3ja`]]d+ E>4 ^RcTYVd RYVRU 3;A UcRhd S]R_\ - Daily Pioneer

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T he BJP drew a blank in the bypolls to one Parliamentary and four Assembly seats, results for which were announced on Saturday. The TMC continued its overwhelming dominance in West Bengal by wresting the Asansol Lok Sabha seat from the BJP besides winning the Ballygunge seat where the BJP candidate lost her deposit and the Left emerged as the main opponent. The Congress won two Assembly seats, one each in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh - where it handed the BJP its fourth-successive defeat in Assembly bypolls - while the RJD trumped the BJP in Bihar. Former film star Shatrughan Sinha, who had quit the BJP and briefly also flirted with the Congress, won from the Asansol Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal on the TMC ticket with a margin of over three lakh votes, register- ing the party's first-ever elec- toral victory in the constituen- cy. He defeated BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul. The BJP had won the Asansol Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 General elections by 1.97 lakh votes when singer-turned- politician Babul Supriyo, who was then in the BJP, bested TMC's Moon Moon Sen. Supriyo, who too had quit the BJP and joined the TMC, won the Ballygunge Assembly seat defeating Saira Shah Halim of the CPI(M) by a margin of over 20,000 votes. The BJP's Keya Ghosh lost her deposit. Interestingly, both Sinha and Supriyo, with a film indus- try background, had held min- isterial positions in the BJP governments at the Centre. The victory has given Mamata Banerjee fresh impetus to project herself as the main challenger to the BJP. No won- der then that soon after win- ning, Sinha reacted saying, “Mamata Banerjee is the coun- try's favourite and popular leader. A month after it came to power in Punjab with a thumping majority, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday kept its major pre-poll promise of providing 300 units of power “free” per month to all domestic consumers. The “expected” decision, announced by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann by releasing a video message on the day he completes one month in the office - is esti- mated to benefit nearly 62 lakh power consumers of the State, while putting an addi- tional subsidy burden of around Rs 1,500 crore on the State exchequer. By making the announce- ment, the AAP Government has not only answered all its critics in Punjab, but will also give a push to the party in the neighbouring hill State, which is set to go to the polls in November-December this year. Interestingly, the BJP-led Government in Himachal had announced 125 free units of power to all households. “The Punjab Government would provide 600 units of free electricity to every household every two months,” said Mann while making it clear that if any household consumes more than 600 units in two months, it will be out of the ambit of the free power scheme and have to pay the full bill. At the same time, the Chief Minister further clari- fied that the Scheduled Caste and Backward Class, and Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, besides the freedom fighters - who were earlier get- ting 200 units of free power - will now get 300 units of free power every month, and for them, “only the units above the free-power limit (300 units) will be chargeable”. Putting to rest all speculations about rationalising power sub- sidy ,Mann made it clear that the free power scheme for farmers will continue. F aced with a series of elec- toral drubbings and keeping the impending elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh later this year and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in mind, the Congress on Saturday asked election strategist Prashant Kishor to “officially” join the grand old party as it prepares to take on the Narendra Modi- led BJP juggernaut. Kishor is likely to take a call in a week's time even as he made a detailed presentation before the Congress top brass on the way forward for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Sources said he has not claimed any party post and the invite to him to officially join the party rather than work as a consultant came during his four-hour-long meeting attend- ed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other top party leaders. Once inducted, he could be one of the main speakers of the Congress' proposed Chintan Shivir later this month. AICC sources said Kishor, who has had several formal and informal interactions with the Congress leadership over his joining or working for the party, has advised the Congress a “Mission 370” in the Lok Sabha 2024 elections. Kishor is said to have told the leaders that Congress should focus on 370 seats and fight alone in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha to strength- en its base in these States. He also suggested that the party should fight in alliance in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra. Following the meeting with Kishor, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said, “Prashant Kishor has given a detailed pre- sentation for the 2024 election and Congress president has deputed a small group to look into it and report to her with- in a week and after that a final decision will be taken within a week's time.” The other leaders in atten- dance included Ambika Soni, Digvijaya Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken. While Kishor has, in the past, denied reports that he may join the party, a section of the leaders insist that it is not a closed chapter. Kishor had a series of meetings with the Gandhis last year too but his association with other parties has led a sec- tion of the leaders to oppose his entry citing the trust factor. In fact, Kishor had in December hit out at the Congress arguing that its lead- ership of the Opposition is not the “divine right of an individ- ual, especially when the party has lost more than 90 per cent elections in the last 10 years”. Let the Opposition leadership be decided “democratically”, Kishor had said. Sources said Kishor has called for inducting Khodaldham Trust president and an influential Patidar leader Naresh Patel in Gujarat. In fact, another Patidar leader Hardik Patel too has been demanding Patel's induction. W ith a surge in Covid-19 cases in Delhi, the Uttar Pradesh Government has put the National Capital Region (NCR) districts on high alert as 70 novel coronavirus positive cases were reported from Gautam Buddha Nagar and 11 from Ghaziabad in the last 24 hours. During a review of the Covid-19 situation in the State, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that genome sequencing should be done by taking sam- ples of people found to be coronavirus positive in Gautam Buddha Nagar and Ghaziabad. “The situation should be thoroughly reviewed by talking to the district magistrates and the chief medical officers of these districts,” Yogi said here on Saturday. At present, there are 507 active Covid-19 cases in the State. In the last 24 hours, 73,881 Covid tests were con- ducted in which 106 new coro- navirus infected people were detected. In the same period, 37 Covid-19 patients recovered. “The all important Covid vaccination campaign is con- tinuing successfully. With more than 30.56 million Covid vac- cinations so far, 86 per cent of the adult population have received both the doses. The progress of immunisation in the 12-14 and 15-17 age groups is satisfactory,” the Chief Minister said and added that the vaccination campaign should be accelerated. RAIPUR Y ashoda Nilamber Verma of the Congress was on Saturday elected to the Chhattisgah assembly from Khairagarh by a margin of 20,000 votes after trouncing the BJP which was determined to clinch the seat. Rajnandgaon District Electoral Officer announced the results after 21 rounds of counting. The result of one control unit (EVM) was not obtained due to technical reasons. So, the counting was done using Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) paper slip. Verma polled 87,879 votes while her nearest rival, BJP’s Komal Janghel, polled 67,703 votes. Thus, the victory margin is 20,176 votes. JCC (J) candidate Narendra Soni lost his security deposit. He polled 1,222 votes. The polling was held on April 12. Ten candidates were in the fray. Yashoda Verma led since the start of counting. With the win, the tally of Congress MLAs has increased to 71. No other party has achieved such a massive majority in the state assembly in the last 22 years after the formation of Chhattisgarh. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had announced that if people voted for the Congress, Khairagarh- Chhuikhadan-Gandai combined will be made a district. The byelection witnessed 77.84 percent voting. It was necessitated after the demise of sitting MLA Devvrat Singh, (Janta Chhattisgarh Congress -Jogi), a member of erstwhile ruling family of Khairagarh. New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday upheld an order directing the CBI to withdraw the lookout circular against Amnesty International India Board chair Aakar Patel, saying the LOC is “bad in law” and “cannot sustain”. Special Judge Santosh Snehi Mann, howev- er, set aside the direction to the CBI Director to give a written apology to Patel, acknowledg- ing “lapses” on the part of his subordinate. The judge, who made some scathing remarks against the CBI, also revoked the magisterial court's direction to “fix accountability of CBI offi- cials for issuance of the LOC”. The judge also directed Patel not to leave country without the magisterial court's permission. The metropolitan magisterial court had on April 7 directed the probe agency to withdraw the LOC immedi- ately and apologise to Patel and file a compliance report by April 30. Patel had approached the magisterial court claiming that he was stopped by immigra- tion authorities at the Bangalore International Airport, while he was boarding a flight to the US. The appli- cation had claimed that the action was taken despite an order by a Gujarat court grant- ing him permission to travel abroad. London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several top UK Cabinet Ministers and politi- cians are banned from Russia for their “unprecedented hostile actions” of imposing sanctions over the Ukraine conflict, the Russian Foreign Minister said in a statement on Saturday. The full list of 13 British politicians on the so-called “stop list” issued from Moscow includes Indian-origin ministers – UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Attorney-General Suella Braverman – as well as Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the list will be expanded in the “near future” to include more British politicians and parliamentarians. “In con- nection with the unprecedented hostile actions of the British Government, expressed, in par- ticular, in the imposition of sanc- tions against top officials of the Russian Federation, a decision was made to include key mem- bers of the British Government and a number of political figures in the Russian ‘stop list',” said the statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. “This step was taken as a response to London's unbri- dled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for containing our country and strangling the domestic economy. F or close to three decades, Bochahan, comprising a cluster of underdeveloped vil- lages in North Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, was syn- onymous with Ramai Ram. The diminutive Dalit leader wielded tremendous clout in Bihar politics and represented the Assembly segment eight times. Ramai Ram was also a senior Minister in the Lalu- Rabri Cabinet and won one after another poll contests by mobilising Muslim, Yadavs, and Dalit voters for the RJD. On Saturday, Bochahan shot into the news for the birth of a new social and polit- ical combination in Bihar and the humiliating defeat of the BJP’s candidate Baby Devi at the hands of the RJD’s Amar Paswan. Ramai Ram’s daughter, Geeta Devi, who was fielded by VIP’s Mukesh Sahni, played the role of a big spoiler for the BJP. A section of Dalit and mallah voters distanced themselves from the BJP to avenge the humiliation heaped on Sahni, who was thrown out of the Nitish Cabinet ahead of the Bochahan poll. The Bochahan result sig- nals the beginning of what could be a tectonic shift in the contour of Bihar politics. The birth of a new caste combination (Bhumihar- Yadavs) could pose a night- mare for the NDA. The result is also an endorsement of Tejashwi Yadav’s “A to Z” political narrative whereby he wants to bring all castes on one platform against the BJP. The talks of unity between erstwhile sworn ene- mies Bhumihars and Yadavs dominated the Bihar political discourse after Yadav fielded six Bhumihar candidates in the recent MLC polls for 24 seats. Analysis RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

Transcript of 3ja`]]d+ E>4 ^RcTYVd RYVRU 3;A UcRhd S]R_\ - Daily Pioneer

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The BJP drew a blank in thebypolls to one

Parliamentary and fourAssembly seats, results forwhich were announced onSaturday. The TMC continuedits overwhelming dominancein West Bengal by wresting theAsansol Lok Sabha seat fromthe BJP besides winning theBallygunge seat where the BJPcandidate lost her deposit andthe Left emerged as the mainopponent.

The Congress won twoAssembly seats, one each inMaharashtra and Chhattisgarh- where it handed the BJP itsfourth-successive defeat inAssembly bypolls - while theRJD trumped the BJP in Bihar.

Former film starShatrughan Sinha, who hadquit the BJP and briefly alsoflirted with the Congress, wonfrom the Asansol Lok Sabhaseat in West Bengal on theTMC ticket with a margin ofover three lakh votes, register-ing the party's first-ever elec-toral victory in the constituen-cy. He defeated BJP MLAAgnimitra Paul.

The BJP had won theAsansol Lok Sabha seat in the2019 General elections by 1.97lakh votes when singer-turned-politician Babul Supriyo, who

was then in the BJP, bestedTMC's Moon Moon Sen.

Supriyo, who too had quitthe BJP and joined the TMC,won the Ballygunge Assemblyseat defeating Saira Shah Halimof the CPI(M) by a margin ofover 20,000 votes. The BJP'sKeya Ghosh lost her deposit.

Interestingly, both Sinhaand Supriyo, with a film indus-try background, had held min-isterial positions in the BJPgovernments at the Centre.

The victory has givenMamata Banerjee fresh impetusto project herself as the mainchallenger to the BJP. No won-der then that soon after win-ning, Sinha reacted saying,“Mamata Banerjee is the coun-try's favourite and popularleader.

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Amonth after it came topower in Punjab with a

thumping majority, the AamAadmi Party (AAP) onSaturday kept its major pre-pollpromise of providing 300 unitsof power “free” per month to alldomestic consumers.

The “expected” decision,announced by the ChiefMinister Bhagwant Mann byreleasing a video message onthe day he completes onemonth in the office - is esti-mated to benefit nearly 62lakh power consumers of theState, while putting an addi-tional subsidy burden ofaround Rs 1,500 crore on theState exchequer.

By making the announce-ment, the AAP Governmenthas not only answered all itscritics in Punjab, but will alsogive a push to the party in theneighbouring hill State, whichis set to go to the polls inNovember-December this year.Interestingly, the BJP-led

Government in Himachal hadannounced 125 free units ofpower to all households.

“The Punjab Governmentwould provide 600 units of freeelectricity to every householdevery two months,” said Mannwhile making it clear that if anyhousehold consumes morethan 600 units in two months,it will be out of the ambit ofthe free power scheme andhave to pay the full bill.

At the same time, theChief Minister further clari-fied that the Scheduled Casteand Backward Class, andBelow Poverty Line (BPL)families, besides the freedomfighters - who were earlier get-ting 200 units of free power -will now get 300 units of freepower every month, and forthem, “only the units abovethe free-power limit (300units) will be chargeable”.Putting to rest all speculationsabout rationalising power sub-sidy ,Mann made it clear thatthe free power scheme forfarmers will continue.

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Faced with a series of elec-toral drubbings and keeping

the impending elections inGujarat and Himachal Pradeshlater this year and the 2024 LokSabha polls in mind, theCongress on Saturday askedelection strategist PrashantKishor to “officially” join thegrand old party as it preparesto take on the Narendra Modi-led BJP juggernaut.

Kishor is likely to take a callin a week's time even as hemade a detailed presentationbefore the Congress top brasson the way forward for the2024 Lok Sabha election.

Sources said he has notclaimed any party post and theinvite to him to officially jointhe party rather than work asa consultant came during hisfour-hour-long meeting attend-ed by Congress president SoniaGandhi, Rahul Gandhi andother top party leaders.

Once inducted, he could beone of the main speakers of theCongress' proposed Chintan

Shivir later this month.AICC sources said Kishor,

who has had several formal andinformal interactions with theCongress leadership over hisjoining or working for theparty, has advised the Congressa “Mission 370” in the LokSabha 2024 elections.

Kishor is said to have toldthe leaders that Congressshould focus on 370 seats andfight alone in Uttar Pradesh,Bihar and Odisha to strength-en its base in these States.

He also suggested that theparty should fight in alliance inTamil Nadu, West Bengal andMaharashtra.

Following the meeting withKishor, AICC general secretaryKC Venugopal said, “PrashantKishor has given a detailed pre-sentation for the 2024 electionand Congress president hasdeputed a small group to lookinto it and report to her with-in a week and after that a finaldecision will be taken within aweek's time.”

The other leaders in atten-dance included Ambika Soni,Digvijaya Singh, Mallikarjun

Kharge and Ajay Maken.While Kishor has, in the

past, denied reports that hemay join the party, a section ofthe leaders insist that it is nota closed chapter.

Kishor had a series ofmeetings with the Gandhislast year too but his associationwith other parties has led a sec-tion of the leaders to oppose hisentry citing the trust factor.

In fact, Kishor had inDecember hit out at theCongress arguing that its lead-ership of the Opposition is notthe “divine right of an individ-ual, especially when the partyhas lost more than 90 per centelections in the last 10 years”.Let the Opposition leadershipbe decided “democratically”,Kishor had said.

Sources said Kishor hascalled for inductingKhodaldham Trust presidentand an influential Patidarleader Naresh Patel in Gujarat.In fact, another Patidar leaderHardik Patel too has beendemanding Patel's induction.

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With a surge in Covid-19cases in Delhi, the Uttar

Pradesh Government has putthe National Capital Region(NCR) districts on high alert as70 novel coronavirus positivecases were reported fromGautam Buddha Nagar and 11from Ghaziabad in the last 24hours.

During a review of theCovid-19 situation in the State,Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathsaid that genome sequencingshould be done by taking sam-ples of people found to becoronavirus positive inGautam Buddha Nagar andGhaziabad.

“The situation should bethoroughly reviewed by talkingto the district magistrates andthe chief medical officers ofthese districts,” Yogi said hereon Saturday.

At present, there are 507active Covid-19 cases in theState. In the last 24 hours,

73,881 Covid tests were con-ducted in which 106 new coro-navirus infected people weredetected. In the same period,37 Covid-19 patients recovered.

“The all important Covidvaccination campaign is con-tinuing successfully. With morethan 30.56 million Covid vac-cinations so far, 86 per cent ofthe adult population havereceived both the doses. Theprogress of immunisation inthe 12-14 and 15-17 age groupsis satisfactory,” the ChiefMinister said and added thatthe vaccination campaignshould be accelerated.

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Yashoda Nilamber Vermaof the Congress was on

Saturday elected to theChhattisgah assembly fromKhairagarh by a margin of20,000 votes after trouncingthe BJP which wasdetermined to clinch the seat.

Rajnandgaon DistrictElectoral Officer announcedthe results after 21 rounds ofcounting.

The result of one controlunit (EVM) was not obtaineddue to technical reasons. So,the counting was done usingVoter Verified Paper AuditTrail (VVPAT) paper slip.

Verma polled 87,879votes while her nearest rival,BJP’s Komal Janghel, polled67,703 votes. Thus, thevictory margin is 20,176

votes. JCC (J) candidate

Narendra Soni lost hissecurity deposit. He polled1,222 votes.

The polling was held on

April 12. Ten candidates werein the fray.

Yashoda Verma led sincethe start of counting.

With the win, the tally ofCongress MLAs has increasedto 71. No other party hasachieved such a massivemajority in the state assemblyin the last 22 years after theformation of Chhattisgarh.

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel had announced that ifpeople voted for theCongress, Khairagarh-C h h u i k h a d a n - G a n d a icombined will be made adistrict.

The byelection witnessed77.84 percent voting. It wasnecessitated after the demiseof sitting MLA Devvrat Singh,(Janta Chhattisgarh Congress-Jogi), a member of erstwhileruling family of Khairagarh.

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New Delhi: A Delhi court onSaturday upheld an orderdirecting the CBI to withdrawthe lookout circular againstAmnesty International IndiaBoard chair Aakar Patel, sayingthe LOC is “bad in law” and“cannot sustain”. Special JudgeSantosh Snehi Mann, howev-er, set aside the direction to theCBI Director to give a writtenapology to Patel, acknowledg-ing “lapses” on the part of hissubordinate.

The judge, who madesome scathing remarks againstthe CBI, also revoked themagisterial court's direction to“fix accountability of CBI offi-cials for issuance of the LOC”.

The judge also directed

Patel not to leave countrywithout the magisterial court'spermission. The metropolitanmagisterial court had on April7 directed the probe agency towithdraw the LOC immedi-ately and apologise to Pateland file a compliance report byApril 30.

Patel had approached themagisterial court claiming thathe was stopped by immigra-tion authorities at theBangalore InternationalAirport, while he was boardinga flight to the US. The appli-cation had claimed that theaction was taken despite anorder by a Gujarat court grant-ing him permission to travelabroad.

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London: British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson and several topUK Cabinet Ministers and politi-cians are banned from Russia fortheir “unprecedented hostileactions” of imposing sanctionsover the Ukraine conflict, theRussian Foreign Minister said ina statement on Saturday. The fulllist of 13 British politicians on theso-called “stop list” issued fromMoscow includes Indian-originministers – UK Chancellor RishiSunak, Home Secretary PritiPatel and Attorney-GeneralSuella Braverman – as well asDeputy Prime Minister DominicRaab, Foreign Secretary Liz Trussand Defence Secretary BenWallace. The Russian ForeignMinistry said the list will beexpanded in the “near future” toinclude more British politiciansand parliamentarians. “In con-nection with the unprecedentedhostile actions of the BritishGovernment, expressed, in par-ticular, in the imposition of sanc-

tions against top officials of theRussian Federation, a decisionwas made to include key mem-bers of the British Governmentand a number of political figuresin the Russian ‘stop list',” said thestatement from the Ministry ofForeign Affairs of the Russian

Federation. “This step was takenas a response to London's unbri-dled information and politicalcampaign aimed at isolatingRussia internationally, creatingconditions for containing ourcountry and strangling thedomestic economy.

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For close to three decades,Bochahan, comprising a

cluster of underdeveloped vil-lages in North Bihar’sMuzaffarpur district, was syn-onymous with Ramai Ram.The diminutive Dalit leaderwielded tremendous clout inBihar politics and representedthe Assembly segment eighttimes.

Ramai Ram was also asenior Minister in the Lalu-Rabri Cabinet and won oneafter another poll contests bymobilising Muslim, Yadavs,and Dalit voters for the RJD.

On Saturday, Bochahan

shot into the news for thebirth of a new social and polit-ical combination in Bihar andthe humiliating defeat of theBJP’s candidate Baby Devi atthe hands of the RJD’s AmarPaswan. Ramai Ram’s daughter,Geeta Devi, who was fielded byVIP’s Mukesh Sahni, played therole of a big spoiler for the BJP.A section of Dalit and mallahvoters distanced themselvesfrom the BJP to avenge thehumiliation heaped on Sahni,who was thrown out of theNitish Cabinet ahead of theBochahan poll.

The Bochahan result sig-

nals the beginning of whatcould be a tectonic shift in thecontour of Bihar politics.

The birth of a new castecombination (Bhumihar-Yadavs) could pose a night-mare for the NDA. The resultis also an endorsement ofTejashwi Yadav’s “A to Z”political narrative whereby hewants to bring all castes onone platform against the BJP.

The talks of unitybetween erstwhile sworn ene-mies Bhumihars and Yadavsdominated the Bihar politicaldiscourse after Yadav fieldedsix Bhumihar candidates inthe recent MLC polls for 24seats.

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RAIPUR | SUNDAY | APRIL 17, 2022 chhattisgarh 03

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Expressing gratitude to thevoters of Khairagarh,

Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel on Saturdaysaid the Congress victory inthe assembly seat againreflects the trust of the peoplein the government's welfarepolicies and programmes.

It is their faith and supportthat Congress candidateYashoda Nilamber Verma couldwin the byelection, he said.

Baghel said that in 2108general election, the Congresscandidate got less than 30,000votes but this time the partycandidate won by more than20,000 votes.

Thus, the party candidatehas garnered around 50,000votes. Eight out of the 10 can-

didates have forfeited theirdeposits.

He added that the stategovernment's schemes weremaking their impact.

The Chief Minister had

conducted 27 general meet-ings in six days as part of theelection campaign. After theformation of the Congressgovernment in the state, allthe four by-polls – in Bijapur,

Dantewada, Marwahi andnow Khairagarh -- were wonby the party.

STAFF REPORTERnRAIPUR

Congress candidateYashoda Nilamber

Verma on Saturday dedicat-ed her victory to the peopleof Khairagarh, from whereshe was elected to the

Chhattisgarh assembly, aswell as party workers.

Interacting with themedia in Chhattisgarhi, shesaid: “It is not only my victo-ry but that of the people ofKhairagarh. It is also thereflection of the work doneon the ground by the

Congress government forfarmers and other commu-nities."

She said party workers,leaders, Ministers, PCCchief Mohan Markam andChief Minister BhupeshBaghel himself hadbacked her during the

electioneering. “My gratitude to all of

them for their support dueto which the victory waspossible,” she said.

The Congress said shewill reach Raipur and makea courtesy call on the ChiefMinister.

STAFF REPORTER nRAIGARH

The son of a Congress MLAwas on Saturday booked

for assaulting a policeman anda truck driver inside a policestation in Chhattisgarh’sRaigarh city, police said.

The incident took placearound 1 am in the Kotraroadpolice station, following whichtwo separate FIRs were regis-tered against Ritik Nayak (24),son of Raigarh Congress MLAPrakash Nayak, RaigarhAdditional Superintendent ofPolice Lakhan Pawar Patlesaid.

A dispute broke out

between the truck driver,Mulayam Yadav, and Ritik andhis associates at the Kotraroadbypass. Yadav fled the spot and

reached the police station andRitik and his aides followedhim there, the ASP said.

Ritik and his aides alleged-

ly abused and thrashed Yadavand constable L.S. Rathiya,who was on duty at the policestation, and threatened themwith dire consequences, theofficer said.

Based on a complaintlodged by the Constable andthe truck driver, two separatecases have been registeredagainst the accused and othersat City Kotwali police station.

The police have registeredthe FIR under sections 186(obstructing public servant fromdischarging duty), 294 (obsceneacts), 332 (voluntarily causinghurt), 34 (common intention)and 506 (criminal intimidation)of the IPC, he said.

Chhattisgarh Agriculture Minister and Khairagarh election in-charge Ravindra Choubey offering sweets toChief Minister Bhupesh Baghel after the victory of Congress candidate Yashoda Verma in Khairagarhbyelection on Saturday. Pioneer Photo

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chhattisgarh BharatiyaJanata Party President

Vishnudeo Sai on Saturdaysaid his party respects the

people's verdict in theKhairagarh assembly byelec-tion and congratulatedCongress candidate YashodaVerma who won.

Sai, however, said hadthe Congress governmentdone any work in the lastthree and a half years, therewas no need for a special 29

promises for Khairagarh. Sai said the BJP will con-

tinue the struggle against theCongress government in theinterest of the people.

STAFF REPORTERnRAIPUR

The Electricity ContractEmployees Association

on Saturday commenced a‘jal satyagrah’, due to whichthree employees fell ill andwere admitted in the RaipurMedical College.

The Association mem-bers had been on strike for38 days raising.

They had been staging aprotest but on Saturday theyentered the VivekanandaSarovar (Budhatalab) andstood in water.

As the employees didnot have the knowledge ofthe depth of the pond, a fewstarted to drown.

The polluted waterentered their stomach lead-ing to vomiting.

Tapan Painkra, Akash

Sidar and Mausa Shubamwere pulled out of the waterand admitted the hospital, aprotester said.

The protest began onMarch 10.

The Association wantsall 2,500 contract employeesregularized and compas-sionate appointment tonearest kin of contractemployees who died onduty.

Victory reflects peoples’faith in policies, says CM

‘Victory dedicated to people of Khairagarh’

Cong MLA’s son bookedfor assaulting policeman

Humbly accept Khairagarhmandate, says BJP Chief

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Reacting to the victoryof Congress candidateYashoda Nilamber Verma inKhairagarh, ChhattisgarhCongress President MohanMarkam on Saturday saidthe win symbolized theincreasing confidence andtrust of the people in theCongress.

The Congress expressesits gratitude to the voters ofKhairagarh for the historicvictory, he added.

He said the victory isalso the people’s stamp onthe public welfare works ofthe last three and a half yearsof the Congress governmentunder the leadership ofChief Minister BhupeshBaghel.

‘Victory points increasing faith on Cong’

STAFF REPORTERnRAIPUR

Hemophilia can be treat-ed, said Dr. Amber

Garg, Hematologist at theDKS Super SpecialtyHospital on the occasion ofWorld Hemophilia Day(April 17).

The answer to the prob-lem is by infusing (admin-istered through a vein) acommercially prepared fac-tor concentrate. Peoplewith hemophilia can learnhow to do this on their ownso that they can stop thebleeding.

Even in most bleedingcases, by doing regularinfusion (called prophylax-is). Hemophilia C patients

are treated with plasmainfusions, which reducebleeding.

Hemophilia mainlyaffects the joints, whichbecome swollen over time.Children with hemophiliamay also have a brain hem-orrhage.

“This disease occursdue to the deficiency of fac-tor 8 or 9 in the bloodwhich has the ability to clotthe blood quickly.Approximately.1 in 5,000males are at risk ofdeveloping hemophilia," hesaid.

Three protesters fall ill

STAFF REPORTER nBILASPUR

Chhattisgarh Police onSaturday seized 100 kg ofcannabis valued at Rs 5 lakhsand arrested two persons fortransporting it to Bilaspur dis-trict from Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district.

Bilaspur SeniorSuperintendent of Police ParulMathur identified them asRajkumar Soni (21) and RaviGupta (33), both from Pendratown.

Police intercepted a pick-upvan in Sakri area following a tipthat the contraband was beingtaken to Bilaspur district.

The cannabis was stuffed insix gunny bags.

Hemophilia canbe treated: Expert

Two arrested

with 100 kg

cannabis

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chhattisgarh on Saturdaywas given the first prize

among states with a popula-tion of less than 5 crores forbetter implementation ofTB-related health services.

The award was given onthe occasion of the fourthfoundation day of AyushmanBharat Health and WellnessCenter under the “21-DayTB-Free India Campaign”organized by the UnionMinistry of Health andFamily Welfare.

State Nodal Officer for

Tuberculosis Programme Dr.Dharmendra Gahwai said acampaign in all health and

wellness centers of the stateunder the TuberculosisEradication Programme for21 days was conducted fromMarch 24 to April 13.

During the campaign,house-to-house visits weredone to identify potentialTB patients.

Apart from identifica-tion, screening of TBpatients, investigation, reg-istration in the portal, com-pletion of treatment, pay-ment of Rs 500 to eachpatient and other alliedworks were done.

Based on these parame-

ters, Chhattisgarh got thefirst prize, he said.

India has set a target oferadication of tuberculosisby the year 2025.Chhattisgarh had set the tar-get as 2023.

C’garh gets National Award in TBIndia has set a

target oferadication of

tuberculosis by theyear 2025.

Chhattisgarh hadset the target as

2023

CM keepsup promise

Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel on Saturday madethe announcement of formation ofKhairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandaias a district. It would be the 33rddistrict of the state.

He also announced thatSalehwara will be tehsil andJalbandha be sub-tehsil. He madethe announcement after electedCongress candidate YashodaNilamber Verma called on him athis official residence.

The present government hasformed five districts till date afterforming government in 2018.

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In the wake of recent com-munal clashes across many

States, 13 Opposition parties ina joint and open appeal, onSaturday, urged people tomaintain peace and harmony.

They also expressed shockand dismay at the silence main-tained by Prime MinisterNàrendra Modi over theseunfortunate incidents anddemanded stringent possiblepunishment for those respon-sible for inciting communalviolence.

In the joint statement, lead-ers including Congress presi-dent Sonia Gandhi, NCP chiefSharad Pawar, West BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee, and her Tamil Naduand Jharkhand counterpartsM K Stalin and Hemant Soren,also raised concern over themanner in which issues relat-ing to food, dress, faith, festi-vals and language "are being

used" by the ruling establish-ment to polarise society.

“We are shocked at thesilence of the Prime Minister,who has failed to speak againstthe words and actions of thosewho propagate bigotry andthose who, by their words andactions, incite and provoke oursociety. This silence is an elo-

quent testimony to the fact thatsuch private armed mobs enjoythe luxury of official patron-age," they said in the joint state-ment.

Reiterating their collectiveresolve to work together tostrengthen the bonds of socialharmony that "defined andenriched India for centuries",

the Opposition leaders said,"We reiterate our commitmentto combat and confront thepoisonous ideologies whichare attempting to entrenchdivisiveness in our society."

"We appeal to all sectionsof the people to maintain peaceand foil the sinister objective ofthose who wish to sharpencommunal polarisation. Wecall upon all our party unitsacross the country to indepen-dently and jointly work formaintaining peace and har-mony," they said in the jointappeal.

Incidents of communalviolence were reported fromsome parts of the country onthe occasion of Ram Navamion April 10.

The statement also regret-ted saying they are extremelypained at the manner in whichsocial media and the audio-visual platforms are being mis-used with official patronage tospread hatred and prejudice.

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Congress president SoniaGandhi on Saturday lashed

out at Prime Minister NarendraModi-led BJP Government atthe Centre and the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS) say-ing that an apocalypse ofhatred, bigotry, intolerance,and untruth is engulfing thecountry today.

In a newspaper articletitled "A virus rages among us",the Congress chief slammedthe ruling BJP and the RSS,blaming them for the risingcommunal violence in thecountry.

"There is much talk by theprime minister of acknowl-edging India’s multiple diver-sities. But the harsh reality isthat under this ruling dispen-sation, the rich diversities thathave defined and enriched oursociety for centuries are beingmanipulated to divide us and,

worse, to harden faultlines andmake them more firmlyentrenched.," she wrote.

She further accused theCentre of muzzling the voicesof opposition and claimed thatit was a conspiracy by the rul-ing party to keep the countryin a state of permanent frenzy.

There is something moreinsidious in this grand, divisiveplan to keep India in a state ofpermanent frenzy. All dissentand opinion that is opposed tothe ideology of those in powerare sought to be ruthlessly sti-fled," the Congress presidentwrote.

Congress leader RahulGandhi also attacked the Modigovernment saying that everyIndian is paying the price forthe hate0fueled by the BJP-RSS."India's true culture is that ofshared celebrations, commu-nity, and cohesive living. Let’spledge to preserve this (sic)," hetweeted.

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The BJP on Saturday cameout strongly against

Congress president SoniaGandhi’s “virus of hate”remark saying it was indeedthe grand old party that hasbeen “spreading hatred” sincedecades for vote bank politics.

“Congress kept the virus ofhatred, to its zenith fordecades, destroyed the coun-try’s culture for vote bankpolitics, that Congress is advis-ing us today,” BJP nationalgeneral secretary Tarun Chughtold news agency ANI.

He was responding to thearticle written in a newspaperby Sonia wherein she blamedthe BJP and RSS for the risingcommunal violence in thecountry.

Chugh said that the party,under whose regime, therewere four riots every year andthe infamous Shah Bano

judgment was passed is talk-ing about communalismtoday.

“Prime Minister NarendraModi’s government has a clearpolicy which is ‘Sabka Saath,Sabka Vikas, and SabkaVishwas’. I will make a requestto Sonia Gandhi ji, chooseyour words as wisely as youcan. If you look into the heartof the Congress, if there is anyorganization that spreads com-munalism the most, then it isthe Congress,” he further said.

“The task of spreading theinfection is done by the topleadership of the Congress.Rahul Gandhi said thatHindutva is like ISIS and BokoHaram, the virus of hatred.Ten big riots in the country inwhich thousands of peopledied, all these riots happenedduring the rule of Congressparty, be it in Ahmedabad,Mumbai, Bhagalpur or others,”he stated.

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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankardiscussed the ramifications of ongo-

ing conflict in Ukraine and situation inAfghanistan during his meeting withUnited Nations(UN)Secretary GeneralAntonio Guterres.

The talks took place late Wednesdayin New York at a time when another res-olution condemning Russia is about tocome up in the UN General Assembly.

India has so far abstained from vot-ing against Russia.

Liechtenstein has moved the latestresolution which aims to make P-5(Permanent Five) members, who cast aveto in the UN Security Council(UNSC),explain themselves before the UN GeneralAssembly.

This is directed at Russia and China,who have been vetoing resolutions movedby the remaining three P-5 members onUkraine.

Announcing his meeting with the UNSecretary General, Jaishankar tweeted “Awide ranging discussion with UNSG@antonioguterres. Exchanged views onthe global impact of the Ukraine conflict,especially on food and energy security.

Implications for developing countriesare serious.”

He also said “Spoke about latestdevelopments in respect of Afghanistanand Myanmar. Appreciate his interest inworking with India to effectively addressimportant contemporary challenges.”

Jaishankar arrived in New York onApril 13 after concluding the 2+2dialoguewith US and bilateral meeting with his UScounterpart Antony Blinken inWashington.

India and the US called on theTaliban leadership to abide by the UNSCresolution which demands thatAfghanistan’s territory must never againbe used to threaten or attack any coun-

try or to plan or finance terrorist attacks.In a joint statement issued after the

fourth India-U.S. 2+2 MinisterialDialogue on April 11, the two countries’Ministers urged the Taliban to respect thehuman rights of all Afghans, includingwomen, children and members of minor-ity groups; and to uphold freedom of trav-el.

Calling for the cessation of violencein Myanmar, the release of all those arbi-trarily detained, and a swift return to thepath of democracy and inclusive gover-nance, the joint statement also called forurgent implementation of the ASEANFive Point Consensus.

As regards the resolution in theUNGA, Liechtenstein on behalf of 38 co-sponsors tabled resolution that mandatesa meeting of the UN General Assemblywhenever a veto is cast in the SecurityCouncil. “The resolution is a meaningfulstep to empower the GA and strengthenmultilateralism,” it said. It is expected tobe taken up by the end of the month.

Earlier this month, India abstained onthe vote to suspend Russia from the UNHuman Rights Council. This was the 12thtime India abstained from voting at theUnited Nations.

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Mauritius Prime MinisterPravind Kumar Jugnauth

will lead a high-level delegationto India for an eight-day visit,starting Sunday, on the invitationPrime Minister Narendra Modi.His wife Kobita Jugnauth willaccompany him.The Ministry ofExternal Affairs (MEA) saidJugnauth will participate in theGround-Breaking Ceremony ofthe WHO-Global Centre forTraditional Medicine inJamnagar next Tuesday as well as

in the Global Ayush Investmentand Innovation Summit inGandhinagar on Wednesday,along with PM Modi.

The Mauritius PM will alsopay a visit to Varanasi apart fromhis official engagements inGujarat and New Delhi.

“India and Mauritius enjoyuniquely close ties, bound byshared history, culture, and her-itage. The upcoming visit willfurther strengthen the vibrantbilateral ties,” the MEA said.

In January this year, Modiand Jugnauth had jointly inau-

gurated the India-assisted socialhousing units project inMauritius virtually. They alsolaunched the Civil ServiceCollege and 8 MW Solar PVFarm project in Mauritius that isbeing undertaken under India’sdevelopment support

And last week, ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankarmet Secretary to the Cabinet ofMauritius NK Ballah in NewDelhi and said the bilateralcooperation between the twocountries was “progressing fromstrength to strength”.

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With Assembly electionsin Gujarat to be held

later this year, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will be on athree-day visit to his homeState from April 18-20.

This will be Modi’s secondvisit to Gujarat. He had earlierbeen to the State soon after theBJP's victory in Assembly pollsin four of the five States.

During the visit he will laythe foundation stone of variousdevelopment projects wortharound Rs 22,000 crore.

According to the PrimeMinister’s Office, on April 18,Modi will visit the Commandand Control Centre for Schoolsin Gandhinagar and the nextday dedicate to the nation andlay the foundation stone ofmultiple development projectsat Banas Dairy Sankul inDiyodar, in Banaskantha dis-

trict.He will also lay the foun-

dation stone of WHO GlobalCentre for TraditionalMedicine in Jamnagar.

On April 20, the PrimeMinister will inaugurate theGlobal AYUSH Investment &Innovation Summit atGandhinagar and thereafter,attend the Adijati MahaSammelan in Dahod and inau-gurate and lay the foundationstone of various developmentprojects worth around Rs22,000 crore.

The Sammelan is expectedto be attended by 2 lakh peo-ple.The Prime Minister willinaugurate projects worth overRs 1400 crore. He will inaugu-rate Dahod District SouthernArea Regional Water SupplyScheme, constructed inNarmada River Basin, wortharound Rs 840 crore. It willcater to the water supply needsof around 280 villages inDahod District and DevgadhBaria city.

The Prime Minister willalso inaugurate five projects ofDahod Smart City wortharound Rs 335 crore. Theseprojects include Integrated

Command & Control Centre(ICCC) Building, Stormwaterdrainage system, Sewerageworks, Solid WasteManagement System and

Rain Water HarvestingSystem. Under Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana, benefits worth Rs120 crore will be provided to10,000 tribals of Panchmahaland Dahod districts.

Modi will also inaugurate66 KV Ghodia substation,Panchayat Houses, andAnganwadis, among others.

HE will lay the foundationstone for manufacturing of9000 HP Electric Locomotivesat the Production Unit inDahod. The cost of the projectis around Rs 20,000 crore.

Dahod workshop, estab-lished in 1926 for the periodicoverhaul of steam locomotives,will be upgraded to an electriclocomotive manufacturing unitwith infrastructural improve-ments. It will provide direct andindirect employment to over10,000 people.

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Notwithstanding the Westernpropaganda overdrive of a

strong resistance by theUkrainian military againstMoscow, the Russian military hasso far destroyed in operationsagainst Kyiv a total 131 aircraftand 104 helicopters, 245 anti-air-craft missile systems S-300, 448unmanned aerial vehicles, 2,188tanks and other armoured com-bat vehicles, 248 multiple launchrocket systems, 957 field artilleryand mortars, as well as 2,088units of special military vehiclesof the armed forces of Ukraine.

In addition, an unspecifiednumber of Buk-M1 surface to airmissile (SAM) systems andOsa AKM, highly mobile lowaltitude short range tactical SAMhave also been destroyed duringthe 50 days of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“The Armed Forces of theRussian Federation continue thespecial military operation in

Ukraine.During the day, opera-tional-tactical aviation hit 7 mil-itary assets of Ukraine,” accord-ing to the latest update by DmitryA Solodov, Press Secretary of theRussian embassy here.

Among the seven Ukrainiantargets hit by the Russian forcestill the available updates onFriday, one missile and artilleryweapons depot near Privol'e,six areas of manpower andarmoured vehicles concentrationof the Ukrainian 54th SeparateMechanized and 128thMountain Assault Brigades nearVelikaya Novoselka, Teminovka,Ivanovka, Kramatorsk andBogorodichnoe cities of Ukraine,were destroyed. The RussianMissile Troops and artillery alsohit 132 assets, including eightcommand posts, 110 strongpoints and areas of concentrationof Ukrainian manpower, fourartillery batteries and oneammunition depot in a singleday as on Thursday as reportedby the Russian defence ministry,he said in the statement.

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Coral reef ecosystemsaround the globe – key to

huge numbers of marinespecies and a source of food,livelihoods, and cultural her-itage for half a billion people– are likely to become func-tionally degraded by 2050, ifthe goals of the ParisAgreement on ClimateChange are not met, a globalreport ‘Forecasting ClimateSanctuaries for Securing theFuture of Coral Reefs,’ haswarned.

It said that even with dras-tic emission reductions toensure global warming is keptwithin 1.5°C above pre-indus-trial levels, up to 90% of theworld’s corals could still van-ish in the next three decades,

leaving behind a reef structurethat will lose many of its func-tions.

The research by Jens Zinkeis a Professor of Palaeobiologyat the University of Leicester,examines large coral habitatsto track environmental and cli-mate change over the lastthree centuries into the mod-ern day.

He said: “Coral reefs arethe ‘canaries in the coal mine’when it comes to sensingecosystems under stress fromocean warming due to climatechange. Corals can sense whenocean temperatures exceed adangerous threshold and warnus when we need to take mea-sures.“Our research has shownthat coral reefs have beenseverely impacted by oceanwarming in the past three to

four decades, yet some reeflocations show lower rates ofwarming or benefit from mit-igating circumstances due tolocal oceanography.

“Some reefs have the abil-ity to resist or recover fromthermal stress faster than oth-ers, and these reefs may serveas sanctuaries under futurewarming. This is a major newresearch direction – to find

those locations and protectthem before they are gone.”

In 2018, the VibrantOceans group identified 50reefs that are most likely toresist and survive climatechange. The habitats are locat-ed largely in the Pacific andIndian oceans, with furtherreefs in the Caribbean and eastof Africa.

Previously the 50 reefs

were mainly chosen at sitesthat escaped climate change.Now, the scientists call for awider portfolio of reefs thatshould include resistant andfast-recovering reefs.

The group’s latest recom-mendations, presented in thewhite paper include continu-ation of the 50 Reefs approachas ‘climate change avoidancesanctuaries’ as a priority forinvestment in coral reef con-servation, expansion of the 50reefs conservation portfolio forclimate change to include coralresistance and recovery sanc-tuaries; increase in support forregional evaluations of thehealth of the 50 Reefs portfo-lio, and sustainable financinginitiatives to support theimplementation of regionalportfolios.

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India on Saturday reported lessthan 1000 cases, i.e., 975 fresh

Covid-19 cases and four deathseven as Delhi and NCR districtsof UP and Haryana witnesseduptick in infections, promptingthe State Governments to gear upto meet any eventuality in caseof fourth wave which is predict-ed to sweep the country in June.

The active cases comprise0.03 per cent of the total infec-tions. The national COVID-19recovery rate remained at 98.76per cent, the ministry said. Anincrease of 175 cases has beenrecorded in the active Covid-19caseload in a span of 24 hours.However, India's top biomedicalscientist Dr Gagandeep Kangsaid it is not known whether theXE variant is driving the rise incases.

"We don't necessarily knowthat all of the cases that are beingreported are of the XE variantunless we sequence them all," Dr

Kang said. "...It is only when wehave all the pieces of the picturethat we can interpret the data.People's data alone isn't suffi-cient," she said.

Meanwhile, nearly 300 sam-ples taken from people whohad tested positive for COVID-19 in Delhi recently have beensent for genome sequencing,official from the Governmentsaid, adding that the sequencingis to be done essentially to findif any new variant, like XE, hascirculated in the city or not. Delhihas been recording spurt inpositivity rate, as high as 3.95 percent recently.

The sequencing will takeabout 7-10 days to process, theysaid. As flights are operationaland people are intermingling,there is always a “chance” that avariant could end up circulatingin a city, even from a far off place,where they might have beendetected earlier, the sources said.

In Gurugram in Haryana,the civic authorities have start-

ed a 'Har Ghar Dastak’ campaignin which officials will go door todoor and administer vaccinedoses to eligible people.

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Aheat-stable Covid vaccinethat is being developed in

India and does not need coldchain storage has generated astrong antibody responseagainst coronavirus variants,including Delta and Omicron,according to a study on mice.The vaccine candidate, by theIndian Institute of Science(IISc) in Bengaluru and biotechstart-up company Mynvax,uses a part of the viral spikeprotein called the receptor-binding domain (RBD), whichallows the virus to connect withthe host cell to infect it, said astatement here.

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With eye on Statepolls this year, it isPM’s 2nd visit tohome State post BJP’s win in 4 States

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Indignant over what it calledUkrainian strikes in Russian

territory and following thestunning loss of its Black Seaflagship, Moscow renewed mis-sile attacks on Kyiv, whereauthorities said the bodies ofmore than 900 civilians werefound outside the capital. Mosthad been shot dead, policesaid, and likely “simply exe-cuted”.

Russian forces shelled anoil refinery in the Ukrainiancity of Lysychansk on Saturday,and a large fire erupted.Luhansk regional governorSerhiy Haidai said it wasn't thefirst time the refinery was tar-geted and accused the Russiansof trying to "exhaust" localemergency services. He under-lined there was no fuel at therefinery at the time of theattack and "the remains of oilsludge" were burning.

Ukraine's presidentialoffice reported Saturday thatmissile strikes and shellingover the past 24 hours occurredin eight regions: Donetsk,Luhansk and Kharkiv in theeast, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltavaand Kirovohrad in the centralUkraine and Mykolaiv andKherson in the south. Thestrikes underlined that the

whole country remained underthreat despite Russia's pivottoward mounting a new offen-sive in the east.

Fighting also went on inthe pummelled southern portcity of Mariupol, where localsreported seeing Russian troopsdigging up bodies. In thenortheastern city of Kharkiv,the shelling of a residential area

killed seven people, includinga 7-month-old child, andwounded 34, according toregional Governor OlehSinehubov.

Early Saturday, Kyiv's east-ern district of Darnytskie wasstruck, Mayor Vitali Klitschkosaid in an online posting. Hesaid rescuers and paramedicswere on the scene. He warnedresidents who have fled thecapital not to return for theirsafety.

In the towns around Kyiv,said Andriy Nebytov, whoheads the region's police force,bodies were abandoned in thestreets or given temporaryburials. He cited police dataindicating 95% died from gun-shot wounds.

“Consequently, we under-stand that under the (Russian)occupation, people were sim-ply executed in the streets,”Nebytov said.

More bodies are being

found every day under rubbleand in mass graves, he added,with the largest number foundin Bucha, more than 350.According to Nebytov, utilityworkers gathered and buriedbodies in the Kyiv suburb whileit remained under Russiancontrol. Russian troops, headded, had been “trackingdown” people who expressedstrong pro-Ukrainian views.

Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy accusedRussian troops occupying partsof the Kherson andZaporizhzhia regions in thesouth of terrorising civiliansand hunting for anyone whoserved in Ukraine's military orgovernment.

“The occupiers think thiswill make it easier for them tocontrol this territory. But theyare very wrong. They are fool-ing themselves,” Zelenskyy saidin his nightly video address.“Russia's problem is that it is

not accepted — and never willbe accepted — by the entireUkrainian people. Russia haslost Ukraine forever.”

Officials think 2,500 to3,000 Ukrainian troops havedied in the war, Zelenskyy toldCNN in an interview. He saidabout 10,000 have been injuredand it's “hard to say how manywill survive.”

More violence could be instore for Kyiv after Russianauthorities accused Ukraine ofwounding seven people anddamaging about 100 residentialbuildings with airstrikes inBryansk, a region borderingUkraine. Authorities in anoth-er border region of Russia alsoreported Ukrainian shellingThursday.

“The number and the scaleof missile attacks on objects inKyiv will be ramped up inresponse to the Kyiv national-ist regime committing any ter-rorist attacks or diversions on

the Russian territory,” RussianDefence Ministry spokesmanIgor Konashenkov said.

Russia used missiles todestroy a facility for the repairand production of missile sys-tems in Kyiv, Konashenkovsaid. The Ukrainian state armsm a n u f a c t u r e r ,Ukroboronprom, said Russianforces struck one of the missileworkshops at the Vizar plant,located near Kyiv's Zhulianyairport.

Ukrainian officials havenot confirmed striking targetsin Russia, and the reports couldnot be independently verified.

However, Ukrainian offi-cials said forces did strike a keyRussian warship with missiles.A senior US defence officialbacked up the claim, saying theUS now believes the Moskvawas hit by at least one Neptuneanti-ship missile, and probablytwo. The official spoke on con-dition of anonymity to discuss

an intelligence assessment.The Moskva, named for

the Russian capital, sank whilebeing towed to port Thursdayafter taking heavy damage.Moscow did not acknowledgeany attack, saying only that afire had detonated ammunitionon board. The loss of the shiprepresents an important victo-ry for Ukraine and a symbolicdefeat for Russia.

The sinking reduces Russia'sfirepower in the Black Sea andseemed to symbolise Moscow'sfortunes in an eight-week inva-sion widely seen as a historicblunder following the Russianretreat from the Kyiv region andmuch of northern Ukraine.

“A flagship' russian warshipis a worthy diving site. We haveone more diving spot in theBlack Sea now. Will definitelyvisit the wreck after our victo-ry in the war,” UkrainianDefence Minister OleksiyReznikov tweeted Friday.

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Pakistan's ousted prime min-ister Imran Khan has

appealed to overseas Pakistanisto donate money for a cam-paign launched by his partyagainst the new "imported gov-ernment" led by ShehbazSharif. In a video messageposted on Twitter on Friday,Khan said a "corrupt govern-ment" was imposed onPakistani people through a"foreign conspiracy" for regimechange. "This is an insult to the

22 crore Pakistani people,"Khan asserted, nearly a weekafter the 69-year-old was suc-ceeded by Sharif, the Leader ofthe Opposition and Presidentof the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Terming his campaign as'Haqiqi Azadi' (real freedom),Khan said his PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) partyhas launched the website,namanzoor.Com, to raise fundsfrom overseas Pakistanis for thepurpose."Let's thwart the for-eign conspiracy for regimechange and take the countrytowards elections.

Let the people of Pakistandecide their government," hesaid. The PTI party also tweet-ed the party chairman's "mes-sage for overseas Pakistaniswho also have rejected theimported government".Khan,who came to power in 2018,reportedly with the backing of

the military, became the firstPakistan prime minister whowas defeated in a no-confi-dence vote in the NationalAssembly on Sunday last.

Khan has been claimingthat the Opposition's no-trustmotion against him was theresult of a "foreign conspiracy"because of his independentforeign policy. He has namedthe US as the country behindthe conspiracy, a charge blunt-ly denied by Washington mul-tiple times.

Khan has alleged thatDonald Lu, Assistant Secretary,Bureau of South and CentralAsian Affairs in theDepartment of State wasinvolved in the 'foreign con-spiracy' to topple his govern-ment.Hours after his uncere-monious removal, Khan in hisfirst comments on Sunday lasthad said that Pakistan's "free-dom struggle" has begun again

with ouster of his governmentdue to a "foreign conspiracy"."Pakistan became an indepen-dent state in 1947; but freedomstruggle begins again todayagainst a foreign conspiracy ofregime change," he wrote on hisofficial Twitter handle.

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Islamabad: Qasim Khan Suriresigned as deputy speaker ofPakistan's National Assemblyon Saturday, less than an hourbefore a session of the Housewhere voting on a no-trustmotion against him was totake place for favouring theprevious Government led byImran Khan. PTI

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Three Chinese astronautsreturned to Earth safely

on Saturday after spending arecord six months aboardChina's new space station,doubling the previous stay ofthe country's longest singleflight in space.

The Shenzhou-13 capsulecarrying astronauts ZhaiZhigang, Wang Yaping and YeGuangfu touched down suc-cessfully at 9:56 am local timein the Dongfeng landing site inGobi Desert, North China'sInner Mongolia AutonomousRegion, state-run Xinhua newsagency reported.

The medical team con-firmed that the crew membersare in good health, marking thefull success of the Shenzhou-13manned spaceflight mission,the Global Times newspaperreported.The astronauts spentsix months on the Tiangongspace station and nearly dou-bled the previous record ofChina's longest single space

flight mission of 92 days set bythe Shenzhou-12, it said.Apartfrom the long-term stay inspace, the mission has set manyrecords and firsts in the coun-try's manned space history, itsaid.

The Shenzhou spacecraftdeveloper, China Academy ofSpacecraft Technology (CAST),said in a statement that theShenzhou-13 mission alsoexplored emergency missionmechanisms for the first time,with the Shenzhou-14 mannedspacecraft and Long March-2FY14 rocket in standby positionright after the launch of theShenzhou-13 and Long March-2F Y13.

This enabled a potentialspace rescue of the Shenzhou-13 taikonauts in case of anymalfunction preventing space-craft from returning to Earth.Compared to the return trip ofthe Shenzhou-12 missionwhich took approximately 28hours, the Shenzhou-13 carriedout a rapid return manoeuvrewhich took just eight hours.

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Japanese Prime MinisterFumio Kishida and visiting

US lawmakers reaffirmed theircommitment to workingtogether under a longstandingbilateral alliance on Saturday,amid heightened global ten-sions spanning war in Ukraineto threats from neighbouringChina and North Korea.

In a meeting over break-fast, the delegation, led by Sen.Lindsey Graham of SouthCarolina, agreed with Kishidaon the importance of main-taining a "free and open Indo-Pacific region," according toForeign Ministry. The six law-makers' visit follows their ear-lier stop in Taiwan, where theymade a pointed and public dec-laration of their support forself-governing island democ-racy, while issuing a warning toChina. They met with

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday. China carriedout military drills near Taiwanin protest of the delegation'svisit. Spokesperson Zhao Lijiansaid China was prepared "totake strong measures to res-olutely safeguard its sover-eignty and territorial integrity."

Japan has long been ner-vous about China's stance onTaiwan, but such views, espe-cially among conservativepoliticians seeking a moreassertive military, have height-ened since the war in Ukraine.

The question is sensitivebecause Japan's pacifist consti-tution adopted after its defeatin World War II bans use offorce in international disputes.Japan keeps its overseas mili-tary operations to peacekeep-ing and humanitarian relief.Officially, Japan does not recog-nise Taiwan but they maintainfriendly relations.

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Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy said

on Friday that existing sanctionson Russia are "painful" but notyet enough to stop the Russianmilitary. Zelenskyy called for "thedemocratic world" to banRussian oil. While US law-makers and US President JoeBiden have enacted such aban, Europe relies more heav-ily on Russian energy supplies,and US is working to keepIndia from stepping up its useof Russian energy.

"In general, the democraticworld must accept that Russia'smoney for energy resources is infact money for destruction ofdemocracy," Zelenskyy said inhis nightly video address to hisnation. He also said: "The soon-er world recognizes that oilembargo against Russia and fin-ish blockade of its banking sec-tor are necessary steps towardspeace, sooner war will end."

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Health officials in severalcountries are investigating

mysterious cases of severe liverdisease in children, and theythink it may be related to a kindof virus usually associated withcolds.

The U.K. Has been inves-tigating at least 74 cases inwhich children came downwith hepatitis, or liver inflam-mation, the World HealthOrganization said Friday. Threesimilar cases in Spain and a fewin Ireland are being investigat-ed, the WHO said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Healthofficials say they are lookinginto nine similar cases. Allwere in Alabama, but officialssay they are looking to see ifthere are more elsewhere.

"Given the increase in casesreported over the past onemonth and enhanced casesearch activities, more cases arelikely to be reported in thecoming days," WHO officialssaid in a statement.The U.S.Children ranged in age from 1to 6 years old, and two requiredliver transplants. The Europeancases are in a similar age range,though some have been older,WHO officials said. The WHO

first became aware of theunusual illnesses early thismonth, when they learned of10 children in Scotland withliver problems. One got sick inJanuary and the nine others inMarch. All became severely illand were diagnosed withhepatitis after being taken tothe hospital.

The liver processes nutri-ents, filters the blood and fightsinfections. The infectionscaused symptoms like jaundice,diarrhea and abdominal pain.Hepatitis can be life-threaten-ing if left untreated.Since then,British health officials haveidentified at least 64 morecases. None died, but six need-ed liver transplants, the WHOsaid Friday.Laboratory testing

has ruled out the hepatitis typeA, B, C and E viruses that usu-ally cause such illnesses.Officials say they are not awareof international travel or otherfactors that might have put thekids at risk.

But they noted there'sbeen a recent surge in thespread of adenoviruses. Thereare dozens of adenoviruses,many of them associated withcold-like symptoms, fever, sorethroat and pink eye. But someversions can trigger other prob-lems, including inflammationin the stomach andintestines.Adenoviruses previ-ously have been linked tohepatitis in children, but most-ly in kids with weakenedimmune systems.

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Amigrant boat has capsizedoff the Libyan coast, leav-

ing at least 35 people dead orpresumed dead, the UN migra-tion agency said Saturday. Theshipwreck took place Friday offwestern Libyan city of Sabratha,a major launching point formainly African migrants mak-ing dangerous voyage acrossMediterranean, saidInternational Organisation forMigration.

The IOM said bodies of sixmigrants were pulled out while29 others were missing and pre-sumed dead. It was not imme-diately clear what caused wood-en boat to capsize. The tragedywas latest to involve migrantsdeparting from North Africa toseek a better life in Europe.

This past week alone, atleast 53 migrants were report-ed dead or presumed dead offLibya, according to IOM.Earlierthis month, more than 90 peo-ple in an overcrowded boatdrowned in MediterraneanSea, days after they left Libya,according to Doctors WithoutBorders aid group.

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President Joe Biden and hiswife, Jill, earned $610,702

during their first year in WhiteHouse and paid $150,439 in fed-eral income taxes. That was a rateof 24.6% for 2021, well over aver-age of around 14%.

The totals were similar toBidens' 2020 returns, when

they reported earning $607,336as he ran for president. Theyreported a federal income taxrate of 25.9% then. The nation-al median household incomewas $67,521 in 2020, accordingto US Census data. last year wassteep drops from 2019 forBidens, when they earned near-ly $1million, primarily frombook sales, speeches and theirteaching positions at Universityof Pennsylvania andNorthernVirginia Community College.

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New Delhi: India's fuel sales fellin the first half of April as arecord rise in prices in a short16-day period dented demand,preliminary industry datashowed on Saturday.

Petrol sales fell almost 10per cent in the first half of Aprilwhen compared with the sameperiod in the preceding month,while diesel demand slid 15.6per cent. Even cooking gasLPG, which had consistentlyshown growth even during thepandemic period, saw a 1.7 percent month-on-month fall inconsumption during April 1-15.

State-owned oil firms onMarch 22 ended a 137-dayhiatus in rate revision andbegan passing on a USD 30 perbarrel increase in cost of rawmaterial (crude oil) duringthat period when five statesincluding Uttar Pradesh wentto polls.

Petrol and diesel pricesrose by �10 per litre betweenMarch 22 and April 6 -- thehighest ever increase during a16-day period since fuel priceswere deregulated two decadesback.

On March 22, cooking gas

prices too were hiked by Rs 50per cylinder to � 949.50 -- thehighest-ever rate for the sub-sidised fuel. Jet fuel prices tooclimbed to the highest-ever�1,13,202.33 per kilolitre,resulting in a 20.5 per cent fallin sales month-on-month.

In the first two weeks ofMarch, dealers as well as thepublic topped up their tanks inanticipation of an increase inprices that had been on hold inthe run-up to the elections instates like Uttar Pradesh.

While daily price revisionsrestarted on March 22, theincreases were calibrated. Theprice increases moderated theconsumption.

Petrol sales by state-ownedfuel retailers, which controlroughly 90 per cent of the mar-ket, at 1.12 million tonnes dur-ing April 1-15 were nearly 12.1per cent higher than the sameperiod last year and 19.6 percent higher than the period in2019, preliminary industry datashowed. PTI

�*�������3���"����"����"!���"����46�&�����!&�)��������"'���� ���������������New Delhi : Jet fuel prices onSaturday were hiked by a mar-ginal 0.2 per cent -- the eighthstraight increase this year -- toan all-time high, reflecting asurge in global energy prices.

The price of aviation tur-bine fuel (ATF) -- the fuel thathelps aeroplanes fly -- washiked by � 277.5 per kilolitre,or 0.2 per cent, to �1,13,202.33per kl (�113.2 per litre) in thenational capital, according to aprice notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

Meanwhile, petrol anddiesel prices remainedunchanged for the 10th straightday after rising by a record �10per litre each.

While jet fuel prices arerevised on the 1st and 16th ofevery month, petrol and dieselrates are revised daily based onequivalent rates in the inter-national market.

The increase in ATF pricecomes on back of the steepestever hike of 18.3 per cent(�17,135.63 per kl) effectedon March 16 and a 2 per cent(�2,258.54 per kl) increase onApril 1.

ATF in Mumbai now costs�111,981.99 per kl, while it ispriced at �117,753.60 inKolkata and �116.933.49 inChennai.

Fuel rates have beenincreased in India becauseenergy prices globally haverisen on back of supply con-cerns following Russia's inva-sion of Ukraine and demandreturning after being hit by thepandemic.

India is 85 per cent depen-dent on imports to meet its oilneeds.fuel, which makes up foralmost 40 per cent of the run-ning cost of an airline, has thisyear surged to new highs. PTI

New Delhi: It is becomingincreasingly difficult for Indianautomakers to control inputcosts as they are dependent onChina and Japan which are fac-ing supply chain woes, result-ing in price hikes across vehi-cle ranges, according to a newreport.

Indian automakers areresponding to raw materialprice hikes by at least 2 per centprice hike on average, accord-ing to Counterpoint Research.

KIA Motors has increasedprices of all its vehicles. MarutiSuzuki, India's largest passen-ger vehicle (PV) maker, has alsoincreased the average price ofits cars by 8.8 per cent sinceJanuary.

“Toyota, Tata Motors,Hyundai and MG Motors havealso increased prices for theirvehicles across ranges. Evenpremium vehicle brands suchas BMW India, Mercedes-BenzIndia and Audi India haveannounced at least a 3 per centincrease in their vehicle prices,”

said Soumen Mandal, seniorresearch analyst.

Due to the low electricvehicle (EV) adoption, highprices of lithium and cobalthave not directly impacted theindustry in India.

“The price hikes in Indiaare mostly due to the rise in theprice of steel. Steel is used inmanufacturing vehicle chassisand body. Nickel-containingstainless steel is used in somedrivetrain components,”Mandal added.

In addition to rising mate-rials costs, fluctuating exchangerates and rising operationalcosts are other factors drivingprice increases in the country.

With the semiconductorshortage beginning to ease,2022 was expected to be a bet-ter year, as indicated byincreased sales during the ini-tial months.

But Russia's invasion ofUkraine and fresh Covid wavesin China have further delayedthe industry's recovery. IANS

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Kolkata: Vedanta chairmanAnil Agarwal on Saturdaypressed for further liberalisa-tion of the defence sector andcalled for corporatisation ofdefence factories to make thecountry self reliant in respect ofarms and ammunition.

There are 52 defence fac-tories for manufacturing armsand ammunition in the coun-try but most of them are run-ning at 10 per cent capacity, hesaid.

“We (India) can be thelargest producer of arms andammunition. If the defencefactories are corporatised itwill bring in a new way of

thinking,” Agarwal said whileaddressing the inaugurationof a post graduate programmefor executives virtually fromLondon. Vedanta is hopeful ofcommencing semi conductorproduction in India in thenext two years, he said.

Semi conductors are likethe sutradhar (facilitator) forany industry. In the next twoyears we should start produc-ing semi conductors in India,”he said replying to a question.

The company had signeda MoU in February this yearwith Foxconn to form a jointventure to manufacture semi-conductors in India. PTI

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Mumbai: Lending major HDFC Bankon Saturday reported a year-on-year riseof 22.8 per cent in net profit for thefourth quarter of FY22 ended March 31.

The bank's net profit increased toRs 10,055.2 crore during the periodunder review over the quarter endedMarch 31, 2021.

Besides, the bank's net interestincome (income earned less interestexpended) for the quarter under reviewgrew by 10.2 per cent to Rs 18,872.7crore from Rs 17,120.2 crore earnedduring the corresponding period ofFY21.

“Profit before tax (PBT) for thequarter ended March 31, 2022 at Rs13,044.7 crore grew by 20.3 per centover the corresponding quarter of theprevious year. After providing Rs2,989.5 crore for taxation, the bankearned a net profit of Rs 10,055.2 crore,an increase of 22.8 per cent over the

quarter ended March31, 2021,” HDFC Banksaid in a statement.

The bank alsoreported that provi-sions and contingen-cies for the quarterended March 31, 2022were Rs 3,312.4 crore

(consisting of specific loan loss provi-sions of Rs 1,778.2 crore and generaland other provisions of Rs 1,534.2 crore)as against total provisions of Rs 4,693.7crore for the quarter ended March 31,2021.

“Total provisions for the currentquarter included contingent provisionsof approximately Rs 1,000 crore,” it said.

For the full fiscal FY22, the bankreported a rise of 18.8 per cent in its netprofit to Rs 36,961.3 crore over thefinancial year ended March 31, 2021.

It earned a total income of Rs157,263 crore as against Rs 146,063.1crore for the financial year endedMarch 31, 2021.

The bank's net revenues (net inter-est income plus other income) for thefinancial year ended March 31, 2022were Rs 101,519.5 crore, as against Rs90,084.5 crore for the fiscal year endedMarch 31, 2021. IANS

$%&'�(��)*��+,&-..�� ������ ����../ 0�-�- New Delhi: Regional airline

Alliance Air has become an inde-pendent business unit under theCentral government's control.

Alliance Air was an esrtwhilepart of Air India prior to the latter'sdivestment. At present, it is operat-ed as a division under the Air IndiaAsset Holdings Pvt Ltd (AIAHL).

It was founded in 1996 as awholly-owned subsidiary of thenIndian Airlines, which later mergedwith Air India.The airline mainlyoperates on domestic regional routesas part of the government's RegionalConnectivity Scheme.

Currently, it has 19 aircraft -- 18ATR-72s and 1 Dornier-228 --

which it operates on over 100 region-al routes connecting Tier-II andTier-III cities.

In terms of financials, the airlinehad earned an operating profit of Rs65 crore in 2019-20 on a revenue ofRs 1,182 crore. Notably, the Centrenow has Alliance Air as the only air-line under its control. IANS

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Guwahati: The NortheastFrontier Railway (NFR) has reg-istered an increase of 18 per centin freight unloading in the lastfinancial year, an official state-ment said on Saturday.

“During the recently com-pleted financial year from April,2021 to March, 2022, N. F.Railway carried 13,757 rakes offreight trains as against 11,659during the corresponding peri-od of the previous financialyear, thus registering an impres-sive increase of 18%,” the NFRrelease said.

It added that NFR unloaded1,349 freight carrying trains reg-istering highest ever release ofrakes achieved in the month ofMarch, 2022. This is an increaseof 8.8% in comparison to the cor-responding period of last year.

The NFR transported goodslike FCI rice, sugar, salt, edible oil,food grains, fertiliser, cement,stone chips, coal, maize, auto,container and other items dur-ing the month and unloadedthem in different goods shedswithin its jurisdiction. PTI

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�Mahesh Manjrekar had you in mind,right from the beginning for the film.Tell us about your thoughts on yourcharacter. Calm and conviction define RajveerSingh, I was a bit anxious to play such acharacter. While I have played a copbefore, Rajveer came with an interestingmix of subtlety and aggression whichwas a completely new ground for me.Mahesh had a very definitive vision

about this film, he wanted to playwith the unexpected. So, break-

ing away from my image of awitty, muscular cop, Mahesh

thought of a character whodraws his punches moti-vated by justice and notanger. That narrationreally got to me and Idecided to take on thisrole.

�Inspector Rajveer’scharacter is very dif-ferent from the othercop roles that youhave played before.

Did you have any-thing specific in mind

while preparing for it? Rajveer Singh is a new

addition to the cop rolesthat I have played in my

career, but he is completelydifferent from all of them. He is

not like Chulbul Pandey or

Radhe, his mindset is a lot more simpli-fied and motivated to bring justice in hisown unique way. He knows his powerand uses it to strike when the time isright with a smile on his face. As an indi-vidual character, you may see Rajveer tobe a simple, regular cop but when youput him against Rahuliya (the gangster),you see the striking difference in him. Ibelieve the highlight was my Sikh coplook and dialect that caught the attentionof the audience. When we started shoot-ing, I felt I wasn't emoting enough forthe character but when I sat down withMahesh to discuss it, he told me, I wasplaying Rajveer exactly how I am sup-posed to. Rajveer is a man of subtlemovements, fewer words — larger theaction.

�Tell us about your experience work-ing with Aayush.I was stunned at Aayush’s transforma-tion, from Loveyatri’s boy next door toAntim’s deadly gangster, he has given his100 per cent to the film. With this movie,he has displayed his range as an actor. Hewas completely committed physicallyand psychologically to bring authenticityto the character. It was amazing to seeAayush work so hard for the project. Isee a lot of potential and his hard workreally came through. Aayush is a veryenthusiastic guy and that kind of aura onthe set was refreshing. However, duringthe fight sequences, I had to constantlyremind him to not pull his punches

because I was in front of him.

�What do you think is the most cru-cial element for any film to become asuccess?I think films that explore the complexi-ties of the story in the simplest ways, winthe crowd. When the audience feels anemotional connection with the charac-ters, then you have hit the right chord. Acaptivating script is the success definingelement, complimented by the perfor-mance of the actors, catchy dialogues,and groovy music. From Dabangg toRadhe to Antim, all of these films makeone big cop universe where the charac-ters and story have the same message atcore but are told differently with a freshtouch. That’s the magic of scripts.

�Antim was critically acclaimed dur-ing the release. What do you thinkworked well for it?I would like to believe there were multi-ple reasons that worked in favour ofAntim. First of all, theatres were open tothe audiences after a long gap and Antimwas a perfect big screen movie thatwould deliver on the extravagance withthe action sequences. Furthermore, neverseen before avatars, realistic characters,massive emotional connect, not a typicalcop chasing the bad guy story, worked asa hook for the audience. While the filmis packed with thrilling action scenes andcatchy dialogues, it offers something toeveryone.

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Masterstroke

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Plastic is everywhere so muchso that humans are now vul-nerably reliant on it. Decadesof plastic use has contami-nated our air, water, and soil.

Plastics can take hundreds of years todecompose depending on the materi-al. For instance, plastic bottles requireapproximately 450 years to decomposein a landfill.

Excessive use of plastics and lack ofa proper waste plastic disposal system,causes huge garbage dumps, pollutionin rivers and ocean and is a threat forthe ecosystems. According to studies,only 9 per cent of plastic is recycled and79 per cent is dumped into the ocean.

Innovative tech solutions can helpcontain this plastic pollution: to replacesome plastics by natural substitutes;reduce the demand for new plastics;disposal of plastic-based goods; and col-lection and disposal of plastic waste.

Use of nanotechnologyCardboard, paper etc can be used

for packaging instead of plastics withthe help of nanotechnology. Forinstance, coating cardboard with thin,water-resistant materials will preventleaks or damage, is economical and canbe recycled. Another medium throughwhich nanotechnology can benefit usis by creating metals like aluminiumand steel that are light in weight and canreplace plastic.

Innovators are even lookingbeyond wood-pulp cardboard boxes tomore ecological materials, includingedamame beans, cocoa beans andwaste hazelnuts.

Besides, nanotechnology is used forthe production process of bioplastics,which is not limited to the composites,but also offers new techniques forblending polymers which results inpolymers with better mechanical prop-erties.

Natural substitutes to replace plas-tic

Finding natural substitutes toreplace plastics is another way to curbplastic pollution. Genetic engineering,the process of using DNA technology

to alter the genetic makeup of an organ-ism, also helps in creating natural sub-stitutes of plastics. Hemp, flax and juteare a few natural fibres that are beingused as substitutes for plastics with thehelp of genetic engineering. The bond-ing of jute fibre cellulose and soy resinprotein has been utilised to produce asturdy bio-composite, called jute-soy,which is also biodegradable.

Biodegradable plasticsAnother important step to reduce

plastic pollution is by creating plasticsthat are biodegradable. They decom-pose either under natural conditions orby processes like chemical hydrolysis,heat, photodegradation, or composting.Renewable biomass like starch, cellu-lose, protein or fossil fuels are thesources for creating biodegradable

plastics. Over the years, we have beenusing the process of mechanical recy-cling in which the plastic is melted, sort-ed and remoulded into lower gradeproducts; however, this process is lim-ited as the properties of the plastic keeps

degrading after every recycle. To avoidthis degradation of properties imple-menting the process of chemical recy-cling will help to break the plasticimmediately at a molecular level, whichensures the plastics to be recycled intoa material that is useful and can holdits properties, for example, burningpolythene bags having material ofpolyolefins produces wax and usefulfuels.

Using PLA (Polylactide)PLA (Polylactide) is a biodegrad-

able polymer extracted from sugarcane,corn and sugar beets. This biodegrad-able polymer produces lactic acidwhich is mostly used in industries forpackaging purposes. Polylactide is alsoused in industries such as electronics,textiles, biomedical applications, etc.

Though the production cost of usingPLA in industries is high, its use ben-efits to replace plastic and thus depleteplastic pollution.

Effectuating packaging of recyclableplastic

The products in the market todaygenerally use plastics that are difficultto recycle. However this can be changedby using plastic made of HDPE (HighDensity Polyethylene). Using this mate-rial for products like toothpaste tubesand others will help curb plastic pol-lution. HDPE though is not biodegrad-able, but it can effectively be recycledmany times.

Offering Rewards Giving rewards in return for recy-

cling plastic is one of the innovativeways through which pollution of plas-tic can be reduced. Providing rewardsthrough the medium of blockchain willmotivate the individuals to change theirbehaviour and this in turn will help rev-olutionise the recycling system as it willcreate an impact to build an overall, cir-cular and regenerative economy withminimal plastic pollution.

Government Policies and Support Government support and policies

are vital to curb plastic pollution. Thissupport can take various forms.Concessional financing, aligning incen-tives to counteract the advantageenjoyed by the incumbent conventionalplastics producers, imposing fines ortaxes on their products, ensuring aneffective plastic waste disposal system,etc., taking outright administrativemeasures, such as restricting or banningthe use of conventional plastics andinstead giving preference to productsmade with plastic substitutes andbiodegradable plastics.

The massive volume of non-biodegradable plastics, its overwhelm-ing impacts on the environment andhumans needs to be controlled urgent-ly. And these smart innovative solutionscould revolutionise the burgeoningcrisis.

The writer is founder of Smiling Tree

SALMAN KHAN talktime

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‘PLAYING RAJVEERWAS A COMPLETELYNEW GROUND FOR ME’

‘PLAYING RAJVEERWAS A COMPLETELYNEW GROUND FOR ME’

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Lucknow Super Giantsbeat Mumbai Indians by18 runs in their IPL

match here on Saturday. Skipper KL Rahul scored

his maiden century of theseason to guide LSG to 199 for4 after being invited to batfirst. In reply, MI wererestricted to 181 for nine.LSG’s Avesh Khan finishedwith excellent figures of 3/30

in four overs.Rahul smashed 103 off 60

balls, and his unbeaten inningswas laced with nine fours andfive sixes.

Manish Pandey (38) andQuinton de Kock (24) also

played useful knocks.For MI, medium pacer

Jaydev Unadkat snared twowickets (2/32), while spinnerMurugan Ashwin (1/33) andall-rounder Fabian Allen(1/46) took a wicket apiece.

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Dinesh Karthik con-tinued his red-hotform, slamming anunbeaten 66 after

Glenn Maxwell produced ablistering half-century, to liftRoyal Challengers Bangalore to189 for five against DelhiCapitals in their IndianPremier League match here onSaturday.

Karthik blazed away to 66in just 34 balls, while Maxwellhit seven fours and two sixes inhis 55 off 34 deliveries.

The Capitals' bowlers per-formed as a well-oiled unit ini-tially with Shardul Thakur(1/27), Khaleel Ahmed (1/36),Axar Patel (1/29) and Kuldeep

Yadav (1/46)doing well butbled runs in the slogovers as Karthik andShahbaz Ahmed (32 notout) added 74 in the lastfive.

Karthik, who hasbeen revelling in his roleas a finisher this season,hit five fours and asmany sixes in his sensa-tional knock.

DC made full use ofthe coin landing intheir favour as theyput pressure on RCBearly on with tightfielding and goodbowling.

The Delhi bowlersmanaged to snare two

wickets in the powerplayovers while giving away 40runs.

Thakur produced abeautiful inswinger thatcurled into Anju Rawat (0)to give Delhi the earlybreakthrough. KhaleelAhmed then made it two

as he accounted for thedangerous Faf du Plessis.

Lalit Yadav effectedVirat Kohli's run outwith a brilliant directhit to compoundRCB's woes.

It was then thatMaxwell took theonus upon himself ashe pummelled

Kuldeep Yadav for23 runs in the

ninth over. The all-rounder hittop gear as he smashed the ballto the fence twice and over ita couple of times.

His half-century camesoon after as he continued tohit the Delhi bowlers all roundthe park.

However, Kuldeep extract-ed his revenge a few overs lateras the ball caught theAustralian's bat's toe and LalitYadav completed the regula-tion catch.

With Maxwell gone,Karthik and Shahbaz joinedforces. The wicketkeeper madebatting look effortless as hecracked four boundaries andtwo maximum off Mustafizurto plunder 28 runs off the 18thover and bring his fifty in style.

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Poland reached the BillieJean King Cup finals for

the first time after top-rankedIga Swiatek overpoweredAndreea Prisacariu ofRomania 6-0, 6-0 onSaturday.

Swiatek needed just 52minutes to extend her singleswinning streak to 19 in hersecond competitive matchsince becoming world No. 1.“It took us a few years, step bystep, to progress and qualifyfinally,” the 20-year-oldSwiatek said in an on-courtinterview. “Hopefully in thefinals we’re going to showeven more progress.

I’m really proud of us.”Swiatek’s victory made it 3-0for Poland in the best-of-fivequalifier for the finals inNovember. The 2020 FrenchOpen champion beat MihaelaBuzarnescu 6-1, 6-0 onFriday. Italy and Kazakhstanalso advanced on Saturday.Camila Giorgi beat HarmonyTan of France 6-2, 6-0, givingthe Italians their third straightwin. Elena Rybakina made itthree in a row for Kazakhstanover Germany by beatingAngelique Kerber 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. In Prague, MarketaVondrousova routed U.S.Open champion EmmaRaducanu 6-1, 6-1 to give theCzech Republic a 2-1 edgeover Britain. Raducanu,slowed by a blister on herfoot, had debuted in the com-petition with a victory overTereza Martincova on Friday.

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Tamil Nadu and Haryanawill vie for the top honours

in the Hockey India SeniorMen’s National Championshipafter they registered compre-hensive semifinals wins here onSaturday.

While Haryana stampedtheir authority with a 5–2 vic-tory against Maharashtra in thefirst semifinal, in the other lastfour match Tamil Nadu got thebetter of Karnataka 3–0.

For Haryana, Deepak (21’,50’), Deepak (12’), Ravi (27’)and Pankaj (45’) registeredtheir names on the scoringsheet while captain Taleb Shah(24’, 52’) struck a brace forMaharashtra. After a goallessfirst half, J Joshua BenedictWesley (44’), Sundarapandi(50’) and Saravana Kumar (54’)came to the fore as their goalssealed a dominant win forTamil Nadu.

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West Bengal kicked offtheir campaign in the

Santosh Trophy with a narrow1-0 victory over Punjab in theopening game of the nationalfootball championships here onSaturday.

The tournament’s two mostsuccessful teams showedattacking intent right from thestart, seeking to grab all threepoints from the Group Amatch. The chances flowed atboth ends fairly quickly. In theeighth minute, West Bengalgoalkeeper Priyant KumarSingh made a fine save off aJashandeep Singh free kick.The rebound was too quick forAmarpreet Singh to capitalizeas the ball rolled wide.

Punjab had not concededa single goal through theirqualifying campaign, butagainst West Bengal, they facedtheir stiffest test, concedingpossession often in the firsthalf, and goalkeeper HarpreetSingh was called into actionseveral times. In the 20thminute, Harpreet made hisfirst real save of the game, par-rying Basu Deb Mandi’s longrange swerving shot to safety.

And yet, it was Punjabwho could have gone into thebreak with the lead.

A long ball from the deepwas misjudged by Bengal cap-tain Monotosh Chakladar, andthe ball fell to Tarun Slathia afew yards outside the box.Slathia collected neatly andcharged in, with only goalkeep-

er Priyant to beat, but draggedhis shot wide.

West Bengal took controlof the proceedings more force-fully in the second half, hold-ing possession for longer peri-ods and stitching neater pass-es in midfield.

They got their reward inthe 61st minute, with the

youngster Sajal Bag, driftingwide, beating his marker andcrossing into the box. Hisdelivery found ShubhamBhowmick perfectly placednear the penalty spot and theforward’s first time volley hitthe inside of the far post andbounced in, leaving HarpreetSingh helpless.

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Lucknow Super Giantsskipper KL Rahul on

Saturday termed his match-winning hundred againstMumbai Indians a "specialone" but wants his team toremain humble after havingmade a good start to its IPLcampaign in its first year.

Rahul scored 103 notout off 60 balls to guide LSGto an 18-run win againstfive-time championsMumbai Indians, who haveslumped to their sixth suc-cessive defeat."It's a specialday (1ooth IPL match) anda special hundred. I wasn'tamong the runs but thepitch was good and I madethe most of it," Rahul saidafter the match.

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The lifeline of Mumbai, a continuallyevolving and expanding cosmopoli-tan city, is undoubtedly its ‘local’trains working round the clock,transporting lakhs of people to their

desired destinations. The Mumbai ‘local’ or sub-urban trains hold special significance in the his-tory of Indian Railways. On the momentous dayof April 16, 1853, the first-ever passenger trainchugged out and covered a distance of 34-kmfrom Bori Bunder (now Chhatrapati ShivajiTerminus) to Thane. The train was flagged offwith wide applause and a 21-gun salute, and thisline was to later be commonly known as the cen-tral line.

In 1867 the first suburban service was inau-gurated, with one train each way, from Virar toBack Bay with halts at Neela or (Nalasopara),Bassein (Vasai), Panjo (between two creeks ofVasai), Berewla (Borivali), Pahadee (Goregoan),Andaru (Andheri), Santa Cruz, Bandora(Bandra), Mahim, Dadure (Dadar), and GrantRoad and Bombay Back Bay. This was to be laterknown as the Western suburban line, and itsChurchgate station opened in 1870. This stationis named after the once existent old gate, onegate among others, of Fort George of Mumbai,which led to the St Thomas Cathedral. The gatewas pulled down along with the fort in the1860s. The Western Railways General Managersoffice also known as Bombarci (an acronym forBombay, Baroda Central India) is a heritagestructure set amidst a landscaped area atAltamount Road, Cumballa Hill, and was con-structed in 1925 as a bungalow for RailwayAgents.

What clearly strikes one's attention whiletraveling on the Western ‘local’ is the names ofsome of the stations - Jogeshwari, Mahalakshmi,Ram Mandir, and Prabhadevi. One wonders whatare the legacy, myth, and historicity of these tem-ples, which rendered their names to the railwaystations. The probing unfolds interesting mythsand folklore (Mahalakshmi and Prabhadevi),remains of temples destroyed (Ram Mandir,Mahim), and an ancient cave temple(Jogeshwari). Along this journey of discovery onelearns of other places such as Walkeshwar andParel that are steeped in history.

From the Charni Road station at a distanceof 5 kilometers or so is the Walkeshwar templecomplex. Located amidst the high-rise buildingsof Malabar Hill this pilgrimage site has greatantiquity. The temple complex at Walkeshwarwith the Banganga has an interesting past.Legends trace the creation of the Banganga tankand the temple of Walkeshwar to Lord Ram.The name Walkeshwar is a compounded wordof Valuka (sand) and Ishwar (God), and signi-fies the God of the Sand. According to legend,Lord Rama, when on his way to Lanka, haltedon the very spot where the Walkeshwar templestands. He made a lingam of the sand of the sea-shore and performed the pranpratishta and con-secrated it. A temple dedicated to Walkeshwar

was built by the Silaharas of the north Konkansomewhere in the 10th -12th century CE, butit was eventually destroyed. Several richly-carved stones and other fragments, datingapparently from the 10th century CE, arereminders of the past temple. The modern tem-ple of Walkeshwar was built in or about 1715by Rama Kamat, and large fairs were held atWalkeshwar on the full-moon day of Kartika andon Mahashivaratri. In front of the temple is afine masonry tank, called the Banganga orsacred stream of the arrow. It is a rectangulartank with steps on all sides leading down to thewater. The story behind the creation of thesacred water tank is that Lord Ram in order toquench his thirst shot an arrow (Ban) into theground that penetrated the earth and led to theformation of this freshwater tributary of Ganga.

The journey to unravel Mumbai’s rich pastcontinues on the Western line and after two sta-tions the train halts at Mahalakshmi. This god-dess temple at Bhulabhai Desai Road sits atopa hillock with a commanding view of theArabian Sea. The myth or story regarding thistemple is closely associated with the very firstattempt at land reclamation in Mumbai. In 1782,attempts to build a causeway between the islandof Bombay and Worli Island went in vain andmuch resources were wasted. At this juncture,the goddess Lakshmi is believed to haveappeared in a vision to Ramji Shivji Prabhu, the

contractor, and promised removal of all obsta-cles provided he retrieves her image from thesea and places it in a temple. Accordingly, RamjiShivji dug out her image, placed it in a temple,and subsequently achieved success and complet-ed the causeway. The current temple structureis attributed to Dhakji Dadaji (1760–1846), aHindu merchant, who constructed it in 1831.

The next halt is Parel, which even thoughdoes not connote any religious significance, yetthis island was once crucial in the ancient past.A walk to the top of the Golanji hill, just 500meters from the King Edward MemorialHospital, is a small non-descript temple withsculptures of immense significance. Housed ina simple structure, is a 5th /6th century CEunfinished 10 feet image of Shiva, locallyknown as Baradevi. The image surfaced in 1931when a road was being constructed. Many sculp-tures are still located in situ at the temple siteon Golanji hill, which dates back to between the10th and 12th/ 13th century CE. There is nodoubt that at Parel there once stood a templethat survived for over 600 years.

Parel also occupied a very important posi-tion during the colonial era of Mumbai. At ashort distance from the Golanji hill is theHaffkine Institute for Training, Research, andTesting. This building has a multi-faceted andinteresting past covering a span of two centuries.The building was originally a Portuguese

Franciscan friary. It was taken over in 1719 andconverted into the official summer home of theGovernor of Bombay. In 1771, it became theGovernment House and the Prince of Wales tookup residence here during his visit to Mumbai in1875. The Residence was abandoned after theterm of office of Sir James Fergusson due to thedeath of his wife during the plague of 1883.Thereafter, the Governors House/ Raj Bhavanshifted to its current location in the Malabar hills.On August 10, 1899, the present mansion was for-mally handed over to Dr. Haffkine and was thenknown as Plague Research Laboratory. In 1906,the Institute was renamed Bombay BacteriologyLaboratory. Nineteen years later, in 1925, theinstitute got its current name- Haffkine Institute,in the honor of Dr. Waldemar Haffkine who haddeveloped vaccines against cholera and bubon-ic plague.

Parel was also a hub of industrial activitiesin 19th and 20th centuries with the setting upof the Central Railway Locomotive Workshopby the Great Indian Peninsular Railway in 1879,and numerous textile mills at Lower Parel. Theseold textile mills are now posh localities, andhouse offices, multi-storeyed buildings, andrecreational spots.

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MUMBAI ‘LOCAL’ STATIONS:

THROUGH TIMEA JOURNEY

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Continuing the journey, thenext halt is at Prabhadevi sta-tion which was earlier known

as Elphinstone Road station. ThePrabhadevi temple is located at ashort distance from the station andthis simple temple structure speaksof the history of Mahim and thePathare Prabhu community. Whilethe temple dates to the 18th centu-ry CE, the image installed is believedto belong to the 12th century CE.According to local folklore, theoriginal temple was destroyed, andto save the image from desecrationthe Prabhu community left it in astep-well. The deity appeared in thedream of a Prabhu devotee whothen retrieved the idol and placedit in a temple in 1715 CE. As athrowback to the past, tucked in cor-ners of temples and in the precinctof the Mahim Police Station, aresculptures and architectural ele-ments of a medieval era temple.

The Bimbakhyan , an oldMarathi poem that translates to‘Tale of Bimba’, tells us that RajaBimbdeva had migrated fromAnahilavara or Devagiri to Mahimin the 13th century along with thePathare Prabhus. Raja Bimbafound the largely uninhabitedisland beautiful and was so besot-ted with the place that he settledthere. Mahim was located along thetrade route and its sheltered bayand rich hinterland made it animportant place. It is believed thatthe Nakhodas (shipmasters) whoclaim descent from Arabia came toIndia in the 8th -9th century CEand settled here.

Proceeding further four sta-tions d, and immediately after theAndheri station, the train halts atJogeshwari. The temple atJogeshwari, originally a Shiva tem-ple, is a large rock-cut cave templestructure dating to 5th -6th centu-ry CE. Jogeshwari is consideredamongst the earliest major Hinducave temples in India and is thelargest in terms of its length, mea-suring 250 feet east to west. Theportion above the lintel of the east-ern entrance has exquisite carvingsof Kalyanasundara-- the marriagescene of Shiva and Parvati, Shivaand Parvati are playing dice andShiva as Lakulisha is surroundedby his disciples. The site continueswell into the 11th -12th centuryCE, as is amply proven by inscrip-tional data and metal objectshoused in the CSMVS and Raja

Dinkar Kelkar Museum - a lampchain with an oil container ofbronze, bells and silver bangles of8th/ 9th century CE. An inscrip-tion dating back to 1137 CEmentions the temple site and atteststo the continuity of worship atJogeshwari for well over 600 years.

The next station, on the Westernsuburban railway line, is Goregaonfollowed by the Ram Mandir station.The current temple structure is rel-atively new, but clues to its medievalpast lie in the half-broken pillars, oldstructural remains in the templecompound, and an animal head onthe outer wall of the temple. Thestones of the temple well originallybelonged to a ruined temple

The train proceeds from heretowards the Vasai creek. After cross-ing the vast mesmerizing creek,which once harbored sailing vessels

in past, the train reaches NallaSopara. Henry Cousens, an archae-ologist writing in the late 19th cen-tury, “My visit to the place Sopara”tried to ascertain whatever ‘Hinduremains’ were to be found there.That ancient Hindu temples didexist in this part of the country iswithout a doubt. Numerous sculp-tural remains recovered from thelake near Chakreshwar Mahadevatemple and other locations areplaced within and outside the tem-ple. These include images depictingan array of Hindu deities- Brahma,Varaha, Gajalakshmi, Shiva, Parvati,Nandi, Surya, Mahisaurmardini(Durga), Harihara, and Ganesha.The life-size unfinished three-facedimage of Brahma of the 10th -12thcentury CE is the most exquisite andmesmerizing amongst them all.Another beautiful image is that of

Vishnu which is currently placed ina shed along the Bolinj-Sopararoad.

The train moves ahead towardsits last station- Dhanau Road, andthen makes the return journey toChurchgate.

The Western suburban line isnot merely a railway track com-muning people, but a bridgebetween the past and the present.The station names enrich ourunderstanding of Mumbai’s past andare a constant reminder of the richcultural landscape, well-entrenchedartistic and architectural tradition,and unique heritage of the city.

(The writer is a researchscholar and recipient of the

Devangana Desai seniorFellowship CSMVS Mumbai. She is

also the author of two books

Post-1947, India tooka road that defiesexplanation. For acountry as old, cul-turally rich and

diverse, as deeply rooted in herown civilisational ethos asIndia, it is strange that webecame beholden to our colo-nial tormentors, against whomwe fought tooth and nail forfreedom. Coming out of near-ly eight centuries of colonialrule, our first instinct shouldhave been to do away with thevestiges of the tormentors ofour Motherland—immediate-ly. The reverse happened.

The only explanation,then, for this unfortunate turnof events is that our colonialmasters left behind an elitecoterie, with tentacles spreadfar and wide, which knew howto cling to power, exploit it toperpetuate themselves; civilisa-tion, culture, and heritage, ofcourse, be damned.

Jay Bhattacharjee’s book,Resurgent Bharat and OtherIssues: An Anthology ofEssays, published by GarudaPrakashan, among otherthings, underlines this withunwavering precision. “Witty,Acerbic, Irreverent” is how A.Surya Prakash, formerChairperson Prasar Bharati,who has written its Prefacedescribes these articles.

The book is a collection ofarticles, written over a periodof nearly four decades begin-

ning in the late 1980s, thatappeared in different newspa-pers like The BusinessStandard, The New IndianExpress, The Pioneer, and inseveral other portals like NitiCentral, India Defence Reviewand others.

Relentless and unsparing,the author lays bare the entireintellectual, political and edu-cational anatomy of this elite,whom he describes as “SarkariSecularists”, “the (people with)Gungadin Syndrome” and“secularist stormtroopers”.Their educational excellence isencapsulated in terms like“Billy Bunter, Enid Blyton chichi club of Gungadins” and“lifelong members of theMacaulay Fan Club”. An entiresection, “Lutyens Zone’s ToxicLobby”), is dedicated to them.

The author’s dissection ofthis elite is enlightening.

Sample this: “The LutyensZone mafia have in their foldthe media honchos (particular-ly in the English MSM), thejholawallahs from all over thecountry, the Muslim-Christianclergies, the erstwhile com-rades who are now confined totwo backward enclaves of thecountry, and assorted “intellec-tuals” from universities, acad-emic/research institutions, andother talk shops, especially inthe JNU and other similarcesspools. The other largecomponent in the LutyensZone cabal is made up of the

beneficiaries of the loot andcorruption of the Indian eco-nomic system that wasdesigned and run by the GNGtrio.” For starters, GNG standsfor Gandhi-Nehru-Gandhi trioin author’s ‘lingo’. The secondcharacteristic of this gang,writes the author further, is: “…their visceral animosity to this

country’s ancient culture andcivilisation.”

Identifying this power-brokering, sap-sucking elite isimportant if one were tounderstand how these anti-Indian forces replaced whatIndia was, with their own fake,foreign-funded ‘idea of India’.

Without mincing words,

and with dollops of satire, theauthor fearlessly takes on var-ious other institutions andissues: The judiciary, the babu-dom, and one-rank-one-pen-sion (he chastises the govern-ment for dithering on thesame; it was granted later), theshenanigans of the corporateand international politics.There is also a crisp study ofNehru-Subhas Bose contrast,that makes it clear why thesetwo were poles apart, eventhough they started off fromsimilar backgrounds. The bookalso tells you about the first all-women military contingent inrecorded history—it was RaniJhansi Regiment of the IndianNational Army.

Another relevant andgrave issue, explained in detailby the author in his articles, isthe demography impacting—and subverting—democracy.“… a simple motor trip alongthe national highways in west-ern UP will show you… thatlarge swathes of land havebeen bought over by Muslimswith funds from undisclosedsources. Indeed, UP, Kerala,West Bengal, parts of Bihar,Tamil Nadu, Karnataka andMaharashtra are seeing a repli-cation of the Sudetenland phe-nomenon in pre-warCzechoslovakia…” writes theauthor in one of his articles.[Emphasis by the reviewer.]

For the uninitiated,Sudetenland phenomenon, theauthor writes, is basically this:In 1938, Nazi Germanyfinanced the terrorist violenceof minority Sudeten Germansin the Western regions of thatmodel democratic country

(Czechoslovakia)… to destroyit. “A minority that works frominside to destroy a federalcountry can also be a linguis-tic/ cultural one and not nec-essarily a religious one,” writesthe author. Can anything bemore relevant in modernIndia’s polity?

Citing international law,and not jingoism, the authorunequivocally defends India’sright to “… self-defence againstan imminent or actual armedattack by non-state actors.Such attacks can be one-off ora series of attacks that have aclear pattern.”

Professionally from thecorporate sector, the author’ssharp eyes miss nothing, andhe has the necessary firepow-er in his arsenal of words tobring out the ironies, using thesledgehammer of humour tomake his point.

The article detailing theauthor’s plight when he ques-tioned a person sitting in a carwith a red beacon on a Delhiroad, as to whether he (theoccupant) was entitled to useit, is an eye-opener. The occu-pant was a Delhi High Courtjudge; and, before the authorcould reach home, the policewere waiting for him.Laughable today, but one canonly imagine the author’s con-dition that night. How theauthor managed to escape thewrath of the honourableoffended justice makes onechuckle. But it also shows howthis elite category thrust uponthemselves a disproportionate-ly unjustified sense of entitle-ment. Separately, the authorhas also penned an article “An

Ode to the Lal Batti”. Apartfrom the important point itmakes, the readers should alsoread it for lilting humour.

In the section “Humourand Satire”, the author gives aglimpse of his command oversatire when he chronicles“Begum Mawmota Banerjee’sEngland Bheejit”—in Bonglish.There are other rare gems ofsatire, literally a dying art intoday’s hotchpotch of Hinglishmixed social media lingo.

Importantly, the bookchronicles, by and large, aperiod that has seen Indiachange. From an economywallowing in scarcity, to anIndia that celebrated a ‘con-sumption-based economy’,through to an India, whereBharat, finally, seems to bewaking up from its giant slum-ber—there are things to be cel-ebrated, but the challenges aredaunting too. And they all finda place in this book.

In the Foreword of thisbook, scholar Bharat Gupt,says: “Jay Bhattacharjee issuesa clarion call to his readers andto a wider audience that ourancient civilisation is on thecusp of a giant leap forward. Afailure at this juncture wouldbe cataclysmic.”

Therefore, RESURGENTBHARAT is as much for themembers of Gen Next (orwhatever may be the latestnomenclature), as it is forthose who have been there,done that. The issues raised inthis book should be matters ofconcern to all the Bharateeyas.

( The reviewer is a for-mer journalist)

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The fourth consecutive vic-tory of Viktor Orban is sig-

nalling the sustenance of “illib-eralism” both in Hungary andin Europe. He has quelled lib-eralism in Hungary in the last12 years of his reign. Now thishistoric win has further cor-roborated theories that Orban’sFidesz party is to become thecentrist party of a new era.

The Fidesz won a landslidevictory in the parliamentaryelection on April 3. In Hungary,its National Assembly has 199seats (93 Party List seats and106, Constituency Seats). Onrecord, the Fidesz has beenwinning two-thirds majority inthe Assembly. But this timewith 135 seats, Orban willhave a supermajority in thenew Assembly. It all proves thathe has been able to consolidatehis power against all oddswithin the country and inEurope. In November 2020,Orban broke a 130-year-oldrecord to become the longestserving Prime Minister in thecountry’s history, whichincludes his first prime minis-terial tenure from 1998 to2002.

The Fidesz got 54 per centof the votes for the Party Lists,while the United Opposition,the joint list of six biggestopposition parties of the coun-try, won only 34 per cent of thevotes.

Why did the combinedopposition fail to preventOrban’s victory again? First ofall, the Opposition launched an

entirely inexperienced candi-date against Orban, a veteranin Hungarian politics by now.Today, instead of highlightingthe rise of illiberalism inEurope, the Opposition shouldhave gone for a detailed analy-sis of “Orbanomics” — his so-called unorthodox policies, thecombination of his pro-marketand low-taxation programmes,sometimes bold reforms, priceregulations, state ownership,etc.

Second, the Oppositioncoalition candidate, PeterMarki-Zay, delivered longspeeches and posted equallytiring videos on Facebook,making a series of scandalouscomments against some sec-tions of society. Basically, hefailed to address the voters inHungary.

However, just a monthahead of the election, Orbanchanged his political narrativein such a manner that it couldrightly serve the long-terminterests of the authoritarianrulers like him and also theongoing war in Ukraine. Hebrought forward the electoralbattle to his countrymen as aclear choice between peaceand stability that his regimeprovided so far and the war andchaos that the Opposition waspushing the nation into.

After winning the parlia-mentary election, Orban said,“Maybe we never looked asgood as we did tonight. Wehave achieved a victory that canbe seen even from the moon

and even more so fromBrussels”. Thus many say thathis re-election is too dangerousfor the European Union (EU),but is equally helpful for Putin.In the last 12 years, what heopenly propounded is no otherthan what we call, ‘IlliberalDemocracy’. In all these years,he cleverly amended theConstitution of Hungary toserve his interests and that ofhis right-wing Fidesz party.Further, he tightened his gripon the country’s two mostimportant organs: judiciaryand media.

Orban projected himself asthe true defender of theHungarian nation against theLeft and the EU. Finally, he alsoopenly employed his statecraftagainst George Soros, aHungarian-born Jewish phil-anthropist, who he accusedhas a grand hidden strategy forbringing Muslim migrants tothe country.

What has compelledOrban to support Putin in hisrecent war campaign inUkraine? He himself hasbecome a symbol of charismatoday. Orban navigates verycunningly in the faultlines ofHungarian politics. Being abrand ambassador of his pop-ulism, he has been maintainingsafe distances from Brusselsbureaucracy and diktats of theWest for long. In such a situa-tion, it is very natural that hegoes along with Putin.

It can very well be gaugedthat after his grand victory,

Orban is going to continue hisdiatribe against the EU. Andthis will certainly add fuel tothe fire in the Ukraine warbackground. Immediately afterwinning the election, Orbancalled Ukraine PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy an“opponent”. In fact, he toutedhis electoral victory as a directrebuke to “liberalism, EU andZelenskyy”. Orban’s flirtationwith Putin is sending uneasysignals to many Hungarianstoday. It is surprising that theman who launched his politi-cal career with anti-Russianslogans has metamorphosedinto a primary ally of Putin inthe EU.

When we look back at therecent developments in theWest, we observe that the glob-al mainstream media failed todo away with the all-encom-passing liberal cliches that theywant to blame for the new con-tinental right wing movementsfrom the rise of Trump toBrexit. Many of us are rightlyignoring the fact that Orbanbecame Prime Ministerbetween 1998 and 2002 bare-ly at the age of 35. And he hasbeen at the frontline politics forthe last 34 years in Hungary.Therefore, to denounce him asan under-informed and inex-perienced populist would be abig mistake both for the EUand the US. After the exit ofAngela Merkel in Germany,Orban is regarded as thelongest serving head of state inthe EU nations.

In the past, Orban has lit-erally launched a long war onintellect in the country. He tar-geted almost all the govern-ment funded universities andother educational institutionsthat are supposed to be againstthe Fidesz. One glaring exam-ple was the closure of theCentral European University inBudapest. In 2018, Orbanforced this university out of thecountry.

The saddest part is that itwas a university founded byGeorge Soros, his nemesis, topromote an open society. Thisuniversity was once widelyconsidered as the most presti-gious graduate school inHungary. In fact, it offered inthe past excellent training forpresidents, prime ministers,diplomats and even the coremembers of the inner circle ofthe Orban administration.Sadly, this inner circle only hitback against the university.Hungary, once used to be thecentre of best universities inEastern Europe, but today mostof them have come undersevere control of the govern-ment, reducing qualities,research parameters and crush-ing an emerging democraticdialogue on campuses. TheAtlantic writer Franklin Foerwrote: “Like Pol Pot or JosephStalin, Orban dreams of liqui-dating intelligentsia, drainingthe public of education andmoulding a more pliant nation.But he is a state-of-the-artautocrat; he understands that

he need not resort to the trun-cheon or the midnight knockat the door. His assault on civilsociety arrives in the guise oflegalisms subverting the insti-tutions that might challenge hisauthority.”

Orban will be there inpower for another four years.It is a long time for him to con-solidate his base further. Suchrulers are primarily a threat tothe very ideas and practices ofliberal ethos. The reasonbehind this is that they winopen elections, but disregardmost of the democratic cre-dentials. And mostly, theypound on liberal institutionsand legal mechanisms so as topromote their own brand ofpopulism. Ironically, they finda large chunk of the populationto back them to power againstthe liberal opposition that triesto promote universal values,reasserting their faith on demo-cratic ideals. Further, theOrban kind of electoral victo-ries indicate that many peoplelike to continue their supportfor so-called nationalistic brandof politics and for strong lead-ers like him in Hungary. At anyrate, he is a threat to Europeanunity and also for the declin-ing global liberal order. At thispoint, strengthening Putin andXi Jinping would be equallydangerous for the liberal nar-rative. Hence, Orban’s newterm in Budapest would beclosely watched both fromBrussels and from Washington.

It’s time for the liberal

pundits to analyse how Orbanhas changed his political view-points from the beginning ofhis career. By the middle ofJune 1989, barely a 26-year-oldlaw graduate, Orban gave a his-toric speech at the country’sHeroes Square in Budapest,demanding the withdrawal ofRussian troops from Hungary.At that critical juncture, whenhis motherland was tryinghard to come out of the shad-ow of Soviet dominance, hebecame a symbol of power andfreedom for many. So, heexploited the political transi-tion masterfully after the with-drawal of the Russian troops.And this later catapulted himto power. At the same HeroesSquare, when Putin lambastedthe NATO for its continuedeastward expansion thisFebruary, Orban offered his fullsupport to the former. Thus,Orban has proved himself to bean apt manipulator and sur-vivor in central European pol-itics, signalling a growing resis-tance against the EU andNATO.

(Dr Makhan Saikia hastaught political science andinternational relations for overa decade in institutions ofnational and internationalrepute after specialisation inglobalisation and governancefrom Tata Institute of SocialSciences, Mumbai. He is thechief editor of the Journal ofGlobal Studies, an internation-al research journal)

There was a spiteful spate ofdays wherein the India

Prime Minister would be cas-tigated as a communist per-sonage and India struggled forattaining legitimacy in the larg-er context of the nuclear powerand energy regime not longtime back. Now, the veneer ofthe India-US relationship haschanged and metamorphosedbeyond recognition, culminat-ing in the acme of then USPresident Donald Trump andPrime Minister Narendra Modieying for “allyhood” status forNew Delhi on terms of equityand egalitarianism.

The India-US communi-cation and intelligence treatiessuch as Basic Exchange andCooperation Agreement(BECA) and the strategic dia-logue along with the two-plus-two dialogue are small babysteps in the direction towardsa well-ensconced and inter-twined tete-a-tete between thetwin liberal democracies ofthe international system.

“The New Diplomacy” ini-tiated by the Indian head ofGovernment is deft publicdiplomacy which is not abouta mere bland satanisation andvilification of the other, rather,it is a larger-than-life exerciseto establish a national senti-ment upon the vestiges of theglobal firmament. It definitelyinvolves the propagation of amyth but the question whichneeds to be asked is what iswrong in the creation and thesustenance of a national mythwith the all-apparent notion ofproviding an international plat-form for the history, tradition,economic, trade, societal andpolitical achievements of anation-state such as the USAand maybe India in the con-temporary context of SouthAsia.

South Asia is a quintes-sential regional context in thelarger context of the Asiatic tiltof a few heads of state such asformer Pakistan PrimeMinister Imran Khan. It’sthrough this diplomatic leg-erdemain that personages suchas Prime Minister Modi havenavigated through a turbulentworld order. Also, New Delhihas done wonders in the con-text of engaging in a difficultand stiff tightrope walk

between Kremlin and WhiteHouse, which the success of thetwo-plus-two dialogue soengagingly reflects.

The segments and scenar-ios which the twin foreignaffairs heads and the defenceheads of India and the UnitedStates transacted ranged fromconfabulating on the Chineseheady engagement in Indo-Pacific to the Russian invasionof Ukraine. Right now India ispart and parcel of two-plus-twodialogues with four nations,including the three nations ofthe order of Japan, Australiaand the US and not be relegat-ed to the back-burner, theRussian federation. In the con-text of a world regime, themicro approach of bilateraltrysts such as the two-plus-dia-logue still hold consonancewith the larger dictum of peace,tranquillity and stolidity in thelarger global polity and econ-omy.

The pioneering two-plus-

two dialogue was held in themomentous times ofSeptember 2019 with theAmerican interlocutors beingAmerican Secretary of StateMichael Pompeo and DefenceSecretary John Mattis; and it isto this selfsame congregationand summitry between NewDelhi and Washington thatthe contemporary warmth andintensity of ties between thetwin democracies rests conve-niently. The new-found syner-gy between the two nations canbe earmarked by the establish-ment of a hotline between theforeign and defence heads ofboth the nations which sustainsa new momentum spawned byPrime Minister Modi and thedeft expertise and cannymanoeuvres of Indian diplo-mats.

Indo-Pacific has emergedas a quaint strife-torn maritimespace which was underlined byboth the nations but New Delhirefrained from engaging in

any Manicheistic mention ofthe hegemonic and incursivedesigns of People’s Republic ofChina. The humanitarian dis-aster brewing up in the Indianneighbourhood in the form ofAfghanistan was too deliber-ated upon between the diplo-matic construct of both thenation-states. The key to thetwo-plus-two dialogue betweenthe twin democracies happensto be the stature and sobriquetof strategic partners. In the sec-ond half of 2021, the icing onthe cake was the enunciation ofthe joint declaration by PrimeMinister Modi and PresidentJoe Biden, which covered anentire gamut of issues andstrategic themes which are ofbilateral and global signifi-cance ranging from climatechange to Covid-19 pandemicmanagement.

The White House portalinforms us tersely that,“President Biden reaffirmedthe strength of the defence rela-

tionship between the UnitedStates and India and the unwa-vering commitment to India asa major defence partnerthrough close defence engage-ments in information sharing,sharing of logistics and mili-tary-to-military interactions,strengthening cooperation inadvanced military technolo-gies, and expanding engage-ments in a multilateral frame-work, including with regionalpartners. The leaders wel-comed the deepening ofadvanced industrial coopera-tion.”

It can be underlined andemphasised with some satis-faction that the defence part-nership between the twinnations is the fulcrum of thelarger strategic relationshipwith the newly included com-mercial and AtmanirbharBharat elements inserted by theconcurrence of both the headsof states and their retinues. Thistranspired in 2021.

Let’s surmise what liesahead in the context of a trou-bled world which dithers overthe precipice of a world con-flagration due to the occur-rence of the Russian invasionand the sovereignty ofZelenskyy’s Ukraine.

India has done well todraw to its own conclusionsand standpoints while navi-gating the western andAmerican sanctions on tradeand energy exchanges with theKremlin. It’s a deft tightropewalk which New Delhi has tra-versed with due diplomaticdiligence and appreciable skilland finesse. In the light of thereprimand of AmericanDeputy National SecurityAdviser Daleep Singh whosuggested that India shouldthink twice while navigatingthe sanctions regime onMoscow, the two-plus-two dia-logue only seemed to cajoleNew Delhi concerning theIndian energy imports from

Moscow as Indian ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankarvery cannily stated that incomparison with the totalquantum of the oil imported bythe European Union fromRussia, India has only agreedupon a miniscule proportion ofoil imports from Kremlin, thusasserting the difficulty Indiahas in toeing any nation-state’sline.

During the initiation of thetwo-plus-two dialogue, PrimeMinister Modi stated that Indiais in the favour of direct nego-tiations between VladimirPutin and Zelenskyy and aimsfor an immediate cessation ofcadaverous hostilities betweenRussia and Ukraine. Thus, theRussian-Ukrainian conflagra-tion was the key pivot uponwhich the entire rubric of thesummitry was precariouslyperched upon keeping in viewthe Indian responses, strategicand diplomatic, in the UnitedNations Security Council andother global vantage points.

New Delhi was clearer andunambiguous in the context ofthe Chinese rise in the Indo-Pacific wherein the IndianMinister of External Affairsdeclared with aplomb, “Quad isthe force of good and we appre-ciate the energy and attentionpaid by the United States to thedevelopment of the Quad”.Thus, energy security pips thestrategic concerns to the postas far as the Indian energyexchanges with Moscow areconcerned. India also laboursunder a military hardwaredependence upon Russia andkeeping this bottleneck in view,the US Defence Secretaryadvanced the American intentto let India become a securitypartner. Still, it might be a wiserand crafty manoeuvre to stayclear of being aligned at thisheady and volatile phase of theRussia-Ukraine war. Indiandiplomacy and refrain tri-umphs emphatically in theend, that, we do not earn the ireof “a near to ally, the UnitedStates of America” at this cru-cial cusp of the larger interna-tional system.

(The writer teachesInternational Relations andInternational Organisations atIIPA, New Delhi)

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The legend pertaining to MotherGoddess Durga also hints at theevolution and devolution of

nature-driven energies – from a singular-ity to multiple chains, and then back tothe primal source. To sum up, it may bequite fair to reason out that the Mothercontains in Her the essence of all forcesin operation in the universe, which iswhy when they all joined, She appeared.She, thus, symbolizes the convergence ofall nature-driven energies, vital to ourexistence. That’s why She is named“Durga”, which means being unassailable.Out of that primal source evolved a com-plex chain of forces, each personified as aDevata specific. And, following an intel-ligent design laid down by nature, cre-ates, sustains, and recycles the manifestdynamic world. And, over a period oftime, after having exhausted their sus-tainable limit, these forces, and therebythe world, may revert back to the primalsource. Out of the seeds of life that theseforces carryback, a fresh creation chaingets excited. The life cycle, thus, keepsrunning in succession with no beginningor end in a final sense.

Now, why the form of a MotherGoddess? Our learned masters had

realized the double propensity inherentin all empowerment tools, be theyphysical, material, or intellectual.Accordingly, they felt the need to edu-cate all and sundry on how to judi-ciously use Sakti, in the larger interestof the individual self, and the universeas a whole. As we are aware, a motheruses her Sakti and all resources avail-able, to bear, produce, and nurse herchild, till they qualify to manage ontheir own. She bears all the pains in theprocess, yet she rejoices for what shehas brought up. And, in her true moth-erly spirit, it remains a selfless exerciseon her part, as she does not expect any-thing in return, at least in immediateterms. There can be, therefore, no bet-ter simile than that of a mother, whichmay be suggestive of judicious and self-less application of Sakti.

Let us now have a look at theimagery of the Mother Goddess as ispopularly visualised. Mounted on aLion, She is usually perceived to have10 hands - in eight, She holds differentweapons, each offered by one or theother Devata; conch shell (blowinginstrument) in the night; and Lotusflower in the tenth.

Now, why is Mother visualized with10 arms holding different weapons andaccessories as described above? It needsto be appreciated here that there are tendirections – North, East, South, West, thefour corners, one above and anotherbelow, implying ten dimensions of ener-gy flow in nature. She attends to theenergies flowing through different direc-tions with Her ten hands holding differ-ent armories. And, we are all aware thatboth creation and destruction are theprerogatives of Sakti alone. It will natu-rally be desirable to access and make themost out of creative energies and simul-taneously checkmate the implications ofnegative forces.

The conch shell when blown excitesa sound note comparable to “O?” - theprimal sound, the root of all energiesexcited by the primordial source. Shethereby personifies that very primalkinetic energy, which remains the sourceand effective cause for all creations in theworld, their sustenance, and recycling.

The majestic Lotus flower in all col-ors made of numerous petals signifiesthe enormity and diversity of creation,being symptomatic of her noble creativeintent. Such an enticing Lotus flower

grows in the mud underneath water bod-ies. Yet its beauty and luster remainunspoiled, regaling everybody. For, noteven a trace of mud or water droplet canstay on flower leaves. It implies that Sheremains detached from the earth-mattermaking it.

The association of Lotus flower withthe Mother is also a pointer to the factthat though being all-powerful, yet, Shedoes not carry any sense of ego. In fact,despite all oddities and hazards comingHer way, She continues to exhibit tender-ness, a sense of love, generosity, and dot-ing nature, as reflected by the majesticflower. Even the killing of the demons isnot done out of any sense of revenge orprejudice. Her intent is just to ensure thesurvival and welfare of Her well-meaningdependants. Evidently, the lotus flowercorresponds to the productive face of thesource of energy, which came into beingfollowing a long-drawn course of pro-gressive evolution, which manifest intothe world of beings.

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