µ# $cU :_UZR_d YRgV 4`gZU R_eZS`UZVd¶ - Daily Pioneer

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J harkhand Rajya Gramin Bank Chairman Sunil Vinayak Jhode and Piyush Bhatt met Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday at the Chief Minister’s residential office. Jhode and Bhatt hand- ed over a cheque of 36.39 lakh to the CM for “Chief Minister Relief Fund”. They jointly praised the Chief Minister’s determination and proactive- ness in the preparations for the third wave and prevention of the second wave of the global pandemic by the State Government. They said the State Government has done a good job of overcoming the chal- lenges faced in the second wave of corona infection. He said before the Chief Minister that under his leadership, the State Government has worked with commitment to stop the spread of Covid-19 from the very beginning, which is commendable. This amount given by the Jharkhand State Gramin Bank family for the “Chief Minister’s Relief Fund” will be used for the control of corona infection in the State. On the occasion, the CM appreciated the contribution of Jharkhand Rajya Gramin Bank in the development of the State. Soren thanked the Jharkhand State Gramin Bank family for their cooperation in this era of global pandemic corona infec- tion. Vinay Kumar Choubey, Secretary to the Chief Minister, Sanjay Kumar, AGM, Jharkhand State Rural Development Bank were pre- sent on the occasion. It is to be known that the outgoing Chairman of Jharkhand Rajya Gramin Bank, Sunil Vinayak Jhode, has left for the New Delhi office of State Bank of India today by handing over the charge to the newcomer Chairman Piyush Bhatt due to transfer after promotion. J harkhand managed to vacci- nate hardly 15,000 residents against Covid-19 on Tuesday owing to the crisis of vaccines in the state. As per provision- al data released by the National Health Mission (NHM), at least 11,254 residents were administered the first jab, while 3,975 beneficiaries received the second dose on the day. As per NHM records, it took three days for the state to vaccinate 50,000 residents this week. The vaccination figures were way below the daily tar- get set by the health depart- ment and a majority of vaccine beneficiaries had to rely on pri- vate facilities to get the jabs this week, officials involved in the immunisation campaign said. The active caseload of Covid-19 dropped in the state on Tuesday after the state reporting a steady rise in cases in the past couple of days. As per a bulletin released by the NHM, as many as 33 fresh cases of coronavirus infection surfaced in the state in the past 24 hours, while at least 49 Covid patients recovered dur- ing the same period. The active caseload in the State dropped to 320 on the day. At least nine districts — Pakur, Koderma, Khunti, Gumla, Godda, Giridih, Garhwa, Dumka and Chatra — did not report fresh Covid cases on the day, while almost all the 24 districts witnessed a dip in the active caseload, NHM data highlighted. Fresh cases, however, out- numbered recoveries in Bokaro and the active caseload there rose to 33. The district report- ed eight cases against three recoveries on the day. Ranchi, on the other hand, reported one fresh case and the same number of recoveries. Two persons were found infected in East Singhbhum, while eight Covid patients recovered there. The state did not report fresh Covid casualties on Tuesday and the mortality rate in Jharkhand remained 1.47 per cent against the national average of 1.30 per cent. Covid- 19 has claimed 5,122 lives in Jharkhand so far. Jharkhand on Tuesday test- ed swab samples of 53,185 res- idents and 0.06 per cent of them were found infected by the deadly virus. So far, over 3.46 lakh people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the State and 98.43 per cent of them have recovered. The State did not report fresh cases of Covid-induced mucormycosis on Tuesday. As per Government data, Jharkhand has so far reported 100 confirmed and 59 suspect- ed cases of the fungal infection. Black fungus has claimed at least 30 lives in the State, while 95 patients have recovered from the disease, notified as an epi- demic by the Government. W orks initiated and com- pleted under the Nilambar Pitambar Jal Samriddhi Yojana in Jharkhand are now visible on the ground. Under this scheme, Loose Boulder Check Dams have been built near the hills and hundreds of villages across the State. This has helped in con- trolling the free flow of rain- water and has increased groundwater levels. Additionally, the construction of Trench-cum-Bund (TCB) has helped in the conservation of rainwater. With the con- struction of irrigation wells under MGNREGA, farmers are now involved in plantations using drip irrigation facilities on a large scale. In the previous financial year, more than 25,000 acres of land was covered under Birsa Harit Gram Yojna, whereas in the current financial year, more than 21,000 acres of land is being covered under the same scheme. Villagers are taking initiative to conserve water by joining the Government’s scheme; this in turn has helped increase agricultural produc- tion and the prosperity of the villages. The State Government had launched the Nilambar- Pitamber Jal Samridhi Yojana a year ago. The scheme is being executed across 4,000 Panchayats in the State. In many districts, land plots marked as barren fields are now spreading greenery. The scheme has helped increase the groundwater level across the State. Apart from this, workers in rural areas have also been provided with employment opportunities in their respec- tive villages and Panchayats. Under Nilambar-Pitamber Jal Samridhi Yojna, a target of implementing 3,32,963 schemes was set in the State. Against this, 1,97,228 schemes have already been completed. Work is in progress for the remaining 1,35,735 schemes. The condition of rural areas has improved a lot due to the implementation of this scheme. In many areas, even barren lands are being used for culti- vation with the help of water conservation. A substantial part of Jharkhand is a plateau, where most of the rainwater flows away. Apart from this, many districts like Latehar, Garhwa and Palamu face water crisis. To address the issues of the water crisis and provide employment to the rural population, the government led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren rolled out Nilambar Pitambar Jal Samriddhi Scheme. T he fourth round of the national sero survey con- ducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) that covered 70 districts across 21 States in June-July showed that two-thirds of the country’s pop- ulation aged above six has devel- oped antibodies against the coronavirus. The findings imply that a third of the population did not have antibodies against the Covid-19 which means that about 40 crore Indians are still vulnerable to the virus. Releasing the findings of the survey, the Director- General, ICMR, Dr Balram Bhargava, said on Tuesday that the latest national sero survey included children between six and 17 years of age and it was found that two-third of the general population, i.e., above the age of six years had SARS- CoV-2 infection. This was the first time that children above six years were included in the national sero prevalence survey. The highest sero-preva- lence was found in the age group 45-60 years (77.6 per cent), followed by those above 60 years (76.7 per cent) and those in the age group 18-44 years (66.7 per cent). In the sur- vey, children were divided into two age groups: 6-9 years and 10-17 years. Sero-prevalence in the 6-9 years category was 57.2 per cent and in the 10-17 years category, it was 61.6 per cent. Dr Bhargava said implica- tions of the fourth sero survey clearly showed that there was a ray of hope, but no room for complacency. “We must maintain Covid- appropriate behaviour and community engagement. The national-level sero survey is not a substitute of the State/ district-level sero surveys,” he added. T he third part of the Pegasus telephone snooping report released on Tuesday showed that ahead of the toppling of the Congress-JD(S) Government in Karnataka, telephones of several important leaders of the ruling alliance and their staffers were under surveillance. These include the likes of Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara and the per- sonal secretaries of Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Former Prime Minister and JD(S) president HD Deve Gowda’s security officer Manjunath Muddegowda’s phone number was also tar- geted for snooping. The report published by The Wire portal suggested that the surveillance took place during July 2019, when the BJP was planning to topple HD Kumaraswamy’s coalition Government in Karnataka. The BJP’s operation to top- ple the JD(S)-Congress bore fruit with the defection of 17 MLAs during this period. The report also said that this peri- od also coincides with the selection of a new phone num- ber that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi used after discarding an earlier one he had been operating, and which had been on the list of potential spyware targets since 2018. “I was surprised to know that Pegasus compromised my phone when I was Deputy Chief Minister and that of Siddaramaiah and the Chief Minister’s secretary. The snooping activity by Pegasus is highly condemnable... Without the permission of the Government of India, either the Ministry of Home or the PM’s office, they cannot do it. I am sure that the Government is involved. I condemn this... They have misused their power to topple Governments in this country,” said Parameshwara. The phone number of for- mer Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s personal secre- tary Venkatesh was also added in the same period. Sources close to Siddaramaiah said that the former Chief Minister has- n’t been using a personal phone for many years, and relies on his aides for phone conversations. Therefore, the selection of Venkatesh’s phone number as a potential target for surveillance in this period assumes immense significance, said the report. Paris: Prosecutors in Paris said Tuesday that they had opened a probe into allegations that Moroccan Intelligence services used the Israeli surveillance software Pegasus to spy on several French journalists. The investigation will examine ten different charges, including whether there was a breach of personal privacy, fraudulent access to personal electronic devices, and crimi- nal association. Investigative website Mediapart filed a legal com- plaint on Monday over the spying claims, which Morocco has denied, and the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine has said it plans to do so as well. A collaborative investiga- tion by The Washington Post, The Guardian, Le Monde and other media outlets, based on a leaked list of 50,000 phone numbers, claimed Monday that spying worldwide using the technology from the NSO Group had been far more extensive than previous- ly thought. Mediapart revealed that the phones of its founder Edwy Plenel and one of its journalists were among those targeted by Moroccan intelligence services. In an article published Monday, it said that Morocco had “violated the privacy of two journalists, undermined the profession of informing people and the freedom of the media, stolen and exploited personal and profes- sional data.” T he Supreme Court on Tuesday termed “wholly uncalled for” the Kerala Government’s relaxations for Eid-al-Adha (Bakrid) in areas with high Covid-19 positivity rate and said giving in to pres- sure from traders discloses a “sorry state of affairs”. Pressure groups of all kinds, religious or otherwise, cannot in any man- ner interfere with the most pre- cious fundamental right to life of all the citizens of the coun- try, the apex court said. The apex court directed the Kerala Government to give heed to Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution and follow the law laid down in its orders passed in UP Kanwar Yatra matter. While hearing the Uttar Pradesh Kanwar Yatra matter on July 16, the top court had observed that all sentiments, including religious, are sub- servient to the Right to Life. A Bench of Justices RF Nariman and BR Gavai noted it is “extremely alarming” that in category D areas, where infec- tion is the highest at 15 per cent, a full day of relaxation was granted in Kerala on Monday. “The aforesaid facts dis- close an alarming state of affairs. To give in to pressure groups so that the citizenry of India is laid bare to a nationwide pandemic disclos- es a sorry state of affairs,” the Bench said. I n a major boost to indigeni- sation, the Government on Tuesday floated a global tender for construction of six sub- marines in the country. These submarines will be built under the Strategic Partnership (SP) model where in Indian manu- facturers will tie up with for- eign builders for production here. The deal is worth over Rs 50,000 crore. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in June this year had approved the floating of the tender. The public sector Mazagaon Docks Limited (MDL) and private player Larsen and Toubro were select- ed for the mega project. They will now tie up the foreign original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to build the diesel powered submarines within the country. Five glob- al giants are in the race for bag- ging the big-ticket deal. Giving details of the latest order, Defence Ministry offi- cials said here on Tuesday the Government has issued Request of Proposal (RFP) or tender for the first acquisition programme under the Strategic Partnership Model for con- struction of six air independent propulsion (AIP) fitted Conventional Submarines named Project 75(India) [P-75(I)].

Transcript of µ# $cU :_UZR_d YRgV 4`gZU R_eZS`UZVd¶ - Daily Pioneer

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Jharkhand Rajya GraminBank Chairman Sunil

Vinayak Jhode and PiyushBhatt met Chief MinisterHemant Soren on Tuesday atthe Chief Minister’s residentialoffice. Jhode and Bhatt hand-ed over a cheque of �36.39 lakhto the CM for “Chief MinisterRelief Fund”. They jointlypraised the Chief Minister’sdetermination and proactive-ness in the preparations for thethird wave and prevention ofthe second wave of the globalpandemic by the StateGovernment.

They said the StateGovernment has done a goodjob of overcoming the chal-lenges faced in the second

wave of corona infection. Hesaid before the Chief Ministerthat under his leadership, theState Government has workedwith commitment to stop thespread of Covid-19 from thevery beginning, which is commendable.

This amount given by theJharkhand State Gramin Bankfamily for the “Chief Minister’sRelief Fund” will be used forthe control of corona infectionin the State.

On the occasion, the CMappreciated the contribution ofJharkhand Rajya Gramin Bankin the development of the State.Soren thanked the Jharkhand

State Gramin Bank family fortheir cooperation in this era ofglobal pandemic corona infec-tion. Vinay Kumar Choubey,Secretary to the Chief Minister,Sanjay Kumar, AGM,Jharkhand State RuralDevelopment Bank were pre-sent on the occasion.

It is to be known that theoutgoing Chairman ofJharkhand Rajya Gramin Bank,Sunil Vinayak Jhode, has leftfor the New Delhi office ofState Bank of India today byhanding over the charge to thenewcomer Chairman PiyushBhatt due to transfer after promotion.

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Jharkhand managed to vacci-nate hardly 15,000 residents

against Covid-19 on Tuesdayowing to the crisis of vaccinesin the state. As per provision-al data released by the NationalHealth Mission (NHM), atleast 11,254 residents wereadministered the first jab, while3,975 beneficiaries receivedthe second dose on the day.

As per NHM records, ittook three days for the state tovaccinate 50,000 residents thisweek. The vaccination figureswere way below the daily tar-get set by the health depart-ment and a majority of vaccinebeneficiaries had to rely on pri-vate facilities to get the jabs thisweek, officials involved in theimmunisation campaign said.

The active caseload ofCovid-19 dropped in the stateon Tuesday after the statereporting a steady rise in casesin the past couple of days. Asper a bulletin released by theNHM, as many as 33 freshcases of coronavirus infectionsurfaced in the state in the past24 hours, while at least 49Covid patients recovered dur-ing the same period. The activecaseload in the State droppedto 320 on the day.

At least nine districts —Pakur, Koderma, Khunti,Gumla, Godda, Giridih,Garhwa, Dumka and Chatra —

did not report fresh Covidcases on the day, while almostall the 24 districts witnessed adip in the active caseload,NHM data highlighted.

Fresh cases, however, out-numbered recoveries in Bokaroand the active caseload thererose to 33. The district report-ed eight cases against threerecoveries on the day. Ranchi,on the other hand, reportedone fresh case and the samenumber of recoveries. Twopersons were found infected inEast Singhbhum, while eightCovid patients recovered there.

The state did not reportfresh Covid casualties onTuesday and the mortality ratein Jharkhand remained 1.47per cent against the nationalaverage of 1.30 per cent. Covid-

19 has claimed 5,122 lives inJharkhand so far.

Jharkhand on Tuesday test-ed swab samples of 53,185 res-idents and 0.06 per cent ofthem were found infected bythe deadly virus. So far, over3.46 lakh people have testedpositive for Covid-19 in theState and 98.43 per cent ofthem have recovered.

The State did not reportfresh cases of Covid-inducedmucormycosis on Tuesday. Asper Government data,Jharkhand has so far reported100 confirmed and 59 suspect-ed cases of the fungal infection.Black fungus has claimed at least30 lives in the State, while 95patients have recovered fromthe disease, notified as an epi-demic by the Government.

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Works initiated and com-pleted under the

Nilambar Pitambar JalSamriddhi Yojana in Jharkhandare now visible on the ground.Under this scheme, LooseBoulder Check Dams havebeen built near the hills andhundreds of villages across theState. This has helped in con-trolling the free flow of rain-

water and has increasedgroundwater levels.Additionally, the constructionof Trench-cum-Bund (TCB)has helped in the conservationof rainwater. With the con-struction of irrigation wellsunder MGNREGA, farmersare now involved in plantationsusing drip irrigation facilitieson a large scale.

In the previous financialyear, more than 25,000 acres ofland was covered under BirsaHarit Gram Yojna, whereas inthe current financial year, morethan 21,000 acres of land isbeing covered under the samescheme. Villagers are taking

initiative to conserve water byjoining the Government’sscheme; this in turn has helpedincrease agricultural produc-tion and the prosperity of thevillages.

The State Government hadlaunched the Nilambar-

Pitamber Jal Samridhi Yojanaa year ago. The scheme is beingexecuted across 4,000Panchayats in the State. Inmany districts, land plotsmarked as barren fields are nowspreading greenery. Thescheme has helped increase the

groundwater level across theState. Apart from this, workersin rural areas have also beenprovided with employmentopportunities in their respec-tive villages and Panchayats.

Under Nilambar-PitamberJal Samridhi Yojna, a target ofimplementing 3,32,963schemes was set in the State.Against this, 1,97,228 schemeshave already been completed.Work is in progress for theremaining 1,35,735 schemes.The condition of rural areas hasimproved a lot due to theimplementation of this scheme.In many areas, even barrenlands are being used for culti-

vation with the help of waterconservation.

A substantial part ofJharkhand is a plateau, wheremost of the rainwater flowsaway. Apart from this, manydistricts like Latehar, Garhwaand Palamu face water crisis. Toaddress the issues of the watercrisis and provide employmentto the rural population, thegovernment led by ChiefMinister Hemant Soren rolledout Nilambar Pitambar JalSamriddhi Scheme.

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The fourth round of thenational sero survey con-

ducted by the Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR) thatcovered 70 districts across 21States in June-July showed thattwo-thirds of the country’s pop-ulation aged above six has devel-oped antibodies against thecoronavirus. The findings implythat a third of the population didnot have antibodies against theCovid-19 which means thatabout 40 crore Indians are stillvulnerable to the virus.

Releasing the findings ofthe survey, the Director-General, ICMR, Dr BalramBhargava, said on Tuesday thatthe latest national sero surveyincluded children between sixand 17 years of age and it wasfound that two-third of thegeneral population, i.e., abovethe age of six years had SARS-CoV-2 infection. This was thefirst time that children abovesix years were included in thenational sero prevalence survey.

The highest sero-preva-lence was found in the age

group 45-60 years (77.6 percent), followed by those above60 years (76.7 per cent) andthose in the age group 18-44years (66.7 per cent). In the sur-vey, children were divided intotwo age groups: 6-9 years and10-17 years. Sero-prevalence inthe 6-9 years category was 57.2per cent and in the 10-17 yearscategory, it was 61.6 per cent.

Dr Bhargava said implica-tions of the fourth sero surveyclearly showed that there wasa ray of hope, but no room forcomplacency.

“We must maintain Covid-appropriate behaviour andcommunity engagement. Thenational-level sero survey is nota substitute of the State/district-level sero surveys,” he added.

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The third part of the Pegasustelephone snooping report

released on Tuesday showedthat ahead of the toppling of theCongress-JD(S) Governmentin Karnataka, telephones ofseveral important leaders of theruling alliance and their stafferswere under surveillance. Theseinclude the likes of DeputyChief Minister GParameshwara and the per-sonal secretaries of ChiefMinister HD Kumaraswamyand former Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah.

Former Prime Ministerand JD(S) president HD DeveGowda’s security officerManjunath Muddegowda’sphone number was also tar-geted for snooping. The reportpublished by The Wire portalsuggested that the surveillancetook place during July 2019,when the BJP was planning totopple HD Kumaraswamy’scoalition Government inKarnataka.

The BJP’s operation to top-ple the JD(S)-Congress borefruit with the defection of 17MLAs during this period. Thereport also said that this peri-od also coincides with theselection of a new phone num-ber that Congress leader RahulGandhi used after discardingan earlier one he had beenoperating, and which had beenon the list of potential spywaretargets since 2018.

“I was surprised to know

that Pegasus compromised myphone when I was DeputyChief Minister and that ofSiddaramaiah and the ChiefMinister’s secretary. Thesnooping activity by Pegasus ishighly condemnable... Withoutthe permission of theGovernment of India, eitherthe Ministry of Home or thePM’s office, they cannot do it.I am sure that the Governmentis involved. I condemn this...They have misused their powerto topple Governments in thiscountry,” said Parameshwara.

The phone number of for-mer Congress Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah’s personal secre-tary Venkatesh was also addedin the same period. Sourcesclose to Siddaramaiah said thatthe former Chief Minister has-n’t been using a personal phone for many years,and relies on his aides forphone conversations.

Therefore, the selection ofVenkatesh’s phone number as apotential target for surveillancein this period assumes immensesignificance, said the report.

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Paris: Prosecutors in Paris saidTuesday that they had openeda probe into allegations thatMoroccan Intelligence servicesused the Israeli surveillancesoftware Pegasus to spy onseveral French journalists.

The investigation willexamine ten different charges,including whether there was abreach of personal privacy,fraudulent access to personalelectronic devices, and crimi-nal association.

Investigative websiteMediapart filed a legal com-plaint on Monday over thespying claims, which Moroccohas denied, and the satiricalweekly Le Canard Enchaine hassaid it plans to do so as well.

A collaborative investiga-tion by The Washington Post,

The Guardian, Le Monde andother media outlets, based ona leaked list of 50,000 phonenumbers, claimed Monday thatspying worldwide using thetechnology from the NSOGroup had been far more extensive than previous-ly thought.

Mediapart revealed thatthe phones of its founder EdwyPlenel and one of its journalistswere among those targeted byMoroccan intelligence services.

In an article publishedMonday, it said that Moroccohad “violated the privacy of twojournalists, undermined theprofession of informing peopleand the freedom of the media, stolen andexploited personal and profes-sional data.”

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The Supreme Court onTuesday termed “wholly

uncalled for” the KeralaGovernment’s relaxations forEid-al-Adha (Bakrid) in areaswith high Covid-19 positivityrate and said giving in to pres-sure from traders discloses a“sorry state of affairs”. Pressuregroups of all kinds, religious orotherwise, cannot in any man-ner interfere with the most pre-cious fundamental right to lifeof all the citizens of the coun-try, the apex court said.

The apex court directed theKerala Government to give heedto Article 21 (protection of lifeand personal liberty) of theConstitution and follow the lawlaid down in its orders passed inUP Kanwar Yatra matter.

While hearing the UttarPradesh Kanwar Yatra matteron July 16, the top court hadobserved that all sentiments,including religious, are sub-servient to the Right to Life. ABench of Justices RF Narimanand BR Gavai noted it is“extremely alarming” that incategory D areas, where infec-tion is the highest at 15 percent, a full day of relaxation wasgranted in Kerala on Monday.

“The aforesaid facts dis-close an alarming state ofaffairs. To give in to pressuregroups so that the citizenry ofIndia is laid bare to a nationwide pandemic disclos-es a sorry state of affairs,” theBench said.

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In a major boost to indigeni-sation, the Government on

Tuesday floated a global tenderfor construction of six sub-marines in the country. Thesesubmarines will be built underthe Strategic Partnership (SP)model where in Indian manu-facturers will tie up with for-eign builders for productionhere. The deal is worth over Rs50,000 crore.

The Defence AcquisitionCouncil (DAC) chaired byDefence Minister RajnathSingh in June this year hadapproved the floating of thetender. The public sectorMazagaon Docks Limited(MDL) and private playerLarsen and Toubro were select-ed for the mega project.

They will now tie up theforeign original equipmentmanufacturer (OEM) to buildthe diesel powered submarineswithin the country. Five glob-al giants are in the race for bag-ging the big-ticket deal.

Giving details of the latestorder, Defence Ministry offi-cials said here on Tuesday theGovernment has issuedRequest of Proposal (RFP) ortender for the first acquisitionprogramme under the StrategicPartnership Model for con-struction of six air independent propulsion (AIP)fitted Conventional Submarines named Project75(India) [P-75(I)].

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Even as people are strugglingwith Covid-19 pandemic, a

sudden rise in the cases of sea-sonal diseases has now startedscaring the common people.

With the ever-increasingnumber of vector-borne dis-eases in the city and surround-ing districts, the health depart-ment has sounded alert aboutseasonal diseases.

Long queues of patients canalso be seen at MGM MedicalCollege and Hospital in Sakchiand Sadar Hospital at Khasmahalon Tuesday morning.

An OPD survey at state-owned MGM Medical Collegeand Hospital and biggest privatehospital of region Tata MainHospital has indicated the num-ber of patients with viral feverand cold has increased rapidly inthe past few days due to the tem-perature difference. Senior doc-tor of MGM Medical Collegeand Hospital said rain also posesthreat to asthma patients whoprefer to go out in wee hours forjogging or a walk.

He advised it is better forasthma patients to avoid goingout during early hours for walks.Diabetics, heart and asthmapatients, children and pregnantwomen have less immunity.They should be very cautiousduring this season.

Dr UK Srivastava said dis-

eases like malaria, dengue, flu,diarrhoea, and fevers havingsymptoms similar to that ofCovid-19 are spreading. A sim-ple cold or cough is causingunnecessary anxiety not only inthe patient but also his familymembers. For example, the onlydifference in the symptomsbetween Covid-19 and com-mon flu is that the patient loseshis sense of taste and smell in theformer but in the latter case,these two are normal.

According to experts, sud-den change in temperaturehave led to the rise in cases ofviral fever with several varioushealth centers receivingpatients with ailments like sorethroat, cold, cough, fever andpulmonary distress.

An official said the numberof patients with viral fever andcold has increased immensely atMGM Medical College andHospital and Tata Main Hospital(TMH) in the past few days dueto the decreasing temperature.

The district health depart-ment has received applicationsmentioning the possibility ofhealth related problems if ade-quate measures are not takenon time. Local social organisa-tions and political parties havetaken up the issue with thehealth department but so far,nothing worth visible is thereon ground as far as measuresare concerned.

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Association of BritishScholar (ABS) Jamshedpur

chapter organised an interac-tive session with wildlife filmmaker Ashwika Kapur for thestudents of several schools inJamshedpur. Schools that par-ticipated in this interactive ses-sion were KSMS, MNPS, KPSKadma, Mount Litera ZeeSchool and JH Tarapore.

Kapur, who connectedthrough virtual mode, spokeabout her experiences and moti-vated children to take activeinterest in wildlife. A wildlifefilm maker and Science com-municator, Aswika is India’syoungest and only woman towin a Green Oscar in the Globalcategory. Also called a Pandaaward , it is the InternationalGold standard for environ-mental filmmaking.

Over the years Ashwika’swork has taken her to work inseveral parts of the world. Shehas worked with Netflix,Discovery Channel, BBC,Animal Planet and severalother platforms. Her latest pro-jects include Attenborough’sLife in Colour and anInternational Conservationchildren’s series called ‘PlantDefenders’ that she is directingand hosting for BBC. She won

the Best Emerging filmmakeraward for a rags to riches filmabout a celebrity KAKAPO-Sirocco.

She is a professional pub-lic speaker and regularly deliv-ers wildlife talks in India andthe UK to inspire young mindsto discover the wonders of thenatural world.

Ashwika was invited by themembers of the ABS(Association of British Scholars)

Jamshedpur chapter, to interactwith the students of severalschools in Jamshedpur. Schoolsthat participated in this inter-active session were KSMS,MNPS, KPS Kadma, MountLitera Zee school , JH Tarapore.

Ashwika inspired the chil-dren to conserve wildlife. Hergreatest achievement is whenshe can move someone andmake a difference in some-body’s life.

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Center for Environment andEnergy Development

(CEED) on Tuesday organ-ised a webinar to bring togeth-er a diverse stakeholders fromJamshedpur and Chaibasa dis-tricts on a common platform toengage in a solution orienteddiscussion on identifying cer-tain pollutions hotspots andclusters and bring in relevantpreventing measures to ensurea better air quality in theregion.

The webinar was organisedunder the aegis of Clean AirImplementation Network(CAIN) with the objective to

ensure a collaborative discus-sion on range of issues aroundclean air and most important-ly bringing various voices andconcerns of local communitiesto document pollution hotspotsand its pilferages, and furthergenerate public momentum toimplement air pollution relat-ed mitigation measures effec-tively. The webinar witnessedparticipation of prominent civilsociety organisations, academ-ic experts, think-tanks and cit-izen groups from these cities.

Highlighting importanceof a multi-stakeholderapproach with collective visionfor ensuring clean and breath-able air, Naveen Mishra, head-

operations at CEED said, “Acoordinated and convergenceeffort in planning and imple-mentation mechanisms withengaging all key stakeholders isimportant to bring sizeablechange on the ground. Webelieve capacitation activitiesfor all concerned agencies andorganisations is crucial toenable them to evaluate and actfor reducing the risk caused byair pollution. CAIN, as a com-mon platform, is working inthis direction and creating cit-izen agendas with farsightedapproach with raising publicawareness to strengthen theefforts on ensuring healthyenvironment in the state.”

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Vice-Chancellor, VinobaBhave University, Prof (Dr)

Mukul Narayan Deo, launchedthe website of University LawCollege on Monday.

The website will always bethe first source of informationfor the students. Not only willit help the Bar Council ofIndia and NAAC, but also thenew students will be benefited.This website will also allow thestudents to take a virtual tourof the campus.

The Principal of the college,

Dr Jaydip Sanyal has been mak-ing sincere efforts for so manyyears for the overall develop-ment of the college. He said thatwww.ulcvbu.in will be beneficialfor the college’s works. He alsoadded that they have alreadytravelled a long way in startingthis campus, yet many mile-stones are still to be covered.

On this occasion, Dr JaydipSanyal, Principal, ULC; FinanceOfficer Dr Amitabh Samant;Learned Advocate BhaiyaMukesh; Faculty Members ofULC Sidhant Chandra and DrImran Ahmed were also present.

University Law Collegeorganised a tree plantation activ-ity at its campus. Five saplingswere planted by Vice-Chancellor,Prof. (Dr.) Mukul Narayan Deo;Registrar, Dr MK Singh;Superintendent of Police, KarthikS; Principal, ULC, Dr JaydipSanyal, RUSSA Director Dr CSSingh; PIO, Dr Pramod Kumar.Vice-Chancellor presented amemento to Superintendent ofPolice Karthik S. Many planta-tions were done in the last yearas well and we are looking formore and more plantation,added Vice-Chancellor.

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Swayamsiddha Ladies Club,Coal Mining HQ, Ranchi

distributed essential food items,utensils, crockeries, umbrel-las, bedsheets, towels, fruits &toiletries with COVID essen-tials like masks and soaps to theresidents of Old Age Homenear Ormanjhi, located out-skirts of Ranchi as part of CSRinitiative on Tuesday.

On this occasion, ParthaMazumder, Regional ExecutiveDirector (Coal Mining), NTPCCoal Mining Headquarters &Mahua Mazumder, President,Swayamsiddha Ladies Clubshared their happiness to be partof the noble initiative.Mazumder advised that in thesetesting times of pandemic, we

should all be vigilant and alertand should follow COVIDappropriate behaviour especial-ly taking care of old age homepeople who are most vulnerable.

A medical check-up campfor inmates of old age was con-ducted on this occasion, underthe guidance of Dr KabibarPadhan, CMO and Dr PSukumar Reddy, Pakri BarwadihCoal Mining project. Forty peo-ple were medically examinedwith most people having agerelated problems like Joint pain,generalized weakness, anaemia& hypertension. Proper medicaladvice was given to the patientson staying fit and healthy in thisage and taking due precaution tostay away from Covid 19. FreeMedicines were also given to theinmates of the Old Age Home.

The CSR initiative by theLadies club was appreciated bycoordinator and beneficiaries ofthe old age home. The wholeinitiative was carried out underthe inspiration and guidance ofPartha Mazumder, RegionalExecutive Director (CoalMining), NTPC Coal MiningHeadquarters & MahuaMazumder, President,Swayamsiddha Ladies Club.

On this occasion SaongouriDutta, General Secretary,Gangotri Das, Treasurer ReshmaBehera, Cultural Secretary werepresent from SwayamsiddhaLadies Club. On this occasionWilson Abraham, AGM (HR),Tanmoy Dutta , DGM (HR) andAmit Kumar Behera ,SeniorManager (Corporate Commun-ication) were also present.

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Binod Behari Mahto Koylanchal University ( BBMKU)is all set to hold its first convocation on July 22. The university was established four years ago. Carved

out from Vinoba Bhave University ( VBU) in 2017, itwould be the first but virtual convocation of theBBMKU in which chancellor Ramesh Vaish ànd chiefminister Hemant Soren would participate virtually fromthe state capital. Both would address students virtuallyduring the convocation.

The main function is to be held at CIMFR audito-rium during which 51gold medalists of different depart-ments would be given away the medals and rest gradu-ates and post graduates would be handed over degreesat respective institutions.

Full dress rehearsal of the concocational parade washeld on Monday in which VC AK Srivastava, registrarMK Singh, MLA Raj Sinha besides top functionaries ofthe University and teachers took part. This would beshown during the convocation day .

Most interesting part of the convocation is the con-vocation dress . Both the dignitaries as well as recipientswould wear Gandhi cap instead of the traditional squareconvocational cap. Specially bandi with the logo ofUniversity has also been provided to those who wouldrelieve gold medals during the convocation.

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In view of Bakrid (Eid-ul Azha)security has been beefed up across

Bokaro district. A team of cops led bySDPO Purushttom Kumar Singh conducted flag march at Chasand appealed for peaceful completionof the festivals.

The district police have deployed additional police forces atsensitive places.

Cops are instructed to tackle alladverse situations and keep strongsecurity arrangements. Patrolling hasbeen intensified to avert any untowardincidents in the districts, a police offi-cial said.

“Cops also asked to keep vigil onanti-social elements, including motor-bike riders inside the city as well as onthe entry point in the cities. Miscreantswould be dealt with strictly and nocompromise will be made in provid-ing security to the people,” he added.

“No one will be allowed to take lawin their hand at any cost”, he added.

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Awoman passenger wasallegedly raped by an auto-

rickshaw driver here last night.The complainant, a 50 year oldwoman in the Pindrajora areaof Bokaro, had taken the auto-rickshaw around 8 pm to go toher daughter’s home located onthe outskirts of the town.

Police sources said thewoman got information thather daughter’s health had sud-denly worsened. After hearingthe message, woman boarded theauto of Dinesh Kumar, familiarauto driver from Pindrajorapolice station area and movedtowards Chas Mufassil police sta-tion area on Dhanbad-Tata high-way to see the sick daughter.

Police sources said whenthe woman started entering the

Chas Mufassil police stationarea, the auto driver stoppedthe auto at a secluded place andforcibly took the woman out ofthe auto. Then the intoxicatedauto driver took the woman tothe middle of the bush on theroadside by pressing her faceand forcibly committed theincident of rape. After thisincident, the auto driver fledwith the auto. Somehow thewoman came out of the bushand reached the road.

Meanwhile, patrolling partyof the police passing through thespot saw the woman moaning inpain. The police took the victimwoman to Sadar Hospital andadmitted her, where she is under-going treatment. She said andadded that a case of rape andcriminal intimidation had beenregistered.

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The ongoing fight betweenthe Kunti and Baccha fac-

tions of Janata Mazdoor Sangh(JMS), for over a decade, endedwith the Registrar of tradeunions of Jharkhand givingrecognition to the Kunti factionas real JMS. The registrar issueda certificate to this effect on July16 /21 ending all suspicions andinformed joint GeneralSecretary of the JMS SiddharthGautam here while addressingthe media here today.

Showing the certificateissued by the registrar of tradeunions , Gautam son of formerJharia MLA Kunti Singh andlate Surajdeo Singh and broth-er of Sanjeev Singh said, nowany one missing name of thetrade union ,its logo and letter-head would face legal actionfrom JMS. He was hitting out atestrànged uncle Baccha Singh,brother of late Jharia MLASurajdeo Singh and father ofGautam who had formed a fac-tion in his name and was run-ning a parallel organisation.

The registrar has madeclear that there is one JMS andthat is being led by Kunti Singh,wife of late Surajdeo Singh, saidGautam. Gautam , who also ismember of JBCCI-XI on behalfof central trade union HindMazdoor Sabha to which theJMS has affiliation too clarifiedthat the registrar of tradeunions had directed that thosetrade unions that were regis-tered earlier Bihar to get reg-istered with Jharkhand byOctober 31, 2019.

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Nilamber Pitamber univer-sity today had a harrowing

time when only a dozen overaged and underaged studentsheld the university officials, vis-itors and a couple of retiredteachers hostage for more thanthree hours allowing none to goout nor anyone to come insidethe administrative building ofthe university said sources.

Sources said there was aposse of police force of thetown outpost 4 but it was sansmagistrate which saw the policeforce remaining a mute spec-tator to this drama of hostage.

The AISF had held this agi-tation which could have beenwell handled by the policeadministration but it just didnothing precious.

Proctor of the universityDr KC Jha said the demands ofthe student body AISF are

bizarre in the sense that it can’tbe done right on the spot.

Controller of the universi-ty examinations Dr S K Pandaysaid one of the demands is thatthere should be a wholesale gal-loping promotion in the UGlevel which will be in contra-vention of the rules and regu-lations of the examination.

These two officers said theuniversity is always consideratetowards the students but theyjust indulge in such activitiesthat hamper the work.

Sources said again in thecovid pandemic time such agi-tation where covid appropriatebehaviour is given a big tossputs the agitationists and theofficers and others in the uni-versity at life’s perils.

The university shouldknock at the district adminis-tration to declare its campus ano agitation zone till the covidpandemic.

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State on Tuesday receivedover 2.13 lakh doses of

Covishield vaccine a day priorto the scheduled date of deliv-ery, but most of theGovernment-run session sitesremained non-operational onthe day owing to the ongoingcrisis of vaccines, health offi-cials said.

“The 2,13,340 Covishield

doses, which were supposed toreach us tomorrow(Wednesday), were deliveredtoday (Tuesday). We are alsoexpecting more than 30,000Covaxin doses tomorrow,” StateImmunisation Officer, Dr AjitPrasad said.

“The fresh lot of vaccineswill be distributed among thedistricts by tomorrow morning,and the vaccination drive islikely to regain pace onWednesday,” he added, claim-ing that Jharkhand was expect-ing around 10 lakh more dosesof vaccines this month.

Residents, however, had a

tough time to book slots at ses-sion sites and get inoculated forthe second consecutive dayowing to the vaccine crisis on Tuesday.

As per data available on theCo-Win portal, only 263 of the3,377 Government-run ses-sion sites opened their doorsfor beneficiaries on the day,while as many as 16 private hospitals offered vacci-nation service.

No Government-run ses-sion sites were operational inRanchi for the second day in arow. As per Co-Win portal,only three private vaccination

centres and military hospitalhad slots available in Ranchi onthe day.

While vaccination at threeprivate facilities — MedicaDiagnostics Centre, MedicaHospital and Paras Hospital —were paid, slots at MilitaryHospital were only open forArmy personnel.

The situation was worse inEast Singhbhum, where onlyone private vaccination centre,Red Cross Hospital, was openon the day for paid jabs,revealed data on Co-Win plat-form. In Dhanbad too, onlyAsarfi Hospital was open for

paid vaccination on the day,while no session sites were operational in Bokaroand Chatra.

Four Government-run ses-sion sites were, however, openin Deoghar district.

As per data shared byNational Health Mission(NHM), the state had as manyas 45,370 doses of vaccinesbefore the vaccination processbegan on Tuesday.

Jharkhand, as per NHMdata, has received over 82 lakhdoses of Covishield andCovaxin from the Centre so far.The state has administered

over 83.54 lakh doses, includ-ing Russian vaccine Sputnik V,which was procured separate-ly by private hospitals.

Jharkhand has alreadyreceived more than half of the25 lakh Covishield andCovaxin doses promised by theUnion Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare in July.

The vaccine supply sched-ule for the month of August isyet to be released by the Centre,officials said.

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Inner Wheel ClubSwarnrekha Ranchi cele-

brated its fifth Foundation Daywith fervor on Monday atHarmu auditorium. The func-tion started by lighting thelamp by former district presi-dent Sarita Prasad, former IASofficer Suchitra Sinha, presi-dent Neeta Narayan and sec-retary Mala Srivastava. At thesame time, Rinku Banerjeeworshiped Ganesha with hermelodious voice.

Former president of theclub, Deepa Chauhan, handedover the charge of 2021-22 toNeeta Narayan, duly wearing a pin.

After taking charge, theclub’s president Neeta Narayanexpressed gratitude to all themembers of her club. She alsowelcomed all the visitingguests. At the same time, theplans to be done during histenure were kept among themembers of the club and sheappealed to all the members toparticipate enthusiastically inthe programmes.

The programme was joint-ly conducted by NupurShashank and Suprita Lal in anexcellent manner.

Club President NeetaNarayan then handed over thecharge to her club officer by pin-

ning them, which first includ-ed Vice President NamrataKumar, Secretary MalaSrivastava, Treasurer SandhyaPrakash, ISO, Soma Bhaduriand Club Editor Neeta Shekhar.After that, she handed over hercharge to the executive mem-

bers including Neelam Akhouri,Ambuja Sharan, Suprita Lal,Rinku Banerjee.

Chief guest Sarita Prasadinstalled 11 new members,including Anshu Sahay,Poonam Sakhuja, KaminiBharti, Ragini Singh, Sushma

Pandey, Padma Banka, KiranBala Singh, Neeta Verma,Padma Banka, Shipra Banerjee,Dr. Aditi Nandi, who broughtgreat pride to Innerwheel ClubSwarnrekha Ranchi.

The programme went verysmoothly. Club Vice PresidentNamrata Kumar proposed thevote of thanks. Club editorNeeta Shekhar said that the pro-gramme was very successful andthe support of all the membersof the club was immense.

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The Jharkhand Governmenthas accused the Border

Roads Organisation (BRO) ofhaving no respect for life anddignity of migrant workerswhom BRO engaged in itsprojects in tough terrains acrossthe country.

In a strongly worded lettersent to director general of BROLt Gen Rajeev Chaudhary onJuly 16; the principal secretaryof Labour, Employment,Training and SkillDevelopment Pravin KumarToppo alleged that BRO hasfailed to comply with mutual-ly agreed terms for employinglabourers from Jharkhand.

The Hemant Soren led

government, which isquite concerned about themigrant labourers hasasked the BRO to sharedetails of the number oflabourers hired fromJharkhand along withtheir monthly fixed wagesand the number of labour-ers who have lost theirlives on duty.

What particularlyworries the chief ministeris the media reports tellinghorrific stories of precar-ious living and workingconditions of migrantworkers who are working onthe BRO projects in the toughterrains like Ladakh, HimachalPradesh and Uttarakhand. Agood number of labourers have

died due to natural calamitieswhile on the duty. For instance11 labourers died inUttarakhand in an avalanchestorm in April this year. During

the nationwide lockdownlabourers alleged that theywere left in lurch by BRO and labourers wereevacuated by the state gov-ernment.

Jharkhand govern-ment has demanded a pre-cise detail of the number ofmigrant labourers workingat the BRO as casual paidlabourers as the BRO refersto a vague data that showsthousands of migrantworkers working as casu-al paid labourers (CPLs)with BRO since March

2021. Besides, the governmenthas also sought details of labour-ers who had died betweenMarch 2020 and June 30 2021due to COVID-19 pandemic

whether or not they were givencompensation.

The Labour secretaryreminded BRO that last yearBRO and state government hadmutually agreed upon termsand conditions of engagementof CLP labourers fromJharkhand. Toppo expresseddispleasure that BRO is nothonouring the agreement.Labourers are inadequatelypaid, they live in poor conditions and they are hired bymiddlemen.

As per the agreementsigned on June 13, 2020 for theengagement of paid labourersfrom 2021-22 onwards, it wasdecided that BRO will apply forregistration in Jharkhand as anestablishment. BRO had agreed

to follow provisions ofJharkhand’s Inter-State MigrantWorkmen Act-1979 for induct-ing 11815 workers as CLP. TheJharkhand government point-ed out that migrant workersfrom Dumka are hired forBRO projects through middle-men which is a violation of themutually agreed terms.

The government hasinquired as to when BROintends to apply beforeJharkhand government as anemploying establishment underInter-State Migrant WorkmenAct 1979/Occupational SafetyHealth and WorkingConditions Code- 2020 andwhen BRO plans to share draftsof the MoU for discussionwith Jharkhand.

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AICC secretary and MLADipika Pandey Singh on

Tuesday shot a letter to chiefminister Hemant Sorendemanding a high level inquiryinto a recent controversy intothree Sanskrit schools denyingregistration to Muslim studentsfor Madhyama examination.

Singh who representsMahagama assembly con-stituency as the Congress MLAsaid that this is a high time totake strong action otherwise itwill promote a dangerous trendof the communalisation ofeducation.

She said that after the mat-ter came to light the HRDdepartment suspended a prin-cipal whereas the show causenotice was issued to principalsof two other affiliated schools.

“As per the media reportthese principals were verballyinstructed by Kaushal Mishra;the coordinator of JharkhandAcademic Council (JAC) not totake admission of Muslim stu-dents and it has also come tolight that in 2019 also Sanskritschools principals were verbal-ly instructed to discourageadmission of Muslim students.Strangely no action has beentaken against Mishra and JAC

has maintained a silence on thisissue. This is an attempt of thecommunalization of educationthat never happened inJharkhand earlier. This is againstthe fundamental rights of theconstitution and also right toeducation,” Pandey said.

West Singhbhum districtadministration suspendedVeena Kumari, principal ofChaibasa Government SanskritSchool whereas principals ofSanskrit schools namelyGanesh Kumar of AdivasiSanskrit Uccha Vidyalaya atChakradharepur and DushasanMahto of Adivashi SanskritUccha Vidyalaya at Budhiguttuto explain as why affiliation totheir school should not becancelled.

They allegedly had stoppedadmission on verbal instruc-tion of Mishra who is report-ed to have told principals thatsince Muslims don’t read Vedasand there is Madarsha boardfor them hence minority stu-dents should not be enrolled inSanskrit schools.

After the controversyflared-up JAC hastily clarifiedthat no such verbal and writteninstruction has been given toschools and Sanskrit schoolscan’t reject any student on thereligious ground.

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On the phone hacking of theleaders, media personnel

by the Modi Governmentthrough the Israel spywarePegasus, Jharkhand PradeshCongress Committee (JPCC)Chief, Dr Rameshwar Oraon,while addressing a press con-ference at Congress Bhawan, inthe State Capital on Tuesdaysaid that this step by the BJPGovernment is a threat tonational security and is killingfundamental rights and consti-tutional duties in broad daylight.

“Just as the informationabout the hacking of the phoneof Congress leader, RahulGandhi, including some formerUnion Minister, present andformer Journalists, officials ofSecurity Forces and others hascome to the fore. This showshow the Modi Government isviolating privacy. This cannothappen without the consent ofthe Prime Minister and theHome Minister of the Country.Therefore, their role should befully investigated, the people ofthe Country also want to know

that the Indian Governmentbought this illegal spyware byspending thousands of crores ofrupees,” said Oraon.

JPCC Working presidentcum media in-charge, RajeshThakur, Keshav MahtoKamlesh, Manas Sinha, JPCCSpokesperson Shamsher Alam,Rakesh Sinha, organization in-charge Ravindra Singh,Amulya Neeraj Khalkho werepresent in the press conference.

The JPCC Chief said thatevery issue which is related toNational security, the ModiGovernment and its Ministershave been misleading the peo-ple of the Country. “Even todaythe new IT Ministers tried tomislead the Parliament, whichis wrong in the interest of theCountry. The people of theCountry also need to knowwhy the Modi Governmentwas spying on its citizens andpolitical leaders,” he added.

Oraon said that JPCC willhold a march to the Raj Bhavanon July 22 to demand a judicialinquiry into the incident andthe resignation of HomeMinister, Amit Shah.

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Rural DevelopmentSecretary, Manish

Ranjan on Tuesday direct-ed the officials that devel-opmental and welfareschemes to be completedin a timely manner as perthe target and called forthe need to pay specialattention to rural liveli-hood empowerment.

Ranjan reviewed theprogress of various schemesimplemented by JharkhandState Livelihood PromotionSociety (JSLPS).

He along with JSLPS ChiefExecutive Officer (JSLPS)Nancy Sahay had a direct dis-cussion with various officers related to the imple-mentation of National RuralLivelihood Mission (JRLM),Johar, Women FarmersEmpowerment Project andDrip Irrigation Project. He alsosaid that take steps to increasethe turnover of the producercompanies under Johar.

Instructing to bring therequired speed in the imple-mentation of the Johar project,Ranjan said that Johar is a timebound project, which needsattention for monitoring toachieve its goals in time. Hestressed on the need to increase

the number of producer com-panies formed by the Joharproject and expressed concernover the turnover of the pro-ducer companies.

He directed to take neces-sary action to provide moreopportunities to the farmers forthe sale of products underJohar. At the same time, hedirected work to take theturnover of the producer com-panies formed under Johar toRs 100 crore as per the project target.

The Rural DevelopmentSecretary also directed toincrease the number of mastertrainers to take the activities ofhigh value agriculture under theJohar Project and to make itmore effective by ensuring thequality of training. Expressingdissatisfaction over the imple-mentation of lift irrigation pro-

ject under Johar,he directed toensure that thebenefits of irriga-tion projects reachthe rural house-holds as per thetarget. He said towork on the needto make the localproducer groupsaware for themaintenance ofthe irrigation unit.

Ranjan, while appreciatingthe home delivery service offresh vegetables throughAajeevika Farm Fresh, operat-ed in Ranchi under NationalRural Livelihood Mission,directed to start it in other dis-tricts and add Palash productsto it. There is a need to increaseorganic farming in the state ona large scale and certificationshould also be ensured so thatfarmers can get better prices fortheir products. RuralDevelopment Secretary Dr.Manish Ranjan said that moreattention is needed on creditlinkage to make the sisters ofSakhi Mandal financiallystrong. At the same time, theSecretary directed to take nec-essary steps to open DidiCanteen in the office of RuralDevelopment Departmentlocated at FFP Bhawan.

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Jharkhand will give a platformto tribal designers from all

over the world, said Minister ofScheduled Tribes, ScheduledCastes, Backward ClassesWelfare, Champai Soren, whileholding a virtual meeting withdesigners of many countries ofIndia and the world here onTuesday.

Soren said, “We shouldnot consider design merely asart, it is the charioteer of thechariot of development. A bet-ter design can give directionand height to development.”The Minister asked all thedesigners to prepare suchdesigns for the development of

the tribal society of Jharkhand,especially in the field of edu-cation, culture, health tourism,traditional knowledge percep-tion, livelihood and skill devel-opment, so that developmentcan get a new direction.Congratulating Sudhir Horo ofTribal Forum, the Ministersaid that this has been possibledue to his efforts.

On the occasion, 35designers from Patna,Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata,Bangalore and other places ofthe country, including DeborahJama from London, PrashantKokle from Finland, AnupamPoorti from Dubai, participat-ed in the virtual meeting.Neelima Topno on Education,Archana Shefali on Research,Usha Barla on Health,Shobharani Lakra onLivelihood. Sudhir Horo con-ducted the meeting.

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The Central Government onTuesday yet again made it

clear that it will not includecaste wise data on populationother than Scheduled Castes(SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST)in the national census. TheMinistry of Home Affairs saidthis decision has been taken asa “matter of policy”.

Responding in the LokSabha, the MHA noted that arequest for the collection ofcaste data in the Census hadbeen made by some StateGovernments.

“The State Governments ofMaharashtra and Odisha haverequested to collect caste detailsin the forthcoming Census.The Government of Indiadecided as a matter of policynot to enumerate caste wisepopulation other than SCs andSTs in Census,” the MHA saidin the Lok Sabha.

In March this year too, the

Governmenthad informedParliament thatit was not plan-ning to releasethe data oncaste Censuscollected as partof the 2011

exercise.The then Minister of State

for Home had told the RajyaSabha that the Socio-Economicand Caste Census (SECC),2011, was carried out by theMinistry of Rural Development(MoRD) and the then Ministryof Housing and Urban PovertyAlleviation (HUPA) in ruraland urban areas of the country,respectively.

“The raw caste data hasbeen provided to the Ministryof Social Justice andEmpowerment (MoSJE) forclassification and categorisationof the data. As informed byMoSJE, there is no proposal torelease the caste data at thisstage,” the minister had statedin a written reply to a question.

Later, reports had suggest-ed that the Government haddecided not to update theSECC as the CentralGovernment was not keen onmaintaining caste data in theregistry.

!�����31��� �� ��������� �� �� �4��5� New Delhi: The Supreme

Court on Tuesday in a 2:1majority verdict upheld thevalidity of the 97thConstitutional amendment thatdeals with issues related toeffective management of coop-erative societies but struckdown a part related to their set-ting up and functioning.

A Bench of Justices R FNariman, K M Joseph and BR Gavai said, “We have struckdown part IX B of theConstitution related to coop-erative societies but we havesaved the amendment”.

Justice Nariman said,“Justice Joseph has given apartly dissenting verdict andhas struck down the entire97th constitutional amend-ment”.

The 97th constitutionalamendment, which dealt withissues related to effectivemanagement of co-operativesocieties in the country waspassed by Parliament inDecember 2011 and hadcome into ef fect f romFebruary 15, 2012.

The change in theConstitution has amendedArticle 19(1)(c) to give pro-tection to the cooperativesand inserted Article 43 B andPart IX B, relating to them.

While Article 19(1)(c)guarantees freedom to form

association or unions orcooperative societies subjectto certain restrictions, Article43 B says that States shallendeavour to promote volun-tary formation, autonomousfunctioning, democratic con-trol and professional man-agement of cooperative soci-eties.

The Part IX B of theConstitution inserted by 97thamendment deals with incor-poration, terms of membersof board and its office bear-ers and effective managementof cooperative societies.

The Centre has contend-ed that the provision does notdenude states of their powerto enact laws with regard tocooperatives.

The apex court’s verdictcame on the Centre’’s pleachallenging the Gujarat HighCourt’’s 2013 decision strik-ing down certain provisionsof the 97th constitutionalamendment while holdingthat Parliament cannot enactlaws with regard to coopera-tive societies as it is a statesubject.

The top court also exam-ined a question whether theprovision denuded states oftheir exclusive power to enactlaws to deal with manage-ment of cooperative soci-eties.

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Despite the hullabaloo overthe issue during the sec-

ond wave of Covid-19, it turnsout, States and UTs did notreport any death due to lack ofmedical oxygen. Informing thisto the Rajya Sabha, theGovernment on Tuesday alsocountered the Opposition alle-gations of suppressing actualCovid death figures saying theCentre only compiles and pub-lishes the data sent in by theState Governments.

“We haven’t also told any-one to show fewer numbers (ofdeaths) or less positive cases.There’s no reason for that,” thenew Health MansukhMandaviya said during a shortduration discussion on theissue of Covid management inthe Rajya Sabha.

His deputy, the Minister ofState for Health BharatiPraveen Pawar, for her part, in

a written reply said: “All statesand UTs report cases anddeaths to the Union HealthMinistry on a regular basis.However, no deaths due tolack of oxygen have beenspecifically reported by Statesand UTs.”

But there was an unprece-dented surge in demand formedical oxygen during thesecond wave and it peaked atnearly 9,000 MT compared to3,095 MT in the first wave fol-lowing which the Centre had tostep in to facilitate equitabledistribution among the states,she said.

Responding to theOpposition members’ criticismof the handling of the Covidpandemic by the government,Mandaviya made a point-by-point counter to all allegationsand enlisted how medical oxy-gen and API supplies wereaugmented, how vaccinationproduction was increased and

how the ongoing vaccinationdrive is going on. He said tech-nology transfer to several com-panies has started and they willbegin production in the com-ing days to reduce vaccineshortage in the country.

Mandaviya also allayedapprehensions and categori-cally said It is not appropriateto say that the Covid third wave

will hit children more, citingthe experience of the previouswaves.

On Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s initiative ofasking the masses to beat uten-sils or clap hands and lightdiyas, Mandaviya cited theexample of his doctor daugh-ter and said such acts hadindeed inspired frontline war-

riors like her.Initiating the discussion,

Leader of Opposition in RajyaSabha Mallikarjuna Khargesaid that the Government’sCovid-19 death toll figure of 4-5 lakh is “false” and conserva-tive and claimed the averagenumber of deaths cannot beless than 52.4 lakh so far in thecountry.

TMC MP Shantanu Sensaid that during the secondwave, people were dying on theroads because of the scarcity ofoxygen and this has happenedin the 21st century, which is a“matter of shame”.

Amar Patnaik of the BJD,however, said the world is fac-ing a pandemic after 100 yearsand no government was pre-

pared for this. But DMK’sTriuchi Siva said, “Had thisMPLAD fund not been sus-pended, the 800 MPs wouldhave taken up thousands ofhospitals and provided fundsfor manufacturing of oxygenunits.”

CPI (M)’s ElamaramKareem raised his concernover the job loss of 12.2 croreIndians during the lockdown,citing data from CMIE whileSP’s Ram Gopal Yadav sug-gested the government toincrease the spending on healthfrom the current 1.2 per cent ofGDP to 3.5 per cent in the next3-4 years.

BJP MP Swapan Dasguptasaid: “In handling the pan-demic the role of the state hasbecome paramount.” ManojKumar Jha (RJD) said it was acollective failure of the gov-ernments from 1947 till now as

no dispensation focused oncreating healthcare facilities totake care of such a pandemic.

Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena)alleged that while the pan-demic was spreading in thecountry, the government wasbusy sending vaccines and oxy-gen abroad.

A total of 26 membersspoke from 21 parties. Thenearly five-hour long discus-sion on Corona pandemic inthe Rajya Sabha signaled nor-malcy after one and half day ofdisruptions starting Monday.The smooth conduct onTuesday came about afterChairman M Venkaiah Naiduand Leader of the HousePiyush Goyal held discussionswith opposition leaders includ-ing Anand Sharma and JairamRamesh(Congress), DerekO`Brien(TMC) and TiruchiSiva(DMK).

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With the Covid situationeasing significantly in

the country, the United Stateshas eased travel restrictionsfor India, lowering it fromthe highest Level 4, whichmeans no travel, to Level 3,which urges citizens toreconsider travel.

According to US statedepartment’s advisory, theCenters for Disease Controland Prevention (CDC) hasissued a Level 3 Travel HealthNotice for India due toCovid-19, indicating a highlevel of Covid-19 in thecountry. “Your risk of con-

tracting Covid-19 and devel-oping severe symptoms maybe lower if you are fully vac-cinated with an FDA autho-rised vaccine.

Before planning anyinternational travel, pleasereview the CDC’s specificrecommendations for vacci-nated and unvaccinated trav-ellers,” it said.

In India, US embassy’swebsite said that the U.S.embassy and consulates con-tinue to monitor COVID-19conditions in India. Casenumbers continue todecrease in most regions ofIndia. “However there con-tinue to be local hotspots,

and some patients recoveringfrom COVID-19 or personswith diabetes or compro-mised immune systems havebecome infected withmucormycosis, also knownin media reports as “BlackFungus”, a serious infectionthat carries an extremelyhigh mortal ity rate.Availability of medicines totreat mucormycosis is limit-ed,” it said.

According to theembassy website, US citi-zens who must travel to Indiaare strongly urged to getfully vaccinated before trav-el and continue to take per-sonal health safety measures

to protect themselves, includ-ing practicing social or phys-ical distancing, cleaninghands with soap/hand sani-tizer, wearing masks, andavoiding crowded areas withpoor ventilation.

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Canada, which hasextended suspension of

flights from India by amonth till August 21, willopen to those fully vacci-nated with recognised jabsfrom all countries onSeptember 7 for non- essen-tial travel subject to theoverall pandemic situation.

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“The Government hasgiven a reply that nobody

in the country died due to ashortage of oxygen. In everyState, we saw how many

patients died due to lack ofoxygen. The Minister misledthe House. We will move aPrivilege Motion againstthat Minister,” seniorCongress leader KCVenugopal

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As Congress sought to derailthe Parliament proceedings

for the second-day and tookpotshots at Government ‘sCovid-19 management, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi retal-iated on Tuesday accusing theOpposition party of “spreadinglies” and “politicising” theCovid-19 pandemic and soughtparty MPs to counter it.

“It has not been able to comeout of the coma (that) we

have come this far. Congress’behaviour is unfortunate, theyare not able to digest the factthat we have reached this farand that there is no shortage ofvaccine.

Even in Delhi, 20% of thefrontline workers have notbeen vaccinated, “ said Modiattacking the Congress in theBJP Parliamentary Party meet-ing.Congress and otherOpposition parties havecharged the Modi-governmentwith being caught off-guardduring April-May second-killer-wave of the pandemicand declaring ‘early victory’over the Covid19.

Thousands of people diedin the national Capital itself dur-ing the second wave of the pan-demic.A party MP quotedPrime Minister saying thatCovid-19 was not a matter ofpolitics but a “matter of human-ity” for the BJP.”Corona is not amatter of politics for us, it is a

matter of humanity. Earlier dur-ing an epidemic, more peopleused to die of hunger ratherthan the disease but we did notlet that happen,” Modi said tohave told MPs.

The Prime Minister askedthe them to be battle-ready forthe third wave of the pandem-ic which, according to the med-ical and research fraternity, isanticipated to hit the countryfrom late August to September.

Modi asked his party mem-bers to counter the ‘lies’ beingspread by the opposition aboutCovid-19 and government’spolicies.

The Prime Minister urgedthe MPs to make adequateefforts to bring correct factsbefore the people and createawareness about what all gov-ernment has done to checkand mitigate the sufferinginflicted by the pandemic, hesaid.

He also understandablyasked MPS to visit Public

Distribution Shops apparentlyto see that ration is reaching inright hands.

The Prime Minister alsoaccused the Congress of playingpolitics of obstructions.”Despitelosing elections one after anoth-er, Congress has still not wokenup from its stupor. If you lookat the current record they havevirtually evaporated from thepolitical spectrum.. they onlybelieve in the politics of obstruc-tion and don’t want to debateand discuss,” Modi said in thebackdrop of detailing of parlia-ment proceedings.Congress andthe other opposition have forthe second-day disrupted thebusiness in both the houses ofthe Parliament on a host ofissues, including price-rise andfarmers agitation.

Lok Sabha proceedings onTuesday ran for barely fourminutes, 10 minutes and twominutes before being adjournedfor the day at 3 pm by SpeakerOm Birla.

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The Pegasus snooping con-troversy rocked the Rajya

Sabha on Tuesday with theOpposition raising a din overit and forcing two adjourn-ments in the morning session.

Members of Oppositionparties, who had given asmany as 15 notices underrule 267 requiring settingaside of the business of theday to take up the issue theywant to raise, raised sloganson the Pegasus issue besidesothers including fuel pricerise and farmers agitation.The protesting members alsorushed into the well of thehouse.

Chairman M M VenkaiahNaidu urged the members tolet the house run but of noavail. Sensing the mood of thehouse, he adjourned the pro-ceedings till 12.00 pm short-ly after the house met for theday at 11.00 am

The Opposition made itsintentions clear at the outsetand disrupted proceeding assoon as the House condoledthe death of a former mem-ber, Ramadhar Kashyap.Members of Congress, TMC,Left and DMK were up ontheir feet raising variousissues.

With the chairman disal-lowing all the 15 notices as he

did for the 17 served onMonday, AnandSharma(Congress)said either

the rule 267 should beremoved or the Chairmanshould consider notices givenunder them as long as it isthere in the rule book.

“These are issues of con-cern. We should not onlyread about it in newspapers orsee on television,” he said.

Naidu said he agrees withSharma. “There is a need for(rule) 267.

I have been there in theHouse and I understand theproblem of national security,something serious happens,you have to suspend the busi-ness and then take up thatmatter,” he said.

When the house reassem-bled at 12.00 pm, membersagain protested and did notpay heed to the DeputyChairman request to allow theQuestion Hour to function.He then adjourned the proceedings till one pm.

Rajya Sabha proceedingswere adjourned for the thirdtime amid uproar by YSRCongress members demand-ing special status for AndhraPradesh.

Harivansh asked protest-ing members several times togo back to their seats andallow the debate on theCOVID-19 pandemic.

Leader of the House PiyushGoyal also appealed to theprotesting Members.

Meanwhile, the DeputyChairman asked Leader ofOpposition Party

Mallikarjun Kharge toinitiate the debate. He, how-ever, said since the house

was not in he was not able tospeak.

The chair then askedSwapan Das Gupta (nomi-nated) to speak and the mem-ber gave his views amidst thedin. The chair thenadjourned the house for 15minutes.

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The CPI on Tuesdaydemanded a Joint

Parliamentary Committee(JPC) probe into the snoopingincident by Israeli spy softwarePegasus. It accused the ModiGovernment of sabotagingthe constitutionally guaran-teed rights of citizens.

“The National Secretariatof the Communist Party ofIndia is shocked to learn thatIsraeli spy software Pegasushas been snooping into num-ber of phones of oppositionleaders, journalists, activistsand numerous others. TheModi government is in goodrelations with the govern-ment of Israel. People are

questioning how such sur-veillance can be conductedwithout the knowledge andconsent of the Indian gov-ernment. Truth thereforeshould come out,” the CPIsaid.

CPI(M) general secretarySitram Yechury ridiculed the“international conspiracy the-ory” claimed by the BJP lead-ers and Union Ministers.“Modi Govt’s conspiracy todestroy the secular democra-tic Republic of India asordained by our Constitution.A high level enquiry and fix-ing of responsibility for thisviolation of fundamentalrights and liberties must beconducted speedily.Headsmust roll,” he said.

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Following the alleged disclo-sure that the Pegasus software

was used to snoop in onCongress-JD (S) leaders andMinisters in Karnataka, theCongress on Tuesday chargedthe Modi Government withhijacking and ripping apart thedemocracy through OperationKamal which was instrumentalin the fall of its government inthe southern State.

Congress spokespersonRandeep Surjewala said that thechronology is that Pegasus soft-ware was used to buy the elect-ed government so that theCongress government could bebrought down.

Surjewala, Leader ofOpposition in Rajya SabhaMallikarjuna and Leader ofCongress Party in Lok SabhaAdhir Ranjan Chowdhury andKC Venugopal, Leader ofOpposition in KarnatakaSiddaramaiah held a press con-ference to express the party’s dis-pleasure over the controversythat had rocked the nation in thelast three days. While Khargesaid that Pegasus software mayhave been used not only inKarnataka but in many states,Venugopal it may have beenused even in the government thatfell in Madhya Pradesh.

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Na m e p l a t e soften denote

and bear the stampof the changingpower equations inpolitics. It hap-pened with BJPpresident JP Naddatoo on Tuesday. Hewill be steppinginto the room in theParliament House which oncedisplayed the nameplate of for-mer Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee.

Vajpayee’s nameplate wasremoved on Tuesday from theroom in the parliament build-ing, 17 years after he was votedout of office.

The nameplate had stayedat the entrance of Room No. 4,alongside that of another BJPpatriarch, LK Advani.

Nadda who has, so far,been using a room reserved forthe leader of the Rajya Sabhawould now move into the hal-lowed room which was, though,rarely used by the late Prime

Minister.It is interesting to remem-

ber how after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi took reins ofthe government at the Centre in2014, veteran Advani ‘lost’ hisnameplate from the door of hisroom allocated to him for yearsin the Parliament building.Advani was then visibly upset.

The nameplate was, how-ever, restored after a day or twofor the same unknown reasonsfor which it was ‘unceremoni-ously’ removed. Advani used ituntil 2019 when he along withanother party veteran, MurliManohar Joshi, were ruled outfor contesting the Lok Sabhaelections.

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The Government onTuesday said it will remain

open to discussions withprotesting farmers’ unions toresolve issues over three newagriculture laws passed byParliament in September lastyear. In another reply to theLok Sabha on the PM KISANscheme, the Government saidthat Rs 2,992 crore is to berecovered from 42.16 lakhineligible farmers who gotmoney under the PM-KISANscheme.

In written replies to LokSabha on several questionsrelated to farmers’ protest,Agriculture MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar saidthe government had stressedthat instead of insisting on thedemand for the repeal of thesaid Acts the Farmer Unionsshould discuss about theirconcerns on the clause offarm Acts, so that their con-cerns can be resolved.

Tomar said that the gov-ernment had so far held 11rounds of negotiations talkswith agitating farmers’ unionsto resolve the issues. The gov-ernment has been engaged inserious, sensitive and activediscussions with the farmers’unions to resolve the issues.

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The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) has filed a

chargesheet against VijithVijayan, an alleged CPI(Maoist) ultra, in KozhikodeMaoist Case of 2019.

The chargesheet was filedon Monday before SpecialCourt for NIA Cases,Ernakulam, Kerala, under var-ious Sections of the IndianPenal Code and relevant pro-visions of the UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act.

Vijayan, 26, was arrested byNIA on January 21 this year. Hewas also known by aliasesPachha, Balu, Musafir andAjay.

The case was originallyregistered on November 1,2019 at Pantheerankavu PoliceStation, Kozhikode City,Kerala against Allan ShuaibThwaha Fasal and CP Usmanfor their role in furthering theactivities of CPI (Maoist), aproscribed terrorist organiza-tion.

The case was re-registeredby NIA on December 18, 2019.After investigation, the agencyhad earlier filed chargesheetagainst three accused personson May 27 last year, the NIAsaid.

Further Investigation hasrevealed that Vijith Vijayanwas an active member of CPI(Maoist) and was part of thepublication division.

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Asense of uneasiness andsilent resentment is dis-

cernible in Srirangam townshipin Tiruchirappalli district.Home to the historicalSriranganathar Temple, knownas one of the Divya Desams(Divine Land), devotees of thepresiding deity as well as localpopulation are upset over thehanding over of cows from thetemple’s Goshala to slaughterhouses.

According to RangarajanNarasimhan, a Vedic scholarbased in the township, the cowswere offered to theSriranganatha Temple by devo-tees to meet the daily poojarequirements of South India’sleading Vishnu Temple. “Only afraction of the milk is being usedfor pooja rituals. Rest of the milkis given to the calves. This is asper the directives in Rig Veda,”Narasimhan told The Pioneer.

But officials of theSriranganatha Temple have soldoff more than 100 cows toslaughter houses, allegesNarasimhan whose daily lifecommences and concludes byworshipping in the temple. “TheVedas prescribe that cows rearedin the Goshalas are not to besold to anybody. The donors ofthese temples are expected to

visit the temple regularly tomonitor the well being of thesecows. But what has happened isthat the temple authorities aredisposing infirm, old and driedup cows to slaughter houseswhich is against the directivesmentioned in Vedas,” saidNarasimhan.

Officials of HinduReligious and CharitableEndowment Department ofTamil Nadu Government thatadministers the temple saidthat 60 cows were recentlyhanded over to the poorarchakas and priests to helpthem supplement their liveli-hood. “The cows were handedover as per the rules of the HRacs CE Department,” said arelease issued by the joint com-missioner of the temple.

Narasimhan and other

devotees are questioning theveracity of the joint commis-sioner’s version. “These arecows that have stopped yield-ing milk. In what way the poorpriests would get additionalincome from non-milkingcows?” asks Narasimhan.

Parthasarathy, anotherdevotee in the temple premis-es is of the view that a thoroughprobe should be ordered intothe affair as the cows have beendisposed of in violation of theSasthras and Vedas.

Narasimhan says a gov-ernment order issued in 2013(which has been accessed byThe Pioneer) says that cowsfrom Goshalas in major templescould be donated to priests ofother temples so that theycould use the milk from thesecows for rituals in their temples.

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Amid talk of a leadershipchange in Karnataka,

Balehosur Mutt seerDingaleshwara Swamiji led adelegation of Veerashaiva-Lingayat saints to the officialresidence of Karnataka ChiefMinister BS Yediyurappa onTuesday.

He said Yediyurappa hadtold them that he will abide bythe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)high command's decision.

Asked about a change ofKarnataka CM, Yediyurappasaid he did not wish to speakon the issue, adding that thedecision by the party highcommand would be final,Swamiji added.

"Yediyurappa told us to letthe high command take theircall. He seemed to be happy,"Dingaleshwara Swamiji said.

The seer's statement has ledto speculation that Yediyurappahad already been told to quithis post and had preparedhimself for the situation.

However, the Mutt seerwarned the central BJP leadersthat if they were unhappy withYediyurappa's leadership, itshowed that the party did notthink about the future of thestate. As many as 500 religiousseers from across the state willhold meetings to chalk out

future plans supportingYediyurappa, he said.

Political observers say thatYediyurappa's body languageseemed to be not so confidentafter returning from NewDelhi. It seems that he has beentold to announce his retirementon July 25 during the party leg-islators' meeting.

Meanwhile, party sourcessaid the central BJP leadershiphas taken a decision to appointa Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS) face in the statewho would aggressively pursueHindutva agenda.

Union Minister PrahladJoshi, former minister andKarnataka Assembly SpeakerVishveshara Hegde Kageri, BJPMLAs Basavana Gouda PatilYatnal and Aravind Bellad andMinister Murugesh Nirani'snames are doing the rounds forthe CM's post.

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Will a Schedule Caste per-son availing of reserva-

tion cease to get the same ben-efit in the successor State uponreorganisation of the parentstate, the Supreme Court exam-ined the “peculiar question” onTuesday.

The apex court said thatsuch a question has cropped upbefore it for the first time andthere are no case laws availableas far as substance of the caseis concerned and therefore itwould like to examine the mat-ter threadbare as the issue canhappen anywhere.

It has sought the assis-tance of Attorney General K KVenugopal, who submitted thatreservation in bifurcated statesfor Scheduled Caste andScheduled Tribe (SC/ST)would remain the same as theconditions of backwardness,which affected members ofparticular castes would be near-ly identical for residents in theerstwhile unified state.

A bench of Justices U ULalit and Ajay Rastogi wasfaced with question whileexamining an appeal filed byPankaj Kumar, an SC who haschallenged the Jharkhand HighCourt''s order of February 24last year.

The high court''s 2:1 major-ity verdict held that the peti-

tioner cannot avail the benefitof reservation in both Biharand Jharkhand and hence can-not get qualified for state civilservice examination.

Kumar was born in 1974 inHazaribagh district ofJharkhand and at the age of 15in 1989 shifted to Ranchi, thestate capital which came intoeffect after Bihar''s reorganiza-tion on November 15, 2000.

He was appointed as assis-tant teacher in a school inRanchi from December 21,1999 and continued his job asteacher till 2008 in the sameschool. In 2008, Kumarapplied for the 3rd CombinedCivil Services Exam inJharkhand and was called foran interview.

He has submitted his CasteCertificate dated January 12,2007 showing him as residentof Ranchi along with his appli-cation for the Civil Services,which showed his ‘original res-idence’ as Patna.

Additional AdvocateGeneral for Jharkhand,Arunabh chowdhury said thestate is supporting the major-ity verdict of the High Courtand is of the view that Kumarcannot be allowed to avail thebenefit of reservation in bothBihar and Jharkhand.

The bench said that itagrees with the contention thata belonging to SC or ST cannot

be allowed to avail the benefitof reservation in both the statesbut since the caste of Kumar isrecognised as scheduled casteby both Bihar and Jharkhand,then why can’t the benefit beextended to people of both thestates, as they may belong tosame clan.

It said that sometimes areaspecific reservation is given tothe SCs or STs; in that case,Parliament clearly specifiesthat the quota will be given inthat particular state.

Chowdhury referred toearlier verdicts of the top courtdealing with related issues anda circular said that even if a par-ticular caste is reserved in boththe States, the place of perma-nent residence will hold impor-tance and not the place oftemporary residence.

He said the court has totake into account thatJharkhand has the highest per-centage of Schedule Tribe pop-ulation in the country.

The bench said that peoplebelonging to the same casteirrespective of their residencein both the states should get thesame benefit like it was givenduring the unified state.

Dealing with Kumar’s case,the bench said that he was bornand brought up in Hazaribaghand in a way his family tree hastwo branches one in Patna,other in Jharkhand.

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Drones have added a newdimension to security

threats from terror groups andinvestigations into the attack onthe Jammu IAF station lastmonth show the involvementof "non-State actors" support-ed by State actors such as theordnance factory of Pakistan,Jammu and Kashmir DGPDilbag Singh said on Tuesday.

He also pointed out that inthe past, drones from across theborder have been used to dropcurrency, arms and ammunitioninside Indian territory and withthe introduction of unmannedaerial vehicles (UAVs) in terroractivities, more efforts arerequired to see to it that this newand emerging threat is neu-tralised effectively.

Singh, a 1987-batch IPSofficer, spoke on various issuesduring an interview with PTI,and these included the presentsituation on the militancy frontand the new threats that haveemerged with the use of dronesby terror outfits like the bannedLashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

"Drones have come recent-ly, say in September last year.

First, that came as a big surprise,but we were able to gear up ourresources to counter that threat.I am happy to report that incases of use of drones carryingweapons and narcotics andother explosives... our securitygrid, intelligence grid of policeand security agencies, was veryeffective in taking countermea-sures,” the DGP said. "We wereable to intercept around 32 sor-ties out of roughly 40 sortieswhich were made," Singh said.

However, what happenedduring the intervening night ofJune 26 and 27 at the JammuIndian Air Force (IAF) station,where drones were used todrop improvised explosivedevices (IEDs), was "a verycondemnable incident and verywrong kind of doing on the partof non-state actors (terrorgroups) who are likely to havebeen supported by state actors(Pakistan army or ISI)", he said.

"Picking up this kind of atarget has added a new dimen-sion to our security threatsfrom terrorists. We have takencountermeasures. Certain addi-tional technologies have beendeployed along the border",Singh said.

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The World HealthOrganisation, which is cur-

rently reviewing BharatBiotech's application for anEmergency Use Listing (EUL)of its Covid-19 vaccineCovaxin, has said it is assessingthe data of the jab.

In an update on its website,the WHO, which began rollingdata on July 6, said the date fora decision on the jab is yet "tobe confirmed".

Rolling data allows theWHO to start its review rightaway, as information continuesto come in, to accelerate theoverall review process.

Suchitra Ella, joint manag-ing director of Bharat Biotech,had recently said the EULprocess is a step closer to thefinal decision on Covaxin's'global acceptance' as the rollingdata was slated to begin in July.

She also, in a tweet, said thecompany was working closelywith the WHO for inclusion ofCovaxin in its EUL andapproval is not expected to bea long drawn process as cell lineand majority of BharatBiotech's facilities have alreadybeen audited and approved bythe global health watchdog forBBIL's other vaccines in thepast.

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The All India MuslimPersonal Law Board (AIM-

PLB), in a departure from tra-dition, has issued a statementsaying that Muslims were freeto vote for any individual orparty in the elections.

This is the first time thatthe AIMPLB has issued a state-ment on voting preferences.

AIMPLB chairman,Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadwisaid that people should voteafter introspection but no oneshould be compelled to vote fora particular party or individual.

"The AIMPLB has neverissued any appeal in favour ofany party and will neither do soin future. People should usetheir own discretion to casttheir vote," the statement said.

The Maulana further saidthat the Board, as a tradition,has never issued any appeal infavour or against any politicalparty. He said that the Boardhad nothing to do with politics.

The statement also warnedthe community against mis-leading statements being issuedby some people for politicalgains.

Sources in the Board saidthat the statement was issued toclarify that the Board had norole in Asaduddin Owaisi'sparty contesting the state elec-tions.

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Uttar Pradesh women teach-ers are now demanding

three days 'Period Leave' or'Menstrual Leave' every month,over and above other leavesavailable to them.

They have cited the facili-ty available to their counter-parts in States like Bihar.

The Uttar Pradesh WomenTeachers' Association has sub-mitted their demand toAnamika Chaudhary, a mem-ber of UP Women'sCommission and now plan toapproach Deputy ChiefMinister Keshav PrasadMaurya.

Anamika Chaudhary haspromised to make the ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath awareof the demand.

The women teachersunderlined the fact that men-struating women experiencepain and bleeding, both ofwhich affect their mental andphysical state.

Senior vice-president ofthe association's Prayagraj unit,Poonam Gupta, said that theBihar government was extend-ing this leave to womenemployees for the past 30 years.

"We want UP governmentto also extend three days' 'peri-

od leave', per month, forwomen teachers and employ-ees," she said.

"All units are submittingsimilar memorandums toelected MLAs and ministersin their respective districts. Beit Azamgarh, Bareilly orLucknow, the plan is to letevery MLA and ministeraware of our demands. InPrayagraj, we plan to submita memorandum to DeputyCM Keshav Prasad Maur ya also," she added.

It is noteworthy thatIndian food delivery serviceZomato has decided to givefemale employees up to 10days of 'period leave' per year.

"A number of privatecompanies provide the optionto women workers to avail'period leave' even in India. Itis an optional leave at mostplaces and hardly anyone mis-uses it. Today, women teach-ers either have had to come towork on the most painfulday of their menstrual cycleor make up some excuse. Theleave cannot take away theirpain and discomfort, but itcan give them a break on thedays they are most uncom-fortable," said Poonam Gupta.

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The gradual lifting of lockdown in Kerala has led to

the worsening of the Covid-19situation in the State as theDepartment of Health said in arelease that 16, 848 new personswere diagnosed with the pan-demic on Tuesday.

The disease also claimed104 lives which took the deathtoll in the State till date to 15,512. The average Test PositivityRate is 11.9 while many regionsin the State registered 15 percent and above.

Health experts inGovernment service attributethe spurt in the number ofCovid-19 patients to the relax-ations of lock down rulesannounced by the State admin-istration since Friday in con-nection with the Id festivities.There was a stand off betweenthe Kerala Government and thetraders in the State who chal-lenged the Government thatthey would openly violate thelock down rules and open theshops.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan himself intervened inthe issue and held discussions

with leaders of various tradebodies to resolve the stand off. It may be remembered thatVijayan had said last week thatKerala would see a hike in thenumber of patients if the peo-ple failed to observe the regu-lations put in place by theauthorities. He had pleadedwith the people not to forgetthe fact that the Covid-19 hasnot subsided and the lifting oflock down was being done tohelp the people to go aheadwith their livelihood.

Vijayan always uses his dailypress briefings to ask the peopleto strictly abide by the standardoperations procedures and safe-ty measures prescribed by thedepartment of health to keep thepandemic under check. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi in hisFriday meeting with ChiefMinisters of six States includingKerala has expressed concernover the hike in Covid-19patients in the State.

Earlier on Tuesday, a reviewmeeting held atThiruvananthapuram andpresided over by the ChiefMinister decided not to goahead with the proposed relax-ations in the lock down.

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With fuel prices touchingan all-time high and

Covid-19 leading to shutdownof businesses, auto drivers inTamil Nadu are calling it a day.

Trade Union leaders andactivists are of the opinionthat a large number of auto-rickshaw drivers in the south-ern State have quit and are sell-ing their autos at low prices.

Mohammed Shabeer, anauto-rickshaw driver from T.Nagar in Chennai, told IANS,"Yes I have already sold my autoand am planning to work insome shop to support my fam-ily. Fuel prices are touching anall-time high and are increas-ing daily so we don't have anyother option other than quit-ting. I have not paid my EMIfor the past four months andhave sold all the gold availableat home. Hence, I thought thatit is better to quit rather thanmove on with huge losses."

"Banks never showed anyleniency even after the marketswere shut for more than twomonths due to Covid-19 coupledwith hiked fuel prices. I havedecided after long thought to callit a day. I can't carry on withthese liabilities," Shabeer added.

The trade unions are of theopinion that the auto-rickshawdrivers are not in a position tocarry on their day-to-day activ-ities after the daily fuel pricehike.

K.K. Kathiravan, a tradeunion leader associated withthe All India Trade UnionCongress (AITUC), who livesin Kanyakumari told IANS,"The union has strongly rec-ommended to the state gov-ernment to somehow settlethis issue. The Union govern-ment is creating problems byunnecessarily hiking fuel pricesand there is no hope for theauto-rickshaw drivers."

The auto drivers complainthat while they fill their fueltanks with petrol worth Rs 400,they did a business of Rs 200 toRs 300 only. This has led tomany auto drivers looking forother work.

Selvaraj Manicakam,Centre of Indian Trade Unions(CITU) leader and auto-rick-shaw union General Secretaryat Madurai, speaking to IANSsaid, "A rough estimate findsthat nearly 15 to 20 per cent ofthe auto-rickshaw drivers have

quit the profession and havesold their autos to settle the lia-bilities and are scouting forother jobs. The decade-oldunrevised fares are the mainreason for this and with aheavy hike in fuel prices andpost-Covid shutdown, the autodrivers are a harried lot. We aresubmitting a detailed memo-randum to the government torevise the fares."

After Tamil Naduannounced free travel forwomen in state-run buses, theyare not using auto-rickshaws.Most of the women are nowtravelling in buses.

Kumar Ganeshan, an auto-rickshaw driver at Pammal inChennai, told IANS, "I amselling my auto and even at areduced price, takers are less.Prices of fuel are at an all-timehigh. Shops and establishmentswere closed for the past twomonths due to Covid-19 andwe didn't have any work.

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Displaying a trailer of whatMamata Banerjee was like-

ly to deliver in Wednesday’sTrinamool Congress martyrs’day speech from a pan-Indianplatform, the Bengal rulingoutfit on Tuesday launched ascathing broadside against theBJP Government demandingresignation of Home MinisterAmit Shah for trying to turnIndia into a “spying democra-cy.”

“There is no point divert-ing the Pegasus issue which theBJP is trying … they are guiltyof breaching citizen’s privacywhich they will have to accountfor … everyone knows that nota leave turns in India withoutthe direction of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and HomeMinister Amit Shah … so theleast they should do is … a res-ignation of Amit Shah as theHome Minister … becausewithout their approval no spy-ware could have entered Indiafrom Israel … We want a fullinvestigation into the matter,”TMC MP Sukhendu ShekharRoy said.

Trinamool Lok Sabha MPMohua Moitra wanted to know“whether India is a client of theNSO” the Israeli concern thatmakes Pegasus spyware. Shesaid if the Prime Minister,Home Minister and the ITMinister did not lie in the floorof the House then they should

first answer a list of questionsraised by her party.

“We have a list of questionsfor the government and we willnot allow Parliament to rununless these questions areanswered,” she said askingwhether any department ofthe central government pur-chased Pegasus or for thatmatter whether the spywarewas still being used and whichagency requisitioned this data(of spying).

Her senior colleague andRajya Sabha MP Derek O’Briensaid that his party would not letthe situation die down untilthere was a full-fledged inves-tigation... He said “This is aserious issue and the TMC willnot compromise on it. We willnot let either House run till thisgovernment comes clean on thecharges of snooping and sur-veillance,” alleging how thegovernment spent millions tohack into phones at a timewhen the country was fightingpandemic.

Former TMC MP andspokesperson Kunal Ghoshwondered the cash for pur-chasing Pegasus came fromthe hiked petroleum prices.

But the most biting remarkcame from party national gen-eral secretary AbhishekBanerjee who took a jibe andthe Home Minister sayingdespite “you made big effortsby bringing in CBI, ED andElection Commission along

with huge money powerbacked by the spyware youfailed to win Bengal … thatshould be a shame for you.”

The Trinamool Congress’concerted attack against theBJP comes a day ahead of theChief Minister’s TMC mar-tyrs’ day speech which herparty organizes every year onJuly 21. This year the speechwill be delivered nationallyfrom Delhi in a virtual modeand will be heard and seen overhundreds of giant screens putup across a dozen states---including Gujarat, UttarPradesh, Jharkhand, Tripura,Assam, Tamil Nadu and else-where --- where the BJP has itsinterest dug in.

Meanwhile, in an apparentbid to counter the TMC’s pro-paganda drive the BJP haslined up a sit-in programme atRajghat in Delhi onWednesday.

The dharna would be heldto protest against the reportedincidents of post-poll violencein Bengal, State partyspokesperson ShamikBhattacharya said alleging 38BJP workers had been killedpost Assembly elections inBengal.

“Tomorrow, the party willpay homage to the martyrs whowere killed during post-pollviolence in… Similar pro-grammes will be organized inall the districts of Bengal,” hesaid.

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The Bengal Police onTuesday slapped snoop-

ing charges on State Leader ofOpposition Suvendu Adhikaria day after he warned theEast MidnaporeSuperintendent of Police KAmarnath against “playingpartisan games.”

The SP said that casesunder section 295 A of theIPC and Section 5 of theOfficial Secrets Act had beenlodged against Adhikari forthreatening Government ser-vants and possessing infor-mation that he should nothave possessed. Besides theBJP leader has a lso been charged under Disaster Management Act.

Adhikari had on Mondaythreatened the SP with trans-fer to Baramula or Anantnagin Kashmir if he continued toreceive calls from TMC gen-eral secretary AbhishekBanerjee’s office and actaccordingly.

“The TMC is in power in

Bengal and we are in powerin Delhi … like they snoopinto our phone calls we alsohave information about whatcalls come from where toyour office and how you (SP)act accordingly,” Adhikaritold in the meeting saying hewould file a PIL and seek CBIinvestigation into the acts ofthe SP and the entire policebrass.

“We have lodged suomotu complaints againstAdhikari under Disaster man-agement Act, IPC and OfficialSecrets Act for possessinginformation that he shouldnot have possessed,” the SPsaid.

The controversy startedafter a three-year-old case ofan alleged unnatural death ofa former Adhikari securityofficer was revived recentlywith the victim’s family alleg-ing that he did not commitsuicide.

The CID probing the casequestioned Adhikaris thrice --- in the past one week --- attheir house in Contai in EastMidnapore.

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Government has establishedpublic think tanks and researchcentres in various universitiesto train the scholars for studyand research the issues of inter-national politics and relationswith an India-centric approach.

With the resurgence ofChina, India’s challenge tostrengthen its regional powerstatus and reinforce its strate-gic presence in Asia, particular-ly in the Indo-Pacific region,has doubled. There are risks ofregional and internationalalliances falling apart due tofailure of common ground tocooperate. In this situation,universities and research insti-tutions have a more significantrole in assessing the risks andcoming up with potential solu-tions that may help pursue thenational objective and protectnational interest. In a recentspeech, while inaugurating thenewly established School ofInternational Relations andStrategic Studies at theUniversity of Mumbai, IndianArmy chief, General ManojMukund Naravane, said that“there is renewed interest inassimilating indigenousthoughts of a glorious past.This, coupled with the growingstature of our country in thedynamic global world order oftoday, aspires us to draw valu-able lessons from an ancientheritage” of India’s global strate-gic thoughts and thinkers.

While India’s diplomatic

and defence community arewell equipped to chalking outan impenetrable strategic planfor India’s development,progress, safety and security,India also needs to produceyoung minds in internationaland strategic studies. However,the subject does not find ade-quate representation in univer-sities across India. As theArmy chief stated that “Indiais a land of great strategicthinkers and scholars”, andwith thinkers like Chanakya,Manu, Tiruvallur and in themodern day K Subramaniam,India needs to evolve andretrace this knowledge.

International relations andstrategic studies are vital com-ponents of various profession-al courses and career-orientedexaminations either by theUnion Public ServiceCommission, State ServiceCommission or Staff SelectionBoards. With the JNU in northIndia, Jadavpur University inthe east and PondicherryUniversity in South hostingthe Schools of InternationalStudies, Mumbai being theHQ of Western NavalCommand of Indian Navyand Naval War College, affil-iated to the University ofMumbai, Pune HQ ofSouthern Command of IndianArmy, the National DefenceAcademy and College ofMilitary Engineering settingup the School of International

Relations and Strategic Studiesat the University of Mumbai,Mumbai brings together thearmed forces, thinkers,research scholars, academi-cians and journalists to studyand discuss the future of strate-gic studies in India.

With India as a hub toprominent think tanks like theManohar Parrikar Institutefor Defence Studies andAnalysis, IDSA, New Delhi,United Service Institute,Centre for Land WarfareStudies (CLAWS) and Centrefor Airpower Studies, an activeinfrastructure at the universi-ty level in teaching and train-ing the future generations ofstrategic community will helpIndia to seek and secure itsnational interests. India alsohas fine journalism, and glob-al events infrastructure is anintegral part of their print andvisual reporting. Therefore,professional training in thisregard, especially in cities likeMumbai, is the need of thehour. Also, in the near future,India will need more aspiringdiplomats and strategicthinkers. This vacuum can befilled by more such centrescoming up at the universitylevel.

(The author is Director, theSchool of InternationalRelations and Strategic Studies,and Dean Humanities,University of Mumbai. Theviews expressed are personal.)

���������������� ��� �� ��Sir — Which way is the country movingand what’s wrong with Modi and variousother State Governments who are unableto digest any kind of criticism? They for-get that it’s all part of democracy. As aresult, the Supreme Court (SC) tells theManipur Government to release politicalactivist Erendro Leichombam (40) fromprison, that too within six hours, as hiscontinued detention would have been inviolation of his fundamental right to life.

Without the SC’s iron hand, even thelaw-abiding citizens are worried whetherthey are living in the land of SwamiVivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore,Mahatma Gandhi and other noble souls?Along with journalist KishorechandraWangkhem (41), Leichombam was arrest-ed for a controversial Facebook post whilecondoling the death of State BJP presidentS Tikendra Singh. After Singh succumbedto COVID-19, the duo said that cow urineand cow dung were no cure for the virus.Based on this post, the duo was arrested.Before they could be released on bail, theState slapped the NSA on them thoughLeichombam was released quickly. Butwhat happens to co-accused Wangkhem?

This is the right time for India to havea relook from the sedition law to someother Acts also.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee | Faridabad

�� ������������ �����������Sir — The Prime Minister’s Kisan SammanNidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN), formulatedkeeping in mind farmers’ interests, is alsobecoming a victim of fraud. The rulingGovernment has told Parliament that partof the scheme’s money has gone to theaccounts of more than 42 lakh ineligiblefarmers and the Government suffered aloss of about �3,000 crore. The Ministryof Agriculture told the House that theGovernment is making efforts to recoverthe money from the ineligible farmers.

The maximum number of such caseshas come from Assam, where more than�554 crore have gone to the accounts ofmore than 8.35 lakh ineligible farmers.Tamil Nadu is at the second spot, where

about �340 crore have gone to theaccounts of more than 7.22 lakh ineligi-ble farmers. Punjab is number three, with�437 crore going to more than 5.62 lakhineligible farmers. Under the scheme, theGovernment gives �6,000 annually in threeinstallments to small farmers. But now thatthis scheme for poor farmers has alsoturned into a scam under the currentregime, the poor farmers are sufferingwhile dishonest people are making hay.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

���������� �����������������Sir — The Congress and Rahul Gandhi areacting excited like a kid given a new toy.Here is a past news item to lower theirsugar-high excitement. An RTI replyreveals that the UPA Government snoopedon 9,000 phones, 500 emails every month,and now the pot is calling the kettle black?

The consortium that has come out

with this tabloid-level expose with no evi-dence but several innuendos, is a knownanti-PM cabal. The journalists propagat-ing this in India are known Congress sym-pathisers. Who knows, perhaps anothertool kit aimed at regime change? ButIndians are tired of such undemocraticmethods by the Congress and its cabal(Indian and foreign) and treat them withthe contempt they deserve.

The question is will the GOI commu-nicate with Indians effectively or falter asusual? The Congress should play a con-structive role and participate in the Housedebate; let’s hear both the sides. Since theseanti-national elements have nothing con-structive to offer, they are indulging in thisdrama at the behest of neighbouring coun-tries and other forces inimical to India.

MR Jayanthi | Vashi

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In a tumultuous world orderfacing the challenges ofCOVID-19, terrorism, borderdisputes, political instabilities,

religious extremism, climatechange and so on, the world mayseem more at peace than in theprevious decades. Yet, tensionsbetween and among the nationsare far higher at present. From twoWorld Wars to Cold War,Globalisation to Great Recessions,there have been drastic changes inthe world order. However, the con-test for the apex title continues tobe the same. Although the ongo-ing decade has so far avoided awar-like situation globally, theconflicts in Africa, West Asia andother parts of the world haveimpacted the global communityone way or another. With nonealoof from the happenings ofinternational politics, be it individ-ual or countries, understandingthe global political system is theutmost need of the time. Politicalscientists have theorised, concep-tualised, argued and defined thepolitics, State, power, system andgovernance according to theirunderstanding of contemporaryinternational politics. In the mean-time, it has impacted almost everycountry’s bilateral and multilater-al relations with the rest of theworld. It needs closer scrutinythrough the tools of diplomacy,foreign policy, strategy, geopolit-ical analysts and strategic under-standing of the situation. Whilemembers of the diplomatic com-munity, intelligence agencies,political leaders/spokespersonsand journalists remain at theforefront to assess the situation,dedicated institutions help theseagencies or individuals to preparebetter to deal with the issues.

By the first half of the 20thcentury, India found herself as theepicentre of the South Asia region,encircled by landlocked countries(Bhutan and Nepal), small islandnations (Maldives and Sri Lanka)and politically volatile Myanmarand Pakistan and a giant in theform of China next door. Amidthis background, India had set upthe Indian Council for WorldAffairs, Indian School ofInternational Studies, followedby many other independent thinktanks working towards under-standing the events of internation-al politics and helping theGovernment in assessing the risksinvolving while pursuing nation-al interest. Since then, the

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As mentioned in the previousarticle, “Honesty Still Pays”(published on July 13, 2021)bureaucracy may be con-

demned, criticised, castigated, andridiculed all around the world but it hasnot withered away. In fact, it hasretained its significance as an essentialtool to carry out the business of gover-nance. However, as I point out in mybook, “Ethical Dilemmas of a CivilServant” released last year, in order todo that effectively, the bureaucracy hasto not only survive but also thrive in theinterest of the country and its people.But that cannot happen on the strengthof honesty alone. Honesty is necessarybut not a sufficient condition for thewelfare of the people.

A civil servant is paid to perform, todeliver. Ironically, though, on accountof the emerging socio-political environ-ment, this performance is not alwaysexpected to be for the public good. It isalso a pity that, on occasions, the civilservant is expected to ensure to upholdthe interest of a selected few.Unfortunately, such occasions areincreasing by the day and those civil ser-vants who do not conform are not onlyshown the door but are also inevitablyharassed. What is even more appallingis the fact that far from recognising goodperformance, there are instances ofofficers being penalised for doing whatthey had taken the oath to do. Needlessto say, such signals do not augur welleither for the system or for society.However, all is not lost. There is still ahuge area where such pressures eitherdo not exist or, if they do, can be man-aged tactfully.

However, it would also be wrong toassume that all honest officers fall intoa single category. There are honestofficers who think that the entire worldaround them is falling apart.They thentake upon themselves the task of cleans-ing the system. The ‘crusader’ in themgets the better of them and mediaattention adds fuel to fire. A campaignis launched against those whom theyperceiveas dishonest. Honesty becomesan end in itself. Such ‘honest-only’officers forget the fact that they are paidnot merely to remain honest but to per-form as well. They evaluate their perfor-mance in terms of punitive actions thatthey take against others, i.e., the num-ber of people or institutions they expose(becoming quintessential whistle-blow-ers, a role that brings ‘name’ and ‘fame’to them), the number of disciplinaryproceedings they get initiated, and thenumber of First Information Reports(FIRs) they lodge. In fact, in the finalanalysis, such precipitate actions bythese ‘crusaders’ do not even servetheir professed goal of cleansing thesociety. In their enthusiasm to huntdown the bad guys, they end up mak-ing no effort toward sevolving systemsthat can reduce, if not eliminate, the

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There is a raging debateabout regulating thepopulation growth in

India. Three BJP-ruled States— Uttar Pradesh, Assam, andKarnataka — intend to bring atwo-child policy norm withincentives and disincentives.Even though they have notopenly spelled out that themeasure is meant to send a sig-nal to the Muslim communi-ty, the message is clear. SomeBJP MPs are preparing to pushfor a national population con-trol law through private mem-bers’ Bills during the monsoonsession of Parliament.

In 1976, population controland family planning wereadded to the third list of theSeventh Schedule under the42nd amendment of theConstitution. This has enabledthe Union government and the

state governments to makelaws for population regula-tion. At least a dozen states hadbrought the two-child norm atsome time or the other andsome states like Haryana,Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh,and Himachal Pradesh revokedthe policy.

Prime Minister NarendraModi himself, in hisIndependence Day speech in2017, flagged the issue andstressed the need to counter thepopulation growth. Heannounced from the rampartsof Red Fort that “keeping one’sfamily small is an act of patri-otism” and that “time has nowcome that we should take suchchallenges head-on”.

After implementing thecore agenda of the party —revocation of Article 370 andbuilding a Ram Mandir —

Modi might now turn to theother issues on the schedulelike Uniform Civil Code andpopulation control, etc.

Successive Union govern-ments have tried to regulatepopulation growth. It becamea sensitive political issue afterthe compulsory sterilizationdrive during the Emergency in1975. The P-word is a’no -no’for many political parties. Nopolitician wants to touch it afterthat forced sterilization drive.

The Union health ministryhas even changed the name ofthe Family PlanningDepartment to Family WelfareDepartment.

India’s population, whichwas just 30 crore atIndependence has nowbecome 1.34 billion. In con-trast, China’s population haddoubled over the same period.The pace of India’s populationgrowth, now at 15 million peryear, is the world’s fastest. It isprojected to reach 1.8 billion by2050. Millions still do not haveaccess to clean water, propermeals, healthcare, and educa-tion. The unmanageable num-ber and more mouths meanmore strain on the resources.

Had the population evendoubled since 1947, it wouldhave been manageable, but ithas grown almost five times,

which should be a cause forconcern.

The opponents of the pop-ulation policy point out thatnational fertility has beendeclining steadily. Over the pastdecade, the trend has been asteady decline in the reproduc-tive rate, with the southernstates registering a steeperdecline than the Hindi heart-land in the north.

States like Bihar, UttarPradesh, Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan, Jharkhand, andChhattisgarh account for near-ly half of India’s population (48percent). They continue tohave very high fertility rates.States like Kerala, Karnataka,Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, andWest Bengal are now wellbelow replacement fertility.Almost all central states haveexperienced a significant decel-

eration in population growthand the pace of net addition isdecreasing.

The opponents are also areagainst any harsh measures tocontain the population. Theyargue that the one billion-pluspopulation would yield ademographic dividend. Forpoor families, more handsmean more income. Also, ithas brought in higher percapita entitlements. Themigration from the northernand the eastern states hashelped maintain growth inthe south and the west, wherefertility rates are low.

However, it is necessary tomanage the population growth.More positive steps are need-ed to control it. The best wayto do so would be to createawareness, provide educationfor the lower strata of society,

and more incentives for volun-tary family planning. It shouldnot be compulsory at all costs,or it will be a repeat of 1975.

It has to be rememberedthat India is expected to addnearly 273 million people to itspopulation between now and2050, according to a 2019 UNreport. If no steps are taken,India will overtake China tobecome the most populouscountry and likely to hold thenumber one rank throughoutthe 21st-century, according topopulation experts.

The narrative needs to bechanged for the better. Afterconsulting all other politicalparties, the prime ministershould try to form a nationalpopulation policy and bring aconsensus on this issue. Aboveall, no policy would succeedwithout people's cooperation.

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incidence of corrupt practices.After all, evolving systems is atime-consuming process and maynot provide immediate fodder forpublicity.

The ‘honest-only’ civil ser-vantstops being the prime instru-ment available with the State toexecute plans and programmes.He smells a rat in every file.Hence, he brings execution to agrinding halt. Even for projectswhich doget delivered, it usuallyis too late to attain the desiredimpact. More often than not,these situations result in ‘paraly-sis of analyses’. For him, honestypays because he leads an hon-ourable life as an honest officer.He revels in being recognised bymany as a crusader against thedishonest, his professionalachievements being the trophiesof the victims of his crusade. Inthis way, he does a huge disser-vice to his ‘Key ResponsibilityArea’, i.e., service to the nationand its people. Moreover, he alsodoes precious little to encourageinitiative or instill motivationamong those working with him.

A civil servant, especially inthe higher echelons, has to evolveas a leader and has to cultivatesuch leadership qualities as to notinspire awe or fear but respect.This is done through leading by

example, with focus, objectivity,consistency, empathy, commit-ment to the tasks, and an ever-burning desire to make a real dif-ference. All these are essen-tialvirtues thatneed not necessar-ily be consumed in the crusadeagainst the dishonest. Thesevirtues need to be used for evolv-ing better systems and for inspir-ing colleagues to perform.Fortunately, there are a numberof civil servants who are honestand efficient. They may not be asvisible as those who are goinghammer and tongs afterthe ‘dis-honest’. They are not ‘crusaders’.They are the ‘doers’.

Take the recent example ofcommitted and efficient officerslike Iqbal Singh Chahal whohandled the COVID-19 pandem-ic in a truly exemplary manner inMumbai as did many other offi-cers in other parts of the country.Similarly, this young Collector,Dr. Rajendra Bharud, ensuredthat there was no shortage of oxy-gen during the pandemic wave inNandurbar, a remote district inMaharashtra.There have beenmany more instances in the pastas well. The thrust on efficiencyand integrity in the railways bythe erstwhile Chairman of theRailway Board, Ashwani Lohani,yielded results. One could witness

the impact of the changes hebrought about in the functioningof the Railways. He did not go totown with what he had done.Butthe results were there for all towitness. Sandhya Rani from thePostal Service excelled in AndhraPradesh in her capacity asEducation Commissioner andtransformed school education inmany ways. The team of InduBhushan and Dinesh Arora thatinitially led the successful imple-mentation of the Prime MinisterJan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY) asa part of Aayushman Bharat (thelargest-ever health insurance pro-gramme), provides anotherexample of honest and efficientworking. What was done by atechnocrat, E Sreedharan, to usher in the Metro Rail revolutionis legendary. The likes of JulioRibeiro and Prakash Singh arerole models for police officers.There is a long list of such offi-cers who were/are honest, effi-cient, and committed to the causefor which they were/are paidfrom the public exchequer. Theyperformed their tasks as profes-sionals.Their yearning to trans-form was/is directed towards thetasks assigned to them. However,unfortunately, there are equalnumbers of bureaucrats who stopat just being honest.

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At least three rockets hit nearthe presidential palace on

Tuesday shortly before AfghanPresident Ashraf Ghani was togive an address to mark themajor Muslim holiday of Eidal-Adha.

There were no injuries andthe rockets landed outside theheavily fortified palacegrounds, said MirwaisStanikzai, spokesman for theinterior minister.

No one immediatelyclaimed responsibility for therocket attack, but police quick-ly fanned out across the area.One car parked on a nearbystreet was completelydestroyed; the police said it wasused as launching pad for therockets. The palace is in themiddle of a so-called GreenZone that is fortified with giantcement blast walls and barbedwire, and streets near the palacehave long been closed off.

The barrage came as theUS and NATO complete theirfinal withdrawal fromAfghanistan.

Many Afghans are worriedwhether their war-ravagedcountry will fall deeper intochaos and violence as foreignforces withdraw and theTaliban gain more territory onthe ground, having capturedseveral districts and key bordercrossings with neighboringcountries over the past weeks.

The withdrawal is morethan 95 per cent complete andthe final US soldier will be goneby August 31, President JoeBiden said in an address earli-er this month.

“This Eid has been namedafter Afghan forces to honortheir sacrifices and courage,especially in the last threemonths,” Ghani said in hisaddress to the nation followingmorning prayers for Eid al-Adha, or the “Feast of Sacrifice.”

“The Taliban have nointention and willingness forpeace” Ghani said.

“We have proven that wehave the intention, the will-ingness and have sacrificedfor peace.”

However, Afghan forceshave complained about beingleft without reinforcementsand supplies, often running lowon food as the Talibanadvanced. In many instances,Afghan troops surrenderedrather than fight. Washington’swatchdog monitoring U.S.Spending in Afghanistanreported that troops are deeplydemoralized and corruption

is rampant.After their pullout, the US

and NATO are committed tospending USD 4 billion annu-ally on Afghan forces until2024, the majority of thatmoney coming fromWashington.

Ghani said he deploredhis government’s decision torelease 5,000 Taliban prisonersto get peace talks started lastyear as a “big mistake” that onlystrengthened the insurgents.

Yet Ghani has releasedother prisoners, including sev-eral sought by warlordGulbuddin Hekmatyar, withwhom he signed a peace dealin 2017.

Among those freed atHekmatyar’s request was AbdulBasir Salangi, who killed twoUS military personnel in 2011in Kabul. Meanwhile, AbdullahAbdullah, the No. 2 official inthe government, was inside

the palace during the rocketattack on Tuesday, havingreturned on Monday frompeace talks with the Taliban inQatar. Those inside the palace,however, were far removed from where the rock-ets landed.

The two days of meetingsin Doha — the highest level ofnegotiations between Kabuland the Taliban so far — aimedat jumpstarting stalled talks butended with a promise of morehigh-level talks.

In his speech, Ghani alsoassailed neighboring Pakistan,which Kabul blames for har-boring the Taliban leadershipand providing a safe haven andassistance to the insurgents. Inthe most recent fighting in theAfghan border town of SpinBoldak, Taliban fighters wereseen receiving treatment at aPakistani hospital across theborder in Chaman.

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The Biden administrationhas urged a federal court in

Los Angeles to extraditePakistani-origin Canadianbusinessman Tahawwur Ranato India where he is sought forhis involvement in the 2008Mumbai terror attack.

Rana, 59, has been declareda fugitive by India, where he isfacing multiple criminalcharges for his involvement inthe 2008 Mumbai terror attackin which 166 people, includingsix Americans, were killed. Hewas rearrested on June 10,2020, in Los Angeles on anextradition request by India

In a submission before theUS District Court, CentralDistrict of California in LosAngeles, the US governmentargues that India’s extraditionrequest contains sufficient evi-dence of probable cause oneach of the criminal charges forwhich India seeks Rana’s extra-dition.

“Having found that all ofthe requirements for certifica-tion of extradition have beensatisfied, the Court certifies theextradition of TahawwurHussain Rana to the Secretaryof State and commits him tocustody pursuant,” according toa draft order proposed by theUS attorney in his submissionbefore the court last week.

“Based on the evidencesubmitted by India, RANAallowed fraud against theIndian government to occurthrough the creation and sub-mission of forged documents.The purpose behind such fraudis irrelevant under the Indiancriminal provisions,” said thedocument titled proposed find-ings of facts and conclusions of

law. Rana is wanted by theIndian authorities for hisalleged involvement in thedeadly attacks that are some-times referred to as India’s9/11. An Indian warrant for hisarrest was issued in August2018.

Indian authorities allegethat Rana conspired with hischildhood friend DavidColeman Headley to assist thePakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), or Army of theGood, in the orchestration ofthe 2008 terror attacks inMumbai.

“In any event, RANAknowingly allowed Headley toobtain the business visa and thecover that he needed to con-duct terrorism-related surveil-lance operations in India, ulti-mately leading to the three-dayterrorist attacks in Mumbai.Accordingly, the Court findsthere is probable cause thatRANA conspired to forge adocument for the purpose ofcheating and use a forged doc-ument as genuine, in violationof IPC 120B, 468, and 471,” itsaid.

According to the courtdocument, the evidence estab-lishes that the Mumbai attacks

were committed by LeT, a ter-rorist organisation targetingIndia. Thus, an attack onIndian soil, especially one thatwould result in mass casualties,injuries, and damage to prop-erty, would strike terror in theIndian people.

“Rana was aware thatHeadley was involved withLeT, and that by assistingHeadley and affording him acover for his activities, he wassupporting the terrorist organ-isation and its associates. Ranaknew of Headley’s meetings,what was discussed, and theplanning of the attacks, includ-ing some of the targets. Further,it was foreseeable that theseattacks would lead to death,injury, and destruction of prop-erty,” it said.

“Accordingly, this Courtfinds that there is probablecause that Rana committedthe crimes of conspiracy withthe object of committing aterrorist act, in violation of IPC120B and UAPA 16, and con-spiracy to commit a terroristact, in violation of UAPA 18.The court further finds thatunder an agency theory or anabetting theory (as contem-plated by UAPA 16), there isprobable cause that Rana com-mitted the substantive crime ofcommission of a terrorist act inviolation of UAPA 16,” said thedocument submitted by the USattorney.

India has charged forgeryfor purposes of cheating, in vio-lation of IPC 468, as an objectof the alleged criminal con-spiracy. India also charged thecrime of using as genuine aforged document or electron-ic record, in violation of IPC471, as an object of the allegedcriminal conspiracy.

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The US has urged Pakistanto continue working with

the FATF to “swiftly complete”its 27-point action plan bydemonstrating that terrorismfinancing probes and prosecu-tions target senior leaders andcommanders of the UN-desig-nated terror groups.

At its virtual plenary meet-ing last month, the Paris-basedFinancial Action Task Force(FATF) retained Pakistan on its‘grey list’ for failing to checkmoney laundering, leading toterror financing.

It asked Pakistan to inves-tigate and prosecute UN-des-ignated terrorists based in thecountry like Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chiefMasood Azhar and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder HafizSaeed.

The global body againstmoney laundering and terrorfinancing also asked Pakistan to

work to address its strategical-ly important deficiencies.

At his daily news confer-ence on Monday, StateDepartment spokesperson NedPrice said while Pakistan hadmade progress on its firstaction plan of the FATF, itneeded to work on its secondaction plan.

“We do recognise and wesupport Pakistan’s continuedefforts to satisfy those (firstaction plan) obligations.Pakistan has made significantprogress on its first action planwith 26 of 27 action itemslargely addressed,” Price said.

“We encourage Pakistanto continue working with theFATF and the internationalcommunity to swiftly com-plete the remaining action itemby demonstrating that terror-ism financing, investigationsand prosecutions target seniorleaders and commanders ofUN-designated groups,” hesaid.

The UN-designated ter-rorists based in Pakistaninclude Jaish-e-Mohammed(JeM) chief Azhar, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Saeed andits ‘operational commander’Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

Azhar, Saeed and Lakhviare the most wanted terroristsin India for their involvementin numerous terrorist acts,including the 26/11 Mumbaiterror attacks and the bombingof a CRPF bus in Jammu andKashmir’s Pulwama district in2019.

Price also said the USencourages Pakistan to expe-ditiously work on its new sec-ond action plan.

Pakistan was placed onthe grey list in June 2018 andasked Islamabad to implementa plan of action to curb moneylaundering and terror financ-ing by the end of 2019 but thedeadline was extended later ondue to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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President Joe Biden tem-pered his assessment that

social media giants are “killingpeople” by hosting misinfor-mation about the Covid-19vaccines on their platforms,saying Monday that he hopedthey would not take it “per-sonally” and instead would actto save lives.

While companies likeFacebook defend their practicesand say they’re helping peoplearound the world access veri-fied information about theshots, the White House saysthey haven’t done enough tostop misinformation that hashelped slow the pace of newvaccinations in the US to atrickle.

It comes as the US sees arise in virus cases and deathsamong those who haven’t got-ten a shot, in what officials callan emerging “pandemic of theunvaccinated.”

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Jerusalem: The Israeli militarysaid its artillery shelled south-ern Lebanon early Tuesday aftertwo rockets were fired fromLebanon into Israeli territory.

The army said in a state-ment that aerial defenses inter-cepted one of the rockets, andthe second fell in an open

area. No injuries or damagewere reported. The rocket firefrom Lebanon was the firstcross-border fire since May,when Palestinian militantslaunched rockets at Israel dur-ing the 11-day war betweenIsrael and Hamas militants inthe Gaza Strip. AP

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Rural teacher-turned-political novice PedroCastillo has become the winner of Peru’s pres-

idential election after the country’s longest elec-toral count in 40 years.

Castillo, whose supporters included Peru’spoor and rural citizens, defeated right-wing politi-cian Keiko Fujimori by just 44,000 votes. Electoralauthorities released the final official results onMonday, more than a month after the runoff elec-tion took place in the South American nation.

Wielding a pencil the size of a cane, the sym-bol of his Peru Libre party, Castillo popularisedthe phrase “No more poor in a rich country”.

The economy of Peru, the world’s second-largest copper producer, has been crushed by thecoronavirus pandemic, increasing the povertylevel to almost one-third of the population andeliminating the gains of a decade.

Castillo has promised to use the revenuesfrom the mining sector to improve public services,including education and health, whose inade-quacies were highlighted by the pandemic.

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Russian aircraft makers onTuesday unveiled a proto-

type of a new fighter jet thatfeatures stealth capabilities andother advanced characteris-tics. Russian PresidentVladimir Putin inspected theprospective warplane displayedwith much fanfare at theMAKS-2021 InternationalAviation and Space Salon. Theair show opened Tuesday inZhukovsky, outside Moscow.

Russian aircraft makerSukhoi developed the newfighter under the LTS pro-gram, a Russian acronym forthe Light Tactical Aircraft.

Its makers said the proto-type is set to make its maidenflight in 2023 and deliveriescould start in 2026. They saidthe new design could be con-verted to an unpiloted versionand a two-seat model.

The new aircraft, whichhasn’t received a name yet, issmaller than Russia’s latest Su-57 two-engine stealth fighter,also built by Sukhoi, and hasone engine. It can fly at a speedof 1.8-2 times the speed ofsound and has a range of 3,000kilometers (1,864 miles), thejet’s makers said.

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Democratic standards in theEuropean Union are erod-

ing in several member coun-tries, particularly in Hungaryand Poland where judicialindependence is under threat,the EU’s executive commissionsaid Tuesday in its annualreport on adherence to the ruleof law.

The report also singledout Slovenia, which recentlytook over the six-month rotat-ing presidency of the EuropeanCouncil, for attacks againstthe Balkan nation’s media.

“There are causes for seri-ous concern in a number ofmember states, especially whenit comes to the independenceof judiciary,” said Vera Jourova,the Commission vice-presi-dent for Values andTransparency.

The review, which is in itssecond year, was published aweek after the EU’s top courtruled that Poland’s way of dis-ciplining high judges contra-venes EU law and underminesjudicial independence, tellingthe country’s right-wing gov-ernment to change it. TheEuropean Commission has also

started legal action againstPoland and Hungary for whatthe EU’s executive arm sees asblatant disrespect for the rightsof LGBT people. The wide-ranging audit found Polanddeficient in the four main areasreviewed: national justice sys-tems, anti-corruption frame-works, media freedom andchecks and balances.

According to the EU’sexecutive arm, reforms of thePolish justice system carriedout over the past six years con-tinue to increase the influenceof the government over the jus-tice system, damaging judicialindependence.

The report also pointed outa risk of “undue influence oncorruption prosecutions forpolitical purposes” and noteda deterioration of working con-ditions for journalists, “with useof intimidating judicial pro-ceedings.”

Hungary was criticized forits perceived inadequate anti-corruption measures and thereport noted that media plu-ralism “remains at risk.” Thereport depicted a bleak mediasituation in Slovenia, reportingonline harassment and threatsagainst journalists.

Islamabad: Pakistan’s InteriorMinister Sheikh Rashid onTuesday reiterated the police’sclaim that the daughter ofAfghanistan’s ambassador wasnot kidnapped even as he urgedher to come forward and jointhe probe, in a case that has fur-ther soured relations betweenthe two neighbours.

His statement came a dayafter the police in Islamabadsaid that they have found noevidence that Silsila Alikhil,the 26-year-old daughter ofAfghanistan’s ambassador toPakistan Najibullah Alikhil, wasabducted from the capital city,an incident that has triggered amajor diplomatic row betweenthe two neighbouring nations.

The Minister told the mediathat she used four different taxisto commute to different locationsin Islamabad and neighbouringRawalpindi and police have alldetails of her travels.

“Nobody sat in her car.There is no case of kidnapping.We have given FIR as per laws.And hope that she will join theprobe and come forward torecognise the four tax driverswhose vehicles she used on thatday,” Rashid said. PTI

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Aman tried to stab Mali’stransitional President Col.

Assimi Goita Tuesday at theGrand Mosque in the capitalamid celebrations for theMuslim holiday of sacrifice, Eidal-Adha.

The attempted stabbinghappened after the holidayprayers and sermon at themosque and the imam went toslaughter the sheep, accordingto witnesses. One man with aknife and another with a gunparticipated in the attack, saidthe witnesses. Goita was nothurt and his security teamquickly took him away, but oneperson was injured, they said.

This attempted attack onthe interim president comes asMali has seen several attacks byjihadis in the central part of thecountry in recent days.

Col. Assimi Goita grabbedpower in August 2020 by over-throwing Mali’s democratical-ly elected president. He even-tually agreed to a transitional

government led by a civilianpresident and prime ministerbut on May 24 he ousted thosecivilian leaders after theyannounced a Cabinet reshufflethat sidelined two junta sup-porters without consulting him.

Goita was then sworn in aspresident of the transitionalgovernment in June. He haspledged to keep the country ontrack to return to civilian rulewith an election in February2022.

Mali has been unsettledsince 2012 when mutinous sol-diers overthrew the president ofa decade. The power vacuumled to an Islamic insurgencythat took control of the coun-try’s northern cities, includingTimbuktu and Gao. A French-led campaign ousted the jihadisfrom the northern cities in2013.

A peace agreement wassigned in 2015 by three parties— the government, a coalitionof groups that seek autonomyin northern Mali, and a pro-government militia.

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The excise duty rates onpetrol and diesel have been

calibrated to generate resourcesfor infrastructure building andother developmental expendi-ture keeping in view the pre-vailing fiscal situation, Ministerof State for Finance PankajChaudhary said on Tuesday.

In a written reply to aquestion in the Rajya Sabha, theminister said petrol price hadgone up by �3.83 a litre in May,� 4.58 in June and �2.73 in July(up to July 16).

In April, the prices ofpetrol and diesel were reviseddown by �0.16 and �0.14 a litre,respectively.

The retail selling price ofdiesel rose by �4.42 a litre inMay, �4.03 in June and �0.69 inJuly (up to July 16).

The retail selling price ofpetrol and diesel in Delhi onJuly 16, 2021, stood at

�101.54/litre and � 89.87/litrerespectively, he said.

“The excise duty rates onpetrol and diesel have been cal-ibrated to generate resourcesfor infrastructure and otherdevelopmental items of expen-diture keeping in view the pre-vailing fiscal situation,”Chaudhary said.

In the first three months(April-June) of the current fis-cal, the total excise duty col-lected on petrol and diesel was� 94,181 crore.

Excise collections on petroland diesel jumped by 88 percent to �3.35 lakh crore in thelast fiscal ended March 31,2021, after excise duty wasraised to a record high.

Excise duty on petrol washiked from �19.98 per litre to�32.9 last year to recoup gainsarising from international oilprices plunging to multi-yearlow as the pandemic gulpeddemand.

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China on Tuesday rolled outa high-speed maglev train

with a designed top speed of600 kms per hour, stated to bethe world’s fastest ground vehi-cle, according to the officialmedia.

The new maglev trans-portation system made its pub-lic debut in the coastal city ofQingdao, China’s eastShandong province, state-runXinhua news agency reported.

Launched in October 2016,the high-speed maglev trainproject saw the development ofa magnetic-levitation train pro-totype with a designed topspeed of 600 kms per hour in2019, and conducted a suc-cessful test run in June 2020,the report said.

The train can travel withtwo to 10 carriages, each hold-

ing more than 100 passengers,according to Ding Sansan, chiefengineer of the project.

The train provides the bestsolution for trips within therange of 1,500 kms, Ding said,adding it fills the speed gapbetween aviation and high-speed trains.

Compared with tradition-al vehicles running on wheels,high-speed maglev trains donot have contact with railtracks. They have advantages interms of efficiency and speed,and produce very little noise,said He Yunfeng, who is withCRRC Zhuzhou ElectricCorporation Limited.

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The Government on Tuesdaysaid about 6.66 lakh direct

and indirect jobs have beengenerated by 22 operationalmega food parks.

Minister of State for FoodProcessing Industries PrahladSingh Patel, in a written replyin the Lok Sabha, said as perthe Mega Food Park SchemeGuidelines, each park on beingfully operational, would createdirect and indirect employmentfor about 5,000 persons.

However, the actual con-figuration of a project may vary

depending upon the businessplan. The Ministry has accord-ed final approval to 38 megafood parks and in-principleapproval to 3 such parks underthe Mega Food Park Scheme.

“About 6,66,000 direct andindirect employment have beengenerated by the 22 operationalMega Food Parks,” he said.

The Ministry has beenimplementing Mega Food ParkScheme to create modern infra-structure for the food process-ing sector. The proposals underscheme for setting up of megafood parks are invited throughExpressions of Interest.

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The amount of unpaid over-time that workers around

the world are doing has soaredin the past year and in India,employees are giving awaymore than 11 hours per weekfor free on average to theiremployers, according to areport.

According to a new studyby the ADP Research Institutetitled ‘People at Work 2021: AGlobal Workforce View’, theaverage amount of “free time”worked has increased by almosttwo hours per person per weeksince Covid-19 hit.

The “free time” workedcan range from working overbreaks and starting early orstaying late, to regularly puttingin extra work for no addition-al pay.

Globally, the averageamount of free overtime beingworked each week is now 9.2hours per person – up from 7.3hours pre-pandemic, according

to the findings of the survey ofmore than 32,000 workers in 17countries.

In India, workers believethat they work an extra 11.1hours per week for free. Morethan 82 per cent of the respon-dents surveyed in India believethey have been underpaid atsome point in time.

Additionally, about 40 percent of the respondents areworking longer hours duringnormal working weeks, andalmost 39 per cent are increas-ing efforts to network anddevelop contacts within theorganisation.

Rahul Goyal, managingdirector (India & SoutheastAsia) of ADP, a global leader inpayroll and HCM solutions,said: “Workers are now rou-tinely clocking up whatamounts to more than a work-ing day’s worth of unpaid over-time every single week.”

“The arrival of Covid-19has spurred many people towork harder than ever.

Essential workers may havebeen struggling to keep up withthe extra workload Covid-19has created.

“Non-essential workersmay be going the extra miledue to concerns about their jobsecurity, to compensate whencolleagues have lost their jobs,or because the boundariesbetween work and home lifehave been blurred when work-ing remotely,” he said. One in10 workers (10 per cent) glob-ally are now giving away inexcess of 20 hours per week forfree to their employers.Moreover, given the demand-ing nature of their jobs, essen-tial workers are putting inmore unpaid overtime thannon-essential workers — at10.1 hours per week on average,compared to 8.1 hours.

The pandemic has alsomade individuals more digital-savvy, and about 50 per cent ofthe respondents started usingmobile applications or tools tomanage their finances.

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Equity indices wilted underselling pressure for the third

session on the trot on Tuesday asthe global market sell-off deep-ened on renewed concerns overthe fast-spreading Delta variantof the coronavirus. Banking andfinance stocks were the biggestdrags on the benchmarks, whilea rebounding rupee and robustbuying in select consumptioncounters capped the losses tosome extent. The 30-share BSESensex tumbled 354.89 points or0.68 per cent to close at 52,198.51.Similarly, the broader NSE Niftyslumped 120.30 points or 0.76 percent to 15,632.10. IndusIndBank was the biggest laggardamong the Sensex components,shedding 3.32 per cent, followedby Tata Steel, NTPC, BhartiAirtel, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank,M&M and HDFC Bank.

On the other hand, AsianPaints topped the gainers’ list witha jump of 6.04 per cent after thecompany reported an over two-fold increase in consolidated Q1profit at Rs 574.30 crore.

UltraTech Cement, HUL, NestleIndia, Maruti and TCS wereamong the other winners, gain-ing up to 1.52 per cent.

“Bears dominated D-streetfollowing overnight selling in

global markets due to spread ofthe highly contagious Delta vari-ant and fall in economic growthdata. Sharp fall in crude pricereflected the rising concernover fall in future growth.

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As many as 12,889 compa-nies were struck off from

official records in the financialyear ended March 2021 and 87companies dissolved duringthe same period, according toofficial data.

As per the data providedby the corporate affairs min-istry to Rajya Sabha onTuesday, a total of 2,38,223companies were struck off and651 dissolved during the peri-od from 2018 to June 2021under Section 248 of theCompanies Act, 2013.

Under the Section 248, acompany can be struck off theofficial records subject to cer-tain conditions. These includeinstances where the Registrar ofCompanies has a reasonablecause to believe that companiesthat are not carrying on anybusiness or operation for twoimmediately preceding finan-cial years and has not made anyapplication within such period

for obtaining dormant compa-ny status would be struck offafter following the due processof law.

Further, companies aredissolved through amalgama-tion or otherwise with theapproval of courts.

In 2020-21, a total of12,889 companies were struckoff and 87 companies dissolved, as per the data pro-vided along with a writtenreply by Minister of State forCorporate Affairs Rao InderjitSingh.

“Thus, it cannot be saidthat 13,000 big companies andlakhs of small and tiny com-panies have shut down during2020-2021,” Singh said.

He was responding to aquestion on whether it is a factthat over 13,000 registered bigcompanies and over lakhs ofsmall and tiny industries haveshut down operations in 2020-21, including 1,200 companiesbased in North India.

The minister also noted

that big companies, small andtiny industries are not definedunder the Companies Act,2013, and that the term ‘closedcompany’ is also not definedunder the Act.

In North India, 5,034companies were struck off and44 dissolved during the lastfinancial year.

North India refers to NCTof Delhi, Haryana, UttarPradesh, Uttarakhand,Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, UTof Chandigarh, UT of Ladakhand UT of Jammu andKashmir.

In Delhi and Haryana,2,396 companies were struckoff and 42 dissolved in 2020-21while 12,653 companies werestruck off and 53 dissolved in2019-20, the data showed.

This was in response to aquery on whether it is a factthat in Haryana itself, about3,000 and in Delhi, over 2,450registered big companies haveshut down their business in thelast two years.

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Noting that India’s ratio ofmutual fund asset under

management (AUM) to GDP isjust 15 per cent against theglobal average of 75 per cent,HDFC Asset ManagementCompany Chairman Deepak S.Parekh on Tuesday said that thecountry’s MF industry has thepotential for exponentialgrowth.

Addressing the sharehold-ers of the company, Parekh saidthat the mutual fund industryoverall assets under manage-ment rose by 41 per cent yearon year to close at Rs 31.4 lakhcrore.

Over the last five years,mutual fund industry AUM hasseen a CAGR of 20.6 per centand equity-oriented AUM hasgrown at a CAGR of 25 percent. “Despite the high growth,India’s mutual fund AUM toGDP ratio remains signifi-cantly low at 15 per cent, ascompared to a global average of75 per cent. Similarly, equityAUM to market cap stood at 5per cent as against a globalaverage of 30 per cent,” he said.

Parekh was of the view thatIndia’s penetration levels by anymeasure remain considerablylower compared to other largeeconomies. India has morethan 50 crore income tax per-manent account numbers, butonly 2.2 crore mutual fundinvestors, he said.The Indianmutual fund industry has thepotential to grow exponential-ly, he said.

“SEBI has done a com-mendable job not only in termsof regulating the industry butalso aiding growth. Globalagencies admire India’s mutu-al fund regulatory frameworkand consider the mutual fundindustry among the top interms of global best practices.”

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The production target for oilseeds and the area expan-

sion target for oil palm underthe National Food SecurityMission (NFSM) could not bemet during the last three years,according to data submitted bythe government to the LokSabha on Tuesday.

Under the NFSM-Oilseeds,there was 315.22 lakh tonnesproduction against the target of360 lakh tonnes for the year2018-29; for the year 2019-20,322.19 lakh tonnes was pro-duced against the target of361.00 lakh tonnes; while forthe year 2020-21, the produc-tion is pegged at an estimated

365.65 lakh tonnes against thetarget of 370.00 lakh tonnes, thegovernment said.

Similarly, under theNFSM-Oil Palm, the year-wisearea expansion target for 2018-19 was 26,157-hectare while theachievement was only 11,807-hectare; for the year 2019-2020, the area expansion was13,274-hectare against the tar-get of 17,780-hectare; and in2020-21, it was 14,090-hectareagainst the target of 22,815-hectare, Union Minister forAgriculture and Farmers’Welfare, Narendra SinghTomar, said in a statement laidon the table in reply to a ques-tion by MPs BhartruhariMahtab and Sudhakar

Tukaram Shrangare.Under the NFSM

(Oilseeds), the Central gov-ernment has set up 36 oilseedshubs during 2018-19 and 2019-20 with an objective to increasethe availability of high-yieldingquality seeds.

There are eight seed hubsfor rapeseed and mustard (inAssam, Haryana, MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan, UttarPradesh and West Bengal); sixfor soybean (Chhattisgarh,Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,Telangana, Karnataka); six forgroundnut (Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,Gujarat, Odisha andKarnataka); two for sesame;three for sunflower (Telangana,

West Bengal, Karnataka); threefor safflower, three for niger(Madhya Pradesh, Karnatakaand Odisha); three for castor(Gujarat, Tamil Nadu andTelangana) and two for linseed,the government data said.

The government of India ispromoting the production andproductivity of oilseedsthrough the National FoodSecurity Mission (Oilseeds) inall the districts of India whilethe scheme to promote oilpalm cultivation is being imple-mented in 12 states: AndhraPradesh, Assam, ArunachalPradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat,Karnataka, Manipur, Mizoram,Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Naduand Telangana.

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IFC, the private sector fund-ing arm of World Bank, has

appointed Hector Gomez Angas Regional Director for SouthAsia.Based in New Delhi, Angwill play a critical role in boost-ing IFC’s investments in theregion, as it looks to recoverfrom the severe impact ofCovid-19. In taking on the newrole, Gomez Ang said the pri-vate sector had an essential rolein South Asia’s recovery fromCovid-19, easing the burden onconstrained public financesand reducing rising levels ofpoverty, due to the pandemic.

“The pandemic has left ascar on countries throughoutthe region, exacting a hugehuman toll of which we mustremain mindful. We must alsoaccept that we may have to livewith the lingering impacts ofCovid-19 for some time tocome, and so it’s all the moreimperative to continue to worktogether to support jobs andeconomic growth,” Gomez Angsaid. “That also means wemust do what’s needed toensure private sector invest-ments can flow to where it’sneeded, and in industries weknow can support economicactivity.”

IFC’s focus in South Asiawill continue to center on pro-viding liquidity to private sec-tor companies in the region sothey can maintain operations,preserve and create jobs. IFCwill also look to further supportthe region’s most vulnerablepeople by helping deliver morefunding for hard hit micro,small and medium sized enter-prises as well as promotinggreen growth through invest-ments in sustainable infra-structure, such as renewableenergy and digital connectivi-ty, to foster a greener, moreresilient, and inclusive recoveryfrom Covid-19.

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The Indian rupee reversedearly losses to close 27

paise higher at 74.61 againstthe US dollar on Tuesdayamid a lacklustre greenbackoverseas and weak crude oilprices. At the interbank forexmarket, the domestic curren-cy witnessed heavy volatility.The local unit opened weak at74.93 a dollar and touched alow of 74.95 and a high of74.55 during the day. Thelocal unit finally closed at74.61 against the Americancurrency, registering a rise of27 paise over its previous close.

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Non-banking lender IndelMoney is in active dis-

cussions with private equityplayers to divest 10-15 percent for �140 crore, as itcharts out a faster growth tra-jectory by entering newergeographies this fiscal and aneventual listing.DiversifiedIndel Corporation, with over�1,000 crore revenue, made aforay into gold loans in 2013,offering one-year-long loansagainst gold pledge first andthen for two years in anindustry that has neverlooked beyond three months.

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Every content creator has a sig-nificant career to start in thisfield, which is one of the mostdemanding jobs across the

globe. The pandemic situation hasled to loss of many jobs and indus-try people have been facing a hugefinancial crisis as well as job crisis.Sometimes it happens we neverconsider such things to earn ormake a good amount because wehaven’t heard about it. We always getthe recommendation from our par-ents, elders or society to work onlyon the things which are coming fromgeneration to generation but some-times we miss the good opportuni-ties.

The graduates from mass com-munication and journalism are pre-ferred for content writing jobs as theyare taught in their semesters aboutmaking effective content. But thisdoesn’t mean that a person with basicknowledge of grammar and vocab-ulary will not get a chance. Aseveryone from school is being taughtbasic grammar and we all give theEnglish grammar exams till Boards,utilising those studies we can earn agood job in the modern world whichhas high demand for content writersor creators.

Here is a list of new opportuni-ties and career scope for job seekersin content marketing or contentwriting:

E-commerce companyContent writing plays a very

important role in E-commerce com-panies in making their businessfinance high, as the increasing traf-fic on websites ultimately increasesbusiness growth. The website’s con-tent is required for updating newproducts and blog pages. This booststhe SEO and website’s organic rank-ings on Google which drives highengagement turning visitors intobuyers. One must know the basicSearch Engine Optimisation (SEO)knowledge, keywords before enter-ing an E-commerce Company.

Video Content SpecialistThis job profile is eye-catchy for

the young generation looking tomake a career in a production house.

There is a requirement of abasic combination of creativity, mar-ket knowledge, and target audience.They are responsibly using their cre-ativity and content creation skillswhere they can tell the storiesthrough videos which include mar-keting videos, social media cam-paigning, brands or advertisement,etc.

The skills required for this jobrole may include understandingtechnical skills and software such asFinal Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere,and Adobe Effects. Some more capa-bilities are required other than writ-ing skills i.e. communication skills.Nowadays it’s a digital and socialsavvy generation where everyonewants to highlight their name on theInternet. This will only work when

you have the influencing power ofcreating content as per the marketdemand; this is the only key to makeyour video production name as abrand through utilising good skills.

Blog writerThe companies from IT, MNC,

Fin-tech, Software-based sectorshire blog writers in their firm tomaintain their blog regularly. Manypeople are unaware of new softwarein the market due to which compa-nies update their blogs with differ-ent topics relatable and use SEO tofloat in the search box. This bene-fits B2B or B2C marketers also tounderstand the work or productdetails that blog writers describe onthe official websites.

Nowadays many people makeblogs and write their thoughts,opinions and earn if they reach alarge number of people and audi-ence. This creates a good short ofincome through small efforts orskills which you can show on a dig-ital platform.

Freelance writerThe writer who has good expe-

rience in creating content on anygiven topic or in their beat can workon different projects of any compa-ny. A large number of freelance writ-ers earn their income through a pod-cast or by writing a book and self-publishing it on Amazon Kindle.There are many other sectors liketravel and tourism where freelancewriters are hired based on travellingcontent, sometimes companies payfor visiting and writing the contenton tourist places.

Nowadays, hospital or healthsector is looking for a freelancewriter for updating their contentrequired on a website like new tech-nologies used, healthy diets, health-related issues, and many more pro-jects.

Hotels are now more advancedand not in the lesser demand thanany other industry. They use blogwriters for telling their dish storiesand also for highlighting their namein the market. Sometimes social

media platforms also require prettyattractive content for the visitors ontheir social media pages which ishandled by writers themselves.

Editorial departmentThe editorial department is

found in the Media and PR Industry,where the content writer is hired ontheir educational qualification.Recruiters prefer the students fromJournalism and Mass communica-tion. The role and responsibility ofthe content writer in the mediaindustry are also known asEditor/Sub-Editor where they haveto maintain the content as per the5W 1H rule and look after their sub-ordinates.

Content writers in the PR indus-try are responsible for drafting pressreleases, email drafting, content cre-ating, article write-ups, stories, etc.If the person has the skills of creat-ing such stories they are a good fit inthis job-role of the PR Industry.

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An estimated 15 lakh stu-dents in rural India can

now access a range of gradu-ate and post-graduate courseswith the Common ServicesCenters (CSC) and AmityUniversity Online joininghands to enable last mile out-reach through CSCs which isan unit of Ministry ofInformation and Technology.

In the first phase, graduate

and post-graduate courses ofAmity University Online likeBA, BCom, BCA, BBA andMCA will be made available tostudents through over 5000CSC Academy centers, theeducation and CSR wing ofCSC. Some of the courses likeBA and BCom will also bemade available in Hindi con-sidering the language barriersfaced by students in ruralIndia.

Elaborating on the part-

nership, 1979 batch IAS officerDr Dinesh Tyagi, MD, CSC,said: “It has been our endeav-our to provide quality educa-tion to students and youth inrural areas, particularly towomen who miss out on high-er education due to societalinequality and patriarchy. Ourassociation with Amity Onlineis a significant step in thatdirection and meets PrimeMinister’s vison of DigitalIndia fulfilling the education-

al needs of rural India.”According to Ajit

Chauhan, Chairman, AmityUniversity Online: “AmityUniversity Online has alwaysenvisioned providing worldclass quality education to all itslearners. Our endeavour is tobring grassroot level changeand enable professionals inremote areas of India. Wehope more and more villagesare able to benefit through thisinitiative.”

For the last decade or sotechnology had been mak-ing deeper inroads into

the education system globally.Then the pandemic struck.And technology became thesole source of knowledge dis-semination and procurement,for schooling and even kinder-gartens.

The non-believers of intro-ducing technology in educationate humble pie as all the realworld learning environmentswere replicated in the virtualspace.

Technology does certainlymake learning more experien-tial.

Distance did not matter,travel time was ruled out of theequation and children wouldnot be required to move out oftheir safety spaces amid a rag-ing pandemic outside. All theknowledge came home, so tospeak. There was no waterwasted on uniforms, no paperwasted in notebooks, no woodwasted from pencils.

However, the case for inte-

gration of technology intoschool curriculum goes furtherthan the above reasons. Firstly,it should not be seen as a sub-stitute to conventional paperpencil methods. It must per-ceived as a complement, a forcemultiplier.

For instance, certain sub-jects are often perceived asboring and staid. These areoften those involving numbersand ancient history. They allcan be tutored in an integratedmanner, such as by cultivatinggraphics, interactives andArtificial Reality with tradi-tional books, which makeslearning them a delight.

Secondly, tech simplifiescreating, doing and evaluatinghomework. Also, the assign-ments are recorded in a natur-al chronology, easily accessibleat a later date. A digital recordcan help hone individual weak-nesses.

Working with tech from ayoung age acquaints childrenwith hands on training in howmodern methods are lever-

aged for professional dutieslater in life. These makes youngones industry ready and makelearning future proof.

Then, game based learning,which is now a reality, in a class-room can make lessons fun,which students actually lookforward to taking most as thejoy quotient is high.

Creative learnings, whichmay become a task whenattempted offline can be animmersive experience digitally.These include storytelling,PowerPoint presentations, usingvideo streaming to share glob-al content, visiting digital muse-ums, showcasing digital sketch-ing so on and so forth.

Then there are certain sub-jects which are in fact better offtaught online. Nothing exem-plifies this trend as the subjectgeography. With such advance-ments as digital maps, GPS,online routing and satelliteimagery becoming common-place, learning geographythrough digital means is the bestbet.

Next, by using tech, stu-dents acquire vital soft skillswhich come in effect later.These are researching on net,understanding keyboarding,clicking, surfing, navigating etc.

Students being encouragedto undertake content creationthrough own recordings lays thefoundation for their podcast,vlogging careers later. So ratherthan being merely consumers,they are shaped to be leaders.

Then, engaging socialmedia for academic learningopens children to the makinghealthy use of seemingly addic-tive mediums.

Another area where tech-nology can help education is byreaching those who cannotcome to schools for any reason.

Having said that, on-board-ing tech and expanding itsscope in education will needbetter smartphone and laptopaccess to students, not to men-tion high speed internet con-nectivity.

Also, digital learning cannotfulfil outcomes in various sub-jects requiring practical trainingand physical doing. Theseinclude physical education,sports, lab experiments, han-dling biological matter.

Moreover, when a studentputs pen to paper, they are actu-ally honing their hand eye andhand brain coordination, sharp-ening their rational mind andintellectual center. So, comput-erisation might not offer aviable substitute for this.

In summation, technologyis transforming education, dras-tically altering how, when andwhere children learn andempowering them to be morecreative and ready for the tech-tonic shift that today’s jobsdemand.

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Flying abroad for higher education cangive students an amazing academic

experience by exposing them to variouscultures, life experiences, and educationmethodologies. Often, numerous studentslike to continue their career pursuits inthe countries where they complete theirhigher education. Understanding thistrend, Governments across the world havebeen providing post-study visas andstudy permits to attract and retain the bestinternational talent.

Here is how post-study visas andwork permit processes work in differentcountries:

United States: International studentswho want to attend universities in the USneed to apply for an F1 Visa. However, ifthey want to gain a few years of workexperience after their studies, they havetwo options they could pursue. The firstone is to apply for an OPT extension andanother is to get the H1-B visa. OPTextension to the F1 visa allows post-grad-uation students to work temporarily fora year in their major areas of study; or optfor an H-1B visa, which is a non-immi-grant visa provision.

This application is not submitted bythe student, but by the sponsoringemployer, which provides a guarantee thatthe applicant will work during the stay.While OPT extension is provided only tothose who are studying or who have com-pleted their study, the H-1B visa is forthose who are sponsored by their employ-ers, irrespective of their field of study.

Even though the US allows students tostay for a year (under OPT extension)after completion of their course on theirF1 visa, those who are studying STEMcourses (Science, Technology,Engineering, and Mathematics) are eli-gible to get a 24-month extension.

United Kingdom: The UK hasbrought back its Post-Study Work permitvisa in 2021 after suspending it in 2012.Under this provision, students with anundergraduate or master’s degree can stayback and work for two years, whilethose who completed their PhD can workfor three years. These provisions areallowed for students who have a valid UKimmigration status and are graduating inJuly 2021 and later. Students who appliedonline for degree courses from their homecountries due to the pandemic restric-tions, or who had to go back home, canalso apply for a work visa. The Post StudyWork permit also allows students toswitch to a skilled work visa and providesworker rights for their dependents andaccess to the UK Labour market.

Canada: A student wishing to studyin Canada usually has to apply for aCanada Student Visa, which is similar toa Visitor Visa or Electronic TravelAuthorisation, except that it includes astudy permit.

Students graduating from Canadianuniversities can stay for up to three yearswith a work permit to explore employ-ment opportunities, depending uponthe duration of the course. The Post-

Graduation Work Permit Program isapplicable only if the duration of thecourse is a minimum of eight months. Ifthe course is between eight months andtwo years, the permit will be for the dura-tion of the course. However, if the courseduration is of two years or more, the per-mit will be applicable for three years,which can be an added advantage to stu-dents pursuing a two-year master’s degreeor equivalent. However, one of the biggestadvantages of applying for a work permitis that the experience gained through itmay qualify the students to apply for per-manent citizenship in the country.

France: In France, a student who hascompleted a professional bachelor'sdegree, post-graduate or higher degreecourse needs to apply for a job search orbusiness creation residence permit, if(s)he wants to stay for an additional 12months to look for a job. According to anagreement signed with France in 2015,Indian postgraduate students are alloweda benefit of a two-year special residencepermit to stay after their studies.

Germany: A student who completeshis graduate or higher courses inGermany can apply for a temporary res-idence permit, which is valid for 18months, during which the student cansearch for job opportunities. If a studentwants to accept a job role, (s)he can applyfor a German residence permit or an EUBlue Card.

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A��5�"�����)=����)>��The signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding

(MoU) between Mitsui Kinzoku Components India PrivateLimited (MKCI) and the School of Advanced Sciences, VIT-APUniversity was held virtually on July 20, 2021.

Dr SV Kota Reddy, Vice-Chancellor, VIT-AP University, saidthat this collaboration will help faculty and students to get an oppor-tunity to conduct advanced level collaborative research in Sciencesand Technologies and they can get enough scope to involve them-selves in different career development activities. Moreover, this col-laboration may bring excellent research projects and industrial con-sultancy. Many events like training and faculty development pro-grammes, workshops, conferences may be organised together.Industry professionals can share their knowledge with the studentsduring guest lectures. They can share their expertise to develop thecourses and to prepare the curriculum industry-ready.

Shimada Masakazu, Managing Director, MKCI emphasized thatthis collaboration will bring industry and academia together.Industry professionals, scientists, professors, students can performjoint research ventures under this agreement. Many patents canbe published and granted jointly. Dr Sekar Viswanathan, VicePresident, VIT, Dr CLV Sivakumar, Registrar, Dr Pradeep ReddyCH, Deputy Director, Career Development Centre and Dr RajeshKodiyath, Assistant General Manager, R&D, MKCI along with manyothers witnessed the ceremony.

Ateam of researchers from the Center for Biomaterials, Cellular& Molecular Theranostics (CBCMT) at Vellore Institute of

Technology (VIT), Vellore, was declared the winner ofMaterialNEXT 2.0 hosted by TATA Steel on July 9, 2021.

Tata Steel Advanced Materials Research Centres (TSAMRC)has been actively associating with young college talents throughtheir Campus Connect programme, while MaterialNEXT is an openinnovation pan-India event to identify budding research talents andmaterialise potential ideas.

Team Titans from VIT, Vellore, mentored by the Director &Senior Professor Dr Geetha Manivasgam of CBCMT, comprisesof interdisciplinary research scholars Pearlin Hameed, AnsheedRaheem, Aswin G & Jishita R. They had bagged a cash prize of �5lakh after marking a prolific win in the grand finale.

The team innovated a novel 3D printed porous Titanium alloythat nearly mimics the properties of natural bone in contrast to con-ventional titanium alloys that are currently used. This would sig-nificantly alleviate many post-surgical complications, which oth-erwise contributed to implant failure. Currently, the Indian med-ical sector prevalently uses imported implants for bone repair, whichis a cross to bear for an average Indian and a near to impossibleluxury for the underprivileged. This material innovation isexpected to churn out indigenous porous bone grafts, plates, fix-tures, screws, and dental implants, with superior biocompatibili-ty and an affordable price tag.

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�Do you see the overseas flight of stu-dents to regular attractive destinationspicking up once again?

In the Indian higher educationspace, migration is mostly outbound.With international travel being restrict-ed from India, the situation is not soconducive for an overseas flight of stu-dents. The psychological impact of thesecond wave has made parents reluctantto send their children far away. Thisapplies to domestic relocation as well. Asa result of these factors, we don’t expectany extraordinary flight of students evento destinations like the US, the UK,Australia and Canada.�How has the pandemic impactedinstitutions like yours, providing col-laborative Foreign Higher Educationdegrees?

The current pandemic, while pos-ing many challenges, has certainly alsopresented many opportunities for ourinstitution. With restricted foreign trav-el, many students are looking for waysto pursue a world-class education with-in India. Our collaborations with giantslike the London School of Economics(LSE), University of London andKingston University provide that. Ourfaculty pursue the world’s top teachingqualifications. This enables us to adaptquickly in such times, through initiativeslike flipped classrooms, peer tutoringand diversified assessments.�A part of business school educationis exposure to corporations, marketsand geographies. Has this changed?

At ISBF, a dedicated careers teamworks to expose students to a variety ofmarkets, upskill them and facilitateinternships and placements across sec-tors. During term-time, student gainindustry exposure through live projects,industry visits, boot camps with BombayStock Exchange, upskilling sessions byindustry experts and, very importantly,guest lectures. �What changes do you see in deliveryof quality higher education today?

The present pandemic will separatethe wheat from the chaff in Indian high-er education. The future of higher edu-cation is hybrid learning — synchro-nous, classroom teaching at the heart of

the learning process, with technologyplaying an indispensable role. �How do you see the college admis-sion seasons playing out with all thedelays and postponements?

We welcome the Government'sdecision to cancel the Class XII Boardexams. Given the mental, emotional andphysical turmoil the whole country isexperiencing due to the pandemic, thewisest choice has been made has beenmade. This was vital to achieve, becausewe are already seeing in our admissionprocess that learning outcomes of ClassXII graduates this year are generallypoorer than previous years, due to thepostponements and a curtailed sessionlast year.�Do you see more foreign universitiescoming to India?

Absolutely. Foreign institutions havelong been looking for greener pastures,and India is the perfect market for them,given its diversity. Besides, the NewEducation Policy has finally paved theway for their gradual entry. We havebeen the beneficiaries of one of the deep-est international collaborations outthere for over 15 years, with the curricu-lum and the assessment coming in fromthe foreign university partner and theteaching done by us, the local college,to international standards.

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The Sai University (SaiU)in Chennai invites appli-cations for its scholar-

ship to meritorious students.The scholarship aims to iden-tify and help outstanding mer-itorious students who mightnot be able to afford the fulltuition fee at SaiU.

The University will offerscholarship from 25 per cent upto full tuition fee waiver basedon the merit of the student. Theuniversity has three schools —School of Arts & Sciences,School of Computing & DataScience, and School of Law.

Admissions are open forUG programmes at School ofArts & Sciences, School ofComputing & Data Science,and for two PG programmes atthe School of Law.

The university accepts testscores of SAT/ACT/PearsonUndergraduate entrance examor JEE Main for UG admis-sions. For the LLM pro-gramme, it accepts the AllIndia Admission Test conduct-ed byit; it may also consider theresults of LLM common admis-sion test held by any agency asper UGC norms.

The Fordham University isdispensing a marvellous oppor-tunity through its Maurice Jand Carolyn Dursi CunniffePresidential InternationalScholarships for the academ-

ic year 2021-2022. The grantis available for students from

all around the globe.Awards: Full tuition costNumber of awards: 20Eligibility: To be eligible,

applicants must meet the fol-lowing criteria: Be enteringtraditional first-year studentswho generally rank in the topone to two per cent in theirhigh school class. Must main-tain full-time status, satisfacto-ry academic progress, a 3.0cumulative GPA, and compli-ance with the University’s poli-cies and Code of Conduct.

Supporting documents:Candidates must submit a CV,academic certificates, and tran-scripts with your application.

Admission requirements:Students will b selected on thebasis of excellent academicachievement in high school,test scores, and personal char-acteristics.

Language requirement: Ifyour education has not beenconducted in the English lan-guage, you will be expected todemonstrate evidence of anadequate level of English pro-ficiency.

How to apply: In order toapply for the funding, appli-cants must take admission inan undergraduate degree pro-gramme at FordhamUniversity. After being regis-tered, candidates will be auto-matically considered for thiseducation award.

Application deadline: Thelast date to apply for this schol-arship is November 1, 2021.

Of late, there has been amajor shift of studentstowards opting law. When

it comes to a career in this field,most students aim for the top lawschools in the country. The mainentrance exam to get into these toplaw schools is Common LawAdmission Test (CLAT), which isheld for undergraduate and post-graduate courses.

This exam is the key to secureadmission into the premier nation-al law universities of the country.Many private universities alsoaccept CLAT scores. The compe-tition is very high. Therefore, it isimportant to not only clear theexam but also to secure a highrank so as to get admitted into thetop-ranking law schools. Thequestion is: How to prepare for theCLAT? Here’s what to do

START EARLYMany students are clear about

career choices and start preparingfor entrance exam even beforestarting their 10+2 education, itbecomes important for others tostart early as well. Usually, a two-year long preparation movingalong with the 10+2 is considered

apt to clear the entrance. Butthere are students who havesecured high rank with six monthsto a year of preparation. However,it is recommended to start earlyand gradually develop an under-standing of the various subjects ofthe entrance, starting from thebasics to getting into complexquestions and taking mock testsand sample question papers.

UNDERSTAND SYLLABUSMany students tend to ignore

the most important part of thepreparation process, which is hav-ing a clear idea of the syllabus, thevarious sections and topics underit and the question pattern. A clearidea about the syllabus and exam-ination pattern helps formulate astrategy for preparation.

FORMULATE STRATEGYBased on the syllabus, a metic-

ulous preparation strategy needsto be planned allotting time foreach of the topics, and in theprocess also identify the strengthsand weaknesses across subjects. Asection-wise analysis of the topicsis helpful. This should be followedby allotting specific time to each

section and building a regular timetable. The weightage given toeach section for UG entrance is:

English Language: 28-32 ques-tions, or roughly 20% of the paper

Current Affairs, includingGeneral Knowledge: 5-39 ques-tions, or roughly 25% of the paper

Legal Reasoning: 35-39 ques-tions, or roughly 25% of the paper

Logical Reasoning: 28-32questions, or roughly 20% of thepaper

Quantitative Techniques: 13-17 questions, or roughly 10% ofthe paper

For the PG exam, the trendhas been that a large chunk of thequestions come from Constitution,Jurisprudence, Company andCriminal Law and the rest of thequestions come fromAdministrative Law, Law ofContract, Torts, Family Law,Property Law, Public InternationalLaw, Tax Law, EnvironmentalLaw, and Labour & IndustrialLaw.

REGULAR REVISIONAfter each round of prepara-

tion of a particular section, it isimportant to make notes on the

same and regularly revise the sec-tion by following the notes fromtime to time. This helps in reten-tion of the information, and alsoto brush-up the already learnedtopics.

Attempt mock tests: Thishelps to understand exam ambi-ence, check progression, identifythe strong and weak areas, andbuild a clear idea about the ques-tion patterns. Regularly solvingquestion papers in a time boundmanner helps overcome examina-tion hall anxiety and fear, andimprove time management skills.

Staying healthy and posi-tive: Like any other entrancepreparation, there will be highsand lows in the process. However,it is important to keep anxiety andstress away, and make attempts tostay positive and confident aboutthe examination. This can beachieved by acknowledging thestress and working towardsremoving it through a balanceddaily routine (with activities formental and physical wellbeinglike yoga, meditation and exerciseand a healthy social life. .������������� ������� ������������< �

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The shooters are feeling the heat, literal-ly.Three days before the Tokyo Olympics

open, the marksmen and markswomen arestruggling to carry out their last few train-ing sessions, thanks to a combination of theJapanese capital’s hot and humid weather andthe convertible practice facility at the AsakaShooting Range.

The all-purpose practice hall meansshooters of every event — 50m, 25m and10m — are training in the same facility oneafter another.

The 10m competition is held in anindoor facility but, in this case, it is lookinglike an outdoor range.

Mostly bearing the brunt of the scorch-ing summer heat here are the jacket andtrouser-wearing rifle shooters.

When asked about the inconveniencefacing the shooters, an official in theNational Rifle Association of India (NRAI)said the local organisers have provided theathletes with everything they need.

“There is a bit of an issue with the rifleshooters as they shoot wearing the jackets.We are sure that the air conditioners in thefinal hall are fine. Do we have the air con-ditioners when the qualifications for 50mand 25m events are held. So you can under-stand,” the official said.

“The only thing is that the training is

being held at a convertible range which isbeing used for practice sessions of 50m, 25,and 10m events.”

The Indian shooters underwent train-ing sessions at the Asaka Shooting Range onMonday and Tuesday.

The shooting events will be held at theAsaka Shooting Range, which is located inSaitama Prefecture, north west Tokyo, fromJuly 24 to August 2.

The venue also hosted the shooting com-petition at the 1964 Olympics.

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The Olympic motto wasamended to ‘faster, high-

er, stronger — together’ dur-ing the International OlympicCommittee’s session in Tokyoon Tuesday as the world wait-ed for the pandemic-hitGames to begin on July 23.

The word ‘together’ aftera hyphen has been added tothe earlier motto, which wasmade up of three Latin words— Citius, Altius, Fortius,translating to ‘Faster HigherStronger’ in English.

The proposal to includethe word together was madeby IOC President ThomasBach, which was endorsed bythe body’s Executive Board(EB) in April.

Bach had suggested themotto should become ‘faster,higher, stronger — together’in response to the Covid-19crisis. The motto now reads‘Citius, Altius, Fortius —Communis’ in Latin.

The IOC members unan-imously approved an amend-ment of the Olympic Charter.

During the session, Bachstressed the importance ofsolidarity within the OlympicMovement and beyond.

“Solidarity is at the heartof everything we do.Solidarity fuels our mission tomake the world a better placethrough sport. Because wecan only go faster, we can onlyaim higher, we can onlybecome stronger, if we standtogether — in solidarity.”

“Strengthening solidarityin this way also helps us toaccomplish our 3,000-year-old mission to contribute topeace through sport. Withoutsolidarity, there is no peace.”

The Olympic motto wasadopted with the launch ofthe Olympic Movement in1894 at the urging of founderPierre de Coubertin, whowanted a slogan thatexpressed excellence in sport.

It was also supported bythe International Pierre deCoubertin Committee.

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Leg-spinner YuzvendraChahal led India's decenteffort with the ball as a

self-destructing Sri Lankaslipped to 275 for nine in thesecond ODI here on Tuesday.

Pretty much like the seriesopener, most of the Sri Lankanbatsmen got starts but failedto capitalise after the hostsopted to bat.

Avishka Fernando (50 off71) and Charith Asalanka (65off 68) struck fine half-cen-turies but the home teamwasn't disciplined enough topost an imposing total.

Chamika Karunaratne (44not out off 33) came up withanother timely cameo to takethe team past 270.

Chahal (3/50) was thepick of the bowlers while pac-

ers Deepak Chahar (2/53)and Bhuvneshwar Kumar(3/54) too got wickets primar-ily due to profligacy of thehome team batsmen.

Openers Fernando (50 off71) and Minod Bhanuka (36off 42) took Sri Lanka to 59 forloss in the first 10 overs.

The momentum shiftedIndia's way drastically afterChahal removed Minod andBhanuka Rajapaksa off succes-sive balls in the 14th over. InMinod's case, it was a soft dis-missal as the well set southpawcharged down the wicket andflicked an eventual full tossstraight to Manish Pandey atmid-wicket.

The next one from Chahalwas a beauty which held itsline to a take faint outside edgeof Rajapaksa's bat and wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan managed

to clutch onto the catch.Sri Lanka, who are among

the worst performing teams inthe middle overs, struggled

again in the crucial stage ofthe game. They took 97 ballsto take find their next bound-ary after the eight over.

From 77 for no loss in the14th over, Sri Lanka slipped to134 for four in the 28th over.

Asalanka and skipperDasun Shanaka tried to resur-rect the innings but their 38-run stand ended with thecaptain falling to a flatter onefrom Chahal.

Chahar took his secondwicket with a perfect knuck-le ball that crashed throughWanindu Hasaranga'sdefences.

Asalanka played somebold strokes a longsideKarunaratne to give theinnings some impetustowards the end.

Asalanka got to his maid-en fifty with a lofted bound-ary over extra cover offKuldeep Yadav before sweep-ing the left-arm wrist spinnerfor another four in the sameover.

The pitch aided India'sspinners like the first game.

Bhuvneshar kept thingstight but bowled at a slowerpacer than his usual.

Considering the formIndia's young batsmen dis-played in the series opener, itshould be another comfort-able run chase for the visitors.

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Skipper Virat Kohli and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane

have opted out of the three dayfirst-class warm-up fixtureagainst County Select XI alongwith senior-off-spinner RAshwin.

Rohit Sharma is leading theside in Kohli and Rahane’sabsence as the game began onTuesday.

Mayank Agarwal, who islikely to open with RohitSharma in the first Test atNottingham will be watchedkeenly along with MohammedSiraj, who could preferred overIshant Sharma in the playingXI.

First team regular likeMohammed Shami has alsobeen rested from the game,which is one of India’s rareFirst-Class game in last 10years.

It is understood that Kohli,Rahane, Shami, Jadeja will besweating it out at the netsalongside Ashwin, who hasalready bowled a whopping 58overs and taken seven wicketsin a County game for Surreylast week.

Regular keeper RishabhPant and senior reserve gloves-man Wriddhiman Saha arecurrently isolating in Londonafter the Covid scare but are

expected to join the teambefore the intra-squad gamescheduled at the Riversideground during the last week ofthis month.

It is tentatively scheduledbetween July 26-28.

While Kohli, Rahane,Shami are also coming from athree-week break, playing afirst-class match means that allthe seniors will have to remainon field for a stipulated period

of time.The match also

provides an oppor-tunity to HanumaVihari to score a

few runs and keep Rahaneunder pressure since he hasn'tbeen scoring runs very consis-tently.

The five-Test series will bean acid test for bothCheteshwar Pujara andRahane.India: Rohit Sharma (C),Mayank Agarwal, CheteshwarPujara, Hanuma Vihari, KLRahul, Jadeja, Axar Patel,Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav,Jasprit Bumrah, Siraj.

Durham: In an interestingdevelopment, India’s fringeplayers Avesh Khan andWashington Sundar turnedup for ECB’s Select County XIagainst their own countryafter the home team lost play-ers due to injury and Covid-19- related isolation.

Avesh in fact bowled 9.5overs before sustaining athumb injury which lookslike dislocation and is unlike-ly to take any further part inthe three-day First-Classgame.

“The ECB made a requestto the Indian team manage-ment to let two players fromthe Indian contingent play forCounty Select XI after someof their players were deemed

to be unavailable either due toinjury or close contacts of aCovid-19 positive person.

“Accordingly, WashingtonSundar and Avesh Khan havebeen made available to playfor their team,” BCCI said ina statement.

In fact, Washington wasseen avoiding the County XIhuddle and only just fistbumped the bowlers whotook wickets.

Players turning up againsttheir own teams during prac-tice games or warm-up gamesis not new and Washington,till the match nearing tea onfirst day, wasn’t given a chanceto bowl as captain WillRhodes preferred his ownteam bowlers.

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Captain Tamim Iqbal hit hisfastest century in one-day

international cricket asBangladesh beat Zimbabwe byfive wickets to complete a 3-0series whitewash on Tuesday.

Tamim shared an openingstand of 88 with Liton Das (32),while man-of-the-series ShakibAl Hasan (30), MohammadMithun (30) and Nurul Hasan(45 not out) were the othernotable run-scorers. Theyreached 302-5 and won with 12balls to spare.

After Zimbabwe was

bowled out for 298 in whatlooked like a competitive total,Tamim smashed an 87-ballhundred, reaching his 14thODI century with one of hiseight boundaries. He also hitthree sixes by the time he wasout for 112 off 97.

It was his last action forBangladesh for at least twomonths. He returns home onWednesday to rest a knee injuryhe’s managed since April inorder to be fit for the T20World Cup. He will miss theZimbabwe T20 series, andhome series against Australiaand New Zealand.

Zimbabwe’s total was builtaround opener RegisChakabva’s highest ODI scoreof 84, a calculated innings thatended on the first ball of the35th over when he was cleanbowled by seamer TaskinAhmed.

Sikandar Raza (57) andRyan Burl (59) rescuedZimbabwe's fragile batting inthe middle order.

Pacers MohammadSaifuddin and MustafizurRahman took three wicketsapiece.

The teams meet in T20s onThursday, Friday and Sunday.

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