8 JAMMU SUNDAY JULY 05, 2020 B A C K P A G E

CMYK

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NEW DELHI, JUL 4:As the coronavirus pan-demic ravages human livesand economies across theworld, Lord Buddha's mes-sage of shunning vices likehatred and violence to findhappiness serves like a bea-con, President Ram NathKovind said on Saturday.

"We all know that themoment the virulence ofcoronavirus slows down,we have a far more seriouschallenge of climate changebefore us," he said in a vir-tual event organised by theInternational BuddhistConfederation at Rashtra-pati Bhavan.

Kovind said the worldseemed full of suffering, inshort term as well as in longterm.

"There are many storiesof kings and affluent peoplesuffering from acute de-pression who took refuge inBuddha to escape crueltiesof life," said the President.

He said the life of Bud-dha challenged earlier con-victions as he believed infinding deliverance fromsuffering in the midst ofthis imperfect world.

"Today, as the pandemicravages human lives and

economies across theglobe, Buddha's messageserves like a beacon. He ad-vised people to shun greed,hatred, violence, jealousyand many other vices tofind happiness. Contrastthis message with the han-kering of an unrepentantmankind indulging in thesame old violence anddegradation of nature,"said Kovind.

The President said Indiawas proud of being the landof the origin of 'Dhamma'.

"In India, we see Bud-dhism as a fresh expressionof the sublime truth," hesaid at the event organisedon the occasion of theDharma Chakra Diwas.

Also read: Lord Buddha'sideals have lasting solu-

tions to challenges worldfaces today: Modi

Kovind said Lord Bud-dha's enlightenment andsubsequent preaching byhim for over four decadeswere in line with India'stradition of respect for in-tellectual liberalism andspiritual diversity.

In modern times, two ex-ceptionally great Indians,Mahatma Gandhi andBabasaheb Ambedkar,found inspiration in thewords of the Buddha andwent on to shape the des-tiny of the nation, he said.

"Following in their foot-steps, we should strive tohear the call of the Buddha,to respond to his invitationto walk the noble path,"said the President.

The International Bud-dhist Confederation or IBC,with its presence in 36countries, is holding thecelebrations around theworld.

"We, however, are in themidst of a virulent pan-demic that has over-whelmed the entire hu-manity. Perhaps no part ofthe world remains un-touched by this calamitythat adversely affects everyindividual.

As a precaution, we haveto follow certain disciplineand maintain physical dis-tance," he said.

The IBC is, therefore,holding the events virtu-ally, Kovind said, addingthat such an effort is praise-worthy, because this makesit possible for a far largernumber of people, from allcorners of the world, toparticipate in them.

"The world has sufferedmuch this year, and I sin-cerely wish that this sacredday heralds a new ray ofhope and grants a glimpseof happiness. I also praythat it lights the lamp ofwisdom in the heart ofeveryone," the Presidentconcluded.

As Covid ravages human lives, Buddha's message serves like a beacon: President

BHUBANESWAR, JULY 4: TheOdisha Government has decided toinclude members of the transgendercommunity in a social welfare schemewhich provides a monthly pension tothe needy, a minister said.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik hasapproved a proposal to cover themembers of the community under theMadhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY)which aims at providing financial as-sistance to the destitute elderly, dif-ferently-abled persons and widows,he said.

Around 5,000 transgenders will geta monthly pension in between Rs 500and Rs 900 depending on their age,Social Security and Empowerment ofPersons with Disabilities (SSEPD)Minister Ashok Panda said.

The government’s decision wastaken in view of the promises made inthe ruling BJD’s manifesto for the2019 Assemble polls, the ministersaid.

Panda said that the transgenderpeople will have to apply on the officialwebsite of the department to registerthemselves under the MBPY.

“Around 5,000 transgenders willbenefit from the government’s deci-sion,” he said. The associations oftransgenders hailed the state govern-ment for including them under thesocial welfare programme.

Some other states have already in-troduced such social welfare schemesfor the community.

For instance, the J&K Administra-tive Council has reportedly extended

the coverage of its Integrated SocialSecurity Scheme to transgenders. An-dra Pradesh and Kerala governmentshad earlier announced pensionschemes for them.

Panda, however, said that theOdisha government has also decidedto give one-time additional assistanceof Rs 1,000 to each of 48 lakh exist-ing beneficiaries under the MBPYscheme in view of the COVID-19 crisis.

The minister said the funds re-quired for the purpose have alreadybeen allocated, and the beneficiarieswill get the assistance soon.

He said the beneficiaries have al-ready received pensions in advancefor four months during the currentfiscal in the wake of the coronavirusoutbreak.

Odisha government to givemonthly pension to transgenders

CHANDIGARH,JULY 4: Bollywood starshave been spending qual-ity time with their lovedones amid the lockdown.One such star, actress Kan-gana Ranaut, has beenmaking the most of hertime in Manali.

Kangana's team shared asneak-peek into her lifeamong her family, leavingthe internet in awe of her.

A clip shared by herteam, shows Kangana en-joying a picnic with her sis-ter Rangoli Chandel,nephew Prithvi and otherfamily members, is creat-ing a buzz online.

In the clip, Kangana isseen chilling and havingfun with her family.

From climbing up themountain slopes to danc-ing with her mom and rela-tives, Kangana can be seendoing all fun things duringher family picnic. How-ever, the most adorablemoment that steals theshow is when the'Manikarnika' star is seenplaying with her nephew.

The actress was also seendancing in her own world

while enjoying the beautyof nature. Rangoli andKangana are also seenclimbing the slopes of thehills. Rangoli posted pic-tures of the picnic on Insta-gram.

“On our parents requestKangana planned a picnicfor the family, before therains here they wanted to

enjoy summer outdoors,even though we are ingreen zone but it was a longa tedious process to getpermissions, thanking allthe authorities in Hi-machal to help us with re-quired permissions, it was amuch-needed family out-ing", read the caption.

In a tweet, Kangana's

team thanked Himachalauthorities for the permis-sion to conduct a picnic.

"Kangana organised apicnic for her family. Eventhough they are in thegreen zone, they appreci-ate all the permissionsgiven by the HimanchalPardesh authorities," readthe tweet.

Kangana, sister Rangoli step out for picnicin Manali; thank Himachal authorities

HONG KONG, JULY4: A man carrying a "Lib-erate Hong Kong" sign ashe drove a motorcycle intocops at a protest againstthe territory's Chineserulers became the firstperson charged with incit-ing separatism and terror-ism under a new nationalsecurity law on Friday.

Beijing imposed the leg-islation on the formerBritish colony earlier thisweek despite protestsfrom Hong Kongers andWestern nations, settingChina's freest city and amajor financial hub on amore authoritarian track.

Critics say the law,which punishes crimes ofsecession, subversion, ter-rorism and collusion withforeign forces with up to

life in prison, is aimed atcrushing dissent and along-running campaignfor greater democracy. Po-lice say 23-year-old TongYing-kit rammed and in-

jured some officers at anillegal protest on Wednes-day. A video showed abiker knocking over sev-eral officers before the dri-ver falls over and is ar-

rested.Tong, who was hospi-

talised after the incident,was charged less than 24hours after the city gov-ernment said the slogan he

was carrying - "LiberateHong Kong, revolution ofour times" - connotes sepa-ratism or subversion un-der the new law.

The new legislationgives the security officegreater enforcement ac-tion and powers to takesuspects onto the main-land, as well as grantingprivileges for agents, in-cluding that Hong Kongauthorities cannot inspecttheir vehicles. China's par-liament adopted the secu-rity law after sometimesviolent protests last yeartriggered by fears Beijingwas stifling freedoms,guaranteed by a "onecountry, two systems" for-mula agreed when HongKong returned to Chineserule in 1997.

Hong Kong files first charges under new law, man booked for terrorism

LUCKNOW, JULY 4: More than25 teams have been formed by the UPPolice to nab history-sheeter VikasDubey, 36 hours after eight policepersonnel were gunned down duringan attempt to arrest him.

Inspector General of Police, Kan-pur, Mohit Agarwal on Saturday said,"To nab Vikas Dubey and his accom-plices, as many as 25 teams have beenformed which are conducting raids indifferent districts of the state andother states as well."

Police officials also said the surveil-lance team was scanning over 500mobile phones and efforts were on toretrieve information pertaining toDubey, who has faced about 60 crim-inal cases.

The Special Task Force of UP Policehas also been roped in.

Agarwal said a cash reward of Rs

50,000 has been announced for pro-viding information about Dubey andthe identity of the person will be keptsecret. He also said seven policemen,who were injured in the encounter,had been admitted to a private hospi-tal where their condition was said tobe stable.

Police had late on Friday nightraided Dubey's house in Krishnana-gar area of Lucknow.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath rushed to Kanpur on Fri-day to meet the family members ofthe slain policemen and announcedfinancial assistance of Rs 1 crore eachto the bereaved families.

Eight police personnel, including aDSP, were killed and seven otherswere injured in the attack on a policeteam after it entered Bikru villagepast Thursday midnight to arrest

Dubey. The attackers fled, snatchingweapons from the dead and woundedpolicemen. However, two of themwere later killed in a firefight with po-lice. Promising that those behind theheinous crime will not be let off, theChief Minister said besides extraor-dinary pension, a government jobwould be given to a member of eachof the bereaved families.

Stressing that the government waswith the families, Adityanath said itwould work to ensure that justice wasdone and those behind the crimewere punished as per the law.

"Some of the weapons which themiscreants had fled with have beenrecovered. None of those responsiblefor this heinous act will be let off andthe sacrifice of the slain policemenwill not be allowed to go in vain,” saidthe CM.

Day after killing of 8 cops in Kanpur, UP police forms over 25 teams to nab Vikas Dubey

CHANDIGARH,JULY 4: The Bhakra BeasManagement Board(BBMB) has surpassed theenergy generation targetset by the Central ElectricityAuthority (CEA) for thefirst quarter of the 2020-21fiscal by 131 per cent.

The BBMB power housesgenerated 3,326 millionunits of energy against thetarget of 2,543 millionunits for the April 1- June30 quarter, according to astatement issued here onSaturday.

Plant availability of theBBMB power houses hasbeen registered at 99.15 percent, which is far above the

operating availability of91.28 per cent at the na-tional level.

The transmission avail-ability has been registeredat 99.84 per cent as com-pared to the normativeavailability of 98.5 per centfor hydro-generating sta-

tions.The scheduling of the

BBMB generating stationshas come under the ambitof Availability Based Tariff(ABT) from June 2016 on-wards. Under this regime,the BBMB earned Rs 92.47crore till June, 2020

through Deviation Settle-ment Mechanism (DSM).

This was achieved by op-timum utilisation of theavailable resources andclose monitoring of the realtime generation scheduleand actual energy gener-ated from the BBMB gen-erating stations round theclock and operation of ma-chines, read the statement.

BBMB Chairman DKSharma applauded the em-ployees for their untiringefforts to maintain excel-lence in irrigation andpower sectors and for theirefforts to surpass targetseven during the COVID-19lockdown period.

Bhakra Beas Management Board exceeds powergeneration target by 131 per cent for 1st quarter

KATHMANDU, JULY 4: A cru-cial meeting of Nepal's ruling com-munist party to decide the politicalfuture of embattled Prime MinisterKP Sharma Oli was postponed untilMonday to allow more time for thetop leadership to iron out their differ-ences over his style of functioningand anti-India statements.

The meeting of the Nepal Commu-nist Party’s (NCP) 45-member pow-erful Standing Committee was sched-uled to be held on Saturday at 11 amlocal time. But it was postponed atthe last minute.

Prime Minister's press advisorSurya Thapa said the meeting waspostponed until Monday as the topleaders of the NCP required moretime to forge an understanding on theoutstanding issues.

“The Standing Committee meetinghas been postponed until 11 am Mon-day as both the chairs needed time forfurther discussions,” Bishnu Sapkota,the press advisor to Prachanda, saidseparately.

The much-publicised meeting wassupposed to begin at the Prime Minis-ter's official residence in Baluwatarto find a way out from the ongoing in-tra-party crisis which is dragging theruling communist party close to asplit.

Earlier, the Standing Committeemeeting scheduled for Thursday wasalso postponed as the senior leadersrequired more time for discussionsbefore formally sitting down for themeeting.

The three hour-long informalmeeting between Prime Minister Oli

and NCP executive chairmanPrachanda on Friday as the last-minute attempt to rescue the partyfrom possible catastrophe failed toreach any headway.

During Friday's informal meeting,the two leaders reviewed the overallsituation, including party unity andways to rescue the party from the pre-sent crisis, senior leader Ganesh Shahsaid. They also discussed the agendato be put forth for discussion duringthe upcoming Standing Committeemeeting, he said.

During their Friday talks,Prachanda reiterated his positionthat Oli should step down but the lat-ter refused, saying he was open to dis-cuss any other issue, except for hisresignation, The Kathmandu Post re-ported.

Meeting to decide PM Oli's fate deferred till Monday

JAIPUR, JULY 4:Nearly 32 kg of goldworth over Rs 15 crorewas seized from 14 pas-sengers who arrived herein two chartered flightsfrom the UAE and SaudiArabia, officials said onSaturday.

"The gold bars/bricks

were concealed in bag-gage and were recoveredby a customs departmentteam at the Sanganer air-port on Friday," a pressrelease issued here said.

Eleven passengers fromRiyadh, Saudi Arabia,were carrying gold barsweighing 22.65 kg, while

three passengers from theUAE had 9.3 kg gold withthem, it said.

The total value of thegold is Rs 15.67 crore, therelease said, adding thegold has been seized un-der the Customs Act andthe passengers are beinginterrogated.

Gold worth Rs 15.67 cr seizedfrom passengers arriving from S Arabia, UAE at Jaipur airport

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