+ C ?˝>.>>20 2˜˚>?˜#E304?/˚4 #?5>?˝>?C?F>?˝# ˜345 4˝*=2 ......2020/10/27  · Delhi air...

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T he Peoples Democratic Party suffered a big blow in Jammu as three of its senior leaders, including two found- ing members, forwarded their resignation letter to party chief Mehbooba Mufti claiming that her recent utter- ances regarding the national flag have “hurt patri- otic sentiments”. In a joint letter to Mehbooba, former PDP MP TS Bajwa, Ved Mahajan and Hussain Ali Waffa said, “We feel uncomfortable and suffo- cated, forcing us to take a dif- ficult decision of leaving the party.” Waffa, is a former PDP state secretary, and Mahajan a former MLC. In her first press confer- ence after over 14 months of detention, Mehbooba on Friday had said she was not interest- ed in contesting elections or holding the tricolour till the constitutional changes enforced on August 5 last year were rolled back. The PDP leader had also said that she would hold the tri- colour only when the separate flag of the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir was restored. The Centre on August 5 last year had abrogated the erst- while state’s special status and bifurcated it into union terri- tories of Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh. T he Supreme Court on Monday rejected the inter- im prayer of Tamil Nadu and the AIADMK for grant of 50 per cent quota in medical seats surrendered by the State in all India quota for undergraduate, postgraduate and dental cours- es for the 2020-21 session. A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta and Ajay Rastogi dismissed the interim prayer made in the pleas for implementation of 50 per cent quota for the current academ- ic year. The Tamil Nadu Government and the AIADMK have challenged the Madras High Court order of July 27 on the limited point by which it had cleared the decks for OBC reservation under All India Quota (AIQ) medical seats in non-central institutions and gave the Centre three months’ time to take a decision on the percentage. The State Government and the ruling AIADMK party in their limited point had sought relief saying that the HC had not specified that the OBC quota should be imple- mented in the current acade- mic year itself. The Centre has contended that it would not be practical- ly feasible to implement the 50 per cent quota in the current academic year. T he Supreme Court on Monday kept in abeyance its October 16 order appoint- ing one-man panel of retired apex court judge Justice Madan B Lokur to monitor the steps taken by neighbouring States to prevent stubble burning, which is a major cause of pollution in the Delhi-NCR. A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde passed the order while considering the Centre’s stand that it is coming out with a comprehensive leg- islation to deal with air pollu- tion, including the aspect of stubble burning. “The only issue is people are choking because of pollu- tion and it is something which must be curbed,” said the bench, also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that the Centre has taken a “holistic view” of the matter and the draft of the proposed law on curbing pollution would be submitted in the apex court within four days. In its October 16 order, the top court had ordered deploy- ment of National Cadet Corps, National Service Scheme and Bharat Scouts and Guides for assisting in the monitoring of stubble burning in the agricul- tural fields of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-NCR, saying all it wants is that “peo- ple of Delhi-NCR can breathe fresh air without any pollution”. During the hearing con- ducted through video-confer- encing on Monday, Mehta told the SC that coming out with a proper legislation to deal with the issue is a “wel- come step”. D elhi air quality was record- ed in the “very poor’’ cat- egory on Monday morning and likely to increase further as the share of stubble burning in the city’s PM 2.5 pollution is likely to increase. The wind direction and the speed is favourable for the transport of the pollutants from farm fires in Haryana, Punjab, and other neighbour- ing regions to the national Capital, according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences’’ air quality monitor, SAFAR, The contribution of stubble burning in Delhi’s PM2.5 con- centration was 19 per cent on Sunday, it said. The city record- ed an air quality index (AQI) of 343 at 10 am on Monday. The 24-hour average AQI was 349 on Sunday. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘’good’’, 51 and 100 “satisfactory’’, 101 and 200 “moderate’’, 201 and 300 ‘’poor’’, 301 and 400 “very poor’’, and 401 and 500 “severe’’. Calm winds and low temperatures allow accu- mulation of pollutants, favourable wind speed helps in their dispersion. R ival political parties and their top leaders were busy wooing voters until the last hours on Monday as the hec- tic campaign for 71 Assembly constituencies across six dis- tricts of Bihar that will vote on October 28 in the first phase of the Assembly elections ended with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-Congress-Left alliance seemingly giving a tough chal- lenge to the BJP-JD(U)-led ruling National Democratic alliance (NDA). The Opposition RJD is contesting 42 seats — the most number of seats in the first phase of polling by any party followed by JD(U) 35, BJP 29, Congress 21 and the Left par- ties 8. In the 2015 Bihar Assembly poll, 49 Assembly segments of 10 districts went to poll in the first phase that witnessed a turnout of 57 per cent. The political fortunes of over half-a-dozen Cabinet min- isters in the Nitish dispensation like Prem Kumar, Ram Narayan Mandal, Jai Kumar Singh, Krishna Nandan Verma, Shailesh Kumar, Santosh Nirala, Vijay Kumar Sinha and Brij Kishore Bind will be decid- ed in this phase. So will be the fate of former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is con- testing from Imamganj Assembly constituency as an NDA candidate this time round. The war of words between Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Opposition RJD leader Tejashwi has already become acrimonious in the last few days with the two rivals exchanging barbs over unem- ployment, law and order and development issues. Kumar stepped up attacks against the RJD by accusing it of taking the State backwards and failing to maintain law and order and exhorting people not to bring back the old days when kidnappings, murders and massacres were common- place. Tejashwi, whose public ral- lies attracted huge crowds, did not spare Kumar saying, “Nitish has no more energy left and people are tired of listen- ing to his hackneyed and bor- ing speeches. A tired Nitish is running away from reality, rea- soning and facts. He is now looking at the stale pages of his- tory by ruining the present and future of millions of youths.” The role of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) under Chirag Paswan has added another flavour in the polls with the party, which is not part of the NDA now, is opposing JD(U) while backing the BJP, giving rise to speculation whether it is playing as a B-team of the BJP with an eye on the post-poll scenario. The LJP, which is contest- ing 143 seats in Bihar, is fight- ing the first phase with the slo- gan “BJP se bair nahin, Nitish teri khair nahin”. Its main tagline for cam- paign is “Bihar First, Bihari First”. N ew coronavirus infections reported in India in a span of 24 hours have dropped below 50,000 for the second time this month, while the new fatalities registered during the same period fell under 500 after 108 days. The Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of Covid-19 has touched 1.5 per cent, the lowest since March 22 while new cases were at 45,148, taking the tally to 79,09,959. India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world. Out of the total Covid-19 cases, 6,53,717 are currently active, 71,37,228 have been discharged, while 1,19,014 lost the battle against the pandem- ic, said an official from the Union Health Ministry. “India continues to report a trend of steadily decreasing active cases. Presently the active cases comprise merely 8.26 per cent of the total positive cases of the country standing at 6,53,717. This is the lowest since August 13 when the active cases were 6,53,622. At least 78 per cent of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs. Karnataka has contributed the maximum to the single day recoveries with more than 10,000 cases followed by Kerala with more than 7,000 cases. “Similarly, India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world. The case fatality rate is lowest since March 22 and is continuously declining. 480 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours in the coun- try,” the official said. With 480 new deaths, the Covid-19 toll mounted to 1,19,014. According to the WHO, CFR is a measure of the severity of a disease and is defined as the proportion of reported cases of a specified disease or condition, which are fatal within a speci- fied time. There are 14 States and UTs with CFR lower than 1 per cent. Collaborative efforts of the Union and State and Union Territory Governments have resulted in the strengthening of the health facilities across the country, said the official. “As many as 2,218 dedicat- ed Covid hospitals are provid- ing quality medical care. Till date, 25 tele-sessions have been held and 393 institutions across 34 States and UTs have participated in them. As a result, there are 14 States and UTs with CFR lower than 1 per cent,” he said. T he Gujarat High Court on Monday started live streaming of proceedings of its first court on an experimental basis. Anyone willing to view the live proceedings could access the link of the Youtube channel from the homepage of the HC website, Chief Justice Vikram Nath said in an order. The order said proceedings of the Division Bench No 1 [First Court] of the High Court will be telecast live, purely on an experimental basis, and the “aspect of continuing with or adapting the modality of live court proceedings will be decided based on the outcome of this trial”. T he Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Madhya Pradesh High Court order asking parties to conduct their campaign for the November 3 Assembly bypolls virtually instead of holding physical rallies due to Covid-19. A bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take an appropriate decision with regard to politi- cal rallies keeping in mind Covid-19 guidelines. The bench said the high court must have felt that situ- ation on ground was not changing. “Taking overall view of the subject matter, we stay the operation of the impugned judgment..., but direct the Election Commission of India to consider the issues referred to in the impugned order(s) and proceed in the matter in that regard in accordance with law appropriately,” the bench said. I ndia and the US on Monday reviewed the entire range of strategic and defence ties, besides the growing expan- sionist behaviour of China during the separate meetings between the Defence and Foreign Ministers of the two nations. The bilateral meetings came a day ahead of the high profile 2+2 ministerial level meeting on Tuesday when the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) will be signed paving the way for the Indian armed forces to access real- time precision data and topo- graphical images from US mil- itary satellites. In both the bilateral meet- ings that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had with their counterparts Mark Esper and Mike Pompeo, the common refrain was the growing ties between the two countries and concern over China’s aggressive designs in many theatres of the world, including Ladakh and the South China Sea. In the hour-long meeting between Rajnath and Esper, the two sides reviewed bilateral defence cooperation spanning military to military coopera- tion, secure communication systems and information shar- ing, defence trade and indus- trial issues and also discussed ways to take bilateral cooper- ation forward. The three Services chiefs and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat were present dur- ing the delegation-level talks. Earlier, Esper was given a guard of honour at the South Block housing the Defence Ministry. The two Ministers expressed satisfaction that BECA will be signed during the visit. The US also welcomed Australia’s participation in the exercise MALABAR 2020 later this year in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. Four navies, including India, US, Japan and Australia, will take part in the naval exercise. The participation of Australia earlier in 2007 had led to China expressing it reservations. The signing of BECA will see the US sharing advanced satellite and topographical data for navigation for missiles in the military sphere. A s the troops dig in for a harsh winter in Ladakh against the backdrop of the ongoing stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat has exhorted the armed forces to be ready for any exigency and put an end to all peacetime activities. He said with the soldiers gearing up for a long haul in Ladakh where the temperatures will dip to minus 20 degrees in another few weeks peacetime activities should be curbed as a respect for frontline troops and a mark of solidarity. As per reports, the CDS also said the situation was not normal with eyeball to eyeball confrontation with China and both the sides ramping up their troop levels besides heavy weapons. With the whole northern command of the Army and western air command fully deployed to deal with any chal- lenge at the 1,700 km long LAC in Ladakh, Rawat urged the three services to refrain from ostentation and peacetime activities like playing golf dur- ing the festival season. These reports came on a day when the Army Commanders commenced their brainstorming session here to review the situation in Ladakh. The four-day confer- ence will see Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Army Chief General MM Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and IAF Chief RKS Bhaduaria besides Rawat addressing them on Tuesday. The commanders will also try to plug gaps if any in guarding the entire 4,000 km long LAC stretching from Ladakh in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east since the face-offs started in early May. The operational prepared- ness and logistical back up for troops to perform effectively during the harsh winters will also be discussed. The Army has adequate stocks of winter clothing, food and prefabricated huts to face the winters and the conference will review seamless supply chain to sustain the troops. India and China have deployed over one lakh troops on the LAC since the stand-offs started.

Transcript of + C ?˝>.>>20 2˜˚>?˜#E304?/˚4 #?5>?˝>?C?F>?˝# ˜345 4˝*=2 ......2020/10/27  · Delhi air...

Page 1: + C ?˝>.>>20 2˜˚>?˜#E304?/˚4 #?5>?˝>?C?F>?˝# ˜345 4˝*=2 ......2020/10/27  · Delhi air quality was record-ed in the “very poor’’ cat-egory on Monday morning and likely

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The Peoples DemocraticParty suffered a big blow in

Jammu as three of its seniorleaders, including two found-ing members, forwarded theirresignation letter to partychief Mehbooba Mufti claiming that her recent utter-ances regarding the national flag have “hurt patri-otic sentiments”.

In a joint letter toMehbooba, former PDP MPTS Bajwa, Ved Mahajan andHussain Ali Waffa said, “Wefeel uncomfortable and suffo-cated, forcing us to take a dif-ficult decision of leaving theparty.” Waffa, is a former PDPstate secretary, and Mahajan a

former MLC.In her first press confer-

ence after over 14 months ofdetention, Mehbooba on Fridayhad said she was not interest-ed in contesting elections orholding the tricolour till theconstitutional changes enforcedon August 5 last year wererolled back.

The PDP leader had alsosaid that she would hold the tri-colour only when the separateflag of the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir wasrestored.

The Centre on August 5last year had abrogated the erst-while state’s special status andbifurcated it into union terri-tories of Jammu & Kashmir,and Ladakh.

��� � 23.��345�

The Supreme Court onMonday rejected the inter-

im prayer of Tamil Nadu andthe AIADMK for grant of 50per cent quota in medical seatssurrendered by the State in allIndia quota for undergraduate,postgraduate and dental cours-es for the 2020-21 session.

A bench comprisingJustices L Nageswara Rao,Hemant Gupta and AjayRastogi dismissed the interimprayer made in the pleas forimplementation of 50 per centquota for the current academ-ic year.

The Tamil NaduGovernment and the AIADMKhave challenged the Madras

High Court order of July 27 onthe limited point by which ithad cleared the decks for OBCreservation under All IndiaQuota (AIQ) medical seats innon-central institutions andgave the Centre three months’time to take a decision on thepercentage.

The State Government andthe ruling AIADMK party intheir limited point had soughtrelief saying that the HC had not specified that theOBC quota should be imple-mented in the current acade-mic year itself.

The Centre has contendedthat it would not be practical-ly feasible to implement the 50per cent quota in the currentacademic year.

��� � 23.��345�

The Supreme Court onMonday kept in abeyance

its October 16 order appoint-ing one-man panel of retiredapex court judge Justice MadanB Lokur to monitor the stepstaken by neighbouring States toprevent stubble burning, whichis a major cause of pollution inthe Delhi-NCR.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice SA Bobde passed theorder while considering theCentre’s stand that it is comingout with a comprehensive leg-islation to deal with air pollu-tion, including the aspect ofstubble burning.

“The only issue is peopleare choking because of pollu-tion and it is something whichmust be curbed,” said the

bench, also comprising JusticesAS Bopanna and VRamasubramanian.

Solicitor General TusharMehta told the bench that theCentre has taken a “holisticview” of the matter and thedraft of the proposed law oncurbing pollution would besubmitted in the apex courtwithin four days.

In its October 16 order, thetop court had ordered deploy-ment of National Cadet Corps,National Service Scheme andBharat Scouts and Guides forassisting in the monitoring ofstubble burning in the agricul-tural fields of Punjab, Haryana,Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-NCR,saying all it wants is that “peo-ple of Delhi-NCR can breathefresh air without any pollution”.

During the hearing con-ducted through video-confer-encing on Monday, Mehta toldthe SC that coming out with a proper legislation todeal with the issue is a “wel-come step”.

��������������� 23.��345�

Delhi air quality was record-ed in the “very poor’’ cat-

egory on Monday morningand likely to increase further asthe share of stubble burning inthe city’s PM 2.5 pollution islikely to increase.

The wind direction and thespeed is favourable for thetransport of the pollutantsfrom farm fires in Haryana,Punjab, and other neighbour-ing regions to the nationalCapital, according to theMinistry of Earth Sciences’’air quality monitor, SAFAR,

The contribution of stubbleburning in Delhi’s PM2.5 con-centration was 19 per cent onSunday, it said. The city record-ed an air quality index (AQI)of 343 at 10 am on Monday.The 24-hour average AQI was

349 on Sunday.An AQI between 0 and 50

is considered ‘’good’’, 51 and100 “satisfactory’’, 101 and 200“moderate’’, 201 and 300 ‘’poor’’,301 and 400 “very poor’’, and

401 and 500 “severe’’.Calm winds and

low temperatures allow accu-mulation of pollutants,favourable wind speed helps intheir dispersion.

����� 23.��345�

Rival political parties andtheir top leaders were busy

wooing voters until the lasthours on Monday as the hec-tic campaign for 71 Assemblyconstituencies across six dis-tricts of Bihar that will vote onOctober 28 in the first phase ofthe Assembly elections endedwith the Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD)-Congress-Left allianceseemingly giving a tough chal-lenge to the BJP-JD(U)-ledruling National Democraticalliance (NDA).

The Opposition RJD iscontesting 42 seats — the mostnumber of seats in the firstphase of polling by any partyfollowed by JD(U) 35, BJP 29,Congress 21 and the Left par-ties 8.

In the 2015 Bihar Assemblypoll, 49 Assembly segments of10 districts went to poll in thefirst phase that witnessed aturnout of 57 per cent.

The political fortunes ofover half-a-dozen Cabinet min-isters in the Nitish dispensationlike Prem Kumar, Ram

Narayan Mandal, Jai KumarSingh, Krishna Nandan Verma,Shailesh Kumar, SantoshNirala, Vijay Kumar Sinha andBrij Kishore Bind will be decid-ed in this phase. So will be thefate of former Chief MinisterJitan Ram Manjhi, who is con-testing from ImamganjAssembly constituency as anNDA candidate this timeround.

The war of words betweenChief Minister Nitish Kumar

and Opposition RJD leaderTejashwi has already becomeacrimonious in the last fewdays with the two rivalsexchanging barbs over unem-ployment, law and order anddevelopment issues.

Kumar stepped up attacksagainst the RJD by accusing itof taking the State backwardsand failing to maintain law andorder and exhorting peoplenot to bring back the old dayswhen kidnappings, murders

and massacres were common-place.

Tejashwi, whose public ral-lies attracted huge crowds, didnot spare Kumar saying,“Nitish has no more energy leftand people are tired of listen-ing to his hackneyed and bor-ing speeches. A tired Nitish isrunning away from reality, rea-soning and facts. He is nowlooking at the stale pages of his-tory by ruining the present andfuture of millions of youths.”

The role of Lok JanshaktiParty (LJP) under ChiragPaswan has added anotherflavour in the polls with theparty, which is not part of theNDA now, is opposing JD(U)while backing the BJP, givingrise to speculation whether it isplaying as a B-team of the BJPwith an eye on the post-pollscenario.

The LJP, which is contest-ing 143 seats in Bihar, is fight-ing the first phase with the slo-gan “BJP se bair nahin, Nitishteri khair nahin”.

Its main tagline for cam-paign is “Bihar First, BihariFirst”.

����� 23.��345�

New coronavirus infectionsreported in India in a span

of 24 hours have droppedbelow 50,000 for the secondtime this month, while thenew fatalities registered duringthe same period fell under 500after 108 days.

The Case Fatality Rate(CFR) of Covid-19 has touched1.5 per cent, the lowest sinceMarch 22 while new caseswere at 45,148, taking the tallyto 79,09,959. India has one ofthe lowest fatality rates in theworld.

Out of the total Covid-19cases, 6,53,717 are currentlyactive, 71,37,228 have beendischarged, while 1,19,014 lostthe battle against the pandem-ic, said an official from the

Union Health Ministry.“India continues to report

a trend of steadily decreasingactive cases. Presently the activecases comprise merely 8.26per cent of the total positivecases of the country standing at6,53,717. This is the lowestsince August 13 when theactive cases were 6,53,622.

At least 78 per cent of thenew recovered cases areobserved to be concentrated in10 States/UTs.

Karnataka has contributedthe maximum to the single dayrecoveries with more than10,000 cases followed by Kerala with more than 7,000 cases.

“Similarly, India has one ofthe lowest fatality rates in theworld. The case fatality rate islowest since March 22 and iscontinuously declining. 480deaths have been reported inthe last 24 hours in the coun-try,” the official said.

With 480 new deaths, theCovid-19 toll mounted to1,19,014. According to theWHO, CFR is a measure of theseverity of a disease and isdefined as the proportion ofreported cases of a specifieddisease or condition, which are fatal within a speci-fied time. There are 14 Statesand UTs with CFR lower than1 per cent.

Collaborative efforts of theUnion and State and UnionTerritory Governments haveresulted in the strengthening ofthe health facilities across thecountry, said the official.

“As many as 2,218 dedicat-ed Covid hospitals are provid-ing quality medical care. Till date, 25 tele-sessions havebeen held and 393 institutionsacross 34 States and UTs haveparticipated in them. As aresult, there are 14 States andUTs with CFR lower than 1 percent,” he said.

��� � �5 3��/���

The Gujarat High Court onMonday started live

streaming of proceedings of itsfirst court on an experimentalbasis. Anyone willing to viewthe live proceedings couldaccess the link of the Youtube channel from thehomepage of the HC website,Chief Justice Vikram Nath saidin an order.

The order said proceedingsof the Division Bench No 1[First Court] of the High Courtwill be telecast live, purely onan experimental basis, and the“aspect of continuing with oradapting the modality of livecourt proceedings will bedecided based on the outcomeof this trial”.

��� � 23.��345�

The Supreme Court onMonday stayed the Madhya

Pradesh High Court order asking parties to conducttheir campaign for theNovember 3 Assembly bypollsvirtually instead of holding physical rallies due toCovid-19.

A bench headed by JusticeAM Khanwilkar asked theElection Commission of India(ECI) to take an appropriatedecision with regard to politi-cal rallies keeping in mindCovid-19 guidelines.

The bench said the highcourt must have felt that situ-ation on ground was notchanging.

“Taking overall view of thesubject matter, we stay theoperation of the impugnedjudgment..., but direct theElection Commission of Indiato consider the issues referredto in the impugned order(s)and proceed in the matter inthat regard in accordance withlaw appropriately,” the benchsaid.

����� 23.��345�

India and the US on Mondayreviewed the entire range of

strategic and defence ties,besides the growing expan-sionist behaviour of Chinaduring the separate meetingsbetween the Defence andForeign Ministers of the twonations. The bilateral meetingscame a day ahead of the highprofile 2+2 ministerial levelmeeting on Tuesday when theBasic Exchange andCooperation Agreement(BECA) will be signed paving the way for the Indianarmed forces to access real-time precision data and topo-graphical images from US mil-itary satellites.

In both the bilateral meet-ings that Defence MinisterRajnath Singh and ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankarhad with their counterpartsMark Esper and Mike Pompeo,the common refrain was thegrowing ties between the twocountries and concern overChina’s aggressive designs inmany theatres of the world,including Ladakh and theSouth China Sea.

In the hour-long meetingbetween Rajnath and Esper, thetwo sides reviewed bilateraldefence cooperation spanningmilitary to military coopera-tion, secure communicationsystems and information shar-ing, defence trade and indus-trial issues and also discussedways to take bilateral cooper-ation forward. The threeServices chiefs and Chief ofDefence Staff (CDS) GeneralBipin Rawat were present dur-ing the delegation-level talks.

Earlier, Esper was given aguard of honour at the SouthBlock housing the DefenceMinistry.

The two Ministersexpressed satisfaction thatBECA will be signed during thevisit. The US also welcomedAustralia’s participation in theexercise MALABAR 2020 laterthis year in the Bay of Bengaland the Arabian Sea.

Four navies, includingIndia, US, Japan and Australia,will take part in the navalexercise. The participation ofAustralia earlier in 2007 had led to China expressing itreservations.

The signing of BECA willsee the US sharing advancedsatellite and topographical datafor navigation for missiles inthe military sphere.

����� 23.��345�

As the troops dig in for aharsh winter in Ladakh

against the backdrop of theongoing stand-off at the Line ofActual Control (LAC), Chief ofDefence Staff (CDS) GeneralBipin Rawat has exhorted thearmed forces to be ready forany exigency and put an end toall peacetime activities.

He said with the soldiers

gearing up for a long haul inLadakh where the temperatureswill dip to minus 20 degrees inanother few weeks peacetimeactivities should be curbed asa respect for frontline troopsand a mark of solidarity.

As per reports, the CDSalso said the situation was notnormal with eyeball to eyeballconfrontation with China andboth the sides ramping uptheir troop levels besides heavyweapons.

With the whole northerncommand of the Army andwestern air command fullydeployed to deal with any chal-lenge at the 1,700 km long LACin Ladakh, Rawat urged the

three services to refrain fromostentation and peacetimeactivities like playing golf dur-ing the festival season.

These reports came on aday when the ArmyCommanders commencedtheir brainstorming sessionhere to review the situation inLadakh. The four-day confer-ence will see Defence MinisterRajnath Singh, Army ChiefGeneral MM Naravane, NavyChief Admiral Karambir Singhand IAF Chief RKS Bhaduariabesides Rawat addressing themon Tuesday.

The commanders will alsotry to plug gaps if any inguarding the entire 4,000 km

long LAC stretching fromLadakh in the west toArunachal Pradesh in the eastsince the face-offs started inearly May.

The operational prepared-ness and logistical back up fortroops to perform effectivelyduring the harsh winters willalso be discussed.

The Army has adequatestocks of winter clothing, foodand prefabricated huts to facethe winters and the conferencewill review seamless supplychain to sustain the troops. India and China havedeployed over one lakh troopson the LAC since the stand-offsstarted.

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Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on Monday

directed the health officials toensure regular medical check-up of the Covid-19 patientswho have opted for home iso-lation. “There is a need forevolving effective mechanismfor medical check-up of Covidpatients under home isolation.These patients should beadmitted in the hospitals iftheir condition worsens,” saidthe Chief Minister while pre-siding over a video conferenc-ing with Deputy

C o m m i s s i o n e r s ,Superintendents of Police,Chief Medical Officers,Principals of Medical Collegesand Senior MedicalSuperintendents from Shimla.

Thakur said that specialthrust must be laid on educa-tion, information and com-munication (IEC) so that a per-son with any kind of symptomsimmediately visits the hospitalfor COVID-19 tests.

He said that focus must belaid on making the ‘Mask UpCampaign’ of the Governmentof India a success. The doctorsmust ensure proper commu-

nication with the COVIDpatients as it goes a long way inrecovery of the patients. Thiswould ensure timely treatmentof patients, as it has been foundthat about 90 percent of deathsreported due to COVID tookplace within 24 hours ofpatients being admitted inhealth institutions, he said.

He said the aged peopleand patients with co-morbidi-ty must be paid special atten-tion as their condition coulddeteriorate rapidly

The CM, who has himselfrecovered from the COVID-19,recently said that senior doctors

must visit the COVID patientsadmitted in the hospitals sothat patients get a sense of secu-rity. He also urged the doctorsto adopt humane approach intreatment of patients.

Thakur said that keeping inview the festive season, the peo-ple must be persuaded to main-tain social distancing, use facemasks and hand sanitizers asprevention is the only cure ofthis virus. People must also bepersuaded to avoid unneces-sary gathering in social func-tions. For this, help of NGOsand local opinion leaders couldalso be taken, he said.

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Chandigarh: A debt-riddenfarmer allegedly committedsuicide on Monday inJalandhar, apparently overinability to pay off dues.Trilochan Singh, , a resident ofMosahib village in Jalandhardistrict having about �17-18lakh debt, was under severestrain as lenders were alleged-ly pressurising him for the lastfew days. Unable to cope upwith the stress, Singh killedhimself on late Sunday night.As the news of his suicidebroke, the lenders are nowclaiming that they have alreadywaived off the debt. Jalandharincident was not just a one suchincident as the reports of debtridden farmers, under severepressure, committing suicidewere reported from across thecountry. PNS

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SAD MP from Bathinda andformer Union Food

Processing Industries MinisterHarsimrat Kaur Badal onMonday said that the start ofoperations of the third megafood park in Punjab, which isamong the top five in themaize sector in the country,would benefit farmers besidesresulting in crop diversification.

Harsimrat, while congrat-ulating the promoters ofSukhjit Mega Food Park for

successful commencement ofoperations, said that besidescreating a huge demand formaize cultivation and produce,it would also lay the foundationof the maize processing indus-try in the State.

“The anchor unit in thePark has a maize grind capac-ity of 600 tonnes per day.Besides this, processing units,which include those for pro-cessing coarse grains, fruits,vegetables and oil seeds, arealso coming up at the megafood park,” she said.

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Jalandhar: Continuing its driveagainst drug peddlers by keep-ing a vigil through high-levelchecking points in the city,Jalandhar CommissioneratePolice on Monday arresteda Mizoram-based womanand seized one-kg heroinfrom her possession outside Punjab Institute ofMedical Sciences (PIMS)on Garha road.

The accused has been

identified as 19 years oldLalrimawii of Aizawl original-ly, now residing in Delhi. PNS

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With an aim to facilitatenon-Covid patients, the

Post Graduate Institute ofMedical Education andResearch has decided toresume physical OPDs in a lim-ited format from November 2onwards.

The PGIMER authoritieshave also decided that tele-con-sultation services would con-tinue considering its dual ben-efit to the patient and the insti-tute.

The tele-consultation willact as the point of setting upphysical appointments in theOPDs. Considering thatpatients will now be seen phys-ically also, the timings of reg-istration for tele-consultationwill be 8 am to 9.30 am fromNovember 2, said an officialspokesman.

With a view to ensure ade-quate social and physical dis-tancing, a fixed number ofpatients would be seen in eachOPD and 50 patients is set asthe default number for eachOPD. This number will besuitably increased or decreasedas the COVID 19 situationunfolds, he said.

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All the major political partiesin Punjab — the ruling

Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD), and the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) — on Mondaycome together against the BJP-led Central Government’s deci-sion to discontinue movementof goods trains in the State till October 29 and soughtimmediate restoration of trainmovement.

Hours after the decision toextend the ban on movement ofgoods trains, initially imposedfor two days (on October 24and 25), for another four days,the Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh spoke to theUnion Railways MinisterPiyush Goyal and sought hispersonal intervention forimmediate restoration of freightmovement, which remains sus-pended in and through the Stateeven after the farmers’ decisionto partially lift their blockade.

“The decision of theRailways to discontinue freightmovement in Punjab subse-quent to partial success of nego-tiations with the farmers havenegated the State’s efforts so far,”said the Chief Minister, warningthat the move may, in fact, fur-ther provoke the agitated farm-ers protesting against theCentre’s farm laws.

Citing the grave impact ofthe non-restoration of freighttraffic by the Railways, the ChiefMinister also wrote to Goyalexpressing serious concern thatif the freight movement is notstarted immediately, “not onlyPunjab will face serious disrup-tion in economic activities andshortage of essential supplies, butUnion Territories of Jammuand Kashmir, and Leh andLadakh will also face seriouseconomic crisis”.

The Chief Minister citedvarious requests received by theState Government from differentquarters, including Central

Ministries and Departments, forimmediate resumption of freightmovement through Punjab.

Earlier, the StateGovernment, through constantengagement in negotiations withthe Kisan Unions, had succeed-ed in convincing them to allowpartial resumption of serviceswith withdrawal of their block-ade from October 22.

However, after restoration ofmovement of freight trains onOctober 23, the Railways hadunilaterally stopped movementof all freight trains in Punjab,Capt Amarinder pointed out inhis letter to Goyal.

Incidentally, freight trainshad continued almost uninter-ruptedly throughout the lock-down period even when the pas-senger trains operations werecompletely stopped, pointed outthe Chief Minister, adding,“There is now no plausible rea-son to stop freight operations inand through Punjab.

“Punjab Government is also

continuing with its efforts to per-suade the protesting farmers torestore the passenger railwaytraffic also,” he said.

Later, on the ChiefMinister’s directives, the stateChief Secretary Vini Mahajanalso spoke to the Railway Boardchairman, and noted that theChief Minister had set up a com-mittee of three Ministers to dis-cuss complete lifting of thefarmers’ ‘Rail Roko’ blockade toallow even passenger trains.

However, as far as goodstrains are concerned, no mainline is blocked for goods trainsas of date and only a single trackthat goes and ends at the privatethermal plant Talwandi Sabo iscurrently blocked, she said,adding that there was no justi-fication for the continued ban bythe Railways on movement ofgoods trains in Punjab, thusdepriving the State of criticalsupplies, including coal, urea etc.

Besides shortage of theessential commodities, the State

also needs to urgently lift foodstocks from godowns to makeway for more grains.

BLOCKADE WOULDDESTROY BUSINESS TRADEAND INDUSTRY: SAD CHIEF

SAD president SukhbirSingh Badal said the stoppage ofinbound goods trains in Punjabcould amount to “an economicblockade of the sensitive borderstate” and shatter its alreadystaggering economy apart, fromcausing unspeakable sufferingsto the common people.

This approach smacks of“needless and ominous con-frontation which will serve noone’s interest”, he said whileurging the Central Governmentto immediately resume normalgoods train services in the State.

“The decision to furtherextend the ban on goods trainsin Punjab would completelydevastate the entire business,trade and industry, apart fromagriculture here. The decision

needs to be reversed immedi-ately. Do not punish the patri-otic and peace loving people ofPunjab for demanding theirdemocratic rights,” he said.

SAD president said that allthe tracks, where the trains inquestion are to run, are open andfunctional. “There is no groundwhatsoever to resort to suchblanket ban on goods train ser-vices. These must be resumedimmediately,” he added.

Sukhbir vehemently plead-ed against “the path of con-frontation in dealing with thefarmers’ agitation as this couldinflict serious long-term damageon peace and economic andsocial stability here.Confrontation would hurt all ofus and would be a disservice tothe nation”.”The Central Govtshould have opted for a negoti-ated solution to the issue andshould have removed the farm-ers’ apprehensions in this regard.In a democracy, the way to dealwith popular demands and agi-

tations is always through talks.Answering people’s demandsand disaffection through venge-ful reaction would further com-plicate the situation rather thanresolving it,” warned SAD chief.

Sukhbir also hoped that thefarmers’ organizations wouldalso keep the needs of the peo-ple of the state in mind and notdisrupt any of the essential ser-vices in the state and thus avoidhardships to the commonPunjabis, especially the poor.

MODI GOVT HELL-BENTON RUINING PUNJAB: AAP

Strongly condemning theCentre for stalling goods trainsto Punjab, AAP’s state unit pres-ident Bhagwant Mann said thatthe Prime Minister NarendraModi had adopted a “revenge-ful” attitude towards Punjab toderail the peasants’ struggle.

“The dictatorial and arbi-trary decision to stop goodstrains to Punjab with a riderregarding passengers trains

imposed on the farmers is aclever ploy of the Centre hatchedunder a deep-rooted conspiracyto sabotage the farmers’ struggleagainst the deadly black laws,”said Mann adding that it wouldnot be tolerated at any cost.

Mann said the PM shouldshun his arrogant and dictator-ial attitude towards the hassledfarmers and hold their hand inthis hour of crisis and reverse thedraconian farm laws beingimposed on them by brute force.

He said instead of holdingtalks with farmers to addresstheir concerns, BJP leaders wereindulging in mouthing inanities,calling them ‘brokers’ and usingother derogatory epithetsagainst the ‘annadata’. He ques-tioned the Modi Government,“If the central farm laws are infavour of the farming fraterni-ty, then why are middlemenbuying paddy from helplessfarmers in UP-Bihar at halfprice and selling it in the Punjabmandis at exorbitant price?”

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The indefinite ‘Kisan RailRoko’ agitation in several

parts of Punjab has hurt themovement of freight trains inseveral other States, includingJammu & Kashmir andHimachal Pradesh thusimpacting the economy.

According to the NorthernRailways, the freight move-ment has been stopped becauseof uncertainty on farmers’ agi-tation considering the prob-lems being faced in the smoothmovement of the goods train.Notably, the goods trains hadearlier resumed operations onThursday.

Farmers in Punjab havebeen agitating against the con-troversial Central’s agriculturelaws. The farmers’ associationhas been demanding the revo-cation of the new farm laws.

The Northern Railways hascancelled and short-terminat-ed several passenger trains inview of the farmers’ agitation.

“After the partial with-

drawal of ongoing agitation, inwhich the farmers’ unions haddecided to allow the movementof the goods train, theFerozepur and Ambala divi-sions had started their opera-tions from Thursday. Duringthree days till Sunday, boththese divisions operated around173 goods train, however, atmany places, the racks had tocome back midway from theiroriginal destination and thenormal movement of thesetrains faced resistance owing towhich the Railways has decid-ed to again discontinue the ser-vice till October 29 as of now,”said Divisional RailwaysManager (Ferozepur Division)

Rajesh Aggarwal.He said that one such train

was stopped at Romana AlbelSingh due to which the rackhad to come back.

“Similarly, the Railwaysfaced other problems in othersections also,” he said, addingthat the services have been dis-continued for four days, as ofnow, following which the deci-sion will be again reviewed.

Northern Railwaysspokesperson Deepak Kumarsaid: “With the stoppage of thefreight train services, it is dif-ficult to assure our valued cus-tomer that their goods willreach their destination ontime.”

He said that the transportof coal, cement, fertilizers andcontainers have been hit max-imum by the stoppage of thefreight train services in view offarmers’ agitation. TheNorthern Railway runs about50 to 70 freight trains on anaverage per day coveringPunjab, J&K and parts ofHimachal Pradesh, he said.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar will

perform Bhoomi Pujan for theextension of Hisar Airport onTuesday.

The Chief Minister saidthat the Bhoomi Pujan of Hisarrunway will mark the begin-ning of development of theInternational Aviation Hub inthe state. “After continuousimprovement in road and railconnectivity in the NationalCapital Region, the StateGovernment is now focusingon air connectivity,” he said.

An official spokespersoninformed that this is a specialinitiative to strengthen theroads, expand the metro anddevelop the Regional RapidTransit System Corridor in thestate. He informed that theHaryana Government hasalready signed a Memorandumof Understanding (MoU) withthe Airports Authority of India(AAI) for a strong InternationalAviation Hub in Hisar.

The spokesperson said theproposed aviation hub fromHisar has an airport of inter-national standards with 9,000-foot run-way, adequate parkingspace, maintenance facilities,repair and overhauling (MRO)facilities for airlines andGeneral Aviation (GA) opera-tors, Aerospace University,pilots, Global Training Centrefor Engineers and GroundHandling Staff and plans forresidential and commercialdevelopment.

He said that for the imple-mentation of UDAN 4 Schemefrom the Advanced HisarAirport, three hangars arebeing constructed to accom-modate a large apron, a smallferry terminal and A320 typeaircraft. A Joint WorkingGroup of Domain Experts hasbeen formed to guide the StateGovernment for the develop-ment of Aviation Hub in Hisar.

It has been decided toexpand the existing airstrips infive airports of the state. HisarAirport is being developed as

an aviation hub and the runwayhere will be extended to 9,000feet, while the other fourairstrips at Karnal, Pinjore,Bhiwani and Narnaul will beexpanded to 5,000 feet, so thatat these places also, medium-sized aircraft can be providedwith various activities likeparking, sub-basing, flyingtraining as well as adventuresports. Hisar Airport hasalready been added under theRegional Connectivity Schemeof the Central Government, thespokesman said.

A joint venture has alsobeen set up by the name ofHaryana Rail InfrastructureDevelopment CorporationLimited through which sever-al railway projects are beingimplemented in Haryana inpublic-private partnership(PPP). Work to close theunmanned railway crossings isstill going on and RailwayOver Bridge (ROB) or RailwayUnder Bridge (RUB) are beingconstructed wherever required,he added.

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To equip the COVID-19warriors, the much-await-

ed vaccine for the contagionmight be prioritised to beadministered to the health-care workers in the first phase.Sharing the information,Punjab Health and FamilyWelfare Minister Balbir SinghSidhu on Monday said that thepolicy level decisions will betaken to identify other benefi-ciary groups, above 60 years,with comorbidities etc.

Sidhu said that a State-levelsteering committee in Punjabhas been supervising the activ-ities regarding compilation anddata uploading on digital plat-

forms for Covid-19 vaccine.The Central Government hasasked the States and UTs to cre-ate a database of healthcareworkers and submit it to theMinistry.

“Anticipating that Covid-19 vaccine may soon be avail-able, the Centre is preparing forits introduction in the countryso that it can be expeditiouslyrolled out when available,” hesaid adding that a training hasbeen imparted to more than450 participants of the HealthDepartment regarding datafilling, necessary format saving,compilation, and data upload-ing on digital platforms.

Professional bodies of doc-tors like IMA, NEEMA, IDA

are also asked to share the datain the prescribed format.Guidelines and necessary tem-plate for data filling have alsobeen issued to all districts.

He said that the task ofidentifying frontline workers,recalibration of digital plat-form, logistics of non-vaccinesupplies, cold chain augmen-tation are being carried out asper the detailed implementa-tion plan of COVID-19 vacci-nation drive.

A meeting with the UnionMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare was held in this regard.

The Cabinet Minister saidthat data will be filled byHealth Facility in-charges inprescribed format and submit

to District Civil Surgeon office.Subsequently, it will beuploaded on COVID-19Vaccine BeneficiaryManagement System (CVBMS)for individualized tracking ofall beneficiaries receivingCOVID-19 vaccine.

He clarified that only thehealthcare worker, not theirfamily’s details, is to be sub-mitted for vaccination underthe first phase. The eVIN net-work which can track the lat-est vaccine stock position, tem-perature at the storage facility,geo-tag health centres andmaintain facility-level dash-board is being repurposed forthe delivery of COVID vaccine.

The facility in-charges of

both government and privatefacilities in the district will beresponsible for collecting thedata of the HCWs in theirrespective facilities.

All Medical Colleges, SuperSpecialty hospitals, Hospitals(at all levels), CommunityHealth Centres, PrimaryHealth Centres, Urban PrimaryHealth Centres, Health andWellness centres, CancerInstitutes and hospitals, TBhospitals and clinics, dispen-saries etc as well as CorporateHospitals, Private MedicalColleges, Nursing Homes,Clinics /Day OPDs, Polyclinics,NGO facilities, etc would becovered for vaccination, headded.

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Condemning Punjab VidhanSabha’s former Deputy

Speaker Bir Devinder Singh’sattack on the State GovernorVP Singh Badnore, the ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh on Monday said thatsuch denigration of theConstitutional gubernatorialoffice was totally unwarrantedand uncalled for.

Given the Covid-19 situa-tion and need for precautions,especially social or physicaldistancing, the Governor’sbehaviour was not only appro-priate but exemplary, said theChief Minister, reacting to BirDevinder’s criticism of theGovernor for not allowing vis-itors to enter the Raj Bhavanpremises.

Every person is required tofollow the Covid-19 protocolsstrictly, Capt Amarinder point-ed out, terming the formerDeputy Speaker’s remarks asunfortunate and unbecomingof a senior politician like him.

Responding sharply to BirDevinder’s comment on par-liamentarians and other visitors‘not being treated with digni-

ty and respect by the Governorsince the COVID-19 outbreak’,the Chief Minister said that thestatement showed lack of matu-rity and understanding of thesituation by the SAD(Democratic) leader.

“Bir Devinder has himselfheld a Constitutional positionas Deputy Speaker in theVidhan Sabha, which shouldhave taught him to respect theGovernor’s office even more,”said Capt Amarinder, addingthat any lack of respect wasbeing shown not by theGovernor but by Bir Devinder.

On Bir Devinder’s remarksregarding the meeting of allPunjab Ministers and MLAs

(except those of BJP) with theGovernor on October 22, theChief Minister said that neitherhe nor any of the legislators hadfound any reason to complainon the way the meeting wasconducted. “In fact, we have allappreciated the Governor’swillingness to meet them atsuch short notice to accept ourmemorandum and copy of theresolution passed in theAssembly against the farmlaws,” he added.

“The reason for BirDevinder’s unhappiness overthe same is not only inexplic-able but indicates his despera-tion to hog the media limelightin any manner whatsoever,”said Capt Amarinder.

The Chief Minister point-ed out that the Governor hasalways been patient and avail-able to hear out all legislatorsand ministers, and has beenmeeting them even duringthese scary times.

Instead of appreciatingthat, Bir Devinder was exploit-ing the prevailing situation toscore political brownie points,he said, terming the formerdeputy Speaker’s comments asregrettable.

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To commemorate the com-pletion of one year of the

State Government, HaryanaChief Minister Manohar LalKhattar will attend a state-level function in Hisar onTuesday.

The State Government hasdecided to organise functionsin all districts of state exceptSonepat on October 27, said anofficial spokesman.

During the programme atHisar, the Chief Minister andall other dignitaries will addressthe people through video con-ferencing.

He said that apart fromspeeches, highlighting theachievements of the govern-ment, laying of foundationstones, inauguration of variousprojects will be carried at thedistrict level. The DeputyCommissioners of all the dis-tricts except Sonepat have beendirected to make properarrangements for the laying of

foundation stones and inaugu-rations in their respective dis-tricts.

The spokesman said thatVidhan Sabha Speaker GianChand Gupta will join theprogramme from Panchkula,Health Minister Anil Vij fromAmbala, Education MinisterKanwar Pal fromYamunanagar, MP KurukshetraNayab Singh Saini fromKurukshetra, MP Karnal SanjayBhatia from Karnal and SportsMinister Sandeep Singh willjoin from Panipat.

He said that MP SonepatRamesh Kaushik will join fromJind, MP Rohtak ArvindSharma from Rohtak, MP,Rattan Lal Kataria from Jhajjar,Power Minister, Ranjit Singhfrom Sirsa, AgricultureMinister, MP Bhiwani DharamVir from Charkhi Dadri,Minister of State OP Yadavfrom Narnaul, CooperationMinister Dr. Banwari Lal fromRewari, MLA Deepak Manglafrom Nuh.

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Senior IAS officer VUmashankar has been

appointed as PrincipalSecretary to Haryana ChiefMinister on Monday.

V Umashankar takes overfrom Rajesh Khullar. AmitAggarwal will join the ChiefMinister’s office as DeputyPrincipal Secretary.

The State Government hasissued transfer and postingorders of 34 IAS and two HCSofficers with immediate effect,said an official spokesman.

V Umashankar, additional

Principal Secretary to ChiefMinister, Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Haryana Kisan KalyanPradhikaran, PrincipalSecretary, Citizen ResourcesInformation Department andInformation Technology,Electronics andCommunication Departmentshas been posted as, PrincipalSecretary to Chief Minister,Principal Secretary, CitizenResources InformationDepartment and InformationTechnology, Electronics andCommunication Department,the spokesperson said.

Amit Kumar Aggarwal,

Director General, Urban LocalBodies Department andSecretary, Haryana UrbanLocal Bodies department andMission Director, State UrbanLivelihood Mission and StateUrban Development Authority,Haryana has been posted asDeputy Principal Secretary toChief Minister, Haryana, headded.

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Ten more people succumbedto COVID-19 in Haryana

on Monday, taking the State’sdeath toll to 1737, while 1153fresh cases took the infectiontally to 1,59,457, according tothe Health department’s dailybulletin.

Of the latest fatalities, threewere reported from Gurugram; two from Hisarand Fatehabad; one each fromSirsa, Panchkula andFaridabad, the bulletin said.

A total of 1284 COVID-19patients got cured and releasedfrom different hospitals afterrecovery, taking total accountto 1, 47,566.

Among the districts whichreported a big spike in cases areGurugram (346), Faridabad(198), Hisar (116), Rewari (72),Rohtak (56) and Sonepat (47).

Currently, there are 10,154active Covid-19 cases inHaryana. The state has a recov-ery rate of 92.54 per cent, thebulletin said.

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Punjab on Monday regis-tered a noticeable dip in the

novel Coronavirus cases with336 fresh cases in the past 24hours, taking the state’s Covid-19 infection tally to 1,31,391.

The State also reportedeight casualties — one eachfrom Amritsar, Hoshiarpur,Bathinda, Jalandhar,Kapurthala, Ludhiana, SASNagar (Mohali), and Muktsar— pushing the State’s death tollto 4,125 with the mortality ratecontinuing to stand at 3.14 per-cent.

Among the fresh cases,Jalandhar reported the maxi-mum 58 cases, followed by 55in Mohali, 31 in Kapurthala, 28in Bathinda, 24 in Ludhiana, 16each in Gurdaspur andHoshiaprur, 14 each in Faridkotand Muktsar, 13 in Pathankot,10 each in Mansa andFerozepur, eight each inAmritsar and Nawanshahr,seven each in Tarn Taran andRopar, six in Fazilka, five inPatiala, four in Fatehgarh Sahiband two in Sangrur.

As per the media bulletin,the total number of COVID-19recoveries in Punjab hasincreased to 1,23,047 after 326new recoveries were reportedfrom the State on Monday.The recovery rate has reached93.65 per cent.

The state now has 4219active cases — accounting for3.21 per cent of the State’stotal positive cases. Of these, 98patients are on oxygen supportwhile 19 are critical and onventilator support.

No laser show atChandigarh’s Sukhna Lake onDiwali

There will be no laser showat Chandigarh’s prominenttourist spot-Sukhna Lake dur-ing this year’s Diwali to preventlarge gatherings amid theCovid-19 pandemic.

However, lighting in mar-kets and iconic buildings in thecity will be done. This wasdecided at a Covid-19 reviewmeeting presided over byPunjab Governor and UTAdministrator VP SinghBadnore.

The Administrator direct-ed Principal Secretary Healthto ensure that specialists areposted in various satellite hos-pitals in different sectors onfixed days, so that the patients

can avail the facility of specialistconsultation locally, instead ofcrowding the hospitals inSector 16, 32 and PGIMER.

He also directed PGIMERto have the facility for tele-con-sultation over video, so that thepatients could consult the spe-cialists over video instead ofcrowding the OPDs.

The Administrator alsoasked the PGIMER authoritiesto expedite opening of OPDs,since the situation was return-ing to normal gradually.

Badnore thanked PrimeMinister Narendra Modi forsanctioning oxygen plants toprovide piped supply to allhospital beds in the city.

The city has reported fourCOVID-19 fatalities and 47fresh positive cases on Monday.

The death toll reached 222

and the total case tally stood at14085 in the city, statedChandigarh HealthDepartment’s evening bulletin.

There were 633 active casestill the evening. 63 patientshave recovered in the past 24hours taking the total numberof recoveries to 13230. Among47 fresh cases, 29 were malesand 18 were females.

Till now, 101778 sampleshave been tested in the city. 559tests were conducted in the last24 hours and the result of 121was awaited, the bulletin stat-ed.

PGIMER Director JagatRam said 87 COVID patientswere presently admitted in thehospital -- including 16 fromChandigarh, 41 from Punjab,14 from Haryana and eightfrom Himachal Pradesh.

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The Centre and the BJP onMonday hit out at Congress

chief Sonia Gandhi for her crit-icism of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in an article.

While Union Informationand Broadcasting MinisterPrakash Javadekar said thather angst stemmed from thefact that the people chose a“poor, yet strong and fearless”leader as the Prime Ministerinstead of her son RahulGandhi, BJP president JPNadda said the more the oppo-sition party and its leaders“lie” and “hate” Modi, the morepeople will support him.

Javadekar lashed out at theCongress president for herclaim that democracy is being“hollowed out” in India. TheUnion Minister lamented thatSonia expressed support for theanti-CAA protests at ShaheenBagh despite the Supreme

Court’s verdict in this regard.Lauding the Centre’s han-

dling of the Shaheen Baghprotests, he reminded her ofhow the police during the UPAtenure had fired tear gas shellsand resorted to lathi charge onBaba Ramdev and his sup-porters in 2011 to end his faston the black money issue.

For his part, Nadda tweet-ed: “Combination of despon-dency and shamelessness isdangerous. Congress possess-es both. Empty rhetoric ofdecency and democracy bythe Mother (Sonia Gandhi) is‘complemented’ by live demon-strations of politics of hate,anger, lies and aggression by theSon (Rahul Gandhi). Doublestandards galore.”

Congress’s chiefspokesman Randeep Surjewalaresponded to Nadda askinghim not to divert and get back

to debate on real issues likeunemployment, price rise,internal and external aggres-sion concerning the nationever since Modi regime is inpower.

In a multi-pronged attackon the Narendra Modi-ledgovernment, Sonia claimedthat democracy is at crossroadswith its system under assault inIndia. Sonia slammed Prime

Minister saying, “That theeconomy is in deep crisis isclear. But what is less appreci-ated is that all the pillars of ademocratic system of gover-nance are under assault.”

She alleged that dissent isbeing deliberately stifled asterrorism and added, “Thefundamental right to freedomof expression has been sys-tematically suspended through

suppression and intimidation.Dissent is deliberately stifled as“terrorism” or branded as an“anti-national activity”. Manyinstitutions that are meant touphold the rights of citizensand society at large have beenco-opted or subverted.”

“The Indian State nowdiverts attention from realproblems of the people by pro-nouncing bogus threats to

“national security” every-where.” Saying that some ofthese threats are real and haveto be dealt with uncompro-misingly, Sonia added, “butthe Narendra Modi govern-ment and the ruling BJP con-jure up sinister conspiraciesbehind every political protest,indeed behind any and every-thing they see as opposition tothem.” “India’s hard-won

democracy is being hollowedout,” Sonia Gandhi wrote.

Recalling the emergencythe BJP chief said the Congresscan never pontificate on thefreedom of speech, claimingthat they have had contemptfor dissenting voices fordecades. “We saw glimpses ofit during the Emergency. Lateron, the Rajiv Gandhi govern-ment made a brazen attempt to

weaken press freedom. A freePress rattles Congress,” healleged.

Dubbing the Congress“blessed” Maharashtra gov-ernment as a “laboratory ofusage of brute state power”,Nadda said troubling oppo-nents and curbing freedom ofspeech in “trademark Congressstyle” are visible in the workingof the State Government.

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Condemning what he called“Rahul Gandhi-directed

drama” of burning PrimeMinister’s effigy in Punjab as“shameful”, BJP president J PNadda on Monday said the actwas “not unexpected” as theNehru-Gandhi dynasty has“never respected the office ofthe PM” during UPA regime.

“Combination of despon-dency and shamelessness isdangerous. Congress possess-

es both. Empty rhetoric ofdecency and democracy by theMother is ‘complemented’ bylive demonstrations of politicsof hate, anger, lies and aggres-sion by the Son. Double stan-dards galore!”, Nadda tweetedreferring to Congress agitationin Punjab.

He said Congress wasknown to show disrespect tothe office of Prime Minister.BJP president was indirectlyreferring to the tenure ofManmohan Singh as Prime

Minister.“The Rahul Gandhi-

directed drama of burningPM’s effigy in Punjab isshameful but not unexpected.After all, the Nehru-Gandhidynasty has NEVER respect-ed the office of the PM. Thiswas seen in the institutionalweakening of the PM’s author-ity during the UPA years of2004-2014”, said Nadda.

“If there is one partywhose conduct reeks of dis-gust, it is Congress. Atrocities

against SC/ST communitiesare at an all time high inRajasthan, women are unsafein Rajasthan as well as Punjab,and their Punjab Ministers arecommitting scholarshipsscams”, he alleged in histweets.

The BJP president saidCongress can never pontificateto others on freedom ofspeech.

“They have contempt fordissenting voices for decades.We saw glimpses of it during

the Emergency. Later on, theRajiv Gandhi Governmentmade a brazen attempt toweaken press freedom. A freepress rattles Congress”, saidNadda who also gave a refer-ence of governance inMaharashtra.

“If anyone wants to see alaboratory of usage of brutestate power, troubling oppo-nents, curbing freedom ofspeech in trademark Congressstyle, see the working of theCongress blessed Maharashtra

Government. Except govern-ing, they are doing every-thing else” he said.

“One dynasty’s deep per-sonal hatred against a personwho was born in poverty andbecame PM is historic.Equally historic is the lovepeople of India have show-ered upon PM NarendraModi Ji. More Congress’ liesand hate increases, the morepeople will support PMModi!”, Nadda claimed in histweets.

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Peeved over a ‘delayed’ workculture at the Centre’s road

making agency NHAI, UnionMinister Nitin Gadkari onMonday said it was time toshow the exit door to ‘non-per-forming assets’ complicatingand delaying projects by creat-ing obstacles.

The National HighwaysAuthority of India (NHAI) hasbecome a breeding ground forinefficient officials who arecreating hurdles and referringevery matter to committeesand it was time to ‘suspend’ and‘terminate’ them and bring inreforms in its functioning, saidthe the Road Transport,Highways Minister whileaddressing a virtual gatheringduring the inauguration ofNHAI building at Dwarkawhich took about nine years tocomplete.

“Non-performing assets(NPAs) not worth of doingeven vermiculture are pre-served here and being pro-moted... I feel ashamed at theattitude of such officials whoare carrying such legacies. Theyare delaying decisions and cre-ating complications and at thehelm, these are CGMs (ChiefGeneral Managers) and GMs(General Managers) sitting foryears,” Gadkari said whileexpressing his unhappinessover the delay in constructionof NHAI building.

He said the building pro-ject for which tender wasawarded in 2011, took almostnine years to complete and sawseven NHAI chairmen andtwo governments. “Finally itcould be completed during thetenure of the eighth Chairman(SS Sandhu) ...A research paper

should be prepared on this clas-sic case of delay with pho-tographs of CGMs and GMswho were behind thedelays...There should be a cer-emony to make their namesand photos public like theministry does to facilitate thosewho do exceptionally goodwork,” the minister said.

Gadkari said he has beenemphasising on widespreadreforms in NHAI but of noavail and said when mam-moth work for Rs 1 lakh croreDelhi-Mumbai Expressway isplanned to be executed withinthree years, how could a singlebuilding take about ten years incompletion.

“I feel ashamed...I hadpersonally conducted three-four meetings for it...I havebeen insist ing onreforms...Now as the traditionis, records will be prepared toblame the contractors alone,”the minister said and warnedofficials to mend their ways.

The Minister wondered asto why the Authority was notable to retain engineers fromIITs and other institutes andwhy those “who were noteven fit to work for states werebeing promoted and their“wrong decisions” were costing the exchequer heavi-ly.

Warning the officials tochange their work pattern,Gadkari said he would per-

sonally oversee termination,suspension and removal ofguilty officials. Gadkari hasbeen stressing on the need toexpedite decision-making byNHAI and ministry officialswhile cautioning that non-performers would be givencompulsory retirement.

The minister had earlierthis year said that he hadsought a list of non-perform-ing officials for showing theexit door. He had warned“non-performing” officials or“dead assets” who neithertake decisions nor allow oth-ers to work of showing exitdoor while saying that red-tapism will not be tolerated.

NHAI’s new building hasbeen constructed over a 6,086square meter plot in Dwarkaarea, adjacent to NHAI’s exist-ing office complex. It hasground plus seven stories,with two levels of basement.NHAI plans to shift around400 of its employees to thenew bui lding, which isequipped with latest buildingmanagement system, com-puter automation and state-of-the-art faci l it ies forenhanced work performance.

NHAI has been mandat-ed the task to develop, main-tain and manage NationalHighways, the arterial roadsof the country, for inter-statemovement of passengers andgoods.

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Without parrying a singlequestion out of the 100-

odd ones put to him by the2002 Gujarat riots SIT,Narendra Modi as the thenGujarat chief minister “kept hiscool” throughout the marathon9-hour questioning and did notaccept even a cup of tea frominvestigators, the probe team’schief at that time R K Raghavanhas said in a new book.

Modi had also readilyagreed to come to the SIT officein Gandhinagarfor the ques-tioning and brought his ownbottle of water, Raghavan haswritten in his autobiography, ‘ARoad Well Travelled’.

Before being asked to headthe Supreme Court-appointedSIT that probed the 2002Gujarat riots, Raghavan hadalso served as head of premierprobe agency CBI. He was alsoinvolved in several other high-profile investigations overyears, including those relatingto the Boforsscam, the 2000South Africa cricket-match fix-ing case and the fodder scam.

Talking about the time theSIT had called Modi for ques-tioningas the then Gujarat chiefminister, Raghavan writes inthe book, “We had it con-veyed to his staff that he had tocome in person to the SIToffice for this purpose and that meeting him elsewhere wouldbe misconstrued as a favour.”

“He (Modi) understoodthe spirit of our stand and read-ily agreed to come to the SIToffice within the Government complex inGandhinagar,”Raghvan said.

The former police offer

further said he took the“unusual step”of asking AshokMalhotra, an SIT member, todo the questioning, mainlytoavoid any “mischievous allega-tion” later that Modi and hehad struck a deal.

“This stand was endorsedmonths later by no less a per-son thanamicus curiae HarishSalve. He told me that mypresence would have vitiatedModi’s statement and wouldhave robbed it of its credibili-ty,”

Raghavan said, adding thathe had never consulted Salveprior to the event. It was mypersonal decision flowing fromsheer intuition, said the retiredIPS officer of Tamil Naducadre, who was also appointedas High Commissioner toCyprus in 2017.

“Modi’s questioning lastednine hours in my own cham-ber at the SIT office. Malhotratold me later that Modi kept hiscool right through themarathon session which endedlate at night,” Raghavan said.

“He (Modi) never parriedquestions. Nor did he give theimpression of padding up hisresponses. When Malhotraasked him whether he wouldlike to break for lunch, he initially turned down the offer.He brought his own bottle ofwater and did not accept evena cup of tea from the SIT dur-ing the marathon questioningcomprising a hundred- oddquestions,” he said.

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The number of paddy cropresidue burning incidents

surged to 18,127 this year ascompared to 11,780 in 2019 and11,440 in 2018 raising fears ofthe air quality deteriorating fur-ther in northern India from the“very poor” levels recorded inrecent days. The number ofcases rose from 1,191 onOctober 24 to 1,884, highest thisseason so far on October 25 asper the satellite thermal imagingdata from United States’sNational Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration (NASA). Thehighest number of farm fireswere spotted in Punjab (1,515),followed by Haryana (188),Madhya Pradesh (125) andUttar Pradesh (55) on October25.Besides Punjab, Haryana andUttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradeshis also contributing in paddycrop residue burning that led todeteriorate air quality in north-ern India. Between October 10and 25, as many as 975 incidentswere spotted in MadhyaPradesh. According to officials,the farm fires in MadhyaPradesh are mainly scattered.

The officials of the agricul-ture ministry expect more ofsuch fires as about less than 50

percent of harvesting is done butanother half is left. The situationwill further worse in the next 15days. Farm fires in these fourstates have surged, raising fearsof the air quality in northernIndia including Delhi deterio-rating further from the “verypoor” levels recorded in recentdays.

NASA’s images have spotted18127 incidents in four states-Punjab, Haryana, MadhyaPradesh and Uttar Pradeshbetween October 1 and 25 thisyear. Ferozpur Ambala, Mathurahas the highest number of farmfires on Sunday.

The farm fires rose to 14,232in Punjab, 2218 in Haryanaand 702 in Uttar Pradesh dur-ing the same period.

Punjab has spotted highestnumber of stubble burning thisyear than in 2019 while InHaryana and UP, the cumulativenumber of farm fires are lowerthis year. The farm fires this yearin Punjab is highest as comparedto 7,572 in 2019 and 6801 in2018.The number of farm firesrose from around 921 onSaturday to 1,515 on Sunday inPunjab. According to satellitedata, 1267 farm fires weredetected on October 23 as com-pared to 1343 on October 22.

With 2579 stubble burning

cases, Tarn Taran is on top in thelist in Punjab, followed byAmritsar of 1407; Ferozepur1361; Patiala 1180; Gurdaspur1090 and Kapurthala 677. InHaryana, farm fires have beenspotted 406 in Karnal, 382 inKurukshetra, 342 in Kaithal and265 in Ambala.

Madhya Pradesh reported125 on October 25. 123 onOctober 24; 156 on October 23;157 on October 22 and 88 onOctober 21. Between October 10and 25, as many as 975 incidentswere spotted in the state.

Meanwhile, air pollutionlevels remained high on Mondayin entire northwest India.Baghpat, Panipat, Ghaziabad,Ballabgarh, Faridabad, etcremained in the “very poor” cat-egory. This is mainly due to areduction in wind speed acrossthe northwest region. “Windspeed has reduced in the entirenorth-western region and stub-ble burning has also increased.Moisture levels are rising in themorning hours leading to fur-ther accumulation of pollutantsand a shallow fog like situation.

As per data till October 20,the Haryana government hasissued 252 challans and imposedRs 6.50 lakh fine on farmers of11 districts for burning cropresidue so far.

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Contrary to the convention-al belief, the faultline in

Ladakh region, where the Indiaand Asian Plates are joined, hasbeen found to be tectonicallyactive, suggesting that the rocksalong the fault zones are veryweak and fragile.

So, in terms of landslidesdue to rainfall, it has muchmore implications, said Indianscientists in a study publishedin the journal ‘Technophysics’.Earlier, the suture zone wasconventionally thought to belocked.

India and Asian Platesare joined at the suture zoneof the Himalayas or the IndusSuture Zone (ISZ) in theLadakh region.

The findings could havemajor implications in terms ofearthquake study, prediction,understanding the seismicstructure of the mountainchains well as its evolution.The Scientists from WadiaInstitute of HimalayanGeology (WIHG), Dehradun,an autonomous instituteunder the Department ofScience and Technology,found through observationsand detail mapping of geo-

logical features that the suturezone of Himalaya that wasconventionally thought to belocked is tectonically active.

The Indus-Tsangpo suturezone marks the limit of theIndian plate where it collidedwith the Asian plate.

“Since we have shown thatfault in this area (Ladakh) isalso active, the rocks along thefault zones are very weak andfragile. So, in terms of land-slides it has much more impli-cations. Seismically, this areais also active, but the activityis very low to moderate.

“If there is any major rain-fall event along the Indusriver fault, it is more prone tolandslides,” said Koushik Sen,one of the co-authors of thepaper.

The geologists observedthat sedimentary beds are tilt-ed and thrust broken, therivers are associated withuplifted terraces, and thebedrock shows brittle defor-

mation that occurred at muchshallower depths.

These deformed geologi-cal features were then dated inthe laboratory at Dehradunusing a technique calledOptical ly StimulatedLuminescence (OSL) (methodfor carrying luminescencedating of geological sedi-ments)and data of seismicityand denudation rate wasreviewed.

The combination of fieldand lab data suggested theregion of the Indus SutureZone (ISZ) has been neo-tec-tonically active since the last78,000-58,000 years and arecent earthquake in 2010 oflow magnitude 4.0 near thevillage of Upshi occurred dueto a thrust rupture.

Himalaya were known tobe made up of north dippingthrusts like the Main CentralThrust (MCT), the MainBoundary Thrust (MBT), andthe Main Frontal Thrust(MFT).

As per the establishedmodels, all of these thrustsexcept MFT are locked, andoverall deformation in theHimalayas is being accom-modated only along with theMFT.

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Three regional AIIMS havetaken up the translational

trial for using CordycepsCapsules for treatment inCOVID-19 and the efforts andtrials are going on for prepar-ing it as a preventive and cura-tive medicine for Corona.

The first trial has alreadystarted in AIIMS Bhopal,AIIMS Nagpur and MGMMedical College, Navi Mumbaiand its result is likely to beknown by the end of this year.

U t t a r a k h a n d - b a s e dAmbrosia Food Farm has ini-tiated the translational trialusing Cordyceps capsules inCOVID-19 patients. “The finalresult of the trial will be avail-able by December. Cordycepsimmunity booster capsules arefood supplement capsules.Cordyceps is a herb withimmunological and anti-viral

properties and tne capsule hasno side effects. Services offarmers are being taken forgrowing medicinal mushroomsand it has great potential foremployment opportunitiesalso,” said GourvendraGangwar, Managing Directorof the Ambrosia Food Farm atNainital.

Research andDevelopment were initiated bythe Department ofPharmaceutical Sciences andDrug Research, PunjabiUniversity, Patiala. Maj. Gen.(Dr) Vibha Dutta, SM(Director and CEO, AIIMSNagpur) and Prof. SarmanSingh (Director and CEO,AIIMS Bhopal), both labora-tory physicians, are workingclosely with Prof. Dr. SankalpDwivedi (Dean and DirectorSSIMS, Bhilai), who serves asthe Chief Medical Advisor forthe trial.

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The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on Monday

arrested fugitive Rabins K.Hameed, 42, in connectionwith the Kerala GoldSmuggling Case following hisarrival at Kochi InternationalAirport from Dubai, UnitedArab Emirates.

The case relates to theseizure of 30 Kg gold worthRs14.82 crores on July 5, 2020at Air Cargo of TrivandrumInternational Airport byCustoms (Preventive)Commissionerate, Cochin,

from the diplomatic baggage.“Investigation in the case

has revealed that RabinsHameed while being in UAEand India had conspired withthe arrested accused Ramees K.T., Jalal A. M. and othersbesides arranged funds andpurchased gold at Dubai, forsmuggling to India, throughdiplomatic baggage,” the NIAsaid in a statement.

Earlier, the NIA SpecialCourt at Ernakulam had issueda non-bailable warrant of arrestagainst the fugitive RabinsHameed, a key accused in thecase.

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The Supreme Court onMonday stayed the con-

tempt proceedings initiatedagainst Union Minister RameshPokhriyal for alleged non-com-pliance of the Uttarakhand HighCourt’s last yearorder on pay-ment of rent by former ChiefMinisters of the state for occu-pying Government accommo-dation.

A bench headed by Justice RF Nariman stayed the contemptproceedings on a plea filed by theUnion minister of Education.

The Uttarakhand HighCourt had on May 3 last yearordered the former ChiefMinisters of the state to pay mar-ket rent for the entire period theycontinued to occupyGovernment accommodationsince demitting office.

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ALIGARH: Muqaddama Tareekh-e-Zaban-e-Urdu is a landmark academicwork on the origin and historical devel-opment of Urdu language and ProfessorMasood Husain Khan's theory is con-sidered in academic circles as one of themost consistent work on the origin anddevelopment of Urdu, with plausiblearguments”, said Prof Mirza Khalil ABeg, former Chairman, Department ofLinguistics (AMU), while delivering aweb talk on “Masood Husain Khan'sContribution to Urdu Language andLinguistics”.

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Bollywood actress KanganaRanaut on Monday

unleashed a fresh war of wordsagainst Maharashtra ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackerayover the latter’s criticism of herat his Dussehra rally, by dubbinghim as a “petty person” “worstproduct of nepotism”, accusinghim of indulging in “open bul-lying” and saying that her homestate of Himachal Pradesh wasthe land of “Gods” and “notGanja fields”.

A day after Uddhavslammed her for much-dis-cussed comment likeningMumbai to Pak-OccupiedKashmir (POK) and efforts todefame Mumbai police,Mumhai and Maharashtra,Kangana took to twitter to hitback at the chief minister in anunbecoming and nasty manner.

“You should be ashamed ofyourself chief minister, being apublic servant you are indulgingin petty fights, using your powerto insult, damage and humiliatepeople who don’t agree withyou, you don’t deserve the chairyou have acquired by playingdirty politics . SHAME,”Kangana said in one of the sev-eral tweets put out during theday.

Alluding to Uddhav’s com-ment that people without any-thing to fall back upon in theirhomes come to Mumbai to ekea living but speak indulge in actsof “namak haram” (betrayal)against Mumbai andMaharashtra, Kangana tweeted:“Raut called me Haramkhornow Uddhav called me namakharam, he is claiming I won’t getfood in my state if Mumbai doesnot give me shelter, shame onyou I am your son’s age this ishow you speak to a self madesingle woman, Chief Ministeryou are the worse product of

nepotism”.“Look at the audacity of a

working CM he is dividing thecountry who has made himMaharashtra ka thekedaar? Heis just a public servant, there wassomeone else before him, soonhe will be out, someone else willcome to serve the state, why ishe behaving like he ownsMaharashtra?,” Kangana asked.

Among other things,Uddhav had hit out indirectly atKangana, who had “maligned”Mumbai police, Maharashtra,the state government andThackeray family over the inves-tigations into the death of actorSushant Singh Rajput. “EvenAditya Thackeray wasdefamed... Those crying forjustice for Bihar''s son indulgedin character assassination ofMaharashtra''s son,” the Senachief said in his rally.

Responding to Kangana’scomment likening Mumbai toPOK, Uddhav had sa8id: “Ifsomeone thinks or says thatMumbai is POK, it reflects thefailure 0f Prime MinisterNarendra Modi”.

In reference to Uddhav’scomment that Ganja and cha-ras comes from HimachalPradesh, a state she comes from,Kangana tweeted: “ChiefMinister you are a very pettyperson, Himachal is called DevBhumi it has the maximumnumber of temples also no zerocrime rate, yes it has a very fer-tile land it grows apples, kiwis,pomegranate, strawberries onecan grow anything here”.

“Chief Minister I am notdrunk on my father’s power andwealth like you, if I wanted to bea nepotism product I could havestayed back in Himachal, I hailfrom a renowned family, I did-n’t want to live off on theirwealth and favours, some peo-ple have self respect and selfworth,” Kangana tweeted.

Aligarh: The Chief MedicalOfficer has written a letter tothe Superintendent to investi-gate the cause of death of thepatient at the gate of MalkhanSingh District Hospital. At the same time, he hasrequested additional arrange-ments in the ward to preventdengue.

Chief Medical Officer Dr.BP Singh Kalyani inspected theMalkhan Singh DistrictHospital. A patient namedRajendra Singh, 45, a residentof Dubey Padao, died at theemergency gate of the districthospital due to not given time-ly treatment.

He was sick for severaldays. CMO sought informationfrom health workers in thisregard. PNS

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As soon as the school opens, therisk of corona infection in stu-

dents is also increased.In Pandit Deen Dayal Inter

College, 4 students have been foundinfected, now the EducationDepartment is worried.

DIOS in-charge Ravindra Kumarsaid that an order has been issued toclose the school till further notice withimmediate effect and has also madearrangements of corona test for stu-dents and teachers who came in con-tact with the infected.

All four students are of Class 9th.Samples of all students were taken on21 October.

On that day, 25-30 studentswere present in the class. All these stu-dents will also be examined by theHealth Department.

Aligarh: Noida and Aligarhpolice busted a gang sellingvehicles on fake papers that werebought on finance. In this case,police station sector 24 and theanti-auto theft team arrested 8accused from sector 32. Theyhave recovered fake papers, 5trucks, canters and fake numberengraving equipment. The net-work of this gang is spread inmany states. Police are search-ing for 4 absconding membersof this gang.

ACP Rajesh Verma, thenodal officer of the Noida zone'santi-theft and anti-auto theft,said that Shakil, a resident ofMussoorie Ghaziabad,Shahnawaz, a resident of SanjayNagar Ghaziabad, Ziaul Haqand Sagar Chaudhary, residentsof Baghpat, Wasim Rana,Harun, resident of TappalAligarh, Indrapal and GreaterNoida based Harish ChandraNaagar has been arrested. Policerecovered an Eicher canter, 2trucks of 14-wheel, 1 truck of12-wheel, engine and chassisnumber engraving equipment,fake papers of vehicles, fakenumber plate from them. PNS

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Maharashtra’s deputy chiefminister Ajit Pawar got

himself admitted to Mumbai’sBreach Candy Hospital onMonday, after he tested positivefor Covid-19.

In a development that cametwo days after the leader of theOpposition in the StateAssembly Devendra Fadnavis ofthe BJP tested positive forCornavirus, Ajitdada – as AjitPawar is known in the statepolitical circles – announcedthrough a tweet that he had test-ed positive for Covid-19.

“I have tested positive forCoronavirus. I am doing well.As a health precautionary mea-sure, I have got myself admittedto Breach Candy Hospital,”Ajitdada tweeted.

“My appeal to citizens, NCPworkers leaders, office bearersand workers is that there is noneed for you to get worried. Myhealth is good. After some rest,I will resume work,” he added.

Sixty-one-year-old Pawar

had not beenkeeping well. Afterhis tour of flood-affected areas ofSolapur and Punedistricts last week,he had developedfever. OnThursday, the senior NCPleader had tested negative forcoronavirus but was in homequarantine as a precautionarymeasure.

After he skipped the func-tion organised by the NCP atthe party headquarters in southMumbai on Friday last to wel-come ex-BJP Ajit Pawar, partychief Sharad Pawar had said: “IfAjit Pawar he is absent today, itis because of Covid-19 precau-tions he is taking. We haveasked party leaders and work-ers to take adequate precau-tions”

Monday’s developmentcomes close on the heels ofFadnavis and Reserve Bank ofIndia Governor ShaktikantaDas testing positive for Covid-19. While Fadnavis had himself

admitted to the State-run St George’s Hospitalon Saturday, Das wentinto gone into isola-tion after his reportcame positive onSunday.

Ajitdada hasbecome the 15th minister in theUddhav Thackeray Cabinet tohave tested positive forCoronavirus.

Earlier, ministers likeVarsha Gaikwad (SchoolEducation), Eknath Shinde(Urban Development), BacchuKadu (MoS, School Education),Nitin Raut (Energy), HasanMushrif (Rural Development),Jitendra Awhad (Housing),Ashok Chavan (Public Works),Dhananjay Munde (SocialJustice), Sunil Kedar (AnimalHusbandry), Balasaheb Patil(Cooperation), Aslam Shaikh(Ports, Textile), Abdul Sattar(MoS, Rural Development),Sanjay Bansode (MoS,Environment) and VishwajeetKadam (MoS for Cooperation)had tested positive for Covid-19.

KOCHI: The CPI(M)-led LeftDemocratic Front in Keralasuffered a jolt on Monday as thewife of one of the kingpins inthe gold smuggling scam bust-ed by the Customs atThiruvananthapuram airportreportedly told the agency thatthe stuff was being smuggledfor Karat Razack, an MLA sup-porting the front and his rela-tion Karat Faizal, a municipalcouncilor in KoduvalliMunicipality.

Soumya, wife of SandeepNair, one of the key accused inNIA custody told Customs offi-cials that she knew her hus-band and another accused K TRamees were smuggling goldfor the Karat cousins.According to sources inCustoms, the sleuths couldidentify the prime accusedSwapna Suresh and Rameezbased on the statement bySoumya.

Faisal, a business baronwith interests in jewelry tradewas in the news earlier becauseof his close connection withKodiyeri Balakrishnan, theCPI(M) strongman in Kerala.

Balakrishnan had used the highend car owned by Faisal for his2016 Kerala Yatra. Faisal was anaccused in gold smuggling casesat that time and the incidenthad embarrassed the partycadre.

Razack said he has no inter-ests in gold business and deniedany role in gold smuggling. “Ifthe case is in the right direction,I will not be called for interro-gation as I have no role in it. Butif there is any conspiracy, I willalso be called for questioning,”he said.

Though the Customs hadtaken Faizal into custody lastmonth, he was let of after ques-tioning. Razack was a memberof the Muslim League till 2016and had contested against theofficial League candidate as anLDF supported independent.

The CPI(M) was in foranother dilemma when theRSS mouthpiece Janmabhumihad carried the WhatsApp chatbetween M Sivsankar, the for-mer principal secretary to ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan, andVenugopal Iyer, a charteredaccountant. PNS

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KOCHI: Closely behind the campaign inKerala by the Christian Association andAlliance for Social Action (CASA) exhortingthe people of Indian origin in the US to votefor Donald Trump in the November 3 presi-dential election, a devout Hindu became acynosure of all eyes in Thiruvananthapuramby holding a Homam (a special ritual) for thevictory of Trump.

The ancient Sree Bhadrakaleepuram DeviTemple saw a rare spectacle on Sunday whena Sathru Samhara Homam (a rite for the elim-ination of all enemies) was performed for thebenefit and win of President Trump. The poojawas held at the instance of Dr PurushothamBharati, an economist turned social activist.

Chief Priest Raghunathan Potti and histwo sons undertook the two-hour long ritu-al which was conducted as per the specifica-tions of Covid-19 protocol. “Many devoteesattended the Homam and prayed for the suc-cess of Trump. Usually we conduct Poojas butDr Bharati insisted on a Homam and that’swhy we made it a Sathru Samhara Homam,”said K S Radhakrishnan, administrator of the

temple.Christian-born Bharati got convert-ed to Hinduism in 1979. He has followed alldevelopments in the US and is of the view thatTrump should win in this election. “The worldis undergoing a crucial phase and we need astatesman like Trump whose love for India isknown all over,” said Bharati.

He said unemployment was the lowest inUS in the last 48 years jut before the break-ing out of the Covid-19 pandemic. “TheTrump administration has done well in con-trolling the disease despite the absence of a vac-cine. His declaration that the US would standby India in the event of an attack by Chineseshould be noted by our countrymen. I amconfident of Trump winning this election,” saidBharati.

The Joe Biden camp is also active amongthe Malayalee expatriates though the fervorassociated with Trump’s campaign is absent inKerala. Sajith Menon from Thrissur, is mod-erating a webinar on October 28 featuring law-maker Steny Hoyer, Chris Vanhollen, BenCardin and known Democratic Party sup-porters like Srinivasan fromThiruvananthapuram. PNS

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Amidst ongoing 'war ofwords' between the con-

stituents of Peoples Alliance forGupkar Alliance and their partyleaders over the issue of disre-specting 'tricolor', BharatiyaJanta Party (BJP) workers cel-ebrated the 'Accession Day' inthe Union Territory of Jammu& Kashmir on Monday.

For the first time, theGovernment offices in J&Kobserved a public holiday onaccount of Accession Day, thatmarks the anniversary of sign-ing of the Instrument ofAccession by the then princelystate of Jammu & Kashmir, with

Union of India on October 26,1947.

In Srinagar, BJP workersassembled at the Tagore Hallfirst garlanded the pictures ofMaharaja Hari Singh, BharatMata and Maqbool Sherwaniand later they took out aTiranga rally from the Tagorehall to SKICC.

Dozens of vehicles, with thetricolor hoisted on each ofthem, were part of the rallywhich passed through GupkarRoad and the activists raisedslogans outside the residencesof National Conference presi-dent Farooq Abdullah and PDPpresident Mehbooba Muftithere.

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London: A UK court onMonday rejected the latest bailplea of fugitive diamond mer-chant Nirav Modi, who hasbeen lodged in a London prisonsince his arrest on an extraditionwarrant in March last year.

The application wasreportedly made on the basis of“new evidence”, butWestminster Magistrates’Court District Judge SamuelGoozee was not convinced toreverse previous bail rejectionsin Modi's case.

The 49-year-old jeweller,fighting extradition to India on

charges of fraud and moneylaundering in the estimatedUSD 2-billion Punjab NationalBank (PNB) scam case, hasmade around six previousattempts at bail – at the mag-istrates’ court as well as at theHigh Court level.

However, each of the appli-cations, which came with anoffer stringent conditions akinto house arrest and a bail bondsecurity of 4 million pounds,have been rejected each time ashe has been deemed to have thefinancial means and motivationto abscond. PTI

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On a day when the MaharashtraGovernment on Monday slashed the

charges for the basic Covid-19 tests to justRs.980 in private laboratories, the Covid-19deaths came down below 100 for the first timefive months, while the infections plummetedto more than a five months’ low figure of 3645.

A day after the daily pandemic deathsdropped further to 112 and the infections wentdown further to 6059, the state authorities werein for another pleasant surprise as the deathdropped to 84 and infections plummeted to3645.Monday’s death tally should be seen in thecontext of the fact that the previous low of 97deaths was witnessed way back on May26.With 84 fresh deaths, the total number ofdeaths in the state mounted from 43,264 to43,348.

Similarly with 3845 fresh infections, thetotal infected cases in the state jumped from16,45,020 to 16,48,665.

As 9,905 more people were dischargedfrom various hospitals in the state, the num-ber of people discharged from various hospi-tals after full recovery since the second weekof March this year went up to 14,70,660. Therecovery rate in the state rose from 88.88 percent to 89.2 per cent.

In a related development, MaharashtraHealth Minister Rajesh Tope announced thatthe state government had slashed the chargesfor the basic Covid-19 tests to just Rs.980 inprivate laboratories.

Monday was the fourth occasion during thelast eight months that the state government hascut the test rates in private laboratories, start-ing from the original rate of Rs.4,500 to nowonly Rs.980 per test.

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Page 6: + C ?˝>.>>20 2˜˚>?˜#E304?/˚4 #?5>?˝>?C?F>?˝# ˜345 4˝*=2 ......2020/10/27  · Delhi air quality was record-ed in the “very poor’’ cat-egory on Monday morning and likely

Mian Saheb is anunlikely Pakistanipolitician who hasspent a career tryingto be someone he

really isn’t. When the PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)leader and former Prime Ministerof Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, wasincarcerated in jail and was askedabout his health, he had spoutedMirza Ghalib, “Unko dekhne sey joaa jati hai muh par raunaq, wohsamjhtey hai ke bemaar ka haal achahai (On seeing her, my face lightsup and she presumes that I’mmuch better now).” The portlyPunjabi politician is the principalOpposition leader to the reigningPakistani Prime Minister, ImranKhan, except that he is not basedout of Pakistan (declared “abscon-der” of bail and currently in theUnited Kingdom) and is actually ofKashmiri ethnicity (paternal sidefrom Anantnag and maternal sidefrom Pulwama). Nevertheless, thethrice elected and the longest-serv-ing PM is a trapeze artist who rev-els in managing contradictions.Sharif has now fired his most cal-culated salvo against the Pakistani“Deep State” or military.

In Pakistan’s stuttering democra-cy, the ubiquitous shadow of barrel-chested military men operatingout of Rawalpindi headquarters ismentioned only in deferential whis-pers — addressed euphemisticallyas Farishtas (angels) or KhalaiMaqlook (alien creatures), whousually manipulate from the back-ground. And occasionally they stepin formally, like Ayub Khan, YahyaKhan, Zia-ul-Haq or PervezMusharraf. But the veteran ofPakistani intrigues has broken tra-ditions of indirect allusions andbrazenly name-called the Chief ofPakistan Army Staff, GeneralQamar Bajwa, along with the infa-mous Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI) to be the real movers and shak-ers of Imran Khan’s Government. Inone stroke, Sharif has torn the tra-ditional Pakistani cover of the“civilian government” and made themilitary directly accountable andresponsible for the country’s ongo-ing and inevitable fate and predica-ment in the public imagination.

Sharif ’s current democraticgrandstanding notwithstanding, hehimself is a product of the Pakistanimilitary establishment and itsmachinations. While it is widelypresumed that Sharif was born ofthe former military dictator, General

Zia-ul-Haq’s personal prefer-ence, it was actually anotherquintessentially slipperyPakistani General, GhulamGilani, to whom Mian Sahebowes his political initiation.

Lieutenant-General GhulamGilani’s colourful past hadincluded taking a year-long sab-batical to fight in the Kashmirvalley as an “irregular” (Indo-Pakwar of 1947-48), fighting the1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars,serving as the Director-Generalof the notorious ISI, partaking inZia-ul-Haq’s coup d’état, whichwas ironically code-named “FairPlay” and ill-advising ZulfiquarAli Bhutto till his end to the gal-lows.

Later, General Zia appointedLieutenant-General GhulamGilani as the Governor of the all-powerful Punjab province, wherehe deliberately plucked out anostensibly safe, non-feudal andpliant industrialist, Nawaz Sharif,to be the Finance Minister ofPunjab. The urbane, obligingand malleable Sharif soonwormed his way to be the ChiefMinister in the dark and transfor-mational days of Zia’s ShariaisedPakistan, even though Sharif washardly a modicum of religiouspiety.

Though not really a Punjabi,feudal or a military man, Sharifwas a player, manipulator and asurvivor. Soon after Zia’s myste-rious plane crash, he tacticallyaligned with religious parties,took ISI’s beneficence and splitwith a rival faction within Zia’spolitical party, Pakistan MuslimLeague (Pagara group) to laterform Pakistan Muslim League(Nawaz) or PML-N. Sharif’s thenrival Benazir Bhutto (PakistanPeople’s Party) had earlier paid a

more personal price of losing herfather in the fight against thePakistani Generals but Sharifwas more conversant with theinner workings of the “DeepState.”

But even the wily Sharif haserred, miscalculated and under-estimated the power of PakistaniGenerals. Mian Saheb has had todeal with six Pakistani militarychiefs (including appointing fourof them personally) and has thedubious record of fractious rela-tions with all, without exception.Sharif ’s first appointee, GeneralWaheed Kakar, had later pres-surised him into resigning as thePM. By Sharif ’s second term, hehad inherited Benazir Bhutto’sappointee, General JehangirKaramat, with whom Sharif dif-fered and who he forced into apremature resignation. In hind-sight, hardly-the-wiser, Sharifselected an ostensibly safeMohajir, General PervezMusharraf, who not only initiat-ed Kargil on his own but alsobumped off Sharif to Saudi Arabiaafter yet another coup d’état. In histhird innings as the PM, Sharifhad to tread carefully with theunpredictable General PervezKayani (appointed earlier bySharif ’s bête noire, PervezMusharraf), who, too, extendedhis tenure unilaterally. Sharif ’sthird personal and unlikely (againsuperseding others) choice ofGeneral Raheel Sharif was to beno different with the “ArmyHouse” routinely calling all shotsand defining the “red lines” for theSharif dispensation.

General Raheel Sharif elicitedembarrassing retractions (forexample, post Ufa summit), pol-icy flip flops and publicly lecturedthe civilian Government on cor-

ruption (for example,Panamagate). But it is the fourthpersonal choice of Sharif who isat the centre of the ensuing gam-bit, General Qamar Bajwa — whotoo superseded others and wassupposedly apolitical and low pro-file. The Generals have historical-ly got the better of Nawaz Sharif,because they consistently outwit-ted or bulldozed Mian Saheb bytactically propping his politicalrivals with no real ideologicalpreferences, except for protectingtheir own institutional turf. Theinvaluable cover and protectionto the Pakistani military wasafforded by the façade of the civil-ian Government.

This time, Sharif has drawnblood, redrawn the battle linesand for once, boxed the militarygenerals into a huddle.Unfortunately, for the Pakistanigenerals, the Imran KhanGovernment is failing desperate-ly at all levels and the “Deep State”or the Pakistani military isunable to extricate itself from the“Titanic” portents.

The Pakistani public is increas-ingly restive, suspicious and con-vinced of the military ghosts atwork. And the Generals cannotbe saddled with the “failures” ofthe civilian Government as theydelegitimise the institution thathas thrived despite the humilia-tions of 1965, 1971 and Kargil.Sharif has punted on forcing themilitary establishment to pull theplug on the Imran KhanGovernment, as they have histor-ically done, whenever in such sit-uations. This time, Mian Sahebmay just have outwitted theGenerals?

(The writer, a military veteran,is a former Lt Governor ofAndaman & Nicobar Islands)

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��������!�����

���������� ������Sir — Air pollution has worsenedin several parts of north India. Ifanything, US President DonaldTrump’s remark that India has“filthy” air should encouragemore introspection than anger.There is no denying what he saidor the fact that nobody suffersmore than Indians themselves.According to the State of GlobalAir 2020 report, India had thehighest exposure to particulatematter (PM 2.5) last year.Fourteen of the 20 most popu-lous countries have recorded agradual improvement in air qual-ity but India is among those withan increase in pollution levels.Vehicular and industrial pollu-tion, farmers burning crop stub-ble to clear fields and festive fire-works, all contribute to the dead-ly cocktail. The courts and the National Green Tribunal havebeen actively pushing the author-ities to do more. The NationalClean Air Programme (NCAP)was also launched in January2019 as the first-ever effort in thecountry to frame a nationalframework for air quality man-agement with a time-boundreduction target. However, aconcrete policy has not materi-alised. The endless bickering

among States has ensured theabsence of a unified response.

Whoever wins the US presi-dential election next month, anew round of international pow-erplay on climate change awaitsNew Delhi, and with it a freshlook at the energy mix. Findinghome-grown solutions should bethe real area of focus now.

N Sadhasiva ReddyBengaluru

����������������������Sir — The heavy downpour inHyderabad has crippled normallife like never before. The cityrecorded continuous rainfall fornearly a week, which resulted inoverflowing of many lakes withtanks on the verge of beingbreached. A fresh bout of heavyrains on the evening of October17 further inundated the already

water-logged localities, mostlyinhabited by the poor and mar-ginalised. What was once hometo as many as 2,800 lakes, todayaccounts for less than 200 ofthem due to increasing urbani-sation and the surge in popula-tion. Politicians do precious lit-tle because their eyes are firmlyset on the vote bank.Governments have seen pastthe environmental services of

lakes for turning them into parksand recreational spots. Also, thestory of urban flooding is moreor less the same for most Indiancities because the pattern ofaccumulation of rainwater and itsdrainage has been convenientlyforgotten in the last severaldecades. These disastrous floodsshould be a wake-up call for theadministration to start workingon the city’s infrastructure thatwill be able to tackle futurecases of urban flooding.

Ganapathi BhatAkola

�����������������Sir — India, Brazil and the USaccount for over 51 per cent ofthe world’s COVID-19 cases.Corona cases in India are declin-ing significantly with 90 percent recovery rate. However, theUS is witnessing a new surge.And as India’s festival season hasjust started, a few super spread-er events can change the courseof the virus. People need to becareful while strictly followingthe WHO’s guidelines.

Avani JainUjjain

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Page 7: + C ?˝>.>>20 2˜˚>?˜#E304?/˚4 #?5>?˝>?C?F>?˝# ˜345 4˝*=2 ......2020/10/27  · Delhi air quality was record-ed in the “very poor’’ cat-egory on Monday morning and likely

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The Narendra Modi Government is keen to pro-mote the use of gas and support it by increas-ing domestic production. But it wants to keep

the gas price low so that it is affordable to key sec-tors, such as fertilisers and power producers, and isin sync with the macro objectives of keeping sub-sidy payments and fiscal deficit under check. Thisoverarching objective is glossed over when it comesto pricing, even as the Centre is obsessed with giv-ing a higher price to exploration and production(E&P) companies. Under the November 2014guidelines for pricing of domestic gas, it did makean attempt to strike a balance between the interestsof producers and consumers. Since March 2016 how-ever, it has drifted to a point whereby the very soulof the extant formula is being undermined by fix-ing a floor price. This should be avoided.

However, the two major domestic producers ofgas, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) andOil India Limited (OIL), who together account forabout 90 per cent of the total production in the coun-try, have raised a hue and cry over the recent reduc-tion in price of the fuel from $2.39 per million Britishthermal units (mmBtu) during April 1- September30 to $1.79 per mmBtu from October 1. TheMinistry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOP&NG)has promised a change in the methodology of pric-ing and set up a committee to examine variousoptions. The relook is unjustified. The pricing of acrucial input such as natural gas has to strike a judi-cious balance between the overarching need toencourage consumption of this environment-friendly fuel (in sync with the Government’s aim toincrease its share in the energy mix from the cur-rent level of about six per cent to 15 per cent by 2030)on the one hand and give necessary incentive to com-panies, who undertake investment in exploration andproduction in order to reduce dependence on import(currently about 50 per cent), on the other.

In particular, the price has to be affordable formajor consumers such as the fertiliser and powermanufacturers, which together account for nearlythree-fourths of the total gas consumption. A vastmajority of the consumers of fertilisers being poorfarmers, the Government controls their price at alow level, unrelated to the cost of production, andreimburses the difference between the two as sub-sidy to the manufacturers. In power, too, the situa-tion is similar, especially when it comes to fixing tar-iff on supplies to farmers and households. In thisbackdrop, a higher gas price will lead to higher sub-sidy payments; hence it is not desirable.

Prior to November 1, 2014, domestic gas waspriced under an Administered Pricing Mechanism(APM). There was a multitude of prices dependingupon the source of supply, namely from fields givento the ONGC and OIL on a “nomination” basis;blocks given to private operators or their joint ven-tures (JVs) with Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)like ONGC/OIL and those awarded under the NELP(New Exploration Licencing Policy). The price var-ied from about $2 per mmBtu for supplies fromONGC/OIL to a high of over $7 per mmBtu applic-able on supplies from private operators/JVs.

The allocation was done by a Gas LinkageCommittee (GLC) headed by Secretary, MOP&NG,which decided which sector/industry would get howmuch and even within each industry, which com-pany would get how much and from which field. Theguiding principle was to allocate most of the low-priced gas from ONGC/OIL to fertiliser and power

manufacturers — in line with the priori-ties laid down by the Government basedon the recommendations of committeesfrom time to time.

This GLC also had the responsibili-ty of allocating imported LNG (liquefiednatural gas). LNG is imported mostly byPSUs such as Gas Authority of IndiaLimited (GAIL) and so on, who are alsoresponsible for its handling, re-gasifica-tion/processing and transportation toconsumption points. The APM regimesuffered from several flaws, the most strik-ing being controls on every aspect in thesupply chain, multiplicity of prices andexercise of discretion by bureaucrats. Asfor basic objectives, it was neither help-ing consumers nor producers.

Though a price of $2 per mmBtu onsupplies from the ONGC/OIL was intend-ed to help fertilisers and power produc-ers, the requirement of these sectorsbeing far more than what these PSUs couldsupply, the balance had to be met fromLNG at a much higher price. This also ledto an anomaly whereby some manufac-turers would get away with a major shareof their requirement (or even all it) fromONGC/OIL at a low price even as othershad to contend with high-priced LNG.The Government then decided to intro-duce a uniform pricing structure and inNovember 2014, it fixed the price ofalmost all domestic gas (except for sup-plies from pre-NELP fields where the pro-duction-sharing contract with the oper-ator did not provide for approval of priceby the Government) based on a weight-ed average of gas prices at four interna-tional locations — Henry Hub (US), NBP(National Balancing Point) (UK), AGR(Alberta Gas Reference) (Canada) andRussian price for a full year, three monthsprior to the date from which the pricetakes effect.

This formula-based approach provid-

ed a “certain” and “stable” policy environ-ment under which firms can take deci-sions based on their assessment of theexpected movement in gas price at thesetrading hubs. It provides a level-playingfield to all firms. It maintains a “neutral”stance between producers and consumersi.e. when, the price increases, the formergain whereas, under a decreasing price sce-nario, the latter benefit. As per the aboveguidelines, the price was $5.61 per mmBtufrom November 1, 2014; $5.18 per mmBtufrom April 1, 2015; $4.24 per mmBtu fromOctober 1, 2015; $3.39 per mBtu fromApril 1, 2016. During these periods, theproducers were happy. Thereafter, even asthe price declined further (from October1, 2016, it was $2.78 per mBtu and fromApril 1, 2017: $2.75 per mBtu) they start-ed mounting pressure on the Governmentto ensure that it does not go below a cer-tain threshold. The latter refused to bowdown, rightly so. But yielding to pressurein other ways, in March 2016, under a spe-cial package for supplies from deep/ultra-deep, high-pressure/high-temperaturefields, it allowed a “premium” price linkedto the prices of alternate fuels, includingfuel oil, naphtha and imported LNG. InJuly 2017, it allowed Market-Based Price(MBP) on supplies from fields given underthe Open Acreage Licensing Policy(OALP). The MBP was also made applic-able to unconventional fuels viz. shale gas,coal bed methane (CBM) from fieldsunder NELP.

With these new introductions/pack-ages, the Government has given a slipshodtreatment to uniform pricing. With a mul-titude of prices back on the table, bureau-crats will rule the roost. They have thepower to decide which pricing class a par-ticular field has to be placed in or approve“how much of shale gas or CBM is com-ing from a field under NELP” as thatquantity is eligible for higher price. Now

producers want even the base price ofdomestic gas to be altered to protect themfrom the downslide. Reportedly, an optionis to have a floor price to be determinedon the basis of the Japan-Korea Marker(JKM), a benchmark index used to deter-mine LNG tariff in North Asia with a dis-count. With JKM prices hovering over $5per mmBtu, even with $1 mmBtu dis-count, the floor price will be close to $4mmBtu.

It would appear that our policy-mak-ers don’t care about protecting the inter-est of consumers. They assume that userswill pay any price that suits the produc-ers. Don’t they realise that increased pay-ments by fertiliser and power manufac-turers on account of higher gas price willhave to be reimbursed as additional sub-sidy and lead to a higher fiscal deficit?

This policy drift must stop. TheNovember 2014 norms provide a robustsystem of gas pricing which balances theinterests of both the producers and con-sumers. It also adequately takes care of so-called difficult fields like KG-DWN-98/3operated by Reliance Industries Limited,which entail higher investment whencompared to shallow or on-shore fields.The former yield output, which is “manytimes more”, resulting in correspondinghigher revenue generation even with thesame (albeit uniform) price. At the com-mitted production rate of 80 million stan-dard cubic meter per day even at $4.2 permBtu, RIL would have recovered itsentire investment of $5.6 billion in KG-DWN-98/3 in 15 months.

There is not only a strong case forkeeping the November 2014 guidelinesintact but also rolling back subsequentpricing decisions. While the latter may notbe possible, the least the Government cando is not tinker with the extant guidelines.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based pol-icy analyst)

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The South Asian Association forRegional Cooperation (SAARC)was created in 1985 to promote

economic development and socialprogress in South Asia. At present, it haseight member countries, namelyAfghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan andSri Lanka.

India was the Chair of the SAARCSummit in 2007 and this was arguablythe most productive session that thegroup ever witnessed. The launchingof negotiations to bring services into theSouth Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA),the unilateral granting of zero dutyaccess by India to SAARC LeastDeveloped Countries (LDCs), the for-mal induction of Afghanistan into

SAARC as the eighth member, the set-ting up of the South Asian University,the establishment of the SAARC FoodBank and the SAARC DevelopmentFund, the signing of the Conventionon Mutual Assistance on CriminalMatters were some of the significantsteps for regional integration taken atthe Delhi Summit. The momentumgenerated was carried forward by theSAARC summit held in Colombo in2008.

The economic and social welfare ofa country is greatly advanced if it inter-acts as part of a regional bloc rather thanindividually. The emergence of a num-ber of regional blocs in Asia, Africa andthe US is evidence of this reality. Anintegrated regional economy acceleratesthe fiscal growth of member countriesthrough the advantages of geographi-cal proximity and economies of scale.Furthermore, member countries enjoybetter leverage in dealing with the glob-al systems of finance, investment andtrade. A regional bloc also provides astabilising cushion from the destabil-ising fluctuations in the global econo-my. Regional cooperation is pivotal forprosperity in South Asia.

Economic synergy often leads to

solution of disputes, including politicaldifferences. However, intra-regionaltrade among SAARC countries is atpresent less than five per cent, while itis 62 per cent in the European Union,55 per cent in the North American FreeTrade Area and 35 per cent in theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations.SAFTA is the first step towards a moreintense synergy, which should ultimate-ly lead to a South Asian Union and asingle currency.

Though the Governments of theSAARC nations have made effortssince independence to improve the con-dition of their people, these attempts areoften thwarted by multifarious religious,ethnic and linguistic problems.Discontentment and frustration amongthe masses, faced with such tribulations,embolden subversive forces both with-in and outside to exploit nationalinadequacies.

The solution to our commonpredicament requires peace and anatmosphere of dialogue and coopera-tion rather than of conflict and con-frontation. Peace is essential for nation-al as well as regional prosperity. For cen-turies the European continent was thestage of power rivalries and war. Now

Europe appears to be a rather peacefulcontinent. The very first step towardspeace was found in the doctrine of“defence and detente.” While defence isan element indispensable in uncertaincircumstances, detente stands for dia-logue, arms control, the exchange ofviews at all levels and alternative think-ing. Detente influences the under-standing of a situation and broadens thescope of ideas on how to deal with atense situation that causes war andaffects the image of a country abroad.Europe has now progressed beyond“defence and detente” and has enteredthe path of effective regional integra-tion. Experience has shown that bilat-eral agreements between countries ofSouth Asia are mutually beneficial. TheIndo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreementbecame operational in 2000 and pro-duced good results within a shortperiod of time. The Indo-Nepal TradeTreaty, too, is a good example of bilat-eral cooperation between two countries.India has now bilateral agreements withNepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka andBangladesh.

There are problems sometimesand stumbling blocks on the way to eco-nomic cooperation but they can and

should be removed in the larger inter-ests of all the countries involved.Unless trade ties between India andPakistan are normalised, South Asianeconomic cooperation will not succeed.The normalisation of economic rela-tions between the two countries isindeed crucial for the success ofSAARC. The Governments of India,Pakistan and other countries of SAARCought to join hands across national bor-ders and religious differences, agree onzero tolerance towards every form ofextremism and terrorism and redressthe grievances of the disaffected andmarginalised. They must beware themachinations of neo-imperialism andits strategy to divide and rule.

Governments apart, civil society,intelligentsia, the business communi-ty and the non-governmental organi-sations must all emphatically promoteawareness about the need and advan-tage of regional cooperation. Thereought to be a much greater interactionbetween civil society and the politicalclass across the different countries ofSouth Asia. Regrettably, such an inter-action is minimal. South Asia contin-ues to have the highest number of peo-ple in the world living below the

poverty line, outstripping sub-SaharanAfrica in this regard. The UnitedNations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organisation (UNESCO)points out that among the 154 countriesfor which data are available, 28 did notattain any of the three objectives whichthe international community gatheredat the World Education Forum hadagreed should be achieved by allnations by 2015. The three goals are:universal primary education, freeschooling of acceptable quality and theremoval of gender disparities in edu-cation. All the countries of South Asiawith the exception of Sri Lanka areamong these 28 countries.

Regrettably, the subcontinentinvests more in armaments than insocial infrastructure. India and Pakistanspend more than three times as muchon weaponry as they do on educationor health. There ought to be a drasticreduction in the defence expenditure ofboth countries so that our scarceresources are utilised towards the wel-fare of our people rather than on thepurchase of military hardware fromabroad.

(The writer is a former UnionMinister)

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In a late gambit to win the bat-tleground state of

Pennsylvania, PresidentDonald Trump and his GOPallies have intensified attacks onJoe Biden over fracking, hop-ing to drive a wedge betweenthe former vice president andthe white, working-class voterstied to the state's boomingnatural gas industry.

That assault is playing outin a barrage of TV ads and con-servative and right-wing web-sites, and is repeated at everyTrump rally in the state.

It relies on a series of con-fusing statements from the for-mer vice president — includingremarks on the oil industryfrom last week's debate — toclaim he intends to “ban” orend national gas extraction,although that is not theDemocrat's official position.

Trump's fracking playcomes as polls show the pres-ident is struggling to overtakeBiden in Pennsylvania and inneed of a boost from the ruraland exurban white voters whohelped him to a narrow victo-

ry in Pennsylvania in 2016.It also shoots to snap the

tightrope that Biden is walkingbetween the Democratic Party'sleft wing, which is hostile tofossil fuels, and its bedrockblue-collar union base that isbuilding an expanding net-work of gas pipelines, powerplants and processing facilitiesin Pennsylvania.

Biden's climate change planaims to reach net-zero green-house gases emissions by 2050,and does not involve banningfracking, the process formallynamed hydraulic fracturingthat along with horizontaldrilling made the United Statesan oil and gas superpowerover the past decade.

He argues that net-zerothreshold can be achieved byhelping eliminate emissionsfrom natural gas infrastructure,while redirecting federal sub-sidies for oil and gas to clean-er energies.

“I do rule out banningfracking because ... We needother industries to transition toget to ultimately a completezero-emissions,” Biden said inThursday night's debate.

Manila: A fast-moving typhoonforced thousands of villagers toflee to safety in provinces southof the Philippine capital onMonday, flooding rural villagesand ripping off roofs, officialssaid.

There were no immediatereports of casualties fromTyphoon Molave, but authoritiesreported at least one person wasmissing and seven others wererescued after their yacht sank offBatangas province south ofManila. The typhoon has sus-tained winds of 125 kilometersper hour and gusts of up to 180kph per hour and was blowingwestward at 25 kph.

Molave is expected to startblowing out of the country intothe South China Sea on Monday,government forecasters said.

At least 25,000 villagerswere displaced with about20,000 taking shelter in schoolsand government buildingswhich were turned into evacu-ation centers, according to theOffice of Civil Defense.

“Villagers are now asking tobe rescued because of the sud-den wind which blew awayroofs,” Humerlito Dolor, gover-nor of Oriental Mindoroprovince, told DZMM radio.

Dolor said pounding rainsovernight swamped farming vil-lages in his province then fiercewinds toppled trees and powerposts early on Monday, knock-ing off power.

Authorities were clearingroads of fallen trees and debrisin some towns after the typhoonpassed, he said. AP

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Thailand's Parliament begana special session on

Monday that was called toaddress tensions as pro-democ-racy protests draw studentsand other demonstrators intothe streets almost dailydemanding the prime minis-ter's resignation.

As Speaker of the HouseChuan Leekpai began the ses-sion, only 450 of the total of 731members of both houses hadsigned in for the meeting.

The demonstrations bystudent-led groups in theBangkok and other cities havethree main demands: thatPrime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha step down, the constitu-tion be amended to make itmore democratic and reforms be made to the monar-chy to make it more account-able.

Public criticism of themonarchy is unprecedented ina country where the royal insti-tution has been consideredsacrosanct, and royalists havedenounced the protesters forraising the issue.

New York: More than 58.7 mil-lion Americans have voted in the2020 presidential election sofar, surpassing all early ballotscast in the 2016 polls, but anunprecedented number of mail-in ballots has given rise to thepossibility that the result couldbe delayed as counting of votesmay stretch beyond November3, according to a media report.

The report in the CNNsaid that according to a surveyof election officials in all 50 statesand Washington DC conductedby the US-based network,Edison Research and Catalist,more than 58.7 millionAmericans have voted so far inthe election, with still 9 days leftfor November 3.

The report said in 2016,around 58.3 million pre-electionballots were cast, including bal-lots in the three vote-by-mailstates that year. That early voteaccounted for about 42 per centof all ballots cast in the 2016presidential election.

“Pre-election voting for the

November election has sur-passed all 2016 early ballots castwith 9 days left until ElectionDay,” the report said.

“Pre-Election Day voting isskyrocketing nationwide amidthe ongoing coronavirus pan-demic, and states are reportingrecord-breaking turnout as vot-ers are energised to vote by mailor early in person beforeNovember,' it said.

Another CNN report, how-ever, noted that despite theunprecedented mail-in voting,there is a possibility that fullresults of who between PresidentDonald Trump and Democraticnominee Joe Biden will win thePresidential election may not beknown on election night.

“Election night can be syn-onymous with unpredictability- just look at 2016 - but this yearmight be even murkier thanusual. The pandemic haschanged the way millions ofAmericans vote for president,”the report said.

While voters have already

cast an unprecedented numberof mail-in ballots, in many loca-tions, including potential bat-tleground states, the mail-inballots will not be counted untilafter the election, “potentiallyleading to long delays in thenews media's ability to call theelection on election night,” itsaid.

CNN cited media experts tosay that the counting could golonger than election night and“could last until the next morn-ing or until the next afternoonor even later.

It said that 54 per cent ofthose 58.7 million votes alreadycast this cycle comes from 16most competitively rankedstates, which will play a crucialrole in determining who winsthe presidency this year.

Among those states,Minnesota has currently seenthe largest percentage increase inearly voting turnout comparedto last cycle, according to Catalistdata from both years in 14 keystates. PTI

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�� ����������� �� ;�$� ������������������� �����$�������������+������&���� Washington: President Donald

Trump’s supporters have start-ed calling him “Super Trump”as he has fully recovered fromthe coronavirus and startedaddressing multiple electionrallies a day.

At an election rally in thebattleground state of NewHampshire, which was attend-ed by thousands of people,Trump said that he felt likesuperman upon being given anantibody treatment when hehad COVID-19.

“I took something calledRegeneron. Then followingmorning I felt so good. I feltlike superman. I wanted to getback (to work). I did not wantto cancel anything,” Trumptold his cheering supporters inthe Londonderry city of NewHampshire.

Soon, his supporters start-ed chanting “Super Trump,Super Trump,” to which thepresident acknowledged with asmile and said “Thank You”.

Trump, 74, after resuminghis normal life and hectic elec-tion campaigning followinghis recovery from

coronavirus, appears to bemore energetic.

Most of his speeches are

more than an hour long andsome have lasted for over 100minutes. On Saturday, headdressed as many as fourelection rallies, from morningto late night and on Sunday, headdressed two including theone in New Hampshire.

On Monday, Trump isscheduled to address electionrallies in the key battlegroundstate of Pennsylvania. In allthese rallies, Trump makes it apoint to tell his supportersthat he got infected with theCOVID-19 virus because hedecided to work and not tohide in a basement or lock him-self in a White House bedroom.

At the same time, he allegesthat his Democratic challengerJoe Biden preferred to spendmost of his time in a basementhiding from coronavirus.

Trump jokes that Biden’selection meetings are attractinga few people and describes theformer vice president as a “lowenergy” individual or “SleepyJoe.”

“I don’t know what’s wrongwith him (Biden). He nevergoes anywhere…,” Trump said,referring to the drive-way real-ly of the Democratic presiden-tial candidate in Delaware.PTI

Chicago: On a recruiting tripto India's tech hub ofBangalore, Alan Cramb, thepresident of a reputableChicago university, answeredquestions not just about dormsor tuition but also Americanwork visas.

The session with parentsfell in the chaotic first monthsof Donald Trump'spresidency. After an inaugur-

al address proclaiming“America first,” two travel bans,a suspended refugee programand hints at restricting skilledworker visas widely used byIndians, parents doubtedtheir children's futures in the

U.S.“Nothing is happening

here that isn't being watched orinterpreted around the world,”said Cramb, who leads theIllinois Institute of Technology,where international scholarshave been half the studentbody.

America was consideredthe premier destination forinternational students, withthe promise of top-notch uni-versities and unrivaled jobopportunities. AP

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Karachi: Pakistan's deposedPrime Minister Nawaz Sharifhas blamed Army chief GenQamar Javed Bajwa and ISIchief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed forthe current political situation inthe country, as the Oppositionparties held their third massivejoint rally against PrimeMinister Imran Khan-led gov-ernment.

The Pakistan DemocraticMovement (PDM), a coalitionof 11 Opposition parties, wasformed to oust Khan frompower on September 20. Thealliance held two massive back-to-back gatherings inGujranwala and Karachi thismonth. The third rally washeld in Quetta, capital of therestive Baluchistan province,on Sunday.

Addressing the gather-ing via video link from London,the three-time prime ministerand chief of the PakistanMuslim League (PML-N) againblamed Army chief Bajwa andISI Director General Hameedfor Pakistan's current situation.

“Gen Bajwa, you willhave to answer for record rig-ging in the 2018 elections, forhorse-trading in Parliament,for making Imran Niazi prime

minister against people's wish-es and [by] tearing apart theConstitution and laws, for push-ing people towards poverty andhunger,” 70-year-old Sharif said.

Sharif, who is entangled ina number of corruption cases,has been in London sinceNovember last year after theLahore High Court grantedhim permission to go abroad forfour weeks for treating the heartdisease and an immune systemdisorder.

He also accused the ISIchief of “interfering in politicsfor several years with impuni-ty” in violation of his oath.Sharif said that he names indi-viduals “because I don't wantmy Army to be defamed”.

Pakistan’s powerful Armyhas denied meddling in politics.Prime Minister Khan also denies that the Armyhelped him win the election in2018.

“Looking at this enthu-siasm, I am sure that no one willbe able to violate the voters’mandate now. I saw this enthu-siasm in Gujranwala andKarachi, and now I'm seeing itin Quetta,” Sharif said, address-ing the huge crowd at the sta-dium. PTI

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China will impose sanctionson US companies includ-

ing Boeing and LockheedMartin for supplying weaponsto rival Taiwan, a foreign min-istry spokesman saidon Monday.

Raytheon also will beaffected, said the spokesman,Zhao Lijian. He gave no detailsof what penalties might beimposed or when.

China and Taiwan splitduring a civil war in 1949 andhave no diplomatic relations.Beijing claims the democrati-cally led island as part of thecommunist mainland''s terri-tory and has threatened toinvade.

“In order to safeguardnational interests, China decid-ed to impose sanctions on theAmerican companies that wereinvolved in arms sales toTaiwan,” Zhao said at a regularnews briefing.

Paris: French authoritiesdenounced Turkish “propa-ganda” against France that theysaid was aimed at fanning hateat home and abroad, and askedon Sunday for calls to boycottFrench products cease imme-diately, saying such attackswere the work of a “radicalminority”.

Meanwhile, the presidentof Turkey took a second insult-ing swipe at French PresidentEmmanuel Macron in a grow-ing, potentially high-risk dis-pute.

A day after saying thatMacron needed his head exam-ined for condoning caricaturesof the prophet of Islam, TurkishPresident Recep TayyipErdogan said on Sunday thatthe French leader has “lost hisway.”In an unusual move,France announced on Saturdayit was recalling its ambassadorfor consultations.

The French ForeignMinistry said in a statement onSunday evening that its diplo-mats were mobilising to askcountries where boycotts werebeing organised or hate callsissued not to back them, and toprovide assurances that Frenchcitizens would be safe.

“In numerous countries ofthe Middle East, calls to boy-

cott French products...andmore generally, calls to demon-strate against France, in some-times hateful terms, have beenrelayed on social media,” theFrench Foreign Ministry said.It added that such calls “dena-ture” France''s positions onfreedom of expression andconscience.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and abloc of Muslim nations con-demned, without using insults,remarks by Macron last weekin which he refused to con-demn the publication or show-ing of caricatures of theProphet Muhammad.

France considers religioussatire to be among the kinds ofspeech that fall under the free-dom of expression, while manyMuslims consider any per-ceived attack on their prophetas a grave offence.

An 18-year-old man ofChechen origin beheaded nearParis on October 16 a teacherwho had shown caricatures ofMuhammad in class.Whileeulogising the teacher, Macronsaid last week that France willnot renounce its freedoms.

The Turkish leader criti-cized his French counterpartduring a party congress onSaturday, questioning the stateof Macron''s mental health.AP

Athens: Greece said on Mondaythat Turkey plans to carry out amaritime military exercise onOctober 28, a Greek nationalholiday, just hours after NATO''ssecretary general said bothGreece and Turkey had called offwargames on each other''snational holidays.

Government spokesmanStelios Petsas said Ankara''smove showed it was an “unreli-able” partner when it comes tonegotiations.”Over the last fewdays, Turkey has been making apersistent effort to prove that notonly is it a troublemaker in ourwider region, but it is also a com-pletely unreliable interlocutor,”Petsas said.

Neighbours and NATOallies Greece and Turkey havehad often frosty relationsthrough the years. Most recent-ly they have been locked in a bit-ter dispute in over maritimeboundaries and energy explo-ration rights in the easternMediterranean Sea.

Turkey has sent a seismicresearch vessel, the Oruc Reis, toprospect for energy reserves onthe seabed in an area Greece thatclaims is on its own continentalshelf and where it has exclusiveeconomic rights. PTI

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Canberra: Australia on Mondaycondemned Qatar authorities'treatment of women passengerson a flight to Sydney who weresubjected to internal examina-tions after a newborn baby wasfound abandoned at a Doha air-port.

The women, including 13Australians, were examined atHamad International Airport onOctober 2 after Qatar AirwaysFlight QR908 to Sydney wasdelayed.

Australia's Department ofForeign Affairs and Tradedescribed the treatment of thewomen as offensive, grosslyinappropriate and beyond cir-cumstances in which they couldgive free and informed consent.

“The Australian govern-

ment is deeply concerned at theunacceptable treatment of somefemale passengers,” a depart-ment statement said.

“The government has for-mally registered our seriousconcerns about this incidentwith Qatari authorities. TheDepartment of Foreign Affairsand Trade is engaged on thismatter through diplomatic chan-nels,” the statement added.

Hamad InternationalAirport management said thebaby was safe and being caredfor by medical and social work-ers. Medical professionals wereconcerned for the mother'shealth after the infant was foundand had requested she be locat-ed, the airport said in a state-ment. AP

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With the pandemic pum-melling global demand,

India will drive the energyconsumption in the world,Prime Minister Narendra Modisaid on Monday as he pitchedfor global oil and gas suppliersto adopt responsible pricingand move towards transparentand flexible markets.

Speaking at the 4th IndiaEnergy Forum by CERAWeek,he showcased his government’sreforms in oil and gas explo-ration licensing policy and natural gas marketing aswell as unveiled an ambitiousplan to almost double refiningcapacity.

This while sticking to India’scommitment to reduce carbon

footprint, he said, adding thenation was on track to meet itstarget of generating 175gigawatts of electricity fromrenewable energy sources suchas solar and wind by 2022.

“The theme (of the con-ference) this year is relevant. Itis - ‘India’s Energy Future in aworld of change’. I can assureyou India is full of energy.India’s energy future is brightand secure,” he said. “India’senergy will energise the world.”

The Prime Minister said2020 has been a challengingyear for the energy sector glob-ally, with demand falling byalmost one-third. Also, therewere bouts of price instabilityand investment decisions wereimpacted.

“Leading global bodies

project that there will be a con-traction in global energydemand over the next fewyears also. But, these agenciesproject India to emerge as aleading energy consumer. Indiais set to nearly double its ener-gy consumption over the longterm,” he said.

India consumes 5 millionbarrels of oil equivalent per daycurrently. The Prime Minister,however, added that energysuppliers should adopt respon-sible pricing.

“For too long, the worldhas seen crude prices on aroller-coaster. We need to movetowards responsible pricing.We have to work towards trans-parent and flexible marketsfor both oil and gas,” he said.

Stating that there weremany areas of vibrancy, Modisaid India is the third-largestand the fastest-growing aviationmarket and domestic carriers

are projected to double theirfleet size to 1,200 by 2024.

“India believes that accessto energy must be affordableand reliable,” he said.

Even during the pandem-

ic, investment flowed throughthe oil and gas value chain.

India’s energy plan aims toensure energy justice whilefully meeting its global com-mitments of a smaller carbon

footprint, he emphasised.“Our energy sector will be

growth-centric, industry-friend-ly, and environment conscious.That is why, India is among themost active nations in further-ing renewable sources of ener-gy,” he said. “India is the mostattractive emerging market forclean energy investment.”

India, he said, was well ontrack to meet its commitmenton carbon emissions.

“We had aimed to increasethe renewable energy installedcapacity by 175 GW by 2022.We have further extended thisgoal to 450 GW by 2030. Indiahas one of the lowest carbonemissions than the rest of theindustrialised world. Yet, wewill continue to make efforts tofight climate change,” he said.

Highlighting recent effortsof his government, Modi saidIndia has achieved 100 per centelectrification and LPG cover-

age has increased. Distributionof over 36 crore energy-effi-cient LED bulbs and installa-tion of 1.1 crore smart LEDstreet-lights have saved 60 bil-lion units of energy annually,reduced green-house gas emis-sion by over 4.5 crore tonnesand saved �24,000 crore in theenergy bill.

On reforms in the energysector, he said in February2019 changes were made in oiland gas exploration and licens-ing policy to shift focus fromrevenue maximisation to rais-ing production.

Also, increasing gas pro-duction to help achieve the goalof a gas-based economy was apriority, he said, adding greatermarketing freedom was grant-ed earlier this month.

“We plan to grow ourrefining capacities from about250 to 400 million tonnes perannum by 2025” to sync fuel

production with risingdemand, he said.

The ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’or self-reliant India campaignwill be a force multiplier for theglobal economy, the PrimeMinister said.

India’s energy map willhave seven key drivers — accel-erating efforts to move towardsa gas-based economy, cleaneruse of fossil fuels particularlypetroleum and coal, greaterreliance on domestic sources todrive bio-fuels, achieving therenewables target of 450 GWby 2030, increasing the contri-bution of electricity to de-car-bonise mobility, moving intoemerging fuels includinghydrogen and digital innova-tion across all the energy sys-tems, he said.

“There will be continuity ofthese robust energy policiesthat have been in place over thelast six years,” Modi added.

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New Delhi:

Following decisions were taken in the meeting:-

Proposal for amendment in Industrial Policy2019-24 has been approved. Under this amend-ment, Special Investment Incentive Package(Forest Region Industrial Package) has beenapproved to encourage manufacturing, process-ing and value addition of forest produce, herbaland forest based products, as well as food pro-cessing, manufacting and value addition relatedworks in the state.

Under these amendments approved by theCabinet, in addition to the provision of perma-nent capital investment grant, industries after theystart production will be provided subsidy on per-manent capital investment as follows- in ‘C’ cat-egory development blocks, 40 per cent of the totalinvestment in 5 years (maximum 40 lakh per year)will be provided, and in ‘D’ category developmentblocks, 50% of the total investment in five years(maximum 50 lakh per year) will be provided asper the eligibility. For availing the special pack-age, industries would have to invest minimum 50lakh and maximum 5 crore on Plant andMachinery.

Amendment in Chhattisgarh Industrial Landand Management Rule-2015 has been approved,under which minimum land required for estab-lishing power substations in industrial areas oper-ated by Industry Department will be allotted ontoken money of �1, without any lease rent, secu-

rity deposit.The clause of post-allotment regulation and

management of the industrial land, building,shade, , division and the land allotted from landbank, under Chhattisgarh Industrial Land andManagement Rule-2015, has been amended.

Making amendments in the rules for indus-tries that have been allotted land underChhattisgarh Industrial Land and ManagementRule-2015, Cabinet has decided to provide addi-tional time period of one year for the proposedindustries that could not be established due toCOVID-19 crisis and recession.

Draft of Chhattisgarh Agriculture ProduceMarket (Amendment) Bill -2020 was approved bythe cabinet.

Cabinet approved the reformation proposalof Chhattisgarh State Rural and Other BackwardAreas Development Authority, which was con-stituted in 2012 by the State Government for accel-erated and all-inclusive development of rural areasin the state.

Regarding implementation of ChhattisgarhExcise Policy in year 2013-14, Cabinet has decid-ed to hand over Bharat Mata Vahini Yojana to theSocial Welfare Department for conducting De-addiction Drive in Chhattisgarh.

Regarding the implementation of the ‘JalJeevan Mission’ by the Government of India,Ministry of Water Power, Department of DrinkingWater and Sanitation, Cabinet has decided to can-cel the entire Tender Life Mission (EOI) and takeaction as directed by the Government of India.

New Delhi: Rajiv Chaudhry,General Manager, Northern &North Central held a reviewmeeting with the depart-mental heads of NorthernRailway & North Centralthrough video conferencing.Deliberations were held onkeeping focus on safety ontracks, Freight loading andtransparency in working ofRailways.

Rajiv Chaudhry, informedthat Northern Railways freightloading has increased from 23million tonne to 33.40 milliontonne (1 April- 15thOctober.20). The total food-grain loading are 18.74 milliontonne during this period. Heinformed that NorthernRailway also operated a totalno. of 435 Annapuran 5000tonnes Long Haul FoodgrainTrains to contribute towardsfood security of India. Anearning of �3.46 Crore receivedthrough movement of e-com-merce consignments.

The Northern Railwaymaintained a good track recordby achieving 96% punctualityof trains.

He further emphasized thatthe railway working should betransparent. He stressed uponmaximum use of technology sothat human intervention can beminimized and transparency inall sphere of railway workingmay be established. He told theefforts should be enhance to

minimizing the human failurein train operation.

He further said that, themonitoring system of progressof construction projects shouldalso be a prime focus area asthe development/improvementof railways are very muchdependent on these projects.He told department heads toexpedite and complete thework in stipulated time man-ner in particular constructionprojects.

The safety is always be theprime focus over NorthernRailway. He reviewed the workdone over the zone in improv-ing the maintenance standardof track, welds and removal ofscrap lying near the tracks. Heinstructed the divisions onconducting drives to enhancethe safety and counsel the staffwhenever necessary andrequired. Taking on freightBusiness Development, theGM took stock of the outreachof the Business DevelopmentUnits.

He also instructed thatBDUs should create an envi-ronment of trust, support andconfidence amongst the cus-tomers. He also informed that,loading of food grains & otheritems have steadily increasedwith every passing month.

Northern Railway is com-mitted to provide safe, smoothand efficient services to itscustomers.

����� 23.��345�

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Monday brain-

stormed with global energysector leaders on the post-pan-demic world order and dis-cussed strategies for accelerat-ing investments in the oil andgas value chain.

The fourth annual meetingdeliberated on demand sce-nario as well as ways to reviveinvestment, particularly in oiland gas exploration and pro-duction, official sources said.

The meeting stretchedbeyond the allotted two hoursas Modi engaged with theindustry leaders to discussreforms and future blueprint.

The meeting, held over avirtual platform, was attendedby nearly two dozen top CEOs,including UK’s BP Plc headBernard Looney, French ener-gy giant Total’s ChairmanPatrick Pouyanne and Russianoil major Rosneft CEO IgorSechin.

Abu Dhabi National OilCo CEO Sultan Ahmed AlJaber and Qatar PetroleumPresident Saad Sherida al-

Kaabi also attended the meet-ing. The Indian side includedReliance Industries LtdChairman Mukesh Ambaniand Vedanta Resources headAnil Agarwal.

Oil cartel OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad SanusiBarkindo, International EnergyAgency Executive DirectorFatih Birol and InternationalEnergy Forum Secretary-General Joseph Mc Moniglealso attended the meet.

US LNG firm TellurianCEO Charif Souki andLyondell Basell Industries chiefexecutive Bhavesh V Patel tooparticipated in the meetingthat also saw attendance fromleading service providers suchas Schlumberger and BakerHughes.

India, the third-largest oilconsumer and fourth-largestliquefied natural gas (LNG)importer, is keen to accelerateinvestment across the oil andgas value chain, beginningwith exploration and produc-tion to midstream pipelinesand refineries and downstreamretailing and last-mile con-nectivity to consumers.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Monday dismissed aplea filed by United BreweriesHoldings Limited (UBHL) ofliquor baron Vijay Mallyaagainst an order of theKarnataka High Court uphold-ing the winding up of the firmfor recovery of dues payable byKingfisher Airlines Ltd.

A bench comprising jus-tices UU Lalit, Vineet Saranand S Ravindra Bhat refused toentertain the plea of the UBHLagainst the March 6 order ofthe high court.

The division bench of thehigh court had upheld thewinding up order passed by a single judge on February 7, 2017.

Senior Advocate MukulRohatgi, appearing for the con-sortium of banks led by the SBI,submitted that so far around�3,600 crore have been recov-ered but �11,000 crore was stillto be recovered from Mallyaand the UBHL. PTI

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Equity indices spiralled loweron Monday following heavy

losses in Reliance Industriesafter Amazon won an interimarbitration award to stall theMukesh Ambani-led firm’sacquisition of Future Group’sretail assets.

A sharp fall in the rupeeand a negative trend in globalmarkets further unnervedinvestors, traders said.

After tanking 737 pointsduring the day, the 30-shareBSE index recovered some lostground to end 540 points or1.33 per cent lower at40,145.50.

The broader NSE Niftytumbled 162.60 points or 1.36per cent to 11,767.75.

Bajaj Auto was the top lag-gard in the Sensex pack, tum-bling 6.10 per cent, followed byM&M, Reliance Industries

(RIL), Tata Steel, TechMahindra, SBI, ICICI Bankand Axis Bank.

Index heavyweight RILaccounted for most of the loss-es, sinking 3.97 per cent, afterAmazon.com Inc won an inter-im arbitration award against itspartner Future Group for sell-ing its retail business toReliance Industries for �24,713 crore.

Mumbai: The rupee depreciat-ed by 23 paise to settle at aroundfour-week low of 73.84 againstthe US dollar on Monday asmuted domestic equities andstrong American currencyweighed on investor sentiment.The local unit opened at 73.77at the interbank forex market

and lost lost further ground tohit a low of 73.88 in the daytrade. The currency finally set-tled at 73.84 against the green-back, registering a decline of 23paise — its worst single-daydecline in the past one monthand the lowest closing levelsince September 29. PTI

New Delhi: Gold prices fell �59to �51,034 per 10 grams in thenational capital on Monday,according to HDFC Securities.

The precious metal had inthe previous session closed at�51,093 per 10 gram.

Silver also tanked �753 to�62,008 per kilogram from�62,761 per kilogram in theprevious trade.

In the international market,both gold and silver were fellmarginally from their previousclose to quote at USD 1,901.30per ounce and USD 24.26 perounce, respectively. PTI

����� 23.��345�

Kishore Biyani-led FutureRetail on Monday hinted at

challenging an arbitrationorder that put a temporary holdon its �24,713 crore deal to sellassets to Reliance Industries.

Future Retail said it wasn’tparty to the agreement under which Amazon.com Inchad invoked arbitration proceedings.

Amazon, which acquiredan indirect minority stake in theretail and fashion conglomeratelast year, alleged that Future’ssale of its retail, wholesale,logistics and warehousing busi-nesses to Reliance breached itspre-existing contract, whichincluded a right of the first offer and a non-compete clause.On Sunday, the Singapore InternationalArbitration Centre restrainedFuture Retail and its foundersfrom going ahead with the saleuntil a final decision is given.

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<��*���������� �������= ��������������������*�������������-�New Delhi: As the Indian logis-tics sector returns to normaloperations after being severelyimpacted by the pandemic andthe lockdowns, sector playersfeel that digitisation is the needof the hour for the segment.

They are of the view that theNational Logistics Policy whichis currently under works woulddigitally integrate all stakehold-ers and the processes involved inthe operations. “The foremostexpectation from the NationalLogistics Policy is a digital inte-gration of the highly fragment-ed players and processes of thelogistics sector in India. Thenon-availability of such singlewindow platforms makes thelogistics sector too complicated,”said Ambrish Kumar, Founderof Zipaworld and Group CEO,AAA 2 Innovate Private Ltd.

Noting that digitisation isthe need of the hour, Kumarsaid that government shouldpromote and encourage thetech players to come forward toassist in a swift turnaround ofthe orthodox working model ofthe logistics sector. IANS

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Since the COVID pandemichas shaken the world, thenumber of daily cases report-ed is on the rise. Along with

this the addiction to screen haspicked up pace giving rise to a newpandemic — a pandemic of addic-tion to screen.

According to the World StrokeOrganisation (WSO), one in fourperson will suffer from a strokeattack in their lifetime. But a per-tinent question that has transposedthe notion of stroke risk is thatinstead of the geriatric populationbeing highly vulnerable, theyounger population is now equal-ly seen susceptible to a strokeattack.

Earlier, stroke was consideredto be a disease of the elderly (peo-ple in the age bracket of 60 yearsand above) but in recent years morestroke attacks are seen in theyounger population. A currentstudy elaborated that even thoughthe overall incidence of stroke sawa downward trend in the recentyears, there was a striking rise in theincidence of stroke among theyounger aged 25 to 45 years. Incomparison to the US, and otherdeveloped countries, India has amuch higher prevalence of strokecases among the younger group,which are almost double.

Stroke has been considered tobe one of the most common andleading causes of morbidity and dis-ability. It is estimated that, in every40 seconds someone suffers fromstroke and a person dies of strokein every four minutes globally.While increased screen time isknown to result in adverse healthoutcomes, stroke is one such com-plication that has recently beenlinked to it.

More screen time — higherthe stroke risk

According to a recent US basedstudy, the digital screen time hasbeen found to be inversely propor-tional with the life expectancy. Asper the study, for every hour of dig-ital screen time, the life expectan-cy reduces by upto 22 minutes. Theamount of screen time also hadadverse outcomes including heartattacks, stroke, and cancer.

A large scale study from theUnited Kingdom with over 40,000participants concluded that thestroke risk was significantly high-er when screen time was more thantwo hours a day. Higher physicalactivity (1 hour walk a day for sevendays a week) offered some protec-tion against the adverse effects ofprolonged screen time. In fact thecancer risk also increased with anincrease in screen time.

One develops an addiction tothe screen over a period of time andcan be looked upon similar toaddiction to recreational substances.There is a constant balance in thebrain between the center for ratio-nalisation (decision making) andthe centers for motivation andrewards. Over time, the center formotivation and reward has an

upper hand over the center forrationalisation at which point addic-tion behavior develops.

A certain chemical substancecalled dopamine increases in thebrain when an activity results in apleasurable experience. With timea person addicted to screen wouldno longer perceive his/her favoritefood, family and vacation time as apleasurable experience anymore.This is because the threshold fordopamine levels that results in arewarding experience increases.

Beyond two hours, every hourspent in front of the digital screenraises the risk of stroke by 20 percent, a major contributing factor forstroke risk among the youngerpopulation.

Researchers have found that ifone resorts to two to five minutesof physical activity for every 20minutes spent on the screen, it sig-nificantly reduces the chance ofdeveloping diabetes and obesity.

Avoid blue light emittingdevices when you go to bed. Thisreduces the amount of melatonin,a chemical substance that switchedyour brain from the wake to thesleep state. Using a device at nightwill prevent you from sleeping andin turn predispose you to a higherrisk of stroke.

With recommendations andconclusions from the studyexplained that toddlers within twoyears of age should strictly refrainfrom digital screens, and an adultaged 16+ should maximum exposeonly two hours a day to cut downon the long-term risk of stroke.

Risk of stroke in younger pop-ulation

Apart from other major factorscontributing for stroke, regularphysical inactivity also accounts forthe onset of stroke at an early age.

Regular exercise not only helps inmaintaining the overall health butalso keeps at bay a list full of dis-eases. Other major ailments that arerelated to raising the risk of strokeinclude hypertension, Diabetes andhigh cholesterol levels.

Hypertension is one of thebiggest risk factors for stroke,attributing to over 50 per cent ofischemic strokes (due to blockage)and increasing the chances of hem-orrhagic stroke (bleeding in thebrain). Thus regular exercise helpsin maintaining the blood pressurelevels, thereby reducing the risk forbrain stroke by upto 80 per cent.

As it is a well known fact thatDiabetics have a twice likely chanceto suffer from stroke, as theincreased blood sugar levels dam-ages all the major blood vessels pro-viding a gateway for onset ofischemic stroke. Regular exercisingnot only helps in controlling theblood glucose levels but also curbsdown the chances of developing astroke attack in diabetics.

A high cholesterol level in thebody is another attributing factorfor stroke. With increased levels ofLDL(bad cholesterol) the risk forplaque build up also increases caus-ing atherosclerosis. This makesthem prone to losing the integrityof their lining leading to formationof clots, which in turn can preventblood flow and lead to a stroke.Lack of physical exercise leads tomajor complications and can havedevastating effects on the vascularsystem of the brain as well.

Stroke is a reversible diseaseprovided one comes to the hospi-tal on time and the appropriatetreatment is provided. In almost 70per cent of the cases, all the symp-toms can be reduced/ reversed.

Delay of every minute in seek-ing the right treatment leads to lossof about 20 lakh brain cells andhence it becomes a time dependenttherapy. The golden window peri-od to arrive at a stroke unit shouldbe within six hours of stroke attack,delaying which would lead to irre-versible damage causing permanentdisability in around 80 per cent ofthe cases. Now with recentadvances, and imaging techniques,first 24 hours of stroke are veryimportant for reversal of the con-dition.

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Allergy occurs when a person’s immune system reacts to theexposure of any substances in the environment that are harm-

less to most people. These substances are known as allergens andare found in dust mites, pets, pollen, insects, ticks, moulds, foodsand some medications.

According to American Academy of Allergy Asthma &Immunology, people who have a genetic tendency to developallergic reactions time and again suffer from disease called Atopy.Common symptoms are allergic rhinitis, asthma and atopic der-matitis (eczema). When atopic people are exposed to allergens,they can develop an immune reaction that leads to allergic inflam-mation. It results in the release of metabolites which can havean adverse effect on the eyes, nose, throat, lungs, skin, and thegut. The risk factors due to which a child can develop allergiesare the genetic history, exposure to allergens and the duration,amount, and frequency of exposure.

Respiratory allergies and childrenAccording to WHO’s report Air pollution and child health:

prescribing clean air, every day around a staggering 93 per centof the world’s children below 15 breathe air that is so pollutedit puts their health and development at serious risk.

The immune system ofchildren is in the developmen-tal stage, lungs are still develop-ing, and their bodies are lessable to metabolise and detoxi-fy toxicants present in air pol-lution. Children inhale more airper unit of body weight thanadults, hence the exposure toallergens is more in proportionto adults. This results inimpacting them severely asthey are highly susceptible tovarious kinds of allergy.

One of the most commonallergies impacting children isallergic rhinitis. Symptomsinclude a runny and itchy nose,sneezing, postnasal drip andnasal congestion and blockage.Children with allergies alsoexhibit itchy, watery, red eyes

and chronic ear problems. Identifying and managing allergiesIdentifying allergies at an early stage is very crucial and impor-

tant. It is recommended to respond to the symptoms quickly tohelp improve child’s quality of life and their day to day produc-tivity. Visit and consult an allergist immediately when your kidshowcases such symptoms persistently. Antihistamines nosesprays, decongestants and over the counter medication is pre-scribed on a case to case basis to avoid further aggravation ofsymptoms.

Few precautions that need to be taken are to ensure keep-ing indoors clean and dust free, identify causes of allergy, espe-cially during seasonal changes, use clean cooking sources withexhaust systems and ensure children wear masks while outdoors.Continuous use of air conditioners also increases exposure hencelimit use and keep windows open for cross ventilation and cir-culation.

In these unprecedented times, medicines and lifestyle man-agement is a must to treat allergies and keep them at bay. Takeyour child to the doctor when the first symptoms appear so onecan control and manage them appropriately. The right approachwith lifestyle modifications and treatment is the key to manageyour allergies especially during the pandemic.

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������������� It is anancient medicinal herb withmultiple health benefits. It isused to tone, support, andrevitalise body functions. Ithas been revered over timefor its dual capacity toenergise and calm at the sametime.

Stress can cause fatigue,often manifesting as hypersigns like agitation anddifficulty sleeping. Byproviding a nourish-ing, yet energisingeffect, ashwagand-ha can support ahealthy nervous sys-tem.

With the use of ash-wagandha, stress doesn’timpact the nervous systemwith such intensity, and thesigns of stress and agitation

will naturally resolve over time.Due to its heating effect, a smallquantity of it can also help tocure cough and cold, which isundoubtedly the best proper-ty during the current time.

It also supports a healthyimmune system and fosterhealthy sleep patterns. It pro-motes thyroid health and prop-

er functioning of theadrenals.

We all might havehad that steamingred ulcer in our

mouth at least once in life.While one of the mostcommon reason ispoor digestion,certain medica-tion can alsoresult in cankersores.

However,it is advisableto consult adoctor if theulcer is large in sizeand lasts longer thantwo weeks, but in mild caseshome remedies work just asfine.

Take ice cubes andallow them to melt on theulcer. This will help reducethe redness and pain.

Rinse your mouth withsalt water twice a day. Thiswill help in reducing

extreme pain.Coconut oil can work

wonders. Take a spoon ofcoconut oil and rinse your

mouth with it to getrelief.

Honey isknown for itsantibacterialand anti-inflammato-ry abilities.Apply honey

on the sorethrice a day.

Canker sorescan also be a result of

a weak immune system.Zinc is a mineral that boostsyour immunity. Taking zinclozenges regularly may helpyour immune system fightoff bacteria that cause thesesores.

And last but not theleast, don’t forget to eatyogurt daily.

Canker sores are common,especially if one suffers from

poor digestion and a weakimmune system.

ROSHANI DEVI shares easyhome remedies that can helpease the pain and discomfort

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We are diligently washing our handswith soap and water every now and

then and using hand sanitisers after touch-ing any alien objects. But, are we maintain-ing the nail hygiene? We have been alwaystaught to take care of our nails and keepthem clean, but we are forgetting thesehabits. In India, all the things including eat-ing, washing clothes, utensils and evenmopping the floor are done with barehands, so it is important to keep our handsand nails clean. Nail hygiene is crucial aswithout which hand hygiene is incomplete.It’s is an integral part of our overall health.However, it is also one of the most neglect-ed aspects. While the need for washinghands and maintaining appropriate handhygiene is adequately underscored but nailhygiene often fails to get the attention itdeserves.

Practicing good nail hygiene involvesfollowing a systematic process to ensurelongevity of your nail health structure. Itincludes ensuring that food particles are notsticking to your nail for a long duration andthere is no build up of bacteria. It is impor-tant therefore to maintain healthy manicurepractices. That means washing your nails,thoroughly, sanitising under and aroundthem, and keeping them away from yourmouth (i.e. no nail biting). Having ahygienic and personal nail clipper is anoth-er critical component of nail hygiene. Mostpeople have no qualms about sharing nailclippers with others. This is however anextremely unhygienic practice. Nails har-bor abundant germs, bacteria and virusesand sharing nail clippers is tantamount toexchanging those microorganisms.

Thankfully, maintaining good nailhygiene is not a difficult task. A little dili-gence, awareness and attention is sufficientto keep your nail healthy:

Keep fingernails dry and clean, this pre-vents bacteria and fungal infections fromgrowing under your fingernails. It has beenseen that prolonged contact with water canlead to split fingernails. It’s always advis-able to wear cotton-lined rubber gloveswhen washing dishes, cleaning or usingharsh chemicals.

When you use hand lotion, rub thelotion into your fingernails and cuticles,too. Our fingernails are made up of lami-nated layers of a protein called keratin andthey grow from the area at the base of thenail under your cuticle. Healthy fingernailsare smooth, without pits or grooves.They’re uniform in colour and consisten-cy and free from spots.

Here are few ways through which onecan prevent damage of nails:

Stop biting your fingernails: It dam-ages the nail bed. A minor cut alongsideyour fingernail can allow bacteria or fungito enter and cause an infection. Plus, bit-ing nails ill transmit all the dirt and germsto your mouth.

Never pull off hangnails: Instead,carefully clip off hangnails. Refrain fromusing harsh nail care products.

Don’t have your cuticles removed —they act to seal the skin to the nail plate,so removal can lead to nail infection.

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Arobust immune system ensuresa strong inner resilience to fightall perils, and rightly so. In line

with the thought that tough times callfor tougher mindsets and strongerimmunity, Vahdam Teas, the award-winning Indian Tea and Superfoodsbrand, has launched a range ofTurmeric Superfoods Lattes & Teasforeffortlessly boosting immu-nityamidst stressful schedules.

The Ministry of AYUSH highlyrecommends Turmeric, aka theGolden Son of Ayurveda, for boost-ing immunity. Curated with specialattention to ongoing global predica-ment,Vahdam Teas, offers an exclusiverange of certified Organic and VeganTurmeric Teas and Latte Mixes.

The key active ingredient ofturmeric, ‘Curcumin’ is responsible forTurmeric's multiple life-enhancingproperties. The Turmeric range is alsoblended with black pepper which isscientifically proven to increase cur-cumin’s bio-absorption significantly,thereby dramatically increasing thebenefit of turmeric to one’s overallhealth. Balancing premium & world’sbest quality Indian Turmeric, withother time-honored healthy ingredi-ents such as ginger, ashwagandha,moringa, amongst an array of otherspices which are 100% natural, pureand caffeine free, this turmeric rangeis sure to be an inevitable element offitness in no time.

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Do you want to add glow toyour skin this festive sea-

son? Here is one importantsecret. Looking after the skinaccording to its type andneeds is the essence of a glow-ing skin. With the festive sea-son just starting, everyonewould like to look good, espe-cially after a hard year owingto the COVID pandemic. Iwould suggest everyoneshould adhere to a simple DIYregimen, from Head to Toe tofeel and look good.

�$����������������� For glowing skin on thebody, tie a mix of powderedmilk, ground almonds, ricepowder and rose petals in aclean cloth, wet it and rubgently on your face. The ingre-dients work on your skin,gently cleansing it and leavingit soft, smooth and vibrant. Italso leave the body naturallyperfumed and refreshed, feel-ing as smooth as silk.� Night time cleansing ismore important, in order toremove pollutants and makeup before bedtime. So, cleanse

the skin daily at night andrinse well with plenty of plainwater. For normal to dry skin,use a cleansing cream or gel.For oily and combinationskin, use face wash or cleans-ing lotion. � Tone the skin daily withchilled rose water, using cot-ton wool pads. Wipe andstroke the skin with them.Then, pat briskly with therosewater-soaked cotton woolpads.�Multani mitti is said to clar-ify the skin and bring about aglow. Multani mitti is a natur-al clay, which contains sever-al minerals. It is of special ben-efit to oily skins. For oily

skin, mix multani mitti withrose water into a paste andapply on the face, avoiding thelips and area around eyes.Wash it off when it is dry. Forcombination skin, apply themask on oily areas of the skin.

����������������� �� For dull hair, have a quickconditioning treatment beforeyour shampoo. Mix one tea-spoon each of Vinegar withone egg or a little almond oil.Massage into the hair. Thendo the hot towel wrap. Washhair after half an hour. It willlook smooth, thick and shiny.� To soften rough frizzy hair,mix some water with creamyhair conditioner and put it ina spray bottle. Spray the mix-ture on the hair. Then combthe hair, so that it spreadsthrough the hair� Fringes are in. The side-swept fringe is popular, or youcan part the fringe in the cen-tre. Oval and long faces lookgood with a fringe. A layeredfringe can make a large orround face look slimmer.Short fringes suit small faces.

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As the temperature starts todip and there is a definite nip

in the air, the sunroof on theHyundai Venue Sport makesimmense sense. The low, goldenlate-October light in Delhistreaming in through the sunroofmakes family drives across thegreenery of Delhi a pleasure. Thecar is certainly an eyecatcher evenin Delhi’s prime spots, the redaccents across the exterior makethe Sport version of the Venuestand out from the ordinary inthe crown. On the inside, thesame red garnish elements on theair-conditioning louvres give thatlittle extra touch that make theinteriors seem special on even thestandard daily commute.

But where the Venue Sportreally stands out is thanks toHyundai’s continued commit-ment to the diesel engine whilemeeting the stringent new BharatStage 6 emission norms, provingthat diesel still has the power toexcite. The 1.5v litre U2 CRDiengine produces 100PS of poweryet meeting the BS6 norms thatdemanded 80 per cent less par-ticulate emissions, 70 per centlower NOx emissions and 75 percent less sulphur emissions thanBS4 vehicles. Many manufac-

turers were unable to meet thesestringent norms but Hyundaiensured the Venue did. The‘Sport’ moniker on the Venue isnot just a marketing term, thepunchy engine powers the car

forward to highway cruisingspeeds rapidly, almost alwayshas power on tap for overtakingand is a real delight to drive. Yet,with careful driving, the dieselengine can deliver incredible

real-world efficiency. We foundover 17 kilometers per litre in effi-ciency. At a time when fuel costsare taking a big bite of your wal-let, the Venue Sport offers ablend, which might seem contra-

dictory to some, frugal enjoy-ment!

On the beautiful greenery ofthe capital, the Venue Sport wasa joy to drive. The combinationof looks, power and fuel econo-

my make it a combination thatwill please every buyers’ heart andmake the competition wary. If youare looking for a compact hatch-back that offers just about every-thing, don’t look any further.

With 23 per cent of couplesgoing ahead only with

the wedding ceremonies amidCOVID-19, marriage receptioncancellations in India is highercompared to other countries,according to a survey of to-be-weds in 15 countries.

However, wedding ceremo-ny cancellations in India willremain low with 76 per cent ofcouples going ahead with thechosen dates, revealed thereport by wedding technologycompany, The Knot Worldwide.

Most couples will reducethe size of their guest lists (68per cent) and hire fewer ven-

dors (60 per cent) to ensure thatCOVID-19 norms are followed.

Abiding by local rules andregulations, a vast majority ofto-be-weds (80 per cent) willencourage social distancing —between people and tables, saidthe survey.

About 90 per cent of thecouples in India will be invitingonly immediate family andclose friends. A quarter wouldwant their guests to take aCOVID-19 test ahead of theevent as a precautionary mea-sure, the results showed.

“We are glad to see thatcouples in India are staying pos-

itive and are keen to celebratetheir special day, despite thepandemic, by making necessaryarrangements and precautions,”Ankur Sarawagi, India CountryHead, said.

At the ceremony, 75 percent of Indian couples will con-duct temperature checks forattendees, said the survey.Guests will be provided withcomplete safety measures like

hand sanitisers, face masks,and members of the staff andvendors such as photographersand makeup artists will berequired to wear masks or PPEkits.

The traditional concept ofan Indian wedding, one thatspans through days, has alsochanged with 27 per cent of thecouples opting for several smallevents on one day with limitedpeople rather than several largeone-day events.

Only 40 per cent of couplesin India anticipate that theirbudget will be 25 per cent ormore lesser than what they hadoriginally planned, according tothe ‘Global COVID-19 WeddingsReport.’

The findings are based ondata among 9,767 couples whooriginally had weddingsplanned between October 2020and February 2021. The surveywas fielded in September 2020to its users.

Traversing an odyssey of the prophetof disobedience who came to beknown as a Mahatma, author and

indologist Sumathi Ramaswamy’s book,Gandhi in the Gallery: The Art ofDisobedience, published by Roli Books, isa well-researched magnum opus. Brillianterudite and deeply driven by a rare qual-ity of fine observation and criticalprowess, Ramaswamy, a James B Dukedistinguished professor of History atDuke University, has been scouring thenation, galleries, book periodicals andexhibitions to create this labour of lovethat looks at the Mahatma as a muse.

���� ��On the cover is LN Tallur’s magnif-

icent sculpture, Eraser Pro (2012, NatureMorte), which was unveiled at his historicshow in New Jersey, Interference Fringe,which seemed more like a select retro-spective of his series of definitive works.This sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi,which has been created as a dulcet frag-mentation, incomplete in its insignia anddynamic in design, is a work that keepsone pondering. Tallur loves to keep hisviewers guessing. He uses sculpture,wall pieces, interactive work and site-spe-cific installations to expose the absurdi-ties of everyday life and the anxieties thatcharacterise contemporary society. Hiswork incorporates handmade crafts-manship, found objects, organic andindustrial material. They are symbolic ofa developing India, at times, creating acorrelation between its traditional andcontemporary customs.

���� �$�����Ramaswamy reveals the many ways

in which Gandhi has served as a muse forpainters, sculptors and multimediaartistes over the decades. The secondexample in the book, which contains 131paintings, sculptures, installations andmultimedia works on Gandhi belongs tothe exhibition, Bapu@150 Years, wasexhibited at the Lalit Kala Akademi, lastyear. This acrylic on canvas by NawalKishore is a flashback to January 10, 1908,when Gandhi was arrested for the firsttime, as he refused to carry an obligato-ry ID card in South Africa. Gandhi: An

Untold Story retraces when he was arrest-ed for the breach of the registration lawand was later clapped into prison for thesame. The following month he wasreleased after an understanding wasmade with the government. A few dayslater, he was severely beaten up by a com-patriot, who accused him of betraying theIndian cause. Kishore creates Mahatmawith mask and wings. The mask was usedas a metaphor for being silenced in thefight for recognition of exploitation andsubjugation.

�����������Yet another powerful image in the

books is that of Gigi Scaria. It is a mor-phed photograph of Devi Prasad

Chowdhury’s perennial sculpture of theDandi March in Delhi, which was con-ceptualised many years ago and execut-ed by DG, NGMA, Adwaita Gadanayak.

Scaria turns around the figures that fol-low Gandhi with the question — "Whodeviated first?”

Scaria explained the analogy. "The

2010 work (digital print on archivalpaper) is based on the iconic GyarahMurti sculpture in Delhi by Devi PrasadRoy Chowdhury that depicts the DandiMarch led by Mahatma Gandhi in 1930.I was part of a group of artists whoretraced that route in 2010, to commem-orate 80 years of the iconic march.Gandhi had conceived this as a non-vio-lent protest against the colonial saltlaws. In my photograph, I have the 10leaders walking in the opposite direction,who ask the viewers — When did wedecide to deviate from the path? Gandhihas been relevant in different times in his-tory but in our quest to reach highergoals, we have forgotten his ideals. Theroute we take to attain and assert freedomalso matters. But that freedom comes withresponsibility, and we need to be answer-able for our actions. It is not just aboutthe people who lead. Today, our nationis taking over us. To be willing to killsomeone with the rationale that you areprotecting Mother India is entirely wrong.This tragic understanding of the nationwill only kill freedom, it can’t lead to it,"he said.

������������Ramaswamy creates some immeasur-

able and unending islands of thought andcontemplation. From MF Hussain, AtulDodiya, Upendra Maharathi to RamRahman’s famous image of BhupenKhakar, sitting in the lap of a Gandhi stat-ue in Delhi, the book is a collectible,rather, a souvenir, that every book and his-tory lover must invest in.

One of Ramaswamy’s aims is tobring to light the labour of art that an artistputs in creating Mahatma. She wrote inher introduction, "Gandhi is unarguablythe most analysed Indian of the 20th cen-tury, and my fellow historians and othersocial scientists have produced an enor-mous body of important scholarship onthe man and his movement from whichI have benefitted. But the deep suspicionof the image that is ingrained across theSocial Sciences, and indeed, an unfound-ed conviction regarding its irrelevance, hasmeant that the labour of art in producingthe phenomenon that we name theMahatma has been largely ignored.”

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Delhi Capitals wouldlook to complete the

unfinished business andseal their place in the playoffs whenthey take on Sunrisers Hyderabad ina crucial Indian Premier Leaguematch here on Tuesday.

Two back-to-back defeatsagainst Kolkata Knight Riders andKings XI Punjab must be hurting butDC need to shrug it off and add twopoints to take their tally to 16,which will elevate them to the top ofthe table.

On the other hand, Sunrisers’hopes to reach the playoffs arehanging by a thread. David Warnerand his men occupy the penultimatespot with eight points from 11 out-ings.

To reach the qualifiers theymust win their remaining threegames and hope all other results gotheir way.

The Capitals possess an explo-sive batting department as well as aformidable bowling unit. They havenot been dependent on any one per-son, as different players have raisedtheir hands at different points oftime to deliver the goods forthe team.

However, apart fromShikhar Dhawan, the Delhibatsmen have been veryinconsistent in the last threegames.

In the winagainst CSK,Dhawan, whoscored a century,did the heavy lift-ing with the bat.

The senioropener againnotched up ahundred againstKXIP but with nosubstantial con-tributions fromthe other bats-men Delhi lostthe game.

Against KKR, the

Delhi batsmen crumbledunder pressure, managingto put up only 139 runs in20 overs while chasing194.

Opener Prithvi Shaw, who hasbeen going through a lean patch, wasreplaced by Ajinkya Rahane but tono avail as the senior Indian playerperished without opening hisaccount.

Rishabh Pant and ShimronHetmyer have also struggled sincetheir return to the playing XI.

The South African pace duo ofKagiso Rabada (23 wickets) andAnrich Nortje (14) has been excep-tional. Tushar Deshpande andRavichandran Ashwin’s performancehas been erratic in recent matches,while Axar Patel has done well to suf-focate the opposition teams.

Sunrisers head into the clashafter a demoralising loss. Chasing amodest 127 against KXIP, the com-plexion of the match changed follow-ing the dismissal of openers Warnerand Jonny Bairstow in quick succes-sion.

The former champions lost fivewickets in the final two overs to suf-fer a humiliating defeat.

The team heavily relies on itsbatting unit, mainly on Bairstow,Warner and Manish Pandey.Vijay Shankar did well in thewin against Rajasthan Royals

but couldn’t replicate his perfor-mance against KXIP.

The bowling unitstrengthened by theinclusion of JasonHolder was outstandingin the previous gameand skipper Warnerwill desperately hope

they put up a similardisplay against Delhi.

The OrangeArmy will also take

confidence fromthe fact thatthey defeatedDelhi earlier inthe tourna-

ment.

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Alexander Zverev made it back-to-backATP Tour titles when he beat Diego

Schwartzman 6-2, 6-1 in the final of theCologne Championship.

Zverev hit nine aces, saved the onlybreak point he faced and converted fiveof his own to beat the French Open semi-finalist. The first set was over in 38 min-utes, the second in just 33.

“It’s getting better. I’ll be back to mybest form soon,” Zverev said, referring toproblems with his hip.

“I didn’t know two days ago if I couldfinish the tournament. I’m happy I did-n’t give up.”

It’s Zverev’s 13th title overall, and thethird time the US Open finalist has wonback-to-back titles after wins inWashington and Montreal in August2017, and Munich and Madrid the pre-vious May.

The German gotthe better of FelixAuger-Aliassime towin last week’s

C o l o g n eIndoors finalfor his 12thtitle.

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Dejan Kulusevski came off the bench to rescuea point as champions Juventus, playing with-

out Cristiano Ronaldo, were held to a third SerieA stalemate at home against Hellas Verona onSunday. Portuguese forward Ronaldo remainsabsent after testing positive for coronavirus withJuventus preparing for next week’s ChampionsLeague tie against Barcelona in Turin.

“We had a too wait-and-see first half, we weren’tvery aggressive with the midfielders but we had themost dangerous opportunities,” said Juventus

coach Andrea Pirlo.Substitute Andrea Favilli put

Verona ahead after an hour in Turin butSwedish forward Kulusevski rescued

Pirlo with 13 minutes to go.“In the second half after the goal

there was a good response, but weshouldn’t need a slap in the face towake us up.

“When you play againstVerona it’s hard for everyone, butwe could have done better.”

To add to Pirlo’s problemsbefore hosting Barcelona, defend-er Leonardo Bonucci went offwith a thigh problem. VeteranGiorgio Chiellini is already out.

The nine-time reigningchampions are fifth in Serie A,three points behind leaders ACMilan, who host Roma onMonday.

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India head coach RaviShastri and his support

staff have all arrived inDubai and entered thebio-bubble as they getready for the team’s two-month tour of Australianext month.

Shastri, batting coachVikram Rathour, bowlingcoach Bharath Arun andfielding coach R Sridharhave all reached fromtheir respective homecities on Sunday.

“The head coach andhis team arrived yester-day. They are now in iso-

lation and getting theirthree mandatory RT-PCRtests done. There is a sep-arate bio-bubble createdfor the support staff alongwith Cheteshwar Pujaraand Hanuma Vihari,” asenior BCCI source privyto development told PTI.

It is expected thatonce Pujara and Vihariend their six-day isolationperiod, they will be train-ing at the ICC Academy.

Sri Lankan throw-down expert Nuwan andIndia’s Raghu will be help-ing out the two Test spe-cialists during their train-ing session while their

teammates complete theirIPL engagements.

Vihari was in factdoing his nets along withSridhar in Hyderabad andPujara was training at hisown academy in Rajkotafter most of the lock-down restrictions werelifted.

India is expected totravel with a 30-membersquad across three for-mats for their tour ofAustralia with another20-odd support staffwhich will make it ajumbo 50-plus contin-gent touring DownUnder.

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England’s World Cup-winning all-rounder

Ben Stokes says outsidenoise used to affect himin his younger days butnow he pays no heed toit as he has realisedthat team and peoplearound hold moreimportance.

Rajasthan Royalsrode on Stokes’ spec-

tacular 107 off 60 ballsand an unbeaten 54 by

Sanju Samson to chasedown a stiff 196-run targetset by Mumbai Indianswith 10 balls to spare onSunday.

Asked how he dealtwith the ups and downs as a

cricketer in the last couple

of years, Stokes said: “Outsidenoise can affect people in differ-ent ways, when I was younger itaffected me.

“It took me a while to under-stand that outside noise isn’twhat matters. It is all aboutwhat’s within the team or peoplewho have an influence on you,on your career,” he told team-mate Samson in a videouploaded on IPLT20.Com.

Stokes, who had missed theinitial matches of the IPL to bewith his ailing father Ged in NewZealand, was elevated to therole of an opener by the Royalsbut he struggled in his newposition initially.

The Royals, however, persist-ed with the plan and the movefinally paid dividends againstMumbai Indians as Stokes wasback to his destructive best,smashing 14 fours and three

sixes in his unbeaten knock.Stokes was delighted to

repay the faith the team hasshown in him over the years.

“I have had backing fromeveryone at the franchise, Iknow I haven’t delivered to theexpectations of that but havingthat backing from the peoplethat matter in the franchise isreally the thing that I sort ofpride everything on. It’s good toreturn the faith,” Stokes said.

The comprehensive eight-wicket win keeps the inauguralseason champions alive in therace for the playoff spot.

“To beat a team like Mumbaiby eight wickets is fantasticespecially considering themomentum that Mumbai prob-ably carried in with the inningsthat Hardik played. Some specialstriking. So, yeah great to get awin,” he added.

�� ����� Fans are expected tobe allowed into the MelbourneCricket Ground for the block-buster Boxing Day Test betweenAustralia and India, officials saidon Monday in a major boost forthe series.

Australia’s second largest cityhas been under a coronaviruslockdown for months, and onSunday a decision was made to barspectators at next week’sMelbourne Cup horse race.

But on Monday officialsannounced an easing of restric-tions after no new daily or deaths,

opening the door to some goodnews for cricket fans.

“The Boxing Day Test ofcourse is very different (to theMelbourne Cup) because that issome way off,” Victoria state pre-mier Daniel Andrews toldreporters.

“I am very confident that wewill get a crowd at the MCG forthe Boxing Day Test. I don’t knowhow big it will be but there will bea crowd, that’s the advice that Ihave, that’s what we’re workingtowards.” More than 80,000 peo-ple attended day one of last year’sBoxing Day Test when NewZealand were playing.

Andrews’ comments are alsogood news for tennis fans with theAustralian Open due to be held inthe city from January 18-31 andorganisers desperate to welcomespectators. AFP

Johannesburg: Cricket SouthAfrica’s 10-member Board ofDirectors has resigned, clearingthe decks for an interim admin-istrative structure in the crisis-ridden body as sought by thecountry’s olympic committee.

Six directors, including for-mer acting president BeresfordWilliams, had stood down fol-lowing a meeting on Sunday.The remaining four quit onMonday.

“After the Members’Council had deliberated andresolved that in order to bestserve the interest of cricket inSouth Africa, the entire Board

should resign — which they did.All Independent and Non-Independent Directorshave now resigned,” CSAsaid in a statement onTwitter on Monday.

“Following theMembers’ Council meet-ing held yesterday, 25October 2020, theMembers’ Councilreceived and accepted res-ignations from Board mem-bers.”

The developmentcomes just days before thestart of the domestic seasonon November 2. PTI

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Kings XI Punjab dished out adisciplined bowling show,

especially at the back-end, torestrict Kolkata Knight Riders toa modest 149/9 in their IPLmatch here on Monday.

Mohammed Shami (3/35)was the pick of the Kings XIPunjab bowlers while leg-spin-ner Ravi Bishnoi (2/20) andChris Jordan (2/25) claimedtwo wickets apiece to put brakeson KKR who were invited to batfirst.

After a familiar jittery start,KKR got the momentum goingwith opener Shubman Gill (57off 45 balls) and skipper EoinMorgan (40) firing all cylindersinside the Powerplay.

But KXIP’s last match heroJordan pulled things back for histeam by brilliantly mixing up hisslow deliveries, while Bishnoitook the prized scalp of Morganafter KKR reached 54/3 insidethe Powerplay.

Morgan holed out toMurugan Ashwin at deep squareleg as Bishoi ended the freeflow-

ing partnership for 81 runsfrom 47 balls and from thenonwards KKR struggled to getgoing.

Earlier, KKR had anothermessy start and looked in deeptrouble at 10/3 inside two oversafter Shami’s exceptional first

over.But Morgan and Gill

counter-attacked beautifully,getting the boundaries and sixes.The duo made full use of thePowerplay restrictions andShami conceded 21 runs fromhis third over.

Gill showed his sheer classand timing, smacking Shami forback-to-back sixes.

This was after opener NitishRana got out for a golden duckand Shami dismissing RahulTripathi (7) and Dinesh Karthik(0) in the space of three balls.

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India’s limited-over vice-captain and senioropener Rohit Sharma was on Monday left

out of all three squads for the tour ofAustralia due to a recurring hamstringinjury which is set to rule him out of theremaining part of the Indian PremierLeague as well.

In Rohit’s absence, KL Rahul will beVirat Kohli’s deputy in the white ballteams. Rohit picked up the injury during theongoing IPL in the UAE.

Pacer Mohammed Siraj is the fifthspeedster in the Test squad while KolkataKnight Riders’ mystery spinner Varun

Chakravarthy has made it to the T20I squad.Fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who is nurs-

ing a muscle tear, and Rohit will be moni-tored by the BCCI medical team.

There weren’t any surprises save forChakravarthy’s inclusion in the T20 squadafter his stellar show for KKR in the cur-rent IPL. He has already picked up a five-for and has a total of 12 scalps to his cred-it this season so far.

THE SQUADST20I squad: Virat Kohli (C), ShikharDhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (VC& wk), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, HardikPandya, Sanju Samson (wk), Jadeja,

Washington Sundar, Chahal, Bumrah,Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar,Varun ChakravarthyODI squad: Virat Kohli (C), Dhawan,Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (VC & wk),Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, HardikPandya, Mayank Agarwal, Jadeja, Chahal,Kuldeep Yadav, Bumrah, Shami, NavdeepSaini, Shardul ThakurTest squad: Virat Kohli (C), MayankAgarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Pujara,Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), HanumaVihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha(wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Bumrah, Shami,Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, KuldeepYadav, Jadeja, Ashwin, Siraj.

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