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British Prime Minister BorisJohnson on Thursday said

he was sad to announce his res-ignation as Conservative Partyleader, triggering a leadershipelection for a new Tory leaderwho will go on to become thenew PM.

Johnson, 58, said he willremain in charge at 10Downing Street until theprocess of electing a new leaderis completed — expected by thetime of the Conservative Partyconference scheduled forOctober.

Johson said, “I want you toknow how sad I am to be giv-ing up the best job in theworld.”

He blamed the “herdinstinct” of his party as hedelivered his resignation speechon the doorstep of 10 DowningStreet.

“It is clearly now the will ofthe parliamentary ConservativeParty that there should be anew leader of that party andtherefore a new PrimeMinister,” he said.

Indian-origin Suella

Braverman, currently theAttorney General in the UKCabinet, is among the earlyTory members of Parliament toformally declare her leadershipbid. The 42-year-old barristerand the government’s senior-most legal official is likely tocommand some support with-in the pro-Brexit wing of herparty.

“I am putting myself for-ward because I believe that the2019 manifesto is fit for pur-pose, presents a bold andinspiring vision for our coun-try and I want to deliver on thepromises contained in that

manifesto. I want to embed theopportunities of Brexit andtidy up the outstandingissues…and cut taxes,” saidBraverman, who is of Goanancestry.

Johnson said: “I haveagreed with Sir GrahamBrady, the chairman of ourbackbench MPs that theprocess of choosing that newleader should begin nowand the timetable will beannounced next week and Ihave today appointed aCabinet to serve as I willuntil a new leader is inplace,” he said.

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India on Thursday conveyedto China the need for an early

resolution of all outstandingissues along the Line of ActualControl (LAC) in EasternLadakh and said that bilateralties should be based on mutu-al respect, mutual sensitivityand mutual interest.

India’s stand was conveyedby External Affairs Minister SJaishankar in an hour-longmeeting on Thursday with hisChinese counterpart Wang Yiin Bali on the sidelines of a con-clave of Foreign Ministers ofthe G20 nation.

“Began my day in Bali bymeeting FM Wang Yi of China.Discussion lasted one hour.Focused on specific outstand-ing issues in our bilateral rela-tionship pertaining to the bor-der situation. Also spoke aboutother matters, including stu-dents and flights,” Jaishankartweeted.

Jaishankar and Wanglooked forward to the nextround of mi l itar y ta lks

between the two sides at anearly date to resolve the bor-der issue.

Jaishankar also discussedwith Wang the vexed issue ofthe return of Indian students toChina and the resumption ofdirect flights between the twocountries.

On the discussions on theborder row, the Ministry ofExternal Affairs (MEA) saidJaishankar reaffirmed theimportance of “fully abiding”by bilateral agreements andprotocols, and the under-standings reached between himand Wang in their previousconversations.

“The External AffairsMinister called for an early res-olution of all the outstandingissues along the LAC in EasternLadakh,” the MEA said in astatement.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday said the

British gave the country aneducation system to create aservant class for meeting theirown needs and a lot of it stillremained unchanged.

The PM said the purposeof the education system cre-ated in the country was onlyto provide jobs, while thesystem should not just pro-duce degree-holders butprovide human resourcesneeded to take the countryforward.

“The British provided thiseducation system to prepare aservant class for themselves tomeet their needs. AfterIndependence there were somechanges in it but a lotremained,” Modi said at theinauguration of a three-daymeeting organised by theUnion Education Ministry withthe University GrantsCommission and BanarasHindu University.

In his first visit to hisVaranasi constituency after theUttar Pradesh Assembly elec-tion, the PM also inauguratedthe Akshaya Patra Mid-daymeal kitchen here.

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The CBI on Thursday arrest-ed an Executive Director of

Power Grid Corporation ofIndia (PGCIL) and five officialsof Tata Projects Ltd, Noida,including an Executive VicePresident and an Assistant VP,in connection with allegedbribery to favour the privatecompany in contracts andother works, including prepa-ration of inflated bills.

The agency arrested theaccused — PGCIL’s BS Jha, andTata Projects’ Executive VicePresident and Head(Transmission andDistribution), Desh Raj Pathak,Assistant VP and BusinessHead-Distribution, RN Singhand its three other officials —after conducting searches at 11locations on Wednesday whichcontinued till Thursday, offi-cials said.

Post-searches, the CBIrecovered �93 lakh from thepremises of Jha in Gurugram,they said. The searches wereconducted at 11 premises ofthe accused persons located inGurugram, Noida andGhaziabad which led torecovery of numerous incrim-inating documents, materialsand digital devices amongothers.

The CBI had received

source information about thealleged bribery in electricityprojects following which Jha,who was posted in Itanagar,was put under surveillance.During the surveillance, it sur-faced that Jha was allegedlyreceiving bribes from the exec-utives of Tata Projects forgranting favours, the officialssaid. The CBI action followedthe registration of an FIRagainst Jha, Pathak and Singh.

The CBI has also namedthe company Tata Projects Ltd,Noida and its three other offi-cials — Nafeej Hussain Khan,Randheer Kumar Singh andSandeep Kumar Dubey — asaccused in the FIR.

“It was alleged that thepublic servant (Jha) in con-spiracy with others wasinvolved in extending favoursto the said company (TataProjects) for various work viz,preparation of inflated bills,early clearing of bills, price vari-ation clause, etc, related tocontracts of Power GridCorporation of India Limitedin lieu of demand and accep-tance of illegal gratification,”the CBI said in a statement.

It was further alleged thatTata Projects Ltd, Noida, hasbagged tenders, pertaining to acomprehensive scheme forArunachal Pradesh andSikkim, from Power GridCorporation of India Ltd.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on

Thursday said the Indian armof Chinese smart phone makerVivo and its associated com-panies “remitted” �62,476 croreout of the total sale proceeds of�1,25,185 crore, out of India,mainly to China to “avoid pay-ing taxes here.”

“These (associated) com-panies are found to have trans-ferred huge amounts of fundsto Vivo India. Further, out ofthe total sale proceeds of�1,25,185 crore, Vivo Indiaremitted �62,476 crore, i.e,almost 50 per cent of theturnover out of India, mainly toChina. These remittances weremade in order to disclose hugelosses in Indian incorporatedcompanies to avoid payment oftaxes in India,” the agency saidin its statement.

The ED further said, “Alldue procedures as per law werefollowed during the said oper-ations at each premise. Theemployees of Vivo India,including some ChineseNationals did not cooperatewith the search proceedingsand had tried to abscond,remove and hide digital deviceswhich were retrieved by thesearch teams.”

Meanwhile, China onexpressed hope that India willconduct a fair investigation.

Detailed report on P4

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The car used by Talibanfounder Mullah Omar to

escape the US forces after the9/11 attacks has been exca-vated in eastern Afghanistan,where it lay buried for morethan two decades, officialssaid.

The white Toyota Corollawas buried in a village gardenin Zabul province by formerTaliban official Abdul JabbarOmari, who ordered it to bedug up this week.

“It is still in good condi-tion, only its front is a bit dam-aged,” Rahmatullah Hammad,the director of informationand culture of Zabul province,

told AFP.“This vehicle was buried by

the mujahideen as a memori-al to Omar in 2001 to avoid itbeing lost,” he said.

Taliban media officialspublished pictures of the carbeing dug from its vehiculargrave by men using hand shov-els. The Taliban want the car tobe displayed in the capital’snational museum as a “greathistorical monument”,Hammad added.

The Taliban were formedin Kandahar by Omar, who ledthe hardline Islamist movementto power in 1996 after a bloodycivil war, and imposed a strictinterpretation of Islamic law onthe country.

Afghanistan then became asanctuary for jihadist groups,including Osama bin Ladenand Al-Qaeda, the architects ofthe September 11 attacks.

When the Taliban refusedto hand over bin Laden, the USand its allies launched airstrikes on Afghanistan, beforeinvading, removing the Talibanfrom power and installing anew government.

Taliban officials said thisweek that Mullah Omar madehis getaway from Kandahar inthe Toyota Corolla.

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India has slammed Germany’scomments on fact-checker

Mohammed Zubair’s arrest.India on Thursday said theindependence of the country’sjudiciary is well recognisedand that “uninformed” com-ments are “unhelpful” andshould be avoided.

The comments byExternal Affairs MinistrySpokesperson ArindamBagchi came a day after aGerman foreign ministry offi-cial said journalists shouldnot be “persecuted andimprisoned” for what they sayand write while referring topolice action against Zubair.

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CHANDIGARH | FRIDAY | JULY 8, 2022 north 03

PNSn CHANDIGARH

Punjab Chief MinisterBhagwant Mann on

Thursday tied the knot withKurukshetra’s Dr GurpreetKaur at his Chandigarh’sSector-2 official residence in aprivate ceremony without theusual crowd.

Having almost all theingredients of Punjabi wedding— right from phulkaris toPunjabi sithniyaan (tradition-al songs) and giddha, to ghee-laden lip-smacking delicacies— though sans dhol and largecrowds, Mann and DrGurpereet’s simple weddingwitnessed all celebrations andwedding customs that’s part ofa big fat Punjabi wedding.

The two tied the nuptialknot in the Anand Karaj cere-mony, witnessed by AamAadmi Party’s national con-vener and Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal, who also per-

formed some wedding ritualsas Mann’s father. AAP’s RajyaSabha MPs — Raghav Chadhaand Sanjay Singh — were alsopart of the selected gathering atthe ceremony.

The 48-year-old Mannwore a golden kurta-pyjama setcomplete with a matching half-jacket and his trademark yellowturban, decked with “kalgi”. His32-year-old doctor-wife,Gurpreet, was looking resplen-dent as a traditional Sikh bridein a heavily embellished brightred lehenga with all-over gold-en embroidery, accessorisingthe look with heavy gold jew-ellery including a maang tikka,nath, and bangles.

This is Mann’s second mar-riage, and is believed to be anarranged alliance. Though thetwo knew each other since2019, it is believed that Mann’smother Harpal Kaur, and sis-ter Manpreet Kaur played therole of matchmakers for the

two.Mann separated from his

first wife, Harpreet Kaur, in2015 — they have two children,

daughter Seerat Kaur (21) andson Dilshan (17).

The food menu for thewedding entailed popular

north Indian dishes such askarahi paneer, tandoori kulche,dal makhani, Navratan biryani,mausami subzian, apricot-

stuffed kofta, along withLasagna Siciliano, and BurraniRaita.

Among the several pic-

tures shared by RaghavChadha, and others, Mannwas seen walking under a‘phulkari dupatta’ held up byChadha among others, and atthe ceremony. In another pic-ture, both Mann and Kaurcould be seen smiling, whileanother showed them sittingtogether for lunch post thewedding rituals. One ofChadha’s post showed Mannand himself on a sofa. Hequoted a Punjabi song of cele-bration, “Saade veer da vyah,Saanu gode gode chah”, as thecaption. Kejriwal also took toTwitter to congratulate thecouple after the wedding,“Wishing Bhagwant Mann andGurpreet Bhabhi for marriage”.

Bride Gurpreet Kaur alsoshared pictures of herself onTwitter. She also thanked AAPleaders for their congratulato-ry messages.

Tight security arrange-ments were in place at the Chief

Minister’s residence.According to party insid-

ers, the wedding, being solem-nised according to the Sikh rit-uals, was attended by Mann’smother and sister and just a fewguests, including Kejriwal andhis family.

Before the wedding,Kejriwal told reporters at theairport, “Today is a day ofimmense happiness that myyounger brother and PunjabChief Minister BhagwantMann ji is getting married andis making a new beginning.May God bless him with ahappy married life and both(the couple) always remainhappy.”

Chadha said: “A new chap-ter in Bhagwant Mann’s life isgoing to start today. I congrat-ulate Mann saab’s family, hismother and sister. It will be asmall function. Only familymembers will attend.”

“We all are happy that hap-piness has returned to Mannsaab’s family after a long time.It was his mother’s dream to seeher son getting settled again.Today, that dream is going tocome true,” he told reporters.Gurpreet Kaur completed herMBBS from a private universi-ty in Haryana in 2018. She isyoungest among three sisters.Both her elder sisters are settledabroad.

Punjab CM ties the knot withDr Kaur in a simple ceremony

National Industrial Corridor Programmewill bring economic progress, Haryana CMPNSn CHANDIGARH

Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on

Thursday said that the NationalIndustrial CorridorProgramme will help industri-alization and logistics in thestate, which will lead to eco-nomic progress not only of thestate but of the country.

Speaking during a videoconferencing at the ApexMonitoring Authority meetingon Thursday which waspresided over by the UnionFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman, Khattar said thatthe state has become a hub ofindustrialization because ofNCR being in Haryana.Haryana has been the firstchoice of investors from thepoint of view of industry. Theindustries of Haryana havebenefited a lot due to the prox-imity of Delhi airport.He saidthat it is a matter of pride forHaryana that two major corri-dors of the country – WesternEconomic Corridor andEastern Economic Corridorwhich are being built will passthrough Haryana.During thevideo conferencing, the Chief

Minister said that the pro-posed Integrated Multi ModalLogistics Hub at NangalChaudhary in Haryana is to bebuilt on 886 acres. The work ofroad, water and electricity etc.related to this project has start-ed. A target has been set toaccomplish this and will becompleted in due course. Theaward for the railway lineattached to it has also beenannounced. The possession of40 percent of the land has beengiven to the Dedicated Freight

Corridor Corporation of India,the possession of the rest of theland will be taken by August15.Giving information aboutthe Industrial ManufacturingCluster (IMC) Hisar, the ChiefMinister said that 1,605 acresof land has been selected forthis. The master plan of IMC,Hisar has also been prepared.Environment clearance willalso be completed soon. Thisproject is also progressing at afast pace. On the occasion,Khattar placed a demand for

Inland Container Depot atKalanaur in Yamunanagar dis-trict to the Union FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman.He said that the Amritsar-Delhi-Kolkata IndustrialCorridor will pass throughHaryana. If an inland contain-er depot is built on this corri-dor, then not only will Haryanabenefit from it but surround-ing states like HimachalPradesh, Uttarakhand andPunjab will benefit from it aswell.

IPR minister Aman Arora assumes charge; Promisestransparent and accountable administrationPNS n CHANDIGARH

Assuming the charge of theInformation and Public

Relations, New and RenewableEnergy and Housing andUrban Development depart-ments, the newly-inductedPunjab Cabinet Minister AmanArora on Thursday assuredthat he would discharge theresponsibility assigned to himwith complete honesty anddedication.

Arora, who took over thenew responsibility in the pres-ence of his Cabinet colleagues— Harpal Singh Cheema, DrBaljit Kaur, Harbhajan SinghETO, Lal Chand Kataruchak,Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, DrInderbir Singh Nijjar; andMLAs Kulwant Singh, Dr JiwanJyot Kaur, Davinderjit SinghLaadi, and Narinderpal Singh

Savna, also expressed his grat-itude towards the Aam AadmiParty’s (AAP) national con-venor and Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal and PunjabChief Minister Bhagwant Singh

Mann. Before taking over, theardaas was performed to theAlmighty for the welfare of all.

“The welfare-centric andpro-people schemes and pro-jects of the State Government

would be taken to the commonmasses with the aid of moderntechniques so as to ensure thatthe benefit accrues to the actu-al beneficiaries,” he said.

Arora said that the connectwith the media would bestrengthened and emphasiswould be on providing a trans-parent, clean, accountable, anda responsive administra-tion.Among others presentincluded; Additional ChiefSecretary to the Chief MinisterA Venu Prasad and SpecialPrincipal Secretary RaviBhagat, Principal SecretaryHousing and UrbanDevelopment Ajoy Sinha,Secretary Information andPublic Relations GurkiratKirpal Singh and DirectorSonali Giri, CA GMADAArshdeep Singh Thind andothers.

PNSn CHANDIGARH

Under the 'Har GharTiranga' campaign

launched by the CentralGovernment under Azadi kaAmrit Mahotsav being cele-brated across the country tocommemorate 75 years ofIndia's independence, everyhousehold in Haryana will cel-ebrate the country's freedom byhoisting the tricolour fromAugust 11 to 17.

The state government hasstarted efforts to make thiscampaign a mass campaign. Inthis regard, Chief SecretarySanjeev Kaushal held a meet-ing with the Administrative

Secretaries of the concerneddepartments, DeputyCommissioners and Registrarof Universities through videoconferencing and gave neces-sary directions to them.

In the meeting, AdditionalPrincipal Secretary to ChiefMinister and Director Generalof Information, PublicRelations and LanguagesDepartment, Dr. Amit Agrawallaid the outline of this cam-paign. He said that the tricol-or is the pride of India.Therefore, with joint efforts, wehave to make this campaignsuccessful and instill the feel-ing of patriotism among thecitizens.

He informed that theDevelopment and PanchayatDepartment has been made thenodal department for the avail-ability and distribution of thetricolor for rural areas.Tricolors will be made availableat Post Office, Panchayat Ghar,Common Service Centres,Anganwadi Centres etc. Thehelp of self-help groups will betaken in making the tricolor.Similarly, the Urban LocalBodies Department will beresponsible for the availabilityand distribution of the tricol-or in urban areas.

He said that informationabout this campaign would begiven through pamphlets, ban-

ners etc. for public awarenessat primary health centres andsub-centres in rural and urbanareas. Apart from this, theavailability of tricolor will alsobe ensured at fair price shops.

Agrawal said that specialmeetings would also be orga-nized in schools and colleges toinvolve students in this cam-paign. Apart from this, a spe-cial tricolor march will beorganized by the police, inwhich the participation of cit-izens will be ensured. HaryanaTransport buses will be paint-ed with the message of 'HarGhar Tiranga Abhiyan'. Wallpainting will be done in pub-lic places.

Har Ghar Tiranga campaign in Haryana, tricolorto be hoisted at every house from Aug 11 to 17

PSPCL employee caught red handed by VigilanceBureau for taking Rs 10000 bribeChandigarh: The Vigilance Bureau Punjab on Thursdaynabbed Paramjit Singh, Revenue Assistant, posted at PSPCLLakhowal, Kohara office in Ludhiana district red handed whileaccepting a bribe of Rs 10000 for transfer of power connec-tion. A spokesperson of state vigilance bureau said the accusedRevenue Assistant (RA) has been arrested on the complaintof a resident of village Lakhowal, Ludhiana district against cor-ruption. The complaint informed the VB that accusedParamjit Singh was demanding Rs 50,000 to transfer a tube-well power connection in his name which was on his father’sname and the deal was struck at Rs 30,000. After verification,a team of VB caught Paramjit Singh red handed while accept-ing bribe money of Rs 10000 in the presence of two officialwitnesses, he added. PNS

Medal winners of Khelo India Youth Games-21honoured in ChandigarhChandigarh: The Sports Department, ChandigarhAdministration honoured 16 medal winners of Khelo IndiaYouth Games-21 in a Cash award function organized atChandigarh Lake Sports Complex. Dharampal, UT Advisor,who was the chief guest of the programme, felicitated the medalwinners of KIYG-21 in a gathering by presenting them a sumof Rs 50000, Rs30000 and Rs 20000 as awards to the Gold,Silver and Bronze medal winners respectively. SarpreetSingh, Secretary, Sports, Chandigarh Sports departmentadmired the athletes for their scintillating performance in theKIYG-21 competition. PND

BRIEFS

Punjab toincrease greencover in govtschoolsPNSn CHANDIGARH

To increase green coveracross the state, Punjab

government has decided toplant fructiferous saplings instate’s government schools.Under this campaign, to belaunched across the state onJuly 15, 2022, more than 1.25lakh fructiferous saplings willbe planted in governmentschools in the first phase. Thestate’s Horticulture MinisterFauja Singh Sarari said that theState Government was payingspecial attention towards cropdiversification to furtherincrease the farmers’ incomeand get them out of the viciouscircle of wheat and paddy. TheMinister said that fructiferoussaplings would be plantedalong the water distributariesand roads across the State.

Punjab decides to pre-pare directory of freedomfighters

To give due recognition tothe soldiers of the Indian free-dom struggle, PunjabGovernment has decided toprepare the directory of thefreedom fighters of theState.The decision was taken ina meeting, presided over byCabinet Minister Fauja SinghSarari on Thursday

Faridkot DSP’s arrestcase, Pb Policetransfers case to VB

PNSn CHANDIGARH

Aday after arrestingFaridkot Deputy

Superintendent of Police(DSP) Lakhvir Singh in a cor-ruption case, the Punjab Policeon Thursday transferred thecase to the Punjab VigilanceBureau to ensure a free, fair,and impartial investigationinto the case. “PunjabVigilance Bureau, being a spe-cial investigation agency forprobing corruption cases, wehave decided to handover thiscase to them to carry out fur-ther investigations,” said thestate Director General ofPolice (DGP) GauravYadav.Notably, DSP LakhvirSingh was arrested by TarnTaran Police on Wednesdayfor accepting Rs 10 lakhs as abribe from a drug supplier fornot nominating him in the FIRregistered under NDPS Act inTarn Taran. The developmentcame after the Tarn Tarandistrict police had arrested adrug supplier.

3 Dera Sacha Sauda followerssentenced in sacrilege casePNSn MOGA/CHANDIGARH

Almost seven years after thetorn pages of Sikhs’ holy

book, Guru Granth Sahib, werefound on the streets of Malkevillage in Moga district in2015, a local court on Thursdaysentenced three Dera SachaSauda followers to three-yearjail in a sacrilege case.

While the two otheraccused have been acquitted,the Court of Judicial MagistrateFirst Class Rahul Garg alsoimposed a fine of Rs 5,000 eachof the three convicts — PirthiSingh of Baghapurana, MithuMann and Amardeep of Malkevillage. The two other accused,also Dera followers, wereDalwinder Singh and SatnamSingh — acquitted for want ofevidence.In 2015, a case underSections 295-A (intended tooutrage religious feelings) and295 (intent to insult the reli-gion) of the Indian Penal Code(IPC) was registered againstunidentified people at Samalsarpolice station. Punjab police’sSpecial Investigation Team(SIT) had identified PrithiSingh, Mithu Singh andAmardeep Singh as accused.

The SIT had got vital cluesabout the involvement of theseDera followers in the case dur-ing interrogation of Prithi inthe Bargari sacrilege case.Three

of the five persons named inthe FIR have been convictedwhile two are acquitted. Theyhave been awarded three yearsof imprisonment under section295-A, and another three yearsunder 120-B of IPC — whichwill run parallel.Meanwhile,mlaming the previous gov-ernments for shielding accusedof sacrilege cases by withhold-ing proof against them, AAPleader and Punjab FinanceMinister Harpal Cheema saidthat the Congress and AkaliDal never wanted to deliverjustice to the people of Punjabin these sinful cases. “Sacrilegecase in Malke village reportedin 2015 during SAD govern-ment, even Congress formedthe government on thepromise of delivering justice init. However, they did nothingduring their regimes. It is onlythe AAP government thatensured that the accusedshould get the punishment,”said Cheema.Welcoming thejudgement, Cheema said thatthe AAP government is com-mitted to delivering justice toPunjabis in all sacrilege cases.“Congress and Akali Dal werein cahoots and have been cov-ering up each other’s crimes fordecades. But AAP governmentbroke this nexus and now theaccused will get exemplarypunishments for their crimes,”

he declared.Claiming credit, hesaid that unlike the previousgovernments, AAP govern-ment speeded up the investi-gation in all sacrilege cases andChief Minister BhagwantMann personally ensured thatthese cases must be taken tological ends.

W E L C O M I N GCONVICTION, CONGMOCKS AAP FORCLAIMING CREDIT

Welcoming the convictionin Moga sacrilege, PunjabCongress took a dig at AAP forclaiming credit in getting theguilty punished, since it had norole in the entire process ofinvestigation, prosecution, andtrial of the case as everythingwas completed during the pre-vious Congress regime.SeniorCongress leader and formerDeputy Chief MinisterSukhjinder Singh Randhawasaid that that incident wasreported during the Akali-BJPregime. “While the FIR wasregistered in November 2015,no arrests were made. Theaccused were arrested onlyafter the Congress partyformed the government in theState in 2018, and challan waspresented in the Court onDecember 27, 2018, and thecharges were framed.

PNSn CHANDIGARH

Punjab Police on Thursday claimedto have busted an international

cyber fraud racket with the arrest of twoNigerian men from Delhi wherein theimposters were using profile picturesand names of VVIPs on theirWhatsApp profiles to dupe the gov-ernment officials and common people.

Sharing the information, the stateDirector General of Police (DGP)Gaurav Yadav said that the modusoperandi used by imposters was send-ing personal WhatsApp messages toinnocent people, mostly governmentofficials, asking for financial favours inthe form of Amazon gift cards, Paytm,or any other digital payment method.

In the past few months, fraudstershave duped numerous people by imper-sonating as Cabinet Ministers, DGPPunjab, Chief Secretary Punjab, andother IAS/IPS officers.

With these arrests, the PunjabPolice has dug up another trail, leadingto deep-rooted cyber fraud nexusspreading from Delhi and involvingmainly Nigerian with a sprinkling ofIndian associates, said DGP Yadav.

He said that those arrested havebeen identified as Anioke HyginusOkwudili alias Poka and Franklyn aliasWilliam — both residents of Lagos inNigeria, and currently residing inDelhi.

The Police have also recovered oneCanara Bank debit card, various gad-gets, mobile phones, laptops, expensivewatches, and passports.

Divulging more details about theoperation, IG Cyber Crime RK Jaiswalsaid that after an extensive hi-techinvestigation and reliable informationfrom WhatsApp, the State Cyber Cellhas got some major leads followingwhich three different Police teamswere constituted and assigned tasks offinancial, technical and fieldwork toinvestigate and nab the accused persons.

He said that the Police team, underthe supervision of DeputySuperintendent of Police (DSP) CyberCrime Samarpal Singh, comprising oftwo inspectors and other police per-sonnel sent to Delhi.

The IGP Jaiswal said that the Policeteams in a joint operation with theDelhi Police managed to catch theaccused Anioke alias Poka red-handedwhile he was withdrawing money from

the ATM located near Vikas Puri inNew Delhi.

During interrogation, the accusedAnioke alias Poka revealed thatWhatsApp accounts were hacked fromNigeria and he used to withdraw themoney from the ATM cards of bankaccounts opened using fake docu-ments in different parts of the countryand then used to handover the moneyto their kingpin namely Franklin aliasWilliam, who further used to elec-tronically transfer the money to Nigeria,he said, while adding that the Policeteams have also arrested Franklin aftera hot chase. “The State Cyber divisionof Punjab Police has made first arrestsacross India relating to these frauds andanother startling aspect is Nigeriansbeing associated with such finesse levelof White Collar Crimes,” said IG RKJaiswal.

Pertinently, the team of the StateCyber Crime Cell had also conductedraids in the states including Assam,Bihar, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh,Uttar Pradesh, Jind in Haryana, andAlwar in Rajasthan to nab the culprits.

Revealing further investigations,DIG Cyber Crime Nilambari Jagadalesaid that the arrest of the kingpin with

the recovery of almost 108 GB of dataopened a realm of information reveal-ing the magnanimity of the financialtransactions amounting to lakhs ofrupees every day.“The informationcontaining screenshots of the alleged-ly impersonated IDs and transactionsamounting to crores of rupees recov-ered has been sent for forensic analy-sis for further probe into drug linkage,Hawala transactions, and modusoperandi of the entire realm of opera-tions,” she said. During the course ofinvestigations, two bank accounts wereidentified initially, which later it wasrevealed from the bank statement ofsuspect bank accounts that the moneyfrom these bank accounts is furthersiphoned to four bank accounts andthereafter to 11 bank accounts therebyputting a network of extensive layering,the DIG said, adding that after break-ing this mesh layering network, it wasfound that the money was being with-drawn from multiple ATMs from thearea of Vikas Puri, Ganesh Nagar,Tilak Nagar and Nangloi in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, the Cyber Crime Cellhad already registered four FIRs forsuch kind of fraud that took placerecently.

Punjab Police arrest two Nigerian from Delhi forcyber fraud impersonating ministers, bureaucrats

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The Defence Ministry on Thursday said DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh will brief the members

of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee onDefence, comprising MPs from ruling as well asOpposition parties, on Monday, on variousaspects of the recently-launched Agnipath recruit-ment,

The three service chiefs and defence secretaryare also likely to be present in the meeting, thedefence ministry said.

The committee on Defence chaired by Singhhas 20 members, including 13 from Lok Sabha andaround 7 from Rajya Sabha, according to theParliamentary Affairs Ministry website.

It includes members from almost all parties.Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir RanjanChowdhury, National Conference supremo FarooqAbdullah and TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyayare among its members.

"Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh is sched-uled to brief the Committee members about var-ious aspects of the recently-launched AGNIPATHscheme, through which recruitment of soldiers inall the three Services will henceforth take place,"the ministry said in a statement.

The Defence Secretary, three Service Chiefsand other senior officials of the ministry are like-ly to be present, it added. After the scheme wasunveiled on June 14, violent protests took place inseveral states for nearly a week and various oppo-sition parties demanded its rollback.

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Smoking increases the risk of devel-oping schizophrenia by 53%-127%

and depression by 54%-132%, a report byacademics from the University of Bristolhas said.

More research is needed to identifywhy this is the case, and more evidence isneeded for other mental health conditionssuch as anxiety or bipolar disorder, it said.

The evidence was presented recentlyat the Royal College of PsychiatristsInternational Congress.

One of the authors of the new report,Professor Marcus Munafo Professor ofBiological Psychology at the University ofBristol, said: “There is no longer any doubtthat smoking is bad for mental health andthis needs to be a priority in the forth-coming Tobacco Control Plan.

“Those working with people with

mental health conditions need to under-stand and address the vicious cycle of bidi-rectional effects, whereby having symp-toms of mental illness causes individualsto smoke more and to be more likely tobecome addicted.

“At the same time, smoking alsoincreases the risk of subsequent mental ill-

ness and exacerbates mental health symp-toms. Lower rates of smoking will improveoverall levels of good mental health as wellas physical health.”

Alongside the report a joint publica-tion by Action on Smoking and Health(ASH) and the Royal College ofPsychiatrists’ Public Mental HealthImplementation Centre sets out how apublic mental health approach to smok-ing can be taken to address smoking andreduce poor mental health.

More research is needed to identifywhy this is the case, and more evidence isneeded for other mental health conditionssuch as anxiety or bipolar disorder. Imageis in the public domain

The NHS has pledged to put supportin place for smokers on mental healthwards and those accessing support in thecommunity, but this is largely confined tothose with severe mental illness.

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In a sudden development, theRailway Ministry on Thursdayterminated the services of ,

National High Speed RailCorporation Limited(NHSRCL) ManagingDirector Satish Agnihotri,who was in charge of thegovernment's prestigiousbullet train project.Rajendra Prasad, Director,Projects, NHSRCL, hasbeen handed over thecharge for three months.

Agnihotri’s appointment itselfhad made news when he wasappointed by the AppointmentsCommittee of the Cabinet by a spe-cial order that said ‘Agnihotriappointed by setting aside and withall relaxations as advertised for thevacancy post”.

Senior Railway officials saidthere were several allegations againstAgnihotri, including misuse of offi-cial position and diverting funds inan unauthorised manner to a pri-vate company. They said the deci-sion to terminate the services ofAgnihotri came following a June 2Lokpal court order directing theCBI to probe charges of a "quid proquo" deal allegedly struck by theformer NHSRCL MD with a private

company during his nine-yeartenure as CMD of Rail Vikas NigamLimited (RVNL).

The Lokpal court has directedthe CBI to "ascertain whether anyoffence under the Prevention ofCorruption Act, 1988, is made out"against Agnihotri and to submit theprobe report to the Lokpal officewithin six months or before

December 12, 2022."The competent authority has

approved the termination of officeof Satish Agnihotri. He has beendirected to be relieved with imme-diate effect," read the July 7 letterof the Railway Board, addressed tothe company secretary of theNHSRCL. NHSRCL is a jointventure of the Government of

India and participating states forimplementing high-speed rail pro-jects.

Officials also alleged thatAgnihotri took up a job in a pri-vate firm within a year of hisretirement. This was in violationof government rules which pro-hibits retired officials from accept-ing commercial employment

before one year of retirementwithout the Centre's approval.

Sources close to Agnihotrisaid that the senior bureaucrat hasdenied all the allegations andsaid that he had neither favoureda particular company nor his sonworked in any firm which baggedsuch works. They said Agnihotrialso asserted that he had writtento the DoPT seeking a waiver ofthe one-year cooling-off periodbefore joining the firm. Agnihotrirefused to speak on the matter.

Officials said the complaintsagainst him were made by one ofhis batchmates after he bagged theprestigious job of heading theNHSRCL, which is the imple-menting agency of the govern-ment's ambitious bullet train pro-ject between Mumbai andAhmedabad.

A 1982-batch IRSE officer,Agnihotri joined NHSRCL in July2021. Earlier, he was the chairmanand managing director of RailVikas Nigam Limited (RVNL). Hehas over 20 years of experience inthe implementation of mega railinfrastructure projects. He alsoheld the position of chairman,High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd(HSRC), a fully owned subsidiaryof RVNL since its inception in July2012 till August 2018.

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The Supreme Court hasagreed to hear on Friday the

bail plea of Alt News co-founderMohammed Zubair in connec-tion with a case registeredagainst him in Uttar Pradesh forallegedly outraging religiousfeelings. A vacation bench ofJustices Indira Banerjee and JKMaheshwari said on Thursdaythat the matter be listed onFriday subject to clearance fromthe Chief Justice of India.

Senior advocate ColinGonsalves, appearing for Zubair,said his anticipatory bail wasrejected by the Allahabad HighCourt and subsequently he wasarrested. “There is a threat to hislife as people out there arethreatening him”, he said whileurging the court to list thematter urgently. An FIR waslodged against Zubair in UPunder IPC section 295A (delib-erate and malicious act intend-ed to outrage religious feelings)and section 67 of the IT Act.

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED)on Thursday said the Indian arm of

Chinese smartphone maker Vivo andits associated companies "remitted" Rs62,476 crores out of the total sale pro-ceeds of Rs 1,25,185 crore, almost 50percent of the turnover, out of India,mainly to China to “avoid payingtaxes here”.

Following searches conducted bythe ED on Tuesday at 48 locationsacross the country belonging to VIVOMobiles India Pvt. Ltd. and its 23 asso-ciated companies, including GrandProspect International CommunicationPvt Ltd (GPICPL), the agency said ithas seized balance of Rs 465 crore lyingin 119 bank accounts, including fixeddeposits (FDs) of 66 crore of Vivo India,2 kg gold bars, and Rs 73 lakh in cash.

Vivo Mobiles India Pvt Ltd wasincorporated on August 1, 2014 as asubsidiary of Multi Accord Ltd, aHong Kong-based company and wasregistered at Registrar of Companies(ROC) Delhi.

GPICPL (Grand ProspectsInternational Communication Pvt.Ltd.) was registered on December 3,2014 at ROC Shimla, with registeredaddresses of Solan, Himachal Pradeshand Gandhinagar, Jammu. GPICPL wasincorporated by ZhengshenOu, BinLou and Zhang Jie with the help of oneNitin Garg, Chartered Accountant.Bin Lou left India on April 26, 2018.ZhengshenOuand Zhang Jie left Indiain 2021.

Probe under Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) was initiatedby ED on February 3, 2022 on the basisof Kalkaji police station FIR datedDecember 5, 2021 registered by DelhiPolice under IPC Sections relating to

cheating and criminal conspiracyagainst GPICPL and its Director, share-holders and certifying professionals onthe basis of complaint filed by Ministryof Corporate Affairs.

As per the FIR, GPICPL and itsshareholders had used forged identifi-cation documents and falsified address-es at the time of incorporation. Theallegations were found to be true as theinvestigation revealed that the address-es mentioned by the directors of GPIC-PL did not belong to them, but in factit was a government building and houseof a senior bureaucrat.

ED’s investigation revealed that thedirector of GPICPL, namely Bin Lou,was also a former director of Vivo. Hehad incorporated multiple companiesacross the country spread across vari-ous States, a total of 18 companiesaround the same time, just after theincorporation of Vivo in 2014-15 andfurther another Chinese NationalZhixin Wei had incorporated fourmore companies.

“These companies are found tohave transferred huge amounts of fundsto Vivo India. Further, out of the totalsale proceeds of Rs. 1,25,185 crores, VivoIndia remitted Rs. 62,476 crores. i.e,almost 50 percent of the turnover, outof India, mainly to China. These remit-tances were made in order to disclosehuge losses in Indian incorporatedcompanies to avoid payment of taxes inIndia,” the agency said in its statement.

The ED further said, “All due pro-cedures as per law were followed dur-ing the said operations at each premise.The employees of Vivo India, includingsome Chinese Nationals did not coop-erate with the search proceedings andhad tried to abscond, remove and hidedigital devices which were retrieved bythe search teams.”

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Data from 10 cities--Agra,Bengaluru, Chandigarh,

Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata,Jodhpur, Mumbai, Lucknow,and Patna-- has shown that themonthly PM2.5 and PM10 lev-els during the summer monthsbreached the annual CPCBsafe limits of 40 microgramsper cubic metre and 60 micro-grams per cubic metre, respec-tively, during these months.

These cities were selectedand average PM2.5, PM10 andNO2 levels were analysed forthe months of March, April,May, and June. These cities areall part of the National CleanAir Programme (NCAP) by theUnion Environment Ministry.

The CPCB's annual aver-

age permissible limits forPM2.5, PM10 and NO2 are 40,60, and 40 micrograms percubic metre, respectively. TheWHO safe limits are evenlower at 5, 15, and 10 micro-grams per cubic metre for thethree pollutants, respectively, asper an official from the CPCB.

The analysis by ClimateTrends, an advocacy think tankworking on the issues related toair pollution and climatechange, showed that in March

this year, except Chennai, allother cities recorded PM2.5levels above safe limits while 10cities recorded PM10 levelsabove safe limits.

In April, except Kolkata, allother cities recorded PM2.5levels above safe limits while incase of PM10, except Chennai,all other cities recorded levelsabove safe limits. Similarly, inMay, only three cities -Bengaluru, Chennai, andKolkata recorded safe levels of

PM2.5 while in the case ofPM10, all the cities recordedlevels above safe limits.

With some parts of thecountry receiving rains in June,five cities - Agra, Bengaluru,Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai- saw their PM2.5 levelsimprove and within the CPCBsafety limits. But only threecities - Bengaluru, Chennaiand Mumbai - saw PM10 lev-els less than 60 micrograms percubic metre during June, theofficial said.

Northwest Indian plainshave witnessed repeated heatwaves since March this year.This resulted in an increasedpower demand, approximate-ly 75 per cent of which camefrom coal-powered thermalpower plants.

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Amid reports that a new sub-lineageBA.2.75 of the Omicron variant is

doing rounds in India, active Covid-19 case-load in the country jumped to 1.19 lakh onThursday with nearly 19,000 new infections(18,930) which pushed the daily positivityrate to touch 4.32 per cent-mark.

Tamil Nadu and West Bengal witnesseda massive jump even as the two worst hitstates—Delhi and Maharashtra recorded adip in the infection, as per the data availablefrom the Union Health Ministry.

India, during the past 24 hours, alsoreported 35 deaths that pushed the country'stoll to 5.25 lakh with a case mortality rateof 1.21 per cent. Meanwhile, 14,650 recov-eries were also reported in the same timespan, pushing the total recoveries to 4.29crore.

While Maharashtra reported 3,142 freshcases, including 695 in Mumbai, and sevenfatalities, Delhi logged 600 cases and onefatality with the test positivity rate declin-

ing to 3.27 per cent.In contrast, West Bengal continued to see

a massive spike in cases, reporting 2,352 newinfections with a positivity rate of 16.24 per

cent. Three fatalities were also reported thattook the toll to 21,231. Currently, WestBengal has 14,270 active Covid-19 cases, asper the state health department.

Like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu also con-tinued to report a spike in cases. In the last24 hours, the southern state reported 2,743new coronavirus cases that pushed itsactive caseload to 17,717. However, no newCovid-19 fatality was registered in thesame time span, as per the state healthdepartment.

The 35 new fatalities include 19 fromKerala, seven from Maharashtra and threefrom West Bengal.

A total of 5,25,305 deaths have beenreported so far in the country, including1,47,956 from Maharashtra, 70,073 fromKerala, 40,122 from Karnataka, 38,027 fromTamil Nadu, 26,276 from Delhi, 23,543 fromUttar Pradesh and 21,231 from West Bengal.The World Health Organisation (WHO) onWednesday had said that a new sub-lineageBA.2.75 of the Omicron variant is doingrounds in countries like India.

"On COVID-19, globally reports haveincreased nearly all WHO sub-regionsincrease this week," WHO Director-GeneralTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi will deliver the first

'Arun Jaitley Memorial Lecture'here on Friday in whichTharman Shanmugaratnam, asenior minister of the Singaporegovernment, will deliver thekeynote address on 'Growththrough Inclusivity, Inclusivitythrough Growth'.

The Department ofEconomic affairs , Ministry ofFinance, has organised thememorial lecture in recognitionof Jaitley's 'invaluable contribu-tion' to the nation, according to

the Prime Ministers Office(PMO).

The event will see a panel

discussion involving OECDSecretary-General MathiasCormann and Arvind

Panagariya, a professor at theColumbia University, PMOsaid. A close confidante ofModi, Jaitley was the financeminister in the first Modi gov-ernment.He passed away in2019 at the age of 66.

During the event, Modiwill also interact with delegatesparticipatingin the KautilyaEconomic Conclave (KEC), athree-day event being organisedfrom July 8 to 10.

KEC is being organised bythe Institute of EconomicGrowth with support from theMinistry of Finance, PMOsaid.

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The Government on Thursdayasked FM radio channels to

"strictly adhere" to the rules man-dating broadcast of public interestannouncements.

In an advisory to all FM radiochannels, the Ministry ofInformation and Broadcastingunderscored the provisions of theGrant of Permission Agreement(GOPA) and Migration of Grant ofPermission Agreement (MGOPA)signed to operate FM radio broad-casting channels in various citiesacross the country.

According to the agreements,FM radio channels are required tocarry public interest announce-ments for a maximum of one hourdaily at suitable or proportional timeslots interspersed with during thatday as sought by the central gov-ernment or the state governmentconcerned. "In case the total demandof the Central Government and theState Government exceeds one hourper day, the State Government con-cerned shall be eligible forannouncements covering only theperiod remaining after meeting thedemand of the CentralGovernment," the relevant clauses inthe GOPA and MGOPA state.

Association of Radio Operators

for India (AROI) officials won-dered at the timing of the advisory,contending that the radio channelshave been following the rules, par-ticularly during the COVID-19pandemic when messages creatingawareness about the viral outbreakwere broadcast.

"Now, therefore, the Ministry ofInformation & Broadcasting, inexercise of powers flowing fromGOPA/MGOPA, hereby advises allthe permission holders to strictlyadhere to the aforementioned termsand conditions of permission," theadvisory said. It said the governmenthad the right to impose penalties asspecified under GOPA/MGOPA inthe event of a permission holder vio-lating any terms and conditions ofpermission.

Bullet train project head terminated on graft charges

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Wednesday had ordered listingof the plea for hearing onThursday, said it was “awaitingassignment from the CJI”.

“It has not been assignedto us. It is awaiting assignmentby the chief justice. It may notbe assigned to us,” said thebench which also comprisedjustice J K Maheshwari.

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�������������� ��������Sir – In the recent years, with growing polit-ical corruption, people are being drivenaway from voting as they paint all politi-cians with the same colour. People neglecttheir responsibility which shows theirsocial mindset. They fail to understand thatto run the country, they themselves needto elect relatively good candidates to runthe country. Unfortunately, the trend of notvoting is evident mostly among the edu-cated class members. As against this, theless educated or the illiterate make it a pointto cast their vote. But they also fall easy preyto bribes by politicians.

With the maximum number of illiter-ate people casting vote, there are strongpossibilities of tainted and corrupt lead-ers being elected to run the country. It ishigh time the educated lot realises that bet-ter people, when elected, can reduce thelevel of corruption and malpractices in thesystem. Being a citizen of the world’s largestdemocracy, it is not only our right but aresponsibility to elect the right set of peo-ple to administer the functioning of thecountry. Only those who perform theirduty towards the nation have the right toraise their voices against the system.

Mithlesh Panwar | Ujjain

��������������������������Sir – Managing plastic waste in India is anarduous task. Experts are of the opinionthat only banning single use plastic is notfeasible as a country like India needs sys-tematic segregation and recycling. Wemust follow the efficient plastic waste man-agement systems in advanced countries likethe US, Japan and the EU. They haveadvanced and sophisticated segregation andrecycling infrastructure. Hence, theGovernment needs to invest adequately inproper segregation and recycling infra-structure development. Additionally, weneed to have a thorough understanding ofrecycling. The pros and cons of recyclingneed to be analysed and understood.

Given that there are different kinds ofplastic, recycling in large quantities may

cause problems. Further, recycling is a cost-ly affair. To facilitate cost-effective recycling,proper chemical enzymes need to befound and used. The recent discovery thatcertain plastic-eating bacteria producesuch chemical enzymes has brought freshhope to recycling. Traditional recycling,where heat is used, does not produce goodquality products. The new technique, onthe other hand, produces high quality prod-ucts. Also, new measures need to beadopted to minimise the use of plastics.

Venu GS | Kollam

��� ����������������������Sir – A group of candidates shortlisted forthe Indian Air Force has gone to the DelhiHigh Court seeking completion of theirrecruitment as per the 2019 notificationwithout being affected by the Centre’snewly-launched Agnipath scheme. Thestudent plea filed through advocatePrashant Bhushan stated that the decisionto annul the entire selection process,which has reached the final stage only so

that the new Agnipath scheme policy canbe applied by restarting the selection, is anarbitrary decision. The plea mentions that“the cancellation of the recruitment processinitiated via 2019 notification is wholly ille-gal, arbitrary as well as violative of therights of the petitioners guaranteed underArticle 16(1) of the Constitution.

“The petitioner candidates who arequalified in online test, physical fitnesstest, a group discussion, adaptabilitytests, and a medical examination pursuantto the notification and they are on themerit list.” The new scheme was intro-duced by the Centre. Under this scheme,the candidates would be selected to servein the Indian Air Force for a period of fouryears, after which only 25 per cent of themwould be retained, unlike the notificationdated December 11, 2019, wherein the ini-tial engagement is for 20 years,” the peti-tion submitted.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

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SOUNDBITE

said that poverty anywhere isa challenge to prosperityeverywhere. Poverty is aHerculean challenge to pros-perity and renders develop-ment aspirations as a Utopiaor chimera. Poverty, an anath-ema, has posed to be a conun-drum as to how to eradicateit. About one-third of India’spopulation lives below thepoverty line; the first obviouspriority for any Governmentis to ameliorate the conditionof the impecunious. But dowe need a paradigm shift inplanning and related imple-mentation to achieve it?

Poverty eradication needssincere efforts at all levelskeeping the percolation con-cept in mind. The IndianGovernment has taken upseveral schemes like MGN-REGA, SGSY, NRLM, IRDP,JNNURM and IAY as toolsfor a frontal attack on pover-ty through generation of work(mandays) for the poor whilesimultaneously making pro-visions for shelter, healthcare, nutrition and sanitationfor this target group. Butdespite overall rapid growthand development, sizeable

populations languish undersevere and multi-faceteddeprivation. The reasons canbe social, political or bureau-cratic; these are also the mainfactors for deterioration in theliving standards. Other fac-tors like rapid growth of pop-ulation, lack of educationand unemployment haveaffected the impecunious sec-tions severely.

The different causes ofpoverty can be delineatedbroadly as illiteracy, low rateof economic development,low productivity in agricul-ture, unemployment, socialfactors and exclusion; hencefor a holistic and inclusivegrowth all these factors mustbe considered. The vicious cir-cle which entails poverty isthat poverty leads to overpop-ulation, exacerbating the con-dition. The population risebeing influenced by popula-tion dynamics, including pop-ulation growth, leads to pover-ty. The poor go for more chil-dren for adding to their fam-ily workforce. This is also thereason why poor people don’tsend their children to schools— a cause of illiteracy.

Factors like rapid popula-tion growth, early marriage ofgirls, illiteracy, poor healthconditions, lack of access tofinancial resources and smallland holdings become a bur-den on the nation’s incomeand growth, thereby adverse-ly affecting the per capitaincome. Lack of entitlement,exclusion and deprivation,both relative and absolute,affecting people’s capability,are the reasons for poverty.Some experts feel that pover-ty is a reflection of the eco-nomic state of living wherepoor people experiencescarcity of certain amenitiesessential to live like humans.Therefore, before targetingits complete eradication,poverty should be under-stood as a multifaceted con-cept, inclusive of socio-eco-nomic and political factors.

Martin Luther king, Jr,had stated that the curse ofpoverty has no justification inour age. Poverty is the worstform of deprivation humanbeings suffer, and it leads tohuman misery and suffer-ings. A few insalubriousaspects of poverty and itsdetrimental aspects forhumans include deprivationfrom assimilation in socialprocesses and economic activ-ities; driving people to crime;creating circumstances exac-erbating absolute and relativepoverty; negatively affecting anation’s socioeconomic, cul-tural and political environ-ment; robbing the nation of itsgrowth and prosperity; affect-ing the indicators of develop-ment in sectors like technol-ogy, production and improve-ment of socioeconomic wel-fare. In short, the conse-quences of poverty can beenlisted as low per capitaincome and low economicgrowth, interstate disparity,under-utilisation ofskills/resources, violation ofrights and a high crime rate.(This article is the first part ofa series.)

(The author is a superannuated senior IAS officer. The views

expressed are personal.)

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Abraham Maslow’s theo-ry of motivation pro-pounds an undeniabletruth and convinces

conceivably about its universalapplication. Maslow consideredphysiological needs (hunger, thirstetc) and safety needs (security) asbasic before the growth (esteem)and self-actualisation needs aresatiated. This theory, if studiedand deciphered in depth, wouldreveal the image of universalityreflected by this theory. The mes-sage is loud and clear, and untilthe physiological and safety needsare satisfied, higher attainmentlike growth and self-actualisationis not possible. It enunciates thateither at the motivation level orin growth prospective, if thebasic requirements of people arenot taken care of, the highergrowth is not achievable in total-ity. This impresses upon onething that priority number one ofany Government is to go for erad-ication of poverty and ameliora-tion of the predicaments of theimpecunious so as to ensureinclusive growth with equitabledistribution.

The World Bank definespoverty as deprivation of well-being, and it comprises manyfacets including low income andinability to acquire basic goodsand services for survival withdignity. Confining poverty onlyto economic interpretation maybe labelled as a one-dimension-al concept. In a paradigm shift,Nobel laureate Amartya Senrecognised the aspects of multi-dimensional overtones/connota-tion of the concept and statedthat poverty actually means nothaving enough material posses-sion or income for personalneeds. Poverty includes socialand economic elements as well.He classified poverty as absolutepoverty, meaning complete lackof means necessary to meetbasic personal needs and definedrelative poverty as associatedwith relative deprivation.

Mahatma Gandhi oncedefined poverty as the worstform of violence. As a violence-hit society finds itself immobileand paralytic, poverty and relat-ed predicaments hit life, health,future and surroundings in theseverest possible way. It is further

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Something unusual hap-pened in Indian Railways(IR) last month, as hun-

dreds of senior officers in Level15, or Higher AdministrationGrade, filled up applicationsfor selection as GeneralManager. They described fivecontributions they had made tothe Railways in the course oftheir services, besides theirimpact areas if they were select-ed for the designated roles.Some of the officers even enlist-ed consultants to write theirapplications.

The top management of IRappears to be in a mess due tohalf-baked reforms, lacking inpurpose, initiated by the pre-vious Railway Board.Numerous top posts of IR, par-ticularly Members of Boardand General Managers (GMs),lie vacant, while it was

announced that future induc-tion of officers would be donefor Indian RailwayManagement Service (IRMS),an integrated service througha common examination. Therewas more criticism than sup-port for the move with reser-vations for a single cadre at theentry stage, even while therationale to do away with thefunctioning in silos was muchappreciated.

The incumbent RailwaysMinister is faced with the chal-lenges of a deep financial cri-sis, attributable partly to thepandemic, but also to IR’sinherent lethargy and prob-lems. One would have thoughtthat having got the notificationfor recruitment of 150 IRMSofficers issued, the goal of uni-fication of its eight existingcadres would take a backseat,

as bringing them on a commonplatform would cause a seriousimbalance between engineers,who join at a younger age, vis-à-vis others, who join at anolder age through Civil Servicesexamination.

The ministry decided thatofficers from 1983 to 1986batches, currently serving inLevel 15 from the eight organ-ised Group-A services (Civil,Mechanical, Electrical, Traffic,Accounts, Personnel, Signaland Stores), would be eligibleto apply for empanelment inLevel 16 of IRMS and theywould form the pool for theAppointments Committee ofthe Cabinet to choose from forthe 29 posts of GMs and equiv-alents.

Senior officers in Level 15,or HAG, still in service on acut-off date, irrespective of the

number of years of serviceleft, can apply with self-assess-ment. The selection process forempanelment would includeEmotional Quotient test, multi-source assessment (peers,seniors, etc) and scrutiny ofannual confidential reports.This system largely takes awayany advantage of the age factor.

A panel comprising retiredBoard Members, GMs,Additional Members,Departmental Heads andretired Secretaries to GoI shallevaluate the applications for aDepartmental PromotionCommittee. The latter willinclude Secretary/DOP&T,Chairman & CEO, IR and oneSecretary-level non-railwayofficer and make an overall rec-ommendation for empanel-ment.

The IR has seven posts in

Level 17, the next level afterGM, which are, ChairmanRailway Board cum CEO,Members and Board DirectorGenerals. There would be asimilar process for selection tothese posts from officers ofLevel 15 and 16, subject to theirstill being in service on a cut-off date. This too is transforma-tional; in a lighter vein, forLevel 15 officers, it is tanta-mount to ‘double promotion’ inschools of yore, reserved forbrilliant students.

In the present system, offi-cers can work out, with a rea-sonable accuracy, right at thebeginning of their careers, thelevel to which they would risebased on their date of birth, asthe system provides for yearlyempanelment from Level 15based on inter-se seniority andtheir balance years in service on

a cut-off date. This is detrimen-tal with a double whammy;those who are likely to go updecide to tread cautiously andnot take any transformationalor tricky decisions which caninvite vigilance complaints andcontroversies and those notlikely to rise to the top decideto take it easy without muchincentive to perform. Theresure are self-motivated officersas exceptions but the outcomeof mediocre chalta hai (every-thing acceptable!) performanceis more common. In the newsystem, the top posts havebeen opened to a much largerpool of officers.

Today, the officers whojoin IRTS, IRAS and IRPS at anolder age through Civil Servicesexamination are at a disadvan-tage vis-à-vis engineers whojoin at a younger age through

Indian Engineering Serviceexamination. A detrimentalfallout of this has been that offi-cers of these key departmentsdo not rise to become GM; inmy early service days some ofthe finest GMs came fromIRTS as they had great insightinto the nitty-gritty of railwayoperations. The new systemgives a chance to such officers.

Since 2016, those empan-elled in Level 16, but not post-ed, as they lacked two-yearresidual services on the date ofvacancy, were given Level 16pay and pension benefits oncetheir junior(s) got posted. It fol-lows that those who missedempanelment on age groundsshould also get this relief. Suchofficers would now, not only beeligible for entering the panel,but also get the Level 16 payand pension benefits.

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(The author is a formergeneral manager in the

Indian Railways)

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�3��� 4����-$�(,'$ Prospects of the US going into adeep recession, Federal Bank’srate hikes and hawkish views,European Union uncertainties

and Russia-Ukraine war are bleeding theIndian stock markets. The outflow of Rs2.71 lakh crore in the last eight monthsis posing a severe challenge to the Indianeconomy, putting even public deposits atgrave risks.

If the western economies slip intorecession, the Indian economy will haveone additional challenge to face in the nearfuture at a time when better terms of tradeare needed for growth, as exports may takea severe hit. This may put pressure on thetrade deficit further. “This is an anticipat-ed outcome of their policy response ofraising interest rates to manage theunprecedented inflation levels that theyare currently experiencing,” Ernst andYoung said in its recent update.

The risk of the US economy tumblinginto recession over the next year has dou-bled following the Federal Reserve's 75basis-point interest-rate hike last week,says Goldman Sachs. It says in a note thatthe chance of a recession hitting in thenext 12 months has risen from 15 percentbefore the rate hike, to 30 percent as of thisweek.

As the economy slumps and theinterest rates are hiked, foreign portfolioinvestors (FPIs) are moving their invest-ments back to the US. Heavy outflows ofFPI money from India in the last one yearexceed what was seen during the globalfinancial crisis (GFC) of 2008, analysts atICICI Securities say. The ongoing FPI sell-ing in Indian equities is turning out to bethe highest selling spree since the globalfinancial crisis (GFC) of 2008 at $36 bil-lion against $28 billion during the GFC.However, inflows from domestic institu-tional investors into the shaky market havebeen constant while benchmark indicesare down just around 10 percent com-pared to more than 50 percent in 2008.

The selloff that began in August, 2021while there was a brief lull in Septembercontinues unabated since October lastyear. The FPIs pulling out of the capitalfrom the equity markets in India has hitthe rupee badly, with its exchange rateagainst the dollar falling to Rs 79.2despite heavy RBI intervention to defendthe currency.

Bankruptcy in the Euro region isdeeper than explained. The latest voyageof the world’s biggest unfinished cruiserto a ship-breaking yard because of the lackof a buyer is a testimony that the malaiseis much deeper than what is being seen.The European economy is getting into thethroes of crisis with the clogging of gassupplies from Russia, an expected foodcrisis and wrecking of its growth and econ-omy for just siding with NATO. The UShas yet not found a counter to checkmateRussia except giving some arms toUkraine.

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(The writer is a seniorjournalist. The views

expressed are personal.)

India despite being a friend ofboth the US and Russia is unableto save itself from the hazardsdespite maintaining a fine balancewith the two big powers of theworld. It is singed by high globalinflation, higher domestic infla-tion, mounting debt, falling rupeevis a vis dollar. India's external debtrose by $11.5 billion in October-December 2021 to stand at $614.9billion at the end of the quarter,according to data released by theMinistry of Finance on March 31.The IMF has issued a word of cau-tion to India. It says externaldebt, by supplementing domesticsavings, can help countries growfaster. But a large stock of exter-nal debt can potentially create vul-nerabilities and dent growthprospects. Since the onset of thepandemic, many countries haveexpanded public spending to sup-port the recovery, which has led toa build-up of their external debt.In other words, it warns to checkexternal debt in particular.

The total external debt, whichfell below the pre-crisis levels inthe immediate aftermath of thepandemic lockdown, crossed thepre-pandemic levels as at end-December 2020 and commercialborrowings crossing the pre-pan-demic levels as at end September2021 and short-term trade creditcrossing the pre-pandemic levelsas at end-December 2021, the RBIsays.

As India aims at higher, sus-tainable and inclusive growth, theRBI warns of keeping external debtflows within the estimated thresh-old limit for preserving overall

macro-stability to ward off exter-nal vulnerability. It’s a stern warn-ing, more so as savings is also notgrowing to meet the criticaldemands.

The FPI investment is notconsidered a staple investment. Butit is a kind of hedge against exter-nal borrowings, forex reserves asalso the need to maintain rupeestability. The majority of the exter-nal debt is private. General govern-ment external debt stood at $131.4billion as on December 31, downfrom $132.0 billion as at the endof September 2021. Non-govern-ment commercial external debt,meanwhile, rose to $483.6 billion,36.8 percent from $471.4 billion.The official borrowings are frominternational institutions on softterms with the lowest risks. Duringfiscal 2021-22, India borrowed themost from the International bankfor Reconstruction andDevelopment at Rs 22,362 crore,followed by Asian DevelopmentBank at Rs 16802 crore and theGovernment of Japan at Rs 9835crore.

During the week endedFebruary 25, India’s foreign cur-rency assets declined by $ 2.22 bil-lion. Since then more of it was lostin managing the rupee and theexternal sector. The rupee remainsunder pressure. This is a call forsevere caution. The void of theFPIs is being filled up by domes-tic institutional investors (DIIs),led by LIC, mutual funds andinsurance companies. They areabsorbing most of the FPI sales tokeep the stock market maintain asemblance but it is an artificial

support for virtually subsidizingthe domestic companies, whosevaluations are on an apparentroll. In other words, public moneyis being pumped into shaky privateoperations further debilitating thepublic institutions.

The institutions are supposedto take independent decisions.But this kind of operation, push-ing them into risky operations, isquestionable. Most of these organ-isations, now particularly LIC,are at high risk of losing people’sdeposits. The RBI, SEBI and otherregulators need to step in to checksuch deals and purchases as themarket value of many corporatewith high ECBs as also domesticborrowings are suspect.

What appears to be innocuouswithdrawal of some foreign com-panies have left a deep sense of hurt.It calls for a decision at the level oftop regulators as also the ministryof finance to check the quality ofinvestments being made in the riskyassets. Stock prices are mostlynotional and speculative, basedon the premise that it would havemade gains in future. Since 1992,the innumerable crashes or scamswere based on these premises in theIndian equity markets, which bledthe middle class by eroding theirinvestments. Severe caution isneeded at this hour as even aninnocuous repeat of a failure canshear the Indian economy of bil-lions of US dollars, if not trillions.

What looks like a US or Eurorecession, if not dealt with cau-tiously, could have deleteriouseffects in India. Stitch in time is thebest medicine.

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Fifty-nine people went ontrial on Thursday for the

2018 collapse of Genoa'sMorandi bridge, accused ofmanslaughter and othercharges in the deaths of 43 peo-ple.

The defendants includeformer executives and expertsof the company that managesmany of Italy's bridges andhighways, as well as formerofficials of the Italian Ministryof Infrastructure andTransport.

A huge section of theMorandi bridge broke off dur-ing a violent rainstorm onAugust 14, 2018, when high-ways were packed on the eve ofItaly's biggest summer holiday,sending cars plunging into the

dry riverbed below.Prosecutors have alleged

the defendants knew thebridge, which was built in the1960s, was at risk of collapsingand that corners were cut onmaintenance to save money.

The bridge's designer hadrecommended regular upkeepto remove rust, especially dueto the corrosive effect of moistair from the nearby Ligurian

Sea, and maintenance tocounter the effect of pollutionon concrete.

"There are elements thatprove that, since 2013, it waswritten in documents that theMorandi bridge was at risk ofcollapsing," said Egle Possetti,a member of the committee ofrelatives of Morandi victimswho attended the hearing.

"In five years, nothing was

done. This is unacceptable. Sowe will fight, as relatives andcivil parties, so that this trialwill give justice to our familiesand respect for the dead whoaren't here," Possetti said out-side the tribunal.

After an hour of procedur-al motions, Judge Paolo Lepriadjourned the proceedings andset a new hearing for September14 in a trial that is expected totake more than a year to reachany verdicts, the LaPresse newsagency reported.

In April, a Genoa judgeapproved plea bargain requestsby both the highway company,Autostrade per Italia, and theSpea engineering company, topay 29 million euros (USD 33million) to the Italian govern-ment in exchange for avoidinga trial.

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Apregnant Sri Lankanwoman, who had been in

a queue for two days to obtaina passport to leave the crisis-hitcountry for employment over-seas, went into labour whilewaiting for her turn onThursday and delivered a babygirl.

Sri Lanka Army personnelstationed at the Department ofImmigration and Emigrationin Colombo noticed the 26-year-old woman in labour atthe premises on Thursdaymorning and rushed her to theCastle Hospital where shedelivered the baby, officialssaid.

The woman along withher husband from the centralhills had been in the queue forthe last two days to obtain apassport to take up a job over-seas.

Since the economic crisiskicked in during late January,long queues to obtain passportswere seen regularly at the pass-port office. Most of the peoplehave opted to obtain passportsin the 'one day issue service'.

Meanwhile, another per-son, who was waiting at a fuelqueue, died of a heart attackthis morning, the fifteenthsuch death in a fuel queue sinceMarch.

The 60-year-old ice creamseller on a three wheeler hadspent two continuous days inthe queue for fuel at Payagalasouth of here. He developedchest pain while in the queueand was rushed to a hospitalwhere he was declared broughtdead.

Long queues for fuel arenow seen leading to the IndianOil Company's LIOC retailpumps in the country.

The state fuel entity CPC

pumps dried up 10 days agowith no information on supplyships arriving in the country.

The LIOC, which runsover 200 pumping stations,now makes limited issues byusing its supplies from theirstorage tanks in the eastern dis-trict of Trincomalee.

Energy Minister KanchanaWijesekara told Parliament onWednesday that until thearrival of a ship from the IOC,no fuel carrying vessels wereavailable until July 22.Therefore, to meet the shortage,the government opted to pay ahigher price and ordered ashipment to be able to reach byJuly 15.

Sri Lanka is going throughthe worst economic crisis sinceits independence from Britainin 1948, and needs to obtain atleast USD 4 billion to tide overthe acute shortage in foreignexchange reserves.

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The World HealthOrganisation on Thursday

reported a 77 per cent weeklyincrease in the number of lab-confirmed monkeypox cases,to more than 6,000 worldwide,and two more deaths in partsof Africa where the virus hascirculated for years.

Most of the cases werereported in Europe and Africa.The UN health agency said themysterious outbreak continuesto mainly affect men who havehad sex with men, and thatother population groups

showed no signs of sustainedtransmission.

WHO said it counted 6,027laboratory-confirmed cases ofmonkeypox from 59 countriesas of Monday, an increase of2,614 cases since its last countfor the week that ended June27. It said three people havenow died in connection withthe outbreak, all of them inAfrica. The agency said nineadditional countries hadreported cases, while 10 coun-tries had not reported any newcases for more than threeweeks, which is the maximumincubation period.

WHO Director-GeneralTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesussaid on Wednesday heremained "concerned by thescale and spread of the virus,"noting that over 80 per cent ofthe cases turned up in Europe.

He said he would convenethe next meeting of a WHOexpert panel for no later thanthe week of July 18. Most mon-keypox patients experiencefever, body aches, chills andfatigue. People with more seri-ous illness may develop a rashand lesions on the face andhands that can spread to otherparts of the body.

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AWest Virginia NationalGuard member who wore

a hoodie that read "Yes, I'm aTrump girl" inside the U.S.Capitol Rotunda during theJan. 6 riot pleaded guilty to amisdemeanor Wednesday.

Jamie Lynn Fergusonentered the plea to parading,demonstrating or picketing ina Capitol building during aconference call with a U.S.magistrate judge inWashington, D.C. The chargecarries a maximum penalty ofsix months in prison and a$5,000 fine.

Prosecutors asked thatthree other charges be dis-missed. Ferguson, 44, alsoagreed to pay $500 restitutionfor damage caused to theCapitol. Sentencing was set forNov. 18.

On Jan. 3, 2021, Fergusonshared an article on herFacebook account containing apicture of a crowd in front ofthe Capitol with a storm cloudand Mount Rushmore above it.A caption in the post read, "Ipray this is exactly what D.C.will look like on Jan. 6th.#HoldTheLine." A commenton the post asked whetherFerguson was going to theCapitol and she replied, "I am,"according to court documents.

In an interview with FBIspecial agents a week after theriot, Ferguson admitted attend-ing former President DonaldTrump's "Stop the Steal" rally in

front of the White Housebefore heading to the Capitol.Ferguson was wearing a darkhoodie with the phrase "Yes,I'm a Trump Girl" in white let-tering when she entered thebuilding. She spent nearly anhour inside, mostly walkingaround the Rotunda, the doc-uments showed.

A report submitted to theFBI by the U.S. Air ForceOffice of Special Investigationssaid Ferguson was on leavefrom the National Guard fromJan. 5 to Jan. 7. Ferguson saidshe attended the rally with herparents, who left afterward.Ferguson said she proceeded tothe Capitol because shebelieved she would be able tosee Trump again.

Ferguson was arrested inMay in Lynchburg, Virginia.She is a technical sergeant anda drill status guardsmanassigned to the West VirginiaAir National Guard.

"As a matter of policy, the130th Airlift Wing and theWest Virginia National Guarddo not comment on civiliancriminal matters," the Guardsaid in a statement Wednesday.

Under the conditions ofher release, Ferguson wasordered to stay at the Virginiahome of her parents.

More than 830 people havebeen charged with federalcrimes related to the Capitolriot. More than 320 of themhave pleaded guilty, mostly tomisdemeanor charges, and over200 have been sentenced.

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Even before Boris Johnsonstepped out of 10 DowningStreet on Thursday to deliver his

resignation speech as ConservativeParty leader, triggering a leadershiprace for a new British prime minister,the runners and riders had been lin-ing up to compete for the top job.

Indian-origin Suella Braverman,currently the Attorney General in theUK Cabinet, is among the early Torymembers of Parliament to formallydeclare her leadership bid. The 42-year-old barrister and the govern-ment's senior-most legal official is like-ly to command some support withinthe pro-Brexit wing of her party.

"I am putting myself forwardbecause I believe that the 2019 man-ifesto is fit for purpose, presents a boldand inspiring vision for our countryand I want to deliver on the promis-es contained in that manifesto. Iwant to embed the opportunities ofBrexit and tidy up the outstandingissues…and cut taxes," saidBraverman, who is of Goan ancestry.

Another fellow staunch Brexiteer,Steve Baker, also declared on air thathe intends to throw his hat in the ring.He is an influential Tory backbencherwho served as chair of the EuropeanResearch Group, in favour of a hardBrexit deal.

But the duo are largely seen asoutliers and now with Johnson's for-mal resignation, the other more seri-ous bids are expected to start pouringin thick and fast.

In a latest YouGov poll of Toryparty members in 'The DailyTelegraph', UK Defence SecretaryBen Wallace has emerged as the fron-trunner to become the next PrimeMinister. The party's 1922 Committeeis responsible for setting the timetablefor a Tory leadership contest.

To take part in the race, a ToryMP has to be nominated by eight col-

leagues. If more than two MPs putthemselves forward and secureenough nominations to run for leader,a series of secret ballots are held towhittle them down. The YouGov sur-vey indicates that Wallace may be inpole position if he chooses to contestand then makes it to the final two can-didates.

He is on 13 per cent, just ahead

of junior minister Penny Mordaunt on12 per cent.

Former UK Chancellor RishiSunak, the Indian-origin ministerwho stepped down on Tuesday, is alsoseen as a contender and is at 10 percent in the survey. Former ForeignSecretary Jeremy Hunt, who came sec-ond in the 2019 Conservative leader-ship contest, is on a joint 5 per cent,

alongside the new Chancellor,Nadhim Zahawi.

Zahawi, former Health andEducation Secretary and most recent-ly Chancellor in the Boris JohnsonCabinet, is believed to have alreadybeen working with Australian politi-cal strategist Sir Lynton Crosby - theman behind Johnson's thumping gen-eral electoral win in December 2019.The 55-year-old Iraqi refugee, whoarrived in the UK as an 11-year-oldboy, is yet to formally declare hisintention to vie for the top job but isseen as a serious contender.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss isanother key contender, who is alsobelieved to have been lining up herleadership bid over the last fewmonths. She's currently at 8 per centin the YouGov poll.

Former health secretary SajidJavid, the Pakistani-origin ministerwho was the first to resign fromCabinet this week, is also seen assomeone who might throw his hat inthe ring.

Some of the other ConservativeParty names doing the rounds includeHouse of Commons Foreign AffairsSelect Committee chair TomTugendhat, Deputy Prime MinisterDominic Raab and recently sackedCabinet minister Michael Gove.

The final shortlist of candidates isexpected to go head to head in adebate until a vote between the finaltwo decides on the winner, who willbe the new Conservative Party leaderand formally succeed Johnson as thenew British prime minister.

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The United States is "thebiggest threat to world

peace, stability and develop-ment," China said onThursday, continuing its sharprhetoric in response to USaccusations of Chinese spyingand threats to the internationalorder.

Foreign Ministryspokesperson Zhao Lijian'scomments came a day after thehead of the FBI and the leaderof Britain's domestic intelli-gence agency raised freshalarms about the Chinese gov-ernment, warning businessleaders that Beijing is deter-mined to steal their technolo-gy for competitive gain.

The heightened tonecomes ahead of a meetingSaturday between USSecretary of State AntonyBlinken and Chinese ForeignMinister Wang Yi at the Groupof 20 leading rich and devel-oping nations' ministers sum-mit in Bali, Indonesia.

"The relevant US politicianhas been playing up the so-called China threat to smearand attack China," Zhao toldreporters at a daily briefingwhen asked about FBIDirector Christopher Wray'scomments reaffirming long-standing concerns indenouncing economic espi-onage and hacking operationsby China as well as theChinese government's effortsto stifle dissent abroad.

"Facts have fully proventhat the US is the biggest

threat to world peace, stabili-ty and development," Zhaosaid. "We urge this US officialto have the right perspective,see China's developments inan objective and reasonablemanner and stop spreadinglies and stop making irre-sponsible remarks."

Wray's speech was partic-ularly notable because it tookplace at MI5's London head-quarters and alongside theagency's director general, KenMcCallum, in an intendedshow of Western solidarity.

"We consistently see thatit's the Chinese governmentthat poses the biggest long-term threat to our economicand national security, and byour,' I mean both of ournations, along with our alliesin Europe and elsewhere,"Wray told attendees.

McCallum said theChinese government and its"covert pressure across theglobe" amounts to "the mostgame-changing challenge weface." Under Xi Jinping, pres-ident and head of the rulingCommunist Party, China hasassumed an increasinglyaggressive foreign policy, join-ing with Russia in seeking toundermine the influence of theU.S. And its allies.

Beijing has refused to con-demn Russia's invasion ofUkraine - which is expected todominate the G-20 foreignministers meeting - while con-demning Western sanctionsagainst Moscow and accusingWashington and NATO ofprovoking the conflict.

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The Georgia prosecutorinvestigating the conduct

of former President DonaldTrump and his allies after the2020 election is subpoenaingU.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham,former New York Mayor RudyGiuliani, and other membersof Trump's campaign legalteam to testify before a specialgrand jury.

Fulton County DistrictAttorney Fani Willis onTuesday filed petitions withthe judge overseeing the spe-cial grand jury as part of herinvestigation into what shealleges was "a multi-state,coordinated plan by theTrump Campaign to influ-ence the results of theNovember 2020 election inGeorgia and elsewhere."

The move marks a majorescalation in a case that couldpose a serious legal challengeto the former president as heweighs another White Houserun. While the special grandjury has already heard fromtop state officials, Tuesday's fil-ings directly target several ofTrump's closest allies andadvisers, including Giuliani,who led his campaign's legalefforts to overturn the electionresults.

"It means the investigationis obviously becoming moreintense because those aretrusted advisers, those areinner circle people," saidRobert James, former districtattorney in DeKalb County,which neighbors Fulton.

The special grand jury hasbeen investigating whetherTrump and others illegallytried to meddle in the 2020presidential election inGeorgia as he desperately triedto cling to power afterDemocrat Joe Biden's victory.Trump continues to insist thatthe election was stolen, despitethe fact that numerous feder-

al and local officials, a long listof courts, top former cam-paign staff and even Trump'sown attorney general have allsaid there is no evidence of thefraud he alleges.

The investigation is sepa-rate from that being conduct-ed by a congressional com-mittee that has been examin-ing the events surrounding thedeadly insurrection at the U.S.Capitol on Jan. 6 as well as theDepartment of Justice's ownsprawling probe. Trump isalso facing other legal chal-lenges, including in New York,where he, his namesake sonand his daughter Ivanka haveagreed to answer questionsunder oath beginning nextweek in the New York attorneygeneral's civil investigationinto his business practices.

The escalation comes asTrump has been mullingannouncing a third presiden-tial run as soon as this summeras he seeks to deflect attentionfrom the ongoing investiga-tions and lock in supportbefore a long list of otherpotential candidates, such asFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis,make their own moves.

Willis, who took thisunusual step of requesting aspecial grand jury earlier thisyear, has confirmed that sheand her team are looking intoa January 2021 phone call inwhich Trump pushed GeorgiaSecretary of State BradRaffensperger to "find" thevotes needed for him to winthe state.

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The European Union's par-liament on Thursday over-

whelmingly condemned theend of constitutional protec-tions for abortion in the US andcalled for such safeguards to beenshrined in the EU's funda-mental rights charter.

In a 324-155 vote with 38abstentions, EuropeanParliament lawmakers adopteda resolution that crystalised theanger seen in many of theEU's 27 member countriessince the US Supreme Courthanded down its ruling on

June 24. "It teaches us a lesson:Women's and girls' humanrights can never be taken forgranted, and we must alwaysfight to defend them," Swedishpolitician Helene Fritzon, whois vice president of an parlia-mentary alliance of Socialistsand Democrats, said.

Underscoring fears thatanti-abortion movementsmight expand in Europe, somelegislators said they wanted tosee EU-wide protections adopt-ed. "The United States hasclearly shown why we must useevery tool available to safeguardabortion rights in the European

Union," said Stéphane Séjournéthe president of the liberalRenew Europe group in the EUParl. The resolution calls onmember nations to add a sen-tence reading "Everyone has aright to safe and legal abortion"to the Charter of FundamentalRights.National laws deter-mine the status of abortion inindividual EU countries, muchlike the Supreme Court's rulingwill result in for states in the USAbortion is legal and practisedwithout much political oppo-sition in many membernations, but is banned in Maltaand restricted in Poland.

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The first bull run in threeyears took place on

Thursday at the San Fermínfestival in the Spanish city ofPamplona. No one was gored,but several runners tookknocks and hard falls as tens ofthousands people revelled inthe return of one of Europe'smost famous traditional events.

Six bulls guided by sixtame oxen charged throughPamplona's streets for aroundtwo minutes and 35 secondswithout provoking too muchcarnage among the thousandsof observers and participantscramming the course.

Several runners werestomped, trampled or shovedto the cobblestone pavement. Aanimal's horn smacked at leasttwo men in the head, but nei-ther suffered a skewering.

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The Arctic is heating upmore than four times faster

than the rate of global warm-ing, according to a new analy-sis of observed temperatures.

The trend has steppedupward steeply twice in the last50 years, a finding missed by allbut four of 39 climate models,the researchers said.

The study does not pin-point a cause for these relativelysudden increases, but theresearchers speculate that con-tributing causes are probablysea ice and water vapour feed-backs combined with changesin how atmospheric and ocean-

ic heat move into the Arctic."Thirty years is considered

the minimum to represent cli-mate change," said Petr Chylek,a physicist and climateresearcher at Los AlamosNational Laboratory, US, andlead author of the study pub-lished in the journalGeophysical Research Letters.

"We decreased the timeinterval to 21 years. At thatsmaller time scale, and contraryto previous investigations thatfound the Arctic amplifica-tion index increases in asmooth way, we observed twodistinct steps, one in 1986 anda second one in 1999," Chyleksaid.

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FForeign analysts sayRussia may be temporar-ily easing its offensive in

Ukraine as the Russian militaryattempts to reassemble itsforces for a renewed assault.

On Wednesday, Russianforces made no claimed orassessed territorial gains inUkraine "for the first time in133 days of war", according tothe Institute for the Study ofWar.

The think tank based inWashington suggested thatMoscow may be taking an"operational pause", but that itdoes not entail "the completecessation of active hostilities".

"Russian forces will likelyconfine themselves to relative-ly small-scale offensive actionsas they attempt to set condi-tions for more significant offen-sive operations and rebuildthe combat power needed toattempt those more ambitiousundertakings," the institutesaid.

A Thursday statementfrom Russia's Defence Ministryseemed to confirm that assess-ment. It said Russian militaryunits involved in combat inUkraine had been given time torest.

"The units that performedcombat missions during thespecial military operation aretaking measures to recovertheir combat capabilities. Theservicemen are given theopportunity to rest, receive

letters and parcels from home,"read the statement, quoted byRussian state news agency Tass.

Shelling continued inUkraine's east, where at leastnine civilians were killed andsix wounded in 24 hours,Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine's presidentialoffice said in its Thursdaymorning update that cities andvillages in seven Ukrainianregions were shelled in thepast day. Most of the civiliandeaths occurred in Donetskprovince, where fighting isongoing. Seven civilians werekilled there, including a child,the presidential office said.

Ten cities and villages cameunder shelling in Donetsk, and

35 buildings were destroyed,including a school, a vocation-al college and a hospital, offi-cials said.

Donetsk is part of theDonbas, a mostly Russian-speaking industrial regionwhere Ukraine's most experi-enced soldiers are concentrat-ed. Pro-Russian separatistshave fought Ukrainian forcesand controlled much of theDonbas for eight years.

Russian President VladimirPutin recognised the indepen-dence of two self-proclaimedrepublics there just beforeRussia invaded Ukraine onFebruary 24.

Putin on Monday claimedvictory in Luhansk, the other

province constituting theDonbas, after Ukrainian forceswithdrew from the last city theycontrolled there. The governorof Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai,denied on Wednesday that theRussians had completely cap-tured the province.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine's sec-ond-largest city, a boardingschool was hit, but no one wasinjured. The Kharkiv region,which lies along the borderwith Russia, is under dailyshelling, and two civilians werekilled there over the past 24hours.

The Ukrainian militarysaid on Thursday that Russianforces also carried out shellingand helicopter strikes in the

Sumy region in the northeast.Even as the fighting con-

tinued, the British DefenceMinistry said it thinks Russia'smilitary is "reconstituting" itsforces. A ministry intelligenceassessment issued on Thursdaysaid the heavy shelling alongthe front line in Donetsk is like-ly intended to secure previousRussian gains.

Further hostilities werereported in the Black Sea wherethe Ukrainian military said onThursday that a Ukrainian flaghad been planted on a strate-gic island that Russian troopswithdrew from last month.

Ukraine's OperationalCommand South said in astatement that Ukrainian mil-itary units had cleared SnakeIsland, an outpost off Ukraine'ssouthwestern coast vital forguaranteeing sea lanes out ofthe key port of Odesa.

The command group alsosaid the Ukrainian militaryhad destroyed some 30 piecesof Russian military equipment,describing the discovery of"abandoned ammunition andvast ruins".

Russian troops withdrewfrom the island on June 30 inwhat Russia's Defence Ministrycalled "a goodwill gesture". Butthe ministry said on Thursdaythat a Russian AerospaceForces aircraft had launched amissile strike on the island asUkrainian forces attempted toplant the flag.

"As a result, some of theUkrainian military personnel

were destroyed, the rest fled,"the ministry said. Ukraine alsosaid that Russia fired two mis-siles targeting a Moldovan-flagged oil tanker in the BlackSea, setting it ablaze.

Ukraine's southern mili-tary command said the strikehit the Millennial Spirit, whichhas over 500 tons of diesel fuelon board. Ukraine says onemissile struck the ship, whilethe other went wide. Socialmedia images showed smokerising off the coast of Odesa onThursday morning.

The ship has been withouta crew, drifting at sea since thestart of the war in February.Russia did not immediatelyacknowledge the strike on thevessel. The ship's trackingdevices have been down sinceit was abandoned by its crew.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministrysaid it summoned the Turkishambassador in Kyiv Thursdayover what it described as thetheft of Ukrainian grain by aRussian ship.

The Russian ship ZhibekZholy was allowed to leaveTurkey's Black Sea coast afterTurkish authorities brieflydetained it at Ukraine's request.Ukraine summoned theambassador to complain aboutthe "unacceptable situation".

Turkey, with its BosporusStrait, is a key transit route forshipping out of the Black Sea.Ukraine has sought to pressureAnkara to stop Russian ship-ments of its grain, a vital sourceof revenue.

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Wiktor Lazar shares hiswar-side balcony with a

pair of opera glasses and a tinyorange snake, his only com-panion in an apartment thatseems to sit at the edge of theworld.

The opera glasses, more ofa joke, are hardly needed - thefront line is visible withoutthem. The rumbling of Russianand Ukrainian shelling is audi-ble even now, although Lazarclaims not to notice. Below hisbalcony is a crater, one ofmany. On the nearby street, aGrad rocket launcher rolls by.

Lazar estimates theRussians are just 10 kilometers(6 miles) away.

As the war grinds into itsfifth month along deadly faultlines in Ukraine's east andsouth, Lazar and his few neigh-bours in Kharkiv's vast andshattered neighbourhood ofSaltivka represent a life withoutresolution in which many aretrapped. New communities arebeing told to flee. Not all do.

While towns and villagesaround the capital of Kyiv havebegun to rebuild after theRussians withdrew months agoand world powers discuss long-term recovery, others in east-ern Ukraine still cannot sleepsoundly.

The Soviet-era apartmentblocks in Saltivka once houseda half-million people, one ofthe largest neighbourhoods inEurope. Now perhaps onlydozens remain. Some of thebuildings are blackened, whileothers are crumbling slab byslab.

"This is my home," says the

37-year-old Lazar, who is shirt-less in the soaring summerheat, revealing a machine guntattoo on his right arm. He pro-claims he's ready to fight theRussians, but his only weaponsare kitchen knives.

A broken guitar hangs onthe wall of his apartment.Lazar, a musician, dreams ofholding a defiant concert inSaltivka's echoing, cat-roamedstreets. In better days, he playedfor crowds in the plazas ofKharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, which is showingsigns of rebounding from thewar - even though it's only ashort distance from the borderwith Russia.

Saltivka, by comparison, isalmost dead. Past a final sub-way station dedicated toheroes, all activity sputters out.Shops are closed and apart-ment blocks gape with brokenwindows. In one, a table-sizedchunk of concrete twists slow-ly on a shred of rebar, waitingto fall.

Tall grass overtakes aban-doned playgrounds scatteredwith fallen and ripened cher-ries. Soldiers' trenches are bare.In a few apartments nowripped open, laundry stillhangs on the line.

From time to time, a carcrunches along the debris. Itmight bring movers trying tosalvage some furniture or vol-unteers bringing assistance.

Outside Lazar's building,people have assembled a mod-est kitchen with a mounted bellto ring when the day's foodarrives. Near the teapot on awood stove, ammunition boxesnow hold bread slowly goingstale.

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TThe presidents of Poland and Lithuania plannedto meet NATO troops on both sides of their bor-

der Thursday to demonstrate the alliance's defensereadiness at a location regarded as a strategicallyimportant bottleneck.

The 70-kilometer (43-mile) Suwalki Gap iswedged between Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad andBelarus, a Russia ally. It also links Lithuania, Estoniaand Latvia to other NATO members and has drawnspecial attention during Russia's war in Ukraine sinceseveral NATO nations border Ukraine.

Polish President Andrzej Duda and LithuanianPresident Gitanas Nauseda, accompanied by theircountries' defense ministers, planned to observe anexercise in Szypliszki, Poland, by a mobile commandunit of the U.S.-led Multinational Division North East.

The two are then scheduled to travel toMariampoli, Lithuania, to meet a German-led logis-tical battalion.

At the urging of Poland and the Baltic states,NATO leaders decided at a summit last week inMadrid to significantly increased the number oftroops in Eastern Europe. Battalions numbering hun-dreds of troops are to be made into brigades withthousands of troops.

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Astaggering 71 million more people aroundthe world are experiencing poverty as a

result of soaring food and energy prices thatclimbed in the weeks following Russia's inva-sion of Ukraine, the United NationsDevelopment Program said in a reportThursday.

The UNDP estimates that 51.6 millionmore people fell into poverty in the first threemonths after the war, living off $1.90 a day orless. This pushed the total number globally atthis threshold to 9% of the world's population.An additional 20 million people slipped to thepoverty line of $3.20 a day.

In low-income countries, families spend42% of their household incomes on food butas Western nations moved to sanction Russia,the price of fuel and staple food items like

wheat, sugar and cooking oil soared. Ukraine'sblocked ports and its inability to export grainsto low-income countries further drove upprices, pushing tens of millions quickly intopoverty.

"The cost of living impact is almost with-out precedent in a generation... and that is whyit is so serious," UNDP Administrator AchimSteiner said at the launch of the report.

The speed at which this many people expe-rienced poverty outpaced the economic painfelt at the peak of the pandemic.

The UNDP noted that 125 million addi-tional people experienced poverty over about18 months during the pandemic's lockdownsand closures, compared with more than 71million who hit poverty in just three monthsafter Russia's invasion of Ukraine in lateFebruary.

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Foreign ministers from the Group of 20 lead-ing rich and developing nations are gather-

ing in Indonesia's resort island of Bali for talksbound to be dominated by the conflict inUkraine despite an agenda focused on globalcooperation and food and energy security.

The one-day gathering will take place onFriday on the mostly Hindu "island of the gods"in the majority Muslim archipelago nation.

Underscoring the backdrop of tensionshanging over the meeting, Chinese ForeignMinister Wang Yi and Russia's top diplomatSergey Lavrov stopped in various Asian capitalson their way to Bali, drumming up support andfortifying their ties in the region ahead of thetalks.

The United States and its allies have soughtto punish Russian President Vladimir Putin inas many ways as possible, including by threat-ening a boycott of the G-20's Bali summit inNovember unless Putin is removed from theforum.

So as this year's president of the G-20,Indonesia has been forced into playing a moreconstructive role on the world stage rather thanacting just as an "event organizer." The coun-try has sought to remain neutral in dealing withRussia's invasion of Ukraine and President JokoWidodo has been guarded in his comments.

Widodo was the first Asian leader to visitthe warring countries. Ukraine is not a mem-ber of G-20, but Widodo has invited UkrainianPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy to theNovember summit along with Putin, hoping toappease all sides and limit any distractions fromthe forum's agenda.

Zelenskyy has said he won't attend if the waris continuing then and has opted to follow thediscussions by video link. Widodo reportedlytold Italian Prime Minister Marion Draghi, onthe sidelines of the Group of Seven summit inGermany, that Putin also will not be coming.Moscow has said a decision has not yet beenmade. That apparent compromise may be putto the test when the G-20 foreign ministers gath-er in Bali's heavily-guarded Nusa Dua touristhaven to lay the groundwork for the 17th sum-mit of the West's economic powerhouses.

Strains between Washington and Beijing arealso apparent: On Wednesday, China launcheda scathing attack on the U.S. And NATO, justdays before U.S. Secretary of State AntonyBlinken and the Chinese foreign minister are dueto meet in Bali.

Washington "observes international rulesonly as it sees fit," Chinese Foreign Ministry

spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters inBeijing. He said the "so-called rules-basedinternational order is actually a family rule madeby a handful of countries to serve the U.S. Self-interest."

A key aim of the talks will be to seek waysto improve food security at a time whenRussia's invasion of Ukraine has choked glob-al markets, pushing prices of meat, dairy prod-ucts, cereals, sugar and vegetable oils sharplyhigher. "These visits are not only important forIndonesians but also for other developingcountries in order to prevent the people of devel-oping and low-income countries from fallinginto extreme poverty and hunger," Widodo toldreporters in Jakarta before his departure toGermany on June 26.

Russia and Ukraine account for a third ofthe world's wheat exports and Ukraine alonegrows enough of the grain to feed 400 millionpeople. But Moscow's blockade means Kyiv canonly move 2 million tons a month, 60% less thanusual.

Millions of tons of Ukrainian grain are sit-ting in silos waiting to be shipped through safecorridors in the Black Sea. Ukraine also is oneof the world's largest exporters of corn and sun-flower oil, but Russia's invasion halted most ofthat flow. Such disruptions threaten food sup-plies for many developing countries, especiallyin Africa.

The crisis is having inflationary rippleeffects in Indonesia, including a shortage of flourthat is compelling local companies to raise thepolitically-sensitive price of instant noodles, ahugely popular Indonesian staple.

Russia has pledged to increase its wheatexports to Indonesia. Last year, those amount-ed to only 2,955 tons compared with the 3 mil-lion tones imported from Ukraine.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudihas told reporters it's important to achieve aresumption of grain exports from Ukraine andfood and fertilizer exports from Russia to endshortages and reduce prices.

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Jailed American basketball starBrittney Griner returned to a

Russian court Thursday to face hertrial on drug charges as a seniorRussian diplomat warned thatU.S. criticism of how Russia'shandling the case wouldn't helpher release prospects.

Griner's trial began last weekamid a growing chorus of calls forWashington to do more to secureher freedom nearly five monthsafter her arrest.

The athlete was detained inFebruary at Moscow'sSheremetyevo Airport after vapecanisters with cannabis oil alleged-ly were found in her luggage. Shefaces up to 10 years in prison ifconvicted of large-scale trans-portation of drugs.

Russian Deputy ForeignMinister Sergei Ryabkov warnedThursday that "attempts by theAmerican side to make noise inpublic ... don't help the practicalsettlement of issues."

The White House said

President Joe Biden called Griner'swife on Wednesday to assure herthat he's doing all he can to obtainthe athlete's release, as soon as pos-sible. They spoke after Biden reada letter from Griner in which shesaid she feared she'd never returnhome.

Washington hasn't made pub-lic its strategy in the case and theUnited States may have little lever-age with Moscow because ofstrong animosity due to Russia'smilitary actions in Ukraine.

The State Department hasdesignated Griner as wrongfullydetained, moving her case underthe supervision of its special pres-

idential envoy for hostage affairs,effectively the government's chiefhostage negotiator.

Asked about the possibility ofGriner being swapped for aRussian jailed in the U.S., Ryabkov,the senior Russian diplomat, notedthat until her trial is over "there areno formal or procedural reasons to talk about any furthersteps." He warned that U.S. criti-cism, including a description ofGriner as wrongfully detainedand dismissive comments aboutthe Russian judicial system,"makes it difficult to engage indetailed discussion of any possi-ble exchanges."

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RRussia has agreed to continuehumanitarian aid deliveries from

Turkey to rebel-held northwest Syriafor six months - not a year, as manyU.N. Security Council members,Secretary-General Antonio Guterresand more than 30 nongovernmentalgroups want.

Russia proposed amendmentsto a draft resolution by Ireland andNorway reducing their year-longtime frame for deliveries. Councildiplomats said consultations werecontinuing late Wednesday to see ifa compromise could be reached.

The Security Council scheduled

a vote for Thursday morning. If nocompromise appeared, the draft res-olution by Ireland and Norway toextend cross-border deliveries for 12months would be voted on first. If itfailed to get nine votes, or wasvetoed by Russia, the Russian reso-lution with a six-month extensionwould then be put to a vote.

In early July 2020, China andRussia vetoed a U.N. Resolution thatwould have maintained two bordercrossing points from Turkey to deliv-er humanitarian aid to Idlib. Dayslater, the council authorized thedelivery of aid through just one ofthose crossings, Bab al-Hawa. Thatone-year mandate was extended fora year on July 9, 2021, and expires this

Sunday.The Russian proposal called for

increased efforts to ensure "full, safeand unhindered" deliveries ofhumanitarian assistance across con-flict lines within Syria, according tothe Russian draft obtainedWednesday by The Associated Press.

It also would authorize the estab-lishment of "a special working group"comprising concerned council mem-bers, major donors, interested region-al parties and representatives ofinternational humanitarian agencies"in order to regularly review and fol-low-up on the implementation of thisresolution."

Neither of those proposals werein the Ireland-Norway draft resolu-

tion.Northwest Idlib is the last rebel-

held bastion in Syria and al Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is thestrongest insurgent group in theregion. The U.N. Said last week thatthe first 10 years of the Syrian con-flict, which started in 2011, killedmore than 300,000 civilians -- thehighest official estimate of civiliancasualties. In a letter to SecurityCouncil ambassadors obtainedWednesday by the AP, formerInternational Criminal Court chiefprosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampowarned that by approving cross-border deliveries to northwest Syria,council members "could find them-selves materially supporting a U.N.-

designated terrorist organization."He said northwest Syria "is con-

trolled by Al Nusra, a U.N.Designated terrorist organizationaffiliated with al Qaida and current-ly called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham."

Any support to a "terrorist orga-nization, including humanitarianassistance," is prohibited by previousU.N. Security Council resolutions,Ocampo said. To avoid a "flagrantviolation" of its resolutions, he saidthe Security Council should have theoperation monitoring cross-borderdeliveries confirm that the al Qaida-linked groups "are not involved inimplementing humanitarian aid" orremove Al Nusra-Hayat Tahrir al-Sham from the "terrorist" list.

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Market benchmarks darted up for the secondstraight session on Thursday, propped up byrobust buying in consumption, metal and

bank stocks amid a bullish trend overseas.However, a depreciating rupee and foreign fund

outflows capped the gains, traders said.The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 427.49 points or

0.80 per cent to close at 54,178.46. The broader NSENifty advanced 143.10 points or 0.89 per cent to16,132.90.

Titan was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack,spurting 5.69 per cent, after the Tata group firmreported a three-fold jump in sales for the April-Junequarter.

Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro, IndusInd Bank,M&M, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFCBank were the other major gainers, rising up to 4.88per cent.

In contrast, Dr Reddy's, Nestle India, Bharti Airtel,Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, HUL and BajajFinserv were among the laggards, shedding as muchas 1.26 per cent.

The market breadth was positive, with 21 of the30 Sensex stocks closing in the green.

"Domestic bourses mirrored an upbeat mood inglobal equity markets as investors digested the latestFOMC minutes while falling crude and commodityprices lifted investor sentiments. This upside momen-tum could dominate the markets in the near-term,underpinned by hopes of reducing inflation," saidVinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial

Services.The RBI's latest measures to boost foreign

exchange inflows is expected to aid the tumblingrupee, he added.

Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd,said supportive global cues triggered a gap-up open-ing in the benchmarks.

"The recent uptick in the index has certainly easedsome pressure but the key is to sustain amid mixedsentiment. Apart from the global markets, the focuswill be on IT major TCS results for cues," he noted.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gaugejumped 1.30 per cent and midcap index went high-er by 1.19 per cent.

All the BSE sectoral indices ended higher, withmetal advancing the most by 4.49 per cent, followedby consumer durables (3.24 per cent), realty (2.55 percent), basic materials (2.22 per cent), capital goods(2.01 per cent) and industrials (1.73 per cent).

World stocks marched higher despite the USFederal Reserve's minutes of its previous meeting indi-cating a hawkish stance, with a rate hike of 75 basispoints likely in July to tame inflation. The minuteswere released on Wednesday.

In Asia, markets in Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai andHong Kong ended higher.

European bourses too were trading in thepositive zone in mid-session deals. The US marketshad clocked gains on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brentcrude inched up 0.05 per cent to USD 100.7 per bar-rel.

The rupee declined 19 paise to close at 79.13 (pro-visional) against the US dollar on Thursday.

Foreign institutional investors resumed sellingafter a day's breather, offloading shares worth a netRs 330.13 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.

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The Centre has earmarked Rs 80,000 crore asinterest-free loans for states undertaking cap-

ital works in the current fiscal.In her 2022-23 Budget speech, Finance

Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announcedthe 'Special Assistance to States for CapitalInvestment' scheme under which total financialassistance of Rs 1 lakh crore would be given tostates in the form of 50-year interest-free loansfor capital investment projects.

Issuing the guidelines for implementing thescheme, the finance ministry said Rs 80,000crore is reserved for capital works to be under-taken by the states.

To avail the benefit for investments madethis fiscal, states will have to submit details likename of the project, capital outlay, completionperiod and its economic justification to theexpenditure department of the Union financeministry.

"… states are required to submit capitalworks proposed to be taken up by them in 2022-23… to the Department of Expenditure forapproval and release of funds," the expendituredepartment said in a letter dated April 6 sent toall state governments.

Projects under PM Gati Shakti MasterPlan will receive priority, it added.

The 'Special Assistance to States for CapitalInvestment' scheme also includes Rs 5,000 croreinterest-free loans which would be provided toincentivise states to undertake privatisation ordisinvestment of state public sector enterpris-es and asset monetisation.

Under this head, states would be incentivisedto privatise or undertake strategic sale along withtransfer of management control of state PSUsbesides listing of PSUs on the stock exchanges.

Such incentives to a particular state wouldbe limited to Rs 1,000 crore, the expendituredepartment added.

In her budget speech, Sitharaman hadannounced that the 'Special Assistance to Statesfor Capital Investment' scheme allocation willbe used for PM Gati Shakti related and otherproductive capital investment of the states.

Besides, allocation would be made for digi-tisation of the economy, including digital pay-ments and completion of optical fibre cablenetwork, and reforms related to buildingbye-laws, town planning schemes, transit-ori-ented development, and transferable devel-opment rights.

The total Rs 1 lakh crore scheme alsoincludes Rs 4,000 crore for PM Gram SadakYojana, Rs 2,000 crore digitisation incentive, Rs6,000 crore towards urban reforms and Rs 3,000crore for capital projects on optical fibre cable.

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The Indian job market registered margin-al year-on-year growth of 3 per cent across

industry segments in June, according to areport.

According to the data by MonsterEmployment Index (MEI), banking, financialservices and insurance (BFSI), travel andtourism and chemical industries ramped uphiring compared to the same month last year.

Moreover, sustainable finance, green jobs,and hospitality roles also charted an upswingin demand for talent.

The Monster Employment Index for Junethis year stood at 279, as against 271 registeredin the year-ago period.

The Index is a broad and comprehensivemonthly analysis of online job posting activ-ity conducted by Monster India.

In May 2022, the Index stood at 284."The Indian job market has continued to

grow with newer segments backed by thegreen revolution coming into play. We seetech-enabled industries garner more growthand innovate through this strenuous period,which is quite encouraging as India moves intoa more digital-disruptive phase than everbefore," Monster.Com, a Quess company,CEO Sekhar Garisa added.

Garisa further noted that "while concernsover start-up layoffs continue to linger, it isimportant to note that they represent a verysmall portion of the overall job pie and sev-eral industries today have outperformed theirtargets to contribute to the larger growth storyof our nation."

However, IT-hardware software (down 2per cent) has noted a marginal dip in hiringactivity due to the trend of start-up layoffs,which have hurt the segment over the past fewmonths, according to the report.

On the contrary, industries such as mediaand entertainment (down 26 per cent) andengineering, cement, construction, iron/steel(down 20 per cent) have noted a continuousdip in demand for professionals.

According to MEI, metros continued totop the charts in line with previous monthsindicating post pandemic job recovery.

It found that Mumbai (up 23 per cent)charted maximum growth among metrocities and Coimbatore (up 19 per cent) rep-resented substantial demand among tier IImarkets.

Metros like Hyderabad (up 15 per cent),Delhi-NCR (up 13 per cent) and Ahmedabad(up 11 per cent) also exhibited double digitgrowth as per the MEI while Chennai was up8 per cent, Pune (up 9 per cent) and Bangalore(up 4 per cent).

While most tier II cities have inched clos-er to pre-pandemic level hiring, the demandhas hummed down reflecting current eco-nomic conditions and resultant cautiousrecruiter attitudes, it added.

In experience levels, the demand for topmanagement with over 15 years of experienceremained the least impacted in the thick ofongoing downsizing, showcasing maximumgrowth in hiring at 15 per cent on a year-on-year basis and 3 per cent on a quarterly basis,the report noted.

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The rupee declined 19 paiseto close at 79.13 (provi-

sional) against the US dollaron Thursday, as the hawkishstance of the US FederalReserve increased the possi-bility of another aggressiverate hike this month.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the localcurrency opened at 79.05 andfinally ended at 79.13, down19 paise over its previousclose.

On Wednesday, the rupeeclosed at 78.94.

"Rupee opened on a flatnote but started to comeunder pressure despite mea-sures announced by the RBI,"said Gaurang Somaiya, Forex& Bullion Analyst, MotilalOswal Financial Services.

The RBI on Wednesdayraised overseas borrowinglimits for companies and lib-eralised norms for foreigninvestments in governmentbonds as it announced a slewof measures to boost foreignexchange inflows in efforts tocurb the fall of the rupee.

The central bank had alsosaid it has been closely andcontinuously monitoring theliquidity conditions in theforex market and has steppedin as needed in all its segmentsto alleviate dollar tightnesswith the objective of ensuringorderly market functioning.

Forex traders said the USFederal Reserve's minutes ofthe meeting held last monthindicated a hawkish stanceand a rate hike of 75 basispoints is likely in July.

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Economic Affairs SecretaryAjay Seth on Thursday

said the measures taken byReserve Bank of India (RBI)will increase inflows of over-seas funds and help instrengthening the rupeeagainst the US dollar.

RBI on Wednesday raisedthe overseas borrowing limitsfor companies and liberalisednorms for foreign investmentsin government bonds as itannounced a slew of measuresto boost foreign exchangeinflows.

Seth said RBI measures,including on ExternalCommercial Borrowing(ECB), are transitory and forshorter duration, and would

help in boosting the foreigncurrency inflows into thecountry.

RBI on Wednesdayincreased the ECB limit underthe automatic route from USD750 million or its equivalentper financial year to USD 1.5billion and eased the normsfor FPI investments in thedebt market.

Seth also expressed hopethat the global challengeswould subside in the shortterm.

Unveiling the measureson Wednesday, the centralbank said that all capital flowsbarring portfolio investmentsremain stable and an adequatelevel of reserves provides abuffer against external shocks.

Among the fresh steps, thecap has been removed oninterest rate that lenders canoffer on foreign deposits byNRIs. The relaxation will be inforce till October.

Since the war in Ukrainebroke out in late February, RBIhas expended its foreignexchange reserves in order toshield the rupee from steepdepreciation. Since February25, the headline foreignexchange reser ves havedeclined by USD 40.94 billion.

The rupee has depreciat-ed by 4.1 per cent against theUS dollar during the currentfinancial year so far (up to July5). However, it is modest rel-ative to other EMEs and evenmajor Advanced Economies(AEs).

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The total funding raised byIndian startups in just-

ended June quarter fell 33 percent sequentially to USD 6.9billion, according to a report bymarket intelligence platformTracxn.

The capital raise during thequarter was not just lower thanUSD 10.3 billion loggedbetween January and March2022, but also marked a declinewhen compared to the samequarter of previous year (USD10.1 billion in Q2 of 2021).

The funding seems to havecooled off the previous high,witnessed in Q3 2021, thereport said, while indicating a"major consensus amongstmarket players of a 'winter offunding' or a downturn ininvestors' confidence and sen-timents towards funding star-tups".

According to the report,Indian startups raised USD6.9 billion in Q2 2022 (April-June) in 409 funding rounds.

"... The top startups beingVerSe (USD 805 million -Series J), Delhivery (USD 304million- Series J) and udaan(USD 275 million- Series D).They were followed closely byShareChat (USD 255 million-Series G) and upGrad (USD225 million- Series F)," thereport said.

Social platforms, internetfirst media, payments, busi-ness-to-business e-commerceand e-commerce enablers werethe top sectors that attractedthe maximum funding frominvestors between April andJune 2022.

The report 'Tracxn GeoQuarterly Report: India TechQ2 2022' noted that 121 newstartups closed their first fund-ing rounds, four startupsturned unicorns, 62 startupsgot acquired and 5 launchedtheir IPOs (Initial Public

Offerings).With Leadsquared,

Purplle, PhysicsWallah, andOpen becoming new unicorns,the total valuation of unicornsswelled to USD 31.8 billion inthe past quarter (Q2 2022).

"GOAT Brand Labs,Fashinza, and Itilite entered thesoonicorn club with fundrais-es of USD 88 million, USD 135million, and USD 47.2 millionrespectively. With respect toexits, while eMudhra,Delhivery, Handicrafts village,Eighty Jewellers, and VerandaLearning Solutions filed forIPOs, Blinkit (By Zomato),Whiteteak (By Asian Paints),and MyHQ (By ANAROCK)were the top acquisitions," itfurther said.

The Q3 2021 saw invest-ments topping the charts,grossing USD 15 billion infunding rounds "which hasn'tbeen surpassed in recenttimes".

"It's leading to the majorconsensus amongst marketplayers of a 'winter of funding'or a downturn in investors'confidence and sentimentstowards funding startups," itsaid.

The 'funding winter' is aresult of the market slowdownand economic volatility basedon the current macroeconom-ic conditions and geopoliticalsituation that's intensifyinginflation, interest rates andcommodity prices.

Bengaluru, Delhi andMumbai are the top citiesattracting the maximum invest-ments, as per the report.

While IPV and BlumeVentures topped the invest-ment charts in seed-stage star-tups, Sequoia Capital and Accelranked highest in the early-stage startups funding. Sofinaand DST Global are the lead-ing late-stage institutionalinvestors, the report said.

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Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Thursdayissued notifications

relaxing provisions for overseasinvestments in debt marketand foreign currency lendingby banks, measures which wereannounced as part of efforts toshore up the rupee. The mea-sures were announced onWednesday amid the rupeefalling against the US dollar.

Banks can utilise the fundsraised from overseas foreigncurrency borrowing betweenJuly 8 and October 31, 2022 forlending in foreign currency toconstituents in India, as per thenotification on 'Overseas for-eign currency borrowing ofAuthorised Dealer Category-Ibanks'. At present, banks canundertake Overseas ForeignCurrency Borrowing (OFCB)up to a limit of 100 per cent oftheir unimpaired Tier 1 capitalor USD 10 million, whicheveris higher. The funds so bor-rowed cannot be used for lend-ing in foreign currency exceptfor the purpose of exportfinance.

The measure, RBI said isexpected to facilitate foreigncurrency borrowing by a larg-er set of borrowers who mayfind it difficult to directlyaccess overseas markets. Thecentral bank has issued twoother notifications related to

investment by Foreign PortfolioInvestors (FPIs) in debt instru-ments. Investments by FPIs ingovernment securities and cor-porate bonds made betweenJuly 8 and October 31, 2022will be exempted from thelimit on short-term invest-ments till maturity or sale ofsuch investments.

Currently, short-terminvestments by an FPI in gov-ernment securities (centralgovernment securities, includ-ing treasury bills and statedevelopment loans) and cor-porate bonds should not exceed30 per cent of the total invest-ment of that FPI in any cate-gory. Relaxation has also beenprovided for FPI investments incorporate bonds and they cannow buy such instruments forless than one-year tenor.

The central bank hadissued notifications regardingregarding relaxation interestrate on Foreign Currency(Non-resident) Accounts(Banks) Scheme and Non-Resident (External) Rupee(NRE) Deposit. In its state-ment on Wednesday, RBI hadsaid it has been closely andcontinuously monitoring theliquidity conditions in theforex market and has steppedin as needed in all its seg-ments to alleviate dollar tight-ness with the objective ofensuring orderly market func-tioning.

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Capital markets regulator Sebion Thursday imposed a ban

on Trend Market AdvisoryServices and six individuals forproviding unauthorised stockrecommendation to investors.They have been restrained fromthe securities markets for vary-ing periods. Two individuals —C Murlitharan and CParanitharan — have beenrestrained from the securitiesmarkets for one year. TrendMarket Advisory Services(TMAS), NSK Chithanathan, CSenthilnathan, C Vijai and SKokila have been prohibitedfrom the capital markets for aperiod of six months from thedate of this order or till the com-pletion of refunds.

Order comes from a showcause notice dated July 19, 2021issued by Sebi against TMAS andits partners. Trend MarketAdvisory Services is a partner-ship firm and Murlitharan,Paranitharan, Chithanathan,Senthilnathan, Vijai and Kokilaare the partners of the firm.

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Aday after cooking gas LPGprices were hiked by Rs 50

per cylinder, Oil MinisterHardeep Singh Puri onThursday said gas prices can-not be looked at in isolationand that fuel prices have beenheld steady despite volatility ininternational oil markets.

At a media conference,when he was asked about thesteep increase in LPG prices,Puri first said that the govern-ment has been constantly striv-ing to increase domestic pro-duction of gas and that therehas been no shortage of fuelsupplies anywhere in the coun-try. "You cannot look at gasprices in isolation," he said inreference to soaring globalenergy rates that have led to theprice increase.

Non-subsidised LPG rateshave gone up by Rs 244 or 30per cent, in a span of one yearand it now costs Rs 1,053 per14.2 kg-cylinder in the nation-al capital. Common house-holds pay non-subsidised ratesfor the cooking gas they buy

after the government restrict-ed subsidy to just poor benefi-ciaries who got connectionsunder the Ujjwala scheme.

Without making a directreference to the LPG pricehike, Puri said subsidies aremeant to specific target bene-ficiaries and for specific dura-tions. "Subsidies have to beregressive," he said.

The minister said thatwhile some nations faced a fuelsupply crisis, India did not faceany shortage of any fuel in anycorner of the country includ-ing the North East. "Nowherein India, there has been ashortage."

"We have been able to holdprices steady," he said.

While cooking gas priceshave risen on eight occasions inthe last one year, they have notbeen in sync with the cost.International oil and gas priceshave soared after Russia invad-ed Ukraine in February onfears of supply disruptions.Rates have fallen in recentdays on talk of recession in theworld's largest oil consumer,the US. Petrol and diesel priceshave been on a freeze for overthree months now. The pausefollowed rates being hiked bya record Rs 10 per litre in amatter of 16 days beginningMarch 22.

In May, the governmentcut excise duty on petrol by Rs8 per litre and diesel by Rs 6 perlitre to cool soaring inflation.

At that time, the govern-ment also stated that Rs 200 percylinder subsidy on cookinggas will be limited to only 9crore poor women and otherbeneficiaries who got free con-nections under the Ujjwalascheme and the remainingusers, including households,will pay the market price (alsoknown as non-subsidised rate).

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Rafael Nadal is facing a race againsttime to be fit for Friday's mouthwa-tering Wimbledon semi-final against

Nick Kyrgios but can either man stopNovak Djokovic in his relentless push fora fourth straight crown?

A meeting between 22-time GrandSlam champion Nadal and the mercurialAustralian has been on the cards sinceKyrgios defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in an ill-tempered third-round meeting.

Kyrgios cruised through his last-eightmatch against unseeded Chilean CristianGarin on Wednesday in straight sets toreach his first Grand Slam semi-final.

But it was a different story for Nadal,who had to battle an abdominal injury ina gruelling five-set win against 11th-seed-ed American Taylor Fritz.

The second seed, visibly in pain,looked unlikely to finish the match whenhe was forced to take a medical time-outin the second set.

But he returned to the court and twicerecovered from a set down to win in fourhours and 21 minutes

The extra time on court for Nadal —two hours longer than Kyrgios — is a fac-tor in itself but the Spaniard's injury rais-es the prospect that he may not even be fitenough to play.

Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion,said he was unsure over his ongoing par-ticipation in the tournament as he targetsthe third leg of a rare calendar Grand Slam.

"I can't give you a clear answer becauseif I gave you a clear answer and tomorrowanother thing happens, I will be a liar," the36-year-old said after his quarter-final win.

If the two do meet on Centre Court,it would be the standout tie of the tourna-ment so far in a year when many of the topseeds have fallen by the wayside early.

Kyrgios's tournament has been definedby breathtaking shot-making but also hisfamiliar rants on court — including ademand that Tsitsipas be thrown out of thechampionships for hitting a ball into thecrowd.

The 40th-ranked player has been fineda total of $14,000 and he now has the addeddistraction of a looming court appearancein Australia, related to an allegation ofassault.

Nadal has six wins against Kyrgios innine meetings between the pair.

The Australian famously beat Nadal —then world number one — on his way tothe Wimbledon quarter-finals on his debut

in 2014 but the Spaniard took his revengein 2019.

Kyrgios, 27, said he believed the matchagainst Nadal would be the "most-watchedof all time".

"We've had some absolute battles onthat Centre Court," he said. "He's won one

against me and I've won one against him."Obviously, we know, two completely

different personalities. I feel like we respectthe hell out of each other, though. I feel likethat would be a mouth-watering kind ofencounter for everyone around the world."

Djokovic had to come back from two

sets down against Italian 10th seed JannikSinner in his quarter-finals on Tuesday.

But the 35-year-old finished the matchlooking fresh, even pulling off an outra-geous winner while doing the splits.

The Serbian top seed is on a 26-matchwinning streak at Wimbledon as he seeks

to draw level with Pete Sampras on seventitles at the All England Club — just onebehind Roger Federer's men's record.

British ninth seed Cameron Norrie hasvowed to "take it" to Djokovic and will hopeto ride a wave of home support but he hasa tough task on his hands to unseat the

champion.Djokovic, who beat the 26-year-old in

their only previous meeting, is braced fora partisan crowd.

"For him, not much to lose," he said."Every victory from now onwards is a bigdeal for him.

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Junior Messias completedhis rise from delivery man

to Serie A star on Thursdaywhen his move to AC Milanwas made permanent by theItalian champions.

Brazilian Messias signedfor Milan last summer on aseason-long loan fromCrotone with an option to buyfor just over five million eurosand was an important part ofhis team's charge to the SerieA title, scoring five times in26 league appearances.

Milan have depositedMessias' contract with Serie Aafter renegotiating the pur-chase fee to a reported 4.5million euros plus bonuses.

Messias' arrival at thehighest levels of club footballis all the more impressivegiven he began his career inItaly in the amateur game

over a decade ago.He arrived in Italy to live

with his brother in 2011 andslowly rose through the lowerreaches of Italian football —at one point transportingfridges for a living — beforebeing picked up by then-Serie B club Crotone inJanuary 2019.

He helped the southernteam up to Serie A and twoseasons ago scored nine timesin 36 league appearances fora team which went straightback down after a year in thetop flight, earning himselfthe chance to play for seven-time European championsMilan on loan.

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India's Deaflympics 2021 con-tingent received a rousing

send-off on Monday ahead ofembarking for the Games, start-ing May 1. Union Minister ofYouth Affairs & Sports ShriAnurag Thakur, Minister ofState for Youth Affairs andSports Shri Nisith Pramanikand other dignitaries gracedthe occasion.

A total of 65 athletes will beparticipating at the Games inCaxias Du Sul, Brazil, making itthe largest and the youngest con-tingent ever from India to par-ticipate in the Deaflympics.They will participate in a total of11 sports disciplines: Athletics,Badminton, Judo, Golf, Karate,

Shooting, Swimming, Tennis,Table Tennis, Taekwondo andWrestling. The Games arescheduled from May 1 to May15.

Showering the contingentwith the best of wishes, ShriAnurag Thakur mentioned, "Onbehalf of everyone in the coun-try, I not only give the best ofwishes to all of you but also want

to say that you have alreadyshown your mettle by gettingselected to represent India forthe Games. Since this is thebiggest contingent, I also believewe will also get the highest num-ber of medals from Brazil. Indiawill be the next big sportingpowerhouse, be it in Olympics,Paralympics or Deaflympics.India will not stop. This centu-ry is ours and we will keep onunfurling India's flag on allsporting arena."

The Union Minister alsospoke about the immense sup-port provided to the athletes bythe All India Sports Council forthe Deaf (AISCD) and theSports Authority of India. "Boththe AISCD and SAI have givena lot of support to the athletes.

A 30-day National CoachingCamp was facilitated across theSAI centres for the Deaflympics-bound athletes. Besides that, SAIarranged everything for the ath-letes like giving them kits, cer-emonial dress for theDeaflympics as well as arrang-ing for their accommodation,lodging, boarding and trans-portation."

Mentioning about the kindof inspiration the contingent canprovide to Young India, ShriNisith Pramanik said, "We haveseen the country's sports ecosys-tem ever evolving as per thevision of the Hon'ble PrimeMinister Shri Narendra Modiand also our Sports Minister ShriAnurag Thakur. Our PrimeMinister's clarion call of 'Cheer

For India' has remained thegame-changer. Be it theOlympics, Paralympics orDeaflympics, India has beenset for utmost glory in sports.

Mentioning about the BrazilDeaflympics, he added, "Wehave the biggest contingent inDeaflympics this time. You havealready become a great inspira-tion for Young India. The wayyou overcame all the hurdles isnoteworthy. Also, from what Isee, your passion and energy towin medals in radiating evenbefore you have left for Brazil!"

India had sent a delegationof 46 participants in the lastDeaflympics in Turkey in 2017,bagging a total of 5 medals,which included 1 gold, 1 silverand 3 bronze medals.

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England got their quest forEuro 2022 glory off to a

winning start as Beth Mead'sgoal earned a 1-0 victory overAustria in front of a recordcrowd of 69,000 at OldTrafford.

The attendance smashedthe previous best for a matchat the women's EuropeanChampionship by nearly30,000.

And the vast majorityinside the Theatre of Dreamsgot what they wanted to see inan England victory - even ifSarina Wiegman's womenfailed to hit top gear against aside ranked 21st in the world.

Home advantage is justone of the reasons whyEngland are considered amongthe favourites to win theirfirst-ever major tournament inthe women's game.

Wiegman, who led theNetherlands to victory at Euro2017, is now unbeaten in 15games since taking charge inSeptember.

The weight of expectationappeared to be weighing heavyon the hosts in a nervousstart.

However, they kicked thetournament into life in style on16 minutes when Fran Kirby'slofted pass picked out Mead

and the Arsenal forward calm-ly lifted the ball over her clubteammate Manuela Zinsberger.

Carina Wenninger made adesperate attempt to clear, butthe ball had just crossed theline before she intervened.

England then settled intothe rhythm that has seen themscores 85 goals and concede

just three in the Wiegman era.England face Norway next

in Brighton on Monday inwhat is expected to be theirtoughest test of the groupstages.

Austria take on tourna-ment debutants NorthernIreland on the same day inSouthampton.

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Indian men's hockey teamcaptain Manpreet Singh on

Thursday said they are wellprepared to give six-timechampions Australia a run fortheir money in this year'sCommonwealth Games,despite not playing against thecurrent world No.1 side forover a year.

Australia are the most suc-cessful men's hockey team inCWG's history, having won allthe six Gold medals on offersince the game's introductionin the quadrennial event in1998 Kuala Lumpur.

India, on the other hand,finished runners-up twice in2010 and 2014 editions.

"Even though we (Indiaand Australia) aren't in thesame group but there are everypossibilities to meet them atlater stages of the tournament.

We have been continuouslystudying their strengths andweaknesses," Manpreet saidduring the kit unveiling cere-mony of the CWG-boundIndian contingent here.

"We haven't played themfor over a year but our mainfocus will be on not givingAustralia chances at the start.No doubt they are good team,but we will try not to let themcome inside the D line and givethem an opportunity to score.We also need capitalise onour opportunities," the 30-year-old midfielder added.

India and Australia areplaced in different pools in theBirmingham CWG to be heldfrom July 28 to August 8. TheIndians are placed in Pool Balongside England, Canada,Wales and Ghana, while PoolA consists of Australia, NewZealand, South Africa,Pakistan and Scotland.

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India's two-time Olympicmedallist PV Sindhu and

compatriot HS Prannoycruised to the quarterfinals ofthe Malaysia Masters withstraight-game wins here onThursday.

Sindhu, who is seededseventh, made short work ofthe world number 32 China'sZhang Yi Man 21-12, 21-10 injust 28 minutes in the women'ssingles second round clash.

However, a tough contestawaits the former WorldChampion, currently rankedseventh in the world, as shewill cross swords with hernemesis Tai Tzu Ying ofChinese Taipei in the lasteight.

Sindhu has a dismal 5-16head-to-head record againstthe world No. 2, who had alsobeaten the Indian in the quar-terfinals of the Malaysia Openlast week.

In the men's singles con-test, Prannoy eked out a 21-19,21-16 Wang Tzu Wei ofChinese Taipei to book a quar-terfinal against Japan's KantaTsuneyama.

However, B Sai Praneethand former CommonwealthGames champion ParupalliKashyap bowed out of thecompetition.

While Paneeth lost to LiShe Feng of China 14-21, 17-21 in 42 minutes, Kashyap wasdispatched 10-21, 15-21 bysixth seed IndonesianAnthony Sinisuka Ginting.

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Argentinian football giantsRiver Plate and Boca Juniors

are out of this season's CopaLibertadores despite beingfavorites in their round-of-16matches. Their exits hand thefavored status to Brazilian teams,which have dominated the tour-nament in recent years andwhich again look strong to liftthe title. Only Brazilian andArgentinian teams will play thequarterfinals of the tournament,with two Brazilian and oneArgentinian side already into thesemifinals. River was knockedout on Wednesday at theMonumental de Nunez Stadiumafter a goalless draw with localrival Velez Sarsfield, the winnersof last week's first leg 1-0. NewManchester City striker JulianAlvarez played his last match forthe hosts, who protested a lategoal annulled after video review.

Velez will take on anotherArgentinian team, Talleres,which won its tie against coun-trymen Colón 3-1 on aggregate.Earlier on Wednesday, Talleresbeat its rival away 2-0, with goalsby Federico Girotti in the 47thminute and Angelo Martino inadded time.

Boca was eliminated onTuesday by Brazil's Corinthiansat La Bombonera Stadium aftertwo goalless encounters and a 6-5 defeat on penalties.

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Trailblazing Indian tennis star SaniaMirza's swansong appearance at

Wimbledon ended in a semi-final defeatto defending champions Neal Skupskiand Desirae Krawczyk in the mixeddoubles event here.

Mirza and her Croatian partnerMate Pavic, seeded sixth, went down 6-4, 5-7, 4-6 to Skupski of Great Britainand American Krawczyk in two hours16 minutes on Wednesday night.

The 35-year-old Mirza is India'smost accomplished woman tennis play-er, having won six Grand Slam titles,including three mixed doubles tro-phies. She was aiming to complete aCareer Slam in mixed doubles.

She had won the the mixed doublestitles at the 2009 Australian Open andthe 2012 French Open with Mahesh

Bhupathi and the 2014 US Open withBrazillian Bruno Soares.

"The tears, fight and the struggle..The work we put in is all worth it in theend ..It wasn't meant to be this time atWimbledon but you have been nothingbut spectacular its been an honor to playhere and win here over the last 20 years..I will miss you Until we meet again,"Mirza tweeted on Thursday.

This is Mirza's best mixed doublesperformance at the All England Club.She had previously reached the quarter-finals in 2011, 2013 and 2015.

Mirza, a six-time Grand Slam win-ner, had earlier announced that shewould hang up her racquet at the con-clusion of the 2022 season.

The 35-year-old Indian star has nowbid farewell to Wimbledon having wona women's doubles title in 2015, pair-ing Martina Hingis.

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Ons Jabeur became the first Africanwoman in the Open era to reach a

Grand Slam singles final on Thursdaywhen she defeated close friend TatjanaMaria in the Wimbledon semi-finals.

The 27-year-old world number twofrom Tunisia triumphed 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 andwill face either 2019 champion SimonaHalep or Elena Rybakina in Saturday'schampionship match.

"I'm a proud Tunisian woman stand-ing here," said Jabeur, who was the firstArab player to make a Slam semi-final.

Before Thursday, South AfricansIrene Bowder Peacock, at the 1927 FrenchOpen, and Renee Schuurman, in the 1959Australian Open, were the only Africanwomen to have reached a Slam singlesfinal.

"It's a dream come true from years ofwork and sacrifice. I'm happy that's paidoff and I'll continue for one more match,"said Jabeur. "Physically, Tatjana is a beast,she doesn't give up, I thought she wouldgive up — her touch, her serve and every-thing on the court is impressive. I hopeshe's continues this way. Let's not playagain I'm good for now.

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Warwickshire will deploy'undercover spotters' in

second T20 between India andEngland at Edgbaston in thewake of allegations of racistbehaviour in the crowd duringthe fifth Test this week, the coun-ty announced. Several Indiansupporters alleged incidents ofracial abuse charge from otherfans on the sidelines of therescheduled fifth Test here thatEngland won by seven wicketsto draw the series 2-2.

"Undercover footballcrowd-style spotters will beplaced throughout the stadiumto listen out for abusive behav-iour and report it for immedi-ate action," the club said.

Warwickshire, whose head-quarters are at Edgbaston, has

also announced a slew of mea-sures to curb racial abuse.

The other measures include,an increased police presence atgames to handle incidents swift-ly, raising racial awarenessthrough the Edgbaston mobileapp, attaching QR code stickerson every seat in the Eric HolliesStand linking people to the app,promoting zero-tolerance mes-sages on the back of stewards' hi-visibility jackets, and encourag-ing the fans entering the EricHollies Stand to wear zero-tol-erance wristbands.

The club also said it willcontinue to publicly denounceany racist behaviour, and anyonefound guilty of committing hatecrime will be banned fromEdgbaston and the ECB willextend the ban to all cricketgrounds under its jurisdiction.

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Virat Kohli described him asan 'elder brother', so did

his once upon a time shadowSuresh Raina while VirenderSehwag in his inimitable stylegave a grand salutation 'OmHelicopteraya Namaha' as leg-endary former India skipperMS Dhoni turned 41 onThursday.

Star Indian batter ViratKohli, who is going throughthe worst phase of his illustri-ous career, led the tributes onTwitter, and on a tad emotion-al note. Describing Dhoni likehis "elder brother", Kohli post-ed: "A leader like no other.Thanks for everything youhave done for Indian cricket.You became more like an elderbrother for me. Nothing butlove and respect always. Happybirthday skip."

A masterclass captain andthe only one to win all threeICC trophies — 2007 T20World Cup, 2011 ODI WorldCup and 2103 ChampionsTrophy — is currently holiday-ing in England.

Having spent his birthdayeve watching Rafael Nadal'swin over Taylor Fritz in theWimbledon quarterfinal,Dhoni celebrated his birthday

with his family and friends inEngland with India's currentwicketkeeper-batter RishabhPant also in attendance.

Dhoni's wife Sakshi shareda short video in which Dhoniwas seen blowing candles whileshe also posted an Instagramstory where Pant was seen ina group photograph.

In his typical witty way,Sehwag said no match is overtill Dhoni is at the crease.

"Till the time full stopdoesn't come, a sentence isn'tcompleted. Till the time Dhoniis at the crease, match isn'tcompleted.

"Not all teams have the for-tune to have a person likeDhoni, Happy B'day to a gem

of a person and player, MSDhoni. Om HelicopterayaNamaha," Sehwag tweeted.

India all-rounder HardikPandya shared a picture withDhoni from the IPL 2022where he's hugging him.Describing Dhoni as his 'dar-ling', he wrote: "Wishing youthe best birthday Mahi bhai."

Indian maestro SachinTendulkar also wished onDhoni's birthday: "Wishing afine leader, teammate andfriend a very happy birthday!Have a great one."

His former CSK team-mate Raina, who shares a spe-cial bonding with Dhoni, post-ed: "Happy Birthday to my bigbrother."

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Skipper Harmanpreet Kaurand Pooja Vastrakar pro-duced solid all-round per-

formances as Indian womencantered to a 39-run victory overa clueless Sri Lanka in the finalODI on Thursday to completea 3-0 rout.

Harmanpreet (75 off 88balls and 1/21 in 5 overs) andVastrakar (56 not out off 65 balls,and 2/32) first bailed the teamout with a 97-run seventh wick-et stand that ensured a decenttotal of 255 for 9 for the visitors.

The bowlers then executedthe plans perfectly to shot outthe hosts for 216 in 47.3 overswith both Harmanpreet andVastrakar chipping in with cru-cial breakthroughs.

With this series win, theIndian women clinched theirfourth consecutive bilateralseries victory against the islandnation.

The women's side had ear-lier won ODI series in 2013,2015, and 2018.

Having already sealed aseries win, Harmanpreet's unitcame into the final game as aconfident bunch, somethingwhich the Lankans distinctlylacked from the very onset.

With nothing to lose, SriLankan skipper Chamari

Athapaththu won the toss andsent the Indians to bat on a sur-face that is mostly known tofavour teams batting first.

Buoyed by the outstandingperformances in the secondODI, openers Shafali Vermaand Smriti Mandhana, howev-

er, failed to make a big impact.Mandhana was the first to

depart (6 off 20 balls) as she fellvictim to a length delivery from

Kavisha Dilhari after herattempted cut landed in keeper'sgloves.

With a half-century underher belt, Shafali, continued hergood form getting to 49 off 50balls with some crisp shots.

She missed on her secondhalf-century on trot by awhisker, after Rashmi Silvatrapped her leg before.

With 155 runs from threematches and with an impressiveaverage of 77.50, Shafali finishedas the leading run scorer in the

three-match ODI series.With Shafali departing at a

crucial juncture, India sudden-ly had a middle-order collapseas they were left tottering at 124for 6 before Harmanpreet turnedthe tables around in style.

The Indian skipper battedwith a lot of responsibilitythroughout her innings andmade the best of the short ballsdeployed by the Lankan bowlersto hit seven fours and two mas-sive sixes.

It is worth noting that

majority of Harmanpreetboundaries came through themid-wicket region and she wasrock-solid on the leg side as well.

Harmanpreet completed herfifty with a brilliant six over deepmid-wicket region, as she gotlow and clobbered a floateddelivery from off-spinnerOshadi Ranasinghe to clear theboundary for a maximum.

While Harmanpreet playedthe captain's knock, Vastrakarplayed the role of a perfect sec-ond fiddle, courtesy three free-

flowing sixes to hit her secondfifty in women's ODI.

When Sri Lanka started thechase, skipper Athapaththu (44off 41 balls) and Hasini Perera(39 off 57 balls) did show posi-tive intent adding 56 for the sec-ond wicket but things wnetdownhill after the home teamskipper was dismissed.

They found RajeshwariGayakwad (3/36 in 10 overs) dif-ficult to get away while most ofthe bowlers kept the home teamunder tight leash.

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Sri Lanka has suffered ahuge blow in its bid to

square its two-Test seriesagainst Australia after fourcricketers tested positive forCOVID-19 and had to bereplaced.

In coronavirus tests onWednesday, three players fromthe first Test were positive:Leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay,fast bowler Asitha Fernando,and all-rounder Dhananjaya deSilva. Left-arm spinnerPraveen Jayawickrama wasalready in isolation after test-ing positive earlier in the week.

They were ruled out of thesecond Test starting on Fridayat Galle Stadium. Vandersaymade his debut in the first TestAustralia won by 10 wickets inthree days last week.

Sri Lanka added spinnersPrabath Jayasuriya, MaheeshTheekshana, LakshanSandakan and DunithWellalage in the squad and twoof them are expected to part-ner Ramesh Mendis, who

played in the first test.Apart from Sandakan,

whose last Test was in 2018,the other new additions wereyet to play a Test.

De Silva is likely to bereplaced by squad memberand backup batsman KaminduMendis.

The Sri Lankan camp willhave another round of tests onThursday, and skipper DimuthKarunaratne feared more play-ers will be withdrawn.

"It is very difficult to saythe (team) combination,"Karunaratne said.

"We have picked 13 play-ers but before we select thefinal 11, we have another anti-gen test and from that we haveto find whether there are anymore positive cases. Only afterthat can we announce ourplaying 11."

One piece of good newswas former captain AngeloMathews, who tested positivefor COVID during the firstTest, has been cleared andwill take part in the secondTest.

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Star batter Virat Kohli himselfasked for rest from the entire

series against the West Indies,including the five T20Is, accordingto sources in the BCCI.

It is also understood that theT20 squad for the tour of WestIndies will be announced on July 11,one day after the shortest formatseries against England concludes.

"It was team management'sdecision to rest Kohli, RishabhPant, Hardik Pandya, JaspritBumrah for the ODI series alongwith skipper himself," a seniorBCCI source in the know of things

told PTI on conditions of anonymi-ty.

The five-match T20 series startson July 29 in Tarouba, Trinidad fol-lowed by couple of matches in StKitts (Aug 1 and 2) and it concludesin Florida on August 6 and 7respectively.

"However for the T20I series, allothers are playing but Kohli hashimself asked for a break. He hasinformed that he will be available forall series after the West Indies tour,"the source informed.

It is understood that senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin willbe recalled for the T20 series in theCaribbean and the USA leg.

"Ashwin is very much in thescheme of things and he will be play-ing the T20 series in the West Indies.Also Washington Sundar is still notfit to play and by the time he gets fit,he will be playing for Lancashire inCounty Championship and RoyalLondon Cup," he added.

While Kohli will get his breakas he has sought but his place in thenational T20 squad for the next biginternational assignment (Asia Cupin Sri Lanka) will depend on his T20form in the two games that he willplay against England beginning onThursday.

In between, India are expectedto play a short T20 series in

Zimbabwe and just like in Ireland,a second string team is supposed totravel to the African nation.

K L Rahul is expected to be fitbefore the Asia Cup but if he recov-ers in time for the Zimbabwe tour,he will be part of that short series.

"Obviously, the stars will be rest-ed for the Zimbabwe series as it willbe followed by Asia Cup in SriLanka, home series against Australiaand the team then travels toAustralia for the World Cup," thesource said.

Deepak Chahar, who is recov-ering from a hamstring and backinjury, is expected to be fit for AsiaCup starting August 27.

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Australian skipper MegLanning wants the five-

time T20 World Cup-winning'Southern Stars' to push theenvelope a "little bit more" in itsbid to win the first ever Goldmedal on offer in women'scricket at the upcomingCommonwealth Games inBirmingham.

Cricket will mark its returnto the Commonwealth Gamesafter a gap of 24 years in theBirmingham edition, startinglater this month.

It will be the first timewomen's cricket will be a part ofthe quadrennial event.

"We are going over there towin Gold, there's no doubtabout that," Lanning was quot-ed as saying by AustralianAssociated Press (AAP)

"We go out there to winevery game that we can and thefirst Commonwealth Gamesmedal up for grabs in women'scricket is certainly somethingwe're striving for."

Australia will open theircampaign against India on July29 at the Edgbaston CricketGround. Australia are placed inGroup A alongside India,Pakistan and Barbados.

Lanning asserted the teamis working to get better in theformat.

"It's something we have spo-ken about as a group as a wholeand also within our skill groupsas well, in terms of how do weget that little bit better and pushthe boundaries that little bitmore than we have in the past.

"We have got a couple ofthings we have been working onboth as a team and individual-ly as well."

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In the series 'Champion bornthis month', I present you

with a game by a Championwho is considered to be thegreatest master of sacrificesand checkmates. His sense ofinitiative was no less than thatof Paul Morphy and you willfind a lot of his games, such as'The Immortal Game' and 'TheEvergreen Game' in all bookson Chess classics. These twogames have undergone scruti-ny by some greatest masters ofall times and all of them haveexpressed high regards for thecreativity and imagination bythe White player. In words ofKasparov, these games"bewitched the contemporariesand became known as'Immortal' and 'Evergreen'games." I think that you haveguessed who I am talking

about. It is Adolf Anderssen,the Chess magician in thenineteenth century.

Karl Ernst AdolfAnderssen (6th July, 1818 --13th March 1879) was born atBreslau in the PrussianProvince of Silesia, GermanKingdom. (The town is nowcalled Wroclaw and is a part ofPoland.) Since 1842, he domi-nated the World Chess, win-ning tournaments after tourna-ments for three decades. Thefirst official World ChessChampion Wilhelm Steinitzspoke and wrote very highly ofAnderssen -- "We all may learnfrom Morphy and Anderssenhow to conduct a king's-sideattack, and perhaps I myselfmay not have learnt enough."Anderssen was so famous andpopular for his skills in Chessthat the Breslau Universityawarded an honorary doctor-

ate to him. Today we will see'The Evergreen Game', whichhas been annotated by hun-dreds of Chess players.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4exd4 7.0-0

The famous Evans Gambit.White gives up a Pawn or twoto get an advantage in develop-ment.

7...d3?! 8.Qb3 Qf6 9.e5!Qg6

9...Nxe5 is not possibledue to 10.Re1 when Black losesat least a piece.

10.Re1 Nge7 11.Ba3 b5? 11...0-0 was called for.12.Qxb5 Rb8 13.Qa4 Bb6

14.Nbd2 Bb7 15.Ne4 Qf516.Bxd3 Qh5 (Diagram 1)

White has a huge advan-tage and it is time for decisiveaction. In accordance with hisown romantic style Anderssencontinued with a Knight sacri-

fice to open up files againstBlack King.

17.Nf6+!? gxf6 18.exf6 Rg8! "At first sight an open g-file

gives Black excellent counter-attacking chances, butAnderssen's calculations werebeyond the fears of an ordinaryhuman being." — GarryKasparov.

19.Rad1! "I will spare you hundreds

of analyses by following gener-ations of chess players. Afterendless debate they have agreedthat 19.Rad1 was better thanthe alternative 19.Re4. Now thebest reply was 19...Rg4!, (Recommendation of DrEmanuel Lasker) which wouldpose some difficult problemsfor White, but in the emergingwild complications Whitewould, in my opinion, retainthe upper hand." — GarryKasparov.

19...Qxf3? (Diagram 2)"Now White's king is sud-

denly just one step from decap-itation. But how can wereproach Dufresne from notrecognising the magic of agenius?" — Garry Kasparov.

20.Rxe7+! Nxe7 (Diagram3)

This allows a stunningcheckmate.

The alternative 20...Kd821.Rxd7+! Kc8 22.Rd8+! Kxd8would have staved off the mateat cost of the Black Queen.However, after 23.Be2+ Nd424.Bxf3 Bxf3 25.g3 Bxd126.Qxd1, there is no doubtabout the outcome.

21.Qxd7+!! Kxd7 22.Bf5+Double check! 22...Ke8

22...Kc6 would have led to23.Bd7#

23.Bd7+ Kf8 24.Bxe7# An unbelievable combina-

tion indeed!

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India on Thursdayannounced a 215-member

athlete contingent across 16disciplines for theCommonwealth Gamesbeginning on July 28 inBirmingham.

On the sidelines of thesend off-ceremony for theCWG bound athletes, IOAacting president Anil Khannacalled it a 'gender-neutralcontingent' with 108 men and107 women being part of thetouring party.

The overall contingentcount stands at 322 including72 team officials, 26 extra

officials, nine contingent staff,including three general man-agers.

Discipline-wise, thebiggest contingent is of athlet-ics and hockey (36 entrieseach).

India will also take part inwomen's cricket, which ismaking its CWG debut, aquat-ics, badminton, table tennis,boxing, cycling, gymnastics,triathlon, wrestling, weightlift-ing, lawn bowls, squash, judoand para sports.

India has only won 28medals in athletics in CWGhistory but world champi-onship medal winning longjumper Anju Bobby George isexpecting a rich haul of at leastseven medals this time withNeeraj Chopra expected towin Gold in javelin.

Chopra is also likely to beIndia's flag-bearer at the open-ing ceremony.

"We have about 13 athleteswho could be in the medalsbracket for second and thirdposition but we are expectingseven medals at least acrossjavelin, long jump, triple jumpand discus," she said.

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Indian women's team captainHarmanpreet Kaur on

Thursday said she was lookingto give proper game-time toher top five batters in the run-up to the CommonwealthGames, which she described as"very significant for all of us".

The CWG will be held inBirmingham from July 28 toAugust 8.

The Indian skipper, a top-order batter, on Thursdaycame out at number six in thefinal ODI of the three-match

series against Sri Lanka."As a captain, I always

want to give opportunities toevery batters in this team. Ihave always scored plenty ofruns as a top-order batter.

"However, keeping in mindthe Commonwealth Games,which is very significant for allof us, it is equally importantthat our top-five batters are get-ting a proper game-time beforethe event," Harmanpreet said.

Some fine individual per-formances notwithstanding,Harmanpreet attributed the 3-0 sweep, in her maiden series

as full-time ODI captain, toteam effort.

"This game was veryimportant for us, just like thelast two games in this series. Inthe past, we used to win twogames but often adopted acasual approach in the lastgame, having already won theseries.

"We decided amongst our-selves that we would put anextra effort for this game andit was a sheer team effort. Theresult is for everyone to see,"Harmanpreet said at the post-match press conference.

Harmanpreet was allpraise for Vastrakar, who tooplayed a part in the final game,scoring 56 off 65 balls and tak-ing two crucial Sri Lankanwickets.

"Pooja has been perform-ing consistently of late. Herperformance in this matchhas once again showed that sheis capable of scoring someimportant runs for the side.The current batting order suitsher skills and we might try topush her up in the top order,but that depends on situa-tions," she said.

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