.ˇˇ&$ˆ / B( ˜ $0% ˆC ! ˝ ˆ% ˆC ! C RNI Regn. No. … · 2020. 8. 26. · ˆ ( " ˛ ˝ ˙˛...

�� !�� "�� #�$��%

�� !"�#$ � ��&��'�� !��$�� "�� !� �� !� �� !��%

��%��&�'�� ()(*��%�� +�,!-��./� �!+0� (��)��#�� !� !�� * ��"�� $��"�� $�� $�� * �� "��!��%�+(��)��#�� ,-,.��"�� * ��/��!0�� $�� *!�� "�� $��+�� /��%

��

�� )��)12�

The Centre may be all set togo ahead with its NEET

and JEE early next month, butthe chorus to oppose the testsamid the pandemic is gettingshriller by the day. OnWednesday, Congress chiefSonia Gandhi and ChiefMinisters of seven States,including West Bengal andMaharashtra, resolved toapproach the Supreme Courtand the Rashtrapati Bhawan forpostponing the tests.

In the nearly two-hourlong meeting, all the sevenChief Ministers agreed thatconducting exams amid thepandemic could have graveimplications and decided thatthey should unitedly approachthe Supreme Court for a reviewpetition on its earlier order.

West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee, MaharashtraCM Uddhav Thackeray,Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren,Congress CMs AmarinderSingh, Ashok Gehlot, BhupeshBaghel and V Narayanasamywere part of the deliberationsled by Sonia.

In the meeting, Sonia con-tended that students’ prob-lems were being dealt “uncar-ingly” by the Centre, whileMamata asked all OppositionChief Ministers to jointlyapproach the Supreme Courtfor postponement of JEE andNEET exams in view of Covid-19 pandemics.

Sonia also said the recent-ly announced National

Education Policy was a setbackto secular and scientific values.“Announcements such as thoserelated to the NationalEducation Policy should real-ly worry us as it is actually a set-back. Other problems of stu-dents and exams are also beingdealt uncaringly,” she said at themeeting.

Education MinisterRamesh Pokhriyal has saidboth the exams would be heldnext month as per schedule andthe National Testing Agency isall set to conduct.

Hitting out the ModiGovernment over “attacks onthe federal structure”, Mamatasaid States were being bull-

dozed by the BJP-led CentralGovernment.

“The situation today…Wecannot speak out, we cannotspeak freely…from Facebookto everywhere…there is fakenews, distorted news to destroythose in the oppositon,”Mamata said.

“This will be my request toall State Govts, let us do ittogether, let us go to SupremeCourt & postpone the exam forthe time being until and unlessthe situation allows students tosit for exam (JEE/NEET),”Mamata said.

She also reminded that shehas written to Modi severaltimes to intervene in the mat-

ter and urge the SC to reviewits decision in the interest of thestudent community.

Mamata said Bengal is fac-ing large numbers of patients ofCovid every day and the stu-dents will have to travel to var-ious destinations to appear forthe exams.

Thackeray also said hisGovernment was never againstconducting exams but whenthe exams could not be con-ducted in June how can they beexpected to be held in Augustand September when the stateof Maharashtra is dealing withthe everyday increase in thenumber of Covid patients.

��

�� !

%�� 1�&3�4�

Even as the State electioncommission for local bod-

ies has announced to launchelectoral roll revision fromSeptember 1, the crucial pan-chayat elections in UttarPradesh scheduled at the end ofthe year are likely to be post-poned due to the Covid pan-demic.

The first hint of postpone-ment came from theGovernment spokesman whotweeted there is a possibility ofthe postponement of the pan-chayat elections.

Ever since the panchayatelections have been held since1995, after the 73rdConstitutional amendmentempowering the panchayatsand urban local bodies, this willbe for the first time that thepanchayat elections will not beheld as per schedule in UP.

In 2015 under the SPGovernment, panchayat elec-tions were delayed by twomonths.

But this time, the StateGovernment has hinted at thepostponement of the electionsby six months, taking the pollprocess tentatively to May-June.

��

�� 5�56��

Hours after a drug angleemerged in the ongoing

probe into the sensationalSushant Singh Rajput deathcase being looked into by theCBI and the EnforcementDirectorate (ED), the NarcoticsControl Bureau (NCB) onWednesday joined the investi-gations into the allegationsthat Sushant’s girlfriend RheaChakraborty used to procurebanned drugs illegally fromdealers and administer them tothe late actor.

On a day when the CBIsleuths continued to tie-uploose ends relating to pre andpost-death scenario by ques-tioning the late actor’s cookNeeraj Singh for the sixth con-secutive day, spotlight turnedon a new drug angle in the caseinvolving Rhea’s alleged linkswith the drug dealers, after theED shared Rhea’s WhatsAppchats with the CBI and theNCB alleging “procuring andusage” of drugs.

Acting swiftly on theWhatsApp inputs in whichRhea talks about drugs, theNCB swung into action andregistered a case in SushantSingh’s death.

While there is still no con-firmation from the ED as to theauthenticity or otherwise ofsome WhatsApp chats recov-ered purportedly by the EDfrom Rhea’s mobile phone thatreveal that the actress mighthave been involved in drugdealings, the recovered

WhatsApp chats, accessed by“Times Now”, among Rhea, herbrother Showik Chakraborty,Sushant’s house managerSamuel Miranda and housestaff Dipesh Sawant havethrown sufficient hints abouther involvement in the pro-curement and use of drugs.

In the messages accessedby the television channel, Rheatalks about drugs. In a chatbetween Rhea and GauravArya who is allegedly a drugdealer, Rhea writes: “In case wespeak about hard drugs, Ihaven’t been doing too much.Tried MDMA once”.

One message sent to her byone Jaya Saha on November 25last year says, “Use 4 drops incoffee, tea or water and let himsip it. Give it 30-40 minutes forit to kick in.”

Then, there emerges amessage in a chat betweenRhea and Jaya Saha: “I have

asked him to coordinate withShruti (Modi) & reach it up”. Inyet another message, Rheawrites to Jaya Saha “Thank youso much”. Reply from Jaya: “Noproblem bro, hope it helps”.

In the first chat message,Miranda writes to Rhea, “HiRhea, the stuff is almost over”.The next message, in whichJaya Saha tells Rhea onNovember 25 last year, “Use 4drops in coffee, tea or waterand let him sip it. Give it 30-40 minutes for it to kick in”,indirectly hints that she wasmixing the drug in coffee, teaor water and giving it toSushant.

Reacting swiftly to thealleged revelations made byway of “recovered” WhatsAppmessages, Rhea’s lawyer SatishManeshinde said: “Rhea hasnever consumed drugs in herlife ever. She is ready for ablood test”.

�� )��)12�

The non-payment of the 14per cent mandated com-

pensation to the States for theloss of revenue incurred bythem for shifting to the GSTregime is expected to dominatethe GST council meeting onThursday with seven States onWednesday slamming theCentre for not meeting itsobligation and creating a mas-sive financial mess for theStates.

The Centre is running outof options even the NDA-ruledStates are backing the demand,with Bihar Deputy ChiefMinister Sushil Modi sayingthe Centre should borrow andpay GST compensation toStates as it is “morally bound”to do so. Attorney General ofIndia advised the FinanceMinistry that it was legallybound to make the payment.

Sources said that inresponse to certain queries putup by the Finance Ministrythe Attorney General has toldthe Finance Ministry that theCentre is legally bound to paythe States full compensationirrespective of any shortfall.

The AG has reportedlysaid that the States can borrowan equivalent amount to tideover their financial crisisbased on the assured com-pensation from the Centre.

Sushil Modi onWednesday suggested that theCentre should borrow andpay the compensation to theStates, which are heavily

depended on this compensa-tion package to meet theirown liabilities.

Meanwhile, Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi onWednesday criticised theCentre over not clearing itemsand providing tax that it owesto State Governments, placingthem in extreme monetarypressure amid the coronaviruspandemic.

The Congress presidentwas addressing the virtualmeeting of the Chief Ministersof seven States convened todiscuss the present the socio-economic condition of thecountry.

�� )��)12�

The Supreme Court onWednesday came down

heavily on the Centre for itsambivalence on the issue ofwaiver of interest for deferredpayments of installments forloans during the moratoriumperiod announced due to thecoronavirus lockdown.

Giving one week time tothe Centre to clarify its stand,a Bench headed by JusticeAshok Bhushan said the Centrehad not made its stand clear onthe issue despite the fact thatample powers were availablewith it under the DisasterManagement Act and was “hid-ing behind the RBI”.

Senior Advocate RajivDutta, who represented thepetitioners, pointed out that theCentre had not filed its affidavitin the matter, whereas StateBank of India (SBI) andReserve Bank of India (RBI)had already done so.

He also said that neither ofthese affidavits dealt with theissue of the Centre’s powersunder the DisasterManagement Act.

Reminding the Centre thatthis was not a normal situation,the court said, “You are givingthem a favour by deferring thepayment. It is an irony thatthousands of crores havedefaulted on NPA accounts butyou have to charge interesthere. We are aware of theproblems if interest is notcharged, but a pandemic is nota normal situation.”

The apex court grantedtime to the Government afterSolicitor General TusharMehta sought a week’s time tofile a response. “My Lordshipsmay not say that. We areworking in coordination with

RBI,” Mehta said.Seeking an extension of

the moratorium periodAdvocate Kapil Sibal, whoappeared for an intervenor,told the court that it ended onAugust 31. “I am only sayingthat till these pleas are decid-ed, the extension should notend,” Sibal said.

The Bench, also compris-ing Justices R Subhash Reddyand Justice MR Shah, askedthe Solicitor General to clari-fy stand on the DisasterManagement Act and whetheradditional interest on existinginterest could be accrued.Mehta argued that there can-not be a common solution forall the problems.

The court also said that ata time when the country wasreeling under a pandemic andpeople suffered so much, theposition of the authoritiescannot be that of focussing onbusiness alone, the courtobserved. “This is not thetime to think about businessonly,” Justice Shah said.

The SC has posted thematter for hearing onSeptember 1.

�� "��

�� !��!��"

� � ��2��7(4�

Iqbal Singh, a former AsianChampionship bronze

medalist for India, has beencharged with murder in the USafter he chillingly admitted tokilling his wife and mother,according to media reports.

Singh, 62 — who won abronze medal at the 1983 AsianAthletics Championship —from Delaware County inPennsylvania called police onSunday morning to admit hiscrime, The PhiladelphiaInquirer quoted officials.

When police arrived atSingh’s home in NewtownTownship, they found Singhcovered in blood, sufferingfrom self-inflicted stab wounds.Inside were the bodies of thetwo women, the report said.

��# ��$�%��!!��!��&��'�%��!�

��

Chandigarh: Punjab ChiefMinister Amarinder Singh onWednesday said 23 MLAs andministers are coronavirus pos-

itive with just two days to gobefore the Assembly session.

Three of the 23 MLAs areCabinet Ministers. Another

Minister who had tested posi-tive earlier has recovered.

The CM gave the numberduring a video conference.

��

!��"�� #��$��

�� )��)12�

With States likeMaharashtra, Karnataka,

Andhra Pradesh, and UttarPradesh recording their biggestsingle-day spikes onWednesday, India’s total case-load in 24 hours raced towards75,000 marks while the deathcount crossed 60,000.

While Maharashtra record-ed 14,888 new cases and 295deaths, Andhra Pradesh regis-tered 10,830 fresh cases and 81death. Karnataka saw a hugespike, registering 8,580 newcases and 133 deaths during thelast 24 hours. Uttar Pradeshcrosses total count of 2 lakh byregistering 5,640 new casesand 82 deaths.

Delhi seems to be indicat-ing a rebound of Covid-19after nearly a month duringwhich the daily count of casestouches as low of 653 onAugust 16. On Wednesday,Delhi recorded 1693 new casesand 17 deaths.

�� #� �� $�%��"�� &��!�� '�&!( ��)�� &�� $�*� +�� ,��)�� !

� � &414564

Sri Lanka will adopt an“India first approach” as its

new foreign policy plank andprotect New Delhi’s strategicsecurity interests, the country’sForeign Secretary JayanathColombage has said as hesought to allay concerns amidChina’s growing presence inthe island nation.

Admiral Colombagebecame the first-ever foreignsecretary from a military back-ground when he was appoint-ed by President GotabayaRajapaksa to head the ForeignMinistry on August 14.

In an interview publishedby Daily Mirror onWednesday, Colombage saidSri Lanka is to adopt an “Indiafirst approach” as its newregional foreign policy plank. “That means Sri Lankawill not do anything harmfulto India’s strategic securityinterests,” said Colombage,who was the chief of the SriLanka Navy between 2012-14a n dlater became a foreign policyanalyst mostly on the Chineseinitiatives in Sri Lanka and theregion.

%&��'(�� )��*� ��

� � �� %��5�� '�-8�9,8�� ,,�':;��<�.;�':-(�� 8�:'�,=. =�98: 8�89�-=-�� 8�9,�;=: 8�<;.��,�9=�',-3�� 0� 8�--�;-=��<�-:.��,�..�=99� �� ,�-8�-,9 8�.;.��.�;9�<=,�� .�=<�'=; �-1�2.�;9�9:'�� 6�� .�;'�''< ,�:=;��.�.'�9<'6�� .�,=�::- =<8��.�-=�'=<(�� .�..�=99 '9-��9<�,,8�� :;�<:8 ,=-��';�9.<7�� :-�.8: ,�:;<��',�;-94�� 9'�=-, ;:;��=,�9.8>�� ';�='- ::,��<:�<':3�� =;�8<< ,<9 ;.�=:-2�� <9�--<�� =8;��;'�=.85�� <=�9=;�� .�,9,��;8�,;=�

�� 1(-33-��4�� 4)-(5*��%��(6-*(-(**�� %��2-*6-122

��(�� )* � + , � ��

!+�*�� $��,�� -��

� �''�� >��>

People without face masksand not following social dis-

tancing norms to beat Covid-19are to be denied petrol, dieseland ration in Raipur district.

With Raipur city turning ahotspot for coronavirus, DistrictCollector and DistrictMagistrate Dr S. Bharati Dasanhad made social and physicaldistancing and wearing ofmasks mandatory in the entireRaipur district.

An order issued to foodofficers said that those buyingpetrol-diesel and ration havebeen found without masks.They also do not follow themandatory protocol of socialand physical distance.

He directed the FoodDepartment officials that those

without masks or not followingsocial distancing should bedenied petrol, diesel and ration.

The Collector made anappeal to the people procuringration to wear masks so thatCovid-19 does not spread fur-ther.

The Collector directed theFood Controller to ensureimplementation of the StandardOperating Procedures regardingCovid-19 in all shops and out-lets. If any violation is found,stern action should be initiatedagainst the violators.

��%��-��'��!��'��

��4>�)>��)��(4�#44�4##�&)>��(2�(�(24�)6�?��7��)(>41@��)�)1��>�(�4��2�A)�6))��#4��

��(24�(�5��3�%�(2)?��1�4��4�4(�#4114��(2)�5��(4>?

�>4(4&41�4#��4&��1��2?��&�1��(��&)

B(�� $0%�C��!��.��&�$��/

��

�� %�C��!��C

D1� ��&� � %��7:�88$� ,8<D��)* �� !!��$��

��$��#��)12��1�&3�4� 624��1��62�6��)��>

>��&2��>��> &2��7�>2��)2>�� 2?�)>�6��A��?��

�8.!9��8��0*34�RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

��- �� (2-()():��*(�1

�� 0)��&�(�4�

5�3)(2��5��

1�2�+�3�#144��4>(2)>��#72��

1)�A)��(�1)��(�.--��)��

��

��2��)46�>&��(�11�24��7

5)��11��(�?

��

�� &2��7�>2

In the shadow of theCoronavirus pandemic, the

day-long monsoon session ofthe Haryana assembly lastedbarely three hours onWednesday before DeputySpeaker Ranbir Gangwaadjourned the House sine dieafter it conducted business list-ed in schedule that includedpassage of as many as 12 Bills.

The curtailed session,which began at 2 pm, was heldin the absence of ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattar,who is the leader of the House,and Speaker Gian ChandGupta as both of them havebeen undergoing treatment forCovid-19.

The session was originallyscheduled to have two sittings,but the duration was cut to asingle day after the BusinessAdvisory Committee (BAC)of the assembly met in themorning at 11 am. Leader ofOpposition Bhupinder SinghHooda from the Congress andState Home Minister Anil Vijwere part of BAC besidesDeputy Chief MinisterDushyant Chautala from theJannayak Janata Party andParliamentary Affairs MinisterKanwar Pal Gujjar.

Gangwa, who is also anExecutive Chairman of theHouse, presided over the ses-sion that began with leader ofHouse Deputy CM Dushyant,Hooda from the Congress andVij reading out the obituary ref-erences. Soon after Gangwaapprised the House of the busi-ness advisory committee’s deci-sion to only table the replies ofquestions and the calling atten-tion motion instead of verbal

replies, Congress MLAsKuldeep Vats and BB Batraopposed the move.

Vij asked the CongressMLAs to respect the decision ofthe committee in which theCongress Legislature Partyleader represented them.

Hooda reiterated that onlyimportant bills and supple-mentary estimates should belaid in the House and theremaining business, includingadjournment and calling atten-tion motions, should be keptpending for the next sitting ofthe assembly whenever it isconvened.

Question hour was waivedwith no discussion on the call-ing attention motions. Onlywritten replies got tabled forlisted questions.

Congress MLA GeetaBhukkal interrupted the pro-ceedings, demanding that high-er education examinationsshould be put off in publicinterest, a point Hooda backed,saying the issue raised by herwas valid.

Gujjar, who is also theState Education Minister, saidthat the Khattar-led BJP gov-ernment will make appropriatearrangements to ensure examsare held smoothly. “We don’twant these students to getlabelled as corona degree hold-ers,” the Minister said. He wenton to take a dig at Hooda, say-ing Congress MLAs were inter-rupting and not adhering to thebusiness advisory committee’sdecision of which the CLPleader is a part. “You are notspeaking against the govern-ment but against your ownleader,” he told the Congressleaders. Congress MLA NeerajSharma opposed the move to

shut down shops on weekendsto check the spread of coron-avirus.

Meanwhile, IndianNational Lok Dal MLA AbhayChautala was not impressed.He said that he was not satis-fied with the written state-ment tabled by the governmentin the two calling attentionmotions submitted by him. Hesaid that the Government didnot invite him or any inde-pendent legislator for theBusiness Advisory Committeemeeting.

“Are you the only onesrunning the assembly? Whatabout lone MLAs like me?” hesaid. “No one is dying of coro-navirus here. Why can’t wehave a discussion on corrup-tion issues? Why did you callus from so far when all youwanted was a shortened ses-sion?” said Chautala, who had

requested a calling attentionmotion on the issue of reg-istries.

ASSEMBLY PAYS TRIBUTESTO 20 SOLDIERS KILLEDIN GALWAN VALLEYCLASH

The day-long session beganwith the House paying tributesto those who passed awaybetween the end of the budgetsession in February-March andthe beginning of the monsoonsession. The members of theHouse also observed a two-minute silence to pay homageto the departed souls.

As soon as the proceedingsbegan, Deputy Chief MinisterDushyant Chautala moved theobituary resolution. HomeMinister Anil Vij and Leader ofOpposition and seniorCongress leader BhupinderSingh Hooda also paid tributes

to the departed souls and readout obituary resolutions onbehalf of their respective par-ties. Tributes were paid to the20 Indian soldiers who werekilled in a violent clash withChinese troops in easternLadakh in June.

Vij praised healthcareworkers, police personnel andothers who are at the frontlinein the fight against coron-avirus. He said unfortunatelysome of these ''corona warriors''have lost their lives in the lineof duty.

The House also paid trib-utes to former MP GovernorLalji Tandon, former Union lawminister Hansraj Bhardwaj,Indian classical vocalist PtJasraj, former Haryana MLAMange Ram Gupta andCongress MLA KrishanHooda, among others. TheAssembly met for the first time

since the Budget session held inFebruary-March this year. CONG BOYCOTTS PARTOF SESSION, SAYS TIMENOT GIVEN TO RAISEBURNING ISSUES

The Congress boycottedpart of the day-long session onWednesday, claiming it was notgiven time to raise the "burn-ing issues" concerning the peo-ple of the state. The party saidit wanted an assurance from thegovernment that "variousscams" in the state will beprobed either by the CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI)or a sitting high court judge.Some Congress MLAs andlone Indian National Lok Dal(INLD) legislator Abhay SinghChautala also protested overthe short duration of the ses-sion.

Addressing a press confer-ence, Leader of OppositionBhupinder Singh Hooda saidhis party legislators were notgiven time to raise the "burn-ing issues" concerning the peo-ple of the state. "We had givenCalling Attention notices onvarious issues and we wantedto bring adjournment motionson some vital issues but wewere given no time to raisethese issues," he said. Hoodasaid the Congress wanted aconcrete assurance from thegovernment that it will get"various scams, includingliquor, paddy, mining, landregistries scam, probed eitherby the CBI or a sitting highcourt judge… but theyremained silent on this becausethey know they have things tohide".

Before entering theAssembly, some CongressMLAs, including Varun

Chaudhary and Amit Sihag,held a symbolic protest against"widespread corruption" in thestate and wore face maskswhich read "AgainstCorruption in COVID".However, they wore regularmasks inside the House.

LAND REGISTRATIONAMENDMENT BILLTABLED

The Bill to undo a 2017amendment in the HaryanaDevelopment and Regulationof Urban Areas Act was tabledin the House. The amendmenthas watered down Section 7-Aof the Act. The stipulations inSection 7-A pertain to grant ofa no objection certificate (NoC)by the town and country plan-ning department before regis-tration of land in notifiedurban areas. The amendment

bill was tabled in view of large-scale violations in the registra-tion of sale deeds of propertieswithout obtaining NoCs innotified urban areas inGurugram district.

Narnaund MLA RamKumar Gautam said that thereshould be no ban on the regis-tration of sale deeds. rohtakMLA BB Batra said that newstipulations brought by thisamendment pertaining toSection 7-A of the Act neededa relook. “ Please review thedefinition of vacant land underSection 7-A,” Hooda said, sup-porting Batra.

The Haryana appropria-tion bill was the final legislativebusiness of the day tabled in theHouse by the parliamentaryaffairs minister after which theassembly was adjourned sinedie.

��

�� &2��7�>2

SAD-BJP legislative wingson Wednesday proposed to

move a motion calling for anurgent discussion on spike inCovid-19 cases as well as hugenumber of deaths due to mis-handling of the pandemic fightback by the CongressGovernment in the forthcom-ing Vidhan Sabha session.

“The motion has beenmoved because theGovernment’s ‘Mission Fateh’initiative, to tackle COVID, isan abysmal failure. Since ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh seemed helpless and hadhimself admitted that COVIDcases would increase to onelakh by next month, there is anurgent need for an effectivestrategy to tackle the pandem-ic since people could not be leftto die due to the negligence ofthe Congress Government,”said the SAD legislative wingleader Sharanjit Singh Dhillon.

In the motion submitted tothe Vidhan Sabha secretariatunder rule 77 of the Rules ofProcedure and Conduct ofBusiness in the assembly, theSAD-BJP legislators stated thatbesides framing a new strate-gy to combat the pandemic, the

Govt must explain why MissionFateh failed so spectacularlyand why instead of ensuringany improvement, the StateGovt has presided over theworsening in COVID situationin the State.

“Punjab, presently, has oneof the highest fatality rates of2.5 percent against the nation-al average of 1.6 percent. TheState is slipping on testinginstead of revving up and haseven failed to start plasmatreatment successfully,” itadded. The motion stated thatthis situation had arisenbecause the Govt concentratedon hype by spending crores onadvertisements instead of tak-ing needed steps at the groundlevel. “Adequate infrastructurehas not been created in gov-ernment hospitals due to whichpatients are going to privatehospitals for treatment. TheGovt has failed to regulate thefunctioning of private hospitalswith cases of blatant over-charging by many hospitalscoming to the fore,” it added.

�� &2��7�>2

With just days to go for theNEET/JEE exams being

conducted amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Punjab ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh on Wednesday directedthe State Advocate-GeneralAtul Nanda to coordinate withhis counterparts in otherOpposition ruled states for fil-ing a collective review petitionin the Supreme Court seekingdeferment of the examinations.

The directive followed avideoconference meeting, con-vened by Congress presidentSonia Gandhi with the ChiefMinisters of seven Opposition-ruled states, to discuss thisand other issues of commonconcern, including delay inGST compensation release andthe farm Ordinances by theCentral Government, as well asthe New Education Policy,which Capt Amarinder saidwas thrust on the states with-out consultation.

“There is no time to seektime from the Prime Minister

to discuss the issue…Let us allget together to move theSupreme Court for postpone-ment of exams, which arethreatening the lives of lakhs ofstudents,” said Capt Amarinderin response to a suggestion tothis effect.

Pointing out that worldover, exams were being heldonline, he suggested that theJEE/NEET and other profes-sional exams like medical andlaw could also be held onlineand there was no need to putthe students at risk.

Noting that what the Stateswere seeking was not the moonbut their own dues, the ChiefMinister also suggested that adelegation of all theOpposition-ruled ChiefMinisters should meet thePrime Minister to press forrelease of GST compensationand financial assistance to fightCOVID.

“We have given all thepowers of taxation to himthrough the GST, and nowthey say they may not be ableto pay. So how do we run our

states?” he said, calling uponthe Opposition-ruled states towork together and fighttogether for their rights.

The Chief Minister alsodisclosed that his Governmentwould be setting up a com-mittee soon to assess theimpact of the New EducationPolicy on the state’s educationsystem and finances.

Every state has its ownsystem, which the CentralGovernment failed to takeinto account before announc-ing the policy, he said.

He told the meeting thateven on the issue of themandatory final term examsfor colleges or universities,despite repeated pleas andreminders, the UniversityGrants Commission (UGC)had fai led to take cognizance of theGovernment’s concerns.

Citing the importance laidby his Government on educa-tion, he said that while inschools, the Government hadalready decided to promote thestudents based on their earlier

performance,the final termcollege examsissue remaineda matter ofconcern.

� 6��"�� E6�&F�� $��..��

� (�� "�� 6�&��

� 2��A��!�� $��"�� $��!� �&5�� &�� 5�� 3��7��

� 2��$��$�� ,�!�� $��

� ��$�� !��0��7��&��7�! ��!� ��!��0��>��$��7��!��"��

� ��$�� &5�5��1��3�� !� ��&5�� &�� 2��

� G�� "��

� 4�� !�� $�� H��

� &��51��0�� "�� $��2��"��!�� >�� $��E�� F�6�� &6�� 2��&�� 2��&��

� 2�� <!�

��*�)�� -� �� .. /0..�1��

�� &2��7�>2

Amobile testing drive hasbeen launched in Ludhiana

city for which exclusive vans,with special teams, have beenarranged which will test thepeople at their doorstep indifferent areas of the city.

With the introduction ofthese mobile teams, peoplecan get themselves tested rightat their doorstep, said the stateHealth and Family WelfareMinister Balbir Singh Sidhu.

“As the cases of COVID-19are increasing in Ludhiana,aggressive testing is the beststrategy to detect the hiddencases. It is these hidden caseswho are currently the reasonbehind rapid spread ofCOVID-19,” he said.

“Besides Ludhiana, mobiletesting drive is also being con-ducted in Amritsar and soon itwould also be initiated inPatiala to scale up the testingfacility,” he added.

The Minister said thatalthough asymptomatic peopleare also being detected positive,

there is dire need to expeditethe sampling to differentiateCOVID positive and negativepeople, thus, it becomes moreimportant to test them so thatany COVID positive persondoesn't spread the virus toother people.

“However, PunjabGovernment has amended theguidelines regarding home iso-lation according to the needand comfort of citizens.Moreover, as per newGovernment guidelines, if any-one is tested positive and isasymptomatic or mild symp-tomatic, such persons neednot go to hospital and they canstay in home isolation as perguidelines,” he added.

The Minister said that test-ing on rapid kits takes less than30 minutes from taking thesample to giving a final reportand sampling is free of cost. Heappealed to the people to comeforward for testing and theyshould shed all their fears andmyths regarding testing.Sampling is very important tobreak the chain of coronavirus.

�� $��'��$�� Chandigarh: Punjab Health

Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu onWednesday issued appoint-ment letters to 105 specialistdoctors on the basis of walk ininterview. The recruitmentincludes 16 medicine, five TB-Chest, 45 anesthetist, two radi-ologists, 11 pediatricians and26 gynecologists. They areappointed as Medical Officers(Specialist).

-�� 234�� *�)

Chandigarh: PunjabGovernment is creating a state-level IT Cadre to execute var-ious projects such as DigitalIndia, under National e-Governance Program, to trans-form the State into digitallyempowered society and knowl-edge economy. Applicationswere invited for 324 posts ofvarious categories includingSenior System Manager, SystemManager, Assistant Managerand Technical Assistant .Governance Reforms.

(�� (�� ! ��$��.,

�-�5&0�� *�)-��)��

��;�.��+8$9;�..�0.�.��%�0�!+�!9�!8�< �.! �!.$+0�

$��22�=.��$��8�=� �<�0$ �!+0��+0$<.�=�$8�+�88�+.��88�;9�>

�%�� >��&2�

The movie ‘Gilua’ revolvesaround a seven-year-old boy

highlighting the bond sharedbetween a mother and a son. The90- minute feature film portraysthe sacrifices made by the child forhis ailing mother.

Made by the students and fac-ulty members of the JharkhandFilm and Theatre Academy (JFTA)Ranchi, the shooting for the moviewas completed in just five days inRanchi and Horhap- located in theoutskirts of the City.

The movie has been written,directed and edited by Rajiv Sinha(42) who is also the founder ofJFTA. As many as 35 students ofthe academy have acted and man-aged the entire production processinvolved in making the film whichis slated to release once the pan-demic is over. “The children’s ori-ented Hindi feature film has beeninspired from numerous real lifeincidents. Unlike big cities whereit is a common sight for childrento leave their aging parents in anold age home as they do not wishto care for them any longer, thismovie talks about the strugglesand sacrifices made by a small boyfor his mother who is sufferingfrom Tuberculosis. The movieaims to make the younger gener-ation realise the value parents havein one’s life,” said Sinha.The char-

acter of the seven- year old boyGilua has been portrayed bySaatwik Sinha while VandanaKumar plays his mother Parveen.

Priyanshu Shekhar and VishalUdham will also be seen playingprominent roles. Jyoti Sinha is theexecutive producer of the moviewhile Ravi Kumar Sahu is theDOP- Director of Photography.“Ihad written this script long backbut the idea of making a moviewith the students of the academystruck me when while trainingthem I realised how immenselytalented they are.

This has not only given thema- hands on experience of what itactually is like on the sets of a filmbut it has also taught them thewhole process of film making.

Through the entire process thestudents were not only extremelyinvolved, they were also veryenthusiastic and it has been adream come true for most ofthem,” added Sinha.

Before founding JFTA, Sinhawas part of the entertainmentdepartment at NDTV.

In December 2016 he decid-ed to quit his lucrative job andopen an institute for acting aspi-rants in his hometown. “The pur-pose of starting an institute likeJharkhand Film and TheatreAcademy (JFTA) was to give thepeople of Ranchi a platform tonurture and showcase their talents

in fields related to dramatics, cin-ematics and script writing,” addedthe film maker.

JFTA offers a Diploma inProfessional Acting with special-isation in dramatics, cinematics,film making and script writing.Students of the institute haveworked in feature and regionalfilms and shows like SavdhaanIndia and Crime patrol to name afew.

Apart from being a writer anddirector, Sinha has also acted inmovies like Mor Gaon, Mor Des-a Sadri film which was released in

2018 and Aadhar which is due torelease. He has written more than100 street and stage plays and hasmade around 50 short fictionfilms on various topics.“I wasalways very passionate about act-ing and have been involved in the-atre since the age of eight. I haveacted in Gumnam Kurbania(1995) and Divya (2006) whichwas aired on DD National.

During this lockdown whilebeing house bound, I have beenworking on various other projectsand am looking forward to startworking on my second film with

my students as soon as this pan-demic is over,” added the actor.Born in a sleepy little town calledChakulia in East Singhbhum,Sinha moved to Ranchi with hisfamily at a young age. He com-pleted his schooling from AdivasiBal Vikas Vidyalaya in Ratu andis a graduate in Bachelors inAdvertising and Marketing fromRanchi University.

He completed his Masters inAdvertising and Marketing fromBharatiya Vidya Bhavan, NewDelhi and later did a course in TVproduction from AAFT Noida.

��

06 -� ��

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Doctors at the RadiologyDepartment of Dr Bhim

Rao Ambedkar MemorialMedical College Hospitalused minimum invasive modeto treat osteoid osteoma, abenign bone tumour of a 19-year-old youth, ending hisyears of agony.

This tumour is generallyfound in femur (thighbone)and tibia (shinbone) andcauses pain and discomfortbut does not spread to otherparts of the body.

According to a statementissued by Radio-diagnosisHead of Department Prof(Dr) S. B. S. Netam and DrVivek Patre, the treatmentwas done through radio fre-quency ablation machineusing minimum invasivemethod.

Assistance was takenfrom Bone Diseases Head of

Department Prof Dr S.N.Phuljhale and AnesthesiaDepartment chief Dr K.K.Sahare.

Dr Patre said a CT-scanidentified the exact point oftumour and a needle size hole

was made in the bone. Thetumour was destroyed usingthe CT-guided radio frequen-cy ablation machine throughan electrode.

He said as there are fewerchances of complications, the

patients can be discharged onthe second day.

The patient, HemantSahu, who is from Kawardhadistrict, told the media that hehad pain for several years onhis right leg. The pain wasintense at night, causing lackof sleep and affecting hisstudies.

For all these years, he wastaking painkillers. Even afterapproaching several doctorsand hospitals, the diseasecould not be treated until hecame to the AmbedkarHospital.

Now, after the minoroperation, he has no pain andhe can walk normally, he said.

RAIPUR | THURSDAY | AUGUST 27, 2020chhattisgarh 03

Chhattisgarh School Education Department Principal Secretary Dr Alok Shukla inspected the ‘Mohalla Class’ organized in villages Temriand Tivraiya in block Berla of Bemetara district on Wednesday. He interacted with students, teachers and parents. Pioneer Photo

∑˝§.-yÆv/SÕÊ./‚È⁄UˇÊÊ/wÆ ⁄UÊÿ¬È⁄U, ÁŒŸÊ¥∑§ wy/Æ}/wÆwÆ‚È⁄UˇÊÊ √ÿflSÕÊ ÁŸÁflŒÊ

‚È⁄UˇÊÊ √ÿflSÕÊ wÆwÆ-wv „ÃÈ ¬¥¡Ë∑§ÎÃ ‚È⁄UˇÊÊ ∞¡¥‚Ë ‚ ¬¥¡Ë∑§ÎÃ«Ê∑§/ S¬Ë« ¬ÙS≈U ‚ ◊È„⁄U’¥Œ ÁŸÁflŒÊ∞° •Ê◊¥ÁòÊÃ ∑§Ë ¡ÊÃË „Ò– ÁŸÁflŒÊ¬˝¬òÊ ⁄UÊÁ‡Ê z,ÆÆÆ/- L§.– ‡ÊÃ¸ ∞fl¥ ÁflSÃÎÃ ¡ÊŸ∑§Ê⁄UË fl’‚Êß¸≈Uwww.ktujm.ac.in ‚ «ÊÚ©Ÿ‹Ù« ∑§⁄U¥–

∑§È‹‚Áøfl∑È§‡ÊÊ÷Ê™§ ΔÊ∑§⁄U ¬òÊ∑§ÊÁ⁄UÃÊ ∞fl¥ ¡Ÿ‚¥øÊ⁄U

Áfl‡flÁfllÊ‹ÿ - ⁄UÊÿ¬È⁄U

∑§È‡ÊÊ÷Ê™§ ΔÊ∑§⁄U ¬òÊ∑§ÊÁ⁄UÃÊ ∞fl¥ ¡Ÿ‚¥øÊ⁄U Áfl‡flÁfllÊ‹ÿ⁄UÊÿ¬È⁄U (¿ûÊË‚ª…∏)

Samvad- 26335/6


The vermi compost pre-pared under the ‘Godhan

Nyay Yojan’ by purchasingcow dung from farmers inChhattisgarh will soon hit themarket, the government saidon Tuesday.

“The preparation ofvermi compost ... is in fullswing and in the coming 10days it will be ready,” an offi-cial press release said.

The members of self-helpgroups (SHG) in Surgujaregion are excited and arecurrently busy filling up thecompost pits with purchased

cow dung, officials said.A SHG in Keshavpur in

Ambikapur block in the districthas already started making

vermi compost. They weretrained by experts from theAgriculture Centre Ambikapurto make the compost with help

of earthworm, the officials said.At Keshavpur, 86.13

quintal of cow dung had beenprocured.

Ambedkar Hospital ends youth's years of agony

Vermi compost from Gauthanto soon hit the market


Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel

on Wednesday took strongobjection to BJP MLAs rais-ing the issue of appointmentof Parliamentary Secretariesby the government andrefused to hold a discussionon the issue.

Baghel's reaction cameon the second day of a four-day Monsoon session of thestate assembly when BJPmembers raked up the issue,saying the Congress hadopposed the appointment ofParliamentary Secretarieswhen it was in theopposition and even gone tocourts.

During Zero Hour, for-mer Minister AjayChandrakar asked the gov-ernment to clear the status ofParliamentary Secretaries.

Law MinisterMohammed Akbar said theParliamentary Secretarieswere appointed based on the

directives of the High Courtof Chhattisgarh.

BJP's Brijmohan Agrawalsaid no information wasgiven to the House, and askedif they will be assisting theMinisters in parliamentaryprocesses and what theirrights will be.

Backing it, Leader of

Opposition DharamlalKaushik said that since theCongress had earlier opposedsuch appointments, theirstatutory status should beintimated to the House.

Janta CongressChhattisgarh memberDharamjeet Singh said theCongress had approached the

High Court and the SupremeCourt against the appoint-ment of ParliamentarySecretaries by the previousBJP government.

He said the governmentshould have awaited the judg-ment of the apex court beforemaking the appointments.

Law Minister

Mohammed Akbar said thatParliamentary Secretarieshave been appointed to assistthe Ministers. They will notanswer questions in theHouse and do not have thestatus of a Minister. So, thereis no need for any officialintroduction of theParliamentary Secretaries.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

The Chhattisgarh governmenton Wednesday gave permis-

sion to resume inter-state publictransport along with movementof vehicles in the state with allIndia tourist permits but imposedstrict conditions to checkCovid-19.

"While running the buses,transporters will have to followthe guidelines issued by theTransport Commissioner,” anofficial press release said.

The buses can stop only atdesignated stops. During theentire journey, passengers as wellas bus crew must cover their faces.While boarding and de-boarding,the operator has to ensure thatsocial distancing norms arefollowed, officials said.

The buses will have to besanitized at fixed durations.

During travel, cigarette, paan,gutka and tobacco consumptionwill be banned. No one will bepermitted in the driver’s cabin. Incase there are no driver cabins,they will be created with plastic orcurtains.

The bus operators will keeprecord of the route and date of

journey. The contact details ofevery passenger will bemaintained and presented to thedistrict authorities for contacttracing, the guidelines said.

The order was issued by theTransport Commissioner on thedirective of Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Eight deaths were reporteddue to Covid-19 in

Chhattisgarh as more than1,000 fresh cases were detect-ed for a second day in a rowon Wednesday in the state,with the Bilaspur Collectorand a High Court Judge con-tacting the virus.

The state crossed the24,000 Covid positive mark asthe active cases increased to10,012 on Wednesday. Also,413 Covid patients were dis-charged upon their recovery.

A Judge of theChhattisgarh High Court atBilaspur and the Collector ofBilaspur, Saransh Mittar, weredetected Covid positive, ChiefMedical Health Officer ofBilaspur Pramod Mahajan said.

The latest deaths havepushed the tally of Covidfatalities to 229 in the state.

Raipur, the state's hotspot,recorded 514 new cases.

A 28-year-old youth from

Raipur who was sufferingfrom hypoglycemia wasadmitted in Dr BR AmbedkarMemorial Hospital Raipur onTuesday morning. He died onTuesday and was later detectedCovid positive, officials said.

A 65-year-old womanfrom Durg was admitted to theAmbedkar Hospital on August21. She was Covid positive andwas in respiratory distress. Shedied on Wednesday.

A 50-year-old man fromPunjabipara in Korea districtwho had an alcoholic liver wasadmitted to the AmbedkarHospital on Tuesday. He diedthat very day and was laterdetected Covid positive, theofficials said.

A 72-year-old man fromRaipur was admitted to AIIMSRaipur on August 22. He wasdiabetic and had high bloodpressure. He had pneumonia inhis chest and died on August 23.

A 65-year-old man fromBhilai was admitted to AIIMSRaipur on August 17. He was

Covid positive and died onTuesday, the officials said.

A 61-year-old man fromRaipur was admitted inAIIMS Raipur from a privatehospital on August 15 whilebeing intubated. He wasdetected Covid positive anddied on Wednesday.

A 54-year old Covid posi-tive man from Kawardha whowas admitted in a Covid carecentre in Kawardha died onAugust 24. Likewise, a 56-year-old man fromSchoolpara in Bijapur districtwho was suffering from pleu-ral effusion, coronary disease,kidney disease, breathlessnessand cough was admitted to aCovid care centre in Bijapuron August 22. He died onAugust 24, the officials said.

So far 24,386 persons havebeen detected corona positivein Chhattisgarh while 14,145have been discharged fromhospitals. Currently, there are10,012 active cases in the state.


Action has been initiatedagainst Forest

Department staff andothers over the deaths ofelephants due to poisoningand electrocution inChhattisgarh, Minister ofForest Mohammed Akbarsaid on Wednesday.

Akbar was replying to acall attention motion raisedby BJP MLAs on the secondday of a four-day Monsoonsession of the stateAssembly. He denied anylaxity on the part of theForest Department intaking timely action.

Raising the issue, BJP'sBrijmohan Agrawal, Ajay

Chandrakar and NarayanChandel said that in the lastthree months more than 10elephant deaths were report-ed, mainly due to poisoningand electrocution. No natu-ral death was reported.

Listing out the deathsone by one, the MLAs statedthat in every case laxity wasreflected on the part of theForest Department as timely

intervention was not done.In many cases, the

department's officials wereunaware of the deaths, theysaid. Postmortem reports haveconfirmed the deaths due topoison and electrocution.

The Minister said in hiswritten reply that a three-year-old calf died on June16 near village Mongri inthe Dhamtari Forest Circle

due to asphyxiation after itwas caught in a swamp. Thedepartment staff got theinformation the next day.

Based on post-mortemreports, in cases of poison-ing and electrocution, theconcerned departmentalstaff, the lineman and farm-ers have been booked underthe Wild Life (Protection)Act, 1972, the Minister said.

Chhattisgarhranks fourthin EPIRAIPUR: NITI Ayoghas ranked Chhattisgarhfourth in the ExportPreparedness Index(EPI) of landlockedstates across India,officials said onWednesday.

In the NITI Ayoglist, Chhattisgarh wason the fourth spotamong landlockedstates.

According to offi-cial information, thestates were ranked sepa-rately: having sea shore,landlocked, UnionTerritories andHimalayan region.

Chhattisgarh got55.95 marks and scoredfourth place afterRajasthan, Telanganaand Haryana.

C’garh finally permitsinter-state public transport

Action taken over deathsof elephants: Minister

CM opposes BJP raising issue of Parliamentary Secretaries Bilaspur Collector, HCJudge among 1K fresh cases

��

�� )��)12�

Days after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi

announced the National DigitalHealth Mission (NHDM), theUnion Health Ministry hasproposed a framework and aset of minimum standards fordata privacy protection to safe-guard confidential health datacollected from people underthe programme that seeks toprovide a unique ID to all cit-izens to map their medicalhistory.

As per the draft proposal,everyone enrolled for the mis-sion will get a Health ID free ofcost and will have completecontrol over his or her data.

Any personal data can becollected only on consent fromindividuals and they will beallowed to revoke their consentto restrict any sharing of per-sonal data.

The Government has pro-posed a framework and a set ofminimum standards for dataprivacy protection to be fol-lowed across the board in com-pliance with applicable lawsand regulations.

The National HealthAuthority (NHA), the centralagency responsible for the

implementation of AyushmanBharat Pradhan Mantri JanArogya Yojana, which has beenmandated to design and rollout NDHM in the country, hasreleased the draft ‘Health DataManagement Policy’ in thepublic domain.

The document has beenput up on the official website ofNational Digital HealthMission seeking comments andfeedback from the public tillSeptember 3.

The draft policy mainlyseeks to set out a framework for“secure processing of personaland sensitive personal data ofindividuals” who are a part ofthe national digital healthecosystem.

Data collected across theNational Digital HealthEcosystem (NDHE) will bestored in at the central level, thestate or Union Territory leveland at the health facility level,by adopting the principle ofminimality at each point,according to the document.

The federated structurenecessitates the development ofa framework that can beutilised throughout the NDHEto safeguard the privacy ofconfidential health data thathas been collected from indi-

viduals in India, it stated.Indu Bhushan, the Chief

Executive Officer of NHA said,“The Draft Health DataManagement Policy is the

maiden step in realizingNDHM’s guiding principle of‘Security and Privacy byDesign’ for the protection ofindividuals’ data privacy.”

“It encompasses variousaspects of health data like dataprivacy, consent management,data sharing and protectionamong others,” he said.

�� )��)12�

The Central GovernmentHealth Scheme (CGHS)

beneficiaries can now availtele-consultation services with-out physically visiting a health-care facility for their medicalhealth needs. To begin with,specialist consultations underthe services will be available forfour specialties —Medicine,Orthopaedics, Eye and ENT,the Union Health Ministrysaid on Wednesday.

The move follows requestsfrom various quarters, includ-ing senior citizen beneficiaries,to start teleconsultation ser-vices with specialist doctors inview of the current Covid-19pandemic due to which it is not

advisable for them to visit pub-lic places, particularly health-care facilities. Initially, theseservices will be available tobeneficiaries in Delhi andNCR.

The e-services are available

between 9 am and 12 noon onall working days, it said.

CGHS teleconsultation ser-vices are using the existing e-Sanjeevani platform of theHealth Ministry, it said in astatement.

�� )��)12�

To tackle rising anxietyand depression amid the

challenges of the Covid-19pandemic, Union Ministerfor Social Justice andEmpowerment ThawarChand Gehlot on Thursdaythrough virtual mode launch,will launch ‘KIRAN’, a freehelpline in 13 languages forthe people seeking mentalhealth rehabilitation servicesin the country .

The helpline 1800-599-0019, developed by theMinistry along with its part-ners aims at providing sup-port for early screening, first-aid, psychological support,distress management, mentalwel lbe ing , prevent ingdeviant behaviour and psy-chological crisis manage-ment.

The helpline will becoordinated by the National

Inst itute for theEmpowerment of Personswith Multiple Disabilities(NIEPMD, Chennai) and theNat ional Inst itute of Mental Health Rehabilitation(NIMHR , S ehore) .C ol laborat ion for the

helpline has been receivedfrom the Indian Associationof Clinical Psychologists(IACP), Indian PsychiatristsAssociat ion (IPA) and Indian Psychiatric SocialWorkers Associat ion(IPSWA).

#�� 5�� #�)��

�� 78��+�� 1�� "��

�� )��)12�

In just three days, India hasadded more than two lakh

fresh Covid cases, taking thetotal tally to 32,34,474 onWednesday, while the death tollclimbed to 59,449 with 1,059more fatalities.

The actual caseload is theactive cases, which currentlystands at 7,07,267. The silverlining is that the recoveries areover three times more than theactive cases.

The country breached the30-lakh mark on August 23 andadded more than two lakhfresh Covid cases in just threedays. Recoveries have crossedthe 24-lakh mark and surged to24,67,758 with 63,173 morepeople recuperating in the past24 hours, taking the recoveryrate to 75.92 per cent.

Out of the total activecases, 2.7 per cent patients areon oxygen support, 1.92 percent patients in intensive care

units (ICU) and 0.29 per centare on ventilator support.

In India the fatality rate,which is the proportion of

people who die from the dis-ease among individuals diag-nosed, has dropped to 1.84 percent, the Health Ministry said.

As per Ministry’s data, 87per cent of deaths due tocoronavirus were recordedamong people aged 45 andabove, while people in the 60-years and above category wereamong the 51 per cent oftotal deaths. Meanwhile, themortality rate among peopleunder 26 years of age was 2per cent.

According to the IndianCouncil of Medical Research,a cumulative of 3,76,51,512samples have been tested tillAugust 25 with 8,23,992 sam-ples being tested on Tuesday.

Maharashtra continues tobe the worst-hit with a total of6,93,398 cases and 22,465deaths; followed by TamilNadu with 3,85,352 cases and6,614 deaths. Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh,Delhi, West Bengal, and Biharcome next.

!�9��"!��:;�� )��)12�

As cough, fever and diffi-culty breathing are com-

mon symptoms of bothTuberculosis (TB) and Covid-19, the Government has nowasked the doctors to conductsimultaneous screening andtesting for both the infections.

The guidelines issued onWednesday aims to detectmissing TB patients as therehas been an overall decline inTB notification by 26 per centduring January to June 2020 ascompared to previous year,due to the Covid-19 pandem-ic.

This is worrisome, sinceundiagnosed TB can worsenpatient outcomes and increasetransmission in the communi-ty.

A senior health ministryofficial said that TB and Covid-19 are infectious diseases whichprimarily attack the lungs.They present with similarsymptoms of cough, fever anddifficulty breathing, althoughTB disease has a longer incu-bation period and a slower

onset of disease.“Tuberculosis is associated

with a 2.1-fold increased risk ofsevere COVID19 disease. Inaddition, TB patients also tendto have co-morbid or livingconditions (malnutrition, dia-betes,smoking, HIV etc) thatincrease their vulnerability,”he said.

In order to address thisdual morbidity of Tuberculosisand Covid-19, doctors havebeen asked to conduct bi-directional TB-Covid screen-ing, TB screening for ILI andSARI cases.

All newly diagnosed TBpatients or those currently ontreatment should be tested forCovid-19 (as per MoHFWguidelines). Based on the resultof Covid-19 test, further man-agement would be undertakenas per MoHFW guidelines.Even upon diagnosis of Covid,treatment of TB should con-tinue uninterrupted, as per theguidelines.

The doctors have also beenasked to screen all Covid-19cases for TB symptoms usingthe 4-symptom complex used

for identifying TB patients andthose symptomatic should beoffered chest X ray and upfrontNuclear Acid AmplificationTest (NAAT) orCBNAAT/TrueNat) for diag-nosis of Tuberculosis. Based onresult of TB test, patient shouldbe managed as per NTEPguidelines.

For intensive managementof TB-Covid co-morbidpatients, linkages of TB servicefacilities with Covid Isolationfacilities should be established.All Covid positive TB patient,will be admitted to a dedicat-ed Covid Centres if required,said the guidelines.

The prevalence of TBamong Covid-19 patients hasbeen found to be 0.37 – 4.47per cent in different studies.Some studies have also shownthat history of active as well aslatent TB is an important riskfactor for SARS-CoV-2 infec-tion. This, the governmentfeels, not only results inincreased susceptibility, butalso rapid and severe symptomdevelopment and disease pro-gression with poor outcomes.

�� " �� &"��52<

�� )��)12�

The Food and AgricultureOrganization (FAO) of the

United Nation has said that therisk of swarm migration to theIndia-Pakistan summer breed-ing area has nearly subsided.The Ministry of Agriculture onWednesday said that controloperations against locust attackhave been done in 2,87,374hectares area in States ofRajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh,Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh,Haryana, Uttarakhand andBihar.

Like last year, this year too,a large number of locusts cameinto India and spread intomany parts of the country inMay. These locusts were con-trolled by July 15-18. “In a moveto check locust swarms,Pakistan has deployed over1000 teams, 750 vehicles andnearly 6,000 staff involved inthe ground control campaign inPakistan and hundreds of teamsin India. In South-West Asia,

good progress is being madeagainst the first generation ofhopper groups and bands thathave formed mainly inRajasthan, India and to a lesser degree in Tharparkardistrict in southern Sindh,Pakistan,” the FAO said in itslatest bulletin on locust warn-ing.

Locust plagues also pose athreat to livestock grazers byturning grasslands into barrenwastelands. Usually, Locustsare expected to enter India inthe last week of August or in thebeginning of September.

A senior locust controldepartment officer confirmed

that Pakistan was controllingthe locusts but their efforts areinsufficient due to which thepests are reaching India fromJaisalmer and Barmer borders.Locusts are voracious feeders,eating up to their body weightdaily.

They damage crops bydevouring all parts of the plantsand also by breaking trees bytheir sheer weight when theysettle down in masses.Theseinsects can fly up to 150 kmdaily. One square km of alocust swarm contains up to80,000 adults that, each day,consume the equivalent of foodfor 35,000 people.

6-%=$��>�� !��5��>��)��)��

�� )��)12�

The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) has arrested

four more accused in KeralaGold Smuggling Case and con-ducted searches on Wednesday.

These four accused personsarrested on Monday are Jifsal C.V., resident of Kozhikode district,Aboobacker P. of Malappuramdistrict, Muhammed Abdu

Shameem of Kozhikode districtand Abdul Hameed P. M. ofMalappuram dfor conspiringwith other arrested accused per-sons and for financing smugglingof gold through import cargoaddressed to the UAE Consulateat Thriruvananthapuram,besides receiving such smuggledgold and proceeds from thesmuggling, the NIA said in astatement.

On Wednesday, searcheswere conducted at the houses ofthese accused persons inMalappuram and Kozhikodedistricts as well as at MalabarJewellery owned by arrestedaccused Aboobacker, AmeenGold in Malappuram owned byarrested accused Abdul Hameedand at Ambi Jewellery,Kozhikode owned by accusedShamsudheen, the agency said.

�� )��)12�

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has filed

a Prosecution Complaint(chargesheet) under Preventionof Money Laundering Act(PMLA) against Dibesh KumarChaudhary, proprietor ofJagdamba Food Centre andothers before Special Judge(PMLA), Patna in a case relat-ed to embezzlement ofGovernment funds to the tuneof over �20 crore.

The ProsecutionComplaint has been filed seek-ing award of punishment to theaccused for money launderingand confiscation of the attachedassets worth � 2.04 crore in theform of movable and immov-able properties in his name andin the name of his family mem-bers.

The ED initiated investi-gation under PMLA on thebasis of three FIRs registered byLaheraisarai Police, Darbhangaagainst Dibesh KumarChaudhary under IPC Sectionsrelating to cheating and crim-inal conspiracy 420 for embez-zlement of Government fundsto the tune of �20.32 crore andinvesting the same in his ownname as well as in the name ofhis family members.

�� )��)12�

As the Election Commissionintends to hold Assembly

poll in Bihar by October-November under coronavirusconditions, BJP has called ameeting of all its MPs fromBihar with party president J PNadda on August 29.

Besides Nadda, state in-charge Bhupendra Yadav, BJPGeneral Secretary(Organisation) BL Santosh,senior ministers Ravi ShankarPrasad, Giriraj Singh, RK Singh,Ashwini Choubey, BJP statepresident Sanjay Jaiswal will be

among those will attend themeeting at the party headquar-ters.

The presence of formerMaharashtra chief ministerDevendra Fadnavis, who is to begiven a key role in state pollcampaign is not yet confirmed.Fadnavis figured prominently inBJP’s Bihar poll strategy as con-troversy around the death ofyoung and promising film actorSushhant Singh Rajput whohailed from Bihar continues togrow. Under the directive of theSupreme Court CBI has startedits investigation into the cir-cumstances of 34-year-old-

actor’s alleged “suicide”.According to sources, all the

MPs will be delegated theirresponsibilities. They will beasked to submit their individualfeedback of the ground situationin their respective constituencies.

Bihar will be the first statein the country to go for pollsamidst the coronavirus pan-demic.

During the state executivecommittee meeting held recent-ly, Nadda had again announcedthat the Bihar elections would befought under leadership of ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar and thathe will be their chief ministeri-

al candidate.EC has more or less made it

clear that assembly polls wouldbe conducted under Covid19conditions with patients andsuspects will be allowed to votein “the last hour of poll day”.Other voters will have to manda-torily wear gloves before usingElectronic Voting Machines(EVMs), said EC guidelines.

While the Lok JanshaktiParty (LJP), NCP and AamAadmi Party (AAP) have sug-gested postponement of thepolls, the EC is intent on hold-ing them on schedule, aroundOctober-November.

8��=6��

)�� 7" � ��$�II��

&��=��

��

�� 34&2�

Tuesday evening’s fire at theKerala Secretariat which

ravaged hundreds of importantfiles was an act of sabotagecommitted with the patronageof the Government, accordingto K Surendran, president,Kerala BJP.

Surendran who was arrest-ed and release late Tuesdaynight by the Kerala Police fortrying to enter the Secretariatimmediately after the fire brokeout charged that the ProtocolWing of the Secretariat was seton fire deliberately by theCPI(M) -led Government in

the State to sabotage the inves-tigation by NIA into the goldsmuggling scam.

“The Protocol Wing of theoffice was set on fire to saveChief Minister PinarayiVijayan, his principal secretaryM Sivsankar and SwapnaSuresh, the kingpin behind thegold smuggling,” saidSurendran while speaking toreporters at the capital city onWednesday.

He said the GeneralAdministration Department ofthe Kerala Government hadissued a circular on July 13,2020 (copies of which he dis-tributed to the reporters)

instructing all offices in the sec-retariat complex not to keepany files or documents ontables or outside the cupboardslest they get destroyed in firemishap.

“This was a script pre-pared by the Chief Ministerand the Chief Secretary. OnMonday, the Government shutdown the Protocol Wing of theSecretariat stating that some ofthe staff members tested posi-tive for Covid-19. How comethe Protocol wing shut downon Monday on account ofCovid-19 transmission wasopened on Tuesday to accom-modate two officials with liksto CPI(M),” asked Surendran.

He also alleged that the

additional secretary in chargeof the protocol wing toldreporters within minutes of thefire mishap that no importantfiles have been lost.

“How is it possible to claimthat no important files havebeen lost though he was awayfrom the site? Have the filesbeen digitized ?” asked the BJPleader.

He said the CCTV visualsfrom the CMO as well as CliffHouse (Official bungalow ofthe Chief Minister) weredestroyed under similar situa-tions. “The only difference wasthat these visuals weredestroyed in lightning thatstruck the CMO and CliffHouse,” said Surendran.

�� 34&2�

Kerala Police in its bid to nipin the bud any attempt by

the BJP to capitalize the goldsmuggling scam haunting theCPI(M) resorted to lathicharge, bursting of tear gasshells and water cannons to dis-perse all protest rallies stagedby party workers across the dis-trict headquarters in the Stateon Wednesday.

The demonstrations werepart of the protest rallies stagedall over the State by theHindutwa party demandingthe resignation of ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan, whohas been accused as the primesuspect in the gold smugglingcase by the State BJP chief KSurendran.

The party cadre got restlessafter Union Minister of Statefor Foreign Affairs VMuraleedharan said in a livevideo conference onWednesday that the fire mishap on Tuesday at theGovernment Secretariat thatdestroyed important and sen-sitive files was enmeshed inmystery and a comprehensiveprobe should be ordered intothe same. Muraleedharan’sstatement is being seen as thereaction of the CentralGovernment to the fire at theProtocol Wing of theSecretariat.

Though the Congress inKerala too staged a demon-stration in front of theSecretariat, it f izzled out soon after the inauguralspeech by RameshChennithala, leader of theOpposition.

�� &2)��

With Kuppusamy Annamalai , the former IPS officer whoquit Government of India after 10 years of service joining

the BJP on Tuesday, the fortunes of the Hindutwa party may seea revival in Tamil Nadu, according to senior leaders in Tamil Nadu.

“You will see prominent persons like Annamalai joining theBJP in days to come. This will definitely boost the image of theparty among the youth as well as the undecided section of thevoters,” Vanathi Srinivasan, vice president, Tamil Nadu BJP, toldThe Pioneer on Wednesday.

Karur-born Annamalai is an articulate speaker and he is heldin high esteem by youngsters. “He is already working among theyouth of the State through a NGO as part of his desire to groomyoung leaders and that will benefit the BJP,” said Srinivasan.

Annamalai made it known on Tuesday itself that he was notfor any immediate electoral politics and the 2021 assembly elec-tion would not be his launch pad.

“My idea and objective are to push what the party stands for.At present, thye [politics in Tamil Nadu is anti-Delhi. Whateverthe policies are State leaders criticise them and try to keep TamilNadu out of them,” Annamalai told journalists after joining theparty.

Dr Y R Johnson, former principal , Navodaya Vidyalaya andan educationist of repute is another person who expressed hishappiness over the words of Annamalai.

�� 34&2�

The beleaguered KeralaGovernment under

Pinarayi Vijayan had orderedcriminal case against leaders ofthe BJP and the Congress for‘trespassing’ into theGovernment Secretariat onTuesday following reportsabout the breaking out of firein the Protocol wing in whichhundreds of sensitive files weredevoured.

K Surendran, president ofBJP Kerala has been slappedwith eight criminal cases undervarious sections of the IndianPenal Code. One of the charges

against Surendran is for tres-passing into the Secretariat onTuesday evening. “I myself feelhumoured about this charge.The policemen guarding thegate had greeted me when Ientered the Secretariat premis-es. This is nothing but anattempt by Vijayan to silence alldissenters,” said Surendran.

The Kerala cabinet whichmet on Wednesday constitut-ed a team of police officials ledby Manoj Abraham, ADGP, toprobe the incident. But oldtimers in GovernmentSecretariat said file roomscatching fire was nothing newin Kerala. “There was an inci-

dent of the records room get-ting gutted in 2006 when theCBI team probing the SNCLavlin case came callingdemanding some of the files.But within hours the roomwhere the files were kept caughtfire and many documents weredestroyed,” said a former staffmember. Interestingly, PinarayiVijayan’s name figures in theSNC-Lavlin case as an accused.

In another development,Mullappalli Ramachandran,president, KPCC, whoobserved a day’s fast seekingthe resignation of PinarayiVijayan demanded a probe intthe fire by a central agency.

�� !"�#��$��%��

��?�� 1�7�>2�

Today BJP leaders andHinduism supporting

leaders surrounded the policestation and created a ruckusin the case of Love Jihad in Nagla Kalar ofBannadevi region. It wasalleged that the youth of theparticular sect first changedthe name and implicated thewoman.

Then, after feeding therelatives with intoxicants,they escaped with money

and jewelry. The police didnot register a theft case. Thestatements of the recoveredwoman were being taken.The accused is still abscond-ing. BJP leaders got angryabout this and wrangled withthe police.

The woman from NaglaKalar told the police in com-plaint that she has a 22-year-old daughter. It is alleged thata young man of a particularsect living in the Kotwaliarea implicated her daughterin his talks.

��?�� 1�7�>2�

Had the urea scandal notbeen strictly taken by the

government, then such a bigcase would not have beencaught. On the orders of DM,the officials of the AgricultureDepartment canceled thelicenses of 17 fertilizer vendors.Investigation revealed that theysold too much urea withoutputting the thumb impression ofthe farmers on the POSmachine.

There have been complaintsrelated to this in the past, butaction was not taken. On thecontrary, a retailer's supply wasstopped on a fake complaint. Hedid not get urea this season.MLAs have also pleaded, but thehearing was not held. Farmerleaders have demanded aninquiry of the wholesalers, ques-tioning the agriculture depart-ment.

This was the case:According

to Swami Ramkishan Sharma ofSoubhari Agrotech Pvt Ltd, onDecember 18, 19, BhansaliTraders sold 300 bags of urea for�255 per bag, and also chargedfreight for �seven. Other firmsgave the same bag at the rate of�245. There was a difference of�3,001 in the prices of both.Complaint to the DistrictAgricultural Officer was maderegarding this. The wholesalerthen refunded the 2100 rupeesfreight, but stopped the supply.Urea comes under the EssentialCommodities Act.

They said that no money isowed to the businessman, nor isthere any shortage in papers. Onthis, the authorities startedanswering the questions from us.Krishna Thakur, Gabbhana saysthat on August 16, shopkeeperpressurized to buy zinc andgum with urea in Karanpur ofGabbhana area. When denied,he refused to give urea stating itas out of stock.

��?�� 1�7�>2�

As soon as the Governmentannounced that the imple-

mentation process of CAA willstart soon, the buzz in AntiCAA lobby has started.According to intelligencesources this time also, the pos-sibility of fresh protest cannotbe ruled out during CAAimplementation but the localadministration and UP thegovernment is fully prepared tohandle this.

Meanwhile the localadministration believes thatthis time protest will not be asviolent as it was last time.Earlier, the protests of Uparkotinfront of Jama Masjid in thecity went violent. Even thewomen prostested in Eidgah,Shahjamal for continuous 2months similarly as done by thewomen in Shaheen bagh,Delhi. Aligarh's protest wasthe second longest protest after

the Shaheen Bagh that contin-ued for more than 2 months. Itis to be noted that the promi-nent people playing the activerole in the anti CAA protestwere AMU students and lead-ers but the protests and strikeswere closed due to the Coronapandemic.

The police and the localadministration is keeping aclose vigil on those who active-ly particiapted in the anti-CAA protest last time. Whereason the other hand, there aretalks about muslim communi-ty planning to protest againstCAA again.

Legal expert and senioradvocate, Krishna Kumar Singhtold that “The process ofenforcing the CitizenshipAmendment Act will start soonafter the global corona pan-demic ends, and anyone whowants citizenship of India underthis law will have to completethe process within a year.

�� '��

!��"#��$%& �� =�� " ��

2��(�� *��+3�

& ��%��%��'��"��$��

��*!��!!�� $��0��0� ��!��

1"��J�6��!��

�� )��)12�

BJP MP and member ofParliamentary Standing

Committee on InformationTechnology Nishikant Dubeyon Wednesday urged thepanel's chairman andCongress leader ShashiTharoor to cancel a meetingon suspension of Internetservices in various states andUnion Territories, includingJammu & Kashmir, citingthat its agenda was not in linewith the rules of the house.

The InformationTechnology parliamentarypanel’s discussions are to beheld on September 1 and 2.

Dubey and Tharoor arelocked in a row and havemoved privilege motionsagainst each other in the con-troversy relating to the sum-moning of the FB officials.

Tharoor’s calling of FBofficials was opposed byDubey who alleged thatTharoor did not follow therules and flouted parliamen-tary norms “surpassing alllimits of decency”.

Tharoor objected to thecontent and the language ofthe letter of the BJP MP andmoved a privilege motionagainst Dubey. Both the priv-ilege motions are pendingwith the Speaker.

The running feudbetween the BJP and theCongress-led-opposition inthe IT committee has re-sur-faced again with Dubey nowopposing a meeting called byTharoor to discuss suspensionof internet services in statesand Union territories, includ-ing Jammu and Kashmir, say-ing that the issue was sub-judice.

He also drew the attentionof the Committee chairman tothe letter written by the LokSabha Speaker Om Birla a dayago where he said practice ofnot discussing issues “pendingin the courts”.

“In this connection, I maylike to bring to your kindnotice that recently, you haveconvened yet another sittingof the committee on 1September to discuss the issueof 4G (fourth generationmobile telephony) services inJammu & Kashmir(J&K).Since this issue ispresently pending before theSupreme Court (SC)… anyfurther deliberations on thiswould again be a violation ofthe relevant rules/directions aswell as the recently issuedadvisory of the Speaker,”Dubey reportedly said in hisletter to Tharoor.

7�� !� �� "? �+

Gorakhpur (UP): A Class 7 stu-dent was allegedly raped by amanager of her school, who alsomade a video of her and threat-ened to post it on social media ifshe reported the matter to any-one, police said here onWednesday.

This is the second such inci-dent reported in the Gola policestation area of the district in thepast 10 days.

On July 30, school managerHarendra Yadav (38) called the15-year-old girl to his house andallegedly raped her, police said,

adding that the accused is on therun and a case has been registeredagainst him.

The police station in-chargeof the area has been removedfrom the post and attached to thePolice Lines for failing to take thecase seriously and not informinghigh officials regarding it.

According to police, theaccused made a video of the stu-dent and started blackmailing her.He threatened to post it on socialmedia if she disclosed the inci-dent to anyone, police said. PTI

&��'�� !��$��7��0�!��

India had to wait for a long time to geta new national policy on education.Thirty-four years are indeed a long gapfor a sector that is supposed to be ever-alert and dynamic in nature. In a

democratic set-up, with all of its contextu-al diversities, debate on any new policy isvery much expected. And criticism is notnecessarily always professional or objective.Ideological considerations and politicalinclinations do make their presence felt onsuch occasions. Having observed this phe-nomenon for over 50 years, this writer hasfound it to be highly educative. He faced itin full fury, being one of those responsiblefor preparing a new Curriculum Frameworkfor School Education(NCFSE) that wasreleased on November 14, 2000.

It was not just a comprehensive educa-tion policy document but had the potentialto bring about tangible and significantchanges in school education. By implicationand extension, it meant to transform theentire education scenario in India. TheNCFSE was prepared after a nationwideprocess of consultation in which every sec-tor was invited to participate. Strong voic-es emerged from across the country on theneed for a curriculum that is rooted inIndian soil, the country’s history, heritageand culture, one that is strongly committedto receiving and generating new knowledge.

After independence, India continuedwith the educational structure it had inher-ited, though with minor modifications. Theeducational framework then was transplant-ed by alien rulers, who had strategic objec-tives: One, destroy the indigenous educa-tion system. And two, delink Indians fromIndia. This, they thought, was the mostpotent strategy to subjugate India. Therewere clear cut evangelical objectives as well.Further, it was also implicit that once thenew education system took roots, the“souls of the savages” would be redeemedand there would be no idol worshippers leftin the country.

The British succeeded, probably evenbeyond their expectations. Their most cru-cial success was when India decided to con-tinue with the inherited legacy. We contin-ued with the Commonwealth link, totallyoblivious to the great tradition of knowledgequest, spirituality, astrophysics and so manyother areas of knowledge, philosophy andsciences. India stretched the education sys-tem, which was designed to educate a few,for the specific task to universalise it. As aresult, it was shattered and lost credibility.

The tradition of education in ancientIndia grew around the inherent human traitof curiosity, creativity, imagination, ideas,intuition, capacity to think and enjoyexploring the secrets of nature. It was notconfined to the external world. It preparedthe students to look within; to attempt tocomprehend the fuller and larger meaningof life on planet earth; and to think of beforelife and afterlife. And all these human

endeavours led to the evolutionof man’s relationship with him-self, with other men and nature.If people could correctly com-prehend the import of thesethree aspects, they would natu-rally be at peace. This wouldgive them greater opportunityand eligibility for more intensiveexplorations.

Logically, it led to the evo-lution of what was recognised asthe unique spiritual advance-ment of the ancient Indiancivilisation. When India gainedindependence, we were free toevolve, implement and developour own system of education,one that would be “rooted toculture and committed toprogress.” Apart from beinginheritors of a great tradition ofknowledge quest, our litera-ture and scriptures — in sever-al languages — were great trea-sures of wisdom and scholar-ship. In this sense, the new edu-cation policy offers hope.

It must be acknowledgedthat independent India paidscant attention to investment ineducation all along. Though itput a constitutional provision toprovide free and compulsoryeducation to all children “tillthey attain 14 years of age”, theepistemological base to create anindigenous system of educationwas not extricated. India had aunique, fulsome, advanced andwell-evolved comprehension ofthe real purpose of educationthat made Swami Vivekananda

teach us: Education is the man-ifestation of perfection alreadyin men. UNESCO accepts thisin the much-talked-aboutDelors Commission reporttitled, Learning: The TreasureWithin. How much India tradi-tionally values knowledge isknown to us for centuries in asubtle statement: YavadjeevaitAdhiyate Viprah (meaning, thewise continue to gain knowl-edge throughout life).

This reverberates globally aslife-long learning. WhenGandhiji said he would like edu-cation to bring the best out of“body, mind and spirit”, heintended to put the essence ofthe Indian approach to skilldevelopment, learning, acquisi-tion of knowledge and scholar-ship, personality development— all of which can help youngpeople prepare to plunge them-selves in service of one and all— sarve bhavantu sukhinah:sarve santu niramaya.

One would find that all ofthis fits perfectly well with glob-al thinking on education, asindicated in the well-knownDelors Commission report: “Inconfronting the many chal-lenges that the future holds instore, humankind sees in edu-cation an indispensable asset inits attempt to attain the ideals ofpeace, freedom and social jus-tice.” Concluding its work, thecommission affirms its beliefthat education has a fundamen-tal role to play in personal and

social development. The com-mission does not see educationas a miracle cure or a formulathat can open the door to aworld where all ideals will beattained but as one of the prin-cipal means available to foster adeeper and more harmoniousform of human developmentand, thereby, reduce poverty,exclusion, ignorance, oppressionand war. Education generateshope and spreads light in thedarkness.

Knowledge creation is acontinuous process, so is skillacquisition and its refinement.The capability to acquire andcreate knowledge and utilise itto enhance the quality of life dis-tinguishes human beings fromother living beings. We havelearnt from Bhagavad Gita thatthere is nothing else purer thangyaan. Over the last 100 years,the world has transitioned froman information society toknowledge society and theadvancement to wisdom societyhas begun. But is education allabout acquiring knowledgealone? Or is it about the creationof new knowledge? No. It ismuch more and this must besearched for critically in everynew policy document.

I would like to recallBertrand Russell here, who said,“Man has no chance of survivalif knowledge only remainsknowledge. But if we couldtransform knowledge into wis-dom, he/she would not only

survive but will be able toascend to greater and greaterheights of achievements.” Yes,we need to prepare young peo-ple who can think critically, havevibrant analytical skills andawareness.

They must understand thatknowledge is meaningless if itjust cannot be utilised for thewelfare of the larger humancommunity. Think of LosAlamos when on July 16, 1945,knowledge was at its peak.While scientists were exploringthe possible utilisation of atom-ic and nuclear energy in thebest interest of humanity — inareas like medicine, land use,clean energy and many others— those in power and author-ity had other ideas and decid-ed to bomb Hiroshima andNagasaki on August 6 and 9,1945. This remains one of thecruellest and shameful acts inhuman history.

Much before Hiroshima,Gandhiji had identified sevensocial sins, including knowledgewithout character. Educationhas no meaning if it does notbecome a vehicle for character-building. Swami Vivekanandahad already clarified: “The endof all education should be man-making. The end and aim of alltraining are to make the mangrow.” An education policymust prepare every person to“learn to learn more,” acquirethe skill to refine and renewthem and imbibe keenness forlife-long learning.

Education that relies onthe five eternal values of truth,peace, non-violence, dharmaand love can play a great sober-ing role in preparing generationswho are well equipped tobecome prominent contributorsin creating world peace, aworld that accepts and appreci-ates diversity and at the sametime becomes a votary of “uni-versal unity of all humanbeings.”

The newly-announced pol-icy on education has all theingredients that can pave theway for a truly transformedIndia. It could lead India to itsancient glory as an internation-al centre of scholarship andlearning that attracted learnersfrom practically every civilisedsociety in the heydays of Taxila,Nalanda, Vikramshila and oth-ers. It paves the way to move outof the clutches of a transplant-ed system that makes over eightlakh children go abroad forstudies, each incurring a loss ofaround 1.5 lakh every year.Competence, commitment andingenuity, displayed at theimplementation stage, can makeIndia a globally sought-aftereducational hub once again.

(The writer works in educa-tion and social cohesion)

��

��!��"��#�$�%��&��'��(��)%&'(*�� +,-.� �� -+ ��/�� 0��#(��0��0��0��#�1��2�� -,��

0�� 2��#�$��3�� 4��5�� 6#�7�� 4�� -8��-9�� 4��:�4��;��$��0��-<�� #�$��0�� 0�� 4��0�� 4�� 0��4��#�=��

$��>��(?"�� 4��0��=��0��4#�@��0��0��$�4��?�� A��(?"#�7��0��=5@��4�� $�4��4�� 4�� =��A ��"��)="*� �� #B��9<��(?"�� !"� ��0��#� ��0��0��C��;��=��&��#�B�� !"�� $�4��#�=��3��!"��=�� 4�� #� �� #

@��@��4��

�� #� ��0��&��#� ��&�� ?��1��13��)?11*��%��1��1��0��$��)%11$*�3��#�$��

��D� ��0��4�� 0��4��4��0��4��D��#�$��0��0�� 3��0��3��+.��4��A��3��#$�� =��&�� %��$�� )%$ *�� #��B��&@EB��#� �� >��(�� .,��0�� #�� 0�� 0��#�B��3��&��&��=��0��@��&��2��4��0��#��7��&��&2�� 3��=��2��!��$��4��?��4��=�0��=�� #�(��0�� (��&��2��$��&��2��(��A��3��#�(��A�� =��&�� 0��#�$��#�2�� 0�� 3��0��#�(�� 0��4��0��=��(�� %�� 0��>��

=��C��#F�� 3��4�� @��#�=��&��#=�� 0��4� ��0��#�=��2�� "��2��%��2�� 4��3��=��0��@��#�(��=�� C��0��0��#�=�� ;��&��2��"��E�A��0��0��0� �� @��=��#�=��&��2�� ;�A�� #�$��-8��=$��=��=$�� #�(��C�� &��0��4��?11��3��>�$��@��0��0��0��#�$��(?"��3�� ;��4��;��3��0��G��GBB� �� #��?11/%11$� �� 0��&��G#�%�� #=��@��0��0�� 0�� =��0��#�@��A��4��4�� 0��4��(?"��0��#

(��)��

��

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Cong still at crossroads”(August 25). By now it’s clear thatanyone who dares question theGandhis has to face the music.Kapil Sibal is the latest example.He had to withdraw a twitter poston the pretext that Rahul Gandhipersonally clarified issues withhim and did not attack him.

That said, the 23 leaders,who raised demands for a full-time president, did not intend toquestion Sonia Gandhi’s leader-ship at all. Being senior, experi-enced and loyalists who havestood by the party in every crisis,they had just submitted a propos-al/letter calling for a leadershipchange and organisational over-haul. That their plea was reject-ed smacks of an authoritarianmindset. Constant Modi-bait-ing, especially by Rahul Gandhi,has boomeranged. The result isthat the Congress has beenreduced to just 52 seats in the LokSabha, though this is up by eightseats from the 2014 general elec-tion. The same leadership hasfailed to inspire confidenceamong the masses. No party canremain a silent spectator when

there is an opportunity to dis-lodge a Government and form itsown. There needs to be a struc-tural and ideological revamp,right from the grassroots level.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

��

Sir — It is a matter of concern thattwo-thirds of the Indian popula-tion still live in poverty. TheIndian subcontinent is one of the

poorest countries in the world.Women and children, the weak-est members of society, are affect-ed the most. Poor hygiene condi-tions are the aggravators of dis-eases such as cholera, typhoid anddysentery. A tragedy unfolded in

Agra this weekend as a five-year-old girl of an impoverishedfamily from Nagla Vidhichandvillage died after her family hadgone without food for a month.

Poverty has indeed been oneof our biggest challenges.Coronavirus has deepened theabyss and worsened the pandem-ic of economic inequality, blight-ing our democracy even in post-colonial times. Policy interventionsfor the short-term, such as foodprovisions, are not enough. Weneed to up basic indices of life.

B AhsanullahDelhi

��

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Cong still at crossroads” (August25). In the present circumstances,everyone wishes for a strongOpposition party to emerge in thecountry and the Congress fits inwell for this. Is it then wise on thepart of Rahul Gandhi to alienateeven those who have stood by theparty through thick and thin?

RatnapriyaVia email

& � & * + ! , - � & � , ( �

((()��*%��)$� ��$0%�C��!��K B(��K �� %�C��!��C

��

��

4�� $��

��

�� "�� !��@"��"��!��!�� !�� ! ��!!�� "��

(�� !�� !��$�� 0�� %�3�� "�� $��%

'� ;� +0�!=!8.9�� 0��

� L�� "� �� %�� L ��$�� $�� $�� %

�<.� ��5��

��1��0�� !�� !��%�

� ��!+"!@8'� ��A+��< �.! >�� &��$��

� � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � � ��

��

4 �� !� � �� &4A��@.:�� "�� 0�� %�(��!�0��

��!��!�� %�&��!"�� !"��@ �� @�� @��$�� !!�� @ ��0� �� $�� 0� �� @��0�� $��"��$�� %�(��!�� "��%

� ��!�"�� !"�� "��$�� %�� $�� @ ��!� �� *!��$�� (��!� �� L�� @�� !�� &4A��@.:%�)"�� "��"�� $�� $�� !��@��!�!� �� %��L��!"�� !��%� �� 7"�� @�� %�� *�� @$��!��!��M��@ �� "��!�� 0� �� !��"�� 7&��))��))(��*��

��0��*!�� "�� %��"�� M�� $��0�� !�!��$�� @�� !��%� �24� �� (��7��$�� !��$��"�� %�4�� 6�� @�� 5��0��!� �� &��"��$�� "�� %�� $��%�� "�� %

��!,�0��.�+��

��)��> �=��..� 8.�#��+�� BA;!��7<�;

.&�� !��!�� !�� "�� !�� !!�� "�� !!� �� %

��+A �88��!0� �3�!��$��

�� 3445!44#��6��7�+� �� $�� $��8

(�� $��"��6�� $�� 9�� 9��9� $��

(��

�� '�� -��%�� '� ��-��?��''��-��

�� ?�� 7C&��@�� %�

��&��

�� &�� @%��&��&��@ ��&�� '� ��7C��

+,-�� +,-�

COVID-19 has underscored the fact that theonly thing constant in this world is change.Over the years, there has been a huge change

in how businesses work and the accounting profes-sion is no different. The transformation of account-ing from information management to strategy-mak-ing is tremendous, and an accountant who was moreof a back-end person has been catapulted to the front.

Technology is a significant contributor to thistransformation as it is credited with a number ofother changes in the current business trends and con-tinues to change industries. Various drivers have ledto this cultural shift towards adoption of technolo-gy in the accounting profession like improvementsin regulations, demands of clients, generationchange and so on. In fact, technology has led to dis-ruptions in the accounting profession that were hith-erto unknown and added the much-needed smartzing to it.

Automation, one of the key trends, and animportant aspect of technology, has made the sys-tems more efficient and effective and is alsoresponsible for the revolution in the accounting pro-fession. Transactional entries made manually are nowbeing completed by a software. It encompasses morethan just data entry and emphasises on the entirelifecycle of the accounting process, starting fromrecording, manoeuvring and inferring transaction-al data. This makes financial management a much-reorganised and simplified process and helps man-agers take faster decisions by making real-time dataaccessible.

Rising demand for the automation of account-ing services has boosted the accounting softwareindustry, currently valued at $12 billion. It is expect-ed to reach approximately $19.6 billion by 2025,clocking a growth rate of 8.5 per cent. Some of themajor accounting software companies includeOracle, Microsoft, Intuit, SAP, Sage and so on.

Most of this modern accounting software isbased on cloud technology. Gone are the days whenaccounting services were based locally, using soft-ware hosted on computers’ hard drives. Accountantsnow store and access data from the cloud insteadof a local computer system. So what is cloud any-way? It is nothing but another term for the inter-net. There are many benefits of using cloud-basedaccounting systems. Automation of accounting andbook-keeping processes improves efficiency by cut-ting down efforts on routine activities. Access to real-time data anytime and anywhere improves produc-tivity and decision-making abilities. It helps in reduc-tion of costs, creates a paperless environment andhelps in smooth integration with other cloud-basedsolutions. These benefits and many more are moti-vating businesses to shift to cloud-based account-ing services.

According to a survey conducted by theaccounting software firm, Sage, around 67 per centaccountants feel that cloud-based services have madetheir roles easier. But though cloud-based account-ing has a number of benefits, it is not devoid of draw-backs. One of the biggest risks is the vendor shut-ting shop. Over the years, it is a known fact that ven-dors can be here today and gone tomorrow. Thisleaves the organisations using their services in alurch. Second, in case of unavailability of an inter-net connection, the benefit of real-time access toaccounting data is lost. And finally, accounting data

on the internet is subject to securitybreaches. Notwithstanding these risks, theAsia-Pacific region is set to witness thehighest growth in the accounting softwaremarket as the adaptability of modern tech-nology is higher in this region.

An increase in investment in cloudtechnology and emergence of small busi-nesses are also the contributing factors.China is the largest user of cloud tech-nology in the region, followed by India.

The latest blockchain technologytoo, will have a major role in revolution-ising the profession, by freeing up accoun-tants from regular book-keeping activitiesand providing more clarity on resourcesand obligations of an organisation. The BigFour in the accounting industry — ErnstYoung, Price Waterhouse, KPMG andDeloitte — are leading the trend towardsunderstanding blockchain for accounting.

Social media marketing has becomea necessity in every industry and theaccounting profession is not immune toit. The influence of social media can bemeasured by the fact that 26 per cent ofpeople who click on Facebook ads buyfrom the same brand. It is crucial foraccounting firms to create their identityand develop their niche, establish them-selves as thought leaders and industryexperts. Social media can help achieve allthis for accounting firms and muchmore. It is one of the important ways ofpackaging one’s business and accountingfirms can create their brands online,improve visibility and awareness using thismedium, particularly in an industrywhere credibility and professionalism arethe most important aspects. As companiesare focussing on their core competenceareas, outsourcing functions like taxation,

salary management, training and payrollare becoming one of the fastest-growingareas for accounting firms.

Another important technologicalwave, Artificial Intelligence (AI), is hereto stay and grow by leaps and bounds inthe future as it can perform the most com-plex of functions, without an overhead ofmonthly salary. An overhaul of theaccounting department, leading to struc-tural changes, is a priority for any organ-isation wanting to embrace this technol-ogy as it improves performance andaccuracy and reduces expenses.

There are various ways in which AIcan help improve accounting function.First, the reconciliation process is fasterand devoid of mistakes as AI collects datafrom different departments, collates andmerges it in no time. Second, AI helps inpaperless procurements and better ven-dor management. Third, creditor/debtormanagement is simplified with the helpof digital workflow. In addition, digitisa-tion of accounting records means betteraccessibility and accuracy of the auditfunction. And lastly, expense managementis smooth with the help of AI, which canalso help solve some of the commonlyasked questions of users. A survey by Sageshows that 66 per cent of accountants werewilling to invest in AI.

So will computers replace accountantsin future? No. As automation takes awaythe routine and mundane job of data entry,the role of accountants would be morestrategic in nature and they would bedirectly involved in advising the firm’sleadership on critical decisions and shiftthe focus of accountants towards data ana-lytics in particular.

Data analysis and number crunching

will provide valuable and never beforeinsights into businesses, helping inimproving productivity and efficiency andmanage risks better.

For example, accountants can devel-op analytical models based on consumerbehaviour patterns in the market, whichcan help them produce higher profit mar-gins by identifying suitable investmentopportunities. Therefore, the future roleof accountants will be to use data analyt-ics and help businesses monitor andenhance business productivity, identifyand handle risks and enrich customerexperience.

Although automation makes life eas-ier, it is also susceptible to fraud and secu-rity concerns. So, accountants will alsohave to don an additional hat of an inter-nal auditor to check for data inaccuracies.With the advent of these technologicalinnovations, it has become possible foraccountants to work anytime, anywhere.Although this trend of remote workinghad started as early as 2018, the pandem-ic has started the trend of work fromhome. Accounting is one such professionwhich can produce the same excellentresults in the home environment as muchas in the office setting.

The profession of accountancy hascome a long way. It has always been con-sidered tedious and monotonous withoutmuch excitement and innovation. The lastinnovation in this profession was 500 yearsago when the double-entry book-keepingsystem was introduced. But with the rapiduse of technology, there has been a para-digm shift and accounting is at the fore-front of all technological innovations.

(The writer is Associate Professor,Amity University, Noida)

#$�� $�� "�� 7�(�� 9$��9�� "��$�� $��

�� !" � � � � � � � � # �

.�#��(��

�&�/�-#��

(��$�� $� �� !!��

�� !�� N

/,0��,-.&$��

�&&4��(��&?�2��&45)��14�7��?%

�(�2��1��?�6))��&4��)>)�

()��4��54�4(4�4��

��(24�(�5�&2)O&�()5)�(��4A�(�4�%�(2)

1��(��4A�(�4��(2��>4#)��4�

��<--�?)�>��74��2)��(2)�4�61)@)�(>?6443@3))��7

�?�()5��(>4��&)�%�

6�(��(2�(2)>��)�4#()&2�4147?�

(2)>)�2��6))��>��75��2�#(

$��0�� 0��B��0��&��:��4#�$��

0�� B��0�� #� B�� 0�� 0�� A��&��#�"�� #�5� ��4�� 0��#��0�� B��4��0��0��#

$��0�� 4�� #B��A��0��#�$��0��4�� #�� B��4�� 0�� #�$��A�� 0��#�

2�� 0�� #�$��0�� A��C��4�� 0�� #�B�� 0�� 0��0��#� �� 0��4�� #�$�� 0��0��4��#�

��=��=��@0��'��F��0�� 0��0��0��#�7�� !=�� F�� 0��4�� #� ��0��0�� A��4��0��#

@��0��3��4��#�@�� 4�� #�=�� #�$��#�$�� 0��0��B��#(��0��0��4��#B��0�� 0��#�(��#5� ��0��0��#��A��!=��3��B��#�

(��0��#�$��0��0��4��#� �� B��4��0��#�7�� 0�� 4��0�� #�

F��0�� :��4��B��!=��!=� ��3��?��0�� 0��A��#� ��0�� 0��5��0��0��4��F��0��4��$ �� 0��!=��#�B��0�� 0��5-�(��0�� 0�#�=�� 0��&��B��)��*��4��#�(��4��@��@��H�� 0�� B��#�B�� B�� 0��0��#�$��4��4��&�� 0��4��0��#

)��*

The Supreme Court (SC) is hear-ing the petition of telecom com-panies on the matter relating to

the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR).Though on August 24 the apex courtreserved its order, it is expected to con-clude the matter relating to the recov-ery of AGR dues from RJio and BhartiAirtel, which have entered into spec-trum-sharing and spectrum-tradingagreements.

The SC’s decision, whenever itcomes, is expected to cover the deferredpayment of AGR dues sought by Voda-Idea and Bharti Airtel. It is expected toclarify if the spectrum (i.e. right to use)held by a telecom firm can be trans-ferred under insolvency proceedings.This is relevant for RComm becausespectrum is its biggest asset and if it isnot allowed to be sold, then loan recov-ery of banks will go down. RJio, too, will

be hit because the firm is usingRComm’s spectrum to serve its cus-tomers.

The SC will also decide whetherpast dues of insolvent telcos can berecovered from existing firms whichhave entered into spectrum-sharing andspectrum-trading pacts with insolventtelcos. This will largely impact RJio andBharti Airtel, which have entered intopacts with RComm andVideocon/Aircel respectively.

There was a twist in the case whenthe SC asked the Centre to clarify itsposition on AGR dues of RComm,which is currently used by RJio. Earlierthe matter was focussed on allowingdeferred payment mechanism to tele-com firms, which got hit after the SC’sdecision in October 2019. The AGR ispaid in terms of clause 18 of the licenceagreement between telcos and theGovernment. This levy is in the natureof revenue-sharing between the telecomcompanies and the Government, whichwas calculated as per the definition ofthe AGR given in Clause 19 of thelicence agreement.

The Government’s intention was torecover the licence fee on the entire rev-enue of telecom companies except forthe specific exclusion provided in thesaid clause. However, telecom firms

contested this and took the view thatnon-telecom revenue, like revenuecoming from sale of passive infrastruc-ture and so on, should not be includ-ed in the computation of the AGR.

The matter reached the TelecomDispute Settlement and AppellateTribunal (TDSAT) which passed ordersin 2006 and 2007. In 2006, the TDSATruled in favour of telecom companiesand held that they were liable to paylicence fee only on that portion of rev-enue which is derived from activitiesrelated to telecom licence and not onthe entire earnings.

Subsequent to this, in 2007 theDepartment of Telecommunications(DoT) challenged the TDSAT’s juris-diction in the SC. The court dismissedthe DoT’s petition and directed it toraise its concerns with the TDSAT andthis order upheld the TDSAT’s 2006decision. After this, the CellularOperators Association of India filed areview petition with the TDSAT andthe tribunal gave its order on August30, 2007.

The DoT again moved the SCagainst the August 2007 order and thematter was finally decided by the apexcourt in October 2019 in which theGovernment’s view was upheld by thecourt. The demand for the AGR runs

into billions of dollars and it includesa substantial amount as interest andpenalty.

As a result, telecom companieshave requested the apex court to allow20 years’ moratorium for paying thisamount, similar to the way spectrumauction fee is paid over the years. It ispertinent to note that the AGR issuewas a substantial question of law whichwas decided by the apex court.Therefore, it would be unjust to imposea penalty on such an issue.

The Modi Government madesome reforms in the telecom sector in2015. Spectrum-sharing and spec-trum-trading were allowed vide theDoT’s guidelines issued in Septemberand October 2015 respectively. Thesenorms allowed telecom companies toget spectrum from another telecomcompany (either through the sharingmodel or purchase of spectrum held byothers), subject to the guidelines. In2016, RJio entered into two agreementswith RComm and its subsidiary forspectrum-sharing and spectrum-trad-ing. Subsequently, both the companiesmutually terminated the spectrum-trading agreement and continued withspectrum-sharing. All these facts weredisclosed in their annual reports.

RJio has rapidly expanded its oper-

ations and currently it is using a partof the spectrum held by RComm andits subsidiary to serve its customers.From a purely legal standpoint, RJiomay not be required to pay dues owedby RComm because it is not liable topay past dues as per the sharing guide-lines issued by the DoT. However, hadit been a spectrum-trading agreement,RJio would have had to pay the pend-ing past dues of RComm and perhapsthis could be one of the reasons behindthe termination of the trading pactwhich was entered in 2016.

Spectrum is a national resource andit belongs to the Government. A tele-com company can use the spectrum butit can’t own it. The licence agreementempowers the Government to revokethe licence and incidental rights if thelicencee doesn’t comply with the con-ditions. RComm has defaulted on pay-ment of licence fee and the insolvencyprocess of the company has also beeninitiated.

Now, the DoT has approached theNational Company Law Tribunal(NCLT) to put insolvency proceedingson hold because spectrum is the mainasset being put up for sale. This belongsto the Government and the companyonly has the right to use the spectrumas part of the licence agreement.

Existing telecom operators Airteland Voda-Idea have already been hit bythe AGR verdict but recent develop-ments are going to impact RJio, too.Though RJio may not be liable to payRComm’s dues under a spectrum-sharing agreement but in case it isdecided that RComm’s spectrumbelongs to the Government, then RJio’sbusiness operations may take a big hit.

If RComm’s spectrum is takenback by the DoT due to non-paymentof dues, then the spectrum-sharingagreement between RJio and RCommwill automatically come to an end.

Apart from this, lenders ofRComm will also take a hit becausespectrum is the main asset, which isexpected to be monetised under insol-vency proceedings.

The SC can decide the legality ofthe AGR issue but the executive powerlies with the Government and outsourc-ing executive decisions to the apex courtis akin to a policy paralysis.

The telecom sector is already grap-pling with a lot of issues and instead ofpassing the buck to the apex court, aquick decision by the Centre is need-ed to safeguard the interests of all stake-holders.

(The writer is a CharteredAccountant)

#$��$��

�/�/�-��%

��

((()��*%��)$�

"�� &� � �'�

(�� !��0�� %�� *!� �� "�� %��!�"��!�� $� ��"�� %�6� �� "�� $��!!�� "��%�(�� "�� !�� "�� "�� &4A��@.:%�� "�� %��E �� F

�4�A�&&��)�#4>5��47?�?

( )�*��+��

Minsk: Police in Belarusdetained over 50 people acrossthe country during protestsdemanding the resignation ofBelarus’ authoritarian leader,officials said on Wednesday.

The renewed crackdownon protesters, who have beentaking to the streets for overtwo weeks, comes as authori-ties crank up pressure on theopposition, jailing severalactivists, summoning othersfor questioning and selective-ly ordering dozens of demon-strators to appear in court.

The Interior Ministry said51 protesters were detainedTuesday at rallies that spannedseveral cities. According to theViasna human rights group, 15people were detained inMinsk, the country’s capital,where several thousand peoplerallied at Independence Squaredespite heavy rain, pushing forthe country’s longtimePresident AlexanderLukashenko to resign.

Protests broke out afterofficial results of the Aug. 9presidential election wereannounced, givingLukashenko his sixth consec-utive term, with 80% of thevote. AP

Ankara: Turkey’s presidentwarned Greece on Wednesdaynot to test his country’s patienceor courage as the NATO alliesremained locked in a tense dis-pute over offshore energy explo-ration in the easternMediterranean, while Greeceannounced plans to extend itsterritorial waters along its west-ern coastline.

The neighboring countrieshave sent warships to shadoweach other in the easternMediterranean and held militaryexercises this week within anarea between Crete and Cypruswhere Turkey has a vessel con-ducting drilling research inwaters claimed by them both.

“Turkey will take what is itsright in the Mediterranean, inthe Aegean and in the BlackSea,” Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan said.

“Just as we have no eyes overanyone’s territory, sovereigntyand interests, we will nevercompromise on what belongs tous. We are determined to dowhatever is necessary in politi-cal, economic and militaryterms.”

Erdogan’s tough words camedespite mediation efforts byGermany, whose foreign minis-ter conducted shuttle diploma-cy between Athens and Ankaraa day earlier in a bid to deesca-late the situation as Turkey andGreece engaged in competingmilitary exercises at sea. “Weinvite our interlocutors to gettheir act together and to avoidmistakes that will lead to theirruin,” he said.

In Athens, meanwhile,Prime Minister KyriakosMitsotakis said Greece is plan-ning to exercise it’s legal right toextend its territorial waters alongits western coastline from six to12 nautical miles.

The planned extensionalong Greece’s Italy-facing coast-line would not directly affect theterritory at the center of theGreek-Turkish dispute.

But the prime minister toldparliament that Greece wasabandoning decades of “passive”foreign policy. German ForeignMinister Heiko Maas appealedto both Greece and Turkey onTuesday to enter a dialogue anddefuse the tensions, warning that“any spark, however small, couldlead to a disaster.” His visits cameahead of a meeting of EU foreignministers in Berlin later thisweek, at which Turkey will bediscussed. AP

Bankok: Police in Thailandcontinued their crackdown onthe country’s student-ledprotest movement onWednesday, arresting twomore activists on charges ofsedition and several minoroffenses.

Those arrested — TattepRuangprapaikitseree and JamesPanumas Singprom — aremembers of the Free Youthmovement, a core part of agrowing pro-democracy coali-tion that is demanding thatnew elections be called, theconstitution be amended andharassment of critics of thegovernment cease.

With Wednesday’s arrests,there now are 13 activistscharged in connection with the

recent protests. All those pre-viously arrested have beenfreed on bail.

The arrests have done lit-tle to deter the activists, severalof whom have returned topublic protests even after theirbail conditions could makethem liable for rearrest. Theyhave declared they will holdanother major protest inSeptember if their demands arenot met.

The activists believe thatthe government of PrimeMinister Prayuth Chan-ochacame to power illegitimatelybecause it was elected underlaws established under a mili-tary regime that seized controlin a 2014 coup ousting anelected government. PTI

Kabul: Heavy flooding haskilled at least 100 people andinjured scores of others asheavy seasonal rains drenchednorthern and easternAfghanistan, officials saidWednesday.

Annual heavy rains, com-pounded by mudslides, oftenthreaten remote areas ofAfghanistan, where infra-structure is poor. Summeroften brings heavy rainfall innorthern and eastern parts ofthe country, leading to floodsthat leave hundreds dead everyyear.

State minister for disastermanagement GhulamBahawudin Jilani said that innorthern Parwan province,water inundated the central cityof Charikar, where the healthministry said the local hospi-tal was partially destroyed andmany of the injured were beingtransferred to the capital,Kabul.

The provincial spokes-woman, Wahida Shahkar, saidthe number of casualties mayrise as people and rescue teamswere still working to locate

people buried under destroyedhouses. The head of the provin-cial hospital, Abdul QasimSangin, said several childrenwere among the dead andsome of the injured are in crit-ical condition.

Shahkar said the floodingstarted in the central part of theprovince overnight, followingheavy rains and destroyingmany homes. She called on thegovernment to deliver aid andprovide immediate support forworkers digging through mudto reach those who weretrapped.

Afghan President AshrafGhani in a statement orderedaid be delivered to Parwanand other provinces whileexpressing his condolences tothe victims’ families.

Ahmad Tameem Azimi,spokesman of the DisasterManagement Ministry, saidflooding blocked highways toeastern and northernprovinces.

“Along with rescuing peo-ple we are working to open thehighways back to traffic,” hesaid. AP

Washington: The United Stateson Wednesday announcedsanctions and restrictions ontwo dozen Chinese compa-nies and associated officials fortaking part in building artificialislands in disputed waters inthe South China Sea.

The 24 state-owned firmsinclude subsidiaries of con-struction giant ChinaCommunications ConstructionCo., telecommunications firmsand a unit of the ChinaShipbuilding Group.

The move was the lateststep in Washington’s efforts topressure Beijing over its mili-tary buildup in areas of theSouth China Sea where sover-eignty is contested by severalcountries.

The US CommerceDepartment said the compa-nies “enabled China to con-struct and militarize disputedoutposts in the South ChinaSea.”

“Since 2013, the PRC(People’s Republic of China)has used its state-owned enter-prises to dredge and reclaim

more than 3,000 acres on dis-puted features in the SouthChina Sea, destabilizing theregion, trampling on the sov-ereign rights of its neighbors,and causing untold environ-mental devastation,” Secretaryof State Mike Pompeo said ina statement.

The 24 companies wereplaced on the Commerce

Department’s “Entity List”which allows it to block exportsof US goods and materials tothem.

In addition, Pompeo saidindividuals associated with theSouth China Sea operationswill be unable to obtain visas tovisit the United States. Thenames of the individuals werenot made available. AFP

��45��!%�'��(!��

�� '��

Beijing: China is protesting thealleged incursion of a US AirForce U-2 spy plane into a no-fly zone imposed during live-fire military exercises in thecountry’s north.

In a statement issued lateTuesday, the Ministry ofNational Defense said theaction had “seriously inter-fered in normal exercise activ-ities” and “severely incurred therisk of misjudgment and evenof bringing about an unin-

tended air-sea incident.” “This was a naked act of

provocation,” the ministrysaid, quoting spokespersonWu Qian. China has lodged astern protest and demandedthe US Cease such actions, Wu said.

The statement said theexercises were being staged byChina’s Northern TheaterCommand but gave no detailsas to their exact time andplace. AP

$�� :��

;�� $��(��$�� <==��

#��9�� 6!��#��!!��!��&��!��%��$�

�� >��5��

Kenosha: Two people werekilled and another was wound-ed as shots were fired lateTuesday in Kenosha duringthe third night of unrest inWisconsin following the policeshooting of a Black man, JacobBlake, authorities said.

The shootings were report-ed at about 11:45 pm in an areawhere protests have takenplace, Kenosha police Lt.Joseph Nosalik said in a newsrelease.

They happened after policedrove away protesters from infront of a courthouse that hadbeen the site of the main clash-es between protesters andauthorities.

Kenosha County Sheriff

David Beth said one victim wasshot in the head and anotherwas shot in the chest, theMilwaukee Journal Sentine lreported. Beth didn’t knowwhere the other person wasshot, but his or her injurieswere not believed to be lifethreatening.

Beth told the JournalSentinel that armed peoplehad been patrolling the city’sstreets in recent nights, but he

did not know if the shooter wasamong them.

“They’re a militia,” Bethsaid. “They’re like a vigilantegroup.”

Cellphone video of at leasttwo of the shootings that wasposted online shows whatappears to be a white man witha semi-automatic rifle joggingdown the middle of a street asa crowd and some police offi-cers follow him. AP

&��$� ��%��&��$ �� +��$��

-�� *�� 8�� 8�� -�

7��!$��$!��$��!��$!��!��!�'��(!�89

Washington: The UnitedStates is set to executeLezmond Mitchell, a convict-ed murderer and the onlyNative American on federaldeath row, on Wednesday,despite opposition from theNavajo Nation, which saysthe government is infringingtribal sovereignty.

Mitchell, a Navajo, is set tobe killed with lethal injectionsof pentobarbital, a powerfulbarbiturate, at 6 p.m. in theDepartment of Justice’s exe-cution chamber in Terre

Haute, Indiana.His lawyers and Jonathan

Nez, the Navajo Nation pres-ident, have asked U.S.President Donald Trump forclemency, and Mitchell hasasked the U.S. District Courtin Washington to delay theexecution while this is con-sidered.

On Tuesday night, the U.S.Supreme Court rejected hisbid for a stay based on hislawyers’ argument that racialbias may have tainted the juryat his trial. AGENCY

?� ��1�� -��

Tokyo: An excavation in thewestern Japanese city of Osakahas unearthed more than 1,500human bones at what is thoughtto be a burial site dating backsome 160 years, city officialshave said. The site, dubbed the“Umeda Tomb”, is believed to beone of seven historical gravesites from the late Edo and earlyMeiji periods around the 1850s

to 1860s. Researchers discov-ered 350 small graves at the siteas well as the remains of animalsincluding four piglets, horses,and cats, city officialsannounced earlier this month.The Osaka City CulturalProperties Association said peo-ple buried at the site were like-ly local residents from aroundOsaka Castle town. AFP

�%��*-6))��'�� @�� %��

, -��.��

New Delhi: IT services majorInfosys on Wednesdayannounced the launch of its AI-driven ‘Cognitive EmailWorkbench’ solution that givesenterprises the ability to aug-ment query management andscale their helpdesk opera-tions. Infosys leveraged itspartnership with Blue Prism, aRobotic Process Automationprovider and a strategic partnerto develop the solution thatpromises to significantlyenhance productivity and cus-tomer satisfaction. Infosys andBlue Prism had joined hands in2017 to help enterprises driveintelligent automation capabil-ities across multiple industries.

� � �)��)12�

Trade unions on Wednesdayurged Petroleum Minister

Dharmendra Pradhan toreconsider the proposed pri-vatisation of Bharat PetroleumCorporation Ltd (BPCL).

In a joint letter to Pradhan,the unions said, “The joint plat-form of central trade unionsand federations urges uponyou to please seriously recon-sider and refrain from suchmove of privatization of BPCLin the interests of the nation.”

It said despite oppositionby trade unions and BPCLemployee unions, the govern-

ment is going ahead with thepublic sector firm’s privatisa-tion.

BPCL was formed by thenationalisation of multinationalpetroleum companies throughan Act of Parliament, whichwas a major step towardsstrengthening the country’spetroleum sector, it said.

Post nationalisation, thecapacity of BPCL has beenaugmented through hugeinvestment out of the nation-al exchequer to serve thepeople with unhindered sup-ply of petrol, diesel, cookinggas and kerosene, the lettersaid.

New Delhi: Gujarat has toppedthe Niti Aayog’s ExportPreparedness Index 2020 fol-lowed by Maharashtra andTamil Nadu in the second andthird place respectively, accord-ing to the Government thinktank’s report released onWednesday.

According to the report, sixcoastal states - Gujarat,Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,Odisha, Karnataka and Kerala- feature in the top ten rank-ings, indicating the presence ofstrong enabling and facilitatingfactors to promote exports.

Among the landlockedstates, Rajasthan has performedthe best, followed by Telanganaand Haryana.Among theHimalayan states, Uttarakhandtopped the chart, followed byTripura and Himachal Pradesh,the report said adding thatacross Union Territories, Delhihas performed the best, fol-lowed by Goa and Chandigarh.The report noted thatChhattisgarh and Jharkhandare two landlocked states thathad initiated several measuresto promote exports.

Other states facing similarsocio-economic challenges canlook at the measures taken byChhattisgarh and Jharkhandand try to implement them togrow their exports, the reportnoted. PTI

New Delhi: Fintech majorPaytm on Wednesday said it isin the process of hiring over1,000 people across variousroles over the next few monthsas it expands its operations,including segments like finan-cial and wealth managementservices, in the country.

Paytm is in the process ofhiring over 1,000 engineers,data scientists, financial ana-lysts among other positions fortech and non-tech roles, astatement said.”The companyhas ramped up recruitment asit is heading for a rapid expan-sion of its financial and wealthmanagement services,” itadded. Paytm and its groupbusinesses such as lending,insurance, wealth managementand offline payments have beenexpanding operations, therebycreating the need to bring inmore tech and non-techemployees, it said. This teamexpansion would play an essen-tial role in launching innovativefinancial services and tech-nology to fuel its growth jour-ney, it added. Other than techand non-tech hires to fill posi-tions across its operations inDelhi-NCR, Mumbai andBengaluru, Paytm is also bring-ing in over 50 senior-levelexecutives in vice presidentroles and above to bolster itssenior leadership. PTI

� � �)��)12�

The Government onWednesday said it has

made FASTag mandatory foravailing all discounts onNational Highways toll plazas.

It has issued a gazette noti-fication in this regard.

“The Ministry of RoadTransport and Highways hasmade the use of FASTagmandatory for availing returnjourney discount or any otherexemptions on Toll Fee Plazas.Users who wish to claim a dis-count for making return jour-ney within 24 hours or anyother local exemptions, shall berequired to have a valid func-tional FASTag on the vehicle,”

MoRTH said in a state-

ment. It said this is another step

towards promoting the use ofdigital payments on fee plazasof National Highways.

The fee payable towardssuch discounts shall be paidthrough pre-paid instruments,smart card or through FASTagor on board unit (transponder)or any other such device only,it said.The Government saidthe amendments to theNational Highways Fee(Determination of Rates andCollection) Rules, 2008 in thisregard would enable discounton return journey within 24hours and it would be throughFASTag or such other deviceand would be automatic withno requirement for a pass.

�� 72�P��6��

Today, the GhaziabadMunicipal Corporation lib-

erated the land from the pos-session of land mafia in the vil-lage Karhera situated in theHindon Cross area and alsodemolished the illegal con-structions done by the landowners on this land.

Additional MunicipalCommissioner RN Pandey toldhere today that for a long time,the Municipal Corporation was

receiving a complaint that theland mafia plotting and build-ing houses on the MunicipalCorporation land were soldillegally.

Today, the mobile squad ofGhaziabad MunicipalCorporation was sent toKarhera village and illegaloccupations and constructionshave been demolished by run-ning the JCB machine.

� � �)��)12�

Capital markets regulatorSebi on Wednesday said

measures to deal with marketvolatility will be in place tillSeptember 24 after reviewingthe coronavirus pandemic-related situation.

In the wake of the pan-demic, the watchdog, in March,came out with various mea-sures, including revision ofmarket wide position limit, toensure orderly trading and set-tlement to contain high marketvolatility.Besides ensuringorderly trading and settlement,these steps were aimed at effec-tive risk management, pricediscovery and maintenance of

market integrity.“On review of the

COVID-19 pandemic relatedsituation, it has been decidedthat the regulatory measuresintroduced vide Sebi pressrelease dated March 20,2020,shall continue to be in force tillSeptember 24, 2020,” the reg-ulator said in a release onWednesday. The stockexchanges and clearing corpo-rations will be issuing necessaryinstructions to market partic-ipants in this regard, it added.The measures were also aimedat limiting short selling ofshares as well as reduce volatil-ity in individual stocks. Allthese measures had come intoforce from March 23.

��%��*5

��/��%��(��!��45

�� 5�56��

Indian equity markets madehealthy gains on Wednesday

to close at a new six-monthhigh, as expectations built upof new stimulus measures toaid Industry.The session wasthe fourth consecutive timethat the key indicesrose.Sector-wise, the top gain-ers were BSE Auto, Bankex, ITand Realty indices, whereastop losers were BSE Telecom,Capital Goods, and FMCGindices.Globally, marketsaround the world are awaitingthe US Fed Chairman’s speechat the Jackson HoleSymposium on Thursday, forgetting further cues on futurestimulus measures.

On Wednesday, majorAsian markets closed on amixed note. However,European indices like the CACand DAX ended higher.

Index-wise, the BSESensex closed at 39,073.92,higher by 230.04 points or 0.59

per cent from the previousclose of 38,843.88.

It opened at 38,930.18and touched an intra-day highof 39,111.55 and low of38,765.09 points.

The Nifty50 on theNational Stock Exchangeclosed at 11,549.60, higher by77.35 points or 0.67 per centfrom the previous close.

According to Vinod Nair,Head of Research at GeojitFinancial Services: “Indianbenchmark indices picked uppositivity towards the latterhalf of the trading day, aftertrading flat with a slight pos-itive bias, and ended in gains.It was in sync with a positiveopening in the European mar-kets which is banking on addi-tional stimulus measures toaid economic recovery.”

Index heavyweightReliance contributed morethan half of the Nifty gains,while sectorally Auto and theBanking indexes contributedthe most.

4�� >"�� $$��$�� $��

� � 5�56��

The rupee pared some ofits early gains to settle 3

paise higher at 74.30 againstthe US dollar on Wednesdaysupported by positive domes-tic equities and sustainedforeign fund inflows.

At the interbank forexmarket, the domestic unitopened weak at 74.34 againstTuesday’s closing of 74.33.The unit finally ended at74.30 against the greenback,higher by 3 paise over its pre-vious close.

“The Indian rupee endedflat on Wednesday against theUS dollar for the secondstraight day as marketsturned cautious ahead of theFed speech from JeromePowell tomorrow,” saidSriram Iyer, Senior ResearchAnalyst, Reliance Securities.

$��9�� @A93��1��

Mumbai: Gold pricesdeclined �210 to �51,963 per10 gram in the national cap-ital on Wednesday followinga weak trend in the globalmarket and rupee apprecia-tion, according to HDFCSecurities. The precious metalhad closed at �52,173 per 10gram in the previous trade.

Silver prices also tanked�1,077 to �65,178 per kgfrom�66,255 per kg in theprevious trade. “Spot goldprices for 24 carat in Delhicontinued to decline, losing�210 with selling in globalprices and rupee apprecia-tion,” HDFC Securities SeniorAnalyst (Commodities)Tapan Patel said. The rupeesettled 3 paise higher at 74.30(provisional) against the USdollar on Wednesday, sup-ported by positive domesticequities and sustained foreignfund inflows. PTI

�� 9��

� � �)��)12�

Telecom regulator TRAI hasslapped a showcause notice

on Vodafone Idea Ltd over itspay-more-for-priority treat-ment mobile plan, saying thetariff offer “lacks transparency”,is “misleading” and not incompliance with regulatoryframework.

TRAI had been probingthe Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL’s)priority plan. The watchdog hasissued an elaborate 17-pagenotice to the telco asking it toexplain by August 31, “as towhy appropriate action shouldnot be initiated against it forviolating the extant regulatoryframework by its RedX tariffplan...”.

“The RedX Tariff offerlacks transparency and is mis-leading and not in compliancewith regulatory principles oftariff assessment containedunder Telecom Tariff Order,1999 as amended from time totime,” TRAI has said in theshowcause notice seen by PTI.

When contacted, VILdeclined to comment on the

showcause notice.A TRAI source said that if

the regulator is not satisfiedwith the VIL’s response, it mayissue a direction to the com-pany to stop the priority plan.

Bharti Airtel was not issueda showcause notice for its plat-inum plan, which was alsounder the regulator’s lens, asource said. Airtel had offeredto abide by TRAI’s views andalso voluntarily modified itsplatinum offering suitably, andhence TRAI is not proceedingwith further investigation onthat, the source said.

Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (TRAI), inshowcause notice to Voda Idea,said it is of the view that the“claim of VIL for providing`Priority 4G Network withfaster data speeds’ is not incompliance with the extantregulatory framework...”.

It said that the RedX tar-iff offer is in contravention ofspecific clauses of the TelecomTariff Order relating to pro-tection of interests of the con-sumers. VIL’s RedX tariff offer“violates the terms of licenseagreement” and is not consis-tent with stipulated technicalspecifications, TRAI saidadding that it also did not com-ply with the service qualitynorms.

Over the past weeks,TRAI had been probingVodafone Idea’s priority planRedX and Bharti AirtelPlatinum Offering to see if net-work preference to specificcustomers leads to deteriora-

tion of services for other non-premium subscribers or vio-lates any norms.

VIL launched ‘RedX’ tar-iff offer in November 2019 andsubsequently modified it inMay and June 2020. The planincluded a promise to the cus-tomers for provision of ‘prior-ity 4G network with fasterdata speeds’.

TRAI had asked VIL toexplain how it was offering pri-ority 4G network with fasterspeeds in technological terms,demonstrate the delivery of thefaster speeds, and effect on dataspeed experience of non-RedXcustomers.

The showcause notice,which follows several rounds ofquestioning by the regulator,pointed out that VIL failed indemonstrating the actual deliv-ery of the faster speeds toRedX subscribers.

“... It is observed that VILhas failed to demonstrate that

individual RedX post-paidplan customer is getting fasterdata speed which is beingpromised to such customer inmuch publicised promise of`Priority 4G Network’,” TRAIsaid adding the promised ben-efits to RedX plan customerswas not ascertainable in manycases.

The regulator said that“VIL’s failure to communicateabout the conditions underwhich priority in the networksshall be available in unam-biguous terms is likely toinduce the consumer to sub-scribe

(>�� A��!�� !��

�!��$��$!��:��!��!��!7��!�(��%�(

!��-!5�� >��

�� 2"333�� 1��)��

6$;�!��,��"��#��!��!��!�� #�4949

�$�� <=��

;(�#�� !� ��?��$9��

��

#��0��!�� I�� 4((�!��$�� %

+�� "�� I�� 4((�!�� %�(�� /� �� 0�� %

�� Q � �0�� %

4�� J�+�� >��0��(��! ��A�0�� 5��3�$�� 4((%/

2��

��"�� &4A��@.:�� @ ��%

+� ��,.�� !��

� �� "��&4A��%�5� �� Q ��

�� @

�� %��

�� /6�� %

(�� !� ��

0�0�� "��%

/��0�1�(0-� 2�)-�* �3 ,-�0�3�4 )50)��6��0-)-�� 0�3�� -7��-8-)

��-*-*�� * ��) �-)� 0 (4 ),�7��0-�(0 �-� 0 (0 �*-8-� �-*�8-)� )3�5��6�4) ,��0-9 �5�:2- �� 6�/(0�(�� 2�* ��0-�4�) ��0�3� 5-��0-� 51* (�� 8-);<�� 50)�� -5��(0�50�(-�)-�9)�3�3�- ��-�� 3-�0-)�� 5 �)�92�-7=�>%�)��

�� )-5 8-) 4) ,��%��?@.

8�85��@�

�--*�� -,9)5-503- A��2 01� ��-��$�0� �$�0��@��!�� "�� "�� !!��6��H��0��! � � ��@��%

+4�� 0��!�� %�7�� @�� @!�� $�� @ �� $� �� $�� 0�� %�� !��@��/��%

It was exactly 100 years ago in 1920,when the 19th amendment in the USConstitution was adopted, which

gave American women the constitution-al right to vote. The amendment pro-hibits denying citizens the right to voteon the basis of their gender. GenderEquality Day came after 72 years oforganising, mobilising and struggle bythe feminists in the US. The day was firstmarked in 1972. Now, one must wonderthat if it happened in the US, why are we,in India, talking about it? Well, feministactivist, poet, author and social scientistKamla Bhasin has an answer. She feelsthat sisterhood is global. “The women inthe US fought for the right to vote. Afterthat the women in Europe fought for itand got it. We in South Asia did not haveto struggle with it. We got it on a plat-ter. Do you know why? It’s because oursisters in other parts of the world did itfor us. I feel that any victory for rightsand justice anywhere in the world needsto be celebrated because it influences thestruggles which come after that. All thewomen, men and trans people need toremember this day to thank thosewomen who fought for it for 72 years,”says she.

The activist has written commonlyabout understanding patriarchy andgender issues. She is the author ofBorders & Boundaries: Women in India’sPartition (1998), What Is Patriarchy?(1993), and Understanding Gender(2000). Bhasin shares that all the figuresacross the globe tell us that there is nota single country, where there is full gen-der equality. The Scandinavian countrieshave made huge progress but even theyare not completely gender equal. So, shesays, “All of us should commemorate bymaking a fresh commitment. I feel thisday needs to be celebrated by both menand women who are against patriarchy.”She is somebody who believes thatpatriarchy is a social structure, wheremen are considered to be superior andhave the power of decision making.“Patriarchy not only oppresses womenbut men as well. It hurts men and trans-genders in massive ways. It stereotypesthem and puts them in tight boxes ofgender. It dehumanises them. Patriarchydoesn’t dehumanise us women. We areraped, battered, but that’s not ourfault. We are the victims, we are notthe perpetrators. I believe that it isthe perpetrator who is dehuman-ised and brutalised. Unless womenare free, men cannot be free,”feels Bhasin.

The day is often observedacross the world to encourageand spread awareness aboutwomen’s empowerment.However, when will that timecome when we wouldn’t have tospecify a certain day to remindpeople about gender equality?Equal rights activist Harish Iyerfeels that we ideally should remem-ber to be kind and aware all thetime and not have just one day tocelebrate it. But it’s important toknow that some days are a goodexcuse to have a flood ofcontent dedicated to thecause. It heightens the aware-ness.

Bhasin questions that do we everask when will we stop celebrating ourbirthdays? Will we ever stop celebratingthe Independence Day of India? Do westop celebrating Krishna’s birth or thebirth of the Jesus? No! Isn’t it? “I thinkthe birth of victories for rights and jus-tice is much more meaningful than the

birth of an individual. So, we should notstop celebrating such significant anddays of relevance,” she says. In 1947,Bharat, the men of India, got indepen-

dence, but Bharati, the women ofIndia, do not seem to have got inde-pendence, feels the activist. Shesays, “Even today we cannot walk

around in our own areas and citieswithout fear in our hearts.Approximately 60 to 70 per cent womenhave reported that they are harassed inbuses and metros. Large numbers ofwomen are harassed in their ownwork places. The sex ratio of womenin India has been going down for theover 100 years. It simply means that weare killing our daughters more than weever did before. The lockdown due tothe pandemic have led to more

violence againstwomen. I

feel we are nowhere near genderequality.”

Art since time immemorial hasbeen a powerful medium of expres-sion and communication to inspire

a change and empower a voice.Throughout human history, it has

always been a significant tool tochronicle different facets of cul-ture and react against inequalities

and injustice. ITC Vivel, with itsphilosophy of Ab SamjhautaNahin, embarked on an expressiveinitiative — Voice of Art .Commemorating Gender EqualityDay, it brings together young artistsand their passionate expressionsagainst patriarchy — be it stereotyp-ing on the basis of gender or attire,highlighting pay gap or societal

expectation set on thebasis of gender. The pas-

sionate interpretation oncanvas is a reflective yet futuristic

expression against patriarchy. It is anexpression to inspire a more equal soci-ety.

One of the artists, AishwaryaRavichandran’s piece — Let EqualityBloom — draws an analogy between thelotus, a symbol of rebirth, triumph andstrength, and women who rise above

pools of negativity and break free from allthat ties them down. She says, “A day thatextensively talks about gender equality andwhat it means is a way to get people think-ing about their actions, the way they seethings and the way they understand thistopic. There has been some progress butwith more conversations on equality andfeminism, I am sure there will be a com-plete shift in mindsets. We need more ini-tiatives like Ab Samjhauta Nahin as itreaches to a larger audience. Change isinevitable and there will be a day whengender equality prevails and we wouldn’thave the need to discuss it anymore.”

Women facing discrimination inleadership roles is one of the most visibleforms of gender disparity around us.Aimed at breaking this notion isRavichandran’s another artwork — TheAlpha-female. She describes her work asa representation of how women canstand their own to redefine norms andlead from the front. The pack of wolvesshe leads is symbolic of the world she setsan example for and the jungle comparesto the challenges she’s determined to over-come.

Another young artist, Vikash Thakur’sartwork illustrates how determination,strength and hard work enable athletesand champions, not gender. If there’s any-

thing that should shape the future ofsports, it’s gender equality. He says, “Noone gender is less deserving of an equi-table opportunity in sports. Irrespectiveof how much the world develops withtechnological advances, the mentality ofnot one but the society, as a whole, needsa push. And unless we publicly say it outloud and bring the hard-ships or accom-plishments of women into limelight, cer-tain minds won’t change. Thus, I feel ded-icating one day to such crucial thing isvery important and the least we can do.”

“Do what is in your power. Like I did.I tried to make a difference through myart. Although, for many, my illustrationmight be just a piece of art, but I genuine-ly wanted to show how great women arein every field, especially in sports.Similarly, others can do things that theycan. Smallest of efforts count,” adds he.

Gender needs to be seen beyondbinaries today. Iyer feels that India needsmore feminists. “Feminism, to me, is notabout special status, it’s about treatingpeople equally. We need to be aware thatthere needs to be equity before equality.We need to look at people from the inter-sections of caste, religion, economic sta-tus and other factors. Gender equality isabout all genders. It is not just in the bina-ry,” says he.

Artist Ganesh Pyne’s jottings in hisseries of five works, titled,

Looking West, make one delve intothe intellectual understanding ofartistic minds. His works have thepower to intrigue. They make usponder over our million fleetingthoughts. Inscrutable and deeplyintricate, these five jottings are adelight to the senses.

The artist’s thoughts about hisjottings on a graph paper were aptlyrecorded by Dolly Narang, founderof the Village Gallery in Delhi, in ashow in 1996.

“Anyone who views these jottingsis actually in the process of creatinga complete dish in an artist’s kitchen.However, just like the differencebetween the final dish and the burn-ing cooking pot, there is a differencebetween these jottings and my majorworks. When a figure starts appear-ing through the jungle of my scrib-bled lines, I try to enlarge and devel-op it repeatedly. These jottings are apictorial diary of my thoughts. Andcreating them is my time of pleasureand adventure,” said Pyne to Narang.

�� %��The most uncanny thing about

these jottings is Pyne’s preference for

his canvas — a plain graph paper. Ina show at CIMA Kolkata, he said thatthese graph paper sheets were print-ed by Lokenath Agency and used byschool children across West Bengal.The execution of his thoughts into atranslucent imagery shows not justhis affinity with grids but also, howmeticulous were his thoughts thatunfolded with a rare mathematicalprecision. One recalls his jottings atCIMA, in which they were punctu-ated with quotations culled from CGJung to Paul C’zanne toRabindranath Tagore, in Bengaliand English. Fish baron-turned-Indian collector, Masanari Fukuoka,obviously liked what he saw and wasfascinated by the montage of image

and text where the artist’s inner selfcould be explored.

�� '�D��Looking at his jottings is like

looking at a labyrinth of cryptic signsthat hold within multiple referencesand reflections. Pyne celebrates anintuitive intensity in his nest ofsquiggles. In one of the works, we seeWashington Irving’s words, “Whenthings get tough, remember, it’s therubbing that brings out the shine.”Around it are alphabets, cross-hatched lines and forms.

Pyne was a man of few words, avoracious reader and thinker but hisidea of rumination was one that wasprivate. He did not believe in the

artist being offered up as a publicspectacle. Hence, these jottings alsodraw attention to Pyne’s meticulousmoorings in the wish that he want-ed them to be a semblance of works-in-progress rather than completedcompositions. This decisive stancemakes us understand that he want-ed to dissolve the distinction betweenthe complete and the incomplete andleave these works open-ended. Thescribbles and cross-hatches withlithe lines form an enigmatic sym-phony.

�� '&��Another series of frenzied jot-

tings culminate in a bird that seemsto be wounded as its legs are posi-tioned in painful poise. The bird issurrounded by a clutter of inanimateobjects, fragile fragments loomingover the scene, drawing our attentionto the conventions that can beexplored in the form of portraiture.Pyne fills his graph paper withwords and scratches at randomspaces. Intriguing, however, is theway he spaces out the imagery to cre-ate a narrative that is never untidy butneat in its jumbled squiggles. Hereveals yet conceals the constantchurning in his own mind. It’s as ifwe are looking at a riverbed with thecrystal clear water running longafter the ripples have settled.

Pyne’s absorption in these jot-tings unravels his prowess as an illus-trator who went into his orbit of deepthoughts. History states that evenafter he had established himself as anartist, Pyne continued to illustrate thecover of the sharadiya sankhyas ofsome Bengali magazines, publishedto mark the commencement ofDurga Pujo every year. His obsessionwith iconographies and elementsharks back to this engaging andenduring aspect of his career.

(The works are displayed at theGlenbarra Art Museum, Japan, at salefrom September 4 to 5.)

Bhumi Pednekar is a vocal actor who has carveda niche for herself in Bollywood with her act-

ing prowess. Being an artiste who is changing theportrayal of women in cinema through her posi-tive, gender-defining roles, Bhumi lists down theshifts that she would like to see in the Hindi filmindustry.

She says,“For starters,we need tochange thedepiction of thegenders. Weneed to changehow we showwomen andmen. Womenare not sup-posed to bewhitewashed —we have desires,ambition, phys-ical needs andemotions andthe capacity tobalance. Ibelieve womenhave superpow-ers and we needto see a lotmore of that inour cinema.”

The versa-tile actor adds, “Similarly, we must alter the waymen are shown in films. We put so much pressureon the male gender, telling them that they are sup-posed to be strong, that they can’t cry, can’t showemotion... that is so wrong. This narrative of mardko dard nahi hota needs to change.”

Bhumi says cinema has a huge impact on theaudience and it can be used to change the mind-set of people in the most positive way. Says she, “Ialso believe we need to stop objectifying womenand there needs to be a lot more inclusivity in films,including the LGBTQIA+ community. I knowchange is in the air. I just wish we could acceler-ate it. Like, I just watched Super Deluxe and I could-n’t believe what I was watching. There’s such greatwork happening today and I feel lucky to be partof the industry at this point.”

�-��%�$�#��*�

CHANGE BEGINS AT HOME�1&�/, �/�20� �%��$��('*��%��'��34��*.�*��%�%��'��*��

(!�:!:�:('�(!@(�(� �� (!4�?�A!4-��

*� ��$��

�� $�� $��

$�� $��$ ��

9$��$�9��

:�( !(D�

�� 8�85��!"#$ @@

�� *��;�� >�'�;�(�� -�� 6� !��6��$��A �� >�� %B!�52<)��

�� >�A��8��"��"�;�C�� "�;�� -��"�� "�� "�;��+��%�� '��%("��)�� %"�� >�� $��!��)�� D�� C�� "�� !��"�� )�!��$��A

�� $��"� �� )�� 6� !��6��$��"�� !��-�� 24":3:3A-�� )��A��*0��"��"�� $�� >�� -�� 2EA �� "�� /�� /��A%�� >�)��>�A-��:"3@�� "�� F":�E>� �� A �� %� �)��:":3:3A �)�� >�� "�� "$��*��>� ��"�� )�� !�� "�� "��"�� A�� 0��"�� "�� $��G��%�� )�� A

� ��B�� B��; �'�BB�("��)�� ;�� %?�� >�.�� ; �� 1�� )�� "��)�� !� �� $��)��.�� *�� )��$..�8% ��$�� >'$ �(��)�� !��A �� BB�� )�� $ �)��)��A

�� >�� !��A-�� "�� >��)�� >�� A�� >��"�� >��)�� A.�� H�� )�� >�� A�� ;.�� ")� ��; �� A��*0��"��"�� $�� >��1�� A

� � � � � � � �

At the district panchayat board meeting held inGhaziabad on Tuesday, several important res-

olutions were passed. The meeting was chaired byDistrict Panchayat President Lakshmi Mavi.

While no decision was taken to increase theproperty tax in the current financial year, an actionplan was made to spend the funds received fromthe 15th Finance Commission.

A proposal for an action plan was also passedfor assistance from the State Finance Commission.

After the meeting, Mavi and additional chiefofficer, Yogesh Kumar informed that of all the otherresolutions passed, the most prominent propos-als were formed keeping in mind the COVID-19pandemic. There will be no increase in the prop-erty tax rate during this financial year. With this,a proposal was also passed for the construction oftoilets and roads in rural areas with an amount of�160 lakh received from the 15th FinanceCommission.

Apart from this, the action plan was alsoapproved for the possible funds to be received bythe fifth State Finance Commission. In this, a pro-posal was passed to install solar energy panels inthe houses of employees and officers of theDistrict Panchayat in rural areas, to repair them,to build shops on their lands in Chirodi andKhindora villages.

District Panchayat members Shaukendra,Ranjit Teotia, Munjarin, Sanju Sahlot, Amarpal,Abdul Yasin, etc., were present in the meeting.

Rajiv Chaudhry, General ManagerNorthern & North CentralRailways, held a performance

review meeting with the departmentalheads of Northern Railway via video con-ference.

Chaudhry emphasised that safety isthe main concern, for which all the effortsshould be directed towards maintainingthe tracks, rolling stock, signalling andelectric overhead wires, which should beworking in the right order. He alsoadvised the departments to regularly con-duct training and refresher courses for thestaff to keep them motivated andinformed about the working of the sys-tem to minimise error.

Heavy rains during the monsoonpose difficulty in train operations. Headvised all divisions to take remedialactions against water logging and siltaccumulation on tracks. He instructed toexpedite approvals for tree-cutting wher-ever needed from the Forest Departmentso that these do not pose a threat to thetracks or the OHE wires. Looking at howthe overflowing of drains and sewagepipes in towns and cities hinder railwayfunctioning, Chaudhry suggested that thematter should be immediately taken upwith the local authorities for cleaning ofthe drains for free flow of rain water.

Talking on increasing speed of trainsto 160 kmph over NR in future, he calledupon the concerned to propose actionplans for this. He also advised the con-cerned departments to expedite theongoing works for enhancing speed ofpassenger trains over the zone to upto 130kmph under the project, ‘Raftaar.’

Northern Railway has been produc-ing WHO standard DRDE/Gwalior-approved PPE kits for its medical staff andfrontline workers for protection from thedeadly Coronavirus. Jagadhri Workshopof NR has been the pioneer in designingand production of these PPE kits.

Chaudhry instructed that thereshould be no dearth of raw material, thatis, the cloth and accessories should besourced at a continuous level so that theproduction of the essential medical itemis not affected.

To reduce traffic congestion inRohtak city, Northern Railway has con-verted the existing Rohtak-GohanaRailway line into a 4.8 km-long elevatedtrack. The work on the line is almost

complete and it will be commissioned inthe next three months. Chaudhry alsoshared that Rohtak, a major town ofHaryana State, has expanded over time;and the railway line came into the heartof the city. There are four level-crossings

on this line within the town limits, whichhas resulted in heavy traffic congestionas the level-crossing gates would oftenbe closed. It also jeopardised the move-ment of rail traffic, compromising safe-ty and speed of trains and caused incon-venience to the road users.

The track has now been elevated,which has eliminated the level-crossingswhich would act as a huge relief to thecitizens of Rohtak. With the commis-sioning of the line, railways will be ableto operate smoothly on this importantroute. Speed of trains in this section willalso be increased. The railways and theGovernment of Haryana are togetherworking on the project worth �315crore with the State contributing �225crore. With this, a long, standingdemand of Rohtak citizens will also befulfilled.

Taking forward the Fit IndiaMovement, he also called upon all theemployees of Northern Railway andtheir families to include some form ofphysical activity or sports in theireveryday lives. This will keep themhealthy, increase stamina and alertnessand boost immunity to fight infections.

SECL, since inception, has beenthe largest coal-producing sub-

sidiary of Coal India Limited.During FY 2019-20, it produced150.50 MT of coal, contributingover 25 per cent to the total coalproduced by CIL.

Coal demand is on rise eachday and CIL has set an ambitioustarget of achieving one billiontonne coal production by FY2023-24. SECL will have a signif-icant contribution in this huge tar-get. In this context, SECL is surg-ing ahead with its massive min-ing technology upgrade plans.

A large number of HEMMare being procured and deployedin SECL mines. In Gevra OpenCast Mine itself, total of 84dumpers with 150T capacity, ninedozers (850 HP), four electrichydraulic shovels of 16 CuMcapacity and two wheel dozers(460 HP) are being procured anddeployed. Out of these 32dumpers, two shovels, nine doz-ers (850 HP) and two wheel doz-ers (460 HP) are received.Remaining machines are dueshortly.

Similarly, in Kusmunda OpenCast Mine, five surface miners,three electric hydraulic shovel(10.2 CuM), 10 front-end loaders(10 CuM), two crawler dozers(850 HP) and one wheel dozer(460 HP) are being procured anddeployed. Out of these, a surfaceminer, six front-end loader andone wheel dozer is due shortly.Rest of the machines have beenmade available in KusmundaMine. Also, in Dipka Open CastMine, two electric hydraulic shov-els of 10.2 CuM capacity havebeen procured and deployed.

It is pertinent to mention thatGevra Open Cast, KusmundaOpen Cast and Dipka Open Castare the mega projects of SECL andhave a huge bearing on the annu-al coal production of the compa-ny. With induction of theseHEMM, the total mine capacityfor Over Burden Removal (OBR)will increase from 138.52 mnCuM (as on April 1, 2020) to166.42 mn CuM (on April 1,2021). Capital expenditure forprocurement of these HEMM is�1,457 crore.

This induction of latest tech-nology is in addition to the hugefleet of HEMM already availablewith SECL. On April 1, SECL had438 dumpers, 156 dozers, 112drills, 81 shovels and fourdraglines. The new machines arein addition to this existing fleet.

For coal mining, the rightcoordination of Man andMachines is a must. In this pur-suit, a large number of manpow-er is being inducted in miningoperations. Recently, within thecompany, around 317 employeeswere selected as HEMM opera-tors. They will contribute asdumper, dozer, drill, shovel, pay-loader and crane operator in var-ious mines of SECL.

During FY 2019-20, two newmines were started in SECL.These include Bijari Open Cast inRaigarh Area and JagannathpurOpen Cast in Bhatgaon Area.These mines will contribute toSECL’s coal production. Severalinitiatives have been taken duringthe last FY to ensure safety inmining process like deploymentof 23 new fire tenders, 15hydraulic ladders and five rescuevans.

Additionally, environmenttele-monitoring system has alsobeen installed in 10 undergroundmines. With the deployment ofthe state-of-the-art mining tech-nology, SECL gears up to meet theever-increasing coal requirementsin India.

Three years ago, Kannur-basedShabeer was diagnosed with

heart failure due to an underlyingcondition — dilated cardiomy-opathy (DCM). Even after under-going treatment, his health keptdeteriorating and reached thestage where a transplant becamethe only option.

A year ago, he consultedAmrita Institute of MedicalSciences in Kochi for furtherevaluation and treatment. He wasthen listed for a heart transplantin Kerala Network for OrganSharing (KNOS) registry.

The 39-year-old rented ahouse close to the hospital and hasbeen waiting for a donor for a yearnow. Due to the lack of organdonors in Kerala for the last fewyears, his wait had become a raceagainst time and he was startingto lose hope.

Finally, an alert for a donormatch came last month fromKelvin Joy, who had been declaredbrain dead due to constant bleed-ing in the area. He had expressedhis wish to donate his organs. Hisfamily also agreed. Followingorgan donation protocol, KNOSwas notified and for the first timein the State, eight of his organs —heart, liver, small intestine, hands,

both kidneys and both corneas —were donated.

Late Kevin’s heart will nowcontinue to beat through Shabeer.After a slow recovery, Shabeer wasfinally discharged from the hos-pital on Wednesday.

The transplant was performedby a large team of doctors, includ-ing cardiac surgeons, Dr PraveenVarma, Dr Kiran Gopal and DrRajesh Jose, Cardiology head DrRajesh T, Transplant CardiologistDr Navin Mathew, CardiacAnesthetist Dr Aveek and histeam and the nurses.

Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railwaysand Commerce & Industry reviews

the progress of Dedicated FreightCorridor Corporation of India Limited(DFCCIL). Strict monitoring of workof all contractors to be done.Resolution of all issues, includingcoordination with the states to be doneon a mission mode. Innovative mech-anisms to be evolved for constantmonitoring the weekly progress of theproject. Dedicated Freight Corridors(DFC) is one of the rail infrastructureprojects spanning a (total length of3360 route km) undertaken by the

government. The overall cost is`81,459 crore. Eastern DFC & WesternDFC (excluding the Sonnnagar —Dankuni PPP section) is expected tobe completed by December 2021.

During the meeting on Monday,the senior officials informed the cur-rent status of the project. It is expect-ed that Western Corridor connectingDadri in Utttar Pradesh to JawaharlalNehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai and

Eastern Corridor starting fromSahnewal near Ludhiana (Punjab) toterminate at Dankuni in West Bengalshall be completed by December nextyear.

Goyal directed the DFFCIL man-agement team to take necessary stepsto speed up the project to compensatethe loss of time due to lockdown dur-ing COVID. He also advised the offi-cials to identify the most challenging

area and come up with solutions. Hesuggested involving young freshminds.

During the meeting, it was decid-ed that strict monitoring of work of allcontractors to be done. Resolution ofall issues, including coordination withthe states to be done. Innovativemechanisms to constantly monitor theweekly progress of the project to beevolved.

In a digital initiative, under the leader-ship of Dr Jitendra Singh, Union

Minister of State (Independent Charge)Development of North Eastern Region(DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, PublicGrievances, Pensions, Atomic Energyand Space, the team headed by DrKshatrapati Shivaji, Secretary,Department of Pension & Pensioners’Welfare (DoPPW), has successfully inte-grated the electronic Pension PaymentOrder (e-PPO) generated through PFMS(Public Financial Management System)with digi locker, to enhance ease of livingof central government civil pensioners.

This is a major leap in digitisation ofthe pension system which will enable apensioner to obtain an instant printout ofthe latest copy of his PPO. Along with this,version 8.0 of the Bhavishya software (asoftware which enables end to end pen-sion processing) was also released. Withthis a retiree can have smooth access ofhis pension processing through mobile,laptop or computer.

In view of the pandemic, specialefforts were made to quickly release thisfacility so that retirees do not have to goto receive physical copies of the PPO.Besides, no longer shall any pensioner suf-fer due to loss or misplacement of the orig-inal Pension Payment Order (PPO). Thisinitiative will create a permanent recordof their PPO in their digi locker and at thesame time eliminate delays in receiving thecopy of PPO by post.

The software shall now provide anoption to retiring employees, to linktheir digi locker account with theirBhavishya account and obtain their e-PPOin a seamless manner. This option is avail-able at the time of filling of retirementforms. The retiree can sign into theiraccount and authorise the software to pushthe e-PPO. As soon as e-PPO is issued, itis automatically pushed into correspond-ing digi locker account and the retiree isinformed about the same through SMSand email.

This was a target set to be accomplishedfor Civil Ministries by 2021-22, which theDOPPW has completed way ahead of time,in view of the pandemic.

Power Grid Corporation ofIndia Limited (POWER-

GRID), a Maharatna CPSE,under Ministry of Power hassigned an MoU with AdvanceCentre for Treatment,Research and Education inCancer (ACTREC), TataMemorial Centre (TMC), aCancer Research Institute,under Department of AtomicEnergy, Govt of India for con-struction of POWERGRIDOT Complex — a modularoperation theatre complex atACTREC, TMC, NaviMumbai.

The MoU was signed by V

K Singh, Director (Personnel)POWERGRID and Dr SudeepGupta, Director, ACTREC,TMC in presence of D KSingh, ED (Northern Region-I), S D Joshi, ED (WesternRegion-II), M K Singh, ED(CSR & ESMD), POWER-GRID and other senior offi-cials.

The company, under itsCSR initiatives is extendingfinancial support of �26.40crore for developing the the-

atre complex. It will ensure ahigh degree of sterility to pre-vent infections, help in reduc-tion of health care costs,improve outcomes and ensuretreatment of more patients.

It had earlier entered intoan MoU with TMC in 2016-17for providing financial assis-tance of � 30 crore for con-struction of RadiationResearch Unit at ACTREC,TMC, Kharghar, Navi Mumbaiwith an objective to provideambulatory and in-patient carefor patients requiring treat-ment with integrated nucleartherapy.

Life InsuranceCorporation of India has

introduced its new LIC’sJeevan Akshay-VII (Plan857) which is a single premi-um, non-linked, non-partic-ipating, individual immedi-ate annuity plan which is ineffect from Tuesday. Thepolicyholders have anoption to choose a type ofannuity from 10 availableoptions on payment of alump sum amount.

The annuity rates areguaranteed at the inceptionof the policy and annuitiesare payable throughout thelife time of annuitant(s).The plan can be purchasedoffline as well as online.

The minimum purchaseprice is �1,00,000 (subject tominimum annuity criteri-on.) The modes of annuityavailable are yearly, half-yearly, quarterly and month-ly. The minimum annuity is�12,000 per annum. There isno ceiling on maximumpurchase price. An incentivefor purchase price above�5,00,000 is available byway of increase in the annu-ity rate .The plan is available

for ages from 30 to 85 exceptfor option of immediateannuity for life with returnof purchase price, where it istill 100 years. The plan canalso be purchased for thebenefit of handicappeddependent.

In this plan, joint lifeannuity can be taken

between any two linealdescendant/ascendant of afamily.

Loan facility shall beavailable at any time afterthree months from the com-pletion of policy or afterexpiry of the free-look peri-od, whichever is later, sub-ject to terms and conditions.

GETTING BACK ON TRACK2��,5"/�&./21!��0��#��!-��'��6-��'"��2��(�*�!'��%��$��(��#��$$�#��%��

$�� >5��

��$�� !�� @ @ ��@�� )&1��!� �� "��@��H��

,1&�/�+1�7235,38�. "",7

"��(��$��%�%��*��9(��!�!��!�� 7��I��$�� !�0��!�� !��243 ��>��

.%%8��#��%

�� LIC launches Jeevan Akshay-VII plan

�+�3�/3283"�-

� � 3�>�&2�

Pakistan’s head coach-cum-chiefselector Misbah-ul-Haq has called

on the England team to soon pay areturn visit to his country and assuredthat there will no compromise on secu-rity of players.

“Looking into the future, we wouldreally appreciate England visitingPakistan soon,” Misbah said in columnfor the Pakistan Cricket Board.

“A number of England players haveappeared in the Pakistan Super League2020, which was played at home. Then,we had Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and MCCin the 2019-20 season and before that,

the World XI and the West Indies in2017-18.”

International sides have avoidedtouring Pakistan for more than a decadesince the 2009 terrorist attack on the SriLankan team bus.

But Misbah vouched for the secu-rity situation in Pakistan.

“Players from all over the world nowknow about the levels of securityPakistan can provide and how much

they will be welcomed.“Pakistan cricket fans want to see

top players in the world performingright in front of them so everybody iswaiting for that visit,” he said.

“This is one way that everyone cansupport each other in difficult times.The whole cricket community needs tosupport each other — that’s the only wayto promote the game and bring joy tofans and cricket lovers.”

�� 6�>&)14��

Barcelona hasn’t given up on LionelMessi just yet.

A day after the Argentine great toldthe club he wants to leave, Barcelona saidits restructuring project still revolvesaround the player.

“We want to rebuild for the futuretogether with the best player in history,”Ramon Planes, the club’s technical direc-tor, said on Wednesday. “We are not con-templating any departure on a contractu-al level because we want him to stay. Wehave to show a huge respect for Messibecause he is the best player in theworld.”

Planes spoke as Barcelona officiallyintroduced striker Francisco Trincão at anevent that had already been scheduledbefore Messi announced his desire to leaveon Tuesday.

“We can’t make this a dispute betweenLeo Messi and Barcelona because neitherdeserves it,” Planes said.

Barcelona is trying to avoid an abruptending to Messi’s career at the club. His lastmatch with a Barcelona jersey was theembarrassing 8-2 loss to Bayern Munichin the quarterfinals of the ChampionsLeague, one of the worst defeats in theplayer’s career and in the club’s history.

But Messi apparently has alreadymade up his mind, and it seems only amatter of how ugly the termination will getand if Barcelona will get any money outof it.

Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germainand Inter Milan are among those to havebeen linked to Messi, who is among thegreatest players in history and has wagesto match, with a reported weekly salary of

� )��@��

�� )��)12�

New Zealand all-rounder Scott Kuggeleijn whorepresented Chennai Super Kings in 2019 edi-

tion of Indian Premier League hails now retiredformer Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni asone of the best players in the world.

Speaking to The Pioneer, the 28-year old right-arm fast-medium bowler who is currently repre-senting St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean PremierLeague said, “One big thing you can take from MSis, he stays calm all the time. He’s always think-ing ahead it seems like and not thinking backabout what’s gone wrong or dwelling in the past.”

“He’s always having a solid and positive mind-set and unbelievable ability to pick his moments.And then I guess picking your moments well andgood, where you got to pull it off and he has donethat more often than not and that is why he is thebest in the world,” he said of the CSK captain.

Kuggeleijn came as a replacement for SouthAfrican pacer Lungi Ngidi and played two gamesfor Chennai before losing his place in the side.

Describing his experience of being part ofCSK, he said, “I got roped in as a replacement play-er for Chennai and playing for them was an awe-some experience. The team atmosphere was verycalm and the side works on goodsimple plans. It was good towatch just how some of the top-level guys who are best in theworld go about their business,” hesaid.

Speaking about the upcom-ing plans, Scott said securing aplace for the upcoming T20World Cup in India nextyear is there in his mind,but he is not thinkingabout far too aheadand is more focusedon doing the basics.

“Definitely, T20World Cup is backin the lot of people’smind. So I guess, Itoo think about it alittle bit. But rightnow, I’m morefocused on just doingthe basics. In the lastsix months doingthings day by day andseeing where it takesme. The main focus isto try not to look farahead and do well atpresent,” he concluded.

�'�� )��?4>3

World No 1 Novak Djokovic won his 20thstraight match of 2020 with a hard-fought 6-

2, 6-4 victory over Tennys Sandgren while formerworld No 1 players Andy Murray and SerenaWilliams bowed out of the Western & SouthernOpen in New York on Tuesday.

Djokovic, who captured the Australian Openin February, needed six match points to tough outthe straight sets victory and reach the quarter-finalsof the hardcourt tournament.

“All in all it was a great performance,” saidDjokovic. “I felt better and played better than lastnight. I am going in a great direction.”

American Sandgren, who is ranked 55th in theworld, made the Serb work for the victory as he sur-vived five match points in the ninth game of thesecond set.

Djokovic advances to the quarter-finals wherehe will play German Jan-Lennard Struff, whodefeated seventh seed David Goffin 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Earlier in the day, defending champion DaniilMedvedev, swept past Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-3 whilefourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat John Isner 7-6(7/2), 7-6 (7/4).

The big-serving Milos Raonic ended formerchampion an wildcard entrant Andy Murray’s solidrun in the hard-court event with a strong 6-2, 6-2. The former world No 1 had beaten Frances Tiafoeand fifth seed Alexnader Zverev to reach his firstMasters third round in over two years.

In women’s action, 13th seed Maria Sakkarifought back from the brink defeat to stun SerenaWilliams, 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-1. The Greek playertrailed by a set and a break in her first meetingagainst the American but rallied to knock out theformer champion.

It was the second straight two-hour-plusmatch for Williams who at 38 was trying to becomethe oldest winner of the event. She still holds therecord, having won this event in 2015 at age 33.

“It is hard to play the way I have been playingand stay positive,” Williams said. “To play ninehours in a week is too much. I don’t usually play

like that. It is all new for me.”Fourth seeded Naomi Osaka,

the only top 10 player left in thedraw, rolled over DayanaYastremska in straight sets 6-3, 6-1, sealing the win when

Yastremska was called for a footfault while serving on match

point.The Japanese moves

to the quarter-finalswhere she will face AnettKontaveit, who defeatedMarie Bouzkova 6-3, 6-3.

In other matches,Johanna Kontaedged out formerwinner VeraZvonareva 6-4, 6-2to book her spotin the quarter-finals.

Meanwhileformer cham-pion VictoriaA z a r e n k acontinued her

strong run inNew York beating AlizeCornet, 6-4, 7-5.

�� Australia limited-overs cap-tain Aaron Finch says he will miss the“banter” of English crowds during theupcoming white-ball campaign but isadamant the absence of spectatorswill not mean a lack of intensity.

In normal circumstances, theycould expect to be on the receivingend of plenty of taunts from Englandfan groups such as the Barmy Army.

But Australia are now set to faceEngland behind closed doors inresponse to the coronavirus pandem-ic.

“It’s always good to have a crowdto entertain and the banter thatcomes from particularly Englishcrowds is pretty special,” Finch toldreporters in a conference call onWednesday.

“Do they go over the top some-times? Maybe, yeah. It’s all a greatthing to be a part of, especially if youbeat England over here.”

Australia’s most recent ODI, inMarch, took place without fansbecause of Covid-19.

Finch, speaking from Australia’sbase in Derby, said: “We played thegame against New Zealand at theSCG, which was our last game,behind closed doors so I don’t thinkthat we need any extra motivation orwe don’t need any crowd to pumpyou up — not that we get it here inthe UK anyway.”

“At the end of the day weare still playing interna-tional cricket,” the 33-year-old batsman added. “Whatit’ll come down to is pridein your performance andrepresenting your countryreally proudly.

“It will be different but Idon’t think it will take awayfrom the intensity of the gameswhatsoever.” AFP

� � �4�(2�5�(4��

James Anderson is far frombeing done after becoming the

first pacer to amass 600 Testwickets and he sees no reasonwhy he can’t enter the 700-clubalongside Shane Warne andMuttiah Muralitharan eventhough he has hit 38.

Anderson is the fourth-highest wicket-taker in Testsand reached the 600-wicketmilestone by dismissingPakistan captain Azhar Ali inthe third Test at Ageas Bowl onTuesday. Indian spin great AnilKumble has 619 wickets to hisname behind Muralitharan(800) and Warne (708).

Speaking after the drawngame, the 38-year-old madehis intentions clear.

“I’ve chatted to Joe aboutthis a little bit and he has saidhe would like me to be in

Australia (for the Ashes nextyear). I don’t see any reason whyI can’t be. I’m working hard onmy fitness all the time.I’m working hard onmy game,” he wasquoted as saying byESPNcricinfo.

“I didn’tbowl as well asI’d have likedfor the wholesummer. Butin this Test I wasreally on it and Ifeel like I’ve stillgot stuff to offer thisteam. As long as I stillfeel like that I think I’llkeep going. I don’t thinkI’ve won my last Testmatches as an Englandcricketer yet. Can Ireach 700? Why not?”

Anderson claimedhis 29th five-wicket

haul in the third Test and onlythe great Richard Hadlee hasmore among seam bowlers. Hesaid his hunger to perform hasnot not diminished and that iswhat keeps him going.

“We’re still in the Testchampionship. There are still

series ahead of us and Testmatches to win. That’s allI’m really interested in. Istill love turning up everyday at training, putting inthe hard yards and being

in the dressing roomwith the lads try-

ing to forge awin forEngland.

“ That’sall I’ve reallyever both-ered aboutand whatI’ll keep try-

ing to do. I’ll

keep working hard in the gymand keeping myself available forselection.

“There will be decisionsalong the way with the selectorsand coach and captain aroundhow the team moves forwardbut as long as they want mearound I’ll keep working hardand try to prove I’m goodenough to play in this team,” hesaid.

Talking about his 600 wick-ets, Anderson added: “I haveworked really hard with myskills over the years and I amfortunate enough that I get to doit at the top level playing for mycountry.

“Looking back to that firstTest (in 2003), I never thoughtI would get anywhere near 600Test wickets. I just feel very for-tunate and privileged that Ihave been able to do that for along period of time.”

� � �)��)12��

Chasing their maidenIPL title, Royal

Challengers Bangalorehave all bases coveredheading into the league,

including its achilles heel,the death bowling, reckonmembers of its brand newcoaching staff, MikeHesson and Simon Katich.

Tuning in from theconfines of their hotelroom in Dubai, where theyare nearing the end of asix-day quarantine, RCBdirector of cricket Hessonand head coach Katichspoke about their vision

and plans for the side which

has made three IPL finals but hasbeen unable to cross the final hur-dle.

RCB, led by their captainVirat Kohli, has always been ateam full of stars but has notplayed to its potential. Afterreaching the final in 2016, it hashad three forgettable seasons.

As senior player YuzvendraChahal pointed out in a recentinterview, RCB lost 30 percent oftheir games due to their deathbowling over the past three sea-sons.

However, Hesson believes thatissue has been addressed withsignings of Chris Morris, IsuruUdana, Kane Richardson andDale Steyn, who was bought backat the auction after being released.

“We were very clear about ourdeath bowling and wanted tomake sure we got it covered. Wewent into the auction wanting to

fix that,” said Hesson at the virtu-al media interaction.

“We have got Udana, Morris,Richardson, Steyn. Navdeep Saini

has done the job nicely and ourspinners too will play a big part.We got Chahal who is exception-al bowler and a nice mix of spin-ners (Shahbaz Nadeem, PawanNegi, Moeen Ali).

“We think we are not somuch reliant on our batting andhave a balanced unit.”

In the batting department,their biggest buy in the Decemberauction was Australia’s limitedovers skipper Aaron Finch.

Katich said Finch’s presencewill benefit Kohli, who also hasgreats like AB de Villiers andSteyn to turn to for help.

“We were looking for guys atthe top of their game in interna-tional cricket. Finch was high onthat list. As a player and captain,

he has done well for Australia. Heis a good player of spin andbrings leadership in the group.”

Hesson was asked about Steynand De Villiers, who have notplayed a lot over the past 12months.

“RCB got legends in Dale andABD. Both players took part in anexhibition match in South Africarecently, de Villiers was the standout player. It shows his quality.

“Steyn is another one. Whenwe saw him return (from injury)six months ago, he was in excep-tional form. He is developing hisT20 game and working on differ-ent deliveries. He is not ready toretire yet and keen to make a con-tribution,” said the former NewZealand coach.

� � �)��)12�

Rani Rampal never expect-ed the Khel Ratna to be

bestowed on a woman hock-ey player and that’s one rea-son why she could not holdback tears on being namedfor it this year, calling thecountry’s highest sportinghonour a testament to herhard work and sacrifices.

The 25-year-old Ranisaid she couldn’t stop herselffrom crying when she firstgot to know of being oneamong the chosen five, leav-ing her parents quite worriedbecause they, apparently, hadno idea about the magnitudeof the award and why itmade their daughter so emo-tional.

“Honestly, being awoman hockey player I wasnot expecting that I will beawarded the Khel Ratna.When I found out about the

announcement, I wasextremely emotional andcould not hold back mytears,” she said.

“I called my father first togive him the goodnews...Since I was crying onthe call, he was worried ifeverything was OK with me.My parents didn’t really knowhow significant it was toreceive this honour and whenI explained it to them, myfather particularly was veryhappy and got emotional,”she said.

Rani is a spectacularrags-to-riches story in Indiansport. The daughter of a cart-puller from that cradle ofIndian hockey, Shahbad(Haryana), she rose to promi-nence as a 15-year-old whenshe became the youngestplayer to make the nationalteam.

Her next target is theOlympic medal that has elud-

ed Indian hockey for decadesnow.

“While I do feel thisaward comes as a recognitionof my hard work, sacrificesand commitment to the sportover the years, winning theOlympic medal will remainthe ultimate goal. We willwork hard as a team toachieve this goal in Tokyonext year,” Rani said.

Rani said the Khel Ratnarecognition will motivate herand her teammates to achievegreater laurels for the coun-try in future.

“It (the Khel Ratna) isextremely encouraging and abig boost to do well at theOlympic Games. Over thepast years, I am very happythat the Indian women’s teamis getting their due recogni-tion and this has only moti-vated us to do better and bet-ter at the international level,”she said.

nearly a million euros.ESPN reported that Messi spoke

last week with Manchester Citymanager Pep Guardiola about apossible move. A Barcelona-basedBrazilian journalist also said Messiwants to play under his formerBarcelona coach.

Dozens of fans protested in frontof the Camp Nou late Tuesday call-ing for the resignation of team pres-ident Josep Bartomeu. More protestsby fans were scheduled forWednesday.

“The situation has been uncom-fortable for everybody,” Barcelona fanOriol Aznar said. “This board ofdirectors should have resigned a longtime ago. Bad results, bad manage-ment. Nothing positive about them.They are destroying the club. It’s nor-mal that Messi wants to leave. Theywant to end the year with a decentfinancial balance if they make moneyout of Messi leaving. But this isn’t theright way.”

Messi’s first contract with theclub was signed on a napkin after alunch between his representatives andclub officials nearly 20 years ago, butit was with a burofax — a certifiedcommunication method commonlyused in Spain, similar to a Telegram— that Messi told the club he wantsto leave.

There was no phone call ormeeting with club officials. Just theburofax.

In it, Messi invoked a clause inhis contract that allowed him to leavefor free after the end of the season.

But Barcelona said the clausementioned by Messi expired on June

10, meaning that the player missedthe deadline and would have to paythe clause of 700 million euros ($827million) if he wants to leave beforehis contract ends in June 2021.

What Messi may contend is thatthe clause was to expire at the end ofthe season, which this year wasmoved back because of the coron-avirus pandemic.

The club said it replied to Messi’s

burofax saying it wanted him to stayand finish his career with Barcelona.

“Total war!” said a front-pageheadline by the Sport newspaper onWednesday.

“Goodbye by burofax,” said thesports daily AS.

Messi was outspoken againstclub directors throughout the seasonbut has yet to speak publicly since theloss to Bayern.

Barca still hoping Messi will stay�� ) ��

Barcelona: Pep Guardiola couldrebuild his Manchester City teamaround Lionel Messi if the Argentinegets his wish and leaves Barcelona,according to former Nou Campgreat Rivaldo.

“It will be a sad ending forMessi’s story with Barcelona if thethings remain this way, but this isfootball and sometimes things don’t

run according to our expectations.“Manchester City could be

Messi’s best option as his next club.He’s 33 but his quality and talent areboth unquestionable and I think hestill has a few more years at the top.”

Rivaldo believes Guardiola, whoenjoyed trophy-laden years asBarcelona manager with Messi in hispomp, would love to have the oppor-tunity to work with him again.

“He has deep knowledge ofMessi’s abilities and would find asolution to quickly incorporate himinto the team and get the best fromhim,” Brazilian Rivaldo, who was atBarcelona from 1997-2002, said. “Ieven imagine Guardiola building therest of his team around Messi.

“His talent can make the differ-ence at any place and at any time, andI’m sure he could produce match-winning performances in thePremier League.” AP

��'$��9��

��-�� 335��>I#�� I ��$'(��3�#��'$�(��

��)��)��)�� >�� =8��*�

5��$��!��)�� 0�� /��"�0�� Pakistan skipperAzhar Ali says he did feel pressurewhen he was struggling to score runsin the lost series against England butthe thought of quitting captaincynever crossed his mind.

Azhar faced criticism for his rundrought before scoring a hundred inthe first innings of the third Test.

“No, I remained focussed on thisseries. This consideration neverentered my mind. Yes there was pres-sure but I was focussed on my perfor-mances,” he told reporters when askedif he wanted to quit as captain duringthe series.

“After we lost the first Test, as cap-tain I had to bear the pressure and crit-icism. But I vowed to turn it aroundwith my performances and theamount of experience we had in ourteam management also helped us getover the first Test defeat and move on.”

England won their first Test seriesagainst Pakistan since 2010.

“We are disappointed at not beingable to win the series. We came hereto not only draw the series but to winit. We got our opportunity but missedit. Credit also goes to England; theytook advantage of opportunities,” hesaid. PTI

� 2�*=��0 �*�951��-) 6� � ��4�-)�3-��3�$0-��

,�+�$�� $� �9��-

.ˇˇ&$ˆ / B( ˜ $0% ˆC ! ˝ ˆ% ˆC ! C RNI Regn. No. … · 2020. 8. 26. · ˆ ( " ˛ ˝ ˙˛...

Documents

Transcript of .ˇˇ&$ˆ / B( ˜ $0% ˆC ! ˝ ˆ% ˆC ! C RNI Regn. No. … · 2020. 8. 26. · ˆ ( " ˛ ˝ ˙˛...