Chandigarh, Oct 20 (IANS) In a fi rst in the country, the legislative Assembly in Punjab led by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday unanimously passed three legislations and formally rejected the Centre’s ‘black’ agricultur-al laws brought by the BJP-led Union government.

The Bills provide for imprisonment of not less than three years and a fi ne for sale or purchase of wheat or paddy under a farming agreement be-

low the MSP, exemption of farmers from attachment of land up to 2.5 acres and prevention of hoarding and black-marketing of ag-ricultural produce, among other things.

The three Bills, reject-ing outright the Centre’s ‘anti-farmer’ laws, and the proposed Electricity Amendment Bill that led to widespread protests by farmers in the agrar-

ian states of Punjab and Haryana, were passed with a voice vote amid the pres-ence of the Shriomani Aka-li Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) mem-bers. However, both the BJP members remained absent from the House during the special session of the Vidhan Sabha.

The Assembly also unanimously passed a resolution rejecting the Central legislations and the proposed Electricity Amendment Bill, seeking their immediate annul-ment along with a new Ordinance to protect the minimum support price (MSP) and ensure con-tinuance of procurement .

National English Daily

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Published from Hyderabad & New Delhi

LEGAL RECOURSE IF NO GUV NOD TO

PUNJAB FARM BILLS: CM

P-5 P-11P-8

PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA SUPPORTS STRONGER UN ROLE

IN WORLD AFFAIRS

WHAT SPARK DID YOU SEE IN JADHAV,

CHAWLA: SRIKKANTH ASKS DHONI

Muslim youth killed in Jharkhand for preventing cow

slaughter

Ranchi, Oct 20 (IANS) A Muslim youth was killed by two persons from his own community for preventing cow slaughter in Jharkhand’s Garwah district. According to the police, the incident took place at Uchari village in Garwah district late on Monday night. The youth, identifi ed as Mohhamad Arzoo (18), was killed after his throat was slit by two members from his own com-munity. The alleged killers -- Munnu Kureshi and Kaiel Kuraeshi -- have been arrest-ed. The body has been sent for post-mortem. The state’s Drinking Water Minister Mithilesh Thakur reached the village on Tuesday to fi nd out more information about the incident. Demanding justice for her son, the moth-er of the deceased said, “My son used to prevent people from slaughtering cows, for which he faced resistance from our own community members. On Monday night, two youth killed my son.”

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS): In-dian Army Vice Chief Lieuten-ant General S. K. Saini visited US Army 25th Infantry Division Lightning Academy and inter-acted with troops on Tuesday. Lt Gen S. K. Saini also witnessed jungle training and Chinook Helicopter sling load carriage over there. He will return to In-dia on Wednesday.

He went to the US for three days to meet counterparts in order to enhance military co-operation between the two countries. “The aim of the visit is to enhance military coopera-

tion between both the armies,” stated the Indian Army.

The Indian Army Vice Chief also visited the US Army Pa-cifi c Command (USARPRAC), the Army component of Indo-

Pacifi c Command (INDOPA-COM), and exchanged ideas extensively with the military leadership apart from witness-ing training and equipment ca-pabilities of US Army.

In a fi rst, Punjab Assembly rejects Centre’s farm laws

Indian, US Army to enhance military cooperation

Wayanad, Oct 20 (IANS) Rahul Gandhi, the Congress MP from Wayanad, Kerala, on Tuesday said the Centre has a tendency to use national agencies as po-litical weapons.

Gandhi said this while inter-acting with the media during his fi rst visit to his constituency after the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in March.

Since his arrival at Wayanad on Monday, Gandhi has been participating in meetings or-ganised by district authorities and will return on Wednesday.

“It’s not Farooq Abdullah alone, there are many other leaders including me, who have cases registered [against us] by these agencies. The CBI and ED are being used to pressurise and such acts will only help to destroy these agencies. These

agencies are not personal insti-tutions of the Prime Minister,” said Gandhi. On the new three Farm Bills of the Modi regime, Gandhi said these will break the backbone of farmers. “Through these bills, it will be one or two big business houses close to PM who will benefi t. This will be a devastating blow to the ordi-nary farmers...The Centre feels being Covid times the farmers will be silent, but it’s not going to be that way as they will come out. Food Security is struc-tured around procurement, minimum support price and mandi and these bills will take us back by 50 years,” claimed Gandhi. Criticising the com-mment made by Kamal Nath while campaigning for bypolls in Madhya Pradesh, in which he allegedly called Imarti Devi.

Centre has a tendency to use agencies as political weapons: Rahul Gandhinagar, Oct 20

(IANS) The Chief Elec-toral Offi cer (CEO)’s of-fi ce has fi nalised the list of 81 candidates who will be contesting the Gujarat by-elections for the eight vacant seats in the Assembly. The by-elections, slated to be held on November 3, have been necessitated

by the resignations of Congress legislators.

The 81 candidates are in the fray for the Abdasa, Kaprada (Scheduled Tribe), Karjan, Gadhada (Sched-uled Caste), Morbi, Dhari, Limdi and Dangs (ST) seats. Twenty one candidates had withdrawn their candida-ture before the last day of withdrawal on Monday.

The maximum number of candidates, 14, are for the Limdi seat. As many as 11 independent candidates

are contesting against the BJP’s Kiritsinh Rana, Con-gress’s Chetanbhai Khachar and Akhil Bhartiya Rajarya

Party’s Dilipbhai Parmar. The Limdi seat was vacated by the Congress’s Somabhai Ganda. Twelve candidates will be contesting the Morbi seat where nine indepen-dent candidates are fi ght-ing it out against the BJP’s Brijesh Merja, Congress’s Jayantibhai Patel and All India Majlis-E-Inqlaab-E- Millat’s Husainbhai Bhatti.

81 candidates in fray for by-polls to 8 assembly seats in Gujarat

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) India on Tuesday recorded 46,790 new coronavirus cas-es, which was less than what it registered on July 28 when for two consecutive days the fresh cases were 47,703 and 48,513, before going all the way up steadily to 97,894 on September 17.

It last recorded lesser than Tuesday’s count on July 22 when the new cases were 45,720. India recorded only eight more deaths in 24 hours than on Monday. With 587 lives lost in 24-hour, India’s

toll reached 1,15,197 as the tally touched 75,97,063 cas-es. This is one of the lowest spikes in the last two and half months. On Tuesday, there

are 7,48,538 active infections; 67,33,328 Covid patients have been discharged, as according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), In-

dia’s active cases have fallen below 8 lakh after six weeks and continue to slide further down. On Sunday, after deny-ing for months, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan stat-ed that India was in the stage of community transmission but it is limited to only cer-tain districts and states. While the recovery rate stands at 88.26 per cent, the fatality rate is 1.52 per cent, the Mo-HFW data said. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit with a total of 16,01,365 cases, including 42,240 deaths.

India’s daily spike dips under 50K, 1st time since July

Three terrorists killed in encounter in Pulwama

Srinagar, Oct 20 (IANS) With the killing of two more terrorists, a total of three militants have been killed in an encounter in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, offi cials said on Tuesday.Three AK-47 rifl es have been recovered from the slain terrorists as search operation continues in the area. “One more terrorist eliminated (total three) in the encounter at Hakripora in Pulwama. Joint opera-tion over,” the army said. The fi refi ght between ter-rorists and a joint team of the police, the army and the CRPF took place on

Tuesday afternoon after security forces cordoned off the area and launced a search operation on the basis of a specifi c informa-tion about the presence of terrorists. As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where the terrorists were hiding, they came under a heavy volume of fi re that triggered the encounter. In the ensuing fi refi ght, three terrorists were killed. This is the second encounter in Kashmir in less than 24 hours. Earlier on Tuesday, two terrorists were killed in an encounter between the militants and security .

P-8

A N ROLE S

Hyderabad, Oct 20 (IANS): Delhi Chief Minister Ar-vind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced Rs 15 crore fi nancial assistance to fl ood-hit Telangana. Ac-cording to the Telangana Chief Minister's Offi ce, Kejriwal announced the aid for relief and rehabili-tation work in the areas affected by heavy rain and fl ash fl oods.

Kejriwal said Delhi state would stand by Telangana during this natural calamity. Telan-gana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao thanked Arvind Kejriwal on behalf of the people of his state for announc-ing the fi nancial assis-

tance. Rao spoke to Ke-jriwal over the phone. KCR also spoke to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami over the phone and thanked him for extending fi nancial help to Telangana.

Delhi CM announces Rs 15 cr for fl ood-hit Telangana

ARVIND KEJRIWAL

Leading stars of the Telu-gu fi lm industry, popular-ly known as Tollywood, have come forward to announce their contri-butions for relief works in Hyderabad and other fl ood-hit parts of Telan-gana. Top actors took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce their contribu-tions to the Chief Minis-ter's Relief Fund.

Superstar and for-mer Union minister K. Chranjeevi announces Rs 1 crore for the CM Relief Fund.Popular star Mahesh Babu also came

forward to donate Rs 1 crore to the CM Relief Fund. Top actor Nagar-juna also announced a contribution of Rs 50 lakh. Another leading actor Junior NTR also announced a do nation of Rs 50 lakh.

Young actor Vijay De-verakonda announced a contribution of Rs 10 lakh to the CM Relief Fund. Minister for mu-nicipal administration and urban development, K.T. Rama Rao, thanked all the actors for their contributions.

Tollywood stars announce contributions for fl ood relief

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the lockdown may have ended but the virus is still out there and urged the people not to be complacent and drop their guard in the fi ght against Covid-19.

The PM emphasized that the government is working on a blueprint to make the Covid-19 vaccine, when it is ready, available to each and every citizen. In an address to the nation, the PM said he recently saw many pictures and videos where it is clearly seen that people are not taking

precautions to contain the spread of the virus. “This is not right’, he said. Modi emphasized that India is doing better than many developed countries in the fi ght against the corona-virus. He said the fatality

rate in India is 83 out of every 10 lakh population, whereas it is more than 600 in countries like the US, Brazil, Spain, Britain. He reiterated that till a vac-cine is developed against the virus, people should

not drop their guard and indulge in reckless behav-iour. On the development of the vaccine, the PM said the scientists of the coun-try are working on a war footing to develop a vaccine and a few candidates are in an advanced stage of trials. The PM added that initially in the US and many coun-tries in Europe coronavirus cases dropped very sharply, but they begin to rise again at an alarming speed. Citing Sant Kabir, Modi said that until the vaccine becomes available people should remain vigilant against the spread of the virus.

PM: Lockdown may have ended but virus still there, be vigilant

CITY Indian HorizonWednesday, October 21, 20202

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday unveiled a preparation framework for block and district developmental plans for rural local bodies.

It will act as a step-by-step guide for block and district panchayats to formulate plans and assist planners, and stakeholders concerned at the appropriate levels.

Speaking on the occasion, Tomar expressed the hope that the framework will definitely promote inclusive development at at the block and district levels by focusing on locally available resources, local people’s

aspirations and priority areas.

The framework will also serve as an important tool for all resource persons and stakeholders associated with decentralised planning in intermediate/block and

district panchayats and also play an important role in transforming rural India by providing accelerated, participatory and inclusive growth.

State and UT representatives participated

in the videoconference organised on the occasion.

The grants of the 15th Finance Commission are also being distributed to intermediate and district panchayats from 2020-21 fiscal. A total of Rs 60,750 crore would be distributed to the panchayats in 2020-21 -- Rs 45,774.20 crore for gram panchayats, Rs 8,750.95 crore for intermediate panchayats and Rs 6,224.85 crore for district panchayats.

These institutions need to be assisted in the formulation of comprehensive block and district development plans for rural areas, the Minister said.

While preparing the framework, a committee set up in this regard discussed various aspects of the issues involved with panchayat officials concerned and interacted extensively with stakeholders involved in the process.

Detailed analysis of the process of preparation of plans, role of state governments and other agencies, convergence at various levels, and scope of collective action will not only help in more understanding between the agencies involved, but also conditions of human planning to improve the lives of intended beneficiaries.

Tomar launches preparation framework for block, dist developmental plans

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) The National Students Union of India (NSUI) on Tuesday slammed the Delhi government and Delhi University (DU) over the decision to pay salaries of teachers and non-teaching staff from the Students’ Society Funds (SSF) and demanded cancellation of the order.

NSUI General Secretary Lokesh Chugh said, “We deplore Delhi government and DU’s decision to clear the

outstanding salaries of teachers and non-teaching staff from the SSF.”

Chugh said that the SSF are made of students’ college fees, which were not utilised due to the Covid pandemic.

“It is unfair to use the funds to clear outstanding salaries,” the NSUI leader said.

His remarks came four days after the Delhi government on Friday directed 12 Delhi University colleges fully funded by it to pay outstanding salaries to the staffers from the SSF.

The NSUI leader said, “Delhi government should look out for some other way. The SSF cannot be used for paying salaries as this is totally students’ fund.”

Chugh said that NSUI wants the order to be cancelled with immediate effect.

NSUI slams Delhi govt’s decision to pay DU salaries

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday swung into action against fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s late close aide Iqbal Mirchi’s relatives and attached seven immovable properties and balances in seven bank accounts worth Rs 22.42 crore in connection with a money laundering probe.

An ED official said that the

agency attached one movie hall (New Roshan Talkies) and one hotel in Mumbai, one under construction hotel, one farm house, two bungalows and 3.5 acre land in Maharashtra’s Panchgani of Mirchi’s family members under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

With the current action, the total attachment in the case stands at Rs 798 crore. Earlier

the ED has attached assets totalling to the tune of Rs

776 crore, including overseas assets of Rs 203 crore of his

family members.A criminal case was filed

against Mirchi, his family members and others for alleged illegal dealings in the purchase and sale of Ceejay House, Sahil Bungalow, Rabia Mansion, Marium Lodge, and Sea View properties in prime locations in Mumbai.

Ceejay House is located at Worli and Arun Chambers in Tardeo area of Mumbai, worth

Rs 76 crore. Other properties are worth Rs 500 crore, including Sahil Bungalow, Rabia Mansion, Marium Lodge, and Sea View in Worli, three commercial shops in Crawford Market, and five acres of land in Lonawala. The ED registered money laundering case against Mirchi and others in September last year.

The ED has so far arrested

five accused, including Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhawan and Humayun Merchant. The agency filed a charge sheet in December last year in a Special PMLA court.

Open-ended Non-Bailable Warrants were issued by the court against Mirchi’s sons Asif and Junaid Memon and wife Hajra Memon. Mirchi fled to London in the mid-1980s and passed away in 2013.

New Roshan Talkies, 2 farmhouses among Rs 22Cr worth of Mirchi’s properties in ED net

Noida police launches offensive against ‘dark stretches’

Noida, Oct 20 (IANS) Concerned over dark roads and dark spots at various stretches in the city, the Noida police has launched an all-out offensive against ‘darkness’, reaching out to the general public to help them identify such places which make women vulnerable to crime. The police force feels that better lighting would ensure better security to residents, specially women. A dedicated mobile number has also been issued for suggestions.

“Dark roads, alleys are major culprits in making public spaces insecure for women! Send us photos and locations of roads that need better lighting on 9870395200. As part of

Mission Shakti, Noida police is creating a registry of all such areas to ensuring better lighting,” DCP, Women Safety, Vrinda Shukla said.

Several people have resorted to social media to bring the attention of authorities to the dark stretches in the city.

“There are no street lights available in Sector 143 Noida at night near societies like Gulshan Ikebana, Logic Blossom Greens, Sikka Karnam Greens. It is very

unsafe for female travellers to commute. Kindly instruct concern department,” local resident Waseem Ali Khan said.

“Street lights on road between Amrapali Silicon city and Amrapali Princely estate Sector 76 Noida have some fault, they keep on and off in a regular interval of 50-60 seconds. Kindly rectify this asap,” says Ranjan Kumar, tagging the authorities concerned in his tweet.

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) All is not well within the Punjab Congress as former cricketer turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu has sharpened his attack on Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on the issue of farmers.

Even as the Chief Minister has gone for a direct confrontation with the Centre over the three new Farm Laws, Sidhu has slammed the state government for its crop procurement model and ‘lack of storage and marketing ability’.

While taking note of Sidhu’s criticism, the Congress leaders said that though the matter was serious, Sidhu has criticised the Central government also on the issue. The Congress does not think that Sidhu will go for “Ghar Wapsi” to the BJP.

Congress state in-charge Harish Rawat had said, “Sidhu is an asset to the party.”

On the day of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s tractor rally, Sidhu shared the stage with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Rahul, and there also he criticized the state government.

Earlier, the buzz was that Sidhu may be rehabilitated

as the state president, which was strongly opposed by the Punjab Congress leaders. Sunil Jakhar expressed his unhappiness, and the Chief Minister too made his reservations clear. Later General Secretary in-charge Harish Rawat clarified that there was no such proposal and he has been “misunderstood”.

Rawat speaking to IANS

from Dehradun said, “There is no such proposal of replacement of the state president in Punjab.”

On his YouTube channel, to connect with the people, Sidhu said on Monday: “Today, Punjab does not have a government procurement model for any other crop apart from wheat and rice.”

“Neither, do we have the storage capacity nor the marketing ability.”

“Today, the central foodgrain warehouses are empty. They will buy our rice this year, our wheat next year. Then what after that? Our timeline for preparation is just 1-3 years.” Slamming the Centre for bringing the ‘anti-farmer’ Agri Laws, the former Minister said: “Today, they are handing over agriculture to the capitalists.

Sidhu slams Punjab govt over farmers’ issues

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections and bypolls in other states amid coronavirus pandemic, the poll expenditure limit of candidates in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections has been increased by 10 per cent. The limit was upwardly revised by the Centre after consultations with the Election Commission of India.

The Ministry of Law and Justice issued a notification on Monday night to increase

the maximum expenditure from Rs 70 lakh to Rs 77 lakh by a candidate while contesting Lok Sabha elections. In smaller states, the cap has been raised from Rs 54 lakh to Rs 59 lakh. For Assembly polls, the amount has been hiked from Rs 28 lakh to Rs 30.8 lakh. The states with Rs 20 lakh expenditure limit will effect an upward revision to Rs 22 lakh.

In Bihar, the Assembly polls will be held on October 28, November 3, and November 7. Bypolls are also scheduled

for one Lok Sabha seat and 59 Assembly seats in different states. Most Assembly bypolls are slated for November 3. In Bihar, the bypolls to Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha seat and three Assembly seats in Manipur are scheduled on November 7.

The notification, which amended the Conduct of Elections Rules, does not specifically mention the pandemic as a reason for the revised poll expenditure limits, or whether it is limited only to polls slated

amid COVID-19 pandemic.The amended rules, the

notification said, “shall come into force on the date of their publication in the official Gazette and remain in force till such date as may be notified by the central government.”

The Election Commission had recommended 10 per cent hike in expenditure limits for all elections scheduled amid the pandemic. This hike was recommended in the backdrop of curbs imposed

to limit public gatherings, which directly affect campaigning strategies deployed by different candidates who would then have to look for alternatives to election rallies. The expenditure limit varies from state to state.

Around 20 states and two Union territories of Delhi and Jammy and Kashmir are in the Rs 30.8 lakh/Rs 77 lakh category, and eight states and UT of Puducherry in the Rs 22 lakh/Rs 59 lakh limit category.

10% hike in expenditure limits for Lok Sabha and Assembly polls

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday said that it has taken over a case of alleged manipulation of television ratings point (TRP) from the Uttar Pradesh Police, which was registered in Lucknow. A CBI official said, “The CBI has taken over the probe from Lucknow police on the recommendation of the Uttar Pradesh government.”

According to the CBI official, a case was registered in Lucknow’s Hazratganj police station on the basis of a

complaint.The official said that a case

has been registered against unidentified people with charges of manipulating TRPs on receiving payments.

TRPs of a channel or a programme are used to measure its popularity.

The alleged TRP scam came to the fore after the Mumbai Police earlier this month registered a case in Mumbai.

Mumbai Police have arrested several people in connection with the TRP scam.

CBI takes over TRP manipulation case of UP

Sero surveillance-4 reports not to be leaked before next hearing: Delhi HCNew Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS)

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi to ensure that the results and findings of the fourth phase of sero surveillance, which is being conducted by the authorities and is due to finish this week, are not leaked till the matter is taken up by the court.

A division bench of the high

court presided over by Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad passed the directions after Delhi government’s additional standing counsel Satyakam informed the court that the sero surveillance would conclude on October 22 and the report would come a fortnight later.

“Our senior professor who is going to analyse the sero surveillance reports is down

with COVID-19,” the Delhi government submitted before the court.

The division bench which was hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by advocate Rakesh Malhotra seeking an increase in the COVID-19 testing numbers in the national capital and getting speedy results.

The high court also expressed displeasure over

the delay in informing patients about the results of COVID-19 tests, which should be conveyed in 24 hours. It passed the said observation after noting that one of the court staff got his test report after four days.

The bench has also directed the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to

file an affidavit regarding the new testing technique called FELUDA, which had last month got approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and is pending approvals from the ICMR.

“FELUDA tests have not come out in the market due to the pendency of approval from ICMR. Affidavit in this regard shall be filed in 2 weeks by ICMR and CSIR,” the bench

said while dictating the order. The bench will now hear the matter next on November 11.

Developed by Tata CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), FELUDA test is a paper strip test, similar to a pregnancy test.

It has already been validated by the Department of Atomic Energy’s National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, and approved by the DCGI for a commercial launch. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had earlier informed in his weekly webinar - Sunday Samvaad - that rollout of the FELUDA test is expected in the next few weeks.

CITYIndian HorizonWednesday, October 21, 2020 3Jindal School launches 1st of its kind BA (H) in Finance & Entrepreneurship in India

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) The Jindal School of Banking & Finance of O.P. Jindal Glob-al University has launched a unique, industry-relevant un-dergraduate programme B.A. (Hons.) Finance and Entre-preneurship.

As the first of its kind in India, this programme com-bines coursework, which in-stils entrepreneurial spirit in the students with a sound the-oretical understanding of, and practical exposure to, finance.

The programme aims to train a new generation of In-dian entrepreneurs who have been identified as ‘Growth Ambassadors’ by Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi.

The programme will enable

students to familiarise them-selves with the process of in-cubating a new venture, make creative contributions to ex-isting enterprises working in the finance and financial services industry, and master the tools of finance needed to make new and existing busi-nesses financially sustainable and scalable.

During the virtual launch event on October 16, a key-note address on “The future of finance and entrepreneurship in India” was delivered by M. Damodaran, who is currently the Chairman of the Board of IndiGo, and has previously served as the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the

Chairman of Industrial Devel-opment Bank of India (IDBI). A special address was deliv-ered by Renu Satti, Senior Vice President at Paytm on “How digital payments can benefit entrepreneurs in India”.

C. Raj Kumar, Founding

Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University, said, “This new programme is a part of our sustained efforts at JGU to create opportunities for young people at different levels to apply the study of finance to real-world entrepreneurship,

and have a far greater focus in the academic and intellectual imagination of the study of entrepreneurial finance. We believe that emerging issues at the intersection of these two fields hold immense im-portance to academia and the industry in a post-COVID world.”

Ashish Bharadwaj, Dean of the Jindal School of Bank-ing & Finance said, “This BA Honors programme in Fi-nance and Entrepreneurship has been designed based on inputs received from the JSBF International Advisory Board, which comprises of some of the senior-most bankers in the country, eminent industry professionals and academics

from India and around the world. This programme will meet the needs and aspira-tions of young students who want to learn finance while thinking of entrepreneurial ways to contribute to society.”

Damodaran, former Chair-man of SEBI, said that “Entre-preneurs are not job seekers but providers of jobs. In India, we need a large number of professionals who have a risk-taking appetite and a spark to imagine and innovate. If we can do this at an undergradu-ate level when young people start dreaming, then there is nothing better. The new BA in Finance & Entrepreneur-ship at JGU will help students move from a dream to a vision

informed by knowledge.”Renu Satti, Senior Vice Pres-

ident of Paytm, said that “By 2025 we expect 750 million In-dians to make payments digi-tally. With the government’s push for digital acceptance, Paytm is driving adoption of digital payment and finan-cial services in India. It is the right time to start this new BA Finance & Entrepreneur-ship programme, and the best time for students and aspiring entrepreneurs to learn how to leverage digital platforms.”

JGU has partnered with the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylva-nia (USA) to offer a short-term study aboard programme on ‘business.

The Delhi health department has, in a letter issued on October 19, asked all hospitals and districts to watch out for co-infections of Covid with other seasonal diseases and implement protocols issued by the Union Health Ministry. “This is the season when cases of dengue, malaria, seasonal influenza are expected to rise. It is important for hospitals and district officials to be aware of co-infections… We have requested officials to follow the Union ministry’s guidelines,” said a senior health department official.

“Seasonal epidemic prone diseases may all present as febrile illness, with symptoms that mimic Covid-19. If there is a co-infection, then apart from febrile illness, there may be constellation of signs and symptoms that may lead to difficulty in diagnosis,” the ministry had said.

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) The opposition Congress plans to hold ‘tractor rallies’ across the country in November in line with Rahul Gandhi’s similar endeavour in Punjab and Haryana earlier this month in order to counter the BJP’s efforts to drum up support for the three central farm laws.

The Congress leadership has asked its state units to prepare for the tractor rallies proposed to be held in the first fortnight of next month.

In his letter to the Pradesh Congress Committees, party General Secretary KC Venugopal said:” To continue our fight, the PCCs are requested to take out ‘tractor yatras’ in their respective states in which all state office-bearers apart from members of Parliament and MLAs along with Congress affairs incharges will participate.

“The occassion should be utilised to demolish the farmers’ yatra undertaken by the BJP and galvanise public opinion against the three central farm laws,” the Rajya Sabha MP added.

Rahul Gandhi had led the Congress’ first ‘tractor rally’

on October 4 from Badhni Kalan town in Moga district of Punjab.

During his three-day visit to the state as part of the ‘Kheti Bachao Yatra’, his rallies covered Moga, Ludhiana, Sangrur and Patiala districts in the Malwa region. On October 6, the ‘tractor rally’ entered Haryana through the Pehowa border.

The Congress said it had also chalked out a strategy to corner the Modi government on key issues of economic policy, farmers and women’s safety in the coming weeks.

The Congress said that the party’s future course of action has been decided on what it called the “anti-farmers, anti-women, anti-labour and anti-poor policies and actions” of the BJP-led central government and the state governments.

BJP leaders had held ‘Kisan Dhanyawaad Yatra’ while riding a convoy of tractors that passed through villages in Jagadhri block of Yamunanagar district in Haryana a few days ago, apart from holding ‘tractor pujas’ and rallies earlier this month.

Delhi hospitals told to keep eye out for co-infections

Expose BJP’s dishonesty, says Cong on Punjab farm Bills

Cong revs up for ‘tractor yatras’ to counter BJP on

farm lawsNew Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Patients who have recovered from Covid-19 can again get infected by the virus once the antibodies of the viral disease starts depleting, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Tuesday. “According to the Centre for Disease Control (USA), you call it a reinfection (of Covid-19) if the person is reinfected after 90 days from turning negative to the Sars-CoV-2 after testing positive to it.

“However, there are

multiple studies which suggest that the antibodies that develop after Covid-19 sustain for up to five months,” said Balram Bhargava, Director-General of ICMR, while answering a query in the weekly press briefing of the Union Health Ministry.

“Since the disease is new, we do not have any further information about it. However, people can recontract the infection if antibodies start depleting from the body,” he added.

Bhargava also stressed that one should not become complacent, and follow all precautionary measures such as wearing mask, staying cautious and not relying on antibodies to astray the re-contraction.

“Even after contracting the virus, one must not avoid using a mask,” he cautioned.

Bhargava also informed that the ICMR is conducting an assessment on the subject of reinfection as commissioned by the Union

Health Ministry, and its result will be out shortly.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had earlier informed that the ICMR had set up a committee of experts to study reported cases of reinfection among Covid-19 patients. However, he had termed some of the supposed cases of Covid reinfections that had been reported as “misclassified”.

As per the ICMR, so far, three cases of reinfection have been reported in the

country -- two from Mumbai and one from Ahmedabad. The apex body of medical research had also stated that the cut-off date for depletion of antibodies set by it for the assessment is 100 days from the infection. “There are various cut-off days that are being referred to for reinfection. Though the public is going by up to 110 days, we are taking 100 days as the cut-off period because the antibodies last until then,” Bhargava had said.

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Even as the drugs smuggled from foreign countries concealed in different items have posed a huge challenge for the Customs Department and other agencies, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been sharing the latest modus operandi of the smugglers with various agencies to keep a check on them. The NCB, which is the nodal agency for checking drug smuggling from foreign

countries, has busted several such rackets in the last few months.

The agency has intercepted several drug consignments concealed in an air compressor machine, in metal piston (spare part), stuffed in tailoring material among several others.

Commenting on the new modus operandi of the drug smugglers, NCB Deputy Director K.P. Malhotra told IANS, “NCB being the

nodal drug law enforcement agency shares the new modus operandi with other agencies to keep a tab on drug trafficking and to step up vigilance at various levels.”

Another NCB official said that the agency shares the latest modus operandi of the international as well as national drug smugglers with other agencies, on the basis of its investigations. He said the NCB shares information including how

the contraband is smuggled to India after being concealed in different items, the method of payment and how orders are made.

In the last three months, the NCB on the basis of specific information seized several drug parcels, dealing a big blow to the smuggling racket which has been posing a threat to the country.

On the basis of information, the NCB seized a parcel sent to India from the US on

August 31 from DHL couriers in Delhi. On September 18, it arrested C. Gidwani from Lucknow.

According to the officials, the parcel was found to contain 2.7 kg premium quality marijuana from the US, concealed in an “air compressor machine”.

During the NCB probe, it was revealed that Gidwani ordered the drugs from the US through Instagram or Wickr and the payment was made through bitcoins.

The NCB got hold of the drug consignment as it came to know that the consignor was based in the US.

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Denying reports on scarcity of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday said that there was never any shortage in the last 10 months, and that India was in an “extremely comfortable position”.

The Ministry had also initiated the process to import about 100,000 MT of LMO as a precautionary measure

in anticipation of a surge in COVID cases in the country as the festival season and winters were around the corner.

“This is to ensure adequate stocks and to address any anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases,” Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a weekly press briefing here.

He also shared the data pertaining to last one-and-a-half months on the consumption and reserves of

medical oxygen to buttress his point on no scarcity of LMO.

The data said that consumption of medical oxygen declined while the reserves increased during this period. The data was broken down as weekly average starting from September 2 to October 14.

“The weekly average consumption reduced from 2,791 metric tonne (MT) from the 2nd week of September to

2,503 MT in the second week of October. Meanwhile, medical oxygen stock increased from 14,932 MT to 17,103 in the same period,” he said.

The Health Ministry data however revealed that COVID-19 patients on oxygen support in hospitals soared from 43,022 to 57,357 between September 1 and October 19.

On September 1, 43,022 COVID-19 patients were on oxygen support, which went

up to 75,098 in September’s third week before it started to decline to stand around 57,000 now.

“However, we don’t have to worry about the scenario as installed capacity and daily supply is far greater,” Bhushan asserted. He also talked about the steps the Ministry had taken as a graded response to the pandemic.

Besides, he said, the Centre was building oxygen

Virus can hit recovered Covid patients once antibodies start depleting: ICMR

To keep tabs on drug smuggling, NCB shares modus operandi with agencies

Comfortable position, no oxygen shortage in 10 months: MoHFW

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is all set to file a charge sheet against 10 accused in connection with its probe into the Hizabul Mujahideen (HM) narco terror case, alleging that the Pakistan-based commanders of the terror organisation conspired to raise money from India for the banned group, officials said.

“Today NIA is filing charge sheet against 10 accused in HM Narco terror case in NIA Special Court at Mohali,” an NIA official privy to the investigation requesting anonymity told IANS.

The official said that arrest of Hilal Ahmed Wagay along with Rs 29 lakh on April 25, 2020 helped bust the Hizbul

Mujahideen narco-funding module.

“It has been established that terrorist gang in this case was smuggling, selling and channelising the proceeds to Pakistan through hawala and to Hizabul Mujahideen terrorists in Kashmir via their overground workers and other associates,” the official said. The official said that the conspiracy between Hizabul commanders based

in Pakistan and terrorist gang in India was to “raise money” for the banned terror organisation.

Of the 10 accused being charge sheeted on Tuesday, seven have been arrested and two are absconding. One accused Riyaz Naikoo, Hizabul Mujahideen commander, was killed in an encounter with security forces on May 6 this year in Jammu and Kashmir. According to top NIA officials, on July 30 this year, the anti-terror probe agency’s sleuths raided the residence of Wagay, a truck driver, who was arrested by Punjab Police on April 25 with over Rs 29 lakh in cash.

“This money was being transported to the Kashmir Valley to be handed over to

Naikoo, chief operational commander of Hizbul Mujahideen. The case has been re-registered and taken over on May 8,” the NIA had said. Ranjit Singh and his accomplice Iqbal Singh alias Shera are the prime accused in a case registered in connection with 532 kg heroin seizure at the Attari border in June last year by the Customs Department. The narcotic was found hidden in a consignment of rock salt imported from Pakistan.

Ranjit is the key accused in the case that led to the arrest of Halil Ahmed Wagay, a close aide of slain terrorist Naikoo. It said Ranjit and his five brothers were involved in smuggling and peddling drugs for years.

Narco terror: NIA to file charge sheet against 10

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Even as Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday presented four Bills in the Vidhan Sabha to negate what were dubbed as “anti-farmer” central laws on agriculture, the Congress said the “revolutionary” proposed laws exposed the BJP’s “dishonesty”. “The Bills are revolutionary and expose the BJP’s dishonesty. These Bills have been introduced to protect federalism and farmers in Punjab,” Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said.

The Congress leader claimed that the BJP had

“launched a missile against farmers to help crony capitalism” through the three central laws passed by Parliament in September.

Punjab’s Congress government headed by Amarinder Singh moved the Bills after party chief Sonia Gandhi asked all Congress-ruled states to pass state laws to negate the farm laws.

The state Bills seek to amend the Civil Procedure Code, apart from The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act; and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.

After Parliament passed three Bills on these issues amid opposition protests, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent, following which the government issued a gazette notification on September 27.

generation capacity at various hospitals.

South4 Indian HorizonWednesday, October 21, 2020

Mumbai, Oct 20 (IANS) After dilly-dallying for five days over a request by the Maharashtra government, the Indian Rail-ways on Tuesday permitted women commuters to travel by suburban trains during certain times from October 21.

Making the announcement on Tuesday evening, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said all women would be allowed to travel in the local trains from Wednesday between 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and after 7 p.m. till the last train. “We were always ready and with the receipt of the letter from the Maharash-tra government on Tuesday, we have allowed the travel,” Goyal said in a tweet.

In a major ‘Unlock’ initiative on October 16, the state gov-ernment on Friday had said it would allow all the women to commute by local trains at cer-tain hours starting from Octo-ber 17.

However, on Friday evening both the Western Railways’ and Central Railways’ refused to oblige without a green signal from the Railway board, and after working out the necessary modalities to permit women commuters.

In a letter to the General Managers of Western Railways and Central Railways, the Ma-harashtra government said all women with valid tickets/pass-es would be permitted to travel during certain hours without requiring the QR codes, besides

allowing the existing emergen-cy/essential workers.

Earlier on Tuesday, the state government had sent a re-minder letter to the Western Railways-Central Railways re-sulting in the decision.

After the Western Railways and Central Railways shot down the proposal to allow women commuters, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra had slammed the Centre for not permitting wom-en commuters.

State Congress Spokesperson Sachin Sawant said the Rail-ways’ decision was the “result of pressure from the Maharash-tra Congress unit” and “we ex-posed the strategy of Railways’ to procrastinate”.

“The decision on women’s entry in local trains was taken on October 13, the Maharash-tra government had sent the letter on October 16, and Tues-day’s letter was a reminder. We will keep fighting against BJP’s dirty politics,” Sawant said.

The state government has requested the two Railways’ to augment the number of servic-es operating at present, to cater to the increased demand.

Women comprise nearly 40 per cent of the 85 lakh daily commuters and the move would help lakhs of women office-goers in the government and private sector, academics and other sectors, who need to travel by the Mumbai local trains daily.

31 in fray for Nov 3 twin bypolls in Karnataka

Covid to reduce profits of hospitals by 35-40% this fiscal: Crisil

Facing oppn over new IIT campus, BJP invokes

Parrikar’s legacy

TN Ministers meet Guv over govt school students’ reservation

Kerala: Anant National University of Design opens Covid recovery facility

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 20 (IANS) As many as 6,591 more persons tested coronavirus posi-tive in Kerala on Tues-day after 53,901 more samples were tested in the past 24 hours, taking the state’s active cases to 91,922.

Health Minister KK Shailaja said that 7,375 more patients tested negative, taking the re-coveries to 2,60,243. It was one of the rare days when Kerala saw more recoveries than new

cases. In all, 24 more fa-talities took the state’s total COVID death toll to 1,206.

In recent days, there has been a sudden re-duction in new cases in the state capital. It re-ported 470 new cases, down from over 1,000 cases in the past week.

Across the state, 2,82,219 persons are kept under observation at various places, including 23,472 in hospitals. The state now has 628 coro-navirus hotspots.

Bengaluru, Oct 20 (IANS) Two separate letters threaten-ing to plant bombs in the city court as well as in the Bengal-uru police’s office to eliminate people who are probing the Sandalwood drugs case as well as the Bengaluru riots case were received by police and court officials late on Monday.

The police reportedly seized a detonator-like equipment found in both letters.

Bengaluru’s Joint Com-missioner of Police, Crime, Sandeep Patil, in a statement, confirmed that such letters were received and a case has been registered at Halasurur-

gate police station, but did not disclose any details about the contents of the letter as well as in which language it was writ-ten.

Soon after the letters were received by the city court personnel as well as the Cen-tral Crime Branch, the police rushed the dog squad and recovered a detonation-like equipment in these covers.

The city court is probing high profile cases such as the bail petition of Sandalwood stars Ragini Dwivedi, and San-jjanaa Galrani, as well as the Bengaluru riots case.

The letter sent to the court is

said to have categorically de-manded that the judges must grant bail to Sandalwood stars - Ragini and Sanjjanaa while in another letter warned that the police officials includ-ing Joint Commissioner Pa-til should recuse themselves from the investigations. The letter sent to the court is said to have categorically demand-ed that the judges must grant bail to Sandalwood stars - Ra-gini and Sanjjanaa while in another letter warned that the police officials including Joint Commissioner Patil should recuse themselves from the investigations.

Bengaluru, Oct 20 (IANS) With the withdrawal of six can-didates, 31 contestants are in the fray for the twin Assembly by-elections in Karnataka on November 3, including 16 in the high-profile Rajarajeshwari Nagar (RR Nagar) in Bengaluru and 15 in Sira in Tumakuru dis-trict, an official said on Tuesday.

“Four Independents in RR Nagar and 2 Independents in Sira withdrew their nomina-tions on Monday, the last day of withdrawal for the November 3 by-elections in the state, leav-ing 16 candidates in RR Nagar and 15 in Sira,” a poll official told IANS here.

The counting of votes will take place on November 10.

With the ruling BJP, oppo-sition Congress and regional outfit Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) fielding their candidates, the by-elections are set to witness a triangular contest in both the

seats. RR Nagar is in Bengaluru southwest suburb and Sira is about 120 km northwest of the tech hub.

Munirathna and Rajesh Gow-da are the BJP candidates in RR Nagar and Sira, respectively, while Kusuma H and T.B. Jay-achandra are the Congress can-didates from these two seats, respectively. V. Krishna Murthy and Ammajamma are the con-testants from the JD-S in the re-spective constituencies. All the candidates of the mainstream parties are Vokkaligas, a politi-cally dominant community in the state, especially in the old Mysuru region.

The by-elections have been necessitated by the resignation of Munirathna, a Congress de-fector to the BJP in 2019 from RR Nagar, and the death of JD-S legislator B. Satyanarayana from Sira on August 5 after prolonged illness. Kusuma, 31, the widow

of former IAS officer D.K. Ravi, joined the Congress on October 4 with a view to contest the by-elections. Her father Hanuman-tharayappa is a former Congress council member from RR Nagar zone.

Ravi, 35, a 2009 batch Karna-taka cadre IAS officer, commit-ted suicide in the city on March 16, 2015 for “personal reasons”.

According to the poll panel, a total of 6.76 lakh electorate, in-cluding about 7,000 first-timers, are eligible to vote in the byelec-tions.

RR Nagar has 4.6 lakh voters, including 2.4 lakh men and 2.2 lakh women, while Sira has 2.15 lakh voters, with 1.10 lakh men and 1.05 lakh women voters.

As per the guidelines issued by the poll panel, political par-ties and Independents in the fray should follow all Covid measures during their rallies and meetings.

Groups of only five persons, including the candidate, will be allowed for door-to-door campaigning and their convoy should be broken after five ve-hicles for roadshows.

Polling officials will be given a kit comprising mask, face shield, sanitiser and gloves.

“Bedsides those infected or undergoing quarantine, per-sons with disabilities and above 80 years will be allowed to vote through postal ballot,” said the official.

Of the 1,008 polling stations, 678 are in RR Nagar and 330 in Sira.

In all, 2,034 electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be used with voter-verified audit trail (VVPAT) systems for polling in both the Assembly segments.

“Voters will be screened ther-mally before they enter the poll-ing booth to ensure they are vi-rus free,” the official said.

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 20 (IANS) Anant National University of Design, Ahmedabad, in partner-ship with the Kerala government has opened a Covid-19 recovery facility here.

In a span of five months, Anant National University has set up a total of 1,620 beds across 10 sites catering to patients with mild to moderate symptoms, in Mumbai, Rajkot, Delhi, Bangalore and now in Thiruvananthapuram.

The new facility is located in a large conference hall at the Panch-karma Ayurveda Institute here.

The team has set up a 30-bed recovery facility (phase 1 of a 100-bed project) to treat patients with moderate symptoms of Covid.

Besides the medical equipment, the facility has laminated corrugat-

ed cardboard beds and tables that have been designed and manufac-tured by AnantU, which are highly affordable and durable.

The centre has been handed over to the District Medical Officer, Thiruvananthapuram for manag-ing the operations.

the partners, the project is ex-ecuted by Miniya Chatterji, who is the Director of Anant Fellow-ship for Climate Action by Anant National University, the first of its kind fellowship in India

Shashi Tharoor, Thiruvanantha-puram Lok Sabha MP, is one of the key members behind the project.

Chatterji said despite challenges they were able to overcome all due to the exemplary team effort and is grateful to Cisco for funding this facility.

Anunaya Chaubey, of Anant Na-tional University, said throughout this pandemic, they have respond-ed swiftly with visors, recovery spaces, eco-friendly cardboard beds, oxygen ambulances and awareness posters for prevention and treatment.

Bengaluru, Oct 20 (IANS) Driving two-wheelers without a helmet or not ensur-ing that a four-year-old child is wearing a helmet while riding will now prove costly for riders in Karna-taka.

The state’s transport authorities made it clear in a directive is-sued on Monday that helmets are mandato-ry for all two-wheeler riders who are more than four years old.

Erring riders will face a three-month suspension of their driving license along

with a penalty. Ac-cording to Section 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act, every person driv-ing or riding (other-wise than in a sidecar, on a motorcycle of any class or description) shall, while in a public place, wear protective headgear conforming to the Bureau of In-dian Standards.

The law prescribes that violators be fined Rs 1,000 and their li-censes suspended for three months.

Karnataka had re-duced the fine amount to Rs 500 and the three-month suspen-

sion rule was never used.

This new order comes after the Su-preme Court’s direc-tion to the state’s Road Safety Committee to strictly enforce the helmet-wearing rule for all persons travel-ling on two-wheelers.

The new Motor Ve-hicles Act came into effect from September 1, 2019 but there has been a lack of enforce-ment on the ground.

Karnataka has 1.65 crore registered two-wheelers, including 59.9 lakh in Benga-luru.

Mumbai, Oct 20 (IANS) Post-ponement of elective surgeries, revenue loss from the highly profitable medical tourism seg-ment, and increasing safety and sanitisation costs amid Covid-19 will lead to a 35-40 per cent re-duction in the operating profits of private hospitals this fiscal, domestic rating agency Crisil said on Tuesday.

The findings are based on an analysis of 40 hospital-compa-nies, including 36 rated by Crisil, which account for over Rs 36,000 crore of the sector’s revenue.

Footfalls at private hospi-tals fell significantly in the first quarter of fiscal 2021, with the onset of the pandemic, as elec-tive surgeries and preventive healthcare, which account for approximately 60 per cent of rev-

enue, were largely postponed. Trauma and emergency treat-ments - approximately 28-30 per cent of revenue -- continued, but at a lower level, given fewer acci-dents during the lockdown.

Added to this, medical tour-ism, which accounts for 10-12 per cent of revenue, especially for large hospital chains, came to a complete standstill, due to travel restrictions imposed as part of the lockdowns, said the report. Treatment of Covid-19 patients is expected to provide an additional revenue stream and contribute approximately 15-20 per cent to revenues this fiscal.

However, it is not as profit-able as other revenue streams. Additionally given the high fixed cost structure of hospitals, lower overall occupancy will result in

lesser absorption of overheads.This coupled with the in-

creased cost of safety and sanita-tion will lead to a 35-40 per cent decline in operating profits this fiscal, said the report.

“With relaxation of lockdown and travel restrictions, footfalls have started improving from July, helping bed-occupancy levels,” Sameer Charania, Director, Crisil Ratings, said in a statement. Crisil expects bed-occupancy levels to stabilise to previous years’ level of 65-70 per cent in the second half of this fiscal. “This along with additional revenue stream from Covid-19 treatment will help limit overall decline in revenues to 16-18 per cent this fiscal com-pared with approximately 17 per cent annual growth logged in the two preceding fiscals.”

Panaji, Oct 20 (IANS) Facing opposition over the upcoming Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Goa campus in Guleli village, the BJP on Tuesday in-voked memories of late Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, saying the insti-tution could be seen as his legacy.

Addressing a press con-ference here, Goa Bharati-ya Janata Party spokesper-son Damu Naik also said that the signature project, which is aimed at nation-building, should not be opposed or criticised for trivial reasons.

“This is a signature proj-

ect. It is our fortune that In-dia’s first IITian to be Chief Minister was from Goa. We can call the IIT a legacy of late Manohar Parrikar,” Naik said.

Parrikar, a four-term Chief Minister and also former Defence Minister, was an alumnus of the IIT-Bombay.

On Monday, Prasad Ga-onkar, an independent MLA supporting the BJP-led coalition government in Goa, had slammed in-cumbent Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for not considering his constitu-ency for setting up the IIT campus project.

Chennai, Oct 20 (IANS) A group of Tamil Nadu Ministers on Tues-day called upon Governor Ban-warilal Purohit and sought his early assent for the Bill providing 7.5 per cent reservation to state government school students in medical colleges.

The five member Ministe-rial delegation consisted of K. A.Sengottaiyan, C.Vijayabaskar, D.Jayakumar, C. V.Shanmugam and K. P.Anbalagan.

They met Purohit at Raj Bhavan seeking his assent to the Bill.

The Bill passed unanimously by the state Assembly provides for 7.5 per cent reservation for students of government schools in medical college admissions and was sent to

Purohit for his assent.The Governor is yet to take a de-

cision on the Bill.The Tamil Nadu government

has decided not to proceed with the admission process for medical colleges till Purohit takes a deci-sion on the Bill.

Meanwhile, opposition parties have demanded Purohit to give his assent to the Bill.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President M. K.Stalin on Monday said it is nothing but betrayal of the government school students that Purohit is not giving his assent to the Bill passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly and Chief Minister K. Palaniswami not exerting pressure on the Governor on this.

6,591 more corona patients in Kerala, active

cases now 91,922

Threats to bomb Bengaluru court, police office over Sandalwood

Two-wheeler riders without helmet to face strict action in K’taka

After dilly-dallying, Railways’ allow

women on Mumbai

Nation 5Assam, Mizoram Home Secretaries to meet to resolve border row

81 candidates in fray for by-polls to 8 assembly

seats in Gujarat

Haryana monsoon ses-sion to resume on Nov 5

NEET J&K topper’s achievement will bring

positive change: L-G

Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA offers to quit if charges are proved

Now one Hathras accused found to be minor

Silchar (Assam)/Aizawl, Oct 20 (IANS) The Home Secretaries of Assam and Mizoram would hold a meeting on Wednesday to resolve the fortnight-long border trouble even as the lat-ter said that they are exploring the possibilities of transporting essential goods through Mani-pur and Tripura, and even via neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Assam’s Director General of Police (Special - Border Wing) Mukesh Agarwal said that state Home Secretary Gyanendra Dev Tripathi and his Mizoram counterpart Lalbiaksangi would meet in Cachar district of southern Assam to discuss and resolve the border issues.

He also said that drivers of the trucks and other vehicles,

stranded in southern Assam are reluctant to go to Mizoram without adequate security.

Agarwal, who along with other senior officials are camp-ing in Cachar district to deal with the Assam-Mizoram bor-der troubles, said that the issue must be solved immediately for the interest of the people of both states.

Tripathi, who was also present, said that the Assam government would provide financial assistance to the 21 affected families of Lailapur whose huts and shops were burnt by the miscreants from Mizoram on Saturday. He said Mizoram has also been asked to withdraw its security personnel from Assam’s terri-tory. Meanwwhile, a Mizoram

government release said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had spoken to Chief Minister Zoramthanga and “offered all possible help to-wards easing of tensions and return to normalcy”.

It also said that Zoramthan-ga had also mentioned that in “view of blockade of the na-

tional highway (NH 306), which is the lifeline of essential goods for the people of Mizoram”, the government will explore possi-bilities of transporting essential goods through the neighbour-ing states of Manipur and Tri-pura, and even from the neigh-bouring countries of Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Gandhinagar, Oct 20 (IANS) The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)’s office has finalised the list of 81 candidates who will be contesting the Gujarat by-elec-tions for the eight vacant seats in the Assembly. The by-elections, slated to be held on November 3, have been necessitated by the res-ignations of Congress legislators.

The 81 candidates are in the fray for the Abdasa, Kaprada (Scheduled Tribe), Karjan, Gad-hada (Scheduled Caste), Morbi, Dhari, Limdi and Dangs (ST) seats. Twenty one candidates had withdrawn their candida-ture before the last day of with-drawal on Monday. The maxi-

mum number of candidates, 14, are for the Limdi seat. As many as 11 independent candidates are contesting against the BJP’s Kiritsinh Rana, Congress’s Chet-anbhai Khachar and Akhil Bhar-tiya Rajarya Party’s Dilipbhai Parmar. The Limdi seat was va-cated by the Congress’s Somab-hai Ganda. Twelve candidates will be contesting the Morbi seat where nine independent candi-dates are fighting it out against the BJP’s Brijesh Merja, Con-gress’s Jayantibhai Patel and All India Majlis-E-Inqlaab-E- Mil-lat’s Husainbhai Bhatti. The seat was vacated by the Congress’s Brijesh Merja.

Chandigarh, Oct 20 (IANS) Haryana Vidhan Sabha’s monsoon ses-sion will resume from No-vember 5, Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said here on Tuesday.

The monsoon session began on August 26 but was adjourned indefi-nitely after Chief Minis-ter Manohar Lal Khattar, Speaker Gupta and a large number of MLAs tested coronavirus positive.

Gupta said that since the infection risk had

started to reduce, the ses-sion would recommence from November 5. A Press Gallery will be set up at the Haryana Niwas in Sec-tor 3 here to enable media coverage of the session.

Special arrangements will be made to maintain social distancing in the House during the session.

For this, both audi-toriums of Haryana Ni-was will be booked and declared Vidhan Sabha premises till the session is on, Gupta added.

Srinagar, Oct 20 (IANS) Jam-mu and Kashmir (J&K) Lieu-tenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday said the achieve-ment of Basit Bilal Khan, the state topper in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), will bring a positive change among the youth of Kashmir.

Sinha met Basit at Raj Bha-van in Srinagar on Tuesday.

The Lt. Governor congratu-lated the NEET state topper on his feat and commended him for setting an example for all the youngsters.

“I wish him many more laurels in the future. He repre-sents our future and his hard work and perseverance are go-ing to inspire many to achieve their goals,” Sinha added.

Applauding the efforts of young NEET qualifiers from across the Union Territory, Sinha remarked that he is well aware of the inherent strengths

of people in the region and the government is committed to provide the requisite environ-ment for their progress.

“Our youngsters deserve every opportunity to achieve their dreams and it is our duty to provide the resources and support they need to succeed,” Sinha said.

These achievements will go a long way in bringing positive changes in the society and all the young achievers will be the key drivers of socio-economic growth and community devel-opment in J&K, the Lt. Gover-nor observed.

The 18-year-old Basit who hails from Narwa area in Pul-wama was accompanied by his father Bilal Ahmad Khan and Chief Education Officer, Pulwama, Soni Sonam. He has scored 695 marks out of 720, securing 99.98 percentile in the 2020 NEET exam whose results were declared recently.

Lakhimpur Kheri, Oct 20 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Lok-endra Pratap Singh said on Tuesday that he is willing to resign if the allegations levelled against him are found to be true.

The MLA came under fire when his supporters created a ruckus in his pres-ence at the Mohammadi police station where the police had detained a party worker for misbehaving with a woman constable.

The MLA’s supporters forcibly took away the accused party worker with them. The incident took place late Friday night. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Pri-yanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted about the incident and Priyanka asked “Will the UP CM tell that this is happening under which ‘mission’ -- ‘Beti bachao’ or ‘apra-dhi bachao’?” Reacting to the tweet, the

MLA released a statement, maintaining that Priyanka and Rahul are “inappro-priately politicising the issue as a crime against women committed by a party worker but there was nothing like this. I will immediately resign if any allegations are found to be true”.

However, police have registered an FIR against five people including Shibu Singh, 29, the party worker who was al-legedly freed from the police station on Friday night, for violating pandemic guidelines and misbehaving with police-men on duty. All five were arrested on Sunday.

According to Mohammadi station house officer (SHO), Brijesh Tripathi, “We have registered an FIR against Shibu Singh and four of his aides and they have all been arrested.”

Hathras (Uttar Pradesh), Oct 20 (IANS) In a major de-velopment, the Central Bu-reau of Investigation (CBI) probing the Hathras case in which a Dalit girl was alleged-ly gang raped and later died of injuries, has found that one of the four accused, is a minor according to his school records.

According to the mother of the minor accused, the CBI team had visited their resi-dence and taken the mark-sheet from her. She also claimed that her son is a mi-nor.

“They also took some of my elder son’s clothes along with the marksheet. He is a mi-nor,” said the mother.

The four accused in the Hathras alleged gang rape case have been lodged at the

Aligarh jail. A CBI team ques-tioned the four accused in the Hathras case for over eight hours on Monday.

The marksheet of the ac-cused who is now found to be a minor, points towards the lapses by the Uttar Pradesh police which initially inves-tigated the case but did not determine the age of the ac-cused.

On September 14, a 19-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly gang raped and strangulated in a field in Boolgarhi. She suffered severe injuries to her spine. Two weeks later, she passed away at a hospital in Delhi and her death triggered protests and outrage across the country after shewas cre-mated in the middle of the night at the behest of some state officials.

Patna, Oct 20 (IANS) RJD vice president Shivanand Tiwari on Tuesday slammed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and raised a question mark on the kind of progress taking place in the Janata Dal (United) regime in which the development pa-rameters don’t impress the Niti Aayog.

Tiwari was referring to data released by Niti Aayog in which 13 districts of Bihar have been bracketed in the the most backward category.

Niti Aayog has kept in mind indicators such as education, poverty, health and nutrition, agriculture and water resourc-es, financial inclusion, skill development and basic infra-structure.

As per the list, districts such as Araria, Aurangabad, Banka, Gaya, Jamui, Kati-har, Khagariya, Mujaffarpur, Nawada, Sheikhpura, Purnea and Sitamarhi are among the

most backward in the country. “When Niti Aayog has included 13 districts of Bihar in its most backward list, how can Nit-ish make the claim of overall development of Bihar?” asked Tiwari.

He further said that there is no district of Bihar in top 20. Banka is on 82nd position, Purnea on 85th, Katihar on 89th position and Araria on the 91st.

“This is the ground reality of Bihar. Despite that the CM is making shallow promises at every rally that the state is moving ahead on the develop-mental path,” said Tiwari.

“I want to appeal to the people of Bihar to not believe in what the JD(U) is saying. The Niti Aayog documents are in the public domain. NDA’s leaders believe in making false promises. They do not believe in implementation,” Tiwari said.

Gurugram, Oct 20 (IANS) The Gurugram police on Tuesday arrested dreaded criminal Sombir who was on the run after shooting at and injuring an Inspector of the Haryana Police in the city’s Palam Vihar area in September, police said.

The accused was over-powered and arrested from Dharam Colony in Guru-gram after a brief shootout during which the criminal fired at police in a bid to es-

cape. A countrymade pistol, two cartridges and a motor-cycle were seized from him.

“Sombir alias Chand alias David alias Govind of Jind district was riding the mo-torcycle when he was inter-cepted by police on Kartar-puri Road. Police signalled him to stop but he fired and tried to flee but was over-powered. No one was hurt,” ACP (crime) Preet Pal Sang-wan said.

“The accused will be

taken on police remand for questioning. Further probe is on,” he added.

The ACP said that the ac-cused was involved in half a dozen cases of murder and under the Arms Act, at-tempt to murder and theft registered against him in Gurugram, Sonipat, Jind, and Bhiwani districts.

Police said Inspector Sonu Malik, posted in the Com-mando Wing at Karnal, was shot in the right shoulder by

unidentified assailants on September 6 when he along with a relative came out of a property dealer’s office in Palam Vihar locality.

“When he stepped outside, three unidentified car-borne assailants shot at him. Sonu also returned the fire but the culprits escaped unhurt and sped away in their car,” the police had said. An FIR was registered against an unknown culprits at Palam Vihar police station.

Initial investigations re-vealed that an old rivalry led to the attack on Malik. Sources claimed that the attackers had conducted a recce on his movements before committing the crime. Initial investigations revealed that an old rivalry led to the attack on Malik. Sources claimed that the attackers had conducted a recce on his movements before committing the crime.

Chandigarh, Oct 20 (IANS) After the Punjab Assembly passed its own Bills on Tuesday to negate three central laws on agriculture, Punjab Chief Minister Ama-rinder Singh said he hoped Governor VP Singh Badnore “will listen to people’s voice” and give his assent, asserting his government will otherwise take legal re-course. Amarinder Singh, flanked by 115 legislators of all parties baring two of the BJP, was talking to the media outside Punjab Raj Bhavan here after meeting the Governor and handing him copies of a resolution and Bills the Assembly passed unanimously earlier in the day.

He said that his Congress government was all set to take legal recourse if Bad-nore did not sign the Bills in order to save the Punjab farmers and agriculture sector. The Chief Minister said that he had even sought time for a meeting with the President of India between Novem-ber 2 and 5, and that all Punjab legisla-tors will meet him together to seek his intervention in the state’s interest.

Amarinder Singh said that “he did not think that the Centre could afford to ignore the voice of Punjab”, adding that he hoped it would realise that “kill-ing the minimum support price (MSP) would spell the death knell for farm-ing”. “Punjab’s future and national se-curity are both at stake,” he said, adding that the coming together of all political parties in Punjab on the issue was a good thing for the state. Expressing his gratitude for the support extended by all parties to the government resolution and the Bills in the Assembly, the Chief

Minister said that the message that all of Punjab was united against the ‘black’ farm laws will go out to the farmers across the country.

During the 20-minute meeting with the Governor, the Chief Minister was ac-companied by state Congress President Sunil Jakhar, Leader of Opposition and AAP legislator Harpal Singh Cheema, and Shriomani Akali Dal legislator Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, among others.

Asked about the possibility of impo-sition of President’s Rule in the state by the Centre to scuttle Punjab’s attempts to negate the central farm laws, Ama-rinder Singh quipped: “Let’s wait and see. We will move step by step.”

“However, if the situation came to such a pass, the Centre need not dis-miss my government as I am carrying my resignation in my pocket and will submit it willingly rather than com-promise on the interests of Punjab and its farmers,” he remarked. Referring to the absence of two BJP MLAs from the House when the state Bills were passed, the Chief Minister said “this showed their lack of concern and love for the Punjab farmers”.

The Congress, in contrast, had al-ready announced its unequivocal op-position to the central legislations, he added. The Chief Minister said that his government will bring in more pro-farmer and pro-poor Bills in the House on Wednesday. The one-day special session of the Assembly, which was extended by a day, will now be a three-day affair.

RJD slams Nitish on Bihar’s backward districts

in Niti Aayog list

Criminal who shot at police officer in Gurugram held

Legal recourse if no Guv nod to Punjab farm Bills: CM

Indian HorizonWednesday, October 21, 2020

EDIT6

Pushing Sindh to the brink

More effective FATFPakistan will mend ways only

if pushed to brink

To keep tabs on drug smuggling, NCB shares modus operandi with

Tilak DevasherSindh became a part of the terri-

tories of the East India Company in 1843 through its conquest by General Charles Napier. Napier was under ex-press orders not to capture the area. Despite this, he took the province since he encountered little resistance. After the conquest, he is supposed to have sent to his superiors the short, memorable message, ‘Peccavi’, the Latin for ‘I have sinned’ (which was a pun on ‘I have Sindh’).

On March 3, 1943, in a motion moved by GM Syed, Sindh became the first province in undivided India to support the 1940 Pakistan reso-lution. On June 26, 1947, the Sindh assembly was also the first to de-cide to join Pakistan. Most analysts agree that by supporting the cause of Pakistan, the Sindhis were actu-ally looking for autonomy to rule their province. When Syed realised what Pakistan was all about, he left the Muslim League, termed the Par-tition and the two-nation theory ‘un-natural, inhuman and unrealistic’

and became an ideologue for Sindhi nationalism. He spent many years in prison for doing so.

Punjab did not forget or forgive and used water as a weapon to keep Sindh on the straight and narrow. Due to the construction of dams upstream on the Indus to serve the interests of Punjab, there has been a drastic reduction in water availabil-ity downstream in Sindh: as much as 58 per cent shortage during early Kharif in 2018 and around 40 per cent in 2019. The reduction of the histori-cal flow of water has also led to the slow strangulation of the delta. The result has been destruction of the sixth biggest mangrove forest in the world and sea intrusion of over 200 km. Not surprisingly, two tehsils of Thatta district, i.e., Kharo Chan and Keti Bander, have almost been elimi-nated from Pakistan in the past three decades. Badin district has also been badly affected leading to mass migra-tion. This is the accumulated ‘envi-ronmental debt’ (a term used by the World Bank) that Pakistan’s future

generations will have to pay.The latest in the series is the Cen-

tre’s takeover of the twin islands of Bundal and Buddo lying off the Karachi coast via an ordinance pro-mulgated on August 31 without con-sulting either the Sindh government or parliament. The Pakistan Islands Development Authority (PIDA) or-dinance specifically mentions taking control of these two islands to facili-tate reclamation and to promote the twin islands as trade, investment and logistics hubs, duty-free areas and international tourist destinations. A Chinese hand seems clearly visible in the formulation.

According to legal experts, the or-dinance is a clear violation of the constitution that gives the ownership of the territorial waters (12 nautical miles from the coast) and the islands in them, to the provinces. Moreover, altering the limits of a province would require a constitutional amendment that has not been done and also the consent of two-thirds of the total membership of the provincial assem-

bly that has also not been done. The Sindh government, not surprisingly, has rejected the ordinance, asked the federal government to withdraw it, and asserted ownership.

Development of these islands had been attempted earlier too. The Musharraf government had tried it in 2000 and 2006, but failed due to public opposition. Later, in 2013, the PPP government had made a similar attempt, but the Supreme Court put a ban on construction.

The Opposition has alleged ‘mala fide intention’ since the government adopted the ordinance route rather than bring the matter to parliament or take the Sindh government on board. It has also claimed that this was another attempt to deprive the provinces of the powers that had been devolved to them under the 18th Amendment. There is also an apprehension that this could be the first step for the Centre to take con-trol of the entire coastline of Sindh and Balochistan.

IANS

Former US Secretary of State Mad-

eleine Albright once called Pakistan an

‘international migraine’. The failure to

fulfil six key obligations of the Financial

Action Task Force (FATF) only indicates

Islamabad’s lack of commitment in the

fight against money laundering and ter-

ror financing. Terror groups operating

from its soil continue to be provided im-

munity. The virtual plenary of the FATF

from October 21 to 23 is likely to retain

the country on its grey list. However, if

the adverse economic ramifications the

tag entails have not pushed Pakistan

to mend its ways till now, there is little

hope that the desired global standards

would be met in the future. FATF’s abil-

ity to secure concrete results is under the

scanner.

Pakistan has been repeatedly red-

flagged on issues of terror financing and

for not acting against proscribed per-

sons and entities, but to no avail. The

failed mandates include action against

all UN-designated terrorists and the

sudden disappearance of the names of

more than 4,000 terrorists from the orig-

inal list of 7,600. Given the geo-political

complexities involved, any switch to the

black list, with stringent restrictions, is

difficult. Arming FATF with powers to

impose severe sanctions under the grey

list could be a plausible option in a coun-

try like Pakistan, which lacks the will to

implement and refuses to act despite re-

peated assurances. New Delhi needs to

take keen interest as the international

watchdog undertakes the process to in-

crease its effectiveness by reviewing the

methodology of risk-based assessment.

Under the proposed approach, critical

failing in even one criterion can lead to

black listing.

After prematurely taking Pakistan out

of the grey list in 2015, the FATF put it

back in 2018, with more regular periodic

monitoring and stricter deadlines. No

genuine policy action has been forth-

coming. Unless non-cooperative re-

gimes are made to pay a high cost for

their inaction, mere listings will be in-

consequential. Islamabad’s expecta-

tion of being let off lightly for playing a

favourable role in the US-Taliban peace

agreement only points to the need for a

more effective FATF

BY ANAND SINGH Even as the drugs smuggled from

foreign countries concealed in dif-ferent items have posed a huge chal-lenge for the Customs Department and other agencies, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been shar-ing the latest modus operandi of the smugglers with various agencies to keep a check on them.

The NCB, which is the nodal agen-cy for checking drug smuggling from foreign countries, has busted several such rackets in the last few months.

The agency has intercepted several drug consignments concealed in an air compressor machine, in metal piston (spare part), stuffed in tailor-ing material among several others.

Commenting on the new modus operandi of the drug smugglers, NCB Deputy Director K.P. Malhotra told IANS, “NCB being the nodal drug law enforcement agency shares the new modus operandi with other agencies to keep a tab on drug trafficking and to step up vigilance at various levels.”

Another NCB official said that the agency shares the latest modus ope-randi of the international as well as national drug smugglers with other

agencies, on the basis of its inves-tigations. He said the NCB shares information including how the con-traband is smuggled to India after be-ing concealed in different items, the method of payment and how orders are made. In the last three months, the NCB on the basis of specific infor-mation seized several drug parcels, dealing a big blow to the smuggling racket which has been posing a threat to the country.

On the basis of information, the NCB seized a parcel sent to India from the US on August 31 from DHL couriers in Delhi. On September 18, it arrested C. Gidwani from Lucknow.

According to the officials, the par-cel was found to contain 2.7 kg pre-mium quality marijuana from the US, concealed in an “air compressor machine”.

During the NCB probe, it was re-vealed that Gidwani ordered the drugs from the US through Instagram or Wickr and the payment was made through bitcoins.

The NCB got hold of the drug con-signment as it came to know that the consignor was based in the US. The NCB officials said that a few earlier

seizures made by the agency had the same point of origin which alerted them. Similarly, the NCB on Octo-ber 16 intercepted a parcel in Pune’s Lonavala post office and seized 1,036 gram of curated marijuana or “gan-ja”. During the probe, the NCB seized 74 grams of curated marijuana from Navi Mumbai and arrested two per-sons -- Shrimay Shah, a resident of Ahmedabad and Omkar Tupe, a resi-dent of Navi Mumbai.

According to the NCB officials, the source of the seized contraband was Canada and it was destined for Mum-bai and Ahmedabad.

The NCB also busted a drug syndi-cate being run by Afghan nationals in India. A total of 380 gram of premium quality Afghan heroin was seized by arresting four Afghan nationals in-volved in the racket.

A NCB official said the heroin was seized from DHL Couriers in Delhi on September 29, which was concealed in a metal piston.

The consignment was shipped from Afghanistan and was destined for Delhi. “The contraband was con-cealed in a special cavity made inside a metal piston,” the official said, add-

ing that further investigation in the case resulted in the arrest of four Af-ghan refugees staying in Delhi.

The NCB probe revealed that the arrested Afghan nationals were in-dulging in drug trafficking in the guise of language interpreters. “They used to get instructions from their handler or the drug kingpin, who is based in Afghanistan to collect parcels and hand it over to the next channel. The kingpin had created multiple layers in the delivery network and the per-son handing over the parcel did not know the identity of the next one,” the official said.

In a similar fashion, the NCB seized 670 gm of cocaine at Delhi on Sep-tember 19, while the accused was ar-rested from Mumbai.

The NCB said that the contraband was concealed in a parcel contain-ing ‘tailoring material’, especially in thread rolls.

During the NCB probe, it was found that the contraband was sourced from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

The NCB in September also busted an international drug racket by arrest-ing eight people, including two African nationals and one Burmese national along with the kingpin of the drug syndicate and seized around eight kg of heroin, 455 gram cocaine and 1.1 kg premium quality marijuana.

IANS

Rahul BediThe Indian Army’s near

complete dependence on imported high-altitude clothing and associated mountaineering equipment for nearly four decades will be highlighted yet again when its troops deploy against the irredentist Peo-ple’s Liberation Army (PLA) in eastern Ladakh during winter.

After mid-August, when the PLA’s pullback from the occupied Indian terri-tory along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) appeared doubtful, the frantic and costly procurement of spe-cial clothing and mountain-eering equipment (SCME) began. It was done to equip the over 40,000 troops posi-tioned at heights between 12,000 and 18,000 feet to prevent further PLA ingress. Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Army officials fanned out across Europe, Austra-lia, Canada and the US to procure assorted high-alti-tude gear under ‘emergency purchase’ procedures in times of massive financial indigence of kit that can easily be sourced locally.

The Army’s Vice-Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General SK Saini, stressed as much recently when he lamented the fact that the force con-tinued importing SCME due to lack of ‘viable indigenous solutions’. Speaking at a webinar earlier this month, Lieutenant-General Saini reiterated the need for col-laborative efforts under the Atmanirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India initiative to meet critical SCME re-quirements, which have as-tonishingly endured since 1984, after the Army took control of the 17,000-foot high Siachen glacier.

Despite India being one of the world’s largest gar-ment and footwear pro-ducers, it had failed mis-erably in making clothing items like Down jackets, insulated trousers, gloves, socks, mittens, caps or even triple-lined snow boots for its soldiers to combat tem-peratures averaging minus 20 degree Celsius. These drop precipitously further to minus 40 degree in the upper Himalayan reaches, accentuated brutally by the merciless wind chill factor.

The Army was also wholly dependent on imported Arctic tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, ice-picks and associated rudimentary mountaineering survival equipment, essential for survival at those vertiginous heights. The limited Ord-nance Factory Board (OFB)-made extreme cold climate clothing and equipment (ECCCE) supplied to the Army, like jackets, trousers and boots, were not only ill-fitting and operationally restrictive, but also inade-quate against the cold even at heights far less than that of Siachen or the LAC.

Sporadic attempts over the decades to indigenous-ly source SCME through a handful of collabora-tive ventures had come to nought. Deposing before the parliamentary standing committee on Defence in late 2019, an Army represen-tative declared that some 80 per cent of the essential three-layered special cloth-ing with thermal insulation and other items essential for soldiers at climatically murderous heights contin-ue to be imported. Attempts

to domestically acquire such kit, he regretted, had not met with the Army’s ‘ac-ceptable standards’.

The officer was merely echoing what the MoD and the state-owned OFB re-sponsible for equipping the Indian military with weap-ons and materials, too, told the committee of their in-ability to kit out the Army in such a testing environ-ment. Thirty-six years after the Army had installed itself permanently at Siachen, the MoD and OFB said techni-cal collaborative efforts with technical institutions were still under way to develop electrically heated vests, but little had emerged.

The experience of a se-nior MoD official, who travelled to some European countries a decade ago to inspect the manufactur-ing and testing facilities for SCME, ahead of finalising contracts for these items for the Army, are instructive. He said a Swiss vendor, who was a regular SCME suppli-er to the Indian Army, told him that he had advised the MoD that most of the high-altitude gear it imported

recurrently could easily be made indigenously. He in-dicated his willingness to collaborate in a venture to domestically kickstart win-ter clothing units after vis-iting a potentially capable manufacturing unit near Agra during one of his India trips.

Thereafter, he said that the MoD continually pre-varicated on the project, before eventually letting the proposal lapse. But in a tell-ing and somewhat embar-rassing comment, the Swiss dealer candidly told the vis-iting MoD official that the putative collaborative proj-ect had not evoked interest as its success would have obviated the need for visits by Indian officials to Euro-pean countries to source SCME. He was dead right as several years later, high-altitude clothing procure-ment missions continue their overseas travel unin-terruptedly, even more as-siduously in recent months to meet the Army’s require-ments for its pan-winter de-ployment along the LAC till April 2021.

IANS

Why Army shuns local high-altitude clothing

Indian HorizonWednesday, October 21, 2020

Thursday, March 26 2020

Readers Response and contribution Welcome

Indian Horizon

In a historic order upholding the right

of women to equal opportunity in the

Indian Army, the Supreme Court has

paved the way for all serving Short

Service Commission (SSC) women

officers to be eligible for permanent

commission (PC) on a par with their

male colleagues. The verdict opens

the avenue for meritorious women of-

ficers to get command postings, pro-

motions, rank and pension. Reeking

of gender discrimination and violative

of Article 14 that guarantees equality,

these benefits were till now denied

to them as the women were allowed

a tenure of up to only 14 years. Sig-

nificantly, this restriction not only pre-

vented them from reaching the pinna-

cle in their career, but also disqualified

them from pension, which starts only

after 20 years of service.

History is witness to a number of awe-

inspiring and brave women leading

thousands of men in battles, includ-

ing the famous Joan of Arc and our

very own Rani of Jhansi. Recognising

the valour and capability of women

in military matters in the past couple

of decades, countries such as the US,

Israel, North Korea, France, Germany,

Netherlands, Australia and Canada

have allowed women in groundbreak-

ing combat positions. While stopping

short of granting this role to the Indian

women, the Supreme Court judgment

notably rubbished the patriarchal con-

cept that portrays women as weak by

pointing out the fact that 30 per cent

of our women officers are deployed in

conflict zones. This effectively expos-

es the government stance that wom-

en are physiologically unfit for higher

Army ranks as farcical and hollow.

In the light of the forward-looking

order that bestows dignity on able

women, it is now a question of time

before women officers in the Indian

Army acquire positions of command.

In the meanwhile, the rank and file of

the military would do well to throw

outdated perceptions of male superi-

ority out of the window that are gen-

erally proffered to keep them down

and be prepared to take orders from

them. The mission is of utmost impor-

tance and women are equally capable

of helming it.

Lady in command post

Landmark SC order on perma-nent commission to women

6 EDIT Indian HorizonThursday, March 26 2020

By Jayshree SenguptaNo one expected that Finance

Minister Nirmala Sitaraman would go out of her way to opt for generous gender budgeting. She was busy pointing out that the economy has sound macro-eco-nomic fundamentals and there is little fear of a severe slowdown or recession. Micro sectors did get their due attention and the allo-cation of Rs 28,600 crore for wom-en and child development may sound great, but is it enough for the 500 million women of India? It is not adequate gender budgeting which involves the government to allocate funds to women-spe-cific schemes so that the benefits of growth are enjoyed fully by women. It is also not the alloca-tion that is important but how the money is spent that is crucial. There are so much unspent funds and women are not able to ben-efit from the allocation.

There are a number of prob-lems which need to be focused upon for gender budgeting. One is the age of marriage: 27 per cent girls are married off by the age of 18 which makes them vulner-able to patriarchy and torture by mothers-in-law and leads to early childbirth. India has the highest number of child marriages. Em-powering women would require that girls are given higher educa-tion and training in some skills to enhance their earning power. There has to be a policy to incen-tivise parents to let their daugh-ters study further or learn some skills before marriage. The com-mittee set up for determining the

right age of marriage is a welcome move.

Women work very hard in rural households which is unpaid work. Making women earn from doing work other than housework is im-portant. The government should start light industries like food processing which can give jobs to rural women. This should be a priority of the government but it seems not to be the case in Bud-get 2020. Women making home-made products and snacks in ru-ral areas can sell in nearby towns, but because of lack of mobility, they are restricted from doing so. Making transportation easy and safe ought to be a priority.

Unequal wages is another im-portant source of low earnings for women. Very skilled embroider-ers near Kolkata are paid a pit-tance while big designers make a killing making garments out of those fabrics. Women painters from Madhubani and Raghura-jpur, Orissa, can be trained to make products that can fit into contemporary interiors. They have skills but lack innovation. All this requires detailed atten-tion.

While the government doesn’t seem to think that our unemploy-ment problem is serious enough, it is also paying scant attention to the fact that our women’s par-ticipation in the workforce at 34 per cent is one of the worst in the world. The world average is 50 per cent. Women drop out of the workforce for various reasons. Urban women fear for their safe-ty and sexual harassment at the

workplace. Rural women find it difficult to work outside home for lack of help at home. Creche facil-ities for construction workers will enable more women to join the work- force. Also, equal wages in farm work is important for wom-en to draw them into agricultural activities. Garment factory work-ers are paid low wages in order to let owners remain competitive. Instead, their productivity should be enhanced through better equipment and working condi-tions. Many more working wom-en’s hostels are needed from the increase in allocation for it. Safety for women is the most important thing, especially in cities. In rural areas, too, women are vulnerable to rape and molestation.

The maternal mortality rate is high in India. Women’s health is not of importance, specially in rural areas. Rural women die dur-ing childbirth because of com-plications. If primary health cen-tres were better equipped with medicines and doctors, many lives could have been saved. Also, inadequate pre-natal care is re-sponsible for women developing complications. Unfortunately, the allocation on health remains a meagre two per cent of the GDP. Some state governments are re-furbishing primary health cen-tres, but it is not universal. India also has a large number of female suicides. Women’s mental health is increasingly a problem and has to be tackled.

Small-scale women entrepre-neurs are growing. They need ac-cess to easy credit. The Budget

2020 has allocated larger funds to self-help groups and it provides for easier access to bank finance, yet more needs to be done be-cause women are afraid of han-dling the bank paper work by themselves. It’s a good thing that the Finance Minister has thought of promoting beekeeping. Simi-larly, poultry and silkworm be-sides agriculture and organic farming should be promoted.

Some rural women make beau-tiful products from bamboo and grass, but have no proper out-let to sell them. Middlemen take huge cuts and exploit them. Mar-keting outlets are needed in vil-lages known for their crafts.

If India wants to be a $5 tril-lion economy, the contribution by women to the GDP is of ut-most importance. India cannot call itself a developed country if the women remain shackled by archaic traditions and patriarchy. Gender budgeting should aim at empowering women and making them stand on their own feet and make their own choices and deci-sions.

Also, to give a bigger market to products made by women, han-dloom and handicrafts that are mostly made of natural material by women should be promoted by people who matter in the world of style, interior decoration and fashion like Bollywood stars and top designers. Aiming at all these problems and resolving them call for careful gender budgeting which addresses all the problems that women are facing in 2020.

IANS

Gender budgeting fails to address all problems

By P StobdanUS officials rarely visit Central Asia,

but amidst the coronavirus outbreak in China, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo paid a stealthy visit to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan with a bag full of intersecting agendas, primarily to convey that the re-gion remains independent of the malign influence of ‘external actors’, an obvious tug to China and Russia. The visit came ahead of the State Department’s unveil-ing of the ‘US strategy for Central Asia 2019-25: Advancing sovereignty and economic prosperity’.

Americans are not known for under-standing Central Asia well as compared to Europeans who coined the Eurasia and Silk Route phrases and traversed along its various paths. During the So-viet period, only a few American tourists travelled to Tashkent from Moscow. The US struggled to make a workable foot-print in the geopolitically crucial Cen-tral Asia that prompted the Congress to adopt the Freedom Support Act in 1992. In 1991, Secretary of State James Baker flew to Kazakhstan to denuclearise the Muslim majority state.

Washington’s desire to forge a part-nership was constrained by the dilem-ma confronted by the Soviet-trained residual leaders for defining their des-tinies. The regional context changed

once Moscow signed a special strategic partnership with China. The US then took a pause, waiting for the situation to evolve, while maintaining the posture of supporting the independence and terri-torial integrity of Central Asian nations. In the 90s, Zbigniew Brzezinski sug-gested the need to wait for the next gen-eration Central Asians overcoming their inherited, unsure self-ambivalence and orienting themselves towards America.

After 30 years since, Central Asia has changed and Washington seems set to reap the fruit of its investments. The new policy lists $9 billion funding support for democracy programmes, security cooperation, economic governance and private sector-led economic growth. Be-sides, the US has supported $50 billion in credit and loans to the region. The US private sector invested over $31 bil-lion in commercial ventures and funded over 40,000 student and professional ex-changes, among others.

Clearly then, Washington still treats Central Asia as an open book and the last chapter is not yet written. The fresh stra-tegic opportunity assessment defines the region important in its own right, lays out new milestones for strengthen-ing sovereignty, fighting terrorism and helping to make economies attractive to US businesses.

Uzbek leader Islam Karimov’s death in 2016 and Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan stepping down in 2019 opened a win-dow of opportunity that prompted Mike Pompeo to visit Nursultan in Tashkent. New Uzbek leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev is now a reformer and potential partner for the US, who it believes, has taken steps to initiate reforms. Mirziyoyev’s busi-ness offers could spin off opportunities for the US firms.

Pompeo also visited Nursultan to cul-tivate new Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to profit from his recent political reforms. Pompeo lauded ‘real improvements’, urged Kazakhs to resist excessive engagement with China and instead consider America as a reliable business partner.

Conversely, Kazakhs now see the US as a source of investment, new technol-ogies, education and global standards. After Chevron and ExxonMobil, Ameri-can Tyson Foods is preparing to enter Kazakhstan’s agriculture sector.

In the C5+1 format, Pompeo pointed to enlarging American influence, by snaring Uzbekistan into its Afghan pol-icy and by exploring ways to counter Chinese influence. Tashkent’s regional plans for improving relationship with its neighbours and efforts to nix the peace process in Afghanistan, impress the US.

The critical point is that Uzbekistan en-dorses the Taliban movement and sup-ports direct talks between the US and militia. It hedges a bet on Washington than on Moscow’s ability to end the Af-ghan stalemate, crucial for Uzbekistan’s security.

Uzbekistan is becoming a linchpin state in the US success to get the Afghan war to an end. We don’t know the details for the post-Afghan settlement, but the aim would be to avoid the mistake of hastily withdrawing US troops from Syr-ia resulting in Turkey’s military assault against the Kurds. The bigger picture is how the US may be subtly using the Afghan factor as a means to nudge Cen-tral Asia into accepting a certain option or use cues to direct them away from overly depending on Russia and China. The US has offered a $100-million aid to increase cross-border trade and connec-tivity between Uzbekistan and Afghani-stan. For the first time, the US told the regional states to push China and Russia out of the region, be wary of predatory Chinese lending, and avoid falling into the debt trap under the pretence of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects. The debt finance impacting sovereignty is acute in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan that are unable to repay.

IANS

US wants Central Asia to oust China, Russia

By Saba NaqviThere were always good reasons for

the BJP to be defeated in the Delhi As-sembly elections. First, the party is in power in the three municipal corpora-tions in the Capital that have a shabby record. Indeed, one could say that they are a blot on the Swachh Bharat campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Second, the BJP could offer no local leadership or face to take on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose approval ratings always remained high. Third, the BJP had no youth alternative to AAP whose core team is packed with young faces. Fourth, large sections of the youth were, in any case, alienated from the BJP at the spectacle of violence on two universities in Delhi, Jamia Mil-lia and JNU, in the weeks preceding the elections (after voting day, came reports of sexual assault on girl students of Gargi College in South Delhi by goons shout-ing Jai Shri Ram).

In the end, the AAP moved far more deftly and creatively than the older party. It was light on its feet in evading the BJP’s attempt to make this election about Hindu versus Muslim as opposed to issues of local governance. Partly be-cause the BJP had nothing positive to of-fer at the local level, it decided to make the election about its ideological na-tional issues. In the process, in full view of the national and international media in the Capital, the BJP dropped all pre-

tence at civility in public life and ramped up the hate speech. The desperation to also stick to its CAA agenda in the face of spreading protests in the Capital and across the country also drove the BJP to the point where we can state that in January 2020, the BJP completely aban-doned its mukhauta (mask) model that has a place in the party’s history.

Mukhauta was the phrase that gained currency after a high-ranking RSS-BJP functionary described former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the mask/plausible pleasant face who gave cover to an ideo-logical agenda. Vajpayee helmed a suc-cessful coalition in an age where num-bers demanded moderation.

The BJP has a majority on its own at the national level but is losing power in states at a time when the economy is in crisis. There is now a palpable sense of economic despair in the air. In the week preceding Delhi’s February 8 voting day, a diplomat from a country with large investments in India revealed that their internal political assessments show a cycle of endemic social unrest leading up to 2024; they do not see the country as a safe destination to invest in infra-structure and do not expect the Indian economy to grow at a healthy rate. They were even factoring in a simulated war with Pakistan! This shockingly bad eco-nomic projection means that the BJP cannot use traditional means to engage the young in a future that has hope. The

current BJP and its ideological family have, therefore, made the shift to invok-ing enemies here, there, everywhere. In doing so, the BJP gives some youth the pretext to abuse, blame others for their misfortune and feel a sense of belong-ing to an ideology, some even picked up guns as was witnessed in three cases of shooting that took place in Delhi. In the past, polarisation was part of the strat-egy; in the future, it seems likely to be the main plank of the strategy along with the continued cult of the Great Leader.

The language of urban warfare and civil war was spoken in Delhi and hate speeches made by lawmakers without any real apology from the nation’s pre-eminent party. This is because they do not see themselves as replacing any middle ground — as the BJP of the Va-jpayee era did — but in creating an en-tirely new ground and reality in India.

Besides, there is no one left in the na-tional BJP who can pull off the kind of deft positioning that is required when a party pushes a hard ideological agenda and then tries to pass it off as reason-able. In the past year, the more plausible pleasant faces of the BJP passed away. Sushma Swaraj would have watched her Ps and Qs while talking about other women, be they protesters or leaders; she even maintained excellent rela-tions with Sonia Gandhi although the two had contested an election against each other. Manohar Parrikar who man-

aged to peacefully rule Goa with a large Christian population without any social upheaval is gone too. The most signifi-cant is the passing away of Arun Jaitley who determined the media spin given to events and was brought out as a trouble-shooter when the script went haywire.

Half the second rung of the BJP has passed away while the other half has been rendered powerless. This includes Union minister Nitin Gadkari, former chief ministers Shivraj Chouhan and Raman Singh, who have all been cut to a size, smaller than their potential. What are left are the Big Two and yes-men and women, none of whom can muster the courage to speak up even if they thought errors were being made (and some do). And there are new entrants who are ab-solutely committed to this goli maaro tone and tenor without any pretense of being part of polite politics.

There is no turning back from the hard ideological line for the BJP. It’s also important to understand why Shaheen Bagh, the anti-CAA protest site in Delhi, that became a template for similar pro-tests across the country, was made the main election issue by the BJP. It upset the believer for a multiplicity of reasons that lie beyond the Delhi poll. Shaheen Bagh marks the resurrection of the power of the nation’s largest minority supported by the large percentage of In-dians who did not vote for the BJP.

IANS

BJP had nothing positive to offer at local level

Readers Response and contribution Welcome

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

OPED7Ibrahim Al Abed, the man I knew

By Mohammed AlmezelThe loss is so great that one strug-

gles to find words to describe it. In an awfully tough year that seems full of painful memories, we lost a great man on Tuesday.

As I read the message early morning that Emirati media giant, Ibrahim Al Abed, has passed away, my mind went

blank. I probably was hoping that it was just not true. It must have taken me more than few minutes to absorb the sad news. I, for one, thought he would always be there, despite the burden of age — he was born in 1941, and the heavy toll of an extremely busy schedule and responsibilities he had carried for the past 45 years.

ADVERTISINGHe called last week, recommending

a young Emirati writer for Gulf News. “He is young, has good ideas. I hope you can support him,” he said in his usual fatherly tone. The call was typi-cal Ibrahim. Despite his busy daily schedule, he would call regularly or send a message to comment on a piece you wrote or on a story in the news-paper, offered his usually supportive critique or a clarification, send a link for an article he read somewhere and liked, or suggest a story idea, which he did a lot. Meanwhile, you would call him to clarify a story or confirm a report. Or just simply to understand an angle you thought was missing. He would do his best to help. He never missed any deadline.

His death is a personal loss to ev-ery journalist and editor in the UAE and the wider Gulf. Since he joined the UAE Ministry of Information and Culture in 1975 to establish the state news agency, WAM, which he did in 1977, Ibrahim was literally the media beacon we all sought for guidance and support. He mentored and guided dozens of journalists in the country. As someone who always found time to talk to a young journalists, Ibrahim of-

fered professional tips and connected them to informed sources.

Foreign journalists found it criti-cally helpful to meet Ibrahim as soon as they landed in the UAE. As a chief of the foreign media section for years, before he moved to head the National Media Council 10 years ago, he made sure foreign journalists got the nec-essary access and information they needed to do a good job in the UAE. He was instrumental in introducing the growing small nation of the UAE to the outside world in the 1970s and ‘80s.

Ibrahim was not just a journalist but a thinker. His intellectual capac-ity, political analysis and keen knowl-edge of the sociopolitical landscape of the region proved a great deal of help to many of us. Soft-spoken, adorably modest, he would always teach you something without sounding the least the know-it- all insider he actually was. He had this gift.

An Arab nationalist at heartI used to joke with him mischie-

vously wondering where he could find the time to write all those books. He authored a dozen of them, including the annual UAE Yearbook. As an intel-lectual, he believed it was his duty to

record his rich legacy, fortunately for us. One of those books, he explained in his encyclopedic fashion, listed the roots and dynamism of the Palestin-ian cause. As an Emirati, of a Palestin-ian descent, and an Arab nationalist, he was preoccupied with the Arab-Is-raeli conflict. Born in the town of Saf-furiyya, which is now part of Israel, he witnessed first-hand as a young boy the birth of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and the dream of establishing an independent state.

With all the honours he was awarded in the UAE, regionally and globally, I will never forget those beautiful words written in a Twitter post by Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Min-ister of Foreign Affairs and Interna-tional Cooperation, in May 2014 con-gratulating Ibrahim who was awarded then the top prize of the annual Arab Media Forum: the Arab Media Person-ality of the Year. “I was honoured to be a student at Ibrahim Al Abed School, an Emirati pioneer in the service of the nation,” Sheikh Abdullah wrote.

As we bid him farewell today, I too was honoured to have known and learnt a great deal from Ibrahim Al Abed.

Gulf News

By Noah SmithOctavia Butler’s classic futurist novel

“Parable of the Sower” recently made the New York Times best-seller list for the first time. It depicts an America falling apart at the seams due to violence, eco-nomic decline, and governmental dys-function. But despite the chaos, the pro-tagonist, Lauren Olamina, spends much of her time thinking about space explora-tion. Faced with a dystopian Earth, she motivates herself and her followers to survive by dreaming of the stars.

Today, the US isn’t quite falling apart yet, but a pandemic, social unrest, po-litical chaos, wildfires and economic recession are hastening what was an already worrying national decline. As people desperately try to shore up the nation’s institutions, a few are taking a page from “Parable of the Sower” and dreaming big dreams about what the future could hold.

One example is the socialists who came up with the idea of a Green New Deal. Though the particulars of such a policy haven’t exactly been hammered out yet, the basic idea is to combine a bold attack on carbon emissions with an equally audacious expansion of economic security. Aggressive targets for green energy, construction of tran-sit and retrofitting of buildings would be combined with large-scale govern-ment job provision, free education and income security.

The idea’s promoters wax positive-ly utopian about what a Green New Deal could accomplish. The vision is not one of diminished horizons or

painful cutbacks in economic growth “- which a few environmentalists de-mand “- but rather one of clean, tran-quil abundance. In the words of writer Aaron Bastani, it would be “fully auto-mated luxury communism” “- a Star Trek future where technology does all the work and humans share the ben-efits equally. Futurists such as Ramez Naam, meanwhile, are imagining the technologies that would be required to create an economy that’s both pros-perous and environmentally friendly.

Yes, in my back yardOthers are reimagining the American

city. The YIMBY movement “- which stands for “yes, in my back yard” “- is pushing to change America’s sprawl-ing, suburban, car-centric develop-ment pattern into one based around density and public transit. An ad hoc alliance between socialists and left-libertarians, the YIMBYs would remove zoning laws while using the govern-ment to build trains and public hous-ing. Thanks to the visions of such thinkers as transit analyst Juliet El-dred, young people are sharing urban-ist memes and passing around maps of an envisioned countrywide high-speed rail system. In an early victory, the YIMBYs managed to get Oregon to effectively ban single-family zoning statewide.

And for many of these same idealists, reimagining the American city also means reimagining the police. Police brutality has been a major cause not only of recent unrest, but of long-sim-mering racial tensions that have made

even the most liberal American cities feel less than fully integrated. While some want to abolish the police en-tirely, more pragmatic visionaries are thinking of ways to reduce the num-ber of dangerous interactions between law enforcement and the community. Darrell Owens, a co-executive of the YIMBY advocacy group East Bay for Ev-eryone, successfully pitched the city of Berkeley on the idea of replacing traffic cops with an unarmed traffic enforce-ment department.

If American cities are to become more efficient in their use of land and resources, it stands to reason that more people could live in them. In his new book “One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger,” writer Matthew Yglesias proposes a dramatic expansion of immigration, along with industrial and urbanist policies to give all the new Americans jobs and places to live. This idea falls short of more radical proposals for open borders, but manages to still be breathtaking in scope while not sacrificing the specific details of how to accommodate new arrivals.

Any future utopian America will need to be not just wealthier and more effi-cient, but far less unequal. While ad-vocates of the Green New Deal would remake the economy with a huge array of industrial policies and programs, a small but growing group of social dem-ocrats is envisioning something sim-pler and cleaner.

Simple but powerful toolsWriters such as Annie Lowrey and

the pseudonymous writer “James Med-lock” envision a nation where equality is not left to the vagaries of the employ-ment system, but instead is assured via taxes and spending. Medlock favours broad-based taxation such as the VATs used in Europe, and universal social programs such as basic income. The idea is that creating an economically equal society is actually quite easy “- just use a few simple but powerful redistributionary tools to make sure everyone has enough cash.

These are only a few of the Ameri-cans dreaming of utopian futures at a time when chaos and decline threaten to overwhelm the present. Others en-vision bold programs to close racial wealth gaps, colonise Mars, or use

technology to change the nature of what it means to be human.

Most of these big ideas are unlikely to materialise in the near future “- at least not in their idealised forms. The vicissitudes of a chaotic world and a divided society, the limitations of technology and the need for compro-mise always stand in the way of utopia. But the simple fact that Americans are dreaming these dreams means there is still something vital and unbeaten in the country’s spirit. The ability to imagine not just fixes for today’s prob-lems, but a radically better tomorrow, is an essential motivator to keep fight-ing when everything feels like it’s fall-ing apart.

Gulf News

By Ramzy BaroudThe outdated notion that China ‘just

wants to do business’ should be com-pletely erased from our understanding of the rising global power’s political out-look. Simply put, Beijing has long realised that, in order for it to sustain its economic growth unhindered, it has to develop the necessary tools to protect itself, its allies and their combined interests.

The need for a strong China is not a novel idea developed by the current Chinese President, Xi Jinping. It goes back many decades, spanning various nationalist movements and, ultimate-ly, the Communist Party. What sets Xi apart from the rest is that, thanks to the unprecedented global influence acquired by Beijing during his incum-bency (2013 — present), China is now left with no alternative but to match its ‘economic miracle’ with a military one.

US President, Donald Trump, made the trade deficit between his country and China a cornerstone in his foreign policy agenda even before his rise to power. That aside, it is the military

deficit that concerns China most. While world media often focuses on China’s military encroachment in the South China Sea — often dubbed ‘provoca-tions’ — little is dedicated to the mas-sive US military presence all around China.

Tens of thousands of US troops are stationed in the West Pacific and in oth-er regions, creating an encirclement, all with the aim of cutting off the possibil-ity of any Chinese strategic expansion. Numerous US military bases dot the Asia-Pacific map, stationed mostly in Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Singa-pore, Guam and Australia.

In response to China’s military ma-noeuvres in the South China Sea, the US composed the 2018 National Defence Strategy, which is raising the prospects of military confrontations between the US and its Asian allies on the one hand, and China, on the other. US military expansion soon followed. On Septem-ber 8, the Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, reported that the Republic of Palau has “asked the Pentagon to build

ports, bases and airfields on the island nation”.

This is not new. The rise of China, and its clear intentions to expand its military influence in the Pacific, has irked the US for years. Barack Obama’s administration’s ‘Pivot to Asia’ in 2012 was the genesis of the new American belief regarding the imminent chal-lenges awaiting it in that region. The National Defence Strategy of two years ago was a further confirmation that the focal point of US foreign policy has largely shifted away from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific.

Unprecedented military ambitionsThe compromising language that

became a feature in China’s foreign policy throughout the 1980s and 90s is now being supplanted by a different discourse, one of political resolve and unprecedented military ambitions. In his speech at the historic October 2017 Communist Party Congress in Beijing, Xi declared the dawn of a “new era”, one where development and strength must synchronise. Since then, Xi has

tirelessly aimed to strike the balance between strength, bravery and victory with that of progress, ingenuity and wealth. For the “China dream” to be realised, “it will take more than drum beating and gong clanging to get there.”

The Chinese quest to reach its cov-eted ‘centre stage’ has already been launched in earnest. In the economic realm, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is in full swing. Announced by Xi in 2013, the giant plan hopes to out-weigh all traditional trade channels that have been put in place over the course of many years. When completed, the China-led infrastructure network will establish connectivity throughout Asia as well as the Middle East and Africa.

In contrast, the US has solidified its global dominance largely based on mil-itary might. This is why the US coun-ter-strategy is now intently focused on military expansionism. On October 6, US Secretary of Defence, Mark Esper, said that by 2045, his country’s navy re-quires more than 500 ships to counter China. Of this number, 355 traditional

warfighting vessels are needed by 2035. This future fleet is dubbed “Battle Force 2045”.

An assertive ChinaBy China’s own calculations, howev-

er, Beijing does not need 25 more years to fully change the rules of the game. On October 15, President Xi told the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Marine Corps to focus their energy on “prepar-ing for war”. Many interpretations have already been made of his statement, some linking it to the US, others to Tai-wan, to various South China Sea con-flicts and even to India. Regardless, Xi’s language indicates that China does not ‘just want to do business’, but is ready to do much more to protect its inter-ests, even if this means an all-out war.

China’s foreign policy under Xi seems to portray an entirely different country. China now wields enough wealth, economic stra-tegic influence — thus political power — to start the process of strategic manoeuvring, not only in the Asia Pacific but in the Mid-dle East and Africa, as well.

Gulf News

US Elections 2020: America feels like it’s falling apart

The world is changing: China launches campaign for superpower

Indian HorizonWednesday, October 21, 2020

InternatIonal8 Indian HorizonWednesday, October 21, 2020

Kuwait City, Oct 20 (IANS) Authorities at the Kuwait International Airport have submitted a proposal to end the travel ban and enforce a mandatory 14-day insti-tutional quarantine in the country amid the Covid-19 pandemic, it was reported.

Saleh Al Fadaghi, the air-port’s Director of Opera-tions, said that if the pro-posal was accepted, it would require the coordination of three governmental entities: the General Administration of Civil Aviation, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Interior, Gulf News reported on Monday.

The new proposal comes

after authorities realized that many expats were quarantining for 14 days in neighbouring Gulf countries before coming to Kuwait, which according to the offi-cial has posed as an obstacle to many.

This is not the first propos-al that the airport had pre-sented to the government.

Last month, a similar pro-posal was submitted that called on the government to allow travellers arriving from the 34 banned countries to quarantine in facilities in Ku-wait instead of abroad.

Nationals from the barred countries are able to enter Kuwait but are required to

quarantine 14 days in a non-banned country before arriv-ing in Kuwait.

It has been over two months since Kuwait en-forced a travel ban on a num-ber of countries the govern-ment has deemed as “high risk”, Gulf News reported.

The travel ban was first an-nounced on August 1, hours after the Kuwait airport re-sumed commercial travel, and originally included 31 countries.

Currently, the travel ban is imposed on 34 countries, after the government added France, Argentina, Afghani-stan and Yemen to the list, and removed Singapore.

Moscow, Oct 20 (IANS) As one of the founding countries of the United Nations, Russia consis-tently advocates strengthening the organisation’s central role in addressing global affairs, Presi-dent Vladimir Putin said.

Russia actively supports the activities of the UN and defends

the need for strict observance of the norms and principles of its charter, Putin said in a mes-sage to participants in a gather-ing dedicated to the UN’s 75th anniversary on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

“The UN has been and remains an uncontested global structure that provides an opportunity for multilateral equal dialogue and partnership in solving the most diverse problems facing human-ity,” said the message published by the Kremlin.

“Undoubtedly, only together can we effectively confront the global challenges of the 21st century and ensure the peace-ful, prosperous development of mankind,” it read.

Putin says Russia suPPoRts stRongeR un Role in woRld affaiRs

Tel Aviv, Oct 20 (IANS) Fol-lowing the September 15 US-brokered normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the two countries are scheduled to sign a visa exemption agreement on Tuesday, according to officials.

This will be first time that Isra-el will sign such agreement with an Arab country, The Times of Israel reported.

The treaty will be signed dur-ing high-level meetings and a ceremony in Tel Aviv attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and two senior UAE ministers. This is also the maiden visit of a high-level del-egation from the UAE to Israel.

Under the new visa exemption agreement, citizens of both the UAE and Israel will be allowed to enter the countries without hav-ing to apply for a visa first.

However, it will enter into force only after it is ratified by both countries, a process that will require a vote in the Israeli Parliament or Knesset.

Earlier on Tuesday, Etihad Airways Flight EY9607, the first commercial shuttle from the UAE to Israel, landed at the Ben-Gurion International Airport outside of Tel Aviv.

The flight came a day after the two countries agreed to enable 28 weekly direct flights between their territories.

The flight arrived without pas-sengers but later ferried an Is-raeli travel and tourism delega-tion to Abu Dhabi.

Israel currently has normal-ization agreements with four Arab countries, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain and the UAE, but so far only the latter has agreed to allow Israelis to visit without a visa.

Kabul/Tehran, Oct 20 (IANS) Abdullah Abdul-lah, Chairman of the High Council for National Rec-onciliation, met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who pledged his countrys support for an enduring and acceptable peace for the people of Afghanistan, an official statement.

According to the statement

issued by Abdullah’s office, the meeting took place on Monday, reports TOLO News.

Rouhani said that he hoped the peace efforts will work in Afghanistan’s favour and in-sisted on the implementation of joint economic plans be-tween the two countries, the statement said.

On his part, Abdullah spoke of recent developments in

the peace efforts, the ongo-ing negotiations in Doha, and stressed Afghanistan’s will to achieve permanent peace with dignity.

He appreciated the “prin-cipled” stance of Iran in sup-porting the Afghan peace efforts and called for the continuation of support, the statement said.

Abdullah further he sup-

ports the effort to implement economic plans for the two countries and said that doing such could provide the foun-dation for peace and further regional cooperation.

The top Afghan official reached Iran on Sunday on a two-day visit, reports TOLO News.

His trip came amid ongoing peace negotiations between

delegates from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban.

The peace negotiation of-ficially started on September 12. But direct talks are yet to begin due to disagreements on procedural rules.

Before this trip, Abdullah had also visited Pakistan and India where he discussed the Afghan peace process.

London, Oct 20 (IANS) UK Health Minister Matt Hancock has come un-der fire after he was photographed without a mask in a chauffeur-driven car, media reports said on Tuesday.

According to the incumbent regu-lations imposed in the country due to

the Covid-19 pandemic, a 200-pound fine is imposed on anyone who they fail to wear face coverings inside taxis or private hire cars, but chauffeur-driven cars are exempt, the Metro newspaper reported.

But Downing Street last month or-

dered Ministers to use face coverings while in government vehicles, and according to a No 10 spokesperson, masks were available in all ministerial cars. Despite the order, Hancock was pictured while riding in the backseat of his ministerial car on Monday eve-

ning. When asked by the BBC if Han-cock will be reprimanded for breaking the rules, Prime Minister Boris John-son’s spokesman said he had not seen the picture and added: “On the gener-al point, we set out at the time that we were making face coverings available.

uK HealtH MinisteR PictuRed witHout MasK in cHauffeuR-dRiven caR

290 ex-securIty offIcIal sIgn

endorsement letter for

BIden

Kuwait airport submits plan to end travel banMiami, Oct 20 (IANS)

Florida, a key battleground US state, broke its record for in-person early voting for the November 3 presidential election, with at least 350,000 people casting their ballots.

Voting by mail, which start-ed earlier this month, racked up more than 2.5 million bal-lots headed into Monday, more than double the 1.2 million during the same time-frame in 2016, reports Politico news.

In the 2016 presidential election, Trump won Florida, a major swing state, by 49.02 per cent of the votes, while his then Democratic rival Hillary

Clinton came in close with 47.82 per cent of the ballots.

According to the latest Re-alClear Politics polling aver-age, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden was cur-rently leading Trump in Flori-

da by 1.4 percentage points or 48.2 per cent to 46.8 per cent.

On Monday, the more than 350,000 voters surpassed 2016 numbers when 291,000 peo-ple voted on the first day of in-person early voting, which

includes 52 of Florida’s 67 counties. Democrats have a significant pre-Election Day lead, built by a more than 450,000 vote-by-mail lead, through Monday.

Amid the voting, Demo-cratic Vice Presidential nom-inee Kamala Harris held in-person rallies in Orlando and Jacksonville. “Today I had to come here on kickoff of early voting in Florida, because y’all are going to make it hap-pen,” Harris told an audience in Orlando. “What you will do here in Florida by early vot-ing is you will be the first to put our country back on the right track.”

Florida breaks 1st-day early voting record

Washington, Oct 20 (IANS) At least 291 former US na-tional security officials have signed a letter endorsing Democratic nominee Joe Biden for President, it was announced on Tuesday.

The latest signatures an-nounced join the 489 na-tional security leaders who had previously endorsed the former Vice President as hav-ing “the character, principles, wisdom and leadership nec-essary to address a world on fire”, The Hill news website reported.

In a statement, Michael Smith, executive director of National Security Leaders for Biden, the group that or-ganized the letter, said: “The initial release of the letter was a clarion call to so many patriotic Americans who be-lieved they must do their part to elect Joe Biden.

“It is no secret that our na-tion is in turmoil. We believe Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will help truly unite the Unit-ed States and navigate this nation through this troubled time.”The new endorsements also add 81 retired general and flag officers, bringing the total number to 284 retired officers on the letter.

isRael to sign visa exeMPtion agReeMent witH uae

RouHani Meets abdullaH, Pledges suPPoRt foR afgHan Peace

Trump closes in on Biden’s lead in pennsylvania: poll

Washington, Oct 20 (IANS) US President Donald Trump was closing in on his Democratic rival Joe Biden’s lead in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state that could alter the results of a presidential election, a new poll has revealed.

According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday, Biden was in the lead with support from 49 per cent of registered voters, while Trump had the backing of 45 per cent, The Hill news agency reported.

In the October 5 Reuters/

Ipsos opinion poll, Biden was backed by 50 per cent of the registered voters, while Trump support was un-changed at 45 per cent.

In mid-September, 49

per cent of Pennsylvania respondents backed Biden, while 46 per cent supported Trump.

In the 2016 presidential election, it was neck-and-

neck between Trump and his then Democratic chal-lenger Hillary Clinton.

The state swung in Trump’s favour with 48.18 per cent of the votes, while Clinton garnered 47.46 per cent of the total ballots.

Recent polls of swing states have shown Biden ahead of or tying with the President. Last week’s Hill-Harris poll found the for-mer Vice President with a 5 percentage point lead in Pennsylvania and tied with Trump in Florida.

His lead reached 11 per-centage points in Michigan.

Washington, Oct 20 (IANS) During a call with his re-election campaign staff, US President Donald Trump slammed Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious dis-ease expert, and called the latter “a disaster”.

According to the audio of Monday’s call obtained by The Hill news website, the President even accused Fau-ci of providing inconsistent advice about the coronavi-rus pandemic and claimed that if he had followed all of the top scientist’s advice, the US would have “700,000 to 800,000 deaths right now”.

“People are tired of hear-ing Fauci and all these idiots, these people, these people that have gotten it wrong. Fauci is a nice guy, he’s been here for 500 years, he called every one of them wrong,” he told his staffers dur-ing the call. “He’s like this wonderful guy, a wonderful sage telling us how he said, do not wear facemasks — that’s a number of months ago. He said, do not close it up to China. I have a list of 15 things.

“And yet we keep him. Ev-ery time he goes on televi-sion there’s always a bomb.

But there is a bigger bomb if you fire him. But Fauci is a disaster... If we listened to him, we’d have 700,000 to 800,000 deaths right now,” the President added.

Trump’s rant came a day after Fauci said during a CBS News interview on Sunday that he was not surprised when Trump had tested positive for Covid-19 after the September 27 White House “super spreader” cermony for Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

Following the event, the others who were infected

besides the President in-cluded First Lady Melania Trump; youngest son Bar-ron Trump; senior aides Hope Hicks and Stephen Miller; White House Press Secretary Kayley McEnany; RNC Chair Ronna McDan-iel; Republican Senators Mike Lee and Thom Tilis; former adviser Kellyanne Conway; and Trump cam-paign director Bill Stepien.

During Monday’s call, the President also claimed the people are tired of the pan-demic, adding “just leave us alone”, The Hill news web-site reported.

trump slams Fauci, calls him ‘disaster’

Islamabad, Oct 20 (IANS) Pakistan Prime Minister Im-ran Khan has expressed fears over a second Covid-19 wave in the country in the coming months due to a resurgence of new cases in some parts of the country. “I fear there might be another spike of coronavi-rus in cities where the rate of pollution increases in October and November,” Dawn news quoted the premier as saying on Monday at an event.

Fears of a second wave have surfaced after health officials

warned of cases rising in Pun-jab province, especially La-hore, while there was also an increase in Karachi’s Covid-19 positivity rate.

Although measures taken

by the government during the pandemic were acknowledged internationally, Khan said that there was still a need to ob-serve precautions to combat an expected second wave.

“I fear that in these two months, October and Novem-ber, cities like Faisalabad, La-hore, Karachi, Peshawar and Gujranwala where there is more pollution, there might be a second spike in corona-virus cases.

“The cases are rising gradu-ally and we hope that they

don’t increase quickly; we are monitoring it,” he said, add-ing that “pollution becomes stagnant in the atmosphere”, leading to the spread of dis-eases.

Khan’s remarks come a week after Minister for Plan-ning and Development Asad Umar had announced that the country’s Covid-19 positiv-ity rate was 2.37 per cent, the highest in over 50 days, due to a recent spike in the number of fresh cases, Dawn news re-ported.

imran fears 2nd covid-19 wave in coming monthsSeoul, Oct 20 (IANS) A

North Korean media outlet on Tuesday slammed South Korea for its recent defence talks with the US, terming the discussions as a “reck-less scheme to crush its own race with its master”.

Last week, Seoul and Washington held their an-nual ministerial talks, the Security Consultative Meet-ing (SCM), and reaffirmed their joint efforts to denu-

clearize North Korea, not-ing that the Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs continue to pose serious threats to interna-tional security, reports Yon-hap News Agency.

In an article, Tongil Sinbo, the North Korean weekly, said: “It is a shame-ful pro-American act and a reckless scheme to crush its own race with its master.

“The tailored deterrence

strategy is not irrelevant to the increasing purchase of advanced weapons by the South Korean military, their military exercises in and outside of the country and the development of high-tech equipments.

“National pride cannot be found within those desper-ate enough to crush its own people with help from for-eign power,” it added.

The outlet further slammed the South for “continuing to play with fire in a war against its own race”.

Bangladesh approves death penalty for rape cases

BusinessIndian HorizonWednesday, October 21, 2020 9Jeff Bezos vs Mukesh Ambani: Battle royale for India’s retail crown

Mercedes-Benz India to locally produce AMG vehicles in India

L&T shares rise on hopes of contract for

bullet train project

Covid to reduce profits of hospitals by 35-40% this fiscal: Crisil

IBM reports revenue decline for 3 consecutive quarters

Microsoft takes ‘giant leap’ with SpaceX to challenge Amazon

Canara Bank wrote off Rs 47,310Cr in 8 years, but

recovered just 19%

LG launches world’s 1st rollable TV for whopping Rs 64 lakh

OMCs hold petrol, diesel prices as global oil market remains subdued

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) The arbitration proceed-ings between Amazon and Kishore Biyani have begun in Singapore. Former Attorney General of Singapore, V.K. Rajah concluded arbitration hearing on Friday, October 16 and will deliver his ruling on or before Monday, October 26, sources said.

Rajah, former Attorney General of Singapore, is the sole arbitrator in the Amazon vs. Future vs. Reliance arbi-tration matter.

An emergency hearing of the arbitration took place in

Singapore on Friday. Harish Salve appeared for the Future

Retail (being acquired by RIL) while Singapore based

lawyer, Davinder Singh ap-peared on behalf of Future Coupons Pvt Ltd. (FCPL) -- the holding company of Kishore Biyani. Gopal Sub-ramanium, former Solicitor General of India, appeared for Amazon.

The hearing is said to have lasted for 5 hours. The arbi-trator V.K. Rajah said that he would deliver his judgment on or before Monday.

That judgement will even-tually decide the fate of Reli-ance’s deal with the Future Group. Amazon’s investment in FCPL is around Rs 1,500

crore, which is an insignifi-cant amount for Jeff Bezos -- the richest man in the world and CEO of Amazon.

According to experts, Ama-zon’s legal salvo at Future is indirectly aimed to thwart Reliance’s attempt to estab-lish its leadership position in the Indian retail sector.

Analysts see this as a war between world’s richest man Jeff Bezos, having a networth of $204.6 billion and India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani with a (net worth $ 88.4 bil-lion for a control over India’s retail sector.

Mumbai, Oct 20 (IANS) Postponement of elective sur-geries, revenue loss from the highly profitable medical tour-ism segment, and increasing safety and sanitisation costs amid Covid-19 will lead to a 35-40 per cent reduction in the operating profits of private hospitals this fiscal, domestic rating agency Crisil said on Tuesday.

The findings are based on an analysis of 40 hospital-compa-nies, including 36 rated by Cri-sil, which account for over Rs 36,000 crore of the sector’s rev-enue. Footfalls at private hos-pitals fell significantly in the

first quarter of fiscal 2021, with the onset of the pandemic, as elective surgeries and preven-tive healthcare, which account for approximately 60 per cent of revenue, were largely post-poned. Trauma and emergen-cy treatments - approximately 28-30 per cent of revenue -- continued, but at a lower level, given fewer accidents during the lockdown.

Added to this, medical tour-ism, which accounts for 10-12 per cent of revenue, especially for large hospital chains, came to a complete standstill, due to travel restrictions imposed as part of the lockdowns, said

the report. Treatment of Co-vid-19 patients is expected to provide an additional revenue stream and contribute ap-proximately 15-20 per cent to

revenues this fiscal.However, it is not as profit-

able as other revenue streams. Additionally given the high fixed cost structure of hospi-

tals, lower overall occupancy will result in lesser absorption of overheads.

This coupled with the in-creased cost of safety and sani-tation will lead to a 35-40 per cent decline in operating prof-its this fiscal, said the report.

“With relaxation of lock-down and travel restrictions, footfalls have started improv-ing from July, helping bed-occupancy levels,” Sameer Charania, Director, Crisil Rat-ings, said in a statement. Crisil expects bed-occupancy levels to stabilise to previous years’ level of 65-70 per cent in the second half of this fiscal.

New York, Oct 20 (IANS) Re-porting sales declines for three straight quarters, IBM has posted $17.6 billion in revenue in the third quarter of this year, compared to $18 billion for the same period last year.

The company’s shares fell 2.7 per cent in extended trad-

ing on Monday after third quarter results were an-nounced.

However, its Cloud and cog-nitive software revenue rose seven per cent in the quarter.

For the third quarter, total cloud revenue reached $6 bil-lion, an increase of 19 per cent.

“The strong performance of our cloud business, led by Red Hat, underscores the growing client adoption of our open hybrid cloud platform,” IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said in a statement.

IBM acquired enterprise software company Red Hat

last year for $34 billion.Red Hat revenue for the

quarter increased 17 per cent, said IBM which earlier this month announced that it will separate its managed infra-structure services unit of its global technology services di-vision into a new public com-

pany.“Separating the managed

infrastructure services busi-ness creates a market-leading standalone company and fur-ther sharpens our focus on IBM’s open hybrid cloud plat-form and AI capabilities,” the IBM CEO said.

San Francisco, Oct 20 (IANS) In a significant de-velopment, Microsoft on Tuesday announced a part-nership with Elon Musk-run SpaceX to take on Am-azon Web Services (AWS) which is the Cloud arm of the ecommerce behemoth, in the lucrative space Cloud business.

Unveiling the Azure Space cloud computing platform, Microsoft said it is taking the next giant leap in cloud computing -- to space. “With Azure Space, we have ambition to make space connectivity and

compute increasingly at-tainable across industries including agriculture, en-ergy, telecommunications, and government,” said Tom Keane, Corporate Vice President, Azure Global.

Microsoft last month introduced Azure Orbital to process satellite data at Cloud scale.

It came after Amazon’s Cloud arm AWS launched the ‘Aerospace and Satel-lite Solutions’ business seg-ment in July, dedicated to accelerating innovation in the global aerospace and satellite industry.

“Our new partnership with SpaceX Starlink will provide high-speed, low-latency satellite broadband for the new Azure Modular Datacenter (MDC),” Keane informed.

“We have brought to-gether a team of renowned

space industry veterans to work alongside our world-class product engineers and scientists to build cloud capabilities that meet the unique needs of space,” Microsoft said.

The innovation areas include simulating space

missions, discovering in-sights from satellite data, and fueling innovation both on the ground and in orbit.

“By partnering with leaders in the space com-munity, we will extend the utility of our Azure capa-bilities with worldwide sat-ellite connectivity, unblock cloud computing in more scenarios, and empower our partners and custom-ers to achieve more,” the tech giant said.

Resilient satellite com-munications, coupled with Azure’s ability to provide

high performance comput-ing, machine learning, and data analytics opens many new opportunities for both public- and private-sector organisations.

“These new connectiv-ity partnerships bring more satellite capabilities along-side Azure Orbital ground station service and exist-ing ExpressRoute satellite provider partnerships with SES, Intelsat and ViaSat to help bring valuable cus-tomer data from geosyn-chronous orbit (GEO) sat-ellites directly into Azure,” Keane announced.

Seoul, Oct 20 (IANS) LG Electronics on Tuesday re-leased the world’s first rol-lable TV in South Korea at a jaw-dropping price of $87,000 (about Rs 63.9 lakh) as the tech giant aims to target high-end consumers amid the pandemic.

The company said over-seas launch schedules of LG Signature OLED R have not been fixed yet due to the Covid-19 situation in each country, reports Yonhap news agency.

LG said the product,

which uses flexible OLED display that leverages self-lighting pixel technology, is designed to deliver a dif-ferentiated user experience to high-end consumers and strengthen its position in the premium TV market.

Its name “R” contains the meaning of “revolutionary,” “rollable” and “redefine the space,” according to the home appliance maker.

The 65-inch TV model named RX is highlighted by its screen that rises from a box and can be

rolled up inside.Depending on how much

the screen has rolled up in-side the base, it provides three different viewing op-tions for users to design in-terior space.

While the full view option is for watching TV, the line view option exposes only a part of the screen and offers five different stylish modes: music, clock, frame, mood and ThinQ home dashboard to check conditions of other smart devices inside the house.

The ‘Zero view’ complete-ly hides the screen and al-lows it to be used as a Blue-tooth speaker.

LG said it has adopted a differentiated system for its rollable TV from production to customer care service.

LG said production and quality inspection of the rol-lable TV will be processed by artisans and craftspeople at LG’s TV assembly line in Gumi, some 260 kilometers southeast of Seoul, a similar system used in making luxu-ry cars and watches.

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Oil marketing companies (OMC) kept petrol and die-sel prices unchanged across the four metros on Tuesday as global oil prices remained subdued and product prices remained steady.

Petrol prices have been unchanged for 28 days at a stretch while diesel prices

were the same for the 18 consecutive days. Price of petrol in the national capital was at Rs 81.06 per litre. In Mumbai, Chennai and Kol-kata, the fuel was sold for Rs 87.74, Rs 84.14 and Rs 82.59 per litre, respectively.

Diesel prices in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kol-kata were at Rs 70.46, Rs

76.86, Rs 75.95 and Rs 73.99, respectively.

Domestic fuel prices have been largely subdued off late due to low crude oil prices as global oil demand has been hit amid the pandemic.

Retail sales, however, have picked up with the gradual reopening of the economic activities. First time since

lockdown, diesel sale in the country has crossed over the pre-covid level with the country’s most widely con-sumed fuel witnessing a nine per cent year-on-year growth in the first 15 days of October.

The surge in demand af-ter months of subdued sales is the direct result of an in-crease in the transport ac-tivities ahead of the festival season as consumers move out to make those necessary purchases.

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Canara Bank has written off bad loans worth thousands of crore of rupees and re-covered paltry amounts from big defaulters.

According to a report in Money Life, like oth-er PSBs, Canara Bank also refused to share this information as well as names of defaulters under the Right to In-formation (RTI) Act.

As per the report, Data shared by Pune-based RTI activist Vivek Velankar shows that during the past eight-year period from FY12-13 to FY19-20, Canara Bank wrote off a total of Rs 47,310 crore while recovering just 19 per cent or Rs 8,901 crore from defaulters.

The report said Ca-nara Bank too used vague reasons of pri-

vacy for not sharing information like names of big defaulters with a bad loan of Rs 100 crore and above.

In the reply to the RTI, the bank says, “In-formation sought is the personal information of the concerned and if disclosed would invade the privacy of those concerned and its dis-closure does not have any relationship with public interest or activ-ity and is exempted un-der section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.”

Velankar, who is also president of the Sajag Nagrik Manch, asks, “When a common bor-rower defaults, the same banks publish his name and all de-tails through advertise-ments in newspapers. Then why do they want to keep names of big

defaulters hidden un-der the privacy cause? Why doesn’t the ‘priva-cy’ clause apply while publicising names of common borrowers?”

In several judge-ments, the Central In-formation Commission (CIC) had ruled that to qualify for the exemp-tion under section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, the in-formation must satisfy certain criteria, such as personal information and public interest.

The report said or-dinarily, the adjective

‘personal’ is attributed to that which applies to an individual and not to an institution or a corporate. Therefore, it flows that ‘personal’ cannot be related to institutions, organisa-tions or corporates, es-pecially publicly listed entities with a large shareholding of retail investors.

Hence Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act cannot be applied when the information concerns institutions, organisa-tions or corporates.

Markets in green after flat opening, Sensex above 40,500

Mumbai, Oct 20 (IANS) The key Indian equity indi-ces traded higher on Tues-day morning after opening on a flat-to-negative note.

A largely negative trend in the Asian markets impacted the domestic indices initial-ly. Around 9.35 a.m., Sensex was trading at 40,595.13, higher by 163.53 points or

0.40 per cent from the previ-ous close of 40,431.60.

It opened at 40,420.29 and has so far recorded an intra-day high of 40,617.34 and a low of 40,305.59.

The Nifty50 on the Na-tional Stock Exchange was trading at 11,916.85, higher by 43.80 points or 0.37 per cent from the previous close.

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz India has decided to produce its high-end perfor-mance AMG vehicles sub-brand in India. The company will soon roll-out the made-in-India ‘AMG GLC 43 4MA-TIC Coupe’.

Mercedes-Benz’s sub-brand having a wide port-folio of performance limou-sines, performance SUVs, SUV Coupes, and sports car in its wide portfolio in India, AMG has a dedicated retail presence through the ‘AMG Performance Centres’ locat-ed across Indian metros.

The AMG performance vehicles were introduced in 2010 in India, are currently imported as CBU (Complete-

ly Built Units).At present, the AMG port-

folio in India comprises the 43, 53, 63, and GT series of high performance ve-hicles across different body shapes. “The decision to lo-cally produce AMG in India underlines Mercedes-Benz’s clear roadmap for the Indian market and our long-term commitment to our Indian customers,” said Martin Schwenk, Managing Direc-tor & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India. “We want AMG to be more accessible to the po-tential customers and play a bigger role in our overall portfolio we offer in India. This decision is an important milestone towards strength-ening our AMG ambitions.

Mumbai, Oct 20 (IANS) Shares of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose over three per cent on the hopes of bagging the contract for constructing the 237 km length of the bullet train project under the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor.

The engineering and infrastructure major has emerged as the lowest bidder for con-structing the bullet train project.

The financial bids for the design and con-struction of 237 km length of viaduct for 508 km of Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor were opened on Monday and Larsen and Toubro emerged as the lowest bidder, said a statement from the Indian Railway.

On Tuesday, shares of L&T surged 3.6 per cent on the BSE to touch an intra-day high of Rs 935.60 per share.

At 9.43 a.m., its share price was at Rs 927.55, higher by Rs 24.55 or 2.72 per cent from its previous close.

Business Indian HorizonWednesday, October 21, 202010

Verizon partners with Nokia to launch private 5G platformNew Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS)

Leading telecom services pro-vider Verizon on Tuesday said it has partnered with Nokia to launch its international private 5G platform for global enter-prises located in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

The offering will enable businesses to deploy a private industrial grade dedicated 5G network capability within their premises.

In addition to ultra-low la-tency and increased speed, a key benefit of a private 5G

network is the ability for busi-nesses, particularly those with manufacturing, distribution and logistics facilities, to de-ploy a customised on-site mo-bile network, eliminating the need to transmit data through public networks.

“Today, we’ve announced

the next phase of Verizon’s global 5G vision with the launch of private 5G for our in-ternational customers,” Tami Erwin, CEO, Verizon Business, said in a statement.

“If the past few months have taught us anything, it’s that there’s never been a more criti-cal time for mobility, broad-band and cloud products and services. Private 5G networks will be a transformative tech-nology that will drive the new era of disruption and innova-tion for enterprises around the

world.”A private 5G network is a

self-contained network whose components all reside in a single facility, consisting of mi-cro towers and small cells and connects to an organisation’s Local Area Network (LAN) and enterprise applications.

It will utilise Nokia’s Digital Automation Cloud, a private wireless network solution with automation enablers that will allow for application deploy-ment through a web-based in-terface.

Noida Int’l Airport aims to create much-needed aviation infra in NCR

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Once operational in 2024, Noi-da International Airport (NIA) will bring the much-needed aviation infrastructure in the National Capital Region (NCR), contended the builder of the upcoming facility.

Touted to be Asia’s larg-est airport once all phases are completed, the NIA will be designed and operated by Switzerland-based Zurich In-ternational Airport Limited AG (ZAIA) under a 40-year con-cession. The first phase of the mammoth project is expected to be completed by 2024 with a capacity for 12 million passen-gers per year.

In a conversation with IANS, Daniel Bircher, CEO, Zurich Airport International (Asia), said: “We’re bringing much-needed aviation infra-

structure to one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas - a region with a very strong eco-nomic and industrial growth outlook.”“This is also crucial for the airlines that need space for strategic growth. Overall, we believe India is a strong market and the domestic de-mand will fuel the economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic,” Bircher added.

Recently, the Uttar Pradesh state government signed the concession agreement with the company to commence the development of the airport at Jewar. Bircher elaborated that airport construction will create several thousand additional jobs in the next few years.

“The project will fuel em-ployment generation in the state of Uttar Pradesh. We ex-pect the airport ecosystem will

create about 3,000 to 4,000 di-rect jobs once operational,” Bircher said.

On the likely traffic trends, he predicted that initially the airport will cater to the do-mestic demand. “Once the airport is operational, 90 per cent of the initial traffic will be domestic. We will look at col-laborating with foreign airlines to enhance international con-nectivity as well,” Bircher said.

“We will make sure to sup-

port them with cost-effective processes, low-turnaround costs and seamless transfer fa-cilities,” he added.

Furthermore, the upcoming airport aims to offer competi-tive, cost-efficient processes for all airlines, he said. “As a greenfield airport, the NIA will provide the necessary space for overnight parking and suffi-cient peak hour slots for an air-line that wants to strategically grow in the Delhi NCR region.”

India’s economic recovery ‘broadened, strengthened’ in Sep: ICRA

Facing revenue constraints, Centre looks at PSUs for higher dividends

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) India’s economic recov-ery has “broadened and strengthened” in September from the pandemic-induced lows seen in April 2020, rat-ings agency ICRA said on Tuesday.

ICRA said that as many as nine of the tracked 15 non-financial high frequency in-dicators recorded growth in September 2020, while five posted a narrower year-on-year (YoY) contraction in that month.

However, the agency cau-

tioned that the sustainabil-ity of the upturn is unlikely to be universal, and that while fatigue may drive fes-tive season sales, the mo-mentum may subsequently subside.

Aditi Nayar, Principal Economist, ICRA, said: “The recovery in GST e-way bills, electricity, petrol and diesel in September 2020 provides a meaningful signal of a broader economic revival. The improvement in some of the other indicators, such as auto output, reflects a

combination of pent-up demand, healthy rural senti-ment, and inventory build-up, ahead of the upcoming festive season.”

“This trend may persist in the coming one-to-two months, before settling at more sedate levels after the festive season is over. Sharp favourable base effects have contributed to the high per-formance of some outliers, such as the output of Coal India Ltd (CIL), which are likely to be unsustainable.”

Moreover, she cautioned about the sustainability of the trend especially regard-ing the improvement in non-oil merchandise ex-ports, in the light of a fresh wave of Covid-19 infections in many trading partners. “Overall, we await signals of the durability of the nascent upturn that emerged in Sep-tember 2020,” Nayar said.

Mumbai, Oct 20 (IANS) The hiring activity in India saw a 30 per cent decrease in the June quarter compared to the same period last year as the country saw a rise in contractual jobs, a new report said on Tuesday.

However, the Jube quarter witnessed a 13 per cent in-crease in the number of work-from-home jobs as compared to Q2 2019.

Furthermore, the demand for contract workforce in-creased by 11 per cent in Q2 from the same period last year, while the demand for full-time employees de-creased by 13.8 per cent, ac-cording to data from SCIKEY talent commerce platform, a talent marketplace.

IT and IT Services sectors

indicated recovery in contrac-tual jobs in the June quarter.

“Cloud businesses and digi-tal transformation is the need of the hour and one of the top most requirements for all in-dustries to adapt to the new normal,” said Karunjit Kumar Dhir, Co-Founder SCIKEY.

“This will definitely have a positive impact on the hir-ing sentiments among techies who will now look for jobs in India especially due to the strain in H-1B visas”.

The pandemic has given rise to a huge number of contract workers for a plug and play

model allowing companies to reduce their hiring costs.

In the packaging, IT, tele-com and ecommerce indus-try, some of the top job roles companies are looking for are developer, analyst, manage-ment profiles, tester, engineer, senior and consultants.

An earlier study from the company found that there was an uptick in hiring senior ex-ecutives in India compared to freshers and mid-level execu-tives in the pandemic period (April to July) as the enterpris-es looked to invest in talent at the very top levels.

Indian companies hired 72 per cent of top executives as compared to 28 per cent of freshers and mid-level execu-tives in the reported period.

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) With the Indian govern-ment recently announcing a prohibition on import of air conditioners (AC) in a bid to bolster domestic indus-try and reduce import de-pendence, experts say that the move may disrupt the industry but also lead to a complete revamp of its func-

tioning in the long term.The ban may also be a pre-

cursor to more announce-ments from the government, including the raising of import duties on compo-nents as well, said a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

“Thus, we would like to believe that over the next 5-7

years, India would perhaps be able to reduce its import dependency to almost nil,” it said. The report noted that India’s AC industry is highly competitive, with 35-40 brands. While the top 6 players enjoy 75-80 per cent market share, the tail end forms the remainder and largely operates on a trading business model.

“We believe such business models would be massively impacted as India shifts to-ward becoming more self-reliant in the AC industry. In the short run, this would im-ply greater business to OEMs as well as consolidation-led gains for leading brands (top 5-6 players),” it said.

New York, Oct 20 (IANS) Wall Street’s major aver-ages closed sharply lower as investors looked to updates on a US stimulus deal, while weighing the impact of a continued increase in coro-navirus cases.

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 410.89 points, or 1.44 per cent, to 28,195.42. The S&P 500 was down 56.89 points, or 1.63 per cent, to 3,426.92. The Nasdaq Com-posite Index decreased 192.67 points, or 1.65 per cent, to 11,478.88, Xinhua news agency reported.

All the 11 primary S&P 500

sectors pulled back, with en-ergy down 2.1 per cent, lead-ing the losses.

US-listed Chinese com-panies traded mostly lower, with seven of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P US Listed China 50 index ending the day on a down-beat note.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that the White House and con-gressional lawmakers must reach an agreement in 48 hours if they want to pass a new COVID-19 relief pack-age before the presidential election in November.

Democrats and Repub-

licans have tried for weeks to work toward a follow-up package to combat the eco-nomic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet the two sides remained far apart on certain issues.

Pelosi and Treasury Sec-retary Steven Mnuchin were slated to talk again Monday afternoon.

Market sentiment was also dented as coronavirus cases continued to surge.

The global COVID-19 caseload surpassed the milestone of 40 million on Monday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins Univer-sity.

Mumbai, Oct 20 (IANS) Tata Communications on Tuesday announced the ap-pointment of Kabir Ahmed Shakir as its Chief Financial Officer. The appointment comes with effect from Oc-tober 21, 2020. He will be responsible for the strategic financial management of the company, including investor relations, the company said

in a statement.Shakir until recently was

the CFO of Microsoft India.A.S Lakshminarayanan,

MD and CEO, Tata Com-munications, said: “As the company looks to imple-ment the new vision to be a global leader in enabling digital ecosystems, Kabir’s experience will be valuable in driving transformation pro-

grammes as well as profit-able and sustainable growth for the company.”

Kabir Ahmed Shakir, the newly appointed CFO said: “The company has shown remarkable business perfor-mance which is being recog-nised by the market and key stakeholders. I look forward to building on the company’s financial strategy.

Mumbai, Oct 20 (IANS) Tata Communications on Tuesday announced the appointment of Kabir Ahmed Shakir as its Chief Financial Officer. The appointment comes with ef-fect from October 21, 2020.

He will be responsible for the strategic financial manage-ment of the company, includ-ing investor relations, the company said in a statement.

Shakir until recently was the CFO of Microsoft India.

A.S Lakshminarayanan, MD and CEO, Tata Communica-tions, said: “As the company looks to implement the new vision to be a global leader in enabling digital ecosystems, Kabir’s experience will be

valuable in driving transfor-mation programmes as well as profitable and sustainable growth for the company.”

Kabir Ahmed Shakir, the newly appointed CFO said: “The company has shown remarkable business perfor-

mance which is being recog-nised by the market and key stakeholders. I look forward to building on the company’s financial strategy.

and delivering value to shareholders, as the com-pany continues on its path of achieving profitable growth

and being seen as a leading digital ecosystem enabler globally.”

In a regulatory filing, the company said that its board of on Tuesday accepted the res-ignation of Pratibha Advani as the CFO with effect from Oc-tober 20.

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) As the revenues earned by the Cen-tral government have dried up, it wants cash-rich public sector undertakings (PSUs) to declare higher dividends this year to re-ward its shareholders during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Official sources said PSUs with stock prices higher than the book value and having suf-ficient cash funds will be asked to shell out higher dividends in Financial Year, (FY)-2021.

With the Central government being the largest shareholder in PSUs, higher dividends would help it to fill its coffers at a time when revenue is constrained due to a fall in economic activity

during the Covid-19 pandem-ic and expenditure has risen sharply.

Dividends from non-financial PSUs have been budgeted at Rs 65,747 crore in FY-2021. Any in-crease in the dividend will boost

the non-tax revenue of the gov-ernment and help it bridge the rising fiscal deficit which as per initial estimate is now pegged close to eight per cent of GDP.

The Finance Ministry has al-ready asked central public sec-

tor enterprises (CPSEs) to com-plete 75 per cent of their capex for the current fiscal by Decem-ber 31 this year. Those CPSEs faltering would be asked to share a portion of their unused funds to pay higher special divi-dend to the Central government or undertake a share buyback.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her predeces-sors, including the late Arun Jait-ley and P. Chidambaram, have maintained the policy of advis-ing non-financial state-owned companies that if they are not utilising their cash reserves for capex needs, they should give it to the Centre through dividends or share buybacks.

Government’s AC import ban may prove disruptive for industry

Tata Communications appoints Kabir Ahmed Shakir as new CFO

Tesla reduces warranty period on used cars

Hiring activity dips 30% in Q2, rise in contractual jobs

Dow drops over 400 points amid stimulus talks, coronavirus concerns

Sports Indian HorizonThursday, October 21, 202011

ISL: Defender Mohamad Rakip signs for Mumbai City FC

Mumbai, Oct 20 (IANS) Mumbai City FC on Tuesday announced the signing of de-fender Mohamad Rakip ahead of the 2020-21 season of the Indian Super League (ISL). The young right-back joins the Is-landers on a deal that will keep him at the club until 2022.

Head coach Sergio Lobera said, “Rakip is one of the fin-est young footballers we have in India at the moment. He has shown incredible progress and all-round growth in the last couple of seasons.”

“While he has tremendous potential and a great future ahead of him, I am confident he can hit the ground running and make a difference to our

team immediately. We are hap-py to have him here with us at Mumbai City,” he added.

The 20-year old came through the youth system at AIFF Elite Academy, and se-cured a move to Kerala Blast-ers in 2017, where he started by playing for their B team in the I-League 2nd Division during the 2017-18 campaign.

Rakip eventually progressed to the senior team at Kerala Blasters, making 26 appear-ances for the club over the next two seasons. Rakip was also a part of the preliminary Indian squad ahead of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup under coach Luis Norton de Matos, making multiple appearances in pre-

paratory games. “I have a lot of admiration for coach Sergio Lobera and the way he helps younger players grow. Work-ing with the best players in In-dia and the best coach in the

league will certainly help me become a much better player. I want to give my best in every training and every time I get a chance to wear the Mumbai City shirt,” Rakip said.

Handerson: van Dijk’s injury big blow for Liverpool

DC win toss, choose to bat against KXIP

Liverpool, Oct 20 (IANS) Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has admitted that the loss of Virgil van Dijk is a big blow for the Reds.

The Reds’ No.4 requires surgery on the knee injury he sustained during last Saturday’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park and has stated in a post on social media that he is now focused fully on re-turning to fitness as soon as possible.

“Yeah, it’s a tough one. It’s a big blow for us. For him personally, obvious-ly. But for us as a team, a massive blow,” Hender-son told Liverpoolfc.com.

“I’m just gutted for him.

So, it’s been a tough cou-ple of days, I spoke to him yesterday. And yeah, it’s a difficult moment, but that’s when you need to be there for each other. I’ll be there as much as I pos-sibly can for him, I’m sure the lads will do the same and his family certainly will, to help him through the journey he’ll go on,” he added.

Meanwhile, manager Jurgen Klopp has said they will do everything pos-sible to support van Dijk throughout his rehabili-tation period. Klopp has been in touch with van Dijk and reported that the Dutchman is feeling ‘OK’.

“It’s always the same,

players love to be rather on their own in the mo-ment and to deal in the first moment with it. I am long enough in the busi-ness to know that. I was injured myself, I had ex-actly the same injury if I’m right and it’s not then that you are then pretty chatty,” Klopp said.

“It all will start but we are in contact, of course, we are in contact. We are there for him, he knows that and we will wait for him like a good wife is waiting when the hus-band is in jail and will do, meanwhile, all what we can do to make it as easy for him as possible,” he added.

Dubai, Oct 20 (IANS) Delhi Capitals (DC) on Tuesday won the toss and chose to bat against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the Dubai International Stadium. Both sides come to this on the back of wins.

While DC beat the struggling Chennai Su-per Kings by five wickets in their previous match, KXIP beat the dominant Mumbai In-dians after two Super Overs in an extraordi-nary match on Sunday.

Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Rishabh Pant(wicket-keeper), Shimron Hetmyer, Dan-iel Sams, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravi-chandran Ashwin, Tushar Deshpande, Kagiso Rabada. Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul(captain/wicket-keeper), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hoo-da, James Neesham, Murugan Ashwin, Mo-hammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh

What spark did you see in Jadhav, Chawla: Srikkanth asks Dhoni

Determined to improve & find spot in team for Olympics, says Dilpreet

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Former Indian cricketer Kris Srikkanth slammed ace skip-per MS Dhoni’s mantra on selection fol-lowing Chennai Super Kings’ seventh de-feat in 10 matches in the ongoing IPL and termed the latter’s selections throughout the season as “ridiculous”.

“What is Dhoni’s deal? He says N. Jaga-deesan doesn’t have spark, but does ‘scooter’ (Kedar) Jadhav have that spark?

This is ridiculous. I will not accept this answer today. All this talk of process and Chennai’s tournament itself is over,” Srik-kanth told Star Sports Tamil.

“I will never accept what Dhoni is say-ing about this process,” said Srikkanth. “This process he keeps talking about is meaningless. You keep talking about pro-cess, process... but the process of selec-tion itself is wrong.”

Srikkanth’s outburst came after CSK suf-fered a seven-wicket loss against Rajasthan Royals on Monday evening. After the game, Dhoni told official broadcaster Star Sports that the youngsters in the team had not showed him the kind of “spark” that would have warranted their inclusion in the side.

Jagadeesan’s case was singled out as he featured in just one game in the CSK XI against RCB when he scored 33.

“Dhoni now says that since the pressure is off, he’ll give the youngsters a chance. Come on yaar. I don’t understand this rub-bish about the process at all. What spark didn’t he see in Jagadeesan? What spark did he see in Jadhav and Piyush Chawla?

“Karn Sharma at least took wickets. Chawla simply goes through the motions of bowling, coming on when the game is already lost. Dhoni may be a pistha (big shot) and there is no doubt he is great, but I cannot agree with him or accept this,” said the former Indian opener.

The three-time champions have six points from 10 games and are currently placed at the bottom of the points table.

Bengaluru, Oct 20 (IANS) Forward Dilpreet Singh has stated that the current phase - wherein the Indian hockey team is preparing for the To-kyo Olympics -- is very crucial for the youngsters.

“With the Olympics being postponed to 2021, a huge opportunity has emerged for the youngsters to hone their skills fur-ther and make it to the Indian Olympic team. Months leading up to the Olympics is a very crucial phase for the youngsters as opportunities like this don’t come ev-eryday,” said Dilpreet.

“Playing in the Olympics is a dream for any sportsperson and all of us have a great chance of turning our dream into reality in a few months’ time,” he added.

The 20-year-old, who has been part of a few memorable moments for the

national team which includes the sil-ver medal-winning campaign at the Champions Trophy Breda 2018 and the bronze medal-winning campaign at the Asian Games 2018 in his short career so far, said his only goal at the moment is to get selected for the Olympics and perform for the Indian team on the big-gest stage. “I am very determined to uti-

lise the next few months to the fullest to get better at my game so that I can find a place in the Indian Olympic team. It was great to be back in the senior team for the FIH Hockey Pro League earlier this year,” said the forward.

“I have jotted down all the aspects that I need to improve on and I am working on them one by one. We have a great forwardline and it will be fantastic to play alongside brilliant players and perform for the national side in the qua-drennial event,” added.

Dilpreet also said he has been even more enthusiastic about playing hockey after returning to the pitch for sports ac-tivities in August. Dilpreet also said he has been even more enthusiastic about playing hockey after returning to the pitch for sports activities in August.

Abu Dhabi, Oct 20 (IANS) Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler, who won Man of the Match award in Monday’s match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for his un-beaten 48-ball 70, managed to lay hands on MS Dhoni’s jersey in which the CSK skipper played his 200th Indian Premier League (IPL) game.

Monday’s game was Dhoni’s 200th IPL game, making him the only one to achieve the feat.

Buttler’s home board, England Cricket Board (ECB) tweeted the player’s picture with the jersey on its official handle, stat-ing, “A prized possession for @josbuttler as he picked up @msdhoni’s shirt from his 200th IPL appearance!”

The IPL handle too tweeted the pic, stating, “Buttler all smiles with a prized possession.”

The CSK skipper made 28 off 28 balls in his 200th game.

Buttler gets Dhoni’s 200th IPL game jersey

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Inside a gymnasium in Aizawl, a stocky but well-chiselled figure is often seen donning a pair of 10oz gloves.

Indian football team striker Jeje Lalpekhlua takes his stance in front of a punching bag and expertly uses his feet to move around while plant-ing his knuckles on the back in a se-ries of right jabs and left hooks.

The 29-year-old, who has joined SC East Bengal for the current sea-son and has 21 international goals from 56 caps for India, however, is no stranger to the ring.

“One day, my father brought home a pair of boxing gloves, and I started practicing with them. Soon I took up proper coaching and started competing in local tournaments too,” Jeje told the-aiff.com.

“I used to play a number of sports back when I was young, and boxing was one of them, along with football and tennis,” said the 29-year-old.

The seasoned striker had even gone on to win a junior level local boxing tournament, the Hnahthial Open, when he was around 10 years old.

“It’s always nice to win something. I really enjoyed boxing - I still do. This is a sport that really puts you through a lot of hard training, and you can always reap the benefits of that, even as a footballer,” Jeje said.

While he had started off with multiple sports, Jeje soon had to make a choice and picked football as the discipline in which he would pursue a career. “I think I was good in boxing but after discussing with

my family, I chose football,” he stated. The rigorous routine that boxers have to pursue is some-thing that helps those in the sport achieve supreme levels of fitness, leading up to important matches or tournaments. However, even af-ter he chose to pursue football on a full-time basis, Jeje has found a way to inculcate something from his past into his training.

“I generally do not get the oppor-tunity to do any boxing training rou-tines during a busy season,” said the two-time ISL and one-time I-League winner.

“But when I come home for the off-season, I do make it a point to go to the boxing academy here in Aizawl to get back that old touch,” he added.

Eye of Blue Tiger: Jeje turns to boxing for strength training

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RASHAMI DESAI TURNS 'BANGALI GIRL' TO CELEBRATE PUJA FERVOUR

Television actress Rashami Desai on Tues-day fl aunted what she calls her Bangali girl look on social media.

In photos she shared on her verifi ed Insta-gram account, Rashami is dressed as a Bengali bride, in a red saree draped in the traditional Bengali way. She com-pletes the look with sin-door (vermillion) on her forehead and above the eyebrows, red bangles, dangler earrings and a Bengali-style pearl nath (nosering). In one of the photos, Rashami can be seen posing with a dhunuchi (incense burner) in her hand, which is used during Durga Puja while per-

forming aarti. Rashami used the hashtags #rashamidesai #team-rashamidesai #love #live #loveyourself #ex-press #creative #navratri #lookbook #bangaligirl. Through her photo-graph, Rashami shared

the message: "Spread love have love". Earlier this week, Rashami had shared photographs dressed as a Rajasthani bride, in an embroidered orange lehenga choli teamed with traditional Rajasthani jewellery.

DDLJ turns : Designer Anaita Shroff Adajania recalls acting in the film

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

ENTERTAINMENTIndian HorizonIndian Horizon

Aamir Khan on DDLJ: years of a film that continues to charm the world

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan on Tuesday evening celebrated the Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol blockbuster, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which released 25 years ago on this day. Aamir took to his verifi ed Facebook page to share a note lauding the fi lm, saying it "continues to charm the world". "A hero who discov-ers his conscience, a heroine who fi nds her voice, a villian who has a change of heart, DDLJ appealed to the kinder, nicer, higher self within all of us. 25 years of a fi lm that con-tinues to charm the world. Thank you Adi, Kajol, Shahrukh, and the entire team of DDLJ," Aamir wrote on Facebook. On Monday, Aamir Khan in a Facebook post had lauded the trailer of Anurag Basu's forth-coming directorial "Ludo" starring Abhishek Bachchan, Rajkummar Rao, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sanya Mal-hotra, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Pankaj Tripathi and others. "What a trailer

Actress Rasika Dugal is super ex-cited, what with two of her most hyped projects scheduled to re-lease digitally on the same day. Rasika will be seen in the antici-pated shows "Mirzapur 2" and "A Suitable Boy". Both the series will drop on October 23. "I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to be part of two shows releasing on the same day -- of different genres and on different platforms, and for me as an actor, two completely dif-ferent characters," Rasika said. "I loved re-visiting Beena Tripathi in ‘Mirzapur' season two and loved discovering Savita Mehra in ‘A Suitable Boy', both in a matter of a few months. ‘Mirzapur' already has a loyal following and I am sure ‘A Suitable Boy' will charm many, too. I look forward to the audi-ence response to both the shows, and to Beena and Savita, too. Here's to the abundance, variety, and quality of work on streaming platforms," she added. "Mirzapur" season one ended with the death of two important characters -- Bablu Pandit (Vikrant Massey) and

!!! Basu, hats off! Congratula-tions to the entire team! Can't wait to watch it. Kab tak wait karna padega? Basu, why don't you hold a virtual in-dustry screening for some of your colleagues?" Aamir had posted. Recently, the actor had also taken to social me-dia to appreciate the trailer

of the Akshay Kumar-starrer "Laxmmi Bomb". "Dear Ak-shay Kumar, what a superb trailer, my friend. Can't wait to see it. This will be huge! Wish it was releasing in the theatres. And your perfor-mance is outstanding! Best wishes to everyone," Aamir had posted on Facebook.

MIRZAPUR AND A SUITABLE BOY: RASIKA

DUGAL HAS MEGA RELEASES LINED UP ON

SAME DAY

Fashion designer Anaita Shroff Adajania on Tuesday recalled acting in the Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol blockbuster, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which released 25 years ago on this day.

On her verifi ed Instagram post, Anaita revealed how she came on board the Aditya Cho-pra directorial at a time when she was a broke college student. Anaita played a character called Sheena, who was a friend of Simran, the female protagonist played by Kajol.

Anaita also opined that 25 years ago fi lmmaking was a sim-pler and passionate activity with "no entourages, no managers and mobiles and no social me-dia". Sharing stills featuring her in the fi lm, Anaita wrote: "I was in college when Adi and Karan

asked me to help them cast my college friends to play Raj and Simrin's friends in the fi lm. This was my introduction to the fi lm industry- a world I knew noth-ing about at the time."

"In the process they con-vinced me into playing Sheena. I did it for a laugh and a paid

holiday to Europe with my bes-tie, which was a really big deal for a broke student."

"I remember reaching Saa-nen, a small town in Switzer-land , fresh off the bus ( ok plane) and seeing Shahrukh in his black suit on a little bridge ...and for me I felt that he was

there only for me! I'm sure who-ever saw him on that bridge felt the same way - that's why he's Shahrukh. Kajol was just Kajol - real, instinctive, full of love (and still gives the tight-est hugs ever). You have to re-member that these were times when they were no entourages, no managers and mobiles, no social media...fi lm making was much simpler, but extremely passionate. Once we were there, we were cut off from the rest of the world for over a month. We would all live together, eat together, sing together, dance together... we become a real family, under the warm gaze of a legend like Yash uncle (Yash Chopra)." "Adi knew DDLJ from his core, and strove for noth-ing less than perfection. We all hung out and helped.

Setting the note right with her debut itself in Dangal, Sanya Mal-hotra has been mak-

ing strides in the industry with strong portrayals of women with biopics. With her recent, Shakuntala Devi as well, Sanya pushed the envelope for women em-powerment as she brought yet another strong portrayal to the screen as she essayed the role of human com-puter's daughter- Anupama Banerji.

In 2016, Sanya Malhotra left us awestruck by making her debut as Babita Kumari Phogat in Dangal, a fi lm ex-ploring the bond between a father and a daughter. The actress received wide ap-preciation for her recent act and the audience as ever, are looking forward to her

next. Apart from Shakuntala Devi, Sanya also will be seen in Anurag Basu's Ludo and Pagglait. Four years later, the actress surprised us all with another biopic- Shakuntala Devi. Both the stories were based on the principle of empowering women, as she continues to set an example with her portrayals. Being a fi lmmaker's favourite when it comes to pathbreaking projects, Sanya makes sure to essay characters that essay with the spectrum of mod-ern women who are fear-less, empowered and strong individuals. The actress re-ceived wide appreciation for her recent act and the audi-ence as ever, are looking for-ward to her next. Apart from Shakuntala Devi, Sanya also will be seen in Anurag Basu's Ludo and Pagglait.

KARTIK AARYAN WANTS TO PATENT HIS

NEW HAIRSTYLE

Not only for his looks and acting, actor Kartik Aary-

an is also quite famous for his voluminous hair. And it seems he

has made the best use of lockdown by growing his hair and beard.

Taking to Instagram, Kartik posted a picture of his messy hair and wrote: Zara pata karo ye look pat-ent hoga (Is it possible to patent this look?kya#HairLikeKartikAaryan2.0." Kar-tik's post has garnered a lot of attention from his fans. "King of hair," a user com-mented. Responding to the user, Kartik quipped: "King of hair, captions, and monologues." "Nobody has better hair than you," another one wrote. On the fi lm front, Kartik will next be seen in "Dostana 2" and "Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2".

Priyanka, Nick welcome new member

to their family

Actress Priyanka Chopra and her singer husband Nick Jonas have adopted a new dog, and are al-

ready in love with him. The couple introduced their new family member through Instagram. The 38-year-old ac-tress and the musician, 27, both shared that they adopted a dog, who they have named Panda, reports people.com.The "Quantico" star introduced the puppy by sharing a set of photo-graphs of the couple with Panda."Our new family portrait! Welcome to the family, Panda," Priyanka captioned her post, adding, "We adopted this little rescue (soon he won't be so little) just a few weeks ago. We can't be sure but he seems to be a Husky Australian Shepard mix.... and those eyes... and the ears!!!." Nick similarly shared the same set of images and captioned his post, "Welcome to the family Panda! Panda is a Husky Australian Shepard mix rescue and we're already in love." Panda, adopted from nonprofi t dog rescue Hollywood Huskies, joins their pups Gino and Diana.Chopra revealed in the caption of her post that Diana wasn't around for the family's picture but they included her through photo-shop, sharing: "BTW (Diana) wasn't around for our little photoshoot, but we couldn't leave our #1 girl out...so...we made it work!" Panda also has his very own offi cial Instagram account.

Actress Vaani Kapoor says she is working at busting fear. "I am working very hard on myself to not live in fear, and that (fear) is one thing that everybody needs

to disown," Vaani told IANS. She calls fear a roadblock. "Fear is our biggest enemy and it's the biggest roadblock for all of us. So, I think that's one thing we should all just disown," she added. On the work front, Vaani has a great lineup coming up. She will be seen opposite Ranbir Kapoor in "Shamshera" and Akshay Kumar in "Bell Bottom".She also recently signed Abhishek Kapoor's untitled next fi lm opposite Ayushmann Khurrana.

Vaani Kapoor: Fear is the biggest roadblock

Bollywood actor John Abraham will start shooting for his upcoming fi lm, Satyameva Jayate 2, in Lucknow from Wednesday, along with cast and crew.The Milap Zaveri di-rectorial also stars Manoj Bajpayee and Divya Khosla Kumar, and is a sequel of the 2018 action drama, "Satyameva Jayate". "On the fi rst day, we

will shoot only with the lead pair, but sub-sequently other actors like Harsh Chhaya, Gautami Kapoor, Shaad Randhawa, Anup Soni, and Sahil Vaid will join in. We will be shooting across Lucknow, including heritage structures like palaces and col-leges. Some of the live locations will be completely sealed off, so crowd gazers can-

not sneak in. Only our cast and crew will be present on the spot," Zaveri said. Producer Bhushan Kumar ac-knowledges the chal-lenge but is confi dent stringent SoPs will create a safe shooting environment. "It will be scary for the crew at live locations, but it is important to give our audience some enter-tainment during this pandemic," he said.

John Abraham

starts Satyameva

Jayate

Sanya Malhotra embodies women empowerment with her strong characters in biopics- Dangal & Shakuntala Devi