AGENCIESNew Delhi

Prime Minister NarendraModi seemingly took asharp and veiled swipe atChina while referring to"land grab" efforts by Pak-istan during the Kargil Warand its final fate. Using Sanskrit phrases,

Modi in his signature style,sent out a word of cautionto the dragon while talkingabout "backstabbing" byPakistan.Addressing his monthlyradio program ‘Mann KiBaat' on the occasion of21st anniversary of KargilWar victory, the PrimeMinister was in his words.He cited a Sanskrit phrase"Bairu akaran sab kahusau, Jo kar heet anheettahu sau" which roughlytranslates into "dusht"(wicked) who thinks evilof even those who mean"good".This powerful assertioncomes soon after Modiused the term "Bharat kibhoomi hathyane" (landgrab) by Pakistan duringthe Kargil War, whichModi said was an effort to"divert attention from itsinternal quarrels". While the PM was hittingout at Pakistan which wasmet with India's resoluteforce, the subtle message

to China was unmissable.Just last June, during hislast Mann Ki Baat, Modiwas unsparingly lethal onChina when he said, "Theworld has seen India'scommitment to protectingits borders and sovereign-ty. In Ladakh, a befittingreply has been given tothose coveting our territo-ry". That time around too,he used Sanskrit phraseslike "Vidya vivaaddhanam madaya, Shaktipareshan paripeedanaya.Khalasya sadho viparee-

tam etat, gyaanaya,daanaya cha rakshanam"to dub China as "crooked".Even then, Modi did notmention China but made itapparent his dig was di-rected at the dragon.The reference to "landgrab" in Kargil by Pakistan,and how they faced a hu-miliating defeat was be-lieved to be a message forChina as well, which re-cently indulged in bordertrespassing at Line of Actu-al Control in easternLadakh which was strongly

thwarted by the IndianArmy. Both sides faced ca-sualties in the violent faceoff at the Galwan Valley.In a significant statement,Modi said that what any In-dian says has a profound ef-fect on the morale of a sol-dier fighting in the hillyterrain. He also urged Indi-ans to be mindful of thatselfless soldier while in-dulging in "forwarded mes-sages" which often canweaken the strong will ofIndia's bravehearts.

CONTD. ON P8

FP NEWS SERVICENEW DELHI

It is time for Unlock 3.0 – forunravelling of the curbsimposed on cinema halls,theatres and gyms – possi-bly from August 1.The announcement of thefresh guidelines, which thegovernment is working on,will also mark the formalending of restrictions un-der 'Unlock 2.0' with onlyschools and metro/subur-ban train services remain-ing under the wraps.Cine and theatre buffshave been thus far subsist-ing on a staple diet of Net-flix, Amazon, Hotstar andother online entertainmentbuffets, but which hardlyreplicate the experience ofa multiplex – with its bril-liant acoustics and atmos-pherics.The movie industry toohas been languishing and isonly now beginning tocome out of the cans by fitsand starts.Officials in Ministry of in-formation and broadcastingtold News 18 that opening upof cinema halls has been pro-posed but the final decisionwill be that of the MHA. TheInformation and Broadcast-ing Ministry has just con-cluded its talks with cinemaowners on the partial open-ing up of theatres with 25%seating capacity. Theatre owners will, ofcourse, prefer 50% seating,to begin with, which willhelp them cover some oftheir overheads, it is point-

ed out. Also with the cali-brated opening of the filmindustry will come chal-lenges, especially since amovie experience meansstaying cooped up in a cen-trally air-conditioned hallfor at least three hours.The pandemic guidelineswill also entail mandatorysocial distancing betweenseats, having longer inter-vals between shows to sani-tise the auditoriums anddiscouraging takeaways at

refreshment counters.Gyms will require a sani-tised environment, whereboth the equipment and theuser will have to be subject tointense rigours of a pandem-ic era. So, fixed timings, capon number of users allowedon the premises at a giventime and presence of ahealth warden will be thenew normal. In view of thevariables involved, the deci-sion on reopening of thegyms will be left to the wis-dom of the state govern-ments. One of the inhibitingfactors thus far has been thedivided medical opinion onwearing a mask while exer-cising. CONTD. ON P8

News BriefAdvani, Bhagwatto attend temple'bhoomi pujan'

NEW DELHI: Veteran BJPleaders LK Advani, MMJoshi and RSS chief MohanBhagwat are among thosebeing invited to the'bhoomi pujan' ceremonyof Ram temple in Ayodhyaon August 5 which will beshown live by DD, trusteesof the temple said onSunday. Besides them,there is also a view toinvite spiritual leaders fromall faiths, Anil Mishra, amember of the Shri RamJanmabhoomi TeerthaKshetra Trust, told PTI.Court summons

to Alibaba and itsfounder Jack Ma

GURUGRAM: A Gurgaoncourt has summonedChinese company Alibabaand its founder Jack Ma in acase filed by a formeremployee who alleges hewas wrongfully fired afterobjecting to what he sawas censorship and fakenews on company apps,documents seen byReuters showed. The casecomes weeks after Indiacited security concerns inbanning Alibaba's UCNews, UC Browser and 57other Chinese apps after aclash on the border.

Another doctordies of Covid

NEEMUCH: One moredoctor from MP succumbed

to Covid-19while gettingtreatment inNew Delhi.Dr JogendraChoudharyfrom Jhantalavillage of

Jawad tehsil in Neemuchdistrict was infected withvirus in June and wasreceiving treatment. Beforethis, he served at Baba SahebAmbedkar Hospital in NewDelhi after completing hisstudies from China. Doctorstreating him said that theygot Dr Choudhary's reportpositive on June 27. He wasfirst admitted at the samehospital. Later, he wasshifted to LNJP Hospital andSir Gangaram Hospital. AtLNJP Hospital, doctors eventreated with plasma therapybut no vain. On July 25 night,he was declared dead.

WEATHER30.40C.23.60C.Sunrise: 05 : 56Sunset : 07 : 11Thought for the day

Longing for worldlythings makes you inert,

longing for infinityfills you w ith life.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji

t INDORE t BHOPAL t UJJAIN t MUMBAI t PUNEN

ATIO

N MVA GOVERNMENT'S STEERINGWHEEL IN MY HANDS: UDDHAV EDIT

GLAMAMERICA SIGNALS THE START OF THE SECOND COLD WAR

r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2018-2020

GETTING BACKTO NORMAL...FREE-PRESSVOL. XXXVII NO. 49 | INDORE | MONDAY | JULY 27, 2020 | PAGES 12 | ` 3 www.freepressjournal.in

r RNI No. 38281/83

PM sends China a message,cites Pakistan fate at Kargil‘World has seen India's commitment to protecting its borders’

OUR STAFF REPORTERBHOPAL

The condition of chief minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan who has tested positive forCOVID-19 and is admitted in a hospital, isstable.According to a medical bulletin from thehospital, Chouhan performed yoga andphysical exercises in the morning on Sun-day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, na-tional BJP president JP Nadda, union min-isters Dr Harshwardhan, Narendra SinghTomar among other leaders inquired aboutChouhan's health on phone.Chouhan sent a message to people fromthe hospital. He appealed to people not tohide the disease. In case of corona symp-toms, they should get their swab samplestested and undergo treatment.He also

thanked the corona warriors for workingselflessly and appealed to people to main-tain six feet distance from one another andwear masks. Chouhan told Free Press overphone that he is fine and would be withpeople soon. "There is nothing to be scaredof corona pandemic, one should take pre-cautions," he said. CONTD. ON P8

AGENCIESMumbai

Singer-writer SwanandKirkire says in the currentclimate in the countrywhere people are quick totake offence over anything,there is an opportunity forartistes to evolve as he be-lieves they must look fornewer ways to expressthemselves. The two-time NationalAward-winning lyricistsaid it is tough to master thetrick of being vocal aboutone's opinion without hurt-ing anyone's sentiments."We are navigatingthrough such times where

everything is too sensitive.People are getting offendedby everything and an issueis made of everything, es-pecially cinema. There'ssome sort of anger, resent-ment which comes out onfilms. "You've to be extremelycareful. In a way, it's goodfor us. We have to be con-scious of what we are say-ing and yet figure out a wayto say it. When you'repushed against the wall,you think more," Kirkiretold PTI in an interview.The singer most recentlyfeatured in the short film"Pandit Usman", writtenand directed by Akram

Hassan. The film, which re-leased on YouTube, chroni-cles the story of Usman,played by Kirkire, who un-dergoes a heart transplantwhich changes his life.With the heart of a Hinduman now beating insidehim, Usman starts enjoyingthe best of both the reli-gions, much to theannoyance of people

around him. The multi -hyphenateartiste said he agreed toplay the affable protagonistas the film offered a "simpleand sweet story" about reli-gious biases. "We are tryingto say that people shouldopen their hearts andspread love. I did this filmbecause the tone of the sto-ry is so right, it doesn't

pinch you anywhere. All weneed is love (but) all we dois hate." Though the 48-year-old actor was sold onthe idea, he was worriedabout whether the filmwould do well. "A lot ofother people also had thatworry. When we finishedthe film we took it to manyOTT platforms. They allloved it but weren't sure ofreleasing it."We could understandthat. But Akram had madethe film with so much con-viction, it had to resonatewith people." For Kirkire,the film is relevant in to-day's times as it aims tospread the message of com-

munal harmony.Recalling his growing upyears in Indore, MadhyaPradesh, Kirkire said reli-gion was never at the fore-front, but the current politicsof the country has made it atalking point. "The politics ofthe country has brought allthese things to forefront.This is what has changed...When we talk about religioneverywhere, it starts cominginto picture. Religion is al-ways there in the back of ourminds."It didn't matter much ear-lier because people wouldsay, 'Hindu, Muslim, Sikh,Isaai, aapas mein sab bhai-bhai.' We would sing this

AGENCIESNew Delhi

The Centre, in collabora-tion with the World Bank,has decided to convert largearea of ravines in Gwalior-Chambal belt of MadhyaPradesh into arable land,and a preliminary reportfor the same willbe prepared in amonth, Agricul-ture MinisterNarendra SinghTomar said onSunday.After prepara-tion of the initialreport, subse-quent meetingswill be held withthe chief minis-ter of Madhya Pradesh forfurther course of action, hesaid. A decision in this re-gard was taken in a virtualmeeting with World Bankrepresentative Adarsh Ku-mar, who said the bank iskeen to work in MadhyaPradesh, an official state-ment said."More than 3 lakhhectares of rugged land isnot cultivable and if thisarea is improved, then thiswill help in the integrated

development of the Bihadarea in Gwalior–Chambalregion," the statement quot-ed Tomar as saying in thevirtual meeting.He further said the proj-ect will not only help in im-proving agricultural devel-opment and environmentbut will also create employ-

ment opportuni-ties and lead tosubstantive devel-opment of the re-gion.Tomar saidthere is a lot ofscope for develop-ment of the Bee-had area inGwalior–Cham-bal region. TheChambal Ex-

pressway will be built andwill pass through this area,by which the overall devel-opment of the region wouldbe possible."It was decided that thesubstantive project wouldbe prepared in collabora-tion and support from theWorld Bank to accomplishthis work...it has been de-cided to prepare a prelimi-nary project report within a month," the state-ment said.

'Chambal ravines to beconverted into arableland with WB support'

You have to figure out ways to not offend anyone: Swanand

Chouhan: Don't hide corona

Betul ADJ, sondie under

mysteriouscircumstances

OUR STAFF REPORTERBHOPAL

Bhind Additional Districtand Sessions Judge Mahen-dra Tripathi Kumar Tri-pathi and his son died un-der mysterious circum-stances in Nagpur on Sun-day. The ADJ and his sonwere being treated for sus-pected food poisoning. SP Betul Shimala Prasadinformed 56-year-old ADJ,his two sons were admittedto hospital following sus-pected food poisoning. Theyounger son responded tothe treatment and recov-ered, but as the condition ofADJ and his son AbhiyanRaj deteriorated they wereshifted to another hospital

in Padhar. Seeing no im-provement they were re-ferred to Nagpur. While be-ing taken to hospital Ab-hiyan Raj (33) died on Sat-urday night, while thejudge died in hospital onSunday morning. SP informed that thejudge and his son had dinedwith other family memberson July 20. The judge's wifehad cooked the meal. Whileothers ate chapatis, thejudge's wife had only rice.Flour samples will be sentfor tests. The viscera will beexamined. The post mortemwill be held in Nagpur andthe bodies will be sent totheir hometown Katni, saidthe officer. CONTD. ON P8

IT’LL BE SHOW TIMEUNDER UNLOCK 3.0

CM's condition is better, PM asks about his health

THEY WERE treated for suspected

food poisoning

Guidelines will entailmandatory social

distancing between seats,longer intervals betweenshows to sanitise theauditoriums anddiscouraging takeaways atrefreshment counters

"You've to be extremely careful. Ina way, it's good for us. We have

to be conscious of what we aresaying and yet figure out a way tosay it. When you're pushed againstthe wall, you think more "

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh paying tribute to Kargil martyrs on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas inNew Delhi on Sunday . CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, General MM Naravane and Air chief Marshal RKSBhadauria are also seen.

Indian spy satellite passes overTibet; China mobilises troops

NEW DELHI: India's premierintelligence-gathering satellite EMISAT,operated by the DRDO, has taken a goodlook at the positions of the PLA inoccupied Tibet. The satellite which carriesKautilya, an ELINT package whose"capabilities are among the most highly-classified and closely-guarded aspects of operation for military purposes on Saturdaycarried out a pass over PLA positions in occupied Tibet nearArunachal Pradesh," an official source said. Built by theISRO,EMISAT's ELINT missions monitor radio signals which areused to determine the nature and location of all the sources oftransmissions in an enemy area.The satellite pass came a day aftertalks between India and China over the stand-off over Chinesestructures on Finger 4 area along the LAC in Pangong Tso in Ladakh,made no headway, even as both sides have agreed to continue theirmeetings aimed at disengagement and de-escalation. Sources saidthe Chinese troops have also been mobilised in Depsang sector, assoldiers could be spotted digging the area on their side of the LAC.The PLA had also intruded into Depsang in 2013.

TRIBUTES PAID TO FALLEN HEROESNo deaths incity on

Sunday, 127more test +ve

OUR STAFF REPORTERIndore

No deaths were reportedon Sunday. It happened af-ter a long time… however,deaths which occurred inApril were added to Juneand July's death audits. Meanwhile, 127 fresh pos-itive cases came to the foreon Sunday out of 1,445 sam-ple reports received. Rate ofpositive patients wasrecorded at 8.79 percent andtotal number of patientsreached 6,985.According to the bulletinreleased by CMHO, reportsof total samples receivedtill Sunday night was1,31,470 and total number ofsamples tested positive are6, 985. As many as 1,301samples were tested nega-tive on Sunday."We have taken as manyas 1,179 more samples," headded. As many as 1,982patients are undergoingtreatment at various city-based hospitals. Total 4,699patients have been dis-charged so far.

FPJ NEWS SERVICEJAIPUR

Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot has submit-ted a fresh proposal to Gov-ernor Kalraj Mishra andasked him to convene an As-sembly session from July 31.But this time, the agenda, hesaid, is coronavirus and pas-sage of pending Bills; therewas no mention of the muchhyped floor test. The gov-

ernment had sent a revisedcabinet note late Saturdaynight to the Governor withanswers to six of hisqueries. The Governor’s re-sponse is now awaited.However, the volte-face of

the evening came when theBSP issued a whip to six ofits MLAs in Rajasthan As-sembly, directing them tovote against the Congress ifany "no confidence motion"is tabled during the session.On Monday, the SupremeCourt is expected to exam-ine the issue of the power ofAssembly speaker andwhether courts can makean intervention. The HighCourt has said the Speakercannot take any actionagainst Sachin Pilot andhis rebel MLAs until the

larger constitutional ques-tion regarding his powersis decided by the SupremeCourt.The Congress, it is learnt,is now divided on a petitionthat was expected to beheard alongside -- a chal-lenge to the Rajasthan HighCourt's freeze order on thedisqualification proceed-ings against Sachin Pilot. Asection of the party prefersto pursue the matter politi-cally and the decision hasbeen left to the party's highcommand. CONTD. ON P8

NO MENTION OF NO-TRUST VOTE IN FRESH REQUEST TO RAJ GUV

Gehlot now wants a session devoted to corona pandemic

Positive cases27,999Death toll 811

STATE TALLY

PM to launchthroughput Covidtesting facilities

PM Modi will launch highthroughput COVID-19 testingfacilities on Monday via videoconferencing, in presence ofUnion Health Minister and 3CMs. The three testingcentres will be at Noida,Mumbai and Kolkata and willbe able to test over 10,000samples a day.

Vote against Cong, BSPissues whip to its MLAs

2 INDORE CITYFREEPRESSmonday | July 27, 2020 | Indore

It's mischief andwe will take action, says Superintendent

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

Staff working at MY Hospi-tal, especially during thenight shift, has beenspooked by what they claimare screams of a womancoming from the basement,which is usually desertedafter evening.An audio and video of thesame is doing rounds onthe social groups of MYHospital doctors and staff.The video shows some se-curity guards talking aboutthe screaming sound andchecking different areas ofthe hospital includinglabour room and burn uniteven as the screamingsound can be heard in thebackground."A loud screaming soundof a woman can be heardfrom the basement of thehospital at around mid-night. The same was heardfor three nights consecu-

tively but was stopped fromSaturday night," a staffersaid, wishing anonymity.He also said that some ofthe guards and supervisorsalso checked the basement

during the night but didn'tfind anything there."Earlier, we thought thatit must be screams of awoman coming from thelabour room or the burn

unit, but we didn't find any-one. After the audio andvideo of the same went vi-ral among the groups in thehospital, it created panicamong them," another staffmember said.Meanwhile, a nursingstaff of the hospital dis-missed it as a rumour, andsaid that he has stayed inthe hospital at night sever-al times, but never did hehear any screams. "It isnothing but mischief doneby someone to scare peo-ple," he said.

"These are rumours about the screaming sound coming fromthe basement and it is mischief done by someone tofrightened people. It looks like the sound is on some speakerand when a guard was deployed in the basement, no soundcould be heard. We are investigating the matter and will takestrict action against the perpetrator. Action will also be takenagainst those spreading rumours."

n Dr PS ThakurSuPerInTendenT, MY HoSPITal

Organ donation,transplant hit

hard amidcorona outbreak

INdOre

Life-saving organ trans-plant procedures havecome to a standstill inIndore district in Mad-hya Pradesh with not asingle donation takingplace since March 24when the first set ofCovid-19 cases were de-tected here, a seniorhealth official said onSunday. No organ donation has taken place in thedistrict since March 24,though a liver trans-plant from a livingdonor took place in a privatehospital here on July 17,said Government Ma-hatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College DeanJyoti Bindal. According to officials,organs like heart, liver,kidney from 39 braindead people have given anew lease of life to over220 persons in the past four years beforeMarch 24. These people belong toMadhya Pradesh, Delhi,Haryana and Maharash-tra etc, they added. In-dore currently has 6,858COVID-19 cases, includ-ing 304 deaths and 4,660having been dischargedafter recovery. (PTI)

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

IIM Indore is partneringwith NSRCEL of IIM Ban-galore to offer incubation towomen entrepreneurs.This is the third cohort ofthe Women Startup Pro-gramme and those interest-ed can apply online."The programme aims tosupport ambitious and in-novative women entrepre-neurs by enabling them totransform their ideas into abusiness venture through aprogramme that and en-hances their entrepreneur-ial and managerial skills,"said IIM Indore media coor-dinator Ananya Mishra.The programme focuseson the vision of Govern-ment of India on "At-manirbhar Bharat" and"Vocal for Local"."Due to the current Covid-19 situation, the pro-gramme is organized in avirtual mode which woulduse multi-lingual content toreach urban and ruralwomen entrepreneurs. It isexpected that this willmake learning accessible towomen entrepreneurs fromtier-2 and tier-3 citiesacross the country,"Ananya saidEarly-stage startups (notmore than 12 months old)will be shortlisted for thefirst phase of the pro-

gramme, which is a five-week training throughMassive Open OnlineCourse (MOOC) to be of-fered on the Swayam plat-form.The second and thirdphase of the programmewill have the selected entre-preneurs undergo a two-month virtual launchpadprogramme followed by asix-month incubation pro-gramme designed by NSR-CEL and its partner insti-tutes.The selected women en-trepreneurs will be re-quired to present theirproduct/prototype andpitch to a screening com-mittee.On successful completionof the programme, thewomen entrepreneurs willbecome part of the NSR-CEL ecosystem and willhave access to legal & com-pliance support extended toall NSRCEL alumni.

They can also connect tofellow entrepreneurs, in-dustry experts and acade-micians in the ecosystem.The performance andprogress of the ventureswill be monitored andtracked on a quarterly ba-sis for a year by NSRCELand its partner institutes.The selected women entre-preneurs will also be pro-vided opportunities topitch to investors. With the endorsement bythe Department of Science& Technology, Govt of In-dia, NSRCEL works in part-nership with the IIMNFoundation for Entrepre-neurship Development (In-FED), IIM Vizag, IIM Jam-mu, Mizoram UniversityIncubation Centre (MZU In-cubation Centre), IIM In-dore, IIT Guwahati - Tech-nology Incubation Centre(IITG-TIC), and KeralaStartup Mission(KSUM) todeliver this programme.

IIM-I, IIM-B joint women startup progfocuses on 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'

tINa KHatrI

Indore

New rules under the Con-sumer Protection Act 2020for e-commerce businessare now applicable. Con-sumer and Food AffairsMinister Ram Vilas Paswanwill address a press confer-ence on July 27 on the same.The new rules are applica-ble to goods sold onlinethrough the marketplace orinventory-led models regis-tered in India or abroad butoffering goods and servicesto Indian consumers.Under the new rules, fill-ing for a consumer disputehas been made easier withvarious provisions. Withdetails about the new con-sumer protection act andhighlighting new provi-sions, Justice ShantanuKemkar, president of StateCommission, shares the de-tails of the new rules appli-cable:

new ruleS for

e-commerce

According to the new rules,the e-commerce playerswill have to display the to-tal price of goods and serv-ices offered for sale alongwith a break-up of othercharges."They are also required tomention the 'expiry date' ofgoods offered for sale andthe 'country of origin' ofgoods and services that arenecessary for enabling theconsumer to make an in-formed decision at the pre-purchase stage," JusticeKemkar said.Under the rules, e-com-

merce players have to dis-play details about return,refund, exchange, warran-ty and guarantee, deliveryand shipment, and any oth-er information that may berequired by consumers tomake informed decisions.Further, these details haveto be made available on thewebsite."E-commerce entitiesshould not impose 'cancel-lation charges' on con-sumers cancelling ordersafter confirmation unlesssellers are ready to pay sim-ilar charges in case cancel-lation of orders are fromtheir side," Justice Kemkarsaid.Further, the new rule im-poses that e-commerce can-not manipulate price ofgoods to platforms to gainunreasonable profit anddiscriminate between con-sumers of the same classor make any arbitrary clas-sification of consumers af-fecting their rights underthe Act.The new rules do not per-mit any inventory e-com-merce entity to 'falsely rep-resent itself as a consumer

and post reviews aboutgoods and services or mis-represent the quality or thefeatures of any goods andservices'.

conSumerS can file

caSe where they

reSide now

Justice Kemkar said thatanother important featureof the new Act is that a con-sumer can file a case wher-ever he resides, instead offiling a case at the locationof the opposite party. "Ear-lier due to limitation of fil-ing the the case at the loca-tion of the opposite party,many consumers weretroubled in filing the case,which will be countered bynew rules," he added.Section 49(2) and 59(2) ofthe new Act gives power tothe State Commission andthe NCDRC, respectively, todeclare the allegedly unfairterms of the contract to benull and void.

caSeS up to rS 1 crore

to be reSolved in

diStrict commiSSion

As per the new Act, the Dis-trict Forum has been re-named the District Com-mission and can now hearcases with a value of up toRs 1 crore. The earlier limitwas Rs 20 lakh. In compari-son, the State Commissioncan now hear cases up to Rs10 crore, while the NationalConsumer Disputes Redres-sal Commission (NCDRC)can hear cases with a valuehigher than Rs 10 crore,keeping with the inflationin the country.

no more cancellation chargeS, price manipulationS in e-commerce

Justice Kemkar shares new rulesunder Consumer Protection Act 2020

Justice Shantanu Kemkar

Sudha Mangrulkarpasses away

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

Sudha Mangrulkar, wife oflate Viththal Ram Chandra

Man-grulkar,mother ofCol.AshishMan-grulkar,retd. Lec-

turer of Ahilyashram HSSchool and grandmother of10 serving/retd Army, Navyand Airforce officers,peacefully left for her heav-enly abode on Sunday at10.30 am. She was 91. A pa-triot from the lineage ofShree Baji Prabhu Desh-pande (commander ofMaratha king Shivaji), sheimparted education forclose to 70 years. She wasalso a well-known publish-er in Marathi circles.

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

Hormonal imbalance is on the rise asthe number of teens approachingdoctors for help has doubled. Thiswas shared by an endocrinologist DrAbhyudaya Verma in a webinar or-ganised by Create Stories Social Wel-fare Society on Sunday.Organiser Deepak Sharma said,"Most people are cranky and impa-tient due to lockdown and fearful ofcoronavirus but the teens are alreadyundergoing a wave of hormonalchanges, and are suffering more. Un-fortunately, their suffering is over-looked." He added that the seminarwas organised to help parents in un-derstanding teen problems.Verma said that lockdown has givenus a lot of good and bad experiences,when talking about hormonal imbal-ance in teenagers, where 3 patients

used to come earlier in the month,now they have more than 6, i.e doublethe number. "Lockdown has limitedregular workouts and physical move-ment of children causing them to be-come frustrated due to pent up ener-gy," Verma said. He explained thathormone peak during teen requires

them to be very active.Discussing the emotional state ofteens, Verma said, "At this age, anxi-ety increases significantly in chil-dren, fear of taking up their studies,health, future increases. Due to thislockdown, children are very de-pressed about their future."

Lockdown fuelling hormone imbalance among teens: Dr Verma

Endocrinologist Abhyudaya Verma

how can you help teenS?

u Most importantly, spend qualitytime with them

u Become a friend and just listen to them

u Understand their problems

u Don't judge them

u Understand their psychologywithout your interpretation

u Observe their daily routine

u Do not leave them alone

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

Madhya Pradesh Board of Sec-ondary Education is all set to an-nounce the result of Class 12th onJuly 27 at 3 pm. Students who at-tempted the board examinations2019-20 that were conducted preand post lockdown in two ses-sions will finally get their result.The ongoing COVID-19 crisishas delayed both exams and dec-laration of MP board results thisyear. Previously, MPBSE had topostpone Class 12 final exams dueto the nationwide lockdown en-forced to stop the spread of Covid-19. Class 12 final exams of MPB-SE were finally conducted fromJune 9 to June 16.In anticipation of results, stu-dents are jittery and nervous.Many are planning to offer spe-

cial prayers and keep a fast to-morrow, being Shravan Somvarto stay calm.Since half the examinationswere conducted in June, i.e. firstphase of unlock, many studentsare worried if they gave theirbest. However, as MPBSE class10th result saw a slight improve-ment than last year, the studentsare keeping their fingers crossed.Overall, the passing percentageof MPBSE in class 10th releasedearlier this month was 62.3%,

which was a per cent higher thanlast year. Teachers are hoping forlenient marking in class 12th ex-aminations as well. Hence, thereis a hope also among studentsthat their scorecard will reflectgood marks.Candidates will be required touse their roll number and regis-tration number as mentioned onthe hall ticket to check MadhyaPradesh 12th result.Over 8.5 lakh students appearedfor the MP Board 12th exams this

year. The final year exam wasconducted at 3,682 exam centresacross Madhya Pradesh understrict safety protocols, as sharedby Deven Sonwani, MPBSE divi-sional officer shared.Previously, MPBSE had an-nounced that it will conduct spe-cial exam for such differently-abled students who were unableto appear for the Class 12 boardexams which were held from June9 to June 16. A list containingnames of students eligible to ap-pear for the special exam is alsoexpected to be released on July 27.As per notification shared bySonwani, here is how studentscan check their results:Through mobile apps of the MPBoard Results. For this, the stu-dents should download either ofMPBSE Mobile app, MP Mobileapp, or Fastresults app.

MPBSE Class 12 results todayStepS to check on webSite

1. Visit the official website-- mpbse.nic.in or mpresults.nic.in

2. Click on the link that reads 'MP Board 12th Result 2020'

3. Enter your roll number and other details required

4. Submit the details

5. Your MPBSE Class 12 Result 2020 will be displayed on the screen

6. Download the MPBSE 12th Result 2020 for future reference

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

A dog lover's video which wentviral on Sunday claimed thealleged non-cooperation of TilakNagar PS cops, NGOs and animalactivists in the "mental assaults"on her. The girl lives with around40 dogs in a house in Pipliyahanaarea and people in the vicinity ofher house branded her as "men-tally disturbed". The police havestrongly denied her allegations.

Police versionThe Tilak Nagar PS, incharge,inspector Dinesh Verma said oneSamrin Bano, "actually" SakshiSharma has faked her identity.The girl has domesticated 45stray dogs. Samrin has registereda complaint against a shepherd afew days ago of allegedly killing

two of her "pets". It is alleged thatshe misbehaves with policemenwhen they go to investigate thecase. Earlier, she used to live inVidhya Palace in Ambikapuriarea under Aerodrome PS.Aerodrome PS incharge, inspec-tor Ashok Patidar said inFebruary, Samrin Bano and herlandlord, Nitish Tripathi, a train-er in IPS academy in Hyderabad,made cross complaints againsteach other. Nitish complainedthat she started keeping thecanines in the house followingwhich neighbours were dis-turbed. Samrin had complainedthat her landlord was puttingpressure on her to vacate thepremises before the end of thelease period. On February 6around 3 am, the girl left Nitish'shouse. TI Verma said in Pipliyahana

area too her neighbours wereirritated with her habit of pilingup dogs in the house and thecacophony was becoming unbear-able for them. They soon askedher to vacate. It may be noted thatPeta had filed an FIR against herin Ghaziabad. Following this, shefled to Gujarat where also a com-plaint was registered against herafter which she came to indore.Police believe that due to hermental stress she made thisvideo. Samrin, in a bid to take care ofthese canines, had to leave herparents and native house too. Shealso said that since her religion(Islam) does not allow her to keepdogs, she converted to accommo-date the stray animals. Samrin is native of FatehNagar, Sadhana Village inMeerut. Her father DilshadSiddiqui is an advocate.

Banshee screamsat MYH spooks staff

Canine lover alleges cop, NGO apathy Unbearable cacophony of around 40 dogs irks neighbours

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

In view of coronavirus situa-tion, Indian Institute ofManagement Indore is going tocommence classes of existingbatch of postgraduate pro-gramme (PGP) in managementin online mode from Monday.The registration of third term(second year) students will bedone in the morning and laterthe classes will commence in theafternoon. Message about com-mencement of classes in onlinemode was conveyed to studentsabout a month ago.Apart from this, the classes ofnew batch of PGP students aregoing to start from August 11."The registration of fresherswill be done on August 7 andclasses will commence from

August 11," said IIM Indoremedia coordinator AnanyaMishra.In wake of coronavirus, theelite institute is commencingclasses of different programmesonly in online mode.Exams of students were alsoconducted in virtual mode.After coronavirus outbreak inthe country, IIM Indore had gotits hostels vacated and sent stu-dents back to homes.The institute stated that thestudnets will be called back tothe campus only when Covid-19situation improves.The institute had to twice sus-pend its aptitude test for admis-sion to five-year integrated pro-gramme in management due toraising cases of Covid-19.The institute could not conductits convocation also this year.

Youth arrested forkilling property dealer

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

An accused, who was on the run after assaultingan elderly property dealer that led to the latter’sdeath, was arrested from Sindhu Nagar, Juni In-dore area, on Sunday. The baseball bat used in thecrime was also recovered from the accused.Juni Indore police station incharge Bharat

Singh Thakur said that 65-year-old Lakhmic-hand Rajani, a resident of Orange County apart-ment in Triveni Colony, was attacked with abaseball bat by accused Manav Gangwani, a res-ident of the same apartment building a couple ofdays ago. After the attack, Lakhmichand wasrushed to the hospital where he died duringtreatment on the same night. Since then, the ac-cused was on the run.According to TI Thakur, the accused was play-ing football when Lakhmichand’s son Jitesh andhad an argument with Manav on Friday night.Lakhmichand was watching them playing fromhis flat on the third floor of the building. He camedownstairs and got into an argument with Laksh-michand and in a fit of rage, Manav hit Laksh-michand with a baseball bat and fled.

IIM-I PGP existing batch classesto start today in online mode

INDORE CITY 3FREEPRESS

monday | July 27, 2020 | Indore

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

Ten owners and directors ofvarious investment and ad-visory firms were arrestedon Sunday following com-plaints of duping peopleand not following SEBIguidelines. Police officialshad received more than 50complaints through CitizenCop app, emails etc. Afterthat IG Vivek Sharma andDIG HarinarayanachariMishra instructed theirsubordinates to take actionagainst such firms.SP (east) Vijay Khatri,

ASP Rajesh Raghuwanshiand ASP (crime) RajeshDandotiya constituted ateam of 150 police person-nel and raided 9 offices of 6companies on Saturday.During the investigation,police arrested 8 owners offive advisory firms on Sun-day.During the investigationit was found that 8 com-plaints were receivedagainst Frenklin ResarchInvestment Advisory inApollo Tower after whichthe owner Tarun Chandaniand director Alok Kumarwere booked by the police.Alok Kumar was arrestedby the police during the

raid at their office.Another company namedWealth Research FinancialService was also raided bythe police. The company di-rector Manoj Sharma ofBhind was arrested duringthe police raid while two di-rectors named ChitaranjanSingh and Vishwanath areabsconding. Five com-plaints were receivedagainst the company. The owner of Caps Visioncompany Ravi Prakash wasalso arrested by the policeteam. In all 12 complaintswere received against thiscompany. Two more personsnamed Ashwin Laad andKrishna Nanaware werealso arrested by the police.

Nivesh Icon company'sowner Virendra Kumar, di-rector Mohammad Salaud-din, data support and com-pliance manager PriyankaShah and accountantSameer Shriwas werebooked by the police. Mo-hammad Salauddin andPriyanka were arrested bythe police. Police had re-ceived 17 complaintsagainst the company forduping people in the nameof investing their money inthe market, and promisingthem high returns.A company named Capi-

tal Life Market Research isregistered with the addressof Trade House in SouthTukoganj but it was being

run at a building in Maha-laxmi Nagar. Two com-plaints were receivedagainst this company. Own-er of the company RajeevSharma, manager Prab-hanshu Badgaiya and Bri-jesh Ojha were arrestedduring the raid. Two com-plaints were receivedagainst the company.One more company was

raided by the police team.Police found that the com-pany was working underthe guidelines of SEBI butthe company's trade licensewas expired so the officialsinstructed them to get thesame soon and follow theguidelines otherwise theaction will be taken.

D-11049

10 owners, directors of 5 advisory firms held

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

Former minister and MLA Jitu Pat-wari on Sunday targeted Chief Minis-ter Shivraj Singh Chouhan and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi over increas-ing Covid-19 cases in the country.He alleged that neither the state gov-ernment nor the central governmentis serious about the rising number ofCovid-19 cases. "BJP leaders and gov-

ernments are not following anynorms of Covid-19 and leaders in thestate are not even following what wassaid by the PM over social distancingand masks. The best example of thesame is Home Minister NarottamMishra and Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan," he added.Patwari also alleged that the coun-try is struggling from increasingnumber of cases and deaths whilePrime Minister Modi is busy in

'killing' democracy by toppling theelected governments in the states."They have left people on their own tofight against the disease. People havenot elected Modi for bringing the econ-omy on death bed and creating unem-ployment in the country," he said.The Congress leader also demand-ed that the by-polls in the stateshould be conducted through ballotpaper and not through EVM ma-chines.

Patwari targets CM, PM over rising Covid cases

MHOW (FPNS): Four personsof Bhanwarkuan area in Indorevandalised Divyanshi dhabanear Dongargaon on Saturdaynight after celebrating birthdayparty there. As per the com-plaint, Lalla and three othersreached the dhaba and celebrat-ed birthday of one of themthere. During dinner, they start-

ed fighting with each other oversome issue, following which thedhaba owner Joseph asked themto leave at about 10 pm. They leftat that time but came back at11.30 pm and vandalized thewhole dhaba. They also tried toset the dhaba on fire. As per Bad-gonda police, none of the ac-cused has been arrested so far.

Truck runs over bike, one dies

MHOW (FPNS): A speeding truck ran over a mo-torcycle near Sonway village on Rau-Khalghat roadlate on Saturday night. As per Kishanganj police,Amirchand Bheel, a resident of Bhaislay villagedied on the spot while one more person riding pil-lion with him was critically injured. The body andthe injured person were taken to Mhow civil hospi-tal by the police. Body was handed over to the fam-ily after getting post-mortem examination done.

Crime branch, Vijay Nagar and Lasudia policestation staff raided 9 offices of six companies

Roadside dhaba vandalised

4 UJJAIN CITY 4 th sawari of Mahakal to be taken out todayUjjain: The 4 th procession of lord Mahakal will be taken out on Monday from ShriMahakaleshwar Temple. As per Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple Management Committeethe procession will reach to Ramghat via Harsiddhi Temple, Jhalariya Mathh andBalmukund Ashram and will via Ramanujkot. At Ramghat ‘abhishek’ of lord Mahakalwill be performed by the priests. Collector Asheesh Singh appealed denizens towatch the live telecast of the procession staying at home in view of Corona crisis.

FREEPRESSMONDAY | JULY 27, 2020 | INDORE

UJJAIN WEATHERMAXIMUM: 29.0°C, MINIMUM: 21.5° C

HUMIDITYMORNING: 89per cent, EVENING: 70 per cent

SUNRISE: 6.10 am , SUNSET: 6.41 pm

AMIRI-GARIBI RECALLLocal administration draws flak from media & opposition over VIP culutre

Entry of VIPs in NagchandreshwarTemple despite ban leaves administration red-faced

FP NEWS SERVICE Ujjain

After drawing flak frommedia over showing parti-sanship in allowing theVIPs for darshan-pujan ofpresiding deities at the an-cient NagchandreshwarTemple, the local adminis-tration ordered that anFIR be lodged against onesuch violator from Indore-

the BJYM leader GoluShukla. The district administra-tion has been at the re-ceiving end of the severecriticisms of the people onsocial media platforms aswell a highly embarrassedcollector Asheesh Singhon Sunday evening wroteto the MahakaleshwarTemple ManagementCommittee (MTMC) ad-ministrator to immediate-ly lodge an FIR against In-dore’s Golu Shukla andhis associates DipendraSingh Solanki, who up-loaded selfies on socialmedia after having dar-shan-pujan of presidingdeities at the Nagchan-

dreshwar Temple on ac-count of Nagpanchami. In wake of corona out-break people were bannedfrom darshan and insteadvirtual darshan arrange-ments were put in place.The breach of sucharrangements by GoluShukla and other VIPs hasdealt a severe blow to theimage of the administra-tion. The unabashed man-

ner in which the un-lock norms were vi-olated on the occa-sion of Nagpancha-mi has also left theadministration redfaced. The adminis-tration has alreadybeen drawing a lotof flak from the me-dia in the manner ithas dealt with theCovid outbreak sofar. Collector orderedthe MTMC adminis-trator to go through

the CCTV footages to iden-tify the instances of suchillegal entry and suspendthe MTMC employees,within 24 hours, who wereon duty at time at theNagchandreshwar Tem-ple’e entry-gate and termi-nate the services of out-sourced employees. “A case under Section 188of the IPC should be regis-tered at once against GoluShukla and DipendraSingh Solanki and after go-ing through the CCTVfootages similar actionshould also be initiatedagainst other persons whoentered illegally in theNagchandreshwar Templeon July 25,” he directed.

Collector issuesorders to bookBJYM leader forillegally enteringtemple premises on Nagpanchami

FP NEWS SERVICE Ujjain

Congress party raised con-cern over the biasnessshown by the admin andtemple management panelover the entries of influen-tial persons in Nagchan-dreshwar Temple on theoccasion of Nagpachamidespite ban. Party alleged that thesentiments of the com-moners were overlookedbut the influential lot wereallowed access. Pradesh

Congress Committee(MPCC) media panelist Ra-jesh Tiwari on Sundaystated administration andMahakaleshwar TempleManagement Committee(MTMC) allowed the en-tries of influential lot atthe NagchandreshwarTemple. He alleged that thetemple gates are openedonce a year on Nagpancha-mi for which devotees fromacross the country and theworld throng city. He al-leged the of influential

persons also jeopardisedthe public safety by violat-ing unlock norms. The lo-cals are surprised to seethe photos of BJP leader

Paras Jain and some otherleaders performing wor-ship in NagchandreshwarTemple despite restric-tions, he added.

Influential persons performing worship at the NagchandreshwarTemple on Nagpanchami despite ban FP FILE PHOTO

MTMC ACCUSED OF FAVOURITISM Tiwari alleged that MTMC administrator SS Rawat

has arbitrarily allowed some BJP leaders and otherinfluential persons in the temple. Tiwari expressedsurprise on Rawat’s statement that entry of peoplewould be probed. Tiwari candidly alleged that, Rawat iswell aware as to how some influential managed toenter the temple and perform worship. Tiwaridemanded a high level enquiry in the matter andremoval of Rawat from his office.

FP NEWS SERVICE Ujjain

Ujjain division’s CentralJail at Bhairavgarh seemsto be fast emerging as anew hotspot with five freshcases of Corona patientsreported from there onSunday. In all 18 personstested positive on the daytaking the number of coro-na patients in the districtto 1133, though the toll re-mained on 72. As per the medical bul-letin issued at 9.10 pm, outof 895 sample reports re-ceived 18 persons. Amongthe new patients 15 be-

longed toUjjaincity, while3 belongto Barna-gar,Mahidpur

and Ghattia sub-divisions. With 5 news patients thetotal number of the Cen-tral Jail Bhairavgarh in-mates infected with theCorona virus has reached7. Overall 217 patients, 78of them symptomatic, arenow getting treatment.Samples of 41, 876 per-sons have been takenacross the district so farand no report is awaited.With 3 more patients dis-charged on Sunday, the to-tal number of dischargedpatients went up to 844. Those who were tested

positive on the day in-clude 48-year-old manfrom Mahananda Nagar,42-year-old woman fromMaksi Road IndustrialArea, 3-year-old boy fromKalapatthar and 36-year-old woman from the same

locality, 35-year-old manfrom Central Bhairav-garh Jail, 55-year-oldman, 64-year-old man, 75-year-old man 35-year-oldman from the jail itself,62-year-old woman fromRajiv Ratna Colony and72-year-old man from thesame locality, 25-year-oldwoman from Desai Nagar,32-year-old woman fromFazalpura, 23-year-oldman from Tirupati Saf-fron, 65-year-old manfrom Ganesh Nagar,Nagjhiri (all Ujjain) and47-year-old man fromGhattia, 52-year-old manfrom Tejaji Chowk, Bar-nagar and 27-year-oldman from Mahidpur..

5 MORE CASES FOUND IN CENTRAL JAILTALLY 1,133

COVID-19 DISTRICT UPDATE

RS 33.75Kcollected asspot fine

ADM Bidisha Mukhejeeinformed that 241

persons andestablishments were foundviolating the lockdownnorms on Sunday. Thedistrict administrationcollected a fine of Rs 33,750 from the violators.According to her, spot fineof Rs 52, 000 was imposedon 300 violators underTarana block and spot fineof Rs 59,050 was recoveredfrom 385 violators underMehidpur block.

Mahamrityunjayjaap for CM

Ujjain: Anushthan ofMahamrityunjay jaap startedat Shri Mahakleshwar templefor the speedy recovery ofChief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan on Sunday morning.Priest Yash Guru said that the‘anushthan’ will be continuedtill the CM Shivraj Singhrecovers from Covid-19. Thepriest performed abhishek oflord Mahakal. The priests saidthat due to ‘Mahamrityunjayanushthan’ the CM willrecover soon.

FP NEWS SERVICE Ujjain

On the day 5 of VrashaMangal programme,members of BohraCommunity plantedsaplings at SevadhamAshram on Sunday. Under the leader-ship of Hazi Mulla Ku-tub Fatemi, communi-ty members MurtzaTaheri, Khomeja Lt-thawala, KhomejaPresswala, SaifuddinChakkiwala, KhojemaChandabhaiwala,Hozefa Tajpurwala,Abid Nariyalwala andother communitymembers were pres-ent. Fatemi appreciat-

ed Sevadham Ashramfounder Sudhir Goyal

for his contribution tohumanity.

Bohras plant saplings Open govt medicalcollege in Ujjain: MP

FP NEWS SERVICEUjjain

Member of Parliament (MP) AnilFirojia has demanded the Union gov-ernment to open a government med-ical college in Ujjain. In a letter addressed to the Unionhealth minister Dr Harsh Vardhan,the MP said that those who studentsof Ujjain region who get selected formedical studies have to go outside, atpresent. He also said that people experi-enced huge inconveniences duringthe Corona time because of the non-availability of the medical college ingovernment sector. He also urged theChief Minister Shivraj SinghChauhan to extend helping hands tofulfil the much needed demand ofmedical college in Ujjain.

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7.10 A.M. & 4.58 A.M.Nakshatra : Chitra 11.04 A.M. then SvatiYoga : Sadhya 8.49 P.M. then ShubhKaran : Vishti 6.04 P.M. then BalavMoon : Tula - - - - - - -

PANCHANG 27.7.2020(DAKSHINAYAN)

YOU READ IT IN FP ON JULY 26

IN TEMPLE TOWN, VIPsFLOUT, CCTVs SCOUT

Cong gulps vocal tonicIndore’s BJYM leader Golu Shukla and his associate take a selfie at the Nagchandreshwar Temple on Nagpanchami FP FILE PHOTO

SUNDAY STANDSTILL

3-yr-old among18 test positive

n 217 UNDER TREATMENTn 844 DISCHARGEDn 15 NEW PATIENTS FOUND IN CITY

PETROL PUMPS SEALED Two petrol pumpswere sealed in thedistrict on Sunday inwake of beingoperational despiteenforcement of totallockdown. CollectorAsheesh Singh saidthat complaints werereceived that petroland diesel are beingsold from Raj FillingStation and SinghFilling stations inGhattia and thecomplaint was foundcorrect followingwhich both of theseoutlets were sealed.

The food department officials sealingpetrol pump at Ghattia FP PHOTO

ACCESS DENIED: On thesecond weekly lockdown,access to city’s primemarket- Gopal Mandir-Chhatri Chowk- were blockedby administration.

DESERTED LOOK: TowerChowk which lies in the heartof city wears a deserted look.

FP PHOTOS BY SUNIL MAGARIYA

IN ABEYANCE: The go-carts whichdominate the roads of primecommercial areas of the city,parked aside during the lockdown.

RACE FOR FOOD: A man nudges past another person who has a plasteron his leg for food packets being distributed near Chamunda Mata Mandir

Saluting Kargil MartyrsIndore: Members of Maharana Pratap Swatantra Scout Group paid rich tributes to soldiers on the occasion ofKargil Diwas at 15 Battalion on Saturday. They also maintained two minutes' silence. Bhanwarlal Bhore, Sanjay Sen,Devendra Kothari, Kailash Yadav, Gopal Chouhan among others who took part in the war were present, Also, districtpresident (MPSS Group) Ramesh Agrawal, assistant scout commissioner Surendra Singh Munna and other members ofthe group were present, The group members celebrated the day one day before due to Sunday lockdown. Membersoffered flowers to the statue at the 15 Battalion and remembered the brave episodes of the soldiers.

MADHYA PRADESH 5FREEPRESS

monday | July 27, 2020 | Indore

In self quarantine,minister attendsmeeting at partyoffice

OUR STAFF REPORTER

Indore

In blatant violation of totallockdown norms, BJP localleaders and MLAs heldmeeting at party office onSunday to discuss strategyfor Sanwer by-elections.Water resources ministerTulsiram Silawat, who hadon Saturday gone into self-home quarantine, alsoreached the party officeand attended the meeting.Silawat is probable candi-date of BJP from Sanwerseat where bypolls arescheduled.Besides him, Indore-2MLA Ramesh Mendola, In-dore-5 MLA MahendraHardia, senior leaders Su-darshan Gupta, MadhuVerma were also present inthe meeting.Interesting part is thatthe complete lockdown de-cision was of BJP led stategovernment on Sundays

following increasing num-ber of cases and its ownleaders were violating thenorms.Among the leaders wereminister Silawat also whohimself had on Sunday an-nounced of going into self-home quarantine afterChief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan tested posi-tive for coronavirus.After the meeting whenreporters asked Silawat

that how come he came toattend meeting when he ishome quarantined, theminister replied: "Yes I amin self-home quarantineand I am coming fromhome only." He then clearedoff from the scene.Meanwhile, the city wit-nessed a deserted look aspeople remain indoors dueto lockdown in the city.Only medical shops anddairies were opened.

BJP violates lockdown norm

Minister Tulsiram Silawat coming out of BJP office after attendingmeeting on Sunday.

Sleepless nightsMany officers have begun to spend sleepless nights

after a newspaper owner was arrested in con-nection with a scandal. A senior IAS officer's linkswith the fraudster has also come to light. The officerfrequented the house of the newspaper proprietor.The crook helped the officer to work out a personalproblem. The lawbreaker also took the advantage ofhis links with the officer. Now that the officer's nameis connected to the scamster, the he feels it will givehim a bad name. Nevertheless, the officer has nothingto do with the activities of the gangster. Yet, if whatthe officer has done for the thug during his stay on im-portant positions comes to light he may be in trouble.A few other officers also met the criminal. The nameof a non-IAS-cadre officer, who has been in the statecapital for long time, is also linked with the crook.And not only that the felon's links with many policeofficers have been exposed. Now, such officers feel ifthe crook blows the gaffe during interrogation, theywill be in hot water.

Hitting the bull's-eye

Many IPS officers kept their eyes peeled for a plumpost. But a Sahib has hit the bull's-eye. There are

many stories behind his getting the position. A leaderfrom the Congress who crossed over to the BJP hasplayed an important role in it. The officer has been as-sociated with the leader for many years. The politicianpulled out all the stops to shift the officer to that posi-tion. The government, however, did not want to shiftthe officer from his earlier position. So, his transfer de-layed. An incident turned out to be lucky for him. Theofficer had reportedly refused to vacate the govern-ment house for the politician a few months ago. An in-fluential person worked for his transfer, besides thepolitician. That powerful man has made efforts to postsomeone close to him to that position since the BJP'sreturn to power. The influential person forwarded thename of the officer for the post. The officer concerneddid not get that post. The powerful man hit the jackpotby posting the IPS officer of his second choice.

Money-grubbing

An IAS officer, holding an important position, is do-ing lot of underhand dealings. He is busy extorting

shekels. He barely takes permission from the higher-ups in the government for any work. He was trans-ferred to the current position during the Congressregime. Nearly four months have passed since the BJPcame to power. Yet, he still holds the post. A ministerplayed an important role in the IAS officer's postingduring the Congress rule. People in the present gov-ernment know about it. Despite that, he has yet to beshifted from the present position. During the previousBJP rule, he was given many important assignments.Few can, however, cotton on to the mystery behind hisclout. The Sahib has recently made megabucksthrough some work. The higher-ups have come to knowabout it. Now, the people in the corridors of power feelhe may soon be shifted from the present position.

Free from PHQ

An IPS officer is finally out of the police headquar-ters. He made efforts to get out of the PHQ and

posted to some other place. He kept his eye on a plumpost. Another IPS officer got that position due to hisclout. Accordingly, the officer who wanted to go out ofthe PHQ was out of race. Besides that coveted post, hewas keen to get another position. He gleaned the fruitsof his efforts. The working of the present head of thepolice department made him unhappy. He was also notkeen to remain on the same post he was holding. Andthis was the reason why he wanted to go out of thePHQ. The officer who has been posted to the PHQ in hisplace is content. The minister of the department re-portedly helped him get the post.

RSS links!

Acommissioner of a division blows his own horn onthe grounds of his links with the RSS. Every time

the BJP comes to power many officers and other peo-ple try to get their work done in the name of RSS. Butwhenever someone mentions the name of the Sangh orthe BJP before him, the commissioner dresses himdown saying he knows the Sangh and the BJP morethan others do. The officer has been given the positionbecause of his links with the RSS. So, his writ runslarge in the division. His colleagues, however, have lit-tle liking for him. He got the post of his choice for hispolitical clout. Yet, after being shifted to the division,he is trying to maintain a balance to avoid any adversesituation. He maintains good relations with the leadersof the BJP as well as those of the Congress.

Put in Place

The officials of an important department are mak-ing mockery of a principal secretary (PS). They

were not happy with him. The PS used to threaten theofficials with setting up an inquiry or transferringthem from the department. The minister, who got thedepartment after the cabinet expansion, has put the PSin his place within a few days. The minister is down toearth. He is seeking information on many issues fromthe PS. The minister knows how to get work done byputting pressure. He has clearly told the PS that the de-partment will run according to him. The minister isreaching out to the lower-rung officials. The PS is nomore pulling the strings in the department. During hisprevious stint as minister, a female PS harassed him alot. Since the first day of his second term as minister,he has made up his mind to keep the department underhis control. The minister's way of working has disap-pointed the domineering PS.

Nitendra Sharma

OVERHEARDNearly 200 +ve cases in a day

TALLY 5650:TOLL 154- Coronacount increasing

in families

Six at ministerBhadauria’sbungalowinfected

OUR STAFF REPORTER

BHOPAL

The state capital reportedits single-day spike of 199Covid-19 cases on Sunday,taking the tally to 5650.The coronavirus relateddeath count has reached154. The virus is spreadingeasily among people livingtogether on families. Fam-ily members of ministerArvind Bhadauria wereamong the six people tohave tested positive for theinfection. All these posi-

tive cases were reportedfrom minister’s KataraHills bungalow. The minister and his PAwere diagnosed with theinfection a few days back. Besides, former ministerJitu patwari’s PA and hisson too have been diag-nosed with the infection.These two cases were re-ported from MLA RestHouse.A number of coronawarriors too have beenfound positive for the in-fection this includes twostaffers of Chirayu Med-ical College, one case eachwas reported from AIIMS,Civil Hospital (Bairagarh)and Hamidia Hospital.One positive case also sur-faced at GMC girls hostel.ABVP office (ChhatraShakti office Bharat MataChowk) reported one posi-tive. Three of a family at CIColony Jahangirabad test-ed positive, while threefamily members residing

at Jyoti Apartment,Raisen Road and three ofa family at Nishatpura too

have contracted the infec-tion. As many as six people at

Tehsil Office, Berasia havetested positive. Eight posi-tive cases were reported

from colonies like BijliColony, Regal Town, Ulti-mate English Villa,Durgesh Vihar, AyodhyaNagar, Kailash Nagar allin Govindpura area. Three positive caseseach from as many fami-lies have come fromJumerati. Bagmugaliaand Pragati Parishar. RamNagar (Shahjahanabad)reported three positives.Two positive have been re-ported from MANIT. Two members each offamilies at Sector-A,Shahpura; ProfessorColony, BasantKunj,Chaukse Nagar,Globus Green, SignatureResidency, Narela Sanka-ree and Trilanga, Regi-ment Road, Shahjahan-abad, have been testedpositive. E-1 Arera Colony,Rishi Nagar (Char Imli)and Char Imli reportedone positive each. Vinayak Homes, Policeline Shahjahanbad. re-ported two positives.

Worms found in breakfast at Covid care centre

Worms were found in breakfast served to patients at Covid care centre at GovernmentHomeopathic College on Sunday. The video of patients showing worms went viral on

social media. Hospitalauthorities have beguninquiry into the incidentbut have shrugged offthe responsibility. Thevideo that went viral onsocial media showswomen patients showingupma served forbreakfast. One of themclaimed that she hadeaten some of it beforeshe could discover that

dish had worms. Then she warned other patients about it. “Most patients had eaten itunaware. But some of us vomited after eating it,” she said wishing anonymity. The hospitalmanagement said the food is distributed by the district administration and they havenothing to do with it. “It is their fault,” said the official from homeopathic hospital. Chiefmedical and health officer Dr Prabhakar Tiwari said that such laxity specially at the Covidcare centre will not be tolerated. “Inquiry will be conducted into the matter and strictaction will be taken against those found responsible for it,” he added.

OUR STAFF REPORTER

Indore

Officials of the State ExciseDepartment arrested twomen while they were carry-ing foreign liquor worth Rs65,000 in a car late on Satur-day night. The car in whichthey were ferrying liquorwas also seized by the team.On the instructions from

district collector ManishSingh, Excise Departmenthas launched a drive againstthe people supplying liquoror selling it illegally in thecity. Assistant Excise Com-missioner Raj Narayan Sonisaid that under the guidanceof controller Rajeev Dwive-di and ADEO Santosh Kush-wah, the team of circle Mal-wa Mill (B) was deployed atRau Bypass Square to keepan eye on the liquor suppli-

ers after the senior officialshad received informationabout a car supplying liquor.The team stopped a carand seized liquor worth Rs65,000 (123 liters) from two

persons named Pawan Wad-hwani of Annapurna Roadand Pawan Asrani ofJairampur Colony. Theircar was also seized by theexcise officials.

2 held with foreign liquor worth Rs 65K

Two arrested with 14 boxes of liquor

Two persons were arrested while they were carryingliquor in Gandhi Nagar area on Saturday night. The

accused were waiting to hand over liquor to someonewhen they were arrested with 14 cartons of country-madeliquor. According to CSP Soumya Jain, SI Pawan Kumar,constable Sunil, Jitendra and lady constable Rakhi were onpatrol when they received information that two men werestanding near Balajidham Colony in Navdapanth area withsome boxes of liquor. After the information, the patrollingteam of Gandhi Nagar police station reached the spot,when the accused tried to flee from there. However, theywere arrested after a brief chase. The accused wereidentified as Shubham Choudhary and Laxman Patel ofBisnawada village. 14 cartons containing country-madeliquor (126 litres) worth Rs 70,000 were seized from them.They were booked and are being questioned further.

FP NEwS SERvicE

Mhow

Ratlam division DRM Vi-neet Kumar Gupta visitedMhow railway station onSunday. During his visit, heinspected the station, yardand maintenance facilities,after which he interactedwith the media persons atplatform no 1.He said that despite coro-na, all railway projects ofRatlam division are pro-gressing but they may getdelayed. About Mhow rail-way station being given afacelift, he said that most ofthe work has been complet-ed and all works had beendesigned in such a way thatthere won’t be any need forany other developmental

work for the next five to sixyears. About heritage train,he said that there are nochances of running it in thenear future due to the coro-na effect. It will take moretime for starting gauge con-version work betweenMhow and Omkareshar sta-tions. As per the new designand layout, the railway linebetween these two stations,will be 21 metres longerthan the existing one as allemphasis has been given onsaving forests and ghats.Because of this, 11 tunnelshave been planned on thisroute.The work for constructionof a tunnel in Pithampurfor Indore-Dahod route ison but the progress is veryslow because of corona.

DRM visits Mhowrailway station

Two miscreantssnatch mobile

phone from youthOUR STAFF REPORTER

Indore

Two miscreants on a scoot-er snatched a mobile phonefrom a youth in the Aero-drome area late on Satur-day night. The youth wastaking a walk in the colonywhen the incident hap-pened.According to Aerodromepolice station in chargeAshok Patidar, the inci-dent took place in Shub-ham Nagar area around10.30 pm. Vipul Patwa, aresident of Shubham Na-gar has lodged a complaintthat he was taking a walkwhile talking over phonewhen two persons camefrom behind on a scooterand snatched his mobilephone and fled. Vipul raid-ed an alarm and tried tochase the accused but theymanaged to flee.The complainant has pro-vided the scooter numberto the police. The police areexamining the CCTVs totrace the accused. A casehas been registered againstunidentified persons.

Voluntary bodiesshould be usedfor anti-coronadrive: CM

BHOPAL: Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhansaid on Sunday that volun-tary organisations shouldbe integrated with the gov-ernment bodies to raiseawareness about the coronapandemic.He asked the officials tomake a strategy for it andimplement it. Chouhanmade the above statementduring a video conferencingfrom the hospital where heis undergoing treatment forcorona. The coronavirus canbe fought with the help ofpeople, because the govern-ment alone cannot do it, hesaid, adding that, people be-longing to different commu-nities should be included inthe campaign. Home Minis-ter Narottam Mishra, urbandevelopment and housingminister Bhupendra Singh,public health and familyplanning minister Prabhu-ram Choudhary, medical ed-ucation minister VishwashSarang and senior officersattended the video-confer-encing. Chouhan directedthe officials to take overallreport of those who havebeen home-quarantined.

Congress nettled by MLAs’ flight, Nath begins talksWasnik taking

regular feedbackOUR STAFF REPORTER

BHOPAL

The central leadership ofthe Congress is nettled bythe party legislators’ flightto the BJP. In charge of theparty’s state unit MukulWasnik sought informa-tion from MPCC about it.MPCC president KamalNath has talked to the par-ty legislators on phone andwanted to know their prob-

lems.The party’s law-makershave given many reasonsfor their anger to Nath.The style of working of theparty and that of some sen-ior leaders has come tolight as the cause of un-happiness among the legis-lators.The Congress leadersmay have blamed the BJPfor horse-trading, but thereare many reasons for re-sentment among party leg-islators.Senior leaders’ failure todiscuss with the legislators

about their problems is themain reason for their bit-terness.The Congress high com-mand is unhappy with

Nathabout theparty leg-islators’runningaway tothe BJPeven after

the government’s fall. Rajya Sabha MP, Jyotira-ditya Scindia’s crossoverto the BJP along with 22legislators led to the Con-

gress government’s fall.The Congress expectedthat rest of the legislatorswould be with the partyand open a front againstthe BJP. The Congress leadershipin Delhi is worried afterthree legislators joined theBJP in a few days.Some more legislatorsmay leave the party. TheCongress is discussingabout it.The party is also trying tofind those legislators whomay quit the party. Thethree legislators who left

the Congress after the gov-ernment won elections forthe first time.Now, the Congress is pay-ing attention to those whobecame first-time mem-bers of the House. Seniorleaders are discussingwith them about theirproblems.Nath also told the formerministers to keep in touchwith the MLAs who livenear them. The former ministershave also been told to takecare of the other necessi-ties of those legislators.

Cong condemnsgovt budget

OUR STAFF REPORTER

BHOPAL

The Congress party havecriticised the budget appro-priation and have demandedto bring white paper on thebudget. The state govern-ment has brought appropri-ation of budget of over twolakh crore rupees which hasbeen approved by GovernorAnandiben Patel through anordinance on Saturday. The former finance minis-ter Tarun Bhanot informedthat budget which wasbrought through the ordi-nance is totally differentwhich was presented by thegovernment into the voteon account, earlier. In the vote on account thegrowth rate was shown to40 percent which wasshown on the data. Headded that the Governemntof India had promised tofill the financial gap to thestates if the increase is reg-ister less than 14 percent,but the GoI did not fulfil thepromise in the last finan-cial year and Rs 14,000 arepending with the GoI. He stated that the GoI had

earned huge amount ofmoney after increasing thepetroleum products price,the GoI at least share 20percent of the income tothe state, so that the statecan combat with the Covid-19 situation in the state. Heasked that the governmenthad not made any provi-sions to the migrantslabourers in the budget. Inthe state around 17 lakhmigrants had came back, ifthe government did notplanned for the labourersthey will again going to mi-grate in search of work. The former minister PCSharma alleges that thegovernment had curtailedthe budget of health and so-cial justice department. Sharma added that if thedepartment will not haveproper budget how can theycombat with the Covid-19pandemic in the state.

Government has not made provisions

for migrantslabourers in the

budget, Bhanot said

Letters should be limited to 150 words and must be sent via e-mail. Letters may be edited for clarity or space. E-mail: fpindore@gmail.com

6 EDITFREEPRESS

INDORE | MONDAY | JULY 27, 2020

Last year, when things were somewhat normal, and people went to seecomedy shows, comedian Agrima Joshua, during a live show, cracked ajoke about the Shivaji statue that is to be installed in the middle of the

sea. This year, amidst the pandemic and the lockdown, Raj Thackeray’s partythe Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) reacted to the clip, went on rampageand vandalised the studio in which the clip was shot. Amidst calls for strict action against Ms Joshua for her skit, came one of the

most vicious verbal attacks you could ever hear. Shubham Mishra, a star on In-dian YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and other platforms, known for his abusivelanguage, and violent response to current affairs, issued brutal rape threatsagainst her. This particularly abusive video caught media attention, and fol-lowing outrage resulted in the police taking action. However, the tone of mostof his videos about the world at large has violent solutions to problems, and at-tracted over 3 lakh subscribers to his feed. This is content that would never everexist on mainstream media because of the rules governing the media, not justin India but worldwide. But it exists without filters online on family platformssuch as YouTube. Unlike mainstream media that has been regulated and has to follow a frame-

work of what is appropriate and what is not, the internet has no such filters. Itis the ultimate libertarian dream of a space with no rules and regulations,where the market decides what is appropriate and what is not. And, the mar-ket has often found edgy content to be highly consumable. Be it content aroundpornography, or around violence, or extreme verbal abuse, or fundamentalisthate against others— the internet has allowed hate to flourish, thrive, and at-tract others like it. We have all heard of stories of some ordinary people be-coming self-radicalised after finding extremely violent fundamentalist content,mostly video, online. For the longest time these extreme groups stayed in theirown corner of the internet, rarely engaging with the rest of us. However, the coming in of web 2.0 and the boom in social media changed all

that. Platforms went out of their way to make the spreaders of hate content andfake news welcome. That is because they provided the sheer traction to attractothers, form communities of interest glued together by hate, and get the plat-form in the news. But, now the hate and fake chickens have come home to roost.Worldwide, there is uproar about what social media platforms can be used for.The death of George Floyd and the protests that followed, brought into focusthe role of social media platforms, and their ability to weaponise hate speechand fake news by being tolerant towards both in the name of free speech. Fake news and hate speech are often seen as different phenomenon, but in

fact are linked. Whether it is holocaust deniers, or anti-vaxxers, or those who

demonise religious groups—what we see is a merger between fake and hate. Wesee the bubbling over of alternate facts to defend the ‘otherising’ of people andcommunities. While there is fair consensus on dealing with fake news, it is notgoing to get anywhere unless you start a crackdown on hate groups using theweb to push out their agenda. Social media platforms seem to recognise this. Reddit, home to the most un-

inhibited, no holds bar conversations has banned hate speech and shut downover 2000 forums that were racist and called for violence. Reddit, like other plat-forms that originate in the USA, used to uphold the rights of racist hatemon-gers to spew their ideology, because they believed that the American firstamendment protected free speech. However, in a recent change in policies it hassaid “communities and users that promote hate based on identity or vulnera-bility will be banned.” Last month, after much resistance, Facebook too said itwill crack down on hate speech, including advertisements for politicians thatfuel hate. This is after one of the world’s largest advertisers, Unilever, pulledout advertising budgets from Facebook, saying that it would rather its productsdid not appear amidst hate and divisiveness. With the activists, advertisers and the public at large seeming to revolt

against an internet without filters, it is likely that these platforms will bring inplace filters that moderate their platforms. And, once they moderate, it is any-one’s guess whether audiences will stay and continue to network in this new‘safe’ internet; or will large numbers desert the current platforms and move toplatforms that allow them to operate without filters.Neither hate speech nor fake news are going anywhere anytime soon. There

may be a crackdown against both on the main social media platforms in re-sponse to the social upheaval that is currently being seen in the USA, but it isunlikely that it will move beyond the western world. In India, you do see vicioushatemongers like Shubham Mishra get taken down by social platforms, butonly after he crossed the line by issuing rape threats.As the web matures, as more families are on it, and as advertisers demand a

more conducive environment to exhibit their products—it is likely that thecommunities of hate that did so much to build web 2.0 will disappear from themain platforms. And, that can only be a good thing.

The writer works at the intersection of digital content, technology, and audiences. Sheis a writer, columnist, visiting faculty, and filmmaker.

America signalsthe start of the

Second Cold War

The world at large has a vital stake in the relation-ship between the largest and the second largestpower. More than it did when the US and the erst-

while USSR were at each other’s throat in the 45-year-long Cold War. The first cold war was broadly betweenthe democratic West and the Communist East. A num-ber of Afro-Asian countries sought to maintainequidistance between the rival blocs, or leaned towardsone while pretending to be neutral. India claimed to beneutral, but for all purposes was aligned with the Sovi-et Union. Aside from the proclivities of the rulers, thefact that Pakistan was a duly paid-up member of theanti-Communist bloc, CENTO, left India little choice.The Cold War ended with the eventual breakup of theUSSR into several independent nations. It took severalyears for the successor State, Russia, to rise from thedetritus of the Soviet Union. But even then strongmanVladimir Putin’s Russia is no longer the principal pow-er to challenge the lone super power, the US. That placenow belongs to China, which all through the Cold Warwas at loggerheads with its Communist neighbour.Russia is a much smaller power than China, though ithas a superior nuclear arsenal. The reason why theCold War 2.0 will be far more fierce is that the Chineseeconomy is far stronger than the USSR’s. Besides, Chi-na is openly expansionist. Competition with the USAhad hollowed out the USSR economy but China owes itsrise to the wrongheadedness of the US which virtuallybuilt the China’s economy hoping it would embracedemocracy. Belying the hope, China now bites the handthat fed it. More importantly, China is unlikely to re-peat the USSR’s mistakes. Also, the world has vastlychanged since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It isclosely interlinked economically; inter-dependence ontrade, technology, energy supplies, etc., is greater thanat any time before. Race to develop superior technolo-gy, including Artificial Intelligence, for use in everydaylife as also for military use, animates both the USA andChina. The ouster of the Chinese tech giant, Huawei,from the US and other countries underlines the nextbig battleground, that is, the cyber space. China is ag-gressive in using military and money power to sup-press its neighbours and near-neighbours on land andsea. And it is the new imperial power, seeking to colo-nize poorer nations. A number of our neighbours feelobliged to sing the Chinese tune because we cannotmatch the billions China throws at them only to bendthe sovereign nations to its will. China grabs projects,lands, shipyards et al, on failure of borrowing nationsto service debt.China has now fully turned on its benefactor. Lastweek, Trump’s always articulate Secretary of StateMike Pompeo minced no words in describing the threatChina poses to the global order. It was perhaps only ap-propriate the US-China love affair should end where ithad all begun. Almost fifty years after Nixon and hiscerebral Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had pulledChina from the fringes into the wider global communi-ty, Pompeo, speaking at the Nixon Library, laid out ingreat detail the vicious nature of the Chinese regime.He painted a scary picture of an evil empire out to men-ace the world. “This is not about containment…It isabout a complex new challenge that we have neverfaced before. The USSR was closed off from the freeworld. Communist China is already within our bor-ders.” He accused Beijing of seeking to subvert demo-cratic nations, penetrating their security, compromis-ing their vital supply systems, etc. China, he said, seeksdomination. “Securing our freedoms from the ChineseCommunist Party is the mission of our time, Americais perfectly positioned to lead it because our foundingprinciples give us that opportunity.” You can discernthe coming of the Cold War-2 in Pompeo’s forceful elu-cidation of the Chinese threat. His ringing message in-verts the Ronald Regan’s famous dictum about Russia,‘trust but verify’, into “Distrust and verify”. How wewish India’s rulers instead of being taken in by the‘bhai-bhai’ and ‘jhoola’ diplomacy had heeded at leastReagan’s, if not Pompeo’s advice. Even now it may notbe too late to heed what Mao had said in the context ofthe Sino-China relationship back in 1949. ‘Cast away il-lusions, prepare for struggle.’ Seventy years later, Chi-na has risen to look America in the eye. Let us beginour own struggle to be able to stand up to the evil pow-er, hopefully, sometime in the not-too-distant a future.

The gradual taming of social media

Operation COVIDThe daily COVID-19 countis now 50 K, two daysrunning. We may not beresource rich to prioritisepublic health, spending amere 1.3 % of GDP, but thatis to be made up by goodplanning, coordination andpreventive healthcare witha rural bias. Kerala diddemonstrate this in thepandemic. A charismaticleadership famouslyshutdown the entire nationovernight to earn kudosonly to evaporate when itcame to reopening theeconomy. It is stunned atthe explosive spread andgone silent. Inputs andassistance to govt hospitalshas dwindled, medical andpara medical staff alreadyinadequate andoverworked, unable to copewith rush of cases. Adesignated minister withan apex team of OperationCOVID-19 should have beenthe beehive of activity todirect the nation. Instead,Delhi seems busy with itsusual political one-upmanship and in thesanguine hope that theeconomy will somehowrecover. It might well bethat millions would sinkbelow the poverty line, evenas marquee indices onDalal Street relentlesslyclimb. Such ineptitude willinvite nemesis on a nationthat is being beguiled into avirtual world by anunchallenged COVID-19.

R.Narayanan

Unjustifiable actThe Rajasthan face-off isentering a point of noreturn. The CM is willingto prove his majority on thefloor of the House; hedeserves a chance since itis within the rules andregulations of theConstitution. I am at a lossto understand what causesthe Governor to act againstthe recommendations ofthe cabinet? This shows heis partisan—aconstitutional impropriety.Saner counsel must prevail.Furthermore, our anti-defection law seemsobsolete in today's politicalenvironment. It is cryingout for immediatecorrection since gulliblepeople are fooled in thisregard.

Sravana Ramachandran

It is not difficult to see that the econ-omy is in bad shape. Most Indiansknow this, experience it and can feel

it in their bones. In a way, all referencepoints have disappeared like they do ina tsunami. We don’t know if the sea ison the land or the land is in the sea. Ma-rooned in such a situation, official eco-nomic yardsticks have little meaning.Yet, some indicators are available on

the extent of the collapse though thegovernment has cautioned against anycomparisons with the past. Factory out-put as measured in the Index of Indus-trial Production (IIP), which tracksmanufacturing, mining and electricity,is in free fall. The IIP for April and May,the first two months of the pandemicand the lockdown, reports a 45% fallfrom the period last year. The collapse,not unexpected, comes on the back ofnegative numbers that began showingup pre-pandemic in fiscal 2019-20. Forexample, the IIP was down 4.3% in Sep-tember 2019, with mining down 8.5%,manufacturing down 3.9% and electric-ity down 2.6%. The Indian economy is hit hard by the

pandemic at a time it was already weak.The numbers quantify one part butthey also point to what can’t be meas-ured—the yet-to-come cascading im-pact on investments, spending patternsand overall attitudes and behaviourthat could dramatically alter some ba-sic constructs.Take the example of cement, in which

India has the second highest installedcapacity in the world with some onemillion people employed. The industry,of course, shut shop during the lock-down and then opened up as the lock-down eased but it still has unusedstocks, that reflect the weak offtake inconstruction, which of course, reflectsthe collapse of demand, which is likely

to get worse as more companies in theIT services space take to working fromhome and dramatically lower their of-fice space usage. This will furtherdampen prospects in a sector that iseven today known for its poor stan-dards and exploitative relationshipwith customers, despite a law likeRERA. So even if there is a pick up inthe IIP, it will run into show stoppers ofthe kind that will emerge from severalquarters as businesses and citizens ad-just to the changing paradigms. Clearly,it is too early to read "green shoots" (aterm used five times in the govern-ment's Macroeconomic Report, June2020) into numbers even when they in-dicate a pick up.Consider then the “crucial cushion to

external shocks” in the nature of forexreserves at USD 475.64 billion as on July10. This looks robust by itself till oneappreciates that total external debtstood at 558.5 billion (March-end 2020figures). Total reserves can financeonly about 85% of external debt; andshort-term residual maturity (matur-ing in less than 12 months) of externaldebt accounts for some 50% of total re-serves. This was fine in a stable world.In a geopolitical climate brimmingwith volatile hotspots, this should notoffer comfort. Accretion to reserveswas high in 2019-20 at USD 59.3 billionbut as the economist Dr. R K Pattnaikhas noted, it contains an unusuallyhigh “other capital receipts” portion ofUSD 18.4 billion, which includes forexthat came in but was in likelihood notdeployed as the market turned and theSARS-CoV-2 pandemic spread acrossthe globe. This tells us of the huge gapsthat now stand between plans, invest-ments and execution—again an indica-tion of uncertainty that points to dan-gers in the external sector in a world

where globalisation is in retreat. In-dia’s current account balance may gen-erate a small surplus in the first quar-ter of this fiscal but this will be becausethe economy has stalled, leading to acollapse in imports. That isn’t goodnews either.India weathered the 2008 financial

crisis rather well but that came at atime the nation had recorded a five-year period of growth in the region of8%. For a crisis like the pandemic thatis far worse, India enters with an econ-omy that is far weaker than we haveknown for a long time. In the Jan-March quarter of 2019-20, growth wasdown to 3.1 percent—taking India backto the so-called Hindu rate of growth ofthe pre-liberalisation days. For the fullyear, growth was 4.1 percent, the lowestrecorded in 11 years. At the same time,inflation is up and has crossed the up-per limit of 6% in the April-May-Junequarter, telling us that prices haverisen beyond tolerance just when in-comes have fallen drastically. The RBIhas lowered rates repeatedly (cumula-tively 225 basis points from Feb. 2019 todate), but the classical argument thatthis would lower rates to retail borrow-ers and businesses, making it easier tobuy and invest more and so drivegrowth, remained the mythical storythat it is in India.There is clearly an immediate crisis

but the Indian economy also faces alarger crisis of vision, direction and in-tegrity. Numbers can’t tell us about thiscrisis and indeed a crisis like COVID-19conceals inherent weaknesses becauseit can all be attributed to the nasty pan-demic. But it is the inherent weakness-es that do not allow the nation to lookup almost three decades after liberali-sation promised to unshackle India andunlock its entrepreneurial energies.Instead, we have had one worse—an

unresponsive public sector of the pastreplaced by a post-liberalisation pri-vate sector that continues to pull privi-lege, comfort and support of public in-stitutions and stay far less answerableto the people and to Parliament. Thestory of rising NPAs that have led to a

fall in trust in the banking sector tellsus not only of the collusion betweencrooked bankers and business but alsoof the failure of the banking sector toregulate, appraise and take a call onwhat should be its fundamental activi-ty—whetting ideas and proposals, giv-ing out loans and monitoring their use.It tells us of the cover that the systemoffers to those who take public moneyand misuse it or divert it with impuni-ty, and of a regulatory system thatholds none of this to account. In themidst of the pandemic, on July 19, itwas the All India Bank Employees As-sociation that released a list of willfuldefaulters—the term itself is an oxy-moron but it is so legitimised that wedon’t stop to think how it might look ifthe crime were a little different—likewillful murderers, or willful dacoits.Yet, it is the AIBEA that wants an ordi-nance to go after these people, not thegovernment. All of this is pre-COVIDstash but it will determine how we re-spond to COVID-19. It is said that a time of crisis tests

mettle, resilience and character. The In-dian economy and its key drivers arelikely to come out poor on these fronts.The way businesses pushed or coercedthe government while a majority of the“leaders” and Twitterati CEOs fellsilent when labour laws were suspend-ed by many State governments tells usagain that India may have opened upand liberalised three decades ago butthe license-quota-permit Raj did not goaway. The ‘yes-man’ culture lives on.The loot continued. The looterschanged.In a vibrant economy, downturns can

come and go. Disruptive change opensopportunities for new players whodrive innovation, new products andservices as some of the entrenchedstruggle and vacate space. In an econo-my oiled by high order graft, down-turns expose the grimy layers. Nothinghappens. The poor suffer even more.

The writer is a journalist and facultymember at SPJIMR.

Syndicate: The Billion Press

There isclearly animmediate

crisis but theIndian

economy alsofaces a larger

crisis ofvision,

direction andintegrity.

Numbers can’ttell us aboutthis crisis andindeed a crisislike COVID-19

concealsinherent

weaknessesbecause it can

all beattributed tothe nastypandemic.

COVID-19 busts some mythsabout the Indian economy

Frame of ReferenceHarini Calamur

LETTERSTO THEEDITOR

Advertisers to play a role in blocking hate speech

Do you know that the Narendra Modi govt is changing Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) regulation via a new draft notification whichdilutes norms that infra/construction projects have to adhere to?This will have a devastating impact on our environment!

Srivatsa, Congressman

Let local communities decide on their agriculture lands, forests, rivers, coastal regions and commons. Draft EIA 2020 gives enormous powersto Bureaucrats, Consultants, Technocrats, Engineers, Investors, and Regulators to decide people’s fate.

Md Shaik Ansari, State President, Popular Front, Tamil Nadu

EIA draft is nothing but a tool to rob off the land rights of farmers, adivasis and almost anyone. Implementation of LARR is alreadyquestionable while acquisition displaced millions of people across th country in th name of development.EIA draft is another blunder.

G. Sundarrajan, Environmentalist

Dear Prime Minister, Do not consider exponential industrial growth alone as a symbol of India becoming a Superpower!Realise that rich biodiversity is the basis for human survival, and act accordingly!

Thol. Thirumavalavan, MP | Founder-President, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK)

ONE FLEW OVER THE NEST #ScrapEIA2020

Joining The DotsJagdish Rattanani

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Truth is stranger than fiction, but it isbecause Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.

— Mark Twain

MONDAY’S SWIPE

TAILPIECE

RISHI SUNAK CONSIDERS ETHNICMINORITY FIGURES ON UK COINS

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is reportedly consider-ing a proposal for influential ethnic minority figures to be featuredon a set of UK coins to celebrate Britain's diversity.

According to The Sunday Telegraph, plans have been submitted tothe Royal Mint to work out some proposals as the Indian-origin financeminister reflects upon a campaign to put influential black, Asian andminority ethnic (BAME) figures from history on a set of coins titled"Service to the Nation". The candidates in the running include NoorInayat Khan, who was the first Indian-origin World War II spy forBritain, and Khudadad Khan, the first soldier of the British Indian Armyto become the recipient of the prestigious Victoria Cross, the highestmilitary award for gallantry in the face of the enemy given to Britishand Commonwealth forces."We propose a specific next theme of service to the nation by black,

Asian, and other ethnic minority people, both in military conflict and onthe home front," says Zehra Zaida, an Indian-origin Conservative Partycandidate behind the campaign, in a letter to Sunak. "This theme willunite people, especially now as the nation has come together throughthe pandemic, and is collectively recognising the heroic work by ethnicminority staff in our health and care services.""It is surely essential that this country does not lose another opportu-

nity to demonstrate that the contributions of black, Asian, and otherethnic minority groups are truly valued. Symbols matter and we urgeyou to support our campaign," the letter notes.UK Treasury minister John Glen told The Sunday Telegraph that Sunak

was "keen to support" the "timely proposal". "The Chancellor [Sunak] isreflecting on the letter from Zehra and will reply in due course," he said."We are obviously supportive and keen to be positive about it, we needto see some firm proposals from the Royal Mint but we are keen forthis to happen." Zaidi's campaign is supported by several historians including Shrabani

Basu, the author of Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan, andpoliticians such as Conservative Party MP Tom Tugendhat and GreenParty MP Caroline Lucas. "I am absolutely delighted that the story ofNoor Inayat Khan has inspired so many people and that she hasbecome an icon. Noor was an extraordinary war heroine," said Basu,the Founder-Chair of the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust.Zaidi was previously behind a campaign to get the Bank of England

to select an ethnic minority heroine for a newly-printed GBP 50 note,proposing Noor Inayat Khan among the options. However, Britain'scomputer pioneer Alan Turing was the choice for the new banknotewhich goes into circulation from next year.

- PTI

FREE PRESSFOR FREE FLOW OF TRUTH

NATION 7K'taka forest minister tests Covid-19 positiveBENGALURU: Karnataka Forest Minister Anand Singh has tested positive for coronavirus and is stable."Forest Minister Anand Singh has tested positive for coronavirus," an official told IANS, here on Sunday.But for mild cough, his all other health parameters were normal and he was in a stable condition, theofficial said. Singh, who is at his home in Hospet, Ballari district, is yet to decide whether he would stay athome or go to Bengaluru for treatment. Phone calls and text messages to Singh went unanswered.

FREEPRESSMONDAY | JULY 27, 2020 | INDORE

News from South

Demolition work underway at Old TelanganaSecretariat building campus, in Hyderabad, onSunday PTI

ABVP says plaint against Subbiahwithdrawn, police say noCHENNAI: Even as the ABVP claimed that apolice complaint against its national President S.Subbiah over the harassment of an old lady hasbeen withdrawn, the city police said on Sundaythat a decision on the matter was yet to be taken.An official at the Adambakkam police station toldIANS that senior police officers will decide on thematter, a day after a first information report wasregistered against Subbiah. In a tweet, the ABVPsaid: "The complaint against Dr S Subbiah hasbeen withdrawn by the complainant, Shri BalajiVijayaraghavan, at the local police station.Misunderstandings between two families nowstand cleared and all issues have now beenresolved."

Isha Foundation accredited tothe UN Environment AssemblyCOIMBATORE: The United Nations EnvironmentProgramme has accredited the Isha Foundationwith Observer status to the United NationsEnvironment Assembly and its subsidiary bodies.Accreditation offers several advantages for NGOs,including participation in meetings of global groups,interaction with representatives of governmentsand a platform to influence policy formulation, anIsha press release said here on Sunday. Ishapreviously partnered with the UNEP for the WorldEnvironment Day hosted by India in 2018, it said.The Foundation was accredited by the UnitedNations Convention to Combat Desertification(UNCCD) to its Convention of Parties (COP) atNew Delhi in September last year.

Hyderabad Mayor tests Covid-19 positiveHYDERABAD: Hyderabad Mayor BonthuRammohan on Sunday said he has tested positivefor Covid-19 but was asymptomatic. Rammohanand his family took the test here on Saturday, apress release from the Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation (GHMC) said. His familymembers have tested negative for the virus.Rammohan said he has isolated himself and had tohold a meeting with civic officials through video-conference to review developmental and welfaremeasures taken up by the GHMC. He said hewould again undergo tests and that he woulddonate plasma after recovery. In June, the Mayorhad twice undergone Covid-19 tests and theresults were negative.

48-yr-old man held for uploadingchild pornography videoCOIMBATORE: A 48-year old man has beenarrested on charges of uploading childpornography video on social media, police said onSunday. The accused has been identified as SunilKumar, hailing from Kerala and working in acanteen in the city airport premises. He is aresident of Malumichampatti in rural limits. Policesaid he was arrested on Saturday night based onthe details, including the IP (internet protocol)address, given by the National Crime RecordsBureau that the man had uploaded the video onhis Facebook page in May last. Cases underSection 15 (i) of POCSO Act and Section 67A and67B of IT Act were registered against him.

Online classes in Kerala cross 1000-markTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The virtual classes,introduced by the Kerala government from Juneone in the backdrop of schools remaining shut dueto the Covid-19 pandemic, has now crossed the1000-mark. The initiative was launched bytheEducation department through itsKITE (KeralaInfrastructure and Technology for Education) Victerseducational channelunder the name "First Bell" as aninterim arrangement. The class teachers and schoolheadmasters or principals have to ensure thatstudents have access to a television or asmartphone or a computer, and Internet forattending the classes. The sessions on Victerschannel are available simultaneously on the KITEVicters website, mobile app, and social media pages.

Pondy CM, ministers, MLAs to undergo Covid-19 testPUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Chief Minister VNarayanasamy, his cabinet colleagues, theterritorial Assembly Speaker V P Sivakolundhu andall the legislators would undergo Covid-19 testafter an AINRC MLA who attended the budgetsession tested positive for the virus. The testswould be done for all 32 MLAs on Monday andTuesday at the assembly premises and the nearbyHealth Department office, a spokesman of theAssembly Secretariat told PTI on Sunday. This hasbecome necessary after an opposition AINRClegislator N S J Jayabal had tested positive onSaturday and was admitted to a private hospital.

Nine fishermen on sinking boat in TN rescuedRAMESWARAM: Nine fishermen were rescuedfrom their boat which began to sink in sea afterhitting a rock off Pamban near Rameswaram inTamil Nadu on Sunday, authorities said. Thefishermen from Tharuvaikulam in Tuticorin districtattempted to cross century-old cantilever Pambanrailway bridge when their vessel veered off thepath and hit a rock, Mandapam Coast Guardstation Commander M Venkatesh said. The fishingtrawler suffered damage and all nine men onboardwere safely rescued in the operation jointly takenup by the Coast Guard and the Navy.

First batch of Afghan Sikhsarrive in India post CAA

AGENCIESNew Delhi

Months after the Citizen-ship Amendment Act(CAA) came into force, theruling Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) and its allyAkali Dal leaders wel-comed the first batch ofAfghan Sikhs who reachedIndia on Sunday, fleeing re-ligious persecution. BJPDelhi chief Adesh Gupta,national secretary R.P.Singh and Akali Dal leaderManjinder Singh Sirsa wel-comed the Afghan Sikhswith saffron stoles, as all ofthem were visibly relievedto flee from a life of uncer-tainty.This first batch ofAfghan Sikhs reached Del-

hi on a special flight. Theywill be accommodated inIndia under a long termvisa arrangement. Many inthe first batch lost theirnear and dear ones in ter-ror attacks in Kabul. Manymore persecuted AfghanSikhs are expected to joinin the next few days.This is significant, given

that their arrival comes af-ter the much debated Citi-zenship Amendment Actbecomes operational thatallows religious minoritiesother than Muslims fromPakistan, Afghanistan andBangladesh, fleeing reli-gious persecution, to get afast track entry in seekingIndian citizenship.

DD to telecast Ram temple'bhoomi pujan' live: Trustees

AGENCIESNew Delhi

Veteran BJP leaders LKAdvani, MM Joshi and RSSchief Mohan Bhagwat areamong those being invitedto the 'bhoomi pujan' cere-mony of Ram temple in Ay-odhya on August 5 whichwill be shown live by Door-darshan, trustees of thetemple said on Sunday. Besides them, there isalso a view to invite spiri-tual leaders from all faiths,Anil Mishra, a member ofthe Shri Ram Janmabhoo-mi Teertha Kshetra Trust,told PTI. He said that in the wakeof the coronavirus pan-demic and restrictions ofsocial distancing, therewill be a limited gatheringof up to 200 people at theevent. The list is yet to befinalised, he said.

Invitations are being ex-tended to several peoplewho have been part of thistemple movement includ-ing BJP leaders LK Advani,Murali Manohar Joshi andUma Bharti, Mishra said. Kameshwar Chaupal, an-other trustee of the temple,said top leaders of theRashtriya SwayamsevakSangh including its chiefMohan Bhagwat and gener-al secretary SureshBhaiyyaji Joshi are also be-ing invited for the eventalong with VHP's workingpresident Alok Kumar. According to the Trustmembers, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi is likely tovisit Ayodhya for the cere-mony to begin the con-struction of the Ram tem-ple. Chaupal also said soilis being collected from allmajor places of worship in-cluding gurudwaras and

Buddhist and Jain templesfor 'bhoomi pujan'. Underlining that it will

be the “most important”event in the history of in-dependent India, Trust'sgeneral secretary ChampatRai said it will be shownlive by Doordarshan andother channels. He also appealed to devo-tees of Lord Ram to cele-brate this occasion in theirrespective homes or bygathering at nearby tem-ples, instead of coming toAyodhya. Alok Kumar, theworking president of Vish-wa Hindu Parishad (VHP)which is coordinating thesoil collection programmefor the event, said that soilfrom various religiousplaces including Jain tem-ples, Balmiki temples andGurudwara Sis Ganj in Del-hi has been sent to Ayod-hya.

MUMBAI

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan,who is currently seeking Covid-19treatment at Nanavati Hospital inMumbai, has opened up on thealarming effects of the deadlyvirus on the mental health of thepatients.Taking to his blog, Big B penned alengthy note, saying, "In the dark-ness of the night and the shiver ofthe cold room, I sing... eyes shutin attempted sleep... there is noone about or around... and thefreedom to be able to do that willextend I know if in the Will of theAlmighty there is release. The af-tercare has ever been the decidingand most valuable time on recov-ery after the incident of medicalprofessional doctoring in the pa-tient's life." "...There is one note of matterthat seems trivial but it is a fac-tor... the mental conditions and

the effects of the disease... clini-cally, medically all that is knownto be effective, yet very little isknown that remains hidden, un-seen and not visible... matters ofthe mind often are not. The men-tal state sparks from the stark re-ality that the Covid-19 patient ,put in hospitalised isolation , nev-er gets to see another human... forweeks."He shared how he's unable to in-teract much with the doctors, ow-ing to the fear of contamination."There are the nurses and the doc-tors on visit and medicine care...but they ever appear in PPEunits... you never get to know whothey are, what are their features,expressions because they are for-ever covered in the units for pro-

tection... all white beings about...almost robotic in their presence...they deliver what is prescribedand leave... leave because longerstay has the fear of contamina-tion,'' Bachchan said. "The doctor

under whose guidance the careand mapping and reports are gov-erned by, never ever comes nearyou to give a hand of assurance...a personal detail of the treatmentin the close proximity of an assur-ance... they are on the communi-cation vehicle of Face Time... it'sthe best under the circum-stances... but it is still impersonal,it cannot physically be possibleotherwise... we are in remotetreatment... does it have an effectpsychologically mentally, psychol-ogists say it does... patients afterrelease are tempered... they aregiven to consultation with profes-sional mind talkers... they areafraid to be in public for fear orapprehension of being treated dif-ferently... treated as one that has

carried the disease. A pariah syn-drome... driving them into deeperdepression and in the lonelinessthat they have just come out of,"Big B added.The 77-year-old actor also high-lighted the changes implementedin the medical sector of the worldamid the ongoing coronavirusoutbreak. "And even though the disease mayhave left the system, the cases of alow fever pursuing for 3-4 weeks isnever ruled out. The long andshort of it is this... the world hasnot found a foolproof methodolo-gy on the disease... every case isdifferent... each day a new symp-tom is under observation and re-search..." "Never before has themedical realm been so handi-capped... not just one or two re-gions... the entire universe. Trialand error were never in suchgreat demand than now," Big Bconcluded.

Big B laments the 'Pariah' syndrome

‘TEMPLE SHOW SHOULD BE E-BLISS’

FP BUREAUMumbai

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ud-dhav Thackeray, known for hismild temperament, was unusuallyscathing on Sunday as he daredhis detractors (read the BJP) totopple his government. He furtherran down the BJP dispensation atthe Centre as a ‘railway wagon’ –the latter in response to the chargethat his government was just arickety auto rickshaw with threewheels. Talking to Rajya Sabha MP San-jay Raut in the second and con-cluding part of his interview inthe Saamna on Sunday, the ChiefMinister also set a cat among pi-geons by calling for a virtual bhoo-mi puja for the Ram temple.Acutely aware that his partymay not get the kind of tractionthe BJP would at the groundbreaking ceremony at Ayodhya,where Uddhav would be just an-other chief minister who has been‘invited,’ the MVA chief ministertried to make a virtue out of hissuggestion for a virtual puja bylinking it to social distancing – theneed of the hour in the pandemic.‘‘An e-bhoomi pooja can be con-ducted. This is an event of great

joy, and lakhs of people would beinterested in attending the cere-mony. But can we allow the coron-avirus to spread?" Thackeray de-manded in the interview.Warming up to the theme, headded: This is not an ordinarytemple. What about lakhs of Rambhakts? Can you stop them fromgoing? Why not then have a virtu-al pooja," he suggested.The pièce de résistance was Ud-dhav’s suggestion that a bullettrain linking Mumbai to the

state’s second capital Nagpurmade more sense than one on theproposed Mumbai- Ahmedabadroute. He added that there wasalso no need for the proposed bul-let train view of the oppositionfrom land owners.Referring possibly to the recentdevelopments in Rajasthan, headded that rebel leaders may suc-ceed in inducing horse trading,but they seldom made it to the toppost and were invariably discard-ed after ‘use’.

Challenging the opposition BJPto oust his government, Thacker-ay stressed that he was firmly inthe saddle. “Some people claimthat the government will be top-pled in August-September. I amasking them to destabilise it now,instead of waiting,” dared Ud-dhav. He underscored that thestate government was graduallyfinding its feet. “The steering is inmy hands. The two others (theCongress and the Nationalist Con-gress Party) are sitting on the rearseat. Let me make one thingclear... one-party rule is a distantdream,” Uddhav asserted,dwelling on the new dynamics ofcoalition rule.He further said the initial mis-givings of the Congress about himhad been dispelled. “Our govern-ment is a three-party coalition.But, tell me, how many partiescomprise the Central govern-ment?” asked Uddhav, adding thatif his government could belikened to a rickshaw with threewheels – which was the preferredvehicle of the poor -- the NarendraModi-led dispensation was a rail-way wagon.

SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT CASE: NEXT INQUEUE IS KARAN JOHAR’S MANAGER

FP NEWS SERVICEMumbai

Maharashtra Home MinisterAnil Deshmukh said on Sundaythat the Bandra Police, which isinvestigating actor SushantSingh Rajput’s suicide case, willnow record the statement of film-maker Mahesh Bhatt. The policehave also summoned filmmakerKaran Johar’s manager to recordhis statement and, if need be, Jo-har too will be called, addedDeshmukh.Bhatt will record his statementin a day or two while Johar’smanager will be called later.The police have already record-ed statements of around 37 peo-ple, including filmmaker andYash Raj Films (YRF) chairmanAditya Chopra, director SanjayLeela Bhansali and film critic

Rajeev Masand, in connectionwith the case.Summons have also been sentto actor Kangana Ranaut. She iscurrently in Manali and the po-lice have sent summons by post.Ranaut was called to record herstatement after she openly criti-cised nepotism and the filmmak-er’s cartel in Bollywood, said anofficial.Recently, Sushant’s closefriend, Rhea Chakraborty, de-manded that the probe be handedover to central agencies. Howev-er, Deshmukh said that the Mum-bai Police were capable of han-dling the probe and said therewas no need for the Central Bu-reau of Investigation (CBI) tostep in. The 34-year-old actor was foundhanging at his Bandra residenceon June 14.

Locals cry foul over cremationof corona patients’ bodiesLAW KUMAR MISHRA

Patna

Cremation of Corona pa-tients’ bodies has createdlaw and order problem indifferent parts of the state.On Sunday, residents ofNorth Mandiri area in theheart of the state capitaltried to prevent five suchbodies at Bansh Ghat cre-matorium opposite theircolony. Police enforcementwas sent to pacify the resi-dents.People were agitated overcremation of Corona pa-tients’ bodies at the crema-torium than electric one.They alleged there was ap-prehension of epidemicspread in the area as on anaverage 12 to 15 such bodieswere being cremated in theopen on wood logs. Similiarproblem came up at Au-rangabad too, where resi-dents literally clashed withthe police over burning ofCorona patients bodies inthe open.Due to large number of

bodies of Corona patientsreaching Bansh Ghat here,bodies are being burnt ingroups and not individual-ly. Local contractorsclaimed due to rains, woodlogs have become wet,hence only dry woods arebeing allowed to use andcremate the bodies ingroups.Patna Municipal Corpora-tion officials said the threeelectric crematoriums atBansh Ghat, Gulbi Ghatand Khanzekalan ghat onthe banks of the Ganga areout of order for more than afortnight. "Coils in the cre-matoriums are burnt", theysaid.However, the residents al-leged the local wood logcontractors and those run-ning he electric crematori-um were hand in gloves anddeliberately put the elec-tric machines out of order.Five Corona patients diedat Nalanda Medical CollegeHospital and one at Parashospital. NMCH is Coronadedicated hospital.

Priyanka invitesBJP MP Balunifor tea beforevacating home

AGENCIESNew Delhi

Congress Gener-al SecretaryPriyanka Gandhihas invited AnilBaluni,Bharatiya Jana-ta Party (BJP)member of theRajya Sabha, fortea before vacat-ing the 35 LodiEstate bungalow.Sources close toPriyanka Gandhisaid a formal in-vitation was extended to Baluni, thenew allottee of the bungalow, on Satur-day. It was nothing but a courtesy ex-tended to the new allottee, sources said.The Congress leader was asked by thegovernment on July 1 to vacate the gov-ernment accommodation by August 1as she was no longer in the list of Spe-cial Protection Group (SPG).The process of handing over the bun-galow to the CPWD and the Estate De-partment would begin soon, said aclose aide of Priyanka Gandhi.The Ministry of Home Affairs in itsJune 30 communication had saidPriyanka Gandhi had been assigned 'Zplus' security with the CRPF cover onthe all-India basis, which didn't haveany provision for allotment or reten-tion of the government accommoda-tion.

B'luru bansanimal sacrificein public places

on BakridBENGALURU: Animal sacrificeduring the upcoming Eid al-Adha orBakrid has been prohibited at publicplaces in the city, as well as otherplaces identified by the civic body,an official said on Sunday."The general public is hereby noti-fied that sacrifice of animals duringBakrid or any other religious occa-sion is prohibited on public roadsand footpaths," said the official.Similarly, sacrifices have also beenprohibited in hospitals and nursinghomes, schools and colleges.Other prohibited places includetemples, mosques, any other reli-gious place, and parks used for wor-ship."Any person or organisation vio-lating the above (prohibitions) areliable to be prosecuted under theKarnataka Municipal CorporationAct of 1976 for illegal sacrifice," saidthe official.The official also suggested that afew more stringent laws will be ap-plied to violators."Only authorised abattoirs are al-lowed to slaughter animals used forfood," the official told IANS.

Advani, Bhagwat, spiritual leaders from all faiths among invitees

India sees 675 Coviddeaths in just 1 hour

NEW DELHI

While India is putting in all ef-forts to prepare a vaccine forthe cure of the deadly coron-avirus, the world's third worst-hit country on Sunday record-ed close to 49,000 (48,661) casesin the last 24 hours taking thetotal tally to over 13.8 lakh cas-es while the death toll crossed32,000 (32,063) with 675 deathsin just one hour.According to the latest dataavailable on the website of theMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare, total number of casesin India reached 13,85,522 ofwhich 32,063 people have losttheir lives while 8,85,577 haverecovered.The total number of activecases are 4,67,882 cases. Maha-rashtra remained the worst hitstate after recording a single-day spike of 9,251 cases takingthe state's tally to 3,66,368 ofwhich 13,389 people have diedof the deadly disease.

l Why not a virtual puja for Ram temple, in view of the pandemic; l If my coalition government can be likened to an auto rickshaw, then the BJP

dispensation at the Centre is a railway wagon...l I dare my detractors to oust me now, why wait till September l Why not a bullet train from Mumbai to Nagpur...

“This is not an ordinarytemple. What aboutlakhs of Ram bhakts?

Can you stop them fromgoing? Why not thenhave a virtual pooja."

Mahesh Bhatt to be called in soon

'Sense of drift in Cong; high timeparty gets full-time president'

AGENCIESNew Delhi

It is "high time" that the Con-gress appoints a full-timepresident by "selection orelection", party leaderSandeep Dikshit said on Sun-day, asserting that the Con-gress Working Committee(CWC) comprising seniorleaders should have settledthe leadership issue earlier,dealing with it on priority. There is a "sense of drift"

and a feeling that "we need toget on with the job" in theparty with an interim presi-dent at the helm, Dikshitsaid. In an interview to PTI, the

Congress leader said that forhim, there was no "particularfixation" with any person,and Rahul Gandhi or anyone

else could be appointed by"selection or election", butthe important thing is thatthe party needs a full-timepresident. Dikshit's remarks assume

significance as Sonia Gandhinears completion of one-yearas interim Congress presi-dent in early August and theparty is abuzz with hecticparleys on the way forward. He also hit out at Jyotira-

ditya Scindia for switching tothe BJP and Sachin Pilot forhis rebellion in Rajasthan,asserting that the fight wasnot between the young andthe old in the party, but be-tween the "usurpers" andthose persevering throughhard work. "Much as I would say that

Mrs (Sonia) Gandhi is doinga very able and commend-

able job (as president), one ofthe reasons that she left earli-er was that she felt that it istime for her to take to thebackground and for otherpeople to take over. In hercase, it was Mr (Rahul) Gand-hi," Dikshit said. "Here's an interim arrange-

ment. Interim is a very iffyword because you know ifyou are interim you won'ttake long term decisions forthe Congress. So, it is hightime we get a full time presi-dent, whoever it is," the 55-year-old former MP said. Whether it is through "se-

lection or election" there isno issue, he said. "We shouldhave a full-time president,whether it is Mr. A or Mr. B orMr. Gandhi that is not an is-sue at all. Party ideology andcollective leadership make a

party," Dikshit said. He said initially it was

thought that the CWC, theparty's highest decision mak-ing body, will come togetherand select a president ormaybe among themselveselect one, but that has nothappened. It is not a bad idea to leave it

open to the All India Con-gress Committee (AICC),where one can also have anelection to the working com-mittee, he said. "It (appointment of full-

time president) should havehappened earlier. I constant-ly maintain that here is theplace where I point towardsthe inability of our seniorleaders (CWC members) tohave risen to the challenge,got together and got thisthing done," Dikshit said.

PM sends China...It was a clear indication tosome of the conspiracy theo-ries and alleged "surrender"barbs that few, particularly af-filiated with the oppositionparties have made against thegovernment recently. TheCongress has been consistentin its claim that India lost itsshare of land to China, an as-sertion that the Modi himselfhas categorically rubbished.

Betul ADJ, son...Investigations are on but noarrests have been made so far,said the officer, adding thatfurther action will be initiatedafter receiving the forensicand other reports.

It’ll be show time...Schools and metro, it seems,are the last items on the gov-ernment’s Covid-19 agenda.More than anyone, the parentsare not inclined to send theirchildren to school, until a vac-cine hits the market, or thevirus curve flattens out andthe scare eventually blowsover.

CM's condition is...According to CMD of ChirayuHospital Ajay Goenka, thecondition of the chief minis-ter is better and his medicalparameters are under watch.CM holds VC from hosp, lis-tens to Man ki Baat- Chiefminister Shivraj SinghChouhan reviewed the situa-tion arising out of pandemicthrough a video conferencefrom the hospital. He issueddirectives to officials in citieswhere the situation is grim.Besides, he received feedbackon the lockdown in the statecapital. He listened to PrimeMinister's Man ki Baat.Ministers, officials' reportsnegative - The swab samplesof the ministers and officialswho were in contact with chiefminister Shivraj SinghChouhan were found negative.Those who held one-to-one dis-cussion with Chouhan includ-

ed Uma Bharti, Mohan Yadav,Aidal Singh Kansana and oth-ers. They tested negative. TheCMO staffers whose swabsamples were tested were alsofound negative.

Gehlot now wants...The Congress is, meanwhile,planning a countrywideprotest and said it would go tothe President to foil the "BJPconspiracy". The party, howev-er, said it will not hold aprotest outside the Governor'sHouse in Jaipur, where extrasecurity measures are beingtaken. A disqualification ofthe rebels before a trust votewill bring down the majoritymark in the 200-member Ra-jasthan assembly. Gehlotclaims he has the numbers,but if the mark stays at 101, hismajority will be wafer-thin,leaving his government vul-nerable. The Congress has anarrow lead over the opposi-tion and is only one past themajority mark of 101 in the200-member Rajasthan assem-bly. Team Pilot claims the sup-port of 30 MLAs, but so far, theevidence points to only 19. TheBJP has 72. Including smallerparties and independent mem-bers, the opposition has 97 atthe moment.

You have to...As long as you sing that song,you think of the message. Butonce you stop singing thesong, you don't think about itsmeaning." The "BawaraMann" singer said the job ofan artiste is to recognise thefaultlines in the society byfirst acknowledging that"something has failed". "Oneway of living has failed peopleand they are disappointedwith it, which is why they'relooking at another way. "Let'srespect that but also start giv-ing them the dose of love fromscratch. Film artistes are likemagicians, we have to showthe audience the magic of lifeagain," he added.

Continued from page 1

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8 NATION Containment zone sign outside 'Jalsa' removedMUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), on Sunday, removed sign outside actor AmitabhBachchan's bungalow Jalsa, that had declared the residence a containment zone for the last 14 days, reported newsagency ANI. The BMC had sealed the four bungalows owned by Big B - Pratiksha, Janak, Vatsa and Jalsa - on July 12after the actor, his son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya tested positive for Covid-19. Amitabh, Abhishek andAishwarya are currently admitted to Mumbai's Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital for Covid-19 treatment.

FREEPRESSMONDAY | JULY 27, 2020 | INDORE

THINK OF FRONTLINEWORKERS BEFOREREMOVING MASKS IN PUBLIC: PM

AGENCIESNew Delhi

The threat of coronavirus is notyet over, cautioned Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi on Sundaythrough his monthly 'Mann kiBaat' radio address. He said that before removing

masks in public, Indians shouldthink of frontline health workerswho have been working diligentlysince March. Modi reiterated that wearing a

mask may be uncomfortable, but is it crucial to defeat the pandemic. The Prime Minister also said

that staying vigilant is extremelyimportant to face the pandemic.He also cited efforts by sarpanchsin fighting this health crisis.

Terror hideoutbusted in Kashmir;arms, ammunition

seizedSRINAGAR:Arms and am-munition and other incrim-inating materials were re-covered on Sunday after se-curity forces busted a ter-rorist hideout in SouthKashmir's Shopian district,officials said.According to details, the

police along with securityforces busted the hideout inorchards of Dachoo area ofShopian. A large quantityof arms and ammunitionincluding two Under BarrelGrenade Launchers(UBGL), three grenades,one magazine of an AK-47rifle were recovered. "Shopian police and secu-

rity forces busted a hideoutin orchards of Dachoo area.Two UBGL Grenades, threegrenades, AK-47 Magazine,20 AK rounds, ICOM RadioSet and other incriminat-ing materials were recov-ered," police said.

KARGIL VIJAY DIWAS

21st anniversarycommemorated

SRINAGAR: The Army onSunday commemorated 21years of its victory over Pak-istan in the Kargil war of 1999as it joined the nation in re-membering the heroes of “Op-eration Vijay”, officials said.“A grateful nation today re-membered the heroes of Oper-ation Vijay, on the 21st an-niversary of Kargil Vijay Di-was, which is celebrated everyyear on 26 July,” Srinagar-based defence spokes man ColRajesh Kalia said.He said the occasion com-

memorates the glorious victo-

ry of the Indian armed forcesagainst the Pakistan Army in-truders in the Kargil, Drassand Batalik sectors in 1999.Lieutenant General

Harinder Singh, General Offi-cer Commanding of the Leh-based Fire and Fury Corpslaid a wreath at the iconicKargil War Memorial in Drasson behalf of the nation andpaid tribute to the gallant he-roes, Col Kalia said.Meanwhile, Srinagar-based

Chinar Corps joined the na-tion in remembering the gal-lant soldiers who made the

supreme sacrifice, serving sol-diers and veterans on this oc-casion, an Army spokesmansaid here.He said GOC Chinar Corps,

Lt Gen BS Raju, on behalf ofall ranks of the Corps paidhomage to the Kargil War he-roes in a solemn ceremony atthe War Memorial in BadamiBagh Cantonment here.

The proceedings included abrief narration of the KargilWar highlighting the saga ofcourage and valour of the sol-diers who lost their lives inbattle, prayers by religiousteachers and laying of wreathin proud remembrance of thevaliant heroes who participat-ed in the operations, thespokesman said.

WORLDFREEPRESS

INDORE | MONDAY | JULY 27, 2020

9Australia's migration intake tofall by over 2L; Indians affected

AGENCIES / Melbourne

Australia's migration in-take will drop signifi-cantly to 31,000 in 2020-21from 232,000 in 2018-19due to the effects of thecoronavirus pandemic,impacting thousands ofIndians planning to emi-grate to this country.While the effects of theCOVID-19 pandemic onthe Australian economyare still evolving, migra-tion, which is a key driv-er of the economy, hasbeen hit following thetravel bans, border clo-sures imposed earlierthis year since the conta-gion began.The Australian Eco-nomic and Fiscal Update

report, released onThursday by the treasurydepartment, said that theNet Overseas Migration(NOM) is significantly af-fected by the internation-al travel restrictions andconstraints on the abilityof applications to meetvisa application require-ments."The NOM is assumedto fall from 232,000 in2018-19 to be 154,000 in

2019-20 and 31,000 in 2020-21," it said.The Indian communityin Australia comprisesnearly seven lakh people.India is one of the topsources of skilled immi-grants to Australia. Ap-proximately 90,000 stu-dents are studying inAustralian universities.The report said thatthe international bor-ders were expected toreopen in Januray nextyear. "Future migra-tion levels remainhighly uncertain, dueto the path of the pan-demic and the natureand duration of meas-ures taken to containits spread at home andabroad.

About 7 lakhIndians live inAustralia. Theyare among topsources of skilled

immigrants

‘Termite’ ISI destroyingus: Afghan ex-intel chief

AGENCIESKabul

Former Afghan intelligencechief Rahmatullah Nabilhas termed agents of Pak-istani spy agency Inter-Serv-ices Intelligence (ISI) as "ter-mites" who are destroyingthe Afghanistan system stat-ing they pose serious threatsto the country and should beconfronted.Nabil, speaking at pressconference on Saturday, saidthat the employees of intelli-gence agencies of the re-gional countries are beingemployed in the governmentinstitutions, which pose se-rious threats toAfghanistan, Tolo News re-ported.

"There are termites whichare destroying the system.The ISI (Pakistani militaryintelligence) agents in thesystem must be confronted,"said Nabil. The formerAfghanistan intelligencechief said that people withinthe country and the regionare exploiting the processfor their political and eco-nomic agendas.Qaeda active in 12 Afghanprovinces: UNThe Al Qaeda terror groupis still active in 12 Afghanprovinces and its leader Ay-man al-Zawahiri is stillbased in the country, a UNreport said. There are about400-600 Al Qaeda fighters inAfghanistan, said the re-port.

Kim hits panic button over 1 suspected Covid case case

AGENCIES / Dubai

An Indian couple have beenfound dead under mysteri-ous circumstances in theirflat in Abu Dhabi, media re-ports said.Janardhanan Pattiery, 57,and Minija, 52, from Kerala'sKozhikode district, were res-idents of Abu Dhabi for near-ly 18 years, Khaleej Times re-ported. Pattiery, who workedwith a travel agency, had re-cently lost his job. Minijawas a chartered accountant."They were calm and quietpeople. I don't rememberthem having any issue withanyone. Pattiery had lost hisjob. Earlier they had soldtheir car," said the report.The couple's only son, whostudied in Abu Dhabi, worksin Bengaluru.

AGENCIES/ Tampa

A television news reporterin Florida is crediting an ea-gle-eyed viewer for noticinga lump on her neck andemailing her that sheshould get it checked out.Victoria Price, a reporterfor WFLA in Tampa, fol-lowed the advice and was di-agnosed with cancer.Price tweeted that she isundergoing surgery onMonday to remove the tu-mor, her thyroid and a cou-ple of lymph nodes."Doctor said it's spreading,but not too much, and we'rehopeful this will be my first

and last procedure," shesaid.The viewer emailed Pricelast month, saying the lumpreminded her of one shehad had.

Price, 28, an inves-tigative reporter,said this week thather television sta-tion's catchphraseis "8 On Your Side.""But the roles re-cently reversedwhen I found aviewer on MY side,and I couldn't bemore grateful,"Price said. "I will beforever grateful for

the woman who went out ofher way to email me, a totalstranger. She had zero obli-gation to, but she did any-way. Talk about being onyour side, huh?"

AGENCIES / Giglio Island

Stranded on a tiny Italian island, acancer researcher grew increas-ingly alarmed to hear that one, andthen three more visitors had fallenill with COVID-19.Paola Muti braced for a rapidspread of the coronavirus to the800 closely-knit islanders, many ofwhom she knows well. Her motherwas born on Giglio Island and sheoften stays at the family home withits charming view of the seathrough the parlor's windows.But days passed and none ofGiglio's islanders developed any

COVID-19 symptoms even thoughthe conditions seemed favorablefor the disease to spread like wild-fire.Dr. Armando Schiaffino, the is-land's sole physician for around 40years, shared Muti's worry that

there would be a local outbreak.Muti, a breast cancer researcherat the University of Milan whereshe is an epidemiology professor,decided to try to find out why itwasn't happening this time.Were residents perhaps infectedbut didn't show symptoms? Was itsomething genetic? Somethingelse? Or just plain luck? "Dr. Schi-affino came to me and told me, 'Hey,look, Paola, this is incredible. Inthis full pandemic, with all the cas-es that came to the island, nobodyis sick.' So I said to myself: 'Right,here we can do a study, no? I amhere,'" Muti said.

By then, Muti was trapped on theisland by Italy's strict lockdownrules. What was especially puz-zling to her was that many of theislanders had had close contactwith the visitors. Of the 800 or so year-round resi-dents, 723 volunteered to be tested.Only one was found to have anti-bodies, an elderly Gigliese manwho had sailed on the same ferry tothe island with the German visitor,Muti said.Muti hadn't reached any conclu-sions by the time she was prepar-ing to leave the island thismonth.dd

• SL to hold advance polling for the quarantined

• US colleges plan for virus testing for students

• Hong Kong sees no ease in Covid-19 situation

• Nepal COVID-19 tally reaches 18,613

• COVID graft putting 'lives at risk', says S Africa

• Singapore reports 481 new cases; all foreigners

DASHBOARD

A wall depicts a mural at El Chopo flea market inMexico,City amid the coronavirus pandemic —AFP

Indian couplefound dead inUAE house

Pakistanis headterror groups AQIS,

ISIL-K, TTP: UNPakistani nationals remain at theleadership levels in terror groupssuch as al-Qaida in the IndianSubcontinent, Islamic State inIraq and the Levant - Khorasanand Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan,and many of them are yet to beblacklisted, according to a UNreport. It said that in April andMay, the Afghan special forcesconducted a series ofcountrywide operations andarrested the head of the ISIL-KAslam Farooqi and hispredecessor Zia ul-Haq andothers.

Journo says viewer’s tip behind her cancer findLuck? Genetics? Italian island spared from corona

AGENCIES / Seoul

Seoul: North Korean leaderKim Jong-un convened anemergency meeting of theruling Workers' Party andadopted a "maximum emer-gency system" against theCOVID-19 pandemic after adefector returned fromSouth Korea with symp-toms of the virus, state-me-dia reported on Sunday.During the meeting heldon Saturday, Kim also saidhe took "the pre-emptivemeasure of totally blockingKaesong" after the "run-

away" returned to the bor-der city on July 19 aftercrossing the military de-marcation line, three yearsafter fleeing to the South,Pyongyang's Korean Cen-tral News Agency (KCNA)

said."To tackle the present sit-uation, he declared a stateof emergency in the rele-vant area and clarified thedetermination of the PartyCentral Committee to shiftfrom the state emergencyanti-epidemic system to themaximum emergency sys-tem and issue a top-classalert," Yonhap NewsAgency quoted KCNA assaying.The meeting unanimous-ly adopted the "maximumemergency system" deci-sion, it said.

NASA spots China’sMars spaceship

AGENCIES / Washington

During routine survey operations for hazardous asteroids,NASA's asteroid camera has spotted China's Tianwen-1 Marsspacecraft speeding away from the Earth. The China's Tian-wen-1 Mars mission was launched on Thursday to begin a sev-en-month journey to the Red Planet, the space.com reported.The spacecraft consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover,all packed together into what China hopes will become itsfirst successful Mars mission. The views were captured by aprogram run by NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Of-fice, which scans huge swaths of the sky for space rocks in or-der to gather enough observations for astronomers to mapeach object's path in case one may come a little too close forcomfort.

SAN FRANCISCO: The face-off meeting between the USgovernment and tech giants Amazon, Apple, Facebook andGoogle will now happen on July 29, where the CEOs JeffBezos, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai are totestify before the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee.

The antitrust hearing was originally scheduled for Monday.The congressional hearing as earlier postponed in the wakeof the death of civil rights icon and DemocraticCongressman John Lewis. The panel has been investigatingthe dominance of a few digital platforms.

Panel to now grill Bezos, Cook, Zuck, Pichai on July 29

If there was no rat race everybodywould be free, says Ravi Dubey

avi Dubey says if there was no rat raceeverybody would be free, creating the stuff thatartistes believe in. The actor recently penned apoem titled Aankde, which translates to

“numbers”. Where did Ravi find inspiration to writea poem on this subject? “In the past few months, allof us have gone through collective experiences.They have stirred us emotionally. They havepointed inwards and all us started looking withinourselves, especially artistes. We have all begun toquestion ourselves, asking ‘are we truly on theright path? Are we truly engaged in our craft andin our art as we were on the very first day whenwe came into this industry? Or, has the numbergame got to us?’,” Ravi said. The actor, who has worked in shows like Qubool

Hai, Jamai Raja and Kumkum Bhagya among manyothers, says he was wondering what the deadlockwas that seemed too hard to break in an artiste’s

life. “I personally came to the conclusion that it is thisnumber game, it is this rat race. If there was no race,everybody would have been just so free and would becreating the stuff they believed in, that their gut told

them,” he said. Ravi said once the number game takesover, then “survival tactics come into play”, adding, “Andthen, you just keep going with that. So, there were thesethoughts that I kept having on and off, which inspired meto write this poem, Aankde,” he added. —IANS

t was not easy for Kriti Sanon to watch the last film of the lateactor Sushant Singh Rajput. Her heart literally broke whilewatching Sushant's performance in Dil Bechara.

Taking to Instagram, Kriti pennedan emotional note for Sushant, sharinghow does she feel seeing the latter inhis last movie. “It’s not seri (ok) And itwill never sink in..This broke myheart..again. In Manny, I saw YOUcome alive in so so many mo-ments. I knew exactly where youhad put in a bit of yourself inthe character..And as always,your most magical bits wereyour silences.. those bits whereyou said nothing and yet you saidso much,” Kriti wrote. Directed by Mukesh Chhabra, DilBechara, which released a few days agoon the OTT platform, is the officialremake of 2014 Hollywood roman-tic drama The Fault in our Stars,based on John Green's popularnovel of the same name. Italso stars debutante actressSanjana Sanghi in the leadrole. “@castingchhabra Iknow this film will alwaysmean a lot more to you thanwhat we had thought.. youmade us feel too many emo-tions in your first! Wish youand @sanjanasanghi96 abeautiful journey ahead,”Kriti added. Kriti was ru-moured to be in a relation-ship with Sushant. Thetwo even starred in thefilm Raabta. —IANS

merican singer Taylor Swift’s latest album, titled Folklore, has sold over 1.3 millioncopies globally in 24 hours, according to Republic Records. As per The HollywoodReporter, on Spotify it was streamed 80.6 million times, breaking the record for first-day album streams by a female artist. Folklore was also the most-streamed pop album

on Apple Music on its first day of release, with 35.47 million streams. The 30-year-oldsinger's eighth studio album Folklore, dropped at midnight on Thursday (local time) — asurprise to her fans — alongside a music video for the track Cardigan' Among her collaborators,indie folk band Bon Iver appears with Swift on the track ‘exile’. On social media, the Love Storysongstress also shared her vision for the album. —ANI

AFREEPRESS

Taylor Swift’snew album

breaks record10INDORE | MONDAY | JULY 27, 2020

aking headlines ever since it’s announcement is ace filmmaker Aanand L Rai'smuch anticipated Atrangi Re. Featuring superstar Akshay Kumar, Sara AliKhan and South star Dhanush, the film went on floors in March this year beforethe nationwide lockdown was imposed. While the film's first schedule took place

in Varanasi, makers have now planned to begin the second schedule of Atrangi Refrom October this year in Madurai.Taking a note of the increasing coronavirus cases in the country, Aanand L Rai and theentire team decided not to resume the shoot immediately for everyone's safety. Com-

menting on the same, Aanand said, “During this lockdown, I’ve taken out a lotof time to prep up for the upcoming schedules of Atrangi Re. I’m really ex-cited to start the next schedule which is planned to happen in MaduraiOctober onwards and then with Akshay for a month in Delhi and Mum-bai, with all the safety precautions of course.”The upcoming schedule which will last for three months, the starcast of the film will be shooting in three different locations includingMadurai in October followed by Delhi and then Mumbai in the fol-lowing months. It’s said that the Delhi and Mumbai schedule withAkshay Kumar will be continuous lasting more than a month.This is the first time Aanand will be directing Akshay Kumar andreportedly, the actor will be bringing something new and never seenbefore for the audiences. In Akshay’s own words ‘a special role thatmy heart just couldn’t say no to’.Directed by Aanand L Rai, the AR Rahman musical is produced

by Colour Yellow Productions and marks the first film in which thetrio of Akshay Kumar, Sara Ali Khan and Dhanush will be seensharing the screen space. Presented by T-Series, Colour Yellow Pro-ductions and Cape of Good Films, Atrangi Re is writtenby Himanshu Sharma.

The storySima Taparia is Mumbai’s top matchmak-er, with a cure to modern loneliness — herimmaculate matchmaking skills guideelitist clients in the US and urban India toa ‘perfect partner’, in a tailor-madearranged marriage set-up. For the betteror worse, the show mirrors real struggles,insecurities and inane tendencies ofyoung, single adults in India, while givingan incisive peek into the questionablepractice in today’s age.

ReviewLet’s be honest: India loves to hate-watchsome shows so bad, that they begin to feelgood. Indian Matchmaking— a NetflixOriginal — falls within the ambit of thispeculiar observation. As much as millennials and Netflix loy-alists ranted over the ‘regressive’ ways ofSima Taparia and her ideology of a goodmarriage, that is, ‘adjustment and com-promise’, the show climbed up the rankson the list of top shows in an unbelievablyshort span of time. Reason? It’s eerily relatable, mirrors ourobsession with labels and our deep-seatedfaith in cupid, or “matchmakers” for thatmatter. The show introduces you to ‘Sima aun-ty’, who, besides being the reigning postergirl of memes and trolls, seems like thelast resort for indecisive young men andwomen that have little in common, exceptfor a yearning for a happily ever afterwith the ‘right’ person. Sima isn’t differ-ent from your stereotypical neighbour-hood aunty. Except that she probablyknows her worth and the her wealthy

clients’ desperation. Client who are eager-ly on the lookout for an interesting add-onto their successful, but hollow existence. Barf alert: Sima triggers humour andangst at one go, just as she voices her hon-est perspectives for promising suitors,that’ll get you to question a lot of things,we promise.Whether it’s Naadia’s unbridled vibeteamed with some fresh eagerness that in-stantly makes one connect with her, Delhi

girl Ankita’s way of being, Pradhyuman’s“superficiality” or the fiercely independ-ent Aparna’s seemingly picky ways —Sima out rightly claims that women whoaren’t too flexible send out a repelling en-ergy, which in turn makes the process offinding the ‘right’ guy a lot harder — theshow portrays the grim reality of findingsomeone worthwhile and the effort thatactually go into finding some you want toconsider spending the rest of your life

with. The first season of the show is split intoeight moderately long episodes that don’treally manage to capture the same inten-sity all through. This is largely becausemany narratives are scattered and lop-sided, and ends rather abruptly. You probably would want to give brown-ie points for the immaculate cinematogra-phy, as the visuals are nothing short ofspeculator and offers a surreal vibe of thecityscape of Delhi, Mumbai and America.The show might evoke twinges of envyamong watchers who’d wish they had thespate of options these successful bache-lors do. Peppered with a streak of regressive-ness and teamed with the concept ofmeeting new people; the show fails topack a punch or rather sustain the in-trigue that it first arouses. The trinkets ofwisdom by old couples that pop at thestart of an episode are amusing, to say the least. Case in point: The show touches a partof our reality, that we often tend to put onthe backburner: Loneliness. The yearningfor someone worthwhile to spend ourlives with, failing which everything even-tually loses its purpose. As much as urbanIndia loves its space, there is always roomfor love, even if its arranged.C’mon, you want a matchmaker too,don’t you?

—Review by Pooja Prabbhan

n his almost two decade-long ca-reer in films, actor RanvirShorey says he has managed tostay afloat on his own, courtesy

critically-acclaimed films likeKhosla Ka Ghosla, Honeymoon TravelsPvt Ltd and Bheja Fry. The actor said hewas “sidelined” by mainstream cinema,which initially affected him, but hepushed himself to work in the independ-ent space. “I was lucky enough to stand out in in-dependent films. I am surviving on myown, it is a great achievement for me. Ihad to crawl inch by inch to make myspace. Wherever I am today is notthanks to so-called mainstream bigwigsas they have tried their best to sidelineme,” Shorey said.The thought of quitting Bollywoodcrossed his mind multiple times, but theactor said his passion for the craft kepthim going. In the aftermath of SushantSingh Rajput’s death which sparked con-versations ranging from mental healthto nepotism, Shorey opened up on socialmedia about facing “professional and so-cial isolation, bad mouthing press, andthe psychological trauma” in the years2003 to 2005.He believes the ‘insider vs outsider’ de-bate won’t change the film industry, buttalking about it might make the environ-ment “less toxic”. “I brought it up now isbecause I saw a lot of similarities to

what is being reported in Sushant’scase,” Shorey said, referring to hisSonchiriya co-star who passed away inJune. “When certain people have power theyabuse it. I was a victim of it at that time.I have been through a dark period andthis business can break you. It had adeep impact (on me) not just emotional-ly, but also professionally,” he continued. Shorey made his debut opposite Man-isha Koirala in 2002’s Ek Chhotisi LoveStory and followed it up with next year’sJism. He said he was “wiped out” as heonly got to play “small parts” in filmslike Waisa Bhi Hota Hai 2, Lakshya andShiva. “I had to start again from scratchfrom TV. I did The Great Indian ComedyShow, then I started building my careeragain. Then Khosla Ka Ghosla happenedin 2006,” he said, noting the DibakarBanerjee-directed comedy.“Nobody gave me meaty or lead rolesin mainstream films, except one filmUgly Aur Pagli. It didn’t do well and af-ter that nobody gave me a chance. If astar kid has a flop, it is not that they willnot be given a lead role. If I give one un-successful film at the box office, thechances of getting a lead film in main-stream are over,” he added. Shorey is currently awaiting the re-lease of his next Lootcase, which will beout on Disney+Hotstar on July 31.

—PTI

Getting back to normal... Akshay Kumar, Sara Ali Khan and Dhanush to start the next schedule of Atrangi Re in India from October

M

Web Watch

Indian MatchmakingLove in times of Sima Taparia

Show: Indian Matchmaking

Cast: Sima Taparia, various others

Platform: Netflix

Rating: 3/5

unny Leone is in lovewith her beach out-ings. Lately, the ac-tress has been shar-

ing pictures from herbeach outings on her Insta-gram. On Sunday, she shareda glimpse of her “chilly morn-ing at the beach”. In the photograph, Sunny isseen sporting a long red-coloured shirt and blackshorts, which she paired witha pair of sunglasses. She canbe seen walking on the beach.“Chilly morning at the beach,”she captioned the image. Earlier this month, Sunnyshared a glimpse of her ‘so-cial distancing day at thebeach’. Sunny took to her offi-cial Instagram account,where she posted a picture ofherself in a bright blue swim-suit. She completed her lookwith a black baseball cap andsunglasses. “Social distancingat the beach!! Can’t get anybetter then this! CaliforniaLOVE!” she wrote alongsidethe image. The actress alsoshared a picture with herhusband Daniel Weber. "In thesunshine with this hottie@dirrty99," she wrote along-side the image. On the work front, Sunnywill next be seen in Veera-madevi and Koka Kola.

—IANS

I

S

It’s brightand ‘Sunny’

I

Hollywood TalkKanye West issues public apology to wife Kim Kardashian

merican rapper Kanye West issued an apology to hiswife Kim Kardashian on Twitter — the same socialmedia platform where he announced plans to divorceher just days before. According to Fox News, “I would

like to apologize to my wife Kim for going public withsomething that was a private matter. I did not cover her like shehas covered me.to [sic] Kim I want to say I know I hurt you.Please forgive me. Thank you for always being there for me,” therapper wrote. Although West did not specify what “privatematter” he was referring to, it's likely related to his admissionduring a South Carolina campaign rally lastweekend that the couple consideredabortion when they were expecting theirfirst child, daughter seven-year-old North.West told a crowd while crying, “Even

if my wife wants to divorce me after thisspeech, she brought North into theworld even when I didn’twant to. She stood up andshe protected that child.You know who elseprotected a child? Forty-three years ago, who doyou think protected achild?” Reportsindicated earlier in theweek that the 39-year-old reality TV starKardashian was“furious” over theabortion claims.He then claimed in a

now-deleted tweet thathe’s been “trying” todivorce Kim ever sinceshe attended a prisonreform event alsoattended by rapper Meek Mill. —ANI

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Tele Talk

‘I was luckyenough to stand out inindependentfilms’Ranvir Shorey says hewas ‘sidelined’ by mainstream cinema,which initially affectedhim, but he pushed himself to work in theindependent space

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Kriti gets emotional

HOTELS SHOULD BUILD AN EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT WITH PATRONS, SAYS A NEW RESEARCH

AGENCIESLondon

The global hospitality sector, one of theworst-hit industries during the Covid-19 pandemic, is in a huddle to find waysto get things back to normal. Accordingto researchers, humanising hotelbrands can be one such solution to en-courage tourists to return.Hotels should build an emotional at-tachment with tourists when commu-nicating during such crises to maketheir re-arrival smoother, accordingto researchers from the Universitiesof East Anglia (UEA), Bath and theWest of England in the UK.The crisis communication empha-sising "shared emotional responses torisks" enables tourists to humanisethe hotel, which can subsequently cre-ate an emotional attachment.This attachment can then increase

tourists' intentions to visit once thecrisis ends, which is crucial if the in-dustry is to recover."Tourists experience fear and anxi-ety towards the health risks of Covid-19, while the hotel sector feels fearand anxiety about the uncertainty itfaces," said Dr Haiming Hang fromthe University of Bath.To dig deeper, the researchers in-volved 405 American participantswhose travel plans were disrupted bythe pandemic.Participants were then randomly al-

located to one of the three experimen-tal conditions. Participants in thecontrol condition were not exposed toany crisis communication message.In the other two conditions, the hotel'scrisis communication focused on thesame areas, commitment to cleanlinessand cancelation policy, but they differedon why the hotel wanted to do this."In the cognitive (rational) condition,consistent with many hotels' currentresponse, the crisis communication ex-plained the hotel's commitment tocleanliness was to reduce health risk".In the shared emotions condition,the crisis communication explainedthe hotel's commitment to cleanlinesswas because it shared the same emo-tions as tourists: the hotel employeesand their families are susceptible tocoronavirus just like everyone else,the authors wrote in Annals ofTourism Research.

Hotels bank on ‘humanising' to beat slump

Diesel prices up again, nears Rs 82/litre in DelhiDiesel prices rose for the second straight dayon Sunday, nearing Rs 82 per litre in thenational capital. Petrol prices, however, wereunchanged for the 27th consecutive dayacross the four metros. In Delhi, diesel was

priced at Rs 81.94 a litre. With a 15-paisehike on Sunday, diesel is now Rs 1.51 costlierthan petrol in the city. After the hike, Dieselprices in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata wereRs 80.11, Rs 78.86, Rs 77.04 respectively,

BIZ BUZZ403 infra projects show cost overrunsof Rs 4.05 lakh croreNEW DELHI: As many as 403 infrastructure projects, eachworth Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns ofover Rs 4.05 lakh crore owing to delays and other reasons,according to a report. The Ministry of Statistics andProgramme Implementation monitors infrastructure projectsworth Rs 150 crore and above. Of the 1,686 such projects,403 reported cost overruns and 530 time escalation.

Panel to select candidate for RBIdeputy governor post on Aug 7NEW DELHI: A search panel headed by the cabinet secretaryis scheduled to interview shortlisted candidates on August 7for the post of RBI deputy governor, sources said. As per theearlier schedule, the interview was to take place on July 23but was deferred due to some reasons.

RBI may go in for further 25 basispoint rate cut, feel expertsMUMBAI: The Reserve Bank is likely to go in for a minimum25 basis points cut in key lending rate in the forthcomingmonetary policy review as the need to revive the coronavirus-hit economy is pressing notwithstanding marginal uptick ininflation, feel experts. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC),headed by RBI Governor, is scheduled to meet for three daysbeginning August 4 and announce its decision on August 6.

Average office rental in Delhi-NCRmarket declines 9 pc in H1 2020NEW DELHI: The average office rental in the Delhi-NCRmarket declined by 9% to around Rs 78 per sq ft a monthduring the first half of this calendar year as demand was hitdue to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report. In itshalf yearly report, property consultant Knight Frank India hassaid that the gross absorption or leasing of office space fell45% to 21 lakh sq ft during January-June 2020 compared to38 lakh sq ft in the year ago period. The new supply plunged86% to 8 lakh sq ft from 59 lakh sq ft during the period underreview

Spl insolvency resolution frameworkfor MSMEs at advanced stage: IBBI NEW DELHI: A special resolution framework for MSMEs is atan advanced stage of preparation and a prepack resolutionframework is also under works, IBBI chief M S Sahoo has saidand emphasised that the insolvency law is evolving to offerinnovative ways to service emerging needs. Amid thecoronavirus pandemic that has also significantly impactedeconomic activities, the government has already suspendedcertain provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code(IBC). The Code, which came into force in 2016, seeks toprovide time-bound and market-linked resolution of stressedassets.

‘PNB Housing Fin expects to disburseRs 13,000 crore loans this fiscal’NEW DELHI: PNB Housing Finance expects to disburse aroundRs 13,000 crore loan in current fiscal, and sees demandpicking up around October-November with the onset of festiveseason, its MD and CEO Neeraj Vyas said. Demand from masshousing statement has started picking up post relaxations incoronavirus-induced lockdowns and gradual reopening ofeconomy, he said.

Merc-Benz hopeful of further salesrecovery in festive seasonNEW DELHI: With consumer sentiment "developing positively"in pockets in India where there is stability in terms of COVID-19 related restrictions, luxury carmaker Mercedes Benz ishoping that by festive season sales recovery will be better,according to a senior company official. The company whichhad planned at least ten new introductions this year in India isalso sticking with its plans, although some products may belate due to global supply chain issues.

Lupin, Granules India recall around9.71 L bottles of diabetes drug in USNEW DELHI: Drug makers Lupin and Granules India arerecalling close to 9.71 lakh bottles of generic diabetes drug inthe US due to possibility of the affected lot containing cancercausing nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) above the acceptableintake limit. As per the latest Enforcement Report of the USFood and Drug Administration (USFDA), Lupin is recalling4,92,858 bottles of Metformin Hydrochloride extended-releasetablets in 500 mg and 1,000 strengths.

‘BSNL outstanding dues sub Rs 100 cr’NEW DELHI: Data network solutions provider SterliteTechnologies' receivables from BSNL has come down to lessthan Rs 100 crore now, and the company is hopeful thatsubstantial part of pending dues will be cleared by the state-owned telco this year, Group CEO Anand Agarwal said. Thedues from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) were close to Rs230 crore at the end of 2018.

Hind Copper aims to raise ore outputNEW DELHI: State-owned Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL) looks torope in a partner with strong financial health to help it expediteore output capacity to over 20 million tonnes per annum (MTPA),its CMD Arun Kumar Shukla has said. He said all statutoryclearances are in place for the first phase of expansion.

Grofers aims IPO lisiting by 2021-endNEW DELHI: Softbank-backed Grofers has advanced its planto launch an initial public offer by the end of next year afterits profitability path zoomed during the lockdown period, atop official of the company said. Grofers co-founder and CEOAlbinder Dhindsa told PTI that the company started makingoperational profit in January and expects to become cashpositive by the end of this year.

Amway India to invest Rs 100 cr moreNEW DELHI: Direct selling FMCG firm Amway India is lookingto invest an additional Rs 100 crore over the next two years tofuel its future growth plans in the country, a top companyofficial has said. Sensing growth opportunities in online salesdue to changing consumer behaviour amid the COVID-19pandemic, the company is working on boosting its supplychain and home delivery network to meet customerrequirements.

MONEY FREEPRESS

INDORE | MONDAY | JULY 27, 2020

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NEW DELHI:Foreign portfolioinvestors (FPIs) remained netsellers in Indian markets inJuly so far on account of bothdomestic and global factors,including rising number ofcoronavirus cases andincreasing tension betweenthe US and China.According to thedepositories data, overseasinvestors invested Rs 2,336crore in equities but pulledout Rs 2,422 crore from thedebt segment, leading to netoutflows of Rs 86 crore fromIndian markets between July1-24. In the previous month,FPIs were net buyers to thetune of Rs 24,053 crore.Himanshu Srivastava,associate director - managerresearch, Morningstar Indiasaid that FPIs have adopted a"cautious stance" with respectto investment in Indianmarkets. There is a surge incoronavirus cases globally,tension is increasing betweenthe US and China, and Indianeconomy is still limping.

Two-wheeler sales on recovery pathacross markets: Bajaj AutoNEW DELHI: Bajaj Auto is witnessing a strong revival indemand for two-wheelers in the domestic as well asinternational markets, even as it continues to faceheadwinds in the three-wheeler segment, a seniorcompany official has said. The company, however, expectsto have a much clearer trend at its disposal by the nextmonth-end to see whether the current demand for two-wheelers is just a pent-up demand from previous monthsor the industry really is back on a revival path.

Viral Acharya cautions govt,RBI against deficit financingNEW DELHI: Known for not mincing his words, Viral Acharyahas termed demand for high dividend by the government at theexpense of eroding Reserve Bank of India's capital as "coercivemonetisation" of fiscal deficit.In his book, Quest for Restoring Financial Stability in India, theformer deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India said thatgovernments have found the need to preserve the central bank'scapital for a rainy day as overly conservative and insteadfocused on "filling up their bottomless pit of deficits year afteryear". "Given India's external sector vulnerabilities, it is paramountthat the central bank balance sheet be perched on the highesthill (think of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's choice for locating hisfortress): it should remain untouched and unperturbed in themidst of almost any macroeconomic storm," Acharya wrote inhis book released on Friday. Acharya's term as RBI deputy governor had seen heightenedtension between RBI and the government, especially on thedemand to transfer part of the reserves of the central bank asdividend. The relationship worsened after Acharya in a scathing speechin October 2018 criticised the government for impinging on RBI'sindependence and for the demand to transfer a part of thecapital reserves to the government.

—Agencies

AGENCIESMumbai

Admitting that Larsen &Toubro has not been immuneto labour disruptions due toCOVID-19, the group's chair-man A M Naik has said sub-contracted labour of the com-pany dipped even below 1.6lakh post pandemic inducedlockdowns from 2.25 lakh ear-lier.Ninety% of the domesticproject sites of the companyare working with restrictedlabour capacity, the companysaid in its latest annual re-port.Images of migrant workersreturning to their homes,some on foot, some by hitch-hiking and a large numberthrough special 'Shramik'trains and buses arranged bythe central government in co-ordination with state govern-ments have been imprintedon minds through main-stream and social media,Larsen & Toubro (L&T)

Group Chairman A M Naiksaid in the report.While saying that the com-pany on its part has takenmeasures to provide relief toworkmen at its project sites,he admitted that it has notbeen immune to the impact oflabour disruption.However, he expected thingsto stabilise to near regularlevels in the second quarter ofthe current fiscal with nor-malcy being gradually re-stored.Amid widespread concernsabout the plight of daily wageearners, Naik said the compa-ny took it upon itself to en-sure that the 1,60,000 contractworkmen at its project sitesreceived good care.

ArcelorMittal drags Essar,to court over Hazira port

AGENCIESAhmedabad

ArcelorMittal Nippon SteelIndia Ltd (AMNSIL) hasfiled a petition in the Gu-jarat High Court againstthe Government of Gujaratand Essar Bulk TerminalLtd seeking transfer ofHazira port licence in itsname.Within days of acquiringEssar Steel under an insol-vency process, AMNSILhad made an application tothe Gujarat MaritimeBoard requesting that thelicence be transferred tothem.While the government isyet to decide on the matter,the firm has approached thecourt stating that the EssarBulk Terminal Ltd (EBTL)holds captive licence as anominee or trustee, accord-ing to the petition filed un-der Article 226.ArcelorMittal did not re-

spond to email and phonecalls made for comments.Essar Steel owns a 10 mil-lion tonnes per annumsteel plant at Hazira in Gu-jarat, which is serviced bya captive jetty constructedat port."The petitioner is seekingthe reversion of the captivejetty licenses," AMNSILsaid in its petition, claim-ing it was a captive user ofthe jetty and intended ben-eficiary under all the li-cences and expansions. "EBTL is not an inde-pendent licensee... butmerely a 'nominee' and'trustee', holding the two li-

cences on behalf of and intrust for petitioner's exclu-sive use and benefit," it saidadding Essar Steel hasceased to be same groupcompanies and thereforeEBTL no longer stands eli-gible and does not possessany right as a license hold-er of the captive jetty.Essar Bulk TerminalLimited has denied thisstating that it is an inde-pendent company andthere exists no nominee ortrustee relationship be-tween the companies.In the Supreme Court ap-proved resolution plan sub-mitted by ArcelorMittal forEssar Steel under the Insol-vency and BankruptcyCode, ArcelorMittal hadasked for directions to begiven to the Gujarat Mar-itime Board and EssarBulk Terminal Ltd askingthem to continue the portservices at Hazira on thesame terms and conditions.

FPIS WITHDRAWRS 86 CR FROMSTREET IN JULY

SELLING OUT

BPCL clears decksfor sell-off with VRS

AGENCIESNew Delhi

State-owned BPCL has brought a vol-untary retirement scheme for its em-ployees ahead of the government pri-vatising the country's third biggest oilrefiner and second-largest fuel retail-er."The Corporation has decided to of-fer a Voluntary Retirement Scheme(VRS), with a view to enable employ-ees, who are not in a position to con-tinue in service of the Corporationdue to various personal reasons, to re-quest for grant of voluntary retire-ment from the services of the Corpo-ration," Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd(BPCL) said in an internal notice toits employees.The 'Bharat Petroleum VoluntaryRetirement Scheme - 2020 (BPVRS-2020)' opened on July 23 and will closeon August 13.A senior company official said theVRS has been brought to offer an exitoption for any employee or officer

who does not want to work under aprivate management."Some employees feel their role, po-sition or place of posting may changeonce BPCL is privatised. So thisscheme offers them an exit option," hesaid.BPCL, where the government is sell-ing its entire 52.98% stake, has about20,000 employees.The official said 5 to 10% of employ-ees are expected to opt for VRS.Expressions of Interest (EoI) forbuying BPCL are due on July 31.All employees who have completed

45 years of age will be eligible for thescheme, according to the VRS noticeaccessed by PTI.It, however, excludes activesportspersons (employees recruitedas sportsperson who are yet to be de-ployed in mainstream) and board lev-el executives."Employees opting for VRS would beeligible to receive a compensationpayment equivalent to two months'salary for each completed year ofservice or the monthly salary at thetime of voluntary retirement multi-plied by the balance months of serv-ice left before normal data of retire-ment on superannuation, whicheveris less," it said.Repatriation expenses, as payable incase of retirement, will also be paid.Employees who opt for voluntary re-tirement will be eligible for medicalbenefits under Post Retirement Med-ical Benefit Scheme.Also, they would be eligible for en-cashment of leaves including casual,earned and privilege leaves.

Equities choppy, Debtfunds get Rs 1 L cr

NEW DELHI: Driven by in-vestments in liquid schemesas also banking and PSUfunds, debt mutual fundssaw an inflow of Rs 1.1 lakhcrore in three months endedJune 2020 after witnessingmassive redemptions in thepreceding quarter.Most individual categoriesthat invest in fixed-incomesecurities, or debt funds, sawinflows. However, creditrisk, overnight, ultra-shortduration, medium durationand dynamic bond funds sawwithdrawals.The positive inflow pushedthe asset base of debt mutu-al funds to Rs 11.63 lakhcrore at June-end from Rs11.5 lakh crore at the end ofMarch, according to datawith Association of MutualFunds on India (Amfi).As per the data, inflowsinto debt mutual funds wereat Rs 1.1 lakh crore in thethree months ended June,compared to outflows of Rs1.13 lakh crore in the Janu-ary-March quarter.Investment into such fundswas at Rs 19,690 crore duringthe quarter ended June 2019.

Nearly 80% of the total in-flows during the quarter un-der review in the fixed-in-come segment came throughliquid funds, where most ofthe institutional money isparked.Liquid funds, with invest-ments in cash assets such astreasury bills, certificates ofdeposit and commercial pa-per for the shorter horizon,witnessed inflows amount-ing to Rs 86,493 crore duringthe quarter under review.The segment had witnessedan outflow of Rs 94,180 crorein the March quarter, typi-cally due to advance tax pay-ment requirements.In addition, banking andPSU category, which is con-sidered as a safe option, re-ceived inflows of Rs 20,912crore in the quarter endedJune 2020, compared to awithdrawal of Rs 66 crore inthe previous three months.As a mandate, such fundsneed to invest a minimum80% of their total assets indebt instruments of banks,public sector undertakings,or public financial institu-tions.

Puri cashes in Rs 843 crshares of HDFC Bank

AGENCIESMumbai

HDFC Bank chief executive andmanaging director Aditya Purihas sold more than 74 lakh sharesof the private lender to raise Rs842.87 crore, according to regula-tory filings.The share sale, which was exe-cuted between July 21 and 23,brought down Puri's holding inthe most valued Indian lender tojust 0.01% from the earlier 0.14%.The sale comes months aheadof Puri's retirement from thebank, which he led to become thelargest by assets among privatelenders and the second-largestoverall over 25 years.He sold 74.20 lakh of the 77.96lakh shares in the bank andPuri's remaining holding of thebank shares is now 3.76 lakhshares valued at over Rs 42 croreas of the last close.A bank spokesperson explainedthat the shares were allotted toPuri over a period of time at dif-ferent price points and stressedthat they were not given at parwith the face value of the share.

"The net value realized by Puriis not as stated. The acquisitioncost of shares and the tax payableon the transaction has to be ac-counted for as well," he added.Puri had emerged as the high-est-paid Indian banker in FY2019-20 with a 20% growth in grossearnings at Rs 18.92 crore. He hadalso earned an additional Rs161.56 crore in FY2019-20 and Rs42.20 crore in FY2019 by exercis-ing his stock options, as per thebank's earlier disclosures.HDFC Bank shares have gained46% since touching its 2020 low ofRs 765 apiece on March 24, amid amassive sell-off in equities due tofears over the COVID-19 pandem-ic. The scrip closed at 1,118.80 onthe BSE on Friday.

Tatas offer stake in plant toUK govt for 900 mn pounds

AGENCIESLomdon

Tata Steel is reportedly of-fering the British taxpayera 50% stake in its Port Tal-bot steelworks in Wales aspart of efforts to securegovernment backing to se-cure the future of the busi-ness in the wake of thecoronavirus pandemiclockdown.According to 'Sky News',the Indian steel major isseeking GBP 900 millionfrom the UK government'sProject Birch fund, whichwas set up to provide statesupport for strategicallyimportant businesses crip-pled by the pandemic. The proposal for the gov-ernment to take an equitystake and in effect part na-tionalise the plant is said tobe one of the options underdiscussion."A source close to TataSteel said the proposal -

which is just one of the op-tions the company is exam-ining - would involve itsparent company writing offan equivalent quantity ofdebt owed to it by the UKbusiness," Sky News said."The talks are at a tenta-tive, rather than concrete,stage, and the structure ofany deal, as well as the sizeof any financial contribu-tions, remain far from be-ing finalised," it adds.Analysts say it is unlikelythat the government wouldwant to inject new capitalinto any company applyingfor emergency aid unless

its shareholders were alsowilling to do so.'The Sunday Times' hadclaimed last weekend thatTata Steel was exploringthe closure of the plant'stwo blast furnaces and re-placing them with electricarc furnaces - a move thatcould spell job losses forsome of Port Talbot'sroughly 3,500 workers.Heavy restrictions havebeen placed on the fundingunder Project Birch, in-cluding stipulations that in-vestments support the gov-ernment in achieving itstarget of zero emissions by2050. Unions are deeply con-cerned that switching toelectric arc furnaces wouldresult in heavy job losses atthe steelworks. Blast fur-naces use iron ore and coalto make molten iron andsteel, whereas electric arcfurnaces typically meltscrap metal.

India hikesexposure to USgovt securities

L&T sees migrant labourshortage ending in Q2

NEW DELHI: India's holdingsof American governmentsecurities increased by nearlyUSD 13 billion to USD 169.9billion at the end of May,according to latest officialdata.So far this year, the country'sexposure has seen significantfluctuations and had touched arecord high of USD 177.5billion in February.After marginally rising toUSD 157.4 billion in April, theholdings jumped to USD 169.9billion in May, an increase ofaround USD 13 billion in amonth's time.In March, the exposure hadcome down steeply to USD156.5 billion from the record-high in February, according todata from the US TreasuryDepartment.India's holdings stood at USD164.3 billion in January. TheAmerican governmentsecurities are purchased by theReserve Bank of India (RBI).

—Agencies

FPJ NEWS SERVICEDelhi

Former India all-round-er Yuvraj Singh feelshe was handled very

unprofessionally towardsthe end of his career.Yuvraj, who is regarded asone of the finest all-rounders ever to play thegame, pulled down curtainsover his trophy-laden careerin June last year.Citing examples of fewprevious greats, who hadsimilar illustrious careerson the international stagebut didn't walk into the sun-set on a high, Yuvraj saidsuch cricketers, includinghimself, weren't givenenough respect at the end of

their respective journeys."I just felt that the waythey managed me towardsthe end of my career wasvery unprofessional.”

12SPORTSFREEPRESS

INDORE | MONDAY | JULY 27, 2020

“Ability may get you to thetop, but it takes character to

keep you there.”– John Wooden/ American Basketball player

THIS DAY, THAT YEAR1990: Graham Goochattains greatness at last. At theend of the 1980s, Gooch's Testrecord was something of a curate'segg - his average of 36.90, witheight hundreds from 73 Tests, didnot do him justice. But in 1990,galvanised by his appointment ascaptain, he embarked on atransformation. In a goldensummer in Test and county cricket.Almost half of these - 456 - camein one match, against India atLord's, including, on this day, hiscareer-best score of 333.

Anand suffers fifth straight lossin Legends of Chess tourney

CHENNAI: Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand suffered his fifthstraight defeat in the USD 150,000 Legends of Chess onlinetournament, going down 2-3 to Peter Leko of Hungary. The formerworld champion got off to a good start and won the first game of thebest-of-four contest. The next two games were drawn before Lekolevelled by winning the fourth. The Hungarian then claimed theArmageddon (a tie-breaker) to ensure Anand remain winless and at thebottom of the points table. Anand had earlier lost to Peter Svidler,Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik and Anish Giri.

EB’s priority to support Covidaffected people, not play in ISLKOLKATA: With East Bengal's hopes of playing in the Indian SuperLeague all but over, their 2003 ASEAN Cup-winning members onSunday came out in support of the club, saying the priority should be tosupport the people suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the17th anniversary of the club's momentous ASEAN Cup triumph,Bhaichung Bhutia and the other team members wrote to East Bengalgeneral secretary Kalyan Majumdar, making a pledge to support thepeople affected by the pandemic.

SPORTS CAFE

WHAT’S ON04.30: WWE; Sony Ten 1 15.00: Eng vs WI; SONY SIX 19.00:UFC fights SONY TEN 2

Mcgregor impresses Ramos MADRID: Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has invited former UFCfighter Conor Mcgregor for a training session at Real Madrid afterbeing impressed with the latter's impressive football skills. Mcgregoron Saturday shared videos of him playing football and captioned thepost as "What do you think @sergioramos?" Impressed withMcgregor's skills, Ramos, whose club won the La Liga title thisseason, commented, "Top class, mate! Fancy a training session at@realmadrid? More than welcome to join us anytime."

Maurice, 81, NASCARHall of Famer, dies

KANSAS CITY (US): Maurice Petty,part of a racing dynasty and the firstengine builer to be inducted into theNASCAR Hall of Fame, has died. Hewas 81. His family confirmed thedeath on Saturday. No cause wasgiven. He was the son of Lee Pettyand brother of Richard Petty, and hisability to turn a wrench earned himthe nickname "The Chief" in thegarage. Maurice Petty was knownmore for his mechanical acumen. Hehelped the famiily win 198 races andseven C’ships.

Beating Xuerui was aturning point: SindhuMUMBAI:World champion PVSindhu on Sunday said initial failuresat the international stage wasdisappointing but defeating the thenreigning Olympic champion Li Xueruiat the China Open in 2012strengthened her resolve to succeedin the senior circuit. Sindhu had burstonto the scene when as a 16-year-old she had stunned LondonOlympics gold medallist Li in thequarterfinals of China Masters. Ayear later, she claimed a maidenbronze medal at the prestigiousWorld Championships.

Covid & cricket will haveto co-exist: PCB CEO

LAHORE: PCB CEO Wasim Khanhas said they went ahead with theirteam's tour of England despite 10players testing positive for COVID-19to ensure resumption of the gameamid the pandemic. "COVID-19 andcricket will have to co-exist, therewas no other reason for this decisionother than the (revival of) globalcricket," Wasim Khan said.

Sanga wants Ganguly tobecome ICC Chairman

NEW DELHI: Former Sri Lankancaptain Kumar Sangakkara hasthrown his weight behind BCCIPresident Sourav Ganguly to takeover as Chairman of the ICC."I think Sourav definitely can makethat change. Quite a big fan of Dadanot just because of his stature as acricketer but I think he has a veryastute cricket brain," he said.

Hogg tips RCB to endIPL drought in UAE

MUMBAI: Former Australian spinnerBrad Hogg feels Virat Kohli's RoyalChallengers Bangalore (RCB) areamong the favourites to win the 13thedition of the India Premier League(IPL) in the UAE. IPL chairmanBrijesh Patel, on Friday, hadconfirmed to IANS that this year'sleague will be played around theSeptember 19 to November 8window and the same has beencommunicated to the franchises.Following this news, Hogg tooksome questions from the fans.

‘Run to the Moon’ raisesRs. 19L for sportspersons

MUMBAI: The ambitious ‘Run to theMoon’ conceived by IDBI Federal LifeInsurance and NEB Sports concludedon Tuesday, with the 14,000 runnersfrom different parts of the worldcovering a phenomenal distance of9,08,800 kilometres over the 30-dayspan. Spearheaded by PullelaGopichand and Ashwini Nachappaand Malathi Holla, the Run was aimedat raising funds for needy coachesand sports support staff in the countrywho have been struggling to makeends meet. It raised Rs. 19 lakhs.

Storm beat Liberty inWNBA season openerBRADENTON (US): BreannaStewart had 18 points, eightrebounds and four steals in her firstWNBA game since helping Seattlewin the 2018 championship, sendingthe Storm past the New York Liberty87-71 in the season opener for bothteams. The 2020 WNBA season,delayed and shortened by thecoronavirus pandemic, will be playedin a bubble at the IMG Academy.Stewart missed all of last seasonafter tearing her Achilles tendon whileplaying in April 2019.

ONE WITH BROAD SHOULDERSAfter smashing 62, the all-rounder stars with ball to bundle Windies under 200

‘Easier to monitor IPL in UAE’

KUSHAN SARKARNew Delhi

Taking the IPL to theUAE would be quite atask logistically for the

tournament organisers butfor BCCI Anti-CorruptionUnit head Ajit Singh, themove will make monitoringthe event "slightly easier" as itwould be restricted to justthree venues.The IPL will start in theUAE from September 19 andthe final will be held on No-vember 8 with three stadiums

-- Dubai, Sharjah and AbuDhabi hosting the 60 gamesover 51 days. "In the UAE, itwill be slightly easier doing

(monitoring ACU activity) asthere are only three groundscompared to eight venues inIndia. That's not an issue at

all. Once the schedule comes,we will decided the work-force," Singh told PTI duringan interaction. The UAE, in2014, hosted the first part ofIPL due to general elections inIndia. Singh said currently,there are "eight ACU officerswho are on BCCI payrolls".So, will that be enough interms of managing the workthrough 60 matches as well askeeping a tab on hotels? It willdepend on the kind of bio-se-curity bubble created, reck-oned the former Rajasthantop cop.

Head of league’s anti-corruption operations feels that managing threevenues will be slightly easier than looking after eight grounds in India

I was handled unprofessionallyat the end of my career: Yuvraj

Can't compare anyone inIndia to Stokes: GambhirNEW DELHI: Former India cricketerGautam Gambhir has heaped praise onEngland talisman Ben Stokes, saying noone in India can be compared to the starall-rounder. Stokes' all-round displayrecently helped England level theirongoing three-Test series against the West Indies and his performanceswith bat, ball and on the field have caught the imagination of fans andpundits around the world. "You can't compare anyone in India at themoment to Ben Stokes. Absolutely not, because Ben Stokes is in his ownleague," Gambhir said on Star Sports' show Cricket Connected.

FPJ NEWS SERVICELondon

Openers Rory Burns andDom Sibley consolidat-ed England's lead and

further strengthened theirgrip on the game as the hostsreached 86/0 at Tea on Day 3of the third Test at Old Traf-ford here on Sunday. Englandlead West Indies by 258 runsand at the break Burns wasbatting on 38 with Sibleyreaching 40.West Indies wicketkeeper

Shane Dowrich was forced toleave the field early in the af-ternoon session after beinghit on the face by a ShannonGabriel snorter. The red cher-ry burst through his gloves

and struck him on the lowerpart of his face.Uncapped stumper JoshuaDa Silva replaced Dowrichbehind the stumps after ShaiHope could not continue do-

ing the job for long.But the second session, likethe first, belonged to Englandas Burns and Sibley looked tofirst graft and then put thebad balls away as the touristslost steam.Jason Holder used as manyas five bowlers but none, in-cluding Kemar Roach,worked as the hosts pulledaway in style. There was turnon the wicket as Tea nearedwith Rahkeem Cornwall com-ing close with an LBW appealand Roston Chase beatingBurns a few times, but theopeners stood their ground.Earlier, Stuart Broadgrabbed six wickets as Eng-land put themselves in the

driver's seat to win the three-match Test series, level at 1-1at present.Resuming at 137/6, Windiessaw overnight batters skip-per Holder (46) and Dowrich(37) share a 68-run stand forthe seventh wicket to revivetheir flailing fortunes.But once Broad got into theact, there was no stopping theveteran pacer as he trappedHolder in front to then dis-miss Cornwall in similarfashion. Roach helped Broadbag his five-for by edging afull length delivery to Eng-land captain Joe Root, whotook a low catch at first slip.Finally, Dowrich's vigilcame to an end as a back of a

lengthBroad beautysaw him hole outto Chris Woakes atmid-on. The Windiesfolded for 197.England went into the sec-ond essay with a lead of 172and firmly on course to stagea come from behind serieswin after the touristswon the first Test.

TEA REPORTENGLAND 369 & 86/0

Burns 38*, Sibley 40*

WEST INDIES 197Holder 46; Broad 6/31

Broad takes leaf out of Warne's bookMANCHESTER: Stuart Broad hit 62 from 45 balls on the second day of thethird Test between England and West Indies to take his side to a commandingposition in the match. The innings has been part of an upturn in fortunes forBroad with the bat in recent matches and he credited former England coachPeter Moores, who is also his current mentor at Nottinghamshire, for it. Broadsaid that Moores asked him to take a leaf out of Australian spin great ShaneWarne's batting technique that the latter used during the dramatic 2005 Ashes."Mooresy came to me at the start of June and basically said: 'Look at howShane Warne played'," Broad told Sky Sports.