr Nayar performed this pro-cedure through bronchoscope under localanesthesia. CT chest and bronchoscopyrepeated after four days ensured that thelung was completely cleared of the cyst.

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After days of uncertainty and noth-ingness due to the pandemic-induced lockdown, many are find-

ing their own ways to rise to life again. Fordesigners Shantanu and Nikhil, the spir-it of this much-needed revival camewith the FDCI India Couture Week2020. What better than the duo’s collec-tion, The Resurgence, could explain this?

For them, it is an ode to hope, thespirit to resurface and recommence theirduties for the universe. Said Shantanu,“With an almost spiritual connotation tothe capabilities of cyclic existence, the col-lection celebrates a renewed strength andpower to adapt and #RiseAgain.”

So how does a Shantanu-Nikhil bridelook like this time? Taking inspirationfrom the central emotion of the duo’s col-lection — “hope” — their bride celebratesher way towards a new, optimistic worldof happiness, leaving the sorrow anduncertainty behind. Added Shantanu,“With hope, we’re moving ahead of the

sorrow that has gripped the world.While we take baby steps towards nor-malcy, the collection reconstructsromance through fluidic drapesand godly architecture symbolicof the hope within. With this, wealso celebrate a new worldand our 20 years. We are rein-terpreting our classics andbringing back the opu-lence of our journey withnew sustainable prac-tices put into place forour brides. We takepride in our artisansand their crafts-manship. Thisseason we didrevisit a lot ofm e t a l l i ce mbroi d e r y,Goth appliqueand the classiczardozi, all creat-

ing neo-luxe bridal looks.”For Nikhil, newer times call for

newer actions and with the blurringlines between technology and fashion inthe new normal, it felt “fitting” to haveshowcased the duo’s Ceremonial Couture‘20 Collection, virtually. He added, “It isan exciting and unusual experience andfeels great to be a part of an ecosystem thatis constantly innovating and connectingwith a larger audience every now andthen.”

Shot at The Roseate Hotels andResorts, Delhi Aerocity, its architecturaldesign added to the collection’s raw por-trayal. The anti-trend aesthetics, thestructure and the linearity as a signaturewere kept intact. For the duo, “this dig-ital model of a showcase definitelydemocratised fashion and integratedwith it a cutting-edge customer expe-rience. We have tried to use this plat-form creatively to showcase a film-likepresentation than just a blatant run-way showing.”

So has it been pivoted aroundthe wedding perspective only?Nikhil said, “In this pandemic, onething is very clear that design willbecome a lot more precious, sus-tainable, valuable and yet, luxu-rious. We have always beenstrong advocates of anti-trendcouture, where the focus is onneo-shapes, silhouettes, min-imalism and of course, thewearer. The brides of today

are looking at timeless andclassic vintage with hints

of contemporary light-ness.”

To represent thestrength we need toleave behind themelancholy andfight on, the col-lection was given a

metallic touch. The gold and sheen donein hand-woven silks and brocades repre-sented a beacon of hope. The abundanceof fluidic drapes created through light fab-rics like georgette and chiffon worked intandem to create a sense of positivity andease, which is much needed at a time likethis.

Talking about whether the festivemarket is outdoing the wedding marketthis year, Shantanu said, “India has alwaysbeen a country of celebrations and thereis nothing more celebratory than anIndian wedding. Hence, the demand forheavy and glorious couture will remainunchanged. With several weddings beingpostponed, the new wedding season hasbrought with it double excitement and thebrides will not compromise on their wed-ding outfits now. The voluminous ballgowns, our signature drapes, anti-trendstyles and cuts are still our brides’ go-toapparel for their dream wedding.”

He added that their brides are look-ing for the same grandeur as it was ear-lier but they are now far more emotion-al about things they do in their lives.Hence, buying behaviour is now hedonis-tic in nature and design is paramount.

While the designers tweak theirapproaches a little to showcase couture,they feel going digital has made everyfashionista their front row client. Nikhilsaid, “We have opted for digital launch inthe past as well and it has helped us con-nect to a larger and newer audience. In thewake of the ongoing pandemic, when theentire world is relying on the digital plat-forms to keep themselves busy and runtheir businesses, there is no other medi-um bigger than this to present fashion topeople. Hence, the challenge now athand would be to translate the grandeurof the physical runway into a virtual one,making it as alive and experiential as theformer where everyone will have a frontrow access.”

Bringing alive the timelessFrench song, La Mer by

Charles Trenet, a painting byartist VS Gaitonde, in a suffu-sion of green, showcasing thesoftness and gentility of thesand, is reminiscent of the sea.This is a masterpiece createdin 1983 and was bought at thePundole Gallery. It is also oneof the three works by the artistto go up on sale. It will be apart of the Christie’s SouthAsian Modern +Contemporary Art Sale onSeptember 23 in New York.

The other two worksbelong to the Sotheby’s salethat will be held in London onSeptember 29. Part of TheGunnar and Inger HansenCollection, these two workscelebrate Gaitonde as the ulti-mate abstract master.

The first is a 1954 amor-phous-looking work thatbelongs to George Butcher, aBritish art critic for TheGuardian and a stalwart sup-porter of the burgeoningIndian and South Asian mod-ern art scene. He spent morethan two years in India andbefriended many artists, gal-lerists and critics. Using hisknowledge and contacts, hecurated several shows onSouth Asian art featuringartists from both home andabroad. Butcher was one ofthe first writers to assert theunique and remarkable con-tribution of South Asianartists to a global form ofmodernism. He has left an

indelible mark on the historyof modern Indian and SouthAsian art.

The second comes fromthe Inger Hansen collection, aDanish couple who collectedIndian art. The work hailsfrom 1969, a smoky crimsonand tangerine sunset that her-alds the sounds and flats andsharps of a raga.

Following a 1964 trip toNew York on the RockefellerFund Fellowship, whereGaitonde encountered sever-al abstract expressionists’works and conceptual artistsfor the first time, his stylebegan to evolve. His paintingsbegan to explore the rela-

tionships between form, lightand colour in a diligent andsophisticated manner. Thework was all about how the“planes of paint spread overthe canvas, a reminder ofnothing other than self. Analmost spiritual sublimationgets created from within paintrather than by reference to anyschool of thought.”

What makes Gaitondestand apart in the Indianmodern art tradition was theway he immersed into itsshared language and a univer-sal vocabulary. For many ofhis contemporaries, the lan-guage was just a tool toexpress something. For

Gaitonde, the languagebecame the subject. He didnot attempt to use line andcolour to create forms; hisforte was the exploration ofthe relationship between lineand colour. If he captured theessence of Indian mod-ernism, it was by disengagingfrom its effusion, its gaietyand its materialism.

“The central characteris-tic of Gaitonde’s artistic per-sonality, it must be under-stood, is that he likes tostand alone. This indepen-dent-mindedness was accom-panied by a firm belief in hisidentity as a painter,” wrotecritic Dnyaneshwar

Nadkarni.An uncompromising

artist of integrity, Gaitondedistanced himself from any-thing he deemed superfluousto the contemplative rigourhe believed his art required.After he shifted Delhi in theearly 1970s, he was “verymuch the artist in a garret.”The few writers who visitedhim spoke about the dustyinteriors and the immensereticence of the place.

Goan artist TheodoreMesquita, who met him inDelhi in 1991, described himas a “hermit,” who is impas-sive to the mundane worldaround him.

Deviyon aur sajjano, brace yourself for the 12thseason of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC). This

season, the show makes a comeback with a two-foldmessaging that conveys not just a better return amida pandemic but also a motivational nudge for par-ticipants and viewers to consider setbacks as a step-ping stone. It is produced by StudioNEXT and host-ed by actor Amitabh Bachchan.

The first ever digital audition of this seasonraised hope, dreams and aspirations among peoplefrom across the country.

While the core of the show remains the same,it comes with a few changes relevant to the currenttimes. It will not host in-studio audiences keepingin line with the government mandated safetyguidelines and protocols in response to COVID-19.The in-studio audience played a huge role as a life-line – Audience Poll, to help the contestants on thehotseat move ahead in the game. This year, this life-line will be replaced by another lifeline Video-A-Friend. The other three lifelines remain the same– 50:50, Ask The Expert and Flip The Question. Thenumber of fastest finger first contestants who willcompete to be on the hot seat per week, has beenreduced from the usual 10 to 8.

With KBC Play Along on Sony LIV, viewers canenjoy the gameshow by participating and matchingtheir knowledge with the contestants on the hot seat.

(The show premieres from September 28, Mondayto Friday at 9 pm on Sony Entertainment Television.)

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Adepleted Rajasthan Royalshave an onerous task of

stopping the mighty ChennaiSuper Kings on a Sharjah bel-ter with no Ben Stokes in theirline-up but skipper Steve Smith’savailability after recoveringfrom a concussion injury haslifted some gloom ahead oftheir IPL match on Tuesday.

The absence of Stokeswould severely impact Royals’campaign at least in the first halfof the tournament because ofthe balance he brings to the sidebut having Smith in the playingXI would mean that the contestwill not be without a fight.

Smith, who missed theODI series against England, hasundergone various concussiontest protocols and is ready to teeoff.

Apart from premier all-rounder Stokes, alsoabsent from the firstmatch will be JosButtler, their impactplayer at the top-order.The England batsmanwill be missing the firstgame as he arrived sepa-rately with his family and

need to undergo mandatory 36-hour quarantine in Dubai.

Jofra Archer’s presence willbe important along with sea-soned T20 stars like SouthAfrican batsman David Miller,Australian pacer Andrew Tyeand England all-rounder TomCurran.

The Royals’ main problemlies in their Indian core, whichhasn’t exactly been consistent.The likes of Sanju Samson,Robin Uthappa, Jaydev Unadkat

and Varun Aaron have failed tolive up to the expectations overthe years.

Sharjah pitch will be a dif-ferent challenge for the bowlersboth in terms of surface as wellas the size of the ground.

CSK have once againshowed how to work aroundwith resources and Sam Currancoming good with an all-roundshow means that Dwayne Bravowould not be missed even if hemisses a few more games due toinjury.

Rayudu and Faf du Plessisperfectly maintained the CSK

“run-chase tem-plate” of attackingin the back 10 bypreserving wick-ets.

The additionof Piyush Chawla, a very suc-cessful IPL bowler, is also abig plus.

However it needs to beseen how Deepak Chaharis shaping up after sustain-ing a niggle in the finalover of the MI innings.In case, Chahar can’tmake it, they have readyreplacement in ShardulThakur.

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Devdutt Padikkal dis-played his highly ratedtalent with a half-cen-

tury on IPL debut before ABde Villiers provided the muchneeded final flourish to takeRoyal Challengers Bangaloreto 163 for five in their tourna-ment opener against SunrisersHyderabad here on Monday.

The class and calmnessPadikkal (56 off 42, 8 fours)showed in his first high-pro-file game was remarkable, somuch so that Australian lim-ited overs captain Aaron Finch(29 off 27) was happy to playsecond fiddle at the otherend.

Sunrisers pulled thingsback in the middle overs fol-lowing a 90-run opening standbetween Padikkal and Finch.De Villiers (51 off 30) came upwith crucial boundary hitstowards the end to take theteam score past 160.

The 20-year-old Padikkal,possessing a near perfect bal-ance in the crease, played allaround the ground, playingthe pull and aerial cover drivewith equal confidence.

Padikkal got going withthree boundaries in an over offleft-arm pacer T Natarajan.

The left-handed openerbrought up his half-centurywith a slog sweep over thefielder at deep square leg.

With the openers lookinggood, RCB cruised to 86 for noloss in 10 overs. However,both Padikkal and Finch fell offsuccessive balls and that putthe brakes on the scoring ratewith RCB collecting only 30runs from the next five overs.

Skipper Virat Kohli

departed after scoring 14 off13, leaving de Villiers to pro-vide the final flourish. TheSouth African star deliveredonce again, smashing his 200thsix for RCB in the process.

There was also an injuryscare for Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, wholimped off the field with anankle injury after bowling fourballs in his debut game for theSunrisers.

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Turin: Andrea Pirlo got hiscoaching career off to a winningstart as Juventus launched theirbid for a 10th consecutiveleague title with a 3-0 win overSampdoria on Sunday.

Swedish debutant DejanKulusevski opened the scoringafter 13 minutes in Turin withLeonardo Bonucci adding asecond on 78 minutes andCristiano Ronaldo a late third.

The match was played infront of 1,000 spectators asSerie A stadiums reopened onSunday to a limited number offans after a seven-month coro-navirus lockdown.

Pirlo could not have hopedfor a better start to his coach-ing career having taken over

from Maurizio Sarri this sum-mer.

The win againstSampdoria, coached by veteranClaudio Ranieri, came just daysafter the former Italy andJuventus star received hiscoaching diploma.

Juventus handed debuts tonew signing Weston McKennieand Kulusevski, who joinedfrom Atalanta in January beforeimmediately returning toParma on loan.

Kulusevski curled in thefirst goal in a move started byRonaldo, who hit the bar min-utes later. But it was not untilthe last quarter of an hour thatthe champions finally killed offthe game they dominated. AP

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Kings XI Punjab have appealedagainst on-field umpire Nitin

Menon’s controversial ‘short run’ callat crunch time of their IPL gameagainst Delhi Capitals as formerplayers seek more technologicalintervention for the sake of fairresults.

Before the match went intoSuper Over, the TV footage showedthat square leg umpire Menon haderred in calling Chris Jordan for a‘short run’ in the third ball of the19th over, bowled by KagisoRabada.

The TV replays showed thatJordan’s bat was inside the creasewhen he completed the first run,starting from the non-striker’s end.

However to KXIP’s horror,Menon gestured that Jordan has notcompleted the run and only one runwas added to Mayank Agarwal andthe Punjab team’s total.

The decision was not reverseddespite technological evidence thatit was a wrong call.

In the final over, Punjab need-ed 13 runs to win and Agarwalmanaged 12 runs in the first threeballs.

If that one ‘short run’ was cred-ited to their total, Punjab wouldhave won with three balls to sparebut they lost two wickets in the finaltwo balls after a dot fourth ball andit spilled to a Super Over, whichthey lost.

“We have appealed to the matchreferee. While a human error canhappen and we understand that,there is no room for human errorslike these in a world class tourna-ment like the IPL. This one runcould cost us a play off berth,” KXIPCEO Satish Menon told PTI.

“A loss of a game is a loss of agame. It is unfair. Hope the rules arereviewed so that there is no marginfor human error.”

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Crestfallen after losing theirIPL opener, Kings XI

Punjab batsman MayankAgarwal said it feels terrible tonot close off the game aftermaking a stupendous come-back against Delhi Capitalshere.

Chasing 158 to win, KXIPwere looking down the barrel at55 for 5 but Agarwal’s blister-ing 89-run knock took them to157. They needed one run offthe final two balls but MarcusStoinis’ twin strike took thegame to the Super Over, whichthey lost on Sunday night.

“We had a tough day. Thereare a lot of positives to take out.The way we came back was fan-tastic, the way we bowled withthe new ball was terrific. It real-ly hurts to not close off thegame from the situation wewere in, feels terrible,” Mayanktold KXIP TV.

“This is just the first game.We can get things rolling again,let’s see how we will go in thecoming games. I think to playa game like that first up was fan-tastic. Everyone was up for it,guys really put in the effort.

“Definitely, we should havefinished the game when weneeded one run,” he added.

Dream debut for Devdutt

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Australian all-rounderMitchell Marsh suffered

an ankle injury while bowlingduring his side SunrisersHyderabad’s IPL openeragainst Royal Challengers onMonday.

The 28-year-old Marshtwisted his ankle on the fol-low through during the fifthover of the RCB innings andhe was seen hobbling out ofthe ground. Vijay Shankarcompleted the remaining twoballs of the over and gaveaway nine runs.

Marsh, who bowled onlyfour deliveries, has had a his-tory of injuries in the past dueto which he has missed num-ber of editions of IPL. Marshdidn’t come back to field dur-ing the rest of the RCBinnings.

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MATCHES 21RAJASTHAN ROYALS 07CHENNAI SUPER KINGS 14

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Top seed Simona Halep wonher first Italian Open title on

Monday after defending cham-pion Karolina Pliskova retiredinjured while trailing 6-0, 2-1 inthe final.

World No 2 Halep wascompeting in her third RomeWTA final, having finished run-ner-up in 2017 and 2018 on theclay at the Foro Italico.

“Finally after two finals Icould win this title,” theRomanian said. “I love thistournament and I’m really happyto have this beautiful trophy in

my hand.“In 2013 here I started to go

in the top in world tennis. I real-ly enjoyed and I realy was happyon court that I could play thesemi-finals back then. Sincethen I have started to play real-ly well.” Pliskova, the secondseed, was playing with her leftthigh heavily bandaged.

The Czech struggled withher serve from the outset, fallingbehind to a double break, hand-ing Halep a 3-0 advantage witha double fault. Halep, 28, savedthree break points against her onher next service game beforeconquering a first one-sidedround in 20 minutes.